CAROLINA NATURALLY

Friday, November 27, 2009

Science News

From BBC-Science:

A hammerhead shark's unusual shape gives it outstanding vision, according to a study which may solve a centuries-old mystery.

Past climate anomalies explained

Unusually warm and cold spells in climate history are linked to how oceans responded to temperature changes, a study says.

Chirps and whistles help estimate the size of bird populations

Monster worm and sea star frenzy caught on camera

THE BIG PICTURE

Cop News

In Cop News

Arizona's "tough" sheriff Joe Arpaio's crew forces inmate to give birth while shackled, then won't allow her to hold baby

Schwarzenegger: A Tax Deadbeat

If you've been following the adventures of the California governator, you've been discovering that not only are he and his wife serial traffic scofflaws, but apparent tax dodgers as well.

Here's the latest:

The United States government might have a bigger budget to work with -- if one bodybuilding governor would pay the back taxes it appears he never got around to paying.

According to documents filed in L.A. County Superior Court, Arnold Schwarzenegger owes the IRS $39,047 from 2004 and $40,016 from 2005.

In total the Guv owes $79,064.00 ... and as we all know, he's definitely not saving the money for rainy day traffic violations.

An official at the L.A. County Recorder's Office said their system shows the lien is still active.

Unusual Holidays and Celebrations

Today is:

Buy Nothing Day,
Flossing Day,
Maize Day,
and
Sinkie Day

as well as

Yawn Arafat

Daily Almanac

Today is Friday, Nov. 27, the 331st day of 2009.

There are 34 days left in the year.

Today In History November 27

Some of our readers today have been in:

Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Derby, England, United Kingdom
Maribor, Maribor, Slovenia
Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
Paris, Ile-De-France, France
Dortmund, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany
Copenhagen, Kobenhavn, Denmark
Amsterdam, Noord-Holland, Netherlands
Vancouver, British Columbia

as well as Scotland, and the United States

Daily Horoscope

Today's horoscope says:

Ready to let loose and have some real fun?
Good, because the universe is willing to help.
Right now the stars are anything but short on creative ways to enjoy the company of others -- and they just so happen to have set up shop in your house of entertaining.
How about having the whole crew over to your place for pizza, movies and games?
Break out Pictionary and stay up late laughing.
You owe it to yourself.

Party!

Thursday, November 26, 2009

Wingnuts going back to Hell

Repugicans going home ...

Dinner crashers no strangers to celebrity

The couple who crashed a White House dinner may have been vying to join a reality show.

Also:

Counterfeit 20 shows up at local restaurant

Dateline - Wilmington NC:

Fat Tony's General Manager Jason Warnick holds a counterfeit $20 bill that was used at the restaurant last week.

Counterfeit 20 shows up at local restaurant; area merchants warned

Man Dies in Nutty Putty Cave Accident

Nutty Putty Cave sounds like it's a made-up name, but it is not. Nutty Putty cave in a tourist attraction in Stansbury Park, UT, and John Edward Jones, 26, was stuck in a narrow crevice.

Full Story

Dubai request for debt 'standstill' raises fear

Just a year after the global downturn derailed Dubai's explosive growth, the city is now so swamped in debt that it's asking for a six-month reprieve on paying its bills - causing a drop on world markets Thursday and raising questions about Dubai's reputation as a magnet for international investment.

Dubai request for debt 'standstill' raises fear

Palin Punk'd By Canadian Comedian Again

This bitch is so stupid ...

Sarah Palin has been tricked by a second Canadian comedian.
Last year, she was "punk'd," made to think she was talking to French president Nicolas Sarkozy when in reality it was The Masked Avengers, a Quebec comedy duo. At a recent stop on her "Going Rogue" book tour , Sarah Palin told Canadian comedian Mary Walsh that Canada should get rid of its public health care system (which will go over poorly with Canadians; more on that later).

Full Story

Dana Perino On Terrorism

It seems the attacks on the U.S. during the shrub's term, on September 11, 2001, were such a minor occurrence that they aren't even worth remembering. Just more evidence of the stupidity of those on the right - as if that was necessary.

These losers just keep insisting on displaying their stupidity.

Steps to perfect homemade gravy

4 steps to perfect homemade gravy

Learn the secrets to making a lump-free and flawless pan gravy every time.

The tools you'll need

Also:

Retailers tout big price cuts on HDTVs

Major retailers are trumpeting deals on TVs, but the steepest discounts are fewer this season.

A 19-inch for $128

Also:

Black Friday bargain checklist

See what seven retailers are giving away or deeply discounting to kick off the holidays.

New 'Rock Band' at Old Navy

Rainbow trapped for the first time

An ingeniously simple device, made with just a magnifying lens and a plate of glass, has been used to trap a rainbow of visible light.

Rainbow trapped for the first time

The eye-catching best of fluid dynamics

Beautiful images from experiments in fluid dynamics, as exhibited by physicists at a meeting in Minnesota this week.

