Monday, January 19, 2015


News Clips For The Day


http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/lip-syncing-delaware-police-officer-global-attention-28295352

Lip-Syncing Delaware Police Officer Getting Global Attention
AP Jan 17, 2015

A video of a bald and burly Delaware police officer enthusiastically lip-syncing to Taylor Swift's "Shake it Off" is getting global attention.

The video, posted to the Dover Police Department's Facebook page Friday, shows Master Cpl. Jeff Davis in uniform and driving a patrol car while lip-syncing to the popular pop song — sassy head rolls and finger-pointing included.
Department spokesman Cpt. Mark Hoffman said Saturday that he's gotten calls about the video from media outlets in Australia, England, Germany, and throughout the U.S. It has 380,000YouTube views.

Hoffman says Davis, a 19-year veteran of the department, is "the class clown" and loved making the video. He says the 48-year-old father of four knows "Shake it Off" so well because of his 10-year-old daughter.




This is a really great video, not merely cute but very well-performed. The 48 year old man has the “girly” show down pat. It's a clear sign that not all police officers are overly aggressive or lacking in sense of humor. I knew that already. I grew up in the neighborhood with three policemen, and dated two in my adult years. See this site for the video: http://www.nola.com/crime/index.ssf/2015/01/cop_lip-synching_taylor_swifts.html.





http://www.cbsnews.com/news/obama-to-propose-higher-capital-gains-taxes-new-fee-on-big-banks/

Obama to propose new taxes in State of the Union
By JAKE MILLER CBS NEWS
January 17, 2015

President Obama will ask Congress to hike capital gains taxes on wealthy Americans and impose a fee on large financial firms in Tuesday's State of the Union address, the White House announced Saturday.

The new taxes and fees, which the administration says will raise $320 billion over 10 years, would be used to finance $235 billion in new spending on community college tuition and targeted tax relief.

Senior administration officials said the proposals are designed to "raise wages and incomes for middle class families in the new economy" and that they'd "make the system more fair" by closing loopholes that primarily benefit top income-earners. Many Democrats have long sought higher taxes on capital gains, or income derived from investments, to make the tax code more progressive.

Of the estimated $320 billion in new revenue the president is seeking, $210 billion would come from a pair of adjustments to capital gains taxes. The first adjustment would close the so-called "trust fund loophole," a feature of the tax code that "lets the wealthy pass appreciated assets onto their heirs tax-free," according to the White House.

The second adjustment would raise capital gains taxes on the top 1 percent of income earners, currently at 15 percent, to 28 percent -- the same level it was at under former President Ronald Reagan, the White House is quick to point out.

An additional $110 billion would come from a new fee on highly leveraged financial services firms (firms bearing a heavy debt load) with more than $50 billion in assets. Roughly 100 firms would be targeted by the new fee, which a White House fact sheet argued would help "discourage excessive borrowing."

In return for those new taxes and fees, the president will ask Congress to set aside $60 billion to offer rebates to states that offer free community college tuition and an additional $175 billion in new tax benefits.

The president would offer a $500 second-earner tax credit that allows spouses in two-earner families to obtain a tax credit now available to the principle earner. That change could benefit 24 million couples.

He would also triple the child care tax credit to $3,000, a move that could benefit 5.1 million families with children under 5 and 6.7 million families overall.

And he'd offer a $2,500 tax credit for college students pursuing a full degree and consolidate the six federal college education tax benefits into only two. The tax credit could reach 8.5 million students and families, and the tax benefits through simplification could benefit 25 million families and students that claim those tax benefits, the White House estimates.

Finally, the president will also call for Congress to allow part-time workers to apply for and eventually receive retirement benefits through automatic enrollment in company-run savings plans. ‎This could benefit up to 30 million workers.

With the president's big speech looming, the White House is hoping the early announcement of the proposals could heighten the visibility of the address and gin up enthusiasm among groups sympathetic to his ideas.

"This is a clearer way for the president to present his vision," a senior administration official said Saturday.

Of course, the call to raise taxes on the wealthy and impose a fee on big financial institutions will likely go over like a lead balloon with Republicans, who now control both houses of Congress. The president has previously proposed hiking capital gains taxes, but the GOP has successfully thwarted any such action, arguing the move woulddiscourage investment and put a crimp in economic growth.

