The Daily Drift

The Daily Drift

Today's horoscope says:
It might feel to you that things are going so well that they couldn't possibly be get better.
Yet as of today, and for the next month, too, things are going to get better.
You've got nothing but helpful energy circulating within and around you, and you should be able to bring exactly what and whom you need, exactly when you need it.
Enjoy the great energy!  

Some of our readers today have been in:

Carthage, Tunis, Tunisia

Chatswood, New South Wales, Australia

Paris, Ile-De-France, France

Bari, Puglia, Italy

Galway, Galway, Ireland

Malmo, Skane Lan, Sweden

Copenhagen, Kobenhavn, Denmark

Annecy, Rhone-Alpes, France

Bremen, Bremen, Germany

Rome, Lazio, Italy

Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Guelph, Ontario, Canada

London, England, United Kingdom

New Delhi, Delhi, India

Prague, Hlavni Mesto Praha, Czech Republic

Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Dundalk, Louth, Ireland

Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

as well as Colombia, Scotland, Paraguay, and the United States in such cities such as Marinette, Decatur, Muscle Shoals, Hackensack, Milton and more

Today is Friday, April 23, the 113th day of 2010.

There are 252 days left in the year.

Today In History April 23

Today's unusual holiday or celebration is:

Talk Like Shakespeare Day

On April 23, 1910, former President Theodore Roosevelt delivered his famous "Man in the Arena" speech at the Sorbonne in Paris. In it, Roosevelt declared, "It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena."

As The World Turns

As The World Turns

North Korea to Seize South Korean Property

Full story

North Korea announced Friday that it plans to seize five South Korean-owned properties at a mountain resort as tensions mount between the two nations

North's - human torpedoes' sank South Korea's ship

A closeup of a Japanese suicide sub from the second world war. A newspaper in South Korea has accused the North of using such a device to sink a South Korean ship.

Full story

Top drug dealer caught near Mexico City

 

Troops battled a suspected drug gang in a wealthy neighborhood on the outskirts of Mexico City and captured an alleged major trafficker with a $2 million U.S. bounty on his head, officials announced on Thursday.

Full story

The State Of The Nation

The State Of The Nation

	Condemned Killer In Utah Could Face Firing Squad A condemned killer appears headed for a date with death in Utah that could see him sit before a firing squad and re-ignite protests over an antiquated, Old West-style of justice. Full Story
	Suspected Pirates To Be Tried In U.S. Court Five suspected pirates captured after an attack on the USS Nicholas could be in a Virginia courtroom as early as Friday morning.  Full Story

Local Hospitality

Local Hospitality

Obama Coming To NC For Weekend Vacation

Obama and his family were to leave the White House at midday Friday and fly to Asheville.

  Prosecutors Say NC Woman Tried To Steal Baby To Pay Off Debt

More disturbing details about the woman charged with trying to steal an infant from Duke University Hospital on Tuesday.

Full Story

Whole Wide World

The Proclaimers version of the Wreckless Eric song

Democrats to offer bill to blunt Citizens United decision

Good move.
Check out the third and fourth paragraphs. Sounds like something the repugicans would do - and I mean that in a good way.

Democrats plan to introduce legislation next week that would sharply limit the ability of foreign-connected companies to participate in U.S. politics and require greater transparency from corporations, unions and nonprofit groups that pay for political advertising, according to a confidential summary of the bill.

The proposal, spearheaded by Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) and Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.), is aimed at blunting the effect of a Supreme Court ruling in January that permits companies and unions to spend unlimited amounts of money for or against political candidates. President Obama has sharply attacked the ruling, and many Democrats feel it will unleash a flood of corporate spending that is likely to favor repugicans.

According to the summary, obtained by The Washington Post, the legislation would require corporate chief executives or group leaders to publicly attach their names to ads, much like political candidates are required to do. It would also mandate disclosure of major donors whose money is used for "campaign-related activity."

