Stig Östlund

lördag, december 29, 2012

 
 
TOP NEWS
In a televised statement at the White House
 after meeting with Congressional leaders on Friday,
 President Obama said he was “modestly optimistic”
 that an agreement could be reached.

 

Senate Leaders Set to Work on a Last-Minute Tax Agreement

By JONATHAN WEISMAN and JENNIFER STEINHAUER
After weeks of fruitless negotiations with the House speaker, John A. Boehner, President Obama turned to Senator Harry Reid and Senator Mitch McConnell to try to avert a fiscal crisis.

414 Homicides in '12 Is a Record Low for New York City

By WENDY RUDERMAN
Overall crimes increased slightly, officials said, because of a rise in thefts - a phenomenon based solely on robberies of iPhones and other Apple devices.
A 134-degree reading registered on
July 10, 1913, at Greenland Ranch in
Death Valley, Calif., is now
the official world record.

                                

A Record Worth Wilting For: Death Valley Is Hotter Than ...

By ADAM NAGOURNEY
Death Valley is officially the hottest place on earth, now that meteorologists have invalidated a 136.4-degree reading claimed since 1922 by a city in Libya.
QUOTATION OF THE DAY
"The hour for immediate action is here. It is now."
PRESIDENT OBAMA, urging Congress to avert a fiscal crisis.

Sunday Review

Interactive Feature: 2012: The Year in Pictures

Colum McCann reflects on the images - disturbing, inspired and absurd - that shaped our collective consciousness this year.
Opinion
Op-Ed Contributor

The Taboo of Menstruation

By ROSE GEORGE
Basic lavatory facilities are one of the easiest ways to keep Indian girls in school after they reach puberty.
WORLD

As Walmart Makes Safety Vows, It's Seen as Obstacle to Change

By STEVEN GREENHOUSE and JIM YARDLEY
Critics of Walmart say its factory monitoring system is flawed, and the company has shown little interest in changing the practice of demanding that factories meet safety standards at their own cost.

In Russia, Exile in Comfort for Leaders Like Assad

By ANDREW E. KRAMER
Barvikha, a town of villas and luxury boutiques near Moscow, is a magnet for deposed leaders given asylum in Russia, and offers a possible future for Syria's president, Bashar al-Assad.
 
 
New measures by the Chinese government
could chill some of the vibrant discourse
on Twitter-like microblogs.


                                

China Toughens Its Restrictions on Use of the Internet

By KEITH BRADSHER
New rules require Internet users to provide their real names to service providers, while assigning companies greater responsibility for deleting forbidden postings.
U.S.

Sprawling Memphis Aims to Be a Friendlier Place for Cyclists

By BOBBY ALLYN
The Tennessee city, which had been named one of the worst cities in American for cyclists, has opened dozens of miles of bike lanes as it tries to change commuting habits.
      

"MEMPHIS — John Jordan, a 64-year-old condo appraiser here, has been pedaling his cruiser bicycle around town nearly every day, tooling about at lunchtime or zipping to downtown appointments.       

“It’s my cholesterol-lowering device,” said Mr. Jordan, clad in a leather vest and wearing a bright white beard. “The problem is, the city needs to educate motorists to not run over” the bicyclists.
Bike-friendly behavior has never come naturally to Memphis, which has long been among the country’s most perilous places for cyclists. In recent years, though, riders have taken to the streets like never before, spurred by a mayor who has worked to change the way residents think about commuting.
Mayor A. C. Wharton Jr., elected in 2009, assumed office a year after Bicycling magazine named Memphis one of the worst cities in America for cyclists, not the first time the city had received such a biking dishonor. But Mr. Wharton spied an opportunity.
In 2008, Memphis had a mile and a half of bike lanes. There are now about 50 miles of dedicated lanes, and about 160 miles when trails and shared roads are included. The bulk of the nearly $1 million investment came from stimulus money and other federal sources, and Shelby County, which includes Memphis, was recently awarded an additional $4.7 million for bike projects. " /Cont./ 
 

 
 

Partial Deal With Union Averts a Strike at 14 Ports

By STEVEN GREENHOUSE
Shipping companies and dockworkers reached a deal on their main dispute, and the longshoremen's union agreed to drop its threat of a strike this Sunday.

Newspaper on Cape Cod Apologizes for a Veteran Reporter's Fabrications

By KATHARINE Q. SEELYE
A not-quite-right article set off alarm bells for an editor at The Cape Cod Times and the discovery of years of made up subjects by a longtime reporter who had appeared "down in the dumps."
POLITICS

Federal Power to Intercept Messages Is Extended

By ROBERT PEAR
Congress gave final approval on Friday to a bill extending the government's power to intercept electronic communications of spy and terrorism suspects under a law known as the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.

Loss of Inouye Means Loss of Clout for Hawaii

By JEREMY W. PETERS
After the death of Senator Daniel K. Inouye, and the retirement of the state's other senator, Daniel K. Akaka, Hawaii will lose all of its seniority in the Senate.
The Caucus

Democratic Establishment Voices Support for Markey's Bid to Succeed Kerry

By KATHARINE Q. SEELYE
Several big guns in the Democratic Party began on Friday to line up behind Representative Edward J. Markey of Massachusetts in the race to succeed Senator John Kerry.
BUSINESS
Your Money

How to Prepare When Next Year's Tax Rates Are Anyone's Guess

By RON LIEBER
The fiscal stalemate in Washington has left many with no idea how much they'll be paying in federal income taxes in 2013, but taxpayers can take some steps amid the uncertainty.
Ports in Newark and more than a dozen other cities
will stay open after longshoremen reached an agreement
 with shipping companies to avert a coastwide strike.
 

