Tidbits
on February 28, 2005
Bob
Jensen at Trinity
University
For
earlier editions of New Bookmark
s go to http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/bookurl.htm
Archives of Tidits: Tidbits Directory --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/TidbitsDirectory.htm
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Elements of Moral Philosophy
A good little book to supplement any business/accounting ethics text that does a
wonderful job of explaining moral philosophy e.g., what is utilitarianism,
ethical egoism, virtue ethics, etc. is James Rachels, The Elements of Moral
Philosophy. Novels, which we in accounting never consider as texts, are useful,
too. Martha Nussbaum, in her legal ethics seminars, has used Charles Dickens,
Hard Times as a text. This novel is particularly relevant to accounting; we have
more than our fair share of Thomas Gradgrinds among our ranks.
Email message from Paul Williams [williamsp@COMFS1.COM.NCSU.EDU]
A Journalism Prize or GOP Payola?
The Bradley Foundation, which recently gave the
syndicated columnist its Bradley Prize, is an independent entity "devoted
to strengthening American democratic capitalism and the institutions, principles
and values that sustain and nurture it." But it has GOP ties, and some are
concerned that the size of the prize creates conflicts when journalists win it.
David Aster, "Is George Will's $250,000 Prize Yet More Payola?"
Editor and Publisher, February 25, 2005 --- http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000817846
Is it the policy or the practice that's in error?
The problem, says Elaine Donnelly with the Center for
Military Readiness, is that the Army is placing female soldiers in formerly
all-male forward support companies. For the first time, she says, women would
serve side-by-side with forces fighting on the frontlines. And that, she says,
“violates DOD policy on co-location."
Melissa Charbonneau, "The Reality of Women in Combat," CBN,
February 28, 2005 --- http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/news/050223a.asp
Jensen Comment: In Iraq at the moment the debate is probably
pointless. There is no front "line." Or put in another
way, everywhere is a frontline.
Designed for Another Age (like Windows)
Microsoft Corp. chairman Bill Gates opened a two-day education summit here
yesterday by telling the nation's governors and leaders of the educational
community that US high schools are obsolete and need radical restructuring to
raise graduation rates, prepare students for college, and train a workforce that
faces growing competition in the global economy. ''Our high schools were
designed 50 years ago to meet the needs of another age," said Gates, whose
philanthropic foundation has committed nearly $1 billion to the challenge of
improving high schools. ''Until we design them to meet the needs of this
century, we will...
Ben Feller, "Calling High Schools Obsolete, Microsoft Chief Urges
Restructuring," Boston Globe, February 27, 2005 --- http://snipurl.com/BglobeFeb27
The governors of 13 states with more than one-third
of the nation's students said Sunday that they were forming a coalition to
improve high schools by adopting higher standards, more rigorous courses and
tougher examinations. Unless the nation takes drastic measures on high
schools, they said, the United States will lose its competitive position in the
world economy.
Robert Pear, "Governors of 13 States Plan to Raise Standards in High
Schools," The New York Times, February 28, 2005 --- http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/28/politics/28govs.html?
Say What? Are critical liberals in academe listening to (or blaming)
Ted Kennedy?
"We're in some areas of confrontation, but my own sense is that this
president knows how to work with Democrats. He worked with Democrats in Texas. I
worked with him on No Child Left Behind."
Time Magazine, February 23, 2005 --- http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1030924,00.html
)
In fact, just such a momentous law has been passed
and is now being implemented. But as painful as it is for me, a progressive
Democrat, to acknowledge, it was a conservative Republican president who passed
the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB), and it is traditionally Democratic
education groups and activists who decry the law as intrusive federal meddling.
And true to the confusing and peculiar politics of education reform, instead of
embracing the laudable goals of NCLB-and joining in a bipartisan effort to
repair its flaws-the institutional players in education and their allies have
put their energy into fighting it. To veterans of the education wars at the
state level, this peculiar political situation comes as no surprise. In state
battles over reforming schools, liberal and conservative labels have lost their
meaning. Instead, the battle lines are drawn between those who are willing to
take on powerful institutional interests and contemplate systemic change and
those who are not.
