[USATODAY] Virtual reality can bring us to the top of Mt. Everest. But Stanford University researchers believe it can conquer an even steeper challenge: racial and sexual discrimination. This is of course the absolute first priority of the National Football League. Anything else is just playing games.
“Feeling prejudice by walking a mile in someone else’s shoes is what VR was made for," says Jeremy Bailenson, director of Stanford University’s Virtual Human Interaction Lab. Thirty-some men, most of them supersized, have been frittering their time away playing football when they should have been concentrating on postmodernist deconstructive feminist afro gay studies. Damn them.
Its diversity training scenarios, which aim to engender empathy, have attracted interest from one large organization: the National Football League. The NFL is in the early stages of determining how it will use the new technology to train league staffers and players on understanding bias, league executives tell USA TODAY. As long as they're not abusing dogs or raping women I'd think they could be left alone. A simple "don't do that" should suffice for most adults.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/11/2016 00:00 ||
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As opposed to real reality in which discrimination (me, not me) spatial analysis is a survival trait.
People have long predicted that California could eventually collapse into the ocean following a mega earthquake. Now, an eerily similar true-life scenario is playing out - but it's thanks to the weather. And farming for vegetables. And Delta Smelt conservation.
The state has sunk more than 45 feet since 1935 - something the U.S. government calls the "largest human alteration of the earth's surface." It's happening because of excessive groundwater mining brought on by farming and drought, and geologists say all the rain in the world won't reverse cave-ins of dirt and rock in underground aquifers.
California is entering its fifth year of drought, with the past two years being the warmest on record. Everybody knows you can't have a dust-bowl drought without manmade-global-climate-change.
"We've not seen anything like this in recent history," Lund said. "The last time we saw this was in the '20s and '30s when we had the Dust Bowl." When manmade-global-climate-change was at its' previous zenith.
Recent storms have brought some reservoirs back to their average levels but, according to a state website, many others are still below average as summer approaches. As lakes dried up, the water tap was shut off to farmers in Central California where 60 percent of the nation's fresh vegetables are grown. For the past two years, farmers have received no above-ground water and have had to rely solely whatever they can pull out from earth. Well, a few farmers will lose their jobs, but then they'll go on the government dole and vote democratic. We'll just have to import more food, maybe from Zimbabwe or Venezuela.
Farmers use 40 percent of the state's water supply. Residential and commercial usage is 10 percent, and the rest is released into the waterways or used by the government. Federal and state water agencies share control over California's maze of lakes, dams, canals, rivers and the aqueduct ‐ the largest waterway system in the world. Good thing they have manmade-global-climate-change to cover their mismanagement and Smelt-saving.
But while celebrities shell out for green lawns and farmers struggle to water their crops, an environmental showdown is taking place between the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and conservative lawmakers, farmers and residents who accuse the agency of wasting millions of gallons of water to protect salmon and an endangered anchovy called the delta smelt. Yeah, that Delta Smelt.
Low river levels means an increase in water temperature, and the government periodically releases enough water to decrease the temperature so fish won't die.
But California's water problem is bigger than fishes or farmers. A famous photo on the U.S. Geological Survey website shows geologist Joseph F. Poland in 1977 standing next to a telephone pole where placards are placed up to 30 feet above his head marking various ground levels dating back to 1925. Poland began publicizing the disaster of disappearing groundwater back in the 1940s.
As the population exploded and farming acreage increased, the land collapse accelerated - one area dropped nearly 40 inches between 2007 and 2010. And in just eight months leading up to February 2015, it sank another 13 inches. Coming soon! More beach-front real estate!
Posted by: Bobby ||
04/11/2016 12:16 ||
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The state has sunk more than 45 feet since 1935
By this logic, moi should have drowned decades ago.
As the former doorman said in K-PAX, "...bullshitbullshitbullshit..."
#2
All the aquaducts in the Bay Area are full. I don't think we are in the 5th year of drought. We may still have a ways to go to replenish the Aquafers but that doesn't equal Drought.
In which Fred takes on this article from a few days ago.
[DAILYCALLER] James Harrison, history professor at Portland Community College, said in a lecture Monday for the college’s April Whiteness History Month that peace in the U.S. is impossible so long as whiteness still exists. Several things dippy about the first para. He's a "professor of history" at a community college? What are his actual qualifications? History or Black History? Does the "professor" have a Ph.D. from other than a Prestigious Unaccredited University?
