The Daily Drift

The Daily Drift

Today's horoscope says:

If you have a firm idea about what you want to do today, you should stick to it! 

Do not let a new group of people sway you -- no matter how attractive or exciting their proposed alternative might be. 

These people are flightier than you think, and aligning your life with their lives might make things a bit too tumultuous for your current mood. 

What they promise is not really all that desirable to you, anyway.

 Some of our readers today have been in:
Madrid, Madrid, Spain
Red Deer, Alberta, Canada
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany
Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Paris, Ile-De-France, France
Cork, Cork, Ireland
Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
Kuala Lumpur, Wilayah Persekutuan, Malaysia
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia
Brantford, Ontario, Canada
Paya Lebar, Singapore, Singapore
Seoul, Kyonggi-Do, Korea
London, England, United Kingdom
Beirut, Beyrouth, lebanon
Sibu, Sarawak, Malaysia
Berlin, Berlin, Germany
Tweed Heads, New South Wales, Australia
Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia
Groningen, Groningen, Netherlands
Chatswood, New South Wales, Australia
Zagreb, Grad Zagreb, Croatia
Kemaman, Terengganu, Malaysia
Penza, Penza, Russia

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 Bellflower, Bonus Defeat, Henrico, Reno and more!

Today is:

Today is Sunday, October 16, the 289th day of 2011.

There are 76 days left in the year.

Today's unusual holiday or celebration is:

World Toy Camera Day.

  

Don't forget to visit our sister blog!

Non Sequitur

Subtle Sunday

Awesome Pictures

OWS @ Times Square

Protesters and police clash in New York

Thousands of Occupy Wall Street demonstrators rally in Times Square against corporate greed.

Arrests 

Also: 

• Worldwide protests
• Rioters strike Rome
• In need of leadership?

Frank and Ernest

Thrive in a bad economy

How to succeed in a stagnant economy

Take advantage of tough times to shore up your finances and boost career skills.  

12 smart ways to get ahead 

Also: 

• Build your savings
• Cut your expenses
• Reduce debt vs. invest

Crabby Road

State's unpaid bill problems

State owes huge amount in unpaid bills

Drowning in deficits, Illinois has taken a previous stop-gap measure to a whole new level.

  'It's a ridiculous situation' 

Also: 

• U.S. budget gap widens
• No fed help for Va. town
• S.D. schools tap reserves

Worst credit score cities

U.S. cities with the worst credit scores

People in these metro areas with high unemployment and foreclosure rates are struggling with debt. 

  Four in one state 

Also: 

• Ditching big banks
• Avoid these phone scams
• Is the lottery worth it?

It's a Blond World

Culinary DeLites

Are pancakes worth making from scratch?

The testers at Bon Appétit tackle a question many home cooks have long considered.  

 Controversial answer 

Also: 

• Cooking a better breakfast
• Best new restaurants
• How TV food looks great

America's best restaurants

The best new restaurants in America

It's possible you'll have one of the great meals of your life at his top pick, says Esquire's dining critic.

  Find out where 

Also: 

• Chef Fabio cooks up fish
• Giada's tips for meatballs
• Martha's mac 'n' cheese

Fifteen surprising uses for tea

15 surprising uses for tea

The ancient beverage can clean your carpets as well as beautify your hair and skin.  

 Full list of ideas 

Also: 

• 10 ways to de-stress
• What's for dinner?
• Healthy fruit recipes

Trees

How to keep a kitchen clean

Seven ways to keep a kitchen clean

You can easily minimize that enormous pile of dirty dishes with just a few steps.

Use one knife for everything 

Also: 

• Clean house in 30 minutes
• Don't fear these foods
• Cheap upgrades that pay

Ziggy

Tricks to staying sniffle-free

Simple tricks to staying sniffle-free

It's possible to get through cold and flu season without catching a single bug. 

  Advice for avoiding airplane germs 

Also: 

• Nicaragua swine flu cases
• CDC: Get flu shots now
• Heart disease declining

'Smart Drugs' Improve Surgeries

Surgeons given so-called "smart drugs" perform better, safer operations, a study by researchers at the Imperial College London and University of Cambridge has claimed.

