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Coverup No More: Shocking Photos and Emails of Dead Wildlife from Gulf of Mexico Spill Emerge

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Some two and a half years after the BP oil spill, Greenpeace has obtained emails and photos from a U.S. government agency that reveal the extent to which the government tried to shield the public from the wildlife casualties of the spill.

The Guardian reports that the FOIA-obtained documents show that shortly after the Deepwater Horizon disaster the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) witnessed several whales coated in oil near the site of the spill and one large sperm whale that had died.

[T]he discovery of the decomposed carcass set off a flurry of emails – with repeated instructions from NOAA officials to crew aboard the Pisces not to release information or photographs.   [Read more…]

Desde la Logan: Día de los Muertos, We Commemorate Our Dead

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By Brent E. Beltrán

 Every year on November 1st and 2nd we remember our dead. Give them food and things they appreciated while they were alive. We build altars in our homes. We share stories. Remember loved ones, family and friends, heroes and historical figures. We go to gravesites and clean tombstones and markers. Leave cempasúchils (marigolds) and sugar skulls. Maybe a little tequila if they liked a drink in their day. For the children we leave toys and candy.

November 1 is Día de los Inocentes (Day of the Innocents) when deceased children are honored and November 2 is known as Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) where we pay tribute to adults who have passed away. These dates correspond with the Christian holidays of All Saints’ Day and All Soul’s Day. Though las días de los muertos were coopted by Christianity they are not Christian holidays or celebrations. Their history can be traced back thousands of years to an Aztec festival dedicated to the goddess Mictecacihuatl.   [Read more…]

Our Readers Write: Earthquakes, Faults, and Misguided Development in San Diego

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by Eleanora Robbins (La Mesa)

Italy isn’t the only place making dumb decisions over earthquake prediction. Here in San Diego, never-ending broken utility lines and stinky sewers are occurring because our local and state government officials have suspended their responsibility for oversight of development on known and suspected faults downtown.

Surprisingly, the City and Port of San Diego actually funded studies of downtown faults but refuse to release them. The reason? They probably don’t want to turn down potential development money and the resulting property taxes. Even non-geologists can see the cracks in the asphalt and cement adjacent to the Navy Broadway Complex and Tailgate Park. Geologists like myself see that the cracks have a distinctive pattern, thereby displaying the traces of some of these unmapped faults.
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The Starting Line – Voting Rights; Don’t Take Them for Granted

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In case you haven’t noticed, San Diego Free Press has a terrific story up here about local efforts at “Poll Watching” underway via the Election Integrity Project and True The Vote, organizations with connections to the Tea Party movement. Our citizen journalists have been ‘watching the watchers’ over the past few months.

It’s pretty obvious from reading their materials that the underlying idea behind these ‘watchers’ is voter intimidation of certain classes of people that they have deemed to be suspicious. In practice—despite claims to the contrary—this has generally meant people of color, students, and other groups whose voting history runs counter to the conservative cause.

Despite promises from True The Vote founder Catherine Engelbrecht earlier this year to recruit and train a million volunteers to watch the polls, the group has fallen far short of that goal. For example, Election Integrity Maryland has only about 200 recruits. Nevada Clean Up the Vote has about 700. And our SDFP observers also report a sharp decline in volunteer participation in local efforts More Inside…

Also: LA Mass Transit Exploring San Diego Link, Encinitas’ Parents Still Threatening Legal Action Over Yoga Classes

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Paranoia at the Polls: The San Diego Election Integrity Project’s Troubling “Evidence”

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The Election Integrity Project, although it defines itself as non-partisan, operates as a platform for the conservative Heritage Foundation, the right wing Breitbart.com, and the Tea Party groups True the Vote and the non-profit iCaucus. Their website raises the ubiquitous fearful specter of voter fraud; their intent is to police the act of voting itself, to assure that “every lawfully cast vote [is] accurately counted.”

