CAROLINA NATURALLY: Aug 4, 2011

Thursday, August 4, 2011

The Daily Drift

The Daily Drift

Today's horoscope says:
More than ever before, you're finding it easy to stay true to your toughest goals in life.
No matter how silver-tongued that little devilish voice inside you may be, nothing can pull you off your track today!
This laser-precise focus serves you well, keeping you out of trouble -- without depriving you of having a lot of fun.
All work and no play is no good.
As long as you seek a balance between these two forces, you'll be fine.

Some of our readers today have been in:

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia
Red Deer, Alberta, Canada
Kulim, Kedah, Malaysia
Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
Kota Bharu, Kelantan, Malaysia
Groningen, Groningen, Netherlands
Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia
Newbury, England, United Kingdom
Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand
Cork, Cork, Ireland
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Madrid, Madrid, Spain
London, Ontario, Canada
London, England, United Kingdom

as well as Slovakia, Malta, Bulgaria, Israel, Finland, Austria, Norway, Georgia, Mexico, Peru, Kuwait, Serbia, Bangladesh, Latvia, Greece, Scotland, Hong Kong, Denmark, Wales, Iran, Singapore, Poland, Taiwan, Sweden, Afghanistan, Belgium, Tibet, Croatia, Pakistan, Romania, Paraguay, Sudan, Vietnam, Argentina, Cambodia, Egypt, France, Estonia, Puerto Rico, Maldives, Qatar, Brazil, New Zealand, United Arab Emirates, Slovenia, China, Iraq, Ecuador, Nigeria, Colombia, Chile, Honduras, Paupa New Guinea, Moldova, Venezuela, Germany, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, Ireland, Czech Republic, Vietnam, Norway, Finland

and in cities across the United States such as Wentzville, New Cumberland, Center Ridge, Morgan Hill and more.

Today is:

Today is Thursday, August 4, the 216th day of 2011.

There are 149 days left in the year.

Today's unusual holidays or celebrations are:

National Chocolate Chip Day
and
National Underwear Day.

Don't forget to visit our sister blog!

Bubba Smith passes

Former NFL star, actor dies

Bubba Smith starred in the "Police Academy" movies after winning a Super Bowl.

His memorable TV ad

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Non Sequitur

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President 'Tar Baby'

Colorado repugican Doug Lamborn called President Obama a "tar baby."

"Now I don't want to even have to be associated with him," Lamborn said, when asked if the president would be to blame for the debt crisis. "It is like touching a tar baby and you get it—you're stuck, and you're part of the problem now."

He later apologized and said he meant to use the word "quagmire."
Yeah, sure you did.
Tell you what - why don't you stop all the pretense and just call him what you really want to ... 'nigger'.
We all know your 'code words' anyway and what you're trying to say so just say it and be done with it.

However, you should know that a 'nigger' is defined as a lazy, shiftless, person of no account, and the President has not proven himself to be such a person (albeit, he could strive to do better like we all could).
Note that the hue of the skin of the person to which the appellation 'nigger' is properly applied is not within the definition of the term, whereas quite a few of those bandying about the term erroneously do fit the term's definition quite well.

"America’s real crisis is not a debt crisis. It’s an unemployment crisis."

Joe Nocera in the NYT:

America’s real crisis is not a debt crisis. It’s an unemployment crisis. Yet this agreement not only doesn’t address unemployment, it’s guaranteed to make it worse. (Incredibly, the Democrats even abandoned their demand for extended unemployment benefits as part of the deal.) As Mohamed El-Erian, the chief executive of the bond investment firm Pimco, told me, fiscal policy includes both a numerator and a denominator. “The numerator is debt,” he said. “But the denominator is growth.” He added, “What we have done is accelerate forward, in a self-inflicted manner, the numerator. And, in the process, we have undermined the denominator.” Economic growth could have gone a long way toward shrinking the deficit, while helping put people to work. The spending cuts will shrink growth and raise the likelihood of pushing the country back into recession.

Inflicting more pain on their countrymen doesn’t much bother the Tea Party Republicans, as they’ve repeatedly proved. What is astonishing is that both the president and House speaker are claiming that the deal will help the economy. Do they really expect us to buy that? We’ve all heard what happened in 1937 when Franklin Roosevelt, believing the Depression was over, tried to rein in federal spending. Cutting spending spiraled the country right back into the Great Depression, where it stayed until the arrival of the stimulus package known as World War II. That’s the path we’re now on. Our enemies could not have designed a better plan to weaken the American economy than this debt-ceiling deal.

One thing Roosevelt did right during the Depression was legislate into being a social safety net to soften the blows that a free-market economy can mete out in tough times. During this recession, it’s as if the government is going out of its way to make sure the blows are even more severe than they have to be. The debt-ceiling debate reflects a harsher, less empathetic America. It’s sad to see.

My own view is that Obama should have played the 14th Amendment card, using its language about “the validity of the public debt” to unilaterally raise the debt ceiling. Yes, he would have infuriated the Republicans, but so what? They already view him as the Antichrist. Legal scholars believe that Congress would not have been able to sue to overturn his decision. Inexplicably, he chose instead a course of action that maximized the leverage of the Republican extremists.

On The Job

The six worst job interview blunders

When asked about your weaknesses, don't give the conventional response.

What not to say at the end

Also:

Work emails that can backfire on you

Despite good intentions, the results can be catastrophic after you click "send" with these.

Watch that subject line

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Budget cuts slam states

Federal budget cuts slam states

Americans can expect either fewer police and more potholes or higher taxes.

