OB Rag

Here are links and stories from across the country – and at times, from across the seas – national news that you can naturally use.

Did Republicans deliberately crash the US economy? So why does the US economy stink? Why has job creation in America slowed to a crawl? Why, after several months of economic hope, are things suddenly turning sour? The culprits might seem obvious – uncertainty in Europe, an uneven economic recovery, fiscal and monetary policymakers immobilized and incapable of acting. But increasingly, Democrats are making the argument that the real culprit for the country’s economic woes lies in a more discrete location: with the Republican Party.

Woodward and Bernstein: 40 years after Watergate, Nixon was far worse than we thought. This is written by Woodward and Bernstein themselves – more than a retrospective.

by J. D. Heyes / Natural News /June 12, 2012

Anyone who has spent longer than a day on a computer knows how dangerous to your hard drive malware and other malicious code can be. Most of us have fallen victim to one or the other and have cursed the day the hacker who developed it was born.

Now, according to reports, some of the most sophisticated malicious code ever developed is a product of the United States government, leaving more than a few tech experts and analysts concerned that maybe now, Washington has become a bigger info-terrorist than some of the country’s worst enemies.

Chuck Schiele to Perform Once Again in OB

Singer-songwriter-promoter Chuck Schiele – having relocated to the East Coast two years ago – is returning to OB and will perform at the Farmers Market Showcase on June 20 and at the OB Street Fair itself. See here for more.

Surfrider Foundation Holding Ocean Friendly Garden Party in Ocean Beach – June 28th

Homeowners are invited to Surfrider Foundation’s upcoming Ocean Friendly Garden Party on Thursday, June 28th from 5:00 pm to 8:00 pm. Open to the general public, attendees will learn more about the CPR principles behind Ocean Friendly Gardens, and other chapter programs and events in a fun, informal setting at the Ocean Beach Hotel. Those interested in attending should RSVP at info@surfridersd.org and include “Garden Party” in the subject heading.

The good folks at SOHO – Save Our Heritage Organization – are fighting angry. And for good reason. They are upset that the San Diego Planning Commission approved billionaire Irwin Jacobs’ plans for Balboa Park at its June 7th meeting. SOHO wrote us:

After eight hours of presentations and public testimony on June 7th, with little thoughtful deliberation, the San Diego Planning Commission voted 7-0 to recommend approval of the Plaza de Panama project. Their conduct was one of extreme disappointment as they let down both the public and forfeited their stewardship of Balboa Park in an embarrassing display up one-upmanship of who could thank Dr. Jacobs the most for gracing their presence. This is no exaggeration.

by Denise Mann / WebMD Health News

Many moms who want to breastfeed exclusively for three months or longer fall short of meeting this goal, a new study shows.

More than 85% of new moms said they intended to breastfeed for three months or longer, but just 32.4% met their mark. The World Health Organization (WHO) and the American Academy of Pediatrics recommend that mothers breastfeed exclusively for about the first six months of their infant’s life because of health benefits for mom and baby.

Editor: “City Heights – Up Close & Personal” is a weekly column by Anna Daniels at the San Diego Free Press, our own upstart launched last week. One of the aims of the SD Free Press is to cover long-ignored and forgotten communities around San Diego.

The home my husband and I bought in City Heights over two decades ago is a four mile straight shot along University Avenue from the little house we had rented in North Park for six years. Despite the short distance, the trips east to our new home were initially disorienting.

“Let Them Eat Snake” report crawling with 21st Century food tips

By Victor Payan / San Diego Free Press

(BOCA RATON) Americans can stretch their dwindling food budgets and broaden their taste horizons if they’d only consider eating more insects, rats and vermin, according to Uncle Sam.

That’s the message from the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which today released a report on the nutritional value of more than 700 common insects, reptiles, rodents, amphibians and spiders.

by John Lawrence/ San Diego Free Press

Criticisms of Mitt Romney’s background at Bain Capital and his record as a “job creator” are fair game.

I have never heard so many conservative pundits offering gratuitous avuncular advice to Barack Obama that his campaign strategy attacking Bain Capital will not get him anywhere. Joe Scarborough of Morning Joe on msnbc and others have gone on and on about how using Bain Capital against Mitt Romney is not a good strategy. Well, when conservatives offer advice to Barack Obama about what will or will not work for him, Obama better do just the opposite of what they recommend because ultimately they want him to lose. Therefore, he should double down, not abandon, the Bain Capital strategy.

The 99% and all that stuff
is a movement that’s all about US
and with that in mind
one might opine
that many of US
can remember times
when we could barely
pay the rent
and when the rent
was made good with all good intent
the food money
was gone…spent.

By John P Anderson / Walking Miss Eva

With the traditional start of summer in the United States, I recently got a request for a post on recommendations I have for how to be ‘more green’. This post is my top 5 recommendations for simple, easy, and cheap ways to live in a more Earth-friendly way this summer.
_______________

1) Stop – Don’t use pesticides, herbicides, insecticides or other poisons in your yard

• Although when pesticides and other poisons are mentioned, the most likely picture brought to mind is one of large farms or crop dusting planes, backyards are often where the highest concentrations of these poisons can be found. Due to drift from neighboring yards, as well as the mixing of many different types of poisons in one yard the concentrations can be many times higher the recommended levels noted on product labels. (And regardless of the recommendations on the label consider if you would like to ingest the product you are putting onto your yard or garden.)

Shades
5083 Santa Monica Ave.
San Diego, CA 92107
619-222-0501

I have never done a review of “Shades” restaurant. I don’t know why not. It is one of my favorite Ocean Beach Restaurants; I am a member of their “Regular’s Club” – spend $100 and get $5 off your bill. (The nice thing is that the $100 does not have to be spent at one time because it is accumulative.) Whenever I have out of town guests I always take them to Shades. The view is magnificent; the food is good; and the noise level is bearable.

I probably would not be doing this review now if the service was not so slow that afternoon when one of the members of my widow support group and I went there for lunch. It was the 3rd anniversary of her husband’s death, and Shades was always a favorite with her and her husband. We arranged to have lunch together and then go up to Ft. Rosecrans to “visit” with our husband’s. (They are in one of the walls fronting the bay and very close to each other.)

Looking at the streets, sidewalks, gutters, alleyways, and ashtrays around the village, cigarette smoking is still popular in OB. Just take a look in front at any open restaurant, bar, or other venue in town and you’ll see a host of smokers puffing away. When I inquiring as to how they afford their cigarettes which averaging $5 per pack the majority shared that they simply shell out the $$$. A few replied they choose to go without and a host of others simply ask others for them.

Well, smokers, here’s some good news for you and your wallet; a safe haven for smokers has arrived in OB. It’s a shop where smokers are welcome, wanted, and appreciated. Bad Habit is its name and “rollin your own” is its game.