The Problem With Racial Dialogue

It seems strange to me that we cannot, as a nation, discuss race relations in anything like a civil manner. The recent incident between a white police officer and a black university professor in Massachusetts seems to only highlight that fact – there has been a flood of accusations and assumptions, but very few people have been able or willing to sit down and examine the incident on the evidence and known facts. Even the President of the United States, to use his own words, “acted stupidly” on this issue. The Civil War ended in 1865, Civil Rights were specifically codified in 1964, yet here in the Twenty-First Century there is no consensus on definitions of human rights, much less the proper relationship between people of different races. We have even reached a point where a person can start an argument by their choice of label used to describe a group of people.

To me, the heart of the problem is the tone. Most people mean no harm in how they speak and act, and so they don’t much like being lectured to by folks who don’t know the first thing about them, how they are guilty of this or that by association, or how they have to speak and act a certain way whenever they encounter someone of another race. In short, people don’t like being expected to take orders from someone just because of their race, no matter what race they happen to be. They do not respect the message from someone who delivers that message in a tone of condemnation simply for being a different race from themselves. A Black person who holds Whites in contempt is clearly no better than a White person who holds Blacks in contempt, or a Hispanic who hates Asians, or an Asian who hates Native Americans, or a Muslim who hates Jews, et cetera et cetera ad nauseum. The first requirement for a racial dialogue is mutual respect by and for all parties.

Thought For The Day

Imagine for a moment that when we die, we go to a place where we meet everyone who ever lived. Not just the people we wanted to meet from history or our favorite friends and family, but everyone.

As in, everyone you ever lied to.

As in, everyone you ever hurt.

As in, everyone you ever treated rudely or with disrespect.

As in, everyone you judged on the basis of how they looked, or what they could do for you, or whether you could make them do something you wanted.

If you knew, absolutely, that everyone you meet in this world, you will meet again in the next, with full knowledge of what you thought, said and did, and you would be the full and permanent consequences of how you acted here and now … how then would you choose to act towards the people you know, meet, and interact with in this life?

Demographics and the Presidential Election

Politics being an American sport as much as football or baseball, there has already been a lot of discussion about the 2012 presidential election (in addition to more reasonable discussion about the upcoming midterm elections next fall). It seems to me that to get a sense of the landscape for 2012 even this early, we would do well to look at the demographic conditions prevailing in the 2008 election.

I got my information by looking at election and exit polling results from presidential elections in 1972 through 2008. Dave Leip’s Atlas of Presidential Elections was very helpful in that part, while I had to use a variety of sources for the exit polling, although the New York Times was generally the most consistent source.

I am still chewing through the data, but found some interesting indicators worth consideration. For instance, the total voters for 2008 made up 41.5% of the population, slightly down from 2004’s 41.9% but above the 1972-2008 average of 39.3%. Obama in 2008 took 2.8 million more votes than Kerry did in 2004, while McCain in 2008 took 4.5 million fewer votes than George W. Bush in 2004. Barack Obama won the White House by about 8.5 million votes, the largest popular-vote margin of victory since Reagan’s 1984 re-election, when he beat Mondale by 16.9 million votes. 2.7 million more men voted in the 2008 election than in 2004, while women voters increased from 2004 to 2008 by only 450 thousand voters. White voters decreased from 2004 to 2008 by 1.3 million, while black voters increased from 2004 to 2008 by 2.9 million voters – since McCain won white voters by a margin of 55% to 43% while Obama won black voters by a margin of 95% to 04%, this demographic shift is an important element in the Democrat’s victory. Hispanic voters increased by 1.5 million from 2004 to 2008, and since Republican support by Hispanics fell from 44% to 31% while support for the Democrat increased from 53% to 67%, this also represents a significant shift which favored Obama. Voters under 29 (a strong demographic for Obama) increased by 1.8 million, while voters over 60 (a key sector for McCain) decreased by half a million voters, which also played into Obama’s advantage.

Consequently, the exit polls demonstrated that race, gender, and age all affected the outcome of the 2008 presidential election. The next step would be to consider the thresholds of those demographic qualities, or the historical levels of support needed to win.

With regard to male voters, Bill Clinton won in 1992 with only 41% of male support. Barack Obama came close to that, with just 43% support. If male voters continue to grow faster than female voters, this could be a problem for Obama in 2012.

The 13% representation by black voters was the highest ever in a federal election. Obama won the black vote by a margin of 14.9 million votes (meaning that Mccain took 6.4 million more non-black votes than Obama). To win re-election, therefore, President Obama needs to enjoy similar turnout by black voters; statistically every black voter who voted in 2008 but does not vote in 2012 is twenty-three times more likely to hurt Obama than his Republican opponent by staying home.

Seniors represent a readitionally significant and active voter bloc. If they return in numbers in 2012, this will be a significant problem for Obama.

End of a Despot

I write to bury Walter Cronkite, not to praise him. I almost did not write this article, since it is unseemly in the main to speak ill of the dead. What’s more, Walter Cronkite was undeniably a pioneer in broadcast journalism and many of his works and actions are worthy of praise. But then, we could say the same of Richard Nixon.

I mention Nixon because Nixon is rightfully stained forever for his actions in the Watergate scandal. Richard Nixon was also a pioneer in many ways, perhaps most notably his diplomatic strategy which set Beijing against Moscow in the Cold War. Nixon’s 1972 re-election victory is still the most second-most profound popular vote landslide in the history of presidential elections, Nixon having captured 60.7% of the popular vote (FDR in 1936 claimed 60.8%, the only time a presidential candidate ever got more of the popular vote). While no darling to Conservatives, Richard Nixon infuriated the Left, who looked long and hard for something to use as a political weapon against him. President Nixon handed his enemies that weapon in Watergate. There is a broad consensus that if Nixon had not resigned the Presidency, he would have been impeached, and if impeached he would have been convicted. Nixon was not nearly the only politician to abuse his power, but there was no real doubt that Nixon did abuse his office.

And this brings the story back to Walter Cronkite. Ordinarily, members of the press enjoy a certain celebrity and influence, but rarely is one journalist considered to speak as the complete authority on the nation’s welfare and direction. Cronkite built his credibility to the point, where for many Americans he spoke with indisputable authority. Cronkite played on that trust with his tag line each evening, saying ”and that’s the way it is.” A man never elected by the public, and answerable to no one, could say what he wanted and have it taken as absolute truth by many millions, simply because he was the person saying it. There is no indication that Cronkite ever stopped to consider the moral obligation he carried, or to balance his broadcasts in order to make sure he was as objective as his image. Instead, in interviews many years later, Cronkite admitted his liberal agenda and that he saw his role as an advocate for that agenda. Where politicians were known for their bias according to ideology and party support, Cronkite chose to hide his in order to falsely portray his opinion as established fact and popular consensus. In this, Walter Cronkite became a media despot, able to direct national opinion without any checks on his power and privilege. He was able to convince Americans that the war in Vietnam was unwinnable, by hiding facts which worked against his argument and distorting the significance of events in Vietnam. Cronkite helped build public support for politicians and programs he liked, while helping build opposition to politicians and programs he opposed. For all the talk from the Left in favor of the Fairness Doctrine, Cronkite had no intention of letting both sides be heard on key issues on anything like even terms. The man was a despot who cost lives and money and damaged the balance of power in America, showing that unelected dictators could claim influence and power here through sheer lies and trickery. In that regard, Walter Cronkite should not be compared to Richard Nixon, after all. Nixon, in the end, resigned and went away, and his actions were properly denounced even by his own party as wrong and against American ideals. Walter Cronkite could not manage even that much honor or integrity. He did much good, but far more damage.

The Right to Make Bad Decisions

When I was young, my father made a point about the importance of looking at things from other points of view. He believed strongly in Dr. King’s dream that all people should judged by their character and work, not their race, creed, gender or any superficial aspect. I was a bit disappointed, therefore, to find his ideals a bit inconstant when I told him about my fiancé, shortly after I proposed to her. My wife, you see, is of a different race, and while in theory my father was a man of broad mind, in the actual event he was far narrower in his tolerance. As time passed, he came to respect my wife and when we had a daughter he was delighted, but I recall the incident as an example of the distance between ourselves and whom we would like to be. I have met some very fine people in my lifetime, some of whom were people of great integrity, courage and ideals, and some who dismayed me with their attitudes and behavior. I notice that as I got to know people better, while some were clearly better or worse in their morals and actions, none were completely worthless and no one was perfect. Also, some people whom I could not stand in one way, were good people in others. You have to really get to know the person to see more than one dimension of their character, and over time many of us learn from mistakes and our judgment and behavior improve. That should not really surprise anyone; the whole automobile insurance industry is predicated on the belief that experienced drivers are generally safer and better risks than new drivers, and that education and time will improve the skills and habits.

