Month: January 2012

By Nadin Abbott / East County Magazine / Jan. 12, 2012

January 12, 2012 (San Diego)—U.S. Army Master Sergeant Jay Polk has reportedly been killed overseas while on active duty with U.S. special forces, according to friends and family in San Diego, where he had been living recently.

During a candlelight memorial service held this evening at the Civic Center Plaza, one mourner observed, “Jay was a Cavalryman, he was a Master Sergeant, and he knew how to take care of people.” The service was attended by local veterans, occupy members, and friends of the fallen soldier.

Word of Polk’s death came as a shock to local members of Occupy San Diego, where Polk was known as “Chef” from the early days, helping to prepare and serve 500 to 1,000 meals a day for homeless people and Occupy members—anyone who needed a meal.

A Video of US Marines Urinating on Corpses Sparks Outrage

By Chris McGreal / RSN – Guardian UK / January 12, 2012

Afghan president Hamid Karzai and US defence secretary Leon Panetta have led a chorus of condemnation of American soldiers filmed urinating on the bodies of dead Afghans as “inhumane” and “utterly deplorable”.

The Pentagon said it is attempting to identify the soldiers responsible for the latest in a series of abuses by US forces which is likely to further inflame hostility to Nato troops in Afghanistan and reinforce the perception that there is an institutional problem in the American military.

San Diego Daily Transcript / January 12, 2012

The nine-unit apartment in Ocean Beach at 5077 Cape May Avenue, in San Diego 92107, has been sold for $1.52 million or $168,888 per unit.

The buyer was the Loftus Family Trust, with Harry R. Loftus Jr. and Margo A. Loftus as trustees, at 6118 Maple Ave., Lake Isabella 93240. The acquisition was financed with a loan of $640,000 from JPMorgan Chase Bank (NYSE: JPM), with Ann Block and Kristy Blair handling the loan.

The new owner plans to sustainably rehab the property and increase the income stream.

by Staff Reporter / Scoop San Diego / January 11, 2012

Cigarette butts, plastic foam and plastics continue to be the top three most common items found on San Diego County’s beaches, according to data released today by San Diego Coastkeeper and the Surfrider Foundation San Diego Chapter. In partnership since 2003, the environmental organizations conduct twice-monthly beach cleanups throughout the county and ask volunteers to keep detailed records of the debris they remove. The data show that Pacific Beach’s Crystal Pier had the least trash in 2011, while Ocean Beach Pier had the most trash collected per volunteer.

Rising Share of Americans See Conflict Between Rich and Poor

by Rich Morin / PewResearchCenter / January 11, 2012

The Occupy Wall Street movement no longer occupies Wall Street, but the issue of class conflict has captured a growing share of the national consciousness. A new Pew Research Center survey of 2,048 adults finds that about two-thirds of the public (66%) believes there are “very strong” or “strong” conflicts between the rich and the poor—an increase of 19 percentage points since 2009.

Reddit admins, fearful of the threat of SOPA, have planned a site blackout for January 18 in order to amplify the community’s voice.

By Jeff Hughes / Digital Trends / Jan. 10, 2012

The Internet has been rumbling and mobilizing in response to SOPA. One of the latest acts of protest against the Stop Online Piracy Act is a planned blackout by social website reddit on January 18.

Reddit admins announced the plan in a blog post on Tuesday (Jan. 10). The post acknowledged the activism by redditors in the fight against “powerful forces trying to censor the Internet.” However, the admins explained that it was time for the next stage of the fight, and they’ve decided they will be blacking out reddit on January 18. The blackout will last all day from 8am to 8pm Eastern Standard Time.

Editor: As the GOP primaries pull into an open season, Newt Gingrich is still waging his one-man campaign either to derail Mitt Romney or to garner the real “conservative” votes. And he still touts himself as the “savior of immigration reform”. Here to refute that image is an article by San Diego immigration lawyer Carlos Batara written just before Christmas, but obviously still relevant. Batara also takes a swipe at President Obama’s policies as well.

Newt Gingrich: The Grinch Who Stole Immigration Reform

By Carlos Batara

Bah! Humbug! Having practiced deportation defense in the 1990s, I am no Johnny-come-lately to immigration issues.

I remember the xenophobic backlash led by Gingrich against the 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) signed into law by a staunch conservative, Ronald Reagan.

I remember Gingrich as the Gin-Grinch who stole immigration reform.

Questions are being raised by former elephant trainers and handlers about whether the San Diego Zoo “euthanized” two adult elephants prematurely last week – before they were needed to be put to death. Two Asian elephants were put to death last week because they were “ailing and aged” we’re told.

On top of that, we are raising a question of why the story about the elephants being killed was ignored by U-T San Diego and had to be broken by the LA Times. Perhaps, it was too messy and ugly a story to run for the U-T’s new owner, Papa Doug Manchester, and his image of a bright, shiny and wonderful San Diego that he wants projected by his daily fishwrap.

On Friday, January 6th, the LA Times ran a front page article by Tony Perry on their local section about our Zoo euthanizing two ailing elephants.

By Dave Good / SanDiego.com / Jan 10th, 2012

The roots of the San Diego Zoo lie in Ocean Beach, California. That there is even a zoo here at all, world famous or not, is largely due to a chain of events that began in 1913 at the foot of Voltaire Street. On July 4th of that year the doors to the Wonderland Amusement Park were officially opened to the public.

In its time Wonderland must have been spectacular. Protected from the sea by high walls with exotic turrets it spanned eight acres of what is now dog beach.

By Erin Allday /SFGate / January 10, 2012

Smoking a joint or a bowl from time to time appears to cause no long-term damage to the lungs, according to a UCSF study that disproves one of the major concerns about marijuana use – that inhaling anything other than air on a regular basis must be harmful.

The study, results of which were published today in the Journal of the American Medical Association, found that the lung capacity of people who smoked marijuana was not diminished by lighting up, even among those who smoked once or twice a week.

Smoking 20 or more joints a month did have a negative impact on the pulmonary system, but that level of marijuana use is unusual.

San Francisco Labor Council Resolution – Adopted Jan. 9, 2012 by unanimous vote (with one abstention)
Condemn Use of U.S. Military to Escort Scab Grain Ship in Longview WA

Whereas, EGT, a joint venture led by multinational grain giant Bunge, agreed to hire union Longshoremen when accepting millions in taxpayer funds to build a huge new grain exporting terminal at the Port of Longview WA, but once the terminal was built has tried to void its contract and refused to hire ILWU labor. With the use of brutal police and courts and 220 arrests in the 225 member ILWU Local 21, EGT has managed to get enough scab grain across picket lines into the new terminal that EGT appears poised to load a ship soon in violation of their agreement with the port; and

Editor: Please welcome our newest Ragster, Doug Beacom, who is posting his very first piece on our website here. And, it’s a video report of the new, recently opened North Gateway Project for Ocean Beach, located at the corner of West Point Loma Boulevard and Sunset Cliffs Boulevard.