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California’s 2018 Ballot Propositions | An Overview of Props 1 thru 4

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Today I’m writing about the first four of California’s 2018 Ballot Propositions for the general election.

What the first four ballot offerings have in common are requests to use taxpayer money for things proponents would like us to believe are for the common good.

Prop 1 would authorize borrowing for housing. Prop 2 would ask voters for permission to use a previously authorized tax revenue stream to include building housing for mentally ill people. Prop 3 wants voters to authorize bonds for water-related infrastructure. Prop 4 wants voters to authorize bonds for updates and construction of children’s hospital facilities.

On Wednesday I’ll delve into Props 5-8, and Thursday will conclude this series with 10-12. Some of the details/wording in this article is borrowed from a ’first look’ column I posted in late August; I’ve had the opportunity to do some more study and am sharing my findings.   [Read more…]

Don’t Blame Scooters. Blame the Streets. | Video Worth Watching

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From the Vox YouTube website:

Vox teamed up with the University of California to explain one of the hottest trends of 2018: dockless electric scooters. Even in cities with exceptional public transportation coverage, gaps persist. This is a decades old problem, often referred to as ‘the last mile/first mile.’ Cities traditionally address the last mile problem by expanding bus routes. But as cities continue to populate while transportation dept budgets dwindle, the patience of commuters is running dry. So scooters, electric skateboards, and pedal assist bikes have become an increasingly popular option for city residents. These innovations, while quite popular, also draw the ire of the oft-beleaguered sidewalk pedestrian. The past century of development prioritized car transportation, often at the expense of wide sidewalks that were once bustling with life. So the planners of today are taking a page out of history to prepare for a brave new world of alternative transportation.

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San Diego County’s 2018 Ballot Measures: A Question of Intent, Two Steps Back, One Step Forward

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As presently constituted, San Diego County’s Board of Supervisors is a dying breed.

Decades of a status quo determined by mostly white, Republican, and male overlords are coming to an end. Term limits, a less homogenous population, and the decline of the Grand Old Party’s base in California mean a change is coming.

This is the lens through which Measures A thru D–to be voted on by all San Diego County voters–must be viewed through.
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After the Education Wars: Someone Needs to Save Us from Our Billionaire Saviors

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After failing to prop-up Antonio Villaraigosa’s flagging gubernatorial campaign last June, Michael Bloomberg apparently spent the summer pondering whether it would be wiser for him to personally save the United States rather than waste his time trying to rescue California by proxy.  Last week the New York Times reported that Bloomberg was mulling a run for the Presidency as a Democrat because that represented the most viable path to victory.  As the Times story observed, while Bloomberg has engaged in some good work on guns and the environment, many of his other positions might not be very likely to win over the liberal base of the Democratic Party.  

Interestingly, the New York Times piece listed Bloomberg’s more conservative views on criminal justice reform, #MeToo, and bank regulation, but was strangely silent on education, one of the central fronts where Bloomberg has spent millions of dollars promoting largely terrible ideas and candidates that have done far more harm than good to American public education.     [Read more…]

South Carolina Prisoners Were Left In Cells as Florence Descended. Why Weren’t They Evacuated? | Video Worth Watching

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From the Democracy Now! YouTube website:

South Carolina officials are coming under fire for refusing to relocate prisoners in mandatory evacuation zones even as Hurricane Florence barreled down on the state. Prisoners were instead put to work behind bars making sandbags to prepare for the storm’s arrival. We speak with Kymberly Smith, a community organizer with the Party for Socialism and Liberation. She has been protesting South Carolina’s choice to not evacuate prisoners during Hurricane Florence.

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Looking Back at the Week: September 16-22

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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 Tommy Hough, Martinez vs Moreno, Fletcher vs Dumanis, Gomez vs Desmond, Soccer City vs SDSU West, CA recycling crisis, the homicide of Earl McNeil and lots of other grassroots news & progressive views from San Diego’s feisty, all volunteer, slightly funky, community news site.   [Read more…]

Vote ’Em Out | Video Worth Watching

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Mail-in ballots will start going out on October 8th. Are you registered to vote? Are you prepared to vote?   [Read more…]

Celebrating Fanny Miller: Pioneer Spanish Language Publisher

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Fanny Miller is the owner of El Latino, the largest Spanish language newspaper in the United States. Today, El Latino is one of the top ten Latino newspapers nationwide and the only Latino newspaper in California owned by a woman. In 2018 she started a new venture, Celebrando Latinas, a magazine about issues that are important to women in the Latino Community.   [Read more…]

Pascuala Ilabaca y Fauna – El Baile del Kkoyaruna | Video Worth Watching

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From the Pascuala Ilabaca y Fauna Oficial YouTube page:

This song is dedicated to so many people who leave their hometown, their family to look for a job. This poetry wants to remind you that you can leave a geographical territory, but your origin, your myth, will be with you wherever you are. In the video, the “Kkoyaruna” (“miner” in Quechua language), is accompanied by a carnival on the way to the mine, the masked dancers and musicians, we remind you that through the Carnival rite you can clean up the degradation of work and connect with your root. The recording has dear invited friends; Freddy Torrealba (charango), Alex Johnson (quena) and Francisca Vilches (trombone). The video was recorded next to the comparsa ̈La Gritona ̈ at the Olmué Aerodrome, under the old mine called Cerro la Campana.

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Kavanaugh & The GOP Boys: Why 70% of Rapes Aren’t Reported | Progressive Calendar Sept. 21- Oct 1, 2018

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Donald Trump and his enablers know the statistics from experience and rely on it to shield their groping, harassment, and pussy-grabbing. And now they are exploiting this reality in their quest to place a man on the nation’s highest court who’s history indicates he’ll do everything possible to further subjugate women. 

There are well-established facts about sexual assault and its aftermath: only 310 out of every 1,000 rapes are reported. Of those rapes reported to police, just 57 lead to arrests, 11 are referred to prosecutors, seven lead to felony convictions, and six lead to incarceration for the rapist. Victims of rape have long-lasting consequences, including PTSD, suicidal thoughts, problems at work or school, drug use, and more. 

I have no way of knowing how the vote on Kavanaugh will turn out. I do know that, whatever the outcome, the old white guys in DC have further motivated millions of women to make sure to vote in the upcoming elections. 

Now’s the time to make a plan to vote, and to encourage your friends to do so. Mail-in ballots go out in less than two weeks. Even though most of them won’t appear on every ballot, there are more than six hundred people running for office in San Diego County alone. Opportunities to learn about and engage with campaigns and issues are popping up everywhere. All you have to do is pay attention.   [Read more…]

A Hand Without Teeth | Geo-Poetic Spaces

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A hand over
mouths

Fingers forced inside
throats
words choked
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Brett Kavanaugh: No More Nineties Reboots, Please | Video Worth Watching

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Samantha Bee puts her spin on the current Kavanaugh controversy. One observation: some of the politicians and pundits rushing to Kavanaugh’s defense sound more like they’re confessing to something themselves.   [Read more…]

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