OB Rag

A little while ago I read a book by longtime Tucson Citizen sportswriter, Steve Rivera: The University of Arizona Basketball Vault, the History of the Wildcats.

What a nice trip down memory lane the book was for me as I’ve followed Wildcat basketball since the 40’s. And, never in my wildest dreams, did I ever think the program would evolve to what it is today although the school had a couple of pretty good teams in my childhood.

One of the things I learned 40+ years ago, when almost the only airline flying into San Diego International Airport was PSA, that the planes stopped taking off at 11:30 pm and didn’t begin again until 6:30am.

New Nationwide Effort to Make Corporate Tax Dodgers Pay Up

Protests in more than 50 cities, including Washington, D.C., New York City, Los Angeles, and Chicago

Groups of citizens in more than 50 cities will sit-in and protest at Bank of America branches on Saturday, February 26 in an effort to get corporate tax dodgers to pay their fair share. The actions are loosely affiliated with US Uncut, a new grassroots movement organized through social media networks such as Twitter and Facebook.

The Genesis of the Saturday Rally in San Diego In Support of the Working People of Wisconsin

OBcians – you should be very proud – for it was your little blog that got the big boulder rolling. Your little blog – the OB Rag – was the first organization (if you can call us that) that initiated the call for a rally in San Diego on this Saturday in solidarity with the working people of Wisconsin.

We were the little pebble that got the big boulder – the San Diego County Labor Council – rolling. And now, the Labor Council, with all its members, experience, and resources, have taken over the bulk of the organizing for the noon time demonstration in front of the San Diego County Administration Building for tomorrow, Feb. 26th.

A few weeks before he died, Howard Zinn had lunch at the Warwick Hotel in Manhattan with New York Times columnist Bob Herbert. Their topic of conversation was, of course, social justice.

“If there is going to be change, real change,” Zinn told Herbert, “it will have to work its way from the bottom up, from the people themselves. That’s how change happens.”

Off to my wonderful OBcean tax preparer Byrna, with visions of Shepard Fairey dancing through my head. Byrna reminds me that the good news is that My Beloved and I, card carrying union members, have enough income to pay taxes. Hey! We’re middle class- for the moment! Our taxes are generally computed on a short form and last year our Federal and State tax rate was 13%. And the truth is we are ok with that- except for the war funding.

By John Lawrence / Will Blog for Food There’s an ad on TV that features a righteously indignant woman who…

By Alyssa Battistoni / Salon / Feb. 24, 2011 Amid all the rightful outrage over Gov. Scott Walker’s proposal to…

There’s been a national “50 State Call to Action” in solidarity with the Wisconsin workers and public unions for rallies this Saturday. The original call was for rallies at every state capital. But here in San Diego, 500 miles from Sacramento, we are organizing a rally at the County Administration Building for Noon, also on February 26th.

Rally In Support of Wisconsin Working People – We Are One

1600 Pacific Highway

By Van Jones / HuffPost / Feb. 22, 2011

In the past 24 months, those of us who longed for positive change have gone from hope to heartbreak. But hope is returning to America — at last — thanks largely to the courageous stand of the heroes and heroines of Wisconsin.

Reinvigorated by the idealism and fighting spirit on display right now in America’s heartland, the movement for “hope and change” has a rare, second chance. It can renew itself and become again a national force with which to be reckoned.

By Mark Niquette / Bloomberg News / Feb 22, 2011

Protesters demonstrated at the Ohio Statehouse before a hearing on a bill to limit collective- bargaining for public employees as Wisconsin’s Assembly prepared to vote on a similar measure.

In Ohio, protesters packed the Statehouse atrium as a crowd gathered on the steps outside because the Ohio Highway Patrol is limiting the number of people inside for safety reasons, said Joe Andrews, a spokesman for the Department of Public Safety. Former Governor Ted Strickland, who came to support the demonstrators, said more people should be allowed in.

By Chris Bowers / AlterNet / February 22, 2011

Mirroring events in Wisconsin, Democrats in the Indiana House have left the state to deny a quorum and block legislation that would strip collective bargaining rights. From the Indianapolis Star:

House Democrats are leaving the state rather than vote on anti-union legislation, The Indianapolis Star has learned.

A source said Democrats are headed to Illinois, though it was possible some also might go to Kentucky. They need to go to a state with a Democratic governor to avoid being taken into police custody and returned to Indiana.