The 9/11 Decade - The Price of Lost Chances - NYTimes.com

Going Green but Getting Nowhere - NYTimes.com

Economic Outlook No. 89

CBC Television - Little Mosque on the Prairie

For a Town on a Flood Plain, Doubts About Rebuilding - NYTimes.com

I think we do need to rethink the idea of the rest of us supporting transportation and other utilities - and general welfare - for people who choose to live or work in risky places. The burden of that risk should shift significantly in their direction, I believe. The rest of us should not be responsible for the risk takers. That's their responsibility.

All-American, Floor to Roof? Not So Simple - NYTimes.com

Imagine how imposssible this would be, buy unnecessarily so, to do this with all "Made in North Carolina" materials?

"Two dead, homes burned in Texas wildfires" - Reuters

Why isn't Texas Governor Rick PERRY a) in Texas addressing this horrific problem in person, b) devoting so much time to something other that what he was elected to do there, and c) not diverting money he raises for his campaign to addressing, right now, the fires and drought of Texas?

He must have been listening, I might add! However, "monitor" was not what I had in mind.

Jobs Will Follow a Strengthening of the Middle Class - NYTimes.com

Rowboat Nostalgia - Rentals at Central Park and Clove Lakes - NYTimes.com

Aix-en-Provence | Une société aixoise aurait équipé les espions de Kadhafi | La Provence

I hear some people say that newspapers can never hope to remain in the "news" business. Then I read something like the piece that sparked this one - from the Wall Street Journal to La Provence in the South of France. And I think to myself and write here - it's very hard - impossible, in face - to imagine that a volunteer "correspondent" is going to be able to do this kind of professional reporting. It just cannot happen regularly, day in, day out. There is no way. And yet by not supporting news organizations and paying for the work they do, we are moving inevitably toward that unsatisfactory future.

Let's call it Hurricane Euro | Marketplace From American Public Media

Why couldn't we come up with a graphic that shows a euro fallout storm headed to the US and plot its progress across the Atlantic, at least?

Numbers in triangles on plastic

Am I the only one who has trouble reading the numbers in the triangles on most plastic containers we buy today? Why not make it easier to read so we can know how to dispose of them without doing a tombstone rubbing to read them?

The Haimish Line - NYTimes.com

Megan Ellison and Annapurna Pictures Tackle Hollywood - NYTimes.com

On a continuum one end of which is entertainment and on the other end is hard news, there does not seem to be a lot of interest by new investors in the latter, does there?

Test

Photos of Abandoned Housing Complexes in Ireland - NYTimes.com

E.U. Elites Keep Power From the People - NYTimes.com

The European Conundrum - NYTimes.com

Homeowners Need Help - NYTimes.com

I have an increasingly big problem accepting any idea that would aid homeowners who - for a variety of reasons, most often related to ego - bought a house they really did not need for much more money than they could afford. We should not have to bail out people in that situation. It should cost them for some time to accept the need to leave a more expensive home and move to where they really ought to have been in the first place.

Contact Us - Rasmussen Reports™

Another unsolicited survey call this morning, now from this outfit. I punched 3 for put us on your do not call list, and I called them as well asking for a confirming return call to insure we are on that list. It's offensive that they offer no electronic option to contact them. Must be a lot of people complaining as I am.

[Rasmussen called back to say that they would doublecheck that our number had been removed.]

"american survey foundation" - Bing

I just got an automated survey call from an outfit calling itself "American Survey Foundation" saying they wanted me to answer questions relating to the 2012 election. I hung up. It's curious to me that nothing pops in a web search for that name. I am not surprised not to find a listing for them; I am surprised that no one else has posted a comment or observation like this one.

A Summer Camp to Lure Girls Into Manufacturing Careers - NYTimes.com

What a great program!

Austerity Is the Wrong Idea - NYTimes.com

I wonder why we don't hear - "Those who can, spend!"? No one should spend beyond their means (imagine!), but millions of Americans can spend without exceding their means. Why are we not encouraging them to do so? Why force it all through government? It ought to be a multipronged (at least two - private and government) to get more money into the job-supporting economy, I think.

