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What They're Saying About Obama's Speech
Let's take a look at the instant pundit reaction to specific segments of the inaugural address, from gay rights and health care to gun violence and climate change.
President Obama touched on gay rights, school shootings, climate change, and health care in his second inaugural address. Online chatter from the right, left, and center of the spectrum offered widely diverging takes on his points. But even if he polarized the audience, President Obama seems to have accomplished one difficult feat: In a Twitterscape easily distracted by memes and silly jokes, he got most pundits to discuss serious issues in a serious way. There were still memes and silly jokes, but let's take at the instant pundit reaction to specific segments of Obama's forceful speech, and what they might mean for the second term.
Gay Rights
Obama's quote: "We, the people, declare today that the most evident of truths — that all of us are created equal — is the star that guides us still; just as it guided our forebears through Seneca Falls, and Selma, and Stonewall ... Our journey is not complete until our gay brothers and sisters are treated like anyone else under the law — for if we are truly created equal, then surely the love we commit to one another must be equal as well."
Only thing I will remember from Obama's speech was Stonewall. Pretty amazing to hear that.— Anthony De Rosa (@AntDeRosa) January 21, 2013
1st time a president of US in an inaugural speech has called for equal rights for gay and lesbian Americans, also referenced Stonewall.— Anderson Cooper (@andersoncooper) January 21, 2013
It's genuinely shocking that Stonewall is now mentionable in presidential addresses.— Dylan Matthews (@dylanmatt) January 21, 2013
Climate Change
Obama's quote: "We will respond to the threat of climate change, knowing that the failure to do so would betray our children and future generations. Some may still deny the overwhelming judgment of science, but none can avoid the devastating impact of raging fires, and crippling drought, and more powerful storms."
Vows action on 'climate change'... drudge.tw/TaO3aS— DRUDGE REPORT (@DRUDGE_REPORT) January 21, 2013
Bold rhetoric from Obama's inaug speech on inequality and climate change. As always, the question: Will he push policies to match?— Jim Tankersley (@jimtankersley) January 21, 2013
Fred Upton on Obama climate change remark: "I thought maybe that was him loosening up for a signature of the Keystone Pipeline."— Matthew Fuller (@MEPFuller) January 21, 2013
Gun Violence
Obama's quote: "Our journey is not complete until all our children, from the streets of Detroit to the hills of Appalachia to the quiet lanes of Newtown, know that they are cared for, and cherished, and always safe from harm."
No mention of guns in Obama's speech. Brief mention of Newtown.— Aaron Blake (@FixAaron) January 21, 2013
GOP Senator: Obama Tried To 'Exploit' Newtown Tragedy 'Within Minutes' mediaite.com/tv/gop-senator… (VIDEO)— Mediaite (@mediaite) January 21, 2013
Nice. Newtown mention. Well done, sir.— Isaac Butler (@parabasis) January 21, 2013
Health Care
Obama's quote: "We must make the hard choices to reduce the cost of health care and the size of our deficit. But we reject the belief that America must choose between caring for the generation that built this country and investing in the generation that will build its future."
A rare second inaugural that risks a clear ideology, from climate change to healthcare. Let's hope risk in deed follows risk in word.— Ronan Farrow (@RonanFarrow) January 21, 2013
Word choice to highlight crucial role of health costs: "... to reduce the cost of health care and the size of our deficit,"— David Leonhardt (@DLeonhardt) January 21, 2013
It's not hard to cut the cost of health care when you're the one who nearly doubled it in just 4 years.— John Nolte(@NolteNC) January 21, 2013
Obama's quote: "Our journey is not complete until we find a better way to welcome the striving, hopeful immigrants who still see America as a land of opportunity; until bright young students and engineers are enlisted in our workforce rather than expelled from our country."
ICYMI, here's why young Dreamers will be looking to Obama to signal immigration reform in his #inaug13 speech gu.com/p/3d68q— Stuart Millar (@stuartmillar159) January 21, 2013
That was it on #immigration? A throw away line about STEM students? Psh.— Anu Joshi (@anu22) January 21, 2013
What of bright young students and engineers who happen to be citizens? Should they be given opportunities first? #immigration #inauag2013— FAIR (@FAIRImmigration) January 21, 2013


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No matter how hard you struggle, these phrases worm their way into your consciousness. No matter how much you deny it, you let them back out. Here's a list of ten phrases too good to not repeat.
This io9 flashback originally appeared on the site in January 2011.
10. "We're not in Kansas anymore."
What it's from: Wizard of Oz
When you say it: Took the wrong freeway offramp; hotel was seedier than previously imagined; only guy at a con not dressed like a Johnny Depp character. Take your pick. You've said it.
9. "Make it so."
What it's from: Captain Picard's catch phrase in Star Trek: TNG
When you say it: When someone offers to order pizza two hours into your Star Trek: The Next Generation marathon.
What it's from: The Tick
When you say it: I'm not exactly sure, but whenever it is, you and everyone around you better be damn drunk.
7. "I'm the best there is at what I do. But what I do isn't very nice."
What it's from: Wolverine's catch phrase from X-Men
When you say it: Just as you're about to swoop in and outbid someone on eBay at the very last second.
6. "Curse your sudden but inevitable betrayal!"
What it's from: Firefly
When you say it: When you got outbid on eBay at the last second because it turns out you're not the best there is.
5. "I know kung fu."
What it's from: The Matrix
When you say it: When you're in company and are talking about Keanu Reeves - ironically. As soon as you're alone - dead serious.
4. "You shall not pass!"
What it's from: Lord of the Rings
When you say it: Whenever you get your hands on a long stick and a stone to crack it against.
3. "Live long and prosper."
What it's from: Vulcan farewell from Star Trek
When you say it: When you honestly, touchingly, sweetly, and simply hope that the person you're saying it to will reply with, "Peace and long life."
2. "No, Luke. I am your father!"
What it's from: Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back (sort of)
When you say it: Any time, really. Everyone says it. The interesting thing is that most people say it wrong, and say it wrong deliberately. The actual line is, "No, I am your father," but good luck getting any non Star Wars freak to get it. The moment you add 'Luke' it becomes recognizable to all, but purists I've met swear they never say it that way.
1. "Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die."
What it's from: Princess Bride
When you say it: Twenty minutes after you saw The Princess Bride. With a ruler in your hand, and your only pair of boots while your very-much-alive father shaves in the bathroom down the hall. Oh please, like you weren't all dying to say this one as soon as you heard it.
Top Image: Flavio Hoffe

subset: commoncrawl


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Well not really. But according to this some species of squid engage in cannibalism:
Now Bruce Deagle of the University of Tasmania, Australia, and his team have analysed the gut contents of a male giant squid caught by fishermen off the west coast of Tasmania in 1999. Among the slurry of macerated prey, they found three tentacle fragments and 12 squid beaks. The beaks could not be unequivocally identified, but all of the squid DNA in the slurry, and the tentacle fragments, was found to be that of A. dux (Journal of Heredity, vol 96, p 417). "This strongly suggests cannibalism," says team member Simon Jarman of the Australian Antarctic Division in Kingston, Tasmania. The only other prey species identified was a fish, the blue grenadier.
And at the most inopportune times:
"The male giant squid has to use a puny 15-gram brain to coordinate 150 kilograms of weight, 10 metres of length and a 1.5-metre-long penis," he says"He physically plunges this penis into the female's arms, which are rather unfortunately right next to her beak. Because he is coordinating so much with so little, I think occasionally bits get chewed off when they inadvertently get too close to the beak."
I was looking forward to our squid overlords but if they are going to be biting penises, er, phalluses off I'm going to have to rethink that!
Filed under: Invertebrates | Tagged: Giant Squid | 2 Comments »


