Month: May 2014

(Nine in a series)

By Cara Wilson-Granat
This is the ninth in a series of ten in which we meet one of the San Diego 10 orcas and hear from an advocate who continues to be one of the voices of these imprisoned voiceless, never stopping until the whole world listens. After reading about Prisoner #9, Kalia, please scroll down this article and “meet” one of the top San Diego 10 Prisoner Advocates! This week’s Advocate is Liz Jacobelly.

Prisoner #9: Kalia

Age: 9 years

Her name means “Beauty” in Hawaiian, and this lovely nine-year-old orca lives up to her name completely. Born at SeaWorld San Diego on December 21, 2004, her mother is Kasatka and her father is Keet. (Kasatka is featured in #2 of our San Diego 10 series, and Keet is featured in #5 of this series.) Kalia’s claim to fame is that she is also known as Great Grandbaby Shamu, …

Company Refuses to Acknowledge Impact of Anti-Captivity Campaigns for Orcas

U-T San Diego writer Lori Weisberg ran a very interesting story on Wed., May 14 filled with news from SeaWorld – one of the U-T’s favorite anchors for San Diego tourism. While not mentioning boss Papa Doug Manchester’s enthusiasm for tourists to have reasons to fill his hotels, Weisberg wastes no time in getting to the real news from the company that owns 11 sea-theme parks across the country. Attendance was down the first quarter of this year by a whooping 13%.  Weisberg reported:

“the company’s quarterly earnings report … revealed, as expected, that attendance at SeaWorld’s 11 theme parks dropped 13 percent, to a little more than 3 million visitors, …”

This bad news for the company is accompanied by the concurrent news that revenues were also down by 11%.

By Gail Powell

The New York Daily News is reporting that the County of San Diego Emergency website is warning about “fire in your pants.”

But the incessant heat and wind that has caused a state of emergency to be declared in the San Diego area didn’t cause county workers to err. ”

A hacker managed to insert the silly message on the county website and app,” said the NY Daily News article.

Shocked visitors to the San Diego County emergency website were told that a devastating blaze threatening hundreds of homes was located “in your pants. ”

From “No Drones Days of Action”

San Diego is the US capital of spying and killer drone production. No Drones Days of Action starts on Thursday afternoon with street action and evening Overpass Light Brigade messaging; winding up on Saturday with a general assembly at the Church of the Brethren/Friends Center campus. THIS IS YOUR OPPORTUNITY to help move this nation away from empire and toward a better future.

Thursday May 15·

• 4-7 PM – San Diego Veterans for Peace Demonstration: Federal Building, Front and Broadway, downtown San Diego; Street Theater staged aerial “drone attack” by Artful Activist San Diego

• 8 PM – 9:30 PM – Overpass Light Brigade, light/sign demonstration at Clairemont Drive overpass at I-5 freeway

Saturday May 17

Editor: the following is based on a speech delivered by the author, Niall Twohig on last Friday, May 9th, in front of a group of fifty gathered in Revelle Plaza at UC San Diego to unveil The May 1970 Peace Memorial. The Memorial is dedicated to George Winne, who immolated himself and died as a protest against the Vietnam War in May of 1970, plus it’s dedicated to those students who carried on the May 1970 Student Strike.

By Niall Twohig

Why a memorial for May 1970? Why a memorial for peace? Why now?

To suggest some answers, I want to ask you, the reader, to take an imaginative leap back in time to May 1970.

In order to make this leap, we have to remember that the U.S. was waging an unpopular proxy war in Southeast Asia, made all the more unpopular after the invasion of Cambodia at the end of April.

If we found ourselves transported to May 1970, this would be all too apparent. We would see the images?the aerial views of bombs upon bombs pulverizing the Vietnamese countryside, images of GIs burning huts, footage of badly burnt villagers running from the firestorm of napalm, photos of rows upon rows of mutilated bodies scattered in the fields and anonymous soldiers packed away in coffins draped in stars and stripes.

Editor: The other day the Widder Curry caught up with Sarah Boot, candidate for the District 2 City Council seat and explored two issues that mean a lot in southern OB and that area of Point Loma where the Widder lives. See our earlier interview with Boot last month here.

