Links and Minifeatures 10 15 Sunday

Kerry says he deserves 2nd chance in '08. He talks of John McCain, who has never achieved the nomination, and Ronald Reagan, who lost the nomination to Gerald Ford in '76 but won when he was nominated. It's been a long time since either party has nominated a formerly unsuccessful nominee: Richard Nixon in 1968 was the last time. The wisdom - that a person's flaws as a candidate have attained too much exposure for them to win, is especially applicable to John Kerry, who has too many flaws to enumerate here, starting with his military disservice and going forward from there. There are Democrats I would vote for over certain Republican nominees, but John Kerry isn't one of them.



The Democratic contenders in 2004 and since have all raced each other to the left, leaving themselves unelectable. John Kerry has a particularly bad record as voting for whatever he thinks will advance the cause of John Kerry for President. Joe Lieberman, as left wing as he is, I might vote for because he's proved to me that he is willing to take heat for his speeches, votes and decisions when he feels it is in the best interest of the country. I utterly detest Hillary Clinton, but she might possibly be able to win my vote if the Republicans nominate a sufficiently right wing nutjob. John Kerry needs to be flushed once and for all.

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Study: Parents low ball college costs

A lot of American parents seem to think they don't have to worry about saving for their children's college educations because the kids will get through on scholarships and grants.

My eldest is six years old and in first grade. I've been putting $2000 a year in a 529 for her since I had a social for her. She won the scholarship award in Kindergarten, which changes nothing. By the time you could possibly know if your child has what it takes to get a full ride or something close to it, it will be too late to save if the answer is no, which it will be in the vast majority of cases. College is more time critical than anything else. If you don't have the money to retire, you can usually put off retirement. If your child doesn't have the money for college when it's time, they're probably not going at all. If you have a child, open a 529 today. The things that set it apart are the ability to recover the money, and the ability change your mind and apply the money to a younger sibling. My $2000 per year won't buy her a full ride at Harvard, but it will mean she has the ability to get through a state school without mortgaging her future, even if she gets not one dollar of grant money. The younger daughter? She's got three years of $2000 contributions also, and she just turned two last month. Get off the dime and do it today. You might be surprised what a difference $50 per month started early can make.



Oh, and you can use any state's program, no matter what state you live in or plan to go to college in. I'm not going to recommend one to anyone, but I will say that I'm not impressed by California's. My girls money is in another plan.



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Armies of Liberation notes in the first link and later a second that the Post Election Yemeni Regime Targets Opposition



The only thing the world hates more than a sore loser is a sore winner.



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