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Congressional Countdown for a Meltdown in Progress as Republicans Draw a Line in the Sand Over ObamaCare

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By Doug Porter

As part of their ongoing drive to drive their party’s plummeting polling numbers off a cliff, Congressional Republicans have declared that now is the time to engineer a shutdown of the Federal government.

Two separate showdowns are slated for the coming weeks, following a revolt by Tea Party Representatives last week which left the “reasonable” voices in the GOP on the side on the road.  Coming Friday will be a House vote for a continuing resolution for funding to allow government operations to proceed. Three weeks down the road a legislative showdown is expected over a bill allowing the debt ceiling to rise.

As things stand today both actions will likely result in GOP sponsored majority votes in the House, rejection by the Democratic-led Senate of odious portions of those legislative packages and a probable shutdown of the government.   [Read more…]

Support the Barrio Logan Community Plan Update Alternative 1!

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San Diego’s Maritime Industry Doesn’t Care About Barrio Logan

By Brent E. Beltrán

I come before you today not as a paid employee of Continental Marine or of the other ubiquitous polluting industries that mar the streetscape of Barrio Logan. Nor do I come as a high paid lobbyist or lawyer of these same businesses. Neither am I a CEO or manager of said industry.

I come before you today as a relatively new resident of Barrio Logan. I’ve lived in Logan Heights for two years and am now finishing my first year as an apartment dweller in the new Estrella del Mercado complex. Though for the past 20 years I have participated in various ways in the life and activities of Barrio Logan.

For decades my community has struggled with neglect by the political players, power brokers and industries that have never cared about the residents of this barrio.   [Read more…]

Plastic Bag Ban Sparks Dialogue Between Left and Right : San Diego Rostra Responds to SDFP Satire

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Editor: We are crossposting an article from the conservative San Diego Rostra by Brian Brady – who has been in a dialogue with our own Bob Dorn of late – and who now outlines where he and progressives agree and disagree.

Freeped Today and Feeling Fabulous

by Brian Brady / San Diego Rostra / Monday, September 16, 2013

I was the subject of a satirical post on San Diego Free Press. Bob Dorn had some fun today, using some garden-variety stereotypes about liberals and conservatives, because I dared to confront a premise, proffered by OBRag’s Frank Gormlie, supporting a single-use plastic bag ban.

I don’t think that Bob Dorn likes that I comment on the progressive’s little paradise. He’s discounting something, though–I AGREE with the Freeps on a number of issues.   [Read more…]

Surviving an Active Shooter Event: Run-Hide-Fight is the New Duck and Cover

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Because we take public safety seriously

By Anna Daniels

Americans have apparently decided that events like those happening today in DC are acts of God like the Colorado floods or hurricanes in the Atlantic. There’s nothing we can do to prevent it. Mass shootings are the American Way. Digby Hullabaloo

Homeland Security provided funds for this Texas Public Service Announcement so that citizens are better prepared to deal with an unhinged shooter in their school, workplace, church/mosque/temple, movie theater or any of the other myriad public places in which they erroneously assume that they should be able to gather without the fear of being murdered.   [Read more…]

It’s MY Plastic Bag, and I Do What It Wants Me To.

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By Bob Dorn

I love my plastic bag.

No one’s going to take it from me; not some foolish enviro nut-hazard with her meds in her pocketbook, or some Japanese squeeky clean wearing a mask in the subway, or a Filner Freak-o who spends his money on Mexican marijuana that probably already has some STD buried between its cracks, or Obama, the Holy, who solved Syria all by himself (ask the cruise missiles who solved Syria!!!).

No one’s taking my plastic bags.   [Read more…]

San Diego For Free: My Free Tree (& How You Can Get One Too)

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City of San Diego property owners are eligible for free tree plantings.

By John P. Anderson

Back in April I wrote about a program ran by the Urban Corps of San Diego that plants free trees in front yards for property owners in San Diego. At the time I was living in an apartment and unable to partake of the green goodness but have since moved into a house – I can vote now! – and one of the first things I did upon moving in was contact the Urban Corps to get as many free trees as possible.   [Read more…]

San Diego City Council Committee Pushes for Ban on Plastic Bags

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By Frank Gormlie

A key committee of the San Diego City Council came out today in strong support for a ban of plastic bags. The Rules and Economic Development Committee took a unanimous vote in directing staff to construct an ordinance that would ban plastic bags at city grocery stores and other retail sites within the city.

