Author: Source

By Colleen O’Connor

If you are reading this column, you will “bigly” appreciate the best Christmas gift ever. A book.

Not just any book, but one that draws you into the joys of the season, the thrill of holding a new pages containing amazing mysteries and adventures inside; and the ability to share it so it lives on, past anyone’s lifespan.

In short, a treasure. A genuine heirloom. And a timely antidote for any complaints.

The Gifts of Reading is an engrossing collection of short essays by some of the world’s finest and most celebrated writers. Their international prizes won are too long to list here.

By Mat Wahlstrom

Tomorrow marks the 55th anniversary of one of the most important grand jury reports in California history, of which you may have never heard.

“Zoning Study Report & Recommendations“ was the result of an investigation into pay-for-play allegations against a developer and the Los Angeles city council and planning department to obtain favorable upzoning, or increasing density incompatible with existing purposes, despite concerns by every other agency as to the adverse affects.

You probably won’t be shocked to hear it was initiated by a complaint from citizens concerned about parks or that the rezoning at issue would have allowed construction of a sports arena in protected open space.

But you may be surprised to learn that it resulted in criminal prosecutions for bribery and conspiracy, significant reforms of the zoning approval process, and the preservation of that open space to this day.

From the Appeal

Right-wingers and ultranationalists convened in San Diego and Pacific Beach days after the Washington insurrection, but the police crackdown that day fell on counterprotesters.

At least five people involved in the Capitol rally on Jan. 6 attended a violent pro-Trump “Patriot March” in San Diego just three days after the democracy-shaking event. But police declared an unlawful assembly that only applied to anti-fascist counterprotesters.

By Jeff Butts / The Mac Observer / December 8, 2021

Even though AT&T and Verizon have agreed to limit transmission power on their C-Band 5G transmitters, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is still worried. The agency is so concerned it is restricting low-visibility landings at airports near the 5G towers.

Concerns Regarding 5G Towers Interfering with Radio Altimeters

In poor visibility, pilots often rely on radio altimeters to tell them how high in the air they are flying. FAA officials worry that the increase in 5G mid-band radio traffic could interfere with that equipment. The frequencies used for these 5G towers aren’t the same as radio altimeters, but regulators still worry about interference.

By David Garrick / San Diego Union-Tribune / Dec. 8, 2021

A city proposal to ban new drive-thru restaurants near mass transit in San Diego is facing strong opposition from the restaurant industry and some community leaders.

Supporters say the plan would be a logical and necessary step as San Diego strives to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by encouraging people to give up their cars in favor of public transit, cycling and walking.

Drive-thru restaurants, they say, encourage people to use their cars and trucks and make it more dangerous to walk and bike,

By Kevin Reichard / Arena Digest / Dec. 5, 2021

Oak View Group is out and new investors with ties to the NBA’s Sacramento Kings are now in, as five groups seek city approval of the affordable-housing and San Diego arena project.

It’s been quite the journey in the San Diego arena project, what with one false start and a redo of the bid project to include affordable housing to meet state guidelines. So, in keeping with the tumultuous nature of the process, it’s no surprise that the final bids–which were due Friday [December 3]–included some last-minute changes. (We’ve previously covered other bids for the 48-acre site; check it out.)

In the biggest change, venue giant Oak View Group is out. An original plan for the Midway Village+ group included a housing plan from Toll Brothers and a climate-neutral arena from Oak View Group, which has certainly been the most active player in arena development recently.

No Trees, No Parking, No Set-Backs, and No Affordable Rental Units:
By Paul Krueger

The listing boasts of the “incredible income opportunity for an investor” on a “tree lined street in the historic district of Talmadge” at 4754-4756 Madison Avenue.

For $2.4 million you can buy your own four-bedroom/four-bath “mini-dorm” with adjoining two-story, four-bedroom, two-bath “accessory dwelling unit”. But this “incredible opportunity” for speculators and absentee landlords is, more importantly — the latest example of the pressing need to sensibly revise San Diego’s building and development codes.

Kate Callen, a longtime North Park activist, performed a study of bicycle use along the contentious 30th Street corridor and its new bike lanes. She found that the fears and predictions of opponents of the bikepath project are true: there is less business and local residents are having a difficult time finding parking.

Callen took a careful count from security video of bike lane riders (bikes, scooters, skateboards) on the 3400 block of 30th Street during peak commuting times, between 7 a.m. and 9 a.m. and from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. Monday, Oct. 4 through Friday, Oct. 8. Over the course of those 20 hours, the average number of riders per peak commuting hour was 16.

By K-B Gressitt / Blog / December 5, 2021

At 18, I had an IUD. One day, mid-coitus, my partner yelped. An embryo had spurned the device. Ouch.

Mother took me to the hospital, then brought me home, tucked me in, and fed me sweet and savory support.

At 19, I tried being a party girl. Didn’t like it. Or the host who climbed on top and fucked my barely conscious body.

I took myself to Planned Parenthood, raged in humiliated silence, swore a life of celibacy.

By Thomas Ultican / Tultican / November 30, 2021

Nancy MacLean’s amazing book Democracy in Chains documents Charles Koch’s anti-democratic and anti-public education agenda plus his relationship with Nobel Prize winning economist James Buchanan (Democracy in Chains page 184).

She quotes Buchanan speaking about their shared libertarian agenda, “The project must aim toward the practical removal of the sacrosanct assigned to majority rule.” MacLean writes of Buchanan, “The collective enemy he was constructing included nearly everyone in education except academic economists” (Democracy in Chains page 119).

By Mike James / Facebook / Dec. 6, 2021

Proud of the legacy my brothers and I have created in Ocean Beach. It has also been a lot of fun. I had a blast announcing the parade again this past Saturday.

Next Saturday I will once again be an auctioneer to raise money for the O.B. Food and Toy Drive.

There is a change of venue and date this year for the first time in 42 years. Plus the format will be quite a departure from previous auctions. It will start at 6 pm Saturday December 11th at The Holding Company. Previously it was the Thursday before the parade at the Sunshine Company Saloon. It will be sad to no longer be at the Sunshine where it has been held since 1980.