With College on our mind, will we get to save a Dime?

Our friendly congress the other day apparently went to far according to our governors on a new higher-education bill that tells states how much money they must spend on their public colleges. Kind of sounds alright to me. Next year would it be great if the schools were nicer and there was money in our pockets? But, for all those out there the money has to come from somewhere now doesn't it? According to the NGA letter, "the new mandate 'would have a chilling, negative impact on future state higher-education investments.'"

Should our opinion count even if we are 17, I mean the ordeal effects us quite a bit. What do you think?

P.S. I came across this and I wanted to know if people thought things like this were funny, or are the absurd and should not be allowed?

http://www.overstock.com/Home-Garden/Hillary-Clinton-Nutcracker
/2568425/product.html

Some Holiday Cheer

Merry Christmas, Happy belated Hanukah, and for everything else or those who do not celebrate hope you are enjoying your break. So this anyone can reply to because it is a flat out opinion. Personally I do not mind it but I was wondering what everyone thought about how the biggest sales of the year are right after Thanks Giving, "Black Friday", and right after Christmas. What happens in the month of April, not too much but it seems like all sales are oriented around the Christmas activities. This may matter to some, others may not care, but I sure would like sales in May after I got my birthday money and I think it is not very fair :(!

Platform 9 3/4 vs. Muggles

As many of you may know, J.K. Rowling, author of the Harry Potter books, recently announced that the character of Dumbledore was gay.

When I first read this, I pondered over it, considered it along with the plot, and accepted it. However, something drove me to read the various comments that had been posted under the news article.
I was incredibly surprised.
The responses ran the gamut from supportive to ambivalent to infuriated.
Most of these had one key line that surprised me. Something along the lines of "Why did she say that?"
(http://www.newsweek.com/id/50787/output/comments)

I don't understand how a character's sexual preference can change or ruin a book, but it does address the views of our society.

Bill O'Reilly, a conservative political commentator, referred to JK Rowling as a "'provocateur' who is 'going to let all hell break loose'".
(http://thinkprogress.org/2007/10/24/oreilly-dumbledore/)

Should JK Rowling really be accused of a detrimental act, while she is just putting the spotlight back on an issue that is ever-present in many Americans lives?

Gallup Poll released several polls addressing America's changing attitude:

Do you feel that homosexuality should be considered an acceptable alternative lifestyle or not?

As you may know, there has been considerable discussion in the news regarding the rights of homosexual men and women. In general, do you think homosexuals should or should not have equal rights in terms of job opportunities?

Yet gay marriage still has not been legalized.


Do you think that homophobic attitudes have truly changed over the years?

What caused the vast amount of criticism Rowling's announcement made?