Scroll Right and Left

The top picture above was taken in early autumn from our front law. The mountains in the far background are part of the White Mountain ranges..

The second picture shows some other White Mountains.

What's an intrusion?
Answer --- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intrusion

In geology, an intrusion is a body of igneous rock that has crystallized from a molten magma below the surface of the Earth. Bodies of magma that solidify underground before they reach the surface of the earth are called plutons, named for Pluto, the Roman god of the underworld. Correspondingly, rocks of this kind are also referred to as igneous plutonic rocks or igneous intrusive rocks. This is to be contrasted with extrusive rocks. The rock surrounding a pluton is called country rock.

According to experts, the White mountains of New Hampshire were formed by magna intrusions a mere 124 to 100 million years before now. Nathaniel Hawthorne's short story, The Great Carbuncle, (horrible title) is set in the White Mountains..

In the White Mountains, a band of eight adventurers gathers together. They are each on a personal quest for the Great Carbuncle, a brilliant gem legendary in its elusiveness. The adventurers are as follows:

• The Seeker: a man sixty years of age who has sought the Great Carbuncle nearly his entire life. He says when he finds the Carbuncle he will die alongside it.
• Doctor Cacophodel: a chemist. He hopes to perform many tests on the Carbuncle and make many copies of it.
• Master Ichabod Pigsnort: a merchant, who wishes to sell the Carbuncle to the highest bidder.
• The Cynic: a bespectacled man with a constant sneer. He considers the hopes of the other adventurers futile. He seeks the Carbuncle to prove to everyone that it doesn't exist.
• The Poet: He hopes the Carbuncle will bring him inspiration.
• Lord de Vere: a wealthy prince, who would use the Carbuncle's brilliance as a symbol of his family's greatness for posterity.
• Matthew and Hannah: newlyweds, who wish to use the gem as a light in their household and as a conversation piece.

The next morning, Matthew and Hannah, wake up realizing that the others have left before them. Even though they fear they have lost the Carbuncle, they take their time in preparing for their morning's adventure.

They begin to climb a great mountain. They soon fear they will be lost, until they spy a great red brilliance. They realize it is the Carbuncle. Beneath the Carbuncle, they see the figure of the Seeker, who has died trying to reach the gem. The Cynic approaches them and claims that he cannot see the Carbuncle. He removes his glasses and is immediately blinded by the gem's brilliance. Matthew and Hannah decide the gem is too brilliant for their household, and they leave it where it lies.

These bright leaves which I have mentioned are not the exception, but the rule; for I believe that all leaves, even grasses and mosses, acquire brighter colors just before their fall. When you come to observe faithfully the changes of each humblest plant, you find that each has, sooner or later, its peculiar autumnal tint; and if you undertake to make a complete list of the bright tints, it will be nearly as long as a catalogue of the plants in your vicinity.
Henry David Thoreau, "Autumnal Tints",  The Atlantic Monthly (October 1862) --- http://www.vcu.edu/engweb/transcendentalism/authors/thoreau/autumnal.html 

Tidbits on October 1, 2007
Bob Jensen

Videos From Bob Jensen's Personal Camera (the pictures are clear but some of them lost a bit in the video) ---
http://www.cs.trinity.edu/~rjensen/EdTech/Video/Personal/
The Tidbits.wmv video is narrated.

For earlier editions of Tidbits go to http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/TidbitsDirectory.htm
For earlier editions of New Bookmarks go to http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/bookurl.htm 

Click here to search Bob Jensen's web site if you have key words to enter --- Search Site.
For example if you want to know what Jensen documents have the term "Enron" enter the phrase Jensen AND Enron. Another search engine that covers Trinity and other universities is at http://www.searchedu.com/.

Bob Jensen's past presentations and lectures --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/resume.htm#Presentations   

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

Bob Jensen's Home Page is at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/

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

John Stossel's great ABC Television's "Goes to Washington" videos

• John Stossel Goes to Washington (1/6) --- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TEsUQBWFzK8
• John Stossel Goes to Washington (2/6) --- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zE7CFEdj80A
• John Stossel Goes to Washington (3/6) --- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cTYEJ2Mlpfk
• John Stossel Goes to Washington (4/6) --- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JKya8E4SKKA
• John Stossel Goes to Washington (5/6) --- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3WLj9Wckdg
• John Stossel Goes to Washington (6/6) --- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HtMbocEu5LY

Bouncing Balls and Geometric Series --- http://www.maa.org/joma/Volume7/Styer/index.html

The Silent Picture Era --- http://www.silentera.com/index.html

A whistleblower should really wear a mask, ride a white horse, and have a native American partner to help track hidden piles of Kemosabi ---
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdQomfnCH_0

Rossini - William Tell overture (Part 1) --- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sG2hGSL345I
Rossini - William Tell overture (Part 2) --- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5D5SDGjRidY

Jack Benny Part 1 (the answer to high fuel prices) --- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KqUjciB0Q80
Jack Benny Part 2 --- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5vZzoBixAU
Jack Benny Part 3 --- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b8iOU1RWiLw
Jack Benny vs. Groucho (1955) --- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3wNK1Jt4JLg
Jack Benny and Marilyn Monroe --- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_IzdZDyT0w
Jack Gives Johnny Carson Advice (1955) --- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mUd1-_91YTk

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

Many MySpace modules have great music (probably illegal) --- http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=14764844
(What is now becoming popular is that advertising is being used on these MySpace modules)

Soprano Dawn Upshaw can now call herself a "genius" if she wants. The 47-year-old opera singer and recitalist was named one of the 2007 MacArthur Fellows, an award commonly referred to as the "genius grant." --- http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=14687191
Other 2007 "geniuses" --- http://www.mahalo.com/MacArthur_Foundation_Fellows_2007
Not an accountant in the bunch --- Sigh!

Dave Brubeck: A Monterey Pioneer in Concert (full concert) --- http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=14592776

Tom Lehrer (satire from the past)  --- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Lehrer
Tutorials (Mathematics, Sociology, Politics, and History)

• New Math --- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a81YvrV7Vv8

• Mathematics for Sociology --- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gfZWyUXn3So

• Wernher von Braun --- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QEJ9HrZq7Ro

• Chemical Elements --- http://www.privatehand.com/flash/elements.html

• Poisoning Pigeons in the Park --- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q2If9bVJJLY

• That Was The Year That Was - LP Record Part 1 --- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ph2_5Io3jAc

• That Was The Year That Was - LP Record Part 2 --- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dILeb1sEHZM

• That Was The Year That Was - LP Record Part 3 --- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=myht21Oao3A
  (I really crack up over his module about Hubert Humphrey. Seems different than Dick Cheney today.)

• That Was The Year That Was - LP Record Part 4  --- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SgTL71yZ3Mo
  (my favorite about an infamous woman in history)
  (Buried in this video his fantastic piece about nuke proliferation)

Jensen Comment
Tom Lehrer was a clever, perhaps the most clever, satirist, in our time if we assume Mark Twain came before our time.. His writings seem to have benefited from hopping from job to job to job.

In his last lecture, Randy Pausch said "experience is what you get when you don't get what you want." --- http://cmu.edu/uls/journeys/

Tom Lehrer bounced from job to job to job in a varied career with lots of twists and turns

• From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Lehrer#Lehrer_the_scholar
  Lehrer earned his BA in mathematics (Magna Cum Laude) from Harvard University in 1947, when he was 18. He received his MA the next year, and was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa. He taught classes at MIT, Harvard and Wellesley. He remained in Harvard's doctoral program for several years, taking time out for his musical career and to work as a researcher at Los Alamos, New Mexico. He joined the Army from 1955 to 1957, working at the National Security Agency. All of these experiences eventually became fodder for songs: "Fight Fiercely, Harvard", "The Wild West Is Where I Want To Be" and "It Makes a Fellow Proud to Be a Soldier", respectively. There was perhaps some truth to his comment in the intro to the latter song, in which he said he had left the Army and was now in the "Radioactive Reserve".

  In 1960, Lehrer returned to full-time studies at Harvard. However, he never completed his doctoral studies, and never received a PhD in mathematics. In 1972, he joined the faculty of the University of California, Santa Cruz, teaching an introductory course entitled "The Nature of Mathematics" to liberal-arts majors — "Math for Tenors", according to Lehrer. He also taught a class in musical theater. He still occasionally performs songs in his lectures, primarily those relating to the topic
   

• From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Lehrer#Musical_career
  Lehrer's musical career was notably brief (he grew weary of singing the same songs over and over again on the road), stating in an interview in the late 90s that he had performed a mere 109 shows, and written 37 songs across his 20-year career. Nevertheless, the cult following that had grown around his music significantly bolstered the effect that he had on a global scale.

  In the 1970s he concentrated on teaching mathematics and musical theater, although he also wrote 10 songs for the children's television show The Electric Company. (Harvard schoolmate Joe Raposo was the show's musical director for its first three seasons.) In the early 1980s, Tom Foolery, a revival of his songs on the London stage, was a surprise hit. Although not its instigator, Lehrer eventually gave it his full support and updated several of his lyrics for the production.

