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Desde la Logan – The Grand Orchid of Our Barrio: Chicano Park

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By Brent E. Beltrán

On Thursday, October 11 the architecturally aware people of San Diego got together to celebrate the annual Orchids & Onions awards at the Museum of Contemporary Art in La Jolla. This annual event of architecture snobs serves as a fundraiser for the San Diego Architectural Foundation.

Local TV personality Sam the Cooking Guy MC’d the ceremony that hands out Orchids to new architecture projects that the foundation likes and Onions to those they think, well, suck. This year’s program received 149 nominations. Of which 134 were for Orchids and 15 for Onions. Nineteen awards total were given out.

What makes this year’s event worthy of writing about in a column about Chicanos and Barrio Logan is that the foundation’s Grand Orchid, the top prize of the ceremony, was given to Chicano Park and the Mural Restoration Project. Normally they recognize buildings but this year they stepped outside their narrow box and gave the award to a public space. A Chicano one at that!   [Read more…]

Wrongful Death Claim Filed Against Border Patrol by Family of Woman Slain by Agent

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Lawyer for Family Cites Long History of Misconduct by Agent Justin Tackett Prior to Shooting Death of Valeria “Munique” Tachiquin Alvarado

The lawyer for the family of Valeria “Munique” Tachiquin Alvarado – shot to death by a Border Patrol agent on September 28th – has filed a wrongful death claim against the Border Patrol.

Eugene Iredale – a renowned criminal defense attorney in San Diego – retained by her family, just filed a claim on Friday, October 12th, that seeks damages and raises significant concerns about the agent who killed her. Agent Justin Tackett has been named in the family’s claim, but has not been identified by the Border Patrol nor by the Chula Vista Police who are investigating the killing.

Iredale said Agent Tackett shot Alvarado nine times.

The wrongful death claim, filed on behalf of Alvarado’s parents, husband and five children, states that the shooting was “the unjustified use of legal force in circumstances that did not justify its use.” The filing for damages is the first step before suing a government agency, and the Border Patrol has 6 months to respond before the family can file suit.   [Read more…]

The Starting Line – Bain Owned Plant Drops US Flag as US Workers Forced to Train Chinese Replacements

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Presidential candidate Mitt Romney loves to berate the Chinese on the campaign trail. He portrays himself as the candidate that will stop Beijing from “cheating” that will stem the flow of jobs being exported to Asia from the United States. Yet an Illinois company that he has large investments in is forcing soon to be laid off workers to train their Chinese replacements even as Romney continues to claim that his programs will revive the economy and create jobs.

To make matters worse, the U.S. flag that has always flown in front of the company’s Freeport , Ill. headquarters was removed just as the Chinese trainees arrived. The facility, which is non-unionized, employees 170 people.

Workers at the Sensata Technologies plant set up camp in an adjacent fairground over a month ago, hoping to draw more attention to their cause. About a dozen people have been there round the clock even as temperatures outside have rapidly declined. The encampment is a nod to both the “Hoovervilles” of unemployed workers that sprung up during the Great Depression and the Occupy Wall Street movement.   [Read more…]

Powerful Court Quietly Takes Marijuana Case That Could Shatter Federal Prohibition Laws

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Alternet / By Steven Wishnia / Oct. 11, 2012

For the first time in two decades federal courts will consider the science behind medical marijuana — and today there is more evidence than ever.

Once again, medical-marijuana advocates are taking to the courts to eliminate the biggest barrier to legal use—the federal law that classifies marijuana as a dangerous drug with no valid medical use.

On Oct. 16, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, the federal appeals court that usually handles cases involving government regulations, will hear oral arguments on Americans for Safe Access v. DEA. It will be the first time in almost 20 years that federal courts have considered the science of medical marijuana, says ASA spokesperson Kris Hermes.

  [Read more…]

The Starting Line – Local Labor Activist Banned from All Walmart Stores

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Skirmishes between Walmart and labor groups continued yesterday, as 200 angry protesters showed up at a meeting of investors and analysts earlier today at Walmart’s headquarters in Bentonville, Ark.

Here in San Diego local AFL/CIO leader Lorena Gonzalez paid her first visit ever to a Walmart, visiting the College Grove store with a letter for the store manager asking the retailer to improve employee pay and benefits, and require store contractors to pay a living wage.

The store manager refused to even shake hands with Gonzalez, keeping hands in his pockets as she asked him to accept the letter.

He responded with a notice banning Gonzalez from ever setting foot in any Walmart store, and called the police.   [Read more…]

A Progressive’s Quick and Easy Guide to 2012 California Ballot Propositions (Updated with Endorsements)

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Step inside for your handy dandy cheat sheet on the ballot propositions.

