CAROLINA NATURALLY

Monday, May 30, 2011

The Daily Drift

The Daily Drift

Today's horoscope says:
Unenthusiastic people might test your endurance, but today your creativity is at an all-time high, and you are up for the challenge!
You can make this day a blast, even if you're stuck in a boring situation with a bunch of folks who think talking about the weather is scintillating conversation.
Use your imagination -- it's your ticket out of boredom every time.
Toss a lifeline to other bored folks and suggest alternative places for your minds to wander.

Some of our readers today have been in:

Annecy, Rhone-Alpes, France
Kota Bharu, Kelantan, Malaysia
Berlin, Berlin, Germany
Amsterdam, Noord-Holland, Netherlands
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Kuala Lumpur, Wilayah Persekutuan, Malaysia
Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
Geneva, Geneve, Switzerland
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Canberra, Australian, Capital Territory, Australia
Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil
Madrid, Madrid, Spain
London, England, United Kingdom
Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

as well as Slovakia, Malta, Bulgaria, Israel, Finland, Austria, Norway, Georgia, Mexico, Peru, Kuwait, Serbia, Bangladesh, Latvia, Greece, Scotland, Hong Kong, Denmark, Wales, Iran, Singapore, Poland, Taiwan, Sweden, Afghanistan, Belgium, Tibet, Croatia, Pakistan, Romania, Paraguay, Sudan, Vietnam, Argentina, Cambodia, Egypt, France, Estonia, Puerto Rico, Maldives, Qatar, Brazil, New Zealand, United Arab Emirates, Slovenia, China, Iraq, Ecuador, Nigeria, Colombia, Chile, Honduras, Paupa New Guinea, Moldova, Venezuela, Germany, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, Ireland, Czech Republic, Vietnam, Norway, Finland

and in cities across the United States such as Cranston, New Castle, Sunset, Utica and more.

Today is:

Today is Monday, May 30, the 150th day of 2011.

There are 216 days left in the year.

Today's unusual holiday or celebrations is:

There isn't one today.

Don't forget to visit our sister blog!

Today is Memorial Day

http://content.cartoonbox.slate.com/?feature=92999d904291f05a10f33746e9fcee35&resize=no

Iconic shots of Arlington National Cemetery

America's most hallowed ground is the ultimate memorial to our nation's fallen soldiers.

See the best photos

Also:

Wizard of Id

http://d.yimg.com/b/util/anysize/551x-1209600,http://d.yimg.com/a/p/uc/20110530/largeimagecrwiz110530.gif

Russian and American Soldiers Shot Together

Rare photos of Russian and American soldiers photographed together during World War II.

Read more.

Nowhere Man

The Beatles

Duff Beer: Yes, It Does Exist!

If you’re in Mexico, Argentina, Colombia or Chile anytime soon, you can pick up a bottle of Duff, Homer Simpson’s lager of choice. Though the product is probably in violation of licensing agreements–or more specifically, being produced without one–it’s a hot seller in South American markets.

Fox has never licensed the beverage in the United States. According to several reports, Simpsons’ creator Matt Groening fears that bringing Duff into the real world would be tantamount to pushing alcohol on minors.
The Duff dearth north of the border has only made fans more desperate. Online message boards buzz about where to find Duff. On eBay, an empty bottle of Duff beer from Argentina sells for $14.99; a decal off the Colombian product is being offered for $8.99.
At Rock Garden, a bar in Bogotá, Duff commands import prices — about $5.50 a bottle — even though it’s brewed in the nearby city of Medellin.

Duff Sudamerica, the Chilean producer, expects to sell $750,000 worth of Duff beer this year, but personally I think they’ll surpass that once Simpsons superfans get in on it.

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoA46zus53rKVwjMxxqv2-dAsEgv8blCpK9QJqvuM-Qc5n2LVdgDg6palxIT3MLYJaJwy_ZB0NErFpO_jFSabXMDAAcNCajy6tqYatVvTpeBN_xSTKSEo6fgOMJlpJqOrjISSPpula6Ys/s320/simpson-duff-beer-internet-homer.jpg

Full Story

Odds and Sods

NYC Central Park musicians told to shut up

No more impromptu open-air concerts near Central Park's Bethesda Fountain. New York City officials are muzzling musicians who perform near the fountain by slapping them with nuisance summonses.

