@23:59, 6/17/14

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1

U.S.

U.S. Judge Denies Stay of Execution in Georgia

By RICHARD FAUSSET | Jun 16th 2014

The Georgia State Board of Pardons and Paroles and a federal judge denied Marcus Wellons’s clemency request Monday afternoon. He is scheduled to be executed Tuesday at 7 p.m.

Capital Punishment; Murders and Attempted Murders 

I think capital punishment is wrong in all cases.

As a Judge, which I am not, I could not stay this execution on these grounds.

2

Automobiles

Wheelies: The High-Dollar Hemi Edition

By BENJAMIN PRESTON | Jun 17th 2014

A numbers-matching 1971 Plymouth Hemi ‘Cuda convertible sells for a record $3.5 million; DCH Auto Group and Lithia Motors merge to become megadealership.

Automobiles; Convertibles (Autos); Auctions 

"According to a report from Reuters, a person with knowledge of the matter said that Honda expected to expand a huge industrywide recall involving air bag inflaters supplied by the Takata Corporation. The person said that the recall could cover more than one million vehicles. (Reuters)"

 

3

Business Day

Car Owners Criticize Pace of G.M. Recall Repairs

By REBECCA R. RUIZ | Jun 17th 2014

Demand has far surpassed production of parts, a concern that lawmakers are likely to bring up with the automaker’s chief this week at a hearing.

Traffic Accidents and Safety; Automobile Safety Features and Defects 

Whine.

Put in a manual ignition switch.  The start and stearing lock can stay on the key.

An easier fix is to take the key off the ring and use it bare.

4

Opinion

Paying for the Forest Fire Next Time

By DAN GLICKMAN and HARRIS SHERMAN | Jun 17th 2014

Megafires are scorching the West. More money is needed to fight them.

Wildfires; Budgets and Budgeting; Forests and Forestry; United States Politics and Government 

Yes, we can let them burn. 

The land and forest are not lost.

Those trees are not private property for the most part.

The property owners bought with full knowledge of the risk.

If they did not bother to learn the risk, their insurance company informed them.

5

Health

Exercise and the 'Good' Bugs in Our Gut

By GRETCHEN REYNOLDS | Jun 17th 2014

Frequent exercise may influence our weight and overall health by altering the kinds of organisms that live inside of us, a new study suggests.

Bacteria; Diet and Nutrition; Digestive Tract; Exercise; Medicine and Health; Obesity 

Finish the science.  

Speculation does not help with health.

6

Business Day

A Bolder Effort by Big Tobacco on E-Cigarettes

By MATT RICHTEL | Jun 17th 2014

Big Tobacco is moving to turn the e-cigarette market to its advantage, with subsidiaries of the companies that make Marlboro and Camel set to announce nationwide marketing plans.

Smoking and Tobacco; E-Cigarettes; Advertising and Marketing; Series 

How about we make E-cigarettes prescription only.

Nicotine is a addictive and dangerous drug.

7

World

U.S. Suggests Getting Tougher With Syria on Chemical Weapons Deadline

By RICK GLADSTONE | Jun 17th 2014

The U.S. representative to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons said a simple condemnation of Syria wasn’t enough as the country is about to miss a deadline for the destruction of its chemical munitions.

United States International Relations; Biological and Chemical Warfare; Terrorism 

Get the work done.

Both sides can make chlorine gas from salt.

There are bigger problems in the area.

8

The Upshot

Federal Reserve Expected to Reduce Growth Forecast but Keep Cutting Stimulus

By BINYAMIN APPELBAUM | Jun 17th 2014

The continuing wait for faster growth has reinforced the concern of some critics that the Fed is retreating too quickly from its bond-buying campaign.

United States Economy; Credit and Debt; Economic Conditions and Trends; Recession and Depression 

Bond buying is ineffective. 

We need government spending.

Preferably on unskilled labor.

Krugman:
http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2014/jul/10/geithner-does-he-pass-test/?insrc=hpss

9

Opinion

Cutting the Poor Out of Welfare

By THOMAS B. EDSALL | Jun 17th 2014

Reform and restructuring have left more than 600,000 households living in extreme poverty.

Welfare (US); Poverty; United States Economy; United States Politics and Government; Tax Credits, Deductions and Exemptions; Labor and Jobs

"In May 2013, H. Luke Shaefer, a professor of social work at the University of Michigan, and Kathryn Edin, a sociology professor at Johns Hopkins, published “Rising Extreme Poverty in the United States and the Response of Federal Means-Tested Transfer Programs.”

Shaefer and Edin use a definition of “extreme poverty” in which every member of a family lives on $2 a day, or at just 13 percent of the official poverty level. They found that even when the value of food stamps and tax benefits are added in, there has been a dramatic increase in the number of households surviving at this extremely poor level, from 409,000 households in 1996, before passage of welfare reform, to 613,000 households in 2011, including 1.17 million children.

Women and children in these circumstances are the casualties of the rightward shift in the war on poverty. They have no political clout to speak of. Most of those old enough to vote do not do so. And neither political party has reason to take up their cause.

Anti-poverty policy, like all public policy set in the political arena, is determined more by the balance of power than by evidence-based analysis or by humanitarian concerns. There is no other way to explain how one of the most advanced countries in the world sits passively by as legions of men without high school degrees disappear from the workforce, or to explain how our country permits 1.17 million children to survive on $2 or less a day."

