In 2017 my Website was migrated to
the clouds and reduced in size.
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One thing to try if a “www” link is broken is to substitute “faculty” for “www”
For example a broken link
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Pictures.htm
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Contact me at rjensen@trinity.edu if
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Tidbits
Political Quotations
To Accompany the July 17, 2018 edition of Tidbits
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/tidbits/2018/Tidbits071718.htm
Bob Jensen at
Trinity University
USA Debt Clock --- http://www.usdebtclock.org/ ubl
In September 2017 the USA National Debt exceeded $20 trillion for the first time
---
http://www.statedatalab.org/news/detail/national-debt-surpasses-20-trillion-for-the-first-time-in-us-history
Human Population Over Time on Earth ---
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PUwmA3Q0_OE
State Income Taxes Ranked From Highest to Lowest
http://www.businessinsider.com/state-income-tax-rate-rankings-by-state-2018-2
The Federal budget for 2017 ---
http://ritholtz.com/2018/04/federal-budget-2017/
Jensen Comment
Note that even before the 2018 corporate tax cuts the corporate income tax has
been a shrinking part of the Federal budget of the most recent decades. I've
long been an advocate of replacing it with a VAT tax but liberals and
conservatives alike hate that idea.
Medicare and Medicaid are the least sustainable entitlements predicted for the future.
Interest on government debt is a huge worry since foreign interests (think China and the oil-rich nations of the Middle East) own so much of it with the threat that one day these large investors will stop rolling over their investments in USA debt.
To Whom Does the USA Federal Government Owe Money (the booked
obligation of $20+ 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/
In 2018 Foreigners (think Asia and the
Middle East) May Be Losing Interest in USA Treasuries ---
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-04-12/lackluster-u-s-bond-auctions-add-to-worries-of-foreign-pullback
Remember the Jane Fonda Movie called "Rollover" ---
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rollover_(film)
One worry is that nations holding trillions of dollars invested in USA debt are
dependent upon sales of oil and gas to sustain those investments.
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
How Americans Get Health Insurance ---
http://ritholtz.com/2017/08/americans-get-health-insurance/
The
enemy is fear
We think it's hate
But, it's fear
Gandhi
Here are the Ten Best Pieces of Advice from
2018 Commencement Speakers ---
Click Here
The Best Advice from 2018's Celebrity
Commencement Speakers ---
https://moneyish.com/heart/the-best-advice-from-2018s-celebrity-commencement-speakers/
Countries With the Highest Household
Wealth on Average ---
http://ritholtz.com/2018/07/countries-highest-household-wealth/
California Evidence: What Happens
When States Decide to Really, Really Soak the Rich With Taxes ---
https://www.forbes.com/sites/patrickgleason/2018/07/06/millionaires-flee-california-after-tax-hike/#34aa8f514189
Jensen Comment
This overlooks other tactics taken by the rich. For example, portfolios of very
people are heavy into tax exempt bonds which may have to be municipal bonds
issued in the state of residence in order to be exempt from state income taxes.
More commonly, rich people invest for capital gains that are not taxed until
realized (think common stocks and art work). Really rich people use off shore
tax havens that reduce both federal and state taxes. In other words it's very
difficult to soak the rich with taxes if they are astute enough to defer or
avoid those taxes. And sometimes they move to more tax-friendly states like the
nine states states that have no general state income tax ---
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_income_tax
However, it appears that only a small proportion of really rich folks in
California headed for Nevada, Texas, Florida, or some other state having no
income tax. In part this is due to the many magnets that hold people to their
long-time homes such as nearness to family and close friends and jobs.
More important is the impact of high taxes that prevent many wealthy people from
moving/retiring into California. California also has another barrier to
inflows --- the astronomical price of real estate. You have to be really,
really, really rich to consider buying even a modest home in San Francisco or
other parts of the Silicon Valley. When high real estate prices combine with
high upper tax rates you really don't need to build a physical wall at the
border to keep rich people from moving into a state like California. And
some rich folks don't like the fact that la la land politicians control all
branches of government in cities, counties, and the entire la la state of
California.
Eight Science Quotations from Commencement
Speeches
https://todayinsci.com/QuotationsCategories/C_Cat/Commencement-Quotations.htm
Sometimes the grass is greener on
the other side because it's been fertilized with more bullshit.
Anonomous
The Lucretius Problem is a mental defect where
we assume the worst case event that has happened is the worst case event that
can happen ---
https://www.fs.blog/2015/04/lucretius-problem/
The worst form of inequality is to try to make
unequal things equal.
Aristotle
How many times have we heard ‘free
tuition,’ ‘free health care,’ and free you-name-it? If a particular good or
service is truly free, we can have as much of it as we want without the
sacrifice of other goods or services. Take a ‘free’ library; is it really free?
The answer is no. Had the library not been built, that $50 million could have
purchased something else. That something else sacrificed is the cost of the
library. While users of the library might pay a zero price, zero price and free
are not one and the same. So when politicians talk about providing something
free, ask them to identify the beneficent Santa Claus or tooth fairy.
Walter Williams
Every great cause begins as a movement,
becomes a business, and eventually degenerates into a racket.
Eric Hoffer.
The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal
sharing of blessings; the inherent virtue of socialism is the equal sharing of
miseries.
Winston Churchill
Shoot for the space in between,
because that's where the real mystery lies.
Vera Rubin
https://www.brainpickings.org/2016/12/28/remebering-vera-rubin/?utm_source=Brain+Pickings&utm_campaign=f053a9c4e2-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2017_01_07&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_179ffa2629-f053a9c4e2-234390133
Only those who
will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go.
T.S. Eliot
There
is a crack in everything, that’s how the light gets in.