Definition of an optimist?

Somebody who buys a 64 oz. soda before driving across Kansas.

Random Celebrity Photo

Or as you may best recognize her ...
Rare Marilyn evening…

Melting wrecking ice roads

Melting will destroy Arctic trucking routes

The famous ice roads are built on land for a fraction of what permanent roads cost.

Resources would be cut off

Also:

In China: 34 million impacted by drought

It's like Europe will start talking about drought as well sometime soon.

But remember, climate change doesn't exist.

A debilitating drought along China's Yangtze river has affected more than 34 million people, leaving farmers and livestock without water and parching a major grain belt, according to the government.

More than 4.23 million people are having difficulty finding adequate drinking supplies, while more than five million are in need of assistance to overcome the drought, the Civil Affairs Ministry said in a statement on Saturday.

"The special characteristics of this drought disaster is that it has persisted a long time," the ministry said.

"Secondly the losses to the agricultural and breeding industries have been severe... while drinking water for people and livestock have been seriously impacted."

Epic Fail

http://4gifs.com/gallery/d/185691-1/Bus_jaywalker.gif

Jaywalking numbskull.

Son defends Ratko Mladic

War crime suspect's son: He didn't do it

Ratko Mladic, indicted for mass murder almost 16 years ago, maintains his innocence.

Worst genocide since WWII

Also:

Saudi Prince Worries We Might Find Alternatives to Oil

Photo: L.C.Nøttaasen / cc

As the price of oil continues to rise amid political and social unrest in the Middle East, there's one unlikely advocate for making fossil fuels cheaper -- someone who stands to profit from the world's addiction to oil -- Saudi Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal. In a revealing interview with CNN, the grandson of the current king of the energy rich nation outlines the urgent need to make oil prices dramatically less expensive: to avoid the rise of a more viable alternative.

Article continues: Saudi Prince Worries We Might Find Alternatives to Oil

Gmail Hackers Used US Government Backdoor

Remember the Chinese hackers who hacked into gmail last year? Turns out they were able to do that because Google created a backdoor access system into Gmail accounts for the US Government.

Security expert Bruce Schneier says it’s not just Gmail that’s affected:

China’s hackers subverted the access system Google put in place to comply with U.S. intercept orders. Why does anyone think criminals won’t be able to use the same system to steal bank account and credit card information, use it to launch other attacks or turn it into a massive spam-sending network? Why does anyone think that only authorized law enforcement can mine collected Internet data or eavesdrop on phone and IM conversations? [...]
In Greece, between June 2004 and March 2005, someone wiretapped more than 100 cell phones belonging to members of the Greek government: the prime minister and the ministers of defense, foreign affairs and justice.
Ericsson built this wiretapping capability into Vodafone’s products and enabled it only for governments that requested it. Greece wasn’t one of those governments, but someone still unknown — A rival political party? Organized crime? Foreign intelligence? — figured out how to surreptitiously turn the feature on.

Full Story

E. coli outbreak hits Europe

The news started in Germany but now France is also warning over possibly tainted cucumbers from Spain. Most of the cases have been in Germany but other EU countries have also been hit with problems. So far there are at least 2 deaths that they believe are directly associated with E. coli.

Reuters:

An E. coli outbreak in Germany which has infected more than 270 people and killed at least five is one of the biggest of its kind worldwide and the largest ever in Germany, European health experts said Saturday.

German officials said Thursday they suspected cucumbers imported from Spain as a possible source of the outbreak of hemolytic-uremic syndrome (HUS), a serious complication of a type of E. coli known as Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC).

In a risk assessment of the outbreak, the Stockholm-based European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), which monitors disease in the European Union, called it "one of the largest described outbreaks of STEC/HUS worldwide and the largest ever reported in Germany."