San Diego Free Press

Grassroots News & Progressive Views

Don’t Believe the Hype: The Gender Gap Still Heavily Favors Obama

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By Lynn Stuart Parramore / Alternet / Nov. 1, 2012

A flurry of recent headlines have encouraged us to believe that Mitt Romney is closing the gap with women — particularly in swing states. Is it true? Or is it just last- minute election spin?

Looks like spin. As I mentioned last week, the signs have been pointing for some time to an unusually large gender gap in this election cycle. The New York Times’ Nate Silver published his analysis of the major polls less than two weeks ago and found that we’re talking “near historic highs.” If women alone were deciding, he concluded, it would be obvious who would be occupying the White House, and his name isn’t Mitt. Silver’s research found a gender gap of 18 percent between men and women voters likely in the presidential election.   [Read more…]

Why Election Day Marks the Beginning of the End of Marijuana Prohibition

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By Paul Armentano / Alternet / Nov. 2, 2012

With just days to go before Election Day, voters in two states – Colorado and Washington – are poised to make history.

In Colorado, voters will decide on Amendment 64, a Constitutional amendment that allows for those age 21 or older to legally possess up to one ounce of cannabis and cultivate up to six cannabis plants in the privacy of their home. … In Washington, voters will decide on I-502, a statewide ballot measure that enacts regulations regarding the state-licensed production and sale of marijuana for adults.

The passage of one or both of these statewide measures this Tuesday will be both historic and game-changing. Here’s why.   [Read more…]

Will Superstorm Sandy Keep People From Voting?

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By Steven Rosenfeld / Alternet / Nov. 2, 2012

New Jersey will offer more options, including voting this weekend. New York looks at new polling sites.

Despite power outages and storm damage from Hurricane Sandy, early voting in 2012’s presidential election will continue this weekend in hard-hit states—with New Jersey and Virgina extending hours—and continue on Tuesday, November 6, according to state and county election officials contacted Friday.

“Election Day is Tuesday. There’s nothing that can be done about that,” Tom Connelly, New York State Board of Elections Deputy Director of Public Information, said, noting that the date of every presidential election is fixed by the U.S. Constitution.   [Read more…]

Do I Want to Talk to President Obama?

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On October 26, I received an invitation to talk to President Obama online with many of his other supporters. At first I thought it was a joke, because my donations to his campaign were small – really small – but when I questioned the email I was told that he wanted to “talk” to his “grassroots” supporters and tell them how happy he is with the work we are doing. So I responded affirmatively to the request.   [Read more…]

The Dove and the Cockerel, Part II: Chapter 8

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Under any circumstance, an evening spent in County Jail’s felony holding tank could never be considered pleasant, regardless of social standing on the outside. Such was the situation of the soon-to-be-former law student Clarence Edward Taylor, Jr., after Pete Castillo had discarded him there several hours earlier.

He was given a pair of saggy jockey shorts, a matching set of loose fitting navy blue pants and shirt and a used pair of flip-flops. The pants had a small drawstring which barely held them on his waist, and the shirt, a pull-over, was emblazoned in white letters across the back bearing COUNTY JAIL — the name of his new home.

For some reason, the Jail staff had forgotten his one telephone call.   [Read more…]

The Starting Line—Will It Ever End? Election Night Could Turn Into Election Week

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The Associated Press is up with a story this morning warning that vote tallies next Tuesday could turn into multi-day events.  Pointing out that the number of California voters casting mail-in ballots this year is expected to surpass 2008, with several statewide contests polling at dead even, the story says final results could take days to tabulate.

Voting officials have distributed 8.9 million mail-in ballots this election cycle, about 20 percent more than were requested in 2008, when about 42% of the 13.7 million ballots cast in the presidential election were sent by mail.  In the 2000 election, only 25% of the electorate voted by mail.

The bottleneck in the counting process is attributed to the number of ballots that are being dropped off on Election Day.  California Secretary of State Debra Bowen is quoted as saying dropped off ballots don’t even start to be processed until 8 p.m.  In 2008, 3.2 million ballots– a quarter of the total vote count– didn’t make the tally on election night.

Inside…Glen Beck at UT-San Diego, Gloria vs. DeMaio, and more…

  [Read more…]

Put the “Public” Back in Public Transportation

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Sustainability 101: Put the Public Back in Public Transportation – Part 1

By Terrie Leigh Relf Reprinted from the OB Rag

With this first introductory segment on public transportation, I wanted to raise just a few points. The next segment will feature a few anecdotes I’ve been collecting. I hope that you, dear reader, will also chime in so I can include your experiences as well.

