Texas school district encourages armed teachers for protection

HARROLD, Texas -- There's at least one school that welcome firearms to class.

It believes nothing makes a school safer than teachers who are armed,

The Harrold Independent School District is one building with 103 students. It's 20 minutes away from the nearest sheriff's station. Superintendent David Thweatt created what he calls a "guardian plan" after the attack at Virginia Tech.

"These people that go in and do these horrible acts, they're evil. But they're not that crazy -- they always know where they are going to get resistance," Thweatt said.

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Teachers and administrators here carry concealed handguns. They won't say how many faculty members are armed. They get extra training, but the district would not give us details.

Some people are horrified when he starts talking about putting guns in schools with children, but Thweatt said it's important to be safe.

"Sure, but it's a pretty horrific thing that happened the other day." Thweatt said. "And quite a few people are not horrified. Quite a few people we have in our district, since we have a high-transfer district, people bring their students to us for that protection."

Texas law allows concealed weapons in schools with a district's permission. Harrold was the first district to do it. A similar proposal was vetoed by Michigan's governor Tuesday.

Thweatt says allowing the firearms into the school will dissuade anyone who wants to hurt the kids.

"That's the bottom line," he said.

Since the shootings in Connecticut, Superintendent Thweatt has gotten calls from districts around the state and as far away as Missouri from school administrators asking whether they might be able to implement similar plans.

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Newtown Shooting: Bushmaster Under Fire

When the private investment firm Cerberus Capital Management announced Tuesday it would unload its interest in Bushmaster – the company that built the weapon used in last week's mass murder of 20 Connecticut first graders -- it marked the beginning of what experts say is likely to be a challenging period for the North Carolina-based weapons manufacturer.

"They are looking at a taint on their brand and looking at a marketplace that could change dramatically with respect to their weapon," said Chris Lehane, a crisis public relations expert who worked in the Clinton White House. "To me the fact that Cerberus is pulling out is a pretty significant defining moment."

For years, Bushmaster has been marketing itself to testosterone-fueled male customers, issuing "man cards" to customers who want to be "card carrying men." Now, Lehane and others said the company is facing the prospect of being branded the weapon of choice for mass killers. The Newtown, Connecticut shooting marked the fourth time a Bushmaster has been implicated in a mass shooting since 1999, including the Beltway sniper case that left 10 dead and three more wounded.

Cerberus announced Tuesday it wanted distance from Bushmaster, calling the murder of 20 first grade children at Sandy Hook Elementary School a "watershed event." The investment firm, which is chaired by former Vice President Dan Quayle, noted in its statement that Bushmaster may not be an investment consistent with the interests of its clients. Its investors include the pension plans of firemen, teachers, and policemen.

Rich Pedroncelli/AP Photo

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Lehane said the announcement could signal a shift in the way investors view companies that make military style weapons for a civilian market.

"It reminds me of the time when tobacco began to be associated with a negative light, or the divestiture movement surrounding companies in South Africa," he said. "Where financial markets believe they are going to pay a price."

In addition, a spokesman for Cerberus Group confirmed that the father of Stephen Feinberg, the founder of Cerberus Group, lives in Newtown.

Gun control groups have also lined up to criticize the weapons manufacturer, arguing that the company was selling civilian customers a weapon clearly designed for war.

"This thing is just a killing machine," said Josh Horwitz, executive director of the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence. "[I]t's a weapon that can easily shoot hundreds of … In fact it's very similar to the weapon that James Holmes used to shoot up the movie theater in Aurora."

The company has not responded to phone calls seeking comment, but gun enthusiasts say the weapon's menacing appearance can appeal to civilians looking for a means to secure their homes, and its ease of use can appeal to those looking for a weapon for target shooting.

"The [assault rifle] platform is the most popular in the country," said Frank Cornwall, a firearms instructor in Connecticut. "Civilians have always bought similar type arms to the military. And this is a very versatile platform. Quite a popular hunting and target shooting gun."

Phillip Stutts, a crisis management consultant who worked for President George W. Bush, said he has been surprised by the silence of the gun manufacturer.

"Bushmaster doesn't have to take responsibility for this tragedy, but they have a responsibility to respond to this tragedy," he said. "And they haven't. They have to get out in front of this. It needs to be corrected ASAP."

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Independent inquiry faults State Department in Benghazi attack

In the aftermath of Friday's Newtown school shooting, we've heard tales mostly horrifying and occasionally heroic, from surviving witnesses and mourning citizens alike, but this one lies somewhere in between, all the more unshakeable. One six-year-old Sandy Hook student played dead in her first-grade classroom, her family pastor said late Sunday, with the kind of quick thinking that ended up saving her life but now leaves her with the unshakeable memories of watching all her classmates being shot and killed. ...

