A Primer on Electronic Communication
Often enough we are faced with a question that can best be answered by someone else, possibly a complete stranger. The upside of the Internet is that we can quickly contact folks without much effort. The downside of the Internet is that people can contact us without much effort. This reality is very present in academe today — where senior professors constantly gripe about being overwhelmed by inappropriate e-mail, to the point where some hide their e-mail addresses. Graduate students and researchers of all kinds, meanwhile, agonize over how to approach an eminent scholar with a query, and trade strategies for actually getting an answer.
Eszter Hargittai, "A Primer on Electronic Communication," Inside Higher Ed, November28, 2006 --- http://www.insidehighered.com/workplace/2006/11/28/hargittai

November 29, 2006 reply from Scott Bonacker [aecm@BONACKER.US]

That is good - thanks for posting the link.

Here's another one - http://catb.org/%7Eesr/faqs/smart-questions.html 

The subject of this one is different, but the procedures are intended to reach the same result.

Scott Bonacker, CPA
Springfield, Missouri

"How To Ask Questions The Smart Way" by  Eric Steven Raymond http://catb.org/%7Eesr/faqs/smart-questions.html

Question
What radio broadcast had the largest audience in history?

You can listen to it here --- http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6515548

The 1938 boxing rematch between American Joe Louis and German Max Schmeling is believed to have had the largest audience in history for a single radio broadcast. In 2005, the Library of Congress selected it for the National Recording Registry.
"The Fight of the Century: Louis vs. Schleming," NPR, November 25, 2006 ---
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6515548

2006 Update on WorldCom Fraud
U.S. Judge Denise Cote of the U.S. Court for the Southern District of New York said the distribution should be made "as soon as practicable." More than one dozen investment banks, including Citigroup Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co., agreed to pay about $6.15 billion to resolve allegations that they helped WorldCom sell bonds when they should have known the phone company was concealing its true financial condition. The remaining balance from available settlement funds will continue to accrue interest until other claims are processed and disputed claims are resolved, Cote said in her four-page order.
"Judge OKs $4.52 bln payout to WorldCom investors," Reuters, November 29, 2006 --- Click Here

2005 Update on WorldCom Fraud
Former WorldCom Investors can now claim back some of the billions of dollars they lost in a massive accounting fraud, after a federal judge approved legal settlements of "historic proportions." The deal approved Wednesday by U.S. District Judge Denise Cote, will divide payments of $6.1 billion among approximately 830,000 people and institutions that held stocks or bonds in the telecommunications company around the time of its collapse in 2002.
Larry Neumeister, "Judge OKs $6.1B in WorldCom Settlements," The Washington Post, September 22, 2005 --- http://snipurl.com/WorldcomSettlement   

University of California gets a settlement from Citigroup as part of its losses in the WorldCom accounting scandal
Citigroup has agreed to pay the University of California more than $13 million to settle a lawsuit over liability for the university’s investments in WorldCom, a company that collapsed in 2002. The university sued over inaccurate analyses of WorldCom, which led UC to pay more than it would have otherwise to buy stock in the company.
Inside Higher Ed, April 7, 2006 --- http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2006/04/07/qt

The WorldCom audit by Andersen is arguably the worst audit in history. Bob Jensen's threads on the WorldCom scandal are at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/FraudEnron.htm#WorldCom

Question
What do professors think are the top accounting education programs in the U.S.?

The Public Accounting Report on October 30, 2006 published its rankings of the universities having the top undergraduate, masters, and doctoral programs in accounting. The University of Texas hung on to the top rankings in all three categories --- http://www.mccombs.utexas.edu/news/pressreleases/PAR_06.pdf

Of course these rankings are subject to all the criticisms of college rankings in general --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/HigherEdControversies.htm#BusinessSchoolRankings
Be that as it may, these rankings are very important for both fund raising and student recruiting activities.

AHP = Analytic Hierarchy Process

November 15, 2006 message from Al-Mashari Gmail

I hope that you are doing well. Could you, please, send me your papers and any related references that use AHP especially in the computer filed. As I'm interested in this filed.

Thanks in advance for your expected cooperation.

Yours B. Al-Mashari

November 20, reply from Bob Jensen

I’m sorry that most of those old, like me,  Analytic Hierarchy Process papers were discarded when I moved across the U.S. to my retirement cottage.

I am able to attach my unpublished Working Paper 127 entitled “COMPARISONS OF EIGENVECTOR, LEAST SQUARES, CHI SQUARE, AND LOGARITHMIC LEAST SQUARES METHODS OF SCALING A RECIPROCAL MATRIX” --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/127WP/127WP.HTM 

I did find one of our old published papers online.

"Analytic Hierarchy Process Multivariate Analysis of Expert Judgment Regarding Alternative Analytical Review Procedures: An Empirical study," with C.E. Arrington and W.A. Hillison, Journal of Accounting Research, Vol. 22, No. 1, Spring 1984, 298-312 --- http://www.jstor.org/view/00218456/di008028/00p0193i/0

 

One of my doctoral students, Ed Arrington, used AHP in a clever doctoral dissertation at Florida State University --- http://wwwlib.umi.com/dissertations/

 

 

My published papers on AHP are available in some libraries --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/resume.htm#Published

 

49.
"A Dynamic Analytic Hierarchy Process Analysis of Capital Budgeting Under Stochastic Inflation Rates and Risk Premiums," Advances in Financial Planning and Forecasting, Vol. 2, 1987, 269-302.

48.
"Extension of Consensus Methods For Priority Ranking Problems: Eigenvector Analysis of 'Pic-the-Winner' Paired Comparison Matrices," Decision Sciences, Vol. 17, Spring 1986, 195-211.

45.
"Matrix Scaling of Subjective Probabilities of Economic Forecasts: An Empirical Study," Economics Letters, Vol. 20, 1986, 221-225. With Roger W. Spencer of Trinity University Economics Department.

42.
"An Alternative Scaling Method for Priorities in Hierarchical Structures," Journal of Mathematical Psychology, Vol. 28, No. 3, September 1984, 317-332.

