June 2011

War is profitable for defense contractors and tin-horn dictators

June 23, 2011 by Source
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By John Lawrence / Will Blog for Food / June 23, 2011

War is immensely profitable; that’s why there is so much of it. It’s the only domestic industry to speak of. All the rest have been outsourced.

War constitutes almost the entire GDP of Afghanistan while enriching the corrupt Karzai and his henchmen. War is immensely profitable to Pakistan too – $2 billion a year profitable.

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Federal Judge Hears Arguments In Sunrise Powerlink Case While Other Problems Mount

June 23, 2011 by Source
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By East County Magazine / June 23, 2011

An attorney representing local groups opposed to Sunrise Powerlink presented arguments in U.S. District Court yesterday in San Diego, seeking to halt construction of the line on lands in East County owned by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management.

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The embarrassment and dilemma of San Diego Democrats on the subject of the mayor’s race.

June 23, 2011 by Source

Editor: As San Diego’s mayoral race “heats up”, we’re starting to see ruminations on the left and right about why Democrats support Republicans (like DA Bonnie Dumanis) and about the historic dilemma of San Diego Democrats. Here are acouple of contributions from our friends at Two Cathedrals.

The Democrats’ Dilemma By Jared Quient
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The Democrats’ Embarrassment

by Lucas O’Connor / Two Cathedrals / June 23, 2011

Several political reporters wondered yesterday on Twitter, why would Kevin Faulconer’s office release and push a poll showing Donna Frye polling stronger than other Democratic candidates?

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OB Robbery Suspects Sought

June 22, 2011 by Staff
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Recently there was a violent day-time robbery of a Ocean Beach business. The suspects used a gun to hold up the store then bound the employees with duct tape. Attached is the wanted poster to seek assistance from the public with identifying the suspects.

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Bob Filner’s Freedom Riders legacy

June 22, 2011 by Source
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By Lucas O’Connor/Two Cathedrals

“I’ve always felt that, if you think something should be changed, it’s your responsibility to actively pursue that change.” – Bob Filner

Bob Filner’s accidental announcement in March that he was running for mayor didn’t shock too many local insiders. That it took place at an airing of a recent 50th anniversary Freedom Riders documentary was perhaps more provocative, mostly along the lines of ‘I had no idea he was a Freedom Rider.’ Most people still have no idea, though that’s likely to change in the next year. Usually though, it comes with a vague idea of what the Freedom Riders did, but not a deep understanding. So what’s the full breadth of what it meant to be a Freedom Rider?

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The Campaign Against the Ocean Beach Starbucks, Part 3

June 22, 2011 by Frank Gormlie
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The OB Starbucks Finally Opens … On 9-11

After five and a half months of organizing during the early months of 2001 against the opening of OB’s Starbucks, activists were ready for the day that its door would actually swing open. It was to open at the corner of Newport and Bacon.
There had been at least three major demonstrations against the corporation where hundreds had rallied, two well-attended town hall type meetings, a petition that had garnered nearly 1500 signatures, and the handing out of thousands of fliers proclaiming a boycott of Starbucks.

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San Diego Democratic Club to Host Reproductive Justice Panel

June 22, 2011 by Source
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June 23, 2011 – 7pm – Joyce Beers Community Center

“The same cast of characters currently engaged in attacks on Planned Parenthood, other Family Planning Clinics and Title X in general, are also in the forefront throwing roadblocks in front of DADT repeal, fighting against marriage equality and fighting against employment protections – and even hate crimes protections – for LGBT people” according to Jacqueline Palmer, Membership Director for San Diego Democratic Club. She continued, “Women’s reproductive rights IS an LGBT issue.”

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“Do not summon me if you are not also willing to leave behind your own garden of comfort …”

June 21, 2011 by Source
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Editor: Last night Activist San Diego held the annual election to its Board of Directors. One of those nominated was Jeeni Criscenzo. Her nomination speech to the assembled crew of activists was remarkable and I asked her if we could re-print it. Here it is:

by Jeeni Criscenzo

Please don’t ask me to do this.
I only want to be a homemaker, …

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Number of Homeless Families Grows in San Diego and Nation

June 21, 2011 by Staff
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An annual report on homelessness from the Department of Housing and Urban Development shows the number of homeless people in families climbed 20 percent from 2007 to 2010, that was even as homelessness across the country declined by 3.3 percent over the same period. A similar trend in San Diego County is taxing available resources …

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Speak out against the outsourcing of the Miramar landfill – Wednesday, June 22nd

June 21, 2011 by Staff
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UPDATE: City Attorney has postponed this hearing at the Rules Committee for tomorrow. Join us at the Rules Committee hearing when it happens (it will NOT be June 22) – come inside for more details about why the outsourcing of the landfill is a bad idea

June 22nd was going to be one of the last chances to speak out on the proposed outsourcing of San Diego’s only public landfill, up at Miramar. Join a broad coalition of community, civic and environmental groups at the Rules Committee hearing on the landfill outsourcing.

