Rod Kirkland attacking DI and Dr. Bear

Kirkland's been sleeping in class again. All this is old news. Asked and answered many times before. His motivation is suspect here.
Just my opinion.
Jack

 

Re: OK, now what...

If you have something to say, say it. Don't expect people to respond to things you post somewhere else, just as you shouldn't expect people to respond to conversations that occur elsewhere.

 

Re: Re: Re: OK, now what...

 

I am satisfied with Dr. Bears explanations, however, I do not think it is irrelevent for someones past to be brought back up, especially when it happens in the other direction here A LOT!

Everyone has to live with the bad decisions that they make, and everyone (at least the ones man enough to admit it) have made mistakes.

All of this crap comes from people that like to point at a stick in someone else's eye, and claim to be so much more ethical and moral than others. If everyone would lose the personal insults and stick to cordial discussions about DL institutions the atmosphere would be much better. In one of the rare times that I agree with DesElms, I think it would be better to just ignore it rather than continue to stir it up, and that goes for both sides.

 

Sigh.

How many times does a guy have to answer a question? All of this has been answered repeatedly both here, in AED, and in his book again and again.

The only reason to bring this up again is just pure unadulterated spite.


Tom Nixon

 

For the record, I have responded at length privately to Mr. Kirkland, answering all his questions.

I guess I don't understand this fixation with our name change. My wife was a Dobrolubova. I was a Klempner. We decided, 40 years ago, to choose a name that was our own, that would never be mispronounced. My father, also John Klempner (and quite a well-known novelist at the time) said that he was thrilled by what we had done, and wished he had had the courage to do it long before. We went to court. We did it legally. We've never tried to hide it. So what's the deal?

 

The deal (of course) is that there are dishonest people, people with severe personality disorders, and individuals with an axe to grind against the world. When they're not telling outright lies to satisfy their demented needs, they are twisting the truth to satisfy their own misguided goals.

He implies that Dr. Bear made the money himself, which makes the statement a lie by implication. Kirkland has twisted the truth into a lie because he is apparently one of those individuals that I described above.

 

I refuse to respond to anything posted at Jamesville. The denizens of that swamp can post here or at Degreeboard if they have something to say to me. Nor will I quote them here, or even refer to something they've posted. It's just not worth it.

 

Just when I thought I was out, they pulled me back in...

Unfortunatelly, in a free country there is such a thing as free speech and public figures are subject to a level of critizism that no human being should be made to endure. Furthermore, I respect a man that does it under his own name.

Mr. Rod Kirkland I believe you are entitled to voice your opinion. However, as a person who read Dr. Bear's bood on distance learning cover to cover, I believe he is not unfair or unbalanced towards unaccredited degrees. He calls it like he sees it. There are others in this forum that might push the RA only agenda in this forum. But Dr. John Bear is not one of them. He is a scholar who has done more research on the subject than anyone else in the world. To the point that the government uses him as an expert. The government even links to this site as a great place to find information on degree mills.

I for one find his book and this site extremelly useful tools in my pursuit towards my educational goals. I only wish I had it 15 years ago, maybe I would not have acumulated the ammount of debt I did during my law school years.

Do I think that Unaccredited degrees have a place in the educational spectrum? Yes. Do I think you should try to get the best accredited degree as a first choice? YES! Dr. Bears' book taught me that. Good bless John Bear. He has helped me a lot more than any of his critics and detractors.

 

I really don't think that is the point. Look at the way that Mr. Kirkland made the statement.

It seems to me that he's trying to imply that the alias was done for sinister reasons. Similar to the way a news story about a criminal might mention the other aliases that the criminal is known by the first time the name is mentioned in an article. Mr. Kirkland apparently just wanted to smear the good doctor and since there is nothing substantial he can say he must resort to innuendo and false implications.

 

Or it's a religious reference.

 

Settle this once and for all!

Well? IS Dr. Bear left handed??

 

Re: Settle this once and for all!

How gauche!

Jack

 

Well actually during the 8 or 9 months I couldn't use my right arm, following an accident in 1990, I learned to write clearly in a sinister mode.

Since I'm a sucker for double and triple puns, I loved the title of liberal Washington columnist Nicholas von Hoffman's autobiography, "Left at the Post."

 

I see nothing wrong in asking questions as long as they are civil and to the point. I also see nothing wrong in stating facts as they have been reported and going to the source for verification. John and I have gone over the above points as well as a number of others, which I appreciate. I have a better understanding of his previous involvement with state-level education and earlier promotional activities as well as his credentials and current positions on the issues. I also understand how media soundbites can alter an interview or sometimes be selectively presented to show either side of an issue. The resulting message can be contradictory to an individual's background when it reaches publicaton, which has been the source of many of the inconsistencies.

 

This is Rod allegedly just asking questions and stating facts.

I would say that someone else besides John Bear is expressing different agendas.

 

I was getting pretty frustrated seeing what appeared to be two individuals on both sides of the issues. I think we've gotten to the bottom of it.

 

And so I'm sure then that it is your intention to go back to that other forum and retract your thinly veiled accusations in a very clear and unambiguous manner, right?
Jack