Grassroots and Progressive views on local, national and world news

Think Vertical… Up, Up, and Display!

by Source on May 24, 2019 · 2 comments

in Ocean Beach

By Kathy Blavatt

All Photos by Kathy Blavatt

There is an art to vertical gardening. The vertical growing process starts out as an ascetic design project combined with a floral display, a living canvas that adds beauty to garden plots, trees, fences and walls.

Creative design of floral arrangements and vertical garden displays use the same important principles in terms of shapes, colors, texture, design, and function.

A colorful array of flowers and plants of various shapes and textures form a heart from Kathy’s garden.

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Status of Alcohol Licenses in Downtown Ocean Beach

by Frank Gormlie on May 24, 2019 · 3 comments

in Ocean Beach

We checked into the status of a number of alcohol licenses being applied for with the ABC in downtown Ocean Beach.

According to the Alcohol Beverage Control San Diego area website, here’s what we found:

3 comments

OB Town Council Gets Prepped on RoundUp

by Frank Gormlie on May 23, 2019 · 8 comments

in Ocean Beach

The main presentation at the Ocean Beach Town Council meeting Wednesday, May 22, was by a team from Non Toxic San Diego about the City’s use of herbicides and toxic chemicals in our parks and playgrounds – Roundup.

Anne Jackson Hefti started out by describing how she came about getting involved; she and a friend were walking their dogs at Sunset Cliffs Natural Park and came across a work crew spraying Roundup. The men had no masks or other protective gear and the women were allowed to walk through the sprayed area just minutes after their work. Later, Anne’s dog became sick – and she started researching Roundup and its component glyphosate.

She was so shocked by what she found that she helped to found the group Non Toxic San Diego. (Much of the material the group handed out was from www.beyondpesticides.org )

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Duncan Hunter (& Dad) to Crawl Out From Under Their Rocks for Border Issues Town Hall

by Doug Porter on May 23, 2019 · 0 comments

in Civil Rights, San Diego

By Doug Porter / Words&Deeds

Indicted San Diego Congressman Duncan D. Hunter and his father, former congressman Duncan Hunter, will participate in a joint town hall-style event focused on border issues on Saturday, May 25, 11:30am at the Ramona Mainstage, 626 Main Street.

Doors are open at 11am, the capacity for the hall is 400 people, and it appears entry is on a first come, first served basis. An article in the Union-Tribune says event organizers are expecting protesters.

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The San Diego Connection If There’s War With Iran

May 23, 2019 by Michael Steinberg

By Michael Steinberg / Black Rain Press

On May 9 the US Naval Institute reported, “Due to provocative behavior from Iran and new intelligence…US National Security Advisor John Bolton cited {but did not identify}a “number of troubling and escalatory indications and warnings.”

Subsequently the US Central Command ordered the aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln strike force from the Mediterranean to the Persian Gulf, belly up with Iran.

The Navy report also mentioned that the Lincoln, stationed in Norfolk, Virginia, is “set to arrive at its new homeport of San Diego later this year.”

8th Annual ‘Beginning of Summer’ Ocean Beach Community Cleanup – Sat., June 1 – 8:30am

May 23, 2019 by Source

Come show OB some love – come out to the 8th Annual “Beginning of Summer” Community Clean-up.

It’s Saturday, June 1st beginning at 8:30 a.m. with volunteers meeting at Raglan.

Change of Date for Re-Opening of Ocean Beach Pier – Now Friday, May 24

May 22, 2019 by Frank Gormlie

There has been a change in the date for the official re-opening of the Ocean Beach Pier.

It’s been changed to 8:00 a.m., Friday, May 24, 2019. It had been set for Thursday the 23rd.

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The Holding Company Is Hiring – Apply Online Only

May 22, 2019 by Source

From The Holding Company facebook:

The Holding Company is accepting applications for all positions as of now!

If you’d like to be considered for our team go to …

Hundreds of San Diegan Women Rally to ‘Stop the Ban’ – Photo Gallery

May 22, 2019 by Source

On Tuesday, May 21, hundreds of women – with a few men – rallied in front of the Federal Court House in downtown San Diego – joining rallies in 50 states and Puerto Rico to say “Our bodies! Our choice!”

It was a nationwide protest against the onslaught of anti-abortion legislation being passed in State Houses across the South and Mid-West – all aiming to destroy Roe v Wade.

Locally, San Diego Indivisible and Women’s March San Diego joined together to organize the rally “in Support of Women’s Rights & Reproductive Freedom !”

