December 2013

There were 26 posts published in December 2013 (this is page 3 of 3).

Just Say No to D.A.R.E.?

Whatever you do, don’t think of purple elephants on pogo sticks.

I mean it.

Don’t.

Just Say No.

Did it work? Are you blissfully unaware of purple elephants on pogo sticks? I’m guessing not. Chances are, you weren’t thinking at all of purple elephants on pogo sticks until I told you not to think about them.

I believe it’s the same with kids and drugs. I believe kids would rather do a gazillion other things before drugs, yet there is a program called D.A.R.E. which goes into schools and attempts to educate kids about drugs.

While I applaud the intention of the program and I know the many fine police officers who participate in D.A.R.E. truly care about the kids, I’m unsure that D.A.R.E. is the right approach. Numerous academic studies have shown that D.A.R.E. has had a negligible impact on teen drug use. Negligible. In some cases, D.A.R.E. may have actually increased drug use. Millions and millions of taxpayer dollars have been spent on this program and the results are dismal.
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North Carolina Newspapers Largely Ignore Conservative Funding Of Sham Think Tanks

Interesting look by Media Matters at how Art Pope’s anti-government foundations often get a free pass in N.C.’s press.

Local North Carolina newspapers cited two right-wing sham think tanks and published op-eds by their staffs while often failing to note their connections to the state’s Republican party and to a major conservative donor.

John Locke Foundation Had Op-Eds Published Or Was Cited 106 Times In The Last 6 Months. Between June 1 and December 1, the John Locke Foundation appeared in local and national newspapers a total of 106 times. These appearances included op-eds and references by name in straight news and editorial articles.

64 Percent Of Articles That Referenced JLF Did Not Disclose The Organization’s Conservative Leaning. Out of the 106 JLF mentions in the last six months, only 38 articles disclosed the foundation’s conservative slant, meaning 64 percent of the articles made no mention of the organization’s ideology.

via North Carolina Newspapers Largely Ignore Conservative Funding Of Sham Think Tanks | Research | Media Matters for America.

Former UNC-Chapel Hill professor indicted in academic scandal

Orange County District Attorney Jim Woodall has charged former UNC professor Julius Nyang’oro with obtaining property by false pretense for accepting money for a class he didn’t teach.

Julius Nyang’oro, the former chairman of the Department of African and Afro-American Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, was indicted Monday by an Orange County grand jury on a charge related to an academic scandal at the school.

Nyang’oro could face up to 30 months in prison if he is convicted of obtaining property by false pretense, which is a felony. Investigators said he accepted $12,000 for teaching a class that never happened.

The university reclaimed the money through garnishment of his final paycheck.

While I am mad as anyone that UNC condoned cheating, I think the false-pretense charge is ridiculous. You would have a harder time convincing me that UNC didn’t know this was going on, that UNC wasn’t fully aware of what Nyang’oro was doing, than convincing me that Nyang’oro somehow hoodwinked the university. These things don’t happen in a vacuum. The professor has done this work many times before with no compensation. It was the university’s idea to pay him this particular time and by then it should have been “caveat emptor.”

Again, I can’t stand cheaters and I think the book should be thrown at UNC for their misdeeds. However, this charge won’t result in justice. It will result in quite an interesting trial, though, as Nyang’oro and his attorney summon some very uncomfortable witnesses to testify at his defense.

via Former UNC-Chapel Hill professor indicted in academic scandal :: WRAL.com.

Oakwood North progressing

The Oakwood North subdivision is progressing nicely, though the schedule is quite aggressive. The first two homes are due to be built by February, which doesn’t leave a lot of time. Crews have cleared and graded the property and septic lines have been installed. The cut-through has been cleared and work has now begun to connect the Edmund Street end to State Street. A crew was working yesterday on a wall on the back of the second lot. I assume this is part of the temporary retaining pond but it could be a drop in elevation (the tree protection area is right behind it).

A huge pile of tree debris remains on the property. I heard the tree stump grinder, a huge machine, was busy working on the pile when the cutter surface shattered, sending metal shards flying. The contractor has been working to repair this machine, causing a many-day delay in removing the debris.

This week, KB Home put up its sign at the edge of the property, announcing the subdivision. Strangely, the sign is angled towards Edmund Street rather than State Street, where it would gain more visibility.
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The HTML blink tag is officially dead

One of the notable events of 2013 that has largely escaped notice is the official death of the HTML blink tag. As of August’s release of Firefox 23, Mozilla has officially dropped support for the tag, arguably the most annoying web element ever invented.

When Mozilla released Firefox 23 on Tuesday, the updated browser put an unofficial end to one of the annoyances of the early Web—the “blink” tag.

According to the release notes for the new browser, Firefox 23 completely drops support for the “blink” element, preventing browsers from rendering text that, well, blinks.

via The blink tag is finally dead, killed off by Firefox 23 | PCWorld.