Senile Bear Confuses Vaughn with Culp

[Armando Ramos]

Come to think of it, wasn't Bill Cosby the other star of U.N.C.L.E. Fancy that, a hit show with two future Ph.D.'s as the stars. Do you suppose they talked about it?

http://www.degreediscussion.com/forums/v...php?t=4834

Bill Cosby was the star of "I Spy" with Robert Culp as his spying partner. Robert Vaughn's co-star on the Man From UNCLE was the very white David McCallum. They say if you remember the sixties you weren't there. The problem for Bear is he was there and never left.

[Randall Flagg]

It seems Bear's memory is as shaky about TV shows as it is about his own past.

It also appears that Bear forgets that he dumped on Cosby's Ph.D. for years. He mentions it under Bending the Rules.

"If we are to believe a book by a member of Dr. Bill Cosby's dissertation committee at the University of Massachusetts (Education's Smoking Gun, by Reginald Damerell), the only class attendance on Cosby's transcript was one weekend seminar, and the only dissertation committee meeting was a dinner party, with spouses, at Cosby's house."
--John Bear--Bending the Rules--page 279--Bears' Guide-1997

I guess it is hard to remember if you have praised or damned people, especially, when you switch back and forth so much. You would think Bear would remember that he used Cosby as an example of famous people getting degrees the "Easy" way. He used to think things of that nature were much funnier back then, maybe because he sold so many himself. Perhaps Bear, if he can remember the details should do an expose of Cosby on some TV gossip rag, just as he did to John Gray.

The best thing to do with Bear is to simply stand still and wait. He will eventually come back that way again and take your side of the issue. Perhaps because he fails to remember what his previous expert opinion was. Ahhh, the shifting sands under the feet of the experts, how wonderful.

[DR ANATIDAE]

It seems Bear's memory is as shaky about TV shows as it is about his own past.  It also appears that Bear forgets that he dumped on Cosby's Ph.D. for years. He mentions it under Bending the Rules.
"If we are to believe a book by a member of Dr. Bill Cosby's dissertation committee at the University of Massachusetts (Education's Smoking Gun, by Reginald Damerell), the only class attendance on Cosby's transcript was one weekend seminar, and the only dissertation committee meeting was a dinner party, with spouses, at Cosby's house."
--John Bear--Bending the Rules--page 279--Bears' Guide-1997
I guess it is hard to remember if you have praised or damned people, especially, when you switch back and forth so much. You would think Bear would remember that he used Cosby as an example of famous people getting degrees the "Easy" way. He used to think things of that nature were much funnier back then, maybe because he sold so many himself. Perhaps Bear, if he can remember the details should do an expose of Cosby on some TV gossip rag, just as he did to John Gray.
The best thing to do with Bear is to simply stand still and wait. He will eventually come back that way again and take your side of the issue. Perhaps because he fails to remember what his previous expert opinion was. Ahhh, the shifting sands under the feet of the experts, how wonderful.

I well remember JB emailing me with these comments - shortly after he had received a copy of the Brown teal Manual:

"Every once in a while, I really enjoy the act of delving deeply
(if briefly) into a totally new (for me) area. Sometimes this simply involves picking up a book someone has left on a library table. Or being dragged along by my wife to a lecture or workshop given by someone I'd never heard of on a topic I barely knew existed. And sometimes a Brown Teal work appears magically on the computer What an immense piece of work this is. And the book is so well designed."

Not long afterwards he referred to me as "AN UNEDUCATED BUFFOON" at DegreeInfo - this would be because he thought his mates there would appreciate such comment.

[Albert Hidel]

Bear must be losing it. How could he forget that Robert Vaughn played Bear's boss, General Hunt Stockwell, when Bear starred in the hit series, The A-nal Team.

[Randall Flagg]

Exactly, Neil. Bear says one thing in private and another when being admired and petted on by the DI/DD boys. He was obviously playing to the mob when he blasted you. His vanity needed the cheers of the great unwashed that now follows him.

I wonder if even Bear knows when he really means it and when he is just talking to be heard? I damn sure wouldn't hazard a guess as to when he is being honest or just saying what he thinks needs to be said and heard. The public image he tries to create is a difficult one to penetrate and understand. No matter, your work was good, and Bear told the truth to you in private, though he may never admit he said it. He's that way you know.

[Little Arminius]

It seems Bear's memory is as shaky about TV shows as it is about his own past.  It also appears that Bear forgets that he dumped on Cosby's Ph.D. for years. He mentions it under Bending the Rules.
"If we are to believe a book by a member of Dr. Bill Cosby's dissertation committee at the University of Massachusetts (Education's Smoking Gun, by Reginald Damerell), the only class attendance on Cosby's transcript was one weekend seminar, and the only dissertation committee meeting was a dinner party, with spouses, at Cosby's house."
--John Bear--Bending the Rules--page 279--Bears' Guide-1997
I guess it is hard to remember if you have praised or damned people, especially, when you switch back and forth so much. You would think Bear would remember that he used Cosby as an example of famous people getting degrees the "Easy" way. He used to think things of that nature were much funnier back then, maybe because he sold so many himself. Perhaps Bear, if he can remember the details should do an expose of Cosby on some TV gossip rag, just as he did to John Gray.
The best thing to do with Bear is to simply stand still and wait. He will eventually come back that way again and take your side of the issue. Perhaps because he fails to remember what his previous expert opinion was. Ahhh, the shifting sands under the feet of the experts, how wonderful.

I well remember JB emailing me with these comments - shortly after he had received a copy of the Brown teal Manual:

"Every once in a while, I really enjoy the act of delving deeply
(if briefly) into a totally new (for me) area. Sometimes this simply involves picking up a book someone has left on a library table. Or being dragged along by my wife to a lecture or workshop given by someone I'd never heard of on a topic I barely knew existed. And sometimes a Brown Teal work appears magically on the computer What an immense piece of work this is. And the book is so well designed."

Not long afterwards he referred to me as "AN UNEDUCATED BUFFOON" at DegreeInfo - this would be because he thought his mates there would appreciate such comment.

Bear's original comments sound as though he wrote them during a moment of genuine sincerity, something that appears to be happening less and less often with the passage of time. In my own dealings with J.B., I truly appreciated his advice and encouragement in the form of written correspondence back in the 1980s when I enrolled in a BA (Hon) program at Unisa. His responses to my questions both served me well and motivated me to negotiate the bureaucratic maze that was pre-Internet Unisa. When I received my degree and sent J.B. a letter expressing my gratitude for his assistance, he replied with a wonderful handwritten note that truly touched me. At the time I believed that he was a truly extraordinary individual, a giant in his field and a man of great personal integrity. It's a real shame that he has decided to abandon his earlier principled positions and run with a pack of bitter, angry individuals who have rallied around the simplistic RA or No Way stance.

As far as Bear's insult, it is unfair and unfortunate that J.B. attacked Dr. Hayes the way he did. I still think that Rich "Bomber" Douglas, however, was far more insulting and mean-spirited when he called Dr. Hayes an "academic thief." That was a low blow even by RCD's standards.

[Randall Flagg]

It seems Bear was being the person we both saw back in the 80's and up to the mid 90's. I contacted him several times by snail mail and by phone and received nice, polite, answers, and he thanked me for the information I sent him about some new degree mills I had found.

When I contacted him about Greenwich, around 1990, he was informative and also, of course, gave me the sales pitch for Greenwich. I decided on Chadwick for many reasons, but had a positive view of Greenwich and Bear. You can imagine my surprise when I happened to stumble across AED and saw some of his snotty comments, and then when I posted a few things at online-college, quoting remarks from his guides, and, to my surprise, had him call me a liar, I was shocked. It was hard to believe this was the same man who had told us that Newport / Kennedy Western / CPU.....etc. were all good schools and decent choices. Between 1996 and 1997 he went from sounding moderate and fair to being an asshole who was too in love with himself. It has made me reconsider how I thought about him. I expect he never really believed what he said about Summit and the other schools of the type. I now believe he was just selling what he had on the shelf at the time and when he moved on to Excelsior, Heriot-Watt, TESC, and UOP, he no longer had the slightest interest in the little private schools he had once touted as the "Wave of the Future." I fear, Little Arminius, we were had by a very good con-man / used car salesman. He told us what we wanted to hear, needed to believe, and made good money doing so. He is now doing exactly the same thing, different people, different products. And if he lives long enough, he will probably do a hatchet job on the people with bottom end RA DL degrees. He'll say, "Surely you never believed that a degree from TESC in 110 days was the same as four years at a good college?" Then he will say he never recommended them and that they were just options for a few people in limited situations. Another he gotcha.

We watch TV and see all those, send me 19.95 and I'll send you a bottle of miracle pills to make your pecker bigger, car run on water, get rich at home in eight weeks, be a land baron, chick magnet, we laugh and say, "How could anyone fall for those crooks," well, I guess we all know now. Abagnale did it, and so did Bear. Hundreds of thousands of those damn guides sold all saying the same story, and Bear, he has the balls to go back and out the very people who listened to him and paid that old bastard all that money.

