October 2007 Update on Erika --- She can
now drive herself!
In January 2007, surgeons broke Erika's back in three places and reconstructed
her spine with an extraordinary amount of titanium. I'm pleased to say that on
October 3 she drove the Jeep Cherokee all by herself. This 1999 Jeep is our
winter car with all-wheel drive for deep snow. Our summer car is a 1989 Cadillac
that I inherited from my father in 2001.Because the summer car has lower seats,
Erika still cannot get out of that car without help. However, she can get in and
out of the Jeep by herself and drive to and from town by herself. She's
contended over the years that the Jeep is a more comfortable car, at least for
her, than our old Cadillac. Since the Jeep's snow tires make a rather loud whine
on the highway, I tend to prefer the summer car in the summer.
You can read about Erika's surgeries and see
her pictures at
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Erika2007.htm
Other pictures are at
http://www.cs.trinity.edu/~rjensen/PictureHistory/

Ann Margaret in Viet Nam in 1966
Ann Margaret Videos
The Early Years ---
http://www.ann-margret.com/1961_1969.htm
Updates ---
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ann_Margaret
In March 1966, Ann-Margret and
entertainers Chuck Day and Mickey Jones teamed up for a USO tour to entertain
U.S. servicemen
in remote parts of Vietnam and other parts of Southeast
Asia. She still has great affection for the veterans and refers to them as "my
gentlemen."
Ann-Margret, Day and Jones reunited in November 2005
for an encore of this tour for veterans and troops at Nellis Air Force Base,
Nevada.
Forwarded by a Very Good Friend
Also see
http://www.snopes.com/politics/military/margret.asp
Richard , (my husband), never really talked a lot
about his time in Viet Nam other than he had been shot by a sniper. However,
he had a rather grainy, 8 x 10 black and white photo he had taken at a USO
show of Ann Margaret with Bob Hope in the background that was one of his
treasures.
A few years ago, Ann Margaret was doing a book
signing at a local bookstore. Richard wanted to see if he could get h er to
sign the treasured photo so he arrived at the bookstore at 12 o'clock for
the 7:30 signing.
When I got there after work, the line went all the
way around the bookstore, circled the parking lot and disappeared behind a
parking garage. Before her appearance, bookstore employees announced that
she would sign only her book and no memorabilia would be permitted.
Richard was disappointed, but wanted to show her
the photo and let her know how much those shows meant to lonely GI's so far
from home. Ann Margaret came out looking as beautiful as ever and, as second
in line, it was soon Richard 's turn.
He presented the book for her signature and then
took out the photo. When he did, there were many shout s from the employees
that she would not sign it. Richard said, "I understand. I just wanted her
to see it."
She took one look at the photo, tears welled up in
her eyes and she said, "This is one of my gentlemen from Viet Nam and I most
certainly will sign his photo. I know what these men did for their country
and I always have time for 'my gentlemen.'"
With that, she pulled Richard across the table and
planted a big kiss on him. She then made quite a to-do about the bravery of
the young men she met over the years, how much she admired them, and how
much she appreciated them. There weren't too many dry eyes among those close
enough to hear She then posed for pictures and acted as if he were the only
one there
Later at dinner, Richard was very quiet. When I
asked if he'd like to talk about it, my big strong husband broke down in
tears. "That's the first time anyone ever thanked me for my time in the
Army," he said
That night was a turning point for him. He walked a
little straighter and, for the first time in years, was proud to have been a
Vet. I'll never forget Ann Margaret for her graciousness and how much that
small act of kindness meant to my husband.
I now make it a point to say "Thank you" to every
person I come across who served in our Armed Forces. Freedom does not come
cheap and I am grateful for all those who have served their country.
If you'd like to pass on this story, feel free to
do so. Perhaps it will help others to become aware of how important it is to
acknowledge the contribution our service people make.
On behalf of those who DO appreciate all that you
did for us, thank you to each of you who receive this message who have
served or are serving our country in the armed services or any other
service.
The sad and often
unspoken truth of the matter is this: Americans have been conditioned less to
understand Iraq's complex military reality than to feel sorry for those who are
part of it. The media struggles in good faith to respect our troops, but too
often it merely pities them. I am generalizing, of course. Indeed, there are
regular, stellar exceptions, quite often in the most prominent liberal
publications, from our best military correspondents. But exceptions don't quite
cut it amidst the barrage of "news," which too often descends into therapy for
those who are not fighting, rather than matter-of-fact stories related by those
who are. As one battalion commander complained to me, in words repeated by other
soldiers and marines: "Has anyone noticed that we now have a volunteer Army? I'm
a warrior. It's my job to fight." Every journalist has a different network of
military contacts. Mine come at me with the following theme: We want to be
admired for our technical proficiency--for what we do, not for what we suffer.
We are not victims. We are privileged . . . The media is but one example of the
slow crumbling of the nation-state at the upper layers of the social crust--a
process that because it is so gradual, is also deniable by those in the midst of
it. It will take another event on the order of 9/11 or greater to change the
direction we are headed. Contrary to popular belief, the events of 9/11--which
are perceived as an isolated incident--did not fundamentally change our nation.
They merely interrupted an ongoing trend toward the
decay of nationalism and the devaluation of heroism.
Robert E. Kaplan, "Modern Heroes Our
soldiers like what they do. They want our respect, not pity," The Wall Street
Journal, October 4, 2007 ---
http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=110010686
Experiencing the War: Stories from the
Veterans History Project (Ken Burns) ---
http://www.loc.gov/vets/stories/thewar/
MASH in Action --- This one is unbelievable
but true!
How to treat a wounded soldier with an embedded live RPG ---
http://www.militarytimes.com/multimedia/video/rpg_surgery
Bravo America ---
http://www.newmediajournal.us/staff/huston/10082007.htm
Bravo America ---
http://www.cs.trinity.edu/~rjensen/video/BravoAmerica.asf
Tidbits on October 10, 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
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/
Enter you zip code to get Census Bureau comparisons ---
http://zipskinny.com/
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
Rob Sutton on how to deal with jerks (assholes) at work:
Should you hire at least one in your department?
Rob Sutton, Professor of Management Science and Engineering at Stanford
University, talks about his "No Asshole Rule" and why he is trying to perfect
indifference (Video) ---
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/career_and_jobs/article2393769.ece
In his literal last lecture at Carnegie-Mellon, Randy Pausch said something to
the effect that if there’s a jerk you really don’t like, be patient and wait
long enough and the jerk will most likely do something that you really like
(other than dropping dead). That's truly been my experience, although jerks
typically go back to being jerks.
Watch Randy’s entire last lecture (streaming
video or Google video for 1 hour plus 45 minutes) ---
http://cmu.edu/uls/journeys/
YouTube has formally announced a new, official channel of
political videos called CitizenTube. Edited by Steve Grove, YouTube’s News &
Politics Editor, the channel appears intended to aggregate select political
videos already appearing on the rest of the site. ---
http://sunsite3.berkeley.edu/govblog/?p=269
Winners of KPMG's Integrity/Ethics Videos Contest ---
http://www.kpmgcampus.com/whoweare/ethics.shtml
I linked to this several months ago, but it's worth a second
look.
How NOT To Use Powerpoint By Comedian Don McMillan ---
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HLpjrHzgSRM
Garfield - The Record Breaker Russian subs ---
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hzNgUdDxHVI
Homemade video tutorial on streaming media ---
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KNDZg-YtE48
Homemade video tutorial (very basic) on how to record
streaming audio on your PC ---
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RPHSDOyj5f8
Note the passing reference to a free sound recorder called Audacity ---
http://audacity.sourceforge.net/
Note that if you are watching a lecture video that's pretty much a talking head,
it saves a lot, I mean a LOT, of file space to only capture the audio.
This might, for example, work very well when capturing parts of the many
UC Berkeley, YouTube, Yale, or Harvard video lectures ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/000aaa/updateee.htm#OKI
Just in case source streams disappear from the Internet, I suggest capturing
what's important to you and saving to external media such as a CD or DVD disk.
Capturing also allows you to only capture what is relevant to you or your
students without having to spend a lot of time waiting for the good parts.
