Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed
Big Screen — Movie commentary
Blurt — Music's inside track
Booze News — San Diego spirits
Classical Music — Immortal beauty
Classifieds — Free and easy
Close to Home — What it’s like on the street where you live
Cover Stories — Front-page features
Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes
Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts
Feast! — Food & drink reviews
Feature Stories — Local news & stories
Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore
From the Archives — Spotlight on the past
Golden Dreams — Talk of the town
The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it
Letters — Our inbox
Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites
Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans
Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists
Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news
News Ticker — News & politics
Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated
Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna
Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated
Poetry — The old and the new
Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers
Reading — The hunt for intellectuals
Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails
San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds
SD on the QT — Almost factual news
Sheep and Goats — Places of worship
Special Issues — The best of
Street Style — San Diego streets have style
Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves
Theater — On stage in San Diego this week
Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative
Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work
Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego
Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads
Your Week — Daily event picks
Condemned
Great post Brian. Which District 7 candidate is less likely to perpetrate mad-dog Madaffer's malodorous misbehaviors? I guess April Boling, long-time treasurer to just about every Republican in San Diego is a buddy of Diamond Jim. But I've also heard from a reliable source in the media that she has been the one quietly leaking reports on the true financial state of the city, so maybe she's a good egg...just not brave enough to come out and tell the facts in public. Emerald is well known as a television "troubleshooter" and might be able to set things right. But Marti Emerald also wants to subsidize the Chargers (again!) and might not have the financial smarts to see through the bad deals. Who should we support to Change San Diego?— May 23, 2008 11:09 a.m.
We're Not in Kansas Anymore
it herts, too read fumber, though with all the wheatgrass, smoked with a glass TOBACCO peip, I'd also kill to have you're job, though i can right like fumber, though its not ezy, and i donut even get payed Oh, I have to stop. It's fun and easy to make fun of fumber, but I was taught by my mom not to pick on the disabled. Hey Josh, let's all of us crash fumber's next party...we'll find out if he's as much fun in person as he is online. Best, Fred— May 23, 2008 11:02 a.m.
Flooding Puts Damper on Artwalk
Yes, this example of the city's neglect of essential infrastructure turned ArtWalk into ArtWash. Thank CCDC for the long term neglect. The money that used to be invested in infrastructure is diverted into the pockets of developers like John Moores.— May 23, 2008 10:45 a.m.
MAD Gets Irate
LookAway, good job of looking out for the community's interests. These so-called public interest organizations in San Diego inevitably turn into slush funds for the well-connected. They ought to be abolished. Look at how CCDC has betrayed the citizens of San Diego, foisting the high costs of John Moores private ballpork and a disastrous condo-bubble on us all, diverting the tax dollars into the pockets of their friends, and stripping away badly needed infrastructure investments. Yes, they power wash the sidewalks, but underneath the sewers and water pipes are ancient. Little Italy's ArtWalk was flooded, forcing the artists to scramble to save their work but golly those sidewalks and trash cans sure are pretty. The phrase "putting lipstick on a pig" comes to mind. Meanwhile, the homeless population continues to grow, traffic gets worse, while our public transit is expensive, slow, sometimes dangerous, and very poorly designed. Yet the poobahs in charge are well-paid and insulated from any criticism of their many self-serving mistakes. The residents of Golden Hill should be offered a petition to abolish this organization before it wastes any more money. If you like, feel free to use www.changesandiego.org to draft the petition and allow the citizens to comment. Then I'll be willing to help you go door to door and collect signatures. Fred Williams— May 23, 2008 10:39 a.m.
Was Dan Broderick Really a Model of Integrity?
I just read that Mike Neil is the lawyer for Blackwater and will be suing the City of San Diego on their behalf. "Model of Integrity"? Nope.— May 23, 2008 9:20 a.m.
AG's Report Clearing Sanders Is a Joke, as Expected. Here's Some Advice: Follow the Money
One of my favorite songs from the 80's: "California Uber Alles" I am Governor Jerry Brown My aura smiles And never frowns Soon I will be president... Carter Power will soon go away I will be Fuhrer one day I will command all of you Your kids will meditate in school Your kids will meditate in school! [Chorus:] California Uber Alles California Uber Alles Uber Alles California Uber Alles California Zen fascists will control you 100% natural You will jog for the master race And always wear the happy face Close your eyes, can't happen here Big Bro' on white horse is near The hippies won't come back you say Mellow out or you will pay Mellow out or you will pay! [Chorus] Now it is 1984 Knock-knock at your front door It's the suede/denim secret police They have come for your uncool niece Come quietly to the camp You'd look nice as a drawstring lamp Don't you worry, it's only a shower For your clothes here's a pretty flower. DIE on organic poison gas Serpent's egg's already hatched You will croak, you little clown When you mess with President Brown When you mess with President Brown [Chorus]— May 23, 2008 9:09 a.m.
