The Daily Drift

The Daily Drift

Today's horoscope says:
Social plans may be starting to feel more like social obligations ... your role within your group is becoming more critical and you may begin to think of yourself as being responsible for other people's happiness.
So you are not to play host today -- try to inspire other people to take the lead and get things going.
It's time to take a break from being party director; step back and let someone else call the shots.
That's the only way you will be able to get exposed to new things right now.

Some of our readers today have been in:

Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
London, England, United Kingdom
Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia
Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Dusseldorf, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany
Kuala Lumpur, Wilayah Persekutuan, Malaysia
Dungun, Terengganu, Malaysia
Leeds, England, United Kingdom
Maastricht, Limburg, Netherlands
Doha, Ad Dawhah, Qatar
Jakarta, Jakarta Raya, Indonesia
Milton Keynes, England, United Kingdom
Helsinki, Southern Finland, Finland
Madrid, Madrid, Spain
Perth, Western Australia, Australia
Moscow, Moskva, Russia
Pakanbaru, Riau, Indonesia
Levis, Quebec, Canada
Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand
Amsterdam, Noord-Holland, Netherlands
Yogyakarta, Yogyakarta, Indonesia
Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia
Stockholm, Stockholms Lan, Sweden
Paris, Ile-De-France, France
Bern, Bern, Switzwerland

as well as Slovakia, Malta, 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, Maldives, 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, Czech Republic, Vietnam, Norway, Finland and in cities across the United States such as Barrington, Elmhurst, Durham, Walnut and more.

Today is:

Today is Wednesday, February 23, the 54th day of 2011.

There are 311 days left in the year.

Today's unusual holiday or celebration is: 

Inconvenience Yourself  Day
 

Don't forget to visit our sister blog!

Ever had one of those days ...

Wizard of Id

The truth be told

Identifying the victims of a 100-year-old tragedy

The final unidentified victims of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire—a 1911 tragedy that had a huge impact on the creation of American labor laws and building codes—have finally been matched with names. What's really interesting to me: The fact that the bodies weren't identified with DNA, or any other modern science, but through simple detective work.
That's because the mystery was more about consolidating and organizing information that already existed, than it was about identifying the bodies themselves. Even before they died, the workers at the Triangle Shirtwaist factory were largely anonymous, except to the people who knew them personally. So, while official historians didn't know the names of all the dead, those names were always out there, buried in articles from small, neighborhood newspapers and passed down in family histories.

No New York City agencies and no newspapers at the time produced a complete list of the dead, Mr. Hirsch said. The most thorough list -- 140 names -- was compiled by Mr. Von Drehle when he wrote his book, and that was largely based on names plucked from accounts in four contemporary newspapers.
The obscurity of their names is evidence of the times, when lives were lived quietly and people were forced by economic and familial circumstances to swiftly move on from tragedies -- with no Facebook or reality television cameras to record their every step and thought.
Mr. Hirsch, 50, an amateur genealogist and historian who was hired as a co-producer of the coming HBO documentary "Triangle: Remembering the Fire," undertook an exhaustive search lasting more than four years. He returned to the microfilms of mainstream daily newspapers overlooked by researchers before him and to ethnic publications that he asked to have translated, like the Yiddish-language Jewish Daily Forward and Il Giornale Italiano. He estimates that he consulted 32 different newspapers.
He looked for articles about people who, in the weeks after the fire, claimed that their relatives were still missing. He then matched what he discovered with census records, death and burial certificates, marriage licenses, and reports kept by unions and charities about funeral and "relief" payments made to the families of the dead. Lastly, he sought out the descendants of three of the unidentified to confirm that the names he found were still mourned as Triangle victims.

New York Times: Unnamed Triangle Shirtwaist Company Victims Identified

And remember this tragedy was due to conditions that the repugicans seek to return to.

From the New Yorker

After the Revolution

Majority of American public supports union in recent repugican attacks

It didn't take the Teabagging repugicans very long to overreach. The Koch Brother funded anti-union attacks are popular among the wingnuts but the American public is behind the unions.

USA Today:

Americans strongly oppose laws taking away the collective bargaining power of public employee unions, according to a new USA TODAY/Gallup Poll. The poll found 61% would oppose a law in their state similar to such a proposal in Wisconsin, compared with 33% who would favor such a law.

