Well, that was the shortest semester of school I’ve ever attended. I am a little pissed off at the moment. I was told that I could have total financial aid through grants to get my degree. I am a displaced worker and explained this to my financial aid counselor when we spoke over the phone. He said there wouldn’t be a problem.

There was a problem.

I get an email this week stating that my courses would be frozen and I would not be allowed to progress any further. Why? Because I didn’t fill out the forms for student loan applications. This was after I explained in detail that I did not want student loans. I called my financial aid counselor with a serious case of WTF. All of a sudden he came down with terminal C.R.S. “I don’t recall you saying that.” This sent off some alarm bells and I realized I may be smack dab in the middle of a scam. “That’s funny,” I replied. “Because you start every phone conversation with ‘This call is being recorded.’ Maybe you should go over our conversations to refresh your memory.” He didn’t have much to say after that.

Out of Curiosity I looked up the terms of the student loans. The first thing I see is AIG, Fanny Mae, and Freddie Mac. These were the lenders. This was starting to really piss me off. I was expected to take out a huge loan to further my education from the same bastards that nearly destroyed this economy and ultimately cost me my job. Bullshit. If anything, they should be paying me to attend college. These assholes are giving themselves millions of dollars in bonuses and I’m supposed to help support this? There is no way in hell.

So I told the college to stick their loans where the sun doesn’t shine. By the way, I did an internet search and found there are numerous complaints similar to mine. It’s a scam to get people to take out loans. Fuck ‘em.

P.S. Apparently, I’m not the only person having problems with Ashford.

http://www.complaintsboard.com/byurl/ashford.edu.html

http://www.viewpoints.com/Ashford-University-All-programs-review-1d5a3

I decided on Ashford because my gal pal Tonya is finishing her degree with them. Her loans will add up to about 50,000.00. I wish I had known about this before enrolling. They are claiming I owe them several thousand dollars even though I only completed on week.

Admiral Mullen testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee and dropped a bomb.

“Speaking for myself and myself only, it is my personal belief that allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly would be the right thing to do,” the nation’s top military officer told the members of the Senate Armed Services Committee. “No matter how I look at this issue, I cannot escape being troubled by the fact that we have in place a policy which forces young men and women to lie about who they are in order to defend their fellow citizens. For me personally, it comes down to integrity — theirs as individuals and ours as an institution.”

I don’t know if he realizes the enemies he has made over this statement. The integrity of this man is awe inspiring. McCain is going to make it his personal goal to destroy Adm. Mullin’s career. I hope he doesn’t have that kind of influence. Watching McCain’s angry response, I don’t think Gates is safe either.

Today is my oldest brother’s birthday. ¡Feliz Cumpleaños mi hermano! We are celebrating with the usual New Mexican tradition. Lots of food and tequila. :p

I made most of the dinner. I started last night with the carne adobada and the pintos. It had to marinade overnight to incorporate the herbs and chili into the meat. The pintos were put in a crockpot on low for over 8 hours. ¡Muy delicioso!

I made the Spanish Rice fresh today. It is labor intensive but well worth the effort.

Now I need to get back to the festivities. There are too many mouths and not enough tequila.

Now before you get all “awww..poor kitty” on me, she brought this on herself. Feline karma is a bitch. The damn cat is fascinated with plastic bags. Big ones, small ones, it doesn’t matter. Plastic bags bring her endless entertainment. She will crawl inside one and stay there… for hours. I wish I was kidding. Dad says she likes the smell of her own breath. I think she is enjoying the CO² high. I’m sure there is brain damage involved, but, in her case, that’s not a bad thing.

She will hunt down a plastic bag like a tiger stalking a wild boar. Only instead of tusks, there are equally dangerous bag handles. She succumbs to them quite often. I usually have to pick her up and disentangle whatever body part is being attacked by the vicious bag. I pay for my interference with scratches or teeth marks. This time I decided she needed to get out on her own. Which she didn’t. Once again I had to risk life and limb to save the Hellcat.

During the Prop 8 trial, Hak-Shing William Tam testified on behalf of Prop. 8 as a hostile witness. Tam was a high profile proponent of Prop 8 before it was passed and is infamous in his use of inflammatory propaganda and fear mongering tactics. Tam’s testimony was a cesspool of lies and propaganda that fuels the hatred against LGBT’s.

In his testimony he stated that,  “Homosexuals are twelve times more likely to molest children.”

Rob Tisinai put together a great video proving Tam wrong.

Jim Burroway of Box Turtle Bulletin fame, has proffered a more detailed report debunking the lies of Tam and those who share his views.  Dr. Gregory Herek, a professor at UC-Davis wrote an article that addresses the issue and rips apart the homophobic claims that pervade our culture.  Claims that have done incredible damage to LGBT’s for generations.