For those of you who know me, I don’t drive, and have never had a license. I am therefore dependent upon my feet, public transportation, and the goodness of others to get where I need to go. Since I live in OB, I can walk most places, but when I leave this walker’s paradise, I mostly rely on the bus and trolley.

Other riders have their reasons for using public transportation, such as the following:

  • Limited parking where they work or attend school
  • The cost of parking garages and lots

  [Read more…]

The Educated Voter – San Diego School Board Races

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This is Part One of series on ballot choices in San Diego that relate to our schools.

There’s been a war going on over San Diego Unified’s Board of trustees for a long time now, and this year’s races for school board are just the latest skirmish.

There are two contests for seats on the San Diego Unified School Board and they’re both important.  Politicians (of all stripes) are prone to saying “it’s about the children” whenever they talk about education, but the fact is there are many other issues at play. Candidates for our local top spot all have preened before the cameras touting their education platforms, when the reality is that the School District is financially and politically independent of the City Government.

The Mayor and the City Council can’t actually do squat about what’s going on with schools.  Change, when and if it comes to local schools, is through the Board of Trustees, popularly known as the school board.   [Read more…]

Ryan Invites Feminist to Phone for Romney — Oops!

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by Kit-Bacon Gressitt

Last Tuesday, one day after the worst of Hurricane Sandy and one week before Election Day, I received an email from Republican VP candidate Rep. Paul Ryan, inviting me to phone bank for the Romney-Ryan ticket.

Me! The feminist who “won’t vote for Romney or anyone who embraces a fundamentalist interpretation of women’s rights and roles.” A liberal woman phone banking for Romney? Not!

After returning my bottom jaw to a respectable distance from the upper, I enjoyed a moment of wonderment at the thought that the Romney-Ryan campaign might be naïve enough to assume every person who signs up for their campaign emails is a supporter.   [Read more…]

New Poll: Filner Ahead by 7 Points Over DeMaio

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A brand new poll by Pharos Research Group just out shows Congressman Bob Filner ahead of Councilman Carl DeMaio by 7 points.

According to the polling, 47.5% of likely voters in San Diego would vote for Filner and 40.7% are for DeMaio, with 11.9% undecided.

There was also good news for Filner in the polling of favorable / unfavorable numbers. His favorable/unfavorables have improved from a week ago. His numbers come in at48.85/51.55 compared to 42.51/57.49, a week ago. Councilman DeMaio’s numbers come in at 35.31/64.69 compared to 37.75/62.25, a week ago.   [Read more…]

La Mesa Mayor Declares City “Fair Trade Town” – Bypassing Council

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From East County Magazine / Oct. 31, 2012

Last year, La Mesa Council voted 3 to 2 against declaring La Mesa a “Fair Trade Town.” But on October 12, Mayor Art Madrid signed a commendation letter posted on the Fair Trade La Mesa website and urged the national Fair Trade Towns USA group to grant the designation to La Mesa.

At the Fair Trade Towns and Universities Conference in Chicago in late October, La Mesa Fair Trade steering committee co-chairs Nancy Ryan and Anne Pacheco “were given the long awaited certificate declaring La Mesa a Fair Trade town,” the national group’s website states, adding, “Plans are in process for a formal presentation and celebration involving La Mesa residents and city officials.”

But now some opponents of the Fair Trade Town designation are questioning the appropriateness of the Mayor’s actions—and whether the rules were followed, or broken.   [Read more…]

The Starting Line – Clinton Gives Thumbs Up As Poll Puts Filner in Front

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Congressman Bob Filner used the final debate of the 2012 Mayoral campaign to announce an endorsement by former President Bill Clinton. The face off at the local Fox affiliate was the last of twenty nine joint appearances by Congressman Filner and City Councilman DeMaio. SD Free Press blogger Andy Cohen was there, and I’m assuming he’ll weigh in with more coverage.

Meanwhile, a poll by the Pharos Research Group shows Congressman Bob Filner leading by seven points in San Diego’s hotly contested race for mayor. An analysis of the results says that 708 likely voters answered a live call (meaning that it wasn’t a robo-poll) from October 19 to October 21; 52% of the respondents were men and party identifications closely mirrored that of the city’s electorate.

The survey indicated that 47.46% indicated a preference for Filner, while 40.68% preferred City Councilman Carl DeMaio.   [Read more…]

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