Tidbits on October 21, 2005
Bob Jensen at Trinity University 

My links on Medicare drug plan options are at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/FraudReporting.htm#Medicare
Under no circumstance should anybody sign up for a plan with a stranger over the telephone even if that person claims to be a Medicare representative or a licensed insurance agent who phoned out of the blue.

Fraud Updates --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/FraudUpdates.htm
For earlier editions of New Bookmarks go to http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/bookurl.htm 
Archives of Tidbits: Tidbits Directory --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/TidbitsDirectory.htm

Fraud Updates --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/FraudUpdates.htm
For earlier editions of New Bookmarks go to http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/bookurl.htm 
Archives of Tidbits: Tidbits Directory --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/TidbitsDirectory.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 home page is at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/

Lists of Bests --- http://listsofbests.com/

Security threats and hoaxes --- http://www.trinity.edu/its/virus/

25 Hottest Urban Legends (hoaxes) --- http://www.snopes.com/info/top25uls.asp 

Heart Attack Coughing (it's a hoax remedy) ---  http://www.hoax-slayer.com/survive-heart-attack.html 

Music:

In the past I've provided links to various types of music available free on the Web. 
I created a page that summarizes those various links --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/music.htm

For Halloween

Skeleton Man Street Dance (video and audio) ---
http://www.metacafe.com/item2931/skeleton_street_show_video

Melancholy Melodies from Halloween, Alaska ---
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4957418

Poetry with music in the background (see the left side of the page) --- http://robert21.com/

Some nice folk duets --- http://www.davidwilcox.com/dw/index.php?page=songs&display=322#

Joe Dimico (starts right up) --- http://joedamico.com/

What's Filk Music?
A Filk Song Sampler Amanda Kelly and Trent Urness perform three tunes, recorded in Urness' bedroom: 'Romulan Pirate' 'Underwater Zombies' 'Potential Vampire' --- http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4967052
Scroll down and look left.

Lost Soul Midi Files --- http://www.lostsoul.org/howards/midi/enya-midi/

Bob Jensen's Hope:   Hope Has Place --- http://www.jessiesweb.com/pity.htm 
If the sound does not commence after 30 seconds, scroll to the bottom of the page and turn it on.
Enya's home page is at http://www.enya.com/ 

Train of Life (Willie Nelson and Patsy Cline) ---  
http://mywebpages.comcast.net/singingman7/TOL.htm

Photographs

Carve (draw) your own Halloween pumpkin face --- http://www.toilette-humor.com/flash/carve_pumpkin.swf

For Halloween
Skeleton Man Street Dance --- http://www.metacafe.com/item2931/skeleton_street_show_video

New Orleans Missing Persons List --- http://www.ketzle.com/frost/

October 20, 2005 from Steve Tucker (a retired professor of Health Care Administration)

Bob:
This Medicare RX thing is just too complicated, isn't it? Two pieces of information in your emails might need some elaboration: I understand that people have until May 15, '06 to sign up "without penalty" (so Dec. 15th isn't a real deadline) and this does not take the place of the alphabet set of Medicare Supplement options -- it just makes two of the options obsolete. Hope this is helpful.

Steve

Thanks Steve!
The booklet I got from Medicare stated that penalties might be imposed after December 31, 2005.

Bob Jensen's threads, advice, and warnings on the very confusing new Medicare drug plan are at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/FraudReporting.htm#Medicare

American Library Association (a great place for scholars) --- http://www.ala.org/ala/booklist/mysteryshowcase/mysteryshowcase.htm

Internet FAQ Archives --- http://www.faqs.org/faqs/
Bob Jensen's search helpers are at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/searchh.htm

Meet an honest boss (audio)--- http://www.hallmark.com/wcsstore/HallmarkStore/images/products/ecards/nfg1969.swf

“Experiment and take intellectual risks,” Hennessy said. “Challenge yourself with courses in disciplines that are new to you. And should you occasionally not succeed, do not become disillusioned. The only people I know who have succeeded at everything they have undertaken are those who have been timid in setting their goals.”
Stanford President John Hennessey, "Embrace your opportunities, Hennessy tells Class of 2009 in welcome remarks," Stanford Report, September 21, 2005 ---
http://news-service.stanford.edu/news/2005/september28/convocation-092805.html

The universe does not have laws -- it has habits, and habits can be broken.
Aaron Konstam has this at the bottom of his email messages.  Apparently it is an old saying from an unknown author --- http://www.anvari.org/fortune/Quotations_Old/3522.html

The foreigner is within us. And when we flee from or struggle against the foreigner, we are fighting our own unconscious.
Julia Kristeva (1941) is a famous Bulgarian philosopher, psychoanalyst, feminist, and, most recently, novelist, who has been living in France since the middle of the 1960s. Her works have an important place in post-structuralist thought... read more

The British Empire was created as a by-product of generations of desperate Englishmen roaming the world in search of a decent meal.
Bill Marsano

Work is life, you know, and without it, there's nothing but fear and insecurity.
John Lennon. as quoted by Mark Shapiro at http://irascibleprofessor.com/comments-10-18-05.htm

Breaking news about a new drug that reduces risk of breast cancer by 50%
A drug that targets a specific type of breast cancer is about to dramatically change the way doctors treat breast cancer, according to two major new studies. The combined results show that the drug Herceptin cuts the risk of breast cancer recurrence in half among women with tumors that are HER2-positive. HER2-positive tumors produce more HER2 protein, which is linked with more aggressive forms of the disease and a higher risk of breast cancer death.
Jennifer Warner, "Targeted Drug May Change Breast Cancer Care:  Study Shows Herceptin Reduces Risk of Cancer Recurrence by 50%," WebMD, October 19, 2005 ---
http://my.webmd.com/content/article/114/111039.htm?z=1728_00000_1000_tn_06

Other universities will want to move into this
Breaking news about a new communications partnering between Stanford and Apple
Through its iPod player and the iTunes Web site through which it sells individual songs, Apple has helped to change the way music is distributed. The company has grand ambitions to do the same with other kinds of content in fields like higher education, and it took another step in that direction Thursday with Stanford University’s announcement that it would make a range of audio content available to its alumni and others through iTunes. Stanford on iTunes emerged from the longstanding collaboration between the university and Apple, which is based nearby, according to Scott Stocker, director of Web communications at Stanford.
Doug Lederman, "The Sounds of Stanford, via the iPod," Inside Higher Ed, October 21, 2005 --- http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2005/10/21/itunes

Great electronic "books" from the University of Texas and Princeton University
Dante Inferno, Purgatory, and Paradise (a multimedia learning experience) --- http://danteworlds.laits.utexas.edu/
Also see Princeton University's contribution (in Italian or English) --- http://etcweb.princeton.edu/dante/pdp/
          Princeton's versions have both lectures and multimedia!

