23:00, 7/3/14

|

1

Business Day

Downloads in Decline as Streamed Music Soars

By BEN SISARIO | Jul 3rd 2014

Americans used streaming platforms to listen to 70.3 billion songs in the first half of 2014, as CD sales and downloads declined.

Audio Recordings, Downloads and Streaming; Music; Compact Discs 

Streamed music is filling the place of broadcasting.  It provides a sampler of current production in any number of genres.

Very few can give music as much attention as we would like.

2

World

U.S. Vessel to Tote Poison Gas From Syria to Sea

By ELISABETTA POVOLEDO and ALAN COWELL | Jul 2nd 2014

The cargo is part of a 1,300-ton stockpile of toxins removed from Syria under an international deal brokered last year and brought to Italy.

Biological and Chemical Warfare; United States International Relations 

Maybe the news can move on.  

The remote possibility of war gases is not central to Jihad.

3

U.S.

Flights to U.S. Face Scrutiny After Threats Are Reported

By MICHAEL S. SCHMIDT and ERIC SCHMITT | Jul 2nd 2014

The Department of Homeland Security said it would increase screening of passengers and cargo on United States-bound flights in response to threats from Al Qaeda’s affiliate in Yemen.

Airport Security; Terrorism; Airlines and Airplanes 

The credible threat is every bit as effective at causing disruption as a bomb.

The effect is the objective.  The method is immaterial.

 

4

U.S.

Arizona Town Recalls Wildfire, and 19 Who Died Battling It

By FERNANDA SANTOS | Jun 30th 2014

There were public and private commemorations of the close-knit crew of firefighters who were killed one year ago.

Fires and Firefighters; Deaths (Fatalities); Wildfires 

I am not now disabled by mourning.  

I will be sad from time to time for many months to come. 

I can move on and change.  

There is cleaning and bargaining to be done here.  

Knowing more will help.

My time at this location is finite.  

There is no decision as to a number.

5

Opinion

Bangladesh’s Rotten-Mango Crisis

By TAHMIMA ANAM | Jul 2nd 2014

A dispute over contaminated mangoes reveals a growing chasm between the city and the country.

Mangoes; Food Contamination and Poisoning; Hazardous and Toxic Substances; Agriculture and Farming 

There is an optimum mix of the city and a garden.  It is not optimum for either city or garden but for the people who live in the mix.

Let us seek our optimum.

 

6

N.Y. / Region

Chronicler Recalls a Bridge’s Rising, 50 Years Later

By JOSEPH BERGER | Jul 1st 2014

Before the current Tappan Zee project, there was the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, which opened in 1964; Gay Talese talked about covering that construction.

Building (Construction); Bridges and Tunnels; Series 

We remember the electric ferry that crossed the narrows.

I am aware of inflation.  

We have not seen enough in recent decades.

I own mostly equities and tools.

7

N.Y. / Region

Reduced Charge for Boy in Fatal Bronx Stabbing

By EMMA G. FITZSIMMONS and BENJAMIN MUELLER | Jun 30th 2014

The grand jury indicted the teenager, Noel Estevez, 14, on a charge of second-degree manslaughter, the Bronx district attorney, Robert T. Johnson, said. Noel’s case will be moved to Family Court.

Murders and Attempted Murders 

The best we could hope for.

 

8

Your Money

Longevity Insurance Joins the Menu of Retirement Plan Options

By TARA SIEGEL BERNARD | Jul 1st 2014

New tax rules will allow workers to spend a lump sum of their retirement savings in exchange for a guaranteed income in their later years.

Retirement; Annuities; Pensions and Retirement Plans; 401(k), 403(b) and 457 Plans; Income 

A new name for an old product.  I will look carefully as you should.

The benefit from social security stops growing at 70.  It will be time then to do the arithmetic.

The rules keep changing.

TIAA-CREEF is an annuity product.

9

Technology

Russian Hackers Targeting Oil and Gas Companies

By NICOLE PERLROTH | Jun 30th 2014

The intrusions give the hackers the opportunity to seize control of industrial control systems from afar, much as the United States and Israel did of Iran’s centrifuges in 2009.

Computer Security; Cyberwarfare; Industrial Espionage; Energy and Power; Oil (Petroleum) and Gasoline; Natural Gas 

Comparatively trivial.   Safe manual shutdown is available.

The most likely discovery they will make is accounting fraud.

Blackmail is probably their objective.

 

10

World

Limits to Books in Prison Draw Creative Foes

By STEPHEN CASTLE | Jul 1st 2014

Restrictions on the flow of books into British prisons create a firestorm among authors and reform activists, who say that reading is a human right.

Prisons and Prisoners; Books and Literature; Writing and Writers; Libraries and Librarians; Smuggling

I will leave this one alone.