I have also learned that some folks have to find things out the hard way. Having just completed my MBA, I went looking around for advice on the classes I still need to take in order to sit for my CPA license. Along the way, I found an interesting website which had a number of college forums. I visited the section on business schools, and found some lively discussions, including a number of prolific members with strong opinions but poor experience. It’s fascinating in a way, how people will voice an opinion on something they have never done and about which they really know very little. Part of that, I suspect, is the attraction of online forums, where you can writer as long a post as you please without fear of interruption. Sure, you may get a sharp retort, but the thing there is that it comes in response to your article or comment, and that means you are making things happen. In blogging, that’s pretty cool, but it’s far less cool when politicians start doing it.

Laws. There’s no doubt that we need them, but at some point they get to be burdensome, especially when the guys passing the laws make sure that they are not forced to abide by those laws. And at some point they become unreasonable, ridiculous, and cross the line into tyranny. Take the seat-belt law, for example. I’m all in favor of people wearing seat belts, they are a great invention. But a law requiring everyone to wear a seat belt? That, to me, is over the line. Think about it – if I have an accident and I am stupid enough to not wear a seat belt, who does that hurt besides myself? It does not increase the danger of the situation for other drivers or pedestrians, or the public at large. So what is that law meant to do? It’s a law meant to keep us safe. That may sound good, but nowhere in the federal or any state Constitution does it say that the government can pass laws in order to make us safer from ourselves. That’s why it makes no sense to ban trans-fats. Yes, it’s stupid to gorge on things that will give you a heart attack, but the government has no business choosing the meals of honest citizens. It’s one thing and a good idea to require restaurants to tell is what’s in their foods, so we can make informed decisions, but quite another to tell us we cannot make those choices ourselves.

The government passes more and more laws every year, and for what? Some of them are necessary, but in truth most are not at all necessary, and more and more of them take away our choices in order to protect us from the consequences of those choices. The thing is, if we are not allowed to make our choices, to face natural limits to what we can do and to see the direct consequences of our actions, instead being told by the nanny state that others will decide for us, then how do we learn? People today decry what they see as environmental threats, but they fail to realize that humans have faced such threats before – efforts to eradicate rats began when it was discovered that they carried plague, sanitation of the water supply began when it was discovered (then forgotten and later rediscovered) that there was a way to provide a clean water supply and remove foul waste, and coal was largely replaced with oil as the new energy source proved more efficient and cleaner. All of this happened without a single environmentalist agency. We are quite capable to seeing and addressing our needs through our own faculties and efforts, if only the government would stop pretending we cannot. Our economic markets can repair themselves, indeed history shows they always have, if only the government would stop borrowing generations of future earnings to try to create a solution by artifice. And the voters can be trusted to find and support the best candidates and political platform, there is no need or cause to keep presenting us with a PR-spun packaged candidate as fake as the late MJ’s nose.

We will make mistakes, to be sure. Some of them will be huge blunders, and that’s a fact. But that’s how we learn, and for all the best intentions of government, it’s more than time for these esteemed politicians to stop spending our children’s future, stop pretending they can control everything and prevent any bad news, and just go home to do some honest work. They do far more harm than good, and it’s apparent they are learning nothing themselves.

Nasty Politics

The word “nasty” was first used somewhere around 1400 CE, probably derived from the Old French word nastre which meant something bad and strange. But when used in conjunction with politics, the word ‘nasty’ puts me in mind of the political cartoonist Thomas Nast. Nast was the most famous cartoonist of the 19th Century, and is commonly regarded as the man who affixed to the Republican and Democratic political parties their mascot animals of elephant and donkey, respectively. Nast built his reputation and success on political attacks in his cartoons. His most common theme was to cast a well-known politician as a crook or predatory animal. That’s not to say that many of Nast’s targets were not the villains he cast, but Nast’s cartoons were effective partly because there was no forum for debate, no available recourse for the target – if the public believed the cartoon, you were toast. While many political historians lionize Nast, it should be remembered that he introduced a new dimension to character assassination, legitimizing the caricature of people as inhuman monsters in order to persuade his audience, without any sort of debate on the facts or evidence. In many ways, the rants of Michael Moore and Keith Olbermann simply carry on the tradition of Thomas Nast, the petty venom of Peggy Noonan and George Will carry on the same behavior of an earlier flame-thrower from their party (Nast was an important player in Lincoln’s 1864 re-election, and he was particularly savage in his malignment of George McLelland).

To some degree, such artists of malice are an evil we must endure; the same protection of freedom which allows one idiot to dress up as Hitler and stomp down a street on the one hand, allows David Letterman to prove himself a moronic misogynist and thug on a nightly basis on the other. But a line has been crossed when elected officials act in such manner. Without naming names, it is sadly obvious that the political world has degenerated to such a condition. We now have the closest thing to one-party rule with deliberate public disparagement of all disagreement for the first time in two generations. And as long as the public puts up with such behavior, it will remain the new standard, or become even fouler.

Education in Context

Going back to school to earn my MBA and pursue my CPA license gave me an interesting opportunity to revisit the way students think about their education. I had forgotten, frankly, the many assumptions students have about the effort needed to succeed and the worth of their degrees. As I entered my final semester at UHV and chatted with classmates in our capstone Strategic Management course, I was a bit surprised to find how many expected their degree to somehow automatically produce good job offers for them, even as the recesssion continued. Some of that, I think, goes back to the way students have lived up to a certain age – through the first 18 years of life, everything happens more or less in predictable fashion. Finish tenth grade, move on to eleventh grade, get the summer job one year, decide whether to go back there or try something new the next summer, because there’s always summer work, et cetera.

What also surprised me, though, were more experienced people like myself who returned to school and seemed to believe that their new degree would open new opportunities for them, in a fashion not very different from the kids. You’d think that a few years in reality would remind a person that the degree is a tool, and while it can be very useful or even critical to success, you have to use it effectively to get results, and your success depends on your work, your ability, and your opportunity. I spend a lot of time asking God to give me some of that third quality. Unfortunately, there’s no magic wand in this world, and that includes a degree from even the best university. I read earlier this spring in BusinessWeek that even some graduates from the Harvard Business School were unable to find job offers. That’s a real wake-up call for anybody, but that snooze button is more popular.

When I first became a manager, I hated marketing and sales. Not that they are bad in themselves, I just had no taste for them and wanted to work without having to sell things. Reality taught me, however, that you have to sell things all through your life, and if you don’t learn to sell then you are cheating yourself. Product number 1 is You. The package is how you portray yourself and your work, and your resume is the printed ad. And the degree(s) you earn are features you offer. I mentioned some time back that I chose to go to a lower-profile business school not only because of price and convenience, but also because I have established my resume to the point that a fancy school would not significantly improve my offers. That does not mean that prestige has no value, but you’d better think hard about what you have to put in and what you hope to get back, and how it will work.

The big jump from high school to college is not just that the work gets harder and much different in form and style, but also that you choose your school, your classes, the number of classes, and of course your major, concentration, or focus. And as you work your way through the degree plan, you may well make changes and adjustments to your plan. Some people even change their school, either upgrading to a more prestigious school or changing for other reasons, like distance or personal comfort. What is important here is to understand that earning your degree is meant to outfit you for the life ahead, at least to equip you with the tools to succeed in your work.

Basically, here’s how I see college programs and degrees in terms of work value. Before I start, I want to remind you that you should always get more than one or two opinions on this sort of thing, even if you completely agree with one person’s position:

School

Top-Tier for Specialty: If you can afford it and have the ability to handle a difficult and strenous curriculum, you should consider applying to the top school in your chosen field. It will be hard to get in, and such schools will drain you in the pursuit of your degree. However, earning your degree from the school generally acknowledged to be the best will help you get not only offers when you graduate, but better ones. The chief caveat here, aside from the cost and making sure you can handle the work, is to get a very wide input of opinion; for every school that is truly the best in its field, another six will claim to be as good.

Regional Leader: If you ask around, you should be able to find out which school is the best-respected overall in your part of the state. If you cannot afford or receive entry into the top school for your field, or if you are unsure about your field, it’s generally a good idea to go to the best-known school in your area.

Major State: Most college students go to a big state university, for the obvious reason that such schools tend to be reasonable in cost, have a respectable reputation, and are not excessively difficult. A nice, safe, average road to travel.

Prestigious Private: There was a time when I would have said this was a smart road, a way to stand out without obscenely high cost or difficulty. Now, I am not so sure. Private schools cost more than public schools as a rule, but from speaking with managers and executives I have found that private school graduates do not impress any more than public school graduates, except for top schools in a certain field. So, if you are considering going to a private school in your area that is not specifically known for excellence in the area in which you wish to major, you might want to rethink your plan.

Common State: The old stand-by, the closest large school. This has the advantages of being relatively inexpensive and not all that hard to graduate, but it also looks the part. The biggest problem is that there are a lot of schools that look like a student settled for them when they could not get into their first or second choice. And yes, your resume might look like that as well when you try to go find a good job with a degree from Boring State U.

Small Private: This is one to avoid. If a school is private but can’t point to any good reason you should pay more to go there than a public school, leave it well alone.

Corporation U: By that tag, I mean the for-profit schools which try to sell you on the idea that their degrees will change your life and be just as good as the schools your parents knew and might have gone to. The good news, is that many of these schools are accredited, they offer flexible schedules and they have a lot of students. The bad news is that businesses do not regard degrees from these schools as equal to a “real” degree. Sure it’s prejudice, but it’s also reality.

Diploma Mill: I should not have to mention these places, but they pop up so much I feel I had better say something. In short, here it is – your degree is bascialy worth the work you put into earning it. There’s no educational value to “life experience”, if you put one of these on your resume you will be discovered sooner or later, and when it does your career will be ruined. Diploma mills are like prostitutes; you should not be tempted, but if you are for some reason, remember what can go wrong for that one bad decision.



The next part is the sort of Degree you earn:

Associates:

The Associates degree is useful if – and only if – you then continue on to at least a Bachelor’s degree. No major employer is impressed with an Associate’s degree.

Certification: This can be useful or worthless. A certificate is nowhere near a degree, at best it represents a small set of courses, ususally fewer than five, in a specific category of study. However, for some jobs certification is an advantage if it applies to the work.

Bachelor of Arts: It’s commonly said that what took a high school diploma in the 1960s, needs a Bachelor’s Degree today. But there are two general flavors of Bachelor’s degree, and the B.A. is clearly the weak sister on this level. The reason for this, is that the majors which lead to a B.A. degree are generally less practical than those which lead to a Bachelor of Science degree. Also, some majors allow for either a B.A. or B.S., but require more work for the B.S. degree. The B.A. is best when it leads to a more advanced degree.

Bachelor of Science: This degree is the basic tool for an effective education that leads to gainful employment (I include the B.B.A. in this category). The Bachelor of Science degree represents real world at an established standard level of proficiency, and it also can serve as the foundation for further degrees.

Masters Degree: The Masters degree takes your studies to the next level, but also discriminates against general knowledge. That is, a Masters degree in a subject focuses on the concentration more than does the Bachelor’s degree, so there is less flexibility. That is, a Master’s in one subject will not qualify you for jobs requiring a Master’s in a different area.

Master of Business Administration: The M.B.A. is the premier degree for business professionals. That said, if the job specifies a different degree, such as a Masters in Accountancy, the M.B.A. will probably not meet the requirement.

Doctorate: An effective degree for teaching, research, and government positions. Otherwise, not likely to be worth the effort, except in specialized fields like Medicine or Law.

Top Online MBA School Profile - #10 The University of North Dakota

The University of North Dakota finished in tenth place among AACSB-accredited schools offering online MBAs. This article profiles the school.

The University of North Dakota was founded in 1883. An interesting bit of trivia, is that the University was named for North Dakota six years before the territory was named as the state of North Dakota.

UND offers only one MBA degree but says it is “interdisciplinary".

UND’s MBA requires 32 hours of coursework (11 classes). The curriculum requires a minimum two years to complete.

According to the AACSB, the average GMAT score of UND’s MBA students is 566.5. UND says the minimum accepted GMAT score is 500.

Tuition at UND for all students is $244.75 per semester hour, plus $52.74 per credit hour mandatory fees, $50.00 per credit hour for online fee, tallying $347.49 per semester hour. Therefore a student will pay $11,120 in tuition and fees for an MBA from UND. Add in books, and a student will pay about $13,320 for a UND MBA.

According to the AACSB, 102 of 1,744 total students at UND are MBA students (05.8%).

Top Online MBA School Profile - #9 University of Colorado at Colorado Springs

The University of Colorado at Colorado Springs finished in ninth place among AACSB-accredited schools offering online MBAs. This article profiles the school.

UCCS was founded in 1965 as an extension of the University of Colorado system.

UCCS allows students to earn their MBA in face-to-face classes or online as they choose; the courses are identical. Degree specializations are Finance, General Business, Health Care Administration, Information Systems, International Business, Management, Marketing, Project Management, Space Systems Management, and Technology Management.

The curriculum requires 12 courses for 36 hours of work, to be taken in 18 to 60 months, but usually completed in 2 or 3 years.

According to the AACSB, the average GMAT score of UCCS’s MBA students is 555. UCCS says the average GMAT score for its students is 550.

Tuition and fees at UCCS vary by the number of hours taken per semester. Since the school recommends 2 or 3 years, the average of 30 months for the 12 courses, or 6 hours per semester is used here. The tuition for Colorado residents is $2,929 for six hours of courses, and $5,879 for non-residents. Therefore a Colorado resident will pay about $8,827 in tuition and fees for an MBA from UCCS, while a non-resident will pay $17,677 in tuition and fees. Add in books, and a Colorado resident will pay about $11,227 for an MBA from UCCS, and a non-resident will pay about $20,077 for an MBA from UCCS. UCCS has a $25 Matriculation fee and a $15 Student ID fee.

According to the AACSB, 402 of 1,436 total students at UCCS are MBA students (28.0%).

Top Online MBA School Profile - #7 (tie) Wayne State University

Wayne State finished in a tie for seventh place among AACSB-accredited schools offering online MBAs. This article profiles the school.

Wayne State is an urban research university located in Detroit, Michigan. Wayne State was originally founded in 1868 as the Detroit Medical College, which is now the Medical School at WSU. The school took its present name in 1956.

Wayne State offers a variety of MBA programs, traditional to part-time to Saturday to Online classes (warning – online classes require final exams to be taken in person on campus) to a dual JD/MBA degree. Wayne State offers concentrations in Accounting, Finance, General Business, Management, Marketing, Human Resource, International Business, Leadership and Organizational Behavior, Management Information Systems, Quality Management, and Taxation.

Wayne State’s MBA requires 36 semester hours, or twelve courses, byond what it calls pre-foundational requirements, which can usually be satisfied with a Bachelor’s degree in a business major.

According to the AACSB, the average GMAT score of Wayne State’s MBA students is 530. Wayne State says the minimum accepted GMAT score is 450.

Tuition and fees at Wayne State for Michigan residents are $414.50 per semester hour, and $846.10 for non-residents. Therefore a Michigan resident will pay about $14,922 in tuition and fees for an MBA from Wayne State, while a non-resident will pay $30,460 in tuition and fees. Add in books, and a Michigan resident will pay about $17,322 for a Wayne State MBA, and a non-resident will pay about $32,860 for an MBA from Wayne State. If foundational courses are needed, a Michigan resident will pay $25,983 for an MBA from Wayne State and a non-resident would pay $49,289.

According to the AACSB, 1,186 of 3,924 total students at Wayne State are MBA students (30.2%).

Top Online MBA School Profile - #7 (tie) Morehead State University

Morehead State finished in a tie for seventh place among AACSB-accredited schools offering online MBAs. This article profiles the school.

Morehead State was founded in 1887 as Morehead Normal School in Morehead, Kentucky, becoming Morehead State University in 1968.

MSU offers an online MBA with concentrations in Accounting or Management.

MSU’s online MBA is a twelve-course, 36 semester hour curriculum, provided that six “foundation” courses in business are already taken; an undergraduate business degree will suffice, or the student must take these initial courses in addition to the 12 courses needed for the MBA itself.

According to the AACSB, the average GMAT score of MSU’s MBA students is 499. Morehead State says the minimum accepted GMAT score is 400.

Tuition and fees at MSU for all online students is $422 per semester hour, or $1,266 per course. Therefore an MBA from Morehead State University will cost $15,192 for a student with a Bachelor’s degree in a business major, or $22,788 for a student who needs to take the foundation courses. Add the cost of books and course supplies, and a Morehead State MBA costs $17,592 for a student with a business bachelor’s degree, and $25,988 for a student who needs to take the foundational courses.

According to the AACSB, 202 of 884 total students at Morehead State are MBA students (22.9%).

Top Online MBA School Profile - #5 (tie) University of Houston at Victoria

UH-Victoria finished in a tie for fifth place among AACSB-accredited schools offering online MBAs. This article profiles the school.

UH-Victoria is an extension of the University of Houston system. The University of Houston was founded in 1927, and the Victoria campus was opened in 1973, and became UH-Victoria in 1983. UHV was created primarily as a school for upper-level undergraduates and graduate instruction. UHV received approval this year to become a full four-year university for undergraduate studies, making it a full university in every respect.

UHV offers a variety of MBA programs, all of which allow some or all courses to be taken online. The Strategic MBA, UHV’s most popular MBA, allows for concentrations in Accounting, Finance, General Business, Management, Marketing, and International Business. The Strategic MBA requires 48 hours of coursework (16 classes).

According to the AACSB, the average GMAT score of UHV’s MBA students is 479. UHV says the minimum accepted GMAT score is 450.

Tuition and fees at UHV for Texas residents is $268 per semester hour, and $495 for non-residents. Therefore a Texas resident will pay about $12,864 in tuition and fees for a Strategic MBA from UHV, while a non-resident will pay $23,760 in tuition and fees. Add in books, and a Texas resident will pay about $16,064 for a Strategic MBA, and a non-resident will pay about $26,960 for a Strategic MBA from UHV.

According to the AACSB, 866 of 1,189 total students are MBA students (72.8%).

Top Online MBA School Profile - #5 (tie) Tennessee Technological University

Tennessee Tech finished in a tie for fifth place among AACSB-accredited schools offering online MBAs. This article profiles the school.

Tennessee Technological University opened in 1912 as Dixie College. The school struggled until after World War 2, but grew steadily after the war.

TTU offers six concentrations fot its MBA: Accounting, Finance, Human Resource Management, International Business, Management Information Systems (MIS), and Risk Management and Insurance. Distance courses are identical in content to classroom courses.

The TTU MBA is a 30-hour (ten class) regimen which may be taken at whatever pace the student prefers.

According to the AACSB, the average GMAT score of TTU’s MBA students is 530; TTU’s website says its minimum GMAT score for admission is 450.

Tuition and fees for Tennessee Tech’s online MBA students are $385 per semester hour for Tennessee residents and $858 per semester hour for out-of-state residents. So tuition and fees for a Tennessee resident at TTU would sub-total $11,550 for an MBA program, while out-of-state residents would pay $25,740 for tuition and fees. Add in the books and course materials and you’re looking at about $14,550 for a Tennessee resident and $28,740 for a non-Tennessee resident to earn a TTU MBA.

According to the AACSB, 236 of 1,482 total students are MBA students (15.9%).

Life Support Returned

The AC is fixed. I know a lot more about capacitors now.

John Moore Two Thumbs Down

Somebody want to explain to me why a company that "is not accepting new customers" would advertise on TV, newspapers, the phone book and the web?

Argh. Still looking. House and personal temperatures continue to rise.

No Air Conditioning

Attic unit runs, but not the backyard unit. That thing just hummmmmmmms in an ominous way.

House temp up to 83 and climbing. Wife is not happy.

Seeking assistance.

Top Online MBA School Profile - #4 University of Colorado at Denver

Colorado at Denver finished a very solid fourth place among AACSB-accredited schools offering online MBAs. This article profiles the school.

The University of Colorado at Denver was founded in 1912 as the downtown campus for the University of Colorado.

UCD offers an MBA with specializations available in Business Marketing, Consumer Marketing, Business Intelligence, Business Strategy, Change Management, Corporate Financial Management, Decision Sciences, Enterprise Technology Management, Entrepreneurship, Finance, Financial Analysis, Human Resource Management, Information Systems, International Business, Investment Management, Managing for Sustainability, Services Management, and Sports and Entertainment Management. UCD also offers professional post-graduate certification for additional classwork. UCD also offers dual MS/MBA degrees in accounting, finance, information systems, international business, management or marketing. UCD students may finish their MBA in as little as 16 months or as long as 5 years.

According to the AACSB, the average GMAT score of UCD’s MBA students is 600; UCD says the average GMAT score for enrolled students is 560.

According to the AACSB, 1,207 of UCD’s 2,857 total students are MBA students (42.25%).

Sixteen classes are required for the UCD MBA, or 48 semester hours minimum.

Tuition for the MBA for Colorado residents is $482 per semester hour, and $1,146 per semester hour for out-of-state students. There is an online fee of $100 per course, plus $50 for online labs. Consequently, Colorado students would expect to pay $25,536 in tuition and fees for an MBA, while out-of-state students would pay $57,408 in tuitition in fees. Add another $3,200 in books and course materials, and a UCD MBA for a Colorado resident costs around $28,736 and $59,608 for an out-of-state student.

Top Online MBA School Profile - #3 East Carolina University

East Caroina also finished less than one point out of first place, but had to settle for third among AACSB-accredited schools offering online MBAs. This article profiles the school.

East Carolina University was founded in 1907 as a training school for teachers, with its first classes beginning in 1909. The original name was East Carolina Teachers Training School, changed to East Carolina Teachers College, then East Carolina College, and finally East Carolina University in 1967.

ECU’s Business School was founded in 1936, offers full-time and online MBA degrees. ECU allows students to take from one to five courses per semester, with concentrations available in Accounting (with undergraduate degree in Accounting), or General Business MBA, with optional certificates available in Finance, Environmental Planning, Health Care, Hospitality Management, Management Information Systems, Professional Investment, Security Studies, Sport Management, and Supply Chain Management for additional classwork.

ECU also offers an MBA for medical students. According to the AACSB, the average GMAT score of ECU’s MBA students is 526; ECU says the minimum acceptable GMAT score is 500.

According to the AACSB, 854 of 3,444 total students are MBA students (24.79%).

Tuition for MBA students at ECU is $219 per semester hour for North Carolina residents, and $725 per semester hour for out-of-state students. ECU offers scholarships to MBA Students, but only five a year for merit and five a year for need. Assistanships are avaiable only to full-time MBA students. Waiver for the out-of-state premium is considered only for a limited number of applicants, and requires at least a 650 GMAT score for consideration.

Twenty classes minimum must be taken for the ECU MBA, so tuition for in-state online students would cost $13,140, and out-of-state students would need to pay $43,500. The additional courses for specific concentrations would add about $1,971 to an in-state student’s tuition cost and another $6,525 to an out-of-state student’s total tuition. That does not include course materials, though, so with 20 classes you’re looking at about another $4,000 in textbooks and supplemental material, so the actual price tag is around $19,111 for an in-state ECU MBA, and 54,025 for an out-of-state MBA from East Carolina University.

Top Online MBA School Profile - #2 Drexel University

Drexel University just missed taking top honors among AACSB-accredited schools offering online MBAs. This article profiles the school.

Drexel University was founded in 1891 as Drexel Institute, a private school focusing on “Art, Science, and Industry”. The Philadelphia, PA school operates the Bennett S. Lebow College of Business. Drexel offers full-time, part-time, Distance and Executive MBA programs. In terms of online MBAs, Drexel’s program is called the MBA Anywhere program. The MBA Anywhere offers concentrations in Finance, Entrepreneurship, Marketing, or Engineering Management. Drexel also offers an online Corporate MBA in Pharmaceutical Management.

According to the AACSB, the average GMAT score of Drexel’s MBA students is 600; Drexel says the minimum acceptable GMAT score is 600.

The MBA Anywhere at Drexel is a 20-course curriculum, featuring 17 “cohort” classes taken at the same time as contemporaneous classmates, plus three on-campus residency seminars, all to be completed in 24 months. The rigorous 60-credit course load is more difficult than most MBA programs, but the program is nationally recognized; the Lebow School is often highly regarded as a prominent “second tier” Business School and BusinessWeek ranks Drexel’s Part-Time MBA as the 10th best in the nation, making it arguably the most prestigious university to offer an online MBA.

One significant advantage to Drexel is that the Lebow school operates an MBA Career Services office, designed to help MBA graduates make immediate use of their MBA in their career. This office is open to MBA Anywhere students just the same as any MBA student at Drexel.

According to the AACSB, 747 of 3,283 total students are MBA students (22.75%).

Tuition for MBA students at Drexel is the same, in-state or out-of-state. Drexel charges $54,000 in tuition and fees for a one-year full-time MBA, not including course materials, room and board. Per credit-hour charges are $915 each, so a 60-hour curriculum would cost $54,900. Drexel advises online students to inquire for specific costs for online classes, indicating additional fees would be applicable, although their website says the MBA Anywhere is a flat $54,000.

That does not include course materials, though, so with 20 classes you’re looking at about another $4,000 in textbooks and supplemental material, so the actual price tag is around $58,000. But at least it’s simple and clear, no hiding the cost.

Top Online MBA School Profile - #1 Auburn University

Auburn University won a close contest among AACSB-accredited schools offering online MBAs. This article profiles the school.

First off, Auburn University is a well-known name among American Universities. Founded in 1856, the Alabama university first established its name as a liberal arts school, and indeed that remains its primary focus. Auburn also takes pride in its Business School and MBA program, which offers full-time, part-time, Distance and Executive MBA programs. In terms of online MBAs, Auburn boasts that over 1,100 alumni have earned an “Outreach” MBA from Auburn.

Auburn says that online classes average 10-15 students, providing a strong opportunity for contact and discussion with the professors. According to the AACSB, the average GMAT score of Auburn’s MBA students is 606.3; Auburn’s website says its mean GMAT score for new entrants is 643. Tuition for Alabama residents in 2008 was $3,120.00 for 10-15 hours, plus $8.00 per semester hour; if less than ten hours was taken in a semester, there is a registration fee of $540.00 plus $258.00 per credit hour taken. Online students must also pay a $67.00 fee per semester plus $166.00 online service fee per semester hour (all rates for Alabama residents). If a student is not an Alabama resident, the following conditions apply - $9,360.00 for 10-15 hours, plus $8.00 per semester hour; if less than ten hours was taken in a semester, there is a registration fee of $1,620.00 plus $774.00 per credit hour taken. Online students must also pay a $67.00 fee per semester plus $166.00 online service fee per semester hour. The Distance MBA at Auburn has a minimum required curriculum of 12 courses, or 36 semester hours. Auburn’s website indicates the degree in meant to be earned over seven semesters. Auburn has a one-time requirement for a five-day on-campus Strategy Case Analysis competition. Applicants with “strong academic backgrounds” and GMAT scores above 620 are often awarded “Graduate Assistantship” titles which include tuition waiver and a living expenses stipend, although this is not available to distance MBA students .

Therefore, most residents of Alabama would pay $19,585 in tuition and fees and non-Alabaman students would pay $45,649 in tuition and fees for an Auburn MBA. Add in the books and course materials and you’re looking at about $21,025 for an Alabama resident and $47,089 for a non-Alabama resident to earn an Auburn MBA.

Auburn offers 12 options in MBAs including dual MS/MBAs in Information Systems or Industrial Systems. According to the AACSB, 562 of 4,375 total students are MBA students (12.8%).

The 25 Top Online MBA Schools 2009

In my earlier article I discussed the different types of MBA programs in terms of how to earn them. This article ranks the 25 best, in my opinion. So to start, let me explain why I believe I have any business ranking online MBA programs. The short answers are one, no one else is really doing it to any serious effort; and two, there are some reasonably objective criteria by which such programs can be measured against one another. I will also say that a great deal more information is available now than in 2006, so my rankings will be a bit different, as they now use ten types of data to reach the results. That data was provided by the websites of the schools evaluated, as well as information from the Association for the Advancement of Collegiate Schools of Business(AACSB), the largest international accrediting body for business schools.

I’d like to stop here and go over some information about the AACSB, and its member schools. The AACSB has 1,081 accredited colleges and universities for business worldwide. Of those, 512 schools offer a Masters degree of some type of business major, and 498 offer the MBA degree. But only 3.4 percent of MBA students earn their degree online. Consequently, I only found 77 AACSB-accredited schools which actively offer an online MBA at this time. That cuts down the field considerably. There are a handful of schools which also advertise an online program, but have no participating students at this time, and there are also a few schools which are just starting up online MBA programs – I left them off because there is not enough data at this time to say how well they are doing with their new programs. So later there may well be more schools to consider, but for now we are looking at a field of 77. And in case you’re wondering, none of those for-profit schools you see advertised on TV are AACSB-accredited; schools like the University of Phoenix, Devry, or Capella may or may not give you a good education and may or may not be worth the money, but they are none of them accredited with the AACSB, and that’s a serious problem you should know about before signing up with them. Those schools will be discussed in a future article.

So, how to rank the online schools? When I started looking up the data, I found eight relevant types of information, plus two rankings I could use to leaven my subjectivity somewhat. First is the question of how many concentrations the school offers, second is the general and scholarly orientation of the school, third is the average GMAT score earned to enter the program, fourth is the overall student-to-faculty ratio for masters programs, fifth is the in-state tuition, sixth is the out-of-state tuition, seventh is the proportion of MBA students to the total student population, and eighth is the graduation percentage per year. I initially planned to use those categories in equal weighting, then add balance from BusinessWeek’s rankings for Part-Time MBA schools and Get Educated’s value rankings. I realized, after looking more closely however, that this resulted in a skewed ranking, one that might look good on paper but would not really serve the student’s best interests. So here is how I redid that data:

First and foremost is the variety of concentrations available. Schools which only offer one type of MBA, and only one focus, do a disservice to the professional. For instance, I am pursuing my CPA license and so a program which focused on Accounting was important to me, but other MBA candidates might take more interest in Finance, Marketing, or Entrepreneurship. Therefore, whether a school offered multiple choices of concentrations became significantly more important in points, now weighted at 35.0% of the total value. The in-state and out-of-state tuition also weighed heavily, at 15.0% and 12.5% of the total score respectively. The school’s average GMAT score was also important, worth 12.5% of the total. The proportion of masters students to the overall population weighed 10.0% of the total score, the student-to-faculty ratio weighed 5%, the proportion of MBA students graduated each year weighed 5%, and the rankings from BusinessWeek and GetEducated each counted for 2.5% of the score. So, with that weighting, here are the top 25 Online MBA programs for 2009. I will write up brief capsules of the top 10 programs in future articles:

1. Auburn University (Alabama) 95.60%
2. Drexel University (Pennsylvania) 94.75%
3. East Carolina University (North Carolina) 94.67%
4. University of Colorado at Denver 94.58%
5 (t). Tennessee Technological University 94.50%
5 (t). University of Houston at Victoria (Texas) 94.50%
7 (t). Morehead State University (Kentucky) 94.33%
7 (t). Wayne State University (Michigan) 94.33%
9. University of Colorado at Colorado Springs 94.25%
10. University of North Dakota 94.17%
11 (t). Georgia Southern University 94.08%
11 (t). University of Texas at Dallas 94.08%
13 (t). University of Wisconsin at Oshkosh 94.00%
13 (t). University of Wisconsin at Whitewater 94.00%
15. Texas A&M at Commerce 93.92%
16. University of Michigan at Dearborn 93.42%
17. Nicholls State University (Louisiana) 92.75%
18. Suffolk University (Massachusetts) 92.25%
19. Georgia College & State University 88.00%
20. Colorado State University 87.92%
21. University of Florida 87.17%
22 (t). Florida State University 87.00%
22 (t). University of Nebraska at Lincoln 87.00%
24. University of Wyoming 86.75%
25 (t). Durham University (UK) 86.67%
25 (t). University of Texas at Arlington 86.67%
25 (t). University of Massachusetts at Lowell 86.67%
25 (t). University of North Texas 86.67%

Top 25 Rankings to be Edited

I discovered some new information which may change the rankings for the 2009 Top 25 Online MBA Schools. The short version is that the information from the AACSB is in conflict with school-specific data in some cases. The rankings will be posted once I have confirmed certain points.

Rating The Distance MBA

It’s been a couple years since I posted my ranking of the Top 25 Online MBA Schools, so I am having another look at business schools which offer the Online MBA, where most or all of the coursework necessary to earn a Masters degree in Business Administration. That is, now that I have completed my MBA from the University of Houston at Victoria, I am looking at the degree from the other side of the road and considering what it means to earn an MBA, to earn an online MBA, what sort of path should be chosen for different career conditions, and if you do decide to go after an online MBA, which schools are the best choice.

Not everyone should pursue an MBA, and not everyone who should earn an MBA will find the online course the best path to success. There are basically three ways to earn an MBA; full-time, part-time, or online. If your goal in life is to become the CEO or COO or a Fortune 500 corporation, a lot of people will tell you that you need to graduate from a top school, which in the case of the MBA means attending a prestigious and expensive school with a huge reputation, and you have to do it as a full-time student. Of course, doing so is no guarantee that you will win that much-desired CEO spot; work out the statistics and you will find that well over 90 percent of graduates of even the most prestigious business schools never end up as CEOs of major corporations. Have a look at the people in those roles and you will not only find people who did not go to the “top” schools, but some who never earned an MBA and a few who never even earned a college degree at all (you can do that if you found and build your own successful company). On the other hand, most top executives do earn MBAs, and most of them go to well-known universities as full-time students. So if you put in the time and expense to get accepted to a prestigious school as a full-time student, work yourself silly getting top grades, you should expect to have the best prospects in general of all the MBA graduates. That is, if you have the means to get into a top school, if you can afford to go to school full-time and not have to raise a family or work full-time, if you’re still in your early twenties, and if the economy doesn’t make that student loan a killer six months after you graduate. For a lot of working people, one or more of those conditions is not feasible. And for those people, other options need to be considered. If you’re not going to Harvard or the Wharton School or something along those lines, all you really need from your school is a name that will be recognizable, an education worth the time and money you put into it, and a whole lot of work on your part. In my case, I decided to go after the MBA when I was 45, with a family and a full-time job in management. The only possible way I could do it would be to get an online degree. That’s how I chose the University of Houston at Victoria.

UHV is part of the University of Houston system (duh), but not all UH campuses are created equal. Short version, the main campus and Downtown campus have all the students they want, so there is no pressure for those schools to offer online classes. The Victoria campus is another story; it’s far enough out there that the online students make a significant difference in the enrollment size and the school wanted the best faculty they could get, which could only be justified by having a decent number of students. Two things besides the convenience of UHV’s classes I liked were the low tuition and the AACSB accreditation of UHV. The school name is no embarrassment, and I earned my MBA without going into debt.

Now, I have to mention something very important about an online MBA. If the school is any good, the MBA will be just as hard to earn online as it would be any other way. While you can turn in assignments and go to the online library whenever you want, you still have deadlines, the standards and grade requirements are the same as face-to-face classes, and the participation is much stricter than face-to-face. After all, in a face-to-face class you can sometimes hide out in the back and avoid discussions when you are not prepared, but in an online class every comment you make (or the lack of meaningful discussion) is on the record, and a professor can easily tally up just how much you really did to advance the discussion. Also, professors talk with each other, and online students who are exceptionally good or bad will be known to the faculty just as well as those who attend class in person.

The online MBA, then, is for the most part the same as any other MBA, except that you will have to be organized and self-motivated to get the work done, the school will in most cases be a more common public school (most accredited private schools do not offer online degrees) which means your results will depend more on your resume and personal work history than how glamorous your school name is, and if you have planned it right you can get your MBA without a nervous breakdown or a second mortgage. In my opinion, the online MBA will become more popular and common as it works out well for students, universities, and businesses.

The next article on this topic will examine the AACSB-accredited business schools which offer online MBAs, and the 2009 ranking of the Top 25 schools for an Online MBA.

Rumors of War

This post is intended for the eyes and minds of Christians. That does not mean no one else may read it, but the context will be difficult for someone lacking the Christian focus. For example, Christians believe in the will of God, and also the veracity of Holy prophecy. Human history can be best interpreted in the illumination of God’s will and its clear enunciation in prophetic Scripture. The lack of clear Scripture can also provide meaning and improve understanding, when contemplation is used along with reason.

The Bible is full of prophecy, but that prophecy is spotty in places and times. There’s no end of people jumping up trying to show how a certain prophecy fits a given situation, but in the main it seems obvious – to me at least – that when considering prophecy we must remember that the Lord gives it for a purpose, which is aligned with His will, rather than our curiosity or desire to feel important. When Scripture is read holistically, it becomes obvious that prophecy is issued in support of God’s will, a signpost if you will of a major point in time. We see many things which matter to us but which may well be, from the larger perspective, insignificant. Which brings me to the discussion of our present wars.

I believe that President George W. Bush was doing God’s will when he was President. Even so, things did not work out in the Middle East as he hoped. Part of this was due to the despicable way politics were played in the House and Senate, as well as the cowardly refusal of Europe to stand up for a moral cause, but in the larger sense I believe President Bush misunderstood his role to some degree; the Lord was willing that Iraq should be reformed and established as a democratic republic, but not that the whole of the Middle East should be given peace and made whole – there are many greater issues which we must understand will continue to the very end of this age. This is difficult to understand, in the same way that to us it makes no sense that disease, poverty, famine, and all the other ills of this world should continue. There is good and there is evil in this world, for purposes beyond our ken, and all our hubris and technology cannot change this.

Wars are paradox. On the surface there is nothing good about war, senseless destruction, pain, loss and death. And in too many cases the victor in war is cruel and malicious, by no moral right able to claim the rule of nations. Innocents are often the worst hurt and the first victims. Yet wars, for all their terror and destruction, have ended tyrants, slavery, established protection of the rights of the people, and enabled representative government. In many nations the army boasts the most trustworthy and honorable men, the best in character and fortitude. The best leaders and rulers, especially in democracies, most often have served in their nation’s armed forces. Such men understand the cost of war and the need to plan carefully the nation’s welfare, protecting the nation’s strength while avoiding needless violence. The Bible tells of different kinds of war. Some wars are human vanity and therefore are evil and useless, while others serve God’s will and therefore while terrible they at least happen for a better reason than human arrogance. That is, humans start wars for evil purposes but God brings good out of them so that the suffering may be limited and goodness may advance. In some cases a war may even be fought for good purpose, though without God’s help all wars must of nature devolve into chaos and evil. It is therefore of paramount importance that any leader considering war must commit his efforts to the Lord’s service, and first seek the Lord’s counsel that his course of action will be grounded in true obedience to God rather than human arrogance.

This brings me around to the current situation in the Middle East. Looking at the long view, things do change and sometimes the change can be sudden, but for the most part few things change and there are some things which seem to be very much locked into place for some reason or purpose. I am not saying that democracy, human rights, and peace should not be sought, but for all our best ideals we must realize that some limits exist, and our inability to see them does not make them illusory. Jesus warned that we would hear of war, and rumors of war. That second part is intriguing, as it reminds me that war is a subtext to human history – even in peace the threat of war, the danger of it showing up must always be kept in mind. The same Christ who warned that those who live by the sword will die by it (Matthew 26:52) also specifically instructed His disciples to buy weapons (Luke 22:36). This is a dangerous world for individuals, peoples, and nations. What will be will include war.

The chaos surrounding the presidential election in Iran should surprise no one. What remains to be seen now, is what will come of the revolution now beginning there. Iran was the cradle of resurgent Jihadism, that foul cult which seeks to control nations and people through a fascist theocracy. History shows this cult popping up from time to time, and its always bloody. Even Islam had a big problem with the Jihadists. For example, the English word assassin is derived from the word hashishin, the drug-controlled killers from the Nizari branch of Shiite Islam who killed political enemies and targets on instructions from men who would establish the Fatimid Empire in the Middle Ages. A similar Jihadist movement erupted in Sudan and Egypt against the British Empire. The region has always held the potential for intense hatred and violence, and no one, no mater how strong or well-meaning, has been able to end the causes or settle the countless feuds and grudges. Because the hatred and violence in the Middle East is noted in both the books of Daniel and Revelation, we must sadly accept that they serve some vital role in the way of things, and while some part of the region may be stabilized and made safe for decent people, as a whole this monster is beyond our strength to slay. What we may hope and pray for the people of Iran, is that through God’s grace the people may rise to establish a more democratic government, to make homeless the beast of Jihadism for a time, to weaken it and dislocate its strength. But we must not expect more than has been done before, for reason that we cannot see the limits which affect all concerned.

Christ in Modern Life

One thing which every believer in Christ must eventually face is the claim that their faith is not real because it is not relevant. That is, we live in an age of increasing secularism, where every virtue promoted by Christians is also promoted by men who have no interest in receiving Christ as their Lord. The argument they present, based on decades of hearing it over and over, is that Christianity offers nothing better than what is offered through personal devotion to morality. A Muslim, for example, is capable of being just as moral as any Christian, a Buddhist is equal in morality to any Christian, even an atheist can claim the same moral bearings as any Christian. And the trick to the argument is that they are correct, but only because they compare their position to Christianity, not to Christ. What is missing in their comparison is the personal presence of Christ in the believer’s life, the one-to-one correspondent relationship between God and Man through the Divine intercession of Jesus Christ. Theocratic Muslims speak of Jesus but deny His Person as the Christ, as do orthodox Jews. Buddhists deny the personhood of God altogether, as indeed do the atheists. God is problematic for many people, so they rebel against Him without seeming to, by focusing on the imperfect human rather than on the perfect Lord. This is the same mistaken assumption used ever since the beginning, where men deny the Lord while claiming only to challenge human assumptions and imperfect claims. Those who do not accept Christ do so thinking that the fault lies in believers’ not submitting proof by human standards of the truth of Christianity, never seeing that this is rebellion against God by nature, the demand that God submit to human tests and conditions. The unbeliever commonly retorts that this amounts to a demand for submission to a claim without evidence, which oddly enough is exactly what nominal Islam demands but not Christ; the thing about the follower of Christ is not submission without evidence, but belief based on a completely different order of evidence. And therein is a hint about how eternal life happens.

I am forty-nine years old, with bad knees, slow reflexes and all the accouterments of age and a few surgeries. I live with an abdominal cancer which is incurable but otherwise leaves me alone for the most part. If I were given the chance to live forever in the nominal sense, I’d really hope for some way to significantly upgrade my physical body. Living forever with the body of a young adult or a youth is a mush different proposition to getting by with a middle-aged or senior body. Whether from hope or perspective, therefore, it would seem that eternal life is not merely extending the physical existence to an infinite duration. This by the way is also why I reject reincarnation – what is the point of repeating the same situations and decisions over and over again – simply doing something again does not mean you will make better decisions or navigate the maze perfectly, especially when you do not remember what happened the last time?

The plain fact is, we all sin. All of us. If you think you’ve never sinned I can’t hope you would understand, because you are still in denial. Most of us are able to admit that we sin, whatever definition we want to give to the word. For me, it’s about whether we do God’s will, but another meaning that can be used in a similar way is whether we hurt someone else. Everyone hurts other people, usually without intent but sometimes deliberately, which we usually try to excuse by claiming the guy deserved it. At best it runs into trouble as soon as we start thinking about it. A lot of people try to get past that by lowering the standard of good – no one is perfect, so it’s acceptable to be imperfect. That only diminishes us, however, and cheapens the virtue of those few who earnestly try to live as well as they can, seeking perfection even if it is impossible. The very meaning of heaven, to live and dwell with God Himself, means that such cheapening of goodness is impossible, it runs counter to God’s will that we should be perfect as He is perfect.

