Down Route 302 about 20 miles is the village of Bath, New Hampshire --- http://www.nh.gov/nhes/elmi/htmlprofiles/bath.html
There's a relatively long covered bridge in Bath --- http://www.nh.gov/nhdhr/bridges/p53.html
Bath is also the home of a general store called The Brick that claims to be the "oldest
continuously operating general store in America." The store's located at the start of the covered bridge.

 

Aside from the covered bridge and The Brick, there's not much of note in Bath except that it's the long-time home of Patti Page on her Hilltop Farm. Now most of you younger folks probably do not know much about Patti Page, but in the Big Band Era up into the 1960s, the clear-singing "Rage" was Patti Page ---
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patti_Page
Also see http://archive.southcoasttoday.com/daily/02-99/02-17-99/b01ae041.htm

Actually she still had pop hit gold records into the 1980s and had some country song hits as well. In 2007 Patti Page was inducted into the Hit Parade Hall of Fame.
(If you wait a bit you can listen to Old Cape Cod at the Hall of Fame site).

In 1948 Patti first visited the Hit Parade with “Confess,” entering the top ten in 1950 with “I Don’t Care If the Sun Don’t Shine" and a few months later with "With My Eyes Wide Open I'm Dreaming". Before the year was over, she had her first #1 chart topper with “All My Love” and the record that would sell more than 20 million singles, "Tennessee Waltz."

Throughout the 50’s and 1960’s Patti Page would add 15 gold records including, “Would I Love You,” “Mockin’ Bird Hill,” “Mister And Mississippi,” “Detour,” “Come What May,” “Once In Awhile,” “I Went to Your Wedding,” “Steam Heat”, “How Much is That Doggie In The Window,” “Changing Partners,” “Cross Over The Bridge,” “Allegheny Moon,” “Old Cape Cod,” “Left Right Out Of Your Heart,” and in 1965 the title song from the Bette Davis motion picture, “Hush, Hush, Sweet Charlotte.”

On the best selling charts more than 100 times, Patti Page sold a staggering 110 million records and won a Grammy in 1998 as Best Traditional Pop Singer.

In 2007 Patti Page was inducted into the Hit Parade Hall of Fame.

In the photographs below she can be seen in the early years with Elvis and later years with her husband Jerry.

 

Patti Page did the soundtracks for 27 movies form 1950-2006 as well as star in some of her own movies.
For a listing of her performance successes see --- http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0656303/

This year she filled the Empire Theatre (Ontario, Canada) on April 12, 2008 --- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IeH9t5R1OFQ
At a performance earlier in February 2008 (poor audio recording but lovely nonetheless)--- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ygEa0wk_Nrs
She also did a Swinging With the Band show recently in Arizona on April 26, 2008.

Patti Page's Maple Sugar and Organic Products Store has a home page at http://pattipageproducts.com/
Products can be purchased online, including some products she produces on the "New England Hilltop Farm" she shares in Bath with her husband Jerry.
Of course you can also purchase Patti Page memorabilia from her store.

One of Patti Page's hits was the title song in the "Hush… Hush, Sweet Charlotte" horror film starring Bette Davis ---
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hush%2C_Hush%2C_Sweet_Charlotte
Previously I did a tidbit about Bette Davis who lived on the Butternut Farm about two miles down the road in Sugar Hill ---
http://www.trinity.edu/%7Erjensen/tidbits/2007/tidbits070801.htm

Official Patti Page Website (especially note the historic photographs) --- http://www.misspattipage.com/

Patti Page with:
   Rex Allen
   Garth Brooks
   Nat King Cole
   Bing Crosby
   Emmylou Harris
   Bob Hope
   David Janssen
   Allison Krauss
   Burt Lancaster
   Lorrie Morgan
   Elvis Presley- photo 1
   Elvis Presley- photo 2
   Ed Sullivan
   Sarah Vaughn

Here are a few Patti Page video memories that I remember well:

 

 

Tidbits on July 15, 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

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/ )

Global Incident Map --- http://www.globalincidentmap.com/home.php

Set up free conference calls at http://www.freeconference.com/
Also see http://www.yackpack.com/uc/   

Free Online Tutorials in Multiple Disciplines --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Bookbob2.htm#Tutorials

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

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

Tips on computer and networking security --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/ecommerce/000start.htm

Many useful accounting sites (scroll down) --- http://www.iasplus.com/links/links.htm

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

Irena Sendler --- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OVw1PANUcdg

Christian the Lion (great music) --- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=adYbFQFXG0U

Secrets to Happiness --- http://www.findingjoymovie.com/
These are almost as good as being married to a rich nymphomaniac who owns a chain of liquor stores

MagentaTV (Professor Christopher Lamarca, Nature Photographer) --- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJcZTPjV4lE
Also see "Defenders of the Forest," Chronicle of Higher Education's The Chronicle Review, July 11, 2008 --- http://chronicle.com/weekly/v54/i44/44b01901.htm?utm_source=cr&utm_medium=en

Kate and Gin – Britain’s Got Talent
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-0jNC_w1tSw&feature=related
Kate and Gin – talented dog
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tEVYvN4Qces&feature=related 

 

Dialogue Radio and Television [current events video] --- http://www.wilsoncenter.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=dialogue.welcome

Torvill & Dean Olympic Skaters

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

Elvis Singing America --- http://home.comcast.net/~nw-fla/tribute_flag_B_thompson.htm
1995 Slideshow --- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJC2ODGaW9U
Video Version --- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_CqVwVmwcs
American Holiday (Video) --- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJC2ODGaW9U
Elvis Impersonator-Joseph Hall --- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZ-WE_bm7eQ

Elvis doesn't care if the sun don't shine --- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5xdhhrYpdQ

Battle Hymn of the Republic (the music takes about a minute to start up) --- http://www.greatdanepromilitary.com/Battle Hymn/index.htm

My favorite from Floyd Cramer --- http://members.shaw.ca/mcinnes-hume/mud_puddles__dandelions.htm

A couple of my many Judd Strunk banjo-picking favorites"

JUDD STRUNK SINGS "THE BIGGEST PAIR-A-KEETS IN TOWN" ---
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6bBBPbU9R_g 

Judd Strunk sings "A Daisy a Day" on the Johnny Carson Show ---
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BB8G0SFmJ1g 

Black National Anthem --- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_National_Anthem

The National Anthem of Norway --- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhhStVKawbk

National Anthem of Ireland --- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aip-a3qEJ2s

Irish Rebel Songs --- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2-7_c6wazA

Welsh National Anthem (Wales vs. Ireland) --- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wRRY8eDMSY

Classical Violin
James Ehnes: A Little Recital And A Grammy --- http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=92404906

Drummer great Bobby Durham died on July 10, 2008 --- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobby_Durham_%28Jazz_musician%29

Jane Froman's Great, Great Voice --- http://www.janefroman.com/

July 7, 2008 message from michael@1800sunstar.com

Aloha from Hawaii Bob,

I was happy that I somehow landed on one of you're sites while surfing the web today. I ended up reading a number of them for hours. Very interesting stuff. I came across one of you're pages entitled:

"Bob Jensen's Links to Online Music and Video" http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/music.htm

As well as you're "Music Page"  http://www.resnet.trinity.edu/tdubose/music_page.htm

Since I have a number of free Music downloads on my site to one of the most popular Hawaiian Artists in the islands "Israel Kamakawiwo'ole", I was wondering if you might consider posting a link to my Hawaiian Music website on either of these Music pages..?

I would be happy to post a link to you're Music pages or any linkpage you wish in kind if you would like.

I post some basic info about my site(s) (i.e: the 1st is the Music site, the 2nd is a Hawaii Photo site) below for your consideration and of course feel free to edit any of it as you see fit.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Title: Free Hawaiian Music Downloads
URL: http://1800sunstar.com/

Description: "Free Hawaiian Music Downloads", including "Somewhere Over the Rainbow IZ Songs", and Free Legal Music Players.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Title: Hawaii Photo Beach Pictures Gallery
URL: http://1800sunstar.com/zzsuzannas-hawaiian-photo-art-gallery/hawaii-art-gallery-01.html

Description: Hawaii beach photos, Hawaiian sunset pictures, Hawaiian flowers, Hawaii photo album.

