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Freedom of the Press, It’s Not Just for Newspapers Anymore

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More than a hundred publications have responded to The Boston Globe’s call for an editorial response on Thursday to President Donald Trump’s frequent attacks on the news media.

Here is an excerpt from an Associated Press story:

‘‘We are not the enemy of the people,’’ said Marjorie Pritchard, deputy managing editor for the editorial page of The Boston Globe, referring to a characterization of journalists that Trump has used in the past. The president, who contends he has largely been covered unfairly by the press, also employs the term ‘‘fake news’’ often when describing the media.

The Globe has reached out to editorial boards nationwide to write and publish editorials on Aug. 16 denouncing what the newspaper called a ‘‘dirty war against the free press.’’

I really do appreciate the sentiment.

I also have to say “karma, baby.”   [Read more…]

Robert Reich: 10 Steps To Finding Common Ground | Video Worth Watching

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Robert Reich lays down some common sense suggestions for fostering dialogue with folks that may not share one’s political viewpoints. I know there are persuasive arguments for not even attempting to engage the hard-core Republican fanatics, but not all non-democrats are hardcore Trump/Pence racist types. Plus it’s important to listen and hear what others are saying as well as being able to articulate one’s own viewpoint.   [Read more…]

Convention Center, County Voting Initiatives Bode Poorly for Local GOP Leaders

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Last week was a rough week for the status quo in San Diego. The (mostly) unspoken private-public partnership between land developers and local elected officials couldn’t get it done. Not once, but twice.

A faux ‘citizens initiative’ run by hoteliers, and assorted Mayoral toadies won’t be on the November ballot. Visions of economic growth centered on convention center expansion ended amid finger pointing and raised middle fingers. Grift, incompetence and a failure to understand public weariness with past promises of economic benefits trickling down from the schemes of the rich and famous all played in role in the effort’s spectacular failure.

The days of San Diego County being a Republican enclave may be numbered. A Board of Supervisors’ attempt to deep-six a union-sponsored voting measure made its way back onto the November ballot, thanks to a judge’s ruling affirming that the 100,000+ people who’d signed petitions didn’t do so with the intention of fostering yet another pointless study.
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Summer Chronicles 2018 #9: The Music of the Street

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There is music in the street.  It’s easy to be enthralled by the sounds of the natural world, but urban noise frequently distresses us, disrupts our head space or intervenes into the sounds we are plugged into at the moment.  But sometimes, the city bustle has its charms. So much of the urban noise that we think of as a distraction from some other narrative that has captured our attention or an intrusion into our sealed-off domestic space is seen as ugly.  

But perhaps we just need to learn to listen.  Is it the sounds themselves that are the issue or our reactions to them?  Maybe instead of sonic garbage, the clatter and hum is part of the chorus of life.  As I get older and crankier, I try to remember to leave that door in myself open so instead of pushing things out, I can let them come and go.     [Read more…]

Elderly Reflections on a Melancholy Day

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You ever have one of those days
when you just
can’t shake your blues
because your soul feels so completely
battered and bruised
and defused and confused
and mis and/or overused,
seeming as though
it will never ever again
be enthused and amused?   [Read more…]

Why Homeless Advocates Opposed the Convention Center Ballot Measure | Video Worth Watching

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John Brady speaks before the City Council, August 9, 2018 to explain why Homelesness activists oppose the Convention Center Ballot Measure.   [Read more…]

Looking Back at the Week: August 5-11

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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, cartoonists, at-large contributors, and locally and nationally sourced writers on SD Deplorables Jerry Sanders & Carl DeMaio, GOP ghouls going after legal immigrants, convention center expansion problems, AB 931, desert dinos, Glow’s Azalea Park murals, Chicano Park Museum and Cultural Center gets their building, and lots of other grassroots news & progressive views from San Diego’s feisty, all volunteer, slightly funky, community news site.   [Read more…]

Salsa Celtica: El Sol De La Noche, Live at Helsinki Festival | Video Worth Watching

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Here’s to the wonderful world of Fusion. I love Salsa. I love Celtic. Here’s Salsa Celtica with a live version of El Sol de la Noche from the Helsinki Festival, August 2014.   [Read more…]

10 Ways to Fight Hate – a Southern Poverty Law Center Response to the “Unite the Right” Rally | More Video Worth Watching

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As we mark the one year anniversary of the death of Heather Heyer and two law enforcement officers during a “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, a year ago today, the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) is promoting a web site it created dedicated to Fighting Hate—a guide to opposing the bigotry and hatred of white nationalism and neo-nazi movements. It presents a plan and suggests courses of action for creating a counter force of tolerance and inclusion.   [Read more…]

Claire de Lune x 2 : NASA and Kamasi Washington | Video Worth Watching

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From the NASA Goddard YouTube web page:

The visualization was created to accompany a performance of Clair de Lune by the National Symphony Orchestra Pops, led by conductor Emil de Cou, at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC, on June 1 and 2, 2018, as part of a celebration of NASA’s 60th anniversary.

The visualization uses a digital 3D model of the Moon built from Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter global elevation maps and image mosaics. The lighting is derived from actual Sun angles during lunar days in 2018.

And for another take on this classic Debussy work, here’s an arrangement by saxaphonist Kamasi Washington.   [Read more…]

Dumanis Gets Dumped by Deputy Sheriffs Association | Progressive Activist Calendar August 11 – 20, 2018

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San Diego’s Deputy Sheriffs Association has rescinded an earlier endorsement of former District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis, the Republican candidate in the race for Fourth District Supervisor.

Former Assemblyman Nathan Fletcher, the Democratic candidate, now holds the title of ‘law enforcement’s choice,’ according to a press release landing in my inbox this morning. 

Miss Cleo’s fortune-telling hotline has been strangely silent for me since she died two years ago, but I can say for sure the people who normally support Republicans are acting like they’ve seen the future. This endorsement, my friends, is kind of a big deal. I know the election isn’t over until the ballots are counted, but this switcheroo was a jaw-dropper.   [Read more…]

Dinosaurs in the Desert | Geo-Poetic Spaces

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Dinosaurs in the desert
keep windmills turning

Stop

Drivers
from reaching washes

Flooded
by humanity’s feeding frenzy of fire
  [Read more…]

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