The Daily Drift

The Daily Drift

Today's horoscope says:
You've had quite a week, full of highs and lows -- and that's just not like you!
You like to see yourself as an emotional rock, never letting anything as trivial as a passing feeling get between you and your objectives.
Now that your emotions are surfacing, you're having quite a time getting used to them.
Fortunately, your mate or best friend is most definitely in the mood for helping out.

Some of our readers today have been in:

Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Quebec, Quebec, Canada

Oldenburg, Niedersachsen, Germany

Blagoevgrad, Sofiya, Bulgaria

Kuala Lumpur, Wilayah Persekutuan, Malaysia

Paris, Ile-De-France, France

Karlskrona, Blekinge Lan, Sweden

Brampton, Ontario, Canada

Hull, Quebec, Canada

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Ajax, Ontario, Canada

Annecy, Rhone-Alpes, France

Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

Berlin, Berlin, Germany

Bremen, Bremen, Germany

Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil

Bourges, Centre, France

Milano, Lombardia, Italy

Coffs Harbor, New South Wales, Australia

Dundalk, Louth, Ireland

London, England, United Kingdom

as well as Scotland, Hungary, and the United States in such cities as Citrus Heights, Belevedere Tiburon, Addison, Brooklyn and more

Today is Sunday, May 16, the 136th day of 2010.

There are 229 days left in the year.

Today In History May 16

Today's unusual holiday or celebration is:
National Sea Monkey Day

The kilt is the most popular of the world's traditional garments

The kilt has been rated as the most popular of the world's traditional garments

Kilt tops traditional dress poll

Nomenclature

Big Log

 

Robert Plant

As The World Turns

As The World Turns

Tourist hot spot becomes war zone

Once bustling with visitors, Bangkok is now a "live fire zone," where protesters and police battle.  

How it started 

Also: 

• PM defends actions
• Travel alerts to Thailand
• Red shirt protesters

Muhammad cartoonist in hiding after arson attack

A Swedish artist whose drawing of the Prophet Muhammad with a dogs body angered Muslims said Sunday he doesn't feel safe in his home at night, after a week of attacks against him.

The Internet, not so bad for us after all?

The Internet, not so bad for us after all?

Access to the Web leads people to feel better about their lives, a new study finds.

Surprising findings 

Also: 

• Happiest countries
• Dalai Lama's influence
• Depression and earnings

It's Only The Environment After All

It's Only The Environment After All

On The Job

On The Job

Five high-paying but low-stress jobs

Some of the most stressful careers pay surprisingly little — and vice versa.

Professions that can pay six figures 

Also: 

• Degrees that get you hired
• Get paid to work outside
• Stress and aging

It's The Economy Stupid

It's The Economy Stupid

Financial ruin looms for nonprofits

Thousands of small nonprofits are on the cusp of losing their tax-exempt status and possibly closing.  

Deadline 

Also: 

• Key tax document
• Companies dodge taxes
• Europe worries return

Where to find income in retirement

Social Security is just one of the many sources you can tap to fund your retirement.

Some riskier than others 

Also: 

• Five surprising expenses
• Catching up on savings
• What are annuities?

Three best and biggest ways to save

Cutting out daily lattes is a good start, but you should really focus on these areas.  

Where most money is spent 

Also: 

• 10 creative ways to save
• More on the latte factor
• Senate targets debit fees

*****

Yet another beef recall

Just a note for those who have a working brain ... there's been no one leadingUSDA's Food Safety & Inspection Service since December 2008.
The repugicans have been holding up the nominee process.
Call your senators and tell them to grow up and get someone into that post ... post haste.
In the mean time - from the USDA:

Montclair Meat Co., Inc., a Montclair, Calif., establishment is recalling approximately 53,000 pounds of ground beef products that may be contaminated with e. coli O157:H7, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced today.

the products subject to recall include:

various pound packages of "montclair meat co. ground beef"

various pound packages of "montclair meat co. all beef patties"

How online hackers can steal your cash

How online hackers can steal your cash

Americans lost $559 million to Internet thieves last year, and face attacks daily.  

One type of fraud poses biggest threat 

Also: 

• 5 home repair rip-offs
• Strong passwords
• Fast track to success

Secretive traders in spotlight after crash

Secretive traders in spotlight after crash

Investors that "pick up pennies" in the stock market may have sparked the recent historic drop.  

