@15:30, 1/3/15

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1

World

In Sweden, the Land of the Open Door, Anti-Muslim Sentiment Finds a Foothold

By MELISSA EDDY | Jan 3rd 2015

Amid the relentless stream of migrants to Europe that has fueled a backlash against immigrants, directed most viciously at Muslims, arson is suspected at mosques in three Swedish cities over the last 10 days.

ARSON; MOSQUES; IMMIGRATION AND EMIGRATION 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gustavus_Adolphus_of_Sweden

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thirty_Years%27_War

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ottoman_Empire

2

Your Money

Time to Assess Your Financial Fitness

By RON LIEBER | Jan 3rd 2015

To track your finacial progress, here are some personal markers you can turn to this year, and every year.

SAVINGS; RETIREMENT; DISABILITY INSURANCE; TAX CREDITS, DEDUCTIONS AND EXEMPTIONS 

Good advice for the one percent.

The one percent should be a bigger fraction.

3

Magazine

The Art World’s Patron Satan

By CHRISTOPHER GLAZEK | Jan 4th 2015

Stefan Simchowitz has supported dozens of emerging young artists. Why do so many people hate him?

ART 

"Reputations in the art world are forged over many years across countless fairs, openings, reviews and dinners. Although laypeople may look at a $30 million Richter and compare it to splatters from a second grader, Richter’s prices are determined not by chance but by the elaborate academic, journalistic and institutional infrastructure the art world has built to mete out prizes and anoint the next generation of cultural torchbearers. The collector class has traditionally come from the very top of the wealth spectrum and has included people looking to trade money for social prestige by participating in the art world’s stately rituals. Over the last few years, though, a new class of speculators has emerged with crasser objectives: They are less interested in flying to Basel to attend a dinner than in riding the economic wave that has caused the market for emerging contemporary art to surge in the past decade."

There is nothing new in "debt slavery".

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debt_bondage

(Redirected from Debt slavery)

I am curious if his aesthetic sense is cultural or genetic. 

It would be considered antisemitic to call it Hebrew or Arabic.

It is not Celtic.    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celtic_art

4

Style

The Unending Anxiety of an ICYMI World

By TEDDY WAYNE | Jan 4th 2015

The “in case you missed it” sentiment has a way of haunting us. In the Internet age, there is simply too much readable, viewable and listenable data for anyone to stay abreast of.

COMPUTERS AND THE INTERNET; SOCIAL MEDIA 

I prefer experience to the record of others experience.

"Art for arts sake." 

5

The Upshot

What 2,000 Calories Looks Like

Dec 22nd 2014

Even as restaurants talk about smaller portions, they continue to serve a full day's worth of calories in a single meal — or even a single dish.

CALORIES; DIET AND NUTRITION; FAST FOOD INDUSTRY; RESTAURANTS 

I cook for myself.

I do not use sugar.

Eating out is nearly impossible.

Fast food is post war.

6

N.Y. / Region

Many Identities of New York Officers’ Killer in a Life of Wrong Turns

By KIM BARKER, MOSI SECRET and RICHARD FAUSSET | Jan 3rd 2015

Ismaaiyl Brinsley, who killed two police officers in New York last month, seemed to be a grandstander at the end of his tether, homeless, jobless and hopeless.

MENTAL HEALTH AND DISORDERS; DEPRESSION (MENTAL); ATTACKS ON POLICE; SUICIDES AND SUICIDE ATTEMPTS 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Wilkes_Booth

Without the family, the money, the target or the cause. 

7

U.S.

Fight on Guns Is Being Taken to State Ballots

By JENNIFER STEINHAUER | Jan 3rd 2015

The gun control movement, facing mounting losses in federal elections, is tweaking its name, refining its goals and using the gay-marriage movement as a model.

GUN CONTROL; STATES (US)

We must suppress guns or madness.

I would like to suppress both guns and madness.

There are few problems a gun will solve. 

8

Opinion

Hillary Versus History

By GAIL COLLINS | Jan 3rd 2015

With only 55 weeks until the New Hampshire primary and seven months until the Iowa straw poll, there is much presidential history to contemplate.

PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION OF 2016; PRESIDENTS AND PRESIDENCY (US); UNITED STATES POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT 

History will belong to her.

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N.Y. / Region

Dying in the E.R., and on TV Without His Family’s Consent

By CHARLES ORNSTEIN | Jan 4th 2015

Months after her husband was hit by a truck, Anita Chanko watched him die again on “NY Med,” a medical series. But she hadn’t given permission for those moments to be aired.

TELEVISION; EMERGENCY MEDICAL TREATMENT 

Use the footage as story board.  

Present fiction.

10

U.S.

More Sanctions on North Korea After Sony Case

By DAVID E. SANGER and MICHAEL S. SCHMIDT | Jan 3rd 2015

The Obama administration doubled down on its allegation that North Korea’s leadership was behind the hacking of Sony Pictures.

