September 2009

The OB Peoples Food Coop

September 29, 2009 by Doug Porter

Waaay back in the mists of the sixties, the OB Peoples Food Coop was born. As best I can tell, its beginnings came in fits and starts. I remember participating in a Coop back in 1971, where we went to the North County to buy produce and eggs from small farmers. We drove back to Ocean Beach in a my 1962 Corvair (It was unsafe at every speed!) full of assorted boxes and sorted them out into individual orders at the STP (Serve The People) storefront, located on the 4900 block of Voltaire St. That storefront didn’t last very long, due to our landlord’s distaste for the vandalism incurred on the property by assorted right wingers. After the plate glass window on the front of the building was smashed a second time, we were gone.

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The Lie Machine

September 29, 2009 by Source

On the first day of August, a mob of 200 right-wing Texans stormed the parking lot of a Randalls grocery store in southwest Austin. They were united in a single goal: Disrupt the “office hours” that Rep. Lloyd Doggett, the district’s congressman, had scheduled for his constituents. The protesters targeted Doggett for his role in crafting the House’s bill to reform health care, brandishing signs that read “No Government Health Care” and “No Government Counselor in My Home!!!” But their anger seemed to encompass a universe of conservative fears: higher taxes, illegal immigration, socialism.

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UC Santa Cruz students occupy campus building in protest of cuts

September 27, 2009 by Source

Editor: We have heard that students at UC Santa Cruz have taken over a campus building in protest of the cuts proposed for the UC system. On September 24th, students at UC Santa Cruz began the occupation of the Graduate Student Commons as part of a day of action at all UCs across the state. The occupation continues. They have set up a website here. The students have issued the following statement:
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We are occupying this building at the University of California, Santa Cruz, because the current situation has become untenable. Across the state, people are losing their jobs …

Steal my move

September 27, 2009 by Mary E. Mann

Our very own Mary Mann has been published on San Diego CityBeat! Way to go Mary!
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Culture Shock and the ABCs of break-dancing
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“So here’s the move,” says Joseph “Dyno Rock” Corrales, before sweeping his right leg under his entire body, hopping on his left foot and switching arms. His legs move with no thought, so intent is he on watching his charges imitate him. A hip-hop track fills the room, and the stars of the class, 14- and 15-year-olds with bodies like Gumby, match their steps to the music.

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Local Law Professor Thinks Bush and Cheney Should Be Prosecuted

September 26, 2009 by Source

Editor: Marjorie Cohn teaches law at Thomas Jefferson School of Law – my old alma mater – plus she is the national president of the National Lawyers Guild. This interview with her on voiceofsandiego just appeared and we had to share.
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by Randy Dotinga / Voice of San Diego
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On the legal front, George W. Bush and Dick Cheney have few bigger enemies than Marjorie Cohn, a professor at San Diego’s Thomas Jefferson School of Law.

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Community split 2 to 1 in favor of art installations on top of Peace Rock

September 26, 2009 by Frank Gormlie

OCEAN BEACH, CA. What do you think about art installations on top of Peace Rock? This became an issue lately, when a group of Point Loma High School seniors placed their year “2010” in wood red numbers up on the rock. The rock is the large, protruding rocky sentinel that juts out of the Pacific Ocean just south of where Froude Street runs into Sunset Cliffs Boulevard. Everybody who has driven, walked, or jogged along Sunset Cliffs knows it.

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Michael Moore: ‘Capitalism’ as Comedy and Tragedy Now Playing in NY and L.A. and …

September 26, 2009 by Source

by Michael Moore
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Friends,

The time has arrived for, as Time magazine called it, my “magnum opus.” I only had a year of Latin when I was in high school, so I’m not quite sure what that means, but I think it’s good.

I’ve spent nearly two years on this new movie, “Capitalism: A Love Story,” and have poured my heart and soul into this project. Many early critics and viewers have called it my “best film yet.”

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‘I walked the line at the UCSD strike.’

