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Hush money
I'm working from memory twenty years on, forgive me if I don't remember everything. The foundation had already been established by Garland Peed, and he'd left the district by the time I was on the board. I don't recall a former student trustee's involvement. I do recall a very slick presentation from the Foundation to the SDCCD board telling of all the wonderful things it would do with the money and how it was all a wonderful benefit to the District. I don't recall any actual benefits being delivered to students. Frankly, my efforts were concentrated on things like returning funding for the libraries to be open on weekends and allowing condoms to be sold on campus, as well as coordinating the school calendar with UC and CSU calendars. I also began working on an idea to give students direct access to a transfer credit database so they'd know for sure which courses to take to get where they wanted to go. (So far as I know, this still doesn't exist.) Please tell me now...I never heard of the final outcome of the Foundation lawsuit. Was the Foundation ordered to return the money? Who paid the costs of the lawyers? I googled it, but didn't find anything right away. Please let me know. Best, Fred— December 1, 2009 11:54 p.m.
San Diego Coalition of Reason
Another jaw dropper! Religion in politics is deadly dangerous: http://www.npr.org/templates/transcript/transcrip…— December 1, 2009 11:46 p.m.
Hush money
A2Z, are you referring to the Foundation suit, the public money put into an entity controlled by the former Chancellor? I was the student rep on the board of trustees during that time. That story never did get out much... And what happened to the well-connected real estate speculators who falsely implied they were agents of the SDCCD and low-balled property owners -- and turned around and sold the lots to the SDCCD for a fat profit? Bonnie Dumanis goes after medical marijuana but ignores this fraud? Uh huh. Nothing new in San Diego, eh?— December 1, 2009 9:07 p.m.
Of Ball and Bus
Political manipulation of arts provokes outraged citizens to revolt...not the sole reason for the revolt, just the last symbolic straw on the camel's back. Don't blame it on the opera. If the opera itself were that shocking to the audiences' sensibilities, it would have gotten the reaction of Stravinsky's Rite of Spring, with the sacrificial ballerina dancing herself to death on stage. Seems like Stravinsky was the Johnny Rotten of his day. His music was described as a "nightmare of noise and eccentricity". Conservative audiences hated it. Today he's revered. Conservatives do tend to oppress culture they dislike. San Diego punk shows in the 80's were frequently shut down by fearful police, nervous the fans might be violent. It's one of the reasons San Diego has never truly developed its potential as a musical scene. So, yes it's true. Even the arts can, very rarely, provoke or serve as an excuse for violence. But we all know that sports provokes this kind of reaction so frequently that most of the time it's not even news. Look at this story. If a rock concert ended with streets blocked, fans blocking the road, half of them wearing black t-shirts with the band's logo...it would be national news. The promoters would be arrested and charged. The band would be banned from playing in neighboring cities. It's tour might be cancelled. But when it's a sports team, which is a travelling entertainment and merchandizing business not unlike U2 or Madonna, the rules are somehow different. They get a free pass. Imagine rioting Madonna fans trashing the city after a winning concert...or, after the big show, Bono thanking Jesus for his victory, while out of control U2 fans overturn police cars. Why the double standard? There's no need to Google "sports riots" because all of us can name a half dozen famous incidents from the top of our heads. Why don't the ones who make a profit selling sports entertainment ever seem to be held responsible for damage their rioting fans cause? If Madonna's fans regularly engaged in drunken fistfights in the stands, battled Brittney's fans in the streets, and demanded public subsidies for her shows...well, we'd all be a bit angry at Madonna, huh? Why aren't we the slightest bit annoyed at the owners of the sports teams? This is public policy, not a question of enjoying music or football. There is an obvious government policy of unequal application of the laws...isn't there? Best, Fred— December 1, 2009 8:16 p.m.
Of Ball and Bus
Never heard of a single riot after an opera, Refried. Or a chess match...or a ballet. Culture doesn't tend to attract violence. Professional sports, as can be seen in the above article where streets were closed, routinely produce public disorder...and worse. There's no comparison. The contrast goes further. Investments in arts tend to make cities wealthier. Investments in sports don't. So who gets the fattest public subsidies today in San Diego? Not the opera or ballet...but professional sports. I think historically the influence of political and religious patronage on the arts has been negative. So I'd like the government out of opera and museums too, even though there's a return on the investment. Government has absolutely NO business wasting public money on sports where the true long term outcomes are mostly negative. The shameful intertwining of the sports and politics scam is a corrupt ploy to win support from the hoi polloi (bread and circuses) while benefiting campaign benefactors. Just keep people distracted with sports and religion. Maybe it helps take away the pain of seeing our country raped. Best, Fred— December 1, 2009 2:13 a.m.
