Believe it or not, these are icicles in front of my desk. This was a weekend of ice (yuk!). It started out great with a high-wind blizzard on Friday and cold, powdery snow. I generally leave a pack of hard snow on the driveway if there is thick ice underneath. We also had big icicles like the ones shown above. On Saturday night we had a surge in temperature and hard rain. The icicles disappeared , but not the driveway ice --- on Monday morning that had two or more  inches of ice smooth as glass. I fell on the ice and still have a sore back, but it's slowly getting better.

Below are some other wintery pictures including some that I shot in the holiday season when I had blue and white sparkling lights on our front windows.

A cardiologist friend from the Boston area visited with us this icy weekend. He  told me something that surprised me somewhat. There are over 300 million truly obese people in the world and probably over a billion more who are seriously overweight. In Massachusetts, and maybe elsewhere, a general practitioner or a cardiologist, who treats a patient that meets the definition of being seriously overweight, must insist that the patient must next visit a licensed dietician.

The part of our conversation that surprised me is that the doctor who orders, according to law, that a patient be treated by a dietician is also required by law to track that patient to make certain the patient follows orders to be treaded by a dietician. It seems to me that legislators have decided to force physicians to be private investigators tracking patients. This has greatly increased the time and money that already-overworked physicians must spend above and beyond directly treating their patients.

Currently most of the general practitioners around Boston are booked at or sometimes beyond capacity. Since Mass. legislated, when Romney was still Governor, universal health insurance, many patients cannot find a general practitioner even though they have medical insurance. The shortage is sometimes worse for specialists like cardiologists. Most cardiologists work on referrals who send in patient data like height and weight. Given a choice between an under-weight referral and an overweight referral, who would you choose ceteris paribus given the added hassle putting on a Sam Spade hat and tracking a fatty to a dietician? My cardiologist-friend who's about to retire doesn't screen new patients along those lines, but I suspect there are some general practitioners and specialists who avoid taking on obese patients.

This is an example of where the law is dysfunctional for the intended purpose. An obese patient is denied treatment because he/she refused to follow orders to be treated by a dietician. Or the obese patient cannot initially become a patient. I have an obese remote acquaintance in Maine who just died at age 48 from a massive heart attack. She'd not seen a physician in 8.5 years even though she and her husband had health insurance. If money was not the issue, it may well be that she either could not get a general practitioner or did not want any physician who would insist that she be treated by a dietician.

Obese people are becoming the lepers of modern society. If it's so important for them to be treated for obesity, will we soon require evidence of treatment for education, employment, and medical treatment for other disorders. How far can society go in legislating personal behavior? Will obese people soon be required to wear dog tags around their necks that reveal the names and phone numbers of their dieticians? Perhaps they will wear these dog tags just so they can get a doctor!

What else can we withhold from obese people who refuse to be treated by dieticians? Education? Shoes? Drivers licenses? Hotel rooms? Airline seats?

Tidbits on February 19, 2008
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/

CPA Examination --- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cpa_examination

On May 14, 2006 I retired from Trinity University after a long and wonderful career as an accounting professor in four universities. I was generously granted "Emeritus" status by the Trustees of Trinity University. My wife and I now live in a cottage in the White Mountains of New Hampshire --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/NHcottage/NHcottage.htm

Google Maps Street View --- http://maps.google.com/help/maps/streetview/

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

Beautiful Video of the Fifty States --- http://oldbluewebdesigns.com/mybeautifulamerica.htm

Hezbollah Terror Chief Killed (NYT video after a brief advertisement) --- http://video.on.nytimes.com/?fr_story=cab494161d6464865f398dbafc8e7c091aaba8b2

Two alleged burglars got more than what they bargained for when they attacked an 80-year-old man in Texas. The former firefighter --and lifelong John Wayne fan -- sent one of the suspects to the hospital --- http://www.kirotv.com/video/15314156/index.html?taf=sea
(This is a pretty good site in general for news video clips.)

How to Sleep Well During Storms --- http://www.hall4bc04.org/Storm.htm

Not the Sharpest Tacks in the Box (What were they thinking?) --- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EmJdQWuVqmM

Hoover Institution: Uncommon Knowledge (Multimedia) --- http://www.hoover.org/multimedia/uk/

Spanish Lessons for Your Nanny (tongue in cheek humor) --- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yu-myMefmbk

Funny Video Links from Yahoo --- Click Here

Video review of Barack Obama's proposed economic policies (Steve Moore, senior economics writer for The Wall Street Journal) ---
http://online.wsj.com/public/page/8_0004.html?bcpid=86195573&bclid=212338097&bctid=1414665553

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

21st Century Music --- http://www.21st-centurymusic.com/

The Library of Congress has rescued New Orleans public radio station WWOZ's extensive live broadcast collection. The collection, which was almost lost in Hurricane Katrina, includes great recordings by many New Orleans musicians, including Deacon John, Beau Jocque, and the late James Booker. It's a rare historical testament to the city's roots music.
Carrie Kahn, NPR, February 12, 2008 --- http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=18918478

Pandora for finding (usually not free) songs and recording artists --- http://www.pandora.com/

Nat King Cole: 'The Singer' --- http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=18913382
He was also an excellent jazz pianist
Also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nat_King_Cole

• Tribute --- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dy17lE30lnw

• Mona Lisa --- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fxEmnxiUz8w

• Unforgettable (father and daughter) --- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=53ith7bNN8w

• Autumn Leaves --- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jt-69krEivc

• Pretend --- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQdeTYAZAcM

• LOVE --- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JErVP6xLZwg

• Stardust --- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tFyKAUBkdOs

• Route 66 --- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCYApJtsyd0

• With Harry Belafonte --- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F3vgaCNY-aI

• The Christmas Song --- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IaxDGfA7evA

• Tea for Two (Nat King Cole playing jazz piano) --- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p7hbkQexqXs

• With Oscar Peterson Trio & Coleman Hawkins --- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ayQq5AQxF0

• With Mahalia Jackson --- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-O5hz5KnSdc

• With 10-Year-Old Billy Preston --- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1loV9_xLF8Q

Bob Jensen listens to music free online (and no commercials) --- http://www.slacker.com/ 

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

Office Slang --- http://www.officeslang.com/

From Carnegie-Mellon University
Interactive Fiction Page --- http://www.cs.cmu.edu/afs/cs.cmu.edu/user/wsr/Web/IF/homepage.html
(Somewhat dated but still interesting.)

