Drifting Along

Norse Blessing  ...

Carolina Naturally is read in 194 countries around the world daily.
 

State Bird  ... !

Today is - Bird Day
 

Don't forget to visit our sister blog: It Is What It Is

Some of our readers today have been in:

The Americas

Managua, Tipitapa, Nicaragua

Pikangikum, Byward Market, Ottawa, Saint John's, Britannia, Halifax, Moncton, Templeton, Montreal, London, Kitchener, Edmonton, Sioux Lookout, Thunder Bay, Joliette and Guelph, Canada

Caracas, Venezuela

Conchas and Joao Pessoa, Brazil

Mexico City and Orizaba, Mexico

Lima, Peru

Old Fort, Gig Harbor, Little Rock, Little Silver and Stone Mountain, United States

Europe 

Sofia, Bulgaria

Noyarey, Rouen, Lyon and Cerny, France

Madrid, Almeria, Teo and Pontevedre, Spain

Riga, Latvia

Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Gosport and London, England

Sulzbach, Dusseldorf, Berlin, Rothe Erde and Widdern, Germany

Lucenec and Bratislava, Slovakia

Budapest and Komarom, Hungary

Reykjavik, Iceland

Ivrea, Prato, Ravenna, Gallarate, Pisa, Silvi Paese, Italy

Maribor, Slovenia

Dublin, Ireland

Zhovti Vody, Horlivka, Kiev and Chernihiv, Ukraine

Slemmestad and Oslo, Norway

Motherwell, Scotland

Dainava and Kaunas, Lithuania

Tallinn, Estonia

Warsaw, Poland

Stockholm and Kista, Sweden

Copenhagen, Denmark

Ankara and Istanbul, Turkey

Nikaia, Greece

Amersfoort, Netherlands

Vienna, Austria

Vinicne Sumice, Czech Republic

Asia

Male, Maldives

Kuching, Puchong, Shah Alam, Cheras, Petaling Jaya, Kuala Lumpur and Jitra, Malaysia

Bangkok, Thailand

Rangoon, Burma

Thiruvananthapuram, Pune, Mumbai, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Pondicherry, Erode, Kottayam and Ganganagar,  India

Port Louis, Mauritius

Pontianak, Pecum, Depok, Jakarta and Bogor, Indonesia

Tehran, Mashhad and Ahvaz, Iran

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Hanoi and Thanh Pho Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam

Colombo and Pita Kotte, Sri Lanka

Rawalpindi and Islamabad, Pakistan

Wuxi and Beijing, China

Taipei, Taiwan

Africa 

Lagos, Nigeria

Cairo and Al Jizah, Egypt

Tunis, Tunisia

Johannesburg and Pretoria, South Africa

Pacific

Homebush, Australia

Manila, Philippines

Editorial Comment

What with having the flu and the Football Playoffs, we have been slightly off kilter and off schedule for the past few days so we here at Carolina Naturally decided to go 'Lite' today and return to our regular schedule on the morrow.

Did you know ...

That South Dakota is the new Cayman Islands?

About crushing labor unions and the middle class: the new American way?

About the 10 greediest people in America

About the coming instant planetary emergency

That DOD contractors get paid nearly three times what govt. employees do

That many dolphins are sick after BP oil spill a year later

Is he the liberals' answer to the Koch brothers?

That a man was interrogated and suspended for dressing as his boss on Halloween

Can Physicists Find Time Travelers On Facebook?

Can social media find time travelers? The short answer is: No. Robert Nemiroff and Teresa Wilson, two researchers at Michigan Technological University, thought they might.

In a study released online last week, the two scoured Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and a few other websites to find 'prescient information' - that is, tweets and statuses about current events posted before the events became current. The only way someone could write such a post, they reasoned, is if they were visiting from the future.

Cosmovitral

Mexico's Amazing Stained Glass Botanical Garden

Stained glass is invariably associated with place of worship. Yet the lucky residents of the Mexican city of Toluca have a wonderful botanical garden replete with a host of incredibly stained glass windows.

As well as being a superb display of plants and art together, it is a tour de force in what to do with a building once it outlives its original purpose.

This Japanese Pickled Turnip Might Be A Cure For The Flu

Japanese scientists have discovered that a strain of bacteria found in 'suguki,' a horrifying-looking pickled turnip being lauded by people as a 'superfood,' could actually stop you from getting the flu. It's sort of a toss-up here between whether you'd rather get influenza or drink the guts of a pickled turnip.

The scientists found that, when fed to mice, the Lactobacillus brevis bacteria in the suguki actually prevent the mice from contracting influenza. Although the bacteria hasn't been tested on humans yet, researchers are currently working on a probiotic drink made from suguki, which will hopefully yield similar results.

Man trying to thaw frozen pipes burnt down home

A man trying to thaw the pipes with a hair dryer and heater in his home in Marion Township, Beaver County, Pennsylvania caused a huge fire at around 4pm on Friday.

The single-story home, built on stilts because of its proximity to a nearby creek and the creek’s tendency to flood, was destroyed. Firefighters from companies in both Beaver and Butler counties battled the flames.
“The house was so far gone, there was nothing we could do to save it when we got to the scene,” Assistant Fire Chief John Murtha said. Homeowner Leonard Szulczewski, at times in tears, says he lost everything in the fire, including his treasured baseball memorabilia collection.

The fire started after Szulczewski used a hair dryer and a propane or kerosene heater to thaw out frozen pipes under the house. He said he apparently fell asleep on a couch and was awakened by popping sounds. Szulczewski managed to get out safely.
There's a news video here.

Woman arrested for hitting husband with spatula before throwing his chicken into swimming pool

A woman accused of hitting her husband in the face with a spatula and of throwing his chicken in a swimming pool was arrested in Vero Beach, Florida according to recently released records.

The husband of Darlene Danahy, 40, told Indian River County Sheriff's officials he was cooking chicken on the grill when Danahy approached him, inquiring about a woman's number on his phone.
"When he denied calling that number 32 times, she accused him of cheating and became violent." During the argument she grabbed a spatula that was on the grill and hit him in the face. Danahy then grabbed the chicken he was cooking and threw it in the pool.

Fearing for his safety, the victim left the residence. He sustained a small laceration on his face and also had what appeared to be chicken pieces in his ear. Danahy faces a charge of battery domestic violence.

Man who blew up his dog jailed for 12 months

A man from Stevenson, Washington who said he blew up his family's dog because it had been possessed by the devil will spend the next 12 months in jail.

Christopher Wayne Dillingham, 45, pleaded guilty to first-degree animal cruelty and possession of an explosive device in the deadly blast that rocked neighbors and scattered pieces of Cabella, a yellow Labrador, across his yard last August.

The fireworks stand owner had told authorities he was preparing for a nuclear rapture when he strapped the small, homemade bomb to the dog.

News report from original incident.

YouTube link.

Dillingham later claimed his ex-girlfriend, who had given him Cabella, had "put the devil" in the dog.

Person dressed as bear jumped out in front of car

Police are investigating after a person dressed as a bear reportedly jumped in front of a car in Shaler Township, near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Shaler Township police say the incident happened at about 1:30am on Friday. A driver says a person dressed a bear jumped out in front of his vehicle.

Police were called, but found no trace of the person. Shaler Township Police Chief Bryan Kelly says they are investigating, but doesn't believe there will be any arrests.
“I could see if it was April … I could see it as an April Fool's thing,” he said. No one was injured, Kelly added.
There's a news video here.