The government can help people pay off student loans and be fair about it. Here’s how. Forgiving student debt to help the economy is a hard sell. And how do you decide whose loan to forgive? There are complex fairness issues to weigh. Check out my article on student loans featured 1 February 2021, over […]
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In doing research for my new book, Education without Debt, Giving Back and Paying It Forward, I came across several inspirational stories. Young people who came from challenging circumstances and managed to overcome incredible obstacles with the help of financial aid to achieve a college education and personal and career opportunities as a result. One […]
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I came from a family with no money, but we all had aspirations for a better life. That meant getting a college education. Fortunately, college did not cost so much 50 years ago, and I and my siblings largely worked our way through school. I worked in a factory; my brother had a variety of […]
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In this pandemic year, filled with sadness and fear and prayers for it all to end, I find I can smile remembering past good times. To that end, I’m re-running an Inkspots Christmas column I wrote years ago, in hopes that it will spark similar happy memories for all of you. December 24, 1992 When […]
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I sort of jumped the gun on decorating for Christmas this year. As in, I put up the tree and all the trimmings a month ago, two weeks before Thanksgiving. Don’t judge. This year has been like no other, so it seems to me that anything goes. Anything, in this case, being early, very early, […]
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In the years I’ve been inhabiting this Inkspots space, I’ve written about 147 columns about our family’s past Thanksgiving holidays. I said “about,” so don’t lecture me on exaggerating, the about allows me to use any number I fancy. And today, I fancy 147 – it has a nice ring to it, don’t you think? […]
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For someone who has pretty much retired from cooking, I get an urge once in a blue moon to come out of retirement and make something tasty. Okay, to be honest, I never was much of a cook and I never especially liked doing it, so you can understand why, after years of feeding seven […]
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I had a fun travel companion last week named Flat Stanley. I had never heard of Flat Stanley but it turns out he’s quite famous. He’s had his picture taken with such well-known celebrities as Clint Eastwood and President Obama, to name just two. Now he’s had his picture taken with Seamus, Louis Kossuth, and […]
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There is a general belief that in the U.S., whoever gets the most votes wins the election. This is not true in Presidential elections because of the electoral college. President Trump received about 3 million fewer votes than Hillary Clinton but still became President. But it has also not been true with state elections. Because […]
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There are many things I love about computers and cyberspace. F’rinstance, being able to FaceTime or Zoom with our scattered kids and grands is wonderful. Out of the blue, 6-year-old Molly will get loose on her Dad’s cell phone and FaceTime me, offering to give me a tour of her house. She always offers to […]
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