The Daily Drift

The Daily Drift

Today's horoscope says:
Your quick thinking and keen eye are sharper than ever -- use all your skills to keep someone else from making a very big mistake.
They might not appreciate your efforts right away, but in a few days they'll be singing your praises and thanking you for stepping in when you did.
It's just another example that when you know you're right, you're right!
You'll get a glimpse of the future you thought you wanted -- turns out, you're glad to be taking a different path.

Some of our readers today have been in:

Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia

Izmir, Izmir, Turkey

Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand

Seoul, Kyonggi-Do, Korea

Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Reutlingen, Baden, Wurttemburg, Germany

Perpignan, Languedoc-Roussillon, France

Prague, Hlavni Mesto Praha, Czech Republic

Delhi, Delhi, India

Dublin, Dublin, Ireland

Sittard, Limburg, Netherlands

Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa

Paris, Ile-De-France, France

Perth, Western, Australia, Australia

Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada

Thornhill, Ontario, Canada

as well as Serbia, Bangladesh, Greece, Scotland, Hong Kong, Denmark, Wales, Singapore, Sweden, Saudi Arabia, Croatia, Pakistan, Romania, Finland, Korea, Netherlands,  Argentina, Vietnam, Egypt, Russia, Indonesia, Puerto Rico, Belgium, Brazil and in cities across the United States such as Kaysville, Durham, Oklahoma City, Salem and more.

Today is:

Today is Friday, December 3, the 337th day of 2010.

There are 28 days left in the year.

Today In History: Andrew Jackson Elected President December 3, 1828

Today's unusual holiday or celebration is:

There isn't one.

Don't forget to visit our sister blog!

The brainiest U.S. cities

America's brainiest cities ranked

In a test of smarts, college towns get high marks, with one Western spot at the top.  

Places with lowest scores 

Also: 

• Myths of smarter babies
• Best places to retire
• Most expensive cities

Non Sequitur

Culinary DeLites

Five best — and worst — holiday foods

Sweet potatoes are one of the healthiest foods in a season of calorie bombs. 

Other top celebratory goodies 

Also: 

• Holiday cookie winner
• Most popular appetizers
• Beautiful beef brisket

Yes and No

U.S. troops' Taliban reality

U.S. troops rethink rules on Taliban

In one deadly Afghan city, Americans bargain with the same insurgents they're trying to defeat.  

Competing forces 

Also: 

• More about Sangin
• Muslim wars waning?
• Blame for hostage death

Attack leaves ghost town

South Korean island an overnight ghost town

Charred homes and empty streets are all that remain on tiny Yeonpyeong after North Korea's attack.  

See the damage 

Also: 

• Weak response slammed
• UN expresses concern
• Deep-seated tensions

Shoe

On The Job

Unemployed and likely to stay that way

American workers who go without a job for many months are learning some very painful lessons.  

'I'm so worried...' 

Also: 

• Long-term unemployed
• Worst ways to pick a job
• Two-year low for layoffs

Economy hopes rattled by news

Bad news rattles hopes for rebound

A surprising setback in unemployment numbers adds to jitters about the wobbly economy.  

Other warning signs 

Also: 

• Deficit plan's failure
• Worst cities for hiring
• Job-hunting tips

Make more over the holidays

How to make more money over the holidays

Earn extra cash by filling in for people on vacation and working at seasonal parties.  

Get paid to run errands 

Also: 

• Find seasonal jobs
• Best states for careers  
• Two-year low for layoffs

How to avoid a tax penalty

Make this move now to avoid a tax penalty

Take one easy action in December, and you could owe less to the IRS in April.  

Are you overwithholding? 

Also: 

• Overlooked deductions
• Tax withholding rules  
• Middle-class tax cuts

Money-saving mortgage tips

Ways to save money on your mortgage

By making an extra payment each year, you can save thousands of dollars.  

Refinance at historic lows 

Also: 

• Refinancing process
• Most expensive suburbs 
• Mind-boggling flowchart

Ten money-saving products

10 products that pay for themselves

A water filter costs as little as $60 per year, versus $504 a year for bottled.  

A $40 device recoups cost in 1 month 

Also: 

• Find water filters
• Laundry products to avoid  
• Holiday gift guides

Ziggy

Best places to go in 2011

10 best places to visit in 2011

Doha, Qatar, has beautiful beaches and hosts a prestigious film festival.  

Best-sellers draw visitors to one city 

Also: 

• Qatar gets World Cup
• How to get a passport  
• Newest natural wonders

Luxury camp-like family retreat

Family builds luxury camp-like retreat

Kate Ditzler and Stuart Gasner spent millions to create the perfect getaway. 

Canvas tents, designer touches 

Also: 

• Find campgrounds
• Dream home's high price
• 10 impressive mod homes

Believe it or not

World gets new hottest pepper

World's hottest pepper from unlikely spot

A new breed that's 270 times hotter than a jalapeno blows away the notorious "ghost chili."  

Military eyes potential 

Also: 

• Scoville heat scale
• Peppers and weight loss
• Battle over sugar beets

Wizard of Id

Scientific Minds Want To Know

Absolute zero sounds like an unbreachable limit, but there is a weird realm of negative temperatures that could reveal new states of matter.

