Odds and Ends

The administration's proposals on guns fills many Americans with fear and loathing.  Especially odious is the idea that the President will restrict our rights unilaterally through executive orders.  I look forward to seeing him getting smacked down in the courts.  Further, his efforts will damage the rest of his political agenda. Good. I view his entire agenda with equal distaste.  He doesn't have the best interests of the country at heart; rather he sees his Presidency as a quest for social justice.  His pre-2008 comments that he was in favor of higher capital gains tax rates was enough proof for me; he said that he didn't care if the higher rates raised less revenue, he wanted them higher in the name of fairness.  This sent the clear signal that his agenda is based on animosity towards particular groups.

 The Under Secretary of Defense issued a memo today, authorizing the military departments to take actions to deal with the threat of sequestration, including freezing new hires; canceling certain types of new contracts and furloughing civilian employees for up to 22 days.  (Can't find a link.)  Typically, the mainstream media has mostly ignored the issue and there has been some inaccuracies in the reporting of the issue.  The Washington Post reporting that the Pentagon will take immediate action.  In fact, according to the memo, the military services are directed to consider those actions.  Whether they do so has not been determined.  Whenever, I see press reports about matters of which I have knowledge, I am always amazed at the inaccuracies I find.  Makes me wonder about the rest of the news I read.

Meanwhile, the issue of the national debt continues to be ignored.  See clock at right.  And since we can't deal with that issue, everything else pales by comparison.

Locally, Bob Filner has said that he wants to stop city legal action against local pot dispensaries.  He has said that the City Attorney should end such prosecutions.  San Diego City Beat reporter Dave Maass tweeted  

Filner says Goldsmith doesn't realize he's the lawyer and the city is the client.
— Dave Maass (@DaveMaass) January 9, 2013

While I agree with the idea that medical marijuana should be dispensed according to state law, I don't think the mayor has the right to remove prosecutorial discretion from the city attorney.  Is this what we want out of city government, the politicization of prosecutions?  Filner's proposal to change the city's laws regarding medical marijuana dispensaries seems a more sensible approach than bullying the City Attorney.

I owe a post on an issue involving the AT&T cell tower in Point Loma and an update on the Bay View Plaza in Bay Park. So far, no news on the latter and not much news on the former.