Civil Rights

Sex in San Diego: Marriage Is For Losers

May 17, 2013 by Source

marriage ringsBy Dr. Kelly Flanagan / UnTangled

You can be right, or you can be married; take your pick. I can’t remember who told me that, but I do remember that they were only half-joking. The other half, the serious half, is exceedingly important. This is why.

Many therapists aren’t crazy about doing marital therapy. It’s complicated and messy, and it often feels out of control. In the worst case scenario, the therapist has front row seats to a regularly-scheduled prize fight. But I love to do marital therapy.

Why? Maybe I enjoy the work because I keep one simple principle in mind: if marriage is going to work, it needs to become a contest to see which spouse is going to lose the most, and it needs to be a race that goes down to the wire.

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It’s a Sad Day in America When the Navy Launches a San Diego-Built Drone off a Carrier

May 17, 2013 by Frank Gormlie
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It’s a sad day in America. The US Navy launched the first carrier-based drone off its deck the other day, off the coast of Virginia. It’s an even sadder day for us in San Diego, as the drone was manufactured – in part, at least – by plants and engineers right here in our own city.

The launching of the drone off that deck demonstrates clearly that as drones become more and more integrated into becoming the armament of the nation’s military, they are becoming more and more accepted – here domestically, back in the good ol’ US of A.

And as drones become more and more prevalently utilized, not just by our armed forces overseas, but by law enforcement, border patrol, and local police departments here within our very own borders, American citizens are more and more subjected to a high-tech surveillance that is quite unlike anything we’ve known in the past – a surveillance that is becoming so pervasive, that it challenges our basic civil rights, freedoms and privacies.

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Discussion on PL Democrats Website: Is the ACLU “Subversive” Because They Oppose Cross at Mt Soledad?

May 17, 2013 by Judi Curry

The Widder Curry Weighs In

An interesting question appeared today on the Point Loma Democrats website in regards to an article announcing the 80 year celebration of the San Diego ACLU.

To say that I was nonplussed to read the question which can as a comment to the article, would be a minor revelation. At the risk of being censored – do you think that Democrats would do that to their own? – let me tell you something about it.

On June 7th, there will be a 80 year celebration of the San Diego ACLU. As the article read, this function is not a

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Health Care Reform – An Enlightening Discussion in OB Sponsored by League of Women Voters

May 17, 2013 by Judi Curry
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OB Rec Center Meeting Led by Jeanne Brown

By Judi Curry

I attended a most informative meeting at the OB Rec Center on May 16 on the subject of “Health Care Reform”. The focal point was on a “Single Payer Health Care” and a Healthcare Movie was shown to the audience.

The film revealed the true story of how the health care systems in Canada and the US evolved so differently when, at one, point, they were essential the same. Statistics are overwhelming –not just in comparing the Canadian health care system to ours, but in just looking at the stats overall.

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Pharmacist Kickbacks Put California Patient Health at Risk

May 17, 2013 by Source

PillsBy Hollaine Hopkins/California Progress Report

Health care cost containment is a critical issue facing every participant in the health care system. Efforts to contain costs, however, appear to have given rise to dangerous financial arrangements between health insurers and pharmacists that may be jeopardizing the health of California patients.

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Congressman Tears Into Attorney General Holder Over Marijuana: ‘This Is The Time To Remedy Prohibition’

May 16, 2013 by Source
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By Nicole Flatow / Think Progress / May 15, 2013

During a Wednesday – May 15 – House oversight hearing with Attorney General Eric Holder that overwhelmingly focused on the invasive government search of Associated Press phone logs and the IRS, one House member took the opportunity to grill Holder on another Department of Justice issue that has provoked criticism from the left.

Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN) tore into Holder over his approach to marijuana, asking why his Justice Department is “continuing to put people in jail,” even as polling shows a majority of Americans believe the plant should not be illegal:

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Filner’s Letter Allowing Self-Made Bracelet and Necklace Sales in Ocean Beach Rankles Mainstreet Association

May 16, 2013 by Frank Gormlie
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A letter from Mayor Bob Filner allowing a man on disability to sell “home-made” hemp necklaces in Ocean Beach without a permit has rankled OB’s Mainstreet Association.

