San Diego Free Press

Grassroots News & Progressive Views

You are here: Home / Archives for Government

My Father is an American War Hero Rep. Duncan Hunter Wanted to Deport and Ban

by

By Kilian Colin

A couple of days after the Battle of Baghdad in April 2003, after the fires had ceased, my father, Adam Colin, took me with him to downtown Baghdad to look for a job. We rode the bus for nearly an hour to the outer border of Downtown before having to continue on foot since the streets had been damaged during the invasion days earlier.

We headed to the Al Rasheed hotel, which was where the U.S. military had taken up headquarters. The hotel was surrounded by heavily armed vehicles and the scene looked like it was straight out of a Star Wars movie.

It wasn’t long before my dad told me to turn around, that we should head back home because the situation might be too dangerous for me. I told him not to worry, that because of my size I could sneak in between the hundreds of people protesting the occupation and lack of jobs outside the hotel to the front.   [Read more…]

Petition: Investigate Mayor Faulconer for Criminal Negligence in Hepatitis A Outbreak

by

Has Ignored Calls for More Public Restrooms Downtown Since 2014

By Martha Sullivan

The San Diego City government, led by Mayor Faulconer, has been told for 3 years that more public restrooms are needed downtown. But the Mayor has consistently cried poor mouth — despite spending $2.1 million on an unplanned EIR for an upgraded Qualcomm Football Stadium during this time.   [Read more…]

Press Conferences on Homelessness In San Diego: Another Way of Saying “Let Them Eat Cake”

by

When it comes to unsheltered citizens, San Diego serves as the poster child for what not to do in responding to a crisis. The City Without Pity has now attracted international attention for its failure to serve its homeless humans.

Hundreds of people have contracted Hepatitis A and sixteen are dead from the highly contagious disease. Handwashing stations have been set up after months of delay, sidewalks are being power washed with bleach, and the City has presented the press with a list of places where it thinks homeless humans should go if they need to use the toilet.

Mayor Kevin Faulconer held a press conference on Wednesday to announce he would accept $1.5 million raised by local businessmen. Three tents with services will offer a few hundred people the opportunity to get off the streets. In three months. Maybe.   [Read more…]

Issa and Hunter’s Staffing Merry-Go-Round

by

By DWeisman / Escondido Grapevine

Many congressional staffers are young, not attached to geography as they represent congressional offices far removed from their native lands. And many in the Republican brand play a game of office musical chairs where no chairs go unfilled although they swap around from time to time.

Take, for example, Rep. Darrell Issa (R-49th District) and Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-50th District).

Or rather consider the unusual case of Issa’s most notorious spokesman, Kurt Bardella, who has landed on his feet with frequent CNN appearances and something he calls Endeavor Strategies, described as “entertainers as well as politicians…relying on a new frontier of public relations and communications.”   [Read more…]

The Miramar Air Show: Just Don’t Go

by

By Dave Patterson, San Diego Veterans for Peace

The San Diego Veterans For Peace is now in its second year of working to influence the public away from attending the MCAS Miramar Air Show. We view American militarism as a clear and present danger to our society and the world, and the most visible symbol of militarism in San Diego is the annual Miramar Air Show.

Every day we read of budget cuts to virtually every aspect of government expenditure except for military spending, which keeps on going up. The spending of our tax dollars should be a choice of the citizenry and not left solely to the political-military-industrial complex.

However, we believe that the public is being influenced to accept continuous increases in military spending in part by the display of military power exhibited at the Miramar Air Show.   [Read more…]

Readers Write: Democracy v. Dictatorship

by

Among myriad political systems societies flirt with, the most fragile revolutionary experiment, and possibly least likely to endure might be Democracy. An ideal that people of different persuasions might willfully and collectively empower one another for the well-being of all defies odds. Democracy requires adherents to accept that all persons have value, and are entitled to safe, and satisfying lives, eschewing exploitation of any.

Dictatorship, the antithesis of Democracy, once entrenched may endure for generations before being dislodged, not a simple process. Differences between styles of government are generally understood. Fidel Castro’s reign illustrates totalitarianism, as does the current, cruel regime of Kim Jong Un. There have been many tyrannical overlords in history visiting chaos and misery upon vast numbers of hapless humans.

