Month: April 2012

by Dirk Ebers

When the weather in San Diego warms up — as it will this weekend — many residents opt for a wardrobe change. From gents in tank tops to ladies in short shorts, the flesh displays ramp up as the temperature rises.

In a word, it’s all about skin. And as the cladding gets more scanty, some curious ethical dilemmas arise:

Is it cool to flaunt one’s body parts? When others flaunt, is it okay to look?

As a man, there’s one flesh display that I find especially confusing: cleavage, meaning female breasts, or more specifically, the space between them.

“Please! Señores, help me!”

These are the words screamed by Anastasio Hernández-Rojas as over a dozen U.S. Border Patrol agents beat and tasered him. PBS has just uncovered new video1 showing how Anastasio laid in the dirt defenseless, begging for his life, as Border Patrol agents continued to beat him.

The video elicits haunting reminders of the Rodney King beating2, as Anastasio cries out “¡Nooo! ¡Nooo! ¡Déjenme! [Leave me alone!] ¡Nooo! ¡Señores!” Anastasio later died at the hospital.

Watch the video clip and sign a petition telling the Justice Department to investigate this death immediately.

http://act.presente.org/sign/anastasio/

 Emergency Community Rally at Farmers Market Building on Wednesday The Sherman Heights community was alerted today- April 17th – to…

Peter Douglas, creator and long-time executive director of the California Coastal Commission was fighting an ongoing battle with cancer when he learned he’d been named the Peter Benchley Ocean Awards’ Hero of the Seas for 2012. He wrote that he was honored and would be there to accept if his body and the universe gave him dispensation. Sadly, Peter passed away on April 1. His now posthumous award is in recognition of 40 years working to assure public access to and scenic protection of California’s more than 1,100 miles of spectacular coastline. Last year a delegation from the World Bank visited California and told him his state has the best coastal protection on earth.

New Building Opens designed in the style of Monterey’s Cannery Row

The Log / April 10, 2012

Point Loma Seafoods, a staple at America’s Cup Harbor since 1963, has just put the finishing touches on its $2.7 million renovation.

“Point Loma Seafoods did an incredible job with its renovation,” said San Diego Board of Port Commissioners chairman Lou Smith. “This is a business that truly understands the meaning of community.”

San Diego City Council president Pro Tem Kevin Faulconer and Board of Port Commissioners members Smith, Scott Peters and Bob Nelson celebrated the restaurant’s makeover and grand reopening April 5, and dedicated its public art component.

By Jim Madaffer / Mission Times Courier / April 12, 2012

The East Village skyline’s architectural landmark is taking shape. The signature dome of the New Downtown Central Library can now be seen from various vantage points downtown and beyond. After decades of dreaming, the City’s newest and most state-of-the-art public building is set to open in mid-2013.

I had an opportunity to tour the main library construction project recently and walked each floor to see what will surely become an icon of perseverance and a gift to future generations of San Diego. The construction site reminds me of an erector set with each piece of the building carefully set with precision equipment and high technology.

The $185 million nine-story New Central Library was designed by San Diego architect Rob Quigley and will undoubtedly be the signature statement of his career. Construction is on schedule and on budget.

Community alliance wants a fair, open and understandable city budget

by CPI / April 16, 2012

As San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders presented his budget on Monday, April 16th, a diverse community coalition challenged him to make it comprehensible and fair. At a press conference and in testimony in front of the City Council today, several alliance members also said the community’s priorities are not adequately reflected in the way the budget is developed.

The Community Budget Alliance, which includes more than 20 local organizations, demanded the budget include equitable spending for neighborhoods that have been shortchanged in the past. The alliance also wants more citizen input earlier in the budget decision-making process.

Cathy Ramsey of the Skyline Hills area said:

“There needs to be more community input into the budget. I would hope the Mayor would consider making my community part of the beautiful city that it is.”

Here is a list of actions this week – April 17th -20th – in support of workers’ rights. Brought to us by our San Diego – Imperial Counties Labor Council.

Tax Day National Day of Action at Congressman Bilbray’s Office

WHAT: San Diegans say NO to Tax Dodgers and Tax Cheats. Under the House Republicans’ budget, millionaires and huge corporations will be given even more tax breaks while essential help for working families, military service personnel, students, vets, seniors and the poor will be cut drastically and thousands of workers will be laid off.

