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The Duncan Hunter(s) and Various Other Threats to Our National Security

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Any doubts about Congressional candidate Ammar Campa-Najjar’s moral code should have been resolved on Tuesday, as the 29-year-old Democrat shook Duncan Hunter, Sr.’s hand after listening to the old man lie to the assembled news media in the shadow of the USS Midway on San Diego’s waterfront.

If Campa-Najjar was the terrorist threat the retired Congressman made him out to be, he should have punched the old son of a bitch in the face right then and there. Hell, that’s what I would have been at least tempted to do if I’d been anywhere nearby. (I guess that’s why nobody’s clamoring for me to run for office.)

Instead, Duncan Hunter Jr’s challenger has issued what he says is his final statement on what the Washington Post called “the most vile political ad of this year’s midterm elections.”

“The FBI throughly vetted me, my family history and connections. After doing so, they determined my allegiances to the United States were unquestionable and I was given security clearance to serve in the federal government as recent as 2016. I am not a security threat, Duncan Hunter is, however.”
  [Read more…]

Longtime I.B. Resident Supports Paloma Aguirre for City Council | 2018 Candidate Profiles | Readers Write

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By Drew Douglas

My family lived five blocks from the ocean in the heart of Imperial Beach when I was born, and there I was raised for most of my formative years. Life in our beach town was always closely tied to the waves and the tides, and it still is. It defined much of my childhood. Skateboarding or riding our bikes to the beach wasn’t just a ritual, it was a luxury we took for granted.

Walking home from the beach on a sunny summer afternoon, wearing a bathing suit, draped in a towel, the warm sun on your skin still freckled with dried salt and sand from the ocean — this is quintessential Imperial Beach. But we have continually battled a constant threat to this tranquility. And it hasn’t just hampered our way of life, it has hindered the economic growth of the community.

They say “all politics are local” but too often we become so engrossed in national political spectacles that we forget about our own backyard. I spent many a summer and winter day on the beaches of I.B. swimming, bodyboarding, fishing with my father from the pier, climbing on the rocks of the jetties to watch the sunset with friends or just soaking up the sun in the sand.   [Read more…]

I Keep Thinking of Christine

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I keep thinking of Christine,
her story of a man
cupping his hand
over her mouth
so she couldn’t scream
and expose his scheme
to forcefully
have his way with her
like so many men have done
for eons
in human history.
And for decades she didn’t scream,
except for those
inaudible screams that echo in
those dark places inside
human beings
where we try to hide
pain that’s hard to confront,   [Read more…]

Iconic ‘Black Power’ Salute at Olympics Marks 50th Anniversary | Video Worth Watching

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Yesterday, October 16th was the 50th anniversary of one of the most iconic political sports images—the Black Power salute at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City. The contemporaneous response to that gesture was derision and disciplinary action. Both Gold Medal winner Tommie Smith and Bronze medalist John Carlos were prohibited from participating in any future Olympics events, both lost their jobs after returning from Mexico, and their families received death threats. Time has confirmed the power of their statement though, with the event being memorialized in film (Salute), in sculptures and at various ceremonies commemorating the event.   [Read more…]

The How and Why of Measure YY, the San Diego Unified School District Bond Ask

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Back in the old days before Proposition 13, local schools were funded locally. School boards had the authority to raise property tax rates, constrained by the understanding that the electorate would vote them out come election time if they went too far.

In practice, this meant school districts with lower property values ended up with inferior education facilities and programs. Court cases in the 1970’s began the erosion of local control in the cause of rectifying these inequities; Prop 13 put the state in the driver’s seat.

School boards can no longer levy property taxes. They can, however, ask voters to support local funding for schools through parcel taxes and bond measures. And in the majority of cases, voters have agreed with this method of filling the holes blown through local education budgets.   [Read more…]

The ‘March for Our Lives’ Parkland Students Collaborate with Artists Sage, Kesha and Chika to Create a Powerful Video on the Issue of Gun Violence | Video Worth Watching

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The March for Our Lives group has collaborated with artist Sage to create a video that is a sort of mashup of Groundhog Day and a Rube Goldberg device. From the SAGE YouTube web page:

“Safe” is the debut single from the artist Sage. Sage wrote the song while in his senior year of high school after the tragic mass shooting in a high school in Parkland, Florida. He played the first version of the song for his older sister, the music artist Kesha, who instantly felt the power of the track and wanted to help the cause by lending her voice to the song and movement. Chika, independent female rapper known for her vicious flow and fearless lyrics, contributed verses to finish the song.

