Free Republic

It's no surprise that inequality in the U.S. is on the rise. But what you might not know is that math is partly to blame. In a new book, "Weapons of Math Destruction," Cathy O'Neil details all the ways that math is essentially being used for evil (my word, not hers). From targeted advertising and insurance to education and policing, O'Neil looks at how algorithms and big data are targeting the poor, reinforcing racism and amplifying inequality. These "WMDs," as she calls them, have three key features: They are opaque, scalable and unfair. Denied a job because of a personality...

I think there is a chance that there is actually something to this. A study at University College London in the UK has found that conservatives' brains have larger amygdalas than the brains of liberals. Amygdalas are responsible for fear and other "primitive" emotions. At the same time, conservatives' brains were also found to have a smaller anterior cingulate -- the part of the brain responsible for courage and optimism....it may help to explain why conservatives like to plan based on the worst-case scenario, while liberals tend towards rosier outlooks.Get the whole story at Raw Story I don't know anything about...

If John McCain and Sarah Palin were to say the moon was made of green cheese, we can be certain that Barack Obama and Joe Biden would pounce on it, and point out it's actually made of rock. And you just know the headline in the paper the next day would read: "CANDIDATES CLASH ON LUNAR LANDSCAPE." Why doesn't somebody call Neil Armstrong? He's been there. Or go to the Smithsonian and open the glass case that contains a piece of the moon. The moon is a rock. That's a fact, Jack. Facts are indeed stubborn things, but the McCain-Palin...

June 8, 2005 ADVERTISEMENT VANCOUVER (CP) -- The ripe stench of human excrement is getting stronger in downtown lanes, curling the stomachs of workers who no longer want to relax by the back door for smoke breaks. "We're getting to the point where the need for public toilets is getting serious," said Charles Gauthier, executive director of the Downtown Vancouver Business Improvement Association. "There's a burgeoning entertainment district, a growing homelessness problem and people have nowhere to go. "I've been with the association for 15 years and it's just becoming more and more of an issue for more of our...

Dustin Hoffman says man could learn how to preserve world peace by the following the example of dogs. Hoffman says there would be less conflict if, like dogs, humans first sniffed each other out before deciding whether or not to fight. Writing in the December issue of Playboy, The Graduate star says, "If a lot of dogs are on the beach, the first thing they do is smell each other's a***. "The information that's gotten somehow makes pacifists out of all of them. I've thought, 'If only we smelled each other's a**, there wouldn't be any war.'" Hoffman's latest movie,...