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I found Bigfoot above the San Diego River headwaters
Uh, where to start? 1. Wouldn't the big toe be splayed outward if it were made by a creature that walks upright? Where's the little toe? 2. Wouldn't it require that the rock be sedimentary for such an imprint to be made? Granite is an igneous intrusive rock, crystallized at depth. So for an impression to be made in granite would require a creature that steps into hot lava...underground. 3. Wouldn't a "creationist" have to cite scripture first? I don't recall the biblical passage that goes, "Yea, verily, did the big footed one feel the wrath of the lord." I guess I should compliment the author for his honesty. "I won’t look to science to validate the find. Because seeing is believing." Just yesterday I was cooking french toast...lo and behold, I saw the Virgin Mary on the first piece. The second piece showed Jesus on the cross. And the third piece revealed an alien holding a rectal probe. I've stopped cooking french toast...but the devine apparitions kept coming. I looked at Google Maps, and what do you think I saw right in the middle of the city? That's right, a major road intersection shaped just like a cross! To clear my head, I went out for lunch and ordered the pasta special...you guessed it, right on my plate I saw the Flying Spaghetti Monster! I have an press conference next week to reveal my findings to the world media. I'm hoping for a multi-million dollar book contract, and have already lined up interviews with noted scientist Sarah Palin on Fox News. See you on television! (I'll be the small man inside the screen. You can't miss me.)— January 13, 2010 7:31 p.m.
I never thought I'd become a welfare queen
Andreas, congratulations on "escaping" from "City Frights". You write in 4 languages? Wow! I can speak a few languages myself, with varying degrees of fluency, but I only claim to write in English, my mother tongue. What I've learned over the years of living and working in Europe and Asia is that speaking a lot of languages doesn't make you smart. It just means you've taken time to learn other languages. No matter how many tongues are used to express an opinion, it's the opinion itself that has to be examined. I thought your opinion was clear, if unexamined. I pointed out the absurdity of what you wrote. Sorry if I misunderstood you, but that's how online discussions go. I have absolutely no way of knowing anything about your experience, as you clearly have no clue about my own. I only responded to what you wrote. As you point out, it's clear that the author considers all this below her dignity. To have to mix with the unwashed masses is clearly distressing to her. And to be addressed in such a manner..."Oh, I think I have the vapors. Someone catch me!" Yet I appreciated the candor of her revealing her ugly inner thoughts. She does a good job of capturing what it's like to confront the reality of being in need, after a lifetime of thinking one is above all that. She also showed how the "public servants" act more like "masters" of the unfortunates who are expected to beg for their benefits. I took the opportunity to expose that mentality by dissecting the comments of those who attack the messenger, unpleasant though you and I may find her, instead of thinking about how we got into this mess where the very benefits you and I pay for are then capriciously granted or denied according to arcane and confusing procedures created by those who have been motivated out of callous disregard rather than compassion...our County Board of Supervisors. I honestly think that accepting public benefits, money that you've already paid into the system for just such an emergency, is NOTHING TO BE ASHAMED OF. The stigma of poverty in the country I love is unjustified. Frankly, you and I both know the system is rigged. The wallstreet fraudsters strut about, proud of their "accomplishments", while sneering at those who never had a chance in life. You and I are not so unusual after all. Lots of people make the jump from poverty to middle class. And when we've done so, we have a duty to remember where we came from. But not with shame...with deep pride at what we've done. If things out of our control cause us to slip back down that ladder, we shouldn't have to endure the additional indignity of enduring the scorn of those who are hired by the public to administer public benefits. I think the author brought to light how it feels to slip like this. The critics, especially those who are "public servants" who then wrote so inarticulately about how she ought to be contrite deserve all the contempt we can offer.— January 13, 2010 6:59 p.m.
San Diego, like U.S., sees 2 percent growth
A2Z, are you calling me one of San Diego's best and brightest? *I blush* The power of the prison-industrial complex is well-known to insiders. If I'm not mistaken, they're the top political campaign contributors in the state. This explains their fat salaries, continued expansion of jails, advocacy for longer sentencing, and so on... I won't be listening to the State of the City address. I don't have to hear the toilet flushing to know that the crap is spiralling down the pipes... A2Z knows that I've been following this stuff for over two decades, and I've met a lot of the people running this town. I was offered the chance to join them...and turned it down. I'd rather turn tricks on El Cajon Blvd than prostitute myself politically. As a result, I don't have the money or power of the clowns downtown, but at least I have my dignity and self-respect...and the freedom to tell the truth about what's really going on in San Diego.— January 13, 2010 6:11 p.m.