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US followed Boeing's lead on 787 battery testing (Update 3)
U.S. regulators let Boeing help write the safety conditions for the problematic battery system in its beleaguered 787 "Dreamliner," prescribe how to test it and carry out those tests itself, according to testimony and documents released at a hearing Tuesday.
As airlines prepare to resume flying the 787 after a three-month grounding, the National Transportation Safety Board is looking at how the Federal Aviation Administration, Boeing and the company's subcontractors tested and approved the 787's lithium ion batteries, and whether the government grants aircraft makers too much leeway when it comes to safety.
Batteries aboard two 787s failed less than two weeks apart in January, causing a fire aboard one plane and smoke in another. The root cause of those incidents is still unknown.
"We are here to understand why the 787 experienced unexpected battery failures following a design program led by one of the world's leading manufacturers and a certification process that is well respected throughout the international aviation community," NTSB's Chairman Deborah Hersman said at the opening of a two-day board hearing.
"We are looking for lessons learned, not just for the design and certification of the failed battery, but also for knowledge that can be applied to emerging technologies going forward," Hersman said.
The 787, Boeing's newest and most technologically advanced plane, is the first airliner to make extensive use of lithium-ion batteries. Since the FAA doesn't have safety regulations for those batteries as installed equipment in planes, the agency and Boeing jointly developed the special safety conditions the plane's battery system should have to meet, according to documents and testimony.
The FAA also agreed to Boeing's proposed tests for the batteries, and the company and its subcontractors were responsible for performing those tests.
In one key test, a nail was driven into one of the battery's eight cells to create a short circuit. Based on the test results, Boeing concluded that a short circuit in one cell wouldn't start a fire or cause the battery's other cells to short. Yet that's exactly what NTSB investigators say happened in the battery fire in Boston, although they still don't know the origin of the short circuiting.
The test was "state of the art at the time," Mike Sinnet, Boeing's chief engineer for the 787, testified at the hearing. "In retrospect, we don't think it was conservative enough."
In March 2008, a year after the FAA gave final safety certification to the 787's battery system, a government-industry advisory committee recommended a more rigorous set of safety tests for the use of lithium batteries generally in planes. FAA officials, however, didn't change the tests required for the 787.
"We apply the regulatory standards as they appear in the special conditions," said Steve Boyd, manager of the FAA's airplane and flight crew interface branch. Boeing's tests were "reasonable," he said.
FAA officials also said the risks of using lithium batteries were well known at the time the agency was working on Boeing's certification request. Lithium batteries are more susceptible to uncontrolled temperature increases and to catching fire when they short circuit.
Eight months after the FAA approved Boeing's battery proposal, a fire erupted at a test facility in Arizona when a subcontractor overcharged the battery with the battery protection circuitry disabled, documents show.
That brought home to the industry the serious dangers of the batteries, the FAA said in a timeline supplied to NTSB.
The battery system was designed with four layers of protection against overcharging, and overcharging isn't suspected in the two January incidents, Sinnett said.
Lithium batteries weigh less, store more energy and recharge faster than conventional batteries, making them attractive to aircraft makers and their airline customers.
Boeing did some of the safety testing on the 787 battery system, but testing was also performed by a subcontractor, Thales of France, which made the 787's electrical system, and by battery maker GS Yuasa of Japan. The testing concluded there was no chance that short-circuiting would lead to a fire, and the odds of a smoking battery were one in every 10 million flight hours.
Instead, there were two battery failures when the entire 787 fleet had clocked less than 52,000 flight hours. The first came Jan. 7 aboard a Japan Airlines 787 parked at Boston's Logan International Airport shortly after landing from an overseas flight. Firefighters reported two small flames and dense clouds of white smoke streaming from the battery. It was an hour and forty minutes before they declared the incident under control.
Nine days later, a smoking battery aboard an All Nippon Airways 787 led to an emergency landing in Japan. The FAA ordered all U.S.-registered 787s grounded the same day, and aviation authorities in other countries swiftly followed suit.
The NTSB, which is investigating the Boston incident, may never be able to determine the root cause of fire. The inside of the battery was severely charred, leaving few clues for investigators.
Boeing has since developed and tested a revamped version of the battery system, with changes designed to prevent a fire or to contain one should it occur. FAA officials approved the revamped batteries last week and agreed to lift the grounding order. The company has been working furiously to install the new system on the 50 Dreamliners in service worldwide. Boeing has orders for 840 of the planes from airlines around the globe.
Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


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Singer to headline fundraiser
Hedge fund executive and Republican megadonor Paul Singer is among the headliners of an event for four female Senate candidates through Winning Women, a series he helped found aimed at boosting the ranks of GOP women in Congress.
Singer is the main host for the Sept. 14 event in New York City, and his co-hosts on the invitation include a number of allies or fellow major donors, including financier Cliff Asness and his wife, Laurel, former Senate hopeful Linda McMahon of Connecticut, and Singer's longtime fundraising adviser, Annie Dickerson.
The event will raise money for female Republican Senate candidates Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia, Joni Ernst of Iowa, Terri Lynn Land of Michigan and Monica Wehby of Oregon, according to a copy of the invitation obtained by POLITICO.
( Also on POLITICO: 10 legacies of the Watergate scandal)
Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H), who is not facing reelection this year, is a featured guest.
"This will represent the NE/tri-state effort on behalf of the leading women candidates for the U.S. Senate this cycle," Singer wrote in an email to potential attendees. "Thus far, there are 10 cities and their co-hosts participating in a nationwide effort alongside us from Los Angeles to Atlanta in support of these candidates."
He added, "You may have heard me mention before — but it bears repeating — that the GOP caucus is only made up of 8% women while the Dems claim 30% in their ranks. A group of us is trying to do something about this imbalance by helping to elect more women to the U.S. Senate. With this crop of women, we get more diversity in our caucus and quality leadership."
The email asks people to max out to each candidate with a $2,600 donation.
( Also on POLITICO: Tea party loses again; blame game begins)
Launched earlier this year, the initial Winning Women joint fundraising committee focused first on a trio of House candidates. The Senate iteration was the next step in a multipronged effort by Singer to impact the face and dynamic of his party in the cycle after a devastating 2012 presidential campaign and Senate losses for the GOP.
Winning Women's House committee has steered money to House hopefuls Barbara Comstock of Virginia, Martha McSally of Arizona and Elise Stefanik in upstate New York.


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by: Pastor Barry Briggs
The Springs Church
135 N. Grant, Cedar Springs
If someone were to ask you how work is going, or what you've been up to, what would you say? If you're like me, you would probably say you've been "really busy." It sounds better to say that you've been keeping busy than to say you're doing nothing, right? We think it's a good thing to be busy. And so, whether we like it or not, whether it's good for us or not, we keep ourselves constantly busy. We juggle the relentless demands of our career, family, marriage, church, relationships, health, chores, activities, finances, and just plain life! We work long and hard hours, hurry home to chauffeur our kids around from one activity to another, grab dinner on the road, and on the weekends we do our best to attend church.
Why do we do it?
Busyness makes us feel important. If we're busy, we must be needed. People depend on us. We are working hard for God. We have this idea that busyness leads to godliness. Guess what? It doesn't! If anything, busyness leads to emptiness.
Have you ever noticed how electronic gadgets do bizarre things when their batteries are low? I had a Chevy Corsica once that had an old battery that needed to be replaced and it caused the power door locks to lock and unlock randomly. It just didn't make sense. The whole car seemed to be short-circuiting. And so it is with life. When our batteries are low, we do bizarre things, we get easily frustrated, and irritable.
Let me ask you, do you feel tired? Worn out? Burned out? Stressed Out? Are you running on empty? If so, Jesus has an invitation for you today. He says, "Come to Me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you. Let Me teach you, because I am humble and gentle, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke fits perfectly, and the burden I give you is light" (Matthew 11:28-30 NLT).
Jesus understands our need for rest because He personally knows what it is like to lead a demanding life. All day long people sought His attention, advice, and help. The Bible says that one time Jesus and His disciples where so busy going here and there, helping people, and everything else, that they didn't even have time to eat. Sound like your life sometimes? When Jesus noticed what was happening He said to His disciples, "Come with Me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest" (Mark 6:31 NIV).
If you're too busy that you don't have time to sit down and eat, something needs to change. God wants you to get some rest. He designed you in a way that requires it. It's ok to spend time recharging your batteries.
The problem is, if you're like me you start feeling guilty when you take time off. When I try to relax my mind keeps returning to all the important, urgent, "spiritual" things I think I should be doing!
I've had to learn to follow God's advice in Psalm 46:10, "Be still, and know that I am God" (KJV).
The truth is, slowing down and getting some rest is one of the most spiritual things you can do! Rest is Jesus' gift to us. I wonder what sort of spiritual blessings we miss out on when we refuse to rest.
A busy life is not necessarily a productive life. Jesus came to give you an abundant life, not a busy life–there's a difference. If you're feeling extra busy right now, then now is when you need rest the most. The best time to rest is when you don't have time to rest! Don't feel guilty about it. Taking time to rest is spiritual obedience. Getting some much overdue rest will energize your devotional time, focus your prayer time, improve your work time, and prolong your lifetime!
So take time to relax and enjoy life. This weekend go away with Christ to a quiet place and rest for a while. Consider taking a nap, or sleeping in, or going to bed early. It may just be the most spiritual thing you will do for yourself all week.


