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Lindsay Austin and her husband, Lamar, sit with their newborn son, Cainan, on New Year’s Day in Concord. LEAH WILLINGHAM For the Monitor

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 Four days ago, Lamar Austin became the proud father of the first baby born in Concord, losing his job after missing work to be with his family at the hospital.

 He chose to remain positive, he said, focusing on his new son instead of the job he lost.

 “Sometimes you lose something and you get something even better,” he said Sunday afternoon while resting at Concord Hospital with his wife, Lindsay, and baby boy, Cainan.

 Since then, the military veteran and father of four has received at least three job offers, an outpouring of support and a fundraising page dedicated to helping his family financially.

 After reading in the Monitor that Austin was hoping to get into electrical work, Denis Beaudoin, the business manager from the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers in Concord, offered Austin the chance to apply for an apprenticeship.

 Beaudoin lives in Pittsfield, the same town as Austin, and said electrical work might offer a more flexible and understanding environment for someone like Austin, who has a big family and wants to devote time to it.

 “I know how valuable family time is, and if you’re a union member we incorporate that, we understand that, and we don’t penalize you for that,” Beaudoin said.

 Glenn Brackett, president of the NH AFL-CIO union, which represents nearly 30,000 workers, also offered Austin an apprenticeship.

 And the branch manager of the Adecco staffing agency in Portsmouth offered to help Austin find another job.

 Old job

 Austin said he was hired by Salerno Protective Services a month ago for a 90-day trial period as a part-time security guard in which he was expected to be on call 24/7. Salerno Protective Services provides security to clients including stores and college campuses.

 When Austin got the job, the company told him they were looking for “dependable people,” he said.

 Austin said he couldn’t cover one shift offered to him last month because he had to take his wife to a doctor’s appointment. Then Lindsay went into labor Friday night and Cainan was born Sunday morning. Austin said he missed shifts Friday and Saturday. At 1 a.m. on New Year’s Day, Austin said he got a text that read: “As of now, you are terminated.”

 The company said Tuesday it wouldn’t comment on an employee’s status.

 “Being shrouded in confidentiality we are unable to comment until all business with Mr. Austin has been concluded,” president and CEO Anthony Salerno said by email Wednesday. “SPS is not in the practice of releasing employees for reasons stated in the article you published but must be cognizant of the product we give our clients!”

 Family support

 The story struck a chord with readers who questioned whether an employee could be fired for missing work due to the birth of a child.

 Because New Hampshire is an “at-will” employment state, an employer may generally terminate an employment relationship for part-time or full-time workers at any time and for any reason, with a few exceptions. That means Austin has little in the way of legal protection, no matter how good an excuse the birth of a child may seem, legal experts said.

 Sara Persechino, a mother of two in Hopkinton, doesn’t think that’s fair. Persechino was on the Hopkinton select board in 2014 when it unanimously voted in favor of paid family leave for town employees.

 “I don’t think anyone should ever have to choose between their family and their job,” she said.

 She decided to set up a GoFundMe account for the Austin family.

 “I don’t think they should have to be worrying about financial issues right now; it should be a joyful time for them,” Persechino said. “Anything we can do to make this even more joyous is worth it.”

 As for Austin, he said he is surprised and beyond grateful for all the support.

 “I’m thanking God for delivering one of the many promises,” he said.

 (Leah Willingham can be reached at news@cmonitor.com.) ||||| Lindsay Austin, 26, and her husband, Lamar Austin, 30, sit with their newborn son, Cainan Austin, at Concord Hospital on Jan. 1. Lindsay Austin said she’s thankful for the support her family has received since her story went public. LEAH WILLINGHAM / For the Monitor

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 Lindsay Austin is grateful for all the support her family has received after her husband was fired early New Year’s Day for missing work to attend the birth of their son.

 “I was a little bit upset, because my husband is trying to provide for us and it was hard to swallow when he got fired, but I’m thankful and I feel like we’re blessed,” Austin said Thursday. “It definitely happened for a reason.”

 Austin said she hopes other workers won’t have to make the same choice her husband, Lamar, had to make – go to work or lose his job.

 “Hopefully, we can be part of the movement,” she said, as new baby Cainan, slept nearby. “Hopefully things can change and a law can be passed so this doesn’t affect other people again in the same way.”

 The family’s story – they were featured in Monday’s Monitor after having the first baby of the new year in Concord – caught the public’s eye and struck a chord with many of the state’s legislators and labor leaders.

 State Sen. Dan Feltes of Concord said he tried to create protections for employees like Lamar Austin during the last legislative session with Senate Bill 416, which offers workers “flexible working arrangements,” for reasons including the hospitalization of a family member, or the birth of a child.

 But it’s not the employer’s job to offer flexible arrangements. It’s up to the employee to ask for flexibility, which isn’t possible in all circumstances.

 “Hard-working Granite Staters shouldn’t have to choose between work and family,” Feltes said.

 It’s hard to know if SB416 would have worked out for Austin and his former employer Salerno Protective Services. So far, company president Anthony Salerno has declined to say much about Austin or why he was dismissed.

 Currently, neither the federal nor state government have a family and medical leave law or program. The 1993 Family and Medical Leave Act allows certain workers to take up to 12 weeks of unpaid – but job-protected – leave to tend to a serious health condition or to care for a new child or an ill relative.

 However, there are a few catches in the FMLA: including the size of the employer and how many hours an employee had worked over the course of a year. Austin was hired to work as a part-time security guard for Salerno in December and isn’t covered.

 Nationally, about 41 percent of employees are not covered by FMLA, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.

 About half of Granite Staters lack access to parental leave, and less than a third of workers have access to all three types of extended leave: for their own illness, for parental leave and for care of a family member, according to a study done by Kristen Smith, a family demographer at the Carsey School of Public Policy.

 Family time

 If New Hampshire wants to attract and retain young workers – Austin is a 30-year-old Army veteran – it needs to offer maternity and paternity leave, but also types of medical leave including those who may need to miss work to care for an ailing partner, child or parent, said Chris D’Allesandro, New Hampshire Mom Force Director of MomsRising, an advocacy group for mothers and families.

 “Key things that millennial workforces are looking for are these kinds of jobs that allow them to divide their time between caring for their families and their professions,” D’Allesandro said.

 Glenn Brackett, president of the NH AFL-CIO union, agreed that New Hampshire needs some kind of legal mechanism for citizens to get time off to care for their families. He said that’s especially true of part-time employees like Lamar Austin.

 “In New Hampshire, we have a lot of temporary employees and part-time employees that aren’t covered under any federal laws, and these people are being basically taken advantage of,” Brackett said.

 Brackett, whose union represents nearly 30,000 workers, challenged the new governor, Chris Sununu, to stand behind legislation change for working families. In his inaugural speech on Thursday, Sununu cited the need for the state to retain and grow a workforce of younger workers.

 “If Gov. Sununu really feels that he has to do something to help working people, using this example of Mr. Austin as a stepping-off point, will he be supportive of legislation that would right this wrong?” Brackett queried.

 Executive Councilor Andru Volinsky, who was sworn into office Thursday, cited the plight of the Austin family and said fair labor practices will be at the forefront of his mind during the next two years.

 “When companies come to the state seeking contracts, I want to know about their employment practices,” he said. “And if they’re similar to that security company, I can tell you they’re going to get a hard time from me because they’re not respectful to their employees.”

 Job options

 Lamar Austin is now eyeing a shot at a new career as an electrician – or one of the multiple job opportunities that poured in after people read his story.

 Austin was offered the opportunity to apply for an electrician’s apprenticeship with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers in Concord, along with a host of other jobs.

 “Anything that would be more stable, and allow me to spend time with my family is a blessing,” Lamar Austin said.

 Of course, the job is no handout, said Denis Beaudoin, the IBEW business manager.

 “We’re giving him the potential hand-up, if you will, by offering him a career in the electrical construction field as an apprentice,” Beaudoin said.

 Beaudoin said a first-year apprentice can make around $28,000 a year, plus benefits. If Austin gets the electrician job, he said it will be the best-paid job he’s ever had.

 As for all the support, it’s been overwhelming, the Austins said. A GoFundMe account created by Sara Persechino, a mother of two from Hopkinton, already exceeded the account’s goal of $1,000 in one day.

 “I didn’t expect this at all,” Lamar Austin said. “I don’t really watch the news or TV, so when I started getting all these emails from people wanting to help, it was a lot to take in.”

 Austin said he’s been in contact with Salerno Protective Services to pick up his last check, hand in his uniform and talk about what happened. He said that, in his mind, there’s no bad blood between them – he understands why Salerno did what he did.

 “It wasn’t a clash of who’s the bigger man,” Austin said. “He had his company, which is like his baby, and I had my baby, which was just being born. Naturally, he’s going to pick his baby over my baby. I can’t blame him for that.”

