Author: Jack Hamlin

This is the first 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.”

Part One: Tripping into the Shingles Abyss

Reading any contemporary literature, there appears to be what I would call “module writing.” This seems to hold true for most cinema, as well. For example, the First Module gives us the setting (Tropic Island, South Central LA, Oxford), the characters who are acceptable for the particular setting (Island girl, middle-aged black man, ruddy faced ginger cook) in a particular genre (lost and abandoned, coming of age, off-beat romance).

Last Saturday, April 28, I attended an hour and a half coffee Q&A with Toni Atkins, the State Assembly Representative for the 76th District, of which OB is a part. The small turn-out was not an indication of interest, but rather limited to those who had been invited to the small venue; Newbreak Coffee Co. on Abbott Street. In other words, it could not have been a more perfect venue and environment to talk with the Majority Whip regarding issues which affect us all.

After introductions to a very diverse klatch of constituents and before Ms. Atkins jumped into some more important issues, she discussed the district changes and how it will affect OB. She will continue to be our representative in the State Assembly, but the district which ended in Bird Rock will now extend north to Solana Beach. While she will continue to represent those east to the I-15 and south of I-8, she will no longer represent Clairemont & Kearny Mesa. From what I could tell, the reformation opens up new areas and the elections will not simply be a formality in strictly Republican and Democratic districts.

Sometimes in life we get very cool and much unexpected surprises. Yesterday was one such. I am working with a fledgling group of folk who are starting a local chapter of Mediators Beyond Borders International (the story behind this group I will save for another post). Our fearless leader is an energetic woman, Yvette Durazo, whom I met through a training session in Restorative Justice. When you are with Yvette, just buy the ticket and go along for the ride, she is one of those folk who simply inspire.

A few weeks ago, she sent me an e-mail and asked if I would like to attend the Dalai Lama event with her at San Diego State University. I had already decided I would not spend the $30 – $70 to see a spiritual leader (it simply does not sit right with me… sort of a Jimmy Swaggart thing), but I have yet to look the proverbial gift horse in the mouth, and so I accepted her invitation.

The morning grey still hung over OB as I parked my car up the street from the Episcopal Center Church on Sunset Cliffs Blvd. It was my first day of several much needed weeks off and I had made the mistake of responding to the Editordude’s request an hour earlier to cover the Maundy Thursday for the Needy at the Center. Groggily, as I walked down the street, I saw several familiar faces reclined on the grass outside the sanctuary, and the end of a line of folk stretching out to the street.

Ooops, I forgot my audience… what is Maundy Thursday you ask?

Come inside for the photo gallery…

Assembly Member Toni Atkins
State Capitol
P.O. Box 942849
Sacramento, CA 94249-0076

Re: A.B. 2465

April 3, 2012

Good morning Ms. Atkins:

I am writing to you with concern over A.B. 2465, introduced by Assembly Member Campos of San Jose. As I am sure you are aware, the bill contains provisions which directly affects the privacy rights of those who use medicinal marijuana as they are provided under the provisions of the Proposition 215, the Compassionate Use Act of 1996 (codified as California Health and Safety Code §§ 11362.7, et seq.).

As I understand the gravamen of A.B. 2465, inter alia, it would require those who seek to use medicinal marijuana, after obtaining a physician’s recommendation, to register with the State of California to obtain an identification card as a part of a state-wide registry.

Sunset Cliffs and Silvergate Elementary Schools to be Converted to Large Scale Service Communities

The Mayor and members of the San Diego City Council will hold a press conference today at 3:00 p.m. to announce plans for what has been termed, two “Mega Service Centers and Shelters for the Homeless,” to be established in Point Loma. Mayor Jerry Sanders’ office announced the press conference yesterday. When contacted for comment, mayoral spokesman, John Galt, said, “We have had to be a bit secretive, but the plans for the centers have been over two years in the making. We are very excited about how well these particular sites will suit the needs of so many.”

Spring was in the air yesterday in Ocean Beach as I walked down Newport Ave. The Ocean had the color of cobalt blue and the wind was strong, although decidedly warmer than it has been. Is it possible? Is summer just around the corner?

I was on a break from preparing the evening meal at Sacred Heart of OB’s Ministry for the Hungry. I had just a quick lunch at the Old Townhouse Café, …

Hey Gang, for the fourth time in as many months (or at least it seems like it), the Keystone XL Pipeline has been blocked. The Republicans needed 60 votes to pass S.B. 1813, in which they inserted the rider to allow the pipeline. The bill, sponsored by Senator Boxer, was to increase the Federal Transportation Commission’s budget to build roads and increase highway safety. The bill was ostensibly a public works act to help increase employment recovery at the state and local level.

Some of you may remember me being a wet blanket to Doug Porter’s request for ideas on how to get arrested for free speech. I very school marm-ily suggested it constituted conspiracy, a felony in California. Be careful and don’t run with scissors.

Then about a week later, several members of Occupy San Diego disrupted the Mayor’s State of the City Address. They did so with the now familiar “Sound Check!” and their follow-up chorus until they were arrested for an anti-free speech law at council meetings and…..conspiracy. And along with the misdemeanor disruption charges, they were charged with felony conspiracy charges as well. Chicken shit, yes…but arrested and charged with a felony nonetheless. [Editor: DA Dumanis has decided not to charge them with felonies and has kicked their case back to the City Attorney.]

Well today, groggily over coffee I read about a Deputy DA and a Cop who conspired to destroy a traffic ticket. A Court Summons! A Court Document! A complete circumvention of the judicial process by those very people who are tasked with “protecting” us. A nose thumbing at those of us who are preyed upon daily at their discretion. Those who have sworn to uphold the constitution and wield authority in an even handed way….deep breath….

Well y’all might remember when I wrote about the safety issue in the NTC Channel back in late October. Scott MacLaggen has been checking with Harbor Police Chief Bolduc monthly on the status of the Navy’s fix to the channel… but nothing other than promises from the Navy. That is, until two days ago – just before New Year’s.

Scott forwarded me an e-mail in which Chief Bolduc let him know the Navy had installed nine new 5 MPH buoys the length of the channel, with a verbal promise to enlarge the 5 MPH sign at the entrance of the channel. And just like that, change for the better occurred.

Sacred Heart Kitchen: A Time and Place for Miracles

The week between Christmas and New Years is, and has, always been one of my favorite times of year. The madness of Christmas day preparations, regardless of how much you keep to the spirit, can be in a word, “draining.”

This special week between the culmination of the year and the leap into the next is my time of reflection… and not merely to read the media’s take on the highs and lows and celebrity events of the past year. It is my time and no one expects anything commercially productive out of me.

Despite mutual frustration, it was a friendly meeting with the new Harbor Police Chief, John Bolduc and several members of the waterman community a week ago last Monday, October 17, at one of the Starbucks at Liberty Station (of course there is more than one…). He had agreed to meet with John Decker, an avid stand up paddler (SUP) and representative of Kings SUPs, Randy Peterson of the Kanaka outrigger club, and Scott MacLaggen, longtime area water activist, and me. At issue was a small waterway, 54 acres, which runs between Liberty Station and the San Diego International Airport and is bordered on the north by the United States Marine Corp Recruit Depot.