May 4, 1970 Remembered

by on May 4, 2022 · 3 comments

in History, Peace Movement, War and Peace

By Frank Gormlie

Monday, May 4 – Introduction

For at least an entire generation of Americans, the day May 4, 1970, will always be associated with the shootings of unarmed students by National Guardsmen on the campus of Kent State University in Ohio. Four students were killed – two had nothing to do with the protests, one was an ROTC cadet – and nine others were wounded, including one permanently paralyzed. The shootings will be eternally remembered as a grim stain upon US history.

Kent State University – Ohio

Students just waking up Monday morning or coming onto the Kent State campus for the first time since the protests the week before, were shocked and angered to find their school occupied by hundreds of uniformed and armed National Guardsmen. Guard troops were positioned at campus entrances, at buildings and at the remains of the ROTC building that had been torched and destroyed Saturday night during protests. Late in the morning, an informal, word-of-mouth call to assemble at the Commons area for a noon rally spread like wildfire. When the Victory Bell rang at 11:58, 2,000 to 3,000 students – including Jeff Miller and Alison Krause – gathered to continue the protest of the war and to protest the presence of National Guardsmen on their campus. Another 1,000 students were also in the area, either in between classes like Sandy Scheuer or on their way to lunch. Some, like Bill Schroeder, an ROTC cadet on the way to class, had stopped by to check out the demonstration.

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The 2022 Election Will Be Won ‘Shoulder to Shoulder’

by on May 4, 2022 · 1 comment

in Election, Ocean Beach, Women's Rights

By Colleen O’Connor

The leaked draft of the U.S. Supreme Court’s tentative decision to overturn Roe v. Wade may have just doomed the GOP and uplifted the Democrats.

At its base, the Justice Alito decision is not just an assault on the “rule of law,” the sanctity of legal precedence, and the appearance (if never the reality) of an unbiased Court bench, but it has now eclipsed the news coverage of the brutal Ukraine war; the omnipresence of Donald Trump-isms; and to what end?

The legal, cultural, economic, race and gender-biased ghosts—still lingering from the 1850s U.S. Civil War—are rising from their graves—to fight again.

Watch as these Civil War brawls play out in present day 2022 and beyond.

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Religion and the Law Continue to Blame Women

by on May 4, 2022 · 0 comments

in History, Ocean Beach, Women's Rights

By Joni Halpern

Very few Americans know the history of the Roe v. Wade decision, either legally, socially, or medically.

But the short history is that throughout the evolution of the human species, women have never been the sole determinants of whether they become pregnant. Instead, they have most commonly been treated as the wrongdoers, the flawed, the negligent, the sinful perpetrators of unwanted births.

Yet, from ancient times, the real determinants of pregnancy have been religion, culture, and law, which have either kept women ignorant of their bodies or burdened them with guilt at the mere thought of saying “no” to men under religious or cultural norms that expected them to acquiesce to unprotected intimacy or outright efforts to assault or impregnate them.

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Feeling Joy on Stage – Reflections on a Performance in Behalf of The Preuss School

by on May 4, 2022 · 0 comments

in From the Soul, San Diego

by Ernie McCray

I don’t know if there is anything like the joy of being on stage.

Such were my thoughts after the last time I was on one, doing “Still, We Rise,” a Poetry and Jazz Show, at the Conrad Prebys Music Center at UC San Diego, with some amazingly talented people the world should know.

Cecil Lytle, a concert jazz pianist of renown and professor emeritus at UCSD, produced and performed in the show.

The Rob Thorsen Quartet and jazz vocalist, Steph Johnson, did most of the music for the show.

Brilliant local actor, Walter Murray, did a cameo that added a nice touch to the show.

Yolanda Franklin, one of the most talented thespians I know, and I, read our poetry and the poems of Langston Hughes, Amanda Gorman and Maya Angelou – along with a few words from Martin Luther King’s heart and soul.

