Climate 101

Sometimes just keeping it as simple and direct as possible - for our children, our contrary friends/family/neighbors and for ourselves. For that we have the Science Guy, Bill Nye.

$36 Million to Fight Yes on Prop 37

"The $36 million No on 37 campaign, bankrolled by $20 million from the world's six largest pesticide companies, has been caught in yet another lie, this time possibly criminal.

These companies and their allies in the junk food industry know that their profit margins may suffer if consumers have a choice whether to purchase genetically engineered foods or not. And that's why opponents are spending nearly a million dollars per day trying to make Prop 37 complicated. But really it's simple - we have the right to know what's in our food."

The evidence of new crime in California is in the news today.

This photo capturing the commercials featuring Henry Miller covers just the first offense with Miller's growing rap sheet:

• On Oct. 4 the No on 37 campaign was forced to pull its first ad off the air and re-shoot it after they were caught misrepresenting Miller as a doctor at Stanford University when he is actually a researcher at the Hoover Institute on Stanford's campus, as the Los Angeles Times reported.

• Last week, the campaign was reprimanded by Stanford again for misrepresenting the university in a mailer that went out to millions of voters. And this week, the campaign was caught sending out yet another deceptive mailer involving the University.

In addition to allowing his university affiliation to be repeatedly overblown, Miller has a sordid history of parroting the talking points of some of the world's most notorious corporate bad actors: he's a founding member of a now defunct tobacco front group that tried to discredit the links between cigarettes and cancer, he's repeatedly called for the reintroduction of DDT - known to cause premature birth, fronted for an oil industry funded climate change denial group for Exxon, claimed that people exposed to radiation from the Fukushima nuclear power plant disaster "may have benefited from it", and attacked the US Food and Drug Administration's efforts to ensure proper vetting and testing of new drugs safety while urging it to outsource more of its functions to private industries. 

This is the man the No on 37 campaign has portrayed to voters as an arbiter of good science and promoted as an expert worthy of our trust. In reality, Miller is nothing more than a corporate shill that will say whatever his paymasters ask him to, be it Exxon, Phillip Morris, Monsanto, or DuPont. 

Does the No on 37 campaign stand behind Miller's fringe views on tobacco, climate change, nuclear radiation and DDT?

The latest is the criminal use of the FDA seal in mailers and fabricating FDA statements. Just making things up. This is a federal offense.

So who should we trust?

Who should we trust when it comes to our right to know what's in the food we eat: Monsanto, DuPont, and Henry Miller or the millions of California consumers and leading consumer, health, women's, faith-based, labor and other groups; 61 countries that already require GMO labeling; and a growing stack of peer-reviewed research linking genetically engineered foods to health and environmental problems?

Who has our best interests at heart, the pesticide and junk food industry, or Prop 37 supporters like Consumers Union, California Nurses Association, California Democratic Party, California Labor Federation, United Farm Workers, American Public Health Association, Consumers Union, Sierra Club, Whole Foods Market, California Council of Churches, Organic Consumers Association, Center for Food Safety, Consumer Federation of America, Public Citizen, and Food Democracy Now!?

And another article debunking the lies against the Yes on Prop 37 campaign, shared from Teresa Barth's Facebook page.

YES on PROP 40

This about redistricting. It is somewhat confusing.

• A YES vote means no change -- keep the redistricting already done by the Citizens Redistricting Commission.
• A NO vote means abandon the work of the Citizens and give the redistricting back to the politicians.

A giant sucking sound is what we will hear if the general electorate votes NO.

The story is that in 2008 voters approved an independent Citizens Redistricting Commission. Then when the work was done . . .

The California Republican Party last year qualified a referendum on the new state Senate districts, hoping to block the use of those districts this year. But the state Supreme Court ruled in January that the new Senate boundaries would apply for this year’s election regardless of the referendumRepublicans in July stopped campaigning for the measure and said they were no longer asking voters to overturn the new Senate districts.

The reason for Prop. 40 may no longer exist, but the measure remains on the ballot. Voters, however, should have no trouble casting a yes vote. The state Supreme Court said new Senate districts fit all constitutional and legal requirements — and in fact, said that the new citizen-drawn map was preferable to any of the alternatives that opponents proposed.

also . . .

League of Women Voters of California Education Fund Website

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For complete listing of all California Propositions and review.

YES on PROP 39

This requires businesses to determine their tax liability for sales in California by a calculation, rather than the current practice of choosing (the cheaper of) two methods. This Proposition permanently closes that corporate tax loophole.

An outrageous tax loophole allows out-of-state corporations to pay lower taxes in California, costing our state a billion dollars a year. This loophole actually rewards companies for creating jobs outside of California. Proposition 39 closes this loophole by forcing out-of-state corporations to pay their fair share, bringing in much-needed state revenue that will be invested in clean energy and energy efficiency projects, create good-paying jobs, and help fund our schools. Join us. Let’s close this corporate tax loophole and create new clean energy jobs in California!

California Clean Energy Jobs Act

also . . .

League of Women Voters of California Education Fund Website

For complete listing of all California Propositions and review.

NO on PROP 38

This is the alternative to Prop 30. It is being pushed by Molly Munger.

The biggest criticism of this proposition is that the consequences may be completely unappreciated this many years out.  To lock in funds without knowing the potential nature and degree of change in our future institutions is dangerous guesswork.

It sounds good, but from our reading - Proposition 30 is better balanced.

also . . .
 League of Women Voters of California Education Fund Website

YES on PROP 37

One of the most important California Propositions this 2012 election (IMO). This calls for labeling of Genetically Modified Organisims (GMO) in foods sold in stores.

Who is in Favor of Proposition 37? Prop 37 was initiated by a grassroots organizing effort with the help of thousands of volunteers across the state, the Right to Know campaign gathered nearly one million signatures from California voters within a 10 week period. More than 2,000 organizations – including media outlets, food manufacturers and retailers, leading consumer, environmental, farming, health, faith-based, political and labor groups – have since endorsed Yes on 37: www.carighttoknow.org/endorsements.

Who is Opposed to Proposition 37? Not one human being has made a contribution to the campaign against Prop. 37. Instead, the campaign is funded entirely by giant pesticide and junk food companies with a track record of making false claims about the safety of their products. The “No” campaign’s two largest donors-- Monsanto and DuPont—are the same companies that told us Agent Orange and DDT were safe. Further undermining the No campaign’s credibility is the fact that its biggest funder—Monsanto—produced a series of ads supporting labeling of GMOs in Europe in the 1990s.

A Simple Proposition for California in 2012: The California Right to Know Genetically Engineered Food Act is simple: The initiative would simply require food sold in retail outlets to be labeled if it is produced through genetic engineering, and would not allow these products to be labeled as “natural.” Prop 37 gives companies 18 months to change their labels, and allows for the GMO disclosure to appear wherever they choose on packaging.

Video and text, Right to Know

also . . .

League of Women Voters of California Education Fund Website

For complete listing of all California Propositions and review.

YES on PROP 36

This is a revision of “Three Strikes” Law.to impose life sentence only when new felony conviction is serious or violent. May authorize re-sentencing if third strike conviction was not serious or violent.

also . . .

League of Women Voters of California Education Fund Website

For complete listing of all California Propositions and review.

YES on PROP 35

This increases Penalties and Fines for Human Trafficking.

It's a start.

also . . .

League of Women Voters of California Education Fund Website

For complete listing of all California Propositions and review.

YES on PROP 34 - Local Voices

This would replace the Death Penalty with life imprisonment, but with no possibility of parole.

encinitasyouneedus YouTube channel video clip

SAFE California - Yes on 34 for more information

From Amnesty International - A Pledge

I want to eliminate the risk of executing an innocent person in the state of California forever.
I will vote YES on Prop 34!

I want to save California taxpayers $130 million each year by getting the death penalty off the books. It is a fact – life in prison is far less expensive than the broken death penalty.
I will vote YES on Prop 34!

I want some of these saved funds to be redirected toward helping law enforcement solve more murders and rapes. About half of these crimes go unsolved, in part for lack of adequate resourcing.
I will vote YES on Prop 34!

I believe the death penalty is a distraction and not a solution to violent crimes and we can do better!
I will vote YES on Prop 34!

I believe in making California SAFE. Yes California, we will be better off when we replace the death penalty with justice that works!

The image of Troy Davis is compelling if you followed the years of attempts to save his life in the Georgia justice system.

Amnesty International - SAFE 

also . . .

League of Women Voters of California Education Fund Website

For complete listing of all California Propositions and review.

NO on PROP 33

This would prevent auto insurance companies from charging a higher premium to people who have gaps in their coverage.

When was the last time an insurance billionaire spent $8.4 million on a ballot measure to save consumers money?

Campaign finance law requires that campaigns disclose if they are using paid spokespeople in their television ads, but the insurer-funded Prop 33 campaign didn’t disclose to viewers that it used two employees of its paid PR firm in advertisements to pose as average drivers.

California voters shouldn’t be deceived by one insurance billionaire, Mercury Insurance’s George Joseph, who has spent $8.4 million to pass Prop 33.

Jamie Court at Consumer Watchdog Campaign

Years of excellent investigatory work make Consumer Watchdog a place we recommend a bookmark.

also . . .

League of Women Voters of California Education Fund Website

For complete listing of all California Propositions and review.

NO on PROP 32

This Limits Political Contributions by Working People.

also . . .

League of Women Voters of California Education Fund Website

For complete listing of all California Propositions and review.
This Video just released Oct. 2, 2012

NO on PROP 31

This is the Government Performance and Accountability Act.

Sounds good, but may hand too much over to the Governor. Keeping it local is the way we are heading.


http://votersedge.org/california/ballot-measures/2012/november/prop-31

League of Women Voters of California Education Fund Website

For complete listing of all California Propositions and review.

YES on PROP 30

This is Governor Brown’s measure to eliminate the State deficit by increasing the income tax rate on the wealthy and also make a modest, temporary, increase to the sales tax rate for everyone.

Yes on 30

League of Women Voters of California Education Fund Website

For complete listing of all California Propositions and review.