Thursday, September 12, 2013

Syrian outcome: An Emboldened Iran?

Netanyahu: Iran Is Watching How World Handles Syria

In a region where strength is almost all that matters, Obama might have just reduced American deterrence to an all-time low. And that greatly concerns Israelis, who, like Netanyahu, know that Iran will take America's new perceived weakness as a signal that it can move full steam ahead on its nuclear program.

Sunday, September 08, 2013

Powerlifter also lifts others' spirits

Faith Salie: Burned out on the "fry" - CBS News

Faith Salie: Burned out on the "fry" - CBS News (CBS News) Contributor Faith Salie speaks out:

America's young women are running out of oxygen.

Believe it or not, there's a scientific term for the way a Kardashian speaks, and it's "vocal fry."

It's a low, creaky vibration produced by a fluttering of the vocal cords.

Speech pathologists call it a "disorder" that verges on "vocal abuse." Call it a quirk, a trend, or an epidemic -- vocal fry is everywhere. A recent study of women in college found that two thirds of them use this glottalization (the full or partial closure of the glottis while articulating a sound).

Which explains why the fry is a sizzling topic in The New York Times, on morning TV, even NPR. When I was a tween in the early '80s, the "Valley Girl" was born.

She brought us "like" . . . and uptalk? There has been, like, a general cultural agreement that, like, that kind of speech leaves the user sounding air-heady? And unprofessional?

But vocal fry is unique, because researchers have found that women who talk this way are seen by their peers as "educated, urban-oriented, and upwardly mobile."

Some linguists even suggest that creaky young ladies are evolving our culture as linguistic innovators. While, metaphorically, I encourage every woman to find her voice, I'm dismayed at how low it can go.

I'm burned out on the fry. It sounds underwhelmed and disengaged. It's annoying to listen to a young woman who sounds world-weary, and exactly like her 14 best frieeeeeeeeeeends.

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