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Friday, December 20, 2013

"YO TENGO UN SUENO/I HAVE A DREAM @ THE NUYO" January 15th,2014

You and your family are cordially invited to hear and witness the words of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. performed in Spanish for the first time in history, fifty years later, and celebrate the 85th birthday of MLK with New York City's finest poets, at the famous Nuyorican Poets Cafe in the lower East Side.

"YO TENGO UN SUENO/I HAVE A DREAM @ THE NUYO"

HOSTED BY: Bobby Gonzalez & Maria Aponte

FEATURING: THE LAST POETS' Abiodun Oyewole

STARRING: Tantra Zawadi , Papo Swiggity Santiago , D. Black aka David Roberts , Brotha Earl aka Earl Majette , Kevin Element Livingston , SoulSistaRican aka Elizabeth Rivera de Garcia , Honest Abe aka Abraham N Benjamin , Irene Mtk ,Rammer Martínez Sánchez , Tom Ray , Fradane aka Freida Grace Jones , Saint aka Wallace St Clair

WITH: Fred Arcoleo / Amy Soucy / Demetrius Daniel

Democratic Community Organizer Carlos Sierra

AND: Ronald Haynie

ASSOCIATE PRODUCED BY: Elena Mamarazzi Marrero
Manuela Nancy Pascual

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Ronn de Voou (pronounced rendezvous)

PRODUCED BY: The Nuyorican Poets Cafe

Wednesday, January 15th, 2014


Doors open @ 6:30pm
Showtime @ 7pm

Nuyorican Poets Cafe
236 East 3rd Street 
between Avenues B & C
New York, New York 10009

ADMISSION: $10

Bus: M9,M14A,M14D,M15 or M21 to the area of vicinity

Subway:

6 to Bleecker Street
D to Broadway-Lafayette Street
F to Lower East Side-2nd Avenue or to Delancey Street-Essex Street

J to Delancey Street-Essex Street
M to Broadway-Lafayette St. or to Delancey Street-Essex Street

For additional information: (646) 406-7148

Visit The Nuyorican Poets Cafe Website @ www.nuyorican.org



Wednesday, August 14, 2013

Tengo Un Sueno/I Have A Dream Friday,August 30th,2013

At the National Action Network aka House Of Justice (President & Founder Reverend Al Sharpton; Producer Arnold Pinnix aka A Gregory Harris; Director of Development Crystal Hanton and NAN Arts and Culture in association with Smooth Productions NY and Take Notes Entertainment PRESENTS

"TENGO UN SUENO/I Have A Dream"

A celebration of the fifty year anniversary of The March On Washington and Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s Nobel Prize winning speech, now also performed in Spanish, fifty years later.

Usted y su familia estan cordialmente invitados a escuchar y ser testigo de las palabras del Reverendo Martin Luther King Jr. realizado en espanol por primera vez en la historia, cincuenta mas tarde!

Hosted By: AdvocateOf Wordz, Janice Mannix ( JMx Poetess), John Chance Acevedo, and Speakers of The House

Associate Producers: Mona BodeOndre Devonte CarterTyrell L. Muir

With Special Guest Speakers, Singers, and Theatre including  Carol JohnsonAmber Atiya, Ngoma, Suga Ray, Fred Arcoleo, and MANY OTHER TALENTED ARTISTS

FRIDAY AUGUST 30th, 2013 6PM

FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

National Action Network NYC Headquarters aka House of Justice
106 West 145th Street between (Lenox Ave & Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard,
Harlem
NewYork,New York 10039

Public Transit:


Bus: M1, M2, M7, M102, Bx19 to 145th Street & Lenox Ave.

Subway: 3 to 145th Street-You must be in the first 5 cars for exit the train.


For additional information: 646-535-6170




Monday, July 15, 2013

Pajamas and Lingerie Photo Gallery Pt. 2






































A History of Lingerie

Want to know how and where lingerie originated? Then look no further, as we have compiled a concise, yet detailed, history for you of how lingerie has developed through the ages into what it is today. My how it has changed.

In one form or another, women have worn garments to support, suppress or accentuate their breasts as far back as 3000BC. Therefore, the modern day bra has developed from Cretan women who wore a hip corset beneath their ceremonial dress, the surcoate worn over the clothes in the middle ages. Depending on the fashions of the time the corset has aided to give shape and definition to the woman’s figure, such as the boyish shape of the Elizabethan & 1920’s.

