Month: January 2021

By Frank Gormlie

It’s difficult writing anything today after watching 16 hours of TV yesterday, trying to be a witness to the fully-anticipated attempt at a coup by Trump and his supporters – one of the darkest days in American history.

But the main thing that comes to mind is that Trump and those who instigated the attempt at a fascist coup yesterday on the citadel of liberty, the Capitol, need to be held accountable for what they did.

Read no further if you’re bothered by the term “fascist” here as I’m not going to spend time trying to justify the use of the word to describe Trump and his cohorts.

And plenty of pundits and politicians have already called what happened Wednesday, January 6th – a day of infamy – a “coup” and “insurrection.” Why, newly-elected President Joe Biden used those terms just today. He also called the mob that stormed the Capitol, “domestic terrorists.”

The terrorists, the insurrectionists, the mob, the fascist crowd – packed with Proud Boys, Qanon supporters, white nationalists, Klan supporters – have to be held accountable. They tried to take over our government and disrupt the business of Congress – making the final certification of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris’ election.

The woman who was shot and killed inside the U.S. Capitol Building on Wednesday was from Ocean Beach, according to local media who have had contact with her extended family.

35-year-old Ashli Elizabeth Babbitt has been identified as the person who succumbed to a gunshot wound during the mob action. She had been carried out of the area on a stretcher and reportedly died at a hospital.

Babbitt was part of the violent pro-Trump insurrection and attempted take-over of the Capitol.

According to the Union-Tribune, a reporter spoke to a family member who said they saw videos of the incident and are positive the woman shot was Babbitt. “It’s her. It’s her. It’s definitely her,” the family member said. The family as of the local media reports had not been able to confirm anything with DC authorities. No one at the time of the report had contacted the family.

An Air Force veteran, Babbitt was a big Trump supporter, promoted QAnon conspiracies and her twitter page contained references to the fringe, extremist group. She had gone to DC to “stop the steal.” She wrote:

National Guard Deployed, Proud Boys Mobilized and Street Closures Are Matched by Warnings from 10 Defense Secretaries and Wall Street

The nation’s capitol is in hunker-down mode as the city – and the country – prepare for Wednesday, January 6 – the day Donald Trump has called for rioting in the streets. A seditious insurrection. Called by a sitting president – the most treasonous action since the Civil War.

The DC mayor, Muriel Bowser, has asked residents and other demonstrators not to come downtown and not to engage with those “seeking confrontation.” She also warned pro-Trump people visitors that local laws bar anyone from carrying firearms within 1,000 feet “of any First Amendment activity.” City police have closed down many streets near the Capitol as preparations are made for a multitude of rallies, marches and demonstrations by pro-Trump supporters. The DC National Guard has also been called up – but in limited numbers and with more restrictions that previous engagements.

Could Faulconer Really Represent 11 Million California Voters Who Voted for Biden?

By Frank Gormlie

Well, your former mayor didn’t take long to get back into the political spotlight.

Kevin Faulconer has established his mandatory exploratory committee to make a run for governor of California. And at the same time, he has jumped onto the “Recall Newsom” bandwagon, a bandwagon being pushed by “dark money”, it has come out.

So, Kevin has his feet in both pots: a gubernatorial campaign and getting ready to benefit if the recall effort is successful (unlikely however).

Now, don’t forget, our Republican mayor recently admitted he voted for Trump in November 2020.

By Colleen O’Connor

Exactly one year ago on January 2nd, 2020, I wrote a column with 10 predictions to cover the next 18 months. Checking now, almost all have come to fruition 6 months early.

In order of rank: Wins and Losses.

Best Prediction: “There will be a woman on the Democratic 2020 presidential ticket. Why? Because Nancy Pelosi will insist and California will deliver. That candidate will be Kamala Harris (whether as President or Vice-President).”

Next Up: Mitt Romney will rise to be the “conscience” of the Republican Senate. Indeed, the only GOP member to vote for impeachment; the earliest to confront the “election fraud” allegations; same with the separation of families on the border. And now his quote of the day,” “The egregious ploy to reject electors may enhance the political ambition of some, but dangerously threatens our Democratic Republic.”

By Ernie McCray

Oh, it’s quite a shock when you check into Facebook and the first entry on your timeline says: “My brother, Elton Harris, is gone.”

The absolutely last thing I was ready for was hearing that a friend had died.