The Online Books Page from the University of Pennsylvania --- http://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/

Bob Jensen's threads on electronic literature are at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/searchh.htm#ElectronicBooks

Gravity Probe-B data collection ends: Was Einstein correct?
Almost 90 years after Einstein postulated his general theory of relativity—our current theory of gravity—scientists have finally finished collecting the data that will put this theory to an experimental test. For the past 17 months, NASA's Gravity Probe-B (GP-B) satellite has been orbiting the Earth using four ultra-precise gyroscopes, about a million times better than the finest navigational gyroscopes, to generate the data required for this unprecedented test. As planned, the helium that cooled the experiment and powered its micro-thrusters has run out, ending the data-collection and final instrument calibration phase of the experiment. All the data—50 weeks' worth—has been downloaded from the spacecraft and relayed to computers in the GP-B Mission Operations Center at Stanford University, where GP-B scientists have begun the final painstaking task of data analysis and validation. Was Einstein correct? They won't know for another 15 months, when the analysis has been completed, but physicists around the world are eagerly awaiting the results.
Bob Kahn, "Gravity Probe-B data collection ends: Was Einstein correct?" Stanford Report, September 21, 2005 --- http://news-service.stanford.edu/news/2005/october12/gpbempty-092805.html

Dishmaking Machine:  What a clever idea in dishware and energy savings
MIT Media Lab's Counter Intelligence Group, which develops innovative kitchen designs, has created a machine that makes dishes on demand and recycles them after diners have finished a meal. The dishes are made from food-grade, nontoxic acrylic wafers, which are shaped into cups, bowls and plates when heated, then resume their original wafer shape when they are reheated and pressed. Designed by MIT grad student Leonardo Bonanni, the DishMaker frees space in dish cabinets and reduces landfill trash. It also uses less energy to recycle dishes than factories use to make them. And, because the machine can produce up to 150 items, a dinner host would never be short of table settings when unexpected guests arrive: Cooks can select the number of place settings needed using a simple push-button control panel. The prototype DishMaker is the size of a standard dishwasher, and uses the heating element of a toaster oven to shape the items. To recycle the dishes, it heats them to about 300 degrees Fahrenheit to soften the acrylic, then a press restores them to wafers for easy stacking.
Kim Zetter, "Machine Makes Dishes on Demand," Wired News, October 12, 2005 ---  http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,69113,00.html

It’s not just that respect for the awesome majesty of the law is now largely pro forma. Rather, in important regards the whole edifice has been gutted; before long, there won’t even be any nails holding the facade together.
See below

"Law and Ordure." by Scott McLemee, Inside Higher Ed, October 20, 2005 --- http://www.insidehighered.com/views/2005/10/20/mclemee

In The Law in Shambles — just published in the Prickly Paradigm series, distributed by the University of Chicago Press — Thomas Geoghegan offers an incisive criticism, from the left, of the idea that the expression “rule of law” is at all appropriate to the way we live now. His booklet is conversational, wide-ranging, and absolutely terrifying. It deserves a wide readership.

In saying that Geoghegan’s perspective comes “from the left,” I’ve made room for misunderstandings that should be cleared up right away. First of all, he’s not denouncing the whole concept of rule of law as a more or less streamlined way of carrying out the “golden rule” of capitalism, that he with the gold makes the rules. (That’s the paleo-Marxist position. Some of the International Socialist Organization activists on your campus might make this argument.) Nor is Geoghegan criticizing actually existing constitutional democracy (as we might call it) from the vantage point of some “original position” of fairness, A Theory of Justice-style.

The author is a labor lawyer (though he has also been a fellow at the American Academy in Berlin). He’s arguing from his own court cases, and from perceived trends — not from first principles. He once loved the work of John Rawls, and the dream is not quite dead; but really, that was a long time ago. “Ever since he wrote that book,” Geoghegan says, “it’s as if someone with a voodoo doll put a hex on his whole approach.”

No, Geoghegan’s criticism is less abstract, more crunchy. It’s not just that respect for the awesome majesty of the law is now largely pro forma. Rather, in important regards the whole edifice has been gutted; before long, there won’t even be any nails holding the facade together.

The increasingly robust and strident contempt for the judiciary expressed by the American right is only part of it, if the most bewildering for anybody who remembers the old conservative motto of “law and order.” Now the emphasis is just on order, plain and simple. And not in the sense conveyed by Jack Webb’s no-nonsense demeanor on Dragnet. More like Joseph de Maistre’s rhapsody over the hangman’s role as cornerstone of civilization.

Which is worrisome, no doubt about it. But Geoghegan is more concerned about the low-key, day-to-day degradations of the rule of law. Consider, for example, the case of the rat turds. Geoghegan worked on a brief on behalf of workers who had lost their jobs when a chicken-processing plant shut down — suing on their behalf under the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act, which requires that a factory owner give employees 60 days notice that a plant will be shut down. To this, the chicken-processing guy had a ready answer: He had been shut down by the Department of Agriculture for health-code violations — an unforeseen contingency, he said.

He had an argument, says Geoghegan: “Yes, he may have done bad things, and let rats run wild, and let rats shit on the chicken meat. And yes, it is even true that the inspectors of the Department of Agriculture gave him ‘write-ups.’ But here is the issue: Was it reasonable for the owner to foresee that the DOA would enforce its own regulation?” After all, everybody in the business knows that you get the write-up and pay the fine.

Continued in article

Many colleges pride themselves in not accepting transfer credit or limiting transfer credit from distance education courses and from for-profit colleges.  Legislation is now pending that will likely eliminate this discretion for colleges for many colleges.

