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Snakebite while hiking near Sierra San Pedro Martir
I haven't read anything this bizarre for many years. Fools rush in, unfortunately...and I'm sorry for the person who lost his life because of the snakebite. Strange happenings in the wilderness—and who can say what members of the party heard that night? Beware the peninsular mountains; and never assume, despite their wonders, that you are in a friendly environment.— September 27, 2019 8:55 p.m.
City to pay illegally detained San Diego couple $450K
Dumbass cops! The woman was trying to call the real cops to straighten this mess out. How ironic.— December 12, 2013 10:54 p.m.
Worker payroll deductions fuel Qualcomm's corporate PAC
Dude, your photo of that yellow-eyed dog chewing on a stuffed toy tells us that you are one tough customer. However, since you seem to be mystified about Prop 32, here are some comments from leading newspapers around the state: "...a fraud to end all frauds" - *LA Times* “…dripping with cynicism” – *Sacramento Bee* “…a phony veneer of fairness…one-sided and biased” – *Long Beach Press Telegram* "...would magnify the influence of wealthy interests while shutting out many middle-class voters" - *San Jose Mercury News* "...a deceptive sham...would make a bad system worse" - *Contra Costa Times* and again from Los Angeles: “…would just expand unaccountable independent expenditure committees, the super-PACs” – *LA Times* Incidentally, the primary financial backers appear to be retired CEOs and millionaires associated with the completely right-wing Lincoln Club of Orange County. You're either working for the Man (see also Troll) or a misinformed participant in this discussion (see also Idiot). Either way, it's immaterial, as Prop 32 will go down in flames in November, just like Prop 23 did two years ago. Adios, muchacho.— September 25, 2012 4:42 p.m.
Public Records Suggest Southwestern College Used Public Funds Frivolously
Concerning the editorial excerpt from #98: That came from La Prensa San Diego, which is published by Daniel Muñoz, Jr. Unfortunately, he is not the man his father was; Muñoz Sr. started the paper in the 1970s to give Hispanics a voice, and to support worthwhile causes, especially those of working people. His son, however, gladly accepts contributions from the construction industry and appears to have not the slightest interest in the problems currently being experienced by faculty and staff at Southwestern College. "Don't blame the Bored, waaahhh!" "It's all Norma Hernandez's fault, that wicked thing!" "See, other colleges have those problems too! Told ya!" Well, Mr. Muñoz, or Mr. Bender (or whoever wrote that mealy-mouthed screed), for your information, of the three colleges mentioned (Palomar, Grossmont, and College of the Redwoods), as of August 2010, only Palomar was continued on Warning. Grossmont and College of the Redwoods have been returned to fully accredited status, and for some time, too. It would help if these people were to check the facts, but as we all know, that's not likely to happen. Between their public pronouncements (sometimes printed on expensive, glossy paper) and the trolls they hire to muddy the waters online, I don't know what to think sometimes. Incidentally, truthhurtsright and refriedgringo are absolute idiots. In my opinion, that is...wouldn't wanna hurt anybody's feelings by suggesting that they lack integrity or anything. :-) But, I verified it by going to this link and entering their information: http://www.abcarcade.com/the-idiot-test.html— November 1, 2010 10:53 p.m.
Public Records Suggest Southwestern College Used Public Funds Frivolously
This is typical of the greedy, unethical mentality that permeates the Governing Bored (with the exception of Nick Aguilar) and the all-new, lockstepping administration). About a year ago, employees in a number of important positions (Outreach, Fundraising, P.R., Arts Coordinator, etc.) were unceremoniously dismissed and replaced with party-line hacks who would unquestioningly do the bidding of Kommandant Chopra, who in turn owed fealty to the board which had hired him. Interestingly, each of those employees had more experience than the so-called president of the college and his freshly appointed vassals put together. Chopra is a puppet who cowered in his office last autumn during the free speech demonstration which resulted in the suspension of four faculty members, and then ran like a scared rabbit (first stopping, of course, to sign the declaration of martial law proffered him out the window of board president Jean Roesch's Cadillac). Afterwards, he disappeared for three weeks; the official, threadbare explanation was that he had gone to India. First of all, what was the college president doing by leaving the campus and traveling to a destination thousands of miles away in the middle of the semester without notice? Second, is it possible that he acquired magical powers from his sojourn on the subcontinent? I ask because he was spotted the very next evening in a classroom at Southwestern, communing with members of the Chula Vista Chamber of Commerce. And who was in charge of the whole shebang for those three weeks? That's right, you guessed it – Alioto, of course! Back then, he used to sign his communications with "Nick, CPA," thereby simultaneously displaying the common touch and reminding various and sundry that he was, however, still a big bad accountant and deserving of professional recognition. Well, it turns out that he let his Wisconsin license expire in December 2009, and evidently has never been licensed in California. It's a good thing, too, because at the most recent board meeting (October 13), he managed to embarrass himself by insisting that the four million dollars labeled as "Excess" was a "different line," and as such it didn't belong to the college's surplus. Actually, he probably didn't embarrass himself, because he's too ignorant to understand what he's really saying, which is "I'm stupid and proud of it!" Of course, like any right-wing subhuman, he believes that if you keep repeating the same statement more loudly each time, it then becomes the truth. You could almost feel sorry for someone like that, except that he's so mean-spirited. Sorry you're overweight, dude, but nobody asked you to blurt out that so-and-so was a "[expletive deleted] idiot!" in the middle of a board meeting, with that person in fact present. I could go on (sadly), but I think I'll study the ballot choices instead.— November 1, 2010 10:13 p.m.
