Thursday, December 29, 2016

@10:30, 12/29/16

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1
N.Y. / Region

Trump Tower False Alarm Causes Real Evacuation, and Headache

An unattended backpack found in the president-elect’s building brought holiday rush-hour traffic to a halt for miles. It held only toys.

Good security for the living is impossible.
The living are dangers to themselves.

2
Technology

Daily Report: A New Approach to Clean Technology

Lygos, based in Berkeley, Calif., is looking to revitalize the clean chemical industry by focusing on small but steady successes.

One of many.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commercial_classification_of_chemicals
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chemical_substance#Naming_and_indexing
"As of May 2011, about sixty million chemical compounds are known."

3
N.Y. / Region

20 Nickels Exactly at the Automat

The cashier at a coin-operated dining emporium across from Grand Central Terminal was a magician when it came to making change.

"Practice makes perfect."

Learning must have been demanding.

4
N.Y. / Region

How Cuomo’s Signature Economic Growth Project Fell Apart in Utica

A plan to create 1,000 jobs in an economically depressed area upstate collapsed after months of delays, poor oversight and a graft scandal.

Stealing is easy.   Building is hard.

5
N.Y. / Region

Fentanyl Outpaces Heroin as the Deadliest Drug on Long Island

Counselors call the drug’s surge the “scariest thing” they have seen, while officials are calling for “intervention from all levels of government.”

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fentanyl

Taking the money out of the drug trade is the best fix I can think of.
Any attempt to prohibit drugs raises their cost.
The demand is independent of price.
Prohibition increases profits.
A few addicts will survive their addictions. 

6
U.S.

Online Petitions Take Citizen Participation to New Levels. But Do They Work?

Digital petitions have grown in popularity, providing activists a quicker and easier way to amass signatures and show support for a cause.

Yes, petitions can help.
I would rather hear my representative think on the petitioned subjects.
I could then have informed opinions about my representative and the subject.
The lack of direct democracy is intentional.
That lack is a good idea if representatives are people of "good will".

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Good_faith  

I suspect that good faith is lacking in politics.

7
World

As China’s Largest Freshwater Lake Shrinks, Solution Faces Criticism

A proposed sluice gate faces a chorus of opposition from scientists and environmental groups who say it could have disastrous effects on the lake’s fragile ecosystem.

China will build the dam and regret it.      
 A canal from the Three Gorges Dam to the lake to maintain the established cycle of water levels would be a better idea.

8
U.S.

Chaos Strikes More Than a Dozen Malls, Disrupting Post-Christmas Shopping

Many of the disturbances, which included fights and false reports of gunfire, were caused by feuding teenagers, local authorities said.

The "Rent-a-Cops" must earn their salaries.

9
Business Day

Dentsu Chief to Resign Over Employee’s Suicide Stemming From Overwork

Tadashi Ishii, president and chief executive of the Japanese ad agency, apologized and took responsibility for the death, and for a culture of dangerously long work hours.

Industrial and military control problems are different.
Industries are chronic.  The military is intended to deal with intermittent emergencies.
Police are a strange combination of the two.
Industries should not have emergencies.
Emergencies should not be allowed to become chronic.
Preventing chronic emergencies is primary responsibility of  management.

10
Opinion

Workplace Deaths

The New York City Central Labor Council writes that “workplace fatalities are occurring at an alarming rate.”

Letting workers die on the job is the cheap solution for "fly by night" contractors.
The death benefit costs for uninsured  casual labor are trivial
even compared to those for safety equipment.

Disability is a big expense.


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