Well the tide is finally turning. No longer is freedom of speech an automatic right to post negative information against another individual. Now you know that a judgment of $11 Million Dollars is got to hurt. Eric Deters is a real go getter. I would encourage anyone interested in setting the record straight to contact him at DAssociate@ericdeters.com or call 866-960-4878.
Looks like Dear Leader is getting some help in his role as Islam Educator-in-Chief. The NY state education department is busy making the US safe for Shiarrhea.
Last Updated: 3:26 PM, August 24, 2010
Posted: 2:33 AM, August 24, 2010
State testmakers played favorites when quizzing high-schoolers on world religions -- giving Islam and Buddhism the kid-gloves treatment while socking it to Christianity, critics say.
Teachers complain that the reading selections from the Regents exam in global history and geography given last week featured glowing passages pertaining to Muslim society but much more critical essay excerpts on the subject of Christianity.
"There should have been a little balance in there," said one Brooklyn teacher who administered the exam but did not want to be identified.
"To me, this was offensive because it's just so inappropriate and the timing of it was piss-poor," he added, referring to the debate over the plan to build a mosque near Ground Zero.
The most troubling passage came from Daniel Roselle's "A World History: A Cultural Approach," observers said.
The passage reads: "Wherever they went, the Moslems [sic] brought with them their love of art, beauty and learning. From about the eighth to the eleventh century, their culture was superior in many ways to that of western Christendom."
Meanwhile, an excerpt listing the common procedures used by Christian friars to introduce the religion in Latin America stated that "idols, temples and other material evidences of paganism [were] destroyed," and "Christian buildings [were] often constructed on sites of destroyed native temples" -- and built with free Indian labor, to boot.
"I can see why some people might see these questions as skewed," said Mark MacWilliams, a religious-studies professor at St. Lawrence University in upstate Canton. "Why does the exam seem to have only documents that portray Islam as a religion of peace, civilization and refinement, while it includes documents about Christianity that show it was anything but peaceful in the Spanish conquest of the Americas?"
...Yet Michael Dobkowski, chair of Religious Studies at Hobart and William Smith Colleges in upstate Geneva, asserted that it was only Christianity for which both positive and negative aspects were highlighted.
"Some [essays] suggest a kind of Christian triumphalism and the desire to convert the other that is not present in the treatment of Islam," he said. "My impression is that there is certainly a divergence of approaches and impressions that should not appear in a Regents exam of this caliber."
State education officials said that every effort had been made to present accurate historical information through the excerpts.
They said the questions had been developed over a four-year period and require students to use their own knowledge of social studies to produce answers.
They added that they weren't aware of any complaints about the exam.
The Muslim reading:
* “Wherever they went, the Moslems [sic] brought with them their love of art, beauty and learning. From about the eighth to the eleventh century, their culture was superior in many ways to that of western Christendom.
* “Some of the finest centers of Moslem life were established in Spain. In Cordova, the streets were solidly paved, while at the same time in Paris people waded ankle-deep in mud after a rain. Cordovan public lamps lighted roads for as far as ten miles; yet seven hundred years later there was still not a single public lamp in London!”
Source: Daniel Roselle, A World History: A Cultural Approach
The Christian reading:
Common Procedures used by Friars in Converting Areas in Spanish America:
* “Idols, temples and other material evidences of paganism destroyed.”
* “Christian buildings often constructed on sites of destroyed native temples in order to symbolize and emphasize the substitution of one religion by the other.”
* “Indians supplied construction labor without receiving payment.”
* “In a converted community, services and fiestas were regularly held in the church building.”
Source: Based on information from Charles Gibson, Spain in America
Illinois taxpayers are footing the bill for a fiction novel internet stalker George Gollin (George D. Gollin, George Dana Gollin) claims to be writing.
Gollin took a sabbatical--with full pay--from his job as a physics teacher at taxpayer financed University of Illinois to work on a "book" he already has been paid to write by the Crazy Guggenheim organization.
The purported book has nothing whatsoever to do with physics--the subject he is paid with tax dollars to teach at U of I. Instead he is writing about his role in destroying another private school in Liberia.
U of I spokesperson Robin Kaler has stated that for the university support Gollin receives, "it's for his work in his discipline."
Why are Illinois taxpayers being forced to fund a dubious project that is not only outside Gollin's area of alleged expertise, but which already has been bought and paid for by another source?
Gollin was sued in federal court by St. Luke School of Medicine for allegedly participating in a shakedown scheme designed to extort payment in return for continuing the school's accreditation. Gollin was alleged to have been a key figure in that extortion scheme, which ended access to urgently needed medical care for countless numbers of poor African men, women and children.
Gollin is said to be fond of another fiction writer, John le Carr, whose father was imprisoned for insurance fraud, and whose mother abandoned him when he was five.
Sniff, sniff! What is Gollin smelling (besides his own armpits)???? "These sons of bitches who smell money are just using the situation there for their own ends," says Gollin. "'They're monsters. They're just disgusting monsters."
When the taxpayers of Illinois see their hard earned tax money going to finance such frivolities as the study of Japanese lesbians, or paying a physics professor to make up stories about his internet stalking, they shouldn't have any trouble spotting the self-serving monsters.
Quote:Board Meeting
March 11, 2009
APPROVE SABBATICAL LEAVES OF ABSENCE, 2009-10
. . .
[page 7] Department of Physics
. . .
GEORGE D. GOLLIN, Professor
Second semester 2009-10, full pay
To design a calibration system for a particle physics experiment; and to co-author a book: Hijacking Liberia, regarding exposing diploma mills that threaten legitimate degree programs.
. . .
[page 14] Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures
KAREN LEE KELSKY, Associate Professor
First semester 2009-10, full pay
To complete a book on lesbian communities in urban Japan: The Personal is Personal: Predicaments of Lesbian Identity in Contemporary Japan.
What possible connection could a non-degreed dropout and gay boy pornographer like degreeinfo's Thomas "Chip" White have to higher education?
I dunno, but here's a PhD who figured out how to use the Gold Standard RA higher ed system to fund his porn projects, at least for awhile. Maybe if Chip hadn't tubed it at Oberlin he'd be getting the kind of moon shots he's always dreamed of at taxpayer expense.
Too bad Collins wasn't in Illinois or he could just claim his "personal hobby" should be considered "public service." Let's see if the porn industry has as much political pull as the higher ed cartel.
SOUTH BEND — University of Notre Dame officials say they fired a tenured professor because he spent more than $190,000 in research grant money and university funds on unauthorized equipment, including digital cameras he used to take pornographic pictures.
The allegations have surfaced in documents the university recently filed to defend itself from former electrical engineering professor Oliver M. Collins' breach of contract lawsuit.
A university investigation revealed Collins received the grant money for research and instead bought at least seven digital cameras, many lenses, surveillance cameras, an oversized printer and computer equipment he used to produce pornographic photos.
"Collins took many of these cameras and accessories to his home and used them extensively in pursuit of his personal hobby of photography, including taking landscape and pornographic photographs," the university states in a response recently filed in U.S. District Court in South Bend.
Pornographic images later were found stored on campus computers that Collins and others had access to, according to the university's response.
Collins filed suit in July claiming breach of contract by the university. He claims he was wrongly fired in June based on allegations that he misused research grant money and used campus computers to store sexually explicit images.
In the lawsuit, Collins claims that Notre Dame did not prove that his conduct represented "serious and deliberate personal or professional misconduct" and that dismissal wasn't merited. Collins claims he presented two expert witnesses at a hearing who testified that the equipment he bought might plausibly be used for valid scientific research.
Notre Dame officials, in their written response, claim the university incurred damages of more than $140,000 as a result of Collins' actions and the university's subsequent investigation of his purchases and conduct. Notre Dame is asking that the suit be dismissed and that Collins be ordered to pay the legal bills.
Collins, who now lives in Key West, Fla., has an unlisted phone number and could not be reached for comment. An Indianapolis attorney handling his case has not responded to phone messages.
Collins' lawsuit states his firing has severely damaged his professional reputation, making him virtually unemployable in a similar position, according to court documents.
Tenure, a common practice at American colleges and universities, refers to a professor's contractual right not to have his or her job terminated without just cause. Cases of tenured professors being fired are rare.
Collins' lawsuit claims the process that led to his dismissal didn't comply with the terms of Notre Dame's academic articles, because two professors who served on an informal resolution panel didn't later recuse themselves from participating in a hearing that led to his firing, and that an administrator who served on the earlier panel didn't recuse himself from testifying during the hearing.
Collins joined the Notre Dame faculty in 1995 with tenure. His academic research focused on information theory, communications, coding theory and precision measurement.
The provost's office informed Collins in May that a committee concluded there was evidence that he had purchased equipment different from that specified in National Science Foundation grant documents; failed to inform the NSF of the type of equipment purchased; submitted a false report indicating the grant money was used as intended; and used professional equipment for personal use.
The committee concluded that there was "serious cause" for Collins' dismissal. A campus appeals board upheld the decision, as did the Rev. John I. Jenkins, Notre Dame's president. Jenkins sent Collins a June 2 letter notifying him he was fired.
Quote:Prof. Oliver Collins Receives IEEE Judith A. Resnik Award
Oliver M. Collins, associate professor of electrical engineering at the University of Notre Dame, is the recipient of the 1998 Judith A. Resnik Award presented by the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE).
Collins's work was instrumental in allowing the Galileo probe of Jupiter to transmit information without needed telecommunications upgrades, and his concepts helped the Jet Propulsion Laboratory complete a decoding machine in 1990.
A member of the Notre Dame faculty since 1995, Collins specializes in deep space communications, satellite communications, and coding theory.
Collins attended the California Institute of Technology, where he earned his bachelor's degree in engineering and applied science in 1986 and master's and doctoral degrees in electrical engineering in 1987 and 1989, respectively. In 1994 he was awarded the IEEE Thompson Prize and the Marconi Young Scientist Award by the Marconi Foundation.
The Judith A. Resnik Award was established by the IEEE Board of Directors in 1986 in honor of the late Challenger astronaut and is presented to an individual for outstanding contributions to space engineering within the disciplines of IEEE, the largest and most prestigious society in the world of electrical engineers. The award is the highest international honor from IEEE, and consists of a bronze medal, a certificate and $3,000.
Bring it on, bitches. If you think you have a case quit playing with your tiny selves, throw down and lawyer up. Then you can learn first hand how anti-SLAPP suit statutes work.
"Free speech rights on a matter of public issue," i.e., this entire discussion board, you ignorant assholes.
Read carefully, you stalking rat turds: "Plaintiffs need to realize that there is a significant downside to filing a frivolous lawsuit aimed at chilling protected speech."
Online learning can shrink the cost of higher education by eroding the need for place-based instruction, Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates said during a presentation at the Technonomy conference in San Francisco last week.
"College, except for the parties, needs to be less place-based," he said.
Moving more learning activities online can bring down the soaring cost of a college degree.
"Only technology can bring [college tuition] down, not just to $20,000, but to $2,000," he said, citing price tags as high as $50,000 for a year of college.
Gates predicted that technology could soon make place-based learning five times less important for college and university students.
But for students in elementary and high school, Gates said he did not foresee online education shaking up the traditional framework anytime soon.
"I do not predict some radical change in that," he said. "K to 12 is partly about babysitting the kids so the parents can do other things."
Still, he said, technology would allow half the students in a class to be occupied with one activity while others are learning something entirely different.
He also hailed charter schools for looking for ways to use technology to enhance their offerings.
"Thank God for charters," he said. "There's no room for innovation in the standard system."
Gates pointed to "full-immersion" schools as an example. In these schools, he said, students work toward their learning goals during at least 80 percent of their waking hours.
They have a longer school day, attend school on some weekends and go to school for several weeks in the summer.
No affiliation, just passing it on. DETC-accredited California InterContinental University has an amazing deal going right now. Their regularly cheap DL degree programs (BBA $18,345.00, MBA $10,470.00, DBA $15,345.00) are now even more affordable.
You pay: $100/month until finished!
"The financing is interest free (0% interest)....Total amount financed includes the total tuition, registration fee, CCA exam 1 & 2 fees, and graduation fee. ... The last payment will vary depending on the balance due. There is no prepayment penalty."
This is the former California University of Technology (not to be confused with Cal Tech) that goes by the names "CalU" or "CalUniversity" (not to be confused with Cal or the University of California in Berkeley).
The hokey name and the non-RA accreditation notwithstanding, this is still a terrific bargain. If money is standing between you and, say, an MBA or a doctorate from right here in the USA, this is your ticket.
(This deal is not mentioned on their website, so don't worry if you can't find it there. And no telling how long it will last.)
If you are interested go online to pay the application fee, then return the form below.
Distance learning icon Dr. Neil Hayes has authored a featured article in the March 2010 issue of Southern Bird, a publication of the Ornithological Society of New Zealand. Entitled "Pateke In Recovery Mode," the article looks at the bird's population decline and recovery in New Zealand.
Dr. Hayes has done some great work down there in NZ, preserving the rare birds from extinction, shooting the tasty ones for dinner, and helping folks like us tell the difference.
Congratulations Dr. Hayes on another great effort!
A brief quote here, and the full doc attached below:
Quote:Introduction
The endemic Brown Teal Anas chlorotis or Pateke has been under threat of premature extinction (infuenced by humans) since Europeans started arriving in New Zealand in the 1800’s, initially accompanied by rats, cats and dogs, and eventually by ferrets, stoats, weasels and hedgehogs. Wetland destruction and the destruction of native bush were also rampant from those early days of colonisation and impacted heavily on Pateke survival, as did duck shooting. It is also becoming widely acknowledged that the ever expanding Australasian Harrier population is also adversely infuencing the survival of Pateke ducklings and adults, along with the Pukeko, which kills ducklings of all species seemingly just for the sake of it!
