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Federal Government Should Carefully Consider Whether Aid Warranted in West, Texas

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Texans want limited government, their wishes should be fulfilled in West.

The explosion in West was ultimately caused by a failure of oversight in deference to private industry. This was a private company acting irresponsibly, not a natural disaster. The explosion was caused by an excessive amount of ammonium nitrate on the site. Ammonium nitrate is a primary component of some large bombs used by terrorists, including the bomb used by Timothy McVeigh to blow up the federal building in Oklahoma City.

The plant also reportedly had no automatic shutoff system, no firewall, and no sprinkler system. Safety for the workers and the surrounding community was obviously not any kind of priority.

It stands to reason, then, that the owners of the private West Fertilizer Company should be held responsible for the damage they caused, not the taxpayers. After all, that’s what the Conservatives in Texas want—for business to be able to do what business does best. That also means, however, being held entirely accountable when they screw up, which is not something Conservatives have been very good at. Apparently it’s not in the Republican lexicon.   [Read more…]

The Starting Line – Koch Brothers’ Coachella Failure-fest Set for this Weekend

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By Doug Porter

This weekend (Apr 28-29) hundreds of business executives and wealthy conservative donors will descend upon the Coachella Valley, hoping to forge a strategy to turn last fall’s drubbing of conservative candidates into future victories. I imagine the crowd will be considerably different from what locals have seen over the past two weeks.

Since 2003 billionaire industrialists David and Charles Koch have been hosting regular retreats at luxury resorts seeking to focus the resources and energy of wealthy and politically ambitious conservatives in the US.

Their latest invitation-only gathering, originally scheduled for January, was postponed.   [Read more…]

Desde la Logan: Chicano Music Legends Join Forces to Play Adams Avenue Unplugged

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I’ve known Chunky Sanchez of Los Alacranes for at least fifteen years and worked with him on numerous occasions including organizing a fundraiser in 2007, called Musicians Helping Their Own, for local Latin jazz trumpet player Bill Caballero who was stricken with cancer and on a project in 2009 called Deportation Nation: Musical Migrations that featured a concert with Los Alacranes, Quino (of Big Mountain fame) and Son Sin Fronteras where the three groups at the end of the night jammed together on the Woody Guthrie classic Deportee (Plane Wreck at Los Gatos).

Los Alacranes and Los Lobos go way back.

As a matter of fact the first time Los Lobos played in San Diego was at the Centro Cultural de la Raza at the invitation of Chunky. And usually when the baddest band out of East LA plays a show in San Diego they give a shout out to Chunky y Los Alacranes. These two groups started out during the same era and continue to share a musical brotherhood.

  [Read more…]

Corporate Education Reform Goes to College Despite Flunking Out in the K-12 System

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By Jim Miller

Things haven’t been going too well for the corporate education reform forces lately.  In Chicago there is great controversy surrounding and parent resistance to school closings as a result of the efforts of over zealous reformers. This shameful turn of events puts yet another black mark on former Obama Administration chief of staff and current Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel’s heavy-handed reign of error over his city’s schools.

  [Read more…]

Part One: Why Bomb the Boston Marathon?

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Islamic Totalitarians, the Apocalypse, and Terrorism

Editor’s Note: Since most of the news media ‘experts’ have no clue what they’re talking about when it comes to the backgrounds of the Boston Marathon bombers we’re publishing this detailed backgrounder by researcher Chip Berlet. Part One explains the genesis of Islamic terrorism, the apocalyptic viewpoint likely connected to the Boston bombing, and a quick primer on how the history of Chechnya fits into this story.

By Chip Berlet / Talk to Action

Walk a mile in the shoes of those who claim to honor God and yet cheer the bombing of the Boston Marathon. They represent only a tiny fraction of the Muslims on our planet, yet they see themselves as carrying out the will of God. Fanatics such as these can be found in many of the World’s religions. They shoot abortion providers in the United States; blast apart buses in Israel; and murder Muslims in India (and vice versa).

  [Read more…]

Desde la Logan: What Does Chicano Park Mean to You?

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By Brent E. Beltrán

Since I live across the street from Chicano Park I sometimes take its beauty for granted. I see it every day as I exit my apartment complex’s parking structure. I see it when I do laundry. When I walk to Las Cuatro Milpas for my tortilla fix. Whenever I return home from wherever I’ve been. I live within its shadows and those that helped create the space.

It’s an ubiquitous presence in my Barrio Logan life. It’s always there. Standing proudly in the background of my existence. Because of that sometimes it all blends together. But not this coming Saturday, April 20. The annual Chicano Park Day Celebration is when Chicano Park is at the forefront of people’s minds. It’s a time to remember and celebrate the occupation of land and a community fighting for its dignity. It’s a time when the park shines from within the shadows of the San Diego Coronado Bridge.

I know what Chicano Park means to me. But I often wonder what does it means to others? I thought I’d ask a few people that question. What does Chicano Park mean to you? Here are their answers, in their own words and in their own linguistic style. After reading please make a comment below and let me know what Chicano Park means to you.   [Read more…]

Restaurant Review – Las Cuatro Milpas

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Las Cuatro Milpas
1875 Logan Ave. (Cesar E. Chavez Pkwy.)
San Diego, CA 92113
619-234-4460

In a way, it grieves me to be writing this review because Las Cuatro Milpas is one of my very favorite Mexican Restaurants and it is already so busy I hate to know that others reading this review will want to get in their car and drive down to Barrio Logan immediately.

