Stephan: The assault on facts in the United States continues, as does the corruption of the wall between church and state. Here is the latest. One of the things the Theocratic Right has been trying to do is get public tax payer money for their "schools". Thanks to the North Carolina Supreme Court they have now achieved this, at least in North Carolina. You may be sure this tactic will now be tried in every Red Value state in the country.
Credit: Barbara/ via Flickr
RALEIGH — The N.C. Supreme Court ruled Thursday that North Carolina can use public tax dollars to help children attend private and religious schools.
The 4-3 decision reverses a ruling last summer by Judge Robert Hobgood in N.C. Superior Court.
The decision, which broke along political party lines with four Republican justices ruling to uphold the program and the three Democrats dissenting, means $10.8 million is freed for a program that has sparked much debate. State lawmakers want to provide $17.6 million in vouchers for the coming school year and to expand the program’s income-eligibility guidelines.
The four justices who ruled for the voucher program – Chief Justice Mark Martin and Justices Robert Edmunds, Barbara Jackson and Paul Newby – concluded that using tax dollars for education was a public purpose.
In his majority opinion, Martin wrote that, according to the most recent figures published by the Department of Public Instruction, a large percentage of economically disadvantaged students in North Carolina are not grade-level proficient in the subjects tested on the state’s end-of-year exams.
“Disagreement exists as to the innovations and reforms […]
Leo Kelion, Technology desk editor - BBC News Online
Stephan: Here is what may be the next big thing in computers. Remember floppy discs? Remember tape drives? When was the last time you used a CD to store data? Now for something different.
A new kind of memory technology is going into production, which is up to 1,000 times faster than the Nand flash storage used in memory cards and computers’ solid state drives (SSDs).
The innovation is called 3D XPoint, and is the invention of Intel and Micron.
The two US companies predict a wide range of benefits, from speeding up scientific research to making more elaborate video games.
One expert described it as a “huge step forward”.
“There are other companies who have talked about new types of memory technology, but this is about being able to manufacture the stuff – that’s why they are making such a big deal out of it,” says Bob O’Donnell, from the consultancy Technalysis.
The 3D Xpoint chips will be manufactured at Intel and Micron’s joint venture in Utah
If all goes to plan, the first products to feature 3D XPoint (pronounced cross-point) will go on sale next year. Its price has yet to be announced.
Intel is marketing it as the first new class of “mainstream […]
Stephan: Here is the truth that can hardly be uttered: There are already five nations who are well on their way to being free of the carbon energy era.
Credit: Nation of Change
A decade ago, the renewable energy movement faced an uphill battle. Today, environmentally-minded nations of the world increasingly embrace alternative energy sources.
These countries now lead the way toward a future free of petroleum and dirty energy. In the process, they save significant amounts of money on national energy costs while preserving and protecting the world’s natural resources.
Despite powerful corporate disinformation campaigns meant to convince populations that renewable energy is not a viable way to satisfy the needs of global industry, the following five nations aren’t just subsisting on renewable energy—they are thriving on it.
Costa Rica
Since the start of 2015, Costa Rica has gone 100% green. This move away from fossil fuels will help ensure that lush jungles and pristine beaches remain intact. The comprehensive shift will help Costa Ricans not only save their natural resources, but ensure that the country continues to benefit from its very profitable eco-tourism industry, though they would be wise to be vigilant of the effects of tourism on […]
Stephan: James Hansen is doing everything in his power to wake the world, and particularly the U.S., up to what is coming with climate change. The question is: Is anyone in Congress in the Republican Majority listening?
Dr. Jim Hansen Credit: AP Photo/Dennis Cook
James Hansen and 16 leading climate experts have written a must-read discussion paper on what humanity risks if it can’t keep total global warming below 2°C (3.6°F). The greatest risk they identify is “that multi-meter sea level rise would become practically unavoidable.”
This is warning everyone should heed — not just because Hansen’s co-authors include some of the world’s top sea-level rise experts, such as Eric Rignot and Isabella Velicogna, but also given Hansen’s prescience on climate change dating back more than three decades.
They warned: “Potential effects on climate in the 21st century include the creation of drought-prone regions in North America and central Asia as part of a shifting of climatic zones, erosion of the West Antarctic ice sheet with a consequent worldwide rise in sea level, and opening of the fabled Northwest Passage.”
Stephan: Here is some good news. The Boy Scouts have struggled with LGBT issues, quite understandably, and have behaved better than one might have dared hope.
Credit: Los Angeles Times
The Boy Scouts of America lifted a blanket ban on gay scout leaders Monday but will allow religious-backed scout groups to deny leadership positions based on sexual orientation.
Seventy-nine percent of the youth organization’s national executive board voted to immediately lift the ban in a conference call Monday after the measure had been tentatively approved July 10.
“Due to the social, political and legal changes taking place in our country and in our movement, I did not believe the [ban on gay leaders] could be sustained,” Boy Scouts President Robert M. Gates said in a statement after Monday’s vote. “Any effort to do so was inevitably going to result in simultaneous legal battles in multiple legal jurisdictions and at staggering cost.”
The best way for the Boy Scouts organization to press ahead while maintaining its “core values” was to “address the issue and set our own course,” Gates said. “And that’s what we’ve done.”
The decision caps two years of public debate over the role of gays in one […]
