OB Rag

UPDATE: Boogie Boarder identified as 62 year old Vernon Taniguchi of San Diego.

An unidentified male boogie boarder was pulled from the surf Sunday, March 3rd, unconscious. He had been spotted off the shore near Voltaire Street in north OB. CPR was administered but to no avail as he died about an hour later.

The county Medical Examiner’s Office is trying to determine his identity.

Just before 7pm, a surfer found the guy, and pulled him to the beach, where a bystander performed CPR on him, before medics arrived. The medics then took the man to UCSD Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead at 6:58 p.m., the Medical Examiner’s Office reported.

His name and age were not immediately known.

Much has been made of Bob Filner crashing the City Attorney’s news conference a little while ago but we shouldn’t forget that in that flurry of feistiness he pointed out that there are people among us, fellow citizens, family, friends, you name them, who are paid tacky wages. Like hotel workers.

He made it clear that the tourist industry isn’t going to ply their trade with $30 million dollars of the city’s money unless they pay hotel workers what they deserve.

How refreshing is that, a mayor for the people, a man standing up for the folks who make visitors to “America’s Finest City” comfortable and well fed, with nice pools for a swim on well manicured hotel grounds. These people get out and about town and spend money by the ton and the people who added so much to the fineness of their stay don’t get anywhere near their fair share of this bounty.

By Robert Reich /RobertReich.org

Imagine a plot to undermine the government of the United States, to destroy much of its capacity to do the public’s business, and to sow distrust among the population.

Imagine further that the plotters infiltrate Congress and state governments, reshape their districts to give them disproportionate influence in Washington, and use the media to spread big lies about the government.

Finally, imagine they not only paralyze the government but are on the verge of dismantling pieces of it.

Far-fetched?  Perhaps. But take a look at what’s been happening in Washington and many state capitals since Tea Party fanatics gained effective control of the Republican Party, and you’d be forgiven if you see parallels.

by Kaili Joy Gray/ Daily Kos

While House Republicans are busy focusing on super important things like the size of the Democrats’ email list, here’s another little program that’s about to be hit hard by the sequestration: Meals on Wheels, the program that delivers food to the homes of seniors in need.

The new science of ideology now extends to consumer choices, demonstrating how unconscious political viewpoints really are.

By Chris Mooney / AlterNet

It was probably inevitable, but it’s striking nonetheless. In a new study published in the journal Psychological Science, Vishal Singh of New York University’s Stern School of Business and his colleagues apply an ever-growing body of research on the psychological traits of liberals and conservatives to their consumer choices.

So, if we’re really going to do this “civility” thing we have to understand that we’re not “restoring” something

“Can we all get along?” Rodney King once asked as the streets of LA burned as a result of LA’s Finest literally stomping him into the ground in sight of the whole world only to be found “not guilty,” free to go. Such is life in an uncivil world.

It’s nice to know, though, that in such an in-your-face world as is ours there are people who want to bring some degree of order to it.

Originally posted in February 2013

By Brittany Bailey

Frank Gormlie, Editor of the OB Rag and one of the editors of the San Diego Free Press, gave a presentation at Thursday’s meeting – Feb 21 – of the Ocean Beach Historical Society. Gormlie, who was raised in Ocean Beach and has been a community activist for years, gave insight and firsthand knowledge about the history of the Ocean Beach Planning Board- the first democratically-elected planning board in the State.

The meeting was held at 7pm at the United Methodist on Sunset Cliffs Blvd. The house was packed with many standing at the back. There was a brief introduction by Pat James, the chair of the OB Historical Society, and then Gormlie took the stage with a skit – complete with props and funny voices–

Waiting too long detracted from the good food

“Ranchos” Mexican and Vegetarian Cuisine
1830 Sunset Cliffs Blvd.
Ocean Beach, CA 92107
619-226-7619

A good friend called me today to wish me happy birthday, and said she had been following my restaurant reviews and wondered if I ever stayed home and cooked any more. It does seem like I have been going out a lot – and my increased girth tells me that is true – but I hate to pass by the opportunity of going out and trying new – and old – restaurants, so I decided to take my two students – Monica and Jeffrey – to Rancho’s for dinner. (And for clarification purposes – both students are adults studying English at ESL schools.)

The tragedies of 9-11 were several years away when Obceans who knew that patriotism was consistent with the community’s laid-back, do-your-own-thing ethic decided it was high-time to do something big.

An idea to honor those who have served our country in the armed forces took hold and, with the help of the since-vacated Ocean Beach VFW, the Ocean Beach Mainstreet Association (OBMA) and others, the idea came to fruition.

In a nutshell, that’s how the Veterans’ Plaza at the corner of Abbott Street and Newport Avenue – with two its flagpoles, 6 ½-foot-high piece of granite rock and adorning plaque, and dozens of inscriptions engraved onto a brand-new, concrete sidewalk – came to be in the mid-1990s, organizers say. Ocean Beach was ahead of the curve.

Originally published Feb. 21, 2013
Editor: Here is a series of articles about the history of community planning in Ocean Beach going back to the Sixties and Seventies. It is not a complete history, but does offer up an early history of the OB Planning Board, the Ocean Beach Precise Plan, the planning crisis that faced the community in the early 1970s, and OB’s response – which by the middle of that decade – made California history.

The Battle Over the Ocean Beach Precise Plan- how urban planning became a democratic process and how OB was saved (here)

• an introduction to the story about OB’s historic battle over the Precise Plan and about the fight to make urban planning a democratic process – which in the end directly saved Ocean Beach from over-development, enabling it to be the quaint village it is today.

By Becky Sorenson

In an effort to continue serving the Ocean Beach community, the OB Woman’s Club is hosting a community clothing swap fundraiser. This event will be held on Saturday Feb. 23rd from 1-3pm. There will be a $5 entrance fee for this event.

A Clothing Swap is an event designed to reuse the perfectly good clothing, shoes and accessories that we no longer wear or need. Here’s how it works, clean out your closet and bring some gently used wearable clean clothes that are taking up unwanted space in your closet. Then come browse and find some new items to spruce up your wardrobe.

From the OB Historical Society’s website:

A Historical Perspective of OB’s Planning Board

Frank Gormlie, Editor of the OB Rag, will give a program on the history of the Ocean Beach’s Planning Board and the importance of O.B. residents taking part in their community groups. Frank was a member of the fist O.B. Planning Board, which was also one of the first San Diego Community Planning Boards. Frank will talk about the importance of a good community plan that reflects what the residents want, and how they want to shape their future. Frank will stress the participation of residents in running for the board, going to meetings and voting in the election.