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Parrots & Pirates in Paradise at OB Woman’s Club – May 14

by on May 4, 2022 · 0 comments

in Ocean Beach

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By Nearly 2 to 1 Margin, Most Americans Want Supreme Court to Uphold Right to Abortion

by on May 3, 2022 · 5 comments

in Women's Rights

Most Americans say the Supreme Court should uphold Roe v. Wade, the landmark ruling that established a constitutional right to abortion, a Washington Post-ABC News poll conducted last week finds.

With the Supreme Court poised to overturn the right to abortion, the survey finds that 54 percent of Americans think the 1973 Roe decision should be upheld while 28 percent believe it should be overturned — a roughly 2-to-1 margin.

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Biden’s Nuclear Boondoggle Threatens to Unravel Decades of Progress

May 3, 2022 by Michael Steinberg


By Michael Steinberg
The names and faces and political parties in power may change, but the shill game remains the same: waste incredible fortunes on dangerous discredited boondoggles.

Nuclear power came into being as a reaction to the public’s horror after the US’s use of nuclear bombs to devastate Hiroshima and Nagasaki. In reaction to this the government instituted the “Atoms for Peace program, most notably encouraging electric companies to build large nuclear power plants with huge subsidies that would produce electricity promised to be “too cheap to meter.”

The Associated Press Article said Biden’s scheme was “intended to bailout financially distressed owners and operators of US nuclear reactors.”

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Peninsula Planners Send Traffic-Related Requests to City; Review of Voltaire Bridge & Canon Pocket Park

May 3, 2022 by Staff

By Geoff Page

There was nothing earth-shaking or controversial during the Peninsula Community Planning Board’s monthly meeting April 21 but the agenda was not uninteresting. The agenda, in fact, represented the things planning boards were created for.

Before moving on, a point on how PCPB chair Fred Kosmo starts each Zoom meeting. During the Zoom meeting era, Kosmo has always reminded the audience that the meeting is being recorded as a sort of warning, which is unnecessary. This is a public meeting and anyone at a public meeting should already know they may be filmed or photographed without permission.

Before this meeting, Kosmo’s choice of words may not have been intentional, but this time it was a voiced warning when he said “everybody be careful what you say.”

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OB Planning Board Returns to In-Person Meetings: 2 Projects Up for Review – 4953 Coronado, 4705 Point Loma – Wed., May 4

May 2, 2022 by Frank Gormlie

This Wednesday, May 4, the Ocean Beach Planning Board returns to in-person meetings and will begin meeting once again in the Ocean Beach Rec Center at 4726 Santa Monica Ave. The Board has also issued a caveat. ” Our meeting room capacity is restricted to 25 persons, so depending on turnout we may ask applicants and speakers to wait in the lobby until their item is called.”

Besides electing a secretary for the Board, dealing with two possible appointments, and having a presentation on the OB Estuary Enhancement Project, the volunteer panel has two projects to review.

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Omertà, San Diego Style

April 28, 2022 by Source

By Norma Damashek / NumbersRunner / April 27, 2022

Let’s pretend we’re hotshot detectives in a Netflix blockbuster about a real estate deal gone bad … really bad. The action takes place in San Diego, where most every city official — past and present — is hell-bent on burying the evidence.

An apt name for our show is “Omertà, San Diego style” (a code of silence about criminal activity and a refusal to give evidence to authorities). But prepare yourselves: this whodunit is a true story about real perps, real victims, real consequences, and a labyrinth of backroom deals, tangled networks, secret handshakes, and a really convoluted chain of events.

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It’s Time for Women — and Men — to Mobilize Against Supreme Court’s Destruction of the Right to an Abortion: Today at 5pm at Courthouse

May 3, 2022 by Staff

Today Tuesday, America is waking up to a country whose Supreme Court appears ready to soon ban women’s right to an abortion and overturn nearly half a century of precedence granting the right to choose.

This all came out yesterday when Politico released what it calls a draft of a majority opinion written by Justice Samuel Alito that would strike down Roe v. Wade.