American Life in Poetry --- http://www.americanlifeinpoetry.org/

The Literary Encyclopedia --- http://www.litencyc.com/
Note the link to new articles.

Documents dating back to the early 19th-century about historically black colleges can be viewed online thanks to a new digital collection available to the public. The site includes campus charters, student yearbooks, campus architectural drawings, and photographs from 10 historically black institutions: Alabama State University, Atlanta University Center, Bennett College for Women, Fisk University, Grambling State University, Hampton University, Southern University, Tennessee State University, Tuskegee University, and Virginia State University.
Andrea L. Foster, Chronicle of Higher Education, February 13, 2008 --- Click Here

Great Quotations (forwarded by James Don Edwards) --- http://mk1.simpletruths.com/t/2155000/8563223/7769/0/

Art and Literature in Siena, 1250-1600 (Multimedia)--- http://www.leeds.ac.uk/italian/research/sienalecturesvideo.htm

Rose and Chess: Discover Two Reunited Medieval Manuscripts --- http://roseandchess.lib.uchicago.edu/index.html

Audio version of The Raven by Edgar Allen Poe --- http://teamsugar.com/group/248853/blog/749942

I have lost some friends by death ... others through the sheer inability to cross the street.
Virginia Woolf, The Waves (1931) --- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virginia_Woolf

Each has his past shut in him like the leaves of a book known to him by his heart, and his friends can only read the title.
Virginia Woolf  --- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virginia_Woolf
Jensen Comment
And for the most part, he himself cannot remember the details.

The beauty of the world has two edges, one of laughter, one of anguish, cutting the heart asunder.
Virginia Woolf  --- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virginia_Woolf

Women have served all these centuries as looking-glasses possessing the magic and delicious power of reflecting the figure of a man at twice its natural size.
Virginia Woolf  --- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virginia_Woolf
Jensen Comment
Of course this is a figurative thought by Virginia Woolf. I once read (can't remember where) that it's the literal truth when a giant draft horse sees a man approaching. If true, this is one of the ways man can intimidate a horse Actually this phenomenon may be due to a blind spot directly in front of any horse. As a man approaches the horse sees the man increasing in size and may assume that the man keeps increasing in size when the horse cannot actually see the man standing directly in front of its head. Of course this is only speculation on my part. I have the same problem when Erika says I can't see something I'm looking for when it's right in front of my nose. I think things appear bigger to her than to me.

Al Qaeda's latest display of terror has made its way onto the Internet (video), showing horrifying images of what appear to be prisoners in Iraq being doused with an inflammatory liquid and then burned alive.
Fox News, February 15, 2008 --- http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,330810,00.html

The head of Iran's Revolutionary Guards said on Monday Israel would soon be destroyed by the "hands of Hezbollah", the Lebanese group which is backed by the Islamic Republic, Fars News Agency reported. Guards commander-in-chief Mohammad Ali Jafari made the comment in a letter to Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah to offer condolences after the killing of senior guerrilla commander Imad Moughniyah in a car bomb last week in Damascus. "In the near future, we will witness the destruction of the cancerous existence of Israel by the powerful and competent hands of the Hezbollah combatants," Jafari was quoted as saying. Iran does not recognize Israel and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has often predicted the imminent demise of the Jewish state, drawing criticism from the West which fears Iran wants to make nuclear bombs that could threaten the region.
"Hezbollah will soon destroy Israel, says Iran Guards," Reuters, February 18, 2008 --- http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSBLA83745220080218
Jensen Comment
 Mohammad Ali Jafari should be more careful --- he might get what he asks for!

Wikipedia, the free online encyclopaedia, is refusing to remove medieval artistic depictions of the Prophet Muhammad, despite being flooded with complaints from Muslims demanding the images be deleted. More than 180,000 worldwide have joined an online protest claiming the images.... are offensive to Islam, which prohibits any representation of Muhammad. But the defiant editors of the encyclopaedia insist they will not bow to pressure and say anyone objecting to the controversial images can simply adjust their computers so they do not have to look at them. [snip]Muslims and argue the least Wikipedia can do is blur or blank out the faces. Such has been the adverse reaction, Wikipedia has been forced to set up a separate page on its site explaining why it refuses to bow to pressure and has also had to set up measures to block people from 'editing' the pages themselves. In a robust statement on the site, its editors state: 'Wikipedia recognises that there are cultural traditions among some Muslim groups that prohibit depictions of Muhammad and other prophets and that some Muslims are offended when those traditions are violated. However, the prohibitions are not universal among Muslim communities, particularly with the Shia who, while prohibiting the images, are less strict about it. 'Since Wikipedia is an encyclopedia with the goal of representing all topics from a neutral point of view, Wikipedia is not censored for the benefit of any particular group. 'So long as they are relevant to the article and do not violate any of Wikipedia's existing policies, nor the law of the US state of Florida where Wikipedia's servers are hosted, no content or images will be removed because people find them objectionable or offensive.'
Caroline Davies, The Guardian, February 17, 2008 --- http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/feb/17/wikipedia.islam?gusrc=rss&feed=worldnews 

On the other hand, she observes, "it is striking that, for much of the 20th century, most major writers, philosophers, and artists have paid relatively little attention to Socrates. Few of those who have cared about the death of Socrates in the 20th century have had the intellectual and cultural stature of Erasmus, Voltaire, or even Foucault. The dying Socrates seems to have fallen away from his central place in western culture." She asks, "Has our culture changed so much, since the time of ancient Athens or even since the 18th century, that Socrates' death no longer matters to us?" If that's so, it's unlikely Wilson's muted enthusiasm will reverse the wind. When she contemplates Socrates' death, she finds herself "torn between enormous admiration and an equally overwhelming sense of rage." Sure, Wilson advises, she reveres Socrates as "a man who spoke truth to power" and "left no traditional idea unchallenged." But she contends his "own beliefs are never called into serious question," and he appears to have been "both arrogant and dishonest," "supercilious and enraging." Moreover, "it is hard to respect a man who neglected his wife and sons in order to spend his time drinking and chatting with his friends about the definitions of common words."
Carlin Romano, "Socrates in the 21st Century," Chronicle of Higher Education, February 15, 2008 ---
http://chronicle.com/weekly/v54/i23/23b00501.htm?utm_source=cr&utm_medium=en

Picture the life of a young Urdu-speaking woman brought to Yorkshire from Pakistan to marry a man—quite possibly a close cousin—whom she has never met. He takes her dowry, beats her, and abuses the children he forces her to bear. She is not allowed to leave the house unless in the company of a male relative and unless she is submissively covered from head to toe. Suppose that she is able to contact one of the few support groups that now exist for the many women in Britain who share her plight. What she ought to be able to say is, "I need the police, and I need the law to be enforced." But what she will often be told is, "Your problem is better handled within the community." And those words, almost a death sentence, have now been endorsed and underwritten—and even advocated—by the country's official spiritual authority. You might argue that I am describing an extreme case (though, alas, now not an uncommon one), but it is the principle of equality before the law that really counts.
Christopher Hitchens, "To Hell With the Archbishop of Canterbury:  Rowan Williams' dangerous claptrap about "plural jurisdiction," Slate, February 11, 2008 --- http://www.slate.com/id/2184186/

"I'm turning away about 60% to 75% of the clients who come to me for a refi," said Bob Moulton, president of Americana Mortgage Group on Long Island, N.Y. "Some don't have enough equity and others have bad credit scores." During the boom years, lenders approved most anyone with a pulse. Not so today. Mortgage brokers recognize this and are now being very selective about the clients whose applications they choose to submit to the likes of Wells Fargo (WFC, Fortune 500) or Bank of America (BAC, Fortune 500).
Les Christie, CNN Money, February 8, 2008 --- http://money.cnn.com/2008/02/08/real_estate/who_can_refi/index.htm

The proposed rebate of about $600 per man, woman and child is transferred to people based upon some characteristic other than work effort. In fact, if you've worked too hard and earned too much, you won't get a rebate. So in some instances the rebate actually requires the absence of work effort. Now it's true that some of the people receiving the rebate may also be workers, but working is not the reason each person receives the rebate; it's simply because he or she is a human being. Thus rebate recipients are given command over real resources for doing something other than working.In this world of ours, those resources going to the rebate recipients don't come from the Tooth Fairy. They have to come from workers and producers. If the resources come from workers and producers who thereby receive less for their work than they otherwise would have received, won't they in turn spend less? Of course they'll spend less, and the people who now supply them with less will also spend less, and so on down the line.
Arthur Laffer, "That 'Stimulus' Nonsense," The Wall Street Journal, February 13, 2008; Page A27 --- http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120286935977964221.html

If all this (two recent scientific studies) doesn't lead to a great awakening among policy makers, we don't know what will. The studies are even more damning because they examine the issue with the theories of the global warmists and conclude that biofuels actually exacerbate the problem they're supposed to solve. On top of that, they're creating new environmental troubles like deforestation and a reduction in biodiversity that may be worse over time than whatever the importance of observed climate change. In either case, or both, they're damaging the planet more than they're helping it. Ethanol and biofuel proponents always point out that current options are little more than placeholders, temporary fixes until the technology advances and "second-generation" options emerge: "It's just around the corner," we're told. "No, really, this time it's real." That's why the Congressional energy bill put a cap on corn ethanol and, with lavish subsidies and tax credits, essentially legislated the creation of a speculative new biofuel industry from scratch. One hitch is that the technology never seems to turn that corner. Another is that, as the blockbuster Science studies imply, the unintended consequences of such divination matter more than the self-congratulation that "doing something" provides.
"Greenhouse Affect," The Wall Street Journal, February 13, 2008; Page A26 ---
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120286874755264143.html?mod=todays_us_opinion

There is a 50 percent chance Lake Mead, a key source of water for millions of people in the southwestern United States, will be dry by 2021 if climate changes as expected and future water usage is not curtailed, according to a pair of researchers at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego. Without Lake Mead and neighboring Lake Powell, the Colorado River system has no buffer to sustain the population of the Southwest through an unusually dry year, or worse, a sustained drought. In such an event, water deliveries would become highly unstable and variable, said research marine physicist Tim Barnett and climate scientist David Pierce. Barnett and Pierce concluded that human demand, natural forces like evaporation, and human-induced climate change are creating a net deficit of nearly 1 million acre-feet of water per year from the Colorado River system that includes Lake Mead and Lake Powell. This amount of water can supply roughly 8 million people. Their analysis of Federal Bureau of Reclamation records of past water demand and calculations of scheduled water allocations and climate conditions indicate that the system could run dry even if mitigation measures now being proposed are implemented. The paper, “When will Lake Mead go dry?,” has been accepted for publication in the peer-reviewed journal Water Resources Research, published by the American Geophysical Union (AGU).
PhysOrg, February 12, 2008 --- http://physorg.com/news122050436.html

Unwavering U.S. determination to fund, train, and arm more than 50,000 Palestinian “soldiers” raises serious doubts about the repeated promises President George W. Bush has made to secure Israel’s safety and bring peace to the Middle East. If the Bush administration gets its way, $4.2 billion to $7 billion in American taxpayer dollars over the next five years may fund training and purchase arms for tens of thousands of seasoned Palestinian terrorists. Many are veteran murderers, released from Israeli prisons in “confidence building” measures repeatedly demanded by the U.S.
Rachel Ehrenfeld and Alyssa A. Lappen, "Rewarding Palestinian Terrorism," Pajamas Media, February 16, 2008 --- http://pajamasmedia.com/2008/02/rewarding_palestinian_terroris.php

That seems to be the axiom in New York these days, where Gov. Eliot L. Spitzer (D), struggling to close a $4.4 billion budget gap, has proposed making drug dealers pay tax on their stashes of illegal drugs. The new tax would apply to cocaine, heroin and marijuana, and could be paid with pre-bought "tax stamps" affixed to the bags of dope. Some critics in the legislature are asking what the governor has been smoking.
Edward Morrissey, "Spitzer's Crack-Pot Tax," Captains Quarters, February 17, 2008 --- http://www.captainsquartersblog.com/mt/archives/017006.php
Jensen Comment
Critics who laugh at this must give a second thought to the fact that Spitzer was New York's Attorney General before becoming Governor. Surely Spitzer does not think rats in the drug business are going to come forward about their stash before they get caught. But after they are caught it may be possible to hit them with huge bills for back taxes and penalties and even jail time for not paying taxes. Do you remember what sent Al Capone to prison?

A "twin" of our solar system has been discovered by an international team of scientists that includes astronomers from Tel Aviv University. Its report on the revelation appeared in Thursday's issue of the prestigious Science journal. The newly discovered planets and the sun around which they revolve are very different from the 10 other solar systems discovered during the past decade. However, the new solar system is significantly similar to our solar system, especially in regard to the planets‚ relative weights and distances between them. Most of the 10 other systems were discovered by measuring the "wobbly paths" of their suns, said Dr. Shai Caspi of TAU. These variations are caused by the the gravitational pull of the planets. This is the technique used especially for discovering heavy planets like Jupiter, but in pathways close to their sun. But the new planets were discovered a different way - by the ability of mass to serve as a type of "lens" that magnifies far-off light sources, which is a phenomenon predicted by Albert Einstein's General Theory of Relativity. This technique makes it possible to discover small planets, if they exist, that are located at large distances from the mother star. By following the light from the solar system around the clock over a period of two weeks using a network of powerful telescopes, researchers can reach their conclusions about the existence of a star orbited by a Jupiter or Saturn-like planet. While the newly discovered solar system resembles ours, it is much smaller. The mother star has half the mass of ours, and the Jupiter and Saturn-like planets have half the masses of ours, while the planets' distance from their sun is half that of our planets' from our sun. The Israeli data, provided by TAU's Wise Observatory at Mitzpe Ramon, were vital to the discovery. "Without our observations, which were carried out when it was daylight where the other observatories are located, it would have been impossible to conclude that the Saturn-like planet existed," said Prof. Dan Maoz, another member of the Israeli team.
Judy Siegel-Itzkovich, "Israel helps find new solar system," Jerusalem Post, February 17, 2008 ---
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1203014771051&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FPrinter
Jensen Comment
I wonder how long it will take nations of the U.S. to commence to fight over land in this "New World" frontier?

A leading U.S. doctors group has endorsed using marijuana for medical purposes, urging the U.S. government to roll back a prohibition on using it to treat patients and supporting studies into its medical applications. The American College of Physicians, the second-largest doctors group in the United States, issued a policy statement on medical marijuana this week after it was approved by its governing body, the group said on Friday. The group cited evidence that marijuana is valuable in treating severe weight loss associated with AIDS, and nausea and vomiting associated with chemotherapy in cancer patients.
Will Dunham, Reuters, January 24, 2008 --- http://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSN15606101

A 63-year-old Massachusetts federal bankruptcy judge has resigned a week after he was arrested for driving under the influence in New Hampshire while reportedly wearing a woman’s dress, heels and stockings, and carrying a purse. Judge Robert Somma, a Newbury resident, pleaded no contest to the drunken driving charge in New Hampshire and agreed to have his license suspended for 12 months, the Manchester Union Leader reported.
O’Ryan Johnson, Boston Herald, February 16, 2008 --- Click Here
Jensen Comment
It's important to note that this happened in New Hampshire. If it happened in Texas he probably would not have resigned since Texas is notoriously lenient on DWI suspects who have enough money to pay off the lawyers. In California it would be a mark of honor to cross dress. "Scandals" are often dependent upon where they happen.  By the way, his picture reveals that he's no raving beauty --- not by a long shot. I wonder if the Judge danced with Rodney Carrington earlier in the evening --- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2WCbbyChJ4

Please Pray for the Unknown Professor's Son

One of my favorite finance blogs is written by the Unknown Professor (one time he did share his name and affiliation with me). This young professor has a young son who is now getting hard-dose cancer treatments following surgery. I appeal to all of you to pray for the Unknown Son.

The Washington Post Finds Distance Education More Profitable Than the Newspaper Business
The Washington Post Company continues to diversify not in journalism but in for-profit education. Last year, the company reported that it took in more revenue from its Kaplan businesses than the newspaper business. In filings last week with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the Post reported that it had purchased an 8.1 percent stake in Corinthian Colleges Inc.
Inside Higher Ed, February 18, 2008 --- http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2008/02/18/qt

Bob Jensen's threads on distance education and training alternatives are at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Crossborder.htm

Question
Why isn't this the best time to buy a new Blu-Ray DVD player/recorder even though it will be the new standard for movies on DVD disks?

Richard Campbell forwarded this sobering link --- http://crave.cnet.com/8301-1_105-9864122-1.html

Blu-ray set to be DVD standard after Toshiba white flag:  Alas most of us will need new DVD players (probably new computers)
Sony's Blu-ray looks set to become the standard for high-definition DVDs after Toshiba signalled Monday that it may give up in a long-running format battle, to the relief of investors. Toshiba Corp. is reviewing its HD DVD business and "a complete withdrawal is one of the options it is considering," an industry source told AFP on condition of anonymity. Blu-ray and HD DVD -- which are incompatible -- can provide cinematic-quality images and multimedia features but the players come at a much steeper price than current-generation DVDs. The demise of HD DVD could spur sales of next-generation DVD players among consumers, who have been reluctant to gamble on one of the formats, analysts said, although Blu-ray was already far ahead in sales, particularly in Japan. Blu-ray can store more data than HD DVD but was initially seen as more expensive to make. Nonetheless, a growing number of Hollywood studios and retailers have decided to go exclusively with Blu-ray. US giant Wal-Mart gave a decisive boost to Blu-ray last week when it said it would stop selling HD DVDs.
PhysOrg, February 18, 2008 --- http://physorg.com/news122541604.html
 

 Jensen Comment
 The question for you is whether you television sets and computers can play Blu-ray disks?
 For example, Dell and HP strongly supports the move to Blu-ray, but we have to expect this is partly due to Dell and HP users who will now buy new computers.
 Dell now takes orders for a Blu-ray laptop --- http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2006/12/12/dell_touts_blu-ray_laptop/

February 19, 2008 reply from David Albrecht [albrecht@PROFALBRECHT.COM]

I'm pretty ignorant here.

(1)  Will Blue Ray work with any HD TV?
(2)  When standard DVDs are no longer produced, will the Blu-Ray DVDs work on the regular DVD player on my laptop?
(3)  If the answer to (2) is no, then will it work to pop out my old DVD drive from my computer and purchase/install a new Blu-Ray drive, or will the lack of HD on my computer screen (machine is 15 months old) destine it to the junk heap.
(4)  Is all the bother really worth it?  I mean, I watch DVD movies on my laptop, and I'm not seeing HD at all.  Everything seems fine.  In fact, all of this is better than anything I ever had before.
(5)  I pick up my DVD movies at the Walmart $5 bargain bin, and at pawn shops.  How long until I can start picking up blu-ray DVDs for the same prices at the same places?
(6)  Will getting HD improve my BMI?

David Albrecht
LD in Ohio
 

February 19, 2008 reply from Bob Jensen

What pretty well sealed the deal for Sony’s Blu-Ray was when Wal-Mart adopted this standard worldwide for movie disks and players.

I don’t have all the answers to your questions David, but the two technologies are not compatible. On our computers most of us have CD drives, older-style DVD drives, or in on occasion Toshiba’s standard HD-DVD drives. The CD disks and older-style DVD data disks are cheap and will probably be around for quite a while for data file recording and reading. The HD-DVD recorders and players will go the way of Betamax when the VCR standard beat out Betamax. Original DVD drives would not play HD-DVD or Blu-Ray movie disks. However, HD-DVD players could playback older-style DVD disks that you may have recorded on your computer or purchased from vendors of data and software.

HD-DVD drives will not play Blu-Ray DVD disks that will become the new equivalent of the VCR back when we rented movies on VCR cartridges and recorded television programs on VCR recorders. Older style DVD drives that are on many computers will not play Blu-Ray or HD-DVD disks.

You can get answers from the following links:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blu-Ray

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HD-DVD

Technical --- http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/hd-dvd3.htm

The bottom line is that we will have to buy Blu-Ray drives for our television sets rather quickly. Folks who purchased archives of Betamax and HD-DVD movies will be out of luck just like those of us with boxes full of 8-Track music cartridges are out of luck. You will soon have to purchase a Blu-Ray player to watch DVD movies. You will also be buying Blu-Ray recorders to record television shows for your personal use.

Colleges will have to spend a lot of money putting Blu-Ray technology in electronic classrooms and labs. Even more costly will be getting Blu-Ray technology on faculty and staff computers. This will take time. It will be possible to replace the DVD drives without replacing the computers, but my guess is that many colleges will wait until faculty/staff members are due for new computer upgrades. In the meantime you will be able to buy blank CD and older-style DVD disks for some time at places like Staples. HD-DVD blanks will disappear much more quickly.

 Bob Jensen

 

February 19, 2008 reply from Mac Wright [Mac.Wright@VU.EDU.AU]

So today Toshiba has thrown in the towel. But what is next? from the time Sony threw in the Betamax towel until Video CDs was (I estimate) about 15 years. then DVDs arrived, then High speed internet, now Blue ray, In the end it is up to the market (probably on the Asian Continent and Indian Sub Continent) to decide how they will take their dose of movies, and with what new technology it will be delivered (and there are very few Wal -Mart stores out there!).

Kind regards,

Mac Wright
Co-ordinator Aviation Program
Victoria University
Melbourne Australia

February 19, 2008 reply from Bob Jensen

Hi Mac,

Interestingly, Barry Rice and I had a somewhat similar debate when Barry first started the AECM. Barry argued that the CD had no future because other portable hard drives were better ways of storing data. He was correct only to a point especially with respect to overwriting files (no CD-RW at the time of this debate). Portable hard drive cartridges in those days cost about $100 and stored roughly the same amount of data as a CD. Some types of data were difficult to burn on CDs in those days. Also remember that there was no flash memory in those days such that hard drive cartridges relied on mechanical readers prone to breakdowns.

You’ve got to remember that in mid-1980s it was much more difficult to download data on the Internet and hard drive capacity on a PC was less than 1 Gb such that storage was nowhere near as cheap as it is today.

My counterpoint to Barry was that we could buy a blank CD for about $3 in those days as compared to comparable storage costing $100 on portable hard drives such as those Iomega cartridges that were subject to high failure rates relative to the less expensive CD disks. Certainly my old CD stored files are still around today whereas all my Omega cartridges and drives are kaput.

In any case, I think the Blu-Ray DVD disks will be around for at least a decade (no computing hardware technology lasts forever). Reasons include:

• You don't have to pay for an expensive monthly broadband connection to rent or buy a DVD disk.
  
   
• Hollywood studios are embracing Blu-Ray DVDs as the sales and rental medium of the future for users who cannot or do not want to download movies, such as the many television lovers in the world who do not use computers. Also, in the heart of Africa or the Amazon where there is no live TV reception, users with TV sets can still use DVD disks on television sets.
  
  
   
• Even though outfits like Netflix now make it possible to download movies, this is still less popular than the tremendous disk rental service that Netfilx offers these days for playback on television sets (I love this service). Although I could download movies on my computers, I prefer to get the DVD disks that I can watch in comfort of my Lazyboy chair in front of a large-screen television set. Already Netflix has an option for renting DVD disks in the Blu-Ray format.
  
  
   
• DVD rental and sales disks in stores appeal to browsers and impulse shoppers. I would never think of buying movie on sale at Wal-Mart unless I stumbled over a display of on-sale legendary movies in the in the aisle.
  
   

Blank DVD disks are still very cheap ways to store lots of data over a long time and less prone to failure than any other alternatives.

Bob Jensen

February 19, 2008 message from David Fordham, James Madison University [fordhadr@JMU.EDU]

The only way to increase the intellectual property value of your identity is to give it away.
"Face Value," by Barbara Fister, Inside Higher Ed, February 18, 2008 --- http://www.insidehighered.com/views/2008/02/18/fister 

Here’s the interesting paradox: The only way to increase the intellectual property value of your identity is to give it away. That’s the only way it can be shared, linked to and recognized by others. Trading a little personal information for a public platform, whether for personal expression or self-promotion (or both), seems a fair exchange.

Does this sound eerily familiar? It should.

As scholars, our ideas gain value as we make them public, and we have been historically myopic about the consequences of trading the rights to our ideas for access to distribution channels. This unexamined practice put us all over a barrel when publishers required the academy to ransom those ideas back through prohibitively expensive journal subscriptions for libraries. The personal advancement attached to making our ideas public only added to the problem; more publications translated into higher prestige. There was just too much stuff for libraries to buy back, and not enough budget. The Open Access movement is on track to significantly change the “terms of service” when it comes to scholarly communication. Though the battle’s far from over, we’ve made real progress.

