Quoted: All signs suggest the economic recovery will end the year on firmer footing despite a report Tuesday that the economy grew at a 2.2 percent ...

My mom's family has one of these towers in Guangdong province and it is also in disrepair since her family there doesn't take care of it. It was on its way to getting protected status and money from the government, but the people living there have to move out - which so far they have not agreed to.

Quoted: Towers and mansions built in the early 20th century by wealthy overseas Chinese are being left to rot as relics of a bygone age.

Quoted: <p>There are more than 400 parks and open spaces in Seattle. While everyone has their favorites, there are dozens you've probably never heard of.</p>

Quoted: Sold on its square footage -- Quadrant advertisements run during the housing boom presented a family lost in its living room -- the house lacked a heater powerful enough to warm all that space, Sigafoos said. Sections of the home had been left without insulation by crews working for the Weyerhaeuser Co.-owned developer, he claimed, and wet materials used during the house's rushed construction provided a foothold for mold.

Great article about the state of anti-cancer therapies and drugs. It would appear that there are effective cancer-prevention drugs on the market already, but since they are both generic and low-cost, a for-profit drug company would have little motive to push the sales, and doctors have little experience prescribing them.

Quoted: As it turns out, there is a way to prevent many cases of prostate cancer. A large and rigorous study found that a generic drug, finasteride, costing about $2 a day, could prevent as many as 50,000 cases each year. Another study found that finasteride’s close cousin, dutasteride, about $3.50 a day, has the same effect.

Quoted: What are you going to do when your hunches don't match the data that's now pouring in? The data shows, for example, that texting while driving is more dangerous than driving drunk. It doesn't feel that way, of course, but will you respect the data and stop, cold turkey? The data shows that the vast majority of wine drinkers can't tell the difference between a $20 bottle and a $100 bottle. Will that keep you from buying the fancy wine? How much is the placebo effect worth? The data shows that famous colleges underperform many cheaper, friendlier, smaller colleges. How much is your neighbor's envy worth?
What are you going to do when your hunches don't match the data that's now pouring in? The data shows, for example, that texting while driving is more dangerous than driving drunk. It doesn't feel that way, of course, but will you respect the data and stop, cold turkey? The data shows that the vast majority of wine drinkers can't tell the difference between a $20 bottle and a $100 bottle. Will that keep you from buying the fancy wine? How much is the placebo effect worth? The data shows that famous colleges underperform many cheaper, friendlier, smaller colleges. How much is your neighbor's envy worth?

Every time I go to a chiropractor or a new dentist or...they want to do some kind of X-ray - even if I have ones in my file. A rad tech friend said that it was an easy way for the clinic/hospital to make an extra $50-100, but it just can't be good to get hit with unnecessary high-energy particles.

The rad tech in the pic hit a child with 151 scans of the same area, over 6 times the normal amount, over the course of nearly an hour (vs. the usual 2 or 3 minutes). She claims she didn't make a mistake, but the parents of the child will probably worry about radiation overdose complications for the rest of his life.

Quoted: At a time when Americans receive far more diagnostic radiation than ever before, the cases underscore the risks posed by a diagnostic tool when used incorrectly.

According to the article, no one has built more hotels in the city than Mr. Chang.

Quoted: Mr. Chang’s hotels have been popular with budget travelers, but not with New York City community boards or the construction and hotel workers’ unions. Since December 2006, his construction company, Tritel, has accumulated 207 serious building violations, 47 of which are still unresolved. Community Board 7 in the Bronx often found him unresponsive when work on a hotel near Fordham University weakened the foundation of an adjoining home, flooding the basement. “Their whole approach to the community was very dismissive,” said Gregory Faulkner, chairman of the community board.

Makes sense. Get paid for your results, not your efforts. Increasingly, the real world is losing a pat-yourself-on-the-back reward system for that effort column we got used to having since grade school.

Quoted: In fact, in a digital world where everything can be measured, we all work on commission. And why not? If you do great work and it works, you should get rewarded. And if you don't, it's hard to see why a rational organization would keep you on.