OB Rag

By Ernie McCray

Occasionally
if I write something
along the lines
of, say, a little Mexican girl
curled up in her fears
of what’s happening
in her world
as she’s housed
in a cage,
or of a Black man
dying from
a racist policeman’s rage,
his knee on the brotha’s neck,
someone says
I’m playing the “race card’
and I agree
since, in America,
race cards
are the only cards in the deck.

By Thomas Ultican / Tultican

Masquerading as a serious education research paper, “Making it Count: The Productivity of Public Charter Schools in Seven U.S. Cities” is little more than a flawed propaganda screed. The authors from the University of Arkansas College of Education and Health Professions claim the superiority of “public charter” schools over traditional public schools (TPS) by employing thoroughly discredited methods.

They repeat the same data manipulation malfeasance that has been debunked multiple times over the past decade.

Nuclear Shutdown News

By Michael Steinberg / Black Rain Press

Nuclear Shutdown News chronicles the decline and fall of the nuclear power industry, in the US and beyond, and highlights the efforts of those working to create a nuclear free world.

Japan Goes Nuclear During Olympics

As Covid cases in Tokyo hit a record daily high of 4000+ (and rising) on July 31 , another perspective on the Covid Olympics appeared in a July 26 Reuters article, “Japan goes nuclear in bid to stay cool during Olympics.”

The article reported, “Japan has rebooted extra power plants, including a long dormant nuclear plant, and has taken other steps to avoid a power crisis as temperatures rise” as does the need for cooling, especially Tokyo,” where the games began on July 23.

Donald Trump’s attacks on democracy are being promoted by rich and powerful conservative groups that are determined to win at all costs.

By Jane Mayer / The New Yorker / August 2, 2021

It was tempting to dismiss the show unfolding inside the Dream City Church in Phoenix, Arizona, as an unintended comedy. One night in June, a few hundred people gathered for the première of “The Deep Rig,” a film financed by the multimillionaire founder of Overstock.com, Patrick Byrne, who is a vocal supporter of former President Donald Trump.

Styled as a documentary, the movie asserts that the 2020 Presidential election was stolen by supporters of Joe Biden, including by Antifa members who chatted about their sinister plot on a conference call.

There is a serious brouhaha going on with the Ocean Beach Town Council these days. For unknown reasons, Mark Winkie, the president and a board member for 5 years, was asked to resign on July 6.

At least one other board member has resigned in protest. And former board members and others in the community are demanding that the current board explain why Winkie was asked to resign or offer an apology, or both. There’s also allegations the board did not follow its own by-laws.

Here is Susan Winkie’s public comment:

Today, Tuesday, August 3, Phillip Halpern, a former federal prosecutor and head of the white collar crime section, will outline major flaws in City-Navy NAVWAR proposal. The press conference will be outside City Hall at 202 C Street in the public plaza at 11 am.

Unbeknownst to most San Diegans, the Navy and City are fastracking a massive redevelopment project that will adversely impact the lives of all those who live, work, and visit our city.

All events are online and free unless stated otherwise.

Every Friday 5:30 pm Climate Mobilization Coalition Zoom Meeting. August 21st, and 28th.

August 21st Saturday 9:30am – 6:30 pm ASC’s Portal to Liberation Anniversary: Asian Americans & the Journey to Abolition

August 21st Saturday 12 pm – 1:30 pm Raising Backyard Chickens In-Person Workshop –

August 21st Saturday 12 pm – 4 pm Sea Shepherd San Diego

August 21st. Saturday 10 am “Other Side of the Hill” Documentary and Panel Discussion
August 24th Tuesday 4 pm – 5pm Save Your Scraps Webinar

August 24th – August 25th Riparian Management Workshop: Save Our Oaks

August 28th Saturday 2:30 pm – 5 pm Youth4Climate: Eco-Club Coalition Leaders in Action Workshop

August 29th Sunday 3 pm Build your own Bee Shelter Event by SoloBee

By Colleen O’Connor

What’s Up with the Mayor’s “Get it Done” App?: Part III

Lots happening. The Delta variant (now predicted to hit 140,000 to 300,00 cases a day this month). The Newsom recall effort. Raging fires. No need to list all the problems.

Any attempt at solutions (since getting anything through the Mayor’s ‘Get It Done app’ is impossible) relies on each of us, as individuals and family units, to respond.

So, how to deal with the new Delta variant of the COVID pandemic that is near defeating us? Local, local, local or YOYO (You’re On Your Own) strategies remain the best option. San Diegans have behaved better than most of the country. Clearly, way better than the former southern states, now engulfed in a nightmare repeat of last winter’s disaster.

Still, “What to do?” Common sense applies.

By Olivia Rosane / EcoWatch / August 1, 2021

Bayer will no longer sell glyphosate-containing products to U.S. home gardeners, the company announced on Thursday.

The move comes as the company currently faces around 30,000 legal claims from customers who believe use of these products — including the flagship Roundup — caused them to develop cancer, as AgWeb reported.

“Bayer’s decision to end U.S. residential sale of Roundup is a historic victory for public health and the environment,” Center for Food Safety executive director Andrew Kimbrell said in a statement. “As agricultural, large-scale use of this toxic pesticide continues, our farmworkers remain at risk. It’s time for EPA to act and ban glyphosate for all uses.”

The Ocean Beach Planning Board meets this Wednesday, August 4. The Board still meets by Cisco WebEx and participants must register (go here).

According to their agenda, the Board does not have any development projects to review, but it does have three items on the agenda of note.

First, the Board will finalize their priority list of CIP (Community Infrastructure Projects), continued from their last meeting. Upon request of the city, the Board puts together a list like this every year. Now, whether the city actually looks at the list or “goes” by it is up for question, but at least OB’s planning board goes on record with what the community’s priorities are.

Next up on the agenda, it appears the Board will wade into the controversies surrounding replacing car parking with bicycle parking.

by Ernie McCray

Some are saying that
Simone Biles is
a “national embarrassment”
who “quit on her team,”
when the truth is
she’s a
superbly talented gymnast
who, for years,
has mesmerized
the world
with dazzling routines
featuring
an array
of twists and turns and flips
that seem to defy
the laws of physics,

The San Diego Union-Tribune of late has been running numerous op-eds about the current plight of the Cuban people and even how the US must intervene. The ferocity of these one-sided rants makes it seem like the old Cold War has reignited. And calls for the Biden administration to militarily intervene are stark reminders that the official policy of this government has been to squelch the efforts by Cubans to have their own country ever since the revolution began 22 years ago.

Well, there is a different reality out there other than the narrative propagated by the mainstream media. Here are views you won’t find in the U-T:

Full-Page Ad in the New York Times, July 23, 2021:

Dear President Joe Biden,

It is time to take a new path forward in U.S.-Cuban relations. We, the undersigned, are making this urgent, public appeal to you to reject the cruel policies put into place by the Trump White House that have created so much suffering among the Cuban people.