You can also find details and tables showing how financial aid increases are lagging behind tuition rates at http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2005/10/19/tuition

Bob Jensen's threads on how to get screwed using credit cards are at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/FraudReporting.htm#FICO

Paying more tuition (see the above module) for less homework
The End of Homework, a popular source, depicts homework as an obstacle to "taking back our home lives" because it "sets parent against child," presumably when kids don't feel like doing it. Homework opponents propose bizarrely that we "raise whole children" and "preserve family time" by "extending school hours." They also call for a ban on homework on the equally mind-boggling grounds that it's unfair to students who don't do it. When the National Education Association's monthly magazine hosted a homework debate, one cited teacher urged "doing away with homework" because when some students don't do it, part of the class isn't ready for the next day's lesson. Of course, if you don't assign any homework, and nobody does it, then everybody isn't ready for the next day's lesson. Unless, that is, the teacher slows the whole course down and teaches less. Believe it or not, advocates justify this position with the dubious claim that it promotes education equity, meaning presumably that everybody's equally behind.
Peter Berger, "The Virtues of Work.," The Irascible Professor, October 18, 2005 ---
http://irascibleprofessor.com/comments-10-18-05.htm

Darwinian Poetry (I didn't find any of the poems intelligently designed) --- http://www.codeasart.com/poetry/darwin.html

Getting into Georgia's "Boutique"
Tiny Terry College of Business (University of Georgia) is seeking risk-takers -- but ones with some humility. In return, the school offers generous financial aid
"Getting into Georgia's 'Boutique'," Business Week, October 11, 2005 --- http://snipurl.com/TerryBotique

If you like political speculation and rumor, read this one
After a Washington Post story suggesting that Vice President Dick Cheney’s office is involved in the Plame-CIA investigation, rumors are flying around Washington that Cheney might step aside – and be replaced by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. "If that should happen, there will undoubtedly be those who believe the whole thing was orchestrated – another brilliant Machiavellian move by the VP,” a White House insider told Paul Bedard of U.S. News & World Report. Some observers are whispering that the driving force behind the Rice-for-Cheney scenario is political pundit Dick Morris’ new book "Condi vs. Hillary: The Next Great Presidential Race.”
"Rumor: Cheney to Resign; Rice as V.P.," NewsMax, October 19, 2005 --- http://www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2005/10/19/111925.shtml

1-800-Free411 Telephone Directory Assistance ---  http://www.free411.com/learnmore.html
This is a free phone directory (if you're on a telephone), but I only recently got it to work..  Last weekend it just would not  work for me.  But by the middle of the day on October 17, a recorded female voice asked me to speak the city and state.  Then a live voice came on (faintly) and asked for the name of the party I wanted to phone.  The service found the correct number and dialed it automatically for me.  I didn't get any advertising this first time I tried it, but I suspect there is some sort of advertising since the site above solicits advertisers.

Of course if you're on the Web, a better alternative is to probably use one of the many free phone number search services such as Switchboard --- http://www.switchboard.com/
There are also various yellow page search services such as those listed at http://www.yahoo.com/

But I don't know of any other "Ernestines" out there who will give you free phone numbers over the telephone other than
1-800-Free411 (if you catch it when it is working).

Those without shelter will die when winter comes to Kashmir.
BALAKOT, Pakistan-administered Kashmir -- They are still not even trying to extricate the dead. From under the rubble of collapsed buildings, a gut-wrenching smell of decaying corpses now fills the town. The rats have it good; the one I accidentally stepped upon was already fat. If there is indeed a plan to clear the concrete rubble in and around the town, nobody seems to have any clue. But the Balakotis are taking it in their stride -- nose masks are everywhere.
Pervez Hoodbhoy, "Wanted: 10,000 Houses At Only $83 Each," The Wall Street Journal,  October 19, 2005; Page A12 --- http://online.wsj.com/article/SB112967368901472410.html?mod=opinion&ojcontent=otep

Although the above article is appropriate for celebrating 100 years of the Journal of Accountancy, I don't think enough attention is being paid to either of the two following presentations at annual meetings of the American Accounting Association:

"Accounting Professionalism --- They Just Don't Get It," by Art Wyatt, Plenary Address, American Accounting Association Annual Meetings in Hawaii, August 4, 2003 --- http://aaahq.org/AM2003/WyattSpeech.pdf

"Accounting Professionalism --- We (Professors) Just Don't Get It," Luncheon Address, American Accounting Association Annual Meetings in San Francisco, August 9, 2005 (I think this paper will soon be published).

Bob Jensen's threads on the state of the accounting profession are at
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/fraudConclusion.htm

Bob Jensen's threads on the state of the accounting academy are at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen//theory/00overview/theory01.htm#AcademicsVersusProfession

From The Washington Post on October 19, 2005

Apple launched another incarnation of its iPod, this time letting users download videos. During the announcement, what television network said they would make episodes of two of their hit shows available to users?

A. ABC
B. CBS
C. Fox
D. NBC
 

What’s Next?
A Tour of Tomorrow’s Technology:  Don’t let the future sneak up on you.
Journal of Accountancy, October 2005 --- http://www.aicpa.org/pubs/jofa/oct2005/whatsnext.htm#A 

 

THINGS TO COME Good as each is, every current technology will be supplanted by its successor in a surprisingly short time—and these changes in turn will engender entirely new technologies. Consider the following works in progress that likely will make it to market sooner than you think. RFID, or radio frequency identification, tags contain important tracking and descriptive information about the objects—for example, freight packages, vehicles or pieces of luggage—to which they are attached. This helps companies and government agencies better perform a broad range of functions, from shipping and inventory management to highway toll collection and passenger baggage tracking. Word of these advantages has encouraged a bevy of organizations to emulate Wal-Mart’s well-publicized RFID implementation. And now that EPCglobal, the RFID industry trade group, has updated its electronic product code (EPC) standard—the RFID version of the bar code—software developers are working on more powerful applications. Nearly every CPA will need to understand this important technology. Broadband over power lines (BPL) may bring high-speed Internet access to every home. This new communications technology was approved by the FCC late in 2004. It offers ultrafast Internet services that outperform current wire-based links by using modems that plug into any electrical outlet. As new participants in the broadband communications market, BPL companies will help telephone and cable-TV companies improve communications in many underserved U.S. markets. Stratellites are high-altitude, lighter-than-air ships being developed to provide a variety of communications services. Floating in the stratosphere at about 13 miles above the earth, they hover over a particular location and relay radio signals to and from the ground. Each airship typically covers an area the size of Texas. Stratellites can outperform satellites and are cheaper to launch and maintain. Among other things, they’ll offer telephone, paging and wireless broadband services over large areas. Grid computing soon will become a reality. It consists of linking the processing power and data storage resources of many computers in networks dedicated to fulfilling joint goals such as serving a community of users. Grid computing will offer secure, reliable access to huge quantities of shared computer power, much as electrical utilities operate today. As a result businesses and individuals will find owning computer servers to be no more necessary than having their own power generators. System security will vastly improve over the next decade. Security tokens—small, key-like devices that fit into a computer port—will replace passwords as the means by which users identify themselves to a system. Improvements in other areas—such as virus prevention and antihacker measures—also are in the works. The result will be simultaneous advances in safety and convenience.

It is somewhat interesting to compare the above with Bob Jensen's earlier answers to the following question:
What are the most significant changes expected in higher education by the Year 2025? 
See http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/000aaa/updateee.htm#Future
 

What's Next?

