The Daily Drift

The Daily Drift

Today's horoscope says:
You will be exposed to some advance knowledge or insider information today -- use it wisely.
This information could have a profound effect on a project you're involved with, and might mean the difference between your being a superstar and your being a backup singer.
Are you ready for the spotlight?
Hold on to what you know for a few days, and resist the urge to get a jump on the competition.
After all, how do you know that they don't also have this information?

Some of our readers today have been in:

Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia
Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
Paris, Ile-De-France, France
London, England, United Kingdom
Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
Doha, Ad Dawhah, Qatar
Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia
Madrid, Madrid, Spain
Kuala Lumpur, Wilayah Persekutuan, Malaysia
Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia
Berlin, Berlin, Germany
Surabaya, Jawa Timor, Indonesia
Pakanbaru, Riau, Indonesia
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Santander, Cantabria, Spain
Perth, Western Australia, Australia
Cambridge, Ontario, Canada
Amsterdam, Noord-Holland, Netherlands
Penang, Pulau Pinang, Malaysia
Cork, Cork, Ireland
Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany
Sittard, Limburg, Netherlands

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 La Pine, Waco, Memphis, Tucson and more.

Today is:

Today is Thursday, March 31, the 91st day of 2011.

There are 274 days left in the year.

Today's unusual holidays or celebrations are:

Bunsen Burner Day
Mule Day
and
National "She's Funny That Way" Day.

Don't forget to visit our sister blog!

We did it!

 158,443

We did it!
Thanks to our readers - all 158,443 of them in the first three months of 2011.
When we first began this blog we had hopes of having one reader (beside the editor and staff) and we accomplished that straight away.
Now, a sort of unspoken goal of has been reached (we did the 150K in a year thing a while back), we had 150K plus readers in a quarter of a year.
Maybe we'll be the #1 blog in only 500 years or so instead of the 1000 years give or take we predicted way back when.

Did you know ...

 1 in 7 adults in the USA can't read

And 100 out of 100 of them are teabaggers

All right maybe only 99 out of a 100 then, happy?!

All jokes aside - It is still appalling that there are so many adults in this nation who cannot read.

Americans have an unfavorable view of the teabaggers

From the "OK, tell us something we didn't know" Department:

 More Americans have an unfavorable view of the teabaggers.

Sean Duffy Appeals To The Common Man

Repugican congressman from Wisconsin, Sean Duffy, forgets who he's talking to and complains about his measly $174,000 annual salary:

I can guarantee you, or most of you, I guarantee that I have more debt than all of you. With 6 kids, I still pay off my student loans. I still pay my mortgage. I drive a used minivan. If you think I’m living high on the hog, I’ve got one paycheck. So I struggle to meet my bills right now. Would it be easier for me if I get more paychecks? Maybe, but at this point I’m not living high on the hog.

There's a video.
And then: repugicans Demand Sean Duffy Salary Tape Be Pulled From The Internet.

First the repugican party in Polk County, Wisconsin, pulled the tape of Rep. Sean Duffy (reptile-WI) fretting about making ends meet on his $174,000 a year salary from its own website. Now they want it gone from the whole Internet.

You may remember Sean Duffy from TV. He was on the tube back in 1997 on Real World: Boston.

***

Cry me a river and it still won't do you a damned bit of good - you should be unemployed as it is in the first place.

More repugican lies

Repugicans want you to believe that public sector workers earn so much more than workers in the private sector, but do they ever look at the facts?
Not hardly.

This Modern World

Libyan woman still missing

Missing Libya woman spurs reporters

Eman al-Obeidy hasn't been seen since she accused Gadhafi troops of a horrible assault. 

State TV's smear campaign 

Also: 

• Defections hit regime
• Obama may aid rebels
• Libyan army not broken

Pitfalls of arming Libyan rebels

Concern looms over arming Libyan rebels

The U.S. grapples with questions about who the opposition is and if it can defeat Gadhafi.  

Covert forces authorized 

Also: 

• Obama's secret order
• Latest on airstrikes
• Asylum offer for Gadhafi

Struggle leads to exposure

An airline stewardess struggling to lift her bag at a German airport led to the discovery of a 6-million euro coin fraud.

Struggling stewardess exposed euro coin fraud ring

Rev up your retirement fund

Ways to kick-start your retirement savings

Free financial seminars and serious debt-cutting can help you get on track.  

How much money you'll probably need 

Also: 

• Why you won't retire at 65
• Benefits of a Roth IRA  
• How to save $50 a day

Non Sequitur

Warmth and Competence

Do You Perceive Warm Person as Less Competent?

What’s more important to you, warmth or competence?
Social psychologist Amy Cuddy of Harvard Business School and colleagues did the study and found some interesting things:

This research concludes that by far the strongest influences that we have on one another result from a person’s perceived warmth and competence. These two dimensions help us understand how we think about and act toward others.
Some conclusions are that:

• When assessing someone else, warmth plays a more important role than competence.
• When assessing ourselves, we believe that competence (the capability of someone to carry out intentions) is more important.
• Without knowing, we often assume that there is a "trade off" between warmth and competence in a person. These two dimensions help us understand how we think about and act toward others. We admire warm/competent people, envy (and sometimes scapegoat) those who are cold and competent, pity those who are perceived as warm and incompetent, and have contempt for the cold and incompetent.

Full Story

Ziggy

Inside look at five dirty jobs

What it's like to work at five dirty jobs

These positions can be grimy and smelly — but they often pay well.  

Dangers of a whale carcass remover 

Also: 

• Six-figure salary jobs
• CEOs plan to boost hiring 
• Happiest cities to work in

Hispanic Guilty: Hiring Illegal Aliens for Restaurants & Paying Low Wages

A man from Mexico pleaded guilty on Tuesday to harboring as many as 100 illegal aliens for commercial advantage.

Full Story

Cities with the worst prospects

Cities where the economy may worsen

Prospects are dim in these metro areas with high unemployment and mortgage delinquencies. 

Thousands might exit 

Also: 

• Top real estate markets
• Keys to a housing rebound 
• Global economy's risk

Americans sour on economy

Poll shows Americans souring on economy

Most aren't convinced by optimistic talk of a recovery, new numbers reveal.

How Obama's approval fared 

Also: 

• CEOs plan hiring boost
• Global economic shakeup
• Rep.'s complaint criticized

Lemon Squeezing

The local bar was so sure that its bartender was the strongest man around that they offered a standing $1000 bet. The bartender would squeeze a lemon until all the juice ran into a glass, and hand the lemon to a patron. Anyone who could squeeze one more drop of juice out would win the money. Many people had tried over time (weight-lifters, longshoremen, etc.) but nobody could do it.

One day this scrawny little man came into the bar, wearing thick glasses and a polyester suit, and said in a tiny squeaky voice "I'd like to try the bet." After the laughter had died down, the bartender said OK, grabbed a lemon, and squeezed away. Then he handed the wrinkled remains of the rind to the little man.

But the crowd's laughter turned to total silence as the man clenched his fist around the lemon and six drops fell into the glass. As the crowd cheered, the bartender paid the $1000, and asked the little man "what do you do for a living? Are you a lumberjack, a weight-lifter, or what?"

The man replied "I work for the IRS."

Culinary DeLites

Eat more of these three colors

Choosing produce by its hue is an easy way to load up on nature's superfoods.  

How much to eat each week 

Also:

• Healthy pasta alternatives  
• Organic foods to buy
• 10 spring superfoods