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Yammer Gets Bronx Cheers from the Blogosphere. Why?
September 15, 2008 20 Comments
Yammer, as much of the free world seems to now know, won "best of show" at TechCrunch50. Yammer is an enterprise 2.0 company. The blogosphere had a fairly negative opinion about this. I read a number of these posts, and the table below outlines the reasons Yammer was viewed negatively:
Links to source posts: Dennis Howlett, Rafe Needleman, Rob Diana, Mathew Ingram, Svetlana Gladkova, Chris Cardinal, Chris Brogan, Jennifer Leggio, Bernard Lunn, Joe Duck, Stephen Baker, Mike Gotta, Fred Wilson, Duncan Riley, Liz Gannes
It's a diverse collection of bloggers, and they each bring different perspectives. But there was enough commonality that I bucketed the reasons into the five groups you see in the table.
The reactions surprised me a bit – although there were positive reactions too. Let's break down these five buckets.
Another Twitter Clone
Understandable reaction. We've seen Plurk, Identi.ca, Rejaw, etc. So I get the weary "Yet Another Twitter Clone" reaction.
Key difference here is the market Yammer is pursuing: enterprise. That makes all the difference in the world.
- For Identi.ca to succeed, people would have to stop using Twitter (see Louis Gray's post for analytical back-up to this point)
- For Yammer to succeed, the more people use Twitter, the better.
Twitter ain't enterprise, and I'd be surprised it gets there anytime soon. But using Twitter makes people understand the value of microblogging, which in turn helps Yammer.
Twitter/Others Will Do This
Given Twitter's problems with keeping the service stable, I'd be shocked if they had also been putting in cycles figuring out how to go after the corporate market.
The other key difference is this. Enterprise is a different world than consumer. Probably one of the better explanations of the differences was by Mike Gotta, in discussing microblogging inside the enterprise:
"Within the enterprise, it is highly probable that IT organizations will classify these tools as messaging platforms (I would BTW). As a messaging platform, these tools would have to support security, logging, audit and archival functions to satisfy regulatory, compliance and records management demands."
To succeed in the enterprise, you really need to focus on the enterprise. Twitter is having a field day in its growth in the consumer world. Wachovia just added their Twitter account to the website Contact Us page. Keith Olbermann is now on Twitter. Twitter should really focus on the consumer market, and own that.
Yammer is more likely to bump up against SAP's ESME and Oracle's OraTweet.
Extortion Revenue Model
The extortion is based on the fact that Yammer is free for sign-up and use. But if a company wants to control it, access to the administrative functions costs money. So companies will feel compelled to pay in order to manage the goings-on inside Yammer.
I'll admit it's a pretty creative enterprise pricing model. It seems to address two issues that bedevil enterprise software vendors:
- How do I get a company to try my software
- How do I prove employees will use it and get value from it
Companies don't pay until they've seen employees use it and get value from it. Not bad, and it really wouldn't be that hard for a CIO to tell employees to stop using Yammer (and block the site).
It is sneaky, but it's also a clever way to address the adoption and value proposition issues that enterprise software vendors will always face. Atlassian Confluence achieved a solid share of the wiki market via viral adoption. Atlassian doesn't have sales people – it's all word of mouth.
Workers Won't Adopt
This is where Yammer faces the toughest road. Getting people to microblog. Twitter is available to the hundreds of millions of people around the globe who might be interested. And it's gotten a very small percentage of them.
Inside the enterprise, you need a much higher adoption rate. People already on Twitter are natural adopters, but a lot of employees will still have the "why would I do that?" reaction.
The "sell" has to compare Yammer to existing communication modes:
- Instant messaging
- Forums
Note that relative to Twitter, Yammer has immediate context and built-in users. Context comes because the internal messages will generally center around work that colleagues have a stake in. In other words, they care more about each Yammer message than they do about individual tweets out in the wild.
The other thing is that managers at the departmental level can join and start using Yammer. On Twitter, if you don't follow an A-Lister…so be it. On Yammer, if you don't follow your boss…you're going to miss something.
Cloud Computing Is Scary
This is an ongoing issue for the entire cloud computing/web apps world. Amazon S3 and Gmail's recent outages highlight the issue.
Salesforce.com experienced outages back in late 2005 and early 2006. They were a blow to the software-as-a-service sector, but the company appears to have righted the ship since then.
Salesforce.com has a market cap of $6.9 billion. Yammer doesn't.
But Yammer doesn't have the database-of-record mission that Salesforce.com does, so the threshold for Yammer is lower. Still, ideally for Yammer, people will message about critical issues for their companies, not just what they're having for lunch. So Yammer's scalability, security and reliability will be important.
Cloud computing still has a sell-job of its own, but I like the way Anshu Sharma put it:
"No one (at least not me) is suggesting that on-premise software will disappear – its just that growth in enterprise software will come from SaaS and not on-premise (which is growing at about 4%). Venture capitalists like Emergence Capital and Humbold Winblad are voting with their dollars!"
A lot of action is around SaaS, it's a question of how long the adoption curve will be. Yammer is counting on this one.
Gartner's Hype Cycle
Gartner puts out updates on something it calls the Hype Cycle for Emerging Technologies. The hype cycle tracks the market views of various technologies, which go through predictable cycles:
- Technology Trigger
- Peak of Inflated Expectations
- Trough of Disillusionment
- Slope of Enlightenment
- Plateau of Productivity
In July 2008, Gartner released its latest view regarding the hype cycle. This one included both microblogging and cloud computing, Yammer's model:
Neither microblogging nor cloud computing is anywhere near mainstream uptake. Gartner pegs that at a 2 to 5 year horizon.
The companies that are in now, though, will be best positioned to figure out what drives the Plateau of Productivity. It takes time to learn a market, get some positive customer stories and gain a wider customer base.
I'll be watching Yammer.
I'm @bhc3 on Twitter.


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The police lineup if you were robbed by 1970s I.T. guys singing acapella
The Gentlemen Four
"We'll Be Seeing You…"
1978, no label
From the liner notes: "For three years these four aspiring physicists have humbly had the Science Building at Point Loma College as their home. They found there that they could sing, would sing, so… they did sing! Headed up by Bob, they had soon wafted their hilarious harmonies into the heart of all who heard. But, it only started there. Soon they were on the banquet circuit, singing for churches, and often the main attraction at school functions and presentations."


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JAMES BURNS: The innocent blood in Boston's streets will not defeat us
"Innocent Blood Crying to God from the Streets of Boston." The screaming headline broke through a barrier of political correctness to call Americans to battle 243 years ago.
The innocent blood that Sam Adams' 1770 pamphlet made a colonial call to arms was from the Boston Massacre. And now, sadly, we have a new one, another Boston Massacre. And the blood of victims doesn't get much more innocent than that of a little boy and two young women, one a student, the other a restaurant manager.
I know Boston, Belfast, and fear. Fear of the unknown, the unseen, the unseemly.
When my wife and I lived in Boston years ago, the Boston Strangler terrified the city for two long years. The Boston Bombers did their dirty work in twenty seconds. But Boston has a big heart and broad shoulders, and can be a brawler when attacked. Fight back? You bet.
A lady in Belfast named Celia Gourley fought back – from having her legs blown off by a terrorist bomb, limb loss also being one of the results of the Boston Bombers' evil deed. I know Celia's husband, Bob Gourley, a fellow academic, and visited him in Belfast shortly after his wife went out the door to go to work one morning in 1991. The Irish Republican Army, having a deep disdain for Northern Ireland civil servants, had earlier placed a booby-trapped bomb under Celia's car. She got in the car and turned the ignition key. The blast blew her legs off. Yes, that's graphic and gruesome, a battlefield-type injury right there in their driveway.
Terrorism's triad of kill, maim, scare can also trigger – after the initial revulsion – revenge, resolve, and a reaction that channels anger into a determination not to be beaten down by the bomb. In Celia's case, you might say she walked all over the IRA by walking back into her Belfast office on artificial legs just five months after losing her legs, but not her heart to terrorism, to tearful cheers from her co-workers.
Celia became a community activist and the leading board member of a charity that raises funds for victims of violence. Still mad? Yes. When she testified before a parliamentary select committee at Westminster in 2005, a full 14 years after the IRA tried to take her out, she said: "I am not bitter, but I am very angry. Anger was the driving motivation in my case, and I am still very angry." That's constructive, not destructive, anger.
I made a total of eight trips to Belfast, observing and writing about Northern Ireland's Troubles and terrorism. I saw the destructive and corrosive effects of terrorism, but I also saw the resolve and solidarity that resulted. After the Oklahoma City bombing, the Lord Mayor of Belfast, Hugh Smyth, sensing how new and horrific such an act of terrorism was for Americans, extended that solidarity across the ocean, issuing a statement of shared empathy and encouragement, as below.
"We have not been defeated by the bomb. Terrorism became a crucible for testing our tenacity … You will draw strength from the suffering and courage of ordinary people … Anger must be channeled into resolve … Terrorism, as deadly and mindless as it often is, is a sign of weakness. Your people and great democracy must unite to defeat it. Our hearts reach out to you at this time of sorrow."
Mayor Smyth's words could be repeated and redirected to Boston, and to the rest of us, today. We have many more friends than enemies, but we must deal in a defiant and effective manner with the enemies we do have.
Yes, innocent blood stained the streets of Boston in 1770 and now again in 2013. Oklahoma City. The Twin Towers. The Boston Marathon. We must rally around them and tell terrorists, in both word and deed, "We will not be defeated by the bomb."
James F. Burns, formerly of Wollaston, is a professor emeritus at the University of Florida. This column first appeared in The Orlando Sentinel.