 (Leah Willingham can be reached at news@cmonitor.com.) ||||| Lindsay Austin, 26, and her husband, Lamar Austin, 30, sit with their newborn son, Cainan, in their room at Concord Hospital on Sunday. Cainan was the first baby born in Concord in 2017. LEAH WILLINGHAM / Monitor staff

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 Lamar Austin was faced with a difficult decision on New Year’s Eve.

 His nine-months-pregnant wife, Lindsay, was in her second day of early labor, but his boss was telling him if he didn’t show up for his shift as a part-time security guard in Manchester, he would lose his job.

 Austin weighed his options, and concluded that no matter the consequences, he wasn’t going to miss his son’s birth.

 “I thought, ‘Family comes before anything else,’ ” Austin said. “I’m not going to turn my back on them for a job.”

 So, at 4 a.m. on the first day of the year, Austin, 30, drove his 26-year-old wife, Lindsay Austin, to Concord Hospital from their home in Pittsfield. He had to be careful on the roads, which were still icy from the snowstorm of the day before.

 After what the couple said felt like four short hours later, their son, Cainan Austin, was born. He arrived at 7:44 a.m. – the first baby of the year in Concord. And, most importantly, Cainan’s father was there to hold him after his birth.

 Later in the afternoon, while resting at the hospital with his wife and newborn, Austin said he felt at peace with the decision to miss work. However, he admitted it hadn’t been easy. Right before he drove his wife to the hospital, his boss sent him a text saying that he was officially terminated.

 “It was hard, but if I have to choose between work and family, I’m always going to pick my family,” he said, gently patting his son’s pink-and-blue striped hat as he slept in his mother’s arms. “Sometimes you lose something, and you get something even better.”

 The couple chose the name Cainan for their son because they thought it was unusual – and both liked it right away when they heard it. When he was born, Cainan was 7 pounds, 3 ounces and 19 inches. His mother noted how similar he looks to her other three children – 8, 3 and 21 months.

 Lindsay was surprised that Cainan was born on his expected due date – Jan. 1.

 “We were laughing about having the first baby of the year,” she said. “We never thought it would actually happen.”

 Lindsay is a stay-at-home-mom, and she said it’s the best job there is.

 “I’m so lucky to be able to do that,” she said.

 The couple met almost 10 years ago on an online dating site, and later had their first daughter, now 8. But Lamar, who was originally from New Jersey and an ammunition specialist in the Army, wasn’t able to move to New Hampshire where Lindsay lived until four years ago.

 In 2012, Lamar arrived in the Granite State hoping to spend more time with his daughter, but he wasn’t able to find housing or a job right away. He lived temporarily at the McKenna House in Concord, while Lindsay stayed with her mother in Manchester.

 Despite some ups and downs, Lindsay and Lamar decided to get married this past year and set up their home.

 Lindsay’s mom was watching the couple’s other three children while they were in the hospital Sunday. Lindsay and Lamar video-chatted Lindsay’s mom from their hospital room, and she reported that Cainan’s brothers and sisters are very excited to meet the family’s newest member.

 Lindsay and Lamar said they had always wanted a big family.

 “We always used to joke about having 10 kids when we first got together, but I think we’re going to be taking a break for a while after this one,” Lindsay said, smiling.

 As for 2017, Lindsay said she just hopes the family stays happy and healthy. Lamar said he wants to focus on spending as much time together as they can. ||||| These crawls are part of an effort to archive pages as they are created and archive the pages that they refer to. That way, as the pages that are referenced are changed or taken from the web, a link to the version that was live when the page was written will be preserved.Then the Internet Archive hopes that references to these archived pages will be put in place of a link that would be otherwise be broken, or a companion link to allow people to see what was originally intended by a page's authors.The goal is to fix all broken links on the web . Crawls of supported "No More 404" sites. |||||
What is a summary?

– A month ago, Lamar Austin was hired by a security company for a 90-day trial period that involved him being on call 24/7. On New Year's Day, Austin's son was born. Austin, who had already had to miss one shift offered to him due to a doctor's appointment for his wife, ended up missing shifts on Friday and Saturday. Son Cainan was born Sunday, and at 1am that day, Austin got a text notifying him he'd been terminated from Salerno Protective Services. Austin's story made headlines, especially due to the fact that Cainan was the first baby born in Concord, NH, in 2017. "If I have to choose between work and family, I’m always going to pick my family," Austin told the Monitor shortly after his son's birth. Since then, people have been stepping up to help Austin, a 30-year-old military veteran and father of four, big-time. He's gotten offers for at least three jobs, plus money raised for him on a GoFundMe page set up by a mother who was upset by what happened to Austin—even though, as experts explain to the Concord Monitor, it's perfectly legal in an "at-will" employment state such as New Hampshire. In a statement reported by WCVB, Anthony Salerno Jr. cited confidentiality in not commenting on the particulars of the situation, but did say "SPS is not in the practice of releasing employees for reasons stated in the article published in the monitor [sic] but must be cognizant of the product we give our clients!" But there's no bad blood, Austin tells the Monitor. "[Salerno] had his company, which is like his baby, and I had my baby ... Naturally, he’s going to pick his baby over my baby. I can't blame him for that." (This waitress lost her job for firing a shot at robbers.)


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 (Tribune file photo) Sen. Orrin Hatch with Bob Dole in 1988. (Tribune file photo) Sen. Orrin Hatch in 1990. October 30, 1982 Sen. Orring Hatch & Pres. Ronald Reagan The Salt Lake Tribune Library (Tribune file photo) Muhammad Ali and Sen Orrin Hatch in 1988. (Trent Nelson | Tribune file photo) Senators Bob Bennett and Orrin Hatch in 1998. (Tribune file photo) Ronald Reagan and Orrin Hatch in 1976. (Tribune file photo) Orrin Hatch in 1976. (Tribune File Photo) Orrin Hatch, Nov. 20, 1977. (Steve Griffin | Tribune file photo) US senator Orrin Hatch and challenger Pete Ashdown shake hands following a televised d... (Photo Courtesy of U.S. Senate Historical Office) Sen Orrin Hatch and his wife Elaine pose for a photo at a reception for new... (Tribune file photo) Sen. Orrin Hatch and Pres. Ronald Reagan in 1982. Republican presidential hopeful Orrin Hatch, foreground, smiles as his wife, Elaine, shown seated next to Hatch, and others f... (Andr Chung | special to The Salt Lake Tribune) Senator Orrin Hatch is the senior senator from Utah, Chairman of the Senat... Senate Judiciary Committee member, Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, uses a cellphone camera as Chief Justice nominee John Roberts te... Senator Orrin Hatch, left talks to Forest Service Chief Stan Tixier about trying to get the Snowbasin landswap reversed, duri... Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, left, greets Attorney General Janet Reno on Capitol Hill Wednes... (Chris Detrick | The Salt Lake Tribune) Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch speaks during a Memorial Day celebration at Hogan Park in Woo... (Andr Chung | special to The Salt Lake Tribune) Followed by his security staff Sen. Hatch makes his way to a luncheon in W... (Andr Chung | special to The Salt Lake Tribune) Flanked by his security staff on the left and Matt Whitlock, his communica... Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune Senator Orrin Hatch speaks to the Utah delegation at a breakfast honoring him (Omelets... (Scott Sommerdorf | The Salt Lake Tribune) Senator Orrin Hatch is interviewed on a local Salt Lake TV news program at the G... President Bush waves to the crowd during a fundraiser for the reelection campaign of Sen Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, right, on Thurs... President Reagan appears at a fundraiser for Sen. Orrin G. Hatch, R-Utah, Wednesday night in Washington. Reagan urged Utah's ... (Photo Courtesy of U.S. Senate Historical Office) Vice President Normal Rockefeller administers the oath of office to Sen. Or... (Leah Hogsten | The Salt Lake Tribune) Sen. Orrin Hatch walks across the stage during a debate against Scott Howell at the ... (Chris Detrick | Tribune file photo) Senator Orrin Hatch, left, talks with Dave Hansen back stage before Hatch's speech be... (Leah Hogsten | The Salt Lake Tribune) U. S. Senator Orrin Hatch was given an honorary degree during the undergraduate cere... (Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) U.S. President Donald Trump is joined by Senator Orrin Hatch at the Utah Cap... (Tribune file photo) Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, talks to reporters during a press conference in Washington Thursday. Hatch bri... Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, right, talks to Utah Gov. Mike Leavitt on Capitol Hill Tuesday April 29, 1997 prior to their testif... Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky gathers other Republican senators to call for an amendment to the Consti... Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan, President Barack Obama's choice to replace retiring Justice John Paul Stevens, meets with ... Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, talks about the subpoena issued to President Clinton du... (Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) U.S. Senator Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), a member and former Chairman of the Senate ... Judge Samuel Alito, right, meets with Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, Tuesday, Nov. 1, 2005, at the U.S. Capitol in Washington. Pre... U.S. Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, talks to the media as Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., left, watches during a break in the Senate imp... U.S. Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Ut., left, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, speaks during a news conference with U.S. Sen... (Al Hartmann | The Salt Lake Tribune) Utah Senator Orrin Hatch with Utah Governor Gary Herbert, left, speaks at the opening... Bill co-sponsors Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, and Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., listen as President Barack Obama speaks before s... (Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) U.S. President Donald Trump takes the stage at the Utah Capitol on Monday, De... (Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, cent... Sen. Diane Feinstein, D-Calif., left, shares a laugh with Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah., second from right, during a news confere... (Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) U.S. President Donald Trump, surrounded by Utah representatives looks at Sen.... Orrin Hatch, U.S. Senator from Utah, speaks at a news conference on the State Children's Health Insurance Program, known as S... ||||| Tweet with a location