Earlier this Spring, David Millette, a resident of Chula Vista, began selling his self-made / home-make hemp necklaces, watch bands and other jewelry items on the Wall at the foot of Newport Avenue. After about a week, he was told by San Diego police that his sales were illegal and chased him away.

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The IRS, Benghazi, and the Republicans Who Cried Wolf

May 16, 2013 by Source
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Every week, New York Magazine writer-at-large Frank Rich talks with contributor Eric Benson about the biggest stories in politics and culture. This week: The GOP finds a new Watergate, the Justice Department bullies the AP, and Bloomberg News gets caught snooping on Bloomberg clients.

By Frank Rich / New York Magazine- RSN / May 16, 2013

RICH: Last week, conservatives called Benghazi Obama’s Watergate. Now they’re applying that label to a new scandal in which IRS officials admitted applying special scrutiny to tea-party-affiliated groups applying for tax-exempt status. President Obama has condemned the IRS’s actions. The FBI has opened an investigation. Do you see this having a major impact on the administration and its credibility?

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A Real Scandal: Activists in San Diego and Around the World to Protest Monsanto May 25th

May 16, 2013 by Doug Porter

Balboa Park March & Rally, Mission Bay Overpass Light Brigade Events Expected to Draw Thousands

By Doug Porter/ San Diego Free Press

While the oldstream media is obsessing on the current crop of Washington’s politi-dramas, an international protest movement is gathering steam. Activists in on six continents, in 36 countries, and in 47 U.S. states — totaling events in over 250 cities — are coordinating demonstrations to occur simultaneously at 11am Pacific time on Saturday May 25th under the general theme “March Against Monsanto”.

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School Board Okays Controversial Sale of Prime Mission Beach School Property – Despite Mayor Filner’s Plea

May 15, 2013 by Frank Gormlie
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On Tuesday, May 14th, the San Diego Unified School District board authorized the sale of the former Mission Beach Elementary School property to private developers – despite objections by Mayor Filner, residents and community activists.

The 4 to 1 vote by the Board was the culmination of the process to cement the controversial sale of 2.23 acres of prime public school land, a half block from the Pacific Ocean and mere yards from Mission Bay. Mayor Filner, community planners and civic activists, as well as residents pleaded with the Board to keep the land in the public arena, and work with either the City or developers on alternatives. The site was sold for $18.5 million to duo of developers, doing business as McKellar-Ashbrook LLC, registered in La Jolla.

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Colleen Dietzel: The Ecology-Superwoman of Ocean Beach

May 14, 2013 by Frank Gormlie
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Everybody knows Colleen – the woman who runs OB’s Green Store. She’s been running it for 24 years here in Ocean Beach – along with her volunteers, of course. But this is the person who is responsible for its day-to-day operation and maintenance.

So, we all know Colleen, but how many of us know her personal background? I didn’t – so, I sat down with her the other day at a small, round table outside the shop on Voltaire and began peppering her with questions.

Colleen Patricia Word (now Dietzel) was born in March 1950 in Palmdale, California, to Genevieve and Albert Word.

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Peninsula Community and Customers Rally for Ian Rey, Disabled Former Employee of Sprouts Point Loma

May 11, 2013 by Annie Lane
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Dozens protested Friday evening to show continued support for Ian Rey, a longtime Sprouts Farmers Market employee who said he was fired after 14 years for mistakenly taking a coworker’s jacket.

Rey was terminated from Sprouts on Monday, and has experienced an outpouring of support from the community and customers alike – many of whom say they won’t shop at the local grocery store anymore.

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Protest Against Ian Rey’s Firing by Point Loma Sprouts – Friday, May 10 at 6pm

May 10, 2013 by Frank Gormlie

Many of us have heard about Ian Rey, a developmentally challenged  employee fired at Point Loma Sprouts. They said he stole another employees jacket. It looked like a black sweatshirt jacket he wore all the time and he mistaken it for his. Channel 10 news did a piece on it. There is a protest this [...]

