Military

Time to Question the Militarization of Our Children

June 17, 2021 by Ernie McCray

by Ernie McCray

When we say to a veteran or to someone active in the military, “Thank you for your service” what are we thanking them for?

I ask this question for the children’s sake, for the many teenage warriors, fresh out of high school, who find themselves off somewhere in a land, that was never mentioned in their schooling, “making a difference.”

I mean after World War II came to an end, has there been any real reason for our country to be involved in war?

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Todd Gloria Becomes the Main Man Behind the SANDAG-Navy Deal on Former SPAWAR Property in the Midway – One Month Before Election

October 2, 2020 by Frank Gormlie

Today we learned that on the heels of Gov. Gavin Newsom putting his signature on Assembly Bill 2731 just yesterday, Tuesday – which pushes forward the whole SANDAG – Navy deal on the old SPAWAR property -, San Diego mayoral candidate and assemblyman Todd Gloria, is taking over as the lead politician on the project, with Faulconer only around another month or so.

(I know it’s not called SPAWAR officially any more but how can we give up such a great name – Spawars – short for space wars? Besides, I bet there’s only one person on the OB Rag who knows what the current name is.)

The signed bill removes, as the San Diego Union-Tribune touted, “much of the red tape associated with the environmental review process required by the California Environmental Quality Act, or CEQA.” And there’s more:

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Navy and San Diego Team Up to Tackle Modernizing the ‘Old Town Campus’ in Midway District

July 2, 2020 by Source

 

Editordude: We offer the following without comment as a FYI for our Point Loma and Midway readers.

by Elisha Gamboa / Defense Visual Information Distribution Services / July 1, 2020

To keep Naval Information Warfare Systems Command (NAVWAR) ready to meet its critical, high-tech, cybersecurity mission, the Navy is working alongside advocates throughout the San Diego region to create a state-of-the-art facility in support the command’s diverse, high-priority mission and rapidly growing cyber requirements.

Known as the Navy Old Town Campus (OTC) Revitalization Project, this effort centers around NAVWAR Headquarters, which is currently located on 70.5 acres of Navy-owned land, in the Midway-Pacific Highway Community.

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Veterans and G.I. Rights Groups Condemn Use of National Guard in George Floyd Protests as Some G.I’s Refuse to Go

June 5, 2020 by Source

The people who do G.I. hot-line counseling across the country, veterans’ groups and G.I. rights organizations are condemning the use of the National Guard in the George Floyd protests occurring nationwide. Meanwhile, some G.I.s are telling these counselors they will refuse to comply with orders directing them to go to the cities where protests are happening.

Here is the statement by the the Military Law Task Force of the National Lawyers Guild:

Statement opposing use of National Guard against anti-racist protests

The Military Law Task Force of the National Lawyers Guild strongly condemns the use of National Guard and active duty troops to police anti-racist protesters. ,

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A Tale of Two Generals

January 6, 2020 by Staff

By Joni Halpern

Once upon a time there were two generals. One was a fit-looking guy with gray hair, a handsome older face with a square jaw, wearing a nice-looking uniform trimmed in gold braid, decorated with medals and campaign ribbons. The other general was a guy with – well, pretty much the same appearance.

One general worked for Country No. 1, a big, brash, rich, well-armed and -equipped place with millions of patriotic people. The other general worked for Country No. 27 (depending on which Gross Domestic Product (GDP) list you consult). Country No. 27 was not rich; it had some notable armaments and trained soldiers, but it was brash, and its people were very patriotic.

Both countries were involved militarily in countries outside their borders.

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The Real Lesson of Afghanistan Is that Regime Change Does Not Work

December 26, 2019 by Source

A world in which war is normal and peace is out of reach is no more survivable or sustainable than a world where the atmosphere gets hotter every year.

By Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J. S. Davies / Nation of Change / December 20, 2019

The trove of U.S. “Lessons Learned” documents on Afghanistan published by the Washington Post portrays, in excruciating detail, the anatomy of a failed policy, scandalously hidden from the public for 18 years. The “Lessons Learned” papers, however, are based on the premise that the U.S. and its allies will keep intervening militarily in other countries, and that they must, therefore, learn the lessons of Afghanistan to avoid making the same mistakes in future military occupations.

