PELL GRANTS as a political weapon?
Archive for 2011
August 14, 2011
GOING GALT? Reader Isaac Vavra emails: “I’m a 20 year old who works at a McDonalds and saved up enough money this year to travel throughout South America. I met a kid in San Jose, Costa Rica: He is in his 20’s, he got laid off from his job with Medicare, and is now living down here in Costa Rica. He says he has enough to stay for five years. He is collecting unemployment and just withdraws the money in Costa Rica.” Well, that’s one way to ride out the recession. I hear Costa Rica’s nice.
UPDATE: Various readers say it’s more like “going Mooch.” As Rand Simberg comments: “I’m pretty sure that no one living in Galt’s Gulch was collecting government unemployment checks.” And reader Brian Townsend writes:
I’ve been living in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, for some time and it is also nice. Don’t take too seriously the scary news reports about Mexico. They are true enough, but are about the border region and a couple of other states. This part of Mexico, home to a large expat community for nearly sixty years, is as safe as they come. Yes, you can come here and live cheaply. I came down here myself to escape high taxes and excessive government control of my life in Canada. Mexico is like going back in time to before government decided it had to take over your life for your own good. They are moving in that direction, but by the time they get there, Canada and the US will probably have had The Libertarian Revolution!
But in the meantime, I have to warn that Mexico (or wherever in Latin America) might spoil you: very pretty girls who will actually smile back at you, nice climate, relaxed tempo of life–after a few years of that, you may not find it so easy to fit back into the North American rat race!
Sounds horrible.
MORE: Reader R.A. Rose asks if this is unemployment fraud: “I thought you had to be actively looking for a job to collect unemployment. I doubt if a job in Costa Rica fits the criteria.” In the Obama economy, you have to look where the jobs are, I guess. . . .
MORE STILL: Reader Richard Rollo emails: “I don’t believe the story about the young man collecting unemployment in Costa Rica. UI as it’s called in California requires that you be ‘available for work’ and that you are ‘actively seeking employment.’ It may be a dance without music these days but you’ve got to be at the dance. I suspect this individual is receiving Social Security Disability for the permanently disabled and just doesn’t want to tell his story to passing strangers. That’s my guess. UI? No way.”
More skepticism here. I’ll bet you can live okay in Costa Rica on SSDI, though.
YESTERDAY’S PRINTER BLEG FROM READER CINDY FRANCIES PRODUCED A LOT OF EMAIL FROM READERS. Quite a few recommended my Wireless Brother though it looks kinda pricey now, at about double what I paid for it when I bought it a couple of years back. What’s up with that? Several folks also wrote that they’re still using HP Laserjet 4L printers from 20 years ago. Yeah, those are tanks — I’ve got one that still works, too, though its lack of modern cabling makes it less useful. I should probably get a parallel to USB adapter or something. . . .
On to the more responsive responses. Reader John Milton likes the $79.99 Samsung ML2525W and comments: “CNet editors rated it excellent. Contrary to the user reviews, I found the wireless setup to easy. I was especially interested because I had read that 1200×1200 dpi was the threshhold for typeset quality. Unfortunately, my eyesight is 300×300 dpi.” Lots of others liked the Samsung wireless printers in general.
Lots of people liked the Epson Workforce machines, too. Typical was reader James Burns, who writes: “I have an Epson Workforce 520 ($69.99 through Amazon) and an Epson Workforce 635 ($129.99 through Amazon). I would recommend either one. The Epson is very easy to set up, the wireless works well, and the scanning software is excellent — my wife works from home and dozens of documents every week. The only down side is that they do not have a manual paper feeder. I previously had a Lexmark. The ink was more expensive than the Epson and the scanning software was horrible — it would turn a 5 page text document into a 10 meg pdf. I would recommend not getting a Lexmark.”
Several readers liked the Canon Pixma MG8120 wireless inkjet, though it’s a bit pricier than the above.
Reader Patrick Lasswell writes: “HP LaserJet 1102w. Reason: HP basic feature laserjets are rock solid. I got a 1020 for Michael Totten when we were working on Iraq gigs and his multifunction whizzy toy broke on him when he had a deadline. Four years later his printer has never had a moment of downtime, and neither has mine that I got so our documents were interchangeable. The more features, the more downtime. The 1102w has a 5,000 page a month duty cycle, more than enough for a college student’s whole dorm floor.”
The counterargument is this: At most colleges students can print B&W documents via the network (there’s often a per-page charge past a certain level, but it’s usually pretty cheap). But color printing is usually a bit harder. So a color multifunction in the dorm room is a good backup/supplement.
Below $100 or so, you can get a pretty good inkjet or laser. Generally the inkjets are much more per-page. So do your b&w printing on the college machines, and the color printing in your dorm room — and if you absolutely must print out a long paper in your room, say because you’ve finished it just before class (next time, don’t procrastinate!) you can.
FRANKLY, THIS SEEMS LENIENT. BUT THEN, HE IS A JUDGE: Pennsylvania Judge Gets 28 Years In “Kids For Cash” Case. “A longtime northeastern Pennsylvania judge was ordered to spend nearly three decades in prison for his role in a massive juvenile justice bribery scandal that prompted the state’s high court to toss thousands of convictions.” Thanks to reader John Fast for the link.
UPDATE: Reader Anthony Howe thinks this wasn’t lenient at all, noting that with no parole this is worse than what many murderers get. Well, the crime was worse than many murders, but I suppose the statute doesn’t provide for the death penalty. And given the judge’s age this is probably tantamount to a life sentence, so yeah.
THE HILL: Pawlenty Campaign In Trouble After Poor Straw Poll Finish. So much trouble that he’s dropped out this morning.
Pawlenty had woman trouble. He looked weak when Sarah Palin was being blood-libeled over Jared Loughner, which hurt him a lot, and his increasingly shrill attacks on Michele Bachmann didn’t score any points but made him look small. Furthermore, I think that after the McCain debacle, GOP primary voters will look askance at any candidate who seems too interested in harshly attacking fellow Republicans.
UPDATE: A different take from Scott Johnson.
MICHAEL TOTTEN: The Muslim Brotherhood’s Discontents. If you like his work — and you should — consider hitting the tipjar, because that’s what pays for it. (Bumped).
AT AMAZON, bestsellers in Movies & TV.
YESTERDAY’S POST ON CALIFORNIA produced this from reader Doug Levene: “Just read your postings about the attitudes that California refugees bring with them. You might note that the same problem has happened in New England. New Hampshire used to be a pretty conservative place – no state income tax, ‘live free or die’ on the license plates, etc. A flood of refugees from Taxachusetts over the past 20 years has changed that. And just as you described, the newcomers seem to have no clue that the policies they support are the very same ones that ruined the state they fled.”
Somebody should really set up an educational effort on this topic. And I’m serious, here.
NEWS YOU CAN USE: Narcissists rise to the top because people mistake their confidence and authority for leadership qualities. “However, scientists have discovered that while narcissists are convincing leaders, they are so consumed by their own brilliance that it actually cripples their creativity and often causes them to make bad decisions.”
SO THE OTHER DAY I HAD A STORY ABOUT THE FBI TREATING “PREPPERS” AS POTENTIAL TERRORISTS, and then when I was in the car yesterday I heard a PSA from the Department of Homeland Security pitching . . . disaster preparedness via its Ready.gov site. So if you do what Homeland Security recommends, the FBI will wonder if you’re a terrorist. Sweet.
This isn’t really that surprising — one part of the government telling you to do things that another part of the government regards with suspicion. Each department has its own agenda, and its connection to any sort of overall strategy is largely coincidental. Treat them with the deference that this fact deserves . . . .
SOME WILL SEE THIS AS AN OPPORTUNITY: 1/2 Say Spending Cuts Will Lead To Violence. From the comments: “The half saying there will be violence is probably the same half that has their hand out.”
