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Making Peace by Learning the Skills to Practice Nonviolence

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As a teacher, vice-principal and school principal I more often than not had to sit with students of all ages, kindergarten to senior high, to help them get along with each other, to make peace.

I loved that aspect of my work, the nitty gritty of it, the getting to the bottom of why they felt they had to hit back or resort to name calling and ridiculing. I’d often ask them to think of what they could have done differently if the same troublesome situation that got them in each other’s face happened again.

It’s essential training since we live in a very violent society, one wherein: children kill children; children are abused in their homes; husbands batter wives and vice versa; metal detectors are used in our schools.   [Read more…]

Carl DeMaio in City Heights

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Many of us living in the inner city communities and south of Route 8 will remember Mayor Sanders as the leader who performed triage with a hatchet upon a flat-lined city budget. He destroyed the villages writ small while saving the only village that really counts–powerful business interests and an entrenched downtown establishment.

Mayor Sanders’ recent endorsement of Carl DeMaio raises the obvious question–Will Carl DeMaio, if elected, embrace the same governance policies and attitudes? The corollary of course is–Does City Heights want more of the same?   [Read more…]

The Starting Line – The Moral Bankruptcy of Bridgepoint Education/Ashford University

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One of San Diego larger private employers, Ashford University/Bridgepoint Education, announced layoffs for 450 employees yesterday, a move that’s bound to send ripples throughout the region. Employees were told to come in early, shown a video and offered a two-week severance package. Then it was out the door.

The aftermath of past corporate disintegrations brought on by unsustainable business models (or a legal/quasi-legal ponzi scheme, as I like to call it) has been a sort of local amnesia in the news media, followed by admonitions from the UT’s editorial page that “too much regulation” is bad for business. At the bottom of this well of malevolent corporate behavior is the ultimate reality that we citizens will get stuck with the bill for damages while most of its perpetrators will walk away unscathed.   [Read more…]

Sherman Heights March Highlights Poor Working Conditions at WalMart Warehouses

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By Nadin Abbott

The rally started at the Golden Hill park and made its way to the Sherman Heights Farmer’s Market — the future site of a new Walmart.

As the marchers came down the street, chants could be heard: “Walmart escucha, estamos en la lucha.” (Walmart listen, we are in the fight). “One, 2, 3, 4, we don’t want your Walmart store. Five, 6, 7, 8, Walmart discriminates. “¡El pueblo unido, jamás será vencido!” (The people united, will never be defeated.)

Nearly 1,000 people attended the demonstration, according to Lorena Gonzales, Secretary-Treasurer/CEO of the San Diego and Imperial Labor Councils. They came together from local unions and a long list of community groups to demand that Walmart treat its workers fairly.   [Read more…]

‘Won’t Back Down’ Film Pushes ALEC Parent Trigger Proposal

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by Mary Bottari and Sara Jerving /PRWatch.Org

Well-funded advocates of privatizing the nation’s education system are employing a new strategy this fall to enlist support for the cause. The emotionally engaging Hollywood film “Won’t Back Down” — set for release September 28 — portrays so-called “Parent Trigger” laws as an effective mechanism for transforming underperforming public schools. But the film’s distortion of the facts prompts a closer examination of its funders and backers and a closer look at those promoting Parent Trigger as a cure for what ails the American education system.

While Parent Trigger was first promoted by a small charter school operator in California, it was taken up and launched into hyperdrive by two controversial right-wing organizations: the American Legislative Exchange Council(ALEC) and the Heartland Institute.

(Editors Note: this film is being promoted in San Diego by a group calling itself “Up for Ed”. They’re hosting a premiere this week, with a “panel” that, interestingly enough, includes not a single teacher. You can read about Up for Ed’s involvement with so-called reformer Michelle Rhee in this excellent article by San Diegan Aaron Belfer.)    [Read more…]

Obama Supporters to ‘Welcome’ Mitt Romney on Saturday in Del Mar

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The word is out. Mitt Romney’s back in California, looking for more money to keep the sinking ship that is his campaign afloat. And local Organizing for America volunteers and Obama supporters are gathering in Del Mar early Saturday afternoon to “Welcome” the GOP candidate as he kicks off this trip inDel Mar. Starting at12:30 Democrats, led by San Diego County Chair Jess Durfee, will be holding a press conference at the corner of Carmel County Road and Ted Williams Freeway (56) to discuss what’s at stake in the November election.   [Read more…]

The Starting Line — Study Paints a Stark Picture of Economic Reality in San Diego

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An analysis released yesterday by the Center for Policy Initiatives based on recently released census data shows more than a third of San Diego County residents are living with economic hardships. The report says that across most industries in San Diego County, the spending power of the average paycheck is dropping, with inflation-adjusted earnings decreasing in 10 of the region’s 15 largest industries, compared to 2007, and more people falling into poverty in last year.
Other Stories in Starting Line Today: The Art of Park(ing) Day, San Diego’s Largest Rally Ever Against WalMart , Lim(p)baugh Blames Shrinking Penis on ‘Feminazis’, Imperial Beach MediPot Supporters Beat the Bushes, Quail Brush Power Plant Foes to Rally, North Park Officially Hip Now and so much more! Come on inside and catch up!   [Read more…]

The CalFresh Challenge: Could you live on $34.31 per week?