The proposal at this stage of its process would ban plastic bags in supermarkets, and other retail sites that include large stores that sell food, drug stores, convenience, hardware and clothing stores. It also has a requirement that stores charge 10 cents a paper bag, but exempting restaurants, nonprofits, food stamp recipients, and produce and meat products.   [Read more…]

San Diego for Free: La Playa Beach – Point Loma’s Wonderful Hidden Beach

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By John P. Anderson

An irregular column dedicated to sharing the best sights and activities in San Diego at the best price – free! We have a great city and you don’t need to break the bank to experience it.

  1. Address: La Playa beach (McCall Street at San Antonio Avenue, Point Loma) Google Maps link
  2. Best For: Watching boats and swimmers, reading in the sun, building sand castles

As a stay-at-home father I’m constantly looking for outdoor activities to do with my kids. We frequent playgrounds, the San Diego Zoo, beaches, and spend a lot of time walking around North Park.

Recently a friend from Point Loma mentioned that the La Playa beach is a great place for playing in the sand.   [Read more…]

King Tut in City Heights

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Egyptian Revival Architecture on Euclid Avenue

By Anna Daniels

It is difficult to imagine the excitement and personal interest in Egyptian antiquities that Howard Carter’s discovery of King Tutankhamen’s 3,000 year old tomb engendered in 1922. A series of sealed chambers were filled with so many funerary objects that it took days to remove them on stretchers. The final chamber which included the nested sarcophagi of the “Boy King” was filled with dazzling gold and blue adornments and objects provided for Tut’s journey into the after life. Carter had hit the archeological mother lode.

The discovery of the tomb was significant for Egyptologists and it also caught the imagination of the European and American public. Travels to Egypt to view the antiquities became even more popular. Jewelers recreated designs found in the tomb. Scarab rings and brooches became fashionable.   [Read more…]

Filner and Crappy Stadium Blamed for Chargers’ Loss

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By Doug Porter

There are a boatload of people who’ve declared their intention to run for Mayor of San Diego.

The Daily Fishwrap has hammered home the meme that ours is a city teetering on the edge of ruin following nine months of bullying and grabbing on the eleventh floor of city hall. Hotel executives are metaphorically scattered throughout the Gaslamp District with tin cups in hand trying stave off the looming economic disaster brought on by the former Mayor’s insistence that taxpayers be protected.

Into this power vacuum have stepped the San Diego Chargers, a professional football team owned by an ultra-wealthy family that believes it’s entitled to taxpayer assistance in building a new football stadium.

In case you haven’t noticed, there’s been a full court media press on over the last few days extolling the virtues of a recycled proposal for a downtown venue that would turn San Diego into a world class city overnight.  Former Mayor Jerry Sanders was on KUSI TV this morning saying, “We’ll find the Chargers a new stadium in the not-too-distant future, I predict.”

Yes indeedy, a new stadium will make everything okay.  Our long regional nightmare will be over.   [Read more…]

Part II: The Birds, the Bees, and the Wolf Pack

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Did Bob Filner jump? did he fall? was he pushed?  

By Norma Damashek
 / Numbersrunner

Forget you, Nancy Drew.  You’re being replaced by Perry Mason, super-sleuth defense attorney from the zero hour this guy would laboriously rise up in the middle of the courtroom and pull a rabbit out of a hat.  First he’d say something enigmatic to the judge, then to the jury.  Soon he’d turn to the seated onlookers and dramatically finger the real culprit… swindler… murderer… for a histrionic wrap-up to another solved case.

The case against Bob Filner, however, doesn’t lend itself to cheap theatrics.  The complexity and political fallout of Bob Filner’s ouster bring his political demise closer to classic tragedy than pulp fiction — not merely for him personally but for the future of our city.

So let’s stick with the diligent approach of Ms Drew to arrive at some answers to this mayoral mystery: did Bob Filner jump? fall? or get pushed? and when the curtains are drawn back will we find a master manipulator slinking around in the shadows?   [Read more…]

Can Congress Walk and Chew Gum at the Same Time? October 5th Immigration Reform Rally Planned for San Diego

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By Doug Porter

Between Tea Party types seeking to bomb ObamaCare and neo-cons looking to bomb Syria it would seem our elected representatives have decided they’re just too busy to deal with immigration reform this year, according to today’s New York Times.

Although the Senate passed a bipartisan bill back in June and immigration reforms advocates had a successful summer campaign that included hundreds of visits to Congressional offices, rallies and town-hall style meetings, the Times story says “Republican angst about losing Hispanic voters in the 2012 presidential campaign has faded.”

The prospect of a delay is generating frustration among supporters of the legislation, who felt emboldened by a summer in which conservative opposition in House districts largely fizzled and immigrant groups seized the chance to lobby lawmakers on their home turf.

  [Read more…]

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