The latter measure would require powerful trade groups such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce for the first time to identify the companies that fund its political-related spending.

SEC Officials Surfed Porn While Economy Crashed

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

Hospital says it performed world's first full face transplant

A hospital in Spain said it has carried out the world's first full-face transplant, giving a young man who lost his in an accident a new nose, skin, jaws, cheekbones, teeth and other features.

Full Story

It takes 18 chickens to get a mammogram

John Aravosis had this to say:

You may recall that the GOP Senate candidate running against Harry Reid recently said that health care in America is affordable because you can always use chickens, and other livestock, to pay your doctors for medical procedures. Then she defended the statement by giving other examples of medical barter, such as hay, yard work, and horse shoeing.

Well, some folks have created a Web site to facilitate this medical barter. The site lets you know how many chickens you'll need for each medical procedure. Priceless.

A turn of a phrase

Lackadaisical

Meaning: In a listless, languid manner; without interest. .

Origin:

Lackadaisical may now be a single word but, in its original form, it derived from a phrase, albeit by a circuitous route. The phrase in question is 'alack a day' or 'alack the day'. It was used first by Shakespeare in Romeo and Juliet, 1592, on Romeo's mistaken belief that Juliet had died:

Shee's dead, deceast, shee's dead: alacke the day!

Alack itself can be broken down into the exclamation 'Ah' and 'lack', which then meant failure or shame. Alack-a-day was a recognition of woe or regret at some unfortunate occurrence.

'Alack-a-day' migrated into 'lack-a-day', by a process known as aphesis. This is defined by the OED as - the gradual and unintentional loss of a short unaccented vowel at the beginning of a word; as in squire for esquire.

It was used by John Eachard in The Grounds & Occasions of the Contempt of the Clergy and Religion Enquired, 1685. At that date the 'lack' spelling wasn't yet fully accepted and this citation proceeded the phrases by a hyphen, indicating the missing 'A'.

'Lack a day. how easie a matter is it for old folks to dote and slaver, and for young ones to. be deceived.

Having been shortened 'lack-a-day' now became extended to become the rather fanciful 'lack-a-daisy'. This ornamentation may have been influenced by the existence of the term 'ups-a-daisy', a version of which was in use by 1711.

Tobias Smollett, recorded this piece of street slang in the satirical novel The adventures of Roderick Random, 1748:

Finding the sheets cold, [she] exclaimed, "Good lack-a-daisy! the rogue is fled!"

The novelist Laurence Sterne formed the adjectival form of 'lack-a-daisy', in A Sentimental Journey through France and Italy, 1768:

Would to Heaven! my dear Eugenius, thou hadst passed by, and beheld me sitting in my black coat, and in my lack-adaysical manner.

Lackadaisical may be a single word but it displays an almost Germanic effort to encapsulate an entire paragraph's worth of meaning. To translate from the constituent parts that it is built from, it means 'in the manner of someone who, for all of the day, exhibits a sense of languid dissatisfaction of some failure or fault'.

Lunatic Fringe

Lunatic Fringe

First there was wingnut hate speech radio. 

Now there is a new cable television network planned that will bring wingnut hate speech programming to the TV screen.

It's called the rightnetwork, and actor kelsey grammer is the spokesperson for the new ultra-wingnut channel. Full Story

So Faux News is too Liberal, eh?

Senior Moments (Brain Farts)

Golf Brooks

Book ban infuriates Cult of Scientology

Like we care what this cult thinks?!

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Book ban infuriates Cult of Scientology

Russia's government bans L. Ron Hubbard's books, calling them "extremist."  

Cult's response 

Also: 

• More on the book ban
• L. Ron Hubbard
• Muhammad image cut

Family guilty of lagoon body murder

 

Five members of a family have been convicted over the death of a man whose headless corpse was found in a lake.

Michael Gilbert, 26, was kept as a slave and tortured before being killed and decapitated then dumped in the Blue Lagoon in Arlesey, Bedfordshire, last year.

