sunnuntai 5. tammikuuta 2020

Robert Epstein - Google Must Not Choose the Next President

  • A bias the for search engines.
  • Pro-Clinton bias in search results have shifted votes to Mrs. Clinton
  • The researchers found “ evidence of demographic targeting.”
  • Google insiders like Gregory Coppola and Zach Vorhies breaking rank and revealing various political biases in Google search.
  • Google rebel engineer reveals search engine bias
  • Is Google a cult?
  • Google Critic Killed in “Ironic” Car Accident: Struck by Google Street View Vehicle

Prof: Google Must Not Choose the Next President

Robert Epstein, a Clinton supporter in 2016, thinks Big Tech meddling is a risk. And, he says, he isn’t planning on suicide

Denyse O'Leary | August 24, 2019




 It’s not every day that we hear a prominent academic announce that he is not suicidal. But human behavior specialist Robert Epstein lives in unusual times and faces two awkward dilemmas.
Okay, this is sort of funny…. It’s been suggested that I remind people that I AM NOT SUICIDAL!!! I love my life, wife, 3 awesome sons, 2 awesome daughters, my research, etc. etc. Everyone got that??? Thanks to @Pumped_4_Trump for the suggestion. pic.twitter.com/TDBztmO3ZN— Dr. Robert Epstein (@DrREpstein) August 21, 2019

Bear with us; this is academia at its messiest. 

A strong supporter of Hillary Clinton for U.S. President in 2016, Epstein came into possession of information that led him to conclude that Google had been manipulating search results in her favor. 

 In a public-access 2017 paper, Epstein and Ronald E. Robertson detailed some interesting findings on Google’s alleged manipulation of search engines to affect political outcomes:

3) Was the bias the same for all search engines? No. The level of pro-Clinton bias we found on Google (0.19) was more than twice as high as the level of pro-Clinton bias we found on Yahoo (0.09). The difference between these values was highly statistically significant (p < 0.001).  
…
9) Issue: Could the pro-Clinton bias in search results have shifted votes to Mrs. Clinton? A comprehensive study published in 2015 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found that biased search rankings can easily shift the voting preferences of undecided voters by 20% or more – up to 80% in some demographic groups. Extrapolating from the mathematics introduced in this report, in articles published in February 2016 and thereafter, the lead author of the PNAS study predicted that a pro-Clinton bias in Google’s search results would, over time, shift at least 2.6 million votes to Clinton. She won the popular vote in the November election by 2,864,974 votes. Without the pro-Clinton bias in Google’s search results, her win margin in the popular vote might have been negligible.

The researchers also found “evidence of demographic targeting.” For example, search results seen by men were twice as likely to be pro-Clinton as those seen by women.
Their paper has attracted attention recently, probably due to Google insiders like Gregory Coppola and Zach Vorhies breaking rank and revealing various political biases in Google search.
Google claims it ain’t so but in any event, US President Donald Trump got hold of and responded to the expert and insider claims that Google would try to tamper with his reelection bid in 2020:
Wow, Report Just Out! Google manipulated from 2.6 million to 16 million votes for Hillary Clinton in 2016 Election! This was put out by a Clinton supporter, not a Trump Supporter! Google should be sued. My victory was even bigger than thought! @JudicialWatch— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 19, 2019

Mr. Trump’s numbers are off but his news sense is on target. And Hillary Clinton hit back:
The debunked study you’re referring to was based on 21 undecided voters. For context that’s about half the number of people associated with your campaign who have been indicted. https://t.co/0zHnWvGjSv— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) August 19, 2019

Dr. Epstein was, of course, put out when he heard that his study had been “debunked” and he responded,
@HillaryClinton, whom I have strongly supported for many years, told blatant lies about me today. As a result, I have been subjected to widespread condemnation by mainstream media. I’m going to fight this. Stay tuned tomorrow for my first-ever twitter storm. pic.twitter.com/CrPHMycVBu— Dr. Robert Epstein (@DrREpstein) August 20, 2019


“Debunked” is a problematic word, when used of an academic paper. It certainly doesn’t mean anything like “retracted.”