Elton was quite a man and I missed a lot of his life when his aunt, my first wife, and I, broke up. I’d hear about him every now and then, though, as he was my son, Guy’s, favorite cousin and close friend.

What little I heard was mostly negative, but without any details, so I never made any judgments about him. He just became somebody who was out of sight and out of mind, as they say.

And then one day, not too many years ago, when I was in Tucson for a reunion of some kind, I stopped at Al’s Barber Shop to catch up with a childhood friend and, as Al and I reminisced about old times, I hear “Hey, uncle. How you doing man? Elton. Aunt Sweet’s nephew.”

The Ocean Beach Planning Board will hold its first monthly meeting of the new year on Wednesday, January 6. It will be held virtually via Cisco WebEx – and you can register for the meeting (see below).

The main item on the short agenda is the formation of an election committee to oversee the annual community election to the Board in March. Every year in March, about half the Board seats are open for election. And it’s quite an honor – and responsibility – to sit on the Board and represent your district.

In fact, now is a good time to think about running for the Board. You don’t have to be an engineer, a social scientist, or planner, you just have to be interested in your OB community, its history, and concerned for its future.

Here are some of the Board Member and Candidate Eligibility requirements & Instructions

On the last day of 2020, the San Diego Union-Tribune ran an editorial, headlined, “Campbell Recall Is Unnecessary Distraction,” which castigated Campbell critics as “angry” and “disgruntled”. (The U-T online article used a different headline.)

The reasons the editorial gives for why people in and outside her District 2 are angry and disgruntled are Campbell’s “compromise on short-term vacation rentals” and because she was elected as Council President over fellow Democrat but more progressive Monica Montgomery Steppe.

Then the editorial makes this bold statement: “The notion of recalling her because critics think she is unfit is undemocratic.” The editorial assumes that most people are upset with Campbell because of her council prez election, and that Campbell critics should just wait and vote her out in the 2022 election.

It says that, “Given the time it takes to collect signatures, a recall election likely wouldn’t happen until late 2021 when her re-election campaign would be in full swing.” Otherwise, it says, because her leadership has not been tested yet, it’s all just “an unwarranted distraction.”

By Judi Curry

I realize that this article will tick off a lot of people. Some people will agree with me. At this point I really don’t care if you agree or disagree, but there is a tremendous problem out there that some are denying really exists.

Yes, I am speaking about the death rate of COVID-19.

Yesterday, at one of the larger shopping malls in the Los Angeles area, there was an “anti-masker” protest. It was an organized demonstration and a whole lot of people went to this mall, unmasked. They tried to get into many of the shops that were open for sales as they could. They coughed in people’s faces. They fought with the management; they fought with those people wearing masks; they put hundreds of people’s lives at risk because of their belief that COVID-19 doesn’t exist, that it is something that the fake media made up.

It is easier to forgive ignorance than it is stupidity. In this case, it is hard to forgive either. How many times have you heard people say that they didn’t believe this epidemic existed until they – or friends – or relatives came down with it?

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

Every Saturday at 10:30 a.m. Climate Mobilization Coalition Zoom Meeting. January 2nd, 9th, 16th, 23rd and 30th.

January 19th Tuesday 11 am – noon Zero Waste Bathroom Webinar

January 19th Tuesday 7 pm – 8:30 pm How Plant-Based Dieting Combats Climate Change
January 20th Wednesday 12 pm – 2:30 pm San Diego Black Women Entrepreneurs Summit

January 21st Thursday 6 pm – 8 pm Basic Bike Skills

January 23rd. Saturday 7 pm – 10 pm Spacechip Earth (Film Screening)

January 27th Wednesday 5:30 pm – 7 pm State of Green Building

And much, much more – come inside.

by Bob Edwards

A fire broke out in the 4700 block of Voltaire on January 1, destroying an RV and damaging at least two structures including the Tropic Island Bird and Supply store across the street from OB People’s Food. The fire started at about 3:30 PM in an RV parked in the driveway of the home next door to the bird store. Flames spread to the buildings and, according to Channel 10 News, caused an estimated $750,000 damage.

An OB local, Carole, said she could see a huge tower of smoke from her home on Long Branch Street and went over to check out the blaze. She said that fire engines from Station 20 (near Home Depot) and Station 22 on Catalina Blvd. responded. The firefighters from OB’s Station 15, just a block away, were out on another call. She said that one firefighter popped the door to the bird store to make sure that no feathered friends were injured or endangered and discovered the store empty.