The Daily Drift

The Daily Drift

Today's horoscope says:
If you need to get a better grip on forces around you or activities you're involved with right now, take the time to do so.
Don't let anyone intimidate you or pressure you to meet a certain arbitrary timetable.
Schedules are meant to be revised ... and it's more important that you understand what you're doing (and why you're doing it) than it's to go along with the crowd.
Constantly trying to keep the peace is futile.
Conflicts happen -- and usually cause smarter solutions.

Some of our readers today have been in:

Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Bremen, Bremen, Germany

Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand

Berlin, Berlin, Germany

London, England, United Kingdom

Znojmo, Jihomoravsky Kraj, Czech Republic

Sittard, Limburg, Netherlands

Helsinki, Southern Finland, Finland

Paris, Ile-De-France, France

Dublin, Dublin, Ireland

Madrid, Madrid, Spain

Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Rio De Janeiro, Rio De Janeiro, Brazil

Perth, Western Australia, Australia

Kuala Lumpur, Wilayah Persekutuan, Malaysia

Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany

as well as 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, 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, New Zealand, Czech Republic, Vietnam, Norway, Finland and in cities across the United States such as Annandale, West Covina, Olean, Charlotte and more.

Today is:

Today is Saturday, January 8, the 8th day of 2011.

There are 357 days left in the year.

Today In History January 8

Today's unusual holidays or celebrations are: 

Bubble Bath Day

Fruitcake Toss Day

Learn to Ski Day

National English Toffee Day

and

National Joy Germ Day.

Don't forget to visit our sister blog!

President Obama's Weekly Address

Study Links Meditation to Telomerase, An Anti-Age Enzyme

Me, meditating on a dicey cliff and possibly increasing enzymatic activity? (Unknowingly, mom caught it on cam during our North Rim, Grand Canyon camp trip.)
It's always awesome when meditation is given a nod by science and shed of its commonly regarded view as a new-agey, inaccessible practice. In 2009 and 2010, we shared meditation's practical application to common health ailments as studied by researchers: heart disease and depression.
I'm not sure how I missed this third incredible find from TIME that was issued at the tail end of last year. Could we meditators also have a leg up in the longevity factor?

Article continues: Study Links Meditation to Telomerase, An Anti-Age Enzyme

Non Sequitur

Medicaid cuts killing Arizona transplant patients

Who would want to live in such an insanely ridiculous and dangerous state? The state is fine letting people die so long as they can prove a point. Those extremists sure are a moral bunch.

CBS News:

When CBS News first met 27-year-old Tiffany Tate in December 2010 she was in desperate need of a double lung transplant. Yet she and 98 other people in Arizona were kicked off the organ transplant list. The state decided it could no longer afford to pay for some transplants which can cost $200,000.

"If we all don't get our transplants, all 98 of us are going to die," says Tate. "We deserve a second chance. I didn't ask for this. I was born with this and I've fought my whole life."

CBS News correspondent Ben Tracy reports at least two people have died since November. Mark Price, a father of six, died waiting for a bone marrow transplant. Now the University Medical Center in Tucson says a man needing a new liver died due to the cutbacks.

 

Will she be the next murder victim?

More on Brewer's callous ineptitude here.

Shoe

As an Experiment Man Goes without Soap or Shampoo for a Year

Sean Bonner reasoned that human beings have evolved without soap, and therefore it’s unnatural to strip away the dirt, oil, and grime of daily life with it. As an experiment, he stopped using soap and shampoo for a year. Although Bonner still showers on a regular basis, he uses just water. He’s written about his experience so far, and why he’s decided to give up on soap permanently:

As I just mentioned, my skin feels better than ever before. Not that it ever felt bad, really, but it feels awesome now. Still no stink at all, I swear even when I’m really active and sweating I don’t notice any B.O., and I used to be über self-conscious about this and would think I was stinking if I walked up a flight of stairs too quickly. So this is a huge improvement for sure. And with the exception of changing climates drastically, even the dandruff is history. My previously wavy and mostly unmanageable hair now seems much more willing to bend to my will, a dream of mine since I first looked in a mirror, brush in hand, then tried and failed to make any sense of that monster. So I approve for sure.
And speaking of hair, that was actually a perfect test. Sometime mid-summer I stopped by a barber and before I’d realized it he’d squirted a glob of shampoo onto my head. It was too late to protest, so I just sat through the scrubbing. For the following 2 weeks my hair was a mess: full of dandruff and totally uncontrollable. Once things balanced back out to the previously established no-soap norms, all was good again.

Full Story

I wanna be sedated

North pole shift snarls airport

Magnetic pole shift shuts down runways

The Earth's magnetic north pole is shifting toward Russia at a rate of 40 miles per year. 

How it trips up pilots 

Also: 

• Magnetic north pole
• Passengers stop hijacking  
• Cow fat floods channel

Professor arrested for having suspicious bagel on a plane

A Florida professor was arrested and removed from a plane on Monday after his fellow passengers alerted crew members they thought he had a suspicious package in the overhead compartment. That "suspicious package" turned out to be keys, a bagel with cream cheese and a hat.

Ognjen Milatovic, 35, was flying from Boston to Washington D.C. on US Airways when he was escorted off the plane for disorderly conduct following the incident. Monday's incident is another example of other passengers essentially becoming the authority on terrorist activity on planes.

Milatovic, who is a mathematics and statistics professor at the University of North Florida, was minding his business when other passengers turned into super sleuths. Passengers reported hearing strange noises coming from a plastic bag. State police said later that the bag contained a set of keys, a bagel with cream cheese, some other small food items, a hat and a wallet.

