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GOLDEN EAGLES’ NUMBERS PLUMMET, NEW STUDIES REVEAL

“Wind farms are the main cause. The issuing of license to kill will accelerate the decline toward extinction.”

—Save the Eagles International

By Miriam Raftery/ East County Magazine Special Report / January 6, 2012

San Diego County’s 48 pairs of nesting golden eagles and even rarer bald eagles could be in peril if proposed industrial-scale wind farms are built. In a press release issued today, Save the Eagles International (STEI) issued a dire warning, providing detailed documentation proving that golden eagles and their nests are disappearing rapidly near wind farms across the U.S.

The group also blasted the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service for changing its mission from protecting wildlife to “catering to the interests of an industry” that is a “ruinous one to boot.”

Eagle killed by wind turbineAlthough the studies focused on golden eagles, if no major action is taken, wind turbines’ razor-sharp blades will also threaten the existence of other species, STEI predicts.

LRAD Corporation Says Sales Of Sonic Blaster Are Booming

10News.com / January 3, 2012

Business is booming for a San Diego company that is making its presence felt – and heard – at protests, including the “Occupy” movement.

The LRAD, or long-range acoustic device, is the creation of the LRAD Corporation, which is based in Carmel Mountain and employs about 40 employees. The device was initially used the military on ships and vehicles to issue warnings. Now, the LRAD is being used by law enforcement during “Occupy” protests.

Recent Police Crackdowns Mirror Infamous San Diego 1912 Free Speech Fight

January 2012 named “Free-Speech Month”

100 years after the San Diego City Council infamously suppressed free speech in downtown San Diego, Occupy San Diego will commemorate this historic event by naming January 2012 as “Free-Speech Month,” and by proposing a ballot measure to amend the City’s municipal code to improve the respect of free speech in San Diego. This amendment will create an explicit exception to the current encroachment law (SDMC 54.0110) to allow for “peaceful picketing, lawful labor activities and peaceful political activities.”

“As San Diego gears up to commemorate the now infamous Free Speech Fights of 1912, Occupy San Diego will present the San Diego City Council with the choice to protect free speech or to repeat the mistakes of a hundred years ago and continue to allow the arrest and imprisonment of peaceful citizens exercising their First Amendment rights in San Diego,” said Martha Sullivan, an active San Diego community volunteer and supporter of Occupy San Diego.

By William Gagan / Special to the OB Rag

A parade that was originally founded by a group of social and economic magnates in the late 1800’s, was for the first time in history, occupied by protesters speaking out against large corporations and big banks early Monday. They were members of local Occupy Wall Street groups from southern California and neighboring states. Some even came from as far away as New York and Atlanta.

They came together to form what was a sizable but inspiring tail section to the notorious Rose Bowl Parade. The goal behind joining the parade was to bring the Occupy Wall Street movement cause to almost 40 million television viewers nationally. The City of Pasadena had negotiated with organizers of the event to allow them to march behind the last float in the parade.

San Diego Events Set to Commemorate Historic Struggle That Resonates Today With Clamp-down on the Occupy San Diego Movement

From San Diego Free Speech Fight

January 2012 is the 100-year anniversary of the San Diego Free Speech Fight, one of the most important moments in the history of the city of San Diego.

During the winter and spring of 1912, members of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) and their allies in labor and the community engaged in a pitched battle against a city ordinance that banned public speaking in the area around 5th and E Streets in downtown San Diego.

Editor: Yes, President Obama signed the notorious National Defense Authorization Act on New Year’s Eve day. Happy New Year everyone! And as promised, the White House released his “Signing Statement” on the bill, which we repost in its entirety (see especially the sections in bold with our emphasis):

From the White House

Statement by the President on H.R. 1540

Today I have signed into law H.R. 1540, the “National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012.” I have signed the Act chiefly because it authorizes funding for the defense of the United States and its interests abroad, crucial services for service members and their families, …

2011 marked a banner year in the Republican war on women’s health.

