Dear friends,
I hate to revisit the Cold War — the threat of nuclear conflict, the obscene spending on weapons when domestic needs are neglected — twice in one week.
I was trying not to worry about NATO’s nuclear drills, but then I read this:
Six months ago, the Pentagon canceled plans to test-launch some of its intercontinental ballistic missiles. Even then, with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine still young, the risk of a nuclear “miscalculation” was felt to be too high to proceed.
[Now] Everyone’s just limbering up the nuclear war machine at the height of an international crisis—when Putin’s “a cornered animal” and we’re oddly close “to Armageddon,” a mere miscalculation from “annihilation”—but it’s all routine, nothing to see here.
Oy. So, let us pause to look at the sky. We are here today. It is a beautiful autumn day.
Webb images of the Pillars of Creation provide some perspective.
And, in case you think I’m being melodramatic, a Russian plane “released a missile” over the Black Sea because of a technical malfunction last month. Ooohhhhmmm.
Consider lying on your back outdoors for tonight’s meteor shower.
The costly F-35 aircraft program — which costs about $1.75 trillion, the same amount that it would cost to cancel all US student loan debt — produces warplanes. In addition to being an investment in war, the environmental impacts of the program are huge, even if we just look at the carbon footprint of the training flights.
The trainings also create unhealthy amounts of noise in communities near the airbases.
The noise caused by the F-35 hits 115 decibels which especially hurts and injures infants and children, the elderly, and the disabled. The F-35 has 300 to 600 takeoffs and landings a month.
Sign this petition to the president and members of Congress to call for the grounding of the F-35 program. This quick action is from CodePink.
Generally, I am excited to read about debt relief. And, I am suspicious of agribusiness and worried that they have their paws in the money pot.
In the case of the Inflation Reduction Act funds for farmers, my concern is about equity:
The Emergency Relief for Farmers of Color Act called for $4 billion in loan forgiveness to farmers of color. In addition to providing aid to Black growers who have struggled during the pandemic, the emergency funding would have marked the first step in correcting decades of discrimination that some farmers say they have faced at the hands of the USDA.
But that program was not included in the Inflation Reduction Act; there is no language in the IRA to specifically direct money to erase the debts of Black farmers.
Black farmers can apply and qualify for the debt relief now available, but the concern is that too little of this money will reach the folks who needs it most — Black farmers.
John Boyd Jr., president of the National Black Farmers Association [said] that USDA loan relief will likely mean fewer Black farmers receive forgiveness because they are outnumbered nationwide by White farmers.
Contact the President to urge him to take steps to insure that a significant chunk of the debt relief reaches Black farmers.
There are deadlines coming up for folks seeking student loan debt relief. If you are eligible for Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program, you must apply by the end of this month.
Register here to attend an info session on Tuesday 10/25 about applying for the PSLF program.
Note that the PSLF program — which has been recently overhauled — provides debt relief for people who have worked in the public sector and certain non-profits; it is not the same as the new Federal Student Loan Debt Relief program. You can apply for both!
Apply for $10,000-20,000 of Federal Student Loan Debt Relief. You have until December 31, 2023, but why wait?
with love,
L