Sunday, January 01, 2012

"60 Minutes" on New Year's Day, 2012

The first story was on Eric Cantor, interviewed by Lesley Stahl. The White House blames Cantor more than anyone else for scuttling Obama's plans. Cantor said we"re trying to do what's good for the country. The harder you work, the sweeter the rewards. Kantor is the only Jewish Republican in Congress. Cantor said: nobody gets everything they want. I have always been willing to co-operate. Warm, Southern-gentlemen demeanor. No personal animosity to the President.

To address Cantor/Obama co-operation, Stahl could have mentioned "patent reform." Lest we forget, from Cantor's office on 16 Sept 2011:

Today, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) issued the following statement on President Obama signing the America Invents Act into law, a central provision of the House Republican Plan for America’s Job Creators:

“The President’s action today to sign the America Invents Act into law is an important step to ensure that our nation’s entrepreneurs and small businesses have the ability to more efficiently launch and protect their new products. House Republicans introduced this pro-growth legislation at the beginning of the year to reduce the backlog of 1.2 million patents and to encourage innovation, job creation and economic growth.

“The House Judiciary Committee and Chairman Smith deserve credit for their hard work on this bipartisan, bicameral legislation that will improve the patent system and help create jobs. Going forward, I hope the President and Senate Democrats will continue to work with us on areas where we agree to eliminate burdens facing our nation’s job creators and deliver results to get the American people back to work.”


Of course, "patent reform" did nothing to reduce the patent application backlog, but it was an example of co-operation, even if to no meaningful end. Fee diversion continues.

As to "60 Minutes" on Cantor, see also: http://inagist.com/60Minutes/153302682969448450/

The second story was on one student taking SAT test for others. Allison Stewart on Sam Eshagoff. Sam took the SATs 16 times.
Sam said this was an easy way to make money. Sam was arrested in September. He lived in Great Neck. Nassau County DA Kathleen Rice filed charges on forgery, criminal impersonation. Kathleen noted how easy it was to cheat the system. Sam operated out of Great Neck North. A school ID is accepted by SAT. Name and date of birth on piece of plastic. Sam consistently scored in 97th percentile, or higher. Sam was charging up to $2500 per test. Kurt Landgraff of ETS said cheating was not easy. ETS spends 11 million on test security. Sam Eshaghoff was caught because his clients were questioned, and confessed. He entered into a plea agreement. AP had noted in Sept. 2011: Eshaghoff is a 19-year-old Great Neck North alumnus who now attends Emory University in Atlanta. See Sam Eshaghoff, Emory University Student, Allegedly Took SAT For Other Students 60 Minutes noted that the schools at which the cheating students attend will NOT be notified of the cheating.

The third story, recycled, was on free-soloing. See
"60 Minutes" on October 2, 2011. Tsunami, free soloing, and Rooney's last regular appearance.

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