In 2017 my Website was migrated to the clouds and reduced in size.
Hence some links below are broken.
One thing to try if a “www” link is broken is to substitute “faculty” for “www”
For example a broken link
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Pictures.htm
can be changed to corrected link http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/Pictures.htm

However in some cases files had to be removed to reduce the size of my Website
Contact me at 
rjensen@trinity.edu if you really need to file that is missing

Tidbits on February 29, 2016
Bob Jensen at Trinity University

Set 1 of Rocks in New Hampshire
http://www.cs.trinity.edu/rjensen/Tidbits/Rocks/Set01/01.htm
 

 

Tidbits on February 29, 2016
Bob Jensen

Bob Jensen's Tidbits ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/TidbitsDirectory.htm

For earlier editions of Fraud Updates go to http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/FraudUpdates.htm
For earlier editions of New Bookmarks go to http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/bookurl.htm 
Bookmarks for the World's Library --- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/bookbob2.htm 

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

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

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

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

Updates from WebMD --- Click Here




Online Video, Slide Shows, and Audio
 

I was on the Trinity University faculty for 24 years. Here's a new well-done video on the history of Trinity University ---
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jpeNoOe1nVA

Skiers Stumble Upon One of the Rarest Animals on Earth ---
https://weather.com/science/nature/video/rare-snow-leopard-shocks-skiers-on-mountain

Chimp Versus Chump on a Computer ---
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPiDHXtM0VA

13 Van Gogh’s Paintings Painstakingly Brought to Life with 3D Animation & Visual Mapping ---
http://www.openculture.com/2016/02/13-van-goghs-paintings-painstakingly-brought-to-life-with-3d-animation-visual-mapping.html

Experience the Blue Angels in 360-degree video ---
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6SsB3JYqQg
Click off the "Concealed Carry Mistakes" rectangle

The Remarkable Physics of Ants: Watch Them Turn into Fluids and Solids at Will ---
http://www.openculture.com/2016/02/the-remarkable-physics-of-ants.html

Watch Classic Performances from Maria Callas’ Wondrous and Tragically-Short Opera Career ---
http://www.openculture.com/2016/02/watch-classic-performances-from-maria-callas-wondrous-and-tragically-short-opera-career.html

Chess Grandmaster Maurice Ashley Plays Unsuspecting Trash Talker in Washington Square Park ---
http://www.openculture.com/2016/02/chess-grandmaster-maurice-ashley-plays-unsuspecting-trash-talker-in-washington-square-park.html

Watch one of the first volcanic eruptions ever filme ---
http://www.wired.com/2016/02/watch-one-of-the-first-volcanic-eruptions-ever-filmed/

Watch a US-led coalition airstrike decimate an ISIS weapons facility ---
http://www.businessinsider.com/airstrike-decimate-an-isis-weapons-facility-2016-2

Rare 1903 Video Captures Busy Boston Streets ---
http://blogs.voanews.com/all-about-america/2016/02/17/rare-1903-video-captures-busy-boston-streets/?from=youmaylike


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

Free Music Archive --- http://freemusicarchive.org/

Schumann: Symphony No.2 in C major - P. Järvi / Staatskapelle Dresden ---
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6O58OkBRLek

Legendary Classical Guitarist Andrés Segovia Plays Timeless Pieces by J.S. Bach ---
http://www.openculture.com/2016/02/legendary-classical-guitarist-andres-segovia-plays-timeless-pieces-by-j-s-bach.html

Gershwin Plays Gershwin: Hear the Original Recording of Rhapsody in Blue, with the Composer Himself at the Piano (1924) ---
http://www.openculture.com/2016/02/the-original-recording-of-rhapsody-in-blue-1924.html

Willie Nelson Sings Gershwin Is Now Streaming Free for a Limited Time ---
http://www.openculture.com/2016/02/summertime-willie-nelson-sings-gershwin-is-now-streaming-free-for-a-limited-time.html

Pink Floyd - The Dark Side Of The Moon (Full Album) HD ---
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5auf9rkrac

Mister Rogers Turns Kids On to Jazz with Help of a Young Wynton Marsalis and Other Jazz Legends (1986) ---
http://www.openculture.com/2016/02/mister-rogers-turns-kids-on-to-jazz-with-help-of-a-young-wynton-marsalis.html

Watch Classic Performances from Maria Callas’ Wondrous and Tragically-Short Opera Career ---
http://www.openculture.com/2016/02/watch-classic-performances-from-maria-callas-wondrous-and-tragically-short-opera-career.html

See an Eye Popping Selfie From Mars ---
http://time.com/4230402/mars-selfie-curiosity-rover/?xid=newsletter-brief

 

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://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/Music.htm


Photographs and Art

The Metropolitan Museum of Art: Lesson Plans --- http://www.metmuseum.org/learn/for-educators/lesson-plans 

The Getty Research Institute: Notable Works and Collections --- http://www.getty.edu/research/special_collections/notable/index.html

Watch the Trailer for a “Fully Painted” Van Gogh Film: Features 12 Oil Paintings Per Second by 100+ Painters ---
http://www.openculture.com/2016/02/loving-vincent.html

Edgar Degas --- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edgar_Degas
Misty Copeland expertly re-creates a handful of Edgar Degas’s most famous ballet works ---
http://www.thedailybeast.com/galleries/2016/02/11/misty-copeland-recreates-iconic-degas-paintings.html

NASA Images --- http://nasaimages.lunaimaging.com/

100 Incredible Space Photos --- http://www.greatdigitalmags.com/view/allaboutspace/4168/100-incredible-space-photos

The Sketchbook Project --- https://www.sketchbookproject.com/

13 Van Gogh’s Paintings Painstakingly Brought to Life with 3D Animation & Visual Mapping ---
http://www.openculture.com/2016/02/13-van-goghs-paintings-painstakingly-brought-to-life-with-3d-animation-visual-mapping.html

15 Photos of Animals in Love --- http://www.msn.com/en-us/lifestyle/pets/15-photos-of-animals-in-love/ss-BBpmV24?ocid=spartanntp

17 of the most jaw-dropping images in the running for the world's largest photography contest ---
http://www.businessinsider.com/images-from-sony-world-photography-awards-2016-2

Guggenheim ZERO, Countdown to Tomorrow (German artists in the 1950s and 1960s) --- http://exhibitions.guggenheim.org/zero/

German Expressionism Collection at The University of Maryland --- http://lib.guides.umd.edu/germanexpressionism

We Make Money Not Art (engineering art) ---  http://we-make-money-not-art.com/

Download Hundreds of 19th-Century Japanese Woodblock Prints by Masters of the Tradition ---
http://www.openculture.com/2016/02/download-hundreds-of-19th-century-japanese-woodblock-prints-by-masters-of-the-tradition.html

Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) Launches Free Course on Looking at Photographs as Art ---
http://www.openculture.com/2016/02/museum-of-modern-art-moma-launches-free-course-on-looking-at-photographs-as-art.html

11 of the Stragest Beaches in the World ---
http://www.businessinsider.com/the-strangest-beaches-around-the-world-2016-2

Smithsonian Magazine: Travel --- http://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/

This Land Is Your Land: Parks and Public Spaces --- http://dp.la/exhibitions/exhibits/show/this-land

Bob Jensen's threads on art history ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/bookbob2.htm#ArtHistory

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


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

Bob Jensen's threads on libraries --- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/bookbob2.htm#---Libraries

John Grisham Is Letting You Download His New Novel as a Free eBook ---
http://www.openculture.com/2016/02/john-grisham-is-letting-you-download-his-new-novel-as-a-free-ebook.html

NCTE: Poetry Lesson Plans --- http://www.ncte.org/lessons/poetry

Neil Gaiman Presents “How Stories Last,” an Insightful Lecture on How Stories Change, Evolve & Endure Through the Centuries ---
http://www.openculture.com/2016/02/neil-gaiman-presents-how-stories-last.html

David Foster Wallace Reads Franz Kafka’s Short Story “A Little Fable” (and Explains Why Comedy Is Key to Kafka) ---
http://www.openculture.com/2016/02/david-foster-wallace-reads-franz-kafkas-short-story-a-little-fable.html

An Animated Introduction to Leo Tolstoy, and How His Great Novels Can Increase Your Emotional Intelligence ---
http://www.openculture.com/2016/02/an-animated-introduction-to-leo-tolstoy.html

Thousands of Links to Shakespeare --- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/bookbob2.htm#---Shakespeare

Shakespeare Documented --- http://www.shakespearedocumented.org

Free Shakespeare Tutorials --- https://www.playshakespeare.com/

Read All of Shakespeare’s Plays Free Online, Courtesy of the Folger Shakespeare Library ---
http://www.openculture.com/2014/03/read-all-of-shakespeares-plays-free-online-courtesy-of-the-folger-shakespeare-library.html

Listen to Orson Welles’ Classic Radio Performance of 10 Shakespeare Plays ---
http://www.openculture.com/2014/03/listen-to-orson-welles-classic-radio-performance-of-10-shakespeare-plays.html

The Connections Between Poetry and Rap
Poetry Magazine
http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/guide/23

In hop-hop and rap, while some musicians are more talented than others, and while rap lyrics do possess musicality (repetition, assonance, alliteration), that musicality is incomplete without the beat and notes of the sampled music. Caplan provides a number of examples of rap lyrics, and some are rather good, but even the best don’t stand on their own as pieces of great artistry for the simple reason that they were not written to do so. They were crafted to go with external rhythm and notes. So, it seems to me, the only sense in which rap is poetry is as incomplete poetry, which doesn’t do either rap or poetry any favors.
Micah Mattix --- http://www.theamericanconservative.com/prufrock/is-rap-poetry/

 

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




Now in Another Tidbits Document
Political Quotations on February 29, 2016
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/tidbits/2016/TidbitsQuotations022916.htm      

Interest on debt, that minimum credit card payment, is projected to eclipse military spending by 2021, putting the squeeze on other fiscal priorities ---
Jacob Davidon, http://time.com/4214269/us-national-debt/?xid=newsletter-brief    

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

National debt just reached a record $19 trillion (plus over #100 trillion in unbooked entitlements burdening future generations in the USA)
Martin Matishak and Eric Pianin, The Fiscal Times
http://www.businessinsider.com/national-debt-reaches-record-19-trillion-2016-2
Bob Jensen's threads on entitlements
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/Entitlements.htm

Entitlements are two-thirds of the federal budget. Entitlement spending has grown 100-fold over the past 50 years. Half of all American households now rely on government handouts. When we hear statistics like that, most of us shake our heads and mutter some sort of expletive. That’s because nobody thinks they’re the problem. Nobody ever wants to think they’re the problem. But that’s not the truth. The truth is, as long as we continue to think of the rising entitlement culture in America as someone else’s problem, someone else’s fault, we’ll never truly understand it and we’ll have absolutely zero chance...
Steve Tobak ---
http://www.foxbusiness.com/business-leaders/2013/02/07/truth-behind-our-entitlement-culture/?intcmp=sem_outloud

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

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

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




AICPA:  Money matters cause tension for 88% of Millennial couples ---
http://www.journalofaccountancy.com/news/2016/feb/money-troubles-mean-relationship-troubles-for-millennials-201613866.html#sthash.XlDwCTx6.dpuf

Bob Jensen's personal finance helpers ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/bookbob1.htm#InvestmentHelpers


"TurboTax vs H&R Block: How 2 of the most popular tax-filing programs stack up," by Kathleen Elkins and Samantha Lee, Insider Picks via Business Insider, February 18, 2016 ---
http://www.businessinsider.com/turbotax-vs-hr-block-2016-2

Jensen Comment
The most important competitive advantage of H&R Block tax preparation software is that if you get hung up and want face-to-face help with the software, H&R Block also has over 12,000 onsite locations. However, proprietary software help is one thing and a complicated tax question is quite another. Most H&R Block employees are only trained for relatively simple tax questions. 

Bob Jensen's tax helpers are at http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/Bookbob1.htm#010304Taxation


Trying to Bring Median Course Grades Down from A or A- Levels
"Grading on a Curve," by Colleen Flaherty, Inside Higher Ed, February 18, 2016 ---
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2016/02/18/community-college-links-increased-student-success-shorter-terms-faculty-members-say?utm_source=Inside+Higher+Ed&utm_campaign=9d24ca3bd4-DNU20160218&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_1fcbc04421-9d24ca3bd4-197565045

Jensen Comment
The biggest disgrace in the Academy is the trend that brought higher education course grades from C or C+ in the 1940s to A or A- in the 21st Century. It's called the disgrace of grade inflation and the top universities are giving out mostly A grades with Harvard and Stanford leading the way.

There are many causes, but a leading cause is the rise in student power (through course evaluations) in determining the tenure and performance evaluations (read that pay raises) of their teachers ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/Assess.htm#RateMyProfessor

Some schools like Princeton (by trying to limit the percentages of top trades in courses) and Cornell (by publicizing over 800,000 grades over recent years) that put up a fight against grade inflation abandoned their efforts and gave up trying to fight grade inflation.


How to Try Not to Mislead With Statistics
And The Award For Worst Career After An Oscar Win Goes To
---
http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/and-the-award-for-worst-career-after-an-oscar-win-goes-to/

Jensen Comment
This is an interesting article from the standpoint of going to considerable lengths to avoid misleading statistics.


Fyodor Dostoyevsky --- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fyodor_Dostoyevsky

Jensen Comment
It's is indeed true that truth is often stranger than fiction.

The following article is interesting to read just as a supposedly true romantic story. It has a great deal to discuss with students in many disciplines that involve ethics, deception, romance, morality, and intrigue.

One challenge for students is to find where parts of this story have been repeated over and over both in fiction and in real life. Things in life do repeat themselves in the strangest ways.

It is especially interesting that Dostoyevsky wrote the famous Crime and Punishment fiction dealing with a struggle of moral conscience. crime, and crime detection ---
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crime_and_Punishment
In real life Dostoyevsky had to struggle with his own moral conscience regarding a possible act of plagiarism in a crowd sourcing scheme of deception. One conclusion of the story is that success is often trouble turned inside out.

"Anna Dostoyevsky on the Secret to a Happy Marriage: Wisdom from One of History’s Truest and Most Beautiful Loves," by Maria Popova, Brain Pickings, February 15, 2016 ---
https://www.brainpickings.org/2016/02/15/anna-dostoyevsky-reminiscences-marriage/?mc_cid=2985ffb498&mc_eid=4d2bd13843


Reasons Are Not Clear
Canadians No longer Allowed to be Contestants on Jeopardy ---
http://www.cbc.ca/news/arts/canadians-jeopardy-frozen-out-1.3457510


Sears Chairman Says Every Retailer is Screwed (and the causes are many and complex) ---
http://www.businessinsider.com/sears-chairman-says-retail-is-hurting-2016-2

Jensen Comment
Note that one difference between Amazon and LL Bean versus other online retailers is that the other online retailers with stores in most of the 50 states must collect sales tax.


