Archive for the ‘Behaviour’ Category

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »

UK Government commission perpetuates “class” divisions

June 15, 2015

A report today from the UK Social Mobility and Child Poverty Commission is garnering some headlines today because the study seems to show that there are “non-educational barriers to top jobs” and that “working-class applicants struggle to get access to top jobs in the UK”.  But this is a case, I think, of a social study which starts with pre-conceptions, proves them and makes nonsense recommendations. They advise firms to loosen (and downgrade) their job requirements to suit a wider range of applicants even though they don’t have a problem to fill their needs. The commission forgets that education (including of the “working class”) has to suit the jobs available and it is not for the job requirements to be diluted to suit the applicants. If the objective of the commision is to improve the employment prospects of the “working class” then perhaps the education system has to make the “non-educational” factors – which apparently are important – part of the education system.

Press Release:

The Social Mobility and Child Poverty Commission has published research ‘Non educational barriers to the elite profession evaluation’ showing that working-class applicants struggle to get access to top jobs in the UK.

The research is the product of extensive interviews with staff from 13 elite law, accountancy and financial services firms, who together are responsible for 45,000 of the best jobs in the country.

It finds that elite firms are systematically excluding bright working-class applicants from their workforce. Data collected for the project showed that as much as 70% of job offers in 2014 were to graduates who had been educated at a selective state or fee-paying school, compared to 4% and 7% of the population as a whole.

Rt. Hon. Alan Milburn, the Chair of the Commission, said:

This research shows that young people with working-class backgrounds are being systematically locked out of top jobs. Elite firms seem to require applicants to pass a ‘poshness test’ to gain entry. Inevitably that ends up excluding youngsters who have the right sort of grades and abilities but whose parents do not have the right sort of bank balances.

Why can’t the comprehensive schools teach their “working class” students to be posh if that is what is required. Speaking and behaving “posh” is a matter of education not necessarily a matter of wealth. But that is not something that “political correctness” will admit. Of course Alan Milburn is a Labour MP with a vested interest in demonstrating that the “working class” are being hard done by. It is always wealth that must be shown to be the culprit. It could never possibly be the education of the “working class” which is inadequate. But what he, and the commission are actually doing, are perpetuating their preconceptions of the poor, discriminated against, working class.

The recommendations are equally silly:

Dr Louise Ashley of Royal Holloway, University of London, Research Project Lead, said:

Our research finds that recruitment and selection processes which advantage students from more privileged backgrounds remain firmly in place at most elite law and accountancy firms. As such, despite their focus on specific social mobility initiatives, the rate and pace of change is limited.

We make 3 key recommendations for firms wishing to access the widest range of talent to benefit their business and their clients in future; first, amend attraction strategies to encourage higher numbers of applications from students with a wider range of educational and socio-economic backgrounds; second, ensure that these diverse students have access to similar levels of support enjoyed by their more traditional peers, in order to navigate the selection process effectively; third, interrogate current definitions of talent, including how potential is identified and assessed, to ensure that disadvantaged students are not ruled out for reasons of background rather than aptitude and skill.

If speaking “posh” is a job requirement then perhaps the education system has to adjust. Firms will automatically adjust their requirements if they cannot get sufficient applicants who fit.

“Poshness”, however you wish to define it, is a perfectly valid job requirement. Lack of it among “working class” applications is a commentary on their education – not an excuse.

Tags:, ,
Posted in Behaviour, Education | Comments Off on UK Government commission perpetuates “class” divisions

