San Diego Free Press

Grassroots News & Progressive Views

Chilling ‘Professor Watchlist’ Aims to ‘Expose’ Leftist Educators

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By Deidre Fulton / Common Dreams

“I am dangerous not to America but to the people soon to be in charge of it.”

So says one of roughly 200 college professors recently named to a conservative website’s “Professor Watchlist”—a round-up of academics accused of “discriminat[ing] against conservative students and advanc[ing] leftist propaganda in the classroom.” The list is based on “pre-existing news stories,” though readers are encouraged to “submit a tip” if they become aware of “professors that advance a radical agenda in lecture halls.”

The list, which first appeared on November 21, is a project of right-wing non-profit Turning Point USA (TPUSA), a group whose stated mission “is to identify, educate, train, and organize students to promote the principles of fiscal responsibility, free markets, and limited government.”

According to a blog post written by the organization’s founder and executive director Charlie Kirk: “Throughout the next 120 days, Turning Point USA will be running ads to make sure students, faculty, and administrators see that these professors made the Professor Watchlist…We believe these people need to be exposed.”   [Read more…]

Land Use Planning in a ‘Post-Fact’ World? Looking Back on Measures B and C in Our Recent Election

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By Lawrence A. Herzog

One of the disturbing trends in this turbulent season of national electoral politics was the explosion of uncertainty about information and truth in reporting. The talking points and tweets often wandered so far from actual facts, they left behind an exhausted citizenry. We are still recovering.

This “post-fact” world has brought the nation to an odd juncture. Fake news stories, Internet hacking, and websites that pump out false information remain a point of contention.

Has this “post-fact” epidemic trickled down to our local elections?   [Read more…]

Immigrants’ Rights in Trump’s America: Know Them

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By Andrés Dae Keun Kwon and Julia Harumi Mass / ACLU San Diego-Imperial Counties

California has been a national leader at the forefront of our struggle for immigrants’ rights, having already enacted a series of protections for immigrants. In passing the TRUST Act in 2014 and the TRUTH Act earlier this year, California created protections for people who come into contact with immigration authorities through local law enforcement. In a recent joint statement, state legislative leaders affirmed: “California is—and must always be—a refuge of justice and opportunity for people of all walks, talks, ages and aspirations—regardless of how you look, where you live, what language you speak, or who you love.”

There are also important rights under the U.S. Constitution that protect all Californians—regardless of immigration status. While we wait to see how the Trump administration’s policies unfold, here are some of the most important ways you can protect your rights right now:   [Read more…]

California Leads the Nation in Hate Report

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Two reports from the Southern Poverty Law Center released this week confirmed anecdotal reports of a spike in incidents involving harassment and intimidation in the days following the general election.

One report culled media reports and direct submissions to a #ReportHate page on the SPLC website. Online harassment and incidents determined to be hoaxes by authorities were not included. According to the group, “the incidents documented here almost certainly represent a small fraction of the actual number of election-related hate incidents that have occurred since November 8. The Bureau of Justice Statistics estimates that two-thirds of hate crimes go unreported to the police.”

Of the 867 occurrences cataloged by the group over ten days, 99 were reported from California. Schools were the most common locations, followed by public spaces and workplace/retail environments. The leading reported motivation for these incidents was anti-immigrant sentiments, with anti-Black, anti-Semitic, anti-LGBTQ, and anti-Muslim episodes also being significant factors.   [Read more…]

Trump’s Seven Techniques to Control the Media

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Robert Reich / RobertReich.org

Democracy depends on a free and independent press, which is why all tyrants try to squelch it. They use seven techniques that, worryingly, President-elect Donald Trump already employs.

1. Berate the media. Last week, Trump summoned two-dozen TV news anchors and executives to the twenty-fifth floor of Trump Tower to berate them for their reporting about him during the election. For twenty minutes he railed at what he called their “outrageous” and “dishonest” coverage. According to an attendee, “Trump kept saying, ‘we’re in a room of liars, the deceitful dishonest media who got it all wrong,’” and he called CNN a “network of liars.” He accused NBC of using unflattering pictures of him, demanding to know why they didn’t use “nicer” pictures.

Another person who attended the meeting said Trump “truly doesn’t seem to understand the First Amendment. He thinks we are supposed to say what he says and that’s it.”   [Read more…]

Trump Reneging on His Campaign Promises to Voters

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His Supporters Have Been Snookered!

