Category: Popular

We received a troubling message from Dusty Rhodes Dog Park Friends late last week who wanted us to broadcast a reminder to all participants at that dog park to be especially cautious with any of their small dogs.

Apparently, earlier last week – the week of June 28 – July 2, a very small dog who had been brought regularly to the dog park by her owners for the last few months was attacked and killed by a large aggressive Husky.

A new sticker that we can relate to.

Tell us what you think about the new sticker put together by the folks at the Regional Task Force on the Homeless, who will be present at the community forum on Tuesday night.

(MORE DETAILS AND ALL LINKS INSIDE)

(Originally posted on July 16, 2009.)

by Frank Gormlie

For 26 years now, OBceans have been lobbing marshmallows at each other once the fireworks die down on July 4ths.

Since it began in 1985 with warring parties of neighbors at the beach all the way to this year, hundreds if not thousands of participants have joined the virtual free-for-all around the bonfires.

But now calls to end this particular brand of totally-local OB shenanigan have surfaced …

Getting in my car to drive to OB to protest The Black’s “Don’t Feed our Bums” mentality, my mind said to me: “Hey, nobody will as much as give us remnants of picketers from another day the time of day.”

But when I walked down Bacon and hit the corner where it intersects with Newport Avenue and saw all the people and picket signs …

At first glance, the November ballot initiative to legalize marijuana in California seems like a no-brainer. It will boost tax revenues. It will lighten the burden on our prison system and allow law enforcement to focus on more serious issues. It will move billions of dollars out of the hands of drug traffickers and into the legitimate economy, creating thousands of jobs. Overall, it will end the prohibition of a relatively harmless drug that has demonstrated medical benefits and is enjoyed by millions of recreational users.

Here’s an update on the whole ‘bum’ sticker controversy.
Wednesday, June 23rd in front of The Black

* I started to write up a summary of what happened the other day in front of The Black but ended up deleting a lot of it. (It had been such a challenging two hours out there in front of a crowd, I almost didn’t want to relive it again by blogging about it. So, here’s an abbreviated version.)

by John M. Williams

I’ve decided that that’s what I need: Somebody to hate.

The old Airplane song had it backward, I think. We don’t need Somebody to Love, we need Somebody to Hate. That way, we’d have something we could share; we’d have something in common and could get along even though we each thought the other to be an idiot, fool, dolt, or just plain stupid and bad mannered.

by Jack Hamlin / Special to the OB Rag / June 23, 2010

Yesterday (6/22/10), I was invited to attend a meeting of OB’s local faith community. The purpose of the meeting was a beginning point to discuss and work together with the community to address homelessness in OB and all the attendant issues. In particular, there was an overriding concern the current sentiments by some could lead to violence in our community.

by Steve A/ Special to the OB Rag / June 22, 2010

During the seventies, (from 1970 to 1980), I was one of the co-owners of The Black.

As of late, via the evening news (I no longer reside in the area), I have been made aware that there has been considerable discussion regarding the homeless or bums in O.B. and that The Black is smack in the middle of a controversy and possibly even on the wrong side of the fence in the matter.

Yeah, ouch! We really did touch a nerve with our posts and coverage about the anti-homeless sticker and merchandise the Black is selling in OB, and our subsequent call for a temporary boycott of The Black. Our posts and the coverage by local media have created a major story about this community.

The story went national on last Saturday, June 19th, what with the 10News story and the front-page article on the Union-Tribune / signonsandiego .

The “Bum Fight” going on in Ocean Beach these last few days has now gone viral. It’s the top story on the Union-Tribune’s online publication, signonsandiego this morning.

Now the intolerance for the homeless in OB is now out there – for all to see. The whole world will now know the hypocrisy in Ocean Beach – a community known for its laid-back attitude, care-free lifestyles and tolerance for everyone and anyone.

The battle and controversy raging in Ocean Beach over a hateful sticker against the community’s homeless has just intensified.

On one side, The Black – the source of the stickers of intolerance – has just now begun selling T-shirts with the well-known image carrying the the message “don’t feed our bums.”

On the other side, organizers of the Boycott The Black effort are gearing up with a petition and plans to picket the old-time head shop on Newport.

Ken Anderson, co-manager of The Black told me on Monday, June 14, that he would consider taking the stickers off the shelf if he was presented with a petition with a hundred names asking him to do that. However, apparently in a new move to cash in – literally – with this anti-homeless sentiment, Anderson is now selling shirts with the hate logo.