CAROLINA NATURALLY: May 3, 2010

Monday, May 3, 2010

The Daily Drift

The Daily Drift

Today's horoscope says:
You've been somewhat suspicious for a while, but now you know for sure -- something just isn't working out, and it's time to do something about it.
Luckily, your energy is perfect for sweeping away whatever's bothering you -- as long as you're willing to do some grunt work.
That includes taking stock of your behavior and what's worked in the past.
Then, leap to take advantage of your new opportunities.

Some of our readers today have been in:

Klaipeda, Klaipdedos Apskritis, Lithuania

Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico

Haderslev, Sonderjylland, Denmark

Paris, Ile-De-France, France

Chatswood, New South Wales, Australia

Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand

Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Stratford-Upon-Avon, England, United Kingdom

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Manchester, England, United Kingdom

Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

Balikpapan, Kalimantan Timur, Indonesia

Amsterdam, Noord-Holland, Netherlands

Warsaw, Mazowieckie, Poland

Seoul, Kyonggi-Do, Korea

Navi Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

Copenhagen, Kobenhavn, Denmark

New Delhi, Delhi, India

London, England, United Kingdom

as well as the United States in such cities such as Medina, Cicero, Oskaloosa, Tempe, Randleman,Waxhaw and more

Today is Monday, May 3, the 123rd day of 2010.

There are 242 days left in the year.

Today In History May 3

Today's unusual holidays and celebrations are:

Garden Meditation Day

Lumpy Rug Day

and

National Two Different Colored Shoes Day

As The World Turns

As The World Turns

Greece to receive $146 billion bailout

The country agrees to drastic cuts in a deal with the European Union and International Monetary Fund.

Reaction

Also:

*****

The State Of The Nation

The State Of The Nation

Powerful storms slam southern U.S.

The death toll mounts in Tenn. and Miss. after heavy flooding and tornadoes.

Highways are raging rivers

Also:

Floodwaters threaten downtown Nashville

Authorities brace for more deaths as the Cumberland River surges past record levels.

Hotels evacuated

Also:

Nonexplosive fertilizer in bomb

Authorities don't know how deadly the bomb could have been or who's responsible.

Possible suspect filmed

Also:

Pakistani group claims NYC car bomb responsibility

Police combed through a charred SUV and a crude assortment of explosives Sunday for clues to a failed Times Square bombing as a monitoring group reported that the Pakistani Taliban had claimed responsibility for the terrorist threat.

NYC police seek man on Times Square tape

Officials want to find a middle-aged man seen taking off his shirt after a failed car bomb plot.

Device a crude concoction

Also:

The Whale Whisperer

Man's astonishing interaction with whales

Andrew Armour, aka the "Whale Whisperer," claims he can talk with the sea's gentle giants.

See amazing pics

Also:

Huge Artificial Waterfall Structure Designed for Rio

All images via Rafaa

With its burgeoning economy and bold commitments to reducing carbon emissions and deforestation, Brazil is poised to be an important player in the years and decades to come. So for many Brazilian, having their beloved city of Rio de Janeiro selected to host the 2016 Olympic Games presents an opportunity to introduce their nation, on the forefront of the environmental movement, to an international audience. In hopes of creating an icon for Rio's Olympics that's as forward-thinking as the country itself, one firm has designed a structure that symbolizes Brazil's natural beauty and its commitment to a sustainable future.

Article continues: Huge Artificial Waterfall Structure Designed for Rio

Scientists revive ancient mammoth blood

Scientists have brought back to life the blood of ancient mammoths and hope to use the technique to study extinct Australian marsupials including the giant kangaroo.

The researchers used DNA preserved in bones from Siberian specimens 25,000 to 43,000 years old to bring the primary component of mammoth blood back to life, says one of the team, Adelaide University's Professor Alan Cooper. It meant they could measure how mammoths functioned as if they were still alive.

"No one has done that before, to actually bring back a complex protein and test it to see how it works," Prof Cooper said.

"The principle is fairly simple, you could certainly do it on a variety of other species or other proteins, and you are able to access all sorts of these extinct species.

Full Story

Scientific Minds Want To Know

Scientific Minds Want To Know

Medieval African possibly found buried in England

Full story

A 13th century skeleton unearthed on the grounds of a friary may be the earliest physical evidence that Africans lived in England in medieval times, a team of researchers said Sunday.

Mammoths had 'anti-freeze blood'

Mammoths had a form of "anti-freeze" blood to keep their bodies supplied with oxygen at freezing temperatures, scientists say.

Day Tripper

The Beatles Cartoon

A turn of a phrase

Not for all the tea in China

Meaning: Not at any price.

Origin: This phrase originated around the late 19th/early 20th centuries and derives from the fact that China was well-known to produce tea in huge quantities. That's still the case and China now accounts for around a quarter of the world's production of tea. So, to decline the offer to do something 'for all the tea in China' is to be determined not to do it, whatever inducement is offered.

