Tidbits on December 31, 2013
Bob Jensen at Trinity University

This week I feature photographs of
Houseboat on the Erie Canal and The Spouter Inn at Lincolnville Beach Near Camden, Maine
 http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Tidbits/Hotels\ErieCanalHouseboat\ErieCanal2013.htm

 

Tidbits on December 31, 2013
Bob Jensen

For earlier editions of Tidbits go to http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/TidbitsDirectory.htm
For earlier editions of New Bookmarks go to http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/bookurl.htm 

Click here to search Bob Jensen's web site if you have key words to enter --- Search Site.
For example if you want to know what Jensen documents have the term "Enron" enter the phrase Jensen AND Enron. Another search engine that covers Trinity and other universities is at http://www.searchedu.com/.


Bob Jensen's past presentations and lectures --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/resume.htm#Presentations   


Bob Jensen's Threads --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/threads.htm

Bob Jensen's Home Page is at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/

Facebook is perhaps the ultimate example of the old, wise saying: If you aren’t paying for a product, then you ARE the product
Comparisons of Antivirus Software ---
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_antivirus_software#Microsoft_Windows

Based upon this analysis I chose F-Secure

The Cult of Statistical Significance: How Standard Error Costs Us Jobs, Justice, and Lives ---
http://www.cs.trinity.edu/~rjensen/temp/DeirdreMcCloskey/StatisticalSignificance01.htm

How Accountics Scientists Should Change: 
"Frankly, Scarlett, after I get a hit for my resume in The Accounting Review I just don't give a damn"
http://www.cs.trinity.edu/~rjensen/temp/AccounticsDamn.htm
One more mission in what's left of my life will be to try to change this
http://www.cs.trinity.edu/~rjensen/temp/AccounticsDamn.htm 

Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy --- http://plato.stanford.edu/

Alliance for Financial Inclusion (financial literacy initiative funded by Bill and Melinda Gates) ---  http://www.afi-global.org/
Also see Bob Jensen's related helpers at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Bookbob1.htm#InvestmentHelpers

More of Bob Jensen's Pictures and Stories
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Pictures.htm

 




Online Video, Slide Shows, and Audio
In the past I've provided links to various types of music and video available free on the Web. 
I created a page that summarizes those various links --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/music.htm

Studs Terkel Interviews Bob Dylan, Shel Silverstein, Maya Angelou & More in New Audio Trove ---
http://www.openculture.com/2013/12/studs-terkel-interviews.html

Morgan Freeman Masterfully Recites Nelson Mandela’s Favorite Poem, “Invictus” ---
http://www.openculture.com/2013/12/morgan-freeman-masterfully-recites-nelson-mandelas-favorite-poem-invictus.html

Bob Hope Entertaining the Troops --- http://biggeekdad.com/2011/02/bob-hope-christmas/

Jerry Seinfeld Created These Intentionally Terrible Acura Ads For His Web Series — And They're Hilarious ---
http://www.businessinsider.com/seinfelds-acura-ads-for-comedians-in-cars-2013-12

Hear Michel Foucault Deliver His Lecture on “Truth and Subjectivity” at UC Berkeley, In English (1980) ---
http://www.openculture.com/2013/12/michel-foucault-delivers-his-lecture-on-truth-and-subjectivity.html

See Peter O’Toole Talk Hamlet with Orson Welles (1963) and Play Petruchio in The Taming of the Shrew (1986) ---
http://www.openculture.com/2013/12/see-peter-otoole-talk-hamlet-with-orson-welles-1963-and-play-petruchio-in-the-taming-of-the-shrew-1986.html

The New Yorker Launches a New Poetry Podcast: Listen to the First Episode ---
http://www.openculture.com/2013/12/the-new-yorker-launches-a-new-poetry-podcast.html

Digital Theatre (U.K. live theatre, Shakespeare) --- http://www.digitaltheatre.com/

David Lynch Presents the Interview Project: 121 Mini-Documentaries About Life in America ---
https://mail.google.com/mail/u/1/?shva=1#inbox/1431548203837488

Funny Animals --- http://uvideo100.com/animals1.html


Free music downloads --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/music.htm

Five Worst Christmas Songs of All Time --- http://ricochet.com/main-feed/The-5-Worst-Christmas-Songs-of-All-Time

Every Appearance James Brown Ever Made On Soul Train ---
http://www.openculture.com/2013/12/every-appearance-james-brown-ever-made-on-soul-train.html

Yuja Wang: Rooted In Diligence, Inspired By Improvisation ---
http://www.npr.org/blogs/deceptivecadence/2013/12/02/243942819/yuja-wang-rooted-in-diligence-inspired-by-improvisation

Rita Hayworth was a great young dancer (as was her father) ---
http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=mz3CPzdCDws
Turner Classic Movie (TCM) long-time host
Robert Osborne (who has been with the network since its 1994 launch) claims Eleanor Powell (eventually to become wife of Glenn Ford) was the greatest tap dancer of all time. In the one and only movie she did with Fred Astaire in 1940, she outshined Astaire in tap dancing to a point that, according to Robert Osborne, Fred Astaire did not want to do another film with her. Fred Astaire was perhaps the greatest male dancer of all time, but tap dancing, again according to Osborne, was not Fred's strongest suit. Actually I thought he was darn good! He had a number of leading lady dancers, most notably Ginger Rogers who was terrific except in comparison with Eleanor Powell.
To see the great Eleanor Powell, search for "Eleanor Powell Tap Dancing" on YouTube ---
http://www.youtube.com/
My favorite is http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=37XhIuqsWVk
Also look up "Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire tap dancing" on YouTube.

NPR Classical's 10 Favorite Albums Of 2013 (not free downloads) ---
http://www.npr.org/blogs/bestmusic2013/2013/12/13/249751178/npr-classicals-10-favorite-albums-of-2013

Web outfits like Pandora, Foneshow, Stitcher, and Slacker broadcast portable and mobile content that makes Sirius look overpriced and stodgy ---
http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/mar2009/tc20090327_877363.htm?link_position=link2

Pandora (my favorite online music station) --- www.pandora.com
TheRadio
(online music site) --- http://www.theradio.com/
Slacker (my second-favorite commercial-free online music site) --- http://www.slacker.com/

Gerald Trites likes this international radio site --- http://www.e-radio.gr/
Songza:  Search for a song or band and play the selection --- http://songza.com/
Also try Jango --- http://www.jango.com/?r=342376581
Sometimes this old guy prefers the jukebox era (just let it play through) --- http://www.tropicalglen.com/
And I listen quite often to Soldiers Radio Live --- http://www.army.mil/fieldband/pages/listening/bandstand.html
Also note
U.S. Army Band recordings --- http://bands.army.mil/music/default.asp

Bob Jensen's threads on nearly all types of free music selections online ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Music.htm


Photographs and Art

50 Best Pictures of 2013 --- http://www.slideshare.net/maditabalnco/the-top-50-pictures-of-the-day-for-2013from-twistedsifter-24532525

50 Best Sports Pics of 2013 --- http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1900015-50-best-sports-pics-of-2013
16 Hilarious Sports GIFs From 2013 --- http://www.businessinsider.com/16-hilarious-sports-gifs-from-2013-2013-12

Ever wondered what famous artist Michelangelo ate? Here's a peek at one of his grocery lists:
Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/grocery-shopping-list-of-michelangelo-2013-12#ixzz2orb4gIeA
Note:  Michelangelo was less of a starving artist than most of the famous artists in history

Amazing Space: Visions of the Universe --- http://amazing-space.stsci.edu/visions/

Here Are The Breathtaking Pictures That Won National Geographic's 2013 Photography Contest ---
Click on the arrow heads --- Click Here
Or start here --- http://www.businessinsider.com/winners-of-national-geographic-photography-contest-2013-12

How the Iconic 1968 “Earthrise” Photo Was Made: An Engrossing Visualization by NASA ---
https://mail.google.com/mail/u/1/?shva=1#inbox/143342cb523ee8fa

Old Barns --- http://www.youtube.com/embed/J8Ioa1gVVeA?showinfo=0&rel=0

How A Wildlife Photographer Shot The Polar Bear Picture That Won National Geographic's Photo Contest ---
http://www.businessinsider.com/winner-of-natgeo-photo-contest-polar-bear-picture-2013-12

Hand-Colored Photographs of 19th Century Japan ---
http://www.openculture.com/2013/12/hand-colored-photographs-of-19th-century-japan.html

Eastern Art Online --- http://jameelcentre.ashmolean.org

New Art Edition of James Joyce’s Ulysses Features All 265,000 Words Written by Hand on Big Wooden Poles ---
http://www.openculture.com/2013/12/art-edition-of-joyces-ulysses.html

Priest Lake Museum Association Collection (Idaho)--- http://www.lib.uidaho.edu/digital/priestlake/

The Digital Atlas of Idaho --- http://imnh.isu.edu/digitalatlas/

A Former Wall Street Trader Took These Devastating Photos Of Addicts In The Bronx ---
http://www.businessinsider.com/chris-arnade-photos-of-bronx-addicts-2013-12

Invisible Culture (art history from the University of Rochester) --- 
https://urresearch.rochester.edu/viewInstitutionalCollection.action?collectionId=27

The British Library Is Putting Millions Of Amazing Images On Flickr That Probably Would Have Been Lost In Time ---
http://www.businessinsider.com/the-british-librarys-important-flickr-plan-2013-12
Also see http://www.businessinsider.com/british-library-releases-pictures-to-flickr-2013-12

The Rhyme of History: Lessons of the Great War ---
http://www.brookings.edu/research/essays/2013/rhyme-of-history

World War I Photographic History in a French Village
Remember Me: The Lost Diggers of Vignacourt --- http://www.awm.gov.au/exhibitions/remember-me/

World War (I &II) Propaganda Posters --- http://bir.brandeis.edu/handle/10192/23520

Centenary of the First World War, 1914-1918 --- http://www.awm.gov.au/1914-1918/

Newspaper Pictorials: Word War I Rotogravures --- http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/collections/rotogravures/

Mapping Militant Organizations --- http://www.stanford.edu/group/mappingmilitants/cgi-bin/

Australian War Memorial: This Company of Brave Men: The Gallipoli VCs --- http://www.awm.gov.au/exhibitions/bravemen

Florence Knoll Bassett Papers, 1932-2000 (architecture, furniture design) ---
http://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/florence-knoll-bassett-papers-6312

Gorgeous Photos Of New York's Classic Diners Before They Disappeared Forever ---
http://www.businessinsider.com/vintage-photos-of-new-yorks-classic-diners-2013-12

Don't Trust The Pictures Hotels Post On Their Websites ---
http://www.businessinsider.com/hotel-real-v-fake-photos-2013-12

Did Vermeer almost paint by the numbers in the 1600s?
"Reverse-Engineering a Genius (Has a Vermeer Mystery Been Solved?), by Kurt Andersen, Vanity Fair, November 29, 2013 ---
http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/2013/11/vermeer-secret-tool-mirrors-lenses

Art Deco and the Decorative Arts in the 1920s and 1930s --- http://digital.library.mcgill.ca/artdeco/index.php

Bob Jensen's threads on history, literature and art ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Bookbob2.htm#History


Online Books, Poems, References, and Other Literature
In the past I've provided links to various types electronic literature available free on the Web. 
I created a page that summarizes those various links --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/ElectronicLiterature.htm

The International Children’s Digital Library Offers Free eBooks for Kids in Over 40 Languages ---
http://www.openculture.com/2013/12/the-international-childrens-digital-library.html

Sherlock Holmes Is Now in the Public Domain, Declares US Judge ---
http://www.openculture.com/2013/12/sherlock-holmes-is-now-in-the-public-domain-declares-us-judge.html

Fill Your New Kindle, iPad, iPhone, eReader with Free eBooks, Movies, Audio Books, Online Courses & More ---
http://www.openculture.com/2013/12/fill-your-device-with-free-ebooks-movies-audio-books-online-courses.html

Morgan Freeman Masterfully Recites Nelson Mandela’s Favorite Poem, “Invictus” ---
http://www.openculture.com/2013/12/morgan-freeman-masterfully-recites-nelson-mandelas-favorite-poem-invictus.html

See Peter O’Toole Talk Hamlet with Orson Welles (1963) and Play Petruchio in The Taming of the Shrew (1986) ---
http://www.openculture.com/2013/12/see-peter-otoole-talk-hamlet-with-orson-welles-1963-and-play-petruchio-in-the-taming-of-the-shrew-1986.html

New Art Edition of James Joyce’s Ulysses Features All 265,000 Words Written by Hand on Big Wooden Poles ---
http://www.openculture.com/2013/12/art-edition-of-joyces-ulysses.html

James Joyce’s Ulysses: Download the Free Audio Book --- Click Here
http://www.openculture.com/2012/03/james_joyces_ulysses_a_free_audio_book.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+OpenCulture+%28Open+Culture%29

The New Yorker Launches a New Poetry Podcast: Listen to the First Episode ---
http://www.openculture.com/2013/12/the-new-yorker-launches-a-new-poetry-podcast.html

Digital Theatre (U.K. live theatre, Shakespeare) --- http://www.digitaltheatre.com/

Download 100 Free Philosophy Courses and Start Living the Examined Life ---
http://www.openculture.com/2013/12/download-100-free-philosophy-courses.html

Fill Your New Kindle, iPad, iPhone, eReader with Free eBooks, Movies, Audio Books, Online Courses & More ---
http://www.openculture.com/2013/12/fill-your-device-with-free-ebooks-movies-audio-books-online-courses.html

The WSJ Best Fiction of 2013 ---
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303932504579256201892384922?mod=djemEditorialPage_h

The WSJ Best Nonfiction of 2013 ---
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303932504579256251108945122?mod=djemEditorialPage_h

Free Electronic Literature --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/ElectronicLiterature.htm
Free Online Textbooks, Videos, and Tutorials --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/ElectronicLiterature.htm#Textbooks
Free Tutorials in Various Disciplines --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Bookbob2.htm#Tutorials
Edutainment and Learning Games --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/000aaa/thetools.htm#Edutainment
Open Sharing Courses --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/000aaa/updateee.htm#OKI




Now in Another Tidbits Document
Political Quotations on December 31, 2013
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/tidbits/2013/TidbitsQuotations123113.htm      

U.S. National Debt Clock --- http://www.usdebtclock.org/
Also see http://www.brillig.com/debt_clock/

Peter G. Peterson Website on Deficit/Debt Solutions ---
http://www.pgpf.org/

Bob Jensen's health care messaging updates --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Health.htm




Top Gadgets of 2013 ---
http://www.departures.com/slideshows/top-gadgets-of-2013/1?xid=taboola
This is a great listing. I might try that smart golf club.
Bob Jensen's threads on gadgets --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Bookbob4.htm#Technology

ReadWrite’s Best Stories of 2013 ---
http://readwrite.com/2013/12/24/readwrite-best-stories-2013#awesm=~orkBkmc2EuACIu

MIT:  Best 2013 Energy Stories ---
http://www.technologyreview.com/news/523051/2013-the-best-energy-stories-of-the-year/?utm_campaign=newsletters&utm_source=newsletter-daily-all&utm_medium=email&utm_content=20131227

50 Best Pictures of 2013 --- http://www.slideshare.net/maditabalnco/the-top-50-pictures-of-the-day-for-2013from-twistedsifter-24532525

54 Unforgettable Photos From The Past Year --- http://www.businessinsider.com/the-best-photos-of-2013-2013-12?op=1

50 Best Sports Pics of 2013 --- http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1900015-50-best-sports-pics-of-2013
16 Hilarious Sports GIFs From 2013 --- http://www.businessinsider.com/16-hilarious-sports-gifs-from-2013-2013-12

From Time Magazine for 2013 and earlier (Jensen Picks)

Most Surprising Photographs --- http://search.time.com/results.html?Ntt=Best+of+Culture&N=0&Nty=1&p=0&cmd=tags&x=0&y=0
Five Worst Tech Purchases --- http://techland.time.com/2013/12/19/the-5-worst-tech-purchases/
Archaeology: The Shards of History --- http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,875453,00.html
Education:  Five Ways to Wisdom --- http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,925756,00.html
Education:  The Challenge --- http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,793438,00.html 
Russia: The Second Revolution --- http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,837515,00.html
ISRAEL At 40: the Dream Confronts Palestinian Fury --- http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1585901,00.html#ixzz2oxE5ci3O
Communism: The Specter and the Struggle --- http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,953313,00.html

 

The WSJ Best Fiction of 2013 ---
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303932504579256201892384922?mod=djemEditorialPage_h

"The 13 Best Books of 2013: The Definitive Annual Reading List of Overall Favorites," by Maria Popova, Brain Pickings, December 23, 2013 ---
http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2013/12/23/best-books-of-2013/

"The 13 Best Biographies, Memoirs, and History Books of 2013," by Maria Popova, Brain Pickings, November 25, 2013  ---
http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2013/11/25/best-biographies-memoirs-and-history-books-of-2013/

"The 13 Best Psychology and Philosophy Books of 2013," by Maria Popova, Brain Pickings, December 2, 2013 ---
http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2013/12/02/best-psychology-philosophy-books-2013/
With relatively long reviews and quotations.

