Prejean Emails Show Arrogance; Lack of Professional Conduct

A series of emails between Keith Lewis, Miss California USA director, and former Miss California Carrie Prejean shows a lack of professionalism on her part, as well as arrogance. For some, this can be said to be the reason she was fired, but there is doubt the story is over yet.

Full Story

President Obama Makes Light of Office Spill

Not just oops. Oval Office oops.

Hustling into place, a sound technician working for the foreign press knocked over a glass of water on President Barack Obama's desk on Friday with the long handle of the boom microphone she was carrying.

President Obama Makes Light of Office Spill

In the News ...

18 yr old arrested in Florida cat mutilations

A South Florida teenager was arrested early Sunday and accused of killing and mutilating the cats of his neighbors - a disturbing string of deaths that has horrified residents and shaken animal lovers in two Miami-area communities.

NY Family Arrested, Kept Kids in Squalor

Family members charged with keeping seven children in a feces-strewn, filthy home on Long Island have entered not guilty pleas in court.

Baba O'Riley

Blue Man Group (live)

Bosses' bizarre bids to motivate

More than half of bosses have become worse at motivating their staff since the recession began, resorting to bizarre behavior to make people work harder, according to a report today.

Bosses' bizarre bids to motivate

Mystery Worms Invade Northwest China

Seemingly part of the special effects of a bad horror movie, an invasion of long, thorny, green worms with black stripes in northwest China has forced the evacuation of some 50 herdsmen and their families from their grassland homes.

Full Story

Ice Age 3: Dawn of the Dinosaurs

Coming July 4, 2009.

AIG refuses to pay Flight 1549 crash claims

Not a news story but Standard Operating Procedure for the insurance company.

The only thing they 'insure' is they own bank accounts and F*@k the rest of you, just like every other 'insurance' company out there - you pay them for nothing and are required by law to do so ... sweet set up, isn't it!

The insurer for US Airways won't compensate passengers for hospital bills or lost luggage resulting from the crash landing on the Hudson.

AIG refuses to pay Flight 1549 crash claims

Also:

• Disaster was avoided by inches
• Excerpts of cockpit communications

Daily Funny

What do you call 20 lawyers skydiving?

The perfect setup for skeet shooting.

$134.5 BILLION worth of US bonds seized from smugglers at Swiss border

Two Japanese smugglers were nabbed on the Italian-Swiss border with a suitcase whose false bottom was stuffed with $134.5 billion in US treasury bonds, including two one billion dollar Kennedy bonds (a denomination used for national currency reserves). Either these guys are the world's dumbest, most ambitious counterfeiters, or they're the biggest currency smugglers ever caught.

It gets better, folks: Italian law says that the penalty for currency smuggling is 40% of the seized cash, and that 40% (US$28 billion) will take a whopping bite out of Italy's public debt.

If the certificates were real, for Italy it would be like hitting the jackpot. The fine alone would amount to US$ 38 billion, five times the estimated cost of rebuilding quake-devastated Abruzzi region. It would help Italy's eliminate its public deficit.

If the certificates are fakes the two Japanese nationals could get a very lengthy jail sentence for fraud.

As soon as the seizure was made the US Embassy in Rome was informed. Italian and US secret services were called in to assist the Italian financial police.

Some important international financial newspapers had already reported on the existence of 'funny money' circulating on parallel, i.e. unofficial, financial markets.

US government securities seized from Japanese nationals

Wow - that's some BIG money!

And I Quote

Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear, not absence of fear.

~ Mark Twain

Miniatur Wunderland

For a couple of friends who are ape for trains.

Worlds Largest Model Railway

Argentine glacier advances despite global warming

Argentina's Perito Moreno glacier is one of only a few ice fields worldwide that have withstood rising global temperatures.

Argentine glacier advances despite global warming

Holocaust Museum Terrorist Expected to Survive

At least until he is fried that is ...

Authorities say the terrorist charged with killing a security guard at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum will likely survive the injuries he suffered when other museum guards returned fire.

Holocaust Museum Terrorist Expected to Survive

Netanyahu accepts limited Palestinian state

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu endorses the creation of a limited Palestinian state for the first time.

Netanyahu's dramatic reversal on Palestinian state

Also:

• Find more on Benjamin Netanyahu
• Ahmadinejad dismisses election unrest

In another take on this story ...

Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu on Sunday called for creation of a limited Palestinian state for the first time, saying it would have to be disarmed.

Netanyahu accepts limited Palestinian state

Little Red Riding Rabbit

Bugs Bunny

Pakistan orders army to go after Taliban chief

Finally ...

Pakistan ordered its army to go after the country's top Taliban commander, a feared militant whose remote stronghold could prove a difficult test for troops but whose demise would be a major blow to the insurgencies there and in Afghanistan.