In the October 24, 2005 issue of Time Magazine, the cover story is entitled "What's Next," pp. 67-86 --- http://www.time.com/time/covers/0,16641,1101051024,00.html

There are too many interviews to summarize here, but I will quote from one article that especially caught my attention. 
"Place Your Bets!" by Bill Saporito, Time Magazine, October 24, 2005, Page 70 ---

The power of markets, it turns out, has something to say about practically everything. We see it at work on Wall Street, which absorbs the collected wisdom of millions of investors and expresses it as stock prices. Prediction markets now let people bet on everything from sports scores to election results to the expected capture of al-Qaeda bigwig Abu Mousab al-Zarqawi. Some of the best of those online markets: the Hollywood Stock Exchange, the Iowa Electronic Markets, Yahoo's Tech Buzz Game and PublicGyan. InTrade, run by the Trade Exchange Network, an Irish firm, cleared 50,000 contracts last month (including 10% odds that al-Zarqawi will be caught in 2005). "There's a tremendous demand for prediction," says Justin Wolfers, a markets expert at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School. "I can bet on the World Series or the next presidential election."

The driving force behind prediction markets is something called information aggregation. Traditionally, it has been the realm of professionals such as pollsters or weather forecasters or the CIA. Those experts tend to be knowledgeable but are prone to certain limitations: personal bias, groupthink, clashing personalities. "In companies, not only are people afraid to get an answer, they are afraid of asking the question," says Emile Servan-Schreiber, CEO of NewsFutures Inc., which sells markets programs to corporations. So a market can benefit from outsiders' views that are reflected, in real time, in the form of prices. The dirty secret is that markets are often as good as the experts at making predictions. The next time the Federal Reserve meets to set interest rates, Wolfers says, Chairman Alan Greenspan might be better served by having the governors bet on what interest rates should be rather than go though their traditional number crunching.

The markets get into controversial ground when it comes to security and terrorism. When the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency of the Defense Department developed such a market in July 2003, called FutureMAP, as part of an even more controversial program once called Total Information Awareness, it was equated with "betting on terrorism." Congressional outrage squelched the project, but the fact is, betting on terrorism actually makes sense. Consider the investigation just launched in Washington over an apparent leak at the Department of Homeland Security in which insiders seem to have tipped off relatives about an alleged threat to the New York City subway system. Outrageous behavior? Perhaps. But get those "insider traders" into a market, and everyone will have access to that information. Insiders have a motivation--money, at the basest level--to distribute their knowledge.

Markets are hard to beat and even harder to manipulate. On Dec. 11, 2003, InTrade's contract on Saddam Hussein's capture suddenly began to move. "We noticed that that contract started trading from 9 to 30 for no reason," says Mike Knesevitch, communications director. "Something was happening." In fact, someone may well have been trading on inside information. Two days later, Saddam was in custody.

In the near future, prediction and decision markets are likely to extend their reach. At the University of Iowa, which created the Iowa Electronic Markets, researchers are developing a prediction market designed to forecast flu outbreaks, and their counterparts at the University of Miami have organized the Hurricane Futures Market, where you can place bets on where the spit will hit the fan. Corporations so far have tended to focus on relatively low-value projects like predicting the next quarter's sales. Google, for example, has been conducting an internal market to predict project-completion and product-launch dates. But given the market system's track record, corporations are about to move to bet-the-ranch-type decisions. "We're about to have a Cambrian explosion of the technology," says Servan- Schreiber.

For individuals, markets are beginning to offer potentially useful opportunities to hedge risk in their lives. Do you think the real estate market is going to crash and take your house with it? HedgeStreet.com lets you take a position on the median home price in a number of large cities by matching your bet in a "hedgelet" against someone with the opposite opinion. Similarly, you can hedge the price of gasoline, mortgage rates or inflation rates. Wolfers believes that individuals will ultimately be able to use markets to hedge everything, even their own employability.

For government policymakers, the potential of markets to support decision making is "humongous," says Bob Hahn, director of the AEI-Brookings Joint Center for Regulatory Studies. Will cutting taxes raise the GDP? Congress can debate it. But if you establish a market for the question, the answer will likely be superior to whatever one Congress arrives at. You can bet on it.

"Accounting Education Changes Course:  Communication skills and real-world cases broaden the syllabus," by Randy Myers, Journal of Accountancy, October 2005 --- http://www.aicpa.org/pubs/jofa/oct2005/whatsnext.htm#Accounting

When will analog TV become history?

"Senate Bill Sets Spring 2009 Demise for Analog Television," by Arshad Mohammed, The Washington Post, October 15, 2005 --- http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/14/AR2005101401960.html?referrer=email

The Digital Duo provides some great advice about shifting to HDTV at http://www.pcworld.com/digitalduo/video/0,segid,48,00.asp

Higher Ed Commission Gets to Work
Whatever the cause, those attending Monday’s first meeting of the Secretary of Education’s Commission on the Future of Higher Education probably came away (perhaps to their surprise) feeling as if they had seen the start of something significant. They witnessed thoughtful people offering (mostly) cogent assessments about a very important topic, and it was not uncommon to see the college officials, policy makers and others in the audience nodding their heads in approval — or shaking them vehemently in disagreement — after one comment or another. The conversation was, for the most part, intelligent and serious. “A fascinating discussion,” Spellings pronounced at a news conference afterward.
Doug Lederman, "Higher Ed Commission Gets to Work," Inside Higher Ed, October 18, 2005 --- http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2005/10/18/commission

540 or more examples of Nigerian fraud email messages that plague us daily --- http://www.potifos.com/fraud/

Update on Nigerian Fraud:  At last a glimmer of hope

"Nigeria enlists Microsoft to fight 419 scammers Redmond will help detect and prosecute net fraudsters," by Andy McCue, Silicon.com, October 14, 2005 --- http://software.silicon.com/security/0,39024655,39153344,00.htm

Microsoft is to work with the Nigerian government to help track down and prosecute criminals involved in 419 email scams and other internet-based fraud originating from the African country.

Microsoft will provide technical expertise, training and other security resources to Nigeria's Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), which is tasked with fighting cyber crime in the country.

Nigeria was initially slow to respond to the problem of 419 email scammers operating in the country who were duping innocent internet users out of thousands of pounds by promising a share of the secret multimillion pound fortune of a deposed African dictator.

The EFCC is now at the forefront of that battle and has arrested more than 1,000 people, brought 300 prosecutions and seized a billion dollars in assets - but that has still only resulted in 17 convictions to date.

Speaking to silicon.com at the Nigerian Embassy in London today, Nuhu Ribadu, executive chairman of the EFCC, said it is a "painful" problem for Nigeria.