Circulated in early February, according to Politico, the draft is not the final opinion. Votes and language can change before opinions are formally released. The opinion in this case is not expected to be published until late June.

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Today We Show Up at Our Federal Building to Say Abortion Care Is Health Care

May 3, 2022 by Staff

Last night, we learned right-wing justices on the Supreme Court intend to overturn Roe v. Wade. This decision would allow states to ban abortion across the country, leading to even further assaults on reproductive health.

Today, we show up—to say abortion care is health care and #BansOffOurBodies!

Can you show up in your community at 5 p.m. local time tonight, Tuesday, May 3, at your local federal building, courthouse, or town square, for a rapid-response protest against the right-wing attacks on abortion rights and demand our elected officials act now before any more services are cut off?

These protests are coming together fast. All across the country, folks are going to gather at federal courthouses and other federal buildings, town halls, town squares, and community outdoor spaces.

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What Is Supply and Demand in Housing? San Diego As a Textbook Example

May 2, 2022 by Source

By Mat Wahlstrom

It’s the mantra of pro-developer pundits who self-describe as “YIMBY,” or ‘Yes in My Back Yard,’ that anyone who opposes their agenda of total deregulation on land use as a prerequisite for creating affordable housing, simply doesn’t understand ‘supply and demand’ — or as they put it, “Economics 101.”

If the problem is people need affordable housing, then we just need to allow a ‘free market,’ unconstrained by regulation, to supply whatever housing it wants in order to meet that demand. Then at the convergence of the lines on the magical graph that results, we will have achieved it.

But this is a fundamental misrepresentation of the housing market and development in general, and of providing affordable housing in particular.

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Local TV Station Talks to Pilots Who Claim Point Loma Palm Trees Are No Danger to Aviation Safety

May 2, 2022 by Frank Gormlie

Local television station KUSI has interviewed at least two local pilots, both of whom say the historic palm trees in Point Loma are no danger to aviation safety.

(KUSI does have extreme right-wing views but its local reporter, Dan Plante, who lives in OB, has provided stellar reports on OB and Point Loma issues, like the palms.)

The station interviewed attorney and pilot, Michael Curran, who said that there is no danger to aviation safety resulting from the 100-year-old palm trees. They also spoke to former Naval Aviator, Brian ‘Sunshine’ Sinclair’, who agreed with Curran. KUSI reported that Sinclair also stated that the FAA gave the City of San Diego several other options they could have used but decided to go with cutting down the five trees instead.

Apparently, San Diego “officialdom” has not recognized the issue of the palm trees as a genuine and worthy concern.

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May 2022 Events From the Ocean Beach Green Center

May 2, 2022 by Source

All events are online and free unless stated otherwise.

Every Saturday at 10:30 am. Climate Mobilization Coalition Zoom Meeting May 7th, 14th, 21st and 28th.

May 3rd. Tuesday 4 pm Coffee and Climate Change – Voices of Industry Leaders and Experts

May 4th Wednesday 12 pm -1:50 pm Civil Rights Leader Dolores Huerta

May 4th Wednesday 6 pm – 7:30 pm Lobby Training to learn more about how you can help medically vulnerable Californians

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Dear Democrats: Please Don’t Do Stupid

April 29, 2022 by Source

By Collen O’Connor

Democrats need to outrun the “raw sewage flooding the public square,” that former President Obama cited in a recent speech.

Seriously, Democrats need a winnable “three-word,” Trump-like campaign slogan, akin to James Carville’s, “It’s the economy, stupid,” to avoid massive losses come November.

Three words seem to be the maximum allowed for memory retention in the metaverse of disinformation, lies, and depravity now dominating the social media and some fake news outlets.