"A Quirky Coloring Book Featuring Keith Haring, Shepard Fairey, Ryan McGuinness, Brian Rea, and Other Contemporary Art Icons," y Maria Popova, Brain Pickings, December 15, 2013 ---
http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2013/12/19/outside-the-lines-coloring-book/

Rolling Stone's Picks for the Best Movies of the Decade --- http://www.rollingstone.com/movies/lists/10-best-movies-of-the-decade-19691231

AMC's Picks for the 100 Greatest Movies of All Time --- http://movies.amctv.com/movie-guide/tim-dirks-top-100/

"Five Big Compliance Events in 2013," by Matt Kelly, Compliance Week, December 30, 2013 ---
http://www.complianceweek.com/five-big-compliance-events-in-2013/article/327276/

Google’s Year in Entertainment: The Most-Searched Movies, TV and Music of 2013 ---
http://entertainment.time.com/2013/12/17/google-zeitgeist-2013/

The most-searched movies of 2013:

  1. Man of Steel
  2. Iron Man 3
  3. World War Z
  4. Jobs
  5. The Conjuring
  6. The Great Gatsby
  7. Despicable Me 2
  8. The Purge
  9. Pacific Rim
  10. Mama

The most-searched TV shows of 2013:
 

  1. Breaking Bad
  2. Duck Dynasty
  3. Big Bang Theory
  4. Good Morning America
  5. South Park
  6. True Blood
  7. Big Brother 15
  8. New Girl
  9. Castle
  10. Attack on Titan

Center for the Humanities and the Public Sphere --- http://www.humanities.ufl.edu/index.html

The University of Michigan Digital Humanities Series---
 http://www.digitalculture.org/books/book-series/digital-humanities-series/

Journal of Digital Humanities --- http://journalofdigitalhumanities.org/

The European Association for Digital Humanities --- http://www.allc.org/


Dr. Collier is a psychology professor at South Carolina State University in Orangeburg, S.C.
"We Pretend to Teach, They Pretend to Learn:  At colleges today, all parties are strongly incentivized to maintain low standards.," by Jeffrey L. Collier, The Wall Street Journal, December 26, 2013 ---
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303531204579204201833906182?mod=djemEditorialPage_h

The parlous state of American higher education has been widely noted, but the view from the trenches is far more troubling than can be characterized by measured prose. With most students on winter break and colleges largely shut down, the lull presents an opportunity for damage assessment.

The flood of books detailing the problems includes the representative titles "Bad Students, Not Bad Schools" and "The Five Year Party." To list only the principal faults: Students arrive woefully academically unprepared; students study little, party much and lack any semblance of internalized discipline; pride in work is supplanted by expediency; and the whole enterprise is treated as a system to be gamed in which plagiarism and cheating abound.

The problems stem from two attitudes. Social preoccupations trump the academic part of residential education, which occupies precious little of students' time or emotions. Second, students' view of education is strictly instrumental and credentialist. They regard the entire enterprise as a series of hoops they must jump through to obtain their 120 credits, which they blindly view as an automatic licensure for adulthood and a good job, an increasingly problematic belief.

Education thus has degenerated into a game of "trap the rat," whereby the student and instructor view each other as adversaries. Winning or losing is determined by how much the students can be forced to study. This will never be a formula for excellence, which requires intense focus, discipline and diligence that are utterly lacking among our distracted, indifferent students. Such diligence requires emotional engagement. Engagement could be with the material, the professors, or even a competitive goal, but the idea that students can obtain a serious education even with their disengaged, credentialist attitudes is a delusion.

The professoriate plays along because teachers know they have a good racket going. They would rather be refining their research or their backhand than attending to tedious undergraduates. The result is an implicit mutually assured nondestruction pact in which the students and faculty ignore each other to the best of their abilities. This disengagement guarantees poor outcomes, as well as the eventual replacement of the professoriate by technology. When professors don't even know your name, they become remote figures of ridicule and tedium and are viewed as part of a system to be played rather than a useful resource.

To be fair, cadres of indefatigable souls labor tirelessly in thankless ignominy in the bowels of sundry ivory dungeons. Jokers in a deck stacked against them, they are ensnared in a classic reward system from hell.

All parties are strongly incentivized to maintain low standards. It is well known that friendly, entertaining professors make for a pleasant classroom, good reviews and minimal complaints. Contrarily, faculty have no incentives to punish plagiarism and cheating, to flunk students or to write negative letters of reference, to assiduously mark up illiterate prose in lieu of merely adding a grade and a few comments, or to enforce standards generally. Indeed, these acts are rarely rewarded but frequently punished, even litigated. Mass failure, always a temptation, is not an option. Under this regimen, it is a testament to the faculty that any standards remain at all.

As tuition has skyrocketed, education has shifted from being a public good to a private, consumer product. Students are induced into debt because they are repeatedly bludgeoned with news about the average-income increments that accrue to additional education. This is exacerbated by the ready availability of student loans, obligations that cannot be discharged in bankruptcy.

In parallel, successive generations of students have become increasingly consumerist in their attitudes, and all but the most well-heeled institutions readily give the consumers what they want in order to generate tuition revenue. Competition for students forces universities to invest in and promote their recreational value. Perhaps the largest scam is that these institutions have an incentive to retain paying students who have little chance of graduating. This is presented as a kindness under the guise of "student retention." The student, or the taxpayer in the case of default, ends up holding the bag, whereas the institution gets off scot free. Withholding government funding from institutions with low graduation rates would only encourage the further abandonment of standards.

So students get what they want: a "five year party" eventuating in painlessly achieved "Wizard of Oz" diplomas. This creates a classic tragedy of the commons in which individuals overuse a shared resource—in this case the market value of the sheepskin. Students, implicitly following the screening theory that credentials are little more than signals of intelligence and personal qualities, follow a mini-max strategy: minimize the effort, maximize the probability of obtaining a degree. The decrement in the value of the sheepskin inflicted by each student is small, but the cumulative effect is that the resource will become valueless.

The body politic lately has become aware of the cracks in this game. With about half of college graduates under 25 currently unemployed or underemployed, the income advantage of a four-year degree may be on the decline. Employers are justifiably fed up with college graduates lacking basic knowledge, to say nothing of good work habits and intellectual discipline. Yet the perennial impulse toward bureaucratic command-and-control solutions, such as universal standardized testing or standardized grade-point averages, only leads in the direction of more credentialism.

If the body politic desires this, so be it. However, these are essentially supply-side solutions, in that they attempt to staunch the supply of poorly prepared students or increase the supply of well-prepared students. Such approaches are notoriously problematic, as in the classic case of black markets.

Better to address the demand side. To be sure, there is plenty of student demand for credentials, but there is little demand for the rigor that the credentials putatively represent. Rather than more attempts at controlling output quality through standardization, what are needed are input changes provided by creative alternative routes to adulthood that young people find attractive; a "pull" rather than a "push." It would be helpful, too, if faculty started viewing undergraduates less as whining boors and more as lost souls who have been scandalously misguided by a feel-good "everyone's a star" culture.

"Alarming Research Shows the Sorry State of US Higher Ed," by Andrew McAfee, Harvard Business Review Blog, July 11, 2013 --- Click Here
http://blogs.hbr.org/hbr/mcafee/2013/07/alarming-research-shows-sorry.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+harvardbusiness+%28HBR.org%29&cm_ite=DailyAlert-071213+%281%29&cm_lm=sp%3Arjensen%40trinity.edu&cm_ven=Spop-Email

Bob Jensen's threads on grade inflation (the biggest disgrace in higher education) ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Assess.htm#RateMyProfessor

Our Compassless Colleges ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/HigherEdControversies.htm#Berkowitz

Bob Jensen's threads on higher education controversies ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/HigherEdControversies.htm


Apple moved the on/off switch to a key on the keyboard --- a key in an awful location
Apple MacBook Air Design Flaw--
 
http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2013/12/apple-macbook-air-design-flaw/ 

Also see http://missleton.tumblr.com/post/69667870376/i-love-my-new-macbook-air-very-much-but-why-did


Did Vermeer almost paint by the numbers in the 1600s?

"Reverse-Engineering a Genius (Has a Vermeer Mystery Been Solved?), by Kurt Andersen, Vanity Fair, November 29, 2013 ---
http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/2013/11/vermeer-secret-tool-mirrors-lenses


"Split Personalities (with particular focus on Charlie Chaplin)," Lapham's Quarterly, December 2013 ---
http://www.laphamsquarterly.org/essays/split-personalities.php


"Academics Who Defend Wall St. Reap Reward," by David Kociewnski, The New York Times, December 27, 2013 ---
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/28/business/academics-who-defend-wall-st-reap-reward.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&rref=education&hpw&

Jensen Comment
Some programs benefit greatly by having full-time or part-time professors who are also big time consultants to business in general and Wall Street in particular. Exhibit A is Nobel Laureate who was on a large retainer from Merrill Lynch while he was also a full professor in the Stanford Graduate School of Business. I don't think Stanford ever considered letting go of its prized Bill Sharpe ---
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Forsyth_Sharpe

Exhibit B contains the many highly-paid consultants like Bob Kaplan who are also full-time professors at the Harvard Business School. Harvard in particular has reaped benefits to students from consulting experiences of faculty.

There are of course risks of conflicts of interests where consultants are discouraged by employers to be critical of industries where they consult. For example, one would never expect Harvard to give tenure a clone of Abe Briloff ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Theory01.htm#Briloff


Here Are A Bunch Of Movies That Are About To Disappear From Netflix After The New Year ---
http://www.businessinsider.com/movies-about-to-disappear-from-netflix-2013-12

Jensen Comment
They remain available to Amazon customers for $2.95+ streaming prices or free streaming to Amazon Prime customers, although not all movies are free to Amazon Prime customers.


"The Unionization-Inflation Connection,"  Harvard Business Review Blog, December 27, 2013 ---
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/00036846.2013.848032#.Ur2ua7RjU3g

In a study of inflation peaks that preceded monetary-policy adjustments in 21 nations between 1974 and 2004, Tony Caporale of the University of Dayton found that higher peaks were linked with higher levels of unionization. Specifically, a 1-standard-deviation increase in the percentage of public and private employees who were members of unions was associated with an 8.5% higher inflation rate at the peak before monetary adjustment. High levels of unionization can lead to wage inflexibility, which can contribute to consumer price increases.


IRS warns of "dirty dozen" tax scams in 2014 ---
http://www.journalofaccountancy.com/News/20137666.htm

The 2013 list is little changed from a year earlier and for a second year is headed by:

1. Identity theft: The IRS spotlighted its measures, including its new Identity Protection web portal, to prevent and combat the growing problem of tax fraud involving stolen identities, which it called one of its top priorities. During 2012, the IRS prevented issuance of $20 billion in fraudulent refunds including those related to identity theft, up from $14 billion in 2011, it said. The IRS also noted that its identity theft enforcement sweep in January led to nearly 300 indictments, complaints, and arrests, on top of thousands of enforcement actions against identity theft tax fraud in 2012. (See “Dozens indicted on stolen identity tax refund fraud charges.”)

2. Phishing: The IRS again this year warned against fake electronic communications designed to obtain recipients’ information, reminding that the IRS does not initiate contact with taxpayers by email, text messages, or social media to request personal or financial information.

3. Return preparer fraud: In addition to suggesting taxpayers make sure paid preparers sign returns and enter their preparer tax identification number (PTIN), the IRS this year included information about using Form 14157, Complaint: Tax Return Preparer, to report abusive tax preparers.

4. Hiding income offshore: This warning also updated the number of participants in the IRS’s Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program to 38,000 and its collections to $3.4 billion from the 2009 program alone (March 23, 2009, through Oct. 15, 2009) and $1 billion so far in “up-front” payments from the 2011 program (Oct. 16, 2009, through Sept. 9, 2011). In 2012, the program was extended indefinitely. (See “IRS announces third offshore voluntary disclosure program.”

5. “Free money” from the IRS and tax scams involving Social Security: With fliers and advertisements “appearing in community churches around the country,” promoters of schemes promising refunds for returns with little or no documentation have enticed “unsuspecting and well-intentioned” victims, some of whom have spread the word to friends and relatives, the IRS said. One scheme falsely advises taxpayers to claim the American opportunity tax credit even if they have no current qualifying educational expenses.

6. Impersonation of charitable organizations: Some fraudsters have doubly victimized people hit by a natural disaster by claiming to be working on behalf of the IRS to help them claim a tax casualty loss but instead steal their financial and personal information. This replaced “abuse of charitable organizations and deductions” from the 2012 list.

7. False/inflated income and expenses: Exaggerating wage or self-employment income is a common ploy by some unscrupulous preparers to inflate refundable credits, including the earned income tax credit, by more than any additional tax.

8. False Form 1099 refund claims: One scheme involves issuing a bogus information return, often Form 1099-OID, Original Issue Discount, to the IRS. A refund is then claimed on a corresponding tax return. The IRS says this is based on the theory that “the federal government maintains secret accounts for U.S. citizens and that taxpayers can gain access to the accounts by issuing 1099-OID forms to the IRS.”

9. Frivolous arguments: The IRS maintains a webpage describing some of the more common and legally fanciful of these theories.

10. Falsely claiming zero wages: A Form 4852, Substitute Form W-2, or “corrected” Form 1099-MISC, Miscellaneous Income, is fraudulently filed to reduce or eliminate income on a legitimate information return. Sometimes it is accompanied by a frivolous argument regarding the income.

11. Disguised corporate ownership: The IRS said it works with state authorities to identify entities by which taxpayers underreport income, claim bogus deductions, and engage in other misconduct.

12. Misuse of trusts: The IRS said it has seen an increase in improper use of private annuity trusts and foreign trusts to shift income and deduct personal expenses.

Jensen Comment
To this we will soon add underreporting of income for fraudulent claims to Medicaid and health care subsidies ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Health.htm
The sad thing is that the IRS refuses to enforce rules against such fraud. For example, half the Medicaid recipients in Illinois purportedly are not eligible for such free medical care and medications. As far as I can tell nobody is doing anything to prevent this type of fraud.

Bob Jensen's threads on tax scams---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/FraudReporting.htm

Bob Jensen's Fraud Updates ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/FraudUpdates.htm


KPMG Uncovers 12 Key Business Tax Issues for 2014 ---
http://accounting.smartpros.com/x75688.xml


Southwest just received 10,000 applications for 750 flight attendant job openings - in two hours ---
https://mail.google.com/mail/u/1/?shva=1#inbox/1433610fdd4ccf15

Could it be that one of the rejects will become an accounting professor?
Not if play the odds.


Don't Trust The Pictures Hotels Post On Their Websites ---
http://www.businessinsider.com/hotel-real-v-fake-photos-2013-12


"Best of 2013: Moore’s Law and the Origin of Life," MIT's Technology Review, December 25, 2013 --- Click Here
http://www.technologyreview.com/view/522866/best-of-2013-moores-law-and-the-origin-of-life/?utm_campaign=newsletters&utm_source=newsletter-daily-all&utm_medium=email&utm_content=20131225

As life has evolved, its complexity has increased exponentially, just like Moore’s law. In April, geneticists announced they had extrapolated this trend backwards and found that by this measure, life is older than the Earth itself.

Continued in article


The credit cards issued in other countries are much safer! Why does America lag so far behind?  by Joshua Brustein, Bloomberg Businessweek, December 23, 2013 ---
http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-12-23/why-the-u-dot-s-dot-leaves-its-credit-card-system-vulnerable-to-fraud?campaign_id=DN122313

Jensen Comment
The sad part of this is that fraudulent charges not caught by consumers are borne by those consumers and not the credit card companies or the insurance purchased by consumers for protection. The key for consumers is to verify every charge on every account. Yeah Right!

I'm told that credit companies rarely prosecute the thieves who are using the stolen credit card numbers. First the charges are often made from outside the USA thereby causing jurisdictional complications. Second the cost of prosecuting generally exceeds recovery thereby adding losses to losses. The sad part of this policy is that there's no deterrence if thieves know they won't be prosecuted.

Bob Jensen's threads on Identity Theft: Phishing , Pharming, Vishing, Slurping, and Spoofing ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/ecommerce/000start.htm#Phishing

Bob Jensen's Fraud Updates are at
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/FraudUpdates.htm


The Worst Product Flops of 2013 ---
http://247wallst.com/special-report/2013/12/23/the-worst-product-flops-of-2013/?utm_source=247WallStDailyNewsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_content=DEC242013A&utm_campaign=DailyNewsletter


"Retired teachers file first lawsuit against Illinois pension reform law," by Rick Pearson, Chicago Tribune, December 28, 2013 ---
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/politics/clout/chi-retired-teachers-file-first-lawsuit-against-illinois-pension-reform-law-20131227,0,184867.story

The Illinois Retired Teachers Association filed suit Friday challenging the constitutionality of the state’s historic but controversial plan to deal with the nation’s most underfunded public employee pension system.