Amazon.com begins selling digital music downloads without copy-protection technology --- http://www.technologyreview.com/Wire/19436/
Also see http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/26/style/26amazon.html?_r=1&ref=business&oref=slogin 

Photographs and Art

Online Books, Poems, References, and Other Literature
In the past I've provided links to various types electronic literature available free on the Web. 
I created a page that summarizes those various links --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/ElectronicLiterature.htm

Quote Garden --- http://www.quotegarden.com/philosophical.html

The Thomas Carlyle Letters Online --- http://carlyleletters.dukejournals.org/

Fleursdumal.org is dedicated to the French poet Charles Baudelaire (1821 - 1867), and in particular to Les Fleurs du mal (Flowers of Evil) --- http://fleursdumal.org/

Carl Sandburg (Chicago Poems) --- http://carl-sandburg.com/
Hear Carl Sandburg --- http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6382389

Hop-Frog by Edgar Allan Poe --- Click Here

Mellonta Tauta by Edgar Allan Poe --- Click Here

Children's Storybooks Online --- http://www.magickeys.com/books/

Ted Hughes Poems (includes poems for children) --- http://www.earth-moon.org/

Sample Pages from Dick and Jane Readers --- http://faculty.valpo.edu/bflak/dickjane/

Campaign 2008: Issue Coverage Tracker --- http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/interactives/campaign08/issues/

Employers in many parts of the West are facing record low unemployment levels. They are having to raise wages and become more creative in how they attract new employees. In states like Montana, Idaho and Wyoming, unemployment is hovering around 2 and 3 percent.
Hope Stockwell, NPR, September 24, 2007 --- http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=14667831
Jensen Comment
Go west young man/woman, Go West! --- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9EIwhFF2tuY

Broken Promises and Pork Binges
The Democratic majority came to power in January promising to do a better job on earmarks. They appeared to preserve our reforms and even take them a bit further. I commended Democrats publicly for this action. Unfortunately, the leadership reversed course. Desperate to advance their agenda, they began trading earmarks for votes, dangling taxpayer-funded goodies in front of wavering members to win their support for leadership priorities.
John Boehner, "Pork Barrel Stonewall," The Wall Street Journal, September 27, 2007 --- http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119085546436140827.html

They're the strong and the proud, but the Marines aren't free to stand on the streets of San Francisco. The Silent Drill Platoon of the U.S. Marine Corps wasn't allowed to be filmed Sept. 11 on California Street in San Francisco for a segment of its new advertising campaign, a Marine spokesman told FOXNews.com.
"Marines Barred From Filming Commercial on Streets of San Francisco," Fox News, September 25, 2007 --- http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,298039,00.html
Jensen Comment
San Francisco is no longer a military-friendly city and military personnel are advised not to even be seen in uniform while touring the city or arriving at the San Francisco Airport.
Here's something that's not recommended in the San Francisco Airport.--- Click Here

The ad for the Folsom Street Fair - to be held in Pelosi's district on Sunday and which is partly funded by San Francisco's Grants for the Arts program, which is funded by the city's hotel tax - sparked outrage from Christian groups because it mirrors Leonardo Da Vinci's famous painting of "The Last Supper" but replaces Jesus and his apostles with scantily leather-clad men and women sitting at a table adorned with sex toys . . . Pelosi: "Well that's not really a local question. That's a constitutional question. That's a religious question. That's as big a global question as you can ask. I'm a big believer in First Amendment and therefore, as I said in my statement, I do not believe that Christianity has been harmed by the Folsom Street Fair advertising."
Nathan Burchfiel, "Pelosi: Sadomasochistic Last Supper Ad Doesn't 'Harm' Christianity," CNSNews, September 28, 2007 ---
http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewNation.asp?Page=/Nation/archive/200709/NAT20070928c.html
Link to the picture of  San Francisco's version of The Last Supper with dildos and other sex toys --- http://www.cwfa.org/articles/13888/CFI/family/index.htm
Church groups are pressing Miller Brewing Company to remove its logos from its sponsorship posters --- Click Here
A Catholic Group is calling for a boycott of Miller beer --- http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=57869
The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, Inc.  is calling for a boycott of Catholics --- http://thesisters.org/ and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sisters_of_Perpetual_Indulgence
Events of the Fair (billed as a leather event that must not please animal rights groups) --- http://folsomstreetfair.org/
Audio of Nancy Pelosi's statement --- Windows Media Audio
Video of Nancy Pelosi's statement --- Click Here
Jensen Comment
I'm truly a supporter of the rights of consulting adults to freely choose sexual orientation and transgendering. I also support full acceptance of gays (who are genuinely devoted to Christianity) into our churches. But I do not think sexual orientation should be the basis for insults, slander, and dysfunctional political correctness defended by our Speaker of the House of Representatives. I say "dysfunctional" because such gay sexual defamations of Christianity and degenerate public indulgences do more harm that good for gays seeking acceptance into the Episcopal and other Christian churches. Just when you thought San Francisco could not sink any lower in terms of offensive street indulgences, the city government and large corporations sponsor this kind of  blasphemy. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is safe since her support for government funding of this is a sex sadomasochistic parody of Christianity's Last Supper. She would be in deep kishie if she defended government funding of a sex sadomasochistic phallic parody of the Five Pillars of Islam. Do you think she and her district supporters have double standards for the First Amendment? Christianity, but only Christianity, seems to be fair game blasphemy these days. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad claimed there were no homosexuals in the entire nation of Iran. That's like bragging that Iran also eradicated small pox.  I wonder why gay groups are so afraid to protest suppression of women and homosexuals in Islamic nations. Glenn Beck wonders as well --- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9NwRUql8jM

A poll last year by the Pew Research Centre found that 42 per cent of Americans feel the US should mind its own business internationally and let other countries get along the best they can on their own. Importantly, with Democrats being twice as likely as Republicans to hold this view towards introversion, Morris predicted in April 2006 that "the wind of isolationism is at the Democrats' back, propelling them onward to the likelihood of massive victories in 2006 and 2008". Last year's congressional elections that routed the Republicans proved Morris correct. And the 2008 presidential elections will likely do the same. While opposition to the war in Iraq is no doubt a driver of this growing preference for isolationism, it's worth asking whether growing anti-Americanism is also encouraging Americans to turn inwards. If the world keeps telling you to go away, that your power is despised and your culture is wicked, what are you to do? Retreat may be the natural reaction to the irrational anti-Americanism that has long infected the West. Who can forget how European intellectuals danced on the graves at ground zero? French philosopher Jean Baudrillard declared his "immense joy" when planes flew into the twin towers. Italian Nobel Prize winner Dario Fo explained the Islamist violence as "the legitimate daughter of the culture of violence, hunger and inhumane exploitation".
Janet Albrechtsen, "Without US there'd be hell to pay," The Australian, September 5, 2007 ---
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22364262-7583,00.html
Jensen Comment
I fantasize about Islamic fundamentalists taking over Europe and picturing  Jean Baudrillard and Dario Fo complaining about  the discomforts of praying with their noses and knees on the ground and longing for bygone days of freedom of speech and being able to openly express feelings of "immense joy" when over 3,000 innocent civilians are burned to a crisp.

The plot (for terror bombing in Germany) was foiled on September 4 when three men were arrested at a rented holiday apartment near the central German town of Kassel. Police recovered chemicals and bomb-making equipment which investigators believe would have led to the biggest loss of life since the 9/11 attacks in America six years ago. About 10 other members of the gang were said by German prosecutors to have escaped and one is now in Britain. The arrested three - two of whom were German nationals who had converted to Islam - were alleged by prosecutors to be members of an Al-Qaeda splinter group called the Islamic Jihad Union . . . At the time the British and German authorities denied that there were any links between the cell and Britain. Security sources also played down reports that there had been telephone contact between members of the cell and people in Britain. However, it emerged yesterday that the Germans have told Britain that at least one of the fugitives has since made his way to this country. A security dragnet has been put in place by Scotland Yard’s counter-terrorism command to try to arrest the man. Wolfgang Schäuble, Germany’s interior minister, revealed last week that the three arrested men had acquired detonators that originated from Syria and had received direct orders to act from operatives in Pakistan. “We know that there is a clear network, highly conspiratorial,” he said after two days of meetings in Washington with US security officials. “The demand came from Pakistan [saying], ‘You should go on for action. Do not go on preparing for months and months and months, but now is the time to take action in the first half of September’ and they did.”
David Leppard,  London Times, September 30, 2007 --- http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/crime/article2558165.ece
Jensen Comment
I wonder if Jean Baudrillard and Dario Fo feel "immense sadness" when terror plots like this are foiled?

When Gen. Eric Shinseki told Congress, before the Iraq war, that postinvasion troop levels should be "something in the order of several hundred thousand soldiers," his views were called "outlandish" by administration officials. He was bureaucratically undercut, and he limped to retirement. When economic adviser Larry Lindsay told this newspaper the war would likely cost up to four times what the administration asserted, he was sacked. Early and brutal examples were made of those who did not echo the party line. Perhaps Mr. Greenspan was watching, or rather observing certain trends. The deeper story is not that those who've been silenced have often come forward to speak in harsh terms. The deeper story is that the Bush White House hurt itself by using muscle to squelch alternative thinking -- creative thinking, independent judgments -- that would, in retrospect, have benefited them. Big spending became a scandal. So did not enough troops, and the financial cost of the war. It was this tendency that led to the administration's gym-rat reputation, all muscle and no brains.
Peggy Noonan (when reviewing Alan Greenspan's new book), "Now He Tells Us," The Wall Street Journal, September 22, 2007; Page W10 --- http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119040316144335515.html

Israel's specific target is less important than the fact that with its objection to the raid, North Korea may have tipped its hand. Pyongyang's interest in the raid may be evidence of secret nuclear cooperation between the regime and Syria. There is much still unknown about a potential North Korea project in Syria, such as whether it was a direct sale of technology or equipment to the Syrians, a stand-alone facility or some sort of joint venture. In any case, the threat to Israel of such a project would be acute, perhaps existential -- which is why it would risk all-out regional war to strike pre-emptively.
John R. Bolton, "Syria Joins the Axis of Evil," The Wall Street Journal, September 25, 2007; Page A19 --- http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119068573117938332.html

