Cyril's Gleans

gleans at 2:50 PM MT, 12/31

 

Official: Pakistani confesses to Mumbai attacks ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - A militant arrested in Pakistan has confessed involvement in the Mumbai terror attacks and is giving investigators details of the plot, a senior Pakistani government official said Wednesday.

Ill. governor adds to woes by making appointment CHICAGO - Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich created a new distraction for his state by making an appointment to the U.S. Senate even while he faces federal corruption charges for, in part, allegedly trying to sell the very seat he now is trying to fill.

Paulson says US lacked tools to tackle crisis Outgoing Treasury Secretary says America's regulatory systems are 'hopelessly outdated' but failure should be allowed

 

Discoveries that could change all

 

 

Rum, envy, but not a sign of Cuba's hombre nuevo

David Aaronovitch goes in search of Che Guevara's ‘New Man’

 

 

Headache? Scotland's poet can help

Burns's rude jokes and faith in old friends to overcome bad times provide a tonic

 

 

10 serious trends of 2009

We've gone off on too many ridiculous diversions, says an adviser on future trends. We need to adopt a Blitz mentality

 

 

12 super seasonal soup recipes

Make one of these dozen winter warming broths from Times' cooks, including Gordon Ramsay and Heston Blumenthal

 

 

India's celebrated moustaches 'face the chop'

 

 

 

 

 

Russia-Ukraine gas talks collapse Russia says gas talks with Ukraine have failed and supplies will be cut within hours - amid fears European exports could be hit. Energy giant flexes its muscles Putin says 'cheap gas' over EU 'to expand energy grids'

 

 

 

Top tipple

Will Venezuela's love of whisky fade as times get tough?

 

 

 

UK housewives rule in online time UK housewives are spending the most leisure time online, according to a survey that reveals the world's web habits. Housewives 'fitter 50 years ago'

 

 

Pioneer of cyberspace honoured   A professor who invented a forerunner of the world wide web is made a dame in the New Year Honours.

 

 

 

China finds major dinosaur site Chinese researchers have unearthed what they believe is the largest collection of dinosaur bones ever found. Will the real dinosaurs stand up? Golden age of dino finds forecast

 

 

 

Eurozone virgin

Slovakia sees euro as a vital shield in times of turmoil

 

 

 

 

 

 

gleans at 11:45 AM MT, 12/31

 

Treasury defends handling of bailout

 

Record 151 U.S. troops die in Afghanistan in '08

• Slideshow: Afghanistan
• Video: Afghanistan's deadly border

Israel takes battle with Hamas to YouTube

Bitter cold, snow put chill on end of 2008

The cement that eats carbon dioxide Eco-friendly cement gives emission-heavy industry potential to go carbon negative

Stockmarkets suffer worst year ever  £9.7 trillion has been wiped off world share values this year in markets' worst 12 months on record 

• Childrenswear chain Adams enters administration
• Personal insolvency tipped to rise 50% in 2009
• Video: Larry Elliott's review of the year

In high spirits Some complicated-looking (but easy to make) cocktails to impress your friends on New Year's Eve

• Jay Rayner on New Year's Eve food and drink

Blu-ray sales hit new high British Video Association says 1.5m discs sold in December, despite downturn and distributors' demise

 

 

gleans at 11:20 AM MT, 12/31

 

Continuing jobless claims rise sharply in December

U.S. mortgage interest rates drop to 37-year low

Officials admit tracking $700 billion in bailout funds is difficult

U.S. vacates Baghdad palace ahead of Jan. 1 handover

Times Online Obamas to Stay at the Hay-Adams Hotel Washington Post - By Anne E. Kornblut When the Obamas move to Washington over the weekend they will take up residence at the Hay-Adams Hotel, the storied, luxury hotel on Lafayette Park, within walking distance of the White House.     Obama pledges schools upgrade in stimulus plan     Jobless claims dive while mortgage rates ease again Reuters - By Alister Bull WASHINGTON (Reuters) - US weekly jobless claims plummeted last week but the improvement was probably a seasonal quirk rather than a turning point for the recession-ravaged labor market.     Madoff scandal probe makes slow progress Authorities continue to probe role of family members --Agence France-Presse     Most fun job in world? Man travels globe testing holiday resort waterslides --London Daily Mail     Industry giants turn to Twitter     Panic spreads in Australia     Dollar, pound, euro?   Which currency will be a safe harbour of value in 2009?     New Year's Eve cocktails         In pictures: Buzkashi Buzkashi sees horsemen attempt to score goals with a dead animal.       Sydney's spectacular fireworks   The show included never-before-seen lightning and thunder effects and was the biggest ever to be mounted in the city. New Year's Eve parties to defy big freeze     The world's best snowboarding resorts Charles Norton tours the world to identify 10 top resorts for snowboarders, from the French Alps to Canadian Rockies.   A very French alternative to Val d'Isère It's not as glamorous as Val d'Isère, yet Tignes lures Tim Woodward back, year after year. He explains why. Tignes ski guide

