San Diego Free Press

Grassroots News & Progressive Views

Dr. Jen Campbell’s Candidacy in City Council District 2: Is She the Cure?

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Dr. Jen Campbell is not tall, loud, or filled with that busy anxiety of most politicians. But Campbell has a thoughtful quality.  And a talk with her about the city’s problems is much like discussing the ailments of a weary organ.  What seems to rile her most, like any good physician, is the untreated and blase patient.  In this case, the city’s leadership, perpetually reacting to San Diego’s crises rather than responding actively to new realities and opportunities.

Dr. Campbell believes her opponent, current Republican District 2 Councilmember Lorie Zapf, serving on the council since 2010 and hoping for a third term, is part of San Diego’s historical problem of a lack of initiative.

“It’s an old story of San Diego,” Campbell said.  “It’s a city that just doesn’t plan ahead.  Especially on infrastructure.  We’re a city that has constantly gone from crisis to crisis.  Zapf is part of this problem.”   [Read more…]

Stewed: ‘We Want to See Lips and Eyes From the Back of the Plane’

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Sexism and the Airline Industry

[Video In Article]

Lee Perry, a local San Diegan who worked for PSA Airlines in the late 1960s, is quick to confirm the airline industry’s strict employment requirements with regard to women at the time. Perry recalls her experience with PSA Airlines like this:

They told us exactly what to weigh, and would check to see if we were tall enough. We couldn’t go 5 pounds over or under, or we could get suspended. They had a weight chart, and they decided among themselves if we were “light,” “medium,” or “heavy boned” … that might give us a couple-pound leeway.

We had to wear exactly the makeup they wanted for us. This meant some got Merle Norman if they had a bad complexion, and the rest of us got Clairol face makeup, which they don’t even make anymore. We had to wear the “PSA Green” eye shadow and the “PSA Orange” lipstick. I remember it as 24 Karat Orange by Clairol.   [Read more…]

Tales of the Deep State: No, You May Not

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Prologue: Somewhere in Guam, in a buried three-story titanium bunker, lies an electronic bunker, its first level a sprawling Virginia-style country interior, half-timbered and fitted out with beds and entertainment centers that accommodate some 45 Deep State technos.  

The next level, below, is the workstation with decks of receivers and senders, a 30-by-40 square foot, two-way screen connected to the White House by closed and backed up circuits. The command center is alongside a full commercial kitchen where sworn personnel can cook anything — from truffles and chocolate bits to roasted peacock — providing them with the comforts that compensate for the stress they breathe in like air. 

The third level is a subway station connected to a Marine helo pad 6 miles away used only by the Commander-in-Chief, who is a regular visitor. 

Deep State 1: “They’re calling us the deep state in the news now? You can even hear it on the floor of the House. Redbone (R-Georgia) just used the term today, on a junket to Kazakhstan. Him? That banana turned blotchy and sticky years ago; we gotta send some rockers and rollers to educate him.”   [Read more…]

Destroy Public Education, Version 2.0: The City Fund

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Billionaire Netflix CEO, Reed Hastings, has joined with billionaire former Enron executive, John Arnold, to launch an aggressive destroy public education (DPE) initiative. They claim to have invested $100 million each to start The City Fund. Neerav Kingsland declares he is the Fund’s Managing Partner and says the fund will help cities across America institute proven school reform successes such as increasing “the number of public schools that are governed by non-profit organizations.”

Ending local control of public schools through democratic means is a priority for DPE forces. In 2017, EdSource reported on Hastings campaign against democracy; writing, “His latest salvo against school boards that many regard as a bedrock of American democracy came last week in a speech he made to the annual conference of The National Alliance for Public Charter Schools in Washington D.C., attended by about 4,500 enthusiastic charter school advocates, teachers and administrators.”   [Read more…]

Yippie! Party Video from 1968 | Video Worth Watching

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It’s roughly the 50 year anniversary of the Chicago Democratic convention and the police attack on the counterculture protesters. As a response to the event, the Yippie! party secured free air time through campaign “Equal Time” legislation. They made some of the time available to the ACLU, some to an anti-war group and used about 15 minutes for this gem of a protest parody campaign video. It features appearances by Alan Ginsburg, Jerry Rubin, Abbie Hoffman and music by Phil Ochs. It also memorializes Mayor Daley’s Yogi Berra-like remark that “the policeman isn’t there to create disorder; the policeman is there to preserve disorder.”

The quality is marginal, but it’s worth a watch. This version has about ten seconds of audio deleted around the 1:40 minute mark right where Ginsburg appears. I’m guessing someone was concerned about a DMCA take down since there’s another version on YouTube that does have the audio and Ginsburg begins to chant “AUM” and a chorus morphs it into “dreaming of a white Christmas”! Gotta love that sense of humor!
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Rep. Duncan Hunter’s Support Solid As a Rock (Provided the Rock Has an ‘R’ Ballot Designation)

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East County Republican voters aren’t buying into the legitimacy of the charges against Congressman Duncan Hunter, according to polling publicized by the San Diego Union-Tribune.