10

N.Y. / Region

Sharpton’s Coolness to Rangel Marks Waning of a Political Generation

By NIKITA STEWART | Jun 16th 2014

Tensions have grown in recent years between the Rev. Al Sharpton and Representative Charles B. Rangel, adding further uncertainty to the congressman’s bid for re-election.

Endorsements; Elections, House of Representatives; Blacks; Primaries and Caucuses

I don't know and won't speculate.

11

Opinion

Can the Port Authority Save the Planet?

By TED STEINBERG | Jun 16th 2014

We need agencies that cross borders to protect coastal environments.

Wetlands; Global Warming; Coastal Areas; Floods

If we get the expected ten foot rise in sea level in the next ten years
There will be no dearth of wetlands.

Arranging deck chairs on the Titanic is a minor project.

"The melting of small glaciers and polar ice caps on the margins of Greenland and the Antarctic Peninsula melt, would increase sea level around 0.5 m. Melting of the Greenland ice sheet or the Antarctic ice sheet would produce 7.2 m and 61.1 m of sea-level rise, respectively.^[24] The collapse of the grounded interior reservoir of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet would raise sea level by 5–6 m.^[25] "

http://www.ldeo.columbia.edu/~mstuding/wais.html

The time scale is not clear from this.
I have been told it is short.

12

World

Bolivia: Teacher’s Killing of Dog as Lesson Causes an Uproar

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS | Jun 18th 2014

Animal rights advocates are demanding that a military college in La Paz fire an instructor who butchered a live dog in class and then smeared its blood on students’ faces.

Animal Abuse, Rights and Welfare; Defense and Military Forces; Dogs; Animals; Teachers and School Employees

Dramatic.
I would not do it.
That does not make it wrong.

13

U.S.

Video: U.S. on Protecting Pacific Ocean Areas

Jun 17th 2014

President Obama, Secretary of State John Kerry and the actor Leonardo DiCaprio expressed their support in protecting areas of the Pacific Ocean from overfishing and environmental damage.

Oceans and Seas; Water Pollution; United States Politics and Government; Fishing, Commercial; United States International Relations

A good idea.

U.S.

Migrants Flow in South Texas, as Do Rumors

By JULIA PRESTON | Jun 16th 2014

Talk of “permits” allowing migrants who crossed the border illegally to stay temporarily in the United States has added to a surge of families arriving from Central America.

Illegal Immigration; Immigration Detention; Women and Girls; Children and Childhood

Yes.
Spin only takes the story a short way.
The rules at the U.S. border have not changed.
Conditions at home have changed.

15

U.S.

At the Cutting Edge of Gay Family Law

By DAVID DODGE | Jun 17th 2014

In the past, second-parent adoptions have been standard in the gay community. But a court recently ruled that such adoptions were neither “necessary nor available” for gay married couples since a “presumption of parenthood” exists.

Adoptions; Artificial Insemination; Families and Family Life; Homosexuality and Bisexuality; Parenting; Same-Sex Marriage, Civil Unions and Domestic Partnerships; Sperm

I am left guessing.
I can put a story together.

It will be wrong in important aspects.

I think they do not matter to me.

Sooner is better.  As soon as you can is best.

16

World

Brazil: Biden and Rousseff Meet

By SIMON ROMERO | Jun 18th 2014

President Dilma Rousseff met Tuesday with Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. as Brazil and the United States moved to improve relations.

Classified Information and State Secrets; Espionage and Intelligence Services; International Relations; United States International Relations

Diplomacy!

17

Business Day

Apple Settles E-Book Antitrust Case

By REUTERS | Jun 17th 2014

Apple reached an out-of-court settlement with U.S. states and other complainants in an e-book price-fixing class action lawsuit on Monday.

Antitrust Laws and Competition Issues; Book Trade and Publishing

This is not a story yet.
 

18

World

Secret Tapes of Politicians Cause a Stir in Poland

By RICK LYMAN | Jun 16th 2014

Transcripts released by a Warsaw newspaper are proof that the government should be dismissed, an opposition leader said.

Wiretapping and Other Eavesdropping Devices and Methods

Hard ball politics.
The only way to be not guilty:  Be not guilty.
 

19

World

Mali: Escapee Was Suspect in Frenchmen’s Kidnapping

By REUTERS | Jun 18th 2014

A fugitive at the heart of a prison break in Mali’s capital on Monday was being held in the 2011 kidnapping of two French men who ended up in the hands of Al Qaeda’s regional faction, sources said Tuesday.

Prison Escapes; Prisons and Prisoners; Kidnapping

This is why we have a state department.
 

20

N.Y. / Region

Surge in Child Migrants Reaches New York, Overwhelming Advocates

By KIRK SEMPLE | Jun 17th 2014

Immigrant advocacy organizations say they have seen a stunning rise in the number of unaccompanied minors seeking help in the past several months.

Immigration and Emigration; Illegal Immigration; Child Abuse and Neglect; Children and Childhood; Migrant Labor (Agriculture); Foreign Workers; Legal Aid for the Poor (Civil); Refugees and Displaced Persons; Deportation

In New York we are getting the easy cases.  Children with legal legal guardians.

We are still not hearing why they left their homes.
The stories are stock so far.

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