San Diego Free Press

Grassroots News & Progressive Views

Kiss of Death: Why is Lead in Lipstick?

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By  / Other Words

Sharron Camaratta bites her lips. She never thought of this as a major problem until 2007. That’s when she read that certain brands of lipsticks contain lead, a substance that can cause brain and nervous system damage.

So she stopped wearing the problematic brands — which a 2007 test by the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics identified as including L’Oreal, CoverGirl, and Dior — until a year or two ago. Lulled into a sense of safety, she once again started making lipstick purchases based on personal preference and little else.

But that changed when Camaratta discovered a May 2013 study by the University of California, Berkeley, in which researchers found lead in lipstick. Again.   [Read more…]

The Dark Lord Rises: Carl DeMaio’s ‘I’m not Running for Mayor’ Media Blitz

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By Doug Porter

San Diego Mayor Bob Filner remains in office after more than a month of non-stop accusations. A recall movement claims to be building up a head of steam. Calls for his resignation are being reported daily. Those who haven’t joined in the mania are being shamed both in the mainstream and social media. There’s even a protest march slated for Sunday.

What’s not being reported is anything current about hizzoner. Bob Filner -the man- hasn’t been seen in over two weeks. And while his minions are going through the motions of defending him and proclaiming everything is okie-dokie at City Hall, his absence speaks more loudly than any press release.

A news vacuum always needs to filled, and Carl DeMaio has stepped up to the plate this week with a media blitz, hoping to take advantage.  He’s been featured at Roll Call, Yahoo News, 10News, KOGO radio and The Hill.  Coincidence? I don’t think so.   [Read more…]

Escondido Council Votes to Preserve Golf Course As Open Space and Delays Huge Developmentes

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From EscondidoDems.org

In an unusual unanimous vote, the Escondido City Council voted August 14 to adopt the initiative brought before it by the Escondido Country Club Homeowners group that would preserve the club’s golf course as open space. The action certainly delays and could stop plans to build 283 homes on the property. The action avoids putting the measure before voters in November 2014 or taking 30 days for further study. Everyone expects the dispute to end up in court.

After dozens of speakers in favor of the measure, and more than a dozen in favor of a 30-day study, Council members agreed with John Masson that “there’s no reason to delay.” Council member Mike Morasco said “I don’t see how we benefit by waiting… there’s going to be a lawsuit no matter what.” Deputy Mayor Olga Diaz concluded that “a judge will make the decision… the best solution is to get it to the judge as fast as we possibly can.”   [Read more…]

Public Hearing on Temecula School Problems Condemns “Zero Tolerance”, Police Bias Towards Special Ed and Minority Students – School Board Members No-Show

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Public Hearing on Temecula Valley Unified School District condemns current drug and special education policies

By Dana Driskill

Nothing riles up a town quite like a debate on schools and drugs. Temecula citizens gathered August 12 for a public hearing on “accountability in our schools,” which was organized by Douglas and Catherine Snodgrass.
The Snodgrasses were first thrust into the media spotlight in December 2012 when they protested the arrest of their autistic son in a school wide drug bust at Chaparral High School. The Snodgrasses condemned the actions of law enforcement personnel and school officials, saying that “of the 22 students arrested, a suspiciously high number were special education and almost all were minorities.”

The Snodgrasses, two of the eight panelists, began by describing the incident of their son’s arrest, saying that the point of the undercover drug operation was for the narcotics officers to catch the main drug dealers at Chaparral High School. They continue by saying that “our son, desperate to keep his friend, brought [Deputy Dan] half a joint the next day.” According to the Snodgrasses, their son was arrested, taken to the police station, and was not allowed to see them until the court date two days later.   [Read more…]

Sex in San Diego: Porn Sex vs. Real Sex – the Differences Explained With Food

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By Emilie Astolat

I don’t mind the fact that my hubby watches porn, partly, I guess, because it’s inversely related to how often we have sex. Just because I’m not in the mood doesn’t mean that he has to remain sexually abstinent. Plus, I watch it, too, when the mood strikes.

What does bother me, however, is the often unrealistic portrayal of sex that pornography perpetuates for men and women. Being a woman, I can only speak for my gender and, while porn can be fun, it definitely has the potential to take its toll on the self esteem. I mean, there are just some so-called standards I just can’t live up to.   [Read more…]

City Heights, Where the Wheels on the Bus Go Round and Round

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Transit Dependent Communities, Social Equity and Environmental Justice

By Anna Daniels

There is no trolley route through City Heights. This deficiency is not for a lack of trying. In the early 1990’s residents were advocating for significant mitigation to the construction of I-15 through the community. The proposed mitigation included the construction of a trolley line in the center of the freeway that would efficiently carry City Heights residents north and south to their jobs and concentrated employment centers.

The short story is that the steep freeway incline/grade made a trolley route infeasible. So while the heavily transit dependent community of City Heights does not have a trolley, it does have buses and will continue to rely upon buses. If you can get past trolley envy, buses become the workable solution to transit needs.