41.
"Analytic Hierarchy Process Multivariate Analysis of Expert Judgment Regarding Alternative Analytical Review Procedures: An Empirical study," with C.E. Arrington and W.A. Hillison, Journal of Accounting Research, Vol. 22, No. 1, Spring 1984, 298-312 --- http://www.jstor.org/view/00218456/di008028/00p0193i/0

39.
"Aggregation (Composition) Schema for Eigenvector Scaling of Priorities in Hierarchial Structures," Multivariate Behavioral Research, Vol. 18, January 1983, 63-84.

38.
Review of Forecasts: Scaling and Analysis of Expert Judgments Regarding Cross-Impacts of Assumptions of Business Forecasts and Accounting Measures, (Sarasota, FL: American Accounting Association, 1983).

36.
"Scaling Multivariate performance Criteria: Subjective Composition Versus the Analytic Hierarchy Process," with C.E. Arrington and Masao Takutani (of Seiker University in Japan), Journal of Accounting and Public Policy, Vol. 1 Winter 1982, 95-125.

34.
"Competition in Auditing: An Assessment" in Symposium on Auditing Research IV (Urbana, IL: The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois, 1982, 451-468).

33.
"Accounting Futures Analysis: An Eigenvector Model for Subjective Elicitations of Variations in Cross-Impacts Over Time," Decision Sciences, January 1982, Vol. 13, 15-37.

32.
"Scenario Probability Scaling: An Eigenvector Analysis of Elicited Scenario Odds Ratios," Futures, December 1981, Vol. 13, 489-98.

31.
"The Evaluation of Generic Cross-Impact Models: A Revised Balancing Law for the R-Space Model," Futures, June 1981, 217-220.

28.
"A Dynamic Programming Algorithm for Cluster Analysis," Mathematical Programming in Statistics, Edited by Arthanari and Dodge, New York, John Wiley & Sons.

Hope this Helps,

 

Bob Jensen

Return to the Oxford Model in U.S. Universities

"Hogwarts U.," by Robert J. O’Hara, Inside Higher Ed, November 28, 2006 --- http://www.insidehighered.com/views/2006/11/28/ohara

What does private and wealthy Princeton University have in common with the public and less-wealthy University of Central Arkansas? What links Acadia University in the Canadian Maritimes and Vanderbilt University in the American South? What does the new International University in Bremen, Germany, share with the Universidad de las Américas, in Puebla, Mexico?

Each of these institutions has established, is planning, or is expanding an internal system of residential colleges: permanent, cross-sectional, faculty-led societies that bring the educational advantages of a small college into the environment of a large university. This wave of college founding, taking place in public and private institutions from Kentucky to Louisiana, from Missouri to Florida, from Pennsylvania to Arkansas, and elsewhere around the world, is one of the most substantive structural reform movements in higher education today, and it promises to repair a half-century of destructive bureaucratic centralization.

Dividing a large university into cross-sectional residential colleges is not a new idea: it is the organizational structure of Oxford, Cambridge, and Durham Universities in Great Britain, and as such is one of the oldest ideas in higher education. The collegiate organizational model is common in universities in Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, and it was adopted by the undergraduate divisions of Harvard and Yale Universities in the 1930s and by Rice University in the 1950s. But residential college systems have remained rare in American higher education until quite recently. Paradoxically, they are better understood by many American undergraduates today than by American senior faculty and administrators, since, as students often remind me, the collegiate model is “just like Harry Potter.” The fictional School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in J.K. Rowling’s popular young adult novels is divided into a system of four “houses” that parallel, in their structure, the structure of a collegiate university.

Although many universities that are in the process of establishing residential college systems are also embarking on construction projects at the same time, the two do not have to be connected. Creating residential colleges within a larger institution is more a matter of arranging resources that already exist than it is a matter of acquiring new resources. It need not be expensive, and it doesn’t require any changes to the curriculum.

The residential college movement today is guided not by financial concerns or questions of curricular reform, but rather by four organizational principles: decentralization, faculty leadership, social stability and genuine diversity. Each of these principles attempts to repair a portion of the damage that was wrought during the “industrialization” of higher education in the post-World War II era, and especially in the post-1960s era, two periods of widespread bureaucratic massification when student numbers exploded, central administrative offices proliferated, faculty retreated, high-rise dormitories sprouted, and alienation spread.

Decentralization is a fundamental principle of both new and old residential college systems because all education is local. Real education — the substantive development of intellect and character — depends on sustained personal contact between students and teachers over the long term. But universities forgot this basic principle when they ballooned in size from the 1960s onward. No matter how many slogans campus public relations people may invent about being “student-centered” and “caring,” a university with high-rise dormitory towers, vast impersonal dining halls, and central advising offices that students report to for 15 minutes each term to have their schedules checked cannot possibly offer the sustained, local, personal contact that is fundamental to real education. The slogans are phony, and the students know it.

Small, decentralized residential colleges counteract the effects of educational massification by bringing students and faculty from all academic disciplines together into rich and cohesive social communities. Because of their small size — 400 members is ideal — residential colleges ensure that all students are known one by one, and that no student is anonymous. And while these collegiate societies are usually called “residential” colleges, they need not be entirely residential, and can be established within any university regardless of the number of students who actually live on campus. The emphasis is on the word college as a small, intimate society of members, rather than on the word residential.

Faculty leadership of residential college systems is fundamental because as universities became more centralized and bureaucratic over the past half-century, the oversight of campus life within them was largely handed off to a class of full-time residence life managers. However well-meaning these officials have been, because they are detached from the academic structure of the university, they have not been able to create meaningful educational environments for students. Even more noxiously, some universities have come to see campus dormitories as income-generating tools analogous to parking lots and vending machines. For more than a generation these deep structural flaws have cheated students out of the most important thing a university can offer them: sustained personal contact with their teachers in a rich and diverse educational environment for years at a time.

Residential college systems return the management of campus life to the faculty, and distribute most of the functions now performed by departments of student affairs and residence life into the faculty-led residential colleges. And they treat student life and housing as academic functions of a university, not as business functions. Residential colleges, as faculty-led academic societies, are consciously crafted to provide a wide range of informal educational opportunities for their members day and night, week after week, year after year. Their object is to ensure that students’ formal learning in the classroom is integrated in every way with their external life in the world.

