Separation of church and state is a cornerstone of American freedom. Yet a disturbing group of religious activists seek to blend politics and religion. It’s an unhealthy blend, tainting both politics and religion with an air of fanaticism that would have horrified Thomas Jefferson. I saw such a manifestation of this disturbing religious intrusion into politics this week in Manchester, …
Mark Kersey Files for DeMaio’s Seat
According to a tweet today from the Voice of San Diego’s Scott Lewis, Mark Kersey is running for DeMaio’s council seat. @vosdscott Scott Lewis I hear this guy is hoped for successor to @carldemaio, which would indicate DeMaio’s definitely running for mayor. http://vosd.org/ilPXSN I didn’t think it was a secret that DeMaio was running for mayor but I guess he …
Fantastic news: Obama’s immigration speech notes the border fence is finished
President Obama stood before thousands of Texas Democrats and La Raza (The Race) supporters and told a whopper of a lie: “They (GOP) wanted a fence. Well, that fence is now basically complete.” This is welcome news for those who live near the 2,000-mile southern border; unfortunately it is another propaganda-type lie. Let’s educate Mr. Obama regarding what exactly a …
First Managed Competition Results Will Save Taxpayers Over $1 Million
I’m pleased to hear that the first managed competition results will save taxpayers over $1 Million. Congratulations to the City print shop employees for winning the bid by streamlining their operation and reducing their costs by 30%. My hope is that other departments will follow the print shop’s lead and aggressively rethink service delivery through the managed competition process. It …
P.C. Look Back At Mother’s Day
Last Sunday, churches, stores, and homes were filled with the joyous phrase, “Happy Mother’s day.” But a wise, modern mind would question whether or not to repeat those words. We have to maintain our Political Correctness after all. Saying “Happy Mother’s Day” could be showing insensitivity and discrimination to fathers or to children or to women who are not mothers. …
So a Socialist, a Fascist and a Reporter Walk Into a Bar… Part II
Honestly, I was there last time and I can’t say I remember the punch line to that joke. But I can report this, Rostrafarians, it was fun. Big fun! If you know what’s good for you, and I think you do, you’ll join us this week for the second tweet-up with our good frienemies over at that “other” local political …
San Diego Border Patrol snags $786k of cocaine, meth and marijuana
Border Patrol agents at the I-8 checkpoint near Pine Valley/San Diego prevented three drug smugglers trying to bring Mexican drugs into the U.S. The net resulted in the seizure of more than 220 pounds of illicit drugs and the arrests of four suspected drug smugglers. “The first smuggling attempt was stopped when agents arrested a 24-year-old male United States citizen …
Pinal County SWAT team discovers drug cartel lookout posts
Despite pronouncements from Department of Homeland Security’s big “sis” Janet Napolitano that the southern U.S. border is “secure as ever,” the Pinal County SWAT team found several drug cartel lookout posts on the American side of the border. The Pinal Regional SWAT team conducted a Desert Operation that focused on the interdiction of individuals/groups involved in smuggling of illicit drugs, …
Dispelling the Public Sector Salary Myth
Here is an absolute first rate commentary by Daniel Borenstein dissecting the myth that public employees are compensated less than private sector folks. Included in this article is an amazing 100+ page study that should serve as a reference for many debates to come when having this discussion. Borenstein’s article: http://bit.ly/mdCIFO Full study: http://www.docstoc.com/docs/78892940/pensionstudy
Death Of A Terrorist Brings Life To A President
Written by Bob Siegel and originally published by The Washington Times Communities, 5-6-0-11. Used by permission. SAN DIEGO, May 6, 2011 —In the shadow of the biggest news since 9/11, a small group of Republican candidates held their first 2012 presidential debate yesterday in Greenville, South Carolina. Credit was given to President Obama for taking out Osama bin Laden, and …
Project Gunrunner (Mexican Drug Cartels Say Thanks!)
The BATF’s anti-illegal-gun program has accomplished the opposite of its mission, reports Fox News: It is the closest thing to a smoking gun congressional investigators have in their probe of Project Gunrunner — a program that was intended to stop the flow of guns to criminals in Mexico but instead allowed those guns to be smuggled to Mexico instead. An …
Rostra’s Jantz in Good Company on SDCTA’s 2011 Golden Watchdogs List
This year’s list of Golden Watchdog Award and Media Watchdog Award finalists is out from the San Diego County Taxpayers Association (full disclosure: SDCTA is one of my public relations firm’s clients). On behalf of San Diego Rostra, we congratulate all the nominees. A full list is available here. We take particular pride in one of our OWN being on …
City Attorney: Retiree Health Agreement ‘Achieves an excellent result for City’
Historic agreement helps San Diego avoid years of costly legal battles City Attorney Jan Goldsmith lauded the agreement the City reached today with labor unions to drastically reduce retiree health costs — a move that will save San Diego taxpayers more than $700 million. “This settlement … achieves an excellent result for the City,” Goldsmith said today at a joint news conference …
DeMaio Opposes Massive $1.8 Billion Retiree Health Care Giveaway
15-Year Contract Creates De-Facto “Vesting” of Life-Long City Employee Benefits On Top of Medicare Just when you thought bad pension deals were a thing of the past at City Hall, along comes this unprecedented 15-year binding contract that guarantees life-long taxpayer-funded health benefits to city employees that are far in excess of private sector benchmarks. How can city leaders actually …
Granite State Greetings
Manchester, New Hampshire, to be precise, where I’m visiting maternal relatives. My mom had six sisters, so there’s a ton of relations here. I’m staying with my uncle Bill and aunt Shirley. If you’re reading this, hi! New Hampshire, of course, grabs the national spotlight once every four years with its first-in-the-nation presidential primary. Candidates have already begun their cicada-like …
Jon Cross in at San Diego New Majority
Confirmed last night: Jon Cross is the new Executive Director over at the San Diego New Majority. Cross is a former aide to Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and United States Senate candidate Carly Fiorina, among other positions. He replaces Doug Sain. I think this is a positive direction for the organization. I’ve never met Cross but those who have say he’s …
Lani Lutar’s 3-Pointer at Buzzer shelves controversial Redistricting contract. SD Taxpayers Association’s Stunning Victory Tonight
Oh Doctor! Just when it looked like the Gerrymander Railroad was rolling, SD Taxpayers’ CEO Lani Lutar waved a Red Flag tonight and redirected it onto a siding. Rostra’s correspondent on scene reports the draft computer contract debated earlier has been withdrawn and that whole process will be restarted. Our witnesses say the Labor & Liberal leadership on hand were in a …
SD County Taxpayers Association: City Redistricting group should reconsider controversial computer contract
The S.D. County Taxpayers Association is the latest civic group to weigh-in on the troubled SD Redistricting Commission, raising concerns today about a disputed contract for vital computer services. The organization’s statement says in part, “Lani Lutar, President & CEO, said SDCTA is concerned that such a decision would further compromise the perception the Commission is politically biased. ‘Whether or …
“Impartial” Redistricting Staffer Blocks Important Question on Partisanship of Commissioners
According to the San Diego Charter, members of the Independent Redistricting Commission have to demonstrate that they can operate in a nonpartisan fashion in drawing the lines. So of course you’d think that the judges who selected the commissioners would ask about previous partisan affiliation. Nope. Not at all. Not one question in the public written forms or the oral …
Osama mission eerily imitates 2003/04 Operation Dark Heart (part 1 in a series)
On Sunday the world collectively sighed when news broke the most wanted terrorist and brainchild of 9/11 was finally killed. Osama bin Laden was hiding in plain sight-in a Pakistan town with major military bases, academies and neighbors. After nearly 10 years of searching for bin Laden, U.S. intelligence agencies finally put the puzzle pieces together and it doesn’t reflect …
Recent Comments