The Daily Drift

The Daily Drift

Today's horoscope says:
Someone you know is very excited about a new idea or project, but after taking a closer look at what this person wants to do, you're going to see quite a few holes in the plans.
It's okay if you're wary of this new scheme -- in fact, it's essential.
You need to be the voice of reason.
Use your tact and charm to prompt a reassessment and some fine-tuning.
This person needs a dose of reality, and you are just the person to supply it.

Some of our readers today have been in:

Amsterdam, Noord-Holland, Netherlands
Kuala Lumpur, Wilayah Persekutuan, Malaysia
London, England, United Kingdom
Sevilla, Andalucia, Spain
Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
Paris, Ile-De-France, France

Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Rome, Lazio, Italy

Gloucester, England, United Kingdom

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Prague, Hlavni Mesto Praha, Czech Republic

Kuala Terengganu, Terengganu, Malaysia

Berne, Bern, Switzerland

Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia

Annecy, Rhone-Alpes, France

Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain

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 Lamoine, Hanna, Boise, Phoenix and more.

Today is:

Today is Monday, May 23, the 143rd day of 2011.

There are 222 days left in the year.

Today's unusual holidays or celebrations are:

National Taffy Day
and
International Turtle Day.

Don't forget to visit our sister blog!

Deadly tornado slams Missouri

Massive tornado kills dozens in Joplin, Missouri

At least 89 are dead after a twister cuts "the city in half" and leaves a grim path of wreckage in its wake.

Hospital hit 

Also: 

• See photos of damage
• Rising rivers in Montana
• Iceland volcano aftermath

Back To The Middle Ages

An amazing international festival of the historical reconstruction of the Middle ages "The Battle Between Nations" was held in the Khotynskaya fortress ( the city of Khotyn, Ukraine) from the 30th of April till the 3rd of May. Central events were fights between national teams of Ukraine, Russia, Belarus, Poland, Canada, Italy and Germany. Besides soldiers there were a lot of other personages who just walked on the fortress territory feigning peasants or court servants.

Read more

The truth be told

Find your ideal career

How to find your ideal career

Decide what matters most to you, and then check out these fields for a suitable match.  

Eight great professions 

Also: 

• Switch fields in a year
• Great entry-level jobs
• Job conditions improve

Random Celebrity Photo

John and Yoko

OB/GYNs refusing obese women aren't practicing medicine

Getting refused from a VIP nightclub is one thing, but how about feeling like you're never going to make it beyond the velvet rope to see your gyno?

Turns out 93 million people in this country who are considered obese could face difficulty finding health care, if certain OB/GYNs' practices in South Florida are any indication of things to come.

Some of these doctors are now refusing to treat new patients weighing in at 200 pounds or more. In fact, 15 out of 105 practices polled by the Sun Sentinel say they've implemented this rule.

Full Story

Health warnings in hands

What your hands reveal about your health

Swollen fingers or pale nails could be early signs that you need to schedule a doctor's visit.  

Short index fingers 

Also: 

• Handshakes hazardous?
• Causes of joint pain
• Ways to improve eyesight

Bulgaria's black market in blood is flourishing

Her 85-year-old husband needed immediate surgery but doctors told her to find blood for the operation herself.

Full Story

Are you aware ...

The Congressional Record is not a verbatim transcript of proceedings in our government.  In point of fact, Senators can delete comments they regret having made, and can add material they never said.

Medical bills are the most common cause of personal bankruptcy in the United States - and most of those declaring bankruptcy have medical insurance.


Hospital Patients More Likely To Die On Weekends - People admitted to the hospital on the weekend are 10 percent more likely to die than those who checked in during the week, according to a new analysis of nearly 30 million people.

Inside Domino's turnaround

How Domino's turned itself around

The pizza chain is thriving again thanks to a risky strategy that's been likened to “Maoist self-criticism.”