 You can add location information to your Tweets, such as your city or precise location, from the web and via third-party applications. You always have the option to delete your Tweet location history. Learn more |||||Summary:

– Utah's Orrin Hatch, the longest-serving Republican in the Senate, says he won't be running for re-election in 2018. The 83-year-old announced the move on Twitter. “Every good fighter knows when to hang up the gloves," he says in a video. "And for me, that time is soon approaching. That’s why after much prayer and discussion with family and friends, I’ve decided to retire at the end of this term." The move paves the way for Mitt Romney, a frequent critic of President Trump, to run for his seat. Details and developments: Unpopular at home: Hatch has been in the Senate for four decades and currently chairs the powerful Finance Committee, a post that allowed him to play a big role in the GOP's recent tax overhaul. But his clout doesn't seem to matter in Utah, where polls show that about 75% of residents wanted him to retire, reports the Salt Lake Tribune. (The newspaper itself issued a scathing editorial calling for him to do just that.) Trump unhappy: The president is "very sad" upon hearing the news, says spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders. The New York Times reports that the president, pleased with Hatch's work on the tax plan, had been encouraging him to run again. If nothing else, that would keep Romney—who has been vocal in his criticism of Trump—out of the Senate. (Still, Trump reportedly considered Romney for secretary of state.)


Here is a news article: PHOENIX An Arizona grandfather has been arrested and accused of leaving his five-year-old granddaughter alone in the desert with a loaded and cocked .45-caliber handgun and the instruction to "shoot any bad guys," authorities said on Monday.

 Paul Armand Rater, 53, was booked into the Fourth Avenue Jail in downtown Phoenix on suspicion of two counts of felony child abuse and one count of felony child endangerment stemming from incident on Sunday night.

 Deputies said he and the child left their home in Buckeye, about 30 miles (48 km) west of Phoenix, in a pickup truck early on Sunday afternoon and that the girl was reported missing four hours later.

 She was eventually located in the desert by her mother and an off-duty firefighter. The child was holding the powerful pistol.

 "She was given the gun and told to shoot any bad guys," Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio told Reuters by telephone. "I don't know how a five-year-old can tell a good guy from a bad guy, but that's what she said she was told."

 Rater was later located at a store where he told deputies the vehicle had broken down and that he had left the girl under a tree in the desert because she was complaining she could not walk anymore, court records showed.

 He admitted leaving the girl with his gun, "while he went for a few drinks and a cheeseburger," the sheriff's office said.

 The child was returned to her mother and state child welfare authorities were alerted, the sheriff's office said.

 (Reporting by David Schwartz; Editing by Daniel Wallis and Sandra Maler) ||||| BUCKEYE - The Maricopa County Sheriff's Office has arrested a Buckeye man for leaving his granddaughter alone and with a gun in the desert near Rainbow Valley.

 According to MCSO, 62-year-old Paul Rater and his granddaughter left his home in Buckeye on Sunday to go for a ride in the washes. Four hours later the family reported the two missing.

 A firefighter on an ATV eventually heard the little girl crying for help.

 "I don't know why papa left me, I was calling for him," quoted Sheriff Joe Arpaio of the little girl.

 Rater left his granddaughter with a loaded and cocked .45 caliber handgun.

 "He told her it was to shoot the bad guys. How does a 5-year-old know the difference between good guys and bad guys?," said Arpaio.

 The Sheriff says Rater was found off Miller Road where he'd been having a few drinks and a cheeseburger. He said he walked for hours to get help after his truck broke down, but deputies say Rater never asked anyone for help or even mentioned the little girl.

 The little girl was returned to her mother and the Department of Child Safety was notified.

 Rater was booked into the 4th Avenue Jail on two counts of child abuse and one count of child endangerment. |||||
A summary of this is?

– After downing a cheeseburger and a handful of drinks Sunday evening, Paul Rater called home and ordered his wife to come get him, the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office says, per the Arizona Republic. But instead of his wife showing up at the South Buckeye Equestrian Center, the cops did—and hauled him into a Maricopa County jail on child endangerment and abuse charges for allegedly leaving his 5-year-old granddaughter alone in the desert with a peculiar and perilous set of instructions. "She was given [a] gun and told to shoot any bad guys," Sheriff Joe Arpaio tells Reuters. "I don't know how a 5-year-old can tell a good guy from a bad guy, but that's what she said she was told." Deputies say the girl had been reported missing about four hours after she went out Sunday afternoon with her grandpa in his pickup truck. It's unclear whether the truck broke down or somehow became stuck; Rater says he didn't have his cellphone on him, couldn't call for help, and started walking. The 53-year-old says his granddaughter started to complain she couldn't go further, so he left her under a tree with a .45-caliber handgun that was both loaded and cocked, per Reuters. An off-duty firefighter and the girl's grandmother found her during a frantic search; she was holding the weapon with "one round in the chamber and the hammer locked back," per a police statement. Workers at the equestrian center (a bar/restaurant/feed store) say when Rater arrived he did gripe about having to walk out of the desert but made no reference to the girl. "He came across multiple people and never thought he should call 911," deputies say in the statement. Bond for Rater was set at $25,000 on Monday, per KPHO. The girl has been returned to her mother, ABC15 notes. (Young children with guns almost never ends well.)


Article:
The DSM-5 was officially released today. We will be covering it in the weeks to come here on the blog and over at Psych Central Professional in a series of upcoming articles detailing the major changes.

 In the meantime, here is an overview of the big changes. We sat in on a conference call that the American Psychiatric Association (APA) had in order to introduce the new version of the diagnostic reference manual used primarily by clinicians in the U.S. to diagnose mental disorders. It is called the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders and is now in its fifth major revision (DSM-5).

 James Scully, Jr., MD, CEO of the APA, kicked off the call by remarking that the DSM-5 will be a “critical guidebook for clinicians” — a theme echoed by the other speakers on the call.

 Why has it taken on such a large “role [both] in society as well as medicine?” he asked. Dr. Scully believes it’s because of the prevalence of mental disorders in general, touching most people’s lives (or someone we know).

 The APA has published three separate drafts of the manual on their website, and in doing so received over 13,000 comments from 2010 – 2012, as well as thousands of emails and letters. Every single comment was read and evaluated. This was an unprecedented scale of openness and transparency never before seen in the revision of a diagnostic manual.

 “The manual is first and foremost a guidebook for clinicians,” reiterated David Kupfer, M.D., DSM-5 task force chair, who walked us through the major changes detailed below.

 1. Three major sections of the DSM-5

 I. Introduction and clear information on how to use the DSM.

 II. Provides information and categorical diagnoses.

 III. Section III provides self-assessment tools, as well as categories that require more research.

 2. Section II – Disorders

 Organization of chapters is designed to demonstrate how disorders are related to one another.

 Throughout the entire manual, disorders are framed in age, gender, developmental characteristics.

 Multi-axial system has been eliminated. “Removes artificial distinctions” between medical and mental disorders.

 DSM-5 has approximately the same number of conditions as DSM-IV.

 3. The Big Changes in Specific Disorders

 Autism

 There is now a single condition called autism spectrum disorder, which incorporates 4 previous separate disorders. As the APA states:

 ASD now encompasses the previous DSM-IV autistic disorder (autism), Asperger’s disorder, childhood disintegrative disorder, and pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified. ASD is characterized by 1) deficits in social communication and social interaction and 2) restricted repetitive behaviors, interests, and activities (RRBs). Because both components are required for diagnosis of ASD, social communication disorder is diagnosed if no RRBs are present.

 Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder

 Childhood bipolar disorder has a new name — “intended to address issues of over-diagnosis and over-treatment of bipolar disorder in children.” This can be diagnosed in children up to age 18 years who exhibit persistent irritability and frequent episodes of extreme behavioral dyscontrol (e.g., they are out of control).

