Tidbits on September 16, 2005
Bob Jensen at Trinity University 

Turn up your speakers
KatrinaUSA PowerPoint File (after it loads hit your spacebar or right arrow key) --- http://snipurl.com/KatrinaUS
For me this show also runs automatically while passing from picture to picture.  I really like the music.

Petrea Sandlin visited Sugar Hill this summer and took the picture below
of New Hampshire's new Old Man on the Mountain

Fraud Updates --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/FraudUpdates.htm
For earlier editions of New Bookmarks go to http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/bookurl.htm 
Archives of Tidbits: Tidbits Directory --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/TidbitsDirectory.htm

Click here to search Bob Jensen's web site if you have key words to enter --- Search Site.
For example if you want to know what Jensen documents have the term "Enron" enter the phrase Jensen AND Enron. Another search engine that covers Trinity and other universities is at http://www.searchedu.com/.

Bob Jensen's home page is at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/

Security threats and hoaxes --- http://www.trinity.edu/its/virus/

25 Hottest Urban Legends (in other words hoaxes) --- http://www.snopes.com/info/top25uls.asp

Music:
Audio Samples of the Hardanger Fiddle (Norway music) --- http://www.hfaa.org/music_samples.html

Norwegian bands --- http://dmoz.org/Regional/Europe/Norway/Arts_and_Entertainment/Music/Bands_and_Artists/

Chopin Midi Library --- http://www.gressus.se/chopin/midi/chopin.html
 

Train of Life (Willie Nelson and Patsy Cline) ---  
http://mywebpages.comcast.net/singingman7/TOL.htm

Synopses of Operas (no sounds but hundreds of operas) --- http://www.naxos.com/intro.htm

National Portrait Gallery: Portrait Search http://npgportraits.si.edu/code/emuseum.asp
There are a lot of images plus a lot of missing images.  When testing how it works, I suggest you dip back into history such as searching for pictures of Abe Lincoln.

Photography
Niagara Falls from above ---
http://www.spaceimaging.com/gallery/ioweek/archive/05-04-17/niagara_falls_state_park_1024.jpg

For Cat Lovers Only (not me) --- http://catsinsinks.com/

Some good news from Louisiana:  Scientists discover how fish oil protects the brain
Louisiana State University scientists say they have discovered how the fatty acids found in fish oil help protect the human brain from the type of cognitive decline associated with Alzheimer's disease. Their study shows that docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), an omega-3 fatty acid found in coldwater fish such as mackerel, sardines and salmon, reduces levels of a protein known to cause damaging plaques in the brains of Alzheimer's patients. What's more, the researchers discovered that a derivative of DHA, which they dubbed "neuroprotectin D1" (NPD1), is made in the human brain. That natural substance plays a key role, too, in protecting the brain from cell death, the study showed.
"Scientists discover how fish oil protects the brain," Tehran Times, September 12, 2005 --- http://www.tehrantimes.com/Description.asp?Da=9/12/2005&Cat=7&Num=10
Jensen Comment:  And the other  good news is that two cans of sardines are only about a buck.

CNN's negative coaching before interviews
Pundit Michael Kinsley, certainly no conservative, says CNN has been coaching guests to "get angry" when they appear on the cable news channel to discuss Hurricane Katrina. Mr. Kinsley, once employed by CNN, opines for the Los Angeles Times these days. The question viewers should be asking -- "Is it news or is it Jerry Springer?"
"The Thursday wrap," The Pittsbugh Tribune-Review, September 15, 2005 ---
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/tribune-review/opinion/archive/s_374160.html

NBC should've coached more
Lauer and Couric each tried repeatedly to focus on the NEGATIVE while interviewing Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour and New Orleans Police Chief, but both responded POSITIVELY.
"Katie and Matt glum-faced on (the NBC) Today Show after being upstaged by optimistic disaster "victims", Free Republic, September 8, 2005 --- http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1480048/posts
 

The pegs have been coached
If the peg is removed from the holder and the holder predicts rain, the peg locks itself shut, preventing clothes from being hung out.
"Clever clothes pegs check the weather," CNN, September 13, 2005 --- http://edition.cnn.com/2005/TECH/09/12/spark.pegs/

Does this mean liberals are never stale (as opposed to 'fresh") and that liberals themselves never take sides that are "things that are dark, mysterious, taboo"? 

At least you're admitting your "defined" biases Terry!
Still, (Terry) Gross, who interviews both cultural and political figures on "Fresh Air," said that arts-themed programming is liberal by definition. "Art is about keeping an open mind to things that are dark, mysterious, taboo," she said. "Which is exactly the type of thing that certain people in the religious right don't want us to be thinking about."
Clayton Warfolk, "NPR's Gross Challenges Claims of Media Bias," NPR, September 14, 2005 --- http://journalism.berkeley.edu/ngno/stories/016709.html
 

Jensen Comment:  I'm critical of liberals that are always deconstructing, by "definition," anything conservative and "Grossly" unable to criticize liberals even when the emperor on the left side of the street is sometimes naked.  Neither Milton Friedman nor Ward Churchill nor Bill Moyers is always right (or wrong).  Do Berkeley journalism professors/students ever find fault on the naked emperor on left side of the street?  Or are emperors on the right always wrong by absolute "definition?"  --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/hypocrisyEvilEmpire.htm

I had an uneasy feeling watching Bill Moyers last night on PBS.  As an interviewer he was obviously following a liberal pre-scripted "definition" of globalization as inherently evil.  Actually the person being interviewed was quite articulate and made some very good points in my judgment, but in Moyers' mind his arguments had to be inherently wrong before the interview even started.  Moyers was most certainly not keeping an "open mind to things that are dark, mysterious, and taboo."

I prefer the younger Moyers I admired for so many years, a Moyers who avoided fiery sermons and was open to opposing viewpoints.
When I learn something new—and it happens every day— I feel a little more at home in this universe, a little more comfortable in the nest.
Bill Moyers --- http://www.lucidcafe.com/library/96jun/moyers.html

This is the older (wiser?) Bill Moyers.  I almost thought he was Rush Limbaugh looking into a mirror that reverses right and left.
“I believe this nation can’t survive half democracy and half oligarchy, just as it can’t survive half slave and half free,” said Moyers, who at times had the air of a Southern Baptist minister preaching to his congregation.  Moyers derived much of Tuesday’s lecture, held in the muggy Ben Light Gymnasium, from his latest book “Moyers on America: A Journalist and His Times.” Moyers, whose three-day visit to the college was part of the annual Park Distinguished Visitor Series, said three forces have aligned to take control of the nation. “The political right, the religious right and joined with the corporate right create a powerful force in American life,” Moyers said in a media session earlier in the day. “The religious right provides the foot soldiers, the political right provide the ideas and the corporate right provides — through all the subsidies and offshore tax breaks — the spoils of victory.” During his public lecture later that night, he said, “The vultures are circling the carcass of democracy.”
Jim Harvern, "Bill Moyers up in arms about the state of democracy," The Itacan Online," September 15, 2005 --- http://www.ithaca.edu/ithacan/articles/0509/15/news/8bill_moye.htm

Jensen Comment:  So what will we ever do if liberals sink further in the 2008 election Mr. Moyers?  Should we incite more youth to despise business and religion? Or should the liberals perhaps soften up with something more practical and constructive to work within the business system that supplies the wages and taxes of the economy?  Socialists in Russia tried to destroy the business/religious system itself and turn government into one big bungling enterprise.  That experiment failed miserably.  Even socialism's most ardent advocate (Heilbrenner) declared socialism to be dead. 

I think globalization is inevitable.  America will sink faster than a rock with high tariffs and more entitlements.  There are stances against globalization, tax cuts, the military, and religion that are killing liberalism on election day.  Are you preaching on the decks of the Titanic Mr. Moyers rather than helping to launch the lifeboats of liberalism in the next election?  I think Hillary Clinton's less-liberal strategy, like that of her husband before her, is on a better track to possibly (albeit remotely) win the Presidency.  She's certainly well in front in the Democratic polls at the moment. 

Helping Out
Colleges who are sending ships, boats, and employees to the Gulf Coast --- http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2005/09/14/katrina

Stories from Hell
"New Orleans in Throes of Katrina, Chaos," by Allen G. Breed, The Washington Post, September 2, 2005 --- http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/02/AR2005090201532.html

Charitable Deductions for an added two thirds of taxpayers!
September 15, 2005 message from Scott Bonacker [lister@BONACKERS.COM]

Nine hundred and forty-two nonprofits sent a September 12 letter to Finance Committee Chair Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, asking him to support the reinstatement of the charitable deduction for the "more than two-thirds of Americans" who do not itemize their deductions; the letter says that group donates $36 billion annually to charities.

http://www.pgdc.com/usa/item/?itemID=300474 

An excellent idea, as long as the money is distributed better. If everyone did all their giving to the Red Cross for example there would be lots of gaps.

Scott Bonacker, CPA
Springfield, Missouri

Jensen Comment:  The main worry is that many people are suckered in by phony or nearly-phony charities that solicit funds and keep most of it for "profits" to themselves.  This bill should be passed with a mandate that the IRS do better job denying life to many, many phonies out there.

