Click Here to View "Mom Loves You Best" Birds ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/tidbits/2007/tidbits070918Pictures.htm

 

Tidbits on September 18, 2007
Bob Jensen

Videos From Bob Jensen's Personal Camera (the pictures are clear but some of them lost a bit in the video) ---
http://www.cs.trinity.edu/~rjensen/EdTech/Video/Personal/
The Tidbits.wmv video is narrated.

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 

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/ )

Set up free conference calls at http://www.freeconference.com/  

Send files with more privacy on the Web --- http://www.pando.com/

Send files, including video files, (free) that are too large for email attachments --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Bookbob4.htm#SendingLargeFiles

World Clock --- http://www.peterussell.com/Odds/WorldClock.php

If you want to help our badly injured troops, please check out
Valour-IT: Voice-Activated Laptops for Our Injured Troops  --- http://www.valour-it.blogspot.com/

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

Congressional Recess Explained to Boys and Girls --- Click Here

What could Michelangelo have done with a palate of spray cans?
First look at a Sistine Chapel video --- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aMEvmZhliH4
September 16, 2007 message from Cousin Barb:

Hi Bob,
I know how much you enjoy the unusual. This is just for you. Check out the website above. This is the ceiling of a restaurant in downtown Waterloo, Iowa. After watching the video, check out the Sistine Chapel Project option and opt for the slide show. There are more pictures. Remember - all this with cans of spray paint! Enjoy --- http://www.pacorosic.com/
Barb

Illustrations of Inflation and Culture Change (put to music) --- http://moreoldfortyfives.com/TakeMeBackToTheSixties.htm

This week I tested Jaman.com, a Web site that gives users the chance to download independent and international movies from the Web directly to their computers. It also serves as a social networking forum where movie watchers can read one another's reviews, write their own comments that run alongside the film, and join groups with people who have similar tastes in movies. Jaman (pronounced jah-mahn), has 1,800 titles. It charges $1.99 for rentals, which can be watched for up to seven days, and $4.99 to buy a movie outright.
Katherine Boehret, "Cinema Buffs Capture Hard-to-Find Films," The Wall Street Journal, September 5, 2007, Page D7 --- http://online.wsj.com/article/SB118894801293517452.html

What's a CPA? Accountants take their show to YouTube
AccountingWeb, September 2007 --- http://www.accountingweb.com/cgi-bin/item.cgi?id=103999
Linda Kidwell forwarded this link --- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9I502zLYZXU
David Albrecht forwarded this link (rap) --- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xUcxvwAQ_n4
Helpers for career growth (podcasts)  --- http://www.streetiq.com/
Bob Jensen's career helpers are at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Bookbob1.htm#careers

Comedian Red Buttons -- Last performance! --- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sEE_mpWRFt8

Super Bowl XXXVIII Commercial - Willie N Doll (Tax Advice from Willie) --- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6QlgsolmCk
Willie Nelson very nearly went to prison for a $16.7 million tax evasion.

Ode to Juan and Moe (NAFTA & Truckin') --- http://familysecuritymatters.org/homeland.php?id=1340275

Lady Di dancing with John Travolta --- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aLuPVA6-rh8

Johnny Carson in 1963 --- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kTKWAzyXq90
Johnny Carson's Last Regular Show (Bette Midler's Tribute Part 1 Happy) --- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QPdFTm4dLXU
Johnny Carson's Last Regular Show (Bette Midler's Tribute Part 2 Sad)      --- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1xlN0FkiWmk

Jane Wyman Montage (she died on September 9 at Age 93) --- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mw88feqxTkM
Miracle in the Rain --- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sYn38vBRNhk
Jane Wyman Video Mix  --- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dr9Z5Ig_GXg
Jane Wyman with Bing Crosby --- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qbiZ9En7k3Q
Marlene Dietrich - Laziest Gal In Town (Stage Fright, 1950) --- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_1ByUHUtsQ
NPR's tribute to Jane Wyman ---  http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=14293445

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

One Day at a Time With Messages (forwarded by Auntie Bev) --- http://www.frontiernet.net/~jimdandy/specials/onedayatatime/onedayatatime.htm

Opera star Maria Callas died 30 years ago Sunday. But you'd hardly know she was gone, judging from the stream of CDs flowing from her record company. --- http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=14404970

 Henry Mancini Video

Days of Wine and Roses (a Mancini movie that should be watched by every young person in high school)

The Carpenters Video (who could ever forget Karen's distinct clear voice)

Bette Midler

Photographs and Art

Missing Van Gogh Discovered --- http://www.mfa.org/master/sub.asp?key=23&subkey=5034

My Wonderful World (from National Geographic) --- http://www.mywonderfulworld.org/

Vancouver Art Galley ---  http://www.virtualmuseum.ca/Exhibitions/EmilyCarr/ 

Heavenly music (JS Bach) with beautiful photos (early mist) --- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHyb5PMCqk8

Mountains in China Photography --- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7VFgjCU_jG8

My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys (Waylon Jennings) --- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=31aETl1BESU

Southern Ocean 2006 - Brown Bluff, Antarctic Peninsula --- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EGOOT5-TWzE

Cute Animals --- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYyJT5cSBXE

German car maker BMW on Monday, Sept. 10, 2007 said it has filed a lawsuit to halt the distribution of the Chinese-made 'CEO' sport utility vehicle because it claims that the car looks conspicuous similar to its model X5 --- http://foto.rompres.ro/index.php?i=1854408
Also see http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/12/business/worldbusiness/12auto.html

What could Michelangelo have done with a palate of spray cans?
First look at a Sistine Chapel video --- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aMEvmZhliH4
September 16, 2007 message from Cousin Barb:

Hi Bob,
I know how much you enjoy the unusual. This is just for you. Check out the website above. This is the ceiling of a restaurant in downtown Waterloo, Iowa. After watching the video, check out the Sistine Chapel Project option and opt for the slide show. There are more pictures. Remember - all this with cans of spray paint! Enjoy --- http://www.pacorosic.com/
Barb

 

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

Favorite Poem Project --- http://www.favoritepoem.org/
Includes Hillary Clinton reading The Makers --- http://www.favoritepoem.org/FlashVideo/hclinton.html

From the University of Pennsylvania PENNsound [audio poetry, literature, and reviews) --- http://writing.upenn.edu/pennsound/ 

Poetry Out Loud [mulitimedia] --- http://www.poetryoutloud.org/ 

Poetry Foundation (a very wealthy foundation) --- http://www.poetryfoundation.org 

Tales Of Terror And Mystery by Arthur Conan Doyle --- Click Here

The Beast In The Jungle by Henry James --- Click Here

Tono-Bungay by Herbert G. Wells --- Click Here

Ballads by Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894)  --- Click Here

 

