CAROLINA NATURALLY

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Rare silver dollar could fetch millions

Collectors are abuzz over the auction of one of the most valuable coins in the world.

Best ways to save thousands a year

Ditch your car and become a scooter commuter to save more than $3,000 a year.

Antimatter Mysteries part 2

Two experiments at CERN are designed to make antihydrogen in useful quantities, but that goal is proving elusive.

Antimatter mysteries 2: How do you make antimatter?

Why freeing Willy was the wrong thing to do

Keiko, star of Free Willy, in playful mood (Image: Sam Barcroft/Rex Features)

The released killer whale star of the Hollywood movie Free Willy did not have the survival skills to make it in the wild.

The US Supreme Court has dramatically scaled back the power of police to search vehicles after stopping the driver for minor traffic offenses.
This is an important ruling.
It is the correct ruling.
It is an inappropriate police power that's been abused on an ongoing basis for decades.
What is shocking to see is two of the court's fascists, Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas, on the correct side of this.

Dreamer

Ozzy Osborne

Health and Science

Health News

More Americans are postponing doctor visits due to cost

How to heal an infection that defies antibiotics? Another infection.

High-fructose corn syrup is poisoning everyone

Science News

Researcher sends message just by thinking

Missing planets suggest stars 'eat' their young

Planets orbiting near their stars may not last for very long (Illustration: Mark Garlick/HELAS)

Few planets are found in a zone right around their stars – a new study suggests why they can't survive there for long.

Stars 'eat' their young

All together now ...

All right everyone it is time to yawn ...

Governor Sarah Palin (retard-Alaska) has been accused of another ethics violation.

More on this here.

Liars and Fools

Liars and Fools

Among wing-nut chatterboxes, up continues to be down and the sky continues to be green
And little green men do anal probe experiments, and ... oh, you get the picture.

MSNBC's Buchanan uses obscure racist term
Hell, Buchanan is an obscure racist term so this is news?

Weekly Standard's Kristol falsely suggests DNI Blair supports torture techniques
Falsely suggests my ass he outright lies and says so.

Disney's Savage says "Obama hates" and "is raping America"
Nope, that was the shrub and the cabal who hated America and raped America - the entire world for that matter. In fact they still hate America and are still trying to continue to rape us.

Disney's Savage suggests "gang bump" between Obama and Chavez a "signal" America is heading towards dictatorship
Damn, this moron is delusional to the extreme.

Disney's Savage says "gay mafia runs every avenue of this culture"
You got that right girlfriend! Oh, give me a break.

MSNBC's Scarborough and Buchanan go apoplectic over Obama-Chavez handshake
Those two have an apoplectic fit when someone points out the sky is in reality blue not green so this is news how?

MCNBC's Scarborough falsely compares harsh interrogations to military training programs
Not any military training program I ever been in they don't.

FBN's Sullivan falsely claims DHS report "named veterans groups as possible extremist groups"
Nope just those wing-nut covens giving blowjobs to their guns in the woods.

Now, here is something you don't see everyday ...

... at least not around these parts anyway.

Gene variant found in 65% of autism cases

A genetic variant carried by more than two thirds of people with autism might eventually help identify babies at high risk of the disorder.

Gene variant

Wing Nut Nuttery

Wing-nuts

Stumped by science: Bachmann (batshit crazy loon-Minnesota) calls CO2 'harmless,' 'negligible,' 'necessary,' 'natural'
Yeah, and her fairy godmother makes carriages out of pumpkin, too.

Bachmann (foaming at the mouth whacko -Minnesota) asks whether Homeland Security Secretary Napolitano has gone "absolutely stark raving mad"
This from a raving lunatic is so funny on so many levels.

Barton (r-Texas) totally pwns Secretary of Energy
Only in the delusions of fantasy, only in the delusions of fantasy.

Carter (r-Texas) on DHS report: "Singling out political opponents for working against the ruling party is precisely the tactic of every tyrannical government from Red China to Venezuela"
If the shoe fits as they say ... damn short 'memories' they have don't they.

Culberson (r-Texas) thinks Texas can split into five separate states whenever it wants
Yep it sure can and pigs are areo-dynamically the best shape for flight, to boot as well.