There is no better side.

 

11

U.S.

Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph to Pay for Failure to Report Abuse

By JULIE BOSMAN | Jun 30th 2014

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph was ordered to pay victims $1.1 million for failing to report an abusive priest to law enforcement officials.

Priests; Sex Crimes; Child Abuse and Neglect; Child Pornography 

The arbiter got it right.

The penalty will be bigger next time.

 

12

World

Saudi Arabia Donates $500 Million to Help Displaced Iraqis

By RICK GLADSTONE | Jul 1st 2014

The money will go to the United Nations for use in helping the estimated one million Iraqis whose lives have been upended by the Sunni insurgency.

Humanitarian Aid; Refugees and Displaced Persons 

Blood money.

 

13

Science

Iraqis

After the Trees Disappear

By MAGGIE KOERTH-BAKER | Jun 30th 2014

The emerald ash borer is devastating trees from Minnesota to New York, and there is little scientists can do but study what effect the trees’ extinction will have on the ecosystem.

Beetles; Forests and Forestry; Research; Invasive Species; Trees and Shrubs 

These creatures have natural enemies.  Often the cure is worse than the disease.  Research is the first step.  Nature has a different time scale.  People find it confusing.

14

Opinion

Give Scotusblog a Seat in Court

By THE EDITORIAL BOARD | Jul 1st 2014

The arguments for denying the website press credentials to cover the Supreme Court are tenuous at best.

News and News Media; Editorials 

Jealousy is an important force in human affairs.

 

15

U.S.

Many Sharp Turns in Bergdahl’s Path to Army

By KIRK JOHNSON and MATT FURBER | Jul 1st 2014

People who knew Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl in Idaho paint a fairly consistent portrait: hard-working and socially awkward, full of restless energy and romantic plans.

Afghanistan War (2001- ); Desertion (Military); United States Defense and Military Forces; Prisoners of War 

The Army will judge him.  

I would be content to let them do their work.

There seems to be no rush to judgment.

16

Magazine

Behind the Cover Story: Kim Tingley on the Promise and Problems of Three-Parent I.V.F.

By RACHEL NOLAN | Jun 30th 2014

Kim Tingley, a contributing writer for the magazine, wrote this week’s cover story about three-parent I.V.F. Here, she talks about the controversy surrounding the procedure.

Clinical Trials; Genetics and Heredity; In Vitro Fertilization; Infertility; Research 

The ethics are not a problem. 

The ethisists are the problem.

We play god every day.

We do not claim omnicience.

  

17

U.S.

Birth Control Order Deepens Divide Among Justices

By ADAM LIPTAK | Jul 3rd 2014

The Supreme Court temporarily barred the government from enforcing against a Christian college a contraception rule under the Affordable Care Act, drawing a furious dissent from the three female justices, who said the court had broken a promise.

Decisions and Verdicts; Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (2010); Birth Control and Family Planning; Women's Rights; Religion-State Relations 

Getting a change in congress is easier than getting a change in the justices of the supreme court.  Our nation should do both.

The order is not critical.

 

18

World

Awakening the ‘Dutch Gene’ of Water Survival

By CHRISTOPHER F. SCHUETZE | Jun 29th 2014

The dikes of the country’s water management system work so well that experts say they worry that citizens will begin to take staying dry for granted.

Levees and Dams; Global Warming; Floods; Engineering and Engineers; Education; Education (K-12); Children and Childhood 

Children do love to play in the sand.

I hope this means you are again passing through the Netherlands.

 

19

U.S.

To Hold Senate, Democrats Rely on Single Women

By JACKIE CALMES | Jul 2nd 2014

Though they are strong supporters of the Democratic Party, they tend not to turn out in nonpresidential election years like this one.

Midterm Elections (2014); Women and Girls; Single Persons; Elections, Senate; United States Politics and Government 

The Democrats would be foolish to rely on any subgroup.

 

20

Technology

Prepaid Mobile Data Plans for International Travel

By J. D. BIERSDORFER | Jul 3rd 2014

Also, how to get everything from an iPod, even if you didn’t buy it through the same computer.

Computers and the Internet; iPod; Wireless Communications 

Data limits are a pain.  

There seem to be no real unlimited plans this year for mobile devices.  There is Wi-Fi for pictures and video.  Real time is not critical.  Text is very conservative of resources.

Computer media is all fugitive.  The cloud is a good place to store less than critical information.  Privacy cannot be guaranteed.

Criminal acts are best on paper.  It does not leak if it is not seen.

|

I do look at the comments from time to time.

If you have the access I think you have, you can post to my blog.

I will see your post when next I post or otherwise open the dashboard.

|