So earlier today I went to my mom’s barbershop to get my haircut and as usual I read Time magazine while I was waiting. There was one article in particular that caught my attention about college students and internships. Apparently, there’s a big problem in the US because nearly 50% of all…
It’s National Endangered Species Day! What better way to celebrate than with a NEW video about the unintended consequences of the Endangered Species Act.
Cafe Hayek’s Don Boudreaux examines the act and explains that, although the intentions of the policymakers’ were to save the endangered species, it resulted in the exact opposite! Landowners would kill the species in order to preserve the value of their land. This phenomenon has been known as “shoot, shovel, and shut up.”
Clearly, this wasn’t the goal of the policymakers’, however, we must recognize that intentions and stated goals do NOT mean good policy.
(Source: LearnLiberty.Org)
This is what I see when i think about higher education in this country today:
Remember the housing meltdown ? Tough to forget isn’t it. The formula for the housing boom and bust was simple. A lot of easy money being lent to buyers who couldn’t afford the money they were borrowing. That money was then spent on homes with the expectation that the price of the home would go up and it could easily be flipped or refinanced at a profit. Who cares if you couldn’t afford the loan. As long as prices kept on going up, everyone was happy. And prices kept on going up. And as long as pricing kept on going up real estate agents kept on selling homes and finding money for buyers.
Until the easy money stopped. When easy money stopped, buyers couldn’t sell. They couldn’t refinance. First sales slowed, then prices started falling and then the housing bubble burst. Housing prices crashed. We know the rest of the story. We are still mired in the consequences.
Can someone please explain to me how what is happening in higher education is any different ?
Its far too easy to borrow money for college. Did you know that there is more outstanding debt for student loans than there is for Auto Loans or Credit Card loans ? Thats right. The 37mm holders of student loans have more debt than the 175mm or so credit card owners in this country and more than the all of the debt on cars in this country. While the average student loan debt is about 23k. The median is close to $12,500. And growing. Past 1 TRILLION DOLLARS.
We freak out about the Trillions of dollars in debt our country faces. What about the TRILLION DOLLARs plus in debt college kids are facing ?
The point of the numbers is that getting a student loan is easy. Too easy.
(Source: self-ownership)
Pointing to governments that have created a monopoly money through force and then saying that money is a creation of government and not the market is simply wrong.
That would be like pointing to dog breeding and saying that because humans have guided the evolutionary process of dogs, evolution through natural selection doesn’t exist.
Money can be “created” through governments or free markets just as evolution can occur naturally or through selective breeding by others.
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Student debt at colleges and universities across the nation: a pretty stunning visualization from the New York Times.
Self-Ownership”And you’re only making things worse.”
Giving people more credit started this problem because it allowed colleges to charge more without fear.
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Capitalism helps us to serve others, and makes us better off!
Re-blog if you agree!
(Source: laliberty)
(Source: foxthemicologist, via self-ownership)
By: Michael Tyler Levesque
The Foundation:
It was an impulse buy, $100 burning a whole in my pockets. It was a new product from Apple and I am a fan. I have an iPhone 4s, my house has a new iPad, and Airplay was an attractive offer. 1080p is just a standard that makes everything marginally better.
The Fundamentals:
The General UI
The updated UI is clean and simple but I wish I could hide some of the icons.
Airplay
The main reason I am using this device is Airplay. I have a Roku 2 XD but, Airplay is not supported on it. Airplay audio streaming is amazing and worth half the price alone. I have tested it with both iTunes on the Mac and Instacast on iOS. With it you get the artwork rendered on the screen with a progress bar stating the remaining time on the track. If you let it run for a little bit then a screensaver will appear running your photo stream.
