Tidbits on August 12, 2014
Bob Jensen at Trinity University

Set 3 Photographs of New England Lakes --- Moosehead Lake
Plus some of my summertime flowers photographs
http://www.cs.trinity.edu/rjensen/Tidbits/Lakes/Set03/LakesSet03.htm 

 

Tidbits on August 12,, 2014
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/

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/bookbob2.htm

Major Swedish city allows for self-driving cars in everyday traffic ---
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJwKuWz_lkE

Hear Michel Foucault’s Lecture “The Culture of the Self,” Presented in English at UC Berkeley (1983) ---
http://www.openculture.com/2014/08/michel-foucaults-lecture-the-culture-of-the-self.html

The 10 Greatest Documentaries of All Time According to 340 Filmmakers and Critics --- Click Here
http://www.openculture.com/2014/08/the-10-greatest-documentaries-of-all-timesight-and-sound-names-the-greatest-documentaries-of-all-time-watch-their-1-selection-free.html

Watch World War I Unfold in a 6 Minute Time-Lapse Film: Every Day From 1914 to 1918 ---
http://www.openculture.com/2014/07/every-day-of-wwi-in-a-6-minute-time-lapse-film.html

Learn How Crayons Are Made, Courtesy of 1980s Videos by Sesame Street and Mr. Rogers ---
http://www.openculture.com/2014/07/how-crayons-are-made.html

Your Mac Is In For A Huge Overhaul — Here's What It Will Look Like ---
http://www.businessinsider.com/apple-os-x-yosemite-preview-2014-8
Watch the video

War Horses ---
http://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/Y5XJbSqwriM?rel=0


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

Bertolt Brecht Sings “Mack the Knife” in a 1929 Recording ---
http://www.openculture.com/2014/07/bertolt-brecht-sings-mack-the-knife-in-a-1929-recording.html

Heavy Rotation: 10 Songs Public Radio Can't Stop Playing ---
http://www.npr.org/2014/07/30/334080369/heavy-rotation-10-songs-public-radio-cant-stop-playing

James Brown Blows Away the Rolling Stones in 18 Electric Minutes (1964) ---
http://www.openculture.com/2014/08/james-brown-debuts-his-cape-act-and-blows-away-the-rolling-stones.html

Farmer Serenades Cows by Playing Lorde’s “Royals” on the Trombone ---
http://www.openculture.com/2014/08/farmer-serenades-cows-by-playing-lordes-royals-on-the-trombone.html

Finnish Musicians Play Bluegrass Versions of AC/DC, Iron Maiden & Ronnie James Dio ---
http://www.openculture.com/2014/08/finnish-bluegrass-band-covers-acdc-iron-maiden-and-dio.html

The Star Spangled Banner as You Never Heard it Before ---
http://www.staged.com/video?v=kkPf

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

Rarely Seen Richmond --- http://dig.library.vcu.edu/cdm/landingpage/collection/postcard

My Chicago --- http://mychicago.wttw.com/ 

Bertrand Goldberg Archive (Chicago Architecture) ---  http://www.artic.edu/aic/collections/artwork/category/73

Mass Audubon --- http://www.massaudubon.org/

These Amazing Colorized Photographs Bring World War I To Life ---
http://www.businessinsider.com/world-war-i-brought-to-life-2014-8

The Swiss Poster Collection --- http://luna.library.cmu.edu/luna/servlet/CMUccm~3~3

The Life of Art (Getty Museum) --- http://www.getty.edu/art/exhibitions/life_of_art/

Images in Time (Toledo) --- http://images2.toledolibrary.org/

Creepy Photos of Crumbling Soviet-Era Architecture ---
http://www.wired.com/2014/08/creepy-photos-of-russias-crumbling-communist-architecture/

Victorian Trade Cards --- http://digital.lib.uiowa.edu/cdm/search/collection/tradecards

Pierre Bourdieu’s Photographs of Wartime Algeria ---
http://www.openculture.com/2014/08/pierre-bourdieus-photographs-of-algeria.html

The Wizard of Oz, Reimagined by Beloved Illustrator Lisbeth Zwerger ---
http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2014/04/16/wizard-of-oz-lisbeth-zwerger/

Incredible Pictures Of The Isolated Island Called 'The Most Alien-Looking Place On Earth' ---
http://www.businessinsider.com/socotra-island-pictures-2014-8

A Drone’s Eye View of Los Angeles, New York, London, Bangkok & Mexico City ---
http://www.openculture.com/2014/08/a-drones-eye-view-of-los-angeles-new-york-london-bangkok-mexico-city.html

How to Pitch Yourself: A Lesson from Young Eudora Welty's Impossibly Charming Job Application to The New Yorker ---
http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2014/05/12/eudora-welty-new-yorker-application-letter/

Salvador Dalí's Eccentric and Extravagant Life, Illustrated ---
http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2014/05/12/this-is-dali-ingram/

Kurt Vonnegut on Reading, Boredom, Belonging, and Hate ---
http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2014/05/12/kurt-vonnegut-if-this-isnt-nice-fredonia/

Bob Jensen's threads on history, literature and art ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/bookbob2.htm

Unbelievable Photos Show Factory Farms Destroying The American Countryside ---
http://www.businessinsider.com/mishka-henners-photos-of-american-feedlots-2014-8

ArtsEdge (Kennedy Center, Multicultural) --- http://artsedge.kennedy-center.org/educators.aspx

Railroad Photographs --- http://middarchive.middlebury.edu/cdm/landingpage/collection/rrphotos


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 New Yorker Archives since 2007 are Temporarily Opened Up for Free
"Our 25 Favorite Unlocked New Yorker Articles," Longform July 21, 2014 ---
http://longform.org/posts/our-25-favorite-unlocked-new-yorker-articles

A Thousand Years of the Persian Book (literature) --- http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/thousand-years-of-the-persian-book/

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 August 12, 2014
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/tidbits/2014/TidbitsQuotations081214.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/

GAO: Fiscal Outlook & The Debt --- http://www.gao.gov/fiscal_outlook/overview 

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

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





About Garden Plants --- http://www.naturehills.com/about-garden-plants/

Hello Bob,
I came across your webpage (http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/tidbits/2006/tidbits061105.htm) and enjoyed all the great resources you had.  I was wondering what it would take to get a link to my website naturehills.com? http://www.naturehills.com/about-garden-plants/
 
Thanks,

August 7, 2014

Thank you Richard,

I will add your link to future Tidbits newsletters. I do not usually update old Tidbits newsletters.

Keep you eye on future editions of Tidbits --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/tidbitsDirectory.htm 

I'm an avid flower gardener ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Pictures.htm

Bob Jensen


How It Works: 3D Printing with Fused Deposition Modeling --- Click Here
http://thejournal.com/whitepapers/2014/07/stratasys-3d-printing-with-fdm-073014.aspx?pc=e844em01&utm_source=webmktg&utm_medium=E-Mail&utm_campaign=e844em01 

3D Printing Videos --- Search YouTube for 3D Printing --- https://www.youtube.com/ 

Education Technology
Bob Jensen's Threads on Tricks and Tools of the Trade ---

http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/000aaa/thetools.htm

Bob Jensen's Threads on Education Technology ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/000aaa/0000start.htm


94% of Academic Economists Admit to Unacceptable Research Practices, Including Sex for Co-authorship and Promotion
"Sex, Lies, Economists," by Holly Else for Times Higher Education, Inside Higher Ed, August 7, 2014 ---
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2014/08/07/survey-finds-some-european-economists-admit-unethical-behavior

. . .

Her paper states: “The correction, fabrication, or partial exclusion of data, incorrect co-authorship, or copying of others’ work is admitted by 1 to 3.5 percent.” And it adds: “Having accepted or offered gifts in exchange for (co-)authorship, access to data, or promotion is admitted by 3 percent. Acceptance or offering of sex or money is reported by 1 to 2 percent.”

Necker sent an online survey to the 2,500 members of the European Economic Association asking about the justifiability of certain research behaviors, their own practices and those of their colleagues, as well as perceptions of any pressure to publish. The analysis is based on responses from 426 people who completed the questionnaire in full.

 

Jensen Comment
A friend about my age says:  "I went through the sexual revolution and never fired a shot."

I guess I could say that "I went through the academic research revolution and never fired a shot."

Seriously, could this partly explain why the number of co-authored articles has exploded in the past several decades?

Awe shucks!
This was a study about European economists, not accounting professors in the USA. I'm told that when academic accountants in the USA are going to conventions in the USA, the hookers schedule their vacations. Of course this could be because accountants are notoriously cheap rather than hormonal differences between accountants and other professionals going to conventions.

I'll forgo making a joke about the the researcher's last name on this study, but it's rather unforgettable in terms of the conclusions of the study.


Jensen Comment
I'm told that in Holland and some other nations it's possible to walk down certain streets and window shop for prostitutes. I say "I'm told" because when we were in Holland and Germany a number of times my wife would not let me stroll down those streets.

It was inevitable that this would evolve into the app described below.

"New Technology Is Shaking Up The World's Oldest Profession," The Economist via Business Insider, April 8, 2014 ---
http://www.businessinsider.com/new-technology-is-shaking-up-the-worlds-oldest-profession-2014-8

For those seeking commercial sex in Berlin, Peppr, a new app, makes life easy. Type in a location and up pops a list of the nearest prostitutes, along with pictures, prices and physical particulars. Results can be filtered, and users can arrange a session for a EUR5-10 ($6.50-13) booking fee. It plans to expand to more cities.

Peppr can operate openly since prostitution, and the advertising of prostitution, are both legal in Germany. But even where they are not, the internet is transforming the sex trade. Prostitutes and punters have always struggled to find each other, and to find out what they want to know before pairing off. Phone-box "tart cards" for blonde bombshells and leggy señoritas could only catch so many eyes.

Customers knew little about the nature and quality of the services on offer. Personal recommendations, though helpful, were awkward to come by. Sex workers did not know what risks they were taking on with clients.

Now specialist websites and apps are allowing information to flow between buyer and seller, making it easier to strike mutually satisfactory deals. The sex trade is becoming easier to enter and safer to work in: prostitutes can warn each other about violent clients, and do background and health checks before taking a booking. Personal web pages allow them to advertise and arrange meetings online; their clients' feedback on review sites helps others to proceed with confidence.

Even in places such as America, where prostitution and its facilitation are illegal everywhere except Nevada, the marketing and arrangement of commercial sex is moving online. To get round the laws, web servers are placed abroad; site-owners and users hide behind pseudonyms; and prominently placed legalese frames the purpose of sites as "entertainment" and their content as "fiction".

The shift online is casting light on parts of the sex industry that have long lurked in the shadows. Streetwalkers have always attracted the lion's share of attention from policymakers and researchers because they ply their trade in public places. They are more bothersome for everyone else--and, because they are the most vulnerable, more likely to come to the attention of the police and of social or health workers. But in many rich countries they are a minority of all sex workers; just 10-20% in America, estimates Ronald Weitzer, a sociologist at George Washington University.

The wealth of data available online means it is now possible to analyze this larger and less examined part of the commercial-sex market: prostitution that happens indoors. It turns out to be surprisingly similar to other service industries. Prostitutes' personal characteristics and the services they offer influence the prices they charge; niche services attract a premium; and the internet is making it easier to work flexible hours and to forgo a middleman.

Websites such as AdultWork allow prostitutes, both those working independently and those who work through agencies and brothels, to create profiles through which customers can contact them. They can upload detailed information about themselves, the range of services they provide, and the rates they charge. Clients can browse by age, bust or dress size, ethnicity, sexual orientation or location.

