The Daily Drift

The Daily Drift

Today's horoscope says:
You could see some problems right now.
But don't fall into the trap of thinking this is a bad thing.
It isn't.
Most of the time, when you don't see problems, it doesn't mean they aren't there.
No, it means you don't see them, which means you can't do anything about them.
Today you see the problems, and what's more, you see them clearly.
The next steps are clear: Go out and correct them!

Some of our readers today have been in:

Paris, Ile-De-France, France

Dusseldorf, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany

Modena, Emilia-Romangna, Italy

Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Sittard, Limburg, Netherlands

Wedel, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany

Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany

Dublin, Dublin, Ireland

Berlin, Berlin, Germany

Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil

London, England, United Kingdom

Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand

Kuwait, Al Kuwayt, Kuwait

Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

Madrid, Madrid, Spain

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Perth, Western Australia, Australia

Kuala Lumpur, Wilayah Persekutuan, Malaysia

as well as Sweden, Switzerland, Singapore, Korea, Russia, China, Saudi Arabia, Poland and in cities across the United States such as Ithaca, Glen Flora, Omaha, Des Monies and more.

Today is:

Today is Friday, November 5, the 309th day of 2010.

There are 56 days left in the year.

Today's unusual holiday or celebration is:

There isn't one.

Don't forget to visit our sister blog!

The Beatles Wanted to Produce a Lord of the Rings Movie

Peter Jackson has revealed that The Beatles approached J.R.R. Tolkien forty years ago with a request to produce a movie version of The Lord of the Rings. Tolkien turned them down:

[...]John Lennon wanted to play the role of the avaricious creature Gollum and Paul McCartney was to play Frodo Baggins in a proposed ’60s Beatles movie version of J.R.R. Tolkien’s fantasy that never reached fruition. In fact, says Jackson, it was the author himself who nixed the plan. “It was something John was driving and J.R.R. Tolkien still had the film rights at that stage, but he didn’t like the idea of the Beatles doing it. So he killed it,” Jackson told the newspaper. George Harrison would have played the role that eventually went to Sir Ian McKellen, that of the wise wizard Gandalf, and Ringo Starr would have been Frodo’s devoted sidekick, Sam.

Full Story

Random Celebrity Photo

Edy Williams

Something is missing

OK, we have the side car - so where's the motorcycle?

Hitler Ate Marmalade at Breakfast

From the "You just had to know" Department:

Newly declassified documents detail Hitler's breakfast habits and a mythical Nazi fortress in the Alps. Read more

Hopefully this 'new' information will make your life complete - it has sure amped up the sarcasm around here ... we were running about a quart low until this.

Painting of Henry VIII's 'Lost' Palace For Sale

One of the earliest depictions of the so-called "Lost Palace" is expected to draw around $1.9 million at auction.  

Read more

Ellora Caves

Ellora Caves in India is an archeological site near the ancient Indian village of Ellora. It is most well known for its magnificent caves. Ellora is a World Heritage Site and the “epitome of Indian rock-cut architecture.” There are 34 caves which were excavated and hand-carved out of high basalt cliffs between the 5th century and 10th century. Caves 1-12 are the Buddhist Caves. Caves 13-39 are the Hindu Caves. Caves 30-34 are Jain Caves. The mixture of religious cultures dug out side by side shows that ancient India had a terrific spirit of tolerance. The intricate and exquisite temples, shrines and caves are some of the oldest rock-cut architecture in the world.

Photo Gallery

Edible Flowers

 

image credit

Edible flowers may be preserved for future use using techniques such as drying, freezing or steeping in oil. They can be used in drinks, jellies, salads, soups, syrups and main dishes. Flower-flavoured oils and vinegars are made by steeping edible flower petals in these liquids. Candied flowers are crystallized using egg white and sugar as a preservative.

Here are 7 flowers that can be eaten.

A guide to good sleep at any age

A guide to good sleep at any age

Health problems that interfere with shut-eye can change as a woman ages. 

