The Daily Drift

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Some of our readers today have been in:

Cape Town, South Africa

Doha, Qatar

Tawau, Malaysia

Khartoum, Sudan

Bangkok, Thailand

Jakarta, Indonesia

Klang, Malaysia

Pretoria, South Africa

Warsaw, Poland

Chisinau, Moldova

Nairobi, Kenya

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Kaunas, Lithuania

Mykolayiv, Ukraine

Dubrovnik. Croatia

Panama, Panama

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Panevezys, Lithuania

Cairo, Egypt

Leeds, England

Baku, Azerbaijan

Belgrade, Serbia

Sofia, Bulgaria

Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

Slough, England

Riga, Latvia

Abu Dahbi, United Arab Emirates

Manila, Philippines

Erbil, Iraq

Valdivia, Chile

Caracas, Venezuela

Puchong, Malaysia

Bordeaux, France

Karachi, Pakistan

Shah Alam, Malaysia

Dubai, United Arab Emirates

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Rawalpindi, Pakistan

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Lusaka, Zambia

Sandakan, Malaysia

Colombo, Sri Lanka

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Today in History

1798		The first serious fist fight occurs in Congress.
1804		New Jersey becomes the last northern state to abolish slavery.
1862		Union General Ulysses S. Grant launches a major assault on Fort Donelson, Tenn.
1869		Charges of treason against Jefferson Davis are dropped.
1898		The U.S. battleship Maine blows up in Havana Harbor, killing 268 sailors and bringing hordes of Western cowboys and gunfighters rushing to enlist in the Spanish-American.
1900		The British threaten to use natives in the Boer War fight.
1925		The London Zoo announces it will install lights to cheer up fogged-in animals.
1934		U.S. Congress passes the Civil Works Emergency Relief Act, allotting new funds for Federal Emergency Relief Administration.
1940		Hitler orders that all British merchant ships will be considered warships.
1942		British forces in Singapore surrender to Japanese General Tomoyuki Yamashita.
1943		The Germans break the American Army's lines at the Fanid-Sened Sector in Tunisia, North Africa.
1944		American bombers attack the Abbey of Monte Cassino in an effort to neutralize it as a German observation post in central Italy.
1946		Royal Canadian mounted police arrest 22 as Soviet spies.
1950		Joseph Stalin and Mao Tse-tung sign a mutual defense treaty in Moscow.
1957		Andrei Gromyko replaces Dmitri T. Shepilov as the Soviet Foreign Minister.
1961		Eighteen members of the U.S. figure skating team are lost in an airplane crash in Belgium.
1965		Canada's maple leaf flag is raised for the first time.
1967		Thirteen U.S. helicopters are shot down in one day in Vietnam
1974		U.S. gas stations threaten to close because of federal fuel policies.

Non Sequitur

Alan Friedman takes mind-blowing photos of the sun from home

 

Colossal has a gallery of Alan Friedman's stunning sun photography. 

(Here's Friedman's TEDx Talk from December).

[Alan Friedman] points a telescope skyward from his backyard in downtown Buffalo, directly into the light of the sun. Using special filters attached to his camera Friedman captures some of the most lovely details of the Sun’s roiling surface. The raw images are colorless and often blurry requiring numerous hours of coloring, adjusting and finessing to tease out the finest details, the results of which hardly resemble what I imagine the 10-million degree surface of Sun might look like. Instead Friedman’s photos appear almost calm and serene, perhaps an entire planet of fluffy clouds or cotton candy.

Alan Friedman’s Astonishing HD Photographs of the Sun Shot from his Own Backyard

Did you know ...

About the good intentions that pave the road to war

That a new bill would let states legalize marijuana

The the repugican cabal's obsession with guns might drive women to the polls in 2014

Do religio-wingnuts make lousy tippers?