For decades, the highest bus rider ship in the whole Metropolitan Transit System (MTS) has been on the Number 7 bus. This one bus route carries a whopping 3,903,109 passengers annually. To put this in perspective, the Green and Orange trolley lines each record around seven million passengers annually. The Number 7 bus is a plodding workhorse, definitely not a racehorse.
  [Read more…]

Keeping the World Safe from Science: Issa Wins Climate Change Denier Award

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By Doug Porter

San Diego’s own Congressman Darrel Issa (R) has once again been nationally recognized for his efforts in Congress.

The League of Conservation Voters and Organizing for America joined forces yesterday at Issa’s Vista, Ca offices to confer the “Climate Change Denier” award to the Congressman. Sources say he was not available to receive the award.

A statement released by the groups said Issa was being recognized for “his extreme anti-science views, which put him at odds with 97 percent of scientists and a majority of the American people.”   [Read more…]

Healthcare in America and California: The Evils of Doing Nothing

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By Andy Cohen

There is an awful lot of misinformation being disseminated to the public about “Obamacare,” officially known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, mostly (exclusively?) by Republicans. It’s a shame, too, because although the law, passed in 2010, is not perfect, it’s far better than what we had before.

Employers too are getting into the act: Many “small businesses” (defined as those with fewer than 50 full time employees) are complaining that they will be forced to cut their employees hours to below 30 hours per week in order to avoid having to pay for health insurance for their workers. John Schnatter, CEO of Papa John’s Pizza, said last year that because Obamacare would increase the company’s costs—by a whopping 14 cents per pizza—franchisees might have to start cutting back on their employees’ hours.

Although there are some uncertainties with the law, most of the complaints are pure nonsense. Raising the price of a pizza by 14 cents is not exactly an undue burden that is going to drive consumers away, and Schnatter’s insistence that he’s going to have to drastically reduce his workforce over 14 cents is beyond ridiculous. This is not a business argument; it’s a political one.   [Read more…]

What Should We Think About The Arrests at JPMorgan Chase?

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By Richard Eskow/Campaign for America’s Future

Four years after Wall Street’s malfeasance dealt a telling blow the economy, and long after tens of billions of dollars have been paid out for banker fraud, reports say that we’re about to see the first arrests of Wall Street bank employees. What’s more, the suspects work at JPMorgan Chase – a banks which, ironically enough, politicians and pundits insisted was the “good bank” after the financial crisis hit in 2008.

In fact, Chase CEO Jamie Dimon spent years speaking out forcefully against additional bank regulation. (Lately, not so much …)

Financial cases can seem complicated. What should we think about these recent announcements in the “London Whale” case?

It’s good that they’re finally making arrests.

Despite the overwhelming evidence of criminal behavior in a large number of cases, this will have been the first time since the financial crisis that a banker’s been arrested on criminal charges (assuming the arrests take place as planned, of course.)   [Read more…]

Progressive Politics in the Post-Filner Era; Getting Beyond “BlenderGate”

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By Doug Porter

Rumors of the Filner’s imminent resignation swirled through the city yesterday like scraps of newsprint caught up in the wind eddies regularly whipping through San Diego’s downtown canyons.

Could IT be today? Would IT be this week? Was the City Attorney working out a deal?

Several dozen people gathered at mid-day to protest the possible return of Mayor Bob Filner to City Hall, chanting “Bob must go!” for the assembled press corps.  The minions of the mainstream media nodded their heads in approval.

The organizers of the recall movement weren’t taking the resignation rumors seriously.  Organizer and Republican activist Michael Pallamary told UT-San Diego, “There’s no reason to believe he will resign. It’s not in his DNA. You got people now turning their tune from resign to recall. There’s only recall. There’s no way he’s going to resign.”   [Read more…]

Five Reasons Congress Should Be Deeply Ashamed about Jobs

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by Paul Buchheit / Common Dreams

U.S. Representative Marlin Stutzman said, “Most people will agree that if you are an able bodied adult without any kids you should find your way off food stamps.” That depends on whether those ways can be found. If Stutzman and other members of Congress believe it’s that easy to find a job with a living wage, they’re either ignorant of middle-class life or victims of free-market delusion. In either case, Congress, with its shameful response to the people who elected them, has not only made the job search more difficult for average Americans, but has also impeded the process.

Senate Republicans killed a proposed $447 billion jobs bill in 2011 that would have added about two million jobs to the economy. They filibustered Nancy Pelosi’s “Prevention of Outsourcing Act,” and temporarily blocked the “Small Business Jobs Act.” Most recently, only one member of Congress bothered to show up for a hearing on unemployment.   [Read more…]

CicloSDias San Diego – From Golden Hill to City Heights and Back

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Yesterday, Sunday, August 11th was CicloSDias in San Diego. Three friends and I – all on bikes – joined the celebrated 5.2 miles of open roads and streets just for bicycles and pedestrians, and we rode from Golden Hill, through North Park, over to City Heights – and back.

Weather was perfect, the streets were cleared of cars – except for the four that we counted along the way – and there was an enthusiastic turn-out for the event. Hundreds of San Diegans took part in the 6 hour free bike tour thr0ugh San Diego’s mid-city. Yes, hundreds – not the thousands that we wanted to see – came out. We wanted to see hordes on bikes – but were happy with what we saw and experienced.

Ever so often, there would be a few tents and the canopies of booths open to participants, some giving away gifts, others selling their bicycling-related products and services.
  [Read more…]

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