Continued in article

Bob Jensen's threads on open sharing are at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/000aaa/updateee.htm#OKI

"eBayer invites buyers to rip him off:  Sony laptop punted to scammers worldwide," by Lester Haines, The Register, February 11, 2008 --- http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/02/11/ebay_laptop_auction/

Here's an eBay auction with a difference: an apparently innocent-looking punt of a Sony VAIO VGN-NR21J/S laptop:

There then follows the usual item description, but what makes this particular sale a little more interesting is the vendor's candid purchasing advice for users of the world's favourite tat bazaar:

DIFFERENT WAYS YOU CAN STEAL THIS LAPTOP OFF ME:

PAYPAL:

Paypal is currently ebays preferred method of stealing high value electrical items off sellers. There are a number of various ways you can use to steal this laptop using paypal.

1: A Fake “Item Not Received” (I.N.R) Claim – All you simply have to do here is purchase my item using an unverified paypal account. Then when you receive the laptop, simply claim that you didn’t receive it at your registered (credit card) and paypal will give you all your money back !

2: A Fake “Item Significantly Not As Described” (S.N.A.D) This is a great way to steal items off sellers. Simply start a dispute after you get the laptop making up some lie about the item being damaged etc – You could use Photoshop to make up fake pictures of damage. Paypal will ask you to send the item back to me, but don’t bother – they never enforce that on buyers and after a short wait you will get all your money back and you will still have the laptop.

3: A fake “Unauthorised Use” Claim – This is a super way of stealing items on ebay and is widely used. Simply claim that someone hijacked your account (paypal & ebay) and that you didn’t order the laptop. Then in conjunction with a fake I.N.R claim you can simply steal the laptop and of course, get your money back.

4: A Stolen Credit card – Of course, ebay make no real attempt to vet any of its buyers, so hey, just register a new ebay account using fake ID information and link it to a paypal account set up with a stolen credit card – and hey presto – A free laptop.

WESTERN UNION

Although officially banned on ebay, fake western union payments are the preferred way for Nigerian Scammers to steal high value electrical items. Simply email me (using pigeon English) telling me that you would like to buy this item using Western Union – Tell me that you would be happy to pay over the odds for the laptop and that it is a present for your mother in law. Then send me a fake western union payment notification and I send you the laptop – Perfect. This method of stealing items off sellers is very widely used on ebay and of course, as ebay do not properly verify buyers its easy to do. Make sure you use Pigeon English as I am really really stupid and it’s bound to fool me.

MUGGING

If you are a traditionalist like me you may prefer a good old mugging. Simply offer to meet me on some dodgy housing estate somewhere and have a load of you mates hiding behind a hedge with a few iron bars. Again, offer to pay me over the odds as there is nothing better than using a sellers greed to bait them into a scam. I would be grateful if you could avoid killing me as this will cause bad publicity for ebay which would be terrible.

GENUINE BUYERS

In the unlikely event that you are actually a genuine buyer then you really should be shopping in a real shop and not this scammers paradise. However this laptop does really exist and is really for sale. You can email me or skype me with suggestions on how we may actually transact this item to both our satisfaction – with both our safety in mind. Don’t even think of buying it using paypal. I’ve only listed it as accepted because ebay run a protection racket that means I have to accept it. If you do pay by paypal I will simply refund your payment and give you a nice new shiny NEG.

FEEDBACK BLACKMAIL

Of course you will no doubt be aware that from May onwards you will be able to blackmail sellers into giving you free P&P / discounts etc. You will be able to give them neg feedback and they will not be able to give you any.. I regret to advise you that because this rule does not come in until May this option of scamming me is not open to you yet.

AUCTION WRECKING

I would grateful if some sad failed traffic warden could report this auction for two reasons

1: Ebay will see this listing and will hopefully close my account, saving me a 180 days wait to do it myself.

2: You will save me listing fees, making this a free advert.

Happy Bidding!

Continued in article

Bob Jensen's threads on eBay scams and what you can do to protect yourself are at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/FraudReporting.htm#eBay

Harvard University’s arts and sciences faculty will vote today on a proposal in which the university would publish all the finished papers of its scholars in a free online repository unless they opted out of the arrangement, The New York Times reported. In an op-ed in today’s Harvard Crimson, Robert Darnton, director of the university library, said that the new arrangement would be “collective but not coercive” and that “[i]n place of a closed, privileged, and costly system, it will help open up the world of learning to everyone who wants to learn.”
Inside Higher Ed, February 12, 2008 ---

"At Harvard, a Proposal to Publish Free on Web," by Patricia Cohen, The New York Times, February 12, 2008 --- Click Here

Publish or perish has long been the burden of every aspiring university professor. But the question the Harvard faculty will decide on Tuesday is whether to publish ­ on the Web, at least ­ free.

Faculty members are scheduled to vote on a measure that would permit Harvard to distribute their scholarship online, instead of signing exclusive agreements with scholarly journals that often have tiny readerships and high subscription costs.

Although the outcome of Tuesday’s vote would apply only to Harvard’s arts and sciences faculty, the impact, given the university’s prestige, could be significant for the open-access movement, which seeks to make scientific and scholarly research available to as many people as possible at no cost.

“In place of a closed, privileged and costly system, it will help open up the world of learning to everyone who wants to learn,” said Robert Darnton, director of the university library. “It will be a first step toward freeing scholarship from the stranglehold of commercial publishers by making it freely available on our own university repository.”

Under the proposal Harvard would deposit finished papers in an open-access repository run by the library that would instantly make them available on the Internet. Authors would still retain their copyright and could publish anywhere they pleased ­ including at a high-priced journal, if the journal would have them.

What distinguishes this plan from current practice, said Stuart Shieber, a professor of computer science who is sponsoring the faculty motion, is that it would create an “opt-out” system: an article would be included unless the author specifically requested it not be. Mr. Shieber was the chairman of a committee set up by Harvard’s provost to investigate scholarly publishing; this proposal grew out of one of the recommendations, he said.

