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Desde la Logan: San Diegans Dancing in Solidarity with Idle No More

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This column is usually reserved for happenings that take place within the community of Barrio Logan and the surrounding Historic Barrio District. On occasion I will deviate from that if there is an issue that is near and dear to my family and I. This is one of those times.

My wife Olympia, her teenage children, and her mom Glo Andrade have been involved with Native culture most of their lives. Olympia has been a danzante Azteca since she was a teenager, most recently dancing with Danza Mixcoatl until she was pregnant with our toddler son Sandino. Her mom and family have attended sweat lodge ceremonies over the years as well as Sundance ceremonies in Arizona. Native culture and ways are a vital part of their existence. And the Idol No More movement is something they are in solidarity with.

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Holding the Debt Limit Hostage is Unconstitutional, So Why Not Mint a Trillion-Dollar Platinum Coin?

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By Joshua Holland / Alternet

It’s bizarre how people distinguish between serious and unserious proposals.

With another debt-ceiling show-down looming, talk of the ‘platinum coin option’ – declared deeply unserious in 2011 – is once again gaining some traction. Here’s Josh Barro over at Bloomberg:

I’m glad to see Representative Jerrold Nadler lending his support to the idea that President Barack Obama should avert a debt-limit crisis by issuing large-denomination platinum coins, as permitted by 31 USC § 5112.   [Read more…]

Time to Count the Homeless; Volunteers Needed

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Approximately 10,000 individuals, families, and unaccompanied children experience homelessness annually in San Diego County. Here’s one way that YOU can help.

In the early morning hours of January 25, 2013, roughly 700 volunteers will participate in WeAllCount locally. This event, led by the Regional Task Force on the Homeless, enables local agencies to better understand the scope, impact and potential solutions to homelessness; allowing communities to qualify for funding that is critical to addressing and alleviating homelessness in San Diego County. Communities across the country will be conducting similar events during the last ten days of January.   [Read more…]

The Starting Line – Qualcomm Under Fire, Al Jazeera’s Growing, and Birthers Run Amok

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The UT-SD reports today (on its front page, even!) about a lawsuit naming Qualcomm filed in New York state seeking to force more corporate disclosure about spending on political activities.

While the 2010 ‘Citizens United’ case ruling by Supreme Court said that the First Amendment prohibited the government from limiting political spending by corporations, this lawsuit take a distinctly different approach to corporate political activity. It seeks disclosure on the basis of shareholder’s need to know about management activities in publicly held companies…
Al Jazeera’s acquisition of Current TV is potentially good news for American news consumers. I am an absolute advocate of including the foreign press in my mix of daily news, and find it refreshing that not everybody feels the need to hew to the ‘meme du jour’ touted by the largely conservative domestic press…
The WorldNetDaily has long served as an editorial refuge for Teahadists, Birthers and others of the wingnut persuasion. A measure of their desperation following Democratic victories in the fall elections comes from regular contributor Craige McMillan, who’s published an ‘open letter’ calling on Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts to refuse to administer the oath of office to President Obama later this month…

All this & more in our extra meaty Friday edition of The Starting Line….

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The Starting Line – Congressman Darrell Issa’s Loose Lips Helping to Sink the GOP’s Ship

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North San Diego’s Congressional Representative Darrell Issa’s making the news this week as his vote against the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 (also known as the fiscal cliff bill) and his support of Speaker John Boehner’s decision to adjourn without taking up a disaster relief bill has come under fire.

The Washington-based Media Matters group cited Issa as an example of media malfeasance in reporting on the so-called ‘fiscal-cliff’ negotiations over the past week, noting that the Congressman was given ample air time to attack the pending deal without mentioning his personal financial interest…

Meanwhile, over at CNN this morning Rep. Peter King (R-NY) lashed out at Issa, for defending Speaker Boehner’s decision to adjourn Tuesday night before taking up the Sandy relief package. Issa also denounced the bill as being “packed” with pork.

(Yes, I’m back from vacation. Come on inside to read more GOP horror stories)   [Read more…]

California Welcomes 876 New Laws With the New Year

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Rules, rules and more rules! Jan. 1 sees a total of 876 new laws signed into effect, covering a wide range of issues from social media to universal healthcare.

  • AB 1844 prohibits an employer from asking for or requiring an employee or applicant to provide their username or password to any social media outlet. It also prohibits employer retaliation for not complying with such a request.
  • AB 2020 removes the option of choosing a urine test to determine the drug content of blood. Instead, those suspected of driving under the influence will only be given the option of a blood or breath test. If a blood test is unavailable, a urine test will be administered in its place.

