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Archives for November 2012

Thankful for What?

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By K-B, et al

With Thanksgiving upon us last week, I was curious about what inspired gratitude among the givers of thanks, so I sent the following message to some people I knew and some I didn’t.

Hi, folks,
I’m collecting answers to the following question for a column — if you have a moment, please respond: What are you thankful for?  (And, yes, dear darling sister, I know “for” is a preposition, but occasionally vernacular is the better part of grammar.)
Love,
K-B

In retrospect, I admit it was a cowardly question, because I had no certain answer of my own. Whatever teetered on the tip of my tongue felt trite or self-absorbed or even boring (a horror for wearers of my family genes). I was seeking inspiration in other folks’ gratitude — and I found it.   [Read more…]

Time for a Change at Chargers Park

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Norv Turner is the convenient scapegoat, but not necessarily the problem.

I have generally tried not to be overly, publicly, vocal about sharing my opinions on what’s happening with the Chargers over the last few years. I have a platform to share my views with a wider audience than most, and yet I’ve been reticent to use it. And I’m reticent to use it now, because it will merely look like I’m piling on. Or sour grapes. Or something.

But enough is enough. Something’s gotta give out there in Murphy Canyon. This team has been in a sort of death spiral for several years now, and it’s painfully obvious that the current regime is incapable of preventing the Titanic from going down.

  [Read more…]

Readers Write: San Diego Community and Workers Stand Up and Speak Out Against Walmart

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This article was submitted to us via our Facebook Page.

On Friday, November 23, 2012, the day after Thanksgiving, the biggest shopping day of the year, community members and workers protested outside of several Wal-Mart locations throughout the country.

In San Diego the community focused on ten locations including one located in the College Grove shopping center.  As shoppers came into the store community members greeted them with stickers for shoppers to wear inside the store that read “We Support Wal-Mart Workers”.  Many of the community were very supportive and one shopper said “she would wear the sticker proudly and ask management why they retaliated against it’s own employees”.   [Read more…]

The Starting Line – Sorry Republicans, Being Nice to Latinos Won’t Save You from Extinction

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Tax fighter and former libertarian Richard Rider took the virtual podium at conserve blog SDRostra this weekend to ruminate about and refute the notion that the Republican Party is headed for extinction.

He starts out by comparing the GOP’s defeat with Barry Goldwater with its most recent losses, noting that, despite predictions of doom and gloom, the party did rise again. In the 1964 election LBJ received 61.1% of the national popular vote

And I agree with Rider that one electoral loss, no matter how lopsided, does not equate with the death of a political party.   [Read more…]

The Starting Line – San Diego Congressmen Get Campaign Contributions for Domestic Drone Support

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Chances are you’ve never heard of the “drone caucus” in the US House of Representatives, officially known as the House Unmanned Systems Caucus.  Yet they are considered among the most powerful groups on the Hill. And participating in the caucus is a sure way for Congressmen to enrich their campaign coffers.   [Read more…]

Christmas on Earth? Try Buying Nothing

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Here we go again: the day after Black Friday was filled with the now all-too-familiar news of shopping mayhem.

There was the man who threatened to stab his fellow shoppers for pushing his kids outside a Sacramento K-mart, the melee of frenzied Georgia shoppers mauling each other to get at a stack of cell phones in a Walmart, the trampling that followed after a man brandished a gun in a line outside a Sears in Texas, the gang fight in a Michigan mall, arrests of hysterical consumers in Florida, the vicious brawling over lingerie, etc. etc.

This ritual has come to define us as much or more than Thanksgiving.   [Read more…]

The Sun Peeking through the Clouds

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I’m still riding high as a result of the elections. It was so great seeing so many propositions that I like pass, so satisfying having the president remain where he is, so refreshing having a mayor who is a friend. I mean, hey, I’ve been voting since 1959 and this has been a real new experience for people of my voting kind.

  [Read more…]

Twinkies’ Twisted Tale: Junk Food Devoured By Junk Bonds

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All the late night talk shows laughed it up over the supposed demise of Twinkies, Ho Hos, Ding Dongs, Wonder Bread etc as the news came out that Hostess Brands was going bankrupt. But delve beneath the surface and you will find something more akin to a Shakespearean tragedy than talk show banter. It’s a tale involving two unions, one private equity fund, two hedge funds and a whole cast of former CEOs. There is sacrifice, greed and betrayal. 18,000 workers will be losing their jobs while some vulture capitalists will be walking away with millions. Another vulture capitalist will itself have been devoured in the process.   [Read more…]

Field of View: A Cloudy Day at Dog Beach

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It’s been chilly at Dog Beach lately, but the pups don’t seem to mind. Located at the end of Voltaire Street in Ocean Beach, Dog Beach offers a place for the pooches to unwind, socialize and get their feet wet all at the same time.   [Read more…]

Walmart Retaliates Against Black Friday Activists

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By Adele M. Stan / Alternet / Nov. 22, 2012

As Black Friday approached, the honchos at Walmart, the largest employer in the United States, found themselves at a loss to respond to a nationwide rebellion within the ranks of their near-captive workers — people who work for an average wage of $8.81 per hour, according to The National Memo, often in areas where Walmart is the only game in town for a job if you don’t have a college degree (or even if you do). And so it seems they started making stuff up, and pulling strings — in at least two locations — to get local police to do their bidding.   [Read more…]

4 Fascinating Things Marijuana Legalization Has Already Taught Us

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By Kristen Gwynnn / Alternet / Nov. 18, 2012

Unroll the tapestries, twist up a joint and crank up the Bob Marley jams! The stoners have token — excuse me, spoken — and dope is now legal in two states.

That’s the kind of ridiculous banter pundits have employed to discuss a historic moment in US democracy: the legalization of marijuana in Washington and Colorado.   [Read more…]

Michigan Republicans Offer a Tax Credit for Fetuses After Cutting Tax Credits for Children

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By Lauren Kelley / Alternet / Nov. 23, 2012

“Come January,” reports the New York Times, “more than two-thirds of the states will be under single-party control, raising the prospect that bold partisan agendas.” That’s one way of putting it. In Michigan, where Republicans hold a super-majority in the state legislature, we can see how that may play out in the redder states, as lawmakers toy with the idea of a $160 tax credit for fetuses starting at 12 weeks of gestation.

As The Guardian reports that the bill is designed “to recognize that mothers have additional bills to pay.” I think we can all agree with that, but the rationale is hard to swallow in a state that last year cut tax credits for children — actual breathing, eating kids.   [Read more…]

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