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Open thread March 24, 2014

Dan Crawford | March 24, 2015 9:02 am

Tags: open thread Comments (3) | Digg Facebook Twitter |
3 Comments
  • Denis Drew says:
    March 24, 2015 at 9:52 am

    Just had an idea that might limit the damage of these predatory, phoney course, high debt online colleges:

    Only allow government guaranteed loans (and the accompanying you-can-never-get-out-of-paying) IF a built for that purpose government agency APPROVES said loan.

    One of the biggest causes of the Great Recession was the weakening of restrictions on the bankers on to whom they could loan. The trillion dollar plus student loan debt (scandal) is actually slowing and potentially imploding the economy.

    ADDENDUM
    Jeff Bezos bought the Washington Post.

    According to an article in the Huffington Post At Kaplan University, ‘Guerrilla Registration’ Leaves Students Deep In Debt, Kaplan Ed is among the worst of the worst of internet federal loan and grant sucking diploma mills. Going so far as to falsely pad bills $5000 or so dollars at diploma time — pay up immediately or you will never get your sheepskin; you wasted your time. No gov agency will act.

    According to a lovely graph which I wish I could patch in here the Post may actually be currently be kept afloat only by purloined cash from Kaplan:
    earnings before corporate overhead
    2002 — Kaplan ed, $10 mil; Kaplan test prep, $45 mil: WaPo, $100 mil
    2005 — Kaplan ed, $55 mil; Kaplan test prep, $100 mil; WaPo, $105 mil
    2009 — Kaplan ed, $255 mil; Kaplan test prep, $5 mil; WaPo negative $175 mil

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/12/22/kaplan-university-guerilla-registration_n_799741.html

    Wonder if billionaire Bezos will reach out to make Kaplan Ed victims whole. Will he really continue to use Kaplan’s pirated money to keep WaPo whole — if that is what is going on?

  • Denis Drew says:
    March 24, 2015 at 10:13 am

    Repubs in Illinois are trying to justify Right-to-Work zones under the specious claim that so-called government unions taking fees out of paychecks (for strictly union provided services like collective bargaining and grievance filing — not direct political action) are First Amendment violations …

    … as if government unions were government. The First Amendment only protects against government infringement, not private. Police officers like to say they “represent” authority — they are not authority. Nor are government employees government. Silly.

    Now for possibly the weightiest issue before this country — perhaps one of the weightiest ever: unions (where they exist anymore) represent the only political counterweight for most Americans (today we say “the 99%) against all other heavy economic (which often means political) interests — as well as just general minding of all the many stores; for one example, possibly reining in looting like that of predatory online universities.

    As such, denying unions the right to charge service fees to non-members who they are legally required under Taft-Hartley to fully represent …

    … if a non-union worker feels not properly represented at, say, a termination hearing he can sue under Taft-Hartley (!) …

    … as such, Right-to-Work legislation as prescribed in Taft-Hartley should properly be viewed as violating the First Amendment in the most momentous and fundamental way.

    I’m sure the Warren Court would have no trouble with that. Roberts?

  • rjs says:
    March 24, 2015 at 11:23 am

    something being discussed among my correspondents…

    at issue is this: http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/sotc/service/global/map-blended-mntp/201502.gif
    notice Russia and Siberia were much warmer than normal…

    we are considering if there’s been an abrogation of the 1977 treaty between the US and Russia not to use weather modification for military purposes..
    the cold in the East and the drought in California have done economic damage on a par with the embargo..

    even back in the 70s there was talk about manipulating the jet stream…the technology to do so must be far advanced by now…

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