OB Rag

City Government Enters Official Bid Process for Public Surveillance System In Beach Areas – Including OB Pier

Winston Smith, you’d better touch those toes. And don’t bend your knees to do it either, because Big Brother’s watching, and if you cheat, he’s gonna know. [Editor: in case you are not familiar with the novel, Winston Smith is the main character in George Orwell’s “1984.”]

It may be a couple decades late, but 1984 has finally arrived – government surveillance cameras are soon to be installed in a handful of locations along the San Diego coast, kicking off a program that seems destined for expansion into a spectrum that could one day encompass every public space in America (and whatever private spaces aren’t protected by a heat-shielding drawn curtain). It might soon be time to bust out those tin-foil-lined hats.

by Michael Moore / Huffington Post / March 22, 2010

To My Fellow Citizens, the Republicans:

Thanks to last night’s vote, that child of yours who has had asthma since birth will now be covered after suffering for her first nine years as an American child with a pre-existing condition.

Thanks to last night’s vote, that 23-year-old of yours who will be hit one day by a drunk driver and spend six months recovering in the hospital will now not go bankrupt because you will be able to keep him on your insurance policy.

The U.S. House of Representatives voted for a sweeping overhaul of the $2.5 trillion U.S. healthcare system.
Here is what to expect if the bill becomes law:

WITHIN THE FIRST YEAR OF ENACTMENT

* Insurance companies will be barred from dropping people from coverage when they get sick. Lifetime coverage limits will be eliminated and annual limits are to be restricted.

* Insurers will be barred from excluding children for coverage because of pre-existing conditions.

* Young adults will be able to stay on their parents’ health plans until the age of 26. Many health plans currently drop dependents from coverage when they turn 19 or finish college.

On March 20th, San Diego Coalition for Peace & Justice decorated cars, took to the streets in a caravan through the city, and with peace protesters at Harbor Drive joined Vets for Peace at Arlington West in front of The Midway (Carrier) Museum for a candlelight vigil.

by Genie Phillips aka Zuchinni

If you look at the March 1975 cover of the O.B. Rag, with the caption ‘International Woman’s Day’, you see a group of women, and one small kid waving a flag, marching on the O.B. pier in support of International Women’s Day. To the far right is Nancy Little, in her often-present overalls. At her side, her seven-year old son Paul is merrily waving his flag, just having fun in the festivities.

Joe Cocker sang, “And Every Picture Tells A Story Don’t It…..”

How telling that Nancy should pass on one week after her picture appears once again on the pages of the OB Rag some 35 years later. I wonder if she saw it. I hope so. She loved Ocean Beach.

by Anna Daniels

The reduced hours schedule for our libraries went into effect Saturday (March 20). The Central library is now closed on Saturdays because of the draconian 10% mid year budget cuts exacted from the library budget by the mayor and approved by the city council this past December.

That 10% cut was more than any other General Fund Department had to sustain. Think about that- our largest library which supports your branch, and serves all citizens- is now closed on Saturdays. And the hours have also been cut at our branches, which I will address further on.

We should all be asking “Why is the mayor balancing the budget on the back of our library system?” I suspect the answer is because he can. We didn’t stop him.

by Nate Hipple

Let it be known: The first Floatopia of 2010 occurred yesterday on Mission Bay!

Apparently, nobody got the memo that Spring has only barely sprung and hence it’s still a bit nippy to be rafting with an ice chest of beer. But never ever underestimate the indomitable spirit of the people’s will to party, even when all signs tell them to behave.

When the city banned alcohol on the beach, Floatopia was the natural reaction. (It’s sort of a cross between ‘Jersey Shore’ and the movie ‘Waterworld’).

The end result of the ban is pushing public drinking …

by John Williams

So far, I’ve commented on Saudi society with the intent of relating how different it is from the US. I haven’t intended to be critical. It hasn’t been my intent to elevate one system over the other. I haven’t wanted to choose. Now, though, I want to say some things about the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) that I think are positive.

First, these people walk the walk when it comes to the question of hospitality. For example, as I’ve said, I live in a hotel. One afternoon, I was near the entrance having a smoke when a youthful Saudi man was also in the lobby (you are allowed to smoke inside of buildings here), pacing, apparently deeply in thought. At a point, his route brought him close enough to me for me to remark, “You seem to be thinking very seriously about something.”

by Ernie McCray

A little while ago I was asked if I would be willing to co-emcee a celebration of Helen Chavez’s life and it was one of those requests that make you go “Who, me? Cesar’s sweet Helen? You kiddin’ me? Well, uh, hey, by golly gee. Yessiree.” Talking about being honored. Whoo! Whee!

I mean, how could I not leap upon the opportunity to share a stage with a woman who took care of a man I loved, enabling him to stretch his wings as he heeded Gandhi and Martin’s call, understanding innately at deep soulful levels the “Why” of it all – as she, too, could not resist the call to change a world.

San Diegans and Americans across the country are showing that many of us have not forgotten there’s two wars going on at this minute. This is at a cost of $400,000,000 EACH DAY for these wars and occupations – while our schools decay, homes are foreclosed, healthcare costs choke families into bankruptcy, and workers go without jobs –

We’re showing up at anti-war actions coast to coast. Here in San Diego, there’s an entire afternoon devoted to showing we haven’t forgotten. There’s a Car Caravan here in San Diego from 3 to 5 pm, and rally from 1 to 3, bannering downtown, and an Arlington West. Read on.

Originally posted April 21, 2009

by Gary Gilmore

Any artist with the moniker of EZ is going to have to live up to the nickname. Isauro Elizondo does that in the first 30 seconds of conversation. Owner of Falling Sky Pottery on the corner of Abbott & Santa Monica, EZ is one of those individuals who makes you feel like a friend as soon as you walk in the door.

by Ernie McCray

Nothing has helped me get back into the swing of things more, after losing my sweetheart, than getting up on stage and giving life to a delightful old goofy character named Wilmer in a play called “Funny Little Thing.”

Wilmer, like I have been in real life, is crazy about his wife, Paula, and she feels the same about him as my Nancy loved me – in spite of the little “things” that come along in a marriage, the irrelevant minutia that Wilmer and Paula, like Nancy and I did, zip by with healthy “Don’t sweat the small stuff” attitudes.

What a fun role and it was just what I needed to discover if I could ever, again, focus my attention, for any reasonable length of time, on something other than the nagging emotional pain that for so long was caught up in my heart and soul like a cat entangled in a sack full of yarn.