CAROLINA NATURALLY: Sep 8, 2010

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

The Daily Drift

The Daily Drift

Today's horoscope says:
A special opportunity comes along that gives you independence and creative freedom.
This opening may not be crystal clear, so keep your eyes and ears open in all directions (even the most unlikely).
After all, you don't want to miss your main chance due to closed-mindedness, do you?
Some skills of yours will really come into play when it comes to identifying your chances.
Look to your wizardry with words and images to reach your goal.

Some of our readers today have been in:

Jeddah, Makkah, Saudi Arabia

Taipei, Taipei, Taiwan

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Pawalpindi, Punjab, Pakistan

Bremen, Bremen, Germany

Cairo, Al Qahirah, Egypt

Petaling, Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia

London, England, United Kingdom

Paris, Ile-De-France, France

Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand

Toulouse, Midi-Pryenees, France

Dublin, Dublin, Ireland

Swindon, England United Kingdom

Essen, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany

Coffs Harbor, New South Wales, Australia

as well as Singapore, Italy, Belgium and in cities across the United States such as Highlands, Costa mesa, Dubuque, Plainsboro and more.

Today is:

Today is Wednesday, September 8, the 251st day of 2010.

There are 114 days left in the year.

Today In History September 8

Today's unusual holiday or celebration is:

World Physical Therapy Day

It is also Peregean Spring Tides

Don't forget to visit our sister blog!

Two asteroids to buzz the earth today

Two asteroids are expected to pass within 154,000 miles of Earth on Wednesday -- closer than the distance between the Earth and the moon, NASA announced.

Neither will hit the planet, NASA was quick to add.

It's nice to know we spend trillions on defending ourselves against each other and fighting pointless wars, but no one is looking up. These two asteroids were only discovered on Sunday.

Full Story

A world wide food shortage

Fears growing over worldwide food crisis

Extreme weather is driving up the price of food and causing instability around the globe.

Riots over grain prices

Also:

Giant rats put noses to work on Africa's land mine epidemic

Full story

Niko Mushi hated rats, as did most people in his village near Tanzania's Mt. Kilimanjaro -- until he learned the critters had a nose for land mines.

Boat crash triggers international drama

A strange encounter at sea sparks an escalating tug of war between China and Japan.

Anger over disputed islands

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Fires leave dramatic scenes in Detroit

Dozens of homes were ignited by strong winds that toppled power lines across the city.

See startling images

Also:

Ziggy

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America's best 24-hour hot spots

Grab a pizza at Hound Dog's in Ohio, or a sweet treat at Oregon's Voodoo Doughnut any time of day.

More picks

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Culinary DeLites

Culinary DeLites

The best and worst fast-food hamburgers

Two chains take top honors for their freshly made burgers, a survey finds.

Big-name restaurants get poor marks

Also:

25 Best Nutrition Secrets

The way you like to eat is the way you should eat. If you want to make big changes to your health, forget about following somebody else's diet. Just make a bunch of little changes to the diet you're already following.

Here are 25 of the best new nutritional tweaks you can make that will improve the way you look and feel.

Hidden hazards in your home

10 hidden hazards in your home

A clogged dryer exhaust duct and a dirty chimney are lesser-known fire risks.

The safe temp for water heaters

Also:

Bright spots in the U.S. economy

Surprise bright spots in the U.S. economy

With all the gloomy headlines, it's easy to forget that a recovery is indeed happening.

Industries leading the way

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A fired up Obama blasts repugicans and Boehner (by name)

Obama was in Cleveland, Ohio today and delivered one of his "fired up" kind of speeches. He blasted the Republicans and called out John Boeher (the tan who could be Speaker) by name eight times.

Obama laid down the gauntlet on the Bush tax cuts. Would be good to see more of this Obama on the campaign trail and in the White House.

From the transcript:

I’ll give you one final example of the differences between us and the Republicans, and that’s on the issue of tax cuts. Under the tax plan passed by the last administration, taxes are scheduled to go up substantially next year -- for everybody. By the way, this was by design. When they passed these tax cuts in 2001 and 2003, they didn’t want everybody to know what it would do to our deficit, so they pretended like they were going to end, even though now they say they don't.