Pakistan orders army to go after Taliban chief

Most vulnerable restaurant chains

See which popular restaurants may be in trouble as the economy tries to recover.

Most vulnerable restaurant chains

Also:

• Chain menus may start listing calories
• Zagat names top fast-food chain

Blogging: The Dream versus The Reality

Fortunately Carolina Naturally has fared a wee bit better than that ... just a wee bit mind you.
But considering we began with the expectation of maybe one reader if we where lucky - having an average of 600 readers a day and being in the top five percent of the over 100 million blogs out there is not too shabby.
Thanks to all our readers.

Lincoln Stamp Stolen then Sold for $431,000

A rare Abraham Lincoln stamp that was stolen from an Indianapolis collector in 1967 and surfaced 39 years later in Chicago has sold at auction for more than $430,000 in NYC.

Stolen then Sold for $431,000

High school student designs computer software to shut teachers out of grading system

A high school computer whiz didn't get a high grade for a recent feat: designing software to shut teachers out of the grading system.

High school student designs computer software to shut teachers out of grading system

Are 3,000-mile oil changes really necessary?

From car maintenance to warehouse clubs, see if it's worth spending your money on these 10 services.

Are 3,000-mile oil changes really necessary?

Also:

• 7 things that suddenly cost more
• Ireland hit with deflation

Collision between Earth and Venus 'possible'

A phenomenon known as "orbital chaos" could lead to a smashup between Earth and Venus or Mars, researchers say.

Collision between Earth and Venus 'possible'

Also:

• Teen hit by tiny meteorite
• Huge star mysteriously shrinks

Cats, furry walls and weird faces... the sights of sore eyes

You may be surprised to learn that macular degeneration is a collective term for more than 1,500 conditions which affect central vision damage to the macula, a small area of the retina at the back of the eye.

Cats, furry walls and weird faces... the sights of sore eyes

Unusual Holidays and Celebrations

Today happens to be:

World Blood Donor Day
and
Family History Day

Today is a National Holiday

Today is Flag Day if you are interested.

Daily Almanac

Today is Sunday, June 14, the 165th day of 2009.
There are 200 days left in the year.

Today In History June 14

Headlines

Headlines:

• Election battles turn into street fights in Iran
• US rejects victory claim by Iran's Ahmadinejad
• Defying sanctions, North Korea vows to make more nukes
• Obama pledges to quickly sign anti-smoking bill
• Where does Judge Sotomayor stand on school issues?
• French dam to be turned into 'world's biggest sundial'
• World reacts cautiously to Iranian's re-election
• Iraqi leaders rally after murder of Sunni lawmaker
• Report: Feud, falsehoods sparked US Afghan attack
• US suspect says she saw slain woman as a friend
• Air France jet sent message on rudder problem
• Obama wants tighter checks on banks, Wall Street
• Ahmadinejad defends vote as 'real and free'
• North Korea warns of nuclear war amid rising tensions
• Netanyahu could use Iran vote in policy speech
• Congress finally gets tough on food safety with bill
• Bill Clinton jumps into 2010 election cycle to boost allies
• Week's top photos: Colbert shorn, botox for unemployed
• Yemen says 9 foreigners kidnapped in north
• Belarus raises stakes in dispute with Russia

North Korea warns of nuclear war

Play Video

The Communist regime has vowed to step up its atomic bomb-making program in defiance of new U.N. sanctions.

North Korea warns of nuclear war

Also:

• Biden: Enforcing sanctions a priority
• Analysis: Why aggression now

Our Readers

Some of our readers today have been in:

Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Laval, Quebec, Canada
London, England, United Kingdom
Berlin, Berlin, Germany
Craiova, Dolj, Romania
Ankara, Ankara, Turkey
Delhi, Delhi, India
Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand
Kelowna, British Columbia. Canada
Mississauga, Ontario, Canada
Cartagena, Murcia, Spain
Kitchener, Ontario, Canada
Cebu, Cebu City, Philippines
Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada
Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
Ujung Pandang, Sulawesi Selatan, Indonesia
Sofia, Grad Sofiya, Bulgaria
Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan
Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
Manila, Manila, Philippines
Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom
Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil
Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico
Trondheim, Sor-Trondelag, Norway
Brussels, Brussels Hoofdstedelijk Gewest, Belgium

Daily Horoscope

Today's horoscope says:

You're extremely eager to help, and your empathetic nature can lead to an interesting and fertile connection now.
Sign up to volunteer, and the next thing you know, a fellow volunteer just happens to know someone who can help you with a special project, and so on, and so on.
It's all about keeping the cycle of good karma going, without regard for the benefits that you might accidentally accrue.
Or is it an accident after all?

Cosmic!