San Diego Coalition of Reason
I may be an agressive atheist, but this guy puts me to shame: http://www.youtube.com/user/patcondell#p/a/u/0/yj… Anyone care to refute this? As he says, after two thousand years of trying to explain itself, all religion offers is sophistry. Still no evidence. And isn't "faith" an ugly little word, promising so much, delivering so little, motivating some of the worst barbarities of history. I am not alone in being willing to condemn the religious as they so eagerly condemn those of us who are neither deluded, nor inclined to give sacharine "respect" to those who are. Time for the world to grow up and stop believing in myths and fairy tales or "tolerating" those who do. If a man is standing on the street corner shouting that black people are inferior because of the curse of Ham, I won't excuse it because it's in some ancient book (look it up!). Nor will I stand by silently when I hear or read someone expounding on the virtues of genital mutilation, no matter how faithfully they believe they're behaving. I'll denounce the idiocy that promotes these harmful traditions and the source of that idiocy...the bible. Really, adults are able to take criticism. The faith based fraud known as religion, from the Adventists to the Zoroastrians, doesn't get near enough of it. If some of the effort -- and above all MONEY -- wasted on worshiping mythical creatures were spent on solving real world problems, we'd all be better off. Best, Fred— December 1, 2009 2:03 a.m.
Hedge Funds Buying Stocks, Wee Folk Selling
The only real question is timing. When it all goes kablooey, and we know it is going to go kablooey, the wealthy and well-connected get another bailout and the small investors another empty bucket. Perhaps, just speculating, the small investors are having to withdraw from the market now to raise the cash that the banks are refusing to lend. If you're about to lose your business bacause of cash flow problems, cashing out your 401k may be your only choice...— November 30, 2009 8:07 p.m.
Of Ball and Bus
Uh, Foster, maybe the Reader doesn't emphasize sports because it's both well-covered elsewhere and it's just NOT important. What is it with alleged adults obsessed with watching athletic young men playing with their oddly deformed balls and patting each other on the butt? Is there anything more homoerotic than watching professional football?— November 30, 2009 7:59 p.m.
San Diego Coalition of Reason
Re: #194, call me Fred. You started off with Swine Flu being the "reason" to finally investigate those weird atheists. That was funny. A good attention getting opening. But it also showed where you were going... "once you’ve agreed that there’s no God, what is left to do? And what’s the point of doing it?" Uh, isn't that a walloping big assumption? Only God gives us purpose? Without God there's no point to life? Maybe we can have rich and fulfulling lives, free from the distractions of weekly group-hypocracy sessions where we're charged 10% of our incomes to engage in "worship" of an imaginary invisible friend who helps football teams and punishes you, Matthew Lickona, for your guilty masturbation. But I digress. Back to the article... We can sum up your main points with "It’s the billboard as secular steeple." Perhaps because you write about churches you simply cannot conceive that the overwhelming majority of non-believers neither need nor want to herd together into an organization. So what do you do? After giving lip service to the "herding cats" metaphore, you interview...wait for it...organizations that claim to represent atheists. Uh huh. As you say, "it’s hard to miss the quasi-religious connotation of 'celebrant'." Exactly. First you mention that atheists don't typically join groups, then you find such groups as do exist, and point out that they're a lot like churches. THEREFORE those who read your article came away with your absolutely bullshyte message...non-believers have to have church, so atheism is just like believing in God...hee, hee, hee. It was a misleading article, but it's understandable since your profession, writing about churches, almost demands such an approach. Perhaps if you'd pay a bit of attention, you'd notice that these actions such as putting up billboards have been spread through the media, particularly online social media. Atheists don't have to congregate in person because we can exchange ideas online. Had you gone to any of those places, even a Flying Spaghetti Monster or Invisible Pink Unicorn site, you'd have found some genuine atheists who have no time or interest for what you described as modern atheism...equating us to frustrated wanna be church goers who are desperately lacking a God to give us guidance in life. In the end though, you should thank me deeply. Have you ever had this much interest in any of your articles? Best, Fred— November 25, 2009 1:05 a.m.
Beer makers want Bernardo Winery's yeasty vats
"I drink beer like most people drink coffee." Hot? With cream and sugar? Ugh...— November 25, 2009 12:42 a.m.