The Daily Drift

The Daily Drift

Today's horoscope says:
You've got a lot to think about right now!
An offer to upgrade to a larger home might be out of your immediate financial capability, but opportunities like this allow you to grow.
That is even more true for work challenges that you're sure you're not ready for yet.
Your energy is just right, though, so release those doubts.
Think things through, ask for advice, and you should be pleasantly surprised.

Some of our readers today have been in:

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia

Gdynia, Pomorskie, Poland

Rome, Lazio, Italy

Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico

London, England, United Kingdom

Paris, Ile-De-France, France

Bremen, Bremen, Germany

Coffs Harbor, New South Wales, Australia

Seoul, Kyonggi-Do, Korea

Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

Oldenburg, Niedersachsen, Germany

Frankfurt, Hessen, Germany

Udine, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Italy

Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India

Kuala Lumpur, Wilayah Persekutuan, Malaysia

Hobart, Tasmania, Australia

Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan

New Delhi, Delhi, India

as well as Scotland, Brazil, and the United States in such cities as Clovis, Niles, Mission Viejo, Comstock and more

Today is Thursday, June 7, the 158th day of 2010.

There are 207 days left in the year.

Today In History June 7

Today's unusual holidays or celebrations are:

Daniel Boone Day

and

VCR Day

Local Hospitality

Local Hospitality

Facing cuts, parks  in ironic position 

Mecklenburg County’s plans to slash budget come as its parks department wins national acclaim.

Flights canceled after planes bump into each other

Some airline passengers headed to Germany and San Francisco had an unscheduled overnight delay this weekend when their planes bumped into each other on the tarmac at Charlotte-Douglas International Airport.

And I Quote

You have billions of us who are rooting for you and we know you are going to come through.

  After the last eight years, it's great to have a president who knows what a library is.
 

    ~ Paul McCartney, to President Obama, at the White House,   

Full article

New Rule: Al Gore Must Call His Sequel An Inconvenient Truth 2: What the F**k Is Wrong With You People?

Via Crooks and Liars:

Bill Maher's latest New Rules.

Terrorists nabbed at JFK

Terror suspects aimed to join jihadists

The two men arrested at JFK airport on Saturday tried to enter Iraq three years ago, officials say.  

Long surveillance 

Also: 

• Al-Qaida in the Sahara
• More on Somalia
• New intel chief backed

Now tell me again why weren't we catching these idiots before? Oh, Yes, that's right - the shrub and the cabal were/are in bed with these idiots ... as they say it takes on to know one.

World Cup Soccer

Scary scene at World Cup warm-up

A frantic rush for seats causes many injuries at a soccer match in South Africa.

'Overpowering' stampede 

Also: 

• Stampede at match
• Safety concerns intensify
• Play Fantasy Soccer

Deadly Midwest storms' stunning impact

Deadly Midwest storms' stunning impact

Tornadoes destroy an Ohio high school hours before the graduation ceremony.  

Tragedy strikes valedictorian 

Also: 

• Surveying the damage
• Images of wreckage
• What causes tornadoes

Yowzer!

Yowzer!

Crocodiles ride ocean currents for ocean travel

The mystery of how the world’s largest living reptile – the estuarine crocodile – has come to occupy so many South Pacific islands separated by huge stretches of ocean despite being a poor swimmer has at last been solved by a group of Australian ecologists. Publishing their new study in the British Ecological Society’s Journal of Animal Ecology, they say that like a surfer catching a wave, the crocodiles ride ocean currents to cross large areas of open sea.

Full Story

The alligator that turned blue

The large gator looks a stunning shade of blue as the bright morning sky reflects off her wet back. She appeared to change from her usual dark brown to black, gray and blue over the space of just a few minutes as the sun rose over the lake at 7am. But unlike a chameleon, the change of color was not a conscious decision. It was purely down to the sky reflecting off her shiny scales.

Biology professor Louis Guillette, 55, took the picture on a lake next to his home in Gainesville, Florida, United States. He said: "It was a cold and clear spring morning. I went out to watch the sun come up on the small lake, which was covered in mist.

