November 2015

Reader Rant: City Allows Private Business to Take Over Public Parking for Sunset Cliffs Park

November 30, 2015 by Source

On November 19th Second District Councilwoman Lorie Zapf presented a City Council proclamation celebrating the 100th anniversary of Sunset Cliffs .

It is a shame that on this anniversary many San Diegans and visitors are not able to access Sunset Cliffs Natural Park. There are two City parking lots for those who wish to visit the south end of the park, one near the water on Ladera St. and one up top on Lomaland Dr. adjacent to Point Loma Nazarene University.

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Nothing or Everything Changes After Paris

November 30, 2015 by Jim Miller

By Jim Miller

There has been much to be dismayed about in the wake of the horrible Paris (and Beirut) attacks, from the carnage itself to the ugly xenophobia it aroused in American politics to the sheer stupidity of the eternal return of the same that is the bipartisan hegemony on foreign policy.

The answer for everything is always an eye for an eye until the whole world is blind with little to no intelligent reflection on the blunders that got us here—that might mean a fundamental rethinking of our role in the world rather than yet another knee-jerk response.

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Thanks to Conservation Efforts, the ‘Butterfly Highway’ Saw a Ton More Traffic This Year

November 30, 2015 by Source

Monarch butterfly on lantana blossoms

By Walter Einenkel / Daily Kos

Earlier this year it came to our attention that since 1990, almost 1 billion monarch butterflies have vanished. That number was 90 percent of previous peaks in monarch populations. In reaction to this staggering number, conservationists in North America began working in their regions to create something called the “butterfly highway”.

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OB Rag Poll: Majority Supports Police Cameras in OB But Sizable Minority Oppose Them

November 27, 2015 by Frank Gormlie

Ocean Beach is definitely split over the issue of police surveillance cameras being installed along OB’s waterfront in the next few weeks.

The OB Rag ran a poll on the issue – actually two polls – one for OBceans and another for visitors – for a week. In the unscientific survey of our readers, a large majority in each poll favored the cameras.

But sizable minorities oppose the cameras.

In the first poll among OBceans, two-thirds favored the cameras while a third was opposed. With a total of 183 participants, 67.76% or 124 votes said they support them, while 32.24% or 59 votes opposed them.

It was closer in the second poll for visitors to OB. With 86 readers taking part, 59.3% ( 51 votes ) favored the cameras and 40.7% ( 35 votes ) did not.

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Ocean Beach Restaurant Rave: Jake & Eggs

November 27, 2015 by Source

By Geoff Page

Before I get into my review of OB’s newest breakfast joint, I have to admit two things. I am a breakfast guy, breakfast is my favorite meal to eat out, and I know the young people who have created Jake & Eggs and I like them. So, biases confessed, let me tell you about the new place.

Jake & Eggs is located on the west side of Sunset Cliffs bordering the alley a half block south of Narragansett. The Olive Tree market anchors the little commercial cluster at the north end. For those of you who have discovered Sundara and its excellent Indian cuisine, Jake & Eggs is in the same spot on Saturday and Sunday from 8:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. There is a Sundara connection because Jake is one of the chefs at Sundara, which, for me, was a great recommendation for this new place.

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Petition Against Police Cameras in Ocean Beach

November 27, 2015 by Source

Here is the Petition in Opposition to Police Surveillance Cameras in Ocean Beach, sponsored by the OB Citizens Against Privacy Abuse.

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Sen Bernie Sanders on Democratic Socialism: Let Us Finish What FDR and MLK Started

November 27, 2015 by Source

The following are the prepared remarks for a speech given by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) at Georgetown University on Thursday, November 19th, 2015.

In his inaugural remarks in January 1937, in the midst of the Great Depression, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt looked out at the nation and this is what he saw.

He saw tens of millions of its citizens denied the basic necessities of life.

He saw millions of families trying to live on incomes so meager that the pall of family disaster hung over them day by day.

He saw millions denied education, recreation, and the opportunity to better their lot and the lot of their children.

He saw millions lacking the means to buy the products they needed and by their poverty and lack of disposable income denying employment to many other millions.

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OB Town Council Needs 100 Volunteers for Holiday Parade

November 27, 2015 by Frank Gormlie

One Hundred Volunteers Are Needed for OB Holiday Parade – Saturday, December 5th

Submit Application by November 30th

The Ocean Beach Town Council is seeking the help of 100 responsible persons who would like to volunteer and help ensure that the 36th Annual Ocean Beach Holiday Parade is a successful and wonderful event for our community.