President Obama’s Attack on Medicare Fraud Reaps Record Results for Second Year in a Row

We’re about to shoot down two repugican myths with a single post. First, the Obama Administration cut Medicare costs by attacking Medicare Fraud instead of attacking benefits.  Second, Government can do things, and do them well.
For years, the repugican cabal claimed that benefits are the problem.  They tried to sell us several versions of coupon care and privatization while claiming that eliminating Medicare was the best way to protect it for future generations.
The Justice Department and Department of Human Services found a way to reduce Medicare costs without reducing benefits, without coupons and without privatizing it. Instead of attacking seniors access to healthcare, they attacked Medicare fraud, otherwise known as the means by which Florida’s Governor, Rick Scott became “a maker” in repugican speak.
According to a report on The Health Care Fraud Prevention and Enforcement Act Team’s (HEAT) performance released Monday,  for the second year in a row, Obama’s plan to attack Medicare Fraud reaped recording breaking results.
The Feds recovered $4.2 billion of taxpayers’ money last year from legal proceedings, settlements and penalties. In 2011, joint efforts to attack Medicare fraud resulted in a record of $4.1 billion dollars. That is compared to the $2.86 billion recovered in 2010 before Obama’s policies to attack Medicare Fraud existed.
In May 2012, Medicare Strike Force teams charged 107 people, including licensed health care professionals in seven cities, who were allegedly involved in schemes involving over $452 million in false billing.
In 2011, the same teams charged 115 people, including health care professionals, companies and executives for suspected participation in Medicare fraud schemes that involved over $240 million in false billing.  In another case, 91 suspects were charged for their alleged involvement in a Medicare fraud scheme that involved $290 million + in false billings.
According to the HHS’s press release :

“A key component of HEAT is the Medicare Strike Force – interagency teams of analysts, investigators, and prosecutors who can target emerging or migrating fraud schemes, including fraud by criminals masquerading as healthcare providers or suppliers.”

The Department of HHS attributes success to HEAT and several additional steps President Obama’s Administration took to combat Medicare Fraud – including provisions in Obamacare.  That’s the law that repugicans spend almost as much time trying to destroy as they spend on trying to shield the rich from paying taxes.
Aside from establishing tougher sentencing and more jail time for Medicare fraudsters, recovering funds obtained by Medicare fraud is easier. In other words, it reduces Medicare costs without reducing benefits.
When the President told us that Obamacare reduces Medicare costs without touching benefits, he was honest.  Thanks to Obamacare, Medicare fraudsters will receive 20 to 50 percent longer sentences for crimes involving more than $1million dollars in lost taxpayer money. It also makes it more difficult for Medicare fraudsters to transfer their scams to another state or between Medicare and Medicaid.  Under Obamacare, if Medicare, Medicaid or a State terminates a scammer’s billing privileges, all other states must terminate their billing privileges.
Once again, the repugican cabal is on the wrong side of policy.  Not only does their policy seek to deny Americans access to healthcare, it also makes the repugican cabal soft on crime, namely Medicare Fraud.
If they really want to get rid of their image as the cabal of Stupid, defending criminals over seniors isn’t the way to go.  Just sayin’.
Ironically, the HEAT report also shows once again that the repugican cabal’s fiscal responsibility begins and ends with its rhetoric.

Australia Proves repugicans Wrong With a Growing Economy and a High Minimum Wage

After President Obama called for raising the federal minimum wage to $9.00 an hour, the repugicans have been insisting that this would hurt the economy. The issue is the fact that more people would be getting a raise, and that means more money flowing in the economy, which would go back into businesses.
Here is a fact. Australia has a minimum wage of almost $16.00 an hour. Since 1994, they have averaged about 1.75% GDP growth per year.
Here is another great data point. According to trading economics, the unemployment rate never exceeded 6%. These two data points that the GOP has been selling the American people are proven false, at least by the Australian economy. The fact that Australia is the “extreme” of examples, but I am sure this is the norm.
To top this all off, the ultra wingnut Heritage Foundation ranked Australia as the third most freest country regarding their economy. “Australia is ranked 3rd out of 41 countries in the Asia-Pacific region, and its score is well above the regional and world averages.”
Amazing that once you dig a little and look into news and numbers you find that the repugicans know very little about reality. They just survive by fallacious talking points and erroneous theories.