Walmart really wants you to shop online - and it's spending $900 million to make it happen ---
http://www.businessinsider.com/walmart-online-focus-after-earnings-2016-2

. . .

To aid growth, Walmart is pushing forward with its plan to further expand its online grocery business and to increase the number of products it sells online, all in an effort to grow the company's overall online business.

In October, the retail giant announced it would invest $900 million in its web development in the next two years. The company also debuted its own mobile wallet called Walmart Pay in December.

It's clear Walmart is focusing much of its energy on competing against the e-commerce powerhouses, specifically Amazon. In fact, Walmart's website traffic is actually growing more quickly than Amazon's, so the opportunity is there.

Total global revenue hit $129.7 billion in the fourth quarter 2015, down 1.4% from $131.6 billion in the year-ago period. The revenue decline is due in large part to poor performance at Walmart International and Sam's Club. The former saw a 9.7% year-over-year decrease in revenue, while the latter saw a 2.2% drop.

The news wasn't much better domestically, as U.S. sales increased just 2.4% year-over-year.

Walmart's focus on e-commerce is just one piece of the rapidly changing payments landscape, which already looks much different than you might think. For example, conventional wisdom is that women do most of the shopping (both online and off). But would it surprise you to know that men are actually just as powerful in this area?

Continued in article

Jensen Comment
Even with expansion into some lines, it will be a long, long time until Walmart competes well online with Amazon. The biggest reason is the vast selection on Amazon such as used items like used books. The second reason is the great Amazon Prime for reducing shipping costs for frequent customers.

Walmart is playing catch up. There aren't many (any?) weaknesses that Walmart can exploit to beat Amazon. One possibility that Home Depot, Sears, and Lowes exploit is the delivery of very heavy items to a local store for home delivery and possible setup. For example, I ordered a rather complicated ceiling fan online from Lowes that was delivered to a store that, in turn, delivered, assembled, and installed the fan. I did the same thing with a lawn sweeper from Sears. This is not a typical service from Amazon.

From the CFO Journal's Morning Ledger on February 24, 2016

Anchors away: Malls lose more big department-store tenants
The rise of online shopping is battering the big department stores known as anchors that once lured shoppers to malls—leaving landlords with empty space and forcing them to undertake expensive overhauls to stay relevant.


"The Future of Wearables is Implanted and More Real Today Than You Think (including brain implants)," by Cate Lawrence, ReadWriteWeb, February 19, 2016 ---
http://readwrite.com/2016/02/19/future-of-wearables

MIT:  The Power of Ubiquitous Computing
"Humans and Computers Are Getting Even More Connected." by Brian Bergstein, MIT's Technology Review, November 2, 2015 ---
http://www.technologyreview.com/view/543106/humans-and-computers-are-getting-even-more-connected/?utm_campaign=newsletters&utm_source=newsletter-daily-all&utm_medium=email&utm_content=20151103

The implications of pervasive or ubiquitous computing are still only beginning to be apparent.

What do we want from the smart machines pervading our world—and what do they want from us?

That question framed this morning’s opening of the EmTech conference at MIT, and it’s a useful way to think about where computing is heading.

As MIT Technology Review’s editor-in-chief, Jason Pontin, said in beginning the show, breakthroughs in computer science have made it possible for machines to understand more of the data that our devices and sensors collect “in ways that elude human perception.” As we become ever more reliant on these devices and their software, the companies that capture our data develop a competitive advantage over those that don’t. And in turn, the companies’ need for data collection and the ability of machines to influence our behavior “creates a kind of intimacy between the human and the digital” that makes automated systems even more powerful.

“We know that there is enormous utility in embracing machines that are smart and powerful enough to become part of who we are,” Pontin said. “They have extended our capabilities and enlarged our sense of what it means to be human. But we need to be conscious of what we want from these smart machines, our new intimates. Because sometimes, they are not solely loyal to our interests.”

We’ll explore these issues through Wednesday at EmTech. For more on these ideas and the technologies driving them forward, see “Teaching Machines to Understand Us,” “How Technology Is Destroying Jobs,” and “The Real Privacy Problem.”

 Bob Jensen's sadly neglected threads on ubiquitous computing ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/ubiquit.htm

 


Law Schools 2011-2015
Enrollment, Faculty Down 60%, Tuition Up 40%

http://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog/2016/02/cooley-craters-60-drop-in-enrollment-faculty.html

Jensen Comment
The downslide of law schools is a disaster in many respects, most notably the crash in opportunities for top humanities graduates to move into professional careers.

"NY Times: A Majority Of Law Schools Are Scamming Students And Taxpayers," by Paul Caron, TaxProf Blog, October 25, 2015 ---
http://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog/2015/10/ny-times-a-majority-of-law-schools-admit-unqualified-students-charge-outrageously-high-tuition-and-s.html

American law schools are increasingly charging outrageously high tuition and sticking taxpayers with the tab for loan defaults when students fail to become lawyers.

In 2013, the median LSAT score of students admitted to Florida Coastal School of Law was in the bottom quarter of all test-takers nationwide. According to the test’s administrators, students with scores this low are unlikely to ever pass the bar exam.

Despite this bleak outlook, Florida Coastal charges nearly $45,000 a year in tuition, which, with living expenses, can lead to crushing amounts of debt for its students. Ninety-three percent of the school’s 2014 graduating class of 484 had debts and the average was almost $163,000 — a higher average than all but three law schools in the country. In short, most of Florida Coastal’s students are leaving law school with a degree they can’t use, bought with a debt they can’t repay.

If this sounds like a scam, that’s because it is. Florida Coastal, in Jacksonville, is one of six for-profit law schools in the country that have been vacuuming up hordes of young people, charging them outrageously high tuition and, after many of the students fail to become lawyers, sticking taxpayers with the tab for their loan defaults.

Yet for-profit schools are not the only offenders. A majority of American law schools, which have nonprofit status, are increasingly engaging in such behavior, and in the process threatening the future of legal education.

Why? The most significant explanation is also the simplest — free money.

In 2006, Congress extended the federal Direct PLUS Loan program to allow a graduate or professional student to borrow the full amount of tuition, no matter how high, and living expenses. The idea was to give more people access to higher education and thus, in theory, higher lifetime earnings. But broader access doesn’t mean much if degrees lead not to well-paying jobs but to heavy debt burdens. That is all too often the result with PLUS loans.

The consequences of this free flow of federal loans have been entirely predictable: Law schools jacked up tuition and accepted more students, even after the legal job market stalled and shrank in the wake of the recession. For years, law schools were able to obscure the poor market by refusing to publish meaningful employment information about their graduates. But in response to pressure from skeptical lawmakers and unhappy graduates, the schools began sharing the data — and it wasn’t a pretty picture. Forty-three percent of all 2013 law school graduates did not have long-term full-time legal jobs nine months after graduation, and the numbers are only getting worse. In 2012, the average law graduate’s debt was $140,000, 59 percent higher than eight years earlier.

This reality has contributed to the drastic drop in law school applications since 2011, which has in turn exacerbated the problemto maintain enrollment numbers, law schools have had to lower their admissions standards and take even more unqualified students. These students then fail to pass the bar in alarmingly high numbers — in 2014, the average score on the common portion of the test was the lowest in more than 25 years.

How can this death spiral be stopped? For starters, the government must require accountability from the law schools that live off student loans. This year, the Obama administration extended the so-called gainful employment rule, which ties a school’s eligibility to receive federal student loans to its success in preparing graduates for jobs that will enable them to repay their debt. The rule currently applies only to for-profit law schools, all of which, given their track records, would fail to qualify for federal loans

Continued in article

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

"Where Are All the Law School Applicants?" by Paul Caron, TaxProf Blog, September 13, 2014 ---
http://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog/2014/09/where-are-all.html

 

Bob Jensen's threads on the slide in law school jobs, enrollments, admission standards, faculty numbers, etc. ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/higHerEdControversies.htm#OverstuffedLawSchools

 


"How Armbands Can Translate Sign Language," by Rachel Metz, MIT's Technology Review, February 17, 2016 ---
https://www.technologyreview.com/s/600818/how-armbands-can-translate-sign-language/#/set/id/600825/

Jensen Comment
This is a promising way for someone good at sign language to communicate with others who cannot read sign language. Next would be a vice versa technology.

PEPNet Northeast at the National Technical Institute for the Deaf - RIT --- http://www.netac.rit.edu/index.html

"Signing Up for a Video Dictionary for Deaf People," by Josh Fischman, Chronicle of Higher Education, May 27, 2008 --- http://chronicle.com/wiredcampus/index.php?id=3033&utm_source=wc&utm_medium=en

As many as two million people in the United States use American Sign Language, but not every user knows what every one of the thousands of signs mean. And there is no dictionary in which to look them up—sign dictionaries are organized by the written definition of the sign, not by the physical movement.

Now a team of researchers at Boston University is working on an interactive video project that would allow someone to trace an unfamiliar sign in front of a Web camera and have a computer program interpret and explain its meaning, according to the Associated Press.

The researchers, working with a three-year, $900,000 grant from the National Science Foundation, are trying to capture 3,000 ASL signs on video. Their goal is to develop a “backwards” dictionary that will allow people to look up any unfamiliar gesture.

If a deaf person signs to a someone who doesn’t understand the sign, that person could sit down in front of a computer, repeat the sign into a Web cam, and the program would identify possible translations by recognizing the sign’s visual properties.

May 28, 2008 reply from William Sloboda [william.sloboda@GALLAUDET.EDU]

Dear Bob
Thanks for bringing this to our attention! I hope that it will work since every deaf person signs any signfrom a tiny bit to a lot more differently than the next deaf person does. This promises to be a longer term project.

Bill

William Sloboda, MBA, CPA Associate Professor of Accounting and Accounting, Program Coordinator Department of Business Gallaudet University 800 Florida Ave. NE Washington, D C 20002-3695 202-651-5312

Bob Jensen's threads on technology aids for handicapped and otherwise disabled learners ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/000aaa/thetools.htm


MIT's Update on MOOCs
Technology Review Newsletter, February 13, 2016

 
 

 
 

The Crisis in Higher Education
At the dawn of the MOOC era, in 2012, author Nicholas Carr questioned whether online classes were essentially the correspondence courses of our time.

 

 

 
 

Q&A with Salman Khan
In this 2012 interview, the Khan Academy founder explained his ambition to offer “education for anyone.”

 

 

 
 

In the Developing World, MOOCs Start to Get Real
MOOCs mainly come from U.S. universities. How well do they serve learning styles in different nations?

 

 

 
 

Sebastian Thrun on the Future of Learning
In 2013, the Udacity cofounder talked about how the company was evolving.

 

 

 
 

What MOOCs Teach Us
Coursera cofounder Daphne Koller wrote in 2014 that it was a mistake to presume that MOOCs would undermine or replace traditional college education.

 

 

 
 

What Are MOOCs Good For?
With data finally in on what MOOCs offered, it was possible in 2014 to take stock of what online education had really changed—and why it matters.

 

Bob Jensen's threads on Thousands of Free MOOCs From Prestigious Universities---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/000aaa/updateee.htm#OKI

Coursera --- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coursera

Illustration of a Free MOOC
Free Vanderbilt University online course on arts and culture innovation started Feb. 22, 2016 ---
http://news.vanderbilt.edu/2016/02/free-vanderbilt-online-course-on-arts-and-culture-innovation-starts-feb-22/
Note that getting a grade and transcript credit for taking the course is not free from Cousera.

Leading innovation in the arts and cultural sector is the topic of a Vanderbilt University massive open online course, or MOOC, launching Feb. 22. David Owens, professor of the practice of management and innovation at the Owen Graduate School of Management and professor of the practice of engineering management, will teach the eight-week course, which is designed to help arts and culture leaders create an environment where new ideas are constantly created, shared and evaluated, and the best ones are successfully put to work.

This will mark the second time Owens has taught a MOOC on leading strategic innovation in organizations. For this iteration, Owens partnered with National Arts Strategies to customize the course content for arts and cultural leaders. National Arts Strategies partners with funders, agencies, membership organizations and cultural institutions to create custom educational experiences that support and strengthen leaders.

“In my work with NAS over the past decade, I have found that arts and culture organizations have the same problems as other kinds of businesses, especially in the areas of strategy and innovation,” Owens said. “Unfortunately, they have far fewer resources to spend on the business education that might address those issues.

“Compounding this, conventional business education pushes a focus on the ‘bottom line’ at the expense of mission, which makes it easy for mission-driven organizations to dismiss the needed education as inappropriate or worse,” he said. “This course offers an alternative to both problems. The course is based in sound business thinking, it recognizes and celebrates the special context within which administrators of arts and culture organizations work, and it is free.”

The course, Leading Innovation in Arts and Culture, will teach the learner how to make an “innovation strategy” a fundamental component of their organization’s overall strategy and will engage students in a series of class discussions and exercises. It is free and available to the public.

Vanderbilt’s participation in Coursera is supported by the Vanderbilt Institute for Digital Learning.

Enroll in Leading Innovation in Arts and Culture >

View all Vanderbilt Coursera courses >

Media Inquiries:
Melanie Moran, (615) 322-NEWS
melanie.moran@vanderbilt.edu

Crash Course Philosophy: Hank Green’s Fast-Paced Introduction to Philosophy Gets Underway on YouTube ---
http://www.openculture.com/2016/02/crash-course-philosophy-hank-greens-fast-paced-introduction-to-philosophy-gets-underway-on-youtube.html

See YouTube Education ---
https://www.youtube.com/edu
Especially note the featured channels


Guidelines for the Professional Evaluation of Digital Scholarship By Historians (PDF) ---
http://historians.org/Documents/Teaching and Learning/Current Projects/Digital Scholarship Evaluation/Guidelines Dig. Scholarship 9.30.2015(0).pdf


How to Block Conservatism Speakers from Campus
"The New Ann Coulter
," by Josh Logue, Inside Higher Ed, February 19, 2016 ---
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2016/02/19/student-protests-and-university-cancellations-follow-milo-yiannopoulos-speaking-tour?utm_source=Inside+Higher+Ed&utm_campaign=e1ece37d00-DNU20160219&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_1fcbc04421-e1ece37d00-197565045

Liberal Bias in Higher Education ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/higHerEdControversies.htm#LiberalBias


Law Profs Continue To Publish After Tenure, But In Less Competitive Outlets ---
http://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog/2016/02/yoonlaw-profs-continue-to-publish-after-tenure-but-in-less-competitive-outlets.html

Jensen Comment
Years ago Cooley, Heck and Jensen found this was also true among accounting professors after they received tenure.

