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    • Mar 14, 2018
    • 8 min read

Bisbee Wire/data mining, mining bitcoin/teachers on the picket line/technology/lots more/2018 March

Hello,

Well this issue has turned into a batch of info; a firehose of information (see below) and none of it false. If you read just one thing, the article on corporations paying for the privilege of using our personal data for their private profit should be it; very original and provocative thinking.

The Democratic win in Pennsylvania's congressional race yesterday may be a harbinger of things to come in the fall. But not without effort. Although it seems archaic in these times of instant information, political campaigns need people to do the grunt work of identifying voters, making phone calls, helping voters get to the polls, and much more. There can't be a reliance on 'them' or 'they'. 'They' and 'them' are you and us. You lose your cred to bitch if you don't participate.

The legislature is in session and doing their best to reduce corporate taxes to zero. The siphoning off of public education money to private schools actually is accelerated via SB1467. Let em know about it!

fred

BISBEE MENTIONS

Congrats to Michael Page... He designed several sets used in the production of the Academy awards with many elements coming from Bisbee. The stairway of the Gadson Hotel in Douglas was the key visual feature in the background during several awards. Michael is low key, but has worked on high profile stuff. This article outlines it. http://www.myheraldreview.com/news/community/a-night-at-the-academy-awards/article_717ea294-21c8-11e8-80e6-f7a80790633b.html?utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook&utm_campaign=user-share

........................... Another in a discover-bisbee-type article...https://www.thrillist.com/travel/nation/most-underrated-city-to-visit-every-state ............................ Opportunity knocks for some print facetime. The Herald Review has runs an article about young professionals in Cochise County. It focuses on one person once a week or so and the person is self-selected, so if you are under 40ish and want to toot your horn a bit or give some pub to the org or biz you work for, here is the link to do so. The article is about yourself, who you work for, what you like about the area, interests, etc. https://www.myheraldreview.com/site/forms/young-professionals/ <><><><><><><>><>

SELF DRIVING TRUCKS ON THE ROAD IN AZ https://www.cnet.com/news/uber-self-driving-trucks-in-arizona-autonomous-vehicles-move-freight/?ftag=CAD090e536&bhid=24867379272108267615610596432948 <><><><<><><><><><> ARIZONA LEGISLATURE: MORE THEFT OF ROADS TAXES:  One of many revealing articles about how the Arizona legislature steals money from road taxes to pay for their favorite whatever. A tax on rental cars in 2001 specifically said the funds were to be used for roads. However the dough was used for promotion of sports facilities and sports tourism. Despite a court ruling the tax was unconstitutional, it continues to be collected and the State.

https://www.autoslash.com/blog-and-tips/posts/the-fee-detective-visits-arizona-and-encounters-an-illegal-tax (By the way if you are renting a car you can't beat Autoslash ...is free, can get you the lowest price on rental cars, and if prices change will inform you of the lower cost. We have saved more than $300 over the past two years of traveling by using their services. Autoslash.com <><><><><><><><><><><><>

GET RID OF "THE MEDIA" AS A DESCRIPTIVE TERM This discussion is helpful and interesting in sorting out what is meant by "the media" and why it is important to distinguish sources.  https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/why-does-everyone-hate-the-media/?ex_cid=SigDig.

The media is not a particularly useful term to describe anything. As this paper makes clear. from: https://medium.com/trust-media-and-democracy/avoiding-the-echo-chamber-about-echo-chambers-6e1f1a1a0f3

"On television, media outlets with a significant partisan or ideological slant simply do not reach most of the U.S. population. The audience of Fox News and MSNBC peaks at 2 million to 3 million for well-known shows by hosts like Sean Hannity and Rachel Maddow in prime time. By comparison, about 24 million Americans tune into nightly network news broadcasts on NBC, ABC, and CBS and over 10 million viewers watch these networks’ Sunday morning political talk shows. These audiences are in turn dwarfed by those for entertainment, where programs like The Big Bang Theory and Sunday Night Football attract as many as 20 million viewers.

Online news audience data tells a similar story. For instance, Breitbart ranked as only the 281st most trafficked site in the United States in April 2017. By comparison, The Washington Post and The New York Times ranked in the top 40 sites by traffic. All are dwarfed by sites dedicated to entertainment and shopping."

