The hits just keep on coming. A new report by Beacon Economics on the California economy says the downturn of recent months is only going to accelerate and that state revenue is unlikely to return to the level seen in 2007-08 until 2012. The Beacon report makes a persuasive case that even the downbeat forecasts of the state Department of Finance aren't gloomy enough – especially on corporate taxes, one of the three key sources of revenue for the state, along with income taxes and sales taxes.

Negotiations on a new contract for teachers in the San Diego Unified School District go on and on. The teachers union, the San Diego Education Association, gripes that the district withholds important details of its proposals. The district has similar gripes against the union. On some key issues each side holds back, apparently for some perceived advantage. Clearly, however, the union wants more money for teachers.

The election of Barack Obama in the United States and the upcoming bicentennial independence celebrations of many Latin American countries provide ample opportunity for an overdue reassessment of North-South relationships. This is not just an academic exercise. So much of what happens in one nation in this hemisphere affects others. Migration, drugs, crime, energy and trade are at the top of this list.

It's called the Big Lie and demagogues of all ilks have used it for generations. It goes like this: A big lie is easier for people to believe than a little one, and if you repeat it often enough it becomes The Truth. Bureaucrats inside the California Department of Parks and Recreation are using the Big Lie on us when it comes to Bazaar del Mundo and its former home inside the Old Town San Diego State Historic Park.