Arizona, the first state to adopt automated cameras to catch speeders on its highways in October 2008, has become the first to pull the plug, bowing to the wishes of a vocal band of conservative activists who complained that photo enforcement intruded on privacy and was mainly designed to raise money. The cameras, which included 76 units either mounted near the shoulder or operated from vans, were adept at snapping speeders as they whizzed past sensors, but getting offenders to pay after the tickets were mailed to them was another matter. Less than a third of the 1.2 million tickets issued were paid, and the state collected $78 million, far below the projected $120 million annual revenue.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/16/us/16camera.html?_r=1&scp=3&sq=arizona&st=cse

Stieg Larsson's legacy Interview by Abby Plesser
Knopf publisher and editor-in-chief Sonny Mehta, who introduced the works of Stieg Larsson to American readers, talks about the phenomenal success of the series.
How did you first hear about the Millennium trilogy?
I heard about the books at the Frankfurt Book Fair in 2007. At that time, they were already creating quite a stir in Europe. I bought American rights soon after returning to New York.
Were you involved with re-titling the books for an English-speaking audience? (The first book’s original title was Men Who Hate Women.)
The British editor, Christopher MacLehose, from whom we bought the books, and who commissioned the English translation, came up with the title. I wasn’t involved in that process, but I knew we wanted the American edition to use this title rather than Men Who Hate Women. There was some concern that the original title might, in English, sound like a self-help book. Also, the title The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo emphasizes the character of “the girl,” Salander, who in my opinion is one of the main strengths of the trilogy. Read entire interview at: http://www.bookpage.com/books-10013321-The-Girl-With-the-Dragon-Tattoo

The earliest known use of "in like Flynn" in print is in the December 1946 issue of American Speech. Penn State prof Ed Miller reported that students of his who had served in the army air force during World War II used the expression to mean, "'Everything is OK.' In other words, the pilot is having no more trouble than Errol Flynn has in his cinematic feats." An alternative interpretation comes from A Dictionary of Catch Phrases (Eric Partridge, 1986). Edward J. Flynn (1892-1953) was a New York City political boss who became a campaign manager for the Democratic party during FDR's presidency. Boss Flynn's "Democratic Party machine exercised absolute political control over the Bronx.... The candidates he backed were almost automatically 'in,' and he himself permanently so," Partridge comments. Now we have the beginnings of a theory. "In like Flynn" starts as rhyming slang in New York, helped along by the prominence of Boss Flynn. NYC draftees spread it among the troops nationwide with the start of World War II. The phrase gets a boost when the well-publicized travails of Errol Flynn in 1942 give it a double meaning. We have no evidence that "in like Flynn" was used anywhere prior to November 1942.
http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/1127/does-in-like-flynn-refer-to-errol-flynns-success-with-women

The French writer Guillaume Apollinaire coined the word "surrealism" based on a 1917 ballet. Jean Cocteau’s ballet "Parade" had stage designs by Pablo Picasso and music by Erik Satie. Apollinaire wrote that the performance revealed "a truth beyond the real, a kind of sur-realism." Following Apollinaire, another French writer, André Breton, wrote about the same artistic style. Breton is considered to be the founding father of the Surrealist movement and the one most responsible for its promotion. http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art58760.asp

Feedback to A.Word.A.Day with Anu Garg
From: Larry Israel Subject: Comments in Your Column
You wrote "That reminds me of books, manuals, and annual reports with a "blank" page bearing the text: "This page intentionally left blank." Years ago, because of nasty comments from nit-pickers, IBM changed to "The rest of this page intentionally left blank."
From: Barry Hurwitz Subject: Page left blank
I always got a laugh out of the "This page intentionally left blank", which appeared regularly in IBM hardware and software manuals. But I became thoroughly confused when I received a document with this statement on front cover: "This copy contains missing pages."
From: Mit (via Wordsmith Talk bulletin board) Subject: This is a blank topic
I'm not sure how long this has been the case, but when I did my exams at the end of high school, the back of the cover page of the exam booklet always said "This is a blank page."