AirPlay Mirroring
I dedicate a separate section to AirPlay Mirroring because it is a lot different from the Airplay audio and video streaming when it comes to optimization. AirPlay audio and video streaming is a tailored experience optimized for the Apple TV. The screen will display a visual of the artwork associated with your audio content or play a video in full screen with the highest resolution possible video of that source. AirPlay Mirroring is just a reflection of what is happening on your compatible iOS device(1). The size of the mirror is less than that of your screen because it is not stretched to the edges and distorted. This loses the custom built-in feel that AirPlay Streaming has. It is a cool feature none the less but the differences in aspect ratio make it feel less than built-in. This is the part of the Apple TV that shows why Apple integrates all of their products, because they all match each other, they can tailor different functions together.
Itunes Streaming
The iTunes Streaming is a lot better than the Amazon Video on Demand on the Roku. I rented the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and the picture was crisp, it had a few pauses. The fast forward was fast enough to go through 3/4 of a movie in about a minute.
Flickr Integration
A bug in something lead me to not be able to use this, as much as I want to. Off to the trial and error stage, I am very unhappy.
Vimeo
I am a big perennial plate fan and the Apple TV pulled it straight from my watch later feed. The video was great if not a little better and faster streaming than the Roku XD.
YouTube
YouTube exists on the Apple TV even though Apple seems like they are straying away from the service. This is another advantage that that Apple TV has over Roku. There was a beta channel running with YouTube for Roku but that has since been eliminated. I signed in with my google credentials and pulled up my subscriptions and watched a Jenny Marbles video in HD no problem, end of story.
Sports
While I am a subscriber of non of the sports packages available for the Apple TV I am in love with the interface. I consulted my resident sports expert, i.e.. my little stats obsessed brother, to help me with this endeavor. The carousel of team logos was a nice touch present on the former Apple TV but made the app feel more visually consistent from sport to sport while taking on the flavor of the sport you where viewing at the time.
The Standing View is by far the most appealing thing I have seen in a long time. It is very clean yet provides a lot of data on the placement of teams in the ranks. Yes, if you are a serious nerd you are not going to be enthralled by the lack of depth in the information but that what the under belly of ESPN and your fantasy league spreadsheet are for.
WSJ Live
The archive video is of good quality but looks more like a 720p stream than 1080p but with the recent update I do not hold WSJ to the fire. The Content is in the style of the Wall Street Journal which is very clean yet grayish outlines and charts. The text that appears is what is needed nothing more. The video rolls over when the archive clip content is done to keep a constant stream of video, which loads fast. Overall if you like the Wall Street Journal, as I do, you will like this channel.
Size
The Roku is a little smaller than the Apple TV but I pay no mind to that. I still am able to nestle this little device on my shelf under some sports memorabilia. The black on black facade is nice but even better if you put a piece of black electrical tape on the indicator light.
The Wrap Up
The Apple TV is a solid device and since I have the other parts that make it work at the devices peak it is worth more than the 100 bucks I paid for it. The content is a lot less than the Roku but the content that is there streams uninterrupted and clearer than the Roku.
(1) AirPlay Mirroring and dual screen are available with iPad 2 or later and iPhone 4S. via Apple’s Website
Test Hardware: Insignia 23 inch 1080p LED LCD TV Cheap Amazon Procured HDMI Cable Comcast Mid Level Home Internet Belkin Dual Band Router
self-ownership asked: Screen cap and reblog away, my friend!!
done http://foundationsandfundamentals.com/post/19812194016/as-thomas-rustici-of-george-mason-taught-me
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As Thomas Rustici of George Mason taught me, someone who is wanting to kill themselves is acting very rationally if they are pointing a gun to there head.
So tonight I was live-tweeting a Senate Debate at the University of Maryland while prepping I had a two choice on what tools to do it with. I could do it with my 15 inch MacBook Pro and my iPhone as just my phone or I could do it with just my iPhone. I kept my trusty Doane Paper notebook by my side as it is always useful and I did use it to write a couple questions for the Senate Candidates. But what was great was the freedom I gained by not having to lug around a notebook. I was able to shake hands and ask questions without this five pound burden under my arm. I was free to adjust my position to suit my needs instead of being constrained to the MacBook. Overall I see the iPhone as a tool for freedom in the world both in the information I live-tweeted and the way I could do it.