Other websites garner information from clients, who upload reviews of the prostitutes they have visited with details of the services offered, prices paid and descriptions of the encounters. On PunterNet, a British site, clients describe the premises, the encounter and the sex worker, and choose whether to recommend her. Such write-ups have enabled her to build a personal brand, says one English escort, Michelle (like many names in this article, a pseudonym), and to attract the clients most likely to appreciate what she offers. TrickAdvisor

We have analyzed 190,000 profiles of sex workers on an international review site. (Since it is active in America, it was not willing to be identified for this article. A disclaimer on the site says the contents are fictional; we make the assumption that they are informative all the same.) Each profile includes customers' reviews of the worker's physical characteristics, the services they offer and the price they charge.

The data go back as far as 1999. For each individual we have used the most recent information available, with prices corrected for inflation. Some of those featured may appear under more than one name, or also work through agencies. The data cover 84 cities in 12 countries, with the biggest number of workers being in America and most of the rest in big cities in other rich countries. As this site features only women, our analysis excludes male prostitutes (perhaps a fifth of the commercial-sex workforce). Almost all of those leaving reviews are men.

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/new-technology-is-shaking-up-the-worlds-oldest-profession-2014-8#ixzz39tmp4K9x

Jensen Comment
I suspect the prostitutes mentioned above want cash rather than co-authorships in economics research journals. The European economists mentioned below will work for co-authorships and tenure.

94% of Academic Economists Admit to Unacceptable Research Practices, Including Sex for Co-authorship and Promotion
"Sex, Lies, Economists," by Holly Else for Times Higher Education, Inside Higher Ed, August 7, 2014 ---
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2014/08/07/survey-finds-some-european-economists-admit-unethical-behavior

August 10, 2014 Reply from Barbara Scofield

I think it is important to add to this thread the telephone number of the national hotline for reporting tips about human trafficking:
 
1-888-373-7888

 


Correlation and Causation ---
http://davegiles.blogspot.com/2014/08/correlation-and-causation.html

 
A hat-tip to Judea Pearl, whose e-newsletter alerted me to this interesting post on the EvaluationHelp blog. It shows the original sixteen diagrams in Sewall Wright's classic 1921 paper on correlation and causality.

 
Philip and Sewall Wright were responsible for seminal contributions to the basic notions of instrumental variables estimation and parametric identification, though there is still some debate over their relative contributions to these important concepts.

Reference
Wright, S. (1921). Correlation and causation. Part I Method of path coefficients. Journal of Agricultural Research, 20, 557-585.

Jensen Comment
David Giles is an econometrics expert who seemingly abhors step (un) wise regression ---
http://davegiles.blogspot.com/2014/07/more-on-step-unwise-regression-and-pre.html


"Disruption Ahead: What MOOCs Will Mean for MBA Programs," Knowledge@wharton Blog, July 16, 2014 ---
http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/moocs-mba-programs-opportunities-threats/

In a new research paper, Christian Terwiesch, professor of operations and information management at Wharton, and Karl Ulrich, vice dean of innovation at the school, examine the impact that massive open online courses (MOOCs) will have on business schools and MBA programs. In their study — titled, “Will Video Kill the Classroom Star? The Threat and Opportunity of MOOCs for Full-time MBA Programs” — they identify three possible scenarios that business schools face not just as a result of MOOCs, but also because of the technology embedded in them. In an interview with Knowledge@Wharton, Terwiesch and Ulrich discuss their findings.

An edited transcript of the interview appears below.

Knowledge@Wharton: Christian, perhaps you could start us off by describing the main findings or takeaways from your research?

Terwiesch: Let me preface what we’re going to discuss about business schools by saying that Karl and I have been in the business school world for many, many years. We love this institution, and we really want to make sure that we find a sustainable path forward for business schools.

Continued in article

Bob Jensen's threads on MOOCs ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/000aaa/updateee.htm#OKI


Your Mac Is In For A Huge Overhaul — Here's What It Will Look Like ---
http://www.businessinsider.com/apple-os-x-yosemite-preview-2014-8
Watch the video


In the Chart:  How much more did Charlie Sheen (at the top) receive per episode versus Jimmy Fallon (at the bottom) ---
http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-08-06/big-bang-stars-1-million-payday-compared-to-friends-seinfeld?campaign_id=DN080614

Answer
It's not even close!


"The History of Ed Tech Shows It's Not About the Device," by David Thornberg, T.H.E. Journal, July 24, 2014 ---
http://thejournal.com/articles/2014/07/24/the-history-of-ed-tech.aspx

In June 1997, THE Journal published an article called Computers in Education: A Brief History.” That article is still one of the most popular on our website, but — to put it mildly — a lot has changed in ed tech since then. This is less a sequel to that article than a companion piece that dips back into the past, traces the trends of the present and looks to the future, all with an eye toward helping districts find the right device for their classrooms. 

When thinking about the role of technology in education, the logical starting point is exploring why the connection between computers and education was ever made in the first place. My starting point is Logo, an educational programming language designed in 1967 at Bolt Beranek and Newman (BBN) by Danny Bobrow, Wally Feurzeig, MIT professor Seymour Papert and Cynthia Solomon. This language was a derivative of the AI programming language LISP, and ran on the PDP-1 computers from Digital Equipment Corp. Seymour Papert had studied with constructivist pioneer Jean Piaget, and felt that computers could help students learn more by constructing their own knowledge and understanding by working firsthand with mathematical concepts, as opposed to being taught these concepts in a more directed way.

In 1973 the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center introduced the Alto computer, designed as the world’s first personal computer. At Xerox, Papert’s push to turn kids into programmers led to the development of Smalltalk — the first extensible, object-oriented programming language — under the direction of Alan Kay. Because these early computers were captive in the research lab, local students were brought in to explore their own designs.

Another path to educational technology began that same year, when the Minnesota Educational Computing Consortium (MECC) was started in an old warehouse in Minneapolis. Part of the state's educational software push, the original programs were simulations designed for a timeshare system running on a mainframe, with terminals placed in schools. Using this system, students could take a simulated journey along the Oregon Trail, for example, and learn about the importance of budgeting resources and other challenges that faced the early pioneers. Another simulation let the students run a virtual lemonade stand. Years later, the MECC software was rewritten for early personal computers.

In the early days, educational computing was focused on the development of higher-order thinking skills. Drill-and-practice software only became commonplace much later, with the release of inexpensive personal computers. By the late 1970s, personal computers came to market and started showing up in schools. These included the Commodore PET (1977) and Radio Shack TRS-80 (1977), among many other systems. But the computer that ended up having the greatest impact on schools at the time was the Apple II, also introduced in 1977. One characteristic of the Apple II was that it used floppy disks instead of cassette tapes for storing programs and also supported a graphical display, albeit at a low level. The first generation of computers in schools was not accompanied by very much software, though. The customer base was not yet big enough to justify the investment.

The Uses of Ed Tech, Past and Present

In 1980, Robert Taylor wrote a book, The Computer in the School: Tutor, Tool, Tutee. The underlying idea in this book was that students could use computers in three different ways: 1) As a tutor running simulations or math practice, for example; 2) as a tool for tasks like word processing; or 3) as a tutee, meaning the student teaches the computer to do something by writing a program in Logo or BASIC. This model touches on several pedagogical models, spanning from filling the mind with information to kindling the fire of curiosity. Even though technologies have advanced tremendously in the intervening years, this model still has some validity, and some contemporary technologies are better suited for some pedagogies than others.

Continued in article

Bob Jensen's threads on education technology ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/000aaa/0000start.htm

Bob Jensen's threads on the history of computers and networking ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/bookbob2.htm#---ComputerNetworking-IncludingInternet


"The Effect of Information on Uncertainty and the Cost of Capital," David James Johnstone, University of Sydney, July 31, 2014 ---
http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2474950

Abstract:     
 
It is widely held that better financial reporting makes investors more confident in their predictions of future cash flows and reduces their required risk premia. The logic is that more information leads necessarily to more certainty, and hence lower subjective estimates of firm "beta" or covariance with other firms. This is misleading on both counts. Bayesian logic shows that the best available information can often leave decision makers less certain about future events. And for those cases where information indeed brings great certainty, conventional mean-variance asset pricing models imply that more certain estimates of future cash payoffs can sometimes bring a higher cost of capital. This occurs when new or better information leads to sufficiently reduced expected firm payoffs. To properly understand the effect of signal quality on the cost of capital, it is essential to think of what that information says, rather than considering merely its "precision", or how strongly it says what it says.

Implications of Bad Auditing on Capital Markets and Client's Cost of Capital
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/FraudConclusion.htm#IncompetentAudits

Easier than Bayes
"Chances Are," by Steven Strogatz, The New York Times, April 25, 2010 ---
http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/04/25/chances-are/

Great Minds in Management:  The Process of Theory Development --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen//theory/00overview/GreatMinds.htm

Bob Jensen's threads on accounting theory ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Theory01.htm


America's Best Companies to Work For --- http://247wallst.com/special-report/2014/08/07/236519/12/

Jensen Comment
Among the largest CPA firms, only EY made this listing.

In general, a company on this list may have wide variation of "best" local offices. For example, among CPA and large consulting firms like Accenture, a firm not on the list may have a better local office than a firm on the list. Graduating students should tune in closely to alumni in local offices. Client exposure in a local office is exceedingly important for career opportunity, training, and satisfaction. Thus any two employees in a given local office may have vastly different evaluations of their jobs at a given time and over an extended period of time. Most of the companies in this listing have enormous local offices in major cities. Sometimes small is better.

Bob Jensen's threads on careers ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Bookbob1.htm#careers


Major Swedish city allows for self-driving cars in everyday traffic ---
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJwKuWz_lkE


"What Norwegian's New All-Inclusive Fares Reveal About Cruise Pricing," by Justin Bachman, Bloomberg Businessweek, August 4, 2014 ---
http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-08-04/norwegian-cruises-new-all-inclusive-fares-include-unlimited-booze?campaign_id=DN080514 

For decades, cruise lines have promoted themselves as a comprehensive vacation: lodging, abundant dining options, port stops, and on-board entertainment—all in the fare. What’s left?

Plenty, according to Norwegian Cruise Lines (NCLH), which is introducing “all-inclusive” pricing for 2015 cruises it sells this month. The package is priced according to the length of the cruise, from three days to two weeks, and offers a 10 percent discount on the cruise fare. The option for a seven-night cruise is $899 per person, more than double the $359 that Norwegian is charging for its basic low-season fare this fall. The package includes unlimited drinks, a $200 shore excursion credit, 20 photos, six bottles of water, prepaid daily service charges, and about four hours of Internet access. Buying the package also waives the usual $10 to $40 cover charge for dining at the company’s specialty restaurants, one per night. Factor in enough premium drinking, and the all-inclusive could justify the premium.

The new pricing scheme tweaks the industry’s long-standing argument that a cruise is a complete package, all on its own, acknowledging publicly the fact that on-board revenue is critical to cruise lines. (See also: airlines, baggage fees.) Nothing exemplifies this like booze, which cruisers typically pay for by the drink. At Norwegian, the third-largest U.S. cruise line, guests’ at-sea spending accounts for about a quarter of the company’s total sales.

Continued in article


Here's How North Korean Architects Envision The Future ---
http://www.businessinsider.com/north-koreas-future-architecture-images-2014-7
Jensen Comment
The problem not solved is how to feed the masses while the elite dine well in space-age apartments.


How to Mislead With StatisticsThis time its the Bureau of Labor Statistics
"4 Million Fewer Jobs: How The BLS Massively Overestimated US Job Creation," by Tyler Durden, Zero Hedge, August 5, 2014 ---
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-08-05/4-million-fewer-jobs-how-bls-massively-overestimated-us-job-creation


"Lawmaker Accused of Plagiarizing Thesis Drops Out of Senate Race," Andy Thomason, Chronicle of Higher Education, August 7, 2014 ---
http://chronicle.com/blogs/ticker/jp/lawmaker-accused-of-plagiarizing-thesis-drops-out-of-senate-race?cid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en

"Senator’s Thesis Turns Out to Be Remix of Others’ Works, Uncited John Walsh, Democrat, Confronts Questions of Plagiarism," by Jonathan Martin, The New York Times, July 23, 2014 ---
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/24/us/politics/montana-senator-john-walsh-plagiarized-thesis.html

Jensen Comment
When plagiarism is detected, professors and celebrities seem to me to be the least likely to lose their jobs or pay a heavy price. Punishments vary, but they seldom are expelled. Doctoral students may pay a heavy price by having theses rejected and a scarlet letter in the job market.

