The shrub reported to be drinking heavily

With less than two months remaining in office, George W. Bush, witnessing a devastating defeat for the Republican Party, worse favorability ratings than those of Richard Nixon at the height of the Watergate scandal, and the most devastating economic situation since the Great Depression, is reported by a number of well-placed sources in Washington as drinking heavily.

After having tried to explain away the collapse of several Wall Street brokerage houses by saying, “Wall Street got drunk,” it appears that it is Bush who is suffering from bouts of drunkenness.

According to informed sources who spoke to WMR, Bush was visibly drunk at the recent G-20 economic summit in Washington and at the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Lima, Peru.

Read the rest here.

India arrests two in Mumbai probe

One of the two Indian men arrested for illegally buying mobile phone cards used by the gunmen in the Mumbai attacks was a counterinsurgency police officer who may have been on an undercover mission, security officials said Saturday, demanding his release.

The arrests, announced in the eastern city of Calcutta, were the first since the bloody siege ended. But what was touted as a rare success for India's beleaguered law enforcement agencies, quickly turned sour as police in two Indian regions squared off against one another.

Senior police officers in Indian Kashmir, which has been at the heart of tensions between India and Pakistan, demanded the release of the officer, Mukhtar Ahmed, saying he was one of their own and had been involved in infiltrating Kashmiri militant groups.

Read the rest here.

And I Quote

I heard guys say they got into rock and roll to pick up women. I didn`t get into rock to pick up women, but I sure adapted.

~ Ted Nugent

They killed their neighbors: genocide's foot soldiers

Adolf Hitler, Pol Pot, Slobodan Milosevic. They are household names, infamous for masterminding genocide. But who were the foot soldiers who did the dirty work?

In many cases they were equally notorious in their communities because they were the friends, neighbors and co-workers of those they raped, slaughtered and buried alive.

Read the rest here.

I know it had to be a mis-print, they left the shrub off the list above of genocidal nut-cases.

Canadian coroner matches pair of mysterious feet

An pathology investigator has matched a pair of dismembered female feet that mysteriously washed up on the shores of British Columbia, the coroner's service said Saturday.

The British Columbia coroner matched a female right foot discovered on Canada's West coast in November with a left foot discovered in May.
Both were encased in New Balance running shoes.

They were among five feet that have mysteriously floated ashore along the Strait of Georgia between Vancouver Island and the British Columbia mainland since August 2007.

A sixth foot was found on the shores of Washington State's Orcas Island in Puget Sound in August. All six were found in athletic shoes.

"In all cases, these remains appear to have naturally separated from the body," said the B.C. Coroners Service.

Obama's Saturday Address to the nation

Here is a transcript of the video:

Remarks of President-elect Barack Obama
Radio Address on the Economy
Saturday, December 6, 2008

Good morning.

Yesterday, we received another painful reminder of the serious economic challenge our country is facing when we learned that 533,000 jobs were lost in November alone, the single worst month of job loss in over three decades. That puts the total number of jobs lost in this recession at nearly 2 million.

But this isn’t about numbers. It’s about each of the families those numbers represent. It’s about the rising unease and frustration that so many of you are feeling during this holiday season. Will you be able to put your kids through college? Will you be able to afford health care? Will you be able to retire with dignity and security? Will your job or your husband’s job or your daughter’s or son's job be the next one cut?

These are the questions that keep so many Americans awake at night. But it is not the first time these questions have been asked. We have faced difficult times before, times when our economic destiny seemed to be slipping out of our hands. And at each moment, we have risen to meet the challenge, as one people united by a sense of common purpose. And I know that Americans can rise to the moment once again.

But we need action – and action now. That is why I have asked my economic team to develop an economic recovery plan for both Wall Street and Main Street that will help save or create at least two and a half million jobs, while rebuilding our infrastructure, improving our schools, reducing our dependence on oil, and saving billions of dollars.

We won’t do it the old Washington way. We won’t just throw money at the problem. We’ll measure progress by the reforms we make and the results we achieve -- by the jobs we create, by the energy we save, by whether America is more competitive in the world.

Today, I am announcing a few key parts of my plan. First, we will launch a massive effort to make public buildings more energy-efficient. Our government now pays the highest energy bill in the world. We need to change that. We need to upgrade our federal buildings by replacing old heating systems and installing efficient light bulbs. That won’t just save you, the American taxpayer, billions of dollars each year. It will put people back to work.

