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It’s another busy news week and the Coots are here to help you sort out the key points.
Bill Clinton endorses Obama’s tax-cut deal
The President continues to reach out to get more support for his compromise with Republicans on not raising taxes for any Americans during the recession. Former President Clinton also supports the compromise which in true Congressional fashion has been loaded with pork and tinsel for the holidays. Clinton’s support is intended to help the President triangulate with liberal Democrats whose Holy Grail is apparently increasing tazes for anybody richer than they are. What will they compromise next?
Mexican police report killing head of ‘La Familia’ cartel
The Mexican authorities claim a victory in their battle against the drug gangs that control major portions of Mexico and Arizona. Coots reckon the score is now gangs 999 police 1. Yea Police. No word from the Mexican President about this. He is probably hiding in the cellar.
$150B budget deficit sets November record
November 2010 sets a budget deficit record up 25 percent over last years. And this even before the taz increase compromise that adds another 1.5 Trillion. No wonder Congressional approval is less than 20%. We are being raped and pillaged by lame ducks. All we can do is hope that the new Congress believes their campaign promises.
New York drivers bracing for crash tax
Driving in New York City will face a new charge when they get into an accident. Car fires are nearly $500 while mere accidents are less. The City claims that this charge is intended to protect New Yorkers from the danger and costs for out of city drivers (who apparently aren’t contributing sufficiently to the City coffers. Cities in California have discussed these charges but have so far backed away when the public learned about them. New York steps boldly out in finding new ways to increase revenues in these hard times. Who wants to drive in NYC anyway?
Nun accused of embezzling $1.2M from college
More from New York, this time a nun who apparently embezzled $1.2 million from Iona College over ten years. Sister Susie, as the nun was called on Campus was the Chief Financial Officer for the College. Coots are sure that the nun liberated the money to do more good than was possible at the college.
Iran denies freeing woman sentenced to die by stoning
Iranian authorities deny showing any mercy to a woman accused of killing her abusive husband. The original sentence of stoning will stand, authorities insist. The pictures of the woman at home with her son were taken when she was recreating the crime for authorities. Move right along. Nothing to see here.
And finally from the UK
New arrest over student protests
Students in the UK take protests to a new level as the attack Prince Charles and his wife Camilla on the way to the theatre in London. The students are upset about increases in tuition costs for college and took their upset to physically assault the Prince’s Rolls, breaking a window and touching Camilla with a stick. The Prime Minister described the behavior of the ‘students’ as feral and said that the full force of the law would pursue the miscreants. Students usually get heated about moral issues like starving children and global warming but these students just want subsidies for themselves.
Those are the important headlines for this week. This Coot is exhausted.
Aha – something I can comment intelligently on!
The student thing. It’s because, right now, poverty levels among students in this country are really high. We can’t afford to live alone, or even close. Staying with our parents we can barely even buy our books. And by the time we get out, there’s a huge pile of debt waiting for us to pay off. That’s now.
With what they’re planning to do (against what the majority of us voted for) is raise the fees cap on the English universities from £3000 to £9000, lower our funding (the thing that gets us through college in the first place aside from hours and hours of part time work) and make it near impossible for most of us to even consider going into further education. Their way around that is to offer ‘free’ years to the very poorest, with a budget that can’t even manage 50% of them and in a scheme that’d only get them a quarter of the way through their degree (the rest of which they’d have to pay for or it wouldn’t count).
In addition to that, they’re cutting the funds that universities and colleges themselves get, leading to massive drops in academic programs, staff cuts, and any aid that they would otherwise offer.
Scotland is affected less by this current round of action, however we were already royally screwed with the highest rates of student poverty in the UK (lowest of the low, that’s us). This is only going to get tighter.
At a time when we can’t even find actual work to support ourselves, prices on everything are increasing (yes, even basics like food), and our parents are under strain (if you even GET help from your parents), you can understand why we’d be a little pissed.
We’ve been peacefully campaigning for months now and ignored, so obviously these things were going to ramp up somehow. Funny that they’d target the royals though – all the real power is in the hands of our ever-smarmy government. And the house of lords, but lets not get into that one.
Heather,
Thanks for the detail behind the headline. The Coots hope your education can continue in spite of the cuts.
I lucked out 😉 Anything taking effect will do so next academic year, after I’ve already graduated.
Unless they do something horrible in Scotland like institute a flat fee for graduates (like they’re discussing, because we don’t pay fees at the moment). That would be awful – an extra £2000 gone off the bad in addition to student loans.
That stick thing is funny. Something to do with the bailiffs I think. If the bailiff could put his hands on your, it’s off to Marshalsea with you. At some point, the bailiffs won the right to use a stick. That is, if they could touch you with a stick, off to gaol with you.
I probably have this all wrong.