Category: Rant
-
Bad debt, good debt, and the great financial lie
One of the greatest lies ever told to people is the fallacy of good debt/bad debt. “A mortgage is good debt! It’s an investment that will pay off!” “A college education and student loan is good debt! It’s an investment in yourself!” “A credit card is bad debt! Stuff you buy with a credit card…
-
Time to keep our promise
Earlier this year, we asked our politicians to stand against the bailout, knowing that it would turn into a huge payday for a select few on Wall Street and not help Main Street America. Some did. Some did not. We’ve seen since then how badly abused our trust was, how badly abused our taxpayer dollars…
-
Why do we take unnecessary risks?
Watching the news, 40% of Galveston residents chose not to evacuate in advance of a storm that was rated, on an intensity energy scale, as 30% more powerful that Hurricane Katrina. The National Hurricane Center issued in its warning the very clear words “certain death”. Yet 40% of residents stayed. Why? Ultimately, this points to…
-
Why politics makes me sick
I’m exceptionally proud of the PodCamp Boston 3 community. 1,000 raised and donated to feed hungry kids in the greater Boston area. According to the Greater Boston Food Bank, the agency we donated to, they can take that and provide more than two meals per dollar donated. That means the PodCamp Boston 3 community, which…
-
Why does Coca-Cola screw over schools in My Coke Rewards?
We drink a lot of soda here at the office, since we have a volume deal with a local distributor, one of the many benefits of working at the Student Loan Network. As a result, I collect and redeem a LOT of bottle caps for the My Coke Rewards program. One of my favorite things,…
-
I call for the immediate resignation of Senator Christopher Dodd (D-CT)
Image via Wikipedia Senator Christopher Dodd, head of the Senate Banking Committee, is corrupt, plain and simple. Senator Dodd has sponsored a mortgage bailout bill in Congress to benefit mortgage lenders and took money from one of them – Countrywide – while putting up the legislation. Details, courtesy of the Wall Street Journal: On Tuesday,…
-
Proud to be an American?
Image by denmar via Flickr Proud to be an American? Today’s CNN front page story? A group of physicians ascertained that America committed war crimes by subjecting prisoners to torture, from electric shocks to beatings to sodomy. “There is no longer any doubt that the current administration committed war crimes. The only question is whether…
-
Spot the terrorist!
After reading this Boston Globe article about Dunkin Donuts pulling an ad because conservatives thought her scarf looked like a keffiyah, I thought I’d make a quick game for you to play. Like this? Please Digg it. How did you do? Come on, Dunkin Donuts. What the hell is wrong with you? I can’t tell…
-
What is worth paying for?
What is worth paying for? In the world of an information economy, information is effectively free. This, of course, has broad implications for anyone generating intellectual property, such as writers, musicians, and media makers. Effectively free means this: it is possible to mass produce and mass distribute information at near zero cost, laws and artificial…