Mark Roosevelt, "Real reform By Mark Roosevelt," Boston
Globe, February 20, 2005 --- http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1030924,00.html
In the good old Summers time
The rest of us were left with a nagging question: What
is the latest science on the differences between men's and women's aptitudes,
anyway? Is it true, even a little bit, that men are better equipped for
scientific genius? Or is it ridiculous—even pernicious—to ask such a
question in the year 2005? It's always perilous to use science to resolve
festering public debates. Everyone sees something different—like 100 people
finding shapes in clouds. By the time they make up their minds, the clouds have
drifted beyond the horizon. But scientists who have spent their lives studying
sex differences in the brain (some of whom defend Summers and some of whom
dismiss him as an ignoramus) generally concede that he was not entirely wrong.
Thanks to new brain-imaging technology, we know there are indeed real
differences between the male and the female brain, more differences than we
would have imagined a decade ago. "The brain is a sex organ," says
Sandra Witelson, a neuroscientist who became famous in the 1990s for her study
of Albert Einstein's brain. "In the last dozen years, there has been an
exponential increase in the number of studies that have found differences in the
brain. It's very exciting."
Amanda Ripley, "Who Says A Woman Can't Be Einstein?" Time Magazine
(Cover Story), February 27, 2005 --- http://www.time.com/time/covers/1101050307/story.html
Loans to very poor people
Last year, a panel of judges from Wharton joined with
Nightly Business Report, the most-watched daily business program on U.S.
television, to name the 25 most influential business people of the last 25
years. On that list was Muhammad Yunus, managing director of Grameen Bank in
Bangladesh and a pioneer in the practice of microcredit lending. Grameen
Bank received formal recognition as a private independent bank in 1983 and, as
of this month, had dispersed close to $5 billion in loans to four million
borrowers, 96% of them women. Grameen's strategy is to offer miniscule loans to
very poor people, giving them the means to generate income and work their way
out of poverty. Yunus was featured in a book entitled, Lasting
Leadership: Lessons from the 25 Most Influential Business People of Our Times,
co-authored by Knowledge@Wharton and Nightly Business Report. He was recently
interviewed by NBR's Linda O'Bryon while attending the World Health Congress in
Washington, D.C.
"Muhammad Yunus, Banker to the World's Poorest Citizens, Makes His
Case," Public Policy and Management, Wharton --- http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/1147.cfm
Educating the Next Generation
Today's students have different expectations and skills with regard to
technology, and colleges sometimes fail to meet those expectations or understand
what those skills mean, according to a new e-book. The e-book, the first
published by Educause, is Educating the Net Generation. It is available
free on the organization's Web
site. Diana G. Oblinger, a vice president of Educause and co-editor of
the book, answered some questions about its themes in an e-mail interview.
Oblinger concludes: "What we hope
this book will do is encourage colleges and universities to think about who
their current generation of learners are and the implications for courses,
curricula, services and support. There is no one right answer for everyone. And,
there are many things we don't yet understand. But as more institutions explore
the implications we'll all be able to do a better job making learners
successful."
Scott Jaschick, "'Educating the Net Generation'," Inside Higher Ed,
February 25, 2005 --- http://www.insidehighered.com/insider/educating_the_net_generation
A serious punishment for Ward Churchill would be to make him continue to
teach and conduct research year in and year out for the miserable faculty raises
in academe. If CU prefers a more harsh punishment, he should be made Chair
of the Faculty Senate. If Mr. Churchill gets a buyout offer of $10 million, then I'm
going to write a hurried essay plastered with swastikas. "Dear
Dr. Brazil: I'll quickly settle for a mere 5% of the targeted capital
campaign funds in our current fund drive at Trinity University."