Economic recovery in the US actually made 99% of Americans poorer, top 1% captured 121% of gains

"Striking it Richer," a paper by Emmanuel Saez (an economist at UC Berkeley) looks at the way that the dividends of the slow US "economic recovery" have been distributed. Saez finds that 121% of the economic gains since 2009 have been captured by the richest 1% of Americans -- in other words, despite economic growth, the poorest 99% of Americans actually got poorer through the "recovery."

This confirms a pattern that Matt Stoller highlighted: that income inequality increased more under Obama than under Bush. And the new Saez paper also describes how it came about. In short form, income to the top 1% is significantly influenced by capital gains. Remember, the tax reporting is not clean here: rising equity and bond markets help all those private equity and hedge fund professionals, who are able to get capital gains treatment for what ought to be labor income. But the paper also stresses that the lower orders were hit hard in the aftermath of the global financial crisis than in the dot-bomb era, which also saw a big drop in capital gains. That isn’t as hard to understand. The collapse of the dot-com mania didn’t impair the real economy overmuch because it was not fueled in a meaningful way by borrowings. By contrast, the housing bubble, and more important (in terms of damage to the financial system) the much housing exposure created synthetically by CDOs that consisted entirely or mainly of credit default swaps was highly geared, hence when it collapsed, it took credit providers down with it.

Yes, Virginia, the Rich Continue to Get Richer: the Top 1% Got 121% of Income Gains Since 2009

Six-strikes US copyright punishments will harm open WiFi

You may have heard Jill Lesser, Executive Director of the Center for Copyright Information, explain that America's six-strikes copyright punishment system would not harm open WiFi. Adi Kamdar explains why Ms Lesser's totally mistaken:

Termination may not be part of the CAS, but that's not the point—the program still uses "protecting copyright" as an excuse to seriously hinder a user's online experience. For example, CAS involves not just "education" but also "Mitigation Measures," such as slowing down Internet speeds to 256 kbps for days—rendering your connection all but unusable in today's era of videochats and Netflix.
Lesser doesn't think that's a problem. As she told the radio show On The Media: "The reduction of speed, which one or more of the ISPs will be using as a mitigation measure, is first of all only 48 hours, which is far from termination."
But that's 48 hours of lower productivity and limited communication across the globe, based on nothing more than a mere allegation of copyright infringement.

Don't Be Fooled: "Six Strikes" Will Undoubtedly Harm Open Wireless

Rotted frame in sunken ship not fixed

A Maine shipyard official says the frame of a replica 18th-century sailing ship that sank during Hurricane Sandy was rotted.

Todd Kosakowski told federal investigators Wednesday he discovered the rot when the HMS Bounty underwent repairs at Boothbay Harbor Shipyard in Maine.

The ship was having several planks replaced before heading to Florida. He says he showed the ship's captain what he found, but the captain chose not to have it fixed before departing because of the expense and time it would have taken.
The ship later sank 90 miles off Cape Hatteras, N.C., during the October storm.
One member of the HMS Bounty's 16-person-crew died and the captain was never found. The ship was built for the 1962 film "Mutiny on the Bounty" and appeared in other seafaring dramas.

Soup Making May Be Older Than We'd Thought

Soup comes in many variations - chicken noodle, creamy tomato, potato and leek, to name a few. But through much of human history, soup was much simpler, requiring nothing more than boiling a haunch of meat or other chunk of food in water to create a warm, nourishing broth.

Most sources state that soup making did not become commonplace until somewhere between 5,000 and 9,000 years ago. That's probably wrong - by at least 15,000 years. So who concocted that first bowl of soup?

This 9-Patty Burger Tops 2,000 Calories

9-Patty Burger Tops 2,000 Calories

The 'Triple-Triple' burger becomes a permanent menu item at an East Coast chain. ->

Cops Chase Doughnut Truck

A Krispy Kreme delivery truck stopped at the Quick Shop on Dacula Road in Gwinnet County, Georgia. While the driver was inside unloading doughnuts, security camera footage shows how another man, later identified as James Freddy Major, jumped into the truck and drove off!

The store clerk immediately called police.

Police said Major led them on a nearly 15-mile chase. He went from Dacula Road, down Highway 316, to Interstate 85.

