San Diego Free Press

Grassroots News & Progressive Views

Restaurant Review: Seasons 52

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By Judi Curry

I have heard about this restaurant ever since it opened.  It prides itself on items that are less than 475 calories, no matter what it is, from flatbreads to appetizers, to small salads, entrée salads, fish and seafood, poultry and meat, and even their desserts.

When my daughter Michele called and asked me if I wanted to join her and my grandson Cody I jumped at the chance.  Cody made reservations on-line, and our wait for a table was less than 5 minutes, even though we were early and one person that was going to join us was unable to do so.  Both Cody and Michele had been here before.

The following is taken directly from their on-line page:  “We use natural cooking techniques such as wood-fire grilling, brick-oven cooking, and caramelizing vegetables to let the natural flavors shine through.  And we execute precision with seasoning, and oil with control and care to ensure just the right amount is used to bring out the great flavor profiles.  An added benefit to this style is that our menu items are naturally lower in calories.  In fact, we make a promise that nothing on our menu is over 475 calories.  The result is great tasting, highly satisfying food that just so happens to be good for you!”  NOTE:  They do not have butter in the kitchen nor on the table!   [Read more…]

California Legislators Call for Fracking Moratorium

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By Dan Bacher

Nine California Legislators on January 7 sent a letter to Governor Jerry Brown asking that he issue an executive order to prohibit the Division of Oil, Gas, and Geothermal Resources (DOGGR) within the Department of Conservation from allowing fracking in the state until health and environmental concerns are addressed.

Legislators signing the letter include Marc Levine, Assemblymember, 10th Assembly District; Das Williams, Assemblymember, 37th Assembly District; Adrin Nazarian, Assemblymember, 46th Assembly District; Richard Bloom, Assemblymember, 50th Assembly District; Loni Hancock, State Senator, 9th Senate District; Bonnie Lowenthall, Assemblymember, 70th Assembly District; Noreen Evans, State Senator, 2nd Senate District; Phil Ting, Assemblymember, 19th Assembly District; and Lois Wolk, State Senator, 3rd Senate District.   [Read more…]

To Hell with Pio Pico – It’s Time for a La Jolla Power Plant

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By Doug Porter 

The pattern of dirty development has become undeniable in the San Diego area. Attempts to abate or oppose polluting projects in neighborhoods with higher percentages of non-whites are cast by proponents of those projects as critical to the regional economy.

A simple nine block buffer zone protecting Barrio Logan from pollution associated with the maritime industry gets attacked as threatening the entire industry. And now a proposed power plant in Otay Mesa has been reborn in the wake of last year’s closure of the San Onfre nuclear facility.

Meanwhile, a “controversy” caused by the odor of sea lion poop in La Jolla gets major media coverage. Oh. My. Goodness.

Maybe we can work out a trade. On second thought, forget that idea. Let’s just get a power plant built upwind of La Jolla. Then they won’t be bothered by the sea beasties so much.   [Read more…]

What Does the End of Chronic Veteran Homelessness Mean For Cities?

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By Elisha Harig-Blaine/CitiesSpeak.org

Last month, Phoenix made the historic announcement that all of their chronically homeless veterans were off the streets. This amazing milestone is the result of collaboration between all parts of the community and the use of data to drive decisions and allocate resources. The accomplishment has sparked a national conversation about whether or not a city can end homelessness.

The success Phoenix has seen around chronically homeless veterans can serve as an example for other segments of the homeless population. As Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton said while making his announcement last month, “The strategies that we’re using to end chronic homelessness among veterans are the exact same strategies that we’re going to use to end chronic homelessness among the broader population. This model – doing right by our veterans – is exactly how we’re going to do right by the larger population.”   [Read more…]

50 Is the New 65: Older Americans Are Getting Booted from Their Jobs — and Denied New Opportunities

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By Lynn Stuart Parramore / AlterNet 

In every corner of America, millions of people are terrified of losing their jobs and falling into financial ruin. Men and women with impressive professional achievements and credentials are being let go, nudged out and pushed aside. They are pounding the pavement and scouring the job sites, but find themselves turned away even for the most basic retail jobs. Not because they aren’t competent. Not because they lack skills. But simply because they have a gray hair or two.

This is not just a story of people in their 60s or 70s. Workers as young as 50 are shocked to find themselves suddenly tossed onto the employment rubbish heap, just when they felt on top of their game. They’re feeling stressed, angry and betrayed by a society which has benefited greatly from their contributions.

As the global population grows older, age discrimination is on the rise. It could be headed for you, much sooner than you think.   [Read more…]

Why Free Trade Agreements Don’t Work, But Could

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Outsized influence by corporate interests continue to prevent free trade agreements from delivering on their promises of economic prosperity.

By Andy Cohen

There has been a lot of consternation and handwringing lately about free trade agreements and their benefits/detriments to our overall economy.  My San Diego Free Press colleague Anna Daniels recently penned a piece largely lamenting the 20th anniversary of the signing of the NAFTA treaty:  “Twenty Years of NAFTA:  Capital Freely Crosses Borders While People Can’t”.

