@22:50, 9/14/14

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U.S.

Holder Says Private Suit Risks State Secrets

By MATT APUZZO | Sep 14th 2014

After limiting a privilege to dismiss lawsuits in the name of national security, the attorney general has intervened in a defamation case against United Against Nuclear Iran.

Classified Information and State Secrets; Suits and Litigation (Civil) 

My guess is Holder is correct.

Life could get very uncomfortable for whiners.

2

Opinion

China's Environmental Awakening

By DANIEL K. GARDNER | Sep 14th 2014

The Chinese are beginning to wonder whether industrial progress has come at too high a cost to the environment.

Environment; Air Pollution; Rivers; Coal; Polls and Public Opinion; Hazardous and Toxic Substances 

Slow but growing.

3

Arts

Trading Parking Lots for Affordable Housing

By MICHAEL KIMMELMAN | Sep 14th 2014

Parking lots can be turned into development sites to expand and improve affordable housing in New York City, three fellows at the Institute for Public Architecture propose.

Real Estate and Housing (Residential); Public and Subsidized Housing; Real Estate (Commercial); Parking; Area Planning and Renewal; Affordable Housing; Parking Garages and Lots; Architecture 

A bad bargain if it is made.

Open space is a treasure.

There is great demand but little need for affordable housing in the company town New York has become.

4

World

Q. and A.: Yong Zhao on Education and Authoritarianism in China

By Didi Kirsten Tatlow | Sep 14th 2014

If Western nations fear the rise of an authoritarian and prosperous China, the best thing they can do is not copy its test-driven education system, writes Yong Zhao, since it cannot deliver the creativity the world needs.

Admissions Standards; Children and Childhood; Creativity; Education; Education (K-12); No Child Left Behind Act; Reading and Writing Skills (Education); Tests and Examinations; United States Economy 

Yong Zhao has the argument.

Bureaucracy is Chinese culture.

It depends on standardized people and arranges to have them.

The Chinese tried heros and find them troubling. 

5

Business Day

The Magic in Apple’s Devices? The Heart

By DAVID CARR | Sep 14th 2014

Apple’s ability to seize the moment and preoccupy the press is without peer.

Smartphones; iPad; iPhone; New Models, Design and Products; Watches and Clocks 

David Carr is objectionable.

It is the same when he is right or wrong.

This time he is correct.

6

Business Day

A Federal Reserve Meeting, and Scotland’s Moment of Truth

By THE NEW YORK TIMES | Sep 14th 2014

Scottish voters will decide on Thursday whether to end the 307-year union with the United Kingdom and go it alone, with an uncertain currency and economic future.

Initial Public Offerings; Polls and Public Opinion 

We await developments.

7

Science

Video: Germany’s Offshore Wind Push

Erik Olsen | Sep 13th 2014

The small German island of Heligoland, a popular tourist destination, is undergoing dramatic change as the wind industry takes over.

Wind Power; Alternative and Renewable Energy; Solar Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (Japan); Japan Earthquake and Tsunami (2011) Energy; Energy and Power; Agriculture and Farming; Travel and Vacations; Water; Electric Light and Power 

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/14/science/earth/sun-and-wind-alter-german-landscape-leaving-utilities-behind.html

A PR puff

The push is not sufficient to get the German power grid to a self sustaining condition.

Germany has tried colonization and conquest.

Economic empire is their next thrill.

Britain has tried it and found it unsustainable.

8

Sports

At Sputtering Ferrari, Shake-Up at the Top Could Change Tradition

By JOHN F. BURNS | Sep 13th 2014

Ferrari’s tradition of selling road cars to support the racing operations could change after an upheaval among the top management of the iconic Italian company last week.

Automobile Racing; Automobiles 

Studio Ferrari seems to be at an end.

Fiat will buy the ruins at the fire sale.

The Ford Cobra wins.

9

U.S.

Conservative Experiment Faces Revolt in Reliably Red Kansas

By JOHN ELIGON | Sep 14th 2014

Some of Kansas’ staunchest Republicans have found some of Gov. Sam Brownback’s measures to be too far to the right, and have endorsed Paul Davis, the Democratic candidate.

Elections, Governors 

Yes!

Reality always wins.

10

Opinion

Japan Nears a Nuclear Reboot

Sep 14th 2014

A regulatory agency says that two of the country's plants meet new safety standards

Nuclear Energy; Accidents and Safety; Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (Japan); Japan Earthquake and Tsunami (2011) 

Japan must operate nuclear plants.

They should design their own.

