Saturday, September 28, 2013

@10:09, 9/27/13

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1
Great Homes and Destinations

Czech Bureaucracy, Friend and Foe

The renovation of an apartment building in Prague's center required five permits but some say that is just the price of protecting the historic area.
Real Estate and Housing (Residential); Restoration and Renovation; 

I hope she gets her price.
 
2
 
Movies

Addicts With Cause to Fear Closeness

“Thanks for Sharing” centers on three mutually supportive men coping with sex addiction.
Movies; 

The film is soap opera.
The theme is an extremely poor fit.
 

U.S.

Florida Among States Undercutting Health Care Enrollment

In Florida, the governor and lawmakers have made it harder for residents to get the cheapest rates under the insurance exchange and to get help from specially trained counselors.
Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (2010); State Legislatures; Health Insurance and Managed Care;

"“They couldn’t beat Obamacare in Congress, where they’ve tried 41 times to repeal it, they couldn’t beat it in the Supreme Court, so they are trying death by a thousand cuts,” said Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz, a Florida Democrat and chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee."

4
Science

Why Are Lobsters Blue, and Why Does Cooking Turn Them Red?

The interactions between a protein and the red pigment astaxanthin account for the colors, experts say.
Lobsters; Color; Physics; 

The live colors help them survive.  The red is an accident.

The chemistry is fascinating but provides no explanation.
 
5
Health

Behavior Therapy Aids Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

Adding cognitive behavioral therapy may be more effective than an antipsychotic drug for treating obsessive-compulsive disorder, a new study found.
Antidepressants; Drugs (Pharmaceuticals); Mental Health and Disorders; Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder; Psychology and Psychologists; Therapy and Rehabilitation; 

"“It’s important to discontinue antipsychotics if there isn’t continued benefit after four weeks,” said the lead author, Dr. Helen Blair Simpson, a professor of psychiatry at Columbia. “O.C.D. patients who still have symptoms should first be offered the addition of C.B.T., and some will achieve minimal symptoms.
“There’s a hopeful message here,” she added. “There are good treatments.”"

"Gay" is not a variety of O.C.D.
It is not treatable with C.B.T.

6
U.S.

Obama Scorns G.O.P. ‘Blackmail’ on Health Law

Days before the law’s main elements take effect, President Obama mocked opponents for “crazy” arguments and accused them of trying to “blackmail a president” to stop the law.
Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (2010); Tea Party Movement; 

Krugman:
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Attack of the Killer Hipsters

Jonathan Chait has an excellent survey of the current state of the battle for health reform. Among other things, it drives home the extent to which — despite all the glitches likely in the first few months — this is now being fought on favorable terrain for the reformers.
Never mind the polls showing approval of Obamacare moving one way or the other; they are all being taken in an environment where people are amazingly ignorant about the law, with a large minority believing that it has been repealed. What matters is how the thing works — and that, in turn, depends crucially on sufficient numbers of young, currently uninsured people signing up for the exchanges. Advocates will try to get those people signed up; Republicans will try to convince them not to. So how are the two sides’ chances.
Well, let’s think about who we’re talking about: Young. Currently uninsured, which generally means not very affluent, and also tends to mean nonwhite more than average.
In other words, basically the opposite of the profile of Tea Party backers. Also, by the way, more or less the opposite of midterm voters.
Chait stresses the youth aspect:
Fortunately for Obama, this field of battle favors his side. To pass the law, he needed to win over skeptical senators. To defend it in court, he needed conservative jurists. But identifying and persuading young people is a battle Obama does not expect to lose to Republicans, and in place of the federal outreach funds, the administration is deploying a campaignlike array of weapons: microtargeting, including door-to-door outreach, and all forms of media. (A few weeks ago, Katy Perry tweeted out a link informing her 42 million followers that health care was available beginning October 1.)
Yep, when it comes to reaching hipsters, or young people in general — I know, Katy Perry — Dems have big advantages; all that coastal cultural elite hatred suddenly turns into a big disadvantage for the right.
But that’s not all: there are also channels of influence the party of Fox News simply cannot reach: Spanish-language radio and TV, black churches (which played a big role in 2012), and more.
I don’t know whether anyone thought this out in advance, but the battle of the exchanges is indeed being fought on remarkably favorable ground for the reformers. And I, for one, find the thought of conservatives humiliated by an army of tweeting hipsters remarkably cheering."
7
Science

Isolated Forests

Islands formed by the flooding of a reservoir in Thailand had a rapid drop in the number of resident mammal species.
Forests and Forestry; Environment; Biodiversity; Invasive Species; 

A certain area of sunlight is required for each animal.
 
