The Daily Drift

The Daily Drift

Today's horoscope says:

When it becomes dramatically clear that you can't do it all today, you'll have to let go of some of your obligations. 

But this is very good news -- and it will send a message to someone powerful that you are not superhuman. 

Adjusting expectations is important, and doing so is sometimes necessary if you want to keep harmony in your life. 

You'd do well to adjust some of your own expectations of someone close to you. 

The fact that the two of you are not on the same page isn't a problem.

Some of our readers today have been in:

Madrid, Madrid, Spain
Kuching, Sarawak. Malaysia
London, England, United Kingdom
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Albury, New South Wales, Australia
Berlin, Berlin, Germany
Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany
Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia
Paris, Ile-De-France, France
Perth, Western Australia, Australia
Kuala Lumpur, Wilayah Persekutuan, Malaysia
Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
Sandakan, Sabah, Malaysia
Groningen, Groningen, Netherlands
Newbury, England, United Kingdom
Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
Milton Keynes, England, United Kingdom
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Venice, Veneto, Italy
Ankara, Ankara, Turkey

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 Coalinga, Chantilly, Carlsbad, Charlotte and more.

Today is:

Today is Friday, August 19, the 231st day of 2011.

There are 134 days left in the year.

Today's unusual holidays or celebrations are:

There aren't any.

  

Don't forget to visit our sister blog!

The truth be told

Are babies smarter than we think?

Once again, science is catching up with what moms already know – our own babies are the most brilliant people ever.

Here are the studies that show exactly how intelligent those ironic-onesie-wearing infants really are.

Read More

'Three dead' as storm hits festival

At least three people have died after a storm hit an open-air music festival in Belgium, according to reports a storm has swept through an open-air music festival in eastern Belgium, killing at least three people and injuring more than 70 others, an official said.

Full Story

Non Sequitur

Threat over Letterman joke

David Letterman threatened over joke

The comedian is targeted on a jihadist website for comments he made about an al-Qaida leader.

FBI treating seriously 

Also: 

• O'Donnell on CNN walkout
• Reynolds losing home?
• Anthony parents to speak

Syria's leader must go

U.S. demands Syria's leader step down

Obama says Assad is "imprisoning, torturing, and slaughtering his own people" and must go.  

Tough sanctions 

Also: 

• EU joins call to resign
• Crimes against humanity
• Army defectors hunted

Mimi and Eunice

Secret Service agent arrested for DUI

A Secret Service agent on assignment in Iowa to help with presidential security has been arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence.

Full Story

Police seek man wearing flowery dress with panties over head who robbed gas station

Detectives from the Dallas Police Departments Crimes Against Persons Unit are asking for the public's assistance in identifying and locating an aggravated robbery suspect who robbed the Exxon Tigermart at 2503 Lemmon Ave. This crime took place on August 16, 2011 at 5:25 AM.

YouTube link.

In the surveillance video, the suspect is seen entering the store wearing what appears to be a black and white flower dress with white boots. His face is also covered with what appears to be undergarments. He demands money from the cashier and a patron while holding what could possibly be a gun under the dress. He then flees the store in an unknown direction. The suspect is described as a white male, 5'05" and weighing 145 lbs

Bad advice on retirement

Beware of misleading retirement advice

These widely accepted rules might be steering you in the wrong direction. 

  The 'safe' strategy that isn't 

Also: 

• Boost retirement security
• Know your true wealth
• Great jobs for retirees

Justice Department finally investigating S&P mortgage ratings

To be fair to the Justice Department, the crash only occurred in 2008 and they've been busy prosecuting the bankers who caused the crash. Oh wait.

NY Times:

The Justice Department is investigating whether the nation’s largest credit ratings agency, Standard & Poor’s, improperly rated dozens of mortgage securities in the years leading up to the financial crisis, according to two people interviewed by the government and another briefed on such interviews.

The investigation began before Standard & Poor’s cut the United States’ AAA credit rating this month, but it is likely to add fuel to the political firestorm that has surrounded that action. Lawmakers and some administration officials have since questioned the agency’s secretive process, its credibility and the competence of its analysts, claiming to have found an error in its debt calculations.

