The Daily Drift

The Daily Drift

Today's horoscope says:

Finding creative new ways to earn or save money will be a fun challenge for you today. 

From clipping coupons to starting a lucrative home business, you will enjoy getting more for your money and your time -- and you might find that you have quite a knack for it! 

Over the next few months, your increasing wealth might cause some people to be very envious of you. 

If that happens, share your secrets for financial success!

Some of our readers today have been in: 

Madrid, Madrid, Spain
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil
Tranbjerg, Arhus, Denmark
London, England, United Kingdom
Paris, Ile-De-France, France
Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
Manila, Manila, Philippines
Kuala Lumpur, Wilayah Persekutuan, Malaysia
Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom
Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Austalia
Scarborough, Ontario, Canada
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Crawley, England, United Kingdom
Newbury, England, United Kingdom
Groningen, Groningen, Netherlands
Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand
Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

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 Crystal River, Pompano Beach, Lake City, Key West and more.

Today is:

Today is Tuesday, September 6, the 249th day of 2011.

There are 116 days left in the year.

Today's unusual holiday or celebration is:

Another Look Unlimited Day.

  

Don't forget to visit our sister blog!

Non Sequitur

Tuneful Tuesday

Random Celebrity Photo

Daily Comic Relief

Car dealer service secrets

Secrets of a car dealer service manager

Auto owners are often told they need to get a job done when they don't, says an insider.

  His best piece of advice 

Also: 

• Automotive repair tips
• Biggest gas guzzlers
• Best used cars to buy

Misnomers

A misnomer is a term which suggests an interpretation that is known to be untrue.

Here are a few examples:

* An inchworm is neither an inch long, nor a worm.
* Greenland is icy and Iceland is greener)
* Panama hats are not made in Panama, but Ecuador
* The “lead” in pencils is made of graphite and clay, not lead
* Northwestern University is in northeastern Illinois, a midwestern state.
* “Tin foil” is almost always actually aluminum.
* Catgut is made from sheep intestines.
* The Hundred Years’ War did not last for 100 years but 116.
* Head cheese is actually a meat product.
* “Horny toads” or “horned frogs” are actually lizards.
* Though a starfish is star-shaped, as the name suggests, it is not a fish.
* An inchworm is neither an inch long, nor a worm.
* The titmouse is a bird, not a mouse.
* Jellyfish are not fish.
* The Washington Redskins play in Landover, Maryland.
* The New York Jets and New York Giants play in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
* Scotland Yard is located in England.
* The “funny bone” is not a bone — the phrase instead refers to the ulnar nerve.
* During its peak, rush hour often lasts more than an hour, with very little, if any, movement.
* A parkway is a type of street or road where parking is generally prohibited.
* A residential driveway is intended for parking.

Top eight online degrees

The eight most popular online degrees

Business administration and computer technology lead the pack in enrollment. 

Why students flock to these majors 

Also: 

• Good reasons to quit
• Working for a bad boss
• States losing business

And there's the rub ...

Ten fields that are hiring

Ten fields that are looking to hire

Employers say they can't find enough candidates for these high-growth positions.  

Pay can top $100,000 

Also: 

• Advice for applicants
• Resumé goofs to avoid
• Juggling multiple jobs

Did you know ...

The top 25 U.S. companies paid their CEO's more than they paid in taxes.

Who really creates jobs?

35 ways unions have improved your life.

House Passed Bill Which Closes the "Offshore Outsourcing" International Corporate Tax Scheme

A little observed provision to remove the tax incentives to offshore outsource your job was passed last Friday by the House of Representatives in the American Workers, State, and Business Relief Act of 2010 bill.

Full Story

Reflections of a repugican operative who left the cult

Great (long) piece over at TruthOut by Mike Lofgren, a repugican congressional staffer who finally quit.

It should have been evident to clear-eyed observers that the repugican party is becoming less and less like a traditional political party in a representative democracy and becoming more like an apocalyptic cult, or one of the intensely ideological authoritarian parties of 20th century Europe.

A couple of years ago, a repugican committee staff director told me candidly (and proudly) what the method was to all this obstruction and disruption. Should repugicans succeed in obstructing the Senate from doing its job, it would further lower Congress's generic favorability rating among the American people. By sabotaging the reputation of an institution of government, the party that is programmatically against government would come out the relative winner.

If you think Paul Ryan and his Ayn Rand-worshipping colleagues aren't after your Social Security and Medicare, I am here to disabuse you of your naiveté.[5] They will move heaven and earth to force through tax cuts that will so starve the government of revenue that they will be "forced" to make "hard choices" - and that doesn't mean repealing those very same tax cuts, it means cutting the benefits for which you worked.

During the week that this piece was written, the debt ceiling fiasco reached its conclusion. The economy was already weak, but the repugican's disgraceful game of chicken roiled the markets even further. Foreigners could hardly believe it: Americans' own crazy political actions were destabilizing the safe-haven status of the dollar. Accordingly, during that same week, over one trillion dollars worth of assets evaporated on financial markets. Russia and China have stepped up their advocating that the dollar be replaced as the global reserve currency - a move as consequential and disastrous for US interests as any that can be imagined.

If repugicans have perfected a new form of politics that is successful electorally at the same time that it unleashes major policy disasters, it means twilight both for the democratic process and America's status as the world's leading power.

