What 'confirmation bias' is and how it affects our beliefs
‘Confirmation Bias’ – what it is and how it works
Blogger Bob Braun rips testing giant Pearson’s privacy invasion practices wide open
With amplification from Diane Ravitch (where you can also read the text of Bob’s original post if his website is still inaccessible), Washington Post, Daily Kos, a growing number of local news portals and now The War Report radio show, Bob Braun has busted wide open the practice of standardized testing giant Pearson Education to spy on and oppress students using Pearson Streamlines Social Media Listening and Monitoring With Tracx. It’s more than shocking.
Bob Braun’s Ledger reported the exclusive story that Pearson is monitoring students’ social media accounts during PARCC testing … and that both Pearson and the NJDOE called for the punishment of a student who had tweeted after taking the test, although school authorities knew – and had reported – that the student did not share any sensitive information. This Watchung Regional High School District Superintendent’s letter was leaked to Braun and started the snowball rolling.
What incensed Diane Ravitch and motivated her to immediately publicize Braun’s March 13 scoop was the Denial of Service (DOS) attack that was launched to disable Braun’s blog while server administrators scrambled to engage protocols to shut the attack down and make the site accessible again. How do we know that the problem was a DOS attack and not simply a lot of interest in reading Braun’s post? Because Braun’s web host contacted him and said so. Braun explains:
Bob Braun’s Ledger is back up but is still very slow. It’s probably easier to get to it through something other than Facebook. Initially, I thought–vainly– the site was acting up because of the number of people reading it. Then I got an email from my webhost saying the site was under a “denial of service” attack.
The webhost itself then suspended the site to stop the attacks and to give it time to repair the problem and install fixes to prevent future attacks. It seems to have come back up–for now–but clearly someone wanted it down. I’m flattered. And I am so grateful to all of those I know and do not know who sent messages of support and got around the siege by posting PDFs of the original blog. Ironically, I have not been a vocal anti-PARCC or anti-Common Core voice. But the idea that a global corporation and a state agency would cooperate to entrap children in their schemes chills me to my very old bones. What makes it worse is the indifference of the mainstream media and, of course, the thuggery represented by trying to destroy what was a very straight news story. I know distinctly what side I’m on now. Stop the corporate spies and their collaboration with government. Refuse the test. I do not believe in conspiracy theories but I do believe in conspiracies and this is one helluva big one.
Discontent with Pearson is growing and hard questions are increasingly being directed at state governments that support and fund them. On 04 March 2015, Eric Kiefer of the Patch reported a protest by
…a coalition of education, labor and community advocates (protested) the $83 million tax break the corporate giant received from the NJ Economic Development Authority (NJ EDA) for moving 628 employees from Bergen County to Hudson County.
NJ Working Families points out that those $83M dollars were spent for nothing, as after the move Pearson took 600 jobs to New York City.
This afternoon at 5pm EST on Sun 15 March 2015, you can catch Braun on air with Dr. James Miller of the War Report discussing the dawning revelation of Pearson as the Orwellian Big Brother in American public education.
What can we do to fight back?
Yale sponsors 1st African Arts & Culture Festival
Africa Salon, Yale’s first annual contemporary African arts and culture festival — featuring some of today’s top artists from the continent and diaspora — will take place on Friday and Saturday, March 27 and 28.
Hosted by the Yale Africa Initiative, the interactive event will include a series of panels, readings, exhibits, and performances.
The event will open on Friday evening with a panel moderated by Michael Veal, professor of music and African American studies. Saturday’s events will include a series of panels — each accompanied by a performance or visual presentation — highlighting key artists and their work in contemporary African literature, visual art, film, music, fashion, and dance. At each panel, faculty and students who are producing artistic work on Africa will be featured.
A free-to-the-public concert will held at Battel Chapel, located at 400 College Street, New Haven. Other events take place at the Afro-American Cultural Center, 211 Park St. Registration is $20 for the public and $10 for students.
View the full schedule and register for Africa Salon at africasalon.org. More information about the festival at YaleNews.
Thanks for the share Kevin Blythe Sampson
Uptown Funk is good! – in both original & viola flavors
Uptown Funk song & video are just plain good. And Brother Jeremy Green does it up nice on viola too. Here’s the original by Mark Ronson featuring Bruno Mars.
