CAROLINA NATURALLY: Aug 26, 2011

Friday, August 26, 2011

The Daily Drift

The Daily Drift

Today's horoscope says:

If you feel in the dark about a current project, step back from the action and get a new outlook.

This may seem counterintuitive.

After all, if you want to be more involved, why would you step back?

But the key is perspective -- when you're deep in the thick of things, you can't see the situation from every angle (and it's easier to get confused).

But when you move outside, everything is much clearer.

And once you see it, you can dive back in at a much more advantageous spot.

Some of our readers today have been in:

Madrid, Madrid, Spain
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Red Deer, Alberta, Canada
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand
Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia
Ipswich, Queensland, Australia
Rome, Lazio, Italy
London, England, United Kingdom
As, Akerhus, Norway
Warsaw, Mazowieckie, Poland
Canberra, Australian, Capital Territory, Australia
Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
Amserfoort, Utrecht, Netherlands
Berlin, Berlin, Germany
Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Napoli, Campania, Italy
Ankara, Ankara, Turkey
Tawau, Sabah, Malaysia
Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany

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 Hothouse, Silva, Cullowhee, Brevard and more.

Today is:

Today is Friday, August 26, the 238th day of 2011.

There are 127 days left in the year.

Today's unusual holidays or celebrations are:

Daffodil Day
and
National Dog Day.

Don't forget to visit our sister blog!

Redneck Etiquette

GENERAL

1. Never take a beer to a job interview.
2. Always identify people in your yard before shooting at them.
3. It’s considered tacky to take a cooler to church.
4. If you have to vacuum the bed, it is time to change the sheets.
5. Even if you’re certain that you are included in the will, it is still considered tacky to drive a U-Haul to the funeral home.

DINING OUT

1. When decanting wine, make sure that you tilt the paper cup, and pour slowly so as not to “bruise” the fruit of the vine.
2. If drinking directly from the bottle, always hold it with your fingers covering the label.

ENTERTAINING IN YOUR HOME

1. A centerpiece for the table should never be anything prepared by a taxidermist.
2. Do not allow the dog to eat at the table … no matter how good his manners are.

PERSONAL HYGIENE

1. While ears need to be cleaned regularly, this is a job that should be done in private using one’s OWN truck keys.
2. Proper use of toiletries can forestall bathing for several days. However, if you live alone, deodorant is a waste of good money.
3. Dirt and grease under the fingernails is a social no-no, as they tend to detract from a woman’s jewelry and alter the taste of finger foods.

DATING (Outside the Family)

1. Always offer to bait your date’s hook, especially on the first date.
2. Be aggressive. Let her know you’re interested: “I’ve been wanting to go out with you since I read that stuff on the bathroom wall two years ago.”
3. Establish with her parents what time she is expected back. Some will say 10:00 PM; Others might say “Monday.” If the latter is the answer, it is the man’s responsibility to get her to school on time.

THEATER ETIQUETTE

1. Crying babies should be taken to the lobby and picked up immediately after the movie has ended.
2. Refrain from talking to characters on the screen. Tests have proven they can’t hear you.

WEDDINGS

1. Livestock, usually, is a poor choice for a wedding gift.
2. Kissing the bride for more than 5 seconds may get you shot.
3. For the groom, at least, rent a tux. A leisure suit with a cummerbund and a clean bowling shirt can create a tacky appearance.
4. Though uncomfortable, say “yes” to socks and shoes for this special occasion.

DRIVING ETIQUETTE

1. Dim your headlights for approaching vehicles; Even if the gun is loaded, and the deer is in sight.
2. When approaching a four-way stop, the vehicle with the largest tires always has the right of way.
3. Never tow another car using panty hose and duct tape.
4. When sending your wife down the road with a gas can, it is impolite to ask her to bring back beer.
5. Do not lay rubber while traveling in a funeral procession.

Non Sequitur

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Job-search moves to avoid

Ten job-search moves you should avoid

Eager candidates often make these giant blunders without even knowing it.

Thank-you note can be an epic fail

Also:

Giving up on the working man

Employers giving up on the working man

Corporate cost cutting and mechanized jobs have become a painful one-two punch.

What could turn things around

Also:

Workplace Drama Can Damage Your Home Life

When our colleagues don't invite us to lunch, gossip about us, are condescending or otherwise rude to us at work, the impact can be so intense that we take our problems home, affecting our families and partners who in turn may also take the stress to their workplaces.

