The Daily Drift

The Daily Drift

Today's horoscope says:
When you need to ask someone a tricky question or explain something complicated today, don't get too elaborate about what you are going to say.
Brevity is key.
If you just put things in a nutshell, you'll get right to the point and save everyone time.
Your organizational skills are getting to be better than ever -- so use them to help you figure out your game plan.
Be prepared for likely questions by coming up with explanations that are easy to understand.

Some of our readers today have been in:

Kuala Lumpur, Wilayah Persekutuan, Malaysia
Sandakan, Sabah, Malaysia
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
London, England, United Kingdom
Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia
Budapest, Budapest, Hungary
Sittard, Limburg, Netherlands
Doha, Ad Dawhah, Qatar
Innsbruck, Tirol, Austria
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Skudai, Johor, Malaysia
Paris, Ile-De-France, France
Annecy, Rhone-Alpes, France
Lille, Nord-Pas-De-Calais, France
Perth, Western Australia, Australia
Vilnius. Vilnius Apskirtis, Lithuania

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 Middle River, McMinnville, Santa Rosa, Burlington and more.

Today is:

Today is Tuesday, March 22, the 82nd day of 2011.

There are 283 days left in the year.

Today's unusual holidays or celebrations are:

International Goof Off Day
and
As Young As You Feel Day.

Don't forget to visit our sister blog!

Garfield

North Carolina historian uses Twitter to show Civil War life

A historian with the North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources is telling the story of the War Between The States, 140 characters at a time.

Full Story

Harp seals off North Carolina coast

Earthquakes, tsunamis, and all manner of geological and climatological stuff's going on, and now harp seals that live in Canada are being sighted much further south than they ought to be, including four off the North Carolina coast.

Strange: Harp seals off N.C. coast

A 2.9-magnitude earthquake rattles SC and NC

A small earthquake in South Carolina near the North Carolina state line has rattled homes and led more than 100 people to call 911.

Full Story

South Carolina drivers warned to watch for zombies

Drivers near the South Carolina-North Carolina state line have been warned to be on the lookout for zombies, hunters and tanks.

Full Story

Odds and Sods

"Family Beach" Considers Biker Invitation

Carolina Beach town officials will consider whether to invite motorcyclists to come stay there during Bike Week in nearby Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

WWII machine gun found in Lithuanian mail

Lithuanian customs and postal officials say they have found a fully functional machine gun dating from World War II, complete with ammunition, in a package at Vilnius International Airport.

California quake claim debunked

Ominous California quake claim debunked

A warning that swept the Web after Japan's catastrophe has geologists crying foul.  

Trigger effect explained 

Also: 

• State eyes nuclear risks
• Buildings still vulnerable
• Stress on Tokyo fault line

Non Sequitur

Random Celebrity Photo

The King of the Grizzles ... but who's the girl?

Bad Cops

New Mexico town's chief of police is charged with smuggling guns into Mexico

NYPD keeps 300 cops on the payroll at an annual cost to taxpayers of $22 million, though police brass don't trust them enough to give them guns or badges

Florida police officer charged with battery, false imprisonment

North Carolina deputy gets 18 months in drug case

Fired California cop is convicted of 10 felony counts of asking for bribes, one felony count of sexual battery by restraint, one felony count of oral copulation under color of authority, three misdemeanor counts of soliciting another to engage in lewd conduct

18-year veteran California police officer is accused of sexual battery during traffic stop

Wisconsin deputy is charged with homicide

Former North Carolina police officer says it was emotional distress that caused him to set several fires

California school cop is charged with multiple felonies including perjury and filing a false insurance claim

'Extinction threat' to religion

Decades of census data, alongside a mathematical model, suggest religion in nine secular countries is being driven to extinction.

'Extinction threat' to religion 

One can only hope!

Hey, teabaggers ...

Koch Industries: 'carbon dioxide is not a pollutant'

From the "WTF planet are you from?" Department:

Maybe Koch Industries is where Dimbulb came up with his loony "oil is as natural as the ocean water is" remark. These people are nuts and they own the repugicans.