Leonard Cohen
In honor of his centennial, the Top 10 Feynman
quotations ---
https://www.sciencenews.org/blog/context/top-10-richard-feynman-quotations
Thomas Sowell (controversial
conservative black economist) ---
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Sowell
The 30 Best Thomas Sowell Quotes ---
https://pjmedia.com/lifestyle/the-30-best-thomas-sowell-quotes/
Be brave enough to start a conversation that matters.
Margaret Wheatley
Even conversations
that are not politically correct.
That government is best which governs the least,
because its people discipline themselves.
Thomas Jefferson
Why, we grow rusty and you
catch us at the very point of decadence --- by this time tomorrow we may have
forgotten everything we ever knew. That's a thought isn't it? We'd be back to
where we started --- improvising.
Tom Stoppard, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead (Act I)
It's hard to beat a person who never gives up.
Babe Ruth,
Historic Home Run Hitter
What's sad is to witness what Syria has become because nobody will give up.
And "because they're
nonstate actors, it's hard for us to get the satisfaction of [Gen.] MacArthur
and the [Japanese] Emperor [Hirohito] meeting and the war officially being
over," Obama observed, referencing the end of World War II.
We must be willing to get rid of the
life we've planned, so as to have the life that is waiting for us.
Joseph Campbell
If everyone is thinking alike, then
somebody isn't thinking.
George S. Patton
And many writers have imagined for themselves
republics and principalities that have never been seen or known to exist in
reality; for there is such a gap between how one lives and how one ought to live
that anyone who abandons what is done for what ought to be done learns his ruin
rather than his preservation: for a man who wishes to profess goodness at all
times will come to ruin among so many who are not good.
Niccolo Machiavelli
If you don't know where you're going, you might
not get there.
Yogi
Berra
Happiness is like a butterfly: the
more you chase it, the more it will elude you, but if you turn your attention to
other things, it will come and sit softly on your shoulder.
Henry David
Thoreau
You can get a lot farther with a smile and a
gun than you can with just a smile.
Al Capone
Speak softly and carry a big stick, and you
will go far.
Teddy Roosevelt
A new
report from Judicial Watch reveals a concerted effort from Sen. John McCain’s
office to urge the IRS under Lois Lerner to strike out against political
advocacy groups, including tea party organizations ---
http://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog/2018/06/the-irs-scandal-day-1869-in-meeting-with-lois-lerner-mccain-staffer-requested-financially-ruinous-au.html
I suspect the Independent Counsel headed by
Robert Mueller has an OJ problem --- is it possible to find an independent jury?
Bob Jensen
Teacher and other public employee unions can't collect agency
fees from nonmembers, the court ruled in the Janus case, a decision that could
hurt unions' revenue and membership numbers ---
https://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2018/06/27/supreme-court-deals-unions-a-stinging-defeat.html?cmp=eml-enl-eu-news1&M=58531699&U=2290378
Time Magazine: Obama covers vs Trump
covers ---
https://danfromsquirrelhill.wordpress.com/2018/06/27/time-magazine/
Time Magazine's move to far left of center probably does more to help Trump than
harm him, especially when the magazine lies on the cover and buries a correction
where nobody can find it.
Merkel Backs Down, Agreeing to Stem Flow of
Refugees Into Germany ---
http://www.newsweek.com/germanys-angela-merkel-averts-government-crisis-last-ditch-talks-rebel-1005640
Germany used to be a champion of open borders
in Europe. Not anymore ---
https://www.vox.com/world/2018/7/3/17530946/germany-immigration-angela-merkel-migration
Has CNN lost credibility?
Fox News was number one in primetime,
averaging an incredible 2.513 million viewers. Fox News even humiliated second
place MSNBC, which averaged just 1.78 million primetime viewers. But way, way,
way down in 13th place, below even the Food Network, sits far-left CNN at number
13 and an average of just 914,000 viewers ---
http://www.breitbart.com/big-journalism/2018/06/27/cnns-ratings-take-another-dive-hln-practically-disappears/
What Are These Civility Arguments Really
About?
https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/what-are-these-civility-arguments-really-about/
Democrats need to choose: Are they the
(socialist) party of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez or the (capitalist) party of
Michael Bloomberg?
http://www.businessinsider.com/is-alexandria-ocasio-cortez-or-michael-bloomberg-future-of-democratic-party-2018-6
San Francisco is so expensive that households
making over $100,000 a year qualify for low-income housing ---
http://www.businessinsider.com/san-francisco-households-qualifications-for-low-income-housing-2018-6
The Indian rupee just tumbled to an all-time
low ---
http://www.businessinsider.com/the-indian-rupee-just-tumbled-to-an-all-time-low-2018-6
Religious Groups Think New Tax On
Churches Is Blasphemous ---
https://goingconcern.com/new-tax-on-churches-blasphemous/
130 Mexican Political Candidates Assassinated
in 10 Months ---
http://www.breitbart.com/texas/2018/06/28/political-murders-push-120-in-mexican-elections/
Jensen Comment
Being in politics is tough in the USA, but it's nothing compared to Mexico and
south.