The Holiday Parade occurs on Saturday, December 5, 2015, and it cannot occur without the dedicated support of our volunteers.

The Parade starts at 5:05 pm (OB Time). All participating volunteers will need to report in to the Ocean Beach Recreation Center, 4726 Santa Monica Ave, Ocean Beach, at 2:00pm sharp on Saturday, December 5th and check in with the OBTC Volunteer Coordinators.

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Why Aren’t Seniors Getting a Raise This Year?

November 25, 2015 by John Lawrence

CEOs Got a Pay Increase Last Year But No COLA for Social Security Recipients

By John Lawrence

The Social Security Administration announced that senior citizens would get no increase in their monthly checks because there wasn’t any inflation last year as measured by the increase in paychecks for urban and clerical workers.

Yes, those workers didn’t make any more money, but CEOs certainly did.

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Laffing it Up

November 25, 2015 by Ernie McCray

By Ernie McCray

My mother used to say “Sometimes you have to laugh to keep from crying,” and when I think back on our days of second-class citizenship she sure wasn’t lying.

The other day Maria and I gave in to that old adage as we laughed about this and that, whiling the time away during her stay in a little two-bed hospital room at Scripps Mercy, worrying about what the doctor might say.

We started laughing ourselves silly listening to a woman’s (Maria’s roommate) emotional and animated conversation in Cantonese, with all the rhythmic inflections and rapidly changing nuances intertwined.

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Anti-Muslim Bigotry in San Diego; Trump’s Racist Rampage Continues

November 25, 2015 by Doug Porter

By Doug Porter / San Diego Free Press

A female Muslim student at San Diego State University was assaulted on campus last week. An unknown male, believed to be a SDSU student, pushed her and pulled her by her hijab while making hate comments and threats based on her religious appearance.

An unidentified pregnant woman, dressed in a traditional Muslim headscarf and pushing her child in a stroller in Mission Valley, was stopped by an unidentified man making racially charged threats. He went so far as to push her stroller back into her.

Those are just the most recent two of the 170 reported threats against Muslims in San Diego this year, according to officials with the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

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Why SeaWorld Can’t Build a Hotel at its Location on Mission Bay

November 24, 2015 by Frank Gormlie

By Frank Gormlie

Coming off its trouncing over the last 2 years because of the Orca circuses, SeaWorld has announced that it now plans on building a hotel and resort at its location on the southern rim of Mission Bay. Yet, there is trouble afoot for these plans. SeaWorld needs to re-appraise the project, for the last time a major hotel was planned for that area of Mission Bay – it ended in disaster.

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Excerpts From Sunshine/Noir II: Excavating San Diego Noir — A Jumping-Off Place

November 24, 2015 by Jim Miller

By Jim Miller

In Mike Davis’s seminal discussion of noir in City of Quartz he defines the genre as “a fantastic convergence of American ‘tough-guy’ realism, Weimar expressionism, and existentialized Marxism—all focused on unmasking a ‘bright, guilty place.’”

Born in the minds of the “Depression-crazed middle classes” of southern California, the “nightmare anti-myth of noir” trafficked in alienation and a distrust of the morality of capitalism. More specifically, Davis notes how “noir everywhere insinuated contempt for a depraved business culture while it ….”

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New Private Security Patrol Alarms OBceans

November 23, 2015 by Source

By Daniel

Though not widely discussed, the presence of a new security force in Ocean Beach has some OBceans alarmed. National Public Safety has been retained by the Ocean Beach MainStreet Association to “keep Ocean Beach family-friendly by enhancing public safety in specific geographical locations” … this after the OBMA dumped Elite Services USA (the red shirts) for general ineffectiveness.

As a security force, neither outfit has much leeway to effect actual change in terms of cleaning up the streets.

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Straws In the Wind – The 100th Birthday Party for Sunset Cliffs Park

November 23, 2015 by Source

By Lois Lane

Eileen Jackson, the long-time Society columnist for the San Diego Union Tribune, would have loved this party.

The crème de la crème of Ocean Beach was there – members of the OB Mainstreet Association, the Sunset Cliffs Natural Park Committee, the sponsoring OB Historical Society, the OB Planning Board, the OB Community Development Corporation, the band members of Liquid Blue, and the many neighbors and friends –nearly 200 in all – gathered at St. Peter’s by the Sea Lutheran Church to celebrate the event – the Centennial of the Sunset Cliffs Park.