In a political context, it most often means that ideological opponents have found a way to blunt the force of the findings, chiefly among their own supporters and perhaps for many “undecideds.”
Robert Epstein has made clear recently that his concern is whether Silicon Valley should use its near-monopoly power over search engines and social media to ensure Donald Trump’s defeat in 2020 (or any other political outcome) by manipulating the information available to the lone voter in the booth:
“This is not a problem for conservatives. This is a problem for humanity,” the psychologist told PJ Media. “Who gave a handful of executives in Silicon Valley the right to decide what billions of people around the world can see and cannot see? Who gave them that power?”
Tyler O’Neil, “‘I AM NOT SUICIDAL,’ Says Man Who Exposed Hillary’s Ties to Google” at PJ Media (August 22, 2019)

 Epstein’s “suicide” theme stems, as readers may well have guessed, from the coincidence that he has the same surname as accused child sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, whose recent death while in federal custody has been ruled a suicide.
Robert Epstein has no plans for joining him and plans to press on, trying to draw attention to the power of Big Tech and what it might mean for politics in democracies.

Along those lines, an article Epstein wrote last year at Hacker Noon is worth a read, to understand how Big Tech could affect an election and what he thinks could be done to prevent it:
What if, early in the morning on Election Day in 2016, Mark Zuckerberg had used Facebook to broadcast “go-out-and-vote” reminders just to supporters of Hillary Clinton? Extrapolating from Facebook’s own published data, that might have given Mrs. Clinton a boost of 450,000 votes or more, with no one but Mr. Zuckerberg and a few cronies knowing about the manipulation.
Because, like most Democrats, Mr. Zuckerberg was overconfident that day, I don’t believe he sent that message, but there is no way to know for sure, and there is certainly nothing to stop him from broadcasting election-tilting messages like that in the future — and not just in the U.S. but in countries around the world.
Do we have to wait for whistleblowers or warrants to learn, belatedly, about shenanigans of this sort, or is there a way to detect them as they occur? What kind of monitoring system would it take? Is there a way to look over the shoulders of internet users to see what overzealous tech companies are showing them on their screens? 

This is the story of how my colleagues and I, working in the shadows of the internet, developed such a system and used it to monitor what Google, Bing and Yahoo were showing users in the months leading up to the 2016 election — a working prototype for a large-scale monitoring system that we hope will soon be protecting all of us 24 hours a day from the unfettered power of Big Tech.
Robert Epstein, “Taming Big Tech: The Case for Monitoring” at Hacker Noon (May 13, 2018)

One interesting facet of the controversy is that, at one time, the claims about Google’s political preferences were not even especially controversial:
An under-the-radar startup funded by billionaire Eric Schmidt has become a major technology vendor for Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign, underscoring the bonds between Silicon Valley and Democratic politics.
The Groundwork, according to Democratic campaign operatives and technologists, is part of efforts by Schmidt—the executive chairman of Google parent-company Alphabet—to ensure that Clinton has the engineering talent needed to win the election. And it is one of a series of quiet investments by Schmidt that recognize how modern political campaigns are run, with data analytics and digital outreach as vital ingredients that allow candidates to find, court, and turn out critical voter blocs.
But campaigns—lacking stock options and long-term job security—find it hard to attract the elite engineering talent that Facebook, Google, and countless startups rely on. That’s also part of the problem that Schmidt and the Groundwork are helping Clinton’s team to solve. 

Adam Pasick & Tim Fernholz, “The stealthy, Eric Schmidt-backed startup that’s working to put Hillary Clinton in the White House” at Quartz (October 9, 2015)

