Author: Source

By Herman Baca, President – Committee on Chicano Rights / January 20, 2012

In Mexico they call it what it is, “Corruption, La Mordida.” In the U.S. especially in San Diego County they call it, “Campaign Contributions.”

District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis is the most anti-Mexican District Attorney in SD County’s history, a Republican with a political agenda, running for Mayor of San Diego. Dumanis has a long history of criminalizing, profiling, and defaming persons of Mexican ancestry (i.e. Chula Vista Councilman Steve Castenada), and entire Mexican communities such as Old Town National City.

“Old Town National City (OTNC) gangs, which has prowled National City streets since World War II and whose members, in some cases go back four generations in the same family, etc.”

By Gail Powell

D.A. DUMANIS, once dis-invited from the City College campus due to students irate over her perceived mishandling of the Diana Gonzalez murder case, has turned up again at a San Diego school.

This time, the Republican mayoral candidate managed to weasel herself into a class at Point Loma High School, alma mata of a number of people at the OB Rag including this author. Dumanis spoke in Room 301, according to the Point Loma High School Daily Bulletin, on Wednesday, January 11th from 12:30-1:30 with teacher Palmiotto hosting.

This bit of campaigning disguised as a school visit did not sit well with some parents. @Bonnie Dumanis on Twitter actually posted a picture of this adventure and it claimed, according to the caption, that Bonnie Dumanis was there to “meet with students at Pt. Loma High School and discuss her ‘Blueprint for America’s Finest Schools.’ http://twitpic.com/89b2nf

Editor: Our Councilman Kevin Faulconer joined with County Supervisor Greg Cox to cut the ribbon today, opening – officially – the new Ocean Beach Gateway Park. Here’s the Press Release from Faulconer’s office:

NEWS RELEASE

Office of San Diego City Councilman Kevin Faulconer

Ocean Beach Unveils Gateway as Unique as its Community

Park designed to feature “O.B.” character; funded by donations and grants

SAN DIEGO — Today, Council President Pro Tem Kevin L. Faulconer and County Supervisor Greg Cox joined Ocean Beach residents to cut the ribbon on the first phase of the Ocean Beach Gateway Park. The grand opening is the culmination of 15 years of planning and fundraising by local leaders and the non-profit Ocean Beach Community Development Corporation.

“The Ocean Beach Gateway Park is a beautiful entrance to the neighborhood, designed by the Ocean Beach community, for the Ocean Beach community,” said Faulconer. “I am proud to have collaborated with Ocean Beach residents to bring the vision of a coastal, pedestrian-friendly park to life.”

By Marcela Salas Cassani / La Prensa / Originally published Jan. 13, 2012

La Prensa Ed.’s Note: Desinformemonos.org, an “autonomous, global communications project” and sister organization to the Americas Program, covers grassroots movements throughout the world and the ideas and aspirations behind them. Its team has been in San Cristobal de las Casas, Chiapas reporting on an international seminar there to commemorate and reflect on the 18th anniversary of the Zapatista uprising. In collaboration with Desinformemonos, the Americas program presents this summary in English of their coverage of the event.

Hundreds of activists and academics from around the world gathered at the International Seminar “Planet Earth: Anti-Systemic Movements” to discuss the importance of the 1994 Zapatista uprising on its 18th anniversary. In the context of the popular insurrections that have emerged this year across the globe, the seminar held from Dec. 30 to Jan. 2 in San Cristobal de las Casas, Chiapas, Mexico, concluded, with Portuguese sociologist Boavent-ura de Sousa Santos, that seen in retrospect Zapatista influence has been so strong that “one cannot view the left or the struggle against capitalism without this point of reference.”

By Pauline Repard / U-T San Diego / Jan. 19, 2012

San Diego police arrested a freelance news videographer last week after they said he interfered with officers while filming a rescue along the San Diego River.

Edward Baier of Point Loma, who sells breaking news and sports footage to television stations, was jailed Jan. 14 on six counts of interfering or resisting officers. His camera gear was impounded.

He posted bail, which was set at $30,000, and was released early the next morning.

by Lucas O’Connor / Two Cathedrals / Jan. 19, 2012

In 2007, massive wildfires swept through San Diego, destroying more than 1,000 homes and hundreds of other structures. Investigation into the cause of the Witch Creek fire found that SDG&E power lines were largely responsible for starting the second-largest wildfire in California’s history. The thing is, SDG&E’s insurance only covered $1 billion in damages, and it now looks as though SDG&E practices are leading to fire settlements totaling at least $2 billion.

