The International Scope of the Penn State Story : Shakespeare, Julius Caesar and Joe Paterno

William Shakespeare in Julius Caesar wrote:

"ANTONY.
Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears;
I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him.
The evil that men do lives after them;
The good is oft interred with their bones:
So let it be with Caesar. The noble Brutus
Hath told you Caesar was ambitious:
If it were so, it was a grievous fault;
And grievously hath Caesar answer'd it.
Here, under leave of Brutus and the rest,--
For Brutus is an honourable man;
So are they all, all honorable men,--"

Pat Forde at Yahoo! Sports Rivals.com College Football
writes that Paterno’s firing prompts chaos, sadnesss at PSU.

The Penn State story was even on the morning radio news here in Germany today, where there is usually NOTHING at all about America, much less U.S. college football or American collegiate sports.

It is unfortunate that these kinds of things make international news, but that is the world. Shakespeare understood this.

Maureen Dowd at the New York Times Op-Ed in Personal Foul at Penn State

Not really the kind of thing one likes to read,
but you get the full report of the Personal Foul at Penn State
from Maureen Dowd at the New York Times.

We comment on this terrible development only because we hope it serves to help reform college athletics and the way they are run and also because the Huskers play Penn State in football this weekend.

The harm that has been done to the reputation of Penn State, Joe Paterno and to college sports and college football in general can not be repaired.

Law and Sports: Paterno and Spanier Unanimously Dismissed by Penn State Trustees

Genaro C. Armas of the Associated Press has the story
at Rivals.com Yahoo! Sports college football
in PSU trustees fire Paterno, Spanier

and Dan Wetzel devotes his entire
Week 11 college football podcast
to the Penn State scandal.

We point out again that sad stories of this nature are in part enabled by a legal system that has erroneously carved out a special preferred regulatory niche for educational institutions and college sports, especially football -- much in the same way that an even greater special niche has been erroneously carved out for religions and sects, where similar abuses occur -- and it is this unjustified favoring that leads to a failure of individuals to conform to standard norms. They think aberrant behavior can be excused because their college, sport or religion will protect them -- and they often get away with it for that reason.

As Tiger Woods sadly admitted after his own personal fiasco and shame, he thought he was "above" the standards that exist for everyone else, and had to learn that such a view is in error.

The rule of law applies to everyone.

Universities and colleges should pay taxes. Their activities are as "economic" as those of any wage-earner.

They, their coaches and their administrators, should be subject to the same laws as everyone else and monopolistic organizations such as the NCAA should not be needed to supplant what are essentially normal legal duties.

PROFITS from college sports should go to the benefit of the athletes,
rather than to create a wealthy sports elite, which is what they are now doing.

Sports mirror the essential problems of current America.

Inequality is apparent as far as the eye can see.
A few profit. The rest pay the price.

The need for reform is everywhere present.

If the Penn State scandal serves as the final straw that leads toward reforming a totally corrupt system, then perhaps something good too, will come out of it.

An Old Lesson Relearned: The Penn State Scandal and the Corruption of Power

Here is the story:

Penn State Scandal Dwarfs Others In College Sports : NPR

It is such an old lesson.

Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

Coaches and administrators have simply gotten to be too powerful,
abetted by a lack of proper antitrust control by Congress and regulatory agencies over college athletics.

We have been posting about the abuse of power by the NCAA for years now, but who pays attention?

It always takes a scandal like this to open the eyes of the average man, who is otherwise blind to reason.

Google Says that the Android Effort Preceded the iPhone Effort, Which is True: What Followed Were Just Obvious Variations to Anyone Versed in the Art

Google States the Facts: Android Predates the iPhone

We clearly agree with the statement made by Google executive chairman Eric Schmidt that "the Android effort started before the iPhone effort". Indeed, it is easy to agree with that statement - because it accurately states the facts.

The companies are now battling legally on the patent and design front because subsequent design and technology for all companies over the last decade has followed the state-of-the-art of normal technological developments and possibilities, quite apparent to anyone versed in the art:

e.g. "thinner" designs only became possible because of the thinner manufacture of internal parts. Apple's design claim on a thin rectangle with rounded corners is ludicrous.

None of any of that should be patentable subject matter under patent law -- because it is and was "obvious" to anyone versed in the state of the art.

We have posted at length about Apple as a patent troll and the Apple company itself being one of the worst rip-off artists out there, riding a wave of inventions made by others:

see:

Going After the Monopolist: SEC Requests Apple for Detailed Information on Nokia Patent Litigation Settlement (October 5, 2011)

Apple Inc. - A Monopolist in Action: YOU Belong to US (September 15, 2011)

Samsung, Apple and Intellectual Property Rights: Design, Patents, Trademarks: Monopolies and Monopolists (September 15, 2011)

The Apple iPhone as a Design Copy of the First Pharaonic Cartouche of the Pharaohs of Ancient Egypt: A Design in the Public Domain as Prior Art for 4500 Years (August 23, 2011)