#Carlos's tapes are completely scientific

[magpie-of-the-masquerade]

Night Vale Head Cannon

Aside from obviously believing that Carlos record’s Cecil’s shows and listens back to them, I have another idea for Carlos and Cecil

Since writing implements are banned in Night Vale, unless Carlos is still sneakily using pens, he would likely type up his results, or better yet, make a bunch of voice recordings of his observations.

But imagine...A confused Carlos enters Night Vale and just starts to make tapes of everything he sees...and the content isn’t always strictly scientific.

“Today, I investigated a house that doesn’t exist, it had no tangible properties that I could record, no shape or mass and yet there it stood. Also, that radio host was talking about me again...does he really think my hair is perfect? That is...from a... um...strictly...scientific perspective the opinions on aesthetics and trends within a..eh em...isolated community with unusual phenomena would be an interesting contrast to the rest of the world....seriously...teeth like a military cemetery? 

He is joking isn’t he...people don’t fall in love instantly, that’s just...no...people don’t do...that...not with someone they’ve just met....and I don’t look like anything special. Is it like a comedy piece?...is me mocking me...? I-I don’t know what to think. *Clears throat* Note to self: the Night Vale Community Radio Station would be interesting...um...scientifically interesting that is...to investigate....end of recording.”

“Follow up statement: I have begun to investigate The Voice of Night Vale. *Pauses for a long moment* Since I have...well...I have noted several interesting properties attributed to said...subject. Several participants involved in my data collection confirm that the subject’s voice has a soporific effect. Eh em...personal experimentation by myself the head researcher can confirm that the subject’s voice has a soothing quality and um...an optimal tonal range conducive for falling asleep. Notably, the subject is capable of being incredibly convincing, whether this is due to his personal rapport with the community or a specific vocal attribute it is unclear...Ceci---THE SUBJECT by all accounts is both a uniquely informative source of media information and really nice to listen to...his voice is so smooth...ahem...scientifically speaking, of course, corroborated by Likert style questionnaires from other residents. End of Recording.”

And one day, after they move in together, Cecil finds a box containing all of Carlos’s ‘Scientific Tapes’ and can’t help but listen to them.

And he would learn why Carlos was so cautious originally about pursuing a relationship. He’d also know how damn smitten Carlos was over that first year in Night Vale.

[catboythanatos]

hey yall this is a bit of a mess but hello! it is here! yeah remember when carlos astral projected into cecil's studio in "antiques"? we love that its one of my favourite episodes

Day 3: Away/Home

“Cecil…” a voice whispers.

Cecil gasps. The tear that had been forming in his eye splashes down onto his knee. He would know that voice anywhere.

“Carlos?”

Cecil looks out into the darkness. Nothing. He rubs his eyes with balled up fists. He opens his eyes. Nothing. No one is there. The room is still, the air stagnant. He hears the wind blowing outside. It is silent.

“You're hearing things, Cecil,” he tells himself. “Carlos isn't here. Carlos is… Well, not here.”

“I'm here!”

Cecil jumps again at the sound. It sounds so real. Almost as if it were right behind him. He goes to turn around, pausing to hang on to the suspense for a moment, to the idea that his missing boyfriend will be right behind him, surprising him with the greatest gift of all time: being home.

He turns, and Carlos is not there. Of course he's not. It's been months now and he hasn't been able to come home, and he doesn’t know when he will be able to. He's not here.

Cecil sighs. He stares into the empty corners of the room for a hopeful second, then he flops face down on the bed.

He hears the voice again.

“Cecil!”

It sounds to be right in front of him this time.

I must be going crazy, he thinks to himself. He berates himself for a moment for being all the things he denies being, selfish, codependent, useless… But he hears it again and it's definitely too real to all be in his head. Someone is doing this … if not Carlos, then who? Who would pretend to be Carlos? Is someone trying to mock him? Scare him? Too frustrated to deal with this, he doesn't even look up.

“Who are you?” he groans. “You can't be Carlos. He isn't here. Why do you taunt me with his voice? Well, whoever you are, I honestly don't care. Just leave me alone.”

“Cecil, hon--”

“Faceless Old Woman, are you doing this? It isn't funny. I'm sorry about reorganizing the shelf you organized. I didn't like it in reverse alphabetical order, it was hard to find things.”

