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Romney Releases 2011 Tax Returns, Says They ‘Disqualify’ Him From the Presidency

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Alternet / By Joshua Holland (Originally published Sept. 21, 2012)

The Romneys paid more taxes than they had to in order to inflate the effective tax rate they paid this year.

Desperate to shift the national discussion away from his dismissal of half the country as indolent, unwashed and irredeemable, Mitt Romney released his 2011 tax returns today. According to his own words, the return “disqualifies” him from the presidency.

Why? Because the Romneys inflated their 2011 tax bill by not deducting all of the money they’d forked over to “charity” (much of which was tithes to the Church of Latter Day Saints, which doesn’t provide a lot of charitable services). According to a blog-post written by the manager of his “blind trust” – close confidant and attorney Brad Malt (who’s not as independent as the Romneys would have you believe) – the Romney’s gave over $4 million to charity last year but only deducted $2.25 million.   [Read more…]

‘Won’t Back Down’ Film Pushes ALEC Parent Trigger Proposal

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by Mary Bottari and Sara Jerving /PRWatch.Org

Well-funded advocates of privatizing the nation’s education system are employing a new strategy this fall to enlist support for the cause. The emotionally engaging Hollywood film “Won’t Back Down” — set for release September 28 — portrays so-called “Parent Trigger” laws as an effective mechanism for transforming underperforming public schools. But the film’s distortion of the facts prompts a closer examination of its funders and backers and a closer look at those promoting Parent Trigger as a cure for what ails the American education system.

While Parent Trigger was first promoted by a small charter school operator in California, it was taken up and launched into hyperdrive by two controversial right-wing organizations: the American Legislative Exchange Council(ALEC) and the Heartland Institute.

(Editors Note: this film is being promoted in San Diego by a group calling itself “Up for Ed”. They’re hosting a premiere this week, with a “panel” that, interestingly enough, includes not a single teacher. You can read about Up for Ed’s involvement with so-called reformer Michelle Rhee in this excellent article by San Diegan Aaron Belfer.)    [Read more…]

The CalFresh Challenge: Could you live on $34.31 per week?

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By Lorena Gonzalez / Center for Policy Initiatives  Blog

From September 9th – 15th, CPI board member Lorena Gonzalez, Secretary-Treasurer of the San Diego & Imperial Counties Labor Council, participated in the CalFresh Challenge. “The goal is to raise awareness and understanding around the challenges faced by millions of Americans receiving CalFresh/SNAP benefits. The average benefit in California is about $4.90 per person per day, or about $34.31 per week.” This blog post compiles how Lorena Gonzalez ate for one week living on that amount.

When I agreed to attempt to live on a food stamp budget for a week, I knew it would be tough. But, I didn’t realize that one of the toughest challenges would be time. In order to maximize my $34.31 budget for the week, I had grand ideas of going to a farmers market and two or three different stores to capitalize on weekly specials. In my first lesson of the working poor, I was reminded that the Saturday Farmers Market would be impossible to get to if I was scheduled to work, which I was. So, I woke up this morning on a budget with no food.   [Read more…]

Caravan for Peace Comes to the USA: From the Carnage of the Bi-National Drug Wars, a Quest for Justice and Dignity

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By Enrique Morones (borderangels.org)

After a month on the road, bringing an inspirational message of justice and dignity to dozens of cities across the country that have been ravaged by America’s failed war on drugs and other harmful policies, the Caravan for Peace finally rolled into Washington, D.C. this past week to conclude its historic journey.

The 150-member caravan has been crisscrossing the United States since early August, sharing stories and testimonies about the pain that so many have suffered as a result of the war on drugs. Led by Mexican poet Javier Sicilia, whose son Juan Francisco was murdered in Mexico last year, the caravan’s mission is to bring attention to five critical elements affecting relations between the United States and Mexico: the failed war on drugs, money laundering, arms trafficking, the need for humane immigration policies, and building closer ties between the two countries.   [Read more…]

Sex In San Diego: Interview With a Lapsed Christian Virgin Shows Why ‘Purity’ Messages Are So Messed Up

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Feministe / By Jill Filipovic

Better feminists than I have written entire books on this topic (see The Purity Myth: How America’s Obsession with Virginity Is Hurting Young Women), but damn if this Hairpin interview with a lapsed Christian virgin doesn’t illustrate just how messed up “purity” messages can make young women.

Don’t get me wrong: I appreciate Clara’s insights, and I think she’s very brave for sharing her perspectives. She seems quite wonderful, and Jia’s questions were spot-on. It’s a great interview and this isn’t meant as a critique of it, or even of sexual abstention. If people want to abstain from sex until marriage (or abstain from sex until forever, or whenever) that’s great — your body, your choice. I don’t have a problem with choosing to be abstinent until X date or event (your wedding, college, your 18th birthday, your 40th birthday, whatever); I do have a big problem with the Christian language and theory behind the “purity” rationale for waiting until marriage to have sex.   [Read more…]

San Diego Mayoral Debate on Transportation and Quality of Life – Tonight, September 19th

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‘Walk. Bike. Move. Live.’ will be the only 2012 mayoral debate on quality of life in America’s Finest City

Transportation advocacy groups have lined up a mayoral debate tonight – September 19th – at the University of San Diego. Walk San Diego, the San Diego County Bicycle Coalition, Move San Diego, Urban Land Institute San Diego/Tijuana District Council have hooked up with USD to hold the debate, from 6:30 p.m. – 9:00 p.m. at the University of San Diego’s Shiley Theatre.

Pensions aren’t the only issue facing San Diego in the upcoming election. Come learn the views and opinions of San Diego’s 2012 Mayoral Candidates on quality of life issues.Walk. Bike. Move. Live. A San Diego Mayoral Debate will give voters the chance to engage mayoral candidates on improved transportation, sustainable economic development and growth and quality of life for all San Diegans.

Mayoral candidates, Congressman Bob Filner and City Councilmember Carl DeMaio will be the headliners, of course, at the theater, located at 5998 Alcala Park, San Diego, CA 92110, where hundreds are expected.
  [Read more…]

Comparison: Dutch vs US Private Health Care Costs

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by Frank Thomas and John Lawrence

Introduction: Columnist and investigative reporter David Cay Johnston’s up-to-date comparison of Europe’s health care costs vs. the US is another shocking revelation of how our country still struggles to have a sane, affordable basic health care system. He shows that the average per capita cost for health care in the U.S. is 2.64 times that of the average Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) country cost per capita. In other words, for every $100 dollars of OECD personal health care cost, the US cost is $264.00.

In an extensive joint 2009 study (Health Care in the Netherlands and the US: A Comparative Study) comparing Dutch and US health care costs for a family of 4, Frank Thomas and John Lawrence came up with almost exactly the same ratio of a US cost of $240 for every $100 of Dutch costs for a family plan. To further document the startling cost differences Mr. Johnston has so well illustrated, following is a much abridged and edited version of our 2009 study.   [Read more…]

San Diego Women Occupy Lead Prop 37 Rally and Bannering on 163 Overpass

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Hillcrest Banners Favor Prop 37 On Robinson Street Overpass

By Nadin Abbott and Frank Gormlie

It was close to 4pm on the first anniversary of Occupy Wall Street – Monday, September 17th – and the mood at the Canvas for a Cause headquarters in Hillcrest was expectant. As people started to arrive for the programed rally in favor of Proposition 37, Nadine Abbott had a chance to talk to Doctor Norrie Robbins of Women Occupy San Diego and a member of the singers Occapellas. Robbins is also Adjunct Professor at the SDSU Dept of Geological Sciences, and is retired from the United States Geological Service, DC office.

Robbins said: “I am worried about my food. I’m beginning to get weird allergies that do not run in my family.”

  [Read more…]

Mitt Romney Opts for Politics Over National Security

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By Kit-Bacon Gressitt

Picture this scenario from last week:

Unrest is fomenting in the Muslim world. Is it due to the anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks against the United States, the recently notorious and hateful film trailer for The Innocence of Muslims, an al Qaeda plot, or the latest storm in the Arab Spring?

Who knows.   [Read more…]

Ladies, Get Ready For The Ameri-burqua

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Daily Kos / By Vita Brevis

I’ve cracked wise before that this is what the American Taliban wants ( sold at WalMart, made in China natch) but we may be closer than you think.

As you know, the He Man Woman Hater’s Club is meeting this weekend although they are calling it the Values Voter’s Summit, and yes my fellow females, we are on the agenda.

In addition to focus on our insides, the self appointed rule makers have decided we, as a gender, are showing too much of our outsides. But fear not, they’ve got us covered. More literally than you might think.   [Read more…]

Feds Interview California Man Linked to Anti-Muslim Film

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By Associated Press / Published Sept. 15, 2012

A Southern California filmmaker linked to an anti-Islamic movie inflaming protests across the Middle East was interviewed by federal probation officers at a Los Angeles sheriff’s station but was not arrested or detained, authorities said early Saturday.

Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, 55, was interviewed at the station in his hometown of Cerritos, Calif., said Don Walker, a Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy.

Federal officials are investigating whether Nakoula, who has been convicted of financial crimes, has violated the terms of his five-year probation. If so, a judge could send him back to prison.

Nakoula went voluntarily to the station early Saturday morning, wearing a coat, hat, scarf and glasses that concealed his appearance. It is unclear whether he returned to his home, which has been besieged by media for several days.   [Read more…]

Billionaires & Ballot Bandits: How to Steal an Election in 9 Easy Steps.

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By Dave Rice

Ten elderly nuns get kicked out of an Indiana polling station for not having driver’s licenses or other state ID.

Electronic voting machines in Georgia report massive malfunctions – but only in Democratic-leaning low income districts, where the hot, humid conditions of polling stations aren’t conducive to electronics. The ones in wealthy, Republican-leaning districts are protected in well kept, air-conditioned buildings – and have no problems registering votes.

Thomas Brown, a black Floridian, has his name purged from voter rolls because a white man with the same name and birthday once committed a felony.

Foreclosure firm Trott & Trott shares an office building with John McCain’s Detroit campaign headquarters. Whenever Trott completes a foreclosure, the McCain campaign challenges the foreclosure victim’s voter registration to have it purged from Michigan’s voter rolls: if they’ve been kicked out of their home, the address they used to register must not be valid.

Mad yet? Greg Palast is hardly getting warmed up ….   [Read more…]

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