More from the ThinkProgress Wonkroom:

John Hinderaker, who works for a firm employed by Koch Industries, argues that efforts to regulate the greenhouse pollution of the petrochemical giant are wrong because “carbon dioxide is not a pollutant.” “Climate change is not caused by pollution; history proves that the level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere does not control worldwide temperatures,” Hinderaker wrote in a blog post Wednesday. “Carbon dioxide is not a pollutant, it is a natural substance that is essential to life on earth.”

Meanwhile in Wisconsin

Walker's budget cuts for the poor, wage cuts for workers, and tax breaks for the rich are projected to cost the state of Wisconsin 20,000 jobs.

And I Quote

"Conservatives say if you don't give the rich more money, they will lose their incentive to invest. As for the poor, they tell us they've lost all incentive because we've given them too much money."

~ George Carlin

Dealing with fallout

Donald Trump took Qaddafi's money

Trump tries to make it sound like a good thing.
Not so sure the Lockerbie families will see it the same way.

From ThinkProgress:

This morning, the hosts of Faux & Friends asked real estate mogul and presidential hopeful Donald Trump how he planned to gain the national security credentials necessary to sit in the Oval Office. An indignant Trump responded that “I probably have more experience than anybody” in the repugican field because of his international business dealings, and said that the way he “screwed” Col. Muammar Qaddafi on a land deal is a blueprint for how the United States should deal with foreign leaders.

Trump did pressure Gaddafi not to stay at the land he rented him, but it seems he didn’t even realize who he was renting to at first, and acted only after local officials and members of Congress spoke out against the deal.

CNN correspondent rips Faux News' 'lies and deceit'

Faux News is claiming, falsely,  that CNN reporters went on a Qaddafi-organized "propaganda trip" last  night and let themselves be used as human shields in order to help  Qaddafi thwart a British attack.   Faux claims it refused to send its  people on the trip.  Of course, the entire thing is a lie.  CNN's  reporters didn't even go to the location Faux is referring to.  But who  did go?  Faux's guy.

It's about time the real media started  fighting against Faux.  I've got news for CNN's executives - one of the  reasons you're losing viewers to Faux is Faux keeps slandering your network, and  slowly whittling away at your reputation.  Faux, and the repugicans they  work for, have been doing the same to NPR, the NYT and the rest of the  real media for decades.  And you guys refused to fight back.  And, like  radiation, the lies build, and the damage is real and fatal.

Here's CNN's Nic Robertson slamming Faux's lies.

About time!

U.S. fighter jet crashes in Libya

American fighter jet crashes in Libya

Two Air Force crew members are rescued after ejecting from their doomed F-15 Strike Eagle.  

Not shot down 

Also: 

• Gadhafi, rebels in standoff
• Doubts over endgame
• Journalists held captive

Awesome Pictures

U.S. teacher killed in Japan

Family mourns U.S. teacher killed in Japan

A 24-year-old who made sure kids were safe before fleeing on her bike may be the first American victim.  

Parents' plea 

Also: 

• Many dead won't be found
• Victims look for memories
• Disaster by the numbers

Culinary DeLites

What's fabulous for dinner this week

Try these grilled spicy burgers made with seasoned beef, then topped with cheese and mayonnaise.  

More dishes 

Also: 

• Easy one-dish wonders
• 10 spices everyone needs
• Fashion's hottest food fad

Radiation leaked into sea from damaged nuclear plant

The food chain on land is already in bad shape and now this. 

Bloomberg:

Radiation leaked into the sea from Japan’s crippled nuclear plant, contaminating the water and raising concern that fish and vegetables may become tainted.

Five kinds of radioactive materials released by damaged fuel rods were detected in the sea, Tokyo Electric Power Co., the plant’s operator, said on its web site. Levels of one, Iodine-131, which increases the risk of thyroid cancer, were 127 times higher than normal in a sample taken at 2:30 p.m. yesterday, it said.

Screening food and dairy products for radiation is being stepped up as Japan seeks to calm a population that eats more seafood than any country other than China. The government, which says it hasn’t detected radiation readings in food that might be harmful to health, dispatched a ship to the site as part of increased monitoring.

Will the Leaning Tower of Pisa Ever Fall?

