Category: San Diego

by Ernie McCray

Is there anything in the world as cool as just “cooling it,” you know, kicking back in your comfy jeans, and that nice fitting tee-shirt you found in Borrego Springs, some broken in running shoes, acting and feeling like you just know you’re cool.

Talking about a little respite from rising everyday and entering into Twilight Zone like scenes wherein wee-minded anti-this and anti-that beings scurry about frightened to death of life, all caught up in their “America Love it or Leave It” proclivities and philosophies.

– ALL LINKS AND STORIES INSIDE –
* Young at Art Beautify Corner at Cable and Newport
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* Deadline for OB Historical Society Annual Photo Exhibit and Contest Extended to May 19th (was May 13th)
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* Fire Rings Saved But Watch What You Burn
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* OB’s Sacred Heart Parish School Family Festival- May 15
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* Rummage Sale to Pay for OB Elementary’s 4th Grade Sea Camp
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* OB Planning Board to Discuss Sunset Cliffs Traffic at Project Review Meeting on May 19th
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* Planning Board Fills Vacant Seat in District 3
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* Peace Movement to Hold “Die-In” Against the Drones Made by General Atomics May 19th
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* City opens bidding for OB Pier Café concession
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* OB Beach Ball – CANCELED until 2011
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* School Board Candidate Forum at Liberty Station – May 20th
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* Coffee Party to Stage Tour of San Diego’s Mega-Banks – May 21st
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* OB Friends of Library Book Sale – June 19th

Three problems in the US today that have to be solved.

1. New economy must be created as the prior economy of borrow and no production has failed. Must create an economy based on production.

2. Cheap energy bubble has popped …

by Carl Manaster / Special to the OB Rag / May 12, 2010

Van Jones spoke to a nearly full house last night at UCSD’s Price Center. The crowd was diverse – old and young, multiracial, male and female, and most notably right and left.

Supporters – from the left – made up the bulk of the crowd, but probably five percent were from the other side, holding signs that accuse Jones of having an “evil” agenda, calling him a “radical communist”, and calling his green jobs “snake oil”.

Hundreds of San Diegans yelled “No more cuts!” repeatedly. It was Saturday, May 8th, and it was the Educate for the Future rally in Balboa Park, at Sixth and Laurel, a traditional protest site. Teachers spoke, children sang and spoke, principals spoke, Congressman Bob Filner spoke, School Board President Richard Barrera spoke.

In front of a fire pit near the waters of Mission Bay, Mayor Jerry Sanders announced at a press conference today (5/10/10) that the City’s 185 beach fire rings have been saved … at least for now. Due to a hefty donation of $90,000 from the San Diego Foundation, and smaller amounts from other sources, the fire rings’ are safe from removal until June 2011.

Documentary? Comedy? Satire? Hoax?

It’s tough to pigeonhole Exit Through The Gift Shop, currently playing at Landmark Theaters in Hillcrest. The film is directed by UK street art superstar Bansky and tells the story of his rise to fame — though it does so indirectly.

Exit’s purported focus is amateur filmmaker Thierry Guetta, an absent-minded Frenchman and associate of Banksy’s who speaks in comically accented English and decides to become a superstar street artist himself.

by Michael Chen/ Channel 10 News

The five cameras were installed in response to a street robbery and vicious sexual assault case in 2006 that left city and community leaders outraged. It cost $100,000 to install the cameras, which are put up at Belmont Park and South Mission Beach.

But after several years of watching, police have stopped monitoring those cameras.

by Pat Flannery

I went to a strong-mayor forum (Prop D) last night at the San Diego County Health Complex sponsored by Common Cause and Empower San Diego, with guest speakers Donna Frye and Carl DeMaio. It was well attended, informal, with lots of great comments and questions. Carl and Donna are a great double act and the crowd loved it.

For me, what emerged was a pointed reminder of the continuous struggle between a secretive privileged elite and the rest of us. Carl DeMaio, who by temperament should identify with the forgotten masses, seems to yearn for acceptance by San Diego’s ruling elite. It will never happen. Those of us who have lived here long enough know that San Diego is an elitist closed shop.

Michael Chen, a Channel 10 News reporter, has a brand, new piece that he is broadcasting tonight about the surveillance cameras in and around the beach. His report has a new slant on the fact that the City of San Diego plans to install up to 16 cameras around Mission Bay and including one on the OB Pier.

Chen came out to OB today (5/5/10) and interviewed Frank Gormlie about the cameras. Gormlie has written about the “creep of Big Brother” and has taken a strong stance against the cameras.

But we cannot divulge the content of Chen’s report until after tonight. His report should be either at 6pm or 7pm this evening on Channel 10.

by Shane Finneran / Exclusive to OB Rag /

About 75 demonstrators calling for the legalization of marijuana marched on the Pacific Beach boardwalk between Crystal Pier and Belmont Park on May 1. Participants spoke on a megaphone and carried signs with messages such as “Respect State Law,” “Prohibition Empowers Drug Lords,” and “Marijuana Is Better Than Alcohol.”

The two-hour march, which began at 11am, was organized by the Southern California chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) and a San Diego marijuana dispensary. SoCal NORML director Craig Beresh led the group in chants encouraging the legalization and taxation of marijuana.

I have technically been a Phish fan since my early teens, when a dreadlocked summer camp counselor played the song “Fee” each morning to rouse a cadre of young adolescents from their slumber and get them ready for the day.

My devotion grew over the years, and by now I consider myself a Phish “head”. At this stage in my fan arc, I wholeheartedly believe that what keeps me coming back for more is the community built between the band and it’s fans.

On Friday night (April 30th) at the Hazard Center Ultrastar Theatre, there was a love fest going …