CNN.com (1)

The TSA is not just airports anymore...DHS comes to rail and subways.
Posted by Ian Alterman, Sunday, January 29, 2012

NYT (3): Foreign Affairs

Israel considers indicting Foreign Minister; China continues crackdown on dissidents; More bodies found in cruise ship wreck, and more evidence of captain's negligence.
Posted by Ian Alterman, Wednesday, January 18, 2012

NYT (8): Foreign Affairs

Bahrain opposition unimpressed by King's suggested reforms; Taiwan elections stir democracy-minded hearts in China; Hacker who hit Israeli credit card accounts strikes again, crippling sites of ElAl and Stock Exchange; Romanian protests over austerity measures turn violent; Hard lesson learned, Nigerian leader reinstitutes gas subsidy; Sarkozy vulnerable due to economic situation; Pakistan's highest court initiates contempt of court proceedings against PM; Captain of capsized liner likely to face charges.
Posted by Ian Alterman, Tuesday, January 17, 2012

NYT (5): Foreign Affairs

In Syria, fears of civil war grow; In Egypt, ElBaradei pulls out of prez race; In Israel, women chafe at orthodox rule; In Italy, search for survivors of capsized cruise ship continue; In Amazon, a bizarre "upside" to deforestation.
Posted by Ian Alterman, Sunday, January 15, 2012

NYT (7): National News

GOP candidates talk "limited government"...except for the president; Court upholds immunity for telecomms in surveillance - but not for government; Judge blocks CA fuel regulation law; Economics causing come cities to turn off lights at night; Judge says SEC misled two courts in Citigroup case; Verizon has a Netflix moment; NYC traffic deaths at 100-year low.
Posted by Ian Alterman, Friday, December 30, 2011

NYT (6): National News

Occupy movement attempts blockage of West Coast ports, with mixed results and response; American citizens getting ensnared in immigration crackdown; AG Holder says U.S. will challenge new voting laws that may disenfranchise; NTSB calls for outright ban of cellphone use while driving; Amanpour returns to CNN; A surprising legal ruling re selling NYC Metrocard "swipes."
Posted by Ian Alterman, Wednesday, December 14, 2011

NYT (5): National News

House GOP cynically adds pipeline approval to tax relief bill; SCOTUS to hear TX redistricting case, the outcome of which will have serious ramifications; AZ's Sheriff Arpaio under fire for LACK of enforcement - of sex crimes; Second killer in CT case gets death sentence; Baggage handlers at JFK netted millions in smuggling ring.
Posted by Ian Alterman, Saturday, December 10, 2011

NYT (7): National News

Occupy San Francisco is cleared, and Occupy Boston gets bad news; As GOP candidates suck up to Israeli lobby, Dems see advantage in helping prolong "2-horse" GOP race; Abu-Jamal death sentence overturned; In a first, HHS overrules FDA re contraceptive; Kelly finally weighs in on NYPD Facebook slurs; NYC horse-and-carriage rides may finally go the way of the horse and buggy.
Posted by Ian Alterman, Thursday, December 8, 2011

Flying Saucer-a-palooza .. Reports on Kepler 22b

Adam Frank at NPR .. "Welcome To The Age Of Planets"

Can you feel it? Did you mark its approach? Can you sense our passage across its threshold? Something has changed for us. Something new and remarkable has happened. We have entered the age of planets and, even if you can't see it now, nothing will ever be the same

Michael Ledmonick at Time Mag .. "New Earth Found?" ..

Joining Kepler 22b, is a list of 1,094 brand-new planet candidates found so far by the satellite, raising the grand total of probable exoplanets to a staggering 2,326 .. While Kepler hasn't found a true Mirror Earth yet, the sheer number of likely worlds out there makes that only a matter of time

Tom Chivers at The Telegraph, "Why do these planets get such dull names?"