Fewer Youths to Be Deported in New Policy - NYTimes.com

Illegal is illegal. Change the law, not its application. If we cannot change the law, it is the way it is.

Foreign Students in Work Visa Program Stage Walkout at Plant - NYTimes.com

Federal Policy Resulting in Wave of Deportations Draws Protests - NYTimes.com

I continue to believe that the core of this entire issues is a quesiton of law and law violation. Obey the law coming into the US, and obey it here. If you break the law, you suffer the consequences. It rankles me to hear "illegals" used so often as though it was a description of someone's height.If people are here illegally, they have broken the law, and should suffere the consequences.

We ought to focus on what the law should be and what the consequences should be. But law "breakers"get prosecuted here, regardless of their background.

Raw Data on Economic Growth Paints Fuzzy Picture - NYTimes.com

Surely, we can do better than this!

A Recess Destination With Bipartisan Support - Israel and the West Bank - NYTimes.com

It is embarrassing to see all of this attention paid to Israel when there are so many other countries in the world that deserve the time and attention of these our elected representatives. Israel is no more or less important than all of the others.

Stop Coddling the Super-Rich - NYTimes.com

So let's start this by having all of those rich people tell us how they are spenidng what they earn on spurring the economy. Perhaps we have already identifed someone who will start that process?

Alabama Law Criminalizes Samaritans, Bishops Say - NYTimes.com

I have spent a career dedicated to human rights, but I cannot convince myself that we should treat people who violate some laws diferently than others. If people come to the US in violation of a law, they should be arrested and treated fairly under our laws. Why should some who break laws be treated differently than others? I have never seen a convincing answer to that question.

Ehsan Yarshater’s Encyclopedia of Iranian History - NYTimes.com

Deal Would Bring Inspections of Overseas Drug Suppliers - NYTimes.com

If I were the President, I'd be touting advances like this a lot more. Americans need to hear that the "government" is at work and doing good things.

Where Will Economic Growth Come From? - NYTimes.com

It seems to me as a non-economist that growth is going to come when people and organizations (i.e., mostly businesses and governments) spend more by way of purchasing and/or investing.

Governments everywhere claim to be out of resources for them to do this, and the will to borrow seems to have evaporated, for better or worse.

So put that group aside for the moment.

Then take organizations. Sure, there are non-profits and others who could spend more of their money either giving it away or buying stuff to give to others, or at least investing it in a way that adds to growth.

But it's the two remaining groups - businesses and individuals - that offer the greatest opportunity.

There is no point beating up businesses to hire people just to reduce unemployment if they do not need them. But businesses do have a fiduciary and moral obligation to support the economic health of the markets they serve.

So why shouldn't they start buying more things that they can give to people unable to afford them. The buying of the goods and services means that those vendors/providers wind up doing better, mayeb even hiring more people with enough of this. The company does better because the economy improves. And, lest anyone forget it, the people who really need help with basic necessities get some help beyond whatever governments provide.

That idea has not receive a lot of attention.

This one has received none.

Why not start asking rich people - people with more money than anyone with a conscious might say they need - to do the same. They could start simply buying things in their local markets that other people need and cannot afford. Local food. Local products. Local services.

Just give these things to the people who need them and don't expect a tax deduction.

So what if you wind up with a net worth of 3 million USD instead of 3.5 million as a result?

Imagine what the 500,000 could do for the economy and some wonderful fellow citizens.

Rachel’s Last Fund-Raiser - NYTimes.com

America's Newspaper History Gets Mapped - Technology - The Atlantic Wire

What Happened to Obama’s Passion? - NYTimes.com

What a global food crisis looks like: Oxfam's food prices map | Oxfam International

Imagine connecting a newspaper - not just a link, but an institution - to each of these countries and their food stories.

The Global Food Crisis, Mapped - NYTimes.com

Off Media Radar, Famine Garners Few Donations - NYTimes.com

What if we could all set up our start or home pages - whatever we look at first and most - to telll us of a pressing need in the world every day and the chance to simply program it so that entering an amount and one click would make it happen? In other words, something that would treat every charitable cause the same way?

Somali Tied to Militants Held on U.S. Ship for Months - NYTimes.com

Imagine that you are overseas. Imagine that someone acting on behalf of the country's government where you are apprehends you. Imagine that they put you on a ship at sea. Imagine that they inerrogate you there for two months.

