CAROLINA NATURALLY: May 30, 2010

Sunday, May 30, 2010

The Daily Drift

The Daily Drift

Today's horoscope says:
You may wake up with the feeling that you're going to be lucky -- though not in the monetary sense -- and you might also have the urge to spend some cash to grease the karmic wheels.
There's no talking you out of it!
Still, take a loved one with some common sense along for the ride.
They can convince you to think before whipping out the plastic at the drop of a hat!

Some of our readers today have been in:

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Tranbjerg, Arhus, Denmark

Bremen, Bremen, Germany

Porvoo, Southern Finland, Finland

Paris, Ile-De-France, France

Rosario, Santa Fe, Argentina

Montreal, Quebec, Cnada

Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia

London, England, United Kingdom

Cairo, Al Qahirah, Egypt

Coffs Harbor, New South Wales, Australia

Toronto, Ontario Canada

Poznan, Wielkopolskie, Poland

Copenhagen, Kobenhavn, Denmark

as well as Sweden, Scotland, and the United States in such cities as Gaffney, Norfolk, San Francisco, Chicago, Atlanta and more

Today is Sunday, May 30, the 150th day of 2010.

There are 215 days left in the year.

Today's unusual holidays or celebrations are:

Loomis Day

and

Hug your Cat Day

It is also the traditional day Memorial Day is held.

Memorial Wizard

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The Perfect Game

Ace pitcher throws a perfect game

Philadelphia's Roy Halladay strikes out 11 Florida Marlins in the 20th perfect game in baseball history.

Details

Also:

Alabama Democrats may nominate 1st black for governor

Rep. Artur Davis, D-Ala., announces his candidacy for governor during a press conference in front of the Archives and History Building in Montgomery, Ala.

Full story

You want to bet there is some hand-wringing going on in wingnut-land tonight!?

As The World Turns

As The World Turns

1st tropical storm of season kills 12 in Guatemala

The first tropical storm of the 2010 season hit the Pacific coastline of Guatemala and Mexico on Saturday, killing 12 people under landslides and rockfall triggered by torrential rains.

Jamaica cops release most of 980 detained in raid

All but a handful of the roughly 980 Jamaicans detained during raids by security forces in gang-heavy Kingston slums have been released in recent days, police said Saturday.

Full story

Penthouse Shanty

In South America the slums are attached to the outskirts of mega-cities such as Caracas and Mexico City like wasps’ nests on a cliff face. In a hilly island city like Hong Kong, however, living space is limited. Here you only see the laboriously constructed huts made of corrugated iron and planks of wood in which the poorest of the poor live if you look upwards – they occupy, to put it in cynical terms, a penthouse location.

The Level Up

Headlines

Headlines:

Scrutiny of Personal Gene Tests Increases Direct-to-consumer gene tests have long been controversial, with many bioethicists worried they could mislead people about their disease risks.
Some Schizophrenia Symptoms Caused by Virus Cold sore virus is partly responsible for cognitive impairment in schizophrenics.

Do Tell - Don't Care

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It's The Economy Stupid

Six financial strains on American families

As the economy recovers, shell-shocked consumers face more pressures on their money than ever.

Rising taxes, more

Also:

Poll finds debt-dogged Americans stressed out

The economy trudges ahead yet debt dogs many Americans, stressing them out even as they firm up their own financial foundations.

It's Only The Environment After All

It's Only The Environment After All

'Top kill' technique fails to stop spill

BP admits that its latest attempt to cap the Gulf of Mexico oil leak was unsuccessful.

New plan

Also:

Things They Won't Tell You

Things They Won't Tell You

Growing number of close calls in the air

During one near-collision, pilots had to ignore instructions from air traffic control.

More than half a dozen incidents

Also:

Broom Hilda

http://imgsrv.gocomics.com/dim/?fh=798b0e57e8795b4079f0bfa7b8be00d7

Haitian Farmers Refuse Monsanto's Seeds and Instead Commit to Burning Them

photo: J. Novak

Food Freedom recently reported that Chavannes Jean-Baptiste, peasant farmer leader of the Peasant Movement of Papay (MPP) called the entry of Monsanto seeds into Haiti "a very strong attack on small agriculture, on farmers, on biodiversity, on Creole seeds. Monsanto's seed donations were an unwelcomed gift to a country with vocal opposition to GMO seeds for fear they would ruin what little agriculture the country has left.

Article continues: Haitian Farmers Refuse Monsanto's Seeds and Instead Commit to Burning Them

The ancient Chinese secret of sticky rice mortar

Scientists have discovered the secret behind an ancient Chinese super-strong mortar made from sticky rice, the delicious “sweet rice” that is a modern mainstay in Asian dishes. They also concluded that the mortar ― a paste used to bind and fill gaps between bricks, stone blocks and other construction materials ― remains the best available material for restoring ancient buildings.

