A caucus within the San Diego Education Association (SDEA), the union that represents teachers within the San Diego Unified School District, is calling for the immediate resignation of labor leader Bill Freeman and five other board members. This morning’s announcement, made via an internet newsletter, called upon union members to circulate and sign recall petitions aimed at forcing a change in the SDEA leadership.
We don’t need no stinkin’ newspaper!
Here’s today’s’ top pick in the don’t need no stinkin’ category. It’s called we don’t need no stinkin’ newspaper!
Doug Manchester’s high-flying plan to convert the entire San Diego region to a super-conservative privately-held corporation is highlighted by his latest acquisition of the North County Times (and affiliated Daily Californian). Manchester makes no secret of his intention to capture the market of major news outlets — newspapers, TV, radio, and electronic/online. Given his deep pockets, political objectives, and near-sociopathic super-size ego and ambitions, Manchester will undoubtedly do whatever it takes to get where he wants to be.
The Chicago Teachers Union Versus the New Democrats, the Same Old Republicans, and the Corporate Media
After nearly twenty years of ‘reform’, the schools of Chicago remain among the lowest performing in the nation.
A funny thing happened on the way to labor’s extinction: the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) staged one of the most daring and important strikes in recent memory. As Chris Hedges put it during his Democracy Now interview last week “the teachers’ strike in Chicago is arguably one of the most important labor actions in probably decades.” And in the midst of this struggle, most of the corporate media around the country have decried the horrible greedy teachers from their editorial pages and assured readers that they were on the side of the children rather than the teachers.
The Labor Movement Is Us
Some people go on and on about labor unions as if they’re some kind of STD, so un-hip to the reality that the Labor Movement is us, We the People.
Who else labors?
As far as my relations with unions is concerned, if it hadn’t been for the San Diego Teachers Union I wouldn’t have enjoyed the time of a lifetime, a period of three years where I put work aside and took a “Parental Leave,” the first such leave taken by a man in the school district.
The Starting Line – ‘Occupy’ Anniversary Protests in New York, San Diego & Around the World
3:30 PM (PDT) As the press reports that OWS is all over for the day, here’s a picture taken a moment ago in Liberty Square
(For info on what’s happening in San Diego, come inside
3pm- Word from New York is that the late day actions were peaceful with few arrests. Thousands of people remain in Liberty Park. We’re headed out shortly to cover San Diego Occupy events. Check out our live feed from NYC below.
1 Pm This next hour will probably be the most dramatic part of the day for Occupy Wall Street. The activists gathered in Liberty Park are getting ready to march on Wall Street; the cops are massed and blocking the way.
Also It would appear that Anonymous has taken the Monsanto website down for the afternoon. Occupy groups in California have been targeting Monsanto for demonstrations as part of a campaign to support a ballot initiative that would require labeling of GMO foods.
NYPD reports 143 arrests as of 12:30 PDT.
Extreme Weather Watch: The Effects of Global Warming Are Here Right Now
Even those global warming deniers can’t escape the fact that the weather events causing a billion dollars or more of damage and destruction are piling up at an increasing rate. The National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) is the Nation’s Scorekeeper in terms of addressing severe weather/climate events. The NCDC tracks and evaluates climate events in the U.S. and globally that have great economic and societal impacts. The U.S. has sustained 133 weather/climate disasters since 1980 where overall damages/costs reached or exceeded $1 billion – assuming Consumer Price Index (CPI) adjustment to 2012. 46 of these events occurred between 1980 and 1995 and 87 occurred between 1996 and 2011.
So in the latest 15 year period there were almost twice as many billion dollar plus extreme weather events as in the 15 year period preceding it. Global warming or not, extreme weather is becoming more and more common all over the world. Losses from these events pushed the cost of weather disasters in 2011 to an estimated $150 billion worldwide. In the US last year there were a record 14 events that caused a billion dollars in damage or more. That’s more than one a month!
[Read more…]
The Dove and the Cockerel: Chapter 1
A Novel by Steve Burns
Editor’s note: Steve Burns is a former cop for the San Diego Police Department and first introduced himself to the Free Press as a Sex in San Diego contributor. His 32-chapter novel, The Dove and the Cockerel, is set in the late 80s and takes place over the 72-hour period of an investigation of two murders. A new chapter will be published every Saturday.
Prelude
Nothing can convey the impression of that overwhelming darkness. It was not just the absence of sunlight, for the sun had never touched this spot. The top of a mountain, the middle of a desert have their stars, wind, dawn, their feel of space. Here was nothingness. Eternity passes our comprehension, but in that forgotten pit I think I had a flash of what it might be like …. Then as I climbed higher I heard the faint rat-tat-tat of a drill machine. Above me and off in a side tunnel, men were working. I scrambled on; the sense of mystery fell away, and my pit became what it properly was — a hole in the ground. Even so, I climbed out of it a little wiser than I had been. I doubt me now if there is any such a thing as complete self-sufficiency. Wherever we go, whatever we do, we travel with the inbred knowledge that somewhere others of our kind are waiting. Were it not so, we would lack the courage to travel at all, and hell is a place where man is alone. — One Man’s West by David Lavender
Man is born crying. When he finishes crying, he dies. The Fool, from Akira Kurosawa’s film Ram
Chapter One…
The Starting Line – Coastal Clean Up Day: We Need Your Help on Saturday, September 15th
The California shoreline is one of the most beautiful in the country, yet each year thousands of tons of garbage end up on the beaches and in the ocean. Tomorrow, (Saturday) September 15th , thousands of volunteers will be meeting up at locations throughout the county starting at 9am to give our shoreline and coast areas a god scrubbing. Last year 7,600 volunteers removed 146,000 pounds of trash and recyclables from 201 miles of shoreline. Plus, an additional 2,000 people in Baja California collected 42,000 pounds in Tijuana, Tecate, Rosarito and Ensenada.