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Zite on Friday announced the availability of its newsreading app on the iPhone, wrapping up an exceptionally busy week for news app developers.
The news followed, by just a few days, Flipboard's launch of an iPhone-compatible universal app, a successor to the company's year-old—and much-lauded—"social magazine" for iPad. Similarly, Google on Thursday announced the launch of its new Google Currents reader for iPhone and iPad.
Zite is more similar to Flipboard, in that both tie into a user's social media—like Twitter and Facebook—to produce headlines; Currents instead features a partnership with online publishers to make their content available in that app.
Zite's new iPhone offering is a little different from the other two apps. Both Flipboard and Currents are graphic-driven—requiring users to click on icons to get to the headlines. Zite, though, is headline-driven: Flipboard offers just two stories per iPhone page, but Zite doubles that number. Zite's iPhone app also has a scrolling menu across the top that lets users shift quickly between categories.
And if you have multiple iOS devices, you'll probably want to sign up for a Zite account, to sync your preferences and news sources between your iPhone and iPad. Flipboard also has a new account system for similar purposes—and Google products are incomplete, of course, without a Google account.
Although the introduction of the iPad was initially seen by old-media publishers as a digital tool that might help them save their businesses— and, at long last, appears to be doing just that—this week's news signals the iPhone's continued relevance as a newsreading device, with iPad success stories like Flipboard and Zite expanding their offerings to the smaller screen.
Zite, in particular, suggested to reporters that there were two good reasons for doing so: First, iOS users sometimes only have time to quickly check headlines on their iPhone in between meetings and other errands. Second, there are reportedly still plenty of iPhone users who don't own iPads.
The new iPhone interface is available as part of a 1.3 update to Zite's existing app, which now runs on any device with iOS 4.0 or later.


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An auto broker could be the respond to for getting you more car for your investment. The recognition of vehicle brokerages are increasing more and more. Folks are searching for a greater strategy to purchasing their vehicles without the trouble and confrontational environment that exists in the vehicle buying process right now.
Simply put a car agent, or auto consultant, controls and manages the entire process of buying a automobile for you personally. A broker will see your vehicle you want, work out the purchase price, manage record reports, buy your vehicle protection inspected, secure financing as needed, and deal with each of the pieces of paper function associated with the procedure. Their task is always to handle your case and help you save money and time in a car shopping process. Most people are certainly not even aware that using an vehicle brokerage is surely an alternative they have in purchasing their vehicles. Below are some good reasons and benefits for thinking of employing an auto broker for your next vehicle buy.
Superior Remedy – Receiving What You Truly Desire
Auto broker agents be sure that their customers get outstanding therapy through-out the whole vehicle shopping process. A broker has their finger around the heartbeat of your car business and is aware where to get the best discounts for customers. They can also get points accomplished, inside the market, that may seem difficult on the average individual, as a consequence of what and who they know. This is often a appealing factor if you happen to need assistance in fixing a concern with your motor vehicle.
Negotiations on terms In The Offer – Saving You Money
Due to level of quantity that this car dealer does each month these people have a community of auctions, auto sellers and distributors where they may safe discounted pricing that they may move through to their customers. In spite of the broker's cost factored in to the value of the car, you continue to save money on your buy. This is also true once they get you financing. I've observed in which a agent actually acquired a customer a greater interest compared to what the client's very own banking institution got cited them.
Convenience And Practicality – Helping You Save Time
Many people dread the concept of needing to purchase a vehicle. An automobile brokerage will save you the headache and energy of experiencing to vehicle-hunt the dealerships lots and waste materials a lot of time surfing the Internet within the pursuit of your car or truck. Because the agent is really a skilled the whole revenue procedure is effortless and simple. They don't take part in the "car acquiring" online games.
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Anyone can utilize an vehicle brokerage. It use to be that brokers only dealt with more expensive luxury autos in past times. These days most of your broker agents works on finding any make or design vehicle that you could be looking for. Some brokerages can even consider your industry-in in your new vehicle. Make sure to check with what services your dealer offers before you recognize to use them.
Inspired by: ezinearticles


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A chart from a study (pdf) on the Perry Preschool Program, an iconic early intervention longitudinal study that began in the 1960s:
After its mention in the SOTU, Travis Waldron makes the case for universal Pre-K:
Expanded childhood education would have substantial benefits for children who receive it. Chicago's preschool program generates "$11 of economic benefits over a child's lifetime for every dollar spent initially on the program," according to one study, and at-risk youth who receive early childhood education are more likely to go to college and less likely to drop out of school, become teen parents, or commit violent crimes. … A universal program would save money by reducing societal and economic costs later in the child's life, while also increasing social and economic mobility for the children who receive it.
Sharon Lerner recently reviewed the Pre-K program in Oklahoma, calling it "the nation's brightest model for early education." Michael Petrelli rebuts with data on Head Start, "the major federal effort in pre-K":
Any gains [from Head Start] fade out by the third grade. A reasonable question is whether that's the fault of Head Start or the fault of our dysfunctional public-education system. But there's little reason for confidence that new federal spending in pre-K, if it looks anything like Head Start, will lead to better results for poor and middle-class children.
Dylan Matthews discounts the data on Head Start:
A randomized trial run by the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), which runs Head Start, found some effects in the first few years for program participants, but those benefits faded away by grade school. Some Head Start supporters, like Danielle Ewen of the Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP), argue that this says more about K-12, and that what's likely happening is that poor quality public schools are actually reversing Head Start's gains.
Tyler Cowen asks, is "adding on another layer of education, and building that up more or less from scratch in many cases, better than fixing the often quite broken systems we have now?":
I know well all the claims about "needing to get kids early," but is current kindergarten so late in life? Why not have much better kindergartens and first and second grade experiences in the ailing school districts? Or is the claim that by kindergarten "it is too late," yet a well-executed government early education could fix the relevant problems if applied at ages three to four? Would such a claim mean that we are currently writing off many millions of American children, as it stands now?
Grover J. "Russ" Whitehurst weighs in:
It is impossible to reject out-of-hand the hypothesis that children in the Head Start condition will be doing better 20 years from now than children in the control group. But research on the impacts of early intervention consistently shows that programs with longer-term impacts also evidence shorter-term impacts in elementary school. The two iconic preschool interventions that have been the subject of the longest term follow-ups (the Perry Preschool Study, and the Abecedarian Study) both generated impacts in elementary school of preschool program participation. In particular, the Perry Preschool participants were found to have significantly higher scores compared to their control group counterparts on intellectual and language tests at age 7 and on academic tests at age 9.
Sharon Lerner also looks at Perry:
The critics of public pre-K have, for years, hammered on the point that there was only a very small group of Perry students. But in the past decade, early education proponents have amassed the evidence of the great benefits to four-year-olds that have been documented on the state level, too.
Reihan wants more research on pre-K:
[P]re-K programs, whether universal or targeted, might be worth pursuing at some level of investment, but given that we don't really know much about them, we'd be better served by investing federal dollars into researching existing federal and state programs and developing yardsticks for measuring quality rather than rolling out yet another expansion of pre-K programs
And Sara Mead wonders whether Obama's proposal signifies a larger shift:
Over the past decade, there's been a bit of a split in early childhood between advocates of universal pre-k programs designed to prepare 3- and 4-year-olds for school, and advocates who focused on improving childcare and intervention supports for infants, toddlers, and preschoolers (particularly the most disadvantaged) without a specific emphasis on pre-k. In the 2008 campaign, Hillary Clinton came down on the pre-k side of that divide and Barack Obama on the birth-to-five side–and that approach was largely reflected in the President's first term, with the signature Early Learning Challenge Grant program, inclusion of Nurse Home Visiting in the Affordable Care Act, and expansion of Early Head Start. [Last night's] speech seems towards an emphasis on pre-k. If that's correct, what changed?


