Entries
Will Congress Tackle Sports Subsidies?
Economists are asking Congress to stop the pro sports subsidies that are one cause of the nation's neglect of infrastructure. A Harvard ecnomists said that since 1990, pro teams have received $18.5 billion in subsidies, and there is no evidence …
Will U-T and Republicans Attack Leslie Devaney?
The U-T editorial page and local Republican Party have made fools of themselves once again by claiming that City Attorney Mike Aguirre broke city laws by permitting 6 employees in his office to donate all of $1,640 to his election …
"We're Taking Over," Says Peters
City councilmember Scott Peters, who purports to represent La Jolla on city council, boasted in council chambers recently, "We are taking over the city attorney's office." By "we" he apparently meant the city council. Although supposedly a lawyer, Peters apparently …
McGrath Says U-T Editorial Was Libelous
Don McGrath, a top deputy in the city attorney's office, says the Union-Tribune committed libel per se against him in its editorial Oct. 10. The editorial, already the laughingstock of campaign finance experts, claimed that City Attorney Mike Aguirre had …
U-T, Republican Party All Wet As Usual
Yesterday, City Attorney Mike Aguirre got an urgent email from Bob Kittle, Union-Tribune editorial writer. Kittle demanded to know if Aguirre had broken city law by taking the whopping sum of $1,640 in campaign donations from 6 of his employees. …
Pension Fund Getting Gamier
At a meeting September 21, the board of the San Diego City Employees' Retireent system approved a program to put 5 percent of assets into private equity -- the pools of capital that raise funds through low quality debt to …
Spring Valley Couple Charged by FTC
The Federal Trade Commission has charged Lawrence and Stephanie Jordan of Spring Valley with making claims for women's health products that were not backed by scientific evidence. The couple's companies, Springboard and Pro Health Labs, sell alternative hormone replacemet products …
Sanders's Charter Committee "Civic Sham"
In an op-ed in the Oct. 7 Los Angeles Times, Prof. Steve Erie of UCSD and Vice President Norma Damashek of the League of Women Voters write that Mayor Jerry Sanders's Charter Reform Committee is a "civic sham." The mayor …
47 Earthquakes in Early September
Katheryn Rhodes, Point Loma engineer, points out that in late August and early September, there were 47 earthquakes in San Diego. All were near Mission Beach in the vicinity of the current landslide at Soledad Mountan Road and Desert View …
State High Court Debates Free Speech Issue with SD Roots
This week, the California Supreme Court debated whether a shopping mall can keep union members and others from passing leaflets to shoppers urging a boycott. The case originated in 1998 when members of a Teamsters affiliate working for the Union-Tribune …
Issa's Foot Lands in Mouth Again
San Diego County Congressman Darrell Issa has managed to expose his cerebral deficiencies in public again. Rep. Henry Waxman's House Committee is investigating the violent activities of Blackwater USA in Iraq. Said Issa, "If Henry Waxman today wants to go …
Blackwater Opponents Energized
The weak defenses of Blackwater USA at the hearings by the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform are delighting those battling the company's plans to put a training facility in East County's Potrero. The committee has found that since …
Sanders's Scam Flying Under Radar
Mayor Sanders's scheme to pack a so-called charter review committee with pro-establishment lawyers and lobbyists has thus far not been detected by the San Diego public. A poll by the San Diego Institute for Policy Research reveals that less than …
Wade Says Reynolds Fired for Warning Mayor's Aides of Dangerous, Unethical Conduct
Last week, the Sanders administration's assistant chief operating officer, Rick Renolds, and purchasing and contracting director, Lance Wade, were abruptly fired. This morning, Wade confirmed an extremely disquieting story that is making the rounds. Wade confirmed that Fred Sainz, the …
City Attorney's Office to Probe Computer Unethicality by Mayor's Office
The city's attorney's office has launched an investigation into whether the mayor's office committed an egregiously unethical -- and perhaps illegal -- act, in helping a Union-Tribune blogger. The blogger, the pathetically infantile Chris Reed, had posted an item suggesting …
Blackwater Cancels Expansion Plans
Mercenary firm Blackwater USA, under investigation for its alleged role in the killing of 11 Iraqis, has called off a $5.5 million deal to buy 1,800 acres near Fort Bragg, North Carolina, for a training facility. Blackwater wants to put …
What's Behind U-T/Sanders Assault
A few weeks ago, City Attorney Mike Aguirre requested documents from the local public radio/TV station, KPBS. Those documents, which Aguirre has posted on his website, show poignantly how the Copley family's donations have slanted KPBS's news reports. (The station's …
Topside Shakeup at Copley?
Is the man who knows where the bodies are buried at Copley Press on the way out? Or out? According to a good source, attorney Karl ZoBell, who is on the Helen K. Copley revocable trust along with David Copley …
San Diego Slowly Grasps Water Crisis
San Diego imports about 90 percent of its water and big issues such as global warming and small issues such as tiny smelt make the situation perilous. Slowly, residents seem to be grasping the crisis. A poll by San Diego …
State Department Shields Blackwater
Blackwater USA, the mercenary firm that wants to build a training facility at Potrero in East County, is getting protection from the U.S. State Department. The company has been charged by the Iraqi government of killing 11 people in Baghdad. …