Tidbits on November 28 2019
Bob Jensen at Trinity University

Set 2 of Bob Jensen's Miscellaneous Pictures
http://www.cs.trinity.edu/rjensen/Tidbits/Misc/Set02/MiscSet02.htm 

 

Tidbits on November 28, 2019
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Bob Jensen's Tidbits ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/TidbitsDirectory.htm

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

My Latest Web Document
Over 400 Examples of Critical Thinking and Illustrations of How to Mislead With Statistics --
-
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/MisleadWithStatistics.htm

Excellent, Cross-Disciplinary Overview of Scientific Reproducibility in the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy ---
https://replicationnetwork.com/2018/12/15/excellent-cross-disciplinary-overview-of-scientific-reproducibility-in-the-stanford-encyclopedia-of-philosophy/
[Researchers] are rewarded for being productive rather than being right, for building ever upward instead of checking the foundations.---
Decades of early research on the genetics of depression were built on nonexistent foundations. How did that happen?

https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2019/05/waste-1000-studies/589684/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=atlantic-daily-newsletter&utm_content=20191022&silverid-ref=NTk4MzY1OTg0MzY5S0
Bob Jensen:  My take on research validation or lack thereof is at
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/TheoryTAR.htm

Tom Lehrer on Mathematical Models and Statistics ---
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gfZWyUXn3So
You must watch this to the ending to appreciate it.

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

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

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

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

Updates from WebMD --- Click Here

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

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

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

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

Animated  Visualization of the United States’ Exploding Population Growth Over 200 Years (1790 – 2010) ---
A Visualization of the United States’ Exploding Population Growth Over 200 Years (1790 – 2010)

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 




Online Video, Slide Shows, and Audio

How Humans Migrated Across the Globe ---
http://www.openculture.com/2019/11/how-humans-migrated-across-the-globe-over-200000-years-an-animated-look.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+OpenCulture+%28Open+Culture%29

Every Nuclear Bomb Explosion in History, Animated ---
http://www.openculture.com/2019/11/every-nuclear-bomb-explosion-in-history-animated.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+OpenCulture+%28Open+Culture%29

Stephen Hawking’s Black Hole Paradox Explained in Animation ---
http://www.openculture.com/2019/11/stephen-hawkings-black-hole-paradox-explained-in-animation.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+OpenCulture+%28Open+Culture%29

The Sunset Hill House Hotel (near our cottage) ---
https://www.thesunsethillhouse.com/
Watch the video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5cqUX0LcbU&t=9s


Free music downloads --- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/music.htm
In the past I've provided links to various types of music and video available free on the Web. 
I created a page that summarizes those various links --- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/music.htm 

Neurosymphony: A High-Resolution Look into the Brain, Set to the Music of Brain Waves ---
http://www.openculture.com/2019/11/neurosymphony-a-high-resolution-look-into-the-brain-set-to-the-music-of-brain-waves.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+OpenCulture+%28Open+Culture%29

NYT:  Judy Collins Has a Time Machine ---
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/26/arts/music/judy-collins.html?action=click&module=Top Stories&pgtype=Homepage

Fred Astaire dances at the 1970 Academy Awards Show ---
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CnrbdNjf-aw

Jazz Listening for 2019 ---
https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2019/11/favorite-jazz-listening-for-2019.html

Selected Songs from the Wonderful Film, The Peanut Butter Falcon ---
https://jborden.com/2019/11/25/music-monday-selected-songs-from-the-wonderful-film-the-peanut-butter-falcon/

Listen to the Song
"Glasgow (No Place Like Home)" composed by Mary Steenburgen
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-l-Ly0ly4M

Mary Steenburgen --- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Steenburgen

Wild Rose Film --- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wild_Rose_(film)

The Wild Story of How Mary Steenburgen Wrote the Best Original Movie Song of the Year ---
https://www.indiewire.com/2019/11/mary-steenburgen-jessie-buckley-wild-rose-glasgow-best-original-song-1202189233/

Jensen Comment
This article does not answer many questions. For example, did Mary's knowledge of music measurably increase without study?
Did the surgery increase her ability to play an instrument like a piano or guitar?
That seems unlikely, although there are many unanswered questions about music and ability such as the seeming music ability of some very young children  before they are taught.
In any case I love this song.

It would be far worse in Mary's case if she woke up as a Republican.

Classical musical recordings of the year (not free) ---
https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2019/11/classical-musical-recordings-of-the-year.html

Bob Jensen's Links to Free Music
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/Music.htm


Photographs and Art

Photos of Australia’s ‘Catastrophic’ Bushfires ---
https://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2019/11/photos-of-australias-catastrophic-bushfires/602350/

Dramatic Color Footage Shows a Bombed-Out Berlin a Month After Germany’s WWII Defeat (1945) ---
http://www.openculture.com/2019/11/dramatic-color-footage-shows-a-bombed-out-berlin-1945.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+OpenCulture+%28Open+Culture%29

A luxury houseboat docked in the heart of Amsterdam is selling for $1.5 million. Here's a look inside the 'floating palace.' ---
https://www.businessinsider.com/luxury-houseboat-in-amsterdam-on-sale-2019-10

The City of Brotherly Love (Philadelphia)  is one of only two U.S. destinations on National Geographic's annual "Best Trips" list. ---
https://www.uwishunu.com/2019/11/philadelphia-named-the-top-u-s-city-to-visit-in-2020-by-national-geographic/

Nikola Motor CEO Trevor Milton just purchased Riverbend Ranch, a 2,670-acre estate outside of Park City, Utah, for $32.5 million ---
https://www.businessinsider.com/most-expensive-home-utah-real-estate-wealth-pictures-2019-11

10 Paintings by Edward Hopper ---
http://www.openculture.com/2019/11/ten-paintings-by-edward-hopper-turned-into-animated-gifs.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+OpenCulture+%28Open+Culture%29

Winners of the Red Bull Illume Photo Contest 2019 ---
https://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2019/11/winners-red-bull-illume-photo-contest-2019/602590/
These are breath taking.

Art Detective (United Kingdom) --- www.artuk.org/artdetective

Samuel Palmer’s Harvest Moon drawing --- https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2019/11/samuel-palmers-harvest-moon-drawing.html

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

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


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

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

Standard Ebooks (millions of free books) --- https://standardebooks.org/
This is not so great for searching topics (like "accounting") but it is great for searching authors and titles.

 

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




Now in Another Tidbits Document
Political Quotations on November 28, 2019
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/tidbits/2019/TidbitsQuotations112819.htm            

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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




Chamber of Commerce Guide to Scholarships From Various Sources ---
https://www.chamberofcommerce.org/best-college-scholarships

Scholarships --- https://www.mometrix.com/blog/scholarships-for-college/

Free Book:  Learning to Learn Online ---: https://pressbooks.bccampus.ca/learningtolearnonline/

Important Scholarships in Higher Education ---
https://www.mometrix.com/blog/scholarships-for-college/

Jensen Comment
Although these are not all of the "top" scholarships, these are very important scholarships for students to consider. I consider the top scholarships to include the full-ride scholarships offered by virtually all universities such as the Ivy League schools' full-ride scholarships for low income students that cover tuition, room, board, and other incidentals. A small wave of scholarships is commencing to form for free medical school education at NYU and Cornell.

There's also a difference between learning versus transcript credits and badges/certifications. Thousands of MOOC courses provide free learning to anybody from the most prestigious universities in the world. However, earning transcript or certification credit requires some form of verification of what students learn, and verification requires fees in most instances. But the learning itself is free ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/000aaa/updateee.htm#OKI

There's also a rising wave of employer-funded college degrees ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/Crossborder.htm#EmployerSubsidized


Standard Ebooks (millions of free books) --- https://standardebooks.org/
This is not so great for searching topics (like "accounting") but it is great for searching authors and titles.

Bob Jensen's threads on free electronic literature ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/ElectronicLiterature.htm


The Best 100 Inventions of 2019 ---
https://time.com/collection/best-inventions-2019/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=the-brief&utm_content=20191122&xid=newsletter-brief

Also see
https://www.businessinsider.com/biggest-scientific-discoveries-of-2019-2019-11


Stanford’s Graduate School of Business conducts classes on a virtual campus, with avatars, soccer fields and a beach. Is it a second coming of Second Life?
https://www.insidehighered.com/digital-learning/article/2019/11/22/stanford-conducts-classes-virtual-world?utm_source=Inside+Higher+Ed&utm_campaign=2362004768-DNU_2019_COPY_03&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_1fcbc04421-2362004768-197565045&mc_cid=2362004768&mc_eid=1e78f7c952

Bob Jensen's threads on learning with Second Life and other virtual worlds ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/000aaa/thetools.htm#SecondLife


Answers to Questions That Stump Alexa ---
https://alexaanswers.amazon.com/


How to Mislead With Rankings:  When Academic Research Mostly Stops Being Relevant to the Outside World

Ranking Accounting Journals by Topical Area and Methodology ---
Journal of Information Systems
Article Volume 33, Issue 2 (Summer 2019)
https://aaajournals.org/doi/full/10.2308/isys-51981

This paper presents rankings of accounting journals disaggregated by topical area (AIS, audit, financial, managerial, tax, and other) and methodology (analytical, archival, experimental, and other). We find that only for the financial topical area and archival methodology does the traditional top-3 characterization of the best journals accurately describe what journals publish the most-cited work. For all other topic areas and methodologies, the top-3 characterization does not describe what journals publish the most-cited work. For only analytical research does the traditional top-6 journal characterization accurately describe what journals publish the most-cited work. In AIS, the traditional top-3/-6 journals are even less representative, as only one traditional top-3 journal is listed among the six journals publishing the most-cited AIS work, and only three of the traditional top-6 journals are in this list. In addition to creating journal rankings using citations, we create rankings using a unique measure of the attention given by stakeholders outside of the academy. With this measure we find similar results; the traditional top journals are not publishing the articles that receive the most attention in some topical areas. The results call into question whether individuals and institutions should rely solely on the traditional top-3/-6 journal lists for evaluating research productivity and impact.

The article itself has important citations on the limitations of rankings based upon citations and the limitations of classifications of multi-topic journals. I won't dwell on these.

The main limitations of the rankings is that with only a few exceptions the articles published in all of these academic journals are not validated by replication which in science would be considered absurd ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/TheoryTAR.htm

This is a set of prestigious academic accounting journals that mostly cite articles by each other with no added consideration of their impact on the accounting practitioners, business leaders, the financial press, or the outside world (outside of accounting academics) world.

There's an enormous bias toward publishing articles with equations as opposed to narratives.

There's virtually no recognition given to how articles published in these journals changed the world apart from the world of publishing in these journals. No attempt is made to detect the impact of any article on the professional world

Hermann Weyl born in Hamburg, Germany. He wrote, "One may say that mathematics talks about the things which are of no concern to men. Mathematics has the inhuman quality of starlight---brilliant, sharp, but cold ... thus we are clearest where knowledge matters least: in mathematics, especially number theory." ---
http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Biographies/Weyl.html
Also see Mathematical Analytics in Plato's Cave
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/TheoryTAR.htm#Analytics


Robert Shiller --- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_J._Shiller

Yale:  Robert Shiller on the power of narratives ---
https://news.yale.edu/2019/11/04/robert-shiller-power-narratives

Jensen Comment
Among the most prestigious academic accounting journals narratives have been virtually abandoned in favor of equations.