Ensign (r-Nevada) lies that Senate Armed Services Committee report is a 'Democrat partisan' document
The moron can't tell the truth.

Two weeks later, Ensign (r-Nevada) is still apoplectic about Obama-Chavez handshake
apoplexy - a disease of the mind that affects the movements of the body - yep that's about it.

Gingrich (ret'd r-Georgia, and he's history professor) is unaware that US presidents did indeed "smile and greet" Russians at the height of the Cold War
Which is why no one believes either of his forks of his tongue.

McCain (r-Arizona) falsely claims that author of DHS report has been fired
Like we are going to believe anything this fossil says.

Gov Perry (R-Texas) has ties to Texas secessionist group linked to domestic terrorism
We are not surprised are we?

Washington Post's Broder demands legal immunity for Bush-Cheney era torture team
Demand all you want - it ain't gonna happen ... the world will see to that.

According to wing-nut mouthpices CNBC, economic recovery should take at least three months. Any honest financial advisor would tell you 10 to 15 years.
CNBC - the people who like that idiot in the final 'panic' scene from the film Animal House holding his hands up as they trample him to the ground saying "All is well" over and over as the economy trampled(s) them into the ground - oh yes, that's the source of financial news for me.

Headlines

Fed-up mom's punishment fuels debate

Play Video
Madlyn Primoff started a nationwide controversy when she made her bickering daughters get out of the car. Did she go too far?

Fed-up mom's punishment fuels debate

Credit card security flaw helps ID thieves

Cutting your credit card in half isn't always a safe bet.

Credit card security flaw

Also:

At least 7 hospitalized with swine flu

Swine flu has sickened more than 60 Americans, but so far no deaths have been reported outside of Mexico.

CDC

Also:

The swine flu's 'worst-case scenario'

We're not close to a global flu pandemic, but planners paint a grim picture of what could happen.

The swine flu's 'worst-case scenario'

Also:

Come Together

A scene from the film Across The Universe.
Can you name the Legends singing lead?

What every driver should know how to do

These tricks can help get you out of dicey driving situations.

What every driver should know how to do

Also:

Highs and lows of Obama's first 100 days

While the White House downplays the 100-day review, many Americans are taking notice.

Obama's first 100 days

Also:

Senator Arlen Specter switching parties

"I now find my political philosophy more in line with Democrats than Republicans," said the veteran GOP lawmaker.

Arlen Specter switching parties

Aerosmith is ordered to give free concert

The band has to perform a free show for 8,300 fans in Hawaii — and cover their travel, too — as part of a lawsuit settlement.

Free concert

Also:

More Atheists Shout It From the Rooftops

Much to the Fundie's surprise ... they aren't the majority!

Two months after the local atheist organization here put up a billboard saying “Don’t Believe in God? You Are Not Alone,” the group’s 13 board members met in Laura and Alex Kasman’s living room to grapple with the fallout.

The problem was not that the group, the Secular Humanists of the Lowcountry, had attracted an outpouring of hostility. It was the opposite. An overflow audience of more than 100 had showed up for their most recent public symposium, and the board members discussed whether it was time to find a larger place.

And now parents were coming out of the woodwork asking for family-oriented programs where they could meet like-minded nonbelievers.

More Atheists Shout It From the Rooftops

Our Readers

Some of our readers today have been in:

Kiev, Kyyivs'ka Olbast, Ukraine
Roubaix, Nord-Pas-De-Calais, France
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Moulineaux, Haute-Normandie, France
Krakow, Malopolskie, Poland
Wolfsburg, Niedersachen, Germany
Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan
San Jose, San Jose, Costa Rica
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Warsaw, Warszawa, Poland
Waterloo, Ontario, Canada
Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand
Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany
Berlin, Berlin, Germany
Birmingham, England, United Kingdom
London, England, United Kingdom
Nottingham, England, United Kingdom
New Delhi, Delhi, India
London, Ontario, Canada
Cheras, Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia
Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada
Bournemouth, England, United Kingdom
Manchester, England, United Kingdom
Cambridge, Ontario, Canada
Cairo, Al Qahirah, Egypt
Bangkok, Krung Thep, Thailand
Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei & Muara, Brunei Darussalam
Richmond Hill, Ontario, Canada
Katowice, Slakie, Poland
Verona, Veneto, Italy

as well as Scotland, the Philippines and the United States

Daily Horoscope

Today's horoscope says:

It's a great day for simple pleasures!
If you keep close to home and avoid the hustle and bustle of the rest of the world, you should find a lot of satisfaction.
But you don't have to do it alone -- why not have some friends over and cook a meal together?
Not only will it be fun to collaborate on the food you will be sharing, it will be creatively inspiring -- who knows what kind of crazy ideas your favorite people can come up with!
Recipes don't have to be free of improvisation.

You know what this means ... BBQ at my place!

Monday, April 27, 2009

Five charged in 'nightmare' mortgage scheme

A Maryland company is accused of defrauding more than 1,000 people out of $70 million in what turned out to be a Ponzi scheme, officials say.

5 charged in 'nightmare' mortgage scheme

Also:

Blown-away Chihuahua reunited with owners

Tinker Bell has been reunited with her owners after a 70-mph gust of wind picked up the six-pound Chihuahua and tossed her out of sight.

Dorothy and Lavern Utley credit a pet psychic for guiding them on Monday to a wooded area nearly a mile from where 8-month-old Tinker Bell had been last seen. The brown long-haired dog was dirty and hungry but otherwise OK.

The Utleys, of Rochester, had set up an outdoor display Saturday at a flea market in Waterford Township, 25 miles northwest of Detroit. Tinker Bell was standing on their platform trailer when she was swept away.

Dorothy Utley tells The Detroit News that her cherished pet "just went wild" upon seeing her.

Police arrest woman they say used Taser on officer

Police have arrested a woman they said used a Utah Highway Patrol trooper's Taser on him. Lisa Parker, 41, was booked into the Salt Lake County jail for investigation of aggravated assault, interference with an arresting officer and unauthorized control of a motor vehicle. Authorities said a Utah Highway Patrol trooper pulled over a truck he thought was stolen on Saturday.

Utah Highway Patrol Sgt. Jeff Nigbur said the officer attempted to arrest the female passenger but she hit him with her shoe and bit him.

Nigbur said the trooper tried to use his Taser but it didn't fire, so he threw it aside. But authorities say Parker picked it up and fired a shock called a "dry stun" into the officer.

A K-9 unit and back-up officer arrived, and Parker eventually was Tasered.

Foul-smelling man accused of money laundering

Authorities in Eugene, Oregon said a man accused of money laundering was tripped up because he could have used a little cleansing himself. Court records show that during his trips to a Eugene bank a man drew attention to himself because of a foul odor, possibly linked to fertilizer. A teller vomited. Customers complained. Authorities investigated.

After an Internal Revenue Service investigation into a drug operation involving high-potency marijuana and hallucinogenic mushrooms, a federal grand jury indicted the man.

He does not face drug charges, but he is accused of laundering cash in dozens of transactions totaling nearly $500,000 in 2007 and 2008.

Court records show he pleaded guilty in 1999 to manufacturing and delivering a controlled substance.

Eyes Without A Face

Billy Idol

Alderman objects to crime-themed hot dog stand

A Chicago alderman said he doesn't mind that a businessman plans to open a hot dog stand in his ward and hire former convicts to work there, but he does object to the stand's crime-linked theme. Alderman Bob Fioretti said Friday his Second Ward on the city's West Side has major crime problems, so he thinks the stand's name, Felony Franks, is simply not in good taste.

Fioretti also objected to several slogans, including: "Food so good, it's criminal," and "Home of the misdemeanor wiener."

Stand owner Jim Andrews, though, said he thinks the tongue-in-cheek name and a menu that features such items as "burglar beef" and "chain gang chili dog" will help to erase some of the stigma that being a former convict carries.

Beware of 'Census' workers taking bank info

As the first phase of the 2010 Census began this month, the Better Business Bureau of Southern Piedmont is warning people to be wary of scammers pretending to be U.S. Census Bureau workers.

This already is happening in other parts of the country, although no cases have been reported yet in the Charlotte area, BBB spokeswoman Janet Hart said.