Anna is entirely correct:  NAFTA did not deliver on the promises that were made upon its signing.  And it laid the foundation for an exodus of capital and good paying jobs to other low wage locales, in Mexico and around the world.  But NAFTA’s failures—and the inherent problems with the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) that is currently being negotiated—are not due to the fact that free trade is inherently bad or unsustainable.  Quite to the contrary:  The concept of free trade can be potentially extremely beneficial to all parties involved, if the treaty is done right.   [Read more…]

Why I’m Breathing Easier in 2014

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I know firsthand that the Affordable Care Act can help people.

By  / Other Words

For the first time in years, I’ve got health insurance. Before now, my “insurance” was nothing more than exercise, a healthy diet, and medicinal herbs.

I’ve gotten insured through the Affordable Care Act without dealing with a buggy website because I live in California. Our state made its own website because our politicians are more concerned about their citizens’ health than making President Barack Obama look bad.   [Read more…]

UT-San Diego Shafts its Employees, Blames Obamacare

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By Doug Porter

Employees of the UT-San Diego are the latest casualties in the sordid saga of the right wing’s assault on the Affordable Care Act, better known as Obamacare.

UT Publisher Doug Manchester has made opposition and denigration of the President’s health insurance reform agenda a top priority since the day he bought the paper. His editorial pages have been (figuratively) screaming about the impending end of Western Civilization for months on end.  The ACA’s primary pillar—the individual mandate—was actually a conservative counter-proposal to President Clinton’s attempt to implement universal health care nearly two decades ago.   [Read more…]

Challenge to San Diego: End Homelessness in 2014

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Phoenix and Salt Lake City have ended chronic homelessness among veterans. Why can’t San Diego follow their example?

By John Lawrence

Phoenix has become the first city to end homelessness among veterans. The Obama administration had set a goal of ending homelessness among veterans by 2015, but Phoenix reached that mark a year early. After housing the last 56 veterans a week before Christmas, Phoenix announced that it had eradicated chronic homelessness among veterans in that city. Phoenix and Salt Lake City had been involved in a frierndly competition to see which city could end chronic homelessness among veterans first. Phoenix won, but Salt Lake was not far behind.

The fact that Phoenix and Salt Lake City Mayors had gotten involved in the homeless issue was a significant reason why this problem has been solved in those cities. In an effort to raise awareness about veteran homelessness, Salt Lake City Mayor Ralph Becker proclaimed November “Housing Veterans Month.” In response, roughly 40 landlords contacted the city to say they had units available for veterans. Becker had also engaged Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton in a friendly competition to see whose city could end chronic veteran homelessness first.   [Read more…]

A Tale of Two Cities: It’s Our Choice

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By Jim Miller

At the national level, there are signs that 2014 might be a hopeful one for progressives. In New York City Bill De Blasio was sworn in as mayor pledging to fight the “inequality crisis” with a bold progressive agenda addressing housing, education, and economic opportunity at all levels: “When I said we would take dead aim at the Tale of Two Cities, I meant it. And we will do it. We will succeed as one city.”

Many in the national press are pointing to De Blasio’s victory along with the momentum the living wage movement is gaining in cities like Seattle, and buzz around the effort to draft Elizabeth Warren to run for President as evidence of a shift in the national narrative about the question of inequality that bodes well for progressive populism and the country as a whole.

In a column that has been widely distributed across social media E.J. Dionne makes the case that even moderates should be cheered by this because, “For a long time, the American conversation has been terribly distorted because an active, uncompromising political right has not had to face a comparably influential left. As a result, our entire debate has been dragged in a conservative direction, meaning that the center has been pulled that way, too.”   [Read more…]

Oh, Have I Ever Been Blessed

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By Ernie McCray

Someone mentioned on facebook the other day that we forget to count our blessings. I thought about that for a few moments and then whatever I was thinking just floated away and then I noticed that my daughter, Tawny, had posted a picture of her mother on her timeline and that really got my thoughts about blessings underway.

And, in the spirit of such thinking, with family on my mind, I could hear my daughter, Nyla, saying to Phill, her husband-to be, a little while back, in their wedding ceremony: “It is so special for me to be marrying you on this day in the house that I was raised in. My parents had such a strong and beautiful relationship and I was lucky to grow up with that around me.”

Oh, that, to me, was about as precious a blessing as there could be, hearing my daughter express that she was blessed to be raised by her mother and me. Brought tears of glee to my eyes. And speaking of blessings what a boon to our lives that beautiful young woman has been from the moment she and her twin sister arrived.   [Read more…]

Organizations Commemorate 20th Anniversary of Zapatista Uprising

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Enero Zapatista Committee Organizes Month Long Series of Events

By Brent E. Beltrán

Twenty years ago on January 1 an unknown, rag tag rebel group walked out of the fog and rain forest of Chiapas, Mexico and into the imaginations of millions of Mexicans, indigenous people and lefties throughout the world.

On that fateful day, from below and to the left, the Ejercito Zapatista de Liberación Nacional (EZLN/Zapatista Army of National Liberation) made their first of many appearances upon the world stage.

Named after the great Mexican revolutionary leader Emiliano Zapata the Zapatistas demanded work, land, shelter, food, health, education, independence, freedom, democracy, justice and peace not just for themselves but all Mexicans and oppressed people throughout the world.   [Read more…]

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