8
World

Surgery for Spain’s King Fuels Debate on Monarchy

King Juan Carlos of Spain underwent hip surgery on Tuesday, his fifth operation in 18 months.
Surgery and Surgeons; Hips; 

The return of the Spanish Royal Family is the legacy of Francisco Franco.
 
9
Opinion

New York Legislators’ Secret Income

The state anticorruption commission must press for details about outside money sources that lawmakers have kept hidden for decades.
State Legislatures; Conflicts of Interest; Editorials; 

We should not say of the legislature "the best government money can buy".
 
10
World

At Every Corner, From Deaf Man to Danger, Hints of a Colorful Past

Caracas, the Venezuelan capital, is a traffic-choked, graffiti-smeared city where hints of its past character can still be read in the descriptive names of street corners.
Names, Geographical; Roads and Traffic; 

Without local knowledge one is lost.
 
11
U.S.

Don’t Help Injured Baby Raccoons? Alabama Edict Angers Those Who Love Them

The state conservation agency has told raccoon protectors in Alabama to stop rehabilitating the animals, a decision that has angered many.
Animals; Raccoons; Hunting and Trapping; 

Animals must not interfere with the right to profit.

I can understand hunting for food.  I can even see hunting for pest control.
I have little feeling for hunting for sport and trophies.
Fox hunting to hounds I would not ban and would not participate.
 
12
Sports

Cornell Men Punished for Hazing

Cornell canceled all fall competitions for its men’s lacrosse team for what the university described as “a team hazing incident.”
Lacrosse; College Athletics; Hazing; Colleges and Universities; 

A tradition we would be better without.
 
13
 
Sports

N.W.S.L.’s First Season From the Outside Looking In

U.S. international Yael Averbuch on watching the inaugural season of the National Women’s Soccer League.
Soccer; Americans Abroad; 

This is not something I have been conscious of.
 
14
Sports

Extended America’s Cup Leaves Some High, Dry and Homeless

With the America’s Cup’s spilling into a third week, crews, commentators, fans and journalists have scrambled to change flight itineraries and find hotel rooms after their planned stays expired.
America's Cup; Sailboats and Sailing; 

Oracle wins again.
 
15
Health

Robert McCabe Jr., a Kidney Donation Specialist, Dies at 88

After having a donor kidney flown to Moscow in 1979 when no domestic recipients were found, Dr. McCabe used the episode to improve the transplant donor system.
Kidneys; Transplants; Deaths (Obituaries); Organ Donation; 

Regulation can help.
 
16
Business Day

Quandary of Hidden Disabilities: Conceal or Reveal?

Announcing a condition like epilepsy may stigmatize an employee, but keeping it secret could mean being fired.
Disabilities; Labor and Jobs; Americans With Disabilities Act; 

I have no secret formula.
Self employment is the best I can do.
 
17
 
Business Day

Joseph E. Granville, Stock Market Predictor, Dies at 90

Mr. Granville was a famous market forecaster who made his own fortune in the less risky newsletter business.
Stocks and Bonds; Deaths (Obituaries); Newsletters; 

I know some of the dangers of stock picking.
I try to do value investing.
We are about to see a market panic.  
I don't know which of several causes will set it off.
It will not last long.

18
Opinion

Medicine's Search for Meaning

Doctors willing to heal themselves can help the medical profession recover from its own illness.
Doctors; Emotions; Empathy; Ethics (Institutional); Grief (Emotion); Hospitals; 

Law would be better for such course work.
 
19
Business Day

White House Warns Against Threats of Debt Default

The National Economic Council, advisers to the Obama administration, said in a report that Congressional tussles over raising the federal debt ceiling could harm the economy.
United States Economy; United States Politics and Government; Federal Budget (US); National Debt (US); 

I am not betting on default.
I am also not betting against default.
The G.O.P. is mad enough to put the nation in default.
 
20
Business Day

Ratings Shift

Last year, after struggling to win business, Standard & Poor’s changed its criteria for rating bonds backed by residential mortgages. Since the change, the company has generally given the most optimistic forecasts for the bonds of any rating agency. That has made S.& P. popular with the banks issuing the bonds.
Credit Ratings and Credit Rating Agencies; Mortgage-Backed Securities; 

http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2013/09/17/s-p-bond-deals-are-on-the-rise-since-it-relaxed-rating-criteria/

S&P wold rather be bankrupt later.

This is early warning of another housing bubble.

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