San Diego Free Press

Grassroots News & Progressive Views

Dispatches from the Filner Front: Recall, Resignation or a Palace Coup?

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By Doug Porter

We certainly have no reason to complain about being bored in San Diego during the dog days of August.  In addition to not having to suffer through the heat and humidity plaguing much of the country, we have own political drama playing large at a time when others are limited to watching last years’ episodes of House of Cards.

The latest developments include the official launch of the Recall Filner campaign, a slo-mo wanna-be palace coup and supporters of at least one well known politician taking steps to get in position for any imminent mayoral campaign.

Sunday saw organizers of the recall campaign ensconced in donated space at the Town and Country Hotel conducting training for signature gatherers.  There is absolutely no truth to the rumor that UT-San Diego’s publisher Doug Manchester paid for the Chargers’ cheerleaders to appear.  Those cheering on the volunteers from the sidelines were actually journalists, distracted from their role as chroniclers of history by the righteous indignation in the air.   [Read more…]

Dispatches from the Higher Education Wars: Wins for City College of San Francisco, Outsourcing Opponents, and Adult Education

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By Jim Miller

Last week I outlined the plight of the City College of San Francisco (CCSF) noting that CCSF had become the “Chicago of Higher Education” as the college and their community allies were engaged in a struggle to stop the loss of its accreditation at the hands of a corrupt commission that was driven by a misguided corporate education reform agenda.

The California Federation of Teacher’s (CFT) response to this untenable situation was to file a complaint with the ACCJC noting the commission’s failure to follow state and federal law in a variety of areas while being arbitrarily punitive with their sanctions of CCSF. Predictably, ACCJC dismissed the CFT complaint, which was then sent to the Department of Education (DOE) who oversees the commission.

On August 13th, the DOE responded to CFT’s complaint by concluding that the ACCJC had indeed violated Federal regulations by not adequately representing faculty on their visiting teams, refusing to comply with conflict of interest requirements, failing to clearly indicate the significance of their recommendations with regard to meeting standards, and inconsistently enforcing their “recommendations.” The DOE letter to ACCJC ends by noting that given the fact that ACCJC is itself up for renewal by the DOE, the DOE will conduct a full review of their practices that may include other deficiencies not raised in their preliminary report. Hence, after pulling the accreditation of CCSF the ACCJC itself may now face a similar fate.   [Read more…]

The Drone Industrialists: ‘Don’t Watch Us, We’ll Watch You’

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by Thomas Hedges / Common Dreams

The Wifi password at this year’s conference on Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) was “DONTSAYDRONES.” It was printed and posted up in the pressroom of the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C., warning reporters not to unleash the offensive word while doing an interview. At one of the world’s biggest UAS conventions, drones did not exist.

Exhibitors instead flaunted their products like toys. Visitors demoed UAS in air, ground, and water spaces within the exhibit hall, which extended the length of a couple of football fields. There were onscreen displays, where attendees could fly virtual drones using a video game controller. Upstairs there were presentations on how UAS might be used to fight forest fires or quickly transport organs to hospitals on a moment’s notice.   [Read more…]

Field of View: A Walkabout in City Heights, Part II

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By Annie Lane

At the corner of Euclid and University avenues in City Heights there is a wonderland of activity, architecture and, perhaps, some of the friendliest people in San Diego. That is where this Field of View will focus, with a quick jaunt up the street to some nearby Buddhist temples.

Cerberus Motorcycles is owned by Dave Hargreaves and Erik Borowitz, who moved here from New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. Housed inside the famous Egyptian Garage on Euclid Avenue, the pair is guarded by garage dogs, much like their business motif would suggest.   [Read more…]

5 Companies That Make Money By Keeping Americans Terrified of Terror Attacks

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A massive industry profits off the government-induced fear of terrorism.

By Alex Kane/Alternet

Michael Hayden, the former director of the National Security Agency, has  invaded America’s television sets in recent weeks to warn about Edward Snowden’s leaks and the continuing terrorist threat to America.

But what often goes unmentioned, as the Guardian’s Glenn Greenwald pointed out, is that Hayden has a financial stake in keeping Americans scared and on a permanent war footing against Islamist militants.

And the private firm he works for, called the Chertoff Group, is not the only one making money by scaring Americans.

Post-9/11 America has witnessed a boom in private firms dedicated to the hyped-up threat of terrorism. The drive to privatize America’s national security apparatus accelerated in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks, and it’s gotten to the point where 70 percent of the national intelligence budget is now spent on private contractors, as  author Tim Shorrock reported. The private intelligence contractors have profited to the tune of at least $6 billion a year. In 2010,  the Washington Post revealed that there are 1,931 private firms across the country dedicated to fighting terrorism.

