tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5803385070922797451.post3771438228333928269..comments2024-03-27T12:56:38.992-07:00Comments on The Skeptical Bureaucrat: Accidents and Artifacts In Prague TSBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02790614121966204073noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5803385070922797451.post-73208105185060588192014-01-04T15:48:56.105-08:002014-01-04T15:48:56.105-08:00GWB: Herman is certainly a great lecturer, unlike ...GWB: Herman is certainly a great lecturer, unlike many professors. I took a night class from him 10 years (?) ago, and as he would say, you didn't get the Reader's Digest version when you asked him a question. Consistently fascinating.<br /><br />The academic world is experimenting with online options, such as Massive Open Online Courses, and I suppose some kind of pay per view lectures could happen in the future. The American Historical Asociation is having its annual conference right now, and I'm sure some of the papers are about non-traditional forms of teaching. Controversial, however, because that breaks a lot of academic rice bowls.TSBhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02790614121966204073noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5803385070922797451.post-20301270331538279172014-01-04T12:52:43.399-08:002014-01-04T12:52:43.399-08:00TSB: A fun article about Roscoe Bartlett. The guy ...TSB: A fun article about Roscoe Bartlett. The guy is 89, has 19 patents and a wife who makes home made soup like mine. For about 6 weeks worth of Afghan war $$$ we could harden our electric grid like the Canadians did... but who needs electricity? gwb<br />http://www.politico.com//magazine/story/2014/01/roscoe-bartlett-congressman-off-the-grid-101720.htmlAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5803385070922797451.post-85799693752915996932014-01-04T11:43:16.474-08:002014-01-04T11:43:16.474-08:00TSB: There is a lot of free education appearing on...TSB: There is a lot of free education appearing on the internet. I decided to try a lecture on Plato and Socrates by a Berkely professor. The 1st 5 minutes contained comments about the upcoming exam and about 45 Umms and ahhhs. (It was 'unlistenable' but I did notice he was striking the fear of God into the students to stay awake.) <br /><br />By contrast, I have been reading the introduction to a new book by Arthur Herman on the same subject. Herman's last book, about the influence of the Scots on western civilization sold 250,000 copies. It occurred to me that if a student was exposed to that writing instead of that boring Berkely lecture on Plato's 'Republic' a lot more young people would grow up Iearning something about the world's first philosopher: Socrates<br /><br />I would bet that Arthur Herman would be happy if a million students were to have access to his new book on an e-reader like my kindle for a quarter or a semester for a nominal price like 10 cents a student. When the semester was over the student might be offered to purchase the book for a discounted price of say….half the kindle price or $7.99. Isn't this a great way to introduce competition into academia? Couldn't a professor like Herman peddle well produced lectures in the same way on the internet? What is keeping this from happening? gwb<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5803385070922797451.post-2664413017620182592014-01-03T19:40:53.534-08:002014-01-03T19:40:53.534-08:00Thanks James! It's been quite a year already a...Thanks James! It's been quite a year already and we have a ringside seat for all the real news! (If I had a pistol in my bedside table I would forget it was there.)<br /><br />TSB, I am almost finished with the intro to Arthur Herman's new book and I am pulling the kindle trigger on this one. It's going to be a great read. gwbAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5803385070922797451.post-71682014040940669932014-01-03T14:39:10.425-08:002014-01-03T14:39:10.425-08:00Killer pythons at 5 star hotels, exploding diploma...Killer pythons at 5 star hotels, exploding diplomatic safes in Prague, Global Warming scientists unable to find summer, a world gone mad I say, mad. On a positive note news that the post graduate job market for gender studies majors has exploded to 5 possibly, 6 positions nationwide with 4 being offered at MSNBC as interns. CNN has just broken the story that they have possibly found an item of real news, analysts say this is unexpected.<br />Finally our intrepid reporter TSB has filed his latest story proving without a doubt Hollande is still french. Back to you GWB!Jameshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13642228725661059539noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5803385070922797451.post-55786808644604312512014-01-03T12:43:40.444-08:002014-01-03T12:43:40.444-08:00GWB: Poor Hollande! I can't figure that guy ou...GWB: Poor Hollande! I can't figure that guy out; he seems such a sad-sack personality, but he gets the hottest women in French politics, especially his ex live-in, Marie-Ségolène Royal. <br /><br />Personal confession: I have a hopeless lust for 60 year-old European socialist babes, starting with Ségolène and including Sherie Blaire. I only wish I knew the secret of Hollande's way with the ladies. TSBhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02790614121966204073noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5803385070922797451.post-52044737428019209512014-01-03T11:04:12.886-08:002014-01-03T11:04:12.886-08:00James, TSB: Here is my nomination for funniest pho...James, TSB: Here is my nomination for funniest photo collection of the week. Behold the least popular socialist in the world! gwb<br /><br />http://www.zerohedge.com/sites/default/files/images/user3303/imageroot/2014/01/20140103_hollande.jpgAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5803385070922797451.post-66427537748305140652014-01-03T01:27:39.763-08:002014-01-03T01:27:39.763-08:00They're pretty close to Bali, so they must hav...They're pretty close to Bali, so they must have Pythons, I think. TSBhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02790614121966204073noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5803385070922797451.post-45941436373112658042014-01-03T00:51:27.336-08:002014-01-03T00:51:27.336-08:00http://www.juancole.com/2014/01/australia-hottest-...http://www.juancole.com/2014/01/australia-hottest-instability.html<br /><br />Take that climate skeptics! Hottest year down under since 1901. Even the pythons are trying to leave. gwb<br /><br />do they have pythons? Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5803385070922797451.post-402349516552487062014-01-02T16:27:56.060-08:002014-01-02T16:27:56.060-08:00James: Besides being unregistered, I'd like to...James: Besides being unregistered, I'd like to know whether they were Czech-made and provided to the PLO way back in the day. If so, they might not even be on the books of the factory that produced them. Czech small arms are excellent, and large quantities of them were sent to Libya, the IRA, Red Brigades, RAF, and others in the '70s and '80s. Carlos the Jackal favored them. TSBhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02790614121966204073noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5803385070922797451.post-43636103922947373402014-01-02T15:33:55.136-08:002014-01-02T15:33:55.136-08:00Aha! I have my first entry in the funniest stateme...Aha! I have my first entry in the funniest statement of the year contest. <br />"Prague Police Chief Martin Vondrasek told Czech radio news that the firearms in the safe were not registered"<br />Astounding!Jameshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13642228725661059539noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5803385070922797451.post-48038009881867580382014-01-02T15:03:07.931-08:002014-01-02T15:03:07.931-08:00Great report TSB: Don't forget the canon! gwbGreat report TSB: Don't forget the canon! gwbAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com