Imagine you are innocent of anything that might have justified your apprehension.

With the US doing the first paragraph, and not worrying about many legal protections for the second, how would you argue - and to whom - that this should not happen to you?

Think about it. It may be the scariest scenario that you could imagine, and the one that is increasingly a viable risk.

If we do not apply our innocence presumption and lawyer guaranteed rules to anyone we apprehend, we do far more than invite other countries to do the same with US citizens.

It's a cause not only of immense shame but huge danger to millions of Americans.

Local Laws Fighting Fat Under Siege - NYTimes.com

That's fine if they want to do this. But require obese people in those communities to pay for their own health care entirely out of their own pockets - no insurance of any kind that operates on any notion of shared risk.

Let’s Make a Deal, Amazon Tells Texas - NYTimes.com

Why does the word bribery so quickly come to mind?

Ads with no connections?

This ad appears now on the NYTimes.com home page as I access it in Nice, France. I moused over it, and wanted to know more about the prize. No contact link here. Nothing comes up in Bing search, and the website for BNP is hopeless. Shouldn't the NYT better connect us customers with NYT advertisers, every one of them?

Come Meet the Author, but Be Prepared to Open Your Wallet - NYTimes.com

I always thought this made a lot of sense. Now the independent bookstores have to offer e-book options at the same time on all of the possible readers. One ought not have to buy a printed book in this situation.

Countdown with Keith Olbermann

It seems somehow quite astounding, as I sit here in France, that Current TV seems to have made no provision for how it can offer me the new Keith OLBERMANN show. When I say "offer", I mean on their terms. They have not figured out a way to give it to me with advertising for which they receive payment and the advertiser gets my eyes. Nor have they figured out a way to offer it to me such that I pay them directly for each show or a subscription.

What's the barrier?

This is all they say:

"If you missed the show, it'll be replayed at 11/10c and we’ll be posting video clip highlights on our webpage: http://t.co/uY3MfPb"

The Weirdness of Walking to Raise Money - NYTimes.com

Quick Guide to the Greek crisis | Reuters

Which newspaper has set up the best wiki-style summary like this one, and is committed to keeping it up to date? If no newsppaer is doing so, then to what source that is are any newspapers making a link?

French newspapers and US newspapers - ever heard of one another?

It's bad enough that most US newspapers, and most French newspapers, would not dream of adding links (most of the time) to any other newspaper in their country for a different perspective, added depth or breadth on a story. In some ways, it's even worse when they refuse to do this across the sea.
The Dominique STRAUSS-KAHN case is a perfect example, and perhaps the best. Sure, the articles and the source materials in some cases appear in languages other than the first language of most of their cusotmers, but what's to be lost (and how much ot be gained!) by giving customers a chance - using various online translation tools if necessary - to see how the "other side" of the Atlantic is reporting the case. It's complicated for people in each country to understand the other's criminal justice system in all its aspects, and why not pull out all the stops - add all the links - in order to give readers their best shot at comprehending the full story? Isn't that what newspapers are supposed to do? If I have time, I will add some examples. This morning, here in France, I heard a report on French radio of the release of the prosecution's summary of events at the time of STRAUSS-KAHN's arrest. The announcer said that the full text was on the Europe1 website. English, French, links to anything else?

That same document as posted on the NYTimes site, and on Europe1.

High-Tech Tools for Customer Service - NYTimes.com

How many newspapers are doing this sort of thing?

Ron Johnson, Apple Stores Chief, to Lead J.C. Penney - NYTimes.com

Imagine what he might do if hired to takeover Newspapers, Inc (i.e., the newspaper business)?

NPR reporter: ‘You know you cannot tape my speech’ | Poynter.

The growing arrogance of NPR people on and off air is getting really irritating. Many of them are very good, but none of them is that good.

Hearst Brings Digital Shopping to Its Magazines - NYTimes.com

Which newspapers are doing this sort of thing?

‘The Waste Land’ by App - NYTimes.com

This is fascinating!

Imagine if every newspaper story did the same?

Why exactly can we not access the same thing - paying the same price - on the web?