As Critics Assail Trump, His Supporters Dig In
Deeper ---
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/23/us/politics/republican-voters-trump.html?algo=als1&cmpid=73&module=newsletter-news-analysis&nl=personalization&nlid=10527319&rank=0&recid=16hKKZgWcS1bmfgT04Erw1Hw7VO
Silicon Valley Country: California Just
Passed the Nation's Toughest Data Privacy Law . . . Although the bill is aimed
at regulating internet and tech companies, some opponents say it could have
unintended consequences on other industries.---
http://time.com/5326166/california-approves-data-privacy-law/?utm_source=time.com&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=the-brief-pm&utm_content=2018062918pm&xid=newsletter-brief&eminfo=%7b%22EMAIL%22%3a%22MOt2LMJiSIk%2fSjadSWyB4I9Monw61fXF%22%2c%22BRAND%22%3a%22TD%22%2c%22CONTENT%22%3a%22Newsletter%22%2c%22UID%22%3a%22TD_TBP_D67FCAE7-F3B7-4357-9082-476F8ACD8245%22%2c%22SUBID%22%3a%2284575328%22%2c%22JOBID%22%3a%22805068%22%2c%22NEWSLETTER%22%3a%22THE_BRIEF_PM%22%2c%22ZIP%22%3a%2235864237%22%2c%22COUNTRY%22%3a%22%22%7d
Jensen Comment
My main worry is the possible impact on medical research.
Harley-Davidson's problems go much deeper than
Trump's trade war ---
http://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/harley-davidson-stock-price-problems-deeper-trump-trade-war-2018-6-1027331862
If America wants to stop the migrant crisis, it
should decriminalize drugs ---
https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#inbox/16459e06390a771f
Jensen Comment
This would help, but it most certainly would not in and of itself put and end to
extortion and kidnapping gangs south of the Rio Grande.
The US evacuated 9 diplomats from China after
they experienced strange auditory sensations ---
http://www.businessinsider.com/medical-evacuations-examinations-sonic-attack-us-china-embassy-2018-7
Urgent: This Mystery Commencing in Cuba Needs to be Solved Immediately if
Not Sooner
Read George Washington’s “110 Rules of
Civility”: The Code of Decency That Guided America’s First President ---
http://www.openculture.com/2018/07/george-washingtons-110-rules-of-civility.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+OpenCulture+%28Open+Culture%29
Jensen Comment
In those days being civil to a slave did not entail setting the slave free,
although it's not clear that in those days freed slave would have a better life
due to prejudices of the era.
Maxine Waters Now Going After...Schumer and
Pelosi ---
https://townhall.com/tipsheet/cortneyobrien/2018/07/02/maxine-waters-now-going-afterschumer-and-pelosi-n2496388?utm_source=thdailypm&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=nl_pm&newsletterad=
The Rise and Fall of The Simpsons: An In-Depth
Video Essay Explores What Made the Show Great, and When It All Came to an End ---
http://www.openculture.com/2018/07/the-rise-and-fall-of-the-simpsons.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+OpenCulture+%28Open+Culture%29
MIT on Sustainable Energy: We still have no idea
how to eliminate more than a quarter of energy emissions (airplanes, shipping,
manufacturing, heavy equipment, etc.)
https://www.technologyreview.com/s/611498/we-still-have-no-idea-how-to-eliminate-more-than-a-quarter-of-energy-emissions/
Jensen Comment
And so-called renewables often entail heavy emissions such as battery
manufacturing emissions for renewable energy backup power and vehicles. Add to
this nature's uncontrollable emissions such as methane from the oceans and
tundra.
Naïve politicians and the media lead us to falsely thinking that all we
have to do is replace coal and oil dependence to save the earth. The problem is
really much bigger than they lead us to believe. And even if the USA makes giant
leaps in carbon reductions some other huge polluting nations like India are not
likely to follow at the same pace.
Oakland’s $860 million retiree healthcare
crisis leads the city toward bankruptcy ---
https://www.statedatalab.org/news/detail/oaklands-860-million-retiree-healthcare-crisis
Walmart pulls “Impeach 45” T-shirts after Trump supporters threaten boycott ---
A Massachusetts school for special needs
children can continue to use a form of electric shock therapy on students after
a long-running battle with state officials over the controversial treatment was
decided in their favor ---
https://abcnews.go.com/Health/electric-shock-therapy-special-students-treatment-torment/story?id=56238582
No Walk Through the Poop: Chicago-based
medical association cancels San Francisco convention ---
http://abc7news.com/medical-association-cancels-san-francisco-convention/3693233/
Before Xi Jinping, the internet was becoming a
more vibrant political space for Chinese citizens. But today the country has the
largest and most sophisticated online censorship operation in the world ---
https://www.theguardian.com/news/2018/jun/29/the-great-firewall-of-china-xi-jinpings-internet-shutdown
Big Brother Watches Every Move ---
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Orwell
Zucman: The World Cup Of Tax Evasion — If
Ronaldo Can’t Beat Uruguay, The Least He Can Do Is Pay Taxes ---
http://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog/2018/07/zucman-the-world-cup-of-tax-evasion-if-ronaldo-cant-beat-uruguay-the-least-he-can-do-is-pay-taxes.html
NYT: The Problem is That Free College
Isn't Free ---
https://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2016/01/20/should-college-be-free/the-problem-is-that-free-college-isnt-free
Jensen Comment
The nations that offer free college and job training funded by taxpayers make
less than half the Tier 2 graduates eligible for free college. The rest aren't
allowed into college. They either have to finance their own training/education
or have it funded by employers ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/HigherEdControversies.htm#Tertiary
Silicon Valley's real estate market is so absurd that this 1-acre dirt lot in Palo Alto is selling for $15 million -
--Silicon Valley's real estate market is
so absurd that this 1-acre dirt lot in Palo Alto is selling for $15 million ---
http://www.businessinsider.com/silicon-valleys-real-estate-market-absurd-1-acre-palo-alto-lot-selling-15-million-2018-7
Silicon Valley's housing crisis is so dire that this
897-square-foot Palo Alto home is selling for $2.59 million — take a look inside
http://www.businessinsider.com/silicon-valley-housing-market-expensive-897-square-foot-palo-alto-259-million-2018-7
Jensen Comment
This about half the size of a double wide mobile home ---
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_home
Think of what a double wide is worth in Palo Alto at $3,000 per square foot.
