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 

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

The Economic Ignorance of Bernie Sanders ---
http://reason.com/archives/2018/08/09/the-economic-ignorance-of-bernie-sanders

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. 
President Barack Obama when asked if the USA of the future will be perpetually engaged in war.
http://www.businessinsider.com/obama-on-americans-being-resigned-to-live-in-a-perpetual-war-2016-7

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

Paying the Price:  Why didn't California put more spending priority on building fire breaks relative to other massive social programs?
Bob Jensen
It's not like enormous forest fires in California are hard to predict

Watch Your Feet and Your Back in Beautiful San Francisco:  The complainant’s 2-year-old son invented a game called “jumping over the poop.” Another child collects syringe caps and floats them down the gutter for fun ---
https://townhall.com/columnists/rachelalexander/2018/07/16/the-leftwing-paradise-of-san-francisco-n2500641?utm_source=thdaily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=nl&newsletterad=

It's deja vous all over again
|BDS is an abbreviation for the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions campaign targeting the Jewish state. Two new German intelligence reports concluded that boycotts of Israel are antisemitic and resemble Hitler’s “Don't buy from Jews!" campaign ---
https://www.jpost.com/Diaspora/No-Jew-in-Germany-German-police-assault-Israeli-professor-562321

What really happened to make Flint's water go bad?
https://therealnews.com/stories/the-flint-water-crisis-detroit-is-where-it-all-began

Former Vice President Joe Biden's niece, Caroline, avoided jail time Thursday in Manhattan Criminal Court in a sweetheart deal on a felony conviction for a $100,000 credit card scam ---
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5996609/Joe-Bidens-niece-Caroline-avoids-jail-faced-felony-100-000-credit-card-scam.html

Sweden struggles over child marriage ---
https://www.politico.eu/article/immigrants-migration-culture-integration-sweden-struggles-over-child-marriage/

The Trump Administration Is a Sinkhole of Sleaze ---
http://reason.com/archives/2018/08/09/the-trump-administration-is-a-sinkhole-o
Jensen Comment
Obama's Administration was far from lily white ---
https://www.amazon.com/Stonewalled-Obstruction-Intimidation-Harassment-Washington/dp/0062322850
We can easily assume that sleaze in all branches of government and at all levels of government is assuredly bipartisan. Fraud between the private and public sectors is symbiotic.
17 nations rank well above the USA on perceived corruption ---
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corruption_Perceptions_Index
Corruption perception is somewhat related to size in that nations larger than the USA all rank much worse in terms of perceived corruption.
Nations larger than the USA also rank worse in terms of freedom of the press ---
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Press_Freedom_Index
However, I seriously question this Press Freedom Index. For example, Sweden is notorious for suppressing negative crime data (think rapes) and yet is second highest on this index.

Elizabeth Warren Eyes a 50% Corporate Tax Rate (highest in the world?)
https://www.bizpacreview.com/2018/07/25/elizabeth-warren-eyes-50-tax-rate-says-dems-will-end-trump-tax-cuts-if-they-take-back-the-house-657544
Taxing corporations out of existence is one way to achieve socialism (think Venezuela)

Here are the 10 most American cars on sale today ---
https://www.businessinsider.com/most-american-cars-ranked-ford-honda-chevrolet-jeep-2018-6
Cars assembled in America nearly always use some foreign-made components

MIT:  Fluctuating solar and wind power require lots of energy storage, and lithium-ion batteries seem like the obvious choice—but they are far too expensive to play a major role.
https://www.technologyreview.com/s/611683/the-25-trillion-reason-we-cant-rely-on-batteries-to-clean-up-the-grid/

The Myth of Clean Solar/Battery Energy
Energy storage has a dirty secret. The way it’s typically used in the US today, it enables more fossil-fueled energy and higher carbon emissions. Emissions are higher today than they would have been if no storage had ever been deployed in the US ---
https://www.vox.com/energy-and-environment/2018/4/27/17283830/batteries-energy-storage-carbon-emissions

The Men and Women Serving in Our Military Are About to Get Their Biggest Pay Raise in Nine Years ---
https://ijr.com/2018/07/1111995-military-pay-raise/

Where did $33 million just disappear?
Philadelphia has the worst accounting methods of the nation’s 10 largest cities ---
https://finance.townhall.com/columnists/politicalcalculations/2018/07/27/city-of-philly-lost-track-of-33-million-taxpayer-dollars-n2504418?utm_source=thdaily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=nl
Jensen Comment
The USA ranks 18th in terms of corruption with this low score arising largely because of financial corruption in local, county, state, and federal governments. Government officials don't work alone in stealing taxpayer money. This corruption is often a joint venture with the private sector in terms of kickbacks, bribes, and skimming of funds. Internal controls are often a joke, and my biggest worry is the financial distress of newspapers that have the best track records in bringing public sector frauds into the daylight. Dogged reporters often dig much deeper than government watchdogs who are either incompetent or part of the fraud schemes. So much taxpayer money could be saved by better accounting controls. At the federal level, the GAO declares such agencies as the IRS and Pentagon to be hopelessly unaditable. In other words the GAO just gives up trying to save hundreds of billions of dollars. One thing we know for sure --- corruption is bipartisan.
Nation Corruption Ranking --- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corruption_Perceptions_Index

Whistleblower: Denver VA Office Didn't Do Any Work...For A Year ---
https://townhall.com/tipsheet/mattvespa/2018/07/27/whistleblower-denver-va-office-didnt-do-any-work-for-a-year-n2503549?utm_source=thdaily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=nl&newsletterad=

NYT:  The $3 Billion Plan to Turn Hoover Dam Into a Giant Battery ---
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/07/24/business/energy-environment/hoover-dam-renewable-energy.html

Students Argue Literacy Is A Right In Lawsuit ---
https://www.npr.org/2018/07/26/632566914/students-argue-literacy-is-a-right-in-lawsuit
Jensen Comment
You can lead a horse to water but you can't make it drink. But where's the fault if the water is fouled?

Michael Moore and His Ever-Changing Lies ---
https://townhall.com/columnists/phelimmcaleer/2018/07/31/michael-moores-fake-news-n2505242?utm_source=thdaily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=nl&newsletterad=

India may soon strip millions of immigrants of their citizenship ---
https://www.vox.com/world/2018/7/30/17629598/india-immigrants-muslim-citizen-list-bangladesh

At some point, all of us in the literary community must DEMAND that white editors resign
Randa Jarrar, a professor of English at California State University at Fresno
https://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2018/07/30/controversial-professor-wants-white-editors-quit?utm_source=Inside+Higher+Ed&utm_campaign=374665bf85-DNU_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_1fcbc04421-374665bf85-197565045&mc_cid=374665bf85&mc_eid=1e78f7c952
Professor Jarrar called for a nationwide cheer when Barbara Bush died.

Don't look for this news in the progressive press
U.S. Workers Get Biggest Pay Increase in Nearly a Decade ---
https://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-employment-costs-rose-in-the-second-quarter-1533040473

2,973,371 Russian troll tweets:  "Right Trolls,” “Left Trolls” and “Fearmongers.” ---
https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/why-were-sharing-3-million-russian-troll-tweets/

‘Fiscal death spiral’ could hurt Chicago real estate investors, report warns ---
https://www.statedatalab.org/news/detail/fiscal-death-spiral-could-hurt-chicago-real-estate-investors-report-warns

More than 100 ex-cons granted voting rights by Gov. Andrew Cuomo a couple of months ago have had them revoked after violating parole or committing new crimes ---
https://nypost.com/2018/07/31/more-than-100-ex-cons-already-lost-voting-rights-granted-by-cuomo/
Sometimes you can't lead an unruly horse to water.

Here are a few things that are effectively legal in San Francisco: drugs, public defecation and shoplifting. And here are some of the things that are banned or will be banned in the City by the Bay. Straws. Fur coats. Bottled water. Eating at work. Vaping liquids. Upholstered furniture. Plastic bags. Pet stores. Electric scooters. Coffee cups and packing peanuts. Tropical fish. The McDonald’s Happy Meal ---
https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/270883/san-francisco-bans-everything-daniel-greenfield
Jensen Comment
I think banned "eating at work" means eating free meals provided by the employer (a move to support restaurants). You can still bring your lunch box and a thermos. I don't understand banning bottled water, but it's probably the plastic bottles that are banned. You can bring your own water and coffee in a thermos and drink out of the lid. It's best to place store merchandise behind unbreakable glass walls. It would also be best to wear plastic baggies over your shoes when walking on the streets, but plastic baggies are banned. Jumping is the new craze on SF streets --- that and sliding. Scooters became a popular means of pushing through the poop until the scooters were banned. Changing a bike tire can be hazardous to your health.

Democratic Rep. Maxine Waters, one of the most outspoken members of the anti-Trump ‘resistance’ in Congress, is facing fresh questions about a longstanding controversy regarding how her campaign raises money and how those funds have flowed to her daughter. The California congresswoman has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars each election cycle from some of her state’s biggest politicians paying to be listed on her slate mailers—sample ballots traditionally mailed out to about 200,000 voters in Los Angeles highlighting whom she supports. Since 2004, the campaign in turn reportedly has paid $750,000 to the congresswoman’s daughter, Karen Waters, or her...
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2018/08/01/maxine-waters-hit-with-fec-complaint-over-mailer-money.html

Smoking banned in public housing nationwide, effective July 31. 2018 ---
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/smoking-banned-in-public-housing-nationwide-effective-today-2018-07-31/
Wonder if that includes pot?

Concerns About Climate Change Only Go So Far
Canada’s Liberal government is scaling back elements of its planned carbon-tax regime to address worries from the business community about global competition ---
https://www.wsj.com/articles/canada-scales-back-carbon-tax-plans-1533150307?mod=searchresults&page=1&pos=1&mod=djemCFO_h

Quality Costs --- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quality_costs
India’s booming solar sector has one major flaw: poor quality ---
https://qz.com/india/1345508/poor-quality-solar-panels-may-ruin-indias-renewable-energy-boom/

Ontario Ends Universal Basic Income Experiment Two Years Early
 A provincial minister said the basic-income experiment "was certainly not going to be sustainable."
http://reason.com/blog/2018/08/01/ontario-ends-ubi-experiment-2-years-earl
Jensen Comment
Wow! MIT claimed this experiment had the world's best chance of succeeding ---
https://www.technologyreview.com/s/611418/basic-income-could-work-if-you-do-it-canada-style/

Sorry If You're Offended, but Socialism Leads to Misery and Destitution ---
http://reason.com/archives/2018/07/27/sorry-if-youre-offended-but-socialism-le

A 14-karat gold medal often described as the Nobel Prize for mathematics was stolen minutes after it was awarded to a Cambridge University professor at a ceremony in Brazil on Wednesday ---
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/02/world/europe/fields-medal-theft-caucher-birkar.html

90% of plastic polluting our oceans comes from just 10 rivers (draining down from where billions of people live) ---
https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2018/06/90-of-plastic-polluting-our-oceans-comes-from-just-10-rivers/
90% of the pooh comes from runoff of San Francisco streets

Bitcoin --- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bitcoin
Buying Your Starbucks Fix With Bitcoin Is Now Closer to Reality ---
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-08-03/nyse-owner-announces-bitcoin-venture-with-starbucks-microsoft?cmpid=BBD080318_BIZ&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&utm_term=180803&utm_campaign=bloombergdaily

Racism Is Alive and Well at the New York Times ---
https://townhall.com/columnists/jeffcrouere/2018/08/04/racism-is-alive-and-well-at-the-new-york-times-n2506698?utm_source=thdaily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=nl&newsletterad=

NYT:  When racism is politically correct
When Racism Is Fit to Print
Andrew Sulliman---
http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2018/08/sarah-jeong-new-york-times-anti-white-racism.html
Jensen Comment
Sarah Jeong says "all white men are bullshit." Therefore, in her words, Andrew Sullivan's defense of racism is bullshit.
I defend Jeong simply because I defend freedom of speech
Let her rant her hate and bigotry

This is the type of Democrat that the GOP fears the most ---
https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/8/3/17636430/ohio-special-election-2018-democratic-socialism-danny-oconnor-troy-balderson

Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s office was infiltrated by a Chinese spy who worked as her driver and attended official functions on her behalf for 20 years ---
http://thefederalist.com/2018/08/03/sen-dianne-feinsteins-personal-driver-20-years-chinese-spy/
Jensen Comment
From 2009-2015 she was Chair of the powerful United States Senate Select Committee on Intelligence
The major media appears to be silent on this breach of security in the employment of her driver

Trump's Right About Cheapskate Allies:  Here's Why ---
https://townhall.com/columnists/kurtcouchman/2018/08/07/patriots-demand-capable-allies-n2507645?utm_source=thdaily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=nl&newsletterad=

Farmers are drawing groundwater from the giant Ogallala Aquifer faster than nature replaces it ---
https://theconversation.com/farmers-are-drawing-groundwater-from-the-giant-ogallala-aquifer-faster-than-nature-replaces-it-100735

The IRS granted tax-exempt status to lesbian-centered Pussy Church of Modern Witchcraft (that bans males and transgender males identifying as women) ---
https://goingconcern.com/irs-grants-tax-exempt-status-to-lesbian-pussy-worship-church/
The tax exemption status was quick and easy compared to the years of waiting by conservative fund raising groups that led to the resignation and apology of Lois Lerner. All political extremists have to do these days is call themselfes a church.

The Atlantic:  Why the Left Is So Afraid of Jordan Peterson ---
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2018/08/why-the-left-is-so-afraid-of-jordan-peterson/567110/

Immigration activists fighting to abolish ICE have a bigger vision (completely open borders) ---
https://theconversation.com/immigration-activists-fighting-to-abolish-ice-have-a-bigger-vision-100939
Jensen Comment
Movements for open borders probably do more to keep Trump in office than anything the GOP can dream up.
What would be the social, economic, safety, and security implications of possibly doubling the USA population in a year or so?
For example, what is the human rights and warfare implications for abolishing the presence of the USA military at home and abroad?

Police in Melbourne have been slammed for making no arrests after residents of the city’s north-west suburbs were terrorised by gangs of African youths who bragged “police can’t touch us” and branded frightened families “racist” ---
https://www.breitbart.com/london/2018/08/10/melbourne-residents-lock-doors-africans/

Attorney Michael Avenatti claims his relations with porn star Stormy Danniels was strictly "professional." What he failed to clarify is whether that was his profession or her profession.
Bob Jensen

In Germany, a news site is pairing up liberals and conservatives and actually getting them to (gasp) have a civil conversation ---
http://www.niemanlab.org/2018/08/in-germany-a-news-site-is-pairing-up-liberals-and-conservatives-and-actually-getting-them-to-gasp-have-a-civil-conversation/
Jensen Comment
Is this beyond feasibility in either the USA media or USA universities?
The big stumbling block is fear ---
Martha Nussbaum: Overcoming Fear, Embracing Democracy ---
https://daily.jstor.org/martha-nussbaum-overcoming-fear-embracing-democracy/

The Real Message Behind the Saudi Crown Prince's Diplomatic War With Canada ---
Click Here

The Pentagon isn’t giving up on Silicon Valley ---
https://www.axios.com/the-pentagon-makes-its-silicon-valley-unit-permanent-236d4fa0-4f50-4955-8385-558cc62da7dc.html
Jensen Comment
There's a negative externality regarding the high horses of Silicon Valley's banning of the pentagon. Tens of billions of dollars will now be routed to less ethical defense contractors. The analogy here is the argument for having a pub on campus. If administrators climb their high horses and close down the campus pub, some students will find their way to less desirable joints off campus. Furthermore, rather than walking home from the campus pub they will have to drive back to campus in cars and on motorcycles.

Alexandria Ocasio Cortez: Medicare For All Is Cheaper Because It Reduces Funeral Costs ---
https://townhall.com/tipsheet/mattvespa/2018/08/09/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-medicare-for-all-is-cheaper-because-it-reduces-funeral-n2508254?utm_source=thdailypm&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=nl_pm&newsletterad= b
Jensen Comment
Why won't responsible accountants build this theory into their cost accounting courses? About the only argument for this I can think of is time value of money, but at today's nearly zero interest rates this is not much of an argument.
The opposing argument is the very cost of prolonging the end-of-life phase for entire USA population will overwhelm any cost saving of Medicare for All. Presently the largest cost component for Medicare is the prolonging of end-of-life for presently covered patients. Countries having national health care avoid some of this by having more liberal euthanasia clauses. They also limit funeral costs by reusing graves (in Germany the graves are re-used every 15 years).

Democratic Congressional Candidate from Minnesota Divorces Her Brother ---
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2018/08/democratic-congressional-candidate-from-minnesota-divorces-her-brother/

Voting From the Grave:  170 Registered Voters in Ohio’s 12th District Listed as Over 116 Years Old ‎---
https://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2018/08/08/expert-170-registered-voters-in-ohios-12th-district-listed-as-over-116-years-old/

Can Montana Force the IRS to Break the Law? ---
http://yalejreg.com/nc/can-montana-force-the-irs-to-break-the-law/

Beyond the NFL:  Police chiefs criticize Elizabeth Warren for calling criminal justice system ‘racist’ ---
https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2018/08/11/police-chiefs-criticize-warren-for-calling-criminal-justice-system-racist/Jz4PJJhfeFS3iVYD8KLsPN/story.html?event=event25

Return your Dolphins tickets, Broward police union tells members ---
https://www.local10.com/sports/nfl/dolphins/broward-police-union-says-members-should-return-their-dolphins-tickets

Who are the Sikhs and what are their beliefs?
https://theconversation.com/who-are-the-sikhs-and-what-are-their-beliefs-97237

PBS:  Last week, at the hacking convention DEFCON, 11-year-old Emmett Brewer hacked into a replica of Florida’s election website, changing its voting results. It took him less than 10 minutes ---
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/an-11-year-old-changed-election-results-on-a-replica-florida-state-website-in-under-10-minutes

The IRS Scandal, Day 1921: Federal Judge Approves $3.5 Million Payout From IRS To >100 Tea Party Groups To Settle Targeting Claims ---
http://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog/2018/08/the-irs-scandal-day-1920-federal-judge-approves-35-million-payout-from-irs-to-100-tea-party-groups-t.html

OOPs --- Seattle’s anti-Trump mayor, Jenny Durkan, may be on track for a political backlash: Her city’s $52 million money splash on public transit appears doomed because new taxpayer-funded streetcars apparently won’t fit the existing tracks ---
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2018/07/25/seattles-52m-streetcar-fiasco-latest-setback-for-citys-anti-trump-mayor.html 