Just a little bit funny, this Saturday morning …

June 13, 2015
  1. A white woman, Rachel Dolezal, believed all the claptrap about how race was just a social construct and decided to identify herself as an African-American. She has altered her appearance and hair style to convince her surroundings and has leveraged the duplicity to get a full scholarship at a black University and then to become President of the local chapter of the NAACP in Spokane, Washington. She has managed to keep this up for some 7 or 8 years. But she didn’t manage to change her ancestry and her genetics and was eventually betrayed by her (white) parents.
  2. King Felipe VI of Spain has removed the title “Duchess of Palma” from his sister, Princess Cristina, who is to go on trial charged with tax evasion. She was granted the title in 1997 when she married Inaki Urdangarin, a former Olympic handball player who is also accused of tax evasion. Presumably she remains a Princess of the Ignoble kind.
  3. Barack Obama demonstrated again that he is a leader incapable of even carrying his own supporters with him. A leader who follows. He is trying to negotiate a trade agreement among 12 countries around the Pacific. He asked Congress to give him “fast track” powers to negotiate the deal. The Senate agreed but his own Democrats killed the enabling bill in the House of Representatives. But Obama will try again.
  4. The AAP (Arvind’s Agitation Populace) are now the ruling party in the Delhi government. True to their ineptitude they appointed a Law Minister, Jitender Singh Tomar, who turned out to have faked all his degrees.
  5. Moldova’s Prime Minister, Chiril Gaburici, also resigned because he was found to have faked his school diploma.
  6. Prince Carl-Philip was the Crown Prince of Sweden when he was born in 1979.  But a year later he had to give up that position to his elder sister Victoria when legislation removed the hereditary preference for male progeny. (This was actually a compromise since legislation to abolish the monarchy failed to pass). Today, he marries a commoner, Sofia Hellqvist, 30, who will become Princess Sofia of Sweden. Hellqvist was something of a hell-raiser when she was younger and more foolish, with a period as a topless model and beauty queen and even as a reality TV participant hobnobbing with porn stars. Just a touch of ignobility here.
  7. In Japan a Supreme court ruling in 1979 established that in a case of a husband or wife cheating with a 3rd party (where the 3rd party was not a prostitute paid for his or her services) the cheated spouse could sue the 3rd party for compensation for disturbing the tranquility of the marriage. But this week a Japanese judge ruled that a Ginza bar hostess who had sex with her business-men clients, not for money but for their continued patronage, could not be sued by an “injured” wife. He argued that this “business adultery” was routine and did not disturb the tranquility of the marriage.
  8. Tony Blair is.

Tags:, , , , ,
Posted in Behaviour, Trivia | Comments Off on Just a little bit funny, this Saturday morning …

Boozy chimps, Hanuman and the “drunken monkey” hypothesis

June 11, 2015

A new paper reports on chimpanzees in Guinea exhibiting long-term and recurrent ingestion of ethanol. The study was carried out over 17 years and found chimpanzees using leaves to drink fermented palm sap. Many consumed sufficient to produce “visible signs of inebriation”. Local humans also tap the sap of the raffia palm trees to make a palm wine.

The human trait of imbibing intentionally fermented drinks is at least as old as the oldest known archaeological records of ancient civilizations. Stone jugs for alcoholic drinks have been found which date back to at least 10,000 BCE . It is quite likely that the origin of alcoholic drinks predates the arrival of agriculture some 15,000 years ago. And that would suggest that the origin lies with the accidental (and fortuitous?) consumption of over-ripe and partially fermented fruits and berries leading eventually to an intentional fermentation. But that takes the origin back to the time before modern humans had even arrived on the scene and when their primate ancestors relied on fruits and berries for their diet.

Kimberly J Hockings, et al, Tools to tipple: ethanol ingestion by wild chimpanzees using leaf-sponges, Royal Society of Open Science, DOI: 10.1098/rsos.150150, Published 9 June 2015

Abstract: African apes and humans share a genetic mutation that enables them to effectively metabolize ethanol. However, voluntary ethanol consumption in this evolutionary radiation is documented only in modern humans. Here, we report evidence of the long-term and recurrent ingestion of ethanol from the raffia palm (Raphia hookeri, Arecaceae) by wild chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes verus) at Bossou in Guinea, West Africa, from 1995 to 2012. Chimpanzees at Bossou ingest this alcoholic beverage, often in large quantities, despite an average presence of ethanol of 3.1% alcohol by volume (ABV) and up to 6.9% ABV. Local people tap raffia palms and the sap collects in plastic containers, and chimpanzees use elementary technology—a leafy tool—to obtain this fermenting sap. These data show that ethanol does not act as a deterrent to feeding in this community of wild apes, supporting the idea that the last common ancestor of living African apes and modern humans was not averse to ingesting foods containing ethanol.

The study provides support for the “drunken monkey” hypothesis which “proposes that human attraction to ethanol may derive from dependence of the primate ancestors of Homo sapiens on ripe and fermenting fruit as a dominant food source. Ethanol naturally occurs in ripe and overripe fruit when yeasts ferment sugars, and consequently early primates (and many other fruit-eating animals) have evolved a genetically based behavioral attraction to the molecule”.