Full Story

China executes man who attacked 29 children

A state news agency says China has executed a man who attacked a kindergarten in eastern China last month, wounding 29 children and three teachers.The official Xinhua News Agency says Xu Yuyuan was executed Sunday after being convicted of attempted murder by the Taizhou Intermediate Court in the eastern province of Jiangsu.

China executes man who attacked 29 children

Wizard of Id

http://imgsrv.gocomics.com/dim/?fh=0f1d21ab34e3f16faf7a25b2202ee745

Ancient Mayor's 'Lost Tomb' Found South Of Cairo

Archaeologists have discovered the 3,300-year-old tomb of the ancient Egyptian capital's mayor, whose resting place had been lost under the desert sand since 19th century treasure hunters first carted off some of its decorative wall panels, officials announced Sunday.

Ancient Mayor's 'Lost Tomb' Found South Of Cairo

Helpful Hints

Helpful Hints

What to buy at club vs. big-box stores

You could save 25% more at one type of store, but it really depends on what you buy.

Comparison shopping

Also:

US woman develops Russian accent after falling down stairs

Some people fall on their heads and wake up with their memories wiped out. A few revive with their personalities totally changed. Others die. Robin Jenks Vanderlip fell down a stairwell, smacked her head and woke up speaking with a Russian accent.

Vanderlip has never been to Russia. She doesn't remember ever hearing a Russian accent. She lives in Fairfax County, was born in Pennsylvania and went to college on the Eastern Shore. Yet since that fall in May 2007, the first question she gets from strangers is: "Where are you from?" "They say your life can change in an instant," she said in what sounds like a thick Russian accent. "Mine did."

For 42 years, Vanderlip, whose case is being studied at the National Institutes of Health and the University of Maryland, spoke with what NIH neurologist Allen Braun called a typical mid-Atlantic American accent. But since the fall, her clipped way with consonants - dropping the final "s" from some plural words, saying "dis" and "dat" for "this" and "that" or "wiz" instead of "with" - and her formation of vowels - "home" sounds more like "herm," "well" sounds like "wuhl" - identify her more like a transplant from Moscow. The more fatigued she becomes, the thicker her accent grows.

What she has, Braun and other doctors say, is Foreign Accent Syndrome - a legitimate though rare and little understood medical condition that can follow a serious brain injury. "It does sound strange," Braun said. "It certainly does sound like someone has a foreign accent." The syndrome was first described by a neurologist in the closing days of World War II, when a Norwegian woman injured by a shrapnel hit to the head fell into a coma and woke up speaking - most unfortunately for her - with a German accent. (Fellow Norwegians ostracized her as a result, according to the medical literature.) Since then, fewer than 60 cases have been reported worldwide.

Full Story

Ziggy

http://imgsrv.gocomics.com/dim/?fh=8a10e110745df7b76412741f6fce5e6b

Thousands march to protest Arizona immigration law

Thousands of people from around the country descended on the Phoenix area Saturday as supporters and opponents of Arizona's tough new crackdown on illegal immigration held separate rallies.

Full story

Caught on Camera

Real Time with Bill Maher

Lunatic Fringe

Lunatic Fringe

When dealing with wingnuts ... Remember the rule:

If they accuse someone of something, then they're already guilty of it.

Beck Accuses Jewish Social Justice Worker Of Advocating A New Holocaust

This lunatic is dangerous, folks!

Nazis in Color

Life Magazine has the Nazis in color.

Just thought you'd like to know

In Spite of State Law, Maryland Law Enforcement Officials Still Arresting, Charging People for Recording Cops

Burqa is Banned

The French Parliament has voted unanimously to ban the burqa in public, becoming the second European country to do so after Belgium

Full Story

Indonesian Islamic police stage checkpoints and raids against jeans and tight skirts

Islamic police in Indonesia's Aceh province have been issued with 20,000 long skirts and ordered to cover up women deemed to have broken Muslim dress codes.

The province on Sumatra island has banned Muslim women from wearing figure-hugging clothing such as tight trousers, under Islamic by-laws that have outraged less conservative parts of the mainly Muslim archipelago.

Photo

Vice and virtue officers in West Aceh district have been told that from yesterday they should ask women wearing the wrong clothes to put on the government-issue skirts on the spot.

" I will hand over some 20,000 skirts to the sharia police in West Aceh," West Aceh district chief Ramli Mansur said. "Female offenders can then immediately change their tight pants to the long, loose skirts if the sharia police catch them."

Non Sequitur

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Beach Butts Scarier Than Sharks

Credit: Flickr via tata aka k.

Summer time is beach time, if you can find the time. And if you're not too frightened to show off your winter/spring body. It turns out more people are frightened of finding discarded bottles and cigarette butts than they are of being eaten by sharks at the beach. East Coast beaches also are better than West Coast beaches.

Article continues: Beach Butts Scarier Than Sharks, Survey Says