CAROLINA NATURALLY: Sep 15, 2011

Thursday, September 15, 2011

The Daily Drift

The Daily Drift

Today's horoscope says:

The great meeting of the minds you were expecting today might not materialize unless you push hard to make it happen.

Pick up the phone, check your email and do some good, old-fashion pavement pounding to ensure that the people you can count on will be there.

Making connections with people is of paramount importance today, so be social!

There are many degrees of separation between you and an important person.

Sort through them now.

Some of our readers today have been in:

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Amsterdam, Noord-Holland, Netherlands
Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Red Deer, Alberta, Canada
Berlin, Berlin, Germany
Ankara, Ankara, Turkey
Paris, Ile-De-France, France
Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia
Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Port Louis, Port Louis, Mauritius
London, England, United Kingdom
Scarborough, Ontario, Canada
Yogyakarta, Yogyakarta, Indonesia
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Colombo, Colombo, Sri Lanka
Cork, Cork, Ireland
Morini, Morini, Comoros
Bitburg, Rheinland-Pflaz, Germany
Newbury, England, United Kingdom
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Groningen, Groningen, Netherlands
Madrid, Madrid, Spain

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 Huntersville, Moresville, Pineville, Statesville and more.

Today is:

Today is Thursday, September 15, the 258th day of 2011.

There are 107 days left in the year.

Today's unusual holiday or celebration is:

Felt Hat Day.

Don't forget to visit our sister blog!

Non Sequitur

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Thorough Thursday

Men In Kilts Window And Exterior Cleaning Service

Men in Kilts are a team of passionate professionals from Vancouver, Canada, providing window and exterior cleaning services to both commercial and residential customers.

Oh, and they are wearing kilts.

Daily Comic Relief

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Rogue trader loses $2 billion

Rogue trader causes $2 billion loss

A 31-year-old man is arrested after making unauthorized trades at Swiss banking giant UBS.

Big consequences

Also:

An 101-year-old woman evicted

101-year-old woman evicted in foreclosure

Texana Hollis's things were put outside her Detroit home where she had lived for nearly six decades

Son’s explanation

Also:

How to cut credit card debt

Best ways to chop credit card debt

Start by reading a box buried in your monthly statement, says money expert Clark Howard.

His 'triage' rule

Also:

One Percent of Americans work for the Defense Department

Though when you look at the numbers, it's not surprising. Still.

From the Economist, via Jonathan Turley:

The Economist magazine shows that the Defense Department employed 3.2 million people, including 700,000 civilians.

We beat out the Chinese Army and even more frightening Wal-Mart (which comes in third after the Red Army). McDonald’s follows in fourth. The remainder in order are the China Petroleum Corporation, the State Grid Corporation of China, National Health Service of England, Indian Railways, China Post Group, and Taiwan’s Hon Hai Precision Industry Company.

The truth be told

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Ten classic resumé bloopers

10 classic resumé spelling bloopers

One job hunter boasted about consistently tanking as a top sales manager.

Flubs spell-check won't see

Also:

Yeah, Right

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The real worry about jobs

Jobs picture is worse than you think

America's dire employment problem is its lack of "good jobs," an analyst says.

Why many positions are traps

Also:

Degrees that are in demand

Five degrees that are in demand

Fields for these majors are expected to see substantial growth in coming years.

What makes them hot

Also:

And the answer is ...

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Coping with today's economy

How to beat the middle-class squeeze

These seven moves will help your family get ahead even in these trying times.

New thinking about careers

Also:

Being poor in America today

What being poor in America means today

Some call a new census report showing a record number living in poverty misleading.

Perception versus reality

Also:

Mimi and Eunice

Did you know ...

That Atheists are more charitable than christians.

(Yes)

Why It's Good to Think You Are the Greatest

Overconfidence is vital and can help you win battles you otherwise wouldn't have won.