"An Analysis of Contributors to Accounting Journals Part II: The Individual Academic Journals," (Philip Cooley, Louis Heck, and Bob Jensen), The International Journal of Accounting, Vol.26, 1991, pp. 1-17.

"An Analysis of Contributors to Accounting Journals. Part I: The Aggregate Performances," (Philip Cooley, Louis Heck, and Bob Jensen), The International Journal of Accounting, Vol.25, 1990, pp. 202-217. Released in 1991.


UNC's Technology Commons and Resources
"UNC Gives Professors a Way to Rate Classroom Technologies Across Campuses," by Corinne Ruff, Chronicle of Higher Education, February 19, 2016 ---
http://chronicle.com/article/UNC-Gives-Professors-a-Way-to/235367?cid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en&elqTrackId=b0cfb869eb844215a7f879a683640f31&elq=1a51e43df2934d40b7a99b53117d85a6&elqaid=7957&elqat=1&elqCampaignId=2473 

The University of North Carolina system has built a Yelp-like review site for teaching tools, where it is asking professors to review and comment on how useful various digital services were in their classrooms.

Though the process will not be quite as simple as awarding five stars, Matthew Z. Rascoff, the system vice president for technology-based learning and innovation who is leading the project, said professors would use a research-based rubric to describe which tools had helped increase student learning and which aren’t worth the time or money. Technology vendors will also be able to use the site to view feedback on products.

The online platform, known as the UNC Learning Technology Commons, opened to vendor applications last week and will end its first round of applications in mid-March. After a rolling review of the first cycle of applications within the next few weeks, faculty members on the university’s 17 campuses will have access to the commons. There they will be able to virtually discuss, review, and share ideas on which instructional technologies work and how educators in diverse disciplines can use tools to engage students in the classroom.

Continued in article

Bob Jensen's threads on Tools and Tricks of the Trade ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/000aaa/thetools.htm

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


THE BILL GATES INTERVIEW: An energy miracle is coming, and it's going to change the world ---
http://www.techinsider.io/bill-gates-interview-energy-miracle-coming-2016-2

This $14-billion (French) machine is set to usher in a new era of nuclear fusion power ---
http://www.businessinsider.com/whats-the-iter-nuclear-fusion-plant-and-why-is-it-important-2016-2

Scientists in Germany today switched on a new kind of nuclear reactor, the latest experiment in the quest to produce clean, sustainable power from controlled nuclear fusion ---
https://www.technologyreview.com/s/600712/experimental-fusion-reactor-switched-on-in-germany/#/set/id/600713/
Jensen Comment
Ir will give me great joy the day fusion power renders bird-killing wind power turbinesobsolete.

MIT:  Ten Breakthrough Technologies 2016 ---
https://www.technologyreview.com/lists/technologies/2016/#/set/id/600869/

MIT:  Current Recommended Reads on Robotics and AI ---
https://www.technologyreview.com/s/545501/recommended-reads-on-the-robot-and-ai-beat-this-week/

MIT: 
https://www.technologyreview.com/s/600728/the-best-of-the-web-this-week/

MIT:  Seven Must-Read Stories (Week Ending February 13, 2016) ---
https://www.technologyreview.com/s/600787/seven-must-read-stories-week-ending-february-13-2016/

MIT:  Seven Must-Read Stories (Week Ending February 20, 2016) ---
https://www.technologyreview.com/s/600850/the-best-of-the-web-this-week/


"Online Scams: How Can You Protect Yourself and Your Family?" by Carrie Schwab Pomerantz, Townhall, February 24, 2016 ---
http://finance.townhall.com/columnists/carrieschwabpomerantz/2016/02/24/online-scams-how-can-you-protect-yourself-and-your-family-n2123850?utm_source=thdaily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=nl

. . .

Most scams are designed to defraud you of your money or get your personal information to access that money. Here are a few common frauds we should all be aware of:

--Emails purportedly from government agencies or financial institutions requesting personal and financial information or money

--Calls from familiar sounding charities pressuring you for quick donations by credit card or wire transfer

--Offers of discounted health insurance or low-cost medications

--Goods for sale, such as a car, at below market value, and insistence on a rush sale with payment by wire or to a third party

--Email purportedly from a legitimate collection agency stating that a loan is delinquent and must be paid in full to avoid legal consequences

--Offers for free gifts, vacations or "found money" dependent on some sort of upfront payment, such as a finder's fee, taxes or delivery charges

--Various investment frauds, including offers of high-yield investments, letters of credit or prime bank notes

--Hot stock tips, especially for "penny stocks," from unknown callers or e-mails even if they claim to work for well-known brokerage or investment firms

Bob Jensen's somewhat neglected threads on fraud reporting ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/FraudReporting.htm

Jensen Comment
Some of the worst scams are not online; They're on television wanting you to pay about $20 per month for for a cute/abused pet, a veteran without limbs, a starving child, etc. All are for good causes but most of these charities spend more on salaries, parties, and promotions than they do on the victims.

CNBC and The New York Times:  Wounded War Project Spends Lavishly on Itself, Insiders Say ---
http://www.cnbc.com/2016/01/27/wounded-warrior-project-spends-lavishly-on-itself-insiders-say.html

Huffington Post:  Please Don't Give to the Humane Society if You Care About Pets ---
http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/douglas-anthony-cooper/humane-society_b_1943902.html

First of all, the Humane Society of the United States -- the HSUS -- has no connection whatsoever to your local Humane Society: the one that runs your local shelter.

 


Paul Caron's Ten Most Popular Blog Posts in the Third Week of February 2016 ---
http://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog/2016/02/this-weeks-.html 

  1. Justice Scalia's Advice To Law Profs: Your Legacy Is Not Scholarship; What Endures Is What Happens In The Classroom
  2. Justice Scalia's Death Exposes Deep Divisions On Georgetown Law School Faculty
  3. Harvard Law Students Occupy Wasserstein Hall To Protest Lack Of Inclusiveness
  4. The Regrettable Underenforcement Of Incompetence As Cause To Dismiss Tenured Faculty
  5. Cooley Craters: Enrollment, Faculty Down 60%, Tuition Up 40%
  6. Section 162(m): The Executive Pay Cap That Backfired
  7. UC-Berkeley Law, Business Schools Jack Up Tuition For California Residents
  8. IRS Fails To Follow Basic Web Security Procedures, Increases Risk Of Taxpayer Identity Theft
  9. Why Lawyers (And Law Professors) Eat Last: A Workshop On Selfless Service
  10. NY Times: Death, The Prosperity Gospel And Me

A manifesto for small teams doing important work ---
http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2016/02/a-manifesto-for-small-teams-doing-important-work.html


Rubrics in Academia --- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rubric_(academic)

"Assessing, Without Tests," by Paul Fain, Inside Higher Ed, February 17, 2016 ---
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2016/02/17/survey-finds-increased-use-learning-outcomes-measures-decline-standardized-tests?utm_source=Inside+Higher+Ed&utm_campaign=60a80c3a41-DNU20160217&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_1fcbc04421-60a80c3a41-197565045

Jensen Comment
Testing becomes more effective for grading and licensing purposes as class sizes increase. It's less effective when hands on experience is a larger part of competency evaluation. For example, in the final stages of competency evaluation in neurosurgery testing becomes less important than expert evaluation of surgeries being performed in operating rooms. I want my brain surgeon to be much more than a good test taker. Testing is more cost effective when assigning academic credit for a MOOC mathematics course taken by over 5,000 students.

One thing to keep in mind is that testing serves a much larger purpose than grading the amount of learning. Testing is a huge motivator as evidenced by how students work so much harder to learn just prior to being tested.

Some types of testing are also great integrators of multiple facets of a course. This is one justification of having comprehensive final examinations.

Testing also can overcome racial, ethnic, and cultural biases. This is the justification, for example, for having licensing examinations like CPA exam examinations, BAR examinations, nursing examinations, etc. be color blind in terms of  race, ethnic, and cultural bias. This is also one of the justifications (good or bad) of taking grading out of the jurisdiction of teachers. Competency examinations also serve a purpose of giving credit for learning no matter of how or where the subject matter is learned. Years ago people could take final examinations at the University of Chicago without ever having attended classes in a course ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/assess.htm#ConceptKnowledge

Bob Jensen's threads on assessment ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/assess.htm


Jensen Comment
Note that the following article has enormous implications for what is taught in most Ph.D. programs in the social sciences, business, accounting, finance, and other academic disciplines.  Regression analysis has become the key to the kingdom of academic research, a Ph.D. diploma, journal article publication, tenure, and performance rewards in the Academy. Now the sky is falling, and soon researchers skilled mostly at performing regression analysis are faced with the problem of having to learn how to do real research.

Regression Analysis --- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regression_analysis

Richard Nisbett --- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_E._Nisbett


"The Crusade Against Multiple Regression Analysis A Conversation With Richard Nisbett," Edge, January 21, 2016 ---
http://edge.org/conversation/richard_nisbett-the-crusade-against-multiple-regression-analysis

A huge range of science projects are done with multiple regression analysis. The results are often somewhere between meaningless and quite damaging. ...                             

I hope that in the future, if I’m successful in communicating with people about this, that there’ll be a kind of upfront warning in New York Times articles: These data are based on multiple regression analysis. This would be a sign that you probably shouldn’t read the article because you’re quite likely to get non-information or misinformation. RICHARD NISBETT is a professor of psychology and co-director of the Culture and Cognition Program at the University of Michigan. He is the author of Mindware: Tools for Smart Thinking; and The Geography of Thought. Richard Nisbett's Edge Bio Page.

THE CRUSADE AGAINST MULTIPLE REGRESSION ANALYSIS
The thing I’m most interested in right now has become a kind of crusade against correlational statistical analysis—in particular, what’s called multiple regression analysis. Say you want to find out whether taking Vitamin E is associated with lower prostate cancer risk. You look at the correlational evidence and indeed it turns out that men who take Vitamin E have lower risk for prostate cancer. Then someone says, "Well, let’s see if we do the actual experiment, what happens." And what happens when you do the experiment is that Vitamin E contributes to the likelihood of prostate cancer. How could there be differences? These happen a lot. The correlational—the observational—evidence tells you one thing, the experimental evidence tells you something completely different.

The thing I’m most interested in right now has become a kind of crusade against correlational statistical analysis—in particular, what’s called multiple regression analysis. Say you want to find out whether taking Vitamin E is associated with lower prostate cancer risk. You look at the correlational evidence and indeed it turns out that men who take Vitamin E have lower risk for prostate cancer. Then someone says, "Well, let’s see if we do the actual experiment, what happens." And what happens when you do the experiment is that Vitamin E contributes to the likelihood of prostate cancer. How could there be differences? These happen a lot. The correlational—the observational—evidence tells you one thing, the experimental evidence tells you something completely different.

In the case of health data, the big problem is something that’s come to be called the healthy user bias, because the guy who’s taking Vitamin E is also doing everything else right. A doctor or an article has told him to take Vitamin E, so he does that, but he’s also the guy who’s watching his weight and his cholesterol, gets plenty of exercise, drinks alcohol in moderation, doesn’t smoke, has a high level of education, and a high income. All of these things are likely to make you live longer, to make you less subject to morbidity and mortality risks of all kinds. You pull one thing out of that correlate and it’s going to look like Vitamin E is terrific because it’s dragging all these other good things along with it.

This is not, by any means, limited to health issues. A while back, I read a government report in The New York Times on the safety of automobiles. The measure that they used was the deaths per million drivers of each of these autos. It turns out that, for example, there are enormously more deaths per million drivers who drive Ford F150 pickups than for people who drive Volvo station wagons. Most people’s reaction, and certainly my initial reaction to it was, "Well, it sort of figures—everybody knows that Volvos are safe."

Continued in article

Drawing Inferences From Very Large Data-Sets

David Johnstone wrote the following:

Indeed if you hold H0 the same and keep changing the model, you will eventually (generally soon) get a significant result, allowing "rejection of H0 at 5%", not because H0 is necessarily false but because you have built upon a false model (of which there are zillions, obviously).

"Drawing Inferences From Very Large Data-Sets,"   by David Giles, Econometrics Beat:  Dave Giles� Blog, University of Victoria, April 26, 2013 ---
http://davegiles.blogspot.ca/2011/04/drawing-inferences-from-very-large-data.html

. . .

Granger (1998; 2003has reminded us that if the sample size is sufficiently large, then it's virtually impossible not to reject almost any hypothesis. So, if the sample is very large and the p-values associated with the estimated coefficients in a regression model are of the order of, say, 0.10 or even 0.05, then this really bad news. Much, much, smaller p-values are needed before we get all excited about 'statistically significant' results when the sample size is in the thousands, or even bigger. So, the p-values reported above are mostly pretty marginal, as far as significance is concerned. When you work out the p-values for the other 6 models I mentioned, they range from  to 0.005 to 0.460. I've been generous in the models I selected.

Here's another set of  results taken from a second, really nice, paper by
Ciecieriski et al. (2011) in the same issue of Health Economics:

Continued in article

Jensen Comment
My research suggest that over 90% of the recent papers published in The Accounting Review use purchased databases that provide enormous sample sizes in those papers. Their accountics science authors keep reporting those meaningless levels of statistical significance.

What is even worse is when meaningless statistical significance tests are used to support decisions.

"Statistical Significance - Again " by David Giles, Econometrics Beat:  Dave Giles� Blog, University of Victoria, December 28, 2013 ---
http://davegiles.blogspot.com/2013/12/statistical-significance-again.html

Statistical Significance - Again

 
With all of this emphasis on "Big Data", I was pleased to see this post on the Big Data Econometrics blog, today.

 
When you have a sample that runs to the thousands (billions?), the conventional significance levels of 10%, 5%, 1% are completely inappropriate. You need to be thinking in terms of tiny significance levels.

 
I discussed this in some detail back in April of 2011, in a post titled, "Drawing Inferences From Very Large Data-Sets". If you're of those (many) applied researchers who uses large cross-sections of data, and then sprinkles the results tables with asterisks to signal "significance" at the 5%, 10% levels, etc., then I urge you read that earlier post.

 
It's sad to encounter so many papers and seminar presentations in which the results, in reality, are totally insignificant!

 

How Standard Error Costs Us Jobs, Justice, and Lives, by Stephen T. Ziliak and Deirdre N. McCloskey (Ann Arbor:  University of Michigan Press, ISBN-13: 978-472-05007-9, 2007)
http://www.cs.trinity.edu/~rjensen/temp/DeirdreMcCloskey/StatisticalSignificance01.htm

Page 206
Like scientists today in medical and economic and other sizeless sciences, Pearson mistook a large sample size for the definite, substantive significance---evidence s Hayek put it, of "wholes." But it was as Hayek said "just an illusion." Pearson's columns of sparkling asterisks, though quantitative in appearance and as appealing a is the simple truth of the sky, signified nothing.