On Sunday, January 22, 2012, the Radical Feminists of Occupy San Diego are hosting the Roe v. Wade Anniversary Abortion and Reproductive Rights Rally, March, and Speak-Out.

A rally with speakers will be held from 1-1:30 in the Civic Center Plaza (or Freedom Plaza – nicknamed by Occupy San Diego), followed by a march downtown and an open-mic speakout.

The event is to commemorate the 38th anniversary of the landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision, Roe v. Wade, which legalized abortion on a federal level in 1973, and to protest the many restrictions on abortion rights and access.

by Ralph Lopez / truthout / January 19, 2012

It’s a quid pro quo. Only the most gullible rube ready to buy swampland in Florida could think otherwise. The citizen’s watchdog MAPlight.org found that congressmen who voted for TARP, the “Troubled Assets Relief Program,” received nearly 50 percent more in campaign contributions from the financial services industry (an average of about $149,000) than congressmen who voted no.

And House Energy and Commerce Committee members who voted yes on an amendment in 2009 favored by the forest products industry, to allow heavier cutting of trees, received an average of $25,745 from the forestry and paper products industry. This was ten times more than each member voting no. The pattern repeats itself over and over, ditto for why wars go on when polls show most of the population is against them.

By Lorena Gonzalez

Local elections rarely matter to the rest of the state. We all are facing so many challenges in our own regions, that paying attention to another part of the state is often just an after-thought. But, once in a while, there is a local politician with such dangerous beliefs, tactics and immense corporate backing, that it warrants statewide attention. Such is the case in San Diego today.

I came of age as a young San Diegan at the same time Pete Wilson left our City Hall to become a U.S. senator, and then governor of California. And, as harmful and antagonistic as a Governor Pete Wilson was, he was mild compared to Carl DeMaio, one of four high-profile candidates vying for San Diego’s top spot this June.

Editor: This could be the end to the current version of SOPA, as the White House has announced that it opposes major portions of it and its companion bill. And leaders of Congress are promising to shelve it. …

White House Says It Opposes Parts of Two Antipiracy Bills

By Edward Wyatt / New York Times / Originally pub. Jan 14, 2012

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration said Saturday that it strongly opposed central elements of two Congressional efforts to enforce copyrights on the Internet, …(More inside …)

Controversial online piracy bill shelved until ‘consensus’ is found

By Brendan Sasso / The Hill / Originally pub. Jan. 14, 2012

House Oversight Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) said early Saturday morning that Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) promised him the House will not vote on the controversial Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) unless there is consensus on the bill.

(More inside.)

SDG&E wants to impose a new fee (aka TAX) on homeowners, schools, businesses, and others with rooftop solar. This is a shameless effort by this investor-owned utility to increase profits and control renewable energy sources. It would be devastating to the local clean energy industry and jobs. Because of increased costs, public entities, like school and water districts, would have to make further cuts to essential services. Homeowners who bought solar systems they could afford would be stuck with higher bills. We need policies to shift us toward clean energy and a sustainable planet, not away from it.

Join us this Wednesday to say “No, you can’t take my sunshine away!”

WHEN: Wednesday, January 18, 11:45 am – 1:00 pm

WHERE: SDG&E Energy Innovation Center , 4760 Clairemont Mesa Blvd

By Marjorie Cohn / ZNet / Januay 16, 2012

Travelers to Cuba and music lovers are familiar with the song “Guantanamera”— literally, the girl from Guantánamo. With lyrics by José Martí, the father of Cuban independence, Guantanamera is probably the most widely known Cuban song.

But Guantánamo is even more famous now for its U.S. military prison. Where “Guantanamera” is a powerful expression of the beauty of Cuba, “Gitmo” has become a powerful symbol of human rights violations—so much so that Amnesty International described it as “the gulag of our times.”

That description can be traced to January 2002, when the base received its first 20 prisoners in shackles. General Richard B. Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, warned they were “very dangerous people who would gnaw hydraulic lines in the back of a C-17 to bring it down.” We now know that a large portion of the 750 plus men and boys held there posed no threat to the United States. In fact, only five percent were captured by the United States; most were picked up by the Northern Alliance, Pakistani intelligence officers, or tribal warlords, and many were sold for cash bounties.