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Which Side Are You On? A Requiem for Michael Brown

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Ferguson flash mob provides an unscheduled performance at the St. Louis Symphony

By Staff

The August 9th police shooting death of unarmed teenager Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri is far from resolved. The grand jury has not returned a decision and there is a general expectation that Officer Darren Wilson will not be indicted for Brown’s death. The Ferguson police force appears to be gearing up for riots if no indictment is handed down, possibly as early as next month. It is hard to shake the image of what protests in the street might look like if the past is any predictor of the future.

But the streets are not the only place where the demand for justice is taking place. …

  [Read more…]

San Diegans to Demonstrate Against Supreme Court Justice Scalia – Thursday, Sept. 11th

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By Staff / OB Rag

Scalia: an Utter Moral Failure

US Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia will be attending the California State Bar Convention that’s being held in San Diego. Justice Scalia will be there on Thursday, September 11.

Women Occupy San Diego and the San Diego Chapter of the National Lawyers Guild will demonstrate against the appearance at 11:30 a.m. Hyatt Grand, 1 Market Place. The demonstration focuses on the Supreme Court’s attacks on the rights of women, workers, minorities, and honest elections.
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Video Pick: Charles Bukowski Uncensored (and Animated)

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“If you can’t write the next line, you’re dead…”

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Video Pick: “So Long Mom, I’m Off to Drop the Bomb…”

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“Remember, Mommy, I’m off to get a commie…”

By Staff

So long, Mom,
I’m off to drop the bomb,
So don’t wait up for me.
But while you swelter
Down there in your shelter,
You can see me
On your TV.

While we’re attacking frontally,
Watch Brinkally and Huntally,
Describing contrapuntally
The cities we have lost.
No need for you to miss a minute
Of the agonizing holocaust. (Yeah!) …   [Read more…]

Video Pick: Archival Footage of Hiroshima-Nagasaki, August 1945

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“At the conclusion of the screening there was utter silence.”

“In 1970, when I was the Manager of the “Center for Mass Communication,” (CMC), at Columbia University, we received an amazing letter from Japan. CMC was the branch at Columbia which produced and distributed educational and documentary films. The letter was from a professor of law at Tokyo University, and informed us that nine Japanese newsreel cameramen went to Hiroshima the day after the atomic bombs had been dropped and took several hours of 35mm film of the devastation.

They did the same after an atomic bomb was dropped over the city of Nagasaki. When General MacArthur and his staff occupied Japan, they screened this footage and felt that the actual shots of the results of the damage of the two cities, and in particular the injuries suffered by the survivors, was so horrible that it should be marked top secret, and withheld from the public indefinitely.

Immediately upon learning of this, we at CMC asked the US Government to allow us to screen this footage, and the government denied that this film ever existed.   [Read more…]

San Diego Free Press and OB Rag Bring Home Four Awards in Society of Professional Journalists Competition

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Recognition of writers Doug Porter, John Lawrence, Anna Daniels and Frank Gormlie

By Staff

On July 10 the the San Diego Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) held its annual journalism awards banquet at Bali Hai on Shelter Island. The names of all of the winners of the competition had been released in June. The list included San Diego Free Press editors Doug Porter, Anna Daniels and weekly contributor John Lawrence and Frank Gormlie, editor of our sister publication the OB Rag. First, second and third place winners would be announced at the banquet as well as the Journalist of the Year award.

Eight of us, representing the San Diego Free Press and the OB Rag, enjoyed a dinner on the bay against the backdrop of the city skyline and a rising, almost full moon.

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UCSD’s Che Cafe Gets a Reprieve

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UCSD’s Che Café has been saved. For now, anyway.

The renowned cultural icon, which operates as an all-ages music venue, performance space and cafe, won a temporary restraining order allowing the collective that runs the space to keep possession until a full hearing on the merits of their case can be heard.

A hearing is scheduled for August 1, 2014. If the Che prevails in the preliminary injunction hearing, it will maintain possession of the space until a final resolution is reached in the breach of contract lawsuit filed by Che’s legal counsel, Andrea Carter, against the University Regents and by extension, the University of California San Diego (UCSD) on July 7, 2014.   [Read more…]

Tell SeaWorld: Stop the Nightly Fireworks

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There’s now an online petition to get SeaWorld to put a halt to their nightly fireworks explosions.  As of Thursday morning (July 10), it had almost 2000 signatures.

Here is what the website states:

 STOP the Nightly Fireworks at SeaWorld 

SeaWorld is damaging the quality of life of hundreds of thousands of San Diegans on a nightly basis, 90 days straight during the summer season alone. They are causing hearing damage and overall the physical well-being of the citizens of San Diego who live within a 20 mile radius or larger.

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ACLU Issues Statement On SDPD Body Cameras, Encourages Protection of Privacy, Trust Building

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Taken from an ACLU press release issued Tuesday, June 10.

After months of scandal, the San Diego Police Department has announced it’s taking steps toward addressing police misconduct by requiring body cameras to be worn by many SDPD officers, according to the ACLU. The civil rights organization states that while body cameras can help protect both citizens and officers, it still has serious concerns with what is and is not included in SDPD’s draft policies for these cameras, as well as for the process of implementation.   [Read more…]

CA Senate Appropriations Committee Approves Fracking Moratorium Bill 

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“The costs to people, homes and the environment remain unacceptably high, but we now also know that the projected economic benefits are only a small fraction of what the oil industry has been touting.” 

By Dan Bacher / DailyKos

In spite of the millions spent by Big Oil on lobbying in Sacramento every year, the California Senate Appropriations Committee on Friday voted 4 to 2 to approve a bill, SB 1132, to place a moratorium on fracking (hydraulic fracturing) in the state.

SB 1132, authored by Senators Holly Mitchell and Mark Leno, now moves to a vote on the Senate floor. Senators Gaines and Walters voted against the bill while Senators De León, Padilla, Hill and Steinberg voted to advance the bill to the floor.

The bill moved forward the same week that the U.S. Energy Administration reduced its previous estimate of recoverable oil in California by 96 percent.   [Read more…]

San Diego Free Press Contributor Update: Recognition and the Continued Pursuit of Justice

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Karen Kenyon, Richard Juarez, Will Falk, Sam Ollinger, Ishmael von Heindrick-Barnes, Frank Gormlie and Brent Beltrán

By staff

San Diego Free Press contributors and editors are involved in myriad activities beyond writing articles for this site. We would be remiss if we don’t mention some of those activities that have occurred this month.   [Read more…]

San Diego Free Press Endorsements for the June 2014 Election

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We met, we debated and we agreed, mostly.

Here are the people we’d like you to vote for in the June 2014 primary.

The first decision we made was to limit the number of endorsements. We agreed that local races were more important, with the exception of  a nod to Derick Cressman for Secretary of State because of his leadership in fighting the influence of Dark Money in California elections.

If you jump inside you’ll find a handy-dandy clip-able or click-able sheet. And DON”T FORGET TO VOTE!   [Read more…]

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