SeaWorld’s Crying the Blues Over Orca Breeding Ban

SeaWorld’s Crying the Blues Over Orca Breeding Ban Posted: 09 Oct 2015 09:56 AM PDT By Doug Porter  There was good news and bad news for SeaWorld at Thursday’s meeting of the California Coastal Commission. SeaWorld prevailed in its quest to nearly double the size of its killer whale enclosure, to be marketed as the Blue World Project, despite an ongoing campaign by animal rights activists urging a no vote from the panel. The bad news was the condition barring the theme park from acquiring any further orcas by way of breeding, artificial insemination or transfers. When the current batch of 11 whales reaches old age there will be no replacements, meaning the $100 million or so SeaWorld was getting ready to throw at the project looks not-so-good. I smell a lawsuit a'coming.   [Read more...]  shared from San Diego Free Press Planning My Garden for an El Niño Winter Posted: 09 Oct 2015 08:39 AM PDT By Jeeni Criscenzo Now that my knee is healing, and the weather is cooling off a bit, my attention is turning back to my garden. Knee problems aside, the oppressive heat of the past two months pretty much silenced the siren call of my garden. Just dragging my sweaty self out to feed the chickens was my quota of physical exertion for the day. Some evenings didn’t even cool enough to inspire my meditative stroll through the succulent labyrinth. Resigned that my vegetable garden this summer was a total disaster, I had removed all of the fencing that kept the chickens out of my raised beds. So while I wasn’t working, the chickens were.   [Read more...]     North Of The Fence: South Bay GDP Growth Nearly 25 Percent More Than County Posted: 09 Oct 2015 08:37 AM PDT By Barbara Zaragoza / South Bay Compass Incredibly good news for the South Bay this week. According to a report by the National University System Institute for Policy Research, GDP growth in the South Bay from 2010 to 2013 was 37.6 %, compared to 12.9 % for the entire County. Click on the article to see the increases. We South Bay’ers can get awfully patriotic about our little neck of the woods. Although we’d like to be seen as an integrated part of both Tijuana and San Diego, some ‘outsiders’ would rather call us the Third Nation. Ok then, I guess, you can start calling us the Third Nation rising.   [Read more...] Foreign Interventions in the Middle East: More Havoc, Nuclear Weapons, Less Order Posted: 09 Oct 2015 08:23 AM PDT By Frank Thomas Middle Eastern states are breaking down in an endless escalation of civil wars where Syria, Libya, Yemen, Iraq are collapsing. The resulting power vacuums exploited by rebel factions and demonic jihadist Islamic state are threatening the Middle East. The ancient, ongoing Sunni-Shiite mutual hatreds are afire. U.S. foreign regime change interventions – by military engagement, funding, training insurgency groups, supporting coups d’etats, protecting regional dictatorships – have boosted instability and mayhem in Syria, Iraq, Libya, Yemen, Egypt, etc. Emerging unscathed in these interventions, the U.S. departs leaving the wreckage behind to go on to the next trouble-spot.   [Read more...] Empire’s Newest Terror: Climate Colonialism Posted: 08 Oct 2015 03:41 PM PDT By Will Falk I was recently invited to an event at Chicano Park billed as “Live Art For a Sustainable Future.” The promotional poster featured a beautiful image of an indigenous woman with the phrase, “All my relations against climate colonialism.” The event will feature San Diego’s best artists gathering in one of San Diego’s most beautiful spaces to encourage action against climate change on Friday, October 9 from 4-7pm in Chicano Park. I have seen the term “climate colonialism” being used more and more often and I think it reflects the proper analysis. As one of the San Diego Free Press’ resident radicals and after spending two years on the road fighting the forces producing climate change, I want to express my thanks to the poster designer who used the term “climate colonialism.” It’s good to see the term being used because it stems from a radical understanding of the connectedness of environmental and political issues.   [Read more...] Charger Stadium Deal Could Be Key in Block vs Atkins Senate Contest Posted: 08 Oct 2015 03:32 PM PDT By Doug Porter New polling from the Garin-Hart-Yang Research Group indicates increased voter awareness of Assemblywoman Toni Atkins willingness to ease environmental challenges to a proposed publicly subsidized NFL stadium in San Diego may be her Achilles heel. The September 24-26 survey of a representative sample of 401 likely 39th Senate district primary voters was, according to a summary issued by Hart Research, fully representative of the district by geography, inclusive of variables such as race and partisanship, and has a margin of error of ±5.0 percentage points. The summary indicated Atkins name recognition and favorability rating are higher among voters on first blush. When voters were presented with positive, similarly long descriptions of both candidates, incumbent Senator Marty Block gained ground. A shorter comparative description mentioning Atkins's willingness to ease CEQA challenges to the proposed NFL stadium, voter preferences shifted to give Block a 46-to-35 advantage over Atkins.   [Read more...]

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