Is Arizona State University soft on plagiarism, or is this the trend for most universities in the USA
"New Book, New Allegations," by Colleen Flaherty, Inside Higher Ed, May 13, 2014 ---
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2014/05/13/arizona-state-professor-accused-plagiarism-second-time#sthash.OmcGllGb.dpbs 

An investigation into plagiarism allegations against an Arizona State University professor of history in 2011 found him not guilty of deliberate academic misconduct, but the case remained controversial. The chair of his department’s tenure committee resigned in protest and other faculty members spoke out against the findings, saying their colleague – who recently had been promoted to full professor – was cleared even though what he did likely would have gotten an undergraduate in trouble.

Now, Matthew C. Whitaker has written a new book, and allegations of plagiarism are being levied against him once again. Several blogs – one anonymously, and in great detail – have documented alleged examples of plagiarism in the work. Several of his colleagues have seen them, and say they raise serious questions about Whitaker’s academic integrity.

Continued in article

Celebrities often do not care very much when their plagiarism is detected, especially if they've already achieved celebrity status. Vladimir Putin not only did not write a single word in his Ph.D. thesis, it's not clear that he ever read a single word in his Ph.D. thesis --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Plagiarism.htm#Celebrities 
I think he could care less that the world knows he cheated for his doctorate (which is not all that uncommon in Russia).

Martin Luther King did not seem troubled that it was discovered that he plagiarized in his doctoral thesis ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Plagiarism.htm#Celebrities

Jane Goodall apologizes for lifting passages from Wikipedia for her new book," by Elizabeth Foster, National Post, March 20, 2013 ---
http://arts.nationalpost.com/2013/03/20/jane-goodall-apologizes-for-failing-to-cite-passages-from-wikipedia-and-elsewhere-in-her-new-book/
The world does not seem to care about her plagiarism.

Renewed Accusations of Plagiarism by Arianna Huffington
"Blast from the Past," by Colleen Flaherty, Inside Higher Ed, October 14, 2013 ---
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/10/14/petition-calls-uva-block-arianna-huffington-campus-appearance

Arianna Huffington is set to appear at the University of Virginia this week to meditate on its famed “lawn” with spiritualist Deepak Chopra. But a petition started by a former graduate student there calls for Huffington’s invitation to be rescinded, citing allegations that she once plagiarized a revered professor’s work.

Continued in article

"The Case of the Progressive Plagiarist," by Alexander Nazaryan, Newsweek, June 13, 2014 ---
http://www.newsweek.com/case-progressive-plagiarist-254746

In a lengthy article that was obviously thoroughly researched and was, just as obviously, a long time in the making, New Republic contributor Christopher Ketcham convincingly argues that the firebrand left-wing journalist Chris Hedges has routinely plagiarized in his work, liberally borrowing from the likes of Ernest Hemingway and Naomi Klein, not to mention Ketcham’s wife.

Continued in article

"MIT Tops List of College Copyright Violators," by Erica R. Hendry, Chronicle of Higher Education, June 17, 2009 ---
http://chronicle.com/wiredcampus/article/3833/mit-tops-list-of-college-copyright-violators

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology had the most instances of digital piracy and other copyright infringements among American colleges and universities in 2008 for the second year in a row, according to a report released by Bay-TSP, a California company that offers tracking applications for copyrighted works.

Continued in article

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

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

 


"An AAUP Target Turns the Tables:  The AAUP plans to investigate tenure practices at the U. of Texas' M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, in Houston. The center's response: First, explain your authority." by Peter Schmidt, Chronicle of Higher Education, August 5, 2014 ---
http://chronicle.com/article/An-AAUP-Target-Turns-the/148139/?cid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en

In a five-page letter sent to the AAUP last week, the University of Texas’ M.D. Anderson Cancer Center expressed concern that the association’s investigation "may not be conducted in a manner that ordinarily prudent people would consider either objective or considerate of our focused mission."

The Houston-based center’s letter asks the AAUP more than 20 questions related to the validity and fairness of any such investigation, touching on subjects such as why no college administrators serve on the association’s investigative committees and just how much of the nation’s professoriate it counts as dues-paying members.

The center’s executive leadership "would greatly appreciate prompt, candid, and direct answers to our questions" to determine how to respond to the AAUP, says the letter, written by Dan Fontaine, the center’s executive chief of staff, on behalf of other officials there.

The letter, first reported by the Houston Chronicle, says "our concerns are not merely abstract, but result from our own fact gathering about previous AAUP investigations of other administrative actions taken by responsible leadership at other highly regarded institutions."

The letter does not elaborate on the results of the center’s own investigation, but it evokes objections raised by other institutions that have been examined the AAUP, including the complaint that the association has failed to fully publish their written dissents to its findings.

Mr. Fontaine’s letter explicitly stresses that "we are not presupposing any lack of objectivity, and hope that candid and complete answers to our questions will alleviate our concerns."

Nevertheless, several of the letter’s questions, asking about matters such as the AAUP’s political activities, appear less intended to seek assurances of fairness than to gather ammunition for alleging the absence of fairness in the AAUP’s investigation of the dismissal of two professors at M.D. Anderson.

Tough Grilling

Many colleges’ administrations have raised objections to AAUP investigations—especially investigations that have led to votes by the association to censure their institutions. Never before, however, has the group been subject to such an interrogation early in the investigatory process.

Jordan E. Kurland, the AAUP’s associate general secretary, joked on Monday that other colleges’ challenges to the association’s authority are "usually confined to two words: ‘Screw you.’" They might raise one or two questions challenging the association’s authority, he said, but not a long list of them.

In an email on Friday to Mr. Fontaine and other officials of the cancer center, Gregory F. Scholtz, director of the AAUP’s department of academic freedom, tenure, and governance, confirmed receipt "of the welcome letter that you sent us" and pledged to respond to the center’s questions by mid-August.

Continued in article

Rethinking Tenure, Dissertations, and Scholarship
Academic Publishing in the Digital Age

http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/HigherEdControversies2.htm#MLA

Obsolete and Dysfunctional System of Tenure
Over 62% of Full-Time Faculty Are Off the Tenure Track
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/HigherEdControversies2.htm#Tenure


Michel Foucault --- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michel_Foucault

Hear Michel Foucault’s Lecture “The Culture of the Self,” Presented in English at UC Berkeley (1983) ---
http://www.openculture.com/2014/08/michel-foucaults-lecture-the-culture-of-the-self.html


"Are Courses Outdated? MIT Considers Offering ‘Modules’ Instead," by Jeffrey R. Young, Chronicle of Higher Education, August 5, 2014 ---
http://chronicle.com/blogs/wiredcampus/are-courses-outdated-mit-considers-offering-modules-instead/54257?cid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en

THE COLLEGE OF 2020: STUDENTS  ---
https://www.chronicle-store.com/ProductDetails.aspx?ID=78956&WG

Bob Jensen's threads on Higher Education Controversies ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/HigherEdControversies.htm


"Let's Be Honest About Gender Discrimination at Business Schools," by Linda Scott, Bloomberg Businessweek, July 28, 2014 ---
http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-07-28/most-business-schools-discriminate-against-female-faculty

Jensen Comment
This article has some nice summaries of AACSB data such as the "Salaries of Business School Faculty Hired One Year Earlier" compared for Finance, Marketing , Management in Accounting and Female versus Male. In Accounting the average is slightly over $140,000 for men and slightly under $140,000 for women in AACSB-accredited programs. This difference is surprising to me since most schools that I know about do not gender-discriminate with starting salaries for new PhD faculty on tenure track. I provide one possible explanation below in terms of averaging salary data for both R1 research universities and other universities having AACSB accreditation.

The article does not sufficiently warn about differences in salaries between R1 research universities that have AACSB accreditation and other universities and colleges having AACSB accreditation. The R1 universities typically pay more for new accounting faculty because the supply of such faculty from prestigious research doctoral programs is in such short supply. This suggests to me that one possibility for the differences in salary one year out for accounting faculty men versus women may backflush out to differences in the proportions of men versus women graduating from prestigious accounting research doctoral programs.

In other words the differences in salary between men versus women may not be due to differences in starting salaries of any given school between newly hired men and women as it is differences between schools themselves on the basis of higher-paying R1 universities hiring more men versus lower paying other universities hiring more women.

Other possible explanations are provided in the above article.

The article does not sufficiently warn about limitations in such comparisons. For example, nearly all newly hired PhD accounting faculty are given 1-5 years of summer research stipends, usually funded by donations from alumni in CPA firms matched by the firms themselves. Such funding is somewhat less common in Marketing, Management, and Finance. Since the summer stipends are often 2/9 of base pay, difference in stipend differences between men and women may be exacerbated somewhat when taking full yearly compensation into account. Also new accounting faculty may be doing considerably better in terms of 12-month compensation than their brethren in Marketing, Management, and Finance.

Concluding Note
I might note that an important explanation for gender gap differences in professional life (i.e., than men are compensated for more hours of work) probably does not apply to academe as much as it does to the working world in general. For example, female physicians are known on average to make less then male physicians because on average they work fewer hours. I don't think female tenure-track accounting professors on average work fewer hours then male accounting professors. In part this is because academic life has flexible work schedules and is more conducive to raising a family than many other professions.

Also academe does not afford overtime/overwork compensation alternatives that are available in many other professions. The overtime/overwork compensation among newly-hired accounting graduates in practice (not in academe) is systemic.

Because of consulting opportunities and textbook writing, academe does afford overwork compensation to senior faculty. However, most non-tenured faculty do not have time to take advantage of those "overwork" opportunities.

This was eventually published in The American Sociological Review
Title:  Overwork and the Slow Convergence in the Gender Gap in Wages
http://mypage.iu.edu/~cha5/Youngjoo_Cha_files/Cha_weeden.pdf
  

Authors:  Youngjoo Cha, Department of Sociology Indiana University cha5@indiana.edu
                Kim A. Weeden , Department of Sociology, Cornell University kw74@cornell.e

September 24, 2013

Despite rapid changes in women’s educational attainment and continuous labor force experience, convergence in the gender gap in wa ges slowed in the 1990s and stalled in the 2000s. Using CPS data from 1979 to 2009, we show that convergence in the gender gap in hourly pay over these three decades was attenuated by the in creasing prevalence of “overwork” (defined as working 50 or more hours per week) and the rising hourly wage returns to overwork. Because a greater proportion of men engage in overwork, these changes raised men’s wages relative to women’s and exacerbated the gender wage gap by an estimated 10% of the total wage gap. This overwork effect was also sufficiently large to offset the wage-equalizing effects of the narrowing gender gap in educational attainment and other forms of human capital. The overwork effect on trends in the gender gap in wages was most pronounced in professional and managerial occupations, where long work hours are especially common and norms of overwork are deeply embedded in organizational practices and occupational cultures. These results illustrate how new ways of organizing work can perpetuate old forms of gender inequality.

Bob Jensen's threads on the gender gap in hiring and compensation ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/HigherEdControversies2.htm#GenderSalaryDifferences

Bob Jensen Threads on the History of Women in Accounting ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/bookbob2.htm#Women


Map Showing the Wealthiest Person in Each USA State (quite a few are women) ---
http://www.businessinsider.com/this-map-shows-the-wealthiest-person-in-every-state-2014-8

Jensen Comment
At some level of wealth a person seemingly locates a primary home irrespective of high taxes. It's interesting, however, to note which USA states have not one billionaire. One is the relatively high taxation state of Maine. The other is the relatively low taxation state of Delaware that nevertheless does have an income tax. In terms of affluence Delaware ranks 9/50. Maine ranks 34/50.

