'Doomsday' seed vault hits a milestone
Two years after it opened, the Arctic stockpile of global crop seeds reaches the half-million mark.
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Thursday, March 11, 2010
Health-food ideas that won't help you
5 health-food ideas that won't help you
Your diet or fitness plans may not benefit from these popular notions about healthy eating.
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Nurses who earn more than doctors
Nurses who earn more than doctors
One group of specialized nurses earns more than the average primary-care doctor's pay of $173,000.
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World's best budget beach resorts
World's best budget beach resorts
These seaside destinations, all $250 or less per day, promise sun and the simple life.
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And I Quote
- ...when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.
- ~ Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
James Dobson forced out of Focus on the Family
Shall we all have a raucous chorus of Hallelujah!
Dobson is - was - THE leader of the radical religious right.
While we rejoice at the news let's not forget they're still NAZIS even without Hitler!
How insurance companies screw people on the individual market
The analysis shows that people buying health insurance on their own in the individual market from 2004-2007 still paid 52% of their health expenses, on average, out of their own pockets. In other words, people bought insurance and paid premiums and still on average paid for about half of their health costs themselves. This compares with a much lower out-of-pocket share for employer-sponsored coverage of 30%.
This points to what has really been going on in the individual insurance market. There has recently been a great deal of focus on increases in individual insurance premiums such as the proposed Anthem increase in our home state. Such premium increases are eye-popping and greater scrutiny by regulators is appropriate. But there is another phenomenon in the non-group market even more pervasive than large premium hikes; it’s what is known in the industry as "buy-downs." When insurers inform members of large premium hikes, they commonly suggest that the increase can be mitigated (or sometimes even eliminated) by switching to a lower cost policy (which means a policy with higher deductibles and/or greater limits on benefits). Data from ehealthinsurance.com bear this out: The average deductible for family plans in the individual market increased from $2,760 in 2008 to $3,128 in 2009 -- just one year later. After years of these buy-downs, you end up with what we found in our recent analysis; insurance that, on average, pays for only about half of people's health care bills.
Hospital confuses live patient with dead one
A New York hospital could face a malpractice suit after it confused a living patient with a dead one.
Video Catches Postman Sniffing Coke On Route
A Kissimmee, Florida postal worker has been arrested after investigators say he made special drug deliveries on his route.
Tourist in Africa Finds White Worms in Her Eyes
A female Russian tourist, who lived in Equatorial Guinea for six months, will have to undergo treatment for an exotic disease known as Loiasis.
From Treehugger:
Photos via the BBC
It's one of the (if not the) rarest flower in the world: the Middlemist's Red exists in only two known locations: a greenhouse in the UK, and a garden in New Zealand. Imported to Britain two hundred years ago from China, back when flowers where a luxury item, it has since been exterminated in its original homeland. And now the Middlemist is blooming again--nice looking flower, right?
Article continues: Rarest Flower in the World Blooms in the UK (PICS)
Mom and dad, stop stifling me – it's damaging my brain
Overprotective parents don't just limit their children's freedom – they may also slow brain growth in an area linked to mental illness.Mom and dad, stop stifling me – it's damaging my brain
World's oldest rivers mapped under huge desert dunes
Ancient waterways buried beneath Australia's Simpson desert have been traced – even though massive dunes make remote sensing impossible.World's oldest rivers mapped under huge desert dunes
Science News
From BBC-Science:
 | | The mechanism by which thalidomide causes malformed limbs is revealed by scientists. |
Victims' joy at apology | Researchers in Edinburgh say they have solved the mystery of why some chickens hatch out half-male and half-female. |
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Job sectors that are hiring now
6 job sectors that are hiring now
Despite high unemployment, some professions are producing large numbers of open positions.
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Uncle Sam might owe you money
Uncle Sam might owe you money
The IRS says 1.4 million taxpayers are owed refunds from 2006 that they haven't claimed.
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Ways to save money and eat healthier
Ways to save money and eat healthier
Natural and organic foods often carry premium prices, but these Web coupons can help.
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Bank apologizes for seizing wrong home
Bank apologizes for seizing wrong home
Angela Iannelli's doors were padlocked and her parrot stolen — even though the mortgage was paid.
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How the U.S. no-fly list is built
How the U.S. no-fly list is built
There are four steps the government takes before banning a person from flying.
