This weekend, members of the Independent Voter Network team are attending the 2012 California Democratic Convention in San Diego. Kymberly Bays, our lovely new editor, Benjamin Wong, our tech-savvy film and media intern, and myself will be covering the events as they unfold, with live-tweets and updates! Some of the key events planned for this weekend are:

In January, the official unemployment rate dropped from 8.5% to 8.3%, beating experts' expectations.  243,000 jobs were gained, also comfortably beating consensus expectations.  The stock market (DOW) rose by approximately 1.9%.  Unfortunately, not all the news was good.  Digging a bit deeper, several of these gains were negated by the effects of inflation.

The number of humans on the planet has risen exceedingly in the past 200 years. In the 1810’s the population of the world reached its first billion. According to the Population Council, planet earth welcomed its 7^th billion human on the 31^stof October 2011.

A Rasmussen poll released February 8 reveals a tidbit that is at once shocking and unsurprising.  Nearly half of all Americans think a chance collection of citizens could run the country more effectively than the existing Congress.  According to the polling company:

San Diego County still ranks last in food stamp program participation among 22 metro regions across the country, according to the D.C.-based Food Research and Action Center. Statewide, food stamp participation is about 20 percent below the national average of 72 percent.

The California Air Resources Board (CARB), in an effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, has mandated that automakers put 1.4 million electric and hybrid vehicles on the road by 2025. Not only is this potentially 'not do-able' as stated, it also has a loophole which prevents the plan from succeeding.

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