September 25, 2009 by Anna Daniels

by Anna Daniels
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I arrived at the UCSD La Jolla campus just as the planned rally began, picked up a sign and joined over a hundred striking employees and supporters. High noon on a hot day and suddenly there was a sound of drums and approaching people and notes played on a conch shell. The energy rose palpably as we were joined by over a hundred chanting, sign carrying students. Now three hundred strong, …

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Hmmm …..

September 24, 2009 by Ernie McCray

by Ernie McCray
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I feel like Arsenio Hall because everywhere I roam I see things that make me go: “Hmmm.” Like these crazy people I’ve seen on TV. You know the ones, they’re all blue in the face, looking scarily Incredible Hulkish, some of them without a shred of insurance, shrieking at a man who has: put keeping them healthy and well so they don’t have to foreclose on their American Dreams high up on his list of things to do.

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From OB to Burning Man and back – with pics

September 24, 2009 by Sunshine

by Sunshine

As my son, Van, and I planned and prepared for this years trip to Burning Man, I had no expectations and really no idea what would occur. What can I say to sum up such an epic journey that it ultimately transformed my entire existence?

For months before the event, we planned ~ I, of course, made my usual notes and massive to-do lists ~ checking off everything as we went: shop for supplies, have the van checked, and eventually pack up for the long journey away from OB.

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5,000 Rally at UC Berkeley Against Budget Cuts / Increased Fees

September 24, 2009 by Source

BERKELEY — Thousands of UC students marched through downtown Berkeley and the area around campus this afternoon, staging a sit-down protest and blocking traffic as part of a demonstration against cuts to the university budget and proposed fee increases.

The unscheduled march started at the end of a two-hour rally on Sproul Plaza attended by an estimated 5,000 students, professors and other university employees. …

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The First Circle of the OB Rag – circa 1970

September 24, 2009 by Staff

The Etiwanda House

The initial circle of the OB Rag newspaper consisted of Frank Gormlie, a local who had grown up in Point Loma, who had surfed in OB in his youth, and a recent graduate of UCSD – the Rag had been Gormlie’s brainchild as he saw it as a handy way to do community organizing in OB; the circle also included Bo Blakey, fresh from the campus battles at UC Berkeley and another graduate with Gormlie of Pt. Loma High; …

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Bars and Clubs of OB – a Review

September 24, 2009 by Mary E. Mann

by Mary E Mann
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After very careful analysis, and more than a few whiskey gingers and Belgium beers, what follows is a review of the Ocean Beach bars/clubs. Pardon me if I missed one or two – a girl can only do so much drinking. It’s a tough job, but somebody has to do it.
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Pacific Shores:

Ah, the black light undersea glow is almost as soothing as the drink prices …

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Health care is a right – says so right there in the Constitution

September 24, 2009 by Source

by Arthur Salm / SDNN
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“I think health care is a privilege. I wouldn’t call it a right.” – Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.)
Slavery used to be cool, and that was even before cool was cool. In fact, slavery was beyond cool — it was something people didn’t think about one way or the other, because there was no “other.”

Just a few hundred years ago, just about everywhere, slavery was an accepted part of life, like families and work and the sun coming up in the morning and the Padres trading away franchise players. …

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1-Day Strike at UCSD and All UC Campuses Today

September 24, 2009 by Source

Support the one-day strike up at UCSD today. There is a strike of University of California research & technical workers and take a stand for protecting the integrity of education at the University of California.

The strike, at all UC campuses including UCSD, to protest the University’s unfair labor practices is scheduled for the first day of class to coincide with events by other groups also protesting University of California policies and practices that threaten the University’s educational mission.

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How many bars and booze-selling restaurants can one block in OB hold?

September 22, 2009 by Frank Gormlie

OCEAN BEACH, CA. We were shocked the other day when we saw an alcohol sales notice on the window of the former OB Youth Community Services building on the last block of Newport Ave, at 5041 Newport.

The applicant is Mike Abas Tajran, and it’s for OB Micro Brewery. Looks like another restaurant bar for Ocean Beach, and another addition to a block that is saturated with booze selling establishments.

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OB Flashes: Community Bulletin Board: September 22-29

September 22, 2009 by Frank Gormlie

OB RAG Community Bulletin and sometimes Discussion Board for the week of September 22nd-29th, 2009.