In fact there were natural selection benefits in being “drunken monkeys”. The chimpanzee paper begins:

The ‘drunken monkey hypothesis’ states that natural selection favoured those primates with an attraction to ethanol (commonly referred to as alcohol) because it was associated with proximate benefits (e.g. acting as an appetite stimulant or a cue to finding fruit, or as an unavoidable consequence of a frugivorous diet, etc.), consequently increasing caloric gains.

Hanuman chasing the Sun — image Wikipedia

It is a short mental step from monkey-ancestors to ancient civilizations and mythology. The Indian monkey-god, Hanuman was supposed to be both celibate and teetotal. But his depiction as a “monkey” is probably a later invention. Ancient texts suggest that the young Hanuman was so enamoured of red fruit that he tried to eat the Sun, thinking it was just another ripe fruit. Quite possibly his red fruit were over-ripe, partially fermented and intoxicating. The resulting disfigurement to his jaw and face (burnt and swollen) is what may have given him his appearance. There is a hint that he was of an ancient people (species), half-human and half-monkey, which has become extinct. An ancient ancestor perhaps, and one addicted to intoxicating fruit. Clearly he was put off alcohol for ever. Interestingly, mythology and ancient ayurvedic medicine agree that alcohol in moderation is medicinal and good but taken in excess is a poison and bad. Of course in the Ramayana, all the good guys are vegetarians and teetotal while all the bad guys eat meat and consume an excess of alcohol. The Mahabharata is much more equivocal. Here even the good guys are allowed to drink.

Tags:, , ,
Posted in Behaviour, Genetics, History, Humans | Comments Off on Boozy chimps, Hanuman and the “drunken monkey” hypothesis

Ignoble Royals

June 9, 2015

Monarchy and monarchists, by their very nature, must tend towards dictatorship.  A hundred years ago, the Labour revolutions and adoption of universal suffrage forced the opposing concept of benevolent dictatorships to harden into a concept of fascist dictatorships. Nobility and noblesse oblige, which characterised and made palatable the behaviour of benevolent monarchs, were no longer required. They are now a thing of the distant past. Since the early part of the 20th century and following World War 1, the very idea of “nobility” died. Members of royal families were now concerned with retaining their positions, their privileges and their personal wealth, and had not the freedom or the room to exercise or demonstrate their “nobility”. Most Royalty in Europe had little choice – if they were to remain Royalty – other than to become Ignoble. Leading up to and during World war 2, three common factors – a controlled breeding of the masses,  a hatred of the Jews and opposition to the Reds, made the now Ignoble Royals natural allies of the Nazis and Hitler.

That the Duke of Windsor – probably encouraged by his wife Wallis Simpson – was quite a strong Nazi sympathiser is no great secret. A new book by Karina Urbach – Go Betweens for Hitler  (OUP £20) – brings out some further details of his extensive contacts and his actions in support of a Nazi victory (which would have brought him back to the throne). He even supported the bombing of Britain to bring the war quickly to a close in favour of Germany. Since Royal correspondence between the British and German branches of the House of Windsor (actually the House of Saxe-Coburg & Gotha, renamed in 1917) is still being kept secret, it can only be deduced from other records that the British Royals had quite extensive links with their German  cousins – who were nearly all Nazi sympathisers.

Members of the Royals (in any country) are inherently opposed to communism. In Europe they were very often anti-semitic and were already eugenicists (in the Nazi style) with their support of their own breeding programs. (In the event, inbreeding has actually led to a clear decline in intelligence among the Royals, with significant non-royal admixtures only coming through to strengthen their gene pool in the last 2 generations or so). A belief in controlling the breeding of the masses, a hatred of the Jews and an implacable opposition to communism – made the Royals natural allies of the Nazis and Hitler.

Urbach writes about her book in The Conversation:

Intelligence reports and German, Spanish and Russian documents show members of the British royal family were indeed far closer to Nazi Germany than has previously been recognised. …. One key to this Anglo-German network is Charles Edward Duke of Coburg (1884-1954). …… Coburg was part of a wider group of go-betweens – private individuals who were used for secret negotiations by Hitler. My investigation into Coburg’s work sheds new and damning light on the Duke of Windsor, a relative and confidante of Coburg. …….

After the failed Hitler Putsch of 1923, Coburg hid several Hitler supporters on the run in his castles. Hitler would not forget this great favour and later rewarded Coburg by making him a general. But he also needed him for something more secretive. In 1933 the Führer was short of international contacts and did not trust his own foreign ministry.

