The Daily Drift

Yeah, just deal with it!

Some of our readers today have been in:

Guatemala City, Guatemala

Kluang, Malaysia

London, England

Luqa, Malta

Kathmandu, Nepal

Bandung, Indonesia

Edinburgh, Scotland

Tirana, Albania

Belgrade, Serbia

George Town, Malaysia

Jakarta, Indonesia

Cape Town, South Africa

Sanaa, Yemen

Amsterdam, Netherlands

Hagatna, Guam

Klang, Malaysia

Moscow, Russia

Kuantan, Malaysia

Hanoi, Vietnam

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Medellin, Colombia

Bangkok, Thailand

Today in History

1381		The Peasant's Revolt, led by Wat Tyler, climaxes when rebels plunder and burn the Tower of London and kill the Archbishop of Canterbury.
1642		Massachusetts passes the first compulsory education law in the colonies.
1645		Oliver Cromwell's army routs the king's army at Naseby.
1775		The U.S. Army is founded when the Continental Congress authorizes the muster of troops.
1777		The Continental Congress authorizes the "stars and stripes" flag for the new United States.
1789		Captain William Bligh of the HMS Bounty arrives in Timor in a small boat. He had been forced to leave his ship when his crew mutinied.
1846		A group of settlers declare California to be a republic.
1864		At the Battle of Pine Mountain, Georgia, Confederate General Leonidas Polk is killed by a Union shell.
1893		The city of Philadelphia observes the first Flag Day.
1907		Women in Norway win the right to vote.
1919		John William Alcot and Arthur Witten Brown take off from St. John's, Newfoundland, for Clifden, Ireland, on the first nonstop transatlantic flight.
1922		President Warren G. Harding becomes the first president to speak on the radio.
1927		Nicaraguan President Porfirio Diaz signs a treaty with the U.S. allowing American intervention in his country.
1932		Representative Edward Eslick dies on the floor of the House of Representatives while pleading for the passage of the bonus bill.
1940		German forces occupy Paris.
1942		The Supreme Court rules that requiring students to salute the American flag is unconstitutional.
1944		Boeing B-29 bombers conduct their first raid against mainland Japan.
1945		Burma is liberated by the British.
1949		The State of Vietnam is formed.
1951		UNIVAC, the first computer built for commercial purposes, is demonstrated in Philadelphia by Dr. John W. Mauchly and J. Prosper Eckert, Jr.
1954		Americans take part in the first nation-wide civil defense test against atomic attack.
1965		A military triumvirate takes control in Saigon, South Vietnam.
1982		Argentina surrenders to the United Kingdom ending the Falkland Islands War.
1985		Gunmen hijack a passenger jet over the Middle East.
1989		Congressman William Gray, an African American, is elected Democratic Whip of the House of Representatives.
1995		Chechen rebels take 2,000 people hostage in a hospital in Russia.

Multiple Delete - do you wish to prcoceed?

The truth be told

Did you know ...

The Solyndra loan started under the shrub.

That not only does Romney like to impersonate cops, so does his staff.

Romney adviser publishes critique in Romney's home town, Europe

A senior Romney advisers decided it would be appropriate to try to undermine US foreign policy in a European paper in order to help Romney's chance in the fall.
Good thing Romney wasn't running for president during the 1980s, he'd have been attacking Reagan from the other side of the Berlin Wall.  (Romney was notoriously anti-Reagan, by repugican standards, until he decided he wanted to run for president.)

NYT columnist suggests that Hitler was a "progressive"

Digby is correct. This kind of garbage has no place in the New York Times.

 Ah, the young 'progressive' before he failed at paper hanging.

As for Hitler being a progressive, well, he didn't like Jews, people with disabilities, gays, transgender people, social democrats or socialists.  While there are large swaths of Americans who don't like those particular groups either, those Americans don't generally call the Democratic party their home.

Jus' sayin'.

KKK group seeks Adopt-A-Highway OK

The Ku Klux Klan wants to "adopt" a stretch of highway in North Georgia, which would allow the white supremacy group to receive official state recognition for cleaning litter from the road, according to records obtained by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution through an open records request.

More

I don't know about this, but there is something appealing about trash picking up trash though.

Oh, and there is this other thing: They are a repugican group - go figure.

 The Georgia DOT is currently reviewing the request—filed by International Keystone Knights
of the repugican party in Union County—to clean up part of Route 515 near Blairsville, GA.