 

pp. 250-251
The textbooks are wrong. The teaching is wrong. The seminar you just attended is wrong. The most prestigious journal in your scientific field is wrong.

You are searching, we know, for ways to avoid being wrong. Science, as Jeffreys said, is mainly a series of approximations to discovering the sources of error. Science is a systematic way of reducing wrongs or can be. Perhaps you feel frustrated by the random epistemology of the mainstream and don't know what to do. Perhaps you've been sedated by significance and lulled into silence. Perhaps you sense that the power of a Roghamsted test against a plausible Dublin alternative is statistically speaking low but you feel oppressed by the instrumental variable one should dare not to wield. Perhaps you feel frazzled by what Morris Altman (2004) called the "social psychology rhetoric of fear," the deeply embedded path dependency that keeps the abuse of significance in circulation. You want to come out of it. But perhaps you are cowed by the prestige of Fisherian dogma. Or, worse thought, perhaps you are cynically willing to be corrupted if it will keep a nice job

 

Bob Jensen's threads on the often way analysts, particularly accountics scientists, often cheer for statistical significance of large sample outcomes that praise statistical significance of insignificant results such as R2 values of .0001 ---
The Cult of Statistical Significance: How Standard Error Costs Us Jobs, Justice, and Lives ---
http://www.cs.trinity.edu/~rjensen/temp/DeirdreMcCloskey/StatisticalSignificance01.htm

Those of you interested in tracking The Accounting Review's  trends in submissions, refereeing, and acceptances'rejections should be interested in current senior editor Mark L. DeFond's annual report at
http://aaajournals.org/doi/full/10.2308/accr-10477
This has become a huge process involving 18 editors and hundreds of referees. TAR is still the leading accountics science journal of the American Accounting Association. However, there are so many new specialty journals readers are apt to find quality research in other AAA journals. TAR seemingly still does not publish commentaries and articles without equations and has not yet caught on the the intitiatives of the Pathways Commission for more diversification in research in the leading AAA research journal. Virtually all TAR editors still worship p-values in empirical submissions.

"Not Even Scientists Can Easily Explain P-values," by Christie Aschwanden, Nate Silver's 5:38 Blog, November 30, 2015 ---
http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/not-even-scientists-can-easily-explain-p-values/

P-values have taken quite a beating lately. These widely used and commonly misapplied statistics have been blamed for giving a veneer of legitimacy to dodgy study results, encouraging bad research practices and promoting false-positive study results.

But after writing about p-values again and again, and recently issuing a correction on a nearly year-old story over some erroneous information regarding a study’s p-value (which I’d taken from the scientists themselves and their report), I’ve come to think that the most fundamental problem with p-values is that no one can really say what they are.

Last week, I attended the inaugural METRICS conference at Stanford, which brought together some of the world’s leading experts on meta-science, or the study of studies. I figured that if anyone could explain p-values in plain English, these folks could. I was wrong.

Continued in article

Jensen Comment
Why all the fuss? Accountics scientists have a perfectly logical explanation. P-values are numbers that are pumped out of statistical analysis software (mostly multiple regression software) that accounting research journal editors think indicate the degree of causality or at least suggest the degree of causality to readers. But the joke is on the editors, because there aren't any readers.

November 30, 2015 reply from David Johnstone

Dear Bob, thankyou for this interesting stuff.

 

A big part of the acceptance of P-values is that they easily give the look of something having been found. So it’s an agency problem, where the researchers do what makes their research outcomes easier and better looking.

 

There is a lot more to it of course. I note with young staff that they face enough hurdles in the need to get papers written and published without thinking that the very techniques that they are trying to emulate might be flawed. Rightfully, they say, “it’s not my job to question everything that I have been shown and to get nowhere as a result”, nor can most believe that something so established and revered can be wrong, that is just too unthinkable and depressing. So the bandwagon goes on, and, as Bob says, no one cares outside as no one much reads it.

 

I do however get annoyed every time I hear decision makers carry on about “evidence based” policy, as if no one can have a clue or form a vision or strategy without first having the backing of some junk science by a sociologist or educationist or accounting researcher who was just twisting the world whichever way to get significant p-values and a good “story”. This kind of cargo-culting, which is everywhere, does great harm to good or sincere science, as it makes it hard for an outsider to tell the difference.

 

One thing that does not get much of a hearing is that the statisticians themselves must take a lot of blame. They had the chance to vote off P values decades ago when they had to choose between frequentist and Bayesian logic. They split into two camps with the frequentists in the great majority but holding the weakest ground intellectually. The numbers are moving now, as people that were not born when de Finetti, Savage, Lindley, Kadane and others first said that p-values were ill-conceived logically. Accounting, of course, being largely ignorant of there being any issue, and ultimately just political, will not be leading the battle of ideas.

January 28, 2016 reply from Paul Williams

Bob,

Thank you for this. In accounting the problem is even worse because at least in other fields it is plausible that one can have "scientific" concepts and categories. Archival research in accounting can only deal with interpretive concepts and the "scientific" categories are often constructed for the one study in question. We make a lot of s... up so that the results are consistent with the narrative (always a neoclassical economic one) that informs the study. Measurement? Doesn't exist. How can one seriously believe they are engaged in scientific research when their "measurements" are the result of GAAP? Abe Briloff described our most prestigious research (which Greg Waymire claimed in his AAA presidential white paper "...threatens the discipline with extinction."). as simply "low level financial statement analysis." Any research activity that is reduced to a template (in JAE the table numbers are nearly the same from paper to paper) you know you are in trouble. What is the scientific value of 50 control variables, two focus independent variables (correlated with the controls), and one dependent variable that is always different from study to study? This one variable at a time approach can go on into infinity with the only result being a huge pile of anecdotes that no one can organize into any coherent explanation of what is going on. As you have so eloquently and relentlessly pointed out accountants never replicate anything. In archival research it is not even possible to replicate since the researcher is unable to provide (like any good scientist in physics, chemistry, biology, etc.) a log book providing the detailed recipe it would take to actually replicate what the researcher has done. Without the ability to independently replicate the exact study, the status of that study is merely an anecdote. Given the Hunton affair, perhaps we should not be so sanguine about trusting our colleagues. This is particularly so since the leading U.S. journals have a clear ideological bias -- if your results aren't consistent with the received wisdom they won't be published.

Paul

 

Bob Jensen's threads on statistical mistakes ---
http://www.cs.trinity.edu/rjensen/temp/AccounticsScienceStatisticalMistakes.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

"A Scrapbook on What’s Wrong with the Past, Present a nd Future of Accountics Science," by Bob Jensen, Working Paper 450.06, Date Fluid ---
http://www.cs.trinity.edu/~rjensen/temp/AccounticsWorkingPaper450.06.pdf

The purpose of this paper is to make a case that the accountics science monopoly of our doctoral programs and publish ed research is seriously flawed, especially its lack of concern about replication and focus on simplified arti ficial worlds that differ too much from reality to creatively discover findings of greater relevance to teachers of accounting and practitioners of accounting. Accountics scientists themselves became a Cargo Cult.

Gaming for Tenure as an Accounting Professor ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/TheoryTenure.htm
(with a reply about tenure publication point systems from Linda Kidwell)


Replication and Validity Testing --- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/TheoryTar.htm#Replication

One of Academy's biggest disgraces in the social sciences, business, accountancy, etc. is the frequency with which published research is not replicated in validation studies. The social sciences have made advances in encouraging replication research. Business and accounting discourage replications by being unwilling to publish replications. Accountics (accounting science) journals like The Accounting Review further discourage replication research by showing zero willingness to publish commentaries that question the validity of accountics science research. How would anyone dare? When TAR publishes something it's tantamount to truth ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/TheoryTar.htm

"The Replication Network," by David E. Giles, Econometrics Beat, February 8, 2016 ---
http://davegiles.blogspot.com/2016/02/the-replication-network.html

This is a "shout out" for The Replication Network.

 
The full name is, The Replication Network: Furthering the Practice of Replication in Economics. I was alerted to TRN some time ago by co-organiser, Bob Reed, and I'm pleased to be a member.

 
What's TRN about:
"This website serves as a channel of communication to (i) update scholars about the state of replications in economics, and (ii) establish a network for the sharing  of information and ideas. 
The goal is to encourage economists and their journals to publish replications."
There's News & Events; Guest Blogs; Research involving replications in economics; and lots more.

 
Hats off to TRN. We need more of this!

Scientific Replication Woes of Psychology
Accountics scientists in accountancy avoid such woes by rarely even trying to replicate behavioral experiements

"The Results of the Reproducibility Project Are In. They’re Not Good," by Tom Bartlett, Chronicle of Higher Education, August 28, 2015 ---
http://chronicle.com/article/The-Results-of-the/232695/?cid=at

A decade ago, John P.A. Ioannidis published a provocative and much-discussed paper arguing that most published research findings are false. It’s starting to look like he was right.

The results of the Reproducibility Project are in, and the news is not good. The goal of the project was to attempt to replicate findings in 100 studies from three leading psychology journals published in the year 2008. The very ambitious endeavor, led by Brian Nosek, a professor of psychology at the University of Virginia and executive director of the Center for Open Science, brought together more than 270 researchers who tried to follow the same methods as the original researchers — in essence, double-checking their work by painstakingly re-creating it.

Turns out, only 39 percent of the studies withstood that scrutiny.

Even Mr. Nosek, a self-described congenital optimist, doesn’t try to put a happy spin on that number. He’s pleased that the replicators were able to pull off the project, which began in 2011 and involved innumerable software issues, language differences, logistical challenges, and other assorted headaches. Now it’s done! That’s the upside.

Continued in article

574 Shields Against Validity Testing in Accounting Research---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/TheoryTAR.htm

 


"How Social Media Is Disrupting the Lives of American Girls," by Nancy Jo Sales, Time Magazine, February 13, 2016 ---
http://time.com/americangirls/?xid=newsletter-brief 


Bitcoin --- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bitcoin

"Here’s why you have to start taking bitcoin seriously," by Brent Arens, MarketWatch, February 19, 2016 ---
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/heres-why-you-have-to-start-taking-bitcoin-seriously-2016-02-19

For years the conventional wisdom in finance has been that bitcoins are a silly technological game, a bubble, and a fad.

Today: Not so much.

Bitcoins have just gotten serious, and people are going to have to start paying attention to this digital currency. That means investors, governments, and those trying to fight crime as well.

This was already true even before the news out of California that criminals just used bitcoins to extort $17,000 in blackmail from a hospital and make, so far, a clean getaway.

Bitcoins are booming. They have doubled in price in the last six months. Indeed bitcoins were actually the best performing currency in the world last year. I ran an exhaustive screen on FactSet, making sure to include everything from the Afghanistan afghani (down 16% against the U.S. dollar DXY, -0.17% ) to the Zambian kwacha (down 42%). Bitcoin trounced them all. The dollar value of each bitcoin jumped 40% during 2015, from $310 to $434. (The currency in second place, the Gambian dalasi of all things, was nowhere near: It rose just 9% against the U.S. dollar.).

At current prices, the total value of bitcoins in the world now tops $6 billion. That’s quite some “fad.”

Continued in articl

"Technical Roadblock Might Shatter Bitcoin Dreams," by Tom Simonite, MIT's Technolology Review, February 16. 2016 ---
https://www.technologyreview.com/s/600781/technical-roadblock-might-shatter-bitcoin-dreams/#/set/id/600813/

The total value of the digital currency Bitcoin is over $5 billion, reflecting how some people think it will one day become widely useful. But a new analysis of the software that powers the currency concludes that Bitcoin needs a complete redesign if it is to support more than the paltry number of transactions that take place today.

That suggests that the people, companies, and investors who are banking on the currency becoming widely used must overcome fundamental technical challenges that currently have no known solutions, not just the economic and cultural issues associated with a currency independent of any government.

The findings, from a large group of researchers mostly affiliated with Cornell University, also offer new perspective on an acrimonious debate that has recently riven the world of Bitcoin (see “The Looming Problem That Could Kill Bitcoin”).

Continued in article

FASB:  No GAAP for Bitcoins ---
http://www.bna.com/no-gaap-bit-b17179880752/

December 17, 2013 reply from Tom Selling

From the BNA Bloomberg piece:

"There is no generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) that specifically addresses financial reporting for bit coins, which means this would fall under other comprehensive basis of accounting (OCBOA), FASB members who weighed in said."

I don't know if I agree with that assessment — assuming that it is accurately reported. Bit coins are clearly not a currency (yet), since they are not universally (or near universally) accepted as a medium of exchange. Thus, it seems to me that the portion of the ASC dealing with barter credits (starting at ASC 845-10-30-17) covers bit coins. Basically, a sale in exchange for a barter credit can be counted as revenue if the entity has a practice of converting the barter credit into cash in the "near term."

Am I missing something? I realize that the sponsors (if that's the right word) aspire that bit coins should become a new currency, but right now, they seem to be the functional equivalent of some forms of barter credits.

Best,
Tom

Jensen Reply

Hi Tom,

You made a very good point since both bitcoins (and other virtual currencies) and barter credits are sometimes traded on exchanges that set values apart from the fair values of the items traded initially. In the exchange markets values can be complicated by speculators in the virtual currencies and the varying willingness of businesses to accept them.

The question is whether barter credits meet the definitions of virtual currencies. I'm not familiar enough with barter credits to know that they have the "block chain central bodies" doing the mathematical calculations that, among other things, prevent double spending ---
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bitcoin

Virtual currencies differ from private currencies, and I tend to view barer credits private currencies rather than virtual currencies ---
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Private_currency
One key difference is that private currencies tend to trade in terms of specified commodities (such as gold) or regions (such as BerkShares in the Berkshire region of Massachusetts) whereas virtual currencies tend to take on a life of their own. apart from commodities or spending regions.

It seems like accounting for bitcoins may become less complicated than accounting for private currencies in that bitcoins and other virtual currencies are more like international legal tender than private currencies subject to possible thinner markets such as the market for BerkShares. Of course bitcoins are not yet legal tender per se.

Barter credit accounting is also complicated by other revenue recognition rules. For example, if barter credits apply to discount coupons then all the complications of revenue accounting for discount coupons enter the picture.

I don't think the IRS, the FASB, and the IASB have yet dealt with all the complications of private currencies or virtual currencies traded on exchanges and the liquidity risks and speculation risks inherent in such transaction valuations. One complication is that the markets may be very thin such as the BerkShares trading market restricted to vendors in the Berkshires region.