Southwestern Suitors
"Instead of focusing on Ms. Hernandez's well-known multiple deficiencies as a community college superintendent/president, the issue Ms. Lazzaro raised was the propriety of Board candidates accepting support from contractors." Let's assume for the moment that Norma Hernandez is not perfect. Few people are. However, your attempt at influencing the average reader's opinion is pathetic. What are her many deficiencies, and by how many people are they well-known? Are any of these people holding important positions in their communities or businesses? Are any members of this anonymous horde what you might call movers and shakers, or profound thinkers? Have any of them distinguished themselves in any field whatsoever? How interesting that you would use that particular quotation of Lenin's to begin your insightful analysis. You'll see what I'm getting at soon enough. Finally, let's examine your brilliant third paragraph. "Unfortunately, unprofessional, personally incestuous, and corrupt relationships between two members of the Sweetwater High School District Board and their roles with the past executive leadership of Southwestern College has had a toxic impact on the college to this day." That sounds more like the current executive leadership's relationship to the governing board, not to mention everybody else. You should be careful which weapons you choose, son, because they might be taken away from you and used to your detriment. Give us some names and some evidence or shut your mouth. And speaking of toxic impact, the college was doing well enough until Chopra arrived. Ever since he assumed his position as the marionette whose strings are pulled by the board, the situation at Southwestern has been steadily deteriorating and accelerating toward oblivion. What part of stealing money from honest, hard-working people and giving it to one's loathsome associates don't you understand? If you're the best they can come up with to confuse the issue, I'm not worried about this election. Unfortunately, however, you should be concerned about your career, because nobody's going to hire a person with questionable judgment who is also lacking in skills.— September 17, 2010 5:31 a.m.
Southwestern Suitors
Reply to #64 – AlejandroO, you aren't very good at your job, which I suppose is to support the corrupt administration and governing board at SWC. Your ability to compose an interesting sentence is no better than your skill at employing propaganda techniques. Let's look at one of your cross-eyed paragraphs for a moment. "As Vladimir Lenin, co-founder of the Soviet State observed, if you tell a lie often enough, it becomes the 'truth.' There are certainly enough statements in some of the above comments alluding to the supposed impoverisment of faculty (who also make over $100,000 per year) and characterizing "lack of transparency" in bond construction decisions that qualify for this characterization." First, there should be a comma after "co-founder of the Soviet State," since the phrase refers to what Lenin observed; second, that statement is followed by a classic run-on sentence; third, there's a misspelling, unless "impoverisment" has somehow entered the English language; fourth, concerning the "supposed impoverishment" (correctly spelled, for future reference), over 150 part-time instructors were laid off last spring); fifth, not many instructors make six figures, pal, though a school dean might pull down $110K with twenty years' service; sixth, don't tell me this isn't happening, because I've been laid off since December 2009 and haven't earned a penny from Southwestern College since; and seventh, your use of "supposed" reminds me of Alioto's profane outburst at a recent board meeting, for which he had to apologize. He mentioned a "hypothesized person" whom he had called a f***ing idiot in the meeting. Whether he meant Nick Aguilar, fellow board member, or Max Branscomb, publisher of the school newspaper, doesn't matter; he was yelling at an actual person and didn't have the cojones afterwards to confess that he did indeed say that to someone. So much for English composition. Now let's analyze your propaganda techniques.— September 17, 2010 5:29 a.m.
Cretins, Nutterbuckets, and Cutters host group bike rides around San Diego
I'm glad somebody finally said that. According to my girlfriend, who heard similar information from several sources (including the owner of Thomas Bikes on 30th Street, not to mention a former member of Critical Mass), young Mr. Ouypron was notorious for bombing lights.— April 2, 2009 9:28 p.m.