By the 1500’s the corset elongated the body, flattened and raised the bust while hiding the stomach and hips. When worn with the ‘farthingale’ the wearer had to walk in a sedate gliding fashion. This is also the era of the iron corset - some say worn by Catherine D’Medici’s court as there were strict regulations which correlated a woman’s position in court by her waist size, others say it was for correcting bone deformities.

The corset, commonly known as a ‘stay’, was made of linen with boning and stiffened with paste. Women were then ‘straight-laced’ into them, and the term became synonymous with the pious Puritan women of the 17th century. By the latter part of this century the corsets were more elaborate and it was fashionable to wear them on the outside as in medieval times.

The flamboyant dresses of the 18th century gave way to the simple empire line frock after the French Revolution of 1789. The look did not require heavy corsetry as it kept a more natural shape. The stay was lengthened to shape the hips and thighs, although it is said some ladies wore no corset at all.

By 1825 the high waistline of the Regency style had dropped to a more natural level and corsets became essential to show off an hourglass figure with a desired waist of 18 inches (or less). The Victorian era was the heyday of the corset and advances in design were made through out the century. New metallic eyelets ensured that the tight lacing required to achieve the hourglass figure need not damage the corset. The invention of the sewing machine meant the corset could be produced more quickly than with hand stitching and corsets could be sold ready made. A huge variety of fashion corsets were made and also corsets for maternity, safari, sports, golfing and riding, even for these activities lacing and boning was still used. As corsets were in such demand whalebone became scarce, leading to the use of buffalo-bone, cane, steel, and steam moulding in corsetry.

By the beginning of the 20th century a bust bodices could be worn as an alternative to the corset and this supported the entire bosom as a whole. It was in 1914 when American Mary Phelps-Jacobs, patented her design in the name of Caresse-Crosby. It consisted of two silk handkerchiefs tied together with ribbon to make straps and a seam in the centre front, due to lack of interest, a few years later she sold her idea to Warner’s for $1500-. In 1935 Warner’s introduced the first cup sizing with only A, B &C. Britain continued to use the junior and medium sizing until the 50’s. In 1939 the word bra was added to the English dictionary, it is worth noting the brassiere in French means an infant’s bodice or harness, therefore soutien-gorge is the correct French term for bra.

Throughout the twentieth century the bra has been developed by advancements of man made fabrics such as, nylon, Du ponts’s Lycra, polyester, Elastane microfibres etc. These new fabrics have enabled garments to be lightweight, supportive, flexible and seamless, to have colourful prints and to be easier to wash.

The bra has taken many shapes through out the century. From the conical looks of the 1950’s sweater girls, maximum cleavage bras, sexy lace bras and of course the ‘burn your bra’ ethos of the Women’s Liberation Movement. It is estimated that the lingerie market was worth half a billion pounds at the end of the 1990’s.

The new millennium has seen further advancements in design and fabrics, with many innovative designs now in the market. There are also a number of celebrities who have their own lingerie range. Our own styles have developed and now offer a variety of styles for all occasions from 28-52 back B-K cup sizes.

A Brief History of Sleepwear

Sleepwear is the attire that is often worn before going to bed. Women usually wear a maxi or a long gown while resting. The other popular kind of sleepwear is the nighty, which is tighter than a gown. The sleepwear is usually made of cotton, silk, hosiery or some other soft textured cloth such as satin which render a comfortable feeling while you rest.

Sleepwear has evolved through ages and has assumed many diverse forms. Nightgowns and pajamas are not the only forms that are in vogue today. We sleep wearing just about everything ranging from boxers, tee shirts to camisoles. A babydoll or a shortie with a pair of thongs is also a popular choice.

Now let us get to know a brief history of a few of the popular sleepwear.

Negligees and Nightgowns

This is of French origin and the word negligee in French means neglected or careless. They evolved here in the beginning of the 18th century. They were originally designed to provide enough warmth in the cold European nights. Nightgown is an informal gown made of soft and sheer fabric. It is usually a loose-fitting dress that gives you more comfort while resting. This can run in length up to thigh or up to your ankles. They could have a slit cut to thigh length or hip length or even have no slit at all. They are usually made up of softer materials such as silk, cotton or satin.

Nightgowns became popular by the beginning of the 20th century in the US. American women were wearing them made of light weight cottons during summer and of heavier flannels during winter. Nightgowns without any buttons and a shape gradually evolved to become women’s night shirts, dorm sleeping shirts and sleeping tee shirts.

