Democratic control of Congress preferred 69%-28% over Republicans, majority of young Democrats “definitely voting” in midterm elections, Harvard youth poll find – “A new national poll of America’s 18- to 29-year-olds by Harvard’s Institute of Politics (IOP), located at the Kennedy School of Government, finds a marked increase in the number of young Americans who… Continue Reading
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Monthly Archives: April 2018
Trio of articles – Court rules women can’t be paid less than men based on past wages; Sexual harassment at work; the Womanly Art of Having an Opinion
This is still an issue for women in 2018 [why]…via ABCNews: “Employers cannot pay women less than men for the same work based on differences in their salaries at previous jobs, a federal appeals court said Monday. Pay differences based on prior salaries are discriminatory under the federal Equal Pay Act, a unanimous 11-judge panel… Continue Reading
Facebook data from 87M plus users may be be stored in Russia and Zuckerberg’s testimony to Congress
Begin with The New York Times – Zuckerberg Gets a Crash Course in Charm. Will Congress Care? Then proceed to Mark Zuckerberg’s written testimony posted prior to his appearance before the House Committee on Energy and Commerce – April 11, 2018: “We face a number of important issues around privacy, safety, and democracy, and you… Continue Reading
Nearly Half of Corporate Giants Escape IRS Audit in 2017
“The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) reports that nationally there are now 616 corporate giants. These are companies that reported $20 billion or more in assets. As recently as FY 2010 virtually every (96%) corporate giant received an IRS audit. By FY 2016, this had fallen to only three out of four (76%). And last year,… Continue Reading
Research – The Myth of the Criminal Immigrant
The Marshall Project – The link between immigration and crime</span exists in the imaginations of Americans, and nowhere else. “…As of 2017, according to Gallup polls, almost half of Americans agreed that immigrants make crime worse. But is it true that immigration drives crime? Many studies have shown that it does not. Immigrant populations in… Continue Reading
Stanford researchers use machine-learning algorithm to measure changes in gender, ethnic bias in U.S.
Stanford News: New Stanford research shows that, over the past century, linguistic changes in gender and ethnic stereotypes correlated with major social movements and demographic changes in the U.S. Census data. “Artificial intelligence systems and machine-learning algorithms have come under fire recently because they can pick up and reinforce existing biases in our society, depending… Continue Reading
Estimated two-thirds of tweeted links to popular websites are posted by bots
Pew: “The role of so-called social media “bots” – automated accounts capable of posting content or interacting with other users with no direct human involvement – has been the subject of much scrutiny and attention in recent years. These accounts can play a valuable part in the social media ecosystem by answering questions about a… Continue Reading
Advocates Say Google’s YouTube Violates Federal Children’s Privacy Law
“Today, CCFC and the Center for Digital Democracy took a groundbreaking step to protect children’s privacy: We filed a Federal Trade Commission Complaint detailing how Google is breaking the law by collecting personal data from children on YouTube without parental consent. Our landmark complaint is supported by a coalition of 23 consumer and privacy groups.… Continue Reading
Elsevier launches Mendeley Data to manage entire lifecycle of research data
News release: “Elsevier, the information analytics business specializing in science and health, has launched Mendeley Data, a new, cloud-based platform designed to help universities and researchers manage, share and showcase their research data. With Mendeley Data, researchers can safely record and share research data while improving its reuse via publication, while universities can showcase institutional… Continue Reading
NYT – The Case of Hong Kong’s Missing Booksellers
New York Times Magazine – As China’s Xi Jinping consolidates power, owners of Hong Kong bookstores trafficking in banned books find themselves playing a very dangerous game: “…The Chinese government has long sought to shape and control information, but the scope and intensity of this effort was something new — and its origins could be… Continue Reading
‘Gag Clauses’ and Prescription Drug Prices – Consumer Reports
Consumer Reports – “When you fill a prescription at your local drugstore, you probably assume that using your insurance is the best—maybe even the only—way to pay. So you might be surprised to learn that you can sometimes pay less if you don’t use your insurance. And there’s a good reason that counterintuitive cost-saving strategy… Continue Reading
Berkeley offers its fastest-growing course – data science – online, for free
Berkeley News: “The fastest-growing course in UC Berkeley’s history — Foundations of Data Science — is being offered free online this spring for the first time through the campus’s online education hub, edX. Data science is becoming important to more and more people because the world is increasingly data-driven — and not just science and… Continue Reading
