Author: Source

By OB Joe

Hey y’all! Hi ya’all doin’? You made it through the week – cowabunga dude!

Doug Porter couldn’t write up his First Cuppa Coffee this morning cause he’s been ill. So, once again Editordude calls me at the last moment to fill in. I told him that Doug usually has a theme to his column and I can’t do that. He says not to worry. So, here ya go – a bunch of newsclips that were lining my bathroom wall:

Chris’ Deli almost robbed early this (Friday) morning. One of the workers at the Deli, located at the corner of West Point Loma Blvd and Sunset Cliffs Blvd, walked in early only to find two guys trying to break into the store’s safe. He told investigators that one of the guys pointed a handgun at him, so he took off. But he watched what happened from a safe distance. He saw the guys then place a sledgehammer and a gray trash can into the bed of an older dark pickup with a California license plate. They both had on white bandanas and hooded zip-up sweatshirts, one orange and the other yellow. Oh, btw, the first U-T version of the attempted theft called Chris’ Deli, “the Princess Deli and Liquor”.

What a rip! Thanks a lot Carquest Auto Parts! SDGLN.com reports that Golden State Supply, doing business as CARQUEST Auto Parts stores in the San Diego area, has agreed to pay a $242,715 judgment after being accused of charging customers more than the advertised or posted price on items when they were scanned at check-out counters. In addition, inspectors observed in eight stores that the cash registers failed to display the price of items where the consumer could see the display, which is a violation of state law.

by Emilie Astolat

Breasts. It wasn’t too long ago that I told my 10-year-old stepdaughter she had to wear a different shirt because I could see details of her breasts beneath the one she had on.

I’m not sure when she started maturing sexually, but it’s definitely happening. Technically, according to all the books, they’re only buds. But the idea of her actually having them is so foreign they might as well be balloons.

For her birthday recently, I got her a book called The Care and Keeping of You: The Body Book for Girls by Valorie Lee Schaefer. As the name implies, it describes and illustrates various bodily developments and what to do about each one.

By Linda Greenhouse / The New York Times – RSN / February 23, 2012

Is there really a chance that the Supreme Court might reconsider Citizens United?

A week ago, I wouldn’t have thought so, and I still think it’s an extreme long shot. But a provocative statement last Friday by Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen G. Breyer makes this crazy idea worth pondering – which is undoubtedly what the two justices intended.

From Ocean Beach Mainstreet Association / Feb. 21, 2012

The Ocean Beach Woman’s Club has been a “Hub of Activity” in Ocean Beach for eighty-eight years. The majority of the club’s history from 1924 to 1937 has been lost from the official records. The information that we do have comes from historians and newspaper articles of the time. On September 21, 1997 the building sustained major fire damage. Again much of the club’s records and history was lost or damaged by the fire. It is gratifying that the sons and daughters of old time members are finding and presenting the club with memorabilia of the club in years past.

The Ocean Beach Woman’s Club was founded on November 24, 1924, and is one of the oldest civic groups in San Diego. Forty five charter members are listed as having signed the charter. Many of the club’s charter members were married to the Chamber of Commerce men, so the women had long been involved in public affairs. Records indicate that the club was a member of the National Federation of Women’s Clubs prior to 1936. The club was organized with a Constitution, Bylaws, and its first Board of Directors on January 12, 1925.

By Dirty DeMaio/ February 21, 2012

One of Carl DeMaio’s favorite claims on the campaign trail is that government doesn’t create jobs. We’ve noted previously that DeMaio can actually thank government for every job he’s ever had, but is he also looking to have government create jobs for his campaign contributors?

After he didn’t back down from a statement that he “owes” his supporters, DeMaio assured the audience at a mayoral debate in January that “we have not had any contract process where I’m awarding a contract.” But as we noted last month, that’s not entirely accurate:
(see inside)

Editor: The following is the text that was handed out by the Save the Bill of Rights coalition on February 11th at their rally in front of the State Democrats’ Convention at the Convention Center in downtown San Diego.

REPEAL THE NDAA – The National Defense Authorization Act of 2012

During last December, both the US Senate and the House of Representatives passed this Act and President Obama signed it into law on December 31, 2011. It is now the law of the land.

The Act includes provisions that would allow for the indefinite detention of American citizens without any recourse to legal interventions or civil rights if accused of a “belligerent act” or any terror-related offense.

These provisions mean that anyone of us – or any group of us – could be imprisoned without arraignment, without access to a lawyer, without access to habeas corpus, without a jury trial, without due process – without the protection of the Bill of Rights, our basic, fundamental rights as citizens.

By Robert Reich / Robert Reich’s Blog – RSN / February 21, 2012

Nothing drives voter sentiment like the price of gas – now averaging $3.56 a gallon, up 30 cents from the start of the year. It’s already hit $4 in some places. The last time gas topped $4 was 2008.

