4:33 PM
http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2010/05/kuok/
The Thai general who was critically wounded last night was being interviewed with a reporter for the NY Times when he was shot. The reporter was 2 feet away from the General when he was shot!
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/14/world/asia/14thai.html?hp
The Minerals Management Service gave permission to BP and dozens of other oil companies to drill in the Gulf of Mexico without first getting required permits from another agency that assesses threats to endangered species. This includes the approval for the well drilled by the Deepwater Horizon rig which is spilling thousands of barrels of oil each day. Scientists say that they had repeatedly had their scientific findings changed to indicate no environmental impact or had their calculations of spill risks downgraded:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/14/us/14agency.html?pagewanted=all
The Deepwater Horizon oil spill has resulted in major shortages and increased prices for oysters and shrimp. 70% of all oysters consumed in the US come out of the gulf and all Louisiana waters east of the Mississippi River are closed to shrimpers. Shrimp prices in LA rose 30% or more last week and many places have run out of oysters:
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-oil-spill-seafood-20100514,0,5221052.story
Study of crime in 459 US cities with populations of at least 50,000 people shows that cities that had greater growth in immigration had sharper decreases in homicide and robbery between 1990 and 2000. The study found that, controlling for a variety of other factors, growth in the new immigrant population was responsible for 9.3% of the decline in homicide rates and growth in total immigration was responsible for 22.2% of the decrease in robbery rates:
http://www.homelandsecuritynewswire.com/rise-immigration-may-help-explain-drop-violent-crimes
China will spend more than $146 billion to triple the size of its subway system over the next 5 years:
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-05-13/china-to-spend-more-than-1-trillion-yuan-on-subways-update2-.html
Study found that 15-year-olds who spent long hours in day care as preschoolers are more impulsive and more prone to take risks than 15-year-olds whose toddler years were spent mostly at home. For every 10 hours per week in day care, teens rated themselves about 16% more rash in their behavior:
http://www.latimes.com/news/science/la-sci-kids-daycare-20100514,0,549605.story
The study also found that 15-year-olds who had high-quality child care when they were preschool age were smarter, did better in school, and had fewer behavior problems. They had expected to find that the effects of child care faded away by the time the kids were teenagers, but they found it did not. I guess I should feel better about the 4 years of preschool tuition I paid for my kids:
http://www.webmd.com/parenting/news/20100514/quality-child-care-leads-to-smarter-teens
Last month Google said that 60,000 Android phones per day were shipping, but now they report that at least 65,000 Android phones per day are shipping:
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jtZT_1rdNJFpfU_fwWMiugrx8JMw
Commentary on whether or not the rumored Verizon/Google table is real or just a ploy to give Verizon leverage in negotiations with Apple over the iPhone:
http://www.fiercewireless.com/story/verizons-google-tablet-ruse-or-real-mccoy/2010-05-12
The Nexus One is coming to retail stores as Google admitted its web store strategy did not work:
http://www.androidcentral.com/nexus-one-coming-retail-stores
Google is prioritizing students for Google Voice--they set up a special site for students to request Google Voice numbers and all they have to give is an address that ends with ".edu":
http://googlevoiceblog.blogspot.com/2010/05/google-voice-invites-for-students.html
36-year-old Michigan man apparently called his 15-year-old daughter and asked her to have sex with him--she refused and said that the idea was "gross". The girl's mother called police when the man called the next day and *told* his daughter that he was going to have sex with her (he offered $1,000 to her mother to go along with it)...the police arrested him when he showed up at their home. The phone calls were recorded and the man pleaded no contest to the charges:
http://www.mlive.com/news/jackson/index.ssf/2010/05/jackson_area_man_accused_of_ca.html
Sad story about how a 37-year-old grandmother was arrested for DUI after she was swerving across lanes of a Florida freeway while her 3-year-old grandson was in the car:
http://www.fox30jax.com/mostpopular/story/Grandmother-arrested-for-DUI-with-3-year-old-in/DVj6X9P40k2VJ-ujKMTMwQ.cspx