In the modern world, God is cast as irrelevant, a quaint notion from a bygone era, in the same class as fairy tales and mythology. Religion is tolerated as an idiosyncrasy, whimsy rather than an important quality to the person, while the clear exercise of faith is often harshly suppressed and attacked. This is to be expected, given the inability of the modern world to address the nature of faith, let alone its mission and demands. I wrote earlier that Islam and Buddhism, along with all the other religions and philosophies, predicates its reasoning along nominal human thought and beliefs, while Christ alone stands for personal rebirth in a new identity, not merely forgiven of sin or continuing in the same old life, but recreated in perfection where the old life not only has no punishment, but is shed forever in favor of a perfect personage. There is, quite literally, no way to explain this new reality in terms that would make sense in this world. This is one reason why faith is the essential component for the Holy Spirit.

Let me put it this way. If someone were to say to you that you could buy your ticket to heaven for a certain amount of money, you would very likely reject that notion immediately, and for good reason – a heaven based on human wealth would be no heaven at all as we understand the word. The same could be said if one were to suggest a heaven based on physical strength or attractiveness. So, it clearly becomes apparent that a heaven which some people could achieve through pure opportunity rather than virtue of something available to everyone but aligned with pure goodness rather than human avarice and selfishness. Consequently, the dogma of every religion is necessarily a false key to the kingdom of heaven, since such dogma is immutably linked to intellectual comprehension. There are no secret teachings or words of power, because if such things existed, the lucky or intellectual people would have an inside track to heaven ahead of anyone unable to receive a good education or who might have an intellectual handicap. We must, as Christ explained, become like little children to enter the kingdom of heaven. Our intellect, like our bank accounts, physical strength, or any other superficial quality, is only of small value, useful if the heart is aligned with God but a trap to lure the unwary towards idolatry of their own desires. The Holy Spirit moves on highways of faith and by direction from God alone.

The modern world asserts individual control and decision, more than at any time in the past. Yet the essence of human identity is our need to become something greater than ourselves, a role which we cannot accomplish on our own effort or initiative. The modern world asserts human ability to solve any problem through ingenuity in innate goodness, though anyone who lives long enough will see the fatal flaw in such claims. The modern world imagines that things progress ahead and anything from the past is inferior to the present and the future, while the hard-learned truth of experience shows the existence and precious value of the eternal and the ancient. We march ahead in pride towards finite and mortal prizes, and so never notice that while God walks along with us, we turn our backs to Him time and again, and so we also turn away from the greater goals and purpose for which we were ordained.

This world mocks the solitary lives of monks and nuns, and treats active clergy as outcasts. The believer who demonstrates an active faith will be viewed with suspicion, whether he is Christian, Muslim, Mormon, or what have you. God speaks to us all, but one to one as He did with Adam, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Moses, David and Elijah, yet speaking to all humanity through each of us. God speaks with absolute authority and power, yet is absolutely rejected by all but a few whose hearts focus outside themselves. In this, the choice is as it always ways and ever will be.

On Political Hate

On Wednesday, a gunman with a rifle opened fire on people at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. A security guard was killed and the suspect, 88-year-old James von Brunn, a white supremacist previously sent to prison for trying to kidnap the Federal Reserve’s board of governors, was shot and is now hospitalized. Assuming he recovers, Brunn will be charged with murder. By any decent person’s understanding, the crime was senseless and hateful, ‘hate’ being the apparent prime motive.

A predictable flood of left-wing media has used this crime to claim that Brunn represents a valid and significant threat, that conservative political opinions lead to extremism and hate.

Dan Gainor wrote a pretty comprehensive summary of just how hypocritical the left-leaning media and blogs are being about Brunn.

Some conservative pundits have been claiming that the crime demonstrates that leftist politics are the source of Brunn’s hate, or at least a major reason why he returned to violence.

AJ Strata posted a very intelligent article on Wednesday, noting that this not an ordinary Left-wing or Right-wing supporter, or even a fanatic, but a flat-out evil man whose politics are frankly irrelevant to the matter, except that political dialogue in the U.S. has become even more polarized and hysterical.

It turns out that von Brunn was not merely a white supremacist and anti-Semite, he also despised President Bush and Senator McCain, and considered 9-11 to be a government conspiracy. He is no conservative, and he is no liberal. Anyone claiming such is ignorant, a liar, or worse.

In short, Brunn appears to be both insane and violent, no more a valid example of considered political opinion than Charles Manson or Ted Bundy. James von Brunn is solitary example of corrosive hatred, and while I must agree that there are others out there who hold similar beliefs or who consider murder a reasonable response to conditions or leaders they dislike.

This brings me to the murder of Dr. George Tiller. The man accused of that crime is Scott Roeder, who allegedly justifies the murder of Tiller on Dr. Tiller’s abortion of unborn babies. A similar cacophony of anger has occurred between Left and Right on this incident as well, some on the left claiming that Tiller’s murder demonstrates that abortion opponents do not really value life and do not condemn violence against abortion providers whose actions are legal and, to the mind of the Left, important and necessary. Some on the right claim that the outrage over the death of a man who made a fortune through the deaths of countless innocents proves the hypocrisy of the Left’s claim to compassion. Both extremes insult the majority of Americans, who would not condone killing either babies or doctors, whatever their politics.

I am not about to pretend that Democrats and Republicans have similar opinions on the major issues, let alone the same ones. But neither am I willing to agree to the broad brush condemnation of millions of intelligent, mature individuals, simply because they have a different perspective and want to pursue different policies than I do. Also, in my experience I have seldom found any large group that was a proper fit for me in all respects. I am a republican and a conservative (small 'r', small ‘c’) yes, though that is partly in default to the fact that the democrats have abandoned all of those principles that – before 1964 – would have attracted me. I also know from personal experience that it can be painful to take exception to certain expected positions – I was once cut from a prominent national blog for not agreeing to promote the site owner’s specific positions on every political issue. I have strong opinions, but respect the law and the Constitution, as written. It seems to me that the leadership in our political parties, like the political factions which chase contributions and viewers/readers/voters, seeks only to provoke and outrage, counting on strong negative attacks rather than offering real solutions. And what solutions are proposed, far too often are merely demands and political payback to cronies, cynically couched as leadership or crisis response. Consensus exists in the dictionary, but never in the Congress.

Stephen Johns did not die for a political cause. He died defending innocent people, doing his job. What happened at the Holocaust Memorial Museum should outrage both Republicans and Democrats, because a good and decent man died because of the hatred in an indecent man’s heart. Dr. Tiller’s murder should outrage both Republicans and Democrats alike, not because of Dr. Tiller’s beliefs or actions, but because the law was ignored and a man took it upon himself to kill another man because of the hatred he had against him. William Long did not die because of his political beliefs, or anything that could rationally be construed as a crime or moral offense. He died because another man acted in hatred, hatred against America and hatred against her defenders.

There are real and important differences between differing political parties and there are many political viewpoints and opinions. These differences should be discussed candidly and civilly, using the blessing of a free and functioning democratic republic to decide the nation’s course and actions. But all decent people should all be able to agree that hatred and violence against other citizens is abhorrent, and is not the result of any mainstream political party. These crimes were not born from either Democrat or Republican policies or candidates, and it is petty and false to pretend they were. The spirit which moves a man to murder someone is not concerned with how they voted or who is in office. Even political assassins are often unconcerned with the politics of their victims. John Hinckley shot President Reagan for reasons that made sense only to him, and which had nothing to do with his politics. Lee Harvey Oswald is on record as saying he liked and admired the Kennedies. There simply comes a point where it is necessary to realize that insanity does not operate in ways that rational people can explain, and it serves no one to try to attack the beliefs of tens of millions of people for the actions of one or a few madmen. It insults the victims to do so, as well.

When Morons Have Power

This week’s edition of BusinessWeek warned that casinos are losing money. Well, duh. It’s not hard to figure that when you have no disposable income, you will be even less inclined than usual to do things that are wasteful and expensive. Or at least that’s how normal people think. For some reason, some people with a lot of power make incredibly stupid decisions. Today’s example is Drayton McLane, owner of the Houston Astros Major League Baseball club.

The Houston Chronicle released a study which showed that MLB has been trying to protect fan interest and attendance during the recession, and one of the steps taken by almost every club is to allow fans to bring in their own food and drink. While certain conditions apply (no glass bottles for example), every Major League club but one allows folks to bring in their own food and drink. That exception is the Houston Astros club.