 ADHD

 Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has been modified somewhat, especially to emphasize that this disorder can continue into adulthood. The one “big” change (if you can call it that) is that you can be diagnosed with ADHD as an adult if you meet one less symptom than if you are a child.

 While that weakens the criteria marginally for adults, the criteria are also strengthened at the same time. For instance, the cross-situational requirement has been strengthened to “several” symptoms in each setting (you can’t be diagnosed with ADHD if it only happens in one setting, such as at work).

 The criteria were also relaxed a bit as the symptoms now have to had appeared before age 12, instead of before age 7.

 Bereavement Exclusion Removal

 In the DSM-IV, if you were grieving the loss of a loved one, technically you couldn’t be diagnosed with major depression disorder in the first 2 months of your grief. (I’m not sure where this arbitrary 2 month figure came from, because it certainly reflects no reality or research.). This exclusion was removed in the DSM-5. Here are the reasons they gave:

 The first is to remove the implication that bereavement typically lasts only 2 months when both physicians and grief counselors recognize that the duration is more commonly 1–2 years. Second, bereavement is recognized as a severe psychosocial stressor that can precipitate a major depressive episode in a vulnerable individual, generally beginning soon after the loss. When major depressive disorder occurs in the context of bereavement, it adds an additional risk for suffering, feelings of worthlessness, suicidal ideation, poorer somatic health, worse interpersonal and work functioning, and an increased risk for persistent complex bereavement disorder, which is now described with explicit criteria in Conditions for Further Study in DSM-5 Section III. Third, bereavement-related major depression is most likely to occur in individuals with past personal and family histories of major depressive episodes. It is genetically influenced and is associated with similar personality characteristics, patterns of comorbidity, and risks of chronicity and/or recurrence as non–bereavement-related major depressive episodes. Finally, the depressive symptoms associated with bereavement-related depression respond to the same psychosocial and medication treatments as non–bereavement-related depression. In the criteria for major depressive disorder, a detailed footnote has replaced the more simplistic DSM-IV exclusion to aid clinicians in making the critical distinction between the symptoms characteristic of bereavement and those of a major depressive episode.

 PTSD

 More attention is now paid to behavioral symptoms that accompany PTSD in the DSM-5. It now includes four primary major symptom clusters:

 Reexperiencing

 Arousal

 Avoidance

 Persistent negative alterations in cognitions and mood

 “Posttraumatic stress disorder is now developmentally sensitive in that diagnostic thresholds have been lowered for children and adolescents. Furthermore, separate criteria have been added for children age 6 years or younger with this disorder.”

 Major and Mild Neurocognitive Disorder

 Major Neurocognitive Disorder now subsumes dementia and the amenstic disorder.

 But a new disorder, Mild Neurocognitive Disorder, was also added. “There was concern we may have added a disorder that wasn’t ‘important’ enough.”

 “The impact of the decline was noticeable, but clinicians lacked a diagnosis to give patients,” noted Dr. Kupfer. There were two reasons for this change: “(1) Opportunity for early detection. The earlier the better for patients with these symptoms. (2) It also encourages an early effective treatment plan, ” before dementia sets in.

 Other New & Notable Disorders

 Both binge eating disorder and premenstrual dysphoric disorder and now official, “real” diagnoses in the DSM-5 (they were not prior to this, although still commonly diagnosed by clinicians). Hoarding disorder is also now recognized as a real disorder, separate from OCD, “which reflects persistent difficulty dis-carding or parting with possessions due to a perceived need to save the items and distress associated with discarding them. Hoarding disorder may have unique neurobiological correlates, is associated with significant impairment, and may respond to clinical intervention.”

 Jeffrey Lieberman, MD, President-Elect of the APA reminded us that the DSM-5 is not a pop-psychology book intended for consumers: “[It is] a guide, an aide to assist clinicians to … help facilitate treatment.”

 The APA also noted that a large number of sessions — 21 — will be dedicated to the DSM-5 this weekend at the APA’s annual meeting.

 Commenting on the swirling controversy regarding the DSM-5, that perhaps the diagnostic system isn’t good enough, Dr. Lieberman said, “It can’t create the knowledge, it reflects the current state of our knowledge.”

 “We can’t keep waiting for such breakthroughs,” (in reference to biomarkers and laboratory tests). “Clinicians and patients need the DSM-5 now.

 Critics have accused the DSM-5 of lowering diagnostic thresholds across the board, making it far easier for a person to be diagnosed with a mental disorder. Lieberman disagrees, however: “How [the DSM-5] is applied reflects critical practice… it’s not necessarily because of the criteria [themselves]. It’s because of the way the criteria are applied.”

 Want to learn more about the

 specific changes in the DSM-5?

 Stay updated by visiting our DSM-5 Resource Guide. ||||| The creators of the D.S.M. in the 1960s and ’70s “were real heroes at the time,” said Dr. Steven E. Hyman, a psychiatrist and neuroscientist at the Broad Institute and a former director at the National Institute of Mental Health. “They chose a model in which all psychiatric illnesses were represented as categories discontinuous with ‘normal.’ But this is totally wrong in a way they couldn’t have imagined. So in fact what they produced was an absolute scientific nightmare. Many people who get one diagnosis get five diagnoses, but they don’t have five diseases — they have one underlying condition.”

 Dr. Hyman, Dr. Insel and other experts said they hoped that the science of psychiatry would follow the direction of cancer research, which is moving from classifying tumors by where they occur in the body to characterizing them by their genetic and molecular signatures.

 About two years ago, to spur a move in that direction, Dr. Insel started a federal project called Research Domain Criteria, or RDoC, which he highlighted in a blog post last week. Dr. Insel said in the blog that the National Institute of Mental Health would be “reorienting its research away from D.S.M. categories” because “patients with mental disorders deserve better.” His commentary has created ripples throughout the mental health community.

 Dr. Insel said in the interview that his motivation was not to disparage the D.S.M. as a clinical tool, but to encourage researchers and especially outside reviewers who screen proposals for financing from his agency to disregard its categories and investigate the biological underpinnings of disorders instead. He said he had heard from scientists whose proposals to study processes common to depression, schizophrenia and psychosis were rejected by grant reviewers because they cut across D.S.M. disease categories.

 “They didn’t get it,” Dr. Insel said of the reviewers. “What we’re trying to do with RDoC is say actually this is a fresh way to think about it.” He added that he hoped researchers would also participate in projects funded through the Obama administration’s new brain initiative.

 Dr. Michael First, a psychiatry professor at Columbia who edited the last edition of the manual, said, “RDoC is clearly the way of the future,” although it would take years to get results that could apply to patients. In the meantime, he said, “RDoC can’t do what the D.S.M. does. The D.S.M. is what clinicians use. Patients will always come into offices with symptoms.”

 For at least a decade, Dr. First and others said, patients will continue to be diagnosed with D.S.M. categories as a guide, and insurance companies will reimburse with such diagnoses in mind. ||||| The controversial revision to psychiatrists' "bible" of diagnostic criteria has finally arrived. The American Psychiatric Association released its fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, or dubbed simply as the "DSM-5."

 The manual's release was coincided with the APA's annual meeting that kicked off May 18 in San Francisco.

 The first major revision to the manual in almost two decades, the new DSM has been met by controversy since reports of proposed changes started to crop up last March.

 Revisions to be announced soon to D.S.M.

 Doctors often utilize the DSM to diagnose mental health disorders in patients that meet a specific set of criteria.

 Among the major changes that garnered the most controversy was dropping Asperger's syndrome, child disintegrative disorder and pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified (PDD), and included them under the blanket diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder.

 Revisions were also made to diagnostic criteria for mental health disorders including schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, dissociative identity disorder and depressive disorders.

 For example, in the last version of the manual, the 1994 DSM-IV, there was was an exclusion criterion for a major depressive episode that was applied to people with symptoms of depression lasting less than 2 months following the death of a loved one. The DSM-5 removed this after the APA realized since the last version that grief can last up to two years, and bereavement can be a severe psychological stressor that triggers depression, rather than an exception.

 Besides worrying some mental health advocates over concerns changes in their diagnosis would affect their abilities to get treatment for state funding, the manual's release also pitted the government's National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) and the American Psychiatric Association (APA),

 NIMH director Thomas Insel wrote in a statement in early May that the NIMH felt the proposed definitions for psychiatric disorders were too broad and ignore smaller disorders that were lumped in with a larger diagnosis.

 "The weakness is its lack of validity. Unlike our definitions of ischemic heart disease, lymphoma, or AIDS, the DSM diagnoses are based on a consensus about clusters of clinical symptoms, not any objective laboratory measure. In the rest of medicine, this would be equivalent to creating diagnostic systems based on the nature of chest pain or the quality of fever," he wrote.

