Fragments.

Automobiles

Carmakers Take a Hint From Tablets

By JOHN R. QUAIN | Jan 1st 2015

By adopting tabletlike, touch-screen systems, automakers are integrating smartphones and online services with fewer complicated controls that frustrate and distract drivers.

Automobile Safety Features and Defects; Software; Automobiles 

"Reaching an apogee of confusion, car dashboards have become a bewildering array of screens, buttons and knobs to control functions like the radio, ventilation, advanced safety systems and Internet services."

A driver's task is getting safely down the the road.

None of these distractions aid that task.

Have fewer bells and whistles.

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Technology

Uber Suspends Operations in Spain

By MARK SCOTT | Jan 2nd 2015

In a first in the growing pushback against Uber’s global expansion, a judge’s ruling bars telecommunications operators and banks from supporting the company’s services.

Car Services and Livery Cabs; Decisions and Verdicts; Mobile Applications; Taxicabs and Taxicab Drivers 

Taxi cabs are a regulated monopoly in pursuit of traffic control and safe operation.

Uncontrolled price competition means unsafe and unprofitable operation.

3

U.S.

Missouri: Arrests at St. Louis Police Headquarters Protest

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS | Dec 31st 2014

The St. Louis police used pepper spray against several protesters Wednesday when they tried to rush into Police Headquarters.

Demonstrations, Protests and Riots; Police Brutality, Misconduct and Shootings 

Vote.

Make democracy work.

Keeping order is the task of the police.  Law enforcement is secondary.

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Opinion

A Toddler and a Gun

Jan 2nd 2015

Readers react to the accidental shooting of a mother by a toddler who reached into her purse containing a gun.

Firearms; Gun Control 

All thinking people understand.

Many people do not think.

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U.S.

Supreme Court, in Big Leap, Plans to Put Filings Online

By ADAM LIPTAK | Dec 31st 2014

Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. said the changes would come “as soon as 2016” in his annual year-end report on the condition of the federal judiciary.

Computers and the Internet; Archives and Records 

Let us not confuse systems.  Law is not primarily communications.

We can learn to deal with Spellchecker and Auto-correct. 

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World

West Bank: Settlers Throw Stones at American Consular Officials

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS | Jan 2nd 2015

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Arts

Stadiums as Contentious Symbols of National Identity

By AMY QIN and ROBIN POGREBIN | Jan 4th 2015

The debate over Zaha Hadid’s project, to be built in Tokyo for the 2020 Summer Games, illustrates how Olympic stadiums become potent symbols of architectural prowess and economic pride.

Stadiums and Arenas; Olympic Games 

It might be best to float the stadium in Tokyo bay and break it up after the Olympics.

The venue should be as fugitive as the event.

Opinion

Denied Entry to Egypt

Jan 2nd 2015

 

Sisi is an autocrat

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U.S.

Vermont Yankee Nuclear Plant Begins Slow Process of Closing

By JESS BIDGOOD | Jan 4th 2015

Vermont Yankee brought high-paying jobs and an expanded tax base to an area with precious little industry. But it drew decades of protest from residents who feared a nuclear disaster.

Nuclear Energy; Nuclear Wastes 

It has been better than coal.

2

World

Iran Leader Suggests Direct Votes on Issues

By THOMAS ERDBRINK | Jan 4th 2015

President Hassan Rouhani said Iranians were entitled to have major issues put to a nationwide vote, according to the country’s Constitution.

Referendums; Constitutions; Legislatures and Parliaments; Politics and Government 

Dislodging orthodoxy is nearly impossible.

It is easily replaced by another orthodoxy.

3

Opinion

Race and Voting Rights in Ferguson

By THE EDITORIAL BOARD | Jan 4th 2015

A lawsuit against the town’s school board shows how elections can perpetuate racial polarization.

Race and Ethnicity; Blacks; Voting Rights Act (1965); Discrimination; Voter Registration and Requirements; Segregation and Desegregation; Suits and Litigation (Civil); Law and Legislation 

Government by property tax payers has proven to be a disaster.

It leads to ruthless price competition.

The school boards must represent all those interested in the schools.

No one voice can be allowed to dominate their process.

4

U.S.

Republicans Say They’ll Act Fast to Push Agenda

By CARL HULSE | Jan 4th 2015

Eager to show that they can govern well as they take control of Congress, Republicans aim to quickly advance energy and health care legislation.

Midterm Elections (2014); Keystone Pipeline System; Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (2010); Illegal Immigration; Executive Orders and Memorandums; United States Politics and Government 

The Republicans will be frustrated.

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Health

Ebola Doctors Are Divided on IV Therapy in Africa

By DONALD G. McNEIL Jr. | Jan 1st 2015

Doctors seeking to stem the Ebola epidemic disagree on whether most patients in West Africa should, or can, be given intravenous hydration, a standard therapy in developed countries.

Ebola Virus; Epidemics 

We must do what we can.

For a better picture of the epidemic look at the food flow.

The dead do not eat or farm.

6

false

How Can Democrats Take Back the States?

By JOHN GUIDA | Jan 5th 2015

Not since the Jazz Age have Democrats been in such a poor position in the states. Some worry that it might hurt the party nationally as well.

Elections, House of Representatives; Governors (US); Law and Legislation; Legislatures and Parliaments; Midterm Elections (2014); Redistricting and Reapportionment; State Legislatures; States (US); United States Economy; United States Politics and Government; Urban Areas 

Let the Republicans win and starve the population. 

The revolt will be bloody.

The result: uncertain.  There will be a good chance of feudalism.

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U.S.

Allies Say Willingness to Talk to Anyone, Nearly His Undoing, Defines Scalise

By JASON HOROWITZ | Jan 4th 2015

Representative Steve Scalise of Louisiana will go anywhere, and talk to anyone, his friends say, and that in part may be what led him to address a group of white supremacists.

Fringe Groups and Movements; United States Politics and Government; Race and Ethnicity 

The story is a red herring.  

Scalise is a Louisiana representative.

He is elected.

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The Upshot

Here’s How Lack of Competition Can Hurt Consumers

By BINYAMIN APPELBAUM | Jan 5th 2015

A study of one corner of the mortgage market shows how a small change in rules had a big effect on profits.

Mortgages; Banking and Financial Institutions; Interest Rates; Credit and Debt; Real Estate and Housing (Residential); United States Economy; Mergers, Acquisitions and Divestitures

Interest pays the risk premium.  

The risk went up so the interest went up. 

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Opinion

How My Mom Got Hacked

By ALINA SIMONE | Jan 2nd 2015

Navigating the nefarious, shadowy world of ransomware criminals.

Cyberattacks and Hackers; Bribery and Kickbacks; Computers and the Internet; Computer Security; Bitcoin (Currency) 

I have nothing on an exposed hard drive.

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