A Bit of History
"Accounting For Transactions Involving Barter Credits," by Joel Steinberg, The CPA Journal, July 1999 ---
http://www.nysscpa.org/cpajournal/1999/0799/departments/D56799.HTM

Commercial barter transactions have been increasing in recent years, and there are currently a number of commercial barter websites. A barter transaction can involve an exchange of goods or services for other goods or services, or barter credits. In a transaction involving barter credits, a company exchanges an asset such as inventory for barter credits. The transaction might be done directly with another entity that will provide goods or services, or it might be done through a barter broker or network. In a barter network, goods or services are exchanged for barter credits or "trade dollars" that can be used to purchase goods or services from either the barter broker or members of the network. The goods and services to be purchased may be specified in a barter contract or may be limited to items made available by members of the network. Credits for advertising are the most common items received in barter transactions. This is because advertisers can often run additional spots with little additional overhead and are therefore willing to exchange such services for nonmonetary consideration.

When a company enters into a barter transaction, two things need to be addressed from an accounting standpoint. First, the exchange transaction needs to be accounted for properly. Second, the recorded amount of unused barter credits has to be evaluated at each financial statement reporting date.

Recording the Exchange Transaction

Guidance on accounting for the exchange transaction is provided in FASB Emerging Issues Task Force (EITF) Issue No. 93-11, Accounting for Barter Transactions Involving Barter Credits. The task force reached a consensus that APB No. 29, Accounting for Nonmonetary Transactions, should be applied to an exchange of a nonmonetary asset for barter credits. The basic principle of APB No. 29 is that accounting for nonmonetary transactions should be based on the fair values of the assets or services involved. (This excludes situations where the exchange is not the culmination of an earning process, in which case the recorded amount of the asset surrendered should be used.) The transaction is generally measured based on the fair value of the asset surrendered. The fair value of the asset surrendered becomes the cost basis of the asset acquired. A gain or loss should be recognized based on the difference between the fair value of the asset surrendered and its carrying amount.

The fair value of the asset received in an exchange should be used to record the transaction only if it is more clearly evident than the fair value of the asset surrendered. In the case of barter credits, it should be presumed that the fair value of the asset exchanged is more clearly evident than the fair value of the barter credits received. Accordingly, the barter credits received should be recorded at the fair value of the asset exchanged. That presumption might be overcome if the barter credits can be converted into cash in the near term, or if independent quoted market prices exist for items to be received in exchange for the barter credits.

When determining the fair value of the asset surrendered, it should be presumed that the fair value of the asset does not exceed its carrying amount, unless there is persuasive evidence supporting a higher value. When determining the value of inventory or other assets exchanged in a barter transaction, skepticism should be used. The reality is that the company would prefer to sell the inventory for cash rather than barter credits. The fact that the company is bartering with inventory could indicate that the company's normal selling price may not be an accurate measure of fair value. This could also raise lower-of-cost-or-market valuation questions about any items remaining in inventory.

The EITF also concluded that if the fair value of the asset exchanged is less than its carrying amount, an impairment should be recognized prior to recording the exchange. For example, inventory exchanged in a barter transaction should be adjusted to the lower of cost or market prior to recording the barter transaction. In the case of long-lived assets, impairment should be measured and recognized in accordance with SFAS No. 121, Accounting for the Impairment of Long-lived Assets and for Long-lived Assets to Be Disposed Of.

Evaluating the Recorded Amount of Barter Credits

At each balance sheet date, the recorded amount of barter credits should be evaluated for impairment. An impairment loss should be recognized if the fair value of any remaining barter credits is less than the carrying amount, or if it is probable that the company will not use all of the remaining barter credits.

The first step in evaluating the realizability of barter credits is to evaluate the likelihood that the counterparty will perform. If the credits are directly with another entity that will provide the goods or services, that entity should be evaluated. This can be done by investigating the credit rating of that entity and obtaining references from other companies that have been involved in similar transactions with the entity. If the credits are with a barter broker or network, the credibility and history of the broker or network should be evaluated. This can be done by contacting the International Reciprocal Trade Association (www.irta.net) or similar organizations.

The next step is to evaluate, based on current and future operations, whether the company is expected to fully utilize the recorded amount of the credits. For example, if a company has available $100,000 of advertising credits, but typically spends only $5,000 on advertising each year, it might take 20 years to fully utilize the credits. Similarly, credits may allow the company to purchase whatever goods or services happen to be available from members of the network, and it may be uncertain whether the company will ever need any of them. Barter credits may also have a contractual expiration date, at which time they become worthless. Finally, some arrangements may require the payment of cash in addition to barter credits, in which case the ability of the company to use the credits may be limited. *

 

Jensen Comment
Abuses by companies could change this in a New York minute such as the EITF changed revenue recognition ploys by tech companies in the roaring 1990s ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/ecommerce/eitf01.htm 

 


"A Plague of Plagiarism," by Alan Metcalf, Chronicle of Higher Education, February 16, 2016 --- |
http://chronicle.com/blogs/linguafranca/2016/02/16/the-plague-of-plagiarism/?cid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en&elqTrackId=f365192f0fc64070984808a6d4c951ac&elq=4b0c6e3f35fe42d4b5e75ca3781e9043&elqaid=7908&elqat=1&elqCampaignId=2452

. . .

In academe, as well as in the republic of letters, plagiarism remains the unforgivable sin. The Oxford English Dictionary tells us that this dreadful word (and the activity for which it stands) has been in our language for four centuries, and further that it derives ultimately from “classical Latin plagiarius, person who abducts the child or slave of another, kidnapper, seducer, also a literary thief.”

Kidnapper of someone’s beloved words! No wonder we react so strongly.

The handbooks warn against plagiarism categorically enough. Look in the Writer’s Reference by Hacker and Sommers (eighth edition), for example, and you’ll see this typical declaration: “You must cite anything you borrow from a source, including direct quotations; statistics and other specific facts; visuals such as tables, graphs, and diagrams; and any ideas you present in a summary or paraphrase.

“Borrowing without proper acknowledgment,” the book adds, ”is a form of dishonesty known as plagiarism.”

Which suggests that outside the literary and academic worlds, plagiarism is not a household word.

Nor is it so easily pinned down. There is, first of all, an exception for “common knowledge — information that your readers may know or could easily locate in any number of reference sources,” the Writer’s Reference explains. This exception has existed since time immemorial, but it takes on new significance in these days of the Internet, where a quick googling or binging will reveal any number of reference sources, far more than could be imagined in the days of paper and ink.

Maybe that’s one reason why the Writer’s Reference cautions, “Definitions of plagiarism may vary; it’s a good idea to find out how your school defines academic dishonesty.”

Continued in article

Jensen Comment
It's important to make sure every student, especially each foreign student, understands campus definitions and rules regarding plagiarism. Plagiarism is an even bigger problem in Asia and Russia than in North America if we judge this plagiarism by Western standards. In North America students should not be able to put up a defense of cultural differences regarding the definitions and rules.

The big problem with plagiarism is that it's become so easy to do in this era of the Internet and computer word processing. The most difficult to detect is the copying with clever text revisions that disguise plagiarism that is not literal in terms of wording.

It's also important to distinguish plagiarism from copyright violation. A writer can attribute a literal reproduction (text, picture, etc.) to the original source and still be in violation of copyright law. Plagiarism enters in when there's no attribution to the source.

One difference between Canada and the USA is safe harbor of "Fair Use" in the USA. However, students and faculty in the USA often do not really understand "Fair Use" rules and regulations in regarding "Fair Use:" in the  DMCA ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/000aaa/theworry.htm#Copyright

Bob Jensen's threads on plagiarism among faculty and students ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/Plagiarism.htm


Maker kit program turns libraries into places for content creation, not just consumption ---
http://lisnews.org/maker_kit_program_turns_libraries_into_places_for_content_creation_not_just_consumption

Librarianship is a funny profession–the day is often a mixture of hokey jokes from people who haven’t been in a library in years, and strategizing ways to implement robotics and computer coding into programs for everybody from preschoolers to seniors. When people see what libraries actually get up to these days, they’re almost always surprised. So many people in America depend on their libraries to help them forward when it comes to technology, and lots of libraries have answered that call with aplomb, learning as they go.

Continued in articel

Bob Jensen's threads on libraries --- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/Bookbob2.htm#---Libraries
 


Anti-Israel sentiment mixed with age-old anti-Semitism has reached a fever pitch at Vassar College. It is time that faculty and administrators take a stand against this toxic brew on behalf of academic values
Mark G. Yudof and Ken Waltzer --- http://www.wsj.com/articles/majoring-in-anti-semitism-at-vassar-1455751940?mod=djemMER

Anti-Israel sentiment mixed with age-old anti-Semitism has reached a fever pitch at Vassar College. It is time that faculty and administrators take a stand against this toxic brew on behalf of academic values.

The campus of this private liberal-arts college in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., has experienced more than its share of anti-Israel activity. In the spring of 2014, the boycott of a course in the International Studies Program—because it involved a trip to Israel—included heckling students and picketing the class. During the fall of 2015, attempts were made to boycott Sabra hummus because the maker of this popular food is partly owned by an Israeli food company.

The most recent incident was a talk on Feb. 3 by Jasbir Puar, a Rutgers associate professor of women’s and gender studies. The address, “Inhumanist Biopolitics: How Palestine Matters,” was sponsored by eight Vassar departments and programs, including Jewish Studies and American Studies.

Ms. Puar began by exhorting the students to support a boycott of Israel as part of “armed” resistance. As reported by several in attendance at the speech—the professor introducing her requested that it not be recorded—Ms. Puar passed on vicious lies that Israel had “mined for organs for scientific research” from dead Palestinians—updating the medieval blood libel against Jews—and accused Israelis of attempting to give Palestinians the “bare minimum for survival” as part of a medical “experiment.”

When asked, she agreed with a questioner that Israeli treatment of Palestinians amounted to genocide but objected to the term itself, which she said was too “tethered to the Holocaust.”

Ms. Puar’s speech was co-sponsored by the Jewish Studies Program, yet faculty members of the program remained silent in the audience during the event. This is a testament to the spell that anti-Israel dogma, no matter its veracity, has spread over the campus.

Wild charges against Israel have often been aired on U.S. campuses over the past several years, and their moral perversity pointed out. But Ms. Puar’s calumnies reached a new low. She spoke of Jews deliberately starving Palestinians, “stunting” and “maiming” a population. The false accusation that a people, some of whose members were experimented on at Auschwitz, are today experimenting on others is a disgrace.

Yet characterizing Israel and Zionism in ways that anti-Semites formerly characterized Jews has become a stock in trade among anti-Israeli activists on college campuses. And it exposes the real motivation of those who profess to criticize only the Israeli government’s policies with regard to the West Bank, not Jews themselves.

Now there is a resolution before the Vassar student union, in part seeking a boycott of Ben & Jerry’s, on the grounds that the company—founded by two Jews—sells ice-cream “transported on Jewish-only roads to be sold in Jewish-only settlements.” This is part of a broader divest-from-Israel resolution to be voted on this spring, which also includes other U.S. companies.

These events are transforming a prestigious institution into a parody ripe for ridicule—a place embarrassing to prominent alumni and worrisome for prospective Jewish students.

In January 2014, Vassar President Catharine Bond Hill forthrightly rejected the boycotts of Israel that were being proposed by a variety of academic associations. This time her response—posting a letter in the alumni magazine defending the college’s reputation and stating that some may have found Ms. Puar’s talk “objectionable”—is too tepid.

She did add that Vassar will organize a series of lectures with different viewpoints on Israel. But we think her letter should be addressed to students and faculty—and that hatred of Israel and Jews should not implicitly be characterized as merely another perspective to be debated.


"2016’s dirty dozen tax scams," by Sally P. Schreiber, Journal of Accountancy, February 17, 2016 --- 
http://www.journalofaccountancy.com/news/2016/feb/2016-tax-scams-201613916.html?utm_source=mnl:cpald&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=18Feb2016#sthash.6xUtgCWL.dpuf

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


"Washington State Prof Charged With $8M Research Fraud," Inside Higher Ed, February 26, 2016 ---
https://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2016/02/26/washington-state-prof-charged-8m-research-fraud?utm_source=Inside+Higher+Ed&utm_campaign=8ef91c166e-DNU20160226&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_1fcbc04421-8ef91c166e-197565045

The U.S. Justice Department on Wednesday charged a professor at Washington State University and two family members with defrauding federal agencies of $8 million in research funds for their personal use.

Haifang Wen, the Colf Distinguished Professor in Civil Engineering at Washington State, was arrested Wednesday on charges that he and his brother and sister-in-law had set up false businesses and conspired to defraud the government of grants designed to help small firms develop asphalt composition technologies. Wen and the others face up to 30 years in prison and a $1 million fine

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


"Moody’s Downgrades 3 Illinois Universities to Junk or Just Above Junk," by Mike Shedlock. Townhall, February 26, 2016 ---
http://finance.townhall.com/columnists/mikeshedlock/2016/02/26/moodys-downgrades-3-illinois-universities-to-junk-or-just-above-junk-n2124858?utm_source=thdaily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=nl

The Illinois budget impasse has now spread to three universities struggling to pay bills. Moody’s cut Eastern Illinois University’s credit rating to junk territory while Northeastern Illinois University and Northern Illinois University sit one notch just above junk. All three universities are in danger of losing accreditation. More downgrades will come.

The Washington Post reports Illinois Budget Battle Leads Moody’s to Downgrade Several State Universities.

An epic budget battle in Illinois led Moody’s Investors Service to downgrade the credit rating of three of the state’s public universities late Wednesday, the latest setback for schools that have been starved of funding for eight months and now face possible accreditation challenges.

Northeastern Illinois University and Northern Illinois University had their credit ratings lowered to just above junk status, while Eastern Illinois University’s rating is now below investment grade. That means analysts consider revenue bonds issued on behalf of the school to be a credit risk for investors.

“The downgrade is driven by EIU’s increasing vulnerability to the ongoing state budget impasse given its thin liquidity, declining enrollment and high reliance on state funding,” Moody’s said in a statement. “Liquid reserves are expected to be exhausted by the end of the fiscal year.”

Moody’s has held a negative outlook on all eight Illinois universities it rates since the fall because of their diminishing cash flow. Analysts said there was no indication that Illinois would allow its public universities to borrow money during the budget impasse, despite the strain the ordeal has placed on their operations.

