Articles by Dave Rice

Dave grew up in East County, where El Cajon meets La Mesa meets Spring Valley, but always had a fondness for OB, where his parents had been taking him on weekends since he was young. He bounced in and out of private, public, and home school systems before finally dropping out about halfway through his third freshman year of junior college. Politicized at an early age by his father, his interest has always been in opposition politics, though his slant toward progressive ideas developed later. At 13, he started working in a bicycle shop and had his own parts-and-repair business operating by 16. After a brief stint in banking (he was fired for performing his job too effectively), he's returned to the family real estate brokerage with his father and sister. He currently resides in the southern portion of OB with his partner and elementary-age daughter.

Dave has written 43 articles for the OB Rag!

Recap of “Terriers” Episode #3

November 4, 2010 by Dave Rice

Hi kids! Welcome to our third and much-delayed “Terriers” recap.

The series by now is really starting to take shape, and going forward focuses a little less on character development and more on the weekly plot, making me think my initial classification of the show as a soap opera might’ve been a bit dramatic. As other (professional) critics have decided, this is a show that can be picked up and watched one episode at a time, though the back story tying the series together is what turns the show into something I really want to watch. Some of the best dialogue I can remember seeing on TV and the occasional ‘hey, I hang out there!’ moments don’t hurt either.

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“Terriers” – Episode 2 Recap

November 3, 2010 by Dave Rice
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Welcome to week two of what looks to be, should it survive through the end of the season, the longest-running TV show set in Ocean Beach. I don’t think it’s going to overtake Almost Famous as the most prominent showcase of our town on film, but it’s still garnering some attention. Whether that’s a good thing or a bad thing, and whether we the townspeople as a whole benefit or suffer as a result is certainly debatable, but for right now I’m focusing this article series on the show itself, for those that would rather just catch Cliff’s Notes on the storyline.

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Catchin’ up on “Terriers”: The Pilot – First Episode

October 26, 2010 by Dave Rice
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As a rule, I hate soap operas for several reasons. First, I’m not that big on TV in the first place, and when I do watch I tend toward news or other politically relevant programming. Since I don’t watch a lot of television, I can’t be counted on to plop my butt on the couch at precisely the same time week after week to vegetate for an hour or more, so I think I should be able to pick up and put down a show as I please. South Park works for this, but if I miss an episode or three of a soap, I’m lost and might as well go find a magazine article or Rag post to feed my decidedly inattentive attention span.

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OB Planning Board: Kevin and the Amazing Technicolor Toilet

July 8, 2010 by Dave Rice
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by Dave Rice

In a proposal originally scheduled to run from 6:10 to 6:30 at the Ocean Beach Planning Board this Wednesday evening, Kevin deFreitas, a local architect based in Point Loma, delivered a nearly hour-long sermon on his vision of blending local landscape, culture, and . . . feces.

North OB has been without public facilities since late last year, when the original bathrooms constructed in 1964 were demolished due to concerns about the structural integrity of the roof.

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Another Local Bank Fails

May 19, 2010 by Dave Rice
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On May 7, the FDIC placed 1st Pacific Bank, headquartered in San Diego, into receivership, effectively ending the bank’s operations. They then immediately turned over the bank’s assets, including $291 million in deposits at seven area branches, to City National Bank. City National previously operated 73 branches, mostly in New York City, the San Francisco Bay area, and Los Angeles.

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‘We’re Watching You’ – Surveillance Cameras to Be Installed On OB Pier and Around Mission Bay

March 22, 2010 by Dave Rice
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City Government Enters Official Bid Process for Public Surveillance System In Beach Areas – Including OB Pier

Winston Smith, you’d better touch those toes. And don’t bend your knees to do it either, because Big Brother’s watching, and if you cheat, he’s gonna know. [Editor: in case you are not familiar with the novel, Winston Smith is the main character in George Orwell’s “1984.”]