EVENT: Tax Day – National Day of Action. Demonstrators will highlight a list of budget demands including:

• Ending the Bush tax cuts for wealthy Americans.

Oh, did the words, “We’re charging George Zimmerman with Second-Degree murder” ever put my mind and soul at ease.

His walking free said to me that Emmitt Till, a 14 year old black boy who suffered a cruel death when I was 17 – for basically saying “Hello” to a white woman – had died in vain. This tragedy, for a while, practically crippled me with intense emotional pain as a result of my thinking that what had happened to him could happen to me – as my mother and I travelled down south rather frequently. Mississippi, specifically.

I carry within me images of both Emmitt’s battered body looking out at me from a page in Jet Magazine and a sickening scene featuring the men who killed him. A jury of their “peers” found them not guilty in a horribly absurd trial and they mugged in front of a camera smoking cigars and kissing their wives, looking as though they were ready to go out on the town and do-si-do. I imagine it was one big party behind bars also but they did spend time in jail. They sat in the hoosegow. They had some slammer time.

By Kit-Bacon Gressitt / Excuse Me, I’m Writing / April 15, 2012

A few days ago, between classes, I ran to the Women’s Room, previously known as the Lady’s Room — until we were liberated from ladylike notions. Or so we thought. Maybe they’ll redo the door signs if Mitt Romney wins the presidency.

In the meantime, I had to get to class, but having birthed a child and lived half a century I had a greater need to pee.

Which I did, surprising myself with a faint moan I had neither intended to release nor felt vibrating past my gullet. Too distracted to give it much thought, I exited the stall, washed my hands, poked at a loose strand of hair, and then I noticed:

Four stalls, three empty. Three sinks. One pregnancy test package insert on the counter. And one faint moan that might have been mine, but was not.

When I was of traditional college age, I invested no thought in motherhood, other than to declare myself unfit for it for several years, and then disinterested for many more. I did, however, eventually succumb to the grandiose and mundane thoughts of parenting, so I found a proper partner and engaged in the physical performance of a lifetime, repeatedly reconfiguring my body to accommodate a growing second. And I never quite managed to put myself back together again. I don’t care what the glitterati say; we are never who we were before producing a child, physically and otherwise.

Saturday Fight Leaves One Stabbed and One Jailed

San Diego 6 reported that a fight between four people Saturday, April 14th, in and around Bacon Street and Newport Avenue ended with one man jailed on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon and another hospitalized with a stab wound to his neck, San Diego police said. The fight broke out about 1 p.m. Saturday according to San Diego police Sgt. Ray Battrick.

It was reported that during the brawl, 18-year-old Gibran Perez allegedly stabbed a 20-year-old man in the neck with a sharp metal object, Battrick said.The victim pointed out his alleged assailant to the police, who was then arrested, Battrick said.The victim was taken to a hospital to be treated for his injuries, which were not believed to be life-threatening, Battrick said.

Skateboard Legend Tony Hawk Drops Load in Ocean Beach

The U-T reports: San Diego skateboarder and pop culture phenom Tony Hawk played one of the world’s biggest games of hide and seek Sunday, hiding packages in 45 states, seven other countries and, of course, across the county, then dropping clues about their whereabouts on Twitter. One was in Ocean Beach, and was snatched up around 9 a.m. by San Diego surfer/artist Chris Spencer. It was a box of skateboarding gear that included a cap, a helmet and shoes, so much stuff that Spencer wrote he would give some away to local kids.

New Panga Cruise Line Blocked from Dropping Visitors Off at OB Bars and Restaurants

Law enforcement blocked a new cruise line business from landing visitors on Ocean Beach shores.

Press conference TODAY before Mayor delivers budget

A diverse community and labor coalition will rally at San Diego City Hall today to highlight the need for greater community involvement and equity in the city’s budget.

The Community Budget Alliance, which includes more than 30 local organizations, is calling for equitable spending among neglected neighborhoods, fair treatment of city workers and greater citizen input. The call comes as Mayor Jerry Sanders presents his budget proposal to the City Council Monday.

Press conference – Community Budget Alliance

1:30 p.m. Monday, April 16

Civic Center Plaza, 202 C St., San Diego