I went to the Big E with my family yesterday (Friday).  The weather was amazing: sunny and warm!  My only minor complaint was the wind.  From time to time the walk-ways felt like wind-tunnels.
Luckily, the breeze will be much weaker today.  All things considered,  it will be an incredibly comfortably Saturday for getting outside.
By the way…  Low temperatures actually reach 32 degrees in some spots this morning!  There’s nothing worse than jumping into a cold car in the morning and waiting for the heat to kick on.  Am I the only one sad that summer is over?

     Something came across my desk the other day (thanks Jim Antal!)  that I’d like to alert you to.  If you’re looking for something both fun and fascinating to do on Monday Sept 21, go to the premiere event of the new movie, “The Age Of Stupid”.  I love that title!! 
    Anyway, this is a “docudrama”  set in the year 2055, after the earth has been damaged by the effects of climate change.   An historian looks back on 2008 to see what could have been done to prevent climate change. 
     It’s not just a movie premiere, it’s a star studded event!  This premiere will originate live from a solar powered tent in New York City.  Nobel prize winner Kofi Annan will be there along with celebrities, Gilian Anderson, Heather Graham, and Moby.   Radiohead’s Thom Yorke will perform. 
     While all the action will be happening in New York, you can see the event and the movie here in Western Massachusetts Monday evening.  Click here for theater information.  
     While this is a drama, movies like the “Age Of Stupid”  can get you thinking about the real consequences of climate change.   As always, I encourage you to get your information on climate change from scientific sources.  If you go to see the premiere, be sure to drop me a line with your thoughts on the show!  -Brian

A batch of clouds will roll thorough western Massachusetts this afternoon.  It will be warm, pleasant, and partly sunny…  All in all, a fairly nice late summer day.

Thermometers only climbed into the 60 yesterday.  Luckily, we will enjoy temperatures in the mid and upper 70s today.  By the end of September, highs usually reach the upper 60s!

Jon Gosselin of TLC's reality show "Jon and Kate Plus Eight" arrives at MGM's Wet Republic in Las Vegas Saturday, Aug. 29, 2009. (AP Photo / Alaric Lambert)

In a recent interview on ABC’s “Primetime: Family Secrets” Jon Gosselin said that he “despised” his soon to be ex-wife Kate Gosselin. I don’t think he  should be going on national television and telling all of America that he despises the mother of his kids. In this day and age I wouldn’t be surprised if his 9-year old twins are already googling mommy and daddy. I understand his anger with Kate but taking out all of his frustrations infront of the camera isn’t going to help his public image! Maybe try waiting to get a girlfriend until after you’re actually divorced then you wouldn’t have these problems!

He also accuses Kate of verbally abusing him and beating him down during their marriage. Which is not really a surprise for those of us who actually watch the show. Lord knows she was awful to him during most of those shows. So for that part I would have to agree with him that yes Kate completely demoralized him, but he also let her do it, so it’s both of their faults. After all every story does have two sides and marriage is always 50/50.

As if that wasn’t enough he also went on to say that he loves his current girlfriend, 23-year old Hailey Glassman, more than he ever loved Kate. Oh snap! Now that’s just plain cruel. How he’s going to explain that one to the kids later on down the road is beyond me. I mean he did marry Kate, he did love Kate and he did have 8 kids with Kate, regardless of how much he dislikes her at the current time he is stuck with her for the rest of his life. That’s the payoff when you have kids with someone. So my advice to Jon would be to just accept it and move on because it won’t be worth all the fighting and finger pointing in the end. You have to come together for the kids, because they’re the ones who suffer the most!

Eventually the kids will get old enough to figure out what’s going on and they’re going to end up resenting both of their parents if they keep this up. I guess in the Jon & Kate world money does make the world go round which is why they continue to do the show (isn’t it always about the money?). I understand it must cost a ton to raise 8 kids and put them through college, but putting them in the public eye while going through a divorce is NOT a good idea!

I am and always will be team 8!

Here’s another one of those stories that can be followed with a collective “Who Knew???”
The former Heavyweight Champion of the World Muhammad Ali…spend some time in Ireland…the birthplace of his ancestors….as part of a nine-day European tour to help raise money to fight Parkinson’s Disease.
As the AP reports Ali was greeted by scenes reminiscent of a presidential visit as thousands of well-wishers lined the streets in the town of Ennis.
The 67-year-old ex-boxer was honored by the town council with a plaque at the home of his great-grandfather…Abe Grady.
Grady was born on the Emerald Isle…but migrated to America …and settled in Kentucky in 1860 …where he later married a freed slave.
One of their grandchildren turned out to be Ali’s mother…Odessa Lee Grady Clay.
Genealogists uncovered Ali’s Irish heritage in 2002.
Ali suffers from Parkinson’s Disease…and did not speak to the crowd …but he shadow-boxed for the spectators and cameras before meeting his distant relatives.

So Irish Eyes must have been smiling when Ali took it to Liston…battled with Frazier…and knocked out Foreman in Zaire.

And as the great poet himself might say ….”Float like a leprechaun…sting like a bee…the Luck of the Irish…and the punch of Ali !!!”

Who Knew ???

It’s hard not to be touched by the outpouring of emotion with the death of Senator Ted Kennedy. He made a difference in so many lives…not only here in Massachusetts…but also across the nation. There are countless stories of how the Senator took a personal interest and active role in helping his constituents….whether he was helping someone down on his or her luck to find a place to live…to get a green card…or to provide the funding necessary to make a dream come true.
He was not a man without faults…and at times his personal life was the enough to fill tabloids…magazines and “E” True Hollywood Stories. But his life turned around when he met and eventually wed his second wife Vicki in 1992. She changed his lifestyle and helped him regain his focus. I had a couple of opportunities to meet the Senator in person…and one quick chance to interview him. It happened right after the UMAss/Kentucky Sweet Sixteen Men’s NCAA Basketball game in Philadelphia in 1992. The Senator was there with his then new fiancée. I was part of a large number of sports reporters and videographers waiting to get into the locker room to interview the Minutemen after the game. The Senator was allowed in first…to congratulate the team on a job well done…after a tough loss to the Wildcats. Vicki stood alone …next to the wall…away from the throng of media waiting for access to the players. I took the opportunity just to walk over and say hello…and really just make small talk with her. It was really nothing more than…”Congratulations…did you enjoy the game…and how are the wedding plans going ???” But that’s when Ted came back through the door….and walked directly back over to Vicki…and to me.
No one made a move…but here I was…with the Senator…and his soon to be new wife…and I figured he’ll probably say “No”…but I’ll ask anyway. “Senator…would you mind commenting on what you just told the team?”
The Senator saw my microphone cube…saw that I was from 22news in Springfield…and began to speak. As he did…about 50 microphones descended around us…and suddenly the Senator and I were in the middle of a swarm of sports reporters looking for an extra “bite!!!” He told me “What a great season they had…and how much fun they were to watch…and what a great thing it was for the Commonwealth…” and with a quick smile and handshake…he left…but not before I had a chance to whisper a quick thank you to the soon to be Mrs. Kennedy…for helping me be in the right spot at the right time. It was a brief…and probably to some…insignificant encounter…but one I’ll never forget.

He believed in the right to a college education and the right to be able to afford that education. He was always the man I wanted in my corner!

I too have fought against the corruption behind student loan lender Sallie Mae, which is the United States’ largest student loan company. The interest they add to their loans is insurmountable, as the students crumble they become billionaires. For them to say they are “champions of higher education,” is a lie.

Senator Kennedy you pioneered this movement for student loan justice and all your hard work will one day prevail, and never be forgotten!

Sincerely,
Michelle Misiaszek

Statement of Senator Kennedy on Sallie Mae’s letter to college financial aid professionals
“It’s hardly surprising that Sallie Mae would take a proposal intended to protect students and spin it as an attack on college financial aid professionals.  In reality, financial aid administrators and students are the ones being attacked by money lenders aggressively marketing private loans that may not offer the lowest interest rates for students.
This onslaught of pressure is exactly why I’ve proposed the Student Loan Sunshine Act.  Far from being “ill-conceived” or “unwarranted,” the Act responds to the growing number of documented cases in which private lenders pull out all the stops to pitch their wares to woo colleges and gouge students. The vast majority of financial aid administrators are doing all they can to make sure that students obtain the funds they need to pay for college.  The problem is the big lenders who put profits ahead of students, not the college administrators.” – Senator Kennedy.

Kennedy targets Sallie Mae’s role
“The student loan program works brilliantly for the banks, but not for the students,” Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) said in a speech on the Senate floor.

The Student Loan Scandal - Senator Kennedy characterized the student loan system as one that “squanders billions each year to provide corporate welfare to big lenders, rather than serving the best interests of our students.

Senator Kennedy leads Congress in crackdown on student loan scandal
“Banks like Nelnet and Sallie Mae can still drive right through, collecting outrageous profits at the expense of students and taxpayers,” said Senator Kennedy.

Senator Kennedy questions collection tactics
Kennedy says his office has acquired information suggesting that Sallie Mae may have implemented the following tactics in its collection process:

• Attempting to collect debts not owed.
• Firing employees who attempt to help borrowers obtain correct information about their loan status.
• Instructing employees to give borrowers “the run around” rather than providing them with correct information on their loan status.
• Intentionally sending loan-payment notices to an incorrect address to force a borrower’s account into default.
• Telling a borrower’s spouse that the borrower would go to jail if he didn’t pay—a blatantly false assertion.
• Putting a borrower who lost his home in a natural disaster into default, adding substantial default and collection fees to his loan balance, taking tax refunds, and garnishing his wages—all in violation of guidance from the Secretary of Education.
• Regularly calling borrowers at work after being instructed to stop.
• Using abusive and profane language to intimidate borrowers.

In his letter to Tim Fitzpatrick, CEO of Sallie Mae, Kennedy wrote, “I am concerned that several private lenders may be engaging in harsh and inappropriate tactics with regard to borrowers whose payments are overdue.”

Kennedy called for Sallie Mae investigation into student loan errors
In 2002, a billing error performed by Sallie Mae led to dramatic increases in monthly payments, and forced many students to default on their student loans. In response, Senator Kennedy, joined by a bipartisan group of senators and representatives, sent a letter to Education Secretary Rod Paige requesting an investigation into the billing practices of the multibillion dollar company. Senator Kennedy said that, depending on the outcome of the investigation, Sallie Mae should be responsible for compensating any student loan defaults that resulted from the error.

So with the weekend upon us, I know at least a few of you will be out on the Connnecticut River, boating, bathing, tubing and basically having a great time with this magnificent natural resource we have. If you look carefully, you may even see me on the river this weekend. Anyway, in my continuing efforts to keep you happy and keep you safe, let me share a link with you. This is a website that Umass has developed, along with their study of water quality at certain points along the CT River. http://www.umass.edu/tei/mwwp/ctrivermonitoring.html Based on this information, you can make a better decision on whether or not to swim in the river on any given day. Enjoy the warm air this weekend!

Hi! A series of blogs from the 22News Storm Team will be coming to this space soon!!! While we do a pretty good job of updating you on the changing weather conditions here in Western Massachusetts, the blogging thing is new to us!! So feel free to email us with ideas for blog topics. I’m sure we’ll be inspired on our own, but you certainly can help us out! I hope your looking forward to this weekend’s hot weather! I’ll be making ice cream in my basement! -Brian