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Squash: Nicol David in quest for 7th world title

GRAND CAYMAN, Cayman Islands: Nicol David has discovered that greater self-knowledge is helping her deal with the pressures as she tries to extend her all-time record of world titles to seven.

The already legendary Malaysian has made a flying start to her campaign here, but has had to take profound and very personal measures to help endure the stresses which only increase with time.

David carries the relentlessly heavy burden of flag-bearer for an emerging nation, is subjected to constant media demands and appearance requests, and now, in her 30th year, finds herself expected to fend off a growing bevy of younger rivals.

Hence the role of Frank Cabooter, a sports psychologist who works at the University of Amsterdam, specialising in burn-out and depression, has increased in importance for David.

"In the last two to three years he has given me a lot of insight into who I am and how I can look at understanding myself better - not just on a squash basis, but on a personal note," she confides.

"It means you have to admit to things you may not have seen or known. But at the same time if you can improve yourself if you can adjust. It's so fascinating (learning about) our mind and how it works.

"We go into what works for me, what goes through my mind, and how I manage it," adds David, who here has been feeding off the vibes of the music, the warm climate, and the friendly seaside atmosphere.

So far, she has dealt impressively with Omneya Abdel Kawy, the 2010 World Open finalist from Egypt, and Annie Au, the world number nine from Hong Kong, both in straight games and in about half an hour each.

But after more than six years unbroken as world number one, David knows her strengths and weaknesses are evolving. "As time goes on we all change, as we get older," she says.

"I'm trying to use that to my advantage. There are a lot of things to learn from. And a lot of things to understand about myself as a squash player and my own growth.

"All this changed me and kept me in tune (with my feelings)."

David has occasionally revealed signs of human frailty, but when it has happened she has tried to learn why it emerged, and worked to develop her capacity to deal with it.

A notable example was when she lost her British Open title three years ago with a hesitant quarter-final defeat to Ireland's Madeline Perry.

That is why another quarter-final match with Perry here Wednesday may offer an insight into the champion's mental growth and personal development.

David had a rest day on Tuesday in which to prepare. But her focus is unlikely to be on the quality of her opponent's skills, but the entwining of her own tactical concerns with her state of mind.

"It's always a good match with Madeline, but I know how important it is to focus more on my game and what I have to do," the record-breaking champion said. "I have to bring my game up - and make sure I bring it with me to the court."

- AFP/al

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Upgrading RAM? Save your old RAM and your packaging

Besides installing an SSD to replace a mechanical hard drive, RAM upgrades are one of the more significant and beneficial upgrades you can do for a PC system. When it comes to Apple's systems, however, RAM upgrades from Apple itself have been insanely expensive, so my recommendation has always been, unless the RAM is soldered to the motherboard (as it is with the
MacBook Air and Retina
MacBook Pro), to purchase only the base amount of RAM and then upgrade it yourself later on.

Such was the case with my most recent
Mac, a 17-inch 2011 MacBook Pro that I purchased with a mere 4GB of RAM to avoid the additional $200 Apple was asking for the upgrade to 8GB. (Apple has since adjusted its prices, though they are still quite high.) Instead, I opted to purchase a third-party 16GB Mushkin RAM upgrade for around $130, getting far more memory at less expense.

The RAM arrived and installed without a hitch, and passed Apple's Hardware Test suite and other RAM testing routines with flying colors. After performing such an upgrade, you are left with the older RAM modules that are essentially useless to the system. In some cases manufacturers offer a trade-in program for your old memory, or you may be tempted to sell the memory on eBay, give it away, or simply toss it. My recommendation is to at least keep your old RAM modules, but preferably also keep your new RAM's packaging and receipts.

Even though in most cases RAM upgrades that pass hardware testing will work just fine for the lifetime of the computer, there are occasions when a problem can be introduced that will escalate over time and result in complete system failure.

It started with a crash
After having the Mushkin RAM in my system for nine months, often using it to its full capacity, I ran into a single kernel panic a couple of weeks ago that, upon restarting, suggested a problem with some third-party kernel extensions for VirtualBox in the system. Since problems with kernel extensions are often the cause for such crashes, I uninstalled VirtualBox and removed these and other extensions that weren't in use. For awhile the problem seemed better, but a few days later the system took a downward spiral. While it would boot just fine, occasionally it would switch off and restart, or hang upon waking from sleep and require a forced reboot. These behaviors became more frequent, but still happened only a few times over the space of a week so were somewhat tolerable.

