Bush, left, casts as his father former President George H.W. Bush watches as they fish near Kennebunk, Maine, Friday. You write the cutline.

Gold rallies to record

Tony . from Waterloo, Canada writes: Ok, I'll start off by saying I'm no economist, but I just don't get all this infatuation with gold and the so-called "gold standard"?! How exactly is it a "standard"?

People talk about the "intrinsic value" of gold, but really it has next to no "intrinsic value", or certainly a heck of a lot less than what we've arbitrarily determined it's value to be!

Put quite simply, gold is MUCH less useful then steel. There are a few useful properties to it, but when talking about real value of the metal there's little reason for it to be worth much more than copper. Yet while copper trades at $3/once, gold trades at over $800/once!

You want a currency that is TOTALLY out of whack with it's intrinsic value, it's tough to find a better example then gold! Posted 02/01/08 at 12:11 PM EST | Alert an Editor | Link to Comment .

Carty: It's time for Rodriguez to apologize and pay up

When the University of Michigan began looking for a new football coach in November, it's safe to say a man the general public ranks with coaching bad boy Nick Saban wouldn't have been high on its list.

Yet comparisons between the carpetbagging Alabama coach and new Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez have been pretty common on talk radio and the Internet over the past few days.

That's not to say Rodriguez doesn't deserve some grief.

Sheppard Industries Group to implement Lawson Software's Lawson M3 ...

Lawson Softwarehas signed a contract with Sheppard Industries Group.

The Sheppard Industries Group is a bicycle designer, contract manufacturer and owner and distributor of the popular Avanti brand, as well as distributor of the global specialised brand to the AvantiPlus retail bicycle store network consisting of over 80 stores throughout Australasia.

Under the deal, Sheppard Industries Group will deploy the Lawson M3 Enterprise Management System along with Lawson Business Intelligence suite and related maintenance and services. The contract was signed in Lawsons second quarter of fiscal 2008, ending 30 November 2007.

Based in Auckland, New Zealand, Sheppard Industries Group also sells and distributes casters and wheels across New Zealand for use in furniture, as well as in industrial and medical equipment such as hospital trolleys.

WALTHAMSTOW: Mystery cyclist thwarts mugger

A MUGGING victim is keen to contact a Good Samaritan who chased the thief on his bicycle.

January 2008

I am seriously cranked I am missing SNOWDEATHSTORM2008! in Spokane. I LOVE big snow, the bigger the better. I was 10/11 when Spokane's biggest SNOWDEATHSTORM hit in 1968/69 and have the fondest memories of missing weeks of school that winter and sledding every day with my buddies. It was glorious. A true winter wonderland. That was the winter the dress code for girls in the Central Valley School District requiring skirts and dresses was suspended to permit the gals to don pants due to the frigid cold and deep snow. The next year the school district tried to reinstate the code but the kids and parents told them to go to hell. After the Winter of Love, man, it wasn't groovy to be uptight about pants and jeans, man/The Unbearable Bobness of Being. More here.

Justice done at Celtic Park

It is difficult to recall the visitors creating a clear-cut chance."I thought we played really well and to make that number of chances was more than I could expect," said Celtic manager Gordon Strachan. "Artur Boruc could have been sitting with me."He was forced to reshuffle his side early when both Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink and Andreas Hinkel retired hurt. In the former's case it was because of a gaping head wound including a burst blood vessel received in an accidental clash with Kilmarnock centre-back Simon Ford's "head of steel", as his manager Jim Jefferies termed it. The Dutchman had five stitches inserted and was refused permission to return by the club doctor because of the worrying amount of blood he had lost. The German right-back came off with a thigh strain but had been suffering from the ubiquitous winter sickness virus.With Derek Riordan on for Hinkel, Paul Hartley showed his versatility by switching to right back from left midfield, while Chris Killen replaced Vennegoor of Hesselink up front.

Rush Gives Up?

I'm declaring Fallows-style victory (which is not necessarily the same thing as having won). ... 10:51 P.M

Maybe Jeff Jarvis is Right: I've resisted kicking Dell when it's down--I've been a relatively happy Dell customer for several years. But recently, as the viruses and spyware seemed to be winning, I've had problems with both my machines. So I phoned up Dell On Call, which offers software support that's not covered under warranty (i.e., it's support you have to pay for). The first person you get when you call the number is not an actual software technician, but rather the guy who signs you up for a plan. He quoted me a price of $239 for a year. I asked if that would include a third Dell machine if I bought one. He checked and said yes. He also--and this is the key--led me to believe the $239 would cover all my problems on those machines for the year.