Bachelor from Hunter College, taught high school for a while before moving up to community college, now is a department chair. One article in my google search referred to him as Dr. Harrison, but that one only mentioned the Hunter College degree.
In a talk entitled “Imagine A World Without Whiteness,” Harrison declared confidently conflict can only cease once the power structure of whiteness is totally eliminated. Either that or when the Colored Man is relegated to his rightful place. Both statements carry the same intent in reverse.
“Imagine everyone living life in peace,” Harrison said, building off John Lennon’s famous song “Imagine.” The crime rate in the United States is much higher than crime rates in Europe, at least they were before Europe was overrun by Moslems. Yet the crime rate among whites is not much different from the crime rate among Europeans. What's that tell you, professor? Or do we still do deductive reasoning? Deductive reasoning conflicts with critical theory. Guess which one wins...
“And how do we get to that good world is the question — a world without conflict. And to me, my interpretation of these words, is it would be a world, or U.S., without whiteness, in terms of the power structure,” Harrison said, offering his own interpretation of Lennon’s song. Yeah! Keep the Colorless Folks in their place!
For Harrison, the term whiteness is essentially a social category to which whites belong. And blacks and Hispanics don't. Except for those light-colored Hispanics. But Asians do.
And a social category, Harrison continued, is a group of people sharing in a common similar attributes, even if they have never actually met. Like all white folks and all Asians. And light-colored Hispanics. And Jews. They're all white regardless of of what color they are.
“So whiteness, white people, share a whole lot of things, even if they don’t interact, and one thing that they share is whiteness, or white privilege,” Harrison said. There are places where it doesn't exist. Like Congo, Rwanda, Burundi, Zimbabwe, Uganda. pick a place. Go try it on for size. See how you like it.
Harrison then went on to explain that demolishing whiteness is a matter of a lot of individuals each taking small steps to achieving the objective. “Can there be a world without whiteness, a world in which white privilege doesn’t exist?” Harrison asked his audience. Are you really, really sure it would be one you wanted to live in?
Posted by: Fred ||
04/11/2016 00:00 ||
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As Thomas Hobbes wrote:
In such condition, there is no place for Industry; because the fruit thereof is uncertain; and consequently no Culture of the Earth; no Navigation, nor use of the commodities that may be imported by Sea; no commodious Building; no Instruments of moving, and removing such things as require much force; no Knowledge of the face of the Earth; no account of Time; no Arts; no Letters; no Society; and which is worst of all, continuall feare, and danger of violent death; And the life of man, solitary, poore, nasty, brutish, and short."
That pretty well describes places like Compton, Baltimore, Detroit, Camden, Gary, East St. Louis, as well as parts of Chicago, Philadelphia, and DC.
#5
I'd like to imagine a world without academic nonsense.
Imagine a white professor saying that the US would do better with 5% fewer blacks. Does anyone think he wouldn't be fired the next day.
Posted by: lord garth ||
04/11/2016 8:16 Comments ||
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These people have always seemed quite content with their surroundings and culture. Could there have been some sort of original geographic assignment which has since been violated ?
Plum Paisley Begonias don't do well in Fargo. Just saying.
Posted by: Tyranysaurus Smiter of the Visigoths2546 ||
04/11/2016 12:08 Comments ||
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Dunno about Oregon but community colleges in California all have governing boards whose members are elected by the community. Seems to me the community members ought to descend upon one of the board meetings some evening and express their "feelings" about said professor.
The Ukrainian Prime Minister, Arseniy Yatsenyuk, has announced he will resign next week, blaming politicians' failure to enact "real changes". Mr Yatsenyuk, in office since former pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych was ousted in February 2014, said he would inform parliament on Tuesday.
The current President, Petro Poroshenko, asked him to quit in February, saying he had lost support. His government has been accused of inaction and corruption.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has threatened to withhold aid money if it does not carry out reforms. More at the link
h/t Instapundit
The Affordable Care Act suffered another jolt late last week with the news that UnitedHealth Group, the nation’s largest health insurer, was making good on its threat to pull out of Obamacare, beginning with its operations in Georgia and Arkansas.
UnitedHealth roiled the market last November when it revealed that it was considering exiting Obamacare after incurring hundreds of millions of dollars in losses related to ACA business.
President Barack Obama is guaranteeing that evidence, not politics, will dictate the outcome of the FBI's investigation into Hillary Clinton's handling of emails as secretary of state. As evidenced by the Ignoramus in Chief sticking his nose and two cents into the equation, of course.
