It snowed about a foot on December 30. I can see a few skiers on Cannon Mountain, although this has not yet been a good snow year for the East coast. The West stole nearly all our fun thus far into the winter. Above is a late autumn (October) photo of Erika cleaning out one of her three flower gardens and not wanting her picture taken. The pond was dominated by a loud bull frog named Jeremiah 2006.  I think he's all croaked out and now packed in solid ice somewhere in our shallow pond. But he left us with a tadpole named Jeremiah 2007 who'll break out in night songs to woo his young ladies next summer.

Erika and I will be out of town in Boston January 9-25 (give or take). I'm hoping for email lite this month! Please help me with the "lite" part.

I delayed sending out a holiday letter this year until after Erika has her heavy-duty spinal surgery on January 10 (which might be delayed if she can't shake her current head cold). Afterwards I will have more important news to put into the letter. We had to search around the nation to find a surgeon that would do this reconstructive operation. Erika even went to Milwaukee to see a specialist (her first back injury happened over 30 years ago while helping him perform a spine surgery).  Following a variety of therapies she had eight previous surgeries on her back in Texas and New Hampshire. Sometimes surgeons put metal in and sometimes they took it back out. Life would be simpler if they just used Velcro instead of sutures.

There are very few surgeons who will do the spine reconstruction that is now planned. The technical name of the operation is Pedicle Subtraction Osteotomity for Fixed Sagittal Imbalance ---
http://cat.inist.fr/?aModele=afficheN&cpsidt=15161046

A lot of searching led us finally to Dr. Stephen Parazin in Boston. He operates out of New England Baptist Hospital and does about ten of these complicated surgeries each year. The surgery will last about 10-14 hours after which she will be on a ventilator for about two days in intensive care. Then it will be a couple more weeks in the hospital. A decision is then made by her doctors about a rehab hospital.

Surgeons will realign most of her spine by breaking vertebrae, installing space-age metal, and fusing bone. Afterwards she will stand perfectly upright. However, nobody knows how much her pain will be relieved. She's so looking forward to having a normal life and being able to tend her gardens next spring.

Erika knows the spectrums of good times/hard times, courage/fear, hope/pain, and faith/love. Please keep her in your prayers! You can read her Year 2000 story (with pictures) at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/erika/xmas00.htm

Bob Jensen

Tidbits on January 3, 2007
Bob Jensen

For earlier editions of Tidbits go to http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/TidbitsDirectory.htm
For earlier editions of New Bookmarks go to http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/bookurl.htm 

The new December 31 edition of New Bookmarks is linked at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/bookurl.htm 

The new December 31 edition of Fraud Updates is linked at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/FraudUpdates.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 past presentations and lectures --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/resume.htm#Presentations   


Bob Jensen's Threads --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/threads.htm

Bob Jensen's Home Page is at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/


Bob Jensen's blogs and various threads on many topics --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/threads.htm
       (Also scroll down to the table at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/ )




Online Video, Slide Shows, and Audio
In the past I've provided links to various types of music and video available free on the Web. 
I created a page that summarizes those various links --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/music.htm

A great helper site for HDTV shoppers --- http://www.cnet.com/4520-7874_1-5102926-1.html

Accountant Holiday Party --- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gaEudWDMpvU

Science from the Poles (science) --- http://www.exploratorium.edu/poles/index.html

Spin Around the North Pole (humor) --- http://home.att.net/%7Ehideaway_today/t041/xmas_santa.swf

From Walter S. Mossberg of The Wall Street Journal --- Video: Walt reviews wireless earphones

International Spy Museum --- http://www.spymuseum.org/
Also see "A prowl through the Spy Museum, by George Melloan, The Wall Street Journal, December 12, 2006 --- Click Here

Education Secretary Margaret M. Spellings is among the stars of a White House video to celebrate Christmas --- http://www.whitehouse.gov/holiday/2006/barneycam.html

Ashland University holiday greetings --- http://ecard.ashland.edu/2004admission/index.html

Street Accountants --- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TXSq_xo9z7Y

Drawing a Woman from Scratch (with a whole lot of erasing) --- http://fcmx.net/vec/get.swf?i=003702

How do I buy online movies and what can I do with them? ---
http://www.technologyreview.com/read_article.aspx?id=17890&ch=infotech

Auto and Truck Repair and Advice --- http://www.econofix.com/
(includes a module on how to listen for problems)

2006 Memorable Moments on NPR (audio) --- http://www.npr.org/programs/specials/moments_2006/index.html

Happy New Year (forwarded by Paula) --- http://llerrah.com/newyearwishes.htm


Free music downloads --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/music.htm

Happy New Year from PricewaterhouseCoopers --- http://www.pwc.com/seasonsgreetings/

Holiday Songs You Love... and Loathe --- http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6668863

December 22, 2006 message from Cindy Peck [cjpeck@ANDERSON.EDU]

Thanks for sharing the White Christmas with the cute animation. The website was gone when I tried to show it to my husband last night, but I found the Drifters song on www.singers.com under doo wop. Lots of cool stuff on this site if you like a capella music. (Try Go Fish's version of Silent Night.)

Merry Christmas,

Cindy Peck
Falls School of Business
Anderson University

Matisyahu Enlightens Fans with Reggae Hanukkah --- http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6643335

Best CDs of 2006 --- http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6579480

NPR Online Concerts --- http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5194329

Best Classical CDs of 2006, from WGBH --- http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6695447

2006's Top 10 Classical-Music Discoveries, from WGUC --- http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6617067

Arkansas Traveler: 'Little House' Music and Tales (One Hour Concert for Children) --- http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6518738

A Soul-Singing Legend, Reborn in 'Nashville' (Country Music) --- http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6598905

A Lone Voice, Emulating a Gentle Wind (Isobel Campbell) ---  http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6615028

Sonic Youth's B-Sides Are Worthwhile and Strong (Hard Rock) ---
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6609925

Musicovery --- http://musicovery.com/index.php?ct=us

Video: Nuckin Futs 2006 Year in Review Children's Musical --- http://www.jibjab.com/nuckin_futs
This video follows a video commercial.


Photographs and Art

2006 in Photos: From The Wall Street Journal --- http://online.wsj.com/article/SB116673718843257093.html

Americans in Paris, 1860-1900 --- http://www.metmuseum.org/special/Americans_in_Paris/index.asp

Thomas Eakins' "The Gross Clinic" (1875) is considered an American masterpiece --- http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6622315

Selections of Arabic, Persian, and Ottoman Calligraphy --- http://international.loc.gov/intldl/apochtml/apochome.html

You are a Miracle (slide show) --- http://members.shaw.ca/va7ana/uramiracle.htm

International Council of African Museums --- http://www.africom.museum/ --- http://www.africom.museum/

Fantasy Love Hotels in Japan --- http://blog.wired.com/wiredphotos9/

Digital Photography Tutorials --- http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials.htm

CN Tower by Day and by Night --- http://wvs.topleftpixel.com/flash/cntower_timelapse.swf
 


Online Books, Poems, References, and Other Literature
In the past I've provided links to various types electronic literature available free on the Web. 
I created a page that summarizes those various links --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/ElectronicLiterature.htm

How many millions of free books were downloaded from the Project Gutenberg online library in the past 30 days?
Answer:  http://www.gutenberg.org/browse/scores/top
What were the Top 100 downloads in the past 30 days?

Free Classics (audio books) --- http://www.freeclassicaudiobooks.com/
Bob Jensen's links to free audio books --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/ElectronicLiterature.htm#Audio

NPR's 2006 Memorable Moments --- http://www.npr.org/programs/specials/moments_2006/
NPE'a End-of-Year Book Selections (not free online) --- http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6616886

A Collection of the World's Fairy Tales --- http://www.fairytalescollection.com/

The Diaries of John Quincy Adams --- http://www.masshist.org/jqadiaries/

Graphic Poetry --- http://www.graphicpoetry.net/

Stephen Crane. From An English Standpoint by Herbert G. Wells (1866-1946) --- Click Here

I And My Chimney by Herman Melville (1819-1891) --- Click Here 

Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens by James Matthew Barrie (1860-1937) --- Click Here

The History of the Supreme Court --- http://www.historyofsupremecourt.org/

The Best Science Fictions --- http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/14.12/start.html?pg=15

Novel Ideas aids for writers (with audio) --- http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6484932

Writers Resource Center --- http://www.poewar.com/articles/
Also see http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Bookbob3.htm#Dictionaries

Writerisms and other Sins: A Writer's Shortcut to Stronger Writing --- http://www.sfwa.org/writing/chadvce.htm
Also see http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Bookbob3.htm#Dictionaries 

Free Merriam Webster Online Dictionary/Thesaurus --- http://www.m-w.com/ 




  • The medical term for a hangover is veisalgia. It means, roughly, "the pain that follows debauchery." A look at why hangovers happen and what the best bets are to achieve a cheery and pain-free morning-after.
    NPR, December 28, 2006 --- http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6687092

    Hard-working coworkers make us work harder. (than do goldbricks)
    Tim Harford, "Undercover Economist: Check this out," FT.com December 15, 2006 --- Click Here

    When you play, play hard; when you work, don't play at all.
    Theodore Roosevelt --- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theodore_Roosevelt
    As quoted by Mark Shapiro at http://irascibleprofessor.com/comments-12-21-06.htm

    The oldest, shortest words - 'yes' and 'no' - are those which require the most thought.
    Pythagoras (circa 582 BC circa 507 BC) --- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pythagoras

    He said (Iran's) oil production is declining and both gas and oil are being sold domestically at highly subsidized rates. At the same time, Iran is neglecting to reinvest in its oil production. "With an explosive demand at home and poor management, the appeal of nuclear power, financed by Russia, could fill a real need for production of more electricity." Iran produces about 3.7 million barrels a day, about 300,000 barrels below the quota set for Iran by the oil cartel, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. The shortfall represents a loss of about $5.5 billion a year, Stern said. In 2004, Iran's oil profits were 65 percent of the government's revenues. "If we look at that shortfall, and failure to rectify leaks in their refineries, that adds up to a loss of about $10 billion to $11 billion a year," he said. "That is a picture of an industry in collapse." If the United States can "hold its breath" for a few years it may find Iran a much more conciliatory country, he said. And that, Stern said, is good reason to belay any instinct to take on Iran militarily. "What they are doing to themselves is much worse than anything we could do," he said. "The one thing that would unite the country right now is to bomb them," Stern said. "Here is one problem that might solve itself."
    Barry Schweid, "Report: Iran's Oil Exports May Disappear," Houston Chronicle, December 25, 2006 ---
    http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/fn/4425789.html

    My suggestion for 2006 newsmaker of the year are the Canadians whom we can never thank enough.
    Joe Warmington, Toronto Sun, December 30, 2006 --- http://www.torontosun.com/News/Columnists/Warmington_Joe/2006/12/30/3078557-sun.html

    "We've been here (in a Cedar Rapids, Iowa mosque) for four and now five generations," says Imam Tawil, pointing to a panoramic black-and-white photo of dozens of early settlers; the picture dates to 1936 and shows an imam and priest, both of Middle Eastern descent, proudly shaking hands in the center. "We're as old as the oak trees in Iowa," he continues. "We're part of the fabric of this great state. We're Americans with dreams and aspirations." . . . "Our main goal is to educate the public about Islam," says Imam Tawil. Part of this education process was the founding, in the early 1990s, of the Linn County Inter-Religious Council. "We started the council to promote understanding and respect for all faiths," says Cedric Lofdahl, who retired as the pastor of Holy Redeemer Lutheran Church in 1998. "Taha was very much involved. I'll never forget it. He said, 'It may be too late for our generation but we need to be talking together and understanding each other for the sake of our children.'" That dialogue, says Pastor Lofdahl, helped the residents of Cedar Rapids deal with their grief and better understand the nature of the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. "Because we had spent a lot of time together trying to educate the community regarding various faiths, and because we had become acquainted with people from the mosque, our immediate reaction was concern for those people." Imam Tawil agrees. "Our outreach to the community -- because we shared in the community's happiness and sadness -- these things helped us after Sept. 11."
    Michael Judge, "Mother Mosque," The Wall Street Journal, December 21, 2006; Page A17 --- http://online.wsj.com/article/SB116667097497756422.html?mod=opinion&ojcontent=otep

    Rep.-elect Keith Ellison said Thursday he would tell a Virginia congressman who expressed concern about "many more Muslims" being elected that there is nothing to fear about Muslims. "They are our nurses, doctors, husbands, wives, kids who just want to live and prosper in the American way," Ellison, D-Minn., said on CNN. "And that there's really nothing to fear. And that all of us are steadfastly opposed to the same people he's opposed to, which is terrorists, and so there's nothing for him to be afraid of." Ellison, the first Muslim elected to Congress, was responding to a letter that Rep. Virgil Goode, R-Va., sent this month to hundreds of constituents who had written to him about Ellison's plan to use the Quran at his ceremonial swearing-in. In that letter, Goode wrote that unless immigration is tightened, "many more Muslims" will be elected and follow Ellison's lead.
    Frederick J. Frommer, "Ellison says Muslims pose no threat," Minneapolis-St. Paul Pioneer Press, December 22, 2006 --- http://www.twincities.com/mld/twincities/16294244.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp

    We looked for the hope of the future:  He/She is Us
    But look at 2006 through a different lens and you'll see another story, one that isn't about conflict or great men. It's a story about community and collaboration on a scale never seen before. It's about the cosmic compendium of knowledge Wikipedia and the million-channel people's network YouTube and the online metropolis MySpace. It's about the many wresting power from the few and helping one another for nothing and how that will not only change the world, but also change the way the world changes.

    Lev Grossman, "Person of the Year: You Yes, you. You control the Information Age. Welcome to your world," Time Magazine Cover Story, December 13, 2006 --- Click Here

    Nearly one in four marriages in the Kingdom (Saudi Arabia) ends in divorce, according to a Justice Ministry report published yesterday. For 105,066 marriage contracts registered last year, 24,000 divorce cases were recorded by the ministry, Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper said, quoting the ministry report. The statistics come amid intense debate over the surge in divorce rates in the country.
    Arab News, December 24, 2006 --- Click Here

    The deputy leader of al-Qaida said the United States was negotiating with the wrong people in Iraq, implying in a video broadcast Wednesday on Al-Jazeera that Washington should be talking to his group. "I want to tell the Republicans and the Democrats together ... you are trying to negotiate with some parties to secure your withdrawal, but these parties won't find you an exit (from Iraq) and your attempts will yield nothing but failure," Ayman al-Zawahri said on the video. "It seems that you will go through a painful journey of failed negotiations until you will be forced to return to negotiate with the real powers," he said, without elaborating.
    Maggie Michael, "Al-Qaida hints at power status in Iraq," Yahoo News, December 20, 2006 --- http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061220/ap_on_re_mi_ea/egypt_al_qaida 

    Timeline: Saddam's Violent Road to Execution --- http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4961744

    Only the dead have seen the end of the war.
    Plato --- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plato

    Israeli intelligence sources say Hezbollah is not only funneling Iranian money into Israel, but the group has marketized its terror aid by linking funding to the successful targeting of Qassam rockets from Gaza into Israel, with the payments linked to the number of Israelis killed or wounded.
    "Hezbollah offers pay-per-slay," WorldNetDaily, December 31, 2006 ---
    http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=53573

    One upshot is that futurism itself has no future. Once confined to an elite group, the tools and techniques of prognostication are all widely available. As for pundits: The world used to be full of workaday journalists, with just a thin sprinkling of opinion mongers. Now a TypePad account is a license to deliver nose-to-the-pavement perspective with an attitude. The very word futurism is old-fashioned, way too 1960s. Today's Internet-savvy futurist is more likely to describe himself as a strategy consultant or venture capital researcher. That development doesn't surprise me. Frankly, I saw it coming . . . Everything we do has unpredicted consequences. It's good to keep in mind that some outcomes are just fabulous, dumb luck. So mark my last little act of prediction in this space: I don't have a poll or a single shred of evidence to back it up, but I believe more good things are in store, and some are bound to come from the tangled, ubiquitous, personal, and possibly unpredictable Net.
    Bruce Sterling, "Bruce Sterling's Final Prediction," Wired Magazine, December 2006 --- http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/14.12/posts.html?pg=6

    In a last-minute dirty trick before the election, The New York Times took a story and twisted it in such a way as to damage the Bush Administration." So says FSM Contributing Editor Roger Aronoff, and his astonishing piece demonstrates that "the New York Times has done...damage to U.S. national security by the disclosure of vital, classified, intelligence programs.
    Roger Arnoff, "Dirty Trick from the New York Times," Family Security, December 21, 2006 --- http://www.familysecuritymatters.org/challenges.php?id=523035
    Jensen Comment
    You can find the NYT article itself at
    http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F50917FD3B5B0C708CDDA80994DE404482

    The world is rightly outraged by an Indonesian court's exoneration of Abu Bakar Bashir, who was implicated in the Bali terror attacks. But the biggest victim of this travesty will likely be Indonesia itself. Bashir is a militant Islamofascist cleric who gave Java-based terrorists his blessing to detonate the huge bombs that killed 202 people on Bali in 2002. He also is a master manipulator of Indonesia's court system. Despite his role in the attacks, he got his already pathetic 2 1/2-year prison sentence overturned . . . By freeing this Islamist terrorist, Indonesia's Supreme Court has handed the nation's worst enemy not only a license to preach new terror, but also a weapon to challenge the state's very existence. Either one has explosive potential — the kind that can bring nations down.
    "Travesty Of Justice," Investor's Business Daily, December 22, 2006 --- Click Here

    A U.S. federal judge on Friday ordered the Islamic Republic of Iran to pay $254 million to the family of 17 U.S. servicemen killed in the 1996 bombing of the Khobar Towers residence at a U.S. military base in Saudi Arabia. The default judgment was entered against the Iranian government, its security ministry and the Revolutionary Guards after they failed to respond to the lawsuit, which was initiated more than four years ago. In issuing the $254.4 million judgment in the case, U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth concluded that the Khobar Towers attack was carried out by people recruited by Gen. Ahmed Sharifi of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards.
    "Iran ordered to pay $254 million in Khobar Towers bombing," Reuters, December 22, 2006 --- Click Here 

    The U.S. entertainment industry provides billions of people around the world with their primary impressions of American culture. At the same time, anti-American sentiment is rising. But are those two things linked?
    Jonathan Wellemeyer, "Hollywood and the Spread of Anti-Americanism," NPE, December 20, 2006 --- http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6625002

    The 2006 midterm elections confirmed once again a truism of American politics: American Jews remain overwhelmingly devoted to the Democratic party. According to exit polling, the tilt this year was, if anything, even more pronounced than it has been in the past. Some 88 percent of Jewish votes went to Democratic candidates, while a mere 12 percent went to the GOP. Along with this lopsided outcome, a historical extreme, comes the news that the number of Jewish representatives in Congress has itself reached an all-time high. Although Jews represent a marginal sliver—a mere 2 percent—of the U.S. population, they now hold 13 seats in the U.S. Senate, all but two of them—Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania and Norm Coleman of Minnesota—Democratic. (Bernard Sanders of Vermont, elected as an independent, has pledged to vote with the Democratic caucus.) In the House of Representatives, Jews, all but one of them Democrats, now occupy 30 seats.
    Gabriel Schoenfeld, "Jews, Muslims, and the Democrats," Commentary Magazine, January 2007 --- http://www.commentarymagazine.com/cm/main/viewArticle.aip?id=10810&page=all

    Propaganda is that branch of the art of lying which consists in nearly deceiving your friends without quite deceiving your enemies.
    Frances Cornford (1886-1960) --- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frances_Cornford

    Carter's book has been condemned as "moronic" (Slate), "anti-historical" (The Washington Post), "laughable" (San Francisco Chronicle), and riddled with errors and bias in reviews across the country. Many of the reviews have been written by non-Jewish as well as Jewish critics, and not by "representatives of Jewish organizations" as Carter has claimed. Carter has gone even beyond the errors of his book in interviews, in which he has said that the situation in Israel is worse than the crimes committed in Apartheid South Africa. When asked whether he believed that Israel's "persecution" of Palestinians was "[e]ven worse . . . than a place like Rwanda," Carter answered, "Yes. I think -- yes."
    Alan Dershowitz, "Why won't Carter debate his book?" Boston Globe
    , December 20, 2006 --- http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2006/12/21/why_wont_carter_debate_his_book/?p1=MEWell_Pos1

    Jimmy Carter, by publishing his book Palestine Peace Not Apartheid, walked straight into the buzz saw that is the Israel lobby. Among the vitriolic attacks on the former President was the claim by Abraham Foxman, national director of the Anti-Defamation League, that Carter is "outrageous" and "bigoted" and that his book raises "the old canard and conspiracy theory of Jewish control of the media, Congress, and the U.S. government." Many Democratic Party leaders, anxious to keep the Israel lobby's money and support, have hotfooted it out the door, with incoming House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announcing that Carter "does not speak for the Democratic Party on Israel."
    Chris Hedges, "Get Carter," The Nation, December 20, 2006 --- http://www.thenation.com/doc/20070108/hedges
    Jensen Comment
    Even though there is probably a great deal of truth in Hedges' conclusions, using Carter's book to support these conclusions destroys Hedges' credibility. The problem with Carter's book is that it's so easy to destroy with so little academic effort. And I personally feel that  hostility toward Israel, especially with the publishing of doctored photos of Jewish bombing horrors and unending media reports of Israel's overreactions in Lebanon, are far from consistent with "Jewish control of the media." Instead there is more credibility to the theory that Saudi Arabia is using its vast wealth to tilt the media against Israel and political supporters of Israel like Senator Lieberman who's now being hammered by the anti-Israel media --- http://www.thenation.com/doc/20070108/melber and http://www.thenation.com/doc/20070101/lynfield

    The protests are being portrayed in much of the Western media as a sectarian battle, or a coup attempt--engineered by Hezbollah's two main allies, Syria and Iran--against a US-backed Lebanese government. Those are indeed factors underlying the complex and dangerous political dance happening in Beirut. But the biggest motivator driving many of those camped out in downtown isn't Iran or Syria, or Sunni versus Shiite. It's the economic inequality that has haunted Lebanese Shiites for decades. It's a poor and working-class people's revolt.
    Mohamad Bazzi, "People's Revolt in Lebanon," The Nation, December 20, 2006 --- http://www.thenation.com/doc/20070108/bazzi
    Jensen Comment
    Once Iran has complete military control of the entire populace of Lebanon it will be interesting to see if the poor fare so much better than they did when oil-starved Lebanon was more multicultural, free-speaking, and democratic. Certainly oil-rich Iran has not done much for poverty, free speech, and economic equality in Iran itself. Instead Iran plans to place rocket-charged Lebanon on the front lines of war with either the West or Sunni Islam or both. The mystery to me is the short sightedness of Syria in backing Iran's Hezbollah because of  Bashar Al-Assad's obsession with regaining the Golan Heights. In the short-term process he will have created a long-term monster that threatens the majority of his people and Syria's sovereignty.

    As Speaker-to-be Nancy Pelosi's choice to be the next Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, Texas Democrat Silvestre Reyes will share responsibility for the budgets and oversight of U.S. spy agencies, as well as receive regular briefings on classified intelligence. But it appears he first needs a remedial course on America's terrorist enemies. In an interview with Congressional Quarterly, Mr. Reyes was unable to answer basic questions about the sectarian nature of both al Qaeda and Hezbollah. "Predominantly -- probably Shiite," he responded when asked about the strain of Islam that animates al Qaeda. The truth is that al Qaeda is composed of Sunni extremists who slaughter Iraqi Shiites on a daily basis. And when CQ's reporter turned to Hezbollah, Mr. Reyes said, "Why do you ask me these questions at five o'clock?" Perhaps because he's only had 23 years since the Iranian-backed Shiite terror group blew up the Beirut Marine barracks to figure that one out.
    "Pelosi's Intelligence Man," The Wall Street Journal, December 14, 2006; Page A20 --- Click Here

    Speaker-to-be Nancy Pelosi cited the need to preserve the ''dignity and decorum'' of the House as she rejected a request Friday that C-SPAN operate its own cameras in covering the chamber. The public service network has provided gavel-to-gavel television coverage of House proceedings since 1979. But the House leader has kept control of the cameras, with coverage generally limited to tight shots of the speaker or the podium.
    Drudge Report, December 23, 2006 --- https://www.drudgereport.com/
    Jensen Comment
    Preserving "dignity and decorum." Read that shielding the public from AWOL lawmakers, sleeping lawmakers, and otherwise unattentative lawmakers.

    The United States owes reparations to the people of Iran. How much should be paid for the 1953 coup? How much is a democracy worth? Here's a thought. Suppose the U.S. gave all of its nuclear weapons to Iran. Would that be a win, win, win scenario? The world would be safer because the only nation that had ever used nukes would no longer have any. The people of Iran would be compensated for the 1953 coup. The U.S. taxpayers would be spared a bill for reparations.
    Rosemarie Jackowski (Vermont's Socialist Party USA long-time peace activist), "Reparations for Iran," Selves and Others August 9, 2006 --- http://www.selvesandothers.org/article14965.html
    Jensen Comment
    Last month she was a candidate for Attorney General of Vermont when running as a Liberty Union Party candidate. Her hero is Ward Churchill. She endorses Churchill's support of terrorism (as a last resort) to eliminate the U.S. military and economic power ---
    http://www.selvesandothers.org/article14440.html

    Unlike the Census Bureau, Messrs. Piketty and Saez measure income per tax unit rather than per family or household. They maintain that income per tax unit is 28% smaller than income per household, on average. But because there are many more two-earner couples sharing a joint tax return among high-income households, estimating income per tax return exaggerates inequality per worker.
    Alan Reynolds, "The Top 1% . . . of What?" The Wall Street Journal, December 14, 2006; Page A20 ---
    http://online.wsj.com/article/SB116607104815649971.html?mod=opinion&ojcontent=otep

    What do Senator Kerry and the Iranian President have in common?
    Witnesses say Mr Ahmadinejad also tried to ridicule the (Iranian) students by referring to the university disciplinary code, under which those with three penalty points are suspended from studies. 'He joked that he was going to issue a presidential order for those with three stars to be enlisted as sergeants in the army. That made the students really angry,' said Mr Zamanian."
    Robert Tait, The Guardian, December 18, 2006 ---  http://www.guardian.co.uk/iran/story/0,,1974334,00.html
    Also see "Iran President Facing Revival of Students’ Ire," by Nazilla Fathi, The New York Times, December 21, 2006 ---
    http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/21/world/middleeast/21iran.html

    Today a bipartisan commission of high-profile academic, government, business and labor leaders selected by the National Center on Education and the Economy (NCEE) will release a report that provides a sobering assessment of our nation's education system: Only 18 out of 100 high-school freshmen will graduate on time, enroll directly in college and earn a two-year degree in three years or a four-year degree in six.
    Michael R. Bloomberg, "Flabby, Inefficient, Outdated," The Wall Street Journal, December 14, 2006; Page A20 ---
    http://online.wsj.com/article/SB116607082484649959.html?mod=opinion&ojcontent=otep

    U.S. Representative Tom Tancredo (R-CO) and 11 other Members of Congress today sent a letter to Secretary’s Michael Chertoff (DHS) and Alberto Gonzales (AG) asking the two cabinet members to pressure foreign governments to accept deportable aliens from the United States. “As you know, dozens of nations around the world routinely refuse to accept their own nationals when the attempts to repatriate them to their country of origin,” wrote Tancredo, member of the House International Relations Committee. “As a result, these aliens are free to remain in the .” . . . The letter notes that the People’s Republic of has refused to accept approximately 40,000 of their nationals who are slated for deportation. The letter added that nations in Central Asia, the Caribbean, Africa, the Middle East and Central America also refuse to cooperate with efforts to deport their nationals with excuses ranging from disagreements over asylum policy, to concerns about allowing criminals back into their communities. The outcome of which essentially forces to permit these aliens to remain in the indefinitely.
    December 8, 2006 --- http://www.tancredo.house.gov/press/PRArticle.aspx?NewsID=1246

    He doesn't have an issue, he has a thousand issues, which is the same as having none, in the sense that a speech about everything is a speech about nothing. And on those issues he seems not so much to be guided by philosophy as by impulses, sentiments. From "The Audacity of Hope," his latest book: "[O]ur democracy might work a bit better if we recognized that all of us possess values that are worthy of respect." "I value good manners." When not attempting to elevate the bromidic to the profound, he lapses into the language of political consultants--"our message," "wedge issues," "moral language." Ronald Reagan had "a durable narrative." Parts of the book, the best parts, are warm, anecdotal, human. But much of it pretends to a seriousness that is not borne out. When speaking of the political past he presents false balance and faux fairness. (Reagan, again, despite his "John Wayne, Father Knows Best pose, his policy by anecdote and his gratuitous assaults on the poor" had an "appeal" Sen. Obama "understood." Ronnie would be so pleased.) . . . We'll see what Sen. Obama has, what he is, what he becomes. But right now he seems part of a pattern of lurches and swerves--the man from nowhere, of whom little is known, who will bring us out of the mess. His sudden rise and wild popularity seem more symptom than solution.
    Peggy Noonan, "'The Man From Nowhere':  What does Barack Obama believe in?" The Wall Street Journal, December 15, 2006 --- http://www.opinionjournal.com/columnists/pnoonan/?id=110009388 
    Jensen Comment
    Thus far there have been important commentaries about Senator Obama's white teeth and big ears. He's very sensitive about any mention of his ears and shuns commenting about Congressional earmark frauds. His tactics are diversionary away from such real issues like open borders, immigration amnesty, universal health care coverage, Congressional reforms and earmarks, tariffs to protect workers, taxes, NAFTA, nuclear proliferation, and trade with Asia. It will be interesting to see how long he can sidestep genuine issues that separate voters. He's on record as being against gay marriage, but this is a no-brainer for any serious Presidential candidate. His voting record is somewhat inconsistent. For example, there were two important votes in the Senate with respect to building a wall between the U.S. and Mexico. Obama voted Nae the first time and Yea on the second vote. However, in an effort to appease labor unions many liberals in the Senate voted for building a border fence knowing full well that they will never support the actual funding of the fence. Some of conservatives did the same thing to appease worried voters. Secretly they will never fund a fence that seriously harms businesses that hire illegal aliens and would not work in any case --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/book06q4.htm#fence

    SO WHY not Barack Obama? On his swing through New Hampshire last weekend, Obama drew rapturous crowds. But many pundits continue to assume that he'll be just a flash in the pan, sharing the fate of Howard Dean, the one-time Democratic hottie who flamed out before the campaign season ended. Sure, say his detractors, Obama is a symbol of hope to Americans desperate for politics that transcend barriers of race, class and ethnicity. But charisma isn't everything — it can't make up for lack of experience. Obama has never been "tested." Can he withstand the rigors of the campaign trail? When the ads go negative (start looking now for sly insinuations that a man named Barack Hussein Obama can't be trusted!), will he fall apart? Can he handle the challenges of leading the world's last limping superpower through an era fraught with conflict and danger? . . . In the end, when it comes to the question of his relative inexperience, Obama himself offers the best retort: "Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld have an awful lot of experience." 'Nuff said.
    Rosa Brooks, "Barack's ready," LA Times, December 15, 2006 --- Click Here
    Jensen Comment
    The issue in my mind is that Obama does not say "Nuff" about his understanding of the economics of entitlements as he flirts with national health care --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/entitlements.htm
    But then George W. Bush also did not understand economics of entitlements the budgetary disaster of drug coverage for senior citizens, and that has been a long-term disaster for the U.S. and a great windfall to an old guy like me. Nuff said.

    President Bush's legacy is sure to be defined by his wielding of U.S. military power in Afghanistan and Iraq, but there is another, much softer and less-noticed effort by his administration in foreign affairs: a dramatic increase in U.S. aid to Africa. The president has tripled direct humanitarian and development aid to the world's most impoverished continent since taking office and recently vowed to double that increased amount by 2010 -- to nearly $9 billion. The moves have surprised -- and pleased -- longtime supporters of assistance for Africa, who note that because Bush has received little support from African American voters, he has little obvious political incentive for his interest.
    Michael A. Fletcher, "Bush Has Quietly Tripled Aid to Africa," The Washington Post, December 31, 2006 --- http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/30/AR2006123000941.html

    In effect, the smartest, best-connected money has separated itself from the rest of the stock market, and has gone into the business of trading against that market. It seeks to buy from the stock market cheap, and sell to the stock market dear, and if you need evidence that this is possible you need only look to the returns on private equity, which have been running three times the returns of the public stock market.
    Michael Bloomberg, "Stocks -- Coach Class of Capitalism: Michael Lewis (Update1)," Bloomberg.com, December 11, 2006 --- http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601039&refer=columnist_lewis&sid=aA2teSlZKNRM





    "What Muslim Women Want?" by Geneive Abdo and Dalia Mogahed, The Wall Street Journal, December 13, 2006; Page A18 --- http://online.wsj.com/article/SB116597643672848516.html?mod=opinion&ojcontent=otep

    Shariah literally means "the road to water," and represents the moral compass of a Muslim's personal and public life. Historically, the principles of Shariah could be used to limit the power of the sultan; after all, he would never claim he was above God's law. Therefore, when Muslims call for Shariah and gender equality, both are calls for the rule of law and an end to inequality. In many countries, Muslims are calling for the application of Shariah because even when the constitution states that Shariah is the primary basis of law, in practice, this is not enforced by officially secular governments.

    Among the women surveyed in our poll, Egyptian women are most likely to believe Shariah should be the primary source of legislation: 62% say it should be the only source of law, and 28% say it should be a source, but not the only source. In nearly every country surveyed, aside from officially secular Turkey, a majority of women say Islamic law should either be the primary source of legislation or a source.

    For decades, the role of women in Islamic societies has provided one of the primary battlegrounds in the cultural war between East and West. As a result, Muslim women have been placed in two artificial and mutually exclusive categories: Modern and secular or religious and traditional -- even backward. The assumption is that, although the numbers of women choosing to veil in Egypt and elsewhere are growing, this trend is a result of either ignorance or women surrendering to pressure from their husbands or fathers.

    In contrast to the popular wisdom that women are content even if they believe they are second-class citizens, Gallup's survey found that women in the predominantly Muslim countries surveyed believe they should have equal legal rights as men, from voting rights to employment opportunities and access to the highest posts in government. Some 83% of Iranian women, for example, say women should be able to hold leadership positions in the cabinet and national council. Still, when the same Iranian women were asked the Shariah question, 66% said Islamic law should be a source, and 14% said the sole source, of legislation.

    Majorities of Muslim women also say that religion is an important part of their daily lives. When asked to associate descriptions with the Islamic world, the most often chosen statement among men and women was "attachment to their spiritual and moral values is crucial to progress." When asked an open-ended question about what they admire most about their own societies the most frequent response was "people's attachment to the teachings of Islam."

    These findings muddy the oversimplified debate that posits religion against modernity, and they reflect a trend in Islamic societies that is gaining momentum: While Muslim women favor gender equality, they do not favor wholesale adoption of Western cultural values. Instead, they want to pick and choose which aspects of the West and the East will form the basis of their lives.

    This trend is evident among the rich and famous Egyptian movie stars who have opted for a veiled life off the screen. Egypt's stars are powerful cultural icons, and it was their recent testimonials of embracing Islam and leaving behind their lives in the fast lane that were a factor in Farouk Hosni's remarks. As more and more prominent women in Egypt have announced publicly their desire to wear headscarves, the public debate in the country has become more heated.

    As Muslim women try to reconcile religion with modernity, a few clerics are helping them along the way. Amr Khaled, arguably the most popular television preacher in the Arab world, has become the guardian for Muslim youth and educated women who are embracing Islam. With the business suits (not clerical robes) he wears for sermons and a London address, Amr Khaled has found a third way between secular liberalism and radical Islam. Through his teaching, he has attracted millions of followers much like Enas, a fashion-conscious member of Egypt's affluent class. After listening to Amr Khaled, she was "awakened spiritually" and then began wearing the hijab. "Our image of Islam used to be that it was only for poor people, old fashioned people who wore white galabyias [long traditional tunics] and had scruffy beards, not the chic upper class," says Enas. "By listening to Amr, I realized how much my life was missing without a focus on God."

