OB Rag

By Naomi Klein / The Nation

I was honored to be invited to speak at Occupy Wall Street on Thursday night. Since amplification is (disgracefully) banned, and everything I say will have to be repeated by hundreds of people so others can hear (a?k?a “the human microphone”), what I actually say at Liberty Plaza will have to be very short. With that in mind, here is the longer, uncut version of the speech.

I love you.

And I didn’t just say that so that hundreds of you would shout “I love you” back, though that is obviously a bonus feature of the human microphone. Say unto others what you would have them say unto you, only way louder.

So everyone’s been weighing in on the Occupy protests lately. I’ve done a few lightweight “just the facts, ma’am,” pieces on my other site, but I feel like what I’ve really got is commentary, reaction, and editorializing. In one of my day jobs I’m a reporter of straight news, in the other I’m a real estate and mortgage broker, which probably qualifies me as a 1%er (and not in the HA kinda way) and worthy of lynching. But I’m bringing the unqualified opinions that follow home to the OB Rag, the place where I cut my pseudo-journalistic chops.

The point of my rant today is the official Facebook page of the Occupy SD movement.

From Prisoner Hunger Strike Solidarity

Oakland – With the second phase of a massive California prisoner hunger strike in its third week, prisoners have begun to report grave medical issues. “Men are collapsing in their cells because they haven’t eaten in two weeks,” says a family member of a striker at Calipatria state prison, “I have been told that guards refuse to respond when called. This is clearly a medical emergency.” In an effort to isolate prisoners perceived by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) to be leaders, some prisoners at Pelican Bay have been removed from the Security Housing Unit (SHU) to Administrative Segregation (Ad-Seg). The Prisoner Hunger Strike Solidarity coalition has received reports that prison officials have been attempting to freeze out strikers held in the Ad-Seg Unit at Pelican Bay, using the air conditioning system in conjunction with cold weather conditions where the prison is located. Last week a hunger striker in Pelican Bay was taken to a hospital in Oregon after he suffered a heart attack. Prisoners have also been denied medications, including prescriptions for high blood pressure.

Oh, I have had moments in my life,
downs where pizzazz
seemed out of my grasp,
where joy and light
disintegrated into
notions I could only
think of as relics of the past –
and I’ve had some highs
wherein and whereas
I felt as mellow
as a funky
blast of jazz.

By arodb / DaliyKos.com

This diary will be short on commentary, showing three video interviews I made that give some idea of the range of activity at this smaller venue. It reflects the goals and current state of organization of this small local manifestation of the much larger movement.

First there was this interview with Larry Garcia, who had been a residential mortgage broker, and was in the media booth. The caption of this interview is response to my question about the clout of entrenched powerful corporations, “We’re collecting a different type of capital here, it’s called votes.”

See inside for videos…

By Brad Johnson / ThinkProgress.org

In one of the largest mass arrests in recent Boston history, the Boston Police Department cleared a park of over 100 activists with the 99 Percent Movement in the early hours of Tuesday morning, dismantling and destroying tents that had been set up on Monday. Startling footage shot by an onlooker shows members of Veterans for Peace, an organization of U.S. military veterans who oppose war, being arrested by members of the Boston Police Department, their flags — including the American flag — being thrown to the ground…

See video inside…

By Charlie Grapski / MyFiregodlake.com / October 9, 2011

The following photograph taken by opednews.com shows a confrontation in the lobby of the National Air and Space Museum between two individuals and an officer shortly before video shows officers with the Museum’s security forces rush outside indiscriminately pepper-spraying numerous individuals.

It appears that one of the two in the confrontation with the security officer is Patrick Howley, Assistant Editor of The American Spectator.

I had already reached the conclusion intellectually, but it didn’t get to my gut until late last night. I was sitting on the wide steps in Civic Center Plaza amidst a heated discussion among about a dozen occupiers. Even with the electricity of our discussion coupled with all that had been put up during the occupation, something new and wonderfully addicting was being born. We were creating the beginnings of a new society right here in the shadow of City Hall, right here in the windy, cold corridors of San Diego power.

As you walk among the nearly 90 tents set up in the Plaza, and observe what the occupiers are actually doing, you can sense that a small town, a small village, has been created right in the bowels of our large city, right in the heart of its civic government. A village born in the middle of a city.

Getting rid of all the paper on his desk, Governor Jerry Brown on Sunday, October 9th, vetoed two pieces of legislation that would have been helpful to San Diego County.

Brown vetoed legislation that would have blocked a disputed landfill in North San Diego County, which is a major victory for Gregory Canyon LLC, developers of the long-pursued landfill proposed along state Route 76 near the Pala Indian Reservation, and a defeat for the rest of us, including the Pala tribe.

In addition, Brown also vetoed legislation that would have required big-box superstores – such as Wal-Mart – to submit a comprehensive economic analysis report when applying for a permit.

by Jed Lewison / Daily Kos / October 10, 2011

This man is a shameless liar:

On Fox News Sunday, Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., chair of the House Investigations Committee pushing for more information from the Obama administration about the $535 million loan guarantee to benefit Solyndra, was asked about a company in his district applying for a loan for which he advocated.

by Jason Everitt / Two Cathedrals / Originally Published on Oct 7, 2011

Here’s what we know…

Early reports indicated that the regional power outage caused roughly 2 million gallons of sewage to be released into the ocean via the Los Penasquitos Lagoon and Sweetwater River, which closed 10 miles of San Diego County beaches. The Los Penasquitos spill emptied into Torrey Pines State Beach, while the Sweetwater River spill emptied into San Diego Bay.

At an October 3rd meeting, the Point Loma district school alignment committee declared that they had identified school campuses in Point Loma and Ocean Beach to be either closed or “realigned”.

Here are the District’s preliminary recommendations for the Peninsula:

• Close Cabrillo Elementary;
• Close Barnard Chinese Mandarin Magnet
• Relocate the language program to Dana Middle as a K-8 school;
• Expand Dewey Elementary to include fifth-grade,
• Expand Loma Portal Elementary to include fifth-grade,
• Expand Ocean Beach Elementary to include fifth-grade,