Subject: Share the View -- on Leap Seconds, Greek Butts and Basement-Gate
From: "Bloomberg View -- Tobin Harshaw" <[email-masked]>
To: <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 29 Feb 2012 05:12:28 -0500

_Share the View_
   _Bloomberg View _

A Quick Look at Bloomberg News's Opinion Section for Feb. 29,  2012

   "On leap day, let us pause to consider the future of a much smaller time
   correction: the leap second," write the View editors, who don't waste a
   second in calling for a longer pause. "Last month in Geneva, the
   International Telecommunication Union, an arm of the United Nations that
   manages timekeeping, postponed for three years a decision on whether to
   abolish leap seconds altogether. This much-needed delay will allow the world
   to assess exactly what it might cost scientists, computer engineers and the
   rest of us to lose a tiny but powerful mechanism for keeping track of real
   time."[2] Link.
     Links:
       2. http://bloom.bg/wyu63A

   "Washington had Watergate, Italy Bunga Bunga-gate, London Murdoch-gate,"
   notes View columnist William Pesek. "Now, Hong Kong brings us Basement-gate.
   It’s a scandal that many of us outside the city of 7 million might find hard
   to fathom. Henry Tang, the favorite to be Hong Kong’s next leader, has an
   illegal basement. In my mind, that’s only a problem if you are storing
   drugs, trafficking humans or evading taxes. For Hong Kong residents squeezed
   by surging rents and living costs, Tang’s underground aerie, which he built
   without a government permit, is outrageous enough. Even as poverty in Hong
   Kong rises, Tang’s hidden wonderland contains a Japanese-style sauna,
   well-stocked wine cellar, dance studio and theater, according to local
   media." Ah, we envy Tang now, but wait he has to bring out the mop and
   bucket in typhoon season ... [3]Link.
     Links:
       3. http://bloom.bg/xTNBWe

   In the last year Greeks have faced default, euro expulsion, anarchist
   insurrection and rampant wildfires -- so what's their real problem? "Among
   all the trials and tribulations that define Greece these days, one that has
   received relatively little attention is its sky-high smoking rate," writes
   View columnist Peter Orszag. "Greece’s is the highest in the Organization
   for Economic Cooperation and Development. Greece is an outlier also in that
   its smoking rate has risen significantly over the past decade. The
   country’s fiscal crisis may therefore have a silver lining: It has forced
   the government to raise tobacco taxes modestly, and this already appears to
   be reducing smoking rates. Still, much more could be done."[4] Link.
     Links:
       4. http://bloom.bg/xgTude

   "The Mad Men of the Republican Party have captured another convert," reports
   columnist Margaret Carlson. "Scott Brown, the otherwise severely moderate
   senator from Massachusetts who won Ted Kennedy’s seat in a special election
   two years ago, has signed on as a co-sponsor of the Blunt amendment.
   Fastened to the highway bill that will be voted on as soon as this week, the
   amendment essentially takes the deal the Obama administration gave Catholic
   bishops on contraception coverage and extends it to any employer or
   insurance company that finds a health service runs afoul of its 'religious
   belief' or 'moral conviction.' Although primarily about birth control, the
   amendment is so broadly written it could allow Burger King to refuse to
   cover testing its employees for cholesterol because doing so might crimp its
   deep religious belief in hamburger patties (and be self-incriminating to
   boot)." [5]Link.
     Links:
       5. http://bloom.bg/A1mVJI

   Also, the editors look at the Fed's efforts to open up; columnist Clive
   Crook thinks America's real enemy is itself; and op-ed contributor Tim Ryan
   thinks the Volcker Rule can afford to relax.

   To see if you share the View, go to [6]www.bloomberg.com/view.
   And check out our editors' blog, [7]The Ticker.
     Links:
       6. http://www.bloomberg.com/view
       7. http://www.bloomberg.com/view/the-ticker

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