The Daily Drift

The Daily Drift

Today's horoscope says:
An upcoming event or celebration comes in and out of your mind today, but try not to let it distract you from your primary focus.
If you give this invading thought credence, the anticipation could grow to an unbearable level and derail your train of thought, pushing it down the wrong track.
Take a breath and try to distract yourself with the routine of the day.
Time marches on, and things will happen when they're meant to happen.

Some of our readers today have been in:

Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Surrey, British Columbia, Canada

Amsterdam, Noord-Holland, Netherlands
Cork, Cork, Ireland

Kuantan, Pahang, Malaysia

Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia

Bandar Seri Begawanm, Brunei and Muara, Brunei Darussalam

Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand

Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

London, England, United Kingdom

Dusseldorf, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany

Manila, Manila, Philippines

Frankfurt, Hessen, Germany

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Kota Bharu, Kelantan, Malaysia

Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece

Rome, Lazio, Italy

Geneva, Geneve, Switzerland

The Hague, Zuid-Holland, Netherlands

Sao Paulo, Sao, Paulo, Brazil

Alicante, Comunidad Valenciana, 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 Detroit, Oakland, Chantilly, Huoston and more.

Today is:

Today is Sunday, July 3, the 184th day of 2011.

There are 181 days left in the year.

Today's unusual holidays or celebrations are:

Compliment Your Mirror Day
and
Stay Out Of The Sun Day.

Don't forget to visit our sister blog!

A state with plentiful jobs

One state where there are too many jobs

Employers have more than 15,000 openings to fill but a small population to draw from.  

Housing also a problem 

Also: 

• Best states for business
• Fastest growing states
• Most expensive blocks

Non Sequitur

Fireworks photography tips

How to take great photos of fireworks

Turning off auto-focus is one key to getting truly memorable shots.

Tips for shooting with your phone, too 

Also: 

• Fun July 4th craft ideas
• Independence Day facts
• Apps to share photos

Explosive Postion

This is more than likely from the WW1 era.

Although I should think striking an explosive shell with a hammer to drive in the detonator would not be the best course of action here.

Someone put some graffiti on a wall.

And the 'Dear Leader' - insane little turd that he is - has a cow ... puts students to hard labor.

Apparently foreign students or those working on degrees in (probably) spying, kidnapping Japanese citizens or figuring out why it’s so damn dark in Pyongyang at night are exempt if they graduate in the next few months.

But part of the motivation may come from fears of student revolution. Last week someone put a piece of graffito on the wall of a Pyongyang College which called the Dear Leader “a dictator who starved people to death."

For North Korea, this is more or less the equivalent of setting the White House on fire with a Molotov. Pyongyang was locked down (more than usual) for three days in a vain search for the culprit.

Full Story

Repugican Lies

Michele (Batshit Crazy) Bachman claims she "never received a penny" from federally-subsidized family farm.
Only, she did.

Mitt (in his 'special' underwear) Romney touted his amazing fundraising skills where hr got over a million dollars in one day.
Trouble is - he didn't.

Are you aware ...

... that 19 different polls show Americans support raising taxes to fix the deficit.

The people inside the Belt certainly aren't aware of this.

And of course repugicans everywhere living in their insulated perverted bubble world's are clueless.

Now this is interesting ...

During shrub cabal, Current repugican Leaders Voted 19 Times To Increase Debt Limit By $4 Trillion Without Asking for Anything to Reduce the Deficit

Corporate welfare queen CEO eyes $200 million payout

Only in the financial industry can you see such sickening payouts. That every contract and every payout wasn't scrapped in exchange for a public bailout says a lot about how much Wall Street owns both parties in Washington.

Bloomberg:

Citigroup Inc. (C) Chief Executive Officer Vikram Pandit, who took a $1 salary after his bank received the most taxpayer assistance of any U.S. lender, is poised to collect $80 million from other payments and awards that may eventually total more than $200 million.

Pandit, 54, will get the $80 million from Citigroup’s purchase of his Old Lane Partners LP hedge fund tomorrow, according to regulatory filings. The deal brought him to the lender in July 2007. JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM), which remained profitable through the financial crisis, has disclosed about $90 million in awards for CEO Jamie Dimon since 2007.

“Pandit, his $1 pay notwithstanding, cannot be considered modestly paid,” said Graef Crystal, a compensation expert and Bloomberg News consultant based in Las Vegas. “Taxpayers saved this bank, and he’s getting a bundle while shareholders are getting shortchanged on the stock price.”

The truth be told

Economic recovery is weakest since Depression

So let's focus on the deficit instead.  Sigh.  It's just what the repugicans want. They'd like nothing better than to get one of their lifelong dreams - gutting the federal budget - and at the same time sink the economy and send Barack Obama packing in 2012.
AP:

This is one anniversary few feel like celebrating.

