OB Rag

From San Diego Free Press / June 4, 2012

In Under the Perfect Sun, Mike Davis, Kelly Mayhew and I observe that San Diego is a city that “many conservatives extol as a utopia of patriotism and free enterprise.” Indeed it was Nixon’s “lucky city” but, as we note, “San Diego has too frequently been a town wide open to greed but closed to social justice.

Like its Sunbelt siblings—Orange County, Phoenix, and Dallas—it has a long history of weak and venal city halls dominated by powerful groups of capitalist insiders. ‘Private Government’ has long overshadowed public politics.”

My daughter, her husband, and son came to visit me today. They live in Orange County and because of her working hours it has been difficult for them to visit for more than a day at a time. Lynn is my middle daughter who checks on me daily to make sure I am ok.

Because it has been more than 6 months since they have been here, I asked both of my other daughters and their families to join us. My oldest daughter was baby-sitting her grandchildren and could not make it. My youngest came with her family, and the two students I have living with me joined us as well, totaling twelve as we sat down for dinner. It was a fun evening, and we began talking about what we would do the following day.

Balboa Park Conservancy Board of Director members Judy Swink and Vicki Granowitz recently issued a joint press release in which they announced their resignations from the board. Both of their resignations were precipitated by the board’s June 1 majority endorsement of politically powerful San Diego philanthropist Irwin Jacobs’ controversial Plaza de Panama plan. According to the press release, prior to June 1 the Balboa Park Conservancy had maintained a neutral role with no direct involvement in the creation or implementation of this plan. It now not only supports the plan, it will actively lobby for it.

Beginning Monday, June 4th, the OB Rag is birthing a new online publication for all of San Diego. It’s called the San Diego Free Press – and is named after San Diego’s very first alternative newspaper – which was published from 1968 to 1969.

The San Diego Free Press will bring to the rest of San Diego what the OB Rag has been bringing to the community of Ocean Beach these last four and half years – an online source of news, issues, and progressive views by citizen journalists, plus the providing of a platform for the discussion of issues relevant to the village of OB.

The San Diego Free Press – in the planning stages for over a year and half – will be a source for neighborhood news from all the ignored and forgotten communities of our area, and it will provide a source and platform for progressive views for and by San Diegans.

“Thai Time Bistro Thai Food”
1830 Sunset Cliffs Blvd.

After cooking dinner for 12 people last night, I decided to take one of my students and go out to dinner tonight. We found our way to a restaurant I have been to many times, and knew that my student liked Thai food so it was a natural.

We arrived about 6:50pm on a Saturday night and although the restaurant was not full there was a lot of action taking place. We were “sort of” greeted by the manager and left standing as he sat another patron. After seating them he came back to us and showed us our table. We sat for a few minutes, and one of the female’s that help serve the food brought us water (with lemon slices.) For the first time since I have been dining at Thai Time there was also a small bowl of warm fava beans served as an appetizer.

Candidate Scott Peters has been blanketing his expensive, slick fliers all over the 52nd Congressional District. Today, his latest flier arrived, and lo and behold – it’s a listing of media and press endorsements of the Scott Peters campaign – and includes the OB Rag. The flier intentionally makes it appear as if the OB Rag endorsed Scott Peters for Congress.

There is nothing further from the truth.

We at the OB Rag did NOT endorse Scott Peters – in fact, we endorsed Lori Saldaña in a staff vote of 9 to 2.

“The best lack all conviction while the worst are filled with passionate intensity.” Second Coming, William Butler Yeats

President Bill Clinton was in Wisconsin on Friday, June 1, stumping for Milwaukee Democratic Mayor Tom Barrett. Barrett is running against Governor Scott Walker in the upcoming recall election on June 5th and the race is a tight one.

Walker, who rode into office with a six point victory over Barrett in the 2010 mid-term elections, immediately focused upon dismantling the public employee collective bargaining laws in the state, reducing the number of individuals eligible for BadgerCare, the state’s health insurance safety net, lowering taxes on the wealthiest, and slashing the budget for education.

Hello, fellow activists!

We are asking for San Diegans – and ONLY SAN DIEGANS – to help out by signing our new Change.org petition.

The petition asks that the San Diego City Council support a resolution to amend the constitution and reverse Citizens United. After all, corporations are not people and money is not free speech!

We’ll be submitting this petition list to members of the San Diego City Council in June as part of ongoing nationwide effort. For that reason it is important that only those living in the city of San Diego (ZIP code 92101-92199) sign.

The OB Rag had heard that the Ocean Beach ARCO, at the prominent corner of Newport and Sunset Cliffs Boulevard, was closing. As I drove by the site yesterday afternoon, I noticed workers placing items into a white van, and the yellow, caution tape draped across all the pumps. So I parked and went looking for answers.

Inside the station itself, 95% of everything had been removed. There were some former ARCO workers milling about, papers in hand, and a woman videotaping what remained. After asking her if I could speak to her for a minute, Jennifer informed me that ARCO did not renew their lease with the property owners of the site. So, the property owners were leasing it out to Shell, which owns USA Gas, and it is USA Gas that will be the new station going in. It will be open in about a week I was told.

Ocean Beach – Where oh where is OB’s ARCO going? Is this part of the BP plan?

Did ARCO inform Ocean Beach that they were pulling up stakes? Did they tell OBMA? The Planners? The Town Council? Their own staff?

What do you think, oh wise OBcean?

Let us know if you have a clue, an inkling, or have found the secret plans of British Petroleum.

From Stop Prop A

San Diego, CA – “San Diegans do love their parks, but our parks could be at risk if Prop A passes,” begins District 7 Councilmember Marti Emerald in a taped statement released today by the No on Proposition A campaign.
COME INSIDE FOR DETAILS

Voter Approval of Proposition A on the June 5 Ballot could cause the City of San Diego’s Bond Ratings to Drop

San Diego, CA – Fitch Ratings, a global rating agency dedicated to scoring agencies’ financial strength, has cautioned the City of San Diego that passage of Proposition A will present severe fiscal consequences to the city, …COME INSIDE FOR DETAILS

Sometimes when I’m feeling mellow I can’t help but reflect on the good moments in my life, on the things that make my heart sing. Being an actor, and a patron of the arts, theater is high among the list of things that energize my existence.

And there is a performing arts company in town called Mo’olelo (story in Hawaiian) that is dedicated to staging dramas that inspire us, no matter our ethnicity or creed or what we believe, to seek and embrace ways to respect each other for who we all are: human beings.

They are dedicated to such ideals in every play, going about it in a community-focused, socially-conscious way, seeking always to provide significant roles for actors of color and to allow the company to serve communities that are traditionally under-served in American theater. I especially appreciate that they visit classrooms to ignite students’ imaginations and prepare them for theater-going experiences before they see the plays. That’s walking the talk to me.