All the late night talk shows laughed it up over the supposed demise of Twinkies, Ho Hos, Ding Dongs, Wonder Bread etc as the news came out that Hostess Brands was going bankrupt. But delve beneath the surface and you will find something more akin to a Shakespearean tragedy than talk show banter. It’s a tale involving two unions, one private equity fund, two hedge funds and a whole cast of former CEOs. There is sacrifice, greed and betrayal. 18,000 workers will be losing their jobs while some vulture capitalists will be walking away with millions. Another vulture capitalist will itself have been devoured in the process. [Read more…]
4 Fascinating Things Marijuana Legalization Has Already Taught Us
By Kristen Gwynnn / Alternet / Nov. 18, 2012
Unroll the tapestries, twist up a joint and crank up the Bob Marley jams! The stoners have token — excuse me, spoken — and dope is now legal in two states.
That’s the kind of ridiculous banter pundits have employed to discuss a historic moment in US democracy: the legalization of marijuana in Washington and Colorado. [Read more…]
Video Pick: Talking Pictures
During last night’s Thanksgiving dinner, the guests would suddenly freeze during a conversation or while lifting a forkful of food to their mouths when a voice would sing out- “Picture!” All the pictures were taken on digital cameras or smartphones and end up being stored digitally for future retrieval- on a computer.
It is doubtful that any of these images will ultimately end up in a box of old photographs at some future flea market table or estate auction. No stranger will pull out a photo of the eight year old boy who flashed a Halloween pumpkin grin with his new grown-up front teeth or a closeup of the aging woman’s hand, now speckled like a fish, gracefully holding a champagne flute. [Read more…]
A Poem for Thanksgiving
We’re taking the day off. Enjoy! Poem By M. Porte [Read more…]
The Beach is My Church. Giving Thanks for the Great Pacific.
The beach is my church.
Standing barefoot and humble in the sand, looking out past the crashing breakers to the big blue beyond, my mind and heart vibrating with the sound of eternity in the song of the ocean, I am filled with peace and gratitude (and respect) for the strength and the forever-ness of the great ocean, our birth waters.
A poem by Robert Frost says it well: “The heart can think of no devotion/ greater than being shore to the ocean/ holding the curve of one position/ counting the endless repetition.”
The yin/yang of geography: shore and ocean forever and ever. [Read more…]
Desde la Logan: The Roots Factory Spreads It’s Artistic Branches From DJing and Serigraphy to the Barrio Film Festival
By Brent E. Beltrán
In a broken down alley, between Newton Avenue and Main Street just off Cesar Chavez, adjacent to Ryan Bros. Coffee where Chuey’s Restaurant and Cantina once thrived, lays a factory whose workers create ideas with their bare hands and phat minds. A welcoming place where roots grow through creative souls. Roots that provide my working class community cultural nourishment. Artistic soup for a culturally hungry people.
This place, known as The Roots Factory, was founded through sheer heart and determination by Roberto Hernandez (aka Bob Green) and Ana Morales (aka Ana Brown). Since January 2011, these Chicano renaissance artists have used the factory as a weapon in their struggle to bring art to the masses of Barrio Logan and beyond. If Chicano Park is the parent of Barrio Logan arts and culture then places like The Roots Factory, Voz Alta and The Spot are it’s prolific children. These three arts organizations form a symbiotic cultural trinity producing vast quantities of much needed artistic happenings. [Read more…]
Energy Independence for America Is a Worthy Goal — But It’s a Death Wish If We Do It with Oil & Gas
By Tara Lohan / Alternet / Nov. 14, 2012
Can we drill our way to energy independence? Republicans (and some Democrats) have long proclaimed we can — and now a recent report from the International Energy Agency (IEA) says the U.S. may be poised to become the world leader in extracting fossil fuels like oil and gas, overtaking Saudi Arabia in the coming decade. The report declares that we could even achieve energy independence in the next 20 or so years.