Audio interview with one of the eleven openly-gay college
presidents in the U.S. Roosevelt University's Charles R. Middleton
discusses sexual orientation discrimination among college presidents, contrary
to the mission statements of most colleges ---
http://chronicle.com/media/audio/v54/i07/middleton/
WSJ Video of the World Bank's Ranking of the Best and Worst
Places to Do Business ---
Click Here
Top Nations out of 178 Countries That Welcome Foreign
Operations:
- Singapore
- New Zealand
- United States (would have been higher except for an
excessively complicated tax code better known as the CPA Full Employment
Act)
Low Ranking Countries Highlighted
in the Videos:
- Argentina (113% corporate profit tax rate unless you
cheat)
- Brazil (takes an average of
2,600 hours to fill in tax forms)
- Venezuela and Bolivia (cannot fire even the most
lazy, worthless, and drug addicted workers.)
Allegedly it's as bad as trying to fire a U.S. Civil Service employee.
"Doing Business 2008: Making a Difference," International
Finance Corporation ---
http://ifc.org/ifcext/media.nsf/Content/Doing_Business_2008
MASH in Action --- This one is unbelievable but true!
How to treat a wounded soldier with an embedded live RPG ---
http://www.militarytimes.com/multimedia/video/rpg_surgery
Free music downloads ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/music.htm
Born in Baltimore, Md., on April 7, 1915, Holiday
had an affinity for jazz from childhood. Her father, Clarence, was a rhythm
guitarist for Fletcher Henderson's Orchestra, and Holiday recalls "many a
wonderful hour" spent listening and singing along to Louis Armstrong and Bessie
Smith on the Victrola at a local whorehouse. Holiday ran errands for Alice, the
brothel's proprietor, and gladly accepted hours of listening time in place of
payment.
Billie Holiday: 'Lady Sings the Blues' (Full Concert) ---
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=14894620
The Life of Billie Holiday ---
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billie_Holiday
Gaetano Donizetti is a composer who seems to defy
categorization. He wrote more than five dozen operas, and his works are nearly
impossible to cubbyhole. He became a master of dark, historical dramas, with
works like Anna Bolena and Maria Stuarda, and his Lucia di Lammermoor is among
the finest examples of romantic tragedy.
Donizetti's 'The Daughter of the Regiment' (Acts 1 and 2) ---
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=14776446
Baltimore's Confident New Conductor Marin Alsop
Ushers in New Era for the Baltimore Symphony ---
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=14732880
Tater People ---
http://www.frontiernet.net/%7Ejimdandy/specials/sweettators/
Link Forwarded by Richard Reams,
[rreams@trinity.edu]
Leonard Bernstein, one of the
greatest American composers who wrote the scores to classic shows like "West
Side Story" and "Candide," is the first of 31 gay, lesbian, bisexual and
transgender Icons featured throughout October.
Each day, a new Icon's video, biography and bibliography becomes available at
www.glbtHistoryMonth.com.
Leonard Bernstein
Photographs and Art
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
Experiencing the War: Stories from the Veterans History
Project (Ken Burns) ---
http://www.loc.gov/vets/stories/thewar/
The "Mahdiyya" Qur'an ---
http://www.comp.leeds.ac.uk/mahdiyya-quran/index.shtml
Vagabox Quotations ---
http://www.vagabox.com/vagabox03.html
Painted with Words: Vincent van Gogh's
Letters to Emile Bernard ---
http://www.themorgan.org/collections/swf/exhibOnline.asp?id=600
Also see Van Gogh's Letters ---
http://webexhibits.org/vangogh/
The White Company by Arthur Conan
Doyle ---
Click Here
The Wrecker by Robert Louis
Stevenson ---
Click Here
A Tale Of A Tub by Jonathan Swift
(1667-1745)
---
Click Here
My good neighbors forwarded this link.
"What Ails the Short Story, by Stephen King, The New York Times Sunday Book
Review, September 30, 2007 ---
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/30/books/review/King2-t.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
. . . We could argue all day about the
reasons for fiction’s out-migration from the eye-level shelves — people
have. We could marvel over the fact that Britney Spears is available at
every checkout, while an American talent like William Gay or Randy DeVita or
Eileen Pollack or Aryn Kyle (all of whom were among my final picks) labors
in relative obscurity. We could, but let’s not. It’s almost beside the
point, and besides — it hurts.
Instead, let us consider what the bottom
shelf does to writers who still care, sometimes passionately, about the
short story. What happens when he or she realizes that his or her audience
is shrinking almost daily? Well, if the writer is worth his or her salt, he
or she continues on nevertheless, because it’s what God or genetics
(possibly they are the same) has decreed, or out of sheer stubbornness, or
maybe because it’s such a kick to spin tales. Possibly a combination. And
all that’s good.
What’s not so good is that writers write
for whatever audience is left. In too many cases, that audience happens to
consist of other writers and would-be writers who are reading the various
literary magazines (and The New Yorker, of course, the holy grail of the
young fiction writer) not to be entertained but to get an idea of what sells
there. And this kind of reading isn’t real reading, the kind where you just
can’t wait to find out what happens next (think “Youth,” by Joseph Conrad,
or “Big Blonde,” by Dorothy Parker). It’s more like copping-a-feel reading.
There’s something yucky about it.
Last year, I read scores of stories that
felt ... not quite dead on the page, I won’t go that far, but airless,
somehow, and self-referring. These stories felt show-offy rather than
entertaining, self-important rather than interesting, guarded and
self-conscious rather than gloriously open, and worst of all, written for
editors and teachers rather than for readers. The chief reason for all this,
I think, is that bottom shelf. It’s tough for writers to write (and editors
to edit) when faced with a shrinking audience. Once, in the days of the old
Saturday Evening Post, short fiction was a stadium act; now it can barely
fill a coffeehouse and often performs in the company of nothing more than an
acoustic guitar and a mouth organ. If the stories felt airless, why not?
When circulation falters, the air in the room gets stale.
And yet. I read plenty of great stories
this year. There isn’t a single one in this book that didn’t delight me,
that didn’t make me want to crow, “Oh, man, you gotta read this!” I think of
such disparate stories as Karen Russell’s “St. Lucy’s Home for Girls Raised
by Wolves,” John Barth’s “Toga Party” and “Wake,” by Beverly Jensen, now
deceased, and I think — marvel, really — they paid me to read these! Are you
kiddin’ me???
Talent can’t help itself; it roars along
in fair weather or foul, not sparing the fireworks. It gets emotional. It
struts its stuff. If these stories have anything in common, it’s that sense
of emotional involvement, of flipped-out amazement. I look for stories that
care about my feelings as well as my intellect, and when I find one that is
all-out emotionally assaultive — like “Sans Farine,” by Jim Shepard — I grab
that baby and hold on tight. Do I want something that appeals to my critical
nose? Maybe later (and, I admit it, maybe never). What I want to start with
is something that comes at me full-bore, like a big, hot meteor screaming
down from the Kansas sky. I want the ancient pleasure that probably goes
back to the cave: to be blown clean out of myself for a while, as violently
as a fighter pilot who pushes the eject button in his F-111. I certainly
don’t want some fraidy-cat’s writing school imitation of Faulkner, or some
stream-of-consciousness about what Bob Dylan once called “the true meaning
of a pear.”
So — American short story alive? Check.
American short story well? Sorry, no, can’t say so. Current condition
stable, but apt to deteriorate in the years ahead. Measures to be taken? I
would suggest you start by reading this year’s “Best American Short
Stories.” They show how vital short stories can be when they are done with
heart, mind and soul by people who care about them and think they still
matter. They do still matter, and here they are, liberated from the bottom
shelf.
Stephen King is the author of 60 books, as well as
nearly 400 short stories, including “The Man in the Black Suit,” which won
the O. Henry Prize in 1996.
I am strongly in favor of using poisoned gas against
uncivilized tribes. The moral effect should be good and it would spread a lively
terror.