Photographs and Art

Fantastic Photographs Taken from Airplanes (Slide Show) --- Click Here

Black Hole Montage - NASA Galaxy Big Bang (video) --- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VvhimW97Kj4

A Daring Experiment: Harvard and Business Education for Women, 1937-1970 --- http://www.library.hbs.edu/hc/daring/

First Detailed Map of the Human Cortex --- http://www.technologyreview.com/Biotech/21042/?nlid=1190

National Park Service, Nature & Science: Teacher Resources --- http://www.nature.nps.gov/geology/education/

Dakin Fire Insurance Maps (history of urbanization of Hawaii)  ---  http://digicoll.manoa.hawaii.edu/maps/index.php?c=1

From UC Berkeley
Electronic Cultural Atlas Initiative ---  http://www.ecai.org/

Dance Teacher Magazine --- http://www.dance-teacher.com/

Library of Congress Search Site for Art, Speeches, Music, and Other Items --- http://catalog.loc.gov/

June 30, 2008 message from angelica@amandakoster.com

Hello Bob,

This is photographer Amanda Koster and I wanted to thank you discussing my work and posting a link on October 24, 2005. Thank you so much for taking the time to look at my work, it is kind of you and also an honor.

There are a few things going on with my work that I thought you’d like to hear about.

A publisher out of Seattle has just given me a contract to publish my first book. The book will be a retrospective of my social documentary photography work and personal journals while doing this work around the world throughout the years. The book will also be focused on SalaamGarage, showing how SalaamGarage is a vehicle to harness ones own media talents and passions to cause positive change.

The publisher is also organizing an event “What can be done with a camera and a pen”, in early September where I will present the book, my work and SalaamGarage. A percentage of ticket + book sales will go to Vatsalya, the NGO SalaamGarage worked with in India last fall. I see this event as a call to action to realize the power of social documentary storytelling and to register for a SalaamGarage trip. I can send you the press release for the book and event later this month.

Salaam Garage ( http://www.Salaamgarage.com ) is a venture I have created out of the 25th request, “Can I come with you?” Here is the mission statement:

Salaam Garage Adventures connects media savvy travelers and enthusiasts with international Non-governmental Organizations (NGOs). Travelers commit to creating and sharing unique, independent social media that raises awareness and causes positive change. The rest of the adventure is spent touring around the region, experiencing and exploring the culture and environment with an entirely new context. You will find that Salaam Garage is not just visual art, but also a body of work that has the capability to spark global transformation.

We are the media now. Join us.

Here are a few articles about Salaamgarage: http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/lifestyle/350259_india07.html  http://seattle.consciouschoice.com/2008/03/havecausewilltravel0803.html 

Please feel free to let me know if you have any questions or comments about Salaam Garage. Thank you for taking the time to look this over, and for sharing an interest in causing positive change in our world.

Thank you so much and all the best,
Amanda

 

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

Bookspot is a very useful site for finding books by category (although it is not limited to free online books) --- http://www.bookspot.com/

Quotations About Time --- http://www.annabelle.net/topics/time.php
Also watch the video at  http://www.scottstratten.com/movie.html 

Internet Book List --- http://www.iblist.com/

Classics Reader --- http://www.classicreader.com/

University of Missouri Digital Library --- http://digital.library.umsystem.edu/
Includes such things as sheet music and photographs.

American Library Association Mystery Showcase ---
http://www.ala.org/ala/booklist/mysteryshowcase/mysteryshowcase.htm

Digital Library Books Page --- http://digital.library.upenn.edu/books/

Free eBooks for your PDA (or iPod) --- http://manybooks.net/

English Composition: Writing for an Audience --- http://www.learner.org/resources/series128.html 

Five Best Books on Father-Son Relationships --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/FatherSonBooks.htm

 

A government big enough to give you everything you want, is big enough to take away everything you have.
Thomas Jefferson as quoted on the bottom of email messages from Patricia Doherty

I can't believe this appeared in a New York Times editorial:
Longer term, the challenge is perhaps even more daunting. Saving more is ultimately the only way to dig out of the budget hole that the nation is in. That will be painful, because higher government savings, done properly, means higher taxes and restrained spending. Candidates for president do not like to be pessimistic, or even candid, really, about the economy. But a leader who wants to steer the nation through tough times should not spend the campaign telling Americans they can have it all.
"There He Goes Again," The New York Times, July 12, 2008 --- http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/12/opinion/12sat1.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
Jensen Comment
But true to form, the NYT only criticizes John McCain's balanced budget goals in this context. No mention is made of the NYT's favorite candidate who certainly, albeit truthfully, is not promising anything within light years of a balanced budget. The question is which candidate, if elected, will heavily veto the outrageous spending bills that most certainly emerge from Congress over the next four or eight years. Sadly, George Bush, unlike Reagan, rarely inked a spending veto in his eight years. This country does not know what a life-threatening debt crisis is and will have a rude awakening after November when the U.S. dollar skids to all time lows never imagined. The real problem is that Congress is leaning to more of entitlement time bombs --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/entitlements.htm

Truth in Accounting or Lack Thereof in the Federal Government (Former Congressman Chocola) ---
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NWTCnMioaY0 
Part 2 (unfunded liabilities of $55 trillion plus) --- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Edia5pBJxE
Part 3 (this is a non-partisan problem being ignored in election promises) --- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lG5WFGEIU0E

Watch the Video of the non-sustainability of the U.S. economy (CBS Sixty Minutes TV Show Video) ---
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OS2fI2p9iVs 
Also see "US Government Immorality Will Lead to Bankruptcy" in the CBS interview with David Walker ---
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OS2fI2p9iVs
Also at Dirty Little Secret About Universal Health Care (David Walker) --- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGpY2hw7ao8

My friends, we live in the greatest nation in the history of the world. I hope you'll join with me as we try to change it.
Barack Obama
Jensen Comment
Of course there are many ways any great nation can be improved. But change for change sake is a double-edged sword that can cut either way when change is built on borrowed money.

As a state senator from the South Side, Barack Obama once arranged for a $200,000 state grant to jump-start an urban venture capital fund for a non-profit group run by Rev. Jesse Jackson. The grant was the very sort of faith-based initiative now at the center of an uncomfortable rift between Jackson and Obama, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee. The money was spent, but the promised investment pool for job-poor neighborhoods never materialized, an example of the mixed record for Obama and other officials in getting results from such programs.
Bob Secter and Ray Gibson, "Obama has long backed faith charities," Chicago Tribune, July 12, 2008 ---
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-obama-faith_satjul12,0,1382081.story
Jensen Comment
One of the drawbacks is that these programs are charities that do little to attract employers into poverty and crime-infested districts.
Five Best Books on Father-Son Relationships --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/FatherSonBooks.htm

The swelling forces of Taliban and Al Qaeda fighters in Pakistan’s border region pose a grave threat to American and NATO troops in Afghanistan. They also pose a grave threat to the Pakistani people. Pakistan’s Taliban militias, like their Afghan counterparts, are trying to impose their harsh medieval version of Islamic law. More than a thousand Pakistanis have been killed in terrorist attacks in the past year, mostly in the border areas where radical Islamic fighters are strongest . . . Sending United States troops into Pakistan’s border regions to try to clean out Taliban and Al Qaeda forces is also not the answer — and would provoke even fiercer anti-American furies across Pakistan. The poorly paid, ill-trained and uncertainly loyal Frontier Corps in Pakistan is not up to the job . . . This month, Senators Joseph Biden and Richard Lugar plan to introduce sensible legislation that would provide up to $15 billion in aid to Pakistan over the next 10 years for economic development, health and education. Congress should move quickly to approve the aid.
"The Taliban’s Rising Tide," The New York Times, July 11, 2008 --- http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/11/opinion/11fri1.html
Jensen Comment
A nuclear threat far more serious than Iran or North Korea is the the tide of the Taliban will float off with the nuclear weapons in the hands of the meanest men on earth. Throwing billions at Pakistan is simply going to fuel the fire, but this is a typical NYT recommendation. We've been throwing billions at Pakistan for years and have ample proof that it's smart to keep threatening the U.S. because then we will send more money each time the threat gets more serious. Game theorists have known this for years, and Pakistan is proving to be as smart or smarter than the game theorists. The good news is that the increased billions we send around the world buy less and less because its all borrowed money while the national deficit at $55 trillion just keeps going up and up in our beautiful balloon. If we take the military option off the table what negotiating power have we got left? Editorials of The New York Times never mention going beyond sending more and more and more money.

“As president, I would pursue a new strategy, and begin by providing at least two additional combat brigades to support our effort in Afghanistan,” Mr. Obama, the presumptive Democratic nominee, wrote in an Op-Ed article published on Monday in The New York Times. “We need more troops, more helicopters, better intelligence-gathering and more nonmilitary assistance to accomplish the mission there.”
Barack Obama, "Troops in Afghanistan Need Help, Obama Says," The New York Times, July 14, 2008 --- http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/14/us/politics/14campaign.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

After saying U.S. troops should exit Iraq prudently, presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois makes the point Afghanistan is where the only war on terror is taking place. And he says he is prepared to shift a large number of U.S. soldiers and assets to the guerrilla war against the Taliban in Afghanistan, which leads some intelligence experts to ask, somewhat anxiously, whether Afghanistan could become Obama's Vietnam, as it was Russia's Vietnam before.
Newsmax, July 11, 2008 --- http://www.newsmax.com/borchgrave/Afghanistan_Obama/2008/07/11/112050.html
Jensen Comment
Since I don't think its possible to seriously negotiate peace (other than our surrender) terms with fanatics in al Qaeda or the Taliban, I hope President Obama lives up to his pledge on this one in an effort to stop the take over of Pakistan's nuclear arsenal by religious fanatics. Contrary to the Bush administration and State Department Opposition, Obama states he's more inclined to carry out hot pursuit raids into Pakistan.

"Al-Qaeda meets its enemy And it turns out to be its own extremism," by Deroy Murdock, Boston Herald, July 12, 2008 --- http://www.bostonherald.com/news/opinion/op_ed/view.bg?articleid=1106483&format=text 

Al-Qaeda’s agenda for Mosul included a decree that clothiers cover the heads of their in-store mannequins. Some relented, and shrouded their mannequins with plastic bags.

“I don’t know where these groups came from,” shop owner Mutaz Ahmed told the Institute for War and Peace Reporting. “They want to take us back 1,400 years. But if you want to stay alive, you have to obey their orders.”

Extremists banned soap in public baths because the Prophet Mohammed lacked it back in the 600s.

Al-Qaeda took particular interest in clamping down on various food items.

“Sammoun,” a type of bread popular in Mosul, was prohibited, since Mohammed never ate it. Islamo-puritans found the sight of cucumbers and tomatoes side by side sexually charged, so they ordered produce stands to keep them apart, and told restaurateurs like Khalaf Khalid to serve them on separate plates.

“We obey them because they threatened to blow up the restaurant and kill us if we didn’t,” Khalid said, back when al-Qaeda was in command.

Al-Qaeda also took a “Just Say No” attitude toward ice. Mohammed didn’t have it, so Mosul’s residents could not, either.

“They prevented production and sale of ice in Mosul from last year,” Khalaf Abed Al-Hadidi, an ice manufacturer, told Agence France Presse. “Last summer was tough for us, but we couldn’t use the ice factory.”

As part of a general crackdown on public displays of joy, al-Qaeda even banned wedding parties in Mosul.

As James Glassman, the State Department’s chief of public diplomacy, observed at Manhattan’s Council on Foreign Relations, “What began to turn the tide in Iraq was when Iraqis began to realize that this was a murderous ideology that was killing Muslims and justifying it by saying, ‘If I think you’re not a good Muslim, it’s OK for me to kill you.’ ”

If you're an al-Qaida terrorist who has participated in operations that have killed thousands of Americans, if you've been captured on the battlefield in Afghanistan or Iraq by members of the U.S. military and you're lucky enough to be detained at Guantanamo Bay, you're entitled to challenge the legality of your detention in a federal court. So say five justices of the U.S. Supreme Court. If you're a member of the U.S. military fighting in Afghanistan or Iraq, risking your life on a daily basis to bring to justice — or send to paradise — the jihadists and you're accused of committing war crimes, the court of public opinion can issue an immediate verdict: Guilty. The bare majority decision of the high court opens a legal path that could conceivably lead to enemy combatants taken prisoner in a theater of war receiving the same legal rights as American citizens, including the presumption of innocence. If you're an American citizen who has heeded the call to duty, there's no such presumption.
Jonathan Gurwitz, "Don't troops have rights, too?" San Antonio Express-News, June 24, 2008 --- http://www.mysanantonio.com/opinion/stories/MYSA.062508.OPED_2B_gurwitz.186e339.html
Jensen Comment
To the extent that this helps save our soldiers live, there's much worry that the ACLU is going to fight to the death to have this life-saving legislation overturned. But then when did the ACLU ever care about our national defense?

Al Jazeera broadcast this incredibly vile show on July 5th, 2008, glorifying Dalal Mughrabi—an Arab female terrorist responsible for an attack on a passenger bus in Israel that resulted in the murders of 35 men, women, and children. Mughrabi’s sister appears, and praises the Palestinian who ran amok with a front-loader in Jerusalem recently.
Watch the video on little green footballs, July 11, 2008 --- http://littlegreenfootballs.com/article/30609_Al_Jazeera_TV_Idolizes_Mass_Murderers

Independent analysts have found higher education in Russia to be a part of society experiencing particularly rapid rates of growth in corruption, with bribes common to secure spots in classes or good grades, The St. Petersburg Times reported. Senior faculty members generally do not take bribes directly, but do so through intermediaries, the report said.
Inside Higher Ed, July 8, 2008 --- http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2008/07/08/qt Jensen Comment
Purportedly Vladimir Putin not only plagiarized his doctoral thesis, but he may not have even read it --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Plagiarism.htm#Celebrities

Don't underestimate the free lunch
Wall Street is in for a radical makeover. Fewer people, lower margins, lower risk, lower compensation — and ultimately, fewer talented people. It is likely to change the culture of an industry that for nearly a century has been the money center of the world. “There would be a lot of firms leaving New York if it wasn’t for lunch,” Mr. Wolfe said.
Andrew Ross Sorkin, "A ‘Bonfire’ Returns as Heartburn," The New York Times, June, 24, 2008 --- Click Here

Iraq's government has removed 550 tonnes of natural uranium left over from Saddam Hussein's era and sold it to a Canadian company, government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said. The uranium, called yellowcake, had been stored in a compound at Tuwaitha, south of Baghdad, which was once the centre of Saddam's nuclear weapons programme. A U.S. embassy spokeswoman confirmed the U.S. military helped safely ship the uranium out of the country.
"Iraq removes uranium left over from Saddam era," Reuters, July 7, 2008 --- http://uk.reuters.com/article/burningIssues/idUKL0768496820080707

But stop it has. In the past month, India has joined the list of the wounded. The country is reeling from 11.4% inflation, large government deficits, and rising interest rates. Foreign investment is fleeing, the rupee is falling, and the stock market is down over 40% from the year's highs. Most economic forecasts expect growth to slow to 7%—a big drop for a country that needs to accelerate growth, not reduce it. "India has gone from hero to zero in six months," says Andrew Holland, head of proprietary trading at Merrill Lynch India (MER) in Mumbai. Many in India worry that the country's hard-earned investment-grade rating will soon be lost and that the gilded growth story has come to an end . . . A June 16 report by Goldman Sachs' (GS) Jim O'Neill and Tushar Poddar, Ten Things for India to Achieve Its 2050 Potential, is a grim reminder that India has fallen to the bottom of the four BRIC nations (Brazil, Russia, India, and China) in its growth scores, due largely to government inertia. The report states that India's rice yields are a third those of China and half of Vietnam's. While 60% of the country's labor force is employed in agriculture, farming contributes less than 1% to overall growth. The report urges India to improve governance, raise educational achievement, and control inflation. It also advises reining in profligate expenditures, liberalizing its financial markets, increasing agricultural productivity, and improving infrastructure, the environment, and energy use. "The will to implement all these needs leadership," points out Poddar.
Manjeet Kripalani, Business Week, July 1, 2008 --- http://www.businessweek.com/globalbiz/content/jul2008/gb2008071_743900.htm?link_position=link1
Jensen Comment
In some Indian states, the rats eat up more of the rice than people.

Ma don't care if her son can't read,
Teacher says television's all he'll need
When he's with his baby!
Last month, Representative Sam Graves, a Missouri Republican, introduced the NCLB Recess Until Reauthorization Act, which would essentially suspend the law's accountability provisions but not the funding. Under Mr. Graves's bill, schools would no longer have to file progress reports that expose achievement gaps between kids of different races, ethnicities and socioeconomic backgrounds. Since NCLB passed in 2002, minority parents in particular have come to rely on this information to find out if a school is serving the needs of their children. But apparently Mr. Graves and his co-sponsor, Democrat Timothy Waltz of Minnesota, believe that the problem with public education today is too much accountability. Not surprisingly, teachers unions like the National Education Association are supporting their efforts.
"The Wrong Education Fix," The Wall Street Journal, July 12, 2008; Page A10 ---
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121581793188647485.html?mod=djemEditorialPage

Since 1975, drilling in the Exclusive Economic Zone (within 200 miles of the U.S. coast) has had a 99.999% safety record, according to the Energy Information Administration, which reports that "only .001 percent of the oil produced has been spilled." Thanks to technological advances, large spills are rare. Most spills are tiny, only a few feet in diameter. Large tanker spills, such as the Exxon Valdez in 1989, are so infrequent they account for a very small fraction of the oil that winds up in the sea. A joint study by NASA and the Smithsonian Institution, examining several decades' worth of data, found that more oil seeps into the ocean naturally than from accidents involving tankers and offshore drilling. Natural seepage from underwater oil deposits leaks an average of 62 million gallons a year; offshore drilling, on the other hand, accounted for only 15 million gallons, the smallest source of oil leaking into the oceans.
Andrew Cline, "Environmentalists Say Yes to Offshore Drilling," The Wall Street Journal, July 12, 2008; Page A9 --- http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121581714417147413.html?mod=djemEditorialPage

In other words, the G-8 signed on to what has been the White House approach since 2002. The U.S. has relied on the arc of domestic energy programs now in place, like fuel-economy standards and efficiency regulations, along with billions in subsidies for low-carbon technology. Europe threw in with the central planning of the Kyoto Protocol -- and the contrast is instructive. Between 2000 and 2006, U.S. net greenhouse gas emissions fell 3%. Of the 17 largest world-wide emitters, only France reduced by more. So despite environmentalist sanctimony about the urgent need for President Bush and the U.S. to "take the lead" on global warming, his program has done better than most everybody else's. That won't make the evening news. But the fact is that the new G-8 document is best understood as a second look at the "leadership" of . . . you know who.
"Kyoto's Long Goodbye," The Wall Street Journal,  July 11, 2008; Page A14 --- http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121573566257544347.html?mod=djemEditorialPage

Helmsley Left Dogs Billions in Her Will --- http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2040044/posts
How Much is That Doggie in the Window --- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5xdhhrYpdQ
"Should Dogs Get $8 Billion from the Helmsley Estate?" The Becker-Posner Blog, July 13, 2008 --- http://www.becker-posner-blog.com/

Here's a thought experiment: Assume that Iraq's democratic government declared it was nationalizing its oil industry, a la Venezuela or Saudi Arabia, while excluding American companies from the country. How do you think U.S. politicians would react? With angry cries of "ingratitude" and "this is what Americans died for"? Of course they would, led no doubt by that critic for all reasons, Senator Chuck Schumer of New York. So it is passing strange that Mr. Schumer and other Senators are now assailing Iraq precisely because it is opening up to foreign oil companies, especially to U.S. majors like Exxon Mobil and Chevron. For some American pols, everything that happens in Iraq is bad news, especially when it's good news for the U.S. Iraq announced this week that it is inviting global competition to develop its major oil reserves, with 35 oil companies invited to bid. By tapping outside capital and expertise, Iraq hopes to increase production by 60%, providing a much-needed boost to its own coffers and the world's tight oil supply. This is welcome news. With elections looming later this year and next, the temptation for Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's government must have been to play the nationalist card – the way that Mr. Schumer did against Dubai Ports World's proposed U.S. investment in 2006 (see, for instance, "Ports of Gall"). Many Iraqis remain suspicious of outside oil companies – the legacy of a colonial past in which Iraq felt exploited for its oil.
"Iraq's Oil Surge," The Wall Street Journal, July 5, 2008; Page A10 --- http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121520981642729359.html?mod=djemEditorialPage
Jensen Comment
Schumer did not mention whether he's buying into Obama's willingness Iran take over Iraq (if necessary to stick to his quick withdrawal timetable for U.S. forces). In the latter case, Schumer might be happy that American Companies can no longer get drilling contracts in Iraq.

Shortly after coming to the Lone Star State, I bought the classic book of Texas wisdom, "Don't Squat with Your Spurs On!" One of its many useful pearls was "No matter who says what, don't believe it if it don't make sense." That's easier said than done, of course, when everyone seems to agree on something I'm still trying to make sense of. Many examples arise from the tendency of lawmakers and regulators to do during a crisis what should have been done earlier to prevent the crisis. Too-late smart may not be smart at all. Fixing the barn door after the horses escape doesn't do much good, and it may keep the horses from returning. Example: The argument that we should raise gasoline taxes to help wean drivers from too much driving in their gas guzzlers. If that was ever a good idea, it was before the recent rise in gasoline prices. Now it would just make a bad situation worse. Suspending gasoline taxes this summer is probably not a good idea either, but it makes more sense than raising them, and is more consistent with the common sense of making hay while the sun shines.
Bob McTeer, "Don't Do Right at the Wrong Time," The Wall Street Journal,  July 5, 2008; Page A9 ---
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121521130789729461.html?mod=djemEditorialPage

“WALL-E,” the latest animated production from Pixar Studios, is a heartwarming children’s film about ecological disaster. Its title character is a sturdy little trash-compacting robot whose name is the abbreviation for Waste Allocation Load-Lifter, Earth-class. He has been programmed to clear the vast junkpile left behind by mankind, which has long since absconded to live on a space station. His only companion — at least as the film begins — is a cockroach. Through plot developments it would spoil things to describe, WALL-E is transported to the human colony in deep space. In eight hundred years, it seems, our civilization will be a fusion of Wal-Mart, Club Med, and the World Wide Web. Related stories Faculty Meeting Theater, July 3 Newly Tenured ... at Babson, Pomona, Texas Woman’s U., Wesleyan, June 19 Good Grief, Oct. 10 C.L.R. James Meets Tony Soprano, June 6, 2007 Beach Blanket Bingo, May 23, 2007 E-mail Print Lots of kids will get their first taste of social satire from this film — and chances are, they are going to enjoy it. Yet there is more to what Pixar has done than that. Some of the images are breathtaking. It turns out that robots have their romantic side, or at least WALL-E does; and the sight of him rescuing mementos from the wreckage (fragments shored up amidst human ruin) is perhaps more touching than the love story that later emerges. I had heard almost nothing about the film before attending, so was not at all prepared for a strange surprise: It kept reminding me of Kenneth Burke’s writings about a grim future world he called Helhaven.
Scott McLemee, "Towards Helhaven," Inside Higher Ed, July 9, 2008 --- http://www.insidehighered.com/views/2008/07/09/mclemee 

On Sunday, July 13, in Jonesboro, Georgia, an immigrant Muslim father strangled his daughter to death in a so-called "honor killing" because she protested being forced by her family to marry a man she did not know. No feminist uttered a word about the murder of twenty-five-year-old Sandeela Kanwal. On the following Wednesday officials in the city government of Atlanta, Georgia bowed to the pressure from one feminist nut to stop posting "men at work" signs in the city because they are "sexist."
Warner Todd Huston --- http://conservablogs.com/publiusforum/2008/07/10/feminists-truly-hate-women/
Jensen Comment
This is a sad and isolated incident. Feminists have protested forced marriages in many settings --- http://feminist.org/global/beijing/beijing.html
Also see http://www.barnard.edu/sfonline/reverb/beckman1.htm

As you know, much has been made the last several weeks over a Playboy article written by Al Franken. This article, which Franken's campaign spokesperson claims he does not know whether Franken was paid for or not, is demeaning, degrading and an insult to all women. Mr. Franken's article perpetuates myths and stereotypes about women as objects and playthings - mere robots - to be used for pleasure and then essentially discarded when done. Recently, a number of leading Republican women wrote a letter to Mr. Franken condemning his article, and demanding an apology. Enclosed, please find a copy of a letter sent to Mr. Franken regarding our concerns.
A copy of the letter from Rep. Brod & Senator Wergin --- http://www.gop-mn.org/info.cfm?x=2&pname=seltype&pval=1&pname2=infoID&pval2=4300

 . . an e-mail surfaced from one of the state's leading abortion-rights groups, Planned Parenthood, denouncing an article he wrote for Playboy in 2000, calling the piece misogynistic and degrading to women.
Patricia Lopez, Kevin Diaz, and Kevin Duschhere, Star Tribune, June 6, 2008 --- Click Here

Firing a .357-caliber handgun until it was empty, an Ocala woman chased two intruders from her home in the 3800 block of Southeast 68th Street on Wednesday morning. Later Wednesday, Marion County sheriff's detectives had one home invasion suspect in custody and were looking for the second.
Austin L. Miller, "Woman, .357 blazing, chases intruders from home," Star Banner, July2008 --- http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2044352/posts
Jensen Comment
It's too bad she was not a better shot.

Black Hole Montage - NASA Galaxy Big Bang (video) --- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VvhimW97Kj4
All physicists are racists --- Watch the Video

The Helhaven writings seem darker — and, well, battier — than “WALL-E.” Burke’s late work can get awfully wild, woolly, and self-referential; and these texts are a case in point. His imaginative streak is constantly disrupted by his theoretical glossolalia.
Scott McLemee, "Towards Helhaven," Inside Higher Ed, July 9, 2008 --- http://www.insidehighered.com/views/2008/07/09/mclemee 
I quoted this just to highlight the mysterious word "glossolialia" which I could not spell or define ---
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&as_qdr=all&defl=en&q=define:Glossolalia&sa=X&oi=glossary_definition&ct=title 

In Massachusetts some attorneys prefer to punish the child rape victim
"Jessica’s Law dad blasts Mass. rep," Boston Herald, June 24, 2008 --- http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/politics/view.bg?articleid=1102761

The Great and General Court of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is considering passing a "Jessica's law." Named after 12-year-old Jessica Lunsford, who was raped and murdered by a repeat sex offender, the proposed law would require a mandatory 20-year prison sentence for anyone convicted of raping a child under 12.

The Boston Herald reports that Rep. James Fagan is a critic of the legislation:

Fagan, a defense attorney, infuriated victims' rights advocates during a recent House debate when he said he would "rip apart" 6-year-old victims on the witness stand and "make sure the rest of their life is ruined." In a fiery soliloquy on the House floor, Fagan said he'd grill victims so that, "when they're 8 years old they throw up; when they're 12 years old, they won't sleep; when they're 19 years old, they'll have nightmares and they'll never have a relationship with anybody." Fagan did not return calls seeking comment.

A lack of openness has affected other facets of public health too. After the medical establishment blamed him for an outbreak of dengue fever last summer, Chávez halted weekly publication of an epidemiology report that for 50 years had tallied occurrences of infectious diseases nationwide. Former Health Minister Rafael Orihuela contends the loss of the weekly report has deprived the government of information needed for a quick response to outbreaks of disease. "I am not talking about a failure of the government to adopt innovations in healthcare," said Orihuela, a Chávez critic. "I am talking about a failure to maintain basic healthcare standards."
Kris Kraul, "Awash in oil wealth, Venezuela suffers healthcare crisis," Los Angeles Times via the Boston Globe --- 
http://www.boston.com/news/world/latinamerica/articles/2008/04/09/awash_in_oil_wealth_venezuela_suffers_healthcare_crisis/

As the Senate prepares to vote on its mortgage bailout this week, one part of Banking Chairman Chris Dodd's bill deserves more scrutiny. It's a section called "affordable housing allocations," and while it sounds innocuous, in practice it amounts to a new tax to create a permanent subsidy for state governments and political activists. Like the bailout that has already passed the House, the Senate bill features a special new tax on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. We have long urged reform of the two mortgage giants, which operate with an implicit government guarantee and therefore a license to endanger the taxpayer if they take on too much risk. The shares of both plunged yesterday to new lows based on their credit risks. But as a price for allowing more oversight of the two companies, Mr. Dodd and House Financial Services Chairman Barney Frank want to cut their allies in on even more of the action.
"$600 Million Baby," The Wall Street Journal, July 8, 2008; Page A20 --- Click Here

Leaders of the G-8 nations are gathered this week in Toyako, Japan, to root out the culprits in a food crisis that has moved hundreds of millions from subsistence to starvation. They need look no further than an old group photo. The G-8 countries' interventions have distorted global agricultural markets to the paralysis point. Politicians legislate price supports to enrich farm voters. Lobbies extort tariffs to block cheap food imports and subsidies to underwrite food exports at prices that destroy competitors in poor countries. Conservationists have agitated to set aside productive land and pay farmers not to grow. And now green energy advocates push ethanol quotas and tax credits that divert food into fuel. Don't blame speculators for the food crisis: It was already here when they arrived. Rather thank them for a wake-up call. Financial markets are driving today's prices to match expectations of tomorrow's values – the consensus of countless investors and producers is that the era of surpluses and cheap food is over. Yet even a credible promise that G-8 protectionist policies will be reversed would raise output down the road and drop prices at the corner grocery counter overnight.
Adam Lerrick, "The Rich World and the Food Crisis," The Wall Street Journal, July 8, 2008; Page A21 --- http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121547397953534035.html?mod=djemEditorialPage

This week Congress will demonstrate if it is serious or not about reining in entitlement spending. Right now the government is paying insane rental prices for medical equipment – prices far higher than it would cost to purchase the equipment outright. For years, the Government Accountability Office and the Department of Health and Human Service's inspector general have been saying Medicare is paying too much for Durable Medical Equipment (DME). Just compare what Medicare pays to the prices of equipment for sale on the Internet.
Michael O. Leavitt, "Will Congress Continue a Medicare Scam?" (read that: Will Congress Cut Off the Big Lobbying Scam? The Wall Street Journal, July 9, 2008; Page A13 --- http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121556116413437535.html?mod=djemEditorialPage

As we learn more about the Colombian military's daring hostage rescue last week, one detail stands out: In tricking FARC rebels into putting the hostages aboard a helicopter, undercover special forces simply told the comandantes that the aircraft was being loaned to them by a fictitious nongovernmental organization sympathetic to their cause called the International Humanitarian Mission (read that Nancy Pelosi). It may have taken years for army intelligence to infiltrate the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, and it may have been tough to convincingly impersonate rebels. But what seems to have been a walk in the park was getting the FARC to believe that an NGO was providing resources to help it in the dirty work of ferrying captives to a new location.
"FARC's 'Human Rights' Friends," The Wall Street Journal,  July 7, 2008; Page A11 ---
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121538827377131117.html?mod=todays_us_opinion

Spain will apparently become the first country to give legal rights to chimpanzees and other great apes, according to The Times of London. The action would make it illegal to conduct research on apes, but would still allow zoos to keep them in captivity.
"Spain's Grant of Legal Rights to Apes Will Bar Research on Them," Chronicle of Higher Education, June 27, 2008 --- Click Here
Jensen Comment
Although much of the research on these animals is for medical research to benefit humans, some of it also benefits the sustainability of these primates and other primates. This is an example of animal rights legislation that reduces the sustainability of those animals. If all nations did this it would almost assuredly endanger these species.

A recent report (pdf) from Transparency International (TI) is a timely reminder of the failure of western governments to tackle corrupt activities, which are primarily designed to secure unfair advantage. George Soros, the renowned international financier, once said that "international business is generally the main source of corruption". Behind the facade of mission and corporate social responsibility statements, companies and their executives seem only too willing to indulge in bribery, corruption and a variety of antisocial activities that affect the life chances of millions of citizens. The government's inertia provides positive encouragement.
Prem Sikka, The Guardian, June 27, 2008 --- http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/jun/27/1

The Dutch, more so than the Scotch, take the "high" road
Dutch: Cigarettes banned, pot OK --- http://abcnews.go.com/International/story?id=5276559&page=1

Let's get the most dangerous leader in Washington DC history out of power before it's too late
As Ohio Congressman Dennis Kucinich moved a "privileged resolution" to force House to consider the question of whether President Bush should be impeached for lying to Congress and the American people about the reasons for invading and occupying Iraq, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi surprised almost everyone by suggesting that the Judiciary Committee might indeed take up the issue.
John Nichols, "Pelosi Slips Impeachment Onto the Table," The Nation, July 10, 2008 --- http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat/

However, one does have to ask the question at some point - don't any of these people have any positive or productive solutions or ideas that would actually work on how to improve upon what is already a great country to begin with? Solutions other than to turn this country into Socialist Utopia and punish the successful, and thus take away success as a role model for all, and replace it with dependence on the government for all, even for people who clearly don't need or want it, and total subservience to the whims and opinions of all other nations to direct what we are supposed to do at all times? There are a lot of angry leftists who are going to be totally devoid of a mission in life come next January, regardless of whether the Democrat or the Republican in Name Only wins the White House, because they will no longer have the subject of their hate and anger as the sitting President. They will be left empty and frustrated with no easy person to blame whatever (fill in the blank) problem there is at the time.
Sjchermak, The Nation, July 11, 2008 --- http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat/335712/obama_votes_to_silence_debate_and_pass_fisa
Also see http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/hypocrisy.htm

"The whole world is going to breathe a sigh of relief," she (Hillary Clinton) would proclaim, "when that moving van pulls up to the White House on its way back to Texas." She is, of course, largely correct. The sigh of relief will not issue from the whole world exactly, but from large parts of it. You certainly will hear it from the Middle East, where terrorists and their millions of fans will discharge enough celebratory gunfire to pepper an entire desert with spent shells. The devil George W. Bush will no longer be there to impede their goals.
Mark Davis, "Bush Can Take Pride in Scorn," RealClearPolitics, July 2, 2008 --- http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2008/07/bush_can_take_pride_in_scorn.html

What is the slogan and picture on Hillary's award winning and collectors' "Limited Edition" T-Shirt?
More than $20 million in the hole and finding reluctance among Sen. Barack Obama's supporters to help retire her campaign debt, Sen. Hillary Clinton urged her backers to help her out by buying a t-shirt.
See the T-shirt at http://www.swamppolitics.com/news/politics/blog/2008/07/hillary_clinton_barack_obama.html
Sadly the proceeds will not go to reduction of the U.S. national debt. But then George Bush never did a thing to reduce the debt. He was probably the least responsible President in the history of the U.S. as far as the U.S. national debt is concerned.

The problem is simple and depressingly familiar. This year, federal spending will exceed federal revenue by more than $400 billion. Given the weak state of the economy, the deficit will get worse before it gets better. Actually, it may never get better, because the current shortfall coincides with the start of the most dreaded fiscal event of all time: the retirement of the baby boomers, who will soon consume eye-popping amounts in Social Security and Medicare. If that's not bad enough, Bruce Willis is not on hand to intercept the doomsday object before it arrives. Worse yet, neither Barack Obama nor John McCain wants the job.
Steve Chapman, "Obama, McCain, and Financial Disaster Empty promises won't fix America's broken budget," Reason Magazine, July 10, 2008 ---
http://www.reason.com/news/show/127477.html

"The Credit Crisis and Failed Risk Analysis:  We're Nowhere Near the End Here," The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, June 2008 --- http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article.cfm;jsessionid=a8306bc6c52433251104?articleid=1998

Limbaugh True to Form
 I want to know. I look at Iowa, I look at Illinois-I want to see the murders. I want to see the looting. I want to see all the stuff that happened in New Orleans. I see devastation in Iowa and Illinois that dwarfs what happened in New Orleans. I see people working together. I see people trying to save their property...I don't see a bunch of people running around waving guns at helicopters, I don't see a bunch of people running and shooting cops. I don't see a bunch of people raping people on the street. I don't see a bunch of people doing everything they can...whining and moaning-where's FEMA, where's BUSH. I see the heartland of America. When I look at Iowa and when I look at Illinois, I see the backbone of America.
Rush Limbaugh --- http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/home/today.guest.html
Jensen Comment
Somebody must be listening to Rush. He just penned a record (for radio) deal for $400 million --- http://www.drudgereport.com/

Last year, Los Angeles city officials hired armed guards and installed video cameras at the 109th Street Swimming Pool in order to protect children and pool staff from out-of-control youth. The 109th Street pool lies between two infamous housing projects and the warring gangs which control them. Many neighboring families avoid the recreational facility, driven away by the local gangbangers’ aggression. But the usual disorder turned even scarier on the second day of the pool season this June. The pool manager had had the temerity to ask swimmers to clear the pool for cleaning, its water having been rendered dangerously dirty by people jumping in with their clothes on or refusing to shower before entering. In response, up to 30 young men went on a rampage. They overpowered two armed guards and six pool workers, punched the manager as he was trying to escape to his office to call 911, and threw the manager, a lifeguard, and locker attendant into the water. This was not a case of adolescent hijinks: The men were in their twenties and thirties. They were simply unable to tolerate any authority over their own.
Heather Mac Donald, "Jesse Can Save:  A job for Reverend Jackson," National Review, July 11, 2008 ---
http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=MjMwOGVlMjU0OWY3NDkwOTMzOWM2YzI1ZGRjNDAyZDk=

Britain and the US have condemned Russia and China for vetoing a draft UN Security Council resolution to impose sanctions on Zimbabwe's leaders. UK Foreign Secretary David Miliband said the veto was incomprehensible. The US said it brought into question Russia's reliability as a G8 partner. Zimbabwe and its main ally South Africa welcomed the result. Zimbabwe's Information Minister Sikhanyiso Ndlovu described the resolution as a Western plot and welcomed its rejecton.... There has been growing international criticism of Zibabwe since the re-election of Mr. Mugabe in a run-off boycotted by the opposition.
"Fury as Zimbabwe sanctions vetoed," BBC News, July 12, 2008 --- http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7503135.stm
Jensen Comment
Note that the votes against sanctions all come from nations where democracy is a sham in one-candidate-only elections.

In an attempt to understand the extent of cow flatulence on global warming, scientists in Argentina are strapping plastic bags to the backs of cows to capture their emissions.
See an actual photograph  at --- http://www.physorg.com/news135003243.html
Watch a good one catch on fire (methane will burn but this one may be faked) --- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5XYiC6n0CCk
Hillary's reason for funding this type of "catch and release" research in the U.S.  --- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DlkxQMxJmEU
The college prankster version --- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NsBa7v9sh1k
Eddie Murphy thinks its all a game --- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QSZJJc3T1RQ
Bad taste commentaries about this to ad nauseam on The View --- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=br0Kn5w5kyw

Free Google 411 --- http://www.google.com/goog411/index.html
Give it a try on your telephone!
Both find and connect to a business phone --- for free.

Jensen Comment
I tried it and am not certain I like George Orwell's Big Brother dictating a business service even if the phone call is free. This might be useful if you're a total stranger in town. But with most business services it pays to comparison shop and check with the locals about quality and pricing of companies, attorneys, doctors, lawyers, etc. providing products and services in the area. However, if you know what who you want and you know Google 411 will connect you, you might save the toll on a toll call.

In Spite of the Economic Downturn, There's a Shortage of Accounting and Finance Employees
A shortage of experienced accounting and finance professionals continues to affect employers around the world, according to a report by Robert Half. For the second consecutive year, more than half (56 percent) of the finance and human resources managers surveyed worldwide reported difficulty finding skilled job candidates. The report also found that retention concerns have risen significantly in the last year.
SmartPros, July 14, 2008 --- http://lyris.smartpros.com/t/1297430/7034337/5391/0/

Question
What's the latest innovation in "catch and release in a bottle" cheating?

Hint
Students are using YouTube in a very clever way.

"Students Show How to Cheat via YouTube," Chronicle of Higher Education, July 11, 2008 ---
http://chronicle.com/wiredcampus/index.php?id=3160&utm_source=wc&utm_medium=en 

Academic cheating and dishonesty have long been a problem. But with YouTube students have discovered a new avenue for actually promoting such fraud. Liz Losh, a rhetorician at the University of California at Irvine, notes that there’s now a genre of videos that combine cheating advice with a “do-it-yourself aesthetic.” She flagged one of them Wednesday on her blog. It shows a student using a scanner and photo-editing software to make a cheat sheet on a Coke bottle.

Bob Jensen's threads on new ways to cheat are at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Plagiarism.htm#NewKindOfCheating

Questions
How well do student evaluations of instructors predict performance in subsequent advanced courses?
Are popular teachers necessarily the best teachers?
Are students misled by grade inflation?

One of the major points of the study was its look at the effectiveness of student evaluations. Although the evaluations can accurately predict the performance of the student in the “contemporaneous” course — the course in which the professor teaches the student — they are “very poor” predictors of the performance of a professor’s students in later, follow-up courses. Because many universities use student evaluations as a factor in decisions of promotion and tenure, this “draws into question how one should measure professor quality,” according to the report.
See below

"Evaluating Faculty Quality, Randomly," by James Heggen, Inside Higher Ed, July 11, 2008 --- http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2008/07/11/evaluation

The question of how to measure the quality of college teaching continues to vex campus administrators. Teaching evaluations, on which many institutions depend for at least part of their analysis, may be overly influenced by factors such as whether students like the professors or get good grades. And objective analyses of how well students learn from certain professors are difficult because, for one, if based on a standardized test or grades, one could run into problems because professors “teach to the test.”

A new paper tries to inject some rigorous analysis into the discussion of how well students learn from their professors and how effectively student evaluations track how well students learn from individual instructors.

James West and Scott Carrell co-wrote the study, which was released by the National Bureau of Economic Research. “Does Professor Quality Matter? Evidence from Random Assignment of Students to Professors” examines students and professors at the U.S. Air Force Academy from fall 1997 to spring 2007 to try to measure the quality of instruction.

The Air Force Academy was selected because its curricular structure avoids many of the pitfalls of traditional evaluation methods, according to the report. Because students at the Air Force Academy are randomly assigned to sections of core courses, there is no threat of the sort of “self-selection” in which students might choose to study with easier or tougher professors. “Self-selection,” the report notes, makes it difficult to measure the impact professors have on student achievement because “if better students tend to select better professors, then it is difficult to statistically separate the teacher effects from the selection effects.”

Also, professors at the academy use the same syllabus and give similar exams at about the same time. In the math department, grading is done collectively by professors, where each professor grades certain questions for all students in the course, which cuts down on the subjectivity of grading, according to the report. The students are required to take a common set of “follow-on” courses as well, in which they are also randomly assigned to professors.

The authors acknowledge that situating the study at the Air Force Academy may also raise questions of the “generalizability” of the study, given the institution’s unusual student body. “Despite the military setting, much about USAFA is comparable to broader academia,” the report asserts. It offers degrees in fields roughly similar to those of a liberal arts college, and because students are drawn from every Congressional district, they are geographically representative, the report says.

Carrell, an assistant professor economics at the University of California at Davis, attended the academy as an undergraduate and the University of Florida as a grad student, and has taught at Dartmouth as well as the Air Force Academy and Davis. “All students learn the same,” he said.

For math and science courses, students taking courses from professors with a higher “academic rank, teaching experience, and terminal degree status” tended to perform worse in the “contemporaneous” course but better in the “follow-on” courses, according to the report. This is consistent, the report asserts, with recent findings that students taught by “less academically qualified instructors” may become interested in pursuing further study in particular academic areas because they earn good grades in the initial courses, but then go on to perform poorly in later courses that depend on the knowledge gained from the initial courses.

In humanities, the report found no such link.

Carrell had a few possible explanations for why no such link existed in humanities courses. One is because professors have more “latitude” in how they grade, especially with essays. Another reason could be that later courses in humanities don’t build on earlier classes like science and math do.

One of the major points of the study was its look at the effectiveness of student evaluations. Although the evaluations can accurately predict the performance of the student in the “contemporaneous” course — the course in which the professor teaches the student — they are “very poor” predictors of the performance of a professor’s students in later, follow-up courses. Because many universities use student evaluations as a factor in decisions of promotion and tenure, this “draws into question how one should measure professor quality,” according to the report.

“It appears students reward getting higher grades,” Carrell said

"Great, My Professor," by JJ Hermes, Chronicle of Higher Education, May 22, 2008 ---
http://chronicle.com/wiredcampus/article/3027/great-my-professor?utm_source=at&utm_medium=en

Partly because he was fed up with childish comments on Web sites where students rate their professors, a business-school professor at Temple University has created an online forum for students who want to sound off. So as not to mislead students, the site’s title suggests its intent: “Thank You Professor.”

“There are so many vehicles for students to express their opinion,” says the site’s creator, Samuel D. Hodge Jr., chairman of the business school’s legal-studies department. “But there’s nothing really at the school where the professor can get a letter directly from the student.”

When the site went live on May 1, Mr. Hodge says, he expected about a dozen comments in the first week. Instead, more than 200 flooded in. He converts each note into a letter to the faculty member being praised, then makes sure the business school’s dean gets a copy.

Mr. Hodge moderates the comments, but so far there haven’t been any negative posts on the site, he says.

For example, the four “thank you notes” left on the site so far for Rob B. Drennan Jr., an associate professor of risk, insurance, and health-care management, have been uniformly laudatory (three were signed, and one was anonymous). “I truly enjoyed his class,” wrote one student, Tom Coia. “Difficult and challenging, but isn’t that what we want from school?” Contrast that to an anonymous comment concerning Mr. Drennan that a student left last spring on RateMyProfessors.com: “BOOOOO!!!!!”

Mr. Hodge, incidentally, has appeared on an MTV Web site of faculty members who “strike back” against comments on RateMyProfessors.com. He says Ohio State University is the only other institution he knows of that gives students a way to thank their professors on the Web.

Temple may extend the site to the whole university, he says: “It’s such positive reinforcement."

Also see http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/assess.htm#RateMyProfessor

"Correcting for Grade Inflation It can't get much more complicated! "A New Approach to Grade Inflation," by Abbott Katz, Inside Higher Ed, July 1, 2008 --- http://www.insidehighered.com/views/2008/07/01/katz 

Bob Jensen's threads on grade inflation are at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/HigherEdControversies.htm

Bob Jensen's threads on teaching evaluations and assessment are at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/assess.htm#GradeInflation

Question
What should you probably do before you trash, sell, or return your computer to its rightful owner such as your employer?

From Walt Mossberg's Mailbox, The Wall Street Journal, July 9, 2008; Page D2 --- http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121556257567937661.html

Q. Do you know of a free or inexpensive program that will overwrite hard drives? My husband and I have updated to new computers, leaving us with two hard drives that have sensitive data that we would like to erase before disposing of them.

A. There's a $20 program for Windows called Window Washer from Webroot that will wipe an entire hard disk so that its data is unrecoverable. Its maker calls this process "bleaching." In cases where you don't want to completely wipe a hard disk, the program can also securely erase individual files and folders, and can remove all traces of browser activity. I have tested it, and I can recommend it. You can get it at Webroot.com.

There are numerous other Windows file wipers, some of which may be free, though I haven't tested them. To find these others, go to download.com and enter "file wiper" in the search box.

Q. Since downloading the new Firefox browser, the panel at the top that shows the Web address and the back and forward buttons has disappeared. How do I get it back?

A. That panel is called the Navigation Bar and it can be turned on and off. It sounds like it somehow got turned off on your computer. To switch it on again, go to the "View" menu, select "Toolbars" and then click on "Navigation Bar." The missing panel should reappear, and the next time you view that menu option, you will notice a check mark next to "Navigation Bar," indicating it is on.

You can also use the same technique to switch the Bookmarks Toolbar on and off.

Q. I have switched to Mac recently and never want to use Windows again. But the program I miss using on Windows the most is Microsoft Money. Do you know any way to make this program run on my Mac?

A. Microsoft doesn't make a Mac version of Money.

However, all current Macs can run Windows and Windows programs. I suggest you pick up a copy of one of two programs -- Parallels Desktop or VMWare Fusion. Both allow you to run Windows programs right alongside your Mac programs, even without displaying the Windows desktop. Microsoft Money would just appear in its own window, as if it were another Mac program.

