The Daily Drift

The Daily Drift

Today's horoscope says:

Have you ever had one of those dreams in which you're trying to run fast but you can barely inch your way slowly forward? 

Today might feel a bit like that -- frustrating and limiting, but also somewhat interesting. 

It's not clear what's impeding your progress, and identifying these obstacles is actually not all that important right now. 

You have something to learn from this struggle -- keep trying to run faster.

Some of our readers today have been in: 

Kuala Lumpur, Wilayah Persekutuan, Malaysia
Madrid, Madrid, Spain
Rome, Lazio, Italy
Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Kota Bharu, Kelantan, Malaysia
Chatswood, New South Wales, Australia
London, England, United Kingdom
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia
Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada
Red Deer, Alberta, Canada
Berlin, Berlin, Germany
Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany
Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia
Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa
Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom
Scarborough, Ontario, Canada
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Yogyakarta, Yogyakarta, Indonesia
Tranbjerg, Arhus, Denmark
Paris, Ile-De-France, France
Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
Bonn, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany
Taipei, Taipei, Taiwan

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 Rancho Cordova, Long Beach, Morgan Hill, San Jose and more.

Today is:

Today is Monday, September 4, the 248th day of 2011.

There are 117 days left in the year.

Today's unusual holiday or celebration is:

Be Late For Something Day.

  

Don't forget to visit our sister blog!

Non Sequitur

At the Age of 61, Man Returns to College Football

 

When he was 18, Alan Moore played college football for a year before leaving school to serve with the US Army in Vietnam. When he got back, Moore got a job, got married, and eventually had three children and five grandchildren. But the desire to play football returned to him. Now he’s back, 43 years later. Moore is now a student and a football player at Faulkner University, a small college in Montgomery, Alabama:

Eagles Head Coach Gregg Baker says Moore “got on me the first couple times we talked, because I kept calling him, ‘Yes sir.’ And he said, ‘Coach, you’re not supposed to call me “yes. I’m supposed to call you ‘Yes, sir.”‘[...]
Says Baker, “Alan came to us back in the spring and said, ‘My story is showing these kids there’s no reason to give up on your dreams, and there’s no reason not to continue trying to get your education.”
Moore lives in the dorms, eats in the cafeteria and attends class, proving, observes “Early Show on Saturday Morning” co-anchor Russ Mitchell, he has the mind, the heart and foot to compete with players young enough to be his grandchildren.

Full Story

Manic Monday

Fun facts about blinking

Fascinating facts about blinking

Babies blink far less frequently than adults, and one animal just winks instead.  

 Other oddities 

Also: 

• Astronaut vision issues
• 6 nights in a chimp nest
• Definition of 'lazy eye'

Check out NYC's Hottest Pool Party in a Vacant Parking Lot

The Pools at The Palms photo by Bonnie Hulkower

Several arts groups came together to create the 15,000 square-foot pool party space, cheekily named "The Palms." The idea is to look like a 1940s Florida resort hotel lobby, complete with fancy cocktails. But this is not your grandmother's Boca Raton 1940s summer party. This is a summer oasis in the industrial heart of Queens, New York. In addition to drinks, The Palms features DJs, dancing, food trucks and what every party needs: dumpsters that have been converted into swimming pools!

Article continues: Check out NYC's Hottest Pool Party in a Vacant Parking Lot

India, Bangladesh To Help People Stuck In Enclaves

A victim of absurd map drawing during the 1947 partition of the Indian subcontinent, the enclave has been all but abandoned by both nations.

Full Story

Brains

More details emerge on CIA links to Gaddafi

Al Jazeera reported US links the other day and now even more is emerging.

The CIA and other Western intelligence agencies worked closely with the ousted regime of Moammar Gadhafi, sharing tips and cooperating in handing over terror suspects for interrogation to a regime known to use torture, according to a trove of security documents discovered after the fall of Tripoli.

The revelations provide new details on the West's efforts to turn Libya's mercurial leader from foe to ally and provide an embarrassing example of the U.S. administration's collaboration with authoritarian regimes in the war on terror.

The documents, among tens of thousands found in an External Security building in Tripoli, show an increasingly warm relationship, with CIA agents proposing to set up a permanent Tripoli office, addressing their Libyan counterparts by their first names and giving them advice. In one memo, a British agent even sends Christmas greetings.

