The tale of Joe College Graduate
Joe College Graduate (we'll refer to him as Joe from now on) wasn't the greatest scholar in the world. But he made good enough grades to get into a private university and his single mom earned enough between her job and the alimony she would be paid until remarrying, she could afford to co-sign his private student loans. Joe graduated, found a good job and is making enough of a living that he makes all of his student loan payments on time.
Five years after graduating, there was a tragic accident and his mother was killed. The loss of a parent is tragic, but should it harm Joe's credit? Well, it does because under the current rules for private student loans, when a co-signer dies (or declares bankruptcy), the lender can place the loan into default status immediately.
This is just plain wrong. When someone is making all the payments of a loan on-time, the co-signer is an unneeded level of security for the loan. If a borrower was or is behind on the loan, made payments after deadlines and so on, then the loan might be at risk. Not when all payments are being made on time and the borrower's situation is not changed by whatever happened to the co-signer.
Will Congress do something about this? It would be a good move to raise their abysmal approval rating in an election year.
* * *
The case was Schuette v Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action. Not a very sexy case name. But it is a very important decision by the United States Supreme Court as it pretty much ends the ability to challenge a state ban on Affirmative Action policies when the ban is put in place by the voters.
Writing what became the controlling opinion (the justices voted 6-2 but not all of the other five justices concurred fully with Kennedy's opinion), Justice Kennedy said “This case is not about how the debate about racial preferences should be resolved." "It is about who may resolve it. There is no authority in the Constitution of the United States or in this court’s precedents for the judiciary to set aside Michigan laws that commit this policy determination to the voters.”
So the voters can set any policy? Is that what we are to take from this decision? Allow the tyranny of the majority to override the rights of the minority? So can the people in Alabama pass a referendum allowing slavery, or since that's already unconstitutional, indentured servitude? They could use the cheap labor throughout the South.
California's Prop 13 was passed by a majority of the voters. Could a majority vote of the people overturn it today (assuming someone could get it onto a ballot and get people who are not Prop 13 homeowners to vote to repeal it)?
Affirmative Action isn't a perfect solution to the inequities in education. It should be one small component of a complete, complex process to ensure that equality of opportunity exists for all high school students seeking to move on to college. There is a frightening level of disparity in educational opportunity in our nation. Affluent areas have better GPAs, attendance rates and graduation rates than poor areas. Until these conditions are remediated, something must be done to give the children of the poor expanded opportunities for higher education.
It can work, as shown by the makeup of the workforce of federal employees. Reports from 2010 show that "Whites" make up 65% of that workforce while making up 69% of the population. "Blacks" show as 12.4% of the population and 17.94% of the federal workforce. That may sound a bit askew but both of those workforce numbers have been falling steadily since 2001 while numbers for Hispanics and Asians have been rising.
Clearly something needs to be done to address the inequality of educational opportunity, in Michigan and elsewhere. If not Affirmative Action, then what?
* * *
Anyone who questions calling Meb Keflzighi an American is an idiot. The man has lived in this nation since he was 12. He became a naturalized citizen over 15 years ago. He represented our nation in the 2012 Summer Games, finishing 4th in the marathon. He was 37 years old at the time.
Now he's become the first American to win the Boston Marathon since 1983. Back in 2009, when he became the first American to win the New York Marathon in decades, people questioned his being a real American. They were morons then. Those questioning his bona fides now are just as clueless.
Someone should tell TMZ.com that Chapter 11 bankruptcy isn't the same as Chapters 7 or 13.
Did anyone expect anything other than a denial from the three Hollywood executives who were sued for alleged sex abuse by the same man who already sued Bryan Singer? They should have just not dignified the lawsuits with a response.
Billions to improve airport security and yet a teen gets onto the tarmac and stows away in a wheel well. There's just something wrong with that image.
Current Dodgers ownership shows how much better they are than Frank McCourt once again, allowing Dodgers Fantasy Camp for adults to return to Vero Beach. Now if they could only fix the TV thing with TWC.
Oh how sweet, Lindsey Vonn is now good friends with Elin Nordegren. Wonder if Elin is warning her about what a cheating skank Tiger Woods is?
