Month: May 2021

By Thomas Ultican / Tultican

Laurene Powell Jobs and Amplify Education are hosting a “Virtual Summit” which is what they’re calling this May’s sales event. Jobs is very confident that her billions qualify her to shape education policy.

In her drive to privatize public education, she has accumulated and created several pro-edtech and anti-teacher organizations.

by Ernie McCray

Hints of “Liberty and Justice for All” have come upon us suddenly like waters rushing from a broken dam, washing away long held resistance to social and political change.

How else can one explain a shift from disparaging notions such as “Don’t ask, don’t tell” and “God created Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve,” as well, to where a man can marry a man, and a woman a woman.

Legally. All across the country.

By Geoff Page

On April 13, The OB Rag published a piece about the OB pier, exposing the existence of a detailed engineering report on the pier’s condition dated September 3, 2019, that the city had been sitting on. Four days later, the city responded by “releasing” the report to the general public using the media.

In the days that followed, the city explained there was an on-going assessment of the pier and a report was expected soon. A public records request was initiated to obtain information on who was conducting the assessment, and what was being done because the city did not provide those details. The following is an account of what was provided,

By Colleen O’Connor

Some House Republicans are prepping a vote to remove, Wyoming’s Rep. Liz Cheney, the highest-ranking woman in the House GOP, from her #3 Leadership post.

“There is no way that Liz will be conference chair by month’s end. When there is a vote, it won’t be a long conference [meeting]; it will be fast. Everyone knows the outcome,” opined Republican.

This will be the second such attempt. Cheney survived the first such effort; 145 to 61. A secret ballot.

Cheney’s grievous offense? Calling out Trump on his “BIG LIE” trying to overturn the 2020 election results and his participation in the January 6th Capitol insurrection. “What he did on January 6 is a line that cannot be crossed.”

May 4, 1970 for at least an entire generation of Americans will always be associated with the shootings of unarmed students by National Guardsmen on the campus of Kent State Ohio. Four students were killed – two having nothing to do with the protests, one was an ROTC cadet – and eleven were wounded – they will be remembered as a stain upon US history for eternity.

At the time, it shocked the nation – and visibly and viscerally divided the country, already fractured from more than a decade of the African-American movement for civil rights and a handful of years of the ever -increasing militancy of the anti-Vietnam war movement centered on college and university campuses. A deep cultural divide had also developed in America

From Library Advocates:

The Independent Budget Analyst recently released her review of the FY22 Proposed Budget. The IBA identified a $5.6 million Library budget cut, noted that a majority of Councilmembers supported maintaining Library Department service levels, and addressed the Library’s current, unsustainable staffing model.

We remain concerned about these significant cuts and call on the Mayor and Council to make no Libray budget cuts, address the Library’s long-term staffing needs, and make overdue new investments in materials and programs.

It’s now early May and the Recall Jen Campbell campaign has one month left to collect the required number of signatures for the recall petition.

Now is the time for everyone who supports her recall to step up, step in, sign the petition, volunteer and send the campaign some funds. The campaign needs 14,000-plus valid signatures by early June.

Have You Signed the Recall Jen Petition Yet?

You can download and print the petition from your computer!

By Judi Curry

From the 1300 block of Sunset Cliffs southbound, some of the most beautiful terrain of San Diego can be viewed. This particular area brings people from all phases of life to view the Cliffs, the waves, the birds, the homes, etc. and they do this on a very regular basis.

However, as a resident of the Cliffs area, it is getting out of hand. The traffic, the trash, the drinking has sky-rocked to the point that residents sometimes cannot get out of their driveways because of congestion on the road; rescue vehicles cannot traverse the road safely; pedestrians think they are invincible and cross in the middle of the street even though there is oncoming – and outgoing – traffic.

By MacKenzie Elmer / Voice of San Diego / May 3, 2021

Like a Nutrition Facts label listing the ingredients for the kind of energy powering your home, SDG&E’s latest Power Content Label shows the utility is providing less renewable energy than previously thought — and advertised by the utility.

That means SDG&E has a longer road ahead in reaching goals recently announced to drastically lower planet-warming gases the company’s products emit into the atmosphere.

The global economy has about a decade to drastically cut its use of fossil fuels

The Ocean Beach Planning Board meets virtually this Wednesday, May 5.

On deck are projects to review on Brighton and Coronado, new cell sites on Point Loma Avenue and the City will give the Board a status report on the OB Pier and options for a reopening. To register for the meeting, go here.

And, here is the official agenda:

On Friday, the San Diego Union-Tribune announced the sad news:

Jim “Mouse” Robb, a legendary San Diego surfer who started riding waves in the 1940s on 70-pound longboards made out of redwood, and who became a father figure to dozens of local lifeguards and assorted water rats, died April 22, one day shy of his 88th birthday.

His impact, especially in Ocean Beach, inspired a bumper sticker, “Mouse Would Go,” which nods to his eagerness to surf even the biggest waves, and to his willingness to help people as a mentor, electrician, and do-whatever-it-takes volunteer.

Nuclear Shutdown News for May 2021

By Michael Steinberg / Black Rain Press

Nuclear Shutdown News chronicles the decline and fall of the nuclear power industry in the US and beyond, and highlights the efforts of those working for a nuclear free future.

New York Nuke’s Shutdown Marks Historic Milestone

By the time you read this it may have already happened. On the last day of April this year, the third and final reactor at the unfortunately named Indian Point nuclear plant will be permanently shut down. This plant is located on the Hudson River, just 36 miles north of Midtown Manhattan. Almost all of NYC is within 59 miles of IP.