The Daily Drift

The Daily Drift

Today's horoscope says:
The line between your family and your career is starting to get blurry -- and that might not be such a bad thing.
Blending these two worlds right now will allow you to operate more efficiently in both of them.
You will be able to be your entire, whole self all the time -- which means that your ideas will be more valuable and your emotions will be more complete.
Embrace this change in your life, and try to push any anxieties away.
There are good things coming.

Some of our readers today have been in:

 Red Deer, Alberta, Canada
Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil

Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand

Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom

Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada

London, England, United Kingdom

Milan, Lombardia, Italy

Geneva, Geneve, Switzerland

Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Zaragoza, Aragon, Spain

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 West Newton, West Chester, West Chicago, Westminister and more.

Today is:

Today is Thursday, July 21, the 202nd day of 2011.

There are 163 days left in the year.

Today's unusual holiday or celebration is:

There isn't one.
 

Don't forget to visit our sister blog!

Brutal heat wave continues

Worst heat wave in decade hits Midwest

Even zoo animals felt "really crabby" as the heat index topped 119 degrees in Minneapolis.

Wishing for winter 

Also: 

• Get your local forecast
• Hurricane Dora on move
• Record arctic melt ahead?

Non Sequitur

The best new BBQ joints

Best new barbecue joints in the U.S.

Fans of smoke, fire, and ribs will love these additions to the national roster.  

Hipsters, brothers, and a blowtorch 

Also: 

• Best steak sauce ever
• Marinated hot dogs?
• Crazy state foods

Restaurant food criticized

Group bashes unhealthy restaurant food

The worst offenders include Denny's, The Cheesecake Factory, and others.  

Which dishes have the most calories? 

Also: 

• Restaurant calorie counts
• Kids' menus to improve
• Surprising sugar bombs

Relaxation drinks popular

Relaxation drinks see healthy growth

Sales of drinks like Vacation in a Bottle, Dream Water, and Just Chill are increasing.

  May cause drowsiness? 

Also: 

• Lighter ice-cream options
• Find relaxation drinks
• Green tea cuts cholesterol

The Unpublished Beatles

These never-before-seen photos of the Beatles' first American concert are up for auction.

Read more 

Superfan's costumes amaze

Superfan's amazing handmade costumes

Victoria Schmidt spends months perfecting her outfits for the Comic-Con gathering each year. 

Her best looks 

Also: 

• 'Avengers' stars talk egos
• Emma Stone at Comic-Con
• Event's comic-book roots

Ziggy

LDS Warning

Attention journalists. An LDS spokesman says: Don't call Mormonism a 'cult'.

Michael Otterson is warning journalists not to use the term “cult” in describing Mormonism or to allow sources to label The cult of jesus christ of latter-day saints that way, either.
“I have a message to political journalists who over the course of the current [presidential] campaign may be tempted to throw out this nasty word with abandon,” writes Otterson, head of public affairs for the Utah-based cult, in the Washington Post's On Faith section. “Expect to be challenged.”
Writers should not “perpetuate this kind of shallowness,” he writes. “Rather than continuing to parrot it, it’s time they pushed back against those who choose to use it.”

Dude, If you're a member of a cult, it's your problem, not ours.
By the way, he didn't mention Mormon Underwear, so it's still OK to ridicule that aspect of the cult.

Skull Discovered At Pearl Harbor

Startling find at bottom of Pearl Harbor

Scientists believe a recently discovered skull is from a Japanese pilot who died in the 1941 attack.

Other items found 

Also: 

• Pearl Harbor tea ritual
• WWII vet finally honored
• German sub wreck found

More Here

An excavation crew recently made a startling discovery at the bottom of Pearl Harbor when it unearthed a skull that archeologists suspect is from a Japanese pilot who died in the attack.

Texas inmate executed for fatal shooting he says was retaliation for 9/11 terrorist attacks

A Texas inmate was executed Wednesday for killing a Dallas-area convenience store clerk during a shooting spree that he claimed was retaliation for the Sept. 11.

Full Story

In The News

  Nazi doctor Josef Mengele's diaries are for sale ...



Woman attempts to sell her child for $500 at Taco Bell

Cameron denies staff tried to halt hacking probe

Prime Minister David Cameron emphatically denied claims that his staff tried to stop an inquiry into phone hacking at the News of the World and defended his decision to hire one of the tabloid's editors as his communications chief.