Monsanto Ordered to Pay $2 Billion to California Victims for Cancer Caused by Roundup

May 22, 2019 by Source

Editordude: On May 13, 2019, a California jury awarded plaintiffs Alva and Alberta Pilliod a verdict of $55 million in non-economic and economic damages in addition to $1 billion each in punitive damages against Monsanto, for cancer ( lymphoma) caused by ingredients in their product Roundup.

The plaintiffs – through their experts – proved Monsanto made glyphosate – the active ingredient in Roundup – fifty times more toxic in its formula, making it easier for glyphosate to penetrate the skin leading to quick dispersion to the bones, where lymphoma originates.

Roundup – the herbicide the City of San Diego uses in our parks, beaches and playgrounds – is a topic for discussion at the upcoming Ocean Beach Town Council meeting on Wednesday, May 22.

By Carey Gillam / U.S. Right to Know

After less than two full days of deliberations, a California jury ordered Monsanto to pay just over $2 billion in punitive and compensatory damages to a married couple who both developed non-Hodgkin lymphoma they say was caused by their many years of using Roundup products.

At the Mic at Lincoln High

May 21, 2019 by Ernie McCray

by Ernie McCray

Looking at students,
“The Hornets,”
from the mic
at Lincoln High,

I could feel
my journey
in the city
rising in my memory,

my history
as a San Diegan,
arriving, August, ’62,
with a wife,
three kids,
lacking the money
between us
needed to visit the San Diego Zoo,

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‘Build, Baby, Build’ Won’t Solve California’s Housing Crisis

May 21, 2019 by Doug Porter

By Doug Porter / Words&Deeds / May 20, 2019

Senate Bill 50, legislation aimed at easing the housing affordability crisis in California, got put into the ‘maybe, someday’ bin last week. While the bill could be reconsidered in 2020, chances of that happening in an election year are slim to none.

The presumption behind state (and local) legislation claiming to address this crisis is that we can build our way out if only a way can be found to make it viable for developers to make a profit and banks to consider such projects loan worthy.

Call me crazy…. But what if the “debate” is upside down, and –once again– an example of more than one thing being true at the same time standing in the way of what should be long term solutions.

If the shortage of housing is to be defined as people not being able to afford living on the available properties, perhaps the solution is to make it possible for enough income growth to solve the problem.

This solution is a non-starter, short of taking on the mirage of the ‘booming economy.’

City’s Use of ‘Round-Up’ in the Spot Light at OB Town Council Meeting – Wed., May 22

May 21, 2019 by Source

There has been concern expressed by our community members about the use of Round-Up pesticide by the City of San Diego.

Non Toxic San Diego will be offering an informative presentation about the use of these Chlorpyrifos pesticides at our next public meeting. Q and A to follow.

Please join the Ocean Beach Town Council, Wednesday, May 22nd 7:00pm at the Masonic Lodge-1711 Sunset Cliffs Blvd.

Peninsula Planning Board and City Sued by Board Member Over Ban on Slates

May 21, 2019 by Source

By Geoff Page

The Peninsula Community Planning Board meeting on Thursday, May 16, experienced something that was probably a first in its history when one of its members distributed his legal complaint against the PCPB and the City of San Diego. What he handed out was a draft but he actually filed the suit the following day on May 17.

The whole PCPB meeting was devoted to hearing two complaints against board members Margaret Virissimo and Donald Sevrens filed by community members, including this reporter. Briefly, this is what happened.

The way the complaint process works is that the complaint is reviewed by board officers and they decide whether to dismiss it or to pass it along to the full board. In the case of the two complaints, the officers decided to bring them both before the full board but they did not recommend an action, leaving that decision to the board.

The Virissimo complaint was discussed first. Suffice to say, it was a scene man.

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Let’s Do It Again! ‘Impeach on the Beach’ – Human Banner at Dog Beach in OB – Saturday, June 1

May 21, 2019 by Frank Gormlie

We’re going to do it again! Spell out “Impeach” with our bodies – as hundreds of OBceans and San Diegans did on March 4, 2017.

Another human banner is being organized for Dog Beach in Ocean Beach on Saturday, June 1st. There will be simultaneous Human IMPEACH Banners in Ocean Beach, San Francisco and Ocean Beach, San Diego.

We’re meeting up at 11:00am near Dog Beach. We’re asking everyone

Bring a towel or a blanket.
No signs please.
Please bring $1 donation to cover drone services and miscellaneous supplies. Excess money will be donated to future resistance efforts.

OB Pier to Re-Open Thursday, May 23

May 21, 2019 by Frank Gormlie

The Ocean Beach Pier will re-open this week, with an official ceremony on Thursday, May 23 at 8 am.

The symbol of OB has been closed since it was heavily damaged during storms in January. It was so damaged that many pieces of the railings washed up on shore – only to be carted off as souvenirs by locals and tourists alike.