Full Story

News of jailed hikers alarms parents

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News of jailed hikers alarms parents

Two of the three Americans held in Iran have fallen ill, Swiss diplomats reveal.

Captives mull 'disturbing' move 

Also: 

• More on the hikers
• Iran's nuclear concession
• Iraq closes secret prison

Bank robber changed from black to white

When Ohio police put out an A.P.B. for a black male who had robbed five banks, they were puzzled as to why they could never catch the guy. He always seemed to slip away, despite cops locking down the area around the target banks.

That's probably because the real suspect was a white guy from Florida disguised as an African-American. Blame this one on the magic of Hollywood. Conrad Zdzierak, a former Seminole resident, was arrested earlier this month accused of robbing four banks and a CVS pharmacy in a three hour span.

Police said he eluded police by wearing a mask known as "The Player," which transformed the very white, spike-haired Zdzierak into a very dark, bald black guy. Zdzierak, 30, also wore shades to cover his blue eyes.

The suspect seen in the surveillance photographs and that we were looking for, we believed to be an African American male," Springdale Police Lieutenant Michael Mathis said. "The suspect was actually a male, white, who was wearing an elaborate disguise." Between robberies, Zdzierak would take off the mask and drive by police as they searched for the black suspect.

In Matters Of Health

In Matters Of Health

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Nearly 4 million face health care penalty

Many mostly middle-class Americans will be fined after the health care law kicks in.

About $1,000 each 

Also: 

• 5 gripes from doctors
• What retirees should know
• Health care penalty

Deadly Airborne Fungus is Killing People in Oregon

A deadly, airborne new strain of fungus has emerged in Oregon. It has killed nearly one out of four known affected people so far and might also attack animals ranging from dogs to dolphins. And it is likely to spread, researchers now warn.

The new strain known as VGIIc of the fungus Cryptococcus gattii not only targets humans but has also proven capable of infecting dogs, cats, alpacas, sheep and elk. Other strains have even infected porpoises.

Although it can spread to mammals, it does not jump from animal to animal. Instead, people and other animals get it from inhaling spores released by samples of the fungus that infect trees.

Full Story

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Exceptions to five common health rules

Eating lots of leafy veggies and getting exercise by swimming are great choices for most people. 

But not everyone 

Also: 

• Sugar-cholesterol link
• 10 slimming breakfasts
• Food pyramid guidelines

Who's side is Mitch McConnell realy on

Any Questions?

It's The Economy Stupid

It's The Economy Stupid

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Biggest money losers of the Fortune 500

The worst-performing companies had such massive losses that they needed Uncle Sam to prop them up.  

Top 6 

Also: 

• Rosy economic reports
• Fed gains from bailouts
• More on the Fortune 500

Oil rig disaster poses environmental peril

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Oil rig disaster poses environmental peril

The collapsed platform could pump more than 300,000 gallons of crude a day into the Gulf of Mexico.

Workers missing 

Also: 

• The disaster's aftermath
• Mobile drilling platforms
• Rig had no violations

Scientific Minds Want To Know

Scientific Minds Want To Know

First footage of giant deep sea jellyfish

Better than one? The bobtail lizard with two heads

THE BIG PICTURE

 

Photo: Teske Lab

'Spaghetti'-like megabacteria

One of the largest collaborations to investigate marine biodiversity has uncovered something on a mind-boggling scale: a giant mat of string-like bacteria - the size of Uruguay or the U.S. state of Alabama - has been discovered deep in the ocean depths off the coasts of Chile and Peru.
Uncovered as part of the Census of Marine Life - a global, decade-long effort to systematically identify and study oceanic organisms - scientists are now speculating whether this huge mat of mega-bacteria may somehow contribute to thriving fisheries found in these waters.

Article continues: Gigantic Nation-Sized Mat of Bacteria Found Off South American Coast

Prehistoric fish defies the odds

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Prehistoric fish defies the odds

A species that outlived the dinosaurs is making a major comeback in a pocket of Wisconsin.