How could a functioning democracy, lofty in idealism and benefits, morph into a regressive Dictatorship, foreclosing millions from a decent life, so as to nurture a small number of privileged individuals?
  [Read more…]

As Escondido Mayor Dismisses Community Sentiment, Council Moves to Privatize Library

by

By Escondido Indivisible

In a shocking display of community and political deafness, Escondido Mayor Sam Abed, and Councilmen John Masson, and Ed Gallo ignored overwhelming community opposition and voted for an ill-defined marketing sales pitch by the corporate interest, Library Systems and Services (LS&S) to take over our library services. 

Speaker after speaker, around 90 in all, spoke eloquently, factually, and with great insight against outsourcing.  These speakers included many library volunteers, representatives of The Escondido Library Foundation, the Board of Library Trustees, and a representative of the American Library Association. 

These comments fell on deaf ears of three of the Councilmembers.
  [Read more…]

San Diego Housing Crisis Facing a ‘Perfect Storm’ | Video Worth Watching

by

I’ve always thought it was perfectly appropriate to respond to the current affordable housing shortage in the way we respond to a natural disaster. It certainly is a disaster, but one that’s human-made rather than “natural”.

Extending the metaphor, just as weather forecasts provide us an opportunity to prepare for severe conditions, the current housing market forecast is giving us an opportunity to mitigate the effects of a brewing “Perfect Storm”. As KPBS News notes: San Diego is in the midst of its worst housing crisis in recent memory, with low vacancy rates, rising rents and a growing number of people living on the streets. As bad as things are… they’re likely to get worse. Thousands of homes set aside for low-income people are set to become market rate, meaning struggling renters could see their housing costs skyrocket. KPBS metro reporter Andrew Bowen says experts are calling it a perfect storm.   [Read more…]

Trump’s Suspension of Obama’s Desegregation Policy Impacts San Diego Housing Vouchers

by

On August 11, the Department of Housing and Urban Development suspended key components of an Obama Administration rule that addressed growing segregation in the Housing Choice Voucher Program. Only days later, the Trump Administration declared plans to target and dismantle affirmative action in universities.

By Parisa Ijadi-Maghsoodi / UrbDeZine

In an effort to address our nation’s increasing levels of segregation, the Obama Administration implemented a U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Final Rule that changed the way 23 metropolitan areas issued vouchers to low-income tenants.  The goal was simple: improve the health of low-income families by increasing access to areas of lower poverty and higher opportunity.

The Final Rule was an attempt by the Obama Administration to address the nation’s housing segregation crisis. Segregation levels today mirror those that existed in the 1960s.   [Read more…]

Carlsbad’s Bogus State of the City Video

by

Carlsbad’s elected officials like to describe their city as a special place, where scenic beauty mirrors civic harmony. Unlike other city leaders, there’s no need for our mayor to summarize, in a public address, the city’s achievements and challenges the previous year, identify opportunities and threats in the years ahead, and outline the titular city leader’s plans to address them.

In North County’s Camelot, a 15-minute video rolled out at a pricey Chamber of Commerce dutch treat luncheon is designed to show there’s simply not a more congenial spot than right here in our Village by the Sea.

This year’s State of the City Luncheon will be held at the Sheraton Carlsbad Resort and Spa on August 18. You may reserve a seat at the table now for $59, or pay $99 at the door. If you’re a Chamber member you merit a more modest $69 late fee. Members may also claim a table for ten for $625, no late fee required.   [Read more…]

Sun Ra on Nuclear War – If They Push That Button, Your Ass Gotta Go | Video Worth Watching

by

I couldn’t find any videos of Sun Ra’s ‘Nuclear War’ that were of a live performance illustrating Sun Ra and his Arkestra in their glorious glittery outsider finery. This compilation of blast footage, however, is perfectly apt for the work, and a well crafted statement in its own right. “If they push that button, your ass gotta go …”   [Read more…]

President Truman Talks ‘Fire and Fury’ | Video Worth Watching

by

In this archival footage from August 6th, 1945, shortly after dropping the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima, and three days before dropping a second bomb on Nagasaki, President Truman delivered a warning to the Japanese of “a rain of ruin from the air the like of which has never been seen on this earth”. Hmm. Now where have I heard language like that recently? If our current Commander in Chief is serious, that’s very troubling. And if he isn’t serious, that’s still troubling, but for different reasons.   [Read more…]

©2010-2017 SanDiegoFreePress.org

Code is Poetry