Russia has delivered a belligerent message of defiance to the West after army generals claimed to have tested "the father of all bombs". Developed in secret, the unchristened bomb, a vacuum device capable of emitting shockwaves as powerful as a nuclear weapon, was unveiled with great theatre on state television's main evening broadcast.
Adrian Blomfield, "Russian army 'tests the father of all bombs'," London Telegraph, September 12, 2007 ---
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/09/12/wbomb112.xml
Also see http://tailrank.com/2624968/Russia-tests-giant-fuel-air-bomb
Also see http://news.netscape.com/story/2007/09/12/russian-army-tests-the-father-of-all-bombs
Jensen Comment
Sadly this will lead to a renewed arms race for weapons of mass destruction.
It's definitely time to visit H-Peace --- http://www.h-net.org/~peace/

Forget Wall Street, sky scrapers, subways, and military bases. Al Qaeda training camps are aiming at school children.
"Mass Slaughter In Our Schools: The Terrorists' Chilling Plan?" by Chuck Remsberg, Killogy Research Group --- http://www.killology.com/art_mass_slaughter.htm

Why schools? Two reasons:
1. Our values. "The most sacred thing to us is our children, our babies," Rassa said. Killing hundreds of them at a time would significantly "boost Islamic morale and lower that of the enemy" (us). In Grossman's words, terrorists see this effort as "an attempt to defile our nation" by leaving it "stunned to its soul."

2. Our lack of preparation. Police agencies "aren't used to this," Rassa said. "We deal with acts of a criminal nature. This is an act of war," but because of our laws "we can't depend on the military to help us," at least at the outset.

Glenn Beck (who commenced a series on this "Perfect Day" for Al Qaeda theme on CNN) adds a third and even more compelling reason for hitting schools, including grade schools.

3. A marginalized Al Qaeda is alienating rather than winning over Muslins around the world at the present time. Al Qaeda hates the way more and more Muslins are being assimilated into our Western culture. The best way to make moderate Muslins become violent Jihadists is to increase non-Muslin hatred and violence toward Muslins in general. Raping and murdering non-Muslin school children, according to Glenn Beck, is the fastest way bifurcate the Muslin versus Non-Muslin world.

Beck's arguments on this make frightening sense to me! What will be your reaction when bloodied and naked little kids are dropped one-by-one from top floor windows? I hope it will not be to seek vengeance on all our Muslin friends. Do we want to lash out at all Roman Catholics because a few pedophile priests molest children?

The worst thing we can do is to seek vengeance on peace-loving Muslins in our midst.

Perhaps it was as easy to uncover the truth as it was to demonstrate the falsehood.
Marcus Tullius Cicero --- Click Here 

There is no great concurrence between learning and wisdom.
Sir Francis Bacon as quoted by Mark Shapiro at http://irascibleprofessor.com/comments-09-09-07.htm

My experience is probably typical and thus the fear of giving "offense" consigns thousands of graduates to incomplete educations. Sort of like proper Victorian sex education. A vicious cycle is created - "safe lectures" beget boredom and this only encourages yet more sleeping and more garbling. This censoring can also have more tragic consequences for those oblivious to awaiting minefields.
Robert Weisberg, "The Hidden Impact Of Political Correctness," Minding The Campus, September 13, 2007 --- http://www.mindingthecampus.com/originals/2007/09/the_hidden_impact_of_political.html
Jensen Comment
History of Political Correctness --- Click Here
History of Political Correctness --- Click Here (Video)

To our military personnel, intelligence officers, diplomats, and civilians on the front lines in Iraq: You have done everything America has asked of you. And the progress I have reported tonight is in large part because of your courage and hard effort. You are serving far from home. Our nation is grateful for your sacrifices, and the sacrifices of your families.
George W. Bush, "Text of Bush's Speech," The Wall Street Journal, September 13, 2007 --- Click Here

Now that Thompson has finally declared his candidacy, albeit on the Jay Leno show, many are pinning their hopes on him as a later-day Ronald Reagan. But he’s no Ronald Reagan and he’s never going to be viable. Here’s why:  He’s A Political Light Weight and He’s Not Ready For The National Stage In his first week of campaigning, Thompson has shown that he has neither the substance nor the experience that is essential for a serious presidential candidate. One wonders what makes him — and his supporters — think that he is, in any way, up to the job.
Dick Morris and Eileen McGann, Fox News, September 17, 2007 --- http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,296882,00.html?sPage=fnc.foxfan/blogs
Jensen Comment
Now we know why he waited so long to start campaigning. Fred's a little like Calvin Coolidge. They always said that Cal didn't talk much, and when he did he didn't say much.

And, let's face it, if the mothers ruled the war, there would be no (expletive censored on the air) wars in the first place.
Sally Field as quoted by Noel Shepard, " ," Newsbusters, September 17, 2007 --- Click Here
Watch the uncensored version here --- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gebrgHlnmww
Jensen Comment
Is this Sally's expletive-deleted way of putting down Hillary Clinton for President?
I think Sally Field overdosed on Boniva or whatever is that makes nuns fly --- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dM4sVQJ9U8I

  • Indira Gandhi, a mother who not only supported Bangladesh militarily in the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971, but also started India's nuclear program presiding over that country's first nuclear test.
  • Israel's Golda Meir, a mother who, as Prime Minister, successfully defeated Syria in 1973's Yom Kippur War.
  • Great Britain's Margaret Thatcher, a mother who was nicknamed "The Iron Lady" in 1976 . . . Once becoming Prime Minister, Thatcher became President Reagan's most important ally in the Cold War against the Soviet Union, and oversaw the 1983 war in the Falklands.
  • More recently, there were a number of Congressional mothers who voted in favor of the October 2002 resolution to invade Iraq, certainly including Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY).

Most of the Qaeda fighters come from Saudi Arabia and other breeding grounds. Now that the Sunni tribes are turning against them, they are more exposed and hunted than ever before. Wars are fluid and unpredictable, but no one can imagine that Al Qaeda is happy with its victories since 9/11. In Afghanistan, they have been on the run since 2003, although the Pakistan border regions continue to supply new recruits. But in Afghanistan they are being destroyed before ever reaching the cities. Add that to a sizable numbers neutralized in Pakistan, Somalia, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, and more. Add to that the cells pinpointed in Europe and America, the Philippines and Indonesia. We are wiping out the fire ants wherever they can be found.
 James Lewis, American Thinker, September 12, 2007 --- http://www.americanthinker.com/2007/09/iraq_as_qaeda_bait.html

But Barach Obama, unlike the House and Senate leaders following the General Betray Us hearings, is sticking to his surrender deadlines.  He wants the U.S. Military out of Iraq before he's our new Commander and Chief. After General's Petraeus pleaded for more time and no political deadlines to surrender in Iraq, Senator Obama moved his pullout deadline from March 31, 2008 to December 31, 2008 before he's inaugurated --- http://www.barackobama.com/issues/iraq/

Senator Obama introduced legislation in January 2007 to offer a responsible alternative to President Bush's failed escalation policy. The legislation commences redeployment of U.S. forces no later than May 1, 2007 with the goal of removing all combat brigades from Iraq by March 31, 2008 -- a date consistent with the bipartisan Iraq Study Group's expectations. The plan allows for a limited number of U.S. troops to remain in Iraq as basic force protection, to engage in counter-terrorism and to continue the training of Iraqi security forces. If the Iraqis are successful in meeting the 13 benchmarks for progress laid out by the Bush Administration, this plan also allows for the temporary suspension of the redeployment, provided Congress agrees that the benchmarks have been met.

