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Quirky party girl Ke$ha will end Susan Boyle’s six week domination on the US charts this week.

Animal, the debut album from the “Tik Tok” hitmaker, is projected to bump the Scottish spinister-turned-superstar’s critically-acclaimed platinum set, I Dreamed A Dream, from the No. 1 spot on this week’s the Billboard 200, Billboard.com said Tuesday. Ke$ha’s Animal likely moved 150,000 copies last week, easily trumping Dream.

by Roger Alford

The transcript for the oral argument in Abbott v. Abbott is out, raising the difficult question of what constitutes a right of custody within the meaning of the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. The treaty grants a parent the right to have a child returned to the child’s country of habitual residence if the child has been removed in violation of that parent’s rights of custody. The case raises the difficult issue of whether the non-custodial parent who has visitation rights has “custody rights” within the meaning of the treaty by virtue of a ne exeat clause prohibiting one parent from removing the child from the country without the other’s consent.

The case arose out of Chile. A British father and American mother had a child in 1995 and together the family moved to Chile in 2002. In 2003 the couple separated and the mother was granted custody and the father visitation rights. In addressing custodial issues, the Chilean court prohibited the child’s removal from Chile by either the father or mother without their mutual consent. The mother fled to Texas and the father filed an action in Texas for return of the child, alleging that his “ne exeat” rights to prevent removal from Chile was a “right of custody” within the meaning of the Convention.

Among the more interesting issues was Scalia’s colloquy regarding comparative interpretation of the treaty provision. In keeping within his views in Olympic Airways, Scalia expressed the view that the Court should interpret the treaty in a manner consistent with the general consensus of all the signatory states, assuming one could divine such a consensus. Here is Scalia’s exchange with Karl Hays, counsel for respondent Jacquelyn Abbott (pp. 43-48):

Justice Scalia: Most courts in countries signatory of the treaty have come out the other way and agree that a ne exeat right is a right of custody, and those courts include U.K., France, Germany, I believe Canada, very few come out the way you—how many come out your way?

Mr. Hays: Actually, Your Honor, the United States and Canada do, and the analysis—

Justice Scalia: Well, wait … You’re writing our opinion for us, are you?

Mr. Hays: … There have only been seven courts of last resort that have heard this issue. There are some 81 countries that belong—

Justice Scalia: Yes, but, still, in all, I mean, they include some biggies, like the House of Lords, right? And … the purpose of a treaty is to have everybody doing the same thing, and … if it’s a case of some ambiguity, we should try to go along with what seems to be the consensus in … other countries that are signatories to the treaty.

Mr. Hays: If, in fact, there were a consensus, but … there is not a consensus in this instance….

Justices Breyer and Ginsburg then enter the fray with Justice Scalia and the three start counting countries, whether Canada or Germany or Australia should count on one side of the ledger or the other, depending on whether the language in the case was dicta or whether it was a court of last resort, etc.

Hays then concludes with the comment, “the point that we are making, however, is that, if you have one or two or even three countries that have gone one way and then you have other countries that have gone the other way, that there’s not a clear-cut overwhelming majority of the other jurisdictions that have ruled in favor of establishing ne exeat orders….” To which Scalia responds, “We will have to parse them out, obviously.”

The exchange raises a great question of country-splits in treaty interpretation. Several justices appeared willing to interpret an ambiguous treaty provision consistent with the general consensus of signatory nations. But respondent argues that there is no clear consensus and only a handful of countries out of 81 signatories have even addressed the issue.

So even assuming the Court takes the approach suggested by Justice Scalia in Olympic Airways and looks for signatory consensus, what’s the Court to do when there are few voices from abroad and those voices are not consistent? Is there still a role for comparative interpretive analysis in that context?

The increasingly crowded free-to-play MMORPG market is going to be seeing the release of at least one fairly big name game this year as Gamepot has partnered with Square Enix to bring Fantasy Earth Zero to North America in 2010. The game’s large-scale player vs. player combat is being touted by Gamepot as a significant feature.

