The idiotic lockdown can be blamed for lots of things, but I’d look elsewhere on this one: try DEI, and die.

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The Harvard Math Department will pilot a new introductory course aimed at rectifying a lack of foundational algebra skills among students, according to Harvard’s Director of Introductory Math Brendan A. Kelly.

The course, titled Math MA5, will run alongside two established math courses — Math MA and MB — with an expanded five-day schedule.

Kelly said that students in MA5 will meet with “one of two instructors all five days” with “a variety of different activities” on Tuesdays and Thursdays. [finger painting, finger pointing, and wailing about injustice? — Ed]

He said the Covid-19 pandemic led to gaps in students’ math skills and learning abilities, prompting the need for a new introductory course.

“Students don’t have the skills that we had intended downstream in the curriculum, and so it creates different trajectories in students’ math abilities,” Kelly added.

These Harvard students - despite their incapacity for college-level work - will likely graduate with straight-A grades, since that is pretty much the only grade that Harvard gives out:

Harvard gave 79 percent ‘A’ grades in recent academic year

A newly released report revealed 79 percent of grades given to Harvard students in 2020-21 were in the A range, nearly a 20 percent increase from a decade ago.

Approximately 60 percent of grades given in the 2010-11 year were in the A-range, The Harvard Crimson reported Thursday.

A faculty-administration meeting was held to discuss what, to outsiders at least, might be considered a problem. Here’s one proposed solution, an obvious cure that just restates clearly what has always been understood, at least in Cambridge: “All Harvard students are exceptional, so there’s no need to distinguish among them — to hire one is to hire all.” Looking at the quality of the people Harvard has unleashed upon corporations, politics and the country’s new fourth branch of government, the Administrative, I’d say that policy has been in effect for at least the past 100 years.

During the meeting, faculty brought up several strategies to address grade inflation and compression.

Romance languages and literatures Professor Annabel Kim suggested the “abolition of grading” and the institution of “narrative-based” evaluations, according to The Crimson. 

That’s all well and good, but is there room in our schools and in our government to accept still more of these illiterates? To make sure there is, the Charles River Trouts have created yet another specialty, one that will produce a new place to slot useless hires

Harvard to Train 'Planetary Healers' to Save World From 'Climate Change' and 'Structural Racism'

Students in this concentration will also learn about the health inequity born out of environmental degradation. Structural racism and international economic policy have exacerbated the climate crisis, with communities of color, poor communities, and the Global South being disproportionately impacted. You will be equipped to use research, leadership, advocacy, and policy to implement solutions that better serve these populations.  

I read about this when it happened last month, and thought "drug dealer fight"; now that the cops have released the perps' names, and further details, it still looks that way to me.

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6 Florida Men Charged with Conspiracy, Carjacking Offenses in Connecticut

Following a violent carjacking and kidnapping in Danbury that many people in Connecticut were following, six Florida residents have been charged by federal criminal complaint with multiple offenses:

  • ANGEL BORRERO, aka “Chi Chi,” 23, of Miami, Florida

  • JOSUE ALBERTO ROMERO, aka “Sway,” 26, of Miami, Florida

  • REYNALDO DIAZ, aka “Rey,” 20, of Belle Clade, Florida

  • ANTHONY PENA, aka “Tony,” 23, of Miami Gardens, Florida

  • MICHAEL RIVAS, 18, of Miami, Florida

  • RICARDO ESTRADA, aka “Ricky,” 21, of Miami, Florida

The six defendants have detained since they were arrested on related state charges on August 25, 2024.

As alleged in court documents and statements made in court, in the late afternoon of August 25, 2024, Danbury Police received multiple 911 calls from witnesses who observed several males assaulting another male and forcing him into a white work van.  Responding officers encountered the van on Clapboard Ridge Road, near the intersection of East Gate Road, and attempted to stop it.

The van accelerated at a high-rate of speed and crashed approximately one mile away on Cowperthwaite Street.

Four men dressed in black, later identified as Borrero, Romero, Pena, and Diaz, exited the van and fled on foot.  Officers arrived at the location of the disabled van and located a male and female victim, both bound with duct tape, in the back of the van.

The male victim had significant injuries to his face and arm.  Both victims were transported to the hospital for further evaluation. The victims reported that the Lamborghini Urus they were operating was rear-ended by a Honda Civic on Damia Drive in Danbury, and a white work van cut in front of their vehicle.  The victims were then forcibly removed from their vehicle, dragged into the van, and bound with duct tape.  When the male victim began to resist, he was punched in the face and hit with a baseball bat.  The victims were repeatedly told that they would be killed.

