Jeff Reifman

Cabaret for Change - Benefit Show at the Columbia City Theatre

Cabaret for Change is only 2 weeks away! Seating is limited so get your tickets today. CfC is a show put on by my most excellent housemate/yogini Karissa.

Come to the Columbia City Theatre for a story-and-song-filled evening to raise money for Bellefonte Community College in Shillong, India. More on the college and Karissa's time there below...

The cabaret includes a smorgasbord of songs, running the gamut from Aida to Mary Poppins, sung by some of Seattle’s best talent: Jeff Church (ArtsWest’s Plaid Tidings), Molli Corcoran (Lyric Light Opera's South Pacific), Jadd Davis (5th Avenue’s A Christmas Story, Inverse Opera), Christian Duhamel (SCT’s Frog and Toad), Jessica Low (Village Theatre’s Annie Get Your Gun) and Vanessa Miller (Second Story Rep’s Spelling Bee, Wooden O's A Comedy of Errors). Local desserts, fantastic raffle prizes, including massages and a sailing trip, and a visit from an Indian nun complete this evening of entertainment, all while contributing to an excellent cause.

Cabaret for Change is Wednesday, February 8th at 8pm at the Columbia City Theater.

My housemate Karissa is putting on this fun-filled, entertaining show to benefit a school she spent time teaching at in India in 2010 in Shillong, Meghalaya in northeast India. These are not “ordinary students” by American educational standards. These are students aged 15 to 40. They are students who have either failed out or dropped out of high school. And they are all being given a rare and precious second chance at education. Thanks to the efforts of a few devoted nuns and a village training center, these students are able to learn enough English to pass the 10th-grade level of a high school equivalency test. The current center helps students reach for a better future for themselves and for their families. But it’s not enough. In 2010, 70% of high school students in the state of Meghalaya dropped out. Of the students who took the final high school exam, 50% failed. There are already many more students than the sisters can hold in their makeshift, bare classroom. They want to offer more training opportunities in basic literacy, business, and relevant vocations. Your help can make a difference.

If you are unable to attend the event but would like to make a contribution to Bellefonte Community College please send checks made out to Daughters of Mary Help of Christians to Karissa Bryant at PO Box 12629, Seattle WA 98111-4629. Or consider buying a ticket for a friend instead. Donations and tickets are tax-deductible. See you February 8th! 

Jeff Harris' Self Portrait Project - Time

I hope everyone watches this video of my friend Jeff Harris' ongoing (currently 13 year) self-portrait project.

Ladies of the World - Flight of the Conchords

Why haven't I seen this one before ... "I missed out... so good... it was awesome..."

 

How to Occupy the Law - Yes! Magazine

Update: Now on Common Dreams as well...

Yes! has republished our model Community Bill of Rights template for Occupy (and all) communities! Check it out!

Gotye - Somebody that I Used to Know

The Complete Mac - How I get the most from the Apple Mac iPhone iPad Ecosystem

This is a bit of a work in progress ... but check out The Complete Mac, which provides an easily browsable summary of all the products and accessories I recommend for Mac, iPhone and iPad users. Enjoy! 

To Refute Claims, Microsoft Should Disclose Its Royalty Tax Payments

Last week, after John Burbank, Executive Director of the Economic Opportunity Institute, wrote an editorial condemning the company's hypocritical record of tax dodging while advocating for more education funding, Jeffrey Reading, Microsoft's Senior PR Manager wrote The Herald to refute the claims Burbank made (Burbank based his article on my reporting):

"Mr. Burbank does not include sourcing to support his claims regarding Microsoft’s Nevada licensing, which is part of a very complicated piece of state tax law. Much of the information regarding this issue is misinformation primarily spread by a blogger, and no state official has ever provided any factual data supporting his claims."

I stand behind my research and all of my claims. If Microsoft wishes to prove that it paid Washington State Royalty Taxes during the years 1998 - 2010, it should disclose its worldwide licensing revenue and its Royalty Tax payments for this time period. It would be quite simple for the company to provide these two sets of numbers and would put the issue to rest once and for all (as I have done here). 

Read the full post

 

John Burbank Tells Legislature to Target Microsoft

In his Everett Herald column today, John Burbank, Executive Director of the Economic Opportunity Institute, zeroes in on Microsoft's tax dodge and its harmful effects on the state's educational system. Read more

Model Community Bill of Rights Template for Occupy Communities

It's out: We’ve published the model Community Bill of Rights template for Occupy communities that wish to begin mobilized initiative campaigns in their region. Think of the template as a menu to pick and choose what’s important in your community. It’s meant to provide a framework and a starting point, not necessarily to be used in its entirety. The text is derived from ongoing national and global work by the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund (CELDF) such as Ecuador adding Rights for Nature to its Constitution, Pittsburgh stripping drilling corporations of corporate constitutional “rights,” such as corporate “personhood” and Spokane’s Community Bill of Rights initiative which narrowly missed passing by 1,000 votes last month. Those efforts have joined over a hundred other municipal campaigns that have driven into law local bills of rights.

WooT!

Don't Fall for the Frame: Washington State Doesn't Have a Budget Deficit

Link