Second, we will create millions of jobs by making the single largest new investment in our national infrastructure since the creation of the federal highway system in the 1950s. We’ll invest your precious tax dollars in new and smarter ways, and we’ll set a simple rule – use it or lose it. If a state doesn’t act quickly to invest in roads and bridges in their communities, they’ll lose the money.

Third, my economic recovery plan will launch the most sweeping effort to modernize and upgrade school buildings that this country has ever seen. We will repair broken schools, make them energy-efficient, and put new computers in our classrooms. Because to help our children compete in a 21st century economy, we need to send them to 21st century schools.

As we renew our schools and highways, we’ll also renew our information superhighway. It is unacceptable that the United States ranks 15th in the world in broadband adoption. Here, in the country that invented the internet, every child should have the chance to get online, and they’ll get that chance when I’m President – because that’s how we’ll strengthen America’s competitiveness in the world.

In addition to connecting our libraries and schools to the internet, we must also ensure that our hospitals are connected to each other through the internet. That is why the economic recovery plan I’m proposing will help modernize our health care system – and that won’t just save jobs, it will save lives. We will make sure that every doctor’s office and hospital in this country is using cutting edge technology and electronic medical records so that we can cut red tape, prevent medical mistakes, and help save billions of dollars each year.

These are a few parts of the economic recovery plan that I will be rolling out in the coming weeks. When Congress reconvenes in January, I look forward to working with them to pass a plan immediately. We need to act with the urgency this moment demands to save or create at least two and a half million jobs so that the nearly two million Americans who’ve lost them know that they have a future. And that’s exactly what I intend to do as President of the United States.

Thanks for listening.

North Carolina Bans Telemarketing Firm

In what is great news for those of us living in North Carolina - There will be one less annoying call from telemarketers.
Now if other states will follow where we lead , the scourge of the telemarketers will cease to exist.

Dateline Raleigh:

A telemarketing company that promised to provide customers a credit card and an improved credit rating in exchange for a fee has been ordered to stop soliciting in North Carolina.

Attorney General Roy Cooper's office announced Friday that it had won a court order against Enterprise Technology Group Inc. of Florida, which does business as Ameritrust and Ameritrust Financial Card.

Cooper's office filed suit this week against the company. The attorney general said the company called North Carolinians on the Do Not Call Registry and offered a credit card that would improve their credit ratings for an upfront fee of $200 to $300.

Consumers who agreed to the service had to provide their checking account information, and the fee was deducted immediately, according to Cooper's office. But most people said they never received a credit card or that they received a card that could be used only for merchandise from the company's Web site or catalog.

*****

One scam down - but many more to go! In this house telemarketers get a bullhorn set at its highest pitch blasted straight into their ears so no one calls back a second time! Serves them right too!

Growing up poor can impair kids' prefrontal cortex activity

A paper in the Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience describes a study that concludes that poor children aged 9 and 10 are likely to have lowered brain activity, comparable to a stroke victim. The researchers say that it's due to growing up in a stressful, "resource poor" environment, with "fewer books, less reading, fewer games, fewer visits to museums." However, the effects can be remediated through playing stimulating games.

"When paying attention to the triangles, the prefrontal cortex helps you process the visual stimuli better. And the prefrontal cortex is even more involved in detecting novelty, like the unexpected photographs," he said. But in both cases, "the low socioeconomic kids were not detecting or processing the visual stimuli as well. They were not getting that extra boost from the prefrontal cortex."

"These kids have no neural damage, no prenatal exposure to drugs and alcohol, no neurological damage," Kishiyama said. "Yet, the prefrontal cortex is not functioning as efficiently as it should be. This difference may manifest itself in problem solving and school performance."

Poor Children's Brain Activity Resembles That Of Stroke Victims, EEG Shows

Angry laid-off workers occupy factory in Chicago

In yet another sign of how we have been and are being screwed by the repugicans and their sycophants ...

Workers who got three days' notice their factory was shutting its doors have occupied the building and say they won't go home without assurances they'll get severance and vacation pay they say they are owed.

About 200 union workers occupied the Republic Windows and Doors plant in shifts Saturday while union leaders outside criticized a Wall Street bailout they say is leaving laborers behind.
Leah Fried, an organizer with the United Electrical Workers, said the Chicago-based vinyl window manufacturer failed to give 60 days' notice required by law before shutting down.

During the peaceful takeover, workers have been shoveling snow and cleaning the building, Fried said.
"We're doing something we haven't since the 1930s, so we're trying to make it work," Fried said.

