College is ripping you off: Students are cash cows, and schools the predators

An educational publisher wrote to me a few months back; they wanted to reprint an essay of mine that they had seen on the Internet, where it is available for free. The textbook in which they wanted to include it, they said, would be “inexpensively priced,” and authors were therefore being asked to keep their reprint fees to a minimum. The low, low price that students were to pay for this textbook:

As Comet Nears Mars, NASA Gears Up for Epic Encounter

A comet will give Mars a historically close shave next weekend, and NASA aims to be ready for the dramatic cosmic event. The space agency has already trained a number of its science assets onComet Siding Spring, which will zoom within 87,000 miles (139,500 kilometers) of Mars on Oct. 19 — about one-third the distance between Earth and the moon.

There are 110 MILLION cases of sexually transmitted diseases in the United States – and 20 million new infections every year

New statistics reveal that an astonishing number of individuals in the United States are infected with sexually transmitted diseases. According to the Center for Disease Control, there are a total of 110 million STDs among the men and women of America, with 20 million new cases being reported every year. The direct medical cost of these infections is said to be $16 billion.

29-year-old woman: Why I’m taking my own life

A young woman who has fearlessly run half-marathons and climbed Mount Kilimanjaro now faces a more daunting task: taking her own life. But Brittany Maynard, 29, insists she’s not the least bit suicidal, People reports.

This is What Common Core Looks Like

The picture above is from my third grade daughter’s math book. This is the only page that explains that method for subtraction. There are, for the record, four ways to subtract that my third grader must learn.

Study: Number of nuclear families plummets

A new study reveals the nuclear family is in decline, and a University of Maryland sociology professor, Philip Cohen, suggests that’s not really a bad thing. But conservative icon Phyllis Schlafly, whose new book, “Who Killed the American Family?,” recently was released, says there are ramifications:

Dr. Stan Monteith dies at 85

Dr. Stanley Monteith, whose well-known book “Brotherhood of Darkness” exposed a “grand conspiracy” of secret societies, the Council of Foreign Relations and the Bilderbergers, has died at the age of 85. A researcher, author and talk-show host, Monteith spent more than 40 years studying the movement to create a world government.

World wildlife populations cut in half over the past 40 years – report

The global loss of species is even worse than previously thought, the London Zoological Society (ZSL) says in its new Living Planet Index. The report suggests populations have halved in 40 years, as new methodology gives more alarming results than in a report two years ago. The report says populations of mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians and fish have declined by an average of 52%.

New Local Doctor Doesn’t Take Insurance, Makes House Calls, for Flat Monthly Fee

Imagine going to a primary care doctor and never being asked “do you have insurance?” Or having your doctor’s cell phone number and never feeling nervous before making an after-hours call during the inevitable crises of parenthood when a child’s fever is spiking or a strange rash appears. And maybe getting a house call.

Prepping: The Only Way to be Ready for Anything is to be Ready for Anything

Most of the time, no one actually expects the S to HTF on that particular day. Most folks don’t go through their lives expecting one specific event to occur, and then have it unfold according to a predetermined script. Two weeks ago, I didn’t get up in the morning expecting some jerk to get mad at his girlfriend, light a tree in her yard on fire, and set off a 100,000 acre forest fire.

The Reason College Costs More Than You Think

Nearly nine out of 10 freshmen think they’ll earn their bachelor’s degrees within the traditional four years, according to a nationwide survey conducted by the Higher Education Research Institute at UCLA. But the U.S.

Internet Trolls Are Narcissists, Psychopaths, and Sadists

In this month’s issue of Personality and Individual Differences, a study was published that confirms what we all suspected: internet trolls are horrible people. Let’s start by getting our definitions straight.