gleans + 1xBBCstuff at 9:55 AM MT, 12/31

 

Dropping the (crystal) ball: This crisis duped executives and regulators

By Tom Petruno  Statements given as the financial meltdown unfolded indicate how much its severity was misread.

 

 

New study explains why some take risks - with no reward

 

 

Celestial Show Set for New Year's Eve 

 

 

Banned words list offers no 'bailout' to offenders

 

 

Shhh! Gadget racket threatens pulsar research

 

 

Asked where he’d be willing to go to teach philosophy, the young job seeker replied, “Anywhere on the planet, paid or not”... more»

 

 

A look back at some memorable restaurant meals

By S. Irene Virbila  New restaurants such as Anisette unveiled dishes this critic is still savoring, while old favorites like Providence keep the dining magic alive.

 

 

Punch makes a classic comeback

By Betty Hallock  The original communal cocktail warms up any crowd in help-yourself style.

 

 

From our kitchen to yours: The Times' best recipes of 2008

A recipe has to travel a long road to make it into the Food section, and that's why there's almost always something cooking in The Times' Test Kitchen. It might be a recipe in development being tasted and tweaked, tested and re-tested to get it right. It might be a nearly finished recipe being put through its final paces just to make sure the instructions are as clear as can be. Or it might be a finished dish being primped and powdered, made ready for its close-up moment in the photo studio.

 

 

 

How Caramel Developed a Taste for Salt

 

 

 

Writing the Web’s Future in Numerous Languages

By DANIEL SORID  The globalization of the Web means that companies have to find ways to reach out to consumers in their native languages, a costly and time-consuming endeavor.

 

 

Recipes For Health: North African Bean and Squash Soup

 

 

 

Times Topics

Featured Topic: Champagne

Wine lovers may argue over Bordeaux or Burgundy but almost everyone, it seems, loves Champagne.

 

 

 

 

Sherry Is Ready to Come to Dinner

By FLORENCE FABRICANT With Spain’s food and wine more popular than ever in this country, the spotlight is moving toward finer sherries.

 

 

 

This Week's Recipes

Fleur de Sel Caramels

Bull Shot

Bloody Bull

Pizzoccheri

 

 

Dividend.com

US Mortgage Rates Fall to Lowest in Three Decades
Bloomberg - By Kathleen M. Howley Dec. 31 (Bloomberg) -- US mortgage rates dropped to the lowest in more than three decades as the government stepped up efforts to revive the housing market.

 

 

BBC Stuff

The rules of risk

As Europe and America struggle to re-write the rules of international finance following the credit crunch, Claire Bolderson investigates the roots and role of risk. What can risk achieve and can regulation help when things get tough?

• Listen 23 mins

• Download (mp3)

NB:  Cyril heard an item on the BBC this morning (not from the above) assigning partial blame for the financial tank to computerized trading - did not mention the quants per se

 

 

gleans + 1xnerdnews at 10:35 PM MT, 12/30

 

Proof: Notes on a Holiday

Observations and reflections on the mother of all drinking holidays from Op-Extra contributors.

Apple shares drop as Jobs health rumors resurface
Los Angeles Times - The company refuses to comment on Web report. The stock is down 56% for the year. By Tom Petruno Shares of Apple Inc. were on their way to a gain Tuesday when a website reported that Chief Executive Steve Jobs was in "rapidly declining" health.

Cracks Emerge in a Web Security Scheme
BusinessWeek - Like many computer security threats, a new weakness in Web commerce emerged today from the grass roots. Researchers said Dec. 30 they’d used 200 PlayStation 3 video game consoles to defeat a Web security mechanism in three days of computing time.

