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San Diego Occupy Movement, Vets for Peace Reach Out to Help Homeless as Temperatures Fall

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By Doug Porter

It’s easy to make light of the colder weather Southern California has experienced over the past few days. People from the east county were joking on Twitter this morning about having to use spatulas to clear their windshields of frost. But for the thousands of San Diego’s who live on the streets, the chilly temperatures are pure torture.

While the weather conditions locally can’t compare with those in northern tier cities, it doesn’t take below freezing temperatures to induce hypothermia, a potentially fatal drop in body temperature, usually caused by prolonged exposure to cold temperatures. And San Diego simply lacks enough shelter space for its homeless population when the temperature drops. Four people have died from exposure in the Bay Area in the past weeks and well over 700 die annual from exposure to the elements.

While many organizations are involved in collecting needed items for our local homeless population, two groups have reached out to the San Diego Free Press in recent days asking for our help in getting the word out. The need is real and these folks are looking for your help.   [Read more…]

Mayor Todd Gloria Affirms Support for Barrio Logan Plan

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By Doug Porter

Interim Mayor Todd Gloria has decided to draw a line in the sand against business interests seeking to overturn the Barrio Logan Community plan, telling KPBS yesterday he’s not in favor of reversing a City Council vote despite imminent referendums.

Should the rest of the Democrats on the City Council decide to stand firm on the subject this means voters citywide will weigh in on the community plan, opposed by shipbuilding interests who say a proposed nine block buffer zone is a threat to the future of their industry in San Diego.

The City Council will probably vote on whether to repeal the Barrio Logan Community Plan Update on Tuesday, Dec. 17.  If the misinformation campaign waged by opponents in connection with gathering signatures for the two ballot measures is any indication, we can expect an all-out and very negative media blitz over the coming weeks.   [Read more…]

Many Tears Shed for Madiba Nelson Mandela, the Man Who Could Not Cry

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The media today is dominated by coverage of Nelson Mandela’s death at age 95. Following a few fast facts designed to put this great man in perspective, I’m reposting the best of the obituaries I’ve seen posted today. (It’s long, but worth it)

Facts you might not see in today’s mainstream media coverage:

  • During his 27 years of imprisonment he was forced to labor in Robben Island’s limestone quarry. The dust damaged his tear ducts, and when released, he could not cry.
  • He was never a pacifist, never a Gandhi and never afraid to assert the absolute right of the oppressed to fight back
  • The South African government banned photos of Mandela in prison. When he was released in 1990, few South Africans knew what he looked like.
  • Even after serving as the first Black President of South Africa and receiving the Nobel Peace Prize, Mandela remained on the US terrorist watch list, requiring special certification from the State Department to enter the country. In 2008 George W Bush signed a bill fixing this just prior to his 90th birthday.
  • Mandela’s arrest in 1962 came as the result of a CIA informant, allowing the South African police to nab him at a roadblock, even though he was disguised as a chauffeur.

  [Read more…]

California Legislature’s Calderon Scandal Spreads to Rhee’s Faux School Reform Group

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By Doug Porter

Allegations of pay-for-play proclivities by elected members of the Calderon family are shedding a negative light on the activities of faux education reformer Michelle Rhee’s StudentsFirst organization.  Last month Al Jazeera’s Investigative Unit revealed an FBI investigation of Sen. Calderon, including allegations he’d accepted $60,000 in bribes from undercover agents posing as independent movie executives.

Members of the Calderon family serving or having served in both branches of the legislature are considered to be a powerful political dynasty. A federal undercover investigation into state Sen. Ron Calderon has rocked Sacramento, “altering the dynamics of the Southern California region he and his political family have dominated for decades,” according to columnist Dan Walters.

Information is now emerging regarding connections between the Calderon family and education reformer Michelle Rhee’s StudentsFirst group.  Her political action committee has spent $1.6 million in California in recent elections backing political figures that supported her agenda.   [Read more…]

Congressman Juan Vargas Joins Capitol Hill Fast for Immigration Reform

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By Doug Porter

An ongoing fast by immigration activists just steps from the Capitol building in Washington DC continues to grow, both in participants and impact.  The news media around the country has begun to notice, with prominent stories posted in the Washington Post and at National Public Radio.

The four original protesters—who had consumed nothing but water since November 12th—yielded to the concerns of medical personnel yesterday, handing their protest over to Rep. Joe Kennedy (D-Mass.), the first of a series of lawmakers to participate in the fast.

Kennedy will be replaced by San Diego’s Rep. Juan Vargas today. House Majority leader Rep. John Boehner and other Republicans have declined invitations to meet with the protesters.

Although lobbyists and business leaders have urged to House of Representatives to take action before the end of the year, the GOP leadership has indicated they’ll have to wait until a budget agreement is enacted in mid-January. And even then, they’re not willing to go on the record to say immigration reform will get consideration.   [Read more…]

The GOP’s Latest Dirty Trick – A Fake California Covered Healthcare Website

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By Doug Porter

After two months of regularly hijacking the 24 hour news cycle with horror stories about the Affordable Healthcare Act, Republicans here in California reached a new low this week. They rolled out a fake Covered California website via mailings to constituents (apparently paid for by taxpayers) from GOP Assembly members.  Taxpayers also paid for creation of the faux website, registered with GoDaddy.com

Rather than inform users about their healthcare options, clicking on highlighted topics like “Don’t Have Insurance” leads to negative news stories, filled with misinformation or out of date data.  The idea, of course, is to discourage people from signing up; part of the GOP strategy to make Obamacare collapse due to lack of interest.

This is  shameless and breathtaking in the scope of its misdirection and misinformation.  If you had any doubts about the fact that these people care for nobody but the rich, visiting this bit of Astroturf on the web should put your concerns to rest.   [Read more…]

The Last Refuge of Sore Losers: UT-San Diego Proposes Splitting California in Two

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By Doug Porter

The editorial board at UT-San Diego finally crossed the line from delusional to just flat out insane this weekend.  After reading Sunday’s paper a rational human being might even be open to arguments suggesting that the satirical Onion website has surreptitiously taken over our Daily Fishwrap.  But this weekend’s fare wasn’t funny…

Our city has many pressing issues, as the many debates leading up the special mayor election prove beyond a doubt.  Now UT-SD is trying to frame the upcoming runoff in the context of our city’s desperate need for a new football stadium, saying they’ll step in from Day One to pressure our next mayor to “get it done”.

Forget those potholes, declining city services or neighborhood empowerment; a sports venue tops all those needs.

If that singularity of bad policy wasn’t enough, they’ve also come out full bore for secession. California, they reason, needs to be split in two to save us from the evils of the nanny state and excessive taxation. They’ve even published a wish list of conservative wet dreams they’d like to see included in a new constitution.   [Read more…]

Pet Store Owner Battling ‘Animal Rights Terrorists’ Sues Backers of Puppy Mill Ordinance

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By Doug Porter

Back in July the San Diego City Council approved an ordinance banning the sale of dogs, cats and rabbits at pet stores unless the animals are obtained from an animal shelter, an animal-control agency, a humane society or a nonprofit rescue organization.  The law came about following a slew of reports nationwide tying pet store sales of companion animals to high volume breeding facilities, also known as puppy mills, catteries, and rabbit mills.

Impacted by this move was San Diego Puppy, a Grantville retailer owned by David and Veronica Salinas.  They have filed a federal complaint, according to a San Diego Reader story by Dorian Hargrove, naming the City of San Diego, the local Humane Society, the San Diego Animal Defense Team, the Animal Protection and Rescue League, and the league’s lawyer, Bryan Pease, for their part in passing the Companion Animal Protection Ordinance.

The Salinas’ claim irreparable damage to their business, which the complaint says was the only retail “pet store in the city that is/was selling purebred and other high-quality puppies that are not purported to be from a rescue or shelter retail facility.”  Yes, animal lovers, we’re supposed to believe these plaintiffs are humble businessfolk, unreasonably persecuted by council members Lorie Zapf and Marti Emerald at the behest of activist organizations.

Starting Line on Hiatus (!)

I’ll be taking the weekend off. If anything really earth-shattering occurs I’ll post a special edition of this column.  Otherwise, see you Monday!   [Read more…]

Hell Freezes Over: California Conservative Launches Initiative to Raise Minimum Wage to $12

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By Doug Porter

Earlier this year California Gov. Jerry Brown signed off on legislation to increase the minimum wage.  The measure would raise the current $8 minimum wage to $9 an hour next July 1 and to $10 on Jan. 1, 2016. The 25% increase will be the first minimum-wage hike in California in five years, affecting an estimated 2.4 million Californians.

Golden State business interests and their conservative allies railed against the measure.  The LA Times quoted the president of the California Restaurant Association, saying the 87,000 eateries in the state would be forced to cut back employee hours and reduce hiring.  The California Chamber of Commerce labeled AB10  “a job killer.”

The conservative CalWatchdog.com predicted that 68,000 jobs would be lost over the coming decade and a “reduction in real output of $5.7 billion”, citing the Koch brothers sponsored National Federation of Independent Business.

Today’s New York Times reports that California conservative activist and millionaire Ron Unz is filing ballot language with the secretary of state , declaring his intention to gather enough signatures to place it on the ballot in 2014.   [Read more…]

Just Say No! To a Depressingly Grey Thursday and Black Friday at Walmart

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By Doug Porter

It’s the last week in November and Americans are supposed to be in a frenzied holiday mode. It’s one of the rare times when Hanukkah and Thanksgiving converge. There are even recipes in People magazine for Thanksgivukkah.

It’s one of those years when FDR’s decision to make turkey day the fourth Thursday in November, provides a smaller than usual window of opportunity for shopping for the December holidays.

Do yourselves and the country’s working poor a favor. Stay home. If the truth were to be told, the actual deals offered on Black Friday, and now, Depressingly Grey Thursday, are becoming increasingly limited in scope and quantity.  It’s also a rotten deal for employees who are called in on a holiday with the promise of a plate full of “fixin’s” eaten while standing up just before the hordes rush the doors.   [Read more…]

Barrio Logan Group Faces an Uphill Battle Trying to Stop Shipbuilder Scam

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By Doug Porter

Superior Court Jeffrey Barton will hear from the Environmental Health Coalition (EHC) seeking a temporary restraining order aimed at stopping a referendum overturning the Barrio Logan Community Plan.  EHC and community supporters are saying signatures were fraudulently gathered on petitions submitted by the Protect Our Jobs Committee, a group created by shipyard repair companies.

The coalition has submitted affidavits from witnesses claiming petition gatherers were not truthful about the community plan’s details.  News media accounts and videos caught paid signature gatherers claiming the US Navy would leave San Diego should the community plan be implemented.

Posted around shopping centers in areas of the city where residents were likely to be unaware of the past history of callous disregard of health hazards by funders of the Protect Our Jobs group, voters were also told that 46,000 jobs were at stake and that the purpose of the plan was to allow developers to build condominiums in the area.   [Read more…]

A Tale of Two Cities: North and South of Interstate 8

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By Doug Porter

It’s been touted as fact of life in San Diego politics: the electorate south of Interstate 8 votes heavily Democratic while those on the north side votes Republican.

After all, the northern part of San Diego is generally wealthier, older and whiter than the city’s southern half.  Even as the GOP’s partisan advantage in the city has disappeared in recent years, the party’s candidates and causes have done well, leading to the general perception that the electorate in the regions favors conservative causes.

A succession of Republican Mayors and a track record for mostly voting with that party’s positions on initiatives re-enforce that perception.  It’s a commonly accepted view in news media accounts; a local report on this weeks special election taps National University’s “policy analyst” Vince Vasquez, who says “You see that deep geographic divide among voters. It’s something not going away. If anything its more pronounced,” –

But not everything is as it seems.   [Read more…]

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