I am taking classes at the local college in hopes of achieving my doctorate someday. I have many credits from my past degrees and have been told that I won't qualify for federal student loans after 3 more semesters, including this one. This past January is the first time I've ever taken out a loan, and I need to rely on loans to get me through this career change. I no longer qualify because I have too many credits. The financial aid office at my university said they couldn't help me in any way, and suggested I apply for private loans somewhere, offered me a packet of places to take out loans privately. No help with grant or scholarship searches. All they do in that office is cash checks. I hate the fact that I am taking any loans at all but I don't have any other way to go to school. The university I am attending has a 27% graduation, the worst in the state. Perhaps more student advocacy would help!

Nef., if you have any troubles with your student loan you might want to look at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau website: http://www.consumerfinance.gov.
They also have a Private Student loan Ombudsman to help people as well.

Hello back, Artemis.

Yes, i know about these initiatives and I will credit the Obama administration for fighting for them. But, to me, they fall under what i would call "tokenism" or "bait-and-switch" politics. The following is probably going to sound very cold to some, and i am truly thankful if such initiatives help prevent people from being suckered into these student loan mills, but if one is going to suggest to me that these steps are better than nothing, i will reply most emphatically - No they're not. Not if they fool people into complacently believing the problem is being substantively dealt with and everything will be alright. No it's not and no it won't. Such measures do nothing to deal with the debt; they do nothing to deal with the blackmailing banking cartel and its manufacturing and manipulation of public debt; they do nothing over the long run to help curtail the intentional privatizing of public education in this country - at a greater cost to us with no documented improvement in education, a further decrease in workers' wages and God (and his Neocons) knows what kind of degradation to the curriculum. If others can find sufficient solace in these relatively small public protection measures, they're probably luckier than I. And i would consider myself a step-by-step political pragmatist. But these steps - much too small and, in my opinion, intentionally misleading. But if you can show or convince me that I'm wrong, seriously, please do. Because i very much want to be wrong.

Thanks, wrinkles. I appreciate the resource. I agree the measures are the wrong approach.

wrinkles, I can not argue against one single thing you said.

Personally, I am finding solace here: http://studentaid.ed.gov/sites/default/ ... veness.pdf

To be fair, this was a Bush administration initiative. Possibly the only good thing he every did, and it certainly doesn't even begin to ameliorate the hideous things.

There are multiple intersections of issues in your post. Cherry picking my issues, the privatization of everything is deeply problematic. Government isn't all bad people. I like organized trash collection and such. I wish I could designate where my taxes went, though. there is a degradation of education and my taxes would go there in a heartbeat and away for the military and prison industrial complexes.

This looks like a film folks here might be interested in knowing about:
check out the website for the documentary "How To Survive A plague" (about the ACT UP movement) . They give dates and locations of showings nation wide.

U.S. immigration to treat same-sex partners as relatives.

This is a change only for those in the US facing deportation. It doesn't yet affect American expats living with partners overseas that wish to have their partners live with them here in the US.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/09/ ... 2H20120929

Admittedly, i personally know nothing about this movement, but someone brought a PBS special about it (airing tonight and tomorrow) to my attention today. Looks interesting.

http://www.halftheskymovement.org/pages/movement

http://billmoyers.com/segment/jill-stei ... -politics/

An interview with two womyn who are on the Presidential ballot in 3/4 of the states so far and represent a legit, growing political party and plenty of viable ideas, but they won't be allowed on any of the debate stages which are brought to us courtesy of the Democrat/Republican party (singular intentional). Back in the day (ending in 1988) The League of Women voters sponsored actual debates but it bowed out stating, "The League of Women Voters is withdrawing sponsorship of the Presidential debates...because the demands of the 2 campaign organizations would perpetrate a fraud on the American voter. It has become clear to us that the candidates' organizations aim to add debates to their list of campaign-trail charades devoid of substance, spontaneity and answers to tough questions. The League has no intention of becoming an accessory to the hoodwinking of the American public." The charades are put on presently by a corporation, the CPD, which is run by the Dem. and Rep. National Conventions and are funded by their generous sponsors.

A billion and a half dollars, that's what's projected for this Pres. election, to air all these banalities, lies and duplicitous speeches to clutter and distract our minds and sicken our spirits. (True, money well spent for those who can pony up. Tax-exempt corporate citizen, lobbying agency and law writer ALEC is again projected to be the year's biggest winner. http://www.thenation.com/article/161978/alec-exposed# ) It would all make for such a brilliant black comedy, worthy of a Kubrick or Altman, if it just wasn't for all the human and world tragedy it leads to.

http://www.thenation.com/blog/170561/ca ... ces-europe

No, the twins (ok, the ties will undoubtedly be different colors) will probably not talk about this tomorrow night because that's not what their real constituents want described, debated, discussed, investigated, considered, mentioned, etc. at all; and certainly not what will fulfill their hopes for the outcome of this election. (Believe it or not, some citizens' audacious hopes do get achieved by their candidates being in power. BP has done extremely well; the EPA and our environment, not so much.) Americans would be much better off if they could have a speech about economies and financial reforms by Christine Lagarde broadcast to them instead, but our speech and access to it is not that free.

(While on another front, Hillary Clinton actually acts like a responsible leader (well, she's probably also taking one for the team. Who knows who has the final authority for embassy protection, but one thing is verifiable, the budget for the State Department has been gutted over these last 10 years or so. Gunboat diplomacy, much wiser and cost effective) while the man in office continues to set us up for yet another war, because it doesn't really matter which twin gets in, Iran is next and that will def. aid and abet the austerity measures and police state tactics here. Not to mention kill more people in the Middle east, after all drones can only murder so many civilians on their own. True, different geographical location; and we're not even technically at war with Pakistan so the past Noble Peace Prize winner can use them at will for diplomacy. Because, "if the president does it, it's not illegal." And maybe the CIA as well, since they are developing their own independent drone fleet these days. )

Democracy now has been and is offering expanded debate coverage, pausing the live stream to allow the green party and justice party candidates time to answer the same questions posed to the "twins". http://www.democracynow.org

on a side note today when i mailed my ballot back to the US (from germany) the postal worker (after she told me i would have to pay extra due to the weight and i said that i knew, it was my ballot and i wanted to be sure it got there) said she knew it was a ballot and she hoped i voted for Obama. That same perspective is very common here, we even hear it in the news commentaries.

Hi Mojavedreamer (and partner), you lucky ex-pat, you! How's life in a solvent, sane country?

http://www.ncronline.org/blogs/road-pea ... ance-works

The powers that be know this very well, that's why they always set-up operations and propaganda campaigns against civil organizing to make it look like the activists, their leaders or the environments they're in are violent.

We, in this country, are just good organizing way from effective, positive, populist and powerful change in our nation. There are countless organizations of decent, intelligent, thoughtful and dedicated people but they're too splinted apart in their smaller aims. But if you're apart of a union, or a member of a hospice volunteer group, or you help to feed the hungry or you work for LGBT rights or a member of your local Democratic or Republican party or are a student and you ask the folks around you if they believe in campaign finance reform, you are going to find overwhelming numbers of supporters. That is the type of issue that can pull critical masses of diverse Americans into working together, someplace to begin, and their separate organizations and institutions as well.

Last night, oh so edifying. Mostly, today i hear complaints about how poorly these "debates" go. Meanwhile:
http://www.examiner.com/article/green-p ... -at-debate

Why in the world should we citizens want to hear what this legit, knowledgeable and visionary candidate has to say on the widely available public Presidential debate stage? (especially when such forthcoming projects, such as the Keystone XL pipeline, are only a little nuisance of an "election" away.)

Hi wrinkles, thanks for the update. I find the arrest of Dr. Stein deeply disturbing on so many levels. It was unlawful and abusive and I thank her for her bravery and willingness to be manhandled and shackled.

I hope the New York Civil Liberties Union was one of the first calls she made. Though it may take all the way to the NEXT election to get straightened out, she is with in her legal rights to protest her exclusion by the CPD. http://www.nyclu.org/news/federal-judge ... g-2004-rnc

For the record, and at the risk of being flamed (again) here, I am registered Green Party. If you can believe it, I was blamed for Bush winning in a prior election because I vote green party. If I am expected to participate in the democractic process at all, its the most tolerable platform I can get behind.

Artemis you were upbraided here for advocating or voting Green? Amazing!! Not only does the Green party platform do extremely well when presented to people in a "blind" voters test (which of course the Dems/Reps./Corp. interests know) but can someone please explain to me why we should be either satisfied or feel remotely secure with our and our family's and friends or the general public's welfare and country's future just because Obama's administration might be slightly less damaging to the country than Romney's. If people would wake-up they'd fess-up that it's still extremely damaging to the possibility of having anything like a viable, decent REPUBLIC and quality of life for anywhere near the majority of citizens. Politics might be in part the "art of the possible", but he sells us so short. I don't agree that we have to go so docilely, let alone gladly, along with it.