Internal discussions at Colorado University are
centering on a buyout offer to controversial professor Ward Churchill in order
to quell the tempest caused by his characterizations of victims of Sept. 11,
2001, as "little Eichmans" and to avoid a costly, drawn-out lawsuit,
the Denver Post reports. David Lane, Churchill's attorney said he had not yet
received word of such an offer, but he would consider it. "If they offer
$10 million, I would think about it. If they offer him $10, I wouldn't,"
Lane said. As WorldNetDaily reported, Churchill has most recently come under
fire for making an Indian-themed serigraph...
"University considering Ward Churchill buyout: Daily
publicity over controversial professor, faculty protests damaging school's
reputation," World Net Daily, February 25, 2005 --- http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=43065
200 Professors at CU can find better uses for $10 million
A full-page ad taken out by 200 University of Colorado
faculty members calls for the school to drop an inquiry into the writings of
professor Ward Churchill. The 200 faculty members' statement defends
Churchill's "right to speak what he believes to be the truth" based on
academic freedom rules designed to prevent faculty members from being fired for
unpopular views.
"CU faculty protest Churchill inquiry," Rocky Mountain News,
February 26, 2005 --- http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_3579112,00.html
The Price of Fame
KCNC-TV Channel 4 in Colorado recently approached Churchill and tried to query
the wannabe Indian on whether he had broken a copyright law by making a mirror
image of an artist's work and selling it as his own. When the
"work" of Churchill is placed beside that of renowned artist Thomas E.
Mails and the two look like mirror images. (you can compare yourself
using the link below). . . . Churchill later
emerged with a convoluted explanation on how it was not his fault that no one
knew the image was "an orignial artwork by me after Tomas
Mails." Huh? Is he saying he just copied (and sold) it and believed
that was okay?
"Ward Churchill, a Mirror Image," The National Ledger, February
26, 2005 --- http://www.nationalledger.com/scribe/archives/2005/02/ward_churchill_6.shtml
If CU suspected he was not truthfully a Native American, would they have
hired Mr. Churchill for a tenure track position without holding a doctoral
degree?
Churchill claims to be Indian to emphasize his own
anti-American agenda. He has used a life-long fabricated association with
Indians to create a political career, which he otherwise could never have
achieved. In view of such fraud, it is high time to examine just how one is
identified as an Indian these days,...
David Yeagley, "Ward Churchill Exploits Indians," FrontPageMagazine,
February 28, 2005 --- http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=17172
Jensen Comment: Why can't we all be Native American? Mr. Churchill
doesn’t believe in blood quantum requirements anyway. “You don't measure
identity by either pounds or percentage points unless you're some kind of Nazi,”
he said in 1994.
Colorado Governor Bill Owens has much bigger things to worry about than
Ward Churchill
States have been adopting tax and spending limits since
the 1970s and 28 now have them on the books. Some are more restrictive than
others, but Colorado's Taxpayer's Bill of Rights (also known as Tabor), passed
in 1992, is considered the gold standard. And no wonder. The measure, which
limits increases in state spending to inflation and population growth and
returns surplus revenues to taxpayers, ushered in Colorado's most prosperous
decade ever. Between 1997 and 2000, Coloradans received $3.25 billion in
Tabor rebates. And far from wrecking the economy as opponents predicted, Tabor
freed up capital in the private sector to create jobs and boost productivity.
Between 1992 and 2002, the average Colorado family paid some $16,000 less in
state taxes than in the decade prior to Tabor's implementation; private-sector
jobs in the state doubled; and government growth was kept in line with inflation
and population growth . . . Now Mr. Owens is working with the Democratic
Legislature to undo Tabor, and he's using the same excuses he once excoriated.
Tabor limits spending to the previous year's level, plus inflation and
population growth. This means that recession years "ratchet down"
state spending levels and force politicians to make tough decisions, which is
what they're paid to do.