Construction on the tower began in 1173 and it started listing soon after as it settled on soft soil. Over the centuries labourers and engineers tried to compensate for the lean but none of the measures succeeded . In 1990 the tower was closed to the public when a similarly constructed tower in Pavia collapsed. An international team devised a plan that included steel bands and lead weights and extracting soil from beneath the tower’s northern foundation. It appears to have worked, at least for the time being. Engineers predict the structure will remain stable for at least another 200 years.

Full Story

Ziggy

Things They Won't Tell You

What HR won't tell you about getting a job

Things you should know about salary negotiations, interviews, and resumes.  

'Who you know really does matter' 

Also: 

• How to ask for a raise
• Best jobs for moms 
• Refreshing your resume

Ways offices make you sicker

Three ways your office makes you sicker

The typical desk has 400 times more bacteria than the average toilet seat.  

How to stay healthy at work 

Also: 

• Office health risks
• Germiest public places  
• Advice for a cold

When it pays to hire a pro

When you're better off hiring a pro

Make a goof laying carpet or changing your motor oil, and you could be out a bundle.  

Save time and money 

Also: 

• I saved $350 fixing my PC
• Keys to a $1,000 yard sale  
• Estate planning tips

Avoiding credit can backfire

Avoiding credit can backfire on you

One woman was rejected for a mortgage because she lives a relatively debt-free life.  

Four myths about credit reports 

Also: 

• When frugality is costly
• Saving $1.4 mil in 8 years  
• Ways to cut electric bills

The Housing Market

These castles are for sale — in the U.S.

Europe has nothing on America's storybook homes like this $11 million, 61-acre spread.  

Photo gallery 

Also: 

• Weird, wonderful homes
• Pingpong ball apartment  
• Ten amazing houses

Where nearly 20% of homes sit vacant

The housing market in this state has gone from red hot to nearly frozen. 

Slow turnaround predicted 

Also: 

• Home sales take a dive
• Why not to buy a house  
• Lowest mortgage rates

America's cleanest cities

The cleanest cities in America

These places scored best for factors like air and water quality in a ranking of the biggest metro areas. 

Who's No. 1? 

Also: 

• Unhealthiest U.S. cities
• Best areas to move to  
• Worst places to find work

Heaviest man to finish marathon

The heaviest man to ever finish a marathon

Kelly Gneiting smashes the Guinness World Record by completing the Los Angeles Marathon. 

His other sport 

Also: 

• Fastest marathon ever
• Geneti sets L.A. record
• Runner goes barefoot

Mistakes airline pilots made

10 blunders airline pilots have made

Though exceedingly rare, even experienced captains can slip up sometimes.  

Injury-free mishaps

Also:

• Meanest U.S. airlines
• Book your next flight  
• Nine underrated cities

Terry Jones Finally Burns The Koran

From the "Such a Loser" Department:
It took him a while and the publicity isn't nearly what he had hoped for, but the mission has been accomplished: Koran burnt in Florida church.

A controversial US evangelical preacher oversaw the burning of a copy of the Koran in a small Florida church after finding the Muslim holy book "guilty" of crimes.
The burning was carried out by pastor Wayne Sapp under the supervision of Terry Jones, who last September drew sweeping condemnation over his plan to ignite a pile of Korans on the anniversary of September 11, 2001 attacks.

The technique?

The book, which had been soaking for an hour in kerosene, was put in a metal tray in the center of the church, and Sapp started the fire with a barbecue lighter.

The crowd?

The event was open to the public, but fewer than 30 people attended.

The best quote from Terry Jones?

"This is a once-in-a-lifetime experience."

Jones and Sapp are shown here, photographed from below to make them appear more 'god-like'.

Two men shot and killed after finding lost mobile phone

Two US men were shot and killed in Houston, apparently in a dispute over a lost mobile phone.

Police responded to reports of a shooting at an apartment complex at about 2am local time. When officers arrived on the scene, they found one dead body at the front of the complex and another in the rear.

Witnesses told police that the two victims had picked up a dropped mobile phone in a parking lot after leaving a convenience store. The owner of the phone apparently rang the device and told one of the victims to meet him at the apartment complex.

The suspects arrived at the complex and fired on the two victims. One of the victims, who was handicapped, was immediately shot and killed. The other victim attempted to flee the scene on foot with a witness, but was caught by the suspects and also fatally shot. The suspects fled the scene in a dark-coloured four-door vehicle and are being hunted by police.