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and his colleagues clearly explained why they cut interest rates this week by one-half percentage point: "To help forestall some of the adverse effects on the broader economy that might otherwise arise from the disruptions in financial markets." But a vocal chorus is complaining that Bernanke & Co., instead, just bailed out a bunch of greedy speculators, imprudent lenders and short-sighted home buyers who got too-good-to-be-true mortgages. "This is like adding Jack Daniels to the AA-meeting punch bowl," emailed Rob Brantley, a Washington consultant. "The market's reaction provides proof."
David Wessel, "Has Fed Risked Creating Moral Hazard?" The Wall Street Journal, September 20, 2007; Page A2 --- http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119025102955233333.html

Meeting last week in Wyandotte County, officials from 22 states had hoped to move closer to their goal of collecting sales tax on all Internet purchases nationwide. At the end of the two-day meeting, they left empty-handed. Right now, many Internet vendors collect sales tax voluntarily at the urging of some states, but not all do. The patchwork of sales tax laws currently presents a burden on interstate commerce that courts have ruled unconstitutional. To solve the problem, several states — including Kansas — have joined the “Streamlined Sales Tax Project.” The member states are working to simplify sales tax laws to make Internet taxes easier to collect. However, several large states are reluctant to join the sales tax project because they feel changing their laws would be a burden on their businesses and cause some local jurisdictions to lose revenue.
Jim Sullinger, "States make little progress on system to collect Internet sales tax," Kansas City Star, September 23, 2007 ---
http://www.kansascity.com/115/v-print/story/288058.html 

Who is Mahmoud Ahmadinejad? --- http://www.americanthinker.com/2007/09/who_is_mahmoud_ahmadinejad_1.html
Also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahmoud_Ahmadinejad
One Muslin scholar on Ahmadinejad disputes some of the facts in the above links. Read with some caution. However, I find many of the facts to be supported by other documents.

With students protesting outside and presidential candidates lining up to condemn the event, Iran’s president spoke at Columbia University Monday. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s talk didn’t appear to break any new ground in his views. As recounted in The New York Times, he dodged specifics on some of his more controversial views while reiterating his support for Palestinians, denying that there are any gay people in Iran and expressing indignation at the criticism he receives. Columbia’s president, Lee C. Bollinger, introduced the Iranian leader with remarks in which he defended the appearance, but said that it was not about Ahmadinejad’s right to speak but “our rights to listen and speak.” In his statement, Bollinger also raised a series of questions about the lack of civil liberties in Iran and some of its leaders’ more inflammatory statements. Bollinger told the Iranian president that he exhibited “all the signs of a petty and cruel dictator.” The student newspaper live blogged the event for those seeking minute-by-minute coverage.
Inside Higher Ed, September 25, 2007 --- http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2007/09/25/qt

Ahmadinejad smiled as Columbia President Lee Bollinger took him to task over Iran's human-rights record and foreign policy, as well as Ahmadinejad's statements denying the Holocaust and calling for the disappearance of Israel. "Mr. President, you exhibit all the signs of a petty and cruel dictator," Bollinger said, to loud applause.
"Iran leader condemned by university host:  Ahmadinejad calls remarks at Columbia 'an insult,' addresses Holocaust," MSNBC, September 24, 2007 --- http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20942057/
Videos of His Presentation --- http://video.msn.com/v/us/msnbc.htm?g=78998031-0f41-4fc8-bfd2-2fe5496dceb7

Jensen  Comment
Although the nation is mostly cheering President Bollinger for his “tough” remarks, I’m reminded about how much this same nation jeered the insults tossed out by Hugo Chávez when he called President Bush “the Devil.” Even harsh Bush critics like Charlie Rangel lashed out at this "insult to America." Lee Bollinger must’ve had a hidden agenda, but I cannot for the life of me figure out what it was since in the past he’s always been an advocate of diversity. Perhaps he thought this was a way to discredit Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s image as a scholar in the world. If so, I think it was over the top and totally inappropriate for a host to do such a thing. My guess is that they did not have tea together after the lecture. He could've been much more diplomatic and cynical by merely quoting from Ahmadinejad's “Maths proves US won't attack” --- http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,22355111-1702,00.html 

On Saturday John Coatsworth, acting dean of Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs, made the remark that "if Hitler were in the United States and . . . if he were willing to engage in a debate and a discussion to be challenged by Columbia students and faculty, we would certainly invite him." This was by way of defending the university's decision to host a speech yesterday by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. An old rule of thumb in debate tournaments is that the first one to say "Hitler" loses. But say what you will about Mr. Coatsworth's comment, it is, at bottom, a philosophical claim: about the purposes of education; about the uses of dialogue; about the obligations of academia; about the boundaries (or absence of boundaries) of modern liberalism and about its conceits. So rather than dismiss the claim out of hand, let's address it in the same philosophical spirit in which it was offered. A few preliminaries: When Mr. Coatsworth postulated Hitler's visit, he specified the year 1939, just prior to Germany's invasion of Poland and the beginning of World War II. This, then, is not yet the Hitler of Auschwitz, though it is the Hitler of Dachau, the Nuremberg Laws, Guernica and Kristallnacht. Mr. Coatsworth takes the optimistic view that "an appearance by Hitler at Columbia could have led him to appreciate what a great power the U.S. had already become," and thus, presumably, kept America from war.
Bret Stephens, "Columbia's Conceit," The Wall Street Journal, September 25, 2007; Page A18 --- http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119067053803537874.html

From Stanford University
Abbas Milani, director of the Iranian Studies Program, maintains that the time for democratic reform in Iran is coming, but prospects in the short run are dim: "Just as the optimism of those who claim the regime is a simple nudge away from total collapse is false, the pessimism of those who see an intractably well-entrenched despotism is also wrong."
"For Iran, the Best and Worst of Times," Stanford Magazine, September/October 2007  --- http://www.stanfordalumni.org/news/magazine/2007/sepoct/farm/news/milani.html

America and Iran have great differences, but also common interests. Among the latter, no Taliban in Kabul, no restoration of a Sunni Baathist dictatorship in Baghdad and support for the present governments. Iran cannot want a Sunni-Shia war in the region, which would make her an enemy of most Arabs, and she cannot want a major war with America, which could lead to the destruction and breakup of the nation where only half the people are Persians. That is plenty to build a cold peace on, if the hysteriacs do not stampede us into another unnecessary war.
Patrick J. Buchanan, "Infantile Nation," WorldNetDaily, September 25, 2007 --- http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=57816

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told world leaders his country will defy any further U.N. Security Council resolutions imposed by "arrogant powers" seeking to curb its nuclear program, accusing them of lying and imposing illegal sanctions against Tehran. He said it is "high time for these powers to return from the path of arrogance and obedience to Satan to the path of faith in God." Undeterred, France and Germany increased pressure on the Islamic republic at the U.N. General Assembly's annual ministerial meeting on Tuesday, saying they would not accept a nuclear-armed Iran. "Let's not fool ourselves. If Iran were to acquire the nuclear bomb, the consequences would be disastrous," German Chancellor Angela Merkel told the session.
"Iran Leader Says Nuclear Issue Is Closed," NPR, September 26, 2007 --- http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=14518078
Jensen Comment
So much for negotiation with a devote leader who view's his main task is to prepare the world so to hasten the Mahdi's coming. If this preparation requires much destruction and bloodshed, so be it.
Who is Mahmoud Ahmadinejad? --- http://www.americanthinker.com/2007/09/who_is_mahmoud_ahmadinejad_1.html

We’d like to hear the answers to a lot of those outstanding questions. Among our favorites: Has Iran built more sophisticated uranium centrifuges for a clandestine program? And, what were Iran’s scientists planning to do with designs, acquired from Pakistan, to mold uranium into shapes that look remarkably like the core of a nuclear weapon? According to the so-called work plan agreed to by Mr. ElBaradei, Iran will address one set of questions at a time, and move on to the next set only after his inspectors have closed the file on the previous set. If, true to form, the Iranians dole out just enough information to keep the inspectors asking, the process could drag on and on. That would give Iran more time, cover and confidence to continue mastering enrichment and producing nuclear fuel. The further along the Iranians get, the greater our fear that President Bush, and Vice President Dick Cheney, will decide that one more war isn’t going to do their reputation much harm.
Editors of The New York Times, "The ‘Crazies’ and Iran, September 27, 2007 --- http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/27/opinion/27thur1.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
Jensen Comment
To say nothing about what Israel might do to prevent Iranian nukes.

I say this because here in America we have reached a funny pass. People are doing and saying odd things as if they don't know the meaning of the thing they say they stand for. In particular I mean we used to be proud of whom we allowed to speak, and now are leaning toward defining ourselves by whom we don't speak to and will not allow to speak. This is not progress. Conservatives on campus are shouted down. A crusader against illegal immigration is rushed off the stage at Columbia University. Great newspapers give ad breaks to groups with which they feel an ideological affinity, but turn away ads from those they do no. . . You know where I'm going. Is it necessary to say when one speaks of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad that you disapprove of him, disagree with him, believe him a wicked fellow and are not amused that he means to have missiles aimed at us and our friends? If it is, I am happy to say it. Who, really, isn't? But this has been our history: to let all speak and to fear no one. That's a good history to continue. The Council on Foreign Relations was right to invite him to speak last year--that is the council's job, to hear, listen and parse--and Columbia University was well within its rights to let him speak this year. Though, in what is now apparently Columbia tradition, the stage was once again stormed, but this time verbally, and by a university president whose aggression seemed sharpened by fear.
Peggy Noonan, "Hear, Hear:  Americans should not fear talking--and listening--to those whose views we loathe, The Wall Street Journal, September 28, 2007 --- http://www.opinionjournal.com/columnists/pnoonan/?id=110010659

Did MoveOn.org get favored treatment from The Times (to insult General David Petraeus and call him a liar in a paid advertisement)? And was the ad outside the bounds of acceptable political discourse? The answer to the first question is that MoveOn.org paid what is known in the newspaper industry as a standby rate of $64,575 that it should not have received under Times policies. The group should have paid $142,083. The Times had maintained for a week that the standby rate was appropriate, but a company spokeswoman told me late Thursday afternoon that an advertising sales representative made a mistake.
James Taranto, "The In-Kindest Cut," The Wall Street Journal, September 13, 2007 --- http://www.opinionjournal.com/best/?id=110010598

Now that the Times has revealed this mistake for the first time, and while we believe that the $142,083 figure is above the market rate paid by most organizations, out of an abundance of caution we have decided to pay that rate for this ad. We will therefore wire the $77,083 difference to the Times tomorrow (Monday, September 24, 2007).
"Statement by Eli Pariser, MoveOn.org Political Action Executive Director, Resolving the New York Times Ad Rate Issue," PrneWire, September 23, 2007 --- http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/09-23-2007/0004668013&EDATE  .
Also see the NY Post September 24, 2007account at http://www.nypost.com/seven/09242007/news/nationalnews/move_on_to_pay_up.htm
Jensen Comment
This added payment is not necessarily just a publicity stunt. The New York Times might've been charged with an illegal contribution to a political action committee (PAC) if indeed it gave such a large discount to this one PAC.

The ultimate good desired is better reached by free trade in ideas.
Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes as quoted by Ben Shapiro, in "Columbia's Arrogant, Ignorant Decision," Townhall, September 26, 2007 http://www.townhall.com/columnists/BenShapiro/2007/09/26/columbias_arrogant,_ignorant_decision 

The Bush administration has been promising to get more actively involved in Middle East peacemaking in its final years. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will try to make her mark in that area with an international conference this fall. Though she hasn't sent out invitations yet — and the agenda remains uncertain — Rice told reporters at the United Nations Sunday night that she thinks there is some momentum building to get the Israelis and Palestinians talking about the core issues that separate them. She acknowledged that many are skeptical that this meeting will be as substantial as she's promising. "I'm not surprised that people wonder if we're going to succeed," she said. "If this conflict had been easy to solve, it would have been solved long ago."
Michele Kelemen , "Rice Seeks New Focus on Middle East Peace," NPR, September 24, 2007 ---
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=14649315 

What does the liberal media think of Hillary's proposed health care plan?
Would someone please ask Hillary Clinton to stop coming up with health care "reform" plans that are less attractive than the dysfunctional system she proposes to replace? . . . The reality is that the Clinton plan is about as socialistic as a Ronald Reagan corporate tax cut. The Clinton plan maintains the current system of for-profit, insurance-industry defined health care delivery. The only real change is that, in return for minimal requirements regarding coverage of those with preexisting conditions, the government would pump hundreds of billions in federal dollars into the accounts of some of the country's wealthiest corporations. The plan's tax credit scheme would buy some more coverage for low-income families, which is good, but it would do so at a cost so immense that, ultimately, Clinton's plan will be as tough a sell as the failed 1993 "Hillarycare" proposal.
John Nichols, "Clinton's Prescription for Another Heath Care Reform Failure," The Nation, September 18, 2007 --- http://www.thenation.com/blogs/campaignmatters?pid=233626

As Harvard business school professor Regina Herzlinger notes, such a mandate (Hillary Plan)  is indistinguishable from a payroll tax . . . Ultimately, Sen. Clinton's plan would greatly expand government control over the health insurance market. She mandates that employers buy insurance; offers a menu of cookie-cutter health insurance policies designed by federal bureaucrats; and expands government insurance schemes like Medicare. Her plan is the wrong prescription for America's health care woes because it would result in poorer quality health care, lost jobs, less consumer choice, and higher taxes.
Ronald Bailey, "Hillary Health Care II Still not the right prescription for America's health care woes," Reason Magazine, September 18, 2007 --- http://www.reason.com/news/show/122560.html
Jensen Prediction
Watch Senator Clinton gut her plan once she wins the Democratic Party nomination and faces the general election in 2008. In the meantime, it's a bit to bad for her than most liberals already despise her plan.

If you think health care is expensive now, wait until you see what it costs when it's free!
P.J. O'Rourke --- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P.J._O%27Rourke

What do liberals want in a health care plan?
The National Health Insurance Act, H.R. 676. Introduced by Representative John Conyers (D-Mich.), the bill would create a publicly financed, privately delivered system for providing comprehensive health care for all U.S. residents by expanding and improving the existing Medicare program. The goal of the legislation is to ensure that all U.S. residents have access to quality, affordable health care regardless of employment, income, or health status. The program covers all medically-necessary care, including primary care and prevention, prescription drugs, emergency care, mental health services, dentistry, eye care, and substance abuse treatment. Patients would also have the freedom to choose their physicians, providers, hospitals, and clinics.
National Organization for Women --- http://www.capwiz.com/now/issues/alert/?alertid=9994911#action
Jensen Comment
Organizations like NOW are calling this the "cost-effective" health care program. But they aren't mentioning why inevitable health rationing is more cost-effective. Rationing is inevitable because there may be 100 to a thousand times demand relative to demand for good doctors and price-controlled medications not allowed to adjust pricing to demand. Even Michael Moore is belatedly admitting that Cuba has a two-tier national health plan where the elites come out much better in the rationing system. And liberals are mentioning the impact on the economy of the trillion dollar cost that will explode with medical cost inflation. Publicly-funded health care will cover a lot more people, especially the massive neuvo unemployed created by resulting business closures and labor outsourcing, technology substitutions, and exploding prices to pay the taxes. Nor do they discuss the surge of undocumented immigrants who will be flooding into the country for free medication, obstetrics, organ transplants, heart bypass operations, and neuro surgeries. Already Medicare and Medicaid are on the ropes as the baby boom generation taps into the rather generous system for elderly and poverty-level citizens. It will be a tough sell the remainder of all younger and more affluent people to an already troubled Medicare system.

It's one thing to sell a socially equitable system. It's quite another to maintain the tax revenues and make it work. It's really quite easy to drive the tax base out of business and to create soaring inflation with immense deficit spending. We're doing that now with existing entitlements --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Entitlements.htm  The health care system needs to be fixed for the uninsured, but it does not need to be fixed with false hopes of free health care and unrealistic taxation. And the typical guns-for-healthcare argument will be a tough sell in these tense times of terrorism and world tension that will not disappear when we "redeploy" from Iraq. And price controls imposed on physicians, hospitals, and medications enormously discourages increasing the numbers of skilled physicians, highest technology hospitals, and newly discovered wonder drugs. One way to empty our difficult and tedious medical schools will be to fix the prices of health care and offer the services of doctors free for everybody.

EU antitrust law achieves this objective to the tune of billions of dollars each year. By breaking up international cartels, it saves European consumers at least $6 billion every year. It has pushed down the price of international telephone calls in Europe by more than 40%. It led to the European Commission's fining France Telecom for pricing broadband in such a way that competitors that were every bit as efficient as France Telecom would be squeezed off the market. The result is that competitors are investing in the provision of broadband services and more consumers are using broadband in France than ever before. Eighteen percent of EU homes now have broadband, a figure that continues to rise rapidly. The Commission has recently acted against Spain's Telefónica for similar abuses.
Neelie Kroes, "Why Microsoft Was Wrong," The Wall Street Journal, September 26, 2007 --- http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119075444035939067.html

Justice is how established injustices are sanctioned.
Anatole France --- Click Here

Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu (IsraelNN.com) A U.S. State Department-funded University of California program which provides business training for residents of the Middle East specifically excluded Israeli Jews - until Jewish journalists protested. The University of California has now altered the program's eligibility requirement that initially barred Israeli Jews. The turnaround in policy also may have saved the State Department, whose Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI) finances the program, from having to provide an embarrassing explanation. MEPI also selects the participants. Jerusalem-based marketing specialist and businesswoman Miriam Schwab uncovered the bias last week when she checked into applying to the university's San Diego branch...
Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu, Arutz Sheva, September 27, 2007 --- http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/123791

More than 60,000 large ships crawl through the world's oceans, many with a deck size of several football fields, carrying many thousands of tons of cargo.
"Ship Breaking," Greenpeace, September 2007 --- http://www.greenpeace.org/india/campaigns/toxics-free-future/ship-breaking

Campaign 2008: Issue Coverage Tracker --- http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/interactives/campaign08/issues/

Math Error Bug in Excel 2007
Microsoft has confirmed the existence of a serious bug in Excel 2007 that can cause an incorrect amount to appear in a cell. Programmers at Microsoft are aware of the problem and are working on a fix. No date for a correcting update has been projected yet . . . It should be noted that, although the spreadsheet displays 100000, the value of the cell is correct at 65535. So if you use the cell in another formula (for example, if the mistakenly displayed presentation of 100000 appears in cell A1 and you enter the formula =A1*2 in another cell, you will see the correct result of 131070. The problem is manifesting itself in many, but not all, calculations that should produce a result of 65535.
AccountingWeb, September 2007 --- http://www.accountingweb.com/cgi-bin/item.cgi?id=104050

Publish and Perish

From Jim Mahar's blog on September 29, 2007 --- http://financeprofessorblog.blogspot.com/

Publish and Perish - Forbes.com

 

 

Publish and Perish - Forbes.com:

"Before taking over Alpha, Mark Carhart was an assistant professor of finance at the University of Southern California. He had studied under Eugene Fama, a founding father of the efficient-market theory, which says investors can't consistently beat the market. Carhart himself drew attention with a research paper warning investors against mutual funds with 'hot hands.' He wrote that his analysis of 1,892 funds over 32 years showed that high repeat returns had little to do with skill, and the winning streaks didn't last long anyway"

and then:

"Goldman hired Carhart soon after his article appeared in the Journal of Finance, and put him and a fellow Ph.D. from the University of Chicago, Raymond Iwanowski, in charge of the fledgling Alpha. Trading on complex mathematical models, Alpha returned 21% a year in the ten years through 2005. Goldman put many of its private banking customers into the fund.

Then, true to Carhart's theory, hot turned cold. Last year Alpha lost 9%. This year, thanks partly to bad bets on the yen and the Australian dollar, it's down 33%. Assets have fallen to $6 billion from $10 billion and are expected to fall by another 25% as investors bail out in the next few weeks."

 

Jensen Comment
Remember the quant guys (Nobel Prize winners at that) who laid down The Trillion Dollar Bet --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/FraudRotten.htm#LongTermCapital

Education at a Glance 2007 (Comparisons Across Nations) --- http://www.oecd.org/document/30/0,3343,en_2649_39263294_39251550_1_1_1_1,00.html

Bob Jensen's threads on higher education controversies are at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/HigherEdControversies.htm

Using the Monopoly Board Game for edutainment --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/000aaa/thetools.htm#Monopoly

Bob Jensen's links to educational games --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Bookbob2.htm#Games  
Bob Jensen's threads on edutainment --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/000aaa/thetools.htm

What would your college do with an added $200 million?
First I want to congratulate Claremont McKenna College for receiving such a huge gift.
Second I want to congratulate them on how they intend to spend it in this era where so many students opt for professional program majors rather than liberal arts.

Claremont McKenna College on Thursday announced a $200 million gift, from a trustee and alumnus, Robert Day. One purpose of the funds will be to create new academic programs in which students can combine liberal arts education with an education in business and finance — either during their undergraduate program or through a one-year master of finance program immediately after an undergraduate program is completed. The new options are meant to be an alternative to a traditional M.B.A.
Inside Higher Ed, September 28, 2007 --- http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2007/09/28/qt
Jensen Comment
Colleges seeking to "combine liberal arts education with an education in business and finance" should carefully study the efforts of North Texas State University to do this under a grant from the Accounting Education Change Commission --- http://aaahq.org/facdev/aeccunt.htm

The accounting program changes in progress at the University of North Texas (UNT) include three distinct elements, a Professional Learning Core (LCORE), a Professional Business Foundation (BFOUND), and redesigned accounting courses (RACCT). LCORE includes from 72 to 87 hours of general education and relies heavily on the UNT Classic Learning Core (CLC) developed by the College of Arts and Sciences faculty. The CLC is nationally recognized as a model curriculum integrating the various arts and science disciplines around central learning themes—virtue, civility, reason, and accountability, and for its horizontal and vertical integration of the various disciplines into a coherent curriculum.

The problem is that our students choose very bland, low nourishment diets in our modern day smorgasbord curricula. Their concern is with their grade averages rather than their education. And why not? Grades for students and turf for faculty have become the keys to the kingdom!
Bob Jensen

Harvard University is Making Another Stab at Defining a Core Curriculum Requirement
"Direction and Choice," by Scott Jaschik, Inside Higher Ed, October 5, 2006 --- http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2006/10/05/harvard

Bob Jensen's threads on higher education controversies are at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/HigherEdControversies.htm#CustomizedCurricula

Question
What is the latest (free) software that will make PowerPoint-like presentations?

Presentation component of Google Applications ---
http://www.eweek.com/slideshow_viewer/0,1205,l=&s=25940&a=215569&po=2,00.asp?p=y

Learn more about Google Apps --- Click Here

When Professors Can’t Get Along
The American Association of University Professors — a champion of open debate and free exchange — is having some difficulties with the nature of debate in its own (virtual) house. The association last week told those signed up for its listserv that it was shutting down. “In recent weeks, many subscribers have withdrawn from the list, complaining of the nature and tone of some of the postings. More recently, anonymous messages containing allegations against other members have been posted, raising possible legal concerns. In light of these occurrences, it has been determined that AAUP-General be closed,” the message said.
Scott Jaschik, Inside Higher Ed, September 25, 2007 --- http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2007/09/25/aaup

Bob Jensen's threads on controversies in higher education are at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/HigherEdControversies.htm

Question
How do for-profit-colleges and universities differ fundamentally from traditional colleges and universities?

For the first time, a for-profit education company has received permission to offer degrees in Britain, The Guardian reported.
Inside Higher Ed, September 26, 2007 --- http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2007/09/26/qt

The John Edwards Federal College of Education
John Edwards has proposed creating a national university to train top undergraduates to become teachers. Edwards made the proposal in a broad plan he unveiled Friday to improve elementary and secondary education. He proposed that the teacher university be modeled after West Point, but with an emphasis on education instead of the military. About 1,000 students would start a bachelor’s program each year and tuition would be free for those pledging to work upon graduation in schools or subject areas facing shortages. The new university might be on the campus of an existing institution or could be free-standing.
Inside Higher Ed, September 24, 2007 --- http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2007/09/24/qt

Faulty Towers:  Most Science Studies Appear to Be Tainted By Sloppy Analysis and Superficial Peer Reviews
Dr. Ioannidis is an epidemiologist who studies research methods at the University of Ioannina School of Medicine in Greece and Tufts University in Medford, Mass. In a series of influential analytical reports, he has documented how, in thousands of peer-reviewed research papers published every year, there may be so much less than meets the eye. These flawed findings, for the most part, stem not from fraud or formal misconduct, but from more mundane misbehavior: miscalculation, poor study design or self-serving data analysis. "There is an increasing concern that in modern research, false findings may be the majority or even the vast majority of published research claims," Dr. Ioannidis said. "A new claim about a research finding is more likely to be false than true." The hotter the field of research the more likely its published findings should be viewed skeptically, he determined.
Robert Lee Hotz, The Wall Street Journal, September 24, 2007 --- http://online.wsj.com/article/SB118972683557627104.html

BioMed Central has launched Biology Direct, a new online open access journal with a novel system of peer review. The journal will operate completely open peer review, with named peer reviewers' reports published alongside each article. The author's rebuttals to the reviewers comments are also published. The journal also takes the innovative step of requiring that the author approach Biology Direct Editorial Board members directly to obtain their agreement to review the manuscript or to nominate alternative reviewers. [Largely taken from a BioMed Central press report.]

Biology Direct launches with publications in the fields of Systems Biology, Computational Biology, and Evolutionary Biology, with an Immunology section to follow soon. The journal considers original research articles, hypotheses, and reviews and will eventually cover the full spectrum of biology.

Biology Direct is led by Editors-in-Chief David J Lipman, Director of the National Center Biotechnology Information (NCBI), a division of the National Library of Medicine (NLM) at NIH, USA; Eugene V Koonin, Senior Investigator at NCBI; and Laura Landweber, Associate Professor at Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA.

Bob Jensen's threads on the flawed peer review process are at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/HigherEdControversies.htm#PeerReviewFlaws

Long Lines at Accident Scenes:  Law Schools Proliferate and Law Graduates Proliferate
For graduates of elite law schools, prospects have never been better. Big law firms this year boosted their starting salaries to as high as $160,000. But the majority of law-school graduates are suffering from a supply-and-demand imbalance that's suppressing pay and job growth. The result: Graduates who don't score at the top of their class are struggling to find well-paying jobs to make payments on law-school debts that can exceed $100,000. Some are taking temporary contract work, reviewing documents for as little as $20 an hour, without benefits. And many are blaming their law schools for failing to warn them about the dark side of the job market.
Amir Efrati, "Hard Case: Job Market Wanes for U.S. Lawyers:  Growth of Legal Sector Lags Broader Economy; Law Schools Proliferate," The New York Times, September 24, 2007; Page A1 --- http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119040786780835602.html?mod=todays_us_page_one

Bob Jensen's threads on careers are at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Bookbob1.htm#careers

Bob Jensen's threads on higher education controversies are at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/HigherEdControversies.htm

Zotero software for storing, retrieving, organizing, and annotating digital documents --- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zotero

Zotero is a free, open source extension for the Firefox browser, that enables users to collect, manage, and cite research from all types of sources from the browser. It is partly a piece of reference management software, used to manage bibliographies and references when writing essays and articles. On many major research websites such as digital libraries, Google Scholar, or even Amazon.com, Zotero detects when a book, article, or other resource is being viewed and with a mouse click finds and saves the full reference information to a local file. If the source is an online article or web page, Zotero can optionally store a local copy of the source. Users can then add notes, tags, and their own metadata through the in-browser interface. Selections of the local reference library data can later be exported as formatted bibliographies.

The program is produced by the Center for History and New Media of George Mason University and is currently available in public beta. It is open and extensible, allowing other users to contribute citation styles and site translators, and more generally for others who are building digital tools for researchers to expand the platform. The name is from Albanian language "to master".

It is aimed at replacing the more cumbersome traditional reference management software, originally designed to meet the demands of offline research

"Mark of Zotero,"  by Scott McLemee, Inside Higher Ed, September 26, 2007 --- http://www.insidehighered.com/views/2007/09/26/mclemee 

Zotero is a tool for storing, retrieving, organizing, and annotating digital documents. It has been available for not quite a year. I started using it about six weeks ago, and am still learning some of the fine points, but feel sufficient enthusiasm about Zotero to recommend it to anyone doing research online. If very much of your work involves material from JSTOR, for example – or if you find it necessary to collect bibliographical references, or to locate Web-based publications that you expect to cite in your own work — then Zotero is worth knowing how to use. (You can install it on your computer for free; more on that in due course.)

Now, my highest qualification for testing a digital tool is, perhaps, that I have no qualifications for testing a digital tool. That is not as paradoxical as it sounds. The limits of my technological competence are very quickly reached. My command of the laptop computer consists primarily of the ability to (1) turn it on and (2) type stuff. This condition entails certain disadvantages (the mockery of nieces and nephews, for example) but it makes for a pretty good guinea pig.

And in that respect, I can report that the folks at George Mason University’s Center for History and New Media have done an exemplary job in designing Zotero. A relatively clueless person can learn to use it without exhaustive effort.

Still, it seems as if institutions that do not currently do so might want to offer tutorials on Zotero for faculty and students who may lack whatever gene makes for an intuitive grasp of software. Academic librarians are probably the best people to offer instruction. Aside from being digitally savvy, they may be the people at a university in the best position to appreciate the range of uses to which Zotero can be put.

For the absolute newbie, however, let me explain what Zotero is — or rather, what it allows you to do. I’ll also mention a couple of problems or limitations. Zotero is still under development and will doubtless become more powerful (that is, more useful) in later releases. But the version now available has numerous valuable features that far outweigh any glitches.

Suppose you go online to gather material on some aspect of a book you are writing. In the course of a few hours, you might find several promising titles in the library catalog, a few more with Amazon, a dozen useful papers via JSTOR, and three blog entries by scholars who are thinking aloud about some matter tangential to your project.

Continued in article

Bob Jensen's threads on how scholars search are at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Searchh.htm#Scholars

Graft in Military Contracts Spread From Base
Less than 24 hours later Major Cockerham was behind bars, accused of orchestrating the largest single bribery scheme against the military since the start of the Iraq war. According to the authorities, the 41-year-old officer, with his wife and a sister, used an elaborate network of offshore bank accounts and safe deposit boxes to hide nearly $10 million in bribes from companies seeking military contracts. The accusations against Major Cockerham are tied to a crisis of corruption inside the behemoth bureaucracy that sustains America’s troops. Pentagon officials are investigating some $6 billion in military contracts, most covering supplies as varied as bottled water, tents and latrines for troops in Kuwait, Iraq and Afghanistan.
Ginger Thompson and Eric Schmitt, The New York Times, September 24, 2007 --- http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/24/world/middleeast/24contractor.html

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

While it won't sue Apple for Nancy Heinen's alleged backdating of options, the SEC does want to talk to CEO Steve Jobs, most likely about the timing of events
Though Apple (AAPL) was given a clean bill of health by regulators over its involvement in the backdating of stock options, the investigation of a former executive continues to dog Chief Executive Steve Jobs. Securities & Exchange Commission lawyers suing former Apple General Counsel Nancy Heinen over her alleged role in the matter have issued subpoenas to Jobs. The SEC has said it won't sue Apple over the backdating of grants, praising the company for its cooperation with the investigation. Attorneys say the company and current executives are unlikely to face criminal charges from the Justice Dept. or civil charges from the SEC.
Arik Hesseldahl, "SEC Subpoenas Jobs On Backdating," Business Week, September 20, 2007 --- http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/sep2007/tc20070920_913875.htm?link_position=link2

Bob Jensen's threads on options backdating are at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/theory/sfas123/jensen01.htm

CyberEconomics Tutorials (especially game theory) --- http://ingrimayne.com/econ/index.htm

Economics Lesson Plans --- http://www.mcrel.org/lesson-plans/economics/index.asp

Bob Jensen's links to social science and philosophy tutorials are at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Bookbob2.htm#Social

Teaching Resources for Structural Geology --- http://www.see.leeds.ac.uk/structure/learnstructure/index.htm

Kansas State University Herbarium --- http://www.k-state.edu/herbarium/  

Basic Immunology --- http://www.immunology.klimov.tom.ru/index.html 

Study Stack --- http://www.studystack.com/

Bob Jensen's links to free online tutorials in engineering, science, and medicine --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Bookbob2.htm#Science

Institute of Museum and Library Services: Primary Source http://www.imls.gov/news/source.shtm

Art Education 2.0 --- http://arted20.ning.com/

Bob Jensen's threads on history tutorials and sites --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Bookbob2.htm#History

How colleges can get a percentage cut of student and alumni credit card spending
Despite growing concern about students’ credit card debt, Iowa State University and the University of Iowa maintain lucrative deals with credit card companies that generate millions of dollars for alumni associations and that help the companies market their products to students, The Des Moines Register reported.
Inside Higher Ed, September 24, 2007 --- http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2007/09/24/qt

"Majoring in Credit-Card Debt:  Aggressive on-campus marketing by credit-card companies is coming under fire. What should be done to educate students about the dangers of plastic?" by Jessica Silver-Greenberg, Business Week, September 4, 2007 --- Click Here

This story is the first in a series examining the increasing use of credit cards by college students.

Seth Woodworth stood paralyzed by fear in his parents' driveway in Moses Lake, Wash. It was two years ago, during his sophomore year at Central Washington University, and on this visit, he was bringing home far more than laundry. He was carrying more than $3,000 in credit-card debt. "I was pretty terrified of listening to my voice mail because of all the messages about the money I owed," says Woodworth. He did get some help from his parents but still had to drop out of school to pay down his debts.

Over the next month, as 17 million college students flood the nation's campuses, they will be greeted by swarms of credit-card marketers. Frisbees, T-shirts, and even iPods will be used as enticements to sign up, and marketing on the Web will reinforce the message. Many kids will go for it. Some 75% of college students have credit cards now, up from 67% in 1998. Just a generation earlier, a credit card on campus was a great rarity.

For many of the students now, the cards they get will simply be an easier way to pay for groceries or books, with no long-term negative consequences. But for Seth Woodworth and a growing number like him, easy access to credit will lead to spending beyond their means and debts that will compromise their futures. The freshman 15, a fleshy souvenir of beer and late-night pizza, is now taking on a new meaning, with some freshman racking up more than $15,000 in credit-card debt before they can legally drink. "It's astonishing to me to see college students coming out of school with staggering amounts of debt and credit scores so abominable that they couldn't rent a car," says Representative Louise Slaughter (D-N.Y.).

Congressional Oversight Weighed

The role of credit-card companies in helping to build these mountains of debt is coming under great scrutiny. Critics say that as the companies compete for this important growth market, they offer credit lines far out of proportion to students' financial means, reaching $10,000 or more for youngsters without jobs. The cards often come with little or no financial education, leaving some unsophisticated students with no idea what their obligations will be. Then when students build up balances on their cards, they find themselves trapped in a maze of jargon and baffling fees, with annual interest rates shooting up to more than 30%. "No industry in America is more deserving of oversight by Congress," says Travis Plunkett, legislative director for Consumer Federation of America, a consumer advocacy group.

The oversight may be coming soon. With Democrats in control of Congress and the debt problems for college kids only growing worse, the chances of a crackdown have increased substantially. The Senate is expected to hold hearings on the credit-card industry's practices this fall. Representative Barney Frank (D-Mass.) has pledged to introduce tough legislation. And Slaughter introduced a bill in August to limit the amount of credit that could be extended to students to 20% of their income or $500 if their parents co-sign for the card.

The major credit-card companies take great issue with the criticisms. Bank of America (BAC), Citibank (C), JPMorgan Chase (JPM), American Express (AXP), and others say they are providing a valuable service to students and they work hard to ensure that their credit cards are used responsibly. Citibank and JPMorgan both offer extensive financial literacy materials for college students. Citibank, for instance, says it distributed more than 5 million credit-education pieces to students, parents, and administrators last year for free. At JPMorgan Chase, bank representative Paul Hartwick says: "Our overall approach toward college students is to help them build good financial habits and a credit history that prepares them for a lifetime of successful credit use."

Continued in article

Bob Jensen's threads on the dirty secrets of credit card companies are at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/FraudReporting.htm#FICO

Criminals Saved by Data Overload
Fraud police buckling under mountains of data from financial institutions
Fraud investigators are struggling to cope with vast quantities of data sent to them by financial institutions, meaning some crimes may go uninvestigated or even unnoticed, experts said on Wednesday. The issue is prompting banks and other financial institutions to ask law enforcement and regulators to share with them more of the data they have about suspicious transactions, in order to better combat fraud.Banks and transfer agencies are required by regulators in the U.S. and the U.K. to file reports when they detect a potentially illegal transaction, said Olga Maitland, head of the International Association of Money Transfer Networks, at the Fraud World 2007 conference in London. Up to 300,000 Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) are filed per month in the U.S., and up to 200,000 a year in the U.K., but most of those reports "disappear into a black hole" because law enforcement agencies don't have the resources to investigate each one, she said.
Jeremy Kirk, PC World via The Washington Post, September 26, 2007 --- Click Here 

Here lies my wife: here let her lie! Now she's at rest, and so am I.
John Dryden (English Poet, 1631 - 1700)--- Click Here

From the Life is Stranger Than Fiction Department
Man and Wife Develop an Online Relationship With Each Other Without Realizing It

From the Opinion Journal, September 21, 2007 (edited by Carol Muller)

Fancy Meeting You Here--II http://www.metro.co.uk/news/article.html?in_article_id=66504&in_page_id=34

They met online, where he called himself "Prince of Joy," and she called herself "Sweetie." Their real names were Sana and Adnan. "The pair [each] thought they had found a soul mate with whom to spend the rest of their lives," reports Metro.co.uk:

*** QUOTE ***

[They] poured their hearts out to each other over their marriage troubles. . . . Sana, 27, said: "I was suddenly in love. It was amazing, we seemed to be stuck in the same kind of miserable marriages. How right that turned out to be."

*** END QUOTE ***

Finally they decided to meet in person, and they discovered that they were married to each other:

*** QUOTE ***

When it dawned on her what had happened, she said: "I felt so betrayed."

Adnan, 32, said: "I still find it hard to believe that Sweetie, who wrote such wonderful things, is actually the same woman I married and who has not said a nice word to me for years."

*** END QUOTE ***

Too bad they didn't like piña coladas http://www.lyricsondemand.com/onehitwonders/pinacoladalyrics.html .

Jensen Comment
In reality, a history of togetherness can get in the way of a future relationship. Every day is not a new day when two persons have lived together a long time. For some this history is richly rewarding. For others like the Prince of Joy and Sweetie it gets in the way.

What's Propelling South Korea's Economic Growth?
Forget electronics. Heavy industry exports to China are doing the job
Business Week, October 8, 2007 --- Click Here

In the late '90s, Korea's old industrial sector seemed like deadweight when compared with the country's booming technology companies. Its foundries and petrochemical operations epitomized the debt-fueled expansion that wounded Korea in the 1997 Asian foreign exchange crisis. No other country poured as much money into production facilities, and many basic industries became hopelessly oversupplied. Korea in 1998 had nearly 50 million tons of steel production capacity, about double domestic demand. Two sprawling new Korean ethylene plants added to a global capacity glut. And all of Korea's major shipyards built new dry docks even as rivals fretted about oversupply.

These days, though, all that investment is looking mighty smart. With emerging economies booming, the gluts have changed into shortages, and Korea has ready capacity to crank out steel, container ships, and the plastics needed for everything from MP3 players to car bumpers. Shipbuilders Hyundai Heavy, Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI ), and Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering all now have nearly four years of order backlogs as shippers cater to ballooning trade between China and the rest of the world. And in the first eight months of this year, exports of steel leapt by 26%, ships and heavy machinery such as bulldozers by 25%, and petrochemicals by 22%. "China certainly was a factor in freeing us from debt and starting a virtuous circle of profits and growth," says Kim Tae Han, strategy chief at Samsung Total Petrochemicals Co., an affiliate of Samsung Group now half-owned by French oil giant Total (TOT ). Its profit in the first half of 2007 climbed 16%, to $250 million, on sales of $1.8 billion, up 3.3% from a year earlier. Since 1999, the company's exports—mostly to China—have jumped by 240%, to $2.3 billion last year.

Continued in article

Free alternatives to MS Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc.)

Like the Web-browser world before Firefox, the market for so-called productivity software--word processors, spreadsheets, and presentation tools--has been torpid for years, dominated almost completely by Microsoft. But no longer. IBM's release of a test version of the Lotus Symphony productivity suite earlier this month adds another option to the list of free Microsoft Office alternatives, which already include Google's Docs, Apple's iWork, and the open-source OpenOffice programs, on which Symphony itself is based.
"IBM's Symphony for the Office Worker," MIT's Technology Review, September 28, 2007 --- http://www.technologyreview.com/Infotech/19447/?a=f

Other free alternatives to MS Office --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Bookbob4.htm#MSofficeAlternatives

September 28, 2007 reply from J. S. Gangolly [gangolly@CSC.ALBANY.EDU]

Bob,

1. In my opinion, the world is moving to the PDF format for exchange of documents (what use are documents except to be shared?). If that is the case, the important thing is convertibility to pdf format, not which document preparation system one uses.

XML format is also in vogue for sharing documents, but, because of the monkey wrench that Microsoft has thrown into the works, I am not sure it will prevail (for example, word documents stored in windows, usually in .dot format, can not be read by Microsoft's word for mac). I do not know how much of a dent Open Office will make in this xmlification of documents.

2. Most of the scientific community has pretty much standardised on Donald Knuth's free TeX/LaTeX typesetting system, which is far superior to what Microsoft is capable of producing. In fact, many at Microsoft Research (Bill Labs) use it, I am sure, much to Bill's chagrin.

Typesetting systems are by far more professional in the look of the documents, facilitate bibliographies without having to buy more stuff, have far superior support for ligatures and kerning, and considerably reduce the cost of production if your writing is printed professionally. Lookj at the differences in cost between the accounting and academic computing texts.

I use both windows (MikTeX/WinEDT) as well as the mac version (MacTeX/TeXShop), all free orshareware. It is tragic that its use in accounting academia is rare.

Jagdish

Forwarded by David Albrecht
Alternatives to Microsoft Office --- http://reviews.cnet.com/4520-3524_7-5140428-1.html?tag=nl.e501

From the Scout Report on September 28, 2007

Undelete Plus 2.92 http://undelete-plus.com/ 

Everyone makes mistakes, and sometimes they can even be corrected. Undelete Plus 2.92. is a way to help out in these situations, as it allows users to retrieve accidentally deleted files. Files can be removed from the recycle bin, a network drive, and from a DOS window. Visitors can also look at the application's homepage to see screenshots and take a look at their FAQ section. This version is compatible will computers running Windows 95 and newer.

---

Inquisitor 3.0 http://www.inquisitorx.com/safari/ 

Can a simple computer application read one's mind? Well, probably not, but Inquisitor 3.0 can help users out when they are pondering which website to visit. When a user starts typing search terms, Inquisitor will quickly display a list of relevant links and search variants. The application is set to work with the Google or Yahoo search engines, but visitors can also add additional search engines. This version is compatible with Mac OS X 10.4.

 

Updates from WebMD --- http://www.webmd.com/

September 24, 2007

• 3 Baby Deaths Spur Crib Recall
• Subtle Racism Harasses Brain
• Friends Help Teens Date Safely
• Congress OKs Drug Safety Changes
• Cancer Stresses Spouses, Too

 

September 25, 2007

• Acting Surgeon General Named
• New Bird Flu Test Works Quickly
• Acupuncture Eases Low Back Pain
• Late Hormone Therapy Boosts Sex
• 3 Baby Deaths Spur Crib Recall

September 26, 2007 

• Omega-3 May Lower Diabetes Risk
• Veggies Don’t Cut Colon Cancer
• Depression Care Helps Workers
• Chronic Anger Hurts Heart
• Heart Disease and Colon Cancer

September 27, 2007 

• More Toys Recalled
• FDA Warns of Fentora Misuse
• House Passes Popcorn Lung Bill
• Good Cholesterol Earns Its Name
• Sex Change Patients Happy

September 28-30, 2007

• Autism Improves in Adulthood
• Diabetes Care a Burden to Many
• Organic Food Grows in Popularity
• Job Stress May Be Depressing
• Infant Play Sets Recalled

Trends

• Video Game Addiction No Fun
• The New Low-Cholesterol Diet
• Having an Emotional Affair?
• Steps to Ease Your Depression
• 9 Asthma Symptoms in Children

Discovery supports theory of Alzheimer's disease as form of diabetes
Insulin, it turns out, may be as important for the mind as it is for the body. Research in the last few years has raised the possibility that Alzheimer’s memory loss could be due to a novel third form of diabetes.Now scientists at Northwestern University have discovered why brain insulin signaling -- crucial for memory formation -- would stop working in Alzheimer’s disease. They have shown that a toxic protein found in the brains of individuals with Alzheimer’s removes insulin receptors from nerve cells, rendering those neurons insulin resistant. (The protein, known to attack memory-forming synapses, is called an ADDL for “amyloid ß-derived diffusible ligand.”)
PhysOrg, September 26, 2007 --- http://physorg.com/news110029762.html 

Researchers say lack of sleep doubles risk of death... but so can too much sleep
Researchers from the University of Warwick, and University College London, have found that lack of sleep can more than double the risk of death from cardiovascular disease. However they have also found that point comes when too much sleep can also more than double the risk of death . . . The researchers took into account other possible factors such age, sex, marital status, employment grade, smoking status, physical activity, alcohol consumption, self-rated health, body mass index, blood pressure, cholesterol, other physical illness etc. Once they had adjusted for those factors they were able to isolate the effect that changes in sleep patterns over 5 years had on mortality rates 11-17 years later.
PhysOrg, September 24, 2007 --- http://physorg.com/news109847892.html

Boys have biological reason to be troublesome
A team of researchers working with UQ's Queensland Brain Institute (QBI) has discovered more compelling evidence that attention-deficit disorder in young boys is substantially attributable to brain development. UQ neuroscientist, Dr Ross Cunnington said there appeared to be a biological difference in young boys that made them more susceptible to attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, combined type (ADHD-CT). “ADHD affects about three-to-five per cent of primary school aged children,” Dr Cunnington said.
PhysOrg, September 25, 2007 --- http://physorg.com/news109951994.html

Study shows autism symptoms can improve into adulthood
Hallmarks of autism are characteristic behaviors - repetitive motions, problems interacting with others, impaired communication abilities - that occur in widely different combinations and degrees of severity among those who have the condition. But how those behaviors change as individuals progress through adolescence and adulthood has, until now, never been fully scientifically documented. In a new study, published in the September Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, researchers have found that symptoms can improve with age. "On average, people are getting better," says Paul T. Shattuck, an assistant professor of social work at Washington University in St. Louis who worked on the study as a graduate student and post-doctoral fellow at the University of Wisconsin-Madison's Waisman Center and is the first author of the paper. "It is a hopeful finding, but the fact remains that those with severe autism will depend on others for their everyday needs and care for the rest of their lives."
PhysOrg, September 25, 2007 --- http://physorg.com/news109952077.html

Old folks who can't remember their vaccinations might benefit from a booster
So it was with great interest that Twenge recently learned that the CDC now recommends all adults get a booster shot to protect themselves against this "childhood" disease. Health officials estimate that the vaccine could prevent more than 8,000 adult infections and 30 to 40 deaths each year. "If I had known what pertussis was like, I would have jumped at the chance to be vaccinated," says Twenge.
Jessica Snyder Sachs, "Adult vaccines: You may need a shot in the arm, MSNBC, September 21, 2007 --- http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20648930/from/ET/

Five essential books about Judaism.

