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Archives for December 2012

The Starting Line – San Diego GOP Sets Out to Test the Definition of Insanity

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San Diego Republicans, in an attempt to prove that they really aren’t the ‘anti-science’ party are conducting a field trial designed to prove the veracity of the commonly used definition of insanity.  You know, the quip that goes, “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.”

A press release issued yesterday proudly announced that, on the heels of getting their asses handed to them in 2012, the local Republican Party branch is sticking with the same management team.   Heh, heh. Quote:

Preparing to take advantage of mid-term election opportunities, the Republican Party of San Diego County tonight elected its leadership team for the 2014 election cycle.

  [Read more…]

Be of good cheer — are you nuts?

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By Kit-Bacon Gressitt

For some years, I’ve collected quips from folks who spurn “the holidays.” Their reasons vary. For some it’s an idiopathic condition, a chronic case of hostility or melancholy. For others, it’s situational, a recent loss, a yucky family member foisting him- or herself into the otherwise peaceful nativity scene, or the like. These quotable Grinches produced, among many others, the following tidbits of holiday cheer — but first, a note: Read no further if foul language gives you the vapors.   [Read more…]

The Starting Line – Potential Supremes Gay Rights Rulings Reverberate

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The decision by the Supreme Court on Friday to hear arguments on two cases relevant to gay rights (Defense of Marriage Act & Calif. Proposition 8) continues to reverberate around the United States. Although no decision is likely until early next summer, talking heads around the nation used the weekend press to contemplate the likely outcomes and their potential impact.

The San Francisco Chronicle highlighted the nervousness many have about any potential decision. The New York Times marveled at the speed that same sex marriage issues were moving through the courts, noting that other major issues had often taken decades to get a hearing. And many newspapers around the country featured articles about couples in Washington State flocking to get married now that a voter approved law is in effect.   [Read more…]

Corporate Censorship in 2012: All the News They Didn’t Deem Fit to Print

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This is not a definition that implies a conspiracy; it is a structural analysis of how our media system works in the real world with all the economic, political, and legal pressures that shape the process of delivering the infotainment we call news.

In last week’s column, I discussed Noam Chomsky and Edward S. Herman’s propaganda model and noted how it was even more relevant today than it was when they first published Manufacturing Consent in 1988 as the concentration of media ownership they decried in the eighties has only continued to increase dramatically.  I ended that column by referring to Project Censored, an organization that has been monitoring the news media and putting out a list of the top 25 “censored” stories of the year since 1976.   [Read more…]

Readers Write: My Plane’s Emergency Landing (The Healing Power of Poetry)

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Two weeks before Hurricane Sandy swept up the East Coast, I boarded a westbound plane at JFK Airport in New York City. I was flying home from the Princeton launch of my new book, Intimate Geography. It was an uneventful flight until we approached the Arizona-California border and our flight was diverted to Los Angeles due to fog over San Diego. As we approached LAX, the Captain, announced that the weather over Lindbergh Field had cleared. We would land in LA, refuel, and then head down to San Diego….   [Read more…]

Calling 5,000 People to Volunteer in Los Angeles, CA! Please Visit www.TheyCountWillYou.org

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It’s time to volunteer, get trained and help count homeless people!

The 2013 Greater Los Angeles Homeless Count, directed by Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA), consists of counting homeless people within the City and County of Los Angeles, excluding Long Beach, Pasadena and Glendale that conduct their own counts. In order to accomplish the nation’s largest local census count of homeless people in scale and scope, LAHSA needs 5,000 volunteers. So LAHSA needs you NOW!   [Read more…]

The Barrio Billboard John – WTF Was He Thinking?

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I had other plans. I was gonna write my next column about Ruben Torres’ 3rd annual Love Thy Neighbor Toy & Clothing Drive that takes place on December 15 at The Spot in Barrio Logan. The drive plans on bringing Christmas to thousands of kids throughout Tijuana, Rosarito, Tecate, and homeless families in San Diego.

Instead I have to write two columns. Do twice the work because some millionaire decided to put up a demeaning billboard in my neighborhood. In the community that I live in. The community I write about. Now I have to write about this jerk. And then write another column about something I care about in time to plug the toy drive that will bring a little joy into some kids’ lives.

On Wednesday December 3 a giant advertising billboard above Union Electric on 28th Street, viewable from Interstate 5, went up. But, instead of advertising some crap that people don’t need, a millionaire named Marc Paskin bought the space for $5000 to advertise his love interest. With a big picture of his smiling, ugly mug the billboard said, “All I Want for Christmas is a Latina Girlfriend.” And then listed an email address, ChristmasLatina@aol.com, to contact him.   [Read more…]

Right-Wingers Whine About Oscar Omission for ‘2016: Obama’s America’ — Here’s Four Simple Reasons Why It Got Snubbed

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By Laura Gottesdiener / AlterNet / Dec. 5, 2012

The directors of the anti-Obama film hilariously claim the film faces discrimination.

Gerald Molan, the director of the extremely anti-Obama movie, 2016: Obama’s America , is mad that his and Dinesh D’Souza’s film wasn’t on the shortlist of documentaries nominated for an Academy Award.

“The action confirms my opinion that the bias against anything from a conservative point of view is dead on arrival in Hollywood circles,” he complained  to the Hollywood Reporter.   [Read more…]

Legal Marijuana Is Good for Children and Other Living Things

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By Amanda Reiman / Alternet / Dec. 4, 2012

When Michael Saffioti’s mother suggested that he turn himself in to the Lynnwood Police Department for missing a court date related to a minor marijuana violation, surely she thought the 22-year-old would get a slap on the wrist. She could not have imagined that her son would not return from the police station. Saffioti struggled with a potentially fatal dairy allergy, experiencing great anxiety associated with the constant threat of a reaction. To calm his anxieties, he was using medical marijuana. Although he lived in Washington, which allows the use of marijuana for medical purposes, Saffioti did not have a recommendation from his doctor. After a few brushes with the law over his marijuana use, Saffioti missed a court date, and went to the police station with his mother, medical records in hand to resolve the issue. But, after one night at Snohomish County Jail, Saffioti died after being served a lethal meal of oatmeal containing dairy. Even more disturbing, Saffioti had told the guards he was having a reaction and they did not believe him, leaving him to die a slow death in his cell.   [Read more…]

ALEC – Centralized Conservative Legislative Clearinghouse

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Why hire individual lobbyists and send them out in search of Congressmen when you can set up a lobbying clearinghouse and have them come to you?

ALEC, the American Legislative Exchange Council, does just that. Funded by the likes of the Koch brothers, Exxon Mobil and PhRMA, a trade association for the pharmaceutical industry, legislators are paid to come to ALEC meetings, where they are wined, dined, and handed “model” legislation to make into law in their state. Through ALEC, corporations vote on “model” legislation alongside politicians behind closed doors.

So instead of the lobbyists fanning out on Capitol Hill to meet with Congressmen individually, public officials are invited en masse to an ALEC meeting off Capitol Hill at a fancy resort, and they had better be there or be square if they want a campaign contribution or a great job when their “public service” career comes to an end.   [Read more…]

The Dove and the Cockerel: Chapter 13

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“I didn’t know Pete was in the Corps,” said Joe.

“What?” said Colin, his voice detached.

“He’s got a bull dog with a helmet and “Semper Fi” tattooed on his right arm here,” said Joe, pointing to Pete’s bicep.

“What does that have to do with anything?” asked Colin rhetorically.

“Nothing. I just didn’t know Pete was a Marine,” said Joe as he shrugged his shoulders and walked away toward the girl’s body on the middle table.

Colin lingered by Pete for a moment and whispered, “I’ll get them, Pete. You rest now, buddy.”   [Read more…]

The Starting Line— San Diego Non-Profit Organizations Under the Gun; Police Seeking Payoffs for Permits

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A move by the San Diego Police Department to eliminate an exemption allowing non-profit organizations to throw fundraisers and other entertainment events without having to pay for city permits is drawing fire from charitable groups. They say the local law enforcement agency is trying to balance their budget off local fundraisers.

The cops are hoping to make the case that the fee exemptions provided to non-profits are in violation of Proposition 26, which requires a legislative supermajority to change fees charged for licenses. They claim businesses paying for permit fees are subsidizing non-profit organizations because of the need to provide police protection at events.

The Worldbeat Cultural Center in Balboa Park, non-profit dedicated to African African-American arts and culture has posted an online petition at signon.org looking for public help.   [Read more…]

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