EU businesses blocked from complying with US sanctions against Iran ---
https://euobserver.com/foreign/142530
Jensen Comment
Maybe we should remember this when Nato comes begging for money

Harley-Davidson Is Right And Trump Is Wrong ---
https://finance.townhall.com/columnists/danieljmitchell/2018/08/15/harleydavidson-is-right-and-trump-is-wrong-n2510039?utm_source=thdaily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=nl

The new tax law:  “There was no give-away to the rich,” he said. “If anything, the tax system has gotten slightly more progressive.” ---
http://www.goodmaninstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/BA-127.pdf

The blue (liberal) world of law schools ---
http://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog/2018/08/byu-and-pepperdine-are-the-most-ideologically-balanced-faculties-among-the-top-50-law-schools-2013.html

Vermont's Deadly Defined Benefits ---
https://www.statedatalab.org/news/detail/deadly-defined-benefits

US News:  For many filers, the cost of college can be offset by federal income tax credits.---
https://money.usnews.com/money/blogs/my-money/articles/2018-08-15/how-good-tax-planning-can-reduce-the-cost-of-higher-education

The Myth Of American Income Inequality (compared with other OECD nations) ---
https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-myth-of-american-inequality-1533855113

America is the world’s most prosperous large country, but critics often attempt to tarnish that title by claiming income is distributed less equally in the U.S. than in other developed countries. These critics point to data from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, which ranks the U.S. as the least equal of the seven largest developed countries. American progressives often weaponize statistics like these to urge greater redistribution. But the OECD income-distribution comparison is biased because the U.S. underreports its income transfers in comparison to other nations. When the data are adjusted to account for all government programs that transfer income, the U.S. is shown to have an income distribution that aligns closely with its peers.

The OECD measures inequality by determining a country’s “Gini coefficient,” or the proportion of all income that would have to be redistributed to achieve perfect equality. A nation’s Gini coefficient would be 0 if every household had the same amount of disposable income, and it would approach 1 if a single household had all of the disposable income. The current OECD comparison, portrayed by the blue bars in the nearby chart, shows Gini coefficients for the world’s most-developed large countries, ranging from 0.29 in Germany to 0.39 in the U.S.

But there are variations in how each nation reports income. The U.S. deviates significantly from the norm by excluding several large government transfers to low-income households. Inexplicably, the Census Bureau excludes Medicare and Medicaid, which redistribute more than $760 billion a year to the bottom 40% of American households. The data also exclude 93 other federal redistribution programs that annually transfer some $520 billion to low-income households. These include the Children’s Health Insurance Program, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children. States and localities directly fund another $310 billion in redistribution programs also excluded from the Census Bureau’s submission.

This means current OECD comparisons omit about $1.6 trillion in annual redistributions to low-income Americans—close to 80% of their total redistribution receipts. This significantly skews the U.S. Gini coefficient. The correct Gini should be 0.32—not 0.39. That puts the U.S. income distribution in the middle of the seven largest developed nations—the red bar on the chart.

Gini scores for other countries in the OECD ranking also might shift with better data: The OECD doesn’t publish transfers by income level for other countries. But the change in income distribution for other countries would likely be less drastic. The poorest fifth of U.S. households receive 84.2% of their disposable income from taxpayer-funded transfers, and the second quintile gets 57.8%. U.S. transfer payments constitute 28.5% of Americans’ disposable income—almost double the 15% reported by the Census Bureau. That’s a bigger share than in all large developed countries other than France, which redistributes 33.1% of its disposable income.

Continued in article

Immigration activists fighting to abolish ICE have a bigger vision (completely open borders) ---
https://theconversation.com/immigration-activists-fighting-to-abolish-ice-have-a-bigger-vision-100939
Jensen Comment
Movements for open borders probably do more to keep Trump in office than anything the GOP can dream up (come to think of it, is the GOP secretly behind this article?)
What would be the social, economic, safety, and security implications of possibly doubling the USA population in a year or so?
For example, what is the human rights and warfare implications for abolishing the presence of the USA military at home and abroad?

No-Go Areas --- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No-go_area
Police in Melbourne have been slammed for making no arrests after residents of the city’s north-west suburbs were terrorised by gangs of African youths who bragged “police can’t touch us” and branded frightened families “racist” ---
https://www.breitbart.com/london/2018/08/10/melbourne-residents-lock-doors-africans/

Martha Nussbaum --- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martha_Nussbaum

Does personal fear favor the GOP?
Martha Nussbaum: Overcoming Fear, Embracing Democracy ---
https://daily.jstor.org/martha-nussbaum-overcoming-fear-embracing-democracy/

The American philosopher Martha Nussbaum’s new book, The Monarchy of Fear, examines the politics of primal fear in the 2016 election.

