03.13.09
Help The Economy By Addressing The High Cost Of College / Student Loan Debt In America
With college costs continuing to soar and more college graduates struggling to make their student loan payments, the Reduce The Rate Petition is urging lawmakers to extend the benefits of the federal bailout to students.
Rev. Jesse Jackson has launched a new website to bring attention to the Student Loan Crisis in America.
He also recently appeared on Democracy Now! alongside Alan Collinge, author of the book The Student Loan Scam: The Most Oppressive Debt In U.S. History And How We Can Fight Back.
If you have student loans or have a family member with student loans, here’s how YOU can learn about this issue and help:
1. Visit Jackson’s new website ReduceTheRate.org, which advocates reducing the interest rate on student loans to 1%.
2. Visit StudentLoanJustice.org, which advocates restoring standard consumer protections to student loans.
3. Watch Rev. Jackson and Alan Collinge on Democracy Now! for full details.
4. Read The Student Loan Scam: The Most Oppressive Debt In U.S. History And How We Can Fight Back by Alan Collinge.
5. Listen to Alan Collinge interviewed on the Michael Savage Radio Show.
01.19.09
Celebrate Writer’s Day 2009 on April 3rd!
Celebrate Writer’s Day on April 3, 2009.
A new Facebook group has been created for Writer’s Day.
It was suggested by the late, great American writer Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. that April 3rd might be a good candidate for “Writer’s Day”.
Vonnegut chose April 3rd because it was the day on which Samuel Johnson signed a contract to complete the first dictionary of the English language (in 1753).
As a way of celebrating writers everywhere — of any language — and to honor Mr. Vonnegut’s memory, please join us by celebrating Writer’s Day on April 3, 2009.
Link (to “Writer’s Day” Facebook Group)
01.18.09
Funniest George W. Bush Videos: A Look Back
Wow, can’t believe the Bush era is almost over, and we will soon have a president who can actually speak in complete sentences. What a happy ending to this story, huh?
10.29.08
One Week…
10.07.08
2009 will get a Leap Second
“The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications and the National Institute of Information and Communications Technology have announced that the leap second will be introduced on Jan. 1 next year.
Leap seconds are added to adjust the gap between the standard time and the time based on the revolution and daily rotation of the Earth. The extra second for 2009 will be added between 8:59.59 a.m. and 9:00.00 a.m. on Jan. 1.”
Link (via Mainichi Daily News)
09.02.08
Goodman’s Shocking Arrest At RNC
Click here to read FULL STORY at Democracy Now! website.
“ST. PAUL–Democracy Now! host Amy Goodman and producers Sharif Abdel Kouddous and Nicole Salazar have all been released from police custody in St. Paul following their illegal arrest by Minneapolis Police on Monday afternoon.
All three were violently manhandled by law enforcement officers. Abdel Kouddous was slammed against a wall and the ground, leaving his arms scraped and bloodied. He sustained other injuries to his chest and back. Salazar’s violent arrest by baton-wielding officers, during which she was slammed to the ground while yelling, “I’m Press! Press!,” resulted in her nose bleeding, as well as causing facial pain. Goodman’s arm was violently yanked by police as she was arrested.”
08.21.08
46 Million U.S. Workers Have No Paid Sick Days
But, according to Yahoo News, lawmakers in 12 states have proposed legislation in the past year that would require businesses to provide them.
This problem is yet another example of how many Americans (FORTY THREE PERCENT of the private industry workforce) lack basic economic human rights:
“Proposed federal legislation would provide workers with seven days of paid sick leave a year for employees who work 30 or more hours a week. The benefit would be prorated for part-time workers.
Sen. Barack Obama, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, supports the legislation.
Sen. John McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee, opposes employer mandates, particularly when the economy is slowing, his campaign said.”
It’s hard to imagine that there are people in the FOOD industry who do not have paid sick days, huh?
And because some people were asking: Yeah, Spiddlement will DEFINITELY be voting OBAMA.
Link (to “States push laws to require sick paid days” via Yahoo News)
08.20.08
Muxtape vs. RIAA
Muxtape was such a cool idea. Make your own digital mixtape and share it with your friends.
So of course, the RIAA had to step in and ruin it.
Rolling Stone reports that Muxtape is probably on solid legal ground, protected under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998, but that legal expenses may be a problem:
“‘I think they have a strong legal defense,’ Von Lohmann told RollingStone.com. ‘The problem is if they might not have that money to go to court and take on the RIAA.’ Von Lohmann said legal fees could cost around $2-3 million, an investment the Websites would likely rather spend on tech engineers.”
Link (to “How Screwed Is Muxtape?” via Rolling Stone)
Link (to “Muxtape Down Because of RIAA” via Ghacks)
08.13.08
In 40 Years, We Will All Be Overweight
Well, not EVERYONE, but most Americans.
Fighting the mainstream culture of huge portions and high calorie junk food is a daily battle, especially for low income people with a limited food budget.
“The new projections, published in the journal Obesity, are based on government survey data collected between the 1970s and 2004.
If the trends of those years continue, the researchers estimate that 86 percent of American adults will be overweight by 2030, with an obesity rate of 51 percent. By 2048, all U.S. adults could be at least mildly overweight.”
Link (to “If trends continue, we’ll all be fat in 40 years” via MSNBC)
