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Labor Council Head Lorena Gonzalez: ‘San Diego Progressives Have a Lot to Be Thankful For’

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Passage of Prop 30, Defeat of Prop 32 and Bilbray, Filner and Roberts Victories All Are Cause to Celebrate

By Lorena Gonzalez

San Diego’s progressive community has a lot to be thankful for this November. We passed Proposition 30, defeated Proposition 32, took down Brian Bilbray and elected Bob Filner our next mayor! And for good measure, we elected Dave Roberts as the first Democrat and first fresh blood of any kind on the county Board of Supervisors in two decades.

In the process, we swept through dozens of school board and city council races across the region and elected leaders like Dr. Shirley Weber to continue the good work in Sacramento – now with a supermajority that has the ability to break the stranglehold of Grover Norquist’s no-tax pledge.
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The Elections are Over. Will City Heights Get “Stuff” with their Pizza?

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Last Tuesday I walked the four blocks from my house to Euclid Elementary School in City Heights to vote. The election notices were in five different languages and the citizens lined up in the hallway were conversing in those languages. Young people had small children in tow and pushed baby carriages. Elderly people moved slowly using canes and walkers. The poll workers were all young and ethnically and racially diverse; the voting process went smoothly and quickly. Despite all of my anxieties regarding the electoral outcomes, I felt that “rush of democracy” Megan Burks described so well in her Speak City Heights article about election day in City Heights.   [Read more…]

Down the San Diego County Ballot – Results of Races Endorsed by Labor and Democrats

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A week or so after the November 6th election, we can now decipher a more whole picture of how San Diego County voted – and look at the results of those races where candidates were endorsed by the San Diego Labor Council* and/ or the Democratic Party. And we also can see just how extensive Barack Obama’s coattails were. Just who were the winners and losers down the ballot – the lesser knowns running in those smaller cities and school boards scattered across this huge county?
City Races

Chula Vista – Both candidates endorsed by Labor and the Dems won handily: Pamela Bensoussan with 60% of the vote and Mary Salas with 58%.

Coronado – Casey Tanaka, endorsed by the Labor Council and the Democratic Party for mayor, won in a landslide with 70%.
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Republicans’ Exile into Ignominy Not Healthy in the Long Run

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Anti-tax, anti-reality zealotry smacked down in San Diego, statewide, and nationally, but a more moderate and modern Republican Party is needed for good governance long term.

Last week, Republicans across America—and especially in California—were dealt a pretty crushing defeat. Despite confident predictions to the contrary and despite a pre-election victory dance being done by Republicans and their talking heads on Fox News, Barack Obama thrashed Republican standard bearer Mitt Romney to win a second term as President of the United States.

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The Starting Line – Hundreds of Thousands Sign Up to Dump the Trump

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An online appeal aimed at getting Macy’s Department stores to fire Donald Trump as an advertising spokesman is expected to pass the half million signature mark today.  Citing the celebrity millionaire’s ‘unpleasant, nasty and despicable behavior’, the signon.org petition statement says:

Macy’s: Donald Trump does not reflect the “magic of Macy’s.” We urge you to sever ties with him. Macy’s says it has a strong obligation to be “socially responsible” and that “actions speak louder than words.” Indeed. It’s time to act.
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The Starting Line – Elections Have Consequences; Gov. Brown Says Prop 30 Vote Has National Implications

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Gov. Jerry Brown took to the airwaves Sunday, telling CNN’s Candy Crowley that voter passage of tax increases on the wealthy included in California’s Proposition 30 were indicative of a coming nationwide shift in voter attitudes, just as passage of Proposition 13 signaled a tax revolt thirty five years ago. “I was here in 1978, when Howard Jarvis beat the entire establishment, Republican and Democrat, because the property taxes had just gotten out of control. Now the cutting, the cutting and the deficits are out of control.”, said Brown.   [Read more…]

A Change is Gonna Come

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Ahh, hope fills the air that I breathe, as I move, light and easy, like a river dancer on a cloud that’s floating in a gentle wind, as Bob Filner becomes my mayor and Barack Obama my president, again.

