San Diego Free Press

Grassroots News & Progressive Views

Former ATF Agent Talks Straw Purchasers, Background Checks and the NRA’s Relentless Attacks on Gun Laws

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by Kimberley Beatty

Starting in 1990, I was a federal agent with both the DEA and ATF. My first assignment was with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco & Firearms at their Richmond, Virginia office. At that time Virginia was a major source for illegal gun trafficking to urban centers in the eastern United States.

Over an 18 month period, 1,627 guns were obtained from crime scenes in New York. 41% of those guns had been purchased in Virginia and 10% of those guns were traced to 1 store in Richmond, called the Virginia Police Equipment Co. That gun shop was not far from the federal building where I worked.

Weak federal gun laws permitted out-of-state criminals to purchase large quantities of weapons from gun stores by using straw purchasers. The straw purchasers were often drug addicts needing money to fuel their habit or a poor single mom. When confronted by law enforcement the straw purchaser would first claim their cache of guns had been stolen and then admit to buying them for out-of-state drug dealers, gunrunners and other criminals, often known only by first names.   [Read more…]

Gay Sex Remains Illegal in the Great State of Kansas

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In my home state of Kansas Republican Governor Sam Brownback created the Office of the Repealer in January 2011. Governor Brownback is a proponent of smaller government so to reduce the size of state government he created a new state office by executive order.

The Office of the Repealer accepts suggestions for statutes, regulations, and executive orders that should be repealed, reviews these suggestions, and then submits recommendations for repeal to the Governor. The Governor may then repeal executive orders or propose repeal of statutes or regulations to the state legislature.

In 2011 the Office of the Repealer received 506 suggestions via its website, and also conducted 26 meetings in 24 cities around the state to solicit input. These meetings were attended by more than 250 people. In January 2012 the Office recommended 51 statutes for repeal of 181 suggested. Not included among those statutes chosen for repeal was Kansas Statute 21-5504(a)(1) which makes gay sex a crime.   [Read more…]

Filner Presents Counteroffer to TMD Board

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Update: TMD Board rejects Filner’s offer

San Diego Mayor Bob Filner has presented a modified proposal to the Tourism and Marketing District board that he says would release the disputed funds earmarked for advertising immediately.

The counteroffer was presented to the TMD last week. The board was scheduled to discuss it in a closed door meeting today, but given the pending lawsuit the group filed against the mayor it is unlikely that any movement will be made toward resolving the dispute.

“I am negotiating in full faith here,” said Filner, noting that he has not heard any feedback from TMD executives.

According to a UT-San Diego report, one member of the TMD board has said that he doesn’t trust the mayor and would not support the new proposal.   [Read more…]

The Starting Line – Saving the Grand Old Party: They Got One Part (Old) Right

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The long awaited post election analysis and plan of action for the Republican Party was released in Washington this morning. While there are reportedly 219 recommendations, we’ll give you the short version inside because it’s like watching a train wreck and you can’t look away.

Whether it was the young man suggesting slaves benefited from being given “food and shelter” at a session on race consciousness, or the rantings of the National Rifle Association Wayne La Pierre, there was plenty of wingnuttia on display as the shock troops of right huddled and muddled. Of course then there was Sarah Palin doing her ‘Statute of Liberty’ pose with a Big Gulp as a stand up for freedom moment.

  [Read more…]

Should We Be Outsourcing Public Higher Education in California?

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Suggesting we drop existing standards for the wild west of market based online education will do for education what deregulation did for banks and the stock market.  

Last week State Senator Darrell Steinberg proposed what he thinks of as a bold new way to reshape higher education in California and to deal with the bottleneck of students who have trouble getting into “gateway” classes in our community colleges and universities.  What is Steinberg’s answer to our access ills?  Sadly, it is outsourcing higher education to the corporate interests who have long been aggressively lobbying to get a piece of the publically funded pie that is California’s public education system.   [Read more…]

How Hospitals Mark Up the Cost of Over-the-Counter Supplies Like Aspirin and Q-tips as Much as 1000%

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Chargemaster: Hospitals’ Killer App for Sucking Your Financial Blood Dry – Part 3

Hospitals charge their customers … er, patients, through the nose for simple products which anyone can purchase at WalMart for a fraction of the amount. In Part 1and Part 2 we detailed the ridiculous prices hospitals routinely charge their patients – like several thousand dollars a day – just for a room. In this installment we will go over the markups on products that are added on to patients’ bills.