“Imagine a world of perpetual warfare, legions of unique classes, and a Hyper-Active Battle System — Think the best scenes in Gladiator or Braveheart, with the action ratcheted up to 20,” said Gamepot senior director of business and marketing Thomas Lee in a press release. “It’s quite unlike any MMORPG available — our 50 vs. 50 PvP system is pure, pulse-pounding excitement. And now, for the first time ever, North American players can step into a world from the creators of so many high-quality RPGs, completely for free.”

FEZ has three classes (Warrior, Mage, and Archer) to play as and promises immersive quests, a “nearly endless array of character customization options,” and a soundtrack from Hitoshi Sakimoto, who was one of the composers on Final Fantasy XII and also has worked on Odin Sphere, Final Fantasy Tactics, among other games.

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In what might be the best use of public transportation since Cash Cab, Square Enix has announced plans for a Final Fantasy XIII bus tour. Starting tomorrow, RPG fans in San Francisco and the Bay Area will be able to track down the Square Enix bus for their first shot at playing the U.S. version of Final Fantasy XIII.

Wondering how you’ll be able to spot a single bus among the countless others patrolling the city? Like anything worthwhile (and under 140 characters) these days, you need look no further than Twitter. Square Enix has set up an official Final Fantasy XIII bus tour Twitter account, which will be updated with bus stop locations throughout the promotion.

The tour is scheduled to last from tomorrow, January 13 until Saturday, January 16. San Francisco and the surrounding areas are the only announced locations, so Final Fantasy addicts outside the city will have to embark on a tour of their own to get to Square’s bus. Or, y’know, just develop some patience and wait out the game’s March 9 release date. Whichever is more convenient for you guys.

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Wow!

The special Senate election in Massachusetts is already way more exciting than anyone thought it would be.

And now get this… the insurgent Republican posed naked in Cosmo in 1982

Will it derail his campaign, which in itself could end up derailing healthcare? Maybe not.

This was 27 years ago, and his big problem is name recognition, which this helps solve.

(via Mediaite)

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See Also:

• Insurgent GOP Senate Candidate In Massachusetts Has Amazing $1 Million Night Online
• SHOCK: Poll Has GOP Candidate Now Leading In Massachusetts Senate Race
• DEMOCRAT CARNAGE: Chris Dodd, Byron Dorgan Leaving The Senate

Could the image you see above, which really looks like it could be part of a giant iPhone, be the glass surface for the Apple tablet? If so, that giant hole on the bottom is likely where an iPhone-like home button will be, and the earpiece up top would be for a speaker. Or, and we know this could be a stretch, someone had nothing better to do and created a large-scaled replica of the iPhone’s face, drilled an extra hole into it and called it a placeholder for a camera. There are some things we see on the Internet that sends our BS meter through the roof, and this one did it at first glance. We’d be really disappointed if Apple made the tablet look nothing more like a giant iPhone, but then again, why mess with success? If rumors prove to be true, we’ll find out before the end of this month.

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After taking a brief holiday break, Apple managed to release the first developer beta of Mac OS X 10.6.3 last week. Among the 221 code changes, there appears to be some initial support for parts of the OpenGL 3.0 spec, though Apple will have a long way to go before Snow Leopard is OpenGL 3-ready.

OSx86 contributer netkas, known for his work in enabling graphics card support for non-Apple GPUs, noted over the weekend that the developer test build of 10.6.3 contained a number of OpenGL 3.0 extensions, as well as a few for the updated 3.1 and 3.2 specifications. Mac OS X has essentially been stuck at OpenGL 2.1 support for some time, even though GPUs in most newer Macs support the newer standards.

