OB Rag

by David Helvarg

President Obama’s decision to have Interior Secretary Ken Salazar open vast new areas of federal ocean waters to offshore oil drilling is no surprise. In his State of the Union address, the president explained that his vision for a clean energy future included offshore drilling, nuclear power and clean coal. Unfortunately, that’s like advocating a healthy diet based on fast-food snacking, amphetamines and low-tar cigarettes.

If the arguments you hear in the coming days for expanded drilling sound familiar, it’s because they’ve been repeated for generations. We’ve been hearing promises about safer drilling technologies since before Union Oil began drilling in the Santa Barbara Channel. And if you don’t remember what happened that time, you should. Soon after the wells were bored, one of them blew out in January 1969, causing a massive oil slick that slimed beaches and killed birds, fish and marine mammals. The resulting catastrophe helped spark the modern environmental movement.

COME INSIDE FOR MORE ….

* “Terriers” Returns to Old Townhouse Restaurant April 6th

*OB Rag Calling for OB Heathens

*OB Comedy Celebrates Fourth Anniversary Show – April 9th

*OB Centric Holds Another “Swap O Rama Rama”

*Rock ’n’ roll academy opens doors in OB

Now, I’m not a big fan of “State of” kinds of speeches. Most times they leave me with a feeling of “Now, that was some BS I could have spared myself.” But it was a joy the other night listening to Richard Barrera, the President of the San Diego City Schools Board of Education, share his thoughts on schools being community based in a refreshing non-preachy conversational tone as opposed to the usual empty tome that politicians usually read verbatim at such occasions in coma inducing tones.

His rap resonated with me because as an educator I can say, from having been “part of” creating some fairly dynamic learning environments in my time, that it can’t be done with out tons of input from the “hood.” I mean what is the purpose of education if not to empower communities, the stakeholders?

At first, it looked safe to go in. So, two young highschoolers decided to try swimming at Sunset Cliffs. But Katie Kitchenka and Breyaundra Woods, both 18 years old and from Steele Canyon High School, soon found out it was too cold.

They tried getting back to shore, but couldn’t. Fortunately, an off duty border patrol agent came upon them yelling for help, and he threw them a beach towel and helped get them to a ledge.

Editor: If you opened up your computer this April 1st morning to the homepage of San Diego News Network (SDNN) you would find this headline and the following article:

OCEAN BEACH PURISTS UP IN ARMS OVER NEW MCDONALD’S

In a surprise move that flies in the face of every thing the small oceanfront community has been about, Ocean Beach officials announced Thursday that fast-food burger giant McDonald’s will open up a location along Newport Avenue.

In Part I, we saw how the terms “left” and “right” stem from the French Revolution, that during the early days of the revolt, French delegates met in the National Assembly chamber. Back then, the French delegates on the right-side of the chamber – hence the Right – wanted to keep the King and those on the left side – the Left – wanted him removed.

Ever since then, to be on the right means standing up for property rights, the status quo, and the powers that be. To be on the left means standing up for civil and social rights, for change, and for egalitarianism. Although, the terms are relative and are tied to their historical and societal context.

By Sting / Huffington Post / March 31, 2010

Whether it’s music, activism or daily life, the one ideal to which I have always aspired is constant challenge — taking risks, stepping out of my comfort zone, exploring new ideas.

I am writing because I believe the United States must do precisely that — and so, therefore, must all of us — in the case of what has been the most unsuccessful, unjust yet untouchable issue in politics: the War on Drugs.

The War on Drugs has failed — but it’s worse than that. It is actively harming our society.

Editor: The following Ten Myths was prepared this month by the California Budget Project. Go here to see their nifty graphs and pie charts.

Myth #1 : The Largest Share of the State Budget Goes To Prisons

The Facts:

* The State spends more than four times as much on K-12 education as it does on corrections and one and one-quarter times as much on higher education as it does on corrections.

Far from being a war between hippies and police, the fight to legalize marijuana in California centers on whether decriminalizing and taxing cannabis can help fill the state’s fiscal hole.

Using the drug for medical purposes has been legal for 14 years in the western state. But a new initiative that will appear on the ballot in November elections is seeking to legalize recreational marijuana use.

It appears that complaints about one of OB’s veterinary clinics are rising. Local musician and producer Chuck Schiele recently posted a long rant about the Point Loma Veterinary Clinic “terrorizing” his cat.

Apparently, after making them wait for more than two hours, the vet said she did not know how to treat the feline, did not have a diagnosis, and then billed them more than he thought they should.

There we were, all 21 of us, crowding around under the shady umbrella at Java Jungle. And we were all talking politics – imagine!

It was a meeting of the “coastal” section of San Diego’s Coffee Party movement, a movement that is barely two months old, yet already has nearly 400 chapters across the country. What started as a facebook rant about the incivility of American politics and the apparent stalemate in Congress, and which has now blossomed into a nation-wide movement, had its first San Diego meeting on March 13th. The turnout was so huge, that the group broke down into four sections.

The “west of I-5” folks, naming themselves the coastal chapter, had decided to meet on the 27th in OB. And at least half the turnout was from Ocean Beach.

by Denny Knox

I am a founding member of the Peninsula Singers, which is a community chorus that practices in the Community Room at the Hervey Point Loma Library. Recently, we were invited to participate with seven other choruses from around the country at Carnegie Hall in New York City.

We started practicing Beethoven’s Mass in C major about a year ago, the piece that we sang in NYC.