@19:40, 1/16/14

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1

Automobiles

A Tire That Evolves as It Wears

By ERIC TINGWALL | Jan 16th 2014

Michelin has developed a tire for wet roads with channels that grow wider and hidden rain grooves that emerge as the tire is used.

Tires; Automobiles; North American International Auto Show 

I have some guesses as to how to make such a tire.

How does not matter.

The presumption is a brain dead driver.

2

Automobiles

Chrysler to Recall Fire-Prone Jeeps to Add Trailer Hitches

By CHRISTOPHER JENSEN | Jan 10th 2014

Months after announcing a plan to recall Jeep S.U.V.’s, Chrysler said it would go ahead and install trailer hitches as a fix.

Automobiles; Automobile Safety Features and Defects; Recalls and Bans of Products 

The design will soon be gone.  

We will not buy Chrysler S.U.V. without checking the design. 

3

Technology

Listen to What Your Plants Have to Say

By GREGORY SCHMIDT | Jan 14th 2014

The Parrot Flower Power plant sensor can analyze the growing conditions of your plants and send you the results.

Gardens and Gardening; Flowers and Plants 

Stick a finger in the mix.

4

Business Day

Sluggish Economy Prompts Europe to Reconsider Its Climate Intentions

By STANLEY REED, STEPHEN CASTLE and MELISSA EDDY | Jan 16th 2014

European Union officials are having second thoughts about how aggressively to remake the Continent’s energy-producing sector.

Energy and Power; Alternative and Renewable Energy; Greenhouse Gas Emissions 

There is no enthusiasm for higher costs.

5

N.Y. / Region

Phones in Subway: On Elevated Lines, Hear the Future

By MATT FLEGENHEIMER | Jan 15th 2014

New York City subway officials hope to expand cellphone reception to all underground trains, but the practice has persisted for years on the city’s elevated lines.

Subways; Cellular Telephones 

A last shelter from constant contact is going.

There will be no easy excuse for having turned the damn thing off.

6

Business Day

Federal Contracts Plunge, Squeezing Private Companies

By DANIELLE IVORY | Jan 15th 2014

In the 2013 fiscal year, total federal contracts fell by $58 billion, or roughly 11 percent, the steepest decline in at least a decade.

Government Procurement; Federal Budget (US); Defense Contracts; Small Business 

This is what cutting spending means.

7

U.S.

Silver Thief Is Charged With Burglary, Again

By KIM SEVERSON | Jan 9th 2014

The police said the thief, Blane Nordahl, 51, might also be linked to more than a hundred burglaries throughout the South.

Robberies and Thefts; Antiques; Metals and Minerals; Silver 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blane_Nordahl

This man should not be on the streets.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silver

Silver price history in 1960–2011

Notice there is no inflation.  

The nominal price is tracking corrected price.

Time trend of silver production

http://www.bloomberg.com/markets/commodities/futures/

Precious and Industrial Metals

Commodity	Units	Price	Change	% Change	Contract	Time(ET)
COMEX Gold	USD/t oz.	1,242.70	+2.50	+0.20%	Feb 14	22:33:13
Gold Spot	USD/t oz.	1,243.23	+0.84	+0.07%	N/A	22:33:35
COMEX Silver	USD/t oz.	20.11	+0.06	+0.28%	Mar 14	22:33:33
COMEX Copper	USd/lb.	333.65	-0.60	-0.18%	Mar 14	22:32:55
Platinum Spot	USD/t oz.	1,436.63	+3.50	+0.26%	N/A	23:02:42

Expected inflation is also down.  Zero hedge should be having a fit.

 

8

World

Spanish Opera House to Lose Crumbling Facade by Star Architect

By RAPHAEL MINDER | Jan 12th 2014

The structural problems of Valencia’s opera house, which has been closed because of falling tiles, are the latest in the travails of Santiago Calatrava.

Opera; Building (Construction); Architecture; Buildings (Structures) 

The customers want drama.  Calatrava does drama.  

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santiago_Calatrava

I prefer Eduardo Torroja y Miret.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eduardo_Torroja

Antoni Gaudí was no slouch.  He used little steel.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antoni_Gaud%C3%AD

Frank Lloyd Wright kept stretching the art.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnson_Wax_Headquarters

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Johnsonwax600.jpg

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fallingwater




A house and a studio.  The house among gardens.  The studio with town services and easy communications.
 

9

World

Tiger Attacks Terrify Villagers Near Southern Hill Station

By RAKSHA KUMAR | Jan 14th 2014

Near Ooty, a popular tourist destination in Tamil Nadu, lives have been put on hold while hundreds of forest and police officers look for a tiger that has killed three people since Jan. 4.

