Friday, October 31, 2014

Maine Judge Rejects Ebola Quarantine for Nurse - NYTimes.com

Maine Judge Rejects Ebola Quarantine for Nurse - NYTimes.com:



"FORT KENT, Me. — Less than a day after restricting the movements of a nurse who treated Ebola victims in West Africa, a judge in Maine has lifted the measures, rejecting arguments by the State of Maine that a quarantine was necessary to protect the public."



'via Blog this'

Bank of Japan Unexpectedly Moves to Stimulate Economy - NYTimes.com

Bank of Japan Unexpectedly Moves to Stimulate Economy - NYTimes.com:



"TOKYO — After insisting for more than a year that its aggressive monetary policy was sufficient to revive Japan’s economy and end deflation, the Bank of Japan on Friday unexpectedly announced that it would increase the amount of money it pumped into the country’s financial markets by buying larger quantities of government debt."



'via Blog this'

New Russian Boldness Revives a Cold War Tradition: Testing the Other Side - NYTimes.com

New Russian Boldness Revives a Cold War Tradition: Testing the Other Side - NYTimes.com:



"WASHINGTON — When the White House discovered in recent weeks that its unclassified computer systems had been breached, intelligence officials examined the digital evidence and focused on a prime suspect: Russia, which they believe is using its highly sophisticated cyber capabilities to test American defenses. But its tracks were well covered, and officials say they may never know for sure."



'via Blog this'

Thursday, October 30, 2014

Provocateur’s Death Haunts the Dutch - NYTimes.com

Provocateur’s Death Haunts the Dutch - NYTimes.com:



"AMSTERDAM — Nothing marks the spot on an unremarkable street in east Amsterdam where on Nov. 2, 2004, Mohammed Bouyeri, a 26-year-old Moroccan Dutchman — saying he was acting to defend the name of Allah — shot dead, then slashed the throat of the Dutch filmmaker, television host and provocateur Theo van Gogh. Few events have been planned to mark the 10th anniversary, and many here are weary of the national soul searching the killing prompted. But the day is still seared in people’s minds."



'via Blog this'

U.S. Economy Grew at 3.5% Annual Pace in Third Quarter - NYTimes.com

U.S. Economy Grew at 3.5% Annual Pace in Third Quarter - NYTimes.com:



"The government reported on Thursday that the nation’s economic output rose at a 3.5 percent annual rate in the third quarter, offering a strong sign that the economy’s plodding growth may be picking up speed."



'via Blog this'

Tuesday, October 28, 2014

ISIS and Vietnam - NYTimes.com

ISIS and Vietnam - NYTimes.com:



 "In May, I visited Vietnam and met with university students. After a week of being love-bombed by Vietnamese, who told me how much they admire America, want to work or study there and have friends and family living there, I couldn’t help but ask myself: “How did we get this country so wrong? How did we end up in a war with Vietnam that cost so many lives and drove them into the arms of their most hated enemy, China?”"



'via Blog this'

‘Goodbye to Language,’ the Latest From Jean-Luc Godard - NYTimes.com

‘Goodbye to Language,’ the Latest From Jean-Luc Godard - NYTimes.com:



"Jean-Luc Godard, who will soon celebrate his 84th birthday, holds a special place in the pantheon of modern cinema. He is an imp who is venerated as a deity, a Rorschach test, a lightning rod, a fighting word. His name seems to divide the world into skeptics and worshipers, with not much middle ground. Analogous figures can be found in other zones of 20th-century art: Andy Warhol, Bob Dylan, Ezra Pound. They have their singularity in common. They also tend to confound easy distinctions between genius and trickery, and to marshal armies of exegetes in what may be the futile enterprise of figuring out what they mean."



'via Blog this'

Russian Government Linked to More Cybersecurity Breaches - NYTimes.com

Russian Government Linked to More Cybersecurity Breaches - NYTimes.com:



"SAN FRANCISCO — For the second time in four months, researchers at a computer security company are connecting the Russian government to electronic espionage efforts around the world."



'via Blog this'

Iranians Hope for Nuclear Deal With West to Kick-Start Economy - NYTimes.com

Iranians Hope for Nuclear Deal With West to Kick-Start Economy - NYTimes.com:



"TEHRAN — Mohammad Heydarian, an Iranian contractor, still has work finishing off a single-family home. But things look bleak after that, he said. He has already fired his workers, and is struggling to make ends meet, providing for his wife and two teenage children."



'via Blog this'

Monday, October 27, 2014

D. A. Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus’s Counterculture Archive - NYTimes.com

D. A. Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus’s Counterculture Archive - NYTimes.com:



"“Johnny’s in the basement, mixing up the medicine,” and a young Bob Dylan, lean of body and scruffy of hair, flips cue cards along to his lyrics as the poet Allen Ginsberg stands off to the side, chatting. This landmark video, for “Subterranean Homesick Blues,” opened the 1967 documentary “Dont Look Back,” which became a rock doc classic and also earned the man behind the camera, D. A. Pennebaker, a place in film history."



