San Diego Free Press

Grassroots News & Progressive Views

Homelessness: The Children of Hawaii Sing

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Would you appreciate the opportunity to be inspired? Do yourself a favor and watch this video, Dream What Could Be Done, sung by children of Lanai High and Elementary School (LHES) Fifth Grade Class of 2020 under the direction of Matt Glickstein, educational assistant for the Department of Education, State of Hawaii:

(Go inside for the video.) Some of the children share their thoughts on homelessness.

“There’s always something you can do.” – KA

“If homeless people have no homes, we will build a home for them. We will help the kids get an education. We will help the adults to get jobs so they can make money.” – KK   [Read more…]

A Poem: Betrayals

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By Shadab Zeest Hashmi

Betrayals

Who stepped on my wings
my tea-stained
dog-eared wings
when I was climbing up the library ladder? …
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The Path To Political Power in District 9 – The City Heights Vote

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An ongoing conversation about voter eligibility, voter registration, voter turnout and fistfuls of dollars

“…a key characteristic of a democracy is the continued responsiveness of the government to the preferences of its citizens, considered as political equals. …In a political system where nearly every adult may vote but where knowledge, wealth, social position, access to officials, and other resources are unequally distributed, who actually governs?” Robert Dahl

Will the establishment of the new ninth district translate into a greater voice in civic affairs and political power for the minority populations who reside in the district? Will City Heights be ground zero for addressing the enormous gap between race and political power? I don’t think any of us living here think the path to democratic governance, and that’s what we are really talking about, will be an easy one.   [Read more…]

La Raza Unida Party’s National Convention 40 Years Later: Time for a Third U.S. Political Party?

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By Herman Baca / August 29, 2012 / Committee on Chicano Rights (CCR)

Forty years ago on Labor Day weekend (Sept 1-5, 1972), two months before the Richard Nixon/George McGovern presidential election, a call was issued by Reyes Lopez Tijerina, Rodolfo “Corky” Gonzales, and Jose Angel Gutierrez, for a national convention in El Paso, Texas. The purpose; to create a national political party for Chicanos… La Raza Unida Party (LRUP).

Numerous individuals from San Diego joined thousands of others from thru-out the U.S. to journey to El Paso to attend and partake in the convention. At that time Chicano movement activists perceived the convention as being the most important political event to be ever be organized by Chicanos in the history of the U.S. Over 3,000 Chicanos from 18 states, the majority from the Southwest, but some as far away as Washington, D.C., Maryland, Rhode Island, Minnesota, Illinois, Wisconsin and Nebraska convened at the historic national convention to discuss strategy and policy to create the new national Chicano political party.   [Read more…]

Prop 36: Amending California’s “Three Strikes” Law

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Adjusting sentencing guidelines under three strikes will help alleviate prison overcrowding and help California’s budget.

In 1994, California voters approved a law that was rather revolutionary in its time……as Californians are wont to do. We’re trendsetters in that way. The purpose of the “three strikes” law was a noble one: Deter violent crime—particularly from repeat offenders—by making each subsequent conviction even more costly.

According to the California Legislative Analyst’s Office, under the original 1994 law, a felon with two prior serious or violent convictions who is subsequently convicted of a third—his or her “third strike”—would be subject to a mandatory sentence of 25 years to life imprisonment. Even a second strike conviction would carry a sentence that is double the term that would otherwise be required by law.   [Read more…]

The Starting Line – Grand Opening Set for San Diego’s Public Market; Last County Pot Shop Shuttered

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San Diego’s Public Market is now slated to open for business at 1735 National Ave on Wednesday, September 12th ,when the first local farmers open up their stalls at 9am. Work on the property is in full swing, and the permits needed to operate are reportedly moving through the city’s bureaucracy. The farmers’ market will run from9 a.m. until2 p.m. each Sunday and Wednesday thereafter. Other parts of the market will be phased in over the coming months.

Operators Dale Steele and Catt White are ultimately seeking to convert the two acres of industrial space into an open bazaar inspired by such celebrated marketplaces as Barcelona’s La Boqueria, and Pike’s Place in Seattle. Independent vendors selling fresh produce, artisan foods, locally-crafted goods and more are expected to set up shop.
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Romney to hurricane victims: Bootstrap it, call 211

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By Kit-Bacon Gressitt / Excuse Me, I’m Writing

Following his lackluster speech at the Republican National Convention in Florida last week, GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney reportedly went off script Friday to make what appeared to be a well-scripted campaign stop in the Hurricane Isaac-flooded town of Jean Lafitte in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana.