"Nigeria is one country where there are examples of everything that is bad when it comes to technology," he said. "It's a big, big problem for us. 419 scams are still the main problem but we are also witnessing other problems such as credit card fraud and lottery scams as well as the hacking and cloning of websites."

But Ribadu said that is now changing for the better with new legislation that allows the government to prosecute anyone helping to facilitate the scammers - from cyber café owners to ISPs.

He said: "We are also getting technology to help us filter these scams at the cyber café level. We will go after anyone doing this. The measures are starting to show. The scammers are moving out of the country. Things are changing a lot and changing our lives."

Neil Holloway, president of Microsoft in Europe, Middle East and Africa, said the agreement with the Nigerian government is part of Microsoft's wider security strategy, which includes the rewards for bringing prosecutions against virus writers.

Holloway acknowledged internet-based fraud is a global problem but said Nigeria is an important battleground and added that the partnership, which has been underway for six months, has already led to the closure of three ISPs in Nigeria that were being used by scammers.

Continued in article

Bob Jensen's threads on similar frauds and fraud reporting alternatives are at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/FraudReporting.htm

Colleges have to pull their Sox up
Although the federal Sarbanes-Oxley Act in 2002 applied to the governance of for-profit businesses, it is having a significant impact on nonprofit governance, according to a report released Monday by Standard and Poor’s. The report said that many nonprofit groups are reviewing their governance systems and that states are increasing oversight.
Inside Higher Ed, October 18, 2005 --- http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2005/10/18/qt

The majority of CPAs "are still ignorant about fraud
The majority of CPAs "are still ignorant about fraud," said Joseph Wells, founder and chairman of the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners. He provided three reasons accountants are having trouble catching frauds --- http://accounting.smartpros.com/x50171.xml

Wells said there are three reasons CPAs cannot catch all material misdeeds: The first is the dichotomy of fraud. "Trust is an essential element of business -- and an essential element of fraud," he said. "Absent trust, it is impossible to con anyone. But absent trust, it is also impossible to conduct business."   Second, fraud is a crime without unique clues, making it easy to miss. While it is hard to mistake a robbery, an embezzlement may be marked merely by numbers that don't add up.   Finally, CPAs can only audit what is presented to them. "Under-the-table deals, sham transactions and the like can be easily concealed," Wells stated. "Holding CPAs to a standard that requires them to detect all material fraud puts them in a no-win situation and they know it. Still, auditors can certainly do a much better job than they've done in the past." Wells pointed out that key insiders are often the first to divulge corporate misdeeds. Sharron Watkins of Enron and Cynthia Cooper of WorldCom are only the latest in a long line of employees tarred as whistleblowers. But auditors typically react to these tips rather than seeking them out in time to avoid major financial disasters. "Accountants don't currently learn what motivates fraudulent conduct, how to spot the signals, how to prevent fraud from occurring and much more," said Wells. "As it stands now, auditors are fighting a war without being taught how to recognize the enemy. Until that changes, expect more heavy casualties."

Bob Jensen's fraud links are at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/fraud.htm

Jensen Comment: 
Beware of spyware or virus removal pop-ups that suddenly appear on your computer.  Sometimes the companies that do the damage are trying to get you to pay to undo the damage they've just inflicted.  These sources are unethical and may be phishing for your credit card information if you fall for their trap to buy removal software.

Spyware Update:  What you need to know

"Spyware: What You Need to Know," by Kim Zetter, Wired News, October 17, 2005 --- http://www.wired.com/news/privacy/0,1848,68275,00.html?tw=wn_tophead_4

The Anti-Spyware Coalition, (which includes heavyweights like Microsoft, EarthLink and Hewlett-Packard), says spyware is any application that impairs "users' control over material changes that affect their user experience, privacy or system security."

In plainer language, spyware consists of a host of programs that you likely wouldn't invite onto your computer if you knew what they would do once they invaded your machine. They are primarily software programs that can hijack your browser to send you to an advertiser's page or track where you surf on the internet so marketers can learn your interests and feed you pop-up ads.

Is spyware the same as viruses and Trojan horses?

Traditionally, viruses and Trojan horses have been considered a different type of malware, but the Anti-Spyware Coalition is attempting to lump all malware together to make it easier for lawmakers to legislate against it.

The coalition does not include viruses in this category, but it does include Trojan horses, which are usually installed on your machine without your consent and sit in the background quietly recording your keystrokes or sending copies of your files to a remote intruder over the internet. Keystroke loggers are generally not used by people who want to market to you, but by people who are interested in data like passwords or credit card numbers for financial gain or espionage.

How does spyware get onto my computer?

Spyware that delivers pop-up ads often comes hidden in free software downloads, such as games or browser plug-ins or toolbars. The makers of the software generally contract with advertisers to include a program in the download to feed you ads or give the advertiser information about you, such as which sites you visit.

The programs can also download automatically to your computer through websites you visit. Generally, you have to do something to install the program on your machine, but that something can be as simple as clicking a button that says "Close" to shut a pop-up window. This can activate an ActiveX control that installs the spyware on your machine. See below for tips on how to prevent spyware from infecting your computer.

How will I know if I have spyware on my machine?

You might notice an unusual number of pop-ups appearing on your screen, even when you don't go to the kinds of sites that generally deliver lots of pop-ups, such as gambling and porn sites. If pop-ups appear on your screen when you're offline, your computer is probably infected. Or you may find your browser homepage has mysteriously changed.

You don't need to wait for these signs, however, to see if you're infected. You can use a number of free software tools to search your computer for spyware, in the same way that antivirus software scans your hard disk for malicious code. Be careful to use a reputable tool, however. Some spyware masquerades as anti-spyware scanning tools but instead deposits spyware onto your computer. Before downloading such a tool, check sites like Spyware Warrior, which lists known rogue sites and programs that mimic helpful anti-spyware tools.

. . .

How do I prevent spyware from getting on my machine?

• Avoid downloading shareware and freeware.
• Don't open e-mail attachments from anyone you don't trust, and scan attachments with an antivirus tool before opening attachments from people you do trust.
• Use a spyware-monitoring tool like the free Spybot-Search & Destroy or PestPatrol ($30, with a free trial option) that can help prevent spyware from installing on your machine.
• Consider using an alternative browser such as Firefox or Mozilla rather than Internet Explorer. Spyware makers like to exploit Internet Explorer to download their wares to your computer.
• Adjust your browser's internet settings to High, or set it so only trusted sites are allowed to use ActiveX controls and Java applets and all others must ask you for permission.
• Avoid clicking buttons inside pop-up windows that invite you to close the window. Instead, close the window by clicking on the X in the corner of the window or by putting your cursor on the upper frame of the window where the title of the web page resides and hit Alt-F4. If you have a firewall on your machine, such as the free ZoneAlarm firewall, you can set it to prevent spyware from sending information about you out to the internet.

