Saturday, May 31, 2014

@11:11, 5/30/14

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1
N.Y. / Region

Harold Baer Jr., Judge Whose Civil Liberties Rulings Drew Fire, Dies at 81

In 1996, Judge Baer ruled that $4 million worth of cocaine found in a car was inadmissible because the police search of the trunk had not been justified.
Courts and the Judiciary; Deaths (Obituaries); Civil Rights and Liberties 

Harold Baer tried to get the rules followed.
We will miss him on the bench.
 
2
Magazine

Life in the Valley of Death

In Srebrenica, the remains of those killed in the genocide keep turning up, unsettling the reconciliation between Muslims and Serbs.
War Crimes, Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity; Civilian Casualties; Funerals and Memorials; Muslims and Islam 

Faith kills.   Life is transitory.  We should not rush lives to their ends.

Time and events continue.
 
3
U.S.

Mayor of Chicago Seeks to Further Tighten Gun Laws

Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who has struggled to bring down violence in his city, wants gun sales to be videotaped to deter buyers from using false identification.
Gun Control; Law and Legislation; City Councils; Video Recordings, Downloads and Streaming 

The problem is bigger than he is.

A personal solution is the "Buy Back Program".
 
4
World

One Man, Two Wives and Many Accepted Forms of Violence in Pakistan

An uncle and two cousins were among those accused of beating to death a pregnant woman who married against her family’s wishes.
Honor Killings

I can see no way to justice in this situation.
It qualifies as tragedy.

5
World

Pakistan Killing Has a New Twist

The husband of a woman stoned to death this week was arrested in 2009 for killing his first wife, but the case against Muhammad Iqbal was dropped.
Murders and Attempted Murders 

Tragedy
 
6
Dining & Wine

Video: Asparagus Soup With Ricotta Crostini

Melissa Clark makes a light asparagus soup topped with tender asparagus tips, accompanied by toasted bread coated with creamy ricotta for dipping.
Asparagus 

I will make it for you if you wish.
 
7
N.Y. / Region

New Jersey Reaches Deal on Hurricane Sandy Aid

In a settlement, the state agreed to increase federal disaster payments to people displaced by Hurricane Sandy and make the aid more proportional to the amount of damage sustained.
Hurricane Sandy (2012); Federal Aid (US) 

Governor Chris Christie has been brought to bay.

8
Science

A Wisconsin Farm Fights Warming, With California’s Help

Pagel’s Ponderosa Dairy benefits from a California initiative that invests in projects to cut greenhouse gasses as part of the battle against climate change.
Greenhouse Gas Emissions; Global Warming; Cattle 

Cap and trade does not remove carbon from the atmosphere.
The carbon in the air now will bring a world disaster.
Anaerobic digestion does not remove any carbon.
Combustion converts methane to carbon dioxide.
Some diesel must be added to initiate the burn.
 
9
U.S.

Medicare to Now Cover Sex-Change Surgery

A government appeals board said the exclusion was no longer reasonable because the surgery is safe and effective and can no longer be considered experimental.
Medicare; Surgery and Surgeons; Transgender and Transsexual 

ok
 
10
U.S.

More Emergency Centers Are Gearing Up to Receive 911 Texts

Texas is at the forefront of a national initiative to modernize the call system to accommodate situations in which a voice call may be risky or impossible and to be more accessible to the deaf community.
Disasters and Emergencies; Text Messaging 

As an added feature I have no objection to texts.
Keep them away from the driver.
 
11
U.S.

New Mexico: Toxic Waste Removal Will Miss Deadline

Los Alamos National Laboratory will not be able to meet a deadline for getting toxic waste from decades of building nuclear bombs off its northern New Mexico campus before wildfire season peaks, the Department of Energy said Friday.
Hazardous and Toxic Substances; Nuclear Weapons 

This is a political problem.
It will require a political solution.
 
12
Business Day

Drug Saves Fertility for Women With Cancer

The new treatment would be a less invasive way to safeguard a woman’s chances of having babies than the current method.
Breast Cancer; Clinical Trials; Drugs (Pharmaceuticals); Pregnancy and Childbirth 

I hope this is of only general interest.
Civilization keeps learning.
 