By Judi Curry

For those of us living along the Sunset Cliffs corridor, I have a question for you. When was the last time you were able to leave your home and go directly to the Highway 8 on-ramp without being detoured around Ocean Beach? Yesterday it took me over 10 minutes to get to the freeway because of the streets that were blocked off – again – and detour signs were everywhere.

When I came home from my excursion to El Cajon, the detour signs were gone but the roads from Newport to Santa Cruz were so bumpy I thought my car would end up with flat tires. That, plus the steel plates all over the road only tell me that today will be the same way, and probably for weeks to come.

What about the streets in OB?

I discussed this problem with Sarah Boot, the 32 year old that will make a difference in San Diego politics. So what does she suggest for the roads of District 2?

By Susan Taylor / San Diego Free Press

Artichokes are fun! They grow from a lovely, silver-green plant with fabulous long leaves. You can pick, steam and then eat them. Or you can let the choke stay on the plant till it erupts into a stunning purple flower that lasts a long time. My mother who wasn’t a native San Diegan took artichoke serving very seriously. She would prune off the sharp tips and outer leaves, cook them and serve them at dinner along with little Austrian bowls filled with warm melted butter.

San Diego joins 150-city strike as worker campaign spreads across the globe to three dozen countries and six continents

By Staff

The fast food industry is an issue that isn’t going away. Front line fast food workers in San Diego are living in poverty while working in a $200 billion industry. San Diego workers are calling for $15 an hour wages and the right to form a union without retaliation. Employees from McDonald’s, Wendy’s and Burger-King will be joined by the Interfaith Center for Worker Justice board members and community supporters on Thursday May 15.

Originally published May 14, 2014

The Saratoga and Abbott condos are definitely taking shape. The friendly on-site manager informed us that they hoped the condos will be ready by September – and p0tentially new residents to move in during November 2014.

The ten condos being built will go for around a million dollars a piece. We have heard that figure from two sources now. However, the condos may not be sold initially but instead rented out.

Whether rentals or for sale, the condo complex will certainly alter the waterfront of Ocean Beach.

The complex and the plans leading up to its construction certainly have a history that we at the OB Rag have been documenting.

Here is what we wrote in November 2012:

Tar Balls on Beaches Are From Natural Seepage

Beach walkers are seeing gooey black tar bars on the sand, and there is some concern that they’re from fracking or oil spills and are harming the ocean. …
Demo Against Gov. Brown on Fracking in San Diego

If you are concerned about fracking in California, Governor Brown is touring San Diego, today,Tuesday the 13th of May. ………. Come inside for details …

OB Kids Grand Prize Winners in Essay Contest Sponsored by City Library

Ocean Beach residents Clayton Halbert, 10th grade La Jolla High, and Chase Thomas, 4th grade Ocean Beach Elementary, were two of the 13 …

COME INSIDE FOR MUCH MORE ….

Editor: For some reason, we recently received emails from two guys who used to live in OB and are willing to share their reminiscences about the town. Both Greg Koerwitz and Steve Bright give us some of their memories which give the rest of us some appreciation for the depth of passion that’s out there about our little village by the sea.

Greg Koerwitz wrote:

I recently read an article in your publication on the web site by the Scripps scientist on the certain sea rise expected in years to come and had to look at some of the pics on the site.

I lived there in 1966 to 1968 in an apartment for $90.00 a month that was only a few years old at the time and this was only a half block from the beach.

(Eighth in a series)

By Cara Wilson-Granat

This is the eighth in a series of ten in which we meet one of the San Diego 10 orcas and hear from an advocate who continues to be one of the voices of these imprisoned voiceless, never stopping until the whole world listens.

After reading about Prisoner #8, Ikaika, please scroll down this article and “meet” one of the top San Diego 10 Prisoner Advocates! This week’s Advocate is Heather Heffernan.

Prisoner #8: Ikaika

Age:12

Ikaika (whose name is Hawaiian for “Strength”) was born at SeaWorld Orlando on August 25, 2002. His mother is Katina and his father is Tilikum (the featured orca in the movie, Blackfish).