OB Rag

Passed by both Congressional chambers in December, signed into law by President Obama on December 31st, the National Defense Authorization Act of 2012 goes into effect today, March 1, 2012.

This is the Act that allows the indefinite detention of American citizens on American soil by our government. It is the Act that allows the US military to be used as law enforcement inside the borders of the country – for the first time since the Civil War. The Act effectively disembowels the Bill of Rights – the Charter of our basic and fundamental rights as American citizens.

From now until the worst of its language is overruled or repealed, ours is not a nation ruled by those laws and provisions of rights laid down over two centuries ago, but a nation ruled by the whims of whomever is in the White House. Welcome to the end of the rule of law in this nation.

By Michael Hastings / Rolling Stone – RSN / February 29, 2012

As Occupy Wall Street spread across the nation last fall, sparking protests in more than 70 cities, the Department of Homeland Security began keeping tabs on the movement. An internal DHS report entitled “SPECIAL COVERAGE: Occupy Wall Street,” dated October of last year, opens with the observation that “mass gatherings associated with public protest movements can have disruptive effects on transportation, commercial, and government services, especially when staged in major metropolitan areas.” While acknowledging the overwhelmingly peaceful nature of OWS, the report notes darkly that “large scale demonstrations also carry the potential for violence, presenting a significant challenge for law enforcement.”

The five-page report – contained in 5 million newly leaked documents examined by Rolling Stone in an investigative partnership with WikiLeaks – goes on to sum up the history of Occupy Wall Street and assess its “impact” on everything from financial services to government facilities. Many of the observations are benign, and appear to have been culled from publicly available sources.

Lately, it seems, when I get news from my beloved Sonoran Desert it’s filled with vibrations that chill my soul, tales of senate and assembly bills that threaten the well being of some of its citizens, tales of students being denied studies that motivate them to reach for great things in their lives, tales of books being banned that inspire critical thinking.

But the other day I received a bit of refreshing E-News from the College of Education at my alma mater, the University of Arizona, that made me feel vibes that made me want to sing “U of A! U of A!”

It was about UA athletes sharing fun and exercise with “little wildcats” during the university’s second annual Track and Field Day, teaching them how to become and stay healthy.

These first through fourth graders got to play outdoors in fresh air on a wonderful day, running and jumping in individual events and in relays, under the mentoring of superbly fit and well trained college athletes like some of them might become some day. My kind of story. A story of love and giving. I applaud the track team for gifting these kids with such a wonderful life experience.

It worked. Last night’s outpouring of support and solidarity for the Ocean Beach planners in their fight with the City proved the ticket. The city-wide committee of neighborhood planners agreed with the OB Board that this issue of the City granting improper variances was indeed an issue worthy of study.

Formally known as the Council of Planning Committees (CPC), they voted unanimously last night to create a committee to specifically look into the issue of the variances and to facilitate a resolution. There was sympathy for the issue when it was brought up at the regular monthly meeting of the CPC last night, as it appears the same type of city granting of variances is occurring in other communities as well.

By Michael Boldin / Tenth Amendment Center / February 29, 2012

Today, the Virginia Senate took a firm stand in support of liberty, the Constitution for the United States, and the Constitution of Virginia by voting in favor of House Bill 1160 (HB1160), the “NDAA Nullification Act.”

The final vote was 39-1.

After a motion to recommit (delay until next year) went down to the wire before being rejected yesterday (report here), groups across the political spectrum activated in support of the legislation, which codifies in law that no agency of the Commonwealth of Virginia – including defense forces and national guard troops, will comply with or assist the federal government in any way under it’s newly claimed powers to arrest and detain without due process.

By Stop NDAA

A lawsuit against the United States government was filed this week on behalf of a group of plaintiffs that includes Pulitzer prize-winning author Chris Hedges, Professor Noam Chomsky, the Pentagon Papers’ Daniel Ellsberg, an Icelandic Parliamentarian, and three women activists engaged in work they believe will put them in imminent danger under the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).

Defendants in the suit include President Obama, Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta, Senator John McCain, John Boehner, Nancy Pelosi and others.

Attorneys in the case Carl Mayer and Bruce Afran also asked Southern District New York Court Judge Katherine Forrest to grant a Temporary Restraining Order to enjoin the provisions of the NDAA that appear to contravene the US Constitution.

In tandem with this filing, an international democracy advocacy group and progressive civil liberties group have teamed up to conduct a campaign in support of a lawsuit they hope attracts hundreds of thousands of supporters – and thousands of potential plaintiffs. RevolutionTruth, a small, international, all-volunteer group dedicated to defending democratic rights, and Demand Progress, a million-member civil liberties group, are leading the charge to build a broad, transpartisan coalition of supporters of this lawsuit and to provide a platform for potential plaintiffs to be screened.