How they operate 

Also: 

• High-frequency traders
• Obama on Wall St. reform
• Data shows solid recovery

Changing Political Attitudes

People want Democrats to control Congress after this fall's elections

Poll shows changing political attitudes

Voters revise their views of Democrats, but what will that mean on Election Day?  

Politicians facing the most risk 

Also: 

• Primaries' big spenders
• Luxury travel limits
• Midterm elections

Lunatic Fringe

Lunatic Fringe

Utah and Maine repugican conventions show a party coming unglued

Future historians tracing the crackup of the repugican party may well look to May 8, 2010, as an inflection point.
That was the day, as is now well known, that Robert Bennett, who took the wingnut position 84 percent of the time over his career, was deemed not wingnut enough by fellow Utah repugicans and kicked out of the primary.
Less well known, but no less ominous, is what happened that same day, 2,500 miles east in Maine. There, the state repugican party tossed its platform -- a standard New England call for free-market economics -- and adopted a manifesto of insanity: abolishing the Federal Reserve, calling global warming a "myth," sealing the border, and, as a final plank, fighting "efforts to create a one world government."

And I Quote

 

"If christ were here there is one thing he would not be - a christian."

"A man is accepted into a church for what he believes and he is turned out for what he knows."

    ~  Mark Twain

Very Rare Pink Katydid

 

Photo via Flickr

What you are looking at is the very rare and very pink katydid. First discovered back in 1887, the pink katydid is so rare that they occur once out of every 500 individuals. You have a better chance of spotting a unicorn in the wild.
Of course, the color pink alone isn't very common to the animal kingdom, flamingos aside. It's the result of a condition called erythrism, similar to the recessive gene that afflicts albino animals.

Article continues: Photos of the Very Rare Pink Katydid

"Nicotine Bees"

Bee barely hangs on before collapsing. Photo by Operaticomnivore

Following France and Germany, last year the Italian Agriculture Ministry suspended the use of a class of pesticides, nicotine-based neonicotinoids, as a "precautionary measure." The compelling results - restored bee populations - prompted the government to uphold the ban. Yesterday, copies of the film 'Nicotine Bees' were delivered to the US Congress explaining the pesticide's connection to Colony Collapse Disorder. Despite the evidence, why does CCD remain a 'mystery' in the US?

Article continues: "Nicotine Bees" Population Restored With Neonicotinoids Ban

WWF hails North Sea cod conservation program success

From The Independent:

North Sea cod, once on the brink as a result of decades of over-fishing, has now recovered to an extent that the public should start eating it again with enthusiasm, one of the world's biggest wildlife charities has said.

In a rare wildlife conservation success story, the charity WWF said the fish renowned for its flaky white chunks was being caught sustainably off the shallow cold waters of north and eastern Britain for the first time in a decade. Stocks of the fish have risen by 52 per cent from their historic low four years ago because of a combination of cuts in landing quotas, and conservation techniques which have reduced the number tossed back dead into the sea.

As a result, the EU has increased the British quota for North Sea cod by 16 per cent this year, from 11,216 tonnes to 13,000. Although stocks are still low by historic standards, the recovery could prompt British supermarkets to start stocking North Sea cod again. Most cod in grocery chains and fish and chip shops at present comes from Iceland and the Barents Sea.

B.C.

A turn of a phrase

Heebie-jeebies

Meaning: A feeling of anxiety, apprehension or illness.

Origin: The sound of this term seems to hark back to earlier rhyming phrases, like hocus-pocus and mumbo-jumbo, with a touch of the jitters thrown in. The meaning is more like the British term - the screaming habdabs.

Heebie and jeebie don't mean anything as independent words and heebie jeebies was coined at a time and place when there was a spate of new nonsense rhyming pairs, called rhyming reduplications, - the bee's knees, etc., i.e. 1920s USA.

The term is widely attributed to William Morgan "Billy" de Beck. The first citation of it in print is certainly in a 1923 cartoon of his, in the 26th October edition of the New York American:

"You dumb ox - why don't you get that stupid look offa your pan - you gimme the heeby jeebys!"

Heebie jeebies caught on quickly and very soon began appearing in many newspapers and works of literature in the USA and, from 1927 onward, the UK. For example, here's an entry from the Van Nuys News, 6th November 1923, just a few days after de Beck's cartoon was published:

"Bill Alton showed up poorly in center field. The boys seemed to have the heebie jeebies."

