The Daily Drift

The Daily Drift

Today's horoscope says:

Transitions can be tricky things -- after all, whenever you make a change in your life, you want to change for the better, right? 

Today you'll be given an idea, or an opportunity to change, that might seem a bit too extreme. 

Give it a pass for now, and hold tight until something more attainable comes into focus. 

You should go for positive changes in small increments right now. 

The stars say that it's not wise to disrupt your usual routine too much.

 Some of our readers today have been in:
Bilbao, Pais Vasco, Spain
Rome, Lazio Italy
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
Bandar Seri Begawan Brunei and Muara, Brunei Darussalam
Groningen, Groningen, Netherlands
Athens, Attiki, Greece
Annecy, Rhone-Alpes, France
Warsaw, Mazowieckie, Poland
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Kota Bharu, Kelantan, Malaysia
Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand
Kuala Lumpur, Wilayah Persekutuan, Malaysia
Ampang, Selangor, Malaysia
Budapest, Budapest, Hungary
Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany
Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
Sibu, Sarawak, Malaysia
Madrid, Madrid, Spain
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Exeter, England, United Kingdom
Bangkok, Krung Thep, Thailand
Crawley, England, United Kingdom
Valencia, Comunidad Valencia, Spain
Brussels, Brussels Hoofdstedelijk Gewest, Belgium
Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil
Ho Chi Minh City, Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam
Ankara, Ankara, Turkey
Tweed Heads, New South Wales, Australia
As, Askershus, Norway
London, England, United Kingdom
Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
Red Deer, Alberta, Canada
Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia
Newbury, England, United Kingdom
Rio De Janiero, Rio De Janiero, Brazil
Berlin, Berlin, Germany
Bangalore, Karnataka, India

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 Fountain, Oklahoma City, Omaha, Overland Park and more!

Today is:

Today is Tuesday, November 1, the 305th day of 2011.

There are 60 days left in the year.

Today's unusual holiday or celebration is:

Prime Meridian Day

  

Don't forget to visit our sister blog!

Non Sequitur

Tuneful Tuesday

Those Were The Days by Mary Hopkin

The story behind man's Hitler letter

Man's letter from dad on Hitler stationery

A handwritten note on display at the CIA breaks the news of the tyrant's death in a unique way. 

  Father's historic career 

Also: 

• 'New breed' of spies
• Iran's cyber unit
• Hackers hit companies

Five amazing yo-yo tricks

Unbelievable things to do with a yo-yo

You'll get a kick out of some of the tricks these champs can do with the classic toy.  

 'Ladder escape' 

Also: 

• Best gaming adventures
• Valuable action figures
• Robot that runs a studio

Triple dip for home prices

U.S. home prices headed for a triple dip

Housing values will fall to 35% below their 2006 peak, says a forecaster.

  Which regions will be hit hardest 

Also: 

• Find local homes for sale
• Mortgage from parents
• Hotel fees hit record

Daily Comic Relief

Best global firms to work for

The world's 10 best companies to work for

Their perks include paid volunteering, job sharing, and chats with the CEO.

  'A wonderful second family' 

Also: 

• World's coolest jobs
• Can Kodak save itself?
• Retirees change hiring

Awesome Pictures

The truth be told

Signs of nuke site in Mideast

Mideast complex raises nuclear suspicions

Images of a cotton-spinning plant show striking similarities to the work of an atomic-bomb mastermind.

Details 

Also: 

• Iran wants U.S. apology
• Libya's new prime minister
• Big moment for Palestine

Anonymous takes on Los Zetas

'Anonymous' Hacker Kidnapped By Zeta's, Group Threatens To Reveal Cartel Allies

In a one-of-kind move that is full of bravado and boldness the hacker group 'Anonymous' is threatening the vicious Mexican narco cartel Los Zetas.

Full Story

Anonymous Plans To Take On A Mexican Drug Cartel

Anonymous is getting ready for the biggest fight of their group’s history, ramping up to take on a Mexican drug cartel after one of their own was kidnapped by the drug lords.

The Zetas are one of the biggest players in Mexico’s drug war, which has resulted in about 40,000 deaths since 2006. Earlier this month, a YouTube video showed a man in a Guy Fawkes mask who claimed to speak for Anonymous warning the Zetas that the collective would reveal the names of people who had aided the cartel, including taxi drivers, police officers and journalists, if a kidnapped member of Anonymous weren’t released.

Now that’s a cause we can all get behind.

Full Story

UK police say their phones likely tapped

No one is yet saying which newspaper they think hacked the cops' phones, but...

Court victory for girls switched at birth

A Russian court has ordered a maternity home to pay an equivalent of $100,000 in compensation to each of the two families whose babies it has accidentally switched at birth.

Full Story

Australian Mint Turns Out 1-Ton Gold Coin

An Australian mint has produced the world's largest gold coin, a giant disk weighing more than a ton and worth more than $50 million.

Full Story

Could Mozart Decrease Your Risk of Colon Cancer?

