Month: December 2010
-
Odetta’s birthday December 31, 1930
Please take a few minutes today to consider Odetta who would have been 80 years old today but passed away in late 2008. She is among the most powerful, most inspirational and most-respected role models in American culture over more than six decades. It seems that every artist and leader of our generation was influenced…
-
Paying for College
Newsweek reports that “undergraduate borrowing trends were worrisome. An analysis by TICAS’s Project on Student Debt found that 10 percent of college graduates in 2008 owed at least $40,000 in loans”. An undergraduate who leaves college with this much debt will not be able enjoy the financial rewards of his education, and in fact, would…
-
Overwhelmingly pessimistic health care news
I’ve covered consumer health care finance issues for over 25 years. I focus on reporting real solutions from current events in order to be part of the solution rather than add to the overwhelming amount of negative information that dominates the media. In all this time, I’ve always had plenty to write about. Yet tonight, after perusing all of…
-
Oysters with checkered pattern shell
I learned something about oysters this weekend. In an experiment designed to test durability of aquaculture equipment, some stray oysters attached to the outside of a plastic mesh. I noticed that all of the oysters adopted a mesh pattern on their top side even though that was not touching the plastic mesh. Similarly, I’ve noticed…
-
Reading notes for “Storms of My Grandchildren”
“Storms of My Grandchildren” is a book that needs to be rewritten. Climate change may be the most important and most complex issue that our generation may need to grasp and James Hansen is the clear authority on the subject. That makes it particularly regrettable that this is only the second book reviewed this year that I do not have overwhelmingly…
-
Spin on “junk health insurance”
My writing this week illustrated the power of language in the most simple and classic form. I know when I’ve hit a nerve because of the number of complaints generated; it is an unfortunate fact in the political world that those who cannot directly combat free speech will attack through another means. By that measure, a sudden wave…