Continued in article

From Dartmouth College
Chance News --- http://chance.dartmouth.edu/chancewiki/index.php/Main_Page
Tutorial on Statistics (focus is on learning exercises and how to view media reports critically)

I too agree with most caveats expressed.

However, I beg to differ with respect to requiring a PhD in accounting.

In my opinion, the ideal candidate would have a liberal education background followed by a CPA (with audit experience) followed by a PhD in any related field (Economics, Criminal Justice, CSI, ...), and finally motivation to do research in accounting related areas.

There are very few that fit the bill, but that I think is the ideal background for an academic.

Having gone through the doctoral hamster mills in both Operations Research and Accounting (didn't complete PhD in OR due to the demise of my intended supervisor), accounting doctoral education, in my opinion leaves much to be desired, relative to that in other fields. This is as it should be, for accounting is a profession; it is debatable if it is an academic discipline (though, of course it can be).

As usual, I am being provocative.

Respectfully submitted,

Jagdish
 

November 17, 2006 reply from Tom Lechner [acttal@BUSINESS.UTAH.EDU]

While I agree with almost everything that was said, I would add two precautions. First, I am not at all sure that a Ph.D. in another field would be an acceptable substitute for a Ph.D. in accounting. When I chaired a search committee at a teaching oriented school, we would not consider a Ph.D. in another field. As far as I can recall, the applicant was an MBA/CPA. The applicant lived several thousand miles from the nearest AACSB school that offered a Ph.D., so that applicant had gotten a Ph.D. in education. While we understood the applicant's situation, we did not consider him.

Second, I believe that the LLM in law is more equivalent to a Ph.D. than a JD. While an MBA + JD would be acceptable for teaching tax at many schools, it might not provide terminal qualification for a position in another area of accounting.

I suggest that you contact some schools that have current openings that you would be interested in. Ask them how they would view various combinations of credentials.

Tom

Dr. Thomas A. Lechner, CPA
Assistant Professor (Lecturer)
David Eccles School of Business School of Accounting and Information Systems
University of Utah

November 18, 2006 reply from Bob Jensen

Hi Tom,

I agree with what you say. I should have pointed out that in the College of Education there are often two doctoral programs, the EED vs. the PhD. in Education. The EED is more for school administrators and the PhD is more of a traditional teaching and research degree.

Although many business programs do not consider either College of Education degree as a terminal qualification, it will enhance other qualifications if it was granted from a highly respected university. Particularly the PhD in Education should enhance both teaching and research skills. It is not very common to encounter such College of Education doctoral degrees in AACSB schools, although JD and LLM degrees are quite common, especially among tax faculty. However, attorneys who also have CPA licenses commonly teach in areas other than tax.

Bob Jensen

November 17, 2006 reply from Bernadine Raiskums [berna@GCI.NET]

Hi David,

I am CPA, CIA, MEd. and currently currently pursuing online PhD in Education from Capella and really would recommend the school for quality of program as well as administration. Capella does have a couple of PhD in business, and an MBA in accounting, but might be worth checking it out. www.capella.edu

Bernadine Raiskums in Anchorage

November 19, 2009 reply from Bob Jensen

Hi Bernadine,

We've both written previously and favorably about Capella's distance education programs. I think Capella sets one of the best examples of a for-profit corporation that's a good role model for similar online corporations.

I would like to point out that Capella does not yet have online doctoral programs in traditional business education disciplines of accounting, finance, and marketing. It's online organization management doctoral programs to date are linked at http://www.capella.edu/schools_programs/degrees/phd.aspx 

Specializations:

• Human Resource Management
• Information Technology Management
• Leadership
• Organization & Management General

Capella has even wider arrays of doctoral programs in education and psychology ---
http://www.capella.edu/schools_programs/degrees/phd.aspx 

We are always grateful to hear from students enrolled in distance education graduate programs.

Thank you,

Bob Jensen

Capella Education’s initial public offering on Friday sent its stock up by about 25 percent, The Pioneer Press reported.
Inside Higher Ed, November 13, 2006

New Thoughts About Herman Melville's Sexual Orientation and Multiculturalism
Herman Melville: great American novelist or great American hipster? Well, it isn’t an either/or kind of situation. Rereading Moby Dick for the first time in ages (now minus the English major’s mental tic of obsessing over how each little part fit into a vast symbolic architecture), I recently underwent the astonishing revelation that Melville (1) definitely has a sense of humor, (2) pretty much invented the postmodern “maximalist” novel of the sort we now associate with Thomas Pynchon, and (3) is so overtly gay and so stridently multiculturalist that Fox News should probably look into how he ever got into the canon.
Scott McLemee, "Where’s Herman?" Inside Higher Ed, November 22, 2006 --- http://www.insidehighered.com/views/2006/11/22/mclemee

November 21, 2006 message from Dennis Beresford [dberesfo@TERRY.UGA.EDU]

Here is a link to an interesting speech by Secretary of the Treasury Paulson on competitiveness of capital markets, with particular emphasis on accounting and auditing related matters.

Denny Beresford

http://www.treasury.gov/press/releases/hp174.htm

From AccountingEducation.com on November 25, 2006 --- http://accountingeducation.com/

Most football clubs in England and Scotland will make a loss over the next 12 months, according to their finance directors, despite frantic efforts to rein in spending ahead of the start of the season next month
"How football (Soccer Football that is) got its finances wrong," AccountancyAge, November 2006 --- http://www.accountancyage.com/accountancyage/specials/2162919/football-got-finances-wrong

From CPANet on November 20, 2006

AICPA Financial Literacy Initiative
------------------------------
360 Degrees of Financial Literacy - http://www.cpanet.com/up/s0611.asp?ID=1270
Financial Literacy Resource Center - http://www.cpanet.com/up/s0611.asp?ID=1271
Feed the Pig - http://www.cpanet.com/up/s0611.asp?ID=1272
MySpace: Benjamin Bankes - http://www.cpanet.com/up/s0611.asp?ID=1273
CPAs Asked to Mobilize the Pig - http://www.cpanet.com/up/s0611.asp?ID=1274
State-Level Involvement - http://www.cpanet.com/up/s0611.asp?ID=1275
Financial Literacy Topics - http://www.cpanet.com/up/s0611.asp?ID=1276
Ask the Money Doctor - http://www.cpanet.com/up/s0611.asp?ID=1277