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We’re back from our Desert get away

May 9, 2013 by Frank Gormlie
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Hey everybody – the editors of the OB Rag have returned from our desert get-away to Borrego Springs.   We’ll be up in running – either later today – Thursday or at least by Friday. Check this out! Taken from our patio at the inn where we stayed. See the rainbow?

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Sex in San Diego: Pentagon Study Finds 26,000 Military Sexual Assaults Last Year, Over 70 Sex Crimes Per Day

May 9, 2013 by Source
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Editor: The following is a transcript of Amy Goodman’s program on Democracy Now from yesterday, May 8, that aired highlights from Tuesday’s Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on military sexual assaults . We also include the video – see below. Democracy Now!

NERMEEN SHAIKH: A shocking new report by the Pentagon has found that 70 sexual assaults may be taking place within the U.S. military every day. The report estimated there were 26,000 sex crimes committed in 2012, a jump of 37 percent since 2010. Most of the incidents were never reported.

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Ocean Beach Lawyer Leads Innocence Project March to Sacramento

May 2, 2013 by Frank Gormlie
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Some lawyers talk a lot when serving their clients – and now an Ocean Beach lawyer is walking a lot.

OB’s Justin Brooks, a law professor at Cal Western School of Law, is leading a 600 mile march from San Diego to Sacramento, on behalf of his clients. He’s walking with other lawyers and supporters of the California Innocence Project.

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May Day Events in San Diego

May 1, 2013 by Staff

Here are some events and marches and actions occurring today – May First, May Day – that are happening in San Diego County.

May 1 @ 2pm
May 1st Day of Action on International Worker’s Day
Workers of the world, unite! Join numerous organizations interested in supporting the working class with a march from Downtown San Diego to Chicano Park. Rally begins at 2pm at the Civic Center. The march to Chicano Park begins at 3:30pm with a rally there to close out the demonstration.
Civic Center
3rd & B St. Downtown
For more info visit

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Celebrate May Day and Know Its Origins

May 1, 2013 by Source
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Most people living in the United States know little about the International Workers’ Day of May Day. For many others there is an assumption that it is a holiday celebrated in state communist countries like Cuba or the former Soviet Union. Most Americans don’t realize that May Day has its origins here in this country and is as “American” as baseball and apple pie, and stemmed from the pre-Christian holiday of Beltane, a celebration of rebirth and fertility.

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Google’s Spymasters Are Now Worried About Your Secrets

May 1, 2013 by Source
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By Robert Scheer / Truthdig

A recent article in The Wall Street Journal by Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt, “The Dark Side of the Digital Revolution,” makes for very scary reading. It is not so much because of what he and co-author Jared Cohen, the director of Google Ideas, have to say about how dictators can use new information technology to suppress dissent; we know those guys are evil. What is truly frightening is that the techniques of the totalitarian state are the same ones pioneered by so-called democracies where commercial companies, like Google, have made a hash of the individual’s constitutionally guaranteed right to be secure in his or her private space.

The dictators, mired in more technologically primitive societies, didn’t develop the fearsome new implements of control of the National Security State. Google and other leaders in this field of massively mined and shared information did.

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Video of Mission Beach Cigarette Citation Goes Viral and Lights Up National Debate Over Cellphone Videos

April 30, 2013 by Frank Gormlie
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A video by a guy on the Mission Beach boardwalk who was being given a citation for smoking a cigarette has gone viral. The incident involved Adam Pringle who refused to shut off his cellphone while videoing the San Diego police officer – and now Pringle’s video of part of the incident has sparked a conversation that has gone national over the rights of people using the video on their cellphone (or other cameras).

Pringle – from Escondido – was smoking a cig on the boardwalk at Mission when he was approached by San Diego Police on bicycles. As the officer began writing up a citation, an infraction, Adam Pringle began using his cell phone to video the officer.