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Test Drive: 2018 Kia Niro Touring Hybrid
Entry Price: $23,340
Price as Tested: $32,940
This week, we're reviewing the 2018 Kia Niro Touring Hybrid, a small wagon that the Korean manufacturer debuted in '17. Niro comes in a nice-looking five-door hatch design with room for five adults, although the middle rear seat passenger will be a bit tight. Niro is larger than sibling Kia Sportage by 1.2-inches in the wheelbase, making for a more comfortable ride and extra room for passengers and cargo.
The Niro starts at $23,340 for the entry FE, then graduates to the LX at $23,650, EX at $26,150 and top class Touring that starts at $32,000 and is near fully loaded. Regardless of choice, consumers receive the exact same drivetrain hybrid system in each and every model.
Niro's hybrid system utilizes an electric motor, Lithium Ion Polymer battery and an internal combustion engine for motivation, much like the other popular hybrids on the market. This combination delivers a net horsepower of 139 with a most impressive 195 lb. ft. of torque.
All Niros rely on a 104-horse 1.6-liter Atkinson four-cylinder that works in tandem with a 43-horsepower electric motor and a battery that mounts under the rear seat. Kia calls its hybrid system "Full Parallel" that delivers smooth, reliable performance and terrific hybrid efficiency. (Don't add the horsepower of the engine and electric motor together as neither ever works in unison at 100-percent capacity. The 139-horse total is correct).
A modern design six-speed dual clutch automatic transmission delivers the power to 16-inch tires on alloy wheels on the entry and mid-level models. Upper class Niro Touring comes with 18-inch tires and a host of other high end amenity features. The result is a Niro that is heavier and thus impacts the MPG numbers lower, with 46 city and 40 highway the EPA estimates versus the 52 city and 49 highway the lower priced models.
The front drive Niro handles well as all suspension components are made of strong yet lightweight components. Notable is that the current Niro is not available in an all-wheel-drive (AWD) format, which is puzzling since every other competitor today offers both two and four-wheel drive models on cars/wagons/crossovers like this.
All Kia Niro models feature a UVO infotainment stereo system that highlights eServices technology and numerous functions via your smartphone. Android Auto and Apple CarPlay compatibility is standard, as is SiriusXM radio. The FE, LX and EX touch-screens are a seven-inch design with six-speaker stereo, while the Touring versions receive eight-inch screens and enhanced Harmon Kardon stereos with navigation and eight-speakers.
Another feature notable is a blind-spot detection system with lane-change assist and rear cross-traffic alert that is standard on the EX and Touring models. All expected modern day safety items are included on every Niro built, from four-wheel ABS disc brakes to all the airbags.
Niro Touring for 2018 now features the advanced technology package as standard fare. An option on the 2017 we drove last year, this package features smart cruise control, automatic emergency braking, forward collision warning, lane-departure warning, 10-way power seats and more. I highly recommend the Touring model if you can afford it as this option costs from $1,450 to $1,950 on the lower class Niros and is not available on the entry model.
Touring models come with countless other standard amenities, from power sunroof to heated steering wheel and seats. Your Kia dealer will explain everything when you visit.
I was impressed with the pep of the Niro drivetrain under full throttle, especially from a dead start. The excellent torque available should erase any concerns of Niro being slow when it comes to acceleration or merging on higher speed freeways. And, unlike other hybrids that utilize continuous variable transmissions (CVT), Niro relies on an advanced dual clutch Sportmatic six-speed automatic that I prefer over the CVT. Additionally, Niro offers a driver switchable Economy and Sport mode, the latter offering a more aggressive (albeit less MPG) approach as the engine will rev higher before shifting.
A very composed highway cruiser in Eco mode, Niro reacts well with the bigger 18-inch tires and grabs well in tight turns. With a full fuel tank, Niro has an optimal 511-mile cruising range.
Important numbers include a wheelbase of 106.3 inches, 3,274 lb. curb weight, 11.9 gal. fuel tank, 17.5 ft. turn circle, 6.3-inch ground clearance, and from 19.4 to 54.5 cu. ft. of cargo space.
Amongst the bevy of driver and passenger enhancements, Niro Touring's exterior looks and inviting leather cabin are most noteworthy. With easy to drive fundamentals in the city to impressive handling on country roads, Kia's new hybrid wagon is both attractive looking and can be a very economical choice. Add in Kia's 10-year, 100,000-mile limited powertrain/battery warranty and any current year-end incentives, and you could park a winner in your driveway.
To summarize, any leftover 2018 Niro model offers a great opportunity to save some serious money as the 2019 Niro lineup is unchanged at press time.
Likes: Hybrid powertrain, safety, looks, dual-clutch automatic.
Dislikes: High tech safety unavailable on entry FE, no AWD model.
— Greg Zyla writes weekly for More Content Now and GateHouse Media.


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The Guardian's story on Oxburgh's testimony (James Randerson here) is headlined:
Oxburgh: UEA vice-chancellor was wrong to tell MPs he would investigate climate research
and sub-headlined:
Edward Acton gave 'inaccurate' information to MPs by telling them the university would reassess key scientific papers following the UEA climate emails controversy.
And indeed, this is one of the few statements by Oxburgh to the Committee that can be taken at face value. Oxburgh's evidence did shed some interesting new light on both Acton's and oral evidence to the Committee earlier this year.
Summer Controversy over Terms of Reference
Controversy over the Oxburgh terms of reference has been festering for a while. It was discussed in July, with articles by both me and Roger Harrabin (among others) and a statement by the university.
I had written to Oxburgh in June asking him whether my information that Jones had admitted at an interview that it was "probably impossible" to do the reconstructions with any accuracy was true and to issue an addendum to his report if this was the case – since this was perhaps the most contentious scientific point. Oxburgh refused to confirm or deny this point. (The question was touched on again in Oxburgh's testimony, but he evaded the question – more on this in another post.) In his reply, Oxburgh refused to confirm or deny Jones' admission on the grounds that "science was not the subject of the study".
This prompted me to write a CA post itemizing the representations by the university when the formation of the Science Appraisal Panel was first bruited in early February, their written evidence in late February and oral evidence on March 1 – see here for a chronology.
Concurrently, Roger Harrabin of the BBC, a long-time and sincere environmental reporter, was getting very frustrated as a reporter with the inconsistencies between what the university had represented to the public and to the committee and what they were actually doing, presenting quite acid commentary at his blog here and in a broadcast here on July 7, with a tough quote from Phil Willis, former chair of the committee accusing the university of "sleight of hand":
Quite frankly I couldn't believe it. I frankly think that there was a sleight of hand in that the terms of reference were not what we were led to believe.
The University issued its own joint statement with Oxburgh on July 11 here, denying that the terms of reference had changed. Here, as always, you have to watch the pea under the thimble.
University of East Anglia did not change the brief of the Oxburgh Panel Sun, 11 Jul 2010
Following a broadcast on the Today Programme on BBC Radio 4 on July 7, 2010, and text on Roger Harrabin's blogsite on the BBC webpages, the following has been sent to Mr Harrabin by Lord Oxburgh and Professor Trevor Davies.
"The University asked the Panel chaired by Lord Oxburgh to consider whether "data had been dishonestly selected, manipulated and/or presented to arrive at pre-determined conclusions that were not compatible with a fair interpretation of the original data". It is not true that Professor Davies subsequently asked Lord Oxburgh , as you claim, to adopt a "narrower…brief" of any kind. We shall be grateful if you would correct the wrong impression which has been given"
Watch the pea under the thimble here. The criticisms from Harrabin and myself had been that the terms of reference had been misrepresented to the public and to the committee – not whether they had "changed" between the time that Oxburgh had been appointed and his submission of the report.
I had a chat with Trevor Davies at the Guardian reception the following week. Davies accosted me in front of a young reporter from New Scientist, saying that I held myself out as expecting accuracy and demanding that I retract supposedly inaccurate statements at Climate Audit about changes in terms of reference. I asked him to identify the supposedly offending statements and undertook to correct any inaccuracies. On July 15, Davies' secretary sent me an email attaching an email – I guess the great man was not himself going to email me:
Dear Steve,
Please see the attached from Professor Trevor Davies:
Dear Steve,
Below is the agreed statement from Lord Oxburgh and me, which was sent to Roger Harrabin of the BBC. It is now on the UEA website. On Wednesday night you indicated that you would be prepared to correct/remove any erroneous information on the Climate Audit site. I'd be pleased if you would do so with regard to this matter.
[the above statement was included]
I reverted with a detailed answer, saying that I had been unable to locate any "erroneous information". I pointed out that the issue was the inconsistency between the evidence to the public and to the committee and the actual terms of reference, not whether the terms of reference had been "changed" between the time of appointment and the final report. I sent a follow-up but didn't hear back from them on either email.
Throughout all of this, I had assumed that the terms of reference with Oxburgh had been established after Acton's evidence to the committee i.e. I made the generous assumption that Acton's evidence was accurate at the time that he gave it and that, for whatever reason, the terms of reference finally agreed to with Oxburgh did not live up to the representations. Frustrating, but not the same thing as giving "inaccurate" evidence to a parliamentary committee.
Quite frankly, I hadn't even contemplated the possibility that Acton's evidence to the committee about the terms of reference had been "inaccurate" at the time that he gave it i.e. that the terms of reference had been agreed to with Oxburgh prior to Acton's evidence on March 1.
Oxburgh shed a great deal of light on this, both through his direct statement that Acton's evidence was "inaccurate" and some interesting evidence on the chronology of his appointment. Here's an approximate transcript of the relevant section of Oxburgh's evidence yesterday. In his opening paragraph, Oxburgh said that he was "approached in February":
I was approached in February, would I chair a very brief study on the honesty of the people, not expected to go into emails.
Later, he went into more detail about this initial approach, which seems to have been a visit to his house in Cambridge by two senior UEA officials, at which the terms of reference were hammered out. Whether this visit was the "approach in February" or whether it had been preceded by earlier feelers doesn't seem material at this time. I place this visit between Feb 11 and Feb 25, the significance of which dates I'll explain below. Here is Oxburgh's evidence on the terms of reference and the Cambridge visit:
Stringer – you said that your inquiry about integrity and honesty.
Ox – As far as we could
Stringer – When Prof Acton before the previous committee, he said that your panel was to reassess the science and make sure there is nothing wrong –that's a direct quote. What you say is very different..,
Ox – That was inaccurate. I think that the scope of our panel was made quite clear in the university's press release at the time we were appointed and in the first paragraphs of our report. You'll have to bear in mind the vice chancellor in his post for a month or something like that. laugh I think that this all came as rather a abrupt [unintelligible] in his first months as VC.
Q -Can I come back to this. People are saying that the terms of reference changed
Ox – Terms of reference have not changed.
Q – That's what they're claiming. UEA press notice did so it would be an independent and external reappraisal of the science . Now you're clear that you didn't see it that way. Can we just why to get to the bottom as to why there's a slight difference between what the press release said and what you're saying?
Ox – I can't comment on other people saying things. Let me tell you. I was visited in Cambridge by the Deputy VC and a senior member of the university who wanted to persuade me to take this on. This had to be done rapidly. They really wanted it within a month. There would be no way that panel could validate the science. If you wanted to validate the science, you would have a different panel. You wouldn't appoint me as chairman. You'd appoint experts from the field. It's a very different activity. I was quite clear that what we took on was to look at the integrity of the researchers.
10-48 Q – Who set terms of reference, yourself, Royal Society or uni?
Ox- In subsequent discussions, it was made a much more formal process than what happened, the terms of reference emerged at discussions in my house in Cambridge, the university explained what they wanted, they're encapsulated in 1st paragraph of our report and I don't think that there's any disagreement between me, our committee and university.
There seems little doubt that as at Feb 10-11, the date of the Muir Russell press conference and the date of their written submission to the committee, the university's intention and representations were to "reappraise the science". That's what their contemporary statement said.
It also seems certain that Oxburgh hadn't been approached as at Feb 10. On Feb 10, Trevor Davies emailed UK Chief Scientist John Beddington (Andrew Montford has been attentive to his shadowy role in these events) as follows:
Muir Russell is launching the Independent Review tomorrow. Our understanding is that he will state definitively that he will not be reviewing the 'science'. Given the time which has elapsed since we instigated the Review (Dec 3) and other events, we are of the view that there should be as rapid as possible scientific assessment of key CRU publications. There has been discussion between the Royal Soc (Martin Rees, Brian Hoskins), UEA (me, Peter Liss) and Alan Thorpe [NERC]. Initially we were hoping that the Royal Soc would undertake this, but Martin feels it more appropriate that the Soc helps us identify people with the appropriate standing, independence etc. We plan on issuing a statement to this effect tomorrow, Muir Russell has agreed.
It is difficult to say anything about the time-scale until the assessors have been appointed but we want this to be done as quickly as possible. Will keep you in the loop and seek your advice.
Best, Trevor
Beddington replied the next day:
Trevor, thanks for this. I am currently in India, back next week and there may be merit in speaking on the telephone when I retyrn. I think that it is important that UEA indicates that this decision relates to the science and is complementary to Muir Russell. It will be very important to have a Chair for such a review who would be seen as independent. I will ponder this, the choice of experts is rather more straightforward.
Best wishes, John
Beddington then suggested Oxburgh as one of two candidates (per March 4 email from Davies to Beddington and May DEFRA statement in response to Montford FOI request).
Oxburgh is attested in a Feb 27 email from Davies to Rees and Hoskins, saying that Davies and Oxburgh had settled on a list of 13 "possible canadidates". The Cambridge visit is thus firmly bracketed between Feb 11 and Feb 27.
Acton's oral evidence to the committee was on March 1 after the Cambridge visit establishing the terms of reference. At the time of Acton's testimony, Oxburgh had already refused to "reappraise" the science, agreeing only to the very limited appraisal of the "honesty" of the scientists in selected publications (more on this). At the time of Acton's evidence to the committee, it had already been agreed that Oxburgh would not reappraise the science and Acton's opposite testimony was, as Oxburgh stated, "inaccurate". (Beddington also testified to the committee and his evidence is worth examining as well.)
As to Oxburgh's excuse for Acton's "inaccurate" evidence to the committee – that Acton had been in his post as Vice Chancellor much longer than a "month or so". Not a very convincing excuse even for the University of East Anglia.
However, even this excuse is untrue. Acton's appointment as VC had been announced in April 2009, about 11 months before his evidence to the committee. And prior to that he had been acting VC for a number of months, following over five years experience as pro-vice-chancellor. His press release had stated:
Professor Acton has been acting in the role of vice-chancellor of the University of East Anglia following the announcement of Professor Macmillan's retirement, earlier this year. He had been the University's pro-vice-chancellor for academic matters since 2004 where he provided leadership in areas including quality assurance, student satisfaction and student recruitment.
More on other aspects of Oxburgh's evidence to come.


