Bob Jensen's Tidbits

Education is not to reform students or amuse them or to make them expert technicians. It is to unsettle their minds, widen their horizons, inflame their intellects, teach them to think straight, if possible
Robert M. Hutchins as quoted by Mark Shapiro at http://irascibleprofessor.com/comments-07-20-05.htm

The denial of cultural rights to minorities is as disruptive of the moral fabric of mainstream society as is the denial of civil rights.
Joshua A. Fishman

Continued assertions that the sneaky Zionists are behind all terrorist atrocities
From the Middle East Media Research Institute (headquartered in Washington DC)
July 19, 2005: Palestinian National Council Member Mamoun Tamimi on the London Bombings: "Since This [Iraq] War is Ongoing, Those You Strike Have the Right to Strike Back At You – In Your Home, Your Country, Or Anywhere" (includes video) --- http://memri.org/bin/latestnews.cgi?ID=SD93605

Jensen Comment: It's not clear where these "facts" are pulled out of the air, which is a shame for an organization claiming to be a "research institute." Since there are only an estimated 18 million estimated followers of the Torah/Talmud, it would appear that the 60 million is a figment of wild imagination. See http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/book05q2.htm#ReligionStatistics

British Muslims hate bombers too
More than nine out of ten British Muslims say suicide murders are NOT justified by holy book the Koran, an exclusive Sun survey shows today. The 91 per cent finding confirms that the vast majority of those living here do not treat the London bombers as martyrs. Pollsters MORI asked an exclusively Muslim audience about their attitudes. Our survey was conducted on Thursday around the time the latest bombing attacks happened. A majority, 52 per cent, say Islam is compatible with the values of British democracy.
George Pascoe-Watson, "Muslims hate bombers too," Online Sun, July 29, 2005 ---
http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2004600000-2005330920,00.html

Accounting Gets Hip—Companies Scramble for Talent
It's got it all: great pay, generous benefits, a fast career track and the respect of the highest executives in corporate America. It's accounting, which is fast becoming one of the most prestigious and in-demand careers around. Thanks to a spate of corporate scandals and the flood of jobs created by the Sarbanes-Oxley reform legislation, talented accountants are being wooed with raises, bonuses and a long list of perks. Even those just starting out are being recruited heavily. Accounting majors top the list of most desired job candidates in the United States, according to the National Association of Colleges and Employers. Graduates can expect to make $43,370 to start, up from $40,538 in 2002. Some recruits get a month of paid vacation, before their first day on the job, the Trenton Star-Ledger reported. An accounting MBA can start at around $55,000, not counting health insurance and retirement benefits.
"Accounting Gets Hip—Companies Scramble for Talent," AccountingWeb, July 19, 2005 --- http://www.accountingweb.com/cgi-bin/item.cgi?id=101107

Mayo Clinic is not so hip
Court documents pertaining to a suit brought against the Mayo Foundation by a former accounting employee under the False Claims Act and settled in May for $6.5 million, were released Monday to the Rochester, Minnesota, Post-Bulletin, according to the Associated Press. The documents had been under seal until the Post-Bulletin challenged the settlement order, according to the Associated Press. These documents show that federal investigators alleged that the Mayo Clinic had serious problems accounting for research grants, according to the Associated Press. “The audit team from the Department of Health and Human Services and the National Institutes of Health, whose job it is to routinely audit grants, has never seen an accounting system with such basic failures. Nor have they ever previously confronted an institution incapable of being audited in this way,” the Associated Press quotes from one document, signed by Assistant U.S. Attorney Robyn Millenacker.
"Harsh Criticism for the Mayo Foundation's Accounting Practices," AccountingWeb, July 21, 2005 --- http://www.accountingweb.com/cgi-bin/item.cgi?id=101117

From the Smithsonian: Spotlight on Science --- http://www.si.edu/research/spotlight/

One of the nation's most liberal (big red) states is now lamenting a shortage of workers
"Mass. firms decry lack of workers Labor shortage blamed on recession departures," by Robert Gavin, The Boston Globe, July 24, 2005 --- http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2005/07/24/mass_firms_decry_lack_of_workers/

This seems to contradict liberal claims about the losses of factory jobs ---
http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20050801&s=fine

Google Map Service Covers Lunar Surface
Google Moon won't give you driving directions or the nearest restaurants, the types of information available with Google Maps and Google Earth. But the lunar tool lets you zoom and move around _ to the extent NASA has provided images for those areas. The feature debuting Wednesday at http://moon.google.com also shows the locations of all six Apollo moon landings. Click on one to get the date and astronauts involved.
Anick Jesdanun, "Google Map Service Covers Lunar Surface," The Washington Post, July 22, 2005 --- http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/07/22/AR2005072200506.html?referrer=email
Jensen Comment: This may be a great place to send the kids for summer camp.