EMBARGOES AND SANCTIONS; UNITED STATES POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT 

I do not want to know enough to have an opinion.

11

Arts

20 Shows to Watch

By MIKE HALE | Jan 2nd 2015

The winter is high season for the serious TV watcher, from a “Breaking Bad” spinoff, to the return of “Broadchurch,” to the final season of “Justified.”

TELEVISION 

I steal time for broadcast television.  I have seven channels of PBS.  There are about two channels of programing.  I miss a lot.

12

Arts

Donna Douglas, the Fairest ‘Beverly Hillbilly,’ Dies at 82

By DAVID STOUT | Jan 3rd 2015

Ms. Douglas played the shapely daughter of the mountaineer Jed Clampett on the wildly popular television sitcom “The Beverly Hillbillies.”

TELEVISION 

Rest in peace.

My world is less decorated.

13

Opinion

Twin Peaks Planet

By PAUL KRUGMAN | Jan 2nd 2015

Our current global setup isn’t working for everyone. What consequences from that are ahead if we don’t do something about it?

INCOME INEQUALITY; ECONOMIC CONDITIONS AND TRENDS; FRINGE GROUPS AND MOVEMENTS; INCOME; POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT 

Read it and look at the picture.

14

Opinion

The Abortion Stereotype

By RAZIB KHAN | Jan 3rd 2015

Think of it less as a “war on women,” and more as a war among them.

WOMEN AND GIRLS; ABORTION; RELIGION AND BELIEF; UNITED STATES POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT 

"All this has important consequences for a pluralistic society in which politics aspires to be the art of persuasion. Abortion is arguably the most polarizing social issue in the United States, and despite the data at our fingertips, many succumb to caricatures of their opponents.

A greater engagement with the facts would enable those who support abortion rights to consider why so many women do not, rather than dismissing their political opponents as motivated by misogyny or false consciousness. Equally, looking at the skewed racial demographics of abortion might encourage conservatives to reconsider the idea that reproductive justice is purely a concern of privileged white feminists.

We live in a world with a surfeit of information at our service. It is our choice whether we seek out data that reinforce our biases or choose to look at the world in a critical, rational manner, and allow reality to bend our preconceptions. In the long run, the truth will work better for us than our cherished fictions."

I insist that child bearing, like sex and marriage, must be voluntary.

15

Travel

8 Ways to Save on Travel in 2015

By SETH KUGEL | Jan 4th 2015

Tips on how to save money by better using tools you already know.

BUDGET TRAVEL; TRAVEL AND VACATIONS 

Yes, planning ahead helps.

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

16

Opinion

A Republican Ruse to Make Tax Cuts Look Good

By EDWARD D. KLEINBARD | Jan 3rd 2015

“Dynamic scoring” is the wrong way to estimate government revenues.

FEDERAL TAXES (US); BUDGETS AND BUDGETING; UNITED STATES ECONOMY 

"Simply cutting taxes against the headwind of structural deficits leads to lower growth, as government borrowing soaks up an ever-increasing share of savings."

"Crowding out" does not happen.

The proposed change is a disaster.

The presented here argument against it is false.

17

Arts

‘Downton Abbey’ and History: A Look Back

By KATHRYN SHATTUCK and HUBERT MANDEVILLE | Dec 31st 2014

“Downton Abbey,” which returns for its fifth season on PBS on Sunday, weaves a surprising amount of authentic historical context into its plots. A multimedia timeline explores the show’s period details, and how those events have been covered in The New York Times.

TELEVISION 

The producers try hard to get it right.

I do not intend to live that mannered existence even if I could afford it.

18

Travel

A Crash Course in Airbnb

By STUART MILLER | Jan 4th 2015

Tired of generic motels, a family tried the vacation-rental website and had memorable, if not always cozy, experiences.

TRAVEL AND VACATIONS 

Make a plan.  

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

19

U.S.

Gay Marriage Prompts Call for Clergy to Shun Civil Ceremonies

By MARK OPPENHEIMER | Jan 3rd 2015

A pledge taken by some pastors not to sign state marriage licenses has stirred a debate in the conservative Christian world over the church’s connection to culture and government.

SAME-SEX MARRIAGE, CIVIL UNIONS AND DOMESTIC PARTNERSHIPS; CLERGY; MARRIAGES 

I will participate in any ceremony you wish.  

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

Practical details must get resolved.  

Usually there are signatures and fees along with at least one ring.

20

Opinion

The Age of Bibi

By DAVID BROOKS | Jan 2nd 2015

Bellicose in words yet cautious in action, Benjamin Netanyahu is a man of contrasts, and he is subtly reshaping Israel.

POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT 

Israel must give the Palestinians justice.

No more, no less. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Justice

There is a political problem in that

I am going to be preoccupied  from the evening of the eleventh to the morning of the fourteenth.

I will be away from my terminal and land line tomorrow afternoon and evening.

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