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Gates Foundation gives $750 million to Global Fund to Combat AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria David Brown Washington Post January 26, 2012

Obama says nation must address inequality Scott Wilson and David Nakamura Washington Post January 24, 2011

Stephen Murdock in his home. In the 14 months since he lost his $11-an-hour construction job, his options have been whittled down to this morning routine of cold calls to friends and neighbors. His weekly unemployment benefits had expired. His food stamps had been trimmed to less than $50 a week. His bank account was in the red, his hot water was turned off, and he no longer had health insurance to treat a pinched nerve or bouts of depression.  As South Carolina prepares to hold its Republican primary, the economically depressed state already has revealed a definitive issue of the 2012 presidential campaign: How can government best serve a record number of jobless and poor? 

For a jobless, struggling South Carolina man, reality isn’t a political debate. Entitlement society? Opportunity society? Steven Murdock sees little of either. Eli Saslow Washington Post January 19, 2012

In memory of Martin Luther King
Why (The King of Love is Dead)
Nina Simone
(song in tribute, written immediately after MLK's assassination on April 4, 1968)

A tariff on imported ethanol, which expired December 31, 2011, along with a tax credit that cost $6 billion in 2011, aided producers like Marquis Energy, which operates an ethanol plant in Hennepin, Ill. Nearly 40 percent of the United States corn crop goes to ethanol and byproducts.  The use of corn for ethanol has contributed to higher food prices worldwide.  Photo: Peter Wynn Thompson/New York Times

After three decades, tax break for ethanol expires Robert Pear New York Times January 1, 2012  

Harder for Americans to rise from lower rungs Jason DeParle New York Times January 4, 2012

 American demand for year-round organic fruits and vegetables has incited a farming boom in the arid deserts of the Baja Peninsula in Mexico. The explosive growth in commercial cultivation is putting stress on the water table. In some areas, wells have run dry this year, meaning that small subsistence farmers cannot grow crops.  Photo: New York Times

Organic agriculture may be outgrowing its ideals Elisabeth Rosenthal New York Times December 30, 2011

Wealth gap widens between US Congress and constituents  (Congress median wealth $750,000; constituents $20,500)  Peter Whoriskey Washington Post December 26, 2011

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program is now helping 46 million people afford an adequate diet Stacey Dean Center on Budget and Policy Priorities December 19, 2011 Also see Taking Stock of the Safety Net, Part 3: Helping Families Afford Decent Housing Taking Stock of the Safety Net, Part 2: Meeting Families’ Basic Needs Through TANF Taking Stock of the Safety Net, Part 1: Overview

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