@20:40, 1/21/15

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1

World

China Aims to Abolish Goals for Arrests and Convictions

By CHRIS BUCKLEY | Jan 21st 2015

The Communist Party has demanded an end to secretive performance benchmarks for the police, prosecutors and courts, state-run news media said.

Crime and Criminals; Confessions 

Progress of a kind.

2

Business Day

Russia Presses Ahead With Plan for Gas Pipeline to Turkey

By STANLEY REED and SEBNEM ARSU | Jan 21st 2015

In the face of European Union opposition to the South Stream pipeline project, Gazprom is moving to an alternate route.

Natural Gas; International Trade and World Market 

Turkey would rather buy from Iraq.

3

World

Taliban Fissures in Afghanistan Are Seen as an Opening for ISIS

By TAIMOOR SHAH and JOSEPH GOLDSTEIN | Jan 21st 2015

The long absence of the movement’s reclusive leader, Mullah Muhammad Omar, appears to be driving discontent within the ranks of the Afghan Taliban.

I am not going to worry about it.

4

Technology

Take-Along Chargers That Pack Power

By ERIC A. TAUB | Jan 21st 2015

The right external accessory can double the battery life of your mobile device and offer an option when an electrical outlet isn’t available.

Smartphones; Batteries; Android (Operating System); iPhone; Tablet Computers 

I would rather put up at a motel.

Double As and a crank radio are plenty to lug.  

The idea is to stay out of trouble in the woods.

Late April is early for the Adirondacks.

5

Sports

Faithful Knicks Fans May Deserve a Medal. But a Refund?

By RICHARD SANDOMIR | Jan 21st 2015

A Knicks fan says the team should lower ticket prices or learn from Broadway, where theatergoers are compensated when major stars cannot appear.

Basketball; Prices (Fares, Fees and Rates) 

They see the game their team played. 

U Conn  won by 43 points.

6

N.Y. / Region

2 Yemeni Men Are Charged With Conspiring to Attack American Soldiers

By STEPHANIE CLIFFORD | Jan 20th 2015

Federal prosecutors in Brooklyn said that Saddiq Al-Abbadi ambushed American convoys in Iraq, and that Ali Alvi fought for the Taliban in Afghanistan where American forces were stationed.

Terrorism; Afghanistan War (2001-14); Iraq War (2003-11) 

Prosecutorrial overstretch. 

7

Technology

Google and Fidelity Put $1 Billion Into SpaceX

By QUENTIN HARDY and CONOR DOUGHERTY | Jan 20th 2015

Google and Fidelity have invested in the rocketry company founded by Elon Musk, in part to further Google’s goal of extending the Internet’s reach through satellites.

Private Spaceflight; Satellites; Computers and the Internet 

The boys want to play.

8

Opinion

Inequality in the Air We Breathe?

By CHARLES M. BLOW | Jan 21st 2015

It’s hard to imagine anyone, with a straight face, proposing to openly burn millions of pounds of explosives near, say, Manhattan or Seattle.

Income Inequality; Blacks; Hazardous and Toxic Substances; Waste Materials and Disposal; Poverty; Discrimination 

The M6 will be burned in open trays.

Any enclosure risks detonation.

The will be no residues from the process.

The military has no interest in poisoning gun crews.

The manufacturing process is messy.

The government of the southern states is famously racist and greedy. 

9

Food

Reinventing the Pig, and Causing Pain

Jan 19th 2015

Several experiments on pigs at the U.S. Meat Animal Research Center in Nebraska have caused injury, pain and premature death.

Pigs; Meat 

Cognitive dissonance. 

it is not the industry.

It is not vivisection.

The scientists are not Sadists.

I would rather the work was done competently once.

Then we can abandon the ideas and the processes.

10 

Opinion

After PTSD, More Trauma

By DAVID J. MORRIS | Jan 17th 2015

I was a veteran who needed therapy. What I got was another kind of battle.

