@20:15, 2/18/13

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1

Business

First Response Targets Spanish Language TV

By TANZINA VEGA | Feb 18, 2013

On Monday, the brand will, for the first time, advertise its pregnancy test and ovulation prediction kit to a Spanish-speaking audience on television networks that include Univision, Galavision, Telemundo and MTV Tres.

Advertising and Marketing; Birth Rates; Hispanic-Americans; Pregnancy and Childbirth; Spanish Language; 

Finding out is the first response.  

They may find that English is a preferred frame.

2

Business Day

Treasury Auctions Set for This Week

Feb 18, 2013

The following tax-exempt fixed-income issues are scheduled for pricing this week.

Government Bonds; Tax Credits, Deductions and Exemptions; Banking and Financial Institutions; States (US); 

I would buy bonds if I thought we are going to have a deflation of the dollar.

I will be very surprised if we have significant deflation soon.  We are having a modest inflation.  Bonds are a safe haven for money.  These investors are paying a small percentage for the safety.

3

Technology

Tech Predictions for 2013: It's All About Mobile

By CLAIRE CAIN MILLER | Feb 18, 2013

In a report about the state of digital business, comScore published some surprising tidbits about smartphone usage, the rivalry between Facebook and Google, and the most popular Web sites.

Android (Operating System); Computers and the Internet; E-Commerce; Mobile Applications; 

Mobile is at saturation.  It requires multitasking that is impossible.

It works on the train or the bus.  Possibly in a cab passenger seat.

It is a no in traffic.

4

Opinion

About Those Black Sites

Feb 18, 2013

Many countries are complicit in America’s brutal treatment of terror suspects.

Extraordinary Rendition; Classified Information and State Secrets; Human Rights and Human Rights Violations; Torture; 

There is no way to make these events go away.  There is no point in confessing.  We can try for a plea bargain.  Put the diplomats to work.

 

5

N.Y. / Region

Schools Ask: Gifted or Just Well-Prepared?

By JENNY ANDERSON | Feb 18, 2013

Admissions testing for gifted programs is a fraught process, where administrators seeking authentic measures of intelligence can barely keep ahead of test-prep companies.

Tests and Examinations; Private and Sectarian Schools; Admissions Standards; Intelligence and Intelligence Tests (IQ); Education (K-12); Tutors and Tutoring; 

Interview the child.  Ignore the test.  This need not be more than a one hour opinion by a perceptive person.

The children who make the cut can then be further ranked.

6

Magazine

Sudden-Onset Madness

By LISA SANDERS, M.D. | Feb 17, 2013

After a fall came the hallucinations.

Tests (Medical); Depression (Mental); Mental Health and Disorders; 

A good catch.  Not applicable here.  

7

World

Britain Says Equine Drug May Have Entered Food Chain

By DAN BILEFSKY and STEPHEN CASTLE | Feb 15, 2013

British officials said on Thursday that a banned substance commonly used in horses and potentially harmful to humans may have entered the food chain in small quantities.

Food Contamination and Poisoning; Horses; Meat; 

This is wonderfully distracting.

 

8

Technology

Facebook Says Hackers Breached Its Computers

By NICOLE PERLROTH and NICK BILTON | Feb 15, 2013

Facebook on Friday admitted that its servers had been hacked by sophisticated malware over the last month, but said no user data was compromised in the attacks.

Computer Malware; Computer Security; Cyberattacks and Hackers; Social Networking (Internet);

Leave it alone. 

Or visit it with a disposable system.

The hardware will not be affected.  The software can be replaced.

 

9

Opinion

To Practice Law, Apprentice First

By JOHN J. FARMER Jr. | Feb 18, 2013

New lawyers should have to do residencies, just as doctors do.

Legal Profession; Law Schools; Recession and Depression; Labor and Jobs; 

My understanding is that Law School is in place of apprenticeship.  The associate stage is supposed to be journeymen.

Keep thinking is the advice to all parties.

 

10

Opinion

The Second-Mortgage Shell Game

By ELIZABETH M. LYNCH | Feb 18, 2013

Banks have found a clever way to “forgive” mortgages — while still foreclosing on struggling homeowners.

Mortgages; Banking and Financial Institutions; Subprime Mortgage Crisis; Regulation and Deregulation of Industry; Real Estate and Housing (Residential); 

Second mortgages  often are simply abandoned when the primary loan is foreclosed.