The census bureau has recently begun verifying every address in the nation in preparation for its decennial count next year.

Although people are generally wary about giving out banking or other personal information during unsolicited phone calls or visits, they may be more willing to do so if they think the person they are talking to is with the census agency, the BBB said.

The bureau emphasized that Census workers will not ask for Social Security numbers, banking or other financial information.

Other alerts include:

Census workers will carry identification, which people should ask to see.

Census workers will not ask for money, or tell you that you owe money.

Census workers may contact you by phone, mail or in person. They will not use e-mail for any contacts. Scammers have been known to send e-mails pretending to be from various government agencies.

Whitewater Center Going Solar

The U.S. National Whitewater Center, located in western Mecklenburg county near Charlotte, will generate some of its electrical power with a solar roof system to be installed later this week, it announced today.

Swine Flu In NC

Suspected cases of swine flu in N.C.

State health officials say there are suspected cases of swine flu in North Carolina, but investigators declined to say how many cases or where they were located.

Via: Charlotte Observer

WHO raises global alert level on swine flu

The Obama administration says it is responding aggressively to the outbreak, and urges Americans to take "common sense" precautions.

WHO raises global alert level on swine flu

Also:

I Wanna Be Sedated

Ramones

US refuses to let jet into its airspace because it is carrying a journalist who criticizes US foreign policy

This just proves george Orwell is alive and well ...

On April 24th, an Air France flight from Paris to Mexico had to make an unscheduled stop in Martinique when US air traffic controllers notified the jet that it would not be receiving permission to fly over US airspace.

The plane was not en route to the US, just passing over some of it.

On board the plane was Colombian Journalist Hernando Calvo Ospina, who works for the French left-wing journal Le Monde Diplomatique and wrote about US involvement in Latin America. Ospina and his publisher said they will sue for compensation."

What makes the whole incident even more interesting is that Air France had only sent its passenger manifest to the Mexicans, but now it is clear that Mexico shares this information with the United States.
Hernando Calvo Ospina has written articles about the United States involvement in Latin America, and is currently writing a book about he CIA. The exact reason for him being on the terrorist watch list is unknown, and we'll probably never know what criteria are used for adding people to it. Air France is considering asking the United States for compensation. Good luck with that.

Air France jet diverts after being told to stay clear of US airspace

Indians to prove their vote by flipping the bird

Who ever said India's election commission doesn't have a sense of humor.

It has insisted that when about 500 million Indians vote in the general elections this summer, they will be marked on their middle fingers with indelible ink to prevent double voting.

The photograph below shows the Chief Minister of Maharashtra state (and his wife) showing their middle fingers to the camera, apparently only realizing later what it looked like.

The Election Commission is ensuring your message goes out loud and clear - they are giving your index finger a go-by, and painting your middle finger with indelible ink instead. A Commission official said the change was necessitated by the recently-concluded elections to local bodies in some parts of the country. "Since these voters will still have their index fingers marked, we decided to uniformly mark the middle finger of the left hand," he said.
Not everyone's amused, though. In many places, politicians and celebrities smiled and posed for the cameras after casting their vote, but realization dawned much later. A Pune-based Bollywood celebrity said, "I did not realize it when I posed for the cameras. But when I saw the photo, my pose appeared to be in poor taste."

Voters will now show middle finger

Yeah, I know the feeling. I've felt like flipping the bird on more than one occasion during elections myself.

Hurricanes reduce ability of forests to store carbon

The destruction of trees by hurricanes and tropical storms could turn forests into net emitters of carbon dioxide.

Hurricanes reduce ability of forests to store carbon

I Fought The Law

The Clash (live)

Bicycle helmet laws could do more harm than good

Forcing cyclists to wear protective headgear could cause people to stop cycling and cost healthcare services billions of dollars, a new study claims.

More harm than good

Antimatter

Does antimatter fall up? How do you make it – and could it be used to make a bomb? Find out the answers to these questions and more in our special feature.

The five greatest mysteries of antimatter

According to theory, matter and antimatter should have been created in equal amounts at the big bang – yet our universe is almost entirely made of matter.