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San Diego Noir: What Texans Think of When They Imagine California

June 21, 2011 by Jim Miller
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A Book Review

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.

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San Diego and Imperial County Residents Voice Their Concerns Over 1st Draft Map of California Redistricting Commission

June 21, 2011 by Andy Cohen
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San Diego area residents address the California Redistricting Commission for the first time since the first draft map is released.

Local residents had their chance last night to voice their concerns over the way the California Redistricting Commission had drawn their State Assembly, Senate and U.S. Congressional districts. The 14 member commission released the first draft of their plans to redraw the boundaries of their representative government on June 10th and have embarked on a whirlwind listening tour to gather residents’ input.

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Be afraid, be very afraid if San Onofre stays in Darrel Issa’s district.

June 20, 2011 by Source
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by Lucas O’Connor

The San Onofre nuclear facility is squarely in Darrell Issa’s district. Presumably, this would be a top concern for Darrell Issa, especially since San Onofre recently experienced its fifth spill of toxic chemicals in just over two years. Notorious for its deficient safety culture, “San Onofre is the leader still in safety concerns reported to the NRC.” That ought to be a terrifying concern for anyone living near San Onofre,…

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SDG&E and solar failure

June 20, 2011 by Source
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by nunya / politickybitch

Many years ago photovoltaic collectors as a source of electricity were notoriously inefficient at that time, but hot water systems were efficient, and that was my training. And that didn’t turn out so well. I knew the Sunrise Powerlink was not the pretty picture that SDG&E painted because of my very limited experience with photovolatics and my suspicion of SDG&E’s PR campaign.

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Job Creation: Obama Pinned Down Like Gulliver by the Lilliputians

June 20, 2011 by Source
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By John Lawrence/ Will Blog for Food

The Republicans have Obama exactly where they want him: a failing economy with no chance for any significant job creation program. Why isn’t there any chance for a job creation program? Because Republicans control the House and have veto power in the Senate.

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Supreme Court blocks massive sex -discrimination suit against Wal-Mart

June 20, 2011 by Source
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The Supreme Court on Monday blocked the massive sex-discrimination case female employees brought against Wal-Mart in a decision that might make it harder to bring future discrimination lawsuits against large corporations.

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Our Billionaires: the Ten Wealthiest Americans

June 20, 2011 by Source
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Here’s America’s 10 wealthiest billionaires:

No. 1. : Bill Gates – Microsoft tycoon Bill Gates is worth a huge net $54 billion.

No. 2.: Warren Buffett – Financial magnate Warren Buffet smiles as he is introduced at the Berkshire Hathaway. Chairman Warren Buffett has $45 billion to smile about.

No. 3: Larry Ellison – Larry Ellison, chief executive officer of Oracle Corp., a computer technology company, is worth $27 billion ….

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Escape from OB

June 20, 2011 by Jack Hamlin
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By Jack Hamlin/ Special to the OB Rag

I have mentioned my father in past writings, and you have probably guessed we have a good relationship, looking forward to the time we spend together. Our political views are generally the opposite side of the same coin, so we typically have very common ground from which we address issues with each other. In fact during the course of our weekly breakfast we solve most of the nation’s problems and have decided to let the rest of the world to sort out theirs.

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America’s inequality between rich and poor is worse than Cameroon, Ivory Coast and revolutionary Egypt

June 20, 2011 by Source
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The gap between America’s rich and poor is so extreme levels of inequality are worse in the land of the free than they are in many developing countries.

The U.S. ranks way behind the European Union and the United Kingdom in terms of inequality of pay, figures show.

In fact, the situation is so extreme the land of the free falls behind countries such as Cameroon, the Ivory Coast and revolutionary Egypt, Tunisia and Yemen – and only just in front of Uganda and Jamaica.

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From Arnold and Weiner to LSD: more OB Rag fun with fine art

June 18, 2011 by Dixon Guizot
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Following up on our first foray into the wonders of Google Art Project, we once again stroll a gallery of classic paintings, their names re-imagined by The OB Rag:                    

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Blackbird Flying Above a Long Winding Road

June 17, 2011 by Ernie McCray
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I went to see Sir Paul the other night. Talking about Mr. McCartney. As in Fab Four. And all I can say is Wow!

