Source

Articles by Source

Source has written 4183 articles for the OB Rag!

New Poll: Few Americans Support Easing Virus Protections

April 23, 2020 by Source

A new poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research shows that Americans overwhelming support stay-at-home orders to slow the coronavirus. Here’s the report:

Americans remain overwhelmingly in favor of stay-at-home orders and other efforts to slow the spread of the coronavirus, a new survey finds, even as small pockets of attention-grabbing protests demanding the lifting of such restrictions emerge nationwide.

The survey from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research also finds that a majority of Americans say it won’t be safe to lift social distancing guidelines anytime soon, running counter to the choice of a handful of governors who have announced plans to ease within days the public health efforts that have upended daily life and roiled the global economy.

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How Did We Get From Earth Day To Trump?

April 22, 2020 by Source

Fifty years after the first Earth Day, the connection between the environment and human health has never been more obvious.

By David Helvarg / HuffPost / April 22, 2020

Twenty million people rallied, marched and staged clean-ups across the country on April 22, 1970, the first Earth Day. Many carried signs that read “Mother Nature Bats Last.”
But who knew there would be actual bats involved?

Fifty years later, the COVID-19 pandemic is the starkest example of natural disasters foretold but not prepared for.

The destruction of unique habitats, logging of rainforests and consumption of displaced wildlife such as bats, chimps and endangered pangolins has led to most of our recent viral outbreaks, from AIDS and Ebola to the coronavirus. This only confirms the scientific consensus that human health and prosperity depend on a healthy environment.

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Arizona Wildcats’ Game Scoring Record-Holder Ernie McCray Celebrates 82nd Birthday With a Dance

April 21, 2020 by Source

By Javier Morales / AllSportsTucson.com / April 18, 2020

Ernie McCray turned 82 years old today, a legendary figure in Arizona history as the first African-American men’s basketball player to graduate from the school and also his program-record 46 points against Cal State Los Angeles 60 years ago at Bear Down Gym.

McCray, ever spry and whimsical, still writes a column titled, “Thoughts From the Soul of the Tucson Kid,” published by the OB (Ocean Beach) Rag.

The Tucson High School legend (Class of 1956) posted today this video of him celebrating his birthday, dancing at his San Diego home.

Made it.
82.
On my feet,
still grooving to a beat.
A moment…

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Reader Rant: Barbara Bry and Kevin Faulconer Are Playing a Dangerous Game

April 21, 2020 by Source

The following opinion does not necessarily reflect the views of the OB Rag.

By Molly Maguire

Barbara Bry – who wants to be mayor – and now Mayor Kevin Faulconer – are playing a dangerous game with their calls to open up San Diego’s beaches.

On Friday, April 17, Bry called for the re-opening of the city’s beaches and parks during the first week of May – which is only 9 or so days away. They haven’t even been closed for a month yet. Well, almost. According to the Times of San Diego:

City Councilwoman Barbara Bry on Friday called for San Diego’s beaches and parks to be reopened as soon as the first week of May.

“As always, such decisions must be based on science and the advice of public health experts, but I believe it will be possible to develop prudent plans to reopen our beaches and parks by early next month,” she said.

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COVID-19 Protests – Genuine or Rent-a-Mob?

April 20, 2020 by Source

By Colleen O’Connor

The open secret in politics is that most protests and rallies often look spontaneous and genuine, but are actually bought and paid for. These “rent-a-mob” activities designed to attract dramatic photo shots, lots of news coverage, social media hits, and propaganda.

Once aired only on the staid nightly news programs, as when the C.I.A. fomented demonstrations to overthrow Mosadddeq, and returned the Shah of Iran to power; these new protests often generate a disproportionate amount of attention.

Who are the protestors? Where do they come from? Why are they marching? Decide for yourself.

Look at the photographs. Study the videos. Who is holding the bull horn? Who is most vigorously waving the flag in front of the camera? Chanting the loudest. Look at the profile of the crowd. How many men, women, minorities? Old, young? Affluent or not?

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San Diego County COVID-19 Numbers

April 17, 2020 by Source

Here are the current numbers of San Diego County COVID-19 cases (as of last night at 11:00 pm – Thursday):

  • 75 new cases of COVID-19 Thursday;
  • 3 new deaths Thursday,
  • 2,087 cases in San Diego County;
  • 63 deaths now in this county;
  • 29,000 individuals in the County have been tested for COVID-19,
  • around 96% of those tested, have tested negative for the virus.