CBS News chief White House correspondent Major Garrett contributed to this report.




“President Obama will ask Congress to hike capital gains taxes on wealthy Americans and impose a fee on large financial firms in Tuesday's State of the Union address, the White House announced Saturday. The new taxes and fees, which the administration says will raise $320 billion over 10 years, would be used to finance $235 billion in new spending on community college tuition and targeted tax relief.... Senior administration officials said the proposals are designed to "raise wages and incomes for middle class families in the new economy" and that they'd "make the system more fair" by closing loopholes that primarily benefit top income-earners. Many Democrats have long sought higher taxes on capital gains, or income derived from investments, to make the tax code more progressive.... "trust fund loophole," a feature of the tax code that "lets the wealthy pass appreciated assets onto their heirs tax-free,".... raise capital gains taxes on the top 1 percent of income earners, currently at 15 percent, to 28 percent -- the same level it was at under former President Ronald Reagan... a new fee on highly leveraged financial services firms (firms bearing a heavy debt load) with more than $50 billion in assets. Roughly 100 firms would be targeted by the new fee... rebates to states that offer free community college tuition and an additional $175 billion in new tax benefits.... triple the child care tax credit to $3,000, a move that could benefit 5.1 million families with children under 5 and 6.7 million families overall.... a $2,500 tax credit for college students pursuing a full degree and consolidate the six federal college education tax benefits into only two. The tax credit could reach 8.5 million students and families, and the tax benefits through simplification could benefit 25 million families and students that claim those tax benefits, the White House estimates.... allow part-time workers to apply for and eventually receive retirement benefits through automatic enrollment in company-run savings plans. ‎This could benefit up to 30 million workers.”

Hopefully some or all of these changes will make it through Congress and be enacted. They should all be useful to the targeted Middle Class, with some “trickle down” to the poor whose chances at any college at all are poor. Nay sayers too often make fun of the the idea that the poor children will actually be able to do the academic work – an idea closely linked to the viewpoint that most poor people are black and that blacks aren't as smart as whites. School achievement is and always has been a matter of the individual student's basic intelligence (which is not something that is limited to the privileged classes or the white and Asian races), and to his desire and drive to follow a wise path of life improvement. Particularly good students have always been somewhat exceptional mentally, and those who are average but hard workers can also benefit from college. Those people need and deserve their chance to get some level of higher education. This educational financial aid will help poor people get a better salary and then perhaps pursue even higher educational goals, since a four year degree is now often considered insufficient for many jobs. Also, two year colleges often offer technical certificates in subjects like computer and medical fields which can make a real difference in the student's income upon graduation. The ever rising cost of college tuition has made this chance for self-improvement almost impossible for too many students. I'm glad to see Obama and his administration digging down into the problem in such specific and targeted ways, and I believe these moves will help the situation.





http://www.cbsnews.com/news/isis-releases-hundreds-of-yazidi-prisoners-in-iraq/

ISIS releases hundreds of Yazidi prisoners in Iraq
AP January 18, 2015

ALTON KUPRI, Iraq - The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) released about 200 Yazidis held for five months in Iraq, mostly elderly, infirm captives who likely slowed the extremists down, Kurdish military officials said Sunday.

Almost all of the freed prisoners are in poor health and bore signs of abuse and neglect. Three were young children. The former captives were being questioned and receiving medical treatment on Sunday in the town of Alton Kupri.

Gen. Shirko Fatih, commander of Kurdish peshmerga forces in the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk, said it appears the militants released the prisoners because they were too much of a burden.

"It probably became too expensive to feed them and care for them," he said.

Tens of thousands of Yazidis fled in August when ISIS captured the northern Iraqi town of Sinjar, near the Syrian border. But hundreds were taken captive by the group, with some Yazidi women forced into slavery, according to international rights groups and Iraqi officials.

The militants transported the mainly elderly captives from the northern town of Tal Afar and dropped them off Saturday at the Khazer Bridge, near the Kurdish regional capital of Irbil.

"Their situation is very bad, especially the psychological condition," said Hersh Hussein, a representative from the Irbil governor's office who was in Alton Kupri. "Regarding other diseases we provide first aid and the most important medical treatment."

