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Not much time or energy today, just made a fast run to the store for cat food, with part of the trip running through the county arboretum, LOL. It is looking good! On the way home I stopped at a little wild pond, the neighborhood Anhinga was sunbathing. I can't figure how they balance on little skinny branches with their big floppy feet, but somehow they do it. http://www.pbase.com/tsiya/root http://photobucket.com/albums/v244/tsiya/ http://cabbagehammock.blogspot.com/

HICKORY, N.C. - Police say two suspects are dead after an attempted home invasion. Catawba County sheriff’s deputies say two men dressed in black and carrying pistols forced their way into a home on 33rd Avenue in Hickory around 11:00 last night. According to a sheriff’s official, the homeowner was armed with his own gun, and shot the suspects. Both suspects were pronounced dead at the scene. Major Coy Reid with the sheriff’s office said both men were wearing masks and latex gloves. At this time, no arrests have been made.

New 30-year high in tuberculosis cases March 24 is World TB Day Thursday, March 20, 2008 KING COUNTY, WASHINGTON - Tuberculosis (TB) takes two million lives worldwide every year, and World TB Day on March 24 is an opportunity to focus on solutions to the devastating global epidemic. Locally, 161 cases were reported in 2007, a new 30-year high, serving as a stark reminder that TB also remains a significant challenge in King County.Today’s cases are increasingly among the foreign born. Also disproportionately represented are African Americans, Asian /Pacific Islanders, American Indian/Alaskan Natives, Latinos, the homeless and those living...

7.2 Earthquake in Western China

The beauty of a speech is that you don't just give the answers, you provide your own questions. "Did I ever hear him make remarks that could be considered controversial while I sat in church? Yes." So said Barack Obama, in his Philadelphia speech about his pastor, friend, mentor and spiritual adviser of 20 years, Jeremiah Wright. An interesting, if belated, admission. But the more important question is: which "controversial" remarks? Wright's assertion from the pulpit that the U.S. government invented the HIV virus "as a means of genocide against people of color"? Wright's claim that America was morally responsible...

Could the commodity currencies fall further? Yes. According to the Baltic Dry Index charts below, commodity prices will continue to fall. For those of you who do not know what the Baltic Dry Index is, it was once termed the “Best Economic Indicator You’ve Never Head Of” by Daniel Gross. This index is closely followed by all Wall Street Insiders because it is a good indicator of economic growth and production. In a nutshell, the BDI reflects how much it costs to ship raw materials (like coal, iron ore, cement and soft commodities like grains and sugar) by sea. The...

Economy: We're hard-pressed to recall a week when so much changed so fast in the markets. It was truly mind-boggling. And how appropriate that it all came to pass as winter turned to spring.To be sure, the challenges facing the U.S. economy are still daunting. But only a few days ago, they were nothing less than harrowing. Indeed, it really did seem like our financial system was "melting down," as many reports put it, with Fed and administration officials in full rescue mode. Eighty-five-year-old Bear Stearns — one of Wall Street's most storied investment firms, and one that only a...

The Rev. Jacob Daniel "Jake" DeShazer, who was the oldest survivor of World War II's historic Doolittle Raid on Japan, died Saturday, March 15, 2008, at his home in Salem. He was 95. DeShazer stood out among the 80 Doolittle Raiders, 11 of whom are still alive. After spending 40 months post-raid as a prisoner of war, he returned to Japan intent on forgiving his former captors and converting them to Christianity. Over 30 years, he helped start 23 churches in Japan. Born Nov. 15, 1912, in Madras to a wheat-farming family, DeShazer graduated from Madras High School in 1931....

WASHINGTON, March 20, 2008 – The increased cooperation between coalition forces and Iraqis at the local level as well as economic progress in Iraq are leading reasons for increasing stability in an unstable region, said Navy Adm. William J. "Fox" Fallon, the retiring CENTCOM commander. Fallon said the command’s efforts, which include operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, aim to provide stability and security, restore hope in the region and allow future generations the chance to live peaceably. “There are a lot of challenges, but we’re succeeding, and we’re going to succeed because we have (the) best people in the world...

MADUO, QINGHAI, March 12 (Xinhua) -- Nearly 1,000 Mongolian gazelles, blue sheep and wild donkeys have perished in the extreme cold during the mid-January to early March period at the source of the Yellow River, an official in China's northwest Qinghai Province said on Wednesday. Wan Majia, deputy head of the Maduo County, Guoluo Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, said unusual heavy snow had hit his county, and killed nearly 1,000 wildlife, mostly grass-eating animals. He explained the extremely low temperatures of minus 37 degrees Celsius and an inadequate grass supply had caused the deaths. Wildlife tend to search for food in...

Madison County Commissioner Mo Brooks says he won't run for the 5th Congressional District seat being vacated by Bud Cramer. Brooks, who's a Huntsville lawyer, said Thursday he has been encouraged by many voters to qualify as a Republican for Congress. But he said he has many trials coming up and can't abandon his clients during their time of need. Brooks said he also has family commitments that take priority. Brooks ran for lieutenant governor in 2006 and finished third in the Republican primary.