The final stage of the problem began when the system automatically restarted but then would not boot, and instead output three loud beeps (with corresponding flashes of the of the power LED) that repeated indefinitely. These signals are Apple's indicator that something is very wrong with the hardware of the system, the three beeps translating to bad RAM that cannot be used. Forcing the system to power off and back on resulted in it booting again; however, a little later it crashed again, this time remaining at the hardware failure tones. It was dead.

It felt like the system had just sipped from the wrong cup in "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade," and was withering before my eyes.

Granted, the three beeps indicated a problem with the RAM itself, but the most reliable way to test this is to install working RAM modules and see if the system boots without issue. Until that's determined, however, it's possible that a deeper problem could be at play. Of course not having Apple's "AppleCare" protection plan made the potential costs of this issue a cause for significant worry. Not only might the repairs be expensive, but Apple no longer makes my beloved 17-inch MacBook Pro system, should the issue be costly enough to require a new computer -- doubtful, but understandably that's one of the scenarios going through one's mind in a situation like this.

Repercussions and remedy
Luckily, instead of getting rid of the original RAM after the upgrade, I had stored it in a safe place, which ended up being the savior of the day. Replacing the Mushkin RAM with the original RAM resulted in a solid boot and a stable system that has been running fine ever since. The fix took minutes instead of hours waiting for local stores to open (and likely sell RAM at a premium), or to take the system to Apple. To me, option of getting back up and running was worth far more than the price of the trade-in. For this reason, I recommend that if you have upgraded your RAM, to keep your old modules as a backup just in case something goes awry.

Also, when you purchase new RAM it comes in molded plastic packaging. This is ideal for securely storing your old modules, ensuring they stay dust-free and are not subject to physical damage.

Finally, should you find yourself in this predicament, there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Most RAM manufacturers guarantee their products for life, which means that if it happens to you, you'll likely be able to arrange a replacement at minimal cost. You'll probably need your original proof of purchase for such an exchange, so print it out and store it with the old RAM so you have a one-stop fall-back-and-replacement package available.

---

Questions? Comments? Have a fix? Post them below or !
Be sure to check us out on Twitter and the CNET Mac forums.

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More details about Newtown school gunman emerge

NEWTOWN, Conn. -- Like a lot of people who interacted with Lanza, Dot Stansy said he was "just quiet"

Adam Lanza.

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AP Photo

"On one side, he did something unspeakable, but on the other, that's not how I remember him," Stansy said. "I remember him as the nice kid that, you know, I sat near to in class. We'd joked, he'd laugh, that kind of thing."

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"We were all hanging out outside of class afterwards one night, and he walked by and we were like, 'Hey, do you want to grab a drink with us?' And he said, 'No, I can't, I'm 17.'"

Lanza was also being home-schooled at the time.

He took seven college-level courses between the summers of 2008 and 2009, receiving several As in computer classes and also one in American history. His overall GPA was 3.26.

Dot Stasny remembers meeting Adam Lanza's mother.

"[She] introduced herself, said he was sick, asked where the classroom was, and when we walked in, she was getting his assignments from the teacher," Stansy said.

Nancy Lanza's friends, told CBS News' Scott Pelley on "60 Minutes" that she told them Adam had Asperger's syndrome and taking care of him was a full-time job.

Ryan Kraft

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CBS News

"I mean, I know he was on he was on medication and everything, but she home-schooled him at home cause he couldn't deal with the school classes sometimes," Louise said. "So she just home-schooled Adam at home. And that that was her life."

Ryan Kraft, who babysat for the Lanza's when Adam was just about 10 years old, got a glimpse of how difficult he could be.

"I received instructions from Nancy to always supervise Adam at all times and to never turn my back on him," Kraft said.

Adam Lanza's parent divorced in 2009. CBS News spoke to a mediator in that divorce, who said his parents seemed to love him and only wanted the best for him.

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Newtown Boy Remembered as 'Old Soul'

Dec 17, 2012 6:02pm

Family of Daniel Barden, who died in the Connecticut school shootings. From left, his brother James, 12, and his parents, Mark and Jackie. (Image Credit: ABC)

Though he was only in first grade, Daniel Barden was very much an “old soul,” his family said today.  He was one of the 20 children who died Friday at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn.

At the age of 4, he displayed an empathy for others remarkable for a child so young.  It didn’t go unnoticed — teachers chose Daniel to be paired with a special education student at his school.

PHOTOS: Connecticut Shooting Victims

His mother, Jackie Barden, said she was always struck by “how unusual he was.”

“Our neighbors always said, ‘He’s like an old soul,’” Barden said during an interview on “Katie.”

He carried that kindness with him as he got older.

