By Jim Miller
Things haven’t been going too well for the corporate education reform forces lately. In Chicago there is great controversy surrounding and parent resistance to school closings as a result of the efforts of over zealous reformers. This shameful turn of events puts yet another black mark on former Obama Administration chief of staff and current Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel’s heavy-handed reign of error over his city’s schools.
by Ernie McCray
Everyone, perhaps, has now seen the picture of Martin Richards, the 8 year old boy who lost his life in Boston, holding a sign that says “No more hurting people – Peace.” Oh, if we, as a society, could live in such a caring way.
And these sentiments, expressed by Mr. Rogers, of children’s television fame, have gone viral in cyberspace: “When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, ‘Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.'”
How true, and I see Martin, even though he has been taken away from us, as one of the “helpers” of the world that Mr. Rogers has painted in our minds as he is already helping me to carry on after the madness at the Boston Marathon. [Read more…]
By Doug Porter
At least nobody’s been arrested with hookers yet.
That’s the good news coming out of the national GOP quarterly confab going on in Hollywood, Taxifornia this weekend.
The bad news is that it appears as though the Party faithful are going to reaffirm the party’s official position that marriage should be solely between one man and one woman.
It is expected to pass overwhelmingly, proving that evangelicals and social conservatives are still a force to be reckoned with, despite pleas from establishment leaders to focus on party mechanics and stay away from social issues likely to generate negative impressions for the party.
INSIDE: More GOP #Fail, UT-SD Gets National Shout Out, Rhee Gets Unwanted Exposure, GITMO Hunger Strike, Anti-Exxon Video [Read more…]
By Liz Langley / Alternet
“Boobies, boobies, boobies. Nothin’ but boobies. Who needs ‘em? I did great without ‘em.”
So Neely O’Hara famously said in Valley of the Dolls while eyeballing strip joints.
If she could see how much more tit-smitten pop culture has become in the last half-century she’d probably need to do another shot, though frankly, if the Venus de Willendorf is any indication, humans have been boob-centric for as long as 25,000 years.
And why not? Breasts enhance the lives of owners and visitors, and you can’t say that any other body part produces food. Still, for all the times you’ve ogled them, snuggled them or ensconced them in a bra that cost more than your Internet bill, what do you really know about breasts? [Read more…]
By Norma Damashek
For the first time ever, the San Diego public has been awarded the Keys to the Kingdom.
The grantor of this unique gift to the people of San Diego is former councilmember Donna Frye and her Open Government project, developed during her three-month stint in the office of Mayor Bob Filner.
Finally, regular citizens and ordinary folk (you and I) have ready access to just about everything we wish to know about the ins-and-outs of City Hall. Come on inside to see how it works. [Read more…]
Employees and the community supporters at the Mission Valley Hilton will be engaging in a five day hunger strike starting today in protest of a decision by the property’s new management company to dismiss nine long term hotel workers.
Following weeks of protests, including a sit-in where 20 people were arrested, employees at the Mission Valley Hilton Hotel were elated last month after hearing that their jobs would not be eliminated as part of a takeover of the property by Evolution Hospitality/ Tarsadia Hotels.
What they didn’t know is that the new managers would subject all the employees to immediate E-Verify background checks. Nine long term workers are now facing dismissal as soon as next Tuesday. Those employees believe they are being targeted for standing up for their rights as immigrant workers. [Read more…]
A discussion on Twitter with Voice of San Diego’s CEO Scott Lewis yesterday prompted me to dig deeper into the whole question of how and when we use student achievement tests today.
This all started with my critical (and cynical) take on a story published by VOSD about superintendent-designee Cindy Marten. The account led with (and makes much of) test data showing other elementary schools had better rates of improvement on test scores than Central Elementary, where she has reigned as principal over the last few years.
I erroneously assumed in closing yesterday’s column (by saying ‘that dog won’t hunt anymore’) that the realization of just how flawed and failed the use of test scores as a primary measure of educational progress was by now widely evident. I was wr…wr…wrr…wrong. Smart people still haven’t gotten the message. [Read more…]
Sometimes it’s not what you say, it’s how you say it.
Let’s start with the California Coastal Commission story in today’s UT-San Diego.
San Diego Assemblywomen Toni Atkins is sponsoring a bill that moved out of committee yesterday giving the California Coastal Commission the authority to directly fine law breakers.
Paragraphs three and four of the UT-SD story tell us first about the reaction against the proposed legislation:
Her Assembly Bill 976 has drawn sharp rebukes from business interests, many of whom already regard the Coastal Commission as too arbitrary when it comes to issuing permits for development along California’s 1,100 miles of coast.
The legislation “creates a bounty hunter mentality among Coastal Commission staff (and) would strip alleged violators of due process afforded by the courts,” states a letter signed by various associations representing the housing, oil, aquaculture and agricultural industries.
Gosh, that sounds pretty bad, huh? [Read more…]
Oh, the sweet, sweet irony. Mayor Bob Filner’s refusal to sign off on an operating agreement for the San Diego Tourism Marketing District has led to a firestorm of criticism over the past two months. He’s been vilified at the UT-San Diego, which just this week ran an editorial cartoon depicting the Mayor as The Joker, a villain from the Batman comic/TV/Movie series.
Letters to editor have claimed Filner hates the tourism industry, that he’s purposely tried to cause job loss and even demanded a recall election.
Yesterday, after much posturing and pressure, the City Council endorsed an agreement that protected San Diego taxpayers, created more transparency and encouraged funding for the Balboa Park Exposition Centennial. It wasn’t everything Filner asked for, but his point was made. Business as it used to be conducted downtown will be operating under a different set of rules during his administration.
Credit goes to City Councilman David Alvarez, whose intervention led to the settlement. The “Joker” just saved San Diego taxpayers $30 million should the TMD scheme be ruled illegal. [Read more…]
A few weeks ago, I received a telephone call from a member of one of my support groups telling me of a tour called “SoCal Food Tour.” She wondered if it would be something that I would be interested in, as well as other members of our group. Although not knowing much about it, I thought it might be fun and told her to sign me up. [Read more…]
Last week State Senator Darrell Steinberg proposed what he thinks of as a bold new way to reshape higher education in California and to deal with the bottleneck of students who have trouble getting into “gateway” classes in our community colleges and universities. What is Steinberg’s answer to our access ills? Sadly, it is outsourcing higher education to the corporate interests who have long been aggressively lobbying to get a piece of the publically funded pie that is California’s public education system. [Read more…]
By Brent E. Beltrán
I’m a Chicano but I haven’t always been. Prior to self identifying myself as one I didn’t really know who I was culturally. I grew up in a bi-cultural family. But didn’t really embrace either.
Mesa College is where my Chicano life began. And to this day I still maintain relations with the department. My compadre Manuel J. Vélez is a tenured professor there. And so is my good friend Dr. César López who is now the head of the department. I take joy in hearing about the positive things that are taking place there. The most recent news was announced on Friday, March 8, día de la mujer internacional, about longtime San Diego activist Gracia Molina de Pick donating $80,000 to the Mesa College Chicana/o Studies Endowment. [Read more…]