The lawsuit is the first of what could be many filed on behalf of state workers, university employees, lawmakers and teachers outside Chicago. The legal challenge argues the law, which limits cost-of-living increases, raises retirement ages for many current workers and caps the amount of salaries eligible for retirement benefits, violates the state Constitution.

The lawsuit, filed in Cook County Circuit Court on behalf of eight non-union retirees, teachers and superintendents who are members of the state’s Teacher Retirement System, contended the constitutional “guarantee on which so many relied has been violated.”

“Countless careers, retirements, personal investments and medical treatments have been planned in justifiable reliance not only on the promises that were made in collective bargaining agreements and the Illinois Pension Code, but also on the guarantee of the (state constitution’s) Pension Protection Clause,” the lawsuit said.

But a spokeswoman for Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn, who signed the pension changes into law this month after years of political stalemate, said that just as a lawsuit had been expected, the administration “(expects) this landmark reform will be upheld as constitutional.”

At issue is a provision of the 1970 Illinois Constitution which states that public pensions represent“an enforceable contractual relationship, the benefits of which shall not be diminished or impaired.”

The new law, however, scales back what had been annual 3 percent compounded cost-of-living increases to retirees. Instead, retirees would get 3 percent, non-compounding yearly bumps based on a formula that takes into account their years of service multiplied by $1,000. The $1,000 factor would be increased by the rate of inflation each year.

The measure also requires many current workers to skip up to five annual cost-of-living pension increases when they retire. For current workers, it also would boost the retirement age by up to five years, depending on how old they are.

In an attempt to make the new law constitutional by offering workers and retirees some trade offs, under a legal theory known as “consideration,” current workers would pay 1 percentage point less toward their pensions. In addition, pension systems could sue to force the state to pay its required employer share toward retirement and a limited number of workers could join a 401(k)-style defined contribution plan.

But the lawsuit contended the constitutional “guarantee, perhaps more so than anything else in the Illinois Constitution, was used by countless families across Illinois to plan careers, retirements and financial futures.”

It argues the state Supreme Court has consistently struck down attempts to change the state’s pension laws when benefits are diminished and that justices have warned that constitutional requirements cannot be suspended for economic reasons. Illinois state government’s shaky finances were the prime reason that after years of inaction, lawmakers this month passed the law in an attempt to deal with a $100 billion unfunded public pension liability. About 20 cents of every dollar paid in state taxes goes to fund public pensions and the amount was increasingly taking money away from education and other social services. Backers have said the new law could save an estimated $160 billion over the next 30 years.

At the same time, Illinois government’s inability to deal with the growing pension liability resulted in downgrades of the state’s credit rating, which boosted taxpayers’ borrowing costs for public works projects. Credit rating agencies heralded the new law, but also recognized that it would be challenged in court.

“We believe the new law is as constitutionally sound as it is urgently needed to resolve the state's pension crisis,” Quinn spokeswoman Brooke Anderson said in a statement.

“This historic law squarely addresses the most pressing fiscal crisis of our time by eliminating the state's unfunded pension debt, a standard set by the governor two years ago. It will ensure retirement security for those who have faithfully contributed to the pension systems, end the squeeze on critical education and human services and support economic growth,” she said.

Representatives of the “We Are One” coalition of public employee unions, including the state’s two major teachers’ unions, have said they expect to file suit after the New Year. Their lawsuit is expected to be filed outside of Cook County — in part reflecting a concern that powerful Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan plays a powerful political interest in determining judgeships in the Chicago area.

Continued in article

Bob Jensen's threads on pension accounting and pension reforms are at
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Theory02.htm#Pensions

"Illinois's Fake Pension Fix:  The most dysfunctional state government lives down to its reputation," The Wall Street Journal, December 2, 2013 ---
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303670804579233901035185122?mod=djemEditorialPage_h

Democrats in Illinois have dug a $100 billion pension hole, and now they want Republicans to rescue them by voting for a plan that would merely delay the fiscal reckoning while helping to re-elect Governor Pat Quinn. The cuckolded GOP seems happy to oblige on this quarter-baked reform.

Legislative leaders plan to vote Tuesday on a bill that Mr. Quinn hails as a great achievement. But the plan merely tinkers around the edges to save a fanciful $155 billion over 30 years, shaves the state's unfunded liability by at most 20%, and does nothing for Chicago's $20 billion pension hole.

Most of the putative savings would come from trimming benefits for younger workers. The retirement age for current workers would increase on a graduated scale by four months for 45-year-olds to five years for those 30 and under. Teachers now in their 20s would have to wait until the ripe, old age of 60 to retire, but they'd still draw pensions worth 75% of their final salary.

Salaries for calculating pensions would also be capped at $109,971, which would increase over time with inflation. Yet Democrats cracked this ceiling by grandfathering in pensions for workers whose salaries currently top or will exceed the cap due to raises in collective-bargaining agreements.

Democrats are also offering defined-contribution plans as a sop to Republicans who are desperate to dress up this turkey of a deal. These plans would only be available to 5% of workers hired before 2011. Why only 5%? Because if too many workers opt out of the traditional pension, there might not be enough new workers to fund the overpromises Democrats have made to current pensioners.

At private companies, such 401(k)-style plans are private property that workers keep if they move to a new job. But the Illinois version gives the state control over the new defined-contribution plans and lets the legislature raid the individual accounts at anytime. That's a scam, not a reform.

Even under the most optimistic forecasts, these nips and tucks would only slim the state's pension liability down to $80 billion—which is where it was after Governor Quinn signed de minimis fixes in spring 2010 to get him past that year's election.

Safely elected in January 2011, Democrats then raised the state's 3% flat income tax rate to 5% and its corporate rate from 7.3% to 9.5%, the fourth highest in the country. All $7 billion a year in new revenues have gone to pension payments, which will leave a huge new hole in the budget when the supposedly temporary tax hikes are phased out in 2015.

The truth is that Democrats will never let the tax increases expire, and state Senate President John Cullerton all but admitted as much in October. Mr. Quinn won't rule out another tax hike, which means round two is a certainty in 2015 if he wins re-election next year. The difference is that this time Democrats will kill the flat income tax and impose a progressive rate scheme that will make future tax hikes politically easier.

It's a sign of their desperation that the state's business lobbies are supporting the reform as the best they can hope for. Others want special tax breaks to offset the 2011 tax hike. Archer Daniels Midland ADM +1.49% (Decatur) and Office Max (Naperville) have threatened to move their corporate headquarters if the state doesn't guarantee $75 million in tax breaks. But Mr. Quinn has refused to approve more gifts for the legislature's corporate cronies until lawmakers pass something on pensions.

Democrats hold comfortable majorities in the legislature and don't need GOP votes. Yet they are demanding Republican support so they won't be the only targets of union wrath. Mr. Quinn watered down the reforms to reduce opposition from the teachers and other government unions, but the unions are still promising to go to court to block the changes if they pass.

GOP leaders who are rounding up votes must be feeling especially charitable this holiday season because they're making an in-kind contribution to Mr. Quinn, who will claim a bipartisan victory as he runs for re-election. While GOP gubernatorial candidate Bruce Rauner has denounced the pension legislation as window-dressing, his Republican primary challengers aren't as savvy. State Senator Bill Brady, who lost to Mr. Quinn in 2010, is supporting the bill while treasurer Dan Rutherford says it is too hard on unions. Such me-too thinking is why the Illinois GOP has become a useless minority.

Continued in article

Bob Jensen's threads on pension accounting and pension reforms are at
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Theory02.htm#Pensions


"Audit reveals half of people enrolled in Illinois Medicaid program not eligible," by Craig Cheatham, KMOV Television, November 4, 2013 ---
http://www.kmov.com/news/just-posted/Audit-reveals-half-of-people-enrolled-in-IL-Medicaid-program-not-eligible-230586321.html?utm_content=buffer824ba&utm_source=buffer&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Buffer

The early findings of an ongoing review of the Illinois Medicaid program revealed that half the people enrolled weren’t even eligible.

The state insisted it’s not that bad but Medicaid is on the federal government’s own list of programs at high risk of waste and abuse.

Now, a review of the Illinois Medicaid program confirms massive waste and fraud.

A review was ordered more than a year ago-- because of concerns about waste and abuse. So far, the state says reviewers have examined roughly 712-thousand people enrolled in Medicaid, and found that 357-thousand, or about half of them shouldn't have received benefits. After further review, the state decided that the percentage of people who didn't qualify was actually about one out of four.

"It says that we've had a system that is dysfunctional. Once people got on the rolls, there wasn't the will or the means to get them off,” said Senator Bill Haines of Alton.

A state spokesman insists that the percentage of unqualified recipients will continue to drop dramatically as the review continues because the beginning of the process focused on the people that were most likely to be unqualified for those benefits. But regardless of how it ends, critics say it's proof that Illinois has done a poor job of protecting tax payers money.

“Illinois one of the most miss-managed states in country-- lists of reasons-- findings shouldn't surprise anyone,” said Ted Dabrowski.

Dabrowski, a Vice-President of The Illinois Policy Institute think tank, spoke with News 4 via SKYPE. He said the Medicaid review found two out of three people recipients either got the wrong benefits, or didn't deserve any at all.

We added so many people to medicaid rolls so quickly, we've lost control of who belongs there,” said Dabrowski.

Continued in article

 


"Research Fraud Found in Iowa State AIDS Study," Inside Higher Ed, December 24, 2013 ---
http://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2013/12/24/research-fraud-found-iowa-state-aids-study 

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced Monday that it had found that Dong-Pyou Han, until recently an assistant professor at Iowa State University, falsified results of research he was conducting on a vaccine that could be used to prevent the spread of HIV. The agency found him to have engaged in "intentional spiking" of lab samples, and concluded that the results of these samples prompted considerable interest in the research involved -- including the awarding of more research grants. Han apparently added human blood to samples that were supposed to be rabbit blood, and the additional blood skewed the results, The Des Moines Register reported. HHS said that Han had admitted his actions. The Register reported that he had resigned from Iowa State and that he could not be reached for comment.

Continued in article

Bob Jensen's threads on professors who cheat ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Plagiarism.htm#ProfessorsWhoPlagiarize


"The Year's Best Books on Writing and Creativity," by Maria Popova, Brain Pickings, December 18, 2013 ---
http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2013/12/18/best-books-writing-creativity/

After the year’s best books in photography, psychology and philosophy, art and design, history and biography, science and technology, “children’s” (though we all know what that means), and pets and animals, the season’s subjective selection of best-of reading lists concludes with the year’s best reads on writing and creativity.

The question of why writers write holds especial mesmerism, both as a piece of psychological voyeurism and as a beacon of self-conscious hope that if we got a glimpse of the innermost drivers of greats, maybe, just maybe, we might be able to replicate the workings of genius in our own work. So why do great writers write? George Orwell itemized four universal motives. Joan Didion saw it as access to her own mind. For David Foster Wallace, it was about fun. Joy Williams found in it a gateway from the darkness to the light. For Charles Bukowski, it sprang from the soul like a rocket. Italo Calvino found in writing the comfort of belonging to a collective enterprise.

Continued in a very long article

Bob Jensen's helpers for writers ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Bookbob3.htm#Dictionaries


Deloitte's Map of the Number of Healthcare Exchanges Estimated Per State ---
http://www.deloitte.com/assets/Dcom-UnitedStates/Local Assets/Documents/Health Plans/us_hp_hix_IndividualMarketCompetition_81313.pdf
For example, New Hampshire and West Virginia have one whereas Texas has 11, Wisconsin has 13, and New York has 16.
Each carrier does have multiple plans that vary largely on the size of the deductibles with bronze plans having 40% deductibles and silver having 30% deductibles. Prices vary in different states. Prices also vary with age and smoking.

There are differences even among states who are not providing their own exchanges. Currently there are 26 states who rely on Federally provided exchanges ---
https://www.statereforum.org/where-states-stand-on-exchanges
Why does Maine have only two exchanges while Texas has 11 exchanges?

How to Mislead With Statistics and Graphs

Question
If you were teaching statistics how could you use the following article to illustrate how to mislead with statistics?

"Obamacare Prices: Competition Lacking in Some Exchanges," by John Tozzi, Bloomberg Businessweek, December 19. 2013 ---
http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-12-19/obamacare-prices-competition-lacking-in-some-exchanges?campaign_id=DN122313

The drafters of the Affordable Care Act imagined vibrant marketplaces that would give consumers options from many insurers. So far, competition is limited: 40 percent of Americans live in counties with three or fewer companies selling Obamacare policies, leaving them more wireless carriers to choose from than health plans.

 

Jensen Comment
No matter how much we preach that correlation is not causation, journalists, students, and even professors fall into the same old trap of not digging deeper for causes rather than implying that correlation is synonymous with causation. Sometimes the correlations are presented without warnings to avoid conclusions about causation.

Yes health care exchange premiums do seem to be correlated with competition. But how much is the competition really affecting price relative to underlying causal factors that affect such things as companies refusing to enter the competition?

Insurance companies themselves are not very forthcoming about why they avoid certain markets other than providing vague statements about those markets not being profitable. The bottom line is that I don't know why there is so little medical insurance competition in some parts of the country relative to other parts of the USA. But I would not be so naive to imply that lack of competition is a causal factor. Where there's lack of competition there are most likely either underlying barriers to entry or other causal factors that make medical insurance less profitable in those areas. Charging higher prices for insurance in those markets is a result of whatever factors are driving potential competitors out of those markets.

A skilled analyst would probe deeper as to why there is so little competition in come counties and states.

December 24 reply from the TurboTax Forum

Hello rjensen,

SweetieJean commented on an answer to your question: Why does the number of exchanges vary so greatly. For example, New Hampshire and West Virginia have only one exchange whereas New York has 16 exchanges and Texas has 11 exchanges?

Saw a recent article about someone who had only 1 insurance in their Exchange, but their across the street neighbor (who lived in a different zip code) had 15.  In very rural areas (NH, WV), there isn't enough of a customer population for most insurance companies to make a profit.

 

To view the comment, click (or copy and paste in your browser) the link below:
https://ttlc.intuit.com/replies/3351534

 


Jensen Question
I asked the following question on the Turbo Tax Forum Regarding Obamacare Questions:
Question
I'm told that only income, not wealth, will be the deciding factor on eligibility for Medicaid beginning in 2014.
If I'm a full time student having zero income and $10 million trust fund of stock paying no dividends, will I be eligible for Medicaid?

A Turbo Tax expert says that wealth may still be a criterion in the states that rejected the Medicaid expansion. Having valuable assets is no longer a criterion in those states that yielded to Whitehouse pressure and temporary funding to expand Medicaid roles.

There are 24 states who are not expanding Medicaid and may, therefore, still deny Medicaid to millionaires. The other 26 states may now grant free health care to millionaires who strategically lock in their wealth for long-term growth and negligible current income ---
https://www.statereforum.org/tracking-health-coverage-enrollment-by-state


"The Best Computing Stories of the Year," by Tom Simonite, MIT's Technology Review, December 2013 ---
http://www.technologyreview.com/news/522981/2013-the-years-most-important-computing-stories/?utm_campaign=newsletters&utm_source=newsletter-daily-all&utm_medium=email&utm_content=20131224


Quantitative Easing and Tapering --- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantitative_easing

"The Downside of the Fed’s Increasingly Complicated Expectations Game," by Justin Fox, Harvard Business Review Blog, December 19, 2013 ---
http://blogs.hbr.org/2013/12/the-downside-of-the-feds-increasingly-complicated-expectations-game/ 

Yesterday, the Federal Reserve announced that it’s kind of sort of about to start ever-so-timidly pulling back on the massive monetary stimulus it’s been pouring out since the financial crisis. Then, stock prices around the world jumped.

In the traditional view of monetary policy, this isn’t supposed to happen. Tightening by the Fed should make financial assets less valuable. And in fact the prices of the particular financial assets that the Fed announced that it will buy less of, Treasury bonds and mortgage-backed securities, did drop slightly on the news Wednesday. But stocks didn’t.

When you view this reaction in terms of expectations, it makes a bit more sense. As economist Barry Eichengreen put it in the FT, the announcement of the start of the “taper” — the unwinding of the Fed’s bond-buying efforts — was widely expected. What was news in the announcement was that “future policy would remain loose for at least slightly longer than previously anticipated.”

Still, even Eichengreen thought the policy shift was too inconsequential to justify the market reaction. Maybe he’ll turn out to be right, and the post-announcement jump will soon be undone. I think there’s more afoot than that, though.