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Report: Amanda Bynes' Parents File for Conservatorship in Wake of 5150 Psychiatric Hold
Amanda Bynes' parents have reportedly filed for a conservatorship in the wake of her 5150 psychiatric hold, according to TMZ.com.
On Monday, the fire department responded to the home in the actress' hometown of Thousand Oaks, Calif., and found Bynes standing in the driveway next to a fire. The sheriff's department arrived on scene and questioned the actress about her actions and intentions. Based on her answers, they decided she needed to be hospitalized on a 5150 hold, which allows for involuntary hospitalization for mental evaluation for up to 72 hours.
Timeline: Amanda Bynes' increasingly erratic behavior
According to the site, Bynes may be suffering from a mental illness with schizophrenic tendencies. She had allegedly been lucid for the early hours she was under the 5150, but she then got restless, erratic and paranoid.
The conservatorship would give Bynes' parents the authority to make decisions in the best interest of their daughter. A hearing is expected for Friday. Bynes isn't the only young celebrity to go through this. In 2008, Britney Spears was held under a 5150 hold after locking herself in a bathroom with her son Jayden. She was ultimately placed in a psych ward, lost custody of her two sons, and her father was granted conservatorship, which remains in effect today.
The news is the latest in Bynes' erratic behavior, which is documented here.
View original Report: Amanda Bynes' Parents File for Conservatorship in Wake of 5150 Psychiatric Hold at TVGuide.com
Related Articles on TVGuide.com
Other Links From TVGuide.com


