The Daily Drift

The Daily Drift

Today's horoscope says:
You've never been especially fond of sharing intimate issues with others, even if you know them well.
So if someone who isn't at all close to you tries to get too personal, you won't put up with it.
You'll dismiss them, and you won't do it delicately, either.
The funny thing is, with your gift for sarcasm, they may not realize that you've dressed them down until they're walking away.

Some of our readers today have been in:

United States, United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, China, Russia, Belgium, Spain, Hungary, France, Italy, Canada, India, Afghanistan, Korea, Philippines, Colombia, Austria, Germany, Estonia

Today is:

Today is Monday, October 11, the 284th day of 2010.

There are 81 days left in the year.

Today In History October 11

Today's unusual holiday or celebration is:

National Kick Butt Day

Don't forget to visit our sister blog!

Columbus Day

The least observed national holiday

Only 1 out of 10 offices close for Columbus Day, while some states call it something else.

Disputed discovery 

Also: 

• Columbus Day
• Holiday spending to rise
• Right time to book trips

Family's amazing art discovery

Family’s painting could be a Michelangelo

Martin Kober's parents had the artwork tucked behind the sofa since the 1970s.

Expert left breathless  

Also:

• More on 'The Lost Pieta'
• Test for the art market
• Rembrandt overlooked

'Sexiest Woman Alive'

Actress named 'Sexiest Woman Alive'

Minka Kelly, who happens to be dating a N.Y. Yankee, is bestowed the title by Esquire magazine.  

10 things about her 

Also: 

• More on Minka Kelly
• Rihanna's fashion flub
• Week's celeb birthdays

Old Spice ... Sesame Street Style

'Sesame Street' spoof a Web hit

In its latest send-up, the kids' show takes aim at the popular Old Spice ad campaign. 

Compare the versions 

Also: 

• Some famous guests
• Kids' shows get makeover
• Katy Perry controversy

Shoe

Culinary DeLites

What's for dinner this week?

This hearty pasta frittata calls for traditional spaghetti ingredients — but with a twist.  

Six more ideas for supper 

Also: 

• 1,000-plus salad ideas
• What's a frittata?
• 10 slow-cooker desserts

'I don't want to exercise'

4 fixes for 'I don't want to exercise'

If getting to the gym is a pain, try an at-home body-weight and core regimen.  

What to do when you don't see results 

Also: 

• Five at-home workouts
• Run your first 5K
• Time management tools

Bad Cops

California cop is arrested on kiddie porn charges

Oregon deputy arrested for murder

Michigan cops falsely cite restaurant, leading to bankruptcy

Lawyer says surveillance video of Pennsylvania woman's arrest bears no resemblance to police report

Michigan city pays $775K to settle lawsuit after Tasering man to death

Four California cops are indicted for obstruction of justice

Fired Ohio police chief pleads guilty to sexual battery of 15-year-old

The truth be told

Full Apologies to the great the American artist and illustrator Jessie Willcox Smith.

Just a friendly reminder ...

Vote!

Or everybody loses!

Their 'secret' funding

Just remember with wingnuts ... the more they deny - the more they're guilty!

Democrats accuse repugicans of 'secret' funding

Claims that attack ads are funded by foreign money encounter fierce resistance.

'Little evidence' 

Also: 

• Guide to 'shadow GOP'
• Campaign finance rules
• Palin tests 2012 message

Ranting against Gays

Dime to Doughnuts - Another closeted repugican

N.Y. candidate defends anti-gay remarks

repugican Carl Paladino explains his views about children being "brainwashed."

Line he didn't say aloud 

Michigan Man Arrested With Bomb Materials, Loaded Gun, Bullet-Proof Vest and Picture Of Obama

From Michigan, some frightening news. Sounds like yet another fan of Glenn Beck!

Richard Scott McLeod of Brighton was arrested Monday in Webberville on weapons charges and is under suspicion for potential threats against President Barack Obama.
On the outside of the 48-year-old's vehicle were bumper stickers quoting Adolf Hitler. On the inside, police say there was a picture of Obama, a loaded gun, a bullet-proof vest and tips on how to build bombs.
The incident caught the attention of federal law enforcement. McLeod faces charges for illegally possessing body armor and a loaded gun.
He's currently behind bars in the Ingham County jail.

Another report states he had bombmaking materials in the car and information on his laptop is possibly related to members of the extremist group Hutaree.

