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Posts Tagged ‘Usa Today’
Tuesday, December 29th, 2009
School lunches are a weird thing – either you love them or you hate them. When I was in high school, they had really good cheeseburgers (which probably wasn’t the best thing to be eating in hindsight). But when I read about information like you’ll see below, it makes the taste of that cheeseburger turn really foul.
The message below is what popped up as something that I should share with my friends and family (and online readers) after I signed an online petition. I hope that you’ll take a minute and read through this information and, if you so choose, sign the online petition linked below.
Do you know what’s less safe for our children than fast-food? Their school lunch!
A recent investigation by USA Today found that the meat sold to U.S. school cafeterias faces less testing and lower safety standards than the meat that’s served in most fast-food restaurants — outlets that aren’t otherwise known for their health consciousness and are as cost-conscious as the most passionate deficit hawk.
That’s right: McDonalds, KFC, and Jack in the Box test the ground beef they buy five to 10 times more frequently than the USDA tests beef for U.S. school lunches! And these restaurants have for years refused to buy certain kinds of lower-quality meat and chicken which the USDA continues to accept.
I just signed a petition to ask Agriculture Secretary Vilsack to set better standards for school lunches. I hope you will, too. Please have a look and take action.
http://act.credoaction.com/campaign/school_lunch_fdn/?r_by=-2078083-S9YA0qx&rc=confemail1
Again, I hope that you are moved to some action on this information. All it takes is a few minutes to sign an online petition, if that. I believe that one of the reasons why we are experiencing an epidemic of obesity in this country is because of the foods we are eating. Yes, food quantities are a problem (we eat too much food), but a worse problem is the quality of the food that we are putting into our bodies. When I think about feeding horrible food to our children in school lunchrooms, it makes me pretty angry. Please take a minute to sign that online petition – we have to fight back against industrial agriculture at some point and the school lunchroom might be the perfect place for action.
Posted in Sustainable Living | No Comments »
Friday, December 4th, 2009
While I was browsing around USAToday.com earlier, I came across this news update, which made me shake my head and say, “Of course! These guys get the big bucks while the rest of us slave away trying to make ends meet. Good grief!” Take a read…
Two homeless Hungarian brothers who have been living in a cave and selling discarded junk for a living are in line to inherit almost $7 billion from a long-lost German grandmother’s fortune, Britain’s Telegraph reports.
Their sister, who lives in America, will also share in the inheritance.
The fortune comes from the estate of a maternal grandmother who died recently in Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany, the Telegraph says.
“We knew our mother came from a wealthy family but she was a difficult person and severed ties with them, and then later abandoned us and we lost touch with her and our father until she eventually died,” 43-year-old Geza Peladi told Hungary’s ATV television.
The name of the deceased is being kept secret to prevent scam artists from coming forward, the paper says.
Geza and his brother, Zsolt, who live in a cave outside Budapest, got the news from a charity worker who was contacted by lawyers for the estate. Under German law, direct descendants are automatically entitled to a share of any estate.
“If this all works out it will certainly make up for the life we have had until now — all we really had was each other — no women would look at us living in a cave,” said Geza. “But with money, maybe we can find a partner and finally have a normal life.”
The brothers are currently getting copies of their mother’s death certificate and proof of their identity before going to Germany to claim the fortune.
Unbelievable, huh?
Posted in Random Entries | No Comments »
Tuesday, November 3rd, 2009
CNN, the Associated Press, and USA Today have all called the New Jersey Gubernatorial election for Republican challenger Chris Christie. Here is the report directly from the Associated Press:
The Associated Press and CNN are calling Republican challenger Chris Christie the winner of the New Jersey governor’s race, based on exit polling.
The actual results are still pretty close: Christie’s ahead 49% to 44% with 81% of the precincts reporting. But Christie is doing extremely well in Republican strongholds in Ocean, Monmouth, Morris and Somerset counties, while holding his own against Gov. Jon Cozine in key swing counties, including Bergen and Middlesex counties.
Christie would become the first Republican to win statewide office since Christie Whitman, who also defeated an incumbent Democrat, Jim Florio.
And there you have it. Republican voters in New Jersey have had enough of dealing with the cross-talking and ultra-liberal Jon Corzine and he’s lost his job because of it.
