going dark: the consequences of law enforcement’s inability to use traditional wiretaps and search warrants to access encrypted online communications in investigations of criminal and terrorism suspects. *** TROVELOG *** Federal law enforcement officials are renewing a push for a legal mandate that tech companies build tools into smartphones and other devices that would allow access to [...]
snowfall - Ranking of biggest cities by their record snowfalls. Philadelphia ranks first with 30.7 inches in1996. See graphic at: NYT 06Feb11 - Biggest Cities' Snowfall Records
11.9: The percentage of American workers in unions last year, the lowest proportion in more than 70 years, according to the government’s Bureau of Labor Statistics. The number of workers in unions fell by 612,000 last year, to 14.7 million. About 20 percent of workers were in unions in 1983; the figure was [...]
When people ask me, an American expat, what it’s like living in Canada, I tell them, “It’s kind of like living in the States, if the States were on lithium.” See article at: NYT 02Jan11: "Canada Lights Up" Op-Ed by JOHN VAILLANT, author of “The Tiger: A True Story of Vengeance and Survival”
a low-income urban, suburban or rural area where there are limited vendors of fresh produce but often numerous fast-food outlets For cities, one particular problem is "food deserts" – low-income areas where the prevalent food options are chips and soda at corner stores instead of leafy green vegetables at supermarkets. See article at: CSM 14Feb11 - The rise of the [...]
homes financed by mortgage loans on which no payments are being made but have yet to be listed in a foreclosure sale. [R]eal estate agents and mortgage brokers wary of optimism are focusing on a new term that has entered the housing lexicon: ghost inventory. Banks appear to be sitting on thousands of homes [...]