Barf Opinion: 
It's time to starve the (charity) beast and leave it all to government
private charities used by the government to justify the abdication of its duties to its citizens.
Hurricane Katrina has prompted Americans to donate more than $700 million to charity, reports the Chronicle of Philanthropy. So many suckers, so little foresight. Government has been shirking its basic responsibilities since the '80s, when Ronald Reagan sold us his belief that the sick, poor and unlucky should no longer count on "big government" to help them, but should rather live and die at the whim of contributors to private charities. The Katrina disaster, whose total damage estimate has risen from $100 to $125 billion, marks the culmination of Reagan's privatization of despair. The American Red Cross leads the post-Katrina sweepstakes, quickly closing in on the $534 million it took in just after 9/11. But Red Cross spokeswoman Sheila Graham told the AP it needs another half billion "to provide emergency relief over the coming weeks for thousands of evacuees who have scattered among 675 of its shelters in 23 states." . . . Granted, in terms of popularity of likelihood of success, trying to make a case against giving money to charities compares to lobbying against puppies. The impulse to donate, after all, is rooted in our best human traits. As we watched New Orleanians die of thirst, disease and anarchic violence in the face of Bush Administration disinterest and local government incompetence, millions of us did the only thing we thought we could to do to help: cut a check or click a PayPal button. Tragically, that generosity feeds into the mindset of the sinister ideologues who argue that government shouldn't help people--the very mindset that caused the levee break that turned Katrina into a holocaust and led to official unresponsiveness. And it is already setting the stage for the next avoidable disaster. It's time to "starve the beast": private charities used by the government to justify the abdication of its duties to its citizens.
"CHARITIES ARE FOR SUCKERS," by Ted Rall, Yahoo News, September 14, 2005 --- http://news.yahoo.com/s/ucru/20050914/cm_ucru/charitiesareforsuckers&printer=1
Jensen Comment:  Barf!  Giving money to government does not necessarily make government more responsible about what it does with that money.  To the contrary feeding more money to government may make it less responsible. 

Leaving restorations to government in a nation this size of the U.S. makes efforts like Katrina cleanup dependent upon bureaucratic and Congressional choices as to funds allocation between competing demands such as military versus the U.S. Postal Service versus recovery versus an endless line up of pork barrels.  The winners are the ones are generally biggest lobbies. 

Charity is voluntary and allows for gifts of service as well as clothing, vehicles, housing, food, etc.  Charities generally allow for designation of gifts to a certain degree (not usually to naming a particular individual recipient but to specific causes such as blood banks, battered women, hospitals, etc.).  Sure some charities are infiltrated with criminals and/or incompetents who waste gifts.  I don't put much faith that government is less criminal or wasteful.  Crime and waste follow the money trail whether it is within government, private enterprise, churches, or charities.

At least when we give to charity we have some choice as to which charity is more honest, helps causes of particular interest to us, and sometimes engages in the act of raising funds in our churches, communities, etc.  Government is generally funded forcefully from taxes, the spending of which we have no direct controls and weak indirect controls afforded by being one among millions in an election of people who probably will not represent our interests on each and every issue (pork barrel)  that comes up.

Counter Opinion:  Countries are not governed by the will of the people

"States 'not run by people's will'," BBC News, September 14, 2005 --- http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4247158.stm

Sixty-five percent of citizens across the world do not think their country is governed by the will of the people, a poll commissioned by the BBC suggests. The Gallup International Voice of the People 2005 poll questioned more than 50,000 people in 68 states for the BBC World Service survey about power.

Only in Scandinavia and South Africa do the majority believe that they are ruled according to their wishes.

But 47% thought elections in their countries were free and fair.

The figure is 55% for the US and Canada and up to 82% in EU countries - but just 24% in West Africa.

The survey also found that only 13% of people trusted politicians and only 16% thought they should be given more power.

About a third of those asked thought more power should go to writers and academics.

A quarter felt more should go to religious leaders - who are also seen as the most trusted group.

A fifth of those asked thought military, business leaders and journalists should be given more power.

Other key findings include: (see article)

Counter Opinion:  What happens sometimes when you leave it to bureaucrats?

I wish I were kidding. Hundreds of firefighters who volunteered to help with Katrina relief were held up for days in Atlanta while they took classes on sexual harassment and community relations, all courtesy of FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency in charge of coordinating federal relief. At the White House, concerns about overriding the female governor of Louisiana reportedly contributed to the decision not to take control of a national disaster that clearly had overwhelmed state and local officials.

I liked this one on unlikely heroes.  Bravo to the three of them!  But by law they never should've done these things  without first having sexual harassment training in Atlanta?

"Three heroes and the brutal banality of bureaucracy," by Kathleen Parker, Jewish World Review, September 14, 2005 --- http://jewishworldreview.com/kathleen//parker091405.php3

Katrina's detritus will be months in the sifting, but what best reveals what went wrong may be found in the contrast between bureaucrats ensnared in red tape and three individuals who sprang into action as circumstances required.

Their names are Deamonte Love, Jabbar Gibson and Sheriff Warren C. Evans.

Deamonte Love is probably the most familiar. He is the 6-year-old who led a troupe of tiny refugees to safety after rescuers separated them from their parents. Deamonte was the oldest of the group, which included his 5-month-old brother, three toddlers in the 2-year-old range, a 3-year-old and her 14-month-old brother.

All held hands as Deamonte led the group along Causeway Boulevard in New Orleans, where he identified himself and his associates to authorities. In a sea of helpless victims, while heartier adults dithered or complained, Deamonte found the guts and fortitude to take care of himself, his family and friends.

Another victim of the storm, Gibson is perhaps better known as the 20-year-old who commandeered a school bus and drove 70 homeless passengers from New Orleans to the Houston Astrodome, beating the other 25,000 or so refugees awaiting evacuation from the Superdome by officials still trying to figure out who was in charge.

When no one is in charge, as seems to have been the case for too long in New Orleans, a leader eschews the clipboard and takes action. While city officials couldn't find their way to use hundreds of available school buses to evacuate some 100,000 residents without transportation, Gibson "stole" a bus and rescued 70 strangers.

A photo of the abandoned and eventually submerged school buses has become an iconographic image in Katrina's record — a kaleidoscopic history that would qualify as comedy if the results had not been so tragic. At times like this, bureaucracy isn't just a frustrating boondoggle; it is a faceless accomplice to negligent homicide. "No one is to blame because, sir, we were just following the rules."

Not Warren C. Evans. The sheriff of Wayne County, Mich., which includes Detroit, ignored his own governor's pleas to wait for "formal requests" and put his leadership instincts to better use. While other law enforcement volunteers were held up for 2-3 days dealing with paperwork, Evans led a convoy of six tractor-trailers, three rental trucks and 33 deputies to Louisiana.

Explaining his pre-emptive action to The New York Times, Evans said: "I could look at CNN and see people dying, and I couldn't in good conscience wait for a coordinated response."

Meanwhile, other more obedient citizens and potential rescuers, as well as evacuation vehicles, medical and food supplies, even a floating hospital, were stalled or unused as officials and politicians bickered over territory and protocol and — in an indictment that speaks for itself — gender sensitivity concerns.

I wish I were kidding. Hundreds of firefighters who volunteered to help with Katrina relief were held up for days in Atlanta while they took classes on sexual harassment and community relations, all courtesy of FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency in charge of coordinating federal relief. At the White House, concerns about overriding the female governor of Louisiana reportedly contributed to the decision not to take control of a national disaster that clearly had overwhelmed state and local officials.

There are other examples of such absurdities too numerous to list, but two stand out. Amtrak offered to evacuate people from New Orleans, but city officials declined and the last train left the city — empty. A Navy hospital ship, the USS Bataan, which was in the Gulf of Mexico through the storm, had 600 empty hospital beds and six operating rooms, awaiting relief orders while the injured and ill on land were without aid. Although the Bataan was among the first to help in rescue missions, federal authorities were slow to use the ship's other resources.

Continued in article

Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2004 ---
http://www.census.gov/prod/2005pubs/p60-229.pdf 

Poverty
Comparing states using 3-year-average poverty rates for 2002–2004 shows that the poverty rate for Mississippi (17.7 percent)—not statistically different from the rates for Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Texas, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia— was higher than the rates of the other 44 states (Table 10).

At the other end of the distribution, the 3-year-average poverty rate for New Hampshire (5.7 percent)—not statistically different from the rate for Minnesota—was lower than those for the other 48 states and the District of Columbia.

Based on 2-year moving averages (2002–2003 and 2003–2004), Figure 9 shows that the poverty rate declined for three states and increased for seven states. The poverty rate decreased in Arkansas, Hawaii, and Oklahoma. Four of the states that experienced increases were in the Midwest (Indiana, Missouri, Ohio, and Wisconsin), two were in the South (Kentucky and Maryland), and one was in the Northeast (Pennsylvania

Health Insurance Coverage
Comparing states using 3-year-average uninsured rates for 2002–2004 shows that Texas (25.1 percent) had the highest proportion of uninsured, while Minnesota (8.5 percent) had the lowest (Table 11). Comparisons of 2-year moving averages (2002–2003 and 2003–2004) show that the proportion of people without coverage fell in three states and rose in eight states (Figure 10).

The uninsured rate decreased for Idaho, New York, and Wyoming. Five of the states that experienced increases were in the South (Delaware, Florida, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Tennessee), one was in the West (Montana), and two were in the Northeast (Massachusetts and New Hampshire).
 

Government versus business social actions
Many people who think that government is the answer to our problems do not bother to check out the evidence. But it can be eye-opening to compare how private businesses responded to hurricane Katrina and how local, state and national governments responded. Well before Katrina reached New Orleans, when it was still just a tropical depression off the coast of Florida, Wal-Mart was rushing electric generators, bottled water, and other emergency supplies to its distribution centers along the Gulf coast. Nor was Wal-Mart unique. Federal Express rushed 100 tons of supplies into the stricken area after Katrina hit. State Farm Insurance sent in a couple of thousand special agents to expedite disaster claims. Other businesses scrambled to get their goods or services into the area. Meanwhile, laws prevent the federal government from coming in without the permission or a request from state or local authorities. Unfortunately, the mayor of New Orleans and the governor of Louisiana are of a different party than President Bush, which may have something to do with their initial reluctance to have him come in and get political credit.
Thomas Sowell, "FEMA versus Wal-Mart," Jewish World Review, September 14, 2005 --- http://jewishworldreview.com/cols/sowell091405.asp 
 

What would Milton Friedman say about Wal-Mart's monumental efforts to aid Katrina victims?
Jensen Comment:  Nobel Prize Economist Milton Friedman years ago advised against benevolence of corporations and goals of being social responsible beyond strict adherence to the laws of the land.  He argued that social accountability beyond adherence to law was not mission of private enterprise and not generally in the best interest of investors.  That of course in no way blocks corporate employees from making personal sacrifices as long as they do not use significant amounts of corporate resources in the process. 