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Trying to Help Children Create a Peaceful World

October 29, 2019 by Ernie McCray

by Ernie McCray

Trying to help children create a peaceful world is difficult, to say the least. The reason being, I suppose, is because war seems to be the default way human beings have chosen, over time, to solve problems between nations.

Children are groomed to accept armed conflict in such a world.

I mean I grew up in the 40’s running around with my buddies, loudly mouthing the whistling and booming noises of bombs exploding and the rat-a-tat-tat sounds of war we learned how to playfully mimic at the movies on many a Saturday afternoon.

We were grunts and swabbies and jarheads and flyboys all wrapped in one, anchoring aweigh and flying off into the wild blue yonder and storming beaches and rolling those caissons along, practically every day.

Nobody ever said “Hey, haven’t you children ‘play killed’ enough people today?”

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‘What Costs $72,000 an Hour Just to Entertain Some San Diegans?’

September 18, 2019 by Judi Curry

By Judi Curry and Gil Field

What does cost $72,000 an hour just to entertain your fellow San Diegoans?

What “glorifies” with exciting and colorful shows of speed, power and noise?

What celebrates the skills and machinery that were developed with the prime purpose of kill, maim and destroy?

How many “performers” have been killed in accidents during their performances?

What spews exhaust into the environment, and costs millions of dollars to fuel for the show

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Public Comments Invited on Dredging Project at Naval Base Point Loma

August 6, 2019 by Frank Gormlie

From DredgingToday.com

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Los Angeles District is inviting public comments on the Naval Pier 5000 North Outer Berth and Approach Area Dredging and Disposal Project in San Diego County, California.

The scheme, proposed by the Department of the Navy, NAVFAC SW, involves dredging of approximately 110,619 cubic yards of sediment from the northeast side of submarine Pier 5000 in the North Side Outer Berth and Approach Area.

According to the plan, suitable dredged material and disposal would occur either at the Silver Strand Boat Lanes 8 and 9 beneficial use site or the LA-5 Ocean Dredged Material Disposal Site (ODMDS).

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Memorial Day – Remembering Lawrence Edward Webber, Beloved Brother of San Diego Family

May 27, 2019 by Patty Jones

Author’s note: During the last few days I have come to know and develop a deep respect for a man I have never met. I do family history as a hobby and have been doing research on Frank’s uncle, …. What follows is what I have discovered, and what has brought me to tears a few times while collecting it all, here, for Memorial Day.
Lawrence Edward Webber, USMC, MIA – POW – KIA
Lawrence Edward Webber was born in 1920, in Malden, Massachusetts, the son of Frank Webber and Elizabeth Benson. He was the youngest of four children. He had one brother, Frank Webber (long-time local businessman and owner of Ocean Beach Camera, in the Newport Avenue area) and two sisters, Mildred and Dorothea (mother of our own editor, Frank Gormlie).

As a young man Lawrence moved to San Diego, where his siblings also lived, and enlisted in the Marine Corps on May 2, 1939 at the age of 19. He was stationed in San Diego until December 1939 when he was transported to Shanghai, China.

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The San Diego Connection If There’s War With Iran

May 23, 2019 by Michael Steinberg

By Michael Steinberg / Black Rain Press

On May 9 the US Naval Institute reported, “Due to provocative behavior from Iran and new intelligence…US National Security Advisor John Bolton cited {but did not identify}a “number of troubling and escalatory indications and warnings.”

Subsequently the US Central Command ordered the aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln strike force from the Mediterranean to the Persian Gulf, belly up with Iran.

The Navy report also mentioned that the Lincoln, stationed in Norfolk, Virginia, is “set to arrive at its new homeport of San Diego later this year.”

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The Great Dolphin Dilemma and the San Diego Connection

February 5, 2019 by Source

For years, animal rights advocates have waged war against the US Navy for its use of dolphins in warfare and research. Is a resolution possible?

by Lina Zeldovich / Hakai Magazine / February 5, 2019

1. The Great Divide

Michele Bollo stood on Harbor Drive Pedestrian Bridge, close to the US Navy base in Point Loma, San Diego, looking through a video camera trained on a network of pens in the water below. The nine-by-nine-meter ocean corrals held 70 dolphins and 30 sea lions belonging to the US Navy Marine Mammal Program (NMMP). Bollo was there to document how the navy treated the animals.

