December 2012

Imagining a different way to handle San Diego’s wastewater

December 17, 2012 by Source

200 million gallons of wastewater is sent to the Point Loma treatment plant every day.

By Tom Fudge / KPBS / Dec. 10, 2012

Up to 200 million gallons of San Diego water comes to the Point Loma treatment plant every day, to be treated and pumped into the Ocean. But people are starting to imagine another way to handle our wastewater.

Read the full article → 0 comments

How Many More Mondays? Changing a Culture of Glorified Violence

December 17, 2012 by Jack Hamlin

The plan for the day had been to finally get the Christmas decorations up and address cards. I turned on the news to get my daily laugh from the cirque de D.C. and see how much closer we were coming the fiscal cliff. I wish I had not. The news was so just awful, again, I wept. Twenty-six souls lost, 20 of them only 6 and 7 years old. In an instant, another mad man took away so many dreams, so much joy, and so much love.

According to reports, the 20-year-old murderer took his own life, so we will never get the chance to ask him why or how he became so full of evil. Even if we were able to, it would not stop the carnage which all too often frequents the innocent, here and abroad. It will not stop, because we either do not care enough, or we must ghoulishly enjoy it enough to not do anything about.

Read the full article → 4 comments

Is This Where Democracy Goes to Die?

December 17, 2012 by Jim Miller

Now that labor has been squashed, the right’s next moves in Michigan includes draconian anti-abortion laws and, sit down for this one, loosening the restriction on concealed weapons in places like churches and schools to please the gun lobby.

While liberals were busy gloating over their electoral victory and crowing about the demise of the right, Grover Norquist, the Koch Brothers, and company were busy going for blood—democracy be damned. Despite getting spanked at nearly every level, the plutocratic wrecking crew kept their eyes on the prize and jammed through a “right to work” law in Michigan, exacting sweet revenge on the Democrats and their labor allies.

Read the full article → 1 comment

President Obama: ‘The voters have spoken.’ Feds should not target pot use in Washington and Colorado.

December 14, 2012 by Frank Gormlie
Thumbnail image for President Obama: ‘The voters have spoken.’ Feds should not target pot use in Washington and Colorado.

President Calls for National “Conversation” on Reconciling Conflicting State and Federal Laws, and Holder May Decide What to Do Within a Month.

In his first public comments on the issue after both the states of Washington and Colorado voted to legalize the recreational use of marijuana, President Barack Obama said that the feds should not prosecute that kind of use in those states. “You’ve seen the voters speak on this issue,” he said. The President was interviewed by ABC News and it was released today.

Read the full article → 6 comments

Gay Student Group Denied Charter at Point Loma Nazarene University

December 13, 2012 by Doug Porter
Thumbnail image for Gay Student Group Denied Charter at Point Loma Nazarene University

Senior Sean Lewis wanted to start a discussion group focusing on gay themes at Point Loma Nazarene University. He told Channel10Newsthat he was motivated to take this step because he and other openly gay students often felt unwelcome on campus, telling reporter Michael Chen, “I’ve gotten messages on Facebook … warning me that I’m going to hell”.

Read the full article → 1 comment

On Line Dating – Has it Improved Any?

December 13, 2012 by Judi Curry
Thumbnail image for On Line Dating – Has it Improved Any?

It has been a while since I regaled the readers of my columns about my experiences of on-line dating. Lest you think that it has improved – or that I have met a “match” let me enlighten you during this holiday season.

I have had some very interesting, very hilarious experiences lately. I am truly amazed at the responses, and subsequent conversations I have had with some of the male subjects.

Some of these “episodes” sound like others I have already written about. Let me assure you that these are all “new” acquaintances. Let’s get started…

Read the full article → 16 comments

Point Loma High Christmas Tree Vandalized

December 12, 2012 by Staff

Other Live Tree on Campus Also Cut Down by Vandals

The Grinch is at it again. This time, he and his friends vandalized a student-initiated project of erecting a tall, 25 foot Christmas Tree on campus of the Point Loma High School. They also cut down a small live tree nearby – also on campus.

Campus police believe the vandalism occurred late Monday night or early Tuesday night.