Russian Fugitive Buys 20 Percent of Israeli Daily - NYTimes.com

It's the ad , "stupid". This story is of interest, but as interesting as it is, the banner ad on the page caught my eye even more:

When Food Kills - NYTimes.com

"Yet while the terrorist attacks of 2001 led us to transform the way we approach national security, the deaths of almost twice as many people annually have still not generated basic food-safety initiatives."
Think about that the next time you spend a half hour going through the ridiculous TSA inspections in order to get on an airplane.

TheUnion.com Online News | Grass Valley & Nevada County California

Can the Planet Support More Americas? - NYTimes.com

Prices

In three separate reports today, I heard what very different things were worth in a marketplace where price is determined by the buyer. Not sure what to make of this....
+ $43,000 USD paid by an Asian person on the web for a bottle of 200 year old champagne found at the bottom of the sea (near Finland, I think)
+ $25 USD the new suggested admission fee to visit the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City
+ A kidney to get an iPad2 and a laptop for a Chinese teenager

E. coli: Treatments and drugs - MayoClinic.com

Hands Off Our Houses - NYTimes.com

This is such a crying need; we need to work harder at creative solutions to the core problem. I believe the answer lies in a little bit of several ideas, but remain bullish on the concept of modular building practices.

Casey B. Mulligan: Listing Gun Owners Might Help Criminals - NYTimes.com

For me, transparency, and its importance in our society, trumps all of the arguments presented here.

The Bilingual Advantage - NYTimes.com

Sure is nice to know that continuing a second language may have even more benefits than being able to communicate with other people in THEIR language!

The New York Times

We are 7 day/week print subscribers and have been for decades.
With all of the promotion of access to other digital platforms, I asked the Times if our subscription includes accessing the Times on Kindle. It does not, they replied, and did not even offer a reduced rate for the add-on Kindle service!

Online Pharmacy for Prescription Drugs - CVS Pharmacy Drug Store

I watched all of the cars lined up for prescriptions outside the CVS in Chapel Hill, NC today. Engines running, fumes pouring out of their exhausts. Passengers getting no exercise.
Wouldn't it be a whole lot healthier for everyone to make customers walk inside?

Irish village embraces Obama as its own - CSMonitor.com

To Fly or to Walk - NYTimes.com

Hardblogger - Matthews gives commencement advice

The Force of the Deed - NYTimes.com

I disagree at a fundamental level.
If Roger COHEN is ever stopped by a police officer alleging that COHEN has commited a crime, surely COHEN will not object. If it was clear to the police officer that COHEN had committed a crime, arrest him, put him in jail, and rid the street of his criminality.
Why, as I would, would you want the "deed" done in any other way?
Justice, right?
The mission was carried out with apparent superb skill.
We may yet learn that killing Bin Laden was the only reasonable option and if so I will join in the salute. But not until we know more.
For me, that's what justic is all about - knowing the facts and applying the rules.
It's not the satisfaction that may come to some from harm or death inflicted; it's in knowing that principles were applied well, principles that should guide the rest of our lives as well.
No exceptions.

CUNY Dusts Itself Off After Tony Kushner Stumble - NYTimes.com

One thing for sure about this obnoxious episode: it never would have been an issue had it not been Israel that figured in the decision. It's not a sacred cow and should never be treated as one.

After Bust in Ireland, Ordinary People Make Do With Less - NYTimes.com

Valerie Lucznikowska says Bin Laden should have been brought in alive - Democratic Underground

The reactions to what she said are far more troubling than the point she made so articulately when I watched her on CNN midday today.

Arabs Question Bin Laden's Killing, Sea Burial - NYTimes.com

Justice

My colleague, Geoffrey ROBERTSON, the UK lawyer, has voiced on the BBC my own sentiments about Bin LADEN. I am deeply troubled by the way this was handled and the failure, yet again, to respect a principle that is fundamentally American, I believe. That principle is that those accused of crimes are entitled to the same protection, regardless of how atrocious the crimes of which they are accused may be. That includes Osama Bin LADEN and and I am not at all proud of what we know so far about how the matter evolved in Pakistan. If the same sorts of efforts were made that would be made in the apprehension of a fugitive in the US by local or federal law enforcement were used in Pakistan, then I will change my view.
This report in the Guardian - later today - does not boost my confidence.