"Rocky Mountain Revenue Grab," The Wall Street Journal,
February 28, 2005 --- http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB110955828721165586,00.html?mod=opinion&ojcontent=otep
Having Second Thoughts
The Dutch have rejected liberalism in response to Islamic immigration. Some say
they are now too hardline. So what can the rest of Europe learn from their
crisis? Not long ago, Holland prided itself as being the most tolerant and
welcoming country in Europe for immigrants and asylum seekers. It had the
credentials to prove it. So many have settled there, ethnic
"minorities" are often in a majority. In the great Dutch cities of
Amsterdam, Rotterdam and the Hague, the newcomers already outnumber the native
Dutch among under-20-year-olds. They will soon be an absolute majority. Although
the slump that followed...
Brian Moynahan, The Times, February 27, 2005 (not available free online)
Germany's Top Five Economists With Six Opinions
Put five economists in a room, on Winston Churchill's
arithmetic, and you get five opinions—unless one is Keynes, when you get six.
In Germany the sums have usually been simpler: you get just two opinions, with
four economists sharing one point of view, and the fifth a token Keynesian, sent
by the trade unions. Yet German economists are becoming more like their peers
abroad. The typical specimen is becoming more empirical, pragmatic and ready for
controversy, after a period when he was usually long on theory and reluctant to
criticise colleagues. This change has now reached the pinnacle of
Germany's “five wise men”, the country's council of economic experts.
Earlier this month, a public dispute erupted among the five (actually they are
four men and one woman). What is more, they are likely to pick as their next
chairman Bert Rürup, a hands-on, down-to-earth academic. This could have an
influence on policy, for the underlying row among the five wise men was really
about how to get the economy growing again. One of them, Peter Bofinger, even
called for wage increases in line with productivity growth.
"Four wise men and a woman," The Economist, January
20, 2005 --- http://www.economist.com/diversions/displaystory.cfm?story_id=3577819
Jensen Comment: Rumor has it that economist and Harvard
President Larry Summers was visiting in Berlin when he recommended a title for
this article.
OEM? I think not!
Short for original equipment manufacturer, which is a
misleading term for a company that has a special relationship with computer
producers. OEMs buy computers in bulk and customize them for a particular
application. They then sell the customized computer under their own name. The
term is really a misnomer because OEMs are not the original manufacturers --
they are the customizers.
Webopedia --- http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/O/OEM.html
Bob Jensen's technology glossary is at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/245gloss.htm
Why did we break up AT&T in the first place?
But that is not the whole story because industry
rationalization can easily be confused with industry concentration. Some would
argue whether this is just a matter of degree. But degrees count. Clearly, there
is a threshold where the bad outweighs the good. The leading indicators are not
a mystery: Concentration will promote size for size's sake and geographic
dominance. After initial job cuts which are the byproduct of combining corporate
structures, concentration inflates bureaucracy, reduces pricing competition,
limits innovation and works to frustrate effective regulation. The result is
that the technological backbone of our country will have no safety net, no
margin for error. The announced mergers of SBC-AT&T and Verizon-MCI are
cases directly on point. If the mergers are approved, the new companies
would dwarf their nearest competitors and control 79% of the business/government
segment -- one of the most lucrative in our industry. The reality is that this
scale, pricing power and overall market clout make it extremely unlikely that
any other player can grow market share. Odds are these behemoths would not
compete head-to-head in most local markets but would instead flex their muscles
to squeeze out smaller competitors, emptying the playing field.
Dick Notebaert, "Don't Create a Duopoly," The Wall Street Journal,
February 28, 2005 --- http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB110954561778665306,00.html?mod=opinion&ojcontent=otep
Would you like an order of French Funs with your burger?
The French do not expect their politicians to be as
pure as driven snow. They accept a degree of untruth. What turns them off is
being taken for fools. Yet another element came into play as Mr. Gaymard
ended up looking stupid himself -- the equivalent of a jewel thief who persists
in denials as the cops pull stolen necklaces and rings from his swag bag. The
more his wife protested that they had no regular household servants, apart from
the nanny for their eight children, the more people chortled, particularly when
it became known that, as well as the 600-square-meter flat off Champs Elysées,
Mr. Gaymard had three parking places in a nearby garage. Seeing that his
minister had gone over the line, Mr. Chirac was noticeable in his silence.