    The young Egyptian, who has a doctorate in pharmacy, is now pursuing a degree in Shariah studies. "Because our laws are not based on Shariah today, injustice and corruption are rampant. I wanted to study Shariah," she says, "to teach the young people so the next generation would be better than the current one -- so our country would progress."

    Ms. Abdo and Ms. Mogahed are, respectively, senior analyst at, and executive director of, the Center for Muslim Studies at the Gallup Organization.

    Report on the Taliban's War Against Women Released by the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor November 17, 2001 --- http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/6185.htm

    Prior to the rise of the Taliban, women in Afghanistan were protected under law and increasingly afforded rights in Afghan society.  Women received the right to vote in the 1920s; and as early as the 1960s, the Afghan constitution provided for equality for women. There was a mood of tolerance and openness as the country began moving toward democracy. Women were making important contributions to national development. In 1977, women comprised over 15% of Afghanistan's highest legislative body. It is estimated that by the early 1990s, 70% of schoolteachers, 50% of government workers and university students, and 40% of doctors in Kabul were women. Afghan women had been active in humanitarian relief organizations until the Taliban imposed severe restrictions on their ability to work. These professional women provide a pool of talent and expertise that will be needed in the reconstruction of post-Taliban Afghanistan.

    Islam has a tradition of protecting the rights of women and children. In fact, Islam has specific provisions which define the rights of women in areas such as marriage, divorce, and property rights. The Taliban's version of Islam is not supported by the world's Muslims. Although the Taliban claimed that it was acting in the best interests of women, the truth is that the Taliban regime cruelly reduced women and girls to poverty, worsened their health, and deprived them of their right to an education, and many times the right to practice their religion. The Taliban is out of step with the Muslim world and with Islam.

    Afghanistan under the Taliban had one of the worst human rights records in the world. The regime systematically repressed all sectors of the population and denied even the most basic individual rights. Yet the Taliban's war against women was particularly appalling.

    Women are imprisoned in their homes, and are denied access to basic health care and education. Food sent to help starving people is stolen by their leaders. The religious monuments of other faiths are destroyed. Children are forbidden to fly kites, or sing songs... A girl of seven is beaten for wearing white shoes.
    -- President George W. Bush, Remarks to the Warsaw Conference on Combating Terrorism, November 6, 2001

    The Taliban first became prominent in 1994 and took over the Afghan capital, Kabul, in 1996. The takeover followed over 20 years of civil war and political instability. Initially, some hoped that the Taliban would provide stability to the country. However, it soon imposed a strict and oppressive order based on its misinterpretation of Islamic law.

    The assault on the status of women began immediately after the Taliban took power in Kabul. The Taliban closed the women's university and forced nearly all women to quit their jobs, closing down an important source of talent and expertise for the country. It restricted access to medical care for women, brutally enforced a restrictive dress code, and limited the ability of women to move about the city.

    The Taliban perpetrated egregious acts of violence against women, including rape, abduction, and forced marriage. Some families resorted to sending their daughters to Pakistan or Iran to protect them.

    Afghan women living under the Taliban virtually had the world of work closed to them. Forced to quit their jobs as teachers, doctors, nurses, and clerical workers when the Taliban took over, women could work only in very limited circumstances. A tremendous asset was lost to a society that desperately needed trained professionals.

    As many as 50,000 women, who had lost husbands and other male relatives during Afghanistan's long civil war, had no source of income. Many were reduced to selling all of their possessions and begging in the streets, or worse, to feed their families.

    Denied Education and Health Care
    Restricting women's access to work is an attack on women today. Eliminating women's access to education is an assault on women tomorrow.

    The Taliban ended, for all practical purposes, education for girls. Since 1998, girls over the age of eight have been prohibited from attending school. Home schooling, while sometimes tolerated, was more often repressed. Last year, the Taliban jailed and then deported a female foreign aid worker who had promoted home-based work for women and home schools for girls. The Taliban prohibited women from studying at Kabul University.

    "The Taliban has clamped down on knowledge and ignorance is ruling instead."
    -- Sadriqa, a 22-year-old woman in Kabul

    As a result of these measures, the Taliban was ensuring that women would continue to sink deeper into poverty and deprivation, thereby guaranteeing that tomorrow's women would have none of the skills needed to function in a modern society.

    Under Taliban rule, women were given only the most rudimentary access to health care and medical care, thereby endangering the health of women, and in turn, their families. In most hospitals, male physicians could only examine a female patient if she were fully clothed, ruling out the possibility of meaningful diagnosis and treatment.

    These Taliban regulations led to a lack of adequate medical care for women and contributed to increased suffering and higher mortality rates. Afghanistan has the world's second worst rate of maternal death during childbirth. About 16 out of every 100 women die giving birth.

    Inadequate medical care for women also meant poor medical care and a high mortality rate for Afghan children. Afghanistan has one of the world's highest rates of infant and child mortality. According to the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF), 165 of every 1000 babies die before their first birthday.

    Further hampering health, the Taliban destroyed public education posters and other health information. This left many women, in a society already plagued by massive illiteracy, without basic health care information.

    In May 2001, the Taliban raided and temporarily closed a foreign-funded hospital in Kabul because male and female staff allegedly mixed in the dining room and operating wards. It is significant to note that approximately 70% of health services had been provided by international relief organizations -- further highlighting the Taliban's general disregard for the welfare of the Afghan people.

    "The life of Afghan women is so bad.  We are locked at home and cannot see the sun."
    -- Nageeba, a 35-year-old widow in Kabul

    The Taliban also required that windows of houses be painted over to prevent outsiders from possibly seeing women inside homes, further isolating women who once led productive lives and contributing to a rise in mental health problems. Physicians for Human Rights reports high rates of depression and suicide among Afghan women. One European physician reported many cases of burns in the esophagus as the result of women swallowing battery acid or household cleaners--a cheap, if painful, method of suicide.

    Fettered by Restrictions on Movement
    In urban areas, the Taliban brutally enforced a dress code that required women to be covered under a burqa -- a voluminous, tent-like full-body outer garment that covers them from head to toe. One Anglo-Afghan journalist reported that the burqa's veil is so thick that the wearer finds it difficult to breathe; the small mesh panel permitted for seeing allows such limited vision that even crossing the street safely is difficult.

    While the burqa existed prior to the Taliban, its use was not required. As elsewhere in the Muslim world and the United States, women chose to use the burqa as a matter of individual religious or personal preference. In Afghanistan, however, the Taliban enforced the wearing of the burqa with threats, fines, and on-the-spot beatings. Even the accidental showing of the feet or ankles was severely punished. No exceptions were allowed. One woman who became violently carsick was not permitted to take off the garment. When paying for food in the market, a woman's hand could not show when handing over money or receiving the purchase. Even girls as young as eight or nine years old were expected to wear the burqa.

    The fate of women in Afghanistan is infamous and intolerable. The burqa that imprisons them is a cloth prison, but it is above all a moral prison. The torture imposed on little girls who dare to show their ankles or their polished nails is appalling. It is unacceptable and insupportable.
    -- King Mohammed VI of Morocco

    The burqa is not only a physical and psychological burden on some Afghan women, it is a significant economic burden as well. Many women cannot afford the cost of one. In some cases, whole neighborhoods share a single garment, and women must wait days for their turn to go out. For disabled women who need a prosthesis or other aid to walk, the required wearing of the burqa makes them virtually homebound if they cannot get the burqa over the prosthesis or other aid, or use the device effectively when wearing the burqa.

    Restrictions on clothing are matched with other limitations on personal adornment. Makeup and nail polish were prohibited. White socks were also prohibited, as were shoes that make noise as it had been deemed that women should walk silently.

    Even when dressed according to the Taliban rules, women were severely restricted in their movement. Women were permitted to go out only when accompanied by male relatives or risk Taliban beatings. Women could not use public taxis without accompanying male relatives, and taxi drivers risked losing their licenses or beatings if they took unescorted female passengers. Women could only use special buses set aside for their use, and these buses had their windows draped with thick curtains so that no one on the street could see the women passengers.

    One woman who was caught with an unrelated man in the street was publicly flogged with 100 lashes, in a stadium full of people. She was lucky. If she had been married, and found with an unrelated male, the punishment would have been death by stoning. Such is the Taliban's perversion of justice, which also includes swift summary trials, public amputations and executions.

    Violation of Basic Rights
    The Taliban claimed it was trying to ensure a society in which women had a safe and dignified role. But the facts show the opposite. Women were stripped of their dignity under the Taliban. They were made unable to support their families. Girls were deprived of basic health care and of any semblance of schooling. They were even deprived of their childhood under a regime that took away their songs, their dolls, and their stuffed animals -- all banned by the Taliban.

    The Amman Declaration (1996) of the World Health Organization cites strong authority within Islamic law and traditions that support the right to education for both girls and boys as well as the right to earn a living and participate in public life.

    Indeed, the Taliban's discriminatory policies violate many of the basic principles of international human rights law. These rights include the right to freedom of expression, association and assembly, the right to work, the right to education, freedom of movement, and the right to health care. What is more, as Human Rights Watch has noted, �the discrimination [that Afghan women face] is cumulative and so overwhelming that it is literally life threatening for many Afghan women.�  This assault on the role of women has not been dictated by the history and social mores of Afghanistan as the Taliban claim.

