OB Rag

Over the past week or so, members of the Ocean Beach Town Council elected five new directors to its board. And they are:

• Tracy Dezenzo
• Mara Cunningham
• Deanna Polk
• Anna Firicano
• Gregory Winter

By Geoff Page

I credit the Bush, Jr. era for institutionalizing the politics of fear in this country. Since then, it has become interwoven into the fabric of society in more ways than most people realize. Bush and his criminal cohorts elevated concern about “safety” to colossal heights, even to justify a war. Since then, all kinds of crap has been foisted on an obedient and willing American public. Security systems and guns to name the top two.

But, it’s insidious and ubiquitous use in our day-to-day life now has become acceptable. This is sad because fear for our safety is now used as a cloak for a whole bunch of things. How could anyone be against measures to keep us – and our children of course – safe?

Here are three cases where the fear card being is being dishonestly played to obtain a desired end. The most egregious is a cycling subject. There is a crosswalk. And there is the Humane Society.

In her blistering dissent, the Supreme Court justice calls out her conservative colleagues’ breathtaking disregard of precedent and the Constitution.

By Justice Sonia Sotomayor / The Nation / September 3, 2021

The Court’s order is stunning. Presented with an application to enjoin a flagrantly unconstitutional law engineered to prohibit women from exercising their constitutional rights and evade judicial scrutiny, a majority of Justices have opted to bury their heads in the sand.

All events are online and free unless stated otherwise.

Many groups are very concerned about the September 14th election and are dedicating time to work on the Stop the Recall vote. If we elect a new governor now it would mean drastic changes to social justice and climate change policy issues.

Every Saturday 10:15 am. Climate Mobilization Coalition Zoom Meeting. September 4th, 11th, 18th and 25th.
September 8th Wednesday 6 pm Tesla Supercharging Plugs Into San Marcos
September 9th Thursday 5:30 pm Racially Charged Misdemeanors

September 9th Thursday 6 am. – 8 am Nuclear Weapons & Climate Change
September 8th Wednesday 5:30 pm 6 pm Social time 6 pm – 7 pm Book discussion
September 9th Thursday 5:30 pm Planet Rehab
September 9th Thursday 5 pm “Invest In Yourself: Building A Better Transportation Future”

Nuclear Shutdown News August 2021

By Michael Steinberg / Black Rain Press

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

On August 29, 2021, 16 years to the day when Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans and environs, Hurricane Ida made landfall twice as a Category 4 storm. Its 150 mph winds raced through the Crescent City, and up cancer alley, by Baton Rouge, an area replete with petrochemical facilities whose surrounding African American populations have high rates of serious health care problems in the best of times.

The new owners to OB Hardware have just introduced themselves to the community.

Joe and Jenae Kuchman announced that the storefront is open and invited villagers to come by during September as they celebrate with “a little throwback disco theme – this OB original is stayin’ alive!”

Here is their announcement, posted on Nextdoor:

After taking his car on a surfing venture at Dog Beach, a man gave up and abandoned it in the middle of the surf Wednesday morning.

Fox5 reported that the vehicle was out in about 100 feet of ocean around 5:30 am, which was reported to SDPD.

From Cabrillo National Monument facebook:

Due to a necessary maintenance requirement, there will be a temporary closure of the Old Point Loma Lighthouse and the Assistant Keepers Quarters (AKQ).

In efforts of preservation and for visitor safety purposes, no access will be permitted at the Old Point Loma Lighthouse. The closure will begin on Monday, August 30th and last through Wednesday, September 1st.

By John Nichols / The Nation / August 31, 2021

“When we can discuss socialism rationally. It will be as if a heavy curtain has been lifted from man’s eyes.” Those were not the words of Karl Marx or Eugene Victor Debs, though either of those radical thinkers might well have uttered them.

Those were the words of Ed Asner, the actor who became a household name in the role of gruff but lovable Lou Grant, the boss at a TV station, in the 1970s TV comedy The Mary Tyler Moore Show. He then carried the character over, with a new job as a Los Angeles newspaper editor, to one of the most socially conscious programs in the history of television, the eponymous Lou Grant of the late 1970s and early ’80s.

When he died Sunday, at age 91,

At the August 4 meeting of the OB Planning Board, Councilwoman Jen Campbell’s representative was asked for an update on the vendor ordinance “that has taken a very long time to gestate,” as OB Rag reporter Geoff Page described it.

The rep, Teddy Martinez, replied that it may very well come to the San Diego city council in September – maybe. Martinez explained that it is difficult putting together an ordinance that satisfies state and federal law. The first version of the ordinance was tabled because of flaws in the information gathering effort. That has since been corrected and a new draft is ready. Page commented in his report that:

Wednesday night, the Ocean Beach Planning Board meets (via Cisco again due to rising COVID numbers) and there’s three interesting issues on their agenda.

First, the board will discuss and review a letter asking that the $8.4 million received by the city from the state for the OB Pier be budgeted towards rebuilding and included in the 5-year Capital Investment Projects list.

Of more immediate interest is the board’s discussion on time restrictions for overnight closures to beach parking lots. The city has asked the board for its suggestions.

Neil Young pulled out of Farm Aid earlier in August due to the Covid-19 pandemic. In an August 23 op-ed, Young elaborated on his concerns which accused large concert promoters of valuing profits over safety.

Here is Neil Young’s op-ed:

By Neil Young

Recently I pulled out of Farm Aid for fear that unprotected children may become infected with Covid by folks who went to the show, caught the virus, had no symptoms and returned home to hug their kids or someone else’s kids. I felt that we didn’t know what we were up against and we were endangering others, unprotected innocent children in particular. I know of tours that are out there and have to stop where they are and isolate in motels because one person among them tested positive. I ask myself, why are they out there?