How to create temperatures below absolute zero

Chimps display morality

Chimps show off sense of human morality

Primates display a startling ability to share — and care, one biologist claims.  

How religion fits in 

Also: 

• Monkey colony discovered
• Chimps find new home
• Chimpanzee behavior

Archaeology News

Mass burials at ancient Isle site 

Archaeologists on Orkney are investigating what is thought to be a 5,000-year-old tomb complex.

Lakebed discovered under sand

An ancient lake bed 350 kilometers long has been discovered beneath the sands of the Egyptian Sahara desert.

Secrets of the Sahara

Coca leaves first chewed 8,000 years ago

Peruvian foraging societies were already chewing coca leaves 8,000 years ago, archaeological evidence has shown.

First coca chewed 8,000 years ago

B.C.

Upping the cute factor

Even Dog people like this.

Great white's weakness revealed

Adolescent great white sharks' jaws are not strong enough to bite through large prey.

Great white's weakness revealed

Dog found alive in tornado-leveled house

After spending all night in its owner’s home, a dog was safely rescued on Wednesday morning from a home in the Buford neighborhood that was badly-damaged by a tornado on Tuesday. Cameras captured the special moment when Kirin, an American Eskimo, was reunited with his owners. Kirin was found alive and well at the Bancroft Way home where his owners, Matthew and Reasey Lee, live in the Kirkstone subdivision. The Gwinnett County neighborhood was hit hard Tuesday when severe weather rolled through the area, and spawned a tornado.on

Matthew Lee said that authorities searched his home on Tuesday night, but they told him they didn’t find Kirin inside. So, he and his wife decided to return on Wednesday morning to have another look. Video captured on Wednesday morning showed the happy reunion. Gwinnett County workers helped the couple search through what was left of their bedroom.

“Early this morning, we went to what was left of the bedroom, and heard him start whimpering,” Matthew explained. “And those nice gentlemen helped me, I guess, lift the wall, and out he came.” Kirin, who is about 8 years old according to the Lees, appeared to be very happy to see his owners, and the feeling was clearly mutual. “A house is a house,” said Matthew Lee. “Kirin can’t be replaced,” his wife added.

A total of 56 homes were damaged by Tuesday’s twister, and residents were forced to seek shelter elsewhere. Matthew Lee said their house appeared to have been damaged worse than any other home in the neighborhood. Still somehow, the Lees were nothing but grateful on Wednesday morning. “It’s a blessing that I have my husband and I have my dog,” Reasey said, who was clearly emotional upon seeing her dog again. “We’re all still here. Everything else can be taken care of.”

Blind mare led everywhere by one-eyed horse

They say you can lead a horse to water … but this blind mare is being led everywhere by a one-eyed companion who has become her protector. Angel, a 12-year-old rescue horse, has formed a remarkable bond with Tarna, who shadows her everywhere and gently guides her away from danger. The pair have become inseparable since meeting at The Horse Trust animal sanctuary in Buckinghamshire.

Angel is fully reliant on Tarna because she lost her sight when she was starved to within an inch of her life at Spindles Farm, Bucks. The case sparked the largest ever RSPCA equine welfare operation and led farmer James Gray, 47, to be fined £600,000 and banned from keeping horses for life. Angel is now shadowed every second of the day by Tarna, 28, who herself has only one eye after she was impaled on a metal spike.

Susan Lewis, marketing manager at The Horse Trust, the world’s oldest horse sanctuary, described the unlikely friendship as ”remarkable”. She said: ”How Tarna knows Angel is blind we’ll never know. She literally shadows Angel everywhere and they go. Between the two of them they have just the one eye – it’s incredible. Maybe Tarna, because she has one eye, realized Angel was blind. We don’t know. Wherever they go Tarna is there with her good left eye looking out for both of them.

”The two have developed a firm friendship and are now inseparable – Tarna will dig her feet in or cry out if a groom tries to separate the two. Tarna is very protective of blind Angel, leading her to food, defending her from other horses and acting as a physical shield from obstacles. Once when we separated them so Angel could have her sight tested Tarna was pawing at the door and they were crying out to each other. It was quite distressing. It’s incredible to think where they’ve both come from and now, together, there is no reason why they can’t live a happy life.”

Panda dung Venus de Milo sells for £30,000

A 24-inch high replica of the Venus de Milo, sculpted from giant panda dung, has sold for £30,000 to a prominent Swiss art collector. Zhu Cheng, a Chinese sculptor, created the statue with the help of nine 11 year-old art students in the central Chinese city of Chengdu, the home of a giant panda breeding center.

It has already been purchased by Uli Sigg, a Swiss businessman who owns the world's largest collection of contemporary Chinese art, for 300,000 yuan (£30,000). Mr Sigg, who was formerly the Swiss ambassador to China, said that he thought the statue was "full of creativity and innovation".

"We made the statue in October," said Mr Zhu. "We took a clay mold of the statue and then pasted panda dung onto it using vegetable glue," he added. "I have been thinking about using panda dung in my work for years. After all, pandas are China's national treasure, so anything relating to them is interesting.

"It was quite hard to get hold of the dung, however. The first time I applied they declined, and I had to write a letter explaining what I was going to do with it." The statue is currently on display at a charity exhibition at the Zhengzhou Art Museum in Henan province, where it has drawn large crowds.