In truth, the land is too valuable for single-level buildings at $15 million per
acre. At the same time, in Palo Alto high-rise buildings are at great risk over
the San Angreas Fault ---
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Andreas_Fault
Facebook exec says the controversial Time
cover with Trump and a crying girl is a good example of a 'difficult call' on
fake news ---
http://www.businessinsider.com/facebook-trump-time-cover-with-crying-girl-example-of-difficult-call-fake-news-2018-7
Students in Detroit Are Suing the State
Because They Weren’t Taught to Read ---
https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2018/07/no-right-become-literate/564545/
Jensen Comment
The prospects for this lawsuit are not promising. Recall the saying
(paraphrased): "that you can lead an animal (including a human
student) to water but not make him drink." The shame is that the schools gave
diplomas to "graduates" who could not functionally read.
Around the country, and especially in central
Iowa, the low unemployment rate has slowly but surely tipped the balance of
power away from employers and towards workers, who here in the Hawkeye State
have been able to demand higher wages, better working conditions, more generous
benefits, training programs, and myriad other perks. “From a per-capita
[population] perspective, we are the fastest-growing metro in the entire
Midwest,” said Mary Bontrager, an executive at the Greater Des Moines
Partnership, a regional economic-development group. “In terms of GDP, we’re
outpacing every other Midwestern metropolitan area.”
https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2018/07/hello-full-employment/564527/?mbid=nl_hps_5b3fc6b7384c1d5c5734c059&CNDID=31837029
Jensen Comment
The number of job openings in the USA exceeds the number of unemployed, but
there will always be unemployed who either are very fussy about their working
conditions or refuse to work at all. And employers will not hire applicants who
do not meet minimal standards. Karl Marx also notes that societies have the
hidden unemployed usually not included in unemployment statistics ---
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reserve_army_of_labour#Hidden_unemployment
In recent years, there has been a growing use in Marxist and anarchist theory of the concept of "the precariat" to describe a growing reliance on temporary, part-time workers with precarious status who share aspects of the proletariat and the reserve army of labor.[26] Precarious workers do work part-time or full-time in temporary jobs, but they cannot really earn enough to live on and depend partly on friends or family, or on state benefits, to survive. Typically, they do not become truly "unemployed", but they do not have a decent job to go to either.[27] Although non-employed people who are unable or uninterested in performing legal paid work are not considered among the "unemployed", the concept of "conjunctural unemployment" is used in economics nowadays.[28] Economists often distinguish between short-term "frictional" or "cyclical" unemployment and longer-term "structural unemployment". Sometimes there is a shortterm mismatch between the demand and supply of labour, at other times there is much less total demand for labour than supply for a long time. If there is no possibility for getting a job at all in the foreseeable future, many younger people decide to migrate or emigrate to a place where they can find work.
Cook County Circuit Judge William Hooks is a
bigger scumbag than the four scumbags who kidnapped and tortured a learning
disabled man in Chicago ---
https://danfromsquirrelhill.wordpress.com/2017/12/09/cook-county-circuit-judge-william-hooks/
MSNBC anchor Joy Ann Reid attacked CNN’s Wolf
Blitzer for treating Jewish guests with too much understanding ---
https://www.nationalreview.com/news/joy-reid-blog-post-attacked-wolf-blitzer-for-being-too-soft-on-jews/
To that extent Rev. Jackson said this week
that, “Non-violent demonstration is sometimes the only way to get the attention
that will help change things…I’m perfectly willing to be arrested to bring
attention to this crisis. … Stopping traffic is less damaging than the shooting
and the killing and the jailing.”
https://townhall.com/tipsheet/timothymeads/2018/07/07/protesters-shut-down-major-chicago-highway-mayor-emmanuel-says-go-for-it-comrades-n2498147?utm_source=thdaily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=nl&newsletterad=
Jensen Comment
I wonder if Rev. Jackson would have the same opinion if it was his ambulance
caught up in the traffic gridlock shutting down emergency vehicles.
The source of the mysterious
ozone-killing emissions is confirmed: China ---
https://qz.com/1323519/china-is-the-source-of-the-mysterious-ozone-killing-emissions/
Today (July 9), the EIA published a report solving the mystery. It finds that Chinese producers—at least 18 companies in 10 provinces—have found ways to dodge legal compliance and continue to use CFC-11 (trichlorofluoromethane). It estimates that majority of the mystery emissions can be explained by China’s use of the banned substance.
Six months after Republicans pushed a $1.5
trillion tax overhaul through Congress, many of the most influential players who
worked behind the scenes on the legislation are no longer on Capitol Hill or in
the Trump administration. They are now lobbyists ---
http://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog/2018/07/ny-times-government-work-done-tax-policy-writers-decamp-to-lobbying-jobs.html
Fox News host Howard Kurtz criticizes his
network for 'barely' covering Scott Pruitt's resignation ---
http://www.businessinsider.com/fox-news-howard-kurtz-scott-pruitt-coverage-2018-7
2010 Fake News Works Both Sides of the Aisle:
Health-care-related bankruptcies, touted as a key justification for passing
Obamacare in 2010, are not nearly as prevalent as reform proponents such as Sen.
Elizabeth Warren have claimed, researchers say. Findings of an exhaustive report
published in the American Economic Review ---
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2018/jul/9/elizabeth-warren-claim-medical-bankruptcy-wrong-st/
Liberal Politico Admits Most Americans oppose
abolishing ICE ---
https://www.vox.com/2018/7/11/17553330/abolish-ice-poll
Would CNN or MSNBC admit such a thing?