And be sure to check out our 2012 Voters Guide>>>
See Button on Right side of Page.

  [Read more…]

Proposition 31: Reform the Rube Goldberg Way

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Should We Support This Manifestation of Stalinist Treason?

It’s a good thing the weather’s so damn nice in much of California, because if you had to spend anytime actually experiencing what passes for governance up in Sacramento, North Dakota or even Somalia might start looking mighty good. Let’s face it folks, things are mighty screwed up. And we all know it’s somebody else’s fault, right?

So when anybody talks “reform” these days, it strikes a chord with voters. I hear there are politicians in Los Angles (boo, hiss) that can take their dog for a walk, call it animal digestive reform and even raise funds off it.

Proposition 31 is the handiwork of a ‘long view’ reform group calling itself California Forward. It’s a package of measures, many of which sound perfectly reasonable. It is, so its supporters say, intended to bring more transparency to the budgeting process while giving Californians value for their tax dollars. Sounds okay, huh? Except that it isn’t. Step inside while I give you a tour of this mirage that calls itself a reform.   [Read more…]

Vigil for Valeria “Munique” Alvarado – Young Mother Killed by Border Patrol

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Question is raised – is this our ‘Trayvon Martin’?

Nearly two hundred people attended the vigil for Valeria “Munique” Tachiquin Alvarado in Chula Vista Monday early evening. Family, friends, supporters and strangers – and the media – gathered at the intersection of Moss Street and Oaklawn Avenue – where she was shot to death by a plainclothes border patrol agent on Friday afternoon, September 28th, while in her car.

The 32 year old mother of 5 had been fatally killed during some kind of interaction with the agent. Reports of what happened differed wildly. And during the at times emotional vigil family members, including the young woman’s father, called for answers and justice.

Speaking first, Christian Ramirez of the American Friends Service Committee spoke about the evening being a sober one. He said the community vigil “was called by the family to remember her life and bear testimony to the tragedy that occurred 72 hours ago. They demand justice.”   [Read more…]

The Starting Line –GOP Voter Registration Fraud Program Continues to Unfold; Is There a San Diego Connection?

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Does anybody remember the Fox News generated story about voter fraud allegedly perpetrated by ACORN during the 2008 election cycle? The sum total of their evidence was that individuals were attempting to scam the voter registration system by turning in falsified forms. No monies from the Democratic Party were ever tied to ACORN, nor was there proof that any of the fake voters actually attempted to vote.

It should be noted that actual voter fraud (where somebody casts an illegal vote), despite regular histrionics by right wing zealots, is exceedingly rare.

Now there is a nation-wide voter registration scandal unfolding involving companies directly funded by both State and National Republican Party groups, and over at Fox News there’s not a peep to be heard.   [Read more…]

California Prisons, a Profitable Industry

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by John Lawrence

We’ve been incarcerating more of our citizens than any other country in the world. 2.3 million Americans are presently behind bars. Since 1970 the number of people incarcerated in the US has grown by 700%. Even though we are 5 percent of the world’s population, we have 25 percent of the prisoners in the world. Most of those incarcerated are there for minor drug offenses including possession of small amounts of marijuana. 9.2% of African-American adults were in prison in 2008. One in six Latino men will spend part of their life behind bars. The for profit prison-industrial-complex has grown mainly due to the War on Drugs. The War on Drugs has become a war on drug users, non-violent offenders and poor people even though a majority of drug users are affluent.
  [Read more…]

5 Biggest Lies About America’s Public Schools — Debunked

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Alternet / By Kristin Rawls

Just weeks into the 2012-2013 school year education issues are already playing a starring role in the national conversation about America’s future. Because it’s an election year, the presidential candidates have been busy pretending there are many substantial distinctions between them on education policy (actually, the differences are arguably minimal).   [Read more…]

The Fed’s Quantitative Easing Policy: What’s In It For You?

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Ben Bernanke, Federal Reserve Chairman, has been in the business of printing money. His program is euphemistically called “Quantitative Easing (QE).” In September 2012 Bernanke announced QE3 in which the Fed would purchase $40 billion of mortgage backed securities per month indefinitely.

There had been QE1 and QE2 previously, which were one time injections of capital into the nations’ money supply. All theses QEs have resulted in one thing: interest rates have been brought down to practically zero. This may be great for people wanting to buy a car or a house, but for savers, like senior citizens, they have been robbed from gaining any interest on their savings accounts.

They might as well have put their money in their mattresses.   [Read more…]

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