Blog Your Business
------------------------------
The Unseen Blogosphere: Internal Blogs - http://www.cpanet.com/up/s0611.asp?ID=1278
BlogWrite for CEOs - http://www.cpanet.com/up/s0611.asp?ID=1279
Getting the Word Out - http://www.cpanet.com/up/s0611.asp?ID=1280
A Crash Course in Corp Blogging - http://www.cpanet.com/up/s0611.asp?ID=1281
16 Ways to Drive Traffic to Your Business Blog - http://www.cpanet.com/up/s0611.asp?ID=1282
Blogs for Marketing Purposes? - http://www.cpanet.com/up/s0611.asp?ID=1283
Romancing the Bloggers - http://www.cpanet.com/up/s0611.asp?ID=1284
 

Ethanol Use Has No Effect On Carbon Dioxide Levels
Oil releases carbon that has been deep within the earth for millions of years. Ethanol comes from corn, which procured its carbon from the atmosphere. In other words, ethanol is not introducing any carbon into the atmospheric system that was not there to begin with. Therefore ethanol, unlike oil, can have no net effect on atmospheric carbon dioxide levels. I am no ardent supporter of Big Ethanol. There are plenty of environmental problems associated with cultivating millions of more acres of corn. To say nothing of the massive systems required for fermentation and purification of billions of gallons of fuel. However, it is a step in the right direction and further scientific breakthroughs that could rectify some of these problems might be just over the horizon. Aside from this, doesn't it seem only prudent to diversify our national energy portfolio when facing such loose cannons as Iran and Saudi Arabia?
James Wagandt, "Ethanol Use Has No Effect On Carbon Dioxide Levels," The Wall Street Journal,  November 25, 2006; Page A9 ---
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB116441989972532456.html?mod=todays_us_opinion

Doomsday Hurricane Forecasters Blown Away
It was not the hurricane season we expected, thank you. With cataclysmic predictions that hurricanes would swarm from the tropics like termites, no one thought 2006 would be the most tranquil season in a decade. Barring a last-second surprise from the tropics, the season will end Thursday with nine named storms, and only five of those hurricanes. This year is the first season since 1997 that only one storm nudged its way into the Gulf of Mexico.
Neil Johnson, "Hurricane Predictions Off Track As Tranquil Season Wafts Away," The Tampa Tribune, November 27, 2006 --- http://www.tbo.com/news/metro/MGBHKNBE0VE.html

Updates from WebMD --- http://www.webmd.com/

Latest Headlines on November 24, 2006

• Greater Variation Seen in Human Genome
• Bird Flu: Mild to Fatal in 2 Countries
• Contact Lens Solution Recall
• Eat Your Words? Some Can Taste Them
• Exercise May Cut Snoring in Kids
• Need Flu Shot? It's Not Too Late
• Teen Births Down, Unmarried Births Up
• Job Burnout May Increase Diabetes Risk
• Beware Bogus Botox
• RSS WebMD Health News

Latest Headlines on November 28, 2006

• Study: Quit Smoking, Don't Cut Back
• AIDS May Become No. 3 Cause of Death
• Age, Obesity, and Breast Cancer Risk
• Fastest Osteoporosis Drug: Actonel
• Statin Drugs May Help the Healthy
• Cancer After Bone Marrow Transplant?
• Yo-Yo Dieting Ups Men's Gallstone Risk
• New Clues on How Cancer Spreads
• 'Chemo Brain' May Be Temporary
• RSS WebMD Health News

Latest Headlines on November 29, 2006

• New Urine Test ID's Prostate Cancer
• Treating Allergies With Allergic Food
• Study: Quit Smoking, Don't Cut Back
• AIDS May Become No. 3 Cause of Death
• Age, Obesity, and Breast Cancer Risk
• Fastest Osteoporosis Drug: Actonel
• Statin Drugs May Help the Healthy
• Cancer After Bone Marrow Transplant?
• Yo-Yo Dieting Ups Men's Gallstone Risk
• RSS WebMD Health News

The Glimmering Promise of Gene Therapy
Its history is marred by failures, false hopes, and even death, but for a number of the most horrendous human diseases, gene therapy still holds the promise of a cure. Now, for the first time, there is reason to believe that it is actually working.
Horace Freeland, "Part 1:  The Glimmering Promise of Gene Therapy," MIT's Technology Review, November 14, 2006 ---
http://www.technologyreview.com/BioTech/17725/

Doctors put bite on snake venom for stroke treatment
Ancrod, an anti-clotting drug derived from the venom of Malaysian pit vipers, is only effective in treating stroke victims if given within three hours, according to a study that appears in Saturday's Lancet. European doctors assessed ancrod, when administered within six hours of a stroke, against a harmless lookalike compound, called a placebo, among 1,220 patients in Europe, Australia and Israel. No significant benefit was found when the drug was administered beyond three hours, according to the paper.
"Doctors put bite on snake venom for stroke treatment," PhysOrg, November 24, 2006 --- http://physorg.com/news83591511.html

Playing Catch-Up After Lost Time In Alzheimer's Labs
Orthodoxy also stifles research on other culprits. "Where the field made its mistake was in trying to make everything fit one common [amyloid] pathway," says Robert Mahley, president of the J. David Gladstone Institutes, San Francisco. "We've got to realize there are multiple ways you can wind up with [Alzheimer's]."
Sharon Begley, "Playing Catch-Up After Lost Time In Alzheimer's Labs," The Wall Street Journal, November 24, 2006; Page B1 --- http://online.wsj.com/article/science_journal.html