Long ago, a central bank’s job may have been as simple as taking away the punch bowl just as the party gets going, to paraphrase William McChesney Martin, the Fed’s chairman from 1951 to 1970. But in Martin’s day, the Federal Open Market Committee was able to make its monetary policy decisions in relative obscurity. The media paid little attention to its decisions and there was as yet no cottage industry of “Fed watchers” interpreting and forecasting its moves. Financial markets on the whole played a much smaller role in the economy.

Nowadays financial markets often drive the economy, and while this would seem to give the Fed more power, the amount of effort and attention now put into forecasting monetary policy and assessing its impact mean that exercising that power is far more complicated than it used to be.

Consider what happened in the mid-1990s, when the Fed raised short-term interest rates sharply in order to stamp out what it perceived as a possible overheating of the economy. “For the first time we got a so-called safe landing,” then-Fed-chairman Alan Greenspan recalled recently. “As soon as we let up, off it went, which suggests to me that what happened was that the equilibrium level of the Dow Jones Industrial Average [rose], because of our actions that failed to knock the economy down despite a three-percentage-point increase in the Federal Funds rate. [It] elevated the long-term asset value expectation.”

This is from a conversation I had with Greenspan at the end of November, which will be published here in a fuller version soon. “If that is true,” he went on,

and I raise it as a hypothesis because I don’t know how you could prove it one way or the other, it is saying that our very efforts made the situation worse. The notion that you could calibrate monetary policy to suppress a boom against the human nature bubbling up has no factual basis. The only place it exists is in the econometric models where the equations are so constructed that if you tighten monetary policy you smooth out the boom.

By adroitly managing a soft landing in the mid-1990s, then, the Fed conditioned markets to expect further such competence and economic stability, setting the stage for the great stock market bubble of the late 1990s. Greenspan again: “I think the evidence probably is conclusive, that a necessary and sufficient condition for a bubble is a prolonged period of economic stability, stable prices, and therefore low risk spreads, credit risk spreads.”

You could read this as trying to deflect blame for what transpired later: The crisis happened because we did such a great job! But I think the man is on to something. Expectations drive financial markets, they always have. What’s different is that the expectations-manufacturing industry has grown, a lot, and its impact on the economy has too. In the rational-expectations paradigm of a couple decades ago, this would be good news — better-informed markets would better anticipate what comes next. But reality is far noisier and more emotional than that, and market participants devote an awful lot of their brainpower to, in John Maynard Keynes’ words, “anticipating what average opinion expects the average opinion to be.”

Continued in article

The Fed Just Began The Taper — Here's What That Actually Means ---
http://www.businessinsider.com/what-is-the-taper-2013-12

Question
Why did the stock markets surge on the "tapering news" from the Federal Reserve when such news should have lowered the market prices?

Answer
The tapering was minimal along with assurances that serious tapering will happen only after impossible conditions are met. Like death and taxes, quantitative easing will forever keep interest rates low and allow the government to print money to pay its bills.

"In One Sentence, Here's Why The Market Surged On Today's 'Taper'," by Joe Weisenthal, Business Insider, December 18, 2013 ---
http://www.businessinsider.com/why-the-market-is-up-after-the-taper-2013-12

"A Spoonful of Sugar," by Peter Schif," Townhall, December 24, 2013 ---
http://finance.townhall.com/columnists/peterschiff/2013/12/24/a-spoonful-of-sugar-n1767845

The press has framed Ben Bernanke's valedictory press conference last week in heroic terms. It's as if a veteran quarterback engineered a stunning come-from-behind drive in his final game, and graciously bowed out of the game with the ball sitting on the opponent's one-yard line. In reality, Bernanke has merely completed a five-yard pass from his own end zone, and has left Janet Yellen to come off the bench down by three touchdowns, with no credible deep threats, and very little time left on the clock.

. . .

There can be little doubt that the Fed's announcement was an achievement in rhetorical audacity. In essence, they told us that they would be tightening monetary policy by loosening monetary policy. Surprisingly, the markets swallowed it. I believe the Fed was forced into this exercise in rabbit-pulling because it understood far better than Wall Street cheerleaders that the economy, despite the soaring gains in stocks and real estate, remains dependent on continued stimulus. In my opinion, the seemingly positive economic signs of the past few months are simply the statistical signature of QE itself. Even Friday's upward revision to third-quarter GDP resulted largely from gains in consumer spending on gasoline and medical bills. Another major driver was increased business inventories fueled perhaps by expectations that QE supplied cheap credit (and the wealth effect of rising asset prices) will continue to encourage consumer spending.

But to many observers, the increasingly optimistic economic headlines we have seen over recent months have not squared with the highly accommodative monetary policy, making the arguments in favor of continued QE untenable. Even taking the taper into account, the Fed is still pursuing a more stimulative policy than it had at the depths of any prior recession. As a result, as far as the headline-grabbing taper decision, the Fed's hands were essentially tied. But they decided to coat this seemingly bitter pill in an extremely large dollop of honey.

More important than the taper "surprise" was the unusually dovish language that accompanied it. More than it has in any other prior communications, the Fed is now telling the markets that interest rates - its main monetary tool - will remain far more accommodative, for far longer, than anyone previously believed. Abandoning prior commitments to raise rates once unemployment had fallen below 6.5%, the new statement reads that the Fed will keep rates at zero until "well after" the unemployment rate has fallen below that level. No one really knows what the new target unemployment level is, and that is just the way the Fed wants it. On this score, the Fed has not simply moving the goalposts, but has completely dismantled them. With such amorphous language in place, they appear to be hoping that they will never have to face a day of reckoning. This is a similar strategy to that of the legislators on Capitol Hill who want to pretend that America will never have to pay down its debt.

At his press conference Bernanke went beyond the language in the statement by hinting that we should expect consistently paced, similarly sized reductions through much of the year, and that he expects that QE will be fully wound down by the end of 2014. The outgoing Chairman may be writing a check that his successor can't cash. He also made statements about how monetary policy needs to compensate for "too tight" fiscal policy that is being delivered by the Administration and Capitol Hill. Does the chairman believe that $600 billion annual deficits are simply not enough... even with our supposedly robust recovery? By the time President Obama leaves office, the national debt may well have doubled in size, and he will have added more to the total of all of his predecessors from George Washington through the first five months of George W. Bush's administration combined! How can Bernanke possibly say that our economic problems result from deficits being too small?

It's easy to forget in the current euphoria that a majority of market watchers had predicted that the first taper announcement would be made by Janet Yellen in March of 2014. But perhaps with a nod toward his own posterity, Ben Bernanke may have been spurred to do something to restrain his Frankenstein creation before he finally left the lab. But no matter who pulled the trigger first, this initial $10 billion reduction in monthly purchases has convinced many that the QE program will soon become a thing of the past.

But without QE to support the markets, in my opinion, the US economy will likely slow significantly, and the stock and real estate markets will most likely turn sharply downward. [To understand why, pick up a copy of the just-released Collector's Edition of my illustrated intro to economics, How An Economy Grows And Why It Crashes.] If the economic data begins to disappoint, I believe that Janet Yellen, who is much more likely to be concerned with full employment than with price stability, will quickly reverse course and increase the size of the Fed's monthly purchases. In fact, last week's Fed statement was careful to avoid any commitments to additional tapering in the future, merely saying that further changes will be data dependent. This means that tapering could stall at $75 billion per month, or it could get smaller, or larger. In other words, Yellen's hands could not be any freer. If the additional cuts never materialize as expected, look for the Fed to keep the markets convinced that the QE program is in its final chapters. These "Open Mouth Operations" will likely represent the primary tool in the Fed's arsenal.

Despite the slight decrease in the pace of asset accumulation, I believe that the Fed's balance sheet will continue to swell alarmingly. As the amount of bonds on their books surpasses the $4 trillion threshold, market watchers need to dispel illusions that the Fed will actually shrink its balance sheet, or even halt its growth. Already fears of such moves have pushed up yields on 10-year Treasuries to multi-year highs. Any actual tightening could push them significantly higher.

We have much higher leverage than what would be expected in a healthy economy, and as a result, the gains in stocks, bonds, and real estate are highly susceptible to rate spikes. If yields move much higher, I feel that the Fed will have to intervene to bring them back down. In other words, the Fed will find it much harder to exit QE than it was to enter.

In the meantime, the Fed's open-ended commitment to keep rates at zero, despite the apparent recovery, should provide an important clue as to what is really happening. We simply have so much debt that zero is the most we can afford to pay. The problem, of course, is that the longer the Fed waits to raise rates, the more deeply indebted we become. As this mountain of debt grows larger, so too does our need for rates to remain at zero. So if our overly indebted economy cannot afford higher rates now, or in the next year or two, how could we possibly afford them in the future when our total debt-to-GDP may be much larger?

As he left the stage from his final press conference, Ben Bernanke should have left a giant bottle of aspirin on the podium for his successor Janet Yellen. She's going to need it.

 

Bob Jensen's threads on the looming entitlements disasters ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Entitlements.htm


"The Most In-Demand Job Skills Of 2013 (in the tech industry):  The top skill in 2013 was ... social media marketing?" by Selina Larson, ReadWriteWeb, December 19, 2013 ---
http://readwrite.com/2013/12/19/the-top-skill-in-2013-was-social-media-marketing#awesm=~oqF6jA3lvuybxe

Jensen Comment
C/C++ coding is still in, but COBOL is at last on the outs. Ironically, Target may wish it still had its COBOL silos that did not communicate with one another.


Cards Stolen in Target Breach Flood Underground Markets ($20-$100 per card)

Credit and debit card accounts stolen in a recent data breach at retail giant Target have been flooding underground black markets in recent weeks, selling in batches of one million cards and going for anywhere from $20 to more than $100 per card, KrebsOnSecurity has learned.

The Incredibly Clever Way Thieves Stole 40 Million Credit Cards From 2,000 Target Stores In A 'Black Friday' Sting Jim Edwards ---
http://www.businessinsider.com/target-credit-card-hackers-2013-12

Bob Jensen's threads on phishing ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/ecommerce/000start.htm#Phishing

 


Auntie Bev forwarded this slide show on world "facts" that I did not verify ---
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1IDN6GC5umKRIYBkHazM5yOxP15iC2w8FhS9we7zD-j0/embed?hl=en&size=m#slide=id.p4


Walt Mossberg penned his last column this week ---
http://mashable.com/2013/12/20/walt-mossberg-all-things-d/

At an age when some may consider spending more time practicing their golf swing or perfecting their poker face, tech journalist Walt Mossberg is about to embark on what may be his biggest adventure yet. After 22 years as The Wall Street Journal's personal technology columnist, Mossberg penned his last column this week. As of 2014, he will helm a new tech media enterprise with longtime business partner Kara Swisher — one that still does not have a name.

Mossberg, 66, whom I’ve known for years, created one of the industry’s earliest every-person tech columns, a model for many to follow. He covered the dawn of the personal computer, the dawn of the Internet and the dawn of social media. He has received criticism for heaping too much praise on Apple products (he wrote that Apple’s iPad “cracked the code” on the tablet category) and is admired as the first to try some of those very same products.

More interesting, though, is the Journal subsidiary he cofounded: AllThingsD, which covers the tech industry with a combination of insider’s insight and observer’s curiosity. ATD also runs a series of conferences, including the annual D Conference, which often makes news with tech luminaries like Apple CEO Tim Cook, Bill Gates and the late Steve Jobs.

Now, all of that is leaving Journal, and Mossberg is going with it. In a wide-ranging conversation, the influential Mossberg refused to share any secrets of his new venture or say a single bad word about Journal, which is owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. That’s the bad news. The good news is that the industry vet offered some insight and wisdom about covering tech The Mossberg Way. Our conversation, below, is not verbatim, but it captures the essence of Mossberg's comments.

Mashable: What’s the most important thing you learned while you were at WSJ?

Mossberg: I think it’s to figure out who your readers are and to never talk down to them. It’s something that they don’t exactly teach you at journalism school, but particularly if you’re going to have a column with some voice and opinion — you have to decide where you’re aiming it. If I had not filtered it in some way, it would have had somewhat less impact.

 

Did you always plan to go into tech journalism?

I spent 19 years as a Washington reporter covering a variety of beats. Right before [the WSJ column], I was the national security correspondent for the Journal, covering policy and military and the intelligence community. I was doing that at the very end of the Cold War and in the months before the Gulf War. I have on my wall right now a front page of the Journal from January 1991, when I co-wrote a front-page story about Iraq firing missiles at Israel. By October, I was writing about tech products.

The Journal had tentatively agreed to my proposal [to launch a personal tech column] a year before, but had asked me to stay on a year. It was pretty clear the Soviet Union was wobbling. They didn’t want to change correspondents. The last really big story I covered was the Gulf War.

I did not have a plan to do this all along. I became a computer hobbyist. In those days, it was in the BASIC programming language and learning to solder inside my computer. My first computers were a Timex Sinclair and an Apple II. [Becoming a tech journalist] only occurred to me around 1990. I realized two things: This was going to blow up — this use of digital devices, the PC and the Mac — and that it was going to be very hard for average non-tech people to figure things out. There was a need for a column that seems unremarkable today.

What was your single biggest disappointment?

That it took much longer than I thought for the brilliant people in the tech industry to figure out they needed to greatly simplify the PC, basically the main digital device people use. It still hasn’t been simplified as much as it should.

Most PCs back then were sold without sound cards, without modems. You were expected to be a tech integrator, you were still expected to be in a business. I wrote a lot about the need for an information appliance. I think we’ve pretty much arrived at one: the iPad. A child could figure out how to use it quickly. Compare it to a DOS computer or even an Apple II; it's no longer nearly as much of a hassle or a mystery.

Were you ever dead wrong?

There were many times when I probably got it dead wrong, like any critic does. But saying, "Such-and-such is the best or a great product" or "I recommend it" and then it doesn’t succeed in the marketplace, that doesn’t bother me. I was not in there to shower praise on products that will sell well or sell badly.

It’s hard to remember how much I slammed or recommended products that later turned out to be better or worse than I had said objectively. In a few cases, I went back and re-reviewed products. It’s pretty common now online to go back and update a review, but [the Journal] was mostly print for many years.

Why not stay with the Journal?

I’m not fleeing the Journal. It’s not about that; it has treated me well. I had total editorial freedom for every one of those columns over 22 years.

The reason is really because longtime collaborator Kara Swisher and I want to build a company we can own and have the resources so we can more readily expand [and do] the kind of things we were doing at AllThingsD.

Part of that decision to throw myself into something that completely ... it would be impractical to keep writing a weekly column for The Wall Street Journal. It’s the desire to be entrepreneurial and start a company, for tech news, analysis and reviews on the web and conferences. That’s what we’re doing.

The Journal is apparently not using the AllThingsD brand anymore. Any idea why? Do you think you’ll get that brand back?

No and no comment. I really don’t know what they’re going to do. They own the brand, and we always understood that. We don’t know what they’re going to do with the brand in the future, and I can’t talk about anything to do with any negotiations.

Do you expect your and Kara's sources to follow you to your new venture?

First of all, I will correct you: Kara has not worked at The Wall Street Journal in nine to 10 years. She’s not an employee, she’s a contractor. So her [and much of the rest of the ATD crew's] network of sources have all been acquired during a time when none were employees of the Journal. We are owned by them, but we are a separate operating unit.

Many of Kara’s stories have never appeared in The Wall Street Journal or even its website. I think everyone she talks to — and this goes for all our other reporters — knows that [the story] is going to appear on AllThingsD.

Do you have a name for the new site?

[Laughing, after I suggested The Mossbergers] It’s not going to be called The Mossbergers, and it's not going to be called The Swishers, either. I’m not going to say what it’s going to be called. It is an interesting process to go through and find the names that are not already taken and names that are interesting and different.

What does it mean to tell a story in 2013?

First of all, I don’t think it’s that different than what it meant in 1913. You have to engage the reader or the viewer in why they should care or why it’s interesting, and then you have to tell the story. Obviously, the modes by which we do it are very different. I think digitally, you have to tell it with as many media tools as are beneficial to telling that story. If it involves video, photos or an infographic, you use those, but in 1913, they used what they had then. That won’t matter if you don’t do the work, find out what’s going on and have some authority behind it.

Continued in article

Jensen Comment
I'm really, really sorry to learn that Walt is retiring. My Tidbits Blog over the years are filled with quotations from his reviews of tech hardware and software ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/tidbitsDirectory.htm
Before 2005 I quoted him a lot in my New Bookmarks Blog ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Bookurl.htm


Annika Falkengren, who heads SEB AB and is the only woman chief executive officer among Sweden’s biggest companies, says one of the world’s most gender-equal nations isn’t doing enough for women in the corporate world.
 "European Banker of Year Shows Why She’s Lonely at Top," by Niklas Magnusson, Bloomberg News, December 18, 2013 ---
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-12-18/top-female-swedish-banker-punches-hold-in-equality-myth.html 

. . .