Fiat Worker Strike: Fiat factory workers
in Italy can think of a few things they’d rather see their owner spend $130
million on than Cristiano Ronaldo ---
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-07-11/it-s-ronaldo-vs-fiat-workers-as-player-s-purchase-prompts-strike?cmpid=BBD071118_BIZ&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&utm_term=180711&utm_campaign=bloombergdaily
World Cup Of Tax Evasion — If Ronaldo Can’t Beat
Uruguay, The Least He Can Do Is Pay Taxes ---
http://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog/2018/07/zucman-the-world-cup-of-tax-evasion-if-ronaldo-cant-beat-uruguay-the-least-he-can-do-is-pay-taxes.html
A group of Parkland, Fla., shooting survivors
and their families filed a lawsuit in federal court on Wednesday alleging that
the county and local law enforcement failed to protect the high school students,
resulting in “psychological injury and trauma.”
http://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/396571-parkland-survivors-and-families-file-federal-lawsuit-against-county
Jensen Comment
If they win this lawsuit the precedent could be one of the most expensive
lawsuits in the history of the world for taxpayers. Law enforcement would be
expected to not make mistakes or have taxpayers pay heavy price. There's a lot
of moral hazard in having people not cooperate with law enforcement so they can
get rich at taxpayer expense. A parent could shoot up a school so his family can
file a lawsuit.
University of Kansas Flies a Defaced American Flag to
Get at President Trump: Remember That Jayhawk Donors and War Veterans if
the University Does Not Apologize ---
http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2018/07/11/todd-starnes-university-kansas-flies-defaced-american-flag-on-campus-on-purpose.html
Update
The University of Kansas moved the desecrated flag (but not entirely off campus)
and war veterans are turning up the heat. I wonder what Kansas would've done if
an artist defaced a rainbow flag?
Washington Post: Former German
Chancellor Gerhard Schröder career in the Russian energy industry reached new
heights when the former chancellor was nominated for a position as an
independent director on the board of Rosneft, Russia's largest oil company
---
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2017/08/08/he-used-to-rule-germany-now-he-oversees-russian-energy-companies-and-lashes-out-at-the-u-s/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.dc7935a409c4
NATO's secretary general agreed on Wednesday
that President Trump's call for other members to boost their defense spending
under the military alliance is having an effect, and promised that other NATO
members would soon be chipping in more ---
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/nato-bends-to-trumps-will-says-his-message-is-having-an-impact
Russia admits defeat on its 'stealth' F-35
killer by canceling mass production on the Su-57 fighter jet ---
http://www.businessinsider.com/russia-admits-defeat-su-57-not-going-into-mass-production-2018-7
Trade Balance ---
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balance_of_trade (note
that China and the USA are opposing outliers)
June’s trade surplus was US$28.9 billion (for the month) on the back of a 12.6
per cent rise in China’s exports to the United States before Trump's tariffs
kicked in ---
https://www.scmp.com/news/china/economy/article/2155113/china-reports-record-surplus-and-strong-exports-growth-us-july-6
Jensen Comment
What would happen if all countries eliminated their tariffs? (presumably
preferred by President Trump although this is not entirely clear for all
industries since destroying some industries is political suicide)
Aside from military-induced tariffs, the primary political argument for tariffs
is to save jobs and industries (such as saving Japan's inefficient
labor-intensive rice farms)
One somewhat surprising gift to Trump is the way other countries (think Brazil
and Egypt) reacted to China's increased soybean tariffs was to pick up the
demand and price for USA soybeans.
USA Today: Trade wars are damaging, so
why is Trump fighting one with China?
https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2018/07/13/trade-wars-tariffs-us-china-donald-trump/778719002/
Russian interference occurred during the Obama
administration—and they might have well have done nothing concerning
retribution. CNN’s Jake Tapper even mentioned that given what we know now, the
Obama White House was a “little asleep at the switch” (via Mediaite)
---
https://townhall.com/tipsheet/mattvespa/2018/07/13/cnns-tapper-gee-obama-was-a-little-asleep-at-the-switch-with-this-russian-inte-n2500217?utm_source=thdaily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=nl&newsletterad=
Highlights of 2017-18 USA Supreme Court Rulings ---
https://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2018/06/28/k-12-and-the-us-supreme-court-highlights.html?cmp=eml-enl-eu-news1-rm&M=58536299&U=2290378
How Income Equality
Helped Elect Donald Trump
---
http://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog/2018/06/how-income-equality-helped-elect-donald-trump.html
Jensen Comment
There's more to this than meets the eye. Mitt Romney's remarks
about the safety nets for the poor went viral and hurt him politically.
The Justice Department on Thursday announced charges against 601 people,
including 76 physicians, for allegedly taking part in multi-billion-dollar
profit-making schemes involving opioid painkillers ---
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/national-health-care-fraud-crackdown-largest-jeff-sessions-opioid-today-2018-06-28/
The arrests come as the result of what the department called the largest heath care fraud takedown ever in the U.S., with Attorney General Jeff Sessions calling the crimes "despicable" in a statement.
"In many cases, doctors, nurses and pharmacists take advantage of people suffering from drug addiction in order to line their pockets," Sessions stated.
The charges in part involve billing government programs Medicare and Medicaid along with private insurers for medically unneeded prescription drugs, resulting in losses of more than $2 billion, according to the Justice Department and the Department of Health and Human Services.
The government also announced charges against 165 doctors, nurses and other medical professions, saying they had helped worsen the nation's opioid crisis by participating in the unlawful distribution of the painkillers.