He therefore used members of the German aristocracy for secret missions to Britain, Italy, Hungary and Sweden. Coburg was particularly useful in London from 1935 to 1939 and was received in Britain due to his sister Alice Countess of Athlone’s tireless work. She was Queen Mary’s sister-in-law and fought for Coburg’s acceptance. This resulted in him not just being welcomed in British drawing rooms, but most importantly, by the royals, including the Duke of Windsor.

……. The Soviet intelligence services were convinced of the Duke of Windsor’s treachery when war broke out. …….. In 1940 they reported that he was conducting negotiations with Hitler to form a new English government and conclude a peace with Germany contingent on a military alliance against the USSR. …….. 

Like his relative Coburg, the Duke of Windsor was anti-Semitic. In June 1940 Don Javier Bermejillo, a Spanish diplomat and old friend of Windsor – he had known him since the 1920s – reported a conversation he had had with the Duke to his superiors …. that the Duke of Windsor blamed “the Jews, the Reds and the Foreign Office for the war”. Windsor added that he would like to put Anthony Eden and other British politicians “up against a wall”. Bermejillo stated that Windsor had already made similar remarks about the Reds and the Jews to him long before he became King in 1936. In another conversation on June 25 1940 Bermejillo reported that Windsor stressed if one bombed England effectively this could bring peace.

…….

Prince Philip’s connections are no secret but they are now part of the convenient loss of collective memory.

Ryan Paul: ….. Not only was he trained in the Hitler Youth curriculum, but his German brothers-in-law, with whom he lived, all became high-ranking figures in the Nazi Party. ……. 

During 1931-1932, Philip’s four older sisters married as follows: Margarita to a Czech-Austrian prince named Gottfried von Hohenlohe-Langenburg, a great-grandson of England’s Queen Victoria; Theodora to Berthold, the margrave of Baden; Cecilia to Georg Donatus, grand duke of Hesse-by-Rhine, also a great-grandson of Queen Victoria; and, Sophie to Prince Christoph of Hesse.

Three of Philip’s brothers-in-law were part of a group of German aristocrats who were Anglophile and pro-Nazi at the same time …… 

The Ignoble Royals were not just in Britain and were quite widespread. Prince Bernhard, the consort of Queen Juliana and the the father of Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands, was a member of the Nazi party and of the SS. After the War he converted his fascist tendencies to become eco-fascism as the first head of the WWF. (When he was forced to resign after the Lockheed scandal, he handed over the eco-fascist baton to Prince Philip). Gustav V and the remaining aristocracy in Sweden approved of Nazi actions against the Red Menace. Currently he is said to have been opposed to their Jewish policies but there is some whitewashing involved. Leopold III of Belgium was born Prince Leopold of Belgium, Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and tried to walk the tightrope between Hitler and the Allies. He did try to keep Belgium neutral but he surrendered to the Germans without his government’s approval and was seen by some as a traitor.

While many Royals eventually opposed Hitler and the Nazis (especially after it was clear that they would not win), royalty and business and bankers (of the non-Jewish kind) all over Europe, were strong, and even enthusiastic supporters of Hitler before the War. In fact, they helped with funding the growth of the National Socialists and his “election” to power.

Nobility is not something that is a characteristic of European royalty any longer. It is not even a behavioural requirement since they have no power to wield. And so they have degenerated to the point that much of their behaviour is that of spoilt brats and ignoble.

Tags:, , , ,
Posted in Behaviour, History | Comments Off on Ignoble Royals

Wanted! A leader in the White House

June 8, 2015

After 7 years as President, Barack Obama’s Iraq strategy is still ” not complete”. His Syria and Ukraine “strategies” are only conspicuous by their absence.

Once upon a time and a fairy tale or three ago, I had very high expectations of President Obama. He had set the expectations himself with his rhetoric. There was nothing he couldn’t. But all that he will have accomplished by the end of his two terms is to have been the first “black” President of the United States – and he can’t even take credit for that.

I have a theory that world development proceeds in steps and that these discrete steps are dependent upon the number of “leaders” available at any time in the world to work together. With “leaders” I mean those who take people along with them towards some vision of the world and are not mere “followers”. For the last 150 years the “leader” of the US has been, is, and must be a necessary – but insufficient – ingredient. The world stagnates or even moves backwards in the time when the political leaders are “followers”. A critical mass of “leadership” is not possible when the President of the US is a follower. It would seem that for the last 7 years we have had a “follower” in the White House whose actions are subordinated to his fears. It is paralysis by analysis which reigns. The closest to a leader in Europe has been Angela Merkel but even she has  not communicated any vision of Europe – let alone the world – to chase.

