By Jim Miller
When Doug Porter asked the writers at the San Diego Free Press to share their thoughts about our project during the first anniversary of this site, I remembered the column I wrote upon returning from a trip up to Northern California where I had learned of the death of Alexander Cockburn.
My reflections on his life’s work made me think about what the Free Press should be, and what I believe it has been at its best… [Read more…]
By Bob Dorn
There’s only so much a few individuals can do against what more and more appears to be a remodeling of Mussolini’s corporate state, and only a bit more that a gathering of individuals like San Diego Free Press can. But I think The Freep is growing.
Every month I see a contribution from a talented writer whose name I hadn’t noticed before. I read comment lines from people who know more about the issues at stake in San Diego and the world than I can see in the Atlantic, Reuters, ABC, CNN, CBS and CBs..t sites of the nation’s overfed, paralyzed and monetized media.
The endurance of The Freep offers me at least one sure takeaway: money kills journalism. [Read more…]
By John P. Anderson
Nestled in a coastal canyon just north-east of the intersection of Interstate 5 and Interstate 8 is the Tecolote Canyon Natural Park. Despite being so near to these heavily trafficked freeways Tecolote Canyon is a peaceful, quiet place and a preserved open space in the heart of the city that presents visitors with a view to the native state of the area. Work is ongoing to protect this open space from pollution and development and planting native plants to further complete the picture of the native state of the land. The park was dedicated on April 1, 1978 after being purchased by the City of San Diego. [Read more…]
By Mikey Beats
San Diego DJ Mikey Beats, and his nurse wife Jenny, decided to take a vacation to Machu Pichu, Peru. Over the next few days San Diego Free Press will publish their daily adventures.
We woke up just before 8am to the coffee grinder. All our things were prepped and all my stuff needed to be placed into my travel backpack. That backpack had been to Brazil with me, Ecuador and Panama with Jenny and now it would get me through Peru.
We stopped by Ramiro’s taco shop after a few quick texts to tie down loose ends and we hit the road. My breakfast burrito ended up all over my shirt as I was eating and driving. Just another aroma to remind me of home I guess.
We got to LAX a few hours early and took our time finding a cheap option to park the car for ten days. The garage was called Quick Park…. [Read more…]
By Andy Cohen
Most people accept that global warming is real and that it’s happening. But even for those who continue to willfully deny the facts right underneath their noses, it is getting more and more difficult to ignore the increased frequency and intensity of the superstorms that have devastated our landscape.
The arguments against global warming are almost nonsensical, ranging from “God would never allow it” theology to ideological orthodoxy. Since global warming is the major threat to the recession proof oil and gas industry—an industry that represents enormous power and influence with the ability to sway policy on a whim—many climate change deniers simply reject the abundance of empirical evidence out of their own economic self interest. The decline of the oil and gas industry, after all, in their mind, is the demise of the Western World’s entire economic existence. Oil provides the energy that makes the world go ‘round. What would we do without it?
To the true believers, fossil fuels are, and will continue to be, the lynchpin to the American and global economies. [Read more…]
By Doug Porter
Well, we made it to the one year mark. So today we’ll skip the news round up and take a look at what’s been going on around here. On this date (June 4th) last year the San Diego Free Press went ‘live’.
Here’s how Patty Jones describes the process:
When Frank and I started the OB Rag it was sort of on a lark. We jumped in and before too much time had past, we had a collective of wonderful people around us. We felt like these people deserved a place where they could write about their own neighborhoods and the things near and dear to them. We had resurrected the OB Rag, why not the San Diego Free Press? We gathered these people together and we talked about it. We saw a light in their eyes…
By Beryl Forman
Golden Hill is a wonderful place to live, but it could always be better. Applying sustainable methods of urban design, green development, and enhancing its natural environment will certainly set a new bar for what is possible.
Golden Hill is located just above downtown San Diego, and is adjacent to the southern portion of Balboa Park. It is unfortunate that the access to either one of these locations is less than accommodating. Walking downtown entails crossing over the I-5 freeway on a large sparse bridge. Instead, I imagine this bridge becoming the welcome gateway to Golden Hill, lined with greenery, public seating, and food stands.
