Category: San Diego

By Rocky Neptun

Next March will mark the 57th anniversary of Anne Frank’s death. Branded an illegal alien of the occupied Netherlands because she was Jewish; she and her young friends had to hide in fear of the black-shirted fiends known as the Protective Squad (Schutzstaffel) or SS as it was commonly called.

Roaming through neighborhoods they were the enforcers of ethnic purification. Their unspeakable atrocities against human beings in the name of the law still lacerate our sense of humanity. And while the ends of their sickening purposes still surface occasionally in places like the Sudan, Rwanda and Bosnia; their means continue to be used as weapons against targeted peoples like today’s Department of Homeland Security thugs.

This is the question. People who frequent the national cemetery out at Ft. Rosecrans are reporting that someone is cutting down the trees. And some of these people are not happy at all.

There is a rumor that the new director out there feels they must be chopped down due to dangers caused by the rain-soaked grounds.

My First and Last Article for the Union Tribune

by Katherine Sweetman / It was in the U-T until pulled / Nov. 8, 2010

An Introduction/ Resignation (A Small Gesture)

In an effort to step up the appearance of supporting the visual arts, The Union Tribune has graciously offered a handful of artists, scholars, and arts professionals the opportunity to write for them– requiring only one blog post per week (52 per year). And the pay? Oh… no pay.

Arts are very important to the Union Tribune but… so is money.

CalTrans wants to expand I-5 along a 27 mile stretch of freeway between La Jolla and Oceanside. They want to add 8 to 10 new lanes, plus more HOV lanes. They want to pour more concrete to allow for more vehicles in order to shave dozens of minutes off the average commute at peak times. It will only cost between $3.4 and $4.5 Billions, depending on which of the four options are chosen.

The new freeway expansion would potentially cause damage to only six coastal lagoons, only a mere 32 acres of wetlands and a pittance of 74 acres of coastal sage.

By Rocky Neptun

About forty activists, mostly Democrats, gathered last week for breakfast at the office of the San Diego Foundation for Change to lick their wounds, investigate what went wrong and listen to an exciting presentation on possible future progressive election victories.

Lamenting the Republican gains in the mid-term elections, participants, ranging from the chair of the San Diego Democratic Club to the editor of Indian Voices to church groups, power liberals all, spoke of their despair over what many saw as a conservative turn to the electorate.

By Colleen Dietzel

I attended Tom Hayden’s talk on Thursday with the rest of the mostly over 50’s crowd to hear his take on the depressing results of the election.

He was somewhat comforting with his wit and that not all the outcomes were bad. California elected Jerry Brown and possibly Kamala Harris for attorney general. He reminded us of the important work Jerry Brown did as past governor in promoting alternative energy. As with any politician Jerry Brown is not perfect but he will move us forward in the area of green jobs and alternative energy.

By Greg Bledsoe / NBCSanDiego.com / November 6, 2010

Just like its 85-year-old roller coaster, Belmont Park has had its ups and downs.

“When I took it over it was half empty and there were drugs and gangs, and it was bad,” says Tom Lochtefeld, owner of the company that operates most of Belmont Park.

Lochtefeld says the city asked him to take over the lease on the park back in 2002 when it was in need of a redevelopment. He says he spent $12 million repairing and adding onto the park.

By Joe Howard Crews / The Progressive Post

The deadly red TEA tide swept across America Tuesday, drowning many progressive leaders and fortresses – but New England on the East Coast, and California on the “Left Coast” survived.

As the largest, strongest and best positioned fortress for progress, California must rearm quickly to build for the future, to show the rest of the nation the wisdom of “Government of the people, by the people and for the people.” We are now America’s best hope. Let’s do it!

The incident the other night at Election Central at Golden Hall where defeated tea bagger Nick Popaditch and his supporters corralled, harassed, and shoved the winner of the Congressional race Bob Filner up against a column, has not been covered by the mainstream media. Except for the OB Rag, the San Diego CityBeat, and the Chula Vista Starnews, San Diego and national press have ignored this violent and anti-Semitic incident against a sitting member of the US House of Representatives. (The OB Rag – with the help of CityBeat and others – broke this story.)

The story also has even more ugliness and a deep undertone of white supremacy. …

I wanted to share something with our readers about extremist views and how they manifest themselves in everyday life.

And I don’t want to appear to be picking on Nick Popaditch – the recently defeated Tea Party candidate who lost to Bob Filner in the 51st Congressional District. Just because he and his supporters engaged in some anti-Semitic shoving and violence at Election Central the other night does not mean that Popaditch himself is against nature.

By: Herman Baca /Committee on Chicano Rights

Another election has come and the 2010 elections are finally over. After a landslide victory in 2008 President Barack Obama, and the Democratic Party lost the House of Representatives, numerous congressional, governorships and almost the U.S. Senate. Principal reason for the defeat was the economic downturn, caused by the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. For the burgeoning Chicano community …

Following in the spirit of Doug Porter’s efforts to find the silver linings in the dark clouds that enveloped the nation on Election Day, I perused the U-T this morning and went over the numbers. I wanted to find the goodies in the slack bag of ‘trick or treat’ candy we were handed on Tuesday.