But before you do, check the time because they open at 8:30am and close at 3:00pm, UNLESS they run out of food and close earlier.

The first time I went to this wonderful, small – much smaller then than now – was in 1966.  My husband and I stood in line for almost 35 minutes, next to the then-mayor and Police Chief of San Diego. The line stretched almost around the block then – and still does today.(New people stand in line now – they served all the “old ones.”)   [Read more…]

The Starting Line – Who Didn’t Set Off the Bombs at the Boston Marathon

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For all we know it could have been the Penguin Liberation Front

By Doug Porter

The one thing we know for sure is most of the initial reports following yesterday’s tragedy were factually challenged. Or should I just say wrong?

Rumors flew. They got shot down.

First there were three bombs. Then there were five. Then there was a related explosion at Boston’s JFK library. Twelve people were dead, according to the New York Post. Authorities were questioning a Saudi man as a ‘person of interest’.

All those things turned out to be wrong.

The media’s self generated pressure to be ‘first’ with breaking news was only slightly less ridiculous than the rumors flying over Twitter.   [Read more…]

I’m not Sure if I Adopted Barrio Logan or if It Adopted Me…

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By Letitia Rogers

I’ve moved around a lot. From where I was born, in El Cajon, to rural Oregon and even more rural Alaska. Wherever we lived, though, we were still San Diegans, listening to the Beach Boys Christmas album — even with snow outside. I spent 20 years in LA and never seemed to settle, always hinting at a return to San Diego.

In 2007 I made the move and while working downtown, my car got towed. The impound lot was near Barrio Logan. Uh oh. I’d never been there and only had vague stories of why not to go there. Danger was implied. We exited at Cesar E. Chavez and driving by old houses with bars on the windows, I wondered: who lives here?

That move didn’t stick and I ended up back in LA. While figuring out my next move after a film job ended, I got a call from a family friend in San Diego about an opportunity. Gayle is a caterer & chef and had decided to open a restaurant in Barrio Logan. Very little foot traffic and a down economy wasn’t ideal but she’d moved her catering kitchen to a building at Newton and Beardsley and taken over the old Guild restaurant space in the front.

She was going to give it a go. I was intrigued. It was to be friendly and relaxed with affordable, good food for the people working and living in the community. I think my ever-on-the-move brain only heard the word “community.” That’s what I was looking for and I said “Yes.”   [Read more…]

West Coast Babies Suffer Thyroid Problems After Fukushima Nuclear Meltdown

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fukushima fallout mapChildren born in Pacific coastal states in 2011 may be at greatest risk.

By Anne Hurley / msn Healthy Living

It’s already well known how devastating the March 2011 Fukushima nuclear reactor meltdown was for Japan — dramatic spikes in radiation-related illnesses, an increase in likely cancer deaths over the next several years, and pollution which may never truly be cleaned up.

A new study suggests what many worldwide have feared — that the devastation from the traveling radiation has in fact sickened infants in other countries, including babies born shortly after the incident in Hawaii, Alaska, Washington, Oregon, and California.   [Read more…]

Five Stages of Republican Grief (A Tribute to the U-T’s Steve Breen)

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By Annie Lane
Last week I came across a Steve Breen cartoon in the San Diego Union-Tribune entitled “Mapping Bob Filner’s Brain” (see left). I had quite the guffaw. I mean, if guffaws were redefined to be humorless, silent events that’s what it was.

I find it interesting that, given Breen’s skill and Pulitzer Prize history, the brain he chose to draw was so boorishly simple. Don’t worry, I get it — it’s intended to represent the supposedly simple mind of our union-sympathizing, anti-hotelier mayor.

But it doesn’t matter what multi-syllabic, mildly offensive adjectives Breen uses to describe Bob Filner because, at the end of the day, he’s still the elected mayor of San Diego. You know, the guy who, like most Democrats in the 2012 election, fairly won against his Republican counterpart.   [Read more…]

What’s an EcoDistrict Anyway? North Park prepares to become first in San Diego

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North Park in the first stages of becoming the first sustainable-focused neighborhood in San Diego following the U.S. lead of Portland, OR.  Tonight (Wednesday, April 10th) there will be an informational meeting for community members to learn about the project.  The meeting will be at Sea Rocket Bistro (3382 30th Street, 92104) from 5:30 – 7:30 PM and $3 drafts and $2 street tacos will be available.

I recently talked with Paulina Lis, who is heading up the North Park EcoDistrict project along with colleague Jennifer Owens, to learn more about the project.  (The North Park EcoDistrict is currently in ‘start-up’ mode and the official website, northparkecodistrict.com, is under construction. In the interim the best source for information on the EcoDistrict is the Facebook page.)  Paulina directed me to the Portland Sustainability Institute (PSI) as a primary source for information on what an EcoDistrict is and what Portland has been doing.   [Read more…]

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