13
Arts

Artifacts With a Life All Their Own

From a calling card left by John Wilkes Booth to a soccer jersey signed by Iraq’s national team, some objects at four different museum exhibitions in Washington bear the weight of history.
Art; Archives and Records 

Here we have the collectors rather than the creators view.
A relic can teach as much or more than an artifact if the object is to understand the process and only secondarily the culture the culture that created it.  The artifact preserves the presentation of the aesthetic.
 
14
U.S.

Colorado: Search Is Called Off for Three Missing in Landslide

The authorities on Tuesday called off the search for three ranchers who disappeared after a huge landslide in a remote part of western Colorado.
Landslides and Mudslides; Missing Persons 

I have nothing to add.
I expect the area burned last year and got rain recently.

1
U.S.

Robert Sallee, Survivor of Smoke Jumpers, Is Dead at 82

Mr. Sallee was one of three parachutists to escape a blaze in Montana’s Mann Gulch that killed 12 colleagues and changed Forest Service practices.
Wildfires; Deaths (Obituaries); Forests and Forestry; Fires and Firefighters 

"After decades of relative silence, however, Mr. Sallee cooperated with the writer Norman Maclean, best known as the author of “A River Runs Through It,” whose posthumously published 1992 book (he died in 1990) about the Mann Gulch fire and its legacy, “Young Men and Fire,” won a National Book Critics Circle Award for general nonfiction."

I read the book with interest.

http://www.weather.gov/

The 125th Anniversary of the Great Johnstown, PA Flood of 1889

On May 31, 1889, the Great Johnstown Flood of 1889 occurred. Heavy rain lead to the failure of the dam and 20 million tons of water raced down the Little Conemaugh River towards Johnstown. A total of 2,209 people died and 750 are still unaccounted for. Johnstown, PA is also the site of two other major floods: March 1931 and July 1977.
Read More...

 
http://www.srh.noaa.gov/ridge2/fire/
 
Funny River Fire:
http://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/3878/
Looks hopeful.
 
15
Opinion

Template for the South China Sea

An accord between Indonesia and the Philippines suggests a path to peace.

China is still the problem.
China continues to press a maximal claim.

16
U.S.

Florida Court Overturns Murder Conviction of F.B.I. Agent

The court ruled that the judge in the trial of John J. Connolly Jr., who had been convicted in a 1982 killing, had allowed the prosecutors to improperly enhance the charge.
Murders and Attempted Murders; Prisons and Prisoners; Sentences (Criminal); Statutes of Limitations; Firearms; Organized Crime; Decisions and Verdicts 

Connolly may yet die in prison.
Whitey Bolger is unforgivable.
 
17
N.Y. / Region

State Audit Faults Spending Reports by a Manhattan School

A state audit of the Churchill School and Center, a taxpayer-supported Manhattan school for special education students, said the school rang up more than $3 million in improper expenses.
Special Education; Private and Sectarian Schools; Education (K-12); Frauds and Swindling 

I expect Thomas P. DiNapoli got his arithmetic right.
 
18
Sports

In Southern Wisconsin, a Winner Takes All

Wisconsin-Whitewater did something no university in N.C.A.A. history had ever accomplished: win national championships in football, men’s basketball and baseball in one school year.
College Athletics; Baseball (College); Basketball (College); Football (College)

Why not?
19
Business Day

Italy Seeks $1.6 Billion in Damages From Roche and Novartis

The government says the national health service suffered losses from the drug companies’ efforts to restrict competition in ophthalmic drugs.
Antitrust Laws and Competition Issues; Drugs (Pharmaceuticals) 

This should be a hard thing to prove and may not be unlawful.
I wish Italy and France the best of luck.
 
20
World

Abbas Seeks a New Government That Would Seal Alliance With Hamas

The move could send Israeli-Palestinian relations into a tailspin and would disrupt any prospect of a resumption of American-brokered peace talks.
Palestinians 

The U.S. has no leverage in this matter.  That war will continue.
 

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