OB Rag

Moves to Bolster Country’s Sovereignty Against Trump’s Threats to Invade Under Guise of Attacking Cartels

By Mexico News Daily Staff / Feb. 20, 2025

At her Thursday morning press conference, President Claudia Sheinbaum responded to the United States’ designation of six Mexican cartels as foreign terrorist organizations by announcing she was sending a constitutional reform proposal to Congress to bolster the protection of Mexico’s sovereignty.

Among other issues, Sheinbaum also spoke about United States President Donald Trump’s decision to launch an anti-drug campaign.

Sheinbaum’s proposed reform would add two paragraphs to the Mexican constitution’s Article 40, stating among other things, that Mexico will not consent to intervention by foreign entities in Mexican territory, not even for the purpose of investigating or prosecuting crimes. (Daniel Augusto/Cuartoscuro)

On the day the United States’ designation of six Mexican cartels as foreign terrorist organizations took effect, Sheinbaum declared that Mexico’s sovereignty is not up for negotiation.

The terrorist designations of the Sinaloa Cartel, the Jalisco New Generation Cartel and other Mexican criminal organizations “can’t be an opportunity for the United States to invade our sovereignty,” she said.

By Jessica Piper / Politico / Feb. 20-21, 2025

Donald Trump’s honeymoon may be wearing off.

New polls show a majority of Americans say he has overstepped his presidential authority — and hasn’t done enough to address high prices.

Two new polls from CNN/SSRS and The Washington Post/Ipsos show the GOP president’s approval rating underwater (47-52 in the CNN poll, 45-53 in the Post), a shift from polling earlier this year that found voters roughly divided on him, with some surveys even showing a positive approval rating.

Trump’s poll numbers are at an historic low for this spot in any president’s first month in modern times. SEE: Rachel Maddow’s blistering analysis of recent polls — video.

One reason for the erosion of support: a slight majority of respondents in both surveys said Trump has overstepped his presidential power in his attempts to reshape the federal government driven by tech billionaire Elon Musk. Many of Trump’s most controversial early initiatives, including a sweeping spending freeze, have been blocked in court thus far, but the new administration has still made waves with layoffs of federal workers, cuts to federal contracts and a flood of executive orders.

Coastkeeper just released its first annual Mission Bay Water Quality Monitoring Report, which presents a year’s worth of data showing elevated bacteria, copper, and phosphorus levels, often exceeding state water safety standards. It highlights the myriad of sources—some unique, others are the usual suspects—and ultimately underscores the need for more effective mitigation to reduce the risk to public health and the environment. The following is from SD Coastkeeper:

San Diego Coastkeeper Publishes 2024 Mission Bay Water Quality Monitoring Report
Data Shows Spikes of Bacteria, Metals and Nutrients at Many Locations

San Diego Coastkeeper, an environmental nonprofit working to protect and restore swimmable, drinkable, and fishable waters throughout San Diego, published its first annual 2024 Mission Bay Water Quality Monitoring Report.

The report summarizes a year of monthly water monitoring data at locations around Mission Bay, showing persistently high levels of bacteria, copper and phosphorus in both dry and wet weather, often at levels that exceed state water quality standards for safe public recreation and a healthy aquatic ecosystem.

Aging stormwater and leaking wastewater infrastructure are likely sources of bacterial contamination, while high levels of copper and phosphorus could be the result of multiple sources.

Newsweek / February 20, 2025

The White House has released photos styling President Donald Trump as a king on social media.

The administration’s official X (formerly Twitter) account posted a fake paper cover in the style of Time Magazine, with the caption: “CONGESTION PRICING IS DEAD. Manhattan, and all of New York, is SAVED. LONG LIVE THE KING!”

Why It Matters — In the initial stages of his second presidency, Trump has faced criticism for his consistent use of executive orders to make changes to the federal government. The images give his critics, who fear he is consolidating power in the executive branch at the expense of courts, more ammunition.

What To Know — On Wednesday, the White House’s official X account released the image, which appears to be AI-generated.

In the third of four 2025 Budget Review Town Hall forums, public testimony again questioned whether the spending priorities of the Mayor and the City Council are in alignment with the spending priorities of communities and taxpayers.

More than 50 people gathered for the February 15 forum at the Mission Valley Library to hear a presentation from Independent Budget Analyst (IBA) Charles Modica and to express their own views about city finances.

The series title is “Now that Measure E Has Failed, Where Should City Budget Cuts Be Made?” The goal is for constituents to communicate directly with elected officials about their budget priorities and their concerns about city taxing and spending.

Members of the Mission Valley audience called for greater investment in infrastructure and more robust code enforcement, especially as neighborhoods are feeling the strain of infill densification.