Protest organizers said the company can't pay employees because its creditor, Charlotte, N.C.-based Bank of America, won't let them.
Crain's Chicago Business reported that Republic Windows' monthly sales had fallen to $2.9 million from $4 million during the past month.
In a memo to the union, obtained by the business journal, Republic CEO Rich Gillman said the company had "no choice but to shut our doors."

Bank of America received $25 billion from the government's financial bailout package.
"Across cultures, religions, union and nonunion, we all say this bailout was a shame," said Richard Berg, president of Teamsters Local 743.
"If this bailout should go to anything, it should go to the workers of this country."

Outside the plant, protesters wore stickers and carried signs that said, "You got bailed out, we got sold out."

Larry Spivack, regional director for American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, Council 31, said the peaceful action will add to Chicago's rich history in the labor movement, which includes the 1886 Haymarket affair, when Chicago laborers and anarchists gathering in a square on the city's west side drew national attention when an unidentified person threw a bomb at police
"The history of workers is built on issues like this here today," Spivack said.

Police spokeswoman Laura Kubiak said authorities were aware of the situation and officers were patrolling the area.

Workers were angered when company officials didn't show up for a meeting Friday that had been arranged by U.S. Rep. Luis Gutierrez, a Chicago Democrat, Fried said.
Union officials said another meeting with the company is scheduled for Monday afternoon.

"We're going to stay here until we win justice," said Blanca Funes, 55, of Chicago, after occupying the building for several hours.
Speaking in Spanish, Funes said she fears losing her home without the wages she feels she's owed.
A 13-year employee of Republic, she estimated her family can make do for three months without her paycheck.

Police chief urges struggling parents not to steal

In another sign of how bad the world economy is due to the repugicans:

A British police chief has warned financially strapped parents not to steal gifts for their children this Christmas.

Cambridgeshire's Chief Constable Julie Spence says parents shouldn't give in to the temptation to shoplift toys they can't afford.
In a podcast to her force's Web site, she says: "What might start out as an idea to keep a child happy could finish with a criminal record, a substantial financial penalty and the social stigma of being known as a thief.
Spence says: "Don't be pressured into stealing. Nothing can ever be worth that final sacrifice."

Britain's economy has been battered by the global financial meltdown, and a recent leaked government document predicted the economic turmoil would result in a rise in crime.

Obama does the Top Ten

Here is why Obama was elected! In this clip from January 28, 2008 Obama gives us the 'Top Ten Obama Campaign Promises' on The Late Show with David Letterman.

Anyone who can and does see humor in themselves and is willing to run with it is a well rounded and fully grounded person.
And anyone who will do so before an audience of 10 million 'live' is more than ready to be in a position such as the President of the United States.
Even more so when that person has the ability to listen, the ability to articulate correctly and clearly and completely, the ability to look forward and the desire to bring others along with them into the future.

We have arrived ...

...Sort of ...

At 1:05AM this morning Carolina Naturally had a PageRank of 7 out of 10.
(PageRank is Google's view of the importance of this page 7/10)

At 1:08AM this morning Carolina Naturally had a PageRank of 1 out of 10.

Clearly Google had a moment of clarity and epiphany however it was some clouded after a brief dalliance with the brilliant light unable to handle the luminescence.

So we lurch along at the blinding speed of a snail up the ladder of importance on Google while we have surpassed Warp-10 on the importance ladder for several other search engines.

Welcome new readers

Carolina Naturally welcomes our newest readers from our newest country:

American Samoa

Glad you found us.

This makes 147 out of 196! Only 49 more to go!

Quake hits Mojave Desert in Southern California

A moderate earthquake struck a sparsely populated area of California's Mojave Desert on Friday night.
The shaking was felt from Southern California to the fringes of Nevada and Arizona, but there were no immediate reports of damage.
The 5.1-magnitude temblor struck just outside Ludlow on Interstate 40 in San Bernardino County, about 120 miles east of Los Angeles, the U.S. Geological Survey said.
The initial reports measured the quake at 5.5-magnitude.

*****

OK, I give up. Just what constitutes a major earthquake and what constitutes a moderate earthquake and is there such thing as a mild earthquake? An earthquake is an earthquake people. The ground moves and it normally doesn't do that! And from where I sit, the ground moving isn't the best thing to happen since sliced bread.

Daily Horoscope

My horoscope for the day says:

You're so busy you don't have time to waste.

Duh, and which truck did they just fall off the back of to be so astute!