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Thanks for Everything. And Some Thoughts About Ending This Chapter

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As of December 14, the San Diego Free Press will suspend publication. There will be new stories posted right up until the last day. I’ll write a bunch more columns.

The site will remain live, at least for another year. We’re not planning on adding any content going forward after that Friday.

Yes, this is a sad announcement. We need more, not less voices. But we’ve done what we could do, for now.

I am truly moved by the overwhelming support and kind thoughts directed at SDFP and myself.

Thank you all.   [Read more…]

San Diego Free Press to Suspend Publication After Dec. 14

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We — the people who’ve overseen this platform called the San Diego Free Press — have decided it’s time to move on. December 14, 2018 will be our last day of posting.

We’re going out on a high note. We’ve just had our best two months ever in terms of readership. We have funds in the bank, and — most importantly — all of us on the Editorial Board remain friends. So, sorry to disappoint, but there’s no drama to report.

It’s just time. The political and media landscape is changing. For now, let’s just say we’re suspending operations.   [Read more…]

Xenophobia, Tijuana-Style: Caravan Migrants Fear Angry Mob

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It’s a Trumpian dream come true in TJ: mobs seeking to attack migrants as they arrive seeking asylum.

With passions inflamed by –at best– hyperbolic claims made on social media, anti-migrant protests led by various right wing groups have been taking place as elements of the caravan demonized by the U.S. President and his cohorts have been arriving in Tijuana.

One Facebook post claimed Hondurans tortured and killed a dog. Another claimed LGBTQ migrants were seeking molest children.   [Read more…]

Can We ‘Just Be Friends’ With Facebook?

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A long look by the New York Times into how Facebook has responded to “cascading crises — over Russian misinformation, data privacy and abusive content” provides insight into the true nature of the most popular social media platform. And it should inform how or whether you should continue your relationship with (almost) everybody’s favorite social media platform.

Facebook’s pretensions have turned it into a useful idiot of the right, according to Guardian technology writer Alex Hearn.

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Mirror, Mirror on the Wall, Who Is San Diego’s Most Popular Democrat of Them All?

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This was a very good election year for Democrats in the region. Grassroots enthusiasm was high and it showed. Turn out, once all ballots are processed, will exceed 65%.

The local party organization used considerable resources for get out the vote campaigns in support of its endorsed candidates. Exactly nobody thought those endorsements were perfect. And there are a multitude of festering questions needing to be answered in the coming year.

Now that the election has passed, the party’s shortcomings should be addressed. Chair Jessica Hayes is stepping down at the end of the year and there appear to be exciting (mostly unannounced as yet, so I’ll hold off on naming them) candidates vying to replace her.   [Read more…]

The Republican Death Spiral in California and Its Implications for the Party Nationally

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California Republicans are facing a full-blown disaster as votes continue to be tallied. Consider them the canary in the coal mine for the national party. Yes, there were victories for the GOP on November 8, but the future for an organization that has become little more than an extension of the President’s ego looks bleak.

Much is being made of the obituary written by Kristin Olsen, the vice chair of the California Republican Party, and published as a guest column at CalMatters.

“The California Republican Party isn’t salvageable at this time,” she wrote. “The Grand Old Party is dead — partly because it has failed to separate itself from today’s toxic, national brand of Republican politics.”   [Read more…]

2018’s Amazing Not a Just Blue Wave Election Results

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LATE BALLOT COUNTING NEWS: Tony Thurmond has pulled into the lead in the race for Superintendent of Public Education. Escondido’s Mayor-for-life Sam Abed is within 20 votes of losing his seat. Vladimir Putin’s favorite Congressman, Dana Rohrabacher, lost his seat. Democrats Katie Porter and Gil Cisneros are within striking distance of winning key Congressional contests…

Wave, ‘smave. Call it what you want, but the 2018 election included a lot of wins worth savoring if you’re from the progressive persuasion. As additional ballots have been counted over the past week, the news has gotten better.

Reporting on the election results was shaped by time zone differences and tended to focus on higher profile races. It’s no small thing that Idaho, Nebraska and Utah voters opted to expand Medicaid, while Kansas, Maine, and Wisconsin elected pro-ACA governors.   [Read more…]

UPDATED: Arsonists Torch Office for ACCE Rent Control Activists

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A Chula Vista office for Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment, a community organizing group closely involved with statewide and local recent recent control initiatives was torched early Saturday morning.

Police have confirmed the fire was a deliberate targeted attack. The fact that the arsonist(s) removed the organization’s bright yellow tee shirts from the building and torched them seperately was, no doubt, a convincing clue.

In recent months ACCE activists across California had been working to pass the statewide ballot measure Proposition 10. The San Diego branch of the organization also focused on a local rent control initiative, Measure W, for National City.   [Read more…]

Triumph of the Lyin’ Kings: Deny, Deflect, Dismiss | Progressive Activist Calendar Mid-November, 2018

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A deceptively edited video –released by a conspiracy theorist associated with the crackpot site InfoWars– depicting the effort of a White House staffer to take a microphone away from CNN reporter Jim Acosta during an exchange with President Trump is being held up as the truth.

Multiple outlets consulted experts, who found the video shared by White House Press Secretary Sanders was sped up to exaggerate a hand movement by the CNN reporter, giving the impression it was more forceful than footage broadcast on CSPAN.

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#ProtectMueller Protests Take Place in San Diego and Hundreds of Cities Nationwide | Photos

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President Trump’s post-election purge at the Justice Department triggered demonstrations on Thursday in hundreds of cities around the country.

Months ago, the Nobody Is Above The Law coalition set up an emergency action plan should the administration fire Special Counsel Bob Mueller or otherwise impede the investigation.

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Democrats Won Some House Seats, Diversity Won the Election | 2018 Midterms

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It’s taken taken a day or so for me to digest the results of the midterm elections. Many races are undecided, still. Contests in Florida and Georgia are plagued with accusations of foul play, missing ballots, and just plain old voter suppression. We won’t know for sure about California contests for weeks, with as many as one million votes still uncounted.

I suppose we’ll be expected to believe racism has nothing to do with Georgia’s non-functioning voting machines in black precincts, and the discovery one day after the election of 700 still-wrapped voting machines in a nearby warehouse.

And, hey, did anybody notice how the MIGRANT CARAVAN disappeared off the media’s radar yesterday? The Pentagon has now directed U.S. military commanders to stop calling the deployment of active-duty troops to the southern border “Operation Faithful Patriot.” I guess you can tell grampy to stop worrying about brown people burrowing up into the basement.   [Read more…]

Three November 2018 Defeats Worth Gloating About | San Diego Election Results

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As always, elections are a mixed bag. I’m not sure if we got what we need nationally, but the are local victories to be savored.

Before El Trumpo sends the nation into chaos once again, take time to savor these defeats of local deplorables..

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