Maha Faris Qassem, 35, was released with her two young sons, both of whom were covered from head to toe in bug bites which appear to be infected. She said the conditions of their captivity were so dire that infection was inevitable.

About 50,000 Yazidis - half of them children, according to U.N. figures - fled to the mountains outside Sinjar during the onslaught. Some still remain there.

The U.S. launched airstrikes and humanitarian aid drops in Iraq on Aug. 8, partly in response to the crisis on Sinjar mountain. Since then, a coalition of eight countries have conducted more than 1,000 airstrikes across Iraq in an effort to eradicate ISIS, which now holds a third of both Iraq and Syria.

The Sunni militant group views Yazidis and Shiite Muslims as apostates, and has demanded Christians either convert to Islam or pay a special tax.

"I don't know the details of why they released us," Gawre Semo, 69, told The Associated Press. "They are very bad people. They took our children and they took the women. They did bad things with us. We've been humiliated by them."




“Almost all of the freed prisoners are in poor health and bore signs of abuse and neglect. Three were young children. The former captives were being questioned and receiving medical treatment on Sunday in the town of Alton Kupri. Gen. Shirko Fatih, commander of Kurdish peshmerga forces in the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk, said it appears the militants released the prisoners because they were too much of a burden. "It probably became too expensive to feed them and care for them," he said.... "Their situation is very bad, especially the psychological condition," said Hersh Hussein, a representative from the Irbil governor's office who was in Alton Kupri. "Regarding other diseases we provide first aid and the most important medical treatment."... About 50,000 Yazidis - half of them children, according to U.N. figures - fled to the mountains outside Sinjar during the onslaught. Some still remain there. The U.S. launched airstrikes and humanitarian aid drops in Iraq on Aug. 8, partly in response to the crisis on Sinjar mountain. Since then, a coalition of eight countries have conducted more than 1,000 airstrikes across Iraq in an effort to eradicate ISIS, which now holds a third of both Iraq and Syria.... "I don't know the details of why they released us," Gawre Semo, 69, told The Associated Press. "They are very bad people. They took our children and they took the women. They did bad things with us. We've been humiliated by them."

Sometimes when I read certain news stories I am particularly thankful that I live in the US and not the Middle East. The mass punishment of these people, whose only sin is that they cling to an ancient faith that is no longer followed by very many people in that area, is incredibly cruel. Incredible cruelty has become the cultural norm among ISIS, of course. I'm glad to see that 8 nations are participating in the bombing of ISIS forces. I wish the US would arm the Kurds and let them fight ISIS. The Kurds have a reputation of being highly independent culturally, however, and Iraq, Turkey and some other countries don't trust them. They tend to want to set up their own nation, and those nations don't want to part with any of their land. At least that's my understanding of the situation.





http://www.cbsnews.com/news/wounded-veterans-find-recipe-for-their-futures-at-dog-tag-bakery/

Wounded veterans find recipe for their futures at Dog Tag Bakery

ByJIM AXELROD CBS NEWS
January 17, 2015

WASHINGTON -- Welcome to Dog Tag Bakery, now open in Washington, D.C., after eight years of planning and prayer.

"I never gave up because I knew that this was a good work," founder Rick Curry said.
Curry had the "prayer" part covered. As for other, secular resources, this Jesuit priest partnered up with a real estate mogul named Connie Milstein.

"He is the Jesuit father, and I am the Jewish godmother," Milstein said at the bakery's opening ceremony.

Both wanted to help disabled veterans returning home from Iraq and Afghanistan ease into the next chapter of their lives. They opened Dog Tag to make sure the vets would have marketable skills.


Washington's Dog Tag Bakery helps give wounded Iraq and Afghanistan veterans business skills and self-confidence.

"I was trained as a baker as a very young Jesuit, and I thought, 'I'm going to teach them how to bake,'" Curry recalls.

Here, the fellows, as they're called, learn not just how to bake but also how to run the business of a bakery. Veterans like retired Army Ranger Sedrick Banks, whose neck was broken in a mortar attack in Iraq.

"Dog Tag was my first major step back into the working mindset," Banks said. "Before the program, I didn't have confidence. I didn't feel like I had the ability. Now I'm
confident in myself, you know?"

