OB Rag

By John Lawrence / Will Blog for Food / June 23, 2011

War is immensely profitable; that’s why there is so much of it. It’s the only domestic industry to speak of. All the rest have been outsourced.

War constitutes almost the entire GDP of Afghanistan while enriching the corrupt Karzai and his henchmen. War is immensely profitable to Pakistan too – $2 billion a year profitable.

By East County Magazine / June 23, 2011

An attorney representing local groups opposed to Sunrise Powerlink presented arguments in U.S. District Court yesterday in San Diego, seeking to halt construction of the line on lands in East County owned by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management.

Editor: As San Diego’s mayoral race “heats up”, we’re starting to see ruminations on the left and right about why Democrats support Republicans (like DA Bonnie Dumanis) and about the historic dilemma of San Diego Democrats. Here are acouple of contributions from our friends at Two Cathedrals.

The Democrats’ Dilemma By Jared Quient
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The Democrats’ Embarrassment

by Lucas O’Connor / Two Cathedrals / June 23, 2011

Several political reporters wondered yesterday on Twitter, why would Kevin Faulconer’s office release and push a poll showing Donna Frye polling stronger than other Democratic candidates?

Recently there was a violent day-time robbery of a Ocean Beach business. The suspects used a gun to hold up the store then bound the employees with duct tape. Attached is the wanted poster to seek assistance from the public with identifying the suspects.

By Lucas O’Connor/Two Cathedrals

“I’ve always felt that, if you think something should be changed, it’s your responsibility to actively pursue that change.” – Bob Filner

Bob Filner’s accidental announcement in March that he was running for mayor didn’t shock too many local insiders. That it took place at an airing of a recent 50th anniversary Freedom Riders documentary was perhaps more provocative, mostly along the lines of ‘I had no idea he was a Freedom Rider.’ Most people still have no idea, though that’s likely to change in the next year. Usually though, it comes with a vague idea of what the Freedom Riders did, but not a deep understanding. So what’s the full breadth of what it meant to be a Freedom Rider?

The OB Starbucks Finally Opens … On 9-11

After five and a half months of organizing during the early months of 2001 against the opening of OB’s Starbucks, activists were ready for the day that its door would actually swing open. It was to open at the corner of Newport and Bacon.
There had been at least three major demonstrations against the corporation where hundreds had rallied, two well-attended town hall type meetings, a petition that had garnered nearly 1500 signatures, and the handing out of thousands of fliers proclaiming a boycott of Starbucks.

June 23, 2011 – 7pm – Joyce Beers Community Center

“The same cast of characters currently engaged in attacks on Planned Parenthood, other Family Planning Clinics and Title X in general, are also in the forefront throwing roadblocks in front of DADT repeal, fighting against marriage equality and fighting against employment protections – and even hate crimes protections – for LGBT people” according to Jacqueline Palmer, Membership Director for San Diego Democratic Club. She continued, “Women’s reproductive rights IS an LGBT issue.”

Editor: Last night Activist San Diego held the annual election to its Board of Directors. One of those nominated was Jeeni Criscenzo. Her nomination speech to the assembled crew of activists was remarkable and I asked her if we could re-print it. Here it is:

by Jeeni Criscenzo

Please don’t ask me to do this.
I only want to be a homemaker, …

An annual report on homelessness from the Department of Housing and Urban Development shows the number of homeless people in families climbed 20 percent from 2007 to 2010, that was even as homelessness across the country declined by 3.3 percent over the same period. A similar trend in San Diego County is taxing available resources …

UPDATE: City Attorney has postponed this hearing at the Rules Committee for tomorrow. Join us at the Rules Committee hearing when it happens (it will NOT be June 22) – come inside for more details about why the outsourcing of the landfill is a bad idea

June 22nd was going to be one of the last chances to speak out on the proposed outsourcing of San Diego’s only public landfill, up at Miramar. Join a broad coalition of community, civic and environmental groups at the Rules Committee hearing on the landfill outsourcing.

A Book Review

In Mike Davis’s seminal discussion of noir in City of Quartz he defines the genre as “a fantastic convergence of American ‘tough-guy’ realism, Weimar expressionism, and existentialized Marxism—all focused on unmasking a ‘bright, guilty place.’” Born in the minds of the “Depression crazed middle classes” of southern California, the “nightmare anti-myth of noir” trafficked in alienation and a distrust of the morality of capitalism.

by Lucas O’Connor

The San Onofre nuclear facility is squarely in Darrell Issa’s district. Presumably, this would be a top concern for Darrell Issa, especially since San Onofre recently experienced its fifth spill of toxic chemicals in just over two years. Notorious for its deficient safety culture, “San Onofre is the leader still in safety concerns reported to the NRC.” That ought to be a terrifying concern for anyone living near San Onofre,…