Archive for April, 2010

Anderson Cooper Goes Swimming with Great Whites

Posted on: April 25th, 2010 by Kyle. | No Comments

It’s not every day that you can say you went swimming with the sharks. That’s not a metaphor, either, at least not in this case. CNN anchor and 60 Minutes contributor Anderson Cooper paid a visit to Capetown, South Africa where he met someone known by the locals as The Sharkman. Together, they went for a little play time with some of mother nature’s largest predators:

As scary as these creatures can be, it is sad to see humanity treat them with such cruelty. Shark attacks are an infrequent occurrence. You are more likely to win the lottery or get struck by lightning than you are to be attacked by a shark. Yet through popular culture, we have become accustomed to this irrational fear. At least 60 Minutes is doing its part to protect sharks from unfair persecution.

WellPoint: The Real Death Panel

Posted on: April 23rd, 2010 by Kyle. | No Comments

WellPoint is doing a good job of showing why the health care bill was long overdue. As Reuters reported, the insurance giant has been systematically purged women with breast cancer from their policies. Even though they have paid for their plans and played by the rules, cancer treatment is expensive. WellPoint obviously does not want to pay for it. So they get between the patient and their doctor by making the decision for them. Without insurance, they won’t get treated.

WellPoint was using a computer algorithm that automatically targeted them and every other policyholder recently diagnosed with breast cancer. The software triggered an immediate fraud investigation, as the company searched for some pretext to drop their policies, according to government regulators and investigators. Once the women were singled out, they say, the insurer then canceled their policies based on either erroneous or flimsy information.

This is a horrible story – something that I hope never happens to someone that I know. Yet it has happened and the insurance companies will continue to try to do this even with health care reform passed. This is why we need a public option. Extending Medicare to anyone that wants it would be the most cost affective approach. The government would not even need to start a new program. People that are satisfied being screwed by private insurers could keep their coverage while the rest of us could have the peace of mind knowing that when you get cancer your coverage will not get dropped.

An Election to Remember Website Goes Live

Posted on: April 22nd, 2010 by Kyle. | No Comments

The website for my book on the 2008 election, An Election to Remember, is now live. It will be updated with reviews, sample chapters, press material and a Q&A section. I decided to purchase two domains in case people forgot “an” in the title: anelectiontoremember.com and electiontoremember.com. Both of them will work and provide you with the same content.

You can purchase An Election to Remember at Smashwords for $4.99.

Top 5 Ways to Save Money on College

Posted on: April 9th, 2010 by Kyle. | No Comments

Paying for college can be hard. As a college student, I know what it is like to squeeze every penny for what it is worth. While I have been fortunate enough to receive financial aid, not everyone finds themselves in that situation. Even if you do receive aid, spending less on school means that you can spend more on other things. Saving money is always a good thing. Which is why I am compiling this list of the top five ways to save money on college.

Go to a Public University

It goes without saying that attending a public university is much cheaper than attending a private university. In South Bend, a student at Notre Dame pays approximately $50,000 a year. For the same degree at Indiana University South Bend, you would pay around $5,000. Over the course of a four year program, that is $200,000 worth of debt from attending a private school. Forget about grad school. You already have a debt load that will be about equal to your eventual mortgage.

Live at Home

The second biggest expense aside from tuition is undoubtedly room and board. You can cut this expense out entirely if you just live at home with your parents. This won’t be an option for everyone if your campus is too far away from home, but even then, you could opt to attend the local community college for a couple years before you transfer to a larger university. This will save you a lot of money. Just make sure that your credits will transfer.

Buy Books Online

Textbook prices are out of control. At my school, the bookstore was sold to Barnes & Noble. Since it is a for-profit venture, prices have only gone up. Even supplemental material will cost you an arm and a leg. Each semester I spend roughly $500 on books. Instead of buying at your local bookstore, purchase your books on Amazon.com. Sometimes you will save as much as $50+ off the bookstore price. That can quickly add up into the hundreds. Even better yet, if you spend $25 or more on Amazon, you get free shipping. Of course if you buy used textbooks, you will save even more. Ask your professor if you can buy older editions, as they are usually only a fraction of the cost (sometimes as cheap as $10 or $20).

Cook at Home

College students don’t realize how expensive food is until they’re out of the house. Buying groceries at the local store is a lot cheaper than eating out at Chipotle or ordering Papa John’s. Instead of buying Starbucks coffee before class, see if your campus has a cafe. It will surely save you a few bucks. It’s a common stereotype that in college you will eat a lot of Ramen noodles, but this generation is a lot less thrifty in that respect than past ones. Easy access to credit cards (at least until the recession started) has made the problem of eating out worse for college-age adults.

Seek Financial Aid

This one is obvious, but is often overlooked. Many people think that they don’t qualify when they probably do. Others have a misconception that you have to pay it back. Keeping it simple, remember that loans you have to pay back, grants and scholarships you don’t. For most forms of financial aid (grants), you need to fill out a FAFSA, which basically is a short online form detailing your income. For scholarships, you will have to contact your local university as these are often specific to different states and communities. The last option is the student loan, which is a low interest loan from the federal government which does not need to be paid back until you graduate. As a last resort, this is a good option.

Have more tips? Leave them as comments below!

U.S. Adds 162,000 Jobs in March 2010

Posted on: April 7th, 2010 by Kyle. | No Comments

The American economy is bouncing back. The Labor Department reported that 162,000 jobs were added in the month of March, the highest number in three years. It also marks the third month since November to post job gains, a strong sign that the recession is ending and that employers are looking to hire again. The unemployment rate peaked at 10.6 percent in October and has since come down to 9.7 percent.

