Category: Labor

Is Rep. Duncan Hunter Ignorant or Just Racist?

 Source  April 28, 2010  23 Comments on Is Rep. Duncan Hunter Ignorant or Just Racist?

Rep. Duncan Hunter backs deporting U.S.-born children of undocumented immigrants

At a recent Tea Party meeting in Ramona, Rep Duncan Hunter stated that he supported the deportation of children born in the US to undocumented migrants. Is he racist or maybe he just doesn’t know what the Constitution states.

Section 1, Clause 1 of the 14th Amendment of the United States Constitution, states:

“All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.”

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Solidarity Rally for Immigrants and Against Arizona – Photo Gallery

 Staff  April 27, 2010  32 Comments on Solidarity Rally for Immigrants and Against Arizona – Photo Gallery

Dozens of people made it downtown on Monday, April 26th, to rally and parade in front of the Federal Building, to protest Arizona’s new immigration laws. Several OBceans made it to the rally in support.

These photos were taken by Michael Gomel for our viewing pleasure.

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County’s largest union settles fraud complaints – new elections to be held

 Source  April 24, 2010  0 Comments on County’s largest union settles fraud complaints – new elections to be held

Editor: Our good friend and OB Rag supporter Monty Kroopkin was the nominee for president of Local 221 of the SEIU put up by a reform slate last summer. We interviewed him during the campaign, which the reformers lost. Allegations of fraud committed by the winners were raised by the reform activists. Now, they’ve won a round. Check out this update below.

by Eleanor Yang Su / San Diego Union-Tribune / April 22, 2010

The county’s largest union, the Service Employees International Union Local 221, reached a settlement this week over complaints about its election last summer, and will hold a new election under federal supervision before Sept. 30.

Members of the SEIU Local 221, which represents about 10,000 county employees and other public-sector workers, filed a complaint to the U.S. Department of Labor contending that the July 21 election illegally denied nearly 1,000 members the right to vote.

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You’ve got to be kidding… Brian Bilbray solves the immigration problem thanks to the shoes of the people

 Anna Daniels  April 24, 2010  12 Comments on You’ve got to be kidding… Brian Bilbray solves the immigration problem thanks to the shoes of the people

The Republicans have taken the bull by the horns on the immigration issue, proving yet again that they know how to produce b.s. and lots of it.

Arizona was not about to wait for President Obama to address this federal issue. Arizona wants to be as bad-ass as secessionist threatening Texas, although the Zonies themselves are smart enough to not want to actually spend time in Texas, preferring to use their get out of hell card to hang out on a California beach during the summer. Arizona’s approach to comprehensive immigration reform in all of its reducto ad absurdum is a mere two words- racial profiling. Keep it classy, Arizona!

Racial profiling is as American as apple pie and throughout the history of this great country of ours, …

Continue Reading You’ve got to be kidding… Brian Bilbray solves the immigration problem thanks to the shoes of the people

Wasted Water in OB

 Staff  April 18, 2010  6 Comments on Wasted Water in OB

We’ve all seen it over these last months: water rushing down gutters and streets, partially filling intersections, workers on our avenues, blocked roadways to our houses in paradise.

Why does the City have to waste so much water as it replaces our pipes – especially during this drought? This is a question many of us have asked.

Jim Noble was asking the questions last Thursday while he took these shots. Again a picture or 9 are worth thousands of words.

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OB’s Fire Pits – Still a Burning Issue

 Frank Gormlie  April 16, 2010  18 Comments on OB’s Fire Pits – Still a Burning Issue

The Adopt-A-Fire-Pit Project Is Looking for a Few Good Local Volunteers

OB Fire Pits Before OB Town Council on April 28th

The eight remaining fire pits on OB beaches are fast becoming a burning issue. As you probably know, the City of San Diego, under the pretense of not having sufficient funds, plans on removing all 185 fire pits that ring the City’s beaches – including Mission Bay. And these include what’s left of the pits in our community.

The City’s plans of removal are said to begin at the start of the new fiscal year, July 1st, as the City does have the money for maintenance of the fire pits up through this June.