Chemise

Chemise is probably the earliest nightwear used by women since the middle ages. Nightgowns have evolved from chemise to their present form. This was a medium length tunic and it served the dual purpose of a nightgown and also as underwear to offer padding for outer garments. Today, chemise has evolved as a short A-line nightgown usually made of lace or silk. Nightgowns are normally longer in length and are modest in character. You can match your chemise or the nightgown with a dressing gown or a robe.

Pajamas

Pajamas originated in the oriental lands. These silk shirt and pants were loose and light and light weight. These attires soon became popular with the western missionaries. Until the early 20th century pajamas were popular in the west with men wearing them to bed instead of a night shirt.

Women were not wearing pajamas until early 1950s. Only children of both sexes were wearing pajamas to bed. During the late 1960s women began wearing pajamas and their sale exceeded the traditional flannel and cotton night gowns. More recently sleeping shorts have evolved and we wear them all the yearlong due to improvements in the heating systems. Teenagers use flannel pants even as daywear.

Babydoll

Babydoll has its origin in the bed jackets of the 1930s and 1940s. This attire was made popular during 1956 by the movie release “Baby Doll”.  This is a piece of lingerie that is quite popular with the younger generation. They are basically made of chiffon, nylon or silk; they are normally sheer and sometimes see-through. This is very similar to mini-dress and the hemline comes to about six inches above the knees.

Apart from the regular sized sleepwear, plus-size sleepwear has also hit the market but quite lately now. Men and women who are full figured may not worry too much about the availability of their sizes nowadays. It’s time now to get out of your oversized tee shirts and sweat suits and pick a sleepwear that suits you the best. It’s time to look more appealing and sexy!


Friday, July 5, 2013

World's largest pork producer ditches Big Pharma's chemical feed additive, angering drug-pushing FDA

Monday, July 01, 2013 by: Ethan A. Huff, staff writer
Tags: Smithfield FoodsractopamineChina

Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/041018_Smithfield_Foods_ractopamine_China.html#ixzz2XmiSrNtk


(NaturalNews) A significant percentage of the U.S. pork supply could soon get a little bit healthier, thanks to a recent game-changing policy shift by the world's largest pork producer and processor. Reports indicate that Smithfield Foods is gradually ditching the use of a controversial animal feed additive known as ractopamine, which triggers high production of lean meat in pigs. But the decision, which is apparently in preparation for a buyout by a major Chinese counterpart, has prompted the drug-pushing U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to come out in defense of the dangerous additive.

Like with most other pharmaceuticals currently on the market, ractopamine has never been long-term safety tested for low-level intake in humans. In other words, nobody can say for sure whether or not residues of the drug, which admittedly persist in pig muscle after the time of slaughter, are safe for human consumption. Likewise, the drug's negative effects on the animals it was fed to have also not been taken seriously by regulators, as the FDA welcomed the drug into the factory farm fold with open arms back in the late 1990s without requiring that any independent science be produced to verify its safety and effectiveness both in animals and in the food chain at large.

However, many other countries around the world, including China, have rejected the use of ractopamine, which is presumably why Smithfield is now opting to eliminate it from its production protocols. Like Russia and the European Union, China currently does not allow the import of meat products containing any traces of ractopamine. And since a Chinese company is considering the purchase of Smithfield, it only makes sense that the U.S.-based producer is making changes to meet growing demand in the Chinese market.

But this decision, which benefits everyone, has apparently angered the FDA, which continues to insist that ractopamine is safe. In a recent statement, the drug industry-backed agency said it "remains confident" that ractopamine is safe and effective "when used in accordance with the approved labeling." But the FDA has absolutely no legitimate science to back up this claim, hence the agency's ambiguous use of the term "confident" to describe its position on a drug that it was carelessly approved with little scrutiny.

Ractopamine extremely damaging to animals, causes them to endure extreme stress and sometimes go crazy

Besides the unknown effects on humans, ractopamine is also known to cause extreme pain and suffering in animals to whom it is given. A report compiled by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) explains how factory farm animals fed ractopamine can develop severe and even permanent stress, as they oscillate between states of excitement and calm. The drug can also cause severe heart problems, as well as other physical harm, all to increase production and boost corporate profits.