Workplace Drama Can Damage Your Home Life

Local economic powerhouses

Local economies set to take off

These places will defy the struggling national economy by focusing on growth fields.

Where the jobs likely will be

Also:

Next recession will differ

How the next recession will be different

The unemployment rate could hit 11%, but a few industries may escape largely unscathed.

Cities to be hurt most

Also:

Buffett pumps up BofA

Buffett gives big boost to banking giant

The billionaire's huge investment in Bank of America shores up the firm and sends a signal.

One-man bailout machine

Also:

We laugh while we cry

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Clique Warfare

Projection is of course the dominant mode of thought amongst the repugicans. Deep down they understand what they are and rather than go mad with guilt they project that knowledge onto their opponents.
So when the repugicans are accusing progressives of 'class warfare' what they are really thinking about is the massive diversion of resources from the poor and middle class to the wealthiest of the wealthy that is at the core of modern repugican policy.

What the repugicans are really about is preserving and furthering the interests of a tiny narrow clique made up of their family, friends and major investor-donors. The repugicans are engaged in clique warfare, not class warfare. The base of the repugican party is thus the clique whose interest the party serves plus the much wider group of people who live vicariously through them plus whatever rubes it can motivate through hate and fear mongering.

The truth be told

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France raises taxes for high earners

Earlier this week the ultra rich of France asked for a tax increase to help fix the budget problems. Last night the government approved a new tax. It was a message of solidarity. This morning, the sun still came up and the world didn't end.

BBC News:

The French government is to impose an extra tax of 3% on annual income above 500,000 euros (£440,000; $721,000).

It is part of a package of measures to try to cut the country's deficit by 12bn euros over two years.

The tax increase came after some of France's wealthiest people had called on the government to tackle its deficit by raising taxes on the rich.

Political donation boycott grows

Boycott of political donations grows

More than 100 companies join a plan by the Starbucks CEO to resolve the debt ceiling debate.

Blasts partisan agendas

Also:

Ziggy

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Growth careers in health care

Five growing careers in health care

It generally takes only one year to complete a program for one of these positions.

Which degrees are best

Also:

Weird Folk Remedies From Around The World

An Israeli spa offers a slithering kind of massage, involving dropping a dozen snakes of differing sizes on patients' naked bellies, backs, necks and faces.

Weird Folk Remedies From Around The World

Aneurysms

The Mayfield Clinic describes an aneurysm as "a balloon-like bulge or weakening of an artery wall.

Aneurysms: 8 Triggers and Risk Factors

Scented Laundry Products Emit Carcinogens

Love the fresh smell of clean laundry? Be careful - you may just be snorting up carcinogens:

Analysis of the captured gases found more than 25 volatile organic compounds, including seven hazardous air pollutants, coming out of the vents. Of those, two chemicals -- acetaldehyde and benzene -- are classified by the Environmental Protection Agency as carcinogens, for which the agency has established no safe exposure level.
"These products can affect not only personal health, but also public and environmental health. The chemicals can go into the air, down the drain and into water bodies," Steinemann said.
The researchers estimate that in the Seattle area, where the study was conducted, acetaldehyde emissions from this brand of laundry detergent would be equivalent to 3 percent of the total acetaldehyde emissions coming from automobiles. Emissions from the top five brands, they estimate, would constitute about 6 percent of automobiles' acetaldehyde emissions.

Full Story

Calorie-burning myths

Eight calorie-burning myths debunked

There's no such thing as negative-calorie foods, but there's a reason you should still eat them.

How they work

Also:

Ten Unusual Restaurants Found Around The World

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There are a lot of unusual restaurants in the world. Restaurants were the waiters are monkeys, or robots, or children. Restaurants situated in trees, in ferris wheels, on islands only reachable by boat, or below sea level.

10 Unusual Restaurants Found Around the World.

Yeah, Right

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Colorado man in trouble for dancing on grave

He has been fired from his job as a grave digger, sheriff says he could be charged.

Colorado man in trouble for dancing on grave

Found at Gadhafi compound: Condoleezza Rice photos

Libyan rebels who took control of Moammar Gadhafi's sprawling compound made a surprising discovery in one of the buildings: a photo album with pictures of Condoleezza Rice.

Full Story

Syria: masked gunmen beat, break hands of cartoonist critical of Assad regime

The Committee to Protect Journalists reports: "Ali Ferzat, a famous Syrian cartoonist critical of the government, was abducted and severely beaten by masked gunmen as he left his office early on Thursday in Damascus." They broke his hands, said the attack was a "warning," then dumped him, bleeding, on a roadside.

