Author: Anna Daniels

For those of us who read the news and analysis of the news online, it is not uncommon to find a correction appended to an article or some part of the original text struck through, but still visible, with a modification following it. Online material is uniquely adaptable to quick corrections and updates in the interests of getting a story “right.”

Removing a story, scrubbing it from the site’s archives and replacing it with a completely new version is a jaw dropping breach of journalistic integrity and responsibility. The U-T did precisely that when it wrote that it had “moved” an article written by Wendy Fry on July 25 about the presence of paid “activists” at a series of Chula Vista city council meetings in which rent control in mobile home parks was being deliberated.

Author’s note 7/30/10: The link in the article below no longer goes to the original U-T article upon which I based this post (see the reposted article at Tenants Together). I’ll let you all decide whether the new article is an “update” or a “correction,” because in many ways it is a whole different animal.

While the sturm und drang of the debt ceiling debate drowns out the howls of distress of the American public going down with the ship, we are being treated to an equally diversionary coverage of the significant women’s issue of the day. Did someone say douche? I didn’t say douche but someone said douche.

In the past weeks, American citizens have made it known in countless polls that they don’t want anyone to mess with their Social Security, their Medicare or Medicaid. And the majority of us have also said that it is about time to make the wealthiest among us to pay their fair share of taxes.

So why are we enmeshed in a months long debate about the friggin debt ceiling, which in the words of Jefferson Airplane, doesn’t mean shit to a tree (or the citizenry)?

Seven years ago today I was sitting on the tarmac in Los Angeles waiting for my plane to take off. I had booked a red eye flight to San Juan Puerto Rico, where I would spend the month studying bomba, a popular dance form, and immersing myself in all things Puerto Rican.

I was traveling post 9/11, meaning that the country was on alert this particular 4th of July for possible terrorist attacks. The thought gave me pause as I imagined my fellow countrymen and women gathered at cookouts, watching parades, and celebrating a national holiday. I also imagined myself, a tiny creature, strapped inside a relatively small metal object flying across the continent and then out to sea for the next seven hours of my life.

Imagine my surprise when I found out earlier this week on the Rachel Maddow show that Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney registered his domicile for voting purposes as the unfinished basement of his son’s Massachusetts home, a few blocks from the home that the Romney’s sold earlier. She went on to say that Romney also has a home in La Jolla, which is a community of San Diego, and a cabin in New Hampshire. Her guest Fred Karger, who didn’t make the Republican cut for the New Hampshire debate last week, maintains that Romney hasn’t really been living in his son’s basement but rather in La Jolla for the past couple of years and may have committed voter fraud in the Massachusetts election of 2010.

I read the HEADLINES this morning that Anthony Weiner has resigned from his House seat. Thank goodness that “distraction” is now over and the Dems can resume their laser focus on creating jobs-hopefully in this country; protecting Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid; and continuing their unwavering support for working people. Democrats have purged their party of a lying jackass who is admired for his fiery policy positions by progressives but not so much by his congressional colleagues. Their moral compass has been reset– to campaigning and fund raising 24/7 and I’m sure it’s going to be nothing but distraction free sailing to November 2012.

I’ve attended many rallies and protests at downtown San Diego’s City Hall, but never have I attended one with so much sizzle. Sexuality was the issue– predominately, but not exclusively female sexuality. As Patty Jones has noted here the message was “yes means yes and no means no.” Participants were as unequivocal about everything that the “yes means yes” part implies as they were unequivocal about the “no means no” part. “Yes” put the sizzle in Slutwalk and it was a deeply sensual and life affirming “yes.” That is probably why Slutwalk was not only empowering and thought provoking but also a whole lotta fun.

Finding Information for Senior Citizens

Obecians and beyond- I need your help! A few weeks ago a close friend of mine asked about medical marijuana dispensaries in the Hillcrest area. I pointed out a dispensary on University Avenue, not far from where we attend our weekly Buddhist meditation. I also tore out the back pages of the Reader which provide a pretty comprehensive list of locations and handed them to her.

It is budget season and we are treated to the parry and thrust, parry and thrust between the city council and our strong mayor. Back in April, Mayor Sanders proposed to rip 7.4 million dollars out of the library budget, keeping our branch libraries open 18.5 hours per week and laying off over 70 full-time library staff members.

The countdown to rapture has begun. Should I wear my trousers rolled? Do I dare to eat a peach? Nah. Better make a cake!

See the full article to view the video

It appears that there are sufficient city council votes to veto the mayor’s library budget proposal. There is also a commitment to identify funding sources to cover the 7.2 million dollars needed to maintain current library hours, services and staff. That is good news!

Most of the council discussion at this point is about the other sources of money that can be potentially tapped. The office of Independent Budget Analysis (IBA) identified 15 million dollars of on going revenue.