Most of the very wealthy folks on this map have one or more secondary houses, condos, and apartments around the world.  Some also have yachts.


"Where culture goes to die," The Economist, July 31, 2014 ---
http://www.economist.com/blogs/babbage/2014/07/network-science

C.P. SNOW would have been heartened. The scientist and author alleged in the 1950s that intellectual progress in the whole of the Western world had become neatly and resolutely divided between the sciences and the humanities. But in research profiled in Science this week, those "two cultures" have come crashing together, with results that are both numerically intriguing and, fittingly, pleasing to the eye.

Maximilian Schich, of the University of Texas at Dallas, and colleagues elsewhere in America and Switzerland, set their sights on infiltrating one of Snow's cultures with the other. They brought network science—a mode of analysis that is less about the "what" and the "who", and much more about the "with whom"—to bear on cultural migration in the Western world. Advertisement

Their starting point was data painstakingly acquired from diverse sources: the locations and dates of the births and deaths of more than 150,000 notable individuals, stretching back through 2,000 years of history. By tracking where great artists and thinkers were and where they went, the team could discern not only patterns of migration but also the rise and fall of cultural centres. (In the illustrations, blue represents a place of birth, and red the location of death.)

The findings seem to verify a number of empirical rules first worked out by Ernst Georg Ravenstein, a German geographer who noted patterns within the migrations he saw in the late 19th century: most migrants do not go very far, those who do aim for big cities, urban centres grow from immigration far more than procreation, and so on. In the new study, these rules are borne out not just over the time since then, but as far back as the data go—the better part of a millennium.

The work contained some genuine surprises as well. Despite the ease and frequency with which travellers move in modern times, the median distance between birth and death rose by less than a factor of two between the 14th and the 21st centuries. Globalisation, it seems, has not much magnified the natural human propensity to be on the move.

While we might think of some cities as the beating hearts of culture since their very inception, the team's results showed otherwise. The popularity of destinations such as Paris, Florence, New York and Vienna waxed and waned fitfully through the centuries, in a way more mercurial even than modern cultural markers such as Twitter hashtags (network science has looked at those too).

Some cities emerged from the data as what the authors poetically note as "birth sources" or "death attractors"—Brooklyn seems to have produced quite a few notables but not seen their deaths, and Hollywood had more than 10 times as many deaths as births. One might opine that Hollywood is where culture goes to die.

Continued in article

Bob Jensen's links to tutorials in many academic disciplines ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/bookbob2.htm


Over 10% of the first-year class at the University of Illinois will be from China ---
http://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2014/08/04/when-10-frosh-flagship-are-china


The New Yorker Archives since 2007 are Temporarily Opened Up for Free
"Our 25 Favorite Unlocked New Yorker Articles," Longform July 21, 2014 ---
http://longform.org/posts/our-25-favorite-unlocked-new-yorker-articles


"Shoppers Are Fleeing Physical Stores Shift to Online Sales Is Prompting Retailers to Scale Back More Store Openings," by Shelly Banjo and Paul Ziobro, The Wall Street Journal, August 5, 2014 ---
http://online.wsj.com/articles/shoppers-are-fleeing-physical-stores-1407281362?tesla=y&mod=djemCFO_h&mg=reno64-wsj

U.S. retailers are facing a steep and persistent drop in store traffic, which is weighing on sales and prompting chains to slow store openings as shoppers make more of their purchases online.

Aside from a small uptick in April, shopper visits have fallen by 5% or more from a year earlier in every month for the past two years, according to ShopperTrak, a Chicago-based data firm that records store visits for retailers using tracking devices installed at 40,000 U.S. outlets. Even as warmer temperatures replace the harsh winter weather this year, store visits fell by nearly 7% in June and nearly 5% in July, according to ShopperTrak.

New data from Moody's Investors Service shows that the shift to online sales has prompted retailers to scale back store openings and will likely lead them to pare back their fleets even more in coming years, as more than $70 billion in lease debt expires by 2018. Growth in store counts at the 100 largest retailers by revenue has slowed to less than 3% from more than 12% three years ago, according to Moody's.

The pressure comes as consumer tastes are changing. Instead of wandering through stores and making impulse purchases, shoppers use their mobile phones and computers to research prices and cherry-pick promotions, sticking to shopping lists rather than splurging on unneeded items. Even discount retailers are finding it harder to boost sales by lowering prices as many low-income consumers struggle to afford the basics regardless of the price.

Continued article

Jensen Comment
Here in the boondocks we buy many of our grocery items and virtually all of our clothing online. We love Amazon Prime and Amazon's very efficient and free return service.

I don't buy bigger items online that are more likely to need service. For this I love the Sears local-store for things like lawn mowers, leaf blowers, lawn sweepers, power trimmers, snow throwers, chain saws, refrigerators, freezers, etc. I especially like Sears home service warranties on heavy items like snow throwers, lawn sweepers, dehumidifiers (for the basement), and air conditioners. A Sears home service warranty includes one free annual at-home maintenance and cleaning service for things like filters on air conditioners, freezers, and refrigerators. Years ago I grew tired of over-stuffed refrigerators. Even though there are only two of us in the cottage, in the basement we have two extra large refrigerators plus an upright freezer. Since Erika is troubled by stairs we also have an elevator that I recommend highly for multi-story homes. Retirement is not all that bad.

Question
What is the most useful thing that I now use that I never owned before retirement?

Answer
The bucket loader on my tractor. Back surgeons must hate bucket loaders. An 80lb bag of top soil is now a piece of cake as long as the store workers load it into the back of my jeep. At home I simply roll it off into the bucket loader. How did I ever manage in my previous life without a bucket loader?


Jensen Comment
I like the phrase "illiberal liberalism."
All the years I tracked the trials and tribulations of John Silber I viewed him as more of a conservative than a "liberal." I guess he was a liberal fighting Illiberal liberals.

"Book Review: 'Seeking the North Star'," by John R. Silber A genuine liberal, John R. Silber was on a collision course with the illiberal liberalism of contemporary academic culture," by Roger Kimball, The Wall Street Journal, August 3, 2014 ---
http://online.wsj.com/articles/book-review-seeking-the-north-star-by-john-r-silber-1407097849?tesla=y&mod=djemMER_h&mg=reno64-wsj

When writing about academic administrators, I often prepare for the task by retrieving a copy of Ralph Buchsbaum's zoological classic "Animals Without Backbones," to remind myself what species of creature I am communing with. A conspicuous exception to this rule was my friend John Silber, about whom no trace of invertebrateness was ever detected. Indeed, Silber, who died at 86 in 2012, thrived on confrontation. In a commencement address delivered at Boston University in 1996, he told his departing charges that "you can never succeed in realizing your highest dreams and ambitions if you do not strive for them with all the force of your personality." You can be sure that all graduating seniors at BU would have learned that, for John Silber, "force of personality" was no idle commendation.

A specialist in the moral philosophy of Immanuel Kant —like the peripatetic timekeeper of Königsberg, he liked his imperatives categorical—Silber began his career at the University of Texas at Austin, where he chaired the department of philosophy and later served as a dean. But it was as president of Boston University, a position he held from 1971 until 1996, when he became chancellor, that Silber emerged as a national figure, celebrated or reviled depending on the filiations of the person delivering the judgment.

In his tonic foreword to "Seeking the North Star," a wide-ranging selection of Silber's speeches, Tom Wolfe notes that, at BU, Silber transformed "a moribund streetcar college into a major teaching and research institution," building its endowment to some $430 million from $18 million. He stocked the faculty with world-class talent, including Nobel laureates Elie Wiesel, Derek Walcott, Saul Bellow and the physicist Sheldon Glashow. Unambiguous grounds for celebration, you might think, but that would be to neglect politically correct mediocrities such as historian Howard Zinn, who was for decades a fixture at BU and with whom Silber often clashed.

Two things guaranteed that Silber's tenure at Boston University would be stormy. One was his passion for excellence. Can there be a greater provocation to the self-absorbed confraternity of academic underachievers? He roundly derided the passion for egalitarianism that is the apple of the academic eye. Democracy, he wrote in a speech entitled "The Social Responsibility of the Modern University," is besieged by "counterfeits," above all by the claim that "every institution in a democracy ought to be democratic." Silber was a robust supporter of democracy, but he understood that "an effective democracy is essentially elitist, and flourishes when led by persons of virtue and talent." How do you suppose that went down?

The other complaint against Silber was his stalwart defense of academic freedom. But wait, aren't academics all for academic freedom? Not hardly. Zinn, author of the egregious but best-selling "People's History of the United States" was a typical specimen. He specialized in organizing and abetting protests against people with whom he disagreed. His goal was not to engage in debate but to end it. "The Zinn principle," Silber wrote in "Procedure or Dogma: The Core of Liberalism," holds to the Orwellian tenet that "all academics were entitled to academic freedom, but that some academics were not."

Silber was often labeled "conservative." In fact, and as he always insisted, he was a liberal of the old school. He believed in advancement according to merit, not quotas; colorblind justice; the disinterested pursuit of truth; and open debate, not ideological conformity. This commitment to what we might call classical liberalism—the liberalism of an Edmund Burke or John Stuart Mill —forms an important leitmotif of "Seeking the North Star." It also explains why Silber was from the beginning on a collision course with the faux-liberalism, the illiberal liberalism, of contemporary academic culture. "No institution," he writes sadly, "has contributed so extensively to the deracination and diminishment of our humanity as university faculties."

The irony, of course, is that an institution supposedly dedicated to fostering the liberal arts—those arts that promise to liberate by acquainting us with past models of human greatness—should today so often work to undermine our faith in humanity. I am not sure that we—parents and citizens who lavishly fund these tax-free oases—have taken on board how far the reality of academic life today departs from the traditional ideal of a liberal-arts education. As the essays in this volume amply attest, Silber dedicated himself to battling against the multifarious agents of academic diminishment, from the spurious imperatives of "multiculturalism," which substitutes politics for culture, to the parodies of genuine scientific inquiry, which insist that only the measurable is true.

Silber's understanding of the importance of the humanities as a leaven for what is noblest in our aspirations sets him apart from the usual technocratic university president, who is more of a fund-raising apparatchik than an intellectual leader. He understood that the index of civilization was a society's commitment to what the early 20th-century British jurist John Fletcher Moulton called "obedience to the unenforceable." Civilized life takes place mostly in a realm between the coercive law and complete freedom—a realm governed by such flexible imperatives as taste, manners and custom. More and more, the extent of that gracious dominion has been diminished. It's an odd situation we face.

Continued in the article

 


How to Mislead With Statistics
"How the Government Exaggerates the Cost of College," by David Lennhardt, The New York Times, July 29, 2014 ---
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/29/upshot/how-the-government-exaggerates-the-cost-of-college.html?rref=upshot&_r=2

The government’s official statistic for college-tuition inflation has become somewhat infamous. It appears frequently in the news media, and policy makers lament what it shows.

No wonder: College tuition and fees have risen an astounding 107 percent since 1992, even after adjusting for economywide inflation, according to the measure. No other major household budget item has increased in price nearly as much.

But it turns out the government’s measure is deeply misleading.

For years, that measure was based on the list prices that colleges published in their brochures, rather than the actual amount students and their families paid. The government ignored financial-aid grants. Effectively, the measure tracked the price of college for rich families, many of whom were not eligible for scholarships, but exaggerated the price – and price increases – for everyone from the upper middle class to the poor.

Here’s an animation that explains the difference succintly. It shows the government’s estimate of how college costs have changed since 1992 — and, for comparison, toggles between the changes in the colleges' published prices and actual prices, according to the College Board, the group that conducts the SAT.

