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The Pirates of Chula Vista
Yet another important and timely story Dorian. You are the workhorse of San Diego journalism. I always look forward to your articles. Thanks for the great work you do. Whatever the Reader is paying you, it's not enough. Best, Fred— January 3, 2009 4:58 p.m.
San Diego Home Prices Back to Levels of March '03, Down 36% from '05 Peak
Best headline of the week: "Bullard: Inflation target would aid deflation fight" http://www.reuters.com/article/ousiv/idUSTRE5021Y… ...uh, yeah. So in other words, the Fed right now has no rudder, and is just reacting to news, fighting inflation and deflation simultaneously but succeeding at neither. Ugh.— January 3, 2009 4:47 p.m.
Jeff Moorad, Former Players' Agent, Says He Has Reached Agreement in Principle to Purchase Padres
Re: #10 Storming our Bastille may be the only thing that stops corrupt city leaders from fleecing us with yet another bad stadium deal...I'm sharpening my pitchfork and gathering fuel for torches. If my French Revolution history is correct, the primary catalyst was economic. The French spent their treasury on war, and when famine came to the land common people starved. The clergy and aristocracy was exempt from taxes, so the starving peasants saw their taxes raised. Sound familiar? I wonder when we'll see our own San Cullottes rise up and demand what is rightfully ours. Hopefully, when our Bastille falls, John Moores' head will be prominently displayed at the end of a pike for his roll in the decline and fall of San Diego. He wouldn't be alone. I expect to see Jack McGrory and Steve Peace similarly disembodied, holding neckless conversations with Golding and Murphy, along with the members of the notorious City Council that betrayed us all. But then, I'm an optimist...— January 3, 2009 4:26 p.m.
San Diego City Employees pension fund ailing
100!— January 3, 2009 12:34 p.m.
Jeff Moorad, Former Players' Agent, Says He Has Reached Agreement in Principle to Purchase Padres
So now that Moores is selling the Padres, I guess that makes his record 100%. 100% of his promises have been broken...this is just the latest one, that he was "in it for the long-haul". The truth is that Moores has milked the Padres to bilk the city. They've served their purpose, acting as a front in a real-estate scam where he bribed elected officials to use eminent domain and issue city bonds to his sole benefit. He controls 26 blocks of downtown that we bought for him. Now that he's got his mountain of cash thanks to the taxpayers and fleeced Peregrine investors, he's dumping the team and skipping town. To all the Padres fans who told me I was somehow a bad person for opposing these giveaways, I'm sending out a great big, "told ya so."— January 3, 2009 11:52 a.m.
San Diego Home Prices Back to Levels of March '03, Down 36% from '05 Peak
I bought property in '98. I sold it in 2002 because I thought it was already overvalued. It continued to soar, but I was anticipating a crash so I got out. The crash waited another five years, and got much worse as a result. Until prices are back to 2001 levels (adjusted for inflation), I won't buy again. It's really simple...if incomes cannot keep up with prices, a crash is inevitable. Only when wages recover will we see housing recover. But given the huge disruptions in our economy, and the uneven distribution of wealth in this country, I don't think that's happening any time soon. Look for a stagnant decade in housing. Put your money elsewhere.— January 3, 2009 11:46 a.m.
Chris Cantore and Hilary Chambers leave San Diego Clear Channel stations
I used to listen to radio because it was a free way of getting music. Now I get any music I want on my schedule for free online. So why would I listen to music radio? This is really just another story about disintermediation, the process of technology disrupting old businesses. Just like the buggy-whip manufacturers of old, the deejay is really no longer necessary. Any twelve year old with an I-Pod and some speakers can perform the work of selecting and playing tracks, and the inane chatter between the songs has never been the reason I tuned-in. I met Chris at the Reader party some months back, and I suppose he's a nice guy. But his situation is no different from the thousands of other professionals, from travel agents to typists, who have found their skills usurped and must move on to other fields. The fact that he's high-profile as an entertainer makes him visible, but not unique. Personally, I have fond memories of the late-80's 91X. But thankfully, I no longer have to rely on them finding music on my behalf since I now can easily find it myself. On the other hand, when it comes to news and public affairs, radio fills a niche. It's time-sensitive, so a live show makes sense. Music, by it's nature, is NOT time-sensitive (at least the good stuff). Unfortunately, while radio is very immediate, it does not lend itself to depth or complexity. Listening to Limbaugh or Hedgecock results in large IQ drops because the format itself requires the delivery of simplistic but satisfying non-truths or emotional bombast just to retain interest. Bombastic simplification is the foundation of conservatism, hence radio talk is dominated by neo-con knuckle-draggers. The other side is just too decent and thoughtful to succeed on air. But look at the other non-broadcast mediums and the liberals to moderates are dominant. Text, which requires a higher level of intelligence to process, is the artillery of progressive politics, while talk radio shouting is all the conservatives have left in their arsenal. That leaves me with no reason to listen to radio unless there is absolutely nothing else available...then I'll tune into KPBS because although it's sometimes dull, at least it doesn't insult my intelligence too often, or irritate me with DJ chatter and repetitive advertising for products I'll never buy.— January 3, 2009 11:39 a.m.
