@11:57, 6/16/14

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1

U.S.

Court Rulings on Voter Restrictions Create Limbo as Midterms Near

By LIZETTE ALVAREZ | Jun 16th 2014

The court decisions have gone both ways, but several have provided a new round of judicial rebukes to the wave of voting restrictions.

Voter Registration and Requirements; Suits and Litigation (Civil); Identification Devices; Minorities; Discrimination 

The attempted G.O.P. coup continues. 

 

2

U.S.

V.A. Punished Critics on Staff, Doctors Assert

By ERIC LICHTBLAU | Jun 15th 2014

In response to employee whistle-blowers, the Department of Veterans Affairs has made clear over the years that it would not hesitate to retaliate, disciplining and even firing those who spoke up.

Ethics and Official Misconduct; Whistle-Blowers; Doctors; Frauds and Swindling; United States Defense and Military Forces; Veterans; Hospitals; Falsification of Data 

The VA requires a complaint / reporting system that does not run back through the line of command. 

The military needs the same kind of system as we have learned since women have been allowed to serve.

3

World

China, Trying to Bolster Its Claims, Plants Islands in Disputed Waters

By EDWARD WONG and JONATHAN ANSFIELD | Jun 16th 2014

China is moving sand onto reefs and shoals to add new islands to the contested Spratly archipelago, alarming Vietnam, the Philippines and other Southeast Asian nations that claim sovereignty over it.

Reefs; Building (Construction) 

Adverse possession has not worked in international law since the second world war.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adverse_possession

The same problem applies to the West Bank.

Making the Chinese let go is a problem.  

We are not yet ready to apply trade sanctions to China.

The matter must go to the U.N. General Assembly.

4

Business Day

Agency Aims to Regulate Map Aids in Vehicles

By MATTHEW L. WALD | Jun 15th 2014

The Tech companies are going to have to forego the business.

5

Theater

Video: In Performance: ‘The Village Bike’

Erik Piepenburg and Erik Braund | Jun 16th 2014

Greta Gerwig and Scott Shepherd in a scene from Penelope Skinner’s dark comedy at the Lucille Lortel Theater.

Theater 

I am certainly willing.

 

6

Business Day

Big Retailers Agree to List Unit Prices on Websites

By ELIZABETH A. HARRIS | Jun 16th 2014

Six major stores, including Walmart and Costco, joined in the deal with New York’s attorney general. But there was one holdout, Amazon.

E-Commerce; Shopping and Retail 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hachette_%28publisher%29

"In May 2014 Amazon.com advised its customers it was no longer taking pre-order sales of Hachette books, citing a breakdown in negotiations over profit-sharing arrangements. According to Hachette, Amazon had also stopped discounting its books, sending prices of Hachette titles in the U.S. to more than twice what they were selling for in the UK.^[3]"

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

"In an emailed statement, an Amazon spokeswoman said: “Customers rely on Amazon for all kinds of product information, including descriptions, ratings, customer reviews, frequently asked questions and pricing. Unit pricing is included on www.amazon.com.”"

Schniderman 

7

Opinion

Innocents at the Border

By THE EDITORIAL BOARD | Jun 16th 2014

President Obama needs to mount a surge of humanitarian care to handle the explosion of young migrants fleeing violence in their home countries.

Immigration and Emigration; Illegal Immigration; Children and Childhood; Child Abuse and Neglect; Asylum, Right of 

Yes.

The Federal Government  will have to run a series of Spanish Language boarding schools until the status of these children is resolved.  They can offer English as a second language.  The curriculum can be secular and liberal.  The South Western states

will not support the educational or housing goals of the proposed program. 

8

Opinion

Exploring Academia's Role in Charting Paths to a 'Good' Anthropocene

By ANDREW C. REVKIN | Jun 16th 2014

Enterprising journalists and communicators report on humanity’s growth spurt, urban rush and innovations in family planning.

Colleges and Universities; Documentary Films and Programs; Earth; Education (K-12); Environment; Global Warming; Philosophy; Social Media; Sustainable Living; Video Recordings, Downloads and Streaming 

I want to spend less time with Andy Revkin and more time with his sources.  

