The Daily Drift

The Daily Drift

Today's horoscope says:

Shy away from anything emotionally or physically dangerous today -- you should be concerned about safety.
A new opportunity has more risks than you initially realized, and you will have to do some thorough research to make sure that you are up for it.
If you are feeling a bit fragile, then let the people in power know that this might not be the best time for you.
There is no need to push yourself on this.
Play it safe -- this opportunity will come up again.

Some of our readers today have been in: 

Bitburg, Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany
Red Deer, Alberta, Canada
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Amsterdam, Noord-Holland, Netherlands
Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Berlin, Berlin, Germany
Ankara, Ankara, Turkey
Paris, Ile-De-France, France
Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil
Wuppertal, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany
London, England, United Kingdom
Quezon City, Manila, Philippines
Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia
Port Louis, Port Louis, Maruitius
Scarborough, Ontario, Canada
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
New Delhi, Delhi, India

Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany

Groningen, Groningen, Netherlands

Newbury, England, United Kingdom

Cork, Cork, Ireland

Morini, Morini, Comoros

Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Bonn, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany

Madrid, Madrid, Spain

Leeds, England, United Kingdom

Perth, Western Australia, 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 Brooklyn, Bronx, Queens, Manhattan and more.

Today is:

Today is Friday, September 16, the 259th day of 2011.

There are 106 days left in the year.

Today's unusual holiday or celebration is:

Stay Away From Seattle Day.

  

Don't forget to visit our sister blog!

Non Sequitur

Far-Out Friday

Planet like Tatooine of 'Star Wars' found

Many scientists doubted that worlds orbiting around two suns could really exist — until now.

  'Dramatic proof' 

Also: 

• Satellite will fall to Earth
• NASA's new rocket plans
• Space food for sale

'Tatooine' gives first direct proof of 2-sun planet

Luke Skywalker looks out over a desert dominated by two setting suns in an iconic scene from "Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope." But this isn't just the stuff of fiction.

Full Story

Culinary DeLites

10 foods to try this fall

Also: 

• The Easy-Bake Oven gets a makeover
• How to make perfect mac 'n' cheese
• The stories behind classic cocktails

Cities not to miss this year

The world's most vacation-worthy cities

Perennial favorites like Paris made the list, but so did several less-familiar locales.

  Affordable bacchanalia 

Also: 

• Top autumn getaways
• Gorgeous public pools
• Yahoo! Travel planner

New Beatles revelation

What the Beatles tour doc reveals

The Fab Four's contract sheds light on the iconic group’s stance on segregation in the 1960s.  

 Band's requests 

Also: 

• Big bucks for Crow's car
• Kat Von D tattoos Gaga
• Wyclef Jean supports Palin

Half of College Grads Come From Only 3 Countries

This is something quite interesting. According to new Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, almost half of all college graduates in the world come from only three countries: United States, China, and Japan.

Among the 34 OECD and G20 countries, nearly 26 percent of the total 255 million college-educated individuals between the ages of 25 and 64 hail from the United States. China comes in a distant second at 12.1 percent and Japan is a close third at 11.4 percent.

Full Story

Whoa - $19 billion in benefits goofs

$19 billion in jobless benefits errors

More than 10% of state unemployment payments were sent by mistake, data shows.  

 Labor Department cracks down 

Also: 

• The real jobs problem
• Hunt for work creatively
• Poll: U.S. on wrong course

Did you hear ...

The Senate passed the disaster relief package and voted down Rand Paul’s proposal to cut foreign aid to pay for it...

... teabagger central isn't amused.

Brother can you spare a dime?

Sung by Tom Waits

Emotions' toll on your wallet

How your emotions cost you money

If you think you should just take a deep breath before making a major money decision, you'd be wrong. 

Empathy gap 

Also: 

• Big retirement risks
• Money and marriage
• Pay off credit cards

A 5 year-old’s first job

Here’s  a truly  heartwarming story about the bond formed between a little 5-year-old girl and some construction workers.  It will make you believe that we can all make a difference when we give a child the gift of our time.
A young family moved into a house next to a vacant lot. One day a construction crew turned up to start building a house on the empty lot.
The young family’s 5-year-old daughter naturally took an interest in all the activity going on next door and spent much of each day observing the  workers.
Eventually the construction crew, all of them “gems-in-the-rough,” more or less, adopted her as a kind of project mascot. They chatted with her, let her sit with them while they had coffee and lunch breaks, and gave her little jobs to do here and there to make her feel important.
At the end of the first week, they even presented her with a pay envelope containing ten dollars. The little girl took this home to her mother who suggested that she take her $10 “pay” to the bank the next day to start a savings account.
When the girl and her mom got to the bank, the teller was equally impressed and asked the little girl how she had come by her very own paycheck at such a young age.  The little  girl proudly  replied, “I worked last week with a real construction crew building the new house next door to us.”
“Oh, my goodness gracious,” said the  teller, “and will you be working on the house again this week, too?”
The little girl replied, “I will, if those assholes at Lowe’s ever deliver the damn sheet rock.”

