Month: August 2011

Saudi Arabia is a young country, being a little bit less than eighty years old. The ruling family (tribe – tribal affiliations are still reflected in the family names of Saudis), in the person of the first king, Abdulaziz Al-Saud, consolidated its power only in 1932. Oil was discovered soon after that and the accumulation of wealth which continues until today began, but as recently as 1960 most of Saudis were desert nomads. That heritage remains part of the identity of many of my students. They harken back to those days and proudly call themselves Bedouins, much as young men who grow up in the western states of America sometimes consider themselves to be cowboys. The grandparents of many of my students actually lived that life.

“Hey, honey! Want to go out to dinner tonight?” Put on your prettiest clothes; have your hair done, have a manicure and pedicure, and I’ll pick you up about 7:00pm.”

Don’t like that scenario? How about this one:

“Ah honey, I wanted to take you and the kids out to dinner at that new hot spot in town, but the McDonald’s is no longer there so we would have to buy the kids a full, expensive meal.”

By Lyneva Mottley

It’s hard to believe that it’s been 46 years since August 11, 1965, the day the Watts uprising began.

I’ll never forget the fear that I felt watching the chaos unfold. I was shocked but not surprised: you could feel the anger and frustration building up during that hot summer.

The booming California economy was providing little opportunity for people of color. Public policy was benefiting the already fortunate and was leaving behind those who were already disadvantaged. In California, as in the rest of the country, African American and Latino families were reaching a boiling point that could not be contained any longer. Over the following two years there were a number of additional riots in Chicago, Newark, Detroit and elsewhere.

By Robert Reich / Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Americans are deeply confused about why the economy is so bad – and their President isn’t telling them. In fact, the White House apparently has decided to join with Republicans and blame it on the long-term budget deficit.

Before I turn to the President, though, let’s be clear: The lousy economy is due to insufficient demand. Consumers – who are 70 percent of the economy — can’t and won’t buy because they’re running out of cash. They can’t borrow against homes that are worth a third less than they were five years ago, and most consumers are bad credit risks anyway because they’re losing their jobs and their wages are dropping. They also have to start saving for the kids’ college or for retirement, which will cut their spending even more.

Wednesday, August 10th, witnessed four rallies for jobs – mostly held at Congressional offices – across San Diego County.

Sponsored by MoveOn and its affiliate national coalition, the Rebuild the American Dream, the protest rallies had the theme of “Jobs Not Cuts”, and were held outside the offices of Congressional reps Duncan Hunter, Brian Bilbray, and Susan Davis. A fourth rally was held outside a Bank of America where Congressman Bob Filner spoke

The good citizens of Ocean Beach were supposed to have a “scoping pubic hearing” on the OB Precise Plan EIR update and its proposals for increasing the density in OB by up to 1400 dwelling units. They got much less.

Over 35 OB residents, property owners, and small business owners crowded into the meeting room at the OB Recreation Center Tuesday evening, the 9th of August, in expectation of some kind of presentation by the City. What they got instead were two City officials sitting at a desk with a tape machine whirring. There was no presentation. There were no handouts or literature on the proposed increases. The City brought nothing to the “hearing” except the tape machine.

MoveOn has created a new petition to protest the debt deal and apparent fact that barely anyone in Congress cares about job creation. From a press release:

In the wake of the debt deal that does nothing to create jobs, and fails to make corporations and the rich pay their fair share, MoveOn.org and Rebuild the Dream today announced the new Contract for the American Dream. The Contract, born out of the new American Dream Movement, is a progressive economic vision crafted by 125,000 Americans who came together online and in their communities, and put forth their ideas to get the economy back on track. …

Obama is a willful player in an epic drama of faux-politics.

By James K. Galbraith / AlterNet – Deutsche Welle / August 8, 2011

Political news travels slowly, and in my casual observation progressive Europeans have held on to the myth of Barack Obama as a good man much longer than most progressive Americans did. How could a young black American from Chicago and Harvard be otherwise?

MoveOn, the national organization with 5 million members, is keeping the pressure on San Diego’s local Congressional representatives, and the pressure is on for jobs. With a theme of “Jobs Not Cuts”, MoveOn is planning on a series of rallies at the Congressional offices Wednesday, August 10th.

John Story had some bad news for us about the memorial benches yesterday. … A representative of the District Attorney’s office called John on August 8th, and informed him – to his shock – that the DA would not be prosecuting Robert Bryson, who admitted that he was the neighbor who had them removed illegally. When Story asked why Bryson was not being prosecuted, he was told that the police could not determine the ownership of the benches.

Yeah, that makes real sense.

San Diego, CA – August 6, 2011 Middle Class Taxpayers Association (MCTA), a new non-profit organization formed to represent San Diego’s middle class in public policy issues, will host a lunch meeting with California Controller John Chiang on Tuesday, August 9th in South Park from noon to 1 p.m.

According to Dorian Hargrove – a blogger for the San Diego Reader – Ocean Beach will see an increase of 1,400 dwelling units if the City’s Update for the OB Community Plan goes through.

OBcians will have an opportunity to comment on the new proposed draft plan Update Tuesday, August 9th, at a meeting at the Rec Center from 7 to 9 pm.