Taste test 

Also: 

• No. 1 fast-food chain
• McDonald's under fire
• Daily deals deciphered

No Doom, So This Soothsayer Lost $140,000 in Advertising

He's a class 1, grade A idiot

When the world did not end at precisely 6 p.m. Saturday, Doomsday prophet Robert Fitzpatrick's [pictured] fragile grasp on reality crumbled.

"I don't understand why nothing is happening," said Fitzpatrick, flipping through his Bible for clues to why Rapture failed to show up on time.

"It's not a mistake. I did what I had to do. I did what the Bible said," he said, looking increasingly disheveled and confused as he stood in Times Square before mocking crowds.

A kooky christian cult predicted that corpses would line the streets and deadly earthquakes would swallow up sinners beginning at 11:59 p.m. Jerusalem time on May 21, 2011.

Fitzpatrick, 60, a retired MTA engineer who became the city's self-appointed siren of the Apocalypse, spent $140,000 of his life savings on 3,219 bus, subway and commuter-rail ads trumpeting the coming "global earthquake" and urging sinners to repent to Jesus.

Fitzpatrick is a follower of Harold Camping, 89, an Oakland, Calif., evangelist who promised that on Judgment Day the righteous would be sucked up to heaven while sinners -- even children -- were to rot among fires, earthquakes and tsunamis engulfing the Earth. People would slowly die off until Oct. 21, 2011, when God completely KO'd the earth and all of its inhabitants.

Even cynical city dwellers got into the spirit of Doomsday, with New Yorkers hawking T-shirts, holding Judgment Day parties and Mayor Bloomberg deadpanning that he'd suspend alternate-side parking if the Earth crumbled.

Fitzpatrick's self-published tome on his predictions, "The Doomsday Code," earned $1,400 in royalties, he said. But his publicity stunt wasn't about getting checks. On Judgment Day, after all, money wouldn't matter.

Yesterday, the doomsayer ate a simple breakfast of toast and righteous "Ezekiel 4:9 Sprouted Grain Cereal" at home and boned up on the word of the Lord with his blue Bible. He tossed a few peanuts to squirrels in his back yard, though all the animals were supposed to die later that day in a "fireball."

"I expect this to be my last meal," he said solemnly after a light lunch of chicken tenders and spinach.

The gloomy Gus visited his sickly mother in a Staten Island nursing home one last time and prayed to reunite with her when they went knock, knock, knockin' on heaven's door.

After 6 p.m. came and went, Fitzpatrick blamed himself for the wrong date with Doomsday, as "God is never wrong." He schlepped on the R train back to the Staten Island Ferry and pondered his next step.

"I didn't water my plants, I didn't do my dishes before I left. I didn't expect to go back home," Fitzpatrick conceded.

It's a Blond World

There was a beautiful young blonde who was going to a soda machine and she arrived there just before a business man coming to quench his thirst.

She opened her purse and put in 50 cents, studied the machine a little, pushed a Diet Coke selection, and out came a Diet Coke which she placed on a counter by the machine.

Then she reached in her purse again and pulled out a dollar and inserted it in the machine. Studying the machine carefully, she pushed the button for Coke Classic and out came a Coke Classic and 50 cents change.

She immediately took the 50 cents and put it in the machine, studied it for a moment and pushed the Mountain Dew button. Out came a Mountain Dew.

As she was reaching into her purse again, the business man who had been waiting patiently for several minutes now spoke up. “Excuse me Ms. but are you done yet?”

She looked at him and indignantly replied: “Well Duhhh!, I’m still winning.”

Palin insider releases tell-all

Ex-aide speaks out in scathing Palin tell-all

Frank Bailey says he could never forgive himself if he stayed silent on what he witnessed in Alaska.

Final straw 

Also: 

• Her rumored new home
• Palin: 'I do have the fire'
• repugican clowns take shape

Winter Joys

 

Now that the blast furnace of summer is here we thought you'd like a reminder of the joys of winter!