The Oxford English Dictionary declares the phrase to be of Australian origin and reprints Eric Partridge's 1890s date for the phrase, but unfortunately doesn't provide any supporting evidence for either assertion. The nearest I can come to verifying the date, and to an Australian origin, is J. J. Mann's travelogue Round the world in a motor car, 1914:

AUSTRALIA is not a hospitable country for anybody that has not got a white skin, and a clear record of white skins. By the laws of the country no dusky, tawny, or yellow races are allowed to land... When the question came up of letting in our Indian fellow subjects, an education standard was established, and if the unlucky Indian does not happen to know all the languages of Europe he is floored in his examination, and must stay outside. One is not even allowed to bring in a black servant, and when I applied to the authorities for permission to bring Samand with me, the reply was : "Not for all the tea in China."

Lunatic Fringe

Lunatic Fringe

Dimbulb says to leave oil slick alone: 'it's as natural as the ocean water is'

Ah yes. The voice of the repugican party is at it again. Of course, not before he suggested the oil rig explosion could have been an eco-terrorist. Why not ask the repugicans on TV if they agree with Dimbulb's statements?

Lush Dimbulb, who has a home on Florida's Palm Beach, suggested that the explosion could have resulted from Earth Day eco-sabotage by one of the rig workers. Dimbulb also said a cleanup was unnecessary.

"The ocean will take care of this on its own if it was left alone and left out there," Dimbulb said. "It's natural. It's as natural as the ocean water is."

I wonder why didn't Faux News cover this?

It looks like Saturday's Mayday protests against the Arizona bill saw a huge turnout:

in Los Angeles, the police said the crowd had peaked at 50,000. protesters numbered 25,000 in Dallas, more than 10,000 in Chicago and Milwaukee, in the thousands in San Francisco and in Washington, D.C., according to the police and independent estimates. Organizers said rallies and vigils were held in more than 70 places around the country.

In Washington, Representative Luis V. Gutierrez, Democrat of Illinois, was arrested after staging a sit-in on the sidewalk in front of the White House with about three dozen other people, in front of a crowd of thousands.

At a rally before he was arrested, Mr. Gutierrez, speaking in English and in Spanish, evoked memories of the civil rights movement of the 1960s.

“There are moments in which you say, ‘we will escalate this struggle,’ ” he said. “Today they will put handcuffs on us. But one day we will be free at last in the country we love.”

in all, 35 people were arrested in the sit-in, the united states park police said.

At rally after rally across the nation, protesters chanted “shame, shame, Arizona,” and carried signs saying, “Todos Somos Arizona,” or “We are all Arizona.”

via crooks and liars

Culinary DeLites

Culinary DeLites

10 foods people love to hate

These unlucky edibles get the most negative reactions from the most eaters.

Liver, brussels sprouts, and more

Also:

Leadbelly

It's The Economy Stupid

7 new rules for getting ahead

Many of the 8.4 million jobs lost during the recession are gone for good.

How to win in the new economy

Also:

Frugality becomes the new normal

Even Americans with steady paychecks and little debt are changing their habits.

What they're doing differently

Also:

On The Job

On The Job

5 tough questions for every candidate

Don't be surprised if you get one of these killer questions in an interview.

What's your worst feedback?

Also:

*****

Its Only The Environment After All

Its Only The Environment After All

Another week of unabated oil geyser

The environmental disaster is still expected to take at least a week to cut off.

Fishing shut down in region

Also:

*****

Feds doing 1st investigation of major meatpackers

The federal government is conducting its first investigation into whether the handful of large meatpackers that slaughter most of the nation's cattle are illegally or unfairly driving down cattle prices, according to an official representing independent beef producers nationwide.

Full story

Driving prices down?! Have you seen the price of beef in the grocery stores lately?

Customers foil armed bank robbery

Heroic bank customers punched and held down a dangerous robber as they foiled a dramatic daylight raid. Pensioners ordered stunned career criminal John Hickinbottom “Get out, we don’t want this” before other customers landed punches and sat on him during a failed bid to hold up Lloyds TSB in Oldbury.

Masked Hickinbottom, aged 43, and a hooded accomplice who appeared to be armed, had stormed into the bank using a broom to prop the door open and ensure a quick getaway. In dramatic footage captured on the bank’s CCTV cameras, Hickinbottom orders staff to “Give me all the money” and warns customers to stand back. Footage of the second robber, who is still at large, appears to show him pointing at something in his pocket.

Customer Mark Piddington saw what was happening and lashed out, striking the robber in the head, Wolverhampton Crown Court heard. Brave Mr Piddington grabbed hold of Hickinbottom’s hood, landed several firm punches and pulled him to the floor of the Hagley Road West branch. Mr Julian Elcock, prosecuting, told the court: “Several other men came at this point – some of the customers and some builders working at the back of the bank. “Together they held the defendant on the ground until the police arrived.”