What happened to Pandora, or Arakis, or Hoth or Tatooine? Star Wars gives us Coruscant and Endor: reality burdens us with HD 85512 and Gliese 581d

and Carl Franzen at Talking Points Memo .. Kepler-22b To Get Its Close Up Summer 2012 ..

what is the composition of the planet’s surface? Is it rocky, primarily liquid, or gaseous .. scientists will have a better idea come summer 2012, when the Kepler field is once again visible to ground-based observatories .. “If we get a mass, we can combine it with the measured diameter of Kepler-22b to get a density from which we can guess at the planet’s composition” wrote Nick Gautier, a Kepler Project Scientist

just in time for the new Spielberg summer blockbuster!! - mab
Posted by Mike Blaxill, Wednesday, December 7, 2011

NYT (8): National News

BLAGOJEVICH GETS 14-YEAR SENTENCE; Obama gives strong speech in "enemy territory"; As expected, Albany to increase tax on wealthy; Despondent over rejection for food stamps, mother shoots her children, and kills herself; Lively SCOTUS debate is odd reversal, as conservatives support Fourth Amendment while liberals haggle; In largest settlement of its kind, mine owner to pay $209 million in fines and restitution; Outrage and calls for inquiry increase re NYPD insults on Facebook; NYC sidewalks are getting more crowded - and not just seasonally.
Posted by Ian Alterman, Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Reuters: Planet Found Orbiting Habitable Zone of Sun-like Star

Irene Klotz reports ..

Kepler-22b, a planet known to comfortably circle in the habitable zone of a sun-like star. It is the first planet that NASA's Kepler mission has confirmed to orbit in a star's habitable zone - the region around a star where liquid water, a requirement for life on Earth, could exist

In related news, we'll all be surprised that US military pays SETI to check Kepler-22b for aliens - mab .. read more
Posted by Mike Blaxill, Tuesday, December 6, 2011

NYT (5): National News

Occupy Philly to be evicted; "The Dwindling Power of a College Degree"; Starting early, anti-Obama attack ads are hopelessly misleading; In CA, Brown refuses to give up on bullet train; Two new books on the KKK.
Posted by Ian Alterman, Sunday, November 27, 2011

NYT (9): National News

Investigation into improprieties re XL pipeline likely to delay decision; Census Bureau tweaks data to show poverty not so bad; CA medical marijuana dispensaries hire lawyer to fight fed crackdown; Woman accuses Cain of groping; Court puts hold on graphic labels for cigarette packs; Doctor guilty in Jackson trial; How did Jerusalem get to SCOTUS?; Third person dies from NYC copter crash; New Clinton book is "assist" for Obama.
Posted by Ian Alterman, Tuesday, November 8, 2011

NYT Editorials & Op-Eds (7)

"When the 'roadless rule' was upheld in court last week, the environment and its allies got a big victory for a change" (Editorial); "California unveiled the country’s first statewide cap-and-trade system to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and combat climate change" (Editorial); "A proposed bill gaining the support of hypocritical Republicans would force states to honor the permissive gun-control regulations from the South and West" (Bruni); "It’s looking more and more as if the euro system is doomed as one rescue plan after another falls flat and a vicious circle takes hold" (Krugman); "Can humanity handle the unprecedented rise in population?" (Guest Op-Ed); "To the extent that size matters at all for job growth, it’s really about new companies that will start small and, if they survive, perhaps grow large" (Guest Op-Ed); "President Obama’s current campaign strategy totally misreads the country" (Brooks)
Posted by Ian Alterman, Wednesday, October 26, 2011

NYT (9): Foreign Affairs

Israeli-Palestinian prisoner exchange begins; Canada attempts to assert "eminent domain" in U.S. over pipeline; Will an animated film undo the Tunisian revolution?; Global warming opens Arctic routes - but at what cost?; Yemeni revolt continues unabated; For the second time in a year, Jordanian king fires his government; Iran's harshest words yet re assassination allegations; French Socialists choose candidate for presidency; Greece seems to defy every attempt to help it.
Posted by Ian Alterman, Tuesday, October 18, 2011

NYT (7): National News

OWS wins battle re displacement, as City backs down from clean-up; Not surprisingly, Pentagon against too much cut in military budget; The (literal) education of Michele Bachmann; To save money, communities stop adding fluoride to water; NYPD drug "frames" come to light; U.S. says NYC must increase wheelchair-accessible taxi fleet; Rajaratnam gets 11 years in Galleon case.
Posted by Ian Alterman, Friday, October 14, 2011

