OB Rag

by Anna Daniels

Our transit service- the Metropolitan Transit System (MTS) – is on the brink of bankruptcy! Bus service will be reduced and/or eliminated on some existing routes. This is a done deal.

Transit advocates were successful, however, in temporarily halting the approval of fare increases which MTS has presented as the only remedy to this fiscal emergency.

By OB Rag Staffer

Can you picture yourself being homeless and living in a tent city? That’s a frightening thought, but it is a looming possibility for more and more San Diegans as the economy gets worse for ordinary people.

Ocean Beach has a large homeless population. We see these people, chat with them and help them out with a buck here and there. But …

by Anna Daniels

One day last week I read that the City was disbanding its winter shelters, which not only provided protection from the elements but also linked people up with services they needed- health care, jobs, and housing. These shelters “housed” a very small percentage of the total homeless population but their importance shouldn’t be dismissed.

Senate Republicans are now privately threatening to derail the confirmation of key Obama administration nominees for top legal positions by linking the votes to suppressing critical torture memos from the Bush era.

A reliable Justice Department source advises me that Senate Republicans are planning to “go nuclear” over the nominations …

Saturday, April 4, 2009

Our neighbor, Hannah Creighton, invited us to share the sunny day with some local artists and art patrons. It was a small show and I’m sorry I didn’t get to talk to everyone, but all the artists had beautiful things to show and sell, were very friendly and the atmosphere was wonderful!

Last night I drove downtown to see firsthand San Diego’s own Tent City. And there it was, not necessarily in front of the main library, but along the west side of the Post Office, on the sidewalk, along Eighth Avenue.

Patty Mooney informed me that every night in front of San Diego’s downtown main library, a tent city pops up – right in front of the doors, and also across the street, in front of the Post Office.

by Patty Mooney

How many times have you passed up a sleeping figure underneath a blanket or tarp on the darkened streets of your city? Have you ever considered that this could be one of our war heroes?

The fact that a group of college students from Point Loma Nazarene University has set up their own ‘shanty town’ to learn about Third World poverty – is a good first step. And it would be good for the City if San Diego politicians would follow in their foot steps – to learn about Southern California poverty.

Socialism is once again up for discussion, so I thought it was time to propose an answer to the question: why socialism? And my answer is: Wednesday. What is Wednesday? Wednesday — or as my old man used to call it: hump-day — is the third day in the work-week.

It was just over a month ago that our State Legistlators and our Governor were telling us that “everyone had to give up something to repair the state’s finances”. It made a good sound bite and attempted to create a shared sense of urgency. But that’s about it, it’s not the reality of the 42 billion dollar fix.

As San Diego closes its winter shelter for our local homeless, nation-wide the homeless, joined by the jobless, are erecting tent cities. Among the cities which are grappling with an increasing number of tent city residents are Fresno, Sacramento and Los Angeles in California, New York City, Seattle and Olympia in Washington, and St. Petersburg in Florida.