CAROLINA NATURALLY: Sep 25, 2009

Friday, September 25, 2009

Question and Answer

Question: Can you kill your mother-in-law with a towel

Answer: Yes, if you wrap an iron in it.

Insurer Denies Claim: Bleeding Breast is Not An Emergency

As rumors and misstatements continue to swirl about death panels and government limitations on insurance coverage, these are the stories insurance companies do not want you to hear.
They are stories of insurance companies, their own death panels, and their own health care rationing.

Would any woman out there, waking to a shirt soaked with blood and blood coming from their nipple, not rush to the ER?

Full Story

Why geography matters in health care

Depending on where you live and work, you can be very unlucky with health coverage.

Most uninsured states

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Think you got some strange laws in your neck of the woods

Weirdest laws from around the world

In Finland's taxis, you won't hear the radio on, and in Cambodia, water guns are confiscated.

More laws

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Patriot Act used mostly for drug war, very little for war on terror

In the debate over the PATRIOT Act, the Bush White House insisted it needed the authority to search people’s homes without their permission or knowledge so that terrorists wouldn’t be tipped off that they’re under investigation.

Now that the authority is law, how has the Department of Justice used the new power? To go after drug dealers.

Only three of the 763 “sneak-and-peek” requests in fiscal year 2008 involved terrorism cases, according to a July 2009 report from the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts. Sixty-five percent were drug cases.

DoJ Official Blows Cover Off PATRIOT Act

Hey, ACORN Opponents: Where is the Defund Blackwater Act?

Republican Congressional leaders are continuing their witch-hunt against ACORN, the grassroots community group dedicated to helping poor and working class people. This campaign now unfortunately has gained bi-partisan legislative support in the form of the Defund ACORN Act of 2009 which has now passed the House and Senate. As Ryan Grim at Huffington Post has pointed out, the legislation “could plausibly defund the entire military-industrial complex:”

The congressional legislation intended to defund ACORN, passed with broad bipartisan support, is written so broadly that it applies to “any organization” that has been charged with breaking federal or state election laws, lobbying disclosure laws, campaign finance laws or filing fraudulent paperwork with any federal or state agency. It also applies to any of the employees, contractors or other folks affiliated with a group charged with any of those things.

According to the Project on Oversight and Government Reform, this legislation could potentially eliminate a virtual Who’s Who of war contractors including Lockheed Martin, Boeing and KBR to other corporations such as AT&T, FedEx and Dell.

Perhaps one of the most jarring comparisons here is the fact that ACORN is now being attacked while the Obama administration continues to contract with Blackwater, the favorite mercenary company of the Bush administration, which is headed by Erik Prince, who was a major donor to Republican causes and campaigns, including those of some of the Defund ACORN bill’s sponsors, including Indiana Republican Mike Pence, one of the key figures in hunting down Van Jones. Prince, of course, was recently described by a former employee as a man who “views himself as a Christian crusader tasked with eliminating Muslims and the Islamic faith from the globe,” and that Prince’s companies “encouraged and rewarded the destruction of Iraqi life.”

Jeremy Scahill: Where is the Defund Blackwater Act?

Rash of terror arrests puts many on edge

Foiled bomb plots in Texas and Illinois add to a growing list of terror-related activity.

Attack planned for 9/11

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$10 million for a better light bulb

The Energy Department will award a big prize for a new version of America's most popular bulb. Not fluorescent

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Unsafe drinking water plagues U.S. schools

Lead, pesticides, and dozens of other toxins turn up at schools in all 50 states.

States with most violations

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Timely freebies for the jobless

Many laid-off workers are surprised by what they are being offered for free.

Not just the necessities

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Mom attacks son for eating last pork chop

A California mother is charged with felony child abuse after she attacked her son for eating the last pork chop.

Full Story

The Sun Gets Its Spots (Back)

Two sunspots are visible on our star’s face for the first time in more than a year, possibly ending an unexpected lull in solar activity.

Solar flares rise and fall on an 11-year cycle, so scientists thought sunspot activity would pick up some time in 2008. It didn’t. And this year has been quiet, too. No sunspots have been visible on the sun for 80 percent of the days this year.