This method works well, but it carries a price. Fusion and Parallels cost around $60-$70 each, plus you will have to buy and install a full, fresh, boxed copy of Windows.

You can find Mossberg's Mailbox, and my other columns, online for free at the new All Things Digital Web site, http://walt.allthingsd.com.

Link forwarded by Glen Gray

Colleges conspiring with publishers to squeeze more money out of students

"As Textbooks Go 'Custom,' Students Pay Colleges Receive Royalties For School-Specific Editions; Barrier to Secondhand Sales,"
by Diana Hacker, The Wall Street Journal, July 10, 2008, Page B10 --- http://online.wsj.com/article_print/SB121565135185141235.html

The University of Alabama, for instance, requires freshman composition students at its main campus to buy a $59.35 writing textbook titled "A Writer's Reference," 

The spiral-bound book is nearly identical to the same "A Writer's Reference" that goes for $30 in the used-book market and costs about $54 new. The only difference in the Alabama version: a 32-page section describing the school's writing program -- which is available for free on the university's Web site. This version also has the University of Alabama's name printed across the top of the front cover, and a notice on the back that reads: "This book may not be bought or sold used."

Custom textbooks like this one are proliferating on U.S. college campuses, guaranteeing hefty sales for publishers -- and payments to colleges that are generally undisclosed to students. The publisher of the Alabama book -- Bedford/St. Martin's, based in Boston -- pays the Tuscaloosa school's English department a $3 royalty on each of the 4,000 copies sold each year. And though the prohibition on selling the book used can't be legally enforced, the college bookstore won't buy the books back, making it more difficult for students to find used copies.

Textbook companies and college officials involved in such deals say custom textbooks provide needed resources for academic departments and more-useful materials for students.

But Ann Marie Wagoner, a 19-year-old University of Alabama freshman who pays $1,200 a year for textbooks, calls the cost of new custom books "ridiculous" and complains that students aren't told about the royalties. "They're hiding it so there isn't a huge uproar," she says.

The custom-textbook business has become the fastest-growing segment of the $3.5 billion market for U.S. new college texts, comprising 12% of sales for 2006, the latest year for which data is available. Royalty deals generate tens of thousands of dollars for some big academic departments. The arrangements have drawn little attention, despite increasing legislative and regulatory scrutiny of the spiraling price of textbooks, which have been rising at twice the rate of inflation over the past two decades.

In 2005, a report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office criticized several textbook industry practices -- including frequent new editions and the "bundling" of books with extras like CDs and workbooks -- that discourage the purchase of used books and inflate prices for students.

The agency found that college students spend an average of about $900 a year on textbooks. That's the equivalent of 8% of tuition and fees at the average private four-year college, 26% at a state university and 72% at a community college.

Controlling Textbook Costs

In recent years, 34 states have proposed or passed legislation to control textbook costs, including measures to prohibit inducements to professors for adopting textbooks, according to a May 2007 congressional study. A bill pending in Congress would require more disclosure of textbook pricing, in part by requiring publishers to sell textbooks separately from the bundles of extras with which they are now often packaged.

The book-royalty arrangements resemble a practice exposed during last year's student-loan scandal, when some universities steered students to particular lending firms and received a secret cut of the loans. New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo called those payments "kickbacks" and forced universities, many of which said they used the money to fund scholarships, to halt the practice. Mr. Cuomo recently launched a broad conflict-of-interest investigation of the relationship between colleges and vendors, including book publishers.

For publishers, the custom market is a way to thwart used-book sales, which cut deeply into their profits. Though used books have been around for decades, they have become a much bigger industry threat in the Internet age. Web sites for used books, such as Amazon.com1 and eBay, have transformed fragmented, campus-by-campus dealings in old texts into a national market, where discounts of 50% off the new-book price are common. Because of their limited audience, custom books are difficult to resell -- and they sometimes aren't eligible for authorized campus book-buyback programs.

James V. Koch, former president of Old Dominion University and the University of Montana, says that colleges, rather than requiring students to buy custom texts, should post exclusive material free on university Web sites. Prof. Koch, an economist who studied textbook costs for a Congressional advisory committee last year, says royalty arrangements involving specially made books may violate colleges' conflict-of-interest rules because they appear to benefit universities more than students.

'Unethical Behavior'

"It treads right on the edge of what I would call unethical behavior," he says. "I'm not sure it passes the smell test." Many colleges forbid professors from personally accepting royalties when they assign their own books for classes; others have no rules.

At the University of Alabama, Carolyn Handa, who until recently directed the school's writing program, acknowledges that students can save money if they buy used standard editions or sell their books at the end of the term. But Prof. Handa says the university edition is designed as a long-term reference. "You don't sell back your dictionary after your first year of college," she says. "It should be a resource they have on their shelf."

The writing program so far has collected about $20,000 in royalties in the two years since it started requiring custom textbooks, Prof. Handa says. She adds that she regularly declines pitches from other publishers offering even higher royalties. "I feel bad enough getting $3," she says.

Prof. Handa says the royalty money helps pay for trips to conferences for graduate students and will underwrite teaching awards. This year, three graduate students received about $500 apiece to attend the April convention of the Conference on College Composition and Communication in New Orleans.

Bedford/St. Martin's is a unit of Macmillan, which is owned by German publishing giant Verlagsgruppe Georg von Holtzbrinck GmbH. Brian Napack, president of Macmillan, says university departments deserve royalties because of the time they spend putting together custom texts. "We didn't come to the market to give departments royalties," he says. "We think there's a decent argument to be made for it. It's a nice bonus for colleges to have a couple of extra bucks to use for education."

Attracted to 15% annual sales growth, big players such as Pearson PLC, McGraw-Hill Cos. and Macmillan are all making major pushes into the custom-book field. In part, that's because technology has made it cost-effective for customers to create specialized books for relatively few students. Proponents say students often complain that professors use only a few chapters of standard texts, whereas custom books can follow a course precisely.

Searching Facebook

Nicole Allen, textbooks advocate for U.S. Public Interest Research Groups -- a consumer organization -- says students, faced with buying a custom textbook, should ask the professor whether they can instead make do with a used standard version. If a custom text is required, students can try to find it used through local book exchanges or by searching social-networking sites such as Facebook for students who have recently taken the course and may want to sell a copy, Ms. Allen says.

Some custom books involve more than just little tweaks of established texts. At Virginia Tech, about 3,000 first-year students annually buy a required composition guide created by its faculty. The school distributes a new edition each year featuring student work. At the university bookstore, the text, published by Pearson, sells for about $50. Carolyn Rude, who chairs the English department, says the book helps provide consistency across more than 100 sections of freshman composition by ensuring a standard curriculum. She wouldn't disclose the precise amount of the royalty but said it was "several dollars" per book and generated about $20,000 annually. The university uses the money to bring in expert speakers and pay for $600 research and travel stipends for instructors, Prof. Rude says.

A $10 Royalty per Book

Pennsylvania State University recently ended a contract with Pearson for the roughly 10,000 students taking introductory economics courses. The economics department received a $10 royalty for each custom textbook students purchased, generating about $50,000 a year for the program, says Susan Welch, dean of the college of liberal arts. But, Prof. Welch says, the school was uncomfortable "making money on students like that," and the arrangement discouraged students from buying cheaper, used books. Under a new contract with Pearson, Penn State now uses standard texts with no royalties, as well as custom course packs.

Don Kilburn, chief executive of Pearson's custom-publishing division, says royalties are justified when professors and others "put in a fair amount of time and effort." Pearson says it pays royalties on 300 of roughly 9,000 custom projects. Mr. Kilburn acknowledged that custom books have lower resale value for students. But with custom books, he says, students "get something better suited for their needs."

Bob Jensen's threads on publisher frauds are at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/FraudReporting.htm#ScholarlyJournals

July 11, 2008 reply from Paul Fisher [PFisher@ROGUECC.EDU]

I have often wondered about using different texts, or different editions to one text and how that effects student learning. I think this would relieve the pressure of overpriced textbooks. I have found that sometimes if a student cannot find an "exact" match in the text, they have difficulty with homework. In some students, particularly beginning students, there seems to be a lack of confidence to apply what is read to the homework. Does this s