What Went Wrong With Academic Accounting Research?
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/theory01.htm#WhatWentWrong

The Bottom Line
As with so many disciplines academic research ceased being relevant to the outside world --- like Political Science

Chronicle of Higher Education:  How Political Science Became Irrelevant
The field turned its back on the Beltway

https://www.chronicle.com/article/How-Political-Science-Became/245777?utm_source=cr&utm_medium=en&cid=cr

In a 2008 speech to the Association of American Universities, the former Texas A&M University president and then-Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates declared that "we must again embrace eggheads and ideas." He went on to recall the role of universities as "vital centers of new research" during the Cold War. The late Thomas Schelling would have agreed. The Harvard economist and Nobel laureate once described "a wholly unprecedented ‘demand’ for the results of theoretical work. … Unlike any other country … the United States had a government permeable not only by academic ideas but by academic people."

Gates’s efforts to bridge the gap between Beltway and ivory tower came at a time when it was growing wider, and indeed, that gap has continued to grow in the years since. According to a Teaching, Research & International Policy Project survey, a regular poll of international-­relations scholars, very few believe they should not contribute to policy making in some way. Yet a majority also recognize that the state-of-the-art approaches of academic social science are precisely those approaches that policy makers find least helpful. A related poll of senior national-security decision-makers confirmed that, for the most part, academic social science is not giving them what they want.

The problem, in a nutshell, is that scholars increasingly privilege rigor over relevance. That has become strikingly apparent in the subfield of international security (the part of political science that once most successfully balanced those tensions), and has now fully permeated political science as a whole. This skewed set of intellectual priorities — and the field’s transition into a cult of the irrelevant — is the unintended result of disciplinary professionalization.

The decreasing relevance of political science flies in the face of a widespread and longstanding optimism about the compatibility of rigorous social science and policy relevance that goes back to the Progressive Era and the very dawn of modern American social science. One of the most important figures in the early development of political science, the University of Chicago’s Charles Merriam, epitomized the ambivalence among political scientists as to whether what they did was "social science as activism or technique," as the American-studies scholar Mark C. Smith put it. Later, the growing tension between rigor and relevance would lead to what David M. Ricci termed the "tragedy of political science": As the discipline sought to become more scientific, in part to better address society’s ills, it became less practically relevant.

When political scientists seek rigor, they increasingly conflate it with the use of particular methods such as statistics or formal modeling. The sociologist Leslie A. White captured that ethos as early as 1943:

We may thus gauge the ‘scientific-ness’ of a study by observing the extent to which it employs mathematics — the more mathematics the more scientific the study. Physics is the most mature of the sciences, and it is also the most mathematical. Sociology is the least mature of the sciences and uses very little mathematics. To make sociology scientific, therefore, we should make it mathematical.

Relevance, in contrast, is gauged by whether scholarship contributes to the making of policy decisions.

That increasing tendency to embrace methods and models for their own sake rather than because they can help us answer substantively important questions is, I believe, a misstep for the field. This trend is in part the result of the otherwise normal and productive workings of science, but it is also reinforced by less legitimate motives, particularly organizational self-interest and the particularities of our intellectual culture.

While the use of statistics and formal models is not by definition irrelevant, their edging out of qualitative approaches has over time made the discipline less relevant to policy makers. Many pressing policy questions are not readily amenable to the preferred methodological tools of political scientists. Qualitative case studies most often produce the research that policy makers need, and yet the field is moving away from them.

Continued in article

Jensen Comment
This sounds so, so familiar. The same type of practitioner irrelevancy commenced in the 1960s when when academic accounting became "accountics science" --- About the time when The Accounting Review stopped publishing submissions that did not have equations and practicing accountants dropped out of the American Accounting Association and stopped subscribing to academic accounting research journals.

An Analysis of the Contributions of The Accounting Review Across 80 Years: 1926-2005 --- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/395wpTAR/Web/TAR395wp.htm 
Co-authored with Jean Heck and forthcoming in the December 2007 edition of the Accounting Historians Journal.

Unlike engineering, academic accounting research is no longer a focal point of practicing accountants. If we gave a prize for academic research discovery that changed the lives of the practicing profession who would practitioners choose to honor for the findings?

 

The silence is deafening!

 


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

What’s the Difference Between a College and a University?
https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2019/11/is-a-college-different-from-a-university/602215/

. . .

The traditional definitions also have many exceptions. Plenty of colleges, for example, have graduate programs—such as Dartmouth and William & Mary. And some universities are relatively small—such as Clark and, well, Lasell. Against this backdrop, it makes sense why some dismiss the distinction as hairsplitting, and why many people view the terms as interchangeable.

I conducted an informal survey of roughly 230 individuals asking whether they believe the terms are distinct and, if so, whether that distinction is important. (Higher-education professionals or high-school counselors accounted for about half my sample, and about one in five respondents was a student.) Fifty-five percent of the respondents said they acknowledge there’s a difference but tend to use the terms interchangeably, while roughly 15 percent either don’t understand the difference or don’t think there is one. A little less than a third of the respondents said there is a distinction and that they don’t use the terms interchangeably. (Higher-education professionals were more likely than other people to emphasize the distinction’s importance.)

But their qualitative responses—along with direct feedback I got from more than a dozen experts—indicate that the extent of the distinction can vary depending on whom you ask. Victoria Tillson Evans, the founder and president of Maryland-based Distinctive College Consulting, for example, sees four main differences: educational level, size, research agenda, and style of education—that is, liberal-arts versus preprofessional education. Stacey Cunitz, the director of college counseling at a Philadelphia private school, said in an email that she focuses on one: “What I tell my students is that in general a university is a collection of colleges.”

In many other countries, the difference between the terms is more obvious. In the United Kingdom, for instance, a university—such as the universities of Oxford and London—is a corporation authorized by the government to grant degrees. Meanwhile, a college is a residential learning community within a universitysuch as University College Oxford and King’s College London. (College comes from the Latin word for “partnership”—col means “together with”—which may explain why in countries where secondary education has traditionally entailed boarding, the term college often refers to secondary schools.)

. . .

Yet the changes at Lasell and elsewhere will likely fly under the radar of everyday Americans. After all, many journalists like me who cover education (the Chronicle notwithstanding) tend to treat college and university as synonyms, at least when referring to higher education writ large. And for what it’s worth, The Atlantic’s copy editors approve: “We use them interchangeably, often just for word variation,” Janice Wolly, our copy chief, told me.

Humboldt University of Berlin --- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humboldt_University_of_Berlin

The structure of German research-intensive universities served as a model for institutions like Johns Hopkins University. Further, it has been claimed that "the 'Humboldtian' university became a model for the rest of Europe [...] with its central principle being the union of teaching and research in the work of the individual scholar or scientist.

Jensen Comment
Years ago when I did a gig at the University of Humboldt in Berlin I learned that this institution claims to be the first true "university" in history. It was never entirely clear, however, what made it a "first" among other preeminent schools that were also collections of colleges. Perhaps it was having a common curriculum required for all graduates, although I did not really dig into the history of the common curriculum that nearly always exists in modern universities. Discipline specialties today build on a common (core) curriculum in a university. What is clear is that Humboldt's collection of disciplines shared courses in their degree programs, but I've never conducted research on the history of sharing courses among colleges of a university. Certainly "colleges" like Dartmouth College today share courses such as when history majors take economics and vice versa.

I'm admitting that I really don't know what distinguishes a college from a university, and The Atlantic's article above did not help me much in this regard. I suspect if specialty undergraduate disciplines (think history versus criminology) can significantly deviate from a common (core) curriculum for undergraduates that it would be more difficult to view an institution as a "university" as opposed to being a "college." But that's just Bob Jensen's thinking on this matter, and it's quite common for people to disagree with him.


How to Mislead With Nothing

The Wall Street Journal published such a scathing story about Google's search engine when they had absolutely nothing to back it up ---
https://searchengineland.com/misquoted-and-misunderstood-why-we-the-search-community-dont-believe-the-wsj-about-google-search-325241

Jensen Comment
I use DuckDuckGo whenever I'm looking for a company's home page such as when I'm looking for the home page of a restaurant ---
https://duckduckgo.com/
Often Google searches lead off with a list of reservation booking agents (not the home site) that must pay Google to have their sites listed first. But that's only my anecdotal experience.
I use DuckDuckGo increasingly when looking for a lot of things!

One thing I suspect some professors and students do is forget to use the Google Scholar search engine ---
https://scholar.google.com/
Put your search phrase into quotation marks and find some of the most scholarly publications about that phrase.

Bob Jensen's Search Helpers:  You can do a lot more than just going to Google or DuckDuckGo ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/Searchh.htm

The article below may be out of date.

"I'm Being Followed: How Google—and 104 Other Companies—Are Tracking Me on the Web," by Alexis MadrigalThe Atlantic, February 29, 2012 ---
http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/12/02/im-being-followed-how-google-and-104-other-companies-are-tracking-me-on-the-web/253758/

This morning, if you opened your browser and went to NYTimes.com, an amazing thing happened in the milliseconds between your click and when the news about North Korea and James Murdoch appeared on your screen. Data from this single visit was sent to 10 different companies, including Microsoft and Google subsidiaries, a gaggle of traffic-logging sites, and other, smaller ad firms. Nearly instantaneously, these companies can log your visit, place ads tailored for your eyes specifically, and add to the ever-growing online file about you.

There's nothing necessarily sinister about this subterranean data exchange: this is, after all, the advertising ecosystem that supports free online content. All the data lets advertisers tune their ads, and the rest of the information logging lets them measure how well things are actually working. And I do not mean to pick on The New York Times. While visiting the Huffington Post or The Atlantic or Business Insider, the same process happens to a greater or lesser degree. Every move you make on the Internet is worth some tiny amount to someone, and a panoply of companies want to make sure that no step along your Internet journey goes unmonetized.

Even if you're generally familiar with the idea of data collection for targeted advertising, the number and variety of these data collectors will probably astonish you. Allow me to introduce the list of companies that tracked my movements on the Internet in one recent 36-hour period of standard web surfing: Acerno. Adara Media. Adblade. Adbrite. ADC Onion. Adchemy. ADiFY. AdMeld. Adtech. Aggregate Knowledge. AlmondNet. Aperture. AppNexus. Atlas. Audience Science.

And that's just the As. My complete list includes 105 companies, and there are dozens more than that in existence. You, too, could compile your own list using Mozilla's tool, Collusion, which records the companies that are capturing data about you, or more precisely, your digital self.

While the big names -- Google, Microsoft, Facebook, Yahoo, etc. -- show up in this catalog, the bulk of it is composed of smaller data and advertising businesses that form a shadow web of companies that want to help show you advertising that you're more likely to click on and products that you're more likely to purchase.

To be clear, these companies gather data without attaching it to your name; they use that data to show you ads you're statistically more likely to click. That's the game, and there is substantial money in it.

As users, we move through our Internet experiences unaware of the churning subterranean machines powering our web pages with their cookies and pixels trackers, their tracking code and databases. We shop for wedding caterers and suddenly see ring ads appear on random web pages we're visiting. We sometimes think the ads following us around the Internet are "creepy." We sometimes feel watched. Does it matter? We don't really know what to think.