Repugican Gov. Scott Walker and repugican legislators in Wisconsin have proposed cutting union rights for most state government workers and making them pay more for benefits. Ohio, New Jersey, Indiana, Iowa and other states with repugican governors are considering similar laws.

Thousands gathered in Madison for an eighth day to protest Walker's plan. Rallies were also held in Columbus, Ohio, Des Moines and Montpelier, Vt.

Threatening to Rape them for refusing to be Raped

Wisconsin Governor: Vote or I may lay off 1,500

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker said he might lay off 1,500 employees if his bill limiting public-employee union collective bargaining is not passed this week.

Full Story

Remember this folks - these are the perverts who stole their last election

Similarities in Perspectives

Gadhafi is through

Officials, pilots turn on Gadhafi as cities fall

Half of Libya raises the pre-Gadhafi flag in triumph even as his forces unleash heavy gunfire in Tripoli.

'Under siege' 

Also: 

• Report: Up to 1,000 killed
• Gadhafi sons' exploits revealed  

Eastern part of Libya falls as military refuses to kill citizens

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

NBC  News is reporting that the eastern part of the country has fallen out  of government control as the military and tribal leaders turn against  Gaddafi.

Palestinian house inside cage in Jewish settlement

The al-Ghirayib family lives in one of the stranger manifestations of Israel's 43-year occupation of the West Bank: a Palestinian house inside a metal cage inside an Israeli settlement.
The family's 10 members, four of them children, can only reach the house via a 40-yard passageway connecting them to the Arab village of Beit Ijza farther down a ...

Full Story

Woman saves Houston cop during attack

Houston police said a female bystander helped save an officer by jumping on a suspect who had snatched a pistol from the lawman's holster.

Full Story

Bad Cops

Alaska cop is convicted of serial on-duty rapes

Maryland red light camera tickets were "signed and certified" by dead cop

Thanks for misplacing the drunk redneck who assaulted me, Seattle Police!

Judge orders NYPD to turn over internal reports on more than 800 cop-related shootings dating back to 1997

Kentucky jailer arrested after admitting to sex abuse

New York cop gets probation for official misconduct

Pennsylvania deputy allegedly befriended an elderly neighbor to enter her home and steal her prescription drugs

Roommates' fight over Thin Mints leads to arrest

Police say a brawl between roommates over Girl Scout cookies led to assault charges against one of them.

Full Story

Business bans TSA agents

Now, if more would follow suit ...

KC McLawson works for a cafe near Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, and since the body-scan and patdown controversy last November, her boss has taken extraordinary measures to ensure the TSA knows of his displeasure. “We have posted signs on our doors basically saying that they aren’t allowed to come into our business,” she says. “We have the right to refuse service to anyone.”

Banning TSA from a restaurant. Seems a little harsh, doesn’t it?

McLawson explains.

My boss flies quite a bit and he has an amazing ability to remember faces. If he sees a TSA agent come in we turn our backs and completely ignore them, and tell them to leave.
Their kind aren’t welcomed in our establishment.
A large majority of our customers — over 90 percent — agree with our stance and stand by our decision.
We even have the police on our side and they have helped us escort TSA agents out of our cafe. Until TSA agents start treating us with the respect and dignity that we deserve, then things will change for them in the private sector.

 Full Story

The High and The Flighty

Foghorn Leghorn meets Daffy Duck (from 1956)

The World's Smallest Computer

Researchers at the University of Michigan have developed a solar-powered computer so small that it can be inserted into the human eye to help monitor glaucoma patients. Professor Dennis Sylvester explained:

In a package that’s just over 1 cubic millimeter, the system fits an ultra low-power microprocessor, a pressure sensor, memory, a thin-film battery, a solar cell and a wireless radio with an antenna that can transmit data to an external reader device that would be held near the eye.
“This is the first true millimeter-scale complete computing system,” Sylvester said.
“Our work is unique in the sense that we’re thinking about complete systems in which all the components are low-power and fit on the chip. We can collect data, store it and transmit it. The applications for systems of this size are endless.”
The processor in the eye pressure monitor is the third generation of the researchers’ Phoenix chip, which uses a unique power gating architecture and an extreme sleep mode to achieve ultra-low power consumption. The newest system wakes every 15 minutes to take measurements and consumes an average of 5.3 nanowatts. To keep the battery charged, it requires exposure to 10 hours of indoor light each day or 1.5 hours of sunlight. It can store up to a week’s worth of information.