But for now to see Jeremy Green’s version on viola, you need to visit I Love Being Black’s Facebook Page:
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New federal sign regulations drive change on the Garden State Parkway
On the GSP, New Exit 41 opens in Atlantic City area today to provide direct access to Jimmie Leeds Road. Until now, Motorists have accessed the road by driving through the AC service area.
And in a few days, Woodbridge area drivers in the low 130s will get a bit of an exit shuffle on either side of the highway. NJ.com’s @LarryHiggs explains:
What’s changing? On the northbound parkway, Exit 131 will become Exit 132, Feeney said. On the southbound parkway, Exit 131 will become Exit 132 and Exit 131A will become Exit 131, Feeney said.
Southbound drivers also will have to get used to a new sign and a new sign color. The destination on the overhead sign for the new Exit 131 will change from “Metropark” to “Wood Avenue South.” The sign color will change from blue to the tradition exit sign green, he said.
Footballer Striker has harsh words for SAE Frat
U of Oklahama footballer Striker posted a furious Snapchat rebuttal to SAE fraternity’s racist chant.
Politics USA posted this transcript:
“You’re the same mother f*ckers telling us racism don’t exist… f*ck you phony-ass, fraud-ass b*tches. I’m so mother f*cking fierce right now, SAE you’ve f*cked it up for all white fraternities. The same mother f*ckers sitting out here giving us hugs … telling us you really love us. F*ck you!”
Thriving local economies means more health & resilience
Walmart and Target say they help communities overcome health issues and the ill effects of poverty but the reverse is true.Institute for Local Self-Reliance’s Stacey Mitchell writes about the difference between communities with thriving local economies and those dominated by Big Box retail giants:
… study found that counties dominated by a few big firms have … less engaged citizens than those in which economic activity is dispersed across many locally owned businesses. “We find that residents of communities with highly concentrated economies (ed note: where big box stores predominate) tend to vote less and are less likely to keep up with local affairs, participate in associations, engage in reform efforts or participate in protest activities at the same levels as their counterparts in economically dispersed environments (ed note: where small businesses proliferate)…”.
Sociologists Stephan Goetz and Anil Rupasingha have linked this decline in civic participation to Walmart specifically. With each Walmart store that opens, social capital erodes, their research finds. Communities with more Walmart stores have lower voter turnout and fewer active nonprofit organizations. In their latest study, published in June, they’ve documented a correlation between Walmart and the presence of hate groups.
Still other research has linked the regional market share of large retail chains with higher rates of poverty, infant mortality, and crime.
Why is local ownership so nourishing to the social and civic fabric of communities? One (reason is) local business owners themselves. Their personal and financial interests are tied to the community’s well-being and, as a result, they are often active in various civic endeavors. While small business owners gain prestige and influence by contributing to community improvement, corporate managers garner status by advancing the company’s interest, even at the expense of the community.
Another reason is that cities with a strong entrepreneurial culture and local control of economic resources have more capacity to solve problems on their own and are more resilient and adaptable in times of distress. Those that are dependent on outside corporations have little ability to marshal resources to overcome challenges.
Laws making it illegal to feed homeless in 33 cities must be reversed
On HuffPo, Rabbi Shmuly Yanklowitz writes about the 90 year old man arrested for feeding the homeless: “Arnold Abbott in Fort Lauderdale was arrested twice for publicly helping feed the vulnerable in his community.” And adds:
Astonishingly, according to the National Coalition for the Homeless, 33 American cities passed new restrictions on feeding the homeless between January 2013-April 2014.
Jews are commanded against following these laws, since we are obligated to feed and tend to the most vulnerable in our midst. The Shulchan Aruch writes:
If someone comes and says, “feed me,” you don’t check him to see if he is an imposter, but you feed him right away. If there is a naked person who comes and says, “give me clothing,” you check him to see if he is an imposter. And if you know him, you give him clothing right away (Yoreh Deah, Laws of Tzedakah, 251:10).
America’s war on compassion – and cellphone charging?
Add this story to the growing evidence that a war is being waged in America to make compassion a crime and to deny the most basic services to our #neighborswithnoaddress – the vast US homeless population of over half a million people. Which by the way ‘but for the Grace of God‘ could be you or me. Emily Green of Street Roots News reports on the plight of “Jackie”, whom police arrested for theft for charging her cellphone in an outside receptacle located in a planter box in Old Town, Portland. This story was reported by Street Roots, a Portland newspaper that serves the poor and homeless.