Universities in Illinois have not seen a dime from the state in eight months as the Democratic-controlled general assembly and Republican Governor Bruce Rauner have failed to agree on a budget. The governor has tied passage of the $36 billion budget to changes in collective bargaining rights for public employees and worker compensation, business-friendly moves he says will help turn around the state’s flagging economy. If the legislature refuses to sign on to his changes, Rauner wants lawmakers to let him make $3.5 billion in spending cuts in any way he chooses

 

,


 Williams College President Calls Off Speech by Controversial Conservative Writer ---
http://chronicle.com/blogs/ticker/williams-college-president-calls-off-speech-by-controversial-conservative-writer/108744?elqTrackId=d1987dd61bcb4cfd9c8403a038b2d2c2&elq=84332ea407314cc69f2c1e618e760186&elqaid=7981&elqat=1&elqCampaignId=2487


  • "The End of History, Part II:  The new Advanced Placement U.S. history exam focuses on oppression, group identity and Reagan the warmonger," by Lynn V. Cheney, The Wall Street Journal,  April 1, 2015 ---
    http://www.wsj.com/articles/lynne-cheney-the-end-of-history-part-ii-1427929675?tesla=y

    If you seek peace, if you seek prosperity for the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, if you seek liberalization: Come here to this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!
    —President Ronald Reagan, speech at the Brandenburg Gate, Berlin, 1987

    President Reagan’s challenge to Soviet Premier Mikhail Gorbachev remains one of the most dramatic calls for freedom in our time. Thus I was heartened to find a passage from Reagan’s speech on the sample of the new Advanced Placement U.S. history exam that students will take for the first time in May. It seemed for a moment that students would be encouraged to learn about positive aspects of our past rather than be directed to focus on the negative, as happens all too often.

    But when I looked closer to see the purpose for which the quotation was used, I found that it is held up as an example of “increased assertiveness and bellicosity” on the part of the U.S. in the 1980s. That’s the answer to a multiple-choice question about what Reagan’s speech reflects.

    No notice is taken of the connection the president made between freedom and human flourishing, no attention to the fact that within 2½ years of the speech, people were chipping off pieces of the Berlin Wall as souvenirs. Instead of acknowledging important ideas and historical context, test makers have reduced President Reagan’s most eloquent moment to warmongering.

    The AP U.S. history exam matters. Half a million of the nation’s best and brightest high-school students will take it this year, hoping to use it to earn college credit and to polish their applications to competitive colleges. To score well on the exam, students have to learn what the College Board, a private organization that creates the exam, wants them to know.

    No one worried much about the College Board having this de facto power over curriculum until that organization released a detailed framework—for courses beginning last year—on which the Advanced Placement tests on U.S. history will be based from 2015 onward. When educators, academics and other concerned citizens realized how many notable figures were missing and how negative was the view of American history presented, they spoke out forcefully. The response of the College Board was to release the sample exam that features Ronald Reagan as a warmonger.

    It doesn’t stop there. On the multiple-choice part of the sample exam, there are 18 sections, and eight of them take up the oppression of women, blacks and immigrants. Knowing about the experiences of these groups is important—but truth requires that accomplishment be recognized as well as oppression, and the exam doesn’t have questions on subjects such as the transforming leadership of Martin Luther King Jr.

    The framework requires that all questions take up sweeping issues, such as “group identity,” which leaves little place for transcendent individuals. Men and women who were once studied as inspirational figures have become examples of trends, and usually not uplifting ones. The immigrant story that the exam tells is of oppressed people escaping to America only to find more oppression. That many came seeking the Promised Land—and found it here—is no longer part of the narrative.

    Critics have noted that Benjamin Franklin is absent from the new AP U.S. history framework, and perhaps in response, the College Board put a quotation from Franklin atop the sample exam. Yet not one of the questions that were asked about the quotation has to do with Franklin. They are about George Whitefield, an evangelist whom Franklin described in the quote. This odd deflection makes sense in the new test, considering that Franklin was a self-made man, whose rise from rags to riches would have been possible only in America—an example of the exceptionalism that doesn’t fit the worldview that pervades the AP framework and sample exam.

    Evangelist Whitefield, an Irishman who preached in the colonies, was a key figure in the Great Awakening, an evangelical revival that began in the 1730s. Here, however, he is held up as an example of “trans-Atlantic exchanges,” which seems completely out of left field until one realizes that the underlying notion is that we need to stop thinking nationally and think globally. Our history is simply part of a larger story.

    Aside from a section about mobilizing women to serve in the workforce, the sample exam has nothing to say about World War II, the conflict in which the U.S. liberated millions of people and ended one of the most evil regimes in the history of the world. The heroic acts of the men who landed on Omaha Beach and lifted the flag on Iwo Jima are ignored. The wartime experiences that the new framework prefers are those raising “questions about American values,” such as “the internment of Japanese Americans, challenges to civil liberties, debates over race and segregation, and the decision to drop the atomic bomb.”

    Why would the College Board respond to criticism by putting out a sample exam that proves the critics’ point? Perhaps it is a case of those on the left being so confirmed in their biases that they no longer notice them. Or maybe the College Board doesn’t care what others think.

    Some states are trying to get its attention. The Texas State Board of Education, noting that the AP U.S. history framework is incompatible with that state’s standards, has formally requested that the College Board do a rewrite. The Georgia Senate has passed a resolution to encourage competition for the College Board’s AP program. If anything brings a change, it is likely to be such pressure from the states, which provide the College Board with substantial revenue.

    Some 20 years ago, as chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities, I made a grant to a group to create voluntary standards for U.S. history. When the project was finished, I had standards on my hands that were overwhelmingly negative about the American story, so biased that I felt obliged to condemn them in an op-ed for The Wall Street Journal called “The End of History.”

    I learned an important lesson, one worth repeating today. The curriculum shouldn’t be farmed out, not to the federal government and not to private groups. It should stay in the hands of the people who are constitutionally responsible for it: the citizens of each state.

    Mrs. Cheney, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, writes about history. Her most recent book is “James Madison: A Life Reconsidered” (Viking, 2014).

    Jensen Comment
    I recall when I was living in Texas that the history textbook required in all public schools in Texas claimed the USA dropped an atomic bomb on North Koreans during the Korean War. So much for truth in academe. Even North Korea does not make this absurd claim.

    Liberal Bias in the Media and Academe ---
    http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/HigherEdControversies.htm#LiberalBias

  •  


    Big Data --- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_data

    Libraries:  The Dark Side of Big Data ---
    http://lisnews.org/node/44160/

    Big Data to Knowledge --- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Data_to_Knowledge

     




    From the Scout Report on February 12, 2016

    ReminderFox --- http://www.reminderfox.org/ 

    The premise of ReminderFox is simple: most calendar applications are too complicated. ReminderFox strives to be simple, intuitive, and powerful. This Firefox browser add-on has several advantages over traditional calendar apps. First, once installed, Firefox users are guaranteed to see what's on their calendar and have access to reminders. Second, adding and subtracting reminders, events, and other calendar content is extremely easy. Third, rather than being an additional app that readers might need to check, ReminderFox is integrated into the web browser that they are already using. To install ReminderFox Firefox users may simply select Add to Firefox from the landing page and follow the effortless steps to installation.


    Virtu --- https://www.virtru.com/ 

    Privacy concerns have become a major issue for Internet users, and the privacy of email is no exception. Every email you send is potentially being profiled by advertisers, screened by government agencies, and perhaps even intercepted by hackers who would like to use your personal information for their own ends. Virtu takes care of all that. The extension, which is tremendously easy to install, works with Gmail, Yahoo Mail, and Outlook to encrypt the emails you want kept private. Using the basic service, which is free, readers may click a single button to turn encryption on. The receiver then gets a message explaining what you have done and how to access the key to decrypt and open the email. While this may sound complicated, the process is actually quite intuitive. Virtu also offers more advanced features for five dollars per month, such as HIPPA compliance and the ability to revoke access to emails that have already been sent


    After 100 Years of Searching, Scientists Detect Gravitational Waves
    Einstein's gravitational waves found at last
    http://www.nature.com/news/einstein-s-gravitational-waves-found-at-last-1.19361

    Gravitational waves, Einstein's ripples in spacetime, spotted for first
    time
    http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2016/02/gravitational-waves-einstein-s-ripples-spacetime-spotted-first-time

    Gravitational Waves Exist: The Inside Story of How Scientists Finally Found
    Them
    http://www.newyorker.com/tech/elements/gravitational-waves-exist-heres-how-scientists-finally-found-them

    Observation of Gravitational Waves from a Binary Black Hole Merger
    https://journals.aps.org/prl/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevLett.116.061102

    LIGO Caltech: What are Gravitational Waves?
    https://www.ligo.caltech.edu/page/what-are-gw

    Futurism: How Gravitational Waves Work (infographic)
    http://futurism.com/the-physics-of-gravitational-waves-heres-how-they-work-infographic/
     


  • From the Scout Report on February 19, 2016

    Yandex Browser  --- https://browser.yandex.com/ 

    For readers who are continually searching for the perfect web browser, Yandex could be a welcome find. The transparent interface will likely appeal to minimalists who like less visual stimulation, while built-in security functions are a boon to most users, providing automatic warnings about dangerous sites. In addition, the dual facts that Yandex does not collect statistics on its users' browsing habits (which means more browsing privacy) and a special Stealth mode that does not allow websites to collect your usage statistics, will likely put users' minds at ease.]


    Cold Turkey --- http://getcoldturkey.com/ 

    There are many useful distraction blocking apps available on the market. Cold Turkey is unique for two features. First, the app allows users to block websites and apps at prescheduled times (for instance, from 9 to 5 on Mondays a user could block Facebook). Second, once that time comes, Cold Turkey freezes the settings. In other words, once the time comes to block that Facebook account, Cold Turkey doesn't allow users to circumvent the embargo through the task manager or uninstall while it's running. Users are then left to do the work they set out to do, without the possibility of distraction. The basic version of Cold Turkey, which will satisfy most users, is free. While the app is only available for PC users at the moment, a Mac version is just around the corner.


    Human Genes Found in Neanderthal Remains
    Humans mated with Neandertals much earlier and more frequently than thought
    http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2016/02/humans-mated-neandertals-much-earlier-and-more-frequently-thought

    Human DNA found in a Neandertal woman
    https://www.sciencenews.org/article/human-dna-found-neandertal-woman

    Neanderthals and humans interbred '100,000 years ago'
    http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-35595661

    Human Evolution by the Smithsonian Institution's Human Origins Program
    http://humanorigins.si.edu/

    National Geographic: The Genographic Project: Neanderthals
    https://genographic.nationalgeographic.com/neanderthals-article/

    Humanity's Best Friend: How Dogs May Have Helped Humans Beat the
    Neanderthals
    http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2012/05/humanitys-best-friend-how-dogs-may-have-helped-humans-beat-the-neanderthals/257145/
     


    From the Scout Report February 26, 2016

    Scoop.it! --- http://www.scoop.it 

    Scoopt.it is an excellent service for readers who would like to curate their own content about a particular topic on the web. Conducting a web search for existing Scoop.it pages (The psychology Scoop.it, for instance, has been viewed over one million times and is updated multiple times per day.) provides a sense for what Scoop.it can do. Signing up for a free Scoop.it account (there are also premium accounts, at cost) requires an email, Twitter, or Facebook account. Once an account is created, the site will ask users for topics or keywords of interest, searching the Internet for scoopable content. Readers may also scoop content they come across themselves, gradually building a site of curated information on a favorite topic.  


    Image Optimizer --- http://www.imageoptimizer.net/ 

    The world of contemporary communication is a world of images. No blog post is complete without a snappy pic to exemplify a point. Business reports need graphics, Christmas letters need photos of smiling children, and of course we all know that a Facebook post without an image will have little chance of getting noticed. But how do we adapt our images to the perfect size, shape, and quality for the particular purpose we have in mind? Image Optimizer is built for just that. Using the service is simple. Just upload a an image file, and then optimize by Quality (minimum file size, very small file size, small file size, normal, high quality, and best quality), by Max width, and by Max height. Then optimize in seconds and download the file back to your computer.


    Twenty Years After It's Publication, "Infinite Jest" Still Strikes a
    Chord
    Infinite Jest at 20: still a challenge, still brilliant
    http://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2016/feb/15/infinite-jest-at-20-still-a-challenge-still-brilliant-emma-lee-moss

    Everything About Everything: David Foster Wallace's 'Infinite Jest' at 20
    http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/07/books/review/everything-about-everything-david-foster-wallaces-infinite-jest-at-20.html

    Beyond "Infinite Jest"
    http://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/beyond-infinite-jest?intcid=mod-latest

    The David Foster Wallace Audio Project
    http://www.dfwaudioproject.org/

    The Alchemist's Retort: A multi-layered postmodern saga of damnation and
    salvation
    http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1996/02/the-alchemists-retort/376533/

    Divine Drudgery
    http://www.nybooks.com/articles/2011/05/12/divine-drudgery/
     

    Jensen Comment
    I'm not a David Foster Wallace fan. In spite of praises from many reviewers find his books too long, poorly constructed, and extremely boring from beginning to middle (I never could reach the end of any of his books).

     




    Free Online Tutorials, Videos, Course Materials, and Learning Centers


    Education Tutorials

    Teachers & Writers Collaborative Digital Resource Center --- http://twcresources.org/

    NEA: Black History Month Lessons & Resources --- http://www.nea.org/tools/lessons/black-history-month.htm

    The Metropolitan Museum of Art: Lesson Plans --- http://www.metmuseum.org/learn/for-educators/lesson-plans 

     Cartoons for the Classroom (politics and government) --- http://nieonline.com/aaec/cftc.cfm

    Astronomy & Space: An Overview of NSF Research --- http://www.nsf.gov/news/overviews/astronomy/index.jsp

    YouTube: Sick Science! (attention grabbing experiments for kids learning science) --- https://www.youtube.com/user/SteveSpanglerScience

    World Social Science Report, United Nations, 2010 ---
    http://www.unesco.org/new/en/social-and-human-sciences/resources/reports/world-social-science-report/

    The New York Times: The Learning Network Blog: Lesson Plans ---  http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/category/lesson-plans/
    The Official Newspaper of the Democratic Party

    UNESCO World Heritage Education Programme --- http://whc.unesco.org/en/wheducation/

    UNESCO Working Paper Series on Mobile Learning
    http://www.unesco.org/new/en/unesco/themes/icts/m4ed/mobile-learning-resources/unescomobilelearningseries/ 

    UNESCO: Rio+20 --- http://www.unesco.org/new/en/rioplus20/

    Annenberg Learner uses media and telecommunications to advance excellent teaching in American schools. This mandate is carried out chiefly by the funding and broad distribution of educational video programs with coordinated Web and print materials for the professional development of K-12 teachers. ---
    http://www.learner.org/
    Bob Jensen's threads on general education tutorials are at http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/Bookbob2.htm#EducationResearch

    50 Core Documents: Ashbrook (American History) --- http://ashbrook.org/50docs/

    NCTE: Poetry Lesson Plans --- http://www.ncte.org/lessons/poetry

    The Sketchbook Project --- https://www.sketchbookproject.com/

    We Make Money Not Art (engineering art) ---  http://we-make-money-not-art.com/

    Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) Launches Free Course on Looking at Photographs as Art ---
    http://www.openculture.com/2016/02/museum-of-modern-art-moma-launches-free-course-on-looking-at-photographs-as-art.html

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

    Bob Jensen's links to free courses and tutorials --- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/000aaa/updateee.htm#OKI

     


    Engineering, Science, and Medicine Tutorials

    Physics Education Research Central --- http://www.compadre.org/per/

    CERN Education (nuclear physics) ---  http://education.web.cern.ch/education/Chapter2/Intro.html

    European Physical Society --- http://www.eps.org

    American Institute of Physics --- http://www.aip.org/history-programs/physics-history

    Open Source Physics --- http://www.compadre.org/osp/

    Physics News --- http://phys.org/physics-news/

    This $14-billion (French) machine is set to usher in a new era of nuclear fusion power ---
    http://www.businessinsider.com/whats-the-iter-nuclear-fusion-plant-and-why-is-it-important-2016-2

    Scientists in Germany switched on a new kind of nuclear reactor, the latest experiment in the quest to produce clean, sustainable power from controlled nuclear fusion --- https://www.technologyreview.com/s/600712/experimental-fusion-reactor-switched-on-in-germany/#/set/id/600713/ 
    Jensen Comment
     It will give me great joy the day fusion power renders bird-killing wind power turbines obsolete.

