The Daily Drift

The Daily Drift

Today's horoscope says:
Even if you don't finalize all the details you wanted to finalize today, you are making headway toward a great goal.
As you advance on this project, think of other people who either will benefit from what you are doing or can get involved and help you get to the finish line faster.
Today is a day to rally the troops and remember what you are doing all of this for.
Keep your eyes on the prize.

Some of our readers today have been in:

Paris, Ile-De-France, France
Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
London, England, United Kingdom
Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei and Muara, Brunei Darussalam
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Amsterdam, Noord-Holland, Netherlands
Perth, Western Australia, Australia
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
Santander, Cantabria, Spain
Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand
Hamburg, Hamburg, germany
Reutlingen, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany
Berlin, Berlin, Germany
Doha, Ad Dawhah, Qatar
Kuala Lumpur, Wilayah Persekutuan, Malaysia
Olongapo, Olongapo, Philippines
Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
Georgetown, Ontario, Canada

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 Arcadia, Tampa, Miami, Daytona and more.

Today is:

Today is Saturday, March 5, the 64th day of 2011.

There are 301 days left in the year.

Today's unusual holiday or celebration is: 

Potty Dance Day.

Don't forget to visit our sister blog!

President Obama's Weekly Address

 

Remarks of President Barack Obama
As Prepared for Delivery
Miami, Florida
March 5, 2011

I’m talking with you from Miami, Florida, where I’m visiting Miami Central High School, a school that’s turning itself around on behalf of its kids.  And I came here with Jeb Bush, former governor of this state, because he and I share the view that education isn’t a partisan issue – it’s an American issue.
But in a larger sense, this is a moment when we’ve all got to do what the students and teachers are doing here.  We’ve got to step up our game.
Our top priority right now has to be creating new jobs and opportunities in a fiercely competitive world.  And this week, we received very good news on that front.  We learned that the unemployment rate has fallen to its lowest level in nearly two years as our economy added another 222,000 private sector jobs last month.
Now, we have a lot more work to do, not just for the Americans who still don’t have a job, but for the millions more who still don’t have the right job or all the work they need to live out the American Dream.  But the progress we’re seeing says something about the determination and ingenuity of our people and our businesses.  What’s also helping to fuel this economic growth are the tax cuts that Democrats and Republicans came together to pass in December and I signed into law – tax cuts that are already making Americans’ paychecks bigger and allowing businesses to write off their investments, freeing up more money for job creation.
Just as both parties cooperated on tax relief that is now fueling job growth, we need to come together around a budget that cuts spending without slowing our economic momentum.  We need a government that lives within its means without sacrificing job-creating investments in education, innovation, and infrastructure.
The budget I sent to Congress makes these investments, but it also includes a 5-year spending freeze, and it will reduce our deficits by $1 trillion over the next decade.  In fact, the cuts I’ve proposed would bring annual domestic spending to its lowest share of the economy under any president in more than 50 years.
Over the last few weeks, Members of Congress have been debating their own proposals.  And I was pleased that Democrats and Republicans in Congress came together a few days ago and passed a plan to cut spending and keep the government running for two more weeks.  Still, we can’t do business two weeks at a time.  It’s not responsible, and it threatens the progress our economy has been making.  We’ve got to keep that momentum going.
We need to come together, Democrats and Republicans, around a long-term budget that sacrifices wasteful spending without sacrificing the job-creating investments in our future.  My administration has already put forward specific cuts that meet congressional Republicans halfway.  And I’m prepared to do more. But we’ll only finish the job together – by sitting at the same table, working out our differences, and finding common ground.  That’s why I’ve asked Vice President Biden and members of my Administration to meet with leaders of Congress going forward.
Getting our fiscal house in order can’t just be something we use as cover to do away with things we dislike politically.  And it can’t just be about how much we cut.  It’s got to be about how we cut and how we invest.  We’ve got to be smart about it.  Because if we cut back on the kids I’ve met here and their education, for example, we’d be risking the future of an entire generation of Americans.  And there’s nothing responsible about that.
We’ve got to come together to put America back on a fiscally sustainable course – and make sure that when it comes to the economy of the 21st century, our children and our country are better-prepared than anyone else in the world to take it on.  Our future depends on it.  That’s not a Democratic or a Republican challenge – that’s an American challenge.  And I’m confident it’s one we’ll meet.  Thanks for listening.

Awesome Pictures

Ziggy

It's The Economy Stupid

This guy is walking with his friend, who happens to be a economist. He says to this friend, "I'm a walking economy."