A laugh. An adorable, perfect laugh. Cecil's heart melts, and he can't help but look.

Without his glasses on, it’s admittedly a little hard to verify the reality of the apparition before him, but it's…

“Carlos?”

“Cecil!” he exclaims. “You can see me?”

“I...I can see you, yes.” Cecil squints. Could Carlos really be here? Is this an illusion? “How…”

“I'm not really here. I'm still in the desert otherworld. But I think I've figured out how to exploit the breaks in reality to my advantage. Sometimes… this happens? Often I can see and hear into Night Vale, but it seems like no one can see or hear me… But you can see and hear me! So… Hi Cecil! This is pretty cool, right?”

Cecil sits up on the bed, staring at Carlos. “You…”

Carlos smiles at him.

Before Carlos can respond, Cecil is leaping from the bed, practically throwing himself at him. Carlos puts his arms out to receive him, nervous but still hopeful.

When Cecil's body passes through Carlos' like it's a cloud of haze, Carlos is disappointed, but not surprised. Cecil is very surprised.

“Cecil!”

He catches himself before he can fall over, and he turns to frown at Carlos.

“But…. you're right here. Why are you not… here?”

“I'm not here because… I'm not here. I'm kinda here, but not really here. To be honest, I'm unable to find a scientific explanation for this. Which, in a way, is exciting! There is so much research to be done here! My best guess would be that this world is a subsidiary universe of Night Vale in some way, making them connected somehow. There are several portals, like the dog park, and the house that does not exist. I don't know how I did this, though. There are certain spots which seem to be pocket portals, some of which take you entirely to Night Vale, and some just connect you to its audio or visual stream. It's taken me awhile to get to you. I was in someone's bathroom for a little while earlier, I'm not sure where. I don't know how long I'll be able to maintain this. So while you cannot hug me, you can still enjoy this small pocket of time that we are able to share together.”

Cecil reaches out, passing his hand through Carlos's arm. There is a soft sadness in his eyes.

“Here.” Carlos holds out his arm, placing his ghost hand tenderly inside of Cecil's. It almost looks like they're holding hands now, but neither can feel anything. He can see the texture of Carlos’ rich skin, but he cannot feel it. Cecil grasps at the air that is Carlos’ nonexistent hand, looking up at him with teary eyes.

“Hey, Ceec, it's gonna be okay. I'm here. Well, I'm-- You get the point.”

Cecil takes a short breath. There is no point in blubbering, he decides. He does not know how long Carlos will be able to speak to him for.

“I miss you…”

“You don’t have to miss me,” Carlos laughs. “I'm right here.”

Cecil does not laugh.

“Hey, hey… Don't make that face, bunny. What's wrong?”

“It’s… Nothing,” Cecil decides. “I've just missed you. It's been weird waking up without you, coming home from work without you. I know we call every single day, but… It's not the same as … feeling the warmth of your radiant presence.”

“Aww, I understand. But you don't need to cry, okay? Don't cry…”

“I'm not crying,” Cecil sniffles.

Carlos smiles. He mimes brushing the hair from Cecil's face, and Cecil finds himself giggling. He pushes his hair back out of his eyes.

“I think it might be time for a haircut, huh?”

Cecil leans in closer to Carlos. “Maybe, now that I've got someone to impress again.”

Carlos grins, leaning in even closer. Cecil studies every part of his beautiful face, not wanting to have to stop looking at it ever again. He is overcome with an overwhelming urge to kiss him. Carlos must feel the same, because he leans forward, just enough that his lips are touching Cecil's -- or would be, if he had a corporeal form. Cecil closes his eyes, and he can't feel anything. He wishes he could say that he felt something, but he didn't. There was no physical sensation. To anyone witnessing this, Carlos is here, kissing him, but… he isn't. With his eyes closed, Cecil feels totally alone.

Cecil opens his eyes again, and he meets Carlos’ gaze. It’s strange to be close enough together, but to not even feel Carlos’ breath on his lips. But he can feel his gaze on him, and see the twinkle of love in his eyes as he meets it. He studies every inch of his face. He normally doesn't get to look at Carlos from this close up. It's strange. And beautiful. Seeing that face so close to his …. despite the lack of touch, despite the lack of a real kiss, he feels warm and bubbly on the inside. It's intimate in a wholly different way. It's almost like a first kiss all over again.

