17 Weeks

How your baby's growing:
Your baby's skeleton is changing from soft cartilage to bone, and the umbilical cord — his lifeline to the placenta — is growing stronger and thicker. Your baby weighs 5 ounces now (about as much as a turnip), and he's around 5 inches long from head to bottom. He can move her joints, and his sweat glands are starting to develop.

T.I. Sentenced to 1 Year and 1 Day

The self-proclaimed King of the South will rise again. In about 366 days' time.

As expected, T.I. was sentenced today to one year and one day in Georgia prison as part of his plea deal with prosecutors over a 2007 felony weapons charge.

"Today I would like to say thank-you to some, and apologize to all," the rapper said.

"Everything I learned was through trial and error. I've learned lessons in my life to put in my music so people won't make the same mistakes as I."

The 28-year-old rapper, whose real name is Clifford Harris Jr., is required to voluntarily turn himself into prison within the next 30 to 60 days, but is not expected do so before May 19.

Northern Georgia District Judge Charles Pannell Jr., who praised the artist for exceeding the expectations required from his plea deal, acknowledged that T.I. had commitments that prevented him from being jailed before the May date.

It's unclear where he will serve his time, though court officials acknowledged that he would be receiving credit for the 305 days he already spent in home detention.

"I think this has been a great experiment," Pannell told the rapper of his plea deal. "I hope this experience can lead to other experiments so others won't make the same mistake at all. I congratulate you."

The Grammy-winning hip-hop star, who donned a charcoal-grey suit and was accompanied by his family, manager and longtime partner Tameka "Tiny" Cottle at the morning hearing, brokered a deal last March.

The Paper Trail performer pleaded guilty to a federal weapons charge and agreed to complete 1,000 hours of community service prior to his sentencing, pay a $100,000 fine and complete an additional 500 hours of community service after getting sprung.

He originally faced up to 10 years behind bars.

The reformed rapper has made 262 public appearances as part of his community service agreement in addition to taking part in a pro-voting campaign, working with children and appearing in the MTV reality show Road to Redemption.

T.I. was arrested on Oct. 13, 2007, just hours before he was scheduled to headline the BET Hip-Hop Awards after cops busted him attempting to buy unregistered machine guns and silencers.

As for his sentence, being as it is (just) more than one year long, he will be eligible for early release, should his good behavior warrant it. Had his sentence been one year or less, he would have been required to serve the duration of the time behind bars.

I wish I had a blackberry.......

F-22A crash claims life of Edwards pilot

An Air Force F-22A crash today claimed the life of a USAF veteran and Lockheed Martin test pilot.

David Cooley, 49, of Palmdale, Calif., died when the F-22A he was piloting crashed northeast of Edwards AFB. Cooley worked as a test pilot with Lockheed Martin, and was employed at the 411th Flight Test Squadron, 412th Test Wing, on Edwards AFB. Cooley joined Lockheed Martin in 2003 and was a 21-year veteran of the U.S. Air Force. He worked at the F-22 Combined Test Force, where a team of Lockheed Martin and Air Force pilots conduct F-22 aircraft testing.

"This is a very difficult day for Edwards and those who knew and respected Dave as a warrior, test pilot and friend," said Maj Gen David Eichhorn, Air Force Flight Test Center commander. "Our thoughts and prayers are with Dave and his family as we struggle through, and do all we can to support them."

At approximately 10 a.m. this morning Edwards received word that the F-22A had gone down 35 miles northeast of the base. First responders transported Cooley from the crash scene to Victor Valley Community Hospital in Victorville, where he was pronounced dead.

A board of officers is investigating the accident through an Accident Investigation Board, whose findings will be released to the public upon completion.

Base officials stress that the accident site is remote and may contain hazardous materials released from the crash, and ask that individuals refrain from entering the area until the full investigation has been completed, and debris removed from the scene.

RIP Jane Goody

She won't get a state funeral, but in other respects, the March 22 death of Jade Goody, 27, proved that the British reality-TV star had come closer than any of her compatriots--certainly closer than any royal--to filling the gap in public life left by Princess Diana. The street outside Goody's house swiftly disappeared under a snowfall of bouquets and soft toys, the Prime Minister and the leader of the opposition issued solemn statements, and newspapers published commemorative editions. Goody's image could shift newsprint like no other celebrity since Diana.

There were eerie parallels in their narrative arcs: miserable childhoods; the unprepared plunge into the media glare; success and scandals; and premature death. Socially poles apart, the onetime dental nurse born to poverty and the onetime nursery-school assistant born to nobility were the most prominent avatars of a wide strand of English celebrity culture, defiantly anti-intellectual and unashamedly emotional. "I suppose [Goody] was a kind of Princess Di from the wrong side of the tracks," mused comedian Stephen Fry on Twitter.

That's quite a jump from her first rambunctious appearance, in 2002, as a housemate on the reality-TV show Big Brother. Goody endeared and appalled with her ignorance--she wondered who "Heinzstein" might be and thought Saddam Hussein was a boxer. Her return to the Big Brother house in 2007 nearly finished her career after she clashed with Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty amid accusations of racism.

Goody was working to redeem her reputation by appearing with Shetty on the show's Indian version when she received the diagnosis of the cervical cancer that was to kill her. She met her fate with her own kind of grace, hawking interviews and pictures of her near deathbed wedding both to build a legacy for her sons and to boost cancer awareness. In the end, all publicity was Goody publicity.