November 2009

The Riehl World: Guardian of the Status Quo

by Richard J. Riehl on November 20, 2009

Bill HornOn his Web site’s home page, San Diego County Supervisor Bill Horn explains his personal political philosophy about government and public debt. Quoting himself first, then Lincoln and Jefferson, he congratulates himself for having the honor of serving as an “elected guardian of our County.”

In law, a guardian is defined as someone assigned by the court to be responsible for the care and management of the person or property of a minor or of someone of unsound mind. The word is also sometimes used to describe a defender of public morals.

Maybe that explains Horn’s crusade against teens checking out R-rated DVDs from their public libraries, medical marijuana, and allowing disabled persons to ride publicly subsidized buses to visit casinos.

Assuming most elected officials are in favor of democracy and opposed to public debt, what sets Horn apart is that he evidently thinks of his constituents as either children or incompetents.
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Pacific Ridge Wins Big At Model UN Conference

by The Editors on November 18, 2009

Prs - Stanford Model Un Conference - Fall 2009 Hs Student DelegatesCarlsbadistan’s Pacific Ridge School received much media attention last June when their students were quarantined in China for the H1N1 flu. Earlier this month, however, 18 of the school’s students were recognized for something a less viral.

The Pacific Ridge group was awarded the “Best Small School Delegation” award at the 2009 Model United Nations (MUN) Conference at Stanford University. They also took home 12 individual awards from the international conference.

“We are extremely proud of every student that attended this year’s Stanford MUN Conference,” said Scott Silk and Liz Grossman, faculty advisors from Pacific Ridge School. “The award for ‘Best Small School Delegation’ was the result of our students being well prepared, demonstrating effective listening skills, and offering well developed resolutions to the conflicts presented.”

It nice of these students to remind the rest of the world that Carlsbadistan has more to offer than simply surfers and septuagenarians.

Follow the jump for the rest of the award winners.
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Thursdays on The Coast On Friday

by The Editors on November 18, 2009

Evite

The Village of Carlsbadistan’s visual and performing art walk is Thursdays On The Coast is normally held the last Thursday of each month. But for November it’s making the jump to the biggest shopping day of the year: Black Friday, November 27, 2009.

Cap off the busiest shopping day of the year with a stroll through the charming streets of Carlsbad Village. Enjoy the fine art, live music, tasty treats and renew your spirit.”

Makes it all sound pretty enticing, huh? The event runs from 5:30 to 8:30 PM.

[Link: Thursdays On The Coast]

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If You Missed Carlsbad’s Sunset Tonight. . .

by The Editors on November 16, 2009

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. . . it looked a little like this.

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Three Car Collision Closes Paseo del Norte

by The Editors on November 16, 2009

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A crash involving three-cars in front of North County Pontiac GMC today at around 5 PM (November 16, 2009) had south bound lanes of Paseo del Norte from Cannon Rd. to Car County Dr closed for most of an hour this evening.

Three cars (all silver) were involved: two Lexus and one Honda Pilot. The Pilot rolled and was resting on the driver’s side with two wheels in the air, one Lexus was hit on the passenger side and plowed into a light poll while the other had damage all down the driver’s side.

One bystanders said heard a cellphone was involved. “Apparently, one driver was on the phone and didn’t see another car stop in front of her, then, swerved and the pile up occurred,” he said. “But I didn’t see it.”

There appeared to be no major injuries.

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Aptera Founders Driven Out Of Company

by The Editors on November 16, 2009

Aptera2

Carlsbadistan’s next wave automobile company Aptera Motors appears to have hit more rough roads this week according to a story on Wired.com’s Autopia blog.

Aptera Motors has ousted founders Steve Fambro and Chris Anthony, sources told Wired, painting a picture of a boardroom confrontation between the original founders and the auto industry veterans the company brought in last fall. . . Rumors that Aptera Motors was letting them go and laying off an unknown number of people began swirling last week on the unofficial online Aptera Forum. The company says it simply elected to slow things down and minimize its burn rate while waiting for the Department of Energy to approve its loan application. It isn’t saying much about what happened to Fambro and Anthony, but claims the company’s relationship with them remains positive.

