Month: January 2014

By Rosemary Regina Sobol / Chicago Tribune /.January 13, 2014

A 25-year-old Chicago woman lost her balance and fell from a cliff while taking pictures in San Diego Sunday and died instantly, authorities reported.

The victim was with her sister, taking pictures on a cliffside bluff at sunset, when she lost her footing and plunged 100-150 feet onto massive sandstone rocks below, San Diego Police Officer Edward Zwibel said.

“She was tragically posing for a picture when she backed up too far and lost her balance and fell down the cliff,” said Zwibel.

He said the woman, who has not yet been officially identified, is 25 years old and is from Chicago. Her sister is from the San Diego area.

By Jim Miller

Meet Kevin Faulconer, man of the people. He’s running glossy commercials about how he’ll be “a mayor for all of us” and talking as if he’ll be the guy who will focus on neighborhoods that “have been under-served by this city for too long.”

His website and ballot statement have been scrubbed of any unpleasant reminders that he is a Republican backed by San Diego’s traditional power brokers, and he just can’t stop reminding us that there is “no such thing as a Democratic or Republican pothole.”

Like the Republicans at the national level who have decided that they can claim poverty as an issue while refusing to raise the minimum wage, extend unemployment benefits, or stop cutting services to the poor, Faulconer seems to think ….

Ortiz’s Taco Shop
3704 Voltaire
San Diego, CA 92107
619-222-4476

By Judi Curry

As the Chargers lost on Sunday, interim Mayor Todd Gloria had promised to send authentic Mexican food to Denver Mayor Michael Hancock. As an aficionado of such cuisine, I was amazed to see the three restaurants Gloria selected: Ortiz’s Taco Shop in Point Loma, Lolita’s Taco Shop in Kearny Mesa and Mama Testa Taqueria in Hillcrest.

So I called two of my friends – Ro and Irene – and asked them if they would like to join me in reviewing these three restaurants – one at a time, of course.

We have a better idea of a bet between San Diego and Denver mayors on the eve of the Chargers vs Broncos game. Everyone by now has heard of the mayors’ bet with food from the two cities, but we think there is a urban product more appropriate.

What with the legalization of marijuana now in Colorado and the fact that medicinal herb is legal in California as the state’s voters have directed, why doesn’t San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria bet the Denver mayor on the best marijuana available in the respective cities?

Mayor Gloria has a whole wealth of pot dispensaries from which to choose from around town. How about some “Train Wreck” or “Kush” or just a sampling of the intoxicating herbs our proud city has to offer? Get some of that top shelf stuff, Todd.

By John Lawrence / San Diego Free Press

This series of articles is based on an excellent book by Tom Rand: “Kick the Fossil Fuel Habit– 10 Clean Technologies to Save Our World.” In Part 1 we dealt with all the possibilities for solar power generation. In this article we will consider wind. For centuries wind powered ships and windmills drew water out of the ground. We are now in a position to reconnect with this form of energy and convert it into electricity. How it works is very simple: As the wind blows, enough force is created to spin a turbine which in turn generates electrical energy. These days a single wind turbine can power a decent sized town.

By Ernie McCray

When San Diego State’s men’s gifted basketball players showed up at Allen Fieldhouse in Lawrence, Kansas and rose from the 21st rated team to number 13 after destroying the Jayhawks’ dream of stretching a 68 game winning streak against non-Big XII teams to 69 – I couldn’t help but think, at the time, of how lucky those young athletes are in having Steve Fisher as their guide on this wonderful ride.

The man is clearly a wonderful coach, a master teacher if there ever was one. He knows how to connect with folks who are counting on him for guidance.

I know. I’m an educator by nature, in a way.

By Dawson Barrett / Portside

In recognition of the anniversary of the death of Nirvana leader Kurt Cobain, a host of retrospectives will recognize both the raw potency of Cobain’s songwriting and the tragedy of his heroin use and suicide. They will hide that Nirvana was a band of rebels.

This April marks twenty years since the death of Nirvana leader Kurt Cobain, one of the most iconic cultural figures of the late 20th century. In recognition of that anniversary, a host of retrospectives will recognize both the raw potency of Cobain’s songwriting and the tragedy of his heroin use and suicide. Echoing the tired, sexist tropes of “John and Yoko” and “Sid and Nancy,” many will also associate Cobain’s downfall with his wife, Courtney Love. These tabloid narratives will overshadow Nirvana’s political and cultural significance. They will hide that Nirvana was a band of rebels.

Sundara Indian Cuisine
1774 Sunset Cliffs Blvd.
Ocean Beach, CA 92107
619-889-0639

There is an old saying that states ‘you cannot go back and expect to find the same things you found originally.’ Such is true of the Sundara Indian Restaurant in Ocean Beach.

I originally reviewed this restaurant August 3, 2012, when it was located in a tiny restaurant almost on the corner of Sunset Cliffs and Pt. Loma Ave. At that time it was sharing its restaurant with the “Pt. Loma Beach Café” – cooking its meals in a community kitchen during the late afternoon and bringing that food to its patrons for dinner. It was very good and I gave it a favorable review in the OBRag.

Asked again to review it now that it is in a permanent place with the ability to cook all of the meals on the premises, I asked my friend Eric to accompany me, as he has done several times in the past.

40 Years Ago OB Rag Cover Had First Ocean Beach “Munopoly” Board

On New Year’s Eve, we gathered at a good friend’s house and played the latest OB board game, “Ocean Beach-opoly” an OB version of the famed grandparent of all board games.

We had fun – I was fortunate to own the Gilmore Family store – not even noticing our late it had become. (I was one of the winners, by the way – sorry Doug.)

Later, I realized, hey, the OB Rag once ran a cover graphic way back in the Seventies with the first actual “OB Monopoly game board”. Nearly exactly 40 years ago, our version was on display.

Age discrimination could be headed for you, sooner than you think

ByLynn Stuart Parramore / AlterNet

In every corner of America, millions of people are terrified of losing their jobs and falling into financial ruin. Men and women with impressive professional achievements and credentials are being let go, nudged out and pushed aside. They are pounding the pavement and scouring the job sites, but find themselves turned away even for the most basic retail jobs. Not because they aren’t competent. Not because they lack skills. But simply because they have a gray hair or two.

By John Lawrence / San Diego Free Press

This article is based on an excellent book by Tom Rand: “Kick the Fossil Fuel Habit – 10 Clean Technologies to Save Our World.” It contains great information at a reading level that even an elementary school child can comprehend. And there are many superb pictures too. It is a wonderful resource in the numerous technologies that are in the process of ridding the world of fossil fuels – some of them hardly known to the literate public. At least I wasn’t aware of them, and I consider myself somewhat knowledgeable about global warming and what we can do about it. He identifies ten different technologies. We will devote an article to each of them. Part 1 will deal with solar.

By Dan Bacher

Nine California Legislators on January 7 sent a letter to Governor Jerry Brown asking that he issue an executive order to prohibit the Division of Oil, Gas, and Geothermal Resources (DOGGR) within the Department of Conservation from allowing fracking in the state until health and environmental concerns are addressed.

Legislators signing the letter include Marc Levine, Assemblymember, 10th Assembly District; Das Williams, Assemblymember, 37th Assembly District; Adrin Nazarian, Assemblymember, 46th Assembly District; Richard Bloom, Assemblymember, 50th Assembly District; Loni Hancock, State Senator, 9th Senate District; Bonnie Lowenthall, Assemblymember, 70th Assembly District; Noreen Evans, State Senator, 2nd Senate District; Phil Ting, Assemblymember, 19th Assembly District; and Lois Wolk, State Senator, 3rd Senate District.