The friend asks, "How so?"

"My hair line is in recession, my stomach is a victim of inflation, and both of these together are putting me into a deep depression!"

Retail jobs are disappearing as shoppers adjust to self-service

In an industry that employs nearly 1 in 10 Americans and has long been a reliable job generator, companies increasingly are looking to peddle more products with fewer employees.

Full Story

It's a time of sacrifice after all ...

Salary of House/Senate...$174,000.

Salary of Speaker of House...$223,500.

Salary of Majority/Minority Leaders...$193,400.

Average US Salary...$33,000 to $77,000.

Maybe our elected officials should make an average salary too ... 

It's a time of sacrifice after all ...

Wisconsin: The Teabaggers' Waterloo?

Don't celebrate quite yet, but repugican support for Scott Walker's budget bill is fraying.

The Teabagger's Waterloo?

Repugican Doublespeak

The Daily Show - Crisis in Dairyland - For Richer and Poorer - Teachers and Wall Street
Tags: Daily Show Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,The Daily Show on Facebook

Jon does it again!
Keep skewering the repugicans!

Wizard of Id

Bad Cops

Kansas police officer charged with sexual battery

Florida schools police officer arrested

New Jersey cop is charged with official misconduct

Massachusetts police officer pleads guilty in injury scam

Ex-Alabama police officer sentenced to 33 months for gun-dealing scheme

Ex-NYPD cop/karate teacher gets nearly 22 years for molestation

Virginia police officer charged with sexual assault

Interpol alert over Gaddafi regime

Interpol has issued a worldwide alert against Colonel Muammar Gaddafi and 15 of his close associates as the international community continued to ratchet up the pressure on the Libyan dictator.

Full Story

It's that time again

Non Sequitur

Weight-loss scams

Learn how to spot them

Lose 10 pounds in ten days!
Melt away fat as you sleep !
Eat as much as you want and still lose weight!
Sound too good to be true?
It's a safe bet that anything promising quick results without the work means that your wallet - not your body - will be lighter.

Full Story

Blair River, 575-pound spokesman for Heart Attack Grill dead at 29

The nearly 600-pound man who gained fame as spokesman for the Heart Attack Grill –a Phoenix-area restaurant that prides itself in serving excessively unhealthy food – is dead at the age of 29. Blair River's official cause of death is currently not known, but friends say he contracted pneumonia after a bout with the flu. He died on Tuesday.

The 6-foot-8, 575 pound man is being remembered as an energetic, creative, gentle giant. "Cynical people might think this (River's death) is funny," the restaurant's founder Jon Basso said. "But people who knew him are crying their eyes out. There is a lot of mourning going on around here. You couldn't have found a better person."

At the Heart Attack Grill, scantily-clad women dressed as nurses unabashedly serve its customers high-caloric food. The menu touts its 8,000-calorie quadruple bypass burger, “flatliner fries” fried in “pure lard,” a “butterfat shake,” and no-filter cigarettes. On the restaurant's website, River appears in a commercial that brags that if you're over 350 pounds, you eat for free. A sign in front of the building says, “Caution: This establishment is bad for your health,” and the restaurant's motto is “taste worth dying for.”

Basso said River—an Arizona state high school heavyweight wrestling champ -- was the creative genius behind the restaurant. "Even if he was skinny we would have given him the job," Basso said. "We would have just put a fat suit on him. He just had personality."

This is your face on Meth

Three from a group of 21 before-and-after mug shots posted at MSNBC.

Hazelnuts Linked to Three-State E. Coli Outbreak

Three states and the federal government are investigating an outbreak of E. coli linked to in-shell hazelnuts purchased from bulk food bins at grocery stores.

Full Story

Woman smashes bottles at liquor store

Police say a woman at a suburban New York liquor store swept her arm through a shelf of high-priced booze, smashing $1,600 worth onto the floor because she felt a clerk was taking too long to wait on her.

Full Story

Great Film

 

Miss Leigh and Miss McDaniel in a scene from Gone With The Wind.

Ten Things You May Not Have Known About Dr. Seuss And His Books

If he were alive, Theodor Geisel would have been 107 years old this past Wednesday. You know him better as Dr. Seuss, the author of those books that taught you to read. In commemoration of the anniversary of his birth, Buzzfeed posted a list of Dr. Seuss trivia.

Full Story

'Irish Hamlet' Mystery Solved?

Was Hamlet, Shakespeare's Prince of Denmark, actually Irish? 

That is the question.