Did I just read someone proffering advice about wealth building say everyone should max out a Roth IRA, and then contradict himself by saying everyone should seek tax-deferred growth? I call fifteen yards for contradiction.
Why are we so obsessed with death tolls? Crash News Network continues to consider any change in the death toll from that South Korean ferry to be "breaking news." Let the searchers do their work without having to constantly update such morbid things.
That just reminded me that the word "morbid" is one of my favorite entries in the Irish-Medical Dictionary: http://www.begent.org/medidict.htm if you're curious. I'm also a big fan of their definition of caesarian section.
I'm neither surprised nor disappointed by the statement there will NOT be a "Friends" reunion.
You bump into a friend and cause wine to spill on their shirt (blouse). Do you pay to replace the garment if the stain can't be removed by a cleaner? I would, as long as it wasn't going to put me in the poor house.
* * *
April 22nd in History:
238 – Year of the Six Emperors: The Roman Senate outlaws emperor Maximinus Thrax for his bloodthirsty proscriptions in Rome and nominates two of its members, Pupienus and Balbinus, to the throne.
1500 – Portuguese navigator Pedro Álvares Cabral lands in Brazil.
1519 – Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés establishes a settlement at Veracruz, Mexico.
1529 – Treaty of Saragossa divides the eastern hemisphere between Spain and Portugal along a line 297.5 leagues or 17° east of the Moluccas.
1622 – The Capture of Ormuz by the East India Company ends Portuguese control of Hormuz Island.
1809 – The second day of the Battle of Eckmühl: the Austrian army is defeated by the First French Empire army led by Napoleon I of France and driven over the Danube in Regensburg.
1836 – Texas Revolution: A day after the Battle of San Jacinto, forces under Texas General Sam Houston identify Mexican General Antonio López de Santa Anna among the captives of the battle when one of his fellow captives mistakenly gives away his identity.
1864 – The U.S. Congress passes the Coinage Act of 1864 that mandates that the inscription In God We Trust be placed on all coins minted as United States currency.
1876 – The first ever National League baseball game is played in Philadelphia.
1889 – At high noon, thousands rush to claim land in the Land Run of 1889. Within hours the cities of Oklahoma City and Guthrie are formed with populations of at least 10,000.
1898 – Spanish-American War: The USS Nashville captures a Spanish merchant ship.
1906 – The 1906 Summer Olympics, not now recognized as part of the official Olympic Games, open in Athens.
1911 – Tsinghua University, one of mainland China's leading universities, is founded.
1912 – Pravda, the "voice" of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, begins publication in Saint Petersburg.
1915 – The use of poison gas in World War I escalates when chlorine gas is released as a chemical weapon in the Second Battle of Ypres.
1930 – The United Kingdom, Japan and the United States sign the London Naval Treaty regulating submarine warfare and limiting shipbuilding.
1944 – The 1st Air Commando Group using Sikorsky R-4 helicopters stage the first use of helicopters in combat with Combat Search and Rescue operations in the China-Burma-India theater.
1944 – World War II: Operation Persecution is initiated – Allied forces land in the Hollandia (currently known as Jayapura) area of New Guinea.
1945 – World War II: Prisoners at the Jasenovac concentration camp revolt. Five hundred twenty are killed and 80 escape.
1945 – World War II: Führerbunker: After learning that Soviet forces have taken Eberswalde without a fight, Adolf Hitler admits defeat in his underground bunker and states that suicide is his only recourse.
1948 – 1948 Arab-Israeli War: Haifa, a major port of Israel, is captured from Arab forces.
1951 – Korean War: The Chinese People's Volunteer Army begin assaulting positions defended by the Royal Australian Regiment and the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry at the Battle of Kapyong.
1954 – Red Scare: Witnesses begin testifying and live television coverage of the Army-McCarthy Hearings begins.
1964 – The 1964-1965 New York World's Fair opens for its first season.
1969 – British yachtsman Sir Robin Knox-Johnston wins the Sunday Times Golden Globe Race and completes the first solo non-stop circumnavigation of the world.
1970 – The first Earth Day is celebrated.
1972 – Vietnam War: Increased American bombing in Vietnam prompts anti-war protests in Los Angeles, New York City, and San Francisco.