The lack of any explanation in either of the above citations seems to imply that the term would have been known to the readership of both publications by the time of printing.

The speed of take-up of heebie jeebies, in a similar way to another coinage that is attributed to de Beck - horse feathers, does suggest an origin in the media rather than street slang, which tends to spread more slowly.

The term became part of the language quickly enough for it to begin appearing in advertisements from 1924 onwards, as in this illustration from the Mexia Daily News, October 1924, in an ad for a cold cure.

Planet Earth

Planet Earth

Bride Satoko Inouye, 36, puts a ring on a finger of her groom Tomohiro Shibata 42, as I-Fairy, a four-foot tall seated robot, wearing a wreath of flowers, directs their wedding ceremony at a Tokyo restaurant Sunday, May 16, 2010. The wedding was the first time a marriage had been led by a robot, according to manufacturer Kokoro Co.

Eyes flashing, robot conducts wedding in Tokyo

In one of the most stupidest lines ever uttered ...

"We don't like their sound, and guitar music is on the way out."

      ~ Decca records, rejecting The Beatles 1962

In Matters Of Health

In Matters Of Health

New recommendation for sun exposure

Find out why one doctor is advising people to spend time in the sun without sunscreen. 

Avoid midday light 

Also: 

• Sunscreen reviews
• Skin care for aging skin
• Tea as a beauty aid

Upping the cute factor

After 13 years dog returns to family - Possibly

There are still doubts in Terry Horne's mind as to whether or not the dog that came limping into her yard, is the same dog that went missing 13 years ago. Simba was just 8 months old when the Horne's came home from church and their beloved puppy had vanished.

Weeks spent searching turned into months. Simba turned into a cherished memory. But only a few weeks ago, an emaciated and flea-ridden red Siberian Husky came into the yard. Horne called her husband and asked could it be?

The dog has been to the vet and cleaned up quite nicely. He sits in the same spots Simba used to sit in. He loves to give kisses. He's the most gentle dog you'd ever want to meet. But he's been missing 13 years. What happened? Where was he? Is it even him?

All these questions are irrelevant when Terry looks over at the dog sprawled out in a shade-spot. "I think he looks happy, don't you?"

There's a longer story with another video here.

Culinary DeLites

Culinary DeLites

The highest-rated barbecue grills

From portable tailgaters to large, free-standing models, these gas grills earn top marks.  

Duds to avoid 

Also: 

• Essential grilling tools
• Healthy picnic foods
• Meat marinade recipes

The World I Know

 

Collective Soul

Ziggy

Principal's eat sh-- and die e-mail to parent sparks controversy

An elementary school principal's potty-mouthed e-mail has ignited an uproar among some Coconut Grove parents who now want her replaced. Parents at Coconut Grove Elementary School are calling for the ouster of Principal Eva N. Ravelo this week after she told a parent in an e-mail to ``eat sh-- and die.''

The controversy, which is now under review by the school district's central office, started on Monday. Abigail DuBearn, a member of the school's Educational Excellence School Advisory Committee, or EESAC, had asked Ravelo and other council members whether student representatives of the committee ``could be notified today and be invited to attend and participate'' at Monday's meeting.

Ravelo, 45, then replied to DuBearn's e-mail with the message: ``Advise her to eat sh-- and die.'' Ravelo spelled the swear word like it appears here -- without the last two letters.

Maria Orjeda, the school's reading coach, who spoke on behalf of Ravelo, said the principal meant to send the e-mail about DuBearn to her assistant principal, Ramón Dawkins, instead of DuBearn.

Odds and Sods

Odds and Sods

'Yeild To Bikes' Street Signs Removed In Nevada

Full story

Residents no longer have to shake their heads over two "Yeild to bikes" signs along a busy Nevada street.

Headlines:

• Urban Pollution Raises Blood Pressure  Pollution in urban areas linked to hight blood pressure. Particulate matter is blamed.
• Alzheimer's Disease: Bad News and Good News  An independent panel recently concluded that no firm evidence exists for any prevention of Alzheimer's or cognitive decline, but the next few years could bring answers.
• Mechanism Found That Makes Order From Chaotic Newborn Brain  Mechanism in the memory center of newborn adjusts the maturation of the brain.
• Holy Bat Trick! Biosonar Could Give Robots Night Vision  Researchers are replicating bats' echolocation for robots to use in sensing the shape of their surroundings