Secrets to success 

Also: 

• Spawning spectacle
• Find ancient 'dinofish'
• Whaling plan draws fire

Exotic new animals discovered in Borneo

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Exotic new animals discovered in Borneo

A lungless frog and a slug that shoots "love darts" are among the new species found since 2007.

  See photos 

Also: 

• More on the new species
• What's a 'love dart'?
• Earth Day is mainstream

Lemon balm

Lemon balm vinaigrette
Mix the following ingredients in a small bowl: 1 tbsp minced shallots, 2 tbsp minced lemon balm, 1/2 tsp lemon zest, 6 tbsp fresh lemon juice, 1 tsp Dijon mustard, 4 tbsp white wine vinegar, and 1 tsp brown sugar. Slowly blend in up to 8 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil.

It's a herb related to mint, and it smells a lot like lemon. Lemon balm is believed to have a stress-reducing effect, and if you rub the leaf and take a whiff of the scent, you'll immediately know why — it's such a peaceful, happy smell, a bit more cozy than lemongrass but not as pungent as lemon verbena. Lemon balm is native to Europe in the Middle Ages, and even back then it was thought to be a calming agent. The leaves can also act as a mosquito repellent and are antibacterial. Lemon balm is great in tea or as a garnish to meat or a salad.

I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)

The Proclaimers (from the film Benny and Joon)

Wise Quotes

Or wise-ass ... depending ...

The IQ and the life expectancy of the average American recently passed each other going in the opposite direction. 

~ George Carlin

Though I am not naturally honest, I am so sometimes by chance.

and

Give every man thy ear, but few thy voice. 

~ William Shakespeare

When you play, play hard; when you work, don't play at all.

and

It is both foolish and wicked to teach the average man who is not well off that some wrong or injustice has been done him, and that he should hope for redress elsewhere than in his own industry, honesty, and intelligence. 

~ Theodore Roosevelt

What you do speaks so loudly that I cannot hear what you say. 

~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

If I had only known, I would have been a locksmith. 

~ Albert Einstein

Be thankful we`re not getting all the government we`re paying for. 

~ Will Rogers

Interesting In General

Interesting In General

Photos via Metro

Well, Earth Day is officially over. Which means we can officially forget about that irksome business of saving the planet for another 364 days, and get back to doing what's really important -- which is looking at zany animal pictures, of course. Like, check out this bizarre two-headed bobtail lizard that was discovered in Australia! Also, it turns out that the heads hate each other, and the larger one keeps attacking the smaller one. More photos after the fold:

Article continues: Two-Headed Lizard Whose Heads Hate Each Other Discovered in Australia

Mike Rutzen has an extra special relationship with sharks, and he's working hard to show the world they're really amazing, approachable creatures. Rather than the character out of Jaws, Great Whites are actually smart, sometimes shy, and highly effective hunters. But unfortunately the world is only just starting to understand sharks as key predators in our oceans, that come complete with unique personalities and an understandable body language. Rutzen has decided that there's one way to show just how approachable and readable sharks are - put them into tonic immobility, a natural state of paralysis. Watch him set a shark vertically on its nose under water and hold it there with just one hand.

Article continues: Diver Mike Rutzen Hypnotizes Sharks to Show They're Friendly (Video)

Pup on the roof ...

Mike Kai thought one of his surfing buddies was thumping around on his rooftop deck, but it turned out to be a wayward sea lion pup, enjoying the view of Newport Beach at sunrise. Kai said he couldn't imagine how the pup made it up the stairs and onto the roof early Thursday.

The sea lion was taken to the Pacific Marine Mammal Center in Laguna Beach, where volunteers named him Fiddler, after the Broadway musical "Fiddler on the Roof."

Staff there say he is underweight, probably because he was recently weaned and having trouble finding food on his own.