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Clinton and the New Democrats’ Tired Third Way

November 23, 2015 by Jim Miller

By Jim Miller

Recently I noted how movements like the Fight for $15 and the insurgent Bernie Sanders campaign have revealed a widespread thirst for an overtly left politics that makes the battle against the billionaire class a central rallying cry.

Indeed, Sanders has continued to force Hillary Clinton to tack to the left on multiple issues, and he has had a genuinely transformative impact on the national political discourse by unashamedly bringing democratic socialism to the stage.

This is why Harold Meyerson argues that the Sanders’s campaign represents “the largest specifically left mobilization—and by ‘specifically left’ I mean it demands major changes in the distribution of income and wealth and major reforms to U.S. capitalism—that the nation has seen in at least half a century.”

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San Diego’s Hidden Homeless

November 23, 2015 by Source

Homeless women and children undercounted and underserved.

By Jeeni Criscenzo / San Diego Free Press

homeless kids It looks like the issue of homelessness will be getting some airtime during the 2016 election season in San Diego. That should be good news for anyone who is deeply concerned about homelessness in the region. Problem is that some candidates might use the issue to put forth solutions, without taking the time to understand the problem.

By feeding the electorate with misinformation that plays into their eagerness for a quick and easy fix to the city’s growing homeless situation, they will not only fail to solve the problem, they will exacerbate it.

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Propagating the Nameservers, or What’s the Forwarding Address?

November 22, 2015 by Staff

When moving to a new webhost it can take a little time to propagate the nameservers. Basically, our forwarding address needs to spread through the interwebs so people can find us.

Because web browsers using caching to speed things up you may see a representation of a slightly older version of the site and not know it.

This post is to let you (and us) know that this page is being served from the new host.

Please comment to let us know you are here.

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Are Police Surveillance Cameras for OB’s Waterfront “a Done Deal”?

November 19, 2015 by Frank Gormlie

Are the police cameras proposed for OB’s waterfront “a done deal”? That’s a big question facing the community of Ocean Beach these days.

Lorie Zapf’s office wants you to think so. The councilwoman wants those ten surveillance cameras planned to be set up between the OB Pier and Dog Beach. For Lorie and her staff, it is “a done deal”. From all appearances, it looks like Zapf’s office is putting itself on the line on this issue, and strikes a very uncompromising stance on the cameras. “It’s a done deal.”

For the cops, it’s “a done deal”.

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Misuse Rampant, Oversight Lacking at California’s Law Enforcement Network

November 19, 2015 by Source

By Dave Maass / Electronic Frontier Foundation

Confirmed cases of misuse of California’s sprawling unified law enforcement information network have doubled over the last five years, according to records obtained by Electronic Frontier Foundation under the California Public Records Act.

That adds up to a total 389 cases in which an investigation concluded that a user—often a peace officer—broke the rules for accessing the California Law Enforcement Telecommunications System (CLETS), such as searching criminal records to vet potential dates or spy on former spouses. More than 20 incidents since 2010 have resulted in criminal charges.

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Survey of San Diego Neighborhoods With Highest Crimes by Zip Code – Ocean Beach Is Only No. 13th

November 19, 2015 by Frank Gormlie

Our local CBS station, Channel 8, just did a survey of neighborhoods of the County of San Diego with the highest overall crime numbers within the last six months. The news station did this by zip code.

We took their numbers, and after adjusting them to allow just City of San Diego neighborhoods, we found that the neighborhood of Ocean Beach – zip code 92107 – was the neighborhood with the 13th highest crime numbers. During the last 6 months, according to the survey, OB had 856 over-all.

But OB was bested by twelve other neighborhoods with higher numbers of crimes.

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“Convergence” Transformative at Cabrillo Light House

November 18, 2015 by Source

By Eric Nielsen / blogsandiego

The Convergence show at Cabrillo National Monument was a huge success. It was fabulously put on by Ship in the Woods. It was spiritual and mystical. It was full of great people and objects. It breathed with the ocean and the cliffs. It melted into the serene and transformative power of the location.