Borrero, Romero, Pena, and Diaz were apprehended in various locations within a quarter-mile radius from where the van crashed.  Rivas and Estrada, and the Honda Civic, were located at a short-term rental home in Roxbury.

The victims’ Lamborghini was found abandoned in the woods off the roadway on East King Street.  It is alleged that Borrero organized, paid for, and booked flights for the six defendants to travel from Florida to commit this criminal activity.

You don’t need to import six hitmen from Florida and stash them “in a short-term rental” just to carjack a Lamborghini — plenty of “yuts” in Waterbury or the Bronx would do it just for the fun of it all.

Only a million and a half bucks, yet comes with "full-sized stainless steel appliances"! Such a deal.

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and the ridgeline slopes south, for easy drainage

I suppose that’s a compelling detail for a NYC refugee fleeing a 500’ studio apartment equipped with a mini-fridge and a hotplate, but ordinary people expect a working kitchen at this price range.

In any event, those New York buyers having failed to appear, 28 Sound Beach Avenue has cut its price today from $1.595 million to $1.525. Besides those appliances, this one’s proximity to transportation should prove the icing on the cake.

A gourmet kitchen sure to be a chef’s delight

I can't wait until every truck, every car on our highways is battery operated; what could possibly go wrong?

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This story, appropriately enough, comes from HOTAIR.com

It Took HOW MUCH Water to Put Out a Tesla Battery Fire?

This is a story that actually took place nearly a month ago, but a detailed investigation by the NTSB has brought fresh attention to it. In the early morning hours of August 19th, an unnamed, long-haul big rig driver was traveling along I-80 northeast of San Franciso …. Shortly after three in the morning, the driver failed to navigate a curve in the highway and went off the road, crashing into some trees down a short slope. Thankfully, the driver escaped with only minor injuries.

The crash was only the beginning of the driver's problems, however. He wasn't driving a standard big rig. He was at the wheel of a new Tesla Semi, an electric vehicle with one of the largest EV batteries on the market. Shortly after striking the tree, the truck's battery basically exploded, starting a fire that would consume everything around. Firefighters were dispatched to the scene to battle the blaze including a helicopter and a couple of firetrucks. The fire raged for 15 hours reaching temperatures of 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit. The helicopter was forced to drop flame-retardant foam on it, finally extinguishing the flames well into the next evening. The NTSB estimates that firefighters dumped in excess of 50,000 gallons of water on the truck's battery. (KRQE)

….

Do you remember when all of those EVs were catching fire in Florida after Hurricane Ian? People who owned EVs were being cautioned by safety officials to not park their cars in their garages or near their homes. This was a coastal area of Florida. Hurricanes happen. It's just a fact of life. But just in case the hurricane wasn't bad enough, people were being instructed to park their EVs out on the streets, preferably not under a tree. They knew that the batteries would start exploding, but nobody suggested that perhaps the technology behind these vehicles really wasn't ready for prime time. This is simply insanity, but nobody wants to talk about it because they have sold their souls to the "new green agenda." Congratulations, America. Stock up on marshmallows because you'll probably have plenty of fires to roast them over.

Coming your way — unless you live in Woketown.

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"Welcome to the vineyard! Here's a sandwich and a latte: Enjoy! the ferry back to the mainland leaves in 15 minutes."

'It'll upend the community': PA town roiled by talk of migrant housing in Civil War-era orphanage building

Scotland, PA, just outside of Gettysburg, currently has a population of 1,300 — the proposal would bring 1,000 “newcomers” to join them.

Reported as pending 7 days after being listed, I think we can assume this one is going for above-ask

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5,356 sq.ft

500 Valley Road, Cos Cob, was priced at $3.295; we’ll have to wait until it closes to learn the final price.

The owners paid $940,000 for an existing 1969 house on this property in 2021, razed it, and built new. A perfectly sound decision, given the rapid rise in land values, but I still shake my head, a little, to see 1960s-1970s houses turn obsolete so quickly. It’s understandable: a lot of these houses sold in the $100,000-$150,000 range back then, and their size and quality of build reflected the economics of a builder’s budget for that price range. Things change.

2,545 sq.ft

This ought to be interesting: even Blumenthal is "appalled"

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"Ooooh!"

If the Democrats are worked up, it’s gotta be bad.

Senators from both parties said Thursday that they were “appalled” by the security failures that led to the assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump July 13 and want more information from the Department of Homeland Security ahead of an expected report on the near-tragedy.

Members of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee met with acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe for a closed-door briefing about the shooting in Butler, Pa. that killed Trump rally-goer Corey Comperatore and wounded the 45th president and two others.

“I think the American people will be shocked, astonished and appalled by what we will report to them about the failures of the Secret Service in this assassination attempt of a former president,” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), who chairs the panel’s Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations.