OB Rag

By Anthony Stiegler / Pt. Loma – OB Monthly / May 24, 2020

First and foremost, Quiet Skies San Diego wishes everyone good health and safety during this unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic.

Much has happened in the last several months. Since our last update in February, the San Diego County Regional Airport Authority has been whipsawed, experiencing a huge reduction in demand for air travel after setting another passenger record in 2019 with 25 million. The airline industry is in serious financial trouble, projecting route cancellations, layoffs and other cost-cutting measures and “right sizing.”

by Blake Fleetwood / Washington Monthly / May 26, 2020

In late March, when every other European country was in a lockdown to stop the spread of the coronavirus, Sweden remained the outlier. Instead of imposing strict shelter-in-place orders, officials decided that Swedes could be relied upon to follow sanitation guidelines themselves. Restaurants, shops, and recreational spots stayed open.

After all, Sweden has an excellent national health care system that ranks third in the world (the U.S. clocks in at a dismal 44). And with the Swedes’ low levels of obesity and diabetes, their generally good health and ample supply of hospital beds offer far better odds against COVID-19. But even with these advantages, many Swedes did not stay at home. Sweden’s experiment in waging a lax battle against COVID-19 cost the country dearly.

President Donald Trump will not be unveiling his predecessor Barack Obama’s official White House portrait, a report says. So, taking the cue from others, we are posting one official portrait of Obama (but not the “official White House” one).

NBC first reported that the event to unveil Obama’s official portrait wasn’t currently on the calendar, and may not even occur while Trump is in office, including potentially throughout the duration of a second term if he wins re-election. This would mean “it could be 2025” before Obama’s portrait unveiling happens, the report states, despite Obama leaving office in 2017.

Here’s one portrait of Obama also shared on social media as if it were the portrait scheduled to be unveiled at the White House in 2020.

This painting of Obama was done by Kehinde Wiley and was unveiled at the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery in February 2018. While this an official portrait of Obama, it is not the official White House portrait that would have been unveiled at the White House ceremony in 2020.

Man Fell 50 Feet at Sunset Cliffs

A man fell about 50 feet down a cliff at Sunset Cliffs early Sunday, May24 and had to be rescued by a firefighter helicopter crew,

Point Loma Library Open for Curb-side Pick-Up

Beginning Tuesday, May 26, the San Diego Public Library is offering contact-free pickup service at 11 of its branches beginning Tuesday, including Point Loma’s. There is no word about the OB library. Pickup service will be available from 10:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. Patrons with existing holds will be notified by email when their materials are available.

By Peter Wade / Rolling Stone / May 25, 2020

While the U.S. pandemic death toll approaches 100,000, the president left the White House for one of his personal golf courses.

President Trump, who has faced mounting criticism for his administration’s mishandling of the coronavirus crisis and his lack of empathy throughout, decided to leave the White House on Saturday to play golf.

The pandemic of 2020 has brought news to the world of Ocean Beach businesses. It’s tough enough to maintain a business during these crazy times – but to have to open a new venture must be doubly difficult.

Home of the Original Panini Dog

One brand new business has just opened up at the intersection of West Pt Loma and Bacon, where a coffee cafe once stood. It’s the “Home of the Original Panini Dog”, which offers, besides panini dogs, smoothies, shakes and acai bowls. That’s Jim and Jason at the outside window. They opened 3 weeks ago, and are associated with the Pioneer Day School, the adult vocational facility across from OB Elementary on Santa Monica Ave.

Hugo’s Mexican Food Divides Into Tres

Hugo’s Cocina, the historic “vegan options” Mexican restaurant on Sunset Cliffs Blvd., has redefined itself in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic –

By Colleen O’Connor / Times of San Diego / May 25, 2020

What is with the silly auditions for the vice-presidential slot on the Democratic ticket?

Sheltered in place, anyone interested can already recite the contenders’ names and chances from memory. And the fact that at least a dozen women are “under consideration.”

First are those who already ran the primary gauntlets for the Presidential nod: Senators Elizabeth Warren, Kamala Harris, Amy Klobuchar and Kirsten Gillibrand.

Then there are the governors, House members, and ex-office holders: “That woman” from Michigan, Governor Esther Whitman; Representative Val Demings of Florida; and Georgia’s Stacey Abrams.

These are the women now participating in a rather unseemly and unnecessary parade of interviews laced with praise for Biden, contempt for President Trump and a coy nod to their own formidable resumes.

By Jim Miller

This Memorial Day it’s time we properly mourn the dead. In the midst of a pandemic that the President has told us is a war against an “invisible enemy,” we are, as of this writing, closing in on 100,000 American dead. But as we mourn the scores of our fellow Americans, who the President has called “warriors” in this grand battle, we need to also remember that most of them didn’t have to die.

Rather than inevitable losses, the tens of thousands of our fellow citizens who have passed in only a few months are unnecessary casualties. As the New York Times reported last week:

If the United States had begun imposing social distancing measures one week earlier than it did in March, about 36,000 fewer people would have died in the coronavirus outbreak, according to new estimates from Columbia University disease modelers.

Here’s more charts to worry and think about – some negative, at least one positive. They’re all from the San Diego Union-Tribune tracking program current as of May 20, and one from today’s issue, current as of May 21.

The most citations that San Diego Police officers have issued for violations of the orders put in place in response to the COVID-19 pandemic were in the 92107 zip code area – which include Ocean Beach and Sunset Cliffs.

In an article in the San Diego Union-Tribune Friday, May 22, writer David Hernandez reported that San Diego police issued 157 citations between April 2 and May 6. And most of them – 55 – were issued in the 92107 area. In comparison, 35 were for the 92101 zip code area – downtown, and 9 for 92109, which includes Mission Bay and PB. Most citations were issued in April.

by Kathy Blavatt

May has brought out various shades of pink in my garden. These cheery blossoms nicely contrast with the green foliage, and blues skies that peek through as the gray burns off through the morning’s May gray.

The growth in my garden has been spectacular.

Nursing Home Advocate Asks ‘Where are our elected leaders?’ – Not Enough Is Being Done

By Lemor Abrams / CBS8 / May 20, 2020

New numbers show about a half of San Diego County’s coronavirus deaths are linked to congregate living facilities, like nursing homes.

California advocates for nursing homes are urging the state to step up testing and enforcement of safety measures at those facilities.

“We have all these so called elected leaders. Where the hell are they?” said Patricia McGinnis, founder of California’s Advocates for Nursing Home Reform.
Three months into the pandemic, McGinnis is losing patience.

“Look enough is enough. Forty-percent of the people in nursing homes have died,” she said.