@21:00, 2/24/15

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1

Sports

Bach Is ‘Very Satisfied’ With Rio’s Olympic Preparations

By REUTERS | Feb 24th 2015

The International Olympic Committee president, Thomas Bach, made upbeat comments 10 months after the I.O.C. vice president John Coates described Brazil’s organization as the “worst ever.”

Olympic Games (2016); Olympic Games 

"The International Olympic Committee president, Thomas Bach, said he was “very satisfied” with Rio de Janeiro’s preparations to host in 2016. Bach’s comments came 10 months after the I.O.C. vice president, John Coates, described Brazil’s organization as the “worst ever.”"

He is telling the required tale.

2

Sports

Reggie Jackson's Debut With Pistons Ends With Win Over Wizards

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS | Feb 22nd 2015

After a win over the Wizards, the Pistons are 2-0 since trading four players to get Reggie Jackson and Tayshaun Prince at the trading deadline Thursday.

Basketball 

http://query.nytimes.com/search/sitesearch/#/detroit

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/26/business/smallbusiness/how-wayne-state-police-helped-breathe-life-into-a-blighted-detroit-strip.html

"Years of dogged, incremental work went into the district’s renaissance, much of it led by the nonprofit development group Midtown Detroit Inc. But those who live and work in the area also point to a more unusual catalyst: the Wayne State University police department, which has become the primary security force in Midtown.

This is no ordinary campus police squad. The department, which spends most of its time operating beyond the university, has invested in high-tech security equipment that looks as if it came straight from the set of “C.S.I.” Since most small businesses operate on razor-thin margins and cannot afford the financial toll of even petty crime, the force has been one of the area’s biggest assets, residents and owners say."

A college town grows among the ruins.

3

Sports

Upset of No. 9 Utah Bolsters Oregon’s N.C.A.A. Prospects

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS | Feb 22nd 2015

The host Ducks earned their first win over a top-10 team since defeating then-No. 3 Arizona last season.

Basketball (College) 

UConn. has made the playoffs.

4

Real Estate

$1,850,000 Homes in Texas, Arizona and Wisconsin

By MIKE POWELL | Feb 25th 2015

This week’s properties includes a compound in Arizona, a converted barn and a farmhouse in Wisconsin and a contemporary in Texas.

I don't want that much house.

5

Sports

Video: Skiing With the Sport’s Next Generation

Video by TETON GRAVITY RESEARCH | Feb 25th 2015

The veteran skier Sage Cattabriga-Alosa spent a day skiing with the young talent in Alta, a ski resort in the Wasatch Mountains of Utah.

Skiing 

I never learned the skills.

6

N.Y. / Region

Chris Christie’s Budget Address Plan Is in Disarray

By KATE ZERNIKE | Feb 24th 2015

The New Jersey governor’s annual speech, set for Tuesday, was uncertain after a judge ruled that Mr. Christie had to find $1.57 billion in state pension fund payments.

Budgets and Budgeting; Pensions and Retirement Plans; Speeches and Statements 

Chris Christie has lost his bid for the presidency.

7

Sports

Napoli Makes Headway in Serie A

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS | Feb 23rd 2015

Napoli beat Sassuolo, 2-0, at home to move within 3 points of second-place Roma in Serie A. Duvan Zapata and Marek Hamsik combined for the goals.

Soccer 

It is the other football.

I do not know enough to appreciate the strategy.

8

Home & Garden

How NOLA Can You Go?

By PENELOPE GREEN | Feb 25th 2015

A pair of exiles from New Orleans have put down roots in Brooklyn — among their own.

Interior Design and Furnishings 

There is a customer base.

9

Opinion

A Disease Doctors Refuse to See

By JULIE REHMEYER | Feb 25th 2015

Only effective tests for chronic fatigue syndrome will change its image.

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome; Tests (Medical); Doctors; Research 

Lack of sleep leaves one tired.

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome is not helped by sleep.

10

Opinion

How Should We Eat?

By MARK BITTMAN | Feb 25th 2015

Food-industry representatives hate the recommendations in a new nutrition-panel report — a good indicator of its value — but they should become policy.

Diet and Nutrition; Food; Lobbying and Lobbyists; Factory Farming; Cholesterol 

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/28/magazine/28nutritionism.t.html

I question the whole grains position.

Glucose is food.  Fructose is toxic.

 

11

U.S.