Describing teabaggers in a nutshell

Even mild cognitive impairment appears to substantially increase risk for death

Cognitive impairment, even when detected at an early, mild stage, is a significant predictor of decreased life expectancy.

According to a new, long-term study from Regenstrief Institute and Indiana University...

Full Story

Time for flu shots, and some may get a tiny needle

The first flu shot that works with a less-scary skin prick instead of an inch-long needle is hitting the market this fall.

Full Story

Inflammation may be part of the diabetes solution, not the problem

Increased low-grade inflammation in the body resulting from obesity is widely viewed as contributing to type 2 diabetes.

Going against this long-held belief, researchers from Children’s Hospital Boston report ...

 Full Story

Culinary DeLites

Creative, real world ways to save on groceries

How to perfectly grill steak

Essential grilling techniques

Eight essential grilling techniques

Find out what "mopping" and a can of beer have to do with creating mouth-watering BBQ.  

 How apple juice helps 

Also: 

• Easy recipes in a hurry
• Cook everything better
• World's best foods

Ten Excellent Little-Known Condiments

 

image credit

The next time you have a party you should take a totally different approach and use some condiments you've either never heard of or never thought to try. Ketchup is great and all, but a barbecue with friends is the perfect opportunity to impress them with your cultured sense in unconventional condiments.

Picnic among the blossoms

Cherry Blossoms

Tropical Storm Lee hits Southeast

Heavy rains from storm Lee hit Southeast

The remnants of Lee have the potential to dump 10-15 inches of rain across the Gulf region.

  Teen swept away 

Also: 

• Texas fires kill 2
• Winds spread flames
• Spawn several tornadoes

Wildfires burn over 500 homes

Well, if one were to follow 'wingnut logic' - one would say the fires are "'god's' way of telling Perry he's an stupid and ignorant asshole"

'Catastrophic' wildfires destroy homes

Texas battles some of the worst blazes in state history, forcing Gov. Perry to leave the campaign trail.

  'Devastating' 

Also: 

• Calif. battles plane fire
• Lee spawns twisters
• Latest on Hurricane Katia

Missing explosives found along roadside

Explosives that went missing from Phoenix's international airport during a routine police training several days ago, causing authorities to search the airport several times over the weekend, were spotted by a passing motorist sitting next to a roadside on Monday, police said.

Full Story

Prison Visitation Fee

Once again, Arizona is setting new standards for the world: Arizona prisons charge visitors $25 to see inmates.

Visitors to Arizona prison are being charged $25 to see inmates in a move believed to be the first of its kind in the U.S., it has emerged.
Relatives and friends of prisoners arriving at the jail have to pay the one-off 'background check fee' on their first visit.
On the department's website, it declares: 'All adult visitors applying on or after July 20, 2011 must pay a one time, non-refundable, $25.00 background check fee in accordance with Department Order 911.'

Sweden Developing Invisible Tank

Swedish engineers are working on a tank that will be able to blend into the background — whatever that background may be. It’s covered with a skin that can change its appearance:

The technology is based on sheets of hexagonal ‘pixels’ that are able to change temperature very quickly.
On-board cameras collect images of the vehicle’s background and display that infra-red image onto the vehicle panels, making it appear to vanish.

Full Story

Oh, and don't bother trying to find the tank in the accompanying photo - it ain't there.

Ziggy

The Search Is on for Lost Da Vinci

A special camera is in the works to peer inside a 14th-century wall, where a lost Da Vinci fresco may lie.

Read more 

Gladiator ruins unveiled

Ancient gladiator school unveiled

If a gladiator was successful, he'd get a chance to become a star or maybe even achieve freedom.  

How they lived 

Also: 

• Early humans' axes
• Scientist's chimp campout
• A modern 'man camp'

Unique Roman gladiator ruins unveiled in Austria

They lived in cells barely big enough to turn around in and usually fought until they died.
Full Story

Awesome Pictures

Ventifacts

 

Ventifacts are rocks that have been abraded, pitted, etched, grooved, or polished by wind-driven sand or ice crystals. These geomorphic features are most typically found in arid environments where there is little vegetation to interfere with aeolian particle transport, where there are frequently strong winds, and where there is a steady but not overwhelming supply of sand.

Grand Teton National Park

Grand Teton National Park

Grand Teton National Park- Official Page

Inevitability

Colorado dog celebrated for having such long ears

Harbor has over two feet of ears.
Does that make him a 6-foot dog?
Probably not.
But on Tuesday, the black-and-tan coonhound from Boulder, Colorado, gets the 2012 Guinness World Records title for "longest ears on a living dog.
"His left ear is 12.25 inches long and his right is 13.5 inches long.
Owner Jennifer Wert says when her 8-year-old was a puppy he would trip on his ears and roll down stairs.

Full Story

B.C.

Laughing

Animal Science

Crabs keep cool with giant claws
BBC Nature

Giant crocodile captured alive

Huge crocodile captured in Philippines

The giant animal is suspected of having attacked a fisherman who went missing in July.

  What they plan to do with it 

Also: 

• Sri Lanka counts elephants
• Woman sleeps like chimp
• Woolly rhino fossil found

A Fox on Stilts?

No, it’s not a fox at all, but a maned wolf (Chrysocyon brachyurus), the largest canid in South America. The maned wolf is actually neither a wolf nor a fox, but is a canid with its own genus. With those long legs, this dog can grow to be three feet tall! See more pictures at The Featured Creature.

Animal Pictures