Scientists to freeze women's ovaries
U.S. researchers are launching an experimental program for young female cancer patients in which an ovary is removed and frozen for possible future use. The Center for Reproductive Research at Northwestern University said the program is designed for young women who might be at risk of losing their ovarian function and fertility following treatment for cancer. Teresa Woodruff, associate director of the university's Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center in Chicago says the long-term goal is to be able to extract and mature eggs from cryopreserved ovarian tissues to initiate pregnancies once cancer treatment has been completed.
"Scientists to freeze women's ovaries," PhysOrg, November 28, 2006 --- http://physorg.com/news83960481.html
 

One-off treatment to stop back pain -- Using patients' own stem cells
A University of Manchester researcher has developed a treatment for lower back pain using the patient’s own stem cells, which could replace the use of strong painkillers or surgery that can cause debilitation, neither of which addresses the underlying cause.Dr Stephen Richardson, of the University’s Division of Regenerative Medicine in the School of Medicine (FMHS), has developed the treatment; and in collaboration with German biotechnology company Arthrokinetics and internationally-renowned spinal surgeons Spinal Foundation are hoping to enter pre-clinical trials next year. It is expected to rapidly yield a marketable product which will revolutionise treatment of long-term low back pain.
"One-off treatment to stop back pain -- Using patients' own stem cells," PhysOrg, November 30, 2006 --- http://physorg.com/news84113927.html

Consumers Not Warned of Mercury in Fish
Not a single West Virginia grocery store is warning consumers of the possible dangers of mercury in fish, an environmental group says, even though the state and federal governments have been issuing advisories to anglers for at least two years. Oceana, a Washington, D.C.-based activist group, issued a report this week that concludes fewer than 20 percent of the nation's grocery stores are posting in-store warnings about mercury. West Virginia is one of four states with zero in-store warnings, the report says. The others are Mississippi, Alabama and North Dakota.
"Consumers Not Warned of Mercury in Fish," PhysOrg, November 23, 2006 --- http://physorg.com/news83476474.html

When it comes to child porn, it pays to have friends in high places

"Court shocker: 10 months for kiddie porn producer:  Democrat activist faced 81 years in jail on charges involving kids as young as 6," WorldNetDaily, November 25, 2006 --- http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=53070 

Authorities say Andrew Douglas Reed, 53, who reported for an abbreviated jail term just a few weeks ago, had pleaded guilty to a page-long list of counts of 2nd-degree sexual exploitation of a minor.

Court records in the Asheville, N.C., case said he admitted that he would "record, develop and duplicate material containing a visual representation of a minor engaging in sexual activity." That activity is defined by state law as including masturbation, intercourse and "touching – in apparent sexual stimulation or sexual abuse – of the genitals, pubic area or buttocks."

However, instead of the 967 months in jail – nearly 81 years – for which he was liable, Judge Robert Lewis, another Democrat, gave him, in a plea bargain with the office of District Attorney Ron Moore, who was elected as a Democrat, a 10-12 month sentence.

 

Continued in article

November 21, 2006 message from Naomi Ragen [nragen@netvision.net.il]

If you want to cheer yourself up in a profound way, go to the following website: http://www.arabsforisrael.com/

This is not a hoax, but an actual website, filled with many letters from Arabs and Muslims who reject anti-Semitism and who truly love Israel. It is such an amazing thing to read these letters. For the first time in a long time I realized that real peace could be possible if only our enemy were not brainwashed with lies and causeless hatred, had an elementary education, and had ever met real Jews/Israelis.

Below, a remarkable letter posted on the website.

Naomi

On Freedom

It is important to emphasize that economic arrangements play a dual role in the promotion of a free society. On the one hand, "freedom" in economic arrangements itself a component of freedom broadly understood, so "economic freedom" is an end in itself to a believer in freedom.

In the second place, economic freedom is also an indispensable means toward the achievement of political freedom. . . .

A citizen of the United States who under the laws of various states is not free to follow the occupation of his own choosing, unless he can get a license for it, is likewise being deprived of an essential part of his freedom. So economic freedom, in and of itself, is an extremely important part of total freedom.

The reason it is important to emphasize this point is because intellectuals in particular have a strong bias against regarding this aspect of freedom as important. They tend to express contempt for what they regard as material aspects of life and to regard their own pursuit of allegedly higher values as on a different plane of significance and as deserving special attention. But for the ordinary citizen of the country, for the great masses of the people, the direct importance of economic freedom is in many cases of at least comparable importance to the indirect importance of economic freedom as a means of political freedom.

Viewed as a means to the end of political freedom, economic arrangements are essential because of the effect which they have on the concentration of power. A major thesis of the new liberal is that the kind of economic organization that provides economic freedom directly, namely, organization of economic activities through a largely free market and private enterprises, in short, through competitive capitalism, is also a necessary though not a sufficient condition for political freedom.

The central reason why this is true is because such a form of economic organization separates economic power from political power and in this way enables the one to be an offset to the other. I cannot think of a single example at any time or any place where there was a large measure of political freedom without there also being something comparable to a private enterprise market form of economic organization for the bulk of economic activity.

--from "Capitalism and Freedom: Why and How the Two Ideas Are Mutually Dependent," May 17, 1961

 

 

On the Free Market

What most people really object to when they object to a free market is that it is so hard for them to shape it to their own will. The market gives people what the people want instead of what other people think they ought to want. At the bottom of many criticisms of the market economy is really lack of belief in freedom itself.

The essence of political freedom is the absence of coercion of one man by his fellow men. The fundamental danger to political freedom is the concentration of power. The existence of a large measure of power in the hands of a relatively few individuals enables them to use it to coerce their fellow men. Preservation of freedom requires either the elimination of power where that is possible, or its dispersal where it cannot be eliminated.

It essentially requires a system of checks and balances, like that explicitly incorporated in our Constitution. . . .

The person who buys bread doesn't know whether the wheat from which it was made was grown by a pleader of the Fifth Amendment or a McCarthyite, by person whose skin is black or whose skin is white. The market is an impersonal mechanism that separates economic activities of individual from their personal characteristics. It enables people to cooperate in the economic realm regardless of any differences of opinion or views or attitudes they may have in other areas.

