San Diego Free Press

Grassroots News & Progressive Views

For California Women Who Dream of Political Leadership and Power: Some Rules of the Road

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By Rebecca Sive

As we begin Women’s History Month, and celebrate International Women’s Day (Saturday, March 8th), I’ve been reflecting on the lessons today’s women office-holders, and those who aspire to political office, can learn from those who’ve already traveled this path.

But, first, a bit of context: this ruminating comes on the eve of my visit to San Diego as the special guest of close the gap CA’s Stop the Slide tour. This slide would be the slide (downwards) in the number of women in the California legislature: while there were a record 37 serving in the legislature in 2006, there are only 32 in 2014. (Sadly, California now ranks 19th in the nation for the number of women serving in its state legislature, down from sixth in 2003, according to Rutgers’ Center for American Women and Politics. That’s 26% of the legislature versus 31%.)

The Stop the Slide tour, whose purpose is to raise awareness of this problem and recruit women to work to solve it — by becoming candidates themselves — begins in San Diego Sunday, when we will gather at the Women’s Museum of California, at an event hosted by Run Women Run, a nonpartisan group that recruits and trains women candidates for office in the San Diego area.   [Read more…]

Extreme Weather Watch: February 2014 – Nowhere To Hide

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By John Lawrence

USA Today did a report: Nowhere to hide from extreme weather.  As it turns out, the US is uniquely positioned for extreme weather whether it’s hurricanes in the southeast, tornadoes in the lower plains, noreasters along the eastern seaboard, wildfires in the west, earthquakes, volcanoes and possible tsunamis along the west coast.

And then there are sinkholes in Florida, avalanches in the Rockies and flash floods in the Appalachians. Hail, ice storms and lake-effect snowstorms far from the Great Lakes round out the list. No matter where you go, you will meet extreme weather. Especially now that storms are almost continent wide. Each storm in February affected about 150 million people, half the population of the US.   [Read more…]

Restaurant Review: Jade, Thai and Mandarin

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Jade Thai and Mandarin 
10330 Friars Road #104
San Diego, CA 92120

By Judi Curry

I have done several reviews of restaurants suggested by readers of the San Diego Free Press and/or the OBRag.  One of my readers – Michael – asked me if I had ever gone to the “Jade” before.  I knew where it was on Friars, and remembered eating there but not much about the cuisine.  So I called my friend Jim and asked him if he wanted to join me.  He drove all the way from Oceanside – that’s what friends do for friends – and we arrived at the restaurant at 5:30pm or so.

There were very few other patrons in the restaurant, and not many arrived after we did.  The two servers were delightful and made us feel right at home.  The female waitpersons name was “Angel” and she was; the male was “Nathaniel” and he was very helpful also.   [Read more…]

Remembering the UC San Diego Cookout, the Noose, and their Aftermath

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An Open Letter, Four Years After the “Winter of our Discontent”

Jorge Mariscal / UCSD Professor of Literature
Fnann Keflezighi / UCSD ‘11
Patrick Velásquez /San Diego Chicano/Latino Concilio

Four years ago, the fragile tranquility of the La Jolla campus was shattered by a series of events now known as the “Compton Cookout.” Cutting-edge scholarship on campus climate emphasizes the need for universities to continually revisit their ‘historical legacy’ as a benchmark for progress. Therefore, as much as administrators would like to erase the “Cookout” and its aftermath, it is crucial that we remember the events of February 2010.

We view calls to “move beyond” the past and erase any memory of the events that transpired as nothing more than an attempt to release newly installed administrators from their responsibilities. It is time to hold accountable everyone involved in the “strategic planning” that will determine the future of UCSD and impact the lived experiences of future generations of students.   [Read more…]

Femanifesto: There is No Right Way to be a Woman

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By Lauree Benton

If you dress too conservatively, you are a prude. But if you try to dress for your body, you are a slut. And there’s a good chance, either way you will be molested or raped.

If you are a stay at home mom, you are lazy. If you are a career woman with no kids, you are selfish. If you have both a career and a family, you are short changing everyone involved.

If you breast feed, you are disgusting! Keep those things to yourself. Never mind that your child needs to eat. But if you don’t, you are filling your child with poison. Why would you use formula? You must be a horrible mother. Everyone knows “breast is best.”   [Read more…]

The Quest for a San Diego Summer Olympics in 2024

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By Doug Porter

It’s easy to poke fun at the idea of San Diego putting together a bid for the 2024 Summer Olympics in light of the failures of the leadership for the Balboa Park Centennial. It’s not so easy to figure what the actual benefit would be if such a bid succeeded. And, since there are people working hard to make it happen, it’s worth pondering.

The Balboa Park centennial group tried to build an event from the top down, jetting off to Panama and Mexico for marquis events while ignoring offers from the likes of the former CEO of Legoland. Now their $50 million event has been downsized to $2 million, much of which will seemingly be spent on executive compensation.

