 | |||
|
| TOP STORIES |
|
| ||||||||||
| Mario Cuomo, 3-term New York governor, dies |
| Mario M. Cuomo, the three-term governor of New York who defined and passionately defended liberalism in America in an era when that political philosophy was in decline, died Jan. 1 at his home in New York. He was 82. Read full article » |
| Tiger farms stoke Chinese demand for tiger wine and rugs, putting wild cats in peril |
| To the thump of loud dance music, four tigers roll over in succession and then raise themselves on their haunches. A man in a shiny blue shirt waves a metal stick at them, and they lift their front paws to beg. Read full article » |
| For New York police commissioner, a delicate balancing act in a tense city |
| NEW YORK — In the days since two police officers were fatally shot in their patrol car in Brooklyn, Mayor Bill de Blasio has turned to his celebrity police commissioner for help weathering the biggest political test of his first year in office. Read full article » |
| Blackwater founder Erik Prince goes to war against a former business partner |
| The founder of Blackwater, once the world’s most notorious security contracting firm, seemed stumped by his interrogator’s question. Could Erik Prince — a former Navy SEAL who reportedly worked as an undercover CIA operative — specify how much of his best-selling memoir he wrote himself? “I don’t know, because — I don’t know,” Prince said during a day-long deposition at a Northern Virginia law office about a year ago. Read full article » |
| 2015 Sugar Bowl: Ohio State beats Alabama, 42-35, to advance to title game |
| NEW ORLEANS — Moored with a vague irrelevance near the start of this newfangled college football season, Ohio State is poised to finish with a rousing string of overcoming. It has overcome a woozy early loss to Virginia Tech, overcome an uphill view in the rankings, overcome the decidedly unlucky loss of not one, but two, starting quarterbacks. Read full article » |
| Resolving to lose weight this year? Willpower isn’t your biggest obstacle. |
| With a new year comes the annual resolutions to lose extra pounds. If you’ve taken that pledge, I wish you good luck! But chances are you will be one of the 92 percent who fail to reach their new year’s goals. Society tends to blame this failure on a lack of willpower — people don’t lose weight simply because they’re too lazy. But the truth is far more complicated. The only consistently successful weight-loss method for morbidly obese people (those with a body mass index over 40) has been bariatric surgery. Without surgery, morbid obesity is extremely difficult to cure — fewer than 5 percent ever overcome it on their own. Read full article » |
| 5 stupidly easy, science-based resolutions for people who spend too much time online |
| We are entering the month of Facebook deletions, of “lifehacks,” of “digital detoxes” designed to cure whatever social-media hangover you suffer from the year before.Per the latest holiday poll from Marist, in fact, nearly half of all Americans will make New Year’s resolutions this year. Resolutions, as we know, don’t really work. But if you’re trying to reclaim your life from the greedy clutches of Facebook, Twitter and that ultimate siren — your smartphone — science sez these tips will help. Read full article » |
 |
| POLITICS |
| Remembering Mario Cuomo |
| Former New York Gov. Mario Cuomo — the father of current New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo — died Thursday. He was 82. Friends, fellow politicians and those who covered him were quick to post their memories of the man on Twitter. Read full article » |
| This is how depressingly partisan America has become |
| Almost everything in the United States has become a partisan issue. And few polls make that clearer than a couple year-end polls released over the holiday.An NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll and a Fox News poll both asked Americans to rate their 2014s. The good news: 2014 was rated higher than any year since the recession began. The bad news: the cheer is hardly bipartisan. Read full article » |
| Marlon Marshall, key White House aide, steps down Friday |
| Marlon Marshall, who oversaw the White House health-care enrollment efforts and could play a key role in a Hillary Clinton presidential campaign, will step down Friday and rejoin his former consulting firm 270 Strategies. Read full article » |
| D.C. Mayor-elect Muriel Bowser, D.C. Council members to be sworn in Friday |