When cultures collide

In small-town Missouri, a collision of cultures

The Elk River makes the turn under the overhanging cliffs at the edge of this Ozarks town to flow just below the quaint business district.
On a recent afternoon, customers shopped for fresh eggs and calf feed in Landon’s Feed & Seed.

 More

Here's 10 Jobs You Didn't Hear About On Career Day

Back when we were in preschool there were only a handful of sensible options for the career-minded 4-year-old: doctor, plumber, fireman and astronaut. Clearly, had we heard about 'sin-eating,' 'knocking up' or any of these other fine ways to make a living, we would have eaten more paste and focused a little less on our permanent records.

The truth hurts

Kazakh student caught with 35ft long crib sheet

A high school student has been expelled after being caught with a 35ft (11 meters) long crib sheet wrapped around his body during his university entrance exam in Kazakhstan.
The Borat-style stunt was discovered when examiners noticed the student fiddling inside his clothing before the exam started, say officials.

Under his shirt they found a chain of computer print-outs containing 25,000 potential answers to the exam's five topics of maths, history, Russian, Kazhak, and another subject of the student's choice.

Education authority spokesman Bolatzhan Uskenbayev said: "If he'd put half as much effort into studying as he did into cheating he would have sailed through the exam with a distinction. It's a pity too see all that work come to nothing but he cheated, and that's not allowed."

Twenty-One Habits of Happy People

“Happiness is a habit – cultivate it.” ~ Elbert Hubbard
Happiness is one aspiration all people share even nudists. No one wants to be sad and depressed.

We’ve all know or have seen people who are always happy even amidst difficult life trials. I’m not saying happy people don’t feel sorrow or sadness; they just don’t let it over run their life. Here are 21 things happy Nudist can make a habit of doing:

1. Appreciate Life

Be thankful that you woke up This morning. Develop a childlike sense of wonder. Focus on the beauty of every living thing. Make the most of each day. Don’t take anything for granted. Don’t sweat the small stuff.

2. Choose Friends Wisely

Surround yourself with happy, positive people who share your goals and values. Friends that have the same ethics as you will encourage you. They help you to feel good about yourself. They are there to lend a helping hand when needed.To me this is the most important one.

3. Be Unselfish

Accept others for who they are.  Respect them for who they are. Touch them with a kind and generous spirit. Help when you are able, Think of others before yourself.  try not to change the others that comes into your life. Try to brighten the day of everyone or anyone you see or come in contact with..

4. Never Stop Learning

Always research new things,  not what you do for a living, something you would never read about . Try new and daring things that has sparked your interest, Read a book, Stumble.com a little.

5. Solve Problems Creatively

Don’t have self-pity. As soon as you face a challenge get busy finding a solution. Don’t let the set backs affect your mood, instead see each new obstacle you face as an opportunity to make a positive change.

6. Do What You Love

Some statistics show that 80% of people dislike their jobs! No wonder there’s so many unhappy people running around this world. We spend a great deal of our life working. Choose a career that you enjoy – the extra money of a job you detest isn’t worth it. Make time to enjoy your hobbies and pursue special interests.

7. Enjoy Nudist Freedom

Take the time to see the beauty around you. There’s more to life than work. Take time to smell the roses, watch a sunset or sunrise Nude with your loved one, take a walk along the seashore, hike in the woods etc. Learn to live in the present moment and cherish it. Don’t live in the past or the future.

8. Laugh

Don’t take yourself – or life to seriously. You can find humor in just about any situation. Laugh at yourself – no one’s perfect. When appropriate laugh and make light of the circumstances. (Naturally there are times that you should be serious as it would be improper to laugh.)

9. Forgive

Holding a grudge will hurt no one but you. Forgive others for your own peace of mind. When you make a mistake – own up to it – learn from it – and FORGIVE yourself.

10. Gratitude

Develop an attitude of gratitude. Count your blessings; All of them – even the things that seem trivial. Be grateful for your home, your work and most importantly your family and friends. Take the time to tell them that you are happy they are in your life.

11. Invest in Relationships

Always make sure your loved ones know you love them even in times of conflict. Nurture and grow your relationships with your family and friends by making the time to spend with them. Don’t break your promises to them. Be supportive.

12. Keep Your Word

Honesty is the best policy. Every action and decision you make should be based on honesty. Be honest with yourself and with your loved ones.

13. Meditate

Meditation gives your very active brain a rest. When it’s rested you will have more energy and function at a higher level. Types of meditation include yoga, hypnosis, relaxation tapes, affirmations, visualization or just sitting in complete silence. Find something you enjoy and make the time to practice daily.

14. Mind Your Own Business

Concentrate on creating your life the way you want it. Take care of you and your family. Don’t get overly concerned with what other people are doing or saying. Don’t get caught up with gossip or name calling. Don’t judge. Everyone has a right to live their own life the way they want to – including you.

15. Optimism

See the glass as half full. Find the positive side of any given situation. It’s there – even though it may be hard to find. Know that everything happens for a reason, even though you may never know what the reason is. Steer clear of negative thoughts. If a negative thought creeps in – replace it with a positive thought.

16. Love Unconditionally

Accept others for who they are. You don’t put limitations on your love. Even though you may not always like the actions of your loved ones – you continue to love them.

17. Persistence

Never give up. Face each new challenge with the attitude that it will bring you one step closer to your goal. You will never fail, as long as you never give up. Focus on what you want, learn the required skills, make a plan to succeed and take action. We are always happiest while pursuing something of value to us.

18. Be Proactive

Accept what can not be changed. Happy people don’t waste energy on circumstances beyond their control. Accept your limitations as a human being. Determine how you can take control by creating the outcome you desire – rather than waiting to respond.

19. Self Care

Take care of your mind, body and health. Get regular medical check ups. Eat healthy and work out. Get plenty of rest. Drink lots of water. Exercise your mind by continually energizing it with interesting and exciting challenges.

20. Self Confidence

Don’t try to be someone that you’re not. After all no one likes a phony. Determine who you are in the inside – your own personal likes and dislikes. Be confident in who you are. Do the best you can and don’t second guess yourself.

21. Take Responsibility

Happy people know and understand that they are 100% responsible for their life. They take responsibility for their moods, attitude, thoughts, feelings, actions and words. They are the first to admit when they’ve made a mistake.

Begin today by taking responsibility for your happiness. Work on developing these habits as you own. The more you incorporate the above habits into your daily lifestyle – the happier you will be.

Most of all: BE TRUE TO YOURSELF.

Some adults with sleep disturbances are actually afraid of the dark

A study of Toronto college students is shedding light on a contributing factor of insomnia that might be hard to ...

Continue Reading

FDA Delays Decision on First Drug to Prevent HIV

Federal health regulators have delayed a decision on whether to approve the first pill shown to prevent HIV infection, the drug's manufacturer says.

More

Want to lay odds that the other drug manufacturers that make the drugs used for 'treating' HIV infection had a whole hell of a lot to do with this 'non-decision' decision.

The newest taste sensation

Underwater Wine

Oh la la! A French experiment with barreling wine in the ocean proved to be a surprising success.  

More

Diabetic News

Experimental Diabetes Drugs Offer Patients Hope

Drug-makers are presenting results of new studies of experimental diabetes treatments offering patients hope of better controlling blood sugar, weight, and preventing dangerously low blood sugar.

 More

 New diabetes treatments offer hope

DIABETES ADVANCES: Several diabetes treatments in late testing appear to better control of blood sugar and weight and to prevent dangerously low blood sugar.

 More

 

Lifestyle Changes and Meds for Prediabetes May Prevent Full-Blown Disease

A recent study found that treating pre-diabetes with lifestyle changes and medicine might prevent it from developing into full-blown diabetes, Health Day reports.

 More

The $900,000 corner store experiment

Philadelphia has the highest obesity rate and poorest population of America's big cities.
 More

One-of-a-Kind Triple-Barreled Shotgun

This unique 16-gauge shotgun deserved its name as the “Holy Grail.” John Hope, the first Marquess of Linlithgow and the first Governor-General of Australia, hired Edinburgh-based gunsmiths John Dickson & Son to build it. The Holy Grail is the only one of its kind and recently sold at Holt’s Auctioneers in London.

More

The Museum of Endangered Sounds

"Imagine a world where we never again hear the symphonic startup of a Windows 95 machine. Imagine generations of children unacquainted with the chattering of angels lodged deep within the recesses of an old cathode ray tube TV. And when the entire world has adopted devices with sleek, silent touch interfaces, where will we turn for the sound of fingers striking QWERTY keypads? Tell me that. And tell me: Who will play my GameBoy when I'm gone?"

