Tidbits on December 14, 2017
Bob Jensen at Trinity University

Historic Photographs (Set 01) of the Sunset Hill House Resort Shared by Gunsmith Ron Resden from Vermont
http://www.cs.trinity.edu/rjensen/Tidbits/Resden/01ResdenSSH.htm

 

Tidbits on December 14, 2017
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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

Google Scholar --- https://scholar.google.com/

Wikipedia --- https://www.wikipedia.org/

Bob Jensen's search helpers --- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/searchh.htm

Bob Jensen's World Library --- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/Bookbob2.htm

USA Debt Clock --- http://www.usdebtclock.org/ ubl




Online Video, Slide Shows, and Audio

Depression & Melancholy: Animated Videos Explain the Crucial Difference Between Everyday Sadness and Clinical Depression ---
http://www.openculture.com/2017/12/depression-melancholy-animated-videos-explain-the-crucial-difference-between-everyday-sadness-and-clinical-depression.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+OpenCulture+%28Open+Culture%29

Watch this breathtaking view of Earth captured on a NASA astronaut's body cam during a spacewalk ---
http://www.businessinsider.com/stunning-view-earth-captured-nasa-astronaut-bodycam-randy-bresnik-iss-spacewalk-gopro-2017-12

PBS:  American Experience: Rachel Carson --- www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/rachel-carson

George Orwell’s Rules for Making the Perfect Cup of Tea: A Short Animation ---
http://www.openculture.com/2017/12/george-orwells-rules-for-making-the-perfect-cup-of-tea-a-short-animation.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+OpenCulture+%28Open+Culture%29

Seven TED talks for accountants ---
https://www.journalofaccountancy.com/newsletters/2017/nov/7-ted-talks-accountants.html?utm_source=mnl:cpald&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=29Nov2017


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 

Neil Young Offers His Entire Catalog of Music Free Online (Until June), at the Highest Digital Audio Quality Possible ---
http://www.openculture.com/2017/12/neil-young-offers-his-entire-catalog-of-music-free-online-until-june-at-the-highest-digital-audio-quality-possible.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+OpenCulture+%28Open+Culture%29

What Did Ancient Greek Music Sound Like?: Listen to a Reconstruction That’s ‘100% Accurate’ ---
http://www.openculture.com/2017/12/what-did-ancient-greek-music-sound-like-listen-to-a-reconstruction-thats-100-accurate.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+OpenCulture+%28Open+Culture%29

Academic Journal Devotes an Entire Issue to Prince’s Life & Music: Read and Download It for Free ---
http://www.openculture.com/2017/12/academic-journal-devotes-an-entire-issue-to-princes-life-music.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+OpenCulture+%28Open+Culture%29

What Happens When a Musician Plays Stevie Ray Vaughan’s “Pride and Joy” on a $25 Kids’ Guitar at Walmart?
http://www.openculture.com/2017/12/what-happens-when-a-musician-plays-stevie-ray-vaughans-pride-and-joy-on-a-25-kids-guitar-at-walmart.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+OpenCulture+%28Open+Culture%29
Good musicians don't always need high priced musical instruments

Hear Paul McCartney’s Experimental Christmas Mixtape: A Rare & Forgotten Recording from 1965 ---
http://www.openculture.com/2017/12/hear-paul-mccartneys-experimental-christmas-mixtape-a-rare-forgotten-recording-from-1965.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+OpenCulture+%28Open+Culture%29

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

My photographer friend Wes Lavin sent this link
Free Photography Resources for Beginners and Pros to Hone Their Skills ---
https://mymodernmet.com/free-photo-courses/

Incredible satellite photos of Southern California's wildfires show the disaster's evolution from space ---
http://www.businessinsider.com/california-wildfires-pictures-satellites-locations-burned-2017-12

Five Stunning Wonders You Can Visit in the USA ---
http://time.com/money/5040722/natural-wonders-in-the-us/?utm_source=time.com&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=the-brief&utm_content=2017120112pm&xid=newsletter-brief

The Codex Quetzalecatzin, an Extremely Rare Colored Mesoamerican Manuscript, Now Digitized and Put Online ---
http://www.openculture.com/2017/11/the-codex-quetzalecatzin-now-digitized-and-put-online.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+OpenCulture+%28Open+Culture%29

New Iranian Video Game, Engare, Explores the Elegant Geometry of Islamic Art ---
http://www.openculture.com/2017/12/new-iranian-video-game-engare-explores-the-elegant-geometry-of-islamic-art.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+OpenCulture+%28Open+Culture%29

A Russian billionaire's £360 million superyacht 'Sailing Yacht A' has been spotted docked at the Port of Gibraltar ---
http://www.businessinsider.com/photos-of-sailing-yacht-a-superyacht-in-port-of-gibraltar-2017-12

MOMA: German Expressionism --- www.moma.org/s/ge/curated_ge

National Museum of Women in the Arts: Artist Profiles --- https://nmwa.org/explore/artist-profiles#A

The Walters Art Museum: Lesson Plans --- https://thewalters.org/teachers/resources/lesson-plans/

The Pudding: Seeing Earth from Outer Space --- https://pudding.cool/2017/10/satellites/

The Times:  Best Christmas Photos from Around the World ---
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/the-best-last-minute-christmas-presents-for-under-20-tp3q0l2xm

Amazing vintage photos show what it was like to go holiday shopping in New York City 100 years ago ---
http://www.businessinsider.com/vintage-photos-show-nyc-shopping-100-years-ago-2017-12

Winners of the 2017 National Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year Contest ---
https://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2017/12/winners-of-the-2017-national-geographic-nature-photographer-of-the-year-contest/548183/

These 17 photos show Finland's brutally cold World War II battle with the Soviet Union ---
http://www.businessinsider.com/ussr-russia-finald-wwii-winter-war-photos-2017-3/#war-between-finland-and-soviet-russia-started-at-2245-local-time-on-november-30-1939-trenches-which-were-dug-at-the-beginning-of-the-finnish-russian-tension-in-helsinki-december-1-1939-1

Horrifying images of the raging wildfires in Southern California show how rapidly destruction has spread ---
http://www.businessinsider.com/ventura-county-fire-photos-of-destruction-in-la-southern-california-2017-12

Flickr says these are the best photos of India in 2017 ---
https://qz.com/1151054/flickr-top-photos-from-india-in-2017/

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

University of Pennsylvania: Online Books Page --- http://digital.library.upenn.edu/books/

What Books Did Philosopher J.S. Mill Read Between Ages 3 and 7?: Plato’s Apology (in Ancient Greek), Cervantes’ Don Quixote & Much More ---
http://www.openculture.com/2017/11/what-books-did-philosopher-j-s-mill-read-between-ages-3-and-7.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+OpenCulture+%28Open+Culture%29

Narrative Magazine Language (writers and their literature) --- www.narrativemagazine.com

European Literature Network --- www.eurolitnetwork.com

UCSB: English Broadside Ballad --- http://ebba.english.ucsb.edu/

The Pulp Magazines Project --- www.pulpmags.org

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

 

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 December 14, 2017
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/tidbits/2017/TidbitsQuotations121417.htm            

USA Debt Clock --- http://www.usdebtclock.org/ ubl

To Whom Does the USA Federal Government Owe Money (the booked obligation of $19+ trillion) ---
http://finance.townhall.com/columnists/politicalcalculations/2016/05/25/spring-2016-to-whom-does-the-us-government-owe-money-n2168161?utm_source=thdaily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=nl
The US Debt Clock in Real Time --- http://www.usdebtclock.org/ 
Remember the Jane Fonda Movie called "Rollover" --- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rollover_(film)

To Whom Does the USA Federal Government Owe Money (the unbooked obligation of $100 trillion and unknown more in contracted entitlements) ---
http://money.cnn.com/2013/01/15/news/economy/entitlement-benefits/
The biggest worry of the entitlements obligations is enormous obligation for the future under the Medicare and Medicaid programs that are now deemed totally unsustainable ---
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

"These Slides Show Why We Have Such A Huge Budget Deficit And Why Taxes Need To Go Up," by Rob Wile, Business Insider, April 27, 2013 ---
http://www.businessinsider.com/cbo-presentation-on-the-federal-budget-2013-4
This is a slide show based on a presentation by a Harvard Economics Professor.

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




Seven Gadgets That Should Be in Your Emergency Kit ---
http://time.com/4455873/emergency-gadgets-tech/?utm_source=time.com&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=the-brief&utm_content=2017121412pm&xid=newsletter-brief


What is Bob Jensen reading at the moment in mid-December?
First I remind readers that I live within two miles of one of Robert Frost's former homes ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/tidbits/FrostMuseum/FrostMuseum01.htm
Each summer poets converge to share their own works with each other at this former home of Robert Frost
What I'm now reading is a book of some of their poems
The Breath of Parted Lips:  Voices of the Robert Frost Place
Volume 1 forwarded by Donald Hall
CavanKerry Press, 2001
My conclusion is that Robert Frost's poems are hard to beat

The following are books I would like to read but probably won't find the time for before better books take their place:

Insider Higher Ed is pleased to announce the winner of the #IHEreaderschoice award and the four runner ups ---
https://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2017/12/12/winner-2017-ihereaderschoice-award-…?utm_source=Inside+Higher+Ed&utm_campaign=2b12d301e1-DNU20171212&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_1fcbc04421-2b12d301e1-197565045&mc_cid=2b12d301e1&mc_eid=1e78f7c952
A London Times columnist dislikes the Jane Austen so much he has made a film about his loathing — and invited her fans to try to convince him of her genius ---
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/times2/giles-coren-why-i-hate-janeausten-wnx5kddtx

Five Books Bill Gates Thinks You Should Read Right Now ---
http://time.com/5046105/5-amazing-books-i-read-in-2017/?utm_source=time.com&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=the-brief&utm_content=2017120512pm&xid=newsletter-brief

Bloomberg:  Best Books of 2017 ---
https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2017-best-books/?cmpid=BBD120517_BIZ&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&utm_term=171205&utm_campaign=bloombergdaily

Quartzy's Best Books of 2017 --- https://quartzy.qz.com/1143800/the-best-books-of-2017-if-you-combine-21-best-books-of-2017-lists/

Maria Popva:  Seven Favorite Science Books of 2017 ---
https://www.brainpickings.org/2017/12/13/best-science-books-2017/?utm_source=Brain+Pickings&utm_campaign=5ab98a43db-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2017_12_13&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_179ffa2629-5ab98a43db-234390133&mc_cid=5ab98a43db&mc_eid=4d2bd13843

15 Stanford business professors recommend books for those long winter nights ---
https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/insights/what-read-over-holidays?utm_source=Stanford+Business&utm_campaign=2c9eb46876-Stanford-Business-Issue-127-12-10-2017&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_0b5214e34b-2c9eb46876-70265733&ct=t(Stanford-Business-Issue-127-12-10-2017)

I will of course add to my list of unread books before the end of 2017


Time Magazine:  The Top 10 Movies of 2017 ---
http://time.com/5045566/top-10-movies-2017/?utm_source=time.com&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=the-brief&utm_content=2017120914pm&xid=newsletter-brief

Netflix shared its 10 most binge-watched shows of 2017 ---
http://www.businessinsider.com/most-binge-watched-netflix-shows-of-2017-list-2017-12
Jensen Comment
Thanks but no thanks. I binge on BBC mystery series.


