PhD bought for cash how much of tax payer money used buy rosm's phd

“I don’t know ... the criteria. I don’t know. It came to me as a very pleasant surprise. But I was told by the vice-chancellor that they were looking for a woman who has leadership qualities, does charity and social work and also a programme that is beneficial to the country. They are looking for a candidate and they said that my name cropped up. They read about all the work things I have done for Malaysia, the speeches I’ve given in other countries and they decided that I am the deserving one. I am extremely honoured.”

At last, Malaysia's First Lady Rosmah Mansor got to poke her critics back. After being the butt of countless media attacks for her lavish spending sprees and arrogant ways, Rosmah finally got to tell her "frustrated and jealous" critics to fly kites if they did not approve of her receiving an honorary doctorate from Australia's Curtin University.

"Are you questioning Curtin University or are you questioning me? Curtin University decided to give it to me. You question them, not me," she told reporters who couldn't figure out why the the institute would want to bestow such an honor on her.

Gaddafi’s son Saif holds a PhD, awarded to him by the London School of Economics for a thesis on how civil society makes for democratic government. Unfortunately, academically at least, it’s not all cakes and ale for Dr. Gaddafi these days.

LSE Director Sir Howard Davis has resigned and is facing an internal probe after WikiLeaks disclosed a deal for the LSE to annually receive a million pounds in Libyan funds in exchange for training 400 graduate and post-graduate students from the Gaddafi clan. The post-graduate students included Saif, and the money came from a foundation under his personal watch. Some 300 thousand pounds have been paid so far.

Saif Gaddafi is a handsome guy, a fluent English speaker and an expert socialite. He spent his five years at the LSE mingling and networking with influential figures like Nat Rothschild and Tony Blair. His PhD thesis was put together with the help of the Boston-based Monitor company, which turned a blind eye to numerous instances of blatant plagiarism in the work. Symptomatically, Saif’s friends Tony Blair and Sir Howard Davis were frequent guests in Tripoli to advise Colonel Muammar Gaddafi on how he manages an estimated 65 billion pounds set aside from his country’s mammoth oil revenue.

Shortly before his step-down, Sir Davis faced angry demands to return his university’s Libyan money to the Libyan people. He even promised to spend this money on scholarships to African students.

In the meantime, Saif Gaddafi himself is in the midst of an LSE inquiry which may result in a decision to strip him of his PhD.