That "failed escalation policy" referred to by Senator Obama:
...in the past 8 months, we have considerably reduced the areas in which Al Qaeda enjoyed sanctuary. We have also neutralized 5 media cells, detained the senior Iraqi leader of Al Qaeda-Iraq, and killed or captured nearly 100 other key leaders and some 2,500 rank-and-file fighters. Al Qaeda is certainly not defeated; however, it is off balance and we are pursuing its leaders and operators aggressively.
General Petraeus as quoted by James Lewis, American Thinker, September 12, 2007 --- http://www.americanthinker.com/2007/09/iraq_as_qaeda_bait.html

But can we believe the words of General Betray Us leading our troops in Iraq?
Feedback on the dysfunctional "General Betray Us" advertisement in The New York Times

They said MoveOn had handed Republicans a fresh talking point to criticize Democrats and turn the focus from Iraq in a critical week in the war debate. Senator John Kerry, Democrat of Massachusetts, said on MSNBC that the advertisement was “simply over the top, and I think it’s inappropriate, period.”  Ms. Pelosi said on “Good Morning America” on ABC that she “would have preferred that they not do such an ad.” Republicans have called on Democratic Congressional leaders and presidential candidates to disavow the advertisement, but they have largely declined.
Michael Luo and Jeff Zeleny, "Behind an Antiwar Ad, a Powerful Liberal Group," The New York Times, September 15, 2007 --- Click Here
But the ever-defiant GOP-hating NBC commentator Keith Olbermann is certainly ranting his hate for General Petreaus and Condoleza Rice:

General Petreaus is really General Betray Us! (NBC's Keith Olbermann amd MoveOn advocate calls our top general in Iraq an outright liar) ---
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6rLSna0bqc8 

A totally incompetent Condoleza Rice is untrustworthy ((NBC's Keith Olbermann calls our Secretary of State an outright liar) ---
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ASBuh72Re8 

Important as was yesterday's appearance before Congress by General David Petraeus, the events leading up to his testimony may have been more significant. Members of the Democratic leadership and their supporters have now normalized the practice of accusing their opponents of lying. If other members of the Democratic Party don't move quickly to repudiate this turn, the ability of the U.S. political system to function will be impaired in a way no one would wish for.
"Trashing Petraeus ," The Wall Street Journal, September 11, 2007; Page A18 --- Click Here

In a way, David Petraeus won the day when MoveOn.org came forth with its famous "General Petraeus or General Betray Us!" ad. They shot themselves in the foot and deserve to be known by their limp. Republicans enacted fury (Thank you, O political gods, for showing the low nature of our foes!), and Democrats felt it (Embarrassed again by the loons!). No one -- no normal American -- thinks a U.S. Army four-star came back from Iraq to damage our democracy by telling lies. He clearly had a point of view, and it was, not surprisingly, in line with the administration's. But I think the appearance of independence and straight dealing that was necessary to his credibility was lessened by the White House's attempts to associate itself with him in the weeks leading up to his appearance.
Peggy Noonan, "Just the Facts," The Wall Street Journal, September 15, 2007 --- http://online.wsj.com/article/SB118980073091227910.html

The anger and frustration over Iraq that prompted voters to bounce many Republicans from Congress last November was supposed to give Democrats the momentum they needed to end the war. Instead, 10 months after Election Day, many are conflicted and confused about what to do next. Last week's congressional testimony by Gen. David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker went better than even their supporters could have expected. Blunders by the left clearly worked in their favor. In a somewhat surprising move, the highly decorated four-star general took the brunt of the fire, leaving the more susceptible Crocker, testifying about the slow political progress in Iraq, unscathed.
Robert Bluey, "Outflanked by a Four-Star General," Town Hall, September 15, 2007 --- Click Here

Rudy Giuliani, the former New York mayor, put his own ad in The New York Times on Friday as he demanded that Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.), the frontrunner for the Democratic nomination for president, apologize to Petraeus. "You do not honor the troops by attacking their general at a time of war," Giuliani said. McCain, too, has repeatedly called on Clinton to renounce the anti-war group's rhetoric. But as Clinton received the endorsement today of Gen. Wesley Clark, the retired four star general who opposes the Iraq war, she twice refused to do so. . . . Still, her refusal to explicitly say the ad was unfair has provided great fodder for candidates on the Republican side of the presidential race.
Bill Zuckman, The Baltimore-Sun, September 17, 2007 --- Click Here

It was expected that the Petraeus-Crocker hearings would be two days of high drama. They were not. Gen. Petraeus and U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker were questioned about Iraq by Democrats on three full committees, including five candidates for the presidency, and the hearings were flat. Could it be the air is going out of Iraq as a hot political issue? If true, it is good news. Good news, first of all, for this country, whose people may have grown tired of the war but are more so with the war's corrosive domestic politics.
Daniel Henninger, "The Remains of That Day:  The Petraeus hearings prove Democrats need to change the subject," The Wall Street Journal, September 13, 2007 --- http://www.opinionjournal.com/columnists/dhenninger/?id=110010596

What happened to the party of Speaker Pelosi and Reid, which was going to end U.S. involvement in the war and not permit Bush to pursue victory the way Richard Nixon pursued it in Vietnam for four years? Answer: Terrified of the possible consequences of the policies they recommend, Democrats lack the courage to impose those policies. When it comes to issues of war, Democrats are an intimidated lot. Sens. Clinton, Edwards, Biden, Dodd and Reid were all stampeded by Bush into voting him a blank check for war in October 2002. Why? Because they feared Bush would declare them weak or unpatriotic if they denied him the authority to go to war, at a time of his choosing, until he had made a more compelling case for war.
Patrick J. Buchanan, "Retreat of the anti-war Democrats," WorldNetDaily, September 11, 2007 --- http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=57568
 

Sign in a Gift Shop:  "You Break It, You Own It"
Mike Huckabee, and for this I ♥ Huckabee, shot back that history will judge whether we were right to go in, but for now, "we're there." He echoed Colin Powell: We broke it, now we own it. "Congressman, we are one nation. We can't be divided. . . . If we make a mistake, we make it as a single country, the United States of America, not the divided states of America."
Peggy Noonan, "Off to the Races Surprisingly, the Republican presidential campaign comes into focus," The Wall Street Journal, September 7, 2007 ---  --- http://www.opinionjournal.com/columnists/pnoonan/?id=110010568 

The entire 18-page platform outlines a plan for the long haul. It prescribes the Muslim Brotherhood's comprehensive plan to set down roots in civil society. It begins by both founding and taking control of American Muslim organizations, for the sake of unifying and educating the U.S. Mus . . . The Muslim Brotherhood is an affiliation of at least 70 Islamist organizations around the world, all tracing their heritage to the original cell, founded in Egypt in 1928. Its credo: "Allah is our objective. The Prophet is our leader. Quran is our law. Jihad is our way. Dying in the way of Allah is our highest hope." Sayyid Qutb, hanged by the Egyptian government in 1966 as a revolutionary, remains its ideological godfather. His best-known work, Milestones, calls for Muslims to wage violent holy war until Islamic law governs the entire world.
Rod Dreher, "What the Muslim Brotherhood means for the U.S.." Dallas Morning News, September 9, 2007 --- Click Here
The document (18-page platform), described as an "explanatory memorandum," was seized during a federal raid of an Islamic extremist's home in Virginia in 1991 (ten years before the 9/11 terror in NYC and Washington DC). It details a plan by the extremist Muslim Brotherhood to "conquer the U.S." from within, overturn our Constitution, and replace it with Muslim Sharia law.

It is impossible at this point to predict how and when the battle of Iraq will end. But from the vitriolic debates it has unleashed we can already say for certain that the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, did not do to the Vietnam syndrome what Pearl Harbor did to the old isolationism. The Vietnam syndrome is back and it means to have its way. But is it strong enough in its present incarnation to do what it did to the honor of this country in 1975? Well acquainted though I am with its malignant power, I still believe that it will ultimately be overcome by the forces opposed to it in the war at home. Even so, I cannot deny that this question still hangs ominously in the air and will not be answered before more damage is done to the long struggle against Islamofascism into which we were blasted six years ago and that I persist in calling World War IV.
Norman Podhoretz, "'America the Ugly'," The Wall Street Journal, September 11, 2007; Page A19 --- Click Here
Mr. Podhoretz is editor at large of Commentary. This essay is adapted from his new book, World War IV: The Long Struggle Against Islamofascism, out on September 11, 2007 from Doubleday.

Going to the Dogs in the U.S. (but not in Iran where they're being wiped off the map)

Michael Vick's cruelty to animals has made him more famous than football alone could have. As a veterinary student who has worked in emergency rooms, I can say that the sight after a fiight is horrific. These dogs are missing ears, are covered in excrement and sawdust and are in a state of shock, with a core body temperature that puts them closer to death than to life. Vick deserves everything he gets and more.
Anya Gambino, Time Magazine, September 17, 2007, Page 9

Last week we noted a bizarre op-ed piece from Kathy Rudy, a professor of "women's studies" at Duke, who described herself as a supporter of animal rights but proceeded to defend erstwhile NFL player Michael Vick's involvement in illegal dogfighting on the ground that he is black . . .
Carol Muller, Opinion Journal, September 6, 2007

Controversy didn't leave "The View" with Rosie O'Donnell. Fifteen minutes into her first day moderating the show, Whoppi Goldberg defended convicted felon Michael Vick, calling dogfighting "part of his cultural upbringing" in the South . . . The President of the Humane Society took issue with Golberg's comments, as did co-host Joy Behar, who saw no cultural relativity in "dog torturing and dog murdering."
Time Magazine, September 17, 2007, Page 22

Iranian officials say that according to Islam, dogs are considered to be dirty animals, and people who own dogs are viewed as being under Western influence. Some conservative clerics have denounced dog ownership as "morally depraved" and say it should be banned. Friday prayer leader Hojatoleslam Gholamreza Hassani, who is known for his hard-line stances, was quoted a few years ago as saying that all dog owners and their dogs should be arrested.
"Tehran Officials Begin Crackdown On Pet Dogs," KRSI.net, September 15, 2007 ---  http://www.krsi.net/news/detail.asp?NewsID=3105

George Utset, who writes The Real Cuba Web site, says Moore and his group were ushered to the upper floors of the hospital, to rooms reserved for the privileged. "They don't go to the hospital for regular Cubans. They go to hospital for the elite. And it's a very different condition," Utset says.For ordinary Cubans, health care is different. A YouTube.com video, posted by a woman from Venezuela, purports to show the two forms of health care, one for the privileged who pay in dollars and a far inferior one for regular Cubans. Moore claims Cubans live longer than Americans. It's true that a U.N. report claims that. But the United Nations didn't gather any data. "The United Nations simply reports whatever the government in Cuba reports, so we have no objective way to know what the real statistics are," Carro says.Exactly. Communist countries are famous for hiding the truth. Twenty years ago, when I reported from the Soviet Union, officials insisted there were no poor people in Russia, but they refused to let me look for myself.Why would we believe the Cuban government's health statistics?Cuba claims it has low infant mortality, but doctors tell us that Cuban obstetricians abort a fetus when they think there might be a problem. Dr. Julio Alfonso told us he used to do 70-80 abortions a day. And here's an even more devious way of distorting infant-mortality data: Some doctors tell us that if a baby dies within a few hours of birth, Cuban doctors don't count him or her as ever having lived. Moore told me: "All the independent health organizations in the world, and even our own CIA, believe that the Cubans have a pretty good health system. And they do, in fact, live longer than we do."But the CIA does not claim that Cubans live longer than Americans. In fact, the CIA says Americans live longer. When I pressed Moore, he backed away from the claims his movie makes about Cuba. "Let's stick to Canada and Britain," he said, "because I think these are legitimate arguments that are made against the film and against the so-called idea of socialized medicine. And I think you should challenge me on these things, and I'll give you my answer."
John Stossel (Bob Jensen's favorite "Give Us a Break" commentator), "Cuba Has Better Health Care than the United States?" by John Stossel, RealClearPolitics, September 12, 2007 --- http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2007/09/cuba_has_better_health_care_th.html
Also Click Here for a great Stossel critique of Michael Moore's Sicko.

The newspaper (London Daily Mail) said Nuttall is off work and taking prescribed daily doses of morphine to dull the pain. He said he has been trying to quit (smoking) but the best he can do is cut back to 10 cigarettes a week. A spokesman for the Royal Cornwall Hospital confirmed Nuttall's operation had been postponed because of "issues relating to nicotine." Britain's health secretary ruled this year that doctors could deny smokers operations unless they give up smoking for at least four weeks.
PhysOrg, September 14, 2007 --- http://physorg.com/news108973779.html

A cigarette is the perfect type of a perfect pleasure. It is exquisite, and it leaves one unsatisfied. What more can one want?
Oscar Wilde --- Click Here

A bar fight in Oklahoma left a man sporting a University of Texas at Austin T-shirt nearly castrated and has set off discussion of just how extreme some sports loyalties may be, the Associated Press reported. While the actual events in the bar are disputed, some are concerned by those voicing support for attacking fans. “I’ve actually heard callers on talk radio say that this guy deserved what he got for wearing a Texas T-shirt into a bar in the middle of Sooner country,” one lawyer told the AP.
 Inside Higher Ed, September 12, 2007 --- http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2007/09/12/qt

Mining a trove of Danish government data on thousands of businesses, the professors were able to track links between CEO-family deaths and the companies' profitability over a decade . . . Should shareholders in a company care if the chief executive's child dies? What if the mother-in-law passes away?.....slid by about one-fifth, on average, in the two years after the death of a CEO's child, and by about 15 percent after the death of a spouse. As for an executive's mother-in-law, the old jokes seem to hold: The researchers found that profitability, on average, rose slightly after her demise. The study is part of an emerging and controversial area of financial research that delves into the lives and personalities of executives in search of links to stock prices and corporate performance. The trend is an outgrowth of the tendency to lionize CEOs as critical to the businesses they lead. If their performance is so vital, the researchers say, investors should want to know anything that could affect it.
Arizona Republic, September 9, 2007 --- http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/business/articles/0909biz-CEOlives0909.html

Paint with higher levels of lead often sells for a third of the cost of paint with low levels, so Chinese factory owners sometimes cut corners and use the cheaper leaded paint.
David Barboza, "Why Lead in Toy Paint? It’s Cheaper," The New York Times, September 11, 2007 --- Click Here

College to alumni: Write checks, and shut up
"Dartmouth Diminished," The Wall Street Journal, September 11, 2007 --- http://online.wsj.com/article/SB118947940651923528.html

After Katrina: Legal Justice Washed Away? --- http://www.urban.org/publications/411530.html

A third challenge, I think, is a certain dissonance in Mr. Thompson's persona. He seems preoccupied, not full of delight that he's at the party. John McCain has been having sly fun with the idea of Mr. Thompson's sluggishness. When asked why Mr. Thompson didn't come to the debate, Mr. McCain said "Maybe we're up past his bedtime."
Peggy Noonan, "Off to the Races Surprisingly, the Republican presidential campaign comes into focus," The Wall Street Journal, September 7, 2007 ---  --- http://www.opinionjournal.com/columnists/pnoonan/?id=110010568 
Jensen Comment
As I recall the same thing was said about Ronald Regan during his campaign for a second term in office. Only then he was more apt to be napping during the daytime in the Oval Office.

Dianne Feinstein's $4 billion earmark for Beverly Hills comes at the expense of America's veterans. Move over Bridge to Nowhere. Congress is back in town, and clearly back to business even uglier than usual. It takes hard work to come up with an earmark more egregious than that infamous Alaskan bridge, but California's Dianne Feinstein is an industrious gal. Her latest pork--let's call it Rambo's View--deserves to be the poster child for everything wrong with today's greedy earmark process. The senator's $4 billion handout (yes, you read that right) to wealthy West L.A. (yes, you read that right, too) is the ultimate example of how powerful members use earmarks to put their own parochial interests above national ones--in this case the needs of veterans. It's a case study in how Congress uses the appropriations process to substitute its petty wants for the considered judgments of agency professionals.
Kimberly A. Strassel, "Rambo's View," The Wall Street Journal, September 7, 2007 --- http://www.opinionjournal.com/columnists/kstrasselpw/?id=110010574

Slowing productivity and rising wages abroad will probably cause U.S. inflation to accelerate in the next quarter century, Greenspan wrote in his book, ``The Age of Turbulence: Adventures in a New World,'' published by Penguin Press. His outlook includes a reversal of many of the trends that aided the success of his own tenure at the Fed.
Craig Torres, "Greenspan Sees Political Pressure on Fed as Inflation Quickens ," Bloomberg.com, September 14, 2007 --- http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aNECAbN_ltkU&refer=home

Thirty years ago this month, Germany's Red Army Faction--better known as the Baader-Meinhof Gang--kidnapped Hanns-Martin Schleyer, president of the German employers' association, and murdered his driver and three bodyguards. Six weeks later, on Oct. 18, 1977, the RAF murdered Schleyer, too, after the West German government refused to give in to RAF demands for the release of its imprisoned leaders . . . The similarities are also ideological. Islamism is a political doctrine no less than it is a religious one, and in its critique of Western society it is indistinguishable from the rhetoric of radical chic. "The capitalist system seeks to turn the entire world into a fiefdom of the major corporations under the label of 'globalization,' " says bin Laden in his latest sermon. He also manages to cite Noam Chomsky on the subject of "the manufacturing of public opinion," while scolding the Democrats for not putting a stop to the war in Iraq and the Bush administration for "not observing the Kyoto accord." Where have we heard this before? Anti-Americanism is the common thread. The German terror plot of 2007 had as its targets the U.S. Air Force base at Ramstein and the Frankfurt airport, which thousands of Americans pass through on their way home. For its part, Baader-Meinhof detonated car bombs at U.S. military bases in 1972, 1977, 1981 and 1985. In the last of these attacks, RAF cadres Birgit Hogefeld and Eva Haule lured American GI Edward Pimental from a bar, murdered him, and used his ID to park a car bomb at the Rhein-Main air base. The bomb killed American airman Frank Scarton and civilian contractor Becky Bristol and injured 20 others.
Brett Stephens, "Red Terror, Green Terror:  Anti-Americanism is the common thread," The Wall Street Journal, September 11, 2007 --- http://www.opinionjournal.com/columnists/bstephens/?id=110010588

The National Association of Scholars issued a new report Tuesday criticizing social work education as a “national academic scandal” because its programs’ mission descriptions and curricular requirements are “chock full of ideological boilerplate and statements of political commitment.” In addition, the report questions the Council on Social Work Education, which accredits colleges based in part on whether the provide “social and economic justice content grounded in an understanding of distributive justice, human and civil rights, and the global interconnections of oppression.” The report issued Tuesday is in many ways similar to a complaint filed by the association with the Education Department in 2005. A spokeswoman for the Council on Social Work Education said that only one person there could respond to questions about the report’s criticism and that person was not available Tuesday.
Inside Higher Ed, September 12, 2007 --- http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2007/09/12/qt

Why don't anti-war activists rally in support to their lone true pacifist in the presidential race?
Willie Nelson supports Kucinich (video) --- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pIzfQx98XSg
Kucinich condemns U.S. 'occupation' on Syrian TV (Video) --- http://www.memritv.org/clip/en/1550.htm
In the U.S. Congress, who was the only one voting "NO" on the 9/11 Commemoration Resolution?
"Congress 334, Kucinich 1," Fox News, September 11, 2007 --- http://www.foxnews.com/story/0%2C2933%2C296430%2C00.html

The President, Bashar al-Assad, who Congressman Kuchinh is promising billions in aid, is linked to the murder of the President of Lebanon and portrayed as extremely clever and sinister by the Chairman of the Reform Syrian Party --- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a0wVDk0fA4g
Jensen Comment
Syria is a main artery through which outside weapons and insurgents (suicide bombers, snipers, hostage takers, and roadside bomb makers) flow into Iraq and Lebanon. Congressman Kucinich blames U.S. occupation of Iraq, coupled with U.S. support for Israel, for insurgency and terror in the Middle East. But it's not at all clear that the insurgents will not still fight for an Al Qaeda stronghold in Iraq once U.S. forces are out of the way.  Presidential candidate Kucinich  proposes ending U.S. occupation of Iraq and giving billions or even trillions of dollars to the Iraqi people, the insurgents, and Syria. But if President Kucinich gives billions for Syrian armament while maintaining billions of dollars of support for Israeli armament, it's not at all clear how this will lead to piece in the Middle East. Rather it seems to me that giving billions or trillions more to both sides only magnifies the size future wars. Kucinich, like Jimmy Carter, thinks that pouring money into Israel's enemies will make everybody be friends. How will they stop Israel's enemies from buying more deadly armaments? Even gifts in kind, like food and oil, simply free up money to spend on armaments for Islamic fundamentalists and mercenaries.

Israeli warplanes last week bombed and destroyed a northern Syrian missile base that was financed by Iran, an Arab Israeli newspaper reported on Wednesday. Citing anonymous Israeli sources, the Assennara newspaper said that Israeli jets "bombed in northern Syria a Syrian-Iranian missile base financed by Iran ... It appears that the base was completely destroyed." Syria on Tuesday lodged a formal complaint with the United Nations over the "flagrant violation" of its airspace last Thursday, during which it said its air defenses opened fire on Israeli warplanes flying over the northeast of the country.
"Israel Reportedly Hit Syrian Base Financed by Iran," AFP Jerusalem Newswire, September 12, 2007 --- Click Here
Fox News version --- http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,296939,00.html
Jensen Question
Note that Israel claims the Syrian  missile sites destroyed were intended nuclear missile sites funded by Iran --- http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3448829,00.html

So it's more than a little telling that the Israeli newspaper Haaretz chose, in the wake of an Israeli Air Force raid on Syria on Sept. 6 dubbed "Operation Orchard," to give front-page billing to an op-ed by John Bolton that appeared in this newspaper Aug. 31. While the article dealt mainly with the six-party talks with North Korea, Mr. Bolton also noted that "both Iran and Syria have long cooperated with North Korea on ballistic missile programs, and the prospect of cooperation on nuclear matters is not far-fetched." He went on to wonder whether Pyongyang was using its Middle Eastern allies as safe havens for its nuclear goods while it went through a U.N. inspections process. How plausible is this scenario? The usual suspects in the nonproliferation crowd reject it as some kind of trumped-up neocon plot. Yet based on conversations with Israeli and U.S. sources, along with evidence both positive and negative (that is, what people aren't saying), it seems the likeliest suggested so far. That isn't to say, however, that plenty of gaps and question marks about the operation don't remain.
Bret Stephens (former editor of the Jerusalem Post), "Osirak II?" The Wall Street Journal, September 18, 2007 --- http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119007716759630639.html
Bret Stephens is a member of The Wall Street Journal's editorial board. He joined the Journal in New York in 1998 as a features editor and moved to Brussels the following year to work as an editorial writer for the paper's European edition. In 2002, Mr. Stephens, then 28, became editor-in-chief of the Jerusalem Post, where he was responsible for its news, editorial, electronic and international divisions, and where he also wrote a weekly column. He returned to his present position in late 2004 and was named a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum the following year.

Between 1996 and 2004, the Republican share of the Hispanic vote doubled to more than 40%, only to fall in last year's midterm election to less than 30%. The most recent polls show Hispanics breaking for Democrats over Republicans by 51% to 21%. What gives? To understand this remarkable erosion of Latino support for Republicans, look no further than the most recent Presidential debates. While GOP candidates debated the urgency of erecting a fence from California to Texas along the Mexican border, Democrats debated in Spanish on Univision.
Lou Dobbs, "Hispanics and the GOP September 15, 2007," The Wall Street Journal, September 15, 2007 --- http://online.wsj.com/article/SB118982449974228504.html
Jensen Comment
Democrats may have debated in Spanish, but most of them voted to fence off Mexico. President Bush and leading Republicans speaking in English opposed the fence. Many powerful business leaders oppose the fence. Powerful labor unions support the fence idea, and leading Democrats are voting with the unions. Here's How Our U.S. Senators Voted on Both Fencing Bills: 
http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=109&session=2&vote=00126
http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=109&session=2&vote=00262
Since a majority of Democratic lawmakers are voting for a border fence and Jimmy Carter is calling Israel a modern-day Apartheid, I'm terribly confused by the strength of support for Democrats among Hispanics and Jews. Guess I'll never understand the paradoxes and mysteries of politics.

Forwarded by Dick Haar

AGELESS WIT AND OBSERVATIONS

If you think health care is expensive now, wait until you see what it costs when it's free! -P.J. O'Rourke

A government which robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the support of Paul. - George Bernard Shaw

If you don't read the newspaper you are uninformed, if you do read the newspaper you are misinformed. Mark Twain

Suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of Congress.... But then I repeat myself. -Mark Twain

I contend that for a nation to try to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle. -Winston Churchill

A liberal is someone who feels a great debt to his fellow man, which debt he proposes to pay off with your money. -G Gordon Liddy

Democracy must be something more than two wolves and a sheep voting on what to have for dinner. -James Bovard, Civil Libertarian (1994)

Foreign aid might be defined as a transfer of money from poor people in rich countries to rich people in poor! countries. -Douglas Casey, Classmate of Bill Clinton at Georgetown University

Giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys. -P.J. O'Rourke, Civil Libertarian

Government is the great fiction, through which everybody endeavors to live at the expense of everybody else. -Frederic Bastiat, French Economist (1801-1850)

Government's view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it. -Ronald Reagan (1986)

I don't make jokes. I just watch the government and report the facts. -Will Rogers

In general, the art of government consists of taking as much money as possible from one party of the citizens to give to the other. -Voltaire (1764)

Just because you do not take an interest in politics doesn't mean politics won't take an interest in you! -Pericles (430 B.C.)

No man's life, liberty, or property is safe while the legislature is in session. -Mark Twain (1866 )

Talk is cheap...except when Congress does it. -Unknown

The government is like a baby's alimentary canal, with a happy appetite at one end and no responsibility at the other. -Ronald Reagan

The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of the blessings. The inherent blessing of socialism is the equal sharing of misery. -Winston Churchill

The only difference between a tax man and a taxidermist is that the taxidermist leaves the skin. -Mark Twain

The ultimate result of shielding men from the effects of folly is to fill the world with fools. -Herbert Spencer, English Philosopher (1820-1903)

There is no distinctly Native American criminal class...save Congress. -Mark Twain

What this country needs are more unemployed politicians. -Edward Langley, Artist (1928 - 1995)

A government big enough to give you everything you want, is strong enough to take everything you have. -Thomas Jefferson

I'm sharing some old (well relatively old) accounting theory quiz and exam material that I added to a folder at http://www.cs.trinity.edu/~rjensen/Calgary/CD/

Bob Jensen's Education Technology PowerPoint Files (in development) and Video Samplings --- http://www.cs.trinity.edu/~rjensen/EdTech/

A New Blog for Students of Investment Strategies --- http://bonasimm.blogspot.com/

Bob Jensen's investment helpers are at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Bookbob1.htm#Finance

The cinema, like paintings (and Bill Belichick's video), shows the invisible.
Jean-Luc Godard --- Click Here

Bill Belichick School of Forecasting --- "It's All in the Game"
His filming tactic will be debated in thousands of ethics courses throughout the world --- some arguing cheating and others arguing "its all in the game"
 

"Eric Mangini exposes Bill Belichick's spy games," by Rich Cimini,  NY Daily News, September 12, 2007 --- Click Here 

A former assistant under Bill Belichick, Mangini arrived in New York last year with an insider's knowledge of the Patriots' sign-stealing surveillance tactics and he shared the dirty little secret with members of the Jets' organization, a person with knowledge of the matter informed the Daily News yesterday.