Pasick and Fernholz go on to speak about the “shrinking distance between Google and the Democratic Party” and the “technology that helped re-elect Obama.”
Ah, a story lies in that last bit! As Gary Smith explained in a recent podcast at Mind Matters News, “When Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump gave speeches, tens of thousands of people showed up and yelled and screamed and were excited. And when Hillary Clinton gave a speech, a couple of hundred people would show up and sit politely. And you couldn’t put that in a computer.” Barack Obama had, of course, been a charismatic candidate too—but one suspects that the computer hadn’t even noticed that element in the two-time winner’s success.
The results of the US 2016 election were a surprise to many pundits because technologies they had deemed very reliable, including trademark polling techniques, failed to predict the results.
As another election looms, we can be sure of charges and counter-charges of Big Tech manipulation, some of which may prove well-founded.
Note: Prof. Epstein kindly noted our Mind Matters News article and tweeted:
Fabulous article by @itsdesign: “Prof [that’s me]: #Google Must Not Choose the Next President.” 1 problem: I never claimed that Google “manipulated” the 2016 election. I’ve simply reported the significant level of pro-Clinton bias in their search results. https://t.co/dnfKoHSOLq— Dr. Robert Epstein (@DrREpstein) August 25, 2019

We apologize for any misunderstanding as to how to characterize search engine policies. It is a new area.


Further reading on search engine manipulation: 
Whistleblower says Google called police to do a “wellness check” on him. He can be seen doing a perp walk on the sidewalk in front of his house on the video (some portions transcribed here). In the documents Vorhies unearthed, Google seemed to be “intending to scope the information landscape so that they could create their own version of what was objectively true.”
What others are saying about the new Google insider’s revelations. The documents’ authenticity is not in dispute. What to do about them is another matter (Zach Vorhies)
Is Google a cult? Or does it just act that way?

Project Veritas announces that a new rebel Googler has sent nearly 1000 documents on algorithm bias to the DOJ.
While we prepare a news story on Zach Vorhies’ revelations, it may be worth asking why one of the world’s largest companies has developed what appears to be the atmosphere of a political cult.
and Google engineer reveals search engine bias. 
He found Google pretty neutral in 2014; the bias started with the US 2016 election (Gregory Coppola)See also: The US 2016 election: 
Why Big Data failed . In the aftermath, a Democratic pollster considered it “malpractice” to rely more on the machine than on Electoral College numbers. Bill Clinton reportedly threw his phone out a window in frustration over this tendency.
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  https://twitter.com/itsdesign


SOURCE:
https://mindmatters.ai/2019/08/prof-google-must-not-choose-the-next-president/

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Dr. Robert Epstein: How Big Tech’s Algorithms Can Impact
Opinions and Votes—and the 2020 Election
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fFb6vwrE_o4&feature=youtu.be

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Dr. Robert Epstein: How Google Manipulates Elections

Dr. Robert Epstein on Google's ability to affect the outcome of elections
Sep. 09, 2019 - 11:46
- Senior research psychologist at the American Institute
for Behavioral Research and Technology
Dr. Robert Epstein joins Mark Levin to discuss bias in Google's search results.


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'My beautiful wife Misti, a published poet, succumbed last night to injuries sustained  in a car accident. I was supposed to die in your arms some day, but a slippery road has ruined everything. You were not just my love, you were my greatest adventure.' 




R.I.P. - Misti Dawn Vaughn 






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Vista woman, 29, seriously injured in I-15 crash in Escondido

It happened around 8:05 a.m. on a rain-slick northbound I-15 near state Route 78

By ALEX RIGGINS | DEC. 23, 2019, 7:46 PM

ESCONDIDO — 

 A 29-year-old Vista woman was seriously injured Monday morning when her pickup spun out across a rain-slick Escondido freeway and into the path of an oncoming big rig, authorities said.

It happened around 8:05 a.m. on north Interstate 15 near state Route 78, California Highway Patrol spokesman Officer Mark Latulippe said in a statement.

It was unclear why the woman lost control of her Ford Ranger, but the truck “slid out of control ... and slid across the lanes into the path” of a Freightliner semi hauling two dump trailers, Latulippe said.
The trucker was unable to avoid hitting the Ranger and struck the passenger side of the pickup, Latulippe said. A 19-year-old Santee woman in a Toyota 4Runner was unable to avoid the nearby collision in front of her and struck the Ranger.
Medics treated the Vista woman at the scene before Escondido Fire Department personnel took her to Palomar Medical Center with major injuries, Latulippe said. The 50-year-old Murrieta man driving the big rig and the Santee woman in the 4Runner were both uninjured.
A Sig Alert was issued around 8:50 a.m. shutting down the left two lanes, but the lanes were reopened around 9:45 a.m.