As part of the March 1st National Day of Action for Education, three area college campuses are planning student and faculty walk-outs tomorrow, the first day of March.

Students at City College, San Diego State University, and University of California at San Diego have all joined in this national day of demonstrations, and each campus has plans for walk-outs, rallies and other protests of budget cuts and the on-going stampede towards the privatization of public schools and colleges.

Here in more detail are the plans for each campus:

City College

At City College, the Walkout is set to start at 11:00 am at Curran Plaza. A rally will be held from 11:00am until 3:00pm.

SDSU

There will be a student walk-out at 12:oo noon, followed by a rally at Scripps Cottage Patio, where speakers will discuss a education from a variety of perspectives. Potential solutions and opportunities for students to stay involved will be offered.

UCSD

At 11:30 am, students will stage the walk-out. At 12 noon, instructors will hold a rally / teach-out at the Silent Tree in front of Geisel Library. There will also be performance art at the Silent Tree. Then at 1:30 pm, there will be a march!

Editor: The following “Call to Action” is from ReclaimUCSD and involves a campus protest against student fees for March 1st, and although student walk-outs are also being planned for City College and SDSU, this “Call” is detailed in its reasons and history (see footnotes at end).

By Reclaim UCSD

Students, instructors and staff you have a stake in the future of the UC. The public nature of the UC is under threat, but on March 1st we are coming together to defend it.

Students, mandatory fees set by the regents have more than doubled since 2001 adjusted for inflation.[1] At the same time, UCSD’s average debt at graduation increased 20%.[2] In 2009, 48% of UCSD students graduated with debt at an average of $18,757.[3] Since 1990 expenditure per student has fallen over 19%.[4] At the same time state support per student fell 60% while tuition support more than tripled.[5] The UC shifted from public funding toward personal, private funding. This shift was not and is not inevitable. Students: the ability of many of your qualified colleagues to attend a UC is threatened by this shift,[6] but you can help.

By Louisa Golden / Special to the OB Rag

“And the Woman said, ‘His name is not Wild Dog any more, but the First Friend, because he will be our friend for always and always and always.” (Rudyard Kipling)

Spring is nearly here and with the warming weather, Obceans can expect the local dog population to explode. Warmer, longer days mean that more people will be getting out and taking their dogs for walks. Strolling in the neighborhood with your First Friend is a great pleasure. Doing your duty to clean up after Fido is not. With a little management and planning, you and your dog can enjoy your daily promenade without the hassle.

Potty-less walking is convenient, relaxing, clean and great for public relations.

With weather reports promising 6 to 8 inches of snow in local mountains for yesterday – February 27th – I nosed my PT Cruiser east on the old venerable Highway 8, and punched the accelerator in a mini-adventure to find Winter in San Diego County.

Gray skies, billowing clouds, and even some sunshine filled my vision for the first half hour in the cruise up the elevation towards Mount Laguna. If it was too snowy by time I reach the turn-off for Sunrise Highway, I thought to myself, I’ll go into the small town of Pine Valley for shelter and comfort, imagining flurries cutting off my visibility in the trek into the snow.

But actually, when I reached Sunrise Highway, I hadn’t even seen any rain. And there was a News 8 van sitting alongside the road, waiting to file the first report on the promised snow.

As I headed up the mountain on the twisting two-laner, the only vehicles I encountered were Border Patrol, ICE, immigration trucks and SUVs. They were all heading down the mountain.

By Gail Powell

On a foggy morning in March 2011, a man who blacked out in the water while surfing off Sunset Cliffs survived, all thanks to quick action from three fellow surfers. Fox5 News reported at the time that surfer David Scheidlinger was very close to death, when help arrived from an angel in a wetsuit!

“I remember being at the top of the stairs carrying my board down and starting to paddle out and then the next thing I remember was being in the bottom of a lifeguard’s boat,” Scheidlinger noted.

Scheidlinger is lucky that Paula Reynolds was his surfing companion and buddy that morning, for she noticed that something was amiss with her friend who suddenly seemed unresponsive in the water.

This life and death situation occurred off surfing mecca Garbage Beach, a popular place to catch some waves off Sunset Cliffs.

Paula Reynolds, a friend since childhood and next door neighbor, told me that she “pulled Dave out of the water” and (onto his surfboard.)

I wrote in the guest book of her obituary:

Pearlie Mae. What can I say.
On my family tree.
A cousin but like a big sister to me.
Part of my history.
Here when I arrived.
Could always count on her love.
In my heart she will always reside.

She was a prominent member on our branch of the Windham/Windom family tree. Our grandmother’s Lillie (hers) and Alma (mine) were sisters. It’s hard believing that she’s now resting in peace with those two extraordinary women.

Her obituary states how selfless and loyal she was to family and friends and confidantes and I sure got a sense of that early on in life.