The issues the industry raises did not exist when Ronald Reagan was president and were only in nascent form when the Twin Towers fell. These are phenomena of our time and while there are many antecedent forms of advertising, never before in the history of human existence has so much data been gathered about so many people for the sole purpose of selling them ads.

"The best minds of my generation are thinking about how to make people click ads," my old friend and early Facebook employee Jeff Hammerbacher once said. "That sucks," he added. But increasingly I think these issues -- how we move "freely" online, or more properly, how we pay one way or another -- are actually the leading edge of a much bigger discussion about the relationship between our digital and physical selves. I don't mean theoretically or psychologically. I mean that the norms established to improve how often people click ads may end up determining who you are when viewed by a bank or a romantic partner or a retailer who sells shoes.

Already, the web sites you visit reshape themselves before you like a carnivorous school of fish, and this is only the beginning. Right now, a huge chunk of what you've ever looked at on the Internet is sitting in databases all across the world. The line separating all that it might say about you, good or bad, is as thin as the letters of your name. If and when that wall breaks down, the numbers may overwhelm the name. The unconsciously created profile may mean more than the examined self I've sought to build.

Most privacy debates have been couched in technical. We read about how Google bypassed Safari's privacy settings, whatever those were. Or we read the details about how Facebook tracks you with those friendly Like buttons. Behind the details, however, are a tangle of philosophical issues that are at the heart of the struggle between privacy advocates and online advertising companies: What is anonymity? What is identity? How similar are humans and machines? This essay is an attempt to think through those questions.

The bad news is that people haven't taken control of the data that's being collected and traded about them. The good news is that -- in a quite literal sense -- simply thinking differently about this advertising business can change the way that it works. After all, if you take these companies at their word, they exist to serve users as much as to serve their clients.

Continued in article


Chronicle of Higher Education
Data-Visualization And Student Evaluations: Male Profs Are Brilliant And Funny; Female Profs Are Mean And Rude ---
https://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog/2019/11/data-visualization-and-student-evaluations-male-profs-are-brilliant-and-funny-female-profs-are-mean-.html
Jensen Comment
These and other conclusions are reached after an analysis of millions of course evaluations on RateMyProfessors.com. Keep in mind that course evaluations are self selecting on RMP and accordingly do not meet the criteria for statistical analysis. However, the volume of such samples makes them somewhat informative. I always ignore the numbers and read the subjective comments for insights.

The above study looks at various other aspects of courses other than teacher genders.
Given my own rather extensive experiences reading RMP course evaluations I find it's a mistake to think that most of the responders are disgruntled students. Although there are clearly a lot of disgruntled students, it seems to me that most evaluations are positive rather than negative --- possibly meaning that teachers who suspect they will get positive evaluations may prompt students to submit evaluations to RMP. I doubt that any teacher who anticipates negative submissions ever mentions RMP. This biases the millions of RMP submissions to be more positive than negative.

I was glad to see that RMP dropped its "Red Hot Chili Pepper" competition that attempted to identify the most popular college teachers in the USA with pictures of red hot peppers. This encouraged popular teachers to promote their students to send in RMP evaluations.

The bottom line is that the numerical evaluations don't mean much on RMP due to self-selecting samples. However, I find that the subjective comments do provide some information about course difficulty, teaching style, and course rigor.

In general I'm against making student evaluations of any kind a factor in promotion and tenure and performance evaluations by college administrators. The reason is that these evaluations are one of the primary causes of disgraceful grade inflation ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/assess.htm#RateMyProfessor

Statement Against Student Evaluations for Promotion and Tenure Decisions (American Sociological Association) ---
https://www.asanet.org/sites/default/files/asa_statement_on_student_evaluations_of_teaching_sept52019.pdf


NY Times: Democratic Presidential Tax Plans Would Hit Blue States The Hardest ---
https://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog/2019/11/ny-times-democratic-presidential-tax-plans-would-hit-blue-states-the-hardest.html

New York Times, How Democrats Would Tax High-Income Professionals (Not Just the Mega-Rich):

Moody’s data shows that higher taxes would be paid disproportionately in Democratic-leaning states.

Much of the Democratic primary race has focused on taxes aimed at the billionaire class — policies devised to reduce inequality and fund progressive goals on health care and education.

But there’s also a less discussed tax increase in leading Democratic policy proposals that would affect not just a tiny sliver of the ultra-wealthy, but also millions of high-income workers. For these people, many of them affluent professionals in Democratic strongholds, it would be the biggest tax increase in recent memory.

This year, American workers and their employers owe a combined 12.4 percent on Social Security payroll taxes for income up to $132,900 (rising to $137,700 in 2020). They owe nothing on earnings above that level.

Some Democrats in the thick of the presidential race and on Capitol Hill now seek to change or eliminate that cap — potentially placing a new double-digit tax on high earners, with several plans focusing on earnings above $250,000. ...

Moody’s data also shows that the higher taxes would be paid disproportionately in Democratic-leaning states. The 12 states with the highest share of earners who would owe higher taxes all voted for Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election, led by New Jersey, Connecticut and Massachusetts.

Jensen Comment
The most liberal candidates spending plans for green initiatives, medicare-for-all, free college, guaranteed income, reparations, and open borders will also destroy stock markets, real estate markets, and pension savings.


U.S. News Rankings Updates:  Find out about the schools that misreported data to U.S. News ---
https://www.usnews.com/education/articles/us-news-rankings-updates


Money Laundering --- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Money_laundering

‘Idea Laundering’ in Academia (gaming the system)
By Peter Boghossian
The Wall Street Journal
https://www.wsj.com/articles/idea-laundering-in-academia-11574634492?mod=searchresults&page=1&pos=1
Thank you Arnold Barkman for the heads up.

You’ve almost certainly heard some of the following terms: cisgender, fat shaming, heteronormativity, intersectionality, patriarchy, rape culture and whiteness.

The reason you’ve heard them is that politically engaged academicians have been developing concepts like these for more than 30 years, and all that time they’ve been percolating. Only recently have they begun to emerge in mainstream culture. These academicians accomplish this by passing off their ideas as knowledge; that is, as if these terms describe facts about the world and social reality. And while some of these ideas may contain bits of truth, they aren’t scientific. By and large, they’re the musings of ideologues.

How did this happen? How have those working in what’s come to be called “grievance studies” managed to extend their ideas far beyond the academy, while convincing people that their jargon adds something meaningful to public discourse? Biologist Bret Weinstein, who was run out of Evergreen State College by a leftist mob in 2017, calls the process “idea laundering.”

It’s analogous to money laundering. Here’s how it works: First, various academics have strong moral impulses about something. For example, they perceive negative attitudes about obesity in society, and they want to stop people from making the obese feel bad about their condition. In other words, they convince themselves that the clinical concept of obesity (a medical term) is merely a story we tell ourselves about fat (a descriptive term); it’s not true or false—in this particular case, it’s a story that exists within a social power dynamic that unjustly ascribes authority to medical knowledge.

Second, academics who share these sentiments start a peer-reviewed periodical such as Fat Studies—an actual academic journal. They organize Fat Studies like every other academic journal, with a board of directors, a codified submission process, special editions with guest editors, a pool of credentialed “experts” to vet submissions, and so on. The journal’s founders, allies and collaborators then publish articles in Fat Studies and “grow” their journal. Soon, other academics with similar beliefs submit papers, which are accepted or rejected. Ideas and moral impulses go in, knowledge comes out. Voilà!

Eventually, after activist scholars petition university libraries to carry the journal, making it financially viable for a large publisher like Taylor & Francis, Fat Studies becomes established. Before long, there’s an extensive canon of academic work—ideas, prejudice, opinion and moral impulses—that has been laundered into “knowledge.”

They then have an answer when one asks the obvious question: “How could fat be just a narrative? There’s overwhelming medical evidence—A1Cs, the surge of type-2 diabetes, demonstrable risk factors—reliably indicating that excess fat is a health hazard. This has nothing to do with ‘stories we tell ourselves’ or ‘societal power structures,’ and instead directly corresponds to facts about the human body.”

In response, grievance scholars point to articles in the peer-reviewed journal Fat Studies: “Toward a Fat Pedagogy: A Study of Pedagogical Approaches Aimed at Challenging Obesity Discourse in Post-Secondary Education.” Not knowing any better, and seeing a veneer of scholarly rigor and scientific peer review, people reasonably assume that such articles are trustworthy sources of knowledge. (They assume this because it’s how the peer-reviewed process has traditionally worked: Academics try to disconfirm or falsify claims, as opposed to seeking support for them.) These articles tell us that obesity is but a narrative and there are other narratives, such as being healthy at every size, and there’s no reason to “privilege” one narrative over another.

It doesn’t stop there. Grievance scholars then use articles like those published in Fat Studies to credential themselves and receive promotion and tenure. They proceed—from the safety of professorships they’ll hold for life—to design courses around this literature. They test students on the material, marking answers right or wrong according to how closely they replicate the laundered ideas.

. . .

Students leave the academy believing they know things they do not know. They bring this “knowledge” to their places of employment where, over time, laundered ideas and the terminology that accompanies them become normative—giving them even more unearned legitimacy. And this is why you’ve heard some of the terms we began with: cisgender, fat shaming, heteronormativity, intersectionality, patriarchy, rape culture, and whiteness. They’ve been laundered through the peer-reviewed literature by activist scholars, then widely taught for years, before being brought into the world.

Mr. Boghossian is a co-author of “How to Have Impossible Conversations.”

Continued in article


There has been an increasing and unremitting effort to eliminate conservatives and conservative thought in the humanities and social sciences in the American academy ---
https://www.breitbart.com/tech/2019/11/18/professor-academia-increasing-efforts-to-eliminate-conservatives/

Bob Jensen's threads on liberal bias in academe ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/HigherEdControversies.htm#LiberalBias


How to Mislead by Blaming the Calculator ---
https://jborden.com/2019/11/24/nice-try-but-you-cant-blame-the-calculator/
I think it's time for an IRS audit of this judge.

Jensen Comment
The sad thing is that this Oklahoma judge upstaged Elizabeth Warren. She was saving this excuse for when her spendthrift proposals destroyed the capital markets and USA pension funds.


Best and Worst Gadgets of the Past Decade ---
https://247wallst.com/special-report/2019/11/21/best-and-worst-gadgets-of-the-decade/?utm_source=247WallStDailyNewsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=DailyNewsletter&utm_content=NOV252019a

Bob Jensen's threads on gadgets ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/Bookbob4.htm#Technology


Social Security Considerations for Those Wanting to Work Later in Life ---
https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2019/11/21/social-security-what-should-do-if-im-thinking-retiring/4121944002/


The State Department official who faked her résumé criticized her superiors for not defending her against an NBC expose ---
https://www.businessinsider.com/state-department-official-mina-chang-resigns-2019-11
Jensen Comment
Some con artists just don't give up easily

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


A professor of political science at the University of Porto in Portugal has had at least five papers retracted for plagiarism ---
https://retractionwatch.com/2019/11/25/political-science-prof-up-to-five-retractions-for-plagiarism/

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


The 10 fastest growing programming languages, according to the Microsoft-owned GitHub ---
https://www.businessinsider.com/fastest-growing-programming-languages-github-2019-11

Jensen Comment
Many of us old timers are left staring at the FORTRAN, ALGOL, and COBOL tombstones in a forgotten part of the tech world cemetery.