Ten Best Video Games of 2017 ---
http://www.businessinsider.com/best-video-games-2017-12 ---


The Atlantic:  Ten Best Albums of 2017 ---
https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2017/12/best-albums-2017/547451/


Purdue Prof: Academic Rigor Reinforces White Male Heterosexual Privilege And Should Be Replaced With 'Alternative Conceptualizations For Evaluating Knowledge' ---
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/19378629.2017.1408631
Jensen Comment
I don't buy this argument. My main complaint about rigor has nothing to do with heterosexual privilege. I'm disappointed with rigor when demanding it causes researchers to avoid the toughest problems because they can't approach the problem with rigor. Many things in life are messy for researchers including facing up to factors that can't be measured effectively or efficiently, non-stationary factors that don't meet the assumptions of traditional statistical models that assume stationarity, complex higher-order interactions, heteroscedacities, correlations that mislead about causes, errors in databases, and on and on. Rigorous models frequently make unrealistic assumptions about reality that we know just aren't valid. Working with reality frequently defies rigor. But I'm not in favor of doing away with rigor for the sake of diversity. Where does this lead?

For example, accountants usually avoid measuring the value of human resources such in Apple Corporation because doing so with any type of rigor is virtually impossible do carryout meaningfully for postings to Apple's financial statements. Human resources just do not meet the conceptualizations of assets and liabilities in financial statements. For one thing, a company generally does not own and control a human employee like it owns and controls a robot. We can write contracts that prevent an employee from jumping ship to a competitor, but we can't write contracts prevent employees from quitting --- except in exceptional circumstances such as making it illegal to endanger comrades in heat of battle.

Journals that demand rigor often lose most of their readership. For example, practicing accountants years ago abandoned academic accounting research journals because the demands for rigor (e.g., requiring equations in every article) by journal referees forces researchers to abandon most problems of great interest to practicing accountants.
"A Scrapbook on What's Wrong with the Past, Present and Future of Accountics Science"
http://www.cs.trinity.edu/~rjensen/temp/AccounticsWorkingPaper450.06.pdf


Executive Compensation in Private and Public Colleges ---
https://www.chronicle.com/interactives/executive-compensation?cid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en&elqTrackId=c806cf0c1e354f6da56e814816221ee1&elq=09396d05bfee427a8138fb03a9a1c224&elqaid=17070&elqat=1&elqCampaignId=7401#id=table_private_2015

Jensen Comment
And the winner is Nathan Hatch from Wake Forest University at slightly over $4 million per year
It's very hard to compare perks given to college presidents who often become personal friends of large donors and share things like private jets, condos, hotel suites, etc.

Poem About Your University President’s Completely Reasonable Four Million-Dollar Compensation Package ---
https://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/poem-about-your-university-presidents-completely-reasonable-four-million-dollar-compensation-package?elqTrackId=9786dcb0da30465eade3ff2aa4ffc51e&elq=11541b9bef1a410da73f6ce5e4bfed4d&elqaid=17117&elqat=1&elqCampaignId=7425

. . .

It is extremely important to note that
That the president’s actual base pay
Was a meager $839,944,
While $92,000 was bonus pay,
And $3,009,376 was what we like to call
“Other pay,” or “Not real money pay,”
Which includes fast cars,
Swanky pads, jet-setting, opera tickets,
And club dues for the clubs where
Upper-level university administrators
Unwind after a long day of
Trying to figure out how to get professors
To give away their labor.
Also worth mentioning is the president’s
Reasonable champagne budget,
Which we double only around the holidays.
We understand that this breakdown
Might be confusing to those of you
Who do not have a champagne budget,
So we provide this information
By way of clarification.

Continued in article


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

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

DeepMind has recently published a paper on AlphaZero, a system that learns by itself and is able to master games like chess or Shogi. ---
https://arxiv.org/pdf/1712.01815.pdf

Robots are being used to deter homeless people from setting up camp in San Francisco ---
http://www.businessinsider.com/security-robots-are-monitoring-the-homeless-in-san-francisco-2017-12
Jensen Comment
Because of all the sewage on San Francisco sidewalks, it would be nice if these robots toted portable toilets.

Hi Zane,

Think of the robots that pick up kids from school in driverless cars, pick up the pre-boxed groceries at the super market, and meet you at the door with a cocktail, hors dourves,  and fill you in on news of the day while they massage your tired back before serving you a filet mignon dinner just the way you like it. They clean your house, mow your lawn, trim your hedges, and do your daily laundry, including ironing your shirts or blouses.

And if necessary they can form cheering sections screaming loudly at Little League games while you're out of town. Your kids may even grow up using them as role models --- which isn't bad since robots, unlike you, can update their Wikipedia brains daily and make more interesting conversations and play better chess (they can be good chess players who do not always win). Three of them can make up a good foursome for bridge.

They probably will even write some of your academic papers while giving you all the credit.

That 24/7 idea is great since robots never tire or organize labor unions.

I was too old to get in the sex revolution with a succession of "significant others."
Now I'm too old to enjoy the robot revolution . . . well er
No I take that back. Robots will probably be tending to all my needs in a long-term care nursing home when I'm too gaga to even know their first names.

Thanks,
Bob


Worries Grow In Hong Kong As China Pushes Its Official Version Of History In Schools ---
https://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2017/12/11/566909240/worries-grow-in-hong-kong-as-china-pushes-its-official-version-of-history-in-sch

Jensen Comment
Textbook publishers have similar worries about writing books that pass the censors for the Texas public schools.  As statues come tumbling down will the textbooks in Texas and other states be sanitized? One year a hate-filled social studies textbook in Texas claimed the USA exploded a nuclear bomb in the Korean War. Truth is no longer the main criterion for learning history and bias is bipartisan.


The Atlantic:  Students don't seem to be getting much out of higher education ---
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2018/01/whats-college-good-for/546590/?elqTrackId=90b369ee09084a19b4a43c7178357cb6&elq=f21eedc8acd34c6d8e6d41fe8d5cdec0&elqaid=17071&elqat=1&elqCampaignId=7402

. . .

Arum and Roksa cite a study finding that students at one typical college spent 13 hours a week studying (including class time), 12 hours “socializing with friends,” 11 hours “using computers for fun,” eight hours working for pay, six hours watching TV, six hours exercising, five hours on “hobbies,” and three hours on “other forms of entertainment.” Grade inflation completes the idyllic package by shielding students from negative feedback. The average GPA is now 3.2.

Jensen Comment
The average gpa of 3.2 is probably understated with the upper limit statistically being bounded by 4.0.

The biggest disgrace in higher education is grade inflation that destroyed academic integrity ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/assess.htm#RateMyProfessor


The University of Wisconsin at Madison will close 22 libraries and open six new "hubs" to cater to students and professors doing online research and working in groups ---
https://www.chronicle.com/article/Why-One-University-Wants-to/242019?cid=db&elqTrackId=e8c5aa04ccca44cd91df72c31fdb76b4&elq=f21eedc8acd34c6d8e6d41fe8d5cdec0&elqaid=17071&elqat=1&elqCampaignId=7402

Jensen Comment
Where will all the left out students go for coffee, sodas, pastries, and comfortable sleeping chairs?
Seriously, there's a learning serendipity that still goes with browsing hard copy books and journals. This is one of the things I miss most after having retired so many miles from a college library.


Chicago Public School chief Forrest Claypool resigns after being accused of ethics probe cover-up
His replacement, Janice Jackson. becomes the third chief of the city's schools in two years
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/politics/ct-met-forrest-claypool-resigns-cps-20171208-story.html

Jensen Comment
With three recent Illinois governors having gone to prison, it seems to be corrupt public service as usual in Illinois.


Simpson's Paradox ---
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simpson%27s_paradox

How a statistical paradox helps to get to the root of bias in college admissions ---
https://aeon.co/videos/how-a-statistical-paradox-helps-to-get-to-the-root-of-bias-in-college-admissions?utm_source=Aeon+Newsletter&utm_campaign=02a464a0c7-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2017_12_04&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_411a82e59d-02a464a0c7-68951505


A Complete List of All TV Shows That Have Been Canceled in 2017 ---
http://www.alloy.com/entertainment/tv-shows-cancelled-canceled-2017-complete-list/??utm_source=adrizer&utm_campaign=65354&utm_term=reason&utm_medium=cpc

Jensen Comment
The commentaries about each cancelled show pretty much explain why. In a few cases the shows had a pretty good multi-year run. Most, however, were short lived.


