Month: November 2016

Via UrbDeZine

By Mario Torero, Brent Beltrán, and Bill Adams / UrbDeZine

Barrio Logan is little known to most San Diegans – beyond being a predominantly Mexican-American neighborhood near downtown. Yet it is one of San Diego’s most historically significant and culturally important neighborhoods.

In particular, it has national prominence for its role in the Chicano / Mexican-American civil rights movement. However, more than a Chicano historic asset, the neighborhood and it’s history stands as a monument to the resilience and survival of the nation’s minority and working class populations in the face of assaults and exploitation by the overwhelming power of the state and business interests.

In particular, many ethnic working-class urban neighborhoods across the country were destroyed or severely damaged by en masse relocation of their residents to build freeways and other neighborhood-destroying and suburb serving facilities.

By Micaela Porte

I imagine he is managed by many smart women,
Because I never hear him mention any particular opinion,
Except that he’s In Favor and that All is Well,
Then to hand the floor over to
Accompanying Security Personnel.

Mr.Faulconer, Mayor Faulconer,
Pleasant manners and he looks good in pink,
And in a sort of yacht club think,
And sort of like Marie Antoinette once,
His economic strategy is :
“Let them eat in restaurants.”

Opponents of Measure J on the San Diego ballot are rallying today, Tuesday, November 1st, at Mission Bay. Opponents include former City Councilmember Ed Harris, the Surfrider Foundation, the Pacific Beach Town Council, and the Pacific Beach Planning Group.

From the group’s press release, they state:

The proposed measure is a terrible idea for both the public and the City of San Diego.

The lack of community involvement, the proponents lack of disclosure of its full implications, the reallocation of Mission Bay Park commercial lease revenue, and the City Council’s ability to add contiguous park acreage to Mission Pay Park, and therefore open the door to more commercial development, makes voting “No” on Measure J an easy choice.

By Michael Steinberg / Black Rain Press

Hurricane Matthew Imperils US Nukes As It Threatens Millions

Hurricane Matthew, which brought death and destruction from Haiti to the Carolinas in October, also had an impact on a number of aged nuclear facilities in the US. There are no nuclear plants in Haiti, Cuba or the Bahamas, which suffered the worst of the hurricane’s wrath.

On October 4, as Matthew approached Florida, Florida Power & Light, the electrical utility that runs the St. Lucie nuke plant in the southeast part of the state, declared an “unusual event” at the plant.

On a scale of 1 to 5, an Unusual Event is a 1, with the worst such nuclear plant emergency being mandatory evacuation.

By South OB Girl

There is a lot of discussion these days about climate change. Global warming. Carbon emissions. The Climate Action Plan. You no doubt have friends talking about going electric, or who are proud owners and drivers of electric vehicles. Or friends or family members who devoutly bike everywhere. You may know some folks too who use public transportation.

The majority of San Diegans are dissatisfied with public transportation. San Diegans prefer cars — it’s our way of life. Not necessarily across the board — many satisfied bus riders in OB take the 923 bus downtown for work and are quite satisfied — doing work, reading, or playing games on their bus ride. Many people do use public transportation and are satisfied. But we have by no means reached an efficiency of public transportation comparable to New York City, San Francisco, Berlin, or many other large cities.

By Ernie McCray

I’m thinking that our present times are not serving our children well. I mean, as I look at what’s going on in our society it seems as though we are all caught up in an atmosphere of lunacy wherein we have pretty much thrown our hands in the air like we just don’t care and kissed our way of life goodbye.

The saddest part of all this to me is our children are watching our madness, as only they know how: closely.

And they’ve got be as confused as they can be as they observe so many “grownups” going along with the program of a real live frightening bogeyman-like human being who crash landed in our midst and evolved, like a curse in an episode of the Twilight Zone, into a candidate for the highest office in our land.

By Herman Baca / Committee on Chicano Rights

It was with a sad & heavy heart that we heard of the passing of beloved; Ramon “Chunky” Sanchez. To Isabel Sanchez, the entire Sanchez/Enrique families our deepest & most sincere condolences from the Committee on Chicano Rights, Chicano/Mexicano/Latino community, and my family.

I first met Chunky in the early 1970’s at SD State at a rally where Chunky was a student. At the time both of us were doing what we were to do for the next 45 years, Chunky playing & singing (then with La Rondalla Amerinda, later with Los Alacranes Mojados) & I speaking. We hit it right off, since the both of us were from two small rural agricultural communities, Chunky from Blythe, CA & I from Los Lentes, New Mexico.