HOW’S THAT HOPEY-CHANGEY STUFF WORKIN’ OUT FOR YA? (CONT’D): Mort Zuckerman: Enduring an economic ‘Long Misery,’ American hope has turned into despair.

THESE KIND OF HUSHED-UP PUBLIC SCHOOL SCANDALS JUST KEEP COMING: Los Angeles’s School Nightmare: Another Sex-Abuse Scandal.

“It is a culture of indifference where the teachers are looking out for the teachers. They don’t want to get involved or make accusations, so they turn away. They are more concerned about protecting their own jobs and reputations.”

Unionized teachers, bureaucratic administration, and a “culture of indifference.” This sort of thing is likely to speed the coming K-12 Implosion.

FREE ON KINDLE TODAY: Vox Day’s A Throne Of Bones.

HANK GREENBERG: Goldman Sachs, Government “Rolled” AIG. “Like dogs sensing weakness, [Paulson] and the Goldman alumni on his staff may have found it convenient to roll over AIG to prop up the old firm [Goldman].”

THE LITTLE PEOPLE MAY HAVE TO SUFFER A BIT: After Mike Bloomberg’s rule for hospitals, FDA panel votes to restrict use of painkillers.

AS PEOPLE SPIN POLITICAL EULOGIES FOR THE RETIRING TOM HARKIN, let’s just remember that he lied about his Vietnam “service.”

HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE: Bucknell’s Admission Raises Questions About How Many Colleges Are Reporting False Numbers.

This month, responding to four instances in which colleges admitted to having provided false information for its rankings, U.S. News & World Report published an FAQ on the issue. One of the questions: “Do you believe that there are other schools that have misreported data to U.S. News but have not come forward?” The magazine’s answer: “We have no reason to believe that other schools have misreported data — and we therefore have no reason to believe that the misreporting is widespread.”

Less than three weeks later, another college — Bucknell University — came forward to admit that it had misreported SAT averages from 2006 through 2012, and ACT averages during some of those years.

The news from Bucknell left many admissions experts wondering whether there are larger lessons to be learned by colleges as report seems to follow report with regard to inaccurate information being submitted by colleges.

Oh, I think there are lessons.

ROGER SIMON: Switching Sides.

A DECADE OF WAR IS OVER, REPLACED BY . . . ANOTHER DECADE OF WAR? U.S. Expands Aid To French Mission in Mali.

“THEY’RE COMING TO TAKE ME AWAY:” Police visit Chinese blogger who exposed sex scandal. “Most reports of corruption have come from online whistleblowers, such as Zhu, who post their findings on China’s Twitter-like microblogs, known as weibo. Some bloggers had hoped the anti-corruption drive would help them avoid the harsh government reprisals they have experienced in the past.”

PUBLIC INTEREST: Google, Yahoo Have More Respect for the Fourth Amendment Than the Feds. I respect the Fourth Amendment more than I respect the Feds, too — oh, wait . . . .

IN THE TIMES OF INDIA: Did Obama’s Involvement In Qaddafi Overthrow Get Americans Killed In Algeria?

Barack Obama’s triumphal second inauguration as US President has been tarnished by Al Qaida’s attack on an Algerian gas plant that killed 38 foreigners. US analysts may ignore the connection, but the Libyan chickens have come home to roost.

A major Obama achievement is supposedly Gaddafi’s overthrow in Libya. Yet a line of direct causality runs from Gaddafi’s overthrow to the rise of Al Qaida in Mali and attack in Algeria.

Paranoid about the possibility of an internal coup, Gaddafi hired mercenaries from many African countries. These included Tuareg soldiers from Mali. . . .

After Gaddafi’s overthrow, his Tuareg mercenaries took their heavy weapons back to northern Mali. They joined hands with local Tuareg secessionists and an Islamist group, Ansar Dine. The Islamists soon came to dominate the new Tuareg combination. They linked up with Islamists in neighbouring countries to form Al Qaida of the Maghreb.

Mali had been a democracy for two decades. But after the Tuareg revolt, the Mali army staged a coup in Bamako. Under pressure of sanctions, the army allowed a partial restoration of civilian rule, but basically remained in charge. So, the NATO intervention in Libya, widely trumpeted as a triumph for democracy, actually ended up destroying both ethnic unity and democracy in Mali.

This must be more of that “smart diplomacy” we were promised.

SHOCKER: Polls Find Disdain for Race-Based College Admission Preferences.

A Supreme Court decision on whether universities can use race as an admissions factor is expected by June, however the court of public opinion has already weighed in on the matter – and Americans of all stripes stand largely against affirmative action, according to a variety of recent polls.

In those surveys, at least half if not more of those polled voiced opposition to race-based preferences.

Take a Rasmussen national telephone survey, which found only 24 percent of likely voters were in favor of using race as a factor in college admissions, while 55 percent stood opposed, and the rest were undecided. That survey was conducted 11 months ago.

More recently, a survey released in October found that 57 percent of Americans ages 18 to 25 – so-called young millennials – are opposed to racial preferences in college admissions or hiring decisions. In other words, nearly six out of every 10 opposed the practice.

Nor is this new. Interesting that a practice so unpopular has persisted for many decades. What interests of the political/academic class does it serve that would allow it to survive in the face of long-lasting popular opposition?

ATLAS THUGGED: Who Is The Real “Big Oil?” “The Big Picture is that over 70% of the world’s reserves are produced by National Oil Companies (NOCs). These are companies with reserves and production that dwarf those of ExxonMobil or Shell, and with names you have probably never heard unless you are in the bidness. These are companies like PDVSA, Aramco, PetroBras, CNOOC, Gazprom, Yukos, and Pemex.”

What’s interesting is that the national companies somehow seem to get a pass on environmental problems and price-gouging. It’s only the private companies that are evil, apparently.