While the restrictive voter laws enacted after the Republicans gained power in 2010 have the impact if not the explicit intent to suppress the vote of communities of color, the young and the elderly who tend to vote Democrat, True the Vote and its offshoots not only support those efforts but have also assumed the role of election vigilantes at the polls and registrar offices.   [Read more…]

Lawsuit Challenges Massive Expansion of San Diego Landfill

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from the Center for Biological Diversity

Three conservation groups filed a lawsuit this week challenging the city of San Diego’s decision to triple the amount of garbage that can be processed daily at the Sycamore Landfill and allow operations 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

The lawsuit, filed by Preserve Wild Santee, the Center for Biological Diversity and the California Chaparral Institute, is aimed at protecting people and wildlife, and encouraging a transition toward more sustainable and efficient solid-waste processing. Left unchallenged, the Sycamore Landfill’s overall disposal capacity would more than double, increasing by approximately 82 million cubic yards to 153 million cubic yards.   [Read more…]

A Timeless Red Man Speaks

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Looking through words about California history, my mind wanders momentarily, and a tall timeless man with reddish brown skin and long braids ala Russell Means, appears in the periphery of my daydreams. He says:
They, these conquering men, stepped from their boats
wearing more clothes than was necessary,
shiny metal hats and vests,
heavy leather foot wear,
bearing swords and knives,
boasting of braveries
and discoveries
and some day living in the memories
of civilizations yet to be
and when they gazed our way
they never looked us in the eye
with any deep sense
of wonder
or human curiosity.   [Read more…]

The Starting Line— Weekend Wingnut Gathering Slated for Balboa Park

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Come Stand in Defense of Your Church!” is the rallying cry for the San Diego Tea Party’s event at the intersection of Park Boulevard and President’s Way Saturday morning, October 20th.

More than a dozen speakers, representing a variety of groups with theocratic agendas, will take the stage to rail against the Obama administration’s so-called assaults on religious freedom. Speakers include radio host Gina Loudon, whose claims to fame include comparing gay marriage to people marrying animals and suggesting people who wanted to build an Islamic Community Center in New York City were Nazis; local gay basher Charles LiMandri; Dr. Jim Garlow, Senior pastor at Skyline Church; Anti-Abortion activist Timmerie Millington, and President Steven Pynes of the Mormons.   [Read more…]

The Power Was Overwhelming

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A new young couple moved into our neighborhood two years ago and over that time I have had conversations with them; worked with Heather and taught her to make jam; called on Mark to help with a few heavy things that needed to be done around the house; fed their dog treats when Buddy and I take walks together. I was thrilled when she called me and asked if I would like to go the “Women for Filner” fundraiser at the University Club on Wednesday, October 17th. Although there was a $100 donation, (which I could not make) I am not sure how Heather worked it so that I could attend, but attend I did, and had a great evening.

The power in that room was overwhelming. So many of the “big guns (gunnettes?) of the San Diego female world were in attendance:   [Read more…]

Killings by Border Patrol to Be Reviewed After Congress Reacts to Rojas Death at San Ysidro

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Bob Filner Among 16 Congressional Members Urging Review of Deadly Force Use by Border Patrol Agents

Since 2010, at least 16 civilians have been killed by Border Patrol agents along the US-Mexico border. Many of those killed were involved in throwing rocks at agents during confrontations with border smugglers.

Yet, since September, there have been three persons killed by agents – including the young mother of 5 who was a US citizen right here in Chula Vista. The three also include 16-year-old suspected rock thrower from Nogales.

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The Starting Line – The Sordid Saga of Judicial Candidate Jim Miller, Jr.

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San Diego’s legal establishment is rolling out the big guns today at a noon press conference on the sidewalk in front of the Superior Court building downtown. They’re gathering a gaggle of retired judges, prominent attorneys and past heads of the local Bar Association to make sure that the public is aware that judicial candidate Jim Miller, Jr. has been rated as “Lacking qualifications” in the race for Office 25 of the San Diego Superior Court.

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Tina deBaca – Presente!

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Tina C. de Baca
[July 15, 1933 – October 14, 2012]

San Diego Chicano Activist to Be Laid to Rest – Tina Was on the Front Lines of Chicano Rights; She Walked Farmworkers’ Union Picket Lines in High Heels

By Vincent deBaca

Tina C. de Baca (mother, friend, sister, and compañera) is now at peace and she sits happily with our ancestors in heaven where the world cannot hurt her. She requested the sacraments to the end and she knew God’s love, patience, and forgiveness. Compounding other illnesses, Tina fell into unconsciousness after suffering two strokes on October 3rd and she passed away peacefully on Sunday, October 14, 2012.

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