Although I'm a strong believer in the brilliance of Milton Friedman, I must admit that this is one area where I disagree with him.  Businesses control such a vast amount of the wealth and resources of the nation that I think it is imperative for them to have societal goals beyond just that of making profits.  And I think corporate responsibility is often just plain good business in the best long-term interests of the companies and industries.  But there are dangers in becoming overly political or in failing to recognize that social choices by corporations are not social choices as elected representatives of competing constituencies.  This is remains a paradox in capitalist economies.

Here are the basics of Friedman's argument:
"Corporate Social Responsibility A Dialogue," by T. Franklin Harris, Jr. --- http://snipurl.com/Adialog

The Profit Motive Theory
Plato: Milton Friedman accepts your argument concerning the fraudulence of "corporate accountability." Therefore, he believes businesses should be allowed to function freely in an unregulated environment. This does not, however, mean that businesses have no responsibilities.

Aristotle: Yes, but Friedman acknowledges the validity of only one responsibility: to make a profit within the bounds of the "rules of the game." But what are those rules?

Plato: To operate within the rules of the game means to "engage in open and free competition without deception or fraud." (Friedman 1990) But Friedman's argument goes further than simply to require that corporations seek to earn a profit. The profit motive theory expressly forbids corporate involvement in social activity even if it is done freely, without government coercion.

Aristotle: Why is that?

Plato: The basis for this claim rests on the necessity to play by the rules of the game, which means honoring contracts. The managers and executives of corporations are the employees of the business's shareholders. As such, they have a contractual and thus, moral-responsibility to their employers: "That responsibility is to conduct the business in accordance with their desires, which generally will be to make as much money as possible while conforming to the basic rules of the society, both those embodied in law and those embodied in ethical custom." (Friedman 1990)

Thus, it is the moral duty of corporate executives to carry out the wishes of the shareholders, who, in the main, invest in order to make a profit. Managers cannot morally engage in any activity that reduces the corporation's profitability.

Continued in article

Who were the least popular presidents of the U.S. in modern times?
Clues:  One of them won a Nobel Peace Prize and another was a Bush who does not have "W" as a middle initial.  The other dubious "winner" resigned the presidency in order to get a legal pardon from his replacement.
Over all, 41 percent of respondents approved of Mr. Bush's performance in office, while 53 percent disapproved. Those figures are in line with other national polls conducted in the last week, roughly equal to the worst ratings Mr. Bush has ever received, comparable to Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton's worst ratings, but well above the worst ever posted by the president's father, Jimmy Carter and Richard M. Nixon.Support for Bush Continues to Drop, Poll Shows ""(Bogus! Big time oversample of Dems) NY Times," Free Republic, September 15, 2005 ---  http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1484963/posts

Also see http://www.opinionjournal.com/pl/?id=110007244

Sometimes late but rarely last
"Bush can recoup from hurricane, but can Dems?" Jewish World Review, September 14, 2005 --- http://jewishworldreview.com/cols/kondracke1.asp 

President Bush has an opportunity to recover from his post-Hurricane Katrina political doldrums, but Democrats do themselves no good by trying to take political advantage of a national tragedy.

There's no question that Bush's initial response to Katrina was late and uninspiring. Or that his administration's emergency management showed deep and troubling flaws, especially in view of a continuing terrorist threat.

One particular worry that's gone unmentioned so far is: If Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff has functionally had to assume the role of director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, who's minding the store on terrorism?

Already wounded by high casualty rates in Iraq and exploding gasoline prices, Katrina has sent Bush's approval ratings down to 40 percent in the latest Pew poll and 42 percent in a CBS/New York Times poll.

The record suggests, however, that Bush is often slow on the uptake in crises and then manages to recoup. He could do it again.

Meanwhile, Democrats have had practically nothing constructive to say and are losing credibility by placing blame solely on the federal government.

Bush did a miserable job of attending to the terrorist threat prior to Sept. 11, 2001. His immediate performance that day was weak. But he came roaring back to rally the country, and he boosted his fortunes in the process.

The immediate Bush response to the Indian Ocean tsunami also was tepid. But then all-out U.S.-led relief efforts became possibly one of the most important steps yet taken in the contest with Islamic extremists.

Continued in the article

Jensen Comment:  I think Bush eventually emerges as a "winner" in all but national opinion about Iraq because he's too chicken to turn down money requests for almost any cause.  He never vetoes appropriations requested by Congress.  This irresponsibility can make you popular while you're in office but turns you into a huge loser among future generations who have to pay for the mounting national debt (not the biggest problem) and entitlements (the biggest problem) --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/entitlements.htm

"America's Race-Obsessing," by George Will, The Washington Post (as reprinted in The Wall Street Journal), September 14, 2005 --- http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB112664747160439651,00.html?mod=opinion&ojcontent=otep

America's always fast-flowing river of race-obsessing has overflowed its banks, and last Sunday Sen. Barack Obama, Illinois' freshman Democrat, applied to the expression of old banalities a fluency that would be beguiling were it without content. Unfortunately, it included an amazing criticism of the government's "historic indifference" and its "passive indifference" that "is as bad as active malice." The senator, 44, is just 30 months older than the "war on poverty" that Lyndon B. Johnson declared in January 1964. Since then the indifference that is as bad as active malice has been expressed in more than $6.6 trillion of antipoverty spending, strictly defined.

The senator is called a "new kind of Democrat," which often means one with new ways of ignoring evidence discordant with old liberal orthodoxies about using cash to cope with cultural collapse. He might, however, care to note three not-at-all recondite rules for avoiding poverty: graduate from high school, don't have a baby until you are married, don't marry while you are a teenager. Among people who obey those rules, poverty is minimal.

Continued in article

Racism is the forever obsessing the U.S.  The number one problem is not skin color per se as much as it is fear that segregates poor and colored in housing and schools. 
"Color Of Crime, Sound Of (Big Media) Silence" by Jared Taylor --- http://vdare.com/taylor/050913_crime.htm

[Recently by Jared Taylor: Further Down The Road (Paved With Good Intentions)] Today, September 14, the New Century Foundation releases The Color of Crime, our relentlessly factual study of race, crime, and the criminal justice system. For anyone who ever wondered just how much more likely blacks or Hispanics are than whites to commit various crimes, the answers are here.  It takes hard work to pry the facts out of the reluctant grip of federal crime databases. But the results are eye-opening: Blacks are just 13 percent of the population but they commit more than half the muggings and murders in the country. Hispanics commit violent crimes at about three times the white rate.   The proportion of blacks and Hispanics in an area is the single best indicator of how dangerous it is. The racial mix is a much better predictor of crime rates than poverty, unemployment, and dropout rates combined   Although Jesse Jackson and Bill Cosby wring their hands over black-on-black mayhem, blacks actually commit more violent crime against whites than blacks. A black is about 39 times more likely to do violence to a white than the other way around, and no less than 130 times more likely to rob a white.   And yes, everyone's suspicions about rape are correct: Every year there are about 15,000 black-on-white rapes but fewer than 900 white-on-black rapes. There are more than 3,000 gang rapes of whites by blacks—but white-on-black gang rapes are so rare they do not even show up in the statistics. There is plenty more—but just as interesting will be how the Mainstream Media will treat these facts. Back in 1999, we released an earlier, less detailed version of this report. [PDF] Even before publication, the Associated Press, Time, CBS Evening News, National Public Radio, Knight-Ridder, and the Washington Times wanted copies. A dozen other media organizations, including the Washington Post, attended the press conference with which we launched the report. At the same time, we arranged to have copies delivered to more than 450 news organizations with offices in the Washington, DC area. The result: complete silence—with one exception. The Washington Times ran a substantial story on the report, in which it interviewed several prominent criminologists who confirmed the accuracy of our numbers but said they were too inflammatory to be discussed publicly. [VDARE.COM note: One other exception: Dr. Walter Williams, in his Creator's Syndicate column.] Maybe no other editors thought people are interested in race and crime. Or maybe they were afraid people are too interested. Some years back, a group called Violence Free Duluth in Duluth, Minnesota, studied a year's worth of the city's gun crimes. They looked into type of gun used, whether liquor or drugs were involved, the relationship between shooter and victim; age, race, and sex of criminal, etc. But when they released their report they left one thing out: race of perp.   Frank Jewell, head of the organization, explained that "we didn't include it because it might be misinterpreted." Duluth's deputy police chief Robert Grytdahl added that race might distract whites from the real problem: "It's a comfortable place for white people to park the [gun crime] problem. It would be a huge distraction, and we wanted to focus on firearms." [Duluth Gun, Crime Study Withholds Race Data, [Pay Archive] By Larry Oakes, Minneapolis Star Tribune, April 30, 1999.] Mr. Jewell and Mr. Grytdahl are saying, almost in so many words, that the people of Duluth can't be trusted with the truth. Duluth is about 90 percent white. What if it turned out most of the gun crime was committed by the other 10 percent? Someone might think Duluth has, not a gun problem, but a minority problem. When an organization deliberately suppresses its findings like this, it is not doing research: it is putting out propaganda. It is impossible to know whether the national media suppressed the findings in our earlier report or just didn't think they were newsworthy. But if they thought no one was interested in race and crime they were wrong. Radio talk show hosts greeted the report with shouts of joy. Over the years, I have spoken on hundreds of radio programs. But no other subject has ever caught the attention of hosts and listeners the way this one did. Over and over, I was asked to stay on the program longer than scheduled because listeners could not get enough. Producers called up a week later and had me back again because listeners demanded it. Some producers even called because they had heard me on a rival station and wanted a piece of the ratings bonanza. Most whites lose the power of speech when the subject is race, but they can tuck right into a purely factual discussion of crime rates. Everybody—and I mean everybody—knows blacks commit crime way out of proportion to their numbers. People want to know just how way out the proportions are.  Needless to say, some listeners didn't want to hear that blacks are in jail for robbery at 15 times the white rate. A surprising number of black callers claimed our "racist" white government cooks the statistics. Most white callers said one of two things: either that I was "racist" or that I was brave. (Somehow, no one ever thought I was a brave racist.) It is a sorry day in America when you are either brave or racist if you dig up and publicize crime data the Department of Justice has been collecting for decades. The main point of the "racism" accusation was that, even if the numbers were true, publicizing them only encourages other "racists" and feeds stereotypes. This is the Frank Jewell argument: White people can't be trusted with the facts. Of course, the Internet makes it hard to keep facts under the rug. People know the big media are full of pablum; that's why they come to sites like VDARE.COM and my own American Renaissance. In fact, more and more people are laughing outright at mainstream prudery. When I talked about crime on the radio, talk-show hosts were exultant: "You didn't read about this in the Baltimore Sun did you? That's right, folks, this is where you get the real news." This time around, it would be pleasant if AP or the LA Times wrote about The Color of Crime. But we're not counting on it. The internet and talk radio will get the word out—and big media will sink just a little further in the minds of people who are tired of being told they can't be trusted with the truth. Jared Taylor (email him) is editor of American Renaissance and the author of Paved With Good Intentions: The Failure of Race Relations in Contemporary America. (For Peter Brimelow’s review, click here.) He is sorry his organization is too poor to give away free copies of The Color of Crime, and urges you to buy it here—$8.95 each, ten copies for $60.