Sunspot activity is correlated with the total amount of energy we receive from the sun. If the sun’s activity were to change remarkably, it would have an influence on global climate. So, in the context of climate change, the fact that the current solar minimum has been the longest and deepest in more than a century has been of special interest.

The Sun Gets Its Spots (Back)

Where home prices are hitting bottom

These markets are seeing signs of recovery as the frenzy of price slashing slows.

Good news for top cities

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Bank fees you don't know you're paying

Banks impose sneaky charges on their customers in ways that add up to real money.

5 unexpected fees

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'Secret' uncovered in Pollock painting

Jackson Pollock wove his name into a legendary mural, an art expert contends.

See how it was done

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Fake Video Can Convince Witnesses to Give False Testimony

People believe what they see, and they’re willing to punish each other for it — apparently even when what they’re seeing is a fake video that doesn’t jibe with real-life experience.

Psychologists have long known that our memories of past events can be influenced by misleading information, but now they’ve proven that doctored video evidence can convince people to offer false eyewitness testimony. In a study of 60 college students performing a computerized gambling task, nearly half were willing to testify that they saw their partner cheat in real life after watching fabricated video evidence. Of students who were told that video evidence existed but didn’t watch the footage themselves, only 10 percent gave false testimony. [...]

In the study, each student was paired with a member of the research team disguised as another participant. The pair sat side-by-side and played a computerized gambling game, which involved betting fake money based on the likelihood of answering a multiple choice question correctly. Each person was in charge of keeping track of their own wins; when a subject correctly answered a question, they got to take money from a shared “bank,” and when they incorrectly answered a question, they had to put money back. Participants were told that at the end of the game, the person who made the most money would win a prize.

After the gambling concluded, the researchers used Final Cut Pro to alter a video recording of the game and make it look like the partner had cheated. Five to seven hours after the first task, students were called back to the lab and told that their absent partner was suspected of cheating. One-third of the students were also told that the researchers had video evidence of the cheating, and another one-third got to watch the doctored video themselves.

Before asking participants to sign an eyewitness testimony, the researchers emphasized that no one should testify unless they were 100 percent sure they had seen their partner cheat, and they emphasized that the cheater would be punished. Students who watched the fake video were far more likely to give false testimony than students who heard about the video or were simply told that their partner was suspected of cheating.

Fake Video Can Convince Witnesses to Give False Testimony

Six guiltless 100-calorie desserts

Satisfy your sweet tooth without going overboard on the fat and calories.

Tempting treats

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1.7 sextillion dollar suit filed against B of A

A lawsuit against Bank of America on uncertain grounds is seeking nearly two sextillion dollars in damages:

A billion trillion, also known as a "sextillion," could be written as a 1 followed by 21 zeros. I know the dollar has weakened lately, but a sextillion dollars would still be a lot of money. The gross domestic product of the entire world in 2008 was only $60 trillion, so even if Chiscolm won it might be a little hard to collect.
"These are the kind of numbers you deal with only on a cosmic scale," said Sylvain Cappell, who is New York University's Silver Professor at the Courant Institute for Mathematical Sciences, and so presumably can count really high. "If [Chiscolm] thinks Bank of America has branches on every planet in the cosmos, then it might start to make some sense."

Bank of America Sued for 1.784 Sextillion Dollars

Boo Hoo

Glenn Beck's tough week

The insane wing-nut was mocked like a nerd, accused of frog cooking, and made fun of on "SNL."

And more

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IRS tries to stop unusual deduction

Some people have their homes burned down in exchange for a tax write-off.

ESPN commentator did it

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As the Fortune Cookie crumbles

Last evening the Mrs., and I went to eat Chinese and our fortune cookies were interesting ...

Mine: Genius is the capability to take infinite pains.
(Need to chew on that one a while)

Hers: Come back later ... I am sleeping. (Yes, Cookies need their sleep, too.)
(Thus proving the Fates have a sense of humor after all)

America's loneliest national parks

Unlike parks such as Yosemite and Grand Canyon, these 10 are deserted.

847 visitors for one

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Al Franken reads the Fourth Amendment to DoJ official at PATRIOT Act hearings

Al Franken's Senate career just keeps getting better and better. This week he read the Fourth Amendment ("no Warrants shall issue but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.") aloud to a high-ranking Department of Justice official who was making the case for renewing the PATRIOT Act's provision for roving wiretaps.