NYT (13): National News

GOP at it again re disenfranchising "voter fraud" laws; Are State Dept and lobbyists too close re pipeline deal?; Dem wins WV gov election in squeaker; As Occupy Wall Street "matures," it spreads to numerous other cities; As NYPD releases its own video of bridge arrests, some protesters sue re "entrapment"; Is NGP the next Solyndra?; Judge is asked to allow access to NYPD stats re "investigation" of Muslims; Bipartisan group of scientists, gov officials, national security experts calls for study of "geoengineering" re climate change; In bizarre turn of events, Abdulmuttalab will act pro se at trial; In pilot test, students reject healthy snacks for junk food; Yet another helicopter accident in NYC, with 1 dead.
Posted by Ian Alterman, Wednesday, October 5, 2011

NYT (9): National News

Obama eases provisions of NCLB; It's deja vu all over again as gov't shutdown looms; Upstate NY residents regret fracking leases; As Davis execution ignites debate over death penalty, TX (where else?) ends "last meal" tradition; Ticket-fixing scandal leads to NYPD leaks; Manhattan BP Stringer challenges NYPD stop-and-frisk program; NYPD Commish Kelly issues memo re "non-arrest" for minor marijuana possession; and (OMG!) MTA opens door to cellphone in subways.
Posted by Ian Alterman, Saturday, September 24, 2011

NYT (6): National News

In extreme rarity, MTA will shut down entire NYC mass transit system as storm approaches; Buffett sinks $5 billion into BOA; CIA fights memoir of FBI agent; 13 nuke plants felt quake; Another study clears vaccine re autism; and Bloomberg (the company) will buy Bureau of National Affairs (the company) for $1 billion.
Posted by Ian Alterman, Friday, August 26, 2011

NYT Op-Eds (2)

"The America that the Hershey's workers have seen is surely not the one the J-1 visa was created to promote. But perhaps it is the America we have become" (Guest Op-Ed); "A food fight between the celebrity chefs Anthony Bourdain and Paula Deen is ugly but revealing" (Bruni)
Posted by Ian Alterman, Thursday, August 25, 2011

NYT (8): National News

Protests lead to change in Obama deportation plan; Exchange student incident goes from kerfuffle to debacle; Racism in NIH grant process?; Montana's Tester being tested in critical race; NYS AG Schneiderman subpoena's energy companies; Cuomo and Christie force Port Authority to accept less drastic toll increases; Silence is deafening as mosque opens on Staten Island; Liberty Media buys $200 million stake in B&N.
Posted by Ian Alterman, Friday, August 19, 2011

NYT (6): National News

Justice Dept. starts investigation of S&P; Did SEC destroy files re Madoff - and the 2008 financial crisis?; EPA-bashing is latest GOP "theme"; Foreign students in "cultural exchange" find themselves doing "unpaid labor" and stage a "walk-out"; Study finds public transit fares up, service down nationwide; and minor marijuana offenses creating new child neglect cases.
Posted by Ian Alterman, Thursday, August 18, 2011

NYT (5): Foreign Affairs

In slap to Assad, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait recall Syrian ambassadors; London erupts in violence over economy; Copter attack killed two dozen Navy SEALs; Saleh, still in Saudi Arabia, no longer bloodied and still unbowed; and Havana gets a Beatles cafe.
Posted by Ian Alterman, Monday, August 8, 2011

NYT (6): National News

Poll shows TP losing favor quickly; All officers found guilty on all counts in controversial post-Katrina N.O. murders; Is Rick Perry crossing the line re separation of church and state? (See also Op-Ed this date); S&P downgrades U.S. debt for first time ever; Steep increases planned for NYC bridge and tunnel tolls; and NYC agencies lag badly behind rent overcharge claims.
Posted by Ian Alterman, Saturday, August 6, 2011

NYT (6): National News

Debt deal reached, but no one's happy; FL running neck-and-neck with AZ as state with craziest politics; In wake of severe criticism, Scholastic backs off from corporate sponsors; Higher ticket prices mean less movie-goers; New film "recaptures" Kesey's bus ride; and no more guests at Chelsea Hotel - but what's in store?
Posted by Ian Alterman, Monday, August 1, 2011