[Read more…]
By Fran Zimmerman
Now that Memorial Day 2013 is over, let’s record how the red/blue politics of the day trumped history and tradition and every lemming newspaper in this Navy town went along.
Apparently the Los Angeles Times, U-T San Diego, San Diego Reader and La Jolla Light forgot that San Diego is home to Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery, final resting place for more than 115,000 servicemembers and their families from all branches of the armed forces and site of the largest Memorial Day commemoration in the city.
Each of those newspapers carried stories with photographs, some prominent on Page One, of ceremonies in La Jolla at the “Mt. Soledad Veterans’ Memorial” underneath the controversial hilltop Christian cross. Not one journal mentioned that the Supreme Court has upheld the U.S. 9th District Court finding that this towering cross represents an illegal and unconstitutional expression of religion in a public place.
And not one mentioned that there is no consecrated ground there.
[Read more…]
By Christine Schanes
There is one certainty in life – we are all going to die. How and where we die are the only issues.
Will we die quickly or have a lingering death? We don’t know. However, most of us housed people are pretty sure we will die indoors in some health facility or in our own home. In fact, some of us buy insurance so that we are assured of the particular standard of care and facility we prefer in our last days.
However, what about unsheltered homeless people? They live outside and very likely will die outside.
How do I know this? Because over the past several years I have been involved in the end of life care for three homeless friends. I’ve written about Bobby Ojala who passed in late August 2012 and Susan Hunt who died twelve days later in early September. But, Karen Lee Creeden was the first homeless person I helped die indoors. [Read more…]
By Judi Curry
People that know me know that the only make-up I wear is mascara and eyeshadow. I probably wouldn’t wear that if my eyelashes weren’t blond – or is it gray now – and I like to highlight my blue eyes. But recently I have started dating – bad word – “going out with” – younger men and after changing the lights in my bathroom have discovered wrinkles I never knew I had. (Of course, having cataract surgery has helped (?) my vision.)
About the time I discovered a “road map” on my face, I attended a women’s conference where I was given free samples of “remove the wrinkles” cream; had my eyebrows “plucked” using thread (?); had a facial that made my dry skin feel vibrant, etc. Even though I am a creature of habit, I never used any of the samples daily because I, quite simply, forgot. I’m one of those people that apply lipstick by rote. If I were to look in a mirror while applying it I would find it all over my face.
I shouldn’t tell you, but, of course you know I will, that I failed “How to teach Art to Elementary School Students” twice. Yes. TWICE! [Read more…]
By Doug Porter
I wasn’t too surprised by the lack of coverage of San Diego’s demonstration against Monsanto this past Saturday. If you read Howard Zinn’s A People’s History of the United States, you’ll realize that successful protest movements rarely get proper credit or acclaim for their influence.
Our local daily fishwrap, aka UT-San Diego, couldn’t be bothered to send an actual reporter to Balboa Park on Saturday. They relied instead on an Associated Press account in Sunday’s paper that mentioned Los Angeles and perhaps there were some other protests…yada, yada, yada… The Los Angeles Times coverage at least mentioned that there was a protest in San Diego.
Come inside for more San Diego coverage and photos from around the world [Read more…]
By Kelly Mayhew and Jim Miller
For those who know progressive politics in San Diego, Carlos and Linda LeGerrette are local legends. Starting with their roles in founding MEChA at Mesa College in the sixties and flowing through their deep involvement with Cesar Chavez and the farmworkers movement to their local community activism and fine work with the Cesar Chavez Service Clubs in our schools, the Legrettes’ great hearts and regard for their neighbors is boundless.
No one has done more for their community than Carlos and Linda LeGerrette, and they are greatly loved and respected by all those who they have touched over the years. It was our absolute pleasure to interview them on their lives, work, and deep roots in a place they jokingly call “Golden Park Heights.” [Read more…]