Continued in article at:
http://select.nytimes.com/mem/tnt.html?_r=1&emc=tnt&tntget=2008/02/12/books/12publ.html&tntemail1=y&oref=slogin

"Harvard's Faculty of Arts and Sciences Adopts New Open Access Requirement," The University of Illinois Issues in Scholarly Communications Blog, February 13, 2008 --- http://www.library.uiuc.edu/blog/scholcomm/

Yesterday Harvard's Faculty of Arts and Sciences unanimously approved a motion that would allow Harvard to place the final peer-reviewed version of all journal articles into an open access repository (an institutional repository similar to UIUC's IDEALS - http://ideals.uiuc.edu/).

This kind of requirement is becoming more common in Europe and at a few institutions in the UK and Australia, but this is close to the first - if not the first - such requirement in the United States. Alongside the new NIH requirement for deposit into PubMed Central, this may indicate the beginnings of a real sea change.

The full text of the Harvard motion is below:

The Faculty of Arts and Sciences of Harvard University is committed to disseminating the fruits of its research and scholarship as widely as possible. In keeping with that commitment, the Faculty adopts the following policy: Each Faculty member grants to the President and Fellows of Harvard College permission to make available his or her scholarly articles and to exercise the copyright in those articles. In legal terms, the permission granted by each Faculty member is a nonexclusive, irrevocable, paid-up, worldwide license to exercise any and all rights under copyright relating to each of his or her scholarly articles, in any medium, and to authorize others to do the same, provided that the articles are not sold for a profit. The policy will apply to all scholarly articles written while the person is a member of the Faculty except for any articles completed before the adoption of this policy and any articles for which the Faculty member entered into an incompatible licensing or assignment agreement before the adoption of this policy. The Dean or the Dean's designate will waive application of the policy for a particular article upon written request by a Faculty member explaining the need. To assist the University in distributing the articles, each Faculty member will provide an electronic copy of the final version of the article at no charge to the appropriate representative of the Provost's Office in an appropriate format (such as PDF) specified by the Provost's Office. The Provost's Office may make the article available to the public in an open-access repository. The Office of the Dean will be responsible for interpreting this policy, resolving disputes concerning its interpretation and application, and recommending changes to the Faculty from time to time. The policy will be reviewed after three years and a report presented to the Faculty.

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

• http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/HigherEdControversies.htm#PeerReview
• http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/HigherEdControversies.htm#PeerReviewFlaws
• http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/HigherEdControversies.htm#PeerReviewPublishing
• http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/HigherEdControversies.htm#MLA
• http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/HigherEdControversies.htm#Tenure

Census Data for Your Zip Code --- http://zipskinny.com/

Bob Jensen's threads on economic and related statistical data --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Bookbob1.htm#EconStatistics

David Pogue is one of my technology heroes --- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Pogue
Vidya Ananthanarayanan called my attention to his recent keynote speech at the Pennsylvania Educational Technology Expo and Conference
"Five ways to improve technology in education," by Todd Ritter, DownloadSquad, February 12, 2008 --- Click Here

Stay informed
Use Really Simple Syndication (RSS) to keep up with technology news and events. To use RSS you'll need an RSS reader like Google Reader, NetNewsWire (Mac), or FeedDemon (Windows) to read RSS feeds. An RSS feed is basically a dynamic link that updates your RSS reader when new content is posted to a website (click the "RSS Feeds" button under our search bar to see examples).

You can also subscribe to technology newsletters, and talk to students about websites and web services they use on their own. A majority of teachers do not know what Stickam or Meebo are, yet these sites are used daily by many of their students.

Focus on the learning process, not the end product
When little Susie uses iMovie to create a video of her class field trip to Cape Canaveral, she should be evaluated on what she's learned through the creative process, not how many wipes and sound effects she used in her final movie file. The quality and relativity of the still pictures she took by learning how to use a digital camera, or video footage from a well-designed storyboard are better barometers of a successful project.

Work with IT professionals who understand education
I work on the IT side of education daily, and I know it's important to unfetter technology at a school to stimulate the learning process. IT staff must be willing to bend on certain security measures and trust students with equipment so that they can be creative and not boxed in. We let students take laptops home to work on approved projects, which ultimately motivates their peers to do the same. We also have a dedicated instructional adviser who helps teachers integrate technology into their lesson plans. This often helps ease the teachers' modification of antiquated lessons.

Become a user
Make a Facebook account so you can understand the allure of social-networking sites. Add some information about yourself. Locate former school pals. Join some groups. This will let you see sites like Faceook from a student's perspective.

To collaborate and share course materials, you can create a Moodle site for your class, or start a class blog. Students benefit more from teachers who collaborate and less from teachers who force-feed lectures. Also, it's much easier to teach about something that you've actually used in depth. It's time to break the stigma of "those that can, do; those that can't, teach."

Don't be afraid of change
Some teachers think that upgrading from Office 2003 to 2007 is using the latest technology. However, a Word document is still words and formatting meant for someone to read. Instead of being satisfied with word processing in a new version of software, why not let students create a school "newspaper" on something like Joomla. The news could be updated in seconds, it could be interactive (comments, updates, etc.), and it could be include user-submitted media. Google Earth could be used to give an elementary student global perspective by flying in from a world view down to the roof of his home.
 

Jensen Comment
There are other things that I would recommend. I think joining listserv of other educators is important, especially educators in your discipline --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/ListservRoles.htm

It is exceedingly important to know what knowledge is being freely shared by professors and universities --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/000aaa/updateee.htm#OKI
I hope that you will one day share your own knowledge with us.

I think becoming a user of important technologies is important, especially video recording using Camtasia --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/HelpersVideos.htm
Also see the 50Camtasia.ppt file at http://www.cs.trinity.edu/~rjensen/EdTech/PowerPoint/

Following the tools of technology in education in general is important --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/000aaa/thetools.htm

Bob Jensen's threads on education technology are at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/000aaa/0000start.htm

"'Big Think' Video Site Not Attracting Much Feedback?" by Jeffrey Young, Chronicle of Higher Education, February 8, 2008 --- http://chronicle.com/wiredcampus/index.php?id=2730&utm_source=wc&utm_medium=en

Big Think made a splash when it hit the Web last month. After all, the site boasts hundreds of video clips of intellectual celebrities talking about pressing issues, has the former president of Harvard as one of its investors, and got plenty of glowing press coverage (including a mention in The Chronicle, of course).

But when T. Mills Kelly, an associate professor of history and art history at George Mason University, took a close look at the site, he says he felt like he was visiting a ghost town. “There’s virtually no discussion going on — hardly anybody has participated in ways that were anticipated,” he says in the latest issue of the Digital Campus podcast, where he is a host, along with two colleagues.

