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Compassion as a Radical Act

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By Dave Patterson / Vets for Peace

On a cold night in January I joined Stan Levin and Gil Field delivering sleeping bags to the San Diego homeless, what we call the compassion campaign. Dealing directly with the homeless is painful because there they are in our faces with their cold, hunger and suffering laid bare. What’s surprising is the number of people with just a thin blanket that will decline a sleeping bag because others nearby need it more. How ironic that people with nothing can have more compassion than those of us with plenty.   [Read more…]

PETITION: Use Qualcomm Stadium Parking Lot as a SafePark-Camp for the Homeless

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By Women Occupy San Diego

San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer touts the 640 of 3000 miles of City street repaired during his 32 months in office. Good for you, Mr. Mayor, this shows you can accomplish something when you set your mind to it.

NEXT UP: Get people made homeless by the past 6 years’ replacement of 10,000 units of affordable housing by market-rate housing, vacation rentals, hotels, offices and retail OFF THESE STREETS.   [Read more…]

Trump Executive Order Vandalizes Obamacare

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While the press obsesses over Alt-Truths (the same kinds of lies being told all along), the deconstructing of the United States safety net has begun.

Our thin-skinned President has busied himself between tantrums by signing executive orders inspired by likes of the Heritage Foundation, which has long held that our national wealth would be better served if it were in the pockets of the very wealthy.

First up will be the elimination of government spending on anything other than national security and corporate welfare. Second up will be privatized replacements for programs deemed irreplaceable wrapped in the swaddling of alternative truths about how beneficial this will be.   [Read more…]

The Final Assault on Public Education is On in Earnest

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During the halcyon days of the Trump transition period, the Education Committee confirmation hearing of Betsy DeVos stood out as perhaps the most jarring example of the craven cynicism that defines the new regime.

The headlines said it all, with nearly every major media outlet noting DeVos’s scant qualifications and terrible performance with extreme skepticism. The New York Times expressed “Big Worries About Betsy DeVos” while the New Yorker outlined “Betsy DeVos and the Plan to Break Public Schools.” Over at the Washington Post, they wrote “Six Astonishing Things Betsy DeVos Said—and Refused to Say—at her Confirmation Hearing” as Esquire opined that “The Betsy DeVos Hearing Was an Insult to Democracy.” The Los Angeles Times editorial, “Betsy DeVos Embarassed Herself and Should Be Rejected by the Senate” pithily observed that “what disqualifies her is her lack of understanding of existing law and policy, and her inability to address them thoughtfully.”

But, of course, the new leader of the free world was undaunted by all of this as he signed a stack of executive orders, one of which was his formal nomination of DeVos for Secretary of Education, saying simply, “Ah Betsy, Education. Right?”   [Read more…]

Creativity, Solidarity Mark San Diego Women’s March

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I’ve been to a few demonstrations in my day: Los Angeles, Berkeley, Madison, Chicago, Ann Arbor, Washington DC, but mostly in San Diego. (Hey, I’m a child of the sixties!) And Saturday’s Women’s March through downtown takes the cake for the unity and overwhelmingly positive energy I felt.

I know more than a few people in San Diego’s activist circles and saw almost nobody I knew. That’s when I knew something really big was going on. Another clue was that the cellular networks couldn’t keep up.

The best part was the absence of any sense of personal alienation, despite being surrounded by a crowd of strangers. We were one. People were polite and caring. Strangers weren’t quite so strange. For a few hours we were wrapped in a cocoon of solidarity.   [Read more…]

Who Are You Going to Believe? Trump, Truth, Citizens and the Press

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The unveiling of the Ministry of Truth

There are 1,457 days left in the Trump presidency, assuming that he doesn’t get bored and quit, is impeached or that the skies rain glass upon us all.

Trump’s inaugural address “(Liberal) Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” made it clear that he is only interested in his adoring base–the 46% of the voting public who narrowly installed him in the White House. The strategy among his handlers is clearly to let Trump be Trump while they roll up their sleeves and dismantle our democratic institutions.

The massive Women’s March in Washington on the first day of the Trump presidency was successful on many levels, not the least of which is that it got under Trump’s thin skin–bigly. The half million or so people who showed up were not Trump’s adoring base.   [Read more…]

Looking Back at the Week: Jan 15-21

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This week’s edition of Looking Back at the Week features articles, commentaries, columns, toons, and other work by San Diego Free Press regulars, irregulars, columnists, at-large contributors, cartoonists, and sourced writers on: the end of the world as we know it AKA Trump’s inauguration, the protests, the Women’s March, the community campaign against Kasparian, ethically challenged Repugs, rising up, MLK, dissent, the Chicano perspective of Trump, free college in NY, and lots of other grassroots news & progressive views from San Diego’s friendly, neighborhood, all volunteer, slightly funky, community news site.   [Read more…]

Geo-Poetic Spaces: Rising Up

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Women
kiss icons in the church of Saint Lazarus
place devote hands
over a reliquary
containing the saint’s bones

Beneath the altar –
a crypt with an empty sarcophagus

My eyes christen the marble with tears
for a distant country
in need of resuscitation   [Read more…]

Community Campaign Against Accused Sexual Harasser Mickey Kasparian Continues

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UFCW headquarters site of protest in support of brave Latinas

The relentless campaign being waged by supporters of Sandy Naranjo, Isabel Vasquez, and Anabel Arauz continued Wednesday night at the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 135 office in Mission Valley for the quarterly membership meeting.

Naranjo, Vasquez, and Arauz filed separate lawsuits against UFCW Local 135 president Mickey Kasparian accusing him of many things including gender discrimination, sexual harassment, and retaliation. Also named in all three complaints are the union itself and in Arauz’s filing, Richard Barerra, secretary-treasurer of the local.

Almost two dozen supporters came out on a cold weeknight to champion the cause of these brave women. Each protestor held a homemade sign showing solidarity with their union sisters or contempt for the man accused of harassing them.   [Read more…]

Inaugural Weekend (And Beyond) Activism Calendar

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(See the SDFP election day liveblog for news throughout the day on Friday, January 20th)

There are community gatherings. There are rallies. There are protest marches. There are teach-ins. There are press conferences. There is art. There are even dance parties. And there are even events NOT related to the inauguration.

People from all walks of life find are finding ways to express their displeasure with the incoming administration. Check out the calendar below for events over the next ten days or so. Events related to the inauguration include the Trump/NOPE graphic.

Activism abounds in San Diego if you know where to look for it. I’ve been posting this progressive activism calendar on Fridays now for more than six months and every week I learn about new groups.   [Read more…]

The Storm Ahead: Weathering the Trump Administration

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While the nation’s attention is focused on hearings for the five high-profile Goldman Sachs execs/alums and other swamp dwellers proposed for President-elect Trump’s cabinet, the horrible reality of what’s coming in the near future is taking shape.

Come Monday, the United States of America –practically speaking–won’t have a functioning executive branch of government. Of the 690 Senate-confirmable jobs, the incoming administration has nominated just 28 humans. Many of those who have been nominated are either antagonistic to or ignorant of the agencies they have been tasked to lead.

The silver lining in all this is that people and organizations are coalescing to resist the challenges of the coming months. Once you get past the bad news in today’s column, I’ll share some information on these positive developments.   [Read more…]

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