Part of the issue with bringing OpenGL 3.0 support is that the newer versions deprecated many older functions from OpenGL 2.x in an attempt to modernize and simplify the overall API. All three revisions of OpenGL 3.x also include revisions to the shader language as well. Updating all the support requires work on Apple’s part as well as the cooperation of GPU vendors to get drivers into shape. OpenGL 3.1 and 3.2 were released last year, well into Snow Leopard’s development cycle, and drivers offering beta support for those versions of OpenGL were the norm on Windows Vista.

For those who need OpenGL 3.x support, however, the good news is that most of the necessary functionality brought by OpenGL 3.0 is included by way of extensions. Shading language 1.30 still isn’t supported, and support for 3.1 and 3.2 is still in the early stages. Later revisions of Snow Leopard may include full support for the updated standards, but chances are good that 10.7 will definitely include full support.

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The federal court in Chicago has four vacancies on the bench, and the nomination process is slowly coming to a close.

Lynne Marek of the National Law Journal reported Tuesday that President Obama has pared the list of candidates from seven to three. The finalists are Judge Susan Coleman, Sidley Austin partner Gary Feinerman and Mary Rowland, a partner at Hughes Socol Piers Resnick & Dym.

The reason that there are three finalists for four openings is that the fourth vacancy came after Sen. Dick Durbin submitted his recommendations to the White House in August.

James Holderman, the chief of the court, hopes the president will make the nominations and the Senate will confirm them sometime early this year, according to Marek’s story.  

•Police Commission President John Mack welcomed everyone to the first Police Commission meeting of the year and wished everyone a Happy New Year.

•Police Commission Vice President Andrea Ordin attended the recruit graduation ceremony on New Year’s Eve.

•Police Commissioner Alan Skobin requested a project and working group as it relates to the issuance of business licenses. It is his hope to develop a more efficient system where entrepreneurs are able to open a business as expeditiously as possible.

•Police Chief Charlie Beck said there was a quiet beginning to the New Year.  He said he went out on weekend patrol in the Van Nuys area on New Year’s Eve and noticed the difference as compared to years past.  He added there are currently 147 recruits in the academy.

•The Executive Director’s report, dated December 15, 2009, relative to the Los Angeles Combined Charities Campaign, was approved and transmitted to the Office of the Controller.

•The Department’s report, dated December 21, 2009, relative to Management’s response to the recommendation of the Motor Vehicle and Pedestrian Stop Date Collection Audit, Second Quarter, Fiscal Year 2006/07, was received and filed.

•The Department’s report, dated January 4, 2010, relative to actions taken regarding unsecured documents, was approved.  Lieutenant John Rodriguez informed the Board his office took immediate action and established a task force and inspected each Police Department facility to see where the problem was. It was discovered the Department ran out of space to store files.  He added had the Department done records retention there would be space available.  Numerous personnel vacancies in the records sections contributed to the problem. The Lieutenant and staff are meeting each month at the area records sections to help remedy the problem.

•The Department’s report, dated December 29, 2009, relative to Supervisor Training Inspection (IAID No. 09-019B), was received and filed.  Captain Jody Wakefield said the audit discovered that Detective II’s were not completing the form which said they were going to supervisor training however the two that were found not to have submitted the proper documentation were not acting as supervisors.

•The Department’s report, dated January 5, 2010, relative to Field Training Officer Selection Inspection (IAID No. 09-021), was approved.

•The Department’s report, dated December 28, 2009, relative to Field Training Officer Training Inspection (IAID No. 09-019A), was approved.  Captain Jody Wakefield said she met with Office of Operation personnel to go back and revise the language.  She added they are in contact with Training Division and with Training Officers and when an employee fails to report for training, a notice will be sent to the area of assignment to better track training.

