OB Rag

Okay, by now we’re all pretty familiar with the Troubled Asset Relief Program, right? Can you watch a newscast without some mention of what bank is receiving TARP funds, what they are (or, rather, aren’t) doing with them, who’s criticizing who got them, and who has a better idea about how to end the ‘recession’ whilst dancing around the taboo ‘D’ word decribing our current situation? How about a different look at what’s going on with the banks, namely the ones that fail?

My apologies in advance for any perceived crudeness of language in the e-mail. That’s just how I roll, yo.

Hi, Please allow me to preface this letter by identifying myself as an infrequent user yet ardent supporter of public transit in our county.

by Ernie McCray

I loved the image Obama projected abroad although I could have gone without the scene wherein our troops in Iraq stood wide-eyed listening to him, in so many words, say to them: “You don’t have much longer to stay but you just might end up shooting and ducking and covering your behinds in Afghanistan someday.”

by Frank Gormlie

Remember the old Children’s Energy Center? it sat directly across from the OB Elementary playing fields. It was usually full of kids as it was a child care center itself, serving kids from 2 to 10 years of age. Well, the kids were all kicked out three years ago – and it appears all for greed. …

by Anna Daniels

This past Friday morning (April 10) the SANDAG Board of Director’s meeting had an agenda item for a special Transit Operations Funding workshop. Thirty public speakers presented testimony for and against additional fiscal support for MTS. (SANDAG is the San Diego Association of Governments – a coordinating policy body for the area.)

by Frank Gormlie

Water quality testing around Mission Bay is being severely cut back … Mission Bay is losing two life guards. But don’t worry! The Department of Homeland Security iS funding 13 to 16 surveillance cameras to be installed around Mission Bay …

by Mary E. Mann

A pigeon hops through the open door of the plywood camper, sneaking up behind an unsuspecting Keith Kifer, who’s busy preparing lunch. Kifer, otherwise known as the Blues Wizard, gently shoos the bird away, exclaiming: “How rude! He didn’t even knock.”

How rude indeed, to sneak up behind a burgeoning blues legend. Kifer has been making a name for himself in San Diego, as the lead guitarist for The Blues Wizard and the Masters of Humility.

Back in February, we detailed how record numbers of Americans — although certainly not yet a majority — support the idea of legalizing marijuana. It turns out that there may be a simple explanation for this: …

Obey! The return of Baracknophobia.

Fox News is playing an increasingly erratic and dangerous game by embracing paranoid insurrection rhetoric and conspiracy theorists.

After a night of drinking, followed by an early-morning argument with his mother, with whom he shared a Pittsburgh apartment, 22-year-old Richard Poplawski put on a bulletproof vest, grabbed his guns, including an AK-47 rifle, and waited for the police to respond to the domestic-disturbance call his mother had placed.

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 …