More than 2,200 feet of guard rail, electric, water and sewer lines had to be substantially repaired or replace. Repairs estimated at $430,000 were made to the pier, which has definitely become the icon image of the seaside village. Many OBceans and other San Diegans have expressed their sadness and frustration over the pier’s closure.

Police Crack Down on Ocean Beach and Point Loma’s Jaywalkers, Wayward Drivers and Bicyclists

May 20, 2019 by Frank Gormlie

For a better part of this past Sunday, San Diego police came to Ocean Beach and Point Loma with their citation books out as part of a crack-down on jaywalkers and wayward drivers and bicyclists. They also went to Hillcrest – all part of a city-wide effort by the SDPD to focus on those violations that often cause crashes with pedestrians and bicyclists.

It is assumed but has not been confirmed that part of the crackdown was on wayward scooter riders.

The police do something similar at least twice a month, according to a spokesman.

In OB and Point Loma, it began at 10 am and went till 6pm as police centered on those trouble spots

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Point Loman Hopes Phone App Will Bring Power to the People

May 20, 2019 by Source

By Geoff Page

For the past two years, Point Loma resident Michael Winn has been working on creating something Point Loma does not have, a town council. OB, Mission Beach, Pacific Beach, La Jolla, and many other communities have town councils – but not Point Loma.

It has been a tough road because the reception by existing community groups has been chilly, to say the least. Some of this was made apparent by a special event Winn organized on Tuesday, May 14 at a private home in Point Loma.

The invitation-only event was attended by a collection or people from Point Loma, Clairemont, La Jolla, and downtown. This was an immediate indication that the event was not solely about the Point Loma Town Council Winn has been working to create.

Hundreds ‘Walk Against Hate’ in Liberty Station

May 20, 2019 by Frank Gormlie

Hundreds of San Diegans – including a whole bunch of OBceans – turned out in the rain to “Walk Against Hate” in Liberty Station on Sunday, May 19.

Sponsored by a number of local organizations, including the Anti-Defamation League, the demonstration was in response to the rise of anti-Semitic incidents here and around the country, with the recent Poway outrage clear in the minds no doubt of the marchers.

Wayne Starker was there and took these photos.

The Great Backlash is Upon Us: Women’s Reproductive Rights Are Under Assault

May 20, 2019 by Jim Miller

By Jim Miller and Kelly Mayhew

The war on women is on.

Alabama, Georgia, Ohio, Missouri, and, soon, Louisiana, will join several other states to enact draconian legislation aiming to criminalize abortion, and, by extension, women’s reproductive freedom. The purported endgame is to wave a red flag under the noses of the Supreme Court to get them to overturn Roe v. Wade and abolish legal abortion in the U.S. once and for all.

As Michelle Goldberg put it in the New York Times :

“You can see, in the anti-abortion movement, a mood of triumphant anticipation. Decades of right-wing politics have all led up to this moment, when an anti-abortion majority on the Supreme Court could end women’s constitutional protection against being forced to carry a pregnancy and give birth against their will.”

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San Diego’s Disenfranchised Win One, Lose One at City Council

May 17, 2019 by Doug Porter

By Doug Porter / Words&Deeds / May 15, 2019

Tuesday, May 15, should serve as a reminder of the strengths and weaknesses of the presently constituted San Diego City Council.

A non-binding resolution in support of a critical reform in law enforcement policy passed with unanimous support from Democrats. That’s the good news.

Here’s the bad news: An ordinance crafted amid an angry wave of protest about people without homes sleeping in vehicles split the liberal vote, once again proving some people’s empathy ends at their front door.

Our inability to deal with the collateral damage from the currently fashionable economic norms means public employees will be empowered to criminalize homelessness.

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How the California Journalist’s Shield Law Failed to Prevent San Francisco Cops From Breaking into Journalist’s Home and Office

May 17, 2019 by Source

By Terry Francke / Californians Aware / May 14, 2019

As reported this past weekend, on Friday the San Francisco Police Department sent an armed detail to sledgehammer its way into a journalist’s home and office, handcuff him and cart off his phone, computer hard drive, notebooks and other documentation. The police sought to learn who had leaked their report about the death of the city’s public defender to selected local media, which disclosed that this widely admired official fell ill in the apartment of a woman not his wife and had traces of alcohol and cocaine in this system.

Those raids, following a storm of accusations against the police for allegedly releasing the report to smear their longtime nemesis, were authorized by search warrants obtained by either misrepresentation by the police or a judicial disregard for the law protecting journalists’ confidential sources.