The habit that improves deep sleep 

Also: 

• Sleep disorders 101
• The snooze-weight link
• Thyroid disorders

Non Sequitur

More than expected as unemployment stays at 9.6%

151,000 jobs added in October

The October jobs numbers are out.

Unemployment stayed at 9.6%, but there was better than expected job creation:

U.S. employment increased more than expected last month as private companies hired workers at the fastest pace since April, offering more signs of an up-tick in a sluggish economy.

Nonfarm payrolls increased 151,000 in October, the first increase since May, as a 159,000 jump in private employment more than offset a 8,000 drop in government payrolls, the Labor Department said on Friday. In addition, the government revised payrolls for August and September to show 110,000 fewer jobs lost.

Economists had expected payrolls to increase 60,000 last month, with private employment rising 75,000.

It goes without saying we need more of this. Unfortunately with the election results as they are ... we're most likely to see less of this for years to come.

Why refinance twice this year

Why you might refinance twice in a year

With mortgage rates near 4.25%, it might pay to refi even if you did so less than a year ago.  

Zero-cost loans 

Also: 

• Refi questions answered
• Best cities to move to
• How to cut closing costs

The American People Have Spoken

The voter who paid attention to every single political campaign ad

“West Memphis 3″ Get New Hearing

After analyzing new DNA evidence, the Arkansas Supreme Court has ordered a new hearing for the “West Memphis 3,” three men convicted as teens in the 1993 murders of three West Memphis Cub Scouts.
The justices also said a lower court must examine claims of misconduct by jurors who sentenced Damien Echols, Jessie Misskelley, and Jason Baldwin.

“West Memphis 3″ Get New Hearing in Murders of Three 8-Year-Old Cub Scouts

Thief did the crime, can't do the time

A convicted thief has been granted freedom after being turned away eight times from the county jail in Cincinnati.

Thief did the crime, can't do the time

Toronto cops who removed their name-tags during the G20 to avoid identification will be docked a day's pay

About 90 cops will be docked a day's pay for illegally removing their nametags during the G20 crackdown in Toronto. Toronto police chief Bill Blair said that the officers removed their badges so that they couldn't be identified. This is part of a general pattern of illegal behavior during the Toronto G20, including arrests for violating a nonexitent law, extended detention in cuffs without adequate heating or toilet facilities, misleading press statements about seized weapons, and arresting a protestor who was blowing soap-bubbles.

Many of the people who confronted police over the tumultuous three-days of protests that closed down Toronto's core said officers were not wearing badge numbers or name tags on their uniforms - allegations that were bolstered by photographs in the media. "I have a rule in the Toronto Police Service, it's my rule, it's in accordance with the policy of my police services board, that our officers will wear their names displayed on their uniforms," Chief Blair told the committee.
Faced with numerous complaints, the force launched an investigation and pored over 22,000 hours of closed-circuit videotape to identify "approximately 90" officers who were not wearing their name tags, said the Chief.
"Disciplinary processes have been initiated," he said. When asked what kind of punishment would be handed out, Chief Blair said that has yet to be determined "but the discussion, I believe, is the loss of a day's pay." That would amount to about $300 for a first-class constable.

Nearly 100 Toronto officers to be disciplined over G20 summit conduct

Indian woman completes 'ten year hunger strike'

A human-rights activist in northeast India who is dubbed the "Iron Lady of Manipur" has completed 10 years on hunger strike and vowed to continue her protest, her supporters said on Wednesday. Irom Chanu Sharmila, from the remote state of Manipur, which borders Burma, began her fast on November 2, 2000 after witnessing the killing of 10 people by the army at a bus stop near her home.

Now 38, she was arrested shortly after beginning her protest – on charges of attempted suicide – and was sent to a prison hospital where she began a daily routine of being force-fed vitamins and nutrients via a nasal drip. Ms Sharmila is frequently set free by local courts, but once outside she resumes her hunger strike and is rearrested. She is campaigning for the repeal of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) that enables security forces to shoot on sight and arrest anybody without a warrant in impoverished and heavily militarized Manipur.