"The world thinks that disabled veterans can't be hired. And that's absolutely absurd," Curry said. "And we're here to prove them wrong."

Father Rick knows a little something about proving people wrong: He was born with just one arm.

"I believe that disability is a gift," Curry said. "It's very hard. It's very difficult. It can be difficult to accept but in the long run to accept your disability as a gift is positive."

Retired Army Ranger Sedrick Banks, center, suffered a broken neck during a mortar attack in Iraq. He says before becoming a fellow at Dog Tag Bakery in Washington, D.C., "I didn't have confidence. I didn't feel like I had the ability."

Sgt. Banks rediscovered his identify here, which is what makes the name of this place so fitting -- identity, after all, being the purpose of a dog tag. It's just one of the many things Father Rick has baked into his program.

"I want our fellows here to be happy," Curry said. "I want them to be successful, but I also want them to be happy."

The program to teach the vets the small business skills they'd need to run a bakery is done in partnership with Georgetown University.

CBS News senior producer Pat Milton produced this story.




"I never gave up because I knew that this was a good work," founder Rick Curry said. urry had the "prayer" part covered. As for other, secular resources, this Jesuit priest partnered up with a real estate mogul named Connie Milstein. "He is the Jesuit father, and I am the Jewish godmother," Milstein said at the bakery's opening ceremony. Both wanted to help disabled veterans returning home from Iraq and Afghanistan ease into the next chapter of their lives. They opened Dog Tag to make sure the vets would have marketable skills.
Washington's Dog Tag Bakery helps give wounded Iraq and Afghanistan veterans business skills and self-confidence.... Father Rick knows a little something about proving people wrong: He was born with just one arm. "I believe that disability is a gift," Curry said. "It's very hard. It's very difficult. It can be difficult to accept but in the long run to accept your disability as a gift is positive."

“The program to teach the vets the small business skills they'd need to run a bakery is done in partnership with Georgetown University.” It's good to see non-governmental groups participating in an activity like this. Presumably the Dog Tag fellows will get some of their training at the Georgetown school of business. A job and a degree would be great for these vets, many of whom went directly from high school to the military, therefore without getting work experience or a start on their education. This is one of those feel good stories, but it's really a concrete step forward for these men and women. What a good “liberal” thing for a business and a well-known university to do.





http://www.cbsnews.com/news/belgium-wants-possible-terror-plot-ringleader-extradited-from-greece/

Belgium narrows in on terror plot leaders
CBS NEWS
January 19, 2015

BRUSSELS -- Belgian officials have confirmed to CBS News that a suspect they want extradited from Greece may be one of the ringleaders behind the alleged plot to attack police in the European country.

CBS News correspondent Charlie D'Agata reports that, as Belgian authorities close in on the leaders of the apparent terror cell busted up last week, they've put their military on a war footing.

Hundreds of troops have begun providing high-profile protection at sites considered potential terror targets, including the U.S. Embassy, and Jewish neighborhoods.

The beefed-up security comes as foreign ministers meet in Brussels to coordinate efforts to fight the rising threat of terrorism across Europe.

Deputy Prime Minister Didier Reynders told D'Agata the troops will be around for awhile -- and not just to put people's minds at ease.

"There's a specific threat, if I may say, due to some information collected in the interventions last week," he said.

Reynders told CBS News the hunt for the ringleader in Greece originated from intercepted phone calls. They learned an attack was hours away, prompting the raids across the country last week in which two suspects were killed and a third arrested.

A U.S. official told CBS News that the suspected ringleader, a 33-year-old Algerian man, is believed to have returned from Syria and allegedly ran the operation aimed at attacking police and government officials from Greece.

In the following 24 hours, more than a dozen other people were detained for questioning across Belgium, and there have been dozens more terror arrests across Europe since the attacks in Paris that left 17 people dead.

Jittery German officials had to cancel a weekly right-wing rally against Islamic extremism after death threats to one of the so-called PEGIDA group's leaders.

With tensions running so high, parts of Europe are in lock-down. Militarized zones -- a show of force if nothing else -- have popped up in many cities in the hope of preventing further attacks.

