OB Rag

While this summer has seen stock markets plunge, consumer confidence crater, and hopes for a broad economic recovery evaporate, several members of Ocean Beach’s business community seem cautiously optimistic about the future.

Gary Gilmore, owner of Gilmore Family Jewelers on Newport Avenue, has noticed a slight upturn in customer sentiment in recent weeks.

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By Kit-Bacon Gressitt / Excuse Me, I’m Writing / September 11, 2011

As I sat in a college classroom Thursday afternoon, the power went out and we swiftly determined we were in the throes of a regional electrical power failure. My first thought was to check for students in the elevators. My second thought was of the anniversary of the 2001 terrorist attacks and the possibility that the blackout was somehow related.

The battle over gentrification in Ocean Beach has ratcheted up a notch and has entered a new phase. The Ocean Beach Planning Board has wrestled with the manner in which the City has been granting variances to property owners along the 5100 block of West Point Loma Boulevard of late, and the OB Rag has blogged numerous times about the issue.

Now, City Councilmember Kevin Faulconer has requested the City Attorney to step in and make a legal decision about “whether the cumulative effect of granting multiple development variances has the same effect as a rezone, ….”

Yesterday we marked the 10^th Anniversary of 9/11 when most Americans watched in horror at the devastation of the terrorist attacks in New York City and elsewhere but were then moved by the heroism of the first responders to the disaster—most of whom were firefighters and cops who risked their lives to help their fellow citizens. They were America’s working class heroes, the pride of the nation.

This led to a wave of appreciation of public servants like them across the country as not just New York’s finest, but public safety workers were honored in the press, at ballgames, and during community events. Here in San Diego, …

According to very recent media reports, three passengers who exhibited “suspicious behavior” were taken into custody on a flight from…

By John Lawrence / Will Blog for Food / Sept 10, 2011

All of San Diego County as well as some parts of Orange County, Arizona and Mexico experienced a blackout for about 12 hours Thursday, September 8, 2011, one of the hottest days of the year although the blackout had nothing to do with air conditioning overload or any other kind of overload to the system.

Thoughts Stemming from 9-11

My radio alarm woke me up with someone summarizing a study that found that a significant number of schools have not done much as far as engaging students in learning experiences involving 9-11. Because it’s too “controversial.” Is that not sad?

That reminds me of a man on TV, not too long after that fateful day, who said we should tell our children that nothing like this will ever happen again.

The city of San Diego has issued a precautionary measure, called a “Boil Water Advisory“, for water that the public will consume for the foreseeable future. Reduced water pressure in some areas, caused by the power outage, may allow contaminated water to backflow into the system.

The following water districts report no need to boil water;

• Otay Water District

See complete details inside…

Michael Moore / Sept 8, 2011

“I”m thinking about killing Michael Moore, and I’m wondering if I could kill him myself, or if I would need to hire somebody to do it … .” – Glenn Beck, live on the Glenn Beck show, 17 May 2005

Wishes for my early demise seemed to be everywhere. They were certainly on the mind of CNN’s Bill Hemmer one sunny July morning in 2004. Holding a microphone in front of my face on the floor of the 2004 Democratic National Convention, live on CNN, he asked me what I thought about how the American people were feeling about Michael Moore:…

By Noam Chomsky / TomDispatch.com / Sept. 6, 2011

Was There an Alternative?

We are approaching the 10th anniversary of the horrendous atrocities of September 11, 2001, which, it is commonly held, changed the world. On May 1st, the presumed mastermind of the crime, Osama bin Laden, was assassinated in Pakistan by a team of elite US commandos, Navy SEALs, after he was captured, unarmed and undefended, in Operation Geronimo.

By Anthony Papa / AlterNet / September 8, 2011

In September of 1971, one of the bloodiest prison riots in the history of the United States took place at Attica Correctional Facility in Attica, New York. The uprising was brought on by prisoners living in terrible conditions who wanted to fix a broken system of justice.

Hundreds of Longshoremen stormed the Port of Longview early Thursday, overpowered and held security guards, damaged railroad cars, and dumped grain that is the center of a labor dispute, officials said.

The International Longshore and Warehouse Union dispute spread to Seattle, Tacoma, Everett and Anacortes ports ahead of a court hearing scheduled for 1:30 p.m. Thursday in Tacoma, where a judge is expected to consider alleged union violations of a previous restraining order.