The clarity of a vision is important for leadership. A “consensus” vision is diffuse and muddled – almost by definition. My hypothesis is that real “leadership”, if existing simultaneously in 5 key countries/regions of the world, can provide the necessary and sufficient conditions to create new wonders. If the “leaders” of the US, Russia, Europe (whichever of France, Germany or the UK qualifies) together with China and India actually shared a vision of what could be done and “led” their people along that path, there would be a paradigm shift and a step-change to a level not ever seen before.

BBC: The US does not yet have a “complete strategy” for helping Iraq regain territory from Islamic State (IS), President Barack Obama has said.

Business Insider: “When a finalized plan is presented to me by the Pentagon, then I will share it with the American people,” Obama said. “We don’t yet have a complete strategy because it requires commitments on the part of the Iraqis as well.” ………. Obama said in September that the goal was to “degrade, and ultimately destroy, ISIL,” but that goal still seems far off.

ISIS Islamic State Iraq Syria control

Graphic Business Insider / Reuters

The development of proportional representation in democracies is a natural inhibitor of “leaders” and “leadership”. The focus on consensus politics means that, very often, it is the “lowest common”  standards and goals that apply. This turns even very good leaders into mediocre followers. The coming together of a critical mass of “political leadership” in the world cannot be predicted. But it will surely happen some time.

It might even happen in my lifetime, but looking at the field of Presidential candidates in the US, the next President of the US is likely to be another follower, and it will not happen anytime soon.

Tags:, ,
Posted in Behaviour, Development, Politics | 1 Comment »

Documents confirm that FIFA sent $10 million from South Africa to Jack Warner

June 7, 2015

Even though South Africa tried to hide their payment, it seems irrefutable that the South African government arranged matters such that FIFA’s accounts grew by $10 million as they were awarded the 2010 World Cup. Earlier revelations showed that the South African government (and apparently approved by President Mbeki) saw to it that the National Lottery payed the government $10 million less than they should have and payed it instead to the South African Football Association. They in turn payed the $10 million to the 2010 World Cup Local Organising Committee who then received $10 million less from what was due from FIFA, thus effectively completing a transfer of $10 million. A payment which was eventually debited from the government’s account and eventually credited to FIFA.

From South Africa to jack Warner via FIFA

Now the BCC reports that the payments of the $10 million from FIFA to accounts personally controlled by Jack Warner have also been confirmed. How Jack Warner delivered the votes he may have committed to South Africa is not clear.

A BBC investigation has seen evidence that details what happened to the $10m sent from Fifa to accounts controlled by former vice-president Jack Warner.

The money, sent on behalf of South Africa, was meant to be used for its Caribbean diaspora legacy programme. But documents suggest Mr Warner used the payment for cash withdrawals, personal loans and to launder money. The papers seen by the BBC detail three wire transfers by Fifa.

In the three transactions – on 4 January, 1 February and 10 March 2008 – funds totalling $10m (£6.5m) from Fifa accounts were received into Concacaf accounts controlled by Jack Warner.

…… The documents reveal how the money was spent and moved around.

JTA Supermarkets, a large chain in Trinidad, received $4,860,000 from the accounts. The money was paid in instalments from January 2008 to March 2009. The largest payment was $1,350,000 paid in February 2008. US prosecutors say the money was mostly paid back to Mr Warner in local currency. ……. The documents also show $360,000 of the Fifa money was withdrawn by people connected to Mr Warner. …… Nearly $1.6m was used to pay the former Fifa vice-president’s credit cards and personal loans. The documents show the largest personal loan Mr Warner provided for himself was $410,000. The largest credit card payment was $87,000.

Tags:, , ,
Posted in Behaviour, Ethics, Football, South Africa | Comments Off on Documents confirm that FIFA sent $10 million from South Africa to Jack Warner

Sweden’s National Day today – but it’s a pale shadow of Midsommar

June 6, 2015

It’s the 6th of June and its Sweden’s National Day but it is raining this morning. At least the rain is reasonably warm and we should get up to about 22ºC today. It is an artificial National Day and has very little significance in its origin or in practice. It generates little emotion and has no real tradition to speak of. Its importance is a pale shadow to that of Midsommar. If one takes 1893 as the origin of the day then it was entirely a marketing ploy by Artur Hazelius.

