2
There was a better appreciation on Nova.
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A better use of great wealth than many.
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The situation is called a depression.
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Opinion
Who Will Mind the Drones?
Let us not run an open assassination program.
Some things are not for publication if they happen at all.
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North Korean Video Shows Obama in Flames
A new North Korean propaganda video shows President Obama and United States troops in flames.
10
U.S.
This Charleston Harbor Battle Is Over Cruise Ships
A genteel South Carolina city is debating the benefits and disruptions of building a newer cruise ship terminal.
11
Business Day
Nickelodeon Hopes Its App Wins Hearts
Nickelodeon designed its first app as a noisy, colorful smorgasbord of animated clips, music videos and games. But there’s very little actual television.
12
World
As Indian Parliament Session Opens, Much Work to Be Done
India's recent economic slowdown has been attributed, in part, to lawmakers inability to pass legislation.
13
U.S.
Obama’s Forecast on Cuts Is Dire, but Timing Is Disputed
President Obama painted a picture of immediate devastation from across-the-board spending cuts set to take effect March 1, but other officials anticipate more gradual reductions.
15
Business Day
Budget Cuts Seen as Risk to Growth of U.S. Economy
The cuts could reduce growth by about one-half of a percentage point in 2013, according to a range of government and private forecasters.Alan Simpson and Bernie Madoff
As I’ve written on previous occasions,
the Bernie Madoff phenomenon helped me understand a lot about the
persistence of bad economics. Madoff flourished through “affinity
fraud”; his investors thought he was their kind of guy, so they didn’t
look hard at how he was allegedly making money. And I realized that a
similar phenomenon explains the enduring popularity of goldbugs and
fiscal doomsayers — including, say, the Wall Street Journal editorial
page — despite years of being wrong about everything; their devotees,
who consist in large part of cranky old white men, see kindred spirits
and can’t see past that to the consistently terrible analysis.
But it’s not just the goldbugs who benefit from affinity fraud, a point driven home by Ezra Klein’s piece on Alan Simpson. Simpson is, demonstrably, grossly ignorant on precisely the subjects on which he is treated as a guru, not understanding the finances of Social Security, the truth about life expectancy, and much more. He is also a reliably terrible forecaster, having predicted an imminent fiscal crisis — within two years — um, two years ago. Yet he remains not only respectable among the Beltway crowd; as Ezra says, he’s lionized in a way that looks from the outside like a clear violation of journalistic norms:
And think about what it says about them that their kind of guy is this cantankerous, potty-mouthed individual, who evidently feels not a bit of empathy for those less fortunate."
But it’s not just the goldbugs who benefit from affinity fraud, a point driven home by Ezra Klein’s piece on Alan Simpson. Simpson is, demonstrably, grossly ignorant on precisely the subjects on which he is treated as a guru, not understanding the finances of Social Security, the truth about life expectancy, and much more. He is also a reliably terrible forecaster, having predicted an imminent fiscal crisis — within two years — um, two years ago. Yet he remains not only respectable among the Beltway crowd; as Ezra says, he’s lionized in a way that looks from the outside like a clear violation of journalistic norms:
For reasons I’ve never quite understood, the rules of reportorial neutrality don’t apply when it comes to the deficit. On this one issue, reporters are permitted to openly cheer a particular set of highly controversial policy solutions. At Tuesday’s Playbook breakfast, for instance, Mike Allen, as a straightforward and fair a reporter as you’ll find, asked Simpson and Bowles whether they believed Obama would do “the right thing” on entitlements — with “the right thing” clearly meaning “cut entitlements.”So what is it that makes Simpson the figure he is? Clearly, it’s an affinity thing: never mind his obvious lack of knowledge, his ludicrous track record, reporters trust and idolize Simpson because he’s their kind of guy.
And think about what it says about them that their kind of guy is this cantankerous, potty-mouthed individual, who evidently feels not a bit of empathy for those less fortunate."
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Business Day
European Parliament Approves Plan to Bolster Carbon Trading
A committee approved legislation to strengthen the sagging prices of permits by cutting supply. Had the vote gone the other way, an analyst said, the Emissions Trading System would have been “more or less dead.”
17
Health
Ask Well: Coaxing Parents to Take Better Care of Themselves
Starting a conversation in a caring and nonjudgmental way, leading by example and starting small and easy are among the recommendations experts have for encouraging others to move in a more healthful and positive direction.
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N.Y. / Region
Community, Returning to Life, Asks, ‘Where Is Everybody?’
Repairs are coming along, but some fear that Red Hook — a place of pioneers and craftspeople who were artisanal before the word went mainstream — has become less desirable because of the storm.
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Science
A Tablespoon of Progress for Rover
Fresh off drilling into a rock for the first time, the Mars rover Curiosity is preparing to dissect the pulverized rock to determine what it is made of.|
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