Obama's comments came during an appearance on Fox News Sunday, his first as president. Obama said he continues to believe Clinton didn't jeopardize America's national security with her private email server, but he added that "there's a carelessness in terms of managing emails" that she has recognized. They only had to club her about the head and shoulders with it for a year before she recognized it. Yeah, she's fit to be president.
"What I also know, because I handle a lot of classified information, is that there are -- there's classified, and then there's classified," Obama told Fox News. "There's stuff that is really top-secret, top-secret, and there's stuff that is being presented to the president or the secretary of state, that you might not want on the transom, or going out over the wire, but is basically stuff that you could get in open-source." There are little people, and there are big people . . . .
Obama said no one has suggested that Clinton's handling of government emails detracted in any way "from her excellent ability to carry out her duties." When asked specifically whether he can guarantee that Clinton will "not be in any way protected" during the course of the investigation, Obama said he maintains a strict line about not talking to FBI directors about pending investigations.
"I guarantee that there is no political influence in any investigation conducted by the Justice Department, or the FBI, not just in this case, but in any case," Obama said during an interview that was taped during his visit to the University of Chicago School of Law, where he taught. I wonder if General Petraeus would agree with you.
The FBI is investigating whether sensitive information that flowed through Clinton's email server was mishandled. The inspector generals for the State Department and U.S. intelligence agencies are separately investigating whether rules or laws were broken. Maybe Guccifer might have something to say about this. Things were fine until he hacked Clinton's email.
Obama touched on several issues during the interview, including the nomination of Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court and how he deals with the threat of terrorism.
- On Garland's nomination, Obama said he will stick with him through the end of his term. "What I think we can't have, is a situation in which the Republican Senate simply says, 'Because it's a Democratic president, we are not going to do our job, have hearings, and have a vote,' " he said. It was fine when Dingy Harry did just that on your behalf. But now the shoe is on the other foot, isn't it?
- On terrorism, Obama said he doesn't think Americans have made too much of the threat of terrorist attack. He also said he hasn't let acts of terror disrupt some of his regular activities because it's important to communicate a message of resilience and "that we don't panic, that we don't fear." We don't fear because we're ignorant because you keep obscuring what's really going on from the general public. Don't think so? Ask a few in San Fran what they think of the Norks and Iranians getting nukes, who ISIS is, etc.. It's a real eye-opener!
"There isn't a president who's taken more terrorists off the field than me, over the last seven-and-a-half years," Obama explained to Fox News. Any idea how those terrorists got to be there in the first place? Don't think that I don't recognize it was you who created the target-rich environment.
"I'm the guy who calls the families, or meets with them, or hugs them, or tries to comfort a mom, or a dad, or a husband, or a kid, after a terrorist attack. So let's be very clear about how much I prioritize this: this is my number one job." Right after giving Iran the bomb and golfing, not necessarily in that order.
- On what he most looks forward to when leaving office: "Being able to take a walk outside." No comment. I don't want to get banned for stating the obvious.
- On his best and worst day in office. Obama said the best was the day health insurance reform passed and the worst was the day he traveled to Newtown, Connecticut, after the massacre at Sandy Hook. What about your best day out of the office? And Sandy Hook is bad, but nothing like the day Israel gets nuked.
#1
I don't understand the "Obama said he maintains a strict line about not talking to FBI directors about pending investigations" whilst talking in an interview.
[DAILYMAIL.CO.UK] Huge fire broke out during fireworks display at Puttingal temple in Kerala
Hindu festival was taking place in Indian state when explosion took place
Believed a firework may have landed in storage area filled with firecrackers
Local official said around 102 people died, with more than 200 injured
'I stayed for a while with an old man near Umballa; anon with a household of my acquaintance in Umballa. With one of these I went as far as Delhi to the southward. That is a wondrous city. Then I drove a bullock for a teli [an oilman] coming north; but I heard of a great feast forward in Patiala, and thither went I in the company of a firework-maker. It was a great feast' (Kim rubbed his stomach). 'I saw Rajahs, and elephants with gold and silver trappings; and they lit all the fireworks at once, whereby eleven men were killed, my fire-work-maker among them, and I was blown across a tent but took no harm. Then I came back to the rel with a Sikh horseman, to whom I was groom for my bread; and so here.'
'Shabash!' said Mahbub Ali.