Continued in article

Jensen Comment
The main problems are newness and broadness. New things take a while to catch on even in this era of electronic communication. Broadness in education often does not trump narrowness in terms of interest. Faculty seek out shared items, including videos, that they can use in their courses and in their research. These are often narrow topics found in specialized blogs rather than those education in general issues. At American Accounting Association annual meetings its amazing how many faculty skip the big plenary sessions but seek out those few narrowly-focused concurrent sessions that are more relevant to their teaching and research.

I maintain an enormous Website that in the August 14, 1998 issue of the Chronicle of Higher Education was written up as a Helper Site. My Website evolved to where it has broad-based documents (e.g., Controversies in Higher Education) versus narrow and technical documents (e.g., FAS 133 and IAS 39 documents). Over the years I would have to say, based upon a high volume of feedback from users of Web crawlers like Google, less than 10% of the feedback concerns broad issues. The overwhelming feedback is about some angel dangling on the head of a pin.

Bob Jensen's threads on open sharing and academic videos are at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/000aaa/updateee.htm#OKI

February 11, 2008 reply from Henry Collier [henrycollier@aapt.net.au]

Jensen Wrote
I maintain an enormous Website that in the August 14, 1998 issue of the Chronicle of Higher Education was written up as a Helper Site. My Website evolved to where it has broad-based documents (e.g., Controversies in Higher Education) versus narrow and technical documents (e.g., FAS 133 and IAS 39 documents). Over the years I would have to say, based upon a high volume of feedback from users of Web crawlers like Google, less than 10% of the feedback concerns broad issues. The overwhelming feedback is about some angel dangling on the head of a pin.

The highlighted portion of your timely post is of interest to me … particularly from a teaching standpoint. At this late stage of my life and career, I find our collective lack of any knowledge of the ‘history of how we got where we are’ appalling to the nth degree. It does appear to me though, that Chua Wai Fong and Norman B Macintosh do have some clues about where we were, how we got where we are, and perhaps some guidance (normative) of where we might want to go.

In the post graduate program at Michigan State in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s I don’t recall anyone ever mentioning the contributions made by Hatfield or Scott or MacNeil or any of the ‘giants’ of history … only passing reference was ever given to Paton, Littleton, Mattesich, or Grady, let alone accountants and researchers from outside the continental boundries of the USA, from a far more recent time. Our group was, perhaps, one of the first that set the trend into what ‘accounting’ has become today … a branch of finance and maths/statistics. Admittedly, I was not the best student in the group. Nevertheless, very few of the potential graduates ever actually finished the program. Most ‘tracked’ out into something more ‘user friendly’ or left with what was then a ‘terminal’ qualification of MBA/CPA. Some of us tried to learn a bit more about the processes of education and how to measure academic achievement … all this “education stuff” now seems to be coming back to haunt us with the AACSB assessment of learning requirements.

I couldn’t agree with you more about the conclusion that our research has evolved into angel / pin methods without any methodology or basis on explaining or examining what it is that accounting is supposed to be or do.

To make matters worse, we seldom talk or write about ‘education’ in our journals. The abysmal state of today’s accounting education dooms us for the future.

Thanks for the AECM …

February 12, 2008 reply from Bob Jensen

Hi Henry,

I took the liberty of forwarding your reply to the AECM and posting it to my forthcoming edition of Tidbits on February 19.

Thank you for reminding me about Norm Macintosh from Queens University in Canada,. I knew Norm years ago and lost track of him. One time we went out to dinner together in Vancouver (as I dimly recall?). He spotted a car parked on the street with a Quebec license plate. Norm walked over and kicked the tires. He is a passionate man.

I ran a search to update myself about Norm and stumbled on one of his recent papers”
“Accounting - Truth, Lies, or 'Bullshit?': A Philosophical Investigation,” SSRN, August 13, 2007 ---
http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1006875

Abstract:
This paper offers a commentary on Lee's [2006] critique from Searle's [1995, 1998] philosophical, social constructivist perspective of the FASB's recent principles versus rules initiative. Lee argues that standard setters ignore [or are ignorant of] the philosophical issues underpinning this issue and that until they come to grips with this the initiative, their efforts will remain only a “cunning plan” to legitimate the profession's standard setting activities to the public. This paper, contra Lee, speculates that philosophically the issue goes well beyond a brute reality versus a socially constructed reality. The paper draws on several strands of linguistically oriented philosophy, including Frankfurt's [2005] insightful book, On Bullshit, to analyze the accountant's agency in preparing financial statements. The paper concludes that if economic income and capital do not exist as brute realties independently of their representation, then accountants can be justified in ignoring [or being indifferent towards] the truth or falseness of these accounts. If there is no “bottom line”, no “final truth”, existing prior to the accounting for them, then philosophically it makes no sense to accuse the accountant of violating the representational faithfulness conceptual framework axiom. The paper gestures towards the bigger issue of how the global capital market relies on such ungrounded accounting reports.

As usual Henry, I agree with your reflections on history and theory. Thank you for your replies to my wandering thoughts.

Bob Jensen

"Should We Teach Broadly or Deeply?" the Unknown Professor Who Maintains the Financial Rounds Blog, February 13, 2008 --- http://financialrounds.blogspot.com/

I just came across a talk by Robert Frank, author of "The Economic Naturalist." He talked about his book, and about the problem of why so many students don't retain key concepts from their classes. For example, on the first day of my security analysis class I typically ask students the question "What should determine the value of a security." The answer, of course, is "The amount, timing, and riskiness of the cash flows from owning the security." Fewer than 1/4 of the class knows the answer without prompting.

Frank's explanation for why students retain so little is that we simply try pack too much into our classes. This makes our syllabus seem impressive, but shortchanges the students. As an example, we might cover 14 chapters (and 15-20 concepts) in a 14 week semester, rather than covering half that many and really drilling the concepts in.

"But Unknown Professor", you say, "We HAVE to cover A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, and in the introductory finance class or we're shortchanging the students." The problem with this approach is that a few months after the class is done, they don't remember anything about topics A-M except that they covered them sometime in class. Add they really don;t even have all that great a grasp of critical concepts such as the Time Value of Money.

In contrast, if you covered half as many topics, you could spend 3-4 weeks on Time Value rather than the usual week or two. This way, you could make