And nothing energizes Republicans like rising energy prices. Last week House Speaker John Boehner told Republicans to take advantage of voters’ looming anger over prices at the pump. On Thursday House Republicans passed a bill to expand offshore drilling and force the White House to issue a permit for the Keystone XL pipeline. The tumult prompted the Interior Department to announce on Friday expanded oil exploration in the Arctic.

If prices at the pump continue to rise, expect more gas wars.

In fact, oil prices are rising for three reasons – none of which has to do with offshore drilling or the XL pipeline.

By Jed Sanders / Nug Magazine / Originally published Jan. 6, 2012

Mario Acevedo Torero pushes art beyond the level of a tangible commodity and employs it to build community, beautify surroundings, enrich lives, and encourage understanding. Born in Lima, Peru in 1947, Mario was introduced to the arts at a very young age by his father, renowned artist Guillermo Acevedo. His family came to the United States when Mario was 12 years old.

He established Downtown San Diego’s first art gallery along with his father, which later became the first multicultural arts center. He later opened Acevedo Gallery in Mission Hills, which operated throughout the ‘80s and ‘90s. His public art can be seen in numerous places locally, including Chicano Park, various spots around the Boulevard, and UCSD in La Jolla. He has also created public works throughout other cities in the United States as well as internationally in Peru, Japan, Costa Rica, Barcelona, and Czechoslovakia.

Mario is a self-proclaimed “Artivist”; a term that is very fitting to his visionary and warrior-like persona. He has founded, and is active, in many art, cultural, and politically related groups and organizations. He gives his time and knowledge to teach painting to people of all ages through his Cosmic School of Art. Mario also currently operates the Mundo Gallery in University Heights.

By Kit-Bacon Gressitt / Excuse Me, I’m Writing / Feb. 19, 2012

I first saw The Vagina Monologues in 1998. One of my sisters bought tickets for the women in the family while I was back east for a visit from California. We trundled off to Manhattan to see playwright Eve Ensler perform her one-woman show at an off-Broadway theater. It was a stunning celebration of things down there, one that stunned my then 70-something mother into silence, which was a first and, perhaps, a function of her Depression era Southern upbringing. The rest of us cheered all the way home. The play was, as the title indicates, a lot of talk about vaginas. Or, more accurately, about vulvas, labia and clitorises, pubic hair and orgasms, and the grand diversity of women and girls who possess them — with varying degrees of familiarity.

By Joel A. Harrison, PhD, MPH / East County Magazine / Feb. 17, 2012

“If we had free market competition, SDG&E would have to absorb the costs of the fire. Quite simply, if they raised their rates, consumers would switch to other providers.”

Sempra-owned utility San Diego Gas & Electric wants “San Diego-area utility customers to pay for nearly all of an estimated $463 million in cost not covered by insurance from the catastrophic 2007 wildfires that were triggered in large part by its power lines,” the San Diego Union-Tribune reported. “At stake is who ultimately pays for the fire’s destruction — ratepayers or shareholders.” SDG&E wants the ratepayers to cover 95 to 100 percent of excess wildfire and related litigation costs.

Twelve years ago, California deregulated utility and energy companies based on the promise that free market forces, i.e. competition, would lead to an expansion of available energy, better quality service, and lower prices–the age-old mantra of free-market advocates. Instead we saw exponentially increasing costs with industry contrived rolling brown-outs and black-outs. We saw the greed of an unregulated industry almost single-handedly destroy the economy of an entire State. Finally, the State partially re-regulated by giving authority to the California Public Utility Commission to oversee rate increases.

By OB Joe

All right, kids – time to face the new week. The weekend is over and … but wait – THIS JUST IN: It’s a national holiday today … for some – The Presidents’ Day. Okay, time to figure out if you still need to go somewhere or do something for this holiday to dead presidents. Unfortunately most working people – who have jobs – do not have this day off, and still went to that job this morning. Post offices are closed, as are banks, some schools. So, ya still have time to light up and ponder what you’ve missed. Here, let us help … here is a light for you:

Stephen Colbert returns Monday night! Looks like he was caring for his 91 year old mom. A fresh “The Colbert Report” will be shown on Comedy Central. There was no official explanation on Wednesday, when production was abruptly halted. Repeats of “The Colbert Report” were shown Wednesday and Thursday; the show doesn’t tape on Fridays. Plus, there was no formal statement but the network confirmed Colbert’s return. People close to Mr. Colbert were quoted as saying that that he was caring for his 91-year-old mother, but that was not confirmed. Colbert responded to fans’ well wishes on Twitter on Friday night: “My family and I would like to thank everyone who has offered their thoughts and prayers,” Colbert wrote. “We are grateful and touched by your concern.”