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

The Downside of Having an Almost Perfect Memory ---
http://time.com/5045521/highly-superior-autobiographical-memory-hsam/?utm_source=time.com&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=the-brief&utm_content=2017121014pm&xid=newsletter-brief

Jensen Comment
I vaguely remember (yeah vaguely) being surprised by the case studies of such people featured in the referenced CBS Sixty Minutes module years back. As I recall their" perfect" memories were not the same as photographic memories from pages read. The "perfect memories" seemed to be more centered on events they witnessed in former days of their adult lives such as what they had for breakfast on June 14, 1996 or news headlines on that day. They did not demonstrate an ability to recall selected paragraphs from Tolstoy's War and Peace or paragraphs from their physics textbooks.

Eidetic (Photographic Memory) --- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eidetic_memory

Jensen Comment
Supposedly eidetic memory exists mostly in young children, although I did have a math professor at Stanford who could seemingly recite verbatim passages from our textbook. He had the distinction of having earned a Ph.D. in mathematics from Harvard when he was 21 years of age, which made him a prodigy in mathematics. I also had a Russian student years ago who impressed me with having a somewhat photographic memory of our reading assignments.


Denmark:  Batteries can’t solve the world’s biggest energy-storage problem. One startup has a (stinky) solution ---
https://qz.com/1133123/batteries-cant-solve-the-worlds-biggest-energy-storage-problem-one-startup-has-a-solution/


Ursula K. Le Guin on Anger ---
https://www.brainpickings.org/2017/12/05/ursula-k-le-guin-no-time-to-spare-anger/?utm_source=Brain+Pickings&utm_campaign=1178c8f6d3-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2017_12_08&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_179ffa2629-1178c8f6d3-234390133&mc_cid=1178c8f6d3&mc_eid=4d2bd13843


The Times:  Inside the strictest school in Britain ---
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/times2/inside-the-strictest-school-inbritain-n2333rf5v

 . . .

In poor areas over the past decade there has been a new movement of academies that raise standards by means of military-style discipline. All the hallmarks of that approach are here, but Michaela is unique because discipline is only a precursor to what the school sees as the main problem: retention of knowledge. “I wouldn’t say there are any schools doing what we’re doing,” Birbalsingh tells me later.

Sure, the children have to memorise a lot, the homework is rigorous, poetry is learnt by rote and times tables are “drilled to thrill”, as they like to say — all that you would expect of a 1950s grammar school. But what goes on in the classroom is new. The staff are keen on the latest research, which shows that the inbuilt tragedy of teaching is that, by the time a new topic is begun, the old topic is slipping from everyone’s mind.

So staff, who, the website says, “tend to reject all of the accepted wisdoms of the 21st century”, demand not just children’s acquiescence, but their attention. A week-long boot camp when they start inculcates in them a series of commands. A child’s eyeballs must be directed at the page, the board or the teacher. At the command “Three, two, one, track on me”, I see 30 pairs of eyes swing up from work to the teacher’s face. At the command “SLANT!” every child sits straight in their chair, arms folded on the desk (to stop fiddling), eyes on the teacher. I hear “SLANT!” or “track on me” every few minutes. No discussions, no group work. It’s intense. “It’s really hard at first,” says my 13-year-old guide, “then you get adapted. You become an automaton, but not in a bad way.”

Continued in article


Professors Fabricating Data and Their Other Research Frauds
Using a database of 750 cases of research fraud from around the world, professors examine fraud as a phenomenon, tracing its history and trajectory and looking at what can be done about it ---
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2017/12/05/book-dissects-research-fraud-organizational-level?utm_source=Inside+Higher+Ed&utm_campaign=df16c5da25-DNU20171205&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_1fcbc04421-df16c5da25-197565045&mc_cid=df16c5da25&mc_eid=1e78f7c952

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


Denmark:  Batteries can’t solve the world’s biggest energy-storage problem. One startup has a (stinky) solution ---
https://qz.com/1133123/batteries-cant-solve-the-worlds-biggest-energy-storage-problem-one-startup-has-a-solution/


Chronicle of Higher Education Focus Studies ---
https://www.chronicle.com/focus-collections?cid=at&elq=0810ede780a74f8d9a58abee6fd312a7&elqCampaignId=7367&elqTrackId=3d65197d9c354026a4c5a152b12f3caf&elqaid=16997&elqat=1&utm_medium=en&utm_source=at


Non-Reproducible Results
Retraction Watch: Why do students need extra training in experimental design ---
http://retractionwatch.com/2017/12/12/lesson-one-design-good-experiment/#more-52982

Why Garbage Science Gets Published ---
http://nautil.us/issue/55/trust/why-garbage-science-gets-published

Jensen Comment
Garbage gets published in most all research disciplines that traditionally do not replicate or otherwise independently validate research results ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/TheoryTAR.htm


Accounting Fraud at Tesco --- http://www.businessinsider.com/tesco-bosses-bullied-employees-into-false-accounting-court-hears-2017-12

Bob Jensen's blog on fraud ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/FraudUpdates.htm


China Just Launched the World's First Electric Cargo Ship ---
http://www.businessinsider.com/china-just-launched-the-worlds-first-electric-cargo-ship-2017-12

Tesla is not the only one bringing electric engines to cargo transport.

China just launched its first all-electric cargo ship, which will travel 50 miles at a top speed of 8 miles per hour on a single charge. Though it will be able to carry 2,200 tons of cargo with every haul, that battery capacity is barely enough to fulfill any transatlantic shipments. It will take just two hours to recharge, which is about as much time the vessel needs to unload at a destination.

Of course, the vessel is the first of its kind, so ports will have to be fitted with charging stations specifically for the ship. So far, only two ports have received the special upgrade.

“As the ship is fully electric powered, it poses no threats to the environment. The technology will soon be likely … used in passenger or engineering ships,” Huang Jialin, head of Hangzhou Modern Ship Design & Research Co, said regarding his company’s new innovation.

Claiming it poses “no threat to the environment” is a stretch though. Electric vehicles are only as green as the manufacturing of their batteries and the sourcing of the electricity that powers them. Charging the ship with the Chinese electric grid in its current form—which is largely powered by fossil fuels—will definitely contribute to more carbon emissions. But China is diversifying away from oil and gas quickly, meaning the electric engine will get greener by default in the coming years.

Continued in article

Jensen Comment
The article is vague about how the batteries will be recharged in the middle of the ocean 3,000 miles from a charging station. Perhaps it's only designed at this point to run along the coast of China. In that case it will have to prove to be more cost efficient than electric trains. In the 1950s I was on the USS Wisconsin battleship that had a top speed of 35 mph, which would be considered much to slow in today's military. Cargo ships vary in maximum speed, but I doubt that 8 mph excites any shipper for a small ship the size of this Chinese experiment. But in the end recall that the turtle beats the hare.


The 11 coolest perks at Facebook, the best place to work in America ---
http://www.businessinsider.com/facebook-employee-perks-benefits-2017-11/#four-months-of-paid-time-off-for-new-mothers-and-fathers-within-the-first-year-of-a-childs-birth-or-adoption-1

Jensen Comment
None of these Facebook perks, in my opinion, come remotely close to what I loved most about being a tenured university professor for 40 years.
I do applaud Facebook, however, for providing generous perks for new parents, including $4,000 in baby cash.
On your IRS 1040 form how do you value some of the perks that are used in varying amounts by employees such as  dental service, bike repair, valet parking, dry cleaning, etc."
Does Facebook issue a 1099 form for these perks, and if so, how does Facebook measure the perk values on a 1099 and/or W-2 form?

How much do all theses perks offset the enormously high housing costs of working in or near Menlo Park --- one of the highest cost living areas south of San Francisco?

The 50 Best Places to Work in 2018 According to Employees (Yeah Right)---
http://www.businessinsider.com/best-places-to-work-2018-2017-12/#9-st-jude-childrens-research-hospital-42

Jensen Comment
This seems to be largely an open-ended opinion survey that perhaps yields some inconsistent results.  For example, "opportunity to grow" comments may not all mean the same thing. This criterion is poorly defined in this survey.
Do employees rate St. Judes Research Hospital and the Mormon Church high because of their missions as well as their management? 
Can a poorly managed firm with a tremendous mission get a questionable high rating?
Free food seems to be mentioned a lot as being important. Can this offset a lot of negatives?

What I think gets overlooked is work independence and tenure protections. Professors, for example, sometimes overlook what a tremendous break they are getting by being able to almost entirely set their own work schedules and assignments. For example, in industry researchers must spend most of their times working on assigned work such as research a client wants performed. At a university many professors, not all, have great latitude in deciding where to focus their efforts in research. The criterion to publish in a top research journal does not usually obligate the professor as to topics paid for by clients, although some professors combine consulting with university research time.

In any case, none of the "50 Best Places to Work" are universities. That's misleading, because my guess is that the majority of tenured professors in most any university would not want to go to work for one of the "50 Best Places to Work" unless the offer was almost unbelievable.

For example, how many tenured professors would prefer working for Facebook?
How much will the top perks of Facebook offset work choice independence and tenure protections in the Academy?
For me the choice would've been clear --- as evidenced by my choice to stay in the Academy full time for 40 years and buy my own lunches.


After 10 Years in Court, a Student-Loan Whistle-Blower Fights His Last Battle ---
https://www.chronicle.com/article/After-10-Years-in-Court-a/241984?cid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en&elqTrackId=301a640284e444c0989d948ce5e43fff&elq=0810ede780a74f8d9a58abee6fd312a7&elqaid=16997&elqat=1&elqCampaignId=7367

Back in 2003, a former university professor and congressional staff member named Jon H. Oberg was toiling away as a researcher at the U.S. Department of Education, nearing retirement, when he noticed something odd.

Through a careful maneuver, Mr. Oberg realized, banks using federal money to issue loans to college students had devised a clever way to keep a lot more of that money than they were supposed to.

It traced back to a system designed to help students during the economic troubles of the 1980s. In order to encourage banks to help those students, the government promised nonprofit lenders a fixed 9.5-percent rate of return on student loans. In a time of relatively high interest rates, that promise made some sense; in the 1990s, when the economy improved and rates fell, it turned into a financial windfall for lenders.

So Congress voted to shut off that subsidy — with the exception of existing loans. But several loan companies, Mr. Oberg figured out, had devised a system to essentially pass new loan money through old loan portfolios that were eligible for the 9.5-percent repayment rate, thereby making hundreds of millions of dollars in excess profits.