11 

Opinion

To Stop ISIS in Syria, Support Aleppo

By JEAN-MARIE GUÉHENNO and NOAH BONSEY | Sep 14th 2014

America and its allies must focus efforts on backing the beleaguered moderates in this vital rebel-held city.

Defense and Military Forces; Sunni Muslims; International Relations; United States International Relations 

Aleppo  should be supported.

If we do it the result will not be the one we desire.

Indonesia may be unaware of the need.

12

World

Cameron Under Pressure as Scotland Vote Nears

By STEVEN ERLANGER | Sep 14th 2014

Not only must Prime Minister David Cameron of Britain respond to the beheading of a British hostage by Islamic radicals, but he also faces the risk of becoming the leader who presided over the breakup of the United Kingdom.

Referendums; Kidnapping and Hostages; Polls and Public Opinion

David Cameron is incompetent.

13

World

Fighting in Eastern Ukraine City Kills at Least 6

By CARLOTTA GALL | Sep 14th 2014

The battle in Donetsk between rebels and Kiev government forces was one of the most serious clashes in a 10-day-old cease-fire.

Defense and Military Forces; Deaths (Fatalities) 

"War is diplomacy by other means".     Bismark 

14

Business Day

European Finance Ministers Support Investment Program

By JAMES KANTER | Sep 14th 2014

A three-year, 300-billion-euro effort to spur the European economy won broad backing from finance ministers.

European Sovereign Debt Crisis (2010- ); Banking and Financial Institutions 

Wrong again.

Put the money at the bottom.

Do it as a gift.

It is not a right or a loan.

15

Opinion

A Premature Call for Mass Cancer Screening in Women

Sep 14th 2014

The National Breast Cancer Coalition and an Emory University epidemiologist respond to a news article.

Breast Cancer; Tests (Medical); Genetics and Heredity; Jews and Judaism 

We are still not competent to practice eugenics.

Screen the worried.

16

World

Anti-Euro Party Wins More Seats in Germany’s State Legislatures

By MELISSA EDDY | Sep 14th 2014

The party, Alternative for Germany, won 10 percent of the vote in Thuringia and 12 percent in Brandenburg, according to exit polls.

Legislatures and Parliaments; Euro (Currency) 

I do not know how the Euro will destroy itself.

17

World

Cameron Announces Response Plan to Beheading of British Aid Worker

By JENNY ANDERSON and RUKMINI CALLIMACHI | Sep 14th 2014

Prime Minister David Cameron said Britain would support American military action against the ISIS, but he did not commit his country to a more vigorous military role against the group.

Terrorism; Murders and Attempted Murders; Humanitarian Aid; Kidnapping and Hostages; United States International Relations 

It would be better to ignore the incident.

18

Technology

Public Opinion; Hazardous and Toxic Substances 

Slow but growing.

Let the teachers act on their judgment.

19

Arts

Trading Parking Lots for Affordable Housing

By MICHAEL KIMMELMAN | Sep 14th 2014

Parking lots can be turned into development sites to expand and improve affordable housing in New York City, three fellows at the Institute for Public Architecture propose.
Real Estate and Housing (Residential); Public and Subsidized Housing; Real Estate (Commercial); Parking; Area Planning and Renewal; Affordable

 

Increase the grass area.  Cars do not belong in the city.

Affordable housing implies good mass transit.

Trains, not buses. 

 

19

With Tech Taking Over in Schools, Worries Rise

By NATASHA SINGER | Sep 14th 2014

Parent groups and privacy advocates are challenging the practices of an industry built on data collection, and California has passed wide-ranging legislation protecting students’ personal information.

Privacy; Children and Childhood; Computers and the Internet; Education (K-12); Law and Legislation 

Children need adult human attention to mature well.

20

Opinion

The Problems With the Death Penalty

Sep 14th 2014

Readers discuss an Op-Ed essay calling capital punishment a “failed government program.”

Capital Punishment; Sentences (Criminal); Conservatism (US Politics); United States Politics and Government 

Genocide by another name.

Very late term abortion.

We are not sufficiently skilled to edit the population.

X

World

At Tower Israel Leveled, Lost Homes and Dreams

By JODI RUDOREN and FARES AKRAM | Sep 14th 2014

Israel’s destruction of a high-rise, felled in a battle against Hamas, killed no one, but 500 people lost not only their homes, but also a sense of their future.

Defense and Military Forces; Evacuations and Evacuees; Buildings (Structures); Bombs and Explosives 

The result was intended and planned.

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