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Drones are humanitarian, misnamed, says General Atomics
If all drones were like dragonflies or pizza-size, they wouldn't seem so menacing and it wouldn't matter what they're called. As it is, they are aptly named.— December 20, 2013 3:46 p.m.
San Diego's Code Monitoring Team: Foxes guard the henhouse
Good to know this information, Dorian Hargrove! San Diegans were robbed of a genuine planning department years ago and instead got a "Code Monitoring Team" of "experts" that exists "outside of the bubble that is city hall" as well as the fundamental sunshine requirements of the Brown Act. That would be extra-legal if not illegal and needs to be remedied asap.— December 18, 2013 3:10 p.m.
San Diego's Code Monitoring Team: Foxes guard the henhouse
Fixing the process matters, but facing reality is also important, Mr. La Cava. Marcela Escobar-Eck is not "good people doing good stuff." She WAS involved in okaying the too-tall Sunroad building near Montgomery Field and at least her boss Jim Waring was fired by embarrassed Mayor Sanders over it. But all such folks have nine lives, at least, in San Diego, and return to the scenes of their crimes in some paid capacity or another. Ms. Escobar-Eck is now a paid consultant for developers.— December 18, 2013 2:57 p.m.
Holiday in South Africa: Johannesburg in 1986, revisited
Well, in 2013 South Africans have one iconic dead hero, Nelson Mandela; the universal right to vote, a corrupt ruling party and debased leadership; an impoverished black majority population and sky-high crime and murder rates. I guess it's still a beautiful place producing good wine and wonderful music. You can't ask for the moon.— December 18, 2013 12:54 p.m.
Lindbergh Field’s costly picnic table takes a bow
Tables look uncomfortable, but I'll bet Su Mei Yu's new airport restaurant offers Thai food to go. Is it also called Saffron?— December 16, 2013 10:03 p.m.
Lawsuit over wheelchair access at Torrey Pines Gliderport
Many of the comments of Cherie Jacobs Aspenleiter about coastal La Jolla are incorrect or false. Especially misleading is her description of the "sand bottom pool" that was "engineered and designed for the disabled and small toddlers." She is referring to the Pacific Ocean floor at the so-called "Children's Pool" where, many many years ago, wealthy Ellen Browning Scripps paid for the construction of a huge curving sea wall to interrupt surging surf and protect novice swimmers. Today there is a sandy shelf and precipitous drop-off at the "Children's Pool" but the e.coli bacteria in the water and on the sand are accurate. What once was thought of as generous philanthropy has turned into a classic example of human hubris and the unforeseen consequences of well-meaning but ignorant interference with Nature. For more than 20 years now, harbor seals have been hauling out there to give birth, fouling the water for swimmers and divers and causing heartburn in the community that wants its clean beach access restored. That It is an incredibly divisive issue is also correct. It is an urban legend that Sea World surreptitiously planted seals in the area. There had always been seals on offshore rocks, but mysteriously they began to haul out onto the warm protected beach in 1989. Today the seals themselves have federal and state marine mammal protection and the beach is entirely closed to humans during pupping season from December to May. The colonization of shoreline rocks farther north at La Jolla Cove by large, loud and stinky sea lions is another matter entirely -- probably the inadvertent result of the City's fencing off those cliffs from human access which once was permitted. An omnipresent stench from this now-protected area comes from cormorant and pelican rookeries as well as lounging sea lions. The smell is nauseating, near-constant and extends from the Cove deep into the central business area of La Jolla Village. Big trouble for ocean-view restaurants and cafes with patios. La Jolla City Council representative Sherri Lightner seems incapable of remedying these problems, especially the Stench -- which is profoundly negatively affecting business sector constituents and La Jolla 's coast as a major tourism site. It seems only former Mayor Bob Filner was able to deal directly, timely and effectively with this noxious phenomenon: he went out and found a company that "cleaned" the rocks with a non-toxic substance that actually worked. But then Filner resigned in disgrace and that was the end of the brief respite. Probably the City should remove both the sea wall at the "Children's Pool" and the fence along the Cove rocks to end the marine mammal colonization of the La Jolla beach and cliffs. But that would mean politicians with their paper-pushing personal staffs taking responsibility and authority to get something real and substantive done. Another reason to hold my breath -- or not.— December 16, 2013 9:56 p.m.
Dig a hole: Joan Fontaine
A truly hideous Hollywood family story. Thanks, Scott. I well remember both of these women as actresses, but I never knew they were sisters.— December 16, 2013 8:33 p.m.
Double-dipping SDSU pensioner gets $270,000 CSU job
Well, you can't begrudge a girl her due for hours and hours and years and years of buttering up, sucking up and covering up. Sally is probably just what that newbie White needs to succeed in the Cal State chancellor's job.— December 13, 2013 4:38 p.m.
Canadian condo king piles up cash for Faulconer
With strategic help from well-connected redevelopment clone Civic San Diego and approval of our City Council, Canadian developer Nat Bosa recently financed the purchase and remodel of the Housing Authority building north of Barrio Logan to become the permanent home of The Monarch School for homeless children. Monarch School is run by the County Office of Education and is a favorite charity of downtown movers and shakers such as Malin Burnham, Ronne Froman and others.— December 13, 2013 12:23 p.m.
Animation reenacts "Filner headlock"
You are outrageous and very funny, Marks. Somehow I envision you slaving over this creation. It IS better than "Frozen." Will there be a sequel?— December 12, 2013 4:39 p.m.