News and views, community events, thoughts, musings – it’s all here. Discuss anything that is bugging you, or exciting you, or of interest. Or just something you want to share with the rest of us. Do it in the comments section.

Not only that, if you or your buds are having a meeting or event you would like to inform the rest of us about, do so here. If you are having a GARAGE or YARD SALE this week, let us know.

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Original OB Rag Memorialized in Plaque On Newport

September 21, 2009 by Frank Gormlie

OCEAN BEACH, CA. The original OB Rag – that iconic Ocean Beach underground newspaper – and our blog’s namesake-, received an honorable mention in a plaque fastened to the side of the old Bank of Italy building recently. That building, on the northeast corner of Newport and Bacon, has been many things over the years.

Today a corporate coffee shop, an ATM, and a hairstyler is in the building; but yesteryear it was the Bank of Italy.

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Sunday’s March on Sacramento via San Diego City College

September 21, 2009 by Staff

Hot Sunday, September 20th: Not everyone went to the beach or got ready for the Chargers game. 75 of our fellow San Diegans instead rallied against state cuts to health care and education. They rallied and then marched down Park Blvd to City College. And they rallied and marched for the rest of us. They really wanted to march on Sacramento, but had to settle for downtown San Diego.

It was high noon in front of the Navy Hospital near Balboa Park. …

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Now that we’re talking public restrooms in OB …

September 20, 2009 by Frank Gormlie

OCEAN BEACH, CA. Last week it was announced that the North Beach public restrooms would be closed for 18 months for reconstruction, as the roof was falling apart.

Any talk about public restrooms in OB would be incomplete without a discussion of the restrooms in the main lifeguard tower at the foot of Santa Monica Avenue. These facilities have been wanting for years.

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OB Flashes – Community News and Discussion Board: Sept 15-21st

September 19, 2009 by Frank Gormlie

OCEAN BEACH, CA. News and views, community events, thoughts, musings – it’s all here.

This is OB Flashes – the OB Rag’s weekly Community Bulletin and Discussion Board. Discuss anything that is bugging you, or exciting you, or of interest. Or just something you want to share with the rest of us. Do it in the comments section.

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Achieving Water Security by Becoming Water Self-sufficient

September 19, 2009 by Source

by Jim Bell

Many experts are projecting doom and gloom, scenarios of decreasing water supplies and increasing cost, yet the San Diego/Tijuana Region can easily become renewable water self-sufficient and even become a net water exporter.

Even if we assume the worst case scenario of zero precipitation and the complete cutoff of all imported water, the San Diego/Tijuana Region could completely replace all the freshwater it currently uses by ….

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Will water conservation make water more expensive?

September 19, 2009 by Source

by GrokSurf

In Sunday’s Union-Tribune (9/13/09), Mike Lee wrote that “water districts might have to keep boosting prices” because consumers reduced their water consumption due to the shortage. The article generated plenty of interest (169 comments, many angry, when I last checked).

As far as the San Diego Water Department is concerned, …

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North OB Restrooms Closed Down

September 17, 2009 by Source

Restrooms near Dog Beach need to be demolished and it will take 18 months to replace – meanwhile 10 portable toilets set up. The city is leasing them for $1,341 per month.
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OCEAN BEACH — For the second time in 18 months, San Diego’s history of putting off maintenance to save money has caught up with it, resulting in the sudden closure of a public building due to safety concerns.

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You Want Civility? Get Rid of Teh (sic) Stupid

September 17, 2009 by Doug Porter

by Doug Porter
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Today’s San Diego Union Tribune features an editorial entitled “A civil society? A school board polarized by politics”. After providing a highly distilled recap of Tuesday’s La Mesa Spring Valley School Board meeting, at which the board members who voted to ban President Obama’s speech from their schools ended up apologizing for their actions (except for Rick Winet) after catching hell from a couple of hundred angry parents, the paper goes on to say:

“Time out, everyone! ….”

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Beach residents tolerant of and even welcome tourists

September 17, 2009 by Frank Gormlie

OCEAN BEACH, CA. It turns out that despite all the whining about and dissing of tourists, beach residents are actually tolerant of them and even welcome them.