Continued in article

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


How to Pitch Yourself: A Lesson from Young Eudora Welty's Impossibly Charming Job Application to The New Yorker ---
http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2014/05/12/eudora-welty-new-yorker-application-letter/


"Understanding the Great Recession," by Lawrence J. Christiano, Martin Eichenbaum, and Mathias Trabandt, SSRN, April 2, 2014 ---
http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2474797

Abstract:     
 
We argue that the vast bulk of movements in aggregate real economic activity during the Great Recession were due to financial frictions interacting with the zero lower bound. We reach this conclusion looking through the lens of a New Keynesian model in which firms face moderate degrees of price rigidities and no nominal rigidities in the wage setting process. Our model does a good job of accounting for the joint behavior of labor and goods markets, as well as inflation, during the Great Recession. According to the model the observed fall in total factor productivity and the rise in the cost of working capital played critical roles in accounting for the small size of the drop in inflation that occurred during the Great Recession.

Bob Jensen's threads on the bailout ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/2008Bailout.htm


A Shocking Suicide
"Sad News From Vermont Law School," by Paul Caron, TaxProf Blog, August 5, 2014 ---
http://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog/2014/08/sad-news.html

Cheryl Hanna, Vice President for External Relations and Professor of Law at Vermont Law School, took her own life last week at the age of 48, leaving behind a husband and two children. Professor Hanna's family has requested that, in lieu of flowers, memorial contributions be made in her memory to Women Helping Battered Women, P.O. Box 1535, Burlington, VT 05402.


Some Conclusions From Recent Economic Research Working Papers
"In The Papers: Cash For Clunkers, Affirmative Action, Oil And Water,"
by Ben Casselman
5:38 Blog
August 4, 2014
http://fivethirtyeight.com/datalab/in-the-papers-cash-for-clunkers-affirmative-action-oil-and-water/

Jensen Comment
In 2001 I inherited my father's 1989 Cadillac. It ran perfectly without a single problem until I traded it in during the Cash-for-Clunkers stimulus program in 2010. I probably would have traded it in anyway --- not because it was giving ma any trouble. My worry was that if it needed parts those parts would be harder and harder to find, especially given the dearth of junk yards up in the mountains where I live. Although we had a 1999 Jeep as well, the Jeep was and still is unreliable.

I preferred getting another all-wheel drive car that was more reliable than our Jeep. We opted for a Subaru Forrester SUV and have had no troubles with this car.

My point is that the conclusion about the Cash-for-Clunkers stimulus program in the above article by Ben Casselman applies exactly to us. We just speeded up our plans to buy a new car by about six months. The Cash-for-Clunkers program saved us a small amount of money since the trade in for our 20+ year old car was nil. But the amount we saved was only about $1,000 relative to what we would have paid if we simply negotiated a cash price for a new car without trading in the old Cad. But then I would have been stuck with trying to get rid of the old and still reliable old friend. I'm not interested in saving my old cars until they are valuable antiques.


How to Mislead With Governmental Accounting
"How Much Do We Really Owe?," by John Goodman, Forbes, August 7, 2014 ---
http://www.forbes.com/sites/johngoodman/2014/08/07/how-much-do-we-really-owe/

First the good news: the official federal deficit is only 3% of GDP – way below the 10% figure it reached only a few years ago. Now the bad news: The real deficit is more than ten times that amount.

The U.S. government’s deficit is expected to be $514 billion this year, according to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). That’s the number you get when you look at cash flow. It means the government will spend $514 billion more than it takes in during the 2014 fiscal year.

But this kind of accounting ignores federal government liabilities that will become due in future years. For example, over the course of a year millions of people earn Social Security and Medicare benefits as well as other government entitlement benefits that will have to be paid in future years. When you total all that up (and subtract expected future revenues to pay those benefits), we added $5 trillion in debt last year according to Boston University economist Larry Kotlikoff.

Another way to look at the problem is to consider not just one year’s deficit, but the total amount of debt that government has accumulated. US debt held by the public is currently $12.6 trillion, or about 75% of the size of our economy the way the CBO measures things. But in arriving at that number, the CBO doesn’t recognize promises to pay Social Security checks and medical bills as real obligations.

Take a senior citizen who is expecting an interest payment on a government bond next month and who is also expecting a Social Security check. The way the CBO looks at the world, the interest payment on the bond is a real obligation of the government. But the Social Security check isn’t.

That’s a strange way of accounting and Kotlikoff and his colleagues reject it. Instead they project the value of all the promises we have made under Social Security and other entitlement programs – benefits that ordinary citizens believe they have earned – and subtract expected future revenues, given the current tax law. The difference is an unfunded liability that is every bit as real as promises to make future interest payments on bonds and Treasury bills.

Calculating obligations in this way, Kotlikoff estimates that the total unfunded liability of the federal government is $210 trillion, or about 12 times the size of our economy. Writing in The New York Times, Kotlikoff says:

“The fiscal gap — the difference between our government’s projected financial obligations and the present value of all projected future tax and other receipts — is, effectively, our nation’s credit card bill. Eliminating it, would require an immediate, permanent 59 percent increase in federal tax revenue. An immediate, permanent 38 percent cut in federal spending would also suffice. The longer we wait, the worse the pain. If, for example, we do nothing for 20 years, the requisite federal tax increase would be 70 percent, or the requisite spending cut, 43 percent.”

And the tax increase, by the way, doesn’t work unless the money is sequestered and invested. It can’t just be deposited in the Treasury’s bank account and spent on other things.

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

Bob Jensen's threads on the sad state of governmental accounting ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Theory02.htm#GovernmentalAccounting


Former Secretary of Labor, Secretary of the Treasury, Secretary of State, and Economics Professorhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Shultz
George P. Shultz --- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Shultz

"How to Get America Moving Again:  The world is in turmoil and needs a stronger U.S. It's time to wake the sleeping giant by taking these specific steps to rev up the economy,"  by George P. Shultz, The Wall Street Journal, August 8, 2014 ---
http://online.wsj.com/articles/george-p-shultz-how-to-get-america-moving-again-1407536979?tesla=y&mod=djemMER_h&mg=reno64-wsj

Adm. Isoroku Yamamoto, who led the Japanese fleet at Pearl Harbor, had spent some time before World War II in the United States. After the attack, he allegedly said, with a sense of foreboding, "I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve." Well, the giant is sleeping again. What does it take to wake us up? How many times can we be kicked in the belly before we take notice?

The world is awash in change that affects us and our allies. We must recognize this and strengthen our military capabilities, set effective strategies, and be prepared to support our principles and oppose those who seek to destroy them. To do so, we must get our economy really rolling again. How? Everyone knows how. We just need to take action:

(1) Cleanse the personal income tax system of deductions and lower the marginal rate on a revenue-neutral basis. The template is right there in the 1986 Tax Act, which passed the U.S. Senate 97-3.

(2) We all know that corporate taxation is an anachronism. Why do we want a system that encourages American companies to reincorporate abroad? Let the earnings they make in other countries be taxed there, and that's it. Why give incentives for companies to keep their cash offshore rather than invest it in the U.S.? And let's lower the corporate tax rate to be competitive with the rest of the world. How about 20%?

(3) We all know that the maze and uncertainty of the regulatory octopus is stifling the economy. Regulations are needed, but they can be made simpler and designed to work better. Overhaul the current complexity so that even small businesses can see how to comply without having to hire compliance advocates they can't afford.

(4) While we are reducing uncertainty, why not take the mystery out of the Federal Reserve? The Fed can establish a rules-based monetary policy with the ability to deviate from the rules as long as they publicly explain why, using cost benefit thinking in the explanation.

(5) Get control of spending. Otherwise the burden of servicing government debt when normal interest rates return—a burden that already amounts to hundreds of billions annually—will be unbearable.

The problem is entitlement spending. There are many well-known ways to put the Social Security system back on track so it will be there for young people in the future. One way is to change from wage-indexing to price-indexing as a method of calculating benefits, and apply the change only to people under the age of 55. That means younger people will receive benefits at least as large as those now being paid with protection against any future inflation.

Another change is to index the normal retirement age—when people can receive full benefits—to longevity. And when workers reach age 65, stop any payroll deductions and employer contributions to encourage them to stay in the labor force. Their pay will increase and they will be less costly employees. Incentives work.

(6) Health-care finance is more difficult, but here is a simple formula to use as a basis for further work. Right now, health-insurance companies are pass-through agents that receive money from the government, employers, and other sources that they spend on a wide variety of health services. But insurance is about risk. The main risks in the health-care area are catastrophic events that have high costs, so high-deductible catastrophic insurance is what is needed. Even young people will buy such coverage because the cost—particularly if insurance companies have to compete across state lines—will be low and the protection these policies give is important for everyone.

Let's encourage health-savings accounts. Singapore has required health savings accounts and price transparency since 1984, and even the poor who get government support are motivated to spend carefully. According to World Bankfigures, the total public and private spending on health care in Singapore is 4.7% of their GDP compared with 17.9% in the U.S. The outcomes and health-care facilities in Singapore are among the best in the world.

Most people who make a decent living can afford to put pretax income into health-savings accounts, which they can then use to pay for routine medical services. We also should tweak Medicare and Medicaid so that significant health-savings accounts can be created for their recipients—so most everyone can have access to the health care system. And consumers need more information about the prices of health-care services so they can make informed decisions.

Finally, we should encourage public and private neighborhood health clinics, which are spreading rapidly and can dispense health care inexpensively.With these changes, the economy will soar. It will be morning once again in America.

What about our defense and foreign policy? Let's put our military to work figuring out what we really need. We want no-nonsense people in charge. We want to do away with all nonsensical across-the-board sequester rules. But we must have a robust military capability. And then we need to conduct ourselves in a credible way.

I always remember the day in Marine Corps boot camp when my drill sergeant handed me my rifle. He said, "This is your best friend. Take good care of it and remember: Never point this rifle at anybody unless you're willing to pull the trigger." The lesson—no empty threats—was one that I have never forgotten. But this boot-camp wisdom is too often ignored, undermining our credibility.

America needs to work closely with its friends and allies. There are many of them. They need leadership and example. The problems ahead are too numerous to enumerate, but the threats to us and our friends are real. So, wake up, sleeping giant! You have work to do.

Jensen Comment
The problem with tax reforms like those suggested by Professor Shultz is that stakeholders have become dependent upon the status quo. Universities, churches, and virtually all charities have grown dependent upon donors who give money and other assets primarily for the tax benefits. Towns, cities, counties, and school districts are dependent upon lower interest on their risky bonds that attract investors due to tax exempt interest. Alternative energy companies are dependent upon tax incentives. Ant the list of stakeholders in the current tax breaks goes on and on and on. Getting tax reform passed trhough their lobbying checkpoints is virtually impossible.

The corporate income tax can and should be replaced by a VAT tax but business firms used to beating the corporate tax code fight the VAT tax with all the weapons in their arsenal.

Even less likely is getting control of government spending. Here again there are too many stakeholders and too much fraud to make any headway on spending until entitlements force double digit annual inflation so that entitlement obligations and be paid off dollars that will eventually not be worth the cloth/paper they are printed on. Currently most people won't bother to bend down to pick up a penny. Eventually they won't bother to pick up a dropped dollar in the gutter.

As a result what Professor Shultz recommends is purely academic (read that as fantasy). Reality will one day be hyperinflation.


"Admiral Named as Next Chancellor of U. of Texas System," Inside Higher Ed, July 30, 2014 ---
http://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2014/07/30/admiral-named-next-chancellor-u-texas-system

Jensen Comment
I do not really know Bill personally, but in San Antonio I used to play bridge with his dad, Mac, who was both a half back under Coach Bear Bryant and a fighter pilot in World War II. Mac passed away a number of years ago.


