@11:00, 11/23/14

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1

Sports

Ugly Wins Show Stuff of Champions

By HUW RICHARDS | Nov 23rd 2014

Both Ireland and New Zealand showed the quality that separates champion teams from merely good ones: the ability to win when not everything is going well.

Rugby 

"“You’ve got to keep believing,” said All Blacks captain Richie McCaw after his team produced a late burst of scores to beat Wales, 34-16. “It wasn’t as if we were under the pump. We just had to hold the ball. Once we did that, we managed to get on top.”"

2

N.Y. / Region

Philadelphia Casino Project Adds to Frenzy in Northeast Gambling Market

By CHARLES V. BAGLI | Nov 18th 2014

The rush to build casinos is only intensifying in the region, which is widely regarded as the most competitive market in the country despite flat or falling gambling revenues.

Casinos; Gambling 

They are all searching for the missing customers.

Their former customers are broke.

3

U.S.

More Judges Question Use of Fake Drugs in Sting Cases

By ERIK ECKHOLM | Nov 20th 2014

A number of judges have questioned a federal agency’s tactic of “stash-house stings,” saying it draws small-time criminals into major crimes.

Civil Rights and Liberties; Racial Profiling; Drug Abuse and Traffic; Government Employees 

" A judge dismissed charges against two of three men on grounds of “outrageous government conduct.”"

4

Business Day

Judge Rejects Overhaul of Illinois’s Beleaguered State Pension System

By MARY WILLIAMS WALSH | Nov 21st 2014

The law, passed in 2013, was found to violate a clause of the state’s Constitution declaring pensions to be contracts that the state cannot impair.

Budgets and Budgeting; Pensions and Retirement Plans; Retirement 

A government is not a business.

5

World

G.O.P.-Led Benghazi Panel Bolsters Administration

By MICHAEL S. SCHMIDT | Nov 22nd 2014

The House Intelligence Committee has joined previous panels in rejecting the most damning accusations about the handling of the 2012 attacks on American outposts.

Benghazi Attack (2012); Diplomatic Service, Embassies and Consulates 

Photo

"Democrats dismiss the investigation as an effort to discredit Hillary Rodham Clinton."

6

Opinion

A Billionaire’s Hudson River Project

By THE EDITORIAL BOARD | Nov 21st 2014

A privately financed plan for the old Pier 54 gets the go-ahead. Why isn’t public money as available for great public spaces?

Area Planning and Renewal; Parks and Other Recreation Areas 

This public space is an enhancement for a private development.

7

Science

F.D.A. Approves Hysingla, a Powerful Painkiller

By RONI CARYN RABIN | Nov 20th 2014

The Food and Drug Administration on Thursday approved a long-acting opioid painkiller that contains pure hydrocodone, which some addiction experts fear will be abused.

Pain-Relieving Drugs; Drug Abuse and Traffic; Drugs (Pharmaceuticals); Pain; Zohydro (Drug) 

The experts are correct to fear new addictions.

The tablet must dissolve to be effective.  

The timed release does not have to take place in the body. 

8

World

Berlin After the Wall: A Microcosm of the World’s Chaotic Change

By MICHAEL KIMMELMAN | Nov 17th 2014

Twenty-five years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, the city’s identity is still a work in progress.

Berlin Wall; Cold War Era; Architecture; Historic Buildings and Sites 

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

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Germany_%281945%E2%80%9390%29

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Germany_%281945%E2%80%9390%29#The_division_of_Germany

Map showing German territorial losses 

to Poland and the Soviet Union

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

Location within European Union and Germany

The Berlin Wall in 1986, painted on the western side. People crossing the so-called "death strip" on the eastern side were at risk of being shot.

 

"All four Allies shared administrative responsibilities for Berlin. However, in 1948, when the Western Allies extended the currency reform in the Western zones of Germany to the three western sectors of Berlin, the Soviet Union imposed a blockade on the access routes to and from West Berlin, which lay entirely inside Soviet-controlled territory. The Berlin airlift, conducted by the three western Allies, overcame this blockade by supplying food and other supplies to the city from June 1948 to May 1949.^[42] In 1949, the Federal Republic of Germany was founded in West Germany and eventually included all of the American, British, and French zones, excluding those three countries' zones in Berlin, while the Marxist-Leninist German Democratic Republic was proclaimed in East Germany. West Berlin officially remained an occupied city, but it politically was aligned with the Federal Republic of Germany despite West Berlin's geographic isolation. Airline service to West Berlin was granted only to American, British, and French airlines."

A Google image search [Berlin wall]

https://www.google.com/search?q=berlin+wall&client=firefox-a&hs=eue&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&channel=sb&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=iDhyVOq2OLKxsATOhoH4CA&ved=0CAgQ_AUoAQ&biw=919&bih=616

Germany is good at forgetting.

Search [ german concentration camps]

Look at the liberation films.

9

World

UKIP Wins 2nd Seat in the British Parliament, Dealing a Blow to David Cameron

By STEPHEN CASTLE | Nov 21st 2014

The victory in southern England by Mark Reckless, a candidate in the populist U.K. Independence Party, threatened to destabilize the Conservative Party of Prime Minister David Cameron.