Never Shake Your Spice Bottles Right Over a Hot Pot or Pan ---
https://www.lifesavvy.com/13320/never-shake-your-spices-right-over-a-hot-pot-or-pan/


The Curious Economics of Being Ripped off On Holidays ---
http://timharford.com/2019/09/the-curious-economics-of-being-ripped-off-on-holiday/


How to Mislead With statistics

Ages of Authors When They First Publish a Bestseller ---
https://www.inthebook.com/en-us/bestsellers/
Based upon "best sellers" from the following list
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_best-selling_books

Jensen Comment
I'm not all that critical of this particular article that seems to be a study that can be replicated using the same data source.
Note that these are averages subject to the usual misleading thing about averages such as having different distribution variances and skewness and the impact of outliers.  Sample sizes are so small that the graphic gives us some information about distributions such as when Fantasy authors have a much smaller variance than Romance authors in the article above.

Becoming a best selling author is complicated because in so many cases its a matter of marketing as well as skills of the author. Certain publishers invest more in publicity and shelf space and promotions. There's also possible of dirty gaming with reviews.

Defining a "best seller" can be controversial
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bestseller
Some of the popular "best seller" listings are rigged by bias and fraud ---
https://www.bizpacreview.com/2017/09/05/top-conservative-publisher-exposes-ny-times-best-seller-list-rigged-liberal-fraud-cuts-ties-532914

Also some books are difficult to classify into categories such as when a "mystery" novel is also a "thriller" or when a "romance" novel is also "historical fiction."

Data are fuzzy about number of books published each year, but some estimates range up to nearly one million in the USA alone. This makes becoming a "best selling author" for the first time quite difficult. It may be easier to write a popular movie that becomes a book rather than the historic practice of a book becoming a movie. Of course after an author makes it big on the first book it becomes easier to make it big on follow up books, especially after an author like John Grisham attracts a "following."

What is really hard is for a best selling fiction author to also impress academic critics. It's especially hard for a politically conservative author to gain academic acclaim --- sort of like passing a camel through the eye of a needle.

Never trust the reported numbers of copies of a book authored by a celebrity such as a political leader. Friends of that celebrity may buy up truckloads of poorly written books just to funnel money to that celebrity.


How to Mislead With Statistics

Is China Actually Stealing American Jobs and Wealth?
by John L. Graham and Benjamin Leffel
Harvard Business Review
https://hbr.org/2019/11/is-china-actually-stealing-american-jobs-and-wealth?utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter_monthly&utm_campaign=finance_not_activesubs&referral=00209&deliveryName=DM57237

Jensen Comment
It's hard to believe that the authors can conclude that China is not hurting USA incomes or jobs without ever mentioning the balance of trade between the two nations and the so-called "China Shock"  ---
https://hbr.org/2019/11/is-china-actually-stealing-american-jobs-and-wealth?utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter_monthly&utm_campaign=finance_not_activesubs&referral=00209&deliveryName=DM57237

. . .

Some Democratic lawmakers, labor groups, and manufacturers also criticize the deficit on the grounds that some foreign countries—especially China—have used unfair practices like currency manipulation, wage suppression, and government subsidies to boost their exports, while blocking U.S. imports. Some economists argue that China’s competitiveness stems from its protectionism and state involvement in the economy, giving its exports an unfair edge and violating global trade rules. Research by Peterson Institute economists C. Fred Bergsten and Joseph E. Gagnon blames China’s “massive and sustained” currency manipulation from 2000 to 2010 for widening the trade deficit to historic levels.

Though such aggressive manipulation has eased since then, CFR Senior Fellow Brad Setser, a former Treasury official, writes that there is still an East Asian “savings glut,” in which exceptionally high savings rates in the region, partially due to government policy, drive large trade surpluses, which must be absorbed by deficit countries, like the United States.

Meanwhile, the deficit’s concentration in the manufacturing sector has heightened concerns among some economists over job losses and their repercussions in local communities. (Of the $891 billion goods deficit, over $650 billion consisted of [PDF] manufactured consumer goods and automobile parts.) Research by the Economic Policy Institute suggests that the surge in Chinese imports has lowered wages for non-college-educated workers and cost the United States 3.4 million jobs from 2001-2015, while research published by the University of Chicago put that number [PDF] at closer to 2 million over a similar period (1999-2011). Many economists fear that import-related job losses are driving a populist backlash to trade and globalization that will cause political volatility.

Some economists worry about the consequences of large and persistent imbalances. The Peterson Institute’s Gagnon warns that the debt necessary to finance the deficit is heading toward unsustainable levels. Former Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke and Jared Bernstein, an economic advisor to Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, have argued that the large inflows of foreign capital that accompany trade deficits can lead to financial bubbles and may have contributed to the U.S. housing crash that began in 2006. Others note that a growing deficit has been associated with a weak economy, as in the early 2000s, which they say is evidence of the potential for a large deficit to drain demand from the domestic economy and slow growth when the economy is performing under its potential.

Continued in article

Jensen Comment
The above article points out that it's possible to put too much emphasis on the trade deficit when setting trade policy with China. However, Graham and Benjamin Leffel clearly leave out the unfair trade practices of China in their article, especially the blocking of imports from the USA to the detriment of fair trade between the two nations.

This is a political article rather than a scholarly article.


How to Mislead With Statistics

11 mind-blowing facts about China's economy ---
https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/china-economy-facts-2019-5-1028172022#china-imports-more-us-agricultural-products-than-canada-and-mexico1
The article fails to mention the impact of China's terrible record on human rights affecting millions of poor people, particularly its minority Muslim population.
The article also fails to mention the enormous economic corruption.

Jensen Comment
The claim that "With a much bigger population, China has fewer poor people than the US" is misleading because different definitions of "poor" are used. The World Bank defines being poor in China as living on less than $1.90 per day ---
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poverty_in_China

The USA has many more safety nets for the poor such as Medicaid coverage of poor people, including those in nursing homes, as well as much more generous welfare programs ---
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Welfare

There are wider differences in quality of medical care and education in China relative to the USA ---
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poverty_in_China

In fairness, China has done spectacularly in reducing poverty. But it's far better to be poor in the USA relative to China ---
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poverty_in_the_United_States
Also poverty is significantly overstated in the USA by failing to factor in the $2+ trillion underground economy where cash wages of poor people are never recorded.

 


How to Mislead With Statistics

Why Child Care Is So Ridiculously Expensive ---
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/11/why-child-care-so-expensive/602599/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=atlantic-daily-newsletter&utm_content=20191126&silverid-ref=NTk4MzY1OTg0MzY5S0

Jensen Comment
The above article gives three solid reasons why child care is so expensive in the USA. But it leaves out what I consider is the main reason child care is so expensive in the USA. It's largely the economics high demand coupled with limited supply. Why don't all colleges, universities, hospitals, and larger businesses offer child care services? What limits this supply is legal liability! If child care services lose one child it could wipe out the budgets of a small colleges and threaten the survival of those colleges by the time the lawyers start collecting their share of the punitive damage awards. Some government agencies provide child care services (think Vermont), but this in part is because the financial risk can be spread over the entire base of taxpayers. And voters have the power to limit punitive damages like the voters of Texas voted to limit the punitive damages in medical malpractice lawsuits.

What the legal liability does is pass the child care services on to small businesses (think of private homes) that have almost nothing to sue if they lose a child. Some churches can risk providing child care services, especially when those churches have relatively little to lose in liability lawsuits.

The legal liability financial risk is not so great in most other nations (think Canada and Finland) where punitive damages are non-existent or severely restrained. The lure of a punitive damage award the main reason why 80% of the world's lawyers practice in the USA.---
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punitive_damages

 


How to Mislead With Unrealistic Hope

New 2-Year Degree Promises Gen-Ed Basics and Fast-Track Career Skills ---
https://www.chronicle.com/article/New-2-Year-Degree-Promises/247600?utm_source=at&utm_medium=en&cid=at&source=ams&sourceId=296279

Jensen Comment
There are two types of certificate (badges) programs. The terrific one adds specialties to students who already have considerable knowledge and experience in a discipline like accountancy, finance, engineering, computer science, and the various STEM degrees. The other provides a certificate after two years to a kid with a high school diploma. It's a little like studying brain surgery without first becoming an MD.

Sounds great to teach blockchain or machine learning in the first two years out of high school. A student could actually learn quite a lot about programming in one or two of the computer languages listed at
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_programming_languages
But this would be a lot like learning to type without learning how to write. Students with "typing" degrees can work in typing pools but this is a dead end career without learning deeper in a more promising career.


Small bookstores are booming after nearly being wiped out ---
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/small-bookstores-are-booming-after-nearly-being-wiped-out-small-business-saturday/

Jensen Comment
The evidence for "booming" is anecdotal, and the title should read "Some Small Bookstores are Booming." The number of small bookstores is not and never will be what it was before Amazon commenced selling books online.

The article also overrates the importance of the bookseller when suggesting books to buy. A skilled Web searcher can nearly always do better with online searching and joining forums than relying on the bookseller.

I think what small bookstores do offer is a type of shopping entertainment. It's fun to browse through bookstores, especially bookstores that are unique. A bookstore is a bit like a sidewalk cafe while shopping. It's a place to pass the time and look about.

When we have houseguests I sometimes take them to downtown Littleton about 10 miles from our cottage. Littleton struggles to attract tourists who come up to these mountains for hiking. skiing, and staying in our quaint bed and breakfast inns. One store in Littleton claims to have the world's longest candy counter ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/Tidbits/Churches/Set01/ChurchesSet01.htm 
But it's boring to spend an hour in a candy store. It's not boring to spend an hour in a bookstore in downtown Littleton. Chances are, however, that customers take notes and buy some of the books later on at Amazon online.


A professor specializing in drug crime used his knowledge to launder $2.5 million of dirty Venezuelan money, federal prosecutors claim ---
https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/organized-crime-professor-laundered-25-million-of-cash-feds-claim-2019-11-1028698105


The First High-Resolution Map of America’s Food Supply Chain: How It All Really Gets from Farm to Table ---
http://www.openculture.com/2019/11/the-first-high-resolution-map-of-americas-food-supply-chain.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+OpenCulture+%28Open+Culture%29
Jensen Comment
Some graphs have too much detail even when its not enough detail. Perhaps the map should should color exports (think grain down the Mississippi river) from imports (think fruits and vegetables out of California, Texas, and Florida). In some way the map needs to distinguish food supply (think Iowa) from food flow through (think Mississippi).


Beautiful Bookstores ---
http://www.openculture.com/2019/07/how-to-read-many-more-books-in-a-year.html


How can we develop transformative tools for thought?
https://numinous.productions/ttft/

Flash Cards for Learning (over 500 million) ---
https://www.chegg.com/flashcards

Amazon Kindle Textbook Creator --- https://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html?docId=1002998671 

Amazon launched a new service that helps educators and authors publish their own digital "textbooks" and other educational content that students can then access on Fire tablets, iPad, iPhone, Android smartphones and tablets, Mac, and PC.