The real origin of the choice of 6th June was bad weather and the ensuring of revenues from an organised festival! In 1893, a Spring Festival had to be reorganised hastily by Artur Hazelius for the 6th of June because it rained heavily on the day he had planned. The “Festival” was planned to draw in money from the public of course!

In more recent times, the loony right (fascists, neo-nazis and other xenophobes), including the Sweden Democrats, have tried to use the National day to express their xenophobia. But with almost 20% of the current citizenry having been born outside of Sweden, even the Sweden Democrats have realised the futility (and political stupidity) of their xenophobia and are trying to clean up their act. (This strategy is working and they have never had a higher level of support – about 14% – than now. So far they only have a few token immigrants among their supporters).

But this year the Google Doodle for the day is by Stina Wirsén and is intended to be an image celebrating “inclusion”.

Sweden National Day Google Doodle by Stina Wirsén

Sweden National Day Google Doodle by Stina Wirsén

I wrote last year:

Perhaps the best thing about Sweden’s national day today is that there is not very much jingoism and nationalism and patriotic fervour in evidence. If anything it is more a celebration of the values of human freedoms rather than any particular celebration of the nation state within its geographical boundaries. Even the national (but unofficial) anthem is more a paean to the North – Scandinavia (“Oh! I wish to live, I wish to die in Norden”) rather than specifically to Sweden.

The 6th of June has been a national holiday only since 2005, has been officially the National Day only since 1983 and before that was the Swedish Flag day but only since 1916. It was chosen ostensibly because the 6th of June was the day on which Gustav Vasa was crowned in 1523. But the real reason of course is that because there is a very good chance that the 6th of June will be a nice warm summer day! …… 

I don’t mind too much if it rains a bit today – as long as it does not for Midsommar.

Tags:, ,
Posted in Behaviour, Sweden | Comments Off on Sweden’s National Day today – but it’s a pale shadow of Midsommar

The South Africa – FIFA- Warner payment web

June 5, 2015

With Danny Jordaan’s letter and the one from Oliphant it is almost certain that the award of the 2010 World Cup involved the purchase of some votes. There is no other reasonable explanation. It is difficult to see why such a convoluted trail would be necessary if the South African government just wanted to provide $10 million to help the African diaspora in the Caribbean.

Certainly it seems that the government of South Africa made some commitment to provide $10 million to be under the direct control of Jack Warner. Then, by a very tortuous route the money was provided. The main ” achievement” of the convoluted path used was that no direct payments needed to be made by the South African government. Instead they “paid” by receiving $10 million less than they should have received from the National Lotteries Board. The Lotteries Board provided R88 million over 3 years (amounting to $10 million at the then exchange rates) to the South African Football Association (SAFA). SAFA provided $10 million to the 2010 World Cup Local Organising Committee (LOC). LOC then “paid” this money to FIFA by receiving $10 million less than they should have from FIFA for holding the 2010 World Cup. They received $413 million instead of the budgeted $423 million. FIFA then paid $10 million to CONCACAF who in turn put it into the Diaspora Legacy Program which was personally administered by Jack Warner.

Where the money went to after that is not certain.

From the two letters and as shown in the Mail & Guardian article, the South African web looks like this:

From S Africa to Warner via FIFA

From S Africa to Warner via FIFA

Tags:, , ,
Posted in Behaviour, Ethics, Football, South Africa | 1 Comment »

In spite of Google apology, Modi still prominent in “Top 10 criminals” image search

June 4, 2015

It seems the Google search algorithms are all too easily subverted. I suspect that Google itself carries out “subversion” to put its favoured documents or images higher up in the list of “hits”.

BBC: Internet giant Google has apologised after Indian PM Narendra Modi’s photos started appearing in the image search results for “Top 10 criminals”. 

“We apologise for any confusion or misunderstanding this has caused,” a Google statement said. Mr Modi figures prominently in the search alongside images of terrorists, murderers and dictators. Other world leaders on the list include former US president George Bush and Libya’s Muammar Gaddafi. 

Other prominent Indians who come up in the search include Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, lawyer Ram Jethmalani, fugitive underworld don Dawood Ibrahim and Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt who is serving a jail term in connection with deadly blasts in Mumbai in 1993. “These results trouble us and are not reflective of the opinions of Google,” the company said in its statement released on Wednesday night.