 The government agency said it would use a different classification system, the Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) project, instead for its studies.

 The NIH and APA released a joint statement on May 13, saying that "patients, families, and insurers can be confident that effective treatments are available and that the DSM is the key resource for delivering the best available care." But, the statement also said, "The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) has not changed its position on DSM-5."

 A petition was also started by doctors to protest the new DSM.

 "Psychiatrist's bible" changes: Doctor talks controversy

 One vocal critic, Dr. Allen Frances, who co-authored the DSM-IV, told CBS This Morning on Thursday that we are over-treating people in this country who are "basically well" and are "shamefully neglecting" people with mental disorders who are really sick, including one million people in prison with psychiatric disorders. The new manual, he said, is too loose for its diagnoses.

 He said the average diagnosis is being given by a primary care doctor in a seven minute visit.

 "People who are basically normal are getting all kinds of medicine that they don't need that makes them worse and it is a terrible drain on the economy," Frances said.

 "I'm very curious to see what happens because as you know there's kind of this tension between the DSM and some of the new NIMH initiatives," Dr. James Murrough, an assistant professor of psychiatry and neuroscience at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City, told CBSNews.com Murrough was not involved in the new DSM, but will be presenting research at the APA meeting this weekend.

 He said by now, some psychiatrists had hoped the new DSM would contain more information about scientific tests or scans for psychologists or psychiatrists to help aid their diagnoses. But, he added the new version doesn't appear to look very different from the last one.

 "I think everyone is kind of disappointed that we don't have that yet," he said.

 More information about the DSM-5 can be found on the APA's website. ||||| Psychiatry tops all other disciplines of medicine in captivating and confusing the public. It captivates because of the storied disturbances in human thought, emotion and behavior that psychiatrists describe. It confuses because, to the natural question, "What exactly are these disturbances?" psychiatrists today just provide a list of diagnoses, as if naming disorders explains them.

 Ellen Weinstein The most enduring feature of Freudianism was its claim that important facts about a patient's mental life are buried in the "unconscious."

 Jerome Groopman, in his informative 2007 book "How Doctors Think," confesses that "trying to assess how psychiatrists think was beyond my abilities." If this gifted physician finds psychiatry mystifying, how can we expect ordinary people who are seeking help to form suitable judgments?

 Things will not improve with the American Psychiatric Association's release this week of the fifth edition of its famed Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5). Like its predecessors, the massive new volume will shape what psychiatrists say and do with their patients. It is thus a perfect moment to consider how the DSM came about in the first place—and why this new edition will do nothing to clear up the public's growing confusion.

 From about 1940 to 1970, Sigmund Freud's theoretical concepts of mental life and its disorders dominated American psychiatry. The most enduring, problematic feature of Freudianism was its claim that the important facts about our mental life are disguised, buried in the "unconscious," stifled by convention and conformity.

 Only a Freudian analyst instructed in the supposedly universal conflicts of human sexuality and domestic life (the Oedipal complex, etc.) could decode and disentangle them. By knowing these secrets, the analyst could derive—from the disguises "manifest" in dreams, slips of the tongue, symptoms and behaviors—the "latent" truth provoking the different mental disorders.

 Freud and his followers played down efforts at gathering such information as a patient's family background, educational and occupational course, intelligence, temperament, habits, medical condition and conscious assumptions. These factors were said to lack psychological depth.

 In the 1960s, the authority of the Freudians began to wane in America, partly because their ineffectiveness with serious mental disorders became evident and partly because their treatments were costly, in both time and money. At the same time, the field began to make real progress with the discovery of medications, such as lithium, that were effective against specific and severe mental disorders. New psychological treatments such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy also emerged and helped patients by addressing their conscious attitudes rather than conjectures about their unconscious minds.

 Still, among many psychiatrists, the notion persisted that the true causes of mental disorders were unconscious. This belief opened the doors of psychiatry in the 1970s to many wild and conflicting suppositions about mental illnesses. Psychiatrists began acting like Sherlock Holmes, looking for various "dogs that didn't bark" to explain their patients' problems. This brought us fiascoes such as the multiple-personality craze and "repressed memories" of child abuse. Grotesque therapeutic programs—"encounter groups," the use of hallucinogenic drugs such as LSD, primal-scream therapy—also found their day, in the name of bringing "the hidden" to consciousness for treatment.

 Ultimately, the profession could not tolerate the mounting turmoil. In 1980, the APA proposed simply setting aside the chaos of claims about the causes and mechanisms of mental disorders, including those of the Freudians. Were there not aspects of mental illnesses that everyone in the profession could recognize and agree upon?

 With its third edition (DSM-III), the manual (which had existed since 1952) underwent a transformation. Its editors focused on codifying symptoms that seemed to distinguish one mental disorder from another. If psychiatrists would use these criteria consistently, they suggested, then perhaps researchers would be able to explain and differentiate disorders in terms of psychobiology.

 This prescription for diagnostic peacemaking radically changed the psychiatric scene. No longer was it an unruly market of claims, counterclaims and "orientations." Psychiatric practices became centered on using the manual to identify disorders, much as a naturalist uses a field guide to identify birds or trees. The treatments derived from these diagnoses had no particular theory behind them. They were efforts, mostly pharmacological and rule-of-thumb, to provide relief from symptoms. Psychiatric thinking about patients and their disorders withered.

 Today the public complains that psychiatrists seem ready to call every state of mental distress an illness. They see that any restless boy can receive a diagnosis of attention deficit disorder, that troubled veterans—whether exposed to combat or not—are routinely said to suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder, and that enormous numbers of discouraged, demoralized people are labeled victims of depression and have medications pressed upon them.

 The public is not far wrong. A recent nationwide diagnostic census based on DSM claimed that the majority of Americans have or have had a mental disorder. As a result, an appalling number of young adults in schools and colleges are on one form or another of psychiatric medication.

 The problem, though, is not only that psychiatrists have gone too far in naming mental states—they surely have—but that they have gone on too long with their field-guide checklists. They seem unable to do better. DSM-5 will be more of the same—a way to "know of" disorders without "knowing about" them, to draw a distinction made by William James.

 With its new manual, the APA might instead have started taking steps toward a system of classification that, as in medicine, organizes disorders according to what we know about their natures and causes. Such knowledge, rather than checklists of symptoms, would then direct treatment and research.

 Psychiatrists know, for instance, that depression and anxiety can derive from a number of different sources: cerebral diseases such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder; alcoholism or drug addiction; experiences of loss, deprivation or trauma; and, more generally, a vulnerable temperament, characterized by introversion, shyness and emotional intensity.

 Deciding which of these sources, alone or in combination, applies to a particular patient requires hours of evaluation. Prescribing an appropriate treatment involves not checking symptoms but determining who the patient is and what he or she has experienced and done.

 DSM-5 displays none of this thinking. It remains a field guide organized by symptoms, clustered in categories that can expand without limit. Official, APA-approved psychiatry seems to lack the will to change. It justifies its stagnation not only by reminding its members of the chaos of the 1970s but by claiming that the U.S. health system would not pay psychiatrists if they tried to know their patients the way that they could and should.

 DSM-5 is a missed opportunity to advance the discipline, instruct the public and encourage financial support for needed psychiatric services. Its editors seem willing to waste another decade before dispersing the mysteries of psychiatry and bringing practitioners and patients together in understanding what they are doing and why.

 —Dr. McHugh is University Distinguished Professor of Psychiatry at Johns Hopkins and former psychiatrist in chief at Johns Hopkins Hospital.

 A version of this article appeared May 18, 2013, on page C3 in the U.S. edition of The Wall Street Journal, with the headline: A Manual Run Amok. |||||Summary:

– A new edition of the manual doctors use to diagnose mental illness, the DSM, has just been released by the American Psychiatric Association—but it has already been stirring up controversy for months, reports CBS. Most critically, the director of the National Institute of Mental Health has spoken out against DSM-5, saying its definitions are too broad and lack scientific validity, the New York Times reports. "As long as the research community takes the DSM to be a bible, we’ll never make progress," he said. "People think that everything has to match DSM criteria, but you know what? Biology never read that book." Among other changes, the new DSM-5 has encompassed four previously separate disorders under the blanket "autism spectrum disorder." Another change: previously, those grieving for a lost love one couldn't be diagnosed with depression within two months of the death. Now bereavement is actually classed as a trigger. (PsychCentral has a thorough rundown of all the changes.) John Hopkins psychiatry professor Paul McHugh has also criticized the new manual in the Washington Post, saying it encourages doctors to rely on check-lists rather than getting to know their patients. "DSM-5 will be more of the same—a way to 'know of' disorders without 'knowing about' them," he writes.