Non Sequitur

U.S. would raid Pakistan again

Obama: U.S. would raid Pakistan again

The President says he wouldn't hesitate to enter another country to reach a "high-value target."  

His reasoning 

Also: 

• Bin Laden's schemes
• Pakistan's drone request
• Afghan suicide bombing

U.S.-Israel uncertainty

Difficult months ahead for U.S. and Israel

Despite assurances of friendship, a deep rift separates the political goals of Obama and Netanyahu. 

Analysis 

Also: 

• Netanyahu denies crisis
• Palestinians skeptical
• Find: 1967 Israel border

Europe Day Interrupted

FEMEN interrupted the opening ceremony of Europe Day in Ukraine. Two topless activists broke through the cordon and, in front of the mayor of Kiev and European ambassadors, unfurled a banner which said "Take us to Europe" and started demanding to stop the circus ceremony. In this way they wanted to urge the EU officials to accept Ukraine as a European state with all the attendant legal consequences. As a result, both girls have been detained by the police in not quite a European way...

Read more

Yemeni tension mounts

Growing tension in capital city of Yemen

An angry mob trapped representatives from America and Europe inside a mission.  

Saleh refuses to resign 

Also: 

• Transition plan falters
• Al-Qaida chief's call
• Obama's historic gamble

Saudi woman driver detained by police

Authorities detained a Saudi woman on Saturday after she launched a campaign against the driving ban for women in the ultra-conservative kingdom and posted a videotape of herself behind the wheel to encourage others to copy her. Manal al-Sherif and a group of other women have started a Facebook page called "Teach me how to drive so I can protect myself", which urges authorities to lift the driving ban.

Human-rights activist Walid Abou el-Kheir said Ms Sherif was detained by the country's religious police. Saudi Arabia is the only country in the world to ban women – both Saudi and foreign – from driving. The prohibition forces families to hire live-in drivers, and those who cannot afford the $300 to $400 a month for a driver must rely on male relatives to drive them to work, school, shopping or the doctor. They cannot travel without permission from a male guardian and shouldn't mingle with males who are not their husbands or brothers.

The campaign – ksawomen2drive – has focused on the importance of women driving in times of emergency, and on low-income families. Ms Sherif said that, unlike the traditional argument in Saudi Arabia that driving exposes women to sinful temptations by allowing them to mingle with policemen and mechanics, women who drive can avoid sexual harassment from their drivers and protect their "dignity".

YouTube link.

The campaigners are calling for a mass drive on 17 June. The group say women joining the campaign should not challenge authorities if they are stopped and questioned, and should abide by the country's strict dress code. "We want to live as complete citizens, without the humiliation that we are subjected to every day because we are tied to a driver. We are not here to break the law ... we are here to claim one of our simplest rights."

Swords and Grenades

Woman pulled sword from scabbard during argument at Pizza Hut

Police say a woman involved in an argument at a Louisville Pizza Hut raised the stakes considerably when she tried to pull a sword. It happened on Thursday night, shortly after 9 p.m. at the Pizza Hut near Dixie Hwy.

According to an arrest report, police were called to the restaurant after they received reports that 29-year-old Wynika Mason was "causing trouble." When they got there, she allegedly began yelling at the officers.

An employee told the officers that, shortly before they arrived, Mason began yelling at him and told him that she had a sword on her person. The employee said that Mason, "began to raise it out of the sheath" when her brother seized it from her and put it in their vehicle outside.

Police say Mason told them that she did indeed have a sword and it was still in the vehicle. Officers recovered the sword. Officers say customers and employees were both inside the Pizza Hut when the events occurred, and that the employees, "felt threatened by her behaviour." Mason was charged with disorderly conduct and menacing behaviour.

Woman threatened restaurant staff with grenade

Police say a homeless woman entered a Dairy Queen restaurant and threatened employees with a grenade.

When 30-year-old Renee Deshaies attempted to leave the scene in Mesa on Thursday evening, she still had the grenade in her hand. The victims believed the grenade was real and feared for their safety.