Now, I believe we ought to make the tax cuts for the middle class permanent. (Applause.) For the middle class, permanent. These families are the ones who saw their wages and incomes flat-line over the last decade -– you deserve a break. (Applause.) You deserve some help. And because folks in the middle class are more likely to spend their tax cut on basic necessities, that strengthens the economy as a whole.

But the Republican leader of the House doesn’t want to stop there. Make no mistake: He and his party believe we should also give a permanent tax cut to the wealthiest 2 percent of Americans.

AUDIENCE: Nooo!

THE PRESIDENT: With all the other budgetary pressures we have -– with all the Republicans’ talk about wanting to shrink the deficit -- they would have us borrow $700 billion over the next 10 years to give a tax cut of about $100,000 each to folks who are already millionaires. And keep in mind wealthy Americans are just about the only folks who saw their incomes rise when Republicans were in charge. And these are the folks who are less likely to spend the money -- which is why economists don’t think tax breaks for the wealthy would do much to boost the economy.

So let me be clear to Mr. Boehner and everybody else: We should not hold middle-class tax cuts hostage any longer. (Applause.) We are ready, this week, if they want, to give tax cuts to every American making $250,000 or less. (Applause.) That's 98-97 percent of Americans. Now, for any income over this amount, the tax rates would just go back to what they were under President Clinton.

Unusual turn in Quran-burning controversy

As more big names speak out against a Fla. church's plan, a source close to the pastor adds a new wrinkle.

'Shocked'

Also:

Why aren't the repugicans protecting the troops and criticizing Quran burning pastor?

Why do the repugicans want to put the US military in danger?
Why do repugicans hate America?

...Whose side are they on? With the exception of Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah, who appeared on Faux News to defend the right of American Muslims to build an Islamic community center two blocks from the World Trade Center site (on the principle that owners of private property should be able to do as they please), elected repugicans—have ducked and run.

In September 2007, the Senate voted 72-25 to condemn the anti-war group MoveOn.org for running a full-page newspaper ad that denounced Gen. Petraeus, then the U.S. commander in Iraq, as "General Betray Us."

If the senators want to show their genuine support for Petraeus (and not just indulge in an easy political stunt), they should denounce Terry Jones for endangering the troops and providing aid and comfort to the enemy—and, better still, send federal marshals to Gainesville, Fla., to help the local fire chief (who has ordered Jones not to burn the books) maintain public safety.

Lunatic Fringe

Lunatic Fringe

Otherwise known as the Seditionists

When dealing with wingnuts ... Remember the rule:

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

Liars and Fools

Faux's Andrew Napolitano offers baseless fearmongering about the government "confiscating" gold and guns.
Are we surprised by this?

Wingnut loudmouth Molotov Mitchell hints at support for overthrow of Obama.
Only from the Taliban (both the foreign and domestic ones).

Batshit crazy loon Ann Coulter lies: the "end goal" for environmentalists (and by implication, liberals) is the "elimination of humans".
Deluded as ever I see.

Faux's Andrew Napolitano lies: miniscule but perpetually Faux-hyped activist group New Black Panthers "seem to have some pull" with Obama.
He can't keep his lies straight, now can he?

Fauxx's Glenn Beck lies: universities are "re-education camps" where "our children are being submerged in the filth of communism", and "are as dangerous" as North Korea and Iran.
Since he couldn't cut it on campus in the first place - how would he know?

http://www.bartcop.com/reagan_taliban_1985.jpg

Need we say more?

Burma's bizarre, bullying tax collection system

Tax collection in Burma is made by anyone in a uniform - police, soldiers, navy, militia, customs inspectors - but almost none of it is recorded or put to use for the public good.