Then Carlos starts to flicker.

“Carlos!”

“Cecil! I'm sorry! I don't know what's--”

Carlos disappears. He had been right there a millisecond ago, but now he's completely gone, without a single trace.

Then, he reappears. “C-Cecil, I can't control--”

And disappears again.

And reappears. “I'll call you!!”

Then Carlos blinks out of existence once more, and he is gone. Cecil frowns. He does not feel concern, knowing that Carlos is surely alive and well in his desert otherworld, but he feels sadness. He feels absence. He feels like a hole is boring into his heart.

Cecil takes a seat on the edge of his bed, sighing. He picks up his phone. There is a text from Carlos.

‘Hi baby!!!! I'm sorry I randomly appeared and then ceased to exist in your bedroom like that, I don't wanna scare you or anything. I'm ok!!! It was really really nice to see you in person again. I'll be hard at work to figure out how to do this again so I can visit, and also figuring out how you can come visit me! Love love love’

Cecil smiles. He takes a screenshot of the text. A small piece of duct tape over the hole in his heart.

‘I love you!’ he texts back.

The phone starts ringing, and he puts it to his ear.

“Did you get my text?”

“Yes, I responded to it.”

���Oh. I didn't see it. Hi, Cecil. I'm okay! It was cool to see you. And also, quite scientific! I'm very excited to get to personally investigate astral projection…”

Cecil listens to Carlos talk on, feeling bubbly with love for him. He may be far away from home, and Cecil may not get to be with him all the time, but he is still always here with him, in some way or another. Cecil smiles. He doesn't miss him, because he is right here.

[random2908]

#isn't that also computer science?#the science is okay...the corporations are bad#i guess for the Internet of Things it's kinda bad regardless#but that probably wouldn't exist without corporations? 

There’s a lot of super sketchy stuff in computer science that has nothing to do with corporations.

Large portions of the internet are held together with bubblegum and tape, and that’s because of volunteer networks, shoe-string budgets, people with limited time, and low barriers to entry to help out.

The state of ethics in AI research uniformly bad outside of academia, and kind of all over the place even within academia. And I don’t mean treating AIs ethically, I mean sample biases causing AIs to, like, assume all black people are criminals.

I’m sure someone who was deeper into it could give you more examples, that’s just off the top of my head.

Oh. As far as I know, within modeling, only CERN and LIGO check to make sure their code works--which they can only do because they’re ultra-huge collaborations. Literally any other scientific result you ever see based on computer models, no one ever checked to make sure the code was running correctly, or no one other than the person who programmed it (which isn’t much of a check). This applies to academia, industry, the government--literally everything. Flight paths, autonomous vehicles, EVERYTHING. (At least the ones with real-world applications have to run their code in real-world conditions and make sure it doesn’t, like, crash their cars. But then their fixes are whatever makes it not crash their cars anymore, not necessarily the theoretically correct thing that can be built off later. So then it becomes this complete patchwork that doesn’t really make sense...)

Oh yeah, I just thought of another one. Genetic algorithms! They’re all the rage, they’re a relatively programmer-friendly type of AI, and honestly this applies to any AI. Even if it gets you the right result, if an AI did it you can’t know how or why. Like when they try to get an AI to evolve a bipedal creature that can move a certain distance, and the end up with something that’s very tall and falls over, like, wtf. I guess that technically fits the brief to a computer. But then even if they get a human out of it they don’t know how, because it was just based on like Monte Carlo trial and error or something. These things are getting more popular for design optimization, and they might actually be good for that, but the designs they produce are such a black box. (A related example is that if an AI can identify a sheep in a picture, you don’t know what in the picture made it think “sheep” and it could just be that there was a green background.)

Ok, that’s four examples from me, a non-expert. Again, I’m sure an expert could give you a zillion more.