Brutal political reality came into play. Things are not going well for the
president. His supporters did badly in regional and European elections last
year. There is a substantial current for a "no" vote in the referendum
due to be held this summer on the European Union constitution. On the day Mr.
Gaymard went, unemployment crossed the 10% threshold, making a mockery of
government job pledges.
Jonathan Fenby, "An Exemplary Scandal," The Wall Street Journal,
February 28, 2005 --- http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB110954365079965276,00.html?mod=opinion&ojcontent=otep
The 50% number may help explain some of the obesity epidemic in the U.S.
It should also be noted that increased competition from restaurants---about 50%
of US food dollar is now spent at restaurants--has also played a major role.
Jim Mahar when bemoaning the bankruptcy of Winn Dixie, FinanceProfessorBlog,
February 23, 2005 --- http://financeprofessorblog.blogspot.com/
Women in Physics Match Men in Success
Only about one-eighth of the physics professors at Harvard are women, a
statistic that might seem to support the recent assertion by its president, Dr.
Lawrence H. Summers, that fewer women than men are willing to make the necessary
sacrifices. He also suggested that a difference in "intrinsic
aptitude" between the sexes might help explain the disparity. A
report released Friday by the American Institute of Physics offers a
contradictory conclusion: after they earn a bachelor's degree in physics,
American women are just as successful as men at wending their way up the
academic ladder. Physics continues to be the most male-dominated field
among the sciences. Men hold 90 percent of physics faculty positions, and earned
82 percent of the doctoral degrees in 2003.
Kenneth Chang, "Women in Physics Match Men in Success," The
New York Times, February 22, 2005 --- http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/22/science/22phys.html
Their prayers are answered: But it won't
play in Rome
The Church of England's General Synod has voted by a
huge majority to clear the way for the ordination of women priests. The Church
of England has been debating the issue for 10 years and the final go-ahead is
still some years away.
"Synod says 'yes' to women priests," BBC News, February 26,
2005 --- http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/february/26/newsid_2516000/2516299.stm
In particular, watch the video of what brought
down one of the oldest banks in England
Ten years ago this week, the rogue trader Nick Leeson
fled Singapore after realising he could no longer hide his trading losses of
more than $1bn (that's billion)
BBC News Interview With Leeson, February 23, 2005 --- http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4288271.stm
Bob Jensen's threads on derivative financial instruments frauds are at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/fraudrotten.htm#DerivativesFrauds
Pick yourself up, dust yourself off, start all over again
All of which creates a huge problem: how exactly
should a hyper-competitive society deal with its losers? It is all very well to
note that drunkards and slackers get what they deserve. But what about the
honest toilers? One way to deal with the problem is to offer people as many
second chances as possible. In his intriguing new book “Born Losers: A
History of Failure in America” (Harvard), Scott Sandage argues that the
mid-19th century saw a redefinition of failure—from something that described a
lousy business to something that defined a whole life. Yet one of the
striking things about America is how valiantly it has resisted the idea that
there is any such thing as a born loser. American schools resist streaming their
pupils much longer than their European counterparts: the whole point is to fit
in rather than to stand out. American higher education has numerous points of
entry and re-entry. And the American legal system has some of the most generous
bankruptcy rules in the world. In Europe, a bankrupt is often still a ruined
man; in America, he is a risk-taking entrepreneur. American history—not
to mention American folklore—is replete with examples of people who tried and
tried again until they made a success of their lives. Lincoln was a bankrupt
store-keeper. Henry Ford was a serial failure. At 40, Thomas Watson, the
architect of IBM, faced prison. America's past is also full of people who came
back from the brink. Steve Jobs has gone from has-been to icon. Martha Stewart
has a lucrative television contract waiting for her when she comes out of
prison.