It was site specific art at its best and if you missed it, you missed the night of the year. I couldn’t even see all of it and I couldn’t stay for the music. I really wanted to see Perry Vazquez and Pall Jenkins play in front of glass walls that looked out onto the ocean, the bay, downtown and Tijuana. But, I didn’t even need to see all the art or hear all the music to feel the presence of the ocean, the stars and night time sky serving as the backdrop to the creationist visions of local artists.

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San Diego, We Have a Use of Deadly Force Problem

November 18, 2015 by Doug Porter

Editor: The following commentary by our colleague Doug Porter on the over-use of deadly force by San Diego area law enforcement was originally posted a week ago at SDFP, but it is as relevant today as last week.

By Doug Porter /San Diego Free Press

It should surprise no one that County District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis called a press conference [November 9th] announcing that charges will not be filed against the San Diego Police officer who shot and killed Fridoon Rawshan Nehad in the Midway District last April.

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Extreme Weather Watch: October 2015 – South Carolina, Texas Inundated by Torrential Rains

November 18, 2015 by John Lawrence

Extreme Weather Watch By John Lawrence

In early October, torrential rain flooded almost the entire state of South Carolina. At least 17 people died. The cost of the flooding could top $1 billion, Senator Lindsey Graham said. Interstate 95 was closed for 70 miles. At least 11 dams failed. Another 35 dams were at risk.

The rain event set records all over the state, flooding entire towns. For some locations, this historic rainfall qualifies as a 1,000-year rain event, meaning in a given year there is a 1 in 1,000 chance of observing rainfall totals of this magnitude.

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OB Historical Society: Centennial of Historic Sunset Cliffs – Thurs., Nov. 19th

November 18, 2015 by Source

Join the OB Historical Society in a celebration of the “Centennial of Historic Sunset Cliffs” with presenter Ann Swanson, chair of the Sunset Cliffs Natural Park – all at St. Peter’s by the Sea at 1371 Sunset Cliffs Blvd., on Thursday, November 19th, at 7pm.

These cliffs have a lot of history – from the Kumeyaay who considered them sacred – to the Theosophists and Albert Spalding, who developed sections of the cliffs. COME INSIDE FOR MORE INFO …

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Thank you! Thank you! Funding Goal for New Server Exceeded

November 18, 2015 by Staff

UPDATE: Since this posting yesterday, Wed., we have received an additional $70 – which puts up close to $600!

The OB Rag wants to thank the many folks who donated to our cause to replace our server – as our funding goal of $400 has been surpassed.

In the 5 days since we started our fundraising on Friday the 13th, we have raised over $500 – and are calling it off. Many of the donations were via PayPal – and were from $10 to $50. And several old friends and supporters also stepped up.

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Application Made for New Construction on 4600 Block of Del Mar

November 17, 2015 by Frank Gormlie

New construction and remodeling are being proposed for a lot on the 4600 block of Del Mar Avenue in southern Ocean Beach.

According to the City’s Notice, the applicant, William Mack, has applied for a Coastal Development Permit at 4620 Del Mar, a lot that is .16 acre. Mack wants to construct the following to an existing dwelling unit:

an addition
interior remodel
companion unit
and encroachments
that will total 5,703 square feet.

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Old Dominos on Voltaire Demolished and Lot Readied for “Upper Voltaire” Project

November 17, 2015 by Frank Gormlie

28 Two and Three-Story TownHouses Coming Will Add to Traffic Congestion

There’s been some changes to what’s called “upper Voltaire” – that stretch of Voltaire Street east of Ocean Beach, up on the hill and that flows down across Catalina Boulevard and onward across its bridge over Nimitz.

The old Dominos Pizza building (you may remember it as the surf shop) has been demolished and removed. There has been some general clearing of that lot.

And next door, the former coffee house cottage is also undergoing an interesting switcharoo. The former java joint is being turned into an off-site kitchen for the OB Noodle House. Wow – more expansion for one of OB’s most favorite restaurants.

But the main thing that is going on is that the one-acre triangular-shaped lot …

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Can Our Children Learn to Study War No More from Mice?

November 17, 2015 by Ernie McCray

Mural of two young girls writing "PLEASE NO MORE WAR" "LOVE" on a wall (Photo: txindoki/Flickr/cc)

By Ernie McCray

As we opened our hearts, this past Veteran’s Day, to our nation’s warriors with hearty “Thank you for your service” like cliches, alongside heaping praise on them for being strong heroic and brave – I kept thinking of two young men I met a little over a decade ago.