Read more

Why Some Countries Drive On The Right And Others On The Left?

In some countries people drive on the left side of the road. This strange quirk perplexes the rest of the world; but there is a perfectly good reason.

In the past, almost everybody travelled on the left side of the road because that was the most sensible option for feudal, violent societies. Since most people are right-handed, swordsmen preferred to keep to the left in order to have their right arm nearer to an opponent and their scabbard further from him. Moreover, it reduced the chance of the scabbard hitting other people.

And I Quote

“Sometimes I lie awake at night, and I ask, ‘Where have I gone wrong?’

Then a voice says to me, ‘This is going to take more than one night.’”

~ Charlie Brown

Requests work better than orders

... even when we're asking or ordering ourselves

We like to be in control of our own lives, and some of us have an automatic rebellious streak when we're told what to do. We're less likely to do a task if we're ordered to do it than if we make the choice of our own volition. It seems that this effect is so strong that it even happens when the people giving the orders are... us.

In a set of three experiments, Ibrahim Senay from the University of Illinois has shown that people do better at a simple task if ask themselves whether they'll do it than if they simply tell themselves to do so. Even a simple reversal of words - "Will I" compared to "I will" - can boost motivation and performance.

Therapists and managers alike are taught to ask people open questions that prompt them to think about problems for themselves, rather than having solutions imposed upon them. Senay's work suggests that this approach would work even if we're counseling or managing ourselves. When we question ourselves about our deeds and choices, we're more likely to consider our motivations for doing something and feel like we're in control of our actions. The effect is small but significant.

Read on

Beat Deafness

A Man Lost in Musical Time

Everyone has a friend that dances to their own rhythm -- and no one else's. 

Now researchers have a theory why that is.  

Read more 

Higgs is Still Hiding in Quantum Haystack

When looking for a needle in a haystack, what's the best method for finding said needle? 

One method would be to find where the needle isn't hiding.  

 Read more 

Compass Direction, True North Parting Ways

Don't trust your compass. 

Magnetic north isn't where it used to be.  

Read More

Early microscopes offered sharp vision

Images from the first microscopes were clearer than was once believed.

 

A flea, as seen through an eighteenth-century microscope used poorly (left) and correctly (right). 

Whipple Museum of the History of Science

The first microscopes were a lot better than they are usually given credit for. That's the claim of microscopist Brian Ford, a specialist in the history and development of these instruments based at the University of Cambridge, UK.

Full Story

The Power Of Color

40 Colorful Bird Photos

 

image credit

Bird photography is one of the most popular parts of nature photography. Of course the most colorful birds you see don't live in your backyard.
Here are 40 colorful bird photos.

Businessman Spends $310,000 To Clone His Beloved Dogs

Peter Onruang love for his deceased dogs , Wolfie and Bubble, seems to know no bounds.  Peter paid a South Korean biotechnology company  a whopping $310,000 to clone them.
The first clones should be available in the next 6-months.  It’s very possible that he may get more than one clone of Wolfie the dog. If does he plans to name them all Wolfie.
Peter also hopes that one day he can clone himself.

“If I had an opportunity to clone myself, I’d do it right now,” Onruang says. “Because it’s me… I’m raising myself. I already know exactly my strengths and weaknesses. This person is gonna be the new and improved me, and would live the life I’ve always wanted to live.”

Full Story

Canned cow farts offer 'authentic smell of countryside'

Farting and burping cows may have been blamed for global warming but they also provide an unmistakable countryside aroma that is now being canned and sold over the internet.

Tins filled with the air sucked out of an aging wooden stable, straw lined and filled with gas producing cattle has become an instant hit after it went on sale in Germany. Managers of the "Countryside air to go" project say their clients are mainly country people who have moved to the city and want to be reminded of home.

The cans cost £5 a time and can be ordered from the web site www.stallduft.de (Barnyyard Air) "Simply put your nose to the tin and peel back the lid for the authentic smell of the country" boasts one advert for the service.

Designer Daniela Dorrer from the village of Adlkofen in Bavaria in Germany said: "We hope to make people who miss the countryside happy and remind them of home. We are planning other smells such as horse, straw, pigs and manure. But most people miss the smell of the cows in the country, not really surprising as much of the smell is from cows."

Now, that's something you don't see everyday

Now, that is something you don't see every day!

Does your canine companion need to go on a doggie diet?

A harsh Minnesota winter may have kept many dogs from getting walked, but not from eating treats.

Full Story

Animal Pictures

Honeycomb stingray (Himantura uarnak)