Mr. Oberg tried to warn officials in his department of the problem; he was told to find something else to work on. At that point, he became a whistle-blower. He has spent the last 10 years helping government lawyers prove the scheme in court, as they tried to hold nine loan companies responsible.

The last of those cases ended on Tuesday. The government won seven of the cases, recovering more than $70 million of taxpayer money in the process.

Back in retirement, Mr. Oberg is happy with his success but remains concerned that the government really isn't doing nearly enough to prevent such abuses in the future.

“The effort to clean up the nation’s student-loan mess now moves into a new phase, as it must,” he wrote in a statement on his blog. “Far too many borrowers, victimized by shoddy for-profit schools and predatory lenders, cannot pay their loans back.”

Continued in article

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


From the CFO Journal's Morning Ledger on December 6, 2017

 Sleepy’s owner Steinhoff faces accounting probe
Retail giant Steinhoff International Holdings NV, which owns American mattress brand Sleepy’s and a string of chains across Europe, said its chief executive has resigned amid an investigation into accounting irregularities.

Jensen Question
Did Sleepy's internal auditing department fall asleep on the job? hee hee

Oliver Schmidt was sentenced to seven years in prison and a $400,000 fine for his role as “a key conspirator” in Volkswagon’s emissions fraud scheme ---
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-volkswagen-emissions/vw-executive-gets-seven-years-for-u-s-emissions-fraud-idUSKBN1E01W1

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


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

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

This graphic (scroll down) shows the craziness of the cryptocurrency craze ---
https://www.fastcodesign.com/90154223/this-graphic-explains-just-how-ridiculous-the-cryptocurrency-bubble-is

How to buy and sell bitcoin using one of the most popular cryptocurrency apps on the iPhone ---
http://www.businessinsider.com/tech-finance-coinbase-buy-sell-trade-bitcoin-app-coinbase-2017-1

Bitcoin Futures Trading Gets Green Light from USA Regulators ---
http://www.businessinsider.com/bitcoin-price-futures-trading-exchanges-cftc-2017-12

Bitcoin's Six Biggest Risks ---
http://www.businessinsider.com/bitcoins-6-biggest-risks-2017-11

The Unlucky Man Who Accidentally Threw Away Bitcoin Worth $100 million ---
http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/unlucky-man-who-accidentally-threw-13989640

Interest in Bitcoin Is Spreading ‘Like a Contagion,’ Says Nobel-Winning Economist Who Predicted the Housing Bubble ---
http://time.com/money/5060167/nobel-winning-economist-robert-shiller-bitcoin/?utm_source=time.com&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=the-brief&utm_content=2017121219pm&xid=newsletter-brief

From the CFO Journal's Morning Ledger on December 12, 2017

SEC chairman warns investors against bitcoin
Wall Street’s top regulator on Monday raised alarms about the money flooding into bitcoin trading and other cryptocurrency markets, warning the red-hot corner of less-regulated finance is burning with risk for retail investors.

From The Wall Street Journal Weekly Accounting Review on December 8, 2017

SEC Cyber Unit Alleges Scam in Coin Offering

By Paul Vigna | Dec 05, 2017

TOPICS: Bitcoin, blockchain technology, Fraud, SEC, Securities and Exchange Commission

SUMMARY: On Monday, December 4, 2017, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced its first-ever enforcement action by its new cyber unit against an initial coin offering, alleging a Canadian company violated U.S. securities laws in raising $15 million. This and the related articles explain bitcoin, coin offerings, and the SEC's concerns with both potential for fraud and the possibility that some offerings are in reality securities that fall under regulatory requirements.

CLASSROOM APPLICATION: The article may be used in a financial reporting or an auditing class to discuss current events and regulation.

QUESTIONS: 

 

1. (Introductory) What is bitcoin?

 

2. (Introductory) What is an initial coin offering?

 

3. (Advanced) What is crowdfunding? How do crowdfundings differ from initial coin offerings?

 

4. (Advanced) Why is the Securities and Exchange Commission particularly concerned about fraud in these offerings?

 

5. (Advanced) Even in the absence of fraud, why are the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and other regulators concerned about these transactions?

READ THE ARTICLE

 

RELATED ARTICLES: 
What's an Initial Coin Offering? ICOs Explained in 11 Questions
by Paul Vigna
Oct 02, 2017
Online Exclusive

SEC Chief Fires Warning Shot Against Coin Offerings
by Dave Michaels and Paul Vigna
Nov 09, 2017
Online Exclusive

Reviewed By: Judy Beckman, University of Rhode Island

 

"SEC Cyber Unit Alleges Scam in Coin Offering," by Paul Vigna, The Wall Street Journal, December 5,
https://www.wsj.com/articles/secs-cyber-unit-charges-canadian-firm-with-coin-offering-fraud-1512400168?mod=djem_jiewr_AC_domainid

Regulator accuses Canada’s PlexCorps of violating securities laws by selling up to $15 million of cryptocurrencies

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday announced its first-ever enforcement action by its new cyber unit against an initial coin offering, alleging a Canadian company violated U.S. securities laws in raising $15 million through this new, red-hot area of finance.

Charges against the company, described by the agency as a “scam” run by a “recidivist Canadian securities law violator,” were brought by the unit as it looks to crack down on potential abuse in the cryptocurrency arena.

The SEC alleged that PlexCorps violated securities laws by marketing and selling up to $15 million worth of cryptocurrencies, also called PlexCoins, to investors in the U.S. and elsewhere. The commission also charged Dominic Lacroix and Sabrina Paradis-Royer, the company’s founders, in connection with the sale.

The SEC said it had obtained an emergency court order to freeze the assets of PlexCorps and the two individuals.

In July, the Financial Markets Administrative Tribunal of Quebec banned PlexCorps and Mr. Lacroix from all investment-related activities targeted at Quebec residents. In October, Quebec’s Superior Court declared the company and Mr. Lacroix in contempt of court, finding the defendants continued to market and solicit investments in PlexCorps.

The company, Mr. Lacroix and Ms. Paradis-Royer couldn’t immediately be reached for comment. A Facebook page for PlexCorps was active as recently as Friday.

The action against PlexCorps is a concrete indication of the SEC’s interest in pursuing potential fraud in the mushrooming area of digital coin offerings. Private firms have raised more than $3 billion this year alone by selling newly created cryptocurrencies, according to research firm CoinDesk.

This area of finance is largely unregulated and many companies involved aren’t based in the U.S. or say the offerings aren’t open to U.S. investors.

Initial coin offering don’t typically offer equity in a company issuing them. Rather, the offerings as more akin to crowdfundings, usually offering buyers of digital tokens the right to use them at some future date to buy a product or service the company plans to develop.

The SEC has said it is focused both on the prospects for fraud in such sales, as well as the possibility that startups will sell tokens that should be registered as securities. The commission formed its cyber unit in September to focus on the area of cryptocurrencies.

In the PlexCorps action, the SEC alleged the company promised investors that their money would be going toward development of a new cryptocurrency along with related products. Investors were also promised a return of 1,354% over 29 days on their investment.

The SEC also alleged the company claimed to have a group of experts around the world working on the project, but had only a few employees in Quebec. The commission further alleged the company purposefully kept secret the involvement of Mr. Lacroix, who had previously violated securities laws in Canada.

Continued in article


This Hotel Booking Scam Is on the Rise. Here's How to Spot It ---
http://time.com/money/5050538/hotel-booking-scam-protect-yourself/?utm_source=time.com&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=the-brief&utm_content=2017120811am&xid=newsletter-brief

Jensen Comment
It really ticks me off when I use a search engine like Google to find the home page of a B&B inn and must scroll down through a bunch of booking sites that obscure the link to the home page itself.


Customers of Las Vegas exchange Bittrex claim they are having problems withdrawing money and are not receiving any communication from the company as to why ---
http://www.businessinsider.com/bittrex-customers-withdrawal-problems-identification-2017-12


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

THE CHATBOT MONETIZATION REPORT: Sizing the market, key strategies, and how to navigate the chatbot opportunity ---
http://www.businessinsider.com/chatbot-monetization-market-business-strategies-opportunites-2016-11

QuickBooks jumps on the chatbot bandwagon ---
https://www.accountingtoday.com/news/quickbooks-jumps-on-the-chatbot-bandwagon

Jensen Comment
If I were still teaching I would be developing chatbots for my courses and for other technical accountancy modules. There's a great opportunity for chatbot development consulting.


The EU has published its first 'blacklist' of tax havens — here are the named countries ---
http://www.businessinsider.com/eu-blacklist-of-tax-havens-published-2017-12

. . .

The 17 blacklisted countries are:

American Samoa

Bahrain

Barbados

Grenada

Guam

South Korea

Macao

The Marshall Islands

Mongolia

Namibia

Palau

Panama

St Lucia

Samoa

Trinidad & Tobago

Tunisia

The United Arab Emirates.

It also published a "greylist" of 47 countries, which include the British Overseas Territories (OTs) and Crown Dependencies (CDs) of Jersey, Guernsey, Bermuda and the Cayman Islands.

Countries were blacklisted if they were deemed to have failed to meet international standards on tax transparency and tax rates, and had not provided sufficient commitments that they would change in the months leading up to the list's publication. Those on the greylist made promises to reform their tax structures, which include changes to ensure companies are not using 0% corporate tax rates to avoid paying tax on profits.

Continued in article

 


MS Office 16 --- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Office_2016

Excel upgrades often do away with older features you might have used for years. Here are ways to bring them back ---
https://www.accountingweb.com/technology/excel/vanishing-excel-features-and-how-to-handle-them

Jensen Comment
If you don't have older Excel or other MS Office software installation disks, MS Office 16 can be purchased on Amazon or Microsoft . I still like MS FrontPage better than MS Expression Web. But after I retired and moved I could no longer find my installation disk for FrontPage to install on new computers. So I purchased a never-used FrontPage installation disk on Amazon (not cheap at a price of over $200 at the time).