More than 42,000 Americans died from opioid overdoses in 2016, according to the latest numbers from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Bob Jensen's Fraud Updates ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/FraudUpdates.htm
The Nation magazine tries to make a progressive case
for the elimination of ICE and pretends that there's a ground swell for both the
elimination of ICE and open borders ---
https://www.thenation.com/article/going-abolish-ice/
Some of the comments to this article, however, make more reasoned sense. The mainstream Democratic Party (think Nancy Pelosi) realize that movements to abolish ICE are losers for Democratic Party hopes in the 2018 and 2020 elections.
Charles Rosengard says:
July 1, 2018 at 7:33 pm
The rise of the AFD in Germany, as with the rise of immigration restrictionist governments in Italy and Eastern Europe ought to be a caution for progressives here. Clearly there is going to be some restriction on immigration and there needs to be enforcement of customs/import laws (want unrestricted fentanyl flooding vulnerable communities, I don't think so). I know that sloganeering is easier, but progressives had better make it clear that they have policies that compassionately, but realistically, address these issues...well, unless you subscribe to the old Stalinist doctrine of 'the worse, the better' and want Trump to be elected again in 2020 to bring the revolution closer (that worked out so well for the KDP in Germany in 1933). Just saying that enforcement agencies should be abolished plays into the hands of the hard right.
Mary Bell Lockhart says:
July 1, 2018 at 3:37 pm
This approach is a giveaway to Trump who is already crowing about it. What is needed is comprehensive immigration reform. Change the laws and the administrative rules THEN there is far less need for ICE.
Walter Pewen says:
June 29, 2018 at 12:40 pm
It will probably be very hard to do, unfortunatley. One does not have to be much of an expert on the U.S. security state to see the pattern-once a police/security type force is established, it usually sticks around. We did not have the CIA untill after WWII, once it was here, it stuck around. I'm 60 and have heard all my life countless excellent arguments for totally abolishing it as has over half the American population. It's not going away. Same for "Homeland Security," as repugnant as it is and sounds.
Possibly ICE will be different. But not with a sitting Republican president. Or a neoliberal Democrat in office. I sure hope somehow at least we de-masculate the beast by as fast as possible curbing it's growth and power. That may be the best we can do for now.
Walter E. Williams --- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_E._Williams
Walter Williams: College Destruction of Black Students ---
https://townhall.com/columnists/walterewilliams/2018/07/04/college-destruction-of-black-students-n2496493?utm_source=thdaily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=nl&newsletterad=
Jensen Comment
Given the enormous problem of grade inflation I'm flabbergasted that affirmative
action has not worked better. I also think that blacks are not genetically
inferior for academe. Much of the problem is environmental beginning with single
parenthood and gangland environments (Chicago ghetto schools comprise Exhibit
A). Perhaps we should look closely at how Denmark is now trying to eradicate
it's mostly Islamic ghettos ---
https://www.vox.com/world/2018/7/3/17525960/denmark-children-immigrant-muslim-danish-ghetto
The focus, however, should be more on K-12 education improvement to make up for
the poor learning environments of many ghetto homes and many more rural homes of
minorities (not just blacks). Denmark is such a small country, however, it's
initiatives to eradicate 25 "ghettos" are much easier to implement since the
entire nation only has six million people giving it a total population smaller
than NYC.
Most certainly Trump's most recent initiatives to end affirmative action admissions to colleges will only make matters worse without enormous efforts to correct the problem before students graduate from high schools.
I'm a strong believer that legalizing drugs would go a long way toward blowing up ghettos in the USA. That, of course, will not in and of by itself eliminate single parenthood and poverty.
Merely raising income levels of the poor is no solution if those incomes are foolishly spent on things other than training, education and health.
NYT: The Gender War Is On! And Fake ---
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/02/opinion/gender-war-voting-equality-economics-family.html?algo=als1&cmpid=73&module=newsletter-opinion&nl=personalization&nlid=10527319&rank=2&recid=171E1wqLfiD9O3jU3oHCGbxodIb
Years ago, people used to believe that gender equality would produce gender similarity. That is to say, people used to believe that as women and men enjoyed more equal opportunities and earned similar pay, men and women would see the world in similar ways.
It hasn’t worked out that neatly.
In the Nordic countries, where gender equality is highest, unexpected differences have opened up between men and women. In what Nima Sanandaji calls the Nordic paradox, companies in those countries have fewer female business managers, not more.
It seems that when egalitarian welfare states give people more choices, many women take advantage of those choices by dropping out of the rat race.
In this country we see a different sort of paradox. As economic disparities between men and women have narrowed, political disparities have widened, at least among millennials. Over the past few decades, the U.S. has made steady strides toward gender equality, and millennials live in the most gender-equal cohort in our society. Yet, at least when it comes to politics, millennial men and women see things in starkly different ways.
In 2016, female voters under 30 years old voted for Hillary Clinton over Donald Trump 63 percent to 31 percent. Males in the same age cohort gave Clinton a much smaller edge, voting for her 46 percent to 42 percent. That’s a 17-point gender gap.
Since the election, the gap in leanings has gotten even bigger, as white male millennials have shifted to the G.O.P. A recent Pew survey of midterm party preference suggests that women under 35 tilt Democratic by an astounding 68 percent to 24 Republican. Men under 35 now tilt Republican 50 percent to 47 percent Democratic.
As Ed Kilgore pointed out in New York magazine, that’s a 21-point gender gap in Democratic support and a 26-point gender gap in Republican support. More than ever, millennials are staggeringly divided by gender, while older generations show far smaller differences.
What is going on here?
Perhaps two interrelated stories:
Female mobilization. If you look at the research, you find that millennials are not so divided on gender roles. Both sexes increasingly favor a feminist attitude in the workplace and a neotraditionalist attitude at home. They want both sexes to have equal opportunities at work, but year by year more young people believe that the best home is the one where the man is the outside “achiever” and the working woman is the primary caregiver. In 1994, for example, 42 percent of high school seniors believed this; by 2014, 58 percent did.