The truth be told (Part Deux)

And while we're at it ...

TV's psychological impact on children

TV's psychological impact on children

A new study contradicts the belief that physical activity is the remedy for hours spent in front of screens.

Findings 

Also: 

• Kids' viewing habits
• Parents' privacy concerns
• Schools confront bullying

Research discovers how the deaf have super vision

Deaf or blind people often report enhanced abilities in their remaining senses, but up until now, no one has explained how and why that could be.

Full story

Gladstone scientists link hepatitis C virus infection to fat enzyme in liver cells

Scientists at the Gladstone Institute of Virology and Immunology (GIVI) have found that an enzyme associated with the storage of fat in the liver is required for the infectious activity of the hepatitis C virus …

Full story

Researchers Create Experimental Vaccine Against Alzheimer’s

Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have created an experimental vaccine against beta-amyloid, the small protein that forms plaques in the brain and is believed to contribute to the development of Alzheimer’s disease.

Full story

Monarch butterflies use medicinal plants to treat offspring for disease

Monarch butterflies appear to use medicinal plants to treat their offspring for disease, research by biologists at Emory University shows. Their findings were published online Oct. 6 in the journal Ecology Letters.

Full Story

Ziggy

How to fix the foreclosure mess

How banks can fix the foreclosure mess

Banks should hire 50,000 more workers to actually read over documents, among other things.  

Columnist's take 

Also: 

• Mortgages to get costlier
• Beware refinancing advice
• Banks that are hiring

Where to buy and where to rent

Where to buy and where to rent

Though home prices are down, it still makes more sense to rent in certain places.  

Simple rule of thumb 

Also: 

• What $300,000 buys
• Best places to live in U.S.
• Find comparable homes

How to survive on only one income

How to survive on only one income

Forgoing a few lattes probably won't make up for the loss of an entire paycheck. 

Big steps to take instead 

Also: 

• Five tips to build wealth
• Trim your expenses
• Ways to bankrupt yourself

It’s Official

More Private Sector Jobs Created In 2010 Than During Entire Shrub Years.

On The Job

Eight fun jobs that pay well, too

Here's how to get into careers where you'll actually enjoy going to work.  

Some top earners make $82,000 

Also: 

• Who's getting hired now?
• 6 jobs on the decline
• Happiest U.S. workers

Why you may need new skills to get hired

Job openings are up 37%, but firms are having trouble finding people who can do the work. 

Multiple jobs folded into one 

Also: 

• Cost of college dropouts
• Jobs that are hiring now
• Sharpen computer skills

Not Safe For Work

Times when you really shouldn't go to work

Dragging yourself out of bed may seem heroic, but in these cases it may end up backfiring. 

Five symptoms 

Also: 

• When to keep kids home
• Office back exercises
• How to get a flu shot

No COLA increase for Social Security

Really now, how selfish are the Social Security recipients?

Don't they know that extra money went to pay for banker bonuses because otherwise, they would only be at the bottom or possibly a few hundred thousand dollars over the $250,000 mark? Please people, think about the bankers. They're only human and gosh, they really tried making the most with the bailout money that they received. Now that the money has been spent, they have so little to work with so it's best that we think more about what's best for them and their exclusive lifestyles.

As if voters don't have enough to be angry about this election year, the government is expected to announce this week that more than 58 million Social Security recipients will go through another year without an increase in their monthly benefits.

It would mark only the second year without an increase since automatic adjustments for inflation were adopted in 1975. The first year was this year.

"If you're the ruling party, this is not the sort of thing you want to have happening two weeks before an election," said Andrew Biggs, a former deputy commissioner at the Social Security Administration and now a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute.

Bracing for the Social Security freeze

More than 58 million recipients must make cutbacks to weather the hold on benefit increases.  

'It's disgusting' 

Also:

• More on Social Security
• Foreclosure freeze impact
• The numbers on benefits

Wizard of Id

Newly Found Carnivore Already Threatened with Extinction

 

Durrell's vontsira (Salanoia durrelli) was discovered on the Island of Madagascar by a team from Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust (DWCT), the Natural History Museum, London, Nature Heritage, and Conservation International (CI). © Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust. 

Newly Found Carnivore Already Threatened with Extinction 

Scientists spotted the carnivore while swimming in a lake in Madagascar.