Funny how that works

[perfectirishgifts]

Rochelle Walensky Reportedly Biden’s Pick To Head CDC, How To Rebuild

New Post has been published on https://perfectirishgifts.com/rochelle-walensky-reportedly-bidens-pick-to-head-cdc-how-to-rebuild/

Rochelle Walensky Reportedly Biden’s Pick To Head CDC, How To Rebuild

Rebuilding and restoring trust in CDC will be an important and challenging task for the new CDC … [] Director under the Biden Administration. (Photo by MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images)

To say that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has had a rough past four years would be like saying that some of the characters on Games of Thrones ran into some complications. When Joe Biden becomes the U.S. President on January 20 because he was elected to that position, one of his priorities will have to be repairing the CDC. That’s going to require a lot more than a glue stick, duct tape, and some disinfectant.

It will start with selecting the right person to lead the agency responsible for protecting the nation’s health. According to Tyler Pager reporting for POLITICO, Biden has already chosen his candidate: Rochelle Walensky, MD, MPH. If she turns out to be the new Director, Walensky will have her work cut out for her. Imagine “Extreme Makeover: CDC Edition” and having to lead the U.S. out of what will be so far the worst part of the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic. It’s also been a pandemic where the U.S. national response has been about as coordinated as a cast of marmots re-enacting the Broadway musical Mamma Mia! while driving golf carts.

The CDC, under President Donald Trump’s administration, has had its share of drama. Trump’s first selection as the Director, Brenda Fitzgerald, MD, didn’t get off to the greatest of starts. In this case, “didn’t get off to the greatest of starts” means “got off to a bad start.” In fact, she didn’t get too much further than the start as the 17th Director of the CDC. As Rita Rubin described previously for Forbes, early on there were questions about whether Fitzgerald had the scientific qualifications to lead the CDC and whether Fitzgerald had promoted the use of anti-aging therapies that weren’t backed by evidence. After all, aside from maybe the song “Party in the U.S.A,” most anti-aging treatments are questionable at best and duck-sound-like at worst.

Fitzgerald ended up lasting in the position for just 208 days, which is about 20 Scaramuccis. Just five months into her tenure there, which is shorter than many celebrity marriages, members of the U.S. Senate began raising concerns about her having financial conflicts of interest, such as holding financial stakes in prescription drug monitoring programs and purchasing tobacco company stocks after becoming the head of the CDC. Indeed, the CDC Director holding tobacco stocks is not the greatest of looks. Those whoopsies led her to resign on January 21, 2018, which incidentally was also National Backward Day.

Trump eventually chose Robert R. Redfield, MD, a virologist, as the 18th Director of the CDC. Compared to many of his predecessors under other Presidential administrations, Redfield hasn’t seemed to make nearly as many public statements and briefings. In fact, as Brett Murphy and Letitia Stein reported for USA TODAY in October, former CDC Director William Foege had written a message to Redfield about the handling of the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic, “You could upfront, acknowledge the tragedy of responding poorly, apologize for what has happened and your role in acquiescing,” He advised, “Don’t shy away from the fact this has been an unacceptable toll on our country. It is a slaughter and not just a political dispute.” If you haven’t figured it out yet, that message wasn’t exactly a “hi, how you doing” letter.

Additionally, back in March, Robert Kuznia, Curt Devine and Nick Valencia reported for CNN about concerns that CDC was being “muzzled” by the White House. Now, the word “muzzled” rarely has positive connotations. “It’s a great relationship except that he muzzles me,” is not something that you typically hear, unless you have willingly enrolled yourself in a kennel. The concern has been that the Trump administration may have been overriding science with political agendas. It got to the point that there were reports of Trump administration officials even altering CDC scientific reports, as I covered for Forbes in September.

It is vital that the CDC is able to stand on its own as a scientific and public health organization. To do so, the CDC needs a leader who is able to interface directly with the public and stand by scientific principles, even when they may go counter to what the White House may want. Otherwise the public will continue to lose trust in the CDC. Selena Simmons-Duffin reported for NPR in September about how trust in CDC was at a nadir.