In November 2016, the American philosopher Martha Nussbaum was in Tokyo preparing to give a speech when she learned of the results of the U.S. presidential election. Worrying about the implications of Trump’s victory, Nussbaum, who has long studied the philosophy of emotions, realized that she “was part of the problem.”

The examination of her own reaction resulted in Nussbaum’s latest work, The Monarchy of Fear––part manifesto, part Socratic-style dialogue about the large role that fear plays in our current political era and why it represents a serious danger to democracy. Nussbaum has explored a range of emotions in her work, and this book, she tells me, makes the case that “anger, disgust, and envy…are poisoned and made more disruptive by fear.” Fear, Nussbaum argues, is both a primal emotion, an impulse felt by infants, and an emotion shaped by social context as we become older. Fear is asocial, narcissistic––and often misguided. When we fear others, Nussbaum says, we are often not taking facts and information into account––and we are often perceiving dangers that don’t exist.

The 75-year-old philosopher is the author of 24 books and has accumulated a host of awards in her career, including 57 honorary degrees, the Inamori Ethics Prize, and the Kyoto Prize. I spoke with Nussbaum, currently a professor of law and philosophy at the University of Chicago, about why she sees fear as a primal emotion, how fear polarizes Americans, and how she believes Trump “gets strength through fear.” Here is our conversation, edited for length and clarity.

Hope Reese: Much of your work focuses on the philosophy of emotions. Do you see emotions as having a rational basis? Is fear rational?

Martha Nussbaum: Well, I think the words “rational” and “irrational” are a little misleading because sometimes by “rational” we mean “based on good, true, solid information.” And sometimes we simply mean that they contain thought. Now, I think emotions do incorporate thoughts about our most important goals and projects. They contain what psychologists often call “appraisals,” that there are things out there that matter deeply. And we take in news of how those things that matter deeply to us are doing.

But, of course, those thoughts may be based on good information or bad. And since it’s part of my view that emotions form very early in infancy, there’s a lot of room for things to go wrong. Now, with fear, there’s especially a lot of room for things to go wrong. Humans are physically helpless for the first year of life, basically. So, we’re in this state where we’re cognitively pretty mature and aware, but we can’t do anything to get what we want. And that’s a state that’s like primal nightmare stuff, where you’ve often harkened back to it in nightmares. So you can’t move, you can’t do anything, and you can’t even scream, but you somehow are very needy. And that primal fear underlies everything that happens later, and then once we realize that we’re going to die someday, then it gets a lot worse. The fear of death, I think, is with us, lurking in the background of life pretty much all the way through our lives. So, this primal level of fear makes it particularly prone to be hijacked for irresponsible and hysterical things.

How does fear evolve? What does fear look like for adults?

The general idea of fear is that there’s something bad and damaging out there, and it’s bad for me and my well-being, and I’m not entirely in control of warding it off. And I think that begins in infancy. But as we develop, if things go well in the family, we get a lot of support from our caregivers and our surroundings, so that we don’t feel so powerless. We feel that, okay, expectations will be met, I’m going to get food. And of course sometimes that doesn’t happen, and then that child becomes particularly unstable and damaged, if they’re in a damaging environment. But in general, we then think, well, fine, now I can kind of relax my demands. I can even give something to others, or can engage in some kind of reciprocity. And as time goes on, I develop the capacity for cooperation, concern for others, and so on.

Continued in article

Jensen Comment
One of the difficulties in the analysis of fear's impact on politics is that the more politicians, especially those with dubious integrity records, rant and scream in the media the more their fears seem less credible. Exhibit A is Mad Maxine. Another difficulty is that heart-felt proposals to correct inequities do not offer alternatives to the fears those proposals generate. Exhibit B is the bill introduced by Bernie Sanders to totally eliminate cash bail and allow virtually all criminals awaiting trial back on the streets. This raises enormous fears that all rapists, murderers, pedophiles, and terrorists will commit heinous crimes while awaiting trial. Exhibit C is the fear that undocumented immigrants crossing the borders will submerge into the underground if allowed to go free while awaiting deportation hearings. The bigger fear here is that the flow into the USA will surge from tens of thousands to hundreds of millions. One of the fears of confiscating weapons in homes is that home invasion will explode pitting criminals with illegal weapons against helpless home occupants.

My point here is that there are two types of fears. Fears of personal risk (rape, beatings, kidnappings, theft, job losses, etc.) versus societal risk (air pollution, ozone depletion, climate change, etc.). The GOP make political gains by exploiting personal fears over societal fears. If Democrats like Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Camilla Harris, etc. want to make political headway in forthcoming elections they need to focus more on overcoming personal fears that the GOP turn into political capital.

