Author: Marc Snelling

By Marc Snelling

The distance between the Trump regime and the American people continues to grow, as the United States and Canada are set to renegotiate their trade pact. Trump’s fellow Epstein Island visitor Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick recently offered his insightful analysis of the deep ties between the countries saying of Canada “they suck.” Lutnick is following Trump’s lead who earlier stated “We don’t need anything from Canada.”

Headlines in Canada are being made with foreign support being uncovered in Alberta’s proposed referendum over separation. Many have likened the Trump regime support for Alberta separatism with the disinformation campaign from the Putin regime in Ukraine’s Donbas region leading up to the Ukraine-Russian War. Trump minion, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent speaking of Alberta said “they want sovereignty, they want what the US has got.”

While regime officials run their mouths the American people, particularly in the States that border Canada, have been singing an entirely different tune. The Trump Slump continues unabated with Canadian’s boycott of American tourism and products growing. The boycott is not easily reversed by government action on either side of the border as it is a grassroots effort.

The View From Canada by Former OBcean

By Marc Snelling

OB has always been ice-free.  Closest I’ve seen it come was a dip into the high 30’s during the El Nino winter of 1997-98.  Or people driving back from Cuyamaca with snow they deliberately put on their hood.  An endless source of laughs for any Northern transplant to OB that has spent winters constantly clearing snow off their car.

Canadians do love ice, in their drinks, under their skates. But ice in some places raises their anxiety levels like on highways… and in airports.  Driving the highway in freezing rain is a white-knuckle experience. Statistically you know only a small percentage of people will end up in the ditch, but you sure don’t want the consequences that come with being part of that small percentage.

The same psychology is at work on Canadians as ICE is deployed to American airports. Everyone knows the statistical chances of being detained are minimal. Still those Canadians who are part of that percentage being detained are highly visible. Just like you slow your roll on the highway when you see a car in the ditch, Canadians have been given yet more reasons to slow down and question if they want to travel through American airports.

By Marc Snelling

Canadians love Americans. We know it’s mutual.  We don’t need “Palm Springs Loves Canada” banners or multi-million  “California Love” commercials from Gavin Newsom to prove it.  Marketing campaigns from Palm Springs and California, among many other US cities and states, seeking to win back Canadian tourist dollars have all fallen flat.  They don’t work because they tell Canadians what they already know.  It is the rhetoric, threats and violence of the current US regime that fuel the grassroots boycotts of US travel and products.  Americans may want to concentrate their efforts there if more Canadian tourist dollars.is what they want.

January 2026 saw the trend continue with the latest Stats Canada reporting showing a 26.8% year-over-year drop in Canadian return trips across the border.  There remains no US alcohol on the shelves of government liquor stores in 11 of 13 provinces and territories. This isn’t because Canadians don’t enjoy California wine or Kentucky bourbon.  It’s the taste of fascism they don’t care for.  Many Canadians have grandfathers lying in the graveyards of Europe who fought fascism to build a better world for their children.

[Originally published June 14, 2008]

by Marc Snelling

In case you didn’t know you were in Hillcrest , or AbNormal Heights there is a big sign to tell you. Same goes for University Heights, which despite the marketing does not have a university. Even streets have them.

Nothing says NEIGHBORHOOD! in San Diego like a huge sign on the main road.

This got some OBceans to thinking that our puny sign, and the first few blocks of Sunset Cliffs Boulevard were not a complimentary enough entryway to OB. …

By Marc Snelling

Last month Nobel Peace Prize winner Barack Obama, who was elected to end two wars, addressed the nation to announce an open-ended bombing campaign in Iraq and Syria. As the Afghanistan War (now the longest in American history) and the conflict in Iraq continue it is clear Obama has failed to live up to his election promises.

Not only has his administration failed to live up to it’s word to end two wars and close Guantanamo prison, he has even changed his tune about the initial invasion. The US “sought to work within the international system” he said earlier in March of this year at a speech in Brussels. Obama further declared the the US had “left Iraq to it’s people in a fully sovereign Iraqi state that can make decisions about it’s own future.”

Originally posted Oct. 1, 2014

Editor: Marc Snelling – a former member of the OB Planning Board, does a comparison between the history of condo conversions in OB and San Diego with Canadian cities. He currently lives outside Ottawa.