Jensen Comment:
I might note that I found the above link yesterday, somewhat surprisingly, at the NPR site.  Perhaps the "media" is "silent" about racial crime statistics because of worry that obsessing on these crime statistics will only further divide the white and colored sides of our streets.  Our long-standing traditional money-throwing solutions of project housing, school subsidies, tax breaks and subsidies for factory relocation, busing, prison rehabilitation, and police force size and brutality are pretty much failures.  Before Katrina, New Orleans was one of our worst crime-infested cities, but the same problems can be found in Detroit, Cleveland, Philadelphia, Houston, Dallas, Newark, Camden, Los Angeles, and literally every other city in the U.S.  Segregation problems have been with us for centuries, but in modern times they've been greatly exacerbated with opportunities to pursue the American Dream by dealing in drugs.  There are no simple solutions to our race-obsessing problems. 

One experiment that offers some hope is the legalizing of narcotics coupled with severe sanctions for letting drugs get into the hands of children.  By severe sanctions I mean a minimum of thirty years in prison without parole so that there is a high incentive to protect children from addiction.  And the sanctions must apply equally to whites.  Reducing the illegal drug trade, however, is only one small solution to a much larger poverty problem.  For the bigger and better solutions I defer to our sociology scholars who study racism and crime in depth.  Most drug addicts are lousy parents.  I think ethical birth control and abortion incentives should be greatly expanded for addicts.

And if we look to Europe for solutions to crime and poverty, we find them lacking.  Europe has fewer blacks and a much higher proportion of  poor in Middle Eastern  ghettos.  Middle Eastern males now comprise over half of the inmates in French prisons.  Their crimes are generally for things like rape, robbery, and murder rather than crimes of religious terror --- http://www.jerrypournelle.com/archives2/archives2mail/mail319.html  
Also see http://cheznadezhda.blogharbor.com/blog/RuleofLaw/CriminalJustice/_archives/2004/12/20/210579.html

The Manhattan Solution:  Some Louisiana leaders want to leave refugees in Texas
Some parish leaders in the area have concerns about FEMA's plans to temporarily house evacuees in trailers and mobile homes, and leaders in Livingston Parish voted not to allow them there. Livingston Parish President Mike Grimmer said his parish is already overcrowded and lacks the infrastructure to handle the additional influx. Some residents say they feel bad for the evacuees, but they agree with Grimmer's position.
Ellen Tandy, "Livingston votes no to FEMA housing," The Advocate, September 15, 2005 --- http://www.2theadvocate.com/stories/091405/new_livingstonfema001.shtml
Jensen Comment:  Some Louisiana politicians are hoping to use Katrina's devastation as an opportunity to invoke what might be called the Manhattan Solution to poverty and crime in New Orleans.  The Manhattan Solution entails making real estate too high priced for the poor.  It worked to some extent on the Island of Manhattan, but the outcome was to relocate more vicious street crime and poverty to Brooklyn, Newark, and other surrounding NYC areas.

And I admit that racism and street crime in Manhattan have not been solved with real estate pricing.  Rent is too low in Harlem to drive all the poor out of Manhattan, and criminals still commute into Manhattan to commit muggings and to sell narcotics to Wall Street's suits and ties.  The Manhattan Solution has taken place in other cities.  San Francisco real estate prices drove the poor to nearby Oakland.  But the streets of San Francisco have hardly become crime free.

 I think some Louisiana officials are hoping to relocate their hundreds of thousands of poor refugees out of Louisiana entirely.  If the Federal Government does not insist on construction of low income housing, the newly constructed homes and condos in New Orleans will be quite unaffordable.

No credibility in pork barrels

"Katrina Puts Spotlight on Mr. Cochran:  While Instrumental in Landing Billions for Recovery, Tests Lie Ahead for Mississippi Senator," The Wall Street Journal, September 14, 2005; Page A4 --- http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB112666111875039997,00.html?mod=todays_us_page_one

Bigger names in Mississippi politics have long obscured Thad Cochran's steady rise in Congress. But in Hurricane Katrina's wake, no lawmaker is more important to the Gulf Coast, or a more calming force amid the chaos engendered by the storm.

As chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Mr. Cochran has been instrumental in securing $62 billion for the disaster recovery. A greater test will come in the months ahead as questions mount about paying for and managing the federal reconstruction effort.

"An enormous amount of money is going to be made available to rebuild," says Mr. Cochran, a veteran of more than three decades on Capitol Hill. "It's a challenge, but an opportunity for improvements that could have lasting consequences."

Mr. Cochran must protect the credibility of the process by controlling his committee's appetite -- and his own -- for pork-barrel spending. Katrina's costs will complicate his task of completing the regular spending bills for the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1. The Senate has borrowed heavily from defense funds to fill gaps in the president's domestic budget, and as chairman, Mr. Cochran is vulnerable to conservative criticism for being a big spender.

Continued in article

Smoke Breaks Boost Memory
Cigarette smokers have known for centuries that lighting up can help them concentrate. Now pharmaceutical companies are trying to create cleaner, safer ways to improve upon that effect . . . Earlier this summer, biopharmaceutical company Targacept reported that a compound called ispronicline acted like nicotine to increase memory and concentration in elderly test subjects. Targacept next plans to test the drug on people with Alzheimer's disease.
Brandon Keim, "Smoke Breaks Boost Memory," Wired News, September 9, 2005 --- http://www.wired.com/news/medtech/0,1286,68712,00.html 

Comparison Shopping --- http://www.bizrate.com/

Thin and bald:  Why Dieters' Hairlines Sometimes Recede
Hair loss can be triggered by a variety of factors including pregnancy, stress, surgery and age-related hormonal changes, to name a few. But few people realize that weight loss can also cause hair to shed, likely due to a nutritional deficiency. Although iron deficiency is often associated with diet-related hair loss, a range of nutrient deficiencies can result in thinning hair, dermatologists say. Changes in levels of zinc, magnesium, protein, essential fatty acids and vitamins D, B and A can all trigger episodes of shedding hair. The problem affects both men and women, but women are more likely to notice it and seek treatment, say doctors.
Tara Parker-Pope, "Why Dieters' Hairlines Sometimes Recede Along With Their Waistlines," The Wall Street Journal, September 13, 2005; Page D1 ---
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB112656550533838620,00.html?mod=todays_us_personal_journal

But for those who want to keep their heavy hair, we have new "chic" fashions
The plus-size market is starting to incorporate the latest fashion trends -- including gaucho pants, camisoles and form-fitting jackets -- in its collections as quickly as the rest of the apparel industry.
Ellen Byron, "For Plus-Size Women, More Chic Choices," The Wall Street Journal, September 13, 2005; Page B1 --- http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB112656531750338613,00.html?mod=todays_us_marketplace
 

Habitat for Humanity --- http://www.habitat.org 

Question
Historically, what is the "pulp" meaning of pulp fiction and how does it different from "slick" fiction?
Clue:  It has nothing to do with the content of the fiction itself, at least not directly.

Answer
See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pulp_fiction

India's new WPA program:  A piñata of graft for bureaucrats
The REGB, recently passed in parliament with unanimous support across political parties, is supposed to provide 100 days of work in a year to every rural household across the country that wants it. This is expected to cost around $9.1 billion, which amounts to 1.3% of GDP. And by some estimates, costs may reach four times that figure. The bill is in line with the rhetoric of the Congress-led coalition government, which came into power last year disdaining the liberalization policies of the preceding BJP government, and promising to introduce "reforms with a human face." . . . Whatever money does make it through all the confused bureaucracy could still be siphoned away at the end of the line, where local distribution is meant to take place. The recently passed Right to Information Act, a welcome move that is supposed to increase transparency by forcing the government to make its paperwork available to anyone who wants to see it, can only be of limited help. Most of the country does not even know about it, or would not dare to use it against an oppressive local government.
Amit Varma, "Good Intentions, Bad Ideas," The Wall Street Journal, September 15, 2005 --- http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB112672807076840768,00.html?mod=opinion&ojcontent=otep

"Podcasting Takes Off," by Kevin Bullis, MIT's Technology Review,  October 2005 --- http://www.technologyreview.com/articles/05/10/issue/datamine.asp?trk=nl

Podcasts--those amateur or professional audio or video programs delivered automatically to a subscriber's computer or MP3 player--let consumers listen to their favorite shows whenever and wherever they want. But though the technology for podcast subscriptions has been around for several years, the mainstream has only recently caught on.