The Astros actually set up sentries at the gate to catch anyone trying to sneak in food. Ahhh, but it gets better. An NBC reporter noted “inane stadium policies seem to be Houston's stock in trade. From personal experience, you should know that if you should purchase a beer on one level of Minute Maid Park you are not permitted to bring said beer with you to your seat on a different level. Attempts to figure out why that's the case via conversation with the guard stopping you from the stairwell will result in splitting headaches.”

Nice to know that the ‘Stros are building a national rep in that category, huh?

The Astros first tried to claim that they are bull-headed about food price because they have low ticket prices, but that turns out to be a lie as well: 19 of the other 29 teams offer lower average ticket prices than the Astros.

The team also tried to suggest that we are paying for a quality team. Problem there is that the Astros are in last place in the NL Central, and playing like they mean to stay there.

McLane then tried to claim that banning outside food at Astros games “has been kind of a tradition in Houston”, said Astros owner Drayton McLane, who purchased the team in 1992. Spoken like a descendant of Louis XVI, not a guy who knows baseball or gives a fart about anyone but himself. Even Steinbrenner would know better than to toss out that kind of arrogance to the public.

So all that establishes that the Astros club doesn’t care a fig about its fans, and is just a business based on greed. That proves poor morals, not bad business, right?

To answer that, let’s consider the business model of MLB club. There are four sources of revenue for a ball club; ticket sales, shares of broadcast revenue, marketing and souvenir sales, and concession sales. McLane is not about to open his books to the public – that kind of honesty has never been how Baseball clubs work – but we can figure out some general numbers from public data. USA Today says that the Astros have a payroll of $103 million, which happens to be the highest in the NL Central. The average ticket price for an Astros game is $28.73, and average attendance for Astros home games so far this season is 29,932, lowest in more than a decade.

That’s down 13.9% from last year’s average at this time, which was also no record-setter. But the revenue from attendance, using the year-to-date pace, would produce $69.6 million for the Astros, more than $33 million short of the payroll even if it cost nothing to operate the stadium, equip the team or pay anyone else. The drop in attendance from last year means at least $11 million lost in lower ticket revenue, unless the Astros do something to attract more fans.

The same effect happens in broadcast games, in fact it’s amplified. The networks only run games that they believe have significant fan interest. While the Astros would receive a minimal amount of attention, their poor performance and low fan attendance would reduce their network profile, meaning fewer televised games and lower revenue from broadcast. Specific numbers are closely protected, but it’s just common sense to conclude that empty seats mean lower broadcast share revenue.

Then there’s souvenir and marketing sales, like jerseys and bobbleheads and so on. How hard is it to understand that if folks don’t buy tickets and go to the games, they won’t buy anything from the gift shops? And even though many stores sell Astros merchandise, last-place teams are not known for strong team product sales. Combine the lousy performance this year, the recession, and management’s jerkwad attitude towards the fans, and it’s very reasonable to guess that product sales are sharply down, by even more than attendance.

Then there’s that concession revenue. Just how stupid McLane is being, becomes evident when you think about the fact that absolutely no one will buy food at Minute Maid Park unless they actually go to a game there, meaning that Drayton’s ridiculous attitude is punishing the people he should be bending over backward to make happy – the fans who are still coming to games. As attendance goes down, concession revenues will also necessarily decline, and given the nature of concession inventory, profit margins will also fail. I used to run movie theaters, and I know that when attendance falls below certain levels, your losses from unsold food increase, no matter how well you try to plan ahead. That is, a 14 percent drop in attendance will necessarily mean about a 16 percent drop in concession profits, unless you lose even more.

Forbes says that the Astros' operating income is only 8.76% of their total revenue, meaning that unless the Astros had a 5.1% profit margin or better in 2008, they are going to lose money this year. This is because so much of the Astros’ costs are fixed, like payroll and leases; they are not going to be able to reduce costs to any great degree, because their variable costs are below 10 percent of their total costs. The short version of MLB clubs’ model is that they are profitable only when their home games have high attendance; low attendance produces business losses. Accordingly, the only sane strategy for a team owner is to attract the maximum number of fans, and this is why 29 of 30 clubs have relaxed their rules on outside food and drink – it’s much better to lose a bit of concessions revenue but protect the fan base, than to lose money in all four categories through sheer stupidity.

It’s curious that Drayton McLane could fail to understand this rule of business. McLane is very wealthy, and became so through running his father’s grocery business, spending 14 years as a general manager of operations. The key seems to be that from 1964 on, McLane moved out of operations and into distribution planning. That is, McLane has not had real contact with regular people for decades and has increasingly come to believe not only that he is competent at whatever he chooses to do, but also that only he understands the situation and the best plan of action. Not so long ago, Sports Illustrated wrote that McLane is obsessed with control, unwilling to allow anyone else to make adjustments, even when those people know far more than he does about what needs to be done.

It appears that this is another such situation.

In the 2005 season, the Astros started off horribly but rallied and frankly got a lot of luck on their way to the World Series, where reality set in and they were swept by the Chicago White Sox. The Astros have not even made it to the playoffs since then, something McLane seems to miss every time he raises prices or does something else to show his contempt for Houston and the people who live there. The bottom line is that McLane does not understand the bottom line, strange as that may sound. He has the power to do what’s needed, but would rather ram the iceberg at full speed in order to prove he has control.

Sadly, there are many people like McLane around right now, in all sorts of positions of power.

Job Schemes

For all the talk – and dear Lord there’s been so much noise from the politicians – the economy basically comes down to people working and making money. If folks are not working, you can forget about companies making profits, about cities, states or even the federal government having any way to provide for the public welfare, not to mention all those things politicians promise every election. In the end, everything – and I mean everything is paid for by people who work. That’s why President Obama is starting to show stress in his speeches; he knows that “blame Bush” can only work so long, and as unemployment nationally creeps up to ten percent he’s headed for trouble. I’m sure he thought his “create or save” caveat for jobs was a clever way to make promises he could never be called on, but the fact is Obama’s plans don’t work, mostly because he does not understand the forces at work, and so he cannot hope to direct them to better results.

There are basically three kinds of jobs – necessary permanent jobs that need to be done by someone all the time, like firefighters, police, doctors and accountants; temporary needs that may or may not be filled long-term, like construction, retail, or manufacturing; and make-work assignments to fill one-time needs or give individuals something to do, like hiring an intern or paying your kid to wash your car. Government can create jobs, but only to a point, whether in number or duration. The most significant jobs, it must be understood, are not created by government or artifice, but by the economy’s needs and the community. The rise in unemployment happening now is the combination of hard-hit sectors shedding non-essential jobs (like real estate and automakers) and the large-scale reduction in unskilled labor. People get angry because they want their seniority to matter, but in the end the key question is whether your work is essential to your employer. Government cannot change that critical value.

The history of employment has always included changing times, as demographics and industries changed. After the Civil War in the United States, for example, many people moved to cities for work because they had lost too many young men to be able to work their farms effectively. Railroad workers, farmhands, cattlemen, surveyors, and even the Pony Express came to their end as they became obsolete. Those who could do so learned new skills and found new work in emerging industries, like automobile manufacturing and power generation in the early 20th Century. Other changes were more gradual and subtle, but no less significant, like the outsourcing of most customer service work and the use of contract labor for low-level clerical tasks. In every case, the change was in reaction to changing realities of life and business. While better-run businesses learned better how to adapt and anticipate change, in no case was the change directed or controlled by the government; strategic change is organic in nature and human actions are influenced by that change, not the other way around.

In the short term, government can create jobs, but that creation is limited by the degree of public support. The military, for example, is popular and large in wartime, but when the war ends (or public support for it) then the military contracts whether it wants to or not. Even FDR’s vaunted Civilian Conservation Corps had a relatively short life, due to its non-essential character. Job creation for the sake of job creation is by definition a failed effort even before it begins.

Turf War?

One of the odd things about the Supreme Court, is that the justices don’t always rule the way they are expected to rule. I hear a lot that the Presidents who appoint the justices don’t always look deep enough to know what they are getting, but sometimes they just do something surprising. Like today. It’s one thing that SCOTUS wants to take a look at the Chrysler deal, but how odd is it that it’s Justice Ginsburg who threw out that pitch?

Think about it. You might expect that from the Chief Justice, maybe Scalia or one of the more constructionist justices. But Ginsberg, an Obama fan if there is one on the SCOTUS? That’s sending a message, and that message is turf. The boundaries have been there for a long time. Theoretically, the Legislature makes law, the White House sets policy and direction, and the Supreme Court interprets law and policy by the Constitution. But in reality, there are areas where each wants to increase its power, and in politics that means at the expense of the other.

Bankruptcies are handled by the courts. Period. That’s how it works, only President All-About-Me wasn’t about the trust Chrysler’s fate to the courts, so he took a page out of the Godfather movies and went thuggy on everyone involved. Turns out that stepped on some toes belonging to people in the black robes. And today’s halt could be a shot across the bow to warn Obama off, or it could be targeting for a salvo if he tries to force the issue.

This could get very interesting.