alex.riggins@sduniontribune.com
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https://sandiegouniontribune.com/news/public-safety/story/2019-12-23/vista-woman-29-seriously-injured-in-i-15-crash-in-escondido
 
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Monday, December 23, 2019 - 7:50 AM / 9:08 PM - Rain, again!
A rather heavy band moved through here (San Diego) in the past couple hours/
- 7:30 AM - My gauge was at a very impressive .65". The second main band of this storm is approaching, should easy get an inch total. NWS continues to predict widespread rain Christmas night into Thursday. NWS posted storm totals as of 7AM: SD Airport .50", Encinitas .74", Escondido .33", La Mesa .08". The calendar year for San Diego is already the wettest in eight years!
- 11:10 AM - Edit: lost the data here.
- 12:30 PM - Gauge slightly more, now at 1.02" here in Bankers Hill. NWS updated storm totals as of 12:01 PM: SD Airport .99", Encinitas 1.07", Elfin Forest .88", Escondido. 64", La Mesa .41". Coast areas rather uniform and doing much better than SD inland valleys and mountains.
- 9:00 PM - Recent fairly robust and continuing local showers have brought my Bankers Hill gauge to 1.23" for the day. Impressive. NWS storm totals haven't been updated since 7:16 PM: SD Airport 1:02", Encinitas 1.11", Elfin Forest .92", Escondido .72", La Mesa .42". The latest forecast as of just a few minutes ago at 8:50 PM is calling for a "MAJOR and IMPACTFUL winter storm possible by Christmas night". The capital letters are the NWS's! Precip amounts of 1" or more along the coast, although, ahem, this storm has already done this. The main thrust is that there could be heavy snow the SD county I-8 mountain passes.

https://www.custompuzzlecraft.com/Weather/weathernotes.html


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Google Whistleblower and Hillary Clinton Critic Dr. Robert Epstein Suggests Wife’s Fatal Car Crash Not an Accident, ‘I’m Not Suicidal, Hear That, Hillary?’

Cristina Laila by Cristina Laila January 20, 2020


Photo of his wife Misti’s Ford Ranger after it was broadsided by a freight liner semi truck towing cement.



Photo of his wife Misti’s Ford Ranger after it was broadsided by a freight liner semi truck towing cement | January 20, 2020https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2020/01/google-whistleblower-and-hillary-clinton-critic-dr-robert-epstein-suggests-wifes-fatal-car-crash-not-an-accident-im-not-suicidal-hear-that-hillary/



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Weather History for Escondido, CA





https://www.almanac.com/weather/history/CA/Escondido/2019-12-23


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Woman Dies From Injuries Suffered in I-15 Crash with
Big Rig in Escondido


POSTED BY  ON  IN  | 418 VIEWS
A 29-year-old Vista woman who suffered serious injuries Monday when her pickup spun out and was struck by a big rig and SUV on - rain-slick ? - Interstate 15 in Escondido has died, authorities reported Friday.

Misti Dawn Vaughn was driving on the transition ramp from eastbound state Route 78 to northbound I-15 around 8 a.m. Monday when her Ford Ranger spun out and veered to the left across freeway lanes, according to information from the California Highway Patrol and the San Diego County Medical Examiner’s Office.
The pickup was then struck on the passenger side by a big rig and subsequently struck by a Toyota 4Runner, according to the CHP.
Vaughn was taken to Palomar Medical Center in Escondido, where she was admitted to the intensive care unit and was given “poor prognosis for recovery,” the Medical Examiner’s Office reported. She was pronounced dead at the hospital at 10:12 p.m. Thursday.
The big rig driver, a 50-year-old Murrieta man, and the Toyota driver, a 19-year-old Santee woman, both remained at the scene and were unhurt, according to the CHP.
Drugs or alcohol were not believed to have been factors in the crash, the CHP said.–City News Service

debbies@timesofsandiego.com

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Now this is Weird. Meant to be irony only:





Epstein is a research psychologist, editor, and author.

