Month: January 2014

By Jay Powell / San Diego Free Press

The latest news coming out of the national Sierra Club office- at a time when there are major climate change initiatives underway and the City is about to elect a new Mayor- is just not funny. San Diego and Imperial County members are receiving letters from the chairman of the national Sierra Club, David Scott, informing them that they are considering a formal suspension of the Chapter Executive Committee due to “internal conflicts and divisions.”

In an update report, UT San Diego environmental reporter Deborah Sullivan Brennan outlines some of the recent history of changes …

By Will Falk / San Diego Free Press

More than 100 species went extinct yesterday. They were my kin.

Despite this, I have been hearing people talk about how the world is getting better, how progress is being made, and how we have a bright future.

For example, CJ Werleman recently wrote an article for AlterNet titled “Humanity is Becoming Increasingly Less Violent, with One Exception – Religious Violence.” His opening line declares, “Studies demonstrate the world is becoming less violent, and that human warfare is on the decline.”

A Review of the District – and a Photo Essay

The Ocean Beach Planning Board is holding its annual election on March 11th. In light of our analysis that the Village of OB is at an historic development crossroads, we have begun a series of examinations of the different planning districts within the Ocean Beach Community Plan Area.

We are doing this in hopes that the series will encourage interest in and education about OB’s planning issues, the Planning Board and the election among OBceans. (See the first part of the series on District 1)

District 2 – The Heart of OB

Here, we present a look at District 2 – the virtual center of the community – and indeed it’s soul and heart.

By Marc Snelling

In the ongoing international debate over NSA spying there are few voices of reason. The NSA would like you to think they are the eye on the pyramid of the great seal. An all-seeing all-knowing department of the most powerful government on earth. A division of James Bonds and Bondettes with the latest gadgetry spying on all manner of digital communication to protect the world from the scariest terrorist de jour.

On the other side of the same coin are the whistle blowers like Edward Snowden. He has now joined the ranks with Julian Assange and the Wikileaks hacktivists. They fancy themselves a gang of revolutionaries striking fear in the heart of evil government ‘leaders’, and corporate CEOs. Digital warriors, exercising their superior-hacking skills to bring nefarious secrets into the light of day. The truth is not nearly as sexy as the media, the NSA, or the hacktivists would have you believe.

In reality NSA spies are cubicle-dwelling keyboard jockeys not tuxedo-wearing international men of mystery.

Border Patrol Drone Ditched Due to Mechanical Problems

Late Monday night, Jan. 27th, a Border Patrol Drone was deliberated crashed into the ocean about 20 miles southwest of Point Loma. Its government operators decided that due to mechanical problems, the un-manned plane could not return to its base at Sierra Vista, Arizona.

The locally-made drone was on a border security mission. US Customs and Border Protection issued a statement Tuesday that read in part:

“The crew determined that the UAS would be unable to return to where it originated in Sierra Vista, Ariz., and put the aircraft down in the water. The cause of the failure is unknown.”

We now know from the Wall Street Journal via CBS8 :

“… the drone’s onboard generator failed, and the backup battery lacked the sufficient power needed to keep it in the air.”

General Atomics Aeronautical, a San Diego-based company, made the drone …

With the dawning of the new year, it is clear that the beloved community of Ocean Beach is indeed at a crossroads. Across the face of OB bulldozers and dump-trucks can be seen, hammers and saws can be heard. Local residents can attest to all the construction and development that is going on right now throughout the Village of OB.

Here are the more visible signs:

• There’s the very visible large construction going on at the corner of Abbott and Saratoga as large semis lumber through the streets dumping tons of dirt onto the site.

• Across from the OB Rec Center, two 2-story condos were recently built, and two more to be built.

• Over on West Point Loma, more construction has appeared as the third large-framed building takes shape.

• The busy intersection of Voltaire and Sunset Cliffs is about to become even more busier as World Oil readies to construct their 2 story office and retail building.

• More construction right outside OB is also taking place at the very visible corner of Voltaire and Catalina.

All this construction is not the only thing going on in OB, what with all the traffic delays and detours these days due to the City’s replacement of aging pipes

Swimmers, surfers and bathers in Ocean Beach are asked not to go into the ocean until test results are compiled today, Tuesday, Jan. 28.

High bacterial levels have been found through routine tests off Dog Beach. Pollutants coming from the San Diego River are being blamed but lifeguards admit they’re not certain what is causing the problem.

Lifeguards also stated that it’s unusual to have such a high bacteria count without it having rained a good deal.

Suit alleges National Marine Fisheries Service ignored ‘best available science’ in ruling against ocean wildlife during during sonar military exercises.

See Petition below to stop Navy from harming wildlife

By Louis Sahagun / LA Times / January 27, 2014

The National Marine Fisheries Service violated federal law when it authorized the Navy’s use of sonar in training exercises off Hawaii and California through 2018, an environmental group said in a lawsuit filed Monday.

The sanctuaries in SoCal coastal waters were created to curb steep declines in fish and other sea creatures.

By Tony Barboza / LA Times / January 26, 2014

Two years after the creation of marine sanctuaries in more than 350 square miles of Southern California coastal waters, state wildlife officials and environmental groups say the restrictions on fishing are largely being obeyed.

“All of the dire predictions of the collapse of the commercial and sport-fishing industries just aren’t happening,” said California Fish and Game Commission President Michael Sutton. “In general, people are respecting the boundaries.”

First Statement from the Self-Defense Group of Aquila, Michoacán

Written by The Self-Defense Council of Aquila, Michoacán
Translated by Scott Campbell of Upside Down World

Reposted from San Diego Free Press

Aquila, Michoacán?, January 18, 2014

From the Self-Defense Group of Aquila, Michoacán to the general public:

Today, the residents of the municipal seat of Aquila, tired of the extortions, rapes, killings, kidnappings and all sorts of criminal acts committed by the Knights Templar; given the complete abandonment of the citizenry by the municipal and state governments who for 12 years did not provide the security needed for our people to have a peaceful and dignified life; …

OB Elementary Crosswalk Construction Begins – New Streetlight Added to Mid-Block Santa Monica Ave. Crossing

Slowly but surely, the crosswalk outside of Ocean Beach Elementary School on Santa Monica Avenue is coming together.

City workers put up a street light while students were on winter break, a necessity to follow city code. The next step is to put in the actual crosswalk. A discussion about the extent of this will be held at the OB Planning Board meeting on Feb. 5.

In the meantime, Joseph “Moondoggie” Pina and Wayne Simard still have their crew of volunteer crossing guards manning their posts every morning and afternoon.

“It’s coming,” said Pina. “Slowly, but it’s coming.”

They said the volunteers will still be out even after the crosswalk is (finally) built.

Long running disregard for the care of mentally ill exacerbates chronic homelessness, creates public safety dilemma.

By Bob Dorn / San Diego Free Press

Today (ed., January 22) the park rangers moved out the couple living across the street in our dilapidated corner of Balboa Park.

I wasn’t sorry to see them go. I wasn’t happy to see them go. Homelessness long ago became another national shrug. No one’s to blame any more, neither the Republicans nor the Democrats, maybe not even the very wealthy, …