Winston Churchill commenting on the
British use of poison gas against the Iraqis after World War I
The Ottoman Empire joined the Central Powers in the war, the secret
Ottoman-German Alliance having been signed in August 1914. It threatened
Russia’s Caucasian territories and Britain’s communications with India via the
Suez Canal. The British and French opened overseas fronts with the Gallipoli
(1915) and Mesopotamian campaigns ---
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_I#Ottoman_Empire
Poison Gas in World War I ---
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poison_gas_in_World_War_I
the British Army embraced gas with enthusiasm and mounted more gas attacks than
any other combatant.[citation needed] This was due partly to the British
spending most of the latter years of the war on the offensive ---
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poison_gas_in_World_War_I#British_gas_attacks
The British used adamsite against Russian revolutionary troops in 1919 and
mustard against Iraqi insurgents in the 1920s; Spain used chemical weapons in
Morocco against Rif tribesmen throughout the 1920s] and Italy used mustard gas
in Libya in 1930 and again during its invasion of Ethiopia in 1936.[19] In 1925,
a Chinese warlord, Zhang Zuolin, contracted a German company to build him a
mustard gas plant in Shenyang, which was completed in 1927 ---
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poison_gas_in_World_War_I#British_gas_attacks
I sometimes think that God in creating man somewhat
overestimated his ability.
Oscar Wilde ---
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oscar_Wilde
I hit him to get his attention. I shot him to calm
him down. I killed him to reason with him.
Henry Rollins ---
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Rollins
It does me no injury for my neighbor to say there
are twenty gods, or no God. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg.
Thomas Jefferson ---
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Jefferson
A celibate clergy is an especially good idea,
because it tends to suppress any hereditary propensity toward fanaticism.
Carl Sagan ---
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Sagan
If English was good enough for Jesus, it's good
enough for them Mexican immigrants.
Texas politician
If you speak the truth, have one foot in the
stirrup.
Turkish proverb
Facts are always popping up to confuse the theories.
Carlo Dossi ---
Click Here
In response to a warning letter sent by Shurat HaDin
to the Israeli Government Press Office (GPO) more than 9 months ago, GPO
Director Danny Seaman has written a formal acknowledgment that FRANCE 2
Television staged the infamous news footage depicting a Palestinian child being
shot to death by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) in September 2000. This is the
first time in the seven years since the footage broadcast that the Prime
Minister's Office has confirmed that a journalistic fraud had been perpetrated
against the IDF by government owned FRANCE 2 television. Shurat HaDin had
written Seaman contending that mounting evidence proved that cameramen and news
editors from FRANCE 2 had deliberately staged and then misleadingly edited the
footage aired by the French government television on in September 2000. The
emotional footage, repeatedly broadcast around the world on CNN and other cable
stations, ignited anti-Israeli violence in the Palestinian Authority and Israeli
Arab communities and spurred international condemnation of the IDF. The
Palestinian youth Muhammad al-Dura, allegedly seen being killed in the video
footage, became the poster child in the Arab world for the current intifada
violence and fueled hundreds of terror attacks against Israeli citizens and
Jewish communities worldwide. Thousands of Jews and Arabs have been killed in
the ensuing violence following the broadcast. The Shurat HaDin letter demanded
that, in light of the fraudulent broadcast and the grievous harm that it
unleashed against Israel as well as the massive numbers of victims attributable
to the fake footage, Seaman must strip FRANCE 2 of its press credentials.
October 1, 2007 email from Naomi Ragen
[nragen@netvision.net.il]
and
http://www.israellawcenter.org/
Jensen Comment
But the biased media has already done its irreparable damage for the past seven
years.
So what's wrong about Canada's health care system?
Canada's Health Care Plan: A Personal Sicko Experience ---
Click Here
Sixty-seven percent of American employees are living
paycheck to paycheck, according to results released this week from the 2007
"Getting Paid In America" survey. The online survey by the American Payroll
Association asked respondents how difficult it would be to meet their current
financial obligations if their paycheck were delayed for a week. An overwhelming
31,640 of more than 47,000 respondents said they'd find it difficult to meet
their financial obligations if their paycheck were delayed. This is a 2 percent
increase from 2006 . . .
AccountingWeb, September October
2006, 2007 ---
http://www.accountingweb.com/cgi-bin/item.cgi?id=104038
Faculty
members identify as liberals and vote Democratic in far greater
proportions than found in the American public at large. That
finding by itself won’t shock many, but the national study
released Saturday at a Harvard University symposium may be
notable both for its methodology and other, more surprising
findings. The 72-page study —
“The Social and Political Views of American Professors”
— was produced with the goal of moving
analysis of the political views of faculty members out of the
culture wars and back to social science. The study offers at
times harsh criticism of many of the analyses of these issues in
recent years (both from those hoping to tag the professoriate as
foolishly radical and those seeking to rebut those charges). The
study included community college professors along with four-year
institutions, and featured analysis of non-responders to the
survey (two features missing from many recent reports). The
results of the study find a professoriate that may be less
liberal than is widely assumed, even if conservatives are
correctly assumed to be in a distinct minority. The authors
present evidence that there are more faculty members who
identify as moderates than as liberals. The authors of the study
also found evidence of a
significant decline by age group in faculty radicalism,
with younger faculty members less likely than their older
counterparts to identify as radical or activist. And while the
study found that faculty members generally hold what are thought
to be liberal positions on social issues, professors are divided
on affirmative action in college admissions.
Thousands of protesters are dead and the bodies of
hundreds of executed monks have been dumped in the jungle, a former intelligence
officer for Burma's ruling junta has revealed. The most senior official to
defect so far, Hla Win, said: "Many more people have been killed in recent days
than you've heard about. The bodies can be counted in several thousand." Mr Win,
who spoke out as a Swedish diplomat predicted that the revolt has failed, said
he fled when he was ordered to take part in a massacre of holy men.
Marcus Oscarsso, "Burma: Thousands
dead in massacre of the monks dumped in the jungle," London Daily Mail,
October 10, 2007 ---
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/worldnews.html?in_article_id=484903
A public access television
station in Aspen, which boasts of being the first such station in the nation,
for the first time in remembrance has decided to squash a movie – at least for
now – targeting an Australian production that denies the Holocaust happened and
affirms the gas chambers saved lives by disinfecting prisoners. The controversy
has stirred up the trendy Aspen, where the local public access television
station, after 35 years of service, rarely creates turmoil and more often
features the heart-pounding action of the local high school football team, or
local school theatrical productions. But in this case, the words have been
strong. The video is "very offensive,"
GrassRoots TV board
president Alan Feldman told the local Aspen Daily News. "Especially with my
background. I'm Jewish. My family was murdered in the Holocaust."
WorldNetDaily, October 9, 2007 ---
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=58048
Aung San Suu Kyi, Burma's Nobel Peace Prize
laureate, described the lessons she had learned from her country's Hsayadaws,
its Buddhist holy teachers, in an article for a Japanese newspaper in 1996. One
of them told her what it would be like to fight for democracy in Burma: "You
will be attacked and reviled for engaging in honest politics, but you must
persevere. Lay down an investment in dukkha [suffering] and you will gain sukha
[bliss]."
Philip Delves, Broughton, The Wall Street Journal, October 4, 2007
---
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119144623100748099.html
Two Saudi men were to receive 7,000 lashes each for
committing ``homosexual acts,'' Saudi Okaz newspaper reported Thursday. Saudi
authorities started executing the court order Tuesday, which had been divided
into separate phases, the report added. Another Saudi man, meanwhile, was to
receive 470 lashes separately for doing drugs and resisting the security forces.
The Saudi judiciary system is based on the strict principles of Islamic sharia
law.
Deutsche Presse via email, no url, October 4, 2007 ---
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1906428/posts
This story is about a two-part process that led to
unbelievable decisions. First, the Veterans' Committee took away benefits from
some very deserving American veterans. Second, the committee gave benefits to
veterans of another country who don't live in the United States, and never have
lived in this country or been American citizens. I opposed both actions.
Representative Mike Turner
(Republican from Ohio's Third Congressional District) , "Democrats give away
veterans' benefits," The Times-Gazette, October 4, 2007 ---
http://www.timesgazette.com/main.asp?Search=1&ArticleID=147067&SectionID=1&SubSectionID=&S=1
Richard H. Brodhead, Duke University’s president,
gave a
speech
Saturday in which he apologized for several decisions and inactions taken by the
institution in responding to rape allegations against four of its lacrosse
players — allegations that have since been discredited. Brodhead defended Duke’s
basic approach of saying that the alleged crime would have been terrible, but
that the accused students needed to be presumed innocent. But he also expressed
regrets, for which he apologized. “First and foremost, I regret our failure to
reach out to the lacrosse players and their families in this time of
extraordinary peril,” he said. He also said that some professors and that some
of their comments were “ill-judged and divisive.” While the professors “had the
right to express their views,” he said. “the public as well as the accused
students and their families could have thought that those were expressions of
the university as a whole. They were not, and we could have done more to
underscore that.” In addition, Brodhead said that “by deferring to the criminal
justice system to the extent we did and not repeating the need for the
presumption of innocence equally vigorously at all the key moments, we may have
helped create the impression that we did not care about our students. This was
not the case, and I regret it as well.”
Inside Higher Ed, October 1, 2007 ---
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2007/10/01/qt
Russia is again flexing its aviation muscles,
resuming Cold War-like global operations in ways that create new complications
for the United States Air Force. On Aug. 17, Russian bombers flying long-range
missions fanned out from the North Pole over the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans,
inaugurating what Russian President Vladimir V. Putin called a permanent return
to strategic aviation operations.
John A. Tirp, "Bear in the Air,
Air Force Magazine, October 2007 ---
http://www.afa.org/magazine/oct2007/1007watch.asp
Then there's the not-so-little matter of North
Korea's continuing missile proliferation. Last week the State Department's
Bureau of International Security and Nonproliferation announced new sanctions
against a North Korean company for spreading missile technology. The company --
Korean Mining and Development Corp., or Komid -- is a long-time offender. The
U.S. Treasury last year called it "Pyongyang's premier arms dealer and main
exporter of goods and weapons related to ballistic missiles and conventional
weapons." The new State Department finding reads: "A determination has been made
that a North Korean entity has engaged in activities that require the imposition
of measures pursuant to the Arms Export Control Act, as amended, and the Export
Administration Act of 1979 . . ." Since little happens in North Korea without
the regime knowing, this is evidence that Kim is still in the proliferation
business.
"Nuclear Secrets," The Wall Street Journal, October 2,
2007; Page A16 ---
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119128934994945989.html?mod=todays_us_opinion
The sad and often unspoken truth of the matter is
this: Americans have been conditioned less to understand Iraq's complex military
reality than to feel sorry for those who are part of it. The media struggles in
good faith to respect our troops, but too often it merely pities them. I am
generalizing, of course. Indeed, there are regular, stellar exceptions, quite
often in the most prominent liberal publications, from our best military
correspondents. But exceptions don't quite cut it amidst the barrage of "news,"
which too often descends into therapy for those who are not fighting, rather
than matter-of-fact stories related by those who are. As one battalion commander
complained to me, in words repeated by other soldiers and marines: "Has anyone
noticed that we now have a volunteer Army? I'm a warrior. It's my job to fight."
Every journalist has a different network of military contacts. Mine come at me
with the following theme: We want to be admired for our technical
proficiency--for what we do, not for what we suffer. We are not victims. We are
privileged . . . The media is but one example of the slow crumbling of the
nation-state at the upper layers of the social crust--a process that because it
is so gradual, is also deniable by those in the midst of it. It will take
another event on the order of 9/11 or greater to change the direction we are
headed. Contrary to popular belief, the events of 9/11--which are perceived as
an isolated incident--did not fundamentally change our nation. They merely
interrupted an ongoing trend toward the decay of nationalism and the devaluation
of heroism.
Robert E. Kaplan, "Modern Heroes Our
soldiers like what they do. They want our respect, not pity," The Wall Street
Journal, October 4, 2007 ---
http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=110010686
Officials said several leading aides to Al Qaida
network chief Abu Ayoub Al Masri have been killed by the U.S.-led coalition.
They said two out of the four foreign aides of Al Masri remain alive. On Sept.
25, the U.S. military killed an Al Qaida chief deemed responsible for
transporting foreign operatives to Iraq. The Al Qaida commander, identified as
Abu Osama Al Tunisi, was killed in a U.S. air strike as he met his colleagues in
Musayib, about 60 kilometers south of Baghdad. Shortly before he died, Al Tunisi
wrote a letter that warned of a threat to Al Qaida operations in Karkh. The
lettter, found by the U.S. military, sought guidance from Al Qaida leaders amid
coalition operations that hampered Al Tunisi's network.
"Last letter from doomed Al Qaida chief: 'We are so desperate for
your help'," World Tribune, October 1, 2007 ---
http://www.worldtribune.com/worldtribune/WTARC/2007/ss_iraq_09_30.asp
Muslim jihadist leaders interviewed for a new book
were ecstatic about statements from television talk host Rosie O'Donnell about
the war in Iraq and the global war on terror, agreeing with her outspoken views.
Some even invited her on a "fact finding mission"
to the Middle East. "I agree with what this O'Donnell says. ...We welcome Rosie
O'Donnell to stay among us and to get to know the truth from being here, like
many American peace activists are doing," said Ala Senakreh, West Bank chief of
the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades terrorist organization.
"Oh, Rosie! Terrorists invite her to Mideast," WorldNetDaily,
September 26, 2007 ---
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=57860
Sadly, Rosie declined the invitation (possibly because terrorist intolerance for
gays and lesbians) ---
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=57954
Watch a video of Rosie calling for impeachment ---
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Se8O2qLwJhI
Rosie Accuses Bush of 9/11 Conspiracy ---
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPeAGZt2BCA
Rosie needs more fact finding. Scientific evidence now
supports the counter theories that debunk the 9/11conspiracy theories ---
http://www.jod911.com/
This regnant campus culture helps to explain why
Columbia University, which bars ROTC from campus on the ground that the military
bars open homosexuals from service, welcomed Iran's president Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad, whose government publicly executes homosexuals. It explains why
Hofstra's law school invites to speak on legal ethics Lynn Stewart, a lawyer
convicted of aiding and abetting a terrorist client and sentenced to 28 months
in jail.
Michael Barone, "Ivory Tower
Decay," RealClearPolitics, October 8, 2007 ---
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2007/10/ivory_tower_decay.html
The U.S. military commander alleges that Iran's
ambassador to Iraq belongs to an elite force of the Iranian revolutionary guard
that has targeted U.S. forces.
Anne Garrels, "Petraeus Steps
Up Accusations Against Iran," NPR, October 8, 2007 ---
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=15084571
Also see "Petraeus Steps Up Accusations Against Iran" ---
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=15080765
In his address at the UN, Ahmadinejad laid out his
case for Islamic supremacy. He claimed that all of the world's problems are the
consequence of two things. First, by his reading of history, after the Second
World War, "The victors of the war drew the road map for global domination and
formulated their policies not on the basis of justice but for ensuring the
interests of the victors over the vanquished nations." The second cause for the
world's woes is the world powers' rejection of Islam. As he put it, "The second
and more important factor is some big powers' disregard of morals, divine
values, the teachings of prophets and instructions by the Almighty God...
Unfortunately, they have put themselves in the position of God!" Thankfully for
Ahmadinejad, this "corrupted" world order will soon be swept away. Either the
"corrupted" powers will "return from the path of arrogance and obedience to
Satan to the path of faith in God," or "the same calamities that befell the
people of the distant past will befall them as well." Concluding his UN remarks
Ahmadinejad pledged, "Without any doubt, the Promised One who is the ultimate
Savior… will come. In the company of all believers, justice-seekers and
benefactors, he will establish a bright future and fill the world with justice
and beauty. This is the promise of God; therefore it will be fulfilled."
Caroline Glick, "Column One: Ahmadinejad's overlooked
message," Jerusalem Post, October 1, 2007 ---
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1189411504466&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FPrinter
Who is Mahmoud Ahmadinejad? ---
http://www.americanthinker.com/2007/09/who_is_mahmoud_ahmadinejad_1.html
At Columbia University, Ahmadinejad devoted the
majority of his speech to a discussion of the role of science in human affairs.
While most coverage surrounded his refusal to renounce his call to annihilate
Israel, his central message, that he rejects the right of people to be free to
choose their paths in life, was ignored. His remarks on the issue were dismissed
as "weird" or "unintelligible." Yet they were neither. Speaking as "an
academic," Ahmadinejad said that from his perspective, the role of science is to
serve Islam and that any science that does not serve Islamic goals is corrupt.
As he put it, "Science is the light, and scientists must be pure and pious. If
humanity achieves the highest level of physical and spiritual knowledge but its
scholars and scientists are not pure, then this knowledge cannot serve the
interests of humanity." Elaborating on this notion, he argued that Western
scientists serve corrupt governments who reject the pure and pious path of Islam
and therefore are used as agents for corruption. Tellingly, Ahmadinejad moved
directly from his assault on non-Islamic scientists and regimes to a defense of
Iran's nuclear program. The message was clear: Iran's pursuit of nuclear weapons
is done in the name of Islam and therefore it is inherently legitimate. As far
as he is concerned, refusing to allow Iran to pursue nuclear weapons is
tantamount to an assault on God.
Caroline Glick, "Column One: Ahmadinejad's overlooked
message," Jerusalem Post, October 1, 2007 ---
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1189411504466&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FPrinter
While
interviewing Todd Gitlin recently for an
Inside Higher Ed podcast, I was
tempted to ask if he had deliberately avoided using Gramsci’s
line in his new book, The Bulldozer and the Big Tent: Blind
Republicans, Lame Democrats, and the Recovery of American Ideals,
just published by John Wiley and Sons.
And even were the Democrats in control of
the executive and legislative branches, the fact is that the
Republican Party will still be able to rely on its
organizational “bulldozer” — capable of staying relentlessly on
message, even (and especially) when reality gets in the way. It
is “a focused coalition with two, and only two, major
components,” writes Gitlin, “the low-tax, love-business,
hate-government enthusiasts and the God-save-us moral
crusaders.” In contrast, the Democrats subsume “roughly eight”
constituencies, by Gitlin’s reckoning: “labor, African
Americans, Hispanics, feminists, gays, environmentalists,
members of the helping professions (teachers, social workers,
nurses), and the militantly liberal, especially antiwar denizens
of avant-garde cultural zones such as university towns, the
Upper West Side of Manhattan, and so on.” This is not the place
to rehearse Gitlin’s whole analysis. He gave an overview of the
book at TPM Cafe recently, and our podcast discussion covers
some of the major points. But it seems worth noting that
Gitlin’s earlier complaints about “identity” and the jargonizing
folkways of the academic left, while not entirely absent from
The Bulldozer and the Big Tent, are much less prominent here
than in some of his other writings. He appears to recognize that
said cohorts do indeed have a place under the big tent — over in
the section for “the militantly liberal” and “antiwar denizens
of avant-garde cultural zones.”
Scott McLemee, "The
Bulldozer and the Big Tent," Inside Higher Ed, October 3,
2007 ---
http://www.insidehighered.com/views/2007/10/03/mclemee
In the
North American Review in 1934, the progressive writer Roger Shaw
described the New Deal as “Fascist means to gain liberal ends.”
He wasn’t hallucinating. FDR’s adviser Rexford Tugwell wrote in
his diary that Mussolini had done “many of the things which seem
to me necessary.” Lorena Hickok, a close confidante of Eleanor
Roosevelt who lived in the White House for a spell, wrote
approvingly of a local official who had said, “If [President]
Roosevelt were actually a dictator, we might get somewhere.” She
added that if she were younger, she’d like to lead “the Fascist
Movement in the United States.” At the National Recovery
Administration (NRA), the cartel-creating agency at the heart of
the early New Deal, one report declared forthrightly, “The
Fascist Principles are very similar to those we have been
evolving here in America.” Roosevelt himself called Mussolini
“admirable” and professed that he was “deeply impressed by what
he has accomplished.” The admiration was mutual. In a laudatory
review of Roosevelt’s 1933 book Looking Forward, Mussolini
wrote, “Reminiscent of Fascism is the principle that the state
no longer leaves the economy to its own devices.…Without
question, the mood accompanying this sea change resembles that
of Fascism.” The chief Nazi newspaper, Volkischer Beobachter,
repeatedly praised “Roosevelt’s adoption of National Socialist
strains of thought in his economic and social policies” and “the
development toward an authoritarian state” based on the “demand
that collective good be put before individual self-interest.”
David Boaz, "Hitler,
Mussolini, Roosevelt: What FDR had in common with the
other charismatic collectivists of the 30s," Reason Magazine,
October 2007 ---
http://www.reason.com/news/show/122026.html
Rampaging Muslims have killed 10 Christians, injured
61 others, destroyed nine churches and displaced more than 500 people in
northern Nigeria, according to eyewitnesses – all because Muslim high school
students claimed a Christian student had drawn a cartoon of Islam’s prophet,
Muhammad, on the wall of the school’s mosque. The rampage occurred Sept. 28 in
the town of Tudun Wada Dankadai, in Nigeria's northern state of Kano.
"Again! 10 Christians slaughtered over alleged Muhammad cartoon 61 injured, 9
churches burned, hundreds displaced after rumored 'insult' to Islam,"
WorldNetDaily, October 5, 2007 ---
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=58015
A spokeswoman for Mr. Andrews said there were some
signs to suggest Africans were having more difficulty settling into Australia
than those from other parts of the world. "It's more anecdotal (evidence)," she
said, citing media reports of some serious crimes involving Sudanese. "The
African intake was up to about 70 per cent and obviously there are some issues
that have become apparent ... just difficulties in terms of settling in to the
community." Many Sudanese, through no fault of their own, had lived through
years of violence and conflict and lacked education, she said. "A lot of people
from African regions need extensive trauma and torture counselling," she said.
David Crawshaw, "Africans have
'trouble settling here'," The Australian, October 2, 2007 ---
Click Here
Two months after insisting that they would roll back
broad eavesdropping powers won by the Bush administration, Democrats in Congress
appear ready to make concessions that could extend some crucial powers given to
the National Security Agency.
Eric Lightbough and Carl Hulse,
"Democrats Seem Ready to Extend Wiretap Powers, The New York Times,
October 9, 2007 ---
Click Here
Men's room misdemeanant Larry Craig said he would
retire Sept. 30 as Idaho's senior U.S. senator. Then he said he'd wait until a
judge considered his motion to withdraw his guilty plea to disorderly conduct.
Yesterday, as the Associated Press reports, a judge told him to go fly a kite,
but he announced that he plans to linger in the Senate anyhow. We have just six
words to say to Sen. Craig. Five of them are "or get off the pot."
Carol Muller, Opinion Journal,
October 5, 2007
Life being what it is, one dreams of revenge.
Paul Gauguin (Artist, 1848 - 1903)
---
Click Here
Democracy is four wolves and a lamb voting on what
to have for lunch.
Ambrose Bierce ---
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ambrose_Bierce
Hain't we got all the fools in town on our side? And
ain't that a big enough majority in any town?
Mark Twain ---
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Twain
We are being fed false and misleading information,
in matters big and small. It has come from trusted sources such as established
newspapers, experienced journalists, Pulitzer Prize winners and Nobel Peace
Prize winners. It has been going on for a long time, sometimes by carelessness
and sometimes by deliberate lying. I have compiled a list of 101 such incidents.
Randall Hoven, Media Dishonesty
Matters, American Thinker, October 8, 2007 ---
http://www.americanthinker.com/2007/10/media_dishonesty_matters.html
"The 4 Boneheaded Biases of Stupid Voters (And we're all stupid
voters.)," by Bryan Caplan, Reason Magazine, October 2007 ---
http://www.reason.com/news/show/122019.html
Here's a quiz to help stupid voters find the optimal candidate for them
---
http://www.wqad.com/Global/link.asp?L=259460
But then again, politicians often do not keep campaign promises and seldom have
the power on their own to do so anyway.
North Dakota: Ernie Fischer said it was
difficult to get the young bull moose away from the cattle, and workers put it
in a separate corral until it could be released. The moose also broke fences on
the ranch 20 miles south of Mandan. It's not the only such incident in south
central North Dakota this year. Emmons County rancher Sam Gross recently
reported a lone bull moose in his cattle herd, and a moose also was spotted in a
cattle herd in McIntosh County.
"Confused Moose Thinks He's a Cow," Philadelphia Examiner,
October 4, 2007 ---
http://www.examiner.com/a-972109%7EConfused_Moose_Thinks_He_s_a_Cow.html
Jensen Comment
There's precedent for this. I recall many years ago when a moose would not leave
a cow's pasture. That cow had zero interest in her horny suitor and completely
ignored him.
A few
weeks ago, a new edition of the selected works of Edmund
Wilson appeared. Another monumental book this season is David
Michaelis’s
Schulz and
Peanuts: A Biography (HarperCollins).
The critic and the cartoonist never crossed paths, so far as
anyone knows. But there is some overlap between these
publications, it seems to me. The biography of Charles M.
Schulz, who died in 2000, calls to mind Wilson’s The Wound and
the Bow, a collection of essays published in 1941 and reprinted
in the
second of the two Library of
America volumes . . . The sophisticated part of Eco’s
sensibility can recognize in Schulz’s art a depth that is full
of shadows: “These children (e.g., Charlie Brown and
Lucy) affect us because in a certain
sense they are monsters: they are the monstrous infantile
reductions of all the neuroses of a modern citizen of industrial
civilization.” But the depths aren’t an abyss. The little
monsters, while sometimes cruel, never become unspeakable. They
“are capable suddenly of an innocence and a sincerity which
calls everything into question....” Charles Schulz was a
neurotic, no doubt; but most neurotics aren’t Charles Schulz. He
was something else. And it may be that we need an Italian
semiotician to remind us just what: “If poetry means the
capacity of carrying tenderness, pity, [and] wickedness to
moments of extreme transparence, as if things passed through a
light and there were no telling any more what substance they are
made of,” as Eco wrote, “then Schulz is a poet.”
Scott McLeMee, "Good
Grief," Inside Higher Ed, October 10, 2007 ---
http://www.insidehighered.com/views/2007/10/10/mclemee
Five Best Books Providing Insight Into Iran
Persian Gulf
Insights into Iran can be
gleaned from these masterly works.
BY MICHAEL LEDEEN
The Wall Street Journal
Saturday, October 6, 2007 12:01 a.m. EDT
1. "The Strangling of Persia" by W.
Morgan Shuster (Century, 1912).
Iranians tend to believe that their
destinies are shaped by powerful forces beyond their reach--and it's
not just a collective fantasy. In the early 20th century, control
over Persia was brutally exercised by Russia and Britain. Desperate
Persian rulers of the time turned to the U.S. to find an expert who
could sort out the kingdom's ransacked treasury. The man they chose,
W. Morgan Shuster, fell in love with Iran and worked feverishly to
introduce virtuous financial practices. He never had a chance; the
Russians and Brits sent him packing. "The Strangling of Persia" is a
remarkable account of life in a failed, corrupt state and a tale of
heartbreak for an American who foolishly believes that he can
prevail by force of will and hard work. Lessons for strategists
abound.
2. "Know Thine Enemy" by Edward Shirley
(Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1997).
When Reuel Marc Gerecht worked for the CIA
as a Middle Eastern specialist (1985-94), the agency would not allow
him to venture into Iran. But when he left the CIA to become a
scholar (he is a colleague of mine at the American Enterprise
Institute), he decided to sneak into the country by hiring a driver
and hiding in a padded box on the floor of a truck. In "Know Thine
Enemy," written under the pen name Edward Shirley, Mr. Gerecht
describes the trip and what he found. "An Iranian can scream 'Death
to America!' one moment and ask you sincerely a minute later to help
his sister get a visa to the States, a land they both adore," he
writes. "Those feelings are not contradictory; they are sequential.
Commitments come and go, then return." Given Iranians' similar
love-hate feelings about the mullahs who rule them and the West's
decadence, he asks: "How do you know when Iranians aren't lying to
themselves?" Mr. Gerecht doesn't know. How could he? They themselves
don't.
3. "The Adventures of Haji Baba of
Ispahan" by James Morier (1824).
James Morier, a British diplomat in Persia
in the early 19th century, published "The Adventures of Haji Baba of
Ispahan" to great success in 1824. Morier's tale, about a barber's
son who seeks his fortune, is a delightful series of encounters that
cut to the heart of Iranian society. We see the Chief Executioner
explaining to Haji: "Do not suppose that the salary which the Shah
gives his servants is a matter of much consideration with them: no,
the value of their places depends upon the range of extortion which
circumstances may afford, and upon their ingenuity in taking
advantage of it." The culture of corruption is little changed in
contemporary Iran. And the religious fanaticism that Morier tweaked
also echoes down the years: A character named Nadan who wants to
become Tehran's religious leader, Morier writes, has no peer "either
as a zealous practiser of the ordinances of his religion, or a
persecutor of those who might be its enemies."
4. "The Persian Puzzle" by Kenneth M.
Pollack (Random House, 2004).
Kenneth M. Pollack spent years at the CIA,
then migrated to the National Security Council during Bill Clinton's
presidency. Like every other government official who has tried to
normalize relations between Iran and the U.S., he came to grief. And
like most such failed dreamers, he continued to believe that there
must be a way. His odyssey is the best account we have of recent
Iranian history and U.S.-Iranian relations. "The Persian Puzzle" is
remarkably candid about the illusions and failures of the men and
women for whom Mr. Pollack worked--people he often admired.
5. "Prisoner of Tehran" by Marina Nemat
(Free Press, 2007).
Marina Nemat was arrested at age 16 in 1982
and held in Tehran's infamous Evin Prison for more than two years,
accused of antiregime activity. She was not an activist but a friend
of leftists and a Christian. In prison, she was interrogated and
tortured, then sentenced to death. But a guard named Ali had fallen
in love with her and saved her from execution. She remained in
prison, though, and Ali became her husband--as well as a new source
of menace when he forced her to convert to Islam by threatening her
family. In "Prisoner of Tehran," her gripping, elegantly written
memoir, Ms. Nemat, who now lives in Canada, reminds us that it is
through the details of daily life that the evils of a regime such as
the Islamic Republic are best understood.
Mr. Ledeen is a resident scholar at the American Enterprise
Institute. His latest book, "The Iranian Time Bomb" (St. Martin's),
has just been published.
|
Forwarded by
Dr. Wolff on October 10, 2007
Matthew Todd Lauer is an American television
personality,
best known as a co-host of NBC's The
Today Show since
1994.
He has
recently travelled to Iran and sent these
reports from
Tehran
(Video):
|
Enter you zip code to get Census Bureau comparisons ---
http://zipskinny.com/
And don't forget some links I carry permanently on my homepage:
World Clock ---
http://www.peterussell.com/Odds/WorldClock.php
Facts about the earth in real time ---
http://www.worldometers.info/
Interesting Online Clock and Calendar
---
http://home.tiscali.nl/annejan/swf/timeline.swf
Time by Time Zones ---
http://timeticker.com/
Projected Population Growth (it's out of control) ---
http://geography.about.com/od/obtainpopulationdata/a/worldpopulation.htm
Also see
http://users.rcn.com/jkimball.ma.ultranet/BiologyPages/P/Populations.html
Projected U.S. Population Growth ---
http://www.carryingcapacity.org/projections75.html
Real time meter of the U.S. cost of the war in Iraq ---
http://www.costofwar.com/
Sure wish there'd be a little good news today.
Bob Jensen's links to economic and social data are at
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Bookbob1.htm
Tomb of the Unknown Soldier (interesting facts I did not know) ---
http://www.snopes.com/military/unknown.asp
Tomb of the Unknown Bugs in MS Office 2007
Errors in Excel, Access, Word, etc.
October 7, 2007 message from James Peters
[jpeters@NMHU.EDU]
Our faculty at New Mexico Highlands University use
the solver in similar ways and we have been forced to reinstall 2003 to
effectively teach the class because of the bugs in Excel 2007's solver,
there are several. Microsoft says they are working on it.
Personal comment - Office 2007 in general is a
major disaster and I would highly discourage anyone from "upgrading" to it.
So far, in addition to the bugs in Excel mentioned above, I have found two
or three bugs in Access and would like my toolbars back on Word.
Jim
October 7, 2007 message from Joseph Brady
[bradyj@LERNER.UDEL.EDU]
We use the Excel Solver in an undergraduate MIS
class. We have found that it is one good way to get students to think about
some kinds of DSS problems.
We have shifted over to Office 2007 this year,
including Excel 2007. We did not shift to Vista – we are still running under
MS XP.
We are often running into a problem with Solver.
When the solver tries to find a solution, it runs out of RAM. This happens
even with a small tutorial problem.
Have other people using Excel 2007 seen this
problem? If so, do you know the solution?
Thanks in advance for your help.
Joe Brady
Accounting & MIS
Lerner College of Business & Economics
University of Delaware
Bob Jensen's video on how to use solver in Excel is the ExcelSolver.wmv
file at
http://www.cs.trinity.edu/~rjensen/video/acct5342/
Math Error Bug in Excel 2007
Microsoft has confirmed the existence of a serious bug
in Excel 2007 that can cause an incorrect amount to appear in a cell.
Programmers at Microsoft are aware of the problem and are working on a fix. No
date for a correcting update has been projected yet . . . It should be noted
that, although the spreadsheet displays 100000, the value of the cell is correct
at 65535. So if you use the cell in another formula (for example, if the
mistakenly displayed presentation of 100000 appears in cell A1 and you enter the
formula =A1*2 in another cell, you will see the correct result of 131070. The
problem is manifesting itself in many, but not all, calculations that should
produce a result of 65535.
AccountingWeb, September 2007 ---
http://www.accountingweb.com/cgi-bin/item.cgi?id=104050
Banking Online Safer Than Checks: Why you need a Uni-Ball pen!
Phoenix is the city most at risk for identity fraud,
according to the Identity Theft Resource Center. Their new survey shows writing
a check is not safer than banking online because of a scam called "check
washing." The thief erases the ink on a check, fills in whatever he wants, and
cleans out your bank account. But never fear. Where there's a scam like check
fraud, there's sure to be a company with a profitable solution. Uni-Ball makes a
pen filled with a specially formulated ink that can't be washed off. It comes in
several elegant designs, for the sophisticated check-writer.
"Banking Online Safer Than Checks," NPR, October 5, 2007 ---
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=15027414
Jensen Comment
It might be a good idea to simply carry a Uni-Ball or similar "unwashable" ink
pen with your check book.
The Uni-Ball home page is at
http://www.uniball-na.com/
I think these pens or comparable pens are now carried in most office supply
stores.
May 8, 2007 reply from J. S. Gangolly
[gangolly@CSC.ALBANY.EDU]
Bob,
This brought back fond memories of my childhood.
Then, we used "indelible pencils" which have all but disappeared.
See
http://aic.stanford.edu/sg/bpg/annual/v17/bp17-05.html
Those days in India, ball pen use in legal
documents was not acceptable; it had to be indelible ink or pencil. Checks
had to be signed in fountain pens or quill pens (ballpoint pen inks contain
oils which separate from the ink years after use; I still have some of my
class notes at Pitt, the only time I had to use ballpoint pen since I could
not afford a fountain pen, and they now are all smudged, and I can barely
read the notes).
Nowadays, indelible ink is used to mark (on their
fingers) voters to prevent voter fraud.
Pilot, my favourite fountain pen maker (I love
their Namikis) makes indelible pens. See
http://www.epromos.com/product/8822269.html
Not all Uni-ball pens have indelible ink. Only
premium quality ones have it. An examole is Uniball gel pen premium 207
(costing $6+):
http://www.officeworld.com/Worlds-Biggest-Selection/SAN61392/07Q3/
Jagdish
May 8, 2007 reply from Ravenscroft, Sue P [ACCT]
[sueraven@IASTATE.EDU]
Hi Jagdish,
Do you have a retractable Namiki? I do and I love
it!
Best,
Sue Ravenscroft
May 8, 2007 reply from J. S. Gangolly
[gangolly@CSC.ALBANY.EDU]
Sue,
Yes, I have a Namiki retractable. Its price is
midrange, but the writing experience is heavenly. . Since I bought it, I
have hardly used my old Pelikan fountain pen. Neither have I used my old
cross fountain pen.
Regards,
Jagdish
Because communications between students and faculty are often quite
extensive and intense, I've contended, with some anecdotal evidence for support,
that faculty burnout is higher for online versus onsite courses. Various faculty
who stopped teaching online told me that this was a huge problem for them. Also
there are complaints that workloads are higher with online teaching.
How significant is online instructor burnout?
Is there a gender difference in burnout?
"Exploring Burnout among University Online Instructors: An Initial
Investigation, " by R. Lance Hogan and Mark A. McNight, The Internet and
Higher Education, vol. 10, no. 2, 2007). The paper is available on the
Web at
http://www.usi.edu/business/mamcknight/publications/INTHIG281.pdf .
Jensen Comment
If you're interested in the above research paper, I suggest you download it now.
There is a possibility that it will not be served up free for very long.
I've also contended over the years that one way to reduce the risk of burnout is
to make more use of video to explain technical things that online students are
especially more apt to raise questions about repeatedly. If the videos
adequately explain these things then this should cut down of the number of
inquiries from confused students. See my PowerPoint illustrative Camtasia videos
at the following two sites:
Also see
147 Practical Tips for Synchronous and Blended Technology Teaching and
Learning, by Rosemary M. Lehman and Richard A. Berg (Madison, WI: Atwood
Publishing, 2007, ISBN: 978-1-891859-69-4)
Bob Jensen's threads on online faculty burnout are at
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/000aaa/theworry.htm#Workloads
Bob Jensen's threads on the dark side of online learning and teaching are
at
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/000aaa/theworry.htm
Question
What do students think about education technology?
October 5, 2007 message from Carolyn Kotlas
[kotlas@email.unc.edu]
STUDIES OF STUDENTS AND IT
Since 2004, the EDUCAUSE Center for Applied
Research (ECAR) has conducted longitudinal studies of students and
information technology.
The latest report, "The ECAR Study of Undergraduate
Students and Information Technology, 2007," presents data from a spring 2007
survey and interviews with nearly 28,000 freshman, senior, and community
college students at 103 higher education institutions. Some of the findings
from this year's study include:
-- "Today's students spend a lot of time online.
Respondents report spending an average of 18 hours per week actively doing
online activities for work, school, or recreation, and 6.6 percent (more
often
male) spend more than 40 hours per week."
-- Students surveyed "overwhelmingly (85.1 percent)
favor e-mail for official college and university communications. . . . A
resounding 82.5 percent say they prefer a university account" rather than a
commercial account for these communications.
-- "While most respondents are enthusiastic IT
users and use it to support many aspects of their academic lives, most
prefer only a 'moderate' amount of IT in their courses (59.3 percent)."
The research bulletin is available online at
http://www.educause.edu/ers0706.
ECAR "provides timely research and analysis to help
higher education leaders make better decisions about information technology.
ECAR assembles leading scholars, practitioners, researchers, and analysts to
focus on issues of critical importance to higher education, many of which
carry increasingly complicated and consequential implications."
For more information go to
http://www.educause.edu/content.asp?SECTION_ID=4.
Other Related Studies:
"Faculty Integration of Technology into Instruction
and Students'
Perceptions of Computer Technology to Improve
Student Learning"
By Jared Keengwe
JOURNAL OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY EDUCATION, vol.
6, 2007
http://jite.org/documents/Vol6/JITEv6p169-180Keengwe218.pdf
"[R]eports indicate that faculty members are not
integrating technology into instruction in ways that make a difference in
student learning. To help faculty make informed decisions on student
learning, there is need for current knowledge of faculty integration
practices. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine the nature of
the relationship between faculty integration of technology into classroom
instruction and students' perceptions of the effect of computer technology
to improve their learning."
Current and back issues of the Journal of
Information Technology Education (JITE) [ISSN 1539-3585 (online) 1547-9714
(print)] are available free of charge at
http://jite.org/.
The peer-reviewed journal is published annually by the Informing Science
Institute. For more information contact: Informing Science Institute, 131
Brookhill Court, Santa Rosa, California 95409 USA; tel: 707-531-4925; fax:
480-247-5724;
Web:
http://informingscience.org/.
"Student Expectations Study: Key Findings from
Online Research and
Discussion Evenings Help in June 2007 for the Joint
Information
Systems Committee"
July 2007
http://www.jisc.ac.uk/media/documents/publications/studentexpectations.pdf
The Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC) is a strategic advisory
committee working on behalf of the funding bodies for further and higher
education in England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. For more
information on JISC, see
http://www.jisc.ac.uk/.
"UC Berkeley university puts course videos (but not for credit) on YouTube,"
PhysOrg, October 3, 2007 ---
http://physorg.com/news110638174.html
University offerings at the
dedicated YouTube channel include peace and conflict studies, bioengineering
courses, and a science class titled "Physics for Future Presidents."
