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06 Jun 2011 22:37

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U.S.: Four years of high school in one week

  • 8 days to get a high school diploma, and it costs less than an iPad! source
  • » For all the benefits provided by a high-school education, there’s one pesky drawback: it takes four years to get one. InterAmerican Christian Academy in Florida seeks to rectify this injustice by offering a high school diploma to anyone with a free week and four hundred bucks. The school, which is co-run by a convicted felon and located next to a lubricant company, has rigorous curriculum comprised entirely of five short take home tests. But don’t worry; they come with “workbooks” (in case you get stumped), and the place has a “very flexible grading policy.” Supposedly, at least 88 students have used degrees from IACA to gain admission to Miami-Dade College.
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink

06 Jun 2011 22:10

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Politics: Obama’s head economics guy is headed out the door

  • Goodbye, Goolsbee: Austan Goolsbee, Obama’s chief economic advisor and the only guy in Washington who spells “Austan” with an “a,” is leaving the White House to resume teaching in Chicago. It’s a coincidence that the administration happened to announce this news today, when it was certain to be drowned out by the torrent of Anthony Weiner stories. I mean, it’s not like the White House is nervous that Goolsbee’s departure might create a perception of uncertainty regarding their grasp of the economy, right? Nah. source
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink

03 Jun 2011 12:18

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U.S.: Unemployment creeps upward for second month in a row

  • 9.1% unemployment in May, up from 9% in April  source
  • » That’s a .2% increase since March, when unemployment was looking “good” at 8.9%. A total of 83,000 jobs were added in the (nonfarm) private sector; however, 29,000 governmental employees got the axe last month, bringing the total number of jobs added down to 54,000. Here’s to a better month.
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink

02 Jun 2011 02:30

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Politics: Palin not popular in Obama states, swing states, McCain states

  • We have now polled on Palin’s favorability in 31 states. Voters in all 31 of those states have a negative opinion of her.
  • Public Policy Polling’s Tom Jensen • Palin’s support has always been miles deep but inches wide; even so, the results of PPP’s polling really paint a dire picture of her electoral prospects. Alaskans disapprove of her by a twenty five-point margin; not a huge surprise, as constituents generally don’t like when their governors quit mid-term for no good reason. But in McCain states, she faces a sixteen point deficit, and West Virginia, which “likes” her the most, still dislikes her by six percent. If she runs, it’ll be a really steep climb. source
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink

02 Jun 2011 01:47

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Politics: Republican budget plan falls flat with the public

  • Is it just us, or was Paul Ryan foolish to start using the word “Mediscare” to describe the Democrats’ opposition to his plan? Because when you hear “Mediscare,” you don’t think, “Oh, the Democrats are just trying to scare me. I’m sure the Ryan budget is perfectly innocuous.” No; you think, “Oh no! Someone’s trying to take my Medicare away, and I’m scared!” Anyway, this is a shocking, rare PR victory for the Democrats, so let’s let them cherish it for the ten minutes it’ll take before they inevitably blow it and do something stupid. source
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink

02 Jun 2011 00:30

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U.S.: Latest attempt to defund Planned Parenthood fails

  • plan In preparation for his aborted presidential run, Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels signed a bill blocking Medicaid recipients from using Planned Parenthood’s services.
  • problem The Health and Human Services Department has informed Daniels that the bill he signed is in violation of federal Medicaid law, and thus can’t be implemented. source
  • » What was wrong with the bill? Well, from a moral standpoint, a lot. But from a legislative standpoint, the issue is that Medicaid beneficiaries are legally permitted to use their Medicaid anywhere they want, so long as they do so at a “qualified service provider.” The bill Daniels discriminates against Planned Parenthood for reasons unrelated to its qualifications. Proponents of the bill correctly pointed out that the Hyde Act makes it illegal for federal funds to pay for abortions; however, only 3% of Planned Parenthood’s services are abortive, and for low-income Hoosiers to be blocked from Planned Parenthood’s other services simply because the governor once wanted to run for president is not only wrong–it’s against the law.
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink

30 May 2011 21:00

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Tech: Algorithm smooths out pixel art, make SNES games look better

  • Obligatory Mario-related post of the day: Some genius at Microsoft teamed up with another genius at The Hebrew University, and together they developed an algorithm that “depixelizes” pixel art, so that it looks smoother yet retains its essence and overall shape. Obviously, the most pressing application of this technology was to update Super NES games to look cooler, so that’s exactly what these guys did. A clip of the technology (applied to Super Mario World) is above. To give you an idea of how far they’ve come, here’s a clip showing a comparison with the original game on the left and another less-effective algorithm (which you might remember, if you’re a total nerd, from ZSNES) on the right. There are plenty of more demonstrations on their website, which we highly encourage checking out. This rocks. source
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

30 May 2011 16:48

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World: Defecting Libyan Generals: We’re keeping our troops

  • eight Libyan Generals defected to Italy today, according to the Italian Foreign Ministry
  • 100+ Libyan soldiers accompanied their generals, who met with Italian intelligence agents in Tunisia source
  • » This comes the same day that South African President Jacob Zuma is meeting with Gaddafi to try and negotiate a cease-fire between him and rebels. Will these defections spur a change of heart in Gaddafi, convincing him to finally relinquish power and allow his crumbling regime to die? Probably not, but we’ll keep our fingers crossed just in case.
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink

30 May 2011 16:13

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U.S.: Courtney Love confirms: Crack cocaine improves one’s math skills

  • While the drugs screwed me up in a lot of ways, they improved me in certain others. I’ve never been good with numbers, but when I was on crack I could do math really, really well. I became a fucking whiz at calculus. But I also became kind of psychotic, unfortunately.
  • Courtney Love • In an interview with TheFix.com [h/t: Andrew Sullivan]. source
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink

26 May 2011 02:08

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Politics: Scott Walker is becoming very unpopular

  • Watch out, Walker: If a recall election were held today, you’d get booted faster than you can say “Gray Davis.” source
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
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