Hickinbottom, who had only been out of prison for 14 days after being released early from a six-year jail sentence for another bank robbery, then asked the have-a-go heroes to pull down his balaclava as he was struggling to breathe.He is now beginning an indefinite prison sentence lasting at least three years. Mr Piddington told police afterwards: “I did what I could and what I thought was right at the time.”

Video.

The kingpin of counterfeit money

The $100 bill was recently redesigned to combat a specific, widespread form of forgery.

The Superdollar

Also:

Woman sues salon for not having drunk-proof glass

A woman who fell through the window of a Lake View salon when she lost her footing trying to kick her husband is suing the salon, as well as a hospital that treated her - claiming an employee stole her jewelery and Blackberry.

Melanie Shaker fell through the window of Fases Salon, located at 3207 N. Sheffield Ave., after she became angry with her husband and lost her footing while trying to kick him, according to the lawsuit filed Friday in Cook County Circuit Court.

The couple, who lives near the salon, was walking along Sheffield Avenue the night of May 1, 2008 after having dinner and drinks at a local establishment when she fell, according to the suit. Shaker suffered “severe injuries,” including deep cuts to her upper arm, back and feet, according to the suit.

The suit claims the salon’s plate glass window, located on a sidewalk “frequently travelled by intoxicated pedestrians,” is in violation of the City of Chicago’s building code.

Shaker claims the defendants failed to replace the window with safety glass, which would “prevent injuries from those coming into contact with it, including pedestrians, intoxicated pedestrians [or] pedestrians on their way to or from a Cubs game” who may fall inadvertently trip and fall into the window. Whut?

The suit also claims an unnamed radiology technician at Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center, where Shaker was treated, stole $6,000 worth of jewellery that was removed from her in order to perform an MRI and other tests.

And Your Bird Can Sing

The Beatles Cartoon

Get Your Wildflower On

native aquatic plant new york city drosera
photo.jpg

photo: Marielle Anzelone via flickr

Wildflower Week NYC celebrates its 3rd Anniversary in New York City this week with a bunch of events that will make you think differently about wildflowers, or at least make you stop and smell them! Some of my favorite places in the five boroughs are the designated sites for tours for wildflower week, such as: Battery Park, Brooklyn Botanical Garden, Queens Botanic Garden, Liz Chrystie Community Garden, along with several others. Ever wondered about how plants survive on the High Line Park? Go to the Tuesday lunchtime tour with High Line gardeners, where you can learn about the park's unique horticultural design and the challenges of tending a garden on old elevated train tracks. Want to see how you can put a green roof on an arts space in the East Village? Check out Alive Structure's lovely rooftop garden at Wild Project Theater.

Article continues: Get Your Wildflower On: Eat some charismatic megaflora at top restaurants in NYC this week

Monsanto Takes Fight To Control Your Food To Supreme Court

Image: Fir0002/Flagstaffotos via Wikimedia Commons

The battle over the non-regulated status of genetically modified crops has reached the US Supreme Court. Monsanto has, not surprisingly, appealed a lower court decision that halted the continued unregulated release and planting of the agrifood giant's Roundup Ready Alfalfa.
Background and implications of the case, after the jump.

Article continues: Monsanto Takes Fight To Control Your Food To Supreme Court

Planet Earth

Planet Earth

One third of bee colonies in US failed to make it through the winter

This is potentially very bad news for crops and of course, for all of us.

Disturbing evidence that honeybees are in terminal decline has emerged from the United States where, for the fourth year in a row, more than a third of colonies have failed to survive the winter.

The decline of the country's estimated 2.4 million beehives began in 2006, when a phenomenon dubbed colony collapse disorder (CCD) led to the disappearance of hundreds of thousands of colonies. Since then more than three million colonies in the US and billions of honeybees worldwide have died and scientists are no nearer to knowing what is causing the catastrophic fall in numbers.

The number of managed honeybee colonies in the US fell by 33.8% last winter, according to the annual survey by the Apiary Inspectors of America and the US government's Agricultural Research Service (ARS).

Mosquitoes Prefer the Blood of Beer Drinkers

tanakawho via Flickr.

Barley and hops means more bumps and itching, according to a recent study that says mosquitoes prefer to bite beer drinkers. As if we needed more reasons to kill mosquitoes.
The bugs already spread malaria and West Nile virus. But what's the best way to control these buggers? We don't need more chemicals sprayed into the air or on our bodies. Have you ever looked at the warning labels of stuff like Malathion or Anvil used for mosquito control in the United States? On the other hand, less mosquitoes means less disease being spread. What's the balance between control, health and nuisance? It probably depends on what part of the world you're in. Read on.

Article continues: Study: Mosquitoes Prefer the Blood of Beer Drinkers