Month: September 2016

By Steve Newcomb / Indian Country / September 26, 2016

A statue is dedicated to the conquistador Juan Rodriquez Cabrillo stands at the Cabrillo National Monument at Point Loma, California.

On the ground nearby is a plaque the Navy of the country of Spain placed there a few years ago, with the approval of the U.S. Navy. The plaque states as a fact that in 1542 Cabrillo “took possession of these lands.” The Spanish Navy is part of the Spanish government, and the plaque is Spain’s way of claiming that Cabrillo “took possession” of the Kumeyaay Nation’s territory in what is now typically referred to as San Diego, California.

By Christina Beck / Christian Science Monitor / Sept. 21, 2016

In a near victory for California sea otters, biologists are cautiously optimistic about the future of the state’s southern sea otter population after the annual otter census counted more than 3,000 individuals this year.

Although otter population growth has delighted scientists, however, there are also worrying signs that the population range is contracting, a factor that can restrict long term recovery.

“The population index has exceeded 3,090 for the first time, and that’s encouraging,” said US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) southern sea otter recovery coordinator Lilian Carswell, “but sustained population growth will require range expansion.”

While 3,090 may seem like an odd number, it is a significant one for biologists, …

By Geoff Page

The Midway/Pacific Highway Community Planning Group (Midway) held its monthly meeting on Wednesday, September 21st at the San Diego City College – West City Campus on Fordham Street.

Unlike at the OB and Peninsula planners’ meetings – which meet at night allowing working people and residents to atten, this meeting started at 3:00 in the afternoon and continued until 5:00. Seven of the board’s members were present, just making a quorum as the board has 12 seats. It was later learned that there are two vacancies due to resignations and the board is looking for candidates to fill those seats.

The meeting moved quickly through the early agenda and then came to the “City Government Office Reports” part of the agenda, which is where reps from the 9 agencies listed, from Council District all the Congressman Scott Peters, are to give reports and updates.

It’s All About the Climate and Our Children’s Future

By Jim Miller, Nicole Capretz, and Nick Segura

San Diego does not have a history of visionary regional planning, but the woefully inadequate Measure A would take our city to a new low by ensuring decades more of inadequate efforts to address both our infrastructure needs and climate change.

Sadly, Measure A is not up to the transportation and climate justice challenges of the present and would guarantee a future for our city that would leave us with no solutions for climate change or traffic congestion while increasing pollution, poisoning our children, and turning a deaf ear to the needs of beleaguered communities of color.

By Ernie McCray

Soon the new National Museum
of African American History and Culture
will open and stand infinitely
on the National Mall
in Washington D.C. –
sharing a home
with other grand memorials
commemorating extraordinary
Americans and events
in our nation’s history,
giving “Black Lives Matter”
fresh breath,
dignifying the humanity
of kidnapped and bought people
who toiled as slaves
in cotton fields in a long ago day,
to those, like me, who survived the evil-ness
of Jim Crow’s ways,
to those born this very day
with so many in the nation
speaking loudly of making America great again
as compared to who knows when.
Oh, it so enlivens my soul
to have my people’s stories told.

There’s a new construction project coming in at the northwest corner of Garrison Street and Locust Street in Point Loma. It’s all dirt at the corner lot, hidden by a construction screen fence.

A peek at what the development entails shows that a large below grade hole has been carved out of the dirt. Look at the photo. The depth of the hole appears to be able to take in that Potter-Potty. How tall are those?

This is probably a future subterranean garage. Uh-oh.

The OB Rag ran a readers’ poll for one week asking the question: “What would you do if Trump was elected?” and it had 145 respondents.

The answers ranged from nearly a third saying they would be celebrating Trump’s election (31%), contrasted with nearly 10% who said they would be joining the “underground resistance”, and where 23% claimed “nothing will change.”

About 38% of those who answered chose options in the poll that expressed some level of negative impact with Trump’s election. Nearly 8% said they would move out of the country (2% to Mexico and 5.5% to Canada).

Another 14% would be mobilized politically against Trump – with an astounding 9.7% of the overall respondents agreeing to the option, “Joint the underground resistance.”

Almost 5% said they would “take to the streets”, meaning demonstrating and protesting.

By John Lawrence

This is Part 2 of Buddhist Economics: Economics As If People Mattered. Part 1 can be found here.

The Buddhist approach is that consumption is merely a means to human well-being. The aim should be to attain a maximum of well-being with a minimum of consumption.

It would also be considered salutary to produce much of what is needed for human well-being by one’s own hands rather than being a total participant in the cash economy. This is anathema to capitalist economists and bankers who thrive on interest from bank loans in order that consumers can purchase more stuff on borrowed money and go into more debt.

Campaign Announced In Response to Crisis of Deported Veterans

By Joe Armenta

The injustice faced by hundreds, if not thousands, of U.S. military veterans who are being and have been deported was the focus of a campaign announced Tuesday, September 20th by a broad coalition of leaders including representatives of the veterans community, elected officials, business, labor and immigrant reform communities.

The coalition pledged to drive change for currently deported veterans and those who are facing deportation. Marine Corps veteran and former California Assemblymember Nathan Fletcher has agreed to serve as Chair of the group and stated the following –

“If you were willing to give your life for your country, your country should be willing to give you citizenship.”

Opponent Gretchen Newsom Squares Off with Anthony Montalvo

From Point Loma – OB Dems

There’s a Measure on the ballot this November that could determine how we’ll get around San Diego County for the next 40 years. Transportation affects the quality of lives – how we get to work, how we get to the beach. It shapes the growth of our cities, and the health of children and seniors.

By Michael Steinberg

This past summer, while perusing library shelves 3000 miles from OB, I came upon actress Mary Louise Parker’s 2015 reminiscence, Dear Mr. You, wherein she recounts relationships with some of the men in her life.

As I glanced down the table of contents, one name jumped out and set off a set off a tsunami of flashbacks.

The year was 1984, the place Ocean Beach People’s Food Co-op, aka OB Peoples or just Peoples.

Mark your calendar – Saturday, September 24th for the Annual OB Pier Pancake Breakfast!

The Ocean Beach Pier Pancake Breakfast is a fun and popular tradition in OB that kicks off the big fundraising season for the OB Food and Toy Drive and our holiday events. The event is hosted by the OB Town Council.

It’s the one day out of the year you can have breakfast over the water on the pier.

Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for children. Proceeds benefit the OB Food and Toy Drive and upcoming holiday events.