Maybe they don't want a populace capable of critical thought as the populace might question more about those in power. Or not be as gullible to media propaganda.

Going to college in 1980s, doing some work here and there, borrowed $5K of student loans but after graduating I only had to pay off that 5K (it seemed like it took forever). I also remembered how difficult it was to get a credit card which was frustrating but looking back it prevented me from going crazy with spending.

To get a credit card you need a credit history. Credit history is data on TRW showing your credit card history. How in the hell do you get that? I remember graduating but banks would not give me a credit card because I'm not on the TRW database. OK maybe some of you are laughing at me because I didn't know how to game the system but I knew many others in my situation. One friend said I should begin buying a mattress as they give credit to anyone. Then after two years pay it off and hope that payment history is in the TRW database (yes, very common then but they've become unknown history like Soviet Union).

Eventually after two years after moving and transferring my bank account, they asked if I had a credit card which I said no because I'm not on TRW (and I never got around to buying a mattress). Lady said my employment history is good and if my application is denied then I should then see her and she will make sure it gets approved.

Fast forward to 1990s and things sure changed a lot. Tons and tons of easy credit card applications flood mailbox. I had some debt as I had to borrow money to pay for a car I smashed into. I ask the bank guy, "why do they keep sending this stuff to me when I'm already in debt?" He ran some numbers and said I can easily borrow $80K on a simple signature loan (damn, with interest I will be an old man before I pay that off). And also fees for colleges skyrocketed especially for those with 4-year degrees wanting to attend classes to keep up with technology or simply needed new skills to get a new job (many lied on their applications to avoid paying huge fees).

Continuing on with my gripe (spoiler: not much about student loans), also in 1990s it became much more easy to get mortgage loans. Before you had to have a good down payment and a sufficient salary as loan offices do calculations knowing you will need to spend significant amount on general expenses. I remember struggling to get a condo but sometimes meet people that were able to game the system and borrow a lot more than what they qualified for a house (i.e. they earn $2K a month and mortgage payments are $2.2K per month). Somehow they were able to move money around with various investments and eventually be able to pay off the house in 10 years. I see these kind of people really smart on how to do stuff like this. But later when banks made it easy for others to do this, that is when many got into trouble because they did not have the smarts to handle this type of financing. I certainly don't and I remember in late 1990s a friend said I should meet this mortgage broker that can do a really nice refinancing giving lots of extra money to buy a house. After he ran the numbers, I saw I only had about $150 take home per month that had to cover everything else besides the mortgage payment. Good thing I chickened out and not become one of the masses dumped on the streets after dot com bust.

Oh, yes I did get a mattress when I got a credit card.

as hospital food is typically terrible. I was fortunate enough to attend when Nichelle did a presentation at Ames Research Center, everyone seeking autographs later and she signed them all. And I got to get a photo with her (I was holding my communications piece, a Bendix King handheld).

a paperback from 1970s says all about how to prepare as in a few years the US will be metric. I found it a month ago but now I lost it. So I guess if Chaffee becomes president I will be stuck with an outdated measurement system.

uh, are you expecting a cable company to read this? Lots of people have your exact same complaints. But then They who make decisions are from another planet.

Act reasonably in the sense relating to others on a adult-to-adult instead of parent-child or child-parent, in addition don't let emotions dictate actions. Also some people may seem like jerks but they know their stuff, don't write them off. Compared to some that are great to party with but you will never learn much from them. There may be supervisors that are total "alpha hotels" but they are very good at keeping the money rolling in, nice guy would be more pleasant to have as boss but a moot point if the division gets canned and you are out of job.

sure glad I graduated before realtime access to the internet was necessary to finish assignments. Back then all I needed was a lot of hot coffee.

Wow, it sure does show how PPT can really water down a famous speech. This has me thinking could we have missed monumental speeches but were lost due to powerpoint? Come to think of it, even in modern times I rarely see a president or a governor use presentation slides. It is alway them in front of a podium reading from a teleprompter. Only time I can remember a high level elected official using presentation slides was Gov. Brown in 1970s where he showed pie charts illustrating California state budgets with passing of Prop 13.

I second that as I still using my Touch-Tone Model 500 (Bell System Property, Not For Sale) I've had since 1980s (even has same phone number label from where I used to live). Another thing to note this phone is so rugged it can survive getting dumped in water, dropped from tables, chock a runaway railway car, and withstand a nuclear blast at 50 yards (OK so I made up the last two).

Some essay on the web discussed how male superheros had hard powers (massive strength, power beams, etc.) where female superheros had soft powers (invisible force fields, hex waves, etc.) illustrating psychological perceptions.

I remember when she was referred to the Invisible Girl. One issue in 1960s is where Sue and Reed were looking for a house in the suburbs (landlord of Baxter Bldg was kind of upset about all the damage after a big fight with Dr. Doom, "why do you reside here in middle of city subjecting downtown to constant attacks?"). A group of teenage boys, "Hey look it's the Invisible Girl, yeah everyone knows what the Invisible Girl looks like! Can you show us how you turn invisible?"

US has only two political parties and using football (America's sport) there can only be two teams. And like football, there are only a few who make all the moves (NFL and spectators). Like the political parties, football teams huddle to discuss the next play. Spectators have no idea what they are talking about and they have very little influence on the outcome of the play, all they can do is cheer or boo. Concept of additional political parties whether they be the Libertarians or the Greens is too mysterious for this country to comprehend.

During a lull at Maker Faire this weekend, and surfing slashdot on my phone, I see this article and point it out to an educator that had a booth near ours. He found it amusing I showed this on my mobile device, and he said article is true. His children may have a phone but he ignores calls from them when they get stumped on a exam question.

following up on this thread, I read a little more about this book, I was thinking maybe the author was one of few experts calling foul on Bush and Co. intelligence data but was squelched because they wanted to invade Iraq no matter what (I remember in 1990s many hawks were claiming we need to get back into Iraq and "finish getting rid of Saddam." Regarding 9-11, that provided a great excuse to do that. Of course, since nobody in US knows the difference between Sunni and Shia, and other details, new messes such as ISIS are created.

Perhaps like many in authority, didn't question the intel prior to 2003 invasion because they were destined to earn a lot of money from the invasion and later contracts awarded during occupation.