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Archives for 2013

To Bike or Not To Bike? That is a good question.

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By Brigitte Taylor

I love the idea of cycling all over town and the trend to encourage people (and currently women, in particular, to ride bikes.

Ideas are great, but as a result of biking in Mission Valley, Old Town, North Park, Downtown, College Area, City Heights and various parts of the city, I definitely have a new take on what it means to share the road with vehicles. I used to ride my bike frequently until I was knocked off by a driver. Thankfully, I was not injured but after that, I limited my rides to mountain biking and bike paths where road sharing is not an issue.

I decided that it was time to start riding on city streets again last year. Riding my bike on El Cajon Boulevard, I must admit, can be daunting. Depending on where you are riding, some of the lanes are so narrow that the cars parked on the street will position a cyclist in the middle of the lane for vehicles meaning that we literally must share the same lane with vehicles. The traffic is quite rapid and, in my experience, people are fairly hasty and do not drive in a manner or speed that promotes comfortable riding of a bike in the middle of the street. I noted the streets have designated lanes for the bikes; however, these lanes are in or near the same spaces along with vehicles. While I have noted more courtesy among drivers, I still think there should be a designated area specifically for bicycles.   [Read more…]

Dark Horse Coffee Roasters – Now Open in Normal Heights

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A new entrant to the burgeoning coffee roasting scene in San Diego has opened as of Saturday, January 19th: Dark Horse Coffee Roasters in Normal Heights. Located at 3260 Adams Avenue, next to the Normal Heights Post Office, Dark Horse joins the ever-expanding array of businesses that have located on Adams Avenue in recent years. Soon to join Dark Horse will be the double-team of Polite Provisions and Soda & Swine just down the street at 30th Street and Adams Avenue.

Owned and operated by Daniel Charlson, Dark Horse features house-roasted coffee (no espresso) served in a variety of ways: french press, pour over, and cold brewed. The pour-over selections when I visited were Brazil, El Salvador, and Papua New Guinea. I opted for the Papua New Guinea pour over and purchased a mug since the shop is currently in ‘soft opening’ mode and hasn’t yet received their porcelain products for ‘to stay’ use. The coffee was good, on the dark side but not bitter.   [Read more…]

San Diego For Free: Get Lost in the Map & Atlas Museum of La Jolla

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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: 7825 Fay Ave Suite LL-A, La Jolla, CA 92037 (Located in lower courtyard of building)

Free Hours: Wednesdays & Thursdays, 1st and 3rd Saturdays of each month. Also by appointment for groups – call 855-653-6277

Best For: Travelers, geography whizzes, explorers, navigators, the lost

Website: mamlj.org

As the first month of a new year comes to a close you may still be thinking about (or drafting) resolutions for 2013. If those resolutions include a goal to travel somewhere the Map & Atlas Museum of La Jolla may be a good resource for you to further ponder a destination. The museum has a wide variety of maps dating from the 15th through the 20th century and is sure to inspire even the biggest homebody to sail for distant seas.

I received a copy of Maphead by Ken Jennings (of Jeopardy fame) for Christmas in early December and had just finished the book when I saw an article about the Map & Atlas Museum in the San Diego Reader. I decided I had to go and visited later that month.
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The Starting Line – Desperation on the Right: Where is All This Extreme Rhetoric Going?

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Having lost the November elections and (for the time being) the vaunted fiscal cliff budget/debt ceiling showdown, GOP politicians are acting increasingly frantic.  Polls show that public support for the party and its policies is continuing to drop.

Is this behavior simply irrational venting or is it a desperate attempt to stir up acts outside the normal bounds of the political process?

Exhibit A today is House Speaker John Boehner, who told a group of Republicans on Tuesday he believes the primary goal of President Obama’s second term is to “annihilate the Republican Party.” From The Hill:

“Given what we heard yesterday about the president’s vision for his second term, it’s pretty clear to me that he knows he can’t do any of that as long as the House is controlled by Republicans,” Boehner said in a speech Tuesday to The Ripon Society. “So we’re expecting over the next 22 months to be the focus of this administration as they attempt to annihilate the Republican Party.

“And let me just tell you, I do believe that is their goal — to just shove us into the dustbin of history.”

  [Read more…]

The NFL: Where Dr. King’s Dream Goes to Die

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By Dave Zirin / The Nation / January 21, 2013

As the United States celebrates the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., with the swearing-in of this country’s first African-American president, there will no doubt be commentary on the great gap between ceremony and reality. It’s the gap between the public spectacle of President Barack Obama’s inaugural oath—sworn on one of Dr. King’s Bibles no less—and a country still ravaged by what King called “the giant triplets of racism, militarism and economic injustice.”

In addition to the inaugural festivities, this weekend was also marked by a spectacle that will rival or exceed the inauguration in passion and interest: the National Football League playoffs. NFL football, by a country mile, is the most popular sport in the United States. It also stands as a living monument of the distance we still must travel to slay King’s “giant triplets.” I write this, in full disclosure, as someone who follows the sport religiously, but struggles to not be blind to the politics the NFL pumps through its play.   [Read more…]

Shout-out at the PB Corral – Residents Fight for Conditional Booze Permits

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By sub-committee

The corral for easy police DUI checkpoints, and multi-other crime/infractions, from public urination and vandalism, to armed robberies and violence, (sponsored the city penal industry) due to the alcohol party ambiance that been the sustained reputation of Pacific Beach for the past 20+ years , has become the focus for a grassroots citizen protest in the form of, yes, a good old PUBLIC PETITION to request/demand the city and the state to establish local control of alcohol licensing, in the form of the “C.U.P.” (Conditional Use Permit).

“After years of protest to the officials in both state and local agencies, including our own judicial forum, and getting no responsible answers from them to a problem that was getting worse and worse, we have decided to organize THE PEOPLE,” said Scott Chipman, one of the chief organizers of this grassroots endeavor.   [Read more…]

Sex in San Diego: 10 Interesting Facts About Your Brain on Sex

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By Liz Langley / Alternet

Remember the Seinfeld episode where Jerry’s penis has an argument with his brain and loses? It’s a classic: we’ve all been torn between love/lust and logic. (If you haven’t, check for a belly button because this isn’t your home world.) This brilliant bit of comedy is totally relatable but a little misleading in one way: the brain is the one that sends signals to the penis in the first place. It’s pretty reliably running things, IMing the other body parts like crazy, regulating chemicals, making calculations and responding to stimuli, half the time without you even knowing about it. There’s a reason “the brains of the outfit” denotes someone who is really in charge.

So why does the brain sometimes signal us to do stupid things, especially in regard to sex and relationships? Isn’t that a little like one conjoined twin punching the other in the mouth? How does the brain decide who attracts us? What is it doing behind our backs, and how do we change as we mature?

Here are some of the ways the joys, quandaries and mechanics of sex are all in your head.   [Read more…]

The Starting Line – California Tobacco Taxes on the Agenda for 2014

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A group that includes Ca. Lt. Governor Gavin Newsom is backing an initiative for the mid-term elections to add $1 per pack to the state tobacco tax, and use the money for college scholarships and financial aid.

An early version of the initiative filed last month indicates revenues with be directed exclusively through the California Student Aid Commission. Monies, as much a $750 in its first year, would be kept separate from the state’s general fund.

Supporters of the tax are optimistic about their chances, pointing out the relatively low level of the existing tax, the narrow margin of the vote on Proposition 29 in 2012, and the fact this measure will avoid a fight not over bureaucracy and research by channeling the proceeds to college tuitions.

Inside: More Gunnutia, Earth Day Update, Corruption on Wall Street….   [Read more…]

CEQA Reform and Transit Planning

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by Robert Cruickshank/California High Speed Rail Blog

Last Saturday the Planning and Conservation League held a daylong symposium on the California Environmental Quality Act. Coming amidst a concerted effort to reform the 43-year old law, the PCL wanted to use the day as an opportunity to rally progressives and environmentalists to defend the status quo and oppose any changes to CEQA. However, the day’s discussions revealed a series of divisions among the ostensible allies regarding CEQA’s future. While the PCL wants to frame the debate as one of heroic environmental and community advocates resisting evil oil companies and sprawlmongers who want to destroy environmental protections, the reality is far more complex.

  [Read more…]

Obama’s Organizing for Action: A Boost for Progressives

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by Randy Shaw/BeyondChron

President Obama’s second inaugural address struck a populist tone, but the real news for progressives came last Friday when it was announced that Obama’s campaign organization would continue under a new name, Organizing for Action. Headed by Obama 2012 campaign manager Jim Messina, the new organization will initially focus on three key progressive issues: gun control, immigration reform, and climate change. The decision to use the Obama campaign base to mobilize around issues reverses the mistake made after the 2008 victory, when the huge Obama for America grassroots base was cut adrift from mobilizing behind the President’s first term agenda.

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A Different Kind of Listening: John Cage on 45th Street

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It is only half past January and I have had it up to here, estoy harta, with the right wing rage and whining that followed the election; enough, basta already, to the manufactured misery of the fiscal cliff and debt ceiling threats that immediately shut out the voices of citizens who made their intentions and desires known in the November election. There is a ringing in my ears from the dreadful noise, and I worry about my ability to hear what is really important and stay focused. …
  [Read more…]

California Budget Outlook Brightens Considerably, Despite Laments of Phil Mickelson

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Professional golfer cites California tax policy as cause for dire outlook for his personal finances despite tens of millions in earnings.

A Monday story in the UT-San Diego told an interesting tale of the hardships faced by professional athletes living in California. These poor guys just don’t make enough money to survive, it seems, because the state and federal governments are taxing them to death!

I kid, of course, but apparently the passage of Prop 30 in last November’s election is enough to make some of California’s wealthier residents consider looking for someplace else to call home. Phil Mickelson, one of the world’s top professional golfers and a San Diego native—and local hero the stature of Tony Gwynn and the late Junior Seau—lamented in a press gaggle at a tournament in Palm Springs over the weekend that he was going to have to make some “drastic changes” in his lifestyle because of the way his rate of taxation is going up. He even decided to drop his bid to become part of the ownership group that recently purchased the San Diego Padres.

But revenues in the State of California had to be increased, and the voters spoke loud and clear when they decided to not only raise the marginal tax rates on the wealthiest state residents, but to raise the state sales tax, effectively spreading the pain to EVERYONE in the state, among other measures.   [Read more…]

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