Clooney's $15 million fund-raiser
President Obama raised nearly $15 million in one night at a fund-raiser last week at the Los Angeles home of actor George Clooney. Barbra Streisand, Salma Hayek, Robert Downey Jr., Tobey Maguire, and Jack Black were among those who paid $40,000 to dine on Wolfgang Puck’s food at tables set up on Clooney’s basketball court. Clooney and Obama played a game of hoops with other celebrities the next day.
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Tuition debt overloads students
Today 94 percent of college students borrow money to pay tuition, double the percentage that needed to borrow two decades ago. Graduates now owe $902 billion in federal student loans, and another $140 billion in private loans—a level of debt that leaves many of them unable to buy cars, afford apartments, or move out of their parents’ homes.
The New York Times
Job prospects of recent graduates
Of people who graduated college since 2009, less than half found a job within a year of leaving school. Those who did find work had an average starting salary of $27,000—$3,000 less than the average starting salary for the classes of 2006 and 2007. Economists believe their wages will stay depressed for the next decade.
HuffingtonPost.com
Police shootings in Germany and New York City
Germany’s police forces fired only 85 bullets in all of 2011. New York City police fired 84 shots at a single murder suspect in April 2012.
TheAtlantic.com
Most gays who marry are lesbians
Two thirds of the 150,000 homosexual couples who have gotten married or had other civil recognition of their relationships in the U.S. have been lesbians.
NationalReview.com