--from "The New Liberal's Creed: Individual Freedom, Preserving Dissent Are Ultimate Goals," May 18, 1961

 

 

On Free Trade

What we ought to do is practice what we preach. We have been going around preaching the virtues of free enterprise, of free competition in a free market. What have we been doing? We've been practicing the opposite, not only through our foreign aid program, but also at home. We tell other countries, use the market: we tell our farmers, look to Washington. We tell other countries, don't try to be self-sustained; try to develop valuable industries that can compete on the international market, and then what do we do? We impose import quotas on oil, we impose tariffs on goods that come in, we dump agricultural products abroad, and impose quota on their import at home. The rest of the world listens to what we say and they think, "now there is a fine bunch of hypocrites," and they are right.

--from "An Alternative to Aid: An Economist Urges U.S. to Free Trade, End Grants of Money," April 30, 1962

 

 

On Inflation

If the Fed does not explain to the public the nature of our problem and the costs involved in ending inflation, if it does not take the lead in imposing the temporarily unpopular measure required, who will?

--From "Why Curbing Inflation Is the Fed's Job, March 6, 1974

 

 

On Taxes

To summarize, deficits are bad--but not because they necessarily raise interest rates. They are bad because they encourage political irresponsibility. They enable our representatives in Washington to buy votes at our expense without having to vote explicitly for taxes to finance the largesse. The result is a bigger government and a poorer nation. That is why I favor a constitutional amendment requiring Congress to balance the budget and limit taxation.

--from "The Taxes Called Deficits," April 24, 1984

 

 

On the Economy

The Wall Street Journal has been a firm and dedicated supporter of free markets at home and free trade abroad. It has repeatedly stressed its view that the invisible hand of Adam Smith is a far more effective and equitable means of organizing economic activity than the visible hand of government. Yet when it comes to foreign economic policy, a recent editorial, "Beyond Venice" (June 8), relies upon a wholly different and thoroughly incompatible set of ideas.

According to that editorial, "The economic summits of leading free-market nations are a sound recognition that the world economy defies sovereign borders, and can be run only through international cooperation."

Would the Journal describe the American economy as being "run," whether through international cooperation or by the powers that be in Washington or through cooperation among the individual states? Or would it rather, in accordance with its general philosophy, describe it as a system that is coordinated by the voluntary activities of millions of individuals, a system that runs but is not run?

--from "Please Reread Your Adam Smith," June 24, 1987

 

 

On Social Security

I have long been a critic of Social Security, basically because I believe that it is not the business of government to tell people what fraction of their incomes they should devote to providing for their own or someone else's old age. On a more pragmatic level, Social Security is another example of the generalization that government programs typically have effects that are the opposite of those intended by their well-meaning sponsors (what Rep. Richard Armey calls the "invisible foot of government").

The well-meaning sponsors intended Social Security to ensure a minimum income to the poor in their old age. It has largely done that, but at the cost of what they would have regarded as a perverse redistribution of income from the young to the old, from black to white, from the relatively poor to the relatively well-to-do.

From its inception, Social Security has been an unholy combination of two items: a flat-rate tax on earnings up to a maximum with no exemption and a benefit program that awards subsidies that have essentially no relation to need but are based on such criteria as marital status, longevity and recent earnings. As I wrote many years ago, "hardly anyone approves of either part separately. Yet the two combined have become a sacred cow. What a triumph of imaginative packaging and Madison Avenue advertising!"

--from "Social Security: The General And the Personal," March 15, 1988

 

 

On the Future

Let us put aside the scarecrows of the twin deficits and face up to the real problems that threaten U.S. growth and prosperity: excessive and wasteful government spending and taxing, including in particular the real time bomb in Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid programs; concealed taxes in the form of mandated expenditures on private business; excessive and misguided regulation of individuals as well as businesses; the changes in tort legislation that are discouraging innovation; and not least, the recent increase in protectionism and the threat of a further major increase. We should and can do something about these problems, not allow ourselves to be diverted by politically convenient scarecrows.

--from "Why the Twin Deficits are a Blessing," Dec. 14, 1988

 

 

On Health Care Prices

Toward the end of World War II, I served as an instructor in a quality-control course for Navy procurement officers. It was held in Hershey, Pa. As I recall, we stayed at the Hershey Hotel, on the corner of Cocoa Avenue and Chocolate Boulevard, across the street from the Hershey Junior College, where the actual instruction took place, a block or so from the Hershey Department Store, and so on. You get the idea. The stench--or perfume--of paternalism was heavy in the air.

Early in the century such company towns, most far less benevolently paternalistic than Hershey, were common. Workers who were employed at mines or factories located far from large cities, in towns that typically had only a single major employer, were often required, or induced, to live in company housing and buy their food and other supplies at company stores. In effect, they were paid in kind rather than in cash--the so-called truck system. . . .

The company town has been revived in one major area: medical care. It is taken for granted that workers should receive their pay partly in kind, in the form of medical care provided by the employer. How come? Why single out medical care? Surely food is no less essential to life than medical care. Why is it not at least as logical for workers to be required to buy their food at the company store as to be required to buy their medical care at the company store?

--from "Pricing Health Care: The Folly of Buying Health Care at the Company Store," Feb. 13, 1993

 

 

On Jobs

Proposed economic policies tend to be judged in terms of jobs "created." That is the wrong criterion. The economic problem is not creating jobs. That is easy: Hire people at minimum wages (or lower) to dig holes and fill them. True, raising taxes to finance that project would destroy jobs, but the jobs destroyed would be high-wage jobs, the jobs created low-wage jobs, so for each job destroyed more than one job would be created--a net gain of jobs.

The real problem is to establish an economic environment in which there is a demand for workers at wages that those workers not only regard as satisfactory, but are qualified to earn: Better qualified workers and better wages--not simply more jobs--is the real problem.

--from "Better Workers, Better Wages: The Real Issue," June 1, 1993

 

 

On the Federal Reserve

My favorite "moderate" proposal for the Fed (my "extreme" proposal is to abolish it) is that (1) at the beginning of each quarter, have it estimate how much it will have to add net to its holdings during that quarter to achieve its target monetary growth; (2) divide that number by 12; and (3) announce that every Monday morning at 11 a.m. it will buy that amount of securities from the lowest bidder, and then close up shop until the next Monday, except for replacing maturing securities.

