CAROLINA NATURALLY

Thursday, September 30, 2010

The Daily Drift

The Daily Drift

Today's horoscope says:
Just because others are losing their heads doesn't mean that you have to take the same tack.
So before you start running around and yelling about how the sky is falling, take a deep breath -- and then take a good, long look at the situation.
You might just find that things aren't quite so bad as everyone is making them out to be.
Once your cooler head prevails, others might be able to see the same thing as well.

Some of our readers today have been in:

London, England, United Kingdom

Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Kristiansand, Vest-Adger, Norway

Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand

Paris, Ile-De-France, France

Madrid, Madrid, Spain

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Edithvale, Victoria, Australia

Sorrento, Campania, Italy

Dublin, Dublin, Ireland

as well as Singapore and in cities across the United States such as Lodi, Dayton, Mesa, Durham and more.

Today is:

Today is Thursday, September 30, the 273rd day of 2010.

There are 92 days left in the year.

Today In History September 30

Today's unusual holiday or celebration is:

There isn't one.

Don't forget to visit our sister blog!

The New and Improved CN

Look for new things tomorrow.

College tragedy sparks outrage, protests

A "heinous" online incident that ended in a freshman's death leaves Rutgers University reeling.

Disturbing trend

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Sixth grade cheerleader stands up to bullies

6th grade cheerleader stands up to bullies

Tyler Wilson refuses to quit the squad after two classmates break his arm in a fight.

His college supporters

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Non Sequitur

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Five banned books you should read

This week (September 26-October 2) commemorates our right to read what we want. Over the years, there has been censorship of controversial, yet important, books that should not be left to gather dust. Whether challenged or banned from schools and libraries, Banned Books Week is the time to pull them out. Here are five books or series that you should dust off and celebrate your right to read!

1. Harry Potter: Banned from schools and libraries for the use of witchcraft. The themes throughout these books of friendship, good vs. evil and the possibility of redemption are what make them endure, not the witchcraft. If you haven't read them yet, give it a try...you might be surprised what you learn.

2. To Kill A Mockingbird: Banned and challenged for language. Set in Alabama during the 1930s, the story is told from the eyes of Scout Finch, the youngest daughter of Atticus Finch, a lawyer who takes on a controversial racial case. Harper Lee was essentially telling the story of the community she knew. If she had not used the language, an essential part of the story would have been lost.

3. Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl: Challenged for homosexual themes and sexual content. Besides being one of the most poignant histories of the Nazi atrocities in World War II, it is also the truth. People hiding for their lives, then forced to the concentration camps where they were abused, tortured and dying from disease or the gas chambers. We cannot hide from our history, no matter how dark, lest we repeat it.

4. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: This book has been attacked more than 80 times over the years, primarily for racial content and offensive language. The premise of the book is that young Huck helps a slave escape down the Mississippi River to freedom--thus, racial content will certainly be involved. The language is true to the time period; it carries all the prejudices and fears we have about those different from ourselves.

5. The Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary: Challenged and under committee ruling from a parent's complaint about a child reading "oral sex" in the dictionary. Most words, even words long out of use, are in the dictionary. If you are worried about having to explain something too soon to a child, hand him an age appropriate book instead.

White House already picks Christmas tree

The quest to find the most majestic tree in the nation requires five officials and an early start.

Their 19-foot choice

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America's most expensive ZIP codes

America's 10 most expensive ZIP codes

They're clustered in three states and you've probably never heard of the priciest one.

Houses for $3 mil and up

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The world's most remote hotels

Guests scuba-dive 21 feet to reach their room at Florida's Jules Undersea Lodge.

The northernmost hotel on the planet

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Tourism bosses in 'another fine mess'

Tourism bosses made a 'fine mess' by printing 50,000 copies of a brochure claiming comedian Stan Laurel was born in their county. County Durham tourism office claimed he was born in Bishop Auckland when in fact he was born Ulverston, Cumbria. Bosses have now apologized for the blunder but said they cannot correct the mistake on the leaflet and map because of funding restrictions.