"The Chosen," by Ruth R. Wisse, The Wall Street Journal, September 22, 2007 --- http://www.opinionjournal.com/weekend/fivebest/?id=110010640 

1. "Days of Awe" by S.Y. Agnon (Schocken, 1948). During the 10 days between the Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanah, and the fast of Yom Kippur, Jews submit themselves to the all-knowing and unerring judgment of God. It is sometimes a challenge to experience this soul-sifting in the modern world as most others go about their daily business. For those who desire help--or for those who simply want to gain a deeper understanding of the observances--look no further than "Days of Awe," a nonfiction work by novelist S.Y. Agnon (1888-1970), who won the Nobel Prize in literature in 1966. His compendium of Jewish practices, legends and commentaries traces the rhythm of these September rituals, from the pre-holy day preparations to the aftermath of the concluding meal. The material includes simple customs (like eating an apple sweetened with honey), kabbalistic interpretations of the ram's horn blasts that are sounded in the synagogue, and prescriptions for a thorough moral accounting. Though my devotions do not approach the intensity of those of my ancestors--who, in the words of a Yiddish saying, trembled with the fish in the seas in the days of judgment--this little book puts me in awe of generations of Jews as they stood in awe of God. 2. "A Historical Atlas of the Jewish People" edited by Eli Barnavi (Schocken, 1992). My teacher, the late Salo Baron, published 18 volumes of a "Social and Religious History of the Jews"--a project that he did not live to complete. Obviously, no single book can encompass all of Jewish experience. But when I want to find out about Jews in Palestine under the Romans, or learn how Jews fared in Muslim lands, or trace the migration of Jews to America, I turn to "A Historical Atlas of the Jewish People," an attractive volume of maps, documents, time lines and basic information. If I don't find exactly what I'm looking for, I become engrossed in something else, like an account of Jewish agriculture in South America. The book's organization is quirky, but its mixing of anthropology, history, religion and culture reflects how they are woven into the life of the Jews. 3. "Daniel Deronda" by George Eliot (1876). One of the finest books about Jewish experience was written by an Englishwoman. George Eliot studied Judaism for years before writing this novel, her last, and her hero's gradual discovery of his Jewish origins seems to reproduce her own evolving appreciation of what Jews were about. Daniel Deronda's mother despised being Jewish, and when he was born she arranged for him to be raised as the ward of a wealthy English gentleman. But Deronda is pleased as his self-discovery unfolds, and he dreams of helping Jews find their own land "such as the English have"--in effect becoming a Zionist more than two decades before Theodor Herzl founded the Zionist movement. The novel has its painful side. Deronda's Jewish path thwarts his potential romance with the lovely Gwendolen Harleth, and well-meaning Christians who want to envelop Deronda in their embrace must learn from him the art of "separateness with communication." 4. "Tevye the Dairyman" by Sholem Aleichem (1894-1914). No one did more than the Yiddish writer Sholem Aleichem (1859-1916) to forge the connection between Jewishness and comedy, and no character does it better than Tevye the Dairyman. In Aleichem's Tevye stories, set in Russia and collected in various forms over the years, the monologues of this first stand-up Jewish comedian treat many of the crises that Jews experienced in confronting modernity. A traditional father of many daughters (whittled down to three in the musical adaptation "Fiddler on the Roof"), Tevye must face both their challenges to his paternal authority and the dangers posed by the czarist regime. He does so with a philosophical humor that many readers attribute to Jewishness itself. "What does it say in the prayer book? We're God's chosen people; it's no wonder the whole world envies us." Whenever I teach this work, filled with specifically Jewish quotations and expressions, students of other minorities--especially those from religious families--recognize Tevye's predicaments, and they appreciate the moral balance he strives to maintain between metaphysical confidence and the disillusioning evidence presented by daily life. 5. "The Bellarosa Connection" by Saul Bellow (Penguin, 1989). In this cautionary tale about the dangers of forgetting, the narrator, a cultured American Jewish widower, is the founder of the Mnemosyne Institute in Philadelphia. Appropriately for someone who teaches the techniques of memory, he lives in a house filled with antiques. A sudden inquiry from Jerusalem sends him in search of Harry Fonstein, a near-relative he hasn't seen in 30 years. Harry was once saved from the Nazis in Italy by the personal intervention of showman Billy Rose (mangled in Italian as "Bellarosa"), and for the remainder of this brief book the unnamed narrator recalls for us the story of the rescue and his encounters with Harry and his wife, Sorella, the woman he married after immigrating to America. Oversize yet delicate, Sorella functions as the book's oracle when she says: "The Jews could survive everything that Europe threw at them. . . . But now comes the next test--America." Wryly, and at his own expense, the memory-man describes how, by neglecting Harry and Sorella, he himself has failed that test. Ms. Wisse, whose "Jews and Power" has just been published by Schocken, teaches Yiddish literature and comparative literature at Harvard.

Tidbits Archives --- 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/.

Three Finance Blogs

Jim Mahar's FinanceProfessor Blog --- http://financeprofessorblog.blogspot.com/
FinancialRounds Blog --- http://financialrounds.blogspot.com/
Karen Alpert's FinancialMusings (Australia) --- http://financemusings.blogspot.com/

Some Accounting Blogs

Paul Pacter's IAS Plus (International Accounting) --- http://www.iasplus.com/index.htm
International Association of Accountants News --- http://www.aia.org.uk/
AccountingEducation.com and Double Entries --- http://www.accountingeducation.com/
Gerald Trite's eBusiness and XBRL Blogs --- http://www.zorba.ca/
AccountingWeb --- http://www.accountingweb.com/   
SmartPros --- http://www.smartpros.com/

Bob Jensen's Sort-of Blogs --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/JensenBlogs.htm
Current and past editions of my newsletter called New Bookmarks --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/bookurl.htm
Current and past editions of my newsletter called Tidbits --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/TidbitsDirectory.htm
Current and past editions of my newsletter called Fraud Updates --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/FraudUpdates.htm

Online Books, Poems, References, and Other Literature
In the past I've provided links to various types electronic literature available free on the Web. 
I created a page that summarizes those various links --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/ElectronicLiterature.htm

Shared Open Courseware (OCW) from Around the World: OKI, MIT, Rice, Berkeley, Yale, and Other Sharing Universities --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/000aaa/updateee.htm#OKI

Free Textbooks and Cases --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/ElectronicLiterature.htm#Textbooks

Free Mathematics and Statistics Tutorials --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Bookbob2.htm#050421Mathematics

Free Science and Medicine Tutorials --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Bookbob2.htm#Science

Free Social Science and Philosophy Tutorials --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Bookbob2.htm#Social

Free Education Discipline Tutorials --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Bookbob2.htm

Teaching Materials (especially video) from PBS

Teacher Source:  Arts and Literature --- http://www.pbs.org/teachersource/arts_lit.htm

Teacher Source:  Health & Fitness --- http://www.pbs.org/teachersource/health.htm

Teacher Source: Math --- http://www.pbs.org/teachersource/math.htm

Teacher Source:  Science --- http://www.pbs.org/teachersource/sci_tech.htm

Teacher Source:  PreK2 --- http://www.pbs.org/teachersource/prek2.htm

Teacher Source:  Library Media ---  http://www.pbs.org/teachersource/library.htm

Free Education and Research Videos from Harvard University --- http://athome.harvard.edu/archive/archive.asp

VYOM eBooks Directory --- http://www.vyomebooks.com/

From Princeton Online
The Incredible Art Department --- http://www.princetonol.com/groups/iad/

Online Mathematics Textbooks --- http://www.math.gatech.edu/~cain/textbooks/onlinebooks.html 

National Library of Virtual Manipulatives --- http://enlvm.usu.edu/ma/nav/doc/intro.jsp

Accountancy Discussion ListServs:

For an elaboration on the reasons you should join a ListServ (usually for free) go to   http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/ListServRoles.htm

AECM (Educators)  http://pacioli.loyola.edu/aecm/  AECM is an email Listserv list which provides a forum for discussions of all hardware and software which can be useful in any way for accounting education at the college/university level. Hardware includes all platforms and peripherals. Software includes spreadsheets, practice sets, multimedia authoring and presentation packages, data base programs, tax packages, World Wide Web applications, etc Roles of a ListServ --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/ListServRoles.htm

CPAS-L (Practitioners) http://pacioli.loyola.edu/cpas-l/  CPAS-L provides a forum for discussions of all aspects of the practice of accounting. It provides an unmoderated environment where issues, questions, comments, ideas, etc. related to accounting can be freely discussed. Members are welcome to take an active role by posting to CPAS-L or an inactive role by just monitoring the list. You qualify for a free subscription if you are either a CPA or a professional accountant in public accounting, private industry, government or education. Others will be denied access.

Yahoo (Practitioners)  http://groups.yahoo.com/group/xyztalk This forum is for CPAs to discuss the activities of the AICPA. This can be anything  from the CPA2BIZ portal to the XYZ initiative or anything else that relates to the AICPA.

AccountantsWorld  http://accountantsworld.com/forums/default.asp?scope=1  This site hosts various discussion groups on such topics as accounting software, consulting, financial planning, fixed assets, payroll, human resources, profit on the Internet, and taxation.

Business Valuation Group BusValGroup-subscribe@topica.com  This discussion group is headed by Randy Schostag [RSchostag@BUSVALGROUP.COM]

Professor Robert E. Jensen (Bob) http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen
190 Sunset Hill Road
Sugar Hill, NH 03586
Phone:  603-823-8482 
Email:  rjensen@trinity.edu