Indentured Servants

Student loans have become a hot political issue. That is too bad because the true solution to the issue will be delayed. There are a few simple principles in play here.

• First Issue: Supply and Demand. With the massive government subsidization of higher education, it is no wonder that college tuition is out of control. This subsidy has created an increasing demand curve against a relatively fixed supply so of course the cost of tuition has outstripped inflation for many years.

• Second Issue: Return on Investment. The conventional “wisdom” that “everyone should be able to get a college degree” has left us with millions of new graduates with thousands in debt because their schools misled them into thinking that getting a job with a unique degree would be an easy path to success.

• Third Issue: Caveat Emptor. Parents are not teaching their children fiscal responsibility! Their children are targeted by predatory financial institutions for credit cards and assume debts for material things before starting a career. Without a strong sense of reality and good math skills, these children become indentured servants to these institutions for their entire life. Sadly, most parents are incapable of teaching their children about fiscal responsibility as too many families are living paycheck to paycheck and have little or no net worth.

I believe a classic market correction is in the works. Increasing competition from on-line learning venues will lower the cost of getting a higher education soon (over the next ten years). Costs will plummet as the “bricks and mortar” college experience is replaced by a predominately on-line experience. Think of it as disintermediation of the “bricks and mortar” experience. Then the predatory financial institutions (and the alcohol cartel) will need to find new ways to exploit our children.

Here is a great “rant’ by Dave Ramsey the creator of Financial Peace University on this issue. He nails it. http://www.daveramsey.com/radio/home/loadclip/studentloans-20120426?ictid=text

MOA RIP

Debbie and I had a long delayed getaway weekend starting the day after Thanksgiving.  We went to Minneapolis and stayed at a nice hotel across the street from the Mall of America (MOA).  A recent story in the news reminded me that I wanted to share our MOA experiences.  Here is the excerpt from the news item: “Authorities arrested at least nine people after a “series of fights” at the nation’s biggest shopping mall sent chairs flying and caused after-Christmas shoppers to flee, officials in Minnesota said Tuesday….Witnesses described a chaotic scene.”  Reports stated that up to 200 were involved in the fighting.

Memory Lane

(…Penny Lane there is a barber showing photographs / Of every head he’s had the pleasure to have known …)

I was digging through some files stored on a file server at home.  After writing that last sentence it occurs to me that not everybody has an 8 terabyte Network Attached Server (NAS) at home. Today that seems like a lot of storage, in a few years not so much, and of course, the preferred storage method will be in the cloud.

(…And all the people that come and go / Stop and say hello..)

Anyway, I found bit and pieces of blog posts from 2005-2008. I cleaned up the formatting as well as I could and posted them by year.   I did not try to fix any hyperlinks.  Most of the links were to pictures on the old site that no longer exists.  The lack of links does not materially affect the context of the blogs – at least it did not for me.

(…On the corner is a banker with a motorcar / The little children laugh at him behind his back / And the banker never wears a mac in the pouring rain / Very strange…)


Jackson Paul Lane holding Hunter Dean Johnson

And what a busy time in my family’s life!  Concerts from Herman’s Hermits (Peter Noone liked my Beatles tie and said he would mention it to Sir Paul), Paul Revere, Rockapella, Tom Petty, John Prine, Billy Joel, Crosby, Stills and Nash, Garrison Keillor, Lucinda Williams, and Sir Paul McCartney, visits and visitors, trips to dozens of states and a few countries, a birth (Hunter), deaths (Jean, Louise, Norbert, and Toni’s mother), numerous graduations, my flying lessons and the varied but glorious trials and tribulations of everyday life. I hope we pass the test!

(…Penny Lane is in my ears and in my eyes /  Wet beneath the blue suburban skies / I sit and meanwhile back in…)

I will post more oldies as I find them.

Merge Left

My mother, Merge Conroy, died October 20, 2011 in Phoenix, AZ. It was not an unexpected death and she had been preparing for it for several years. Merge transcended the sometimes stoic, and often painful, process of dying with a peaceful acceptance of the inevitable. Her powerful proof of personal courage was a final lesson and gracious gift to her children. Thanks Mom!

Her passing was made easier for me by the company of my sister Deb and her husband (and my brother from another mother) Ray, my brother Dan and baby brother Bill. Deb and Ray spent many months in Arizona caring for Merge while we all were together most of the last five weeks. It was a special time that will always be fondly remembered and appreciated by us all. Dan, Bill and I also appreciate that our spouses, Bonnie, Toni and Debbie kept the home fires burning and a couple of businesses efficiently humming while we were away.

Here is the obituary that was published in her hometown newspaper, The Daily Jeffersonian of Cambridge, OH.:

MIA

I voted in the Iowa Straw Poll and have the blue ink on my index finger to prove it. It was not easy to be part of this event. I had to endure a three mile shuttle bus ride from the east side of Ames to the parking lot by Hilton Coliseum. Fortunately the bus was air conditioned or the ride would have been unbearable in the 70 degree heat. The wide cushioned seats were a nice touch too. Upon exiting the bus I was handed a $30 admission ticket, some leaflets and a t-shirt – all for free.

After a short briefing I was free to visit the various venues set up by the candidates.  National media and international media were swarming the grounds so I played a game to get into the background of live camera shots.  (Hi Ma!)

Then it took a bad turn. There was food everywhere! There was BBQ from Famous Dave’s, pizza from Godfathers and ice cream from Dairy Queen just to name a few of the options. Did I mention it was all free? How could I stay on my diet with so much free food available for the taking? I made my food choices, listened to the candidates’ speeches and actually met a few of them.

Finally I found time to vote. Walking out of the voting area I was required to dip my finger in blue ink. I suppose it was to discourage people from voting more than once.  Then it hit me. The ink on my finger reminded of the iconic picture of an Iraqi woman that had voted and held up her purple stained finger with a look of pride that only comes with true achievement.

She likely risked her life to vote. There was no bus, no free food and no clowning around for the press. In fact, the picture made her more of a target for reprisals. So why did only 16,000 voters participate in the Iowa Straw Poll? If an apathetic people get the government they deserve then we are in trouble!

Turning into a Smurf - Photo by Luis Rivas