Doctors were more likely to detect precancerous polyps during colonoscopies if they had Mozart playing in the background, a small study found.

 Full Story

Crabby Road

Culinary DeLites

Easy dinner recipes for the entire week

Curry powder, fresh ginger, and oranges liven up this easy chicken dish.  

 Or try zucchini pasta with pistachios 

Also: 

• Five tips on making soup
• Roasted pumpkin seeds
• Caramel apple recipes

Food Insecurity on the Rise

Food Insecurity on the Rise (Infographic) 

A new infographic from GOOD shows us the startling stats about food insecurity.

Question and Answer

Healthy Living

Healthy changes that could save you $66,674

Also:

• 6 ways to boost your brain power
• What you need to know about your drinking water
• Foods to fight the flu

The Museum of Quackery and Medical Frauds

The Science Museum of Minnesota obtained the collection of the Museum of Quackery and Medical Frauds and set it up as the “Questionable Medical Device” collection.

This collection of dubious medical devices reminds us that sometimes, medicine is best left to the doctors. Exhibits on display include a phrenological machine that gauges personality by measuring the size of bumps on the head, a foot-powered breast enlarger, and glasses and soap products designed for weight-loss.
You can still have your phrenology read by the fully functional machine today, and as the machine outlines the bumps on your skull, the phrenology reader “maps” intelligence, morality, and much more. Machines such as these were all the rage at State Fairs of the early 1900s, as were other questionable medical devices. The infomercials of their time, these snake oils and pseudoscience gadgets could cure impotence, tell how smart you were, and make you live forever.

Read more about this strange museum within a museum at Atlas Obscura.

Cut health costs by $1,500

How to cut your health costs by $1,500

Buying your prescription drugs at the right store could save $350 a year alone.

  What to ask your doctor 

Also: 

• Drugstore beauty buys
• Beat rising food prices
• Hidden homeowner costs

Ziggy

Where Are the Women at Occupy Wall Street?

 Everywhere - And They're Not Going Away

“Where my feminists at?” read a sign propped against a bench at the entrance to Zuccotti Park on Thursday night as a General Assembly meeting began to echo over the human microphone.

Five days of observing working group meetings, sitting in on General Assemblies and talking to women at the occupation suggests that the answer to the sign’s question is a resounding “everywhere.”

Full Story

The Predators of the 1%

How does someone make it to the 1%?
There are only three ways: You can start in the 1%, you can engage in activities that create and build wealth and you can take the money from other people.

Over the past few weeks quite a few members of the 1% have been coming out in support of Occupy Wall Street. What do they all have in common? Almost all of them made it to the 1% by creating and building wealth.

Ayn Rand was right, society is plagued by the 'looters and the moochers'. All she got wrong was pointing her finger at the wrong people. The dead weight in US society are the members of the 1% who never contributed anything to society: The inheritors and the predators.

The repugicans do not even stand for all of the 1% and certainly not for the 'job creators' who they invoke at every opportunity. The people the repugicans really support are the predators who got rich by taking from other people. Folk like the Walton family that made their pile through union busting. Folk like Don Blankenship who caused the deaths of 29 miners at his Upper Big Branch mine by appealing health and safety violation notices and telling his supervisors that their only priority was to "run coal". And yes folk like Bernie Madoff who became a billionaire by stealing the savings of millionaires.

Rise and crash of superrich

The rise and crash of America's superrich

An author tells how the "manic wealthy" saw their net worth fall from $1 billion to zero.

  Learning how to fill a gas tank 

Also: 

• What good are the 1%?
• Occupy protest backlash
• Record month for stocks

BofA drops debit card fee

BofA drops $5 monthly debit fee

Under fire, Bank of America backtracks from plans to charge customers who use its debit cards.

  Follows others

Also:

• Greece spooks markets
• Bank stocks down sharply
• Cold cash, not cold cuts

Herman Cain's "possibly illegal" campaign transactions, violations of tax code

A blockbuster piece from Daniel Bice at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.  The article is long and detailed - check out for the specifics as to what money changed hands where.  But the conclusions, from multiple lawyers, is that what Cain did is possibly illegal, and not in a feeble "the FEC doesn't like it" kind of way, but rather, in a big scary "the IRS is gonna come get you" kind of way:

Herman Cain's two top campaign aides ran a private Wisconsin-based corporation that helped the repugican presidential candidate get his fledgling campaign off the ground by originally footing the bill for tens of thousands of dollars in expenses for such items as iPads, chartered flights and travel to Iowa and Las Vegas - something that might breach federal tax and campaign law, according to sources and documents.

Election law experts say the transactions raise a host of questions for the private organization, which billed itself as a tax-exempt nonprofit, and the Cain team.

"If the records accurately reflect what occurred, this is way out of bounds," said a Washington, D.C.-based election lawyer who advises many repugican candidates and wingnut groups on campaign issues. The lawyer asked not to be identified because of those affiliations.