They were among the first to die in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

I met them at career fairs at their schools, while I was sitting at a table letting kids know that they …

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OB Rag Needs to Make the Server Switch – Still Need $225

November 16, 2015 by Frank Gormlie

Patty tells me that the OB Rag has to make the server switch this week and no later than next weekend.

Our call for help has been fruitful – as we have raised $175 just since Friday.

We need another $225 and must ask our readers and supporters for additional help.

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kh April 18, 2024 at 11:45 pm on 2 New Projects Proposed for West Point Loma Boulevard in Ocean BeachCurrently you can deduct more property taxes on an investment property than on your primary residence. That’s just insane. This is because of the $10K...
kh April 18, 2024 at 11:40 pm on 2 New Projects Proposed for West Point Loma Boulevard in Ocean BeachWe should not be incentivizing any home ownership beyond your primary residence. It just increases the barrier for those who can’t afford 1 home.
Will April 18, 2024 at 10:35 pm on 2 New Projects Proposed for West Point Loma Boulevard in Ocean BeachI weep not for people who own second homes. We are so thankful to own our OB shack. We see people who do all sorts...
Kirk Mather April 18, 2024 at 7:24 pm on OB Planners’ Project Review Committee: 20 Units at 4705 Point Loma Ave., — Wed., April 17Paul Webb If I read your numbers correctly seems like more than a small deviation @4X increased density. And OB NYC as a comparison seems...
David St John April 18, 2024 at 5:59 pm on Why San Diego Should Not Be Awarded Anything for Its ‘Bonus ADU’ Program — Not One ADU Unit Has Been Built as Low-Income HousingGreat analysis. Have you thought about sending your analysis to the Ivory Group? This ADU plan doesn’t deserve a prize.
Lynne Miller April 18, 2024 at 5:41 pm on Proposed 20 Units on Point Loma Ave Will Only Have 3 ‘Affordable’, Only 9 Parking SpacesWe need to appeal by the deadline, and that means collaboration and planning based on the $1,000 appeal fee per applicant. btw, I want to...
nostalgic April 18, 2024 at 5:31 pm on Proposed 20 Units on Point Loma Ave Will Only Have 3 ‘Affordable’, Only 9 Parking SpacesI think the 9 parking spaces is history; it is 3.5 parking spaces, or maybe 4 or maybe 3.
kh April 18, 2024 at 4:44 pm on 8 ADUs in 3-Story Complex Proposed for 4500 Block of Pescadero in Point LomaAlso, the Coastal-certified code only allows 1 base ADU on a lot with a single-family-development. Even in a multifamily zone. This means any ADU over...
kh April 18, 2024 at 4:39 pm on 8 ADUs in 3-Story Complex Proposed for 4500 Block of Pescadero in Point LomaThe city is violating noticing requirements on these projects near CPG boundaries. See section (b)(4) §112.0302 Notice by Mail (b) Persons Entitled to Notice. Except...
At the Edge of D7 April 18, 2024 at 4:16 pm on Proposed 20 Units on Point Loma Ave Will Only Have 3 ‘Affordable’, Only 9 Parking SpacesI did need that spelled out for me, kh, thank you. That makes sense to me now. Single individuals, as in 1 person, with no...
kh April 18, 2024 at 4:10 pm on Proposed 20 Units on Point Loma Ave Will Only Have 3 ‘Affordable’, Only 9 Parking SpacesI thought it was 40% of base density. It would be interesting to see how the affordable density bonus would apply to this project vs...
kh April 18, 2024 at 4:06 pm on Proposed 20 Units on Point Loma Ave Will Only Have 3 ‘Affordable’, Only 9 Parking SpacesOB is not on the SDA map because that code update has not been approved by the Coastal Commission. Nor have the zero-parking code updates...
FrankF April 18, 2024 at 4:01 pm on Proposed 20 Units on Point Loma Ave Will Only Have 3 ‘Affordable’, Only 9 Parking SpacesIf you want to see what the future looks like, 3781 32nd Street at North Park Way a block from the North Park Library. A...
kh April 18, 2024 at 3:53 pm on Proposed 20 Units on Point Loma Ave Will Only Have 3 ‘Affordable’, Only 9 Parking SpacesCoke and strippers oriented
Frank Gormlie April 18, 2024 at 3:37 pm on Open Letter to Councilwoman Campbell on ‘Complete Communities’ from Point Loma HomeownerKH, can you confirm the vote of the PRC.