Walensky would bring significant scientific cred to the position. A search on PubMed will reveal that she has well over 200 scientific publications. She is currently Chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and a Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. Her research has focused mostly on HIV and AIDS policy. This has included developing mathematical models, such as microsimulation and decision analytic models, to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of HIV testing, care, and prevention strategies in both the U.S. and internationally. She has served as Chair of the Office of AIDS Research Advisory Council (NIH) and as a member of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Panel on Antiretroviral Guidelines for Adults and Adolescents. Dr. Walensky did her undergraduate studies at the Washington University in St. Louis, graduating in 1991, earned her M.D. from the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in 1995, and added an M.P.H. from the Harvard School of Public Health in 2001. She completed her internal medicine residency at the Johns Hopkins Hospital and infectious disease fellowship at the MGH and Brigham and Women’s Hospital combined program.

Her experience in decision analysis and microsimulation is a bonus. The use of such quantitative approaches in medicine and public health are still relatively new and can help further integrate epidemiologic, clinical, and economic considerations when addressing decision-making in public health.

Of course, running CDC will involve more than running its research endeavors. There’s the coordination with different public health departments and organizations around the country. There’s understanding what the needs and challenges are of very diverse populations. There’s also the managerial and business aspects of the position. And, of course, there are the politics. Oh, the politics.

The selection of Walensky has already gotten a different response from real public health experts and scientists than the selection of Fitzgerald did back in 2017. For example, Peter Hotez, MD, PhD, Dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine offered the following:

Tatiana M. Prowell, M.D., an Associate Professor of Oncology at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, where Walensky did her training, tweeted the following:

Harlan Krumholz, MD, the Harold H. Hines, Jr. Professor of Medicine at the Yale School of Medicine posted a picture of Walensky on Twitter:

And Wendy Armstrong, MD, a Professor of Medicine and Carlos del Rio, MD, Distinguished Professor of Medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases at the Emory University School of Medicine had this exchange:

Again, these are noted experts in medicine who have been giving shout outs, specifically in fields that are highly relevant to public health. This is a little bit different from getting endorsed by a guy who is known for selling pillows or reading brain scans.

Here is a Harvard College video of Walensky discussing with Danoff Dean of Harvard College Rakesh Khurana the challenges involved in opening a residential college campus during the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic:

Without a doubt, Walensky’s job, should she become the CDC Director, will not be easy. It’s much easier to inherit something that has been running well versus something in crisis. The public only knows the tip of iceberg of what’s happened with CDC during the Trump administration. You know when you have to clean up after a bunch of guests have been in your house for a weekend when you haven’t been around? Well stretch that weekend out to three plus years and change the word “guests” to, well, whatever word you think would be appropriate.

Ultimately, the solution won’t be disinfectant (which by the way, you should never ever inject into yourself). The solution will have to come from scientific principles. CDC has to be led by scientists and people who understand and appreciate science. Whether it’s knowing how to work with different public health departments and organizations or connecting with diverse populations, science, data, and evidence have to be the guiding lights. The CDC has to foster and advance science and ensure that science is not trumped by politics, so to speak. Science will help make the CDC’s messages to the public consistent, which will, in turn, help restore the public’s trust in the CDC. And trust is going to be so important when trying to coordinate the national response to the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic.

From Healthcare in Perfectirishgifts

[cubaverdad]

Mesa-Lago: 'I cannot see the Government acquiring another strategic partner like the Soviet Union or Venezuela'

