Cheney on gay marriage: 'Freedom for everyone'

HOLY SHIT, BATMAN!
I agree with something the Dick said!
The world is most assuredly turned upside down!

Dick Cheney said Monday he supports gays being able to marry but believes states, not the federal government, should make the decision.

Cheney makes candid comments on gay marriage

While I agree with the idea that gays should be allowed to marry - like the comedians have said ... they have the right to be miserable too and marriage has always been 'the same sex' anyway - I am none too sure of the Dick's motives.
That said, his support of 'same-sex' marriage - if genuine - is his only redeeming feature and it is sure to blow up a hell of a dust storm among the troglodyte faithful because it has already stirred up a healthy wind of skepticism among the rest of us.

All government should be out of the 'marriage' business in the first place ... state and federal. What would be the best solution to this quandary would be for the federal government to require all states to recognize marriage licenses from other states ... some do not even with the 'traditional' marriages from other states.

Beatlemania to hit consoles

When you persuade THE BEATLES to reunite, there must be something special in the air.

Beatlemania

Man charged in slaying of abortion doctor

A 51-year-old Kansas man was charged with first-degree murder late Sunday in the death of a physician whose Kansas women's clinic frequently took center stage in the U.S. debate over abortion, authorities said.

Full Story

Weather phenomenon worries meteorologists

Play Video

As hurricane season begins "pop up storms" pose a unique threat.

Weather phenomenon

Also:

• Hurricane names announced
• Strange lightning a warning

Faster

George Harrison

Vast ocean search under way for Air France jet

Play Video

Military aircraft is scanning the Atlantic, but the first ship isn't expected to reach the area of the plane's disappearance until Wednesday.

Search under way for Air France jet

Also:

• Timeline
• Last known location

What 'value menu' items really cost restaurants

A survey of franchise owners reveals how much stores are making — and losing — on fast-food promotions.

What 'value menu' items really cost restaurants

Also:

• Diet-friendly fast-food picks
• Shocking 'healthy' foods

Obama puts 31-year-old in charge of fixing GM

Brian Deese just got out of graduate school and is now tasked with revamping General Motors.

Obama puts 31-year-old in charge of fixing GM

Also:

• Workers ponder life without GM

Alphabet War? GMAC vs ABA

Ally Bank, the banking arm of GMAC Financial Services, is in a budding dispute with the American Bankers Association over the higher interest rates the lender is offering on its savings accounts.

GMAC chief executive Al de Molina today sent a letter to the ABA's leader calling the trade association's recent complaints about its interest rates “inappropriate.” De Molina also defended his bank's health and stressed Ally Bank's effort to be “straightforward” with customers.

De Molina's missive was prompted by a letter last week from ABA CEO Edward Yingling to Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. CEO Sheila Bair that drew attention to GMAC's above-average rates.

“ABA believes it is completely inappropriate, and indeed risky, for GMAC Bank/Ally Bank to be allowed by regulators to continue to pay rates well above the market,” Yingling wrote. “We urge you to apply the same principles that would apply to other banks in a comparable situation to GMAC/Ally.”

GMAC changed the name of its bank to Ally last month and began stressing its commitment to higher rates and fewer fees in a bid to add more deposits at an institution hard hit by the auto industry's travails and a load of bad mortgage loans. GMAC converted to a bank holding company last year to receive federal bailout funds.

In his letter, Yingling said Ally was offering six-month certificates of deposit last month at rates at 2.13 percent, more than double the national average. He called this strategy “egregious” because GMAC is a “troubled bank” in which the government has a “controlling interest.” He also noted that GMAC lost money in 2008 and the first-quarter of 2009.

In his response, de Molina said the bank is considered more than “well capitalized,” no longer makes the mortgage loans that have spurred its losses and is lending as required under the government's Troubled Asset Relief Program. In a filing Friday, GMAC said the government holds 35 percent of the voting power in the company.

“You might want to assist your members in figuring out how they are going to compete in the new market place rather than ask regulators to direct Ally Bank to pay its depositors less competitive rates,” de Molina wrote.

Detroit-based GMAC has been expanding its presence in Charlotte, where de Molina, Bank of America's former chief financial officer, lives. Its hiring of former Bank of America executives has addled his former employer, which has sent letters to former employees now at GMAC reminding them of their obligations under non-compete and other agreements.

*****

Don't you just love it when these snakes in-fight!

