Author: Jack Hamlin

Bridging the liberal- conservative dichotomy

By Jack Hamlin

While saddened by the news out of Ferguson, Missouri this past week, I am not surprised. Once again an unarmed black teen was shot dead by an “other than” black man, and the legal industry was used to exonerate the killer. I say legal industry, because it is no longer a system of due process and equal protection, and no longer seeking justice. It is merely an industry which allows experts and insiders to use the law to further their own agenda.

I am certain, had Michael Brown shot and killed Darren Wilson in the same manner Wilson shot and killed Brown, the outcome would have been very different. …

Editor: Jack Hamlin wrote this a year ago. Jack led efforts back in 2009 and 2010 to bring all sides together in a series of community forums about homelessness. Now we repost it as the attitudes he focused on have arisen once again in the seaside village.

By Jack Hamlin

It is happening again. Three years ago we were able to come together as a community to try and begin to resolve the issues surrounding homelessness and the poor in Ocean Beach. I am not so naïve as to look back on that time as “Halcyon Days of Kumbaya,” in O.B. Rather it was a time during which we began to look for solutions, instead of blame and division. But we all have become complacent and are returning to the awful time of “Please Don’t Feed Our Bums.”

By Jack Hamlin

The early morning sunlight filtered through the venetian blinds and fronds of the potted palm, highlighting her multi-hued earth toned fur. She lay on her cushion strategically placed by the bay window so she could keep watch, guarding our home; a task she had performed diligently for over fourteen years.

It is Christmas, 2012, and I sit in the sunlight of the early morning and welcome the day. For many years I have been alone on Christmas morning; my children, parents, sister and I celebrate Christmas on its eve. My children spend the day with her mother and later in the day, my parents, sister and I have dinner at my cousin’s home. As a result, the gift I receive Christmas morning is time. Time to sit and reflect, time to meditate, time to just be.

As a Catholic Christian of the Franciscan brand, and a student of Buddhism and the Tao, I spend much of my time thinking about the concept of compassion; what it means and how to let flow from me and perhaps by example, to others. I know in my imperfection, I fall short on many occasions, but I try.

The plan for the day had been to finally get the Christmas decorations up and address cards. I turned on the news to get my daily laugh from the cirque de D.C. and see how much closer we were coming the fiscal cliff. I wish I had not. The news was so just awful, again, I wept. Twenty-six souls lost, 20 of them only 6 and 7 years old. In an instant, another mad man took away so many dreams, so much joy, and so much love.

According to reports, the 20-year-old murderer took his own life, so we will never get the chance to ask him why or how he became so full of evil. Even if we were able to, it would not stop the carnage which all too often frequents the innocent, here and abroad. It will not stop, because we either do not care enough, or we must ghoulishly enjoy it enough to not do anything about.

The election is over and the dust really has finally settled. By the way my candidate lost, but it isn’t easy being Green. The 47% and then some spoke up and now, maybe, just maybe, WE can get to work and do the good things we do well, fix the good things we use to do well, and set aside the bad stuff which has been gnawing at our insides for so long.

WE proved the Koch Brothers, et al. could not buy an election, and Karl Rove is as superfluous as a dead rat on the floor just waiting to be swept up and thrown out with the garbage. WE, with the help of Donald Trump and Ted Nugent, proved that just because you have money and a forum, does not preclude you from being as crazy as a three-dicked goat. WE proved that even FOX News has to concede something to the other side every once and while.

Editor: The following lesson in immigration law by our blogger Jack Hamlin – a lawyer and law professor – was initially set as a comment to an article criticizing the US Supreme Court upholding Arizona’s draconian SB 1070’s main provision, “show me your papers.” The court left standing SB 1070’s most controversial provision requiring Sheriff Joe Apario type, “state and local police to check the immigration status of anyone that they suspect is in the country illegally; if that person was initially detained for other legitimate reasons.”

The Arizona v. U.S. decision, from what I understand, came down on two points of law. 1) Separation of Powers/Supremacy Clause, and 2) The Preemption Clause. Let me explain, while you must take into consideration it is mid-afternoon on a sunny, summer, Sunday, in OB, California.

