Tea Party Successfully Pushes Wake County School Board To Turn Back The Clock, Re-segregate Schools
January 13, 2011 No CommentThe Teabaggers are a bunch of white cranks who really are nostalgic for the “good” old days, huh. For people who are so careful about denying any racism in their ranks, I’d say that fighting for segregation doesn’t do much to convince people otherwise: Tea party groups have succeeded in reversing nationally praised school integration policies in Raleigh, North Carolina, decrying the longstanding system as one of social engineering. The Washington Post reports that tea party pressure has motivated Wake County School District’s largely Republican school board to abolish policies the newspaper describes as “one of the nation’s most celebrated integration efforts.” “Say no to the social engineers!” was one of their slogans. The Post hails the existing system as a “rarity,” noting that some of the county’s “best, most diverse schools are in the poorest sections of this capital city. And its suburban schools, rather than being exclusive enclaves, include children whose parents cannot afford a house in the neighborhood.” The school board is instead considering a system in which poor children are relegated to low-income neighborhood schools, moving away from its current policies where most schools have students from a wide range of socioeconomic backgrounds. Critics have sharply denounced the new plans as a form of segregation, noting that poorer children are often minorities and arguing that the new tea party-backed ideas will lead to a new cycle of poverty for the less fortunate. Chief among them is the NAACP, which has slammed the effort as discriminatory and a new type of racial segregation, and has filed a civil rights complaint in an effort to protect hundreds of students from having to transfer out of their schools. “So far, all the chatter we heard from tea partyers has not manifested in actually putting in place retrograde policies,” NAACP president Ben Jealous told the Post. “But this is one place where they have literally attempted to turn back the clock.”
Continue reading …Environmentalists won a big victory today in the debate over mountaintop mining: The EPA took the rare step of revoking a permit for a massive site in West Virginia, ruling that it would foul the water for residents in that region of Appalachia, reports the Charleston Gazette . Mountaintop mining involves…
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The marketing for controversial at-home genetics kits claim to empower users with the information they need to take steps to improve their health. But a new study suggests that, in the short term at least, the tests have little impact on behavior.
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Photos: Gerardo Montes de Oca Do It Yourself Bike Lanes in Mexico A group of citizens in Guadalajara , Mexico, was fed up with the inaction of the local authorities. Their city has a big traffic problem (350 new cars are added to the city’s roads every day, average traffic speed has fallen to 18 km/h, and the quality of our air reaches alarming levels during several days of winter), and those who want to bike have to deal with dangerous roads that don’t have bike lanes. So these citizens, led by local teachers and students, decided to fi… Read the full story on TreeHugger
Continue reading …Fox hunting was banned in England, but you can still enjoy a sporting day on your horse, with a pack of dogs hunting a slightly different type of game: man. The Coakham Hunt began its manhunts—“for fun,” its website reassures—long before fox hunting and other types of hunting…
Continue reading …US Chamber of Commerce Says We Shouldn’t Fund Renewable Energy, But Fossil Fuels Are A-OK
January 13, 2011 No Comment
photo: Lori Doty / Creative Commons The US Chamber of Commerce hasn’t built itself a reputation for environmental friendliness in the past couple of years. In fact on climate change in particular it’s built itself up as a moronically myopic organization. In it’s latest head-scratching move has come out against setting aside money for renewable energy research. Here’s Karen Harbert, presid… Read the full story on TreeHugger
Continue reading …IBM’s Watson supercomputer destroys all humans in Jeopardy practice round (video!)
January 13, 2011 No Comment
So, in February IBM’s Watson will be in an official Jeopardy tournament-style competition with titans of trivia Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter. That competition will be taped starting tomorrow, but hopefully we’ll get to know if a computer really can take down the greatest Jeopardy players of all time in “real time” as the show airs. It will be a historic event on par with Deep Blue vs. Garry Kasparov, and we’ll absolutely be glued to our seats. Today IBM and Jeopardy offered a quick teaser of that match , with the three contestants knocking out three categories at lightning speed. Not a single question was answered wrongly, and at the end of the match Watson, who answers questions with a cold computer voice, telegraphing his certainty with simple color changes on his “avatar,” was ahead with $4,400, Ken had $3,400, and Brad had $1,200. Alright, a “win” for silicon for now, but without any Double Jeopardy or Final Jeopardy it’s hard to tell how well Watson will do in a real match. What’s clear is that he isn’t dumb, and it seems like the best chance the humans will have will be buzzing in before Watson can run through his roughly three second decision process and activate his buzzer mechanically. An extra plus for the audience is a graphic that shows the three answers Watson has rated as most likely to be correct, and how certain he is of the answer he selects — we don’t know if that will make it into the actual TV version, but we certainly hope so. It’s always nice to know the thought processes of your destroyer. Stand by for video of the match, along with an interview with David Gondek, an engineer on the project. Update: Video of the match is up, check it out after the break! Gallery: IBM’s Watson supercomputer destroys all humans in Jeopardy practice round Continue reading IBM’s Watson supercomputer destroys all humans in Jeopardy practice round (video!) IBM’s Watson supercomputer destroys all humans in Jeopardy practice round (video!) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 13 Jan 2011 14:51:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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Summer rains sent a mass of red mud and torrents of water rushing down mountainsides in towns outside Rio, enveloping homes of rich and poor alike and killing at least 257 people in 24 hours. (Jan. 13)
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The NAMM trade show — also known as the musician’s candy store — is kicking off today out in Anaheim, which means that audio-focused press releases are starting to pour in. Headset and mic manufacturer Shure is beefing up its line with the introduction of three new models — a set of buds plus two cans. On the bud side, the SE 215 slots in predictably beneath the SE315 , offering a budget-friendly single driver in your choice of black or fancy translucent casing; it comes in at a retail price of $99, some $100 less than the SE315. Moving to cans, the SRH550DJ (pictured center) is — as the name implies — targeted at DJs with a “super-aural design” for full isolation and a 90-degree swiveling headband for flexible wearing positions; this one will set you back $99 on the store shelf. On the upscale side, the SRH940 is billed as a reference set with a premium padded headband, and you’ll pay for it: it’s $299 at retail. All three models will be available this spring; follow the break for the press releases. Continue reading Shure adds SE215 buds, cans for DJs and studios alike Shure adds SE215 buds, cans for DJs and studios alike originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 13 Jan 2011 14:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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Europe’s highest active volcano, Mount Etna has begun spewing lava again. (Jan. 13)
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