San Diego Free Press

Grassroots News & Progressive Views

Spanking in the Name of the Lord

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When Children are Maltreated by Religious Groups

By Dave Rice

Child sexual abuse cases in the Catholic Church have repeatedly rocked the nation for more than a decade now, and in 2010 spread locally to reach the San Diego Diocese. The so-called “Satanic Panic” of the 1980s and early ‘90s brought the prospect of harm to children through mysterious and violent rituals to the forefront of the nation’s attention (though such focus turned out to be largely overblown), while periodically stories reach the news involving the tragic death of a child raised by a family of religious separatists. Incidents such as the aforementioned remind us that institutions of faith are capable of inspiring misplaced trust that can bring harm to the most vulnerable amongst us: our children.

These stories, however, just scratch the surface of a more widespread problem concerning the mistreatment of children in the name of religion, says Janet Heimlich, author of Breaking Their Will: Shedding Light on Religious Child Maltreatment.   [Read more…]

The Starting Line – University of California Hospital Strike Looks Like a Reality

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By Doug Porter

More than 2,000 hospital workers at UC San Diego are planning on staying home from work for a couple of days (May 21 & 22) this week. Vocational nurses, respiratory therapists, pharmacy technicians, bus drivers and custodians will go on strike Tuesday following nearly a year of failed negotiations. Their last contract expired in September.

Depending on who’s talking, the 30,000 workers at five University of California health centers are about to walk off the job (or honor the picket lines of those who do strike) are motivated by demands that the UC Medical System stop prioritizing profit over quality patient care OR a refusal by the union to agree to UC’s pension reforms.

The pending strike is NOT just about higher pay, as is being reported in the mass media. Demands by management that workers increase their contribution to pensions funds have been countered by the union’s complaints about soaring executive compensation in the UC system.   [Read more…]

The “Self Appointed Mayor of Golden Hill” Holds Court in the Big Kitchen

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By Jim Miller and Kelly Mayhew

Judy Forman is a Golden Hill institution. Her restaurant, the Big Kitchen Café, has served as a center of community life and activism for many years. Indeed, it’s hard to imagine the neighborhood without her or her place. I first went to the Big Kitchen myself in the eighties when I met with folks involved in the protest movement against Reagan Administration policies in El Salvador and Nicaragua.

More recently, Judy helped Kelly and me out by playing the role of Emma Goldman in the 100-year Anniversary of the San Diego Free Speech Fight when local labor and Occupy folks took over the intersection of 5th and E downtown. Over the years Forman has been active in LGBT politics, helped out with fundraisers for the Center on Policy Initiative’s Students for Economic Justice Internship program, started the New Play Café (a company devoted to helping playwrights develop their work), and offered up her “kitchen,” as she likes to say, to far too many people to name here.

Thus, to make a long story short, Forman has had her hand in much local activism over the past thirty some odd years and the Big Kitchen has always been one of the progressive hubs of San Diego and the heart of the neighborhood. It was our pleasure to interview her for this Golden Hill series.   [Read more…]

Big Food, Big Heart: The Big Kitchen

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The Big Kitchen Café
3003 Grape St.
San Diego, CA 92102
(619) 234-5789
Web: http://bigkitchencafe.com/

Review by Emma Goldman

“Kindness Matters.” The sign tacked above the doorframe leading into the kitchen caught my eye as my 9 year-old and I took a seat at the horseshoe shaped counter that hunkers down in the center of the main dining room of the Big Kitchen Café, a Greater Golden Hill/South Park institution.

As we waited for one of the bevy of young servers to come get our order, we couldn’t keep from scanning the heavily festooned walls—customers’ family photos, progressive bumper stickers, band flyers, necklaces, cartoons, feathers, pastel teapots, mandalas, salt and pepper shakers in funny shapes, kids’ art, magazine covers touting the restaurant, plaques of appreciation, etc.

There is no other place in San Diego like the Big Kitchen, a community center and diner that has anchored Greater Golden Hill since the early-‘70s. And at its helm, of course, is its warm and irrepressible owner, Judy “the Beauty on Duty” Forman, who is the very soul of kindness.   [Read more…]

Readers Write: We Need Your Support! No-cost Bus Passes Are An Investment in the Future

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By Angeli Hernandez

I decided to embark on this campaign because as a young woman, I have seen first-hand the dangers that shadow City Heights residents.

My name is Angeli Hernandez, and I live in City Heights. The Youth Opportunity Pass is a no-cost bus pass for young people. Just as the name says, this pass is a tool that opens up opportunities for youth. Many young people, including myself, have to go to their jobs or internships and school.

The lack of money in our families leaves us with no other alternative other than walking or biking, instead of taking public transportation. In an ideal world, walking and biking to work and school wouldn’t be an issue, but dangers lurk on those paths and roads.   [Read more…]

Restaurant Review: Giorgino’s

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By Judi Curry

Giorgino’s
1237 28th Street
San Diego, CA 92102
619-234-9141

Giorgino’s is run by three brothers – Mario – who has owned the restaurant for 6 years; Giovanni and Gabriel. In addition, friends and other relatives work there at various times during the week, and it is a truly family run business. Unfortunately, Mario was not there this evening.