“He would hold doors open for adults all the time,” said his father, Mark Barden.

He laughed, remembering the times he’d be “halfway” across a parking lot and see his son still holding a door for strangers.

“Our son had so much love to give to this world,” Barden said. “He was supposed to have a whole lifetime of bringing that light to the world.”

Complete Coverage: Sandy Hook Elementary School Shooting

Daniel had two older siblings, James, age 12, and Natalie, age 10, who doted on their little brother.

“He was just so sweet and kind and thoughtful,” James said.

On Friday, 7-year-old Daniel, who was one of the 20 young victims at Sandy Hook Elementary School, woke up early.  He played foosball with his mother.

As usual, Daniel won, she said. The score was 10 to 8.

His father also taught him how to play “Jingle Bells” on the piano that morning.

“We did a lot in that half hour,” he said.

A celebration of Daniel’s life will be held Tuesday at St. Rose of Lima Catholic Church. A funeral is scheduled for Wednesday.

SHOWS: Good Morning America

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Clinton gets accountability report on Benghazi attacks

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Monday received an official review of the September attack on a U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya, setting the stage for testimony on an incident that prompted a political furor and sharp questions about security at U.S. diplomatic facilities overseas.

The State Department said Clinton - who is convalescing after suffering a concussion last week - received the report from the Accountability Review Board formed to probe the attack which killed U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans.

"The ARB has completed its work. Its report has gone to the secretary this morning. She now has it," State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said.

The committee has been meeting in private and State Department officials have declined to discuss almost all specifics of the Benghazi attack pending its reports.

The findings are expected to cover questions on whether enough attention was given to potential threats and how Washington responded to security requests from U.S. diplomats in Libya.

A determination that top State Department officials turned down those requests, as Republican congressional investigators allege, could refuel criticism of the officials - and possibly even end the careers of some of them.

Clinton had been expected to testify to Congress on December 20 on the report's results, but is under doctors' orders to remain at home this week.

Deputy Secretary William Burns and Deputy Secretary Thomas Nides will testify in her stead at Thursday's open hearings of the Senate and House foreign affairs committees, Nuland said.

Prior to that, the Accountability Review Board's two leaders - retired Ambassador Thomas Pickering and retired chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff Michael Mullen - will testify in closed door hearings of the two committees on Wednesday, she said.

POLITICAL FALLOUT

The political uproar over the September 11 Benghazi attack has already claimed one victim.

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice, widely tipped as a front-runner to replace Clinton when she steps down as secretary of state early next year, last week withdrew her name from consideration, saying she wished to avoid a potentially disruptive Senate confirmation process.

Republican lawmakers had blasted Rice for televised comments she made in the aftermath of the attack in which she said preliminary information suggested the assault was the result of protests over an anti-Muslim video made in California rather than a premeditated strike.

Rice has said she was relying on talking points drawn up by U.S. intelligence officials.

Nuland said the final report could contain both classified and unclassified sections, and that only the latter would be made publicly available.

Central questions raised include why the ambassador was in such an unstable part of Libya on the anniversary of the September 11, 2001, attacks on New York and the Pentagon.

The five-person independent board usually includes retired ambassadors, a former CIA officer and a member of the private sector. It has the power to issue subpoenas, and members are required to have appropriate security clearances to review classified information.

Nuland said that Clinton - who intends to step down toward the end of January when President Barack Obama is sworn in for his second term - was "on the mend" following her concussion, which occurred when she fell as a result of dehydration due to a stomach virus.

She added that Clinton remained open to discussing the attack with lawmakers herself next month.

"She looks forward to continuing to engage with them in January and she will be open to whatever they consider appropriate in that regard," Nuland said. (Editing by Warren Strobel and Mohammad Zargham)

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Ghosts of presidents past haunt S.Korea vote

SEOUL: South Koreans choose a new leader on Wednesday in an election shadowed by the ghosts of two dead presidents -- the assassinated dictator Park Chung-Hee and the left-wing Roh Moo-Hyun, who took his own life.

The ballot is a face-off between Park's daughter, Park Geun-Hye of the ruling conservative party, and Roh's former chief of staff and close friend Moon Jae-In of the liberal opposition party.

The spectral presence of the two former presidents -- and the powerful emotions they still provoke -- means that the election will, in part, amount to a vote on the legacy of both men.

Park Chung-Hee is probably the most polarising figure in South Korea's history -- either admired for leading the country out of poverty or reviled for the iron-fisted way he did so during 18 years of tough military rule.

He was shot dead by his spy chief in 1979.

Roh, a former human rights lawyer, promised a new start when he came to power in 2003 but his administration ended chaotically five years later -- his party racked by scandal and infighting and his economic reforms shelved.

