HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE: New York Times: Who Will Hold Colleges Accountable?

Much attention has been paid to for-profit colleges that offer degrees online while exploiting federal student-loan programs and saddling ill-prepared students with debt. But nearly all of the institutions caught up in the 10-day credit dodge exposed by The Chronicle were public, nonprofit institutions. And both the credit-givers, like Western Oklahoma, and the sports machines at the other end of the transaction, like Florida State University, were doing nothing illegal. . . .

The lack of meaningful academic standards in higher education drags down the entire system. Grade inflation, even (or especially) at the most elite institutions, is rampant. A landmark book published last year, “Academically Adrift,” found that many students at traditional colleges showed no improvement in critical thinking, complex reasoning and writing, and spent their time socializing, working or wasting time instead of studying. (And that’s not even considering the problem of low graduation rates.)

Indeed.

STEPHEN GREEN: Fiscal Cliff Reality: Everyone Is Rich, Your Taxes Are Going Up, and the Country is Bankrupt.

FORWARD! How Middle Class Wealth Collapsed to a 40-Year Low. “Between 2007 and 2010, the median net worth of U.S. households fell by 47 percent, reaching its lowest level in more than forty years, adjusted for inflation. In other words, middle class wealth virtually evaporated in this country. A good chunk of the population got sucked through a financial wormhole back to the sixties. . . . Our economy still fundamentally runs on middle class spending — on houses, on cars, on trips to the mall — and those families saw their finances eviscerated in a way unlike what’s happened during any recession since World War II.”

MEGAN MCARDLE: Guns Don’t Turn Decent People Into Killers.

NASA PHOTO: The Nighttime Earth From Space Like You’ve Never Seen It Before.

HMM: Echelon Spy Network Secrets To Be Revealed in Megaupload Copyright Case.

MILLIONAIRE COLLEGE PRESIDENTS WHO DON’T PAY TAXES? I think the GOP House should ban this practice. At some point, you’ve made enough money!

WHERE ARE AMERICA’S BADLY-NEEDED Arctic Icebreakers?

CHANGE: First post-reelection Tea Party victory — Tennessee will not set up Obamacare exchange.

IT’S NOT A WAR ON WOMEN: It’s a war on married women. “As our lawmakers​—​newly reminded of the power of female voters​—​huddle to strategize about the ‘fiscal cliff,’ they have an opportunity to address a real threat to female prosperity: a tax code that is disproportionately burdensome to married women, especially working moms.”

UPDATE: Reader Andrea Sanford writes:

Thank you for posting the article on how the tax code is unfair to married women.That is exactly our situation. My husband is a Ph.d chemical engineer and I work part time as an RN.There were years it cost us money to work ,but I have always wanted to work part time since I do do a useful job for society and it has always been “insurance” if something were to happen to my husband. So my reward is that I will have to give up a 30 year career this year because my husband’s income fluctuates enough that we could easily go over the 250k mark and suddenly be RICH! Of course “they” know that if you try and protest people will think you are whining and people don’t want to reveal their incomes.It really is not a lot of money.

Also.a tax break that you probably get but bugs me is that our friend that are profs get to send their kids to school free and are never taxed on that benefit. Talk about bonanza. So of course they also don’t really care about tuition.

Well, if my daughter goes to UT I get half off on tuition (but not room and board). Some other places are more generous.

NUKES: Shipments of super-hot, fissile uranium to Nevada could begin in early 2013.

THE NARRATIVE CHANGES AS POLITICS REQUIRE:

Of course, same-sex marriage started out as a conservative idea, and lefties resisted. That back in the day when marriage was patriarchy and oppression.

Here’s a prediction: Once gay marriage becomes the norm, the left can get back to critiquing marriage. That topic got backburnered.

Sounds right to me.

THE SMITHEREENS: Blood And Roses.

I WISH I’D DONE THIS BEFORE MY GRANDMOTHER DIED: Oral Histories Save Family Memories Forever. It’s not just veterans’ recollections that are worth saving.

OBAMA HAS CONSEQUENCES: “I’m sure it must have seemed like a great idea during the ‘Arab Spring’ to arm Islamic extremists in Libya.”

BLAST FROM THE PAST: The Road To Serfdom, in cartoons.

ANDREW KLAVAN: How Ben Affleck’s Argo Screws History.

ASKING THE IMPORTANT QUESTIONS: Is Casual Sex Right For You?

ADVICE FOR LAWPROFS FROM MICHAEL HIGDON: Serving on Appointments While Retaining Your Sanity.

CARLA OLSON AND MICK TAYLOR: Sway. I have their live album, Too Hot For Snakes, and it’s a real gem, though largely unknown.

Also, Olson’s band The Textones, Standing In Line. I saw them somewhere — not sure if it was 12th & Porter or the Exit/In, but it was a great show. But then, what’s not to like about a great band featuring a 6′ Swedish woman who plays a Rick?

MULTIMILLION-DOLLAR SALARIES FOR EXECUTIVES OF THE FAILING FANNIE MAE.

AT AMAZON, it’s the Kindle Deal Of The Day.

THE WHITE ANIMALS: Gloria.

CHART: The Epic Implosion Of The Green Money Bubble.

Related: Why Everyone Is Losing Hope For Green Energy.

YES: Marc Thiessen: Republicans Should Stand And Fight. “Pass your plans. If the president refuses to negotiate and no progress is made by February, inform him that you will attach all or part of your plan to legislation raising the debt limit and pass it in the House. Then do so. Obama will sign it. Here is why.”

Related: Politico Poll: 76 Percent Favor ‘Cutting Government Spending Across the Board.’