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@13:42  There is no list posted.

1

N.Y. / Region

Monserrate Gets 2 Years in Prison for Misusing City Funds

By COLIN MOYNIHAN | Dec 12, 2012

Hiram Monserrate, a former New York City councilman and state senator, pleaded guilty to misusing $100,000 meant for a nonprofit company.

Embezzlement; Frauds and Swindling; Prisons and Prisoners; 

The community is better without him.

It knows it and we know it.  

It would have been nice to keep the seat in the state senate.

2

N.Y. / Region

Attorney General Seeks to Force Disclosure of More Political Donors

By NICHOLAS CONFESSORE | Dec 12, 2012

The proposal by Eric T. Schneiderman takes aim at tax-exempt organizations that spend heavily on political advertising but have not been required to reveal their contributors.

Nonprofit Organizations; Political Advertising; 

This regulation is just window dressing.

Any politically active organization can receive donations from multiply anonymous other organizations. 

This rule only opens one layer of books.

The costs of being multiply blind are trivial compared to the funds transferred.

3

Real Estate

Health Centers Find Opportunity in Brownfields

By RONDA KAYSEN | Dec 12, 2012

Contaminated sites, often in poor neighborhoods, make good starting points for collaborative efforts with government, health care organizations have discovered.

Area Planning and Renewal; States (US); Real Estate (Commercial); 

Managers are very skilled at extracting money while looking good.

This is not a bad thing.  What is bad is this light weight for profit facility

gets to pat itself on the back while extracting maximum profit from a dead district.

I would suffer no pain building my studio on "brown field" space.

I do not want to sleep or eat there.  Growing food in such ground is probably not a good idea.

Towns need productive businesses that recycle money locally.

4

Opinion

Taking Aim at Michigan’s Middle Class

Dec 11, 2012

A Republican measure to damage unions that is expected to be approved by the State Legislature would reduce wages and benefits in a hub of the labor movement.

Organized Labor; Wages and Salaries; Editorials; 

I expect he will sign if he has not.  

This should be another Pyrrhic victory for the GOP.

 

5

Business Day

S.&P. Closes Near Level Set on Election Day

By REUTERS | Dec 12, 2012

Shares on Wall Street ended higher, led by the technology sector.

Stocks and Bonds; United States Politics and Government; Budgets and Budgeting; 

Yet another opportunity to go broke.

Any hope the Republicans have is false.

Year end window dressing is the only reason for a spike at this time.

 

6

World

Russia Announces Barriers on Imports of U.S. Meat

By ELLEN BARRY | Dec 9, 2012

The move was seen by some analysts as retaliation for American legislation punishing Russian officials linked to human rights violations.

Meat; International Trade and World Market; Regulation and Deregulation of Industry; United States Economy; 

Our Congress must learn to let the state department work.

The Russians are sensitive to slights and manipulations.

 

7

Opinion

When a Hurricane Strands Those in Need

Dec 11, 2012

Mayor Bloomberg must require the New York City Housing Authority to draft a workable emergency response plan for public housing that it did not have for Hurricane Sandy.

Hurricane Sandy (2012); Public and Subsidized Housing; Editorials; 

There are reasons cheap properties are cheap.   

Usually the reasons are risks.

Those risks should be included in the location and evacuation calculations.

If the elderly are threatened the administration will suffer.

"As I am now

 Soon you will be"

8

World

Documents Reveal New Details About Walmart’s Connection to Tazreen Factory Fire

By STEVEN GREENHOUSE | Dec 11, 2012

After a blaze that killed 112 workers in Bangladesh, Walmart said a single supplier had been operating there without authorization, but records suggest there were actually two.

Factories and Manufacturing; Fires and Firefighters; 

The real surprise is the distance Walmart has managed to maintain.

Not that great.  The tight causal link is not there yet.

 

9

Business Day

Embattled German Steel Maker Reports a Huge Loss

By JACK EWING | Dec 12, 2012

The German industrial giant suffered huge losses at the unit that operates steel plants in Brazil and Alabama and had to pay fines related to a price-fixing scandal.

Steel and Iron; Factories and Manufacturing; Steel and Iron; 

The details are unclear.  

Appearances are that units  of the company were hiding losses.

Other parts were buying business with kick backs.

The regulators whistled that down and the accountants found the losses.

All the bad news came at once.  Half the board is on the street.

Business as usual.

