Boston buddy: In an editorial in today’s Boston Globe, the newspaper says long shot presidential candidate and former Louisiana governor Buddy Roemer “is capable of bringing fresh energy to the long-running GOP show: It’s even possible to imagine him catching fire for at least a moment, the way the tag team of Trump-Bachmann-Perry-Cain-Gingrich have all taken turns as Mitt Romney’s sparring partner. Roemer is running on both John McCain-style campaign finance reform and a promise, as president, to break the logjam in Congress by imposing his own legislative agenda. On both counts, he could gain some traction, if given a chance to make his case.” The newspaper says Roemer should be included in the New Hampshire debates on Jan. 7 and 8. Read the full editorial here.
Trees of life: Old Christmas trees can have new life in Louisiana’s marshes when various recycling programs get underway throughout the state next month. In Baton Rouge, the city-parish is offering curbside collection to residents from Jan. 9-22, except in Baker and Zachary. Drop off locations will also be available. Click here for details. The program collects live, used trees to help rebuild the state’s dwindling wetlands. Once collected, the tree bundles will be dropped into the Bayou Sauvage National Wildlife Refuge in eastern New Orleans. Last February, a team helped distribute 7,500 trees to the area to help create new marsh habitat and prevent further shoreline erosion.
Turn it off: Japan’s Sony and South Korean rival Samsung are dissolving their joint venture in liquid crystal display panels as Sony tries to stanch years of losses in its TV business. Sony says Samsung Electronics Co. will buy all of its shares in the joint venture for about 1.08 trillion Korean won ($935 million), subject to a final agreement. The joint venture, called S-LCD, was set up in 2004. Sony, which fell behind in flat panel TVs, invested in a Samsung panel factory to ensure a steady supply of panels for its LCD TVs. Sony’s TV operation has lost money for seven straight years and the company is straining to return that key business to profit.