From a Chronicle of Higher Education Newsletter on December 4, 2017

Alarmed at the cultural divides exposed by President Trump's election, some elite colleges are redoubling their efforts to recruit students from rural America. Swarthmore College, for example, has created a program called "Small Town Swarthmore," designed to accomplish that goal. Read more in The Wall Street Journal.


For Colleges, A Rural Reckoning Spooked by rising hostility in Trump country, elite schools are seeking small-town students
By Douglas Belkin Dec. 1, 2017
The Wall Street Journal
https://www.wsj.com/articles/for-colleges-a-rural-reckoning-1512159888?elqTrackId=defb9cb21580489195c4e692bad25a7e&elq=3aafa21612794883890262169d88b2c3&elqaid=16942&elqat=1&elqCampaignId=7342

Emily Ritchey grew up in Dry Run, Pa., population 345, the daughter of a cashier and a mechanic. The halls of her high school were filled with boys wearing camouflage. Two couples arrived at prom in tractors. Then she went off to college, 90 miles away.

Walking the manicured campus of Franklin & Marshall College, a selective private school in Lancaster, Pa., with total costs per year of some $65,000, she encountered a different world. “I looked around at all these kids wearing Patagonia and Vineyard Vines, clothes I’d never seen before, and I just felt way out of my league,” she says. Classmates sometimes refer to her as coming from Pennsyltucky. “It’s kind of like I’m from nowheresville.”

That dislocation reflects the widening gulf between white, working-class, rural America and the nation’s more selective institutions of higher education. Elite colleges have tried for years to address a proportional decline of students arriving from areas beyond big cities and suburbs, but their worries have sharpened since the election of Donald Trump. Recent surveys show mounting skepticism, especially among Mr. Trump’s constituents, about the cost and worth of college. Republican lawmakers have also proposed cuts to federal funding and tax breaks for higher education.

In response, some institutions are redoubling their efforts to court students from rural—and politically conservative—areas, much as they have long sought out minority students from inner cities. “These predominantly white students from low-income and working-class families have been overlooked for a long time,” said Bob Freund, who runs a nonprofit program based at Franklin & Marshall that has helped place rural students in Pennsylvania colleges, including Ms. Richey. “It’s just beginning to change.”

This year Swarthmore College created a recruiting program targeting rural students called Small Town Swarthmore, which helps fund candidates’ visits to the campus. In January, the North Carolina university system approved a plan to increase enrollment of rural students by 11% by 2021. Princeton University has expanded its ROTC class and this year is reinstating a transfer program that includes community colleges—both of which disproportionately help students from rural backgrounds.

Previous efforts have yielded upticks in rural recruiting at Georgia Tech, the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and Columbia University, which sends its students to rural high schools as ambassadors. At Carleton College in Minnesota, a scholarship aimed at rural students boosted their numbers to 12% of the student body this year, up from 8% in 2013 when it was initiated.

“I’m sorry we missed a lot of these kids in the past,” said Stephen Farmer, the vice provost of enrollment at UNC Chapel Hill. “But I’m glad we’re getting them now.”

The education gap between rural and urban residents has been growing for decades. Though college attendance has risen for both groups, the rural rise has been smaller, and the gap has more than doubled—from seven points in 1980 to 16 points by 2015. Meanwhile, multiple studies have shown admissions biases against rural students with financial needs.

In 2009, two Princeton sociologists analyzed eight selective colleges and universities and found that for minority applicants, the lower a family’s socioeconomic class, the more likely they were to gain admission. For white applicants, the opposite was true. Wealthier white applicants were three times as likely to be admitted as poor white applicants with similar qualifications. Many admissions directors acknowledge that is partly because colleges have sought racial and economic diversity from the same students, and poorer white students don’t fulfill that goal.

Continued in article




Student Debt --- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Student_debt

Well Over $1 Trillion in USA Student Debt Level is Unsustainable
Something Has to Give
---
https://jacobinmag.com/2017/11/student-debt-data-higher-education?elqTrackId=e40653cbb10349559339f963d965f447&elq=622409db58b440c68c9bd4f22a62daf2&elqaid=16865&elqat=1&elqCampaignId=7309

Growing Number of Student Loan Borrowers (4.6 million) are in Default ---
https://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2017/12/14/growing-number-borrowers-are-default?utm_source=Inside+Higher+Ed&utm_campaign=3d4ea1e011-DNU20171214&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_1fcbc04421-3d4ea1e011-197565045&mc_cid=3d4ea1e011&mc_eid=1e78f7c952


Wisconsin Killed License Renewal. So Why Are K-12 Teachers So Upset over Lifetime Teaching Licenses?
https://www.edweek.org/tm/articles/2017/12/06/wisconsin-killed-license-renewal-so-why-are.html?cmp=eml-enl-eu-news2-rm&M=58311140&U=2290378


PEDALING TOWARD THE FUTURE:   Texas A&M libraries install bike desks to keep with changing times ---
http://www.theeagle.com/news/local/texas-a-m-libraries-install-bike-desks-to-keep-with/article_4d871656-839e-52a9-b013-cd00998969f5.html

Jensen Comment
Short time periods for bike exercise may be a great idea using a bike desk. But, at least for men, spending the better part of a day at a bike desk may not be such a good idea.

Does Cycling Increase Risk for Testicular or Prostate Cancer?
http://blog.dana-farber.org/insight/2015/12/does-cycling-increase-risk-for-testicular-or-prostate-cancer/

“Given what we know right now, I would say that the benefits of any exercise you’re doing, even on the bicycle, more than offset any of the risks.”

Jensen Comment
But I don't think the above article had long hours at a bike desk in mind in the above article. Possibly what might be better for long periods at a desk would be a standing desk.
Sigh!

I put a TV set in front of our walking machine in the basement. That ended up not motivating me to spend more time on the walking machine, because TV is so utterly boring.
Sigh!


The Stanford Business School has acknowledged that despite claims it offered only need-based aid, not merit-based aid, it awarded large tuition discounts for years to women, international students, and other preferred applicants. The school also said it would close a hole in its computer security that permitted a student to review confidential financial-aid records and uncover the school's deception.
http://www.sfchronicle.com/education/article/Stanford-University-data-glitch-exposes-truth-12396695.php?elqTrackId=7917b61cc5f94fcab4abc5c4fe2cfb43&elq=7d1711d8fc514bd9b250df9c0c457401&elqaid=16920&elqat=1&elqCampaignId=7330


California's pension fund looks to shift blame and avoid (union) responsibility:  CalPERS is never going to state the obvious: "We know these massive, underfunded pensions are not sustainable, but we're going to do everything possible to push the problem into the future and blame everyone else for the problem." ---
http://reason.com/archives/2017/11/24/calpers-is-shockedjust-shockedto-find-ci


The New York Times:  The Internet Is Dying. Repealing Net Neutrality Hastens That Death ---
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/29/technology/internet-dying-repeal-net-neutrality.html

The Founder of the World Wide Web is Pessimistic About Its Future ---
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/nov/15/tim-berners-lee-world-wide-web-net-neutrality
Note that the WWW is not the same as the Internet that preceded it by two decades. However, Tim Berners-Lee's fears about the WWW extrapolate to the Internet in general. The Internet will not cease to exist but it will increasingly be used for dark purposes.
 

Bob Jensen's threads on the history of computing, the Internet, and the WWW ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/Bookbob2.htm#---ComputerNetworking-IncludingInternet


The Washington Post:  Elite colleges are making it easy for conservatives to dislike them ---
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/elite-colleges-are-making-it-easy-for-conservatives-to-dislike-them/2017/11/30/0d2ef31a-d52a-11e7-a986-d0a9770d9a3e_story.html?elq=7d1711d8fc514bd9b250df9c0c457401&elqCampaignId=7330&elqTrackId=10f0f42168e144c29675327f8d330e5e&elqaid=16920&elqat=1&utm_term=.24a7b0a62a97


Lack of Research Validity/Replication Testing:  The Dismal Science Remains Dismal, Say Scientists ---
https://www.wired.com/story/econ-statbias-study/

Jensen Comment
The lack of replication and validity testing is even worse in academic accounting research, but nobody cares ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/TheoryTAR.htm


Should You Pay Off Your Mortgage Before Retirement?
https://money.usnews.com/money/blogs/on-retirement/articles/2017-12-05/should-you-pay-off-your-mortgage-before-retirement

Jensen Comment
This is a pretty good article, although it misses the main reason I carry a large mortgage that I could pay off simply by writing a check on my Vanguard Insured Long-term Tax Exempt Fund investment. Even the current tax proposals in Congress do not advocate taxing municipal bond and school bond funds mostly because doing so would greatly increase the cost of capital to towns and schools. Apart from my fixed retirement annuities most of my savings are in this tax-exempt fund. It is highly liquid, and I can write a check on it any time I need cash such as cash for a new car or tractor. Mostly I simply re-invest the monthly fund earnings in the fund at after-tax returns higher than the cost of my 3.8% home mortgage.

There are caveats. The value of the fund investment will go up and down somewhat with changes in interest rates. However, since I really hope not to liquidate more than a small portion of this fund in my lifetime I really don't care much how investment value goes up and down. I'm more interested in relatively steady cash earnings that just keep piling up in this fund. And if disaster should strike such as having to go into long-term care in a nursing home, it's much easier to write checks on this fund than to have to sell our home or do a costly reverse mortgage.

Please do not invest like me until you seriously explore other alternatives. I'm getting up in years to a point where I don't worry much about inflation. When I was younger I invested in Iowa farm land and stocks and put my retirement contributions 100% into CREF equities rather than TIAA bonds. The CREF equities grew much better than TIAA bonds in my lifetime. When I retired I converted all my CREF into lifetime fixed annuities for my wife and I. Lifetime fixed annuities aren't such a good deal these days due to low interest rates. However, I got into them at higher rates when I retired slightly before the crash of 2007. The annuity cash flow for us allows us to almost never have to write checks on the Vanguard fund except for gifts to our children.

My point is that in retirement for some people it may be best to keep your mortgage and keep savings in tax exempt investments. This does not make it the best choice for all people in different stages of life.