Reynders told CBS News that among the measures foreign ministers were to discuss Monday, was the possibility of revoking passports of suspected terrorists; about as close as Europe can come collectively to setting up a no-fly list like the one in the U.S.

The Algerian man, detained Sunday on a European arrest warrant in Athens, was to go before Greek judges who were expected to rule on the Belgian extradition request within several days.




"CBS News correspondent Charlie D'Agata reports that, as Belgian authorities close in on the leaders of the apparent terror cell busted up last week, they've put their military on a war footing. Hundreds of troops have begun providing high-profile protection at sites considered potential terror targets, including the U.S. Embassy, and Jewish neighborhoods. The beefed-up security comes as foreign ministers meet in Brussels to coordinate efforts to fight the rising threat of terrorism across Europe. Deputy Prime Minister Didier Reynders told D'Agata the troops will be around for awhile -- and not just to put people's minds at ease.... Reynders told CBS News the hunt for the ringleader in Greece originated from intercepted phone calls. They learned an attack was hours away, prompting the raids across the country last week in which two suspects were killed and a third arrested. A U.S. official told CBS News that the suspected ringleader, a 33-year-old Algerian man, is believed to have returned from Syria and allegedly ran the operation aimed at attacking police and government officials from Greece.... Jittery German officials had to cancel a weekly right-wing rally against Islamic extremism after death threats to one of the so-called PEGIDA group's leaders. With tensions running so high, parts of Europe are in lock-down. Militarized zones -- a show of force if nothing else -- have popped up in many cities in the hope of preventing further attacks.”

The ring leader is being detained in Greece awaiting a possible extradition procedure within the next few days, and EU leaders are discussing the revocation of all suspected terrorists' passports. Meanwhile independent EU nations are in some cases setting up militarized zones for protecting various Jewish and American sites on their soil from possible jihadi attacks. I think perhaps the fact that the EU is now under a unified front is making this preparation against the terrorists easier. I'll track these stories as I see them in the months to come.





http://www.cbsnews.com/news/mtv-to-change-look-of-programming-for-king-holiday/

MTV to change look of programming for King holiday
AP January 18, 2015

WASHINGTON - MTV is taking the color out of its programming on Martin Luther King Jr. Day to encourage people to talk about what race means in their lives.

The youth-oriented TV network is airing its programming in black and white on Monday, a first in the channel's 34-year history.

The programming move is meant to promote #TheTalk initiative, encouraging viewers to discuss race with their friends and family.
"The device of turning us black and white is going to be really- visually- a jolt to say, you know what, there are differences and if we are going to ever get to a freer, more equal society the best thing we can begin to do is talk about them," MTV President Stephen Friedman said.

The retro-look programs will air for 12 hours and will include personal reflections on race from entertainers and public officials, including Kendrick Lamar, Big Sean, Jordin Sparks, Pete Wentz, Sen. Rand Paul, Rep. John Lewis, Sen. Cory Booker, "Selma" director Ava DuVernay and actor David Oyelowo.

The Oscar-nominated film "Selma" chronicles the 1965 marches for voting rights that King led through Alabama. Lewis, one of the student leaders working with King, suffered a skull fracture when Alabama state troopers, sheriff deputies and possemen wielding bullwhips, clubs and tear gas advanced on the marchers on the outskirts of Selma.

In addition to entertaining its audience, MTV has traditionally engaged viewers in social issues, Friedman said.

"We thought what better day than MLK Day to really use, not only the history and the power of what Dr. King said with the "I Have a Dream" speech, but hear it from artists, political leaders and the audience to really spark a national conversation," Friedman said.

The latest MTV initiative is a part of its Look Different anti-bias campaign that launched in April 2014 to get young people talking about race, gender and sexual orientation.

The campaign created commercials with civil rights groups including the NAACP in the aftermath of the fatal police shooting of 18-year-old Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, last summer. The network also aired a special, "Laverne Cox Presents: The T Word," about transgender youth with the "Orange is the New Black" star.

An MTV study found that 91 percent of millennials believe in equality and believe everyone should be treated equally. About 61 percent of teens and young adults say they have been the target of bias. The percentage is even higher among women, people of color and LGBT.