The holiday-inspired tree was the brainchild of a group of students, who spent $700 of their own money to buy the tree at a farm in San Bernardino County, transport it down to the campus on a rented trailer, and erect it with decorations.

Read the full article → 21 comments

Closing Time at Fresh & Easy in Point Loma and Across America

December 12, 2012 by Source

Editor: What will happen to Point Loma’s Fresh & Easy after it closes is anyone’s guess at this point.

by Daniel Paredes/Frying Pan News

After spending more than $1.6 billion, Tesco, the world’s third- largest food retailer, has finally thrown in the towel and announced the closure of its Fresh & Easy stores. This move brings closure to the British company’s effort to establish a foothold in California’s highly competitive grocery industry. Many analysts believe this decision has been a long time coming, with Fresh & Easy stores never seeing the kind of market penetration that the U.K.-based giant expected from the chain. Investors cheered the December 5 announcement, but U.S. workers have reason to celebrate too — this marks the end of a five-year struggle with Tesco.

Read the full article → 25 comments

Michigan Showdown Over Union Rights

December 12, 2012 by Doug Porter

Michigan’s “Right to Work” Struggle: It Ain’t Over ‘Till It’s Over

Editor: Since this post by Doug Porter was written, the Michigan governor signed the legislation, upping the ante in this historic fight against his own people.

There’s a major showdown over so-called right-to-work laws in Michigan. Thousands of union supporters gathered outside the State Capitol building as a lame-duck Republican dominated legislature voted for that State to join the ranks of 23 other states with similar legislation.

For those of you who might think this hubbub is about protecting an individual’s right not to join a union, think again. It’s against Federal law to make union membership mandatory.

Read the full article → 1 comment

Field of View: Old Town San Diego

December 12, 2012 by Annie Lane
Thumbnail image for Field of View: Old Town San Diego

Old Town happens to be my very first home in San Diego. As a baby, I lived on Conde Street in a house that has since been torn down. In fact, a lot has changed in the (muffled)-something years since then. Much of the surrounding area has become a tourist hot spot that is faithfully avoided by the locals, but Old Town proper still remains a charming step into the past for me literally and emotionally.

A state historic park, Old Town covers the time period between 1821 and 1872 with free museums, a working blacksmith shop, people dressed in period-style costumes and events throughout the year.

Read the full article → 0 comments

Playing with Thoughts of a Better World in Sabino Canyon Near Tucson

December 11, 2012 by Ernie McCray

I don’t know if whoever is reading this has a place on earth that’s really dear to them, a spiritual place, a place that invigorates them. But I do have such a place, Sabino Canyon, in Tucson, my birth place.

Mi querida and I hiked there just the other day, the first day of December, in fact, the last month before doomsday if you want to listen to what a number of very spooked people say.

But an apocalypse was far from my mind on this soothing sunny day. I entered the grounds in a very good mood and that mood grew with each step I took as I ran the images of my stay in town through my mind.

Read the full article → 1 comment

Imperial Beach Residents Cite Water Damage from Sand Replenishment Project

December 11, 2012 by Source
Thumbnail image for Imperial Beach Residents Cite Water Damage from Sand Replenishment Project

By Khari Johnson / Imperial Beach Patch / December 7, 2012

Even before the project ended in October, Seacoast Drive residents have complained that new sand has caused sea water to seep through garages, sidewalks and elsewhere. SANDAG may return to IB to even out sand that have caused water to pool.

Read the full article → 0 comments

Ocean Beach Planning Board Calls for Immediate Moratorium on City Granting Variances to West Point Loma Block

December 11, 2012 by Frank Gormlie
Thumbnail image for Ocean Beach Planning Board Calls for Immediate Moratorium on City Granting Variances to West Point Loma Block

In an open letter to the new Mayor Bob Filner, the OB Planning Board has called for an immediate moratorium on the City of San Diego granting variances to property owners on the 5100 block of West Point Loma Boulevard.

The planners want the city to halt allowing builders these privileges “while the city and the community work together to solve the zoning problem” in this area.

