April 19, 2017

GA-6 Live Results

http://www.nytimes.com/elections/results/georgia-house-special-election-district-6

April 11, 2017

White House solicits Sesame Street characters for Easter Egg Roll four days after bid to end PBS

White House solicits Sesame Street characters for Easter Egg Roll four days after bid to end PBS funding

The White House asked Sesame Street characters to appear at its annual Easter Egg Roll just four days after President Donald Trump’s administration proposed ending all funding for PBS and the Sesame Street program.

PBS confirmed to The New York Times that the White House made a last-minute request for Sesame Street characters like Big Bird or Elmo to appear at this year’s event.

Sesame Workshop spokesperson Elizabeth Weinreb Fishman revealed that one costumed character would be appearing at the event, a departure from the multitude of Muppets that have showed up for the roll in recent years.

Just four days before PBS confirmed its participation, the Trump administration had released its budget plan to eliminate all federal funding for PBS.

http://www.rawstory.com/2017/04/white-house-solicits-sesame-street-characters-for-easter-egg-roll-four-days-after-bid-to-end-pbs-funding/

April 9, 2017

New York Adopts Free Tuition

New York Adopts Free Tuition
-Inside Higher Ed 4/8/17


SUNY and CUNY students from families with incomes up to $125,000 will not pay tuition. But some aid experts are alarmed by requirement that graduates stay in state for same number of years they receive the benefit.

In what proponents are calling a historic move, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and state legislative leaders announced a deal Saturday that will make tuition free at the City University of New York and State University of New York Systems -- for both community colleges and four-year colleges and universities -- for families with annual incomes up to $125,000. The plan will be phased in over three years, starting this fall with new enrollees from families with incomes up to $100,000.

The governor's office estimates that nearly 940,000 families in New York State will be eligible for free public college tuition when the plan is fully phased in.

The announcement from the governor also noted a "generous maintenance of effort" provision to protect SUNY and CUNY budgets. The provision is designed to address the fear of some educators that free tuition could reduce the pressure to provide adequate budgets to public higher education.

https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2017/04/08/new-york-state-reaches-deal-provide-free-tuition-suny-and-cuny-students

March 26, 2017

Is there a timeline of events & cast of characters on the Russian Connection anywhere?

I'm looking for a timeline of events, or a few that I could reference to support a back and forth debate I'm having with a relative.

Thanks!

March 25, 2017

Trump visits Trump-branded property for 8th consecutive weekend

During his news conference on Friday, Press Secretary Sean Spicer tried to argue that President Trump couldn’t possibly have worked harder in his unsuccessful effort to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. Spicer also said Trump planned to spend a “working weekend” in Washington, D.C.

But on Saturday, Trump headed to a golf course for the 12th time during the nine weeks he’s been president. And by visiting the Trump National Golf Club in suburban Virginia, Trump — who repeatedly ripped President Obama for his much less-frequent golf outings and promised he “would rarely leave the White House because there’s so much work to be done” during the campaign — has now visited a Trump-branded property for eight straight weekends. That covers all but the very first weekend of his presidency.

https://thinkprogress.org/trump-visits-trump-branded-property-for-8th-consecutive-weekend-98f14337db34#.1p83dst5h

March 18, 2017

"What did I tell you..."

March 16, 2017

"How much does this cost?"

March 14, 2017

For the Simpsons fans in the path of Stella...

March 13, 2017

GOP Recommends Americans Set Aside Income From One Of Their Jobs To Pay For Healthcare

GOP Recommends Americans Set Aside Income From One Of Their Jobs To Pay For Healthcare Under New Bill

WASHINGTON—In an effort to address concerns about the affordability of coverage, Republican congressional officials advised Americans Monday to set aside the income from one of their jobs to pay for healthcare costs under the newly introduced American Health Care Act. “Under this bill, you would simply set up a separate savings account for the total earnings from one of your jobs, which will ensure that you can comfortably cover your healthcare expenses each month,” said House Speaker Paul Ryan, adding that the GOP’s proposed Affordable Care Act replacement would keep healthcare costs for the average American from exceeding the entire salary of one full-time job. “If you budget things correctly, you’ll have plenty of money left over from your other job or jobs to spend on food, rent, and any other personal expenses. In some cases, healthcare will even be low-priced enough to afford using only the income from a part-time side job on the weekends. The important thing here is that this legislation will allow Americans—not the federal government—to decide for themselves what kind of healthcare they want and how many jobs they choose to have in order to pay for it.” Ryan also recommended that in order to be prepared for the added costs of a sudden medical emergency, Americans should create a dedicated savings fund using the money from at least two of the mortgages on their homes.

http://www.theonion.com/article/gop-recommends-americans-set-aside-income-one-thei-55515

March 10, 2017

No power: Day 3

Had a fierce windstorm blow through Western, NY on Wednesday afternoon.

Lost power almost immediately on Wednesday around noon. Almost 80,000 without service in our county, and well over 100K in the surrounding area.

Hopefully by 4 p.m. is what we're being told.

Gonna be into the low teens and twenties all weekend, it's 48 in our home currently.

Got a generator running the vitals. Including coffee.

Not sure what my motivation is in sharing this, I guess just musing to pass the time...

Anyone else in WNY riding this out as well?