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder; Therapy and Rehabilitation; Veterans 

We must learn to cure P.T.S.D.

Treatment without recovery is unacceptable.

11

World

Israeli Government Watchdog Investigates Military’s Conduct in Gaza War

By ISABEL KERSHNER | Jan 20th 2015

The announcement by the state comptroller was Israel’s latest effort to head off an International Criminal Court inquiry into its actions in the war last summer with Hamas.

Palestinians; Civilian Casualties; Defense and Military Forces 

The Palestinians deserve justice.  They do not get a state of their own.

12

Opinion

Smart Guns Save Lives. So Where Are They?

By NICHOLAS KRISTOF | Jan 17th 2015

We protect our cellphones with a PIN or a fingerprint, so why not do the same with firearms?

Gun Control 

A gun is emergency equipment.  It must be completely dependable.

Batteries are excluded by the requirement of dependability.

The use is the possessors responsibility. 

The gun must be securely locked away when it is not carried.

13

World

Charges and Clashing Interests Mar Selection of a Cabinet for Afghanistan

By ROD NORDLAND | Jan 20th 2015

Ethnic groups are fighting over representation, one candidate is wanted by Interpol, and one dropped out because he could not provide enough jobs to his would-be supporters.

Legislatures and Parliaments 

Afghanistan has a new government forming.

14

Opinion

Solitary-Confinement Limits

Jan 21st 2015

Jocelyn Ronda, a doctor caring for adolescents, writes that “the new policy in New York City should serve as a model for reform in juvenile justice systems in other states.”

Juvenile Delinquency; Teenagers and Adolescence; Solitary Confinement 

This will be a revolution in the court system.

The courts tend to believe in punishment.

15

Science

Extreme Migration: Geese Hug the Himalayas

By DOUGLAS QUENQUA | Jan 19th 2015

Scientists have discovered that bar-headed geese stay close to the terrain on their round trip, allowing them to avoid thin air.

Geese; Animal Migration; Birds 

Air flows over mountains and through passes.

I would look to the monsoon as the driver of the migration.

16

Real Estate

$1,050,000 Homes in Dallas, Oregon and Maine

By MIKE POWELL | Jan 21st 2015

This week’s properties include contemporaries in Dallas and Oregon and a farmhouse in Maine.

Real Estate and Housing (Residential) 

The market is depressed.  

We will have to discuss what is wanted.

17

Opinion

Your Annual Checkup

Jan 17th 2015

Doctors and patients debate an assertion that the yearly exam is “basically worthless.”

Preventive Medicine; Medicine and Health; Tests (Medical) 

Talk to your doctor.  Going through formal motions seems excessive.

18

false

A Long Haul to the Top of El Capitan

By ERIKA ALLEN | Jan 20th 2015

John Branch, a sports reporter, describes chronicling the 19-day climb of Tommy Caldwell and Kevin Jorgeson.

Hikes and Hiking; National Parks, Monuments and Seashores; Parks and Other Recreation Areas; Rock Climbing; Text Messaging 

Yes.  

I have no desire to duplicate the feat.

19

Business Day

Fallout Builds From Ruling on Insider Trading

By PETER J. HENNING | Jan 21st 2015

A court’s reversal of two insider trading convictions has been the equivalent of dropping a big rock into a calm lake as the waves spread to other cases, Peter J. Henning writes in the White Collar Watch column.

Insider Trading 

There is no final decision as yet.  They are confused and confuse me.

I do not have inside information.

20

The Upshot

Obama Says Family Leave Is an Economic Necessity, Not Just a Women’s Issue

By CLAIRE CAIN MILLER | Jan 21st 2015

The president said the government would provide $2.2 billion to reimburse states for paid family leave programs.

State of the Union Message (US); Paid Time Off; Family Leaves; Women and Girls; United States Economy; Labor and Jobs 

The question is where does the money come from?

It could be a government benefit.  It could be a corporate benefit.  it could be an insurance payment.

Two earners are a necessity in the present employment market.