Odds and Sods
In Cop News
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Saturday, April 17, 2010
The Daily Drift
The Daily Drift
Today's horoscope says:After all the good work you've done lately, asking for that raise, bonus or promotion should be trivial.
You're confident that you've earned it, but, as usual, your humility is getting the best of you.
If you're wondering why they haven't yet offered it to you, remember the old adage about the squeaky wheel getting the grease.
Step right up and tell your superiors that you deserve this.
Some of our readers today have been in:
Kuching Sarawak, Malaysia
Gold Coast, Queensland,Australia
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Paris, Ile-De-France, France
Annecy, Rhone-Alpes, France
Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany
Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India
Chatswood, New South Wales, Australia
Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
Krstiansand, Vest-Agder, Norway
Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
Karlskrona, Blekinge Lan, Sweden
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
New Delhi, Delhi, India
Rotterdam, Zuid-Holland, Netherlands
Jakarta, Jakarta Raya, Indonesia
Emmen, Drenthe, Netheralnds
Exeter, Ontario, Canada
Indore, Madhya Pradesh, India
as well as Scotland, and the United States in such cities such as Lufkin, Bear, Seattle, Detroit, Woodland Hills and more
Today is Saturday, April 17, the 107th day of 2010.
There are 258 days left in the year.
Today's unusual holiday or celebration is:
Blah! Blah! Blah! Day
Today we celebrated being Scots. And as such a wee bit of the hangover is to be expected.
There was a new world record made at the Loch Norman Games today when Eric Frasier tossed the sheaf over the bar at 36'1" in height and Albanach's drums rumbling well into this evening had all dancing like no one was watching.
Needless to say we won't be posting much more today and we'll save all our strength and energy to do so tomorrow after the games close.
Scots Wae Hae
President Obama's Weekly Address
Remarks of President Barack Obama
As Prepared for Delivery
The White House
April 17, 2010
There were many causes of the turmoil that ripped through our economy over the past two years. But above all, this crisis was caused by failures in the financial industry. What is clear is that this crisis could have been avoided if Wall Street firms were more accountable, if financial dealings were more transparent, and if consumers and shareholders were given more information and authority to make decisions.As Prepared for Delivery
The White House
April 17, 2010
But that did not happen. And that’s because special interests have waged a relentless campaign to thwart even basic, common-sense rules – rules to prevent abuse and protect consumers. In fact, the financial industry and its powerful lobby have opposed modest safeguards against the kinds of reckless risks and bad practices that led to this very crisis.
The consequences of this failure of responsibility – from Wall Street to Washington – are all around us: 8 million jobs lost, trillions in savings erased, countless dreams diminished or denied. I believe we have to do everything we can to ensure that no crisis like this ever happens again. That’s why I’m fighting so hard to pass a set of Wall Street reforms and consumer protections. A plan for reform is currently moving through Congress.
Here’s what this plan would do. First, it would enact the strongest consumer financial protections ever. It would put consumers back in the driver’s seat by forcing big banks and credit card companies to provide clear, understandable information so that Americans can make financial decisions that work best for them.
Next, these reforms would bring new transparency to financial dealings. Part of what led to this crisis was firms like AIG and others making huge and risky bets – using things like derivatives – without accountability. Warren Buffett himself once described derivatives bought and sold with little oversight as “financial weapons of mass destruction.” That’s why through reform we’d help ensure that these kinds of complicated financial transactions take place on an open market. Because, ultimately, it is a marketplace that is open, free, and fair that will allow our economy to flourish.
We would also close loopholes to stop the kind of recklessness and irresponsibility we’ve seen. It’s these loopholes that allowed executives to take risks that not only endangered their companies, but also our entire economy. And we’re going to put in place new rules so that big banks and financial institutions will pay for the bad decisions they make – not taxpayers. Simply put, this means no more taxpayer bailouts. Never again will taxpayers be on the hook because a financial company is deemed “too big to fail.”
Finally, these reforms hold Wall Street accountable by giving shareholders new power in the financial system. They’ll get a say on pay: a vote on the salaries and bonuses awarded to top executives. And the SEC will ensure that shareholders have more power in corporate elections, so that investors and pension holders have a stronger voice in determining what happens with their life savings.
Now, unsurprisingly, these reforms have not exactly been welcomed by the people who profit from the status quo – as well their allies in Washington. This is probably why the special interests have spent a lot of time and money lobbying to kill or weaken the bill. Just the other day, in fact, the Leader of the Senate Republicans and the Chair of the Republican Senate campaign committee met with two dozen top Wall Street executives to talk about how to block progress on this issue.
Lo and behold, when he returned to Washington, the Senate Republican Leader came out against the common-sense reforms we’ve proposed. In doing so, he made the cynical and deceptive assertion that reform would somehow enable future bailouts – when he knows that it would do just the opposite. Every day we don’t act, the same system that led to bailouts remains in place – with the exact same loopholes and the exact same liabilities. And if we don’t change what led to the crisis, we’ll doom ourselves to repeat it. That’s the truth. Opposing reform will leave taxpayers on the hook if a crisis like this ever happens again.
So my hope is that we can put this kind of politics aside. My hope is that Democrats and Republicans can find common ground and move forward together. But this is certain: one way or another, we will move forward. This issue is too important. The costs of inaction are too great. We will hold Wall Street accountable. We will protect and empower consumers in our financial system. That’s what reform is all about. That’s what we’re fighting for. And that’s exactly what we’re going to achieve.
Thank you.
Friday, April 16, 2010
The Daily Drift
The Daily Drift
Today's horoscope says:You've got to make a big decision regarding a certain special person, but you're not really sure which way to go. You know you're ready, willing and able to take that leap. On the other hand, you're worried about how much time you currently invest in work or school, and you may be nervous that frequent overtime isn't all that conducive to a relationship. Consider just how conducive a relationship can be to eliminating the urge to put in that overtime in the first place.
Some of our readers today have been in:
Stevenage, England, United Kingdom
Fulda, Hessen, Germany
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
London, England, United Kingdom
Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany
Nanterre, Ile-De-France, France
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
Asker, Akershus, Norway
Chatswood, New South Wales, Australia
Bremen, Bremen, Germany
Paris, Ile-De-France, France
Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
Calgary, Alberta, Canada
as well as Luxembourg, Brazil, and the Unites States in such cities as Lady Lake, Berrien Springs, Chula Vista and more
Today is Friday, April 16, the 106th day of 2010.
There are 259 days left in the year.
Today's unusual holidays and celebrations are:
High Five Day
Trivia Day
and
National Wear Your Pajamas To Work Day
Loch Norman Highland Games
If you happen to be in and about the Lake Norman area this weekend then trot on over to the Loch Norman Highland Games and see why the Scots are the most feared fighting men to this day! Hear the massed pipe bands and feel the thunder roll. Take a nip or two. Make a friend.
April is Confederate History Month
Robert Edward Lee
He was the greatest general the United States Army ever had before the War of Northern Aggression and since. He was opposed to slavery and was General of the Armies for the Confederate States Army during the war.The war had nothing to do with slavery and do not fall for that lie perpetuated by groups that seek to rewrite history.The war was an economic war pure and simple. At the time all the economic power was in the South and the rest of the world looked there and supported the Confederacy.
Shear numbers were all the North had and that is what eventually won the war after three plus years of battlefield defeats. That's right kiddies Useless Grant 'won' the war by sending more and more Yankee men and boys to die against Confederate rifle fire until the Confederates literally ran out of ammunition. Nice fella that.
As The World Turns
As The World Turns
Sunken warship lifted from sea floor
South Korean officials hope the vessel will offer clues to what caused the mysterious sinking.
Also: 
Eyewitness photos capture Volcano drama
As Iceland's eruptions snarl European air traffic, photos reveal stunning beauty amid the chaos.
Also: 
Chaos from Iceland volcano grows
The crater is spewing thousands of ice chunks, and the ash cloud can now be seen from space.
Also: 
Looming burqa bans reveal deeper unease
The conservative Muslim garb sets off debate over public safety and religious freedom in Europe.
Also: The State Of The Nation
The State Of The Nation
New WWI chemical dug up in D.C. lawn
Smoking glassware and a jar of dark liquid shed new light on Army weapons experiments.
Also: A magnitude 4.9 earthquake has rattled parts of Utah, Wyoming and Idaho.
Local Hospitality
Local Hospitality
Snake used as "weapon"
Troy Smith, of Rock Hill, South Carolina, was charged with assault and battery charges after allegedly using a 4 foot long ball python as a weapon. The victim is Jeff Culp, 47, who was staying in a hotel room near Smith's room. Culp and his wife Nancy are staying at the Executive Inn on Anderson road. On Tuesday night, Culp said he asked his neighbors a few doors down from him to turn down their music. Culp exchanged words with one of them, and said a while later, that neighbor, Smith, came back holding a python. "He just walked up and tapped me on my shoulder, and stuck the snake in my face."
But it was worse than that. Culp said Smith pinched the snake's head so its mouth opened, then touched his face with it, and even stuck it partially into his mouth.
The incident nearly made Culp sick. "I fell down and crawled back here into my room. I took a shower for three hours last night. I just can't stand those things touching me," he said.
A North Carolina man has had a transplanted kidney removed, after doctors learned the organ contained cancer.
Six men are charged with beating a man in the head with a baseball bat in Onslow County.
Stolen Truck With Stolen Copper Found Abandoned On I-40
Lunatic Fringe
Lunatic Fringe
Wingnuts too extreme for the rest of the wingnuts
Fears of unruly ralliers prompt tea party leaders to uninvite some conservative guests.
Also: Teabaggers want to cut govt, unless it's their own Soc Security benefits
From NYT:Some defended being on Social Security while fighting big government by saying that since they had paid into the system, they deserved the benefits.
Others could not explain the contradiction.
“That’s a conundrum, isn’t it?” asked Jodine White, 62, of Rocklin, Calif. “I don’t know what to say. Maybe I don’t want smaller government. I guess I want smaller government and my Social Security.” She added, “I didn’t look at it from the perspective of losing things I need. I think I’ve changed my mind.”
SEC accuses Goldman Sachs of civil fraud
The government alleges Goldman Sachs defrauded investors by failing to disclose conflicts of interest in mortgage investments it sold as the housing market was faltering.
'Don't be fooled' by Mitch McConnell. He's fighting for Wall Street.
Chris Dodd has been on fire about Wall Street reform. He's not letting Mitch McConnell and the repugicans spin this one. Yesterday, Dodd said, "We don't work for the big banks." But, Mitch McConnell and his fellow repugicans do work for the big banks.
Today, Paul Krugman eviscerates McConnell, too. McConnell, on behalf of Wall Street, is trying to deceive the American people. It's despicable. And, it's just blatant:
It's good to see that the Senate Democrats are in a fighting mood. They're not letting the repugicans lie on this issue. McConnell really thinks the American people are too stupid to figure out his lies. He's wrong.
Today, Paul Krugman eviscerates McConnell, too. McConnell, on behalf of Wall Street, is trying to deceive the American people. It's despicable. And, it's just blatant:
It’s a truly shameless performance: Mr. McConnell is pretending to stand up for taxpayers against Wall Street while in fact doing just the opposite. In recent weeks, he and other Republican leaders have held meetings with Wall Street executives and lobbyists, in which the G.O.P. and the financial industry have sought to coordinate their political strategy.And, a final warning from Krugman:
And let me assure you, Wall Street isn’t lobbying to prevent future bank bailouts. If anything, it’s trying to ensure that there will be more bailouts. By depriving regulators of the tools they need to seize failing financial firms, financial lobbyists increase the chances that when the next crisis strikes, taxpayers will end up paying a ransom to stockholders and executives as the price of avoiding collapse.
Even more important, however, the financial industry wants to avoid serious regulation; it wants to be left free to engage in the same behavior that created this crisis.
So don’t be fooled. When Mitch McConnell denounces big bank bailouts, what he’s really trying to do is give the bankers everything they want.Exactly.
It's good to see that the Senate Democrats are in a fighting mood. They're not letting the repugicans lie on this issue. McConnell really thinks the American people are too stupid to figure out his lies. He's wrong.
In Matters Of Health
In Matters Of Health
MIT student designs $3 life-saving tool
Doctors know suction helps heal wounds, but devices can cost $100 a day.
Also: 
5 exercises for strong, sculpted arms
You don't have to spend your life in the gym to get strong and sleek-looking arms.
Also: Insurers try to circumvent health care law
Insurers try to circumvent health care law
Health insurers are changing their accounting practices to avoid the new law's requirements.
Also: Scientists reveal gene-swapping technique to thwart inherited diseases
Scientists today offered new hope for women at risk of passing on certain inherited diseases to their children, in the form of a pioneering technique to move healthy genetic material from fertilised eggs into donated ones.
Researchers from Newcastle University say their breakthrough will help women whose children are at risk of a range of mitochondrial diseases. These disorders can be mild or very severe, and can cause muscle weakness, blindness, heart and liver failure, diabetes and learning disabilities. They affect one child in every 6,500. [...]
The Newcastle University researchers write in the journal Nature that they have successfully transplanted the healthy DNA in human eggs from women with mitochondrial disease into the eggs of women donors who are unaffected.
“What we have done is like changing the battery on a laptop,” said Professor Doug Turnbull, one of the study leaders. “The energy supply now works properly but none of the information on the hard drive has been changed.
“A child born using this method would have correctly functioning mitochondria but in every other respect would get all their genetic information from their father and mother.”
'Cannibal Snails' Eat Species of Tiny Tree Snail into Extinction
The survival of an entire species of "incredibly endangered" tree snails has just been entrusted to the British Zoo. The population of tiny tree snails--they grow to be only a few millimeters long--has been decimated, eaten into extinction by a larger "cannibal snail." Called the Rosy Wolfsnail, it arrived as an invasive species to the tree snail's natural habitat of French Polynesia in the 1970s. The larger cannibal snails, along with habitat loss, have pushed the tree snail to extinction in the wild--there are now only 88 left in the world, in a lab in England. But the British Zoo intends to save them . . .
The BBC explains that British Zoo hopes to save the species through a careful breeding program in a climate-controlled environment. So far, 15 new baby snails have been produced, with the smallest of the bunch measuring 2 mm. Fingers are certainly crossed for the survival of the ultra-endangered species. But what about the cannibal snails that pushed them to the brink?
Mysterious fireball lights up night sky
Mysterious fireball lights up night sky
A dazzling flash and sonic booms spark a flood of 911 calls from Iowa to upper Michigan.
Also: Meet the new leech
Photos via LiveScience
Three years ago, after a young Peruvian girl bathed in a river, she began to experience an odd sensation in the her nose--like something was moving back there... And it turns out there was. After visiting with a local physician about the problem, researchers realized that the girl had inadvertently 'discovered' a rather nasty species of leech, previously unknown to biologists. According to them, the leech is a bit different from other species in that it packs a wallop of a bite with the eight "enormous teeth" that line its single jaw. So, when it came time to name the critter, what did these highly-trained, uneasily fazed biologists decide upon? Well, may we introduce you to the T. rex leech?Article continues: Freaky Nose Leech Named For Its Enormous Teeth
It's The Economy Stupid
It's The Economy Stupid
Tax papers you should keep forever
You can trash most of your documents and go digital with the rest — except for these.
Also: 
Big tax credit triggers audits, delays
The IRS is auditing one in five taxpayers who try to claim a credit worth $8,000.
Also: 
What happens if you ignore the IRS?
In the worst case, the IRS will dock you a whopping 47.5% of your tax bill.
Also: American cities with sinking economies
American cities with sinking economies
Economic indicators in these metros have gone from bad to worse, with no sign of recovery.
Also: Fortune 100 companies that are hiring
Fortune 100 companies that are hiring
Many of America's biggest businesses, including Northrop Grumman and Sears, are adding workers.
Also: The hottest hotels for 2010
The hottest hotels for 2010
These unique locations possess a blend of style, service, and high technology.
Also: Ways to escape a rut in your career
7 ways to escape a rut in your career
When promotions are scarce, try these steps to move ahead in your job.
Also: Surprising symptoms of stress
9 surprising symptoms of stress
Neck pain and eye twitching can be your body sending an SOS you shouldn't ignore.
Also: New details about the Donner Party
New details about the Donner Party
Research shows snowbound pioneers ate their animals but may not have been cannibals.
Also: America's most profitable company
America's most profitable company
The steep drop in oil prices has also sunk profits at Exxon Mobil, making way for a new No. 1.
Also: Interesting In General
Interesting In General
Rare pygmy loris twins born
Moody Gardens of Galveston, Texas have introduced pygmy slow loris twins born on March 22. Breeding of this species is often challenging and largely rare in captivity. In fact, this is only one of five pygmy slow loris births in captivity in North America over the past year.
The addition of the twins is a valuable boost to the population of this primitive primate species called prosimians that are found in tropical forests of Vietnam, China and Cambodia. Currently, there are only about 75 pygmy slow lorises in North American zoos and aquariums and fewer than 200 in captivity worldwide. Due to numerous environmental threats, the wild population is dwindling, and the species is listed as a threatened species by U.S. Fish & Wildlife Services.
To bring this mammal back from the brink of extinction, the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, of which Moody Gardens is an accredited member, created a Species Survival Plan program for the pygmy slow loris. The birth was a great success of this cooperative breeding and conservation program, which helps ensure the survival of the species in both wild and captivity.
The baby boy and girl were born between mother Luyen and father Icarus. The parents are ten and 14 years of age and have been members of the Moody Gardens animal collection since 2004. "Luyen has been a very attentive and good mother to the twins," said Kolvig. "The babies stay attached to their mom for the majority of the day, taking plenty of opportunities to nurse."
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