Swine Flu in Mecklenburg

Mecklenburg County has its first confirmed case of swine flu.

The Mecklenburg County Health Department spoke about its first case this morning at a 10:30a.m. news conference.

The elementary school student contracted the swine flu when the family visited New York Memorial Day weekend, said Dr. Stephen Keener. The child was well on Friday, but fell ill on Monday when the family returned by car to their home in Mecklenburg County.

The child was in contact with an ill person in New York, but Keener could not confirm if that person had the swine flu.

The child did not go to school and was admitted to Carolinas Medical Center on Wednesday. The child has since been discharged. The child is isolated at home, Keener said.

"There is no intervention that needs to be done with the school because there was no exposure at the school," Keener said. It is not known what school the child attends.

The child has only had close contact with her parents. So far the parents have not shown any symptoms.

*****

North Carolina now has 15 total cases of swine flu, although the state still has far fewer cases than some of its neighbors. Federal health officials have counted about 9,000 confirmed swine flu cases nationwide.

South Carolina officials report 37 people have been diagnosed since the first case in the state was confirmed in late April. A handful were hospitalized, but no one has died. Nearly 300 people suspected of having the virus were asked to stay home under voluntary isolation for up to a week.

Most of the cases were linked to a private school in Newberry whose students had returned April 20 from a trip to Mexico.

Officials say the voluntary quarantines and quick dispensing of medicine helped contain the virus in South Carolina.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has linked the virus to 15 deaths in the United States.

Headlines

Headlines for the day:

• Pakistan militants abduct 400 students in troubled region
• Chasing ghosts: Fighting the Taliban - if the U.S. can find them
• Suspect identified in Kansas abortion doctor's killing
• Gay-marriage complicating San Francisco mayor's run for governor
• British singing star Susan Boyle suffering from exhaustion
• President Obama makes good on campaign promise to Michelle
• Missing French jet hit thunderstorms over Atlantic
• AP NEWSBREAK: U.S. military tweets
• Canadian at Guantanamo asks to dismiss US lawyers
• Netanyahu rejects U.S. calls for settlement freeze
• Reports: North Korea prepares long-range missile launch
• UK singing star Susan Boyle suffering exhaustion

In the News ...

Oil climbs to near $68, new high for the year Oil prices rose to near $68 a barrel Monday, hitting a new high for the year as world stock markets rallied and investors banked on hopes that the global recession is easing.

Stocks open higher on more signs of recovery Stocks are starting June with a gain, as upbeat data on overseas manufacturing and U.S. consumer spending added to hopes for a global economic recovery.

General Motors to close or idle 12 more plants General Motors Corp. says it will permanently close nine more plants and idle three others to trim production and labor costs under bankruptcy protection.Assembly plants in Pontiac, Mich., and Wilmington, Del., will close this year, while plants in Spring Hill, Tenn., and Orion, Mich., will shut down production but remain on standby.

Nutritionist Charged in Fraud Case A Silver Spring nutritionist who was convicted of Medicaid fraud last year has now been charged with mortgage fraud.

Mom finds abducted son on Facebook A British woman has been reunited with her son, who was abducted by his father 27 years ago, thanks to the social networking Web site Facebook.

Judge OKs Chrysler-Fiat Deal Judge OKs Chrysler-Fiat Deal Chrysler LLC has told a bankruptcy court it plans to eliminate 789 of its dealers - or about 25 percent of them - across the country as part of its restructuring process.

And I Quote

No great discovery was ever made without a bold guess.

~ Sir Isaac Newton

Science News

In Science News:

The 'epicentre' of a space storm is pinpointed for the first time

Harper Valley PTA

Jeannie C. Riley

Duluth Man Makes Music From Bizarre Instruments

Tim Kaiser started out playing the guitar, then made the illogical transition to playing the rotary phone.

Music From Bizarre Instruments

Far-flung dino?

It's a Jurassic curiosity: As far as anyone can tell, the fossilized, three-toed dinosaur tracks in north-central Wyoming and on Scotland's coast are indistinguishable.

Wyoming, Scotland tracks cue study

Warship fires on village by mistake

The Russian navy said on Friday that one of its anti-submarine ships had fired artillery at a village by mistake, state RIA news agency reported.

Full Story

Taiwan confiscates cocaine-laced energy drinks

Taiwanese authorities say they have confiscated nearly 18,000 cases of Red Bull energy drinks containing slight traces of cocaine and imported from Austria.