Need A Job?

The 10 most hated jobs in America

The 10 most hated jobs in America

A survey says employees can't stand these lines of work, but it's not because of the pay.  

 Surprising results 

Also: 

• Where the jobs aren't
• Pre-retirement questions
• How emotions cost you

The redneck policeman

Two guys are driving through Alabama when they get pulled over by a

state trooper. The trooper walks up, taps on the window with his
nightstick, the driver rolls down the window, and the trooper smacks
him in the head with the stick.

The driver says, “Why’d you do that?”

The trooper says, “You’re in Alabama, son. When I pull you over,
you’ll have your license ready.”

Driver says, “I’m sorry, officer, I’m not from around here.”

The trooper runs a check on the guy’s license, and he’s clean. He
gives the guy his license back and walks around to the passenger side
and taps on the window. The passenger rolls his window down, and the
trooper smacks him with the nightstick.

The passenger says, “What’d you do that for?”

The cop says,”Just making your wishes come true.”

The passenger asks, “Huh?”

The cop says, “I know that two miles down the road you’re gonna say:
‘I wish that jerk would’ve tried that stuff with me!’”

Zahra Baker's stepmother pleads guilty to death

The stepmother of Australian girl Zahra Baker has pleaded guilty to her death, nearly a year after the 10-year-old disappeared in the US. She will serve a maximum of 18 years in prison.

Elisa Baker, 43, entered a courtroom in North Carolina overnight wearing a hot-pink jail jumpsuit and handcuffs.

She sat between two defense lawyers and teared up before pleading guilty to second-degree murder, with aggravating factors that included dismembering Zahra's body.

Baker also pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice, and to charges unrelated to Zahra, including obtaining property by false pretenses and financial identity fraud.

Full Story

The Truth Hurts

The United States is not a christian nation.

72% of Americans disagree w/Rick Perry that social security is "a monstrous lie".

The tea party is the enemy.

Bonus News:

Here's a rundown on the repugican's the assault on voting rights.

Palin is a hypocrite and utter fraud

From the "Color us so surprised! (Not)" Department:

'Rogue' author calls Palin a 'hypocrite'

Joe McGinniss stirs a media frenzy with bombshell claims and harsh words about the former governor.  

 'Utter fraud' 

Also: 

• Levi on Bristol pregnancy

The truth be told

When the repugican tea baggers say uninsured Americans should die ...

... they are deadly serious.

...as it turns out, Paul was not speaking purely in hypotheticals. back in 2008, Kent Snyder — Paul's former campaign chairman — died of complications from pneumonia. Like the man in Blitzer's example, the 49-year-old Snyder...was relatively young and seemingly healthy when the illness struck. He was also uninsured. [the Kansas City star quoted his sister at the time as saying that a "a pre-existing condition made the premiums too expensive."] when he died on June 26, 2008, two weeks after Paul withdrew his first bid for the presidency, his hospital costs amounted to $400,000. - More

Health care CEO's want Medicare age raised to 67

Of course they do.
How divorced from reality are these selfish bastards?
It's an industry that has been extremely profitable even during one of the toughest recessions in decades.
The Big Pharma businesses have received massive gifts from both the shrub and Obama when both decided that it was somehow a violation of capitalism to negotiate prices.
As for the insurance company, what else can you say about an industry where one CEO received a payout of $100 million last year and this year is charging into it's third year of record profits?
Wouldn't it be nice is someone - anyone, from either party - actually gave a damn about voters who don't have deep pockets?

How much more can the middle class take of this bashing by the ruling class? The more important question is how much more of this nonsense will voters accept before they reject both parties?

Bloomberg:

A congressional panel negotiating U.S. spending cuts should raise the age when people become eligible for Medicare to 67 from 65, a group representing health-care chief executives said today.

The Washington-based Healthcare Leadership Council included the recommendation in four proposals it said would save $410 billion in a decade, along with having private health plans to cover additional Medicare recipients and make people earning more than $150,000 pay for the full cost of the program’s premiums. Pfizer Inc. (PFE) and Merck & Co., the two largest U.S. drugmakers by revenue, are members of the council.

“This supercommittee process is a unique opportunity to do more than simply chop away at budgets,” Mary Grealy, the group’s president, said in a statement, referring to the 12- member congressional debt panel. The council called for overhauling the legal liability system for medical providers.

How dangerous is listeria?

What is listeria and how dangerous is it?

An outbreak linked to cantaloupe has caused 15 hospitalizations and one death.  

 Symptoms, risk factors 

Also: 

• Melon farm issues recall
• Biggest global killers
• Flu tips for moms-to-be

Funny Pictures

Crucial tips for refinancing

Key steps for getting the best mortgage

One missing document or delay could easily jeopardize your chances of scoring a great rate.  

