In a speech that began with his condemnation of three failed institutions (the financial sector, the political sector, and the media), he went on to claim full and appropriate credit for the achievements of his Baby Boomer generation while also calling for his own generation to stand aside now and let people under 35 run with the ball. The points he made were sober, grounded, and ultimately visionary and very optimistic.

Right afterward, he left for Macedonia to do some kind of good work there.

She says the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act violated constitutional standards when it denied federal benefits to same-sex spouses married under California law and barred domestic partners of state workers from long-term health coverage.

She also struck down another 1996 law limiting tax benefits for state employees with domestic partners.

Detroit, , whose 139 square miles contain 60 percent fewer residents than in 1950, will try to nudge them into a smaller living space by eliminating almost half its streetlights.

As it is, 40 percent of the 88,000 streetlights are broken and the city, whose finances are to be overseen by an appointed board, can't afford to fix them. Mayor Dave Bing's plan would create an authority to borrow $160 million to upgrade and reduce the number of streetlights to 46,000. Maintenance would be contracted out, saving the city $10 million a year.

Other U.S. cities have gone partially dark to save money, among them Colorado Springs; Santa Rosa, California; and Rockford, Illinois. Detroit's plan goes further: It would leave sparsely populated swaths unlit in a community of 713,000 that covers more area than Boston, Buffalo and San Francisco combined. Vacant property and parks account for 37 square miles (96 square kilometers), according to city planners.

"You have to identify those neighborhoods where you want to concentrate your population," said Chris Brown, Detroit's chief operating officer. "We're not going to light distressed areas like we light other areas."

"Men are generally more dominant and garrulous in social settings than women. However, a new study finds that this pattern can change depending on the racial composition of the group"

"In the all-white juries, the typical gender disparity persisted, with men talking more and being seen as more persuasive than women. In the diverse juries, though, women did more talking and were seen as being just as persuasive."

Because several of the functions will go late into the evenings, my wife and I reserved a hotel room there for the duration, on the 30th floor overlooking the beach and Diamond Head. It's the first time we've actually stayed in Waikiki since we lived there back when we first got married, before we moved to our present locale in east Honolulu. The girls get the house to themselves this weekend.