Full Story

California Medical Association calls for legalizing marijuana

Wow, this is a really big deal.

The state's largest doctor group is calling for legalization of marijuana, even as it pronounces cannabis to be of questionable medical value.

Trustees of the California Medical Assn., which represents more than 35,000 physicians statewide, adopted the position at their annual meeting in Anaheim late Friday. It is the first major medical association in the nation to urge legalization of the drug, according to a group spokeswoman, who said the larger membership was notified Saturday.

Dr. Donald Lyman, the Sacramento physician who wrote the group's new policy, attributed the shift to growing frustration over California's medical marijuana law, which permits cannabis use with a doctor's recommendation. That, he said, has created an untenable situation for physicians: deciding whether to give patients a substance that is illegal under federal law.

That about sums it up

Dying woman's bold adventure

Dying woman's bold adventure

Told she has only months to live, a standup paddler sets out on the journey of a lifetime.  

 700-mile quest 

Also: 

• Injured BMX star returns
• Watch cliff collapse
• Mountain biker attacked

A 100-year-old marathon runner aims for record

British centenarian Fauja Singh hopes to become the oldest person ever to run a marathon in Toronto today.

After demolishing the records for 100-year-old men in all eight sprinting distances last week, Fauja Singh hopes that he will become the oldest person to run the full 26 miles of the Toronto marathon.

YouTube link.

He already owns a world record for fastest marathon run in the 90-year-old plus category after finishing in five hours, 40 minutes and one second in 2003 at the age of 92.

The centenarian was born on a farm in India in 1911 and started competitive running at the age of 89 after losing his wife and son.

Ok, if you say so.

California men sold guns from hot dog stand

Authorities say a Northern California hot dog vendor offered undercover officers more than just mustard, ketchup and relish on the side Fifty-eight-year-old Jose Gilberto Ortiz was arraigned in U.S. District Court in San Jose on Thursday on charges of selling firearms to the officers from his hot dog stand.

Full Story

Brothers Charged With Stealing Bridge

Two brothers have been charged with stealing a western Pennsylvania bridge and selling the 15 1/2 tons of scrap metal for more than $5,000. Police say 24-year-old Benjamin Arthur Jones and 25-year-old Alexander Williams Jones of New Castle used a blowtorch to break up the bridge in late September or early October.

Full Story

The Ten Richest Criminals Of All Time

 

Anyone who says crime doesn't pay should take a look at these men and women. This collection of bank robbers, drug dealers, crime lords and general scumbags shows that if you want to get ahead, sometimes it helps to chop off a few heads... White collar criminals like Bernard Madoff weren't considered for this list; the focus was criminals of a more hardcore caste.

Wit of the World

Mexico's Newest Export to US May Be Water

Western states are looking south of the border for water to fill drinking glasses, flush toilets and sprinkle lawns, as four major U.S. water districts help plan one of two huge desalination plant proposals in Playas de Rosarito, about 15 miles south of San Diego.

Full Story

Lime Energy CEO sees policy push for efficiency

Lime Energy CEO John O'Rourke expects South Carolina and other neighboring states to adopt soon energy-efficiency standards similar to North Carolina's. The regulatory movement anticipated in the Southeast is one factor that prompted Lime's move this summer to Huntersville from Chicago.

Full Story

South Carolina mine sparks mini-gold rush

A Canadian mining company and a tiny South Carolina town are leading what could be a modern gold rush to the southeastern United States.

Full Story

Upping the cute factor

B.C.

Science News

DNA pieced of 115-year-old woman

The entire DNA sequence of a woman who lived to 115 has been pieced together and could shed light on aging, scientists say.

• Dolphins 'decompress like humans'

• T-Rex 'even bigger than thought' CBBC Newsround

• 'First' UK dwarf sperm whale seen

• Ancient fossil find at Giant's Causeway

The Most Well-Preserved Dinosaur Skeleton Ever Found In Europe

 

Researchers say this specimen is about as close to perfect as fossils come. Unveiled last Thursday by scientists from the Bavarian paleontological and ecological collections in Munich, Germany, the unnamed dinosaur is believed to be 98% complete, and even includes bits of preserved skin.