"UC Berkeley on YouTube will provide a public window into university life:
academics, events and athletics," said vice provost for undergraduate
education Christina Maslach.
The University plans to continually add videos to the channel, which
officially launched Wednesday with about nine full courses consisting of
approximately 40 lectures each.
Berkeley lays claim to being the first university to offer full courses on
popular video-sharing website YouTube, which is based in Northern
California.
The university began online broadcasts, called "webcasts," of its own in
2001 and last year began making audio "podcasts" available for download at
Apple's iTunes online store.
"We are excited to make UC Berkeley videos available to the world on
YouTube," said Ben Hubbard, who co-manages the university's webcast program.
"I think the whole open content movement is in keeping with what we are as a
public institution, we really believe at our core that making this available
to the public is truly important."
UC Berkeley is the first university to make videos of full courses
available through YouTube. Visitors to the site at
youtube.com/ucberkeley can
view more than 300 hours of videotaped courses and events. Topics range from
bioengineering, to peace and conflict studies, to "Physics for Future
Presidents," the title of a popular campus course. Building on its initial
offerings, UC Berkeley will continue to expand the catalog of videos available
on YouTube.
View the Playlist Here ---
http://www.youtube.com/ucberkeley
There is a link to the most viewed videos (with star ratings) at the above page.
Examples include Integrative Biology, Physics, Chemistry, Electrical
Engineering, etc.
Links to 201 videos ---
http://www.youtube.com/profile_videos?user=ucberkeley&p=r
You can search by topic in the search box at the above page.
On October 4, 2007 I could not find any accounting, finance, or economics
videos at the UC Berkeley site. There were six courses that popped up for
"Business."
Here's a student, who created a RealPlayer playlist, explaining how to record
the audio of these
videos ---
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OUfKoXtwEu0
Also see Webcast.Berkeley [iTunes, Real Player]
http://webcast.berkeley.edu/
UC Berkeley also has XLab ---
http://www.berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2004/07/13_xlab.shtml
Nearly all prestigious universities now offer some form of open sharing of
course materials, the most noteworthy of which is MIT. Yale, however, has some
of the finest lectures on video ---
http://www.yale.edu/opa/download/VLP_QuestionsAnswers.pdf
From Princeton
University Channel (video and audio) ---
http://uc.princeton.edu/main/
From the University of Texas
Take Five from the University of Texas
http://www.utexas.edu/inside_ut/take5/
From Harvard
Introduction ---
http://athome.harvard.edu/about/about.htm
Program List ---
http://athome.harvard.edu/archive/archive.asp
Teaching Materials (especially
video) from PBS
Teacher Source: Arts and
Literature ---
http://www.pbs.org/teachersource/arts_lit.htm
Teacher Source: Health & Fitness
---
http://www.pbs.org/teachersource/health.htm
Teacher Source: Math ---
http://www.pbs.org/teachersource/math.htm
Teacher Source: Science ---
http://www.pbs.org/teachersource/sci_tech.htm
Teacher Source: PreK2 ---
http://www.pbs.org/teachersource/prek2.htm
Teacher Source: Library Media ---
http://www.pbs.org/teachersource/library.htm
Science Videos ---
http://www.scivee.tv/
Video Lecture Search
Type in "Video Lectures" with quotation marks at
http://megite.com/discover.php?q=learning
Example: David Deutsch Quantum Computation Lectures ---
http://www.quiprocone.org/quipmain.htm
Educause Live ---
http://www.educause.edu/content.asp?SECTION_ID=34&bhcp=1
You can read about these and other examples of open sharing at major
universities at
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/000aaa/updateee.htm#OKI
Copyright Restrictions on Open Sharing/Source/Courseware Learning Materials
These are only my opinions, and they should not be taken as legal advice.
Just because something can be accessed online does not mean it is an open
sharing item. Generally online items are like library books that can be accessed
by the public but have copyright restrictions about copying and uses other than
personal reading. If online learning materials are billed as "open sharing," or
"open source" (as
in the case of OCW materials at MIT) chances are that they can be used in
total or in part for educational purposes in other open sharing materials if
proper credits are given. In commercial materials such as books and course
videos, there is vulnerability for lawsuit by the copyright owners. In my
personal opinion, I think a lot depends upon how central the copyrighted
material is to the purchased material. If use is incidental and credits are
fully proper, then the risks of lawsuit are less than when the copyrighted
material becomes more featured in the material. In any case, it is good advice
to seek permission from copyright owners if the use is for some for-profit
purpose. This probably includes online or onsite courses for which fees are
charged to take the course. The dreaded DMCA is somewhat vague on open sharing
materials, but open sharing does not mean that copyright owners have abandoned
all rights. You can read more about the dreaded DMCA at
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/000aaa/theworry.htm
This is Very Important ---
http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/web/help/faq3/index.htm
MIT is the most open sharing major university in terms of course materials ---
http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/web/home/home/index.htm
It's statement on intellectual property sets, in my opinion, precedent for most
other open sharing colleges ---
http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/web/help/faq3/index.htm
YouTube has a statement about use of YouTube videos at
http://www.youtube.com/t/howto_copyright
Also see
http://www.google.com/support/youtube/bin/topic.py?topic=10550&hl=en_US
Since the term "open source" is rooted in computer software, the term is a
bit cloudy when it comes to text and multimedia learning materials. You can read
more about open sharing and copyrights at the following sites:
How to Excerpt Open Courseware Video, Compress It, and Serve it Up to
Students
Suppose that a very long video lecture is available as open courseware for
proper use in other learning materials. An instructor may only want to use parts
of this lecture in another course or supplemental tutorials for a course.
Searching a long video is tedious and time consuming. A better approach is to
make audio or video excerpts of portions of the long lecture.
Homemade video tutorial (very basic) on how to record
streaming audio on your PC ---
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RPHSDOyj5f8
Note the passing reference to a free sound recorder called Audacity ---
http://audacity.sourceforge.net/
Note that if you are watching a lecture video that's pretty much a talking head,
it saves a lot, I mean a LOT, of file space to only capture the audio.
This might, for example, work very well when capturing parts of the many
UC Berkeley, YouTube, Yale, or Harvard video lectures ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/000aaa/updateee.htm#OKI
Just in case source streams disappear from the Internet, I suggest capturing
what's important to you and saving to external media such as a CD or DVD disk.
Capturing also allows you to only capture what is relevant to you or your
students without having to spend a lot of time waiting for the good parts.
If the video open sharing video is a file, you might be able to download the
video file and then edit the file using something like the Producer Module in
Camtasia Studio ---
http://www.techsmith.com/camtasia/enhance.asp
However, in most instances open sharing videos are streaming (using the term
loosely here) videos for which there is no file to download. In that case the
video must be captured in total or in part by software designed for such
purposes. The software I like for video capturing is called Camtasia Recorder ---
http://www.techsmith.com/camtasia/record.asp
Also see
http://www.techsmith.com/camtasia/education.asp
This is cheaper alternative than many more specialized products for streaming
video capture. You can download my PowerPoint file about Camtasia at
http://www.cs.trinity.edu/~rjensen/EdTech/PowerPoint/
Links to examples are given in this slide show.
You can read about other alternatives for streaming video capture at
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/000aaa/thetools.htm#StreamingMedia
When you capture streaming media as an avi file it has the advantage in that
you can edit the movie and delete parts you do not want using software like
Camtasia Producer ---
http://www.techsmith.com/camtasia/enhance.asp
You can also add interaction "skip to" buttons, quiz questions/answers, survey
questions, etc.
But captured avi files are generally enormous and cannot be stored
efficiently anywhere. After you've excerpted and edited the captured video as an
avi file it is almost always necessary to compress it into a wmv, mov, rm, scf,
flv, or some related option such as the compression options available in
Camtasia Producer. There is not generally a noticeable quality degradation in
the compressed versions. However, it is not possible, at least in Camtasia, to
alter the compressed version without recapturing it as an avi file.
After you have your compressed file such as a wmv you will need to get it to
your students. Chances are that your Blackboard, WebCT, or Web server does not
give you enough capacity to serve up a lot of video, including space-saving
compressed video. The next best thing is to either distribute your video to
students on CD or DVD disks or to send it to them over the Internet.
It is not generally possible to attach large video files to email messages.
However there ar