"Ractopamine is known to cause tremors, chronically elevated heart rates, broken limbs, higher risks of hoof lesions, and death in farm animals," explains a report published by the Animal Legal Defense Fund (ALDF). "Scientists associate the drug with both non-ambulatory ("downer") and over-excited behavior. The effects are no small matter: 60 to 80 percent of U.S. pigs are treated with ractopamine, and the FDA has received over 160,000 reports of pig suffering since the drug was approved in 1999."

Adding to this, ALDF Executive Director Stephen Wells is quoted as saying that the FDA's own data shows that more pigs have been adversely affected by ractopamine than by any other animal drug currently on the market. He has also described the effects of ractopamine as "cruel and completely avoidable," calling for an end to its use in American livestock.

Sources for this article include:

http://www.reuters.com

http://advocacy.britannica.com

http://aldf.org/article.php?id=2279

Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/041018_Smithfield_Foods_ractopamine_China.html#ixzz2Xmi9Eeba




Friday, June 14, 2013

McDonald's closing all restaurants in Bolivia as nation rejects fast food

McDonald's closing all restaurants in Bolivia as nation rejects fast food

Thursday, June 13, 2013 by: Lance Devon

Tags: Bolivia, McDonald''s restaurants, fast food

(NaturalNews) McDonald's happy image and its golden arches aren't the gateway to bliss in Bolivia. This South American country isn't falling for the barrage of advertising and fast food cooking methods that so easily engulf countries like the United States. Bolivians simply don't trust food prepared in such little time. The quick and easy, mass production method of fast food actually turns Bolivians off altogether. Sixty percent of Bolivians are an indigenous population who generally don't find it worth their health or money to step foot in a McDonald's. Despite its economically friendly fast food prices, McDonald's couldn't coax enough of the indigenous population of Bolivia to eat their BigMacs, McNuggets or McRibs.

One indigenous woman, Esther Choque, waiting for a bus to arrive outside a McDonald's restaurant, said, "The closest I ever came was one day when a rain shower fell and I climbed the steps to keep dry by the door. Then they came out and shooed me away. They said I was dirtying the place. Why would I care if McDonald's leaves [Bolivia]?"

Fast food chain remained for a decade, despite losses every year

The eight remaining McDonald's fast food shops that stuck it out in the Bolivian city's of La Paz, Cochabamba, and Santa Cruz de la Sierra, had reportedly operated on losses every year for a decade. The McDonald's franchise had been persistent over that time, flexing its franchise's deep pockets to continue business in Bolivia.

Any small business operating in the red for that long would have folded and left the area in less than half that time. Even as persistent as McDonald's was in gaining influence there, it couldn't continue operating in the red. After 14 years of presence in the country, their extensive network couldn't hold up the Bolivian chain. Store after store shut down as Bolivia rejected the McDonald's fast food agenda. Soon enough, they kissed the last McDonald's goodbye.

Deep cultural rejection

The McDonald's impact and its departure from Bolivia was so lasting and important, that marketing managers immediately filmed a documentary called, "Why McDonalds's went broke in Bolivia."

Featuring, cooks, nutritionist, historians, and educators, this documentary breaks down the disgusting reality of how McDonald's food is prepared and why Bolivians reject the whole fast food philosophy of eating.

The rejection isn't necessarily based on the taste or the type of food McDonald's prepared. The rejection of the fast food system stemmed from Bolivian's mindset of how meals are to be properly prepared. Bolivians more so respect their bodies, valuing the quality of what goes into their stomach. The time it takes for fast food to be prepared throws up a warning flag in their minds. Where other cultures see no risk, eating McDonald's every week; Bolivians feel that it just isn't worth the health risk. Bolivians seek well prepared, local meals, and want to know that their food was prepared the right way.

This self respect helps Bolivians avoid processed "restructured meat technology," often used by fast food joints like McDonald's.

The McRib: 70 ingredients all restructured into one

Did you know that the McRib is processed with 70 different ingredients which include azodicarbonamide, a flour-bleaching agent often used in producing foamed plastics? McRib's are basically "restructured meat technology" containing a mixture of tripe, heart, and scalded stomach. Proteins are extracted from this muscle mixture and they bind the pork trimmings together so they can be molded in a factory. The McRib is really just a molded blob of restructured meat, advertised and sold like fresh ribs. There's nothing real about it, the preparation or the substance. In fact, McRibs really came about because of a chicken shortage. The restructured meat technology approach kept the McRib on the menu, despite the shortage, and the profits continued rolling in.

This is the very disgusting idea that the Bolivians have rejected in their country.