Write a summary based on this article:

Consumers screamed for it. Verizon answered. Later this month, the U.S. cellular carrier will offer shared data plans for entire families. Instead of each device on an account being allotted its own data limit, all devices in a family plan will draw from the same data pool. Verizon boasts that it listened to consumers and responded with an innovative service. But when it comes to the bottom line, is Verizon doing American families any favors?

 Our Family of Four

 ReadWriteWeb discussed the feasibility of shared data plans last year. Let’s bring back our theoretical family of four and apply the shared data rates Verizon announced today.

 This theoretical upper-middle-class family has a mother, a father and two children. Both Ma and Pa have a smartphone and a tablet. The teenage kids each have a smartphone and share a tablet between them. The total is seven devices that under the old system would have required seven different data plans.

 Cost: $299.97 on the middle tier of Verizon’s current family plan (AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile rates are slightly different):

 four lines with 700 talk minutes: $119.97

 four smartphones with 2GB monthly data: $120

 three tablets with 1GB monthly data: $60

 Note: Cost estimates are before taxes and fees attached by the carriers and individual states.

 Focusing on the data aspect of the current family plan, that is 11GB of data for $180. Verizon points out that with the new shared plan, you pay a lot less for the data. The problem? You pay more per device.

 This is the pricing chart that Verizon announced today.

 Verizon's shared data plans are available on June 28.

 Let’s run the numbers for our theoretical family.

 four smartphones with unlimited minutes: $160

 three tablets: $30

 10GB monthly shared data plan: $100

 In aggregate, the shared data plan comes in at $290, about $10 less than the current Verizon family plan. The family also loses 1GB of data. If we add it back as an overage charge (where the family exceeds its monthly allotment and is charged $10 for every additional GB), then the plans are exactly the same.

 Does this surprise anyone? Verizon's new plan does not give families a discount. The difference amounts to an administrative change in how Verizon gauges use within a family plan, not a change in how much it charges or the revenue it generates.

 Convenience and Choice

 Let’s go back to our theoretical family. Last fall, we imagined that the father was a low-volume data user (to Dad, the smartphone is really just a phone) while the mother traveled a lot and was a high-volume user. Mom streams movies from Netflix, catches up on shows with Hulu Plus and listens to a lot of Pandora and talk radio with Stitcher. She just loves everything these mobile devices can do and hardly gives a thought to the amount of data she uses. The teenage kids take a lot of pictures, text and use social networks. They watch the occasional movie and a lot of YouTube. All in all, the kids are fairly normal smartphone users.

 Without a shared data plan, Dad’s allotment of data pretty much goes to waste. Activities like checking and sending email on your phone take up very little data. The family is punished financially for Mom’s freewheeling ways. So, if we break it down, the family on the shared data plan is actually being far more efficient with their allotment than each individual would be on their own.

 This has several benefits for both the consumer and the carrier. Individual consumers, on average, use about 2.2GB of data a month on their smartphones. Under many contracts, such as AT&T’s 3GB for $30, they are paying for data they do not use. In the new Verizon system, those users would be punished for going over their 2GB allowance.

 For the carrier, the shared data plan represents a change in how consumers are measured. In the old family plan, a company like Verizon would measure average revenue per user (ARPU). In the shared data plan scenario, the measurement structure changes. The family, instead of being measured as a group of individuals, becomes a unit. When an individual uses more data in a given month, the ARPU for that person goes down. When taken as a unit, an individual’s excess data use gets rolled into a lump sum without damaging (or theoretically, enhancing) Verizon’s ARPU.

 Think of your family and ask yourself: What is easier? Is it better to collect family members under one lump-sum plan or keep them partitioned to their own personal data limits? That is really what it comes down to. Verizon is going to make the same amount of money either way. Let us know in the comments what approach your family is going to take. ||||| Individuals end up paying more as Verizon now forces unlimited voice and text messages -- even if they don't want them.

 (Credit: Jessica Dolcourt/CNET)

 Verizon Wireless' newly unveiled "Share Everything" plan may be a revolution in the industry, but it's going to leave a lot of individual customers unhappy with the change.

 "Share Everything" allows customers for the first time to share a common bucket of data, similar to what they do with voice minutes and text messages under a family plan. The benefit comes when large families sign up for a single plan, yielding some savings.

 I would be fine with the changes if "Share Everything" was just one of many options, but it's not. The new shared data plans, which includes a fee for unlimited voice and text, and a set amount of data, as well as another separate fee for each device, has become the new status quo. If you're a new customer, you'll have to choose one of these plans starting June 28. Fortunately for existing customers, they can keep their existing plans, although they will have to give up unlimited data if they choose to upgrade to a new subsidized phone.

 Some people may be okay with getting unlimited access to voice and text messages, but I'm not one of them. I suspect I'm not alone. At a time when people are using data services more, which power alternative text and calling apps, they are looking to lean on voice and text messages less. That's particularly the case as many folks move to the faster 4G LTE network, which consumes data even faster.

 But under the change, customers will have to give up their old grandfathered unlimited data plans right as people use more data than ever. It's a classic case of a carrier giving you more of what you don't need, and taking away what you do -- all for a higher price.

 The plans are clearly geared towards families -- particularly ones in which a few members don't use as much data -- at the expense of individuals. An individual with a plan that consists of 450 voice minutes, 1,000 text messages, and 2 gigabytes of data currently pays $80 a month. Under the new structure, which offers unlimited voice and text messages, the price is $100.

 As Verizon customer, I fall under the $80 plan, and rarely ever go over my calling or text message caps. I don't particularly relish the notion of a forced "upgrade" to a $100 plan -- $60 for 2GB of access and unlimited voice and text messages and a $40 access fee for a smartphone -- if I move to Share Everything.

 For a couple, the new share plan would cost $150 for access for two smartphones, 4GB of data, and unlimited text and voice. That's not much different than a current share plan that comes with 700 minutes, 1,000 text messages per phone, and 2GB of data each. Current couples, however, would have to give up their unlimited data plans in exchange for unlimited voice and text messages.

 Part of the problem are the high access fees for devices, which make it tough for individuals who want to sign up multiple devices under one plan. The access fee for a smartphones is $40 a month, while a basic phone is $30, and laptops, Netbooks, and mobile hotspots are $20. Even the lowest rate -- $10 a month for a tablet -- seems excessively high.

 Verizon Wireless Chief Marketing Officer Tami Erwin acknowledged that some people would end up paying more under the new system, but stressed the savings that families would be obtain under the new plan.

 It's easy to see why Verizon wants to focus on the family. Family plans of text messages and voice service aren't new, and have been tremendously successful at keeping groups of individuals tied to a single carrier. Verizon is hoping data will add another element of stickiness -- making it hard for family members to break away and sign up for their own plan at a different carrier.

 "In a world where incentives for families favor concentrating around a single provider, the biggest providers win," said Craig Moffett, an analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. "In a household with two or three AT&T; or Verizon devices -- say, a smartphone and a tablet or two, and one device from T-Mobile or Sprint...Sprint doesn't stand a chance."

 The plans also open the door for AT&T; to offer an identical plan -- undoubtedly with a few slight tweaks to claim differentiation -- which is bad news for individuals on that carrier.

 The Verge's Chris Ziegler earlier today called the Verizon plans lackluster. I would go further and say it represents a raw deal for a lot of people.

 Corrected at 4:40 a.m. PT June 13: The story previously inaccurately suggested that a person upgrading a phone or changing a plan would be forced to move to a "Share Everything" plan. Current customers can actually keep their existing plan, although they would lose their unlimited data plan after an upgrade. ||||| Summary: I expected that carriers would not be giving anything away with shared data plans, but have to admit I am a bit disappointed that convenience comes at such a high price on Verizon.

 In May Verizon stated they were going to completely change their wireless plan structure and I am blown away by how fast this is now rolling out. Starting on 28 June, Verizon's new Share Everything plans are rolling out and will be the only option for customers, unless you stick with your existing plan and buy new phones at the unsubsidized pricing. The new plans give you more options, but this convenience comes at high price for individuals with minimum voice options. If you compare unlimited voice and text, then it is a good deal and for large families who all want data the plans are a great deal.

 The shared data plans are higher for individuals, but families who want multiple devices all with data will save quite a bit (if you want unlimited voice) with less worrying about per device data usage. A family of five will drop to $270 for five lines with a shared pool of 4GB, includes unlimited talk and text. Individuals who don't talk much on the phone, on the other hand, will see plan rates jump from the low of $69.99 (450 minutes and 2GB of data) to the lowest smartphone option of $90 for just 1GB of data. Granted these new shared plans come with unlimited voice and text messaging so if you make a lot of calls or send a lot of texts this may end up being a better option. I personally end up paying about 50 cents/minute for voice because I do not make that many calls on my mobile phone, but have to pay the minimum $40 per month.

