Friday 4 March 2011

Gaddafi, German Defence Minister, LSE, PhD

Recent turmoil in Libya may eventually result in the fall of a non-democratic regime headed by army colonnel Gaddafi that has been in power for decades.
Such course of history has been crossed by two minor though equally interesting ones. Gaddafi's son Saif has recently gained his PhD at the London School of Economics (LSE). In addition, a Libyan foundation which Saif manages donated funds to support research at the LSE. The dubious source of the funds and alleged plagiarism by Saif in his PhD thesis has eventually led the Head of the LSE, Howard Davies, to resign with a short but persuasive letter.

On a parallel short course to cut corners, the German Defence Minister was caught cheating in his PhD thesis, thus leading him to resign.

Two recommendations ensue:

1) If your dad is a dictator and such "scholarship" funds your PhD, or if you are about to be appointed minister, check online whether you've blatantly cheated before handing in your PhD!


2) If you are an old style, vintage dictator, e.g. Chavez, Gaddafi, Kim Jong-il or Mugabe, or such a modern one that you look like a prime minister or president, e.g. Berlusconi or Putin:
2a) Proofread your children's PhD before they submit,
2b) Why don't you resign and do a PhD yourself!? You'll have plenty of time and will not need to cheat in a rush to finish!

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