The children of the party elite at Harvard, Oxford and Sydney have not returned to liberalise China, because their parents have made sure of it.

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

Hey, Paul Krugman: Here’s What Bitcoin Is Good for ---
http://reason.com/archives/2018/08/14/hey-paul-krugman-heres-what-bitcoin-is-g

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

2018:  The US Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) receives more than 1,500 cryptocurrency-related suspicious activity reports every month ---
Click Here

The Pension Hole for U.S. Cities and States Is the Size of Japan’s Economy ---
https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-pension-hole-for-u-s-cities-and-states-is-the-size-of-japans-economy-1532972501?mod=djemCFO_h

For the past century, a public pension was an ironclad promise. Whatever else happened, retired policemen and firefighters and teachers would be paid.

That is no longer the case.

Many cities and states can no longer afford the unsustainable retirement promises made to millions of public workers over many years. By one estimate they are short $5 trillion, an amount that is roughly equal to the output of the world’s third-largest economy.

 

Certain pension funds face the prospect of insolvency unless governments increase taxes, divert funds or persuade workers to relinquish money they are owed. It is increasingly likely that retirees, as well as new workers, will be forced to take deeper benefit cuts.

In Kentucky, a major pension plan covering state employees had about 16% of what it needs to fulfill earlier promises, according to the Public Plans Database, which tracks state and local pension funds, based on 2017 fiscal year figures. A fund covering Chicago municipal employees had less than 30% of what it needed in that fiscal year, according to the same database. New Jersey’s pension system for state workers is so underfunded it could run out of money in 12 years, according to a Pew Charitable Trusts study.

When the math no longer works the result is Central Falls, R.I., a city of 19,359. Today, retired police and firefighters are wrestling with the consequences of agreeing to cut their monthly pension checks by as much as 55% when the town was working to escape insolvency. The fiscal situation of the city, which filed for bankruptcy in 2011, has improved, but the retirees aren’t getting their full pensions back.

“It’s not only a financial thing,” said 73-year-old former Central Falls firefighter Paul Grenon, who retired from the department after a falling wall punctured his lung, broke his back and five ribs, and left him unable to climb ladders. “It really gets you sick mentally and physically to go through something like this. It’s a betrayal, as far as I’m concerned.”

Uncertainty over public pensions is one reason some Americans are reaching retirement age on shaky financial ground. For this group, median incomes, including Social Security and retirement fund receipts, haven’t risen in years. They have high average debt, and are often using savings for their children’s educations and to care for their elderly parents.

The public pension arose from the aftermath of the U.S. Civil War. New York was the first city in the U.S. with a pension fund for injured police officers in 1857 and then for firefighters in 1866. The concept of a public pension plan for government workers became widespread in the early decades of the 20th century. The understanding was employees would accept relatively lower pay in exchange for richer, guaranteed benefits once they retired.

Continued in article

The Fact-Checkers Who Want to Save the World ---
https://www.theringer.com/2018/7/23/17601346/independent-fact-checkers-facebook-google

What Your State Spends on Your Health ---
https://247wallst.com/special-report/2018/07/25/what-your-state-spends-on-your-health/?utm_source=247WallStDailyNewsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_content=JUL262018A&utm_campaign=DailyNewsletter

In 2015, state governments across the country spent a combined $605 billion on health care, or about $1,880 per resident.

The physical and mental well-being of the population is the single largest financial obligation of state governments, and comprises well over one-quarter of total state direct spending. As is the case with most expenditures, health spending varies at the state level dramatically, from just over $1,000 per capita to well over $3,000 per person.

The major categories of health spending at the state level include Medicaid coverage, state-run hospitals and medical schools, and finally other health expenses and programs addressing needs such as community wellness, substance abuse, health inspection, and pollution control.

Among these three categories, it is Medicaid spending that accounts for the largest portion of total state expenditure, at about 80% of annual state health costs. 24/7 Wall St. reviewed health spending in all 50 states, ranked from lowest total combined state health expenditure per capita to highest. This measure includes only direct state spending, which excludes local and federal spending.

Generally, states spent more if they had more expansive Medicaid eligibility and benefits. This was particularly the case for those states that opted to expand Medicaid coverage under the Affordable Care Act. Only one of the states spending the most per capita on health care, Mississippi, did not opt to expand Medicaid. Of the 20 states that spent the least on health care, 12 have not expanded Medicaid.