    Nor are the Taliban's restrictions on women in line with the reality in other Muslim countries. Women are serving as President of Indonesia and Prime Minister of Bangladesh. There are women government ministers in Arab countries and in other Muslim countries. Women have the right to vote in Muslim countries such as Qatar, Iran, and Bahrain. Throughout the Muslim world, women fill countless positions as doctors, teachers, journalists, judges, business people, diplomats, and other professionals.

    A large and increasing number of women students ensures that in the years to come, women will continue to make an important contribution to the development of their societies. In Saudi Arabia, for example, more than half the university student body is female. Although Muslim societies differ among themselves on the status of women and the roles they should play, Islam is a religion that respects women and humanity. The Taliban respects neither.  

    The long years of war and instability in Afghanistan have resulted in massive numbers of displaced persons internally and in neighboring countries. There are approximately 1.1 million internally displaced persons. An estimated 3.5 million Afghans have fled to Pakistan, 1.5 million to Iran, and hundreds of thousands more scattered throughout the border regions. Moreover, Taliban looting of humanitarian relief organizations contributed to the increased numbers seeking refuge abroad. Afghan women and children make up the overwhelming majority of the refugee population dependent on international assistance.

    Afghan civil society and community-based activists are working hard to begin reconstructing their society in refugee camps, in preparation for the day when they can reclaim and rebuild their own country. Women have played an important role in these efforts, both in refugee settlements and--clandestinely--in communities in Afghanistan. These women and men, says Sima Wali, an Afghan woman who directs the non-profit organization Refugee Women in Development, have already demonstrated remarkable leadership and ability. They are our hope for Afghanistan.

    In Afghanistan ... the disrespect of human rights has acquired extreme dimensions. Overall, women in Afghanistan are basically not treated as people.... To overcome this, one needs to develop specific gender-oriented programs that would include, primarily and first of all, questions related to proper education for women.

    Taliban Rule No. 24 forbids anyone to work as a teacher "under the current puppet regime, because this strengthens the system of the infidels." One rule later, No. 25, says teachers who ignore Taliban warnings will be killed. Taliban militants early Saturday broke into a house in the eastern province of Kunar, killing a family of five, including two sisters who were teachers.
    Jason Straziuso, "New Taliban rules target Afghan teachers," Yahoo News, December 9, 2006 --- http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061209/ap_on_re_as/afghan_taliban_rules
    Jensen Comment
    The Taliban also prohibits teaching females to read and write.

    Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan (RAWA) --- http://www.rawa.org/

    Iranian (Persian) Women --- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persian_Woman
    Also see "Web Gives Voice to Iranian Women" --- http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/2044802.stm

    Everywoman is a weekly magazine studio based show for women, presented by Shahnaz Pakravan.
    On Everywoman we are uncompromising in our approach and dig deeper to uncover the stories that women want told. Everywoman is the first show of its kind out of this region and is essential viewing to half the world’s population and you men won’t want to miss it either.
    Al Jazeera, December 14, 2006 ---
    http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/29F5AFF4-711B-49B8-8458-3533B57430A4.htm


    In India, abortion is not gender neutral
    Ten million girls have been killed by their parents in India in the past 20 years, either before they were born or immediately after, a government minister said on Thursday, describing it as a "national crisis" . . . A UNICEF report released this week said 7,000 fewer girls are born in the country every day than the global average would suggest, largely because female foetuses are aborted after sex determination tests but also through murder of new borns.
    Palash Kumar, "India has killed 10 mln girls in 20 years," Yahoo News, December 154 2006 ---     http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20061214/india_nm/india280322


    Women Geeks
    A new book showcases the lives of women in science, technology, gaming and other nerdy pursuits.
    "She's Such a Geek!" Wired News, December 15, 2006 --- http://blog.wired.com/tableofmalcontents/2006/12/shes_such_a_gee.html

    The Amazon Link --- Click Here


    Question
    Why Aren’t More Women in Science?

    The year 2006 may be remembered for unprecedented attention given to issues related to women in science. Numerous expert panels — most notably one appointed by the National Academies — examined barriers facing female scientists. A new collection published by the American Psychological Association aims to add to the knowledge base. Why Aren’t More Women in Science: Top Researchers Debate the Evidence, features essays on both biological and societal explanations. The editors Stephen J. Ceci, a professor of developmental psychology at Cornell University, and Wendy M. Williams, a professor of human development at Cornell. Ceci and Williams responded to questions about the new collection.
    Scott Jaschik, "‘Why Aren’t More Women in Science?’" Inside Higher Ed, January 3, 2006 --- http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2007/01/03/women


    Screwed:  The Spine as an Insider Profit Center
    But there have been serious questions about how much the surgery actually helps patients with back pain and whether surgeons’ generous fees might motivate them to overuse the procedure. Those concerns are now heightened by a growing trend among some surgeons to profit in yet another way — by investing in companies that make screws and other hardware they install. The parts can be highly profitable. A single screw that goes into the spine, for example, sells for about $1,000 — at least 10 times the cost of making it.
    Reed Abelson, "The Spine as Profit Center," The New York Times, December 30, 2006 --- http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/30/business/30spine.html?_r=1&oref=slogin


    Question
    Where were (are) the lawyers in the recent corporate governance and investment scandals?

    Report of the Task Force on the Lawyer's Role in Corporate Governance, New York City Bar, November 2006 --- http://online.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/WSJ-CORP-GOV-FINAL_REPORT.pdf

    Bob Jensen's "Rotten to the Core" threads are at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/FraudRotten.htm

    Bob Jensen's threads on corporate governance are at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/fraud001.htm#Governance


    A Dramatic Proposal for Change in Humanities Education
    A panel of some of the top professors of foreign languages has concluded that the programs that train undergraduate majors and new Ph.D.’s are seriously off course, with so much emphasis on literature that broader understanding of cultures and nations has been lost . . . The implications of this call for change are, several panel members said, “revolutionary” and potentially quite controversial. For example, the measures being called for directly challenge the tradition in which first and second-year language instruction is left in many departments to lecturers, who frequently play little role in setting curricular policy. The panel wants to see tenure-track professors more involved in all parts of undergraduate education and — in a challenge to the hierarchy of many departments — wants departments to include lecturers who are off the tenure track in planning the changes and carrying them out.
    Scott Jaschik, "Dramatic Plan for Language Programs," Inside Higher Ed, January 2, 2006 --- http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2007/01/02/languages

    Bob Jensen's threads on "Rethinking Tenure, Dissertations, and Scholarship in Humanities" are at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/HigherEdControversies.htm#MLA


    Microsoft's CALCULATOR + GETS AN F–
    The September column (Journal of Accountancy, page 83) featured an item on Microsoft’s new Calculator Plus, a free product that should have been renamed “Calculator Minus” or “Not Yet Ready for Prime Time.” The idea behind the product is superb: a handy little popup program that contains both a regular and scientific calculator and all sorts of conversion functions such as international currencies, volumes, weights and temperatures. As it turns out, this jack-of-all-tools cannot handle all the jobs it claims it can. An Edit function is suppose to expand the range of tools—for example, add a wide selection of currencies for rate conversion—but it provides more frustration than conversions. I apologize for not investigating the product further before recommending it.
    Stanley Zarowin, Journal of Accountancy, January 2007 --- http://www.aicpa.org/pubs/jofa/jan2007/tech_qa.htm#CALCULATOR


    How students can find internships
    Helpers for managing student interns
    Intern Toolkit --- http://www.interntoolkit.com/

    Bob Jensen's tools of the trade helpers are at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/000aaa/thetools.htm


    A New Law to Encourage Whistle Blowing

    "At Hospitals, Lessons in Detection of Fraud," by Robert Pear, The New York Times, December 24, 2006 --- http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/24/us/24fraud.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

    Most of the nation’s hospitals and nursing homes will have to teach their employees how to ferret out fraud and report it to the government under a federal law that takes effect next month.

    The law encourages people in the health care industry to blow the whistle on their employers. Many health care providers said this week that they were unaware of the requirement, and when informed of it, they described it as a burdensome, potentially costly federal mandate.

    But Senator Charles E. Grassley, Republican of Iowa, who drafted the law, said it would help ensure that “taxpayer dollars are used to provide care for the most vulnerable people and not to line the pockets of those who seek to defraud the government.”

    Starting Jan. 1, companies that do at least $5 million a year in Medicaid business must educate all employees and officers on how to detect fraud, waste and abuse. Moreover, health care providers must tell employees that if they report fraud, they will be protected against retaliation and may be entitled to a share of money recovered by the government.

    Under the federal False Claims Act, some whistle-blowers have received millions of dollars in rewards for disclosing large-scale fraud.

    Health care providers must also establish policies to make sure that their contractors investigate and report fraud. A large hospital system, whether run by a Fortune 500 company or a group of Roman Catholic nuns, typically has hundreds of contracts with doctors, billing agents and other vendors.

    The new requirement will also apply to many pharmacies, health maintenance organizations, home care agencies, suppliers of medical equipment, physician groups and drug manufacturers.