The officer then asks Pringle to shut off his cellphone. Pringle refuses – saying it was his right. The officer asks him at least one more time – and Pringle continues to video the officer.

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“Move to Amend” – the Campaign to Get Big Corporations Out of Politics – Meets Tonight in Point Loma – Tuesday, April 30th

April 30, 2013 by Source

The Campaign to Get Big Corporations Out of Our Constitution and Big Money Out of Our Elections The OB Rag was contacted by some local organizers for “Move to Amend” – a nation-wide group that works to kick large corporations out of US politics, elections, and our Constitution. There is an important event in our [...]

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How Much Is Your Life Worth?

April 30, 2013 by Source

The price of some cancer drugs exceeds $100,000 a year.

By John Lawrence / San Diego Free Press

doctor2How much is your life worth?

In a free market economy like the US, that question is settled by ability of the individual to pay. If you can’t pay over $100,000 a year for a life-saving cancer drug, your life isn’t worth as much as someone who can.

In a free market economy your life is worth exactly your ability to pay. In countries where the government pays the cost of drugs, they decide how much your life is worth. In Britain it’s $50,000; that’s the price the British government has negotiated the most expensive drugs down to. Is there a moral limit to how much Big Pharma can charge for some life saving drugs?

Some doctors seem to think so.

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Labor Bashing and Lincoln Club Love : the Last Refuge of Losers and Scoundrels in San Diego Democratic Politics

April 29, 2013 by Jim Miller
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Local Races in Assembly District 80 and City Council District 4

By Jim Miller

Before I devote the month of May to the San Diego Free Press’s upcoming focus on my Golden Hill neighborhood, recent events compel me to do one last column on the special elections in Assembly District 80 and City Council District 4.

The 80th California Assembly District: Lorena Gonzalez vs Steve Castaneda

In the race to replace Ben Hueso in the 80th it shouldn’t be shocking that Lorena Gonzalez’s opponent has attacked her for being a “union boss” except for the fact that that charge was hurled at her not from a Republican but from fellow Democrat, Steve Castaneda. Indeed, Mr. Castaneda, who would surely have taken labor’s endorsement if offered, was far too quick to turn to cartoon like right-wing anti-union stereotypes. This should tell us all we need to know about this variety of Democrat.

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Suit Against Sheriffs Allowed to Proceed – Bogus 2008 Arrest of OB Woman Used Against Her in Custody Dispute with Boyfriend Sheriff

April 24, 2013 by Frank Gormlie
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Suit Alleges Conspiracy and Excessive Against Sheriffs and County in Arrest

There has been a positive development in a convoluted and sad story about a woman arrested in OB for using her boyfriend sheriff’s credit card. Her arrest had been used against her in a child custody dispute with him. With all charges dropped, Michelle Cameron had sued the County and the Sheriffs for the use of excessive force and conspiracy.

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Mayor Filner Angry at Federal Raid on Pot Dispensary and Demands Answers

April 24, 2013 by Frank Gormlie

Federal Official Reacts to Filner’s Anger and Displays Woefully Inadequate Understanding of Medicinal Herb

Mayor Bob Filner is very angry with the Federal raid on a pot dispensary in downtown San Diego on Tuesday, April 23rd. He called it “provocative” and described it as intimidation. And he wants answers.

A day after the City Council and the Mayor discussed finding solutions to the issue of medical marijuana dispensaries in San Diego, federal agents agents raided a marijuana collective, reportedly breaking a glass door in order to gain entry into the downtown building on Tuesday.

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Dave Davis – Once San Diego’s Printer for the Movement

April 23, 2013 by Frank Gormlie
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Every now and then we must pause in our daily rush and grind to acknowledge the passing of someone who is important to us. This is especially true in the tiny world of progressive journalism in San Diego. And it is true as we pause on the passing of Dave Davis.

Now, there are probably very few people in San Diego right now who even remember Dave Isaac Davis, but it was his little print shop in Golden Hill that was responsible for printing up the very first issues of the original OB Rag way back in 1970 and 1971, when we considered it to be an “underground newspaper”.

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