The OB Rag ran a poll recently on this very subject, and the results are somewhat surprising. From September 4th through the 14th (I know, it’s more than a week – sorry!) our poll asked:

Do you think the tourists that visit Ocean Beach are a positive or negative influence on the community?

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Point Loma Parents Ponder Charter Schools for the Peninsula

September 16, 2009 by Frank Gormlie

by Emily Alpert / Voice of San Diego
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Parents are weighing the idea of splitting Correia Middle and other Point Loma schools from San Diego Unified as independent charter schools, which would free them to handle their own budgets, staffing and curriculum. The idea was tossed around at a parent foundation meeting in Point Loma, where parents and principals said they were weary of the nonstop turnover at the school district.

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The People Who Spoke at the La Mesa Spring Valley School Board Meeting

September 16, 2009 by Frank Gormlie

All but one speaker at the La Mesa Spring Valley School Board meeting last night criticized the Board for its 3-2 vote to ban the live broadcast of President Obama’s speech to school kids.

These were ordinary parents of kids in the district – ordinary people –

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School Board Member: Why I voted against the ban on Obama’s speech

September 16, 2009 by Source

Editor: When the La Mesa Spring Valley School Board voted to ban President Obama’s speech to school kids, two board members opposed the motion. One of them was Bill Baber, who as a Republican, voted his conscience. This helps demonstrate that extremist views are not held by all or even most Republicans.
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by Bill Baber / September 16, 2009
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As a La Mesa Spring Valley School Board Member, I voted to show the President’s live address Tuesday. I believe the Office of the President of the United States deserves respect, regardless of the person or party occupying that office. If the President’s speech inspired one student to greatness it was worth all this angst.

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Paranoia Strikes Deep

September 16, 2009 by Doug Porter

by Doug Porter

A Book Review: Real Enemies, Conspiracy Theories and American Democracy WWI to 9/11

Written by Kathryn S. Olmsted (Oxford University Press, 2009)
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Paranoia strikes deep / Into your life it will creep / It starts when you’re always afraid / Step out of line, the man come and take you away… The Buffalo Springfield–For What It’s Worth

The homage to paranoia written by Stephen Stills was, in its day, referring to the (as history has proven) fears that many peace activists held of the government back in the late 1960’s. But it could have applied to any number of groups over the last century that transcended the fine line between merely opposing specific policy decisions to challenging the legitimacy of government itself. These days you could almost imagine Glenn Beck playing the song as background music on his daily Fox News cheer-the-teabaggers circus.

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kh April 24, 2024 at 5:55 pm on ‘Hey You! Get Up! We’ve Outlawed Sleeping in Public!’Not making false pipedream promises would be a start. I wish I could locate that press release from Todd Gloria as a councilmember where he...
kh April 24, 2024 at 5:53 pm on ‘Hey You! Get Up! We’ve Outlawed Sleeping in Public!’Sure. And vary widely based on zoning as well. I just checked two recently sold homes in Mira Mesa, and what they were reassessed at....
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T April 24, 2024 at 5:03 pm on Planning Groups Forced to Pay New $1,000 Fee to Appeal Projects Stifles Community DemocracyThis is great info. Last week at the PBPB meeting their planner was talking about the new $1000 appeal charge and why the city thinks...
gilbert field April 24, 2024 at 4:47 pm on ‘Hey You! Get Up! We’ve Outlawed Sleeping in Public!’Getting back to the original comment, which was what Larry Turner would do to reduce homelessness, I am still not sure what he means or...
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kh April 24, 2024 at 2:22 pm on ‘Hey You! Get Up! We’ve Outlawed Sleeping in Public!’Assessed value can be far from the true value unless you just purchased it. The land value of my property in OB is over 85%...
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Gilbert Field April 24, 2024 at 10:23 am on ‘Hey You! Get Up! We’ve Outlawed Sleeping in Public!’I looked at Zillow for a typical home in Claremont. House is 1200 square feet and the price is $1 million. 1200 time $250 =...
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