Those states with more poor, disabled, and elderly residents, also often spent more per capita. Disabled people and those over 65 are the ones who most commonly need health care and receive state Medicaid spending. In all, nearly 25% of Medicaid recipients are 65 or older, institutionalized, or disabled

 

50. South Dakota
> 2015 state health spending: $1,022 per capita ($877 million)
> State government spending, all programs: $5,448 per capita (11th lowest)
> Population 65 and over: 15.9% (23rd highest)
> Population with a disability: 12.2% (19th lowest)
> Population with health insurance: 91.3% (21st lowest)

 

49. Nebraska
> 2015 state health spending: $1,186 per capita ($2.2 billion)
> State government spending, all programs: $5,511 per capita (12th lowest)
> Population 65 and over: 14.9% (13th lowest)
> Population with a disability: 11.9% (16th lowest)
> Population with health insurance: 91.4% (22nd lowest)

 

. . .

2. New York
> 2015 state health spending: $2,911 per capita ($57.6 billion)
> State government spending, all programs: $9,376 per capita (7th highest)
> Population 65 and over: 15.3% (22nd lowest)
> Population with a disability: 11.5% (11th lowest)
> Population with health insurance: 93.9% (17th highest)

 

1. New Mexico
> 2015 state health spending: $3,225 per capita ($6.7 billion)
> State government spending, all programs: $9,613 per capita (5th highest)
> Population 65 and over: 16.5% (13th highest)
> Population with a disability: 15.1% (11th highest)
> Population with health insurance: 90.8% (14th lowest)

Jensen Comment
Unlike Medicaid, Medicare does not provide long-term care benefits. |

However some benefits may change for the good for some Medicare patients.

Medicare Allows More Benefits for Chronically Ill, Aiming to Improve Care for Millions ---
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/24/us/politics/medicare-chronic-illness-benefits.html

WASHINGTON — Congress and the Trump administration are revamping Medicare to provide extra benefits to people with multiple chronic illnesses, a significant departure from the program’s traditional focus that aims to create a new model of care for millions of older Americans.

The changes — reflected in a new law and in official guidance from the Department of Health and Human Services — tackle a vexing and costly problem in American health care: how to deal with long-term illnesses that can build on one another, and the social factors outside the reach of traditional medicine that can contribute to them, like nutrition, transportation and housing.

To that end, the additional benefits can include social and medical services, home improvements like wheelchair ramps, transportation to doctor’s offices and home delivery of hot meals.

The new law is a rare instance of bipartisan cooperation on a major policy initiative, embraced by members of Congress from both parties. The changes are also supported by Medicare officials and insurance companies that operate the fast-growing Medicare Advantage plans serving one-third of the 60 million Medicare beneficiaries.

 

“This is a way to update and strengthen Medicare,” said Senator Ron Wyden, Democrat of Oregon and an architect of the law, the Chronic Care Act, which was included in budget legislation signed recently by President Trump. “It begins a transformational change in the way Medicare works for seniors who suffer from chronic conditions. More of them will be able to receive care at home, so they can stay independent and out of the hospital.”

Half of Medicare patients are treated for five or more chronic conditions each year, and they account for three-fourths of Medicare spending, according to Kenneth E. Thorpe, the chairman of the health policy department at Emory University.

Under the new law and Trump administration policy, most of the new benefits will be reserved for Medicare Advantage plans, which will be able to offer additional benefits tailored to the needs of people with conditions like diabetes, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s disease, heart failure, rheumatoid arthritis and some types of cancer.

“This is a big win for patients,” said Seema Verma, the administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

Officials hope that combining social and medical services will produce better outcomes for patients and save money for Medicare.

Continued in article

From the CFO Journal's Morning Ledger on August 7, 2018

Good morning. General Motors Co. is upending the traditional benefits set up by striking a deal with Detroit-based Henry Ford Health System to offer a new coverage option to employees in an attempt to lower costs and improve care, reports the WSJ's Anna Wilde Matthews.

 

Cutting out the middle man: GM's new approach is a departure from the typical health-benefits arrangement in which companies hire insurers for access to a broader network of health-care providers. In those cases, insurers negotiate the prices with hospitals, doctors and other providers, and the employers rarely have access to the terms that govern their medical costs.

 

Lofty savings: The plan would cost employees $300 to $900 less in annual payroll contributions than GM's current cheapest plan and would require them to get all their health care, including surgeries, through Henry Ford Health System, or pay expensive out-of-network rates, reports the Detroit Free Press.

 

Let's make a deal: Other employers, such as Walmart Inc., have crafted limited direct deals with hospital systems to perform particular procedures, such as back surgeries. A smaller number of companies, including Walt Disney Co., Boeing Co. and Intel Corp., have taken the more-ambitious approach of having the health-care provider manage nearly all of the care of enrolled employees. And Amazon.com Inc., JPMorgan & Chase Co. and Berkshire Hathaway Inc. have joined forces to launch a venture aimed at lowering their employees health-care costs. 

 

More to come: 11% of employers said they plan to do such broad deals with health-care providers next year, according to a survey of 170 large employers to be released Tuesday by the National Business Group on Health. That's up from 3% in last year’s poll, the group said.

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/