In the letter – signed by Jane Gawronski, Chair of the Planning Board – she makes this request:

“we are asking that the Ocean Beach Planning Board have the opportunity to work with City staff to reconsider the zoning for this very specific block in Ocean Beach.”

Read the full article → 3 comments

World Human Rights Day – Today: December 10th

December 10, 2012 by Staff
Thumbnail image for World Human Rights Day – Today: December 10th

Human Rights Day is celebrated annually across the world on 10 December.

The date was chosen to honor the United Nations General Assembly’s adoption and proclamation, on 10 December 1948, of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), the first global enunciation of human rights and one of the first major achievements of the new United Nations. The formal establishment of Human Rights Day occurred at the 317th Plenary Meeting of the General Assembly on 4 December 1950, when the General Assembly declared resolution 423(V), inviting all member states and any other interested organizations to celebrate the day as they saw fit.

Come inside to read the entire Declaration of Human Rights.

Read the full article → 0 comments

Monday, Dec 10th: Candlelight Vigil Against Cuts to Medicare and Social Security

December 10, 2012 by Staff
Thumbnail image for Monday, Dec 10th: Candlelight Vigil Against Cuts to Medicare and Social Security

No Cuts to Medicaid, Medicare and Social Security Benefits, End Tax Cuts for 2% In Washington D.C., the Lame Duck Congress is deep in negotiations over the ‘fiscal cliff,’ and it’s curcial that they hear the voices of working families. Please join us Monday, December 10 on International Human Rights Day for candlelight event to […]

Read the full article → 0 comments

ALEC – Centralized Conservative Legislative Clearinghouse

December 10, 2012 by Source
Thumbnail image for ALEC – Centralized Conservative Legislative Clearinghouse

By John Lawrence / San Diego Free Press

Why hire individual lobbyists and send them out in search of Congressmen when you can set up a lobbying clearinghouse and have them come to you?

ALEC, the American Legislative Exchange Council, does just that. Funded by the likes of the Koch brothers, Exxon Mobil and PhRMA, a trade association for the pharmaceutical industry, legislators are paid to come to ALEC meetings, where they are wined, dined, and handed “model” legislation to make into law in their state. Through ALEC, corporations vote on “model” legislation alongside politicians behind closed doors.

Read the full article → 1 comment

Legal Marijuana Is Good for Children and Other Living Things

December 10, 2012 by Source
Thumbnail image for Legal Marijuana Is Good for Children and Other Living Things

By Amanda Reiman / Alternet / Dec. 4, 2012 When Michael Saffioti’s mother suggested that he turn himself in to the Lynnwood Police Department for missing a court date related to a minor marijuana violation, surely she thought the 22-year-old would get a slap on the wrist. She could not have imagined that her son […]

Read the full article → 1 comment

Right-Wingers Whine About Oscar Omission for ‘2016: Obama’s America’ — Here’s Four Simple Reasons Why It Got Snubbed

December 10, 2012 by Source

By Laura Gottesdiener / AlterNet / Dec. 5, 2012

The directors of the anti-Obama film hilariously claim the film faces discrimination.

Gerald Molan, the director of the extremely anti-Obama movie, 2016: Obama’s America , is mad that his and Dinesh D’Souza’s film wasn’t on the shortlist of documentaries nominated for an Academy Award.

“The action confirms my opinion that the bias against anything from a conservative point of view is dead on arrival in Hollywood circles,” he complained to the Hollywood Reporter.

Read the full article → 3 comments

Corporate Censorship in 2012: All the News They Didn’t Deem Fit to Print

December 10, 2012 by Jim Miller
Thumbnail image for Corporate Censorship in 2012: All the News They Didn’t Deem Fit to Print

This is not a definition that implies a conspiracy; it is a structural analysis of how our media system works in the real world with all the economic, political, and legal pressures that shape the process of delivering the infotainment we call news.

In last week’s column, I discussed Noam Chomsky and Edward S. Herman’s propaganda model and noted how it was even more relevant today than it was when they first published Manufacturing Consent in 1988 as the concentration of media ownership they decried in the eighties has only continued to increase dramatically. I ended that column by referring to Project Censored, an organization that has been monitoring the news media and putting out a list of the top 25 “censored” stories of the year since 1976.