Argentine builders strike oil - olive oil, that is - in a Spanish galleon

 

Valley view

What could be big in hi-tech in 2009, part one

 

 

Vegetable oil tested on NZ flight

A New Zealand passenger plane successfully completes a two-hour test flight partly powered by vegetable oil.

 

 

Extra tick

How a "leap second" will correct the world's clocks

 

 

Mood amongst US consumers worsens US consumer confidence unexpectedly drops to a record low in December, due to mounting job cuts. US offers $6bn bail-out for GMAC US home sales at 17-year-low US inflation falls further

 

 

 

Experienced eyes

A Wall Street veteran of 1929 looks back at 2008

 

 

Can a man really write a Mills & Boon? He operates under the female pseudonym Gill, but former rugby player Roger Sanderson has sold millions of his Mills & Boon novels.

 

 

 

Dinosaur bones find 'world's biggest'

7,600 fossils, some more than 100m years old, discovered in Zhucheng, China

 

 

No end in sight for US property slump

Rising unemployment, rationed credit and glut of foreclosed properties led to weakness in market

 

 

 

 

nerd news

What did 2008 bring to our bedside reading table? [more] ... [more]

In case you missed the top science stories for 2008, here's a selection: [more], [more], [more] ... [more]

Emerging technologies to keep an eye on ... [more]

Space -- the top pictures and the top stories in cosmology ... [more]

There was more to archaeology in 2008 than Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull ... [more]

 

 

 

gleans + 1xana at 9:10 PM MT, 12/30

 

Sydney plans big New Year fling to see in gloomy 09

 

Australians angry over bid to ban topless sunbathing

 

Global warming: Reasons why it might not actually exist

 

Marinating steak in beer or wine reduces cancer chemicals

 

 

Sign language This week's selection of amusing and absurd signs from your travels.

 

 

ana - from the Atlantic Monthly

past present

Samuel P. Huntington

by Herbert D. Simpson

Political scientist Samuel P. Huntington, author of The Clash of Civilizations, has died. In 2001, Robert D. Kaplan profiled Huntington and assessed his prescient thinking about Islam and the West. read more

 

atlantic voices

How Did Bernie Madoff Get Away With It?

by Megan McArdle

"Madoff's activities were not the sort of gray-area thing that might be slipped in among a newly lax attitude towards SPEs and SIVs. It's straight out old fashioned fraud, of the sort that no one, no matter how keen they are on deregulation, thought was okay." read more

 

 

 

 

SLIDESHOW

Turkish Surprise

In Istanbul, James Fallows encounters an unexpected aesthetic power and harmony. Watch slideshow

Note to our readers

The Atlantic's New Advice Column

Do you need help navigating a career change? Are you puzzled about the role of dark matter in the cosmos? Are you contemplating buying a new TV set? Send all questions great and small to Jeffrey Goldberg at advice@theatlantic.com and he might provide an answer in the next issue of The Atlantic. Please include your full name and address.

 

 

 

gleans at 1:20 PM MT, 12/30

 

 

Letters: Does the E-Book Have a Bright Future?

 

 

 

 

The Minimalist

From Italy, Buckwheat Bathed in Butter

By MARK BITTMAN

Evan Sung for The New York Times

Pizzoccheri is an old-fashioned winter dish from northern Italy that is meant to pack so many calories into your body that you don’t need to eat again until summer.

• Video

 

 

Race reemerges as issue for GOP
Christian Science Monitor - By Alexandra Marks | Staff writer / December 30, 2008 edition State GOP leaders will gather in Washington next week to begin the process of charting a new strategy for the Republican Party

 

 

BBC News Bristol Palin’s Baby: Here’s What We Would Have Named Him! MTV.com - By now, you’re probably aware that Bristol Palin, the 18-year-old daughter of former Republican VP candidate Sarah Palin, gave birth to a son over the weekend, a seven-pound, four-ounce bundle of joy rather majestically named Tripp Easton Mitchell ...

 

 

 

 

 

gleans at 12:50 PM MT, 12/30

 

Georgia’s online academy popular, but is it effective?
Atlanta Journal Constitution - GA, USA  This year about 39 percent of the kids have home school backgrounds. The online students can attend school from their homes, but they’re not counted among ...

