@9:30, 12/7/12

.


There is good reason
To look for the music
In the words.

1

Opinion

Going Beyond Carbon Dioxide

By DURWOOD J. ZAELKE and VEERABHADRAN RAMANATHAN | Dec 7, 2012

A short-term strategy to slow global warming is to reduce emissions of other pollutants.

Greenhouse Gas Emissions; Carbon Dioxide; 

Here speaks the coal lobby.

None of these things are easily done.

Most of them are very dispersed sources.

Most of them would require basic changes in the technologies or the biology involved.

Carbon black is soot.  It is the result of incomplete combustion of hydrocarbons.  All randomly condensed carbon is black.

Most of the other atmospheric pollutants are photochemical results of hydrocarbons and air.

Live things in air and water are the desired result.

Live things emit hydrocarbons.

Nuclear power emits no carbon in operation.

It is scary.  

It is not a nuclear bomb.

More engineering will be required to make units that can operate safely.

We are good at engineering.

Politicians studiously avoid engineering.

2

World

Japanese Quake Stirs On-Air Alarm, but No Damage to Nuclear Plants Is Reported

By HIROKO TABUCHI | Dec 8, 2012

After a 7.3-magnitude earthquake hit near the same area affected by last year’s earthquake and tsunami, a television broadcaster urged people to “flee now to save your life!”

Earthquakes; Japan Earthquake and Tsunami (2011); Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (Japan); 

Faith works wonders on people.

It does nothing about things.

 

3

U.S.

Missouri: Request to Bolster Mississippi River Is Denied

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS | Dec 8, 2012

The Army Corps of Engineers has turned back requests by federal lawmakers and the barge industry to release more water from the Missouri River into the Mississippi.

Water; Drought; 

Back the Corps.  

They get things as right as they are allowed to get them.

The right answer is a political decision.

Congress and our president can change the Corps mission.

They have not done so.

4

U.S.

In Tax Fight, G.O.P. Seeking a Position to Fall Back On

By JONATHAN WEISMAN | Dec 5, 2012

With President Obama winning public support for higher tax rates on the rich, Congressional Republicans find themselves in a difficult political spot and are quietly beginning the search for a way out.

Income Tax; National Debt (US); United States Politics and Government; Federal Taxes (US); Social Security (US); Payroll Tax; 

Orthodoxy is brittle.

That is not a bad thing.

 

5

Business Day

Coating on Buffered Aspirin May Hide Its Heart-Protective Effects

By KATIE THOMAS | Dec 5, 2012

The coating, meant to protect the stomach, interfered with the way the drug entered the body, arguing against the notion that some people are “aspirin resistant,” a study found.

Aspirin; Tests (Medical); Heart; Stroke; Research; 

Aspirin allergy and sensitivity exist.

This is evidence that aspirin resistance does not exist.

This is the first I have heard of aspirin resistance.

Perhaps it is the last I will hear of it.

 

6

U.S.

Storm Sirens’ Last Wail

By KIRK JOHNSON | Dec 8, 2012

A decision to dismantle tsunami sirens on the Oregon coast has some residents concerned that the new warning system — texts and phone calls — will not reach everyone.

Tidal Waves and Tsunamis; Disasters and Emergencies; 

Realestate interests are very powerful.  

Siren warnings would decrease prices at closing.

 

7

N.Y. / Region

Quinn Backs Expansion of Campaign Spending

By MICHAEL M. GRYNBAUM | Dec 8, 2012

The City Council speaker, Christine C. Quinn, supports a bid to change the city’s campaign finance rules that the Campaign Finance Board says would create gaping loopholes in the city’s regulations.

Campaign Finance; Elections, Mayors; Organized Labor; 

Let them fight.  

It looks like we will get a better result that way.

8

Business Day

Starbucks Offers to Pay More British Tax Than Required

By ERIC PFANNER | Dec 7, 2012

In a concession, the American coffee chain said it would refrain from claiming certain deductions so that it pays some taxes regardless of whether it makes a profit.

Taxation; Tax Evasion; 

The Conservative party in Britain is determined to return to 1912.

Time travel is only fantasy.

American multinational banks behave like London banks in London

The American banks are bigger and are foreign. 

They can be blamed for the troubles caused by local economic policy.

Coffee in Britain is notoriously bad. 

Starbucks is founded on decent coffee.

Starbucks is foreign and big.  

They must be cheating.

9

Home & Garden

Trimming the Tree’s Genes

By MICHAEL TORTORELLO | Dec 6, 2012

Researchers are trying to develop a Christmas tree that will hold onto its needles from Thanksgiving to New Year’s — not a small thing in a $1 billion industry.

Christmas Trees; Trees and Shrubs; 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Twelve_Days_of_Christmas_%28song%29

No evergreen there.

Victoria&Albert are responsible for much of the modern Christmas

We have built an effigy of a tree for decades.  

Often of Holly.  It is a fire hazard and does not last much past New years day.

The season needs Saturnalia. 

