| Cold Comfort |
[15 Sep 2015|12:00pm] |
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http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/future_tense/2015/09/why_you_should_freeze_your_credit_report_before_a_data_breach.html You hand over your credit card to an unscrupulous cashier at the frozen yogurt place, or purchase crazily underpriced Ray-Bans from a sketchy website, or realize your card fell out of your pocket on the bus—and a couple of days later, your financial institution calls you about a suspicious transaction. Identity theft in the form of stolen credit card or bank account information has become a nuisance most Americans will deal with at some point. Although financial companies in the United States are slowly improving some aspects of security (chip-enabled cards have finally arrived after years of use in other countries), there seems to be little you can do to prevent your personal information from ending up in the hands of people you’d rather not have it.
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| The Good Doctor |
[15 Sep 2015|03:05pm] |
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http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2015/09/donald_trump_and_ben_carson_argue_over_the_presidency_the_fight_between.html Ben Carson doesn’t want to get into a close punch and shove with Donald Trump. The two bumped into each other last week, when Carson seemed to question Trump’s faith. But before it could get out of hand, Carson apologized. That’s probably a good strategy. Every candidate who has attacked Trump—with the exception of fellow nonpolitician Carly Fiorina—has fallen in the polls. Carson, for his part, is gaining on Trump, pulling even with him in Iowa and in national polls. In the latest CBS/New York Times poll, Trump is at 27 percent and Carson is at 23 percent, up from 6 percent in August.
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| So Long, Farewell |
[15 Sep 2015|05:52pm] |
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http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/foreigners/2015/09/austrians_have_helped_syrian_refugees_austria_s_far_right_parties_may_still.html In the spring, when Syrian refugees began walking across the Hungarian border into Austria, they came in a steady stream of about 150 a day. The Austrian government responded by erecting Red Cross tents in the middle of fields at a time when the country was experiencing the coldest and rainiest season on record. The damp penetrated the narrow cots; the grass flooded so quickly, the Red Cross had to lay planks on the ground to walk. At a tent city in Linz, two toilets were available for 140 men. In the face of such wretched conditions, everyday Austrians brought the refugees new shoes and raincoats.
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| So Long, Farewell |
[15 Sep 2015|05:52pm] |
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http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/foreigners/2015/09/austrians_have_helped_syrian_refugees_austria_s_far_right_parties_may_still.html In the spring, when Syrian refugees began walking across the Hungarian border into Austria, they came in a steady stream of about 150 a day. The Austrian government responded by erecting Red Cross tents in the middle of fields at a time when the country was experiencing the coldest and rainiest season on record. The damp penetrated the narrow cots; the grass flooded so quickly, the Red Cross had to lay planks on the ground to walk. At a tent city in Linz, two toilets were available for 140 men. In the face of such wretched conditions, everyday Austrians brought the refugees new shoes and raincoats.
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| A Campus Rape Ruling, Reversed |
[15 Sep 2015|06:01pm] |
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http://www.slate.com/articles/double_x/doublex/2015/09/drew_sterrett_and_university_of_michigan_the_school_vacates_its_findings.html Drew Sterrett just joined a very small cohort: He is a male college student who has had a sexual assault finding against him reversed. Sterrett, 22, left the University of Michigan in 2012, halfway through his sophomore year, after the university ruled that he’d engaged in sexual intercourse with a fellow student without her consent. As I reported in Slate last year, Sterrett sued the university in federal court, claiming that the proceedings led to what he said was an erroneous conclusion and violated his 14th Amendment rights to due process. When the court rejected the university’s motion to dismiss the case, the two parties went into mandatory mediation. This rare reversal was the result, with Michigan vacating all of its findings against Sterrett and clearing his transcript of any disciplinary action.
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| The Good, the Bad, and the Donald |
[15 Sep 2015|07:09pm] |
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http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2015/09/donald_trump_s_ugly_message_the_billionaire_s_spectacle_shouldn_t_hide_his.html DALLAS—Donald Trump’s political rallies are, if nothing else, an event. While you wait for the Donald to appear—and even during his off-kilter and meandering talk—you can buy snacks. On Monday evening, American Airlines Center wasn’t just a venue for Trump’s next speech: It was open for business, and attendees could grab popcorn, peanuts, nachos, and plenty of beer. This was a spectacle, and the assembled embraced it. People dressed in Trump memorabilia—including one woman in a Trump-branded dress—took selfies in front of Trump signs, and cheered in anticipation of the billionaire’s arrival.
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