One Trillion Education Bubble Gets No Help From Obama/Boehner

Washington political leaders on both sides of the isle are hard at work flushing this country down the toilet! In 2006, John Boehner(R), current House Speaker, wrote legislation that deregulated on-line education, ballooning the education debt and defaults from these 'shady', for-profit, institutions that lure the desperate and gullible (here). This year President Obama did a major 180 degree 'cave' on his campaign promise to clean-up this gross misuse of government-guaranteed loans (here). So, I guess we know what these dudes talk about while pretending to play golf. "Whose turn is it to screw the voters/taxpayers?"

The backdrop to these D.C. dealings is the one trillion, that's TRILLION!, in accumulated student debt that the US is closing in on, including a record $100 billion this year alone. Like the housing bubble, it is only a matter of time before the education bubble explodes. The federal government will ultimately curtail these bad government-backed loans made to people pursuing worthless degrees, at over-priced for-profit AND traditional universities and colleges. When this happens, in the not too distant future, young people will truly come to know what some of us already know, they have been screwed by their elders. There is no longer the pot-of-gold at the end of the education rainbow - just inescapable debt shackles and limited job opportunities.

So children, sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but you should beware (or be aware)! You are not in Kansas anymore (unless of course you actually live in Kansas, then technically you are, but not really, because Dorothy and Toto are dead - got it?).

James C. Collier

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Technorati Tags: One Trillion Education Bubble Gets No Help From Obama/Boehner, For-Profit Schools, University of Phoenix, Goldman Sachs, Acting Black, Acting White

More Black-on-Black Violence At McDonald's

WARNING: EXTREME VIOLENCE



Some people (previous post here) accuse me of encouraging racism by posting black people behaving badly (to state it mildly). To the contrary, I think it should be mandatory that everyone see this behavior, so we can stop pretending that this country's faults arise from 'others'.

The McDonald's cashier clearly went beyond simply defending himself, and he will suffer for this. On the other hand these two females stepped over a line that justified the initial response (IMHO). No telling what kind of life-threatening beating they were prepared to give this working black man. This is the risk you take when you assault someone - they may have a metal rod handy and experience in using it.

FTR, I assume that anytime I pass a fifty (rarely), that it will be scrutinized in all high/low tech's of manner, in order to validate it's authenticity - including the risk that it may be both authentic and rejected.

James C. Collier

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Technorati Tags: More Black-on-Black Violence At McDonald's, Rayon McIntosh, Ex-Convict Cashier, Two Black Girls Beat, Acting Black, Acting White

Google Pulls Plug (Again) On White Hate Site - whyblackssuck

Back in August, I noticed that one of my 'favorite' hate sites, whyblackssuck.blogspot.com, was back up and running after being taken down by Google. As before, I re-started my regular complaints. I'm happy to say that it is gone again, especially since it was spewing the same filth. If you did not see my earlier post, here it is.

James C. Collier

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Technorati Tags: Google Pulls Plug (Again) On White Hate Site - whyblackssuck, Racism, Hate Speech, First Amendment, Acting Black, Acting White

#17 Why Do Blacks Love Fried Chicken?

I see this question a lot. It is best answered with the form of another question, why do people from the southern US love fried foods? The Europeans that settled the south, prior to slavery, were largely Scottish, and they brought the well-established practice of frying food in animal fat, from Scotland. This penchant was unlike the English, who preferred boiling and baking their fowl.

This question gets black-focused airplay in the north and western US, while rarely heard of south of the Mason-Dixon, where asking it would signal unrestrained ignorance. Beyond the south, non-southern whites use the question to disparage geographically transplanted blacks, as though fried-chicken has some magical hold on black people. It does not. It is easily and economically prepared, and it taste good.

If the higher calorie and fat content of fried foods is well known, the better question is why higher educated and higher income Blacks continue behaviors, like eating fried-chicken (see study here), when the inevitable result is poorer health? In general, education, economics and social customs conspire to keep blacks tethered to the mind set where any tasty food is good for you, as long as there is plenty of it.

The study does not say, but it may be that better off blacks, who have assimilated certain key behaviors in order to advance (for example speech and dress) seek to experience nostalgia, or to ‘keep it real’ in one of the few places, the dinner event, that holds no immediate threat of disqualification.

Other ideas?

James C. Collier

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Technorati Tags: #17 Why Do Blacks Love Fried Chicken?, KFC, Southern Food, Scotland, Stereotypes, Acting White

Random African-ness: Antelope Takes Out Cyclist

"Evan Van der Spuy, a 17-year-old member of Team Jeep, was flying in the Time Freight MTB Express Mountain race Sunday near Pietermaritzburg when a leaping Red Hartebeest, or antelope, ran smack into him. Travis Walker, his trailing teammate, happened to have a camera strapped to his bike."



James C. Collier

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Al Davis: 1929 -2011

Just Win Baby!

James C. Collier

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Derrick Bell: 1930 -2011

Professor Bell, whether it was at Harvard Law, the US Justice Department, or the Oregon School of Law, was unafraid to walk when he felt talking was done. A man who lived his convictions.

James C. Collier

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Steve Jobs: 1955 - 2011

I'm a nerd, from way back in the stack, and only two years younger than Mr. Jobs. I was a few blocks away at HP, in Cupertino, when Apple began. I worked at Apple during graduate school. If it is possible for a company to touch a person, Apple is all the way it. I am currently building an iPhone app that rendered the stipple (dot) drawing you see here. I build things for every platform, but Apple is the gold standard, warts and all.

Steve Jobs was a lot of things extraordinary and human, but mostly he is proof that if you do not live your life to do the things you love, you are wasting your precious time on the planet.

RIP

Steve Jobs 2005 Standford University Commencement Address.





James C. Collier

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Technorati Tags: Steve Jobs, Apple, iPhone, Cupertino, MACintosh, Acting White