Number of Hospitalizations

  • 507 hospitalizations, an increase of 19 from Wednesday;
  • 181 of those patients being treated in intensive care units, an increase of 8 from Wednesday.
  • 12.6 days is county’s “doubling rate” for hospitalizations
  • 15.3 days is ICU admittance length;
  • 7.6 days it would take to double the number of deaths;
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My Self-Isolation Quarantine Diary

April 17, 2020 by Source

By Steve Zivolich

Day 1 – I Can Do This!! Got enough food and wine to last a month!

Day 2 – Opening my 8th bottle of Wine. I fear wine supplies might not last!

Day 3 – Strawberries: Some have 210 seeds, some have 235 seeds. Who Knew??

Day 4 – 8:00pm. Removed my Day Pajamas and put on my Night Pajamas.

Day 5 – Today, I tried to make Hand Sanitizer. It came out as Jello Shots!!

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Ocean Beach and Point Loma Locals in the News During the Pandemic

April 15, 2020 by Source

Here’s several stories about locals from Ocean Beach or Point Loma that have made the news recently.

Point Loma Mail Carrier – Another Hero on the Front Line

Your local mail carrier, like grocery store workers, healthcare workers, and first responders, are considered essential workers during these difficult times. News 8‘s Abbie Alford went on a ride-along with San Diego U.S. Postal Office worker, Mia Gabriel, to see the precautions she is taking to not only keep the public safe, but also her family.

“[I] Usually [would] stop by, talk or hug, but now I see everybody on their balcony or driving by making sure I’m safe,” said Mia. On her route in Point Loma, Mia is well known and loved. Residents walk or drive by and yell “hi Mia” from afar. “I’ve known them for years and we usually are close and do chatting,” she said.

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Are San Diego County Officials Making Inconsistent and Confusing COVID-19 Statements?

April 15, 2020 by Source

Editordude: In the interests of getting out the word to the public during the pandemic, we are re-posting this entire piece from inewsource. Please go to the original article for links and more details.

by Jill Castellano / inewsource / April 15, 2020

San Diego County officials have held daily news conferences since the beginning of March to update the public on the coronavirus pandemic. Almost every day, they provide the latest numbers of COVID-19 cases and deaths, recite the newest guidelines and rules for residents to follow, and explain the ever-changing steps they’re taking to curtail the spread of the highly contagious virus and the deadly disease it causes.

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Garden Blogging: Bucking Conventional (Organic) Wisdom

April 14, 2020 by Source
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Originally posted here on October 24, 2012

by Jill Richardson / La Vida Locavore / Oct.24, 2012

In my old home and my old garden, I was the boss. 100%. Not to mention that my ex (who was the only other adult in the house) and I saw eye to eye on gardening – and we were both totally broke. Here, it’s a different story. I moved into a new place with three other adults, and two of them know something about gardening. Both have opinions – sometimes strong opinions.

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The Joys and Pleasures of Composting

April 14, 2020 by Source
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Why Are People So Squeamish About Composting?
Originally posted here on April 22, 3013

By Jill Richardson /La Vida Locavore / April 19, 2013

I wrote this week’s column on composting, and I’ve been really pleased to see how various newspapers have picked it up. Honestly, I’ve been really surprised in the past several years about how squeamish people are about composting.

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New Guides for Education Researchers, Bloggers and Parents

April 14, 2020 by Source

By Thomas Ultican / Tultican/ April 2020

Two new sources provide guidance for researching and decoding education jargon.

At the beginning of the year, Teacher College Press published Diane Ravitch’s and Nancy Bailey’s EdSpeak and Doubletalk; A Glossary to Decipher Hypocrisy and Save Public Schooling.

Near February’s completion, Garn Press published Mercedes Schneider’s new book, A Practical Guide To Digital Research: Getting the Facts and Rejecting the Lies , in which Schneider explains the investigative tools and techniques she uses plus provides examples from her own work.

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Inmates Complain of ‘Filthy’ Conditions and COVID-19 Risks at San Diego Jails

April 13, 2020 by Source

By Kelly Davis, Jeff McDonald / San Diego Union-Tribune / April 12, 2020

Michael McKay had been struggling with homelessness and alcoholism when he was arrested last month on a probation violation and booked into San Diego County jail.

Before the 55-year-old diabetic was laid off five years ago and slipped into a downward spiral, McKay was a dedicated father and mechanical engineer. Now an inmate at the George F. Bailey Detention Facility, the county’s largest jail, he and other detainees may be sitting ducks for the coronavirus, said his wife, Diana McKay.

So far five jail employees and three inmates have tested positive for the virus, the Sheriff’s Department said Thursday.