 

Continued in article

 Bob Jensen's threads on spyware are at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/ecommerce/000start.htm#Spyware

Bob Jensen's threads on phishing and pharming are at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/ecommerce/000start.htm#Phishing

What made so many animals die 41,000 years ago in North America?

"Supernova Storm Wiped Out Mammoths?" by Jennifer Viegas, Discovery News, September 28, 2005 --- http://dsc.discovery.com/news/briefs/20050926/mammoth_print.html

A supernova blast 41,000 years ago started a deadly chain of events that led to the extinction of mammoths and other animals in North America, according to two scientists.

If their supernova theory gains acceptance, it could explain why dozens of species on the continent became extinct 13,000 years ago.

Mammoths and mastodons, both relatives of today's elephants, mysteriously died out then, as did giant ground sloths, a large-horned bison, a huge species of armadillo, saber-toothed cats, and many other animals and plants.

Richard Firestone, a nuclear scientist at the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, who formulated the theory with geologist Allen West, told Discovery News that a key piece of evidence for the supernova is a set of 34,000-year-old mammoth tusks riddled with tiny craters.

The researchers believe that in the sequence of events following the supernova, first, the iron-rich grains emitted from the explosion shot into the tusks. Whatever caused the craters had to have been traveling around 6,214 miles per second, and no other natural phenomenon explains the damage, they said.

They think the supernova exploded 250 light-years away from Earth, which would account for the 7,000-year delay before the tusk grain pelting. It would have taken that long for the supernova materials to have showered to Earth.

Then, 21,000 years after that event, the researchers believe a comet-like formation from the supernova's debris blew over North America and wreaked havoc.

Firestone said they think the formation created superheated hurricanal winds in the atmosphere that rolled across North America at 400 kilometers per hour (about 249 mph).

"The comet (-like event) was followed by a barrage of hot particles. If that didn't kill all of the large animals, then the immediate climate changes must have," said Firestone.

Firestone said smaller animals could have sought shelter more readily, by going into caves or underground.

The findings were presented at last weekend's "World of Elephants" international conference in Hot Springs, S.D.

In addition to the tusk evidence, the scientists said arrowheads from North America's prehistoric Clovis culture, which went extinct around 13,500-13,000 years ago, Icelandic marine sediment, as well as sediment from nine 13,000-year-old sites in North America, contain higher-than-normal amounts of radiation in the form of potassium-40 levels.

Potassium-40 is a radioactive isotope, meaning a molecule that emits radiation.

Magnetic particles also were unearthed at the sites. Analysis of these particles revealed they are rich in titanium, iron, manganese, vanadium, rare-earth elements, thorium and uranium.

These elements all are common in moon rocks and lunar meteorites, so the researchers think the materials provide additional evidence that North America was bombarded 13,000 years ago by material originating from space.

Luann Becker, a University of California at Santa Barbara geologist, told Discovery News she was not surprised by the new supernova theory, since extinction events have been linked to similar comet or asteroid impacts before.

"What is exciting about Dr. Firestone's theory is that it can be easily tested," Becker said, and indicated she hopes future research will yield additional clues from North American and other sediment layers.

The Road Ahead
The Road Ahead We assembled some of the smartest people we know to identify the trends that are most likely to affect our future. What we got was a fascinating discussion about religion, technology and politics and why no one's golf scores seem to be getting any better.
"The Road Ahead, Time Magazine --- http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1118376,00.html

5 New Things That Will Blow Your Mind, by Wilson Rothman, Time Magazine --- http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1118338,00.html

The Future Of The Web
The Future Of The Web Speeding up Route 101 on a sunny October afternoon from Mountain View, Calif., to San Francisco, InformationWeek reporters Aaron Ricadela and Thomas Claburn hurried back to the office after hearing Google talk up a new partnership with Sun Microsystems. With Ricadela at the wheel, Claburn banged out a news story on his laptop. The reason for their rush: The next few days were booked with press conferences and back--to--back meetings. Fifteen conference--issued meals and 30 cups of coffee later, they provide the following account. It describes a technology industry scrambling to understand-and influence-the fundamental changes playing out on the World Wide Web.
"The Future Of The Web," InformationWeek, October 17, 2005 ---  http://www.informationweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=172301054

From The Washington Post on October 18, 2005

Which is the first country to allow its citizens to vote over the Internet during national elections?

A. Estonia
B. Finland
C. Germany
D. Lithuania
 

Phony login names with real passwords (for news site registrations that are free but require logins)
Sometimes Web users can circumvent the process of having to use a password at all. For Web surfers who don't want to register at pesky news sites that want your e-mail address and demographic information, one site, http://www.bugmenot.com  , is a clearinghouse for bogus accounts. It'll set you up with cheeky fake names and passwords -- like "noinfo1@fromme.com" and "death_to_logons" -- that already work on the site you're trying to access. Though Bugmenot.com is primarily a handy way to avoid registering at a news site -- the site lists washingtonpost.com as an offender -- it also pitches itself as a social movement for those who find it annoying that such Web sites ask for personal information. The site has a petition online, a protest "to demonstrate the pointless nature of forced Web site registration schemes and the dubious demographic data they collect."
Mike Musgrove, "Bypassing the Password Prompt," The Washington Post, October 16, 2005 --- http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/15/AR2005101500178.html?referrer=email
Jensen Comment:  If you don't mind logging in with your real name and email address, most news cites will remember your password and let you enter automatically without having to log in at all.  This works for me at the WSJ, NYT, Washington Post, Sydney Morning Herald, etc.
 

One firm's response to the shortage of accounting graduates

"Accounting Firm Launches Tuition Reimbursement Program," SmartPros, October 12, 2005 --- http://accounting.smartpros.com/x50148.xml

The program provides students with two options to help them reach the 150 credit hour requirement. Option one: students may begin work at the firm in 2006 and Beers & Cutler will pay university expenses (tuition, fees and books) while they go to school part-time to meet eligibility requirements. Option two: students may remain in school full-time and Beers & Cutler will pay university expenses (tuition, fees and books) for additional course work to meet eligibility requirements. Students may begin working at the firm in 2007.

In both instances, students who maintain a 'B' average will be reimbursed for tuition, fees, and books upon completion of their coursework. The program offers complete financial forgiveness after three years of employment with the firm -- a third of the reimbursement is forgiven after each year of employment. For those students who elect to go work and attend school part-time, Beers & Cutler will support them by providing work schedules that allow them to meet their school demands.