It may be a couple decades late, but 1984 has finally arrived – government surveillance cameras are soon to be installed in a handful of locations along the San Diego coast, kicking off a program that seems destined for expansion into a spectrum that could one day encompass every public space in America (and whatever private spaces aren’t protected by a heat-shielding drawn curtain). It might soon be time to bust out those tin-foil-lined hats.

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More thoughts on the tsunami tea party rally

February 28, 2010 by Dave Rice
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I went down to check out this whole Tea Party extravaganza today. This is my take on it, or at least a list of random thoughts I had and a list of things I saw today…

I headed down a bit late, probably should’ve been out by 10:15 instead of 10:40. Oh well. Street parking was scarce, but there were some terrific displays of capitalism, namely empty Ace parking lots charging $10 to get in. I parked a mile or so away and walked first along the bay side of Harbor drive, about 10 minutes after the 11 a.m. rally was scheduled to begin. I don’t know how many the teabaggers were claiming would attend or how many they’re going to claim did, but by my estimate they got maybe 250 – I heard some other estimates in the low 300s, which are entirely feasible too, as a few more people trickled in until noon or so.

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More on the rich, the middle class, taxes and the tea baggers

February 20, 2010 by Dave Rice
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“Perfectly Legal” by David Cay Johnston and “What’s the Matter With Kansas?” by Thomas Frank – great starting points on what’s f’ed up with our current tax system and why the wealthy have been able to sell a good chunk of the middle class on keeping things in their current atrocious state. I’ll lend either to anyone who’s interested, wouldn’t mind swinging by to pick them up, and promises to either return them or pass them on to someone else.

Class warfare isn’t about rich vs. poor, it’s about middle class vs. poor. The people who are truly rich don’t really care one way or another, they have enough for themselves and that’s all that matters. Look at Barron Hilton – he’s ran the hotel chain his family built into the ground but he’s got enough money that he’ll never run out and his kids don’t even have to bother trying to make anything of themselves ever. And if (shudder) they have kids, same deal.

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Credit Rules Change: ‘Consumer Protections’ Killing Those Intended to Benefit?

August 31, 2009 by Dave Rice
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Do you carry a credit card balance? You suck. Don’t worry, I do too, and so does my girlfriend, my mom, my sister…but hopefully you’re trying to stop your spending and are hacking away at that balance with the rare nickel and dime left over from the shrinking paychecks …

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Summarizing the great graffiti debate …

June 15, 2009 by Dave Rice
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Okay, this has been a heckuva interesting ride the last week or so and handful of articles – and very timely too, as I’ve been making similar observations of late. It seems like there’s a lively debate on where political and art-inspired graffiti fits into the general urban landscape.

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Banks Repay Federal TARP Funds: A Sign of Stability or Greed?

June 9, 2009 by Dave Rice
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Ten of America’s largest financial institutions today were cleared to return $68 billion in bailout funds received from the federal Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), after successfully completing a government-administered stress test and raising capital from private sources if it was deemed more was necessary (more on that later).

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Calling 911: Why Bother?

May 31, 2009 by Dave Rice
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My partner and I were driving down West Pt. Loma around 1:00 today – Saturday, May 30th – heading east. On the corner of Rialto, two boys appeared to be arguing – one looked to be no more than six or seven years old, the other in his mid-teens.

As we passed, the older one threw the younger to the ground and began pummeling him with fists and kicks to the chest, possibly using some sort of blunt instrument ….

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Anatomy of a Bank Failure – Does FDIC Encourage Excessive Losses?

April 13, 2009 by Dave Rice
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Okay, by now we’re all pretty familiar with the Troubled Asset Relief Program, right? Can you watch a newscast without some mention of what bank is receiving TARP funds, what they are (or, rather, aren’t) doing with them, who’s criticizing who got them, and who has a better idea about how to end the ‘recession’ whilst dancing around the taboo ‘D’ word decribing our current situation? How about a different look at what’s going on with the banks, namely the ones that fail?

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