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The Dark Side of the Rainbow

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by Kit-Bacon Gressitt

Writing about prejudice can be a challenge. I was born into a happy little privileged space. I’m basically a nice white gal, a daughter of the hegemonic norm. What the hell do I know from prejudice, right? There’s racism, homophobia, misogyny, classism, ageism, a vast spectrum of “otherisms” — the dark side of the rainbow — all of them designating certain groups of people as “other.” And I write a lot about them, 25% of my columns, I just figured out, despite my pallid skin, humdrum heteronormativity, and prissily privileged class.

That’s not to say that one must be victimized to crave justice for all; neither does it suggest that I’ve never been the target of prejudice. My body parts of the female persuasion make me a daily bull’s-eye for the slings and arrows of misogyny. My advocacy for LGBT civil rights makes me a target for car window bashers. I once married a Puerto Rican and was promptly removed from several invitation lists (omissions admittedly devoid of disappointment). And I’ve witnessed the resulting issue of that union, my daughter, struggle with the rampant prejudice so freely expressed by the otherists in our Southern California community.   [Read more…]

Homelessness: Man’s Inhumanity to Man

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There is no question that every political issue has at least two sides – the pros and the cons. Issues involving homelessness are no different. However, when weighing the impact of both sides of homelessness issues, often one side appears to have a greater impact upon humanity than the other. In other words, in analyzing the issues of homelessness, the sides are not necessarily even. In fact, sometimes the impact of the political decisions relating to homelessness can be cruel.

For example, there are municipal ordinances in many cities prohibiting sleeping on public land, including beaches and parks. On the positive side, these laws protect public property from overuse – an important goal so that members of these communities can continue to share open spaces. However, homeless people may experience the impact of these laws as depriving them of a legal place to sleep.   [Read more…]

The Starting Line – ‘Obama Launches Unprovoked Attack on Mars’

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Okay, I made that headline up… The reality here is that the National Aeronautics and Space Administration sent a one ton landing craft–the size of a small SUV- 154 million miles and landed it on target. Mars rover Curiosity is equipped with a collection of powerful instruments, including 17 cameras (four of which were made in San Diego), lasers and a radiation detector. It features equipment that can bore into rock and ingest samples, drawing them into an on-board chemistry lab and transmitting detailed analyses back to Earth. The mission cost an estimated $2.5 billion, slightly more than one third the $7 billion that Americans spend on potato chips annually.  Yesterday’s landing day coincided with the birthday of Neil Armstrong, the first moon walker. (And don’t worry, there is coverage of the UT-SD’s silly Sunday editorial predicting a Romney landslide below!)   [Read more…]

Reader Rant: The Chicken and the Cross

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Editors Note: Sometimes we get letters from readers that we think deserve a life of their own. So we publish them as ‘Reader Rants’. Send us your thoughts, and if we like them, we’ll run them. Be warned – the selection process is totally subjective.

The century of hate began with the prosecution of Oscar Wilde on account of his homosexual relations. No matter how brilliant or entertaining the writer who loved women but felt attracted to men, Wilde would be sentenced to prison. His homosexuality did not bother him, but the persecution destroyed him.

The hounding of gays continues to this day.

For some reason the treatment became greatly amplified during WWII.   [Read more…]

‘Hands Across the Sand’ Protest of Offshore Drilling Scheduled for Aug. 4 in La Jolla

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The San Diego Chapter of the Surfrider Foundation continues its involvement in the international movement opposed to any new offshore drilling – called “Hands Across the Sands” – by sponsoring its annual local protest here in San Diego.

The demonstration will be at noon on Saturday, August 4th in La Jolla. Here is the facebook page for the La Jolla protest. Protest organizers say any increase in offshore drilling will add to the degradation of the sea and marine life.

Also planned is a Hands Across the Sand action at the Oceanside Pier up in Oceanside, at the same time. And here is the facebook page for that event. San Clemente will also hold theirs.

Haley Jain Haggerstone, the local chapter coordinator, told the media:

“We are asking San Diegans to help us draw a line in the sand, literally and figuratively, to demonstrate our opposition to offshore drilling and support for clean energy alternatives. The future of our oceans, waves and beaches depends on it.”

  [Read more…]

Field of View: Saturday at Mariner’s Point

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Mariner’s Point is a fun place to spend a Saturday, whether you want to picnic on the grass or venture out on the bay.

You’ll share the expansive spot with other families, and even the occasional event–like a recent USA Free Style Martial Arts performance that took place. Some of those kids scared me with their fierce looks and startling kiai. But after an intense demonstration, they cooled down with a squirt gun fight fitting of summer.

