Queer-Oriented Obelisk Store Shut Down by Hellish Fire (tags)
Obelisk Bookstore, a major Queer-oriented business on University Avenue in Hillcrest, burned on Wednesday, July 6. Three other businesses in the building were burned out, as were 15 apartments on the second and third floors. Miraculously, none of the residents were injured because none of them were home at the time. Leo E. Laurence, J.D., associate editor of Zenger's Newsmagazine and a former volunteer firefighter in Tijuana, got photos of firefighters containing the blaze (they weren't able to save the Obelisk building but WERE miraculously able to keep the fire from spreading to the rest of the block), the true extent of the damage (visible only from the alley behind the building) and the condition of Obelisk's stock after the fire.
David Swanson Lays Out 16-Point Plan for U.S. Left (tags)
Activist David Swanson spoke at the First Unitarian-Universalist Church in Hillcrest July 15, ostensibly to promote his book “Daybreak: Undoing the Imperial Presidency and Forming a More Perfect Union,” but actually to deliver a 16-point plan for revitalizing the American Left. His speech was full of withering scorn not only for President Obama but also for progressives who supported him in the campaign and still believe in his good intentions.