The Daily Drift

The Daily Drift

Today's horoscope says:
Everyone has two sides to their personality (at least), so today if someone is getting on your nerves, focus on the part of their personality that you can get along with much more peacefully.
Separating the good parts of people from the bad parts will enable you to make stronger alliances and not get caught up in petty emotional soap operas.
If you are forced into intense collaborations with some of these annoying folks today, make sure you keep a level head.

Some of our readers today have been in:

Perth, Western Australia, Australia
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Paris, Ile-De-France, France
Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
London, England, United Kingdom
Kuala Lumpur, Wilayah Persekutuan, Malaysia
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Birmingham, England, United Kingdom
Bangkok, Krung Thep, Thailand
Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand
Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
Jakarta, Jakarta Raya, Indonesia
Madrid, Madrid, Spain
Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia
Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil
Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia

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 New York, Los Angeles, Miami, Olympia and more.

Today is:

Today is Thursday, April 21, the 112th day of 2011.

There are 243 days left in the year.

Today's unusual holidays or celebrations are:

High Five Day
and
National Chocolate-Covered Cashews Day.

Don't forget to visit our sister blog!

A bedroom you won't believe

6-year-old's jaw-dropping pirate bedroom

A floating ship and secret slide add dreamlike magic to a designer's incredible creation.  

Take a peek inside 

Also: 

• Unusual structures
• Biggest wooden building
• Most-wanted home perks

New rules for airlines

New rules for airlines aim to help travelers

Advertised airfares will soon have to include all mandatory taxes and fees.  

Receive $1,300 for some bumped flights 

Also: 

• Meanest U.S. airlines
• Pilots' dumbest moves
• Find deals on flights

Switch careers in a year

How to switch careers in a year or less

These training programs will prepare you to work in fields such as health care and law.  

Two can take about six months 

Also: 

• Work-life balance
• Sure-fire resumé killers
• Why I fired my dad

Retire on $60,000 a year

How to retire on $60,000 a year

One key rule lets you estimate how much savings you'll need to make your money last. 

High cost of inflation 

Also: 

• Fund IRA or 401(k)?
• Retire to a small town
• Jobless claims dip

How Bad Is It?

The economy is soooo bad:

CEO's are now playing miniature golf.

Even companies who don’t intend to pay aren’t buying.

Hotwheels and Matchbox stocks are trading higher than GM.

Obama met with small businesses to discuss the Stimulus Package: GE, Pfeizer and Citigroup.

McDonalds is selling the 1/4 ouncer.

Parents in Beverly Hills fired their nannies and learned their children's names.

A truck full of Americans got caught sneaking into Mexico.

The most highly-paid job is now jury duty.

Dick Cheney took his stockbroker hunting.

People in Africa are donating money to Americans.

Mothers in Ethiopia are telling their kids, "finish your plate, do you know how many kids are starving in the US?"

Motel Six won't leave the light on.

The Mafia is laying off judges.

'Bargains' that aren't bargains

'Bargains' that aren't bargains at all

Warehouse clubs and store displays cleverly tempt you to drain your wallet. 

Save money on cars, hotels, and more 

Also: 

• Costco shopping tips
• Save big by scaling back
• Lower your medical costs

Tips for a lost ATM card

What to do after losing an ATM card

You could be out $500 if you don’t report the missing card quickly enough.  

Fastest way to get a replacement 

Also: 

• Spotting ATM skimmers
• Say 'no' to credit
• Prepare for emergencies

Tax records you can toss

The income tax records you can toss

Now that Tax Day is history, follow these rules to purge the documents you don't need.  

How long to keep returns 

Also: 

• Obama family's taxes
• Why refunds have grown
• Who owes no income tax

Healthiest U.S. housing markets

America's healthiest housing markets

The average home price is under $245,000 in the five most robust states. 

A surprising No. 1 

Also: 

• World's hottest market?
• Find houses for sale
• Homes built inside caves

Lavish CEO pay comes back

Lavish CEO paychecks make a comeback

Two years after bonus-sparked outrage, compensation packages take a startling jump. 

Exec's $76 million windfall 

Also: 

• Exec takes big pay cut
• Crisis villain sentenced
• U.S. rush to sell GM stake

Koch Industries Has Now Spent $55 Million Funding Climate Denial

Photo courtesy of Greenpeace USA

Koch Industries rose out of the shadows last year to take on the mantle of corporate villain numero uno. Its unmasking came about thanks in part to an eye-opening investigation from Greenpeace that revealed the company was sinking astronomical amounts of cash into campaigns designed either to undermine existing environmental laws or prevent new ones from being passed. Combined with a number of other reports from the likes of the New York Times, a portrait emerged of a massive, uber-polluting corporation -- the second largest private company in the nation -- that was using its vast resources to support policies and politicians that would help shield its bottom line. Perhaps the key plank of Greenpeace's report was that Koch Industries spent over $48 million funding various outlets dedicated to denying climate change However, it looks like all that bad PR hasn't lead the 'Kochtopus' to change its ways -- Greenpeace has just released the 2011 update to last year's report, and it's not pretty ...