More at BBC News, AP.

The AP item, tragically, runs with a photo of a smiling Mr. Ferzat taken just two weeks ago. He is holding the pen he uses to draw his cartoons.

Tiawanda Moore acquitted of illegally taping police

It was a pretty clear case of police and prosecutorial abuse.
Fortunately the jury saw through the attempt to suppress evidence of police misconduct and acquitted her.

A former stripper, who secretly recorded two Chicago Police Internal Affairs investigators while filing a sexual harassment complaint against another officer was acquitted on eavesdropping charges Wednesday.

“I’m feeling a lot better now,” a smiling Tiawanda Moore said after a Cook County jury returned the verdict in a little over an hour.

The 20-year-old Indiana woman admitted she taped the officers on her Blackberry in August of last year. But she said she only did it because the investigators were coaxing her to not go forward with her complaint.

Rather than passing laws to protect corrupt police, US legislatures should insist that without exception every police interview be recorded using a tamper proof technology. The UK police resisted a similar measure when it was pushed through many years ago. Today they consider recording interviews to be an essential tool for gaining convictions.

Ain't it the truth

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Twenty Cool And Creative Sofa Designs

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A collection of cool and creative sofa designs from all over the world.

There are Now One Billion Cars Stuck in Traffic Around the World

Photo credit: Cory M. Grenier via Flickr/CC BY-SA

According to the most recent stats, there are now a record one billion cars on the world's roads. One billion cars doing long and short commutes, one billion cars spurring the growth of unsustainable suburbs, one billion cars stuck in traffic around the world. In other words, there's around one car for every person in China, or a car for every seven people worldwide. And that number is expected to more than double over the next 40 years. There are clearly a number of reasons to be concerned about this ...

Article continues: There are Now One Billion Cars Stuck in Traffic Around the World

Thief hid from second thief for five hours

Two men have been arrested on suspicion of theft of metal from the old Tiverton District Hospital in Bampton Street, Tiverton. A member of the public dialed 999 to report sounds coming from the site.

Around 10 officers, supported by a police dog and the Force helicopter, contained the area before moving in to make the arrests. In a bizarre twist it appears that neither thief knew that the other was there and prior to police arrival one of the males hid in ducting for five hours thinking that the other thief was the police searching for him.

It is unclear at this time if others were involved and inquiries are continuing. Inspector Andy Oliver from the Force Control Room said: "Thanks to a tip off from a member of the public who heard the males we were quickly able to contain the area and make the arrests. The Force helicopter was invaluable as one of the males was on the rooftop and so we were able to track his movements allowing officers to locate and arrest him.

"The other male was located by the police dog who tracked him to the ducting. The site is quite dangerous and with the price of metal being high this shows the risks some people are prepared to take." The arrested males were a 30-year-old male from the Crediton area and a 19-year-old male from the Cullompton area.

Tall Trees

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Weekend dedication of Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial postponed as hurricane nears East Coast

A planned weekend dedication of the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial on the National Mall has been postponed until September or October as approaching Hurricane Irene dashed hopes of paying tribute to the late civil rights activist on the 48th anniversary of his "I Have a Dream" speech, organizers said Thursday.

Full Story

Five hurricane preparation tips

Preparing for Irene: 5 things to do now

Here are some steps you can take to protect your home and your family from the approaching storm.

No. 1: Stock up

Also:

Evacuations in North Carolina as Hurricane Irene approaches

Thousands were fleeing an exposed strip of coastal villages and beaches off the North Carolina coast and dozens of Navy ships were ordered to leave their port to the north Thursday as Irene approached, threatening to become the first major hurricane to hit the East Coast in seven years.

Full Story

Irene 'terrifying' from space

Astronaut: Irene 'terrifying' from space

Changes in the eye of the hurricane cause NASA's Mike Fossum to worry for residents.

His unique perspective

Also:

Alien Planet Made of Diamond Discovered

If you really want to impress that intergalactic princess you’ve been dating, this would make for one heck of an engagement ring. Scientists have discovered a planet 4,000 light years from Earth that is made of diamond.

This illustration shows the alien planet PSR J1719-1438, where ultra-high pressures caused carbon to crystallize in the remnant of a dead star, forming the extrasolar world. The resulting planet is made of diamond and orbits a dense pulsing star with a radius smaller than that of our sun.

Full Story