Month: October 2018

In the wake of Pittsbugh’s mass murder of Jews and the week of terror given the county by the MAGA pipebomber, it’s very troubling to hear reports that hate crimes are rising in San Diego County and across California. Ocean Beach has even been the site of some.

In San Diego County, hate crimes jumped up 27 percent between 2015 and 2017. And between 2014 and 2017, they rose 44 percent within the state.

Specifically, anti-Semitic hate crime rose nearly 27 percent from 2016 to 2017 statewide.

Just this past Monday up north at California State University San Marcos, white nationalist posters were discovered on campus – and then taken down by campus police. The posters were of a hate group.

By Eva Posner, Mary Latibashvili, Susannah Bankhead, and Jay Bartell

On Monday night, District Attorney Summer Stephan attended the vigil at the Congregation Beth Israel for the victims of the shooting at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh. She stood on stage and sat in the front row.

However, when asked by a reporter from Times of San Diego about the anti-Semitic website that her campaign launched attacking George Soros during the June primary election, Ms. Stephan refused to answer any questions or acknowledge the issue.

By Brett Warnke

Duncan Hunter is a human hangover. He’s that bro who double-parks in a Navigator, who goes Dutch on a third date, and wears sandals with bruised toes. He’s that bro who the rain never touches, whose suits always fit right, and who gets the sort of bad tattoos that everyone compliments.

He’s that bro without underwear who scratches himself at your kids’ games attracting your wife’s attention. Duncan Hunter is that jock who wouldn’t pass the ball in your final high school game, going for glory as your team loses the sectional.

by Joaquin Antique

As I strolled around town this week there seemed to be less Halloween decorations in Ocean Beach than last year. I think it’s probably because most people are burned out from the real horror show in the White House and the Republican-dominated Congress.

Who needs jack-o’-lanterns when you already have an evil orange demon running the show in Washington? Who needs zombies when you have packs of evil racists marching through the streets of Charlottesville and other cities?

Some people in OB still are spreading the Halloween spirit, though as the accompanying pictures demonstrate.

The Old Broad Speaks Her Mind

Airport Noise and the Button

Let’s start this column by saying those of you that will tell me that they are used to the airport noise do not have to read any further. Let’s continue this column by saying to those of you that say that the airport was here before me do not have to read any further either. Those of you that will say there is nothing we can do about the airport can also skip this column. And those of you that will say that I am always bitching about something do not have to read any further either. And those of you that are not bothered by the black soot, or the shaking windows, or the air pollution – well – you can skip reading also. Because I am pissed by all of the above.

Today, Sunday, October 28th, I pushed the airport noise button 7 times; four times within two hours.

By Geoff Page

There was a meeting October 24 at the Point Loma library to talk about the Point Loma Town Council.

Point Loma Town Council you say? Point Loma doesn’t have a town council. Ocean Beach has a town council. So does Mission Beach and Pacific Beach and even La Jolla has one. That’s what this meeting was about, Point Loma doesn’t have a town council and one man is trying to change that.

Community member Michael Winn has made creating a Point Loma town council his mission and he has put some effort into it.

While many eyes in District 2 are focused on the intense campaign between Democratic challenger Dr Jen Campbell and incumbent Republican Lorie Zapf, we ought to take notice of what’s going on over in District 8. Because whichever of the two candidates running in that district wins, the victor will definitely have an impact on residents at the coast.

District 8 is a largely Democratic district and that’s why two Democrats are running against each other for November’s general election. Antonio Martinez and Vivian Moreno are battling it out for the soul of the district. But it seems Moreno has a leg up on Martinez on money and that’s partially due to the fact the short-term vacation rental industry is backing her.

The Old Broad Speaks Her Mind

Pittsburgh

I was in Las Vegas when I heard about the shootings in Pittsburgh. It spoiled my entire trip. (Of course not being able to find a Blackjack table for under $10 a hand didn’t help my mood.)

I was raised in a Jewish Neighborhood – the “Borscht” belt in Los Angeles. My high school – Fairfax High – was closed for Jewish holidays. Although I did not go to Sunday School, most of my friends did; most of my friends were either Bar Mitzvahed or, if female, Bas Mitzvahed. I would go to the Synagogue with friends when asked to go with them, and attended many Seder’s on the holidays. I celebrated both Hanukkah and Christmas, and have a Menorah and candles ready for this holiday season.

You would think that people would be safe in the “House of God”. The president’s idiotic comment that if there had been armed guards at the “Tree of Life” Synagogue there would not have been so many deaths.

With the midterms a little more than a week out there is a good amount of handwringing in progressive circles about whether or not the “blue wave” will actually happen.

Nervous Democrats pore over the latest posts on the polling at FiveThirtyEight, and the talking heads on MSNBC parse the current numbers, muse about the accuracy of the polling, and commiserate about their post-traumatic stress after the 2016 election.

With decision day looming, the collective anxiety is getting more and more palpable. In between ranting about Russia and the Mueller investigation, the unthinkable question is on the tip of many a liberal’s tongue: could we actually blow it again?

As of this writing, it appears that the Senate—which was never really in reach—is out of the question but

OB Rag Celebrates 11th Birthday Online

On Oct. 26, the OB Rag turned 11 years old, having begun its online run during the massive fires that swept San Diego County in October 2007. And we’ve been going ever since. The original OB People’s Rag began …

McMillin Co. Asks City for Okay to Sell Liberty Station Lease

The Corky McMillin Cos., the San Diego developer that remade the Naval Training Center into a sprawling housing, business and and entertainment hub, has asked city officials to review a plan to sell all or part of its leasehold in what’s now known as Liberty Station. …

‘An Alligator Walks into a Pet Store and Says …’

An alligator was left on the steps of a pet store in Point Loma …

By Denine Hunt

The Ocean Beach Town Council met on Wednesday, October 24th in front of a fairly sparse crowd of community members. The OBTC will “go dark” during the next two months and will resume meeting the fourth Wednesday of every month in January, 2019.

The following are announcements of OB events or updates by local groups:

The Ocean Beach Woman’s Club is holding their 6th Annual Fundraiser; ‘Obecian Luau‘ on November 3rd, 6pm-10pm. Proceeds will benefit fourteen different local organizations. You can learn more by visiting here.