An explosion in podcasts' popularity in the first half of this year, culminating in the launch of a podcast directory at Apple's iTunes online music service, has providers scrambling to keep up with server demands and businesses looking for ways to turn a profit.

Several factors may have sparked podcasting's new popularity: Broadband access and new applications and directories make acquiring podcasts painless, for example, and other programs make creating them a snap. Phenomenal sales of iPods and other portable digital music players, which let people take the show on the road, also likely have helped.

MBA (Casino?) Games:  The house plays the odds and hopes to come out ahead!
Resorting to contests and prizes shows just how tough times are for full-time M.B.A. programs. The Graduate Management Admission Council reports that 72% of full-time M.B.A. programs experienced an application decline this year as more people opted to keep their jobs and seek a part-time, executive or online M.B.A. degree instead . . . Simon's business-strategy contest resulted from a challenge put to students on the school's advisory council to concoct ways to improve the M.B.A. program. As an incentive, alumni kicked in $10,000, half for the students with the best proposal and half to implement their idea. Several student projects focused on the application slump, which clearly is the most pressing issue at Simon. Applications were down 23% this year, following a 24% drop in 2004. This fall, the incoming class of about 110 students compares with 150 last year and 185 in 2003. "These are the toughest years in management education I have ever seen," says Dr. Zupan.
"MBA Program Hopes Online Game Will Lure Recruits with Prizes," The Wall Street Journal, September 13, 2005; Page B12 --- http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB112657077730738778,00.html?mod=todays_us_marketplace

Since curriculum revisions are not working well to reverse the slide of MBA applications, some universities not happy with their US News, Forbes, WSJ, and Business Week rankings may turn to gaming with sizeable rewards
Can an online game offering thousands of dollars in prizes reverse the slide in master of business administration applications? The University of Rochester certainly hopes so. Starting Sept. 26, potential M.B.A. applicants to Rochester's William E. Simon Graduate School of Business Administration will begin playing a business-simulation game that promises a full scholarship of more than $70,000 to the winner, plus smaller scholarships for the runners-up. The goal is to attract top-notch applicants who may never have heard of the Simon School but find the game, and the scholarship money, enticing. "We hope to get a little viral marketing going so that people spread the word that Simon is an innovative place worth taking a look at," says Dean Mark Zupan.
"MBA Program Hopes Online Game Will Lure Recruits with Prizes," The Wall Street Journal, September 13, 2005; Page B12 --- http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB112657077730738778,00.html?mod=todays_us_marketplace

The following tidbits were in my August 29 edition of Tidbits:

From Jim Mahar's blog on August 26, 2005 --- http://financeprofessorblog.blogspot.com/

 

What's Really Wrong With U.S. Business Schools?
by Harry DeAngelo, Linda DeAngelo, Jerold Zimmerman:

Wow, it sounds bad. I (Jim Mahar) am very glad I chose a small university (St. Bonaventure). However, the choice leads me to not really comment on the paper since being at a small university removes me from many (but not all) of the problems cited in the paper. Moreover, I do not feel I can add any value to what the authors say.

Rather I will only give you the abstract and link.

Abstract:
"U.S. business schools are locked in a dysfunctional competition for media rankings that diverts resources from long-term knowledge creation, which earned them global pre-eminence, into short-term strategies aimed at improving their rankings. MBA curricula are distorted by 'quick fix, look good' packaging changes designed to influence rankings criteria, at the expense of giving students a rigorous, conceptual framework that will serve them well over their entire careers. Research, undergraduate education, and Ph.D. programs suffer as faculty time is diverted to almost continuous MBA curriculum changes, strategic planning exercises, and public relations efforts. Unless they wake up to the dangers of dysfunctional rankings competition, U.S. business schools are destined to lose their dominant global position and become a classic case study of how myopic decision-making begets institutional mediocrity."
Cite:
DeAngelo, Harry, DeAngelo, Linda and Zimmerman, Jerold L., "What's Really Wrong With U.S. Business Schools?" (July 2005). http://ssrn.com/abstract=766404

Jensen Comment:
The DeAngelos and Jerry Zimmerman are leading advocates of capital market research and positivist methodology.  Harry and Linda are from the University of Southern California and Jerry is from the University of Rochester.  Their business schools rank 23 and 26 respectively in the latest US News rankings.  Their WSJ rankings are 23 and 20.

I think the authors overstate the problem with media rankings and curricula.  I don’t think curriculum choices or PR enter into the rankings in a big way.  Harvard, Stanford, and Wharton will almost always come out on top no matter what the curriculum or PR budget.  What counts heavily is elitism tradition and alumni networking (helps Harvard the most), concentration of researchers/names (helps Stanford the most), and insider tracks to Wall Street (helps Wharton the most).  These, in turn, affect the number of MBA applicants with GMAT scores hovering around 700 or higher.  The GMAT scores, in turn, impact most heavily upon media rankings.  The raters are looking for where the top students in the world are scrambling to be admitted.  Can the majority of applicants really tell us the difference between the business school curriculum at USC versus Stanford versus Rochester?  I doubt it!

The major "media rankings" are given in the following sources as reported in Tidbits on August 19:
Business school rankings and profiles from Business Week Magazine ---
http://www.businessweek.com/bschools/04/?campaign_id=nws_mbaxp_aug16&link_position=link6

The Wall Street Journal rankings of business schools --- http://online.wsj.com/page/0,,2_1103,00.html

US News graduate business school rankings --- http://www.usnews.com/usnews/edu/grad/rankings/rankindex_brief.php

August 27, 2005 reply from Dennis Beresford (University of Georgia)

Bob,

Thanks for this link. The DeAngelo, DeAngelo, and Zimmerman paper is quite interesting. Because football season doesn't start until next week, I had a little time to kill this afternoon and used it to read this paper.

My own rather short academic experience causes me to agree with the paper's assertion that MBA program rankings tend to drive much of what happens at a business school. We recently proudly reported that we were number 30 in the US News rankings (without pointing out that there was a 30 way tie for that spot). And we also trumpeted the fact that the Forbes rankings just out reported that our MBA graduates earned $100,000 in starting pay vs. $40,000 when they entered the program. (I think the ghosts of Andersen must have developed those numbers.)

We went through a curriculum revision a couple of years ago and we now emphasize "leadership." (I suspect this puts us in the company of only about 90% of MBA programs that do the same.) Most of our classes are now taught in half semesters. Perhaps there is good justification for this but it seems to me to encourage a more superficial approach. And managerial accounting is no longer a required part of the curriculum in spite of our pointing out that most of the elite schools still require this important subject.

While I agree with the premise that MBA programs are focusing too much on rankings and short term thinking, I believe the paper's arguments on how to "cure the problem" aren't well supported. In particular, while I strongly agree with the idea that MBA programs should primarily help students develop critical thinking and analytic skills, I think the authors are too critical of the practical aspects of business education as described by Bennis and O'Toole in their earlier Harvard Business article. The authors of this paper seem to feel that more emphasis on research published in scholarly journals will bring more of a long-term focus to MBA education and will address the concerns about rankings, etc. I think a better response would be to balance the practical and theoretical - although I know that is a very hard thing to do.

As a final note, would you agree that the capital asset pricing model and efficient markets research "inspired" indexed mutual funds?
Asserting such a causal connection seems like a pretty big stretch to me.

Denny Beresford

August 29, 2005 response from Paul Williams at North Carolina State University

And we all know what rigorous conceptual framework these folks have in mind. This paper is the knee-jerk response to the Bennis/ O'Toole paper. This is an argument that has been going on since business schools were started. It's the on-going argument over case method vs modeling as the proper way to teach business.

Odd that such believers in market solutions should question what is obviously working -- would universities play this game if it didn't work? Or is it only universities that are irrational? (I'll bet Rochester and Southern Cal are playing the game, too. What kind of research do you suppose Bill Simon expects for his millions?) Passions run so high and retribution is swift. Note what happen to Bob Kaplan's service on the JAR board when he suggested (after he got some religion at Harvard) that case studies might be a worthwhile thing for us to consider.

Denny, et al:
You have made some very good points about blending. A very long time ago, Aristotle, in the Nichomachean Ethics, described three types of knowledge: techne, episteme, and phronesis. Techne = technical knowledge (how to bake a pie). Episteme = scientific knowledge. Phronesis (the highest form) = wisdom, i.e., the knowledge of goodness; how to be a good citizen. Business is a practice and the Harvard approach is one that acknowledges that "wisdom can't be told" (the title of the classic 1950s essay on the value of the case approach). Modelers miss a key element of management. It is not a constrained optimization problem, but a process of intervention. Experience matters

The ratings game is played because it pays off. Duke didn't have a graduate program in business until 1970 compared to UNC's, which predated Duke's by about 25 years. When Tom Keller became dean he had a stroke of genius and hired a public relations firm to promote the MBA. Duke always marketed itself from the day it was founded as the "Harvard of the South" and was able to attract wealthy Northeasterners not able to get into Ivy league schools. Now Duke is able to attract highly talented students, high priced faculty and big donations (note that Wendy's founder Dave Thomas didn't raise millions for Eastern State U.).

Marketing works -- look how many pick-up trucks with 1975 technology under the hood got sold as Sport Utility Vehicles (Pick- up Trucks with Walls doesn't have the same ring). Half the battle at becoming the best is telling people you are, a fact every con man knows. People don't give money to Harvard because it needs it -- they give to Harvard to say they gave to Harvard. Do you think any of the terminally vain people who give money to get their names chiseled on the buildings do so because they have read all of the brillians academic papers people inside the building have produced? No, they give it because someone has told them that the people inside the building are writing brilliant academic papers.