Trump and the #MeToo movement have brought the workplace side of that consensus to the top of mind, at least among young women. According to an MTV-Public Religion Research Institute survey, 63 percent of women ages 15 to 24 say there is a lot of discrimination against women at work, while only 43 percent of young men say that.
These young women have become highly mobilized. Fifty percent of women respondents had posted on social media on a public cause over the preceding 12 months, while 48 percent had signed an online petition. Most young men and women, according to the MTV-PRRI research, see marches negatively, though many women call them “inspiring” or “powerful.” Men, on the other hand, tend to dismiss them as “counterproductive,” “pointless,” “divisive” or even “violent.”
This brings us to the second story, the male backlash. When covering any social movement, it’s always important to pay attention to the people standing on the sidelines. These days, that would more often be young men.
An increasing number of high school-educated men say they are the ones being screwed by modern society, not women, who are better educated on average. More and more college-educated men adopt a Jordan Peterson-style posture, arguing that the assault on “male privilege” has gone too far, that the feminist speech and behavior codes have gone too far.
This has led first to a reassertion of male victimization. Millennial women are much more likely than Gen X, Boomer or Silent Generation women to say that men have it easier in society. This seems to have led a lot of millennial men to counter that, in fact, it’s men who face the high burdens — to provide financially, to be tough, to be successful in their careers.
Continued in article
Bob Jensen's threads on gender studies---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/Bookbob2.htm#Women
In response to Trump tariff threat, Merkel says she would back tariff
reduction on US vehicle exports to Europe ---
https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2018/07/in_response_to_trump_tariff_threat_merkel_says_she_would_back_tariff_reduction_on_us_vehicle_exports_to_europe.html
Much to the shock of liberals, being tough on trade works better for American exports than being nice and hoping other nations will be "fair" to us in return. That works in kindergarten, where a teacher is present to enforce the triumph of being nice. But in the real world, where politicians respond to domestic interests, it takes more than flowery rhetoric to get action.
When President Trump threatened to slap heavy tariffs on European auto exports to the U.S. unless the Europeans brought their tariffs down to equal our tariffs on them, he was lectured that this was "no way to treat our allies" and other such piffle. The four-to-one difference in tariffs on our exports to the E.C. over their exports to us was an ongoing outrage that didn't bother people who buy BMWs, Audis, and Mercedes products and who would never consider a Cadillac.
Continued in article
NYT: The economy is in a sweet
spot, with steady growth and broad improvement in the labor market ---
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/01/upshot/we-ran-out-of-words-to-describe-how-good-the-jobs-numbers-are.html?tp=i-H43-A3-C4Q-1l88dg-1y-2tRUR-1c-1l4kmR-20v8Pk
The economy is in a sweet spot, with steady growth and broad improvement in the labor market.
The real question in analyzing the May jobs numbers released Friday is whether there are enough synonyms for “good” in an online thesaurus to describe them adequately.
So, for example, “splendid” and “excellent” fit the bill. Those are the kinds of terms that are appropriate when the United States economy adds 223,000 jobs in a month, despite being nine years into an expansion, and when the unemployment rate falls to 3.8 percent, a new 18-year low.
Continued in article
Around the country, and especially in central
Iowa, the low unemployment rate has slowly but surely tipped the balance of
power away from employers and towards workers, who here in the Hawkeye State
have been able to demand higher wages, better working conditions, more generous
benefits, training programs, and myriad other perks. “From a per-capita
[population] perspective, we are the fastest-growing metro in the entire
Midwest,” said Mary Bontrager, an executive at the Greater Des Moines
Partnership, a regional economic-development group. “In terms of GDP, we’re
outpacing every other Midwestern metropolitan area.”
https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2018/07/hello-full-employment/564527/?mbid=nl_hps_5b3fc6b7384c1d5c5734c059&CNDID=31837029
Jensen Comment
The number of job openings in the USA exceeds the number of unemployed, but
there will always be unemployed who either are very fussy about their working
conditions or refuse to work at all. And employers will not hire applicants who
do not meet minimal standards. Karl Marx also notes that societies have the
hidden unemployed usually not included in unemployment statistics ---
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reserve_army_of_labour#Hidden_unemployment
In recent years, there has been a growing use in Marxist and anarchist theory of the concept of "the precariat" to describe a growing reliance on temporary, part-time workers with precarious status who share aspects of the proletariat and the reserve army of labor.[26] Precarious workers do work part-time or full-time in temporary jobs, but they cannot really earn enough to live on and depend partly on friends or family, or on state benefits, to survive. Typically, they do not become truly "unemployed", but they do not have a decent job to go to either.[27] Although non-employed people who are unable or uninterested in performing legal paid work are not considered among the "unemployed", the concept of "conjunctural unemployment" is used in economics nowadays.[28] Economists often distinguish between short-term "frictional" or "cyclical" unemployment and longer-term "structural unemployment". Sometimes there is a short-term mismatch between the demand and supply of labour, at other times there is much less total demand for labour than supply for a long time. If there is no possibility for getting a job at all in the foreseeable future, many younger people decide to migrate or emigrate to a place where they can find work.
An unintended consequence is coming for one of the industries hit hardest
by Trump's trade war, and it could give him a big win ---
http://www.businessinsider.com/trump-tariffs-china-trade-war-soybean-exports-gdp-2018-7
Jensen Comment
The whole world needs great Iowa soybeans.
What's the difference between a Harley versus Tesla overseas
factory?
Nobody seems to get upset when non-union Tesla builds an overseas factory
for foreign customers
From the CFO Journal's Morning Ledger on July 11, 2018
Tesla Inc. will build a factory in Shanghai, the city government said Tuesday, a move expected to boost sales in the world’s largest auto market that comes as U.S. companies face pressure to keep jobs at home.