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By Lorena Gonzalez / Center for Policy Initiatives  Blog

From September 9th – 15th, CPI board member Lorena Gonzalez, Secretary-Treasurer of the San Diego & Imperial Counties Labor Council, participated in the CalFresh Challenge. “The goal is to raise awareness and understanding around the challenges faced by millions of Americans receiving CalFresh/SNAP benefits. The average benefit in California is about $4.90 per person per day, or about $34.31 per week.” This blog post compiles how Lorena Gonzalez ate for one week living on that amount.

When I agreed to attempt to live on a food stamp budget for a week, I knew it would be tough. But, I didn’t realize that one of the toughest challenges would be time. In order to maximize my $34.31 budget for the week, I had grand ideas of going to a farmers market and two or three different stores to capitalize on weekly specials. In my first lesson of the working poor, I was reminded that the Saturday Farmers Market would be impossible to get to if I was scheduled to work, which I was. So, I woke up this morning on a budget with no food.   [Read more…]

Caravan for Peace Comes to the USA: From the Carnage of the Bi-National Drug Wars, a Quest for Justice and Dignity

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By Enrique Morones (borderangels.org)

After a month on the road, bringing an inspirational message of justice and dignity to dozens of cities across the country that have been ravaged by America’s failed war on drugs and other harmful policies, the Caravan for Peace finally rolled into Washington, D.C. this past week to conclude its historic journey.

The 150-member caravan has been crisscrossing the United States since early August, sharing stories and testimonies about the pain that so many have suffered as a result of the war on drugs. Led by Mexican poet Javier Sicilia, whose son Juan Francisco was murdered in Mexico last year, the caravan’s mission is to bring attention to five critical elements affecting relations between the United States and Mexico: the failed war on drugs, money laundering, arms trafficking, the need for humane immigration policies, and building closer ties between the two countries.   [Read more…]

San Diego City Council Passes Two Measures to Hold Banks Accountable for Abandoned Homes

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Certain circles of San Diegans are celebrating. The article in the UT San Diego yesterday [Wed. Sept. 19] said it all:

“The San Diego City Council Tuesday unanimously approved two out of three ordinances designed to keep banks accountable for distressed homes.”

The two ordinances passed will arm San Diego with more methods and ways to monitor and hold property owners responsible for abandoned properties, and they also will require banks that conduct business with the city of San Diego to provide information on lending, foreclosures and service to minority communities. The third ordinance will not be discussed until October.

Progressives who worked on these issues are giving thanks to the leadership of Councilmembers Todd Gloria and Tony Young. A broad coalition had come together to apply pressure and the San Diego City Council passed the Abandoned Properties Ordinance and the Responsible Banking Ordinance the same evening.   [Read more…]

Escondido Mayor Promises Controversial Check-points Will Be “Strengthened” While Police Chief Placed on Leave

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Local Residents Rally in Support of Police Chief While Mayor Disputes Connection with Check-points

Politics inside the City of Escondido continue to confuse and confound outsiders. But we know several things:

We Need Obama to Pick Supreme Court Justices for You and Me

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I read a little essay the other day about Black clergy telling their flock not to vote in this election because Obama backs same-sex marriage – as though as president of the Land of the Free he should not politically and morally stand up for people who simply seek equality.

The flock was also told, in an effort to keep them away from the polls, that Romney is a Mormon, a religion one of them referred to as a cult, that once banned men of African descent, not to mention women of any descent, from entering its ministry. I couldn’t help but wonder, even if a brother was allowed in the priesthood of the church, what he’d say to a congregation of Latter Day Saints beyond “Damn, I must be at the wrong address!”

Anyway, it was all nonsensical to me and I can only hope that the flock takes time to reflect and realize that the proverbial Adam and Steve is absolutely no threat to the sanctity of matrimony in a world that claims “The third time’s a charm.” And isn’t it a fact that one religion demonizing another is like the pot calling the kettle black? We don’t need that.   [Read more…]

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