Read the full article → 2 comments

Open Letter to Mayor Filner From the OB Planning Board on Variances Granted for West Point Loma Ave.

December 7, 2012 by Source
Thumbnail image for Open Letter to Mayor Filner From the OB Planning Board on Variances Granted for West Point Loma Ave.

Editor: The following letter was received by the OB Rag from the Ocean Beach Planning Board, undated and addressed to San Diego’s new mayor, Bob Filner, and signed by Jane Gawronski, Chair of the Board. We post it below in its entirety (although we made more paragraphs for easier reading).

Dear Mayor Filner,

This letter is submitted on behalf of the Ocean Beach Planning Board in regard to the ongoing issues between the City and the Ocean Beach community involving the multiple variances granted on West Point Loma Avenue in Ocean Beach. The block in question was purposely zoned under the Ocean Beach Precise Plan to be consistent with the rest of the Ocean Beach community.

Read the full article → 10 comments

6 Toys that would make a progressive parent’s head explode.

December 7, 2012 by Source
Thumbnail image for 6 Toys that would make a progressive parent’s head explode.

A “McJob” play set? Makeup for babies?

By Lauren Kelly / AlterNet / December 6, 2012 |

If you, your siblings, or your close friends have children, you know that the holidays often involve toy shopping. And if you’re a progressive, you know that a trip to the toy store can be very depressing indeed.

It’s not that toys plastered with corporate logos, or gender-essentialist toys, or toys made from toxic chemicals are a new phenomenon. But with the holiday season becoming more and more consumer-driven each year, and awareness of these issues increasing, the “problem toys” seem to stick out more than ever. (At least for this writer, whose friends are all starting to have kids.)

Read the full article → 1 comment

Boat Parades in Mission Bay and San Diego Bay Light Up the Holiday Season

December 6, 2012 by Source
Thumbnail image for Boat Parades in Mission Bay and San Diego Bay Light Up the Holiday Season

By: Taylor Hill and Eston Ellis / The Log / December 6, 2012

Holiday boat parades are a treasured tradition in Southern California — and some boaters spend all year getting ready for them. Bringing together the right holiday decorations, lights and onboard spirit to “wow” the crowds of fellow boaters on the water and spectators on shore takes planning, cleverness and a lot of creativity.

But even if you haven’t been obsessing over your decorating scheme since July, there’s still time to join in the fun of this month’s annual holiday boat parades. String some lights, bring along some friends and family, and make your plan now to take part in one of the season’s top boating activities.

Read the full article → 1 comment

California Gasoline Prices go Haywire, May Have Been Subject to Collusion

December 6, 2012 by Andy Cohen

Data suggests that price spikes in May and October may have been the result of market manipulation and not supply shortages.

Back in 2000-2001, California—and San Diego in particular—fell victim to the price fixing schemes of a virtually unregulated electricity market. Back then the state became the center of the nation’s attention when the state’s electricity markets went absolutely kablooey (that’s a technical term). Electricity providers SDG&E, PG&E, and Southern California Edison were forced to sell off their production facilities as a part of then governor Pete Wilson’s grand deregulation experiment, in which San Diego was the guinea pig. The new owners of the generating plants smelled opportunity, and they took full advantage of it.

Read the full article → 2 comments

SuperStorm Sandy Aftermath: Power Companies Unnecessarily Immiserated Millions

December 6, 2012 by Source

By John Lawrence / San Diego Free Press

Weeks after Hurricane Sandy struck, millions of people were still without electricity. At its peak Sandy left 8.5 million without power. A lot of people were angry. Why did it take so long to get the power back on even with crews coming from as far away as San Diego? One power company in New Jersey came in for a lot of criticism – Jersey Central Power and Light (JCP&L)- owned by First Energy based in Ohio.

