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Port of San Diego makes wild proposal for Tenth Avenue terminal
VP hopeful Palin and San Diego both want to drill, baby, drill. Palin, who's daughter knows what it means to get drilled, on entering office as Mayor of a suburb immediately drilled the local librarian on how to remove "objectionable" books. Similarly, here in San Diego, where our library system is increasingly inadequate, we're not presented with "objectionable" material in the first place. When we get drilled, we're told it's true love. Perhaps if Uber Conservative Palin had allowed her girl to read about safe sex and contraceptives, instead smirking along to the failed faith-based "abstinence education", her daughter's drilling might not have had such newsworthy consequences. On San Diego's waterfront, The 10th Avenue Job Destruction Initiative ought to be read by every voter. Penetrating this dark hole of deception requires repeated thrusts and perhaps alcoholic lubrication before you drill down to the ugly bits. Better wear a condom, rubber gloves, and a gas mask to protect yourself. If we pass this 10th Avenue Jobs Destruction Initiative in November, we'll all be pregnant with regret. Knowledge is the best prevention for unwanted embarrassments. How shall we educate the voters on this misleading initiative? Fred— September 4, 2008 10:31 a.m.
Extremism in the defense of politics
San Diego's representatives are polarized, but not its citizens. Whether conservative or liberal, when I'm talking to voters while canvassing precincts door to door, the same topic comes up...corruption. Any candidate who is willing to stand up to the entrenched downtown insiders has a good chance of getting into office this year. We're all disgusted with how many of our city representatives, of every political persuasion, have sold out to greed. Regardless of their party affiliation, we need new blood in San Diego...the network of self-interested political prostitutes has been running things too long. Talk to your neighbors, and discuss who you think is best placed to end the culture of corruption in San Diego. We cannot delay, deny, and deceive anymore.— September 3, 2008 4:19 p.m.
Port of San Diego makes wild proposal for Tenth Avenue terminal
"Hoax" is exactly the word to describe this misleading initiative. If this one passes, San Diego should declare immediate bankruptcy. With crooks like these running our downtown, it's doomed.— September 3, 2008 4:05 p.m.
Marriage vows
Barbarella, can you post the date/time of the No on H8 event? Thanks, Fred "Straight White Male" Williams— September 3, 2008 4:02 p.m.
Blogging keeps you from being hired and gets you fired
Talk about a "chilling effect". Can't write now, have to go find and delete every post I've made on www.sdreader.com— September 3, 2008 3:58 p.m.
Schmooze and Partake
I met with Augie a number of times when he was Dean of Student Services. At the time, I was serving as the student representative on the Community College Board of Trustees (89-90). The students pushed for synchronizing semester schedules with other schools, but the administrators refused to make any change. Augie was hand picked by former Trustee (and disgraced Mayor Hedgecock aide) Evonne Shultze to become Chancellor, the same as with Constance Carroll. I don't believe the district has been best-served by either of them. In 1994, when I ran for a full seat on the board, I advocated arming campus police. This angered Gallego and the teachers union, who claimed I was alarmist and that campus police should never be armed when classes were in session. Then came Columbine. I also advocated for a district-wide transfer credit database that would be used by students who wanted to see if their courses would count at another college in the state. This was vehemently opposed by the teacher's union. Today, just like a decade ago, SDCCD students still expend their time, effort and hard-earned money taking classes that will never transfer. The district administrators and union flunkies don't care because they get paid regardless. The recent scandal over the insider profits for well-connected land developers at the expense of the Community Colleges remains as a blemish on the reputation of the District. It's surprising that this important public institution is so far below the radar in San Diego. Even in 1989, we were fending off the religious extremists who wanted to ban the selling of condoms on campus. Even installing the first ATM at Mesa College proved controversial, when City College students complained they didn't get one first and that this was somehow elitist. I learned the hard way that if you dare stand up in San Diego, you'd better be prepared for a few slaps along the way. I got to know a lot of the elected officials around this town, and found them to be an awfully mediocre and timid bunch. This is why they'll only go out on a limb when they know they'll be personally rewarded. Observing some of these insiders up-close has led to the evolution of my own views on what goes on in San Diego. Best, Fred— September 3, 2008 10:24 a.m.
