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Only You Can Save Balboa Park!

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The good folks at SOHO – Save Our Heritage Organization – are fighting angry. And for good reason. They are upset that the San Diego Planning Commission approved billionaire Irwin Jacobs’ plans for Balboa Park at its June 7th meeting. SOHO wrote us:

After eight hours of presentations and public testimony on June 7th, with little thoughtful deliberation, the San Diego Planning Commission voted 7-0 to recommend approval of the Plaza de Panama project. Their conduct was one of extreme disappointment as they let down both the public and forfeited their stewardship of Balboa Park in an embarrassing display up one-upmanship of who could thank Dr. Jacobs the most for gracing their presence. This is no exaggeration.

The meeting in its entirety can be viewed at this video link. But for those of you who haven’t the time or inclination, please view the following short clips. These remarks from the Planning Commissioners will give you a good idea of just how endangered Balboa Park is in the hands of decision makers who are unable or unwilling to show real leadership and why your involvement is so crucial.

  [Read more…]

Los Angeles Kings Win the Stanley Cup

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The oldest and most coveted sports trophy in North America will call Southern California home for only the 2nd time in its 120 year history.

The LA Kings made history the other night. In defeating the New Jersey Devils 6-1 in game 6 of the Stanley Cup Finals, they became the first team in NHL history to win the Stanley Cup, the oldest and arguably the most coveted trophy in North America, as a number eight seed.   [Read more…]

Within These Whispering Walls–What My House Told Me About City Heights

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The home my husband and I bought in City Heights over two decades ago is a four mile straight shot along University Avenue from the little house we had rented in North Park for six years. Despite the short distance, the trips east to our new home were initially disorienting. Yes, there were the same low buildings constructed between the 20’s and 40’s lining University Avenue and the uninterrupted march of billboards knitted the two communities together seamlessly with their visual blight.

But North Park, even though it was in the throes of urban decay, still had a palpable urban energy and a diverse concentration of businesses in the area of 30th Street from University to El Cajon. There were small specialty shops, thrift stores and restaurants, and even a JCPenny, all of which attracted a diverse segment of the population in the area. City Heights on the other hand lacked an identifiable destination with a similar broad appeal. In City Heights, circa 1987, there was no there there.   [Read more…]

FDA releases nutritional guide to insects, vermin and pests

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(BOCA RATON) Americans can stretch their dwindling food budgets and broaden their taste horizons if they’d only consider eating more insects, rats and vermin, according to Uncle Sam.

That’s the message from the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which today released a report on the nutritional value of more than 700 common insects, reptiles, rodents, amphibians and spiders.

The report, Let Them Eat Snake: The Nutritional Benefits of Insects, Vermin and Household Pests, hopes to “broaden American perspectives on food in the 21st Century.”

While initial response has been one of alarm, the FDA is assuring the public that the report does not signal any pending problems with the food supply.   [Read more…]

The 99% and All that Stuff is a Movement That’s All About US

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The 99% and all that stuff
is a movement that’s all about US
and with that in mind
one might opine
that many of US
can remember times
when we could barely
pay the rent
and when the rent
was made good with all good intent
the food money
was gone…spent.
So broke
you couldn’t afford to
take time to resent
the predictament…..   [Read more…]

Final San Diego City Budget Hearing Today – Monday, June 11th – Modest Increases Anticipated for Core Services

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The San Diego City Council will cast its final vote at 2:00 pm today – June 11th – on Mayor Jerry Sanders’ budget for fiscal year 2013. Sanders released his budget in April. Stronger than projected although still modest revenue increases this past year enabled Sanders to address General Fund cuts that have occurred with regularity over the past years, with libraries and park and recreation being hit particularly hard.