Fossil research completed in 2002 determined that Pateke were present in New Zealand at least 10,000 years ago, and that they were widespread in large numbers throughout the country and inhabited most types of wetland habitat: lakes, rivers, lagoons, ponds, creeks, forest streams, swamps, estuaries, etc. This research confrmed what Peter Scott (founder of the UK’s Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust) said in 1960, that he believed “brown teal were an ancient and primitive form of duck.”
Pateke
Pateke evolved in an almost predator free environment and the Brown Teal Conservation Trust believes that the species evolved from the very beginning of life in New Zealand, which is why Pateke have a number of unique characteristics which are not commonly found in other species of waterfowl, such as:
Nocturnal behaviour
Murderous nature of an established pair
(In 1960 when Peter Scott received three brown teal at WWT Slimbridge he said that he hoped New Zealander’s were not of a similar nature!)
Long-term parental attention provided to their progeny by both parents
Great climbing ability
Incredible vulnerability to predation
Incredible vulnerability to being shot during the duck season – in spite of total protection from hunting from 1921 onwards
Judging from the amount of time students spend studying, higher education has dumbed down. In 1961, according to researchers Philip Babcock and Mindy Marks, the average college student spent 24 hours per week studying. But today, that figure is down to 14 hours, which is actually less than half of the study time colleges say their courses require. Could advances in technology explain the drop? Probably not, say Babcock and Marks, because “most of the study-time decline took place prior to 1981, well before the relevant technological advances.” They continue:
Quote:The study-time decline is visible across disciplines, despite the fact that some disciplines, such as mathematics or engineering, feature little or no paper writing or library research. We conclude from the evidence that the Internet and word processors are, at best, a small part of the answer.
Posted by Moe Lane
Thursday, August 5th at 7:08PM EDT
Tremble with fear at this enemy of the State of Oregon:
Her name is Julie, she’s seven years old, and she decided to sell some lemonade at a Portland, Oregon art fair… yes. You know precisely how this ends: it ends with a county public sector union employee with a clipboard making a seven year old cry by threatening her with several hundred dollars in fines for not having the right permits. And with the spokesmen for various public health departments justifying having their public sector union employees making a seven year old girl cry because, hey, you have to protect the public and the law’s the law.
Plus, it beats thinking.
Moe Lane
PS: Hey, if Blue State/Democratic-controlled governments want to avoid being raked over the coals because their convoluted regulatory schemes keep throwing up scenarios where public sector union employees have to threaten seven year old girls and make them cry, here’s a thought: don’t make the regulatory schemes quite so complicated. True, doing it that way requires one faction of the Democratic party (public sector unions) to have a fight with another faction (trial lawyers), but why is that my problem?
posted at 10:09 pm on August 5, 2010 by Allahpundit
Alternate headline: “Blogger posts greatest anti-statist story ever.” No foolin’. You don’t even need to read it; just look at the photo. Dude. Dude.
New midterms plan: Buy the pic, slap it on every piece of GOP campaign literature that’s sent out from now until November, net 100 seats.
Quote:The girl worked on a sign, coloring in the letters and decorating it with a drawing of a person saying “Yummy.” She made a list of supplies…
Julie was careful about making the lemonade, cleaning her hands with hand sanitizer, using a scoop for the bagged ice and keeping everything covered when it wasn’t in use, Fife said.
After 20 minutes, a “lady with a clipboard” came over and asked for their license. When Fife explained they didn’t have one, the woman told them they would need to leave or possibly face a $500 fine.
Surprised, Fife started to pack up. The people staffing the booths next to them encouraged the two to stay, telling them the inspectors had no right to kick them out of the neighborhood gathering. They also suggested that they give away the lemonade and accept donations instead and one of them made an announcement to the crowd to support the lemonade stand.
That’s when business really picked up — and two inspectors came back, Fife said. Julie started crying, while her mother packed up and others confronted the inspectors. “It was a very big scene,” Fife said.
Supposedly the inspectors only cracked down because she was at a street fair, not in her own front yard, and therefore she was, according to an inspector, “suddenly engaging in commerce.” Which is both depressing and refreshing, insofar as his definition of “commerce” is actually more credible than the Supreme Court’s.
Says the girl’s mom, uttering a line destined to be crocheted on pillows in many a tea-partier’s rec room, “It’s gotten to the point where they need to be in all of our decisions. They don’t trust us to make good choices on our own.” Exit question: Is this the most insane licensing-related story of the day? Exit answer: No.
![[Image: 29300_1thm.jpg]](http://www.libertynewsonline.com/files/content/29300_1thm.jpg)
![[Image: lemonade1jpgjpg-0930a77be036a276.jpg]](http://media.oregonlive.com/portland_impact/photo/lemonade1jpgjpg-0930a77be036a276.jpg)