•The Department’s report, dated January 5, 2010, relative to Tour of Duty for Professional Standards Bureau investigators (IAID No. 09-022), was approved.  Deputy Chief Mark Perez informed the Board the original purpose of the three year policy was to prevent a "head hunter" mentality. The three year policy was adopted by the Concent Decree.  Currently with the hiring freeze, officers assigned to PSB can decide to stay or transfer out after three years.  If they decide to stay, they go through an extensive work review as it relates to work performance and attitude.  If it is determined they are fit to stay, they are moved to a different entity within the bureau.  Chief Perez requested the three year limit be extended to a five year term limit which is consistent with national standards.

In a brief post this morning reminding readers that cellular carriers do not necessarily get sneak peeks of Apple’s top-secret products, Daring Fireball’s John Gruber said that his (often reliable) sources suggest that Apple’s tablet will not have any camera.

Gruber, who has an imperfect but pretty solid track record on these matters, suggests that the Apple’s tablet will not be any sort of videophone game changer, as has been widely speculated. In fact, he hears it won’t have a camera at all:

And, for what it’s worth, I’m hearing there is no camera, webcam or otherwise, on The Tablet.

So if you were looking forward to revolutionizing the way you interacted with your friends and family across the globe by holding this thing in front of your face all summer long, you might be disappointed. [Daring Fireball]

by Tom Laskawy

The WaPo and the NYT are now reporting that Michael Taylor has been officially named deputy commissioner for foods at the FDA. What remains fascinating is that both articles, like Taylor’s blog post at the Atlantic, continue to ignore meat safety. It’s only mentioned in passing in the context of Taylor’s past stint as head of USDA food safety during the Clinton administration.

The WaPo’s piece even implies that Taylor all but solved problems with meat safety some 10 years ago. Meanwhile the NYT claims that this move plus new legislation that gives more power to the FDA represents the administration’s attempts to repair our “fractured” food safety system. And yet neither paper observes that Taylor’s appointment gives him no power over meat and poultry and that the food safety legislation has been stripped of any provisions that affect the meat industry. In other words, system not repaired! Very very strange. The American Meat Institute must be doing cartwheels this morning.

Michael Taylor, the FDA’s special adviser for food safety and one of the administration’s most public food safety officials, now blogs at the Atlantic. He hasn’t said much to date. But today he tried to get us all psyched for a big year for food safety:

This nation is at an historic tipping point when it comes to food
safety. Congress is on the verge of passing legislation to usher in a
new era of food safety in this country, with the fundamental goal of
preventing food contamination and illness. The president, the public,
and the industry have united in support for a stronger FDA. And our
commissioner, Dr. Margaret Hamburg, has created a new Office of Foods to help unify and be accountable for all FDA foods efforts.

Awesome, right?! One problem—neither the FDA nor the pending food safety bill have anything to do with ensuring the safety of what is turning out to be our most dangerous foods: meat and poultry. That aspect of food safety is controlled by the USDA. And to paraphrase Obamafoodorama’s tweet of the other week, the USDA (and the country) has been without a head of food safety for 1 year and 25 days. Meanwhile, the revelations mount. USDA presumptions about the safety of common meat products prove horribly wrong. The tough policy decisions pile up. And yet, USDA chief Tom Vilsack refuses to put someone in charge—nor has he stepped into the breach with any meaningful reform proposals of his own.

To be clear, nowhere in Taylor’s post, which purports to be a description of food safety priorities for the entire administration, are the following words mentioned: meat, poultry, USDA, school lunches, ground beef. Even his litany of last year’s failures that will not be repeated includes only the vegetarian’s delight of peanut better, sprouts, and cookie dough. The hundreds of thousands of pounds of recalled contaminated meat go unmentioned. It’s as if meat simply is not on Michael Taylor’s menu radar.

In fact, the main priorities he discusses are all process-oriented: better communication, cooperation, preparedness, and data analysis. That’s all well and good, but are those really the greatest shortcomings for food safety in this country? Or is it rather that—thanks in large part to lax, underfunded and outdated regulations—a surprising number of corporations don’t seem to have any qualms about releasing contaminated food into the system? Let’s do something about that, shall we?