One animal, a 46-year-old bottlenose dolphin named Makai, once deployed to find mines in the Persian Gulf during the 2003 Iraq War, was sick and unable to swim.

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‘It’s Time to Call in the Marines’ and the Rest of the U.S. Military to Deal With Natural Disasters

January 3, 2019 by Source

By David Helvarg / San Francisco Chronicle / Jan. 2, 2019

It’s time to call in the Marines, and also the Army, Navy, Air Force and Coast Guard to respond to the growing number of climate-linked natural disasters.

When it comes to national security, no threat compares to our changing climate and its intensification of hurricanes, wildfires, heat waves and other natural disasters. If the rise of Nazi Germany and the nuclear balance of terror with the Soviet Union were the major strategic threats to overcome in the last century, climate change is the major challenge of this one.

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San Diego Warships Leading Charge Against North Korea

April 18, 2017 by Michael Steinberg

By Michael Steinberg / Black Rain Press

US Navy warships based in San Diego are moving towards North Korean waters as tensions rise across the region.

Led by the USS aircraft carrier Carl Vinson, whose homeport is North Island Naval Air Station in San Diego harbor, this “strike group” had been heading towards Australia after taking part in “routine” military exercises off the Korean peninsula when it was suddenly ordered back following the US cruise missile attack in Syria recently.

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Obama Commutes Sentence of Chelsea Manning

January 18, 2017 by Source

President Obama has commuted the sentence of Chelsea Manning, the Army intelligence analyst who leaked American military and diplomatic activities in 2010, and who had become a cause celebre over those years. This act likely saved her life.

According to the New York Times:

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The Body of Missing Navy Wife Elizabeth Sullivan Found Off Liberty Station

December 7, 2016 by Frank Gormlie

It’s been nearly two years since the disappearance of Elizabeth Sullivan, a young Navy wife from Point Loma. There was quite an extensive search for her by both authorities and family.

The search came to a final and tragic end on October 6th this year, when her body was found in Bay waters off the 2600 block of Farragut Road. Police announced today – Dec. 7th – that her identity has been confirmed. Police have re-opened their investigation of Sullivan.

Elizabeth Sullivan was a 31-year-old Navy wife and mother of two young girls – and much more.

Here’s our coverage from October21, 2014:

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OBcean’s 1972 Anti-War Arrest Is Part of La Jolla Photo Exhibit

October 13, 2016 by Frank Gormlie
Thumbnail image for OBcean’s 1972 Anti-War Arrest Is Part of La Jolla Photo Exhibit

OBcean Bob Edwards joined a handful of other former anti-Vietnam war activists at a commemoration of a photo exhibit at the La Jolla Museum of Contemporary Art on Tuesday, October 11th. An exhibit by photographer Fred Lonidier, entitled, “29 Arrests” was on display – as Fred had taken Edwards’ photo at the time of his arrest on May 4, 1972 in front of the 11th Naval District headquarters.

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Activist-Photographer Fred Lonidier’s Photos of 1972 Anti-War Protest Part of Museum of Contemporary Arts Exhibit

October 10, 2016 by Staff
Thumbnail image for Activist-Photographer Fred Lonidier’s Photos of 1972 Anti-War Protest Part of Museum of Contemporary Arts Exhibit

Way back in the late 1960s and early 1970s, there were very active social movements stirring in San Diego – and across the country. Here in San Diego, there was always this one guy -the “movement photographer” on the scene – Fred Lonidier, with his long-lens camera dangling from his neck, always there to record it all.

There was one particular and historic event in May of 1972 where 88 students and supporters were arrested for peacefully sitting down in front of the local Naval District HQ in protest of the Vietnam war. Fred Lonidier was also there – but he only had 29 shots remaining in his camera. So, he took 29 photos of those being arrested that day.

And now those 29 photos are part of a larger exhibit, called The Uses of Photography, currently at the Museum of Contemporary Art in La Jolla.

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Honorably Discharged then Dishonorably Deported

September 22, 2016 by Source

Campaign Announced In Response to Crisis of Deported Veterans

By Joe Armenta

Deported VeteransThe injustice faced by hundreds, if not thousands, of U.S. military veterans who are being and have been deported was the focus of a campaign announced Tuesday, September 20th by a broad coalition of leaders including representatives of the veterans community, elected officials, business, labor and immigrant reform communities.