In the mortgage inquiry, the Justice Department has been asking about instances in which the company’s analysts wanted to award lower ratings on mortgage bonds but may have been overruled by other S.& P. business managers, according to the people with knowledge of the interviews. If the government finds enough evidence to support such a case, which is likely to be a civil case, it could undercut S.& P.’s longstanding claim that its analysts act independently from business concerns.

If they do manage to move these cases forward and prosecute it suggests that once again, those at the low end of the market will take the beating. The credit rating agencies deserve punishment for their dodgy business but what everyone wants is to see the banks brought to justice.

Why Feds are eyeing Standard & Poor's

The government is reviewing the rating agency's role in the mortgage crisis for two reasons.  

Analysis 

Also: 

• S&P downgrade reviewed
• Fitch keeps U.S. at AAA
• Mortgage rates fall again

Shake, Rattle and Fall

Stocks fall sharply on global worries

The Dow plunges 4% as the market opens to fears about European banks.  

Bad U.S. economic news, too 

Also: 

• Global growth forecast cut
• Jobless claims rise
• Consumer prices shoot up

Why Europe will keep rattling stocks

The market's jumpiness rests on fears over France and Germany that won't end soon.  

A toxic brew abroad 

Also: 

• Don't hit panic button
• Second Great Depression?
• Lowest mortgage rates

Iconic brands that fizzled out

Iconic brands that fizzled out

Woolworth's, General Cinemas, and Diners Club once had big sales and lots of buzz.  

Where each went wrong 

Also: 

• Entrepreneur mistakes
• Surviving startup stress
• Career backup plans

Students sour about Hershey's

Hundreds walk out of Hershey's factory

The exchange students are fed up with the working conditions at the candy factory. 

Why money isn't enough 

Also: 

• More on the factory
• Unemployment rises
• Will repugicans block Obama?

Fifteen surprising microwave uses

15 surprising uses for your microwave

This handy appliance can sanitize your cutting board and help you get more juice from citrus.

  Quick applesauce 

Also: 

• Microwave reviews
• What's for dinner?
• Healthy fruit recipes

America's best new restaurants

America's best new restaurants of 2011

Eateries in Chicago, Charleston, S.C., and Seattle make one food writer's list of favorites. 

His 10 picks 

Also: 

• Cooking tips from a pro
• Misleading drink labels
• Low-cal snack recipes

Four items to ban from your kitchen for healthy cooking

4 items to ban from your kitchen for healthy cooking

From Japan To Your Table

Sushi

 

Sushi is a very popular food these days, and many cities offer a wide variety of sushi restaurants to choose from. Still, this Japanese style cuisine is not as well known to Americans as, say, Mexican or Italian dishes are. Here are some fun and useful things to know about sushi when you go to eat in your local Japanese restaurant.

Daily Comic Relief

Iconic image's untold story

Untold story behind iconic photo

The subject of "American Girl in Italy" wants you to know what really took place in 1951.

Was it staged? 

Also: 

• Photographer Ruth Orkin
• Anti-gravity yoga craze
• Sumo wrestlers bring joy

Six Weird But Cool Cameras

The gun camera. The trigger works just like one on a regular gun, which gives a whole new meaning to shooting wildlife.

Full Story

Ziggy

Where to travel on the cheap

Cheapest places to vacation right now

Flights and hotels cost less than ever for these seven desirable destinations.  

Soft sand, Caribbean Sea views 

Also: 

• Safest U.S. airports
• Plan your next trip
• Places you shouldn't stay

And I Quote

A dreamer is one who can only find his way by moonlight, and his punishment is that he sees the dawn before the rest of the world.

~ Unknown

Mexican Government To Release State Protected Mayan Secrets

There are more than 3 million websites on the internet dedicated to the upcoming end of the Mayan calendar in 2012 and therefore they will welcome the announcement just made by the Mexican government.

Full Story

Mexican man captures live fairy

An unemployed 22-year-old bricklayer who claims he found a fairy has caused a commotion in this western Mexican metropolis. Jose Maldonado, who charges a monetary “donation” in exchange for displaying what appears to be a simple plastic figure kept in a container of formaldehyde, says he has already received 3,000 visits from people eager to see the so-called fairy at his home in Lomas Verdes, one of Guadalajara’s poorest and most dangerous neighborhoods.

“I was picking guavas and I saw a twinkling. I thought it was a firefly. I picked it up and felt that it was moving; when I looked at it I knew that it was a fairy godmother,” Maldonado said. The tale of the fairy that Maldonado claims to have discovered last weekend has run like wildfire through the area and his home is now besieged by the curious, some of whom wait for up to an hour to enter, according to what Efe was able to verify on Thursday.