    Even Einstein Didn't Think Gravitational Waves Existed ---
    http://www.wired.com/2016/02/even-einstein-didnt-think-gravitational-waves-existed/
    Also see
    http://www.wired.com/2016/02/6-things-you-probably-didnt-know-about-gravitational-waves/

    NASA Images --- http://nasaimages.lunaimaging.com/

    TED-Ed and Periodic Videos (chemistry --- http://ed.ted.com/periodic-videos

    We Make Money Not Art (engineering art) ---  http://we-make-money-not-art.com/

    The Remarkable Physics of Ants: Watch Them Turn into Fluids and Solids at Will ---
    http://www.openculture.com/2016/02/the-remarkable-physics-of-ants.html

    Watch one of the first volcanic eruptions ever filme ---
    http://www.wired.com/2016/02/watch-one-of-the-first-volcanic-eruptions-ever-filmed/

    Deep Sea Vents --- http://www.amnh.org/explore/curriculum-collections/deep-sea-vents

    Bridge Ocean Education Teacher Resource Center --- http://web.vims.edu/bridge/?svr=www

    Where do dogs come from?
    http://daily.jstor.org/where-do-dogs-come-from/

    The Fundamentals of Neuroscience --- https://www.mcb80x.org

    Neuroscience Research Portal --- http://neuroportal.gmu.edu

    JNeurosci: The Journal of Neuroscience --- http://www.jneurosci.org/

    Brain Facts: Explore the Brain and Mind --- http://www.brainfacts.org/

    Sleep Research Society: Historical Papers --- http://www.sleepresearchsociety.org/historicalpapers.aspx

    Healthy Sleep --- http://healthysleep.med.harvard.edu/healthy/

    From the Scout Report on February 12, 2016

    After 100 Years of Searching, Scientists Detect Gravitational Waves
    Einstein's gravitational waves found at last
    http://www.nature.com/news/einstein-s-gravitational-waves-found-at-last-1.19361

    Gravitational waves, Einstein's ripples in spacetime, spotted for first
    time
    http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2016/02/gravitational-waves-einstein-s-ripples-spacetime-spotted-first-time

    Gravitational Waves Exist: The Inside Story of How Scientists Finally Found
    Them
    http://www.newyorker.com/tech/elements/gravitational-waves-exist-heres-how-scientists-finally-found-them

    Observation of Gravitational Waves from a Binary Black Hole Merger
    https://journals.aps.org/prl/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevLett.116.061102

    LIGO Caltech: What are Gravitational Waves?
    https://www.ligo.caltech.edu/page/what-are-gw

    Futurism: How Gravitational Waves Work (infographic)
    http://futurism.com/the-physics-of-gravitational-waves-heres-how-they-work-infographic/
     

     

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

    Bob Jensen's links to free courses and tutorials --- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/000aaa/updateee.htm#OKI


    Social Science and Economics Tutorials

    World Health Organization: World Health Statistics 2015 --- http://www.who.int/gho/publications/world_health_statistics/2015/en/

    Religious restrictions among the world's most populous countries ---
     http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/03/03/religious-restrictions-among-the-worlds-most-populous-countries/

    Slate: The Vault http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_vault.html

    African Activist Archive (struggles against colonialism in Africa) --- http://africanactivist.msu.edu/

    Cartoons for the Classroom --- http://nieonline.com/aaec/cftc.cfm

    Theorizing the Contemporary (anthropology) --- http://www.culanth.org/conversations/17-theorizing-the-contemporary

    Calisphere: The Free Speech Movement --- http://www.calisphere.universityofcalifornia.edu/themed_collections/subtopic6b.html

    CDC Injury Prevention & Control: Division of Violence Prevention: Suicide Prevention --- http://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/suicide/index.html

    National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention --- http://actionallianceforsuicideprevention.org/

    Human Rights Documentation Initiative --- http://www.lib.utexas.edu/hrdi

    The Eleanor Roosevelt Papers Project --- https://www.gwu.edu/~erpapers/

    What Ken Burns' New Film Gets Right—and Wrong—About the Roosevelts ---
    http://reason.com/archives/2014/09/12/what-ken-burns-new-film-gets-right-and-w

    Nuclear Threat Initiative Education Tutorials --- http://tutorials.nti.org/

    Human Rights Watch: Defending Human Rights Worldwide --- http://www.hrw.org/world-report/2014

    Island Studies --- http://www.islandstudies.ca/

    Kids in the House: Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives --- http://kids.clerk.house.gov/

    B.F. Skinner Foundation: Operants (psychology) --- http://www.bfskinner.org/behavioral-science/operants/

    Sleep Research Society: Historical Papers --- http://www.sleepresearchsociety.org/historicalpapers.aspx

    WHO: A World Free of Tuberculosis --- http://www.who.int/tb/en/

    Healthy Sleep --- http://healthysleep.med.harvard.edu/healthy/

    The New York Times: The Learning Network Blog: Lesson Plans ---  http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/category/lesson-plans/
    The Official Newspaper of the Democratic Party

    From the Scout Report on February 19, 2016

    Human Genes Found in Neanderthal Remains
    Humans mated with Neandertals much earlier and more frequently than thought
    http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2016/02/humans-mated-neandertals-much-earlier-and-more-frequently-thought

    Human DNA found in a Neandertal woman
    https://www.sciencenews.org/article/human-dna-found-neandertal-woman

    Neanderthals and humans interbred '100,000 years ago'
    http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-35595661

    Human Evolution by the Smithsonian Institution's Human Origins Program
    http://humanorigins.si.edu/

    National Geographic: The Genographic Project: Neanderthals
    https://genographic.nationalgeographic.com/neanderthals-article/

    Humanity's Best Friend: How Dogs May Have Helped Humans Beat the
    Neanderthals
    http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2012/05/humanitys-best-friend-how-dogs-may-have-helped-humans-beat-the-neanderthals/257145/

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

    Bob Jensen's links to free courses and tutorials --- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/000aaa/updateee.htm#OKI


    Law and Legal Studies

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


    Math Tutorials

    Annenberg Learner: Mathematics --- http://www.learner.org/resources/discipline-math.html

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

    Bob Jensen's links to free courses and tutorials --- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/000aaa/updateee.htm#OKI


    History Tutorials

    50 Core Documents: Ashbrook (American History) --- http://ashbrook.org/50docs/

    Shakespeare Documented --- http://www.shakespearedocumented.org

    Edgar Degas --- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edgar_Degas
    Misty Copeland expertly re-creates a handful of Edgar Degas’s most famous ballet works ---
    http://www.thedailybeast.com/galleries/2016/02/11/misty-copeland-recreates-iconic-degas-paintings.html

    NEA: Black History Month Lessons & Resources --- http://www.nea.org/tools/lessons/black-history-month.htm

    The Eleanor Roosevelt Papers Project --- https://www.gwu.edu/~erpapers/

    What Ken Burns' New Film Gets Right—and Wrong—About the Roosevelts ---
    http://reason.com/archives/2014/09/12/what-ken-burns-new-film-gets-right-and-w

    Guidelines for the Professional Evaluation of Digital Scholarship By Historians (PDF) ---
    http://historians.org/Documents/Teaching and Learning/Current Projects/Digital Scholarship Evaluation/Guidelines Dig. Scholarship 9.30.2015(0).pdf

    The Getty Research Institute: Notable Works and Collections (art history) --- http://www.getty.edu/research/special_collections/notable/index.html

    Guggenheim ZERO, Countdown to Tomorrow (German artists in the 1950s and 1960s) --- http://exhibitions.guggenheim.org/zero/

    German Expressionism Collection at The University of Maryland --- http://lib.guides.umd.edu/germanexpressionism

    Download Hundreds of 19th-Century Japanese Woodblock Prints by Masters of the Tradition ---
    http://www.openculture.com/2016/02/download-hundreds-of-19th-century-japanese-woodblock-prints-by-masters-of-the-tradition.html

    Rare 1903 Video Captures Busy Boston Streets ---
    http://blogs.voanews.com/all-about-america/2016/02/17/rare-1903-video-captures-busy-boston-streets/?from=youmaylike

    Where do dogs come from? --- http://daily.jstor.org/where-do-dogs-come-from/

    Northwestern University Library: The World War II Poster Collection --- http://www.library.northwestern.edu/libraries-collections/evanston-campus/government-information/world-war-ii-poster-collection#modal-show 

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

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

    Smithsonian Magazine: Travel --- http://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/

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

    Bob Jensen's links to free courses and tutorials --- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/000aaa/updateee.htm#OKI


    Language Tutorials

    Bob Jensen's links to language tutorials are at http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/bookbob2-Part2.htm#Languages


    Music Tutorials

    Watch Classic Performances from Maria Callas’ Wondrous and Tragically-Short Opera Career ---
    http://www.openculture.com/2016/02/watch-classic-performances-from-maria-callas-wondrous-and-tragically-short-opera-career.html

    Free Music Archive --- http://freemusicarchive.org/

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

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


    Writing Tutorials

    Teachers & Writers Collaborative Digital Resource Center --- http://twcresources.org/

    Video:  Umberto Eco Dies at 84; Leaves Behind Advice to Aspiring Writers ---
    http://www.openculture.com/2016/02/umberto-eco-dies-at-84-leaves-behind-advice-to-aspiring-writers.html

    An Animated Introduction to Leo Tolstoy, and How His Great Novels Can Increase Your Emotional Intelligence ---
    http://www.openculture.com/2016/02/an-animated-introduction-to-leo-tolstoy.html

    James Baldwin's Advice on Writing --- https://www.brainpickings.org/2016/02/08/james-baldwin-advice-on-writing/?mc_cid=4c618627a2&mc_eid=4d2bd13843

     Paris Review - The Art of Fiction No. 78, James Baldwin
    http://www.theparisreview.org/interviews/2994/the-art-of-fiction-no-78-james-baldwin 

    Born in Harlem in 1924, James Baldwin moved to France in the late 1950s because he didn't want to be read as "merely a Negro; or, even, merely a Negro writer." He lived the rest of his life in Paris and the French Riviera, publishing fiction and essays that deeply influenced American literature from afar. This interview with Baldwin, published in the Paris Review a few years before the author's death, touches on such topics as his choice to permanently leave the United States for Europe, his writing process, and his thoughts on race and racial justice. It's a rare gift to find a freely available window into this revered writer's thoughts and feelings in his later years. 

     

    Harvard College Writing Center: Strategies for Essay Writing --- http://writingcenter.fas.harvard.edu/pages/strategies-essay-writing

    The Writing Center at Harvard University --- http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~wricntr/resources.html

    Harvard Writing Project: Writing Guides --- http://writingproject.fas.harvard.edu/pages/writing-guides

    The future belongs to automated, error-free prose, no stylistic vampirism, clichéd characters, or shopworn narrative devices ...
    "Proposals Toward the End of Writing," by Tony Tulathimutte, Believer Magazine, February 9, 2016 ---
    http://logger.believermag.com/post/138988654268/proposals-toward-the-end-of-writing

    The recent Hemingway app goes even further, offering dogmatic editorial guidance to make your prose “bold and clear”:

    The recent Hemingway app goes even further, offering dogmatic editorial guidance to make your prose “bold and clear”:

    Hemingway highlights long, complex sentences and common errors; if you see a yellow sentence, shorten or split it. If you see a red highlight, your sentence is so dense and complicated that your readers will get lost trying to follow its meandering, splitting logic — try editing this sentence to remove the red.

    It also recommends the indiscriminate excision of adverbs and passive constructions. Tallying up all the infelicities, it assigns the passage a numerical grade, representing “the lowest education level needed to understand your text,” which oddly equates boldness and clarity with legibility to young children (presumably, the best score would be “Illiterate”). Ernest Hemingway’s own prose often fails the test, though, as Ian Crouch observes, Hemingway is usually making a stylistic point wherever he trespasses against his own putative rules. Meanwhile, Nabokov’s “Spring in Fialta” gets the worst possible score of 25 (a second-year post-doc?).

    It also recommends the indiscriminate excision of adverbs and passive constructions. Tallying up all the infelicities, it assigns the passage a numerical grade, representing “the lowest education level needed to understand your text,” which oddly equates boldness and clarity with legibility to young children (presumably, the best score would be “Illiterate”). Ernest Hemingway’s own prose often fails the test, though, as Ian Crouch observes, Hemingway is usually making a stylistic point wherever he trespasses against his own putative rules. Meanwhile, Nabokov’s “Spring in Fialta” gets the worst possible score of 25 (a second-year post-doc?).

    With inventions like these, many of which are intended to improve prose’s suitability to a particular purpose, it seems inevitable that we’ll soon have programs aimed at broader literary purposes. Imagine, for instance, a computer program that detects clichés at the sentence level. Existing attempts are based on small databases of fixed idioms. Suppose our cliché detector is a simple extension of the language-checking features already baked into most word processing software, underlining each trite phrase with a baby-blue squiggle. It analyzes the text for any sequences of words that statistically tend to accompany each other—and the statistical database of clichés, in turn, is based on a Zipfian distribution of word groupings obtained from the quantitative analysis of a large prose corpus. Every phrase ranked above a certain score is flagged as a cliché. No more “in any case” or “at this rate,” no more “battling cancer” or “wry grin” or “boisterous laughter”—though the program might forgive idioms that lack basic synonyms, like “walking the dog.”

    Continued in article

    A New Dating App Using Artificial Intelligence Helps You Write a Perfect Message/Response Every Time ---
    http://www.businessinsider.com/ibms-watson-to-give-dating-tips-on-connectidy-app-2016-2
    Jensen Comment
    Her robot may fall in love with his robot when the two people behind the scenes discover cannot stand each other.