The coalition pledged to drive change for currently deported veterans and those who are facing deportation. Marine Corps veteran and former California Assemblymember Nathan Fletcher has agreed to serve as Chair of the group and stated the following –

“If you were willing to give your life for your country, your country should be willing to give you citizenship.”

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Kumeyaay Tribes Protest Navy’s Plans to Build SEAL Center in Burial Grounds along Silver Strand

September 2, 2016 by Source

Kumeyaay protest Coronado 83116

Debi Baker at San Diego U-T wrote:

Dozens of Native American Indians staged a protest Wednesday [Aug.31] morning over the building of Naval Base Coronado’s new SEAL training center on what they say is a native burial ground.

The 12 tribes that make up the Kumeyaay Nation want the $1 billion project south of Silver Strand State Beach to be moved a short distance so as not to desecrate what members call a sacred site, said Cynthia Parada, a councilwoman with the La Posta Band of Mission Indians.

The 60-acre campus will add 1.5 million square feet of buildings to the base that includes spaces for SEAL Teams, logistical support buildings, training facilities, classrooms and more.

IIn 2002, human remains of a young boy said to be 7,000 years old were found in the area south of Silver Strand State Beach, Parada said.

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Miramar Air Show Sends the Wrong Message

August 19, 2016 by Source

Editor: The following piece by Dave Patterson ran in the Op-Ed pages of the San Diego Union-Tribune, August 18, 2016.

By Dave Patterson

Given our quagmire in the Middle East it’s high time that we gave some thought to how our politicians and military contractors promote war as the answer to our problems. In San Diego the promotion of war is anchored in the annual Miramar Air Show.

According to the air show Web page, it’s the largest in the world, with as many as 500,000 people attending. What they don’t tell us is that the air show is designed to appeal to our senses, not our intellect, and when we participate we get an adrenaline high and exciting memories to take home. We also take home the potential burden of our military people and civilians being injured or killed just to provide us those thrills. We also forget that the very nature of war is about death and destruction, not fun and games.

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San Diego Veterans to Protest Miramar Air Show

August 18, 2016 by Source

“Bannering” against upcoming airshow on August 18

By San Diego Veterans for Peace

miramarEach year, San Diego hosts the giant Miramar Air Show, which is attended by up to 500,000 people.

This air show is typical of many other air shows around the country in that it attempts to glorify and glamorize war and militarism, as well as being an excellent opportunity for defense contractors and the overall military industrial complex to sell products which lead to the deaths and injuries of so many people on earth.

The San Diego Veterans For Peace, with veteran members of all five services, is opposed to these “war shows” and is asking the public to stay home and to provide more wholesome entertainment to their children and families than the Miramar Air Show provides.

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Liberty Station: Orchid Award Nominations and Free Events in August

August 3, 2016 by Source
Thumbnail image for Liberty Station: Orchid Award Nominations and Free Events in August

By South OB Girl

Our neighbor to the east, Liberty Station, has been nominated for 2 Orchid Awards. And both nominations are for historic preservation. Plus Liberty Station is packed with free events in August.

The Lot

The first Orchid Award nomination is The Lot and here are quotes from the nominee’s website :

The Lot Liberty Station opened to the public on May 5, 2016, and provides a luxurious, comfortable dining, drinking and cinematic experience to Point Loma’s thriving and vibrant Liberty Station community.

The Lot Liberty Station features unique design elements that pay homage to the building’s original function as the Naval Training Center’s epicenter of military troop training and entertainment

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Ocean Beach and Point Loma News and Notices

June 21, 2016 by Staff

OB OB Pier 50th Art Image
* OB Pier 50th Anniversary Art Show Reception – June 30th
* Ocean Beach Street Fair and Chili Cook-Off set for June 25
* Point Loma Neighbors See Violation of 30 Foot Height Rule in New Construction
* Recent Research Showing Cabrillo as Spanish Ignites Local Controversy
* It’s Back! Artwork Cleaned-Up and Returned to Newport Ave.
* Is Amazon Taking Over the Old Midway Post Office?
* Pipeline Repair and Rehab Project Public Meeting – June 22nd
* Woman Rescued After Falling From Sunset Cliffs …
* Bicyclist Injured by SUV in Fleetridge Area of Point Loma
* PB Residents Argue Whether Crime Rates Gauged to Lack of Local Control Over Alcohol Licenses
* Imperial Beach Is Worried About Sea-Level Rise – Shouldn’t OB Be?
* Fiesta Island’s full-on dog party over soon?
* Americana group Dewey Paul Band will perform their Garcia Van Dylan tribute at Winston’s
* Thousands of Books Collected for Kids Summer-

COME INSIDE FOR ALL THE REST ….