Partial Deal With Union Averts a Strike at 14 Ports

By STEVEN GREENHOUSE
Shipping companies and dockworkers reached a deal on their main dispute, and the longshoremen's union agreed to drop its threat of a strike this Sunday.

Revival of Hitachi the Company Is a Detriment to Hitachi the City

By HIROKO TABUCHI
After a staggering loss in 2009, the Hitachi Corporation has engineered a stunning turnaround, costing jobs and opportunity in its home city of Hitachi, Japan.
TECHNOLOGY

Revival of Hitachi the Company Is a Detriment to Hitachi the City

By HIROKO TABUCHI
After a staggering loss in 2009, the Hitachi Corporation has engineered a stunning turnaround, costing jobs and opportunity in its home city of Hitachi, Japan.
DealBook

Questions Remain Over Hewlett's Big Charge on Autonomy Acquisition

By PETER EAVIS
In its annual report, H.P. discusses the methodology it employed when making the $8.8 billion charge, but it does not break out exactly how the alleged accounting improprieties were behind $5 billion of that charge.
Bits Blog

Dreams of 'Open' Everything

By QUENTIN HARDY
GitHub, which encourages open-source software writers to discuss their work, has a long-term dream of taking its approach outside engineering and into all business, even government.
SPORTS

A Fierce Playmaker Who Shrugs Off Praise

By BEN SHPIGEL
The quiet demeanor and humility of A. J. Green, considered one of the top receivers in the N.F.L., only add to the admiration his Bengals teammates and coaches have for him.
Nets 97, Bobcats 81

Nets Beat the Bobcats but Pine for Jackson

By HOWARD BECK
Interim Coach P. J. Carlesimo is on the bench for now, and he guided the Nets to an easy win on Friday, but Brooklyn has firmly targeted Phil Jackson to take over.
Q&A

Covering J. R. Smith: A Knick Talks About His Tattoos

By TODD HEISLER
Knicks guard J. R. Smith, who lost count of his body art at "around 70-something," said he once told himself that he "would never get like this."
ARTS
Critic's Notebook

TV Where Taking It Too Far Is Never Far Enough

By NEIL GENZLINGER
Was 2012 a nadir for reality television? Can the offerings possibly get any worse? Has the genre become too ludicrous to parody?
Museum Review
Museum of History & Industry opens
Saturday on Lake Union in Seattle. Boeing’s
 first commercial plane hangs
 in the main atrium.
 

A Place Comfortable With Boeing, Anarchists and 'Frasier'

By EDWARD ROTHSTEIN
A revamped History & Industry Museum has a new home on Lake Union in Seattle, with some 50,000 square feet of exhibits about that city's past and future.

The Whole Nine Yards About a Phrase's Origin

By JENNIFER SCHUESSLER
Word sleuths, in hot pursuit of the origin of the phrase "the whole nine yards," have made a discovery that sheds light on the mystery.
 
 
NEW YORK / REGION

Woman Sought After 2nd Fatal Shove Onto Subway Tracks This Month

By MARC SANTORA and SARAH MASLIN NIR
A woman in her early 20s is blamed for shoving a man, identified as Sunando Sen, to his death at an elevated subway station in Queens.
Jean S. Harris, 1923-2012

                                

 

 

 

Headmistress, Jilted Lover, Killer, Then a Force for Good in Jail

By JOSEPH BERGER
Mrs. Harris's 1981 murder trial galvanized a nation mulling feminist perspectives with its story of vengeance by an aging woman scorned.

Senate Passes $60.4 Billion for Storm Aid; Bill's Fate in House Is Unclear

By RAYMOND HERNANDEZ
With time running out on this Congressional session, leaders from states hit hard by Hurricane Sandy worry that action on the measure may be pushed into next year.
TRAVEL

Destination: Wellness

By JESSE McKINLEY
Wellness retreats, wellness rooms, wellness resorts, wellness weekends. Answering the insistent call of wellness tourism and trying to figure out what it all is.
Personal Journeys

For Some, the Slopes. For Her, the Cheese.

By CEIL MILLER BOUCHET
On a trip to the mountains in southeastern France, the author finds that soft powder can't compete with silky cheese.
Journeys
A monk prepares a simple
meal after worship.
 

Sichuan's Tibetan Corner, Outside of Time

By KIT GILLET
Remote Tagong, one of the highest towns in the world, has a slow-paced existence that revolves around a Tibetan monastery.
EDITORIALS
Editorial

The Deadly Fantasy of Assault Weapons

The illusions peddled by rifle makers put deadly power in the wrong hands.
Editorial

Rape in the World's Largest Democracy

India can never realize its potential if it does not treat women with dignity and justice.
Editorial

Still Waiting for Sandy Relief

When a storm hits, lawmakers should provide immediate relief instead of letting ideology trump common sense.
OP-ED
Op-Ed Columnist

Dwindling Adoptions

By CHARLES M. BLOW
Russia's new ban is just one more factor in a steep decline in international adoptions by United States citizens.
Op-Ed Columnist

Guns and Mental Illness

By JOE NOCERA
Both better gun regulations and treatment programs for the mentally ill are needed.
Room for Debate
 

Do We Still Need Libraries?

What are libraries for, and how should they evolve?
ON THIS DAY
On Dec. 29, 1940, during World War II, Germany began dropping incendiary bombs on London.

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