westacadia:

pottsjen:

doidare:

pantslessprogressive:

“Of course, it’s not enough for us to increase student aid.  We can’t just keep subsidizing skyrocketing tuition; we’ll run out of money.  States also need to do their part, by making higher education a higher priority in their budgets.  And colleges and universities have to do their part by working to keep costs down.  Recently, I spoke with a group of college presidents who’ve done just that.  Some schools re-design courses to help students finish more quickly.  Some use better technology.  The point is, it’s possible.  So let me put colleges and universities on notice:  If you can’t stop tuition from going up, the funding you get from taxpayers will go down. 

Higher education can’t be a luxury – it’s an economic imperative that every family in America should be able to afford.” - President Obama

itislaw.gif

I’ll be $100,000 in debt after vet school. Mississippi State is raising tuition by the greatest amount of all vet schools next year, while at the same time the government won’t give me the $8500 in subsidized loans anymore. I’d have just the same capped amount of unsubsizided loans I’ve had in the past years to pay tuition and live on if I didn’t have a little from my parents coming my way. But who knows? It may not be enough! There’s still grad plus loans if I can get them (though there is a higher interest rate) or I’ll have to get private loans (which have an astronomical interest rate).

As far as paying these debts off, veterinarians make (on average) $63k their first year out. The monthly payment on these loans would be something like $1500-1800 a month and let me tell you, that adds up. It’s almost unlivable, especially if you also want to save for retirement or make other investments. There are some programs to help lower that amount, Income-Based-Repayment, for one, which lowers the payment and after 25 years forgives what debt you have left. The catch is that the forgiven amount is taxable as income, so you’ve got to save for it in the meantime. Also, a lot of the time, the forgiven amount ends up being the same as your loaned amount to begin with (after all the interest that has been compounding all along has been added up) so you have to pay income tax on that $100,000 you owed in the first place.

My only hope to get out of debt reasonably, is to work my ass off (probably 60+ hours a week) and start earning an income of over $100,000 a year with a production-based salary so I can get out of the IBR program as quick as I can and pay off my debt before it can be “forgiven.”

Student debt is out of control.

There are 3 things that are going to save me:

1. Not having paid for undergrad.
2. My parents’ awesome foresight in putting money in a CD for me.
3. Probably going to be working for a non-profit for 10 years. (120 payments while working full time in public service = loan forgiveness.)

yeah, i’m going to teach for a while after graduate school (if said graduate school actually occurs) for the same loan forgiveness. the four years of my undergraduate was paid for by kickbacks from my mom’s life insurance, in addition to the jobs i worked while in school, but the last year and a summer abroad were paid for by unsubsidized loans that have already doubled since graduation. i’m glad i learned spanish, but i’m pissed for how much debt i went in to be able to do research in peru that never happened because of department cuts.

pottsclaire:

jpegartifacts:

nohetero:

This is what an abortion looks like at 10 weeks. They removed the baby with a rusty spatula and just left it on a plate to be eaten. Pro-“choice” people don’t care that this baby could have saved the world. Who knows what it might have become? A doctor? A lawyer? A delicious breakfast pastry? We’ll never know, because ABORTION.

This is fucking HEARTBREAKING. Anyone who allows things like this to happen is fucking terrible and you should be ashamed of yourself for abetting the MURDER of PEOPLE.

I can’t look at this it makes me sick.

this is just a pancake… y’all are idiots

it’s also also at least 3 times larger than what would have just become a fetus at 10 weeks (which is less than 2 inches in size and has not yet gained the ability to feel pain since its brain and neurological pathways have just begun to develop).

(Source: yourenothipster)

westacadia:

nova-bright:

face-down-asgard-up:

feminision:

CYNTHIA NIXON ON BEING GAY: ‘FOR ME IT’S A CHOICE’
Huffington Post 

“I gave a speech recently, an empowerment speech to a gay audience, and it included the line ‘I’ve been straight and I’ve been gay, and gay is better.’ And they tried to get me to change it, because they said it implies that homosexuality can be a choice. And for me, it is a choice. I understand that for many people it’s not, but for me it’s a choice, and you don’t get to define my gayness for me. A certain section of our community is very concerned that it not be seen as a choice, because if it’s a choice, then we could opt out. I say it doesn’t matter if we flew here or we swam here, it matters that we are here and we are one group and let us stop trying to make a litmus test for who is considered gay and who is not.”

…

“Why can’t it be a choice? Why is that any less legitimate? It seems we’re just ceding this point to bigots who are demanding it, and I don’t think that they should define the terms of the debate. I also feel like people think I was walking around in a cloud and didn’t realize I was gay, which I find really offensive. I find it offensive to me, but I also find it offensive to all the men I’ve been out with.”

Read the Entire Article on Huffington Post

PREACH

I…kinda love this.

FUCK YES

Hm. I shall think on this.

i think denying the ‘choice’ route towards arriving at your sexual preferences implies that anything other than heteronormativity is still not truly acceptable. coming to conclusions about one’s sexuality is just as much of a life journey as any other realization about oneself, for some there are inherent factors to one’s person that push you towards a decision, for others it’s a series of experiences that lead a person to a conclusion.

i personally feel that lgbtq rights will have come a long way once it’s perfectly acceptable to take up any one of those descriptors by choice alone.

elliehodapp:

thedailywhat:

Pro-Marriage Equality Mayors of the Day: The mayors of New York City, Los Angeles, Boston, Chicago, Houston, San Diego, and dozens of other cities across the country have announced the formation of a coalition in support “of the freedom of same-sex couples to marry.”

Mayors for Freedom to Marry brings together 78 mayors and counting under the banner of marriage equality.

In a statement released jointly with the LGBT group Freedom to Marry, the mayors express their unequivocal belief that all people deserve the right “to marry the person with whom they share their life.”

The statement continues: 

We stand for the freedom to marry because it enhances the economic competitiveness of our communities, improves the lives of families that call our cities home, and is simply the right thing to do.  We look forward to working to build an America where all people can share in the love and commitment of marriage with the person with whom they share their life.

The complete statement and a full list of mayors who have joined the initiative can be seen here.

[towleroad.]

This makes me happy!!!!

pottsjen:

thedailywhat:

Fan Art of the (Catur)Day: Scientific illustrator Jenny Parks draws the Doctors as cats for her ongoing series, “Doctor Mew.”

She tells Turnstyle: “I have asked fans of Doctor Mew what they would like to see made into cats or some other animals, and some of the suggestions I have gotten include: Harry Potter, Star Trek, Firefly, and I have been toying with the idea of Game of Thrones… In other words, much to look forward to!”

Prints and buttons available here.

[io9.]

Of course Nine is a black cat! So fitting!

THIS

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