By Phil Rockhold

I am opposed to all “for profit” commercial activity on public beaches.

Our beaches are San Diego’s most valuable resource, and as such, open access to the beach should be maintained at all times for the general public. The larger issue that is not talked about in current discussions of beach use, is the City and Park and Recreation Department’s designation of various activities as either “commercial” or “non-commercial.” There appears to be no logic whatsoever in the designation.

I live in Ocean Beach, and for years, an obviously “commercial” enterprise has completely taken over the beach at the foot of Cape May Avenue.

Six days a week during spring and summer, and weekends in the winter, the public use of the soft sand area on the beach is blocked by a forest of temporary volleyball poles and nets.  The effect of this activity also has a massive impact on the already scarce availability of parking in Ocean Beach.

By JW August / Special to the OB Rag

From the trenches…..”S” a long time source working for a federal agency in a management position tells me this will be news in the very near future–

The federal OPM (office of personnel management) and Elon Musk fired thousands of probationary employees who had signed up for the “fork in the road” (the deferred resignation offer).

Musk and the OPM are now backtracking, asking agencies to bring these workers back so they can sign an additional agreement

From KQED

Since its founding 77 years ago, Dr. Bronner’s evolved from a niche soap company favored by hippies and homemakers to a powerhouse brand that trades on the progressive ideals of sustainability, free expression and social justice.

The family-run company based in Vista saw its annual revenues balloon from $4 million to $200 million in the last 25 years. Known for its bottles and bars of soap wrapped in micro-font musings about love and world peace, Dr. Bronner’s can be found on the shelves of supermarkets and drugstores nationwide.

By Judi Curry

A friend of mine, trying to be funny, said to me yesterday, “I thought you had stopped writing fictional pieces.  It took me a minute to realize he was talking about my article a few days ago of my perception of the Trump presidency.  I told him I wished it were fiction, but as I saw the ways were happening it was a nightmare of nonfiction.  So….here we go again.

I guess the first thing that created havoc in my body was the story that Trump and his shadow Musk want to eliminate Social Security.  I’m on Social Security. And no, I do not get my deceased husbands social security. (It’s kind of funny that he got $622 a month from the Teachers Association and $101 from Social Security when he died.) Granted he was an old man – born in 1927 and retired in 1960.)  Baby sitters were earning 50 cents an hour!

By Kate Callen / Special to OB Rag

It was no surprise that the February 19 lead story in Voice of San Diego [VOSD] lauded Mayor Todd Gloria’s abrupt sacking of Chief Operating Officer Eric Dargan.

VOSD is to Gloria what Fox News is to Donald Trump, a media enabler always ready to hawk propaganda wrapped in newsprint.

But the story headline was something of a jolt: “Mayor Dismisses Embattled COO and Takes Reins of City Management.”

Dargan embattled? Since when?

By David Garrick / San Diego U-T / Feb. 17-18, 2025

San Diego officials are cracking down on an illegal float party held each July on Mission Bay, sending the organizers a $54,000 invoice to cover lifeguard rescues and crowd control by police and park rangers.

The goal of the invoices is to discourage organizers from hosting a fifth annual Festival of Floats, an event where hundreds of people congregate on flotation devices in Mission Bay’s northwest corner.

City officials say the event, where many participants drink alcohol, is chaotic, dangerous and typically requires many rescues and extreme vigilance by police and rangers.

There is no admission charge for the event, which is called “Floatopia” by some participants. But organizers, who promote the event on various social media platforms, include links to buy floats and other related products.

By Danna Givot / Op-Ed San Diego Union-Tribune / Feb. 19, 2025

Rather than respond to City Council’s request to roll back the bonus accessory dwelling unit program to align with state accessory dwelling unit law, San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria and his allies are promoting misrepresentations of the program in an effort to cow the council and stem the growing public anger against the program. I refute those false assertions here.

Assertion: Bonus accessory dwelling units are “gentle density” that fit seamlessly into neighborhoods. Daniel Parolek, author and leading  “Missing Middle Housing” expert, encourages infill housing as “home-scale buildings” that “fit seamlessly into existing residential neighborhoods,” “compatible in scale and form with detached single-family homes.” “These building types, such as duplexes, fourplexes, cottage courts and courtyard buildings, provide diverse housing options,” says Parolek. “The perceived density of these types is usually quite low — they do not look like dense buildings.”

The 12-, 17-, 36- and 43-unit backyard apartment complexes masquerading as accessory dwelling units being built under San Diego’s bonus accessory dwelling units program do not meet any missing middle housing criteria described above.