What harm would that do? It would mean day-to-day and week-to-week fluctuation in the federal-funds rate. However, the sophisticated financial markets have surely demonstrated their capacity to handle wide daily fluctuations in all kinds of securities prices. Dealing with the fluctuations in the federal-funds rate would be child's play.

--from "End the Fed's Fine-Tuning," Sept. 15, 1993

 

 

On the Flat Tax

The only way we are ever likely to get it is if there is a drive for a constitutional convention to repeal the 16th Amendment (which gives Congress the power to tax income) and replace it with one mandating a flat-rate tax.

However, I regret that that is not an immediate prospect.

--from "Why a Flat Tax Is Not Politically Feasible," March 30, 1995

 

 

On Government Spending

The typical rhetoric, Republican as well as Democratic, about the current battle to balance the budget is that cutting government spending imposes short-term pain more than compensated by long-term gain. That is utter nonsense. Cutting government spending and government intrusion in the economy will almost surely involve immediate gain for the many, short-term pain for the few, and long-term gain for all.

--from "Budget Cutting: A Lot of Gain, Little Pain," June 15, 1995

 

 

On Hong Kong

By some accident of officialdom, the colonial office assigned John Cowperthwaite, a Scotsman and a disciple of Adam Smith, to serve as financial secretary of Hong Kong. Cowperthwaite's free market policies are widely credited with producing the subsequent economic miracle that led to a phenomenal rise in the average level of living despite a nearly 10-fold rise in population.

It is hard to conceive of a more severe test of free market policies. Hong Kong is an island devoid of any significant natural resources other than a great harbor. When the Communists took over China, refugees came streaming over the borders with only the possessions they could carry. They and their successors produced a rapid rise in population. Hong Kong received negligible if any foreign aid to assist the assimilation of the refugees.

Under these adverse circumstances, the salvation of Hong Kong has been its complete free trade and free market policy. No tariffs on imports, no subsidies or other privileges to exports. (The only restrictions are those that Hong Kong has been forced to impose by pressure from other countries, including the U.S., as under the multifiber agreement.) There is no fixing of prices or wages; few if any restrictions on entry into business or trade; and government spending and taxes have been kept low. The top tax rate on personal income is 25%, with a maximum average rate of 15%. . . .

What a contrast to the experience of most of the colonies to which Britain gave their freedom after the war. And what a striking demonstration of how much better free trade and free markets are for the ordinary citizen than the protectionism of Mr. Buchanan and the "fair trade" of President Clinton. "Fair" is in the eye of the beholder; free is the verdict of the market. (The word "free" is used three times in the Declaration of Independence and once in the First Amendment to the Constitution, along with "freedom." The word "fair" is not used in either of our founding documents.)

--From "Hong Kong vs. Buchanan," March 7, 1996

 

 

On Health Care

The best way to restore freedom of choice to both patient and physician and to control costs would be to eliminate the tax exemption of employer-provided medical care. However, that is clearly not feasible politically. The best alternative available is to extend the tax exemption to all expenditures on medical care, whether made by the patient directly or by employers, to establish a level playing field, in terms of the currently popular cliche.

Many individuals would then find it attractive to negotiate with their employer for a higher cash wage in place of employer-financed medical care. With part or all of the higher cash wage, they could purchase an insurance policy with a very high deductible, i.e., a policy for medical catastrophes, which would be decidedly cheaper than the low-deductible policy their employer had been providing to them, and deposit all or part of the difference in a special "medical savings account" that could be drawn on only for medical purposes. Any amounts unused in a particular year could be allowed to accumulate without being subject to tax, or could be withdrawn with a tax penalty or for special purposes, as with current Individual Retirement Accounts--in effect, a medical IRA. Many employers would find it attractive to offer such an arrangement to their employees as an option.

--from "A Way Out of Soviet-Style Health Care," April 17, 1996

 

 

On 'Reform'

The present crisis is not the result of market failure. Rather, it is the result of governments intervening in or seeking to supersede the market, both internally via loans, subsidies, or taxes and other handicaps, and externally via the IMF, the World Bank and other international agencies. We do not need more powerful government agencies spending still more of the taxpayers' money, with limited or nonexistent accountability. That would simply be throwing good money after bad. We need government, both within the nations and internationally, to get out of the way and let the market work. The more that people spend or lend their own money, and the less they spend or lend taxpayer money, the better.

--from "Markets to the Rescue," Oct. 13, 1998

 

 

On Ronald Reagan

To Mr. Reagan, of course, holding down government spending was a means to an end, not an end in itself. That end was freedom, human freedom, the right of every individual to pursue his own objectives and values so long as he does not interfere with the corresponding right of others. That was his end in every phase of his remarkable career.

We still have a long way to go to achieve the optimum degree of freedom. But few people in human history have contributed more to the achievement of human freedom than Ronald Wilson Reagan.

--from "Freedom's Friend," June 11, 2004

 

 

On Communism

In the almost six decades since the end of World War II, intellectual opinion in the United States about the desirable role of government has undergone a major shift. At the end of the war, opinion was predominantly collectivist. Socialism--defined as government ownership and operation of the means of production--was seen as both feasible and desirable. Those few of us who favored free markets and limited government were a beleaguered minority.

In subsequent decades opinion moved away from collectivism and toward a belief in free markets and limited government. By 1980 opinion had moved enough to enable Ronald Reagan to win the presidency on a quasi-libertarian agenda.

The collapse of the Soviet Union in 1989 delivered the final blow to the belief in socialism. Hardly anyone today, from the far left to the far right, regards socialism in the traditional sense of government ownership and operation of the means of production as either feasible or desirable. Those who profess socialism today mean by it a welfare state.

--from "The Battle's Half Won," Dec. 9, 2004

 

 

On School Choice

One result has been experimentation with such alternatives as vouchers, tax credits, and charter schools. Government voucher programs are in effect in a few places (Wisconsin, Ohio, Florida, the District of Columbia); private voucher programs are widespread; tax credits for educational expenses have been adopted in at least three states and tax credit vouchers (tax credits for gifts to scholarship-granting organizations) in three states. In addition, a major legal obstacle to the adoption of vouchers was removed when the Supreme Court affirmed the legality of the Cleveland voucher in 2002. However, all of these programs are limited; taken together they cover only a small fraction of all children in the country.

