This week’s pod roundup is about as San Diego as it gets.
To kick it off, our hosts reflect on an appeals court ruling that declared that yoga is considered protected speech under the first amendment, reversing a city ban on donation-based yoga classes on coastal lands like Sunset Cliffs.
Speaking of politically threatened beachside fun, we also have developments on a proposal to remove San Diego’s beloved fire rings for financial and public safety reasons — a rare example of a budget issue that’s sparked outrage beyond the usual local nerds.
Then the hosts dive into the fraught world of sanctuary declarations from local agencies and officials, who are claiming to protect undocumented residents from the federal immigration crackdown in light of last week’s raid at Buona Forchetta in South Park. But do they really have as much power to protect as they claim?
Lastly, host Scott Lewis explains why the water world’s latest legal settlement might mark the beginning of a water revolution with little known precedent outside sci-fi novels.
REGARDING: “Goal of ICE’s restaurant raid is intimidation” OPINION (06.04) I agree with the premise of this
article, but the American people voted for this heavy-handed injustice. The good attorney states, “To our neighbors, stay
vigilant.” Well, it is very likely that these neighbors were the whistleblowers. We live in a free country. We had a free
election. Maybe we ought to follow the advice of former Secretary of State Colin Powell on the folly of Iraq. As he so
famously lamented, “You break it. you own it.” America, you broke it.
Daniel Smiechowski Borrego Springs
REGARDING: “A reckless, indefensible raid” OPINION (06.06) My mother and grandparents
became American citizens legally by way of Ellis Island. I stand against illegal immigration and against the
tactics of ICE and the Trump Administration. We are not a country of Napoleonic law. We are a country with
a judiciary and the rule that one is innocent until proven guilty. Sending in Panzer tanks to remove those on
horseback is government overreach. The adherents of these brutal tactics are blinded by their subjectivity
and focus on concept and truth. What were the heinous crimes in which these kitchen workers were
accused as they were hauled off by masked men representing the United States. The French have an old
saying, “The more things change, the more things stay the same.” “For what it’s worth” Buffalo Springfield
Daniel Smiechowski Borrego Springs
“Behind every patriot is a scoundrel” Voltaire