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Cong. Bob Filner to Appear at San Diego Coffee Party Coming-Out Affair

 Frank Gormlie  April 9, 2010  11 Comments on Cong. Bob Filner to Appear at San Diego Coffee Party Coming-Out Affair

The San Diego chapter of the national Coffee Party movement is holding a kind of “coming-out” party in the late afternoon on Sunday, April 11th, and Congressman Bob Filner is the keynote speaker.

This private affair will be at Queen’s Bee, an entertainment venue/ coffee house in North Park from 3:30pm to 5. Stacy Taylor, one of San Diego’s most popular (ex-) radio personalities will also be on hand as a speaker. There is music and poetry, so this could be quite a gig.

The San Diego Coffee Party organization is not even one month old. Its first meetings were on March 13th, and there was so much of a turn-out of kindred spirits that it was organized into 3 to 4 groups. There’s also a chapter in Oceanside, one in Carlsbad, and a small one in Ramona. There are efforts a foot to establish one in the South Bay as well.

About a dozen OBceans are active in the “coastal” section …

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OB FLASHES – April 6th – News, Calendar and Whatever

 Frank Gormlie  April 6, 2010  14 Comments on OB FLASHES – April 6th – News, Calendar and Whatever

COME INSIDE FOR MORE ….

* “Terriers” Returns to Old Townhouse Restaurant April 6th

*OB Rag Calling for OB Heathens

*OB Comedy Celebrates Fourth Anniversary Show – April 9th

*OB Centric Holds Another “Swap O Rama Rama”

*Rock ’n’ roll academy opens doors in OB

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Cliff Swim Turns Into Cliff Rescue – Photo Gallery

 Frank Gormlie  April 2, 2010  1 Comment on Cliff Swim Turns Into Cliff Rescue – Photo Gallery

At first, it looked safe to go in. So, two young highschoolers decided to try swimming at Sunset Cliffs. But Katie Kitchenka and Breyaundra Woods, both 18 years old and from Steele Canyon High School, soon found out it was too cold.

They tried getting back to shore, but couldn’t. Fortunately, an off duty border patrol agent came upon them yelling for help, and he threw them a beach towel and helped get them to a ledge.

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Left vs Right – Part Deux

 Frank Gormlie  March 31, 2010  10 Comments on Left vs Right – Part Deux

In Part I, we saw how the terms “left” and “right” stem from the French Revolution, that during the early days of the revolt, French delegates met in the National Assembly chamber. Back then, the French delegates on the right-side of the chamber – hence the Right – wanted to keep the King and those on the left side – the Left – wanted him removed.

Ever since then, to be on the right means standing up for property rights, the status quo, and the powers that be. To be on the left means standing up for civil and social rights, for change, and for egalitarianism. Although, the terms are relative and are tied to their historical and societal context.

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Ten Myths of the California Budget

 Source  March 31, 2010  4 Comments on Ten Myths of the California Budget

Editor: The following Ten Myths was prepared this month by the California Budget Project. Go here to see their nifty graphs and pie charts.

Myth #1 : The Largest Share of the State Budget Goes To Prisons

The Facts:

* The State spends more than four times as much on K-12 education as it does on corrections and one and one-quarter times as much on higher education as it does on corrections.

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OB Coffee Party: People Over Corporations

 Frank Gormlie  March 29, 2010  1 Comment on OB Coffee Party: People Over Corporations

There we were, all 21 of us, crowding around under the shady umbrella at Java Jungle. And we were all talking politics – imagine!

It was a meeting of the “coastal” section of San Diego’s Coffee Party movement, a movement that is barely two months old, yet already has nearly 400 chapters across the country. What started as a facebook rant about the incivility of American politics and the apparent stalemate in Congress, and which has now blossomed into a nation-wide movement, had its first San Diego meeting on March 13th. The turnout was so huge, that the group broke down into four sections.

The “west of I-5” folks, naming themselves the coastal chapter, had decided to meet on the 27th in OB. And at least half the turnout was from Ocean Beach.

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