'via Blog this'

Sunday, October 26, 2014

Brazilians Re-elect Dilma Rousseff as President - NYTimes.com

Brazilians Re-elect Dilma Rousseff as President - NYTimes.com:



 "RIO DE JANEIRO — Brazilian voters re-elected Dilma Rousseff as president on Sunday, endorsing a leftist leader who has achieved important gains in reducing poverty and keeping unemployment low over a centrist challenger who castigated her government over a simmering bribery scandal and a sluggish economy."



'via Blog this'

Thursday, October 23, 2014

‘Citizenfour,’ a Documentary About Edward J. Snowden - NYTimes.com

‘Citizenfour,’ a Documentary About Edward J. Snowden - NYTimes.com:



"There are two ways to look at “Citizenfour,” Laura Poitras’s documentary about Edward J. Snowden, the former National Security Agency contractor whose revelations of widespread surveillance launched a hundred Op-Ed columns a year ago. The first and most obvious is as a piece of advocacy journalism, a goad to further argument about how security and transparency should be balanced in a democracy, about how governments abuse technology, about how official secrets are kept and exposed. The second is as a movie, an elegant and intelligent contribution to the flourishing genre of dystopian allegory."



'via Blog this'

Sunday, October 19, 2014

Cuba’s Impressive Role on Ebola - NYTimes.com

Cuba’s Impressive Role on Ebola - NYTimes.com:



"Cuba is an impoverished island that remains largely cut off from the world and lies about 4,500 miles from the West African nations where Ebola is spreading at an alarming rate. Yet, having pledged to deploy hundreds of medical professionals to the front lines of the pandemic, Cuba stands to play the most robust role among the nations seeking to contain the virus."



'via Blog this'

Volatility Unlikely to Alter Fed’s Policy Course - NYTimes.com

Volatility Unlikely to Alter Fed’s Policy Course - NYTimes.com:



"WASHINGTON — The Federal Reserve is watching carefully as financial markets bounce around, but the likely course of monetary policy remains the same, officials have said in recent public comments and interviews."



'via Blog this'

Saturday, October 18, 2014

Jorge R. Gutierrez Talks About His Film ‘The Book of Life’ - NYTimes.com

Jorge R. Gutierrez Talks About His Film ‘The Book of Life’ - NYTimes.com:



 "From Mexican folk art to Sergio Leone to Radiohead, the director Jorge R. Gutierrez reached far and wide for inspiration in making “The Book of Life,” his first 3-D animated feature. The story of a woman and the two men who pine for her in a small Mexican village is at the heart of this mythic adventure, which has tinges of spaghetti westerns and makes room for magic, bullfighting and pop music."



'via Blog this'

Mexico Finds Many Corpses, but Not Lost 43 - NYTimes.com

Mexico Finds Many Corpses, but Not Lost 43 - NYTimes.com:



"IGUALA, Mexico — With borrowed shovels and pick axes, the farmers drove their battered pickup trucks to a series of suspicious clearings in the countryside, jumped out and started digging."



'via Blog this'

The Rebirth of Tijuana - NYTimes.com

The Rebirth of Tijuana - NYTimes.com:



"Tijuana, Mexico — IN Tijuana the other day, I met a waitress named Mari."



'via Blog this'

Friday, October 17, 2014

Janet Yellen Warns of Inequality Threat - NYTimes.com

Janet Yellen Warns of Inequality Threat - NYTimes.com:



"BOSTON — Janet L. Yellen, the Federal Reserve chairwoman, used her bully pulpit on Friday to sound the alarm about rising economic inequality."



'via Blog this'

Thursday, October 16, 2014

Apple Introduces iPad Air 2 and iPad Mini 3 - NYTimes.com

Apple Introduces iPad Air 2 and iPad Mini 3 - NYTimes.com:



"CUPERTINO, Calif. — In reaction to declining sales of tablet computing devices, Apple’s chief executive, Timothy D. Cook, recently remarked that tablets had hit a “speed bump” that was nothing to be concerned about."