Throughout this long period, we have been repeatedly frustrated by the gulf between the clear and present need, the burning desire of parents to have more control over the schooling of their children, on the one hand, and the adamant and effective opposition of trade union leaders and educational administrators to any change that would in any way reduce their control of the educational system.

--from "Free to Choose," June 9, 2005

Forwarded by Erika's sister Nancy

The embers glowed softly, and in their dim light,
I gazed round the room and I cherished the sight.
My wife was asleep, her head on my chest,
My daughter beside me, angelic in rest.

Outside the snow fell, a blanket of white,
Transforming the yard to a winter delight.
The sparkling lights in the tree I believe,
Completed the magic that was Christmas Eve.

My eyelids were heavy, my breathing was deep,
Secure and surrounded by love I would sleep.
In perfect contentment, or so it would seem,
So I slumbered, perhaps I started to dream.

The sound wasn't loud, and it wasn't too near,
But I opened my eyes when it tickled my ear.
Perhaps just a cough, I didn't quite know,
Then the sure sound of footsteps outside in the snow.

My soul gave a tremble, I struggled to hear,
And I crept to the door just to see who was near.
Standing out in the cold and the dark of the night,
A lone figure stood, his face weary and tight.

A soldier, I puzzled, some twenty years old,
Perhaps a Marine, huddled here in the cold.
Alone in the dark, he looked up and smiled,
Standing watch over me, and my wife and my child.

"What are you doing? " I asked without fear,
"Come in this moment, it's freezing out here!
Put down your pack, brush the snow from your sleeve,
You should be at home on a cold Christmas Eve!"

 For barely a moment I saw his eyes shift,
Away from the cold and the snow blown drift.
Then he sighed and he said "Its really all right,
I'm out here by choice. I'm here every night."

"It's my duty to stand at the front of the line,
That separates you from the darkest of time.
No one had to ask or beg or implore me,
I'm proud to stand here like my fathers before me.

My Gramps died at 'Pearl on a day in December,"
Then he sighed, "That's a Christmas 'Gram will always remember."
My dad stood his watch in the jungles of 'Nam',
And now it is my turn and so, here I am.

I've not seen my own son in more than a while,
But my wife sends me pictures, he's sure got her smile.
Then he bent and he carefully pulled from his bag,
The red, white, and blue... an American flag.

I can live through the cold and the being alone,
Away from my family, my house and my home.
I can stand at my post through the rain and the sleet,
I can sleep in a foxhole with little to eat.

I can carry the weight of killing another,
Or lay down my life with my sister and brother..
Who stand at the front against any and all,
To ensure for all time that this flag will not fall."

"So go back inside," he said, "harbor no fright,
Your family is waiting and I'll be all right."
"But isn't there something I can do, at the least,
"Give you money," I asked, "or prepare you a feast?

 It seems all too little for all that you've done,
For being away from your wife and your son."
Then his eye welled a tear that held no regret,
"Just tell us you love us, and never forget.

To fight for our rights back at home while we're gone,
To stand your own watch, no matter how long.
For when we come home, either standing or dead,
To know you remember we fought and we bled.

Is payment enough, and with that we will trust,
That we mattered to you as you mattered to us."

Forwarded by Michael Moore

Cut and Run, the Only Brave Thing to Do --- http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/message/index.php?id=202 

Jensen Comment
We have to be very brave to retreat from the Middle East. Chances for nuclear winter become very high indeed as nations going nuclear surround Israel with full intentions to wipe Israel off the map. It takes a great deal of courage to encourage our enemies to obtain more and more WMDs and wait at home with our heads in the sand while Israel stands alone on the front lines. Michel Moore is good for one liners but he never addresses serious policy issues like how to end terrorist attacks in Israel or whether Iran should have its fair share WMDs.

Most chilling of all, could the festering differences precipitate a military confrontation involving the use of nuclear weapons? It is known that Israel has a major nuclear arsenal and the capability to launch weapons quickly, and some neighboring states are believed to be attempting to acquire their own atomic bombs. Without progress toward peace, desperation or adventurism on either side could precipitate such a confrontation.
Jimmy Carter, Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid

There is no terrorist threat in this country. This is a lie. This is the biggest lie we've been told.
Michael Moore

If someone did 9/11 to get back at Bush, then they did so by killing thousands of people who DID NOT VOTE for him! Boston, New York, DC, and the planes' destination of California - these were places that voted AGAINST Bush!
Michael Moore

I'm a millionaire, I'm a multi-millionaire. I'm filthy rich. You know why I'm a multi-millionaire? 'Cause multi-millions like what I do.
Michael Moore

The Iraqis who have risen up against the occupation are not 'insurgents' or 'terrorists' or 'The Enemy.' They are the revolution, the Minutemen, and their numbers will grow - and they will win.
Michael Moore
Jensen Comment
As far as I know British soldiers were not standing between warring "tribes" of Minutemen killing and torturing each other in unimaginable horror. Once again Michael proves he's never read a history book --- he probably does not have the time because he's too busy adding more millions to his millions.
 

Forwarded by Aaron Konstam

WHY ARE WE BADLY PAID... MATHEMATICALLY PROVEN.

Here is a simple explanation that is also mathematical proof:

Knowledge is Power.

Time is Money.

And, as every engineer knows:

Power = Work / Time

If Knowledge = Power, and Time = Money, then

Knowledge = Work / Money

Solving for Money, we get:

Money = Work / Knowledge

Thus, Money approaches infinity as Knowledge approaches zero, regardless of the Work done. What this means is:

The Less you Know, the More you Make --- QED

From the Readers Digest, December 2006, Page 153

Flying to Toronto at Crhistmastime, I arrived at the airport check-in. As the security guard cleared my bags, I noticed a sprig of mistletoe dangling from him.

"What's the mistletoe for?" I asked.

"That?" He smiled. "That's so you can kiss your luggage goodbye."