Full story

The Signal

At her father's wake, a woman told her priest that ever since she was a child she and her father had discussed life after death. They had agreed that whomever went first would contact the other. They had discussed this again just two weeks before his death.

He died in her home and a few days after his death the smoke alarm in her garage went off. She had lived there 28 years and it had never gone off before. She couldn't turn it off so she called the security company that installed it.

The next morning the smoke alarm sounded again and the reason finally dawned on her. She said aloud, "OK dad, I missed the signal yesterday but I get it now! Thanks for letting me know that you are safe on the other side. Now turn the thing off so I don't have to call the security company again." The alarm fell silent.

She immediately called her priest to tell him the good news. His response: "Dear lady, if every time your father sends you a message he sets off the smoke alarm, just WHERE do you think he's calling from?"

First-Hand Experience Makes People Care More About Warming

While many may feel climate change's effects may be exaggerated, those who live through floods and its other effects are less skeptical.

Read more 

Climate Change Frequent 40 Million Years Ago

Paleoclimate scientists have found similar trends in warming, like the current expected trend due to human-induced carbon emissions, that took thousands of years for Earth to recover from.  

Read more 

Two Stars Become One

This stellar fusion is the first of its kind ever observed by astronomers.  

Read more 

A $625,000 starting auction bid for teeth

An unprecedented collection of 182 ferocious prehistoric shark teeth, assembled on gaping jaws large enough to swallow several humans whole, is set to be auctioned in Texas.

Full Story

The blooming of the lily

The blooming of the lily provides a mathematical surprise, showing that poets had it right all along.  

Read more

What is it ...

It's not a lady's fan

"Edward Jenner (1749-1823) was the pioneer of vaccination but was also known for his delicate dissections. Here, the section of the stomach has been flattened and injected with wax to show the veins and arteries as well as the delicate membrane of the stomach wall. It may have been used as a teaching aid to show the structure of the stomach."

From the collections of the Science Museum (U.K.).

B.C.

Rescued from an Eagle's Nest

This picture and others from the same sequence are everywhere on the  internet today, but rarely is there any source or context attached.  These are stills from the movie Rescued from an Eagle’s Nest.

YouTube link

Rescued from an Eagle’s Nest {wiki} is a 1908 film by D.W.Griffith. It featured cutting-edge special effects that were frightening to audiences.

Dog helps keep neighborhood clean

Isabella is a 4-year-old rottweiler that doesn't like litter.

The 65-pound canine picks up discarded water and pop bottles as she walks around Livonia with her owner, Jan Larion. She's a dog with a job; she likes to have a purpose,” said Larion, 53.

Isabella, or Izzie, has been picking up bottles for about three years. She picks up so many on each walk, carrying up to three in her mouth at a time, that Larion bought her a backpack to carry them all in. Her record for one walk was seven.

“Bottles are her mission; she scours for them,” Larion said.

Full story here. There's a news video here.

The Museum Of Snake Charmer Imagery

Snake charming is the practice of hypnotizing a snake by playing an instrument. The practice is most common in India, though other Asian nations such as Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Malaysia are also home to performers, as are the North African countries of Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia.

Stolen ostrich escapes and runs all the way home

An ostrich stolen from a farm in Romania showed homing pigeon skills after managing to escape from her captors to run all the way home at 40mph.

The big flightless birds, native to Africa, are famous for their ability to run at high speeds but are not so well known for their homing skills. But one lucky ostrich in Romania managed to navigate all the way back home after being stolen by rustlers.

Making a run for it, the big bird from a farm in Pitesti escaped her captors and dashed back to safety at a speed of 40mph. Owner Florin Diaconescu, 47, was very relieved to see her return back to the farm and was amazed at how she had managed to return by herself.

'I had given her up as gone forever,' he explained. 'But I saw this cloud of dust heading towards the farm and she came running into the yard as fast as her legs would carry her.'

Biggest-Ever Bunny Didn't Hop, Had No Enemies

No floppy-eared Easter-type bunny, this rabbit had small ears, smallish eyes and enormous heft.  

Read more 

Animal Pictures