Month: October 2020

By Jim Miller

“I Really Don’t Care Do U” read the designer jacket that Melania Trump wore in June of 2018 when visiting the New Hope Children’s Shelter in McAllen, Texas that housed 55 kids, including those separated from their parents as a result of President Trump’s draconian immigration policy. Of course, last week, we all learned that our worst suspicions at the time were correct as a new tell-all book by the First Lady’s now ex-friend and senior adviser reveals that she was less concerned about the children’s fates than the fact that they made the Trumps look bad while she was slaving away on her onerous Christmas work.

As CNN reported, Mrs. Trump whined at the time:

“I’m working … my a** off on the Christmas stuff, that you know, who gives a f*** about the Christmas stuff and decorations? But I need to do it, right?”

Today we learned that on the heels of Gov. Gavin Newsom putting his signature on Assembly Bill 2731 just yesterday, Tuesday – which pushes forward the whole SANDAG – Navy deal on the old SPAWAR property -, San Diego mayoral candidate and assemblyman Todd Gloria, is taking over as the lead politician on the project, with Faulconer only around another month or so.

(I know it’s not called SPAWAR officially any more but how can we give up such a great name – Spawars – short for space wars? Besides, I bet there’s only one person on the OB Rag who knows what the current name is.)

The signed bill removes, as the San Diego Union-Tribune touted, “much of the red tape associated with the environmental review process required by the California Environmental Quality Act, or CEQA.” And there’s more:

Nuclear Shutdown New October 2020

By Michael Steinberg / Black Rain Press

Nuclear Shutdown News chronicles the decline and fall of the nuclear power industry, and highlights the efforts of those working to create a nuclear free world.

Shutting Down Nuke Plants Saves Lives – A Case in Point

As reported in last month’s Nuclear Shutdown News, a violent storm damaged the Duane Arnold nuclear plant in Iowa, and hastened its already scheduled permanent shutdown.

In the September 8 Des Moines Journal, Joseph Mangano, executive director of the Radiation and Public Health Project (radiation.org) made the case that closing the plant will mean there will be less radioactivity caused diseases in surrounding areas.

From the Ocean Beach Green Center,
4862 Voltaire Street,
Ocean Beach 92107
oceanbeachgreencenter@gmail.com
619-613 5616

Events – All events are online and free unless stated otherwise.

Every Saturday at 10:30 a.m. Climate Mobilization Coalition Zoom Meeting. October 3rd, 10th,17th 24th and 31st.

Mondays 9:30 pm – 12:30 pm Volunteering at Wild Willow Farm

COME INSIDE FOR ALL DETAILS

The Twinkle in My Eye

(Poem for My Youngest Grandkids)

by Ernie McCray

You guys
are the
twinkle in my eye.
And speaking of eye
hardly a day goes by
that I don’t,
in some moment,
see you all
in my mind’s eye:

The Point Loma library is one of 12 the City is re-opening for limited use this Saturday, October 3. The Ocean Beach library, however, is not on the list. All 36 of the city’s libraries have been closed since March 13 due to the pandemic.

The PL branch – along with the other eleven – will be open from 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday. They will close daily between 1 p.m. and 2 p.m. for cleaning. Face masks are required, and patrons must have their temperature taken upon arrival.

In-person library services will not be the same as pre-COVID days.

The libraries will allow the following:

• computer use,
• printing,
• book pickups and
• some in-person help from libraries to find titles;
• expanding outdoor space at several library locations, and
• renting out plastic-coated laptops so people can work or do distance learning outdoors.

Patrons will not be allowed:

By Joni Halpern

Perhaps it is because our culture is so enamored of celebrity. Perhaps it is because we inadvertently have become anonymous in a country of 330 million people, in a world of seven billion, in a cyber-universe that takes our pulse from moment to moment and buries our heartbeat in an aggregated identity that can be sold by the chunk or the sliver.

No matter the reason, we seem to awaken each day with a new hope that the meaning of our lives will become clear to others, that they will notice us, lift us from obscurity and send us into viral fame. We strive to be trend-setters, influencers, commentators. We want our voices to be heard, our faces to be seen, our statements to be quoted, our actions to be commended.

We want evidence that we – unique and alone – make a difference in this world.

By Jeoffry B. Gordon, MD, MPH

As I watched Mr. Trump’s behavior at the first Presidential debate, feelings grew within me that were not exactly political. I felt worn out, fatigued, put down, oppressed, overwhelmed and bullied; then disappointed, then irate, then angry, then scared. These responses were made boldly understandable when I listened to a post-mortum commentary by MSNBC’s Nicole Wallace: She described Mr. Trump’s behavior as frankly “abusive.”

Now I viscerally understood. In a small, albeit vicarious and totally sheltered way, I and the whole nation had an insight into the personality defects that produce abusive behavior toward defenseless children. I found it painful to understand what would happen to me – as an adult, never mind as a child – trapped in close quarters in a home dominated by a man like Mr. Trump. Painful to see. Sad for our country and upset to know 30% of Americans support him no matter what.

Editordude: Gary Wonacott wrote the following in response to an earlier opinion piece at IVNSanDiego praising Jen Campbell’s engineered Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) regarding short-term vacation rentals.

By Gary Wonacott / IVNSanDiego / September 30, 2020

The truth is that almost none of the La Jolla, Pacific Beach, Mission Beach and Ocean Beach residents support the MOU proposal. There is nothing transparent in the MOU process development of the regulations by Expedia and UNITE HERE. None of the District 2 town councils and planning boards were asked for inputs until the MOU had already been signed. In addition to the flawed process, the authors fail to provide any data-based rationale for any of the limits selected, permit requirements or fee values. We were simply asked to trust the authors and Councilmember Jennifer Campbell.

The city of San Diego previously passed a relatively liberal version of STR regulations termed “primary only,” an approach adopted by a number of large cities around the world.