Month: October 2013

By Eva Posner

I hate pink.

It’s really an awful color in my opinion. I do not begrudge those who like it. We are all different, so rock it if you want to.

But I will not. I cannot. It is not in my wardrobe or my color wheel.

I have the exact opposite problem as David Harris-Gershan, author of My Life with a Pink Water Bottle. Harris-Gershan found himself ridiculed for using his wife’s pink water bottle, and instead of cowering to attempts at humiliation and intimidation by other men, he decided to use it to make a statement about gender roles and sexism. He now carries it around on a regular basis, using people’s reaction to it as a teachable moment. I think his reaction is fantastic and I applaud him for challenging stereotypes.

As a woman, however, I am bombarded with pink constantly, and I am so over it.

by Frank Gormlie

It’s very clear – Kevin Faulconer really doesn’t want you – the liberal voter at the beach – to vote for Nathan Fletcher. Faulconer, of course, is OB’s current City Councilperson and sole Republican candidate for mayor of all San Diego. And of course, Nathan Fletcher is one of his Democratic opponents.

Two recent, slick campaign fliers have recently hit the beach area and tell the story.

One of them shouts out that “Nathan Fletcher is a trusted conservative.” as a quote from liberal nemesis, Karl Rove. Natch, there’s also a nice color photo next to the quote showing Fletcher and Rove standing together – and Karl has a huge smile.

So, get the picture so far? Up at the return address, you see “Paid for by The Lincoln Club of San Diego County”, and think, okay, the Lincoln Club is generally a pro-business GOP group and they just want you to know that Fletcher is indeed “a trusted conservative.”

You turn over the glossy flier and see this: the back end of a big, ol’ truck with half dozen right-wing bumper stickers plastered all over it.

The lines are being drawn for a ‘Grand Bargain’ and the Democrats’ continued willingness to give away role as defenders of safety net and earned benefit programs, say critics, is deeply worrying

By Jon Queally / Common Dreams

If U.S. citizens are increasingly concerned that the Democratic Party is no longer willing to fight off the right-wing attack on Social Security, Medicare, and other key social programs, Sen. Dick Durbin, President Obama and other party leaders have recently offered plenty of evidence to increase that worry.

Since the end of the government shutdown and standoff over the debt limit ended last week, Obama has repeatedly said that he wants to find a “balanced” solution to the ongoing budget debate with Republican lawmakers.

In new interview with Playboy, the Vermont senator laments the collapsed middle class, corporate power.

By Andrea Germanos / Common Dreams

In a newly published interview, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) blasts the “unfettered capitalism” that has collapsed the middle class, and the corporate power fueling climate change, which poses a “far more serious problem than Al Qaeda.”

Sanders speaking about the government shutdown’s impacts. (Photo: AFGE/cc/flickr) Speaking with economics writer Jonathan Tasini for the interview with Playboy, the 72-year-old Independent senator said that “one of the untold stories of our time is the collapse of the American middle class.” It’s due, in part, to “the decline of trade unions,” which means that workers “have less power to negotiate contracts and less political clout.”

It’s a system that has brought immense inequality, he says.

A Pictorial Walk-Around of the Remains of the Saratoga-Abbott Street Apartments and the Old Dempsey’s

The sub-headline says it all. Come along as we walk around the site. This is a pictorial gallery of what the site looks like now – a site that once held ancient apartments built in the middle of last century and the former Dempsey’s – a beachfront restaurant.

Dempsey’s was also the site of the original Hodad’s.

Three story condos will be built here.

In the latest OB Rag poll, nearly four out of five respondents registered negative responses to CVS Pharmacy opening a store in the former Apple Tree Market building in OB. 78% of the 138 who participated in the poll that went on for a week did not like the idea.

One-fifth of those who responded took a more positive approach.

To the question, “It looks like CVS Pharmacy will be opening up a market for medicine, alcohol and other retail goods in the former Apple Tree Market building. How do you feel about this?”

61% thought it was “terrible news for OB,” and since CVS “won’t be selling any fresh foods”, “OB-central is still without a food market.”

By Jim Miller

Projected Censored recently released their list of the “Top 25 Most Censored Stories of 2012-13.” As I noted in a column about last year’s list, Project Censored’s definition of censorship is a nuanced one:

We define Modern Censorship as the subtle yet constant and sophisticated manipulation of reality in our mass media outlets. On a daily basis, censorship refers to the intentional non-inclusion of a news story – or piece of a news story – based on anything other than a desire to tell the truth. …

Have you ever been at the beach or one of the green grass parks near a beach and been inundated with a large group doing exercise or yoga and being led by a trainer?

Throughout Southern California, from LA to OB, parks and beaches have been experiencing an influx of organized joggers or people exercising. Personal trainers are taking their classes out doors to public beaches and parks, to take advantage of the great weather. Every public beach has seen its swarm of organized fitness groups using the public space – at times – for a private profit.

There is a pushback happening. Local residents at different beach cities have taken issue with the group fitness classes. And they’re complaining about the human traffic jams in parks and on beaches enjoyed and appreciated for their beauty, solitude, nature-setting, etc.

4996 W. Point Loma Ave.
Ocean Beach, CA 92107
619-224-2884

When I do a restaurant review, I try to stay within a certain price range , primarily because I live on a limited income. I had heard that the food at “Bo-Beau” was very good, but was also told it was quite pricey. I am happy to say that the food WAS very good, and although more than I usually spend on a meal, was not that pricey compared to other restaurants of its quality.

My friend Mary had asked to take me out for dinner – we were in a celebratory mood -, and since we were coming back to Ocean Beach via La Jolla, we decided to go to Bo-beau kitchen and bar, as she had told me many times it was one of her favorites.

Because we were early – not quite 5:00pm, we were seated immediately. We were taken to the patio at first, but the wind was picking up and we decided to eat inside. We picked the only table that had an air vent overhead, and soon we were both very cold from the air conditioner. We asked our waiter – Orion – named after the “hunter” if we could change seats, but he said he would turn off the air – which he did, and we were very comfortable staying where we were.

By Christian Cotroneo / Huff Post Canada

So long humans.

And thanks for all the jellyfish.

If the oceans are indeed in steep decline, it may just be a triumph of the brainless — namely, the humble jellyfish.

“The number of case studies is increasing,” Lucas Brotz of the University of British Columbia Fisheries Centre told the Huffington Post, “And it certainly seems we are having a severe impact on the oceans that is making them less favourable for fish and more favourable for jellyfish in some places.”

So far, the most direct impact — aside from swimming into a cloud of the critters — is being felt at the world’s nuclear reactor sites.

The right-wing echo chamber has vilified food stamp users with a variety of absurd lies and myths. As a result, people will go hungry.

By Dave Johnson / Alternet

In the middle of the worst economy and job situation in decades Republicans in the House voted to cut $40 billion from food stamps. This will kick 3.8 million people out of the program by 2014, 3 million more each year after.