Some news media outlets suggested the trip was an opportunity for Romney to appear presidential while comforting flood victims and praising emergency responders, but an unnamed campaign advisor contradicted that interpretation.   [Read more…]

Reader’s Response: Living Artists, Zombie Redevelopment, Community Pushback

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Editor: This is a Reader’s Response to Jim Bliesner’s article, “Whatever Happened to Downtown Artists? The Experiences of Three Creative Souls Who Survived .

By Remigia Bermúdez

I take my hat off to Jim Bliesner for all that he has done and continues to do for humanity, including but not limited to, the Arts (locally and globally), job creation, non-profits creation, financial institutions’ re-investments into our communities, higher level educational institutions and a host of other avaunt-guard ideas and ideologies that enhance our livelihoods in the San Diego-Baja California transnational region.   [Read more…]

What Republicans Don’t Want You To Know About Medicare

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According to Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan, President Obama is taking $716 billion away from Medicare and giving it to Obamacare. No he’s not. We attempt to set the record straight. The crux of the matter has to do with what’s called Medicare Advantage which is a privatized version of Medicare. Neither side will use the word privatization, but in a nutshell that’s what this issue is all about. That $716 billion represents a pushback by the Obama administration against the forces of privatization which have been at work against government run Medicare for years.

In 1997 our old friend, Newt Gingrich, established the privatization camel’s nose under the tent of traditional Medicare with the Balanced Budget Act which included a provision for something called  Medicare+Choice, the precursor to Medicare Advantage. This act let private health care companies compete with traditional government run Medicare. This was step 1 in the privatization of Medicare.

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Is This California’s Last Labor Day?

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Alternet / By Brigid O’Farrell

Attacks on hard-working people are nothing new in America. Sixty-five years ago, Eleanor Roosevelt, first lady and architect of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, wrote these words : “Labor Day this year is not a day for rejoicing for the labor groups, or for those who are interested in good labor conditions throughout the nation.” In 1947 she was worried about the Taft-Hartley Act, which was the first major legislation to weaken unions since the New Deal. The rights of the people who drive the economy and form the backbone of the country were under siege.

How true her words ring today. And nowhere are they truer than in California.
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The Starting Line – Looking Forward to the Democratic and Backwards at the Republican Convention

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Well here we are. August is behind us, the Republicans have had their Convention and the Democrats are getting ready to put their show on in Charlotte over the course of this week.  Today, we’ll recap the GOP’s moments of glory/shame/ennui and preview the Dems’ coming convo and its likely movements of glory/shame/ennui.

Political conventions have morphed over the years from wildly unpredictable and chaotic drinking binges into highly scripted and predictable drinking binges. Much of the public is bored with the process, as steadily declining ratings on broadcast/cable and an ever-shrinking window of prime time coverage will attest. The quadrennial gatherings have much more to do with firing up the faithful (and the financial moguls who seek to gain influence) than actually winning over the undecided or unmotivated masses.

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Election Coverage in the San Diego Free Press starts officially today. Check in daily for more coverage, plus you can subscribe to our coverage and get articles sent directly to your inbox. And we’ll publish at least one (maybe more) voter’s guides, with links to everything, and a handy-dandy cheat sheet.  Be sure to read the comments after each story, as our readers have lots of good stuff to say, even when they are wrong…
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No More ‘Wisconsin’ in the West: Why We Must Defeat Proposition 32

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 It’s Citizens United on Steroids, a Bill of Rights for Billionaires

Last week, I addressed how the Governor’s tax measure was needed to stop the cuts to education and vital public services.  The passage of Proposition 30 would indeed help California begin to turn the corner and finally stop the hemorrhaging of our education system.  But where the passage of Proposition 30 would bring hope, the passage of Proposition 32, on the other hand, would kill it.

Proposition 32, the Special Exemptions Act, is a corporate power grab that would totally eliminate unions’ ability to take part in politics while leaving the rich, corporate special interests, and Super PACs untouched.  It is Citizens United on Steroids, a Bill of Rights for Billionaires that would permanently eliminate working peoples’ voices from California politics.  At present, corporate interests already outspend unions by nearly 15-1.  What Proposition 32 would do is transform the political contest in California, where the privileged are already playing with a stacked deck, into a hopelessly rigged game.   [Read more…]

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