The Starting Line(ish): New Year’s Eve Fiscal Cliff Edition

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Fiscal cliff talks go to the brink, as lawmakers are optimistic for a deal; yet Republicans lack any incentive to deal; Huntsman: “GOP devoid of a soul.”; Hillary Clinton hospitalized; Turner, Smith, dismissed from Chargers

Congress remained in session over the weekend as Republican and Democratic leaders met throughout in an effort to stave off the looming slip over the edge of the fiscal cliff (or curb or slope). If a deal is not struck by midnight tonight (New Year’s Eve), all of the Bush tax cuts will expire—not just for the top 2% of earners—and hundreds of billions in draconian budget cuts will be automatically enacted.

The current fiscal cliff deal is the result of negotiations a year ago between the White House and the Gang of 12 SuperCongress, a group made of six legislators from each party, and from both chambers of Congress. The sequestration deal (or fiscal cliff/curb/slope) was put into place as a sort of poison pill; an incentive for the SuperCongress to actually come to a deal.

It didn’t work. Republicans never had any intention of negotiating in good faith, and here we are today.   [Read more…]

The Ten Most Outrageous Economic Calamities of 2012

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By Les Leopold / Alternet

It was another year of Wall Street treachery. Those who took down our economy still have not been held accountable. Instead, Wall Street successfully lured the political establishment into a phony fiscal cliff/austerity debate. So instead of creating programs to put millions of Americans back to work, Washington is debating how much more to take away from the poor and the middleclass. Let’s take a closer look at the most disastrous economic events from 2012.

Here’s our countdown:   [Read more…]

The Starting Line(ish): Got Milk? Got $8 for a Gallon?

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Farm bill impasse in Congress could cause prices of dairy products to skyrocket; the do-nothingest Congress in history; San Diego poised to lose state funding for construction projects; Issa’s witch hunts to continue; Obama thriftiest president since Eisenhower

Prices for a gallon of milk stand to rise from a current average of around $3.65 to $6 to $8 per gallon, according to a report in the NY Times. That’s because of an impasse in Congress (of course) that is stalling the passage of a new farm bill. The Senate has already passed its version of the bill last July. The House has yet to bring its own version to the floor.

Without a new farm bill, according to the report, the government would be forced to follow a farm law enacted in 1949 that would require the federal government to purchase milk at prices that would be determined by production costs…..from 1949. Adjusted for inflation and other factors, that would amount to more than double the current price. Keep in mind that production costs 60 years ago were a lot higher because milk production was done almost exclusively by hand.

If Congress fails to act (which is likely…..more on that later), then dairy companies would be forced to look for alternative sources for their milk, such as importing it from New Zealand.   [Read more…]

No White Flag of Immigration Surrender

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by Carlos Batara

Soon after the 2012 elections ended, a wave of predictable knee-jerk reactions followed. Political pundits, news reporters, and immigrant advocates credited the New America for President Obama’s re-election. The Republicans jumped out first. They quickly acknowledged the need for immigration reform. They began floating flawed proposals, like the ACHIEVE Act, and discussed the shift from their campaign postures.

Meanwhile the Democrats decided to take time off to celebrate their victory. For all the talk by Obama supporters about the urgency of immigration reform during the campaign, they did not feel the need to start work on relieving at least some of the stress imposed by current policies on immigrant families until after the Christmas break.

When it comes to fixing our immigration system, immigrant families cannot afford such partisanship.

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Upon Reflection: What I Believe

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by John Lawrence

Well the New Year is upon us, and it’s time to take stock and see if I can make any sense out of the goings on of the last year and the interaction of reality with my own mind. This is my crack at it.

1. I believe that gun ownership should be a privilege and not a right. The 2nd Amendment was constucted to be similar to the Swiss model in which citizens formed a militia for national defense. There was no standing army. That was the original intent of the framers of the Constitution for exactly the same reason: there was no standing army. Today that rationale is not relevant. Even Switzerland has moved the guns from homes to depots to prevent what little gun violence takes place there.   [Read more…]

The Starting Line(ish): Filner Rips Congress … All of Them

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Mayor Bob Filner calls out dysfunctional Congress; Starbuck’s embarks on a “Come Together” campaign; Wingnuts decry Sandy Hook as a government conspiracy; Balboa Park Golf Course getting a makover

In an interview yesterday with KPCC, the Los Angeles area public radio station, San Diego Mayor Bob Filner pulled no punches in criticizing Congress and the Congressional leaders he left behind after 20 years to run for Mayor.

The bottom line, the reason he chose to run for mayor instead of returning to Congress for what would have been his 11th term, was the same thing Filner said to SDFP colleague Annie Lane and I when we sat down with the then mayoral candidate back in April for the OB Rag: Congress is a complete, dysfunctional mess.

The mantra of shrinking government down to a size “where you can drown it in a bathtub,” as Grover Norquist likes to say, became the overriding principle in the House in 1994 when Newt Gingrich first became Speaker. Since then—and especially since 2010—it’s only gotten worse.

“I couldn’t believe the kind of people who had come and taken power,” Filner said of the Tea Party wave that took control of the House. “Many of them had never had any government experience. They had no respect as it were for government per se. I mean, I don’t know why you run for government office with the intent to close up government.”   [Read more…]

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