All photos by Annie Lane.   [Read more…]

Sex In San Diego: The Original Sexual Revolution

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by Laura Miller / Salon

Academic history — the kind backed up by piles of primary-source research and hedged with cautionary remarks — is often useful, but rarely fascinating. Most of it, however, isn’t about a subject as perennially engaging as Faramerz Dabhoiwala’s. The Oxford historian’s new book, “The Origins of Sex: A History of the First Sexual Revolution,” describes how sex became modern in 18th-century England, a transformation that explains “the profound chasm between our present attitudes to sex and those that prevailed for most of western history.” We tend to think of sex as something primal and unchanging, but as Dabhoiwala tells it, nothing could be further from the truth.

“The Origin of Sex” begins with an anecdote from 1612. An unmarried couple accused of fornication and bastardy (producing an illegitimate child) were dragged before the magistrates. They were convicted, then sentenced to be stripped naked to the waist, “whipped from the Gatehouse in Westminster unto Temple Bar” before the jeering public and then banished from the city — severed from their families, former friends, and previous occupations. Publicly shamed and condemned, their lives as they knew them were over.   [Read more…]

Unexpected Visitors: Critters on the porch, under the house & in the yard

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I live in the City Heights neighborhood of Teralta East, the long thin sliver of flat land wedged between the busy major thoroughfares of University Avenue and El Cajon Boulevard on the south and north and Fairmount and Euclid avenues on the west and east. There is not much in the way of open space in the area and the canyons are cut off from Teralta East by those same surface roads. Nevertheless, a coyote was recently spotted in Fairmount Village. My little section of 45th street, in fact my house, is home to opossums and skunks and a raccoon has even passed through.

The opossums have been around the longest. They seem to have adapted easily to urban living. During the early years here, they feasted upon the snails and slugs that abounded in the yard. After wiping out all of the snails and slugs, they came to rely more and more upon the cat food which we set out for the abandoned outdoor cats that have also taken up residence with us. It is an understatement to say that a mature opossum is not exactly the classical beauty of the wild kingdom. There’s the rat like tail, the scroungy fur and the close set eyes and long narrow face that fall woefully short on the intelligence and cuteness scale.   [Read more…]

Poor Blundering Mitt: The Pirates of Bainzance Redux

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by revbludge / Daily Kos

(To the tune of Gilbert & Sullivan’s “Oh, is there not one maiden breast?” from The Pirates of Penzance)

Mitt Romney:
Oh, is there not one British breast,
That does not sense my superiority,
And show uncommon interest
In treating me like visiting royalty?

What Briton on this islet small would not grant my vocation
To shine upon this dinky stage as a world-class elder statesman?
Yes, an elder statesman!

Oh is there not one Briton, please
In this whole “Anglo-Saxon land,”
Who’ll not regard my expertise
Olympic-wise, as something grand?

As unprepared as you must be
To run the Games without disaster
I’ll tutor M-I-Six for free;
They’ll quickly learn from ME, the master,
Learn from Mitt the master!
more inside…   [Read more…]

In a Morro Bay State of Mind

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Home from a roadtrip. One which was just that, a journey, a moving on, to another phase in my life.

We got going at a nice pace as I’m not fascinated with speed. It got a little slow through L.A. but, indeed, it wasn’t too bad. I approached it with a “low rider” attitude, set my own mood. Hey, my novia’s at my side so I couldn’t help but low ride as she rubbed her sexy little hands on my knee. Made me go “Good googily wooglily” like back in my teens wearing white t-shirts and levi blue jeans.

Next think I know we’re in Carpinteria and when I looked around I couldn’t help but swoon and sway as I stood there in view of an almost criminally beautiful day. It was like the sun was showing off.   [Read more…]

Homelessness Myth#24: They All Frequent Bars

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We’re all aware that the United States economy is going through some hard times. A number of businesses are experiencing financial down turns. Some housed people believe that all homeless people spend a great deal of time hanging out in bars and, by their very presence in those bars, negatively impact those businesses.

But do all homeless people really hang out in bars? To answer this question, I asked a number of people who have experienced homelessness whether they frequent bars and, if so, what have their experiences have been.   [Read more…]

Field of View: Torrey Pines State National Reserve

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If you’re looking for an easy hike with a mixture of vistas, Torrey Pines State National Reserve is a cheap and spectacular option. Arrive early (about 6:30 a.m., no later than 7 a.m.) and there is free public parking available outside of the official Reserve parking lot; otherwise it’s $15. I recommend a jacket because it starts off chilly.

One of the most beautiful parts about this early morning adventure is watching the sun wash over the land. It’s inspiring.   [Read more…]

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