Mesa-Lago: 'I cannot see the Government acquiring another strategic partner like the Soviet Union or Venezuela' DDC | Madrid | 25 de Mayo de 2017 - 19:05 CEST. "What alternative does the economy of Cuba have if it is not the non-State sector? Unless there appears another subsidy-distributing savior, like the Soviet Union or Venezuela were. But I cannot see there being another strategic partner," stated the economist and academic Carmelo Mesa-Lago during the presentation of his latest book in Madrid. He explained that he found implausible the prospect of China being this deliverer, although Beijing has increased trade with Havana: in 2014 it was 9% and the most recent numbers, from 2015, indicated 16%. The book Voces de cambio en el sector no estatal cubano. Cuentapropistas, usufructuarios, socios de cooperativas y compraventa de viviendas (Voices of Change in the Cuban Non-State Sector. The Self-Employed, Usufruct Workers, Partners of Cooperatives and Property Sales), coordinated by Mesa-Lago, was presented this Tuesday afternoon in Madrid's Casa de América. "Many people have told me, inside and outside Cuba, that Raúl Castro is weary, that he can´t take it any more, that he wants out of this. Miguel Díaz-Canel is the designated first vice-president, the man who would be the successor to the general on 24 February next year. Díaz-Canel does not have widespread support, but rather only those who also back Castro: the Party and the Armed Forces. If Raúl Castro retires completely, what is Díaz-Canel going to do? He cannot do anything. Raúl Castro has been attempting reform for 10 years. Is Díaz-Canel going to achieve what the general could not in an entire decade? This is one of the fundamental questions, and I don't have an answer for that," explained the Cuban academic. At the event on Tuesday, Mesa-Lago also talked about Economy Minister Marino Murillo. "We haven't heard a thing from Murillo for the past eight or nine months. He has disappeared. He was the person responsible for the report on the process of economic reforms, and for implementing them. This worries me very much, because he was the man who was in charge of all this," he expressed. The academic also spoke about another aspect of the national economy: the sale of professional services. "The purchase of Cuban professional services by Venezuela and Brazil has diminished, and revenue has dipped. In 2016 it may have dropped to 5 billion dollars or less," he said. With regards to the book presented this Tuesday, he explained that it was a joint work, produced in collaboration with Roberto Veiga González and Lenier González Mederos, both Cubans residing on the Island, who conducted the interviews; Sofía Vera Rojas, a doctoral candidate in Political Science at the University of Pittsburgh; and Aníbal Perez-Liñán, a professor of Political Science at the same institution, who did the tabulations and their analysis. "There were 80 interviews, of people in four sectors (the self employed, usufruct workers, partners of cooperatives, and peopled involved in property sales). We did not provide answers to choose from. Rather, they were open-ended interviews, with nothing to mark. They took between an hour and a half and two hours. They were very intensive," he stressed. Regarding the number of people interviewed, he expressed regret: "We do not claim that this was a scientific survey. Unfortunately, that would have been impossible. We would have had to request permission from the authorities in Cuba, and they were not going to give it to us. I have colleagues who were able to conduct interviews in Cuba, but with a 10-year moratorium on their release, such that when the results finally come out, they're already out-of-date." Regarding the data featured in this volume, he stated that, with reference to satisfaction with what they do, and what they earn, 80% of the self-employed reported that they were very satisfied (with scores of 8, 9 and 10), and only 5% gave scores of 1 to 3. Other data obtained in this study indicated that 57% of workers in the non-State sector have between 1 and 5 employees. Only 2% reported having more than 15. "Another surprise for us was that 93% reported having net profits after the payment of taxes. And two thirds of them said that they reinvested all their profits. There is, therefore, a process of business growth, but with limits placed on it by the State. The owner of a paladar (restaurant) cannot have a chain. He cannot have several," explained Mesa-Lago. He indicated that there are five taxes levied on the self employed and, in this regard, observed that the most absurd of all is the one on their staffs: "The more employees a self-employed businessperson hires, the higher the taxes he must pay. This is absurd, because it is in the State's interest for there to be more employees. In statements some years ago, the Government announced that 1.8 million State employees are unnecessary. Hence, the State has to reduce their numbers, and, for this, needs for non-State jobs to be created. They are penalizing someone who actually helps to solve a problem that is fundamental." The interviews also found that 92% of workers in the non-State sector would like to expand their businesses, and even sell abroad. "The book has more than statistics. One can see what people are saying. One of the people interviewed said that he saw a container with his products, to be sold in Bahamas and Barbados. It is impressive, because there are so many restrictions, but the self-employed still have an enterprising spirit, one that could really be magnificent if they did not face so many hurdles." As for advertising, he defined it as very rudimentary. 67% is comprised of calling cards, flyers, and signs placed at the front of the business. Just 19% of entrepreneurs have access to the Internet. The fundamental problems cited by the self-employed and usufruct workers were the difficulty of obtaining raw materials, State bureaucracy and interference, red tape and taxes. In response to the question "What would you like to see improve?" two thirds of those interviewed indicated the State bureaucracy, and the issue of raw materials. With reference to remittances, only 24% of those interviewed reported receiving economic remittances: "Here there was fear. I think that people were wary. Later 68% responded recognized that they received help from relatives on and off the Island." Mesa-Lago also lamented the fact that many qualified professionals engage in unskilled labor activities. "What the State must do is allow professionals to practice their trades: of 201 activities approved by the Government for self-employed labor, most are unskilled. There are not even 10 that constitute skilled labor," he complained. "My conclusion is that if there were more flexibility, and the non-State sector were bolstered, there would be growth in the Cuban economy, and an improvement in social welfare. Unfortunately, reform is very slow. And, of course, there is the question of the decentralization of the State sector," concluded the academic. Participating in the function on Tuesday were Consuelo Naranjo, director of the History Institute, Advanced Scientific Research Council; José Antonio Alonso, Professor of Applied Economics at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid; and Carlos Malamud, a principal research historian with the Elcano Institute of International Studies. A distinguished professor of Economics and Latin American Studies at the University of Pittsburgh, Mesa-Lago is the author of a range of books and articles on the Cuban economy and comparative economic systems, among other topics. He has received several prizes, among them the Alexander von Humboldt Stiftung (1991, 2002), and recognition by the International Labour Organization (WLO) for his research on decent work, jointly with Nelson Mandela (2007). In 2015 he was named one of the 50 most influential intellectuals in Ibero-America. Source: Mesa-Lago: 'I cannot see the Government acquiring another strategic partner like the Soviet Union or Venezuela' | Diario de Cuba - http://ift.tt/2qo7rSH via Blogger http://ift.tt/2rOICV1

