Category: Culture

There is a belief in some cultures that we choose our parents before we are born and maybe that’s true.

All I can say is I’m glad I ended up with the mother I got. In my way of reminiscing, it seems I can remember our very first moments together with me in her womb all kicked back and relaxed, as I had been for nine months, when unexpectedly, on April 18th, 1938, something gripped me like a cook squeezing chorizo from its hull. And the next thing I knew this woman who had soothed me throughout all those months of the good and cozy life, this woman who had hummed and sung lullabies and spirituals that oozed such gentle soul – this woman was now screaming as though her hair was being snatched from her scalp.

Editor: The following was originally two comments left by Camper, a young, dread-locked traveler. We decided to post it – with some editing – as one article. This, in the midst of some local OB hate mongering – as we have been told that someone is passing out fliers that say “Trolls go home.” Here, then, in his own words, ….

by Camper

So my name is Camper. My side of the story might strike your interest as I may be the first traveler to take the time and let you know where I’m coming from.

I’m from Detroit, Michigan and have been traveling for quite sometime. How long does not matter. Long enough to go from being that kid that every OB local can’t really stand, the kid in patchwork clothes panhandling for nothing but booze money, to someone who simply cares for his freedom, and wants a lifestyle not created by small group of narrow minded men.

Editor: It seems there is a renewed interest in why our great state is so broke. Here, we are re-posting two articles from last Spring.

by David Dayen / Calitics / May 27, 2009
Despite his admission that California is ungovernable, the Governor soldiered on today, announcing the full slate of revised budget cuts to replace his proposed borrowing, since scrapped, and to fill the even larger deficit estimated by the Legislative Analyst. As expected, the Governor called for eliminating the CalWORKS program for the poor, eliminating Healthy Families to provide health insurance to poor children, and phasing out the Cal Grants program which provides financial aid to California students. But that’s not all. As Noreen Evans says, the Governor’s cuts “dismantle the New Deal.” Here are some of the lowlights in these 25 distinct cuts:

1. President Obama Cut Your Taxes

As in April, the Tea Baggers continued to display their fundamental misunderstanding of U.S. history and the American Revolution. Apparently, the right-wing zealots are outraged by no taxation with representation.

As promised, Barack Obama in the stimulus package delivered on his pledge of tax relief for 95% of American households. Obama’s American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) didn’t only jump start gross domestic product and refill empty state coffers in the second quarter of 2009. As Nate Silver thoroughly documented, “Obama has cut taxes for 98.6% of working households.”

Nevertheless, raging Tea Baggers spouting Republican Tax Day lies took to the streets not to thank the President, but to blame him for the tax cuts they received.

by Seth Connolly

As someone who serves on the Ocean Beach Planning Board and who may or may not run again, I will answer some common questions about planning as a private citizen right now.

First, a quick clarification about our role in the process. We are not charged with writing code or determining funding and certainly not whether large-scale transportation projects take place.

Our role is to give a voice to the community on land use and development issues and to make recommendations in an advisory capacity to the City on specific projects or land use issues. We operate according to our own Precise Plan, first and foremost, which is in the process of being updated. We are not there to enforce zoning so much as we are another set of eyes on it.

With the upcoming OB Planning Board election on March 9th, and the Town Council’s planning board candidate forum on Feb 24th, we thought it would be swell if we got to know the current Board members and the candidates.

The problem is that there is not a whole lot of information out there (Planning Board website and Google) on some folks – which I indicate below. (As more info on certain individuals becomes known, I’ll add it to this post via the comments. )

The Ocean Beach Planning Board covers, of course, the OB Planning area, which is broken down into 7 districts, and each district has two seats on the Board.

The Ocean Beach Town Council will be hosting a Candidate Forum for OB Planning Board candidates and then during the same meeting, the Council will sponsor a public discussion on the homeless.

This logistically challenging event will be on February 24th, at the Town Council’s monthly meeting. It will be held at the Masonic Temple, located at 1711 Sunset Cliffs Boulevard.

GO INSIDE FOR ALL THE JUICY DETAILS

* Peace Rocker’s Peace Sign Taken Down for High Winds

* Point Loma High’s Baseball Field to Be Named for Pitching Champion and Local David Wells

* Point Loman Walt Bailey Remembered for His Volunteerism

* City to Repair Six Coastal Stairways – Three in Ocean Beach

* Stimulus Money Used to Hire Seattle Company to Dredge Mission Bay

by Patrick Finley / Arizona Daily Star / February 14, 2010

TUCSON – The crowd stood and cheered. Someone handed Ernie McCray the basketball.

When the Arizona Wildcats hosted Los Angeles State at Bear Down Gym on Feb. 6, 1960, there was no scoreboard to show how many points each player had scored. No public way to document the smashing of records and preconceptions and prejudice.

The 6-foot-6 senior from Tucson High School scored 46 points – a UA record to this day.

Afterward, his teammates went to a restaurant to celebrate. McCray didn’t join them – he knew he wouldn’t be served.

by Jordan Barnes

I could not have anticipated what I was to see, or the affect that our experience in Haiti would have on me.

My fiance Christene and I left from Ocean Beach to join ten others and 1,200 lbs of medicine and supplies that had been donated. This is only a fraction of the donations that “Children’s Hope” has received since the catastrophic quake, but such was our weight allotment, the rest will go down in subsequent trips.

My mother Leisa Faulkner began Children’s Hope, a non-profit/non-religious organization, in 2004 to help the desperate situation of the children of the poorest country in the Western hemisphere. Along with humanitarian aid, my mother has become very involved in the political situation there.

Recently, we asked our readers what they thought about the major construction projects listed by Mayor Jerry Sanders in his State of the City address, and what their priorities would be.

In our poll, we gave respondents choices of “a new central library,” “convention center expansion”, “a new city hall”, “a Chargers football stadium downtown,” plus “none of the above,” and also allowed readers to write in their own ideas.

Someone wrote in that they wanted to see a permenant homeless shelter – and guess what? That won. A third of our respondents went for that. 32%

Who is The Naked Swimmer?

On January 30th, a community at the brink found cause to boil over in protest to the increasing population of street kids. On this day in Ocean Beach, a very intoxicated man swam naked near the pier. He resisted arrest next to the seawall on Newport and Abbott, which is just about as public of a spot as OB offers.

However, the intoxicated man, who I have referred to as The Swimmer in a previous post, was not a street kid.

Stephen Morse is a clean-shaven, 6 foot 200 pound college student. The 19-year-old has a role in the student government at San Diego State. He is a recent transplant from the state of Washington, where he went to high school, and was on the local school football team.

Morse was charged with resisting arrest (penal code 148) and public intoxication (HS 11550). He was bailed out of jail straight away, and is awaiting his court date.