I love the dude and that love was further solidified, intensified, and personalized, in particular, one moment, when I found myself completely into the moment, with my head laid back, swaying as Paul in an aging, yet still eloquently and deeply expressive one of a kind voice, sang:

Blackbird singing in the dead of night
Take these broken wings and learn to fly
All your life
You were only waiting for this moment to arise

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Time to Regulate All Those Antique Stores

June 17, 2011 by Jack Hamlin
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By Jack Hamlin/ Special to the OB Rag

With the proliferation of Antique Stores in the Ocean Beach business district and in the greater San Diego area, I believe it is high time the City Council formed a task force to create regulations for these types of businesses. After all, they are popping up all over and as a homegrown problem the police need tools to oversee the manner in which these places do business.

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Mitt Romney – San Diego’s Unemployed Couch Surfing Neighbor?

June 17, 2011 by Anna Daniels
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Imagine my surprise when I found out earlier this week on the Rachel Maddow show that Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney registered his domicile for voting purposes as the unfinished basement of his son’s Massachusetts home, a few blocks from the home that the Romney’s sold earlier. She went on to say that Romney also has a home in La Jolla, which is a community of San Diego, and a cabin in New Hampshire. Her guest Fred Karger, who didn’t make the Republican cut for the New Hampshire debate last week, maintains that Romney hasn’t really been living in his son’s basement but rather in La Jolla for the past couple of years and may have committed voter fraud in the Massachusetts election of 2010.

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How to Drive the Economy Off a Cliff While Insisting You’re Actually Fixing it

June 17, 2011 by Andy Cohen
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Republicans continue on their propaganda campaign that cutting taxes leads to economic and employment prosperity, in defiance of a mountain of evidence to the contrary.

“Everything must be on the table,” Republicans tell us. Everything, that is, except taxes. Under no circumstances will they allow taxes to be raised in order to address our nation’s debt, deficit, and economic crisis, and it’s this unyielding and unreasonable stand that will further plummet this country into economic ruin.

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Weiner and Losers – “Distractions” and Party Politics

June 16, 2011 by Anna Daniels
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I read the HEADLINES this morning that Anthony Weiner has resigned from his House seat. Thank goodness that “distraction” is now over and the Dems can resume their laser focus on creating jobs-hopefully in this country; protecting Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid; and continuing their unwavering support for working people. Democrats have purged their party of a lying jackass who is admired for his fiery policy positions by progressives but not so much by his congressional colleagues. Their moral compass has been reset– to campaigning and fund raising 24/7 and I’m sure it’s going to be nothing but distraction free sailing to November 2012.

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Thieves hit Ocean Beach antique store, tie up employees, take gold

June 16, 2011 by Staff
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Just before 1 pm this Thursday afternoon, three thieves entered the OB Antique Mall at at 4926 Newport Avenue. One had a shotgun and another reportedly had a hand gun.

Employees were tied up by the robbers before they made off with gold jewelry and a silver handgun.

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The First Protest Against the Ocean Beach Starbucks – the 10 Year Anniversary of the Campaign – Part 2

June 16, 2011 by Frank Gormlie
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First Protest Against Starbucks

The very first protest against Starbucks coming into OB was held on Sunday, March 25th, 2001. At first at the anointed time, dozens upon dozens of people gathered at all four corners of Bacon and Newport, chanting, waving signs, picketing back and forth in front of the empty building. They handed out clipboards with a petition opposing the lease to Starbucks, and there lots of hand-crafted signs – as the Coalition had met at the Green Store the night before to make them. As the crowd grew, it continued to be generally very boisterous and friendly. It was almost a party atmosphere. Lots of smiles, some chants. One was: “We don’t want no corporate whores, on our beautiful OB shores!”

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Ambulance Service Bilked San Diego Out of $18 Million – But Remains On the Job and Allowed to Increase Fees

June 16, 2011 by Frank Gormlie
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It was one of those articles that after you read it, you have to go back and re-read it because what it describes doesn’t make sense. This was what happened when I first read Craig Gustafson’s June 13th article in the San Diego U-T about San Diego’s ambulance service – how they bilked the City out of $18 million but get to keep operating ambulances for us – and are able to increase their fees to San Diego residents – the users of ambulances.

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Three Plans Proposed for New County Districts

June 16, 2011 by Source
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After a series of public meetings that began in February, the County’s Redistricting Advisory Committee voted Monday [June 13] to forward three proposed redistricting plans to the Board of Supervisors. The citizen’s committee was tasked with gathering public input and forwarding no more than three plans for the Board’s consideration. The Redistricting Advisory Committee finished that work and held its final meeting Monday.

The Board of Supervisors is expected to hear the committee’s proposed plans at its regular Board meeting at 9 a.m. on June 28.

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City of San Diego: Ocean Beach Gateway Project on time and on budget

June 16, 2011 by Andy Cohen
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Last week a commenter on the OB Rag pointed out that it appeared that construction on the OB Gateway had stopped. So, your dutiful scribes here at the Rag decided to look into it.

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