The net cost of Jackie’s alleged electricity theft was probably about 1/50th of a cent but this did not deter the justice system from requiring several court appearances, putting her in jail for a night and attempting to bully Jackie into pleading guilty, which would have annihilated the homeless woman’s chance at qualifying for a public housing subsidy. Jackie has MS and hopes to get housing now that she has begun receiving disability checks.
Gary L. Everest Tells about Street Roots newspaper:
“Street Roots” is a local newspaper with it’s home in Old Town. It’s dedicated to issues facing the homeless and sold on the streets around Portland by ambitious homeless men and women. It’s a great way for them to earn some money and I must say, the vendors are always respectful and never aggressive. At least one individual, who sold the paper outside of “Trader Joe’s” on NW Glisan was known for helping customers with grocery carts. When he passed away a year or two ago, there was quite an outpouring of feeling for this kind soul.
Has Facebook stepped up censorship?
Oh man. Facebook just tried to block me (using a discouraging warning) from following a link.
This a new level of censorship. Cut it out, guys 🙁
This a new level of censorship. Cut it out, guys 🙁
Haven’t you heard – Net neutrality is now law in the United States?
Wyndham, don’t persecute the homeless
My statement to Wyndham Hotels on their Facebook page:
Your ambiguous statement about the homeless couple you threw out into 9º weather altho a benefactor had paid for the room for them is just meaningless lip service. You need to do better with a policy change. You also refused to refund the room fee the benefactor paid. That’s plain nasty.
The generous benefactors paid for three nights for the homeless couple and did give it back, but only after 110,000 people signed a Care2 Petition condemning Wyndham’s actions.
Wyndham responded:
Super 8 has refunded the paying couple, and after receiving signatures from you and 110,000 other Care2 members, Wyndham Hotel Group CEO Geoff Ballotti apologized. He has promised that the company will send franchise owners “additional guidance for these types of situations in the future.”
How-to safely enjoy drinking on Purim
Once a year on Purim, Jews celebrate our deliverance from annihilation in Persia and just for this holiday, it’s OK for Jews to drink enough to become tipsy. Comedian Sol Auerbach shares good advice on how to enjoy the pleasant effects of an alcohol buzz without causing bodily harm to yourself – tips that are good for any occasion when people are imbibing spirits. Thanks Sol!
In a nutshell: drink a lot of water to stay hydrated, eat and stop if you begin to feel woozy. Here’s Saul’s complete list:
Enjoy alcohol drinks on Purim without getting sick, hungover, or worse
This will keep your body hydrated and seriously reduce your chances of passing out, getting sick/hungover, or G-d forbid ending up in a hospital.
Dehydration is one of the main causes of hangover symptoms and drinking water along with any alcoholic beverage can prevent those symptoms. Drinking a cup of water before you start drinking alcohol, and after every drink (or every two drinks) will go a long way towards relieving hangover discomfort.
DON’T drink a whole lot of alcohol and wait until you need to throw up until you finally drink some water. Wherever you go, bring at least 2 bottles of water with you and follow every 1 or 2 drinks with at least 5 ounces of water.
Drinking on an empty stomach is simply dangerous. Most people don’t realize that drinking alcohol on an empty stomach should be avoided because it leads more quickly to intoxication. Neither do they realize what a big difference drinking with food in the stomach can really make. For example, Swedish researchers had a group of people consume a few drinks after an overnight fast. The next day they had the group consume the same amount of alcohol in the same amount of time after eating a modest breakfast. After having breakfast, the group had a much lower average blood alcohol level — only 75% of the BAC reached when drinking on an empty stomach.
Eating food – especially proteins, fats and dense carbohydrates – slows down the intoxication rate, as does drinking slowly.
Don’t drink too fast, too much at once, and don’t chug. Chugging is very dangerous because it leads to faster intoxication as the alcohol is absorbed directly into the bloodstream and neutralizes the body’s ability to reject the toxin by vomiting.
If youre fasting on Taanis Esther then avoid getting drunk Purim night. Save it for Purim day time.