Student Loan Fraud:  They sought a total of $240,000 in loans based on false claims of being students either at Joliet Junior College, Harper College or Elgin Community College, authorities said.
http://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2014/08/01/4-charged-loan-fraud-scheme

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


"Nearly 80% Of NFL Athletes Blow All Their Money — Here's Who Didn't Mess It Up," by Stacey Bumpus, Business Insider, August 9, 2013 ---
http://www.businessinsider.com/nfl-players-success-off-the-field-2013-8 

Jensen Comment
The title of the above article is a little misleading. Some of the NFL veterans in the article took risks financial risks that paid off. The article does not mention those that were more conservative with investments and probably are better investment managers or hired better investment managers.

The article does not mention Hall of Famer John Elway who bought five car dealerships and two restaurants that were almost sure-thing money makers. Elway, however, did get burned in a Ponzi scheme, but I don't think his losses here made a big dent in his fortunes. He has taken some other investment risks such as his investments in arena football, but I think he could easily absorb the losses. However, I do not know this for a fact.  His 2004 divorce probably cost him more than any of his business losses. He sure took some rough physical beatings when he was still a quarterback for the Denver Broncos.

John Elway --- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Elway

The Worst Sack Ever on John Elway (former All-Pro Quarterback in the Mile-High City)
Elway Got Schemered!
Stanford Graduates Should Know Better
"John Elway Invested $15 MILLION With Alleged Ponzi Schemer," Huffington Post, October 14, 2010 ---
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/10/14/john-elway-invested-15-mi_n_762663.html

Former Denver Broncos quarterback John Elway and his business partner gave $15 million to a hedge-fund manager now accused of running a Ponzi scheme.

The Denver Post reported Thursday that Elway and Mitchell Pierce filed a motion saying they wired the money to Sean Michael Mueller in March. They said Mueller agreed to hold the money in trust until they agreed on where it would be invested.

A state investigator says 65 people invested $71 million with Mueller's company over 10 years and it only had $9.5 million in assets in April and $45 million in liabilities.

Elway's filing asks that the court put their claims ahead of others so they can collect their money first. His lawyer declined to comment.

Jensen Comment
It's hard to feel sorry for rich people who play in games without rules (hedge funds)
Better to play in games with rules and stand behind 325 lb linemen with missing teeth, BO, and noses that look like corkscrews.

It's also hard to know how much celebrities really lose in some business ventures. On occasion they are merely investing their names and promotion efforts without sacrificing much in the way of personal investments.

Often professional athletes and other celebrities are so busy with their non-financial activities and are so naive about finance and accounting and taxes that they are especially vulnerable to con artists who bleed them dry in one way or another. Examples are too numerous to mention and include NBA star Ray Williams who become a homeless bum and Debbie Reynolds of Hollywood fame who had to go back to working for food in Las Vegas.

A Sad, Sad Case That Might Be Used When Teaching Personal Finance:  Another Joe Lewis Example
"Desperate times:  Ex-Celtic Williams, once a top scorer, is now looking for an assist," by Bob Hohler, Boston Globe, July 2, 2010 ---
http://www.boston.com/sports/basketball/celtics/articles/2010/07/02/desperate_times/

Every night at bedtime, former Celtic Ray Williams locks the doors of his home: a broken-down 1992 Buick, rusting on a back street where he ran out of everything.

The 10-year NBA veteran formerly known as “Sugar Ray’’ leans back in the driver’s seat, drapes his legs over the center console, and rests his head on a pillow of tattered towels. He tunes his boom box to gospel music, closes his eyes, and wonders.

Williams, a generation removed from staying in first-class hotels with Larry Bird and Co. in their drive to the 1985 NBA Finals, mostly wonders how much more he can bear. He is not new to poverty, illness, homelessness. Or quiet desperation.

In recent weeks, he has lived on bread and water.

“They say God won’t give you more than you can handle,’’ Williams said in his roadside sedan. “But this is wearing me out.’’

A former top-10 NBA draft pick who once scored 52 points in a game, Williams is a face of big-time basketball’s underclass. As the NBA employs players whose average annual salaries top $5 million, Williams is among scores of retired players for whom the good life vanished not long after the final whistle.

Dozens of NBA retirees, including Williams and his brother, Gus, a two-time All-Star, have sought bankruptcy protection.

“Ray is like many players who invested so much of their lives in basketball,’’ said Mike Glenn, who played 10 years in the NBA, including three with Williams and the New York Knicks. “When the dividends stopped coming, the problems started escalating. It’s a cold reality.’’

Williams, 55 and diabetic, wants the titans of today’s NBA to help take care of him and other retirees who have plenty of time to watch games but no televisions to do so. He needs food, shelter, cash for car repairs, and a job, and he believes the multibillion-dollar league and its players should treat him as if he were a teammate in distress.

One thing Williams especially wants them to know: Unlike many troubled ex-players, he has never fallen prey to drugs, alcohol, or gambling.

“When I played the game, they always talked about loyalty to the team,’’ Williams said. “Well, where’s the loyalty and compassion for ex-players who are hurting? We opened the door for these guys whose salaries are through the roof.’’

Unfortunately for Williams, the NBA-related organizations best suited to help him have closed their checkbooks to him. The NBA Legends Foundation, which awarded him grants totaling more than $10,000 in 1996 and 2004, denied his recent request for help. So did the NBA Retired Players Association, which in the past year gave him two grants totaling $2,000.

Continued in article

Bob Jensen's personal finance helpers ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Bookbob1.htm#InvestmentHelpers

 


Cargill to close Milwaukee beef plant, cites cattle shortage ---
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_CARGILL_BEEF_PLANT?SITE=MYPSP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2014-07-30-16-14-13

Jensen Comment
Drought conditions eased in the Midwest, but this is mostly a lagged impact of the 2012 drought. It's as sign of things to come if drought conditions worsen in the West from Texas to California.


And all that while you own land as an investment you must pay those confounded property taxes even if there is no annual cash coming in from the land.
"Land Is A Wildly Risky Investment," by Sean Fergus, Business Insider, July 29, 2014 ---
http://www.businessinsider.com/land-is-the-riskiest-investment-2014-7

Jensen Comment:  How Property Taxes Can Ruin Land Investment
Mr. SSSSS from Chicago (who also has a Loon Mountain ski chalet about 30 miles from our cottage) in 1993 invested $200,000 in a 24-acres across the road from where we bought our retirement cottage. Most of his 24 acres are deemed lower wet lands protected from development by law. However, there is an upper ridge house lot with the best mountain views in New Hampshire. Shortly thereafter our Village of Sugar Hill re-appraised all of its properties and assigned nearly $600,000 tax value to this lot. On average Mr. SSSSS then paid $12,000 per per year for 20 years while trying to sell this lot. He never had an offer because he set such a high price --- plus nobody wanted to pay taxes of $1,000 per month on just the bare scenic lot.

New Hampshire is somewhat unique in the USA because it has a relatively high view tax that is factored into the property taxes.

In 2006 before the real estate bubble burst Seller SSSSS was asking $1.4 million for the lot for which the property taxes on just the lot would be increased to well over $20,000 per year on just the bare lot. After the bubble burst Seller SSSSS reduced the asking price to $400,000 in 2009. Still nobody wanted to pay those taxes at most any price on the lot.

Then a naive investor, Buyer BBBBB, in autumn of 2013 made a $300,000 offer that was accepted. I say "naive" because Buyer BBBBB assumed the tax appraisal would be reduced to his purchase price $300,000. Sugar Hill does not lower tax appraisal values such that Buyer BBBBB was shocked that he would have to pay $12,000 per year property taxes while trying to sell his investment. He has no intention of building a home on this lot with such high property taxes.

Mr. and Mrs. BBBBB stopped by the other day while I was on my tractor mowing. They are considering selling the 24 acres at a huge loss to the Ammonoosuc Conservation Trust that would eliminate the property taxes on the entire 24 acres. Sugar Hill would most likely agree to this since the ridge is a popular site with a mounted telescope where tourists visit each year winter and summer to look out over three mountain ranges.

This is the mounted telescope on the lot

My point is that for both Seller SSSSS and Buyer BBBBB their investment dreams for this 24 acres were largely shattered by property taxes that seemingly cannot be reduced if sold at any price to another investor or to a buyer who wants to build a home and pay the high property taxes on the lot.

The Ammonoosuc Conservation Trust, on the other hand, owns various tax-free scenic parcels in this area. It also has deed restrictions on the 68-acre golf course behind our cottage. This means that the property may never be anything but a public golf course or an undeveloped forest in perpetuity.

Land indeed is usually a risky investment.
If investment land, like a farm, has annual cash flows that cover the property taxes each year then the purchase price is adjusted upward. Rich folks like Ted Turner diversify their land investments all over the world to deal with financial risks of individual parcels. Being rich they can also cover the annual property taxes. But average folks like me that cannot diversify their land investments to such an extent take on huge risks when buying a single parcel.

There are two big arguments for land investment. First it is a pretty good long-term inflation hedge. Second it can often be leveraged with a small cash down payment and a huge mortgage for buyers who want to take on the added risk of financial leverage. This generally is not a good idea for financial amateurs who are not "insiders" in real estate markets..

An investment in your home is a somewhat different matter since your enjoyment or hatred of the years living in that home make home ownership much more than an economic proposition. But it can be a real sweat trying to sell your home in most, not all, current real estate markets. I've been lucky selling the five homes I've sold in my lifetime thus far, but I would certainly lose money on my present home if I had to sell in the present real estate market in these economically-depressed White Mountains. Throughout northern New England we have abandoned homes with no buyer prospects in nearly-dead lumber and paper mill towns.

However, my plan is to die in our wonderful cottage so the profit or loss on the ultimate sale really no longer matters to me. Erika and I love our retirement home, pay our very high view tax twice each year, and do not give any thought to resale value ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/NHcottage/NHcottage.htm
Getting older in retirement eliminates a lot of worries and financial stress in our former lives. I have a four-year supply of heating oil to hedge against the ups and downs of oil prices.

And I really don't mind paying property taxes since these fund our free public schools, provide comfort to people less fortunate than me, provide my fire and police protection, and fund the plowing of the road out front 14 times a day in snow season.


Chevy Volt --- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chevy_Volt

"Chevy Volt Resale Values Plunge as Lease Returns Hit Market," by Mark Modica, National Legal and Policy Center, August 8, 2014 ---
http://nlpc.org/stories/2014/08/07/chevy-volt-resale-values-plunge-lease-returns-hit-market

. . .

GM was able to use taxpayer money in the form of electric vehicle tax credits to help drive down costs to lessees. Taxpayers chipped in $7,500 for each Chevy Volt placed on the road for terms as low as two years. The taxpayer subsidies, along with inflated residual values and other GM incentives, provided for low monthly lease payments and led to a full two-thirds of all Volt "sales" being attributed to leases. That's about three times the lease rate for the overall industry.

So, what happens to resale values of vehicles with little mass appeal that are forced upon the public with subsidies and manipulated leases? The result was predictable; those leased vehicles are now being returned and resale values are plunging. Having won many awards in the past, the Chevy Volt is now the front-runner to be the recipient of the highest depreciating vehicle award.

A search on the Manheim auction site, a primary indicator of vehicle wholesale value, shows that 81 Chevy Volts, model year 2012, were sold at auction for the week ending August 2nd. The average price was $14,871 for vehicles that are only two or three years old, primarily coming off of the manipulated leases. That equates to an absurd loss of values for Chevy Volts of about 65% in only two or three years.

To quickly review how lease terms are calculated, lessors (in the case of GM vehicles that would have been crony, government-owned financial company Ally Financial) set the residual values for vehicles at the expected time of lease termination. The residual value is the amount of money the lessors expect to receive when they have to sell the leased vehicles after they are returned. The lessee pays the difference between the original price of the leased vehicle and the residual value, plus a small lease rate. The higher the residual value, the lower the monthly payment.

