The Rohingya Muslims are still facing ethnic cleansing in their homeland of Myanmar (Burma). AJ+ investigator Jason Motlagh documents the conditions facing the latest refugees and hears them relate their harrowing tales of persecution and flight. [Read more…]
Blue Wave vs Red Tide in California’s 2018 Elections
The landscape for 2018 elections in California is shaping up. Today I’ll do a quick tour of what’s being said and offer a few comments along the way.
For Democrats looking at Congressional contests, there is only one topic that matters: Donald Trump. Looking at statewide contests, the race for U.S. Senate represents a fork in the road for the future of the Party.
Republicans in California are mostly in defensive mode. Generally speaking, their vulnerable incumbents have more cash on hand. GOP hopes for turning out their base are tied to a number of initiatives targeting actions taken by the legislature. [Read more…]
Special Halloween Edition – Animated Frogs; Spells Cast | Video Worth Watching
How about something zany and deranged for the Halloween holiday? I don’t think Sally Cruikshank has her own DSM category yet, but I think she might rate one. Here’s her “Face Like a Frog” featuring music by Danny Elfman and Oingo Boingo, including one of my faves, the segment “Don’t Go In the Basement”. And for something goofy but a little bit creepy, Screamin’ Jay Hawkins’ doing his screamin’ thing with “I Put a Spell On You”. Brrrr! [Read more…]
It’s Mueller Monday! Three Indictments and a Cooperating Witness
Shortly after having to learn how to spell ‘indictment’ this morning, the Trump Twitterati hurried back to their dictionaries to learn about ‘collusion.’
The news of former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort, along with aide Rick Gates, being indicted broke bright and early. The 12-count indictment starts with ‘conspiracy against the United States’ and ends with a pledge to seize all their ill-gotten assets.
Hours later, with the ‘so what if he was a crook before working for the campaign?’ meme making the rounds of administration apologists, the second shoe dropped. Foreign policy advisor George Papadopoulos was arrested on July 27 and is cooperating with the special counsel investigation, testifying about relationships between the Trump campaign and Russians.
[Read more…]
Nathan Fletcher Round 4 vs. My Resurrected SD Free Press Columns: The Final Death Match?
Tomorrow is Halloween. Are we in for something scary?
Not really.
But, as in a lot of horror movies, so many things in San Diego politics never seem to die — they just keep coming back, over-and-over again. That’s just how we roll here in the place “where happy happens.” It’s not scary, but it’s not particularly exciting either.
While the vast majority of people in San Diego are not paying the least bit of attention to local races heading into 2018, there has been quite a bit of petty drama surrounding the San Diego Board of Supervisors District 4 race in recent weeks. It appears that local Republican operatives have decided to kill Nathan Fletcher’s most recent political aspirations with a strong dose of my all-powerful San Diego Free Press mojo from the 2013 mayor’s race by quoting me extensively on an anti-Fletcher website and, if my social media feed can be trusted, some people are in quite a twist about it.
[Read more…]
Perfect Storm in Puerto Rico
Hierarchy of Elected Venerables
You and I – as ordinary voters living in greater San Diego – have a mindnumbing number of opportunities to elect scads of people to serve as our public mouthpieces.
We routinely go to the polls or mail in our ballots to select the “public servants” we believe will represent our personal and community interests and improve our well-being. Keeping up with who’s running for what is a daunting job.
In fact, if we built a totem pole made up of all our elected officials, it would surely reach the clouds, maybe even touch the sky. [Read more…]
Day of the Dead Parade in Mexico City Honors Quake Victims and Rescuers | Video Worth Watching
The actual Day of the Dead (Día de Muertos) isn’t until October 31st, but this year on Saturday, October 28th, Mexico City held its second annual Day of the Dead parade. In addition to the typical Catrinas, Calaveras and Grim Reapers, leading this year’s parade was a contingent of aid workers in tribute to the rescuers of Mexico’s September 19th earthquake. They marched at times with upraised fists, the gesture that was used to call for quiet when attempting to listen for sounds of survivors in the rubble of collapsed buildings. [Read more…]
What San Diego Needs to Do If Trump Fires Mueller
I’m reposting this item, written near the end of July, in case El Presidente decides to pull a Nixonian move on the American people. It’s kind of amazing how little has changed… dp
The President and his defenders have been actively seeking a way to disrupt Robert Mueller’s Special Counsel investigation into allegations of illegal activities surrounding the 2016 general election.
While the ultimate response to an irrational decision to fire Robert Mueller should come from the other branches of government, a sense of urgency based on a strong showing of public disapproval is absolutely necessary.
Activists with MoveOn, Public Citizen, and Indivisible San Diego (among others) are laying the groundwork for local responses to actions the President may take along these lines. [Read more…]
Looking Back at the Week: October 22-28
This week’s edition of Looking Back at the Week features articles, commentaries, columns, and other work by San Diego Free Press regulars, irregulars, columnists, at-large contributors, and locally sourced writers on accusations against Republican Bonnie Dumanis, local Dems and that Mickey Money, closing Prop 13 loophole, American Cream, needing transparency in new police chief selection, inexperienced school administrators, Jewish stories, helping Puerto Rico, and lots of other grassroots news & progressive views from San Diego’s friendly, neighborhood, all volunteer, slightly funky, community news site. [Read more…]
Morphing Into a Halloween Mood With Laurie Anderson’s ‘O Superman’ | Video Worth Watching
“Well you don’t know me, but I know you …” Creeping up on Halloween, and for some reason Laurie Anderson’s “O Superman” seeped into my consciousness with its juxtaposition of bland cliché (“Hi. I’m not home right now, but if you want to leave a message, just start talking at the sound of the tone.”) and the weirdly minatory (“This is the hand—the hand that takes.”). Combine that with the insistent, brilliant, scintillating and repetitive soundtrack and that sets a Halloween mood for me. [Read more…]
Blue Drag · Allen Toussaint | Video Worth Watching
I’m needing something sultry but sophisticated; laid back but toe-tapping. Django Reinhardt’s Blue Drag arranged by Allen Toussaint, from his album “The Bright Mississippi”. Just because … [Read more…]
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