San Diego Free Press

Grassroots News & Progressive Views

In Search of the Chariot Fire Burn on Mt. Laguna

by

By Frank Gormlie

Like many San Diegans I watched images of the recent Chariot Fire that began on July 6th destroy sections of Mt Laguna with great concern. That mountain is one of my favorite spots in the county and I waited for the local media to give us an update on the damages that the fire caused to the natural habitat of the area along Sunrise Highway. Not satisfied with the paltry amount of news of the burn since the fire was put out, I decided to head out there myself and do a photo gallery of the destructive havoc wreaked by a wildfire.

On Friday afternoon, August 2nd, I drove east on I-8, heading for Sunrise Highway – the road that traverses Mt Laguna. With camera at the ready, I took notes in my search for the burn, holding my fears in check as I hurried towards the 6000 foot plus ridges that separated the mountains from the desert. There were sections of the mountain that I worried had been destroyed, as reports of the fire had it crossing Sunrise Highway, and eating its way west through pine forest.   [Read more…]

How to Get Mayor Bob Filner Out of Office and Why It Won’t Happen

by

By Doug Porter

The City Council is on August recess. The Mayor is getting his head examined—one hopes from within, at least. And the campaign to get rid of Bob Filner continues, having failed to do much more than foster a gaggle of press conferences, one civil lawsuit, a nascent recall movement and whole lot of nastiness.

There is, of course, The Shame.  Let’s face it; the Mayor is a masher. As Daily Show substitute teacher John Oliver put it, there’s a lot of “ewww” there.  Admitting that there is a problem and doing something about it, however, are two vastly different things.

While the rollout, timing and (probable) coaching of the assorted witnesses against Bob Filner may not be a coincidence, denying that the Mayor has a problem doesn’t solve anything. I suspect he’s done enough denying in his lifetime to cover any quota imaginable.

Questioning the veracity of those women in comments around town won’t do squat either, except making the writer of the comments look bad and the Mayor look worse.

At this point the only arbiter of truth that counts is a judge or jury. And despite what some people would like us to believe, Trial by Twitter has not yet taken the place of our judicial system.   [Read more…]

North Park Says Get Back, Jack!

by

By Doug Porter

Residents in North Park have called for a rally this afternoon at 5pm to protest the continuing denigration of their neighborhood by Gag-in-the-Bag, aka Jack in the Box, at 30th & Upas Streets.

After the company violated the terms of a construction permit for renovation of its fast food restaurant at the location, the Mayor’s office intervened and called upon the City Attorney to issue a stop work order.   [Read more…]

Driven to Despair: The Plight of San Diego’s Taxi Drivers and How We Can Help Them in Their Fight for Economic Justice

by

By Jim Miller

Last week President Obama sought to turn the nation’s attention toward the fact that the income gap is fraying the U.S. social fabric.  In an interview with the New York Times he noted that “the idea is to promote those things in service of the lives of ordinary Americans getting better” and told reporters that he keeps a framed program from the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom in his office to remind him that there was a “massive economic component to that” as well as a civil rights focus.

Sadly, however, while Obama discussed the need to move away from the austerity policies of the Republicans and how fiscal policy might be used to help American workers he didn’t even mention the notion that we could empower workers themselves in their fight for a better life. Indeed, he hasn’t really done much in this regard for his entire presidency, but perhaps we might see a pivot in this direction in the coming weeks.  Surely there’s plenty of work to be done on this front.   [Read more…]

Baja Justice at the Borderline

by

By Bob Dorn

This week, my best friend and wife and I– the two of us– spent 48 hours on a quick trip to Baja; three of those were spent in line waiting to get back into the U.S.

It was 7:30 a.m. when we had finished looping around the center of TJ and entered the river bed east of the center. We didn’t know at this point that we’d followed “San Diego” signs until they’d disappeared. We were left to ourselves to learn that the left lane would turn into a Left Turn Only lane, withdrawing us from our salvation and guarantor of freedom, the U.S.   [Read more…]

White House Closes Inquiry Into Afghan Massacre – and Will Release No Details

by

By Cora Currier / ProPublica

Soon after taking office, President Obama pledged to open a new inquiry into the deaths of perhaps thousands of Taliban prisoners of war at the hands of U.S.-allied Afghan fighters in late 2001.

Last month, the White House told ProPublica it was still “looking into” the apparent massacre.
Now it says it has concluded its investigation – but won’t make it public.

The investigation found that no U.S. personnel were involved, said White House spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden. Other than that, she said, there is “no plan to release anything.”   [Read more…]

Tío Emilio and the Secrets of the Ancestors: Chapter 11 — Hoops

by

“Pablito’s a jerk and a loud mouth. He and Arturo take the stupidest risks. And too often we’re the ones who end up paying for their stupidity. I’m glad we have a chance to take a new direction, to do something different instead of hanging with them all the time.” Tony
By Richard Juarez

One immediate result of the sessions with Don Emilio was that no one in the family bugged me or gave me a hard time anymore. From sisters, to parents, to grandparents, no one asked what I was doing, or where I was going, or who I was going with. When I asked if I could go to the library after our session with Don Emilio last week, to do some research on a school paper, my mother surprised me with her response.