Local Newsweek Correspondent Pleads to Chargers: "Don't Bolt!"
Charger fans masquerading as the media thwart intelligent discussion of sports subsidies. Too many hack writers dream of being sports reporters, hanging with the players in the locker room and getting free passes to the big game. Lacking the talent and connections to land that work, they end up as stringers in out of the way cities. Still they indulge their sports fetish, falling for every lie served by the franchise. This results in highly biased reporting. It's a religious faith, unquestioning, unthinking, and always based on misplaced trust in magical powers rather than any objective examination of the evidence. The result of this delusion can be seen in Reno's misplaced blame. He thinks it's the fault of the city that we won't roll over and give the wealthy Spanos family yet ANOTHER huge gift of public funds. Reno needs to step away from his televised fantasy world and have a look at the city around him. Look at how we have been deceived, cheated, and abused by the Chargers. They honestly believe that somehow we all owe them a living, whether we choose to watch their entertainment spectacle or not. No intelligent observer can think this is fair or just. When such deluded sports fanatics as Reno put aside their sense of equity and any sense of history or factual analysis to blindly root for their favored team, regardless of the consequences, they really ought to be fired for journalistic misconduct. Best, Fred Williams— September 3, 2008 9:24 a.m.
From Trashy to Classy
One more point, and I'll stop. Working while going to school (something I did myself) is NOT always a good idea. Here's a study that shows why: http://cat.inist.fr/?aModele=afficheN&cpsidt=4609… "....taking on a job for more than 20 hr per week further disengages youngsters from school, increases delinquency and drug use, furthers autonomy from parents, and diminishes self-reliance." The intertwined justifications for paying extra for the clean-up crew, summed up as "self-esteem through work leading to academic success", ought to be questioned. The self-esteem movement is a shibboleth of the left, while the "arbeit macht frei" mantra is chanted by the right. Both are ideological rather than evidence-based approaches to addressing social problems. When expending so much public money, we ought to be more thoughtful as to what we accept as justification for paying extra. Again, thank you Golden for your questions and observations. I'm pleased to see interest and concern about how we use our resources in the community. Discussions like this, and your involvement in these issues, can only lead to improved outcomes in the future. Best, Fred— September 3, 2008 7:07 a.m.
From Trashy to Classy
Golden, I'm glad you have given more details on the contract. If, as you say, the contract includes additional services to the trash pick-up and weeding, then it may well be worth a quarter million dollars. If, as you say, this was the lowest conforming bid, and if the oversight committee actually had the opportunity to examine this bid before it was accepted, then the price tag might be reasonable. Still, I must ask if other bids were received (or sought). Was the request for bids written in such a way that only ONE provider could possibly meet the conditions? This is a common trick in San Diego, and frequently results in higher costs. Regardless, I'll repeat the observation that the city is already obligated to provide these services. Is Golden Hill paying twice? If so, why? As to whether self-esteem increases school performance, there's evidence to suggest otherwise. As a teacher, I know that students who are full of confidence often fail to study sufficiently, and under perform compared to students who aren't so sure of themselves. It's genuine achievement that creates positive self image, not the other way around. Here's one of the studies: http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/118855… "The modest correlations between self-esteem and school performance do not indicate that high self-esteem leads to good performance. Instead, high self-esteem is partly the result of good school performance. Efforts to boost the self-esteem of pupils have not been shown to improve academic performance and may sometimes be counterproductive. Job performance in adults is sometimes related to self-esteem, although the correlations vary widely, and the direction of causality has not been established. Occupational success may boost self-esteem rather than the reverse. Alternatively, self-esteem may be helpful only in some job contexts. Laboratory studies have generally failed to find that self-esteem causes good task performance, with the important exception that high self-esteem facilitates persistence after failure."— September 3, 2008 6:54 a.m.
Booty
Thinking up a song for the council today: Today's reappointment, is a disappointment, Please don't renew these men's terms! The stench at CCDC's Enough to make me queasy Please don't renew these men's terms! CCDC, SEDC Each has got a Board But do they work for San Diego Oh Lord! Renewed to 2011 That just stinks to heaven Please don't renew these men's terms! Today's reappointment is a disappointment, Please don't renew these men's terms!— September 2, 2008 8:07 a.m.