Month: May 2012

These words are in memory
of a dear friend whom I met in 1975
through my soul mate Nancy
who also is no longer alive
although they both will
exist forever, in my inner being, spirit wise.
And as it is with life,
I could have never known
back then
that this new friend,
Charlie McKain, Lucky,
would represent the kind of
human progress
in which he has been
involved in
(my mother, by the way,
is turning in her grave
with that ordering of words
as she was the queen of the preposition) –

A couple years ago, I took a psychology 101 course at a San Diego community college. Our first lesson focused on the history of mental illness and its treatment.

The professor opened by describing a now-extinct illness called “hysteria,” which struck ladies only and featured symptoms from faintness, nervousness, and insomnia to irritability, loss of appetite for food or sex, and even “a tendency to cause trouble.”

During the Victorian Era, the professor explained, hysteria was enough of a problem to inspire heaps of medical research. And because the illness largely seemed to be stemming from the patient’s mind, hysteria became one of the first “mental” maladies to be studied rigorously by the modern medical community.

So what does any of this have to do with sex?

Impersonator sending out racist photos of President Obama purporting to be from Frank Gormlie

It has happened again. Someone has intentionally sent out racist garbage using the personal email address of Frank Gormlie, the editor of the OB Rag.

Some white supremacist hacker is sending out photos of President Barack Obama with racist captions, and they’re sending these emails out under an email address that is just like Gormlie’s email address – but not exactly but too close to his to be a mistake. They are using an email address that juxtaposes two of the letters in his last name. But in a blink reading it, it looks like his. It is clearly an attempt at impersonating Gormlie.

This same intentional impersonation of Gormlie has happened before. The first known use of the bogus email address was in September 2011. And it has happened several times since.

Local media has covered the construction of the replica of the galleon Spanish explorer Juan Cabrillo used when he sailed into San Diego Bay back in 1542. The San Diego Maritime Museum – in conjunction with the City and Port of San Diego – are sponsoring the building of the boat modeled after the San Salvador, itself built 500 years ago on the shores of Mexico, over at Spanish Landing. Begun in February 2011, the ship is now a quarter completed – with the plan to have it finished by November 2013.

One of the big threads in the story of this ship being built is how it’s being built. Not only are ten different kinds of wood being used – hauled in from Africa and South America, and other places – , and not only are the workers using the same technology – outside of the power tools, but the new San Salvator is being built mainly by San Diego volunteers. This is the big story here.

Editor: This is a talk that Noam Chomsky gave recently, and is an excerpt out of his latest book. Also, please check out the TomDispatch introduction to Chomsky’s article, with many great links.

By Noam Chomsky / TomDispatch / May 8, 2012

The Occupy movement has been an extremely exciting development. Unprecedented, in fact. There’s never been anything like it that I can think of. If the bonds and associations it has established can be sustained through a long, dark period ahead – because victory won’t come quickly – it could prove a significant moment in American history.

By East County Magazine / Originally published May 6, 2012

Congressional candidate Denise Moreno Ducheny has chastised her opponent, Senator Juan Vargas, for voting against a woman’s right to choose. Vargas voted in opposition to Senate Bill (SB) 1338 (Kehoe) during last week’s Senate Business, Professions and Economic Development Committee. The final vote on the bill was 4-4 with one Senator not voting, effectively killing the bill in committee.

Half of California’s counties currently have no abortion provider, including Imperial County, which Vargas seeks to represent in Congress. SB 1338 would have allowed an estimated 24,000 trained nurse practitioners, certified nurse midwives and physician assistants to provide non-surgical, first-trimester abortion.

By John Nichols / The Nation / May 8, 2012

The Wisconsin uprising against Governor Scott Walker’s assaults on union rights, public education and public services spawned a recall movement that has forced Walker and his political allies to face new elections. And the first of these takes place today, with Democratic and Republican primaries for governor, lieutenant governor and four state Senate seats.

So what should we watch for today?

Turnout

Very sunny, mild day in Wisconsin—great for voting.

But Wisconsin has never held a primary in May.

The Wisconsin recall elections are unprecedented, not just for the Badger State but for the nation. Never before has a single state had citizen-initiated elections on the same day that could shift control of the executive branch and the dominant chamber in the state legislature.

By Lorena Gonzalez

I have grown extremely frustrated by the lies and distortions being peddled by out-of-area groups about Scott Peters in his run for Congress. The San Diego Labor Council has endorsed Scott because of his outstanding record for workers, and his commitment to getting things done. But on a personal level, as an extremely progressive, pro-worker advocate, I am proud to unconditionally support Scott Peters in his bid for Congress. This is why:

When I first came to the Labor Council as political director in 2006, I was tasked with trying to get our Wal-Mart Supercenter Ban docketed at the City Council. Scott Peters was the Council President, and there just hadn’t been a whole lot of interaction between organized labor and Scott previously. We supported another candidate against him, and the belief was that he wouldn’t be there on the tough stuff because we didn’t have a relationship with him. I knew Scott from environmental issues previously and had met his wife when I sat on the board of Planned Parenthood, so I decided to just go straight to him with our request for an ordinance to ban Supercenters.

By Wildcoast

Environmental groups oppose the move that would limit local representation and public participation at important hearings

On Monday, May 7th, three local environmental groups announced their opposition to Governor Brown’s proposed plan to consolidate the Colorado River Basin and San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Boards. The three groups are WiLDCOAST, San Diego Coastkeeper, and Environmental Health Coalition.

As they operate now, these regional boards protect and enforce water quality standards and regulate polluters throughout the state. The governor’s plan would create a single, 23,900-square-mile regulatory region out of two distinctly different water basins. It would also require the public to travel to board meetings at locations alternating in San Diego, Orange, Riverside and Imperial counties.

By Center on Policy Initiatives / May 7, 2012

Press conference planned for Wednesday to urge City Council action.

San Diego residents whose neighborhoods are blighted with foreclosed houses will join Councilmember David Alvarez in a press conference Wednesday urging action against banks that cause the problem.

The Center on Policy Initiatives will release new poll results from the public opinion research firm Grove Insight showing widespread support among city voters for an ordinance fining banks that failed to maintain the properties they own.

I am always amazed that someone as young as me can have so many grandchildren to be proud of. At last count I have 9 grandchildren and 4 great grandchildren. I am proud of each of them for a variety of reasons.

Today, in talking to my oldest grandchild – Josh – I told him how much I missed his grandfather, particularly during this voting season. Bob was an activist and very involved in all political functions. Josh blew me away when he told me that, “Grandpa is living through me. I am doing what I know he would do, and am actively working on Obama’s reelection.”

He sent me an article that I would like to share with you, because Josh, at the age of 28, is becoming aware of the strength and failure of politicians today. In his own words:

When America made me proud.

Near the end of George W. Bush’s 2nd term I became a “Proud American”. I felt the passion that our ancestors must have felt when they learned of a country where their vote counted. People were talking politics everywhere, Republican and Democrat.

Scott Lewis had an interesting article in the Voice of San Diego last week on the tense relationship between Nathan Fletcher and the U-T San Diego editorial board. What was not particularly shocking was the clear evidence of the fact that the U-T sees itself as an extension of the local GOP and was disturbed that Fletcher may have harmed the Republican brand. More illustrative, however, was Fletcher’s defense of his move (note the part in bold):

Well I think you’ve got to go and look at what I actually said. And what I said is that I’m rejecting the partisan environment of today. People say “well did you ever consider becoming a Democrat.” I didn’t. Because I think there’s unwillingness on that side as well to step out and solve problems, whether we’re talking about pensions or managed competition or some of these other types of issues.