Hasta La Gadget!

Ask Paul Krugman, and he’ll tell you a former senator has a few things in common with one of the biggest con men in history.

The Pulitzer Prize-winning economist wrote in a blog post Thursday that like major Ponzi schemer Bernie Madoff, former Senator Alan Simpson is benefitting from “affinity fraud” — a dynamic where people ignore evidence indicating someone is obviously wrong because they view them as “their kind of guy.” Simpson and former White House Chief of Staff Erskine Bowles make up the deficit fighting duo President Obama tasked in 2010 with coming up with a plan to reduce the nation’s debt and they recently released the latest version of their proposal.

“Simpson is, demonstrably, grossly ignorant on precisely the subjects on which he is treated as a guru, not understanding the finances of Social Security, the truth about life expectancy, and much more,” Krugman wrote. “Yet he remains not only respectable among the Beltway crowd; as Ezra [Klein] says, he’s lionized in a way that looks from the outside like a clear violation of journalistic norms.”

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Remember those halcyon days last November when Sina Weibo passed more than 400 million users? Well, a mere three months later, and the microblogging site can now boast that it’s got 503 million compulsive over-sharers. To put that figure into perspective, were “Chinese Twitter” to be its own country, it would be the third most populous nation on Earth. While it should be celebrating such figures, there’s a few signs of trouble on the horizon, as local rival Tencent’s WeChat hit 300 million users last month — not to mention some disgruntled former users inviting people to switch to Twitter.

Filed under: Internet

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Via: The Next Web

Source: Tech In Asia, (2)

Brace yourself, you may feel claustrophobic.
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The Indiana state Senate on Wednesday advanced a bill that would require women to undergo an ultrasound procedure both before and after having a medication-induced abortion during the first trimester of pregnancy.

The Senate Health and Provider Services Committee approved Senate Bill 371 on Wednesday by a vote of 7 to 5, sending it to a full vote in the state Senate. The bill, introduced by state Sen. Travis Holdman (R), imposes heavy regulations on clinics and physicians that offer medication abortions, which are generally used to end a pregnancy up to 10 weeks from a woman’s last period. It would require women to be presented with the sound and image of the fetal heartbeat before the abortion and to return for a follow-up ultrasound to ensure that she is no longer pregnant and has stopped bleeding.

Dr. Anne Davis, the consulting medical director for Physicians for Reproductive Health, said the requirement would place an undue burden on women seeking to end their pregnancies. “She can do a blood test at any local facility after an abortion to show that the hormone levels are going down as they should, there’s no medical reason to make her drive back to the abortion clinic and go through another ultrasound,” she said. “This is yet another onerous, medically unnecessary barrier.”

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Between the ceremony, reception, guest list and honeymoon, it’s easy to forget to plan one very important aspect of your wedding: your emergency kit.

Simply Bridal created a helpful infographic that lists exactly what brides should pack in an day-of bridal emergency bag — in case the Big Day doesn’t go perfectly. Throw these items into a cute bag and give it to one of your bridesmaids to hold onto. Then, if you’ve got a broken heel, static cling, or just need a mint, you’re prepared.

Check out the infographic below for your emergency kit must-haves.

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