The Bolivian rejection of McDonald's has set a proper example for the rest of the world to follow.

Sources for this article include:

http://www.hispanicallyspeakingnews.com

http://www.globalresearch.ca

http://www.theblaze.com

http://www.trueactivist.com/mcdonalds-goes-belly-up-in-bolivia/


Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/040752_Bolivia_McDonalds_restaurants_fast_food.html#ixzz2WF6rubqS




Wednesday, June 12, 2013

12 Clear Signals That The U.S. Economy Is About To Really Slow Down

12 Clear Signals That The U.S. Economy Is About To Really Slow Down

By Michael, on June 5th, 2013
    
A lot of things that have not happened since the last recession are starting to happen again.  As you read the list below, you will notice that the year "2009" comes up again and again.  There is a reason for that.  Many of the same patterns that we witnessed during the last major economic downturn are starting to repeat themselves.  In fact, many of the things that are happening right now have not happened in quite a few years.  For example, manufacturing activity in the U.S. has contracted for the first time in four years.  The inventory to sales ratio is the highest that it has been in four years.  Average hourly compensation just experienced the largest decline that we have seen in four years.  We also just witnessed the largest decline in the number of mortgage applications that we have seen in four years.  After everything that Barack Obama, the U.S. Congress and the Federal Reserve have tried to do, there has been no real economic recovery and now the U.S. economy is suddenly behaving as if it is 2009 all over again.  A whole host of recent surveys indicate that the American people are starting to feel a bit better about the economy, but the underlying economic numbers tell an entirely different story.  The following are 12 clear signals that the U.S. economy is about to really slow down...

#1 The average interest rate on a 30 year mortgage has risen above 4 percent for the first time in more than a year.

#2 The decline in the number of mortgage applications last week was the largest drop that we have seen since June 2009.

#3 Mark Hanson is reporting that "mass layoffs" have occurred at three large mortgage institutions...

This morning I was made aware that three large private mortgage bankers I follow closely for trends in mortgage finance ALL had mass layoffs last Friday and yesterday to the tune of 25% to 50% of their operations staff (intake, processing, underwriting, document drawing, funding, post-closing).

This obviously means that my reports of refi apps being down 65% to 90% in the past 3 weeks are far more accurate than the lagging MBA index, which is likely on its' way to print multi-year lows in the next month.

#4 It was just announced that average hourly compensation in the United States experienced its largest drop since 2009 during the first quarter of 2013.

#5 As I wrote about the other day, the Institute for Supply Management manufacturing index declined to 49.0 in May.  Any reading below 50 indicates contraction.  That was the first contraction in manufacturing activity in the U.S. that we have seen since 2009.

#6 The inventory to sales ratio has hit a level not seen since 2009.  That means that there is a lot of inventory sitting out there that people are not buying.

#7 According to the Commerce Department, the demand for computers dropped by a stunning 9 percent during the month of April.

#8 As I noted in a previous article, corporate revenues are falling at Wal-Mart, Proctor and Gamble, Starbucks, AT&T, Safeway, American Express and IBM.

#9 Job growth at small businesses is now at about half the level it was at the beginning of the year.

#10 The stock market is starting to understand that all of these numbers indicate that the U.S. economy is really starting to slow down.  The Dow was down 216.95 points on Wednesday, and it dropped below 15,000 for the first time since May 6th.

#11 The S&P 500 has now fallen more than 4 percent since May 22nd.  Is this the beginning of a market "correction", or is this something much bigger than that?

#12 Japanese stocks are now down about 17 percent from the peak of May 22nd.  Japan has the third largest economy on the planet and it is one of the most important trading partners for the United States.  A major financial crisis in Japan would have very serious implications for the U.S. economy.

If we were going to have an "economic recovery", it should have happened in 2010, 2011 and 2012.  Unfortunately, as a recent Los Angeles Times article detailed, an economic recovery never materialized...

Real GDP growth — the value of goods and services produced after adjusting for inflation — is 15.4% below the 3% growth trend of past recoveries, wrote Edward Leamer, director of the UCLA Anderson Forecast. More robust growth will be necessary to bring this recovery in line with previous ones.

"It's not a recovery," he wrote. "It's not even normal growth. It's bad."

Now we are rapidly approaching another major economic downturn.

But poverty in America has continued to experience explosive growth since the end of the last recession and dependence on the federal government is already at an all-time high.