"Educators and authors can use the public beta of Amazon's new Kindle Textbook Creator tool to easily turn PDFs of their textbooks and course materials into Kindle books," the company explained in its announcement. "Once the book is ready, authors can upload it to KDP in just a few simple steps to reach students worldwide."

Features include flashcards, highlighting, and note-taking.

Those who publish through the KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing) program can earn royalties of up to 70% and keep their rights and maintain control of their content. "They can also choose to enroll their books in KDP Select for additional royalty opportunities like Kindle Unlimited and the Kindle Owners' Lending Library, and access to marketing tools like Kindle Countdown Deals and Free Book Promotions," Amazon said.

More information about the KDP program is available on the Amazon website.

From the Scout Report on March 4, 2016

FlashTabs --- https://flashtabs.co/

The idea behind FlashTabs is as simple as it is effective. Let's say you are studying for an anatomy exam, or a driver's test, or a learning a new language. How do you integrate the information and the studying process throughout the day? FlashTab has an answer. The Chrome browser extension lets you create digital flashcards that will appear every time you open a new tab. This way, learning is integrated into daily activities at work and/or at home. Adding the extension takes only a few clicks of your mouse. From there, create a deck of flashcards and activate. Then learn your targeted information as you browse the Internet

 

Flashcard Machine --- http://www.flashcardmachine.com/

A free service for creating web-based study flashcards that can be shared with others.

With over 109 million flash cards created to-date, Flashcard Machine is your premier online study tool.

For example, search for the word "accounting" at
http://www.flashcardmachine.com/flashcards/flashcards.cgi

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


Carnegie Mellon University has signed an open-access deal with Elsevier -- the first of its kind for the publisher in the U.S. ---
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2019/11/22/new-kind-big-deal-elsevier-and-carnegie-mellon-university?utm_source=Inside+Higher+Ed&utm_campaign=6822083e00-WNU_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_1fcbc04421-6822083e00-197565045&mc_cid=6822083e00&mc_eid=1e78f7c952


These People Own the Most Land in America ---
https://247wallst.com/special-report/2019/11/19/these-people-own-the-most-land-in-america/
Jensen Comment
The name Ted Turner is familiar, but I bet you never heard of John Malone or Stan Kroenke. These rich folks do a lot for conservation. Forcing them to sell their land to pay a wealth tax is a mixed blessing from the standpoint of land and wildlife conservation. Sure they could sell to the government to pay their new taxes, but the government will be facing tens of trillions in new debt trying to pay for other green initiatives, free medical care, free college, guaranteed annual income, reparations, and food and housing for tens of millions of refugees.  The government is having a rough time maintaining the land it already owns. Owning land is both a privilege and an expensive obligation.

Many of these landowners ranked in the above article own even more land outside the USA --- such as Ted Turner's vast holdings in Australia and land the Irving Family owns in Canada.


Winnipeg Bingo Players Foil Armed Robbery ---
https://www.gamingpost.ca/canadian-bingo-news/bingo-robbery-foiled/


Why do some people learn music more quickly than others?
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2019-11-smart-people-music-faster.html


Sorry, wrong number: Statistical benchmark (p-value) comes under fire ---
https://phys.org/news/2019-11-wrong-statistical-benchmark.html


Fraud As Usual in the Politics of the USA's Largest Cities

Former Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh sold more than 100,000 copies of her self-published children’s books, but federal prosecutors allege she didn’t actually print them all (Only One of 11 Alleged Charges) ---
https://www.baltimoresun.com/politics/bs-md-pol-pugh-20191120-kzmc2v7cafetjladglhgnyusdy-story.html


Al Sharpton Sells His Life Story Rights for Over Half a Million Dollars (some report a whole million) To His Own Charity ---
http://www.michellesmirror.com/2019/11/a-true-bags-to-bitches-story-real-al.html#.XdQCw3dFznt

Jensen Comment
People gave money to that charity thinking it would be redistributed to the poor, not to Al Sharpton's pockets.

Of course Donald Trump also treated his charity like his personal piggy bank.

This is common in the world of politician-owned charities.


Her Amazon Purchases Are Real. The Reviews Are Fake ---
https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/nicolenguyen/her-amazon-purchases-are-real-the-reviews-are-fake


Criminologist to have four papers retracted following months of scrutiny ---
https://retractionwatch.com/2019/11/19/criminologist-to-have-four-papers-retracted-following-months-of-scrutiny/

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


Stanford University:  Public Employee Pensions and Municipal Insolvency ---
https://web.stanford.edu/~smyers2/Myers_JMP.pdf

This paper studies how governments manage public employee pensions and how this affects insolvency risk. I propose a quantitative model of governments that choose their savings and risk exposure by borrowing/saving in defaultable bonds, borrowing in non-defaultable pension benefits, and saving in a pension fund that earns a risk premium. In insolvency, the government can receive transfers from households who may differ from the government in their preferences for public services and private consumption. I match the model to a panel of CA cities and a hand-collected record of fiscal emergencies. The model predicts that governments are highly vulnerable to another stock market bust. A hypothetical shock to pension funds in 2015 produces twice as many fiscal emergencies as the original 2008-10 shock. In the quantified model, the government undersaves and take excess risk relative to what a benevolent government would choose. Savings requirements that limit spending to essential services plus 0.3% of cash-on-hand produce large welfare gains for households. Requiring the pension fund to invest more in safe assets decreases household welfare because the lower average return discourages the government from saving.


IRS posts 2020 inflation adjustments and tax tables ---
https://www.journalofaccountancy.com/news/2019/nov/2020-irs-tax-tables-inflation-adjustments-201922409.html?utm_source=mnl:cpald&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=07Nov2019


DoD's second financial audit uncovers 1,300 new deficiencies ---
https://www.statedatalab.org/news/detail/dods-second-financial-audit-uncovers-1300-new-deficiencies


Newspaper publisher McClatchy, which owns the Miami Herald, The Kansas City Star, The Sacramento Bee, and the Charlotte Observer, among other publications, is seeking a bailout of its pension fund. The company said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that it is in discussions with the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) for help ---
https://www.statedatalab.org/news/detail/strapped-mcclatchy-seeks-pension-bailout


Rhode Island Supreme Court allows city to cut pension benefits to avoid bankruptcy ---
https://yankeeinstitute.org/2019/11/18/rhode-island-supreme-court-allows-city-to-cut-pension-benefits-to-avoid-bankruptcy/


This is One for Ripley's Believe it or Not
Harvard Law Prof Who Was Ousted From Deanship For Representing Harvey Weinstein Failed To File Tax Returns For Nearly A Decade
---
https://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog/2019/11/harvard-law-prof-who-was-ousted-from-deanship-for-representing-harvey-weinstein-failed-to-file-tax-r.html


Ponzi Schemes, Private Yachts, and a Missing $250 Million in Crypto: The Strange Tale of Quadriga ---
Click Here


A Brazen Shoplifter Who Can't Be Touched ---
https://alphanewsmn.com/coon-rapids-theft-suspect-you-cant-touch-me/


How NBA executive Jeff David stole $13 million from the Sacramento Kings ---
https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/28078881/how-nba-executive-jeff-david-stole-13-million-sacramento-kings


Tons of Acorns? It Must Be a Mast Year ---
https://theconversation.com/tons-of-acorns-it-must-be-a-mast-year-126711

Jensen Comment
Up in these mountains bears become more of a nuisance when acorns are having a bad year. Acorns are arguably the main source of protein for our black bears and deer in the woods.


USA is Becoming Popular Once Again:  The steep decline of international students coming to US has ended ---
https://qz.com/1750481/the-trends-of-international-and-chinese-students-in-the-us/


How to Mislead With Statistics:  What can possibly go wrong when comparing first-year incomes of history versus computer science graduates?
The U.S. Department of Education on Wednesday released data on first-year earnings of college graduates, for the first time broken down by program level ---
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2019/11/21/federal-government-releases-earnings-data-thousands-college-programs?utm_source=Inside+Higher+Ed&utm_campaign=6ed01ffd23-DNU_2019_COPY_02&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_1fcbc04421-6ed01ffd23-197565045&mc_cid=6ed01ffd23&mc_eid=1e78f7c952

Jensen Comment
Firstly, earnings in the first year of a job may be of lesser importance than other things. For example, it's well known that accounting graduates after five-years of study and a masters degree earn less on average than computer science and engineering graduates with four-year degrees. But accounting graduates know that jobs are plentiful and the most desired starting jobs with the largest multinational auditing, consulting, and tax firms are more important than starting jobs at possibly higher salaries with other companies. The reasons are many, the most important being the investment in training and experience given by the largest multinational accounting firms. Unlike physicians and engineers accounting graduates are not specialists when they graduate. They rely upon the training and experience that their first employers provide to them to become specialists. In fact more often than not they don't even intend to stay with their first employers after they get that training and experience.

What is known is that training and exposure to high paying auditing and tax clients can lead to fast tracks to high-paying executive opportunities as well as exciting challenges like getting into the FBI and other law enforcement agencies. Some accountants hope to start out in the IRS that spends a lot on training and offers opportunities later on to get a high paying tax accounting job with business firms. Some accounting graduates intend to get all that training and experience so they can start up their own firms.

Secondly, large accounting firms are now also providing non-salary benefits including financial assistance for passing the CPA examination and help in paying off student loans and family-friendly job assignments that allow young parents to work out of their homes much of the time. And there are other disciplines where non-salary benefits include time off.  Many college graduates become school teachers who want summers free to be with their young children full time when those children are not in school.

Thirdly, in many fields those first-year incomes are not full salaries. Especially in marketing and finance (think stock brokers) those incomes have a low base salary plus commissions. Commissions are great if you bust your butt 80 hours a week, including becoming super active in your church and in your community to make sales contacts and/or spend some of your earnings on travel expenses and entertainment expenses that are not fully paid by your employer. Some graduates don't want to bust their butts 80 hours per week drumming up sales commissions.

Fourthly, reported first year salaries are often biased samples. Think of where humanities graduates go after graduation. A goodly number have no first-year incomes because they go on to graduate schools (think further study in law schools and MBA programs). The ones that do not go on for graduate studies may well be comprised of many graduates who had low GRE or GMAT scores and could not get into top graduate programs. They're more likely to become those over-qualified McJobs workers we hear so much about.

Fifthly, think of the poor slobs who graduate from college and join the military --- Yeah those poorly-paid slobs who rise to the ranks of among officers to retire in their early 40s with great  lifetime pensions and medical benefits and go on to double dip in life with new careers on top of their retirement benefits. Their so-called "first-year earnings" in the military are highly misleading when you forget to add in the retirement benefits.

Sixtly, some (most?) high-paying jobs are less secure. Yeah, school teachers may have low-starting salaries but they're usually on a tenure track for job security. Civil servants have lower incomes but they cannot be fired as long as they're not sent to prison.

I could go on and on, but I think you get the point that studies like the one above that compare first-year earnings can lead college students into making lousy career choices.


How to Mislead With Statistics

America’s Worst Cities to Drive In ---
https://247wallst.com/special-report/2019/11/20/americas-worst-cities-to-drive-in/

Jensen Comment
You instantly recognize that something is wrong with any ranking that claims it's worse to drive in Yuba City, Stockton or Modesto, California than in New York City, Chicago, Houston, Boston, and Los Angeles you know that the analysts were out of their minds.

