Author: Source

by Anonymous Newport Merchant

I’m cautiously optimistic about this season for businesses on Newport Avenue.

First off there is a much more positive feel from my customers as well as from other merchants that this is going to be a better Christmas than last. Last year there was a palpable atmosphere of fear and uncertainty where as this year the mood is considerably more optimistic.

by Katrina vanden Heuvel / The Nation / Dec. 01, 2009

Tonight President Obama will announce his new Afghanistan policy. By all accounts it will be one of military escalation. This is a tragic moment–both for the nation and his presidency–and it is one I had hoped the President would avoid by courageously leading us in a wiser direction, one that views 21st century challenges anew, in fresh and necessary ways.

by Molly Macquire

America IS – still – the richest country in the world. Yet Americans cannot afford to live here. Let me share two brief stories with you of friends I have run into recently. Both friends are leaving America because they can’t do it any longer – they cannot afford to live here.

[Editor’s Note: I have published this list – followed by a progressive critique – as a counter-pole to the anguish progressives and leftists feel right now, on the eve of President Obama’s announcement of additional US troops being sent to Afghanistan. Some progressives are ready to throw Obama out of office because of his Afghanistan “surge.” This is basically a list of positives and there are many items on this list that progressives will disagree with, will consider to be cosmetic, or will fault for a lack of follow-through — and there are without doubt a lot of negatives not included. But we think this is an impressive list just the same.]

By Robert P. Watson

I am always being asked to grade Obama’s presidency. In place of offering him a grade, I put together a list of his accomplishments thus far. I think you would agree that it is very impressive. His first six months have been even more active than FDR’s or LBJ’s — the two standards for such assessments.

President Obama is likely to announce on Tuesday, December 1 an escalation in Afghanistan

SDCPJ calls for a Demonstration The Day After his announcement

35,000 new US occupation troops next year

$35 billion more to pay for the war and occupation

Dear President Obama,

Do you really want to be the new “war president”? If you go to West Point tomorrow night (Tuesday, 8pm) and announce that you are increasing, rather than withdrawing, the troops in Afghanistan, you are the new war president. Pure and simple. And with that you will do the worst possible thing you could do — destroy the hopes and dreams so many millions have placed in you. With just one speech tomorrow night you will turn a multitude of young people who were the backbone of your campaign into disillusioned cynics. You will teach them what they’ve always heard is true — that all politicians are alike. I simply can’t believe you’re about to do what they say you are going to do. Please say it isn’t so.

by Larry OB

I recently attended the Road Warrior Weekend up in the Mojave Desert. It was a costumed campout for fans of the Mad Max movie trilogy. Sort of a post apocalyptic renaissance fair. The costumes and vehicles spanned all three movies. We had the good cops of the MFP (Main Force Patrol), and the bad cops of the Gay Boy Beserkers. The wearing of a metal-studded cod piece was usually a good way to quickly judge the threat level of an approaching cop.

The gathering was generally well behaved. The event organizer prudently forbade live ammunition, but there were enough real homemade weapons to give things an element of danger. Axes made from sprocket gears, and knives welded to steering wheel clubs.

By Jeremy Scahill / The Nation / November 23, 2009

At a covert forward operating base run by the US Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) in the Pakistani port city of Karachi, members of an elite division of Blackwater are at the center of a secret program in which they plan targeted assassinations of suspected Taliban and Al Qaeda operatives, “snatch and grabs” of high-value targets and other sensitive action inside and outside Pakistan, an investigation by The Nation has found. The Blackwater operatives also assist in gathering intelligence and help run a secret US military drone bombing campaign that runs parallel to the well-documented CIA predator strikes, according to a well-placed source within the US military intelligence apparatus.

The Honorable Mayor Jerry Sanders:

The Friends of the Ocean Beach Library recently met and it was decided to write you about the impending budget situation, particularly as it might apply to our own Ocean Beach Library. We want to be involved in bringing possible ideas forward to you and the City. We wanted to share with you four thoughts that we came up with:

1. Any cuts that might come to the library system, should be shared equally among all libraries and library departments.

2. Closing all libraries one day a week, possibly on a weekend.

A federal complaint was filed Monday against the results of recent union elections conducted by Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 221, in San Diego. The complaint charges massive voter disenfranchisement and illegal conduct by election officials and by incumbent candidates.

Filed by Reform221, a group advocating a broad range of union democracy reforms, the complaint seeks nullification of the elections and a new election under the supervision of the U.S. Secretary of Labor. Reform221 charges that hundreds of union members were denied the right to vote and were not sent mail ballots.

by OB Anonymous

The Ocean Beach Mainstreet Association. Will they rent spaces to anyone during The Farmers Market? It appears so.

Perhaps I’m alone out there but I would think that one of the roles of the OBMA is to support the local business’s on the 4900 block of Newport. It’s not bad enough that there is a significant drop in revenue from having all the parking spaces taken from 4900 block merchants, but now, to add insult to injury, they seem to be working against local merchants by renting spaces to jewelry vendors, massage therapists, clothes vendors, hot food booths etc etc etc. How does that help the tax paying businesses on the 4900 block of Newport Avenue?

By Eugene Davidovich

Medical cannabis, although legal to use in California, is not as easy to obtain as some may think. Unlike doctor prescribed medication which is readily available at the local pharmacy, medical cannabis is neither recommended nor prescribed, and therefore isn’t available for purchase as a prescription. It requires a different distribution and production method.

To achieve medical grade and maximum therapeutic efficacy, cannabis must be carefully cultivated under strict lighting, watering, and maintenance schedules. Medical cultivation requires both expertise in cultivation and hefty equipment setup costs.