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Fund uses Oligarch Money to Privatize Public Schools

April 29, 2022 by Source

By Thomas Ultican / Tultican

Born in 2018, The City Fund (TCF) is a concentration of oligarch wealth crushing democracy and privatizing the commons. John Arnold (infamous ENRON energy trader) and Reed Hastings (Netflix CEO and former California Charter Schools Association board member) claimed to be investing $100 million each to establish TCF. Their July 2018 announcement was delivered on Neerav Kingsland’s blog “Relinquishment” which recently started requiring approval to access.

The TCF goal is to implement the portfolio school management model into 40 cities by 2028.

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Happy 75th Birthday to a Fellow Sonoran

April 29, 2022 by Ernie McCray

by Ernie McCray

A friend,
Mary Castleberry,
a desert being,
a Sonoran, like me,
celebrates
her 75th birthday
and I would be remiss
if I didn’t say
she’s one of the most
down to earth people
I know.

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The City Is Caught In Another Lie About the Point Loma Palm Trees : The FAA Did Not Mandate Their Cutting Down

April 28, 2022 by Staff

By Geoff Page

In a previous OB Rag piece about the Newport palms, “The City of San Diego and its Forester Misrepresented ‘Immediate Safety Hazard’ in Effort to Remove Point Loma Palm Trees,” the subheading was “Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire.”

That subheading was there because it had been proven that the forester’s and city official’s claims that the FAA was calling the shots was exposed as a lie. The piece even included a cartoon graphic showing a man running with his rear end on fire.

They lied again but it is not so funny anymore because five trees are gone forever. The action was based on the same lie the forester and the city tried before, including the FAA in this. Suspicious that the city was lying again,

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Meet and Greet for D2 Council Candidate Mandy Havlik – Sat., April 30

April 28, 2022 by Source

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A Warning to Meat Eaters: Recall of Ground Beef

April 28, 2022 by Judi Curry

By Judi Curry

This is nothing more than a hopeful help to those of you, like me, that have purchased Grass Fed Ground Beef packaged by Lakeside Refrigerated Services and sold under the names of NATURALLY BETTER, NATURE’S RESERVE AND THOMAS FARMS.

Many of these products have been recalled because of E.Coli. I looked in my freezer and found that I had 5 packages, all purchased locally.

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Here’s the Complete FAA Documents from Feb. 28, 2022 on the 5 Palm Trees Cut Down in Point Loma

April 27, 2022 by Staff

Here’s the complete packet of FAA documents regarding the 5 historic palm trees the City of San Diego cut down this week in Point Loma.

There’s a 7 page letter on each of the identified palms – and except for the palm’s location and height, the letters are identical. Along with the five letters, there were a number of photos of many palms and an accompanying graph.

Here’s the packet for “Tree #1”:

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FAA Documents City Told the Public Were a Mandate to Cut Down 5 Palms – Called for Public Notice and Comment

April 27, 2022 by Staff

The OB Rag has copies of the FAA documents the city of San Diego told the public were a mandate to cut down five specific palm trees.

The documents include a letter dated February 28, 2022, regarding each identified palm on Newport Avenue, but they’re basically form letters and except for the address of the specific palm and its height, they’re all identical.

But here’s the problem for the city. Each letter calls for public notice and comment. This means the city misrepresented the FAA mandate. Not only that, the letter(s) spell out a required process that states the outcome of each identified palm tree “cannot be predicted prior to public circularization.” That means, nothing can happen, no outcome can be resolved before the public is notified and has an opportunity to comment.

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The Needless Death of Point Loma’s Historic Palm Trees at the Hands of the City of San Diego

April 26, 2022 by Source

By Geoff Page

The City of San Diego committed a crime against the Point Loma / OB community on the morning of Monday, April 25, there is no other way to put it. They came out to Newport Ave. and thumbed their noses at the public while hiding behind a phalanx of police officers as they murdered historic palm trees.

What is so infuriating is that the city did this very same thing last October. Only the public outcry the morning they showed up and quick legal action saved the trees in 2021. In both cases, the city attempted to come out and quickly, and stealthily to kill the trees, with barely 24 hours of notice to anyone. On Monday, it was less than 24 hours.