It wasn't until the fifth Mangini-Belichick showdown - last Sunday - that the Jets were able to catch the Patriots. Tipped off by Jets security, an NFL security official confiscated a video camera and tape from a Patriots employee at the Meadowlands, and the evidence is believed to be damning

Jensen Comment
Any of us who played football watched for clues as to what play had been called. Does a linebacker commence to move before the snap when a blitz has been called? Does the quarterback inadvertently lick his fingertips when a pass play is called? Does the fullback tip off when he's next up to get a handoff? Does the left tackle take a difference stance before a line drive versus a pass protection? That's all part of the game. But some things clearly cross the line so to speak. For example, it's been rumored for years that a defensive coordinator for Oklahoma was giving hand signals across the field to Miami coaches in a national title Orange Bowl playoff. Whether true or not, this use of insider private information would be cheating if only Miami coaches had inside knowledge of the signaling code.  But if the Miami coaches were simply studying (without knowing private code) public information from the Oklahoma bench that anybody in the stadium could study, the attribution of "cheating" is more debatable. I think Eric Mangini is more unethical since he used insider information from about his former employer. He's justified in being a whisle blower only if he's reporting something illegal.

Clearly the debate hinges upon what information is allowed to be used during a game. In securities markets, public information is usually allowed and private information, in most instances, is banned by the SEC if investors not privileged to the private inside information are harmed. This is why insider trading is carefully monitored by the SEC. And this is why insiders in the NFL are not allowed to gamble on NFL football games. Insiders seldom can avoid having inside information. And outsiders should not be allowed to have inside information that is not available to all outsiders. But acting upon information available to all outsiders is not, in general, cheating. Being superior at processing public information is part of the game.

The best strategy for teams is to exploit what they think the opposing side has learned. In the crime world this is best known as a “set up.” That too is part of the game. I wonder if Warren Buffet ever thought of this?

There is no great concurrence between learning and wisdom.
Sir Francis Bacon as quoted by Mark Shapiro at http://irascibleprofessor.com/comments-09-09-07.htm

 

Great Deal for Students for MS Office Software
 Microsoft is running a new student promotion, dubbed The Ultimate Steal, which allows eligible college students to purchase Microsoft Office Ultimate 2007 at the discounted price of $60. Office Ultimate includes Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Access, InfoPath, Groove, OneNote, Outlook and Publisher. Office Ultimate 2007 carries a list price of $680, though a quick Google search turned up offers as low as $240.The offer comes with a 30 day free trial (which is also available to non-students via the Office website) and the deal expires April 30 2008. The offer is available to students in the U.S., Canada and the U.K. Microsoft recently ran a similar promotion (now expired) in Australia, and, judging by the way that one worked, the new deals will likely be limited to select schools and you'll need access to your university .edu e-mail account.
Scott Gilbertson, "Students: Grab Office Ultimate 2007 For $60," Wired News, September 12, 2007 --- http://blog.wired.com/monkeybites/

September 12, 2007 reply from a friend

Students can download fully-functional office suite software for FREE at http://www.openoffice.org/ 

and never have to worry about their student licenses to Microsoft expiring.

September 12, 2007 reply from Bob Jensen

I don’t think this free software is as full-featured as MS Office or fully compatible when reading and editing MS Office files such as Excel workbooks, although I must admit that Open Office is getting better and better (see below).  Most open source office products (including those from Google) are not full-featured with such things as pivot tables/charts, goal seek, solver, and all the built in math, statistical, and other functions. .

I suspect Microsoft has greater fear of student installation of illegally pirated MS Office software. The relatively low $60 student full-featured version may be Microsoft’s effort to reduce student pirating. I wish Microsoft similarly worried as much about faculty pirating.

It would be a terribly inefficient market if Microsoft could make billions of dollars selling a product when equal or better products are available free to anybody in the world. I doubt that Trinity or most other organizations or most students will abandon MS Office for years to come, although I’m a big fan of open sharing --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/000aaa/updateee.htm#OKI 

A problem for most students is that, when they eventually enter the job market, most employers will want them to know or learn MS Office. Becoming familiar with MS Office as a student saves a lot of trouble somewhere down the road.

However, thank you for the link. You might also note the free Google Office alternative.
Google Office --- http://news.com.com/8301-10784_3-6156207-7.html?tag=yt 

If anybody eventually destroys Microsoft it will probably be Google, although Google claims that it has no such intentions in spite of its occasional facing off against Microsoft in court.

Mac users might also note the recently improved ability to run Windows and MS Office software on a Mac X "Parallels Updates Desktop For Mac, Makes Windows Integration Even Tighter," by Michael Calore, Wired News, September 11, 2007 --- http://blog.wired.com/monkeybites/2007/09/parallels-updat.html#more 

Bob Jensen

What is the future outlook for Open Office --- http://www.openoffice.org/
What is Open Office XML --- http://www.ecma-international.org/publications/standards/Ecma-376.htm   
How seriously do these open sharing initiatives threaten MS Office that is crucial to the survival of Microsoft Corporation?

 

What is Open Office? --- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_Office
This site provides some useful comparisons, many of them are encouraging in terms of compatibility with both MS Office and multiple operating systems, including Linux.

Although Microsoft Office retains 95% of the general market, OpenOffice.org and StarOffice have secured 14% of the large enterprise market as of 2004[36] and 19% of the small to midsize business market in 2005.[37] The OpenOffice.org web site reports more than 62.5 million downloads.[38]

OpenOffice.org is the office suite used on the British Army’s Bowman deployable tactical communications system. Other large scale users of OpenOffice.org include Singapore’s Ministry of Defence, and Bristol City Council in the UK. In France, OpenOffice.org has attracted the attention of both local and national government administrations who wish to rationalize their software procurement, as well as have stable, standard file formats for archival purposes. It is now the official office suite for the French Gendarmerie.[39] Several government organizations in India, such as IIT Bombay - a reputed technical institute, the Supreme Court of India, the Allahabad High Court[40], which use Linux, completely rely on OpenOffice.org for their administration.