"As the mist cleared there was a 2.3 meter American alligator about five meters in the water in front of me. It was watching and waiting for the sun to come up as well. We sat quietly and let the sun come up together. As it did, the water changed color from the reflected leaves on the trees around the lake.

"The wet alligator also changed colors as she reflected the color of the sky - in this case the bright blue of the early morning sun." He added: "This animal is a resident female. We share the same lake and that morning we shared the sunrise. I took a number of photos as she changed colors from her usual dark brown to black, blue, gray and then brown."

Wizard of Id

On The Job

On The Job

Jobs with the highest starting salaries

You need only a bachelor's degree to land one of these high-income jobs.  

Its average offer: $69,794 

Also: 

• Look for a job today
• Job interview tips
• Surprisingly risky jobs

B.C.

Bank of America Workers Sue Company Over Compulsory Unpaid Overtime

Susie Madrak posted this over at Crooks and Liars:

This is always a favored tactic of the corporate elite: Keep employees so desperate and afraid, they'll work extra hours for free -- just so you can be chauffeured around Manhattan in a limo:

NEW YORK: Workers for Bank of America Corp, one of the nation's largest employers, have sued the company for allegedly failing to pay overtime and other wages.
The lawsuit filed Friday in federal court in Kansas City, Kansas, consolidates 12 lawsuits filed on behalf of employees in California, Florida, Kansas, Texas and Washington.
It seeks nationwide class-action status on behalf of employees at retail branches and call centers over the last three years. The federal Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation in April directed that the cases be combined.
According to the 44-page complaint, the largest U.S. bank by assets requires employees to work in excess of eight hours per day or 40 hours per week, yet fails to pay them both for overtime and for all straight time worked.
The complaint also accuses the bank of requiring employees to work during unpaid breaks, failing to provide meal and rest breaks, and failing to timely pay terminated employees for earned wages and accrued vacation time.
"Bank of America enjoys millions of dollars in ill-gained profits at the expense of its hourly employees," violating either the federal Fair Labor Standards Act or various state labor laws, the complaint said.

Woman goes to pick up mail, gets trapped 4 hours

Full story

A woman making a stop to pick up her mail from a post office in Michigan ended up trapped inside for four hours because of a door malfunction.

Shoe

Big businesses started with little cash

Big businesses started with little cash

With $1,000 borrowed from a friend, Fred DeLuca opened the sandwich shop that became the Subway chain. 

More 

Also: 

• Why startups surged
• 10 recession survivors
• Small business pitfalls

Natural ways to feel happier in your life

Natural ways to feel happier in your life

These easy activities can help boost your outlook and relieve anxiety and depression.  

Try a walking meditation 

Also: 

• What to eat to feel great
• Drugs' effect a placebo?
• Foods to help you sleep

Broom Hilda

Talk about hypocrites

Talk about hypocrites

The first 'Simpsons'

“Good Night”, the very first Simpson short that appeared on television, on The Tracey Ullman Show, April 19, 1987

Lunatic Fringe

Lunatic Fringe

When dealing with wingnuts ... Remember the rule: 

If they accuse someone of something, then they're already guilty of it.

Liars and Fools

Faux's Glenn Beck praises Joe McCarthy, gushes about book by anti-Semitic author.
The true NAZI shines through.

Columnist from racist Vdare website is welcomed on Faux News to comment on immigration.
And this is news?

Deranged wingnut Jim Quinn lies: Obama is a "nexus of angry black nationalism, colonialism, Marxism, and incompetence".
You forgot Bagism, Nagism and fruit loops.

Faux's Bill O'Reilly compares gay people to al Qaeda.
Trying to reclaim your batshit craziest crown from Beck, eh, there Billy ol'boy?

Substitute host on Lush Dimbulb's hate radio show lies: the "great debate" is whether or not Obama is "deliberately wrecking things".
 There is no debate - he is not.

Glenn Beck, Faux News's most obviously insane host, bites the hand that feeds him. Last week he blamed the 9/11 attack on Alwaleed bin Talal, A Saudi and the world fifth richest man and the #2 stockholder in News Corp — and thus part-owner of Faux News. 

Full Story

Hey, all you Faux News mindless drones ... betcha didn't know the Saudi's are telling you what they want you to hear - and you calling them 'sand-niggers' and all.