These questions led Brendan Chilcutt to embark on a mission to collect and preserve these sounds in The Museum of Endangered Sounds: here.

Jakarta's Extraordinary Railway Track Slum

View the Gallery

For those living in this trackside shantytown in Jakarta, it's normal for speeding trains to pass by only a few feet from their front doors. More

Ferropolis, A City Of Derelict Machines

Ferropolis, 'the city of iron' is a museum - opened in 1995 - of old huge industrial machines in Gräfenhainichen, a city near Dessau, Germany. It's an open air museum which contains machines from the mid-twentieth century.

They can measure to 30 meters high, 120 meters long and weigh up to 1980 tons. As skeletons of huge extinct dinosaurs, these derelict machines seem finally resting in a graveyard of obsolete technology.

The Woeful Tale of Centralia

On Valentine’s Day, 1981, eleven-year-old Todd Domboski was walking through a field in Centralia, Pannsylvania, when a 150-foot-deep hole suddenly opened beneath his feet. Noxious fumes crept out as the boy fell in. He only survived by clinging to some newly exposed tree roots until his cousin ran over and pulled him to safety. What was happening here …and why?

(Image credit: Flickr user Scott Drzyzga)

COAL COUNTRY
Eastern Pennsylvania in anthracite coal country. Back at the turn of the 20th century, miners were digging nearly 300 millions tons of coal per year from the region, leaving behind a vast subterranean network of abandoned mine shafts. In May 1962, while incinerating garbage in an old strip mine pit outside of Centralia, one of the many exposed coal seams ignited. The fire followed the seam down into the maze of abandoned mines and began to spread. And it kept spreading -and burning- for years.
Mine fires in coal country are actually not all that uncommon. There are currently as many as 45 of them burning in Pennsylvania alone. Unfortunately, there’s no good way to put them out. But that doesn’t stop people from trying.

(Image credit:  Flicker user Cole Young)

* The most effective method to extinguish such a fire s to strip mine around the entire perimeter of the blaze. That’s an expensive -and in populated areas, impractical- proposition. Essentially, it means digging an enormous trench, deep enough to get underneath the fires, which are often more than 500 feet below the ground.
* An easier (but not much easier) method is to bore holes down into the old mine shafts, and then pour in tons of wet concrete to make plugs. Then more holes are drilled and flame-supressing foam is pumped into the areas between the plugs. It, too, is a very expensive project, and it doesn’t always succeed.
The cheapest way to deal with a mine fire by far is to keep an eye on it and hope it burns itself out. (One fire near Lehigh, Pennsylvania, burned from 1850 until the 1930s.) After a 1969 effort to dig out the Centralia fire proved both costly and unsuccessful, they admitted defeat and let the fire take its course. By 1980, the size of the underground blaze was estimated at 350 acres, and large clouds of noxious smoke were billowing out of the ground all over town. The ground temperature under a local gas station was recorded at nearly 1,000ºF. Residents of the once-thriving mountain town began to wonder if Centralia was a safe place to live.

(Image credit: Flicker user Cole Young)

When the boy fell in the hole and almost died, the fire beneath Centralia became a national news story. The sinkhole -cause by an effect known as subsidence, which occurs when mine shafts collapse, possibly because the support beams are on fire- put the town’s 1,600 residents in a fix. Their homes were suddenly worthless. They couldn’t sell them and move someplace safer -no one in their right mind would buy them.
The townsfolk were given a choice: a $660-million digging project that might not work, or let the government buy their homes. They voted 345 to 200 in favor of the buyout, and an exodus soon began. By 1991, $42 million had been spent buying out more than 540 Centralia homes and businesses.
GHOST TOWN

(Image credit: Flicker user Proper Pictures)

If you were to visit Centralia today, the first thing you’d notice is that there are more streets than buildings. At first glance, it would seem that someone decided to build a town, but only got as far as paving the roads. If you looked a bit closer, however, you’d notice the remnants of house foundations. Looking still closer, you’d see smoke still seeping out of the ground.
As of 2005, twelve die-hard Centralians reportedly continue to live in the smoldering ghost town. The number has dwindled since a decade ago, when nearly fifty holdouts still called it home. Experts estimate that it will take 250 years for the fire to burn itself out.

