Month: February 2014

Orwell never could have imagined that the NSA would amass metadata on billions of our phone calls and 200 million of our text messages every day. — Marjorie Cohn

By Marjorie Cohn

“Big Brother is Watching You,” George Orwell wrote in his disturbing book 1984. But, as Mikko Hypponen points out, Orwell “was an optimist.” Orwell never could have imagined that the National Security Agency (NSA) would amass metadata on billions of our phone calls and 200 million of our text messages every day. Orwell could not have foreseen that our government would read the content of our emails, file transfers, and live chats from the social media we use.

In his recent speech on NSA reforms, President Obama cited as precedent Paul Revere and the Sons of Liberty, who patrolled the streets at night, “reporting back any signs that the British were preparing raids against America’s early Patriots.” This was a weak effort to find historical support for the NSA spying program. After all, Paul Revere and his associates were patrolling the streets, not sorting through people’s private communications.

By Lori Saldaña / San Diego Free Press

The current debate swirling within- and now outside– the San Diego Chapter of the Sierra Club reflects in large part a debate over the concept that “form follows function.”

In a nutshell: The San Diego Chapter’s Executive Committee, elected by local Sierra Club members, has struggled for 4 years to manage and grow a Chapter without adequate conservation and volunteer development staff. The national board and their employees in San Francisco have refused to listen to the local leader’s reasonable concerns to hire employees to support the Club’s core mission: to “Enjoy, Explore and Protect” the natural environment.

UPDATE:

Here is an update on this developing story about a series of pedestrian robberies that began in OB on Sunday night.

• The arrest made Monday is now known to be that of the suspected getaway driver, Benjamin Hernandez, 23, who is from National City; he’s in jail with a $100,000. One of the victims luckily got the license plate numbers of the get-away car.

• Law enforcement is busy trying to identify and locate the other new suspects.

• Authorities are still saying it was “six” robberies, but according to the various news sources, it could have included up to 8 actual thefts.

• Police are saying there was a total of 10 victims.

• Also, it is being reported that the last robbery was up at UCSD, where 2 students were robbed around 11:20 a.m.

An arrest has been made by San Diego police of one of three suspects involved in a pedestrian robbery spree that began in Ocean Beach on Sunday night, February 2. There were 6 robberies in all, and they stretched from OB to Mission Beach to Hillcrest and Golden Hill.

Police arrested one Benjamin Hernandez on Monday in the Mid-City area when he was seen driving a vehicle that matched the description of the car used in the crimes. Hernandez is 19. Two other suspects are being sought by police.

On Sunday, at almost 7pm, the first robbery occurred in Ocean Beach on Cape May Avenue near Cable Street. The second went down about 5 minutes later on Newport Avenue also near Cable.

The U-T San Diego is running an interesting story about locals testing the kelp off Point Loma and Ocean Beach for signs of radiation from Japan’s Fukushima disaster of 2011.

Local Matt Edwards and students from San Diego State University will test Point Loma’s kelp forest – which reaches 5 miles out – and includes the shores off Ocean Beach – for traces of radioactive material from the earthquake-generated tsunami damaged nuclear power plant. He is one of about 50 such scientists who will be testing kelp up and down the West Coast.

The fear is that the radioisotopes cesium-134 and cesium-137 may have gotten picked up by Pacific Ocean currents that possibly would result in trace amounts to the California coast in 2014. Edwards told the U-T:

“We don’t know if we’re going to find a signal of the radiation. And I personally don’t believe it’ll represent a health threat if there is one. But it’s worth asking whether there’s a reason to be concerned about a disaster that occurred on the other side of the planet some time ago.”

By Erika Couric / Special to the OB Rag

Former federal prosecutor Sarah Boot is Run Women Run’s endorsed candidate for San Diego City Council District 2.

Boot left the U.S. Attorney’s Office to run for this seat and explains her motivation as follows: “I’m running for office because I’m passionate about public service and I’m committed to making my community a better place to live, work and raise a family.”

Boot has extensive experience in law enforcement prosecuting bank robbers, drug dealers and child sex traffickers. She also has private law practice experience representing local technology businesses, internet companies and non-profits. She has been a community leader for many years with much of her work dedicated to advancing the status of women.

Faulconer is hoping that you just won’t remember that the pension scandal occurred under a Republican mayor

By Jim Miller

As we head down the stretch run of the campaign to elect San Diego’s next mayor, Kevin Faulconer’s anti-union hysteria has reached critical mass.

In his latest TV ad a very serious woman’s voice warns us that despite the fact that “We need progress in San Diego,” David Alvarez wants to “take us back to times when union cronies ruled San Diego.” She goes on to warn us that Alvarez is being brought to you by “union bosses” who want “lavish pensions” and “no accountability” while “streets crumble” and “neighborhoods suffer.”

Several years ago, as a new widow, I wrote an article about how lonesome it was to watch the Super Bowl without a companion to discuss it with. I have made it a point from that time on to always be with friends when the biggest game of the season plays. Today was no exception.

As the oldest of my group today, I was interested in the other comments about the commercials and the Half-Time shows. There was quite an age gap between us, and I was curious about their responses. As a group, there was total agreement that the game lacked excitement. Since I was the only one that wanted the Seahawks to win, I found that I had to temper my enthusiasm when the Seahawks scored the safety; when the return man from Seattle ran the ball the length of the football field; when Denver fumbled and the Seahawks recovered – how many times was that? – you get the picture.

“We are not paramilitaries, we are working people and we have helped to liberate our towns. The government or any cartel doesn’t support us.”

By Clayton Conn / Upside Down World

Members of a self-defense group in Paracuaro, Michoacan with federal police.

Over the past several weeks, the national and international press has been swarming in the Mexican state of Michoacán as armed clashes have erupted between members of the Knights Templar drug cartel, armed civilians, and security forces of the federal police and army in the region known as Tierra Caliente.

Much of the coverage depicts a scene where local townspeople, fed up by a decade of cartel threats, extortions, kidnappings, murders, along with corruption by municipal and state authorities, have taken up arms to restore security and peace in their communities.

By Susan Taylor /

Gardening is the new front porch in America. Scratch not too deeply and we all have agricultural roots from someone, somewhere. San Diego is growing veggies in the front yard, the back yard, a community garden or even on someone else’s property. The “new” hot landscaping is called edible landscaping. Take a walk and look around. See any lettuce, chard or grapevines next to the sidewalk, near the front door?

Our parents remember Victory Gardens started during lean times during WWII to help feed families. Our grandparents might have come from another country or our own Mid-West where their families grew crops for sale and for dinner. My grand pap that lived in North Park (he left Pennsylvania for better weather) grew vegetables and roses all year long and was the happier for it. He taught me how to rake, plant and sweep. When Dad bought us a new house in Rolando in 1954, he planted a fruit tree outside everyone’s bedroom window-the easier to eat a fresh peach!