Repugican South Carolina state rep calls repugican governor candidate (and Obama?) a 'f'g raghead'

Free Times:

With a bead of sweat rolling down the side of his face outside a Columbia bar, Republican S.C. Sen. Jake Knotts called Lexington Rep. Nikki Haley, an Indian-American Republican woman running for governor, a “raghead” several times while explaining how he believed she was hiding her true religion from voters.

“She’s a f#!king raghead,” Knotts said.

He later clarified his statement. He did not mean to use the F-word.

Knotts says he believed Haley has been set up by a network of Sikhs and was programmed to run for governor of South Carolina by outside influences in foreign countries. He claims she is hiding her religion and he wants the voters to know about it.

“We got a raghead in Washington; we don’t need one in South Carolina,” Knotts said more than once.

Just one more reason South Carolina IS NOT North Carolina.

Lady Liberty

 

 Repugicans have forgotten (ever they ever knew) what she stands for!

Bad Cops

Bad Cops

Houston policeman charged with on-duty rapes

Armed off-duty Nevada cop stages mock — but un-announced — terror attack at hospital

New York pays record $9.9-million settlement to man framed by cops and imprisoned for nineteen years

State Supreme Court says Ohio cops can guesstimate drivers' speed to issue tickets

How the police can seize your stuff when you have not been proven guilty of anything

News videographer sues Oakland Police Department for assault caught on video

Kids are worth $962.50

Mexican dad charged with giving away kids for debt

Full story

Prosecutors in the capital charged Sunday that a man who reported his two children kidnapped last week really gave them to a woman to settle a debt of 25,000 pesos, or about $1,925. The kidnapping report from Javier Covarrubias, 20, set off riots and street blockades in the poor Tepito neighborhood in central Mexico City as dozens of residents ...

In The Air Tonight

Phil Collins

In Matters Of Health

In Matters Of Health

Nurses, Hospitals Get Ready For Strike

Thousands of picket signs are ready for what will be the biggest nursing strike in U.S. history.

Meditation Dulls Experience of Pain

Meditation keeps the mind from anticipating pain, and so dulls a person's experience of pain.

Better Breathing Leaves More Oxygen For Other Muscles, Maybe

Breathing--just breathing, can use10 to 15 percent of the oxygen consumed during an endurance event. Largely because not breathing is not an option, researchers at Indiana University set out to learn ...

Ziggy

Culinary DeLites

Culinary DeLites

Fifty healthy foods you can probably buy for less than a buck a pound. 

Full Story

An end of an Era?

Spain moves to ban bullfights.

Ten years into the 21st century, it seems extraordinary that a phenomenon like this still has a place at the cultural heart of a modern European nation. There is no underestimating the staying power of a spectacle that some would say forms part of the Spanish national DNA. Yet even in this most tradition-addicted society, the tectonic plates of custom are gradually shifting, and public opinion over the corrida de toros is polarised as never before. On one hand, the Spanish anti-bullfight movement, virtually non-existent 20 years ago, has made huge inroads into a society for whom the notion of animal rights was until recently a puzzlingly alien concept. A proposal is currently going through the Catalan parliament which, if and when it is finally approved this summer, will abolish the corrida once and for all in the region. On the other hand, the news value of the corrida has taken a surprising leap in the past decade, thanks mainly to matador José Tomás – front-page news across the world when he was nearly gored to death in Mexico in April, requiring 17 pints of blood after a bull called Navegante ripped a 15cm hole in his thigh. Not for decades has a matador captured the imagination of bullfight fans like this enigmatic and reclusive man, acclaimed as the saviour of bullfighting for the new dose of glamour he has brought to this most controversial and, some say, anachronistic of sports.

In case you didn't know ...

Kellogg has been told by the federal government, again, to stop claiming that its sugary cereals are healthy.  

Full Story

Tropicana is now selling under-filled cartons of orange juice, containing five ounces less juice than the same-sized cartons used to contain.  

Full Story  

And at a higher price to boot.

Philip Morris, R.J. Reynolds and Lorillard are suing the City of New York over anti-smoking posters that the tobacco giants claim are unconstitutional, since local shopkeepers are required to display the posters.  

Full Story