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



    Bob Jensen's threads on medicine ---
    http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/bookbob2-Part2.htm#Medicine

    World Health Organization: World Health Statistics 2015 --- http://www.who.int/gho/publications/world_health_statistics/2015/en/

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

    February 12, 2016

    February 13, 2016

    February 16, 2016

    February 18, 2016

    February 18, 2016

    February 19, 2016

    February 20, 2016

    February 22, 2016

    February 23, 2016

    February 24, 2016

    February 25, 2016

     February 26, 2016

    February 27, 2016

     


    "You Asked:  Am I Addicted to my Cell Phone?" by Markham Held, Time Magazine, February 24, 2016 ---
    http://time.com/4234366/phone-smartphone-addiction/?xid=newsletter-brief

    If you feel your smartphone is hurting your health or relationships, the answer may be yes.

    You check it in the bathroom. You check it at the movies. You check it when you’re having dinner with your friends. But you wouldn’t say you’re addicted—and most experts would agree with you.

    “Only a small percentage of people qualify as addicted,” says Dr. David Greenfield, assistant clinical professor of psychiatry at the University of Connecticut and founder of the Center for Internet and Technology Addiction. “But many people overuse their smartphones.”

    The line between overuse and addiction is gray. But Greenfield says you’re moving into addiction territory when you can’t stop using your phone even when it’s harming your life. Whether you’re in a work meeting or behind the wheel, “if you can’t help being on it even when you know you shouldn’t be, that loss of control is the hallmark of an addiction,” he says.

    Continued in article

    Jensen Comment
    Each day Erika and I watch a Netflix movies that is usually part of a BBC mystery series. One thing I've noticed is that inevitably when a rinking phone interupts a conversation it is considered commonplace to making the answering of the phone commonplace and not rude. If this happens to me in real life I consider the interruption rude. Actually I mostly use my cell phone for calling other people such that I'm never interrupted by incoming calls Being retired has its privileges. Nobody has my cell phone number except my wife and vice versa.

    Hence, I'm not addicted to my phone. But I am addicted to my laptop and average 8+ hours a day online (more in the winter and less in the summer when I have outdoor chores). Some people that are more on the go are substituting smart phones for laptops for such tasks as tending to email and surfing the Web. Hence addictions wear many faces.


    "In First Human Test of Optogenetics, Doctors Aim to Restore Sight to the Blind," by Katherine Bourzac, MIT's Technology Review, February 19, 2016 ---
    https://www.technologyreview.com/s/600696/in-first-human-test-of-optogenetics-doctors-aim-to-restore-sight-to-the-blind/#/set/id/600843/

    Bob Jensen's threads on technology aids for blind learners ---
    http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/000aaa/thetools.htm#Handicapped


    The Future of Wearables is Implanted and More Real Today Than You Think (including brain implants)," by Cate Lawrence, ReadWriteWeb, February 19, 2016 ---
    http://readwrite.com/2016/02/19/future-of-wearables


    What depression is really like ---
    https://www.brainpickings.org/2016/02/09/depression-william-styron-darkness-visible/?mc_cid=4c618627a2&mc_eid=4d2bd13843


    Sleep Research Society: Historical Papers --- http://www.sleepresearchsociety.org/historicalpapers.aspx

    Healthy Sleep --- http://healthysleep.med.harvard.edu/healthy/


    CDC Injury Prevention & Control: Division of Violence Prevention: Suicide Prevention --- http://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/suicide/index.html

    National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention --- http://actionallianceforsuicideprevention.org/

     


    Humor February 16-29, 2016

    Chess Grandmaster Maurice Ashley Plays Unsuspecting Trash Talker in Washington Square Park ---
    http://www.openculture.com/2016/02/chess-grandmaster-maurice-ashley-plays-unsuspecting-trash-talker-in-washington-square-park.html

    Humor
    "My First and Last Day at Harvard Law School," by William Ames Bascom, The Wall Street Journal, February 19, 2016 ---
    http://www.wsj.com/articles/my-first-and-last-day-at-harvard-law-school-1455925209?mod=djemMER

    . . .

    Prof. Mansfield (who died in 2014), told a story about two guys driving a hearse from Maine down to Boston late one winter’s night to deliver a corpse for a funeral the next morning. The guy who was riding shotgun dozed off about 11. A little while later the driver, who was also beginning to nod, pulled over at a Howard Johnson’s to get some coffee for both of them. When he came out, snow had started to fall, and there was a guy with a duffel bag standing beside the hearse. He asked the driver if he could catch a lift to Boston. “Sure,” the driver told him, “if you don’t mind riding in the back with the deceased.” The stranger didn’t mind, and he climbed into the coffin compartment through the wide back door, glad to be out of the cold. The driver, deciding it was his partner’s turn behind the wheel, woke him up and gave him the extra cup of coffee.

    About 2 a.m., the threesome (foursome if you include the deceased) was nearing Newburyport north of the city. That was when the passenger in the back woke up and reached through the velvet curtain separating the coffin compartment from the front seat. He tapped the driver softly on the shoulder and whispered, “How much farther to Boston?”

    It was at this point the guy who had taken over the driving at the Howard Johnson’s screamed in terror and swerved the car off U.S. Highway 1, plunging into a snow bank.

    I couldn’t contain myself. I laughed hard—prompting the roomful of future attorneys, who hadn’t made a sound during the entire lecture, to turn and stare at me in mass rebuke. I quickly settled down, but too late. Prof. Mansfield removed his glasses from his tweedy jacket pocket and scanned the audience for the source of the interruption. His eyes settled on me. He looked down at a seating chart and ran his finger across it, then looked at me again.

    “Mr. Dorffmond,” he said. “As a result of the accident, the passenger in the back of the hearse sustained a compound fracture of his left arm and numerous facial lacerations. He subsequently obtained counsel and brought suit. My questions to you, Mr. Dorffmond, are these: First, against whom should his attorney have advised him to bring suit? Second, on what basis? And finally, in your considered legal opinion should the plaintiff have been awarded damages?”

    I felt sick. I tugged at my maroon scarf, which felt like a noose. A few seats away, my brother buried his face in his fat book of case studies.

    I had unwisely made eye contact with Prof. Mansfield, and now I was locked in his glare, unable to speak. “Sir,” a helpful-sounding voice behind me said, “I believe a visitor is sitting in Mr. Dorffmond’s seat this morning. He may not understand English.” There were muffled snickers, but it worked: Prof. Mansfield moved on with the lecture, and I spent the rest of the time trying to look Armenian. I resolved on the spot never to go to law school—but I sensed that my rescuer had a great future as a legal advocate.

    Later, as my brother and I walked home, he made only one comment: “See, I told you to wear a tie.”

    Mr. Bascom, a former high-school English teacher in St. Louis, provided the photographs for John William Houghton’s “Falconry and Other Poems” (Unlimited Publishing, 1996).

     


    Forwarded by Auntie Bev

    If God wanted us to vote, he would have given us candidates.

    ~Jay Leno~

    The problem with political jokes is they get elected.

    ~Henry Cate, VII~

    We hang the petty thieves and appoint the great ones to public office

    ~Aesop~

    If we got one-tenth of what was promised to us in these State of the Union speeches, there wouldn't be any inducement to go to heaven.

    ~Will Rogers~

    Politicians are the same all over. They promise to build a bridge even where there is no river.

    ~Nikita Khrushchev~

    When I was a boy I was told that anybody could become President; I'm beginning to believe it.

    ~Clarence Darrow~

    Politicians are people who, when they see light at the end of the tunnel, go out and buy some more tunnel.

    ~John Quinton~

    Why pay money to have your family tree traced; go into politics and your opponents will do it for you.

    ~Author unknown~

    Politics is the gentle art of getting votes from the poor and campaign funds from the rich, by promising to protect each from the other.

    ~Oscar Ameringer~

    I offer my opponents a bargain: if they will stop telling lies about us, I will stop telling the truth about them.

    ~Adlai Stevenson, 1952~

    A politician is a fellow who will lay down your life for his country.

    ~ Tex Guinan~

    I have come to the conclusion that politics is too serious a matter to be left to the politicians.

    ~Charles de Gaulle~

    Instead of giving a politician the keys to the city, it might be better to change the locks.

    ~Doug Larson~

    There ought to be one day -- just one -- when there is open season on Congressmen.

    ~Will Rogers

     

     


     

    Lawyer Jokes forwarded by Jim Martin on
    MAAW's Blog
    http://maaw.blogspot.com/2016/02/lawyer-jokes.html 

     
    A man walks into a lawyer’s office and says, “Excuse me, what’s your rate?” The lawyer says, “Fifty dollars for three questions.” The man was shocked, “Isn’t that a little steep?” “Yes,” says the lawyer. What’s your third question?” For twenty jokes related to lawyers see http://maaw.info/GadgetsandGames/LawyerJokes.htm

     


    Forwarded by Auntie Bev

    LASTLY, CONSIDER THIS:

    ~Your kids are becoming you......but your grandchildren are perfect!

    ~Going out is good.. Coming home is better!

    ~You forget names.... But it's OK because some people forgot they even knew you!!!

    ~You realize you're never going to be really good at anything like golf.

    ~The things you used to care to do, you aren't as interested in anymore, but you really do care that you aren't as interested.

    ~You sleep better on a lounge chair with the TV 'ON' than in bed. It's called "pre-sleep".

    ~You miss the days when everything worked with just an "ON" and "OFF" switch..

    < div align="center" style="text-align: center;">~You tend to use more 4 letter words ... "what?"..."when?"... ???

    ~You notice everything they sell in stores is "sleeveless"?!!!

    ~What used to be freckles are now liver spots.

    ~Everybody whispers.

    ~You have 3 sizes of clothes in your closet.... 2 of which you will never wear.

     

    ~~~But Old is good in some things: Old Songs, Old movies, and best of all, OLD FRIENDS!!

     

     

    Stay well, "OLD FRIEND!" Send this on to other "Old Friends!" and let them laugh in AGREEMENT!!! It's Not What You Gather, But What You Scatter That Tells What Kind Of Life You Have Lived.

     

     

    TODAY IS THE OLDEST YOU'VE EVER BEEN; YET THE YOUNGEST YOU'LL EVER BE, SO ENJOY THIS DAY WHILE IT LASTS    

     

     


    Forwarded by Paula

    In my many years I have come to a conclusion that one useless man is a shame, two is a law firmand three or more is a congress. John Adams

    2. If you don't read the newspape you are uninformed, if you do read the newspaper you are misinformed. -- Mark Twain

    3. Suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of Congress. But then I repeat myself. -- Mark Twain

    4. I contend that for a nation to try to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle. -- Winston Churchill

    5. A government which robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the support of Paul. -- George Bernard Shaw

    6. A liberal is someone who feels a great debt to his fellow man, which debt he proposes to pay off with your money. -- G. Gordon Liddy

    7. Democracy must be something more than two wolves and a sheep voting on what to have for dinner. -- James Bovard, Civil Libertarian (1994)

    8. Foreign aid might be defined as a transfer of money from poor people in rich countries to rich people in poor countries. Douglas Case, Classmate of Bill Clinton at Georgetown University .

    9. Giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys. P.J. O'Rourke, Civil Libertarian

    10. Government is the great fiction, through which everybody endeavors to live at the expense of everybody else. -- Frederic Bastiat, French economist(1801-1850)

    11. Government's view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it. Ronald Reagan (1986)

    12. I don't make jokes. I just watch the government and report the facts. Will Rogers 13. If you think health care is expensive now, wait until you see what it costs when it's free! P. J. O'Rourke

    14. In general, the art of government consists of taking as much money as possible from one party of the citizens to give to the other. -- Voltaire (1764)

    15. Just because you do not take an interest in politics doesn't mean politics won't take an interest in you! -- Pericles (430 B.C.)

    16. No man's life, liberty, or property is safe while the legislature is in session. Mark Twain (1866)

    17. Talk is cheap, except when Congress does it. -- Anonymous

    18. The government is like a baby's alimentary canal, with a happy appetite at one end and no responsibility at the other. Ronald Reagan

    19. The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of the blessings. The inherent blessing of socialism is the equal sharing of misery. -Winston Churchill

    20. The only difference between a tax man and a taxidermist is that the taxidermist leaves the skin. Mark Twain

    21. The ultimate result of shielding men from the effects of folly is to fill the world with fools. Herbert Spencer, English Philosopher (1820-1903)

    22. There is no distinctly Native American criminal class, save Congress. -- Mark Twain

    23. What this country needs are more unemployed politicians Edward Langley, Artist (1928-1995)

    24. A government big enough to give you everything you want, is strong enough to take everything you have. -- Thomas Jefferson

    25. We hang the petty thieves and appoint the great ones to public office. -- Aesop

    FIVE BEST SENTENCES

    1. You cannot legislate the poor into prosperity, by legislating the wealthy out of prosperity.

    2. What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving.

    3. The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else.

    4. You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it.

    5. When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work, because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work, because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that is the beginning of the end of any nation!

     


     




    Humor January 2016 --- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/book16q1.htm#Humor013116

    Humor December 1-31,  2015 --- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/book15q4.htm#Humor123115

    Humor November 1-30,  2015 --- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/book15q4.htm#Humor113015

    Humor October 1-31,  2015 --- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/book15q4.htm#Humor103115

    Humor September 1-30,  2015 --- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/book15q3.htm#Humor093015

    Humor August 1-31,  2015 --- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/book15q3.htm#Humor081115

    Humor July 1-31,  2015 --- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/book15q3.htm#Humor073115

    Humor June 1-30,  2015 --- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/book15q2.htm#Humor043015

    Humor May 1-31,  2015 --- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/book15q2.htm#Humor043015

    Humor April 1-30, 2015 --- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/book15q2.htm#Humor043015

    Humor March 1-31, 2015 --- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/book15q1.htm#Humor033115

    Humor February 1-28, 2015 --- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/book15q1.htm#Humor022815

    Humor January 1-31, 2015 --- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/book15q1.htm#Humor013115

     




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

    More of Bob Jensen's Pictures and Stories
    http://faculty.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://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/Crossborder.htm
    For-Profit Universities Operating in the Gray Zone of Fraud  (College, Inc.) --- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/HigherEdControversies.htm#ForProfitFraud

    Shielding Against Validity Challenges in Plato's Cave ---
    http://faculty.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://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/theory01.htm#WhatWentWrong

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

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

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

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

     

    For an elaboration on the reasons you should join a ListServ (usually for free) go to   http://faculty.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://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/JensenBlogs.htm
    Current and past editions of my newsletter called New Bookmarks --- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/bookurl.htm
    Current and past editions of my newsletter called Tidbits --- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/TidbitsDirectory.htm
    Current and past editions of my newsletter called Fraud Updates --- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/FraudUpdates.htm

    Some Accounting History Sites

    Bob Jensen's Accounting History in a Nutshell and Links --- http://faculty.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://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/FraudRotten.htm#DerivativesFrauds

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

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

    More of Bob Jensen's Pictures and Stories
    http://faculty.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