Agriculture and Farming; Cameras; Forests and Forestry; Shutdowns (Institutional); Tigers; Travel and Vacations

Game must be scarce.
 

10

Opinion

A Week of Victories for Cold Weather and Al Qaeda

By SERGE SCHMEMANN | Jan 11th 2014

The first full week of the new year brought frigid weather, victories by Al Qaeda and a marathon apology from Chris Christie.

United States Defense and Military Forces; Iraq War (2003-11); Weather; Sunni Muslims; Floods; George Washington Bridge; Middle East and North Africa Unrest (2010- )

An interesting week to live but not much to talk about.

The cold should set the mangroves and the pine bark beetle back.
 

11

World

U.S. Considers Resuming Nonlethal Aid to Syrian Opposition

By MARK LANDLER | Jan 9th 2014

Officials insisted that no nonlethal supplies would be given directly to Syria’s Islamist groups, but questions remained over how to keep it from ending up in the wrong hands.

United States Defense and Military Forces; Middle East and North Africa Unrest (2010- ); Foreign Aid

Food to all.  There is no time to figure it out.
Do an armistice to bury the dead and remove the wounded.

 

12

Science

Fins to Feet

| Jan 13th 2014

New specimens of Tiktaalik, a transitional fish, show two pairs of fins that functioned like limbs.

Fish and Other Marine Life; Paleontology; Evolution (Biology)

I have no problem with evolution.  Two thousand million years is a long time.
http://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/dynamic/historical.html




According to the continental drift theory, the supercontinent Pangaea began to break up about 225-200 million years ago, eventually fragmenting into the continents as we know them today. 

 

13

World

Benghazi Attack Called Avoidable in Senate Report

By MARK MAZZETTI, ERIC SCHMITT and DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK | Jan 15th 2014

A stinging report by the Senate Intelligence Committee blames both American diplomats and spies for poor communication and lax security before the deadly 2012 episode in Libya.

Diplomatic Service, Embassies and Consulates

We could have run Libya as a colony.
The Italians tried it.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italian_Libya
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Territorial_growth_of_Libya_during_the_Italian_period.jpg

 

14

Arts

Tenement Museum to Expand Its Space and Programming in Nearby Building

By PATRICIA COHEN | Jan 15th 2014

Tenement Museum has announced a plan to expand its programming and space in new building a few doors down.

Holocaust and the Nazi Era; Museums; Restoration and Renovation; World War II (1939-45)

The area is now fashionable.
 

15

N.Y. / Region

Christie Faces Audit Over Use of Hurricane Relief Money

By MARC SANTORA | Jan 13th 2014

The Department of Housing and Urban Development will investigate whether Gov. Chris Christie’s administration improperly spent federal money meant to encourage tourism after Hurricane Sandy.

Federal Aid (US); Hurricane Sandy (2012)

Christie is a bully caught in the act.
 

16

U.S.

Michigan Considers Plan to Save Detroit Pensions and Prized Art

By MONICA DAVEY | Jan 16th 2014

An option for the state to provide $300 million over decades to spare the pensions of city retirees and save the city’s art collection from bankruptcy sale.

Bankruptcies

So the constitutional guarantee has some value.
The deeds of gift at the museum make the sale value of the collection small.
Most of the better work goes back to the donors estates.

17

Sports

UConn Women Halt Baylor’s Streak

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS | Jan 14th 2014

Connecticut defeated Baylor, ending the Lady Bears’ national-best, 69-game home winning streak Monday night.

Basketball (College)

OK.
 

18

Real Estate

A Major Renovation on the Doorstep of Queens

By TERRY PRISTIN | Jan 14th 2014

Hotels, apartment complexes and parks are being built in Queens Plaza, but few offices are under construction.

Real Estate and Housing (Residential); Building (Construction); Real Estate (Commercial); Parks and Other Recreation Areas; Hotels and Travel Lodgings

Dream on.
 

19

U.S.

Long-Running D.C. Show Faces a Major Plot Twist

By ASHLEY PARKER | Jan 15th 2014

The landlord and congressman who owns the house that inspired the series “Alpha House” is retiring, and the future of the arrangement is unknown.

Retirement; Web-Original Programming; United States Politics and Government

Tea leaf reading seems to be a lost art.
 

20

World

Nigeria to Release 167 Detainees

By REUTERS | Jan 10th 2014

Nigeria’s Ministry of Defense said President Goodluck Jonathan has ordered the release of 167 people who were arrested during a military campaign to end an Islamist insurgency in the northeast.

Defense and Military Forces; Detainees

It is a religious war.

Leave it alone.  If we join in we will be targets.

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