When confronted by the US Airways crew about his "suspicious package," Milatovic got on his cell phone. The crew asked him to hang it up and sit down. When he refused, he was cuffed. Milatovic was also charged with interfering with the operation of an aircraft.

Border Patrol Fail

Six girls arrested after Facebook plot: 'Attack a Teacher Day'

Six girls have been arrested after using Facebook to plan "Attack a Teacher Day" at two Carson City, Nevada, middle schools. One girl was accused of inviting approximately 100 students on Facebook to participate in the event, which was scheduled for Friday. The other five were accused of responding with online threats against specific teachers.

Full Story

Odds and Sods

Montana man arrested after giving name of wanted man

Authorities in Montana say a man who had three outstanding warrants for his arrest gave officers a false name during a traffic stop - but ended up in custody anyway because that man was also wanted.

Judge strikes down N.C. ban on public profanity

Cursing in public may not be seemly, but it is protected by the Constitution, a North Carolina judge ruled in striking down a 98-year-old state ban on public profanity.

Six companies that failed in 2010

Six companies that failed in 2010

These once-promising startups raised millions of dollars but didn't survive to see another year.  

What went wrong 

Also: 

• Jobless rate's bad news
• Career comeback stories  
• Who will struggle in '11

Ziggy

Driving futuristic bubble car

Futuristic bubble car on a test drive

GM's EN-V concept vehicle is a tiny, two-seat personal transporter that may one day drive itself.  

Watch video 

Also: 

• Ford debuts electric car
• Tablets chase iPad's tail
• Gadgets for free TV arrive

Do cars need warming up?

Do cars really need to warm up first?

For ages, drivers have been told to idle their vehicles before heading out in cold weather.  

What mechanics say

Also:

• What they won't reveal
• Dealership extras to skip
• Research latest models

A Black Market for 100-Watt Bulbs?

 

Got any old lamps? 

Photo by Olle Svensson, via Flickr.

Few people seem to know that 100-watt incandescent bulbs, the Thomas Edison-type, are leaving store shelves. They were phased out in California on Jan. 1, and will be phased out across the U.S. on Jan. 1, 2012. That's less than a year away. Which makes you wonder, will people hoard the old 100-watt bulbs? Will there be a black market for retro illumination?

Article continues: A Black Market for 100-Watt Bulbs? U.S. Ban Looms

The Color Orange Was Named After The Fruit

The color orange was named after the fruit, not the other way around. Before then, the English speaking world referred to the orange color as geoluhread, which literally translates to 'yellow-red.' The word orange itself was introduced to English through the Spanish word 'naranja,' which came from the Sanskrit word nāraga, which literally means 'orange tree.'

In the early 16th century, the word orange gradually started being used to not only refer to the fruit, but also what we now know of as the color orange.

Secret ancient sites

Secret ancient sites worth seeing

These international marvels have managed to stay off the map for most tourists.  

Part of China's Great Wall 

Also: 

• Forgotten vacation spots
• Off-peak winter locales  
• Inspirational destinations

Breathtaking cave photos

Striking photos show unique cave wonders

Flooded "blue holes" in the Bahamas are a treasure trove of rare sights.  

But they're dangerous to explore 

Also: 

• More on 'blue holes'
• Images of giant caves
• Injured turtle's wheels

B.C.

Animal incidents stir Web

Strange animal incidents stir the Web

Birds fall from the sky, a shark attacks a boat, and bees continue their odd disappearance.  

Watch the shark video 

Also: 

• Odd animal facts
• White tiger cubs unveiled
• Are tears a turnoff?

A Moose Jumping over a Volvo

Sweden in One Photograph

16-year old Tove Sjöholm captured this amazing shot in Mute, Sweden. A spooked female moose jumped in such a way that it looked like it was jumping over a car. Here’s Google Translate’s rendering of a news article on the event:

It is not unusual for family Sjöholm, who lives in Mute outside Rolfstorp, is visited by the king of the forest in his garden. Tove has a certain respect for the powerful animals.
“Sometimes they stand and nibble on our apple tree. I’ve always been inside the house when I saw them. They are quite large and tend to be close to the house, so I had been outside, I had perhaps been a little afraid, “she says.

Full Story

Orange alligator spotted in Florida pond

Alligators may not be an unusual sight in Florida, but not many people can say they've seen an orange gator. One Florida woman says that's exactly what she saw hanging out in her neighborhood this week and she has a picture to prove it.

"When I was coming back from work this morning, I passed by and I thought I saw what I thought I saw, but I had to back up and come and look again," said Sylvia Mythen, who saw the gator. "I thought, 'This is great. I'm going to snap a picture and send it to my grandkids so they think I'm one of the coolest grandmas in Florida.'"

Some neighbors were a little skeptical. "Some say it was dirt or mud," said Phillip Crosby, who also saw the gator. Mythen was close enough, though, that she's convinced of what she saw. "I was from him to you away from him and he was orange. So, if it was mud he did a good job of covering himself up, every nook and cranny."

 

YouTube link.

She contacted a biologist with her discovery. "His findings were that it's probably almost an albino, in between. It's an albino, only a little more colored so he wasn't a full-fledged albino," she said. Florida's Wildlife Commission says it doesn't believe the alligator is albino. Instead, it says the gator was likely painted or stained orange or that something in the environment caused the tint.

Animal Pictures