NEW THINGS: @13:02, 8/20/13

U.S.

With Proposed Rail Expansion, Northwest Confronts Its Clean Image

By KIRK JOHNSON | Aug 20, 2013

Plans by the energy industry to move more coal and oil through the Pacific Northwest by rail are pulling at all the threads of the region’s green self-portrait.

Freight (Cargo); Coal; Oil (Petroleum) and Gasoline; Railroads; Water Pollution;

Ship through Oakland.

Science

Gulf Spill Sampling Questioned

By HENRY FOUNTAIN | Aug 20, 2013

Researchers found a higher level of contamination than federal agencies did in water, sediment and seafood samples taken in 2010 after the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig explosion in the Gulf of Mexico.

Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill (2010); Environment; Oil Spills; Offshore Drilling and Exploration;

Suspicion is a question and not a fact. Even conservative technique leads to errors.

Booming

Deciding on Immortal Indulgences for Mom

By JUDY BOLTON-FASMAN | Aug 20, 2013

With Mom in an assisted-living facility, I recently planned and prepaid her funeral, keeping in mind what she chose for my Dad’s 12 years earlier.

Funerals and Memorials; Death and Dying; Baby Boomers; Parenting;

Cremation for mother. Her choice. There is another slot with her parents. The stone is left to the occasion.

Business Day

The Future of the Charitable Deduction

By BRUCE BARTLETT | Aug 19, 2013

Tax credits rather than deductions might be a more equitable way to encourage charitable giving, but there’s little appetite for change, an economist writes.

Federal Taxes (US); Income Tax; Philanthropy; Tax Credits, Deductions and Exemptions;

The presumption is that charity is something the government would like done but cannot do.
The pretax deduction is good as it stands.
Closer examinations of charitable organizations is a good idea.

U.S.

As Worries Over the Power Grid Rise, a Drill Will Simulate a Knockout Blow

By MATTHEW L. WALD | Aug 17, 2013

A primary goal of the drill, scheduled for November, is to explore how governments would react as the loss of the grid cripples the supply chain for everyday necessities.

Electric Light and Power; Terrorism; Cyberattacks and Hackers; Power Outages and Blackouts;

With a big enough "hammer" anything can be broken.

This drill is about computer vulnerability.
The backup for computer control is manual operation with telephone communications.
There is no way to proof the Windows operating system.
Getting rid of it would be a good first step.
Quickly breaking up the grid and shedding load down to local generating capacity is an emergency measure that could be effective.
A full backup control system air gaped from the internet is a cheap measure.
A nuclear magnetic pulse will take down the power grid.
Effective fusing and load failure shut downs on generating capacity will help in getting the system back up in manual mode.
There is nothing so effective in dealing with emergency operation as a large and well drilled crew.
Sufficient staffing to do manual operation and repair simultaneously is a cost of operation.

World

Dozens Dead After Heavy Rains in China

By EDWARD WONG | Aug 20, 2013

At least 83 people have been killed in recent days in floods and landslides in three different parts of China, according to reports.

Floods; Rain; Landslides and Mudslides; Deaths (Fatalities);

Relatively minor.

Business Day

Designing a Profit-Sharing Plan

By PAUL DOWNS | Aug 20, 2013

How do we make sure we encourage all of the right things — and none of the wrong things?

Labor and Jobs; Productivity; Small Business; Working Hours;

Smarter than the average manager.
Bookmarked.

Opinion

The Core of 'Mind and Cosmos'

By THOMAS NAGEL | Aug 18, 2013

Why the theory of evolution, if it is to explain the existence of conscious life, must become more than just a physical theory.

Evolution (Biology); Philosophy; Science and Technology;

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Straw_man

"The straw man fallacy occurs in the following pattern of argument:

Person 1 has position X.
Person 2 disregards certain key points of X and instead presents the superficially similar position Y. The position Y is a distorted version of X and can be set up in several ways, including:
1. Presenting a misrepresentation of the opponent's position.
2. Quoting an opponent's words out of context—i.e., choosing quotations that misrepresent the opponent's actual intentions (see fallacy of quoting out of context).^[4]
3. Presenting someone who defends a position poorly as the defender, then refuting that person's arguments—thus giving the appearance that every upholder of that position (and thus the position itself) has been defeated.^[3]
4. Inventing a fictitious persona with actions or beliefs which are then criticized, implying that the person represents a group of whom the speaker is critical.
5. Oversimplifying an opponent's argument, then attacking this oversimplified version.
Person 2 attacks position Y, concluding that X is false/incorrect/flawed.

This reasoning is fallacious because attacking a distorted version of a position does not address the actual position. The ostensible argument that Person 2 makes has the form:

"Don't support X, because X has an unacceptable (or absurd or contradictory or terrible) consequence."

However, the actual form of the argument is:

"Don't support X, because Y has an unacceptable (or absurd or contradictory or terrible) consequence."

This argument doesn't make sense; it is a non sequitur. Person 2 relies on the audience not noticing this."

Opinion

Sunday Dialogue: Tumult in the Book World

Aug 18, 2013

Can traditional bookstores survive the digital marketplace?