On October 4, 2005, Sun and Google announced a strategic partnership. As part of this agreement, Sun will add a Google search bar to OpenOffice.org, Sun and Google will engage in joint marketing activities as well as joint research and development, and Google will help distribute OpenOffice.org.[41]

Besides StarOffice, there are still a number of OpenOffice.org derived commercial products. Most of them are developed under SISSL license (which is valid up to OpenOffice.org 2.0 Beta 2). In general they are targeted at local or niche market, with proprietary add-ons such as speech recognition module, automatic database connection, or better CJK support.[42]

In July 2007 Everex, a division of First International Computer and the 9th largest PC supplier in the US, began shipping systems preloaded with OpenOffice.org 2.2 into Wal-Mart and Sam's Club throughout North America.

Also see http://apcmag.com/4849/open_office_hits_2_1

Until I read the above modules, I was not aware how far along OpenOffice.org software has traveled. I sent an Excel file to a computer scientist who is an avid fan of the Linux operating system. The file I sent him uses Excel's IRR financial function to compute the internal rate of return of a stream of cash flows. His Linux Open Office spreadsheet not only read my Excel file, it computed the IRR when he varied the cash flows.

"Microsoft Office versus Open Office shootout," by George Ou, September 14, 2005 --- http://blogs.techrepublic.com.com/Ou/?p=101 

"New Zealand Automobile Association has just announced that it is dropping Open Office and switching back to MS Office," Computer World, July 16, 2007 --- http://computerworld.co.nz/news.nsf/tech/A6AB17B34B1BA81ECC2573160079BFBC

Open-source programs step on 235 Microsoft patents, the company said. Free Linux software violates 42 patents. Graphical user interfaces, the way menus and windows look on the screen, breach 65. E-mail programs step on 15, and other programs touch 68 other patents, the company said. The patent figures were first reported by Fortune magazine.
Technology Review, May 15, 2007 --- http://www.technologyreview.com/Wire/18737/
This is doubted and disputed, August 7, 2007  --- Click Here

"Desktop Linux Is All About Office," by Joe Wilcox,  eWeek, August 7, 2007 --- Click Here

I'm not convinced that any of these efforts are all that effective on the server, because of where and how Linux is used there. The desktop is another matter because:

Jensen Comment
I would certainly like know about research studies regarding the following:

What is Open Office XML? --- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Office_Open_XML

Open Office XML is extremely important to the future of global financial reporting as the world's financial statements are being marked up (tagged) in the XML-based XBRL --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/XBRLandOLAP.htm

Many of the above questions raised about Open Office also are questions for Open Office XML.

The Long and Varied History of Nigerian Scams

September 18, 2007 questions from Robert Blystone [rblyston@trinity.edu]

I have won the British Lottery a number of times now and I seem to have many friends in trouble in Nigeria. But I have seen two new scams over the course of the last week.

Today I have received the Middlesex Masonic Award. I just have to answer the email to receive the 1.5 million dollar Masonic award to do good deeds. Has anyone else seen variants on this Masonic theme? A web site was listed for this one.

Then last week I received an email from an American Iraq veteran who had a Chile email address who wanted me to help him and his buddies move 10.5 million out of Iraq so he could help the daughter of a now deceased comrade. This one had several web sites I was to visit.

How new are these scams and have the rest of you seen these before?

Just curious.

Bob Blystone

September 18, 2007 reply from Bob Jensen

Hi Bob,

I've not seen the latest scams you mention, although I've probably won the British, Canadian, and German lotteries more often than you've won them.

Sadly, I still could not afford to send payments to clear the taxes on the billions I've now inherited in the U.K., South Africa, etc. Most of these are secretly Nigerian scams. Aside from oil, the largest single sources of foreign currency in Nigeria are those 421 frauds.

Trivia Question Why are the Nigerian scams called "421 Scams?"

Nigerian scams are particularly fascinating because there are so many variations and such a long history (even before the Internet and email) --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/FraudReporting.htm#NigerianFraud 

Especially note the Nigerian Fraud Email Gallery linked above.

Also note how to scam the scammers! (British online vigilante "Shiver Metimbers")

Bob Jensen

 

"Sprint Nextel rolls out comparison shopping service for wireless phones," MIT's Technology Review, September 14, 2007 --- http://www.technologyreview.com/Wire/19385/

Bob Jensen's consumer helpers are at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Bookbob3.htm

Journal of Accountancy's Fraud Frequency Charts, September 2007 --- http://www.aicpa.org/pubs/jofa/sep2007/ataglance.htm#Frequency

Bob Jensen's links to fraud documents --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Fraud.htm

Stanley Zarowin's Technology Q&A in the September 2007 edition of the Journal of Accountancy --- http://www.aicpa.org/pubs/jofa/sep2007/tech_qa.htm

If you, like me, sometimes forget some of the Windows options (taskbar, systems tray, startup, quick launch, etc.), check out the above link.

Also note his link to a great backup battery power source --- http://www.aicpa.org/pubs/jofa/mar2007/tech_qa.htm#POWER

"Students’ ‘Evolving’ Use of Technology," by Andy Guess, Inside Higher Ed, September 17, 2007 --- http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2007/09/17/it

Stop the presses: Today’s college students are using more technology than ever.

That may not be the most surprising finding from a report released last week by the Educause Center for Applied Research, the analytical arm of the nonprofit group that promotes effective technology use in higher education. But it certainly provides a jumping-off point for an investigation into how students use information technology in college and how it can be harnessed to improve the learning experience.

In at least one central respect, proponents of technology in the classroom are on to something: Most students (60.9 percent) believe it improves their learning.

The changes in technological habits aren’t revolutionary per se, as the authors point out; rather, students are making “evolutionary” gains in access to the Internet for everyday uses, inside the classroom and out. Perhaps the most visible of these changes is the continuing increase in the proportion of students with laptops, which has grown to 73.7 percent of respondents (while an almost-total 98.4 percent own a computer of some kind). More surprisingly, over half of laptop owners don’t bring them to class at all, with about a quarter carrying them to lectures at least once a week.

The amount of time spent on the Internet also shows no sign of abating, with an average of about 18 hours a week, for any purpose — and, on the extreme end, some 6.6 percent of respondents (mostly male) saying they spend more than a full-time job’s worth of 40 hours online a week. Most students use broadband, more are on wireless connections, and “smart phones” — all-in-one communications and personal data assistants — are also on the rise, with 12 percent owning one.

What they’re doing when they’re online is also changing somewhat, with the rise of Facebook and other social networking sites as the clearest trend this year (to 80.3 percent from 72.3 percent in 2006), along with streaming video and course management software, which 46.1 percent of respondents said they use several times a week or more (compared with 39.6 percent in 2006).

The authors of the study, which surveyed 27,864 students at 103 two- and four-year colleges and universities, note that most undergraduates today are “digital natives” who have grown up immersed in technology in some form. But the “millennials” aren’t necessarily ready to cast off the yoke of human interaction and learn solely within virtual 3-D environments wired directly to the brain. The study finds “themes of skepticism and moderation alongside enthusiasm,” such that 59 percent preferred a “moderate rather than extensive use of IT in courses.”

Instead, students appear to segment different modes of communication for different purposes. E-mail, Web sites, message boards and Blackboard? Viable ways of connecting with professors and peers. Same for chat, instant messagin