I, for one, had a theory about all this. My theory was that Taylor, being himself a former Under Secretary of Food Safety, was pulling the strings at USDA on food safety—and possibly even positioning himself to be named to the post again. But reading his blog post, now I’m not so sure. Now I’m worried that the lack of progress at USDA regarding food safety will continue—and thus continue to present a very real danger to the food system and to us. So, apologies Mike if I’m not so psyched about what 2010 will bring on food safety. I’ve had more than enough paralysis and inaction already.

Related Links:

FDA on BPA: Our hands are tied

Mom-powered politics

Scientists confirm link between BPA and heart disease in humans

At the crest of a hilltop in Escondido, California, the Rancho McMillen House, designed by Architects Magnus, enjoys expansive views of the golf course below and dazzling sunsets every evening. More importantly, though, the home’s elevated perch allows it to take advantage of the steady breeze from the Pacific Ocean, which acts as a passive cooling system. Also aiding the cooling effect of the ocean breeze is a roof whose carefully calculated overhangs shade the floor to ceiling windows throughout the course of the day.

The interior of the home merges rustic, natural elements with modern style; flexible living spaces, an open staircase, and contemporary lighting are complemented by wood ceilings and cabinetry, stone-clad accent walls, a wood burning stove, and dark stained concrete floors. Outside, natural landscape, heavy timber structural elements, and fire-resistant cladding echo the interior theme.

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Source: Trendir

This morning I was double-checking on the Google Nexus One technical specifications and noticed the charging requirements. Per Google, the Nexus One “charges at 480mA from USB, at 980mA from supplied charger.” It’s really no surprise that it’s going to take longer to charge from a computer over USB than from the wall. USB 2.0 is the currently used specification in most devices and it tops out at 500 mA for supplying power. Of course, USB 3.0 is on the way, so I did a little digging into how it handles power. I thought I knew everything there was to know about USB 3.0 but I didn’t. Now I do and I like where this is heading in terms of recharging mobile devices.

There are a few factors that come into play here, so let’s start with “power loads.” USB 2.0 is restricted to five loads, while USB 3.0 ups that to six. OK, so that’s a 20 percent increase in how many loads a USB port can supply, but there’s more to it. Each load in USB 2.0 is 100mA of current. Simple math confirms the 500mA power supply for today’s USB interfaces — five loads at 100mA equals the 500mA that USB 2.0 can supply a device.

The specification for USB 3.0, however raises the not only the number of loads, but the current per load as well — 150mA, which is 50 percent more per load. Combining the six loads of USB 3.0 and its higher 150mA current per load nets you 900 mA for power supply with the new specification. Consequently, the current can be spread among multiple loads with USB 3.0, so more devices can be charged at the same time.

That 900mA for USB 3.0 is nearly equivalent to the wall charger my Nexus One came with and could theoretically charge the same device in half the time when connected to a computer. At least, that’s how I’m interpreting this data — aside from the faster data throughput, I expect to see my compatible mobile devices get more power in less time thanks to USB 3.0. I’m going to review the USB 3.0 specification to see if I’m off base, so don’t hesitate to chime in on this topic while I’m reading.

She may be out of work, but Paula Abdul still remembers how to have a good time. The ex-Idol judge and “Forever Your Girl” crooner was snapped partying with gay adult film director and noted Hollywood drag queen Chi Chi LaRue at RED Nightclub in West Hollywood last Saturday night.

Enoch Bolles was one of the earliest and most circulated pin-up artists. The Florida native worked exclusively as a cover artist and his body of work included Film Fun, Screen Romances, Stolen Sweets, Gay Book, Judge, Titter, Cupid’s Capers, Live Stories, Tattle Tales and Gay Parisienne. Bolles often did premier issues and his “Windy Girl” illustration for Zippo lighters is often reproduced. Check out this Enoch Bolles blog for more information on the man and his works.

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