Suffice it to say that for anything consumable, there will be a Chargemaster billing item. The Chargemaster is the giant computer file that lists the charge for every possible medical service and supply that a hospital provides. Nothing is “included.” Everything is billed out separately, ala carte.   [Read more…]

People’s Power Assembly Convenes in San Diego to Fight Police Brutality and Killings

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By Carl Muhammad

San Diego — “When we fight for justice and we want something that represents our struggle and actually represents the community to monitor the police, what do we get? Bureaucratic positions that are made, and they don’t represent our interests, do they?” Larry Hales, a national organizer for People’s Power Assemblies, asked the crowd. “No!” they responded.

“You see, we have to fight for real representation and the representation is us. And that is what we mean by ‘People’s Power Assembly.’”
  [Read more…]

Filner Joins Rally to Combat Climate Change

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Mayor Bob Filner joined Vibrant San Diego activists this morning at a rally in front of the Walgreen’s on 32nd Street and University Avenue in North Park to promote a more bikeable, walkable San Diego.

Nearly 100 San Diego residents—many of them on bicycles—gathered to promote a cleaner, healthier environment and to encourage more people to use public transportation options. The group marched down University to the Albertson’s on Mississippi St. to end the rally.   [Read more…]

The Dove and the Cockerel: Part V, Chapter 27

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Joaquin watched with annoyance as two United States Immigration and Naturalization Service vans pulled in front of the restaurant and stopped. The van disgorged agents in their dark green uniforms and they began herding the workers to curbside to check for green cards.

“Hey, Pablo, you waiting for an invitation or what?” asked the harsh voice with the southern twang from behind Joaquin. He ignored the voice; he had been rousted innumerable times, but was always released after he produced his green card.

“Hey…I’m talking to you,” said the voice, this time accompanied with the prod of a billy club in Joaquin’s back. Joaquin took a deep breath, checking his anger. He then stood and turned to face the agent.

“Lo siento, no hablo,” said Joaquin with a smirk. The young officer had a flat top haircut and far too many freckles to be taken seriously. His name tag read “Robert Pritchard.”

“That’s okay,” replied the cocky agent. “Yo hablo. Papeles, ahora.”

“Bueno, un momento,” smiled Joaquin as he reached for his wallet in his back pocket. The smile left his face when he suddenly realized he had left the wallet in his Bronco. The Bronco he had carefully parked four blocks away. This was not good.   [Read more…]

Meet the Candidates: The District 4 City Council Special Election

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 This ‘meaningless’ election could change the face of San Diego politics and community development for years to come.

Part One in this series on District 4 (here) presented (an all-too-small) slice of the history of the area with a general overview of the present-day political situation.

There are nine, count ‘em, nine candidates running for the City Council seat vacated by Tony Young at the end of 2012. A candidate must get more than 50% of the vote to win, and by all accounts that isn’t going to happen on March 26th. So there’ll be a run-off. The trick here will be picking the top two candidates.

Given that this ‘special election’ isn’t going to be ‘special’ enough to drive much of a voter turnout, any candidate could end up in the running. (We’ll tell you our predictions and predications in Part 3 of this series.)

What follows are thumbnail sketches in alphabetical order. Most of this is simply lifted from candidates’ web sites, whatever turned up on Google searches and whatever gossip we’re heard recently. Nine candidates! I’ll be lucky to spell everybody’s name right.   [Read more…]

North Park – Leading the Charge to Rid the Sidewalks of Ugly Electrical Boxes

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Utility Companies Not Cooperative with Community Groups

By Jim Bliesner 

Cheryl Dye, a North Park resident and business owner, President of the North Park Main Street and a member of the North Park Planning Committee presented a full blown summary of the problem of unsightly electrical boxes littering the streets of North park at a City Council Committee hearing on September 24, 2012.

According to her testimony the electrical boxes, put in place by SDGE, Cox Communication and ATT as an alternative to overhead wires, haven’t worked out very well:  “Our urban landscape is being blighted by unsightly utility equipment. The proliferation of this equipment is damaging neighborhood character, impeding walkability and reducing property values.”   [Read more…]

Restaurant Review: North Park’s Olympic Café

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Even though my birthday was two weeks ago, I am still celebrating that special day. This time Nancy and Stewart took me out for breakfast and what a wonderful experience we all had. We went to the “Olympic Café” on the corner of University and Texas Street. There is a nice size parking lot; easy access, particularly from Texas street, and a delightful restaurant.

We were met by “Rose” and she told us we could sit anywhere we wished. When we arrived there about 9:00am we were the only ones in the restaurant, but people kept coming in and eating while we were there.   [Read more…]

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