........................ TECHNOLOGY

PAYING THE PUBLIC FOR MINING DATA: A TRULY ORIGINAL IDEA We are tracked everywhere we go online, that data is then used to sell us stuff, sell us emotions, sell us candidates, and even sell us new online lives. The article suggests that data harvested from us should be used for the benefit of us, not just corporations. This is not nationalism of corporations, but something more akin to the Alaska Fund-a sharing of a resource. Read on for some original thinking about the huge problem of private acquisition of our lives. https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/mar/14/tech-big-data-capitalism-give-wealth-back-to-people?utm_source=esp&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=GU+Today+USA+-+Collections+2017&utm_term=267455&subid=20881720&CMP=GT_US_collection

"...It would begin with the recognition, that all of the data extracted within a country is the common property of everyone who lives in that country."

"...In exchange for permission to extract and refine our data, companies would be required to pay a certain percentage of their data revenue into a sovereign wealth fund. The fund could use that capital to acquire other income-producing assets, as the Alaskan fund has, and pay out an annual dividend to all citizens. If it were generous enough, this dividend could even function as a universal basic income..." <><><><><><><><><><><><><> HOW TO BLOCK ADS AND TRACKING An article on what apps to use for either/both ads and tracking. https://www.consumerreports.org/digital-security/to-protect-against-websites-that-spy-on-you-get-an-adblocker/?EXTKEY=EH82END2a&utm_source=acxiom&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=20180306_cromc_engagewkly20 ................................. HOW TO BLOCK FACEBOOK FACE RECOGNITION Facebook has a new feature, than can be annoying while collecting personal info about you. Block it. Here's how. https://www.cnet.com/how-to/turn-off-facebook-facial-recogition-feature/?ftag=CAD3c77551&bhid=24867379272108267615610596432948

............................ TRUMPIE WATCH

Like watching a magician, don't be fooled by the flim flam, watch the hand not doing anything. What that reveals is despite the mumbo mumbo jumbo and lies, very conservative policy decisions are being made and implemented. This article details the power centers within the Trumpie admin.

................ POLITICS

THE NATIVES ARE GETTING RESTLESS.... Oklahoma Teachers may Strike in April, state employees will support them with walkout. Teachers are leading a resurgence of union action. If low pay is not addressed by the Oklahoma state legislature, a strike is planned with support from other public employees.

With the huge transfer of funds to charter schools proposed by the AZ lege (see below), perhaps Arizona teachers may have to strike to put  some pressure on the dribble down/economic challenged legislature. http://m.newsok.com/article/5586584?ex_cid=SigDig

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Arizona lege voting for massive giveaway to charter schools From the folks trying to stop the flow of education dough to private pockets https://azschoolsnow.org/petition/wheres-the-plan/

Two weeks ago, we alerted you to SB1467, a bill AZ Senate lawmakers are pushing to expand School Tuition Organization tax credits, which are simply "vouchers by another name."Instead of listening to their constituents, lawmakers doubled down and now the expansion is bigger than ever. It passed the full Senate and has moved on to the House. Call your representatives today to tell them you oppose this disastrous scheme that diverts public revenue to private schools!

Before, the bill expanded STOs but would have also capped the program. Now, the bill's sponsor has stripped the caps entirely. These credits lost Arizona more than $1 billion in revenue meant for public education last year alone. Now, STOs will keep growing so fast that, by 2027, corporations could owe the state nothing at all in taxes.

SB1467, sponsored by Senate President Steve Yarbrough (R-17), will be heard in the House Ways and Means Committee on Wednesday, March 14 (10 am, House Hearing Room 1). If you attend, be sure to wear #RedforEd! Here are directions for getting to the Capitol and where to park. Use Request to Speak, then call your representatives to OPPOSE.

Every dollar given to a STO is a dollar missing from the state's general fund--missing from our public schools. Save Our Schools Arizona was born of outrage over taxpayer dollars being diverted from our starving public schools into private pockets. It's time to remind our lawmakers that our state needs sensible solutions for education, not more voucher schemes.

Contact your state House representatives NOW to ask them to oppose SB1467. You can make a difference!

Please sign the https://azschoolsnow.org/petition/wheres-the-plan/  and when you tweet or post to social media, use the hashtag #WheresThePlan.

..............................