Take for example a criterion like average commuting times in Stockton (37.2 minutes) versus Los Angeles (31.3 minutes). This totally ignores the standard deviations and skewness of the distributions. Without being slowed by congestion it's not uncommon for drivers in Los Angeles to routinely spend over two hours commuting each way. This is unheard of within the city limits of Stockton or Modesto or Yuba City.

The data show hours lost due to congestion for most cities but calculating such a statistic for large cities like Los Angeles is hopeless since there's congestion somewhere Los Angeles 24/7 each and every week of the year.

The data does not include things like the health-hazards of "tension" while driving. It has to be much more nerve wracking driving in cities like Houston and Atlanta on freeways that have over 20 lanes (think of trying to get from an inside lane to an outside lane or vice versa) than in driving in Stockton, California ranked as being worse for driving than literally every large city in the USA. Such tensions are totally ignored in this ranking of worst cities to drive in. When my wife and I drive to Boston the tension of driving jumps dramatically when we get within 30 miles of Boston. And there's maximum tension driving at 55 mph bumper-to-bumper inside the traffic tunnels of Boston. How do those country music song lyrics go:  "Don't fence me in."

We tell our house guests who are flying into Logan Airport in Boston to catch the bus to Concord, NH where we meet them at the bus station. This reduces our blood pressure markedly compared for our having to drive all the way to Logan Airport in Boston traffic and tunnels.

What the above ranking tries to tell us is that driving in most any city (large or small) in California is worse than driving in most any of our largest cities (think Chicago, New York, Dallas, Houston, Baltimore, Washington DC, Atlanta, etc.).
I say baloney to this ranking!


Three Physicists Stumbled Upon a Striking Mathematical Discovery ---
https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2019/11/neutrino-oscillations-lead-striking-mathematical-discovery/602128/

Having done some research in eigenvector scaling I found the above paper fascinating (although over my head at this point in my life) ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/127wp/127wp.htm#FourMatrixScalingMethods


The methodology does not generate the results’: Journal corrects accounting study with flawed methods ---
https://retractionwatch.com/2019/11/13/the-methodology-does-not-generate-the-results-journal-corrects-accounting-study-with-flawed-methods/

What a difference a Yi,t=β0+β1IOˆi,t+β2Xi,t+ωt+εi,t.Yi,t=β0+β1IO^i,t+β2Xi,t+ωt+εi,t. makes.

The authors of a 2016 paper on institutional investing have corrected their article — to include the equation above — in the wake of persistent questions about their methodology. The move follows the protracted retraction earlier this year of a similar article in The Accounting Review by the duo, Andrew Bird and Stephen Karolyi, of Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, for related problems.

The bottom line, it seems, is that Bird and Karolyi appear to be unable adequately to explain their research methods in ways that stand up to scrutiny. 

The correction involves a paper published in The Review of Financial Studies, from Oxford University Press, titled “Do institutional investors demand public disclosure. According to the statement (the meat of which is behind a paywall):

. . .

Alex Young, an accounting researcher at Hofstra University in Hempstead, NY, who raised questions about Karolyi and Bird’s retracted article and ultimately failed to replicate it, was not one of the readers who raised concerns about the other article. But, he told us: 

I would be very interested to see the authors’ data and code that  generate the results presented in the paper.

Jensen Comment
Because accounting researchers rarely conduct replications and the few replications that are attempted are almost never published, it's refreshing to see that Professor Young attempted this replication.

574 Shields Against Validity Challenges in Plato's Cave ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/TheoryTAR.htm

University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School:  Is There a Replication Crisis in Research?
http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/research-replication-crisis/

Richard Feynman Creates a Simple Method for Telling Science From Pseudoscience (1966) ---
http://www.openculture.com/2016/04/richard-feynman-creates-a-simple-method-for-telling-science-from-pseudoscience-1966.html
By Feynman's standard standard accountics science is pseudoscience

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


Neil deGrasse Tyson questioned the physics of Elon Musk's video, which showed his new Cybertruck pulling Ford's F-150 truck uphill.---
https://www.businessinsider.com/neil-degrasse-tyson-elon-musk-twitter-physics-cybertruck-ford-truck-2019-11
The question is on how much the demo relied on traction versus engine power.
During New Hampshire winters drivers know that pickups without much weight over the wheels have very poor traction.


How to Mislead With Statistics

Here are the top 3 colleges in America for a return on your investment — and not one is in the Ivy League ---
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/the-top-3-colleges-in-america-with-returns-on-investment-of-over-2-million-and-none-are-ivy-league-institutions-2019-11-14

See the full table at
ttps://cew.georgetown.edu/cew-reports/CollegeROI/

The survey names these colleges as giving the biggest return on investment after four decades: Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, St. Louis College of Pharmacy, Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Stanford University, Maine Maritime Academy, Harvard University, United States Merchant Marine Academy, Babson College and Georgetown University.

Of the 10 colleges with the best long-term net economic gain after 40 years, all are four-year institutions, and eight are private nonprofit institutions, the report said. The colleges that predominantly offer certificates or associate’s degrees have the highest return on investment 10 years after enrollment.

Two public four-year institutions, Maine Maritime Academy and the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, rank in the top 10 colleges with the best long-term returns, while two four-year private colleges, St. Louis College of Pharmacy and Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, made the top 10 for short-term and long-term returns.

The report ranks 4,526 colleges and universities by return on investment. Institutions with the highest returns after 10 years yield $1 million, and sometimes $2 million, after 40 years, exceeding the median 40-year returns of private institutions.

The survey names these colleges as giving the biggest return on investment after four decades: Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, St. Louis College of Pharmacy, Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Stanford University, Maine Maritime Academy, Harvard University, United States Merchant Marine Academy, Babson College and Georgetown University.

Overall, returns on investment from bachelor’s degrees eventually overtake returns from most two-year credentials, it added. Case in point: Babson College, a private institution in Wellesley, Mass., ranks 304th in net present value at the 10-year mark, but it rises to seventh after 40 years.

“Everyone is asking, ‘Is college worth it?,’” said Anthony Carnevale, the lead author and director of Georgetown’s Center on Education and the Workforce. “This kind of information on the costs and benefits of higher education holds institutions more accountable.”

 

Return on Students' Investments (in college degrees) Varies Over Time (think 10 versus 40 years out) ---
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2019/11/14/differences-college-roi-vary-institution-type-and-time-frame-measured-report-says?utm_source=Inside+Higher+Ed&utm_campaign=e500c9d4ce-DNU_2019_COPY_02&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_1fcbc04421-e500c9d4ce-197565045&mc_cid=e500c9d4ce&mc_eid=1e78f7c952

Jensen Comment

One of the most misleading types of conclusions in statistical analysis is treating samples from non-homogenous populations as if they are homogeneous. You cannot in most ways compare specialized pharmacy colleges or maritime academies with general universities like Harvard University and Dartmouth College. You cannot compare Ivy League graduates from high income families with graduates from a state university who could not afford college without the GI bill or other forms of financial aid. Ted Kennedy had a tough time an college and cheated at Harvard, but with his trust fund he was always going to be wealthy even when on a relatively low-paying government payroll ---
http://content.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1919041,00.html

Actually ROI in a college education varies over a mind=boggling number of things. In fairness Inside Higher Education article points out some of the limitations of its ROI calculations in this article.

Let's consider some other ways to be mislead.
Firstly, there's a problem regarding which degree? A student who majors in history as an undergraduate is likely to have a different ROI if an investment is also made in a law degree or a MBA. Majoring in biology alone is not the same as also becoming a MD later on.

Secondly, when dealing with means there's a huge problem with impact of distribution skewness and outliers. Also I think that For example, college graduates are more likely to have outliers on the high end of salary than workers who did not go to college. These outliers pull up the mean beyond what can be expected for the truly "average" college graduates. The distributions are also impacted by parents who drop out of the job market to raise children.

Thirdly, and most importantly, perhaps college graduates "on average" are more likely to make higher incomes in life. First their parents who helped fund their college might have been otherwise able to fund them in businesses. Second if they're motivated to succeed in college and have the mental skills to do so they're more apt to make more money than students who did not go to college.

My point is that it's misleading to read the conclusions of this study and conclude that college graduation causes higher higher incomes in life. Although in some cases that's obvious for some types of graduates such as doctors and lawyers that must graduate from college to become licensed professionals, it's also not obvious in most instances when there are so many other interactive factors affecting lifetime incomes.

 


How to Mislead With Statistics

Pretty Stunning Data on Dating ---
https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2019/11/pretty-stunning-data-on-dating.html

Jensen Comment
This study is too superficial in terms of factors that change dating dynamics. It does recognize that age is definitely relevant in dating dynamics. bit there are so many other factors. Home location is extremely important, and this interacts greatly with age. Women not only get prettier at "closing time" as the song states, they get prettier in rural settings and remote locations (think Alaska, Montana, and North Dakota). This, in turn, interacts with economic factors such as having less income and employment opportunities in rural areas as it affects the length of dating relationships. This week I needed a locksmith in these mountains.  The closest one was over 60 miles away. They handsome guy that fixed my lock claimed he was on the road and working over 60 hours every week --- not exactly conducive to dating relative to if he could make a living eight hours a day in a Boston and spend more time dating.

Dating is greatly affected by the interaction of age with birth control alternatives that contribute to greater promiscuity in sexual relationships that become more superficial in terms of other aspects to relationships. Such dating relationships are much shorter than when there was serious worry about pregnancy.

Dating is also affected by number and ages of children coupled with attitudes toward short term relationships. With nearly half the marriages in the USA now ending in divorce coupled with the rise in the number of single parents (fathers as well as mothers) the opportunities for finding long-term mates has greatly changed over the past 80 years. Whereas dating used to have a longer term focus, I suspect that dating became more myopic with less expectation of longer-term relationships. This is exacerbated by birth control that now allows for more focus on sexual promiscuity.

The term "met online" is poorly defined. There are lots of ways to meet online without any intention, at least initially, of dating relationships. I get to know some men and women in my blogging interactions where I know them much better than I know most of the men and women in my church. In both cases there's no thought of these interactions becoming dating interactions after having met online. However, I know of several dating relationships that commenced between people that met 10-30 years ago online after divorces or dealths. Hence "met online" does necessarily mean that dating commenced soon afterwards or was even a thought after having met.

Interest of men and women in dating per se has changed such as when they are just less interested in dating. This may have been noted in Finland, but I think it extrapolates to most if not all of the developed world.
Sex in Finland  ---
https://yle.fi/uutiset/osasto/news/study_more_finns_opting_for_solo_sexual_satisfaction/9090220


Stanford University:  Why Women and Older Workers Make Less Driving for Uber ---
https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/insights/why-women-older-workers-make-less-driving-uber?utm_source=Stanford+Business&utm_campaign=f9fbac16bb-Stanford-Business-Issue-175-11-17-2019&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_0b5214e34b-f9fbac16bb-70265733&ct=t(Stanford-Business-Issue-175-11-17-2019) 

Jensen Comment
I liked this study, because it mentions why "reasons" for lower pay are so many and complex.

I'm reminded of why I preferred some taxi drivers over others (men and women). There was a period in my life when I traveled with a lot of luggage such as carrying a full PC in the days when laptop computers were almost toys relative to full PCs. In those days I was doing gigs showing audiences how to set up course presentation and management systems using a code writing-software called Toolbook (the main competitor ot Mac's Authorware).

