"For Rhode Island, the Pension Crisis Is Now" - NYTimes.com

So, Rhode Island's population is a little over 1 million. How do we calculate - or where do we find its GDP? Why? Because it would be interesting to compare it with Greece with a population of nearly 11.5 million and a GDP of about (changing target for sure) 300 billion USD. How do they compare, being at the small and suffering end of their respective communities - the US and EU?

"Where Islam and democracy meet, uneasily" - David Rohde

A useful view of Turkey.

Catalogue du 26 au 31 Octobre 2011

What's the difference between this and a newspaper? It's not a trick question.

Europe

I posted this on Facebook earlier in response to a post from an old friend:
"Well, the crisis here in Europe may or may not be the result of Wall Street or other US actions, or even banks in both places. What it has become is more clear ant it is a Europe-wide self-analysis of all of the elements of the European Union. Everything about Europe is coming into question as the differences between north and south, for example or between west and the new members in the east become more important than ever. European versions of real estate crises, and market deflations combined with inflation, and the shock of sudden change forced by someone in Brussels or in some combination of France and Germany is just overwhelming millions of people in ways that are only suggested by what we see in the US. The Financial Times calculated that the Greek austerity plan – on average – is costing each household in Greece 14% of its income, double what the Irish are losing. Meanwhile there are dramatic differences between the French and German positions, and one hopes they get resolved before the G20 meeting near here in coming weeks. I think the chances of the EU staying together as it now is constituted are 50-50 at best. Leaders here are going to fall fast, I think, and what follows is anybody’s guess. President SARKOZY now (as of yesterday) polls 23% of the votes in next March’s presidential election, only 4% more than the extreme right candidate of the National Front. BERLUSCONI hangs on by a thin spaghetti strand, Ireland has already dumped its government, others are in flux, too. The only happy news here in a week has been the birth of a daughter – Julia - to SARKOZY and his wife, Carla BRUNI while he was trying to work out an agreement with MERKEL in Germany."

"Google+ va autoriser l'utilisation des pseudonymes" - Le Monde

If I understsand correctly what Google has said, it is one of the worst decisions that I think the company has ever made.

"Bus Segregation of Jewish Women Prompts Review" - NYTimes.com

This should not happen on public transportation in the US no matter what religion is involved. Period.

"Euro, Meant to Unite Europe, Seems to Be Dividing It" - NYTimes.com

Alas, if anything, I think this understates the crisis. It is so fundamental as to be possibly insurmountable. And if not resolvable, then what? I have no clear idea.

"Murdochs’ Infighting Clouds Future of News Corp" - NYTimes.com

This may be a good time to reflect a little on "modern management" v. "family control". That reflection ought to start with the realization that neither is better than the other, but that the media "family controled" firms are few and far between and so the future is likely to be much more of the former and little or none of the latter. That is to say - this is a story we may never see again.

"Five Point Snacks Takes a Stand" - NYTimes.com

I am surprised that more products did not start doing this sort of thing a long time ago for all sorts of causes.

"Limbaugh Defends Lord's Resistance Army" - NYTimes.com

To label Rush LIMBAUGH an ass is to lavish too much praise upon him.

"A Hostage-Taker Calls, and a French News Blog Begins Tweeting" - NYTimes.com

Most reporters are running huge risks in acting on anything that comes to them over a social network.

Recession interest

Compare these two - this from The Economist and this from Google.

"Bahraini Medics Seek Probe Of Prison Sentences" - NPR

I expect our President to speak out against this punishment. Where is his statement? What are his actions? If this is not a no-brainer - i.e., speak out - I don't know what is. Please, show us what we thought you were, Mr. President!

"With Deaths of Forests, a Loss of Crucial Climate Protectors" - NYTimes.com

I'd sure like to understand this from a North Carolina perspective, and then take that understanding more global. The world looks different depending on where you look at it.

"Central Falls, R.I., Library Fights to Stay Open" - NYTimes.com

I wonder why newspapers have not succeeded in creating similar loyalty. Think about it.

"Killing the Recovery" - NYTimes.com

I still don't understand why spending by everyone is not important. Is government the only entity that should spend more? Should everyone else only save or spend just what's necessary? I don't see how a yes to that question advances any economic ball very much. What are the workers expected to do who might be hired by government anywhere - spend the money they earn or save it? Why does no one address this? I fear it is because there is no good answer.

"We're All Just 'Guys'" -NPR

Good point!

"Can This Retailer Make It in New York?" - NYTimes.com

I wonder how many NC stories there are like this one?