Books and Literature; Book Trade and Publishing; Computers and the Internet; Prices (Fares, Fees and Rates); E-Books and Readers; Antitrust Laws and Competition Issues;

No mention of the public library.
When I was reading a paperback a day the specialist bookstore made sense.
I can no longer spare the attention that habit requires.
The buying service at my library has gotten ahead of me and I am happy to borrow enough to fill my paper reading time.

Style

As Preschool Looms, Potty-Training Season Ramps Up

By HOPE REEVES | Aug 19, 2013

Parents all over the country are fighting the good fight, ditching the diapers and pushing the potty, all in the name of compliance with that common mandate: no bladder control, no preschool.

Bathrooms and Toilets; Children and Childhood; Diapers; Education (Pre-School); Parenting;

Classes will start very soon if they have not kicked off already.

Business Day

Trash Into Gas, Efficiently? An Army Test May Tell

By PAUL TULLIS | Aug 18, 2013

The United States Army will be the first to test a system by Sierra Energy to turn waste — whether banana peels, used syringes, old iPods, even raw sewage — into fuel.

Alternative and Renewable Energy; Waste Materials and Disposal; Electric Light and Power; United States Defense and Military Forces; Recycling of Waste Materials;

"Everything old is new again."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blast_furnace_gas
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_gas
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basic_oxygen_steelmaking

Pure oxygen has a high energy price.

Blast furnaces are never surplus. At the end of their lives they are scrap.
Life is a few months long at most.

Opinion

Reducing Emissions

Aug 19, 2013

The BlueGreen Alliance says repairing and replacing pipelines will benefit the environment and American workers.

Greenhouse Gas Emissions; Pipelines; Methane;

Astroturf.
The end product is carbon dioxide from fossil carbon.

Business Day

Not Really Made in China (or the United States)

By NANCY FOLBRE | Aug 18, 2013

The value created by new patterns of international trade may go largely to companies rather than to consumers, an economist writes.

Economics (Theory and Philosophy); Factories and Manufacturing; International Trade and World Market;

The idea was and is to have the profits end in the hands of management.

Opinion

How Not to Stay on Top

By JOE NOCERA | Aug 20, 2013

In four short years, BlackBerry went from dominance to being an also-ran.

Blackberry (Handheld Device); Smartphones; Science and Technology; iPhone; Corporations;

BlackBerry is speculative.
I am not at all certain what the security situation is.
The iphone is an entertainment device and fashion accessory.

Business Day

Breaking Out of a Cramped Economic Policy Debate

By JARED BERNSTEIN | Aug 19, 2013

There are more and better choices to the challenges facing the United States than the polarized political dialogue would suggest, and other developed countries provide examples, an economist writes.

Antitrust Laws and Competition Issues; Gross Domestic Product; Labor and Jobs; Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (2010); United States Economy;

"The question is whether the interventions will promote fairness, opportunity, and growth. Too often, our political economy debate tries to preclude these choices in the defense of some pristine vision of unfettered markets. We’re told we have to choose between growth and equity, innovation or regulation, factory jobs or globalization, budget deficits or private investment. That’s all a ruse, and it has led to the cramped politics and limited policy debate in which we’re stuck today. We can and must choose a better path."

Opinion

This Accursed Month

By MASHA GESSEN | Aug 19, 2013

Some of Russia’s most traumatic events have occurred in August, each marking the beginning of a new, bleak era.

Accidents and Safety; Appointments and Executive Changes; Cold War Era; Coups D'Etat and Attempted Coups D'Etat; Defense and Military Forces; Demonstrations, Protests, and Riots; Political Prisoners; Ruble (Currency); Submarines and Submersibles;

Decent weather gets people outside.

Business Day

Chevrolet’s Cheap Minicar, the Spark, Is a Surprisingly Strong Seller

By JACLYN TROP | Aug 17, 2013

The four-door Spark, made in South Korea and sold in the United States since last year, starts at $12,170 and gets about 35 miles to the gallon.

Small Cars (Compact, Subcompact and Microcars); Automobiles; Fuel Efficiency;

G.M. is not talking to their customers.

Opinion

A Closer Look at the Technical and Behavioral Barriers to Action on Global Warming

By ANDREW C. REVKIN | Aug 19, 2013

A closer look at the technological and mental barriers to action on global warming.

Carbon Capture and Sequestration; Carbon Dioxide; Global Warming; Greenhouse Gas Emissions; Psychology and Psychologists;

Releasing fossil carbon to the atmosphere causes global warming.

Fashion & Style

A Pact to Make the Heart Grow Fonder?

By SUSAN CONLEY | Aug 18, 2013

Two 20-somethings try an experiment to refrain from sex for almost a year, and find out more about themselves than they had expected.

Love (Emotion); Abstinence (Sexual); Modern Love (Times Column);

"Endureth all things" . . . I have found it so.

Sports

Cemetery Left in Peace in City Remade by Olympics

By JOHN BRANCH | Aug 20, 2013

Russia’s ambitious vision for the 2014 Olympics is being built around the perimeter of a century-old cemetery.

Olympic Games (2014); Cemeteries;

Russian government is not famous for cultural sensitivity.

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@3:29

Opinion