Hunter has an eight-point lead over Ammar Campa-Najjar,  47% to 39% with 13% undecided. 

The local daily and 10News commissioned the Survey USA poll, which contacted 539 likely voters in the days immediately following news of the 48-page indictment. Hunter and his wife Margaret have pled not guilty, and his legal team is calling the charges a politically motivated witch hunt.   [Read more…]

A First Look at Propositions on the California November 2018 Ballot

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There are eleven ballot measures for voter consideration on the 2018 general election ballot in California. Three were placed on the ballot by the legislature, the rest via signature gatherers (mostly) paid for groups with an interest in shaping the legal and political landscape. 

This column includes my initial takes on what’s on the statewide ballot. Snark is included at no extra charge, mostly to keep readers interested. And there are a couple of measures I’m unsure about how I feel.

There will be more detailed analyses over the next six weeks, prior to ballots being mailed out. In early October, the San Diego Free Press will post its Progressive Voter Guide, with the endorsements (or not) of our editorial board.

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Hidden Figures – ‘Human Computer’ Katherine Johnson Turns 100 Years Old | Video Worth Watching

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Katherine Johnson, one of the Hidden Figures “human computers”, turned 100 years old this Sunday, August 26th. The Daily Press notes that on Saturday she visited her alma mater, West Virginia State University, for the unveiling of a 7-foot statue in her honor and the creation of an endowed scholarship in her name. During an interview when asked what she thought was the key to such a long and healthy life, her reply was “I’m lucky. Very lucky.” (h/t to AGD)   [Read more…]

Senator McCain: Is the Enemy of My Enemy My Friend?

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A major public figure has succumbed to brain cancer. And now another round of the American bloodsport of ‘who can be shittiest?’ is underway.  

A petulant President Donald Trump has made it clear that Senator John McCain’s death will not bring an end to his scorn. The typical chief executive statement of condolence was squashed. A Tweet and an Instagram post (featuring a photo of Trump) will have to suffice. The flag atop the White House is no longer at half-mast.

History is being re-written to unabashedly sing the praises of “the maverick” and “the last real Republican.” McCain’s existence, as is true with most larger than life figures, was more complicated than that. It is, alas, too easy to fixate on some good deeds when the political world is awash with evil. The late Senator’s empathetic qualities do not negate his willingness to follow his party’s descent into madness most of the time.   [Read more…]

The Wages of Inequality Keep Growing: Only Working People’s Power Can Save Our Democracy

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It shouldn’t be news to readers of the SD Free Press that life here under the perfect sun isn’t always so easy, particularly for working people.  Indeed, as a Bloomberg report outlined last May, “The gap between the have and have-nots in San Diego was the ninth-highest out of 100 cities between 2011 to 2016.”  

As usual, this report received not much more than a shrug in the place where happy happens as we were too busy spectacularly failing to address our shameful homelessness crisis yet again while the supply of high-end condos downtown and elsewhere continues to grow.  So it goes.

It’s the same old story over and over again here–and everywhere else.  

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Ammar Campa-Najjar Responds to Fox News Smear and Fear Clickbait Headline

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Editor’s Note: Ammar Campa-Najjar has been in the news a lot since Congressman Duncan Hunter was indicted for illegally diverting a quarter million dollars in campaign funds for his personal use. Since there is no way to remove the incumbent from the ballot at this time, Republicans have come up with a “save the seat” strategy. Hunter will resign should he win the November election, clearing the way for a special election in the spring. In order to ensure that GOP voters in the 50th Congressional District don’t have second thoughts about voting for a crook, Faux News used the headline on this story to gin up some fear. 

Below is Ammar’s response along with a commentary from Pastor Paul Dabdoub attesting to the candidate’s moral character. For the record, Campa-Najjar never met the man in question, since the grandfather that Fox News has raised from the dead died two decades before the candidate was born. 

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Duncan Hunter Jr. must be desperate. He has to dig back three generations to attack me, all I have to do is look back three days ago at his indictment. Hunter is betting it all on the idea that the people in my district are a bunch of bigoted, backward people. I say don’t underestimate the people of the 50th, I’ve risen to occasion — they will too.

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Time Should be Running Out for the President and His Republican Cronies

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I began this writing a day after one of the president’s thuggish friends, a man who led his campaign, was found guilty of several counts of fraud, and his personal lawyer and “fixer” pleaded guilty to illegal payments under his direction.

I waited a day to see how the Republicans in the Senate and the House would react, foolishly holding out that they would finally say “Enough” to the lunacy coming out of the West Wing of the White House – considering that the clock should have run out on his presidency months ago.

And all they’ve done so far is claim that a sitting president can’t be indicted when, whether that is true or not, they have the power to take him down. Like they could impeach the sordid clown.   [Read more…]

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