While “energy independence” may seem like welcome news, it helps to dig a little deeper. “That doesn’t mean we’ll stop importing oil; rather, we’ll be exporting so much coal and natural gas that it will offset our oil imports,” writes Joshua Delaughter at Ars Technica. “Those imports will also be kept in check by a combination of increased fuel efficiency and expanded extraction within the US.” [Read more…]
Secession Movement Embraced as the Republican War on the Constitution Escalates
By Joshua Holland / Alternet / Nov. 14, 2012
In the wake of Barack Obama’s decisive victory over Mitt Romney, we are again reminded that there is no greater oxymoron in America’s political discourse than the “Constitutional conservative.” Nobody has less respect for the federalism enshrined in that document than today’s Tea Party Right.
Matt Drudge – who dignified himself during the race with endless scare-stories warning that African Americans would launch a race war if Obama won – has full embraced what he calls the “secession movement” (because a bunch of angry Facebook posts and a petition now qualify as a mass movement). [Read more…]
Dear Angry White Conservatives Mourning Romney’s Loss: Chill Out
By Chauncey DeVega / Alternet / Nov. 12, 2012
Dear angry white conservatives who are mourning Mitt Romney’s loss,
If Fox News is any indication, many of you are dismayed, upset, and befuddled by Mitt Romney’s loss to President Obama. Some of these feelings are normal. Politics is tribal. When your team loses, a bit of sadness is expected.
However, some white folks are acting out in some very unhealthy ways. Young white conservatives participated in a near riot at the University of Mississippi, where they hurled rocks at bystanders, used racial slurs, and burned Obama and Biden campaign signs. Other angry white folks used the Internet to send out racist messages and pictures on Twitter as an act of protest and anger at the country’s re-election of its first Black president. I believe that these events are malicious outliers. [Read more…]
Time for a Rolling Jubilee: Debt Relief By and For the People
The statistics on personal debt in the country are pretty sobering- 77.5% of American households are in debt; tuition debt has now exceeded credit card debt; and 1 in every 4 Americans is being pursued by a debt collector. 40% of indebted households used credit cards to pay for basic expenses.
These statistics reflect wage stagnation over a period of decades, the prohibitive costs of a college education, the lack of jobs and access to quality affordable health insurance. The right prefers the simpler argument that they reflect a lack of moral grounding in hard work and individual responsibility. That argument was rejected in the recent election. It remains to be seen whether national policies reject austerity as our fiscal course of action. [Read more…]
The Starting Line—1000 Walmart Black Friday Protests Starting Early
Protests aimed at disrupting Black Friday sales events at Walmart stores around the country began yesterday with walk-outs at a number of stores and the promise of more actions in the lead-up to what is traditionally the busiest shopping day of the year.
Employees at six Seattle area Walmart stores walked off the job yesterday, protesting what they say is low pay, too few hours and retaliation by managers against workers who speak out. Another walkout is in progress at a warehouse supply location in Mira Loma, California and picket lines are in place this morning at a Walmart store in Dallas, Texas.
Inside: Dave Roberts In at County Supes, Tony Young Out at City Council, SDEA Recall Petitions Filed, IB Parents Cry Foul
Interview with San Diego Artist Steve Harris of The Styletones
By Brigitte Taylor
Most San Diego locals are familiar with the soulful funk group, The Styletones, and the lead singer and co-writer Stevie Harris. Harris is also the lead singer guitarist and songwriter of Stevie and the Hi-Staxx and was previously signed by Cargo Records as solo artist, touring with the group Conglomerate throughout the United States and Morocco.
In 2010 and 2011, I collaborated with Steve Harris on a few San Diego shows geared toward highlighting his acoustic work as well as his side project Stevie and the Hi-Staxx. We recently spoke about the future of his music and, since I learned recently that he also paints, I had questions about his art. With that in mind, I asked Steve to show some of his paintings at an upcoming event at The Go Lounge. What follows are insights about his music-related projects as well as his artwork. [Read more…]
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