Category: Media

by Jim David

The best singer didn’t win a freaking singing contest. When Kris Allen defeated Adam Lambert as the Season 8 “American Idol,” it was, as predicted, a seismic upset. Endless bloggers posted reactions like “The biggest robbery since Bush stole the election” and “The end of American Idol’s last hope at relevance.”

In the end homophobia won, and everyone knows it.

Hundreds of people gathered at 6th Ave and Laurel late this afternoon to protest today’s California Supreme Court decision upholding Prop 8. By time the crowd hit the street to march downtown to the Courthouse, it had swelled to 2,000.

It was a large – even huge-, friendly and boisterous crowd. Everyone seemed to be in good spirits, despite the reason for the protest.

Gay rights advocates and same-sex marriage activists are threatening some sort of non-violent militant action at the San Diego County Clerk’s Office on Wednesday, May 27th, if there is an adverse ruling from the California Supreme Court on same-sex marriage.

The San Diego Alliance for Marriage Equality has issued a statement that warns ….

On Monday, the New York Times published a story detailing a multi-million dollar ad campaign launched by Starbucks in which the company put up advertising posters in six major cities and attempted to “harness the power of online social networking sites by challenging people to hunt for the posters on Tuesday and be the first to post a photo of one using Twitter.”

Unfortunately for Starbucks,…

OCEAN BEACH, CA.  At long last, we have all the winning photos from the OB Historical Society’s contest and exhibit…

There was a great turn-out Friday night for the OB Historical Society’s Photo Exposed contest and exhibit. Held in the Masonic Temple on Sunset Cliffs Blvd, the event swelled to 150 people as the crowd mingled among the wonderful color and black and white photos, catered meatballs, pizza, donated and catered desserts.

Here are the six winners and their photos: …

by Anna Daniels

News about beauty pageants engenders pretty much the same response in me as the announcement of a new brand of breakfast cereal-“here comes more refined sugar in a new box.”

The 2007 Miss Universe Competition did, however, get my attention. The gowns, as reported in This Side of the Mirror, were not your run of the mill frocks.

The earlier posted article “Organic vs Conventional: Have you been robbed?” takes aim at the wrong target. Much like the person who frets over which china to use while the house is on fire, you take organic– which accounts for 2-3% of food sales– to task while ignoring the rest of our food system.

Organic consumers have certainly not been robbed. On the contrary, …

Ed Moss, the new publisher for the recently purchased San Diego Union-Tribune, could be a worry for those who want the paper to survive. Moss, who takes control on Monday, May 18th, was described as a “journalistic mortician,” by Ron Kaye, the former editor of the Los Angeles Daily News, where Moss worked.

Ocean Beach Photo Exhibit and Contest – this Friday, May 15th, at the Masonic Temple on Sunset Cliffs Boulevard – 6pm – 8:30pm. Join the OB Historical Society for an evening of fun and local culture.

Take shorter showers, wash only full loads of laundry, sweep instead of hose your driveway.

These are the messages that Californians are getting as part of the state’s new “Save Our Water” campaign. Water restrictions, farmworker protest marches …

Is this comparable to the worst drought in modern history of the state? Or is it all being over-blown?

By OB Rag Staffer

On April 15, 1949, a new kind of radio station appeared on the airwaves. Pacifica Radio was founded by Lewis Hill, a pacifist who believed that radio stations should be funded by listeners, not by corporate sponsors.

The first station was KPFA in Berkeley, which still serves the Bay Area. In 1959, sister-station KPFK came on the air in Los Angeles. For years, KPFK’s powerful signal was heard in San Diego at 90.7 FM. Then in February 2000,…