Bob Jensen's free (for what it's worth) personal finance helpers ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/Bookbob1.htm#InvestmentHelpers


Will The Lawyers Ring the Death Knell for Football (USA style football)?
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2017/12/01/avalanche-football-related-concussion-lawsuits-against-ncaa-and-conferences-could?utm_source=Inside+Higher+Ed&utm_campaign=b5ef334b09-DNU20171201&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_1fcbc04421-b5ef334b09-197565045&mc_cid=b5ef334b09&mc_eid=1e78f7c952

Jensen Comment
How are colleges reporting these contingent liabilities in their financial statements?
Think of how this might boost academic standards in Division 1 universities?
Well maybe not since there are other sports promoting academic fraud.


Crytocurrency --- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryptocurrency
Video:  The CIO of a crypto hedge fund explains the value in cryptocurrency — and why the market will explode over the next 2 years
---
http://www.businessinsider.com/cryptocurrency-value-explained-by-crypto-hedge-fund-cio-ari-paul-2017-11


Apple's head designer Jony Ive says he 'hears' your MacBook criticism ---
http://www.businessinsider.com/apple-jony-ive-macbook-criticism-2017-12


Yet Another Illustration of How Lightly White Collar Crime is Punished
Navy Commander Sent To Jail For 18 Months Over Service’s Largest Fraud Scheme ---
http://dailycaller.com/2017/12/04/navy-commander-sent-to-jail-for-18-months-over-services-largest-fraud-scheme/

Other illustrations of how white collar crime pays even if you know you're going to get caught ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen//FraudConclusion.htm#CrimePays


Humanity’s fight against climate change is failing. Carbon capture technology can change that ---
https://qz.com/1144298/humanitys-fight-against-climate-change-is-failing-one-technology-can-change-that/

Jensen Comment
Articles like this often overlook the degree to which carbon releases are out of the hands of mankind such as the enormous amounts of carbon and other pollutants released naturally by the oceans, the Tundra, etc. that are not going to abate with efforts by mankind to abate its own pollution.

What the Pliocene epoch can teach us about future warming on Earth
About 3 million years ago, carbon dioxide levels were similar to today’s. What other changes might we expect?---
https://www.sciencenews.org/article/what-pliocene-epoch-can-teach-us-about-future-warming-earth


Ten startups that died in 2017 — despite $1.7 billion in funding ---
http://www.businessinsider.com/startups-that-raised-148-billion-have-shut-down-or-may-soon-2017-11


An armed robber’s Supreme Court case could affect all Americans’ digital privacy for decades to come ---
https://theconversation.com/an-armed-robbers-supreme-court-case-could-affect-all-americans-digital-privacy-for-decades-to-come-88223


The languages that take the most (and least) time to learn, per the US Foreign Service ---
https://qz.com/1139699/the-languages-that-take-the-most-and-least-time-to-learn-per-the-us-foreign-service/

Jensen Comment
Much depends upon context and purpose. I took several courses in Russian literature as an undergraduate and found that my ability to read Pushkin still left me unable to read many current articles in Pravda. The reverse might happen with diplomatic students who can read Pravda but not Pushkin.

When I wanted a German accounting research document translated I discovered that even German language professors were not able to deal with the technical vocabulary of German accounting, economics, and finance. I suspect that this is a problem for many researchers who want specialized documents translated.

My point is that how much "time" it takes to learn a language depends a great deal on how you define "learn" a language. Those of us who think we are fluent in English cannot really comprehend some science documents written in English. It takes much longer to become fluent in scientific English.


Teaching Students How to Cheat — and Fail ---
https://townhall.com/columnists/pauljacob/2017/12/03/teaching-students-how-to-cheat-and-fail-n2417300?utm_source=thdaily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=nl&newsletterad=


Darren Berg:  Fugitive, convicted of $100 million Ponzi scheme, escapes from prison ---
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-california-crime/fugitive-convicted-of-100-million-ponzi-scheme-escapes-from-prison-idUSKBN1E21B1

Jensen Comment
In the USA escape from prison is a crime. In Finland, however, prisoners come and go as they please. Norway is also pretty loose about prison confinement.

 


New Zealand library cracks case of the missing books ---
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/oct/18/new-zealand-library-auckland-hiding-cracks-case-missing-books




From the Scout Report on December 1, 2017

Jekyll Science --- https://jekyllrb.com/
Jekyll is a static website generator that includes support for common blog features, such as post categories and permalinks. It takes a folder of text files written in a lightweight markup language and renders these to HTML, CSS, and Javascript. Out of the box, Jekyll understands Markdown, Textile, and Liquid markup. Support for other formats (e.g., ReStructuredText) are available as plugins. The created sites can be hosted using any generic hosting service and do not require any special software on the web server to work. Jekyll is also the software that powers the GitHub Pages hosting service, which can be used to deploy Jekyll-generated sites for free. Jekyll requires a Ruby interpreter to run. Apple includes Ruby with macOS and installers are available for Windows and most UNIX-like operating systems.


aXe Science --- www.deque.com/products/axe 
In order for the web content that we produce to reach the widest possible audience, web accessibility should be considered. Furthermore, many institutions are legally required to produce accessible content. aXe is an open-source accessibility auditing library that checks a page against the W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 and the Section 508 US federal procurement standard. After analyzing a page, the aXe browser extension provides a detailed list of potential issues. For each issue, it lists the problematic snippet of HTML, a description of the potential issue and its severity, and guidelines for fixing the issue. The aXe browser extension is available for Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox.


The Louvre Was the 'Most Instagrammed Museum' in 2017
http://www.artnews.com/2017/11/29/louvre-instagrammed-museum-2017

The World's Most Instagrammed Museum, from the Louvre to the Museum of Ice Cream
https://hyperallergic.com/413889/worlds-top-museums-instagram-2017

Selfie Factories: The Rise of the Made-for-Instagram Museum
https://www.wired.com/story/selfie-factories-instagram-museum

Is Instagram killing our museum culture or reinventing it?
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/arts/is-instagram-killing-our-museum-culture-or-reinventing-it

Museums, the New Social Media Darlings
https://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/30/arts/design/museums-the-new-social-media-darlings.html?_r=0

Please Turn On Your Phone in the Museum
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2016/10/please-turn-on-your-phone-in-the-museum/497525




From the Scout Report on December 8, 2017

WEB SCRAPER SCIENCE --- http://webscraper.io/

Web Scraper is a tool for extracting data from websites. Users provide a sitemap that specifies which pages on a site to visit and what elements on each page to extract data from. Web Scraper is able to extract data from dynamic and interactive pages that often confuse other tools. It can also simulate button clicks and scroll pages to make them load additional data. Detailed documentation on setting up Web Scraper is available on the website, including a series of tutorial videos. The collected data can either be exported in CSV format or shipped off to a CouchDB server. Web Scraper is available as a free Chrome extension. A Cloud version of Web Scraper, optimized for bulk data extraction, is also available for a fee.


QOWNNOTES SCIENCE --- www.qownnotes.org 

QOwnNotes is a multi-platform notepad and to-do list manager that leaves users in control of where and how their data is stored. Notes are stored in a designated folder as a set of markdown files. While QOwnNotes includes an integrated editor, users may also modify their files by using their text editor of choice. When this happens, QOwnNotes will detect that a file has been changed and simply reload it. Optionally, it can highlight what has changed when this happens. Users can keep multiple instances of QOwnNotes synchronized using their preferred synchronization tool - the QOwnNotes documentation mentions ownCloud, NextCloud, Dropbox, Syncthing, Seafile, and BitTorrent Sync as popular options. Users may also opt to use the MyOwnNotes Android app or the CloudNotes iOS app to access their notes on a mobile device. QOwnNotes itself is available for Windows, macOS, and Linux.


This new, duck-like dinosaur is so wacky that scientists thought it was fake
https://www.popsci.com/wacky-duck-dinosaur-fossil

This Duck-Like Dinosaur Could Swim. That Isn't the Strangest Thing About It
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/06/science/duck-dinosaur-swim.html

Smuggled fossil 'very weird' new species of amphibious dinosaur, say experts
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2017/dec/06/smuggled-fossil-very-weird-new-species-of-amphibious-dinosaur-halszkaraptor-escuilliei

Synchrotron scanning reveals amphibious ecomorphology in a new clade of bird-like dinosaurs
https://www.nature.com/articles/nature24679

Dinosaur News: ScienceDaily
https://www.sciencedaily.com/news/fossils_ruins/dinosaurs

Why 19th-Century Naturalists Didn't Believe the Platypus
https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/why-19th-century-naturalists-didnt-believe-in-the-platypus




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


Education Tutorials

Biblion: World's Fair: Enter the World of Tomorrow --- http://exhibitions.nypl.org/biblion/worldsfair

The Walters Art Museum: Lesson Plans --- https://thewalters.org/teachers/resources/lesson-plans/

History Hub --- https://historyhub.history.gov/welcome

TeachEngineering: Next-Generation Surgical Tools in the Body --- www.teachengineering.org/curricularunits/view/cub_surg_unit

GCFLearnFree.org: Math (math tutorials funded by Goodwill Industries) --- www.gcflearnfree.org/topics/math

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

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

Science says the first word on everything and the last word on nothing
Victor Hugo

The Last Word on Nothing --- http://www.lastwordonnothing.com/

The Map of Biology: Animation Shows How All the Different Fields in Biology Fit Together ---
http://www.openculture.com/2017/12/the-map-of-biology-animation-shows-how-all-the-different-fields-in-biology-fit-together.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+OpenCulture+%28Open+Culture%29
Bob Jensen's threads on biology ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/bookbob2-Part2.htm#---Biology

The Dialogues: Illustrated Conversations About the Most Thrilling Frontiers of Science by Theoretical Physicist and Self-Taught Artist Clifford Johnson ---
https://www.brainpickings.org/2017/12/07/the-dialogues-clifford-johnson/?utm_source=Brain+Pickings&utm_campaign=1178c8f6d3-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2017_12_08&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_179ffa2629-1178c8f6d3-234390133&mc_cid=1178c8f6d3&mc_eid=4d2bd13843