    Continued in article

    Bob Jensen's threads on whistle blowing are at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/FraudConclusion.htm#WhistleBlowing


    Columbia Charges Students With Violating Protest Rules
    Columbia University said yesterday that it had notified students involved in disrupting a program of speakers in early October that they were being charged with violating rules of university conduct governing demonstrations. The university did not disclose the number of students charged with violations. Columbia’s president, Lee C. Bollinger, announced the disciplinary proceedings in a letter to the university community yesterday that was also released publicly. But he said he would not provide further details because of federal rules governing student privacy. The charges will be heard next semester by the deans of the individual schools the students are enrolled in. Possible sanctions include disciplinary warning, censure, suspension and dismissal.
    Karen W. Arenson, "Columbia Charges Students With Violating Protest Rules," The New York Times, December 23, 2006 --- http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/23/nyregion/23columbia.html
    Jensen Comment
    Since the protestors who disrupted and frightened the speakers are totally non-repentant, it will be interesting to see how this plays out at Columbia.

    "A Firm Stance:  CU Marine Reservist Targeted In Angry Confrontation; No Disciplinary Action Taken," by Laura Brunts, Columbia Spectator, January 26, 2006 --- Click Here

    At last fall's annual activities fair, Marine reservist Matt Sanchez, GS '07, got into an argument with several members of the International Socialist Organization and later filed a harassment complaint against three students.

    More than three months later, the administration responded with a letter apologizing for the incident but took no disciplinary action. Realizing that he would get no public response from Columbia, Sanchez took his story to the press last week in an interview with FOX News.

    The incident has provoked concern from members of Columbia's military community about what some see as a widespread anti-military attitude, and it raises questions about the University's anti-discrimination policy.

    On Club Day, Zach Zill, CC '06, Monique Dols, GS '06, and Jonah Birch, CC '05, approached the table for the Columbia Military Society-a Student Governing Board-recognized group for Columbia students in Fordham's ROTC program-because they heard it was being used for ROTC recruitment, which is not allowed on campus.

    "We went there to voice our disagreement with the fact that they were there and pick up some of their fliers," Dols said.

    Sanchez stopped by the table soon after and entered the debate. In the course of the argument, Zill asserted that the military "uses minorities as cannon fodder," Sanchez said.

    "My last name is Sanchez. I'm Puerto Rican. I'm a minority. Zach Zill is blonde and blue-eyed. I said, 'Look, I'm a minority. I know I enlisted; I don't feel like I'm being used at all,'" Sanchez said. "[Zill] said, 'Well, you're too stupid to know that you're being used.'"

    Mark Xue, CC '06, a Marine officer candidate and president of the society, was also at the table and confirmed Sanchez's accusations.

    "They were telling him that he was stupid and ignorant, that he was being brainwashed and used for being a minority in the military," Xue said. "Regardless of what you think about military recruiters, those comments were racially motivated."

    Continued in article

    From Columbia University
    Having wreaked havoc onstage, the students unrolled a banner that read, in both Arabic and English, "No one is ever illegal."

    "At Columbia, Students Attack Minuteman Founder," by Eliana Johnson, The New York Sun, October 4, 2006 --- http://www.nysun.com/article/40983

    Students stormed the stage at Columbia University's Roone auditorium yesterday, knocking over chairs and tables and attacking Jim Gilchrist, the founder of the Minutemen, a group that patrols the border between America and Mexico.

    Mr. Gilchrist and Marvin Stewart, another member of his group, were in the process of giving a speech at the invitation of the Columbia College Republicans. They were escorted off the stage unharmed and exited the auditorium by a back door.

    Having wreaked havoc onstage, the students unrolled a banner that read, in both Arabic and English, "No one is ever illegal." As security guards closed the curtains and began escorting people from the auditorium, the students jumped from the stage, pumping their fists, chanting victoriously, "Si se pudo, si se pudo," Spanish for "Yes we could!"

    The Minuteman Project, an organization of volunteers founded in 2004 by Mr. Gilchrist, aims to keep illegal immigrants out of America by alerting law enforcement officials when they attempt to cross the border. The group uses fiery language and unorthodox tactics to advance its platform. "Future generations will inherit a tangle of rancorous, unassimilated, squabbling cultures with no common bond to hold them together, and a certain guarantee of the death of this nation as a harmonious ‘melting pot,'" the group's Web site warns.

    The pandemonium that ensued as the evening's keynote speaker took the stage was merely the climax of protest that brewed all week. A number of campus groups, including the Chicano caucus, the African-American student organization, and the International Socialist organization, began planning their protests early this week when they heard that the Minutemen would be arriving on campus.

    The student protesters, who attended the event clad in white as a sign of dissent, booed and shouted the speakers down throughout. They interrupted Mr. Stewart, who is African-American, when he referred to the Declaration of Independence's self-evident truth that "All men are created equal," calling him a racist, a sellout, and a black white supremacist.

    A student's demand that Mr. Stewart speak in Spanish elicited thundering applause and brought the protesters to their feet. The protesters remained standing, turned their backs on Mr. Stewart for the remainder of his remarks, and drowned him out by chanting, "Wrap it up, wrap it up!" Mr. Stewart appeared unfazed by their behavior. He simply smiled and bellowed, "No wonder you don't know what you're talking about."

    "These are racist individuals heading a project that terrorizes immigrants on the U.S.-Mexican border," Ryan Fukumori, a Columbia junior who took part in the protest, told The New York Sun. "They have no right to be able to speak here."

    The student protesters "rush to vindicate themselves with monikers like ‘liberal' and ‘open-minded,' but their actions, their attempt to condemn the Minutemen without even hearing what they have to say, speak otherwise," the president of the Columbia College Republicans, Chris Kulawik, said. On campus, the Republicans' flyers advertising the event were defaced and torn down.

    The College Republicans expressed their concern about the lack of free speech for opposing viewpoints on the Columbia campus in the wake of the evening's events. "We've often feared that there's not freedom of speech at Columbia for more right-wing views — and that was proven tonight," the executive director of the Columbia College Republicans, Lauren Steinberg, said.

    The Minutemen's arrival at Columbia drew protesters from around the city as well. An hour before Messrs. Stewart and Mr. Gilchrist took the stage, rowdy protests began outside the auditorium on Broadway, where activists chanted, "Hey, hey, ho, ho, the Minutemen have got to go!"

    Continued in article

    Also see http://volokh.com/posts/1160167251.shtml

    Mr. Bollinger (President of Columbia University), a legal scholar whose specialty is free speech and the First Amendment, quickly condemned this week’s disruption. “Students and faculty have rights to invite speakers to the campus,” he said yesterday in an interview. “Others have rights to hear them. Those who wish to protest have rights to do so. No one, however, shall have the right or the power to use the cover of protest to silence speakers.” He added, “There is a vast difference between reasonable protest that allows a speaker to continue, and protest that makes it impossible for speech to continue.”
    Karen W. Arenson and Damien Cave, "Silencing of a Speech Causes a Furor," The New York Times, October 7, 2006 --- http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/07/nyregion/07columbia.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

    With Columbia University again under fire over speech issues, the president is condemning anyone who prevents another’s speech from taking place. On Wednesday, protesters stormed a stage where Jim Gilchrist, head of the Minuteman Project, a “vigilance operation” opposing illegal immigration, was speaking, forcing him to stop his talk. Lee C. Bollinger, Columbia’s president, pledged that the university would investigate the incident and procedures for making sure that speakers can give their talks. In a statement, he said: “This is not a complicated issue. Students and faculty have rights to invite speakers to the campus. Others have rights to hear them. Those who wish to protest have rights to do so. No one, however, shall have the right or the power to use the cover of protest to silence speakers. This is a sacrosanct and inviolable principle.”
    Inside Higher Ed, October 9, 2006
    Jensen Comment
    There was also another incident where

    Bob Jensen's threads on higher education controversies are at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/HigherEdControversies.htm


    A Year's Worth of Memorable Moments on NPR ---
    http://www.npr.org/programs/specials/moments_2006/index.html


    A nice article about foliage colors, art, and writing
    Like light refracted in a prism, separated into the different lengths of colored beams, delving into the visual is a way I can refract creativity. The long blue beam of my writing is complimented by the array of other colors, other expressions of creativity that balance and enhance my work by allowing me to explore new ways of seeing and re-creating the world in which I live. To enhance their art, painters might dance, musicians might paint, writers might sculpt, and then bring all those shades of creativity back to the art of their choosing. After my winter play, my words are strong and vibrant, rested and basking in the return of the strengthening sun, ready for the work of writing, but my crayons also stand ready.
    Amy Wink, "Comprehending the Light," Inside Higher Ed, December 21, 2006 --- http://www.insidehighered.com/views/2006/12/21/wink


    Free Merriam Webster Online Dictionary/Thesaurus --- http://www.m-w.com/

    New words of the year http://www.m-w.com/info/06words.htm


    Words banashed from the Queen's English
    Continuing a New Year’s Day tradition, Lake Superior State University has issued a new list of Words Banished From the Queen’s English for Mis-Use, Over-Use and General Uselessness. Among this year’s banned words and phrases: Combined celebrity names (TomKat, Bragelina and so forth), awesome, truthiness ("The Colbert Report” word may have once had meaning, but it’s been used up, the university concluded), and i-anything.
    Inside Higher Ed, January 2, 2007 --- http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2007/01/02/qt

    Bob Jensen's helpers for writers are at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Bookbob3.htm#Dictionaries


    Controversies over the limits of free speech on campus
    Sixty British academics have issued a public letter calling for a change in the law to explicitly protect academic freedom and to give complete freedom of speech to those who teach at universities,
    The Guardian reported. The professors cite incidents in which colleagues with controversial views have been attacked or the self-censorship of some who wish to avoid controversy. An official of the main faculty union in Britain expressed some caution about the new movement, telling the newspaper: “We should distinguish between the crucial right of an academic to question and test received wisdom and any suggestions that this is the same as an unlimited right of a university academic to express, for example, anti-Semitic, homophobic or misogynist abuse where they were using a position of authority to bully students or staff, or potentially breach the duty of care that universities have towards students or staff.”
    Inside Higher Ed, December 22, 2006 --- http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2006/12/22/qt

    "Kicked Out," by Cary Nelson, Inside Higher Ed, December 22, 2006 --- http://www.insidehighered.com/views/2006/12/22/nelson

    Reverend: “Not here. I decide what gets taught. I approve what they read. I’m ordering you to leave the building.”