By Tanya Somanader / ThinkProgress / December 27, 2011

2011 marked a banner year in the Republican war on woman’s health. Close to 1,000 anti-abortion bills sped through state legislatures as the GOP-led House led a “comprehensive and radical assault” on a federal level. But in surveying their arsenal this year, 10 bills stood out as particularly perturbing and far-reaching efforts to stymie women’s access to abortion services, birth control, and vital health services like breast cancer screenings. Here are ThinkProgress’s nominations for the most extreme attacks on a woman’s right to choose:

• Redefining Rape: Last May, every House Republican and 16 anti-choice Democrats passed H.R. 3, the No Taxpayer Funding For Abortion Act. Anti-choice activists Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) tried to narrow the definition of rape to “forcible rape,” which meant that women who say no but do not physically fight off the assault; women who are drugged or verbally threatened and raped;
  

In response to constant police surveillance, violence, and arrests, Occupy Wall Street protesters and legal observers have been turning their cameras back on the police.

By Noel Sharkey and Sarah Knuckey / AlterNet / December 22, 2011

The police may soon be watching you in your garden picking your vegetables or your bottom. As police plans for increasing unmanned aerial surveillance take shape, there is a new twist. Private citizens can now buy their own surveillance drones to watch the police.

This week in New York, Occupy Wall Street protesters have a new toy to help them expose potentially dubious actions of the New York police department. In response to constant police surveillance, police violence and thousands of arrests, Occupy Wall Street protesters and legal observers have been turning their cameras back on the police. But police have sometimes made filming difficult through physical obstruction and “frozen zones”. This occurred most notably during the eviction of protesters from Zuccotti Park in lower Manhattan, where police prevented even credentialed journalists from entering.

By Bernie Sanders / RSN – Green Mountain Daily / December 30, 2011

The year 2011 has been a tough one for Vermont and our country. The recession caused by the greed, recklessness and illegal behavior of Wall Street continues. While Vermont is doing better economically than much of the country, too many of our friends and neighbors are unemployed or underemployed or are earning less than they need to adequately support their families.

Further, in Vermont we have had to deal with the devastation of Hurricane Irene, which caused so much hardship for individuals and businesses. We should all be grateful for the efforts of state and local officials, first responders, the many hundreds of volunteers, and members of the National Guard who all did such an extraordinary job in the cleanup and recovery effort.

Editor: With this California Supreme Court ruling, San Diego’s ruling elites find that they now have to come up with a different revenue source to fund any downtown stadium for the Chargers other than public redevelopment monies. Check out long-time San Diego architectural expert and observer Roger Showley’s latest piece (Showley: Point Loma High Class of 1966).

By Roger Showley / SignOnSanDiego / December 29, 2011

The California Supreme Court ruled Thursday against redevelopment agencies, including San Diego’s, and said they cannot remain in business by paying the state a portion of their property tax receipts.

The ruling, affecting some 400 redevelopment agencies statewide, throws into doubt many projects, including the proposed Chargers Stadium downtown and the Padres’ minor league baseball stadium in Escondido.

Across the country, state legislatures and governors are pushing laws that seek to restrict access to the voting booth.

By Amy Goodman / AlterNet / December 28, 2011

All eyes are on Iowa this week, as the hodgepodge field of Republican contenders gallivants across that farm state seeking a win, or at least “momentum,” in the campaign for the party’s presidential nomination. But behind the scenes, a battle is being waged by Republicans—not against each other, but against American voters. Across the country, state legislatures and governors are pushing laws that seek to restrict access to the voting booth, laws that will disproportionately harm people of color, low-income people, and young and elderly voters.

By Gail Powell / Special to the OB Rag

The ASA Medical Cannabis Rally and March came to life on the beautifully sunny Ocean Beach afternoon of Monday, December 26th. Like just about everything else in our berg, the event was spontaneous, mellow, yet very productive. Despite the hovering presence of “The Man” hanging out across Abbott Street in front of the Ocean Beach Hotel, people were at ease and yet vocal about what they perceive as the wrongs being committed against medicinal marijuana patients and the dispensaries by the feds and various city officials.

As the ASA Facebook event page states:

“the federal government has begun a crackdown on legitimate medical marijuana patients, caregivers, and providers. In San Diego alone as a result of Federal threats, hundreds of safe access locations have been shut down causing legitimate patients to go without their doctor recommended medicine.”

The bold actions of the Ocean Beach social activists got the word out to the community and first up with a Bob Filner for Mayor collared shirt and a confident way with a bullhorn was Democratic congressman and 2012 Mayoral candidate Bob Filner.