| Mayor-elect Muriel E. Bowser (D) and seven members of the D.C. Council are set to be inaugurated Friday morning at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center — a moment that promises to not only make good on Bowser’s “fresh start” campaign slogan, but also will kick off a new era in District politics. Read full article » |
| OPINIONS |
| Fareed Zakaria: American innovation is in trouble |
| The world is impressed with the United States these days. On recent trips to Europe and Asia, I kept hearing praise of the country’s innovation and entrepreneurship. But a set of new studies suggests that the glittering examples of Facebook, Snapchat and Uber are deceptive. American innovation is in trouble. Read full article » |
| Nylons for nothing in Cuba |
| There’s an old Cold War joke — pre-pantyhose — that to defeat communism we should empty our B-52 bombers of nuclear weapons and instead drop nylons over the Soviet Union. Flood the Russians with the soft consumer culture of capitalism, seduce them with Western contact and commerce, love-bomb them into freedom. Read full article » |
| The GOP has a bad habit of appealing to avowed racists |
| Here’s some advice for House Majority Whip Steve Scalise that also applies to the Republican Party in general: If you don’t want to be associated in any way with white supremacists and neo-Nazis, then stay away from them. Read full article » |
| With no consequences in sight, Cuba continues to crack down on free speech |
| ACUBAN performance artist named Tania Bruguera planned a simple event for Tuesday: She would set up a microphone in Havana’s Revolution Square and invite anyone who wished to step up and talk about the country’s future. Dozens of dissidents planned to participate under the slogan “I also demand” — which might be taken as an allusion to their exclusion from the secret normalization negotiations conducted by the Obama administration and the regime of Fidel and Raúl Castro. Read full article » |
| |||||||
| LOCAL |
| Bowser’s ‘fresh start,’ new blood on council heralds new era for D.C. government |
| The District’s “fresh start” begins Friday.Mayor-elect Muriel E. Bowser (D) and seven members of the D.C. Council are set to be inaugurated in a morning ceremony at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center — a moment that promises not only to make good on Bowser’s campaign slogan but also to kick off a new era in D.C. politics. Read full article » |
| MARC train delays Friday morning |
| Updated at 6:22 a.m.The MARC train service on the Brunswick line is expected to reopen in roughly one hour, according to MTA Maryland.The line had been closed because a man was struck and killed by a train near the Germantown stop. Read full article » |
| Interstate 95 south reopened in Elkridge |
| Updated at 6:04 a.m.All lanes of Interstate 95 south have reopened in Elkridge after a crash involving a tractor trailer. Read full article » |
| SPORTS |
| So that Winter Classic went well |
| In the end, the fans threw their seat cushions — because of course they did.Was it a conscious homage to the Redskins’ playoff win over the Falcons in 1992 — a game that featured a celebratory hailstorm of seat warmers at RFK Stadium? Maybe that doesn’t matter. Because D.C. sports fans were euphoric over a nationally relevant D.C. sporting event at a D.C. stadium. This isn’t the sort of thing that happens every day. Read full article » |
| TV and radio listings: January 2 |
| NBA7:30 p.m. Dallas at Boston » NBA TV8 p.m. Washington at Oklahoma City » Comcast SportsNet, WNEW (99.1 FM), WFED (1500 AM)COLLEGE FOOTBALLNoon Armed Forces Bowl: Houston vs. Pittsburgh » ESPN Read full article » |
| Hurricanes defenseman rings in New Year with gruesome photo of mangled finger |
| Carolina’s Michal Jordan (no, not that guy, this guy is a Czech hockey player) did not have the most enjoyable New Year’s Eve. His Hurricanes lost to the Penguins, 2-1, and during the second period, Jordan suffered an injury that looked like it was 2,015 kinds of painful. Read full article » |
| FEDERAL GOVERNMENT |
|
|
| Postal Service poised to begin controversial plant closures next week |
| The U.S. Postal Service next week plans to begin a new round of plant closings and consolidations that will affect dozens of mail-processing centers, despite calls from more than half the members of the outgoing Senate to postpone the changes. Read full article » |
| Watch Seth Rogen and C-SPAN’s other top moments in 2014 |
