OB Rag

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.

Robert Daniel Webb robbed a convenience store Tuesday, March 31st, in Ellensburg, 95 miles southeast of Seattle. What makes this robbery different is that Webb had his nine-year-old daughter by his side when he took his gun out.

Thousands of people converged on London’s financial district as part of the European-wide protests against the backdrop of G20 conferences. 5,000 English police were out to greet the demonstrators. Several hundred protesters jammed up against the Royal Bank of Scotland, whose CEO recently did an AIG-number, taking millions in bonuses, then getting bailed out by the government.

FRESNO, Calif. – As the operations manager of an outreach center for the homeless here, Paul Stack is used to seeing people down on their luck. What he had never seen before was people living in tents and lean-tos on the railroad lot across from the center.

“They just popped up about 18 months ago,” Mr. Stack said. “One day it was empty. The next day, there were people living there.”

by Lane Tobias

One year in OB, and I couldn’t be happier

Today, April 1st, marks the one year anniversary of my girlfriend and I moving to San Diego. It really has gone fast, and I have to say that it has been a year of learning and self realization – I owe most of it to the beauty of living in a community as tight knit and open-minded as Ocean Beach.

by Michael Moore

Nothing like it has ever happened. The President of the United States, the elected representative of the people, has just told the head of General Motors — a company that’s spent more years at #1 on the Fortune 500 list than anyone else — “You’re fired!”

I simply can’t believe it. This stunning, unprecedented action has left me speechless for the past two days.

Karl Rove, once acclaimed as George Bush’s brain, was arrested yesterday by Capitol Police. Rove had returned to the Capitol for a speaking engagement, when he was confronted by officers with a warrant for his arrrest for his failure to testify before Congress.

The specific charges were not available at press time.

Alberto Gonzalez, Rove’s attorney, called the arrest “outrageous!”

When the city eliminated supervision at skate parks this year to save money, the parks filled with gleeful skaters who no longer had to pay $5 and be under the watchful eye of a supervisor.

Problems followed. The skate park at Robb Field at Ocean Beach was repeatedly tagged with graffiti, forcing city employees to make regular trips to clean it up. Reports surfaced of people drinking and smoking at the skate parks. Parks employees and police officers started checking in on the parks regularly.

38 years ago – check out our account of the riot – reposted here, what led up to it, the causes, the reporting, and the aftermath.

the Battle for Collier Park

Spring 1971. One of the first major issues the OB Rag jumped into wholeheartedly was to join up with a new OB environmental group, OB Ecology Action, and lead a fight to save Collier Park, an urban patch of land in northeastern OB.

by Ernie McCray

Dear Secretary Napolitano:

I write this letter because Alan Bersin is rumored to be on a short list of people who seek to run the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agency. If I didn’t say anything against the possibility of him rising to such a position I would feel as though I was letting my fellow citizens down, especially in light of the faith that so many, like me, have placed in President Barack Obama.