 I would prefer to see wireless carriers offer compelling data only packages with per minute voice options. Like many people I see on my commute, data is used much more than voice on smartphones and voice seems to be where carriers make major profits.

 With these new shared plans you get unlimited voice and texts with data charged at these rates:

 1 GB is $50

 2 GB is $60

 4 GB is $70

 6 GB is $80

 8 GB is $90

 10GB is $100

 Monthly line access fees are as follows:

 $40 for a smartphone

 $30 for a basic feature phone

 $20 for USB stick, notebooks, netbooks

 $10 for tablets

 These plans also include WiFi hotspot functionality. I am not sure if things will change with the data only plans for the iPad and tablets.

 Given that I see excellent Verizon coverage and my daughters are getting older and heading off to college, I am considering a switch to Verizon where everyone can get data, unlimited texts, and unlimited voice minutes for a lower price than i pay even on low cost T-Mobile.

 If Sprint can get their LTE network up and running soon, they will look even more attractive for individual lines with their unlimited everything plans for $80 per smartphone. I am still grandfathered into unlimited data on Verizon at a total cost of $83, with taxes, and if I stick with Verizon I am going to just keep buying unsubsidized devices to take advantage of this data plan. |||||

– Verizon yesterday unveiled its new "Share Everything" plans, in which families will share one data allowance on a family plan rather than each member having his or her own data allowance on separate plans. Despite the fact that Verizon is touting this as a money-saving opportunity for families, critics run the numbers and say it's actually not: Dan Rowinski of ReadWriteWeb finds that one hypothetical family of four will likely pay exactly the same amount per month, or may save at most $10 per month. The problem? Data may be cheaper under the new plans, but "you pay more per device," he explains. "Verizon's new plan does not give families a discount. The difference amounts to an administrative change." Troy Wolverton goes a bit further in the Mercury News, calling the new plans "a crummy deal for many consumers." He finds that many users will actually end up paying more, since the only real price breaks are on talk minutes and text messages—"services [consumers] are already using less." "Overall, the move appears to be a price hike tarted up to look consumer friendly," he writes. All the critics concede that the new plans are certainly simpler to understand, but on ZDNet, Matthew Miller is "disappointed that convenience comes at such a high price." If Sprint gets its LTE network running, it will be an "attractive" option for individual unlimited plans at $80 per phone, he notes. On CNET, Roger Cheng points out that Verizon is now "forcing" unlimited voice and text messages with these plans. "Under the change, customers will have to give up their old grandfathered unlimited data plans right as people use more data than ever," he writes. "It's a classic case of a carrier giving you more of what you don't need, and taking away what you do—all for a higher price." The new plans roll out on June 28, and the only way to keep your existing plan is to upgrade to new phones at full cost, with no discount.


Article:
Tuesday, President Obama signs a bill authorizing a prestigious award for some of the nation’s Nisei veterans.

 Nisei refers to Japanese Americans born to immigrants. In the case of World War Two, many Nisei went overseas to fight for the United States, while the U.S. government kept their families locked in detention camps for the duration of the war.

 Now, the Congressional Gold Medal will be presented to the so-called “Go for Broke” veterans – that is, men who served in the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, and other cohorts.

 A number of these surviving vets live in the Northwest. April Baer reports.

 It’s been a long time since the Go For Broke vets came home. In fact, this Thanksgiving marks the 65th year since Art Iwasaki returned from Europe.

 Art Iwasaki “In my company - half of them were from the Hawaiian Islands. They were professional people, dentists, doctors. They were all still in school.”

 Iwasaki was drafted in April of 1942. He took basic training at Fort McClellan, Arkansas, then learned he, along with thousands of other young Americans born to Japanese parents, had been labeled 4-C, or “enemy aliens”. Ultimately it was decided they could serve — with limitations.

 Art Iwasaki “They told us we couldn’t carry arms, and we were treated differently – just like a prisoner of war. That was very disappointing.”

 April Baer / OPB

 These young men were among the best the Northwest had to offer.

 Kenji Yaguchi was class valedictorian, quarterback of his high school football team in Fife, Washington. Winter of 1942 found him at the Minidoka War Relocation Center in Idaho.

 Kenji Yaguchi “I wasn’t in camp very long. I was there probably five, six months. I got there in August. From there I got so bored I formed the Boy Scout troop. We were allowed to leave the compound for field trips. In December there were rumors we may be called to volunteer for the 442nd.”

 The 442nd Regimental Combat Team was an all-Japanese-American regiment, it was formed mostly of young men whose families had been shipped to detainment camps because of their race. Still, these young men stepped forward in great numbers. The Army sought 2000 volunteers, but one historian estimates 10,000 Nisei answered the call.

 Kenji Yaguchi “I was one of the first to volunteer. Because I wanted to prove I was just a good as anybody else. No better, no worse.”

 Basic training was hard. Some men had to go through it twice, first with their integrated units, then again in segregated units after the 442nd was formed.

 Art Iwasaki’s brother Akira, or Ike was in the 442nd, too. Ike says he felt very much like the Oregon farm boy he was, thrown in with so many other young men from big, cosmopolitan cities all over the West Coast, like Seattle and San Francisco.

 Ike Iwasaki “Before I was inducted in service I was at home here, I never socialized much, so when I was inducted in service and exposed to other people it was a challenge. Very lonely experience. Not having been away from home.”

 The 442nd, and a component Battalion, the 100th, which preceded it, joined the ranks of the most decorated regiments of World War II.

 Soldiers in the Go For Broke regiment gained a reputation for toughness in France and Italy. They became famous for the rescue of so-called “Lost Battalion”, a unit of Texas National Guardsmen who’d been cut off behind German lines. And Kenji Yaguchi says they captured Germans, baffled by the 442nd.

 Kenji Yaguchi “They looked at us, and they thought Japan was fighting against them. First we said Yes, we were! After that, we said, no, we’re Americans. They were surprised.”

 The 442nd suffered terrible losses. Art Iwasaki’s company, which had started with about 200 men, was decimated to eight, by the end of the war in Europe.

 After the war, Ken Yaguchi became a chiropractor and settled down in Ontario.

 Ike and Art Iwasaki went back to farming in Washington County. Of the eight members of Art’s company who survived the war, only five are still around. He downplays the heroism he and his fellow soldiers showed.

 Art Iwasaki “I felt it was my duty. I was born and raised in America.”

 Congress honors veterans of the 442nd with the Congressional Gold Medal this week. Members of the 100th Battalion and translators and interrogators with the Military Intelligence Service will also be honored.

 The Gold Medal is one of the three highest civilian honors presented to people who serve the security and national interests of the United States. ||||| White House Photo, Lawrence Jackson President Barack Obama image:66419:2::0

 The new law will recognize over 6,000 Japanese-Americans born of immigrant parents who served our country and fought in battles in Europe and Asia.Oregon Public Broadcasting reports the Neisi Veterans will soon receive the prestigious Congressional Gold Medal award. Nisei refers to Japanese Americans born to immigrants who went overseas to fight for the United States, while the U.S. government kept their families locked in detention camps for the duration of the war“While some Japanese-Americans were being wrongly interned due only to their ethnicity, these brave men stepped forward to defend our nation," Sen. Daniel K. Akaka (D-Hawaii) said. "Their bravery helped to not only win the war, it paved the way towards a more tolerant and just nation. It will be a truly historic moment when President Barack Obama signs this honor for the Nisei veterans into law."The Congressional Gold Medal will honor the 100th Infantry Battalion and 442nd Regimental Combat Team and the Military Intelligence Service for their heroic service and sacrifice during World War II.The 442nd, made up of Americans of Japanese ancestry who volunteered to fight, is the most decorated Army unit of its size and length of service in the history of the United States. The Military Intelligence Service provided the U.S. with valuable language and cultural knowledge, translating intercepted intelligence and helping the U.S. achieve victory in the Pacific reports the office of Daniel Akaka.The Congressional Gold Medal is one of the highest civilian honors presented to people who serve the security and national interests of the United States. Past honorees of the Congressional Gold Medal include the Wright Brothers, Rosa Parks, Navajo Code Talkers, the Tuskegee Airmen and the Dalai Lama. |||||Summary:

– President Obama today signed legislation to honor Japanese-American soldiers who fought on behalf of the Allies during World War II—even as some of their families were kept in confinement in the US. This long-awaited bill will open the door for more than 6,000 soldiers known as Nisei veterans to collectively receive the prestigious Congressional Gold Medal. For more on the vets, see the Digital Journal or Oregon Public Broadcasting.