Some taxi drivers just would not or could not help me get all this luggage in and out of the trunks of sedans. I made a point of not reducing my normal tips in such instances, because I appreciate that driving a taxi is a stressful and usually low-paying job. The main thing was that a driver nearly always got me to where I needed to be. Only once did I not tip or even pay a limo driver. I was in a big hurry late in the day after doing a presentation at a hotel in Washington DC. The limo driver who was scheduled ahead of time showed up a half hour late and headed out for a long trip to National Airport. After about six blocks his limo ran out of gas. I had to get out on the street with all my luggage and try to flag a cab (which gratefully succeeded). I got through security at the airport ten minutes before my flight home took off (the last one of the evening).

Another time I did tip a driver who announced that he probably did not have enough gas to get to the airport and that he did not have any cash to buy gas. This was in Monterrey, Mexico and I was grateful for not being robbed and stranded in countryside between the airport and the city. The driver had enough gas to get to a filling station near the airport. I paid to fill his tank and still gave him the full fare when we got to the airport. I was probably taken, but his gas gage did read "empty."

 


IRS Section 529 Savings Plans --- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/529_plan

Costs, Conflicts, and College Savings: Evaluating Section 529 Savings Plans

Virginia Law and Economics Research Paper No. 2019-04

SSRN
https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3343727
47 Pages
 Posted: 6 Nov 2019

Quinn Curtis

University of Virginia School of Law

Date Written: January 27, 2019

Abstract

Americans collectively save hundreds of billions of dollars for their children’s education in Section 529 college savings plans. These plans are sponsored by states and largely exempt from the legal regimes that typically apply to money managers. This is the first academic study to comprehensively evaluate the quality of menus offered by these plans. While some plans are cost-efficient, there is considerable variation, and many plans are egregiously expensive. While large 401(k) plans have average total costs of 0.3%, college savings plans average 0.31% in administrative fees alone, with investment expenses adding another 0.32%. Plans distributed through brokers are particularly costly. Controlling for size, broker-sold investments are twice as expensive as those sold direct to consumers, even before accounting for brokerage sales charges that may exceed five percent of invested assets. A careful examination of plans’ legal disclosures shows that some states generate significant revenue from plan fees and use that revenue to support activities that do not directly benefit plan investors, including subsidizing defined-benefit style plans. This cross-subsidization may undermine incentives for state administrators to negotiate lower costs and is in tension with state boards’ role as fiduciaries. These results raise questions about whose interests are served by 529 plans and whether investors are adequately protected by existing regulations.

Keywords: college savings, mutual funds, consumer investing, 

 




From the Scout Report on November 22, 2019

Magic Wormhole --- https://magic-wormhole.readthedocs.io/en/latest/
Magic Wormhole is a command-line tool for moving arbitrarily sized files or folders from one computer to another securely, without storing them on an intermediate server (e.g. Dropbox). It is designed primarily for situations where two users are already talking and need to exchange a file. To use Magic Wormhole, a sender issues a command such as wormhole send FILE and is given a "wormhole code" derived from a short, pronounceable, phonetically-distinct word list. The sender must then relay this code to the recipient. When the recipient runs wormhole receive and enters the provided code, the two computers then locate each other via a public "Rendezvous Server," establish a secure connection via Password-Authenticated Key Exchange, and transfer the specified data. Detailed API and protocol documentation describing exactly how this works is provided on the Magic Wormhole site. In the Installation portion of the site, users can locate installation instructions for macOS, Linux, and Windows computers. Magic Wormhole is distributed under the MIT license, with source code available on GitHub.


Transkribus --- https://transkribus.eu/Transkribus/
The Transkribus Wiki describes the project as "a comprehensive platform for the automated recognition, transcription, and searching of historical documents." Funded as part of the European Union's Recognition and Enrichment of Archival Documents (READ) project, Transkribus includes modules to perform a number of tasks, including: handwritten text recognition, OCR for typewritten texts, and document layout analysis. The project front page gives examples of how Transkribus can be useful for Archivists, Scientists, Scholars, and Volunteers. The How-To Guide linked on the project front page gives a detailed, step-by-step introduction to a basic Transkribus workflow. On the Wiki, users can locate additional guides that document more complex workflows. The Transkribus desktop client is available for Windows, macOS, and Linux.




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


Education Tutorials

Standard Ebooks (millions of free books) --- https://standardebooks.org/

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

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

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


Engineering, Science, and Medicine Tutorials

Stephen Hawking’s Black Hole Paradox Explained in Animation ---
http://www.openculture.com/2019/11/stephen-hawkings-black-hole-paradox-explained-in-animation.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+OpenCulture+%28Open+Culture%29

A History of Human Waste as Fertilizer ---
https://daily.jstor.org/a-history-of-human-waste-as-fertilizer/

Why do some people learn music more quickly than others?
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2019-11-smart-people-music-faster.html

The Geological Society: The Rock Cycle --- www.geolsoc.org.uk/ks3/gsl/education/resources/rockcycle.html

Interactive Geology Project --- http://igp.colorado.edu/

National Park Service: From Core to Crust --- www.nps.gov/teachers/classrooms/from-crust-to-core-crater-s-of-the-moon.htm

Don't Panic Geocast --- www.dontpanicgeocast.com

OneGeology --- www.onegeology.org

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

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


Social Science and Economics Tutorials

The First High-Resolution Map of America’s Food Supply Chain: How It All Really Gets from Farm to Table ---
http://www.openculture.com/2019/11/the-first-high-resolution-map-of-americas-food-supply-chain.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+OpenCulture+%28Open+Culture%29
Jensen Comment
Some graphs have too much detail even when its not enough detail. Perhaps the map should should color exports (think grain down the Mississippi river) from imports (think fruits and vegetables out of California, Texas, and Florida). In some way the map needs to distinguish food supply (think Iowa) from food flow through (think Mississippi).

Passamaquoddy Peoples' Knowledge Portal ---
https://passamaquoddypeople.com/

Adam Smith’s second way of minimizing the importance of economic inequality is to claim that it is a relatively gentle alternative to other forms of inequality that will emerge if economic inequality is reduced ---
https://www.bradford-delong.com/2019/11/adam-smith-wealth-inequality-prevents-more-damage.html

Marx and the Utopian Wilhelm Weitling ---
https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/40399878.pdf?seq=1

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

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


Law and Legal Studies

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


Math Tutorials

Three Physicists Stumbled Upon a Striking Mathematical Discovery ---
https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2019/11/neutrino-oscillations-lead-striking-mathematical-discovery/602128/ Having done some research in eigenvector scaling I found the above paper fascinating (although over my head at this point in my life) ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/127wp/127wp.htm#FourMatrixScalingMethods

 

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

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


History Tutorials

How Humans Migrated Across the Globe ---
http://www.openculture.com/2019/11/how-humans-migrated-across-the-globe-over-200000-years-an-animated-look.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+OpenCulture+%28Open+Culture%29

The First Words of Thanksgiving:  Anyone Got a Beer? ---
https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2019/11/the-first-words-of-thanksgiving.html

The Tragic Story of the Expulsion of the French Acadians from Their American Homeland ---
https://archive.org/details/greatnoblescheme00fara

African American --- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_American

Black History Mini Docs --- http://blackhistoryminidocs.com/

Goin' North: Stories from the First Great Migration to Philadelphia --- www.goinnorth.org

Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad --- 
https://edsitement.neh.gov/lesson-plans/harriet-tubman-and-underground-railroad 

Adam Smith’s second way of minimizing the importance of economic inequality is to claim that it is a relatively gentle alternative to other forms of inequality that will emerge if economic inequality is reduced ---
https://www.bradford-delong.com/2019/11/adam-smith-wealth-inequality-prevents-more-damage.html

Marx and the Utopian Wilhelm Weitling ---
https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/40399878.pdf?seq=1

Beautiful Bookstores ---
http://www.openculture.com/2019/07/how-to-read-many-more-books-in-a-year.html

A History of Human Waste as Fertilizer ---
https://daily.jstor.org/a-history-of-human-waste-as-fertilizer/

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

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


Language Tutorials

Lexitecture Language --- www.lexitecture.com

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


Music Tutorials

Why do some people learn music more quickly than others?
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2019-11-smart-people-music-faster.html

 

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

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


Writing Tutorials

Lexitecture Language --- www.lexitecture.com

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



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

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

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

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

November 15, 2019

·         Almost Half of Older Americans Fear Dementia, Try Untested Ways to Fight It

·         Apple Removes Vaping Apps From Store

·         Are Vaping Bans the Way to Go?

·         America's Sweet Tooth Starts From Infancy

·         Not Getting Enough Shut-Eye? You Have Plenty of Company

·         FDA Warns Dollar Store About Tainted OTC Drugs

·         U.S. Smoking Rate Hits New Low, But Vaping Rises

·         Personalized Vitamin Sites Grow Despite Doubts

·         Mindfulness May Be a Balm for Breast Cancer Patients

 November 18, 2019

·         Recall: Frozen Cat Food for Salmonella Concerns

·         Diabetes Tougher on Women's Hearts

·         Studies Confirm HPV Shot Is Safe

·         Cheap, Older Gout Drug Could Be a Lifesaver After Heart Attack

·         Study Casts Doubt on Angioplasty, Bypass for Many Heart Patients

·         Juul Delivers More Nicotine Than Other E-Cigarettes: Study

·         Almost Half of Older Americans Fear Dementia, Try Untested Ways to Fight It

·         Apple Removes Vaping Apps From Store

·         Are Vaping Bans the Way to Go?

November 19, 2019

·         States Act on Vaccine Exemptions as Outbreaks Rise

·         Umbilical Cord 'Milking' Dangerous for Preemies

·         New Type of Drug Might Ease Migraines

·         Recall: Breakstone Cottage Cheese for Plastic Bits

·         Most Parents Struggle to Spot Depression in Teens

·         Could Short People Have an Advantage When It Comes to A-Fib?

·         Feather Bedding Caused Man's Serious Lung Illness

·         Stereotypes About Girls and Math Don't Add Up, Scans Show

·         Trump Backs Off Flavored E-Cigarette Ban

November 20, 2019

·         Recall: Premade Salads at Target, Walmart

·         Forgive (and Maybe Forget) for a Healthier Life

·         California Sues Juul for Targeting Teens

·         HPV Blamed for Rising Rates of Anal Cancer

·         Medicare for All: FAQ

·         Study Spots Ties Between Rheumatoid Arthritis, Other Diseases

·         Recalls of Blood Pressure Med Took Toll on Patients' Health

·         What Happened to People With Half a Brain Removed

·         States Act on Vaccine Exemptions as Outbreaks Rise

November 22, 2019

·         Infants May Not Be as Immune to Measles as Thought

·         Doctors Spot a New, Severe Lung Illness Tied to Vaping

·         Can You Beat the Blues With 'Downward Dog'?