Article continues: Koch Industries Has Now Spent $55 Million Funding Climate Denial

Funny Pictures

Non Sequitur

The iPhone tracks all of your movements

 

Whether you want it to or not...

Security researchers have discovered that Apple's iPhone keeps track of where you go – and saves every detail of it to a secret file on the device which is then copied to the owner's computer when the two are synchronised.

The file contains the latitude and longitude of the phone's recorded coordinates along with a timestamp, meaning that anyone who stole the phone or the computer could discover details about the owner's movements using a simple program.

For some phones, there could be almost a year's worth of data stored, as the recording of data seems to have started with Apple's iOS 4 update to the phone's operating system, released in June 2010...

"Alasdair has looked for similar tracking code in [Google's] Android phones and couldn't find any," said Warden. "We haven't come across any instances of other phone manufacturers doing this."..

The fact that [the file] is transferred across [to a new iPhone or iPad] when you migrate is evidence that the data-gathering isn't accidental." But they said it does not seem to be transmitted to Apple itself...

The iPhone system, by contrast, appears to record the data whether or not the user agrees. Apple declined to comment on why the file is created or whether it can be disabled...

Apple can legitimately claim that it has permission to collect the data: near the end of the 15,200-word terms and conditions for its iTunes program, used to synchronise with iPhones, iPods and iPads, is an 86-word paragraph about "location-based services".

More information at the Guardian.

Canadian authorities make arrest in 'webcam murder'

Canadian authorities have made an arrest in the murder of a Chinese student who was attending a Toronto university.

She was last seen alive via webcam, by her boyfriend in China who had been video chatting with her.

Full Story

CIA reveals WWI spy secrets

CIA reveals spy secrets from WWI

A curious method for sharing messages is one of the tricks exposed in newly released files.

Why they waited 

Also: 

• Pentagon document leaked
• Hilter deserters honored
• China ahead in spy fight

Museum returns Klimt painting

Museum returning art to Nazi victim's heir

A Gustav Klimt painting worth more than $30 million will go to its rightful owner.  

Confiscated by the Gestapo during WWII 

Also: 

• Holocaust survivor reunion
• Van Gogh thieves jailed
• 'Gatsby' mansion razed

Bogus Nun Worked for Gangsters

A bogus nun posing as Sister Mindy, "dressed in a nun's habit, with a cross on her neck and a donation cup in her hands," scammed New Yorkers for years, seeking donations for a sham church - but the money went to a notorious Brooklyn crime family, state prosecutors say.

"Dressed in a nun's habit, with a cross on her neck and a donation cup in her hands, defendant Melindia LeGrand has for years solicited Little Italy's residents, shoppers, and tourists asking for money to support the 'children of St. Joseph's' and social programs run by St. Joseph's," New York's attorney general says in the complaint in Kings County Court.

But "In fact, the social programs do not exist, Melindia LeGrand is not a nun and St. Joseph's is not a functioning church. St. Joseph's is simply a front for fraudulent fundraising that is run by members of the LeGrand family, which has a notorious history of crime in Brooklyn," according to the complaint.

The attorney general says St. Joseph's Church of Christ, Inc., was co-founded by Vivian Sannicola, whose former common-law husband, Devernon LeGrand, was a self-proclaimed bishop who ran St. John's Pentecostal Church of the Lord until his multiple murder convictions shut it down in 1977.

LeGrand died in prison after killing and dismembering three women, including one of his wives, according to reports in The New York Times and other newspapers.

But before St. John's closed down, its "sisters" dressed in black habits to seek "charity" on New York City's streets and subways, according to the complaint.

Vivian Sannicola, then known as Vivian Jenkins, incorporated St. Joseph's in 1980, and the church's certificate was signed by "Rt. Reverend Vivian Jenkins," "Reverend Helen Lloyd" and "Deacon Michael Hicks," according to the complaint.

Helen Lloyd was another common law wife of "Bishop" LeGrand, and Hicks was his son-in-law. "Bishop" LeGrand reportedly fathered 46 children.

Snippets of transcripts printed in the complaint show that Melindia LeGrand invoked her protection from self-incrimination more than 20 times when probed by the attorney general's office.

Transcripts of Sannicola's testimony, however, show short, direct and allegedly incriminating answers followed by exclamation points.

When asked if St. Joseph's had a board of trustees, Sannicola said, "No!"

When asked who ran the church, she replied, "I do!"

"Do you make the decisions?" her interrogator asked.

The transcript states she was "screaming" when she replied "Yes!"

New York wants the "church" dissolved, its fund-raising enjoined, and LeGrand and Sannicola fined for breach of duty, waste and misappropriation.

St. Joseph's Church of Christ is also known as St. Joseph's Church of Christ & Home.

A 9-year-old saves sister

Movie helps 9-year-old rescue sister

Tristin Saghin learned a life-saving maneuver from a DVD he wasn't supposed to be watching.

Heroic act 

Also: 

• China dogs' rescue
• Trucker saves own life
• Baby survives tornado