Michael Maistelman, a Wisconsin campaign attorney, agreed.

"The number of questionable and possibly illegal transactions conducted on behalf of Herman Cain is staggering," said Maistelman, a Democrat who has represented politicians from both parties on campaign issues.

The national election expert who works with GOP candidates said it would be a violation of the tax code for Prosperity USA to advance money to the Cain campaign for these items. She said there also are strict federal election regulations on reporting debts and incurring travel obligations.

"I just don't see how they can justify this," she said. "It's a total mess."

Millions missing at brokerage

Millions missing from Wall Street firm

Regulators are looking for customers' money at Jon Corzine's failed MF Global.

First U.S. victim of Euro crisis 

Also: 

• MF Global's falling stars
• No big Fed moves likely
• G20 tests Euro debt deal

Zombies generate $5.7billion for US economy

No, seriously !

At least the zombies are trying to pitch in and help improve a sour economy. That's more than you can say about the repugicans.

Zombies may be the walking undead, but their contribution to Main Street’s economy is very much alive. In modern times, the zombie genre has evolved from a cult following to a highly popular theme. 24/7 Wall St. estimates that the today’s zombie genre economy is worth billions of dollars.

Think way beyond zombie movie ticket sales. Think about DVD sales, video games, comic books, novels, Halloween costumes, zombie walks, merchandise, conventions and even zombie art. Add to that all of the websites, homemade movies, Facebook sites, YouTube sites and other forms of “digital” zombies, not to mention music. And if you think the financial tab has been high so far, by the end of 2012 the tab is going to be far larger....

Regardless of the reason, zombies are worth billions of dollars. The figure that we were able to piece together: $5.74 billion. In all honesty, this tab is grossly undercalculated in each category. By the time you add the money spent in total around the zombie genre, the figure is much higher.

There's much more analysis on MSNBC's site - check it out.

Dia De Los Muertos

Today is Dia De Los Muertos, or Day of the Dead. It has nothing to do with Halloween, and very little to do with All Saints Day. Although the day is usually associated with Mexico, it is also celebrated in Guatemala, Brazil, Spain, and parts of the U.S.

Day of the Dead is a time for friends and family to come together to honor those who have passed away. The holiday dates back to the time of the Aztecs who celebrated a festival dedicated to the “Lady of the Dead.” Rituals of celebrating the deaths of ancestors have been observed by these civilizations for at least 3,000 years.
The festival that became the modern Day of the Dead fell in the ninth month of the Aztec calendar, about the beginning of August, and was celebrated for an entire month. In modern times, the celebration occurs on November 1 and 2 in connection with the Catholic holidays All Saints’ Day (Nov. 1) and All Souls’ Day (Nov. 2).

Read about the meaning and traditions of this holiday at IBTraveler.

Mt. Rushmore before the faces

The history of 70-year-old Mt. Rushmore

The designer of the monument started with even bigger plans, and a different location.

  See it before it was sculpted 

Also: 

• Add another president?
• 'Carhenge' for sale
• Halloween at the zoo

The Farthest Point from Earth's Center

The highest mountain on earth is Mt. Everest in Nepal at 29,029 feet above sea level. However, it not the point on earth that is farthest from the center of the planet. That honor belongs to the volcano called Chimborazo in Ecuador.

The summit of the Chimborazo is the fixed point on Earth which has the utmost distance from the center – because of the modified ball shape of the planet Earth which is “thicker” around the Equator than measured around the poles.[note 3] Chimborazo is one degree south of the Equator and the Earth’s diameter at the Equator is greater than at the latitude of Everest (8,848 m (29,029 ft) above sea level), nearly 28° north, with sea level also elevated. Despite being 2,580 m (8,465 ft) lower in elevation above sea level, it is 6,384.4 km (3,967.1 mi) from the Earth’s centre, 2,168 m (7,113 ft) or 2.168 km (1.347 mi) farther than the summit of Everest (6,382.3 km (3,965.8 mi) from the Earth’s center).[note 4] However, by the criterion of elevation above sea level, Chimborazo is not even the highest peak of the Andes.

Imagine that!

Full Story

B.C.

The Creature from the Waste Treatment Lagoon

Flushing unused antibiotics down the toilet is leading to a growing problem of drug-resistant bacteria. Read more 

Some Seriously Spooky Deep-Sea Creatures

 

image credit

From frightful fangtooth fish and vampire squid to coffinfish and spiky, sinister sea urchins, plenty of strange and scary creatures lurk in the dark, cold depths of the ocean. Take a look at life in the shadowy depths.

All about Kiwis

Rare white kiwi survives surgery

The world's only known white kiwi survives surgery to remove stones from her gizzard, reports a New Zealand wildlife center.

• Kiwis 'freefall' to extinction
• Probe after 'kiwi' found in Russia

Smart Chimp Gets Speech Like a Human

A 25-year-old chimpanzee shows that speech perception is not a uniquely human trait.

Read more 

Animal Pictures