Reader Rant: Fire Spinners Out of Control at Veterans’ Memorial

 Frank Gormlie  August 11, 2009  12 Comments on Reader Rant: Fire Spinners Out of Control at Veterans’ Memorial

by Concerned OBcean

While my son and I were in town last night having dinner, I saw someone spinning fire Poi at the west end of Newport. Surprised by the boldness of the spinner to be spinning right there in plain sight on a public corner, I pointed him/her out to my son. Thinking, perhaps hoping, it was simply a drunken fool performing a one time event, I didn’t think much of it.

Yet it continued. …

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Town Hall Meeting On Healthcare Reform Tonight With Rep Susan Davis in Hillcrest

 Source  August 11, 2009  6 Comments on Town Hall Meeting On Healthcare Reform Tonight With Rep Susan Davis in Hillcrest

Organizers are urging constituents of US House Rep Susan Davis to attend a forum on healthcare reform tonight – Tuesday, August 11th. Organizers say Rep Davis will be talking to constituents and gathering feedback and that “this is an ideal opportunity to make sure your support for health insurance reform is seen and heard at exactly the right time.”

Rep Susan Davis represents several San Diego communities including Ocean Beach.

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Inside Story on Town Hall Riots: Right-Wing Shock Troops Do Corporate America’s Dirty Work

 Source  August 10, 2009  3 Comments on Inside Story on Town Hall Riots: Right-Wing Shock Troops Do Corporate America’s Dirty Work

The recent spate of town hall dustups may look like an overnight sensation, but they’ve been years, even decades, in the making.

Since the days in the late 1970s, when the New Right began its takeover of the Republican Party, it has cultivated a militia of white people armed with a grudge against those who brought forth the social changes of the ’60s.

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Boycott FOX News Advertisers!

 Source  August 10, 2009  17 Comments on Boycott FOX News Advertisers!

FOX News has always been the propaganda arm of the Republican Party, willing to twist facts and even lie to promote the Republican agenda.

But the election of President Obama in 2008 pushed FOX News into outright hate-mongering and incitement of violence, which is intolerable in a democracy.

Here are some examples of intolerable hate speech and incitement to violence (go inside for links):

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Dog Park at Dusty Rhodes to Expand

 Source  August 10, 2009  5 Comments on Dog Park at Dusty Rhodes to Expand

Construction for Dusty Rhodes Dog Park enlargement is scheduled to begin the end of August. The curb will be cut in the Sunset Cliffs Parking Lot to provide handicap accessibility. Chain link fencing will run from the equipment gate to the public restrooms, enlarging the leash-free area by about 30 percent.

This will provide an opportunity to allow a third of the park to be closed for six week periods to promote the growth of turf.

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Opposition to Poisoning of Robb Field Gophers

 Source  August 10, 2009  3 Comments on Opposition to Poisoning of Robb Field Gophers

Gophers have made many enemies at Robb Field in Ocean Beach, burrowing and creating numerous holes on the park’s playing fields.

The San Diego-based Animal Protection and Rescue League (APRL), however, is not among that list of enemies. APRL is urging the city to find a non-lethal method to control the gopher population at Robb Field.

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Sunset Cliffs Council Rebuffs City on Cliff Benches

 Source  August 10, 2009  6 Comments on Sunset Cliffs Council Rebuffs City on Cliff Benches

by Anthony Gentile / Peninsula Beacon / August 6, 2009

With city staff members present at Monday’s Sunset Cliffs Natural Park Council meeting, the two sides agreed to disagree when it comes to the safety and relocation of popular cliffside benches.

The result of the deliberation between the two sides was a temporary hold on further removal of Sunset Cliffs benches until …

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Is the U.S. on the Brink of Fascism?

 Source  August 8, 2009  12 Comments on Is the U.S. on the Brink of Fascism?

By Sara Robinson

All through the dark years of the Bush Administration, progressives watched in horror as Constitutional protections vanished, nativist rhetoric ratcheted up, hate speech turned into intimidation and violence, and the president of the United States seized for himself powers only demanded by history’s worst dictators.

With each new outrage, the small handful of us who’d made ourselves experts on right-wing culture and politics would hear once again from worried readers: Is this it? Have we finally become a fascist state? Are we there yet?

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OB Planning Board Approves World Oil’s Sunset Plaza With Conditions

 Frank Gormlie  August 6, 2009  10 Comments on OB Planning Board Approves World Oil’s Sunset Plaza With Conditions

by Frank Gormlie

The Ocean Beach Planning Board met last night (8/05/09) and discussed the latest reincarnation of World Oil’s Sunset Plaza project destined for the corner of Sunset Cliffs Blvd and Voltaire.

Before a small crowd of about a dozen interested residents, the Board first narrowly defeated a motion to deny the project as it was presented. This was a 5 to 6 vote. Then … .

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Blackwater Founder Implicated in Murder

 Source  August 5, 2009  1 Comment on Blackwater Founder Implicated in Murder

By Jeremy Scahill / Peace Resource Center / August 4, 2009

A former Blackwater employee and an ex-US Marine who has worked as a security operative for the company have made a series of explosive allegations in sworn statements filed on August 3 in federal court in Virginia.

The two men claim that the company’s owner, Erik Prince, may have murdered or facilitated the murder of individuals who were cooperating with federal authorities investigating the company.

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World Oil Out of OB!

 Source  August 4, 2009  25 Comments on World Oil Out of OB!

Editor: This was sent to us by an anonymous contributor.

by OBserver

What kind of neighbor is World Oil Corp.? Well since I live very close to what I’m going to refer to as “ground zero” I feel very qualified to say that they are a pretty shitty one!

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Tide Pools … or Cesspools? at Sunset Cliffs

 Jon Carr  August 4, 2009  20 Comments on Tide Pools … or Cesspools? at Sunset Cliffs

by Jon Carr

Jon: “Hey honey, let’s pack a lunch and head down to the Sunset Cliffs tidepools for the day and soak up some sun!”

Honey: “That sounds great Jon, I’ll pack the lunch. Sounds fun!”

Or…

Jon: “Hey honey, let’s pack a lunch and head down to the Sunset Cliffs cesspools …

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