The eye-catching best of fluid dynamics

Stuffed into a turkey

16 birds all stuffed into a turkey

The infamous turducken is nothing compared to this French concoction.

Goose, pheasant, what are the rest?

Also:

How to keep the peace on Thanksgiving

Declare a truce at the dinner table with these tips to get along with family.

Prepare for the inevitable

Also:

Fix 7 common turkey emergencies

Troubleshoot problems with your turkey if it's taking too long to cook or if it's not browning enough.

Quick remedies

Also:

What's open for Turkey Day, Black Friday

Find out how to avoid doorbuster limits, score deals, and make the most of longer hours.

Early-bird incentives

Also:

North Carolina Christmas Trees Generate Over $100 Million

North Carolina harvests nearly five million trees yearly, ranking the state number two in the nation.

North Carolina Christmas Trees Generate Over $100 Million

P. Z. Myers: Mild-mannered scourge of creationists

His tirades against religion have provoked millions of readers, but the force behind the science blog Pharyngula turns out to be a rather genial firebrand.

Mild-mannered scourge of creationists

Milky Way's building blocks still sparkle in the sky

Globular clusters may be the leftovers of small galaxies that merged to form the Milky Way.

Milky Way's building blocks still sparkle in the sky

Science News

From BBC-Science:

Siberian tiger in severe decline

The last remaining population of Siberian tigers has declined significantly, according to a recent survey.

Poached skins matched to tigers

Couple crashes White House dinner

The Secret Service investigates how uninvited guests slipped into the Obamas' VIP affair.

Who are they?

Also:

Unusual Holidays and Celebrations

No unusual holiday or celebration today.

Daily Almanac

Today is Thursday, Nov. 26, the 330th day of 2009.

There are 35 days left in the year.

Today In History November 26

This is Thanksgiving Day.

Our Readers

Some of our readers today have been in:

Cornwall, Ontario, Canada
Canterbury, England, United Kingdom
Roseau, Saint George, Dominica
Istanbul, Istanbul, Turkey
Toulouse, Midi-Pyrenees, France
Queenstown, Queenstown, Singapore
Dubai, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Pitesti, Arges, Romania
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
Reading, England, United Kingdom
Warsaw, Mazowieckie, Poland
Vantaa, Southern Finland, Finland
Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Swindon, England, United Kingdom
Clermont-Ferrand, Auvergne, France
Flensburg, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany
Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico

as well as Scotland, and the United States

Daily Horoscope

Today's horoscope says:

You may feel like keeping a low profile these days, and it's no wonder -- the stars heat things up to a high temperature.
Don't be too surprised if something you did in the past catches up with you.
There's nowhere to run once it finds you, so you may as well face it.
Try to give your attention to a personal challenge that comes up too quickly to be ignored.
You're lucky to have so much inner strength at your disposal.

OK.

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Question and Answer

Question: Why do some people take an instant aversion to banjo players?

Answer: It saves time in the long run.

And I Quote

Always do right - this will gratify some and astonish the rest.

~ Mark Twain

Actually, Plymouth Rock is quite tiny

You may be very surprised by the truth behind some Thanksgiving stories.

Did the pilgrims really eat turkey?

Also:

Bleak future for the Dead Sea

One country's controversial project may not be able to save the world's saltiest body of water.

Could be dry in 40 years

Also:

Thanksgiving side dishes

15-minute Thanksgiving side dishes

These classic recipes will help you spend less time in the kitchen and more time with guests.

Very easy gravy

Also:

'Sesame Street' unveils O'Reilly Muppet

After drawing fire from conservatives over an old jab, the kids show introduces a new character.

Bill, meet Spill

Also:

Best bets for Black Friday shoppers

Get a sneak peek at Friday's deals on laptops, TVs, gaming systems, and cameras.

Some gadgets under $100

Also:

Most dangerous day for drivers

Surprisingly, the deadliest time of the year to be on the road isn't New Year's Day.

Fatalities spike nearly fivefold

Also:

Enhanced video leads to arrest in cold case

Police had images of the suspects in Sharon Moskowitz's murder for over a decade.

Too fuzzy

Also:

Tainted drywall investigation expands

Some U.S.-made drywall is reportedly causing the same problems as the Chinese variety.

Rotten-egg smell

Also:

Outraged judge erases man's $525K debt

Greg Horoski's mortgage is reduced to zero after a judge calls his bankers' acts "repulsive."

Bombshell

Also:

And I Quote

To succeed, jump as quickly at opportunities as you do at conclusions.

~ Benjamin Franklin

The Big Picture

From BBC-Science:

THE BIG PICTURE

NC man rams car into stand after vendor refuses to sell him hot dog and drink for $1

Police said a North Carolina man rammed his car into a hot dog stand when the vendor refused to sell him a hot dog and drink for a dollar.

NC man rams car into stand after vendor refuses to sell him hot dog and drink for $1

After the Hospital, It's Bankruptcy Court for Many

Some of the debtors sitting forlornly in this city’s old stone bankruptcy court have lost a job or gotten divorced. Others have been summoned to face their creditors because they spent mindlessly beyond their means.
But all too often these days, they are there merely because they, or their children, got sick.
Wes and Katie Covington, from Smyrna, Tenn., were already in debt from a round of fertility treatments when complications with her pregnancy and surgery on his knee left them with unmanageable bills.
For Christine L. Phillips of Nashville, it was a $10,000 trip to the emergency room after a car wreck, on the heels of costly operations to remove a cyst and repair a damaged nerve.

Full Story

Swine flu warning for holiday travelers

As 35 million Americans flock to airports and highways, concerns mount about the unpredictable virus.

CDC's advice

Also:

Taliban leader rejects peace offer from Afghanistan president

Mullah Omar, leader of the Afghan Taliban, has rejected peace overtures from Hamid Karzai, the country's president, and again demanded that foreign troops leave the country.

Full Story

Wild camels terrorize Australian community

The Northern Territory Government says residents of a remote Central Australian community are too scared to leave their houses because it has been overrun by thousands of wild camels.

Full Story

Time Names ’00’s ‘The Decade From Hell’

We are about to head into six weeks of non-stop, end-of-decade countdown and highlight lists. Newsweek got a head start on the competition with their much passed-around the decade in seven minutes, but that is no doubt just the tip of the iceberg of what’s to come between now and December 31. Granted it’s been a helluva a decade. Or, according to Time ‘The Decade From Hell,’ which is the moniker they’ve opted to give it.

Full Story

Toyota to replace 4 million gas pedals

After a massive recall, the auto giant moves to prevent jammed accelerators.

Camry, Prius, other models affected

Also:

Pakistan Charges 7 Suspects in Mumbai Attacks

Pakistani prosecutors charged seven men on Wednesday with planning and helping execute last year's Mumbai terror attacks.

Full Story

Worst holiday money-wasters

5 worst holiday money-wasters

Holidays are tough enough on your wallet — avoid falling for these shopping traps.

Watch out for phony sales

Also:

The sweeter side of volcanoes

There is much more to volcanoes than just fireballs and noxious gas – see a different side of them in this gallery.

The sweeter side of volcanoes

What Thanksgiving picks say about you

What you like to eat on turkey day offers some revealing tidbits about your personality.

2 sides of sweet potatoes

Also:

Stonehenge in Animated 3D

The non-profit Wessex Archaeology organization created a virtual fly-over of Stonehenge and vicinity based on LIDAR (Light Detection And Ranging) data collected from the air.

From the project page:

During production of the animation, we turned the LIDAR data into a solid 3D model of whole landscape surrounding Stonehenge. Aerial tours of the most famous sites and monument groups were animated in HD (720i) resolution. What is exciting is that much of the upstanding archaeology, from well-preserved barrows to the subtle earthworks of prehistoric field systems, are clearly visible.
To do this, we had to work out how to use the data at 1:1 for our animations (for this kind of task it is often necessary to reduce the complexity of the data by half or quarter (1:2 or 1:4) due to enormous memory and processing requirements). This we achieved, and using lighting techniques we have been able to show the archaeology of the Stonehenge World Heritage Site as it has never been seen before.

The Stonehenge Landscape in 3D

Two US senators demand publication of secret copyright treaty

Two US Senators, Bernie Sanders (I-VI) and Sherrod Brown (D-OH), have written to the US Trade Representative demanding that the text of the secret Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement be made public.
This is the treaty that allows for criminal sanctions against noncommercial file-sharers, demands border-searches of laptop hard-drives and personal media players and phones for pirated material, requires ISPs to spy on their users, and gives movie and record companies the right to take whole households off the Internet with unsubstantiated allegations of piracy.

We are surprised and unpersuaded by assertions that disclosures of basic information about the negotiation would present a risk to the national security of the United States, particularly as regards documents that are shared with all countries in the negotiations, and with dozens of representatives of large corporations. We are concerned that the secrecy of such information reflects a desire to avoid potential criticism of substantive provisions in ACTA by the public, the group who will be most affected by the agreement. Such secrecy has already undermined public confidence in the ACTA process, a point made recently by Dan Glickman, the CEO of the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) - a group highly supportive of the ACTA negotiation, as well as by the members of the TransAtlantic Consumer Dialogue -- a group more critical of the negotiations.
We firmly believe that the public has a right to know the contents of the proposals being considered under ACTA, just as they have the right to read the text of bills pending before Congress.

Way to go, Sanders and Brown!
Americans, call your senators and get them on this bandwagon.
Citizens of other countries, find out why your elected reps aren't asking their governments to publish ACTA!

Senators Sanders and Brown ask White House to make ACTA text public