Full Story

Remains of Loch Ness-style creature found

The remains of a Loch Ness-style creature that lived in the English Channel 200 million years ago have been found on a beach.

Full Story

Jogger injured after using Twitter as he ran

James Coleman, a jogger, has become the first man in Britain to suffer a 'twinjury' - an injury sustained while using Twitter.

Full Story

Drowning man kept alive with tube

A HIRE boat operator has been hailed a hero after using a vacuum cleaner hose to save a worker trapped underwater by machinery.

Full Story

Air France Flight Missing

An Air France flight that has gone missing on its way from Brazil to France has 228 people on board, Air France said on Monday.

The flight left Rio de Janeiro on Sunday at 07.00 p.m. local time and was expected in Paris on Monday at 11.15 a.m. (0915 GMT), a spokesman said.

There are 216 passengers and 12 crew on board the plane.

*****

Disappearances over the Atlantic aren't new, but is has been a while since the last one.

*****

Air France plane disappears mid-flight

A plane carrying 228 people from Brazil to Paris hits strong turbulence and goes missing.

And I Quote

The essence of all art is to have pleasure in giving pleasure.

~ Dale Carnegie

Question and Answer

Q: How many managers does it take to change a light bulb?

A: We've formed a task force to study the problem of why light bulbs burn out, and figure out what, exactly, we as supervisors can do to make the bulbs work smarter, not harder.

Bing gets it right

When you type "miserable failure" into a search engine on the internet the first result is the shrub or at least in used to be ... in 2007 Google 'protected' the shrub from showing up as the first result for miserable failure. Bing doesn't.

What is amusing about this is that as of today (right now as a matter of fact) on Google the first result for a search of "miserable failure" is a listing of their 'bomb' removal of the first result being the shrub - so even though they bar the shrub from being the 'first' result for "miserable failure" , he still shows up as the first result.

You cannot block the truth!

Life Of Illusion

Joe Walsh

Man threatening suicide is pushed off bridge

A man was pushed off a bridge by an angry passer-by after his threat to commit suicide held up traffic for five hours, it has been reported.

Suicide threat man pushed off bridge by passer-by

Giant Feral Pig Ate Cow - Mystery 'Solved'

A mystery surrounding pictures of a giant feral pig allegedly shot in Australia after it was spotted eating a dead cow has reportedly been solved.

Mystery 'Solved'

Weird Drinking Laws

Underage folks may find the "21 and over" rule to be weird. People wanting to buy beer seven days a week may find the fact that liquor stores are closed on Sundays in many states to be strange.

Weird Drinking Laws

Bride rescues family from house fire

A Connecticut family was saved from a house fire by a newlywed who rushed inside through thick smoke while wearing her wedding gown.

Bride rescues family from house fire

America's most promising cities for jobs

These places already have solid job markets, but they also have the right elements to create new, well-paying positions in the future.

Most promising

Also:

• Plight of Sunbelt states
• Foreclosures add to hurricane hazards

We got a month all to our own!

June is International Men's Month

In keeping with that theme we the staff here at Carolina Naturally (all two of us) will be featuring stories of interest to men - so naked women and beer here we come!

No seriously we will feature 'real' articles of interest other than the stereotypical ...

Unusual Holidays and Celebrations

June happens to be:

Perennial Gardening Month
Turkey Lovers Month
Bathroom Reading Month
National Iced Tea Month

The Power of the Wind

From BBC-Science

Ranchers driving wind revolution Wind farms on the US's high plains could eventually help power the country's coastal population centers, experts say.

General Motors files for bankruptcy

The automaker's filing is the largest industrial bankruptcy in U.S. history.

General Motors files for bankruptcy

Our Readers

Some of our readers today have been in:

Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
London, England, United Kingdom
Ramat Gan, Tel Aviv, Israel
Groningen, Groningen, Netherlands
Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
Worcester, England, United Kingdom
New Delhi, Delhi, India
Medicine Hat, Alberta, Canada
Munich, Bayern, Germany
Luqa, Luqa, Malta
Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom
Amsterdam, Noord-Holland, Netherlands

as well as Wales, and the United States

Daily Horoscope

Today's horoscope says:

It's not usually tough to get along with you.
To dear ones, you're almost predictable because you're so grounded, stable and solid.
Those traits won't apply to you now, though, especially since once you open your mouth, you'll be anything but predictable.
Kind of fun to surprise them every now and then, though, huh?

You bet it is!