By Marc Snelling

Ten years ago San Diego was among the national leaders in condo conversions. Lack of City regulation combined with speculator greed resulted in a rate of condo conversions that threatened families and renters.

Condo conversion proponents invariably tout the supposed benefits of owner occupancy and the lower cost of a condominium versus a detached home for first-time buyers. They are also just as sure not to mention the inconvenient fact that renters need to be evicted to make a condo out of an apartment.

The owner-occupancy argument is dubious as many condo owners do not live in the properties but turn around and rent them at a higher rate.

By Marc Snelling

Oral history of orcas saving humans stretches out for a millennia.

Haida, Tlingit, Nuxalk and other peoples of the Northwest have kept stories and names alive for many generations.

For example, Natsilane being saved from attempted drowning by his jealous brothers is a Haida and Tlingit story.

Nuxalk stories of Ista and Patsallht recount traveling with killer whales and how they got their black color. K’aa gwaay, the five finned killer whale of legends is carved on totem poles such as Ts’aahl Llnagaay at the Haida Heritage Center in Kay Llnagaay (Skidegate BC).

By Marc Snelling

Dude, is it legal yet?

People have been saying this since the seventies. Speaking to activists from this era, it seems many felt that legalization of marijuana in the US was imminent in the early seventies. But other than Alaska in 1975 (re-criminalized in 1991) the seventies did not see legalization of marijuana come to pass.

The activists of the seventies (Baby Boomers) have now been joined by the next generation – the children of the seventies (Gen X). With these two generations working together public support for legal marijuana is now over 50% and is on the rise. Victories in the battle to change US laws continue as both generations of activists work towards change.

Today the answer to ‘Dude, is it legal yet?’ is becoming ‘Yes!’ for more and more people as Washington and Colorado have moved to legalization, nine states have decriminalized and twenty-three have introduced medical marijuana legislation.

OB Group Brought Activism Back to the Streets of Ocean Beach

The original OB Rag published from 1970-1975. Twenty five years after the last OB Rag newspapers were circulated on the streets of Ocean Beach, OBGO launched an effort to bring the stories back into the digital realm.

The Ocean Beach Grassroots Organization (OBGO) was a group formed by local activists existing from 2000-2005. Through the group’s website OBGO.org the first story republished was in August of 2000. ‘SDG&E Wants 20% More’ was the title of the article republished from the Volume 5 Number 6 issue of the Rag of July 1975.

Originally published April 24, 2014

By Marc Snelling

Opposition to SeaWorld San Diego and their corporate business model has been well documented in recent OB Rag stories. Easter Protest at SeaWorld San Diego by Zach Affolter, “The Night I Decided to Stop Going to Sea World.” by Lori Saldaña, and the ongoing Orca Profiles in Captivity series represent a wave of voices speaking up for the animals and the community.

By Marc Snelling

The Story of How Ocean Beach Took on Starbucks

Part 2

The building being leased by Starbucks at 4994 Newport, like the Strand also had historical significance. Built in 1927 as a branch office for the Bank of Italy, it incorporated graceful interior features including antique mahogany furniture, chrome iron tellers windows, and marble. Ocean Beach Historical Society president Carol Bowers contacted Starbucks asking them to preserve the unique features of the building.

She was told that a “design team” would contact her to address her concerns. While she was waiting for the call that never came she walked by the site and saw that the arched windows and loft that had housed the former vault had already been walled off. Trees that had been growing int he parking lot had been removed. “So much for Starbucks touted community involvement” she wrote in a May 24th editorial for the Beacon.

By Marc Snelling / Special to the OB Rag / Mar. 25, 2014

Part 1

Thirteen years ago today – March 25th, 2001 – the first No Starbucks in OB protest took place. Hundreds gathered at the corner of Newport Ave and Bacon St to send a message to the corporation that the community did not want their store.

OB got the message, Starbucks corporate HQ didn’t.

Starbucks is back in the news this month opening another controversial San Diego location. After a vote allowing a Starbucks to replace the the fair-trade Espresso Roma Cafe, two UCSD students stand accused of arson and ‘eco-terorism’ for lighting fires in Price Center restrooms to prevent the opening.