Here is a news article: Study: 98% Of Us Will Sign Away Our Firstborn Because We Don’t Read The Terms Of Service

 “Click here if you have read and agree to the Terms of Service.” How many times in your life — heck, how many times just this month, or this year — have you hovered over that little ticky box without bothering to click the TOS link first? Or scrolled straight to the bottom of a pop-up window with 17 pages of boring legalese in it, just to continue installation? If your answer is anything other than “all the times,” you are in a very, very small minority.

 A new study from researchers at two universities has confirmed what most of us already anecdotally know: nobody’s actually reading the fine print, even if they should.

 And how did the researchers find this, you may ask? By creating a fictitious social networking site that research participants signed up for. The privacy policy and terms of service for this fictitious site were modeled on existing documents on another social network (LinkedIn), and checked in at roughly 8000 and 4000 words respectively.

 But this fake site’s policies included a few extra clauses that should have raised eyebrows. One had to do with data sharing, and specified that the site could share your information with the NSA “and other security agencies in the United States and abroad.” It also said that your data could be shared with any third parties, and as a result “could impact eligibility in… employment, financial service, univeristy, entrance, international travel, the criminal justice system, etc.”

 The other said that participants agreed to sign over their firstborn, Rumpelstiltskin-style: “In addition to any monetary payment … all users of this site agree to immediately assign their first-born child” to the site, it read. “If the user does not yet have children, this agreement will be enforceable until the year 2050.”

 The researchers then asked open-ended questions to the participants asking if they had any concerns with the policies and sign-up options.

 543 research participants signed up for the site. Of those, 399 skipped all the fine print entirely and just signed up blindly. For the remaining 144, the average time spent “reading” the privacy policy was 73 seconds, and for the TOS, 51 seconds.

 Even the best speed-readers are not going to get through — and understand — 8000 words of legalese in 73 seconds, and these participants were no exception. In the end, the researchers found that 98% of all participants completely missed the existence of the “gotcha” clauses. That means a total of 10-11 participants, at most, actually noticed.

 Research participants were all undergrads, as is very common for university-based research. But this behavior is far from limited to young adults. A similar experiment in the UK in 2014 found the same results, with users unwittingly signing away their firstborn in exchange for access to a free WiFi hotspot. A UK-based retailer found the same in 2010 when their customers happily, and unwittingly, signed over their immortal souls.

 Other studies have found that barely one in five internet users actually read the terms, and even they probably don’t usually stop to process the words.

 So yes, we should all read a little more carefully before we proceed — because as long as they disclose it, a company can do pretty much anything they want with your account or personal information. Of course, it doesn’t help that the policies are usually long, dense, complicated, formatted badly, and full of legalese. There are some tools that help but when it comes to comprehensibility, we still have a long way to go.

 [via Ars Technica] ||||| 37 Pages Posted: 2 Apr 2016 Last revised: 18 Aug 2018

 Date Written: June 1, 2018

 Abstract

 This paper addresses ‘the biggest lie on the internet’ with an empirical investigation of privacy policy (PP) and terms of service (TOS) policy reading behavior. An experimental survey (N=543) assessed the extent to which individuals ignored PP and TOS when joining a fictitious social networking service, NameDrop. Results reveal 74% skipped PP, selecting the ‘quick join’ clickwrap. Average adult reading speed (250-280 words per minute), suggests PP should have taken 29-32 minutes and TOS 15-17 minutes to read. For those that didn’t select the clickwrap, average PP reading time was 73 seconds. All participants were presented the TOS and had an average reading time of 51 seconds. Most participants agreed to the policies, 97% to PP and 93% to TOS, with decliners reading PP 30 seconds longer and TOS 90 seconds longer. A regression analysis identifies information overload as a significant negative predictor of reading TOS upon signup, when TOS changes, and when PP changes. Qualitative findings suggest that participants view policies as nuisance, ignoring them to pursue the ends of digital production, without being inhibited by the means. Implications are revealed as 98% missed NameDrop TOS ‘gotcha clauses’ about data sharing with the NSA and employers, and about providing a first-born child as payment for SNS access. |||||
A summary of this is?

– If Facebook or Apple ever turns truly evil, we might be in big trouble, apparently. A study published last week found that almost nobody reads online terms of service agreements—and even fewer understand them. Ars Technica reports 543 college students signed up for a fake social networking site called NameDrop, believing they were helping with a "pre-launch evaluation." They were actually agreeing to hand over their first-born child to NameDrop—enforceable through 2050—as well as have their data and information shared with the NSA, foreign security agencies, and all manner of third parties, according to Consumerist. But, of course, only 2% of participants realized they were agreeing to any of that. The study found 399 participants didn't read any of the 12,000 words comprising NameDrop's terms of service and privacy policy. The other 144 spent an average of 73 seconds reading the privacy policy and 51 seconds reading the terms of service. Based on average reading speed, it should have taken 30 minutes and 16 minutes respectively. In the end, 98% of participants didn't notice any of the onerous clauses in NameDrops's terms. The study concluded that people "view policies as nuisance" and that "I agree to these terms and conditions" is the "biggest lie on the internet." (Amazon will void its terms of service if the zombies come.)


Best buddies Amur the tiger and Timur the goat, sharing an enclosure in a safari park in Russia’s Far East, have fallen out big time with Timur receiving treatment after Amur messed him up.

 “Timur is currently in good health, he says hi and promises to be less cocky from now on and advises other goats to keep it smart,” park director Dmitriy Mezentsev said in a press release.

 The park published a 30-minute video, showing what had happened step-by-step. We break down the half-hour-long slowly unfolding drama for you.

 The video starts with happy-clappy images of the goat and the tiger together. They became pals in November and have been attracting attention ever since. When the staff tried separating the two, they wouldn’t have it: Amur roared at nights suffering the loss. So they were reunited.

 But things started to turn sour when Timur the goat got a little too comfortable and became a tad too bold with the dangerous big cat.

 The brazen goat went as far as scratching his horns on Amur’s delicate fur. He spent hours doing it, annoying the patient tiger further, until he couldn’t take it anymore and snapped at Timur. The video shows Amur jumping up and mauling the goat for a few seconds before throwing him to the ground and turning away.

 Timur tried to get up, but couldn’t, he just lay there in the snow for a while, looking exceptionally sad.

 Little did he know that a rescue operation was already underway: the staff were luring the big cat into a “canteen” with a live rabbit as his prey, so they could enter the enclosure and grab Timur.

 Timur was then taken to the vet who examined him and said he was in good health, but needed rest after the shock.

 “Time will tell if we will return him to Amur, it’s too early to tell. For the moment, he needs to recover and to rest.” Mezentsev told Russian media.

 From its very beginning, the unusual friendship between the two unlikely buddies has sparked speculation. Both sceptics and fans couldn’t quite answer the question, “What keeps the tiger from eating the goat?”

 READ MORE Hunger games? 5 reasons Amur the Tiger hasn’t eaten Timur the Goat

 This latest spin in their relationship once again goes to prove that for some reason the tiger doesn’t want to eat the goat, if he wanted to kill him, he would have done it right away. Instead, he chose to give him a lesson and set him free. ||||| MOSCOW (AP) — A romance that enchanted Russia may be over: Timur the goat and Amur the tiger have had a fight and aren't together anymore.

 In November, the goat was placed in the tiger's compound in a wildlife park near Vladivostok with the expectation that the big cat would eventually kill and eat him. But the two not only tolerated each other, they appeared to become friends. The odd couple became a popular topic on social media, and T-shirts celebrating them went on sale.

 But Timur started pushing it, constantly annoying and butting the tiger.

 "Finally, the tiger couldn't hold back, grabbed the goat by the withers and tossed him," park director Dmitry Mezentsev told state news agency Tass on Friday.

 "We decided to put them in different enclosures for a while," he said. |||||
What is a one-paragraph summary of the above article?

– A romance that enchanted Russia may be over: As the AP reports, Timur the goat and Amur the tiger have had a fight and aren't together anymore. In November, the goat was placed in the tiger's compound in a wildlife park near Vladivostok with the expectation that the big cat would eventually kill and eat him. But the two not only tolerated each other, they appeared to become friends. The odd couple became a popular topic on social media, and T-shirts celebrating them went on sale. But Timur started pushing it, constantly annoying and butting the tiger. "Finally, the tiger couldn't hold back, grabbed the goat by the withers and tossed him," park director Dmitry Mezentsev told state news agency Tass on Friday. "We decided to put them in different enclosures for a while," he said. But the split certainly isn't without its humor: "Timur is currently in good health, he says hi and promises to be less cocky from now on and advises other goats to keep it smart," Mezentsev says, per RT, which has video and a still-by-still breakdown of the goat getting the tiger's, er, goat.