Harvard Gets Worst Score Ever in FIRE’s College Free Speech Rankings, Zero Out of Possible 100
September 6th, 2023Via: Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression:
Harvard is consistently ranked one of the best universities in the United States. But FIRE frequently finds itself in the odd position of giving this all-star academic school failing grades.
Simply put, Harvard has never performed well in FIRE’s College Free Speech Rankings, finishing below 75% of the schools surveyed in each of the past four years.
In 2020, Harvard ranked 46 out of 55 schools. In 2021, it ranked 130 out of 154 schools. Last year, it ranked 170 out of 203 schools. And this year, Harvard completed its downward spiral in dramatic fashion, coming in dead last with the worst score ever: 0.00 out of a possible 100.00. This earns it the notorious distinction of being the only school ranked this year with an “Abysmal” speech climate.
What’s more, granting Harvard a score of 0.00 is generous. Its actual score is -10.69, more than six standard deviations below the average and more than two standard deviations below the second-to-last school in the rankings, its Ivy League counterpart, the University of Pennsylvania. (Penn obtained an overall score of 11.13.)
Chris Hipkins: People Made Their Own Choices
September 6th, 2023#thebanalityofevil
Via: Liz Gunn:
If You’ve Got a New Car, It’s a Data Privacy Nightmare
September 6th, 2023Add it to the list…
Via: Gizmodo:
If your vehicle was made in the last few years, you’re probably driving around in a data-harvesting machine that may collect personal information as sensitive as your race, weight, and sexual activity. Volkswagen’s cars reportedly know if you’re fastening your seatbelt and how hard you hit the brakes.
That’s according to new findings from Mozilla’s *Privacy Not Included project. The nonprofit found that every major car brand fails to adhere to the most basic privacy and security standards in new internet-connected models, and all 25 of the brands Mozilla examined flunked the organization’s test. Mozilla found brands including BMW, Ford, Toyota, Tesla, and Subaru collect data about drivers including race, facial expressions, weight, health information, and where you drive. Some of the cars tested collected data you wouldn’t expect your car to know about, including details about sexual activity, race, and immigration status, according to Mozilla.
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The worst offender was Nissan, Mozilla said. The carmaker’s privacy policy suggests the manufacturer collects information including sexual activity, health diagnosis data, and genetic data, though there’s no details about how exactly that data is gathered. Nissan reserves the right to share and sell “preferences, characteristics, psychological trends, predispositions, behavior, attitudes, intelligence, abilities, and aptitudes” to data brokers, law enforcement, and other third parties.
Is Evidence Based Medicine Now Impossible?
September 4th, 2023Via: Dr. John Campbell:
Celebrity “Yachting”
September 4th, 2023Via: Internet Oddities:
Pfizer’s Own Trials Showed a 24% GREATER Likelihood of Dying in the Vaccine Group After 6 Months
September 4th, 2023Via: The Vigilant Fox:
What Does It Mean When CNN Confronts Fauci on Masking Fraud?
September 4th, 2023Hmm.
Via: Summit News:
Anthony Fauci refused to back away from the recommendation of face masks Saturday as CNN (of all networks) confronted him with a study showing that they have no effect on preventing the spread of COVID.
After Fauci claimed “there have been many studies indicate the benefit of wearing masks,” Anchor Michael Smerconish brought up the Cochrane review of masks, one of umpteen studies that have all found that the face coverings do little to nothing against COVID transmission.
“When you’re talking about the effect on the epidemic or the pandemic as a whole, the data are less strong,” Fauci squirmingly admitted, but then went on to suggest people should still wear them anyway.
“There are other studies, Michael, that show at an individual level, for individuals they might be protective,” Fauci claimed.
San Francisco Records More Than A Dozen Suspected Overdose Deaths In One Day
September 3rd, 2023Via: ZeroHedge:
Videos from San Francisco posted on social media Aug. 30 show morgue vans loading bodies amid scenes of widespread addiction, with people folded up and contorted in unnatural positions in what many describe as dystopian settings on the streets of downtown.
Posts on X, formerly known as Twitter, repeatedly shared by locals indicated that as many as 18 overdose deaths took place in San Francisco throughout the day, but a spokesperson for the chief medical examiner’s office told The Epoch Times by email Aug. 31 that 13 deaths occurred and are currently under investigation.
“Tesla FSD Beta Tried to Kill Me Last Night”
September 2nd, 2023
Via: Electrek:
I was testing Tesla’s latest Full Self-Driving (FSD) Beta update last night (v11.4.7), and a new aggressive bug has nearly made me crash at highway speed twice.
Please take this as a public service announcement.
I received the new FSD Beta v11.4.7 update on my Model 3 this week.
…
I was on FSD Beta with the speed set at 118 km/h (73 mph) on the 20 direction Montreal, and the system automatically moved to the left lane to pass a car.
As I was passing the car, I felt FSD Beta veering aggressively to the left toward the median strip. Fortunately, I use FSD Beta as recommended by Tesla, which means my hands on the wheel and my eyes on the road.
I was able to steer back toward the road, which disengaged FSD Beta. It was super scary as I almost lost control when correcting FSD Beta and again, I was passing a vehicle. I could have crashed into it if I overcorrected.
When you disengage Autopilot/FSD Beta, Tesla encourages you to send a message about why you disengaged the system.
I did that, but I wasn’t sure what happened, so my message was something like: “Autopilot just tried to kill me, so please fix it.”
Genetically Modified Soil Microbes May Have ‘Irreversible Consequences’
September 2nd, 2023Via: The Defender:
A plan by major agrochemical companies to develop genetically engineered (GE) soil microbes, including bacteria and fungi, to act as pesticides and fertilizers is raising concerns about the unknown and potentially disastrous risks associated with the new organisms, according to a report published Tuesday by Friends of the Earth.
Bayer-Monsanto, Syngenta and BASF are among the chemical giants known to be developing the microbes which, according to the report, are fundamentally different from the already controversial genetically modified organisms (GMOs) that have existed for decades.
GE microbes are living organisms that share their genetic material easily with other species and travel vast distances in the wind. And because they are microscopic, their numbers are vast.
“An application of GE bacteria could release approximately 3 trillion genetically modified organisms every half an acre — that’s about how many GE corn plants there are in the entire U.S.,” said Dana Perls, food and technology manager at Friends of the Earth, in a press release.
Introducing GE microbes into agriculture represents an “unprecedented open air genetic experiment,” the report says. “The scale of release is far larger, and the odds of containment are far smaller than for other GE crops.”