"An Ode to Failure," The Economist, February 24, 2005 --- http://www.economist.com/world/na/displayStory.cfm?story_id=3690977
I'm praying these lawsuits don't succeed
Conservative public interest groups with ties to
Christian organizations filed lawsuits Tuesday seeking to invalidate the $3
billion stem cell research institution approved by California voters in
November. One lawsuit alleges the California Institute for Regenerative
Medicine violates state law because it's not governed exclusively by the state
government, and the committee that controls the research money it will dole out
isn't publicly elected. The institute was created by California voters
when they approved a $3 billion bond to fund stem cell research over the next
decade. Proposition 71 was passed by 59 percent of voters.
Paul Elias, "Lawsuits Filed to Invalidate California's $3 Billion Stem Cell
Institute," MIT's Technology Review, February 24, 2005 --- http://www2.technologyreview.com/articles/05/02/ap/ap_2022405.asp
Leave it to the Canadian's to focus on the flawed hockey stick evidence of
global warming
It took six years and several sacked scientific journal
editors before doubt was thrown on the hockey stick. Last year Canadian
scientists Stephen McIntyre and Ross McKitrick discovered a fundamental flaw in
the computer program which produces the hockey stick. It seemed, whatever random
data it was fed, the program almost always produced a hockey stick. The
Canadians couldn't get their work published by a scientific journal but they put
it on the web for all to see. "That discovery hit me like a
bombshell," wrote Richard Muller in the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology's Technology Review. "Suddenly the hockey stick, the
poster-child of the global warming community, turns out to be an artifact of
poor mathematics." Eureka! The voices of dissenters have been
silenced for too long so all power to Crichton for bypassing the gatekeepers and
going straight to the people. You can only suspect the pendulum of environmental
thought might be swinging back towards the rational, collecting the odd
Greenpeace jaw as it goes.
"Tide turns on the green-mongers," Sidney Morning Herald,
February 27, 2005 --- http://www.smh.com.au/text/articles/2005/02/26/1109180160492.html
Jensen Comment: This article also discusses fist fights and waning public
patience for the antics of Greenpeace.
I imagine advertisers are furious
Jack William Pacheco came up with a plan to keep his
neighbors from learning about his recent arrest on suspicion that he possessed
methamphetamine -- he snapped up every copy of the local newspaper.
"I have a whole garage full of newspapers," Pacheco said, estimating
he bought 500 to 600 copies on Wednesday from gas stations, convenience stores,
and coin-operated news racks. That afternoon, circulation officials at The
Chowchilla News discovered there were no copies of the weekly paper for sale
anywhere in the city. The paper prints 700 copies a week.
"Man Buys Every Copy of Hometown Paper to Hide Drug Arrest," Editor
and Publisher, February 24, 2005 --- http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000817354
America: The land of supposed free speech
Watch out! Michael Moore may be seeking interviews as well.
The Business Journal of Youngstown, Ohio, which has
been battling Mayor George McKelvey's ban on city employees talking to the
twice-monthly paper, finally took legal action with a lawsuit Thursday that
accuses the mayor of violating the paper's First Amendment rights. The
paper filed suit in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio,
asserting the newspaper's rights were being violated by McKelvey and the city of
Youngstown. "The lawsuit challenges the constitutionality of the mayor's
ban on city employees talking to The Business Journal about any city
business," the paper said in a statement. "It seeks a preliminary
injunction to prohibit McKelvey from enforcing the policy until the court
decides the merits of the case."
Joe Strupp, "Youngstown, Ohio, Biz Journal Sues Mayor Over Ban," Editor
and Publisher, February 24, 2005 --- http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000817138
A similar lawsuit filed by The Sun of Baltimore, which challenged a directive
from Maryland Gov. Robert Ehrlich ordering state employees not to speak with two
Sun reporters, was dismissed by a judge last week.
Liberal Lunacy: I couldn't find a research reference for the 59%
figure.
I want you to remember that George Bush and 59% of all
Americans believe in Armageddon, just the way that we believe in Justice. I want
you to remember that there is no time. It may already be too late. I want you to
remember these things because it is only at the bottom of our despair it is only
by touching that bottom that we can find its exit and emerge again into the
possibility of enlightened, meaningful, even spiritual, action.