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HONG KONG: Hong Kong legislators passed a bill that will allow the AAA-rated government to raise around $500 million via sukuk, or Islamic bonds.
A debut sukuk from Hong Kong would help boost its Islamic finance credentials and position itself as a gateway between mainland China and investors in the Gulf and Southeast Asia.
The task of issuing the sukuk now rests with the Hong Kong Monetary Authority under the territory's Government Bond Programme, which has a borrowing ceiling of HK$200 billion ($25.8bn).
As of February, the programme had 14 listed bonds currently outstanding worth a combined HK$94bn, with tenors of up to 10 years.
Hong Kong's sukuk plan comes at a time of increasing competition among financial centres for a slice of Islamic finance business, which is centred in southeast Asia and the Middle East.
A $500m sukuk issue would be larger than debut sovereign issues planned by Luxembourg and Britain, which are at different stages of development.
Legal filings describe the proposed sukuk issuance as "inaugural", suggesting it would not be a one-off like Britain's plan for a £200m ($333m) sukuk issue.
Sukuk proceeds would be placed with the territory's Exchange Fund, which is managed by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority.
(Gulf Daily News / 28 March 2014)---
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Pale Rider
The Spanish Flu of 1918 and How It Changed the World
This item is a preorder. Your payment method will be charged immediately, and the product is expected to ship on or around September 12, 2017. This date is subject to change due to shipping delays beyond our control.
In 1918, the Italian-Americans of New York, the Yupik of Alaska, and the Persians of Mashed had almost nothing in common except for a virus — one that triggered the worst pandemic of modern times and had a decisive effect on twentieth-century history.
The Spanish flu of 1918-1920 was one of the greatest human disasters of all time. It infected a third of the people on Earth — from the poorest immigrants of New York City to the king of Spain, Franz Kafka, Mahatma Gandhi, and Woodrow Wilson. But despite a death toll of between 50 and 100 million people, it exists in our memory as an afterthought to World War I.
In this gripping narrative history, Laura Spinney traces the overlooked pandemic to reveal how the virus travelled across the globe, exposing mankind's vulnerability and putting our ingenuity to the test. As socially significant as both world wars, the Spanish flu dramatically disrupted — and often permanently altered — global politics, race relations and family structures, while spurring innovation in medicine, religion and the arts. It was partly responsible, Spinney argues, for pushing India to independence, South Africa to apartheid, and Switzerland to the brink of civil war. It also created the true "lost generation." Drawing on the latest research in history, virology, epidemiology, psychology and economics, Pale Rider masterfully recounts the little-known catastrophe that forever changed humanity.
"Impressive...Set against the devastating backdrop of global contagion, it is individual lives and deaths, discovered in letters, diaries, biographies and memoirs, that epitomize this rich account. Spinney invokes potent images...Along with exemplary research, Spinney's narrative is packed with fascinating, quirky detail...As the centenary of this monumental event approaches, other volumes on the pandemic will undoubtedly appear. Pale Rider sets the bar very high."—Nature
"A saga of tragedies and a detective story... Pale Rider is not just an excavation but a reimagining of the past. As the book progresses, the flu is cast increasingly as a character that crops up Zelig-like at important moments in history, altering the course of events previously unattributed to it.... Compelling."—The Guardian
"A book about the Spanish flu could so easily be dreary-complex pathology interwoven with pervasive tragedy. Not so Pale Rider. I've seldom had so much fun reading about people dying. Laura Spinney, a science journalist, is adept at explaining arcane scientific research in an entertaining, comprehensible way. ...With superb investigative skill and a delightfully light-hearted writing style, Spinney extends her analysis far beyond the relatively short duration of the plague....Spinney finds it odd that we know so little about the worst calamity to affect the human race. So do I. There are tens of thousands of books about the First World War, yet that flu is, arguable, more relevant to our world. While global war is, we hope, a thing of the past, global pestilence hovers like a vulture."—The Times
"Wide-sweeping... Spinney is a storyteller with a science writer's cabinet of facts. Retracing influenza's death trail over nine continents, she attempts to show how the flu affected not only the war-torn West but also remote communities in South Africa, China, and Brazil. The book reveals how desperately and differently people reacted and how gravely the flu influenced the modern world, touching everything from medicine to business and from politics to poetry."—Science
"Influenza, like all viruses, is a parasite. Laura Spinney traces its long shadow over human history... Ms Spinney ties the virulence of Spanish flu to its genetic irregularities and does a good job of explaining containment strategies through epidemiology... In Europe and North America the first world war killed more than Spanish flu; everywhere else the reverse is true. Yet most narratives focus on the West... Ms Spinney's book goes some way to redress the balance."—The Economist
"This riveting study plots the course of the deadliest pandemic in history."—The Sunday Times
"Ambitious...Spinney delves into the unfolding tragedy around the globe, looking at Brazil, China, Iran, India, and Russia. There is fascinating detail."—The Spectator
"An excruciating report on the global disaster...Absorbing...Spinney's important book does not attempt to offer light reading. No less than four pandemics are predicted in the 21st century. At least one will take the form of flu. Vaccination is not cheap, because the flu virus is constantly mutating. Annual vaccines currently offer the best protection. Britain does still possess a National Health Service. The enduring message of Spinney's magisterial work is to underline just how crucial that remarkable service is to the future security of an unusually privileged nation. Let's hope the author's book is read with care by Theresa May."—The Observer
"Spinney's book is intensely readable, and instead of a strictly chronological account she circles around history, epidemiology and culture to give a panoramic portrait of the previous century's most deadly pandemic. We are probably due another one of these any day now, this is a great way to see what the future holds."—TheAwl
"A masterful account of the possible origins, spread, and cultural consequences of this modern-day plague."—Geographical
"A vividly recreated, grimly fascinating book...Coolly, crisply and with a consistently sharp eye for the telling anecdote...Spinney demonstrates how Spanish flu cast a long, dark shadow over the 20th century."—The Daily Mail
"[Spinney] evokes a world that seems both farther from us than a mere century, and also uncomfortably close... If we can't reconstruct our memories of the Spanish flu quickly enough, millions more will die in the next pandemic."—The Tyee
"Remarkable... a concise but comprehensive work."—The Cascadia Advocate
"One of the many strengths of Pale Rider is to show its readers the regional variations that combat took throughout the world, from Bristol Bay to Zamora to Unalaska Island... For all the tragedies and upheavals, the book portrays, Pale Rider actually paints an oddly hopeful picture of a population more sensitized to early warnings and largely more willing to heed them."—TheNational
"An insightful and valuable account for all history collections."—Library Journal
"Pale Rider contains vivid journalistic accounts of outbreaks around the world, from the U.S. to China, India, and Persia...Insightful."—Publisher's Weekly
"A compelling, expert account of a half-forgotten historical catastrophe."—Kirkus Reviews
"Spinney's detailed discussion includes the why and how, the human devastation, and the effects on institutions and world affairs. Now nearly 100 years removed from the 1918 Spanish flu, Spinney wonders what lessons it has imparted that might help us prepare for and deal with the next, inevitable influenza pandemic."—Booklist
"Spinney argues that almost a century later, the Spanish flu is 'still emerging from the shadows of the First World War' in our collective memories. She sets out to rectify this, knowing just which medical mysteries and haunting vignettes will give the pandemic full purchase on our imaginations."—New York Times Book Review
"A page turner that should easily satisfy armchair historians and epidemiologists and anybody who likes a good, if gruesome, yarn."—Foreign Policy
"Scarier than science fiction... You'll want to get your flu shot after reading this book."—Zocalo, BestBooks of 2017
"A frightening new book... Those readers wishing to prevent tragedies like the one in 1918 should read this book."—Lincoln Journal Star


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MGW MT-82 Shifter Install
Tech Inspection
It's uncommon for us to ever purposely run a tech story about one part and one-month later follow that report with a review of another manufacturer's similar Mustang product. Actually, an act like that is so rare, I can't recall 5.0&SF ever being this redundant, and I've probably read every issue published since the magazine's inception.
With that said, there's no better time than right now for us to make such a back-to-back move. In this case, by reviewing another short-throw, six-speed manual shifter for '11-'12 Mustangs. MGW recently sent Editor Turner one of its gear selectors, and based on Big Steve's excitement about the new piece, it was clear installation needed to happen right away.
As we've explained many times, the primary objective for most aftermarket manual Mustang shifters is to provide short-throw gear selection. While MGW has followed suit with a handle that shortens shift throws about 25 percent, the company's real focus for this piece was placed on its resistance tension and wickedly sturdy construction, which promote "miss-free" shifts (and a killer, stock-style reverse lockout) and eliminate any semblance of the squishy/notchy/non-confident gear changes inherent with a '11-'12 'Stang's stock shifter.
To accomplish this, MGW went above and beyond with the engineering detail that was put into its latest offering. And, with insights from enthusiasts like you (a group of 'Stangbangers from www.svtperformance.com provided opinions on prototype shifters that were incorporated into the final product), the company has created the sexiest, stoutest MT-82 shifter we've tested thus far. If you want to completely revamp the shifting of your new 'Stang, MGW has the product for you.
The accompanying photos once again feature our friend Ricardo Topete of GTR High Performance as he installs MGW's all-new six-speed shifter in Patrick Castile's '11 Mustang GT. The bolt-on process for this piece is a tad more involved than other shifters we've tested.
MGW provides detailed instructions that most home-project enthusiasts should be able to follow. However, because the procedure involves completely replacing the lower-base assembly, we suggest you give the bolt-on nod to Ricardo or a Mustang specialist like him.
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iNote App Syncs iOS Notes With Evernote, Flawlessly – Cult of Mac
We prepared a detailed setup instruction for you:
1. Open iNote. After seconds loading, it should be like the left screenshot. If it keeps loading, you should check your internet connection. Though if you were in China, you would need a VPN to use our app.
2. Click "Start setup" to sign in Evernote. You can get a Evernote account here if you don't have one.
3. Click "Authorize" after sign in. You have to renew this once a year.
4. Click Setup in the next step to begin Profile install.
5. Your iOS device would automatically download and open the iNote Sync profile, like the left screenshot shows. Click "Install" button.
6. Open Setting app on your iOS device, go to "Mail, Contacts, Calendars" setting as shown in the right screenshot.
7. Open "iNote Sync" account as shown in the left screenshot.
8. Make sure the "Notes" switch is on. You can switch of "Mail".
9. Then go back Settings app, open "Notes" setting.
10. Make sure the "Default Account" is "iNote Sync". It's OK if you couldn't find "Default Account" in Notes setting, it means you don't have to change anything.
Now you can enjoy the flawless syncing between Notes and Evernote. If you like our app, please support us with a positive rating in the App Store:-)


