IHT Rendezvous: Dutch Arts Groups Shut Down as Funding Vanishes

AMSTERDAM — In the 1980s and ’90s, the Netherlands had a reputation as a kind of paradise for artists. Graduates of fine arts academies could receive long-term grants and special housing subsidies to support them so they wouldn’t have to get day jobs. Edgy theater groups and small contemporary classical ensembles were fully financed to create innovative and experimental work. The government even bought...

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The Caucus: LaHood to Leave Transportation Department

Ray LaHood, the former Republican congressman from Illinois who has run the nation’s Transportation Department under President Obama, will not serve a second term, he told department employees in a letter on Tuesday.“I’ve told President Obama, and I’ve told many of you, that this is the best job I’ve ever had. I’m grateful to have the opportunity to work with all of you,” Mr. LaHood wrote. He cited...

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Well: Ask Well: Long-Term Use of Nicotine Gum

In small doses, like those contained in the gum, nicotine is generally considered safe. But it does have stimulant properties that can raise blood pressure, increase heart rate and constrict blood vessels. One large report from 2010 found that compared to people given a placebo, those who used nicotine replacement therapies had a higher risk of heart palpitations and chest pains.That’s one reason...

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Well: Ask Well: Long-Term Use of Nicotine Gum

In small doses, like those contained in the gum, nicotine is generally considered safe. But it does have stimulant properties that can raise blood pressure, increase heart rate and constrict blood vessels. One large report from 2010 found that compared to people given a placebo, those who used nicotine replacement therapies had a higher risk of heart palpitations and chest pains.That’s one reason...

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Streaming Shakes Up Music Industry’s Model for Royalties

Jim Wilson/The New York TimesZoe Keating published on her blog the details of what she made in royalties from the Web streaming of her music. It wasn’t a lot. Like plenty of music fans, Sam Broe jumped at the chance to join Spotify two summers ago, and he hasn’t looked back. Spotify, which began streaming music in Sweden in 2008, lets users choose from millions of songs over the Internet...

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Ukrainian General Given Life Sentence in Killing of Journalist

MOSCOW — A Ukrainian court sentenced a former security official to life in prison on Tuesday for the death of Georgy Gongadze, a journalist whose mysterious death in 2002 provoked an international outcry and helped set off protests against the president at the time, Leonid D. Kuchma. The former security official, Gen. Oleksei Pukach, who once headed a surveillance department for Ukraine’s...

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Media Decoder Blog: Dodgers, Signing Lucrative TV Deal, Plan to Start Regional Sports Network

The owners of the Los Angeles Dodgers said Monday that they intended to start a regional sports network in southern California, confirming weeks of reports about the team’s plans.The network, to be named SportsNet LA, will be backed by Time Warner Cable, one of the main television distributors in the region, with a commitment of $7 billion to $8 billion over the next 25 years. The price tag, though...

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Recipes for Health: Gluten-Free Banana Chocolate Muffins

Andrew Scrivani for The New York TimesMy son Liam still doesn’t know that the muffins he has been devouring all week are gluten-free. I am a big believer that there is no need to forego gluten unless you are truly gluten intolerant; indeed, nutritionists are concerned that a gluten-free diet can be lacking in essential nutrients and digestive enzymes. But I have a sister who is gluten intolerant,...

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Recipes for Health: Gluten-Free Banana Chocolate Muffins

Andrew Scrivani for The New York TimesMy son Liam still doesn’t know that the muffins he has been devouring all week are gluten-free. I am a big believer that there is no need to forego gluten unless you are truly gluten intolerant; indeed, nutritionists are concerned that a gluten-free diet can be lacking in essential nutrients and digestive enzymes. But I have a sister who is gluten intolerant,...

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Bits Blog: A Right to Unlock Cellphones Fades Away

Your right to unlock your cellphone is about to expire. Cellphone carriers say this is for your own good — and theirs.Unlocking a cellphone enables it to work on a wireless carrier other than the one you bought it from. If an AT&T iPhone were unlocked, for example, it could be used on T-Mobile USA’s network. In October, the Library of Congress decided to invalidate a copyright exemption for unlocking...

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