For students already eligible to take the CPA exam in 2006, Beers & Cutler is offering a $5,000 sign-on bonus for joining Beers & Cutler's full-time staff.

"Although accounting is becoming an increasingly popular major, the profession is currently facing a shortage of qualified people. We're addressing this issue by allowing top talent to get a head start on their careers at no direct expense to them," said Ed Offterdinger, Beers & Cutler managing partner.

Is the Video iPod a failure?

"Why It's Wrong To Predict Failure For The Video IPodm" InformationWeek Newsletter, October 17, 2005

A Web site called TVPredictions.com looks into its crystal ball and concludes that the video iPod will be a failure. Philip Swann, president of TVPredictions, really hates the idea. In what appears to be a press release, TVPredictions writes: "'The video iPod will be Steve Jobs' folly,' Swann said. 'Americans will not watch full-length videos--or perhaps even short music videos--on 2.5-inch screens on portable devices. It makes no sense.'" Swann adds: "The video iPod was born from arrogance. Apple has been so successful with the audio iPod that it thinks it can't go wrong. But it will this time. This is an example of a technology that is being launched only because it can be, not because anybody wants it." That's a risk that any vendor faces when it innovates. Sometimes, the innovation is crazy. But sometimes, the inventor has come out with something for which there's a lot of pent-up demand that's invisible to everybody but the inventor. It's those latter cases on which mighty business empires are built. I mean, who the heck needs an oven that can cook food in minutes with radiation? A box that displays moving pictures? A cheap computer that sits on your desk? Nobody needed those things--until they came out, when it turned out everyone needed them. None of Swann's objections to the iPod stands up to scrutiny. He says that people don't have time to watch videos on their iPods, we're too busy for that. In fact, much of our busy-ness involves waiting: at the grocery store, at Starbucks, at the lunch counter, at the doctor's office, commuting to work on mass transit, traveling by train. That time can be filled by watching videos. He says watching video on an iPod will be an uncomfortable experience. That's true for existing movies and TV, but there's a new generation of video emerging that's created especially for the Internet. For more of my video iPod defense, see the InformationWeek Weblog. Leave a comment there if you've got something to say. My colleague Tom Claburn has his own video iPod defense.

When will analog TV become history?

"Senate Bill Sets Spring 2009 Demise for Analog Television," by Arshad Mohammed, The Washington Post, October 15, 2005 --- http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/14/AR2005101401960.html?referrer=email

Will the last KPMG tax executive to leave please turn out the lights
The government added 10 defendants to its indictment in the KPMG LLP tax-shelter investigation, including the Big Four accounting firm's former chief financial officer, bringing the number of people charged in the case to 19.
Johathan Weil and Kara Scannell, "Ten More KPMG Executives Indicted Over Shelters," The Wall Street Journal,  October 18, 2005 --- http://online.wsj.com/article/SB112958228799871034.html?mod=todays_us_money_and_investing

Bob Jensen's threads on KPMG's confessed criminality in this case are at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/fraud001.htm#KPMG

Trends in Crime Rates

"Rape Up, While Murders Down in 2004," by Mark Sherman, The Washington Post, October 17, 2005 --- http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/17/AR2005101700508_pf.html

Murders across the United States fell for the first time in five years, while rapes increased slightly last year, the FBI reported Monday.

Overall, the number of violent crimes, which also include aggravated assaults and robberies, fell by 1.2 percent last year. Property crimes _ burglaries, larceny/theft and car theft _ dropped 1.1 percent in 2004, compared to 2003.

There were 16,137 murders in the United States in 2004, the last full year for which statistics are available. That was about 350 fewer than in 2003, according to the FBI data. The decrease is the first since 1999, although smaller than what the FBI reported in June. Chicago was largely responsible for the drop, recording 150 fewer murders in 2004 than in 2003.

The number of rapes, however, has increased in three of the past four years, according to the FBI data. In all, rapes increased by .8 percent to 94,635 rapes, or about 750 more than in 2003.

Rapes are up nearly 5 percent since 2000, while murders have increased by 3.5 percent, FBI data show.

At the same time, the rates of all violent crimes, measured as the number of crimes for every 100,000 people, have dropped over that same period. Indeed, the crime rate is at a 30-year low, government data have shown.

Despite the historical trend, the FBI included a "crime clock" in its report that shows a violent crime is committed every 23.1 seconds. A murder occurs roughly every half-hour, according to the clock.

What's in a lifetime?  Six weeks of sex versus 24 years in bed recovering
Berlin:  Germans spend on average six weeks of their lives having sex, compared with two weeks devoted to religious activities, a magazine reported. According to the magazine, Geo Wissen, the average German spends 16 hours of his or her life enjoying an orgasm, far less than the six months fumed away in traffic jams or the nine months spent doing the washing and ironing. Sleeping was the major recreational activity: on average 24 years and four months. The magazine based its report on life expectancy figures and data from the office federal statistics office.
"Nocturnal activities in Germany," South Africa Sunday Times, October 17, 2005 --- http://www.sundaytimes.co.za/zones/sundaytimesNEW/basket11st/basket11st1129525626.aspx 

The South leads the nation in unwed births, which often ensure a lifetime of poverty for mother, child
Southern states, including Georgia, often style themselves as the last bastions of traditional family values that other parts of the country abandoned long ago. Supposedly, this is still the kind of place where Mom, Dad and the kids traipse to church on Sunday and then show up at Grandmom's for chicken dinner. Unfortunately, the reality's a little different. According to a new U.S. Census Bureau report — the first to offer a state-by-state look at links between marriage, fertility and other characteristics — the South leads the nation in unwed births.
"Trend spells trouble The South leads the nation in unwed births, which often ensure a lifetime of poverty for mother, child," Atlanta Journal Constitution, October 17, 2005 --- http://www.ajc.com/news/content/opinion/1005/17edunwed.html

Please spread this word among older folks

"Watchdogs Warn About Scams Alongside Medicare Drug Benefit," by Kelly Greene, The Wall Street Journal, October 18, 2005; Page D2 --- http://online.wsj.com/article/SB112959925370771490.html?mod=todays_us_personal_journal