It really becomes a post-modern moment when the people writing the papers truly believe they are brilliant.
 

You can read about the Bennis and O'Toole paper at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen//theory/00overview/theory01.htm#AcademicsVersusProfession

The study precedes an upcoming AACSB International report that calls for the media to change the way it assigns rankings to business degree granting institutions. The AACSB document, to be released in September, calls the ranking methods used by BusinessWeek, Financial Times, U.S. News & World Report, and other media outlets flawed because of inconsistent and unverified data, which confuses rather than helps the consumer.

As James Cagney would've said:  "Those dirty rats!"
Up to 40,000 people are facing hunger in northern Nicaragua because rats have devoured their crops, officials say. The plague has affected Miskito Indian communities which live by the Rio Coco river on the country's Caribbean coast. Last week, the area - which is also regularly hit by flooding - was declared a disaster area, but the rats have yet to be exterminated. A UN team has visited the area to see how much aid is needed. Nicaragua is one of the world's poorest countries. The UN mission is due to release its findings in the capital, Managua, on Friday...
"Rat plague leads to hunger fears ," BBC News, September 8, 2005 --- http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4227074.stm

Database of Historical Erotica (actually Porn)
The pictures illustrate the evolution of photography and of erotica over more than a hundred years. Some of the images pre-date the Civil War; the site also features drawings first published hundreds of years before that. Others hail from more recent decades, up to 1979.
Regina Lynn, "This Old Porn Is New Again ," Wired News, September 9, 2005 --- http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,68790,00.html?tw=wn_tophead_2
Jensen Comment:  Aside from search engines like Google and Yahoo, porn sites are the most popular sites on the Web.  They are also the most likely place to catch computer diseases like viruses, spyware, Trojan horses, etc.  Much of the porn is now generated by a mean criminal organization called the Russian Mafia.  These dangerous animals exploit and terrorize women of poverty from all parts of the world.  They also are trying to get porn customer credit card numbers and other personal information for purposes of robbery and extortion.  The good news is that the dangers that now lurk in porn surfing are becoming a wonderful preventative for addiction. 

Anonymity Debate
InformationWeek Daily Newsletter, September 12, 2005

Last week my colleague Tony Kontzer expressed concerns over a presentation he heard about the Stealth Surfer drive:   "... a pocket USB storage device that's commercially available, highly affordable, and undoubtedly one of the biggest pains in the rear end ever to hit cybercrime-fighting. Pre-loaded with a Mozilla Firefox browser and an assortment of clever little applications, including one called the Anonymizer that uses SSL encryption to hide all IP activity, the Stealth Surfer allows a PC to be used for browsing, E-mail, and God-knows-what-other online activities with nary a shred of evidence left behind. That's because all the caching, history, cookies, keystrokes, and data is stored on the device. Even the applications run entirely on the device, making them invisible to network administrators. (As you can see, this would also be an extremely handy device for anyone wanting to job hunt on company time.)   "A few cops, images of evidence walking away dancing in their heads as they listened, let out sighs and whews and sheeshes and any other low-key indicator of shock and dismay they could muster."   I'm sufficiently mistrustful of authority that I'm glad that gadgets like the Stealth Surfer exist. By definition, anonymity is used to hide behavior that the user doesn't want other people to know about. In a free society, those activities are usually immoral and sometimes illegal. They can include criminal activities such as child pornography, terrorism, and drug trafficking. They also include activities that are legal but that many people would like to eliminate, such as viewing porn involving adults. So it's easy to see why some people would view anonymity as a threat. But even in a free society, anonymity is often used to protect beneficial activities. People go online to learn about addictions, sexual problems, diseases they fear they might have. We might prefer that they learn about these things through more open channels--we might prefer that the teenager who feels unwholesome sexual longings go to a parent, guardian, clergyman, or teacher to discuss the issues--but sometimes people are afraid. And anonymity can help a person feel less afraid, less alone, and get the courage to step forward and face a problem head-on. So far, I've been talking about anonymity in free societies. Totalitarianism brings another layer of complication into the discussion. Anonymity is essential to dissent and planning political change in totalitarian regimes. Here in America, we take for granted the right to go on the Internet, denounce powerful people as thieves, liars, and cowards, and proceed on with our day without fear of any recrimination at all (except for nastygrams from people who like the leadership, of course). But in other countries, you can get thrown into prison for engaging in political speech the government doesn't like. In those nations, anonymity is an essential tool for political change. Continued in article

Not Good Enough For Congressional Auditors
The FBI is managing its enterprise architecture program in accordance with many best practices, but other needed procedures have yet to be adopted, the GAO says.
"FBI Progress On Enterprise Architecture Management Not Good Enough For Congressional Auditors ," InformationWeek, September 9, 2005 --- http://www.informationweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=170701993

The U.N. needs more accountability than more money.  See  Volcker's shocking UN Report.

Johnny could only sing one note
And the note he sang was this:
Ah
Johnny One Note Lyrics sung by the The Supremes --- http://www.lyricsdepot.com/the-supremes/johnny-one-note.html
 

September 8, 2005 message from Glen Gray [glen.gray@CSUN.EDU]

Does anybody have any experience with Microsoft’s OneNote? What caught my eye was the mention in an article that you can use OneNote to record audio (e.g., during a meeting) on your computer (like a tape recorder). I was looking at the program on the Microsoft site and see that OneNote is software for organizing stuff (note, files, graphics, etc.).

Any thoughts for comments on OneNote? Any comments on other programs that I could use to record audio? I particularly want to record during meetings. I know that there are stand alone recorders, but it is one more thing to take to the meeting.

Glen L. Gray, PhD, CPA
Dept. of Accounting & Information Systems
College of Business & Economics
California State University, Northridge
Northridge, CA 91330-8372
818.677.3948
http://www.csun.edu/~vcact00f 

September 9, 2005 reply from Bob Jensen

Hi Glen,

There is a highly favorable review (that does not go far into the audio features) at http://wordprocessing.about.com/od/choosingsoftware/a/onenoterev.htm 
I suspect Richard Campbell will weigh in on this with better suggestions.

I would think there is a problem with audio hardware much the same as I have a problem with my video camera at meetings. Unless I sit in the front row, it is difficult to pick up the speaker’s voice. If there is audience/class discussion throughout a room, it is very difficult to capture individual speakers.

The FBI probably has better audio capturing hardware than we can put on our laptops, but I would not expect OneNote software to magically allow us to get quality recordings at many meetings.

That does not mean that we should not download the free trial offer just to test out OneNote for all the many features claimed in the review above. It would seem that it will work optimally with a Tablet PC.

Bob Jensen

September 8, 2005 reply from Amy Dunbar

I don’t have experience with OneNote, but capturing audio is always a struggle for me. Camtasia is wonderful for screen capture video with audio, but to just record audio has presented more problems for me. I used to use the Microsoft Sound Recorder (under Accessories in Windows) and convert the wav file to an .rm file using Real Producer. Now that I have left the Real world (;-)), I am recording in Screenblaster and rendering the file as an MP3 file. I find it annoying, however, to have a music program, like ITunes, open it. I just want it to immediately play when the student clicks the link. If anyone has a better solution for converting wav files to a better format, I would love to hear about it. A UConn ITS person recommended CDEX

http://cdexos.sourceforge.net/ , which is open source freeware.

Back to what you were asking, Glen. How would you capture everyone’s voices unless they had mics? I know audio conference tools can capture everyone, but in that case, each person is speaking into a mic at his/her computer.

And speaking of audio conferencing, does anyone know how many people can be in a Skype audio conference? I have only experienced three at a time. I am teaching a small PhD class, and I have asked my students to download Skype ( www.skype.com ) so we can easily find each other because all of us work at home a lot (which is a good thing in these times of skyrocketing gas prices). When a California colleague’s cell phone connection was to weak to have a conversation, we switched to Skype, and it worked like a charm.

Amy at UCon

September 9, 2005 reply from Jim Richards [J.Richards@MURDOCH.EDU.AU]

Hi Amy,

My recollection with Skype is that the maximum is 5.

Cheers,
Jim Richards
Murdoch Business School
Murdoch University South Street
MURDOCH WA
Australia

September 9, 2005 reply from Jim Richards [J.Richards@MURDOCH.EDU.AU]

Hi Glen
You may find that to record using your laptop might need a good quality omni-directional microphone to pick up a sufficiently loud signal.

Some open source software that can be used to record and export mp3 files is Audacity ( http://audacity.sourceforge.net ).

We use it at my local Church to record all of our ministry. You need to also download and install LAME to be able to export to mp3.

Cheers.

Jim Richards
Murdoch Business School
Murdoch University South Street
MURDOCH WA 6150 Phone: 61-8-9360-2706 Fax: 61-8-9310-5004

September 8, 2005 reply from Bob Jensen

Hi Amy,

 

But I want to add that the new version of Camtasia allows for camcorder input so that the image is no longer just confined to computer screen images. Even though digital video takes up massive amounts of space, Camtasia videos do not have to be space hogging full screens and the videos can be compressed in the final production.

The big problem with video capturing at meetings is that the video is often less interesting than the audio unless the speaker is using visual aids. Capturing video of a talking head is a total waste of space digitally speaking. I still use an analog camera and space is no problem since video tapes are cheap ways to store lots of video.

My problem of course is that my hundreds of video tapes will soon be as obsolete as my withering 8-track audio tapes. Soon we won’t be able to buy new machines that will play video tapes, so take good care of the old players in your house or office. And consider putting them to DVD in the near future.

Bob Jensen

September 12, 2005 Tidbit from Bob Jensen

HotRecorder™ --- http://www.hotrecorder.com/about.html

HotRecorder™ is a new technology that allows users to record and add sound effects (Emotisounds™) on voice communications held over the internet. It also includes voice mail for Google Talk™ and Skype™!