Cheesy Humor in the Map Server
Messages from Amy Dunbar, Chuck Pier, Gary Tanner, and Eric Press

Il ne faut pas grand chose pour amuser les fous!!!
My friend, Suzanne, made that remark. Sure glad I don't understand French. _______________

That is hilarious!!!!!!!
Thanks for the laugh, Chuck! How on earth did you figure that out?

Amy Dunbar

**************************************

Bob-

Click on the link http://moon.google.com in your message and then zoom in on the pictures. I was curious about how much detail you could get and choose the Apollo 11 site labeled "A". The closet zoom will prove what we have been told about the moon since we were children and also prove that the people at Google have a great sense of humor.

Chuck

Charles A. Pier, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor Department of Accounting
Walker College of Business
Appalachian State University
Boone, NC 28608 email: pierca@appstate.edu

***************************************

Bob,

I have already seen this one and noted that if you maximize the moon surface all the way and double click it again you get to see what the moon is really made of.

Gary

***************************************

"It don't take much to make fools laugh."

If you zoom in all the way, you observe the fun.

Eric Press, Ph.D., C.P.A.
Associate Professor of Accounting
Fox School of Business
335 Speakman Hall
Temple University Philadelphia, PA 19122
eric.press@temple.edu <mailto:eric.press@temple.edu>
http://isc.temple.edu/epress <http://isc.temple.edu/epress>

Diana West talks about "Reality and Islam" --- http://jewishworldreview.com/0705/west072205.php3

A new take on porn flashing
Federal regulators accused seven companies Wednesday of hiring others to send illegal e-mails with pornographic messages to tempt consumers to visit adult Internet sites. The government said four of the firms already agreed to pay nearly $1.2 million to settle the charges, making it among the most aggressive government crackdowns on pornographic e-mail operations. The Federal Trade Commission described the practice as "electronic flashing" and said at least some of the unwanted e-mails were sent to children. The threat of children unwittingly receiving smut in their inboxes helped drive the U.S. government to impose restrictions on sending commercial e-mails last year.
Ted Bridis, "Feds Accuse Firms in Porn E-Mail Scheme," The Washington Post, July 20, 2005 --- http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/07/20/AR2005072001098.html?referrer=email

Beating the market is more of a function of luck and willingness to take on risk than it's a function skill and analysis (Unless you have inside information that is illegal to use for profit)
This conclusion dovetails with the results of past research into what makes the equity markets go up or down. One widely cited study was conducted in the late 1980's by three economists - David M. Cutler and Lawrence H. Summers of Harvard (Mr. Summers is now Harvard's president) and James M. Poterba of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The professors found that news events accounted for a surprisingly small amount of the stock market's movements. None of this relieves investors of the need to view companies' financial data skeptically. At the same time, it's important to remain skeptical about our own analysis whenever we interpret the data differently than the market as a whole. More often than not, we're wrong.
Mark Hulbert, "So You Think You Can Outsmart the Market. Good Luck," The New York Times, July 24, 2005 --- http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/24/business/yourmoney/24stra.html
Jensen Comment: The major focus of this article is the lack of market reaction to the FASB's amended rule requiring firms to expense stock options at the time of vesting rather than execution.

"Why the C.I.A. Wants M.B.A.'s," by Paul R. Brown, The New York Times, July 23, 2005 --- http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/23/business/media/23offline.ready.html

FEELING WANTED Crooked chief executives and increased terrorist threats are proving to be a boon to newly minted finance professionals, CFO magazine reports this month.

"The U.S. government will hire as many as 13,000 professionals for business-related functions in the next two years," according to the article by Kate O'Sullivan.

Many will be hired by the Internal Revenue Service, but "other agencies, like the F.B.I. and the Securities and Exchange Commission are actively recruiting finance types, throwing themselves head-on into competition with private-sector employers, such as consulting firms," Ms. O'Sullivan writes.

Even the Central Intelligence Agency has shown interest. "The discipline in terms of being able to problem-solve and make quick, sound decisions based on little information takes a kind of mental agility that many M.B.A. holders have," says Harold Tate, chief of the C.I.A.'s recruitment center.

But it's the agency's mission and not the paycheck that is the lure. Despite the increased demand, there are no plans to raise the pay and benefits to match those offered by the private sector. "They're not coming here to earn a bunch of money," Mr. Tate said. "They know that."

Continued in article

Listing of Selected Accounting Blogs
Among the millions of Web logs permeating the Internet, there are some by and for accountants worth checking out. This article includes an Accounting Blog List that you can download, bookmark or print.
Eva M. Lang, "Accountants Who Blog," SmartPros, July 2005 --- http://accounting.smartpros.com/x49035.xml

Bob Jensen's threads on blogs are at http://www.trinity.edu/~rjensen/245glosf.htm#Weblog

Art History Updates

The Archive of Early American Images --- http://www.brown.edu/Facilities/John_Carter_Brown_Library/pages/ea_hmpg.html

Pioneering Modern Painting: Cézanne and Pissarro 1865 - 1885 http://www.moma.org/exhibitions/2005/cezannepissarro/index.html

Bob Jensen's threads on art are at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Bookbob2.htm#History

Knowledge for (Economic) Development --- http://snipurl.com/KnowledgeDevelopment

The Knowledge for Development (K4D) Program helps build the capacity of client countries to access and use knowledge to strengthen their competitiveness in the global economy and increase their social well-being. It works with client countries to design and develop realistic and achievable strategies to further their transition to the knowledge economy.