China Tried To Sell Arms To Gaddafi Near The End

Near the end of the Gaddafi regime, China tried to sell $200 million worth of weapons and ammunition to the strongman's Libyan loyalists, The Globe and Mail reports.

Report: China Tried To Sell Arms To Gaddafi Near The End

One Man Against Tyranny

You may be familiar with Claus von Stauffenberg, who conspired to kill Hitler with a bomb and who’s plot was the basis for the Tom Cruise film Valkyrie. But do you know about the many other attempts on Hitler’s life? One involved Georg Elser, who worked alone for a year on a plan to destroy the Fuhrer, with a bomb planted in a beer hall.

While Elser was in the bierkeller he noted the stone pillar just behind the speaker’s dais; it supported a substantial balcony along one wall. His rough calculations suggested that a large bomb placed within the pillar would bring down the balcony and bury both the Führer and a number of his chief supporters. The question was how to conceal a device sufficiently powerful to do the job within a piece of solid stonework.
Here again Elser proved to have precisely the qualities needed for the job. Knowing that he had a year to prepare, he went to work methodically, obtaining a low-paying job in an arms factory and taking whatever opportunities presented themselves to smuggle 110 pounds of high explosives out of the plant. A temporary job in a quarry supplied him with dynamite and a quantity of high-capacity detonators. In the evenings, he returned to his apartment and worked on designs for a sophisticated time bomb.

When the bomb finally went off, it killed eight people and injured 64 others -but Hitler was not one of them . Read the whole story at Past Imperfect.

Hobo Nickels

The Buffalo nickel, which was released by the US Mint in 1913, had a buffalo on one side and a nameless Native American on the other. Due to the hardness of its nickel-copper alloy, it was well-suited for carving. So many Americans worked designs and images into the surface. During the Great Depression, this practiced reached its zenith as unemployed, wandering men carved their own nickels in the hope of selling them for something greater than five cents. The tradition thrived for a generation, and surviving hobo nickels are prized by collectors.
Read all about this craft at Appalachian History.

Little Big

5 small ways to make big savings

By making some small changes to your spending, save more than £1,300 a year without giving anything up. Plan 

Also: 

• Top savings accounts
• Basic brands tested
• Why buy at charity shops

Happy Labor Day

Jobless face stiff competition

Surprise competition for the unemployed

Jobless Americans' stiffest challenge for scarce employment may come from those already working.  

Huge numbers 

Also: 

• U.S. job growth stalls
• Middle class homeless
• U.S. growth forecasts cut

Dueling Realities

Ways to make extra cash

Creative ways to make extra cash

How people supplement their income, from working as a mystery shopper to selling art online.  

Plasma for money 

Also: 

• Get salary you deserve
• The life of job jugglers
• End of 40-hour workweek

Best fall home improvements

Smartest home fix-up projects for fall

Do a few easy jobs now to cut your heating bills when the cold weather sets in. 

How to prevent roof damage 

Also: 

• Boost your home's value
• Time to buy real estate?
• Building-supply deals

Sneaky Charges On Home Loans

10 costly home loan 'extras' to watch for

On top of interest, lenders are cashing in on a variety of additional charges and fees that are hard to spot. Sneaky 

Also: 

• Mortgage advice
• Buying a house worth it?
• Why lenders say 'no'

Judge Mocks Attorneys with Court-Ordered Kindergarten Party

US District Judge Sam Sparks was utterly disgusted by the behavior of attorneys for both sides on a case, and so issued a formal order compelling them to attend a “kindergarten party.” More likely, though it was a stern lecture on professional courtesy and decorum. The attorneys responded by resolving their dispute, and the party was cancelled.

Court Document and News Article  | Note: image edited for space

Can Social Media Hipster Save Myspace?

Forget Justin Timberlake! You know who can "bring sexy back" to Myspace*? According to this clever webcomic by Matt Melvin of Cyanide and Happiness, it's social media hipsters.
After all, bell bottoms came back, so why not vintage social networking?
*Yes, folks - they're previously MySpace, now Myspace ... that website's not only gradually losing capital, its also losing capital letters)

Random Celebrity Photo

Six Pyschology Myths Everyone Believes

Have you ever been told that you need to let your anger out or it will explode? As it turns out, that’s completely wrong. Cracked has a great list of psychology myths everyone believes that are utterly and completely wrong.

