Welcome to ...

The place where the world comes together in honesty and mirth.
Windmills Tilted, Scared Cows Butchered, Lies Skewered on the Lance of Reality ... or something to that effect.


Sunday, July 12, 2009

WBTV is Sixty

Before there was that Martha pretender there was Betty:
Betty Feezor 1962

Television came to the Carolinas 60 years ago this week as WBTV flickered to life.

Charlotteans Live Longer

With the price for dying as it is it's cheaper to keep on living ...

With one company dominating the market, Charlotte leads the nation when it comes to burial, cremation costs.

A Slice of Philosophy

I used to eat a lot of natural foods and then I realized that most people die of natural causes.

Why taller people earn more money

Why taller people earn more money

A few extra inches in height can translate to thousands of dollars more in salary, research indicates.

Taller people earn more money

Also:

Swearing mitigates pain

Some experimental evidence to suggest that swearing makes pain less traumatic, though how it does is unclear:
The study, published today in the journal NeuroReport, measured how long college students could keep their hands immersed in cold water. During the chilly exercise, they could repeat an expletive of their choice or chant a neutral word. When swearing, the 67 student volunteers reported less pain and on average endured about 40 seconds longer.

Although cursing is notoriously decried in the public debate, researchers are now beginning to question the idea that the phenomenon is all bad. "Swearing is such a common response to pain that there has to be an underlying reason why we do it," says psychologist Richard Stephens of Keele University in England, who led the study. And indeed, the findings point to one possible benefit: "I would advise people, if they hurt themselves, to swear," he adds.

Redneck Games

The 13th Annual Summer Redneck Games were held in East Dublin, Georgia.

Summer 'Redneck Games' Held in Georgia

Money-saving tips for grocery shopping

Money-saving tips for grocery shopping

Think beyond coupons and sales — these useful shopping tricks can help you save more time and cash.

Grocery shopping

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Rights group concerned about fate of Iran missing

An international human rights group said Sunday that an Iranian family only learned of the death of their 19-year-old son weeks after he was shot during a demonstration against the country's disputed presidential election.

Rights group concerned

Obama orders review of alleged Afghan mass grave

President Obama has ordered his national security team to investigate reports that U.S. allies were responsible for the deaths of as many as 2,000 Taliban prisoners of war in Afghanistan.

Obama orders review

Pakistani jets pound Taliban hide-outs in northwest

Fighter jets have been pounding suspected militant hide-outs in the South Waziristan tribal region again today.

Pakistani jets pound Taliban hide-outs

A lost wallet with picture of baby most likely returned

A lost wallet that contains a picture of a baby is more likely to be returned to its owner, scientists have discovered.

Full Story

Family Suing Genie for Harassment

A family in Saudi Arabia is suing a "genie," accusing it of theft and harassment.

Just to be clear, in Islam, a genie isn't necessarily the benevolent wish-granting entity one might imaging from the TV show "I Dream of Jeannie."

Full Story

Victims' money goes to others, despite N.C. law putting them first

For 10 years, North Carolina's court system has improperly diverted millions of dollars meant to compensate crime victims and deposited the money in state and local treasuries.

In 1998, the General Assembly put crime victims first in line to receive any money paid by probationers, parolees and prisoners, money assessed by judges after the offenders were convicted.

Read the rest here.

From BBC-Science:

THE BIG PICTURE

Click to reveal

Report predicts even hotter southeast in decades to come

From the "Unbridled Joy" Department:

Due to global warming, the southeast is likely to see twice as many days a year with temperatures hitting the 90 degree mark or hotter, according to a federal report released last month.

Even hotter southeast in decades to come


It is so thrilling to sweat!

Secrets real-estate brokers won't tell you

Secrets real-estate brokers won't tell you

Agents would prefer you didn't know these 10 revealing practices of their business.

Secrets real-estate brokers won't tell you

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Weirdest cars you love to hate

Weirdest cars you love to hate

Vehicles with the funkiest designs often have innovative interiors and the most powerful engines.

Cars you love to hate

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Did Cheney urge concealment of CIA program?

You bet your sweet Bippy he did!

Although 'urge' is a gross understatement.
Did Cheney urge concealment of CIA program?
Play Video

There are allegations that former Vice President Dick Cheney directed the CIA to withhold information from Congress.

Cheney urged concealment of CIA program

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Witch booted from farmers market

The Rev. Joey Talley, aka "the Good Witch of West Marin," has been booted from farmers market in Marin, California. Apparently, Talley has been hawking her "personal witchcraft services" at the market for years but never applied for a vendor permit.

From the Marin Independent Journal:
Witchmarinnn "I've been here year after year," Talley said. "There are teens who tell me things they could never take to their parents, and they could never afford to schedule a $100 session with me..."