The City Council held two public hearings since April on the budget. Council members then released their own budget recommendations with input from the Office of Independent Budget Analysis (IBA). Mayor Sanders subsequently released a revised budget in May. The City Council will vote on that revised budget today.   [Read more…]

“Occupy Our Arts” – Saturday, June 9th – San Diego Civic Center Plaza

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From OBRag / June 9, 2012

FAMILY FRIENDLY AND FUN: Occupy Women Lend a Creative Twist to the Movement
‘Occupy OUR Arts’ is a Celebration of the 99% Culture and Creative Arts.

SAN DIEGO: Women Occupy San Diego (WOSD), with the support and endorsement of many community groups and artists will be hosting an all-day, family-friendly arts festival at Civic Center Plaza on Saturday June 9th, 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM.   [Read more…]

Why the Pope Hates Nuns

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AlterNet / By Adele M. Stan

It’s tempting to simply view the church hierarchy as a cult of misogyny. But at its heart, it’s a cult of power; misogyny is but one tool for securing that power.

In 1979, Sister Theresa Kane was given a very special task. As president of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, an umbrella group for most orders of U.S. Catholic nuns, Kane was asked to deliver four minutes of welcoming remarks, on behalf of American sisters, to the newly elected Pope John Paul II during his first papal visit to the United States. At a gathering inside the grand church in Washington, D.C., known as the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, Kane offered the pope a warm greeting, and then launched into this:
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Dumanis to prosecute Zoo koalas for dealing eucalyptus

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Erstwhile mayoral candidate turns focus to criminal element from Down Under

Bouncing back from her last-place finish in San Diego’s mayoral primary, District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis announced plans to prosecute members of a “eucalyptus distribution ring” at the city’s world-famous zoo.   [Read more…]

Restaurant Review of North Park’s “Urban Solace”

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“Urban Solace”
3823 30th Street
San Diego, CA 92104

The restaurant could easily be missed if you did not know where you were going. The name is on a sign high above eye level; and the entrance is very unpretentious. Upon entering into a darkened room, with the hostess desk and the bar on the left, I was immediately struck with how long and narrow the room was, and it reminded me of many of the restaurants in San Francisco. There was an outside eating area on the right, but because it was overcast and damp we elected to eat indoors.   [Read more…]

California Primary: San Diego Conservatives Are Celebrating Way Too Early

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Since Primary election eve, when the results were coming in, San Diego conservatives have been celebrating their perceived “victories”. Me thinks they are celebrating way too early, as the results are not as favorable to the GOP and their extremist friends as they think it was. Check this out.

First, the California Primary was one of the lowest voter turn-outs in history – 36% – if not the lowest. Low turn-outs tend to favor conservatives, whereas large turn-0uts favor Democrats and liberals. And Democrats did stay away from the polls, as there was no big-ticket item on the ballot. Sure, Barack Obama was on it but he was a shoe-in. And Senator Dianne Feinstein was on it as well, but she didn’t have any serious challengers. Yes, there were two state-wide measures – and one of them – Prop 28 – which does aid democracy just a tad -passed handily – but how can anyone get excited about a tax on tobacco.   [Read more…]

The Starting Line—Are We Ready for an Alien Invasion?

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June 7, 2012—In keeping with my perceived reality that most of us are in overload mode with regard to election coverage, The Starting Line will talk about defense, science and technology issues today. We’ll get back into the muck tomorrow, I promise.

Does the Pentagon have the right weapons to fight off an alien invasion? No, but they’re working on it, says Foreign Policy magazine, in a short but sweet review of some of DARPA’s (Defense Advanced Projects Research Agency ) more sci-fi kind of projects. These projects include lots of ideas that are not ready for prime time, but show promise for future use by the military.

Perhaps the closest to realization are weapons-grade lasers. The stumbling block with this project thus far is that they can work but are too big to be of use in an actual fight. If the aliens have super fast flying saucers, DARPA’s Falcon HTV-2 might be able to keep up with them. It is an unmanned, rocket-launched, maneuverable aircraft that glides through the Earth’s atmosphere at incredibly fast speeds, as fast as Mach 20 (approximately 13,000 miles per hour). It’s actual been tested, but not successfully.   [Read more…]

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