Full Story

Those 401(k) plans coming up short

401(k) plans are coming up short

Employees near retirement must make sacrifices due to a lack of savings.  

'I thought I was doing the right thing' 

Also: 

• How to fix your 401(k)
• Retirement challenges  
• Bad money decisions

Tax secrets of accountants

Five tax secrets of accountants

CPAs use these strategies to boost their own write-offs for cars and donations.  

How to claim a home office 

Also: 

• Don't-miss deductions
• Get tax-free income 
• Tricky changes on 1040

Ziggy

Ten Highly Unusual Allergies

People can be allergic to peanuts, wheat, mold. But some people have truly atypical allergies. Everything from water to exercise can trigger severe physical reactions.
Here are 10 of the most unusual allergies.

Oldest sprinter sets record

95-year-old runner sets speed record

Ida Keeling, who started her athletic career at age 67, credits her success to an unusual regimen. 

Training secrets 

Also: 

• Woman turns 126  
• Oldest pro athletes
• Ecuadorian discovery

Awesome Pictures

People with bowel disease at higher risk of blood clot in lungs, legs

People with inflammatory bowel disease have double the risk of developing a potentially deadly blood clot in the legs or lungs as do people in the general public, a new study finds.

Full Story

Organic food 'is of little benefit'

There appear to be little or no nutritional or taste benefits to growing food organically as opposed to non-organically, a two-year study by consumer group Which? has suggested.

Full Story

Dietary Fiber intake and mortality reduction?

Dietary fiber has long been hypothesized to reduce the risk of heart disease, diabetes, obesity as well as certain types of cancer.
However, a new study highlights the health-benefits of dietary fiber on reducing mortality itself.

Full Story

Bad habits that add belly fat

Four bad habits that add belly fat

Watching a lot of TV is linked to weaker abdominals, regardless of overall activity.  

Role of runaway stress 

Also: 

• 7 moves for flatter abs
• Is diet or exercise better?  
• Tricks to speed metabolism

Early ancestors 'endured back pain'

Our early ancestors suffered from debilitating back pain just as we do today, an archaeologist in Cambridge has discovered.

Full Story

Appearances

Sorta blows your whole 'terrifying' image there doesn't it?

Weaker quake, deadlier punch

Weaker earthquake packs a deadlier punch

Depth and timing helped the New Zealand temblor do more damage than a stronger 2010 quake.  

U.S. cities at risk 

Also: 

• Death toll rises
• Photos of devastation
• Rugby World Cup impact

Massive iceberg breaks away

30-million-ton iceberg shears off after quake

Just minutes after New Zealand's violent quake, a sound "like a rifle shot" rang out from Tasman Glacier.

'Curve ball' 

Also: 

• Toll rises, 300 missing
• Photos of devastation
• Quake weaker but deadlier

The Temple Of Wat Rong Khun

 

image credit

Wat Rong Khun is a contemporary unconventional buddhist and Hindu temple in Chiang Rai, Thailand. It was designed by Chalermchai Kositpipat. Wat Rong Khun is different from any other temple in Thailand, as its assembly hall is designed in white color with some use of white glass.

Visitors will find it rather bizarre to find modern images throughout this temple. Images of the Predator from the Hollywood film, Spiderman, Batman, Keanu Reeves' character in the Matrix, rocket ships, etc. Nowadays, Wat Rong Khun is still being constructed.

Siberia's Lake Baikal Feeling the Heat

Three generations of Russian scientists have been keeping track of the world's largest and deepest lake and they're finding some surprising climate change connections.  

Read more 

Snowballs spending a day at the beach

"It happens when there's a heavy snowfall and some wind at a time when the water is cold enough to freeze but due to motion it is prevented from doing so.

Conditions must be: Water temperature at zero deg. C., snow falling into the waves and combining together as the waves roll it along; think of it rolling a snowball on a liquid surface rather than a field, I'm sure you get the idea.

In Cape Breton this phenomenon is known by local fishermen as "a Lolly".

From foamymilkyway, where there are additional photos of this phenomenon.

B.C.

Dogs Probably Feel Sorry For Us

Dogs appear to empathize with us, to the point that some therapy dogs even seem to take on the emotions of their sick or distressed human charges.    

Read more 

Brazilian firefighters find alligator behind couch

Firefighters say they have removed a 5-foot-long alligator who was hiding behind a couch after floodwaters washed it into a home in northern Brazil.

Full Story

Animal Pictures