The specimen is thought to belong to a suborder of dinosaurs known as theropods, which includes such iconic dinosaurs as Tyrannosaurus rex. Theropod specimens are among the rarest on earth - so to find one in such excellent condition has experts understandably excited.

T. Rex: Fatso?

Ah, T. Rex: Fierce ... ferocious ... fat?

Paleontologist John R. Hutchinson and colleagues led the study that suggested that the king of dinosaur was way plumper than previously thought:

“We knew she was big but the 30 percent increase in her weight was unexpected,” said Makovicky, who works at the museum where Sue has been a major draw since 2000. He added that this figure represents the leanest model, so the famous dinosaur might have been even more corpulent. “Nine tons is the minimum estimate we arrived at using a very skinny body form,” he explained.
The new mass estimates indicate that Tyrannosaurus rex grew twice as quickly as previously thought, packing on up to 3,950 pounds per year during the teenage phase. This staggering rate, coupled with its gargantuan adult proportions, probably meant that Tyrannosaurus rex moved more slowly as it aged, according to the researchers. Large individuals could still have achieved speeds between 10 and 25 miles per hour while running after prey, using their giant tail and hip muscles for propulsion, they said. Not bad for a hulking beast once thought to have weighed as much as a school bus or full-grown elephant—but may actually have verged on a bus with an elephant inside.

Full Story

Dog watched over missing boater's body for four days

A Newberry County boater who had been missing for four days was found dead in his boat on Wednesday evening and deputies say his dog never left his side. Russell L. Sandlin, 61, of Prosperity was found at around 6:30 p.m. in Saluda County, according to Newberry County Sheriff Lee Foster. Foster said the Prosperity Rescue Squad found Sandlin near his boat, which had run aground near a place called Spring Creek. Sandlin had been last seen on Sunday afternoon by his neighbors getting into his boat on Lake Murray with his Weimaraner, Sadie.

Wildlife officials said Sandlin's boat ran aground with enough force to throw him partially out of the boat into some branches. Newberry County Sheriff's Lientenant Robert Dennis said when rescue crews arrived, they saw Sadie inside the boat still trying to remove branches from Sandlin's body and licking him. The dog's efforts to save her master's life, however, went unrewarded because Sandlin was already dead. "You can see by her looking around for him, it's very stressful on her," said Warren Dallman of Newberry County Animal Control. "Nobody will ever be the owner that she had, and she really misses him."

Saluda County Coroner Keith Turner said an autopsy revealed that Russell Sandlin died from blunt force trauma to the head. Turner said exactly what caused the accident is still unclear. "It would have been real easy to jump out of the boat and go into the woods, but [the dog] stayed right there until somebody found them," said Newberry County Sheriff Lee Foster. The incident is being considered an accident, but the Department of Natural Resources is continuing to investigate. Authorities say that based on their investigation, there does not appear to be any foul play involved.

YouTube link.

Sadie was unharmed and was expected to be picked up by family members. "Her breed is very protective, similar to German Shepherds, so when I finally got to meet her I was very proud," commented Dallman. "Felt like I was meeting a champion." A champion whose loyalty and love meant withstanding wind, rain and four days without food. "It's truly a man's best friend," added Dallman. "This story tells that better than anything else I know right now."

The American Almost Antelope

The pronghorn (Antilocapra americana) is an American animal that is often called a pronghorn antelope, but it not an antelope. In fact, the pronghorn is as more closely related to giraffes than it is to antelopes! The taxonomy of the pronghorn classifies it as the only member of the family Antilocapridae. Oh, there used to be several species in the family, but that was way back before humans arrived in the New World. Read more about this unique species at The Ark in Space.

Colorado says state champion goat failed drug test

Colorado officials have disqualified the grand champion goat from this year's State Fair because they say it tested positive for an unapproved drug.

Full Story

Animal Pictures