10

Business Day

With Flight Delays in China, a Rise in Air Rage

By KAZUNORI TAKADA | REUTERS | Dec 12, 2012

With a restricted amount of airspace, flights in China often have considerable delays. Congestion is expected to only worsen as Chinese incomes continue to rise and more people take to the skies.

Airports; Delays (Transportation); Airlines and Airplanes; 

Air travel in China is only a little less good than in NATO.

11

U.S.

Town Mourns a Mayor Who Had Staying Power

By MANNY FERNANDEZ | Dec 11, 2012

Richmond, Tex., seemed to fall still on Monday during the memorial service for Hilmar G. Moore, who was appointed mayor in 1949 and was elected 32 times.

Elections, Mayors; Deaths (Fatalities); 

Its good when it works.  Fixing things when it goes bad  is difficult.

 

12

World

Slow Gains in Justice for Afghan Women

By ALISSA J. RUBIN | Dec 12, 2012

Discrimination against women and an Afghan culture of family privacy are cited in the huge gap between the number of documented cases and the number investigated.

Women and Girls; Discrimination; 

The faithful do not learn.

 

13

U.S.

Delay Sought for Visa Cases That Involve Same-Sex Spouses

By JULIA PRESTON | Dec 11, 2012

Americans are seeking legal residency visas for their foreign-born spouses of the same sex want their immigration cases delayed until the Supreme Court issues a ruling on same-sex marriage next year.

Same-Sex Marriage, Civil Unions and Domestic Partnerships; Immigration and Emigration; Visas; 

A tactical action.

 

14

Education

Courting Merit Scholars Opens Door to Questions

By RICHARD PÉREZ-PEÑA | Dec 12, 2012

The University of Oklahoma enrolls more National Merit scholars than any other public university, leaving some to question the role of academic scholarships.

Colleges and Universities; Admissions Standards; 

I have no problem with a meritocratic elite.

Mensa has a place in the world.

Membership only gets one a place at the discussion table.  

Thinking hard gets one listened to.  

Getting the call right gets you listened to again.  

15

N.Y. / Region

Woman Is Killed Outside a Hospital

By MICHAEL SCHWIRTZ | Dec 12, 2012

A 31-year-old woman was fatally shot outside a Brooklyn hospital on Tuesday after briefly leaving the bedside of her sick daughter, the police said.

Murders and Attempted Murders; Hospitals; 

There is no information in this report.   No hint as to why.

There is a good deal that can be inferred from a look at the map.

And  the full descriptive name of the hospital.

It is a different neighborhood than the marina I visit.

That area is Russian and Orthodox Jewish.

The area is quite black these days. 

Teaching hospitals are located in poor areas because the poor have more interesting medical problems.

 

16

Movies

Carried Away on a Cinematic Tsunami

By MEKADO MURPHY | Dec 9, 2012

The director J. A. Bayona and the visual effects supervisor Félix Berges discuss how they created a convincing tsunami scene in “The Impossible.”

Movies; Tidal Waves and Tsunamis; 

People are used to seeing fluid dynamics.  Clouds, water, surf and fire.

We are familiar with how they look.  We may not know exactly how they are wrong but it looks like Max Headroom.

17

Science

A Scrapbook of Our Relationship With the Universe

By DANA JENNINGS | Dec 11, 2012

“Planetfall” is a delightful up-to-date album of our solar system using images from NASA and European Space Agency missions from 2000 to 2012.

Books and Literature; Photography; 

good idea.

18

Opinion

The 2,000-Year-Old Wonder Drug

By DAVID B. AGUS | Dec 12, 2012

An aspirin a day keeps the doctor away — which is why we should insist that people take one.

Aspirin; Preventive Medicine; Health Insurance and Managed Care;

19

Real Estate

Steven B. Tanger

By VIVIAN MARINO | Dec 12, 2012

Mr. Tanger is the head of Tanger Factory Outlet Centers, a real estate investment trust that has an interest in 43 outlet shopping centers in the United States and Canada.

Shopping Centers and Malls; Real Estate (Commercial); 

hope dashed?

20

N.Y. / Region

After a Partner’s Death, Still Focused on the Children

By JOHN OTIS | Dec 12, 2012

Three years after the unsolved murder of her children’s father, Simone McCray has made her peace with what happened, and is doing her best to fulfill his hopes for the children.

Philanthropy;

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