Debt bill 'shifts a lot of the pain'

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Stocks on long losing streak

Stocks socked by long losing streak

Ignoring the debt agreement, investors worry that the economy is in big trouble.

Biggest slide since 2008

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And so it goes ...

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U.K.'s largest drug bust ever

U.K. police seize $492 million in drugs

The record-breaking stash of cocaine was found in an "ingenious" hiding spot aboard a luxury yacht.

Six arrested

Also:

Burnley man thought heroin stash was - 'protein powder for milkshake'

A man found with heroin told police he thought it was protein powder for milkshakes.

Full Story

Woman 'killed boyfriend with stiletto heel'

An Augusta woman has been charged with murder after allegedly killing her boyfriend with the heel of her stiletto shoe.

Authorities in Georgia allege Thelma Carter, 46, struck her boyfriend in the head with the heel, killing him. Police believe Robert F Higdon, 48, was killed on Sunday evening after a physical dispute between the two inside their trailer on a mobile home estate in Augusta.

Investigators are not sure how many times Ms Carter allegedly struck Mr Higdon with the shoe before he died, but said that his body showed signs of trauma to the head. Ms Carter told police she fled the trailer after the argument and returned to find Mr Higdon dead.

The Augusta Chronicle reported that police recovered the body on Monday morning after Ms Carter notified them of the death. An autopsy is due to be carried out. Ms Carter has been remanded in custody.

A 101-year-old grandmother accidentally shot by fighting grandsons

A 101-year-old woman was accidentally shot in the neck during an argument among two of her grandsons. The men were fighting over money and started shooting at each other inside the house in Richmond, Virginia.

When police arrived they found Naomi Taggart had been shot in the neck. She was taken to the hospital where she is in stable, but serious condition.

Steven L. Taggart, 28, who lives at the home, was arrested and charged on an outstanding aggravated assault warrant unrelated to the incident. His brother, Kevin D. McCray, 36, who also lives at the home, escaped.

McCray is wanted on charges of attempted murder, use of a firearm during the commission of a felony and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon for shooting at his brother.

Somalia's child soldiers

Rare look at child soldiers of Somalia

Boys as young as 9 are kidnapped by militants and forced to commit vicious crimes.

'We don't matter'

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Allegory

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Peat Bogs Worth Carbon Credit Gold

Peatlands are often used as an alternative fuel to wood, but their carbon value is as competitive as forests if not more so, according to scientists studying peatland biogeochemistry.

Read more

Forty-One Percent of U.S. Abnormally Dry

Conditions are the driest they have been in 12 years since the Drought Monitor began keeping tabs on parched regions around the United States.

Read more

America’s top attractions for families

Museums are a lot more fun when they're full of dinosaurs, pirates, or even racecars.

Sculptures kids can climb on

Also:

Doing the Charleston

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Health hazards hidden in dorms

Health hazards hidden in college dorms

Crowded quarters on campus can be like "living in a petri dish," one expert says.

Meningitis, colds, even bedbugs

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Massive ground turkey recall

Massive recall of ground turkey

Cargill is pulling 36 million pounds of meat linked to one death and 76 other salmonella illnesses.

Coast to coast

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Sharing bills at restaurants

Avoid awkward restaurant-bill moments

These tips will keep you and your friends from squirming when the check arrives.

Sticky situations with roommates

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Smarter guilty pleasures

Smarter ways to indulge when dining out

These comparatively healthy restaurant treats make it OK to splurge once in a while.

Pizza, burgers, even a sundae

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Healthy Living

Easy Ways to Cut Mega Calories at Every Meal

Ditch the diet! We'll show you how

Read More

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Ziggy

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Surprising bad habits of the 100+ crowd

New research shows that diet, exercise, and even smoking may not be the key to how long you live.

What is

Also:

French Beach Goes Butt-Less With Smoking Ban

A small town in Provence is attracting more vacationing families by turning a stretch of sun-drenched Mediterranean seafront into what it calls the first non-smoking beach in France.

Full Story

New Tick-Borne Disease Identified

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New Tick-Borne Disease Identified In Minnesota, Wisconsin

Mayo Clinic researchers have identified a new tick-borne disease in Minnesota and Wisconsin. Doctors say it's just as serious as Lyme's disease, but harder to detect.

Could Black Holes Help Treat Cancer Patients?

How are black holes in deep space connected to cancer treatment? By studying black holes researchers have discovered what could one day lead to a new form of radiation therapy.

The researchers’ computer simulations suggest that hitting a single gold or platinum atom with a small dose of X-rays at a narrow range of frequencies produces a flood of more than 20 low-energy electrons.
These ejected electrons can kill cancer kills, shredding their DNA, researchers said. So doctors could embed many heavy-metal nanoparticles inside and around tumors, then hit them with a tailored shot of radiation.
The resulting electron shower could obliterate a tumor. And the process would greatly reduce a patient’s radiation exposure compared to most current radiation treatment methods, researchers said.

Full Story

Did Earth have two moons?

Did the Earth have a second moon?

A titanic collision could explain the vast differences between our moon's two faces, scientists say.

Pancaked

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Scientists Produce Computer Images of Big Bang

These computer generated images were created during experiments to replicate the big bang. Scientists at CERN in Geneva, Switzerland are doing so in an effort to determine how the universe came into existence by recreating sub atomic explosions that may have occurred during the time of the big bang.

Full Story

Innovative measures

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Welcome to ...

Thursday, August 4, 2011

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