John Gray is the perfect example. He graduated from CPU with a doctorate at a time when Bear was still working there and was part owner. And get this, Bear helped to design the DL programs at CPU. Then Bear goes on national TV and tells Inside Edition how questionable a degree from CPU would be. I just wonder what the expression  on Bear's face would have been if Inside Edition had done its homework and said, "But Dr. Bear, John Gray received his degree from a school that you were working for and had stock in. You may have helped sell him the program." I bet the old crook would have choked. He would have outed Gray and himself on national TV. He would have told the world that Gray had a questionable degree from a questionable school and that he Bear, was one of the owners of the very same school. Now that would have been justice at it's best, served ICE cold.

I'm afraid Bear was never what we thought he was. He was just another slick salesman who wanted our $19.95. My congratulations to him. He screwed us, we smiled, he did it again, and again, and again. They say a fool and his money are soon parted. At least this new crop of fools doesn't include me, this time. I may be slow, but I do catch on. I bought the painted horse once, not again.

Let these clowns at DI/DD believe that Bear truly supports and believes the idea that a degree from Union or Excelsior / TESC is the same as Bear's own doctorate from Michigian State or his wife's degree from Vanderbilt. I'm sure Bear giggles all the way to the bank. Fools and their money, again.

[ham]

I'm afraid Bear was never what we thought he was. He was just another slick salesman who wanted our $19.95.

Well, John Bear is a notch or two above the quicksands of mud represented by the other "pundits" at DDI/DD.
He's skilled at highly situational ethics.
What's good here & now might not be as good there & then.
Better to swim with the tide than against it, right?

His responses to my questions both served me well -...- he replied with a wonderful handwritten note that truly touched me.

supposing that John Bear is just a human being (and clever at that ), what do we expect? As with most salespeople or people with vested interests, they just can't help you enough...until they are done with you as a client, or they realize you won't turn from "lead" to "sale".


I have been attacked and later harassed for years on a personal level with incredible vileness by the very same people -and their cronies and hirelings- who on a forum used -for a while- to send me endearing letters and paid me compliments and helping me was never enough.
When I failed to turn from lead to sale, and criticized them (as politely and unobtrusively as one may think ), they started insulting campaigns, which lasted for years...and -go figure- were even exhumed not so long ago after so many years.
Face it...
the cold caller trying to sell you those twenty bottles of wine for only $59.99 (but that'll be the finest wine you'll ever drink ); the enrollment counselor trying to psych you up to join Phoenix, Capella or some other dodgy school; the realtor, the used car salesman who have an item on shelf since 2002 but want to finally close the sale...
these people couldn't care less...
they don't eat pork with the muslim...
they are all about Hulk Hogan & Andre the giant with the wrestling fan...
they have a picture of Hitler hanging above the bedpost with the far-right activist...or one of Malcolm X with the African activist...
Hell, they want to close this damn sale, and move onto the next target...quick, damn it!

[Little Arminius]

When looking at Bear's history from the time of his PhD onward, excluding the time (LOL) he taught at my alma mater (University of Iowa), he has acted less and less like an academic and educator, and more and more like a salesman and self-promoter. Part of me may wish it weren't true but the facts all lead to only one logical conclusion ... Bear has viewed the DL-hungry public as his his potential customers, nothing more and nothing less. Any attempts to portray his work as something noble and selfless are just part of the promotion for his next big sales job.

[Randall Flagg]

This has been a very good thread, with very accurate and precise descriptions of Bear and his works. As Little Arminius said, "We were potential customers" and little more, this I will add. In private communications Bear could be civil and polite, but, I suspect, only as long as we were agreeing with and being useful to him. He is not satan incarnate, just no better than the guy who ran the odometer back on the used car we bought, that was "Just like new, and driven by a little old lady to church and back once a week." Of course we should have known better, but, we were dealing with one of the best and he is still fooling people as he recreates his past history and continues to make his name known, in his latest adventures in business. Aaaah, well, when you expect too much from people you usually get disappointed.

By telling the truth about what has been done we help others to stay clear of these people who are trying to con them out of their hard earned money, and that is a good thing. WE have to show that they are the ones selling degrees, porn, coffee enemas, cancer cures, self-serving degree guides, and out-and-out lies of all sorts. As strange as it seems they are doing the shilling and money making at it and we are the ones who are accused of it, amazing. All I would ask of the bystanders is that they see who is doing the selling and making the money from it before they decide who is shilling and lying. If they fairly evaluate the situation they will see that we are the warning signs, not the dangerous pit ahead in the road.

I share your disappointment, Little Arminius. I too believed Bear was one of the good guys, but he wasn't. To my surprise he was just a shill and a miller. Money-Money-Money-Money!!! To get it people will do and say what is necessary. I guess a comfortable retirement makes it all ok.