The University of Cincinatti School of Law, a second tier public institution, is apparently quite desperate to recruit high caliber students. According to an email sent out a short while back, the admissions office is offering tips on obtaining residency status and saving money…

The cost of a legal education today has come under scrutiny in recent months due in part to the poor economy forcing many to evaluate their personal finances more closely than ever.

…  the University of Cincinnati College of Law wants you to be aware of a unique tuition discount available to our incoming law students … the GMR.

In 2009-2010 the GMR has enabled out-of-state residents to move to Northern Kentucky (just south of downtown Cincinnati across the Ohio River) anytime before the first day of class and pay tuition equal to in-state tuition plus a $240 annual surcharge.

This meant our first year students who moved to Northern Kentucky and applied for the GMR were paying $20,182 in tuition/fees instead of the non-Ohio resident tuition/fees rate of $34,776 – a savings of $14,594 in the first year of law school alone.

So, how does one qualify for this GMR you may wonder? Here is an example:

Janie Law from Colorado visits Cincinnati in June and finds a nice apartment in one of the 28 GMR qualifying counties in Northern Kentucky. She signs a lease with her landlord which enables her to move in on August 1. After the long drive from the Rockies, Janie unpacks and makes a few trips to Ikea in the northern suburbs to help furnish her new place. On August 5, she makes her way to the nearest Kentucky DMV office where she obtains her Kentucky driver’s license. She then goes online and prints out the GMR Application, which she then drops off along ! with a copy of her new license to the University Registrar’s Office 10 days before class begins. Now Janie is done and can enjoy her first year of law school, having saved thousands.

It is refreshing to see that at least one law school is recognizing the exorbitant cost of a legal education and actively offering ways to reduce expenses. This is sharp contrast to places like Indiana University which doesn’t even offer a streamlined process for acquiring residency and resulting reduction in tuition rates.

Almost 30 years after the American stealth jet F-117 Nighthawk was introduced in 1981, the Russian and Indian Air Forces are finally testing their own version of a stealth plane.

And, what a piece of junk…

“It’s just a prototype lacking new engines and a new radar,” military analyst Pavel Felgenhauer told the Associated Press news agency.

Originally scheduled for 2007, the T-50’s maiden flight was repeatedly postponed because of technical problems.

Observers of Russia’s recent military modernisation drive say it has been plagued by delays and quality problems.

Did Boeing have anything to do with the plane’s development?

Not Helping Toyota

Toyota became the world’s largest car-maker in early 2009, overtaking GM. Since then, the company has been plagued by constant problems, making a loss in 2009 and continued losses in the first half of fiscal year 2010. The latest is a global recall of many of its vehicles because of “sticky gas pedals.”

Ford, on the other hand, declared its first annual profit in 5 years, making $2.7 billion in 2009. The company was profitable in every region, with its credit arm also making money.

Now that Volkswagen-Porsche has officially overtaken Toyota, if only temporarily, it will be interesting to see how that company fares.

In his State of the Union address, the President proposed the following reforms for higher education:

To make college more affordable, this bill will finally end the unwarranted taxpayer subsidies that go to banks for student loans.  Instead, let’s take that money and give families a $10,000 tax credit for four years of college and increase Pell Grants. And let’s tell another one million students that when they graduate, they will be required to pay only 10 percent of their income on student loans, and all of their debt will be forgiven after 20 years –- and forgiven after 10 years if they choose a career in public service, because in the United States of America, no one should go broke because they chose to go to college.

Loan forgiveness is all well and good, but how about making more Stafford money available to students? These government loans are still stuck at a maximum of $20,500 per year while graduate school tuition rates alone have soared to an average of at least $31,000, with all other expenses additional.

Aww or Eww?

Arnold would be proud … another pregnant man.

Just another of those completely ridiculous public laws…

The law allows a person hurt by a rabid animal to seek a county’s help with the medical bills … the request must be made within four months of the bite…

In this terrible economy … rabid dogs (or, bats) are not that difficult to find are there?

The Boston Globe is now showing that Scott Brown has won with 52% of the vote with 79% reporting.

UPDATE:

I had never imagined I would see this day – a Republican winning Teddy’s Senate seat. Boy was I wrong!

While a Red Massachusetts at the Federal level is a distinct impossibility, we might still see a distinct purplish hue if we are believe this report of some worry in the Democratic camp of candidate Martha Coakley.

Who would you vote for? Scott Brown or Martha Coakley?

The Browns

The Coakleys

Do you prefer your venison killed by a semi or a pickup?

Conservationism and environmentalism runs amok in this country is evidenced by the case of a man who killed some tortoises on his property to build his house and faces 60 years in prison for his “crimes.”

If the state of Florida wants to protect some damn tortoises, it should pay for their relocation, not force every landowner to pony up cash (or face jail-time).

Over the past couple of years, we’ve seen Cloverfield and District 9 – sci-fi movies with tiny budgets that have made millions at the box office.

We now have another on the horizon from Uruguayan director Fede Alvarez… Sam Raimi has apparently picked up his short.

Aliens and superheros are probably the easiest way for Hollywood to avoid making movies with an actual storyline. When there are aliens and superheros romping around destroying NYC and DC, why do you need a screen play?

1200 limos, 140 private planes and caviar wedges… yep, that is the climate change conference in Copenhagen… changing the climate (for the worse) one place at a time.

Amanda Knox, courtesy NYT

Well, the outcome of the trial was hardly unexpected.

Once the Italians found a suspect, a foreigner, an American at that, they had to convict her.

European media was ever eager to condemn Knox as the:

“Foxy Knoxy”; uncaring, sexually rapacious and eager for a taste of life on the wild side; just the sort of young woman who might bewitch the accommodating Sollecito and come to detest her level-headed British flatmate

Aussies never seem to amaze me. A recent competition to find a suitable name for the 2010s has yielded the result…

One-Der

What?

The Regents of the University of California System have decided that they have had enough education in the Great State of California.

Raising tuition by 32% starting next year, the Regents have signaled their next move would be to rename the UC System to the University of North Mexico System.

FAMU Law

So, there was the tale of the free iTunes songs for applying to a particular law school.

Now, there’s another twist on the application process:

This Saturday, November 21, the gridiron showdown between Florida A&M University and Bethune-Cookman University in the 30th annual Florida Classic football game will be televised live nationally by ESPN Classic starting at 2:30 p.m. Eastern Time.  The appearance on ESPN Classic marks the sixth FAMU game televised during the Fall 2009 football season.     (www.floridaclassic.org)

Viewing the live broadcast will be a great way to help cheer for FAMU in case you won’t be able to attend FAMU College of Law’s Open House for Prospective Students which is being held as part of the Classic festivities.  The event is open to the public and will be followed by a tailgate party at the College of Law leading up to game time at 2:30 p.m. just blocks away from the law school. Read on »

That’s exactly what 2 New Jersey law firms are doing…

Freedman & Gersten in Hasbrouck Heights, N.J., claims it wired $236,659 to a company in South Korea based on a check that turned out to be fake, while Levitan & Frieland of Florham Park, N.J., has lodged similar allegations.

Freedman & Gersten is suing Bank of America, on whose assurances it says it relied when it deposited a $274,705 client check in its attorney trust account and wired most of the money overseas.

Bank of America is the villain. It is getting billions of dollars in tax payer bailout, and now it is scamming these poor, poor, innocent lawyers in New Jersey.

Off with Ken Lewis’ head!

(Really, it was a classic check scam).

Major Malik Nidal Hasan, resident psychiatrist at the Ford Hood military base, has turned upon his colleagues killing 12 soldiers and injuring another 31 shortly before they were scheduled to ship out to Iraq.

Crazy bugger.

A recent mail from a top 30 law school reads, in part:

Admit it, you’re an outstanding student!  You’re well aware that academic success requires work.  Often difficult and sometimes thankless work.  Isn’t it time your hard work earned you a few perks?

With this in mind, we encourage you to consider [dot dot dot].  In return, we’re making you an exclusive offer.

If you apply, we’ll:

1. Waive your application fee, and

2. Present you with 20 free music downloads on iTunes®

I hate iTunes. Can I get that for Zune instead?

UPDATE: Apparently, the university has been doing this since last year. WSJ blogged about it in October of 2008. I won’t say which school…

Some find public transport romantic, according to the BBC

The photograph on the left needs a new caption.

The gawking guy definitely finds the whole situation romantic, but not the poor lady on the left.

Why would anyone mistake this piece of rock for a toilet?

And you can’t blame the hikers, either…

“That’s [defecation on the rock] been going on for years,” he said.

“When people climb up the top of the rock there’s no toilet facilities up there.

“They’re sh**ting on a sacred site.”

The Global Observatory will be in a dormant state for the next few weeks, with only a few postings. We shall start anew in sometime in October.

Traffic tickets are merely a means for cities to generate revenue, and save money, with little or no additional effort. This is especially true for speeding.

The cops save on gas by hiding behind those “bushes.” The driver pays another hidden tax. The insurance company makes more money by jacking up premiums, and rewards cities by providing free equipment. The cities save more dough.

How about that, Vanderbilt?

The "Messiah"

It is amazing that people constantly fall for people claiming to be the Messiah, returning to teach mankind the error of its ways.

The latest is this former policeman in Siberia who claims to be the reincarnation of Jesus sent to Earth to teach us

about the evils of war and the havoc we were wreaking on the environment.

He might as well be a member of the Green Party.

Spare Us, Lady! Courtesy, the www

I’ve never had any love whatsoever for the ever-complaining, slow-driving, cranky old ladies and gentlemen who live in almost every decent neighborhood everywhere in the world, it seems.

When you have to get somewhere in a hurry, you’re bound to end up behind a 80-yr old driving his truck at 5 below the speed limit and waiting at every stop sign for what seems like eternity.

If you drive past their homes, they will be invariably standing around waving you to slow down, even if you’re barely over the limit.

When you get home late or are engaging in otherwise shady activity (even on your own property), you can see them peeking out their windows.

Sure, they’ve got nothing else to do. But we’ve got a lot on our plates, in contrast.

This whole Obama-Gates affair was similarly precipitated on the over-eagerness of, well, an elderly person:

Ms. Whalen also told the dispatcher that she called 911 on behalf of an elderly neighbor who saw the men trying to get into the house.

I am not age-ist. I love elderly people, just not always.

The poor Whalens are getting flak for merely calling “on behalf of an elderly neighbor.” That should teach ‘em.

Sullivan's Contraband

Andrew Sullivan, a conservative but not among my favorites, conducted experiments with TSA and airline security a few months back. He boarded planes with fake boarding passes and tickets, carrying all kinds of contraband. On his list:

• scissors
• leatherman
• knives
• books on jihad and terrorism in Arabic
• bomb making materials
• and more

He was never caught or even checked beyond the usual.

On the other hand, Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam, a respected scientist and a recent former President of India, an ally of the United States in the war against terrorism, was forced to “take off his shoes and be frisked before he boarded a plane to the US.”

APJ: Terrorist?

As Buncombe writes: “We don’t care who you are – take off your shoes.”

Is APJ a terrorist? Is he going to bomb New York?

Is this old man such a danger to the US, that he needs to be frisked?

Is this the courtesy extended to a former President of India?

What would the US say if WJC were frisked in this manner by an Indian airline?

All this while Sullivan can walk on and off with all kinds of terror-aids. He does look a little bit shady, too.

Arrogant and incompetent – that’s US airlines and the TSA. What will these fools protect us from terrorist attacks. Good job keeping those geriatric bombers off our planes.

Taxing the Crap Out of Us

According to a recently released Colliers International’s parking survey, Seattle sits at a prime 7th spot on the list of cities with the most expensive monthly parking rates in the United States.

At $290, Seattle is behind only the usual suspects on the East Coast – New York, Boston, and so on – and San Francisco. As such, parking rates in the Emerald City are the second highest on the entire West Coast, almost $90 more than Los Angeles and $75 more than Sacramento, which is next on the list. Read on »

The Devils in Gainesville

That is what a sign at an intolerant, bigoted church says in Gainesville, Florida. Surprisingly, the church calls itself the Dove World Outreach Center run by the Dove Charismatic Ministries.

What they forgot to say, if I may so humbly propose, if I may hesitantly correct their ignorance… Islam is of the Devil’s Worst Nightmare… Now, that’s better.

No Burqa for You

What someone wears (or does not wear) is not for any government to decide, unless the dress in question is indecent or physically dangerous.

Mona Charen, thinks otherwise. She feels that Sarkozy’s proposal to ban the burqa in France is right and wants something similar in the US. She concludes:

For all men and women who consider themselves enlightened, fighting off the burqa should be a matter of honor.

Why?

In the West, no woman can be forced to wear any particular attire, whether it be the burqa, hijab or a bikini. It is a matter of choice. If a woman wants to wear a thong, a morally disgusting dress, she can wear it. Likewise for the burqa. Read on »

See you next week.

My second post, itself a follow up, on Farah’s Pandith’s name and appointment have solicited more interesting comments… Read on »

Who's Infected?

Dog Flu: Coming Soon to a Canine Near You!

The NYT reports:

While fears of a flu pandemic among humans have shifted from the lethal H5N1 avian flu to the relatively mild H1N1 swine flu, the H3N8 canine flu has been a quiet undercurrent in the United States, rarely discussed except among veterinarians and dog owners in the few areas where it has struck hard: Florida, New York City’s northern suburbs, Philadelphia and Denver.