If you do not drink to the point of total intoxication, your chances of vomiting or getting sick/hungover is very slim. Although there are exceptions, generally only people who drink to excess will experience sickness.
DON’T play the game of, “I know what I could handle.” Play the game of, “I know when to stop.”
Some days our bodies are not able to handle the same amount of alcohol as it has on prior days. Just because you were able to handle X amount of drinks at previous parties and situations, this IN NO WAY indicates you will be able to handle that same amount of alcohol.
The number one reason people end up hospitalized for drinking too much is because they had previously drank the same amount of alcohol without having any problems and so did it again. The same way you can’t handle the same amount of food or soda every day, you can’t handle the same amount of alcohol each time you drink. Regardless of how much or little you drank, as soon as you feel any symptoms of drunkenness (slight head-aches, dizziness, nausea, needing to vomit etc), stop drinking alcohol IMMEDIATELY and drink some water.
Language barrier is no more thanks to Google app
Struggle with language issues when you’re traveling, trying to chat up a potential foreign love or doing business? Struggle no more, there’s an app for that! Google Translate on Android or iPhone instantly translates conversations & signs – even when there’s no internet connection. See real-time translations of words your camera sees. Or set up instant audio translation with a couple of clicks.
Barak Turovsky, product lead for Google Translate explains how this works once you’ve put the app in conversation mode:
…simply tap the mic to start speaking in a selected language, then tap the mic again, and the Google Translate app will automatically recognize which of the two languages are being spoken… For the rest of the conversation, you won’t need to tap the mic again — it’ll be ready as you need it. Asking for directions to the Rive Gauche, ordering bacalhau in Lisbon, or chatting with your grandmother in her native Spanish just got a lot faster…
This is the first time some of these advanced features, like camera translations and conversation mode, will be available for iOS users.
Happiness, captured in a moment
100 photos of moments that made the photographers happy, culled from lots and lots of entries … for the International Day of Happiness 2014 aka World Happy Day.Are Grammys trying to set value for black musicians?
HuffPost reviewer Kim Lute hated Beyonce’s grammy performance of “Take My Hand, Precious Lord” so much I had to see for myself what the hullabaloo was all about. She writes:
…Beyoncé (as well as her much talked about cast of put-upon black men) fumble(d) and falter(ed) her way through Mahalia Jackson’s classic, “Precious Lord, Take My Hand”
@KimLute‘s criticism of Beyoncé’s performance is a bit extreme, but it’s completely clear that Beyoncé is no gospel singer. She lacks both range and the vocal ability to extend a note. In light of recent observations about racism permeating the Grammys, Lute’s next comment seems spot-on:
That the song is so closely associated with a film that captured man’s inhumanity to man, the misguided belief that what’s black is decidedly less than, and what is lighter is inherently better, worthier of praise and advancement, was given to a lighter singer over a darker one shows just how pervasive racial idolization remains in American culture.
The decision not to invite Selma soundtrack’s performer Ledisi to share her moving gospel version of “Precious Lord, Take My Hand” replete with soaring and crystal clear notes at this year’s Grammys, was very likely motivated by simple racism. “Ledisi, with a crown of enviable braids and beautiful dark skin,” doesn’t fit the image Grammy Awards’ management wishes to portray as the face of today’s music business.
In fact, choosing Beyoncé to perform the Selma theme without acknowledging Ledisi’s powerful rendition of the classic in any way, may have disingenuously encapsulated the philosophy of the 2015 Grammy Awards … in which lip service to the black community was paid with spotlight performances but black artists’ recognition failed to correspond with the place they enjoy in the minds and hearts of the worldwide marketplace. Disparagement may be a sign of old white men’s awareness that they’re on the cusp of losing control over lives they have become accustomed to dominate and exploit: after all, when American white men weren’t allowed to own black as slaves any longer, they formed sports leagues, entertainment companies … and institutions like the Grammys. Hip-Hop artist Brother Ali remarks, “White supremacy shapeshifts with the times … we don’t have to own black people’s bodies as long as we can own everything they create and produce.”
Perhaps in response to critics, Beyoncé released a documentary video with snippets from her performance and statements from the men who accompanied her on stage.
“I wanted to find real men that have lived, have struggled, cried, have a light and a spirit about them,” she said in the eight-minute video. “I felt like this is an opportunity to show the strength and vulnerability in Black men.”