Eighty percent of this debris comes from land-based sources and poses a real danger to wildlife and human health. California Coastal Cleanup Day (CCD) is a statewide beach and coastal and inland waterway cleanup held throughout California each year, part of the largest such cleanup in the country. CCD is a partnership between the California Coastal Commission, non-profit groups such as I Love A Clean San Diego, and cities and counties throughout the state. It is a major part of International Coastal Cleanup, which is facilitated by The Ocean Conservancy and includes many U.S. states and territories and over 70 countries.
CCD is unique because it also collects information about items found during the cleanup, with volunteers will recording types of marine debris found and reporting their findings on data cards. This information allows agencies and NGOs to compile, analyze and track data year-by-year and make discoveries about the behaviors that cause the debris. The final statewide & international information is used to educate the public, businesses, industries, and government officials about the trash pollution problem.
There are literally dozens of clean up teams at work on Saturday throughout the region. To find out where and how you can help, go here. [Read more…]
Field of View: Strut for Sobriety!
Hundreds including Congressman Bob Filner were in attendance at the eighth annual Strut for Sobriety! event―a fashion hosted by A New PATH (Parents for Addiction Treatment & Healing). PATH is a non-profit, volunteer-run organization of people working to increase awareness of drug addiction and increase access to treatment.
The fashion show featured seasonal styles from Macy’s, which were modeled by men and women of all ages–from veteram firefighters to one toddler who insisted on high-fiving everyone within reach as she bounced down the runway.
For those who know someone facing addiction or who has lost the battle, the following organizations might be of help:
Grief Recovery After Substance Passing (GRASP)
All photos by Annie Lane. [Read more…]
Sex In San Diego: Why Fewer Teens Getting to Third Base is Big News in Election 2012
By Camira PowellPolicymic
If you believe comprehensive sex education can actually make a difference in how kids think about sex, the CDC has the numbers to back you up. A recent study conducted by the organization reveals that the percentage of teens engaging in oral sex has decreased between 2002 and 2010. This trend is accompanied by a decrease in vaginal intercourse among teens, and the lowest teen pregnancy rate in the U.S. in 40 years.
As much as these numbers are cause for celebration, the fight for adequate sex education in schools in lieu of abstinence-only education has not been given any thought this election season. When first elected to office, the Obama administration provided more funds to programs that took an evidence-based approach to teaching sex and health education. Evidence-based programs give students the facts about things like sexual intercourse, STIs and pregnancy prevention using contraception. However, with the passing of his Affordable Care Act, Obama is now backing conservative abstinence-only programs in public secondary schools. Romney, on the other hand, has remained mum on the issue in recent months, though he has publicly supported abstinence-only sex education in the past. [Read more…]
San Diego for Free: Museum of Photographic Arts
A weekly column dedicated to sharing the best sights and activities in San Diego at the best price – free! We have a great city and you don’t need to break the bank to experience it.
Balboa Park is known as the crown jewel of San Diego. Continuing this analogy, the many museums located in the park would have to be the rubies, sapphires, and emeralds that make the crown shine in splendor. Most of these museums are free to visit for San Diego County residents each Tuesday, on a rotating basis. The full schedule for the Resdents Free Tuesdays program can be found at http
The Museum of Photographic Arts (MOPA) is free on the second Tuesday of each month. My first visit to MOPA was for a mayoral debate about environmental issues that was held on Earth Day (April 22) earlier this year. The auditorium in the building was lovely, but I had been looking forward to a return visit to view the exhibits.
[Read more…]
The Starting Line — Occupy goes after Monsanto, GMOs; San Diego demonstration slated for Monday
Yesterday a dozen activists calling themselves the Genetic Crimes Unit (GCU) shut down shipping and receiving access points at Monsanto’s Oxnard, California seed distribution center. Although nine members of the group were arrested in the non-violent protest, the protesters effectively shut down the distribution of genetically engineered (GMO) seeds for a day.
The group blocked all three shipping and receiving entrances to the Monsanto facility, using flashy theatrics including a car with a giant “fish-corn” on top of it and a 6-foot high jail cell holding an individual dressed as Monsanto CEO Hugh Grant.
Monsanto is the largest producer of GMO seeds and is being called out for their genetic crimes by a network called Occupy Monsanto. Wednesday’s protest, according to a statement released by the group, is the beginning of a series of over 65 different autonomous actions that officially start on September 17, commemorating the anniversary of the Occupy Wall Street movement.
Supporters of Proposition 37, led by Women of Occupy San Diego, have announced a rally and demonstration in support of the initiative, which would require that labeling of foods containing genetically modified organisms (GMO’s). The group will meet up at the offices of Canvass for a Cause, located at 3705 10th Avenue, at 4 pm on Monday, September 17th [Read more…]
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