Full Story

Telling it like it is

Faux News Has A Brain Room?

Who woulda thunk? Former Faux News producer claimed network’s ‘Brain Room’ led to phone hacking.

A former producer with Faux News claimed in a lengthy essay gaining new traction this week that the conservative television station has a "Brain Room" in its New York headquarters which enables employees to view private telephone records with ease.
Though published years ago, the allegations have returned to relevance in the wake of the phone hacking scandals that have rocked News Corporation to its very core, threatening to topple one of the world's largest and most powerful media conglomerates.
According to former Faux News executive Dan Cooper, whose gripes with his former employer run quite deep after being fired in 1996, Faux News chief Roger Ailes allegedly had him design the so-called "Brain Room" to facilitate counter-intelligence efforts and other "black ops."

Of course, you know,  Faux News has no 'brain room' there isn't a brain at Faux to begin with.

Pretty much sums it up ...

Faux News in a nut shell.

A 130 repugicans raised Debit Limit for the shrub

White House and congressional negotiators are currently in the process of striking a deficit reduction deal,
as most repugicans are refusing to raise the federal debt ceiling without deep cuts to Social Security and Medicare. repugicans are essentially holding the country hostage, threatening us with default unless Democrats agree.

Yet these repugicans were not always demanding hostages in exchange for allowing the country to pay its bills. In November of 2004, Congress voted in both the House and Senate to hike the U.S. debt limit by $800 billion, which raised the total ceiling to $8.1 trillion.

A whopping 130 congressional repugicans voted to hike the debt ceiling that November. These members of
Congress did not demand draconian cuts in public investment that would’ve driven up unemployment and
threatened the economy in return.

Of course, there was one other difference between then and today.
The shrub was white.

Full Story

This Modern World

Don't overpay for key items

Don't overpay for key household items

Switching to cheaper brands is often like finding change in your sofa cushions.  

Surprising budget black holes 

Also: 

• Why pay full price?
• How we save $13K a year
• Moving to a daily budget

Brick Jacking

If you think crime is bad in your neighborhood these days, ask yourself this: are people stealing bricks from houses on your street? If the answer is no, then your hood’s got nothing on St. Louis, Missouri, where things have gotten so bad people are literally stripping houses to the ground for a few extra bucks.
There’s a video all about it at Laughing Squid.

Navy's costly 'ghost ships'

Navy scraps ships worth $300 million

Two oil tankers get sent to the dump without ever being used — or even completed.  

What dismantling costs 

Also: 

• Highest honor for Marine
• Pearl Harbor tea service
• Air Force eyes biofuels

It's always been the same old story

Fields to balance work, life

Six great fields for work-life balance

These career options let you work from home or choose nontraditional hours. 

The best education programs for them 

Also: 

• Companies run by men
• 401(k) vs. Roth (401)k
• My working retirement

Dream vacation plan's pitfalls

Dream vacation plan not what it seems?

Some companies put no limits on the amount of time employees can take off.

How it works in practice 

Also: 

• End of 40-hour week
• 4 ways to beat burnout
• Great summer lake towns

How Can Dentists Diagnose Undetected Diabetes In Their Patients?

The next time that you visit your local dentist and they ask you to open wide for your exam, the dentist may find something more than a couple of unfilled cavities.

Full Story

Glow Stick Goo For Your Guts

A new rave scene is about to kick off in your local doctors office, but this time the glow sticks won’t be the only things that are glowing-your guts will be too. That’s because researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University recently developed a fluorescent protein that will illuminate the inside of our bodies like never before, making internal organs far more visible, even if they appear downright toxic, and eliminating the need to cut the patient open in order to see what’s going on inside.

Full Story

Can Playgrounds Be Too Safe?

When I was a kiddo, my favorite playground activities were climbing to the top of the monkey bars and spinning way too fast on the merry-go-round. Since then, playgrounds have become increasingly more safe, and according to the New York Times, less mentally stimulating. The article argues that these changes have resulted in kids being less willing to take risks and more of them developing life-long fears -things that are a lot worse than an occasional broken bone.