[jmariebe]

Testimony, Log 5: Gray matter on tap

So, I’m returning to my log today to discuss Ken Sherwood’s involvement in my legal case again IUP. I received an A on the final paper I wrote for a class I had with him in 2004 on American Modernism. The class topic focused on William Carlos Williams poetry. My final paper for the class sought to examine how William Carlos Williams incorporated Albert Einstein’s most famous formula from his theory of relativity: E=mc2. Ken Sherwood gave the paper an A grade. The idea itself was promising, but my writing was incoherent at times and my main idea (thesis) was difficult to determine. I was attempting to show that WCW’s scientific interest in Einstein’s theories could be seen in his modernist poetry. But my paper delved too deep in the mathematical formula argument I was trying to make and I knew it needed more work and I needed to submit the paper to meet the deadline. I think that Ken Sherwood was interested in the ideas that I presented and assessed the paper based on the ideas in it, more than on the apparent difficulties I was having articulating it. This situation is a concern of academics, especially in the humanities: how do you assess a student’s work? Should the emphasis be on product over process? Should content matter more than form and how do you make these assessment decisions? 

Sherwood also was working behind the scenes to be on my comprehensive exam committee. I asked David Downing to be on my committee, but he kept telling me he wasn’t able to. Downing also said that he did not have the background to be on my committee. He gave several reasons and the language Downing used was similar to Ken Sherwood’s language about fields of study and which professors were aligned with which theories, subject matter, etc. I remember getting upset and sensing Sherwood had something to do with David not wanting to work with me on the exam. I remember telling David Downing that: “I catch vibes. Ken Sherwood doesn’t know what he’s talking about.” David leaned back a little and looked slightly surprised. I perceived this as a sign that he knew I figured out who was behind this departmental coup. 

A few days later I walked past Ken Sherwood and he gave me a sly stare down, so I gave a sly stare back to him. It wasn’t the best way to have relations with professors you need to work with, but having them tape me and use my speech against me made me suspicious and hyper vigilant and this was an example of how the departmental politics surrounding my success in graduating from IUP grew increasingly difficult and nasty. As my doctoral work began and I began focusing on Chicano border narratives, I remember discussing Ana Castillo’s So Far from God with Ken Sherwood. I remember him correcting me when I said I needed to learn Mexican (Spanish). I’m sure this annoyed him more than usual. He had studied Latino and Native American texts prior to his interests in 20th c. poetry and digital humanities. HIs wife also taught Spanish at IUP. After Edward Carvalho entered the program, Carvalho aligned himself with Sherwood, this made sense because the both were poets and scholars of American poetry. Sherwood and Carvalho worked on digital projects together and separately. They both kept/keep active social media presences. 