1977 – Optical fiber is first used to carry live telephone traffic.
1983 – The German magazine Der Stern claims that the "Hitler Diaries" had been found in wreckage in East Germany; the diaries are subsequently revealed to be forgeries.
1992 – In an explosion in Guadalajara, Mexico, 206 people are killed, nearly 500 injured and 15,000 left homeless.
1993 – Version 1.0 of the Mosaic web browser is released.
1997 – Haouch Khemisti massacre in Algeria – 93 villagers killed.
1997 – The Japanese embassy hostage crisis ends in Lima, Peru.
1998 – Disney's Animal Kingdom opens at Walt Disney World near Orlando, Florida, United States.
2000 – In a pre-dawn raid, federal agents seize six-year-old Elián González from his relatives' home in Miami, Florida.
2000 – The Big Number Change takes place in the United Kingdom.
2004 – Two fuel trains collide in Ryongchon, North Korea, killing up to 150 people.
2005 – Japan's Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi apologizes for Japan's war record.
2008 – The United States Air Force retires the remaining F-117 Nighthawk aircraft in service.
Famous Folk Born on April 22nd:
Pope Alexander VIII
Henry Fielding
Immanuel Kant
James Sullivan
Julius Sterling Morton
Lewis Powell (tried to kill Seward)
Vladimir Lenin
Laura Gilpin
Nicola Sacco (he was almost certainly innocent)
Vladimir Nabakov
Eddie Albert (Recipient of the Bronze Star with Combat V for his actions in World War II - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qBWbxMv6v_s)
Charles Mingus (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TU_RxWXijz0)
Aaron Spelling
Charlotte Rae (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ihbWPkyHCww)
Glen Campbell (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XTMeDBVknQY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kh0F2sMcr_4)
Jack Nicholson (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7OWfHzVSQZ0)
Janet Evanovich
Steve Fossett
Larry Groce (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQnIL-XPerQ)
Peter Frampton (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZMmV6xXYFw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y7rFYbMhcG8)
Paul Carrack (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGDA0Hecw1k)
Marilyn Chambers (sorry, no pornos here)
Chris Makepeace (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdZ6RA_c6oE)
Jeffrey Dean Morgan
Sheryl Lee (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jl9TOJdXXbc)
Five years after graduating, there was a tragic accident and his mother was killed. The loss of a parent is tragic, but should it harm Joe's credit? Well, it does because under the current rules for private student loans, when a co-signer dies (or declares bankruptcy), the lender can place the loan into default status immediately.
This is just plain wrong. When someone is making all the payments of a loan on-time, the co-signer is an unneeded level of security for the loan. If a borrower was or is behind on the loan, made payments after deadlines and so on, then the loan might be at risk. Not when all payments are being made on time and the borrower's situation is not changed by whatever happened to the co-signer.
Will Congress do something about this? It would be a good move to raise their abysmal approval rating in an election year.
* * *
The case was Schuette v Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action. Not a very sexy case name. But it is a very important decision by the United States Supreme Court as it pretty much ends the ability to challenge a state ban on Affirmative Action policies when the ban is put in place by the voters.
Writing what became the controlling opinion (the justices voted 6-2 but not all of the other five justices concurred fully with Kennedy's opinion), Justice Kennedy said “This case is not about how the debate about racial preferences should be resolved." "It is about who may resolve it. There is no authority in the Constitution of the United States or in this court’s precedents for the judiciary to set aside Michigan laws that commit this policy determination to the voters.”
So the voters can set any policy? Is that what we are to take from this decision? Allow the tyranny of the majority to override the rights of the minority? So can the people in Alabama pass a referendum allowing slavery, or since that's already unconstitutional, indentured servitude? They could use the cheap labor throughout the South.
California's Prop 13 was passed by a majority of the voters. Could a majority vote of the people overturn it today (assuming someone could get it onto a ballot and get people who are not Prop 13 homeowners to vote to repeal it)?
Affirmative Action isn't a perfect solution to the inequities in education. It should be one small component of a complete, complex process to ensure that equality of opportunity exists for all high school students seeking to move on to college. There is a frightening level of disparity in educational opportunity in our nation. Affluent areas have better GPAs, attendance rates and graduation rates than poor areas. Until these conditions are remediated, something must be done to give the children of the poor expanded opportunities for higher education.