What can be learned is much less interesting than learning.

At the moment I am trying to think on fossil carbon cheap aesthetics.

If people don't like it they won't have it.

 

9

Theater

Sex, Violence and Power, With a Feminist Slant

By ALEXIS SOLOSKI | Jun 12th 2014

Penelope Skinner and Sarah Treem write plays and characters that reflect on the complicated and often contradictory legacy of the various waves of feminism.

Women and Girls; Theater 

ok

Gender does not imply power.

Equal partnership.   Negotiation required. 

10

U.S.

Guantánamo Detainees’ Lawyers Seek Further Delays

By CHARLIE SAVAGE | Jun 16th 2014

The lawyers said that until they knew more about scrutiny of defense teams by the F.B.I., they could not know whether they had a conflict of interest and needed to step aside.

September 11 (2001); Detainees 

We do not seem to be able to do justice for these detainees.

We owe them unconditional release.

 

11

N.Y. / Region

Success Academy’s Expansion Plans Put de Blasio in a Tough Spot

By AL BAKER | Jun 15th 2014

The Success Academy Charters Schools group’s aim to double in size by 2016 forces Mayor Bill de Blasio to choose between two troublesome options.

Charter Schools; Education (K-12) 

Charter schools are a bad idea.  

Dealing with a bad idea is always difficult.

 

12

Science

Asparagus, Revisited

By C. CLAIBORNE RAY | Jun 16th 2014

 

I like it.

Your choice.

 

13

The Upshot

A Church-PAC Link Raises Questions in Mississippi

By DEREK WILLIS | Jun 16th 2014

If a church’s resources were used to help Senator Thad Cochran, the church could lose its tax-exempt status.

Political Advertising; Political Action Committees; Primaries and Caucuses; Campaign Finance 

I am not sure who is being hunted with this story.

I am inclined to let the incident pass without further action.

Repeats should draw immediate attention.

 

14

Job Market

On the Steamboat, and Striking Up the Calliope

By PATRICIA R. OLSEN | Jun 14th 2014

Travis Vasconcelos, a historian and lecturer with the American Queen Steamboat Company, started working on riverboats at the age of 12.

Boats and Boating; Labor and Jobs; Rivers 

Yes.

I don't play keyboards.

 

15

World

Palace of Squatters Is a Symbol of Refugee Crisis

By ELISABETTA POVOLEDO | Jun 14th 2014

The overcrowding of Salaam Palace is a crisis within a larger, nationwide emergency set off by a fresh surge of more than 50,000 migrants to Italy since the beginning of the year.

Refugees and Displaced Persons; Illegal Immigration; Squatters 

The refugee problem cannot be solved in the European Union.

The flow must be stopped at its source, in Africa and South Asia.

Europe will not level down.

Africa must become generally prosperous.

People will vote with their feet for a better life.

It is true world wide.

 

16

Health

A Faster Way to Find the Origin of Malaria

Malarial strain identification could be useful.

17

Science

Calling Back a Zombie Ship From the Graveyard of Space

By KENNETH CHANG | Jun 14th 2014

After 36 years in pace, the International Sun-Earth Explorer-3 appears to be in good working order, and a shoestring group of civilian engineers is trying to bring it back into Earth’s orbit.

Space and Astronomy; Satellites 

The satellite's work is yet to be done. 

18

Sports

San Francisco Out for 2017 America’s Cup

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS | Jun 12th 2014

It is the defender's choice.

19

Health

An Alert When the Policy Lapses

By PAULA SPAN | Jun 12th 2014

 

Better behavior from insurance companies is expected.

The regulators will demand it.  It is not a choice.

 

20

N.Y. / Region

New York Adoptees Fight for Access to Birth Certificates

By EMILY BRENNAN | Jun 15th 2014

What the adoptees want is their genetic profile and risk of inherited disease.  

That can be provided without a violation of parental privacy by genetic scanning.

Such scans will not answer questions of nationality.

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