The U.S. lottery jackpot hit a record high this week, sending scores of people to their local lotto stops to purchase tickets. With all those number combos being played, there were three winners when the numbers were announced on Friday… but none of them have claimed the prize. Um, can I volunteer? If all three come forward, they will be splitting a $656 million jackpot, the highest amount the lottery has ever gotten to. The winning tickets were purchased in Illinois, Kansas and Maryland, and I bet every person that misplaced a ticket from one of those states is kicking him or herself. When and if they come forward, the winners will have to decide whether to take all the cash up front as a lump sum or in 26 annual payments. What would you do?

Numbers released on Thursday revealed that more kids than ever are being diagnosed with autism. According to the Center for Disease Control, 1 in 88 children has the disorder, a 23% jump from 2006 and a 78% increase from 2008. In other words, there’s been a huge spike in just a few years. These numbers mean that about a million kids and teenagers in the U.S. are affected. The study also revealed that boys are five times more likely to have autism than girls. But the question remains; is the disease becoming more common, or are we just getting better at detecting it? Regardless, autism research advocates say the numbers are a good thing- Congress and the public will pay more attention. Read More »

Obama has endured a ton of criticism in his presidency. His push for health care reform was socialist. His health care reform wasn’t socialist enough. He doesn’t know how to stand up to Republicans. He’s too passive. He’s trying to run our country into the ground by spending too much money. He’s not spending enough to assist the poor. He’s too soft on terrorism. Osama Bin Laden shouldn’t have been killed before having a trial. The list could go on, and on, and on. While I proudly voted for him in 2008, I will freely admit that I feel he’s dropped the ball on important issues. That said, today is his birthday, and I’d like to take a moment to point out some of the great things he has done in the last 2.5 years.

1. Fought for children to have access to their parents’ insurance plan until they’re 26.
This is near and very dear to my heart. I hadn’t been to a doctor in years. I made it through college with nothing more severe than a cold and a bruised ego from too many bad decisions. Naturally, 2.5 seconds after graduating, I got hit with a gnarly kidney infection. Pre-Obama, this would have meant that I was SOL because I was no longer a student. Luckily, that is no longer the case. Especially in this rough economic climate where millions and millions of people are unemployed or in jobs that offer no benefits, this is a great law that protects so many of us.

2. Cracked down on aggressive marketing of credit cards to college students.
We all know the danger of credit cards, but the lure of having hundreds (or thousands) of dollars at your immediate disposal can be great…but not if you lack the means to pay the bill every month. Credit card companies used to actively push credit cards onto students, who usually don’t have enough funds to be responsible credit card owners. So it was not uncommon to graduate college with thousands of dollars in credit debt in addition to student loan debt — making it easier for companies to justify raising interest rates (more debt = higher risk). Now anyone under 21 must have a co-signer and/or verification of independent income. Credit card debt can have a harrowing effect on one’s financial status for many, many years  and Obama’s emphasis on protecting college consumers is definitely admirable.
Read More »

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After last Tuesday’s midterm election votes were tallied, Republicans gained control of the House. Dems still control the Senate, but the right has certainly swept in and gained an enormous (and not unexpected) amount of clout on Capitol Hill.

What does this mean for the next two years? Will there be massive changes in America or will the country suffer an endless and aggravating partisan tug-o-war over legislation?

Several weeks ago, the top issues going into the election were the economy, the deficit, and health care. Now that the election is over, it’s interesting to revisit these issues and figure out what the atmospheric shift means.

The Economy
On December 31, the tax cuts that were created during the Bush presidency will be reassessed. Obama claims he will be open to conversation with Republicans concerning an extension, but has given no word on a compromise. Considering it would be difficult for many of the current legislators to create a comprehensive bill during the lame duck period, the most plausible solution would be a one-year extension of the Bush-era cuts. This will not really help or hurt the economy, but will lead to further conversation concerning the economic future of America. Read More »

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This Sunday marked a turn in history far more epic then my Sunday’s fate (which was spent spiraling out of love with Midterms).  Yes, far away in Washington, the House finally voted to provide medical coverage to millions of uninsured Americans! And much like any decision out of D.C., this one has some major dispute. Democrats see health care and insurance as a “right, not a privilege” that will improve the quality of American life, whereas many Republicans believe the health care reform will “increase the costs of doing business, and coverage to a million Americans will not curb costs.”

But regardless of the clashing viewpoints of each party, the biggest question on everyone’s minds is: what does all this mean for us? The line often gets hazy in the midst of a constant political party clash and it’s hard to really understand what’s going on, so I’ve decided to break it down for you busy (and/or lazy) college students. Consider this your Cliff’s Notes version of Obama’s health care plan:

Read More »

Yonge & Dundas Intersection in Toronto after Team Canada Win

This week’s Weekly Ten, Why Canada Deserves Silver, stirred up quite the controversy yesterday. Seriously, I didn’t see this much hate on CollegeCandy since one writer expressed her disdain for Taylor Swift. And rightfully so. Yes it was meant to be a joke, but we in Canada aren’t entirely laughing with you.  While we know for a fact CollegeCandy loves their Canadian readers, and even has a few Canadian writers (myself included), this post pissed a lot of people off.

But instead of get angry and insult the intelligence of the writer, editor or Americans in general, I decided to take the high road and just show why Canada deserves more than just a gold medal in Olympic hockey. So here is my condensed version (there are way too many reasons for one post!) of all the reasons Canada rocks that they forgot to teach you in high school. Read More »

Let's all take a moment of silence for Snookie's skin tone.

As you may or may not know, there’s a lot going down in Washington right now in regards to our health and bodies. Not only is there major debate about Obama’s health care plan, but Capitol Hill has been buzzin’ about Botox. Namely, the idea to put a tax (nicknamed “Bo-tax”) on it and other cosmetic surgeries.

That has since been vetoed (probably after all 4 casts of The Real Housewives/Joan Rivers threatened a sit-in at the White House) in favor of a new idea: adding a 10% tax to indoor tanning.

The main idea behind the new plan is for the government to make it more difficult for you to feed your potentially cancerous addictions (much like cigarettes) by doing what the government does best: taxing.

Needless to say, orange people nationwide are up in (leathery) arms! Read More »

Bring on health care reform!

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