Posted in The State of New Jersey | No Comments »
Thursday, July 30th, 2009
Every once in a while when I get all riled up I go off on a tangent about how – with the current craziness in today’s world – the term “equality” doesn’t apply to young, middle-class, white males. In short, apparently since the western world has been dominated by white men that’s somehow my fault centuries later (*cough* bullshit *cough*), but I don’t want to get into that conversation.
I do, however, want to share a link that I found while looking around USA Today’s website this morning. A review of the numbers shows that older white males are losing their jobs in this recession, but also that they are unable to find new jobs.
Jobless rates for men and women older than 55 are at their highest level since the Great Depression, government data show. White men over 55 had a record 6.5% unemployment rate in the second quarter, far above the previous post-Depression high of 5.4% in 1983. The jobless rate for older black men was higher — 10.5% — but more than a percentage point below its 1983 peak.
The most remarkable change is in the unemployment rate for black women: 12.2%, far below the historic peak of 20% in 1983. Hispanic unemployment is about 6 percentage points below historic highs, too.
A cursory review of those numbers shows that older white males, as a population, are still doing much better than the rest of the populations out there. However, I notice that they don’t breakout the age ranges for the black women or any additional demographic information for the Hispanic population.
What I like about the article is that it talks in detail about three older white guys who lost their job and details what’s going on in their lives. USA Today is good at writing these types of stories so if you have some time, give it a whirl.
Posted in United States Politics | No Comments »
Sunday, February 15th, 2009
Right at the end of January, USA Today published an article that talked about how consumers were paying less money each month towards their credit card balances. This is bad news. On the one hand it’s good to know that consumers are making their monthly payments, but on the other hand it’s horrible to hear that people are sticking closer to the monthly minimums than has historically been true.
Credit cards are great tools to help build a credit history, but they have to be used properly or they can demolish a person’s financial status. Anyone who knows how to use money to their advantage can tell you that not all debt is bad debt. Sometimes a person can use debt to their advantage (for example, the right types of student loans and home mortgages). Consumer debt, though, is a different story.
The right types of student loans and home mortgages are investments in the long-term future of you and/or your family. Consumer debt, though, is more of an investment in the here and now – this is why it should be used sparingly. Sure, everyone falls victim to the use of consumer debt to meet their immediate wants. Hey, I spent a great deal of money buying a television last month just because I wanted it! Well, the old television was broken, too, but that’s a different story. That said, though, I do not believe that people should avoid credit cards. I think each person should have one or possibly two credit cards, but no more. I keep one to both maintain a good credit history and just in case I need access to a large dollar amount quickly (since I don’t keep much cash in my checking accounts – the money stays socked away in the savings and investment accounts).
In any event, I thought the USA Today article was pretty good and wanted to share. Enjoy!
Posted in Money, Jobs, & Finances | No Comments »
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NYT Room for Debate: Student Loans
Tuesday, June 16th, 2009One of the great features on the New York Times’ website is their “Room for Debate – A Running Commentary on the News” blog. In this blog, the Times staff brings together experts with different views on a subject to share their points of view. A day or so ago, the topic was “How Much Student Debt Is Too Much?”
The first commentator was Robert Applebaum, a guy whose Facebook group to cancel all student loan debt immediately is one of the few groups that I’m actually a member of on the social networking site. Obviously, I agreed with what Mr. Applebaum had to say in his portion of the commentary (which you can read by clicking above). The next commentator was Dr. James Monks, an associate professor of economics at the Robins School of Business at the University of Richmond.
Dr. Monks took the following stance:
And Dr. Monks goes on and gives a brilliant commentary on many of the student loan debtors graduating today. Anyone who has read my blog over the years knows how important student loans and student loan debt are to me as both a real-life issue and a cause for advocacy. However, I completely agree with Dr. Monks and everything else that he wrote (which, again, you can access by clicking the link above and scrolling down the page). I did, however, feel that it was necessary to contact the good Doctor to let him know that there are people like me out there and that student loans are stifling us. So I sent Dr. Monks this e-mail:
I changed some of the wording to protect some sensitive information. To Dr. Monks’ great credit, he responded with the following e-mail:
Now, I was pretty much well aware of these programs prior to e-mailing Dr. Monks, but I have to say that I was impressed with his e-mail. He clearly took the time to answer my questions and address my concerns. I think the larger student loan debate is missing this type of humanity since so many people are too quick to project their own experiences onto the lives of others.
So I take this small space on the internet to say thank you to Dr. Monks for sharing his knowledge with me…and now my readers.
Posted in Student Loans | 1 Comment »