Two years after economists say the Great Recession ended, the recovery has been the weakest and most lopsided of any since the 1930s.

Unemployment has never been so high - 9.1 percent - this long after any recession since World War II. At the same point after the previous three recessions, unemployment averaged just 6.8 percent.

- The average worker's hourly wages, after accounting for inflation, were 1.6 percent lower in May than a year earlier. Rising gasoline and food prices have devoured any pay raises for most Americans.

- The jobs that are being created pay less than the ones that vanished in the recession.

Couples spar over retirement

Couples see retirement very differently

Spouses often strongly disagree about what age they will retire and where.  

Top money worries 

Also: 

• Stop money arguments
• Surprise retirement costs
• When spouse earns more

Bizarre Things You Can Rent

I joke about renting a laundry-folding robot because seriously, who likes to fold laundry? As it turns out, I could probably find one to rent if I looked hard enough. I could also rent a tree, a goat, a wife(?!) or any of the 20 things listed in this handy infographic from The World's Biggest.

Spam is way down, but new malware is really tough

Brian Krebs looks at the remarkable drop in spam that the Internet has experienced this year (25-50 billion spams/day today, down from a peak of 225 billion spams/day last July), and at the vicious new malware that's appearing as spam-crooks get more desperate. One such vector is TDSS (AKA "TLd-4"), a rootkit that infects your computer, kicks out all the other malware running on it, and then helps hackers distribute malware. Krebs says that there's plenty of gains to be realized by attacking the financial instruments used by criminals and he's promised a series on how these work.

The evolution of the TLd-4 bot is part of the cat-and-mouse game played by miscreants and those who seek to thwart their efforts. But law enforcement agencies and security experts also are evolving by sharing more information and working in concert, said Alex Lanstein, a senior security researcher at FireEye, a company that has played a key role in several coordinated botnet takedowns in the past two years. "Takedowns can have an effect of temporarily providing relief from general badness, be it click fraud, spam, or credential theft, but lasting takedowns can only be achieved by putting criminals in silver bracelets," Lanstein said. "The Mega-D takedown, for example, was accomplished through trust relationships with registrars, but the lasting takedown was accomplished by arresting the alleged author, who is awaiting trial. In the interim, security companies are getting better and better about working with law enforcement, which is what happened with Rustock."

Where Have All the Spambots Gone?

The Truth

Why dentists cost so much

Why dental work costs so much

Two dentists explain what's behind the often high cost of keeping those pearly whites gleaming. 

Insurance really lags 

Also: 

• Dentist ripping you off?
• Health insurance secrets
• Folk remedies that work

Healthy Living

Weird fitness gear that really works  

Also:

• Unthinkable: Parents diagnosed with cancer in the same week
• Can you cure your own diabetes?
• 6 ways to make your 4th BBQ healthier

In the kitchen

In the kitchen with a nerd - it can get interesting ...

Fourth of July menu minus the stress

Seeking freedom from party stress?

Pledge allegiance to this no-fail festive menu, with smoky kabobs, bacon potato salad, fizzy ice-cream floats, and more.

Read More

Secrets to deviled eggs

Simple secrets to perfect deviled eggs

An expert reveals why you shouldn't go for the freshest eggs you can find. 

One condiment you must use 

Also: 

• Pasta vs. potato salad
• Fast dishes for the 4th
• What to avoid at your BBQ

Surprising sugar bombs

Where sugar may be hiding in your diet

The sweet stuff could be lurking in your glass, "healthy" cereal, or even your salad.

Tips for cutting back 

Also: 

• Unhealthy summer drinks
• Healthier barbecue tips
• Fat-burning snacks

Awesome Pictures

There's a dead body in the pool ...

 ... and nobody noticed ...
In Massachusetts: People swam around dead body for days

A preliminary investigation shows "murky and cloudy" water in a public swimming pool helped conceal the body of a drowned Haitian woman for two days while people swam there, authorities said.
The Bristol County district attorney's office said the body of Marie Joseph was submerged at the bottom of the 3.6-meter deep end of the pool, in Fall River, Massachusetts, from Sunday afternoon until Tuesday night.
Joseph, 36, was a hotel housekeeper in Newport, Rhode Island. She was from Haiti and had five children. Her body was discovered after it floated to the surface shortly before some youngsters sneaked into the pool for a clandestine swim on Tuesday night.
The probe shows the water in the pool was murky from the time the pool opened for the season last Saturday. Visibility tests conducted on Wednesday revealed a diver couldn't be seen at a depth of up to 1.2 meters below the surface of the water.

Further proof that people are too self obsessed - another of the curses Ronny Raygun inflicted on this nation.

More on this story here.

Mexico confirms 11 dead from Arlene and aftermath

Mexican authorities have confirmed 11 deaths from Tropical Storm Arlene and the aftermath of floods, mudslides and overflowing rivers in central Mexico and Gulf Coast states.