Full Story

All you ever wanted to know about migraines

What you should know about migraines

It's a debilitating condition that affects one in seven people, but it is possible to manage migraines. 

Awareness 

Also: 

• Migraines
• Take the stress test
• Yoghurt link to depression

Health News

Bat Saliva Helps Stroke Victims

Saliva from vampire bats was being used to help treat stroke victims as part of a trial at UK hospitals, The Sunday Telegraph reported.

Full Story

Young Blood Can "Rejuvenate" Old Brain

Can this be the scientific basis for vampires staying young forever? Researchers at Stanford studying the effect of the age of blood donors have discovered something quite interesting (in mice, anyhow):

Researchers at Stanford University just published a study in Nature that may give new hope to those looking to stop the effects of aging on the brain. The study found that when blood from a young mouse was injected into an older mouse, that older mouse enjoyed what could almost be termed a "rejuvenation effect": it began producing more neurons, firing more activity across synapses, and even suffered less inflammation.
Interestingly, performing the reverse, in which a young mouse was injected with blood (or, more accurately, plasma, which is the parts of blood without blood cells), resulted in young mice with distinctly elderly attributes--increased inflammation, a reduction in the production of new neurons, that kind of thing.

Full Story

Ziggy

How healthy is the guava?

Guava is in season in India almost the whole year through. The fruit has a number of medicinal properties.

Full Story

Five nutrients you need

Five nutrients you're probably missing

Deficiency in one hard-to-get vitamin can leave you 80% more likely to suffer a heart attack or stroke.

The list 

Also: 

• Chocolate's heart benefit?
• Healthy fast-food burgers
• Least nutritious veggies

Perfectly juicy burgers

Secrets to perfectly juicy burgers

Adding cheese and barbecue sauce gives flavor and moisture to lean patties.  

Don’t ever do this to the meat 

Also: 

• Ultimate cheese spread
• Recipes for busy people
• Deep-dish apple pie

Mini Shepherd's Pie

Delicious mini shepherd's pie recipe

Give this classic family favourite a gastropub feel by serving it in individual pots. 

Ready in under 90 minutes 

Also: 

• Shepherd's pie
• Perfect profiteroles
• Classic fruit crumble

"Oyster Gardeners" Rebuild a Once Thriving Population in the Chesapeake Bay

Photo: Sam Beebe / Ecotrust

Scientists say that the Chesapeake Bay's oyster population has dramatically declined to 5 percent of what it was when European settlers first inhabited the area, according to an article in Reuters. Unsustainable fishing practices, diseases like MSX and Dermo, loss of habitat, and pollution have all led to a plummeting population. But Chesapeake Bay "oyster gardeners" are working against the grain to rebuild this crucial species.

Article continues: "Oyster Gardeners" Rebuild a Once Thriving Population in the Chesapeake Bay

Seaweed is Hot

Seaweed could soon be used to heat homes in remote Scottish villages - after scientists found a way to convert it into cheap "green" energy.

Seaweed to be used to heat Scottish homes

Supernova is best and brightest in decades

Twenty-one million years ago in the Pinwheel Galaxy - an elegant, spiral-armed neighbor of our own Milky Way - an old, dim star had a very bad day.

Full Story

Motor Made From A Single Molecule

Microscopic motor is the world's smallest

The gadget is one nanometre across - about 60,000 times smaller than the width of a human hair. Breakthrough 

Also: 

• Space polluted with 'junk'
• Weird animal hybrids
• Coral holds sunburn secret

B.C.

'One Cow Per Hectare' in Deforested Amazon

60% of the deforested rainforest is used for cattle but most of it is wasted.

Read more 

Wild hogs running rampant

Wild hogs run rampant in unusual locale

The voracious feral animals confound officials in one northern U.S. state.

'Houdini-like escape artists' 

Also: 

• Pig control under fire
• New 'stem cell zoo'
• Rare anteater threatened

Do Birds Have Thumbs?

Biologists have been trying to fathom whether the innermost digit of a bird's three-pronged wing acts like a thumb or an index finger.  

Read more 

Animal Pictures