OB Rag

by John M. Williams / June 30, 2010
Section 1: Last re Working Here

I have achieved some goals and failed to achieve others during my six months in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, as an English teacher.

The most significant failure is in not being retained at the school where I taught for most of this past six months. It was my goal upon arrival to do well, and to work through a year at this one school. It even seemed possible to me that I might advance to a supervisory or administrative position as the year progressed.

As it is, I have become toxic, radioactive, a leper; not only removed from class overnight, but denied any contact at with students, to the extent that I was not even allowed to grade final exam writing papers.

Getting in my car to drive to OB to protest The Black’s “Don’t Feed our Bums” mentality, my mind said to me: “Hey, nobody will as much as give us remnants of picketers from another day the time of day.”

But when I walked down Bacon and hit the corner where it intersects with Newport Avenue and saw all the people and picket signs …

Editor: San Diego is fortunate to have a watchdog on water issues here in our seacoast desert like Groksurf . Run by George, the blog keeps track of anything to do with our liquid necessity. Here is a recent sample of George’s work, as Groksurf observed Councilman Carl DeMaio’s tactics of disruption as he pursues his goal of privatizing water and other city services.

by George/ Groksurf’s San Diego /

Councilmembers Sherri Lightner and Carl DeMaio took advantage of councilmember Marti Emerald’s absence at [the June 16] Natural Resources and Culture Committee meeting and threw a wrench into the gears of San Diego’s Indirect Potable Reuse/Reservoir Augmentation Demonstration Project (IPR Project).

At first glance, the November ballot initiative to legalize marijuana in California seems like a no-brainer. It will boost tax revenues. It will lighten the burden on our prison system and allow law enforcement to focus on more serious issues. It will move billions of dollars out of the hands of drug traffickers and into the legitimate economy, creating thousands of jobs. Overall, it will end the prohibition of a relatively harmless drug that has demonstrated medical benefits and is enjoyed by millions of recreational users.

At least 80 people left the OB Street Fair on Saturday, June 26th, to join the “Hands across the sands” movement. They literally crossed the beach and linked hands with each other at the ocean’s edge to form a human wall against any further off-shore oil drilling. The line stretched from close to the pier all the way past the lifeguard station.

The OB event was one of over 800 such happenings across the country, and it was coordinated by Mike James.

Here’s an update on the whole ‘bum’ sticker controversy.
Wednesday, June 23rd in front of The Black

* I started to write up a summary of what happened the other day in front of The Black but ended up deleting a lot of it. (It had been such a challenging two hours out there in front of a crowd, I almost didn’t want to relive it again by blogging about it. So, here’s an abbreviated version.)

Editor: This was submitted to us totally unsolicited, perhaps inspired by JM Williams post on hate.

by Kenloc

I hate that you suffer.

I hate that you fear.

I hate the solution is not crystal clear.

I hate this issue.

I hate this talk.

by John M. Williams

I’ve decided that that’s what I need: Somebody to hate.

The old Airplane song had it backward, I think. We don’t need Somebody to Love, we need Somebody to Hate. That way, we’d have something we could share; we’d have something in common and could get along even though we each thought the other to be an idiot, fool, dolt, or just plain stupid and bad mannered.

by Jack Hamlin / Special to the OB Rag / June 23, 2010

Yesterday (6/22/10), I was invited to attend a meeting of OB’s local faith community. The purpose of the meeting was a beginning point to discuss and work together with the community to address homelessness in OB and all the attendant issues. In particular, there was an overriding concern the current sentiments by some could lead to violence in our community.

On Saturday June 26th, people from around the world will join hands for 15 minutes at local beaches to say no to offshore oil drilling and yes to clean energy. The event, called “Hands Across the Sand,” is a movement of people from all walks of life and political affiliations. This movement is not about politics; it is about protection of our coastal economies, oceans, marine wildlife, and fishing industry. Nearly 700 sites are planned worldwide.

by Steve A/ Special to the OB Rag / June 22, 2010

During the seventies, (from 1970 to 1980), I was one of the co-owners of The Black.

As of late, via the evening news (I no longer reside in the area), I have been made aware that there has been considerable discussion regarding the homeless or bums in O.B. and that The Black is smack in the middle of a controversy and possibly even on the wrong side of the fence in the matter.

Recently, while channel surfing on TV, I happened on a little repartee on the war in Afghanistan and I couldn’t help but notice in all the wit and pontification that Pakistan was barely mentioned since we’re there, too, chasing down al-Qaeda and the Taliban. With robots: Predator Drones.

This bothers me deeply because, with me, it’s all about the children …