Sure, we’re guessing Fambro and Anthony are stoked that a bunch of Detroit guys came to California and took over the company, why wouldn’t they be?

[Link: Wired.com]

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Bridget Regan: Carlsbad’s Own Legend Seeker

by The Editors on November 16, 2009

Bridget Regan 0004Carlsbadistan’s Bridget Regan began acting as a child in North County productions of The Wizard of Oz at the La Paloma Theatre and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, but now the actress (whose parents still live in Carlsbad) is playing “dagger-wielding, mind-controlling heroine from another TV demention,” according to a story in the San Diego Union-Tribune.

Inspired by the Sword of Truth novels by Terry Goodkind, “Legend of the Seeker” follows the adventures of the brave and noble Richard Cypher (Craig Horner) as he battles the loathsome tyrant, Darken Rahl. Regan plays his comrade and love interest Kahlan Amnell, a brave and strong-willed sorceress (also known as a Confessor) who can control the minds of anyone who loves her. Kahlan is also quick with a dagger. Regan? Not so much.

Legend of the Seeker airs Sundays at 5 PM on KSWB Channel 69 (Cable 5). Luckily it’s also on Hulu.com for those smart enough to have ditched their cable boxes years ago.

[Link: San Diego Union-Tribune]

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Lancer Dancers Hold Soup Drive

by The Editors on November 13, 2009

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From left to right: Michelle Barkowski, Sara Steffy, Camille Posard, Brittany Smith, Lani Yamanaka, Sydney Reed, Whitney Wilhardt, Kelly DiMarco, and Rylee Blair gathering soup.

After having found out just how hard it was to raise funds for their trip to the US National Championships in Orlando, Florida, the Carlsbad High School Lancer Dancers decided to do something to help others who are short on funds. They organized a a school wide holiday soup drive to benefit The Angel’s Depot, a service that provides “food-for-a-week” boxes to seniors who live on less than $950 a month

“Every student at CHS has English, so we put bins in all the English Classrooms to get the entire high school involved and make it easy for teens to donate food. We might just be teens, but we are a school of 3,000 teens and together we can make a difference”, said team member, Camille Posard.

For more info on the soup drive and the team’s upcoming fundraiser The Lancer Dancer Showcase December 16-18, 2009 follow the jump.
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Carlsbadistan’s Top Cop Job Gets 112 Apps

by The Editors on November 13, 2009

2009 Paul Blart Mall Cop 002Apparently nearly everyone wants to be the police chief of Carlsbadistan. So far 112 people have applied to take Chief Thomas Zoll’s job, according to a story in the North County Times.

Carlsbad spokeswoman Kristina Ray said the city received applications from internal, regional and national candidates. The last time the city advertised the same position in 2003, 66 people applied, Ray said. . . “We consider this a really good response,” she said. . . The police chief will make $124,300 to $180,300 a year, according to the city’s job announcement. The department has 115 sworn officers and 47 civilians.

Crazy thing is, that’s really not enough pay for the responsibilities. Apparently, that isn’t slowing many down.

[Link: North County Times]

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Ugly Power Plant Photos Wanted

by The Editors on November 13, 2009

Jpeg-3Power of Vision, a community group who is opposed to the NRG’s plans for a new power plant on the grounds of the Encina Power Station, has announced they are actively collection the ugliest photos they can find of the power plant.

We are so concerned about the visual impacts we are sponsoring an “Ugly Picture” campaign. Send us your photos of the power plant site. Send us the worst of what you see everyday as you look out your windows, walk on the beach or drive by. Send us the worst of what you see out surfing, catching a beautiful sunset or cruising Highway 101. Send us the worst of what will happen if we have TWO power plants in North County on the beach. These pictures will then be submitted to the California Energy Commission as visual proof of the toll this plant already takes on our coast. We need to let the CEC know that the region will not tolerate additional blight on the coast.

Images can be emailed to powerofvision@roadrunner.com or mailed to Power of Vision, 300 Carlsbad Village Drive Suite 108A-64, Carlsbad, CA 92008 by January 15, 2010. Please include a brief description of where the photo was taken and the date.
Maybe we should send them our blog header. . .

[Link: Power Of Vision]

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