Google Critic Killed in “Ironic” Car Accident: Struck by Google Street View Vehicle

  

By Camille Johnson, San Diego Union-Tribune

San Diego, CA. Prominent research psychologist and author Dr. Robert Epstein, age 60, was killed yesterday afternoon by a Google Street View vehicle while crossing Front Street in San Diego, where he has long resided. Although foul play is not suspected, Epstein’s friends are calling the accident “ironic.”
According to Daryn Thompson, a 30-year friend of Epstein’s who also lives in San Diego, “We all know that Google isn’t evil, so there’s no chance this was deliberate, but it’s troubling and ironic that it just happened to be an outspoken critic of Google who was hit. I’m sure it was just a coincidence, though.”
Google Street View vehicles routinely drive up and down streets in countries around the world taking photographs of homes, businesses, and playgrounds.

For several years, they also secretly recorded unencrypted Wi-Fi signals in more than 30 countries, collecting massive amounts of personal data.

 According to the company’s promotional materials, “The Street View vehicles provide an invaluable service to consumers, who really like having their homes, businesses, and playgrounds photographed. If they didn’t want them photographed, they wouldn’t have put them there in the first place.”

Epstein was a Ph.D. of Harvard University, the author of fifteen books, and the former editor-in-chief of Psychology Today magazine. In recent years, he published a series of essays criticizing various aspects of Google’s operations and ethics - Google’s Dance, published by TIME, Google’s Gotcha, published by U.S. News & World Report, Google’s Snoops, published by Dissent, and others.
Most recently, he conducted a series of experiments that prompted media coverage worldwide which appear to show that Google can determine the outcome of close elections by biasing search rankings to favor certain candidates. Based on those experiments, Epstein claimed that to protect voters from undue influence, Google’s ubiquitous search engine would need to be regulated and monitored, with political candidates guaranteed equal time in search rankings, just as they are guaranteed equal time on radio and television.

Earlier this year, stock analyst Susan William Gates - no relation to Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft - estimated that regulating Google’s search engine would reduce the value of Google’s stock by 95 percent. “Basically,” she said while giggling for some reason, “they’d be fucked.”

The driver of the vehicle, Eric Schmidt Jr. - no relation to Google’s outspoken executive chairman, Eric Schmidt - remained on the scene and was not arrested or charged. Said Schmidt - uh, junior, that is - “I’m really, really, really sorry. No kidding.”

The deputy sheriff on the scene, Lawrence Page - no relation to Google CEO Larry Page - said there was no evidence that Schmidt - uh, junior - had broken any laws. “A video kindly provided to us by a passerby wearing Google Glass,” said Page - uh, Lawrence - “shows clearly that Dr. Epstein was looking straight ahead when he crossed the street.
- That was the problem.
If he had looked to his right, he would have seen the Google Street View vehicle coming toward him at high speed, but he never turned his ahead. 

In other words, the real culprit here was Dr. Epstein’s poor peripheral vision. With better peripheral vision, he could easily have avoided being hit simply by running very fast.”

Asked to comment on the tragic accident, a Google spokesperson said, “We didn’t do it. We believe the accident occurred because of an impartial algorithm. All bad, illegal, or suspicious things having to do with our company are usually attributable to an impartial algorithm.”

[Comment by Dr. Epstein, not written from a hospital bed, where he is not on life support: “Every time I publish a satire, a few people turn up who take what I wrote literally. That is as it should be. Satire was invented to make fools of people, after all. In any case, for the record, and for the benefit of people who cannot understand satire (or, no doubt, good jokes), I am quite alive. Please hold off on the eulogies, and please do not boycott Google. You do not want to piss them off.”]

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/google-critic-killed-in-i_b_5351458?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly90LmNvLw&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAADgm8m_ghGJuGu6_0xfJYrO-N1ZemwNs-RiNGd_-GhxswI49wMnVcXflXAlRHJ-9IjEK4O0y17A83R4SR3oSTy6bO71mM3MKlSBMzG9AcfRPA8IjniWUdXnGS32Sy_gJ0jmys4-RBk-kRVCwpXs8o2CCTJlCxdwtNmMGPIOMub54


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