HotRecorder™ is a unique application that works in conjunction with Google Talk™, Skype™, AIM™, Net2Phone™, Yahoo! Messenger™ 7 and FireFly™.

The creation of HotRecorder™ responds to the growing demand of users throughout the world, for a tool that will allow them to record, play, save, send and search their voice communications, plus many other options.

Jensen Comment:  This product is on the vanguard of a new generation of software and textbooks that are either free (with pop-up advertising) or fee-based (without any advertising).  Don't you wish more things in life were like that, including cable television shows?

Also note that recording of telephone conversations without permission is legal in some states and legal in others --- http://www.pimall.com/nais/n.recordlaw.html
I assume one party consent means that a lurker cannot record a conversation without the consent of at least one party (such as a bank) to the conversation.

There are twelve states that require all party consent. They are:   California Connecticut Delaware Florida Illinois Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Montana New Hampshire Pennsylvania Washington   There are 38 states that permit one party consent. They are:   Alaska Arkansas Colorado District of Columbia Georgia Hawaii Idaho Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Nebraska Nevada New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming

September 12, 2005 reply from Amy Dunbar

YIKES! Something new to worry about. I just downloaded the "premium" version of HotRecorder (the advertising was so annoying, I popped for the $15 very quickly). I enabled HotRecorder to work with Skype, called my brother, and recorded our conversation. Nothing happened on his end to tell him the conversation was being recorded. So now we have to be careful what we say on the phone, too, at least when we are talking on Google Talk™, Skype™, AIM™, Net2Phone™, Yahoo! Messenger™ 7 and FireFly™. It looks like you choose the application you want the recorder to work wtih. I have the choice of Skype or AIM because those are the two programs I have installed. I can switch back and forth, depending on what I am using for audio.

Has anyone use http://www.freeconferencecall.com ? The "free" is for the use of the conferencing technology. Each conference attendee pays for the land line charges to call the number. The number I was given for the next 120 days is 605-772-3001. I wonder what the charges for the long-distance call will be.

Amy Dunbar
UConn

September 12, 2005 reply from Fred Barbee

I am what is generally considered a lurker but this is a very interesting topic to me. I currently use a tablet PC and an LCD projector in class. My latest toy is a wireless adaptor for the projector that allows me to move my Tablet PC to various places around the classroom and still use the projector. I am interested in recording (using Camtasia) portions of my lecture - specifically when I work problems on the tablet pc. I would like to have a good quality wireless microphone to allow for a little more flexibility. Are any of you doing this? If so, can you give me some feedback?

Fred Barbee, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Accounting
University of Alaska Anchorage
College of Business & Public Policy
afrfb@uaa.alaska.edu 

---

Converting Home Videos to DVDs

Q: Are there services that will take home video and burn it to a DVD that can be played anywhere? I know I can do this on my PC, but it takes too much time and I keep running into problems when I try it.

A: There are such services. One that I have tested and found to be good is called YesVideo (yesvideo.com). You bring your videos into a store that works with YesVideo -- including CVS, Walgreen, Best Buy and Target -- and they send the tapes to YesVideo, which converts them to a very nice DVD. You also can get the same service online, at Sony's ImageStation site ( www.imagestation.com ). Sony calls its service Video2DVD, but it really is just the YesVideo service. My full review of the service is at: ptech.wsj.com/archive/solution-20040128.html. Because YesVideo works through retailers, prices vary, but are usually around $25-$35 for a two-hour video. Each DVD is divided into chapters based on a YesVideo process that tries to detect scene changes in your videos. At the end, there are three 60-second music videos made from scenes on your videos. The company also will put your prints, slides and even old film onto DVD, but this costs more and is handled by fewer retailers. Details are at the YesVideo Web site.
Walter Mossberg, "Converting Home Videos to DVDs," The Wall Street Journal, August 25, 2005; Page B3 --- http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB112492084317722331,00.html?mod=todays_us_marketplace

At last there will be a way to efficiently store digital video
But this is no ordinary recording process. The disc has more than 60 times the storage capacity of a standard DVD, while the drive writes about 10 times faster than a conventional DVD burner. That means the disc can store up to 128 hours of video content--almost twice enough for the full nine seasons of Seinfeld--and records it all in less than three hours.
Holographic Memory
By Gregory T. Huang , "Holographic Memory," MIT's Technology Review, September 2005 --- http://www.technologyreview.com/articles/05/09/issue/feature_memory.asp?trk=nl

Convert AVI to WMV, BMP, JPG, etc. - OSS Video Decompiler 4.0 --- http://www.tomdownload.com/multimedia_design/video/oss_video_decompiler.htm

Powerful Video Decompiler that supports decompiling video files to extract the individual image frames. Supports AVI to WMV, AVI to GIF, AVI to (PNG, JPEG, JPG, EMF, WMV, BMP, and more). Video Decompiling (Supported formats AVI to GIF, AVI to PNG (Portable Network Graphics), AVI to JPEG, AVI to TIFF, AVI to EMF, AVI to WMV). Convert multiple video files at once (Batch Conversion). Many modern features were added to the latest versions. Now you can save and load video conversion and effects settings using XML.

Presentation Pop Out Tools

September 11, message from David Beckman CPA [ddb@IOWALAW.COM]

I am making a presentation later this month to professionals that are returning to the University for continuing education. I want to focus participant's attention on particular line items on my PowerPoint slides. I will be using an add-in for PowerPoint called PopOut Presenter that does 60-minute type call-outs or tear-outs. Experts at PowerPoint can do some of what it does within PowerPoint, but this is easy, quick and only cost $15. It is available at:

http://www.popoutpresenter.com

September 11, 2002 reply from Bob Jensen

Hi David,

Thank you for linking to a useful product that I never heard about before.

There is a helpful PowerPoint FAQ page that discusses add-ins of various types at http://www.rdpslides.com/pptfaq/
It is interesting to search at the above site using the phrase "pop out"

Bob Jensen

Links to two Bob Jensen helpers for tools are as follows:

http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/000aaa/thetools.htm

http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/000aaa/newfaculty.htm#Resources

The Council was established by Andrew Carnegie in 1914 to work toward the ideal of world peace. Today it is the world's premier forum for research and education in ethics and international policy. We provide a home for those who explore the ethical dilemmas posed by issues such as deadly conflict, human rights violations, environmental protection, global economic disparities, and the politics of reconciliation
Carnegie Council on Ethics and International Affairs ---  http://www.carnegiecouncil.org/index.php

September 8, 2005 message from Carolyn Kotlas [kotlas@email.unc.edu]

EDUCATION PAPERS IN SEPTEMBER ISSUE OF FIRST MONDAY

Several papers in the latest issue of FIRST MONDAY (vol. 10, no. 9, September 5, 2005) have an education theme:

"Professors 0nline: The Internet's Impact on College Faculty," by Steve Jones and Camille Johnson-Yale, reports on findings from a nationwide survey of Internet use by U.S. college faculty.
http://www.firstmonday.org/issues/issue10_9/jones/index.html 

"Using Virtual Lectures to Educate Students on Plagiarism" by Laura A.
Guertin discusses the value of using virtual lectures, as well how to create and distribute them. Guertin provides a sample template for a virtual lecture on plagiarism.
http://www.firstmonday.org/issues/issue10_9/guertin/index.html

"Cats in the Classroom: Online Learning in Hybrid Space" by Michelle M.
Kazmer explores how teachers and students can create an online environment that compensates for the "loss of face–to–face interaction in the shared space of a physical classroom."
http://www.firstmonday.org/issues/issue10_9/kazmer/index.html
 

"Electronic Courseware in Higher Education" by Maureen C. Minielli and S. Pixy Ferris explores "electronic course management systems from a pedagogical perspective, with the goal of aiding educators to effectively utilize electronic courseware in the classroom."
http://www.firstmonday.org/issues/issue10_9/minielli/index.html

First Monday [ISSN 1396-0466] is an online, peer-reviewed journal whose aim is to publish original articles about the Internet and the global information infrastructure. It is published in cooperation with the University Library, University of Illinois at Chicago. For more information, contact: First Monday, c/o Edward Valauskas, Chief Editor, PO Box 87636, Chicago IL 60680-0636 USA; email: ejv@uic.edu ; Web:
http://firstmonday.dk/ .

 

Powell takes the heat for WMD exaggerated fears
Colin Powell, the former US secretary of state who told the United Nations that Saddam Hussein was concealing weapons of mass destruction, has conceded the assertion will always be a "painful blot" on his record. During a lengthy TV chat with Barbara Walters, the queen of the serious interview, Mr Powell tried to explain how the West had made mistakes in the run-up to war. Asked whether the statement about WMD tarnished his reputation, the former general responded: "Of course it will. It's a blot. I'm the one who presented it on behalf of the United States to the world and [it] will always be a part of my record. It was painful. It's painful now." The soldier-statesman made a dramatic and detailed presentation to the UN Security Council a month before the invasion of Iraq in March 2003. It relied on the extensive use of intelligence material, which later turned out to be inaccurate.
Francis Harris, "WMD a painful blot, says Powell," Sydney Morning Herald, September 11, 2005 --- http://www.smh.com.au/text/articles/2005/09/10/1125772731299.html

The Codless Seas
More than 50,000 people have left the island (Newfoundland) since 1992.
John Gimlette as quoted by Elizabeth Royte in "'Theatre of Fish': The Codless Seas" --- http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/11/books/review/11royte.html

Terrorist novels before and after 9/11
The authors of recent terrorist novels have more or less conceded they would not have handled their material in the same way had they started work after 9/11.
Benjamin Kunkel, "Dangerous Characters," The New York Times, September 11, 2005 --- http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/11/books/review/11kunkel.html