The menu is very extensive. They boast of the “Best Cheesesteaks in Town” and they feature Amoroso Rolls – so soft an succulent they melt in your mouth; Dietz and Watson Meats and Cheeses, along with John Taylor’s Pork Roll and Wise Chips and Tastybakes. They also have beer on tap. Because there are so many items on the menu, I would like to mention only a few besides those listed above, there are hot sandwiches, pork rolls, cold sandwiches, wings, tenders, burgers and dogs with salads, antipasto, pasta dishes, and desserts. They also do catering.   [Read more…]

Those Uninvited Guests at Your Barbecue

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With most samples of several common store-bought meats testing positive for antibiotic-resistant “superbugs,” factory farming practices must change.

By  / OtherWords

Planning a Memorial Day barbecue? When you buy meat for that festive meal, watch out for some uninvited guests. An alarming amount of American meat harbors not just pathogens, but “superbugs” — antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

For now, you’d better cook your meat well enough to kill the germs (165F is the magic temperature), but there might be hope for safer alternatives in the future. Consumer advocates and lawmakers are trying to push changes that make these superbugs a thing of the past. That’s never been so important because industrialized agriculture delivers efficiency, productivity, and profit at the expense of food safety.   [Read more…]

Heroes and Villains: Does US Foreign Policy Understand the Difference?

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By Joseph Howard Crews

For 60 years the most celebrated and revered African in history was listed as a terrorist threat to the people of the United States. Who decided this? Why did Americans allow this, and what does it say about what we are?

In 2008, former South African President Nelson Mandela was finally removed from the U.S. terrorism watch list. Mandela and other members of the African National Congress had been placed on the list because of their fight against South Africa’s apartheid regime — a system of legalized racial segregation enforced by the country’s National Party between 1948 and 1994.

Yet it was just days ago that former dictator Efraín Ríos Montt — a man once lauded by President Ronald Reagan — was convicted of genocide after a Guatemalan court found him guilty for his role in the slaughter of 1,771 Mayan Ixils in the 1980s. In fact, a total of 200,000 Guatemalans were killed or “disappeared” during the conflict, making it one of Latin America’s most violent wars in modern history.   [Read more…]

The IRS War on Medical Marijuana Providers

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By Clarence Walker / StoptheDrugWar.org

Dispensaries providing marijuana to doctor-approved patients operate in a number of states, but they are under assault by the federal government. SWAT-style raids by the DEA and finger-wagging press conferences by grim-faced federal prosecutors may garner greater attention, but the assault on medical marijuana providers extends to other branches of the government as well, and moves by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to eliminate dispensaries’ ability to take standard business deduction are another very painful arrow in the federal quiver.

The IRS employs Section 280E, a 1982 addition to the tax code that was a response to a drug dealer’s successful effort to claim his yacht, weapons purchases, and even illicit bribes as business expenses. Under 280E, individuals involved in the illicit sale of controlled substances — including marijuana, even medical marijuana in states where it is legal — cannot claim standard business expenses on their federal taxes.   [Read more…]

4 Inhumane Realities about the Guantanamo Hunger Strike

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By Steven Hsieh / Alternet

Friday [marked] 100 days since the beginning of the hunger strike at Guantanamo Bay that has recaptured international attention on the offshore prison President Obama promised to close when seeking office five years ago.

As of Thursday, military officials say that 102 out of 166 detainees are participating in the strike. Lawyers say that number is closer to 130.

Since the hunger strike began 100 days ago, international groups including the European Parliament, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, and several nations with detainees at GITMO have stepped up pressure on the Obama administration to release detainees or close the prison altogether.

As the strike continues past its 100th day, here are four of the most disturbing facts about the situation at Guantanamo.   [Read more…]

Bicycle Weekend – A Summary of Great Cycling Activities for this weekend

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By John P. Anderson

Today, Friday May 17, is Bike to Work Day and there are pit stops all over the county for cyclists to stop, enjoy a bite to eat, meet some fellow riders, and generally start the day on a good foot.  I enjoyed the morning at the 30th Street & Upas Street corner with fresh coffee and pastries and some conversation with neighbors.

If you weren’t able to join the festivities today (or did but want to keep the party going) there are a number of great cycling activities going on this weekend.

Sunday, May 19

Bike Local Sundays – South Park – All Day

The second edition of this program from the San Diego County Bicycle Coalition rolls into action on Sunday in South Park.  The Bike Local Sundays program is held in a different neighborhood every third Sunday of the month and South Park follows the Hillcrest debut in April.  Per the SDCBC:

“Bike Local Sundays started with a goal to get more people riding bikes to support business in San Diego. Trends show that more people riding bikes versus driving improves community health, air quality and traffic congestion, as well as boosts business by relieving residents of the costs of owning and operating a vehicle, transferring those savings to the local economy.”   [Read more…]

Desde la Logan: The Ice Cream Man Cometh to Barrio Logan

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Family Owned Tocumbo Ice Cream Opens at Mercado del Barrio

By Brent E. Beltrán

Monday, May 13 was a beautiful, hot day in San Diego. Temperatures broke records throughout the county. But in my community of Barrio Logan things were a lot nicer because Tocumbo Ice Cream opened shop. And neighborhood residents flocked to get their cool ice cream fix.

On May 4, as I was walking to a few community events here in Barrio Logan, I was handed a flyer announcing the opening on May 13. Not only did the flyer announce their opening it also offered a free scoop! Happy happy! Joy joy! The opening was around the corner and I was gonna get a free scoop too!

Tocumbo Ice Cream was founded in 2004 by the Ramirez family which includes patriarch Gerardo Ramirez — who works between 80-100 hours a week doing what he loves, his wife Martha and children Omar, Kelly and Crystal. Grandson Junior also helps out as well as do other family members.   [Read more…]

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