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Here’s the Letter the City Handed Out to Pt Loma and OB Residents While Crews Chopped Down Palm Trees

April 26, 2022 by Source

April 25, 2022

Dear Resident,

Thank you for supporting our urban forest.

On March 25, 2022, the San Diego County Regional Airport Authority again directed the City of San Diego, under both state and federal law requirements, to remove five palm trees for public safety. These trees currently intrude into the protected airspace for the San Diego International Airport, and to avoid impacts to the Airport operations, these palm trees must be removed. The palms are located at the following locations:
• 4404 Newport Av
• 4411 Newport Av
• 2 trees at 4386 Newport Av
• 4369 Newport Av

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The Widder Curry Disses the Incitement of Violence at Hockey Games

April 26, 2022 by Judi Curry

By Judi Curry

People that know me are aware that I enjoy most sports. I frequently went to the Chargers game – or Patriot’s games when I lived in Maine; I went to baseball games at Dodger Stadium since I was a little girl – a hundred years ago. I attending Horse Racing all over California, Arizona and Maine; My grandkids played a variety of sports – rugby, soccer, softball, and a grandson was a wrestling champion not all that long ago. I attended their game/matches whenever I could. Every now and
then my husband and I would attend a Gulls Ice Hockey game, and it was enjoyed.

However, those same people that know about my enjoyment of those sports are now aware of my distaste for Ice Hockey. My problem is that Steve has season tickets to the Gulls game; his seats are one row back from the goal, and we have a practically unobstructed view of the game. Perhaps that is some of the problem for me. If Ice Hockey were the only thing played it would be great,

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San Diego Planning Depart. Using Outdated Population and Housing Projections for College Area’s Community Plan ‘Update’

April 26, 2022 by Source

By Danna Givot

Last December 2021, SANDAG adopted Series 14 projections for population and housing growth through 2050. These projections take into account the latest California Department of Finance population projections. Despite the availability of these updated projections, the Planning Department continues to plan based on outdated, inflated data. This leads to unnecessary, harmful impacts.

For the City as a whole, the new SANDAG Series 14 data projects 132,000 less people living in San Diego in 2050 versus Series 13 numbers. That is 19% population growth versus 28% population growth previously expected. SANDAG Series 14 projections are available by community planning area, where the differences versus Series 13 can be huge.

The College Area is a great example.

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Here’s the Demand From the San Diego Airport to Cut the 5 Palm Trees

April 25, 2022 by Frank Gormlie

CBSNews8 today published a letter from the San Diego International Airport that demanded the City of San Diego cut down five palm trees in Point Loma it had identified as “obstructions.” The letter from Dennis Probst, Vice President – Development for the San Diego County Regional Airport Authority to Jay Goldstone, Chief Operating Officer for the city was dated March 25, 2022.

Here’s the letter – but no attachments were provided by the news station:

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Here’s the City’s Response to the Killing of Palm Trees

April 25, 2022 by Source

City of San Diego Senior Public Information officer Anthony Santacroce issued the following statement Monday, April 25, in response to media inquiries:

“The City of San Diego removed five palms on Newport Avenue this morning at the direction of the FAA and the San Diego Airport Authority. The trees removed today presented an urgent threat to flight paths and aviation operations that impact public safety and economic health of San Diego.

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Redevelopment Team ‘Neighborhood Next’ Pulls Out All the Stops in Front of Midway Planners

April 25, 2022 by Staff

By Geoff Page

A long presentation by one of the Midway redevelopment project proposers that the city wants to jettison and more about the homeless were the main points of interest at the Midway-Pacific Highway Community Planning Board’s regular monthly meeting Wednesday, April 2022.

“Neighborhood Next”

Neighborhood Next is the name of the consortium that made the presentation. They are one of the original seven proposers on the Sports Arena redevelopment project. At the outset, the city declared two proposers to be unresponsive. Just recently, the city again cut the list from five to three proposers. Neighborhood Next was one of the two that were dropped.

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