10

Opinion

Race to the Bottom

Dec 6, 2012

States should invest in public services and education, not subsidize big business by giving them billions a year in tax breaks.

Labor and Jobs; Tax Credits, Deductions and Exemptions; Corporate Taxes;

All true.

It is much easier to try to buy a sure thing than to go into the venture capital business.  

The established players like free money.  So do con artists.

 

11

Opinion

Next Civil Rights Landmark

Dec 8, 2012

The battle over marriage equality finally lands on the Supreme Court’s docket.

Same-Sex Marriage, Civil Unions and Domestic Partnerships; Discrimination; Law and Legislation; 

They are considering.  From the past actions, that may not be a good thing. 

 

12

Business Day

Unused Pills Raise Issue of Disposal and Risks

By ANDREW POLLACK | Dec 7, 2012

The pharmaceutical industry is challenging a California law that stipulates it pay for the proper disposal of leftover pills that could otherwise pose a threat to the environment.

Drugs (Pharmaceuticals); Waste Materials and Disposal; 

This is not about the cost but about the power to regulate.

The power to regulate is real and necessary.  

The pharmaceutical houses loose this one.

13

Education

Strapped District Plans to Add Online Classes

By JESS BIDGOOD | Dec 8, 2012

Budget cuts have eliminated about 95 full-time teachers from the school district in Manchester, N.H., over the past year, swelling class sizes.

E-Learning; Education (K-12); Teachers and School Employees;

The property taxes are going up.

Education does not happen "on line".

Public education is basic to democracy.

No religious content is permitted.

  

14

World

Philippines: Typhoon Death Toll Rises Past 100

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS | Dec 5, 2012

At least 43 villagers and soldiers drowned in a southern town on Tuesday when torrents of water dumped by a powerful typhoon cascaded down a mountain.

Deaths (Fatalities); Typhoons; Hurricanes and Tropical Storms; 

As has been demonstrated in Breezy Point and The Rockaways as well as the Jersey Shore, cheap space is cheap for a reason.

 

15

Your Money

As the Year Draws to a Close, Deciding How to Slice Your Charitable Pie

By RON LIEBER | Dec 8, 2012

This time of year, when charitable giving becomes rushed and routine, might be the best time to review how you divide your donations.

Philanthropy; Personal Finances; Ethics (Personal); 

I have no idea how be publicly charitable.  Private charity I can deal with.

One cannot be charitable in anothers  name.

16

Business Day

Britons Are Warned Of Lingering Austerity

By JULIA WERDIGIER and STEPHEN CASTLE | Dec 6, 2012

George Osborne, the chancellor of the Exchequer, said in Parliament on Wednesday that it would take four years instead of three for Britain to start reducing its debt as a share of national income.

Economic Conditions and Trends; European Sovereign Debt Crisis (2010- ); Budgets and Budgeting; 

The population is deceived.

Britain will not, cannot, recover under any form of austerity.

Pain without instruction on pain relief does not educate.

Analgesia is not a cure.

 

17

Opinion

The True Meaning of Hanukkah

By HILARY LEILA KRIEGER | Dec 8, 2012

Hanukkah’s elevation as a widely celebrated holiday ignores and sanitizes its historical basis and real meaning.

Hanukkah; Jews and Judaism; Religion and Belief; 

Hanukkah is the celebration of the "New Oil", the olive harvest.

Maccabees and Pyrrhic victory leading to the Massada (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Masada)

were added during the diaspora.

18

Arts

Black and Jewish Music, Kentucky Cabinets, Magician Posters

By EVE M. KAHN | Dec 7, 2012

Sheet music by black and Jewish composers goes on display in Harlem; a museum buys an 18th-century Kentucky dresser; an auction features early-1900s posters promoting magicians.

Culture (Arts); Blacks; 

I can do all of the features of the cabinet except the age and the location.

I have no problem with the music but will miss the show.

Magic is fascinating.  I do not see it as a restaurant theme.  Publish a book.

I am not this kind of collector.  

I would rather do new work.

19

Business Day

More Than a Soft Drink, Coke Is an Array of Goods

By STUART ELLIOTT | Dec 7, 2012

Home Shopping Network is selling more than 275 Coca-Cola items on its cable channel, online, on mobile devices and through social media.

Soft Drinks; E-Commerce; Shopping and Retail; 

This is not a business model I have any interest in.

Experimental pieces should go into a gallery environment.

Produced pieces go to retail.

Established patterns are to be licensed to manufacturers. 

20

N.Y. / Region

Mona Ackerman, Advice Columnist, Dies at 66

By DANIEL E. SLOTNIK | Dec 6, 2012

Dr. Ackerman’s experience as a clinical psychologist informed a weekly advice column for The Huffington Post.

Psychology and Psychologists; Deaths (Obituaries);

Good advice: "“Don’t assume you understand or can make the pain go away,” she added. “What you can do is listen, respond and give back what is needed, even if that is silence.”"










































.