--Kipling, Kim
Posted by: Fred ||
04/11/2016 00:00 ||
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India has a LOT of people. The birthrate will replace these dead in about a hour and a half ( maybe even faster). A week from now, no one will even notice these are gone.
The Hindus themselves will hardly care. Lots of other things are bigger problems to the average Hindu. The garbage is ten feet deep between here and the curb and you will have to climb over that before reaching the street.
Good luck on your next meal. But remember, its just your karma and everything is bird of Paradise fly up your nose otherwise.
[HOSTED2.AP.ORG] SpaceX has made good on a high-priority delivery: the world's first inflatable room for astronauts. This is going on in one corner of consciousness. In the other people are chopping heads off, just like they did in the 7th century.
A SpaceX Dragon fat merchantman arrived at the International Space Station on Sunday, two days after launching from Cape Canaveral. Station astronauts used a robot arm to capture the Dragon, orbiting 250 miles above Earth.
The Dragon holds 7,000 pounds of freight, including the soft-sided compartment built by Bigelow Aerospace. The pioneering pod -- packed tightly for launch -- should swell to the size of a small bedroom once filled with air next month.
It will be attached to the space station this Saturday, but won't be inflated until the end of May. The technology could change the way astronauts live in space: NASA envisions inflatable habitats in a couple decades at Mars, while Bigelow Aerospace aims to launch a pair of inflatable space stations in just four years for commercial lease.
For now, the Bigelow Expandable Activity Module -- BEAM for short -- will remain mostly off-limits to the six-man station crew. NASA wants to see how the experimental chamber functions, so the hatch will stay sealed except when astronauts enter a few times a year to collect measurements and swap out sensors.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/11/2016 00:00 ||
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I thought it was cold in space. How you going to heat it?
Exposed to the sun it gets very hot. In the shadow super cold. Satellites and manned craft have to keep rotating to provide a uniform heating and cooling to the craft so the radiator systems can keep up.
I would expect some sort of radiator system that hooks into the space station on the pod.
#6
Bigelow has or maybe still has 2 test units flying. There were webcams on them. Pretty boring ones. No idea if they are still working. July 12, 2006, and June 28, 2007, Bigelow launched the Genesis I and II modules.
"One tiny crack in the hull and our blood boils in 13 seconds. A solar flare might crop up, cook us in our seats. And wait till you're sitting pretty with a case of Andorian shingles. See if you're still so relaxed when your eyeballs are bleeding. Space is disease and danger wrapped in darkness and silence." - Leonard McCoy
#11
So did the shuttle external fuel tanks, Chuck.
One time engineering in a throwaway society doesn't allow for reuse when you can get less, much later for more money.
Posted by: Those Phaiter1709 ||
04/11/2016 23:15 Comments ||
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[ABC] A U.S. Naval officer who has been charged with espionage has been identified as Lt. Cmdr. Edward C. Lin, a Taiwanese-born flight officer assigned to a Naval reconnaissance unit. Lin was arrested eight months ago but his case did not become public until a pre-trial hearing this past Friday that will determine whether he will face a court martial.
A U.S. official confirmed to ABC News that Lin was the officer whose identity had been redacted in court documents presented at an Article 32 hearing held Friday in Norfolk, Virginia. USNI News was first to report Lin's identity in a posting Sunday.
The U.S. official told ABC News that preliminary indications point to possible espionage for either China or Taiwan, the Naval Criminal Investigative Service and the FBI are continuing to investigate the case.
Lin is currently assigned to Commander Patrol and Reconnaissance Group, a maritime patrol and reconnaissance unit in Norfolk that provides airborne anti-submarine warfare and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance using P-8A Poseidon aircraft, P-3 Orion aircraft and MQ-4 unmanned aircraft.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
President Barack Obama is guaranteeing that evidence, not politics, will dictate the outcome of the FBI's investigation into Hillary Clinton's handling of emails as secretary of state.
[HOSTED2.AP.ORG] SpaceX has made good on a high-priority delivery: the world's first inflatable room for astronauts.
[ABC] A U.S. Naval officer who has been charged with espionage has been identified as Lt. Cmdr. Edward C. Lin, a Taiwanese-born flight officer assigned to a Naval reconnaissance unit. Lin was arrested eight months ago but his case did not become public until a pre-trial hearing this past Friday that will determine whether he will face a court martial.
Bound to be a few bad apples from time to time. The DoD multi-cult integration programs must continue however. 