What it all adds up to is a massive industry profiting off government-induced fear of terrorism, even though Americans are more likely to be killed by a car crash or their own furniture than a terror attack.   [Read more…]

A Trail for Humanity’s Final Walk Begins in Chicano Park

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Video by Horacio Jones

On the morning of Saturday, August 16, more than 100 people gathered by the temescal (sweat lodge) in Chicano Park for a ceremony to honor the walkers of A Trail for Humanity. On July 22, a group of women and children left Merced, California on a journey south to the US-Mexico border in San Ysidro to pressure the Obama administration to put a halt to its deportation enforcement only policies; call for an end to the use of police as immigration enforcement agents; demand an end to family separations; and stem the tide of racial profiling that has incarcerated so many migrants and African Americans.   [Read more…]

Tío Emilio and the Secrets of the Ancestors: Chapter 13 — Baseball and Energy Connections

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“Our ancient experience confirms at every point that everything is linked together, everything is inseparable.” Dalai Lama XIV

By Richard Juarez

“Hey man, take a look at this!” Tony was looking through his binoculars toward the Padres’ bullpen. “Look at the guy in the stands next to the bullpen pitchers’ mound. He’s talking to Luis DeLeon, one of the guys warming up. And he was just shaking his hand. Doesn’t he look familiar?” He handed me the glasses.

“Here, hold my hot dog for me,” I said, “and don’t eat any of it. I don’t have much left.” Tony had already inhaled his hot dog. I looked through the binoculars and found the bullpen. “No way! It can’t be. That looks like Don Emilio! But I don’t think so. I knew he was still in town, but he never said anything about going to a Padres game or even liking baseball.”   [Read more…]

Out to Lunch in City Heights: Awash Ethiopian Restaurant

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AWASH Ethiopian Restaurant
4947 El Cajon Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92115
619) 677-3754

By Judi Curry

For someone that has not had Ethiopian food for many years, I wondered the wisdom of having dinner last night at “The Red Sea” and lunch today at “Awash.” While pondering what to do, I called my friend Joe and asked him if he would like to have lunch with me and he readily agreed. (Of course, we had discussed this already before I ate at the Red Sea.)

The outside of the restaurant is non-nondescript. It almost looks like a store front rather than a restaurant. Upon entering, the image changes dramatically. The first thing that you smell is incense – a pleasant odor, not over-powering. There are two sections to the dining room – one by the window that is very bright; the other in a more secluded area, and consisting primarily of individual booths rather than table.
  [Read more…]

Tom Hayden: How to End California’s Prison Hunger Strike

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Both sides must set aside their profound differences and look at steps to relieve the worst elements of solitary confinement.

By Tom Hayden / LA Times 

At least 300 inmates are now several weeks into a fast that could soon lead to organ failure and death for many of them. Events are moving rapidly, but as I write, nothing has been resolved. And, as California corrections chief Jeffrey Beard made clear recently in an Op-Ed for this newspaper, the sides are far apart.

Beard, presumably reflecting Gov. Jerry Brown’s views, paints the strike leaders as dangerous gang leaders who are pressuring inmates into a hunger strike to “restore their ability to terrorize fellow prisoners, prison staff and communities throughout California.” That rhetoric is hardly designed to lead to conflict resolution. On their side, the strikers are demanding an immediate end to what they see as inhumane conditions, including indefinite solitary confinement, which they see as a violation of the 8th Amendment ban on cruel and unusual punishment.   [Read more…]

AT&T Voucher Program Threatens Phone Service for Low-Income Californians

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By Doug Porter

Big money lobbyists are swarming over Sacramento hoping to gain approval by the State Legislature for AB 1407 before anybody notices.  This bill is an AT &T backed measure replacing California’s low cost LifeLine program, which provides 1.2 million residents with basic phone service, with a voucher program.

Low income residents will be losing their subsidized landline service, which is currently billed at a reasonable rate set by the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC).

They would instead get a voucher valued at just $11.85—essentially a coupon they could use to offset some of the cost of mobile service or a landline. Because the CPUC has no control over regular telecom rates, telecommunications companies could raise rates or add service fees to such an extent that the voucher wouldn’t guarantee affordable service.   [Read more…]

‘Jaw-Dropping’ Record of Violations Reveals Perils of NSA Self-Policing

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New internal documents provided by Edward Snowden show agency oversteps legal authority “thousands of times” per year

Jon Queally / Common Dreams

An internal National Intelligence Agency audit and other documents leaked to the Washington Post by whistleblower Edward Snowden show that despite official claims to the contrary, the spy agency broke its own guidelines, breaking “privacy rules” and overstepping “its legal authority” thousands of times each year as it collected online and phone data on Americans without a warrant or due process.

Jameel Jaffer, deputy legal director for the ACLU, called the scale of the violations “jaw-droppping.”   [Read more…]

The Red Sea Restaurant Reviewed: Delicious Ethiopian Food in City Heights

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The Red Sea
4717 University Avenue
San Diego, CA
619-285-9722

In keeping with the spotlight theme this month on City Heights, I gathered together a few friends to meet at “The Red Sea” for dinner.  Anna and Rich live in the City Heights neighborhood, and this restaurant was one of her recommendations.  Roshne was born in Ethiopia and just recently came back from a vacation to her country.  Although she was raised in Canada after the age of 5, her mother cooked the traditional Ethiopian food and she was anxious to try it here.  Bette had never had Ethiopian food before, and was game to try it.   [Read more…]

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