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Archives for December 2012

Upon Reflection: What I Believe

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by John Lawrence

Well the New Year is upon us, and it’s time to take stock and see if I can make any sense out of the goings on of the last year and the interaction of reality with my own mind. This is my crack at it.

1. I believe that gun ownership should be a privilege and not a right. The 2nd Amendment was constucted to be similar to the Swiss model in which citizens formed a militia for national defense. There was no standing army. That was the original intent of the framers of the Constitution for exactly the same reason: there was no standing army. Today that rationale is not relevant. Even Switzerland has moved the guns from homes to depots to prevent what little gun violence takes place there.   [Read more…]

12/30: Live Music and Art at The Casbah Features an Eclectic Mixture of Styles, Genres and Perspectives

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by Brigitte Taylor/SuiteBrigitte.blogspot.com

Local artists Martin Nasim, True Delorenzo and Nick Bahula will be displaying art and painting live as part of the December 30, 2012 Casbah show with the following bands: The Amalgamated, Karlos Paez of B*Side Players, The Soulfires and Steve Harris of The Styletones. Tickets are on sale at www.casbahmusic.com. Doors open at 8:30 p.m.

The show will begin with Steve Harris of The Styletones performing his original soul music followed by instrumental funk band The Soulfires (formerly The Fireeaters) and continuing with the local ska act, The Amalgamated. Karlos Paez, lead singer of the B*Side Players will perform with special guests. We rarely see a configuration of musicians and artists of such varying styles and genres. The following local area artists will accompany the bands’ performances, displaying and selling their artwork:   [Read more…]

The Starting Line(ish): Filner Rips Congress … All of Them

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Mayor Bob Filner calls out dysfunctional Congress; Starbuck’s embarks on a “Come Together” campaign; Wingnuts decry Sandy Hook as a government conspiracy; Balboa Park Golf Course getting a makover

In an interview yesterday with KPCC, the Los Angeles area public radio station, San Diego Mayor Bob Filner pulled no punches in criticizing Congress and the Congressional leaders he left behind after 20 years to run for Mayor.

The bottom line, the reason he chose to run for mayor instead of returning to Congress for what would have been his 11th term, was the same thing Filner said to SDFP colleague Annie Lane and I when we sat down with the then mayoral candidate back in April for the OB Rag: Congress is a complete, dysfunctional mess.

The mantra of shrinking government down to a size “where you can drown it in a bathtub,” as Grover Norquist likes to say, became the overriding principle in the House in 1994 when Newt Gingrich first became Speaker. Since then—and especially since 2010—it’s only gotten worse.

“I couldn’t believe the kind of people who had come and taken power,” Filner said of the Tea Party wave that took control of the House. “Many of them had never had any government experience. They had no respect as it were for government per se. I mean, I don’t know why you run for government office with the intent to close up government.”   [Read more…]

The Children’s Pool in La Jolla – Visit the Harbor Seals

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San Diego For Free: Children’s Pool in La Jolla

A weekly column dedicated to sharing the best sights and activities in San Diego at the best price – free! We have a great city and you don’t need to break the bank to experience it.

Location: La Jolla, map here

Best For: Wave watchers, seal gazers, sandy feet aficionados, soul searchers

Near downtown La Jolla is the Children’s Pool, a small beach protected from ocean waves by a sea wall. The wall was built in 1931 to create a calm area of water for swimming. Today the Children’s Pool is the center of a battle between those wishing to see it refurbished and preserved as a swimming area and those that advocate for protection of the harbor seals that have established a home at the Children’s Pool in the past two decades.
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The Fright Wing: Why So-Called Conservatives Get So Wild and Crazy.

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By Bob Dorn

Until recently, I’ve been mystified by the emotional fits and righteousness that seems to dominate the politics of people who identify themselves as conservatives. From sneering condescension right up to murderous invective, the rhetoric of those who consider themselves more holy than the rest of us has blown past the bounds of realism and into a sort of hallucinatory inferno of loose hatred and speculation.

And it hasn’t taken much to set it off.

Mention the U.N. or World Court, or the possibility of expanding voting hours, or improving our infrastructure and you’re likely to unleash an avalanche of accusations and epithets– one worlder, voter fraud, socialist idiot, moron, traitor.

Infrastructure? Voting? Are those bad?   [Read more…]

Who’s Winning the ‘War on Christmas’?

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Wishing Everyone a Happy/Merry……?

By Beau Grosscup

The grocery cashier handed me my change and receipt. With a cherry voice and sparkle in her eye, she said: “Merry Christmas.”

“Happy Hanukah to you” I sweetly replied. A frown crept across her brow.

“I’m not Jewish,’ she said.

“I’m not Christian,” I responded. I walked away leaving a slightly confused Christian cashier pondering what had just happened.

I had no doubt what had occurred.

For over a decade of Decembers, the Christian Right, led by Bill O’Reilly of Fox News cable, has charged a War on Christmas (and thus Christianity) is under way.   [Read more…]

Sex in San Diego: The Psychology of Pick-Up Lines

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By Scott Barry Kaufman, Ph.D. / Alternet

Every relationship begins with that first step. Some people never get past that first step. First impressions matter, and our opening few lines can either energize the interaction or cause the other person to look around for the nearest exit. Gratefully, psychologists have spent years of celibacy trying to understand the psychology behind pick-up lines for your own benefit.

In the ’80s Chris Kleinke and colleagues analyzed the effectiveness of 100 pick-up lines across a number of different settings, including bars, supermarkets, restaurants, laundromats, and beaches. They found three main categories of openers:   [Read more…]

The Starting Line(ish): Armed Coup at FreedomWorks

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FreedomWorks nearly falls apart during armed mutiny; NRA leverages massacres to ramp up gun sales; Changes could be coming to San Diego billboard ordinances; #17 Aztecs fall to #3 Wildcats

You just can’t make this stuff up. As you may or may not know, the TEA Party Astroturf group FreedomWorks has been going through a bit of turmoil lately. Most of the group’s troubles only came to light after the Nov. 6 election. Still, even though this is fringe right wing politics—we’re talking the nuttiest of the nutty—no one expected Dick Armey to come marching into FreedomWorks HQ with an armed escort to conduct a hostile takeover. Even in TEA Party politics that seemed like a bit much.

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Same Sex Parenting Becoming ‘Normal’ in an Evolving Society

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As same sex marriage becomes more accepted by mainstream America, so too does the idea of same sex couples raising families of their own.

by Kit-Bacon Gressitt/Excuse Me I’m Writing

On Family Day in 2009, President Obama proclaimed that, “Whether children are raised by two parents, a single parent, grandparents, a same-sex couple, or a guardian, families encourage us to do our best and enable us to accomplish great things [emphasis added].”

The proclamation represented a culmination, of sorts, the definitive result of nearly four decades of advocacy for same-sex parenting, endorsed for the first time by a U.S. president. Today, same-sex parenting as a social institution has come of age in popular media and across the country.   [Read more…]

The Holidays are the Hardest

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Being a widow is difficult if the relationship between the two spouses was a good one. There are times that being a widow is harder than other times. Like now. The Holidays. Being a widow and having 12 grandchildren becomes quite expensive and for the first time in many years I am unable to gift my children as well as their children. Fortunately they understand that I can no longer give boxes of band aids with funny pictures on them to my youngest grandchildren. I don’t know when it happened but they have outgrown the “bandage years.” Now they want more expensive items – they won’t be getting those either – but it doesn’t stop the “wanting.” So not being able to give what I would like to give is a downer but livable.
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Wishing You Peace and Joy!

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You’ve probably noticed that the SanDiegoFreePress has been a little “quieter” the past few days. Some of us are out of town visiting family. The rest of us are in town enjoying the company of family and friends. You are no doubt doing the same. But that doesn’t mean that we have gone silent. We will continue to post original content throughout the week, so please keep checking back to see what is new and join in the conversation.

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What’s In a Name?

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By Fred Moramarco

It’s December.
It’s Christmas.
It’s the Yuletide.
It’s the Holiday Season.
It’s Kwanzaa.
It’s Chanukah.
It’s the Winter Solstice.   [Read more…]

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