Read more

NIne Household Objects You Can Eat To Stay Alive

Activate your mind's inner eye; visualize this scene. The worst has occurred. You've been locked in your own home. Be it by a forgetful partner or a SAW like psycho, you're now a prisoner within your own four walls.

Furthermore, having forgotten to do the weekly shop, the cupboards of your domestic gulag are bare. But don't worry. Here's a list of household objects you can eat to ensure you'll survive the ordeal.

Get healthier in one minute

One-minute ways to live a little longer

Add years to your life by adopting these simple 60-second habits, recommends Dr. Oz.

An egg, not an apple, a day

Also:

Laughter Really is the Best Medicine

Real, unforced laughter can help the body produce pain-killing opiate-like chemicals.

Read more

An Immune System Trained to Kill Cancer

A team of doctors and medical researchers at the University of Pennsylvania tried a bold new experiment on three leukemia patients who seemed to have no hope left. One of them was 65-year-old William Ludwig.

Doctors removed a billion of his T-cells — a type of white blood cell that fights viruses and tumors — and gave them new genes that would program the cells to attack his cancer. Then the altered cells were dripped back into Mr. Ludwig’s veins.
At first, nothing happened. But after 10 days, hell broke loose in his hospital room. He began shaking with chills. His temperature shot up. His blood pressure shot down. He became so ill that doctors moved him into intensive care and warned that he might die. His family gathered at the hospital, fearing the worst.
A few weeks later, the fevers were gone. And so was the leukemia.

Another patient had a complete remission, and the third had a partial remission. What is surprising about the experimental treatment is that it uses diabled HIV-1, the virus that causes AIDS, to carry the new cancer-fighting genes to the patient’s T-cells.

The University of Pennsylvania team seems to have hit all the targets at once. Inside the patients, the T-cells modified by the researchers multiplied to 1,000 to 10,000 times the number infused, wiped out the cancer and then gradually diminished, leaving a population of “memory” cells that can quickly proliferate again if needed.

The researchers remain cautious, because so few patients have been given the treatment, and because the therapy itself can be dangerous. But Mr. Ludwig has gained 40 pounds and a playing golf again. Read how they did it at the New York Times here.

Odd hiccup cures that work

Odd hiccup cures that actually work

Putting a penny on your head won't help, but holding your breath for 10 seconds often can.

The reason

Also:

Ziggy

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How the Beatles Officially Ended

... at Disney World

Technically, it is hard to pinpoint the exact moment when the Beatles ended as a group. John Lennon had officially walked out of a meeting at Apple headquarters, with the other three Beatles present, on September 20, 1969. His immortal words, just before he haughtily exited, were, “I want a divorce. Just like the one I got from Cynthia (his first wife).” Other things were said, but suffice it to say, with these words, the die was cast.
Interestingly, Ringo had already quit the band, back in August of 1968, during the recording session for The White Album. In January of 1969, during the filming of The Beatles’ last movie Let It Be, George Harrison too got fed up with the quarreling and the sniping -and Yoko Ono- and he, too, made for the nearest exit. “See you around the clubs, George said as he bolted. Both George and Ringo were eventually talked into returning, although John never did.
Paul was the first to publicly announce an and to the Fab Four, on April 10, 1970, with a formal newspaper interview, declaring, in so many words, the fact that “I’m quitting the Beatles.”
Although the four had split up in the real world, there was still a lot of legal red tape to be cut before the “official” split could actually take place.
Finally, after four long years of court battles, lawsuits, subpoenas, public and private acrimony, and millions of dollars, the official dissolution of the Beatles was about to take place. With just a few kinks left to iron out, the dissolution meeting was set to take place at the Plaza Hotel in New York City -ironically (and sadly) the first place the Beatles stayed in America when they first arrived there in 1964. The meeting was scheduled for December 19, 1974.