It’s a nice high I’m in, hallucinogenic, with music, Sam Cooke singing, “It’s been a long, a long time coming, but I know a change gonna come, oh yes it will.”

Oh, it feels so good having a couple of guys in high places who view what people have worked towards for years as earned “benefits” not “entitlements,” and see unions as who they are, “We the People!” Not “bandits.”
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Letter to a Future Republican Strategist Regarding White People

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By Eric Garland

 We are really quite unimpressed with Congressional representatives such as Todd Akin and Paul Broun who actually serve on the House science committee and who believe, respectively, that rape does not cause pregnancy and that evolution and astrophysics are lies straight from Satan’s butt cheeks.

To whom it may concern regarding the United States federal elections of 2014, 2016 and beyond:

Allow me to introduce myself to you, the existing (or aspiring!) strategist for the Republican Party. My name is Eric Arnold Garland and I am a White Man. Boy, am I ever – you need sunglasses just to look at my photo!

If I read the news correctly, I fit a profile that is of extreme importance to the GOP, as I embody the archetype that fits your narrative of Real Americans. Just how much should my profile interest you? Are you sitting down?   [Read more…]

Field of View: Flowers at the Balboa Park Botanical Garden

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The Balboa Park Botanical Garden is a delicious reprieve from politics. There are more than 2,100 permanent plants on display, so this is really just a snippet. I focused on the orchids this trip because I find their complexity fascinating from an evolutionary standpoint. The Garden, which is open Friday through Wednesday and is free to the public, also features cycads, ferns, tropical plants and palms, among other varieties.

All photos by Annie Lane.   [Read more…]

Do I Want to Talk to President Obama?

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On October 26, I received an invitation to talk to President Obama online with many of his other supporters. At first I thought it was a joke, because my donations to his campaign were small – really small – but when I questioned the email I was told that he wanted to “talk” to his “grassroots” supporters and tell them how happy he is with the work we are doing. So I responded affirmatively to the request.   [Read more…]

Ryan Invites Feminist to Phone for Romney — Oops!

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by Kit-Bacon Gressitt

Last Tuesday, one day after the worst of Hurricane Sandy and one week before Election Day, I received an email from Republican VP candidate Rep. Paul Ryan, inviting me to phone bank for the Romney-Ryan ticket.

Me! The feminist who “won’t vote for Romney or anyone who embraces a fundamentalist interpretation of women’s rights and roles.” A liberal woman phone banking for Romney? Not!

After returning my bottom jaw to a respectable distance from the upper, I enjoyed a moment of wonderment at the thought that the Romney-Ryan campaign might be naïve enough to assume every person who signs up for their campaign emails is a supporter.   [Read more…]

San Diego for Free: Free Brewing Tour at Ballast Point Brewing

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A weekly 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.

Ballast Point Brewing & Spirits
Website: http://www.ballastpoint.com
Address & Neighborhood: 10051 Old Grove Road, San Diego, CA 92131; Scripps Ranch

Best For: Beer drinkers, politicians, gregarious types, kind souls
Free tour times: Daily at 12:00pm, 2pm, 5pm

San Diego is home to many breweries and it seems like a new one opens nearly every week. Per the local beer-centric magazine WestCoaster, there are currently 60 operating brew houses in San Diego County and an additional 27 in planning or development. With San Diego Beer Week beginning tomorrow, 11/2, and running through 11/11 I thought a free activity related to San Diego’s suds scene would be appropriate. There are also an incredible amount of events going on during Beer Week – check the website for more information.

Touring a brewery is an opportunity to learn about the brewing process and about the history of the brewery and the styles of beer they produce. Although the brewing process portion of tours can get repetitive if you’ve been on a couple before I find it interesting to experience the personality of a brewery that comes through on a tour, and the opportunity to try some their wares at the conclusion.   [Read more…]

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