·         Recall: Premade Salads at Target, Walmart

·         Forgive (and Maybe Forget) for a Healthier Life

·         California Sues Juul for Targeting Teens

·         HPV Blamed for Rising Rates of Anal Cancer

·         Medicare for All: FAQ

·         Study Spots Ties Between Rheumatoid Arthritis, Other Diseases

November 23, 2019

·         Don't Let Salmonella Make Your Thanksgiving a Turkey

·         Time Has Finally Come for Sickle Cell Advancements

·         Two-Thirds of Child Abuse Survivors Do Well as Adults

·         4 in 5 Adolescents Worldwide Don't Exercise Enough

·         Bacteria Could Be Weapon Against Mosquito-Borne Dengue

·         Hep A Outbreak in 3 States Tied to Blackberries

·         Inducing Labor Safer Bet for Late-Term Pregnancies

·         Infants May Not Be as Immune to Measles as Thought

·         Doctors Spot a New, Severe Lung Illness Tied to Vaping

November 25, 2019

·                 Dramatic Rise in Eye Injuries From BB and Paintball Guns

·         Diet Pill, Laxative Use Often Precedes an Eating Disorder

·         Don't Let Salmonella Make Your Thanksgiving a Turkey

·         Time Has Finally Come for Sickle Cell Advancements

·         Two-Thirds of Child Abuse Survivors Do Well as Adults

·         4 in 5 Adolescents Worldwide Don't Exercise Enough

·         Bacteria Could Be Weapon Against Mosquito-Borne Dengue

·         Hep A Outbreak in 3 States Tied to Blackberries

·         Inducing Labor Safer Bet for Late-Term Pregnancies

November 26, 2019

·             Ducks & More: Animals Offer Flyers Emotional Support

·         Smallest Tots Spending Too Much Time on Screens

·         Can Air Pollution Take a Toll on Your Memory?

·         Ruth Bader Ginsburg Released From Hospital After Health Scare

·         Dramatic Rise in Eye Injuries From BB and Paintball Guns

·         Obesity May Change the Teen Brain, MRI Study Shows

·         Diet Pill, Laxative Use Often Precedes an Eating Disorder

·         Don't Let Salmonella Make Your Thanksgiving a Turkey

·         Time Has Finally Come for Sickle Cell Advancements

November 27, 2019

·         Dramatic Drop Seen in Kids Choking to Death on Household Objects

·         FDA Cracks Down on Illegal Marketing of CBD Products

·         Potentially Tainted Marijuana Sold in Colorado

·         Death Toll in Samoa Measles Epidemic Reaches 25

·         German Dies of Infection from Dog's Lick

·         Ducks & More: Animals Offer Flyers Emotional Support

·         Smallest Tots Spending Too Much Time on Screens

·         Can Air Pollution Take a Toll on Your Memory?

·         Ruth Bader Ginsburg Released From Hospital After Health Scare

VIEW ALL HEALTH NEWS


The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services' new Plan Finder platform is misleading seniors ---
https://www.businessinsider.com/cms-revamped-medicare-plan-finder-giving-seniors-false-information-2019-11


Neurosymphony: A High-Resolution Look into the Brain, Set to the Music of Brain Waves ---
http://www.openculture.com/2019/11/neurosymphony-a-high-resolution-look-into-the-brain-set-to-the-music-of-brain-waves.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+OpenCulture+%28Open+Culture%29


Listen to the Song
"Glasgow (No Place Like Home)" composed by Mary Steenburgen
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-l-Ly0ly4M

Mary Steenburgen --- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Steenburgen

Wild Rose Film --- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wild_Rose_(film)

The Wild Story of How Mary Steenburgen Wrote the Best Original Movie Song of the Year ---
https://www.indiewire.com/2019/11/mary-steenburgen-jessie-buckley-wild-rose-glasgow-best-original-song-1202189233/

Jensen Comment
This article does not answer many questions. For example, did Mary's knowledge of music measurably increase without study?
Did the surgery increase her ability to play an instrument like a piano or guitar?
That seems unlikely, although there are many unanswered questions about music and ability such as the seeming music ability of some very young children  before they are taught.
In any case I love this song.

It would be far worse in Mary's case if she woke up as a Republican.


Why telling people with diabetes to use Walmart "human" insulin can be dangerous advice ---
https://theconversation.com/why-telling-people-with-diabetes-to-use-walmart-insulin-can-be-dangerous-advice-125528

Type 2 diabetes is a reversible condition (maybe)---
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/09/170913084432.htm


Los Algodones, in Mexico, isn’t very big. Just 14 miles from Yuma, Arizona, it has fewer than 5,000 permanent residents. But Los Algodones has approximately 600 dentists, and they do huge business each year serving thousands of Americans and Canadians looking to save 40 to 60 percent on dental services ---
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/welcome-to-molar-city-mexico-the-dental-mecca-americas-health-care-costs-built_n_5dc5772ae4b0fcfb7f651721?1jg


Humor for October 2019

Southern Charm --- http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/3795823/posts

Posing With Sculptures ---
https://www.boredpanda.com/people-playing-with-statues-funny-posing/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=organic

Posing With Sculptures ---
https://www.elitereaders.com/fun-pictures-with-sculptures/

Cartoons About Bloggers ---
https://jborden.com/2019/11/19/this-cartoon-hits-too-close-to-home-too-often/

Answers to Questions That Stump Alexa ---
https://alexaanswers.amazon.com/

How to Mislead by Blaming the Calculator ---
https://jborden.com/2019/11/24/nice-try-but-you-cant-blame-the-calculator/
I think it's time for an IRS audit of this judge.




Humor November 2019--- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/book19q4.htm#Humor1119.htm

Humor October 2019--- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/book19q4.htm#Humor1019.htm  

Humor September 2019--- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/book19q3.htm#Humor0919.htm 

Humor August 2019--- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/book19q3.htm#Humor0819.htm 

Humor July 2019--- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/book19q3.htm#Humor0719.htm

Humor June 2019--- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/book19q2.htm#Humor0619.htm

Humor May 2019--- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/book19q2.htm#Humor0519.htm

Humor April 2019--- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/book19q2.htm#Humor0419.htm 

Humor March 2019--- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/book19q1.htm#Humor0319.htm

Humor February 2019--- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/book19q1.htm#Humor0219.htm 

Humor January 2019--- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/book19q1.htm#Humor0119.htm   

Humor December 2018--- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/book18q4.htm#Humor1218.htm  

Humor November 2018--- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/book18q4.htm#Humor1118.htm 

Humor October 2018--- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/book18q4.htm#Humor1118.htm

Humor October 2018--- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/book18q4.htm#Humor1018.htm   

Humor September 2018--- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/book18q3.htm#Humor0918.htm 

Humor August 2018 --- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/book18q3.htm#Humor0818.htm  

Humor July 2018--- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/book18q3.htm#Humor0718.htm 

Humor June 2018--- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/book18q2.htm#Humor0618.htm

Humor May 2018--- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/book18q2.htm#Humor0518.htm

Humor April 2018--- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/book18q2.htm#Humor0418.htm

Humor March 2018--- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/book18q1.htm#Humor0318.htm 

Humor February 2018--- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/book18q1.htm#Humor0218.htm

Humor January 2018--- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/book18q1.htm#Humor0118.htm 




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

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

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

Online Distance Education Training and Education --- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/Crossborder.htm
For-Profit Universities Operating in the Gray Zone of Fraud  (College, Inc.) --- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/HigherEdControversies.htm#ForProfitFraud

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

The Cult of Statistical Significance: How Standard Error Costs Us Jobs, Justice, and Lives ---
http://www.cs.trinity.edu/~rjensen/temp/DeirdreMcCloskey/StatisticalSignificance01.htm

How Accountics Scientists Should Change: 
"Frankly, Scarlett, after I get a hit for my resume in The Accounting Review I just don't give a damn"
http://www.cs.trinity.edu/~rjensen/temp/AccounticsDamn.htm
One more mission in what's left of my life will be to try to change this
http://www.cs.trinity.edu/~rjensen/temp/AccounticsDamn.htm 

What went wrong in accounting/accountics research?  ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/theory01.htm#WhatWentWrong

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

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

Bob Jensen's threads on accounting theory ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/theory01.htm

Tom Lehrer on Mathematical Models and Statistics ---
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gfZWyUXn3So

Systemic problems of accountancy (especially the vegetable nutrition paradox) that probably will never be solved ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/FraudConclusion.htm#BadNews

 

World Clock --- http://www.peterussell.com/Odds/WorldClock.php
Facts about the earth in real time --- http://www.worldometers.info/

Interesting Online Clock and Calendar --- http://home.tiscali.nl/annejan/swf/timeline.swf
Time by Time Zones --- http://timeticker.com/
Projected Population Growth (it's out of control) --- http://geography.about.com/od/obtainpopulationdata/a/worldpopulation.htm
         Also see http://users.rcn.com/jkimball.ma.ultranet/BiologyPages/P/Populations.html
        
Facts about population growth (video) --- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMcfrLYDm2U
Projected U.S. Population Growth --- http://www.carryingcapacity.org/projections75.html
Real time meter of the U.S. cost of the war in Iraq --- http://www.costofwar.com/ 
Enter you zip code to get Census Bureau comparisons --- http://zipskinny.com/
Sure wish there'd be a little good news today.

Free (updated) Basic Accounting Textbook --- search for Hoyle at
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/ElectronicLiterature.htm#Textbooks

CPA Examination --- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cpa_examination
Free CPA Examination Review Course Courtesy of Joe Hoyle --- http://cpareviewforfree.com/

Rick Lillie's education, learning, and technology blog is at http://iaed.wordpress.com/

Accounting News, Blogs, Listservs, and Social Networking ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/AccountingNews.htm

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

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

Some of Bob Jensen's Tutorials

Many useful accounting sites (scroll down) --- http://www.iasplus.com/links/links.htm

 

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

Some Accounting History Sites

Bob Jensen's Accounting History in a Nutshell and Links --- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/theory01.htm#AccountingHistory
 

Accounting History Libraries at the University of Mississippi (Ole Miss) --- http://www.olemiss.edu/depts/accountancy/libraries.html
The above libraries include international accounting history.
The above libraries include film and video historical collections.

MAAW Knowledge Portal for Management and Accounting --- http://maaw.info/

Academy of Accounting Historians and the Accounting Historians Journal ---
http://www.accounting.rutgers.edu/raw/aah/

Sage Accounting History --- http://ach.sagepub.com/cgi/pdf_extract/11/3/269

A nice timeline on the development of U.S. standards and the evolution of thinking about the income statement versus the balance sheet is provided at:
"The Evolution of U.S. GAAP: The Political Forces Behind Professional Standards (1930-1973)," by Stephen A. Zeff, CPA Journal, January 2005 --- http://www.nysscpa.org/cpajournal/2005/105/infocus/p18.htm
Part II covering years 1974-2003 published in February 2005 --- http://www.nysscpa.org/cpajournal/2005/205/index.htm 

A nice timeline of accounting history --- http://www.docstoc.com/docs/2187711/A-HISTORY-OF-ACCOUNTING

From Texas A&M University
Accounting History Outline --- http://acct.tamu.edu/giroux/history.html

Bob Jensen's timeline of derivative financial instruments and hedge accounting ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/FraudRotten.htm#DerivativesFrauds

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

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

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

All my online pictures --- http://www.cs.trinity.edu/~rjensen/PictureHistory/

 

Professor Robert E. Jensen (Bob) http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen
190 Sunset Hill Road
Sugar Hill, NH 03586
Phone:  603-823-8482 
Email:  rjensen@trinity.edu