In Sweden, where a generous welfare system is paid for by the world’s highest tax burden after Denmark, Falkengren said the stereotype of the woman who has it all is more a hindrance than an inspiration. She cautions against aiming for a job like hers without making sacrifices.

Falkengren, who goes to the gym several times a week, said it’s laughable to suggest that “to be a perfect woman you should make a fantastic career, have many children, run in the Olympics, take care of your grandparents, of course also clean your house, buy your food, be a fantastic cook and also be a beautiful and fantastic wife.”

Women need to be realistic in understanding what a top managerial role entails, she said.

“My life is so filled with the bank,” she said. “I live my work a lot and really enjoy it.”

 

Jensen Comment
Hiring and promotion quotas (40%) are on the way for women. Minorities comprise an insignificant proportion of the Swedish population.

Bob Jensen's threads on the history of women in careers ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/bookbob2.htm#Women


"Value of Frequent-Flyer Miles Will Soon Drop for Delta and United Travelers," by Justin Bachman, Bloomberg Businessweek, December 19, 2013 ---
http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-12-19/value-of-frequent-flier-miles-will-soon-drop-for-delta-and-united-travelers?campaign_id=DN121913

The number of award miles needed to snag a seat in the premium cabin will rise dramatically next year at Delta (DAL) and United (UAL)—and airline mile collectors are fuming.

The biggest changes in both airlines’ loyalty programs will be for international travel in first and business class, where some award levels on United will jump as much as 87 percent. To be awarded a first-class ticket now from North America to the Middle East, for example, a traveler has to spend 150,000 frequent-flyer miles. Beginning Feb. 1, that award seat will require 280,000 miles when flying on one of United’s partner airlines. The same trip on United’s own planes will require 180,000 miles, up from 150,000. From North America to Europe, first class on a partner airline will rise 63 percent, from 135,000 to 220,000 miles.

Delta is introducing increases on June 1, with round-trip business class from the U.S. to Europe rising by 25,000 miles, to 125,000 miles; round-trip flights to Asia will increase 20,000 miles, to 140,000. (Delta plans smaller award level hikes from Feb. 1 to June 1.) The new award levels for coach seats are largely unchanged, with only minimal, 5,000-mile hikes on some routes.

The airlines say the increases are necessary due to higher costs for travel and because they’ve improved their products and services after mergers and a broader industry restructuring. A Nov. 1 “speaking points” document (pdf) from United to its sales force said the MileagePlus increases mark the first changes in several years and was needed “to offset the increased cost of providing award travel, particularly premium-cabin award travel and award travel on MileagePlus partner carriers.” The airline declined to comment on Wednesday on partner costs.

Scoffing at the scope of the award inflation and the airlines’ rationale, frequent flyers have been ranting on social media and online forums.

“This is a blow to the solar plexus with a simultaneous kick to the groin,” a poster called jetsetr wrote on Nov. 1 on Flyertalk.com, a forum popular with airline mileage junkies, calling the new levels “quite shameful.” Another writer, tommy777, suggested that “if the United management ever gets canned, they could just move right in and take over a banana republic with an inflation like this.” Online, some Delta SkyMiles members have begun referring to their miles as “Sky pesos,” given their perceived decrease in value because of the inflated award levels.

Much of the ire no doubt is because Delta and United—and possibly American, once its merger is farther along—have directed the increases at what has long been considered the most valuable aspect of airline mileage plans: long-haul premium travel awards. Business and first-class tickets are usually the most expensive, especially on highly rated partner airlines, such as Singapore, ANA, Lufthansa, and Air France, where the onboard service generally is better than U.S. carriers’ offerings. The award changes at Delta and United come after both carriers imposed new minimum spending levels for 2014 for travelers who want to qualify for elite status in the carriers’ mileage programs.

Continued in article

Jensen Comment
And by making so few seats available for Frequent-Flyer Program freebies, the airlines will increasingly con you into paying for some of the legs of your proposed "free" dream trip. One thing I no longer even think about is how to redeem Frequent Flier points. It was fun in the early years. Now it's more of a con (except from Southwest Airlines).

From The Wall Street Journal Accounting Weekly Review on December 8, 2006

Note the date on this case

TITLE: Making Use of Frequent-Flier Miles Gets Harder
REPORTER: Scott McCartney
DATE: Dec 05, 2006
PAGE: D5
LINK: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB116528094651740654.html?mod=djem_jiewr_ac 
TOPICS: Accounting, Auditing

SUMMARY: The Department of Transportation (DOT) has undertaken audit procedures on airlines to review how they are "living up to their 1999 'Customer Service Commitment.'" This document was written when "airlines were under pressure from Congress and consumers for lousy service and long delays" in order to "stave off new legislation regulating their business." The airlines also report little about the frequent flier mile plans they offer, and particularly focus only on the financial aspects of these plans in their annual reports and SEC filings, rather than, say, information about ease of redeeming miles in which customers may be particularly interested.

QUESTIONS:
1.) What information do airlines provide about frequent flier mileage offerings and redemptions in their annual reports and SEC filings?

2.) Why is this information important for financial statement users? In your answer, describe your understanding of the business model and accounting for frequent flier miles, based on the description in the article.

3.) Why did the Department of Transportation (DOT) undertake a review of airline practices? What type of audit would you say that the DOT performed?

4.) What audit procedures did the airlines abandon due to financial exigencies? What was the result of abandoning these audit procedures? In your answer, describe the incentives provided by the act of undertaking audit procedures on operational efficiencies and effectiveness.

Reviewed By: Judy Beckman, University of Rhode Island

"Making Use of Frequent-Flier Miles Gets Harder Falling Redemption Rate Is One of Many Service Issues, Government Report Find," by Scott McCartney, The Wall Street Journal, December 5, 2006; Page D5 --- http://online.wsj.com/article/SB116528094651740654.html?mod=djem_jiewr_ac

 

 

  • Which airline is the most accommodating when it comes to letting consumers cash in frequent-flier mileage awards? It's hard to know, a new government report says, because airlines disclose so little information.

    One thing is clear: Over the past four years, the percentage of travelers cashing in frequent-flier award tickets has declined at four of the five biggest airlines, even though miles accumulated by consumers have increased.

    The Department of Transportation's inspector general went back and checked how airlines were living up to their 1999 "Customer Service Commitment." Back then, airlines were under pressure from Congress and consumers for lousy service and long delays, and they promised reform to stave off new legislation regulating their business.

    Seven years later, Inspector General Calvin L. Scovel III found that under financial pressure, many airlines quit auditing or quality control checks on their own customer service, leading to service deterioration. Airlines don't provide enough training for employees who assist passengers with disabilities, the investigation found, and don't always follow rules when handling passengers who get bumped from flights.

    And as travelers have long complained, government auditors studying 15 carriers at 17 airports found airline employees often don't provide timely and accurate information on flight delays and their causes, and don't give consumers straightforward information about frequent-flier award redemptions.

    "They can do better and must do better, and if they don't do better, Congress has authority to wield a big stick," said U.S. Rep John Mica, the outgoing chairman of the House Aviation Subcommittee who requested the inspector general's customer-service investigation. He said he's eager to hear the airline industry's response before making final judgments, but the report card gives airlines only "average to poor grades in a range of areas that need improvement."

    Since airlines are returning to profitability and aggressively raising fares, there's more attention being paid to customer-service issues. Delays have increased; baggage handling worsened. As traffic has rebounded, airlines still under financial pressure because of high oil prices may not have adequate staff to live up to the promises they made on customer service.

    The report called on the DOT to "strengthen its oversight and enforcement of air-traveler consumer-protection rules" and urged airlines to get back on the stick for customer service. The inspector general also reminded consumers that since airlines incorporated the customer-service commitment into their "contract of carriage" -- the legal rules governing tickets -- carriers can be sued for not living up to their customer-service commitment.

    The industry says it is paying attention. The inspector general's Nov. 21 report "is a good report card for reminding us where we need to improve," said David Castelveter, a spokesman for the Air Transport Association, the industry's lobbying group, which coordinated the "Customer Service Commitment." Airlines will "react accordingly," he said.

    One of the stickiest areas is frequent-flier redemptions because airlines are loath to release detailed information about their programs, considering it crucial competitive information. Frequent-flier programs have become big money-makers for airlines since they sell so many miles in advance to credit-card companies, merchants, charities and others. That allows them to pocket cash years in advance of a ticket, then incur very little expense when consumers eventually redeem the miles, if they ever do.

    In 1999, airlines pledged to publish "annual reports" on frequent-flier redemptions. But at most carriers, the disclosure didn't change at all. Today, as then, carriers typically bury numbers deep in filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission and report only the number of awards issued, the estimated liability they have for the cost of awards earned but not yet redeemed and the number of awards as a percentage either of passengers or passenger miles traveled.

    The inspector general said the hard-to-find information has only "marginal value to the consumer for purposes of determining which frequent-flier program best meets their need."

    What you'd really want to know is which airline makes it easiest to get an award, particularly the cheapest domestic coach ticket, typically 25,000 miles, which is the most popular award. But airlines don't disclose how many awards are at the lowest level, and how many consumers have to pay double miles or so for a premium award of an "unrestricted" coach ticket.

    The award market follows ticket prices and availability, so recent years have seen an increase in the price people have to pay to get the awards they want, and less availability of award seats, particularly at the cheapest level, because some airlines have cut capacity and demand for travel has been strong. Add in the flood of miles airlines are issuing, and the value of a frequent-flier mile has declined sharply.

    The inspector general's report compares award-redemption rates at big airlines over the past four years and found a relatively steady drop at four carriers: UAL Corp.'s United Airlines, Continental Airlines Inc., AMR Corp.'s American Airlines and Northwest Airlines Corp. US Airways Group Inc. actually saw higher rates of redemption in 2005 than in 2002, and Delta Air Lines Inc. was unchanged. Both Delta and US Airways had higher redemption rates than competitors.

    to claim short-trip tickets, adding more seats to award inventory this fall and offering a new credit card with easier redemption features. Northwest said its numbers have remained relatively consistent -- roughly one in every 12 seats is a reward seat.

    Other airlines said declining redemption rates result from factors including an increase in paying customers, fuller planes and shifts in airline capacity. American says the number of awards it has issued has remained fairly constant, and while the number of passengers it carries has climbed, its seat capacity hasn't. In addition, several airlines said customer preferences like using miles for first-class upgrades or hoarding miles longer to land big international trips can affect the redemption rate. "Reward traffic does not spool up and absorb capacity increases as fast as revenue traffic does," said a Continental spokesman.

    Those numbers don't include awards that their customers redeem on partner airlines, so some of the decline could be attributable to an increase in consumers' opting to grab award seats on foreign airlines or other partners, says frequent-flier expert Randy Petersen. American, for example, does disclose more redemption data on its Web site and showed that last year, it issued more than 955,000 awards for travel on its partners, compared with the 2.6 million used on American and American Eagle flights.

    "The data can be misleading," said Mr. Petersen, founder of InsideFlyer.com. He'd like to see more data, including numbers on how many customers made requests but couldn't find seats.

    But further disclosure is unlikely to happen unless the government forces it. "Left to their own devices," said Tim Winship, publisher of FrequentFlier.com, "I see no reason to expect airlines to step up and disclose more."

  • Jensen Comment
    Given a choice between a credit card that gives cash back versus one that gives frequent flier miles, I opt for the cash back card every time.


    "Belgium shut to new citizens in 2013," BBC, December 17, 2013 ---
    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-news-from-elsewhere-25416639

    Not a single foreigner has yet been naturalised in Belgium under a law that came into force on 1 January 2013, it appears.

    The new rules require applicants to "have shown, or be able to show, outstanding services to Belgium" in fields such as science, sport or culture. "The effects of the new nationality law are significant," says the daily La Libre Belgique. In 2013, apparently not a single one of the 508 requests put to the lower house of parliament by 30 November is expected to be granted.

    The change in the law seems to have stopped many from applying in the first place - thousands of applicants were successful under the old rules in 2012 alone.

    Senior MP Georges Dallemagne predicts that, once the backlog of old applications has been cleared, there will be no more than "two or three" naturalisations a month. And that's a good thing, he says. "It's not for MPs to examine tens of thousands of naturalisation requests every year apart from a few exceptions where the person can contribute to Belgium's standing in the world."

    Continued in article


    "A Historical View of ‘American Exceptionalism’: The 225 year journey of ‘American Exceptionalism: 1789 to 2014," by Steven Mintz, Ethics Sage, December 17, 2013 ---
    http://www.ethicssage.com/2013/12/a-historical-view-of-american-exceptionalism.html


    If auditors are looking for financial statement frauds, probably the most important thing is to look into is revenue recognition internal controls.
    If auditors are looking for pilfering and kickbacks the most the most important thing is to look into is purchasing internal controls.

    "President Resigns (Immediately) Amid Inquiry at Alcorn State U.," Inside Higher Ed, December 20, 2013 ---
    http://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2013/12/20/president-resigns-amid-inquiry-alcorn-state-u

    Bob Jensen's Fraud Updates ---
    http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/FraudUpdates.htm


    A paper can become highly cited because it is good science – or because it is eye-catching, provocative or wrong. Luxury-journal editors know this, so they accept papers that will make waves because they explore sexy subjects or make challenging claims. This influences the science that scientists do. It builds bubbles in fashionable fields where researchers can make the bold claims these journals want, while discouraging other important work, such as replication studies.

    "How journals like Nature, Cell and Science are damaging science:  The incentives offered by top journals distort science, just as big bonuses distort banking," Randy Schekman, The Guardian, December 19, 2013 ---
    http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/dec/09/how-journals-nature-science-cell-damage-science

    I am a scientist. Mine is a professional world that achieves great things for humanity. But it is disfigured by inappropriate incentives. The prevailing structures of personal reputation and career advancement mean the biggest rewards often follow the flashiest work, not the best. Those of us who follow these incentives are being entirely rational – I have followed them myself – but we do not always best serve our profession's interests, let alone those of humanity and society.

    e all know what distorting incentives have done to finance and banking. The incentives my colleagues face are not huge bonuses, but the professional rewards that accompany publication in prestigious journals – chiefly Nature, Cell and Science.

    These luxury journals are supposed to be the epitome of quality, publishing only the best research. Because funding and appointment panels often use place of publication as a proxy for quality of science, appearing in these titles often leads to grants and professorships. But the big journals' reputations are only partly warranted. While they publish many outstanding papers, they do not publish only outstanding papers. Neither are they the only publishers of outstanding research.

    These journals aggressively curate their brands, in ways more conducive to selling subscriptions than to stimulating the most important research. Like fashion designers who create limited-edition handbags or suits, they know scarcity stokes demand, so they artificially restrict the number of papers they accept. The exclusive brands are then marketed with a gimmick called "impact factor" – a score for each journal, measuring the number of times its papers are cited by subsequent research. Better papers, the theory goes, are cited more often, so better journals boast higher scores. Yet it is a deeply flawed measure, pursuing which has become an end in itself – and is as damaging to science as the bonus culture is to banking.

    It is common, and encouraged by many journals, for research to be judged by the impact factor of the journal that publishes it. But as a journal's score is an average, it says little about the quality of any individual piece of research. What is more, citation is sometimes, but not always, linked to quality. A paper can become highly cited because it is good science – or because it is eye-catching, provocative or wrong. Luxury-journal editors know this, so they accept papers that will make waves because they explore sexy subjects or make challenging claims. This influences the science that scientists do. It builds bubbles in fashionable fields where researchers can make the bold claims these journals want, while discouraging other important work, such as replication studies.

    In extreme cases, the lure of the luxury journal can encourage the cutting of corners, and contribute to the escalating number of papers that are retracted as flawed or fraudulent. Science alone has recently retracted high-profile papers reporting cloned human embryos, links between littering and violence, and the genetic profiles of centenarians. Perhaps worse, it has not retracted claims that a microbe is able to use arsenic in its DNA instead of phosphorus, despite overwhelming scientific criticism.

    There is a better way, through the new breed of open-access journals that are free for anybody to read, and have no expensive subscriptions to promote. Born on the web, they can accept all papers that meet quality standards, with no artificial caps. Many are edited by working scientists, who can assess the worth of papers without regard for citations. As I know from my editorship of eLife, an open access journal funded by the Wellcome Trust, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and the Max Planck Society, they are publishing world-class science every week.

    Funders and universities, too, have a role to play. They must tell the committees that decide on grants and positions not to judge papers by where they are published. It is the quality of the science, not the journal's brand, that matters. Most importantly of all, we scientists need to take action. Like many successful researchers, I have published in the big brands, including the papers that won me the Nobel prize for medicine, which I will be honoured to collect tomorrow.. But no longer. I have now committed my lab to avoiding luxury journals, and I encourage others to do likewise.