In a 60 Minutes interview with Leslie Stahl, Trump back pedaled on his major campaign promises and a lot else. When asked what his sit-down with President Obama was like he replied, “I found him [President Obama] to be terrific. I found him to be– very smart and very nice. Great sense of humor, as much as you can have a sense of humor talking about tough subjects, but we were talking about some pretty tough subjects.” So no more questions about his legitimacy to be President? No more wondering whether he was born in Kenya? I guess not now that he, Trump, is a member of the club.

The interview went on:   [Read more…]

Center Cut Steakhouse: Chef Ramon takes Surf & Turf to Chula Vista

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You’ll love their plush booths that throw you back to the days when cuddling up and having a private conversation with your significant other was the best kind of evening. For the socially rambunctious who miss the days when dives were “the thing,” they also have a bar open from 6pm to 1:30pm.

The bar is what kept the establishment afloat until Chef Ramon Gomez came onto the scene. Center Cut Steakhouse is actually 25 years old. However, six years ago the original owner passed away. The restaurant then went through a series of owners.   [Read more…]

What Does A Trump Administration Mean for the Desert?

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Shaun Gonzales / Mojave Desert Blog

The outlook for desert wildlands is dismal under a Trump Administration, and we will have to be even more vigilant and vocal to stop Washington from undermining the legal and administrative pillars that protect our public lands and wildlife and to keep bulldozers off of intact habitat. I have been critical of some of the Obama Administration’s choices and policies regarding wildlife and wildlands, but there was always give and take within the bounds of existing laws and a relatively strong role for science in how policies were formulated; that probably will not be the case under Trump.

Trump and the Republican-controlled Congress probably will slow or reverse progress we have made greenhouse gas emissions, and they will severely weaken or eliminate the legal and bureaucratic institutions that protect our wildlands and wildlife. Science will be ignored in policy formulation and decision making. Budgets for the folks at the Department of Interior and the Environmental Protection Agency – the Federal arms that that manage public lands and keep our air and water clean – will be slashed further.   [Read more…]

Justice Won’t Wait: Fight Back, Give Back, Stand Up

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Tuesday, November 29 is Day One of a new era of protest. Older topics, like the Fight for $15 and ending mass incarceration, are being joined by newer concerns, as Uber drivers and Standing Rock supporters connect the dots in their quest for economic, environmental, and social justice.

It’s also Giving Tuesday, and with the Trumpian onslaught on human rights about to begin, supporting organizations working for progressive causes is more important than ever.

Two other developments worth noting on this day are Elizabeth Warren’s speech on the Senate floor Monday telling Democrats to stiffen their spines and the release of an app to help consumers avoid spending money with any Trump-related enterprise.   [Read more…]

Sleepless

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I have not actually slept
since that long night when astonished reporters went off script,
as we watched one incomprehensible red piece after another
inserted into the puzzle
that was supposed to be mostly blue.

Hearing them stammer words that couldn’t possibly be true,
but were,
was when my subconscious determined
that if I never close my eyes
I won’t awaken to that same nightmare that millions woke to
in Germany, under Hitler,
and other fascist regimes…
the morning after the coup.   [Read more…]

Trump’s Absurd Plan To Dismantle Government’s Protections

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By Dave Johnson / OurFuture.Org

Donald Trump released a video announcing his agenda for his “first day in office.” One of the things he said is, “I will formulate a rule which says that for every one new regulation, two old regulations must be eliminated.” Can we count the number of ways this is absurd and dangerous?

Under Trump’s 2-for-1 idea, if we want to have a regulation that a company can’t store explosives next to an elementary school, we have to eliminate a regulation that protects us from food poisoning AND a regulation that stops companies from taking money out of your bank account for no reason? (Or how about creating fake accounts and charging them fees?)   [Read more…]

TinFoil Trump’s Twitter Temper Tantrum

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By Doug Porter

Based on the say-so of a conspiracy-mongering website that claims 9/11 was an inside job and the killing of children at Sandy Hook elementary school was staged with actors, the President-elect of the United States now says there were millions of illegal votes cast in the 2016 general election.

Donald Trump didn’t make this claim at a press conference flanked by attorneys ready to force states to throw out those votes; he made it on Twitter. And he didn’t make this claim based on any actual evidence at all.

He followed up this initial lie by naming California (along with New Hampshire and Virginia) as states with serious voter fraud. Again, the claim was made without evidence.   [Read more…]

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