So, we now have Chevy Volt resale values suffering as a result of lack of demand and manipulated leases. Financial institutes that lease Chevy Volts to consumers will need to recalculate residual values lower to reflect market conditions. At least they would in a free market devoid of political intrusion. GM and/or Ally Financial will have to absorb losses for the Chevy Volt lease returns that sell for less than the original residual values. The already low sales numbers for the Volt will be hurt if leases stop being manipulated through the use of artificially high residual values and politically-driven incentives. The supply of low-priced, two year old Volts on lots will not help new sales either.

Continued in article

Jensen Comment
I don't think the Volt can be used as a gas-only vehicle with a totally dead power battery. You can read the following at
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chevy_Volt

The Volt's nominal usable battery capacity is 10.3 kW·h. The Volt's fuel tank capacity is 9.3 US gallons (35 L; 7.7 imp gal). Aside from charge sustaining modes of operation, the battery capacity is completely used first, and then the fuel is consumed. In the event that the car is operated until it runs out of gasoline, the gasoline-powered generator shuts down, and the Volt continues to operate, tapping into a reserve portion of the battery capacity which is below the regular minimum state-of-charge. The reserve battery capacity provides an extra 3 to 4 mi (4.8 to 6.4 km). If this reserve battery capacity is also exhausted, the Volt slows to a stop.

Thus the Volt appears to not be a viable used-car option to operate on a totally dead battery. To operate the vehicle a dead battery must be rechargeable or replaced. It would seem that as Volts age (e.g., to over 20 years) it could become nearly impossible to replace the batteries unless newer batteries are still being manufactured to power the very old Volts on the road. This is an added uncertainly about the future of used Chevy Volts relative to gasoline-only cars that are commonly driven when they are 20-? years of age.

The market for Chevy Volt replacement batteries seems to be disorganized with highly varying prices ---
http://green.autoblog.com/2014/01/10/chevy-volt-battery-replacement-cost-34000/

However, GM provides an eight-year warranty for battery replacement in new models. A fully-charged battery gives the Volt an electric only range of 25-50 miles depending upon such factors as temperature and terrain and traffic conditions (e.g., starting and stopping). The range with a full battery charge and full fuel tank averages about 375 miles subject once again to such factors as temperature and terrain and traffic conditions. Very cold weather is very troublesome in terms of the Volt's range.

Volts have only been sold since 2010 such that there is uncertainty about the mileage and range of Volt's that have batteries 6-? years of age. Will older batteries be less efficient and/or less effective? How durable are the electric engines and power trains over time? The current resale values in 2014 suggest that the public is not all that optimistic about buying used Chevy Volts. For that matter it has never been all that optimistic about new models that probably would have been complete busts without government pricing subsidies.

 




From the Scout Report on August 1, 2014

Passible (Password Storage) --- http://www.passible.com/#overview 

This handy app makes storing your passwords quite easy and it's a snap to use. Visitors just need to download it to have access to all of their passwords in one place. It's visually quite compelling and the user interface is quite elegant. This version is compatible with iPhones and iPads running iOS 7.0 or newer.


Notes for GMail --- https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/notes-for-gmail/mhjceedeiokhkokngbljcgkbfcpnodag 

This handy application for adding notes to Gmail conversations and exchanges is quite useful. It works as a web browser application that allows users to annotate emails, create to-do lists, and much more. Additionally, visitors can add reminders with social network integration and pin notes for future reference. This version is compatible with all computers utilizing Google Chrome


The World War I Centennial
Indiana University commemorating World War I centennial in 2014-15
http://www.newsday.com/news/nation/indiana-university-commemorating-world-war-i-centennial-in-2014-15-1.8932785

European Peace Walk commemorates WWI centennial
http://www.today.com/travel/european-peace-walk-commemorates-wwi-centennial-1D79975858

The Centennial of WWI
http://abcnews.go.com/International/photos/centennial-wwi-24667190/image-wwi-centennial-recalls-terror-trenches-24667492

Sarajevo Celebrates WWI Centennial With Joy And The Macabre
http://www.npr.org/2014/06/28/326406767/sarajevo-celebrates-wwi-centennial-with-joy-and-the-macabre

“One Century Later” panel to discuss enduring influence of Great War
http://worldwar-1centennial.org/

BBC: World War One Centenary
http://www.bbc.co.uk/ww1


From the Scout Report on August 8, 2014

Social Good Ipsum --- http://socialgoodipsum.com 

If you're looking for some socially redeeming dummy text for your website or other design project, check out Social Good Ipsum. The site will generate just such text with a focus on socially impactful information about important organizations doing great work around the world. This version is compatible with all operating systems.


JustGo ---  http://www.justgo.com/#/

Interested in developing your social media presence? JustGo is a nice way to get a handle on which one of your social media networks is performing most effectively via a series of charts and key metrics. This trial version is completely free and users can use four different profiles at any given time. Also, this particular version is compatible with all different operating systems.


After a water crisis, reflection in Toledo
Behind Toledo's Water Crisis, a Long-Troubled Lake Erie
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/05/us/lifting-ban-toledo-says-its-water-is-safe-to-drink-again.html?_r=0

Toledo's water ban and the sensitivity of our drinking waters
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2014/08/04/toledos-water-ban-and-the-sensitivity-of-our-drinking-systems/

Toledo Water Clears, but Outlook is Cloudy
http://online.wsj.com/articles/toledo-mayor-orders-more-drinking-water-tests-1407141074

Clean Water Act (CWA)
http://www.epa.gov/agriculture/lcwa.html

An Urgent Call To Action: Report of the State EPA Nutrient Innovations Task
Group
http://water.epa.gov/scitech/swguidance/standards/criteria/nutrients/upload/2009_08_27_criteria_nutrient_nitgreport.pdf

Healing Our Waters Coalition
http://healthylakes.org/


"CAN YOU REALLY EVOLVE AS A TEACHER?" by Joe Hoyle, Teaching Blog, August 6, 2014 ---
http://joehoyle-teaching.blogspot.com/2014/08/can-you-really-evolve-as-teacher.html

Jensen Comment
I might note that unlike many professors these days, Joe is not an easy grader and is stingy with those A grades.

When I noted the links one year to the Top 20 teachers according to Rate-My-Professor he fired back that all of them were rated as very easy graders. I don't think Joe likes grade inflation.

If I had to describe Joe's favored pedagogy for his intermediate accounting sections at the University of Richmond I would describe it as Socratic Method where students learn a lot from each other.

Bob Jensen's threads on grade inflation are at
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Assess.htm#RateMyProfessor




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


Education Tutorials

UpNext: The IMLS Blog (Library, Maryland) ---  http://blog.imls.gov/

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

Physics Frontline --- http://physicsfrontline.aps.org/

The DNA Files --- http://www.dnafiles.org/

National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) --- http://www.niehs.nih.gov/

National Sciences Digital Library: Bilingual Collection ---
http://nsdl.org/search/record/collection/ncs-NSDL-COLLECTION-000-003-112-044

The Yale Medicine Thesis Digital Library ---
http://cushing.med.yale.edu/greenstone/cgi-bin/library.cgi?site=localhost&a=p&p=about&c=ymtdl&l=en&w=utf-8site=localhost&a=p&p=about&c=ymtdl&l=en&w=utf-8

Minnesota Geological Survey --- http://conservancy.umn.edu/handle/11299/708

Bertrand Goldberg Archive (Chicago Architecture) ---  http://www.artic.edu/aic/collections/artwork/category/73

Here's How North Korean Architects Envision The Future ---
http://www.businessinsider.com/north-koreas-future-architecture-images-2014-7
Jensen Comment
The problem not solved is how to feed the masses while the elite dine well in space-age apartments.

"Art & Physics: Leonard Shlain on Integrating Wonder and Wisdom,"  by Maria Popova, Brain Pickings, August 7, 2014 ---
http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2014/08/07/art-physics-leonard-shlain/

WHO: World Health Statistics --- http://www.who.int/gho/publications/world_health_statistics/en/

Graham Foundation (Architecture) --- http://www.grahamfoundation.org/

From the Scout Report on August 8, 2014

After a water crisis, reflection in Toledo
Behind Toledo's Water Crisis, a Long-Troubled Lake Erie
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/05/us/lifting-ban-toledo-says-its-water-is-safe-to-drink-again.html?_r=0

Toledo's water ban and the sensitivity of our drinking waters
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2014/08/04/toledos-water-ban-and-the-sensitivity-of-our-drinking-systems/

Toledo Water Clears, but Outlook is Cloudy
http://online.wsj.com/articles/toledo-mayor-orders-more-drinking-water-tests-1407141074

Clean Water Act (CWA)
http://www.epa.gov/agriculture/lcwa.html

An Urgent Call To Action: Report of the State EPA Nutrient Innovations Task
Group
http://water.epa.gov/scitech/swguidance/standards/criteria/nutrients/upload/2009_08_27_criteria_nutrient_nitgreport.pdf

Healing Our Waters Coalition
http://healthylakes.org/

Bob Jensen's threads on free online science, engineering, and medicine tutorials are at ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/bookbob2.htm


Social Science and Economics Tutorials

Digital Hub: Chicago Mayor's Office --- http://digital.cityofchicago.org/

The Future of Driving in Developing Countries --- http://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RR636.html

Chicago Fed Blogs --- http://cdps.chicagofedblogs.org/

National Sciences Digital Library: Bilingual Collection ---
http://nsdl.org/search/record/collection/ncs-NSDL-COLLECTION-000-003-112-044

WHO: World Health Statistics --- http://www.who.int/gho/publications/world_health_statistics/e

United Nations Development --- http://www.un.org/en/development/

United Nations Development Goals
http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/poverty.shtml

United Nations Population Fund: Reducing Poverty and Achieving Sustainable Development
http://www.unfpa.org/pds/poverty.html

From the Scout Report on August 8, 2014

After a water crisis, reflection in Toledo
Behind Toledo's Water Crisis, a Long-Troubled Lake Erie
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/05/us/lifting-ban-toledo-says-its-water-is-safe-to-drink-again.html?_r=0

Toledo's water ban and the sensitivity of our drinking waters
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2014/08/04/toledos-water-ban-and-the-sensitivity-of-our-drinking-systems/

Toledo Water Clears, but Outlook is Cloudy
http://online.wsj.com/articles/toledo-mayor-orders-more-drinking-water-tests-1407141074

Clean Water Act (CWA)
http://www.epa.gov/agriculture/lcwa.html

An Urgent Call To Action: Report of the State EPA Nutrient Innovations Task
Group
http://water.epa.gov/scitech/swguidance/standards/criteria/nutrients/upload/2009_08_27_criteria_nutrient_nitgreport.pdf

Healing Our Waters Coalition
http://healthylakes.org/

Bob Jensen's threads on Economics, Anthropology, Social Sciences, and Philosophy tutorials are at
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/bookbob2.htm


Law and Legal Studies

Bob Jensen's threads on law and legal studies are at
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/bookbob2.htm


Math Tutorials

Bob Jensen's threads on free online mathematics tutorials are at
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/bookbob2.htm


History Tutorials

The 10 Greatest Documentaries of All Time According to 340 Filmmakers and Critics --- Click Here
http://www.openculture.com/2014/08/the-10-greatest-documentaries-of-all-timesight-and-sound-names-the-greatest-documentaries-of-all-time-watch-their-1-selection-free.html

Watch World War I Unfold in a 6 Minute Time-Lapse Film: Every Day From 1914 to 1918 ---
http://www.openculture.com/2014/07/every-day-of-wwi-in-a-6-minute-time-lapse-film.html

World War One: The British Library
http://www.bl.uk/world-war-one

These Amazing Colorized Photographs Bring World War I To Life ---
http://www.businessinsider.com/world-war-i-brought-to-life-2014-8

Civil Rights History Project --- http://www.loc.gov/collection/civil-rights-history-project/about-this-collection/