CONSERVATIVE ATTACKS ON EDUCATION NOT CONFINED TO CHARTERS Ah yes, those poor discredited dead white euro-oriented men are once again being raised from the grave by conservative efforts in higher education. In an effort to disparage 'liberal' interpretations in economics and political thought, conservative donors are funding departments to study 'original' thought. ASU and U of A are two public universities where this is happening. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/26/us/arizona-state-conservatives.html?emc=edit_cn_20180226&nl=first-draft&nl_art=&nlid=61005435&ref=headline&te=1

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<><><><><><><><>><>< THE PROBLEM WITH NATIONAL DEMOCRATS The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee aired ads against a democratic progressive candidate in Texas.  This kind of interference reflects ongoing division in the Democratic party; the moderate/Clintonian wing of democrats who control the national apparatus and the progressive grass roots who do the grunt work of identifying and turning out voters. The Democrats at the national level continue to stifle change in the party opting to try to run 'safe' candidates. It's a losing strategy. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/feb/26/democratic-party-laura-moser-texas?utm_source=esp&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=GU+Today+USA+-+Collections+2017&utm_term=265681&subid=20881720&CMP=GT_US_collection

RACE SCIENCE RISES FROM THE DEAD "Race science isn’t going away any time soon. Its claims can only be countered by the slow, deliberate work of science and education. And they need to be – not only because of their potentially horrible human consequences, but because they are factually wrong. The problem is not, as the right would have it, that these ideas are under threat of censorship or stigmatization because they are politically inconvenient. Race science is bad science. Or rather, it is not science at all." https://www.theguardian.com/news/2018/mar/02/the-unwelcome-revival-of-race-science?utm_source=esp&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=GU+Today+USA+-+Collections+2017&utm_term=266062&subid=20881720&CMP=GT_US_collection

<><><><><><><><><>>> THE FIREHOSE OF FALSEHOOD https://www.rand.org/pubs/perspectives/PE198.html This is an important paper relating to propaganda from the Rand corporation. I have cited it before, but it bears repeating. There is no doubt, and plenty of evidence, that Russia influenced the 2016 elections. They did it by changing their primary propaganda method to that of blasting (the firehose) continual lies (the falsehoods) through many social media and traditional media outlets. These same methods continue to be refined and used by Russia as well as white supremacists, extreme right wingers, conspiracy theorists, and the White House. This is a sample from the paper cited below.  "...The Russian propaganda model is high-volume and multichannel, and it disseminates messages without regard for the truth. It is also rapid, continuous, and repetitive, and it lacks commitment to consistency. Although these techniques would seem to run counter to the received wisdom for successful information campaigns, research in psychology supports many of the most successful aspects of the model. Furthermore, the very factors that make the firehose of falsehood effective also make it difficult to counter. Traditional counterpropaganda approaches will likely be inadequate in this context. More effective solutions can be found in the same psychology literature that explains the surprising success of the Russian propaganda model and its messages.

Recommendations Forewarn audiences of misinformation, or merely reach them first with the truth, rather than retracting or refuting false "facts."Prioritize efforts to counter the effects of Russian propaganda, and focus on guiding the propaganda's target audience in more productive directions.Compete with Russian propaganda. Both the United States and NATO have the potential to prevent Russia from dominating the information environment.Increase the flow of information that diminishes the effectiveness of propaganda, and, in the context of active hostilities, attack the means of dissemination.>

.................................. EVERYTHING ELSE

The AR-15 BULLET CROWN; see the pic There is an offshoot of a Moonie church in Sanctuary, Penn. Recently they held a blessing of the AR-15 and a few other guns. Scroll through slides out as they worship the AR-15, and keep going to see the crown of bullets! Tres Chic! https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/blessing-the-ar-15/ss-BBJHBRq?ocid=spartanntp#image=12 ODD FACT Not all t-shirts are created equal. In fact, the industry has a way of measuring the quality of the cotton thread used in the t-shirt that they’re selling you. Manufacturers go by a unit called a “single,” which is a measurement of the fineness of cotton thread. If it takes only 20 spools of thread to weigh one pound, then the thread is said to be “20 singles.” If it takes 30 spools of thread to weigh one pound, then the thread is said to be “30 singles,” and so on. For a truly soft, fine, comfortable t-shirt that also looks good, look for something around 40 singles.

TOO WEIRD....MINING BITCOIN Bitcoins ain't coming from the ground, but man, is it strange... https://www.buzzfeed.com/charliewarzel/the-mountain-west-is-experiencing-a-second-gold-rush-this?utm_term=.om7pzM7J5&ex_cid=SigDig#.nu6G7opRX

<><><><><><><>FM<><><><><>><>><>

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