How much worse can things get?

Sadly, they are going to get much, much worse.

What the U.S. economy is experiencing right now is not just a cyclical downturn.  Rather, we are in the midst of a long-term economic decline that is the result of decades of very foolish decisions by our leaders.

It is imperative that we get the American people educated about what is happening.  If people do not understand what is happening, they are not going to get prepared for the hard years that are coming.

If you have a family member or a friend that does not understand the long-term economic collapse that is unfolding all around us, please show them my article entitled "40 Statistics About The Fall Of The U.S. Economy That Are Almost Too Crazy To Believe".  It goes a good job of pointing out many of the reasons why we are heading for complete and total economic disaster.

And the point is not to fill people with fear.  Rather, there is a lot of hope in understanding what is happening and in getting prepared.  As we have seen over in Europe, those that get blindsided by economic problems often become totally consumed with despair.  Suicide rates have soared in economically-troubled nations such as Greece, Spain and Italy.

And the same thing is going to happen in the United States too.  In fact, the suicide rate in the United States has already been rising according to the New York Times...

From 1999 to 2010, the suicide rate among Americans ages 35 to 64 rose by nearly 30 percent, to 17.6 deaths per 100,000 people, up from 13.7.

In fact, today more Americans are killed by suicide than by car accidents.

Isn't that crazy?

Unfortunately, this is only just the beginning.  When the system fails, millions of Americans are going to be convinced that their lives are over.  A lot of them are going to do some very stupid things.  We want to try to prevent as much of that as possible.

Thanks to decades of incredibly foolish decisions by our leaders, an economic collapse is inevitable.  This is especially true considering the fact that our leaders in Washington D.C. and elsewhere will not even consider many of the potential solutions which could help start turning our economic problems around.

So since there are no solutions on the horizon, we need to explain to people what is happening and help them to get as prepared as possible.

The years ahead are going to be very hard, but we have a choice as to how we will respond to the challenges in front of us.

We can face those challenges with fear, or we can face them with courage.

Choose wisely.

Sunday, June 9, 2013

29 Shocking Facts That Prove That College Education In America Is A Giant Money Making Scam

29 Shocking Facts That Prove That College Education In America Is A Giant Money Making Scam

Michael Snyder
Activist Post

College education in the United States has become a cruel joke.  We endlessly push our high school kids to invest tens of thousands of dollars and at least four years of their lives to get a college education because they won’t have any sort of a “future” without it.  So they sign up for decades of debt slavery and spend years listening to pompous windbags fill their heads with utter nonsense.  The sad truth is that most college courses are a total joke and they do very little to actually prepare those students for the real world.

I know – I attended public universities in the United States for eight years.  Most college courses are so easy that the family dog could pass them.  When they finally graduate, our young people discover that they were lied to all along.  The promised “good jobs” are not there for most of them, but the huge debts that they committed themselves to will follow them around permanently.  When you are just starting out and you are not making a lot of money, having to make payments on tens of thousands of dollars of student loan debt can be absolutely crippling.  This is why I say that college education in America is a giant money making scam.

Our young people are seduced by the idea of college being a five year party that will provide an automatic ticket into the middle class, but the reality is that the only guarantee is that it is a ticket to serfdom unless you have wealthy parents that are willing to foot the bill for you.  And bankruptcy laws have been changed to make it incredibly difficult to get rid of student loan debt, so once you have signed up for student loan debt slavery you are basically faced with two choices: either you are going to pay it or you are going to die with it.

Yes, college graduates do make more money and they do have a lower unemployment rate.  But most of them are also burdened by absolutely suffocating levels of student loan debt that will haunt them for decades.

So who is really better off?

If you can get someone to pay for your college education that is great.  Because otherwise you are probably getting a rotten deal.  The following are 29 shocking facts that prove that college education in America is a giant money making scam…

#1 In 1993, the average student loan debt burden at graduation was $9,320.  Today it is $28,720.

#2 In 1989, only 9 percent of all U.S. households were paying off student loan debt.  Today, 19 percent of all U.S. households are.

#3 Young households are being hit particularly hard by student loan debt.  In America today, 40 percent of all households that are led by someone under the age of 35 are paying off student loan debt.  Back in 1989, that figure was below 20 percent.

#4 According to the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau, Americans owe more than a trillion dollars on their student loans.

#5 According to the Federal Reserve, the total amount of student loan debt has increased by a whopping 275 percent since 2003.

#6 Approximately 65 percent of all student loan debt is owed by those under the age of 40.

#7 The delinquency rate on student loans is currently 14 percent and it is steadily rising.

#8 The delinquency rate on student loans for students that attended a “for profit” college is an astounding 23 percent.

#9 Today, 34.9 percent of all student loan borrowers under the age of 30 are at least 90 days behind on their student loan payments.

#10 Since 1986, the cost of college tuition has risen by 498 percent.

#11 The cost of college textbooks has tripled over the past decade.

#12 The average cost of a four-year college education is projected to soar to $120,000 by the year 2015.

#13 Back in 1952, a full year of tuition at Harvard was only $600.  Today, it is over $35,000.

#14 According to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, approximately 167,000 Americans currently have more than $200,000 of student loan debt.

#15 At most U.S. colleges and universities, the quality of the education that you will receive is very poor.  Just check out some numbers about the quality of college education in the United States from an article that appeared in USA Today….

- After two years in college, 45% of students showed no significant gains in learning; after four years, 36% showed little change.
- Students also spent 50% less time studying compared with students a few decades ago.
- 35% of students report spending five or fewer hours per week studying alone.
- 50% said they never took a class in a typical semester where they wrote more than 20 pages
- 32% never took a course in a typical semester where they read more than 40 pages per week.

#16 One survey found that U.S. college students spend 24% of their time sleeping, 51% of their time socializing and 7% of their time studying.

#17 Federal statistics reveal that only 36 percent of the full-time students who began college in 2001 received a bachelor’s degree within four years.

#18 27 percent of those with student loan debt said that they moved back in with their parents after college.

#19 14 percent of those with student loan debt said that they delayed marriage because of their student loans.

#20 Real earnings for young college graduates have fallen by 15 percent since the year 2000.

#21 If you think that you will be able to “beat the odds” and land the job of your dreams once you graduate from college, perhaps you should consider these numbers….

-In the United States today, approximately 365,000 cashiers have college degrees.
-In the United States today, 317,000 waiters and waitresses have college degrees.
-In the United States today, there are more than 100,000 janitors that have college degrees.

#22 The federal government has begun docking the Social Security payments of elderly Americans that are behind on their student loan payments…
According to government data, compiled by the Treasury Department at the request of SmartMoney.com, the federal government is withholding money from a rapidly growing number of Social Security recipients who have fallen behind on federal student loans. From January through August 6, the government reduced the size of roughly 115,000 retirees’ Social Security checks on those grounds. That’s nearly double the pace of the department’s enforcement in 2011; it’s up from around 60,000 cases in all of 2007 and just 6 cases in 2000.
#23 According to a survey of 4,900 recent college graduates, more than half of them regretted choosing their major or their school.

#24 One poll found that 70% of all college graduates wish that they had spent more time preparing for the “real world” while they were still in school.

#25 48 percent of all recent college graduates have not been able to find a job in their chosen field.

#26 During 2011, 53 percent of all Americans with a bachelor’s degree under the age of 25 were either unemployed or underemployed.

#27 According to the ABA, only 56 percent of all law school graduates in 2012 were able to find a full-time job that requires a law degree.

#28 The median student loan burden for medical school students that graduated in 2012 was $170,000.

#29 Close to half of all recent college graduates are working in jobs that do not even require a college degree.

When you are overwhelmed by nightmarish student loan debt that you can never get away from, it can literally take over your life.  A recent Businessweek article shared some real life examples of this…
If student loans are good debt, how do you account for the reaction of Christina Mills, 30, of Minneapolis, when she found out her payment on college and law school loans would be $1,400 a month? “I just went into the car and started sobbing,” says Mills, who works for a nonprofit. “It was more than my paycheck at the time.” Medical student Thomas Smith, 25, of Hamilton, N.J., is $310,000 in debt and is struggling to make ends meet even before beginning to repay his loans. “I don’t even know what I eat,” he says. “I just go to the supermarket and buy the cheapest thing I can and buy as much of it as I can.” Then there’s Michael DiPietro, 25, of Brooklyn, who accumulated about $100,000 in debt while getting a bachelor’s degree in fashion, sculpture, and performance, and spent the next two years waiting tables. He has since landed a fundraising job in the arts but still has no idea how he will pay back all that money. “I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s an obsolete idea that a college education is like your golden ticket,” DiPietro says.
What about you?

Do you have student loan debt or do you know someone who does?