 'First in, first out' 

Also: 

• Current mortgage rates
• 5 new real-estate rules
• Foreclosures on rise

Foreclosure actions soar

Banks get tougher on foreclosures

Lenders tighten the screws on homeowners, signaling the start of a trend.

  10 hardest-hit states 

Also: 

• Jobless claims rise
• Inflation up in August
• Slashing expenses by $3K

The $3.5 million castle in Oklahoma

$3.5 million castle in Oklahoma

Every detail in this mansion is meant to feel medieval, including its turrets and Gothic windows. 

  Price cut of $500K 

Also: 

• Billionaire selling island
• More castles for sale
• Most expensive cities

Confused couple's Web hit

Cute couple's accidental Web stardom

Two grandparents fumbling with their laptop's webcam inadvertently create a hilarious viral hit.

What's trending now 

Also: 

• Windows 8 preview
• Secure password tips
• Online social blunders

Ziggy

Puzzling art seen from above

Mysterious lines visible only from above

Aerial photography reveals thousands of ancient "wheels" that stretch from Syria to Saudi Arabia.

  Puzzling purpose 

Also: 

• Lights dazzle Southwest
• Battle of ancient beasts
• Whale shocks scientists

Photos capture day and night

Day and night captured in vivid photos

Photographers get the ambitious task of blending both times of day into one shot. 

  See dazzling picture that won challenge 

Also: 

• Microscopic worlds
• The great outdoors
• Hilariously bad artwork

Mystery light baffles residents

Mysterious light in sky baffles residents

Diners at a California burger joint describe the flashes seen across the Southwest.  

 'I thought it was fireworks' 

Also: 

• NASA scientist's theory
• '70s UFO 'abductee' dies
• China UFO explanation

B.C.

Banned from hunting - Worldwide

A North Carolina man who bagged a deer and a bobcat in Kentucky without getting the proper permits has found himself banned from hunting anywhere in the world for two years.

NC man banned from hunting worldwide in plea deal

Bringing Black Turtles Back from the Brink With Photography

Photo via Neil Ever Osborne

Have you heard of the black sea turtle? Odds are you haven't. Species like loggerhead, leatherback and hawksbill tend to dominate conservation news headlines. However, the black sea turtle (a morph of the green turtle) nearly disappeared from the planet, and still teeters precariously toward extinction. A special project aims to shed light on not only the plight of this species, but the amazing story about how it has made a recovery thanks to the hope-beyond-hope efforts of a handful of people.

Article continues: Bringing Black Turtles Back from the Brink With Photography

Escaped Pet Birds Are Teaching Wild Birds to Speak English

 

Photo: enlewof / cc

Across parts of Australia, reports have been pouring in of strange voices chattering high in the treetops -- mysterious, non-sensical conversations in English. But while this phenomenon is certainly quite odd, its explanation isn't paranormal. It turns out that escaped pet birds, namely parrots and cockatoos, have begun teaching their wild bird counterparts a bit of the language they picked up from their time in captivity -- and, according to witnesses, that includes more than a few explicatives.

Article continues: Escaped Pet Birds Are Teaching Wild Birds to Speak English

Massive rare animal haul found in Thai truck

Thai authorities have seized over 3,000 rare animals in the biggest wildlife trafficking raid reported in the south-east Asian nation this year.

Customs department director-general Prasong Poontaneat said officials confiscated 2,721 monitor lizards, 717 turtles, 44 civets and 20 snakes after stopping a truck in the southern province of Prachuap Khiri Khan.

YouTube link.

The animals are protected by a convention on international trade in endangered species of which Thailand is a member. Mr Prasong said the truck's driver was also detained.

He said that the animals were worth more than four million Thai baht (£83,600) and were being trafficked through the region.

The 12 Most Venomous Snakes on Earth

The nearly universal human fear of snakes is caused by the minority of them that can kill you. Venomous snakes are found all over the temperate zones of the world. Find out which ones are the most dangerous, and whether they may be near you! Pictured is a small but deadly African snake called the boomslang.

Full Story

Paleontological News

Feathers from dinosaurs found preserved in amber

In science fiction, amber is what preserved the DNA that allowed rebirth of dinosaurs in Jurassic Park.

Full Story

Acherontisuchus Guajiraensis: Prehistoric Giant Crocodile Versus The World's Largest Snake

A giant crococile versus a giant snake in a Colombian coal mine? It sounds even more awesome than "Mega Shark Versus Giant Octopus", except the real life version does not have Debbie Gibson.

Full Story

Lions Vs Hyenas

A Long-Running, Pleistocene Rivalry  

image credit

The bad blood between lions and spotted hyenas runs deep, and is one of the most celebrated rivalries in nature. Their gory competition over carcasses on the African savanna has been memorialized in numerous wildlife documentaries.

The competition between the species has only existed as long as both have been around - but fossil evidence from prehistoric Europe at least partially documents how far back lions and hyenas have been snarling at each other.

Animal Pictures