Well, this is it folks.
It’s time to move on to whatever the next chapter in my life is going to be. A lot has happened since the SDFP site went live on June 4, 2012, and I have a few closing (and personal) thoughts to express. [Read more…]
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by Doug Porter
Well, this is it folks.
It’s time to move on to whatever the next chapter in my life is going to be. A lot has happened since the SDFP site went live on June 4, 2012, and I have a few closing (and personal) thoughts to express. [Read more…]
Where drought hasn’t melted men
into three seasons
A shuffle of footsteps
in discarded leaves
warns
Winter is coming [Read more…]
by Rich Kacmar
Old Movie Stars Dance to Uptown Funk
(Turn on captions to see movie titles) [Read more…]
Like many San Diegans, I came from elsewhere. Both other places I had lived are in colder climes, so when I first came here (on a short winter vacation that became permanent) I was fascinated with the way Christmas is celebrated in warm latitudes. Like flocking of Christmas trees to simulate snow. What? I never even heard of that until I got to SoCal.
But what I really like is not ways that cold-weather traditions are mutated, but rather the original ways that a holiday associated with winter and being indoors is celebrated in warm weather. [Read more…]
by Joni Halpern
Dear Ohio – The Last Installment
From my new place in the soul of the universe, where I have resided only days, I look down at my worthless life as an immigrant.
Who am I, Hermelinda Barbachano, to say my life was of value to my fellow Americans?
I leave behind useful but few belongings – minimal furniture, used clothing, some old small kitchen appliances, extra medical supplies, a wheelchair, a portable commode and a walker. Beyond that, I fear you might be blind to the gifts I have given you. After all, we live in a time when material things are the only gifts that matter. [Read more…]
by Rich Kacmar
Don’t believe that Trump is an idiot? Don’t take our word for it. Ask Google Images … Go ahead, try it. [Read more…]
by Source
By Julia Conley / Common Dreams
Before presumptive House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) even appeared at her office to hear from young Americans who had traveled from all over the country to urge her to back a Green New Deal, Capitol police arrived Monday and arrested more than 60 of the protesters. As of this writing, at least 143 demonstrators had been arrested as they lobbied in 50 congressional offices.
More than 1,000 young people and allies flooded the Capitol Hill hallways and offices of Democratic representatives to demand that elected officials listen to their youngest constituents—as well as some of the world’s top scientists—and back the bold proposal to shift the U.S. to a zero-carbon energy system by 2050 in order to save the planet from an irreversible climate catastrophe. Thanks to efforts spearheaded by the youth-led Sunrise Movement, the number of Democratic lawmakers now supporting a Select Committee on a Green New deal has now swelled to 23. [Read more…]
by Doug Porter
Today’s Union-Tribune has a front page article about hate crimes in San Diego County. There are lots of details about criminal/hate-inspired actions and almost no acknowledgement as to what motivates them.
Hate crimes are up, we’re told. While local prosecutions have increased in the past year, most hate crimes aren’t reported.
A majority (60%) of hate crimes are directed at people based on their race or ethnicity, followed by religion (20%) and LGBTQ (16%) orientation. [Read more…]
by Ernie McCray
I had a moment a little while ago when I was thinking about the notion that democrats, in spite of recent political victories (Yes!!!) need to come up with a message or at least a snappy meme, that resonates with voters (and more and more people are becoming so designated).
In that same moment I happened to turn the TV on and a man on C-SPAN was discussing superheroes, how they are mostly about creating a better world, citing Superman’s pursuit of “Truth, Justice and the American Way.”
That triggered in my mind, right away, long ago days, when I was all caught up in the excitement of “Look! Up in the sky! It’s a bird! It’s a plane!” feigning flying, with a croker sack or a pillow case or half a sheet tied to my neck, rescuing dames in distress and going upside the head of evil geniuses and tricksters and anyone daring to challenge my super powers – seeking, basically, “Truth, Justice, and the American Way.” [Read more…]
It was 1975. My parents got the bright idea to escape the Philadelphia winter by taking the kids on a two-week California trip. This vacation wasn’t well-planned and cushy like the times we stayed at the Greenbriar, the Waldorf, or those hotels in Italy. The California vacation was an impromptu, free-wheeling, down-and-dirty road trip. Maybe that’s why I liked it so much.
It was an ambitious, almost insane, venture. Parents and five kids, ages toddler through pre-teen, crammed ourselves into a rented station wagon and winged a sight-seeing tour in which we drove from San Francisco all the way down into Tijuana. We stayed at whatever cheap hotel would have us.
The front seat of the car featured constant bickering, mostly about maps. The middle seat offered lots of crying and an overpowering stench of dirty diapers. Rip-roaring, hair-pulling fights were common in that section too. They erupted whenever one of the kids overstayed his or her time on the coveted floor hump. [Read more…]
by Rich Kacmar
Natasha Trethewey, U.S. Poet Laureate of 2012-2104, was born in Gulfport, Mississippi on April 26, 1966. I suspect that the incident described in this poem was a lived experience and not mere literary invention. There was something chilling about reading, at this time of year, the line describing “the cross trussed like a Christmas tree”. [Read more…]
by Rich Kacmar
During the holiday season the harp seems to stand out a bit more in the orchestral landscape than usual, although its repertoire tends to be limited to the traditional holiday fare. I find it regrettable that it doesn’t seem to get as much attention during the rest of the year, and I appreciate works outside of the holiday canon that demonstrate the versatility of the instrument. Here is a performance by Lavinia Meijer playing Philip Glass’ Metamorphosis Two, Flowing. It was recorded in the church of the Reformed Gemeente Kortenhoef for the Dutch radio station NPO 4’s program NTR Podium. [Read more…]
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