This particular article below from techtarget.com on the Millennials describes them in such a varied set of ways as to be completely meaningless. See this article by Pew Research which describes them as being “ages 18-29” as of the year 2010 when the survey was done. Go to http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/files/2010/10/millennials-confident-connected-open-to-change.pdf, which describes the results of the 2010 Pew survey, so in 2010 an 18 to 29 year old had to have been born in the range of 1992 to 1981.

I am using this Pew Research definition rather than that in the techtarget.com article because it covers a more logical range of ages and years. In that article, the Time Magazine and New York Times age ranges could be described as “a young adult” around 2000, which should be the target date I would think, judging by the name of the generation. The Pew Research article is given as techtarget's source for their statistics, so that should fit nicely.



http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/millennials-millennial-generation

Millennials (Millennial generation)
Millennials, also known as Generation Y or the Net Generation, are the demographic cohort that directly follows Generation X.

This was last updated in January 2015
Contributor(s): Matthew Haughn
Posted by: Margaret Rouse



What, exactly, is the Millennial generation?


The term Millennials is usually considered to apply to individuals who reached adulthood around the turn of the 21st century. The precise delineation varies from one source to another, however. Neil Howe and William Strauss, authors of the 1991 book Generations: The History of America's Future, 1584 to 2069, are often credited with coining the term. Howe and Strauss define the Millennial cohort as consisting of individuals born between 1982 and 2004.

Other proposed dates for Millennials:

According to Iconoclast, a consumer research firm, the first Millennials were born in 1978.
Newsweek magazine reported that the Millennial generation was born between 1977 and 1994.
In separate articles, the New York Times pegged the Millennials at 1976-1990 and 1978-1998.
A Time magazine article placed the Millennials at 1980-2000.

Overall, the earliest proposed birthdate for Millennials is 1976 and the latest 2004. Given that a familial generation in developed nations lies somewhere between 25 and 30 years, we might reasonably consider those the start and end points.

There is a great deal of variation from one individual to another within any generational cohort. Nevertheless, the particular environment for any generation affects those individuals in ways that are observable as broad tendencies. This definition of the term discusses those reported tendencies for Millennials in the workplace, Millennials and technology, Millennials and culture.

A snapshot of Millennials, according to their press:

Millennials grew up in an electronics-filled and increasingly online and socially-networked world. They are the generation that has received the most marketing attention. As the most ethnically diverse generation, Millennials tend to be tolerant of difference. Having been raised under the mantra "follow your dreams" and being told they were special, they tend to be confident. While largely a positive trait, the Millennial generation’s confidence has been argued to spill over into the realms of entitlement and narcissism.  They are often seen as slightly more optimistic about the future of America than other generations -- despite the fact that they are the first generation since the Silent Generation that is expected to be less economically successful than their parents.

One reported result of Millennial optimism is entering into adulthood with unrealistic expectations, which sometimes leads to disillusionment. Many early Millennials went through post-secondary education only to find themselves employed in unrelated fields or underemployed and job hopping more frequently than previous generations. Their expectations may have resulted from the very encouraging, involved and almost ever-present group of parents that became known as helicopter parents.

Millennial statistics (Source: Pew Research):

50 percent of Millennials consider themselves politically unaffiliated.
29 percent consider themselves religiously unaffiliated.
They have the highest average number of Facebook friends, with an average of 250 friends vs. Generations X's 200.
55 percent have posted a selfie or more to social media sites versus 20 percent of Generation X.
8 percent of Millennials claim to have sexted, whereas 30 percent claim to have received sexts.
They send a median of 50 texts a day.
As of 2012, only 19 percent of Millennials said that, generally, others can be trusted.
There are about 76 million Millennials in the United States (based on research using the years 1978-2000).
Millennials are the last generation born in the 20th century.
Twenty percent have at least one immigrant parent.

Millennials in the workplace:

Some adaptations have come about from employers accommodating Millennials. The bring-your-own device trend (BYOD), for example, is at least in part a reaction to the Millennials’ near-addiction to mobile devices. Workplace satisfaction matters more to Millennials than monetary compensation and work-life balance is often considered essential. They are less likely than previous generations to put up with an unpleasant work environment and much more likely to use social networking to broadcast their concerns. On the other hand, satisfied Millennials are often employee advocates for the organizations they work for, providing honest, free -- and convincing -- public relations (PR).