North African & Mideast Conflict Resolution Delegation visits San Diego; Looks for Answers and finds more Questions

Clearly the vetting process at the State Department needs some updating from the Google dartboard they must be currently using, I thought to myself a little over a week ago, last Friday. After all, the last rumor I heard about the OB Rag / San Diego Free Press staffers was we were all under investigation by Homeland Security for our Occupy Movement support. But unlike some other thoughts I have, at least there was a basis for this one.

Good morning Dudes and Dudettes!

Today, Wednesday, June 20, 2012, is the eighth annual International Surfing Day. Regardless of the June Gloom or lack of bump in the water, Our Mother Ocean is calling us to come and play…especially if you surf.

Now I know most who work in OB most likely will not have a problem getting the time off to commune with our Beautiful Lady to the West. Not all who live in San Diego, however, live west of I-5. I do not understand this, but it is the subject for another time.

So for those of you who work for uptight, tie-wearing, clock-puchin’, worried-about-makin’-a-buck bosses, regardless if it is in a high-rise downtown or changing tires in El Cabong, you need to get in the water. Have no fear, an answer has been provided to your dilemma.

Seems Jim Moriarty, the CEO of the Surfrider Foundation (truly an oxymoron if I ever heard one) has taken time to provide those of us who need to splain’ to their bosses why they need to get off work.

Just cut and past the link below, and Jim has drafted a fill-in-the-blank letter which should, in most reasonable cases, allow you to get off work. It looks official enough that if you worked for me, I’d give you the day off.

The Shingle Chronicles

This is the fourth and final installment of a series about my recent run-in with a most unpleasant malady, Shingles. I hope it will encourage those who have not had the vaccination to set aside all your acrimony and distrust toward “Big Pharm,” and get vaccinated. It is also a lesson learned and an acquisition of empathy for all those who suffer from disabilities and illness we cannot “see.” (Part One, Part Two, and Part Three.)

Part Four: Emergence, False Starts and Realizations

Sitting in an AA meeting somewhere years ago, I remember the talk turned to what is referred to as “the moment of clarity.” Not quite on par with an epiphany, which is more of a mystical experience, a moment of clarity occurs when you realize you have had enough of a certain behavior; it is counterproductive at best, and self-destructive on the other end of the spectrum.

The Shingle Chronicles

This is the third in a series about my recent run-in with a most unpleasant malady, Shingles. I hope it will encourage those who have not had the vaccination to set aside all your acrimony and distrust toward “Big Pharm,” and get vaccinated. It is also a lesson learned and an acquisition of empathy for all those who suffer from disabilities and illness we cannot “see.” Here is Part 1, and Part 2.

Part Three: The Compassion of Others

During the first full week of my Shingles, the only way to describe me, other than particularly high, was miserable. And to those who were around me, I most sincerely apologize. But as I wrote in Part One, I do not do sick well. Rather than shy away (“Ewwww! Gross!”) or find something better to do (“Sorry Jack, I’d like to help but I have to (fill in the blank i.e. weed the garden, stare mindlessly into space, wash the cat, etc.).”), my friends and family did what they could to make me more comfortable. And sometimes, compassionate aid came from unexpected corners.

The Shingle Chronicles – Part Two

This is the second in a series about my recent run-in with a most unpleasant malady, Shingles. I hope it will encourage those who have not had the vaccination to set aside all your acrimony and distrust toward “Big Pharm,” and get vaccinated. It is also a lesson learned and an acquisition of empathy for all those who suffer from disabilities and illness we cannot “see.” Here’s Part One.

Descent into Shingles Hell

After a night of vivid dreams which rivaled Alice’s trip through the Looking Glass, I awoke to sunny May morning. Normally this would have been the start of good day. I was on leave from University and as I recall, there was nice little bump in the surf and Our Mother Ocean was starting warm up. Light, off shore winds marked the end of Winter’s chill and an approach of balmy Summer days. There would, however, be no surfin’ for a while and the previous night’s medications were beginning to wear off. I found myself a bit out of sorts and “scratchy.” Surprisingly, the pain was not yet particularly bad. So I just took the anti-inflammatory, with a sort of wait-and-see attitude toward the pain medications. It was now a full week from the initial symptoms showing up. Only eight more to go….