Full Story

Vandals tape themselves rolling huge boulders into Wyoming canyon

From the "Idiots" Department:

A video posted on YouTube has drawn the attention of federal investigators. In the video several people are watching others use car jacks to dislodge large boulders and roll the rocks into a canyon near Wyoming's Pathfinder Dam.

Vandals tape themselves rolling huge boulders into Wyoming canyon

Lightning Rod

A South Carolina man has again disproved the old adage about lightning never striking the same place twice after being struck for the sixth time on Monday. 

South Carolina man has been struck by lightning six times

Magnificent And Weird Trees

 

image credit

There are some extremely fantastic trees in this world: exotic, fragrant, fruitful, and simply beautiful.

Ziggy

West weather turns July 4 into skier's paradise

As the Fourth of July weekend kicks off, people across the West are donning shorts, bikini tops and Hawaiian shirts - and then they're hitting the slopes.



Ski resorts from California to Colorado opened for the weekend to take advantage of an unusual combination of dense lingering snow from late-season storms in the Sierra Nevada and the Rockies and ...

Full Story

Fourth of July fireworks bans

Drought-stricken areas ban fireworks

Expansive restrictions are in place, with many U.S. cities and counties outlawing even sparklers.  

Affected states 

Also: 

• Grand plans in Philly
• Precautions with pets
• How to stay hydrated

Eight

Top 10 Invented Languages

Inventing a language from scratch might seem like an odd way to spend your time, but there are good reasons to do it. People create languages for scientific, cultural and artistic purposes: to test theories about how the brain works, to help people communicate, to 'improve' existing languages, or because they just need a new language for a book they're writing.
Here are some of the best examples of invented languages.

The 6 Most Terrible Publicity Stunts Ever

I’m sure you guys all are familiar with the Scope’s Monkey Trial, but did you know that the whole thing was actually just an overblown publicity stunt to help attract travelers to visit the town of Dayton, Tennessee? Learn more about the trial as well as other irresponsible publicity stunts in this great Cracked article.

Treasure worth 'billions' found in Indian temple

A treasure trove of gold and silver jewellery, coins and precious stones said to be worth billions of dollars has been found inside secret chambers in a Hindu temple in southern India, officials said.

Treasure worth 'billions' found in Indian temple

B.C.

Squirrel dodges Lamborghini

Squirrel dodges a speeding Lamborghini

A squirrel crosses paths with a sports car going 100 miles per hour and somehow survives.

Watch 

Also: 

• More on the sports car
• Player's dubious spray
• Kobayashi stages event

First Cookiecutter Shark Attack on Humans Documented Scientifically

Photo: Sharkdivers blogspot

A paper published in the June edition of Pacific Science details the "First documented attack on a live human by a cookiecutter shark". Pictured above, the cookiecutter shark uses large teeth fixed in its bottom jaw to bite out a cookie-cutter shaped piece of flesh from its victim. They might be better named "melonballer" sharks based on their suspected modus operandi:

Article continues: First Cookiecutter Shark Attack on Humans Documented Scientifically

Seven Terrifying Man-Eating Beasts

From a one-ton crocodile that may have killed 300 people to a leopard who munched on 250 different victims, this list of man-eating beasts will astound you.

Canine Vision

Dogs are red-green color blind. They see a brighter and less detailed world when compared to humans. Peripheral vision is better than humans (dogs see more of the world), but distance is not judged quite as well.
Dogs excel at night vision and the detection of moving objects. The picture below is a rough guesstimate of what a dog and human might see when viewing a color band.

Bubble Ring

Dolphins make and play with bubble rings.

Dog allergic to grass gets specially made boots

A beloved pet Jack Russell Terrier has to be dressed in specially made boots for walkies to protect his delicate paws because he is allergic to grass. Long-suffering eight-year-old Jaxs suffers a painful reaction if he comes into contact with even a single blade of grass.

The allergy causes huge clumps of fur to fall out and leaves Jaxs suffering huge sores on his sensitive paws. But Jaxs’ life was transformed after a local vet suggested his owner Maria Domanic fit him out in ‘doggy boots’.

Little Jaxs has become so attached to the boots, which are made of canvas and attached using velcro, that he even picks them up in his mouth before walkies. Maria, who has had Jaxs since a pup, said: ”As soon as I got the lead he runs off and gets his boots and if another dog comes round or anyone tries to pick them up he will run off and protect them.

”He even sleeps with them in his basket. I’ve had a few people make some odd comments branding me ‘cruel’ and ‘disgusting’ for dressing him up in clothes. I have to explain it’s for his own good and not some fashion statement I’m trying to make.”

A Cat and a pair of Dolphins play together

Oregon bicyclists attacked by angry bird

Bicyclists in eastern Oregon say they're getting whacked on the head by an angry bird.

Full Story

Animal Pictures