(BY TERESA WATANABE AUG. 31, 2023) Kimberly Miranda is the brainy daughter of Guatemalan immigrants and the first in her family to attend college. But she almost didn’t make it to the California Institute of Technology.

Her Redwood City school didn’t offer algebra in eighth grade, which threw her off the progression of high school math classes leading to calculus — a long-standing Caltech admission requirement. Miranda managed to double up on math courses in sophomore year to reach calculus as a senior, but not all students have the wherewithal — or support — to take that path.

…. Now Caltech, in the name of equity, is shifting gears. In a groundbreaking step, the campus announced Thursday that it will drop admission requirements for calculus, physics and chemistry courses for students who don’t have access to them and offer alternative paths to prove mastery of the material.

“Brilliant students exist in every single part of this world and in every single community, and this idea that families have to choose the future of their kids and where they’re going to go for college based on their ZIP Code seemed so unfair,” said Ashley Pallie, Caltech’s executive director of undergraduate admissions. “We need to continue opening this door of opportunity.”

Brandon Johnson excuses criminals and blames cars for car thefts | Washington Examiner

(by Zachary Faria, August 25, 2023) Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson has finally figured out who is behind the city’s crime problem. No, it’s not the criminals who are committing the crimes. It’s your car manufacturer.

Chicago has filed a lawsuit against Kia and Hyundai because their cars are being disproportionately stolen compared to other cars. Thanks to help from a trend on the Chinese Communist Party-affiliated app TikTok, criminals have learned that Kia and Hyundai vehicles are rather easy to steal. The two companies combined for a $200 million settlement for affected drivers earlier this year, and Chicago (like New York City and Baltimore) wants in on the action.

“The impact of car theft on Chicago residents can be deeply destabilizing, particularly for low- to middle-income workers who have fewer options for getting to work and taking care of their families,” Johnson said. “The failure of Kia and Hyundai to install basic auto-theft prevention technology in these models is sheer negligence, and as a result, a citywide and nationwide crime spree around automobile theft has been unfolding right before our eyes.”

BAE - Big Altima Energy

Is this America's WORST-driven car? Clips of Nissan Altimas cutting-up traffic and crashing - with their drivers also regularly seen brawling - inspire 'Big Altima Energy' memes | Daily Mail Online

(By WILL POTTER, 3 September 2023)

Social media has been flooded with hilarious and shocking scenes of motorists exhibiting so-called 'Big Altima Energy'
The trend has seen Nissan Altimas become the punchline for memes
The 'BAE' craze follows in the footsteps of internet phenomenon like 'Karens' showing bizarre everyday interactions

Call of Duty to snoop on players for ‘hate speech’ — RT Games & Culture

The bestselling shooter will use AI to police in-game chat

(RT, 1 Sep, 2023) Games publisher Activision has announced that it will use artificial intelligence to listen in on the voice chat of ‘Call of Duty’ players and punish anyone using “hate speech” or “discriminatory language.”

The feature was rolled out on Wednesday for US players of Call Of Duty’s ‘Modern Warfare II’ and ‘Warzone’ titles, and will be launched globally with ‘Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III’ on November 10.

In a statement on Wednesday, Activision said that it will use a machine learning tool to “identify in real-time and enforce against toxic speech,” including “hate speech, discriminatory language, harassment and more.”

…. Activision depends on reports from other players and text chat monitoring to weed out allegedly “toxic” conduct. According to the developer, around one million accounts have been penalized since the launch of ‘Modern Warfare II’ last October.

… Purging “hate speech” from Call of Duty will likely please the US military, which reportedly planned on using the game to recruit women and minorities. While the Pentagon identified Call of Duty as a “potentially useful branding and recruiting tool,” it canceled a deal to sponsor in-game ads and an esports tournament at historically black universities in the US when allegations of sexual harassment within Activision surfaced in late 2021.

NASCAR Blasted for 'Blatantly Illegal' Diversity Internship Program that Excludes Whites

(Breitbart, WARNER TODD HUSTON, 29 Aug 2023) NASCAR is under fire for an internship program that excludes white people from applying.

The car racing organization’s “Diversity Internship Program” directly lists specific racial requirements for the applicants eligible to join the program, according to the criteria on the website.

…. Applicants must “Be a member of one or more of the following races/ethnic minority classifications: Black or African American, American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian, Latino or Hispanic, Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander,” the web page says.

Not listed is “Caucasian,” or “white,” or even “European.”

…. The racial requirements seem to be a “blatantly illegal” violation of Title VII and the 1866 Civil Rights Act, according to David Bernstein, a professor at George Mason University’s Antonin Scalia School of Law.

“Having a 100% quota for minorities for a position is illegal even under a very generous view of what is allowed,” Bernstein told the Daily Wire.

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