Isegoria

John Stossel’s ‘Stupid in America’ looks at “How Lack of Choice Cheats Our Kids Out of a Good Education”:

I talked with 18-year-old Dorian Cain in South Carolina, who was still struggling to read a single sentence in a first-grade level book when I met him. Although his public schools had spent nearly $100,000 on him over 12 years, he still couldn’t read.

So “20/20″ sent Dorian to a private learning center, Sylvan, to see if teachers there could teach Dorian to read when the South Carolina public schools failed to.

Using computers and workbooks, Dorian’s reading went up two grade levels — after just 72 hours of instruction.

His mother, Gena Cain, is thrilled with Dorian’s progress but disappointed with his public schools. “With Sylvan, it’s a huge improvement. And they’re doing what they’re supposed to do. They’re on point. But I can’t say the same for the public schools,” she said.

Zoo visitors watch bears kill monkey:

Visitors reported that the grisly scene began as several bears chased the monkey, a macaque, onto a wooden structure at Beekse Bergen Safari Park.

They said a bear tried unsuccessfully to shake the monkey loose, ignoring attempts by keepers to distract it. The bear then climbed up and grabbed the monkey, mauling it to death and bringing it to its concrete den, where three bears ate it.

If you’ve ever had problems with coyotes or raccoons, just be thankful that you don’t have cape baboons nearby:

Unruly gangs of baboons raid the upmarket homes that line the spectacular coast of South Africa’s Cape Peninsula, clearing out pantries, emptying fridges, and defecating over the designer finishes.

Unrealised Moscow looks at a number of Utopian architectural plans from the 1930s through 1950s that never came to fruition.

You may be familiar with the Eurovision Song Contest — the contest that launched ABBA decades ago.

Well, it’s still going on, and this year’s winner, Lordi, comes from Finland — and plays 80s hard rock in monster makeup. I guess the people of Europe finally tired of saccharine pop and asked for a “Hard Rock Hallelujah.”

What we would call quotas the Indians call reservations, and Indian medical students have been turning up en masse to protest against them.

Now they’re being joined by other groups. From Thousands take to streets to protest caste quotas in India:

Thousands of students and professionals have marched through the streets of India’s capital to protest a government affirmative action plan to reserve more university seats for lower castes.

Chanting “Stop this injustice,” doctors, lawyers, executives and parents joined the rally against boosting quotas for lower-caste students in top medical, engineering and other professional colleges to 49.5 percent from 22.5 percent.

The turnout Saturday by other professions at the demonstration marked an escalation of the protests that until now have been spearheaded by medical students whose strikes have crippled health care services in state-run hospitals across India.

Medical students from across the country arrived by coaches in New Delhi, hoisting banners which read: “Doctors need to be preserved, not reserved.”

Police estimated the crowd at the New Delhi protest at around 5,000 people.

“I am from a lower caste but I did not take advantage of the existing quota. If the government increases the quota, it will badly affect medical standards,” said Dr Pranshu Bishnoi.

The government says the move to raise quotas is a bid to reverse social discrimination against lower castes and boost their represention in top professions.

Opponents say the seats should be awarded on merit and that existing quotas have benefited only a handful of lower-caste students with a majority not even getting basic education.

Many say the move is aimed at garnering votes from the lower castes which make up around two-thirds of India’s population.

Indo Vino Nouveau describes the burgeoning Indian wine industry:

Around the world, the best wines usually come from higher latitudes, at least 35 degrees from the equator. Nashik [about four hours' drive northeast of Mumbai, India] sits at just 20 degrees north. So how is it possible to produce sophisticated wines in such a hot climate?

The secret is simple: Grow the grapes in the winter. Nashik has long been famous for its table grapes, and the local farmers know how to prune the vines a second time ahead of the summer monsoon so that they are dormant through the hottest period of the year. Then from October to March, the warm afternoons and cool nights approximate the climate of, say, the Rhone Valley in summer. The strong sun brings up the sugar levels, but a chill down to about 7 degrees Celsius (43 degrees Fahrenheit) in the evening brings out the subtler flavors of a wine made in a temperate region.

True, some adjustments have to be made. The vines are grown high and spread out, to help dissipate heat, and with more leaf canopy. At Sula, the grapes are pruned so there are no more than two bunches on each fruiting cane. And the soil needs to be sloping so that there is excellent drainage during the monsoon, lest the roots get waterlogged.

However, the unusual schedule has brought a major advantage to the nascent industry: As the new wineries are doing the critical work of harvesting and fermentation in an unusual season, winemakers from elsewhere have the time to come and supervise. Some highly respected consultants are jetting in during the down time at their own vineyards to lend a hand in Nashik’s rise.

Jainism is not a particularly popular religion — just 0.4 percent of the Indian population — but its influence has been great.

Jainism emphasizes ahimsa, or nonviolence, and Jains are typically vegetarian or vegan. Jain monks are famed for their severe asceticism — as opposed to Buddhism’s “middle way” between luxury and asceticism — fasting often, going naked, and using a peacock-feather fan to sweep any insects away before sitting down.

Lay Jains have traditionally avoided professions involving any bloodshed (e.g. farming, military) and have instead focused on trading, which has made them wealthy and influential:

The Jains are among the wealthiest of the Indians. They are also among the most philanthropic, they run numerous schools, colleges and hospitals. They have been the most important patrons of the Somapuras, the traditional temple architects in Gujarat.

Jains have greatly influenced the cuisine of Gujarat. Gujarat is dominantly vegetarian, and its dishes all have pleasing and soothing aromas due to the lack of foods with pungent odors, such as onions and garlic.

According to the 2001 census, the Jains are the most literate community in India. India’s oldest libraries at Patan and Jaisalmer have been preserved by Jain institutions.