The threat of such violence is used by bureaucrats and various representatives of the looter/moocher classes to extract payments, of course. But it doesn’t matter. Something that can’t go on forever, won’t, and current expenditures can’t go on forever, so they won’t. If that leads to violence, then there will be violence. But I don’t believe that violence in a broke country with limited financial options and limited political patience will receive the same payoff as violence in a rich country with lots of options and extensive patience.
YA THINK? Colbert King wonders if it might not be a trifle “tone deaf” for President Obama to party on Martha’s Vineyard while the economy tanks. “In his strongly-worded column Mr. King enumerates the many, many luxuries the taxpayers afford the President in not one but two magnificent residences, either of which would be deemed a more than adequate vacation spot for the tens of millions of staycationing Americans.” Fiscal prudence is for the little people. Like paying taxes and “staycations.”
A CALL TO BRING BACK THE LONGBOW.
HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE: 10 Reasons To Skip The Expensive Colleges.
Dreifus, a New York Times writer and an adjunct professor at Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs, and Hacker, a veteran political science professor at Queens College in New York, spent three years interviewing faculty, students, and administrators and crunching statistics for their book, Higher Education? How Colleges Are Wasting Our Money and Failing Our Kids — And What We Can Do About It. Their finding? That many of America’s colleges and universities — especially the elite — aren’t worth their tuition and serve faculty over their undergrads.
More outrageous, they say, is that tuition nationwide has jumped at more than twice the rate of inflation since 1982, so many kids graduate deeply in debt. “Tuition is probably the second-largest item you’ll buy in your lifetime, after your home,” Dreifus says. Given that, the authors suggest you consider the following as you bear down on the decision of where your child will spend the next four (or more) years.
Well, if the story has reached Reader’s Digest, I think it’s fair to say it’s gone fully mainstream.
August 13, 2011
THE DELICIOUS IRONY OF THE DOWNGRADE: “In the wake of all the angst about Standard & Poor’s downgrading the credit of the U.S. government, we need to consider what rating agencies are. They are exactly what they themselves say they are: publishers of opinions. In other words, they are one group of scribblers among others, trying to forecast the future and its risks like hundreds of other people, naturally making many mistakes, like everybody else. It is a delicious irony that the opinions of these particular scribblers get special weight only because the federal government has given it to them. Government regulations require financial entities to use the ratings issued by government-designated rating agencies for investment decisions. Now S&P has turned on the source of its privileged position and profits. If the government does not like the force of this disloyal pontification, that’s its own fault.”
THE LONDON RIOTS: Before and After photos.
ANN ALTHOUSE: “The obvious hypo: Could Congress ban abortion using its commerce power? Millhiser? Millhiser? Millhiser? Millhiser?”
Dave Kopel and I answered that question years ago, but not in terms that Millhiser would welcome, I suspect.
BILL WHALEN ON THE AMES STRAW POLL: “The Obama attack machine marked the occasion of the Ames Straw Poll by going after two Republicans not on the ballot: Mitt Romney (with this ad) and Texas Gov. Rick Perry (with this pre-emptive strike).”
NORMAN PODHORETZ: What Happened To Obama? Absolutely Nothing.
AT REASON, A SYMPOSIUM: What Would You Do To Improve Employment?
AT AMAZON, markdowns on bestselling computers and add-ons.
Speaking of computers, I got the new 13″ Macbook Air about a week ago, and I’m really liking it. It’s very lightweight and comfy in my briefcase, the screen is large and sharp, battery life is excellent, and I really like it tht they’ve brought back the backlit keyboard. The new OS X Lion, on the other hand, isn’t as exciting as some people say, but it’s unobtrusive, and it works, which is all I really want from an OS. Absence of an optical drive isn’t that big a deal for me, since I’ve got other computers with ’em and I hardly use them any more. You can also get a plug-in optical drive if you want.
One tip: For some reason, the two-finger scroll motion has been reversed from older Macbooks. If that bugs you — it did me — you can go into System Preferences –> Trackpad and uncheck “natural” scroll motion.
MICHELE BACHMANN wins the Ames straw poll. Ron Paul is second, Tim Pawlenty third.