Einstein on Religion
Scientific materialists, who regard all forms of religious belief as superstition, are often puzzled and even embarrassed by Einstein's frequent remarks about God. But conventional religious believers - knowing that Einstein was a Jew - often jump to the conclusion that he was referring to the traditional Judaeo-Christian God, and invoke his authority in support of their own beliefs. I suspect that both groups have misunderstood Einstein and that we should all read more carefully what he wrote about science and religion. In 1940, for example, he submitted a paper to a conference on this subject in which he clearly stated that, in his view, there could be no "legitimate conflict between science and religion". The main source of conflict between the two, he argued, lay in the concept of "a personal God". As the physicist Max Jammer describes in his 1999 book Einstein and Religion, that remark created a furor at the time. Many people in the US assumed that by denying the existence of a personal God, Einstein was denying any kind of God. What we now call the "religious right" was then vocal in its criticisms (and probably would be today).
"Subtle are Einstein's thoughts," PhysicsWeb, September 2005 --- http://physicsweb.org/articles/world/18/9/2/1

When there's fraud in education, look first at the Board of Trustees
When David Cary Hart was appointed chief executive of Drake Business Schools in February 2004, the schools had virtually no money, they were behind on their rent, and New York State was demanding repayment of roughly $5 million in tuition grants. Mr. Hart moved quickly to save the company, long regarded as a flagship in a troubled industry. He dismissed two top executives. He had the former comptroller arrested on theft charges. He even found a way to interest banks in lending Drake money. Then, just before Memorial Day, as he entered the subway near Drake's Queens campus in Astoria, he was shot, and the police speculated that the attack might have been related to his inquiry into Drake's finances. As he lay in the hospital, Drake's trustees shut the schools and filed for bankruptcy.
Karen W. Arenson, "The Decline and Fall of Drake Business Schools: A Textbook in Crisis Nonmanagement," The New York Times, September 11, 2005 --- http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/11/nyregion/11drake.html

Starting Salary Survey
Accounting firms lead all other employers in hiring new college graduates according to the summer 2005 issue of Salary Survey of the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE), the Westchester County Business Journal reports. Starting salaries for new hires in accounting will average $43,370, an increase of 5.3 percent over last year.
"Starting Salaries Increase for Accounting Grads," AccountingWeb, September 7, 2005 --- http://www.accountingweb.com/cgi-bin/item.cgi?id=101269

Bob Jensen's threads on accountancy careers are at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/bookbob1.htm#careers

September 12, message from Editor@purityplanet.com

I was wandering the web and came across your page at: http://www.cs.trinity.edu/~rjensen/book99b.htm  and saw that you had bookmark links on your page. I work with a site called Purity Planet and our site offers information about air and water filters, vacuums, humidifiers and more. Clean air and water is essential to everyone. I wanted to take the time to email you and suggest it as a link for your page. I enjoyed my visit to your site and thank you for taking the time to read over my suggestion.

Kind Regards,
Michael Tinnes,
Purity Planet

http://www.purityplanet.com/ 

I think a few other people got this letter from Gerald Grinstein
PS:  I'm flying to New Hampshire free in October courtesy of my Skymiles account with Delta

AS ALWAYS, DELTA AT YOUR SERVICE

Dear Dr. Jensen,

As you may know, Delta Air Lines filed to reorganize under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. We have taken this action as part of our ongoing efforts to make Delta a simpler, more efficient and cost-effective airline. On behalf of the tens of thousands of Delta employees worldwide who look forward to welcoming you onboard every day, I want to assure you Delta is open for business as usual:

Your travel plans are secure -- We are operating our full schedule of flights, honoring tickets and reservations as usual, and making normal refunds and exchanges. You can count on the convenience and choice you've come to expect from the more than 7,500 daily flights to 502 destinations in 88 countries that we, along with our SkyTeam(R) and codeshare partners, provide worldwide.

Your SkyMiles(R) are secure -- The award-winning SkyMiles program has not been affected, and you can continue to enjoy the program's benefits--including Delta Crown Room Clubs, double miles on qualifying purchases with the Delta SkyMiles Credit Card from American Express(R), and the opportunity to earn and redeem miles on the thousands of flights offered by SkyTeam and our vast network of global airline alliances.

Delta is honored to have been named "the Most Preferred Airline" this year by business travelers* and we thank you for voting our SkyMiles program as the Best Frequent Flyer program in a Travel Savvy magazine survey. From upgraded features on delta.com, to refurbished cabins, to new routes and international destinations, to fewer restrictions and service fees, we're transforming Delta to be even better for you.

We encourage you to send comments and suggestions via e-mail to restructure.delta@delta.com. You can also learn more about our reorganization by visiting delta.com/restructure.

Click here to email restructure.delta@delta.com: mailto:restructure.delta@delta.com

Click here to visit delta.com/restructure: http://e.delta.com/ct/click?q=e9-gd8pQxVJO9NIP8X9R4f5P1qd5XTJ

Today, as always, Delta's proud team of dedicated professionals is at your service. As the people of Delta work together to become a more competitive airline, we appreciate your loyalty and the opportunity to meet your personal and business travel needs--now and in the future.

Thank you for choosing Delta.

Sincerely,

Gerald Grinstein
Chief Executive Officer

Forwarded by Betty Carper

One Flaw in Women

By the time God made woman, He was into his sixth day of working overtime. An angel appeared and said, "Why are you spending so much time on this one?" And God answered, "Have you seen my spec sheet on her? She has to be completely washable, but not plastic, have over 200 movable parts, all replaceable and able to run on diet coke and leftovers, have a lap that can hold four children at one time, have a kiss that can cure anything from a scraped knee to a broken heart -and she will do everything with only two hands."

The angel was astounded at the requirements. "Only two hands!? No way! And that's just on the standard model? That's too much work for one day. Wait until tomorrow to finish." But I won't," God protested. "I am so close to finishing this creation that is so close to my own heart.

She already heals herself when she is sick AND can work 18 hour days." The angel moved closer and touched the woman. "But you have made her so soft." "She is soft," God agreed, "but I have also made her tough. You have no idea what she can endure or accomplish." "Will she be able to think?", asked the angel. God replied, "Not only will she be able to think, she will be able to reason and negotiate."

The angel then noticed something, and reaching out, touched the woman's cheek. "Oops, it looks like you have a leak in this model. I told you that you were trying to put too much into this one." "That's not a leak," God corrected, "that's a tear!" "What's the tear for?" the angel asked. God said, "The tear is her way of expressing her joy, her sorrow, her pain, her disappointment, her love, her loneliness, her grief and her pride." The angel was impressed. "You are a genius. You thought of everything! Woman is truly amazing." And she is!

Women have strengths that amaze men. They bear hardships and they carry burdens, but they hold happiness, love and joy. They smile when they want to scream. They sing when they want to cry. They cry when they are happy and laugh when they are nervous. They fight for what they believe in. They stand up to injustice. They don't take "no" for an answer when they believe there is a better solution.

They go without so their family can have. They go to the doctor with a frightened friend. They love unconditionally. They cry when their children excel and cheer when their friends get awards. They are happy when they hear about a birth or a wedding. Their hearts break when a friend dies. They grieve at the loss of a family member, yet they are strong when they think there is no strength left.

They know that a hug and a kiss can heal a broken heart. Women come in all shapes, sizes and colors. They'll drive, fly, walk, run or e-mail you to show how much they care about you. The heart of a woman is what makes the world keep turning. They bring joy, hope and love. They have compassion and ideals. They give moral support to their family and friends. Women have vital things to say and everything to give.

HOWEVER, IF THERE IS ONE FLAW IN WOMEN, IT IS THAT THEY FORGET THEIR WORTH.

Forwarded by Paula

 THINGS YOU'D LOVE TO SAY OUT LOUD AT WORK

    01. I can see your point, but I still think you're full of s___.
    02. I don't know what your problem is, but I'll bet it's hard to pronounce.
    03. How about never? Is never good for you?
    04. I see you've set aside this special time to humiliate yourself in public.
    05. I'm really easy to get along with once you people learn to see things my way.
    06. I'll try being nicer if you'll try being smarter.
    07. I'm out of my mind, but feel free to leave a message.
    08. I don't work here, I'm a consultant.
    09. It sounds like English, but I can't understand a word you're saying.
    10. Ahhh . . I see the screw-up fairy has visited us again.
    11. I have plenty of talent without adoor.
    12. Can I trade this job for what's behind door #1?
    13. Too many freaks, not enough circuses.
    14. Nice perfume. Must you marinate in it?
    15. Chaos, panic, and disorder --- my work here is done.
    16. Deleted by Bob Jensen
    17. Oh I get it... like humor... but different.

Fraud Updates --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/FraudUpdates.htm
For earlier editions of New Bookmark s go to http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/bookurl.htm 
Archives of Tidbits: Tidbits Directory --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/TidbitsDirectory.htm

Click here to search Bob Jensen's web site if you have key words to enter --- Search Site.
For example if you want to know what Jensen documents have the term "Enron" enter the phrase Jensen AND Enron. Another search engine that covers Trinity and other universities is at http://www.searchedu.com/.

International Accounting News (including the U.S.)

AccountingEducation.com and Double Entries --- http://www.accountingeducation.com/
        Upcoming international accounting conferences --- http://www.accountingeducation.com/events/index.cfm
        Thousands of journal abstracts --- http://www.accountingeducation.com/journals/index.cfm
Deloitte's International Accounting News --- http://www.iasplus.com/index.htm
Association of International Accountants --- http://www.aia.org.uk/ 
WebCPA --- http://www.webcpa.com/
FASB --- http://www.fasb.org/
IASB --- http://www.fasb.org/
Others --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/bookbob1.htm

Gerald Trite's great set of links --- http://iago.stfx.ca/people/gtrites/Docs/bookmark.htm 

Richard Torian's Managerial Accounting Information Center --- http://www.informationforaccountants.com/ 

Professor Robert E. Jensen (Bob) http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen
Jesse H. Jones Distinguished Professor of Business Administration
Trinity University, San Antonio, TX 78212-7200
Voice: 210-999-7347 Fax: 210-999-8134  Email:  rjensen@trinity.edu