If you have an interest in what's happening in Berkeley, privatization of public resources, responses to The Recession, or the US Postal Service, you might want to read Carolyn Jones - Berkeley residents fight for post office.

An obviously left-leaning but as perspicacious as ever perspective on Paul Ryan's Bipartisan Appeal from The Daily Show with Jon Stewart is available as a video as well. More on Ryan's orientation may be found here Ryan Lizza - How Paul Ryan captured the GOP and here Ayn Rand with Johnny Carson.

Please also consider Chris Hedges latest progress report on his NDAA Challenge and the criminalization of dissent

Finally, I bet you didn't know that there were almost zombies in Babylon...

I commented on the Proposed Rule:Federal Perkins Loan Program, Federal Family Education Loan Program, and William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan Program (ED-2012-OPE-0010-0001) at www.regulations.gov http://www.regulations.gov/#!documentDetail;D=ED-2012-OPE-0010-0001

As a student loan borrower, I support the Department's efforts to make Income-Based Repayment (IBR) and Income-Contingent Repayment (ICR) more accessible and helpful to borrowers, especially as this means simplifying the process of discharging loans in cases of total and permanent disability (TPD). Short of an complete and responsible solution, such as bail-out funds directed to tax-payers rather than multinational banks, the proposed regulations implementing the "Pay As You Earn" repayment plan is an excellent next step, in that it lowers monthly payments and can lead to earlier loan forgiveness than IBR currently provides. The proposed rules must go further to ensure that these programs work better for borrowers. I urge you to make the following changes:

1. Reduce the extreme and disproportionate penalty for late paperwork.
   
2. Count qualifying payments made before and after consolidation towards forgiveness.
   
3. Ensure borrowers can exit IBR to enter a different repayment plan without prohibitive penalty.
   
4. Accept Social Security Administration (SSA) disability determinations for loan discharges.

Appreciating your work and looking forward to these changes becoming law,

Brandon Williamscraig

 

Everybody,

Please consider using similar language to help this intervention on behalf of borrowers move forward.

Also see http://www.ibrinfo.org/action_alert_8912_2.vp.html

Moving onto Culturesmith my research on Apocalypse, particularly of the Zombie variety.

Updates

• REALLY proud of my nephew, Valliant Keepin, who has grown into overnight camping with his papa, Isaiah.
•  Early this morning I turned in my First Draft of the Bluevolution article for the Journal of Archetypal Studies.
• In the next several hours I plan to send out invitations to Sofia University staff to visit the proto-site for the new Aikido Archives which will launch in the Fall.
• This Sunday the UC Berkeley Clark Kerr Campus will be the site of a fair benefiting 300 students from the part of Japan hit by disasters. Golden Bears Aikido, Free Aiki Dojo, and Aikido of Berkeley will all be represented in an open class from 2:00-3:00 in the afternoon. Please come!