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The Starting Line – California Education Issues Come Front and Center

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By Doug Porter

There’s a lull between big electoral periods right now (except for Los Angeles) and, fortunately this means there’s space available for bytes or ink with articles discussing education without the overlay of various campaigns.

The Big Issue in education since the “A Nation at Risk” study released during the Reagan administration has been reform. The changing needs of the nation’s workplaces, spurred by the revolution in technology, ran smack dab into the rising credo that argued for a smaller role for the public sector.

The word ‘reform’ has become tainted, laden with expectations or fears that private enterprise would alter the educational landscape. Three decades of interventions (and, yes, the ‘reformers’ have had many opportunities to try out their ideas) have left us only incrementally better off than we were when this entire hubbub started.

Along the way, programs not central to the theology of ‘teach to the test’ have been downgraded or discarded. Playing clarinet will not enhance your abilities to fill in bubbles on test sheets.  And earlier attempts at ‘scientifically’ updating instructional methods were conveniently forgotten. (Anybody remember the ‘New Math’?)

So it’s interesting that so many angles on the quest for a better education are in the news this week.   [Read more…]

The Starting Line – GOP’s Lincoln Club Smear Campaign Suggests The “R” in Republican Stands for Racism

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By Doug Porter

Voters for the upcoming City Council runoff elections got a familiar sounding piece of mail this week. They’re getting campaign literature crafted by and credited to the Lincoln Club of San Diego, making many of the same claims made in the primary by the shadowy PAC calling itself San Diego County Voters for Progress and Reform.

Never mind that these claims have been debunked. Never mind that the group behind the original mailer tried (and failed) to fool voters into thinking the propaganda was somehow from the City of San Diego by putting an official looking logo at the top.   [Read more…]

The Starting Line – Koch Brothers’ Coachella Failure-fest Set for this Weekend

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By Doug Porter

This weekend (Apr 28-29) hundreds of business executives and wealthy conservative donors will descend upon the Coachella Valley, hoping to forge a strategy to turn last fall’s drubbing of conservative candidates into future victories. I imagine the crowd will be considerably different from what locals have seen over the past two weeks.

Since 2003 billionaire industrialists David and Charles Koch have been hosting regular retreats at luxury resorts seeking to focus the resources and energy of wealthy and politically ambitious conservatives in the US.

Their latest invitation-only gathering, originally scheduled for January, was postponed.   [Read more…]

The Starting Line – Politicians Pandering to Prejudice in Boston Marathon Bombing Case

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By Doug Porter

Now that one Boston Marathon bombing suspect is dead and another has been captured the debate on the right seems to have swung around to arguing over whether or not a trial is even needed before execution takes place.

After all, this is “terrorism” by baby-killing “Muslims”. Be afraid, they say. Be very afraid. And the only rational “fight or flight” response in the conservative mindset is more violence.

Some public officials have called for Dzhokhar Tsarnaev to be tried as a military combatant rather than in civilian courts. Others have urged that torture be used, although waterboarding might not be as effective as they dream it might be, given that Tsarnaev has a hole in his throat from a failed suicide attempt.

INSIDE: Was Boston bombing Terrorism?, Koch Bid to Buy LA Times Update, Issa Takes Border Crossing Hostage, The “Other” News in Texas Last Week   [Read more…]

The Starting Line – Congressman Peters Trumpets Vote for Flawed Cybersecurity Bill; President Threatens Veto

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By Doug Porter

The press release was a master stroke of Orwellian NewSpeak.  Representative Scott “Better Than Bilbray” Peters was touting passage of H.R. 624, ‘The Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA),’ “which passed the House of Representatives with 288 votes in favor and 127 against on a bipartisan basis.”

Finally, we are led to believe, Congress has taken action to protect the nation against “cyber attacks that could cripple our infrastructure and our national security, and cost our country untold amounts of money and jobs.”

Oh, and all those concerns people might have about privacy and oversight were taken care of via amendments, or so we’re told.

The only problem with all this congratulatory rhetoric is that it’s not true.

INSIDE: Big Pharma Fights Back, Local Actions in Support of Boston Marathon Runners & Gun Safety, Anti-Union Group Cries Wolf

BREAKING: We will have coverage of events in Boston later on. Unlike the New York Post & CNN we aren’t in any big hurry to misinform you.   [Read more…]

The Starting Line – Boston Bombing Evidence Blocked by NRA Lobbying Efforts

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By Doug Porter

Investigators pursuing forensic evidence in the Boston Marathon Bombing case have already determined that the devices used consisted of gunpowder packed into at least one pressure cooker along with pieces of metal, nails and ball bearings.

Were it not for the repeated efforts of the National Rifle Association, authorities could trace the manufacturer and possibly even the chain of custody of the gunpowder used to kill three people and injure more than 170 on Sunday.

Thanks to lobbying efforts by the NRA, explosive makers are not required to place tracing elements called taggants in gunpowder. Plastic explosives and non-gunpowder detonators are all required by law to contain these tracing elements.

On two occasions over the past five decades lawmakers attempting to mandate the use of identification taggants have run into a buzz saw of disinformation distributed by gun lobby supporters falsely claiming the  microscopic color-coded particles would somehow impair performance.

