OB Rag

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?

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 … .

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.

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!

…

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 …

by Kim

World Oil’s proposed construction is overwhelmingly over-the-top when considering bulk and scale and leaves much to be desired when considering compatibility with the existing community character.

Sure, the rights of the property owner should not be disregarded, but what about the community for a change?

by Timothy LaSalle

Good news! You can rest assured that the organic food you bought today is every bit as beneficial for you and the planet as it was three days ago. Advantages for health and ecological soundness are still there, despite a review released this week claiming that there is insufficient evidence to prove organic superiority on the nutritional grounds it evaluated.

By Bill Maher

How about this for a New Rule: Not everything in America has to make a profit. It used to be that there were some services and institutions so vital to our nation that they were exempt from market pressures. Some things we just didn’t do for money. The United States always defined capitalism, but it didn’t used to define us. But now it’s becoming all that we are.

Did you know, for example, that there was a time when being called a “war profiteer” was a bad thing?

OCEAN BEACH, CA. This is the latest OB Community Bulletin Board. If you have any news, commentary, info, or advice you’d like to share, simply post it in the comments section.

In the meantime, we’re start it out with the following newsy bits.

HOOPERS’ TRIAL SET FOR SEPTEMBER …

4th MEDICAL MARIJUANA DISPENSARY TO OPEN IN OB – …

Thanks to local photographer Jim Grant we can enjoy scenes from Sunset Cliffs hours after the sun has gone down.

Remember, if you have photos of OB or the surrounding environs that you would like us to share with the community, email them to us at obragblog@gmail.com

For a week we ran a poll on how people feel about World Oil’s Sunset Plaza. The results are in, and with 67 respondents (and there’s no way to tell whether a respondent lives in OB) people are split on the two-story medical building planned for the corner of Sunset Cliffs and Voltaire.

The largest bloc of voters, 29 of them for 43% think the building is …

Sunset Plaza, the World Oil project slated for the corner of Voltaire and Sunset Cliffs is coming back before the Ocean Beach Planning Board at its general meeting Wednesday, August 5th. But you wouldn’t know it by checking out the Planning Board’s website.