DesElms, John Bear, Uncle Jacko, Jack Tracey, Rich Douglas and others...what is THIS?

Re: Always the bridesmaid...

Tell me about it.

I've been at the forefront here since Day 1, I've even gone to the Crabby Forum and given them the virtual white-glove-slap in the face, and I still get no love.

 

Try a Google web search for "degreeinfo.blogspot" to see who else is aware of this site.

The resulting list is short. There is a thread at militaryforums.com (which is copied at some other forums); the initial post is dated September 7. The posted date at degreeinfo.blogspot is August 26.

The only other references to this page, as returned by Google, are two links at knightsbridgeuniversity.com. The Google cache for one of these pages indicates that the link was up by August 31.

 

Being hated by all the right people is very cool, which is why I love Jamesville so much!

 

Actually the most interesting thing I learned was that Dr.Bear was thinking of building an N scale train layout. Had HO layout as kid . A lot of fun.

Enough of the politics and religion forums DI needs a train forum.

Dan

 

Very disturbing, but one becomes inured to this cyberfaeces.
(No, not you guys, or the trains. The other thing.)

One kindly correction to the esteemed threadstarter:
J-a-n-k-o, not, God forbid, Jacko.

 

If we strip out the unpleasant adjectives and adverbs, is the information on the web site fundamentally accurate?

 

No. It's riddled with errors. I'll leave others to defend their write-ups, but I haven't "worked at" any unaccredited schools. I did do an internship for Greenwich (and was paid for one student, which was a tiny part of the internship, the rest of which was unpaid). I didn't "work" for VIU, but I did teach some classes for them. I didn't "work" for MIGS; I was never paid and MIGS doesn't fall under the unaccredited category anyway. Finally, I've published one article, but I've also published my dissertation. (By definition, since it was earned at an accredited school.

Minor quibbles? Perhaps. But see how easily the facts can be twisted into something that doesn't resemble reality? Hyperbolic rants like the one in question are often based on such distortions.

 

I just *love* these hate pages! They make perfect exemplars for my presentations. I still have all the Earlscroft sites made up about me, and the audience just loves them! I certainly hope it is expanded and added to - interestingly, Henrik links to it from his site.

Cheers,

George

 

N scale is fine until you reach the trifocal stage. "Detail? What detail? I don't see any detail!"

O scale is the smallest I could manage!

 

Re: Re: DesElms, John Bear, Uncle Jacko, Jack Tracey, Rich Douglas and others...what is THIS?

Damn! There goes that promising theory. Back to the drawing board.

My guess is that Mr. Degree is one of our friends over in Jamestown. I can speculate about which one, but I don't know.

 

Basta. DFTT.

 

Considering that Knightsbridge linked to it rather quickly, one has to wonder if it isn't one of those guys.

 

Ya t'ink?

 

I had intended to ignore this matter, but when someone reasonable (Oxpecker) asks if it is true, then I feel I should answer that.

------------------------------------------------------------
They said:
He’s also been a voluminous poster to Usenet and to distance education discussion forums.

I say:
My lifetime total postings to forums on anything but higher education is probably under 50.

They say:
He was an administrator at one, Degreeinfo.com, until recently.

I say:
I have never been an administrator at DegreeInfo.

They say:
John Bear, whose real name is John Andrew Klempner

I say:
My legal name, changed in Lake County Illinois Superior Court in 1969, is John Bjorn Bear.

They say:
Lately, he’s hitched his wagon to the cause of mainstream accredited schools...

I say:
Since I sold my marketing business which handled the Heriot-Watt MBA, in 1998, I have had no connection of any sort with any school.

They say:
Real diploma mills – the “degree in 30 days, no questions asked” places - get an easy ride from Bear...

I say:
I have given a dozen depositions, five courtroom appearances as an expert witness, and hundreds of media interviews all specifically on the 'degrees by return mail' people.

They say:
[His] attention is directed towards schools that compete with the accredited sector

I say:
I have thank you letters from quite a few owners of unaccredited (or then-unaccredited) schools thanking me profusely for my support, and for giving them their only public exposure in my books: Reg Sheldrick of Southwest, Tom Neal Sr. of Cal Coast, Phil Forte of Pacific Western, Don Breslow of Century, even Ray Chasse of American Coastline and others.

They say:
DID YOU KNOW…that John B. Bear has owned and run not one but TWO DIPLOMA MILLS – yes, that’s DEGREE-SELLING DIPLOMA MILLS? They were called the “London Institute of Applied Research” and the “Millard Fillmore Institute” and operated in the 1960s and 1970s. Bear sold honorary doctorates, no questions asked, from both entities.

I say:
I have described both of these gags in my books for at least 20 years, and won't rehash it here. Fillmore was a gag to protest the "awarding" of honorary doctorates to celebrities and donors. LIAR was a fundraising scheme for the British Association for Gifted Children, well documented in their literature.

They say:
DID YOU KNOW…that John B. Bear has part-owned and run TWO UNACCREDITED SCHOOLS...International Institute for Advanced Studies, MO, later to become Greenwich University, HI, and Fairfax University, LA.

I say:
Yeah. I've described that connection and involvement over and over in my books and elsewhere, for years.

They say:
Whilst he ran them...

I say:
"Whilst"??? Does this mean an English person is writing this?

They say:
DID YOU KNOW…that John B. Bear has part-owned another UNACCREDITED SCHOOL – Columbia Pacific University...

I say:
This, too, has been mentioned in my books fr decades.

They say:
...that he once described in glowing terms in his guidebook, giving it his highest ranking?

I say:
I believed, and still do, that from the late 70s to the early 90s, it was one of the better unaccredited schools.

They say:
Yet now, when he comments in the media about the school and its graduates, he doesn’t mention his involvement and criticizes the school as if he had never supported it? That’s hypocrisy in our book.

I say:
I have never failed to mention my involvement to the media. What they print or say is not my business. I have probably spent more time explaining and defending Columbia Pacific in the 20+ years since I sold my stock back to them, than anyone else on earth, most recently yesterday morning, telling yet another reporter that John Gray's CPU degree was well earned, state-approved, and utterly respectable.

They say:
...the International Institute for Advanced Studies, which he owned and ran

I say:
It was founded by 1972 as a non-profit. When the founder, Alexander Niven, became very ill in 1987, he asked for help. I became one of four new directors. No money changed hands.

They say:
[IIAS] had no such approval, nor was such approval needed to confer degrees from its state.

I say:
Partly true. They did need to be registered with the state, and were. Not approval, since it was not available. Same with Greenwich and Hawaii. If I were, heaven forfend, starting a new school now, I would choose a state that has a more rigorous form of state licensing. IIAS started in Missouri because that is where Niven lived. Greenwich started in Hawaii because that is where I lived.

 

Give Em' Hell Doctor!!! But there is no need to defend anyone mentioned in the article in question as it is probably just a bitter person with too much time on their hands and very little cojones. A real man uses his real name and does not hide behind an alias when stating clearly libelous acusations onto others.

Furthermore, I want to state for the record that I post and read the posts here for two simple reasons. First, to learn how I can further my education without going broke. And second, because I believe that the non-traditional distance approach to education is the only way a person can get a quality, and decent education without aquiring a lot of debt unless your parents are filthy rich or have a full scholarship. If only one person gets an education because of a small contribution on my part then I feel my job here is done.

 

Exactly. In Australia, we call it gutless.

Cheers,

George

 

Dr. Bear has refuted those charges, and worse, many times.

 

Desteapteti-va, ascundeti-va, partisani!

Oh, sweet reason! Oh, sweet, noble souls! You owe nothing! Why abet a goatbag?
Miguel, George, Decimon, let's head for the woods while the others wait in line for the next cattle-car.

 

could it be.............

Could it be the Lawyer that wrote that other article about John Bear?

 

What makes no sense to me is this persons facts are not well researched(the name calling doesn't help his case either). You'd think that if you were going to attack a group of people you'd pay attention to the details because, anyone with a half of a brain should be able to see through this in a half a second. Particularly anyone who reads the threads and pays attention to what does go on here in DI.

It's one thing your own spin on things, but that might make that blog look legit.Then again I realize he wasn't concerned with that.

Unfortunately the blog did most likely what this turkey wanted it to, got everyone here talking about it !