“You don’t have to ask if you can leave the house anymore,” she said. “I should keep you on restriction, but your father and I promised Tío Emilio that we would let him deal with you. So you are now off restriction and in his hands. Don’t go and blow this, and embarrass him and your Tata. Tata is the one who really wanted Tío Emilio to help you. I was opposed to this, but Tata insisted, and … well, he’s my father. So you don’t have to ask any more. But use your common sense, and let me know when you’ll be gone, so that I don’t have to worry about you.”   [Read more…]

Arkansas High School Arming Teachers With Guns

by

Editor’s Note:  AR State Attorney General shot this down.  No teachers with guns in the school.

TPM:  Arkansas Attorney General Won’t Let School Arm Teachers

By Alex Kane / Alternet

Twenty teachers, administrators and staff are using an Arkansas law to arm themselves while working at Clarksville High School.

A high school in Arkansas has decided that the best way to confront gun violence is to arm teachers and administrators with guns. The Associated Press reports that 20 teachers, administrators and staff are using an Arkansas law in order to arm themselves while working at Clarksville High School–the first time a school district in the state has armed teachers.

The law in Arkansas allows licensed, armed guards in schools. After going through over 50 hours of training, teachers and administrators will be considered guards.   [Read more…]

If Republicans Love Competition, Why Do They Still Hate Obamacare?

by

By Joe Conason / Alternet

When asked what makes the world work, any self-respecting right-wing Republican knows the politically correct answer: competition! (With at least one exclamation point.) It is the paramount principle and universal solvent perennially touted by the right to cure whatever ails us—in the abstract.

What they don’t seem to like so much, in reality, is the competitive impact of the Affordable Care Act, which is forcing health insurance companies into a contested marketplace—and seems to be driving down rates, state by state. The latest data arrived this week from New York, where insurance regulators announced that the new rates approved for 2014 will be 50 percent lower, on average, than current rates.
  [Read more…]

Our Promising Bicycling Future in San Diego

by

Don’t Miss
CicloSDias
August 11th

By Andy Hanshaw 

Ciclovía – a familiar term to any bicycling enthusiast, where popular roads turn car-less for people to play and literally rediscover their streets.

These open-street celebrations have trademarked bike-friendly cities around the world since the first Ciclovía was hosted in Bogotá, Colombia, in 1976, when the town closed one road to all cars and opened them for pedestrian use. Since then, the trend of people enjoying their streets without the stress of car traffic has made its way around the globe and into major cities where residents embrace these opportunities – in Bogotá, the Ciclovía still remains a city tradition every Sunday.

Since its conception in the late 70s, Ciclovías have swept the world, taking over main cities in Australia, New Zealand, Peru, Argentina, Canada and now, the United States is pedaling along. Turnout for Los Angeles’ “CicLAvia” has been recorded at 180,000 people, while San Francisco and Portland regularly draw 30,000-40,000 with their “Sunday Streets” and “Sunday Parkways.”.

We are finally getting in on the action, announcing San Diego’s first open streets celebration in history.   [Read more…]

Real Journalists vs Real Journalism And Why it’s Important in San Diego

by

By Doug Porter

The Senate Judiciary Committee agreed yesterday to consider legislation sponsored by Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. offering some protections to journalists from government demands for identification of sources used in news accounts.

What the committee could not agree on was what exactly defines a journalist.  Schumer’s proposal has a definition spanning four pages and defining reporters as persons “with the primary intent to investigate events and procure material in order to disseminate to the public news or information concerning local, national or international events or other matters of public interest,” collecting information by conducting interviews and directly observing events, and having the intent of gathering news.

As we’ve seen time and time again -from the New York Times’ complicity in the propaganda campaign in the run up to the invasion of Iraq to the campaign to recall the current Mayor of San Diego- the symbiotic relationships between ‘professional’ news organizations and the institutions they report on can and does cause a lot of ‘not really reporting’ to go on.

It’s all about “everybody knows”.   [Read more…]

About That Recall Filner Idea…

by

By Jay Powell

Like a lot of people who strongly support the “neighborhoods first” policy commitment set forth by Mayor Bob Filner I have been on the revoltin’ remain-recall-resign roller coaster oscillating between disgust, disappointment, despair, dedication and determination regarding the daily drumbeat of “revelations” and political attacks on Bob Filner.

I am particularly wary of the recall option when I recollect two recalls that have affected San Diego within the last recent decades– a city councilmember in 1991 and, of course our Governor in 2003.

In each of these elections, the incumbent was voted out and the winner received less than a 50% plus one of the votes cast. Schwarzenegger (who incidentally was plagued by accusations of inappropriate behavior towards women in the final run up to election day) got almost 49%. Tom Behr won the Fifth District City Council seat with barely 25% of the votes cast. Done deal. No run off.

The main distinguishing and disturbing feature of a recall “election” is that the highest vote getter of the free-for-all alternative candidates listed after the yes or no on recall vote, wins it all.   [Read more…]

©2010-2017 SanDiegoFreePress.org

Code is Poetry