By Michael Steinberg / Black Rain Press
In this issue of Nuclear Shutdown News we continue our summer travels in pursuit of no nukes stories… Of course we’d love to be in Greece, checking out the unfolding “Brother can you spare a few billion drachmas” melodrama. But Greece doesn’t have any nuclear reactors to shut down, or nuclear weapons to dismantle.
Not so in Germany, one of Greece’s major predators, uh, creditors, that is. [Read more…]
By Joe Flynn
Back to basics. All money in the city’s funds, coffers, treasure chests, you pick the title, is taxpayer money. In the effort to fund the Stadium Environmental Impact Report (EIR), the unanticipated refund from the state is being treated as “free” money.
Perhaps the term “refund” got lost in the shuffle; a refund usually implies that the money you paid or over paid, is being refunded, i.e., given back. It comes back to the city with the same restrictions that it had when it was paid. It may not be earmarked for a particular use, but that only implies that it goes back into the general fund. [Read more…]
By Connie Beck
You probably realize by now that the most water-wasting thing in your landscape is your lawn. So how to get rid of the existing lawn so you can plant a beautiful new drought tolerant landscape this fall…
If it is a cool season type grass (fescue, bluegrass and ryegrass types) then your removal is easy. You can quit watering and cover it with 6” of mulch after mowing it to the ground. Or you can mow it to the ground and dump 3” of compost on it and then turn it over, using a spading fork or a rototiller. If you have ANY bermudagrass or St. Augustine this won’t work. You will have to work on those areas in one of the following ways. [Read more…]
By Daniel Firoozi
For a “moderate” mayor, San Diego’s Kevin Faulconer sure enjoys immersing himself in far-right political organizations.
In the coming days the first term Republican will be attending the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), a conservative group that quite literally churns out bills for legislators to copy-paste and ratify as laws back at home. Now, a Republican attending a vaguely conservative club seems innocuous enough, but a quick background check demonstrates that ALEC is anything but a mainstream political organization. [Read more…]
By Francine Busby / San Diego Democratic Party
Sometimes we just need a little sunshine. That shouldn’t be too much to ask here in Southern California. Unfortunately, a dark cloud is headed our way in the form of a shadowy lobbying organization that buys loyalty from state legislatures with untraceable corporate dollars and threatens the very fabric of our democracy.
Exaggeration? Not even a little. Concerned yet? You should be.
The American Legislative Exchange Council, the people who brought us Citizens United, is a “bill mill” funded by corporations and billionaires. It creates “model legislation” by and for industries, which right-wing legislators then take back to their statehouses and enact into law. (Sometimes they even forget to remove the ALEC watermark from the proposed bill or change the name of the state.) [Read more…]
By Mark Lane
Last year, we saw the worst of what our country has to offer, and then we saw the best of what our country has to offer. The movement of compassion that was born that day was amazing, it was enveloping. We saw our country come together like it never has. These people, these human beings fleeing from incredible crime, violence and poverty, coming to the United States of America, looking for shelter, refuge. They came knowing that their travels would be dangerous, life threatening. They came because they had no choice.
On that hot summer day, one year ago today, we saw women and children exercising their right under the laws of the United States of America to ask for asylum, being harassed, insulted, abused, terrorized. Then we saw millions of Americans revolt in compassion. It was amazing, it was overwhelming. When my family saw this play out on the news, we knew we had to act, we knew we had to show our children the counter action to this hate, and not with words, but with actions. [Read more…]
By Michael Steinberg / Black Rain Press
Nuclear Shutdown News chronicles the continuing decline of the US nuclear industry, and the efforts of those who are working to bring about a nuclear free future. As US nukes increasingly approach or surpass their 40 year lives, they are becoming more qnd more dangerous and outdated. They need to be shut down and replaced with renewable energy sources—now!
1. Balloon Shuts Down Indian Point Plant
On June 16 the New York state The Journal News reported, “a balloon tangled in electrical wires led to a sequence of events resulting in the shutdown of the Indian Point nuclear plant,” which is located 35 miles up the Hudson River from New York City. [Read more…]
By Francine Busby / San Diego Democratic Party
We’ve all been sick. I have been flattened by illnesses that have rendered me completely useless. I have had to miss work to stay home with a sick child when they can barely get out of bed, let alone function in a classroom. I have received those dreaded phone calls informing me of a family member with a medical emergency. Sometimes life just gets in the way, and our health or the health of our families has to take priority.
When we think of man’s inhumanity to man, we don’t usually think of employees who risk losing wages or even a job if they are too sick to go work or if they need to care for a sick child. At the moment, 40 million workers (38% of the American workforce) lack any paid sick leave, according to a study by the Center for American Progress. The United States is the only developed country in the world without laws requiring access to paid sick leave.
But we’re making progress. On July 1, California will join the states of Connecticut and Massachusetts in guaranteeing paid sick leave. [Read more…]
By Robert Little / The OB Rag
There is a lot of action at the corner of Pacific Beach Drive and Crown Point Drive in Pacific Beach these days. The visible construction of grading for a small restoration project behind the marsh fence started in May of this year but the preparations started more than two years ago and the covering of the bare sandy soil will take at least six months to complete. The work is restricted to the portion of the marsh owned by the University of California and managed by UCSD. [Read more…]
Lifeguards Deserve Presumptive Coverage
By Ed Harris / The OB Rag
When a San Diego Firefighter or Police officer is injured or contracts an illness while performing their job, the City provides them with presumptive health coverage. Presumptive coverage includes meningitis, tuberculosis and hepatitis, to name a few.
Since San Diego Lifeguards are part of the San Diego Fire Department, one would think they’d be provided that same presumptive coverage. They are not.
By Dan Bacher
In a victory for fishing groups, Indian Tribes and environmental organizations, SB 788, a bill to ban new offshore oil drilling in a nearby “marine protected area” in the Santa Barbara Channel known as Tranquillon Ridge, passed off the Senate floor.
The vote on the bill, jointly authored by Senator Mike McGuire (D- Healdsburg) and Senator Hannah-Beth Jackson (D-Santa Barbara), was 21-13.
The vote took place two weeks after a ruptured pipeline, owned by Plains All-American Pipeline, led to a devastating oil spill along the Santa Barbara County coastline. The state and federal governments are currently cleaning up the spill – and the dead birds, mammals and fish killed by the spill. [Read more…]
By Lori Kern and Roxanne Story Parks
In March, the San Diego County Democratic Party passed a resolution seeking to prohibit the use of exotic and wild animals in traveling circuses and exhibitions. On its face, that seems like a wonderful thing to do. Who doesn’t want to protect animals?
While the purpose of this resolution is altruistic, its scope is overly broad. The Party did not take input from animal professionals or the regulatory agencies that oversee the animals and their habitats, and therefore, the resolution assumes all wild animals in captivity are treated inhumanely. [Read more…]