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Both George and Paul made special arrangements and flew in to be present for the joint signing of the required papers. Ringo was the only Beatle not present for the historic occasion. He had already signed the necessary documents back in England.
At the Plaza, George arrived with his lawyer and his business manager. Paul came accompanied by his own lawyers. And Ringo’s lawyer and business manager were present on his behalf.
Two teams of lawyers for Apple (one for the U.S. and one for the U.K.) gathered around a very large table to get all the signatures on the paperwork dissolving the partnership. Ringo was on the phone, to confirm that he “was alive.” Paul and his wife Linda had a camera set up to document the historic occasion. Finally, after a long wait, George said what everyone was thinking, “Where’s John?”
“Good question,” replied his lawyer.
Incredibly, John had played hookey and ducked the meeting. To add to the growing anger of all present, John lived within walking distance (or at least a short cab ride) of the Plaza, right in New York City.
George’s lawyer put in a call to John. (At the time, John was living with his secretary, a pretty girl named May Pang. He was going through a separation with his wife, Yoko Ono.) John refused to come to the phone. May took the call and told the lawyer that John had decided not to come to the meeting at the Plaza. His official reason: “The stars aren’t right.”

It was one thing to put up with John’s fads and passions and idiosyncrasies, but to not attend this important meeting because of the misalignment of his astrological charts was pushing the envelope a bit too far. George was already in a dour mood. He was in the middle of a tout, he was getting lousy reviews, and his voice was strained and nearly shot. First, he blamed his lawyer for John not coming. Soon, all the other lawyers erupted at George’s lawyer. Then furiously, George picked up the phone.
“Take off your G*****n shades and get the f*** over here!” he barked at his former bandmate. (George, although he did have a strong temper, nonetheless always idolized and worshiped John, no matter what Lennon had put him through over the years. George saying such a violent thing to John was completely out of character. It was very clear that the stress of his own unsuccessful tour, plus the weight of the moment, had overtaken the normally level-headed ex-Beatle.)
May asked innocently if George wanted to talk to John.
“No! Just tell him whatever his problem is, I started this tour on my own and I’ll end it on my own!” George barked and slammed the phone down.
John was listening over May’s shoulder.
Paul and his wife Linda came by the visit John the next day, realizing how upset John was over the agreement. Paul reassured John, “We’ll work it all out.”

George’s rage didn’t last long. A message arrived at John’s home: “All is forgiven. George loves you and he wants you to come to his party tonight.” John and May did go to the party at the Hippopotamus Club, where George, John, and Paul all hugged.
John and May left New York the following day to spend Christmas at West Palm Beach, Florida. On December 29, 1974, the voluminous documents were brought down to John in Florida by one of Apple’s lawyers.
“Take out your camera,” John instructed May, wanting her to capture the moment for posterity. Then he called George’s lawyer to go over some final points. When John hung up the phone, he looked out the window wistfully. According to May, she “could almost see him replaying the entire Beatles experience in his mind.”
John finally picked up his pen and, in the unlikely backdrop of Disney World, at the Polynesian Village Hotel, officially ended the greatest rock’n'roll band in history by simply scrawling “John Lennon” at the bottom of a page.

U.S. suburbs in decline

Signs point to end of American suburbia

The U.S. once bulldozed a Rhode Island-sized chunk of land every year to build suburbs.

Indications of decline

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Museum of awful art

Museum showcases art of the awful kind

The "Mona Lisa" would be out of place beside a collection devoted to works like "Lucy."

Too bad to be ignored

Also:

Future NASA rocket to be most powerful ever built

To soar far away from Earth and even beyond the moon, NASA has dreamed up the world's most powerful rocket, a behemoth that borrows from the workhorse liquid rockets that sent Apollo missions into space four decades ago.

Full Story

Lamborghini Model Costs 12 Times More than the Real Thing

Robert Gülpen, a model maker from Germany, made a 1:8 model of the Lamborghini Aventador that’s worth more than twelve times the value of the real car. This platinum and gold mockup studded with precious stones will be auctioned in December with a starting price of $4,789,000.

Full Story