A clinical psychologist by training - she previously worked with veterans services and at a drug rehabilitation clinic in San Francisco - she uses her skills as a counselor, herbalist and Wiccan healer to solve her clients' problems, which often have to do with money or sex, she said.

"There have been a lot of requests for money charms in the last year," Talley said. "A lot of people have asked me to put a glamour on a loan application or other paperwork, so when other people read it, it will look good to them."

Occasionally, she'll receive requests to perform black magic - but Talley always tells those clients she's not that kind of witch.

While they appreciate Talley's unique talents, Marin Farmers Market representatives insist she take part in the same application process as every other vendor at the Fairfax market. It's that process, Spilger said, that lets customers know what they see at the market is what they'll get.

Liars and Fools

Today's Liar and Fool is:

Paul Broun Ignores Stats, Claims Public Option for Health Care "Is Gonna Kill People"

In a speech on the House floor Friday afternoon, Paul Broun (retard-GA) attacked the idea of a public health care plan, saying “this program of ‘government option’ is being touted as being the panacea, the savior of allowing people to have quality health care at an affordable price is gonna kill people.”

He used Canada and the United Kingdom as examples against the public option, claiming that those countries “don’t have the appreciation of life as we do in our society.” What is typical of politicians and many Americans who use such arguments, is that they don't do any homework.

Oh, and doesn't Broun have, ahem, publicly funded healthcare of his own?

Statistically, both Canada and the U.K. have longer lifespans and lower infant mortality rates than ours.

Full Story

North Korea interested in freeing US reporters

North Korea is "seriously interested" in releasing two convicted American journalists but first wants the United States to acknowledge what Pyongyang sees as their "hostile acts," a U.S.-based scholar who visited Pyongyang said Saturday.

Full Story

Pakistan To Put Mumbai Attack Suspects On Trial

Pakistan has completed its investigations into five suspects accused of involvement in last year's attack on Mumbai, and they are expected to be put on trial next week, the interior minister has said.

Full Story

Lucky Bugs

Many people believe that ladybugs will bring good luck.
If that's true, then one community in Colorado is having an extremely lucky year.

Ladybugs

Daily Almanac

Today is Sunday, July 12, the 193rd day of 2009.

There are 172 days left in the year.

The moon is waning.

July 12

Orangutan escapes zoo enclosure

An orangutan at the Perth Zoo in Australia used a rope to swing onto an enclosure fence and then climbed over.

Orangutan escapes

Teen Falls Into Open Manhole While Texting

In the past, bills have been introduced to prevent pedestrians from text messaging while crossing the street, though I am unaware of any that made it into law.
Perhaps such a law would have saved this teen from a ton of embarrassment.

Full Story

Free at Last

Afghanistan's Only Pig

During the height of the swine flu panic, Afghanistan locked up its only pig.
Yep, as a Muslim country, there was only one pig in the entire nation, in a zoo.
He was sequestered for his own protection, but he's now been released.

Full Story

America's most overpriced cars & trucks

America's most overpriced cars & trucks

These vehicles have market values far below their manufacturer's suggested retail price.

America's most overpriced cars & trucks

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Our Readers

Some of our readers today have been in:

New Westminster, British Columbia, Canada
Jakarta, Jakarta Raya, Indonesia
Bangalore, Karnataka, India
Maidenhead, England, United Kingdom
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Ankara, Ankara, Turkey
Helsinki, Southern Finland, Finland
Calcutta, West Bengal, India
New Delhi, Delhi, India
Istanbul, Istanbul, Turkey
Dhaka, Dhaka, Bangladesh
Paris, Ile-De-France, France
Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
London, England, United Kingdom
Erfurt, Thuringen, Germany
Bratislavia, Bratislavia, Slovakia
Michelen, Antwerpen, Belgium
Guwahati, Assam, India
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Montreal, Quebec, Canada

as well as Kuwait, and the United States

Daily Horoscope

Today's horoscope says:

If anyone knows how to work hard, it's you.
You've never shirked your responsibilities or tried to get out of doing anything less than everything you possible can.
So now, when you realize it's been days since you picked your head up out of your work and actually had some fun, you might want to think about how much good a little break in the action will do you.

Yeah, working on Holiday is not what it's cracked up to be.

Celidh

As our regular readers are aware we here at Carolina Naturally have been on Holiday since July fifth and have been keeping up with this site as well. However July 11, 2009 was a "lost" day. Too, much Celidh.

For the non-Scots among you 'Celidh' (said: Kay-Lee) is a party but not like any regular party and when there are over 250,000 people at the party (they stopped counting at 250,000) and around one fifth of them are relatives ... let's just say things get 'interesting'.

We might post a 'complete' account later - at least as complete as we can remember - as soon as the pipes and drums quit playing in our heads.