INSIDE: Pauma Organizing Drive Underway, Retribution Filner Style, Issa’s Big Campaign Stash, Gabby Giffords, Diane Feinstein & More…   [Read more…]

The Starting Line – No More Tax Dollars for Strip Clubs; End the Corporate Gravy Train!

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By Doug Porter

Labor unions and their supporters rallied in Sacramento yesterday surrounded by symbolic containers of gravy in support of Senate Bill 434, legislation introduced by Sen. Jerry Hill (D – San Mateo) that would bring about reforms in the Enterprise Zone tax (EZ) credit system in California.

I’m not so sure that reform is even a good idea, given just how outrageously this law has been used by large corporations. California taxpayers gave up $700 million in tax credits last year that were intended to create small business jobs in economically distressed areas.

Who are these businesses? Glad you asked, because much of that information is not available to the public. We do know that Walmart, Hyatt, Wells Fargo and the Déjà Vu Showgirls Club are among those enjoying this taxpayer largess.   [Read more…]

The Starting Line – Who Didn’t Set Off the Bombs at the Boston Marathon

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For all we know it could have been the Penguin Liberation Front

By Doug Porter

The one thing we know for sure is most of the initial reports following yesterday’s tragedy were factually challenged. Or should I just say wrong?

Rumors flew. They got shot down.

First there were three bombs. Then there were five. Then there was a related explosion at Boston’s JFK library. Twelve people were dead, according to the New York Post. Authorities were questioning a Saudi man as a ‘person of interest’.

All those things turned out to be wrong.

The media’s self generated pressure to be ‘first’ with breaking news was only slightly less ridiculous than the rumors flying over Twitter.   [Read more…]

The Starting Line – Are You Feeling Patriotic This Tax Day?

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By Doug Porter

It’s time to pay up, people.  April 15 is tax day and Uncle Sam is looking for his dough.

The IRS estimates that fifty million Americans (75% of whom will get refunds) will wait until the last minute to file their taxes this year.  The perceived agony of the tax paying process will dominate the news media scene today.

Here in San Diego we have several flavors of tax protests scheduled for today.

Tax evaders of the corporate kind will be the focus of the San Diego Light Brigade’s protest outside the Midway Post Office from 8 until 11pm this evening. Here’s the Facebook page for that demonstration.

Our local Tea Party types are having at least two protests today.   [Read more…]

The Starting Line – Republicans Reject ‘Civil Rights Issue of Our Time’, Affirm Anti-Gay Marriage Stance

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By Doug Porter

At least nobody’s been arrested with hookers yet.

That’s the good news coming out of the national GOP quarterly confab going on in Hollywood, Taxifornia this weekend.

The bad news is that it appears as though the Party faithful are going to reaffirm the party’s official position that marriage should be solely between one man and one woman.

It is expected to pass overwhelmingly, proving that evangelicals and social conservatives are still a force to be reckoned with, despite pleas from establishment leaders to focus on party mechanics and stay away from social issues likely to generate negative impressions for the party.

INSIDE: More GOP #Fail, UT-SD Gets National Shout Out, Rhee Gets Unwanted Exposure, GITMO Hunger Strike, Anti-Exxon Video   [Read more…]

The Starting Line – Death by Street Planning on El Cajon Boulevard

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By Doug Porter

It was late Wednesday night on the 2800 block of El Cajon Boulevard. A 53 year old man jaywalked as he walked out from a Wendy’s fast food restaurant and was struck by a white Nissan sedan. Despite attempts by EMTs called to the scene, the man died. Police say alcohol was not a factor in the accident and that charges are unlikely to be filed against the driver of the vehicle.

This might seem like a straightforward argument against jaywalking, but it is actually indicative of a much larger problem. El Cajon Boulevard is one of the most pedestrian-unfriendly streets in San Diego.

The place where the jaywalker died lacks pedestrian crossings at nearby intersections. It’s unsafe at any speed for pedestrians and, at 40 miles per hour (the speed most people, including me, drive on EC Blvd), a pedestrian has only a 15% chance of surviving an accident.

Inside: Cindy Marten’s Laptop Stolen, Burning Down Kansas, Gun Control and Hollyweirdness   [Read more…]

The Starting Line – Unregulated, Unsafe, Unfair – the GOP Vision for California

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By Doug Porter

One of the favored propaganda ploys of conservative pundits over the past year or so has been the ‘everybody’s leaving California for Texas’ meme. This all started with an article in the ultra conserve National Review by former assemblyman Chuck DeVore, who left the Golden State for the Lone Star State after finishing third in the 2010 GOP primary race for US Senate.

“California may be dreaming, but Texas is working” said DeVore, who went on to tell a tale of woe including high taxes, burdensome regulations and a bloated bureaucracy that stood in sharp contrast to the lean, mean Texas machine.

And so it began. Thousands of businesses were fleeing “Taxifornia” for the freedom offered by Rick Perry’s Republican mecca, so we were told. By early in 2013, media accounts of a minor ad buy urging businesses to consider relocation to Texas painted a picture of a grand exodus underway.

Today’s report on National Public Radio by Wade Goodwin on the construction industry in Texas paints a sad portrait of the real costs of the GOP’s prosperity paradise.   [Read more…]

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