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Garden Blogging in Ocean Beach and San Diego: Learning Our Weeds

April 13, 2020 by Source
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This article was originally posted on the OB Rag on October 3, 2012

by Jill Richardson/ La Vida Locavore

With my big front yard swale project out of the way, I’m getting started on the backyard. The backyard intimidates me. It’s huge, full of bermudagrass, and parts of it are covered in chips of paint from the construction that’s gone on here over the past year or so. I’ve been having conversations in bad Spanglish with Jorge the painter about why we don’t want paint in our soil.

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Poetry for Humans Against the Virus

April 10, 2020 by Source

Reaching for poetry and other art forms are what some humans are doing in these days of the pandemic. Here’s a collection of poems written by the “Gypsy Poets”, a group of women who have expressed their thoughts for the times. The poems were sent to the OB Rag by Karen Kenyon, who organized the group. She told us:

I am attaching poems written about this unusual time here on earth — describing fear and hope and
reflection. Our members consist of one woman from England and Ireland, another who is a retired
school counselor, a convention planner, and an employee of The Athenaeum…..

Here are the poems (sent to us in pdf):

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Poetry for the Pandemic

April 9, 2020 by Source

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Scientist Clarifies Her Position on Staying Out of the Ocean

April 8, 2020 by Source

By Kim Prather from her facebook:

Hope everyone is laying low and staying healthy. Warning: this is a long post that addresses many questions and conversations I have had over the past week on topics that are very important to many right now.

We are all experiencing and adapting to unprecedented times right now. My week was made even crazier by being re-taught the meaning of “out of context”. For those who read it, the LA Times article with subsequent twists made by additional media outlets was a major disappointment — and caused some people extra angst which is not needed right now.

For the record, the story was supposed to focus on the fact that aerosols can go further than 6 ft especially if you are on a crowded beach which was continuing to happen in our area. This realization of aerosol transport came out in several articles over a 2 day period (see bottom of post).

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Queen Elizabeth’s Model of Leadership Amid Coronavirus Contrasts Sharply With Trump’s

April 8, 2020 by Source

By Colleen O’Connor / Times of San Diego / April 8, 2020

The British went to bed proud on Sunday night. We Americans woke up sad, again, on Monday.

Why? Because of the stark, contrasting coronavirus appearances, over the weekend, by President Trump and Queen Elizabeth II. Trump in his repetitive daily briefing; Elizabeth in a rare public address.

One was full of blame, accusations, impatience, falsehoods and bravado. The other was full of gratitude, praise and encouragement.

The Queen’s address was broadcast just hours before Prime Minister Boris Johnson was hospitalized with COVID-19 and less than a week after her son, the Prince of Wales, finished quarantine following his own coronavirus diagnosis.

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Bernie Sanders Ends His Presidential Campaign

April 8, 2020 by Source

By Sean Sullivan and Chelsea Janes / Washington Post / April 8, 2020 at 8:24 a.m. PDT

Sen. Bernie Sanders, the liberal insurgent who rose from relative obscurity to build a movement and become a two-time runner-up for the Democratic presidential nomination, is ending his 2020 campaign, clearing the way for former vice president Joe Biden to be the party’s choice to take on President Trump in November.

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San Diego County COVID-19 Update Charts

April 8, 2020 by Source

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Trump Has Financial Interest in Hydroxychloroquine Manufacturer

April 7, 2020 by Source

President Donald Trump has a “small financial interest” in the maker of an anti-malarial drug that he has been touting as a “game changer” in treating coronavirus, according to The New York Times.

Over the past two weeks, Trump and his Fox News allies have aggressively promoted hydroxychloroquine as a potential cure, despite top infectious-disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci and others urging caution and noting that there was not enough evidence of the drug’s efficacy.

The Times reports the president’s family trusts all have investments in a mutual fund whose largest holding is Sanofi, the manufacturer of Plaquenil, the brand-name version of hydroxychloroquine. Associates of the president, including Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, have also run funds that hold investments in the pharmaceutical firm.

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San Diego COVID-19 Cases by ZIP Code

April 7, 2020 by Source

The OB Rag, with Kevin Hastings’ creations, was the only site running COVID-19 cases in San Diego by ZIP code for a couple of days. Then KPBS jumped in – thankfully somebody with more resources – and decided to post a more inter-active breakdown of coronavirus cases by neighborhood.

Here’s what KPBS reporter, Christopher Underwood, had to say yesterday, April 6:

San Diego County Health and Human Services recently began providing data breaking down confirmed COVID-19 cases by ZIP code.