Full Report: The Origins of the Financial Crisis

Sydney Morning Herald

Scout camp dob, dob, dobs on rogue alligator Sydney Morning Herald, Australia - 2 hours ago "The fact it's an alligator is more intriguing, because it's rather more difficult to get your hands on an alligator in Australia than a croc. ... Puzzle as scouts call for gator aid The Age all 143 news articles »

Spokane Digs Out From Record-Breaking Snow SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) -- Spokane residents were trying to dig out Tuesday after a month of record-breaking snow collapsed roofs and clogged streets.

Home Prices Fell Sharply in October By JACK HEALY Home values in America’s 20 largest metropolitan areas plunged in October, according to new data.

• Breaking Up Is Harder to Do After the Housing Fall

The Resilience of New York City By EDWARD L. GLAESER  Downturn after downturn, New York has been able to survive and grow. An economist explains why.

Oil down to $39 on grim U.S. economic outlook

Israeli patrol boat slams into aid ship off Gaza

Ex-Bush aides say he never recovered from Katrina

NASA releases graphic report on Columbia shuttle deaths

 

 

 

gleans at 7:40 AM MT, 12/30

 

In search of the God neuron

 

Review: Books about the human brain
Steven Rose examines the latest theories about the human brain

 

 

AFP's offbeat stories of 2008
On list: 81-year-old wakes up in coffin at own wake
--Agence France-Presse

 

 

Where did this kissing business all start?
Columnist traces smooching through Bible, Roman Saturnalia
--Eureka Times-Standard, California

 

 

Bogus money goes mainstream
Regular folks trying to pass off fake bills to pay everyday expenses
--USA Today

 

 

 

The great guilt trip Why does everything we enjoy conspire to make us feel ashamed?

 

 

Poem of the week: The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám

Carol Rumens: If only we could all learn the spirit of Edward FitzGerald's wonderfully unfaithful translation

6 comments

• More poems of the week

 

 

 

gleans at 7:05 AM MT, 12/30

 

Burma's Stilwell Road: A backbreaking WWII project is revived

By a Times Staff Writer  More than 1,100 American troops died building the road in what is now Myanmar. Today China and some in India see the long-neglected route as their lifeline.

 

 

Bush has successfully defended anti-terrorism policies

By David G. Savage  Domestic surveillance, rounding up Muslim men after Sept. 11, harsh interrogations -- the administration has beat back nearly all legal challenges to its controversial programs.

 

 

Strategies for Mexico's drug war

Experts and public figures in the U.S. and Latin America offer a range of views, from stepped-up policing to legalization.

 

 

Israel, vowing 'all-out war' on Hamas, continues airstrikes on Gaza

By Ashraf Khalil and Rushdi Abu Alouf  The death toll in Gaza rises to 364. Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak says the offensive will be expanded 'as we see fit.' Palestinian militants' rocket attacks kill three Israelis.

 

 

A primer on Gaza, Israel and some of the key factors behind the current violence

By Michael Muskal  Answers to some questions about the outbreak of the deadly fighting, its context and the key players.

 

 

Talk, not torture, gets the information

By Matthew Alexander  Fear, domination and control are not effective methods of making out enemies talk.

 

 

Israel, Hamas and the seduction of blind force

By Gershom Gorenberg  Before Israel and Hamas chose blunt instruments, each side had better choices.

 

 

Samuel Huntington's true vision

By Jonah Goldberg  Samuel P. Huntington, who died this week, foresaw that cultural and religious differences would result in world conflict.

 

 

iFart, the latest iPod gimmick

 

 

 

What were top 50 tech tales of 2008?

 

 

Five best Australian outback trips

 

 

Is Facebook afraid of breastfeeding photos?

 

 

Did the universe exist before it existed, bouncing back even then from a previous collapse and bounce? Ad infinitum... more»

 

 

Exercise improves kids' academics

 

 

 

Bonuses, elite rep help boost Marine numbers

 

 

 

Lottery's lure lost

 

 

Don't let Nicaragua's Ortega become a Mugabe

 

 

The Soviet Bomb

A new book says Moscow acquired the secret of the hydrogen bomb from a spy.

 

 

 

For Good Self-Control, Try Getting Religious

 

 

Gazprom, Once Mighty, Is Reeling

 

 

Sony Cuts PlayStation 3 Component Costs by 35 Percent