NFL Owners Opt Out of Players' Union Contract. There Could Be No 2011 Season. Chargers Less Likely To Leave
It's not only SDSU that loses bundles year after year on football. The San Diego Community College District also wastes money on football and baseball. Years ago, I had a friend who attended Mesa College as a football star, transfered to Utah State, and was so good that he spent three years as a professional in the NFL. He was one of the very, very, very rare few who actually saw his dream come true. His career was average, ending with injuries like most professional football players. A few years later, he was scrounging for any kind of work. His biggest problem was that he couldn't read or write. I helped him fill out some job applications, but he was qualified for nothing, and barely able to walk without excruciating pain. His NFL salary was long-gone, along with the fancy car and new clothes. He still loved football, but he hated the NFL, the players union, and the owners of the teams with a passion. Last I heard from him, I loaned him enough money for a bus ticket to his father's place in Texas. This is what happens to the lucky ones. Just think of all the "student athletes" who waste their one opportunity for an education because they spend their time in the sports apartheid system, insulated from the real world, passed by compliant professors even when they are obviously unable to do even basic academic work. They end up having attended college, but having learned nothing of value to the real world. They only know football, and cannot even perform basic tasks. How many former players are now homeless? Games are great...for children. When it becomes the sole focus of alleged adults, society is in trouble. Even if a few (very few) schools make a bit of money on sports, they should stop. It's morally wrong to cheat young people of their education in this way. For the cash-strapped community colleges to waste money on semi-pro sports is a scandal that should be stopped.— May 23, 2008 9:06 a.m.
Governments' Pension Numbers Often Meaningless. Actuaries Cave to Pressure, Says New York Times, Citing San Diego
Fortunately, most of the people I talk to when I'm knocking on voters' doors in the neighborhoods understand just what is happening. There are very few "fumbers" out there, but a lot of pissed off citizens who realize they've been lied to for ages by the corrupt establishment in San Diego. What is encouraging is that even with the deliberate Sainz slanders and outright lies told about Aguirre, the people aren't fooled at all. They know what's going on. They know that we're in bad shape and Aguirre is one of the very few honest people left downtown. It's only the barely literate blustering fools who cannot even form coherent written paragraphs and rant about wheatgrass who believe otherwise. Best, Fred Williams— May 23, 2008 8:52 a.m.
AG Jerry Brown Claims He Didn't Know San Diego Has an Upcoming Election. Is Brown Staggeringly Stupid or Does He Think San Diegans Are Staggeringly Stupid?
Uh huh, former Governor Brown, son of former Governor Brown, didn't realize there is an election in a few weeks. Pull the other one. * Why does he completely ignore Tom Story's illegal lobbying? * Why does he ignore Sanders' well-known criminal obstruction of justice when he and the police chief refused to honor a search warrant? * Why does he, in turn, then include an unverified accusation of a serious criminal act from the well-documented liar Fred Sainz? * Why didn't anyone sign the report? Cover up doesn't begin to describe this blatantly political report that was designed to influence the election and whitewash over the truth. The culture of corruption is thriving not only in San Diego, but in the California Attorney General's office too.— May 23, 2008 8:44 a.m.
How San Diego's pension debt ballooned
Hi Just Wondering, I do hope you're correct that our greatness is before us...but not with Sanders in office. A little known but documented fact is that Jack McGrory personally hand selected Sanders for the job of police chief. Sanders himself said so on a televised interview when he left the job to go to the United Way. In other words, the architect of our current woes, disgraced former city manager Jack McGrory, will NEVER be investigated so long as Sanders is protecting him. Neither with fellow Republicans Golding and Murphy ever face up to their misdeeds that have nearly bankrupted us. As for Sanders deserving credit for "setting us on the right path", I just don't buy it. Instead of repudiating the corrupt deals of the past, he has set them in stone. Aguirre may be the world's biggest jerk, but at least he's been trying to do something about the corruption. He's been blocked at every step by the Mayor and his henchment, including the liar-for-hire Fred Sainz. John Moores continues to buy current and former politicians and use them to advance his agenda. Now Steve Peace is on his payroll, taking dirty money looted from the city and Peregrine investors. The Chargers whine they need yet another bailout from the city, in spite of the fact that the Spanos family is one of the richest in the nation and they ALREADY got more than a hundred million from us, in addition to the notorious McGrory crafted ticket-guarantee. So, while I admire your optimism, I think it's misguided. Nothing has changed. If you'd like to write more about your point of view, though, please add to www.changesandiego.org. Best, Fred— May 22, 2008 9:19 a.m.