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Why the fight for free TV isn't over
Why the fight for free TV isn't over
Don't read too much into the recent Oscar night agreement; the truce was only temporary.
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Critical supply of Mexican oil shrinking
Critical supply of Mexican oil shrinking
Mexico's readily accessible oil is used up, but politics is keeping more out of reach.
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Greece's crisis a cautionary tale for U.S.
Greece's crisis a cautionary tale for U.S.
Greece is currently a financial mess, and America could be heading down that same road.
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There Could Be Libraries For Everything
From Treehugger:
Trinity College, Dublin
TreeHugger loves Product Service Systems, where you borrow and share instead of own. They are also called libraries, and Kris De Decker of No-Tech Magazine points us to a lovely post by Brian Kaller, a former newspaper reporter now living in rural Ireland. He loves his local library, but more importantly, writes about the principle behind it:
Article continues: There Could Be Libraries For Everything
Scots claim record for kilts going down hill
Scots claim record for kilts going down hill
Ever wonder what the record was for most people going down a ski run on skis and snowboards while wearing kilts? Without mentioning what the record was before Saturday, the BBC reports that the new record was set in Aviemore, Scotland, and now stands at 235. It smacks of the kind of record that is a record only because the people who set it said it is, but still, there were 235 people going down CairnGorm Mountain in kilts. "It was an impressive sight," said spokesman Colin Kirkwood.
Extremely rare penguin photographed
Extremely rare penguin photographed
A "one in a zillion" king penguin is spotted near Antarctica with a bizarre mutation.
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Meet the new richest person in the world
Meet the new richest person in the world
The wealthiest person on the planet isn't Bill Gates or Warren Buffett anymore.
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Gosh darn it, 'midnight knitter' pulls the wool over NJ town
An unknown person dubbed The Midnight Knitter by West Cape May residents is covering tree branches and lamp poles with little sweaters under cover of darkness.
The largest house of cards ever built
The largest house of cards ever built
Bryan Berg breaks a world record for the second time with more than 4,000 decks of cards and no glue.
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Prom canceled after student's date request
Prom canceled after student's date request
Citing "distractions," a school district under pressure from the ACLU calls off prom altogether.
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Robber scored $6 from holding up 11 people at California market
They say crime doesn't pay.
For one robber in California, it did - but not much.
You know times are hard when even the thieves are having it rough.
Food company sold contaminated food and knew about it
Unusual tool solves salmonella mystery
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention traced the recent outbreak with a common shopping item.
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This is a classic example of why the government and not business should be in the lead for food recalls. The FDA could have pushed this a bit faster but compared to the previous FDA, they are doing an incredible job.
The company responsible for a ballooning recall of processed foods continued to manufacture and distribute a flavor-enhancing ingredient for a month after tests confirmed it was made with contaminated equipment, according to a Food and Drug Administration report.
FDA inspectors said the company, Las Vegas-based Basic Food Flavors Inc., knew of salmonella contamination on its equipment after it received the results of a private inspection on Jan. 21. They said the company continued to distribute the ingredient, called hydrolyzed vegetable protein, until Feb. 15.
International fight over the exit sign
International fight over the exit sign
Americans may think the big red word is perfect, but the rest of the world thinks it’s ridiculous.
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Liars and Fools
Liars and Fools
The delusional douchebag is delusional as ever.
No, that was during the eight years of hell for the entire world that was the shrub and the cabal's regin of terror.
This madman gets more and more insane with every sound he utters.
Hey, Lush ... the syphilis acting up again? That was the shrub and the cabal's plan - it failed get over it.
Unhealthiest chicken dishes at restaurants
Unhealthiest chicken dishes at restaurants
One chain's chicken pasta plate has 2,579 calories and 62 grams of saturated fat.
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Woman pleads guilty in plot to kidnap girls
Linda Gonzalez
A woman who helped her estranged husband translate a ransom note into English pleaded guilty Tuesday to conspiracy to commit kidnapping.
Linda Gonzalez, 21, of Edinburg Texas faces a maximum of five years in federal prison for her part in the scheme to kidnap two girls from a bus stop in Cornelius, according to a press release by the U.S. Department of Justice.