Only a 30% chance of Cthulhu, say fracking experts

The chances of shale gas exploration releasing a monstrous denizen of the underworld are less than one in three, experts have claimed.

As the army continues to fight two hundred chittering, horned creatures released during a test extraction in Blackpool, energy companies insist they can keep demonic activity at levels that would be classed as ‘normal’ for a seaside town.
Roy Hobbs, an engineer with Shell, said: “By my calculations the Shadow Lord Cthulhu currently rests nine leagues deeper than the shale gas so I’m sure it’ll be fine.
“Nevertheless, we have some of the best hooded, eyeless priests in the industry who will be on call 24 hours a day to maintain the sanctity of the work site through a series of incantations and holy artifacts, as well as checking for hard hats and security passes.”
Hobbs stressed it was now more than three years since a shale gas rig last brought forth That Which Darkness Itself Fears.
He added: “The technology has improved dramatically since then so even if we do unleash a reign of sorrow lasting a thousand generations, the profit margin will be close to £50 a second.”
Fracking advocates claim that shale gas offers a long-term, sustainable source of energy because it is both environmentally risky and more expensive than oil.
Meanwhile, residents of other shale gas sites are suing over fracking side-effects including earthquakes, exploding tap water and 120ft long tentacles pulling their house into the netherworld.
One Pennsylvania family were admitted to hospital after an unexplained outbreak of screaming succubae attached to their faces, which lawyers blamed on a nearby wind farm.

Utterly fascinating or ...

How an Undersea Eruption Created Jerome, Arizona

You may hear jokes about “oceanfront property in Arizona,” but in the distant past, it really existed. In fact, 1.75 billion years ago, the area was undersea. However, there was a lot going on down there where tectonic plates were colliding.

I don’t know if you can imagine an undersea caldera eruption. There’s the sea floor, suddenly torn apart, with boiling clouds of ash billowing through the water. Had there been fish back then, they would have been tremendously inconvenienced; also, cooked. Fortunately for them, this was before the Age of Fishes. When the magma chamber emptied, the whole shebang came crashing down. A huge series of fractures propagated in a huge, irregular ring miles in diameter. Sea floor, seamounts, volcanic domes, newly-emplaced Cleopatra tuff and all fell into the chamber magma had so recently vacated.

But that was just the beginning of the turbulent geologic history that led to the settlement we know as Jerome, Arizona. The legacy of its volcanic history was a rich vein of valuable copper, which drew miners. Now the mines are an open record of the catastrophic events that created the place.

Read a lot more of this story at Scientific America.

The Rarity Of The Cypress Knees

Bald Cypress trees are known for their amazing heights and the size of their diameters, yet there is an aspect of the Bald Cypress, a bizarre scientific outgrowth, which has perplexed people for centuries.

The Cypress Knees have a function that is unknown. They are found in wet, swamping areas, usually in muddy soil, and they surround the trees on all sides. Some people believe these fascinating towers provide oxygen to the tree's roots.

The Oldest Tree in the World

View the Gallery

Meet the oldest tree in the world, the bristlecone pine, which can reach ages of 4,750 years and more! More

The Kelp Cam

Birch Aquarium at Scripps is the public exploration center for the world-renowned Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego. Perched on a bluff overlooking the Pacific Ocean, the aquarium features more than 60 habitats of fishes and invertebrates from the cold waters of the Pacific Northwest to the tropical waters of Mexico and beyond.

Explore an amazing diversity of fish and invertebrates that make their home within the kelp forest, a crucial ocean ecosystem. The High Definition Kelp Cam lets you take a dive without getting wet. Discover leopard sharks, garibaldi, eels, barracuda, giant sea bass, and more within this two-story, 70,000-gallon tank.

Divorce after 115 years

Giant Tortoises End Marriage After 115 Years

They've been together since ... well, since before any of us are alive, actually - but 115 years apparently is long enough. The century-old marriage between giant tortoises Bibi and Poldi in the Happ Reptile Zoo in Klagenfurt, Austria, is on the rocks:

The world's oldest animal marriage looks set to have turtley ended after an incredible 115 years when the two Giant Turtles at an Austrian zoo refused to share their cage anymore.
Zoo management have called in animal experts to try and give the pair counselling - feeding them romantic good mood food and trying to get them to join in joint games - but so far without effect.
Zoo boss Helga Happ said: "We get the feeling they can't stand the sight of each other anymore."

More

Animal Pictures