Government and consumer watchdogs are bracing for the marketing scams likely to spring up alongside the long-awaited Medicare drug benefit. Already, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the federal agency overseeing the new drug program, says it has enlisted help from law-enforcement officials to investigate two possible scams in which beneficiaries were asked for bank-card numbers and other personal information. Enrollment for the plans starts Nov. 15, and coverage begins Jan. 1. Drug-plan marketers are allowed to make calls to describe benefits and offers, and to solicit requests for pre-enrollment information. Yet it's illegal for marketers of Medicare drug plans to visit your home unless you invite them in advance, or to send you unsolicited emails, says Deane Beebe, spokeswoman for the Medicare Rights Center, a New York advocacy group. Although marketers can make unsolicited phone calls, they aren't allowed to sign you up during those calls. Several advocacy groups, including the National Consumers League (www.fraud.org/tips/internet/medicare.htm), are offering tips for protecting yourself from being victimized by a Medicare-related scam. Among the tips: Check the list of Medicare-approved prescription plans by calling the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services at 800-633-4227. If you're contacted by a plan that isn't on the list, it could be a scam. Make sure the plan is licensed. Call your state insurance department; there's a directory of these departments at www.naic.org/state_web_map.htm. Guard personal information, such as Social Security or bank-account numbers. Legitimate plans may ask for a Social Security number -- but not until you actually enroll. And they can't ask for your credit-card or bank data unless you're arranging automatic payments. No one can enroll in a drug plan before Nov. 15, though the plans can start advertising this month. If a plan asks for payment before that date, it could be fraudulent. Enrolling in a drug plan is voluntary. If someone says you must join a plan to avoid losing your other Medicare benefits, you're getting false information. For free advice, call your State Health Insurance Program or your local area agency on aging. For a state-by-state directory of state programs, visit www.medicare.gov/contacts/Static/SHIPs.asp or call Medicare's hotline. To find your local aging agency, go to eldercare.gov or call 800-677-1116. Even with legitimate plans, advocates for Medicare recipients urge seniors to study and compare several drug plans before choosing. "What incentive does a salesperson have to inform a senior that a competitor's plan might be better for them?" asks Shannon Benton, executive director of the TREA Senior Citizens League, an Alexandria, Va., advocacy group. The Medicare Rights Center developed a flow chart to help sort through drug-benefit options. To use it, go to medicareinteractive.org/aarp, then click on the yellow box on the right side of the screen labeled "New! Medicare Drug Coverage Information."

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

Jensen Comment:
Note that the traditional Medicare Supplement Plans (A, B, F, J, etc) are going to cease.  The trusted place to start for information about new alternative is http://www.cms.hhs.gov/default.asp?

Have you written a blook yet?

From The Washington Post on October 17, 2005

What is the online term for books that originate from web logs?

A. blogbooks
B. boogs
C. blooks
D. wooks

Electronic Books and Journals

Who was Jack the Ripper?  http://www.casebook.org/suspects/

THE MYSTERY OF RENNES-LE-CHATEAU --- http://www.rennes-le-chateau.co.uk/html/mystery1.htm

MYSTERIES is a database of unsolved and just plain strange true (and supposedly true) occurrences; if only enough could be learned about them, these may someday be solved. Who knows... maybe YOU know the answers! This site is a sub-list of the ANOMALIES database, and contains accounts of unexplained and unsolved puzzles and occurrences that do not appear to call for paranormal solutions --- http://anomalyinfo.com/mystery/
Also see http://www.mystery.com.sg/

BIZSTATS (financial analysis) --- http://65.61.23.203/dynastrategy/resultsTemplate.asp
Field Guide to the U.S. Economy --- http://www.fguide.org/
Also see http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/bookbob1.htm#EconStatistics

Poetry with music in the background (see the left side of the page) --- http://robert21.com/

Poetry by William Butler Yeats --- http://www.online-literature.com/yeats/

English Sonnets --- http://www.sonnets.org/

The Walt Whitman Archive --- http://www.whitmanarchive.org/
Critical essays on Walt Whitman's poetry --- http://www.walt-whitman-essays.com/

Love to Learn site for poetry --- http://www.lovetolearnplace.com/Poetry/

Poets Online --- http://www.poetsonline.org/

Charles Bukowski - The Great Poet --- http://home.swipnet.se/~w-15266/cultur/bukowski/

Zbigniew Herbert's Poetry --- http://www.uvm.edu/~sgutman/Herbert.html

Directories of Pseudonyms (Working Names) of Mystery and Suspense Writers --- http://hycyber.com/SF/pseudo_dir.html
You can search either by real names or by pseudonyms

Poet Drum Hadley: Back with 'Borderlands' --- http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4958683
Three from Drum 'A Colt .45 and a Chile Queen' 'Alma of My Soul' 'Mist'
Scroll down and look left.  (Not music, but interesting narration)

Bad Hemingway --- http://www.badhemingway.com/
 

Forwarded by Maria

An atheist was taking a walk through the woods.
"What majestic trees! What powerful rivers! What beautiful animals!" he said to himself.
 
As he was walking alongside the river he heard a rustling in the bushes behind him. He turned to look. He saw a 7 foot grizzly charge towards him. He ran as fast as he could up the path. He looked over his shoulder and saw
the bear was closing in on him. He looked over his shoulder again, and
the bear was even closer. He tripped and fell on the ground. He rolled over to pick himself up but saw the bear right on top of him, reaching for him with his left paw and raising his right paw to strike him.
 
At that instant the Atheist cried out: "Oh my God!"
 
Time stopped. The bear froze. The forest was silent. As a bright light shone upon the man, a voice came out of the sky: "You deny my existence for all of these years, teach others I don't exist, and even credit creation to a cosmic accident. Do you expect me to help you out of this predicament? Am I to count you as a believer?"
 
 The atheist looked directly into the light, "It would be hypocritical
 of me to suddenly ask You to treat me as a Christian now, but perhaps
 could you make the BEAR a Christian?"
 
 "Very well," said the voice.
 
 The light went out. The sounds of the forest resumed. Then the bear dropped his right paw, brought both paws together and bowed his head and spoke:  "Lord, bless this food, which I am about to receive from Thy Holy
bounty, through Christ our Lord Amen."

Fraud Updates --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/FraudUpdates.htm
For earlier editions of New Bookmark s go to http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/bookurl.htm 
Archives of Tidbits: Tidbits Directory --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/TidbitsDirectory.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/.

International Accounting News (including the U.S.)

AccountingEducation.com and Double Entries --- http://www.accountingeducation.com/
        Upcoming international accounting conferences --- http://www.accountingeducation.com/events/index.cfm
        Thousands of journal abstracts --- http://www.accountingeducation.com/journals/index.cfm
Deloitte's International Accounting News --- http://www.iasplus.com/index.htm
Association of International Accountants --- http://www.aia.org.uk/ 
WebCPA --- http://www.webcpa.com/
FASB --- http://www.fasb.org/
IASB --- http://www.fasb.org/
Others --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/bookbob1.htm

Gerald Trite's great set of links --- http://iago.stfx.ca/people/gtrites/Docs/bookmark.htm 

Richard Torian's Managerial Accounting Information Center --- http://www.informationforaccountants.com/ 

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