Another conflict of interest scandal at UIUC. What is George Gollin (George D. Gollin, George Dana Gollin) doing to stop this lawless conduct? Does UIUC have a Conflict of Interest Officer? Oh yeah, that's right, it's his domestic partner, Mel Loots--the same person who was cited by the FDA for selling mutant lab pigs to the public for food.

Maybe if George Gollin wasn't being sued over and over in federal court for stalking, extortion, defamation and civil rights violations he could spend more time sticking his big nose in his own business.

Quote:University of Illinois criticized after contract raises conflict of interest concerns
$4.6 million deal went to architectural firm partly owned by husband of key administrator for construction planning


The University of Illinois faces a dispute stemming from a contract awarded to renovate a dilapidated building. A state watchdog board says the school initially failed to alert it about a potential conflict of interest. (Zbigniew Bzdak, Chicago Tribune / June 13, 2012)

By Ray Long and Jodi S. Cohen, Chicago Tribune reporters
July 13, 2012

The University of Illinois handed out a $4.6 million contract to an architectural firm partially owned by the husband of a key administrator who oversees the planning of campus construction projects.

The school initially did so without asking for the blessing of a state oversight board that is supposed to review public contracts with potential conflicts of interest. Now the watchdog panel wants the contract voided, with one member contending that the U. of I. is acting "above the law."

University officials say they have been operating within the law, but they acknowledged room for improvement. The contract is on hold as the Procurement Policy Board plans to revisit the issue Tuesday and Gov. Pat Quinn's administration is urging caution.

"This is a serious matter that should be carefully reviewed now and going forward," Brooke Anderson, Quinn's spokeswoman, said Thursday.

The case illustrates the type of cozy relationship that the state wanted to be sure got an extra layer of scrutiny as part of reforms following the impeachment of former Gov. Rod Blagojevich. The idea is to improve transparency in how contracts are awarded.

The project in question involves renovations to the Urbana-Champaign campus's Natural History Building, where geology, biology and other classes are taught. The 120-year-old building is in such disrepair that half of it is closed, and the university considers it one of the campus's "most critical priorities."

The university gave the architectural design contract to BLDD Architects, a central Illinois firm where Bruce Maxey is a principal who owns 8.9 percent of the company, records show. His wife, Jill Maxey, previously worked at BLDD and is now U. of I.'s associate director of planning. In that position, she works on the initial stages of construction projects. That includes helping draft the scope of the work, coordinating the vendor selection process and helping determine budgets.

Bruce Maxey's firm won the initial contract over 33 others in 2010. BLDD scored just barely above the next two closest competitors, and the university agreed to pay the company $368,000 for the renovation plans. Satisfied with the plans and having secured funding, the university's board of trustees awarded BLDD an additional $4.3 million last December to continue working on the $70 million project.

In a post-Blagojevich world, contracts with potential conflicts of interest are required to go before the five-member procurement board appointed by Quinn and the four legislative leaders.

The oversight board didn't learn about the potential conflict until March — more than a year after the first contract was awarded and months after trustees approved an expansion of the deal. Procurement board members found out the university had bypassed them when the state's chief procurement officer for higher education, Ben Bagby, asked them to waive any potential conflict of interest issues for the upcoming work.

The procurement panel was not on board with that, however. In April, the oversight panel voted 4-0 to recommend the contract expansion be voided because of concerns about conflicts.

"I did not think there was enough transparency so that I could look anybody in the eye and say, 'There's no way … that this woman was involved in that project," said Bill Black, a procurement board member and former Republican state representative from Danville. "You've got to put it out there where reporters and other individuals can look at it and say, 'Ah, that was a fair process.'"

Ed Bedore, the board's senior member appointed by Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan of Chicago, suggested that the university is acting like it is "above the law."

The procurement panel's thinking was summed up in a letter written by its executive director, Aaron Carter, after the board's vote. "Even the perception of such a conflict of interest can create such a level of distrust with an individual, agency or university that it becomes just as damning to the process as an actual conflict of interest," Carter wrote.

The decision against the U. of I. represents a rare instance when the procurement board voted to recommend voiding a contract. Of the 678 potential conflicts reviewed in the past two years from agencies and universities across the state, the board has voted only three times to void contracts, a board official said. Two of them involved the U. of I.'s partnership with BLDD.

The procurement board's decisions are only advisory, however. Last month, Bagby determined he would disregard the board's recommendation and allow the contract to go forward. He agreed with the university's argument that it would be too costly to change course and pay another company to get up to speed. He also said there was no evidence that anyone acted improperly.

Though they can proceed, university officials indicated Thursday that they probably will wait until the procurement board discusses the issue again Tuesday.

"We will wait until we see the outcome of the meeting and any issues that may arise," said Mike Bass, a U. of I. senior associate vice president in the office of business and financial services. Bass also said he anticipates trustees will discuss the issue at their board meeting next week.

Jill Maxey did not return a call for comment, and university officials responded to questions in writing. University officials said they thought they had procedures in place to avoid a conflict of interest and did not realize they needed to send the contract to the procurement board under the state's new rules. Both the university and BLDD had disclosed the Maxeys' relationship as required, records show.

In addition, the university said it devised an internal "firewall" to keep Jill Maxey out of decisions involving the contract or her husband's company.

But during a May public hearing triggered by the procurement board's recommendation to void the contract, Jill Maxey's supervisor acknowledged that it was an informal wall, and there were "a few slips," according to a transcript. For example, Jill Maxey was copied on emails discussing the project's scope of work as BLDD's proposal was pending, the transcript said.

While Jill Maxey said she did not participate in the selection process, she appointed her subordinate, Tony Battaglia, to the committee. Battaglia had his own potential conflicts: He plays in a band with BLDD employees and his brother-in-law works at the firm.

Battaglia testified that he participated in narrowing the bidders to four but then "recused" himself from working on the final scores because of the associations.

Jill and Bruce Maxey testified that they did not discuss the project while BLDD's proposal was pending.

"Actually, it is going to be hard to believe," Jill Maxey testified, "but we don't talk a lot about the specific projects that Bruce works on because we know that this is a potential situation, and so we actually make a conscious effort to refrain from doing so."

Bagby, along with the deputy general counsel for the state's Executive Ethics Commission, ruled that the U. of I.'s "firewall" was too lax, but neither thought the contract should be killed.

In an interview with the Tribune, Bagby acknowledged that the BLDD contract is "not the best-looking one" but said the U. of I. acted aboveboard.

"You have a situation where the university knew of the potential conflict, it was disclosed, people in the office knew about it, and Jill is not in the decision tree," Bagby said. Going forward, he said, the university should have "a process in place that deals with this better than what was there before."

The two Chicago firms who had the second- and third-highest scores during the selection process both agreed to continue what BLDD started with little or no delays, records show. One declined to comment and the other did not return calls.

Randy West, a vice president at BLDD, said it would "absolutely not" be fair to void the contract. He said the company has worked on U. of I. projects for the past 30 years and has no plans to stop competing for work there. Both he and Bruce Maxey are working on the Natural History Building project.

"We adhere to all requirements and are transparent about any potential conflicts of interest that may arise because we have too much respect for the state and the university to do it any other way," West said.

While the procurement board members plan to discuss the contract at their meeting Tuesday, Bagby said it's time to move on. The university is aiming to complete the project by September 2013.

"You take a situation and you learn from it. Hopefully these things won't have reoccurrence so things can be looked at early on and ahead of the game," Bagby said. "We need to move forward."

Mountain State University lost their NCACS accreditation on July 10, 2012. On July 11, 2012 they got hit with a class action lawsuit. Do similar actions await non-hackers like Trident?

Quote:Burger v. Mountain State University, Inc.
Class Action Complaint
by Sean McGinley on 7/11/2012

A Class Action Complaint was filed against Mountain State University, Inc. in Charleston, West Virginia on July 11, 2012. Mountain State University is a private, for profit university head-quartered in Beckley, West Virginia, with campuses around West Virginia including in Charleston. On July 10, 2012, the HLC announced Mountain State University's accreditation was revoked, leaving thousands of students with worthless college course credits, now unaccredited, after many Mountain State students had incurred tens of thousands of dollars in student loan debt to pay the college. The Class Action Complaint against Mountain State University, filed by the Charleston law firms of DiTrapano Barrett & DiPiero, PLLC ( http://www.dbdlawfirm.com ) and the Webb Law Firm, PLLC ( http://www.rustywebb.com ), asserts claims false and deceptive practices, negligence, breach of contract, and breach of the covenant of good faith and fair dealing by the University and its Board of Trustees.

The Class Action Complaint explains that accreditation is a third-party stamp of approval that ensures universities or programs are meeting a minimum set of national standards. If a university loses its primary accreditation, any subsequent degrees conferred by the university are effectively worthless. The Higher Learning Commission (“HLC”) is the regional accrediting agency that accredits institutions of higher education in West Virginia. According to a spokesman for the HLC, losing an accreditation “is a very rare circumstance.” Mountain State University is the first higher education institution in West Virginia history to have its school-wide accreditation revoked.

In 2008, the HLC told Mountain State in its report that despite the university's strong financial position and rising student enrollment, "it is not clear how the University will continue to respond to future challenges and opportunities with no clearly defined process for updating the University's long-term plans; limited empirical evidence [transparency] guiding planning and budgeting ... no program review processes to determine and sustain academic quality and viability; and a lack of strong communication and collaboration in governance." The 79-page 2008 report went on to say "long-term planning was remarked as “not necessary” and “pie in the sky” by some employees and board members,’ and expressed concerns that there were no mechanisms in place to get feedback on how to improve the university.”

In 2010, a national agency (“NLNAC”) revoked the accreditation for Mountain State University's nursing school. That prompted the West Virginia nursing board to place Mountain State's nursing program on provisional status, for major problems in leadership and failure to keep up-to-date student records.

Throughout the accreditation problems, members of Mountain State's board of trustees said they didn't know how bad the issues in the nursing school were. They promised to take corrective action. But in June 2011, the HLC placed Mountain State University on "show cause" status, citing the school for its top-down leadership, lack of long-term planning, failure to collaborate with faculty, failure to give information to students, and the loss of specialized accreditation for the nursing program. The HLC gave Mountain State one year to make big fixes at the school or risk losing its accreditation altogether. Also, in 2011, the Chronicle of Higher Education indicated in its report that “[n]o other college in the survey [of 519 colleges] devoted such a substantial share of its resources to a president[,]” as did Mountain State University.

After a long, drawn out process of embarrassing events featuring then President Charles Polk, which included the revelation that Polk had a salary of more than $1.84 million in 2009 (according to media accounts) – higher than his counterparts at Harvard and Yale – and had used the school’s two private planes on an excessively high number of occasions, Mr. Polk was fired as President by Mountain State University's Board on January 19, 2011. Internal employees and students of MSU have indicated to media outlets that the Board obviously should have fired him sooner.

From 2008 through July 2012, Defendants reassured students and prospective students that Mountain State University was in sound shape, when in fact, such was not true. On June 28, 2012, the Board of Trustees of the Higher Learning Commission voted to withdraw Mountain State’s accreditation, effective August 27, 2012. The HLC’s action was made public on July 10, 2012. Students found out about Mountain State’s accreditation being withdrawn by hearing it on the news. The HLC explained Mountain State lost its accreditation after years of failing to correct major problems in leadership, program evaluations, and campus-wide governance. The Class Action was filed by Charleston West Virginia lawyers Sean McGinley, Lonnie Simmons and Robert Bastress, and Rusty Webb.

Stossel is talking about K-12 education in this article. But when big government controls all higher ed--by driving out all the non-conforming, independent, unaccredited, nontraditional, alternative, etc. programs--will the result be any different?

Competitive private education? There's a concept more powerful than Steve McQueen!

Quote:The Education Blob
John Stossel
Jul 04, 2012

Since progressives want government to run health care, let's look at what government management did to K-12 education. While most every other service in life has gotten better and cheaper, American education remains stagnant.

Spending has tripled! Why no improvement? Because K-12 education is a virtual government monopoly -- and monopolies don't improve.

In every other sector of the economy, market competition forces providers to improve constantly. It's why most things get better -- often cheaper, too (except when government interferes, as in health care).

Politicians claim that education and health care are different -- too important to leave to market competition. Patients and parents aren't real consumers because they don't have the expertise to know which hospital or school is best. That's why they must be centrally planned by government "experts."

Those experts have been in charge for years. School reformers call them the "Blob." Jeanne Allen of the Center for Education Reform says that attempts to improve the government monopoly have run "smack into federations, alliances, departments, councils, boards, commissions, panels, herds, flocks and convoys that make up the education industrial complex, or the Blob. Taken individually, they were frustrating enough, each with its own bureaucracy, but taken as a whole they were (and are) maddening in their resistance to change. Not really a wall -- they always talk about change -- but more like quicksand, or a tar pit where ideas slowly sink."

The Blob claims teachers are underpaid. But today American teachers average more than $50,000 a year. Teachers' hourly wages exceed what most architects, accountants and nurses make.

The Blob constantly demands more money, but tripling spending and vastly increasing the ratio of staff to student have brought no improvement. When the Blob is in control, waste and indifference live on and on.

The Blob claims that public education is "the great equalizer." Rich and poor and different races mix and learn together. It's a beautiful concept. But it is a lie. Rich parents buy homes in neighborhoods with better schools.

As a result, public -- I mean, government -- schools are now more racially segregated than private schools. One survey found that public schools were significantly more likely to be almost entirely white or entirely minority. Another found that at private schools, students of different races were more likely to sit together.

The Blob's most powerful argument is that poor people need government-run schools. How could poor people possibly afford tuition?

Well, consider some truly destitute places. James Tooley spends most of his time in the poorest parts of Africa, India and China. Those countries copied America's "free public education," and Tooley wanted to see how that's worked out. What he learned is that in India and China, where kids outperform American kids on tests, it's not because they attend the government's free schools. Government schools are horrible. So even in the worst slums, parents try to send their kids to private, for-profit schools.

How can the world's poorest people afford tuition? And why would they pay for what their governments offer for free?

Tooley says parents with meager resources still sacrifice to send their kids to private schools because the private owner does something that's virtually impossible in government schools: replace teachers who do not teach. Government teachers in India and Africa have jobs for life, just like American teachers. Many sleep on the job. Some don't even show up for work.

As a result, says Tooley, "the majority of (poor) schoolchildren are in private school." Even small villages have as many as six private schools, "and these schools outperform government schools at a fraction of the teacher cost."

As in America, government officials in those countries scoff at private schools and parents who choose them. A woman who runs government schools in Nigeria calls such parents "ignoramuses." They aren't -- and thanks to competition, their children won't be, either.

Low-income Americans are far richer than the poor people of China, India and Africa. So if competitive private education can work in Beijing, Calcutta and Nairobi, it can work in the United States.

We just need to get around the Blob.

Quote:Jun 13, 2012
The 50 Best Sources of Free Liberal Arts Learning Online
by Staff Writers

A liberal arts education can be the foundation for a career in just about any field, from politics to business, not just those directly related to liberal arts majors. Through these courses, students learn how to solve problems, think critically, write well, and gain a whole host of important facts about history and culture. That’s what makes these kinds of courses so essential in a well-rounded college degree program, and why so many colleges require students to take them, regardless of major.

Even if you’ve already signed up to take the basic liberal arts courses at your school, whether for your major or to fulfill general education requirements, it never hurts to take a few more or to expand your knowledge beyond the material covered in a course. We previously compiled a list of the best free STEM resources and now it’s the liberal arts’ turn, with loads of courses, lectures, reading material, and more on this list for you to look at and learn from in your free time.

Universities

These universities offer a wide range of liberal arts courses that students can access for free.

1 MIT OpenCourseWare:
MIT offers one of the largest collections of open courses anywhere on the web. While you might think they would just be STEM-related, there are actually a good number of liberal arts courses to choose from as well.

2 The Open University:
There are so many liberal arts courses to choose from on the Open University, from Art in Venice to the French Revolution, that you could take one every week and still not tackle them all.

3 Open Yale Courses:
Yale offers free courses in diverse fields, including African American Studies, Classics, English, History, and Art History, among many more.

4 UC Berkeley Webcasts:
Choose from courses in great liberal arts fields like anthropology and psychology when you head to UC Berkeley’s open learning site.

5 Carnegie Mellon Open Learning Initiative:
The bulk of the material on the OLI is technology-focused, but you can also find courses on French, speech, and soon, psychology.

6 University of Notre Dame OCW:
Notre Dame boasts an impressive collection of OCW in the liberal arts, with something to meet almost any students’ needs.

7 UCI OpenCourseWare:
Head to the University of California-Irvine’s OCW page to get access to courses in the social sciences, education, and the humanities.

8 OpenUW:
The University of Washington offers a limited number of courses for free, but some are on really great topics like the Civil War, Greek mythology, Hamlet, Shakespeare, and even JRR Tolkien.

9 Columbia Interactive:
While this site is no longer being updated with new material, the existing courses that are offered here are well worth your time to check out, covering everything from poli sci to literature.

10 Open Oxford University:
You don’t have to get accepted to this prestigious British school to take courses there. Instead, head to their iTunes U site and start learning about literature, nature, and much more.

11 Stanford University on iTunes U:
Stanford is another school with a standout collection of courses on iTunes U. Students can find everything from history to fine arts through the California school’s free offerings.

12 UMass Boston OCW:
Don’t miss out on the free resources offered by the University of Massachusetts-Boston. There’s a great mix of science, tech, and liberal arts courses to take advantage of.

13 Cornell University:
Architecture, communication, business, and music are just a few of the topics courses and lectures from Cornell focus on through their iTunes U site.

14 Cambridge University:
Find news, lectures, and even course material on this prestigious school’s iTunes U site.

15 Capilano University OCW:
Capilano offers free courses in liberal arts topics like art history, anthropology, English, geography, and philosophy.

16 University of Wisconsin-Madison:
Leading professors at UWM share their expertise through courses and lectures featured on this site.

17 King’s College London Podcasts:
Through free resources at King’s College, you can take a course in the history of philosophy or engage yourself in a humanities audio tour.

18 NYU on iTunes U:
Listen to lectures on subjects like French, Spanish, sustainability, architecture, and philosophy through NYU’s iTunes U portal.

19 Arizona State University OCW:
ASU provides a mix of OCW and lectures through iTunes U that can help you learn about a diverse selection of subjects, from geography to culture.

20 World Lecture Hall:
Use the World Lecture Hall site to help you find courses from leading universities around the world. Search by course, topic, or university.

Courses

You can also find great courses offered outside of universities, like those listed here.

21 Connexions:
On Connexions, you can search for free educational material on just about any liberal arts subject you can think of.

22 Wikiversity:
Whether you want to learn about architecture, ethnology, or history, head to Wikiversity for free course materials.

23 BBC Learning:
BBC Learning offers courses in topics like history, English, and religious studies, but some of their most popular courses can help you learn one of dozens of languages.

24 Fathom:
Find free seminars from around the world in liberal arts subjects when you use Fathom.

25 Saylor.org: This free collection of college-level courses offers students the chance to learn about everything from art history to English lit.

Lectures

If you are more interested in a short lecture than a whole course, there are plenty of options out there. Here are some that draw on professors, scholars, experts, and other high-quality sources.

26 Harvard @ Home:
Even if you live thousands of miles from Harvard you can get access to their lectures through the resources offered on their Harvard @ Home site.

27 Forum Network:
The Forum Network collects great lectures from authors, scholars, and public figures on just about every subject imaginable.

28 TED:
Some of the most brilliant minds in the world have lectured at TED events, and you can see what they have to say by visiting the organization’s website.

29 Princeton WebMedia:
Princeton is home to some seriously amazing lectures, a collection of which you’ll find here.

30 Academic Earth:
Use Academic Earth to find high-quality lectures from top universities in subjects like religious studies, art, history, literature, and political science.

31 MIT Video:
Check out the liberal arts-related channels on MIT’s great lecture site to explore the cutting edge of the arts, humanities, and social sciences.

32 Boston College Front Row:
You can score yourself a front-row seat to some of the best lectures at BC when you visit their website.

33 Conversations with History:
The University of California Berkeley sponsors and shares this seriously amazing series on history.

34 London School of Economics Podcasts:
Give yourself a free economic education by listening to a few of the hundreds of podcasts uploaded to the London School of Economics’ website.

35 Public Radio International:
Here you’ll find some great stories from public radio stations, covering topics like history, culture, and language.

36 Museum of Modern Art:
You can learn more about art history by listening to the resources offered by the MOMA, exploring the works of great artists like Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko, and Barnett Newman.

37 UCLA OID Webcasts:
The Office of Instructional Development at UCLA shares free video lectures of important campus events featuring great speakers and faculty research here.

38 Duke University:
Get a free education from Duke when you head to iTunes. Currently, the only full course they offer is in chemistry, but there is an amazing collection of free lectures that can be great learning tools.

Educational Resources

Do research, learn, and collaborate using these great educational resources in the liberal arts.

39 Bio Network: The Bio Channel is a great place to read more about some of the most important figures in world history.

40 Library of Congress American Memory:
On the Library of Congress site you’ll find documents, photographs, music, and more from some of the most pivotal events in American history.

41 National Archives:
Whether you’re doing research or just browsing, the National Archives are a great place to learn more about American history and life in other eras.

42 Federal Resources for Educational Excellence:
The U.S. Department of Education offers some great learning materials here on a wide range of liberal arts subjects.

43 Smarthistory:
Created by the Khan Academy, this online history learning tool puts standard history textbooks to shame.

44 Livemocha:
If you’re trying to learn a new language, give this interactive social learning site a try.

45 Smithsonian Folkways:
The Smithsonian shares its collection of traditional music from around the world on this iTunes U archive. It’s a great way to broaden your understanding of world cultures.

Reading Material

Pair your free courses and lectures with some free reading material offered through these sites.

46 Wikibooks:
Wikibooks offers access to a number of free textbooks and reading materials, which can often be a great supplement for other free courses.

47 Google Scholar:
Use Google Scholar to find academic articles on just about anything, including the social sciences and psychology.

48 Project Gutenberg:
When books reach a certain age, their copyrights expire and they’re free to share. You’ll find hundreds of these books, some great works of literature, on the Project Gutenberg site.

49 Bibliomania:
Bibliomania is another great place to look for free books, from fiction to drama to poetry.

50 FlatWorld Knowledge:
FlatWorld develops open source textbooks. Currently, you can access great reads on writing, college life, job hunting, geography, history, and psychology.

What's up with Gus? On Feb 21, 2012 there was action on the civil court registry followed by some County Recorder activity in May. I couldn't get my computer to print the County Recorder documents.

05/21/2012 PROOF OF PUBLICATION PUB DATE :05/14/2012
05/08/2012 TEXT NOAP ON UNKNOWN TENANT
05/08/2012 AFFIDAVIT OF DILIGENT SEARCH
05/08/2012 AFFIDAVIT OF DILIGENT SEARCH
05/08/2012 AFFIDAVIT OF DILIGENT SEARCH
05/08/2012 AFFIDAVIT OF DILIGENT SEARCH
05/08/2012 NOTICE OF ACTION - PUBLICATION PUB DATE :06/14/2012 DN01 DN02 DK01 COPY OF NOTICE & COMP. MAILED (4)
05/08/2012 NOTICE OF FILING: ORIGINAL AFFIDAVIT DILIGENT ETC & AFF OF AVOIDANCE ETC.
03/13/2012 SERVICE RETURN FOR UNKNOWN PARTY
03/13/2012 SERVICE RETURN FOR UNKNOWN PARTY
03/13/2012 SUMMONS RETURNED - NO SERVICE DN02
03/13/2012 SUMMONS RETURNED - NO SERVICE DN01
02/24/2012 28008 / 4558 Pages: 1 LIS PENDENS BK:28008 PG:4558
02/21/2012 COMPLAINT
02/21/2012 FILING FEE FOR MTGE FRCLS $ 1906.00
02/21/2012 SUMMONS ISSUED DN01 DN02
02/21/2012 CIVIL COVER


Party Code Party Name
PN 01 US BANK NA
DN 01 SAINZ, MARIA
DN 02 SAINZ, GUSTAVO A
PK 01 C-BASS TRUST 2006-CB9
PK 02 C-BASS MORTGAGE LOAN ASSET BACKED ETC
DK 01 SAINZ, MARIA SALOME

Klempner and his klonetards advocated expanding the "Stolen Valor Act" to apply to "fake degrees," i.e., any degree that doesn't pass through their strict sphincter of scrutiny. See, e.g., http://www.degreediscussion.com/forums/v...&sk=t&sd=a

Today the Supreme Court struck down the Stolen Valor Act on First Amendment grounds.

Stolen Valor Act struck down

Quote:The 6-3 decision, authored by Justice Anthony Kennedy with Justice Stephen Breyer filing a concurring opinion, found that the First Amendment does shield military phonies who only claim to have earned their awards. Justices Samuel Alito, Antonin Scalia, and Clarence Thomas filed a dissent.

The decision upheld a 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that found that California man Xavier Alvarez, who claimed he was a Medal of Honor recipient when elected to a local water board position, was simply exercising his free speech rights with the claim.

"The American people do not need the assistance of a government prosecution to express their high regard for the special place that military heroes hold in our tradition," Kennedy said in the majority opinion.

I remember John telling a short story he thought was very funny. It was about a Ph.D. student at Greenwich. The student needed a doctorate for some reason and got in touch with Bear. They worked out the details and the student was awarded the diploma in slightly under 30 days. John giggled as he wondered what an accreditor would have said about this. He of course defended it as being a completely honest and good process. But, he still did the girly giggle thing.

But here is the thing about this little event. Why was it funny in the first place and why the smirk and smile. If anyone else had done this Bear would have been on fire ranting and raving about mills. According to Bear it is possible to honestly grant life experience degrees in thirty days (if he is the one doing it). Ok, then why does he make such a big joke of others who mention similar such actions. He of course made light of his own actions ( just a little bit of course, though he let one know it wasn't something he thought much of or spent much time considering the action.

It seems to me that Bear always took the subject as something to do with a wink and a nod. He was never really serious about the small private dl schools. Just something to dabble in and make some bucks. Of course that's little comfort to the people spending thousands of dollars on his little boy hi-jinks.

He asked one student from a small dl school ( state licensed ) how he could be proud of a degree from that school. Guess what? Bear had listed the school as one of the best schools in America and even told the student it was a decent choice.

Bear has some balls. Tells you soup is good for you and then laughs at you when you eat it. What a great man he is. Don't believe me. Then just ask him.

Taking a serious look at Bear is like picking up a handful of Jello. No matter how hard you squeeze it gets away.

Talk about an oxymoron.? The "Obama Truth Team" has ordered the shutdown of a website critical of Dear Leader's handling of his Fast & Furious scandal.

Hey Obama: FUCK YOU!? We don't use the spineless, dickless GoDaddy libtards, so kiss our collective asses, you nazi fuck!?

But you know who does use GoDaddy?? Some little guy down in Miami who runs a board to facilitate the nefarious activities of his stalking co-conspirators.....hmmmm......

Quote:"Obama Truth Team" Orders GoDaddy To Shut Down Website
Information deemed "maliciously harmful to government"?

Paul Joseph Watson
Infowars.com
Tuesday, June 26, 2012

A political website that contained stinging criticism of the Obama administration and its handling of the Fast and Furious scandal was ordered to be shut down by the Obama campaign's "Truth Team", according to private investigator Douglas Hagmann, who was told by ISP GoDaddy his site contained information that was "maliciously harmful to individuals in the government."

Hagmann, CEO of Hagmann Investigative Services, Inc., a private investigative agency serving a roster of Fortune 500 clients, was given 48 hours by GoDaddy to find a new home for his website before it was deleted.

Hagmann was told the reason for the shut down was because the website featured "morally objectionable" material. After GoDaddy refused to identify the complainant, only saying that it was not "any official government agency," further investigation by Hagmann revealed that the order came from a group tied to Obama campaign headquarters.

Speaking with the chief investigator in the GoDaddy Abuse division, Hagmann discovered, "Ultimately it was found that the complaint originated ostensibly with a group associated with the campaign to re-elect Barack Hussein Obama."

Turning to his contacts within government, Hagmann then spoke with another source who confirmed that the "Obama Truth Team" was responsible for the shut down order.

"I'm laying this right on the doorstep of the Obama Truth Team," said Hagmann.

The "Obama Truth Team" is an outreach of the Obama 2012 re-election campaign that urges supporters to "help fight back against the attacks on President Obama and his record" by reporting supposed misrepresentations and lies. However, as ABC News reported, the "Truth Team" has mischaracterized legitimate criticism as smears in an effort to chill dissent against Obama. It has also been caught fibbing on a number of other occasions.

The same methods of intimidation were also very much in force during the 2008 campaign season. Under the guise of the "Obama Truth Squad", influential public figures in Missouri including St. Louis County Circuit Attorney Bob McCulloch, St. Louis City Circuit Attorney Jennifer Joyce, and Jefferson County Sheriff Glenn Boyer, promised to "respond quickly, forcefully, and aggressively" to "lies" about Obama.

As ABC News highlighted, this helped to create a chilling atmosphere in which "Missourians might be afraid of being prosecuted for criticizing Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill."

This is by no means the first time political websites have been shut down on a whim with no due process after official pressure is brought to bear on ISPs.

In December 2010 Amazon responded to pressure by Sen. Joe Lieberman and the Department of Homeland Security by axing the Wikileaks website from its servers.

GoDaddy itself is not renowned for its support for free speech. The company lost 37,000 accounts last year over its initial failure to oppose the controversial Stop Online Privacy Act (SOPA).

Despite the fact that his son was getting married on the same weekend, Hagmann was eventually able to move his website - HomelandSecurityus.com - to another server before it was deleted by GoDaddy.

"It took an incredible number of man hours and it was a tedious (and costly) process, but I have successfully moved my site out of reach," Hagmann told us.

Hagmann noted that his story from last month about a DHS inside source warning of coming mass civil unrest, which went viral on the Internet, was one of the primary reasons behind the effort to shut down his website.

Hagmann is now warning that any independent website which forcefully dissents against the Obama administration could be targeted next.

"I respectfully ask that you spread the word -- that the Obama "Truth Team" is out in full force, scouring any U.S. based web sites of any size or influence (yet small enough to be pushed around) that contains any information deemed "objectionable" to the Obama re-election campaign. Perhaps it's already too late. Regardless, people need to wake up now and listen to what we"ve been saying. There might not be a tomorrow," Hagmann told us in an email.

Watch a video about the Obama Truth Squads below.



See one of the GoDaddy emails sent to Hagmann below (click for enlargement).



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A press-release from unaccredited Almeda University, datelined San Juan, Puerto Rico. Let the klone stalking of "Richard Smith" begin!

Quote:Almeda University Discusses Path Forward for Online Learning Revolution
By Almeda University
Published: Tuesday, Jun. 12, 2012 - 3:11 am

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico, June 12, 2012 -- /PRNewswire/ -- The Wall Street Journal recently published a story announcing edX, a $60 million online educational partnership between Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. EdX is just the beginning of a revolutionary change in the educational system, the two schools claimed. Almeda University, an online educational resource, agreed that a revolution is coming for online education and it is not slowing down. In fact, Almeda believes the revolution will pick up steam in the coming years.

But some critics are skeptical of online learning, saying it will destroy the "college experience," which normally encompasses students being in campus and interacting with professors face-to-face. However, Richard Smith of Almeda University said the skeptics are "living in another time" if they truly think online education is harming a person's chances of experiencing college. Almeda University has provided online educational opportunities for the past 15 years. Although the experience is different, it is also new and unique to students.

"The college campus experience has always been exclusionary to a large percentage of the population," Smith said. "Almeda University began its mission in 1997 as an inclusive process whereby access to education was open to everyone. We believe that education should not simply be a small limited club -- but should be open to all who are interested."

Supporters of online education argue that students do no need to physically be on campus to get in a college education. One professor can reach thousands, if not millions, of students online at a more affordable price. Some people think online education equals only lectures, but Almeda University students gain so much more. They are exposed to an array of teaching tools and can work at their own pace.

In addition, online learning offers a substantial cost savings on not only the students, but the school too, Smith said. "Online learning allows significantly larger classroom sizes without creating a burden on administration," he said.

Despite what critics believe, online education does include social interaction, even if it's not in the traditional sense people have become accustomed to in past years. "The 35,000 strong Almeda University alumni have created a unique bond through online groups where they interact, exchange ideas and promote each other's businesses," Smith said.

ABOUT:

Founded in 1997, Almeda University has provided online educational programs to its students for many years. The educational facility offers a variety of courses so students will meet their academic and professional goals. The institution incorporates innovative technology into its Web-based environment to cater to different learning styles. Because of this effort, Almeda University can reach students of all ages and help them achieve their educational goals in a timely manner. For more information, go to www.almedauniversity.org.

SOURCE Almeda University

This is interesting, the genocidal Khmar Rouge which murdered over a million people was led by a former student at a French University.

Quote:In 1935, Sar left Prek Sbauv to attend the École Miche, a Catholic school in Phnom Penh. His sister Roeung was a concubine of King Sisowath Monivong, so he often visited the royal palace.[15] In 1947, he gained admission to the exclusive Lycée Sisowath, but was unsuccessful in his studies.

Quote:After switching to a technical school at Russey Keo, north of Phnom Penh, Saloth Sar qualified for a scholarship for technical studies in France. He studied radio electronics at the EFR in Paris from 1949 to 1953. He also participated in an international labour brigade building roads in Zagreb in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in 1950. After the Soviet Union recognized the Viet Minh as the government of Vietnam in 1950, French Communists (PCF) took up the cause of Vietnam's independence. The PCF's anti-colonialism views attracted many young Cambodians, including Sar.

In 1951, he joined a communist cell in a secret organization known as the Cercle Marxiste ("Marxist circle") which had taken control of the Khmer Student's Association (AER) that same year. Within a few months, Saloth joined the PCF. His poor academic record was a considerable advantage within the anti-intellectual PCF who saw uneducated peasants as the true proletariat.