NOT BIG PAPI !!!! NOOOOOOO..........

Is it becoming clearer by the day that we may have been better served had we commissioned Mr. Magoo to investigate the steroid issue in baseball than former Senator George Mitchell and his Sawks bias? I mean who else has to fall by the wayside? Can MLB get it's $12 million back for the "investigation"?



Does this development not further "TAINT" and expose as the corporate white-wash job that it was, the door stop that has become the Mitchell Report?

These were the two largest guys in the Red Sox lineup and the clubhouse at the time, both literally and figuratively, and this Barney Fife clone wraps up his investigation and concludes that "Nope, nothing to see here" regarding the Red Sox. The team he had an interest in?

And is it also not becoming clearer when the assorted talking heads wiggle and squirm to protect their favorite, nice-guy players that the biased media cannot be counted on to bring us the facts?

And how it is even a serious question to ask "Does this taint the Red Sox titles?" Of course it taints their titles, morons. Are you kidding me? Their two biggest sluggers are tainted and you have to even posit the question?


What are we waiting for here? Another media nice-guy, favorite to fall from the tree and then they can tell us, "Well it doesn't taint their legacy...It doesn't taint their championships.

I just heard one clown on ESPN say it only should affect how we look at 2003 re: Ortiz and I suppose--using that logic--only recently regarding Manny. Wow, the tone and narrative of the debate has really changed recently.

Just in the last two weeks we learned that Bob Costas had a private dinner with A-Rod and his newest gal pal. Does anyone really think he'll deliver any hard-hitting exposes or diatribes against A-Rod, much less any other pin-striped juicer?

And a Mets reporter--in breaking a story that vilified a team employee (to his credit)--doesn't understand that trying to curry favor from the team when you are supposed to be maintaining an air of impartiality "TAINTS ALL OF YOUR REPORTING". The bad and the good. Try considering the fans best interest when you are trying to move up the corporate ladder.

In this case, of course, the brethren quickly circled the wagons and defended their own. No hint of impropriety here people, move along. Because they know. And they want to reserve the right to themselves to do the exact same thing should the situation arise.

So from the top of the media food chain to the bottom, nothing but a cesspool. No surprise here.

Can't wait to hear the Gammons / ESPN spin on this one. Way past time for old Uncle Bud Selig to unveil that Jason Giambi style apology and hope that there are no more popular stars on that list. We're a Pujols or a Jeter or a Maddux away from this sport REALLY smacking into the side of a mountain. Even after all that it has been through.

I love the old switcheroo, dipsey doo these guys manage to pull off. When folks were leaking sealed court information in the BALCO case to newspapers, it was the greatest thing since sliced bread. Now all of a sudden they want to make a federal case out of it. Can't have it both ways. HAHAHAHAHA.

GIANTS DEAL: RHP TIM ALDERSON FOR 2B FREDDY SANCHEZ

To get an All-Star at a position of need and a force at the top of the lineup in exchange for a player who has not won a game for you at first makes this trade seem lopsided in favor of the G-men.

And Sabean is borderline giddy.

"Simply put, our long-awaited next move has finally been consummated," Giants general manager Brian Sabean said. "A kid that has distinguished himself as an All-Star three out of the last four years and a batting champ within that time frame. The timing's great."

If the objective was to inject the Giants back into the pennant race, this MAY do the trick. Matt Holiday would have been better and I'm sure the Ryan Garko trade just brings back bad memories of Shea Hillenbrand.

However, Alderson may prove to be a heavy price to pay for this move down the road. The Giants paid a big price in giving up Alderson. He is one of the top ranked prospects in the organization. He was ranked by as the #4 prospect int he organization by Baseball America. He's only 20, is 6-foot-6 and 217 pounds. This season, he has a combined 7-2 record and a 3.65 ERA.

However, he has not won a game above the AA level and his experience there is limited, so the Pirates are taking a real gamble here as well. It would seem as if Sanchez should have fetched more in return, but it's possible the Pirates gave up on quantity for quality in Alderson, i.e. one top-tier prospect rather than two lower echelon players.

"We are pleased to bring in a pitcher as highly regarded as Alderson into our system," Pirates GM Neal Huntington said. "Tim has the size, frame, athleticism and an advanced feel for pitching at his age to become a high quality Major League starting pitcher. He has a solid arsenal of pitches with plus command that has allowed him to move through the Giants' deep system at an accelerated pace."

Good Luck to them, and to the Giants. They still seem as if they are a productive corner OF short of REAL contention. The combo of Randy Winn and Freddie Lewis does not scare any pitching staff in the league. Have to get more pop out of those positions.

GIANTS DEAL: LHP SCOTT BARNES FOR 1B RYAN GARKO

From ESPN.com news services:

Fighting for the NL wild card but stuck in a slump, the San Francisco Giants made a move to boost their offense on Monday.

The team acquired first baseman Ryan Garko from the Cleveland Indians for Single A left-handed pitcher Scott Barnes.

This must be GM Brain Sabean's idea of a playoff push. I'm glad they did not give up one of their upper-echelon pitching prospects. It's hard to give upon a lefty this early in his career and Barnes showed promise with a quirky delivery. Garko seems like he will platoon with Ishakawa at 1B, he's not the type of bat that strikes fear into opponents pitchers but he is a solid bat.

Additional Information:

Going into Monday's games, the right-handed hitting Garko was batting .285 with 11 home runs and 39 RBIs in 78 games. In five seasons with Cleveland, he has a .283 average with 53 home runs and 235 RBIs.

At high Class A San Jose, Barnes was 12-3 with a 2.85 ERA in 18 games, all starts, with 99 strikeouts in 98 innings.

T.O. SPEAKING WORDS OF WISDOM ABOUT VICK??

At the Bills training camp, Terrell Owens stated he feels that embattled Michael Vick needs to be reinstated immediately by the NFL and said any additional punishment added by NFL Commissar Goodell would be similar to "kicking a dead horse."

Interesting choice of words considering the hovering publicity hounds named PETA, but I think T.O. is right. And I certainly didn't want to pass on an opportunity to agree with T.O. about anything.

According to published reports, Owens added:

"I think he's done the time for what he's done. I don't think it's really fair for him to be suspended four more games,"

"It's almost like kicking a dead horse in the ground. ... The guy's already suffered so much. And to add a four-game suspension on a two-year prison sentence, that's ridiculous."

Then T.O. added to the wisdom dispensing with the following:

"Why shouldn't he? I mean, there's a lot more guys around the league that have done far more worst things than that and gotten second chances," Owens said.
Owens said he would welcome Vick as a teammate.

"Michael Vick is a guy that really hasn't any character issues besides what he got a prison sentence for, so why not?"

He was going along so well with the first comment--really he was. Then he tripped over his feet a bit on the second one. The "no character issues besides..." is going to leave an "Other than that Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play?" quality to it as far as the PETA folks go. But hey, let them squirm a little.

Plus, I would love to see them try to picket Terrell Owens. Maybe they can protest in front of his driveway. That seems to provide good theater.

DOW 10,000 - ???

We may not be collectively singing "Happy Days are here Again" but don't look now-- according to the forward looking stock market--maybe we should at least begin humming a few bars.

The Dow has crossed 9,000 to go positive for the year, finally.
The S&P 500 is @ 975 and looking to cross 1,000.
The tech-laden NASDAQ is sniffing the 2,000 level.

POSITIVE SIGNS FOR CONTINUED OPTIMISM:
TED Spread is 0.33 and going lower (0.20 in the pre-collapse days)
Barron's Confidence Index is ~70 and improving (70+ pre-collapse)
Fed Discount Rate Model is accommodative (bullish for stocks)
Yield Curve Spread is > 3.5% and upward sloping (bullish for financials and economy overall
VIX < 30 (15-20 pre-collapse) NEGATIVE SIGNS THAT COULD RUIN THE PARTY:
Continued rising unemployment approaching 10%
Home prices that may be bottoming, but haven't clearly turned back upward
Does stimulus help or hurt
---------

Brian Wesbury, First Trust Advisors

As he writes in his latest Forbes commentary: "To determine
fair value for the stock market we use historical norms for
the relationship between stock prices, interest rates and
corporate profits. These norms suggest that with interest
rates at current levels and corporate profits where they
were in the first quarter of 2009, stocks today are at no
more than 50% of fair value. Yes, that's right, stocks would
have to roughly double from here to get to fair value."

--------

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said during a visit to Beijing on June 2 that Chinese officials expressed "justifiable confidence" in the strength of the American economy [They also laughed at him when he told them China’s investment in US assets were safe]. China expects the greenback to maintain its role for "many years to come," Deputy Foreign Minister He Yafei told reporters in Rome on July 5.

---------

There are considerable challenges in the short-term. The adminsitration and Congress has to do a better job helping to revive employment and housing. The Fed has done all it can do to help. If Bernake is wrong about QE and the Congress/Administration/Treasury screws up on the policy front, we'll be back to gold,guns and Campbell Soup.

Question?? Why when oil goes up, it's due to greedy speculation. But when it goes down, there is no question about speculation driving the price south? One of the biggest driver of price of any commodity is the monetary policy of the biggest speculators in the world, the Reserve Banks. Their speculation moves the price of oil, agriculture, gold, silver, copper and other basic materials. Just asking.

BUERHLE PERFECTO

WOW. What a game. What a catch by Dewayne Wise in CF to bring back Gabe Kapler's potential HR.

You want Dewayne Wise on that wall, you need DeWayne Wise on that wall.

INCREDIBLE. BASEBALL HISTORY.

SLAVIK PLAN TO END A.L. DOMINATION - UNIVERSAL D.H. RULE

SORRY Z. - THE RISK IS NO LONGER WORTH THE REWARD

After the All-Star Game, I took a look at some of the questions posed during the All-Star Game post regarding why the recent A.L. domination here as well as during inter league play.

From the website Cot's Baseball Contracts:

I was originally looking at the data by team to see where the Giants were going in the next couple of years regarding payroll and free-agents (more waste and malfeasance than a government program) when I stumbled upon the breakdown by team and position which shows:

WHERE CLUBS SPEND
Team-by-team spending by position, as a percentage of total 2009 club payroll, with MLB rankings.
Payroll figures include 2009 salaries, plus a pro-rated share of any signing bonus, for players and former players with Major League contracts.
Payroll figures do not include deferred payments or performance, award or roster bonuses.

Just eyeballing the data and performing rudimentary statistical analysis, I came away with the following observations:

If you break down the teams by proportion of payroll spent on Pitchers vs. Position players and sort the teams into three groups of ten:

GROUP ONE: (Higher proportion of payroll allocated to pitchers vs. positions players)

ATL (66% - 34%) .500 record
CIN (61% - 39%) .484 record
AZ (55% - 45%) .424 record
SD (53% - 47%) .402 record
TX (52% - 48%) .544 record
NYM (50% - 50%) .473 record
SFG (50% - 50%) .549 record
PHI (50% - 50%) .573 record
COL (49% - 51%) .543 record
CLE (48% - 52%) .387 record

Group Average Record - .488
5 Teams over .500 - 5 Teams under .500
8 of 10 NL teams vs. 2 of 10 AL teams

This is the least successful group. The pitching/defense group. Significantly higher proportion of NL teams to AL teams.
---------
GROUP TWO: (Relatively balance payroll allocated to pitchers vs. positions players)

CHW (48% - 52%) .516 record
KC (48% - 52%) .407 record
SEA (48% - 52%) .533 record
TOR (47% - 53%) .495 record
MIL (46% - 54%) .511 record
CHC (46% - 54%) .522 record
STL (44% - 56%) .543 record
TB (44% - 56%) .554 record
LAA (42% - 58%) .578 record
HOU (40% - 60%) .500 record

Group Average Record - .516
8 Teams over .500 - 2 Teams under .500
4 of 10 NL teams vs. 6 of 10 AL teams

This is the most successful group relatively speaking. More AL teams vs. NL teams.
-------------
GROUP THREE: (Higher proportion of payroll allocated to position players vs. pitchers)

BOS (40% - 60%) .604 record
LAD (38% - 62%) .630 record
DET (38% - 62%) .533 record
PIT (37% - 63%) .440 record
BAL (34% - 66%) .451 record
FLA (32% - 68%) .495 record
MIN (32% - 68%) .511 record
NYY (32% - 68%) .593 record
OAK (20% - 80%) .422 record
WAS (20% - 80%) .286 record

Group Average Record - .497
5 Teams over .500 - 5 Teams under .500
4 of 10 NL teams vs. 6 of 10 AL teams

This is the second most successful group relatively speaking, even though it includes such dregs as the Nationals, Pirates and the A's. More AL teams vs. NL teams.
-------------
So it seems as if a "balanced to weighted more towards position players" payroll outperforms a "pitching / defense" oriented payroll. PED, recent stadium construction geared more towards hitters are factors pointing to a change-over to more offense in recent years and the A.L. has clearly capitalized on this more than the N.L. and the only difference is the Designated Hitter.

We've had a generation of players grow up in leagues, playing games under the D.H. rule.

The leagues have been playing under separate rules for a generation now. At first, the difference was necessary and meaningful. We had to see if the dumb rule worked. Well, we have enough data and the pendulum has clearly swung over to the A.L / pro-DH side.

We're electing guys to the Hall of Fame who have played virtually their entire careers as D.H's.

Can you imagine if the NFL allowed the AFC to play under one set of rules and the NFC under another?

How about the NBA? I'm not talking about style of play differences (West Coast runs/guns, East Coast bangs) but a significantly different set of rules that effects the style of play.

The N.L. owners have to come to their senses and adopt the D.H. now or continue to get spanked in All-Star games and inter-league play.

Sure, the occasional Carlos Zambrano, Rick Ankiel, C.C. Sabathia can hit on occasion, but why bother. Managers hate to see pitchers go down to injuries batting, bunting or running the bases when they are paid to get guys out. Ask Jerry Manuel about that one.

I have to admit, lifelong N.L. fan, love the style of play, but it is a relic of a bygone era.

THE DESIGNATED HITTER RULE SHOULD BE IMPLEMENTED UNIVERSALLY.

OBAMA AND HEALTH CARE - THE MORE THINGS CHANGE...

OBAMA HEALTH CARE PLAN - A BAD IDEA THEN, A BAD IDEA NOW?

ACCORDING TO VITALIY KATZENELSON (Author of Active Value Investing - Making Money in Range Bound Markets) - It's a fundamentally flawed idea for improving our health care system overall. How can it be better with less doctors and less wonder drugs being produced?

Vitaliy's ContrarianEdge

Obama’s First Econ Lesson

Posted: 27 Apr 2009 09:28 AM PDT

Mr. President is facing the first econ lesson of his presidency. According to a New York Times article Mr. President is trying to figure out what to do with shortage of doctors. He said “we are not producing enough primary care physicians”.

Education is expensive, consumes a lot of time and the payoff is not worth the trouble. This is a very early wake up call on socializing medical care in the US.

The econ lesson? When you lower the price you get less of it. This is a good preview of what will happen to little chemical compounds we call legal drugs that save millions of lives every day if you start instituting price controls to “protect” people from “evil” pharmaceutical companies.

------------------
ACCORDING TO RASMUSSEN REPORTS - the people are against it.

Just 35% of U.S. voters now support the creation of a
government health insurance company to compete with private
health insurers. A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone
survey shows that 50% of voters oppose setting up a
government health insurance company as President Obama and
congressional Democrats are now proposing in their health
care reform plan.

-------------------

ACCORDING TO THE Congressional Budget Office - it won't
achieve the fundamental goal of reigning in costs.

WASHINGTON (AP) - Democrats' health care bills won't meet
President Barack Obama's goal of slowing the ruinous rise of
medical costs, Congress' budget umpire warned on Thursday,
giving weight to critics who say the legislation could break
the bank.

The sobering assessment from Congressional Budget Office
Director Douglas Elmendorf came as House Democrats pushed to
pass a partisan bill through committees, while in the Senate
a small group of lawmakers continued to seek a deal that
could win support from both political parties.

-------------------

BUT ACCORDING TO OBAMA - we're going to get it whether we
like it or not. I'm sure he'll tell us that EVERY economist
is in favor of what he intends to do. Every economist except
those hired by Congress to appraise whether the plan will
actually work or not.

So, is this the type of change we signed on for, or more of the same hubris and arrogance that was characteristic of the dreaded Bush administration?

------------------

P.S. - LAST BUT NOT LEAST, WE WILL STILL HAVE ABOUT 17 MILLION PEOPLE UNINSURED UNDER THE GOVERNMENT'S PLAN AND THESE ARE THE SAME PEOPLE (GOVERNMENT BUREAUCRATS) WHO BROUGHT COMMAND AND CONTROL HEALTH CARE TO OUR NATION'S SENIOR CITIZENS AND VETERANS. ASK THEM HOW WELL IT WORKS.

GIANTS PROMOTE POSEY TO AAA FRESNO

After lighting up the California League at San Jose for a half-season (13 HR - 58 RBI - .326 AVG), the Giants have decided to skip Posey over AA and one step closer to his major league debut with the Giants (heart skips beat).



The Giants AA Connecticut catching tandem of Tyler LaTorre (1 HR - 18 RBI - .286 AVG) and Jackson Williams (1 HR - 15 RBI - .222 AVG.) remains undisturbed.

Looks like Bengie Molina can begin the process of packing his bags. I hear that Flushing Meadows real estate is really attractive (if you like airplanes).

OBAMA THROWS OUT FIRST PITCH AT ALL-STAR GAME

After nearly bouncing the offering, the Southpaw in Chief immediately blamed his predecessor for leaving the most enormous hole on the mound since the Great Depression.

He also blamed Pujols for continually calling for the curve-ball when it was clear that lefty wanted to throw the heater.

Actually, from the pictures, it looks like the President turned the ball over which may have caused the late drop.



Anyway, the National League qualified for both bailout funds and federal disaster aid by not winning for the twelfth consecutive game.

You would think that if the draft was the great equalizer it is supposed to be that the NL--with sixteen picks every year versus the AL's fourteen--would be able to stockpile more good young talent than the AL.

Maybe free agency is more important, but again that explanation is a head scratcher since the NL was long noted for having the larger markets vis-a-vis the AL. Maybe the NL's large market teams are not as loose with the budget as the Yankees, Sawks and Angels.

You would think the DH argument would leave the AL laden with hitters and the NL with the better pitchers, but lately, not the case. Besides, the AL had the DH in the 1970's and couldn't win a lick back then.

Bring back Pete Rose, Joe Morgan and the Big Red Machine.

Now the tables are turned and the NL can't seem to buy a win.

Carl Crawford's catch was the highlight of the game and possibly the game saver.

A WHOLE LOTTA MEDIOCRITY GOING ON...

KUNG FU PANDA (PABLO SANDOVAL) FOR THE ALL-STAR GAME.

.....in Major League Baseball right now.

Look at the divisional races in both leagues at the unofficial halfway point (All-Star break).

NL East - One plus team (Phillies), One minus team (Nationals) and a bunch of .500 teams stuck in a cement mixer.

NL Central - Six .500 teams stuck in a cement mixer.

N West - One plus team (Dodgers), One minus team (Padres) and a bunch of .500 teams.

SOME QUICK QUESTIONS:
Are the Giants really a contending team?? REALLY??!!! Pitching says OK, maybe. Wiffle bat offense says NO-NO.

And really, how did Kung Fu Panda not make the All-Star team?? Because of David Wright??? What has he done except stir the hormones of a bunch of pre-pubescent girls (and boys) in the greater New York metropolitan area??? And for this the rest of the nation has to suffer??

Has Johnathan Sanchez re-established himself as the Giants fifth starter and heir apparent to Randy Johnson?? Over Noah Lowry??? Did it really take a no-hitter for him to do that??

Anyway, on to the AL League mid-season analysis.

AL East - Three plus teams (Rays, Sawks and Yankees) and the rest just .500 type teams.

AL Central - A division of .500 type teams except for the Royals (-) and Indians (-).

AL West - All .500 type teams except for Oakland (-).

What an exciting second half we have shaping up except for maybe the AL East and NL West pennant races. YAWN!!!

THE RETURN OF MICHAEL VICK

This is good enough of an endorsement for me.

Dungy: A Fatherly Touch
In this week's SI, Tony Dungy, who announced his retirement as coach of the Colts last January, offers a first-hand account of meeting with Michael Vick (left) at the federal penitentiary in Leavenworth, Kans. "I firmly believe Michael deserves a second chance in life," writes Dungy. "I understand how appalling dog fighting is, and in no way do I condone it. But he was given a punishment that the court deemed appropriate, and now he exits prison having paid for that crime. It's time to let him bounce back after that loss."

Since L'Affaire Vick of course we have witnessed the Dontae Stallworth DUI fiasco. A HUMAN died as a result of his actions, a father and husband. And he gets 30 days in jail. We'll see how Goodell handles this one.

The league seems to be piling up guys who are responsible or actively involved in actions leading to multiple deaths (Leonard Little, Ray Lewis and now Dontae Stallworth).

The Plaxico Burress case is yet to be resolved, but that seems to be another case where the punishment clearly will not fit the crime.

In my opinion, Vick and Burress will pay a much higher price than their crimes demand, while the previously mentioned players responsible for the loss of human life remain virtually unscathed from a professional standpoint. Seems fair, right?

What a system--this system we call JUSTICE. We would be better served spending less time wringing our hands over the "Affair du jour" and more time returning a sense of balance and fairness to our Justice System.

WHY IS EVERYONE SO S.A.D.???

“Not only so but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.”
-Romans 5:3-4 (NIV)

The wise words above are part of the answer. Across the nation, we have raised a generation (maybe two) without the benefit of a moral compass. "Anything Goes", "Live and let live" and "Whatever" became the answer whenever there was a question about right and wrong.

And yet it seems like we are hearing more and more about athletes being diagnosed with this disorder.

The list includes:
Ricky Williams
Zach Greinke
Khalil Greene
Joey Votto
and Dontrelle Willis

and it's not entirely out of the range of possibility that this definition at least may have been the cause of Rick Ankiel's implosion as a major league pitcher and Chuck Knoblach's throwing difficulty in New York. Perhaps we can go as far back as the Mets Mackey Sasser and Padres Mike Ivie, whose inability to throw the ball back to the pitcher, derailed a catching career that was heralded as the second coming of Johnny Bench. Maybe "Steve Blass disease" was actually S.A.D.


SOCIAL ANXIETY DISORDER DEFINITION FROM WIKIPEDIA:

Social anxiety disorder (DSM-IV 300.23), also known as social anxiety[1] or social phobia[2] is a diagnosis within psychiatry and other mental health professions referring to excessive social anxiety (anxiety in social situations) [2] causing considerable distress and impaired ability to function in at least some areas of daily life. The diagnosis can be of a specific disorder (when only some particular situations are feared) or a generalized disorder. Generalized social anxiety disorder typically involves a persistent, intense, and chronic fear of being judged by others and of potentially being embarrassed or humiliated by one's own actions. These fears can be triggered by perceived or actual scrutiny by others. While the fear of social interaction may be recognized by the person as excessive or unreasonable, considerable difficulty can be encountered overcoming it. Approximately 13.3 percent of the general population may meet criteria for social anxiety disorder at some point in their lifetime, according to the highest survey estimate, with the male to female ratio being 1:1.5.[3]

Discipline in the schools and in the home were thrown by the wayside as parents feared an overreaching and ever watchful government eye when they dared apply discipline and schools just let bad behavior pollute the entire system.

Note: in a recent post we showed poll results indicating discipline is the top concern in school, above bullying and cheating.

Bullying 14%
Cheating 7%
Attendance 10%
Discipline 43%
All of the above 17%
Other 10%

It may be overly simplistic to some to attribute this rise to the "Everyone gets a trophy" mindset that seems to have taken over society in recent years, but it seems like a development that is worth keeping tabs on.

Apparently, 13% suffer from some form of this disorder, whether it's fear of public speaking, debilitating shyness, etc. that inhibits our careers out on Main Street, so it doesn't seem too far fetched to assume the athlete population would also weigh in at some level.

We seemingly can't comprehend how athletes, whose job it is to perform in intense, pressurized situations could suffer from this as mere mortals do. But it may just be that their athletic gifts allow them to cruise to a level where they have to struggle and face that "fear of failure on a high stage" that seems to be the precursor to the downward spiral.

It is interesting to note that Jayson Stark recently penned an article that directly and pointedly accused some organizations of using this disorder as an excuse to manipulate the placing of players on the disabled list in major league baseball.

Maybe he and his colleagues should have been that forthcoming and strident with the "whispers" they heard about PED abuse in the early days. The organizations may have had to face the music and look themselves in the mirror a little sooner.

I guess we may never go back to the good old days when guys just plain old sucked or were "choke artists". Have to have a fancy scientific name for it.

ARE WE ALL NATURAL BORN CHEATERS??

Interesting results and conclusions from a Duke professor regarding cheating. I received this in an e-mail from the Character Counts website.

It demonstrates that the "lynch mob"/"witch hunt" approach of selectively picking those who should be punished for the sins of the past by changing the rules of the "judgment" game on an ex-post facto basis is clearly misguided.

The people who initiated the Salem Witch Trials thought they were acting from a perfectly sound moral position. In hindsight, maybe not so much.

The good Senator McCarthy from Minnesota thought he was operating from a perfectly reasonable position when he was using the "Red Scare" to cleanse the country from Communist influence.

People who led lynch mobs in the past honestly believed that they were protecting their loved ones from sinister forces and it turns out they were simply racists and bigots.

We’re Irrationally Predictable After All

Dan Ariely, a behavioral economist at Duke University, and author of Predictably Irrational, posted on his blog the first two questions of an exam he set:

1. My parents and grandparents would be most proud of me if:
a. I did not cheat on this exam and got the score I deserve
b. I cheated on this exam and got a score higher than the score I deserve

2. While taking this exam, I intend to:
a. cheat by looking at other people’s answers, or showing my answers to others
b. not cheat

He thinks the questions were effective, but it begs the question: Why is cheating so prevalent in society? Even when there are obvious penalties (laws and societal condemnation), there’s still an awful lot going on.

Professor Ariely says we should be tolerant of individual weakness but harsh on the system that encouraged it and give ourselves the benefit of the doubt on moral questions. For example, many people wouldn't dream of stealing because it's wrong, but they might be willing to give themselves $100 if they could justify it to themselves. You probably won't have to think hard to find examples in your own life.

That’s because we’re more likely to cheat if we see others doing so. We tend to conform to accepted social norms rather than adhere to strict rules.

While harsh external punishments usually reduce dishonesty, the internal psychology we employ (our capacity to rationalize) can lead us to cheat. Contextual cues, such as the questions posed by Professor Ariely in his exam, can further deter dishonest behaviors.

Even when we see the consequences of getting caught, some of us may still cheat if our internal reward mechanisms aren’t strong enough. One way to strengthen this is to implement a comprehensive and pervasive integrity program. Call our national office for information on our Honor Above All trainings or in-service to help you combat academic dishonesty.

WEB POLL


Breakdowns in academic integrity occur everywhere, regardless of location or income. When Dan Ariely, a behavioral economist at Duke University, gave people a math test and paid them according to how many questions they solved, he found the average number of problems people claimed to have solved increased when no proof was needed.

Are We Natural-Born Cheaters?

Last month we asked what the biggest problem in your school was. Here are the results:
Bullying 14%
Cheating 7%
Attendance 10%
Discipline 43%
All of the above 17%
Other 10%

HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY

Republicans believe every day is the Fourth of July, but the democrats believe every day is April 15. - Ronald Reagan