It can work, as shown by the makeup of the workforce of federal employees. Reports from 2010 show that "Whites" make up 65% of that workforce while making up 69% of the population. "Blacks" show as 12.4% of the population and 17.94% of the federal workforce. That may sound a bit askew but both of those workforce numbers have been falling steadily since 2001 while numbers for Hispanics and Asians have been rising.
Clearly something needs to be done to address the inequality of educational opportunity, in Michigan and elsewhere. If not Affirmative Action, then what?
* * *
Anyone who questions calling Meb Keflzighi an American is an idiot. The man has lived in this nation since he was 12. He became a naturalized citizen over 15 years ago. He represented our nation in the 2012 Summer Games, finishing 4th in the marathon. He was 37 years old at the time.
Now he's become the first American to win the Boston Marathon since 1983. Back in 2009, when he became the first American to win the New York Marathon in decades, people questioned his being a real American. They were morons then. Those questioning his bona fides now are just as clueless.
Someone should tell TMZ.com that Chapter 11 bankruptcy isn't the same as Chapters 7 or 13.
Did anyone expect anything other than a denial from the three Hollywood executives who were sued for alleged sex abuse by the same man who already sued Bryan Singer? They should have just not dignified the lawsuits with a response.
Billions to improve airport security and yet a teen gets onto the tarmac and stows away in a wheel well. There's just something wrong with that image.
Current Dodgers ownership shows how much better they are than Frank McCourt once again, allowing Dodgers Fantasy Camp for adults to return to Vero Beach. Now if they could only fix the TV thing with TWC.
Oh how sweet, Lindsey Vonn is now good friends with Elin Nordegren. Wonder if Elin is warning her about what a cheating skank Tiger Woods is?
Did I just read someone proffering advice about wealth building say everyone should max out a Roth IRA, and then contradict himself by saying everyone should seek tax-deferred growth? I call fifteen yards for contradiction.
Why are we so obsessed with death tolls? Crash News Network continues to consider any change in the death toll from that South Korean ferry to be "breaking news." Let the searchers do their work without having to constantly update such morbid things.
That just reminded me that the word "morbid" is one of my favorite entries in the Irish-Medical Dictionary: http://www.begent.org/medidict.htm if you're curious. I'm also a big fan of their definition of caesarian section.
I'm neither surprised nor disappointed by the statement there will NOT be a "Friends" reunion.
You bump into a friend and cause wine to spill on their shirt (blouse). Do you pay to replace the garment if the stain can't be removed by a cleaner? I would, as long as it wasn't going to put me in the poor house.
* * *
April 22nd in History:
238 – Year of the Six Emperors: The Roman Senate outlaws emperor Maximinus Thrax for his bloodthirsty proscriptions in Rome and nominates two of its members, Pupienus and Balbinus, to the throne.
1500 – Portuguese navigator Pedro Álvares Cabral lands in Brazil.
1519 – Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés establishes a settlement at Veracruz, Mexico.
1529 – Treaty of Saragossa divides the eastern hemisphere between Spain and Portugal along a line 297.5 leagues or 17° east of the Moluccas.
1622 – The Capture of Ormuz by the East India Company ends Portuguese control of Hormuz Island.
1809 – The second day of the Battle of Eckmühl: the Austrian army is defeated by the First French Empire army led by Napoleon I of France and driven over the Danube in Regensburg.
1836 – Texas Revolution: A day after the Battle of San Jacinto, forces under Texas General Sam Houston identify Mexican General Antonio López de Santa Anna among the captives of the battle when one of his fellow captives mistakenly gives away his identity.
1864 – The U.S. Congress passes the Coinage Act of 1864 that mandates that the inscription In God We Trust be placed on all coins minted as United States currency.
1876 – The first ever National League baseball game is played in Philadelphia.
1889 – At high noon, thousands rush to claim land in the Land Run of 1889. Within hours the cities of Oklahoma City and Guthrie are formed with populations of at least 10,000.
1898 – Spanish-American War: The USS Nashville captures a Spanish merchant ship.