This website provides information on K4D learning events; country assessments, reports and presentations on the knowledge economy; as well as access to an internet-based benchmarking tool - the Knowledge Assessment Methodology (KAM).

In Support of Arab Democracy: Why and How --- http://www.cfr.org/pdf/Arab_Democracy_TF.pdf

"Bombers and Blamers A moral muddle on the left," Cathy Young, Reason Magazine, July 19, 2005 --- http://www.reason.com/cy/cy071905.shtml

The bombings in London on July 7, which killed 53 people and injured many more, were a powerful reminder that terrorism remains a clear and present threat in our cities. But they were also, to me, a reminder of something else. As annoying as I frequently find the right these days, with its cynical partisanship, its arrogance of power, and its politics of religious zealotry, my discontent with conservatives will never send me into the liberal camp—because the response to terrorism even on the moderate left remains an egregious moral muddle.
. . .

The Times letter-writer is hardly alone in his views. Juan Cole, professor of history at the University of Michigan and a leading left-of-center commentator on the Middle East, argues on his website and in an article at Salon.com that the London bombings are "blowback" from the US and its allies' misguided policies. Cole pooh-poohs the idea that Islamic fundamentalist terrorism is a product of hatred for the West's democratic values. In his view, it is a response to specific Western policies that are perceived as a war against Muslims, from Israeli oppression of the Palestinians to the military occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan.

Pardon me for pointing out the obvious, but the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, took place before the occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan. Cole tries to make the case, citing the 9/11 Commission report, that Sept. 11 was "punishment on the United States for supporting Ariel Sharon's iron fist policies toward the Palestinians." Yet the report makes it clear that planning for the attacks had been underway for about two years before Sharon became prime minister of Israel in March 2001, though Osama bin Laden evidently wanted to move up the operation in response to Sharon's actions. And the radical Islamic terror network first struck New York City in 1993.

Other myopic responses abound. A few commentators insist on a moral equivalence between the deaths of Iraqi civilians in US military operations with the deaths of civilians in the London bombings. Yet the US military and its allies have made every effort to minimize civilian casualties; the deliberate killing of Iraqi civilians is overwhelmingly the work of so-called insurgents who drive explosive-packed cars into crowds of children while American soldiers hand out candy.

Meanwhile, on Fox News's Hannity & Colmes, the Rev. Jesse Jackson is asked whether the evil of terrorism can be fought by other than military means, and gives this reply: "Well, you know, we found an end to slavery, which is evil, without killing the slave masters." We did? Maybe Jackson has forgotten about the Civil War, in which the US military targeted civilians to a degree unimaginable in Iraq and Afghanistan today.

Continued in article

What Went Wrong? A onetime believer deconstructs the Iraq war --- http://www.reason.com/links/links072105.shtml

Forwarded by Auntie Bev

Four retired guys, two from California and two from Arizona, are walking down a street in Chicago.

Then they turn a corner and see a sign that says, "Old Timer's Bar" "ALL DRINKS 10 CENTS!"

They look at each other, and then go in.

The old bartender says in a voice that carries across the room, "Come on in and let me pour one for you. What'll it be, Gentlemen?"

There seems to be a fully stocked bar, so the 4 men each asked for a martini.

In short order, the bartender serves up 4 iced martinis and says, "That'll be 10 cents each, please."

They can't believe their good luck.

They pay the 40 cents, finish their martinis, and order another round.

Again, four excellent martinis are produced with the bartender again saying, "That's 40 cents, please."

They pay the 40 cents, but their curiosity is more than they can stand.

They've each had two martinis and so far they've spent less than a dollar.

Finally one of the men couldn't stand it any longer and asks the bartender, "How can you afford to serve martinis as good as these for a dime a piece?"

"Here's my story. I'm a retired tailor from Brooklyn, and I always wanted to own a bar. Last year I hit the lottery for $25 million and decided to open this place. Every drink costs a dime -- wine, liquor, beer, all the same."

"Wow!! That's quite a story," says one of the men.

The four of them sipped at their martinis and couldn't help but notice three other guys at the end of the bar who didn't have a drink in front of them, and hadn't ordered anything the whole time they were there.

One man gestures at the three at the end of the bar without drinks and asks the bartender, "What's with them?"

The bartender says, "They're seniors from Florida. They're waiting for happy hour."