KPBS has mapped out those cases across the county using their data, which gets updated daily.

The data represents the residence of the person who was infected, not the site of transmission. County health officials have frequently stressed that they don’t want the public to read too much into the data because the numbers only represent a portion of actual COVID-19 cases.

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Scripps Scientist Says ‘Don’t Go Near the Ocean’ as Beach Is One of Most Dangerous Places Right Now

April 7, 2020 by Source

UPDATE: Please see Kim Prather’s clarification on her position about staying out of the ocean here.

By Rosanna Xia / Los Angeles Times / April 2, 2020

Kim Prather, a leading atmospheric chemist at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, wants to yell out her window at every surfer, runner, and biker she spots along the San Diego coast.

“I wouldn’t go in the water if you paid me $1 million right now,” she said. The beach, in her estimation, is one of the most dangerous places to be these days, as the novel coronavirus marches silently across California.

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Who Will Rent Short-Term Vacation Rentals in Ocean Beach and Point Loma During the Pandemic?

April 7, 2020 by Source

By Sheila Pell / San Diego Reader / April 7, 2020

In many places, temporary bans and restrictions are being placed on short-term rentals to help stop the spread of coronavirus. San Diego, reeling from the travel slowdown, hasn’t joined them.

On April 4, Newport Beach, a vacation hotspot, banned the units for as long as the local emergency is on. Palm Springs, Big Bear Lake, Placer, and Nevada counties have shut them down. Several states have suspended them. The only exceptions are for critical workers.

California’s stay-at-home order was issued by Gov. Gavin Newsom on March 19. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends avoiding all nonessential travel, even trips across town.

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Homeless San Diegans Grow Desperate as Food Sources Dry Up

April 7, 2020 by Source

By Lisa Halverstadt and Kayla Jimenez / Voice of San Diego / April 6, 2020

As the coronavirus pandemic rages through the region and most people stay home, homeless San Diegans are confronting a loss of food resources they have long relied on to survive.

Many meal operations – both organized and impromptu – have halted. Cafés and restaurants that once served as daytime refuges from the streets and in some cases, handed over free food, are no longer open.

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‘The Most Irreverent, Wild and Loved New York Yankee Player’ Was Point Loma’s Own David Wells

April 6, 2020 by Source

By William Parlee / Empire Sports Media / April 6, 2020

Of New York Yankees players, none may have been as irreverent, wild, and loved than David Wells. Wells was cut from a different cloth than most Yankee players. He didn’t care who he threatened, who he offended, or what the Yankee brass thought of him.

He only wanted to be the best pitcher he could be, and he did that, even pitching one of only three perfect games in the Yankee’s 117-year history in 1998.

David Lee Wells was born on May 20, 1963, in Torrance, California.

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‘We Send You Our Thoughts and Prayers’

April 6, 2020 by Source

By Joni Halpern

Today there is a thin crust of magnanimity covering the stone-cold heart of the American taxpayer. In this moment of chilling necessity and shared danger, we are willing to allow our government to deliver monetary help to individuals and business owners who have been shut out of their livelihoods.

Maybe some of us will even send money to food pantries, sew masks for hospital workers, or share essentials among neighbors and extended families. Maybe we will shout our thanks from our balconies to first responders and medical personnel. We surely will pray for the nation’s rescue from the deathly grip of this pandemic, and also that enough ventilators are on hand if we are stricken.

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Map of San Diego County COVID-19 Cases By Zip Code for April 2

April 3, 2020 by Source

This is the second map of San Diego County COVID-19 cases by zip code per capita.

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San Diego Should Use Coronavirus Time to Clean the City

April 3, 2020 by Source

By Colleen O’Connor

With every crisis comes an opportunity. This opportunity arrives once in a century.

Forget massive funding needs, scarce special equipment requirements, or rare skill sets. This coronavirus opportunity is easier to fix. It only requires common sense and some hustle, and it can create “workforce-demand” jobs instantly.

There are very few people or cars clogging the streets and sidewalks. Take advantage of those near ghost town conditions in our city of more than 1.3 million people. Use this break wisely. Use it to clean the City.

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‘Fight the Virus’ – Lyrics for the Pandemic – Just Set the Tune

April 2, 2020 by Source

Here are lyrics to “Fight The Virus”; they just need a tune. Please set to music and sing out your window and on the internet.

Song to Victory

By Jim of Venice, California

Our invisible enemy
strides the Earth
killing us without a thought
and seeking new victims
in every land.

But we shall win this war
and rejoice across the world.
We don’t need bombs and nukes,
we fight with love and care
for family, friends and strangers.

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