Divorce on steroids
A few months ago, I saw a report that City Auditor Luna would conduct an investigation in SDPD steroid abuse. Since then, silence... Other departments around the country report that cops commonly use steroids. SDPD, right next to the biggest suppliers of steroids in Tijuana, claims none of their officers would ever do such a naughty thing. But they don't test for it, willfully turning a blind eye. When you see one of San Diego's finest, with arms so huge they have to have specially tailored uniforms, and read reports of them being eager to administer a beat down at the slightest provocation, it's easy to see there's a problem in America's Finest City as well. As the Mark McGuire case shows, when it walks like a gorilla, talks like a gorilla, acts like a gorilla...it's steroids. How ironic that some of the same cops busting in to arrest medical marijuana patients are certainly popping 'roids.— January 13, 2010 6:02 p.m.
I never thought I'd become a welfare queen
Andreas, are you seriously saying that one's level of humility is dictated by their address? So if you're born poor, you should just bow your head and take whatever you get with gratitude? But if you're born rich, it's perfectly okay to sneer at whoever you like? You also seem to be saying that the rich have more integrity than the poor. I'm sure this explains why the Wall Street crowd deserves fat bonuses this year, and the University Avenue crowd deserve...what? Kicks in the head? So, Andreas, in summary your position is that those who live in "ghettos" ought to be humble...otherwise they'll never get out of the hole their in. Just accept the fact that they're poor and useless to society...it's the only way out, huh? Andreas, do you think before you write?— January 12, 2010 8:48 p.m.
San Diego, like U.S., sees 2 percent growth
The license plate story is old hat. It just adds to the how public sector "employees" get more pay, benefits, golden pensions, and are nearly impossible to fire. The worst news is the fact that these same pampered incompetents are now a major political force, openly demanding that politicians grant them additional special privilages, gaming the system, influencing elections and legislation, practically putting themselves above the law. And at this point, they've so entrenched themselves and their cronies in positions of power that it's beyond the power of democracy to do anything about it. No amount of money or votes can challenge this cabal which takes our money to run our lives while making themselves exempt from oversight. It's not just oligarchy, or kleptocracy...I'm not even sure there is a word for it. Yet simultaneously they convince gullible (and often ill-educated) reporters that they are underpaid and overworked and oh-so-valiant to take a lowly public sector job... Really, really disgusting.— January 12, 2010 8:15 p.m.
San Diego, like U.S., sees 2 percent growth
Regarding public/private sector pay/benefits, a fresh article at Reason magazine lays out the sad facts. Class War: How public servants became our public masters http://reason.com/archives/2010/01/12/class-war— January 12, 2010 10:37 a.m.
Hobnobbing at the Hob Nob
SDaniels...no! You've committed a Godwin! Aaargh! :-)— January 10, 2010 8:15 a.m.
Culture vulture
That poor boy, Alex Spanos. I think we should all give him hundreds of millions of dollars, even if it means we've got to live on the streets and pick foi gras out of his garbage cans. How can he hold his head high with his friends when he's only a billionaire...time to give him whatever pennies might be left over in the bankrupt city's coffers. Thanks for the story, Matt. We can only hope that Hubris is eventually followed by Nemesis.— January 10, 2010 12:17 a.m.
San Diego, like U.S., sees 2 percent growth
Response to #26: Don, I wish I could share your certainty. But economic history has plenty of examples of large unexpected falls. A few decades ago, nobody expected to see the Iron Curtain fall so dramatically and suddenly -- or to see Japan enter two decades of stagnation. You're probably right. American probably won't suddenly drop into "third world" status overnight. Yet it is a distinct possibility that we can see our economic prospects become dire, with the already huge gap between rich and poor made even wider. This could lead to the kind of social unrest that either prompts reform -- or tyrany. Economic historians like Niall Ferguson share this view. It's scary, and we'd rather not face up to it, but the alternative to reforming our system now is having it reformed by force (and not necessarily for the better) in the future. I walked precincts in 2008 campaigning for change. I was hopeful that democracy had worked, and we'd see some reforms. But in the last year, I've seen nothing to keep me hopeful. I'm deeply afraid of what the future holds for the country I love.— January 10, 2010 12:12 a.m.