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Much Ado About Raised Fists

May 17, 2016 by Source

cadets

By Denise Oliver Velez / Daily Kos

Here we go again, with yet another “incident” fueling right-wing outrage about black people and symbolism. The latest was over a photograph of 16 black female cadets who had come together to celebrate their upcoming graduation from the United States Military Academy at West Point.

The New York Times reported:

The gesture, posted on Facebook and Twitter last week, touched off a barrage of criticism in and out of the armed forces as some commenters accused the women of allying themselves with the Black Lives Matter movement and sowing racial divisions in a military that relies on assimilation.

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Celebrating 40 Years of the Ocean Beach Planning Board and OB Community Plan

May 3, 2016 by Frank Gormlie

party hats balloon

All this week we will be celebrating the 40th Anniversary of the popular vote that established the Ocean Beach Planning Board and the first OB community plan.

It was on May 4, 1976 that thousands of OB residents, renters, property owners and business-owners voted in the very first panel to sit on the very first Planning Board for the community. It was truly an historic occasion because nothing like that had ever occurred in San Diego before.

So, to highlight this history, all week we will be publishing comments, notes, stories and accounts of the May ’76 vote and memories of those who served on the Board back then as well as over its 40 year history.

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Michael Moore Says His New Movie Will Change America

February 16, 2016 by Source

“Free universal health care, free university, free day care, taxing and policing hedge fund millionaires—have already happened in nearly every other industrialized country in the world! And I have the evidence—and the film—to prove it!” — Michael Moore

Screenshot from trailer for "Where to Invade Next"CommonDreams

Michael Moore’s newest documentary, Where to Invade Next, presents an uncharacteristically optimistic outlook. (Screenshot)

Filmmaker Michael Moore on Friday is launching the national release of his new documentary Where to Invade Next, which is said to be both his happiest and “most subversive” movie yet.

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An Author Walks Among Us – A Review of “Casualties”

January 8, 2016 by Judi Curry
Thumbnail image for An Author Walks Among Us – A Review of “Casualties”

This is a review of a novel by Elizabeth Marro

The title of this article is truer than the reader knows.

I first met Elizabeth Marro – “Betsy” – while we were walking our dogs down the streets of Ocean Beach. As dog owners are wont to do, we began talking and I found out that she was an author; was aware of some of my articles for the OB Rag.

She told me she was writing a book, and I offered to read it for her when she was finished with it. It wasn’t long after that that she sent me her draft, and I loved it. I told her that when it was ready for publication to let me know and I’d do a review of it for her and was anxious to see if she had made any changes.

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Can Our Children Learn to Study War No More from Mice?

November 17, 2015 by Ernie McCray

Mural of two young girls writing "PLEASE NO MORE WAR" "LOVE" on a wall (Photo: txindoki/Flickr/cc)

By Ernie McCray

As we opened our hearts, this past Veteran’s Day, to our nation’s warriors with hearty “Thank you for your service” like cliches, alongside heaping praise on them for being strong heroic and brave – I kept thinking of two young men I met a little over a decade ago.

They were among the first to die in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

I met them at career fairs at their schools, while I was sitting at a table letting kids know that they …

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A Cry for Ending the Slaughter in the ‘Drone Papers’ Revelations

November 12, 2015 by Source

Drone_papers

By Marjorie Cohn / Truthdig

A new whistleblower has joined the ranks of Edward Snowden, Chelsea Manning, John Kiriakou and other courageous individuals. The unnamed person, who chose to remain anonymous because of the Obama administration’s vigorous prosecution of whistleblowers, is a member of the intelligence community.

In the belief that the American public has the right to know about the “fundamentally” and “morally” flawed U.S. drone program, this source provided The Intercept with a treasure trove of secret military documents and slides that shine a critical light on the country’s killer drone program.

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