Read the full article → 3 comments

Mission Bay “Zombie Attack” Paid with Homeland Security Funds Questioned as ‘Excessive’

December 6, 2012 by Frank Gormlie
Thumbnail image for Mission Bay “Zombie Attack” Paid with Homeland Security Funds Questioned as ‘Excessive’

On Halloween this year, over in Mission Bay, there was a staged “Zombie Attack” as part of a simulated combat-type event and paid with Homeland Security funds. Now that event – and other expenses from the Homeland Security bank account around the country – are being questioned and criticized as excessive.

The Mission Bay zombie event is one of several questionable expenses of a $7 billion in Homeland Security money called out Wednesday in a report from Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla. Senator Coburn highlighted several San Diego expenses in the report. San Diego received a total $134 million under the program.

Read the full article → 1 comment

Mayor Filner Cites FDR on Anti-Poverty Pledge: “I agree with you, now make me do it.”

December 5, 2012 by Doug Porter
Thumbnail image for Mayor Filner Cites FDR on Anti-Poverty Pledge: “I agree with you, now make me do it.”

Challenged by a local activist at the District 4 inaugural party on Monday night to make fighting poverty a priority in his administration, newly elected Mayor Bob Filner responded by quoting President Franklin Roosevelt’s rejoinder to activists in the early days of the New Deal: “I agree with you, now make me do it.”

And that’s exactly what the Center for Policy Initiatives (CPI) is doing. They’ve launched a letter writing campaign seeking to gather 500 letters by December 14th urging the Mayor to make poverty a priority in San Diego.

Read the full article → 1 comment

San Onofre Opponents Battle With Ideas at Simulation Center

December 5, 2012 by Dave Rice

Nuclear warfare: Nuclear backers, opponents present opposing ideas on San Onofre

By Dave Rice / San Diego Reader / December 5, 2012

The World Resources Simulation Center played host Tuesday evening to an open forum: “Green Scene – the Costs and Benefits of San Onofre Nuclear Power in our Backyard.” The Downtown-area Center, described as an “immersive visualization center,” outfitted with a dozen large-scale projectors and internet-equipped laptops scattered amongst the crowd, …

Read the full article → 0 comments

Why Building the Carlsbad Desalination Plant is a Good Thing for San Diego

December 5, 2012 by Doug Porter

The San Diego County Water Authority gave the nod Friday, November 30, to a thirty year water purchase deal that will clear the way for a privately constructed desalination plant to operate in the north county.

Frankly, I don’t see this as a controversial decision. I’ve read the arguments pro and con. I think the desal plant is a good idea. Let me explain why.

Read the full article → 4 comments

Owner of West Point Loma Property Withdraws Appeal of OB Planning Board Denial of McMansion

December 5, 2012 by Frank Gormlie
Thumbnail image for Owner of West Point Loma Property Withdraws Appeal of OB Planning Board Denial of McMansion

It appears that the applicant of a residence on West Point Loma Boulevard has withdrawn its appeal of a denial for variances by the Ocean Beach Planning Board. The applicant of the Douma residence at 5168 West Point Loma notified the City Clerk that it is taking its appeal off the docket for the San Diego Planning Commission; the project will now fall back to city staff.

At the February 15th meeting this year of the OB Planning Board’s Project Review Committee, the board voted to deny the Douma applicant’s request for variances the applicants claimed they needed in order to build their planned demolition of the existing duplex and construction of a three story residence.

Read the full article → 30 comments

OB Planning Board to Consider Lifeguard Memorial Sculpture – Wed., Dec. 5th

December 4, 2012 by Staff
Thumbnail image for OB Planning Board to Consider Lifeguard Memorial Sculpture – Wed., Dec. 5th

At their regular meeting this Wednesday, December 5th, the Ocean Beach Planning Board will take up the issue of the bronze memorial lifeguard sculpture planned for OB’s waterfront.

The Planning Board meets at the OB Recreation Center on Santa Monica Avenue at 6pm.

Here’s more on the memorial sculpture:

Sculpture to Honor Drowned WWI Soldiers in Tragedy that Forced City to Hire First Lifeguards

Ocean Beach leaders and surfers are actively lobbying to receive City funding for a bronze sculpture to honor San Diego lifeguards. Called the “Ocean Beach Lifeguard Bronze Memorial”,

Read the full article → 4 comments

← Older Articles

Newer Articles →