| Before “The Interview” made Seth Rogen something of a political football, the actor appeared on Capitol Hill earlier this year to testify about Alzheimer’s disease.His opening statement, which had notes of his well-known humor in what was otherwise a sober testimony, gave C-SPAN its most viewed video on YouTube in 2014, topping President Obama at the White House Correspondents Dinner and Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.) questioning MIT professor Jonathan Gruber over his comments about the American people’s intellect. Read full article » |
| GAO to fed workers: No, taxpayers can’t pay for your plastic forks |
| (This post has been updated.)Federal workers who pack their lunches should also remember to pack their own utensils.A Government Accountability Office decision released last week determined that federal agencies cannot supply “disposable cups, plates, and cutlery” for employee use because they are for personal benefit and not a specific government purpose. Read full article » |
| NATIONAL |
| This year, let’s stop telling women to stay safe. Let’s tell men not to assault us. |
| As I drove slowly around the endless strip malls that line the main drag of my city, I heard it — a public service announcement that seemed meant for me.“Ultimately you are responsible for your safety in parking lots. Walk deliberately with keys in hand. Carry mace. Don’t look at your cell phone. Don’t let yourself become a victim. Happy holidays and New Year from the Sheriff’s Office.” Read full article » |
| The best writing on political economy this year |
| As 2014 comes to a close, it’s time to award the 6th annual Albies, named in honor of Albert O. Hirschman, to recognize the best writing on political economy over the past year. Past winners of the Albies have included award-winning books, peer-reviewed scholarship, polemical essays, provocative blog posts and even one Twitter feed. Read full article » |
| America’s best New Year’s Eve parties happened in 1865 |
| For young Ed McCree, enslaved on a thousand-acre Georgia cotton plantation, Christmas and New Year’s Day 150 years ago were like none he’d ever known. After time off for Christmas and feasts with young pigs, cattle, and peaches (still summer-sweet because they were packed in wheat straw and cottonseed that kept them fresh), New Year’s Day typically meant that McCree would be again forced to carry buckets of water to the men and women working in the fields. Read full article » |
| WORLD |
| Fans love underdogs, but few face greater odds than the Palestinian soccer team |
| RAMALLAH, West Bank — It is a sports cliche that fans love an underdog, and there are few international sports franchises more underdoggy than the Palestine National Football Team.The Palestinian team is having the best season in its history: In 2014, it reached a plateau as the 85th best team in the world, according to rankings by FIFA, soccer’s world governing body. The team has since fallen to 113th place — still not bad — meaning it is better than Kuwait but not quite as good as Saudi Arabia. (Israel is ranked 32nd.) Read full article » |
| 15 ways things will get worse in 2015 |
| The new year ought to bring with it new hope and optimism for the time to come. But it's hard to feel positive after a 2014 marked by so much conflict and tragedy. Scanning the globe, here are WorldViews' gloomy predictions for how things may get worse in 2015. Read full article » |
| Here are the top 10 military stories on Checkpoint in 2014 |
| It has been a tumultuous 2014 at home and abroad for the U.S. military. While moving on from 13 years of combat operations in Afghanistan, the Pentagon was forced to grapple with how to respond to the rise of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, an outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus in western Africa and a variety of internal issues that rattled the ranks and required serious contemplation. Read full article » |
 |
| BUSINESS |
| FedEx, UPS step up their holiday shipping performance |
| FedEx and UPS sharply improved their rates of on-time delivery during the last-minute Christmas shopping crush, avoiding last year’s shipping snafus with better planning and a little help from Mother Nature. Read full article » |
| Airstream can’t keep up with demand for iconic silver trailers |