The kidnapping plot was Ruben Garcia Rosario's idea, according to court documents. The girls were the daughters of a couple for whom he worked as a painter. He drove by their school bus stop several times, according to police, snapping pictures of the girls with his cell phone camera.
He promised Gonzalez $10,000 if she'd help translate the note, the release says.
Garcia was arrested Sept. 29 and is in Mecklenburg jail, charged with attempted kidnapping and conspiring to kidnap the two girls. Federal immigration officials have also placed a hold on him because he is an illegal immigrant.
The indictment says Garcia and Gonzalez wrote the ransom note over the telephone, which threatened to kill the children if they didn't receive money.
Parents called police in early September, saying a man was at the bus stop in Cornelius early one morning, Cornelius Police Maj. David King said at a news conference following the arrest. The parents provided a description of the car, but it was gone before police arrived.
On Sept. 22, police got another call from parents - the man taking pictures was back, and this time they had a license plate number.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg police arrested Garcia and charged him with driving without a license and carrying a concealed weapon. But after he was interrogated, officers say he told them about the kidnapping scheme.
When officers searched his car, they found several ransom notes, pictures of the girls, a loaded gun, duct tape, latex gloves, a ski mask and two Mexican passports.
East Mecklenburg high school student shot walking home from school
A 15-year-old sophomore girl at East Mecklenburg high school was shot after school yesterday as she passed near a group of men having a fight, police said.
Millions Of Unclaimed Money Awaits On NC Website
The state of North Carolina has $600 million dollars of unclaimed money. That means you could have anywhere from $10...to $10,000 waiting for you...but you just might not realize you're owed the money.
Millions Of Unclaimed Money Awaits On NC Website
'Jihad Jane' has Texas connection
You just knew there had to be ...
The self-described "Jihad Jane" who thought her blond hair and blue eyes would let her blend in as she sought to kill an artist in Sweden is a rare case of an American woman aiding foreign terrorists and shows the evolution of the global threat, authorities say.
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'Jihad Jane' puzzles anti-terror experts
Colleen LaRose's unusual appearance and background have officials rethinking their strategy.
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Insurance companies not paying on bad mortgage insurance
What a great business model. Sign contracts to deliver a service and then balk when asked to follow through.
Mortgage insurers are rescinding (denying) claims, claiming themselves that the loans were fraudulent and misrepresented to them.
"The broker dealers, Bear Stearns, Countrywide even ResCap that was part of GM at the time, they used underwriting standards that were a little bit looser than what we see with the normal conforming market," says Chris Whalen of Institutional Risk Analytics. "In those cases, the default rates are in double digits and there's a lot more claims for what we call rescission or really putting back the loan to the originator by the insurer and saying, 'Hey, this loan wasn't kosher, and I shouldn't have insured it in the first place.'"
Valuable tax breaks for parents
10 valuable tax breaks for parents
Having children can lower your IRS bill in many ways, beyond just claiming kids as dependents.
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U.S. births set for historic shift
U.S. births set for historic shift
2010 could prove to be a tipping point for the country's population makeup, data shows.
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What six unusual jobs really pay
What six unusual jobs really pay
Bounty hunters, bodyguards, and private investigators can all earn more than you may think.
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Change in format
You might have noticed a format change here at Carolina Naturally.
In the past couple of days we changed the post format to a daily post page format in lieu of a posts per page format so that our readers can read all of the day's posts on one page.
Today is ...
Today is Thursday, March 11, the 70th day of 2010.
There are 295 days left in the year.
Today's unusual holiday or celebration is:
Johnny Appleseed Day
Our Readers
Some of our readers today have been in:
Lublin, Lubelskie, Poland
London, England United Kingdom
Paris, Ile-De-France, France
Brussels, Brussels Hoofdstedelijk Gewest, Belgium
Vernon, British Columbia, Canada
as well as Scotland, and the United States in such cities as Broken Arrow, Mineola, Pewaukee, Bealeton, El Mirage, Leavenworth, Omaha, Duluth, Lubec and more
Daily Horoscope
Today's horoscope says:
Feeling excessive?
Impractical?
Like if it's not worth a risk, it's not worth anything at all?
It's not as if you've never, ever felt this way before, but right now you have it bad.
You have an ailment characterized by the inability to do anything at all in moderation.
Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on your perspective) it's temporary.
Get busy.
How busy?
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