OB Rag

By JW August / Special to the OB Rag

In the Trenches–

The term “fog of war” is an apt description of what’s going on now in Washington.

Confusion, fear and paranoia stalk the halls of the federal bureaucracy, often maligned and rarely appreciated these days.  So says a long time source whom I’ll name “S” who holds a senior leadership position with a large federal agency.

“It’s important that Americans know what is going on” says “S” and says he/she is not motivated by belonging to any political party; the skin in the game for “S” is having served this country for more than 25 years of federal and military service. “S” worked in San Diego in the past but has been in D.C. now for over ten years.

A large protest against Trump immigration policies was held in National City Friday afternoon. Hundreds of people jammed National Avenue — and an eventual street take-over resulted in teargas being used by police after it was called an “illegal protest.”

Starting out as a peaceful protest, the demonstration quickly grew in size, as Highland Avenue was swarmed with people.

“I see a lot of youth which I’m happy to see here that are out here supporting. I see a lot of families with kids. I see a lot of older people as well,” said Violet, an immigration activist.

ABC News

MINNEAPOLIS — Civil rights activists gathered outside the headquarters of Target Corp. on Thursday to call for a national boycott of the retailing giant over its decision to phase out its diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.

Target announced last Friday that it would join competitor Walmart and a number of other prominent American brands in scaling back their DEI initiatives, which have come under attack from conservatives and the new White House of President Donald Trump.

Nekima Levy Armstrong, a veteran civil rights lawyer in Minneapolis and founder of the Racial Justice Network, joined other local activists and their supporters at a news conference to urge people to begin the boycott on Saturday, the first day of Black History Month. Many of the participants were regular Target shoppers until now, she said.

Levy Armstrong said they were “stunned” that Target, which increased its commitment to building a more diverse workforce in the aftermath of the police killing of George Floyd, a Black man, in Minneapolis in 2020, backed away from its support of racial equity.

Waymo, the self-driving division of Google parent Alphabet, announced Wednesday it plans to test its autonomous taxis in San Diego this year.

After extensive testing in Los Angeles, Phoenix and San Francisco, where trips are publicly available 24 hours a day, the company says the technology is adapting successfully to new environments, leading to the expansion.

San Diego and Las Vegas will be next, with as many as 10 new cities to be announced this year.

Today, Friday morning, the White House affirmed that President Donald Trump will move forward with aggressive new tariffs on Canada and Mexico (and China) on Saturday, February 1 and that he will stick to his deadline for the new duties that could have widespread effects on the economy.

“I can confirm that, tomorrow, the February 1 deadline President Trump put into place with a statement several weeks ago continues,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said during Friday’s briefing.

Her confirmation of the new tariffs appeared to end speculation on whether the president would follow through on the pledge he made as a candidate to levy the new duties.

She said the tariffs would amount to a 25% duty on Mexico and Canada and a 10% tariff on China.

If U.S. President Donald Trump follows through on his pledge to slap 25% tariffs on imports from Mexico it could usher in a volatile new chapter in the longstanding trade relationship with the impacts hitting consumers.

7SanDiego / January 27, 2025

San Diego’s Mission Trails Regional Park will grow by 15 acres once a sale goes through, thanks to newly acquired land north of state Route 52 and west of Interstate 15, it was announced Tuesday.

The land, which is in escrow but expected to close within 30 days, will be added to the city’s Multiple Species Conservation Program with the intent of protecting threatened and endangered species.

San Diego purchased the two parcels, part of the East Elliot Community Planning Area, from a private buyer for $431,500, using money from the city’s Habitat Acquisition Fund. That fund is solely for purchasing and preserving land for conservation.

The climate emergency has led to dramatic changes for Alaska fish and wildlife and for the subsistence-based communities of the Arctic who depend on these creatures for their survival.

By David Helvarg / Common Dreams / Jan 22, 2025 

In early January, as one of his last acts in office, former U.S. President Joe Biden banned future offshore oil and gas drilling on more than 625 million acres of U.S. coastal waters including the entire East Coast, West Coast, and the eastern Gulf of Mexico as well as the northern Bering Sea.

He did this using presidential powers granted under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act of 1953, which in 2019 a federal judge in Alaska ruled cannot be rescinded by a future president. This means, despite his day one executive order reversing Biden’s order, President Donald Trump will likely have to get Congress to pass legislation negating this drilling ban.

Noon this Friday, January 31st, is the deadline to register to vote online for your local representatives to the California Democratic Party.

If you’re in California Assembly Districts 77, 78, 79 or 80, you’re in Region 22, which covers all of San Diego County. Here is the link 

For those who are still appalled by the shellacking last November at the national level, or concerned about cronyism at the local level, this is an opportunity to weigh in on who gets to decide which Democratic candidates you get to vote for.

By Joey Reams / What Now San Diego / January 29, 2025

OB Kabob, a family-owned and operated Middle Eastern restaurant that closed its doors early last year, is getting ready to reopen in the same location in Ocean Beach at 4994 Newport Avenue,  Ste A.

The restaurant is set to move into the former home of D’lish Restaurant, which is owned by the same family, Sahir and Lorien Sinawi.

The Log / January 30, 2025

The Port of San Diego commenced repairs on the west side of the Shelter Island Boat Launch Ramp on Monday, January 27, 2025, with the project scheduled for completion in April. During this time, the east side floating dock remained open and accessible, and the Port anticipated it would stay operational throughout the repair project.

The repair work included pumping approximately 200 cubic yards of sand underneath the damaged floating docks and depositing it onto the adjacent upland beach along the existing concrete boardwalk to address erosion issues. Crews also installed neoprene sleeves and stainless-steel wedge anchors along the existing seawall to prevent future sand migration. Damaged floating docks were removed and replaced with a newly installed floating dock.

By Geoff Page

A recent survey of the newly completed Dog Beach fence sadly confirmed the concerns detailed in The Rag’s earlier stories on it. The fence is not doing well.

This the third piece The Rag has done on the new fence. The first was October 9, 2020. The second was November 9 last year.

To refresh memories on what the fence is, it is a system of tall 4×4 posts, four rows of twisted wire, and wooden slats. It runs like tunnels, lining paths on both sides intending to keep people – and more importantly dogs – on prescribed routes. There are three “exits” from the main path across the dunes toward the river, also lined with fence.