Naked Scientists Podcast --- www.thenakedscientists.com/podcasts/naked-scientists-podcast

The Atlantic: You Are Here --- www.theatlantic.com/video/series/you-are-here

The Pudding: Seeing Earth from Outer Space --- https://pudding.cool/2017/10/satellites/

The Periodic Table of Endangered Elements: Visualizing the Chemical Elements That Could Vanish Before You Know It ---
http://www.openculture.com/2017/12/the-periodic-table-of-endangered-elements.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+OpenCulture+%28Open+Culture%29

Atomic age began 75 years ago with the first controlled nuclear chain reaction ---
https://theconversation.com/atomic-age-began-75-years-ago-with-the-first-controlled-nuclear-chain-reaction-87154

BEN Portal: BioSciEdNet ---  www.biosciednet.org/portal

Cornell Lab of Ornithology: BirdSleuth K-12: Free Resources --- http://www.birdsleuth.org/free-resources/

States Where Wildfires Caused the Most Damage ---
http://247wallst.com/special-report/2017/12/11/states-where-wildfires-caused-the-most-damage/?utm_source=247WallStDailyNewsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_content=DEC122017A&utm_campaign=DailyNewsletter

How to Fight Wildfires With Science --- https://theconversation.com/how-to-fight-wildfires-with-science-86103
Also see --- https://theconversation.com/california-fire-damage-to-homes-is-less-random-than-it-seems-88817

PBS:  American Experience: Rachel Carson --- www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/rachel-carson

Medicines and Me --- www.urmc.rochester.edu/life-sciences-learning-center/resources-lessons/lessons/medicines-and-me.aspx

TeachEngineering: Next-Generation Surgical Tools in the Body --- www.teachengineering.org/curricularunits/view/cub_surg_unit

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

National Center on Disability and Journalism --- http://ncdj.org/

History Hub --- https://historyhub.history.gov/welcome

Biblion: World's Fair: Enter the World of Tomorrow --- http://exhibitions.nypl.org/biblion/worldsfair

Religion & Politics: Fit for Polite Company --- http://religionandpolitics.org/

Mapping Decline: St. Louis and the American City --- http://mappingdecline.lib.uiowa.edu/

National Park Service: LGBTQ Heritage --- www.nps.gov/subjects/tellingallamericansstories/lgbtqheritage.htm

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
Scroll down to Law


Math Tutorials

Math:  What's the Problem With Word Problems ---
https://www.edweek.org/tm/articles/2017/12/04/whats-the-problem-with-word-problems.html?cmp=eml-enl-eu-news2&M=58307760&U=2290378

K-12:  Directory of Mathematical Headaches ---
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1JZmjIiqJikVD69y5ZY8w0V8MI47lBdH1DrhLiBeKQh8/edit

Math Tutorial Videos from Khan Academy ---
https://www.khanacademy.org/math

GCFLearnFree.org: Math (math tutorials funded by Goodwill Industries) --- www.gcflearnfree.org/topics/math

Bob Jensen's threads on free online mathematics tutorials are at
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/bookbob2.htm
Scroll down to Mathematics and Statistics

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


History Tutorials

History Hub --- https://historyhub.history.gov/welcome

JHI Blog (History of Ideas) --- https://jhiblog.org/
This site needs a search engineVisit Monte Testaccio, the Ancient Roman Hill Made of 50 Million Crushed Olive Oil Jugs ---
http://www.openculture.com/2017/11/visit-monte-testaccio-the-ancient-roman-hill-made-of-50-million-crushed-olive-oil-jugs.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+OpenCulture+%28Open+Culture%29

The Codex Quetzalecatzin, an Extremely Rare Colored Mesoamerican Manuscript, Now Digitized and Put Online ---
http://www.openculture.com/2017/11/the-codex-quetzalecatzin-now-digitized-and-put-online.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+OpenCulture+%28Open+Culture%29

Early human ancestors started migrating around the world far earlier than scientists thought ---
http://www.businessinsider.com/early-humans-migrated-africa-to-asia-earlier-than-thought-2017-12
Some were on the move in the dark before 4:00 am --- hee hee

Biblion: World's Fair: Enter the World of Tomorrow --- http://exhibitions.nypl.org/biblion/worldsfair

Some of the Oldest Things in the World ---
http://247wallst.com/special-report/2017/12/01/25-oldest-things-in-the-world/?utm_source=247WallStDailyNewsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_content=DEC142017A&utm_campaign=DailyNewsletter

Jane Addams Digital Edition --- https://digital.janeaddams.ramapo.edu/

The Reading Lists  --- www.thereadinglists.com

Film Noir Foundation --- www.filmnoirfoundation.org/home.html

European Literature Network --- www.eurolitnetwork.com

Mapping Decline: St. Louis and the American City --- http://mappingdecline.lib.uiowa.edu/

UCSB: English Broadside Ballad --- http://ebba.english.ucsb.edu/

University of Pennsylvania: Online Books Page --- http://digital.library.upenn.edu/books/

MOMA: German Expressionism --- www.moma.org/s/ge/curated_ge

How The Crown Season 2 Stacks Up Against Prince Philip’s Real-Life Story ---
http://time.com/5054229/the-crown-season-2-prince-philip/?utm_source=time.com&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=the-brief&utm_content=2017121014pm&xid=newsletter-brief

The Pulp Magazines Project --- www.pulpmags.org

National Museum of Women in the Arts: Artist Profiles --- https://nmwa.org/explore/artist-profiles#A

National Park Service: LGBTQ Heritage --- www.nps.gov/subjects/tellingallamericansstories/lgbtqheritage.htm

How the Index Card Cataloged the World ---
https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2017/12/how-the-index-card-catalogued-the-world/547271/

Bob Jensen's threads on history tutorials are at http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/bookbob2.htm
Scroll down to History
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

What Are the Most Effective Strategies for Learning a Foreign Language?: Six TED Talks Provide the Answers ---
http://www.openculture.com/2017/12/what-are-the-most-effective-strategies-for-learning-a-foreign-language-six-ted-talks-provide-the-answers.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+OpenCulture+%28Open+Culture%29

The Reading Lists  --- www.thereadinglists.com

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


Music Tutorials

UCSB: English Broadside Ballad --- http://ebba.english.ucsb.edu/

 

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

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


Writing Tutorials

Narrative Magazine Language (writers and their literature) --- www.narrativemagazine.com

How the Index Card Cataloged the World ---
https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2017/12/how-the-index-card-catalogued-the-world/547271/

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

CDC Blogs --- http://blogs.cdc.gov/

Shots: NPR Health News --- http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots

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

December 1, 2017

December 2, 2017

December 4, 2017

December 6, 2017

December 7, 2017

December 8, 2017

December 9, 2017

December 11, 2017

December 12, 2017

December 13, 2017

December 14, 2017


Finland Study

Retirement linked to longer, better sleep ---
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-sleep-retirement/retirement-linked-to-longer-better-sleep-idUSKBN1E52O8

Jensen Comment
I'm not certain what is meant by "better sleep." For me there's less stress in retirement to a point where I don't have any nights where I have difficulty falling asleep when I want to fall asleep. But now that I'm older I find dreaming is a greater part of my sleep, even in daytime naps. I'm told that sleep intervals without dreams are better than intervals of dreaming. In any case my dreams are almost always putting me in frustrating settings. I arrive at lectures or examinations totally unprepared in my dreams (in real life I was always overly prepared). In my dreams I'm almost always at the wrong place at the wrong time and lost while driving in some big city. These aren't scary nightmares. They're just dreams that make you glad if you awaken when your Flomax isn't quite doing its job.

Gratefully I've never suffered from depression. But I'm told that some depressed persons can sleep most or all of their worst days. One clinically depressed person reported to me that "they" doesn't (I'm more pronoun conscious these days)  recall dreaming in such long periods of sleep. I suspect this is why sleep is such a popular escape from troubles. I have two friends over 90 years old who sleep most of every day. But they're not depressed in a clinical way. I think sleeping is just a symptom of advanced aging. Perhaps it's a blessing --- a defense against boredom and/or pain. I'm not there yet. My defense against boredom is my computer rather than sleep. My computer lets me bore others.


Depression & Melancholy: Animated Videos Explain the Crucial Difference Between Everyday Sadness and Clinical Depression ---
http://www.openculture.com/2017/12/depression-melancholy-animated-videos-explain-the-crucial-difference-between-everyday-sadness-and-clinical-depression.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+OpenCulture+%28Open+Culture%29


Medicines and Me --- www.urmc.rochester.edu/life-sciences-learning-center/resources-lessons/lessons/medicines-and-me.aspx


A revival of interest in the power of introspection and thought has brought Freud’s ideas back into the scientific fold ---
https://aeon.co/essays/can-neuroscience-rehabilitate-freud-for-the-age-of-the-brain?utm_source=Aeon+Newsletter&utm_campaign=02a464a0c7-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2017_12_04&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_411a82e59d-02a464a0c7-68951505


The suicide rate for farmers is more than double that of veterans. Former farmer Debbie Weingarten gives an insider’s perspective on farm life – and how to help ---
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/dec/06/why-are-americas-farmers-killing-themselves-in-record-numbers
This appears to be a global phenomenon.

. . .

Rosmann has developed what he calls the agrarian imperative theory – though he is quick to say it sits on the shoulders of other psychologists. “People engaged in farming,” he explains, “have a strong urge to supply essentials for human life, such as food and materials for clothing, shelter and fuel, and to hang on to their land and other resources needed to produce these goods at all costs.”

When farmers can’t fulfill this instinctual purpose, they feel despair. Thus, within the theory lies an important paradox: the drive that makes a farmer successful is the same that exacerbates failure, sometimes to the point of suicide. In an article, Rosmann wrote that the agrarian imperative theory “is a plausible explanation of the motivations of farmers to be agricultural producers and to sometimes end their lives”.

Since  2013, net farm income for US farmers has declined 50%. Median farm income for 2017 is projected to be negative $1,325. And without parity in place (essentially a minimum price floor for farm products), most commodity prices remain below the cost of production.