Massachusetts Historical Society 54th Regiment --- http://www.masshist.org/online/54thregiment/essay.php?entry_id=528

MoMA: Inventing Abstraction 1910–1925 --- http://www.moma.org/interactives/exhibitions/2012/inventingabstractio

UpNext: The IMLS Blog (Library, Maryland) ---  http://blog.imls.gov/

Rarely Seen Richmond --- http://dig.library.vcu.edu/cdm/landingpage/collection/postcard

United Nations Development --- http://www.un.org/en/development/

University of Tennessee: Tennessee Historical and Regional Collections  --- http://digital.lib.utk.edu/index.php?gid=4

From Confinement to College: Video Oral Histories of Japanese American Students in World War II --- http://openarchives.umb.edu/cdm/landingpage/collection/p15774coll5

A Thousand Years of the Persian Book (literature) --- http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/thousand-years-of-the-persian-book/

Railroad Photographs --- http://middarchive.middlebury.edu/cdm/landingpage/collection/rrphotos

Images in Time (Toledo) --- http://images2.toledolibrary.org/

The Life of Art (Getty Museum) --- http://www.getty.edu/art/exhibitions/life_of_art/

My Chicago --- http://mychicago.wttw.com/

Digital Hub: Chicago Mayor's Office --- http://digital.cityofchicago.org/

Victorian Trade Cards --- http://digital.lib.uiowa.edu/cdm/search/collection/tradecards

Bertrand Goldberg Archive (Chicago Architecture) ---  http://www.artic.edu/aic/collections/artwork/category/73

Abilene Public Library Centennial Series: Oral History Transcripts --- http://wtda.alc.org/handle/123456789/8

ArtsEdge (Kennedy Center, Multicultural) --- http://artsedge.kennedy-center.org/educators.aspx

Mass Audubon --- http://www.massaudubon.org/

The Swiss Poster Collection --- http://luna.library.cmu.edu/luna/servlet/CMUccm~3~3

Pierre Bourdieu’s Photographs of Wartime Algeria ---
http://www.openculture.com/2014/08/pierre-bourdieus-photographs-of-algeria.html

From the Scout Report on August 1, 2014

The World War I Centennial
Indiana University commemorating World War I centennial in 2014-15
http://www.newsday.com/news/nation/indiana-university-commemorating-world-war-i-centennial-in-2014-15-1.8932785

European Peace Walk commemorates WWI centennial
http://www.today.com/travel/european-peace-walk-commemorates-wwi-centennial-1D79975858

The Centennial of WWI
http://abcnews.go.com/International/photos/centennial-wwi-24667190/image-wwi-centennial-recalls-terror-trenches-24667492

Sarajevo Celebrates WWI Centennial With Joy And The Macabre
http://www.npr.org/2014/06/28/326406767/sarajevo-celebrates-wwi-centennial-with-joy-and-the-macabre

“One Century Later” panel to discuss enduring influence of Great War
http://worldwar-1centennial.org/

BBC: World War One Centenary
http://www.bbc.co.uk/ww1

 

Bob Jensen's threads on history tutorials are at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/bookbob2.htm
Also see http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/ElectronicLiterature.htm  


Language Tutorials

National Sciences Digital Library: Bilingual Collection ---
http://nsdl.org/search/record/collection/ncs-NSDL-COLLECTION-000-003-112-044

Bob Jensen's links to language tutorials are at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/bookbob2.htm


Music Tutorials

Bob Jensen's threads on free music tutorials are at
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/bookbob2.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/

July 29, 2014

July 30, 2014

July 31, 2014

August 1, 2014

August 2, 2014

August 5, 2014

August 6, 2014

August 7, 2014

August 8, 2014

August 9, 2014

August 11, 2014\

 


WHO: World Health Statistics --- http://www.who.int/gho/publications/world_health_statistics/e


"The Battle Against Misdiagnosis American doctors make the wrong call more than 12 million times a year," by Hardeep Singh, The Wall Street Journal, August 7, 2014 ---
http://online.wsj.com/articles/hardeep-singh-the-battle-against-misdiagnosis-1407453373?tesla=y&mod=djemMER_h&mg=reno64-wsj

There are times when a single, unexpected death sparks a change in medical practice. In 2012 a 12-year-old boy named Rory Staunton died after being misdiagnosed in a New York City emergency room. Multiple physicians missed the symptoms, signs and lab results pointing to a streptococcal bacterial infection that led to septic shock and overwhelmed Rory's body. The tragedy prompted New York state in January 2013 to introduce "Rory's regulations," a set of stringent protocols aimed at preventing similar incidents in hospitals.

Comparable initiatives to prevent misdiagnosis have not happened on a national level—but there might be reason to expect change soon.

New research my colleagues and I published in April in the journal BMJ Quality and Safety shows the extent of the problem. Based on previous studies of patients seeking outpatient care, we extrapolated data on diagnostic error to the entire U.S. adult population. Each year an estimated 5% are misdiagnosed based on currently available evidence.

This may sound like a decent track record—95% accuracy—given that doctors are grappling with more than 10,000 diseases in patients who present a staggering array of symptoms. But a 5% error rate means that more than 12 million adults are misdiagnosed every year, and our study may understate the magnitude.

Still, after years of taking a back seat to problems such as medication and treatment errors, misdiagnosis is getting attention. In 2011 my research colleague in projects on misdiagnosis Mark Graber founded the nonprofit Society to Improve Diagnosis in Medicine, which now holds an annual medical conference on diagnostic error. More recently, the Institute of Medicine, an influential branch of the National Academy of Sciences that advises Congress on health care, is preparing a comprehensive action plan and hosting its second major expert meeting on Thursday and Friday. In 2015 the IOM will issue a report on misdiagnosis.

Meantime, the U.S. health-care community can take steps to reduce the problem.

The first is to improve communication between physicians and patients. Patients tend to be the best source of information for making a diagnosis, but often essential doctor-patient interactions such as history and examination are rushed, leading to poor decisions. As new forms of diagnostic and information technologies are implemented, managing large amounts of data will become increasingly complex, and physicians could become more vulnerable to misdiagnosis.

This problem exists in large part because time pressures and paperwork often force physicians to spend more time struggling to get reimbursed than talking with patients. Extra hours spent pursuing a correct diagnosis are not compensated beyond the payment for the visit, an already small sum for primary-care physicians.

Patients can't solve this problem, but insurers can streamline administrative paperwork and re-examine the logic behind reimbursement policies. Hospital systems can help by providing high-tech decision support tools and encouraging physicians to collaborate on tough cases and learn from missed opportunities.

Metrics also need work. As the old business adage goes, you can't manage what you don't measure. Yet most health-care organizations aren't tracking misdiagnosis beyond malpractice claims. Doctors need mechanisms to provide and receive timely feedback on the quality and accuracy of our diagnoses, including better patient follow-up and test-result tracking systems.

Electronic health records will help eventually, but slow innovation in this area has frustrated many physicians. And most doctors still lack access to electronic patient data gathered by other physicians. Doctors can make a more informed diagnosis when they can see the disease progression or learn what other doctors have discovered about the patient.

Finally, patients must start keeping good records of each meeting with a doctor, bringing the information to subsequent medical appointments and following up with the physician if their condition doesn't improve. No news from the doctor is not necessarily good news.

There is much we don't understand about the burden, causes and prevention of misdiagnosis. The IOM report will spur progress, but health-care providers, patients, hospitals and payers can all help. The health outcomes of at least 12 million Americans each year depend on it.

Dr. Singh is chief of Health Policy, Quality and Informatics at the Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center, and an associate professor at Baylor College of Medicine.

Jensen Comment
For me this raises the question of why so many mistakes are made by professionals. For auditors and physicians the reason may be budgeted time and money.

Auditors are often led by budgets to conduct cheaper analytical reviews as opposed to detail testing. Physicians are sometimes led by third party insurance payment bounds (e.g., what Medicare) will pay for an office visit) to hurry their time spent with patients. 

There's an exploding trend to have patients screened by non-physicians in HMO factories and even in physician offices where physician assistants do much of the initial screening.

In CPA auditing by big firms it's systemic to send out teams of neophyte auditors, many of them newly graduated, to do a lot of the audit work under supervision that is sometimes questionable.

After PwC's Miserable 2012 PCAOB Inspection Reports
"PwC to Require More Robust Review and Supervision of Auditors, Although “Minimum Supervision" Still Has Its Place (in Court)," by Caleb Newquist, Going Concern, December 7, 2012 ---
http://goingconcern.com/post/pwc-require-more-robust-review-and-supervision-auditors-although-minimum-supervision-still-has

Punishing Audit Firms for Negligence:  Take that feather duster swat!
"Paper Tiger Becomes "Tony the Tiger:" They're Grrrreat!" by Anthony H. Catanach, Jr., Grumpy Old Accountants Blog, November 26, 2013 ---
http://grumpyoldaccountants.com/blog/2013/11/26/paper-tiger-becomes-tony-the-tiger-theyre-grrrreat

. . .

Finally, on Friday November 22nd, the PCAOB again publicly reprimanded Deloitte for its failure to adequately address quality control problems related to its audit practice by releasing the previously nonpublic portions of the PCAOB’s April 16, 2009 inspection report.  And as usual, we see that this audit “emperor has no clothes.”  Is an audit being done in name only?  The PCAOB raised the following serious audit quality concerns in its report (PCAOB Release No. 104-2009-051A):

What’s really depressing about the these audit quality problems, is that they were almost exactly the same as those noted in the PCAOB’s May 19, 2008 report (pages 12 through 16).  Also, problematic is the waning interest of the popular press in these PCAOB report releases, suggesting that GAFS’ strategy to downplay and even ignore the PCAOB just may be working.


"Depression Is a Risk Factor for Dementia, New Research Says," by Alexandra Sifferlin, Time Magazine, July 30, 2014 ---
http://time.com/3060179/depression-is-a-risk-factor-for-dementia-new-research-says/?xid=newsletter-brief

The two have been linked before, but the new study says depression may be an independent risk factor for the disease.

The link between depression and dementia is puzzling for researchers. Many studies have noticed a correlation between the two diseases and a 2013 review of 23 studies of about 50,000 older men and women reported that older adults suffering from depression were more than twice as likely to develop dementia and 65% more likely to develop Alzheimer’s. But these have often only been associations. The newest study, published Wednesday in the journal Neurology, takes it further. The researchers believe that their findings, while not definitive, show that depression is in fact an independent risk factor for dementia — and not the other way around.

Continued in article

 

A Bit of Humor

Dick Van Dyke, Paul Lynde & the Original Cast of Bye Bye Birdie Appear on The Ed Sullivan Show (1961) ---
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/OpenCulture/~3/StliUKosMbQ/cast-of-bye-bye-birdie-appear-on-the-ed-sullivan.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email

Geriatric Traffic Jam --- http://biggeekdad.com/2013/08/geriatric-traffic-jam/

Old Women With Spray Glue --- http://www.youtube.com/embed/tjJc8xLYhak

Dancing Babies --- https://www.youtube.com/embed/pfxB5ut-KTs?rel=0

Johnny CarsonSome things never change...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hef7v6fp_DQ



Humor Between July 1-31, 2014 --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/book14q3.htm#Humor073114

Humor Between June 1-31, 2014 --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/book14q2.htm#Humor063014

Humor Between May 1-31, 2014 --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/book14q2.htm#Humor053114

Humor Between April 1-30, 2014 --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/book14q2.htm#Humor043014

Humor Between March 1-31, 2014 --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/book14q1.htm#Humor033114

Humor Between February 1-28, 2014 --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/book14q1.htm#Humor022814

Humor Between January 1-31, 2014 --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/book14q1.htm#Humor013114

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

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

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

Humor Between September 1-30, 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

 




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

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

Update in 2014
20-Year Sugar Hill Master Plan --- http://www.nccouncil.org/images/NCC/file/wrkgdraftfeb142014.pdf

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