Fast forward to my dissertation work and defense of my dissertation (May 2013). Ken Sherwood agreed to be on my committee and it appeared that we had ironed out any difficulties we had working together in the past. Prior to agreeing to be on my dissertation committee, he was concerned with my ability to pronounce Native American words and Spanish words. He helped me by correcting me when I did mispronounce words and definitions. I always found his guidance helpful. When it came time to complete my dissertation defense, though, I realized that my human weaknesses (anxiety, memory lapses under pressure, language problems) would be combined with my scholarly weaknesses (grammar, mechanics, and organization) as methods for weeding me out of the system: failing me before/after my doctoral defense. Faculty and students were already listening to my conversations that I had with my dissertation directors (Veronica Watson and Shimberlee Jiron-King). 

My doctoral defense was recorded using surveillance. During my defense, Ken Sherwood asked the toughest questions and seemed to have the most problems with my pronunciation of Spanish words and Native American words. He wanted to know the definition of mestizaje, which I defined very well. He also persisted on questions about the need to analyze Native American language in U.S. novels when most Native Americans no longer had access to traditional languages and they didn’t seem to incorporate their languages in any relevant way in their literary work. I replied that Native American languages were being recovered. Not all of them, because many Native American languages have become extinct due to assimilation practices. Still, the trend in Native American communities is language recovery and preservation practices. Finally, Ken persisted with the question of why any of my dissertation research was relevant: in other words, why? why do we need to analyze and critique these works in the manner that I was arguing for in my dissertation? The question connected back to Lingyan Yang’s persistent critique of my work: that I did not know how to develop a thesis. My reply to Sherwood’s questions was heated, I admit; but I felt that I had answered his questions in several different ways to no avail. I remember my dissertation defense being over and he shook my hand and something similar to “They chose me to be the strong man” or the tough guy, meaning he was responsible for asking all the tough questions.

Fast forward to 2015 to 2017: Ken Sherwood and Edward Carvalho worked together to parse my manuscripts when I applied to different jobs in academia. They used all grammar and mechanics errors to argue that I didn’t have the proper skills to earn a tenure-track position, or for that matter a full-time or post doc position. They argued that since I made more grammatical errors than most top candidates, this should disqualify me from even getting an interview, let alone a job. The used the illegal surveillance to parse my speech, not only in educational institutions in PA, but then in NJ when I moved back home. They not only used my speech in the classroom to make these arguments, they also used my speech in private spaces: at home while I was grading papers or just talking to my mother or other relatives and friends! They sent transcripts of my speech to any academic institution that received a job application from me. If the position also was in Latino/a studies, they sent arguments about my lack of fluency in Spanish. When that was not enough, they began, along with a female graduate student who plagiarized my research extensively, to find out more about my past personal history with the ethnic groups I researched; especially Latino/a community and African American community. And all of this could not have occurred without the use of illegal surveillance of my life 24 hours a day.

They also enlisted Mahmoud Amer’s ability to hack my computer in order to receive the most recent version of my research manuscript, so that they could figure out my methods and theories in order to claim that IUP students could do my research better. The argument from their angle is that all students have the ability to learn and apply theories, but Judy does not have the same abilities to also write well and writing well includes a superior command of the English language; and, if you are also studying works that are Latino/a, then you should also have a superior command, or at least fluency of Spanish. 

It is my perception that IUP’s English Dept. can’t get past these assessment issues. But it is also my claim here in this testimony that the use of illegal surveillance and the powers that it gave IUP’s community is what caused the normal hiring selection process to turn into the horrifying life situation I am faced with today. I also feel that the assessment process has been compromised due to their unethical and illegal means of thwarting me in my attempt to find work in academia. 

My position has always been that students should be assessed using a model that recognizes both product and process. If a student graduates and their work surpasses their dissertation work (on all levels) then the faculty advisors who worked with students (meaning my dissertation director/committee in this case)  should assess that student as having a certain potential that is moving in a positive direction. But any attempt I made at improving my c.v. was attacked and destroyed. If I was blacklisted I was going to stay blacklisted in IUP’s eyes. In a normal or typical situation, a potential hiring situation involves examining many different criteria as part of the exchange between an alumna’s director and those responsible for hiring at an institution. Through all of IUP’s grossly misguided exchanges with academic institutions that received my application, one positive development arose: some of these institutions felt that I had enough potential to give me and my work a chance.