Depending on stocks and funding, an updated version will not be reproduced until around autumn next year. The leaflet says: "Bet you didn't know that Bishop Auckland was the birthplace of Arthur Stanley Jefferson, better known as Stan Laurel." Stan has a bronze statue in Bishop Auckland town center celebrating the fact he lived there in early life after leaving Ulverston as a child, where he had been born in 1890. Stan, who became famous as one half of comedy double act Laurel and Hardy with Oliver Hardy, moved to America in 1910.

A copy of Stan's birth certificate proving his Ulverston heritage is displayed in the Laurel and Hardy Museum. Craig Wilson, Visit County Durham marketing manager, said it was an honest mistake, and added: "It seems that urban myth has perpetuated an error in the Bishop Auckland town visitor map. Stan Laurel was baptized at St Peter's Church and schooled at King James Grammar in Bishop Auckland.

"His parents also ran the local theater, but he was of course born in Ulverston. I guess Bishop Auckland is as proud of its connections with Stan as Ulverston is passionate about it being his birthplace. We're obviously both trying to lay claim to some of the Laurel and Hardy magic. Hopefully this will allow us to make it clearer about Stan's early years and allow both Ulverston and Bishop Auckland to share some of Stan's limelight."

Awesome Pictures

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Wingnut agitator tries, and fails, to "punk" CNN

Wingnut agitator James O'Keefe has attempted to trick CNN reporter Abbie Boudreau into a video where she'd be surrounded by sex toys, porn, and other "incriminating" stuff on a boat. He failed. O'Keefe is most infamous for the ACORN 2009 undercover video controversy. In the CNN case, Boudreau was tipped off on the way to the boat by Izzy Santa, exec director of O'Keefe's Project Veritas.

"I have a problem on my hands that I think has the potential for unnecessary backlash," Santa wrote (to a financial donor to Project Veritas). "Today, James is meeting with a CNN correspondent today on his boat. She is doing a piece on the movement of young conservative filmmakers. "She doesn't know she is getting on a boat but rather James' office. James has staged the boat to be a palace of pleasure with all sorts of props, wants to have a bizarre sexual conversation with her. He wants to gag CNN."
She wrote that "the idea is incredibly bad" and "the more I think about it we should not be doing this."
O'Keefe had also instructed Santa to print a "pleasure palace graphic" on a large poster, according to an e-mail.
CNN later obtained a copy of a 13-page document titled "CNN Caper," which appears to describe O'Keefe's detailed plans for that day.
"The plans appeared so outlandish and so juvenile in tone, I questioned whether it was part of a second attempted punk," Boudreau said.
But in a phone conversation, Santa confirmed the document was authentic. Listed under "equipment needed," is "hidden cams on the boat," and a "tripod and overt recorder near the bed, an obvious sex tape machine."
Among the props listed were a "condom jar, dildos, posters and paintings of naked women, fuzzy handcuffs" and a blindfold.

Fake pimp from ACORN videos tries to 'punk' CNN correspondent

Ecuador's chaos grows

Ecuador's president assaulted amid chaos

As the government declares a state of siege, policemen pelt President Rafael Correa with tear gas.

Looting

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Three people killed, 37 injured as spectators storm bullfight in Colombia

A Colombian tradition turned tragic on Sunday when a bullfight spun out of control, leaving three people dead and at least 37 injured. The local bullfight in the Andean community of Sabanalarga is known as the "corraleja", bringing together bulls and local residents in a party-like atmosphere.

Sunday's event, however, took a violent turn as onlookers spilled into the ring and found themselves being chased and gored by bulls. A 20-year-old man was killed during the event, but the other two fatalities, both men in their forties, occurred in the hospital as a result of their injuries.

Doctor Jaime de la Hoz treated one of the victims. "The others who were injured had been penetrated at the level of their abdomen and their thorax. The one with the thorax had to be sent to another facility, and the one with the abdominal injury was treated here," he said.

Sabanalarga mayor, Carlos Roca, said this particular corraleja turned tragic due to drunkenness among the participants, but he did not say if any measures would be taken to avoid such incidents in the future.