More at the March for Our Lives website. [h/t to AGD]   [Read more…]

UPDATED With Suggestions | An Explainer on Electing Judges in California

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What to do about voting for or against judges is a thing this year. I’m hoping today’s column will answer some of the questions readers have asked in recent days.  

The attention paid to Brett Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court confirmation hearing has made a lot of people take notice of the judicial contests appearing on their ballots. At least that is what I assume is going on, having researched and/or produced a half-dozen or so voter guides since 2012.

San Diegans who have heard, read, or seen campaign materials about many candidates and propositions open up the ballot and are confounded by seeing 16 judicial contests for people they know nothing about. (There’s a seventeenth contest, and we’ll get to it further down in the story.)

Who are these people listed for California’s Court of Appeals and Supreme Court and why are we being asked to vote on them?   [Read more…]

Two City Works Press Books Explore San Diego’s Impact on the Psyche | Release Reading at Tiger! Tiger!

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San Diego City Works Press is a project of the San Diego Writers Collective, which is a group of San Diego writers, poets, artists, and patrons dedicated to the publication and promotion of the work of San Diego area artists of all sorts.  Our specific interests include local, ethnic, and border writing as well as formal innovation and progressive politics.

The Collective’s main focus is local, but we have engaged in occasional collaborations with writers from around the world. City Works Press is an all-volunteer non-profit, funded by local writers and friends of the arts, committed to the publication of fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, and art by members of the San Diego City College community and beyond.  

Sunday, October 21, at 4:30 at Tiger!Tiger! City Works Press, in concert with Verbatim Books, is proud to present the release reading for local novelist Josh Turner and San Diego poet, Joe Medina.  Fall 2018 marks 13 years of publication by SD City Works Press, and Baxt and Medina’s works continue our tradition of birthing first books by homegrown authors.   [Read more…]

German ‘Indivisible’ Movement Draws 240,000 to Berlin Rally | Video Worth Watching

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German far-right groups have been growing in numbers, but Germans opposed to racism and hyper-nationlism are in vastly greater numbers and continue to push back with counter-demonstrations. Organizers in Germany that are promoting inclusivity and diversity use the hashtag: #unteilbar (#indivisible in German) in recognition of the enshrinement of this principle in the German constitution. The organizers of this recent event in Berlin were expecting a turnout of around 40,000, but were amazed when participation swelled to around 240,000. Additional coverage at NPR here.   [Read more…]

Looking Back at the Week: October 7-13

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This week’s edition of Looking Back at the Week contains articles, commentaries, columns, and other work by San Diego Free Press regulars, irregulars, columnists, at-large contributors, and locally and nationally sourced writers on general election endorsements, Sanders stumping for Levin and Campa-Najjar, the Marriott Strike, Trojan Horse Tuck, horrible Escondido Mayor Abed, and lots of other grassroots news & progressive views from San Diego’s feisty, all volunteer, slightly funky, community news site.   [Read more…]

Tyger – Guilherme Marcondes | Video Worth Watching

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Following the election results in Brazil has been a bit discouraging with the “Brazilian Trump”—Jair Bolsonaro—getting 46% of the votes in the first round of the presidential election. Perhaps a slight silver-lining to this dark news cloud is that thinking of things Brazilian reminded me of the fantastic 2006 video Tyger by the Brazilian filmmaker Guilherme Marcondes, inspired by William Blake’s poem of the same name. For those curious about how Brazil may be getting its own Trump, check out John Oliver’s take on Last Week Tonight.   [Read more…]

Keb’ Mo’ – Put a Woman in Charge feat. Rosanne Cash (Official Music Video) | Video Worth Watching

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From the Keb’ Mo’ YouTube page:

“My mother just recently passed at the age of 91. She was smart. She was strong. She was a leader. This video is dedicated to her and amazing women everywhere that are getting the job done.” -Keb’ Mo’

[h/t to Annie L]   [Read more…]

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