A Back-and-Forth View of the President’s Executive Power

By PETER BAKER | Feb 25th 2015

This week, President Obama and Republicans have swung between advocating a muscular assertion of executive authority and seeking to circumscribe it.

Presidents and Presidency (US); Executive Orders and Memorandums 

The Republican Party does not and should not control the executive powers.

They object.

12

Real Estate

House Hunting in ... Italy

By VIRGINIA C. McGUIRE | Feb 25th 2015

Prices have remained low in Italy following the global financial crisis, but real estate brokers say they are seeing more inquiries from potential buyers than last year.

Real Estate and Housing (Residential) 

I would be isolated.  I would have difficulty working as a designer.  

I could probably bear it. 

It would not be my choice. 

13

N.Y. / Region

As a Social Service Agency Collapses, a Union Leader Worries for Its Workers

By RACHEL L. SWARNS | Feb 22nd 2015

Lorraine Guest, a FEGS Health and Human Services employee for 25 years and the president of District Council 1707, has been fielding anxious queries from her members about new jobs.

Labor and Jobs; Layoffs and Job Reductions 

"Many of us are looking for straight answers when it comes to FEGS. The 80-year-old agency, which has $202 million in multiple-year contracts with the city, said in January that it could no longer provide services after uncovering a $19.4 million shortfall and other financial problems. The Manhattan district attorney’s office is investigating the matter, according to two people familiar with the inquiry who asked not to be identified because they are not authorized to discuss the matter."

14

Science

Rats May Be Exonerated in European Plague, Say Scientists With a Gerbil Theory

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS | Feb 24th 2015

Researchers suggest that the bacterium behind the Black Death was repeatedly imported via gerbils and other mammals in Asia.

Epidemics; Bubonic Plague; Rodents; Science and Technology 

Reasonable and interesting.

15

Sports

UConn Player Byron Jones Shines at Combine

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS | Feb 23rd 2015

Jones soared 12 feet 3 inches in the broad jump at the N.F.L. scouting combine. That is eight inches better than any jump in the combine database.

Football 

The next game for the UConn women is on the twenty eighth.

16

Business Day

Globalization That Works for Workers at Home

By EDUARDO PORTER | Feb 24th 2015

Writing labor and environmental standards into international trade agreements has had little effect. Perhaps real change should start at home.

International Trade and World Market; North American Free Trade Agreement; Trans-Pacific Partnership; Labor and Jobs 

The social safety net is necessary.  

Probably the best thing we could do to protect workers in this country would be to aggressively unionize the low wage nations.

I cannot see the Republican party supporting such an effort.

17

U.S.

U.S. Asks Judge to Lift His Block on Obama’s Immigration Actions

By REUTERS | Feb 23rd 2015

The Justice Department asked a federal judge on Monday for an emergency stay that would put on hold his decision that temporarily blocked President Obama’s executive actions on immigration.

Immigration and Emigration 

Asking politely is a first step.

Beating  Judge Andrew Hanen on appeal will be necessary.

18

U.S.

Rule Change Sought by Tech Firms Will Allow Some Spouses of Immigrants to Work

By JULIA PRESTON | Feb 24th 2015

The new rule, which mainly affects workers from some Asian countries who have applied for permanent resident green cards, added to a debate over President Obama’s executive actions.

Foreign Workers; Immigration and Emigration; Visas; Executive Orders and Memorandums 

Cheap engineering talent is the goal of the tech industry.  This rule change will add marginally to the pool.

19

U.S.

Food Waste Is Becoming Serious Economic and Environmental Issue, Report Says

By RON NIXON | Feb 25th 2015

A report released Wednesday shows that about 60 million metric tons of food is wasted a year in the United States, a problem that contributes to climate change and to the loss of natural resources like water and land.

Food; Waste Materials and Disposal; Greenhouse Gas Emissions 

Food waste causes cheap food.

The price falls until consumed production meets the cost of production. 

Unconsumed production is waste.

People starve if consumption is limited by price.

We would rather not get rid of all food waste.

20

U.S.

Word of Threat Cuts Short Hearing on Right-to-Work Measure in Wisconsin

By MITCH SMITH | Feb 24th 2015

In a hurried roll call as protesters chanted in opposition, legislators voted to advance to the full Senate a bill that would bar unions from requiring workers to pay the equivalent of dues.

Organized Labor; Law and Legislation; Demonstrations, Protests and Riots 

Wisconsin may get some industry.  

The result will not be good. 

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