Jensen Question
Eventually will some of those cheap-labor Chinese Teslas be sold in the USA?
Has the EU become a place for criminals to hide?
Financial watchdogs from North America, Britain and Asia are urgently seeking a
formal exemption from the European Union’s tough new data privacy law to avoid
hampering cross-border investigations ---
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-securities-regulators-europe-exclusiv/exclusive-north-american-uk-asian-regulators-press-eu-on-data-privacy-exemption-idUSKBN1JL24S
Failure by the EU to explicitly exempt markets regulators from the bloc’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) could jeopardize international probes and enforcement actions in cases involving market manipulation and fraud, the officials warned.The new rules, which came into force on May 25, have been several years in the making but lobbying by foreign regulators and their key international body has intensified over the past year with multiple meetings on both sides of the Atlantic as the law’s launch has approached, three people said.
The new EU law strengthens personal data privacy rights in the bloc, giving consumers greater control over their personal information
Continued in article
Wikipedia is blacked out across Europe in protest against laws that could
change the internet forever ---
http://www.businessinsider.com/wikipedia-is-protesting-new-eu-copyright-laws-with-a-blackout-2018-7
Jensen Comment
I would really, really, really miss Wikipedia
I will really miss contributions that could've been made to Wikipedia by
European scholars who now have no wiki encyclopedia to record their potential
contributions
CNBC: Texas Ranked America’s Top State for Business ---
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/07/10/americas-top-states-for-business-2018.html
This ranking is more interesting because it also ranks on individual criteria
making up the overall ranking
The criteria are, however, somewhat ambiguous, e.g., "business friendly" (to me,
business friendly also includes risk of being sued where California and
Mississippi are havens for lawyers)
Low taxes are factored into other criteria
Climate, geography, and hub airports are factored into other criteria (for
example the majority of states do not have major ocean shipping ports)
Virginia benefits from closeness to Washington DC
Alaska obviously suffers from climate and remoteness factors built into other
criteria
Rankings in terms of specific industries will vary such as rankings in terms of
fishing, mining, farming, etc.
The criteria obviously miss some things like ranking Illinois at 28 in spite of
the fact Illinois is nearly bankrupt and ranks at the 1/50 in terms of rate of
population loss for people seeking jobs
01 Texas
02 Washington
03 Utah
04 Virginia
05 Colorado...
45 Rhode Island
45 Hawaii
47 West Virginia
49 Mississippi
50 Alaska
Bob Jensen's threads on health coverage are at
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/Health.htm
The IRS Can Save American Health Care ---
http://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog/2018/07/the-irs-can-save-american-health-care.html
Jensen Comment
Since nearly half the USA "taxpayers" who file tax returns pay zero income tax
(most are filing for total refunds and maybe more). It's not clear how pre-tax
breaks are going to help the tens of millions who don't pay any income tax in
the first place.
An ER patient can be charged thousands of dollars in “trauma fees” — even
if they weren’t treated for trauma ---
https://www.vox.com/2018/6/28/17506232/emergency-room-bill-fees-health-insurance-baby
Jensen Comment
Another questionable practice, common in small hospitals, is to support the
overhead of Intensive Care Units (ICUs) with admissions that really are
questionable in terms of the need for ICU services (when a regular hospital room
would be sufficient). ER doctors and surgeons are sometimes guilty of supporting
the hospital's revenues with such admissions that sock it to Medicare and other
insurance providers. My neighbor, a retired cardiologist from Boston, tells me
this is common practice among physicians.
Amazon's deal will immediately give the retail giant a nationwide drug
network, threatening to upend the entire industry ---
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-06-28/amazon-makes-big-foray-into-health-care-with-pillpack-purchase?cmpid=BBD062818_BIZ&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&utm_term=180628&utm_campaign=bloombergdaily
Bob Jensen's
Tidbits Archives ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/tidbitsdirectory.htm
Bob
Jensen's Pictures and Stories
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/Pictures.htm
Summary of Major Accounting Scandals --- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accounting_scandals
Bob Jensen's threads on such scandals:
Bob Jensen's threads on audit firm litigation and negligence ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/Fraud001.htm
Current and past editions of my
newsletter called Fraud Updates ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/FraudUpdates.htm
Enron --- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/FraudEnron.htm
Rotten to the Core --- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/FraudRotten.htm
American History of Fraud --- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/FraudAmericanHistory.htm
Bob Jensen's fraud
conclusions ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/FraudConclusion.htm
Bob Jensen's threads on
auditor professionalism and independence are at
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/Fraud001c.htm
Bob Jensen's threads on
corporate governance are at
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/Fraud001.htm#Governance
Shielding
Against Validity Challenges in Plato's Cave ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/TheoryTAR.htm
· With a Rejoinder from the 2010 Senior Editor of The Accounting Review (TAR), Steven J. Kachelmeier
· With Replies in Appendix 4 to Professor Kachemeier by Professors Jagdish Gangolly and Paul Williams
· With Added Conjectures in Appendix 1 as to Why the Profession of Accountancy Ignores TAR
· With Suggestions in Appendix 2 for Incorporating Accounting Research into Undergraduate Accounting Courses
Shielding
Against Validity Challenges in Plato's Cave ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/TheoryTAR.htm
By Bob Jensen
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
Systemic problems of accountancy (especially the vegetable nutrition paradox)
that probably will never be solved
---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/FraudConclusion.htm#BadNews
Bob Jensen's economic crisis messaging http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/2008Bailout.htm
Bob Jensen's threads --- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/threads.htm
Bob Jensen's Home Page --- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/