Paying down the second on a defaulting property is a responsible tactic for the loan servicer.

11

World

South Korea Shows Military Muscle in Sparring With North

By CHOE SANG-HUN | Feb 15, 2013

South Korea on Thursday staged large military drills and disclosed a new cruise missile capable of hitting any target in North Korea.

Missiles and Missile Defense Systems; Nuclear Tests; International Relations; 

This may get to a "use it or loose it" situation.

Let the diplomats work.

 

12

N.Y. / Region

Momentum and Uncertainty in Connecticut Gun Debate

By PETER APPLEBOME | Feb 15, 2013

At a rally to expand state gun-control measures, advocates and lobbyists said they believed lawmakers wanted to pursue a bipartisan plan first and expand to more far-reaching legislation later.

Gun Control; Demonstrations, Protests, and Riots; Law and Legislation; School Shootings; Newtown, Conn, Shooting (2012); 

Connecticut does not want to act on gun control.

 

13

Business Day

PPR Foresees Another Solid Year as 2012 Profit Rises

By DAVID JOLLY | Feb 16, 2013

The company, whose brands include Gucci, Bottega Veneta and Balenciaga, said its profit increased 28 percent last year.

Luxury Goods; Company Reports; Luxury Goods; Consumer Behavior; 

The luxury market is doing well as are its customers.

14

U.S.

Clean Energy Faces Hurdles in Legislature

By KATE GALBRAITH | Feb 15, 2013

During his State of the Union address Tuesday, President Obama doubled down on his vision for renewable energy, but in Texas, the Legislature is less enthusiastic.

Alternative and Renewable Energy; State Legislatures; Law and Legislation; United States Economy; Regulation and Deregulation of Industry; 

The best legislature money can buy.

 

15

Business Day

Judge Accepts Transocean Guilty Plea in Gulf Oil Spill

By CLIFFORD KRAUSS | Feb 15, 2013

A federal judge in New Orleans approved Transocean’s guilty plea and $400 million in penalties for its role in the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil well blowout.

Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill (2010); Suits and Litigation; Fines (Penalties); Oil (Petroleum) and Gasoline; 

"Now the long legal process surrounding the 2010 accident will focus again on BP."

 

16

World

Israel’s Prisoner X Is Linked to Dubai Assassination in a New Report

By JODI RUDOREN | Feb 15, 2013

A report from Kuwait says Prisoner X, identified as an Australian-Israeli man, was involved in a 2010 assassination in Dubai and had provided “names and pictures” to the authorities there.

Espionage and Intelligence Services; Assassinations and Attempted Assassinations; Prisons and Prisoners; 

"Al Jarida, a liberal opposition newspaper, said that Mr. Zygier had provided the authorities in Dubai with “names and pictures and accurate details” in exchange for protection, but Israel kidnapped him from a hiding place and imprisoned him on charges of treason about a month after the Jan. 19, 2010, operation."

Enough.

 

17

World

Global Health Threat Seen in Overuse of Antibiotics on Chinese Pig Farms

By DIDI KIRSTEN TATLOW | Feb 17, 2013

The "unchecked" use of antibiotics in Chinese farms poses risks that "may spread worldwide through manure and fertilizer run-off," an article finds.

Agriculture and Farming; Antibiotics; Factory Farming; 

"In the language of science: “Antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) are emerging contaminants posing a potential worldwide human health risk,” the researchers wrote in an abstract."

Educate rewrite.

 

18

World

Nuclear Watchdog Says No Deal Reached With Iran

By ALAN COWELL | Feb 15, 2013

An International Atomic Energy Agency official said that inspectors had not been given access to a site that they suspect may have been used to test bomb triggers.

Uranium; Nuclear Weapons; 

Keep talking.

 

19

N.Y. / Region

At Mass, Texting With God

By NELIA I. CAMARGO | Feb 17, 2013

Metropolitan Diary: A parishioner spies a teenage boy who doesn't let Sunday Mass get in the way of his text messages.

Cellular Telephones; E-Mail; 

Another recruit for secular humanism.

 

20

N.Y. / Region

No Better Place to Schlep

By DOREEN BARTHOLOMEW | Feb 15, 2013

Metropolitan Diary: A young woman tells a stranger in the subway how excited she is to be back in New York after eight years.

MetroCard (NYC); Subways; Youth; 

Admission letter. (?)

Next problem.









































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