    Continued in article

    Bob Jensen's threads on how prestigious journals in academic accounting research have badly damaged academic accounting research, especially in the accountics science takeover of doctoral programs where dissertation research no longer is accepted unless it features equations ---
    http://www.cs.trinity.edu/~rjensen/temp/AccounticsDamn.htm

    Lack or Replication in Accountics Science:
    574 Shields Against Validity Challenges in Plato's Cave ---
    http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/TheoryTAR.htm


    "Textbook Publishers Settle Suit Against Boundless, Digital Start-Up Company," by Lawrence Biemiller  Chronicle of Higher Education, December 18, 2013 ---
    http://chronicle.com/blogs/wiredcampus/textbook-publishers-settle-suit-against-startup-boundless/49107?cid=wc&utm_source=wc&utm_medium=en


    "Harvard's Grading Scale," by Paul Caron, TaxProf Blog, December 17, 2013 ---
    http://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog/2013/12/ny-times--1.html

    A Harvard professor responds to a NYT disclosure that the most common grade for a Harvard undergraduate is an A Grade, but that the median grade is a lowly A-.

    From: The Dean of Harvard College

    To: The Faculty

    In light of the controversy regarding so-called grade inflation, please take a moment to review the grading guidelines rubric, reproduced below:

    The A+ grade is used only in very rare instances for the recognition of truly exceptional achievement. ... An overall course grade of A+ is reserved for those students who have not only demonstrated outstanding achievement in coursework but have also asked very nicely.

    The A grade, still exceptional, is reserved for work that is nearly as excellent as that receiving the A+ and that would receive the higher grade if not for some minor and easily excused flaw, such as that the student is not enrolled at Harvard.

    The A– grade is awarded to work that, while very good, is nevertheless diminished by a significant flaw that cannot be completely overlooked. For example, a final examination receiving the A might be impeccable, except for having been left blank. ...

    The B+ grade is reserved for students who have committed assault.

    The B grade may be awarded as a joke, before being replaced with a higher grade, so long as the instructor has checked with the registrar that the student’s psychological profile permits practical jokes of a cruel nature.

    Contrary to “urban legend,” grades lower than B do exist, and should be awarded without hesitation to any and all work submitted by farm animals.

     


    Education Technology
    Doing What Works --- http://www2.ed.gov/nclb/methods/whatworks/edpicks.jhtml


    "San Jose State U. and Udacity Resume Online-Learning Trials," by Lawrence Biemiller, Chronicle of Higher Education, December 18, 2013 ---
    http://chronicle.com/blogs/wiredcampus/san-jose-state-u-and-udacity-resume-online-learning-trials/49043?cid=wc&utm_source=wc&utm_medium=en

    After putting its high-profile online-learning experiment on hold for the fall semester, San Jose State University said on Tuesday that it would resume offering three online courses next spring in conjunction with Udacity, one of the three big providers of massive open online courses.

    The courses—”Elementary Statistics,” “Introduction to Programming,” and “General Psychology”—are among five with which the university has tested whether teaching methods and technology that Udacity developed for MOOCs could be useful in more-conventional courses offered for university credit. Two mathematics courses that were offered last spring are not being reprised.

    The three courses will be offered for credit to strictly limited numbers of San Jose State students and others in the California State University system, the university said. The courses will also be offered to all comers through Udacity’s website, but completing the courses will earn those students only Udacity certificates.

    The university said that Udacity had made its content “open and free” to the San Jose State faculty members overseeing the classes and that the company would “receive no payments or revenue from this arrangement.”

    San Jose State’s online-learning tests began last spring in an arrangement promoted by the university’s president, Mohammad H. Qayoumi, as well as by Udacity’s chief executive and co-founder, Sebastian Thrun, and California’s governor, Jerry Brown. Initial results, however, were decidedly mixed, leading the university to hold off offering courses this fall, although it went ahead with courses it had already promised to offer during the summer.

    Continued in article

    Fill Your New Kindle, iPad, iPhone, eReader with Free eBooks, Movies, Audio Books, Online Courses & More ---
    http://www.openculture.com/2013/12/fill-your-device-with-free-ebooks-movies-audio-books-online-courses.html

    Download 100 Free Philosophy Courses and Start Living the Examined Life ---
    http://www.openculture.com/2013/12/download-100-free-philosophy-courses.html

    Bob Jensen's threads on MOOCs, SMOCS, Future Learn, iversity, and OKI Free Learning Alternatives Around the World ---
    http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/000aaa/updateee.htm#OKI


    "The Gates Effect The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has spent $472-million (so far) on higher education. Why many in academe are not writing thank-you notes," by Marc Parry, Kelly Field, and Beckie Supiano. Chronicle of Higher Education, July 14, 2014 ---
    http://chronicle.com/article/The-Gates-Effect/140323/

    Jensen Comment
    This is a long article filled with more opinion than fact. One suspects that faculty unions had the major impact.

    Obviously, distance education with large or small classes and competency-based examinations are poor choices for the learning challenged and unmotivated learners that need more hand holding and inspiration to learn.

    On the other had, the article assumes ipso facto that traditional colleges are doing a great job educating. The fact of the matter is that the best thing traditional colleges are doing best is inflating grades for lazy students ---
    http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/HigherEdControversies.htm#GradeInflation

    The other misleading thing thing about the article is that competency-based testing leads to watered down courses. The fact of the matter is that many traditional teachers would shake in their boots if their grade-inflated pampered students had to take competency based examinations --- which is why students tend do quite poorly on the MCAT competency-based examinations for medical school after getting mostly A grades in their science courses. This is aspiring teachers do so poorly on teacher certification examinations that are hardly rocket science.

    This is mostly a paranoia article patting the status quo in higher education a pat on the back. If Bill Gates wants better reviews in the Chronicle he should simply give the money to the AAUP.

    Threads on competency-based education ---
    http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Assess.htm#ConceptKnowledge


    No hanky pank for unmarried students learning Canadian law
    "Despite Criticism, Canada Gets Faith-Based Law School," Inside Higher Ed, December 19, 2013 ---
    http://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2013/12/19/despite-criticism-canada-gets-faith-based-law-school 

    Trinity Western University has won final approval from authorities in British Columbia to start a law school -- the first faith-based law school in Canada. Gay rights and civil liberties groups had urged the provincial government not to grant permission, citing the Christian university's rules that ban students from "sexual intimacy that violates the sacredness of marriage between a man and a woman." Critics said that this ban effectively barred gay people from enrolling. The university said that it was not discriminating against gay people, only against those who have sex outside of heterosexual marriage. A statement on Wednesday from the university's president, Bob Kuhn, reiterated that point. "It needs to be said that all students (gay or straight) are welcome to attend Trinity Western University, providing they meet our academic requirements and agree to respect our community values. Like most religious communities, we have established a set of values and principles to guide our daily lives; ours are in a manner consistent with Christian teaching. Chief among those values is to show love and respect for all people at all times," he said.

    Jensen Comment
    Various faith-based colleges in the USA have similar rules including those with students eligible for taxpayer financial aid, e.g., the Wheaton College Pledge that bans more vices than sex itself. Offhand I cannot think of a state-supported university with such rules.

    Bob Jensen's threads on higher education controversies ---
    http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/HigherEdControversies.htm


    Step-by-step guidance for satisfying obligations under ADAAA and related Section 504 disabilities requirements.---
    https://mail.google.com/mail/u/1/?shva=1#inbox/14300adc442dcc5a

    Bob Jensen's threads on technology for aiding the learning by disabled perso ---
    http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/000aaa/thetools.htm#Handicapped


    Prostitution Freed From Legal Restrictions in Canada ---
    http://reason.com/archives/2013/12/21/prostitution-loses-some-of-its-legal-bag

    Declaring laws restricting brothel-keeping, negotiating the terms of a sexual encounter, and living on the proceeds of prostitution to be unconstitutional, Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin wrote that such laws "infringe the … rights of prostitutes by depriving them of security of the person in a manner that is not in accordance with the principles of fundamental justice."

    Continued in article

    Jensen Comment
    Johns from the USA should not rush to Canada just yet since the old laws are in effect for a year while the Canadian government appeals the ruling.

     


    From the CFO Journal's Morning Ledger on December 17, 2013

    Easy credit is delaying the retail industry’s day of reckoning. Investors, desperate for higher returns, are eagerly lending to risky borrowers like RadioShack, Sears and J.C. Penney, buying the chains time to try to turn around their businesses in the face of weak sales and fierce competition, writes CFOJ’s Vipal Monga in today’s Marketplace section. Retailers can borrow money by pledging collateral such as inventories and buildings. But the loans can be expensive, putting pressure on businesses by increasing their interest burdens.

    A building boom in the years before the credit crisis has left the U.S. with a surplus of stores. While chains like Gap are scaling back, some analysts think it will take a few bankruptcies and liquidations to bring the market back into balance. “What you’ve got here is a market that still has more players than are necessary,” said Antony Karabus, CEO of Hilco Retail Consulting. “They’ve bought themselves time, but they’re still all eating from the same pie.”

    It’s telling that the more-prominent retailers to have raised rescue financing recently are ones that cater to middle-class shoppers. While discount retailers such as Dollar General and luxury-oriented chains such as Neiman Marcus are gaining market share, Wal-Mart, J.C. Penney, and Sears have been losing ground. “The middle-tier types of firms are suffering,” said Jack Kleinhenz, chief economist for the National Retail Federation. “There is a lot of competition in retail, and they have very thin margins. There’s going to be a sorting among retailers.”

    Jensen Comment
    Risky lending may not yet have hit the retail industry, but it is hitting the municipal bond market.

    Having paid off bond holders for one penny on the dollar, what fool would loan it another dollar to pay its bloated unfunded pensions?

    "California City’s Return to Solvency, With Pension Problem Unsolved," by Rick Lyman and Mary Williams Walsh, The New York Times, December 3, 2013 ---
    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/06/us/stockton-set-to-return-to-solvency-with-pension-problem-unsolved.html

    Before Detroit filed for bankruptcy, there was Stockton.

    Battered by a collapse in real estate prices, a spike in pension and retiree health care costs, and unmanageable debt, this struggling city in the Central Valley has labored for months to find a way out of Chapter 9. Now having renegotiated its debt with most creditors, cobbled together layoffs and service cuts and raised the sales tax to 9 percent from 8.25 percent, Stockton is nearly ready to leave court protection.

    But what Stockton, along with pretty much every other city in California that has gone into bankruptcy in recent years, has not done is address the skyrocketing public pensions that are at the heart of many of these cases.

    “No city wants to take on the state pension system by itself,” said Stockton’s new mayor, Anthony Silva, referring to the California Public Employees’ Retirement System, or Calpers. “Every city thinks some other city will take care of it.”

    While a federal bankruptcy judge ruled this week that Detroit could reduce public pensions to help shed its debts, Stockton has become an experiment of whether a municipality can successfully come out of bankruptcy and stabilize its finances without touching pensions. It is an effort that has come at great cost to city services and one that some critics say will simply not work once the city starts trying to restore services and hire 120 police officers it promised to get the sales-tax increase passed.

    “They wanted to get out of bankruptcy in the worst possible way, and that’s just what they did,” said Dean Andal of the San Joaquin County Taxpayers Association, which fought the sales-tax increase. “If they go ahead and hire those new police officers, the city will be back in insolvency in four years.”

    Stockton declared fiscal emergencies in 2010 and 2011, giving it the power to renege on annual pay increases for city workers. City services were slashed. Hundreds of municipal workers were laid off. And many retirees who had been promised health coverage for life learned that they would have to begin paying for it.

    “That was the hardest part,” Councilman Elbert Holman said, “looking people in the eye and telling them sorry, you are losing your health care, but it’s absolutely necessary.”

    By the time the judge found Stockton eligible for Chapter 9 bankruptcy on April 1, the city had about $147 million in unfunded pension obligations and about $250 million in debt from various bond issues.

    The years of fiscal emergency and bankruptcy have left their mark, including a skyrocketing crime rate, which city officials and many residents attribute to staffing and service cuts in the Police Department.

    “I suddenly realized a few years ago that, just in my tiny, two-block neighborhood, there had been 11 residential burglaries in the previous nine months,” said Marci Walker, an emergency room nurse.

    Cities go bankrupt for many reasons: a collapse in real estate prices, a spike in pension and retiree health care costs, a burden of debt from expensive city projects. Stockton has experienced all three.

    When real estate prices shot up in Silicon Valley in the last decade, many commuters decided that Stockton’s cheaper housing was worth the long commute to the Bay Area. That drove up local housing prices, so when the bubble burst it had a bigger impact, giving Stockton one of the nation’s highest foreclosure rates.

    City leaders had also gone on a construction spree during the flush years, building a new sports arena, a minor-league baseball stadium and a marina. Citizens still bitterly mention the 2006 concert that opened the arena, where Neil Diamond was paid $1 million to perform.

    And through it all, the pension costs for city workers — particularly for police officers and firefighters, who can retire early and draw on those pensions for decades — kept going up.

    No part of the city has been left unscathed. Ms. Walker’s comfortable neighborhood near the University of the Pacific campus was hit with rising crime almost immediately after the police layoffs. “When the economy got bad and we lost police officers, it all started,” she said.

    So she started the Regent Street Neighborhood Watch, the first of more than 100 such organizations to sprout up in the city in the last few years.

    “We don’t confront anybody, we just let them know that we know they’re there,” Ms. Walker said. She added, “Criminals do not like eyeballs on them.”

    Continued in article

    Jensen Comment
    Off the cuff Governor Brown complained that California has to deal with a trillion dollars in unfunded pensions (he may have exaggerated). The sad ttruth is that many of these were fraudulent pensions with criminal amounts (e.g., the pensions of Bell, California) and absurd early retirement provisions at age 50 or earlier.

    City of Bell Scandal --- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City_of_Bell_scandal

    Before the Stockton declaration of bankruptcy there was the 2008 bankruptcy of Vallejo where the bankruptcy judge screwed bondholders but not pensioners.. Detroit's pensioners may not go unscathed, but the pattern of favoritism of pensioners over bond holders will eventually hurt cities that rob Peter Bondholder to pay Paul Pensioner.

    "Why Investors Are Fleeing Muni Bonds At Record Rates," by Wolf Richter, Business Insider, December 16, 2013 ---
    http://www.businessinsider.com/fear-and-trembling-in-muni-land-2013-12 

    Municipal bond investors, a conservative bunch who want to avoid rollercoaster rides and cliffhangers, are getting frazzled. And they’re bailing out of muni bond funds at record rate, while they still can without losing their shirts. So far this year, they have yanked out $52.8 billion. In the third quarter alone, as yields were soaring on the Fed’s taper cacophony and as bond values were swooning, net outflows from muni funds reached $32 billion, which according to Thomson Reuters, was more than during any whole year.

    Muni investors have a lot to be frazzled about. Municipal bonds used to be considered a safe investment – though that may have been propaganda more than anything else. Munis are exempt from federal income taxes, hence their attractiveness to conservative investors in high tax brackets. Munis packaged into bond funds appealed to those looking for a convenient way to spread the risk over numerous municipalities and states. While the Fed was repressing rates, muni bond funds were great deals.

    Then came the bankruptcies.

    The precursor was Vallejo, CA, a Bay Area city of 115,000 that filed for Chapter 9 bankruptcy protection in 2008 and emerged two years ago. But it’s already struggling again with soaring pension costs that had been left untouched. Jefferson County, which includes Alabama’s largest city, Birmingham, filed in 2011 when it defaulted on $3.1 billion in sewer bonds, the largest municipal bankruptcy at the time [but it’s already issuing new bonds; read....Municipal Bankruptcy? Why Not! And so The Floodgates Open].

    Stockton, CA, filed in June 2012. Mammoth Lakes, CA, filed in July 2012. San Bernardino, CA, filed in August 2012. They were dropping like flies in the “Golden State.” Detroit filed in July this year, crushing all prior records with its debt of up to $20 billion. That’s $28,000 per person for its population of 700,000.

    But Detroit is just a fraction of what is skittering toward muni investors: the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. The poverty rate is 45.6%Unemployment is 14.7%. The economy has been in recession since 2006. The labor force has shrunk 16% from 1.42 million in 2007 to 1.19 million in October. The number of working people, over the same period, has plunged from 1.8 million to 1.1 million, a breathtaking 39%.

    Puerto Rico had a good run for decades as federal tax breaks lured Corporate America to set up shop there. But when these tax breaks were phased out by 2005, the companies went in search for the greener grass elsewhere. To keep splurging, the government embarked on a borrowing binge that left the now lovingly named “Greece of the Caribbean” with nearly $70 billion in debt.