Burma's bizarre, bullying tax collection system

Bad Cops

Bad Cops

California deputy has stopped beating his wife, but only because he's in jail

Virginia cop, charged with assault, battery, and destruction of property, is placed on paid leave

Maine state trooper — curiously un-named — gets paid leave while fellow cops investigate allegations of on-duty rape

Florida deputy is charged with soliciting and accepting bribes

New Jersey cop is accused of theft, voter fraud

Florida cop blows the whistle on colleagues after witnessing "Rodney King"esque beating

Grandad boosted pension by dealing crack

Full story

A grandad became a crack dealer because he couldn't survive on his pension, a court heard yesterday.

Gamer suspended over name of W.Va. town

Full story

Microsoft Corp. and the chief rules enforcer for Xbox Live are apologizing to a small West Virginia town and a 26-year-old gamer accused of violating the online gaming service's code of conduct by publicly declaring he's from Fort Gay, a name the company considered offensive.

Cotton-Eyed Joe

Rednex

Non Sequitur

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On The Job

On The Job

Fastest-growing professions in the U.S.

An older population and technology demands will create a critical need for these workers.

Six hot careers

Also:

*****

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Things They Won't Tell You

Things They Won't Tell You

What your child's teacher won't tell you

Educators may not say "I'm not a marriage counselor," but they may think it.

Which kids they remember best

Also:

B.C.

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Reporter Live Tweets His Heart Attack

Opportunity + Instinct = Profit. A good journalist can sense the moment that a story is developing and seize the moment. That’s why when White House correspondent Tony Christopher started having a heart attack, he immediately logged into Twitter and started covering it:

Approximately at 6pm on Sunday afternoon Christopher wrote, “I gotta be me. Livetweeting my heart attack. Beat that!” Presumably a few minutes later the paramedics arrived to tell Christopher he will be stable after his crisis.
An hour later Christopher joked about needing to own a cardiac cat, referencing a viral video in which a cat is trying to revive his dead feline friend. He also updated his followers about the pain he was feeling, “even after the morphine.”

Link and Link

Insulin may reduce several inflammatory factors induced by bacterial infection

Treating intensive care patients who develop life-threatening bacterial infections, or septicemia, with insulin potentially could reduce their chances of succumbing to the infection, if results of a new preliminary study can be replicated …

Full story

Test could confine 'manflu' to history

Men beware – scientists have come up with a test to prove whether they really are suffering from flu or just a cold. Researchers say that they will soon be able to differentiate between "manflu" and the real thing through a simple blood test. They claim that looking at an individuals blood make-up can be used to quickly diagnose and treat ill patients.

While the breakthrough could predict the onset of a pandemic, it could also spell the end of manflu – the phenomenon in which men exaggerate the effects of a cold in order to get more sympathy. Dr Aimee Zaas, at Duke University Medical Center, North Carolina, said the technique could help cut down on the overuse of antibiotics.

"Current methods for accurate diagnosis are time and labour intensive and are not always accurate. This means GPs are sometimes overcautious and may prescribe antibiotics unnecessarily, for viral infections. During a pandemic, this has real consequences as there is an increased risk of spreading infection."

The study, which was presented at the Society for General Microbiology's conference in Nottingham, looked at the blood of otherwise healthy individuals who had been exposed to respiratory infections including rhinovirus, the cause of the common cold and influenza. The team found each viral infection stimulated the body to produce a very specific set of immune molecules that could be detected in the blood. Recording the distinct blood signatures for each virus in a database and matching them against blood samples from other ill patients pinpointed the cause of disease with more than 95 per cent accuracy.

NASA satellites reveal surprising connection between beetle attacks, wildfire

If your summer travels have taken you across the Rocky Mountains, you’ve probably seen large swaths of reddish trees dotting otherwise green forests. While it may look like autumn has come early to the mountains, evergreen trees don’t change color …

Full story

Risk of beetle outbreaks rise, along with temperature, in the warming West

The potential for outbreaks of spruce and mountain pine beetles in western North America’s forests is likely to increase significantly in the coming decades, according to a study conducted by USDA Forest Service researchers and their colleagues …

Full story