"Could you imagine going down the interstate and seeing the Krispy Kreme donut truck with the cops chasing behind it?; Flashing lights? What would you think,” said store worker Susan Patterson.

He eventually came to a dead end in a residential neighborhood. Police said he tried to run but a police dog tracked him down.

Police arrested Major on several charges, including theft and driving under the influence. More

Stuck at 125mph for an Hour

In a real-life version of the movie Speed, Frank Lecerf was forced to drive at top speed when his Renault Laguna, which was adapted for disabled drivers, went out of control. While running an errand in his home of in Pont-de-Metz, France, Lecerf found that any tap on his brakes made the car speed up -up to 125 mph!

While uncontrollably speeding through the fast lane as other cars swerved out of his way, he managed to call emergency services who immediately dispatched a platoon of police cars.

Realising Lecerf had no choice but to keep racing along until his petrol ran out, they escorted him at high speed across almost 125 miles of French motorway, past Calais and Dunkirk, and over the Belgian border.

Puzzled motorists gave way as the high-speed convoy approached. Three toll stations were warned to raise their barriers as Lecerf ploughed through. After about an hour, his petrol tank spluttered empty and he managed to swerve into a ditch in Alveringem in Belgium, about 125 miles from his home, in Pont-de-Metz, near the northern French city of Amiens.

"My life flashed before me," he told Le Courrier picard. "I just wanted it to stop." He was unhurt but had two epileptic seizures.

Lecerf was connected to a Renault engineer during the ordeal, but nothing they tried slowed the vehicle. There is no word yet on why the car accelerated out of control. More

Husband fatally shot wife because she wouldn't stop talking

Joseph Hilton, 62, known as Danny, told a 911 operator his wife, Deborah Faile Hilton, 59, wouldn't stop talking, so he shot and killed her. "She just kept on and on and on and I just couldn't talk to her," Hilton said during a 911 call on Monday night.

When the 911 operator asked him why he shot her, Hilton replied, "We were in a domestic argument, and we just could not come to a conclusion." The arrest warrant says Hilton shot his wife once in the chest with a .45-calibre handgun.

After sheriff's deputies arrived and talked Hilton out of the mobile home in Kershaw, Lancaster County, South Carolina, they discovered her body about three feet from the front door.

Joseph Hilton has been charged with murder. He is being held in the Lancaster County Detention Center.

Video.

Heart Bike Route

You've probably seen the Verizon ad of a guy riding his bike in San Francisco along a route that looks like a big heart. The guy was actually real and he did actually ride his bike all over the city like that.
Robert Krulwich of NPR tells the story of Payam Rajabi and how he landed a spot in the ad:

Last year, Payam Rajabi got a new job and had to leave Toronto and his girlfriend Clare and move to San Francisco. All that left him feeling a little down — until he came up with his upsy, downsy Valentine idea.
He jumped on his bike, opened his iPhone to a map of San Francisco, and tracking himself with a GPS, he rode 27 miles around the city, taking two and a half hours, burning 1,135 calories and carefully etching a heart shape onto a city map ...
[...] Payam's map got picked up by Cyclelicious, a geeky bike equipment site, by Uptown Almanac, a local blog, by Health 2.0, a health news site, by Iranian.com, a Persian-American site. Payam was named "Iranian of the Day," and within the year, ka-ching! An ad agency called.
It was Verizon. They asked Payam if he would get back on the bike and do the whole thing over again, this time tracked by a rigged out truck with a giraffe-like hi-cam

But there's a twist at the end ... Read the rest over at Krulwich Wonders: Here.

Lovers’ hearts beat in sync

When modern-day crooner Trey Songz sings, “Cause girl, my heart beats for you,” in his romantic ballad, “Flatline,” his lyrics could be telling a tale that’s as much physiological as it is emotional, according to a University of California, Davis, study that found lovers’ hearts indeed beat for each other, or at least at the [...]

 Continue Reading

Kissing's Long History

Kissing's Long History: A Timeline

Some researchers believe that kissing began millions of years ago as a result of mouth-to-mouth feeding.