    That’s 70% of GDP, and for its population of 3.67 million, about $19,000 per capita, or about $64,000 per working person. And then there is the underfunded pension system. But unlike Detroit, Puerto Rico is struggling to address its problems with unpopular measures, raising all manner of taxes and cutting outlays. Not even the bloated government payrolls have been spared. Too little, too late? Given the enormous poverty rate and long-term shrinking employment, what are the chances that this debt will blow up?

    Pretty good, according to Moody’s Investors Service. Last week, it put $52 billion of Puerto Rico’s debt under review for a downgrade – to junk. Moody’s litany of factors: “Failure to access the public debt market with a long-term borrowing, declines in liquidity, financial underperformance in coming months, economic indicators in coming months that point to a further downturn in the economy, inability of government to achieve needed reform of the Teachers’ Retirement System.” This followed a similar move by Fitch Ratings in November.

    Alas, Puerto Rico has swaps and debt covenants with collateral and acceleration provisions that kick in when one of the three major credit ratings agencies issues the threatened downgrade. Which “could result in liquidity demands of up to $1 billion,” explained Moody’s analyst Lisa Heller. It would “significantly narrow remaining net liquid assets.”

    Now Puerto Rico is under pressure to show that over the next three months or so it can still access the bond markets at a reasonable rate. If not....

    Puerto Rico’s debt was a muni bond fund favorite because it’s exempt from state and federal taxes. Now fears of a default on $52 billion or more in debt are cascading through the $3.7 trillion muni market. But Puerto Rico isn’t alone. Numerous municipalities and some states have ventured out on thinner and thinner ice.

    Default risks are dark clouds on the distant horizon or remain unimaginable beyond the horizon. And hopes that disaster can be averted by a miracle still rule the day. However, the Fed’s taper cacophony is here and now, and though the Fed is still printing money and buying paper at full speed, the possibility that it might not always do so hangs like a malodorous emanation in the air.

    Continued in article

    Bob Jensen's threads on pension accounting ---
    http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Theory02.htm#Pensions


    Bell, California --- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bell,_California

    "Does Bell toll for excessive public pay? Controller's compensation database tells shocking story," by Steven Greenhut, UT San Diego, December 21. 2013 ---
    http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2013/dec/21/does-bell-toll-for-excessive-public-pay/all/?print

    . . .

    Coincidentally, the controller’s update was released just as Angela Spaccia, former administrator in the scandal-plagued Los Angeles County city of Bell, was found guilty on 11 corruption charges that included the misappropriation of public funds. She was accused of creating a secret pension fund for herself and then-city manager Robert Rizzo, who at one point “earned” a salary of $800,000 a year plus benefits.

    Rizzo — the rotund racehorse-owning poster child for municipal greed — previously pled “no contest” to corruption charges. Five other Bell officials were convicted, also. The scandal, which erupted in 2010, sparked a widespread debate about public pay levels and oversight. Trial evidence included an email string where officials joked about getting “fat together” and “taking all of Bell’s money.”

    In fact, Controller John Chiang created this statewide compensation Website, based on data provided by cities and agencies, in direct response to Bell. The database has been widely praised as thorough and easy to navigate. But as scary as the information it provides may be, it may even understate the problem.

    Its municipality pay averages “are in orders of magnitude too low,” argued Steve Frates, director of research at Pepperdine University’s Davenport Institute. That’s because it includes part-time and occasional workers in the average. Furthermore, the database doesn’t include other benefits public employees receive. It only calculates the direct costs of pensions and medical-care benefits — not the tens of billions of dollars in unfunded liabilities.

    Chiang says that public disclosure of compensation information is the first step toward reform. Critics complain, however, about a lack of follow-up steps from other state officials. “The illegality, the excesses of Bell, are an aberration of the real problem,” said Richard Rider, president of San Diego Tax Fighters. “The most powerful force in local politics are the public-sector unions. They elect people who are most compliant. The result is what you would expect.”

    The public has seen only modest reform. Gov. Jerry Brown and legislative leaders were concerned last year that their tax-increasing ballot measure (Proposition 30) was in trouble because the public didn’t trust that they would spend new dollars wisely. So they cobbled together a tepid pension-reform measure that mostly pares back excesses for new employees. That was it from the state.

    Some localities, including San Diego and San Jose, passed pension reform measures last year. Bankruptcy forced Stockton to pull its far-above-average compensation levels down to the state average. But nothing fundamental has changed in California.

    Now that the Legislative Analyst’s Office is predicting years of budget surpluses (provided the economy recovers and legislators control their spending), any hope of compensation reform from the Capitol is dim. Reform efforts have thrived only when it seemed as if the state was running out of cash.

    On the hopeful front, San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed, a Democrat, is championing a 2014 statewide initiative that would allow cities to cut future benefits for current employees. Union activists are portraying that as an attempt to “eliminate” pensions, which clearly isn’t the case. But that measure could spark the next public-employee compensation battle. Reed recently argued that union-driven overpayment for police leads to higher crime because cities don’t have money left to hire additional officers.

    Supporters of Reed’s effort are bolstered by a new Field Poll that reveals plummeting public support for labor unions, as a plurality (45 percent) of Californians say they do more harm than good. And despite the “no reform” approach in Sacramento, more troubling numbers trickle out — even from unlikely sources.

    Treasurer Bill Lockyer, a union ally, told a small group in Thousand Oaks this month that the California State Teachers' Retirement System (CalSTRS) is in “crisis mode” and that “there will be a ratcheting down of retirement promises and commitments.” He did, however, defend the condition of the larger California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS).

    Sound or not, the list of those who receive pensions of $100,000 or more from CalPERS now tops 12,000 and is growing by about 40 percent each year. There’s plenty of accessible information, from the controller and elsewhere, suggesting that the public-employee compensation system is unsustainable and unfair. Union Watch reports that in struggling Desert Hot Springs the average city worker actually receives an all-included package of $144,000 a year and the average police and fire employee receives $164,000.

    Increasingly, the public may be seeing that the problem isn’t a handful of officials who illegally gamed the system, but a system that — as Voltaire understood — allows a powerful minority to legally game the majority


    Prostitution Freed From Legal Restrictions in Canada ---
    http://reason.com/archives/2013/12/21/prostitution-loses-some-of-its-legal-bag

    Declaring laws restricting brothel-keeping, negotiating the terms of a sexual encounter, and living on the proceeds of prostitution to be unconstitutional, Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin wrote that such laws "infringe the … rights of prostitutes by depriving them of security of the person in a manner that is not in accordance with the principles of fundamental justice."

    Continued in article

    Jensen Comment
    Johns from the USA should not rush to Canada just yet since the old laws are in effect for a year while the Canadian government appeals the ruling.



    From the Scout Report on December 13, 2013

    Belt.io  --- https://belt.io/ 

    Belt.io is a great way to share materials with collaborators and colleagues from Indiana to Indonesia. Essentially, it is a central place for storing and sharing simple items such as text or links. It's a bit like a clipboard with more control and the ability to sync across a diverse set of devices. First-time visitors can click on Learn More to explore the various features before signing up. This version is compatible with all operation devices.  


    Week Calendar 7 --- http://www.weekcal.com/ 

    The Week Calendar is a great app that allows visitors to create a dynamic and collaborative calendar, allowing the user to elaborate on meetings, planning sessions, or busy activity schedules. One remarkable features is Travel Time which smartly acquires the time it will take to travel between calendar events with locations. The site contains a great FAQ area along with several tutorials. This version is compatible with iPhones running iOS 7


    Amidst continued strife and unrest, the United Nations celebrates the
    Human Rights Declaration
    Voice of America: UN Marks 20th Anniversary of Human Rights Declaration
    http://www.voanews.com/content/un-marks-20th-anniversary-of-rights-declaration/1807057.html

    On Human Rights Day, I'll be thinking of my father in a Chinese prison
    http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/dec/10/human-rights-day-unhrc-progress-china-abuse

    Cuban dissidents detained on Human Rights Day
    http://www.aljazeera.com/news/americas/2013/12/cuban-dissidents-detained-human-rights-day-20131210224649740907.html

    U.S. Department of State: Human Rights Day 2013
    http://www.state.gov/secretary/remarks/2013/12/218580.htm

    United Nations: Human Rights Day
    http://www.un.org/en/events/humanrightsday/

    United Nations Human Rights: Office of the High Commissioner for Human
    Rights
    http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Pages/WelcomePage.aspx

     

    From the Scout Report on December 20, 2013

    Filemail --- http://www.filemail.com/ 

    Filemail gives visitors the ability to send large files quickly and seamlessly without any registration. It can be integrated with popular email programs and the size limit on files is 100MB, which is quite useful. This particular version is compatible with all operating systems.  

    Bob Jensen's threads on sending large files ---
    http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Bookbob4.htm#SendingLargeFiles


    TweetQuereet --- http://www.qureet.com/ 

    So much Twitter, so little time? TweetQureet allows interested parties to receive their most relevant tweets from the Twitter timeline in a daily email digest. The program will use existing followers and tweets to determine your key interests and topics. Overall, it is quite handy and easy to use. This version is compatible with all operating systems.


    'Tis the season to ask, "What type of Christmas tree is this?"
    Christmas tree wars: Making fir fly
    http://www.economist.com/blogs/schumpeter/2013/12/christmas-tree-wars

    Christmas trees are no get-rich-quick crop
    http://www.montereyherald.com/business/ci_24742075/christmas-trees-are-no-get-rich-quick-crop

    Work on a Christmas tree farm is year round
    http://www.chicoer.com/news/ci_24731168/work-christmas-tree-farm-is-year-round

    >From Pre-Christmas Tree to O Tannenbaum
    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rick-steves/from-pre-christmas-tree-t_b_4462595.html

    National Christmas Tree Association
    http://www.realchristmastrees.org/dnn/default.aspx

    The American Christmas Tree Association
    http://www.christmastreeassociation.org/



    Free online textbooks, cases, and tutorials in accounting, finance, economics, and statistics --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/ElectronicLiterature.htm#Textbooks


    Education Tutorials

    Bob Jensen's threads on general education tutorials are at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Bookbob2.htm#EducationResearch

    Bob Jensen's bookmarks for multiple disciplines ---
    http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Bookbob2.htm


    Engineering, Science, and Medicine Tutorials

    ScienceBlogs --- http://scienceblogs.com/

    Science 360 News Service --- http://news.science360.gov/files/

    Amazing Space: Visions of the Universe --- http://amazing-space.stsci.edu/visions/

    Introductory Biology --- http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/biology/7-013-introductory-biology-spring-2013/

    American Biology Teacher --- http://www.nabt.org/websites/institution/index.php?p=26

    Human Anatomy --- http://www.upstate.edu/cdb/education/grossanat/

    National Institute of Nursing Research: Publications ---
    http://www.ninr.nih.gov/newsandinformation/publications#.Uq4U1ChSFFI

    National League for Nursing ---
    http://www.nln.org/facultyprograms/teachingresources.htm

    Subjective Well-Being: Measuring Happiness, Suffering, and Other Dimensions of Experience ---
    http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=18548

    Florence Knoll Bassett Papers, 1932-2000 (architecture, furniture design) ---
    http://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/florence-knoll-bassett-papers-6312

    Society of Architectural Historians: Digital Resources
    http://www.sah.org/publications-and-research/digital-resources

    Maryland Geological Survey --- http://www.mgs.md.gov/

    Bob Jensen's threads on free online science, engineering, and medicine tutorials are at --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Bookbob2.htm#Science


    Social Science and Economics Tutorials

    Alliance for Financial Inclusion (financial literacy initiative funded by Bill and Melinda Gates) ---  http://www.afi-global.org/
    Also see Bob Jensen's related helpers at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Bookbob1.htm#InvestmentHelpers

    100 Resilient Cities --- http://100resilientcities.rockefellerfoundation.org/

    Studs Terkel Interviews Bob Dylan, Shel Silverstein, Maya Angelou & More in New Audio Trove ---
    http://www.openculture.com/2013/12/studs-terkel-interviews.html

    Subjective Well-Being: Measuring Happiness, Suffering, and Other Dimensions of Experience ---
    http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=18548

    Open Spaces (Wildlife Refuges) ---  http://www.fws.gov/news/blog/index.cfm

    Conserving the Future: Wildlife Refuges and the Next Generation ---  http://www.fws.gov/refuges/vision/index.html

    South Carolina Digital Newspaper Program --- http://library.sc.edu/digital/newspaper/

    The Original Epcot Project (Disney World) --- https://sites.google.com/site/theoriginalepcot/

    Invisible Culture (art history from the University of Rochester) --- 
    https://urresearch.rochester.edu/viewInstitutionalCollection.action?collectionId=27

    Environmental Ethics Case Studies --- http://www.apsarchive.org/collection.cfm?collectionID=2385

    Journal of Digital Humanities --- http://journalofdigitalhumanities.org/

    Journal of Aesthetics & Culture --- http://journals.sfu.ca/coaction/index.php/jac

    Bob Jensen's threads on Economics, Anthropology, Social Sciences, and Philosophy tutorials are at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Bookbob2.htm#Social


    Law and Legal Studies

    Bob Jensen's threads on law and legal studies are at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Bookbob2.htm#Law


    Math Tutorials

    Subjective Well-Being: Measuring Happiness, Suffering, and Other Dimensions of Experience ---
    http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=18548

    Bob Jensen's threads on free online mathematics tutorials are at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Bookbob2.htm#050421Mathematics


    History Tutorials

    Ever wondered what famous artist Michelangelo ate? Here's a peek at one of his grocery lists:
    Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/grocery-shopping-list-of-michelangelo-2013-12#ixzz2orb4gIeA
    Note:  Michelangelo was less of a starving artist than most of the famous artists in history

    The Rhyme of History: Lessons of the Great War ---
    http://www.brookings.edu/research/essays/2013/rhyme-of-history

    World War I Photographic History in a French Village
    Remember Me: The Lost Diggers of Vignacourt --- http://www.awm.gov.au/exhibitions/remember-me/

    World War (I &II) Propaganda Posters --- http://bir.brandeis.edu/handle/10192/23520

    Centenary of the First World War, 1914-1918 --- http://www.awm.gov.au/1914-1918/

    Newspaper Pictorials: Word War I Rotogravures --- http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/collections/rotogravures/

    Mapping Militant Organizations --- http://www.stanford.edu/group/mappingmilitants/cgi-bin/

    Center for the Humanities and the Public Sphere --- http://www.humanities.ufl.edu/index.html

    The University of Michigan Digital Humanities Series---
     http://www.digitalculture.org/books/book-series/digital-humanities-series/

    Journal of Digital Humanities --- http://journalofdigitalhumanities.org/

    The European Association for Digital Humanities --- http://www.allc.org/

    Australian War Memorial: This Company of Brave Men: The Gallipoli VCs --- http://www.awm.gov.au/exhibitions/bravemen

    U.S. Army Center of Military History --- http://history.army.mil/ 

    Auntie Bev forwarded this slide show on world "facts" that I did not verify ---
    https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1IDN6GC5umKRIYBkHazM5yOxP15iC2w8FhS9we7zD-j0/embed?hl=en&size=m#slide=id.p4

    Hand-Colored Photographs of 19th Century Japan ---
    http://www.openculture.com/2013/12/hand-colored-photographs-of-19th-century-japan.html

    David Lynch Presents the Interview Project: 121 Mini-Documentaries About Life in America ---
    https://mail.google.com/mail/u/1/?shva=1#inbox/1431548203837488

    New Art Edition of James Joyce’s Ulysses Features All 265,000 Words Written by Hand on Big Wooden Poles ---
    http://www.openculture.com/2013/12/art-edition-of-joyces-ulysses.html

    James Joyce’s Ulysses: Download the Free Audio Book --- Click Here
    http://www.openculture.com/2012/03/james_joyces_ulysses_a_free_audio_book.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+OpenCulture+%28Open+Culture%29

    See Peter O’Toole Talk Hamlet with Orson Welles (1963) and Play Petruchio in The Taming of the Shrew (1986) ---
    http://www.openculture.com/2013/12/see-peter-otoole-talk-hamlet-with-orson-welles-1963-and-play-petruchio-in-the-taming-of-the-shrew-1986.html

    Canterbury and St. Albans: Treasures from Church and Cloister --- http://www.getty.edu/art/exhibitions/canterbury/

    The Original Epcot Project (Disney World) --- https://sites.google.com/site/theoriginalepcot/

    Florence Knoll Bassett Papers, 1932-2000 (architecture, furniture design) ---
    http://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/florence-knoll-bassett-papers-6312

    Society of Architectural Historians: Digital Resources
    http://www.sah.org/publications-and-research/digital-resources

    Hear Michel Foucault Deliver His Lecture on “Truth and Subjectivity” at UC Berkeley, In English (1980) ---
    http://www.openculture.com/2013/12/michel-foucault-delivers-his-lecture-on-truth-and-subjectivity.html