What Maldonado shows the paying public is a small container filled with formaldehyde containing a humanlike figure about 2 centimetres (0.8 inch) tall, with a gelatinous consistency and a certain resemblance to Peter Pan’s Tinkerbell. Maldonado says that what seems to be just a little plastic figure is a fairy and that it was alive when he found it. And there are those who believe him. “I’ve seen everything and, yes, I believe the fairy is real. Therefore, I wanted to come to confirm that those myths are true,” Cesar Ramirez, one of the visitors, said.

YouTube link.

To be allowed to examine the “fairy” for a few seconds and take a photograph of it, the curious must make a donation to financially help out Maldonado, who recently lost his job. His neighbors have also taken advantage of the situation to sell photographs and keyrings with the image of the fairy for about 20 pesos ($1.60), as well as refreshments including drinks and food to those people while they wait in line outside Maldonado’s house.

Swedish house up for sale, complete with skeleton

A Swedish real estate agent has an unusual piece of property up for sale: a five-bedroom house, complete with medieval tomb and skeleton in the cellar.

The central Visby town house on the Baltic Sea island of Gotland was built in 1750 on the foundations of a Russian church.

Full Story

Housing rebound cities

Recession-proof cities for housing

Home values have been rising steadily since January in these metropolitan areas.  

Florida's big comeback 

Also 

• Houses under $150,000
• Homebuilding decline
• Green home renovations

Top 9 Strange Streets In The World

 

image credit 

Did you know that the world's shortest street is only 6 ft 9 in? Or that the world's narrowest street is 12.2 in? Or that the steepest street is Baldwin Street in Dunedin in New Zealand?

Here are the top 9 strangest streets in the world.

Awesome Pictures

Underwater Cave Stretches Five Kilometers

Near Orda, a Russian village in the Ural Mountains, you can find an enormous underwater gypsum cave. It’s one of the largest in the world, with galleries stretching as far as five kilometers. Victor Lyagushkin led a team of divers deep inside to photograph this natural wonder. You can view many beautiful pictures of it here. 

What's the age of the moon?

That old moon might not be as antique as we thought, some scientists think. 

They say it's possible that it isn't a day over 4.4 billion years old.

Full Story

B.C.

Newly Discovered Skull Teaches About Dogs

Researchers recently uncovered a canine skull that is over 33,000 years old, making it the oldest evidence of the evolution between wolves and dogs that we’ve ever found.

The skull shows a mixture of traits seen in dogs and wolves. The snout is similar in size to early domesticated dogs in Greenland from around 1,000 years ago, but its large teeth are closer to those found in 31,000-year-old European wolves.

Learn more about the skull and what it means to scientists here. 

Rare 'bugnado' swarm seen

Rare 'bugnado' swarm caught on tape

Scientists offer a simple explanation for the airborne insect frenzy recently spotted in Iowa.

  The amazing video 

Also: 

• Hidden wildlife cameras
• Rare ancient insect found
• First vampire bat death

Six Terrifying Animal Weapons

Humans might be one of the only animals to use tools as weapons, but Crack has a great list of animals born with weapons built right into their bodies -like the Giant Amazonian Centipede’s ninja skills, which allow him to catch and eat whole bats.

Full Story

Fanged Frogs Are Highly Evolved

These frogs aren’t going to give up their legs lightly. Species of frog are rapidly evolving adaptations, such as the small fangs they’ve grown,  on the island of Sulawesi, Indonesia, and scientists are amazed by how far they’ve come in such a short period of time. One reason is their lack of competition on the island, another reason being the frogs that live on the island all dwell within their own individual pocket, so as to avoid further rivalry over food. Nine species of frogs on Sulawesi have never been documented by scientist before, and thirteen species have developed the cute little choppers, making them look like something out of a Twilight-Muppets crossover.

There’s lots more to read on the subject at PhysOrg.com.

Gigantic lobster finds new home

Freakishly huge lobster finds new home

A California seafood worker saved the colossal crustacean, which is thought to be 75 years old.  

 See its full size 

Also: 

• Global warming effect
• Giant rodent in Calif.
• Human germ imperils coral

Animal Pictures