MSNBC's Lawrence O'Donnell Criticizes NBC for Handling of Trump - NYTimes.com

MediaPost Publications Newspapers Deliver; Consumers Take Action 04/27/2011

‘Three Cups of Tea,’ Spilled - NYTimes.com

If I were KRISTOF, I would not have written this column. Instead, I would spent my time researching and not mouthing off in emotional support of his friend, but rather helping us all get to the truth of the matter, if it lies beyond the CBS report. It's so much easier to lean back and pontificate than to do the heard research that CBS started and that others must finish. No cause is worth gross deception and waste, if that proves to be the case here.

Greg Mortenson, ‘Three Cups of Tea’ Author, Disputes CBS Report - NYTimes.com

I still don't see any investigative reporting yet on this other than by CBS. This story is just a he said, she said recount. Reporters ought to be able to do so much better than that.

‘60 Minutes’ Report Casts Doubt on ‘Three Cups of Tea’ - NYTimes.com

With all of the reporters in the those countries, why has it taken this long for this research to be done, if accurate? If inaccurate, where are the reports by other news organizations correcting the 60 Minutes report? Either way, reporters seem asleep at the switch to me.

Ahem! Are You Talking to Me? (Or Texting?) - NYTimes.com

Gogobot, New Travel Site, Gets Personal - NYTimes.com

What's the newspaper article equivalent of this?

Gogobot, New Travel Site, Gets Personal - NYTimes.com

What's the newspaper article equivalent of this?

Black Journalists Group Leaves Minority Coalition - NYTimes.com

Times of Upheaval - NYTimes.com

Previewing the paper

Twenty years ago, I started giving speeches on how newspapers needed to come up with a summary of what's in today's paper and send it out by e-mail when the presses started. Few ever did this. Now the New York Times is doing precisely what I had in mind only by daily podcast. What's more, they are doing it very well!!

CNN Ratings Fall as Breaking News Fades - NYTimes.com

My hunch is that if we graphed the CNN audience and we graphed the circulation of the Washington Post, for example, CNN would look at lot more volatile than would the Post, but that's a hunch.

Religion Does Its Worst - NYTimes.com

For those of us who are "believers", it's sad to learn that Roger COHEN is not, but better words could not be written by anyone I know who is.

Cowardice Blocks the 9/11 Trial - NYTimes.com

On The Media: Transcript of "The Conclusion of the Blow the Whistle Project" (April 1, 2011)

We used a technique very similar to this to override President FORD's first veto in office - of a bill to amend the federal Freedom of Information Act in 1974, going on 40 years ago! We made a list of all the Representatives, added the announced intention to vote next to those we had and told the others we'd release the document BEFORE the vote. It worked.

An Argument for Travel During Turbulent Times - NYTimes.com

Yahoo! France

I don't really know why computer-connected life turns out to be as frustrating as it too often does. Without success, I have just spent far too much time trying to figure out how to switch a Yahoo! search page to English from French. The French is fine but I sense the results I am getting are geared quite strongly to France and while that is helpful on some, it is not on others. But I can find no button to click or place to go that allows me to do this. What am I missing?

Google’s Book Deal - NYTimes.com

So what's the difference between a universal library and a universal newsstand or universal news?

Crowdsourcing a Better World - NYTimes.com

Teaching to the Text Message - NYTimes.com

Losing Our Way - NYTimes.com

Radio Shack Gun Giveaway: Montana Store Offers Free Firearm With Dish Network Purchase

If this is true, I'm finished shopping at Radio Shack. But, as much as this offends me, the amateurish "reporting" of the story is pretty bad as well. Where is the attempt to contact Radio Shack? Too much work? Lazy people produce poor quality stuff. It's true everywhere.

For Better Engine Efficiency, a Different Kind of Throttle - NYTimes.com

Cinquecento, What Took You So Long? - NYTimes.com

Fiat's Petite Italian Model Seeks Love in America - NYTimes.com

Driving the Fiat 500: A Spicy Mini-Meatball - NYTimes.com#more-92892

Be Ruthless or Stay Out - NYTimes.com