Random Photo

Space Invaders Unlikely

Space Invaders Unlikely -- For Now

Research suggests that it is unlikely we'll be attacked by renegade aliens. That's a relief.

Could We Lasso the Next Asteroid?

Could We Lasso the Next Asteroid?

Rather than sending astronauts out to an asteroid a group of scientists wants to instead bring an asteroid back to Earth.

The 10 Richest People Of All Time And How They Made Their Fortunes

Who is the richest man of all time? Bill Gates? Warren Buffet? Not even close, though there's no denying they're very, very rich. The richest man of all time, when wealth is measured as a percentage of the national economy, was John D. Rockefeller, whose fortunes made Gates' and Buffet's look downright puny.

The richest people ever belong in their own special club. These people (all men) have built fortunes of legendary proportions when calculated at the peak of their wealth.
Here's a list of the 10 richest people of all time.

Julia Pastrana Buried 153 Years After Her Death

Julia Pastrana, once known as "the ugliest woman in the world," was born in 1834 with hypertrichosis terminalis, meaning her entire body was covered with hair several inches long. She also had a deformed mouth with huge teeth, leading one doctor of the day to declare that she was "a hybrid between human and orangutan." However, Pastrana sang with a beautiful voice and could speak several languages. She was exhibited by Theodor Lent, who eventually married her. In 1860, Pastrana gave birth in Moscow to a son who was also covered with hair, and who died within two days. Pastrana herself died five days later. Her body was preserved and exhibited by various owners for the next few decades, eventually ending up in storage in Oslo. Now, thanks to the efforts of Mexican artist Laura Anderson Barbata, Pastrana's body was returned to her native Mexico, where she was buried February 13, 2013.

People flocked to the town of Sinaloa de Leyva on Tuesday where Julia Pastrana was laid to rest in a white coffin adorned with white roses.

"Imagine the aggression and cruelty of humankind she had to face, and how she overcame it. It's a very dignified story," said Sinaloa Governor Mario Lopez.

"A human being should not be the object of anyone," Father Jaime Reyes Retana told mourners.

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Man accused of stealing ring-tailed lemur and holding it for ransom

A Lucedale man accused of stealing a pet lemur and holding it for ransom is under arrest in Mobile, Alabama. Authorities have charged James Edward Welborn, Jr., 32, with possession of stolen property. He's awaiting extradition back to Mississippi where he could face more charges.
George County Sheriff Dean Howell said the ring-tailed lemur is a family pet named Gizmo, valued at $1,500. The two-year-old lemur was taken along with a flat-screen television from a home in Mobile during a burglary in January.

After Gizmo's owner offered a cash reward for the stolen lemur, investigators got a tip from someone who had seen the lemur in Welborn's possession. Investigators say Welborn thought he could ransom the animal, sending pictures of Gizmo, asking for $1,000 to return him.

But before Welborn's plan could pay off, authorities moved in and made an arrest. Gizmo has since been reunited with his owner, and is reportedly doing fine. According to Sheriff Howell, this case should cause other criminals to think twice because, "We don't put up with any monkey business in George County."

Anti-depressants help lab chimps

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A study shows that chimps formerly used in research labs can be treated with anti-depressants to help them overcome their trauma. 

Newly Found Owl Sings One Note

Newly Found Owl Sings One Note

The owl whistles a one-note song that rhymes with the name of its island home. 

Are Fish Getting High From Drug Waste?

Are Fish Getting High From Drug Waste?

Fish are becoming bolder and hungrier from human drugs flushed down the drain.

The Pinocchio Frog

Okay, he may have been fibbing. Just a bit. But only a little white lie. What's the worst that could happen to the Pinocchio frog? Paul Oliver of the University of Adelaide discovered our deceptive friend in the Foja Mountains of Indonesia. The male frog has a long nose that extends when he calls out--truthfully or not.

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The Wattle Cup Caterpillar

The Wattle Cup caterpillar. What a beauty. The caterpillar is the larva of the Wattle Cup Moth, which can be found in northern Australia, south to Geraldton, Alice Springs and Brisbane.

Animal Pictures