"She decided to continue with her fast-unto-death mission until the draconian legislation is repealed by the government," said Babloo Loitongbam from local human rights group Human Rights Alert. "She made her intentions pretty clear as she completed 10 years of hunger strike," Babloo said after visiting Ms Sharmila on the 10th anniversary of the start of the fast on Tuesday. "Militancy is still thriving. In other words, the Special Powers Act has miserably failed."

AFSPA was passed in 1990 to grant security forces special powers and immunity from prosecution to deal with raging insurgencies in the northeast of India and in Kashmir in the northwest. The act is a target for local human rights groups and international campaigners such as Amnesty International, which says the law has been an excuse for extrajudicial killings. Amnesty has campaigned vociferously against the legislation, which it sees as a stain on India's democratic credentials and a violation of international human rights law.

Future Tense

Say, you don't believe in global warming, eh?

Scientists Make Progress Towards Invisibility

British researchers have made progress toward developing materials that are able to bend light around them and render them less visible:

Metamaterials work by interrupting and channelling the flow of light at a fundamental level; in a sense they can be seen as bouncing light waves around in a prescribed fashion to achieve a particular result.[...]
Ortwin Hess, a physicist who recently took up the Leverhulme Chair in Metamaterials at Imperial College London, called the work “a huge step forward in very many ways”.
“It clearly isn’t an invisibility cloak yet – but it’s the right step toward that,” he told BBC News.

Full Story

Shoe

Alcohol More Harmful Than Heroin, Cocaine

Illegal drugs such as cocaine, crystal meth and marijuana were found to cause less harm to society by a recent study.  

Read more

You can absorb Bisphenol A by handling thermal receipt paper

Two studies (Viable skin efficiently absorbs and metabolizes bisphenol A, J.Chemosphere.2010.09.058; and Variability and Predictors of Urinary Bisphenol A Concentrations during Pregnancy, Environ Health Perspect) have linked handling thermal receipt paper with absorption of Bisphenol A, the seemingly ubiquitous, estrogen-mimicking hormone disruptor. The studies' authors recommend that pregnant women stay away from thermal receipt paper, and wash their hands after handling it. BPA absorption is also linked to sexual dysfunction in men.

In a second study, carried out by epidemiologists at Harvard University in the US, team leader Joe Braun and colleagues measured BPA levels in urine samples from 389 pregnant women and then correlated the data with the occupation of the women. The results were that cashiers had the highest concentrations of BPA (2.8 μg/g), while teachers and industrial workers had much lower levels (1.8 and 1.2 respectively). Since cashiers handle far more receipts than the general population, Braun said he was "pretty confident" BPA from the receipts was being absorbed through the skin in those women.
A similar study was also carried out on 400 pregnant women in and around Cincinnati, in the US. Leader of the research team, Frederick von Saal of the University of Missouri-Columbia said the results were unequivocal in showing BPA can go through human skin. Like the French study, the highest levels were found in women who worked as cashiers.

BPA from thermal paper receipts passes through the skin

'Non-Toxic' Scented Products Emit Toxic Chemicals

Scented products that are labeled "natural" or "organic" may be neither -- and they could be harmful as well. 

Read more  

Bubonic Plague Originated in China

Determining the source of the outbreak could be useful for tracing the origins of other feared bacteria, including anthrax and tuberculosis.  

Read more

Believe it or not

Volcano's worst blast in century

Huge volcano blast spawns horrific scenes

Mount Merapi's worst eruption in a century rains ash and fire, torching villages in its path.

Death toll soars 

Also: 

• More on Mount Merapi
• Hurricane Tomas hits Haiti
• Deadly floods in Vietnam

Rare up-close pics of comet

Comet fly-by yields rare images

A NASA craft speeds past the smallest comet ever to be photographed up close.  

'It's hyperactive, small, and feisty' 

Also: 

• Pics of comet Hartley 2
• Deep Impact mission
• Shuttle lauch delayed

B.C.

Kermit and Vincent

Upping the cute factor

So, it's photoshopped - deal with it.