A Summer Olympics comes with the marquis events included. Local boosters are charged with presenting a plan building from the bottom up including venues, accommodations, security and logistics. “Build it and they will come” can be considered the mantra for such an event. While we should expect much to be made in the media about the dollars needed, the social and political costs will likely be glossed over.   [Read more…]

Poem: Redemption

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By Will Falk

I am searching for redemption
wishing for La Fonda beach to form
the sandy altar of my own Eucharist
an offering of the body and blood
the body and blood of me

  [Read more…]

Sanctuary: 7th Annual Dia de la Mujer Juried Art Exhibition to Open

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An all woman’s art exhibition, a film screening and a very womanly celebration

By Leticia Gomez Franco 

Casa Familiar’s THE FRONT will once again present their annual ode to women, this year called Sanctuary: 7th Annual Dia de la Mujer Art Exhibition. The group art exhibition features the work of 48 female artists from both sides of the border and will be on view from March 7  to April 24.

With over 50 art pieces on view, the exhibition is a wonderful collection of work, inspired by this years theme: Sanctuary. Artists were invited to explore the idea of sanctuary in its many manifestations as it relates to them as women and builders and creators of their own spaces. With this theme the exhibition curator honors the mission of Día de la Mujer. The art exhibition allows women artists to create real representations of themselves, to counter the powerful stream of visual stimulation spat out by the media, oversaturating our world, with foreign, unrealistic versions of women. Día de la Mujer fosters a safe space for women to be real women and to celebrate that realness, in all of its diverse beauty.   [Read more…]

CycloFemme Inspires Worldwide Growth in Women’s Cycling

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An interview with founder Sarai Snyder

By Brigette Taylor / Suite Brigette

Through my events planning work in San Diego and on the east coast I have had the opportunity to witness greater inclusion of community voices in planning efforts around pedestrian and biking safety. I have noticed more women riding their bikes on the streets of San Diego as well as an increase in community members (including youths) participating in the planning process for more walkable and bikeable neighborhoods. The promotion of cycling and the creation of strategies for greater ease in riding on city streets appears to be paying off.

Women’s History Month offers a context in which the advancement of women in cycling can be recognized and celebrated. I had the opportunity to speak with Sarai Snyder, the founder of CycloFemme, which is a worldwide cycling movement whose mission honors the past, celebrates the present and empowers the future of women in cycling.   [Read more…]

A New Era Begins for San Diego, Just Like the Old Era (With a Few Deletions)

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By Doug Porter

By the time you read this City Councilman Kevin Faulconer will have taken the oath of office to become San Diego’s 36th Mayor. He will, I think, have about a nine month honeymoon prior to starting his reelection campaign for 2016.

UT-San Diego’s been busy trying to setting the tone with its editorials over the past few days, urging the Democratic Majority on the City Council to appoint a Republican to replace Faulconer, pleading for Council President Todd Gloria to be the new mayor’s ‘bi-partisan partner in reform,” and cheerleading for further policies to privatize public services.

Lost amid the ceremonies and promises of better times are the moves being made to insulate the politics of ‘business as usual’ from public disclosure. City Attorney Jan Goldsmith’s successful efforts to derail an Open Government initiative and the iMayor’s last-minute issuance of a policy destroying city emails after one year are examples of the true nature of bi-partisan cooperation at the highest levels in local government.   [Read more…]

What’s Left: Surrender or Resurgence?

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By Jim Miller

Just when you thought the Obama administration’s education policy couldn’t get any worse, it did.

Last week Obama nominated founder and CEO of New Schools, Ted Mitchell, to the second highest post at the Department of Education. Mitchell and his organization have been at the forefront of the education privatization movement and this confirms the bad news that rather than rethinking some of its unsuccessful, wrong-headed education policies, the administration has doubled down and is now completely in the tank with the corporate education reformers.

As Capitol and Main reported, this signals continued “corporate influence at the Department of Education”:

“He represents the quintessence of the privatization movement,” Diane Ravitch, an education historian and former Assistant Secretary of Education under President George H.W. Bush, tells Capital & Main. “This is a signal the Obama administration is committed to moving forward aggressively with transferring public funds to private hands.”

  [Read more…]

A Mindful Walk Down a Dark and Slippery Slope

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By Norma Damashek

Here’s what the Zen manual advises for a stress-free existence: notice… let it go… then smile.

Truth is, I’m not ready for bliss.  And it’s not for lack of trying.  You know how it is once you’ve noticed certain things… how can you let them go?  Maybe tomorrow. 

Right now I can’t help noticing someone’s big bad joke.  Here’s how it goes:

A guy walks into a bar, orders a beer on tap, and announces that the annual advent of Sunshine Week is just around the corner.  That’s the time when good-thinking people (journalists included) spend a few days promoting the public’s right to know what goes on behind the thick curtains of government.  Some call it transparency.   [Read more…]

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