    Yakov Smirnoff Remembers “The Soviet Department of Jokes” & Other Staples of Communist Comedy ---
    http://www.openculture.com/2013/12/yakov-smirnoff-remembers-the-soviet-department-of-jokes.html

    Studs Terkel Interviews Bob Dylan, Shel Silverstein, Maya Angelou & More in New Audio Trove ---
    http://www.openculture.com/2013/12/studs-terkel-interviews.html

    South Carolina Digital Newspaper Program --- http://library.sc.edu/digital/newspaper/

    South Carolina Digital Library --- http://www.scmemory.org

    Oklahoma Digital Maps --- http://www.library.okstate.edu/okmaps/

    Braceros in Oregon (Hispanic Labor in Rural Oregon) ---  http://oregondigital.org/digcol/bracero/

    Eastern Art Online --- http://jameelcentre.ashmolean.org

    Priest Lake Museum Association Collection (Idaho)--- http://www.lib.uidaho.edu/digital/priestlake/

    The Digital Atlas of Idaho --- http://imnh.isu.edu/digitalatlas/

    Digital Theatre (U.K. live theatre, Shakespeare) --- http://www.digitaltheatre.com/

    Invisible Culture (art history from the University of Rochester) --- 
    https://urresearch.rochester.edu/viewInstitutionalCollection.action?collectionId=27

    Gorgeous Photos Of New York's Classic Diners Before They Disappeared Forever ---
    http://www.businessinsider.com/vintage-photos-of-new-yorks-classic-diners-2013-12

    Art Deco and the Decorative Arts in the 1920s and 1930s --- http://digital.library.mcgill.ca/artdeco/index.php

    Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts --- http://mesda.org/

    The WSJ Best Fiction of 2013 ---
    http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303932504579256201892384922?mod=djemEditorialPage_h

    The WSJ Best Nonfiction of 2013 ---
    http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303932504579256251108945122?mod=djemEditorialPage_h

     

    Bob Jensen's threads on history tutorials are at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Bookbob2.htm#History
    Also see http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/ElectronicLiterature.htm  


    Language Tutorials

    Bob Jensen's links to language tutorials are at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Bookbob2.htm#Languages


    Music Tutorials

    18th-Century Eyewitness Account of 8-Year-Old Mozart’s Extraordinary Musical Skills ---
    http://www.openculture.com/2013/12/read-an-18th-century-eyewitness-account-of-8-year-old-mozarts-extraordinary-musical-skills.html

    NPR Classical's 10 Favorite Albums Of 2013 (not free downloads) ---
    http://www.npr.org/blogs/bestmusic2013/2013/12/13/249751178/npr-classicals-10-favorite-albums-of-2013

    Bob Jensen's threads on free music tutorials are at
    http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Bookbob2.htm#050421Music

    Irish Sheet Music Archives --- http://irishsheetmusicarchives.com/sheet-music.htm

    Bob Jensen's threads on music performances ---
    http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/music.htm


    Writing Tutorials

    Bob Jensen's helpers for writers are at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Bookbob3.htm#Dictionaries


    Updates from WebMD --- http://www.webmd.com/

    December 17, 2018

    December 18, 2013

    December 19, 2013

    December 20, 2013

    December 21, 2013

    December 23, 2013

    December 26, 2013

    December 27, 2013

    December 28, 2013

    December 30, 2013


    Dr. Oz's 3 Health Tips For A Happier And Longer Life ---
    http://www.businessinsider.com/dr-oz-tips-healthy-long-life-2013-12

    Arts and Aging: Building The Science --- http://arts.gov/sites/default/files/Arts-and-Aging-Building-the-Science_0.pdf


    Scientists Have Cracked A Major Mystery Of HIV ---
    http://www.businessinsider.com/how-hiv-becomes-aids-solved-2013-12


    New Report Provides The Most Disturbing Picture Yet Of Nancy Lanza's Relationship With Her Son --- 
    Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/paramedic-at-sandy-hook-was-warned-this-will-be-the-worst-day-of-your-life-2013-12#ixzz2ordFEWfh


    A Bit of Humor

    Funny Animals --- http://uvideo100.com/animals1.html

    Dave Barry’s Review of 2013, the Year of the Zombies ---
    http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/magazine/dave-barrys-review-of-2013-the-year-of-the-zombies/2013/12/20/c7cfa5fe-5dc2-11e3-bc56-c6ca94801fac_story.html?hpid=z1
    Less funny than Dave's usual stuff.


    A Dog Behind the Wheel --- http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?feature=player_detailpage&v=fybch3DX8c8

    How to know your shopping in Texas --- http://www.youtube.com/embed/Vt7FDTpzGvo?rel=0

    Yakov Smirnoff Remembers “The Soviet Department of Jokes” & Other Staples of Communist Comedy ---
    http://www.openculture.com/2013/12/yakov-smirnoff-remembers-the-soviet-department-of-jokes.html

    Bob Hope Entertaining the Troops --- http://biggeekdad.com/2011/02/bob-hope-christmas/

    Jerry Seinfeld Created These Intentionally Terrible Acura Ads For His Web Series — And They're Hilarious ---
    http://www.businessinsider.com/seinfelds-acura-ads-for-comedians-in-cars-2013-12

    Do you really want to host a dinner party over the holidays ---
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TX9EAavxrus&feature=youtu.be




    Humor Between December 1 and December 31, 2013 --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/book13q4.htm#Humor123113

    Humor Between November 1 and November 30, 2013 --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/book13q4.htm#Humor113013

    Humor Between October 1 and October 31, 2013 --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/book13q4.htm#Humor103113

    Humor Between September 1 and September 30, 2013 --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/book13q3.htm#Humor093013

    Humor Between July 1 and August 31, 2013 --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/book13q3.htm#Humor083113

    Humor Between June 1-30, 2013 --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/book13q2.htm#Humor063013

    Humor Between May 1-31, 2013 --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/book13q2.htm#Humor053113

    Humor Between April 1-30, 2013 --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/book13q2.htm#Humor043013

    Humor Between March 1-31, 2013 --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/book13q1.htm#Humor033113

    Humor Between February 1-28, 2013 --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/book13q1.htm#Humor022813

    Humor Between January 1-31, 2013 --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/book13q1.htm#Humor013113

     




    Tidbits Archives --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/TidbitsDirectory.htm

    Click here to search Bob Jensen's web site if you have key words to enter --- Search Site.
    For example if you want to know what Jensen documents have the term "Enron" enter the phrase Jensen AND Enron. Another search engine that covers Trinity and other universities is at http://www.searchedu.com/

    Online Distance Education Training and Education --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Crossborder.htm
    For-Profit Universities Operating in the Gray Zone of Fraud  (College, Inc.) --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/HigherEdControversies.htm#ForProfitFraud

    Shielding Against Validity Challenges in Plato's Cave ---
    http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/TheoryTAR.htm

    The Cult of Statistical Significance: How Standard Error Costs Us Jobs, Justice, and Lives ---
    http://www.cs.trinity.edu/~rjensen/temp/DeirdreMcCloskey/StatisticalSignificance01.htm

    How Accountics Scientists Should Change: 
    "Frankly, Scarlett, after I get a hit for my resume in The Accounting Review I just don't give a damn"
    http://www.cs.trinity.edu/~rjensen/temp/AccounticsDamn.htm
    One more mission in what's left of my life will be to try to change this
    http://www.cs.trinity.edu/~rjensen/temp/AccounticsDamn.htm 

    What went wrong in accounting/accountics research?  ---
    http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/theory01.htm#WhatWentWrong

    The Sad State of Accountancy Doctoral Programs That Do Not Appeal to Most Accountants ---
    http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/theory01.htm#DoctoralPrograms

    AN ANALYSIS OF THE EVOLUTION OF RESEARCH CONTRIBUTIONS BY THE ACCOUNTING REVIEW: 1926-2005 ---
    http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/395wpTAR/Web/TAR395wp.htm#_msocom_1

    Bob Jensen's threads on accounting theory ---
    http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/theory01.htm

    Tom Lehrer on Mathematical Models and Statistics ---
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gfZWyUXn3So

    Systemic problems of accountancy (especially the vegetable nutrition paradox) that probably will never be solved ---
    http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/FraudConclusion.htm#BadNews

     

    World Clock --- http://www.peterussell.com/Odds/WorldClock.php
    Facts about the earth in real time --- http://www.worldometers.info/

    Interesting Online Clock and Calendar --- http://home.tiscali.nl/annejan/swf/timeline.swf
    Time by Time Zones --- http://timeticker.com/
    Projected Population Growth (it's out of control) --- http://geography.about.com/od/obtainpopulationdata/a/worldpopulation.htm
             Also see http://users.rcn.com/jkimball.ma.ultranet/BiologyPages/P/Populations.html
            
    Facts about population growth (video) --- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMcfrLYDm2U
    Projected U.S. Population Growth --- http://www.carryingcapacity.org/projections75.html
    Real time meter of the U.S. cost of the war in Iraq --- http://www.costofwar.com/ 
    Enter you zip code to get Census Bureau comparisons --- http://zipskinny.com/
    Sure wish there'd be a little good news today.

    Free (updated) Basic Accounting Textbook --- search for Hoyle at
    http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/ElectronicLiterature.htm#Textbooks

    CPA Examination --- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cpa_examination
    Free CPA Examination Review Course Courtesy of Joe Hoyle --- http://cpareviewforfree.com/

    Rick Lillie's education, learning, and technology blog is at http://iaed.wordpress.com/

    Accounting News, Blogs, Listservs, and Social Networking ---
    http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/AccountingNews.htm

    Bob Jensen's Threads --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/threads.htm 
    Current and past editions of my newsletter called New Bookmarks --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/bookurl.htm
    Current and past editions of my newsletter called Tidbits --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/TidbitsDirectory.htm
    Current and past editions of my newsletter called Fraud Updates --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/FraudUpdates.htm

    Online Books, Poems, References, and Other Literature
    In the past I've provided links to various types electronic literature available free on the Web. 
    I created a page that summarizes those various links --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/ElectronicLiterature.htm

    Some of Bob Jensen's Tutorials

    Accounting program news items for colleges are posted at http://www.accountingweb.com/news/college_news.html
    Sometimes the news items provide links to teaching resources for accounting educators.
    Any college may post a news item.

    Accounting  and Taxation News Sites ---
    http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/AccountingNews.htm

     

    For an elaboration on the reasons you should join a ListServ (usually for free) go to   http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/ListServRoles.htm
    AECM (Educators) http://listserv.aaahq.org/cgi-bin/wa.exe?HOME
    AECM is an email Listserv list which provides a forum for discussions of all hardware and software which can be useful in any way for accounting education at the college/university level. Hardware includes all platforms and peripherals. Software includes spreadsheets, practice sets, multimedia authoring and presentation packages, data base programs, tax packages, World Wide Web applications, etc.

    Over the years the AECM has become the worldwide forum for accounting educators on all issues of accountancy and accounting education, including debates on accounting standards, managerial accounting, careers, fraud, forensic accounting, auditing, doctoral programs, and critical debates on academic (accountics) research, publication, replication, and validity testing.

     

    CPAS-L (Practitioners) http://pacioli.loyola.edu/cpas-l/  (Closed Down)
    CPAS-L provides a forum for discussions of all aspects of the practice of accounting. It provides an unmoderated environment where issues, questions, comments, ideas, etc. related to accounting can be freely discussed. Members are welcome to take an active role by posting to CPAS-L or an inactive role by just monitoring the list. You qualify for a free subscription if you are either a CPA or a professional accountant in public accounting, private industry, government or education. Others will be denied access.
    Yahoo (Practitioners)  http://groups.yahoo.com/group/xyztalk
    This forum is for CPAs to discuss the activities of the AICPA. This can be anything  from the CPA2BIZ portal to the XYZ initiative or anything else that relates to the AICPA.
    AccountantsWorld  http://accountantsworld.com/forums/default.asp?scope=1 
    This site hosts various discussion groups on such topics as accounting software, consulting, financial planning, fixed assets, payroll, human resources, profit on the Internet, and taxation.
    Business Valuation Group BusValGroup-subscribe@topica.com 
    This discussion group is headed by Randy Schostag [RSchostag@BUSVALGROUP.COM
    FEI's Financial Reporting Blog
    Smart Stops on the Web, Journal of Accountancy, March 2008 --- http://www.aicpa.org/pubs/jofa/mar2008/smart_stops.htm
    FINANCIAL REPORTING PORTAL
    www.financialexecutives.org/blog

    Find news highlights from the SEC, FASB and the International Accounting Standards Board on this financial reporting blog from Financial Executives International. The site, updated daily, compiles regulatory news, rulings and statements, comment letters on standards, and hot topics from the Web’s largest business and accounting publications and organizations. Look for continuing coverage of SOX requirements, fair value reporting and the Alternative Minimum Tax, plus emerging issues such as the subprime mortgage crisis, international convergence, and rules for tax return preparers.
    The CAlCPA Tax Listserv

    September 4, 2008 message from Scott Bonacker [lister@bonackers.com]
    Scott has been a long-time contributor to the AECM listserv (he's a techie as well as a practicing CPA)

    I found another listserve that is exceptional -

    CalCPA maintains http://groups.yahoo.com/taxtalk/  and they let almost anyone join it.
    Jim Counts, CPA is moderator.

    There are several highly capable people that make frequent answers to tax questions posted there, and the answers are often in depth.

    Scott

    Scott forwarded the following message from Jim Counts

    Yes you may mention info on your listserve about TaxTalk. As part of what you say please say [... any CPA or attorney or a member of the Calif Society of CPAs may join. It is possible to join without having a free Yahoo account but then they will not have access to the files and other items posted.

    Once signed in on their Yahoo account go to http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/TaxTalk/ and I believe in top right corner is Join Group. Click on it and answer the few questions and in the comment box say you are a CPA or attorney, whichever you are and I will get the request to join.

    Be aware that we run on the average 30 or move emails per day. I encourage people to set up a folder for just the emails from this listserve and then via a rule or filter send them to that folder instead of having them be in your inbox. Thus you can read them when you want and it will not fill up the inbox when you are looking for client emails etc.

    We currently have about 830 CPAs and attorneys nationwide but mainly in California.... ]

    Please encourage your members to join our listserve.

    If any questions let me know.

    Jim Counts CPA.CITP CTFA
    Hemet, CA
    Moderator TaxTalk

     

     

     

     

    Many useful accounting sites (scroll down) --- http://www.iasplus.com/links/links.htm

     

    Bob Jensen's Sort-of Blogs --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/JensenBlogs.htm
    Current and past editions of my newsletter called New Bookmarks --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/bookurl.htm
    Current and past editions of my newsletter called Tidbits --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/TidbitsDirectory.htm
    Current and past editions of my newsletter called Fraud Updates --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/FraudUpdates.htm

    Some Accounting History Sites

    Bob Jensen's Accounting History in a Nutshell and Links --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/theory01.htm#AccountingHistory
     

    Accounting History Libraries at the University of Mississippi (Ole Miss) --- http://www.olemiss.edu/depts/accountancy/libraries.html
    The above libraries include international accounting history.
    The above libraries include film and video historical collections.

    MAAW Knowledge Portal for Management and Accounting --- http://maaw.info/

    Academy of Accounting Historians and the Accounting Historians Journal ---
    http://www.accounting.rutgers.edu/raw/aah/

    Sage Accounting History --- http://ach.sagepub.com/cgi/pdf_extract/11/3/269

    A nice timeline on the development of U.S. standards and the evolution of thinking about the income statement versus the balance sheet is provided at:
    "The Evolution of U.S. GAAP: The Political Forces Behind Professional Standards (1930-1973)," by Stephen A. Zeff, CPA Journal, January 2005 --- http://www.nysscpa.org/cpajournal/2005/105/infocus/p18.htm
    Part II covering years 1974-2003 published in February 2005 --- http://www.nysscpa.org/cpajournal/2005/205/index.htm 

    A nice timeline of accounting history --- http://www.docstoc.com/docs/2187711/A-HISTORY-OF-ACCOUNTING

    From Texas A&M University
    Accounting History Outline --- http://acct.tamu.edu/giroux/history.html

    Bob Jensen's timeline of derivative financial instruments and hedge accounting ---
    http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/FraudRotten.htm#DerivativesFrauds

    History of Fraud in America --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/415wp/AmericanHistoryOfFraud.htm
    Also see http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Fraud.htm

    Bob Jensen's Threads ---
    http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/threads.htm

    More of Bob Jensen's Pictures and Stories
    http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Pictures.htm

    All my online pictures --- http://www.cs.trinity.edu/~rjensen/PictureHistory/

     

    Professor Robert E. Jensen (Bob) http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen
    190 Sunset Hill Road
    Sugar Hill, NH 03586
    Phone:  603-823-8482 
    Email:  rjensen@trinity.edu