WASHINGTON, March 20, 2008 – The 3,200 Marines on their way to help Afghanistan indicate the depth of the U.S. commitment to the country, Vice President Richard B. Cheney said in Kabul yesterday. The United States is proud to have helped liberate Afghanistan and will continue to work with the elected government and NATO allies to build the Afghan security forces and rebuild the nation, Cheney said in a joint news conference with Afghan President Hamid Karzai. U.S. reconstruction aid to Afghanistan also points to that commitment, Cheney said, noting that last year’s aid level has tripled. There has...

(IsraelNN.com) Osama Bin-Laden, head of the international jihadist terror organization Al-Qaeda, issued a new call for Palestinian Authority Muslims to fight against the Americans and their allies in Iraq - as a step on the path to the destruction of Israel. The audio tape of Bin-Laden, broadcast on the Qatar-based Al-Jazeera satellite TV network on Thursday, included "The nearest field of jihad today to support our people in Palestine is the Iraqi field." a call for a renewed "holy war" on Israel. For its part, Bin-Laden declared, Al-Qaeda would increase its efforts to "free Palestine, all of Palestine, from the...

<p>That’s according to a new poll by InsiderAdvantage/Majority Opinion.</p> <p>First, we screened poll respondents to find those who were aware that Obama’s pastor was in the news. A startling 82% knew about Obama’s speech, and about the controversy surrounding the Rev. Jeremiah Wright.</p>

WASHINGTON, March 20, 2008 – Coalition troops in Iraq today captured 15 suspected insurgents during operations in central and northern Iraq, military officials said. -- In Baghdad, coalition forces detained an alleged member of a bombing network that supplies suicide vests for attacks against Iraqis. -- In Sharquat, coalition forces captured an alleged al Qaeda roadside-bomb attack coordinator and another suspect. -- In the northwest Iraq town of Biaj, coalition forces captured an alleged operative in the foreign terrorist facilitation network. -- In Mosul, coalition forces detained a suspected terrorist allegedly linked to senior al Qaeda in Iraq leaders. --...

WASHINGTON, March 20, 2008 – President Bush praised the performance and courage of U.S. troops engaged in the global war on terrorism while discussing Iraq, Afghanistan and Africa during a Pentagon Channel interview yesterday. “I’m most proud of the performance of our troops,” Bush told Air Force Master Sgt. Erin Roberts on the day that marked the five-year anniversary of the start of Operation Iraqi Freedom. “We have asked a lot of our military and the military families. We’ve got men and women who have been to both theaters in the war on terror multiple times, and that’s a...

Christian School to Honor Obama Pastor Amid ControversyBy The Associated Press Thu, Mar. 20 2008 05:19 PM ET FORT WORTH, Texas — Controversy surrounding Barack Obama’s longtime minister is not deterring a Texas divinity school from honoring the Rev. Jeremiah Wright at a ceremony later this month. But Texas Christian University, the campus where Brite Divinity School is located, issued a statement Monday opposing that decision in light of video that shows Wright delivering racially tinged sermons and him railing against the United States. Wright is to be honored March 29 at the Black Church Summit and Awards Banquet, a...

ATHENS, Tenn. — Two teenaged boys were just hanging around professing their love for their girlfriends — in graffiti. Michael Clark and Matthew Musnicki, both 18, were dangling from a rope tied to an interstate bridge and trying to spray paint their mates' names on the concrete when they were stopped in the act. Sheriff's Deputy Melissa Myers, who spied the odd scene from her patrol car, arrested the pair on the spot for the stunt. "It was two guys spray painting names of girls they liked," Myers told FOX News on Thursday. "When [one] saw me, he had this...

WASHINGTON, March 20, 2008 – To recognize his continuous support and recognition of sailors, Marines and their families throughout his 17 years on television, the Navy presented its Superior Public Service Award to Montel Williams yesterday in New York during the taping of his long-running program’s final show. The Department of the Navy Superior Public Service Award is presented to Montel Williams March 19, 2008, in New York for his continuous support and recognition of servicemembers and their families throughout his 17 years on television. Capt. Kenneth J. Braithwaite, Director, Joint Public Affairs Support Element Reserve, presented the award...

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Industry insiders and Wall Street analysts are expecting further delays on Boeing Co's (BA.N: Quote, Profile, Research) new 787 Dreamliner, as the U.S. plane maker grapples with last-minute design changes and production problems. Most now point to the second half of 2009 as the likely start of deliveries of the lightweight plane, at least six months later than Boeing's current target and about 15 months beyond the original schedule. The latest problem involves redesigning the plane's crucial center wing box, according to Steven Udvar-Hazy, chief executive of International Lease Finance Corp, which is the biggest...