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Expert's Rating
Our Verdict
MsgFiler 2 lets you quickly move, copy, and label messages in Mail. (MsgFiler 2, a Mail plug-in, has since been replaced by MsgFiler 3, an application.)
As I mentioned earlier this week, I'm dedicating this week's Mac Gems to add-ons for Apple's Mail email client. These bits of software let you give Mail new features and fill minor gaps in its functionality. On Tuesday I talked about a number of past Mail Gems that have been updated for Leopard; today I cover two new products.
MsgFiler 2.0.2
When it comes to performing common tasks, some people prefer to use the mouse, while others prefer keyboard shortcuts. Although I'm generally a keyboard person, I'm not as devoted to the cause as is my colleague Rob Griffiths, who probably hasn't touched his mouse in several years. For me, the keyboard alternative has to be easy to remember and—perhaps most important—easy to use.
That's why I like Adam Tow's MsgFiler 2.0.2 ( ; $8). As its name implies, MsgFiler is an add-on that gives you another way to file email messages in Mail. Instead of using the mouse to file a message, you just press MsgFiler's keyboard shortcut to bring up the MsgFiler window; type a few letters of the desired folder's name, and all matching folders appear in the list below. To move the current message to the first folder displayed, just press Return; to choose a different folder, type more characters to narrow down the results, or use the down-arrow key to select the desired folder. (MsgFiler's keyboard shortcut is Command+9 by default, but you can change it using the Keyboard & Mouse pane of System Preferences)
MsgFiler also has several useful options. For example, you can copy a message to a folder instead of moving it by pressing Shift+Command+C; the original remains in its current location, but a copy is created in the target folder. You can also use MsgFiler to open a mail folder; just type the folder's name, but instead of pressing Return, press Command+O. (You can instead click on Copy or Show, respectively, if you happen to be mousing around.) Finally, you can set MsgFiler to automatically mark Unread mail as Read when you file it.
MsgFiler even works with MiniMail, which I covered earlier this week, and supports Undo for those times when you accidentally file something in the wrong folder.
After using MsgFiler just a few times, it becomes almost instinctive. I've been using a similar add-on for Microsoft Entourage for years; the lack of something like this has been one of the things keeping me from using Mail as my main email client.
Mail Attachments Iconizer 2.1
One thing that bugs me about Apple's Mail is that the program often tries to display all attachments in the message window, regardless of the size of each attachment or how the sender wanted it to be displayed. This may be fine for small attachments, but I frequently receive large images and PDF files; opening a message with such attachments can result in Mail "freezing" while the attachments are rendered. It also means that when I print a message with attachments, the previews of the attachments are printed, as well.
A nifty solution is Adam Nohejl's Mail Attachments Iconizer 2.1 ( ; $15), a Mail plug-in that gives you extensive control over how attachments are displayed. Via a new section of Mail's Preferences window, you can force particular types of files to always display as their icons. You can choose a different setting for each type of file: text and HTML; PDF documents larger than the size you choose; images larger than the size you choose; and images in HTML email. (This last option works only if images in HTML email are included as attachments rather than as part of the HTML layout.) In addition, because Mail has a difficult time rendering PostScript documents, Mail Attachments Iconizer forces them to always be displayed as icons.
Another option I like is to always display the full name of each attachment; without Mail Attachments Iconizer, Mail shortens longer file names. And when I print messages in Mail, the messages print exactly as shown onscreen—which means no more multi-page printouts with PDF previews if all I wanted was the text portion of an email message.
In addition to the ability to choose options individually, Mail Attachments Iconizer includes two pre-set configurations: one that sets everything to Mail's default settings, and one that gives you the developer's preferred settings. One glitch I found is that I sometimes had to quit and relaunch Mail for settings changes to take effect.
Finally, Mail Attachments provides improved handling of the "content disposition"—an indication of how the sender wants attachments to be viewed—of incoming messages. According to the developer, Mail doesn't respect this header, nor does Mail set the header properly on outgoing email; Mail Attachments Iconizer forces Mail to use content disposition correctly. Below is a table from the developer describing how Mail behaves with and without Mail Attachments Iconizer.
Once you install Mail Attachments Iconizer, it's easy to forget about it, as it simply makes Mail work the way many other email clients already do. I would argue that the functionality provided by Mail Attachments Iconizer should be provided by Mail itself, but until it is, this is a useful add-on.
MsgFiler 2.0.2 and Mail Attachments Iconizer each requires Mac OS X 10.4 or later.


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Living large
Last Saturday, I was in Marshfield again. Katie was at the wheel and I said, "Hey, do you want to drive by the house that Nana grew up in?" So we did, twice, slowly, and got the hairy eyeball from the current residents who happened to be outside. My grandpa died when I was 6, and grandma when I was 8 -- and she lived the last many months, when she was sick, with my aunt -- so it's been a long while since I was inside, but I do have strong memories of that house, inside and out -- I remember a particular, unique, not unpleasant scent that I've only ever smelled there. It was still there when I had an opportunity, as a teenager, to have a quick tour of the house.
What I do not remember, from when I was little, is that directly behind the row of houses across the street is the Central Wisconsin State Fairgrounds, home of The World's Largest Round Barn (pictured above). Wisconsin is full of large things! I thought of my buddy Ann when I saw the sign for the Central Wisconsin Horse Expo that's coming up there in a couple of weeks. After I snapped the barn photo, Katie turned the car around and I saw this:
Obviously, I could not believe my eyes! Well, that made me think of Ann, the purling swine with whom I share of love of sheep, even more! ; ) Baaaaaaa! Oink, oink!
I laughed at Ann's comment yesterday about how she'd caress their washing machine in that game show hostess way. We used to re-enact certain commercials in the bathroom mirror, sometimes for each other -- my sister Karen, especially -- Ultra-brite toothpaste was a favorite, but so was Playtex Cross Your Heart, all that lifting and separating, infused with drama. ; )
I have a full weekend of knitting ahead at the Fall 2006 Midwest Master's Seminar sponsored by Yarns by Design in Neenah! I've been so focused on Shirley that I still have homework to do!! Thankfully, other than pulling together materials, I need only a 6-inch swatch -- nose to the grindstone tonight.


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Chris Soules is ABC's new 'Bachelor'
NEW YORK (AP) — ABC has chosen its next "Bachelor."
Chris Soules, who came in third last season on "The Bachelorette," will look for love among 25 women vying for his heart. His selection was announced Wednesday on "Good Morning America."
The 32-year-old Iowa farmer said he was "humbled, flattered and grateful" to be selected.
"My focus is gonna be to make the girls that are on the show as comfortable as possible," he said.
"The Bachelor" features a single guy who goes on a series of dates to choose a potential bride. The last go-round with former pro soccer player Juan Pablo Galavis wasn't as popular as the network had hoped, and this time, ABC seemed to want to involve the fans in its decision for the upcoming season. For weeks, executive producer Mike Fleiss teased viewers on Twitter about who would become the next "Bachelor."
One of the names in the running was race car driver Arie Luyendyk Jr., the runner-up on Emily Maynard's season of "The Bachelorette."
Luyendyk was vocal about wanting the shot at televised love, often tweeting about it and pitching himself on various blogs. When he wasn't chosen, he wrote on Twitter, "I'm not the Bachelor, have fun on the farm people," essentially spoiling the announcement on "GMA."
The new season is expected to begin production next month and will begin airing in January.


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While Chinese property stocks came under pressure on Monday on fears that recent strength in the mainland real estate market would prompt measures to restrict home prices, analysts tell CNBC fresh curbs are unlikely as economic growth remains top priority for policymakers.
New home prices in the 70 cities surveyed by the National Bureau of Statistics in July from June – the second month of gains – helped by interest rate cuts and buyers looking to upgrade their homes, data released over the weekend showed.
This led to some speculation that an uptick in housing prices will complicate policy matters for Beijing that looks to cool the real estate sector while boosting growth.
"The rise in home prices doesn't complicate the outlook for policy easing, they (policymakers) will still simulate the economy because it's in a bad shape…the control on property prices will take a backseat," Du Jinsong, Head of Asia Property Research at Credit Suisse told CNBC.
Du says that while policymakers will keep trying to "talk down" prices, fresh curbs will not be introduced until the economy stabilizes.
Premier Wen Jiabao in recent months has repeatedly said that China must continue its property controls and prevent prices from rebounding. Housing affordability remains a key issue in the mainland particularly in the current year of leadership transition.
China already has numerous , including limiting the number of units households can buy in major cities and curbing purchases by non-residents.
Alvin Wong, Property Analyst at Nomura, says new tightening measures in the current environment of slowing growth are unlikely as they could hinder investment into the property sector, which is a major contributor to economic growth. Investment in the property sector accounted for 13.6 percent of the country's gross domestic product (GDP) in the first half of 2012.
He adds that the recent rise in home prices isn't great enough to warrant action from the government, pointing to the year-on-year data, which showed property prices in July fell 1.5 percent from a year earlier.
Joe Zhou, Head of Research, Shanghai, at Jones Lang LaSalle, who expects overall home prices in China to remain flat this year, says there is a large amount of residential supply in the pipeline in most cities across the country, which limits the risk of large price gains and hence the need for renewed restrictions
Zhou, in fact expects to see continued loosening of mortgage policies to help improve the affordability for first time home buyers.
"Some banks are offering 15 percent discount on mortgage rates for first time home buyers...they might continue to offer more discounts," Zhou said.
The People's Bank of China permits loans to first-home buyers at a discount to the benchmark lending rate.