Legislatures and Parliaments; Elections 

http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/nov/23/ukip-rochester-byelection-success-game-changer

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/nov/23/nigel-farage-rochester-general-election-ukip

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/search/?queryText=UKIP&sort=recent

They are not talking in public.

10

Business Day

The Fight for $15.37 an Hour

By STEVEN GREENHOUSE | Nov 22nd 2014

Some progress.

 

11

Automobiles

 

Ford Announces Fuel Economy Numbers for the 2015 F-150

By BENJAMIN PRESTON | Nov 21st 2014

The 2.7-liter EcoBoost model is tops among gas-powered full-size pickups, but Ram’s 1500 EcoDiesel leads the segment’s overall fuel economy ratings.

Automobiles; Trucks and Trucking; Sports Utility Vehicles and Light Trucks; Fuel Efficiency 

I dislike the aesthetic design.

The box design is short.

The cab is bigger than I want.

Aluminum is a good material.

12

Style

Celebrities Board Coffee Bandwagon

By KATHLEEN BECKETT | Nov 23rd 2014

Coffee companies and blends with some sort of celebrity attached to them started appearing around 2010, and their numbers are growing.

Coffee; Celebrities; Luxury Goods and Services; Gifts 

I buy s&s original roast.  I brew drip @22grams to the litre with boiling water.

13

World

In Test for Premier, Italians Rally Against Plan to Relax Labor Rules

By ELISABETTA POVOLEDO | Nov 18th 2014

A tentative plan by Prime Minister Matteo Renzi that could roll back some worker protections has drawn tens of thousands to the streets.

Demonstrations, Protests and Riots; Labor and Jobs 

Austerity is a disastrous policy. 

14

U.S.

Carl Sanders, 89, Dies; Led Georgia in ’60s

By WILLIAM YARDLEY | Nov 18th 2014

In his single term as governor, Mr. Sanders cautiously navigated the racial turmoil of the time, promoting Georgia as a region of relative calm amid the storms of the South.

Governors (US); Deaths (Obituaries); Civil Rights Movement (1954-68) 

Not a person I was aware of.

15

Opinion

Stampeding Black Elephants

By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN | Nov 22nd 2014

What happens when some 6,000 park rangers, scientists, environmentalists and others gather to brainstorm how to guard and expand the earth’s protected areas?

Environment; Conservation of Resources; Water Pollution; Parks and Other Recreation Areas; National Parks, Monuments and Seashores 

Thomas L. Friedman may have "turned his coat".

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

16

N.Y. / Region

New York Chancellor Is Criticized for Remarks on Charter Schools

By KATE TAYLOR | Nov 21st 2014

Carmen Fariña said at a conference that some charter schools push students out before they take state tests and later replace them with high-scoring children.

Charter Schools 

Carmen Fariña is correct.

"Asked afterward to elaborate, Ms. Fariña told reporters, “There shouldn’t be a whole movement out of charters the month before the test,” Chalkbeat, the education news website, reported. Ms. Fariña added that she was referring to some, not all, charter schools.

She also said she wanted “to ensure that, as there are openings in upper grades, that the kids that are accepted in are not just kids who get postcards because they’re level 3’s or 4’s,” referring to the highest scores on the state tests."

17

Opinion

In Syria, Doctors Become the Victims

By LEONARD S. RUBENSTEIN and M. ZAHER SAHLOUL | Nov 19th 2014

America must help protect medical personnel from Assad’s bombs.

Doctors; Bombs and Explosives; Medicine and Health 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casualty_%28person%29

Just good tactics.

18

World

Chief of Ferry Company in South Korea Is Given 10-Year Jail Sentence

By CHOE SANG-HUN | Nov 20th 2014

Kim Han-sik, 71, the head of the Chonghaejin Marine Company, was convicted of accidental homicide and embezzlement over the sinking of the ferry Sewol in April.

Maritime Accidents and Safety; Ferries; Sentences (Criminal) 

Kim Han-sik is an empty suit.  All policy originated with the head of the conglomerate.

This is a stiff punishment for a mid level mouth piece. 

19

Science

So Far Away, Yet So Near to Us

By JOHN NOBLE WILFORD | Nov 17th 2014

Even no-nonsense scientists and engineers find themselves personalizing their surrogate explorers.

Space and Astronomy; Comets; Mars (Planet); Solar System; Planets 

The media love it.

20

Business Day

From India, Chemicals for Cleaning Up

By CHRISTOPHER F. SCHUETZE | Nov 19th 2014

An interview with Pramod Chaudhari, the founder of Praj Industries, which speciales in bioethanol, waste-water and biochemical technologies.

Water; Recycling of Waste Materials 

It sounds good.  

I want to see the details of the process.

Cellulose has proved a tougher problem than it was thought to be in the seventies.

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

http://www.praj.net/

http://www.praj.net/gen2.html

http://www.praj.net/gen2.html#.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Jagdisha/Praj_Industries

It is not a stock fraud.  It might be vapor ware.

Proceed with caution.  

It "sounds" too good.  

Do not invest more than you can comfortably loose.

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