Having grown up being bombarded by advertising, Millennials tend to be skeptical about promotional material of any kind. Whether buying products and services or considering employment, Millennials are more likely to listen to their friends than to be affected by marketing or public relations material. This characteristic makes both conventional marketing and employee recruitment practices often ineffective for Millennials.
 
Millennials and technology

 Millennials grew up with computers, the Internet and the graphical user interface (GUI). This familiarity makes them adept at understanding interfaces and visual languages. They tend to adjust readily to new programs, operating systems (OS ) and devices and to perform computer-based tasks more quickly than older generations. Although it’s been proven that multitasking is not usually an effective way to work, Millennials may be the employees that are most likely to pull it off.

Millennials are generally comfortable with the idea of a public Internet life. Privacy, in the Millennial eye, is mostly a concern of functional settings limiting who sees their online shares. This comfort with social media means they are good at self-promotion and fostering connections through online media. But this approach often results in an issue when comparing themselves to peers. Millennials are sometimes frustrated by the grass seeming greener on the other side of the fence. That impression may be due to people’s image crafting, which emphasizes their good qualities and exciting parts of their lives. 

 In schooling, the technology focus increased in programming. Millennials can also very dependent on the Internet for learning how to do things. When their computers or devices don’t work they often need some form of assistance to troubleshoot and correct these issues without the aid of the Internet. In contrast, the technically-inclined members of Generation X may have started when electronics were hobby kits and the best gaming machines were unquestionably self-built computers. That starting point often meant Generation X has a deeper understanding of programming and hardware issues.

 Millennials and culture

The Millennials have shown in survey to have the least faith in the institutions of America. Conversely, they also show the highest support of political independents and protestor-formed governments. Although Millennials have less faith in religious institutions, at the same time the numbers have also risen for those who have absolute faith in the existence of a god. Many churches’ messages clash with the Millennial ideal of tolerance for religious, racial, gender, sexual orientation differences. Millennials are also concerned about social justice and will not support institutions that they see as in conflict with social and economic equality.  As such, Millennials are exerting their influence on the world around them, as all prior generations have done.




“The youth-oriented TV network is airing its programming in black and white on Monday, a first in the channel's 34-year history. The programming move is meant to promote #TheTalk initiative, encouraging viewers to discuss race with their friends and family. "The device of turning us black and white is going to be really- visually- a jolt to say, you know what, there are differences and if we are going to ever get to a freer, more equal society the best thing we can begin to do is talk about them," MTV President Stephen Friedman said.... In addition to entertaining its audience, MTV has traditionally engaged viewers in social issues, Friedman said. "We thought what better day than MLK Day to really use, not only the history and the power of what Dr. King said with the "I Have a Dream" speech, but hear it from artists, political leaders and the audience to really spark a national conversation," Friedman said. The latest MTV initiative is a part of its Look Different anti-bias campaign that launched in April 2014 to get young people talking about race, gender and sexual orientation.... An MTV study found that 91 percent of millennials believe in equality and believe everyone should be treated equally. About 61 percent of teens and young adults say they have been the target of bias. The percentage is even higher among women, people of color and LGBT.”

From techtarget.com, comes the following on Millennials: “The Millennials have shown in survey to have the least faith in the institutions of America. Conversely, they also show the highest support of political independents and protestor-formed governments. Although Millennials have less faith in religious institutions, at the same time the numbers have also risen for those who have absolute faith in the existence of a god. Many churches’ messages clash with the Millennial ideal of tolerance for religious, racial, gender, sexual orientation differences. Millennials are also concerned about social justice and will not support institutions that they see as in conflict with social and economic equality.  As such, Millennials are exerting their influence on the world around them, as all prior generations have done.”

I have never paid any attention to MTV. Forgive me. I have no interest in much of the music that the kids listen to, and I always thought the channel was like Disney – mostly for kids. This is a really interesting project, though, and I do think that people around the nation should step across the color line and interact in positive ways, so I approve of what MTV is doing. Talking over the issues is a good way to start in embracing racial and social cooperation. The fact that 91% of young adults believe in equality is a very encouraging sign. That should open their minds to other progressive issues and present a window for environmentalism and true religious liberty as I define it. At least I hope so.