President Obama was careful not to overstate the progress that the country has made in the past year. “I’ve often had to report bad news during the course of this year, as the recession wreaked havoc on people’s lives. But today is an encouraging day,” Obama told workers at Celgard LLC, an advanced battery technology manufacturer in Charlotte, N.C.

“This month, more Americans woke up, got dressed and headed to work in an office, a factory, a storefront,” the president said. “More folks are feeling the sense of pride and satisfaction that comes with a hard-earned and well-deserved paycheck.” President Obama credited the stimulus package for the recovery that the country is experiencing. Just a year ago when Obama took office, instead of gaining jobs, the country was shedding nearly 800,000 a month.

Bob Schieffer: Catholic Church Has More Than A PR Problem

Posted on: April 5th, 2010 by Kyle. | No Comments

On Sunday’s “Face the Nation”, the host Bob Schieffer commented on the Catholic Church’s ongoing sex abuse scandal. As I’ve pointed out on here, it’s more than just a PR problem that they are facing. Criminal acts were committed and the church hierarchy aided in covering them up.

The response from the Vatican and Catholic leaders in the United States has been disappointing, to say the least. Instead of taking full responsibility for these acts, they have deflected them. Bill Donohue, President of the Catholic League, purchased an advertising in the New York Times attacking the newspaper and gay Americans. For some Catholics, like Donohue, the church does not face a pedophilia crisis, but a gay crisis.

The Times continues to editorialize about the “pedophilia crisis,: when all along it’s been a homosexual crisis. Eighty percent of the victims of priestly sexual abuse are male and most of them are post-pubescent. While homosexuality does not cause predatory behavior, and most gay priests are not molesters, most of the molesters have been gay.

Yes, Mr. Donohue, blame gays for the fact that the Catholic Church is an insular and secretive institution with no accountability whatsoever. There is no linkage, whatsoever, between being gay and being a pedophile. The fact is, the Catholic Church actually encourages these acts of molestation by forcing priests to remain celibate (clearly many of them are not). They end up preying on young children for whom they are placed with a great deal of respect and trust. Furthermore, many of these cases would have been prevented had leaders such as Pope Benedict (then a Cardinal) punished these offenders instead of moving them from one parish to the next. Sweeping this under the rug (or perhaps more aptly – the robe) is a dereliction of duty.

The New York Times found that Pope Benedict was directly involved in this culture of abuse. He has remained silent on this issue as his handlers in the Catholic Church are busy attacking the media for doing their job of investigation. In this season of Lent, perhaps it is time for Pope Benedict to reflect on how his leadership (or lack thereof) contributed to the mess that the Catholic Church finds itself in today. His resignation would be a good place to start.

Bill Halter Outraises Blanche Lincoln 2-to-1

Posted on: April 4th, 2010 by Kyle. | No Comments

If you’re a conservative Democrat in Arkansas named Blanche Lincoln, you’re probably not have a very good Easter weekend. Senator Lincoln has raised $1 million in the past three months and has $4 million in the bank. While that normally would not be a terrible haul, her Democratic primary challenger has raised twice as much in just a month’s time. Yes, twice as much in a third of the time. That’s some serious fundraising.

Bill Halter, her challenger, is the Lt. Governor of the state. Polling in the primary shows the race to be competitive, even though his announcement just came on March 1. Lincoln has been trailing her likely Republican challengers for most of the cycle. Her opposition to the public option, along with Joe Lieberman’s, led to its demise in the Senate. Grassroots Democrats have targeted her ever since, labeling her a corporatist for campaign donations she received from insurance companies.

The May 18 primary could determine the fate of this Senate seat, although it appears likely that Democrats will lose it with either candidate. According to a poll from Rasmussen (a Republican leaning pollster), Halter holds every potential Republican candidate to less than 50 percent of the vote. If Lincoln is the Democratic candidate, however, she trails every Republican and holds only one of her four potential opponents to under 50 percent. Part of the reason is because her favorable rating is only 37 percent, while 61 percent view her unfavorably. Halter has a 47 to 40 percent favorable/unfavorable rating.

Democrats Take Lead in Ohio Senate Race

Posted on: April 2nd, 2010 by Kyle. | No Comments

While this election cycle is almost certain to return fewer Democratic members to the House and Senate, Ohio is shaping up to be a state where Democrats have a good chance of picking up a seat currently held by a Republican. George Voinovich, a former governor, is retiring from the Senate this year. Open seats are traditionally much more competitive than seats with an incumbent.

Much of this cycle the Democrats have trailed Republican Rob Portman, a former Bush administration official, by a few points. That appears to have ended with a slight lead for both Democratic candidates for Senate. The reversal of fortune comes just weeks after the health care reform bill became law. President Obama’s approval rating has also edged up in the state, as has Governor Strickland’s, a Democrat.

“In the Senate race, Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher leads Republican Rob Portman 41 – 37 percent, reversing a 40 – 37 percent Portman lead February 24. Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner edges Portman 38 – 37 percent, reversing a 40 – 35 percent Republican lead,” Quinnipiac University found. While a 4 point lead and 1 point lead for the Democratic candidates is not comfortable, it is a pretty big swing in the matter of a short period of time (7 points towards Lee Fisher and 6 points towards Jennifer Brunner).