Rafael Renteria, "“Look in the Mirror, Ward Churchill and White America”
--- http://www.liberallunacy.net/
Jensen Comment: I guess Rafael means that 59% of all Americans want the
Christian evangelists to forcefully defeat the Arabs and the Jews and the
Chinese and the French and the rest of the world defending a high hill in the
Middle East. Now that might be a tougher task than training the Iraqi
security forces and getting the U.S. Army's tired butt home from Iraq.
Armageddon is the geographic location given in the book of Revelation
(16:16). Named after the hill near the town of Megiddo in Palestine which,
because if its strategic location overlooking major military and trade routes,
was the site of many ancient battles and probably some to come in the
future. But I doubt if Christian crusaders will be leading the
charge. Since Rafael sits in prison for killing a cop, he probably
won't be helping defenders fight off the 59% of Americans who storming up the
hill at Armageddon. More than 59% of Americans want the U.S. Army to
return home as quickly as possible from Iraq and let us live in peace. I
think we can contain bands of our own lunatics who take Revelation (16:16)
literally to a point where they're training in the woods to do battle in
Megiddo. Remember that if you take Armageddon literally, you won't be
allowed to win at some other site like Beijing or Bombay.
Bob Jensen's threads on "The Evil Empire" are at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/hypocrisyEvilEmpire.htm
When warning labels just won't do the job
Rental housing owners predict that numerous rental
units will be taken off the market and boarded up, with their occupants forced
into homelessness, if the Greensboro City Council adds lead-based paint to the
city's housing code. And they say that landlords able to keep their houses open
will almost certainly have to raise rent prices substantially, forcing still
more people into homelessness. During the past 10 years, dangerous levels of
lead have been diagnosed in the blood of at least 7,000 children. Eradicating
lead "is a noble goal," said Gary Wegner, past president of the
Greensboro Landlord Association....
Stan Swofford, "Lead Fix May Hurt Rentals, Renters," News-Record,
February 27, 2005 --- http://www.news-record.com/news/local/landlords_022705.htm
Happy V-Day: Please no candy, flowers, or romantic dinners
Here's one woman's opinion
One need not look further than the ill-conceived
"V-Day" campaign to demonstrate just how downright bizarre feminism
has become. Basically, V-Day is an alternative feminist holiday to that evil
celebration of love on St. Valentines Day. So instead of candy, flowers, and
romantic dinners on February 14th, feminists are organizing events to celebrate
the vagina. That's right, an entire day for females across the nation to focus
on their genitalia. Isn't it the entire antithesis of feminism to reduce women
(and therefore their value) down to nothing more than their genitalia? How in
the world does that prevent the sexual objectification of women?
Kay R. Daly, "Feminist Follies," GOPUSA, February 28, 2005 --- http://www.gopusa.com/commentary/kdaly/2005/krd_02281.shtml
Question
If you exclude nations at war, what nations have the highest versus the lowest
homicide rates?
What European nation has the highest (lowest) homicide rate?
What states in the United States have the highest homicide rates.
Answers
In spite of hearing a lot about murder rates in large U.S. cites (mostly in the
blue states politically), the highest murder rates are in the southern states
according the the FBI.--- http://www.bls.gov/opub/cwc/sh20031119ar01p1.htm
Jensen Comment: Tempers rise on hot and humid summer nights!
Other answers are given at Gun Site on October 18, 2003 --- http://www.guncite.com/gun_control_gcgvinco.html
Jensen Comment: I guess it's a bit more complicated than blaming it on
heat and humidity.
For
earlier editions of New Bookmark
s go to http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/bookurl.htm
Archives of Tidits: Tidbits Directory --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/TidbitsDirectory.htm
Professor Robert E. Jensen (Bob) http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen
Jesse
H. Jones Distinguished Professor of Business Administration
Trinity
University, San Antonio, TX 78212-7200
Voice: 210-999-7347 Fax:
210-999-8134 Email: rjensen@trinity.edu