Wall Street Journal Puffs Up Sam Wyly, Ignoring Offshore Tax Shenanigans Uncovered by Congressional Investigators
Anon, have you seen the article in the Economist about the world's oceans? http://www.economist.com/opinion/displayStory.cfm… We're in a lot deeper trouble than most realize on this planet. It's an awful parallel to what's happening on Wall Street and right here in San Diego. A few highly placed malefactors rape the rest of us. Then they use the two-tiered justice system (one for the rich, another for the rest of us) to get away with all of their crimes. Look at John Moores. Is there anyone in San Diego who has done more to destroy this town? Yet many locals still think he's some kind of benefactor. Remember, Moores is an alleged Democrat, friend of Jimmy Carter, so it's not only the GOP that's complicit in destroying America from the inside. Is there any reason for optimism now? Not that I see...— January 1, 2009 2:37 p.m.
Pro-football pushing San Diego closer to bankruptcy
We used to save for rainy days... A decade ago 40% of the voters recognized that the ballpark was a bad idea. Yet we're all victims of McGrory and Moores' scheme to put money borrowed from the pension fund into professional sports. The cold shower may take the form of bankruptcy, or worse. We're just beginning to pay for the deals of the past two decades. Without leadership we can only expect more of the same. Yet San Diegans don't seem to much like leaders, because sometimes leaders can be rude. They don't tell us what we want to hear. They make us uncomfortable. So leaders are either never elected in the first place, or are vilified and attacked so ruthlessly that they regret ever opening their mouths. Meanwhile, the very folks who got us into this mess are prancing along enjoying all the trappings of admiration and respect. Term limits isn't the sole cause of this. Even when the bastards are finally out of office, they continue running the show from behind the scenes. Look at Steve Peace and his current gig with Moores, or McGrory and his work for Moores...both of them betrayed San Diego for money, using their positions in office to grease the way. It takes at least a quarter million dollars to wage a credible district-only city council campaign. The system has evolved in favor of those who can bundle contributions like developers and public employee unions. We also know that that division of responsibilities between city, county, and state is baffling to most voters, so they don't know who to hold accountable when things go so very wrong. When the cold shower comes, will it rain on their parade? As the old song goes, "It's a big enough umbrella, but it's always me that ends up getting wet." California is extraordinarily rich...but our wealth has been concentrated in the hands of the very few. They live in their own separate world behind gates and security guards, with their own schools and infrastructure to ensure their safety from the storm. The rest of us can drown. Politics has become a doorway into the pampered world of the elites, and it's the reason people like Peace go to work every day. They are desperate to join the upper-crust and will betray the rest of us to do so. That's what we're paying for. The same kind of ambition and greed that brought down Rome, exemplified with gaudy stadiums, is wrecking out own society.— December 23, 2008 6:51 p.m.
San Diego restaurants giving money to hotel concierges?
Christmas? Xmas? A cheap adaptation of the real thing: Saturnalia! "In Roman times, Bacchus, the god of wine, became the lord of these festivals. During the Bacchanalian festivals the everyday rules were turned topsy-turvy. The masters waited on the servants. All sexual prohibitions were lifted. It was a time of true good will towards all men. Erotic dances were performed with a large erect phallus being carried around in the dancing processionals." http://www.carnaval.com/saturnalia/ I'm skipping Xmas this year...but anyone who wants to attend my traditional Saturnalia party, just drop me a note! Io Saturnalia everyone! Fred "Petronius" Williams— December 22, 2008 11:13 a.m.