'via Blog this'

Wednesday, October 15, 2014

CME

CME Layoffs Hit Technology Group Hardest

CME Group's restructuring will eliminate 5% of the workforce.
A majority of the layoffs due to the CME Group’s recently announced restructuring will come from the technology group, according to the exchange operator.
CME Group is reducing its global workforce by about 150, or roughly 5%, according to the company. Most layoffs will come from technology, with the remainder coming from corporate and administrative functions.
"Our industry has transformed significantly over the past five years, with the advent of OTC Clearing and other changes. As difficult as this decision is, the efficiencies we have built are allowing us to make this change to our structure," said CME Group executive chairman and president Terry Duffy, in a statement. "These staffing changes and other expense control measures we have taken internally will result in decreased costs and reduced management layers, and will help ensure the company's long-term continued growth."
CME Group employees who are affected will be informed this week. The company is offering severance packages, as well as outplacement services through BPI Group, according to CME.
Greg MacSweeney is editorial director of InformationWeek Financial Services, whose brands include Wall Street & Technology, Bank Systems & Technology, Advanced Trading, and Insurance & Technology. View Full Bio

Wall Street and Technology

Monday, October 13, 2014

Building a Bamboo Bulwark Against the Hong Kong Police - NYTimes.com

Building a Bamboo Bulwark Against the Hong Kong Police - NYTimes.com:



"HONG KONG — Eric Wu, a 37-year-old construction worker, has spent his entire adult life building and climbing bamboo scaffolding as high as 50 floors above the ground."



'via Blog this'

Sunday, October 12, 2014

Bolivia Seen Likely to Re-elect Morales as President - NYTimes.com

Bolivia Seen Likely to Re-elect Morales as President - NYTimes.com:



 "LIMA, Peru — Bolivians went to the polls on Sunday in an election that seemed likely to hand a third consecutive term to President Evo Morales, who has been propelled by a buoyant economy and a sustained drop in poverty in what remains one of the poorest countries in Latin America."



'via Blog this'

How Righteousness Killed the World Economy - NYTimes.com

How Righteousness Killed the World Economy - NYTimes.com:



"Stop me if you’ve heard this before: The world economy appears to be stumbling. For a while, things seemed to be looking up, and there was talk about green shoots of recovery. But now growth is stalling, and the specter of deflation looms."



'via Blog this'

Saturday, October 11, 2014

Immigrants from Central America Need Legal Support - NYTimes.com

Immigrants from Central America Need Legal Support - NYTimes.com:



"The vast influx of young Central American migrants that overwhelmed southern Texas this summer has receded, and so has the panic at the border. But the emergency has not gone away; it has just moved on, out of view."



'via Blog this'

Thursday, October 9, 2014

Mexico’s Deadly Narco-Politics - NYTimes.com

Mexico’s Deadly Narco-Politics - NYTimes.com:



"IGUALA, Mexico — STUDENT protesters in rural Mexico have long dealt with heavy-handed police officers. But on the black night of Sept. 26, students who attended a rural teachers’ college realized they were facing a far worse menace in this southern city. Not only were police officers shooting haphazardly at them, killing three students and several passers-by; shady gunmen were also firing from the sidelines."



'via Blog this'

Wednesday, October 8, 2014

The Deficit Is Down, and Nobody Knows or Cares - NYTimes.com

The Deficit Is Down, and Nobody Knows or Cares - NYTimes.com:



"The CBO tells us that the federal deficit is way down — under 3 percent of GDP. And Jared Bernstein notes that Obama seems to get no credit."



'via Blog this'

In the U.S., a Turning Point in the Flow of Oil - NYTimes.com

In the U.S., a Turning Point in the Flow of Oil - NYTimes.com:



"HOUSTON — The Singapore-flagged tanker BW Zambesi set sail with little fanfare from the port of Galveston, Tex., on July 30, loaded with crude oil destined for South Korea. But though it left inauspiciously, the ship’s launch was another critical turning point in what has been a half-decade of tectonic change for the American oil industry."



'via Blog this'

Tuesday, October 7, 2014

The Secret Service and the Political Class - NYTimes.com

The Secret Service and the Political Class - NYTimes.com:



 "I’m sure there are many technical explanations for the recent breakdowns in Secret Service protection that allowed an armed intruder to run right through the front door of the White House and an armed felon to ride on an elevator with President Obama. But I’d also put some blame on the nation’s political class."



'via Blog this'

Monday, October 6, 2014

Slaughter Is Feared as ISIS Nears Turkish Border - NYTimes.com

Slaughter Is Feared as ISIS Nears Turkish Border - NYTimes.com:



"ISTANBUL — Islamic State militants pushed on Monday into the eastern edge of the Syrian Kurdish town of Kobani on the Turkish border, after sustained shelling that drove back the Kurdish fighters and Syrian insurgents fighting alongside them, killing 16 and raising fears of a massacre of civilians, Kurdish fighters and activists said."



'via Blog this'

Sunday, October 5, 2014

A Smuggled Girl’s Odyssey of False Promises and Fear - NYTimes.com

A Smuggled Girl’s Odyssey of False Promises and Fear - NYTimes.com:



 "EL PARAÍSO, Guatemala — The smugglers advertised on the radio as spring bloomed into summer: “Do you want to live better? Come with me.”"