"An Indefensible Punishment" - NYTimes.com

I agree.

Print and apps

It sure is tough and overwhelming. See this.

"For University of Wisconsin, New Facebook Fans Pay Off" - NYTimes.com

I saw a local grocery story today that seems to have no website but has a Facebook "like" option. And then this.

Who has time to look at all this stuff? There must be a lot of people out there - really? - who have gobs of time on their hands and an intense need to read this kind of material that I find most often of no interest or value whatsoever.

"Palestinian Statehood: Mixed Views, Low Visibility" - Pew Research Center

The 42% who favor US support for a Palestinian state are right.

"U.S. Judge Considers Making Jurors....." - NYTimes.com

I stil find myself valuing the way juries worked when we started the Ameircan experiment. Peers meant people you knew and people who knew the accused. There was not an effort to erase knowledge or to prevent exposure to other sources of information and viewpoints. I still think that's a better system than what we have today.

"Citizens United Case Yields an Unexpected Result" - NYTimes.com

I firmly believe that disclosure is the best response to Citizens United.

SPORTS ENDEAVORS, INC.

Do they sell overseas?

"The American Jobs Act — President Barack Obama's Jobs Plan"

Where is the opportunity to measure the "impact on you" here? I do not see it. Or "impact on my community" or "my state"? As supportive as I am of the President, I want to understand something before supporting it, and part of that understanding involves me, my community and my state.

"At St. Mark’s Bookshop, Killer Rent and a Petition" - NYTimes.com

What if we could somehow introduce a preferential rent scheme for shops like this? I don't know if that's possible, but it is surely worth considering. Maybe in public buildings?

"Borderline Ridiculous" - NYTimes.com

Sorry, but I still cannot get over the core point that people who are here illegally are just that - here illegally, in violation of the law. If we are to re-emerge as a country of laws and not of men (and women), we need either to enforce the law, change it in a way that would make someone from Libya who comes here as illegally stand in the same spot as someone here illegally from Mexico, or suffer through the unimaginable future of the status quo.

Get teh law right and fair and enforce it. The rest will largely solve itself. But we cannot wave wands and make law violations go away unless we treat everyone the same, those who have respected the law and those who have not.

The only way out that I continue to see is to do a better job of insuring that everyone in the US is here legally, and if they are not, then they should be subject to what the current law requires, including deportation.

"For Jobs, It’s War" - NYTimes.com

This makes a lot of sense.

That said, I worry that we wind up losing a sense of the Globe in the process - if someone in the US gets a job and someone in India does not, I am not sure that's a "win" I'd like to record. A good job in India and a good job in the US is much better, and we ought not lose sight of it being better.

Raleigh Denim

They said on the State of Things that they sell overseas in fact, "sold across the world". Where and with what success?

Statesville Brick Company

I wonder if a company like this sells its bricks overseas and if not, why not? If they do, how good a business is this for them?
It would be helpful to know all of the products and services from NC that are available for sale overseas, and how they are doing. What is it that we make or offer here that people overseas don't get a chance to purchase?

"China Ties Aiding Europe to Its Own Trade Goals" - NYTimes.com

I think we are about to see a great deal more of this.

"A Small-Business Owner Discusses the Merits of the Obama Jobs Proposal" - NYTimes.com

We need to read more about what intended beneficiaries of various proposals think will happen.

"The 9/11 Decade - Civil Liberties, Before and After" - NYTimes.com

Read and weep. At least I do.

"The World Remembers 9/11, With a Touch of Weariness" - NYTimes.com

Once again, we are reminded of how much more was lost in the years since the attacks. The US has become such a mixed bag in the eyes of far too many, and it so surely did not have to be this way.

Florida Forces Cities to Pull Local Laws Restricting Guns - NYTimes.com

Get rid of the guns first, and worry about the legal niceties of the situation second. Where's the leadership?

In the Real World, Will the Jobs Plan Make a Difference? - NYTimes.com

There really is a very small amount that government can do. But the President can be a better cheerleader all around than he has been.

Remember | StoryCorps

Construction takes toll on business | The Carrboro Citizen

It's really a shame that no newspaper or other news organzaiton - or individual - has come up with a way to make individual and largely isolated new stories like this one fit into a larger picture(s). The story of this construction project involves a huge number of people interested in it, and affected by it. It's not a one-off matter, but rather a story of evolution and some irritation and inconvenience and potentially loss along the way.

We have not yet developed a way of retelling the story from any selected perspective on an ongoing and real time manner.

I'd sure like to pursue the solution with anyone interested in working with me!

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.