Flyers Left on Cars at Dog Beach in OB Mislead About New Ordinance Banning Living in Vehicles

May 17, 2019 by Frank Gormlie

On Thursday, May 16, fliers were found on cars in the Dog Beach parking lot in OB that give false warning about police enforcement of a new law that bars people from living in cars. The flyers were found on windshields 2 days after the City Council returned the ban on people living in vehicles on public streets.

The new ordinance bans people from parking a vehicle used for habitation within 500 feet of a school or home.

The flier states:

“You have received this notice because you are on a list of vehicles that has been reported as living in this lot continuously or frequently. Please park elsewhere. Enforcement will begin without further notice.”

In addition, the leaflet claims the entire Dog Beach parking lot is a no-parking area at all times for people who live in their vehicles because of the restriction against parking within 500 feet of any home.

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Women in HIV Research Study Were Not Told by UCSD of Data Breach Despite Pleas by Researchers

May 17, 2019 by Source

By Jill Castellano & Brad Racino / inewsource / May 14, 2019

University of California San Diego officials stonewalled attempts to notify women in an HIV research study that their confidential data was breached more than seven months ago, an inewsource investigation has found.

UCSD researchers conducting the EmPower Women study told university officials in October that participants’ names, audio-taped conversations and other sensitive materials were made accessible to everyone working at Christie’s Place, a San Diego nonprofit supporting women with HIV and AIDS.

California Senate Bill Will Not Void Coastal Height Limits

May 16, 2019 by Source

By Sara Libby /Voice of San Diego

Many San Diegans collectively freaked out when it appeared that a bill moving through the state Legislature, SB 330, would wipe out the coastal height limit to make way for denser, taller buildings.

Though the purpose of the bill is to beat back many of the local restrictions that block new housing projects, its author made clear this week that the measure won’t kill San Diego’s coastal height limit.

Sen. Nancy Skinner added this revision:

(2) This section shall not be construed to void a height limit, urban growth boundary, or urban limit established by the electorate of an affected county or an affected city on or before January 1, 2018.

Defendant in Sunset Cliffs Assault Case Sentenced to 5 Years in Prison

May 16, 2019 by Source

By Mark Nero/ San Diego Patch / May 16, 2019

A man who hit a popular local surfer in the head with a carbon fiber paddle in the water at Sunset Cliffs has been sentenced to five years in state prison.

Although the sentence was issued Thursday, May 16, it was last month that Paul Taylor Konen, 34, was convicted of assault, with a great bodily injury allegation, for the June 26, 2018, assault on Kevin Eslinger, 56.

Eslinger sustained a gash to the back of his head that fractured his skull and caused brain damage, rendering him unable to speak until days after the injury, Deputy District Attorney Matthew Greco said. An emergency room physician said the injury looked “like a hammer blow,” the prosecutor said.

9 Easy Propaganda Steps to War With Iran

May 16, 2019 by Source

By Juan Cole / Reader Supported News / May 16, 2019

he Trump administration is now in full disinformation mode, using all the classical techniques of propaganda to put the gullible US public on a war footing with Iran. Here is how it is done.

1. Iran warmongers like National Security Adviser John Bolton and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo pretend to speak for US interests instead of for the narrow and sectarian interests that want a war. Bolton has taken big bucks from the Iranian expatriate People’s Jihadis (MEK), which the State Department for long listed as a terrorist organization. NBC news at one point linked it to Israeli intelligence, and others have suggested a Saudi link. Pompeo is a Kansas oil man and we all know what oil men do to the Middle East (think Bush and Cheney).

2. Having hidden behind the flag, the latter-day Goebbelses then invent an emergency. The favored propaganda talking point at the moment is that US troops and diplomats are in danger. US troops and diplomats are always in danger. It is their job to be in danger. If we don’t want them in danger we should bring them home from dangerous places like Iraq.

Abortion Is a Men’s Issue, Too. So Why Aren’t Men Speaking Out?

May 16, 2019 by Source

By ZawnVillines / Daily Kos / May 16, 2019

One in four women has had an abortion. It’s a figure that’s prompted activists to remind us that everyone loves someone who has had an abortion, and that group discussions of abortion will almost always include at least one person who has undergone the procedure. Many women have worked tirelessly to destigmatize abortion. They’re willing to risk their lives and reputations, subjecting themselves to judgment, derision, and threats, to share their abortion stories.

Yet a person with a penis is involved in 100% of abortions. Where are they? Why aren’t they shouting their own abortion stories, talking about how abortion allowed them to pursue their dreams, live their lives, and pursue financial health?

I know dozens of women who devote every spare second they have to fighting for safe and legal abortion. Many of them also have full-time jobs and multiple children. Where are their husbands?