    Since it was a private facility I left as ordered. But the program is to be funded with public money, and the Illinois Humanities Council was assured free speech was guaranteed in the classes. It is not. Indeed others have suggested the students were under pressure not to disagree with church doctrine. This is precisely why the separation of church and state is established in the United States Constitution, though there is reason to doubt President Bush is comfortable with the concept.

    Continued in article

    Cary Nelson is president of the American Association of University Professors and a professor of English at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

    Bob Jensen's threads on academic freedom are at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/HigherEdControversies.htm#AcademicFreedom 
    Also see http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/HigherEdControversies.htm#PoliticalCorrectness


    Comparing George Bailey and Howard Roark
    My purpose, however, is not to defend the genius of these creators but to compare two of their protagonists, The Fountainhead’s Howard Roark and Wonderful Life’s George Bailey. To anyone familiar with both works it would seem that the two characters could not be more different. I contend, however, that they are not only similar but a variation on a common archetype.
    Joe Carter, "The Fountainhead of Bedford Falls: Comparing George Bailey and Howard Roark," The Evangelical Outpost, December 20, 2006 --- http://www.evangelicaloutpost.com/archives/003342.html


    Time for a Change:  We're Losing the War on Drugs

    Saul Becker, a famous sociologist who currently resides in U.S. proposed a very interesting, although controversial, perspective to the approach of the drug problem in his recent article "Drugs: what are they?" The goal of this short research essay is to explore and analyze his proposal under the concept of sociological imagination. A clear summary and evaluation will provide a better picture to his standpoint and allow people to see that he is indeed right on the button on many of the issues surrounding the current drug policy.
    Lawrence Ding, "A Critical Evaluation of Current Drug Policy of United States," DefenceTalk, December 17, 2006 ---
    Click Here


    We will greatly miss Bob Anthony

    December 20, 2006 message from Bill McCarthy [mccarthy@bus.msu.edu]

    The following appeared on Boston.com:
    Headline: Robert Anthony; reshaped Pentagon budget process

    Date: December 20, 2006

    "At the behest of Robert S. McNamara, his longtime friend, Robert N.

    Anthony set aside scholarly pursuits at Harvard Business School in the mid-1960s to take a key role reshaping the budget process for the Defense Department."

    ____________________________________________________________

    To see this recommendation, click on the link below or cut and paste it into a Web browser:

    http://www.boston.com/news/globe/obituaries/articles/2006/12/20/robert_anthony_reshaped_pentagon_budget_process?p1=email_to_a_friend

    December 20, 2006 reply from Bob Jensen

    Hi Bill,

    Thank you! Bob has been a longtime great friend. His obituary is at http://www.hbs.edu/news/120506_anthonyobit.html
    What is really amazing is the wide range of long-time service to at very high levels, including serving on the FASB as well as being Defense Department's Assistant Secretary (Comptroller) during the Viet Nam War. He also received the Defense Department's Medal for Distinguished Public Service. The FASB requested that Bob focus on accounting for nonprofit organizations. He also served as President of the American Accounting Association.

    Bob was one of the most distinguished professors of the Harvard Business School It saddens me greatly to see him pass on. His Hall of Fame link is at
    http://fisher.osu.edu/Departments/Accounting-and-MIS/Hall-of-Fame/Membership-in-Hall/Robert-Newton-Anthony/ 

    Or Click Here

     I don't know if you were present when Bob Anthony gave his 1989 Outstanding Educator Award Address to the American Accounting Association. It was one of the harshest indictments I've ever heard concerning the sad state of academic research in serving the accounting profession. Bob never held back on his punches.

    Bob Jensen

    December 20, 2006 reply from Denny Beresford [DBeresfo@TERRY.UGA.EDU]

    Bob,

    Yesterday's New York Times also included an obituary for Bob Anthony . . .  Bob wasn't the easiest person to get along with, but I considered him to be one of the very brightest people I ever associated with. He was a wonderful writer and I always enjoyed the letters and other things he sent me at the FASB and later - even when I disagreed completely with his ideas. His work with the government made him one of the most generally influential accountants of the 20th century, I believe.

    Denny

    His accounting concepts ranged from the global to the provincial. In a 1970 letter to The New York Times, he proposed that the United States create a tax surcharge to cover damages to the Soviet Union in the event of an accidental American nuclear strike. The tax burden would be “the smallest consequence of maintaining a nuclear arsenal,” he wrote. “An all-out nuclear exchange would probably mean the end of civilization.” In the late 1980s, Professor Anthony moved to Waterville Valley, N.H., where for 10 years he was the town’s elected auditor. “I got 24 votes last year; that’s all there were,” he once said.
    <http://www.nytimes.com/pages/business/index.html


    Electronic Journal of Sociology --- http://www.sociology.org/

    Stop Child Poverty --- http://www.stopchildpoverty.org/

    USDA: Food & Nutrition Service --- http://www.fns.usda.gov/fns/

    Bob Jensen's threads on social science and philosophy learning helpers --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/bookbob2.htm#Social


    How to Track Current Happenings in the World

    The World --- http://www.theworld.org/


    Tools for Understanding (Math) ---  http://www2.ups.edu/community/tofu/home.htm

    Bob Jensen's threads on helpers for learning mathematics --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/bookbob2.htm#050421Mathematics


    Violin Instruction:  The American Suzuki Institute at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens
    Point: the Suzuki Method in Action --- http://digicoll.library.wisc.edu/Arts/subcollections/SuzukiAbout.shtml

    Bob Jensen's threads on online music instruction --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Bookbob2.htm#050421Music


    Teaching Geology --- http://www.colorado.edu/GeolSci/Resources/

    Bob Jensen's threads on science learning helpers --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/bookbob2.htm#Science


    Introduction to Electronics, Signals, and Measurement --- Click Here


    National Eye Institute: Photos, Images, and Videos --- http://www.nei.nih.gov/photo/ 


    Introduction to Microbiology --- http://www-micro.msb.le.ac.uk/109/index.html

    Bob Jensen's threads on science learning helpers --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/bookbob2.htm#Science


    Digital Photography Tutorials --- http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials.htm


    What Can You Find at Google Patent Search?
    Look up the Wright Brothers' airplane drawings or investigate Tesla's electrical innovation proposals and Tom Edison's incandescent patents. Send us results of your favorite searches.
    "What Can You Find at Google Patent Search?" Wired News, December 15, 2006 --- http://blog.wired.com/gadgets/2006/12/cool_patents_at.html


    "Lesson Plan for Education Reform:  A study group issues an education plan for keeping the U.S. competitive globally, calling for a radical transformation of American schools," by Jane Porter, Business Week, December 14, 2006 ---
    Click Here

    With the release of a new report Dec. 14 on the future of the U.S. educational system, the Commission on the Skills of the American Workforce has created a controversial blueprint for school reform that it says is crucial if the U.S. is to maintain its competitiveness. With India and China churning out highly skilled, low-cost workers, the group says the U.S. must train the next generation of college graduates to produce the next big wave of money-making ideas. If it can be done at all, it will take 15 years and cost billions in new and reallocated funds, but the U.S. has no choice, according to the report. "There is a real sense of urgency at this point," says Caroline Hoxby, Harvard economist and director for the National Bureau of Economic Research's Economics of Education Program. "We don't have any time to waste."

    If implemented, the commission's recommendations—signed by 26 members from all corners of the corporate, nonprofit, education, and political worlds—would revolutionize the way children are educated in this country. Among the ideas: a set of Board Examinations allowing all 10th graders to place into college; improved compensation and incentives to attract better quality teachers; an overhaul of the American testing industry; contract-run schools instead of schools run by school boards; improved education for all three- and four-year-olds; standards for state-run funding instead of local funding; legislation for continued education for adults; a new GI Bill; and regionally focused job training.

    Staying Ahead

    Skeptics question the new testing proposal, the dangers of state-regulated standards supporting an inadvertently top-down system and the actual feasibility and effect such changes would have in a global context. Iris Rotberg, research professor of education policy at George Washington University, who has examined education reform across 16 countries, says the country's problems are not unique. "The fact is we are all struggling with pretty much the same problems, including an achievement gap based on socioeconomic status," she says, noting that countries in Europe and Asia face similar dilemmas.

    But if experts in the field of education don't agree with one of the commission's recommendations, they are likely to agree with a slew of others. Educators a