In an email, Rosmann wrote, “The rate of self-imposed [farmer] death rises and falls in accordance with their economic well-being … Suicide is currently rising because of our current farm recession.”

Inside the sunny lobby of the newly remodeled Onaga community hospital, where Joyce Blaske happens to work in the business department, Dr Nancy Zidek has just finished her rounds. As a family medicine doctor, she sees behavioral health issues frequently among her farmer patients, which she attributes to the stressors inherent in farming.

“If your farm is struggling, you’re certainly going to be depressed and going to be worried about how to put food on the table, how to get your kids to college,” she says.

In August 2017, Tom Giessel, farmer and president of the Pawnee County Kansas Farmers Union produced a short video called “Ten Things a Bushel of Wheat Won’t Buy”. At $3.27 per bushel (60lb), Giessel says, “The grain I produce and harvest is my ‘currency’ and it is less than one-fifth of what it should be priced.”

He shows snapshots of consumer goods that cost more than a bushel of wheat: six English muffins, four rolls of toilet paper, a single loaf of bread – even though one bushel of wheat is enough to make 70 one-pound breadloaves.

Continued in article

Jensen Comment
Suicide is very complicated in terms of causes, and statistics can be misleading. For example, prices alone are not the cause of profit declines. In accounting profits are the result of revenues minus expenses, and the expenses of farming have risen dramatically in terms of land rents, big machinery prices, crop insurance, chemicals for weed control and fertilizer, and harvesting costs such as the need for 18-wheel trucks to all grain to markets. In many parts of the USA the weather has become more unpredictable. Some things have also helped such as the decline in interest rates.

Machinery is so efficient that huge planters, sprayers, and combines are used only for a few weeks each year and sit idle (and wastefully) the rest of the year.

Farming for animals changed spectacularly. When I was a kid on an Iowa farm we had a few a few work horses and mules, a few milk cows, a few beef cows, a few hogs, and some chickens. We raised corn and oats for feed as well as cash to meet expenses. Laws for dairy farming changed such that having a few cows just won't pay to meet the investment required by dairy regulations. Hogs and chickens are now raised in multi-million dollar confinement factories and fed with purchased bulk feed. State and local laws restrict selling produce in small farm markets. Crops must be hauled further to processing plants or distribution points such a docks on the Mississippi River.

My guess is that a great many farmers who commit suicide are heavily burdened by the debts of land rents or taxes, debts of machinery, debts on seed, debts on crop insurance, debts on confinement feeding investments, etc. that overwhelm revenues from commodity prices, especially if the produce is not quite up to the quality of product bought and sold in commodities markets in Chicago, Minneapolis, and other scattered commodities markets distant from the farms themselves.

I've not studied the problem of chemical exposure, but exposure to chemicals directly plus leeching of chemicals into ground water may well affect health and well being for farmers. Poor health often leads to suffering and suicide such as suicide during Stage Four cancer.


Autism Possibly Linked to Low Levels of Vitamin D at Birth ---
https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/medical/autism-linked-to-low-levels-of-vitamin-d-at-birth/ar-BBFVUVK?li=BBmkt5R


The Definitive Guide to Safer Cycling
http://www.thebikestoragecompany.co.uk/bike-safety-guide/




Humor for November 2017

Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer ---
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55YN0q0IJuw&index=1&list=PLYTtL1FB2XCq1MX1jP_MD3ig-BaeJQR9U

21 hilarious reviews of the most ridiculous products you can buy on Amazon ---
http://www.businessinsider.com/funniest-amazon-product-reviews-2017-4  

Video Link Forwarded by Dick Wolff ---
Here is a blond who is no dummy! You might want to listen to the video twice as it is VERY fast: read the text as the video proceeds, if you can read that fast.---
https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/TxNrizGdhtY?vq=hd720&rel=0&showinfo=0&start=0&end=

Paul Ryan: 'Twas The Night Before Taxmas ---
http://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog/2017/12/paul-ryan-twas-the-night-before-taxmas.html
You may need to hit CTRL + a few times to read this


Cats Versus Dogs ---
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-5141147/Hilarious-snaps-natural-rivalry-cats-dogs.html


Forwarded by Paula for people our age

DON'T STICK YOUR ELBOW
OUT SO FAR
IT MAY GO HOME
IN ANOTHER CAR. Burma Shave

TRAINS DON'T WANDER

ALL OVER THE MAP
'CAUSE NOBODY SITS
IN THE ENGINEER'S LAP. Burma Shave

SHE KISSED THE HAIRBRUSH

BY MISTAKE
SHE THOUGHT IT WAS
HER HUSBAND JAKE. Burma Shave

DON'T LOSE YOUR HEAD

TO GAIN A MINUTE
YOU NEED YOUR HEAD
YOUR BRAINS ARE IN IT. Burma Shave

DROVE TOO LONG

DRIVER SNOOZING
WHAT HAPPENED NEXT
IS NOT AMUSING. Burma Shave

BROTHER SPEEDER

LET'S REHEARSE
ALL TOGETHER
GOOD MORNING, NURSE. Burma Shave

CAUTIOUS RIDER

TO HER RECKLESS DEAR
LET'S HAVE LESS BULL
AND A LITTLE MORE STEER. Burma Shave

SPEED WAS HIGH

WEATHER WAS HOT
TIRES WERE THIN
X MARKS THE SPOT. Burma Shave

THE MIDNIGHT RIDE

OF PAUL FOR BEER
LED TO A WARMER
HEMISPHERE.  Burma Shave

AROUND THE CURVE

LICKETY-SPLIT
BEAUTIFUL CAR
WASN'T IT?  Burma Shave

NO MATTER THE PRICE

NO MATTER HOW NEW
THE BEST SAFETY DEVICE
IN THE CAR IS YOU.  Burma Shave

A GUY WHO DRIVES

A CAR WIDE OPEN
IS NOT THINKIN'
HE'S JUST HOPING  Burma Shave

AT INTERSECTIONS

LOOK EACH WAY
A HARP SOUNDS NICE
BUT IT'S HARD TO PLAY.  Burma Shave

BOTH HANDS ON THE WHEEL

EYES ON THE ROAD
THAT'S THE SKILLFUL
DRIVER'S CODE.  Burma Shave

THE ONE WHO DRIVES

WHEN HE'S BEEN DRINKING
DEPENDS ON YOU
TO DO HIS THINKING.  Burma Shave

CAR IN DITCH

DRIVER IN TREE
THE MOON WAS FULL
AND SO WAS HE.  Burma Shave

PASSING SCHOOL ZONE

TAKE IT SLOW
LET OUR LITTLE
SHAVERS GROW.  Burma Shave
 
Do these bring back any old memories? 

 


Forwarded by Paula

 First Christmas Joke
Three men died on Christmas Eve and were met by Saint Peter at the pearly gates.
'In honor of this holy season' Saint Peter said, 'You must each possess something that symbolizes 

Christmas to get into heaven.'


The Englishman fumbled through his pockets and pulled out a lighter. He flicked it on. 

'It's a candle', he said.You may pass through the pearly gates' Saint Peter said.

The Scotsman reached into his pocket and pulled out a set of keys. 

He shook them and said, 'They're bells.'

Saint Peter said, 'You may pass through the pearly gates'.
 
The Irishman started searching desperately through his pockets and finally 

pulled out a pair of women's panties.

St. Peter looked at the man with a raised eyebrow and asked, 'And just what do those symbolize?'
The Irishman replied, 'These are Carol's.'
 

And So The Christmas Season Begins......


The New World of Robots

Hi Zane,

Think of the robots that pick up kids from school in driverless cars, pick up the pre-boxed groceries at the super market, and meet you at the door with a cocktail, hors dourves,  and fill you in on news of the day while they massage your tired back before serving you a filet mignon dinner just the way you like it. They clean your house, mow your lawn, trim your hedges, and do your daily laundry, including ironing your shirts or blouses.

And if necessary they can form cheering sections screaming loudly at Little League games while you're out of town. Your kids may even grow up using them as role models --- which isn't bad since robots, unlike you, can update their Wikipedia brains daily and make more interesting conversations and play better chess (they can be good chess players who do not always win). Three of them can make up a good foursome for bridge.

They probably will even write some of your academic papers while giving you all the credit.

That 24/7 idea is great since robots never tire or organize labor unions.

I was too old to get in the sex revolution with a succession of "significant others."
Now I'm too old to enjoy the robot revolution . . . well er
No I take that back. Robots will probably be tending to all my needs in a long-term care nursing home when I'm too gaga to even know their first names.

Thanks,
Bob

 




Humor November 2017--- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/book17q4.htm#Humor1117.htm 

Humor October 2017--- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/book17q4.htm#Humor1017.htm

Humor September 2017--- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/book17q3.htm#Humor0917.htm 

Humor August 2017--- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/book17q3.htm#Humor0817.htm

Humor July 2017--- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/book17q3.htm#Humor0717.htm

Humor June 2017--- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/book17q2.htm#Humor0617.htm

Humor May 2017--- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/book17q2.htm#Humor0517.htm

Humor April 2017--- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/book17q2.htm#Humor0417.htm

Humor March 2017--- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/book17q1.htm#Humor0317.htm

Humor February 2017 --- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/book17q1.htm#Humor0217.htm

Humor January 2017 --- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/book17q1.htm#Humor0117.htm

Humor December 2016 --- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/book16q4.htm#Humor1216.htm 

Humor November 2016 --- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/book16q4.htm#Humor1116.htm 

Humor October 2016 --- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/book16q4.htm#Humor1016.htm

Humor September 2016 --- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/book16q3.htm#Humor0916.htm

Humor August  2016 --- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/book16q3.htm#Humor083116.htm

Humor July  2016 --- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/book16q3.htm#Humor0716.htm  

Humor June  2016 --- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/book16q2.htm#Humor063016.htm

Humor May  2016 --- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/book16q2.htm#Humor053116.htm

Humor April  2016 --- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/book16q2.htm#Humor043016.htm

Humor March  2016 --- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/book16q1.htm#Humor033116.htm

Humor February  2016 --- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/book16q1.htm#Humor022916.htm

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

 




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

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

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

Online Distance Education Training and Education --- http://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