Full Story

Awesome Pictures

Why a WWI Warplane Sits On Top a Manhattan Office Building

Though a WWI British warplane appears to have just landed on top of 77 Water Street in Lower Manhattan, the antique plane has resided on top of the office building since 1969. Film location scout Nick Carr only recently uncovered why: the owners of the building just figured they might as well do something interesting with the otherwise unused top of the building. In fact, other buildings owned by the William Kaufman Organization also sport interesting but completely unnecessary details, including a three-story chess board on 767 Third Avenue.

Full Story

A Temple Made From Beer Bottles

Now here’s a place Homer Simpson could really worship, the Wat Pa Maha Chedi Kaew Temple in Thailand. It’s made from over 1.5 million green Heineken and brown Chang beer bottles.

Full Story

The "Beast" gets fined

Obama fined over congestion from 'Beast'

The president's motorcade raises the ire of locals during his visit to London.  

Embassy's whopping fee 

Also: 

• Campaign video under fire
• Michelle on 'food deserts'
• Pressure for debt deal

'Geyser' rocks parked car

Dangers of parking in a 'geyser' zone

A car is tossed about when a manhole in Montreal erupts with a wave of water. 

Vehicle acts like a bucking bronco 

Also: 

• Huge hydrant geyser
• Water main break
• Dramatic flood rescue

Geyser at dawn

Sand drawing seen from space

Huge sand drawing visible from space

A wealthy sheik employs a crew of workers to write five letters in the sand of his private island.  

Massive size 

Also: 

• Iran: Spy plane shot down
• Shuttles off to museums
• Final satellite deployed

Nature's record breakers

Nature's record breakers

Meet the biggest, the fastest and the deadliest the natural world has to offer.

Giant sinkhole under bed

Giant sinkhole opens up under bed

A woman thinks she hears an outside explosion, but the damage is much closer to home.  

Area known for pits 

Also: 

• Find sinkhole photos
• Battle over Blue Lagoon
• Deadly swimming hole

U.S. kids fail at geography

75% of U.S. students fail geography test

The test goes beyond naming countries and includes questions on economic development.  

Could you pass? 

Also: 

• World's newest country
• Girls sweep science fair
• Atlanta's cheating scandal

How Istanbul got its name

After the fall of the Byzantine Empire in the late 15th century, the name "Constantinople" fell into disuse, with no obvious replacement.  But over the centuries in which Constantinople was the urban hub of the area (and, as you'll see, even after its fall), people referred to it as "the city."   

The Greek phrase for "in the city" is "εις την πόλη" which is pronounced "is tin Poli."  Over time, this became  "Istanbul." 

Stone Age Rest Stop

In Britain a super market chain was building a new store when they uncovered the remains of a seven thousand year old rest stop. Wouldn’t it have been weirder if they were going to build a highway rest stop?

Archaeologists believe the remains of burned oak uncovered at the site of the first Sainsbury’s in the Highlands to be evidence of an ancient “rest stop”.

Full Story

B.C.

Teen Kills Possible Chupacabra

A teenage boy in Texas has claimed to have shot and killed a Chupacabra, the infamous “goat sucker” of Cryptozoology. I like how although they claim to have the Chupacabra dead in their backyard, there is still only this grainy, blurry photo. If you claim you have a Chupacabra you really have to get in there with the HD camera, and snap some high res photos and video.

“It just walked across and started shaking, slowly moving across,” Pope said. “No hair on it at all, the back legs were shriveled up, and I honestly think it was a chupacabra.”
Pope said he ran to his parents’ room to wake up his dad to come see what he had discovered.
“I thought, ‘I’m dreaming or this kid is crazy, but probably a little bit of both,’” Pope’s father Will said.
Will said when he came outside with his son, he was amazed by the creature. The animal was about 200 feet away when Pope fired three shots before the animal stopped moving.

Full Story

Bears

Dark Roasted Blend has lots of bear pictures.

Bears! What Are They Up To?

Woman Can’t Leave Her Monkeys At Home

She really likes her monkeys. In Illionois: Monkey mad mother who takes her beloved macaques everywhere she goes!

Monkey lover Connie Tibbs will argue she is anything but bananas - however these pictures prove otherwise. Mrs Tibbs, 37, is so obsessed with her pet macaques - all five of them, that she refuses to let them out of her sight.

Animal Pictures