'via Blog this'

Mexico Prosecutor Says Mass Grave Held 28 Bodies - NYTimes.com

Mexico Prosecutor Says Mass Grave Held 28 Bodies - NYTimes.com:



"IGUALA, Mexico — The chief prosecutor of Mexico's Guerrero state says authorities have found 28 bodies in a clandestine grave discovered on the outskirts of a city where police engaged in a deadly clash with student protesters a week ago."



'via Blog this'

Hewlett-Packard Is Said to Be Planning a Reorganization - NYTimes.com

Hewlett-Packard Is Said to Be Planning a Reorganization - NYTimes.com:



"Seeking greater agility in the face of substantial industry changes, Hewlett-Packard is on the eve of a sweeping reorganization, according to people familiar with the matter."



'via Blog this'

Saturday, October 4, 2014

Edward Baptist’s New Book Follows the Money on Slavery - NYTimes.com

Edward Baptist’s New Book Follows the Money on Slavery - NYTimes.com:



"“Have you been happier in slavery or free?” a young Works Project Administration interviewer in 1937 asked Lorenzo Ivy, a former slave, in Danville, Va. Ivy responded with a memory of seeing chained African-Americans marching farther South to be sold."



'via Blog this'

Friday, October 3, 2014

Colorado School Board Retreats on Curriculum-Review Plan After Uproar - NYTimes.com

Colorado School Board Retreats on Curriculum-Review Plan After Uproar - NYTimes.com:



"GOLDEN, Colo. — A battle over teaching American history that stirred student protests and kindled a debate about censorship in schools reached an emotional climax on Thursday night, as hundreds of parents and students here in suburban Denver sparred with a conservative school board majority over a proposal to create a curriculum-review panel."



'via Blog this'

Some Blacks See Secret Service as Flawed Shield for the President - NYTimes.com

Some Blacks See Secret Service as Flawed Shield for the President - NYTimes.com:



"WASHINGTON — Representative Elijah E. Cummings of Maryland was at the grocery store the other day when he ran into an elderly black woman who expressed growing concern about President Obama’s safety. Why, she asked, wasn’t he being better protected by his Secret Service agents?"



'via Blog this'

Thursday, October 2, 2014

In Illinois Speech, Obama Trumpets Economic Success as Midterm Vote Nears - NYTimes.com

In Illinois Speech, Obama Trumpets Economic Success as Midterm Vote Nears - NYTimes.com:



"EVANSTON, Ill. — President Obama, outlining a campaign message for his party a month before the midterm elections, used a visit to his home state on Thursday to highlight the country’s economic growth and to make his case on a handful of issues that are important to Democrats in November."



'via Blog this'

A Perilous Dependence on Contractors - NYTimes.com

A Perilous Dependence on Contractors - NYTimes.com:



"THE director of the Secret Service has resigned after, among other problems, the revelation that, in a visit to Atlanta on Sept. 16, President Obama rode in an elevator with a private security contractor who was carrying a gun and had an arrest record. The episode raises a crucial question: How thoroughly does the government vet the private security contractors that an increasing number of agencies employ?"



'via Blog this'

Hong Kong Leader Willing to Hold Limited Talks With Protesters - NYTimes.com

Hong Kong Leader Willing to Hold Limited Talks With Protesters - NYTimes.com:



"HONG KONG — As demonstrators massed outside his offices Thursday night, Hong Kong’s embattled chief executive rejected demands that he resign and attempted to ease public anger by assigning his deputy to meet with student protesters to discuss their calls for democratic reform."



'via Blog this'

Knaves, Fools, and Quantitative Easing - NYTimes.com

Knaves, Fools, and Quantitative Easing - NYTimes.com:



 "When the going gets tough, the people losing the argument start whining about civility. I often find myself attacked as someone who believes that anyone with a different opinion is a fool or a knave; as I’ve tried to explain, however, that’s mainly selection bias. I don’t spend much time on areas where reasonable people can disagree, because there are so many important issues where one side really is completely unreasonable."



'via Blog this'

Mexico: Leader of Cartel Is Captured - NYTimes.com

Mexico: Leader of Cartel Is Captured - NYTimes.com:



"The leader of one of Mexico’s largest cartels, Héctor Beltrán-Leyva of the Beltrán-Leyva gang, has been captured, the authorities said Wednesday night, giving President Enrique Peña Nieto another high-profile victory against organized crime."



'via Blog this'

Wednesday, October 1, 2014

The Pimco Perplex - NYTimes.com

The Pimco Perplex - NYTimes.com:



"It’s fairly clear that the events of 2011 are a large part of the story of Bill Gross’s abrupt departure from Pimco; as Neil Irwin says,

A disastrous bet he made against United States Treasury bonds in 2011 led to three years of underperformance and billions in withdrawals."



'via Blog this'