Aram Zucker-Scharff

I am intent on the new Shadowrun Crossfire game tonight.

Significant rise in CS-course-takers at Harvard.
If CS classes at Harvard follow the same economic patterns as MBAs? Expect the tech bubble to pop, within the next 5 years.

Report: Student Loan Debt Isn’t Just An Issue For Young Americans:

The US Government has discovered a new way to make social security last.

When older Americans were hit by the real estate crisis and driven further into debt, they had to stop paying their student loan debt. Now the Federal government is withholding funds from social security, medicare and *survivor* payouts to these people who THOUGHT they had achieved the American dream, driving retirees in the HUNDREDS of THOUSANDS into poverty.

THAT’s the future America has laid out for the rising generation. We, who hold more student debt than combined previous generations, can look to the present to see grandparents held down by endless, lifelong, student debt. Look at them, and think about what the future holds.

“An analysis of data from the Survey of Consumer Finances found that 3% of households – about 706,000 households – headed by those ages 65 years or older carry student loan debt. Although, the student debt level for those 64 years or younger is significantly higher – 22 million households, the issues faced by older American’s who tend to live on fixed incomes can’t be discounted.

The percentage of households headed by those aged 65 to 74 years of age with student debt grew from just 1 percent in 2004 totaling $2.8 billion to about 4 percent, or $18.2 billion in 2013.

The real issue is the number of older Americans who hold defaulted federal student loans – nearly a quarter of older American’s loans are in default – which often leaves the retirees living below the poverty threshold.”

Be f*cking furious.

5 Things I Saw as a 9/11 First Responder:

Cracked.com‘s Personal Narratives Insiders series remain surprisingly amazing, and unexpected, pieces of storytelling and journalism. Their work helping individuals tell their own stories is remarkable. 

This is something you *should* read today. So far, it’s the only 9/11 anniversary reaction piece I’ve read that’s worth sharing.