"That's pretty explicit language," noted Franken, asking Kris how the "roving wiretap" provision of the Patriot Act can meet that requirement if it doesn't require the government to name its target.
Kris looked flustered and mumbled that "this is surreal," apparently referring to having to respond to Franken's question. "I would defer to the other branch of government," he said, referring to the courts, prompting Franken to interject: "I know what that is."
Kris explained that the courts have held that the law's requirements that the person be described, though not named, is sufficient to meet the demands of the Constitution. That did not appear to completely satisfy Franken's concerns.

Al Franken Reads the 4th Amendment to Justice Department Official

New Airline Fee

British Airways has broken new exciting new ground in the race to make flying as awful as possible: they have announced a fee (ranging from £10-60 per passenger) for advance seat selection, explaining that this will be the only way that families and other groups traveling together can be assured that they'll be sitting next to each other. I wonder what happens if you don't pay it while flying with a two-year-old in her own seat; do they seat her at the other end of the plane from you and explain to the strangers on either side of her that they're responsible for her well-being for the duration?

Best part: BA is billing this as a way of improving the flight "experience" because you can now be certain you'll get the seat that you want. War is peace, love is hate, the airline industry cares about passengers.

A BA spokeswoman said: "Customers frequently request specific seats, but in the past we've only been able to confirm them 24 hours in advance or on the day.
"We know people want to secure them in advance and have real control over their flying experience. This will allow them to do that."

British Airways sets seat charges

More witch-hunting

In its Glenn Brick-driven witch hunt for "czars" in the Obama administration, Faux News has turned its attention to attacking Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools director Kevin Jennings, with Sean Handjob and Faux & Friends asking whether Jennings should be "fired" and whether he is "the guy for the job."

It is amazing how those unqualified for anything are ever spouting off about those that are?!

Faux News targets "safe schools czar" Kevin Jennings

Bizarre Fish Not a Mystery After All?

A bizarre fish recently caught off the coast of Brazil may not be a completely new kind of creature, as originally thought.

Bizarre Fish Not a Mystery After All?

Prehistoric sea cow worshipers

French archaeologists have discovered the oldest known place of worship dedicated to the dugong, or sea cow, on an island just north of Dubai, two research centers said today.

Prehistoric sea cow worshipers

Men accused of unrelated bomb plots

Two men unconnected to each other or to the investigation that has spawned recent national terrorism warnings are in federal custody after attempting to detonate what they thought were bombs outside an Illinois courthouse and a Texas skyscraper, authorities said.

Full Story

Best and worst

'Our best and worst financial moves'

Personal finance experts reveal when they failed to follow their own advice.

Also, their best decisions

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'Four-winged' dino may be missing link

A feathered fossil confirms that birds descended from two-footed dinosaurs, claims a scientist.

Story

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Iran must open secret nuclear site

Obama: Iran must open secret nuclear site

The president and other world leaders demand that Iran grant access to a facility it tried to hide for years.

Story

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Unusual Holidays and Celebrations

Today is

National One Hit Wonder Day

and

Love Note Day

Daily Almanac

Today is Friday, Sept. 25, the 268th day of 2009.

There are 97 days left in the year.

Today In History September 25, 2009

Our Readers

Some of our readers today have been in:

Mississauga, Ontario, Canada
Natal, Rio Grande Do Norte, Brazil
Batangas, Batangas, Philippines
Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany
Windsor, Ontario, Canada
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Paris, Ile-De-France, France
Campiegne, Picardie, France
Perth, Western Australia, Australia
Ho Chi Minh City, Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam
Birmingham England

Daily Horoscope

Today's horoscope says:

Are you ready to make a big impact on someone else's life, today?
Good -- all you need to do is open your heart and be there for that person when they need you.
It won't take much -- a sweet smile, an extra handkerchief, a sympathetic shoulder to cry on.
But the littlest gestures you make will create a positive outcome in the life of someone who could use a friend.
And you don't have to come up with words of encouragement, either.
Listening is all you need to do.

Will do.

Welcome to ...

Friday, September 25, 2009

Naturally Friends

Playlist