OB Rag

Dear Chief Lansdowne:

I awoke this morning(Saturday Feb. 6th) and began doing what I do every morning- reading the news and drinking my coffee. A signonsandiego article regarding the police investigation of a murder-suicide in City Heights caught my eye I could not help reading it as a disturbing counterpoint to a OB Rag blog posting about the police crackdown on homeless youth in Ocean Beach.

I have lived in City Heights for over 20 years and I also contribute to the OB Rag. What I read this morning was essentially articles about not only different kinds of crime but articles about what seems to be two different cities in terms of police involvement.

Due to some complaints by OB residents, channeled by 10NEWS, San Diego Police have begun to crack down on wayward youth, rampaging across our community.

Here, four officers, two on bikes, are seen handing out citations to a half-dozen young people on the seawall.

Is this the response the community wants?

by John Williams

Burkas: Just like Ford’s Model T, you can get a burka in any color you like as long as you like black. Men’s attire ranges from white, through grays, to black, plus shades of brown. None of this traditional attire is patterned; all solid colors.

Lefthandedness: Though statistics would say a certain percentage of people will be lefthanded, I haven’t met a single one here. And, if you extend your left hand to a Saudi or touch them with your’s, they will either draw back or, at the very least, wince.

Saudis don’t complain about their culture or society: In six weeks, I have not spoken to a Saudi female.

When I first heard the expression, Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, I remember going: “What the hell? Is Clinton not feeling well?”

Now, of course, Bill must have wished for a little Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell back when he idealized out loud: “Is oral sex really sex?” – to which I felt like writing him a letter saying: “Check this out, Willie. If some liquid flies from your body like a rocket heading to lunar terrain and some of it becomes a news story around the world regarding a dress that it has stained and you are feeling no pain, wearing an expression on your face that’s both serene and insane – you have had sex, my man.”

Having experienced more than my share of discrimination, thanks to old Jim Crow, it’s the “less than” aspects of the deal that gnaws at your soul. It’s the everybody else can do it but you can’t and that quickly grows old and remains old.

by hippiereborn

This is not an article laced with numbers, statistics, and quotes from various sources. In writing this, I am reaching back into my own experiences over the last year and a half as a social worker who happens to live in OB and putting the truth out on the table.

For those who have complained about the influx of “drug crazed” (mostly young) transients infiltrating our neighborhood, you are finding it difficult to hold someone accountable for the disturbances and quality of life issues this population has brought to OB. You want them gone, out of here, ejected. You don’t care really where they go, so long as they are not bothering you anymore.

Guess what? You are to blame.

By Nate Hipple

If some catastrophe suddenly cut-off the entire water supply to San Diego County it wouldn’t affect Cielo Foth. She’d still probably be watering her fruit trees. Cielo’s secret is a home irrigation system that catches the rain falling on her roof and channels it into several 4-1/2 x 7 ft tanks. Currently those tanks are filled to the brim (thanks to our quick rainy season) so Cielo had to buy a few extra barrels to catch the surplus.

“People say it doesn’t rain much in San Diego”, Ceilo said. “But isn’t that a good reason to collect the rain we do get?”

Zing!

Now, here’s a woman who is doing what we all should: taking advantage of an unlimited natural resource in order to promote a more self-sustaining lifestyle.

“I just needed more water for my fruit trees and I didn’t want to burden the city.”

By Chris Roberts / SFWeekly.com / February 01, 2010

Though less famous than its San Diego–area namesake, San Francisco’s Ocean Beach is anything but unknown to surfers: Its three miles of coastline provide “a world-class surf spot,” says surfer Josh Berry. Its rip current and big winter waves mean it’s for experienced riders only, and those riders come from “all over — not just [locally] — to surf here,” Berry adds.

However, the recent spate of storms means surfing at Ocean Beach could soon get shitty — as in, 10 million gallons of raw sewage shitty.

Editordude: Channel 10 News is raising the issue of public drug use in Ocean Beach, – on the beach itself, in the parking lots – in the following piece. It raises the thought that there’s been an increase in young people in the neighborhood, panhandling, selling and doing drugs. Some local residents are upset. (Our local photog Jim Grant is quoted.) All these allegations shouldn’t surprise old-timers – these are the same kind of accusations – true or not – that have been made about the kids in OB since the late sixties. And if it is all true, it’s not surprising at all – given the nature of the Great Recession. How many jobs are actually out there for young people? By the way, if there are more homeless – kids or not – why are there no homeless services in OB? Here’s the post:

PUBLIC DRUG USE UPSETS OCEAN BEACH RESIDENTS

Channel 10NEWS / February 2, 2010

Ocean Beach residents are upset about what they said is dangerous activity and aggressive panhandling. It’s a coastal community known for its sunsets and unique local shops, but it’s what’s selling on the sand that has some residents and business owners fuming.

by JEC

There is a reason, a reason for the Democrats to appease the Republicans. A reason mentioned only in the shadows fearing the consequences should it be brought into the light. But the proper time eventually arrives for unspoken fear to leave the darkness. It is time to bring to the light the concealed reason.

After recurring periods of power, the Republican ideology has been rejected by most of the people. Their ideas sounded attractive but the realities have been utter failures. Starve the beast Newt Gingrich once described the strategy. The beast? Our government, our constitution, our country. The goal – it’s down fall.

by Shane Finneran

Like many folks on the left, I’ve recently been suffering from PODS, President Obama Disappointment Syndrome. On mild days, my PODS symptoms would include eye-rolling during Obama clips on the news, lack of interest in presidential moments like the state of the union speeches, and on-sight deletion of emails I get from barackobama.com . And when my Obama blues would really act up, I’d find myself dwelling on how the president has let the nation down and turned hope into just another four-letter word.

But when I take an objective look at PODS, I realize that the malady actually is not caused by any chicanery on the part of Obama, who has governed just about how he said he would govern. My PODS is a result of the dreamy expectations that I, like many liberals, had for the guy.

by Mary E Mann

Let’s not mince words, I am willing to admit that I love the shit out of books. Much more than is probably healthy or even altogether sane. I love how they smell, how they look on my bedside table or on used bookstore shelves. I love the quiet contemplation they induce in people, the gentle low murmur of contentment that fills bookstores and libraries thick as a cat’s purr beneath its ribs. I love watching a friend or lover read, their eyes intent, their bodies in the same room as mine but their neurons a world away.

Most of all, I love reading, curled in my bed before sleep, on the couch with a cup of tea on a rainy day, stretched flat and gently roasting on the beach. I love unfurling my mind into a new, uncharted landscape, inhabited by Zorba’s and Mrs. Dalloway’s, and seeing how it fares. I am an entirely impartial defender of books.

The Voice of San Diego, an online news publication, has begun a series on the dismal nature of San Diego County’s safety net. It is too excellent to pass up. Here is an excerpt and links to the original article byKelly Bennett and Dagny Salas:

San Diego County’s safety net is riddled with gaps ….

A voiceofsandiego.org investigation has found that the county government’s historical resistance to provide social welfare programs has left a wide chasm between last-resort aid and those on the bottom rungs of economic survival.