Fifteen months after leaving office, Roh committed suicide as a corruption investigation closed in on his family.

Moon and Park have fought the campaign over key issues such as economic reform, social welfare and job security. But in the public perception, they are both seen through the prism of their links to the former leaders.

"Park is the daughter of the symbol of Korean conservatism, while Moon is really the political alter ego of the symbol of Korean progressivism," said Hahm Chai-Bong, president of the Asan Institute for Policy Studies in Seoul.

The last opinion polls allowed before polling day suggested that the race for the presidential Blue House could be extremely close, with Moon having eroded the small but clear lead enjoyed by Park for most of the campaign.

Park has pushed herself as the leader capable of reviving a slowing economy, while Moon has vowed to tackle concerns over the country's growing wealth gap.

With the liberal camp squarely behind Moon and the conservatives united in supporting Park, the winner will be the candidate who can win over the undecideds -- many of them in their 40s -- who are concerned about both social equality and economic growth.

In order to woo that demographic, the two candidates have moved slightly to the centre and, in so doing, sought to place some distance between themselves and their ghostly shadows.

In Moon's case, this meant publicly acknowledging the failings of the Roh administration and, in particular, its mishandling of the economy.

Park's effort was far more dramatic.

In a strongly Confucian society that emphasises filial respect, she publicly acknowledged the excesses of her father's regime and apologised to families of its victims.

"Essentially what we saw was the daughter and figurative son of these leaders forced to recant for some of the wrongdoings of their biological and political parents," Hahm said.

Moon and Roh had shared a law practice together before the latter became president, and had focused on defending the rights of pro-democracy activists protesting against Park's military rule.

Moon himself was briefly jailed and used that experience to attack Park right from the outset of his campaign.

"While I was suffering from poverty, she was living like a princess in the Blue House," he told reporters back in June. "She was at the centre of dictatorship when I fought against dictatorship."

Park left the presidential palace after her father was assassinated and began her political career in 1998 as a lawmaker in her home town.

- AFP/ck

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SpongeBob disappears from app store after privacy criticism

SpongeBob Diner Dash was pulled from Apple's app store after a complaint was filed claiming it violated children's online privacy.

(Credit:
Nickelodeon)

Anyone wanting to download the SpongeBob Diner Dash game from Apple's
iTunes app store today is out of luck.

Nickelodeon has removed the app from the store after an advocacy group filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission alleging the game violated children's online privacy rights by collecting their e-mail addresses without parents' permission.

According to the Center for Digital Democracy, which filed the complaint earlier today, cable network Nickelodeon and mobile game-maker PlayFirst are misleadingly marketing the game and are violating the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA).

SpongeBob Diner Dash is a free app marketed to children, in which popular cartoon character SpongeBob SquarePants must "seat, serve and satisfy even the squirmiest of patrons" and cater to the greedy Mr. Krabs.

Apparently, the game is collecting users' e-mail addresses with promises of sending them a future newsletter. It does not ask for a home address or phone number. According to the New York Times, the app description said it gathered "personal user data as well as nonpersonal user data" and "user data collection is in accordance with applicable law, such as COPPA."

However, the Center for Digital Democracy says that the app does not provide "notice to parents or obtain prior parental consent, as required by the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act." Technically, COPPA only applies to children under 13 years old, so many app makers get around this issue by saying they're targeting older children.

The Center for Digital Democracy's complaint comes on the heels of a FTC report on mobile apps for children that was published last week. The report states that there is "little or no" privacy information available to parents from app vendors or in the
Android Google Play and Apple iOS app stores. It also found that "only 20 percent of the apps staff reviewed disclosed any information about the app's privacy practices."

The complaint filed by the Center for Digital Democracy with the FTC will probably not have any legal affect since the FTC does not have processes to file lawsuits. Instead, the complaint acts as letter that is urging the commission to investigate the privacy practices of the SpongeBob Diner Dash game.

"The FTC [needs to] take action to ensure that all companies targeting mobile apps to kids are complying with the law," attorney Laura Moy at Georgetown Law's Institute for Public Representation, which prepared the complaint on behalf of the Center for Digital Democracy, said in a statement.

This isn't the first complaint regarding a children's game that the advocacy group has lodged with the FTC. Last week, the game Mobbles was pulled from both the Apple App and
Google Android Play stores after the Center for Digital Democracy filed a similar complaint with the FTC. According to the advocacy group, the geolocation game in which children collect and care for virtual pets, also collected e-mail addresses without parental consent.

CNET contacted Nickelodeon for comment. We'll update the story when we get more information.

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