Police say the grenade was not real and was only used for training purposes. When Deshaies was interviewed, she believed it was real.

She was arrested less than a mile away from the scene. Deshaies faces disorderly conduct and misconduct with a simulated explosive charges.

Wizard of Id

Texas chops $34 million from Forest Service during wildfire problem

Typical repugicans doing everything bass-ackwards!

Much like the fake outrage about the Obama Administration's stimulus plan that was used to fund most of the Texas budget last year, the outrage over the Obama administration's assistance to Texas has also been fake.

The administration has sent a considerable amount of assistance to Texas on numerous occasions. Now we find that Texas is chopping the budget for the team most in need during the wildfire outbreak.

It is a state where the repugicans own all branches of the government so there are no excuses.

ThinkProgress has more on the exaggerations and lies deep in the heart of Texas by the governor.

***

Even for Texas - the current land of ignorance and stupidity - this is stupid.

What a penny really costs

How much a penny actually costs

The piggy-bank staple may have a face value of one cent, but it costs more to manufacture.

Highest price ever paid 

Also: 

• Gold coins unearthed
• Gumball machine theft
• More Who Knew

Seven ways to save money

7 ways to save money

Five dumbest things you do while driving

5 dumbest things you do while driving

Three reasons we get smarter with age

3 reasons we get smarter with age

Mickey's Trailer

From 1938.

Earthquake

Deadly Quakes Inside Continental Plates

Our perception of seismic risk is skewed into thinking earthquakes at plate boundaries are more deadly.

We're wrong.  

Read more 

An odd twist in slow 'earthquakes': Tremor running backwards

Earthquake scientists trying to unravel the mysteries of an unfelt, weeks-long seismic phenomenon called episodic tremor and slip have discovered a strange twist.
www.sciencecodex.com

Tech News

Laser smashes data rate records

A pioneering technique beats its own record for data rates, registering 26 terabits per second and using comparatively little power.

• Broadband speed gets laser boost
• Crunch coming for broadband fibre

Environmental News

Seagrasses face extinction threat

BBC Nature

Archeological News

Bronze Age battle site unearthed

Fractured human remains found on a German river bank could provide the first compelling evidence of a major Bronze Age battle.

• Britain's Bronze Age 'recession'
• Bronze Age hoard found intact

B.C.

Insect threatens U.S. crops

Foreign insect boom threatens U.S. crops

Farmers lose millions of dollars in crops from tomatoes to apples due to a voracious invader.  

Could get worse 

Also: 

• A frog-hunting beetle
• Cambodian rice ritual
• Drought slams France

Ten Of The Biggest Animals To Roam The Planet

When it comes to size, humans are mere peanuts next to ballpark-sized animals. Here's a snapshot - you never know what a paleontologist will dig up - of some of the biggest animals that have walked our planet, present and past.

Yawn

No Beaching Allowed

 

Photo: ahisgett / cc

Late last week, after more than a hundred whales threatening to beach themselves were spotted off the coast of an island in Scotland, dozens of locals worked together to save them -- and their efforts seem to have worked. Thanks to a team of conservationists, fishermen and others, one group of disoriented pilot whales off the coast of South Uist were driven back towards deeper waters, and further from a suicidal fate that biologists have yet to fully understand.

Article continues: Volunteers Prevent Over 100 Whales From Beaching

Birds Get Drunk, Loud, and Fall From the Sky

 

Photo: Wikipedia Commons

Every year around this time, medical offices in Australia are deluged with cases of loud drunks that are so intoxicated they've tumbled to the ground. No, they aren't rowdy rugby fans who've had one too many-- they're lorikeets, a colorful parrot species native to the region that has a penchant for booze. So far, veterinarians in Darwin have treated more than a few super-buzzed birds that have apparently fallen from the sky because they're flying under the influence.

Article continues: Aussie Birds Get Drunk, Loud, and Fall From the Sky

Animal Pictures