Month: December 2012

In a discussion I had with a friend the other day, we got to talking about the “heroes” of our time.

We had so many people to look up to that 15 minutes after starting naming those wonderful people we were still naming names. In our early teens – yes, we were “teens” once – a long time ago – our hero’s came from a variety of resources – and perhaps the first ones came from an unlikely source – the comic books, the radio stations, etc.

Who can forget “Tom Mix”? or “Jack Armstrong”? Even the “Superman” we idolized as doing only good was different that the Superman of today. The Betty, Veronica, and Archie’s of yesterday.

The OB Rag just ran a poll this past week that asked the question:

Should Congress raise taxes on the most wealthy 2% of Americans to avoid deep cuts in programs from Social Security to Defense?

The answer was overwhelming: 77% of our readers who responded said “Yes”.

Only 19% said “no”. 4% were unsure.

The poll ran from December 11 to the 18th; there were 74 responses.

In contrast, the East County Magazine had the same poll – although for a longer period of time – and the results from their readership were slightly different

Editor: The media, both corporate and progressive, has been awash with commentaries on and responses to the Connecticut school shootings. Here are a few more – originally posted in San Diego Free Press.

Crazy People with Guns Kill People

By Frances O’Neill Zimmerman

Time for newly-re-elected President Obama and the lame Congress of the United States to enact an assault weapons ban and to provide safeguards against easy access to guns and ammo. The old assault weapons law was allowed to expire a couple of years ago, thanks to craven legislators succumbing to pressure from the National Rifle Association.

The Connecticut shootings force into our collective minds the day of the tragedy of the McDonalds Massacre of July 18, 1984.

Then-San Diego newscaster Monica Zech, was in a news channel helicopter that day of the massacre, and she was the first reporter to break the story. Later, as the El Cajon Fire Public Information Officer, Zech wrote the following personal thoughts of her observations from that horrific day. (Originally posted at OB Rag on June 2, 2008 – see the entire post here.)

San Ysidro McDonald Massacre-A Birdseye View

by Monica Zech, 2004

My thoughts: Remembering and reporting on the San Ysidro McDonald Massacre, where 21 people died, 19 were injured – 7/18/84.

Our new Mayor Bob Filner has pledged to focus more on the neighborhoods of San Diego and less on the power brokers who hide out in the corridors of City Hall. And new City Council President Todd Gloria also has promised to make infrastructure “sexy”.

So, in order to assist Mayor Filner and Councilman Gloria in helping to decide what infrastructure is needed in Ocean Beach, we thought we’d provide a list for Santa.

Here’s what Ocean Beach needs for Christmas (for starters):

1. New Library

Back in 2003 Ocean Beach was promised a new library – …

200 million gallons of wastewater is sent to the Point Loma treatment plant every day.

By Tom Fudge / KPBS / Dec. 10, 2012

Up to 200 million gallons of San Diego water comes to the Point Loma treatment plant every day, to be treated and pumped into the Ocean. But people are starting to imagine another way to handle our wastewater.

The plan for the day had been to finally get the Christmas decorations up and address cards. I turned on the news to get my daily laugh from the cirque de D.C. and see how much closer we were coming the fiscal cliff. I wish I had not. The news was so just awful, again, I wept. Twenty-six souls lost, 20 of them only 6 and 7 years old. In an instant, another mad man took away so many dreams, so much joy, and so much love.

According to reports, the 20-year-old murderer took his own life, so we will never get the chance to ask him why or how he became so full of evil. Even if we were able to, it would not stop the carnage which all too often frequents the innocent, here and abroad. It will not stop, because we either do not care enough, or we must ghoulishly enjoy it enough to not do anything about.

Now that labor has been squashed, the right’s next moves in Michigan includes draconian anti-abortion laws and, sit down for this one, loosening the restriction on concealed weapons in places like churches and schools to please the gun lobby.

While liberals were busy gloating over their electoral victory and crowing about the demise of the right, Grover Norquist, the Koch Brothers, and company were busy going for blood—democracy be damned. Despite getting spanked at nearly every level, the plutocratic wrecking crew kept their eyes on the prize and jammed through a “right to work” law in Michigan, exacting sweet revenge on the Democrats and their labor allies.

President Calls for National “Conversation” on Reconciling Conflicting State and Federal Laws, and Holder May Decide What to Do Within a Month.

In his first public comments on the issue after both the states of Washington and Colorado voted to legalize the recreational use of marijuana, President Barack Obama said that the feds should not prosecute that kind of use in those states. “You’ve seen the voters speak on this issue,” he said. The President was interviewed by ABC News and it was released today.

It has been a while since I regaled the readers of my columns about my experiences of on-line dating. Lest you think that it has improved – or that I have met a “match” let me enlighten you during this holiday season.

I have had some very interesting, very hilarious experiences lately. I am truly amazed at the responses, and subsequent conversations I have had with some of the male subjects.

Some of these “episodes” sound like others I have already written about. Let me assure you that these are all “new” acquaintances. Let’s get started…

Other Live Tree on Campus Also Cut Down by Vandals

The Grinch is at it again. This time, he and his friends vandalized a student-initiated project of erecting a tall, 25 foot Christmas Tree on campus of the Point Loma High School. They also cut down a small live tree nearby – also on campus.

Campus police believe the vandalism occurred late Monday night or early Tuesday night.

The holiday-inspired tree was the brainchild of a group of students, who spent $700 of their own money to buy the tree at a farm in San Bernardino County, transport it down to the campus on a rented trailer, and erect it with decorations.

Editor: What will happen to Point Loma’s Fresh & Easy after it closes is anyone’s guess at this point.

by Daniel Paredes/Frying Pan News

After spending more than $1.6 billion, Tesco, the world’s third- largest food retailer, has finally thrown in the towel and announced the closure of its Fresh & Easy stores. This move brings closure to the British company’s effort to establish a foothold in California’s highly competitive grocery industry. Many analysts believe this decision has been a long time coming, with Fresh & Easy stores never seeing the kind of market penetration that the U.K.-based giant expected from the chain. Investors cheered the December 5 announcement, but U.S. workers have reason to celebrate too — this marks the end of a five-year struggle with Tesco.