But a search just now (screenshot below) shows that Google have not been able to correct their algorithms. In a Google image search for “top 10 criminals”, Narendra Modi appears 8 times among the first 40 images and more often than anyone else, even Osama bin Laden. I gave up counting after that but his image keeps cropping up. George Bush and Bill Gates are there as well. But I couldn’t find Tony Blair.

Modi as

Modi as “top 10 criminal” on google

The internet firm said the result was due to a British daily which had published an image of Mr Modi with erroneous metadata.

Really?

For 8 images out of 40?

It is pretty obvious that the results of a Google search do not represent a listing by popularity or importance. In fact the first 4 or 5 entries after the ads are often subverted. And switching from “News” to “web” to “images” or back again can very easily confuse the Google algorithms.

In any event it is best to assume that a Google search gives a list of mainly relevant results. The list is neither comprehensive nor objective. The ranking of hits on the list of is no real relevance since it can be so easily subverted and sometimes, it seems, the subversion is by Google itself. The first 4 or 5 “hits” after the obvious ads – for some searches – also seem to be sponsored in some way. Almost as if Google has overt and covert ads.

Tags:,
Posted in Behaviour, Media | Comments Off on In spite of Google apology, Modi still prominent in “Top 10 criminals” image search

Obamacare is not eliminating the short term cover it was supposed to

June 4, 2015

Somebody stated to me that history would remember Barack Obama for Obamacare. But I am not so convinced. I suspect that he will be remembered only for being the first “black” (actually only half-black) President. He may also be remembered for his tendency to allow fear to subordinate his actions. His tendency to overthink issues and take little action and his disinclination to develop strategies may also be remembered. Whether Obamacare will stand the test of time remains to be seen. In the short time it has been in force, large parts of it are counter-productive. That may just be a peculiarity of the “open enrollment” windows or something more fundamental.

The primary benefit of Obamacare (Affordable Care Act) was, ostensibly, to make health care affordable to all. For older people it is proving to be unaffordable and they have to seek alternative cover. As Reuters reports, the alternative cover that Obamacare was supposed to eliminate has risen by over 100%. Alternative cover is even being chosen by the young for “catastrophic” coverage. To make matters even worse, those who take out such alternative cover are deemed uninsured and are subject to penalties.

Reuters:

Despite the promise of coverage through the U.S. Affordable Care Act (ACA), the number of people applying for non-compliant, short-term health insurance policies was up more than 100 percent in 2014, according to new data available from companies who broker these policies.

This type of health insurance is exactly the kind that the ACA, known commonly as Obamacare, was supposed to upgrade. Short-term plans provide low-cost coverage for major medical events like hospital stays, with high deductibles and out-of-pocket costs, and are subject to denial if applicants have pre-existing conditions. They do not offer the protections of Obamacare for preventive care or maternity coverage, for example.

The government does not count these gap plans as qualifying health insurance, so people who have them are subject to penalties for being uninsured. ……..

….. Sign-ups at eHealth Inc to the short-term plans it offers through its website were up to 140,000 in 2014 from 60,000 in 2013, an increase of 134 percent, according to the company.

At another short-term carrier, Agile Health Insurance, a subsidiary of Health Insurance Innovations Inc, new policies were up 100 percent last year over the previous year, and are up again so far in 2015, according to Scott Lingle, the company’s senior vice president of business development.

Accounting for much of the jump are individuals who somehow missed the open enrollment period for an Obamacare plan. More than 11.7 million consumers signed up for Obamacare coverage through Feb. 22, according to the government. …… 

Both eHealth and Agile are also seeing new signups from retirees who are looking for a low-cost plan to tide them over until Medicare kicks in at 65. At eHealth, the 55 to 64 age group is now 9 percent of the market.

“If you shop for a 50-year-old on healthcare.gov, it is very expensive,” says Agile’s Lingle. “There are people who have looked at the prices and it makes more sense to buy short term.”

The largest constituency is young, healthy people seeking low-cost catastrophic coverage. Those aged 18 to 34 account for 57 percent of eHealth’s buyers. A typical policy could cost around $100 a month, depending on the state of residency and the features of the plan.

Tags:,
Posted in Behaviour, Medicine | Comments Off on Obamacare is not eliminating the short term cover it was supposed to

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »