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Local Citizens Working to Combat Climate Change with SanDiego350

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By Angela Deegan

SanDiego350.org (SD350) is a local, all-volunteer, citizens’ group set up in 2011 with the goal of combatting climate change.  It is one of 142 local groups in 61 countries that are part of 350.org’s global grassroots movement to solve the climate crisis.

It evolved from a Balboa Park rally demanding a clean energy future, in support of 350.org’s international day of action.  The organizers of that September 2011 rally found they had such good synergy it made sense to continue to work together on climate change.

Co-founder Simon Mayeski, an activist, organizer and native San Diegan living in Tierrasanta “saw the smarts, the dedication and the excitement” of those who organized that rally and found he just had to put himself in with them.   [Read more…]

The Endgame Nobody Talks About: What Happens If Filner Stays in Office?

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By Doug Porter

As newspaper executive John Lynch told a civic group not long ago, the Mayor Filner story is the gift that keeps giving. And over at the UT-San Diego they’re taking that message seriously. It’s Filner Everywhere. Even in the sports section.

A search yesterday on the UT website turned up over a dozen stories with Sunday publication dates. There were side by side stories on the front page questioning who his remaining supporters might be. A newish poll was referenced three times in the printed edition. There’s even an editorial calling for an expedited process for getting rid of Mayors We Don’t Like.

And, if you follow any media, be it national, local, traditional or social, ‘everybody knows’ that the only possible outcome will involve Mayor Bob Filner leaving office, either by resignation or recall.

Today I want to question what ‘everybody knows’.   [Read more…]

NASA Scientists Awakened by Potential Arctic Methane Release

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by Frank Thomas

In my February 2013 writing, “Arctic Methane Release is a Near Term Potential Global Environment Disaster in the Making,” I tried my amateur best to alert people to the breakneck pace at which we are altering the Arctic permafrost environment by anthropogenic global warming (heat from the Earth’s surface) and its feedbacks … including melting of the Arctic sea ice, thus enabling more Arctic Ocean seawater to absorb – rather than reflect – solar energy. This in turn intensifies the ocean warming and melting of permafrost top soils under which a HUGE amount of carbon lurks.

The ticking time bomb from this process is the release of potential massive amounts of the ultra-toxic, heat-trapping methane gas (CH4) into the atmosphere. In fact, CH4 levels in the lower atmosphere over Arctic regions are already showing alarming new elevations.   [Read more…]

Readers Write: Spy vs. Spy

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By Tom Hunter

It seems to me that the progressive wing of humanity has lost its enthusiasm for heros.  President Obama is blamed for the obstruction of the federal government by the teabaggers and his inability to overcome the inertia of the federal government.

The most powerful people in Washington are not elected.  They are senior Washington bureaucrats that stay on in Washington no matter who gets elected.  These bureaucrats are closely entwined with the Pentagon and the Defence Contractor Empire.

So, it seems to me, anyone who brings to light knowledge of what these reptiles are up to would be found to be on the side of humanity.  Not so much.   [Read more…]

Caught Between a Rock and a Hard Place, Congressman Scott Peters Faces a Tough Reelection Battle

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By Doug Porter

It’s hard to imagine why anybody would want the job of Congressman these days, let alone mount an early balls-to-the wall campaign for the job, but Republican Carl DeMaio is taking no chances. After all, the legislative body is less popular than cockroaches, having passed a mere 15 pieces of legislation so far this year.

This week the former City Councilman and failed Mayoral candidate spent a day trumpeting the fact he’d raised nearly half a million dollars for his campaign in one month.   [Read more…]

AN OPEN LETTER TO THE FRIGGING BASTARDS THAT ARE NOT CONTENT WITH THE FIREWORKS SHOWS

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By Judi Curry

The adage that “a picture is worth a thousand words” is shown here for those of you that insist on shooting off firecrackers all night long.  Not fireworks – firecrackers.  I only wish that I could shove one of the “crackers” where the sun don’t shine in defense of Buddy, who is absolutely scared to death.   [Read more…]

June’s Extreme Weather Breaks All Kinds of Records

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By John Lawrence

Devastating fires swept through Colorado in June, where firefighters remain relentless in their battle against the West Fork Complex fire in southwest Colorado, which has burned for most of the month.
The West Fork Fire likely will burn for months, said incident commander Pete Blume. And crews are not expecting to make any real gains against the 117-square-mile burn until the summer monsoon season brings cooler temperatures and rains, hopefully in early July.

“This is a significant fire with significant problems, and we are not going to see any significant containment until we have significant changes in the weather,” said Blume, who is with the Rocky Mountain Type I Incident Command.   [Read more…]

Research Shows that Monsanto’s Big Claims for GMO Food Are Probably Wrong

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It’s going to be a tough row to hoe, from here on out for Monsanto.

By Jill Richardson / AlterNet  

Oops. The World Food Prize committee’s got a bit of egg on its face—genetically engineered egg. They just awarded the World Food Prize to three scientists, including one from Syngenta and one from Monsanto, who invented genetic engineering because, they say, the technology increases crop yields and decreases pesticide use. (Perhaps not coincidentally, Monsanto and Syngenta are major sponsors of the World Food Prize, along with a third biotech giant, Dupont Pioneer.)

Monsanto makes the same case on its website, saying, “Since the advent of biotechnology, there have been a number of claims from anti-biotechnology activists that genetically modified (GM) crops don’t increase yields. Some have claimed that GM crops actually have lower yields than non-GM crops… GM crops generally have higher yields due to both breeding and biotechnology.”

But that’s not actually the case.   [Read more…]

UCLA Scientists Predict Southern California Will Have 40 Percent Drop in Snowfall Over Next 30 Years

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Winter precipitation will more often be rain, rather than snow
By Steve Scauzillo / sgvtribune.com

UCLA scientists predict global warming will reduce snowfall in Southern California mountains by 40 percent in less than 30 years, a climate shift that has serious policy implications, not the least being the loss of the quintessential “only in L.A.” experience of skiing the mountains by day and riding the surf at sunset.

The drop in snowfall will be noticeable in the southern Sierra, the Tehachapis, San Gabriels and San Bernardino mountains by the middle of the century if nothing is done to curb greenhouse gases, namely carbon dioxide produced by the burning of fossil fuels.   [Read more…]

University Avenue: The Best Opportunity to Show What Cycling in San Diego Can Be

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North Park – Mid-City Bicycle Meeting – Tues., June 25 6pm

SANDAG seeks community input for selection of route and infrastructure to make East-West bicycle connections

By John P. Anderson

Tuesday evening SANDAG (San Diego Associations of Governments) will host the 3rd Community Advisory Group Meeting to discuss the North Park – Mid-City (NPMC) Bicycle Corridors Project.  Members of the public are invited to attend and voice their opinion on which routes would be best and which type of infrastructure is preferred (sharrows, bicycle lanes, cycle tracks, etc.).  The meeting will be held from 6:00 PM to 8:30pm at 5450 Lea Street, San Diego, CA 92105 (Teen Challenge Center).   [Read more…]

Rush to Judgment in San Diego: The City Attorney’s ‘Performance Art’

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By Doug Porter

The significance of the struggle between City Attorney Jan Goldsmith and Mayor Bob Filner continues to become more apparent with each passing day.

Last week Goldsmith released edited transcripts purporting to show Filner as an irrational angry man who used his ‘taxpayer funded bodyguard’ to expel an ‘innocent attorney’ (how’s that for an oxymoronic word combo?) from a closed hearing of the San Diego City Council. By playing on the Mayor’s well-known unwillingness to suffer fools, Goldsmith and his cronies have sought to add to a undercurrent of resentment over the mere fact of Bob Filner occupying the top job.

For those of you unfamiliar with all the machinations of this high profile ruckus, the short version of what’s going on here is that all these headlines are symptomatic of a much larger behind the scenes battle between a progressive Mayor and downtown special interest groups used to dictating policy at City Hall.   [Read more…]

Olive Garden, Red Lobster Restaurants’ CEO Fights for Healthcare Law Loophole in California

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By Doug Porter

The Orlando Sentinel reported this week on lobbying efforts by Clarence Otis, CEO for Darden Restaurants (Oliver Garden, Red Lobster) in opposition to proposed California legislation that would penalize companies with more than 500 employees for cutting workers’ hours to avoid paying for insurance under the Affordable Care Act.

Assembly Bill 880 has national implications, as many states are expanding Medicaid eligibility in preparation for provisions of the Affordable Care Act that go into effect in 2014.  Large companies doing business in California would have to pay fines for each employee working more than eight hours a week who is enrolled in the state’s Medicaid program, called Medi-Cal.

In 2012, Darden was one of a number of companies that began experimenting with using more part-timers to keep potential health-care costs low. Following a public backlash, Darden later said it would not cut full-timers to part-time.

Organized labor has rallied supporters in California to urge legislators to pass AB 880, which seeking to close the so-called WalMart loophole, a provision of the ACA which does not impose a penalty on employers whose part-time workers enroll in Medi-Cal.
  [Read more…]

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