In many capitalist European countries, college students do not have to pay tuition fees out of their own pockets. Here in America, most students have to fund their own college costs, which for many students means student loans. Whether or not they complete the degree, student loan borrowers can’t discharge these loans through bankruptcy.Of course, college isn’t free in Europe, it’s paid for by taxpayers. Presumably, those countries believe the...
Read More »Science and the Tinkerbell Effect
by Tom Dinger The Bell A commentary by an acquaintance of mine and from years ago. I believe there is only one person who might recognize the author. He was well liked amongst his fellow writers. Americans Doubting the Big Bang Is a Healthy Thing A new Associated Press-GfK poll asked approximately one thousand U.S. adults to rate their confidence in science and medicine. The results showed surprising skepticism in various scientific...
Read More »Why is a widely used app named for a tenth century Scandinavian king?
by an old friend from “The Fray” Claude Scales Self-Absorbed Boomer Your smartphone, like mine, likely has the logo at left on it somewhere. I knew that “Bluetooth” was the name given to an ancient Scandinavian king, but had no clue why the app was named for him. Now, thanks to Rick Spilman in The Old Salt Blog, I know the reason. The logo is the Viking rune of King Harald “Blåtand” Gormsson, “Blåtand” is “Bluetooth” in English. The rune...
Read More »Ancient lone elm the Last Ent is ‘guardian’ to new trees
BBC and unknown author msn.com/BBC This kind of kool and interesting. An ancient lone wych elm whose remote Highland location has protected it from Dutch elm disease has been joined by dozens of seedlings for the first time in hundreds of years. The elm – dubbed the Last Ent of Glen Affric – was Scotland’s Tree of the Year in 2019. Ents are mythological tree creatures from fantasy writer JRR Tolkein’s Lord of the Rings. They were the...
Read More »On student loans
Most students who attend medical school in the US do so with student loans. Yes, some have military scholarships and some have wealthy parents, but most don’t. I’m guessing that most students reckon they’ll easily pay off the loans with the income that an MD or DO degree commands, and so far, they’ll be right.But the immensity of these loans has negative externalities. Here are two:1. It affects the residency choices of graduates. Students with large...
Read More »Ripping Off College Students’ Economic Future Redux
Originally, I put this into print November 2013. I took from many sources to complete it. I think it meshes well and still stands the test of time. The student loan issues and debt are still in existence. The debt owed is fare larger now with much of it being accumulated interest on principle. The cause of much of this is largely due to Biden’s policies before he became President up though 2005. The numbers for those having student loans is far...
Read More »The actual cost of college in America
I’m seeing the usual hyperventilating about college tuition. Look, there’s a lot of competition, particularly among the more competitive universities, to post exorbitant sticker prices for tuition because it makes them look valuable. The reality is that college tuitions are steeply discounted and most domestic students get “scholarships” that reduce the actual cost. “ . . .the actual cost of college for a family with an income of $100,000 has...
Read More »Joe Biden’s roll out of a new student loan forgiveness plan
The Biden administration will soon roll out a new student loan forgiveness proposal that could impact millions of Americans. For years, Joe Biden has been against Student Loan forgiveness. Now he is seeking forgiveness for making student loans totally unforgiveable. The proposed student loan program is smaller in scope than President Joe Biden’s first education debt relief plan which the Supreme Court ultimately blocked. Rough estimates by higher...
Read More »The Right’s Long Game to End Public Education
Briefly, this commentary is about creating a better environment for all children in public schools and stymie the political and personal efforts impeding the environment for them coming from privatization interests. by Jeff Bryant The Progressive Magazine “Every year, there’s something to stoke division in an attempt to disrupt our public schools and decrease the confidence in our public schools. Four years ago were the masks. [Critical race...
Read More »“We Have to Be a Nation That Trusts Women”
It has been a while since Angry Bear has featured Annie Asks You . . . Just been busy and I have been delinquent in doing so. This topic has been a long time in coming. I am confident it will be one which pushes America in the right direction. “AnnieAsksYou . . . “ [embedded content] While the Republicans continue to scramble and dig more deeply into the hole created since the radical Supreme Court majority decimated reproductive freedom,...
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