Exploding asteroid danger

Small asteroids deemed a large threat

Giant Earth-cracking asteroids capture our imaginations, but smaller rocks may pose more danger.

'Airbursters' 

Also: 

• Unique dust-covered rock
• More on airbursters
• Asteroid water discovery

Roman Helmet Found in Field Makes Farmer Multimillionaire

Eric Robinson, a farmer in Crosby Garrett, UK, earned approximately $3.7 million when a helmet that was found in his field was auctioned:

The granddad, who works 70 hours a week on his farm at Crosby Garrett, Cumbria, said: “My legs went to jelly. When you’ve been farming for years and made no real money, it’s a big amount.
“To think it has been in the ground all those years.”
The sale was a disappointment to Cumbrian museum Tulie House, which hoped to land the helmet – described as “an extraordinary example of Roman metalwork at its zenith” – for £1million.

Full Story

Marijuana found in store candy aisle

Someone with a case of the munchies left a little something in the candy aisle.
A Tennessee store clerk reports finding a small baggie of pot in with the candy and gum.

 Marijuana found in store candy aisle

Teacher removed after bizarre incident at school

A teacher was removed from McGavock High School after a bizarre incident in a classroom that forced the principal to call parents and explain what happened. The incident happened in Donald Wood's 11th grade algebra class on Friday. Video shot by a student in class showed Wood throwing two tables, a garbage can and a chair. The video starts with Wood telling a group of laughing students to "shut up." After standing quietly for about 20 seconds while students laughed, Wood waved his arms and said, "If you can be absolutely quiet… if you can shut your mouth… you can shut your mouth and you can listen in absolute silence… do you know why? Cause I have the absolute…"

"Power!" shouted one of the students. "I've got it, and I know it," said Wood. "And guess who else knows it?" Wood shouted something else that could not be understood before knocking a table to the ground. He then walked to the other side of the classroom and knocked over another table. He shouted, "Do you know who started the fire? Do you know who started the fire in this school?" A student said something inaudible, and Wood continued, "No… me!"



Wood picked up a metal trash can and slammed it to the ground. Students then began to leave the classroom. Witnesses said Wood then picked up a chair and threw it at the window - breaking the glass. "He picked a chair and threw it on the ground – not at a student, but towards a student, but it was close – and that's when I got up and started walking away," said junior Joshua Jenkins. "Once everybody started running out he picked up a chair and threw it out the window and it shattered." Several students could be heard laughing at the beginning of the 2 minute video, but then they realized it was escalating into a serious situation.

The disturbance was so loud students in nearby classrooms could hear the commotion. When the school resource officers got to the room, they handcuffed Wood and removed him from the school. Witnesses said Wood shouted profanities and resource officers and students in the hall as he was escorted out. School officials said Wood suffered from an apparent nervous breakdown. "[He was] very agitated, very scattered and he didn't make any sense," said Principal Robbin Wall. Officials said Wood was removed from the school on a stretcher and transported by ambulance to a nearby hospital. Wall said he had never experienced anything like it in his 32 years in education.

B.C.

City in limbo

Palestinian dream city hits snag

Rawabi, designed to offer the comforts of an American suburb, remains in political limbo.  

Possible bargaining chip 

Also: 

• More photos of the site
• Middle East peace efforts
• Latest on Gaza flotilla

Mandela's Musings

Nelson Mandela's private writings published

The daughter of the former South African president discovers a letter she never received.  

Foreword by Obama 

Also: 

• Nelson Mandela
• Desmond Tutu retires
• Rwandan rebel arrested

Femme fatale spy's new job

Russian spy Anna Chapman lands new job

A firm with an ironic name reveals it has hired the 28-year-old after a recent appearance creates a stir.

Her role 

Also: 

• Famous Cold War spies
• Schwarzenegger trade trip
• Secret capture of suspect

Miley Cyrus video

Parents' group slams Miley Cyrus video

The Parents Television Council contends her racy video sends "unfortunate" messages.

Dad's ironic involvement 

Also: 

• More on Miley Cyrus
• Singer on the red carpet
• Perry's controversial skit

Uncle Matin's Amazing Sword Trick

Falsely imprisoned for 10 years, Uncle Matin finally breathed the fresh air of freedom when he ran into his friends at the market who beseeched him to show them his famous sword trick.
But what happened when he started to do the sword trick, which he had sworn never to do ever again?

Full Story (video)