| JACKSON CENTER, Ohio — Bob Wheeler still gets the question sometimes when people find out he runs the company that builds those shiny aluminum campers: “Airstreams? They still make those?”Not only are the retro-looking silver-bullet travel trailers still being built by hand at the same western Ohio site that has produced them for 60 years, but the company also can’t roll them out of there fast enough to meet the demand. Read full article » |
| Might your workers be eligible for Medicaid? A start-up helps employers find out. |
| The Gold ‘N Silver Inn in Reno, Nev., has long offered health coverage to its employees — but many of the cooks, dishwashers and waiters who make close to minimum wage can’t afford the $100 monthly premium. Read full article » |
| TECHNOLOGY |
| This was the Internet’s worst, best year ever |
| This year was a hugely momentous one in the evolution of the global network of networks we call the Internet. Since its creation as a side project of a handful of academics and military researchers in the United States some 50 years ago, the Internet has grown to encompass the whole world. But 2014 was in many ways a mixed bag for the Internet. It showed the Internet at its strongest, reaching more people, more ways than at any point in the past. But at the same time, it has also never been more threatened by everything from hackers to censors to autocrats newly attuned to the power of the online world. Read full article » |
| Five things that tech got right in 2014 |
| With all the hacks, breaches, and stories of online harassment, it's easy to forget that technology also does a lot of good for the world. Here's a handful of stories to remind us about all the good things that come from technology, too. Read full article » |
| Why fingerprints scans may not be the future of digital verification |
| Fingerprint scanners are becoming increasingly mainstream -- they even come built-in many Apple devices.But researchers are finding ways to spoof biometric ID methods, and they come with their own set of privacy and security drawbacks. Read full article » |
| Not satisfied with Gmail, China seems to be blocking Google Search, too |
| It isn't just Gmail. The government of China, which this weekend launched a tweak to its Great Firewall filtering regime that blocked much of mainland China's access to Google's e-mail service, has on Monday cut off access nationwide to Google Search as well, reports one Internet intelligence expert. Read full article » |
| LIFESTYLE |
| The latest thing at ‘Downton Abbey’: Exit signs |
| “Downton Abbey” has found its groove, which, of course, involves no real groove at all. A groove would ruin it. Viewers have figured out that their beloved British period drama moves through its stories like a perfunctory telenovela aimed at the whitest people alive and that the show is mainly a good excuse to dial back a century and watch the working class serve the 1 percent a formal dinner night after night after night — and pick up after them, and help them put on their clothes. (And to think we refer to shows like “Nashville” as “guilty” pleasures. What sort of penance must be paid for admiring the wealth gap at dear old Downton?) Read full article » |
| Bill Moyers signs off — for the final time, he swears |
| This time, Bill Moyers really means it. After 43 years as public television’s most visible intellectual and its most unabashed liberal, he’s done. As of Friday, he’s officially retiring from TV. Yes, he’s said that before. Twice, actually. And both times (in 2010 and 2013) he reversed course, returning to TV to pursue his varied passions and crusades — against the corrupting influence of money in politics, for the environment and civil rights, against growing economic inequality — in familiar style, avuncular and Texas-inflected. The last time he retired he was on the sidelines for all of 17 days. Read full article » |
| Miss Manners: Be mindful when extending new year’s wishes |
| DEAR MISS MANNERS: I know someone who is in the late stages of a terminal illness. This person received one of those colorful, lovely animated e-mail greeting cards from a close family member. The e-card wished the “Best New Year” for the coming year. Read full article » |
| Carolyn Hax: Readers’ advice on selfhood, romance and listening to babies |
| While I’m away, readers give the advice.On failure, shame and selfhood:A letter-writer who was first in the family to divorce, saying, “I feel like a failure,” struck a chord with me. My favorite quote (and philosophy) is from “The Wizard of Oz”: Read full article » |
댓글 없음:
댓글 쓰기