Category: History

By Colleen Dietzel

I attended Tom Hayden’s talk on Thursday with the rest of the mostly over 50’s crowd to hear his take on the depressing results of the election.

He was somewhat comforting with his wit and that not all the outcomes were bad. California elected Jerry Brown and possibly Kamala Harris for attorney general. He reminded us of the important work Jerry Brown did as past governor in promoting alternative energy. As with any politician Jerry Brown is not perfect but he will move us forward in the area of green jobs and alternative energy.

The incident the other night at Election Central at Golden Hall where defeated tea bagger Nick Popaditch and his supporters corralled, harassed, and shoved the winner of the Congressional race Bob Filner up against a column, has not been covered by the mainstream media. Except for the OB Rag, the San Diego CityBeat, and the Chula Vista Starnews, San Diego and national press have ignored this violent and anti-Semitic incident against a sitting member of the US House of Representatives. (The OB Rag – with the help of CityBeat and others – broke this story.)

The story also has even more ugliness and a deep undertone of white supremacy. …

November 5th is Guy Fawkes Day! Fawkes was caught, tried and then hung for his role in the “Gunpowder Plot” – a plan to blow up the House of Lords. In England, today Guy Fawkes’ execution is celebrated…

But there is another side to the story. The movie “V for Vendetta” tells us differently…..

Following in the spirit of Doug Porter’s efforts to find the silver linings in the dark clouds that enveloped the nation on Election Day, I perused the U-T this morning and went over the numbers. I wanted to find the goodies in the slack bag of ‘trick or treat’ candy we were handed on Tuesday.

On November 1, the Monday after the “Rally to Restore Sanity” in Washington DC, I was still hanging around in the nation’s capital, digesting Jon Stewart’s closing remarks. I ended a call with a friend after talking about what had happened that weekend, and the woman seated at the table next to mine leaned over to chat.

by Herman Baca / October 27, 2010

Numerous persons in the Chicano community have asked if anything will substantially change after next weeks elections, especially with all the His-Her Panics candidates running for public office?

The question is important for those seeking change to address and find solutions to the myriad of problems/issues affecting our communities.

By Robert Scheer / truthdig.com

It’s over for the U.S. in Afghanistan, but that doesn’t mean the death and destruction are about to stop. Quagmires don’t just go away. However, the signs are everywhere that the American course in that nation is doomed, that those directing this forlorn attempt at occupation of a country that has never tolerated occupation know there is no positive end in sight, and that the locals from President Hamid Karzai to the competing warlords and the Taliban are cutting their own deals on the assumption that our wishes no longer matter.

I recently enjoyed the honor of a lifetime: addressing the University of Arizona’s Class of ’60 with my take on our times at our alma mater. My classmates and I showed up brimming with youth and Rhythm and Blues and Rock and Roll, more than ready to “Go! Go! Wildcats! Go!” and the school welcomed us with open arms.

In the background, besides the up tempo music, the likes of I Love Lucy had us laughing crazily and we relied on Ed Sullivan giving us a “Really good show” every Sunday but the world, at large, was in no way like a picnic on a carefree sunny day.

Gary Gilmore – Newport Avenue’s goldsmith par excellence – is proud of the fact that he arrived in Ocean Beach in 1973 with nothing else but the clothes on his back, his guitar, and his leather tools. He had journeyed across the country and had found heaven. And he’s been in OB ever since. His is a true classic rags to riches story. Yet it’s an OB hippie version of the classic. For Gary Gilmore certainly looked like a hippie when he arrived 37 years ago.

Gary’s love for OB is so evident that it’s almost difficult to get him to talk about anything else. This was all apparent as we took our seats for a lunch at the quintessential OB restaurant – the Old Townhouse – featured prominently in the current television series “Terriers” which was filmed in OB.

BB Standout made his mark in education

TUCSON, Ariz. – University of Arizona men’s basketball alumnus Ernie McCray was named the 2010 Outstanding Alumni Achiever by the UA Black Alumni.

McCray, a Wildcat letterwinner from 1957-58 through 1960, received the recognition from UABA. A longtime educator and principal in San Diego, he is now retired and focuses his time on community theater and community activism.

by Michael Moore / OpenMike blog

So … it turns out President Eisenhower wasn’t making up all that stuff about the military-industrial complex.

That’s what you’ll conclude if you read Bob Woodward’s new book, Obama’s War.

In fact, after you read Woodward’s book, you’ll split a gut every time you hear a politician or a government teacher talk about “civilian control over the military.”

The following is an article from the October 15, 2010 issue of Rolling Stone.

We arrived at the southwest gate of the white house a little after one o’clock on the afternoon of September 17th. It was a warm fall day, but the capital felt quiet and half-empty, as it does on Fridays at the end of summer, with Congress still in recess.