John Oliver points out the scandal of for-profit colleges

The amount of accruing student debt is incredibly distressing.   John Oliver has produced this excellent expose on the debt, the politics and the long trail of victims. Thousands of students are running up enormous debt, especially at for-profit colleges.    Thanks to the lobbying efforts of educational institutions, student loans are not dischargeable in bankruptcy regardless of how bad the track record of the institution for actually placing students into jobs in their fields of education. The marketing strategies of for-profits are especially reprehensible. Excellent job of exposing this dysfunction and fraud.  Once again, we rely on comedians to do the best journalism.

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Personal qualities not measured by tests

Here is a well constructed list that those who do well on SAT tests should carefully review. CREATIVITY CRITICAL THINKING RESILIENCE MOTIVATION PERSISTENCE CURIOSITY QUESTION ASKING HUMOR ENDURANCE RELIABILITY ENTHUSIASUM CIVIC-MINDEDNESS SELF-AWARENESS SELF-DISCIPLINE EMPATHY LEADERSHIP COMPASSION COURAGE SENSE OF BEAUTY SENSE OF WONDER RESOURCEFULNESS SPONTANEITY HUMILITY Paul Tough, who wrote How Children Succeed: Grit, Curiosity, and the Hidden Power of Character, would add "grit." Personal qualities not measured by tests - list

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Tax revenue lost because of overseas tax havens

According to Bloomberg, Americans and American companies are hiding their money overseas and this is costing us immense amount of money.

U.S. taxpayers would need to pay an average of $1,259 more a year to make up the federal and state taxes lost to corporations and individuals sheltering money in overseas tax havens, according to a report. “Tax haven abusers benefit from America’s markets, public infrastructure, educated workforce, security and rule of law -– all supported in one way or another by tax dollars -– but they avoid paying for these benefits,” U.S. Public Interest Research Group said in the report released today, the deadline for filing 2013 taxes.

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La Crosse, Wisconsin: the town that is willing to talk about death

Excellent story by NPR. It's a long way from the Republican scare stories about "death panels":

People in La Crosse, Wisconsin are used to talking about death. In fact, 96 percent of people who die in this small, Midwestern city have specific directions laid out for when they pass. That number is astounding. Nationwide, it's more like 50 percent. In today's episode, we'll take you to a place where dying has become acceptable dinner conversation for teenagers and senior citizens alike. A place that also happens to have the lowest healthcare spending of any region in the country.
This piece reminds me that one of the main problems with the United States is that we cannot have meaningful conversations. This is refreshingly different. And important: One-quarter of health care spending occurs in the last year of life.

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