1906 – The 1906 Summer Olympics, not now recognized as part of the official Olympic Games, open in Athens.
1911 – Tsinghua University, one of mainland China's leading universities, is founded.
1912 – Pravda, the "voice" of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, begins publication in Saint Petersburg.
1915 – The use of poison gas in World War I escalates when chlorine gas is released as a chemical weapon in the Second Battle of Ypres.
1930 – The United Kingdom, Japan and the United States sign the London Naval Treaty regulating submarine warfare and limiting shipbuilding.
1944 – The 1st Air Commando Group using Sikorsky R-4 helicopters stage the first use of helicopters in combat with Combat Search and Rescue operations in the China-Burma-India theater.
1944 – World War II: Operation Persecution is initiated – Allied forces land in the Hollandia (currently known as Jayapura) area of New Guinea.
1945 – World War II: Prisoners at the Jasenovac concentration camp revolt. Five hundred twenty are killed and 80 escape.
1945 – World War II: Führerbunker: After learning that Soviet forces have taken Eberswalde without a fight, Adolf Hitler admits defeat in his underground bunker and states that suicide is his only recourse.
1948 – 1948 Arab-Israeli War: Haifa, a major port of Israel, is captured from Arab forces.
1951 – Korean War: The Chinese People's Volunteer Army begin assaulting positions defended by the Royal Australian Regiment and the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry at the Battle of Kapyong.
1954 – Red Scare: Witnesses begin testifying and live television coverage of the Army-McCarthy Hearings begins.
1964 – The 1964-1965 New York World's Fair opens for its first season.
1969 – British yachtsman Sir Robin Knox-Johnston wins the Sunday Times Golden Globe Race and completes the first solo non-stop circumnavigation of the world.
1970 – The first Earth Day is celebrated.
1972 – Vietnam War: Increased American bombing in Vietnam prompts anti-war protests in Los Angeles, New York City, and San Francisco.
1977 – Optical fiber is first used to carry live telephone traffic.
1983 – The German magazine Der Stern claims that the "Hitler Diaries" had been found in wreckage in East Germany; the diaries are subsequently revealed to be forgeries.
1992 – In an explosion in Guadalajara, Mexico, 206 people are killed, nearly 500 injured and 15,000 left homeless.
1993 – Version 1.0 of the Mosaic web browser is released.
1997 – Haouch Khemisti massacre in Algeria – 93 villagers killed.
1997 – The Japanese embassy hostage crisis ends in Lima, Peru.
1998 – Disney's Animal Kingdom opens at Walt Disney World near Orlando, Florida, United States.
2000 – In a pre-dawn raid, federal agents seize six-year-old Elián González from his relatives' home in Miami, Florida.
2000 – The Big Number Change takes place in the United Kingdom.
2004 – Two fuel trains collide in Ryongchon, North Korea, killing up to 150 people.
2005 – Japan's Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi apologizes for Japan's war record.
2008 – The United States Air Force retires the remaining F-117 Nighthawk aircraft in service.
Famous Folk Born on April 22nd:
Pope Alexander VIII
Henry Fielding
Immanuel Kant
James Sullivan
Julius Sterling Morton
Lewis Powell (tried to kill Seward)
Vladimir Lenin
Laura Gilpin
Nicola Sacco (he was almost certainly innocent)
Vladimir Nabakov
Eddie Albert (Recipient of the Bronze Star with Combat V for his actions in World War II - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qBWbxMv6v_s)
Charles Mingus (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TU_RxWXijz0)
Aaron Spelling
Charlotte Rae (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ihbWPkyHCww)
Glen Campbell (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XTMeDBVknQY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kh0F2sMcr_4)
Jack Nicholson (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7OWfHzVSQZ0)
Janet Evanovich
Steve Fossett
Larry Groce (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQnIL-XPerQ)
Peter Frampton (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZMmV6xXYFw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y7rFYbMhcG8)
Paul Carrack (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGDA0Hecw1k)
Marilyn Chambers (sorry, no pornos here)
Chris Makepeace (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdZ6RA_c6oE)
Jeffrey Dean Morgan
Sheryl Lee (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jl9TOJdXXbc)
posted by me at 4:52 PM
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