BIG BANKS PLAY BIG ROLE IN NATION’S SHADOWY, CONTROVERSIAL NETWORK OF PAYDAY LOAN OPERATIONS. Interest rates of over 700 percent on a small loan would seem unreasonable to most people, and would be unheard of at most reputable banks. But such outlandish rates and legally questionable behavior are the norm for unregulated “payday” lenders, [...]
THE UNITED CASTES OF AMERICA. Upward economic mobility and the basic premise of the “American Dream” have been been eradicated, argues economist Joseph Stiglitz. Decades of regressive economic and social policies — policies wholly accepted and perpetuated by the current presidential administration — have severed a large and growing segment of the country from [...]
”UNLESS YOU CAN AFFORD TO PARTAKE IN OUR CUSTOMS AND CONVENTIONS, YOU ARE NOT WELCOME HERE.“ Damien Shannon describes this as the operative “policy” of Oxford University in England. He was rejected for admission because he could not raise 12,000 pounds a year in personal income available to support the “customs and conventions” which [...]
PRETEXT FOR WAR?—WHO IN SYRIA IS LAUNCHING SHELLS INTO TURKEY? As NATO condemns the Syrian government for “stray” shells hitting inside Turkey, General in charge of military operations in the area says it is uncertain whether they came from the government or from elements of the Syrian opposition and the Kurdish minority in Turkey, [...]
“KINDNESS HOLDS A PLACE ON A PAR WITH INTELLECTUAL ATTAINMENT.” This admonition, given to incoming freshmen at Harvard University as they are required to take an oath to exercise “sensitivity” in their public utterances and demonstrations, highlights a tendency across the country for students on college campuses to be restrained in their “speech” [...]
CAN THE PAKISTANI GOVERNMENT PUT THE TALIBAN GENIE BACK INTO THE BOTTLE AFTER THEY HAVE RELEASED IT? This question is raised by the much publicized case of Malala Yusafzai, the 14-year old Swat Valley girl who infuriated Taliban extremists by asserting the right of girls to an education and as doctors struggle to save [...]
“SOUND OF FREEDOM” IS THE “SOUND OF JACKASSES” TO SOME RESIDENTS OF WHIDBEY ISLAND, WASHINGTON. Navy Growler jets from nearby airbase may be the sound of freedom for some, but it’s an excessively noisy and even damaging sound according to others. Farmers complain that some of the “kids” who fly the jets think they [...]
U.S. AND NATO TROOPS IN AFGHANISTAN HAVE “GUARDIAN ANGELS”: TO PROTECT THEM FROM…THEIR AFGHAN “ALLIES.” Recent instances of the killing of occupation troops by members of Afghan security forces highlight what has become a “debacle” of failed mission in the country. The commanding General decrees designated “angels” in each unit to keep their guns [...]
LONDON OLYMPICS MAY “INSPIRE A GENERATION” OF SPORTS ENTHUSIASTS—BUT WILL THEY INSPIRE THE BUILDING OF THAT BADLY NEEDED SWIMMING POOL IN EAST LONDON? Given the wild popularity of the Olympics with the British public, will the woefully inadequate sports facilities and sports organizations in the country be “inspired” to make athletes rather than couch [...]
NOTHING “UNCLEAR” ABOUT IT: FOR-PROFIT COLLEGES IN AMERICA ARE RIP-OFFS BOTH OF STUDENTS AND OF TAXPAYERS. New congressional report of committee headed by Senator Tom Harkin documents the profound failure of for-profit colleges to deliver a high quality and usable education to their students despite the huge investment of federal tax dollars, especially in [...]
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