OB Rag

A world in which war is normal and peace is out of reach is no more survivable or sustainable than a world where the atmosphere gets hotter every year.

By Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J. S. Davies / Nation of Change / December 20, 2019

The trove of U.S. “Lessons Learned” documents on Afghanistan published by the Washington Post portrays, in excruciating detail, the anatomy of a failed policy, scandalously hidden from the public for 18 years. The “Lessons Learned” papers, however, are based on the premise that the U.S. and its allies will keep intervening militarily in other countries, and that they must, therefore, learn the lessons of Afghanistan to avoid making the same mistakes in future military occupations.

A new poll released on Christmas Day shows record-level support among U.S. voters for the ouster of President Donald Trump. Public support for Donald Trump’s removal from office is the highest it has ever been.

The daily tracking poll from Microsoft News published Wednesday, Dec. 25, asked respondents if they “support or oppose the Senate voting to remove President from office?” It found that while 55% of people support and only 40% oppose — a dramatic surge for those backing Trump’s ouster and a record for the poll that has been asking that same question since late September of this year.

All Photographs by Kathy Blavatt

by Kathy Blavatt

In nature, color red is as vital as it’s complementary color green. Red makes the greens pop. What would the Christmas holidays be without the brilliant red poinsettias and berries?

Valentines’ gift of crimson roses is the traditional flower representing love and passion.

By Ernie McCray

Greta Thunberg, a 16 year old Swedish girl, travels across the Atlantic Ocean to Lower Manhattan, in a sailboat, to save our world from the deadly forces of climate change.

For such a risk-taking endeavor she was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize and named Time Magazine’s “Person of the Year.”

And our president, instead of offering her a High-Five, gets up at five and tweets that this wonderful girl is ridiculous and angry and needs to go to a good old-fashioned movie with a friend and “Chill.”

Say what?

By Jim Miller

If you just can’t bring yourself to give up on the sordid consumer frenzy and go all in for a Buy Nothing Christmas , then perhaps getting your loved ones a few good books (from local bookstores) to help them navigate our dark times is the next best thing.

Here are three notable political books of 2019 that flew further under the radar than they should have:

Kochland: The Secret History of Koch Industries and Corporate Power in America
by Christopher Leonard.

Building on the excellent work done by Jane Mayer in Dark Money and Nancy MacLean in Democracy in Chains: The Deep History of the Radical Right’s Stealth Plan for America, Christopher Leonard outlines seven years of research into how the Kochtopus was born and grew into a nightmare for American democracy.

By Joni Halpern

Picture it. Decorations everywhere. A beautiful tree twinkling in the background. A bright and cheerful tablecloth. Sparkling silverware. Shiny plates. Candlelight winking off crystal. And best of all, a table groaning with your favorite holiday foods and all the trimmings.

Oh, wait. That’s someone else’s Christmas. The one America is preparing for low-income people is different.

For people of inadequate means, we have a gift that keeps on giving. It is a gift that will take them far and help them realize the American Dream they have desired for so long. The American People writ large generously give them this gift so they can finally rise from the ranks of inadequacy and join those of us gathered around a Christmas table like the one described above.

The four members of San Diego County’s Democratic Congressional delegation all voted for impeachment on that historical date when the vote was taken: Wednesday, Dec. 18. Reps. Susan Davis, Mike Levin, Scott Peters and Juan Vargas, all Democrats, voted to impeach Trump on both articles — abuse of power and obstruction of justice. The lone Republican, Duncan Hunter, was barred from voting due to his recent guilty plea to federal corruption charges.

When Rep. Susan Davis got up before the microphone, she was fairly brief and abrupt (actually sounding like she had laryngitis), and said:

In a close vote last Monday, December 16, the San Diego City Council voted to ban scooters and other motorized devices along the boardwalks from Mission Beach to La Jolla. The ban does not include Ocean Beach. It could be argued OB doesn’t really have a “boardwalk” or the one it has is very short.

At any rate, Councilwoman Barbara Bry has been pushing for a ban – and she got four other votes on Monday: Jen Campbell of District 2 – who reportedly strongly supported the proposal – , Monica Montgomery, Vivian Moreno and Mark Kersey. And Council President Georgette Gómez, Chris Ward, Chris Cate and Scott Sherman voted in opposition.

Bry is, of course, running for Mayor; Gomez is running for Susan Davis’ 53rd Congressional seat,

King Tide in Ocean Beach, Saturday, December 22, 2018. Photo by Albert C Elliott, ACE.

OBcean Tracy Dezenzo Appointed to Arts & Culture Commission for District 2

Tracy Dezenzo, who is on the OB Planning Board and is its secretary, was just appointed by the Mayor and Council to the San Diego Commission for Arts and Culture to represent District 2.

Point Loma House Gets Hit for Third Time in 15 Years

A driver suspected of being under the influence struck two parked vehicles, a fence and a tree before coming to a stop just feet from the front of a Point Loma home.

By Dr. Jen Campbell

Hello neighbors!

It seems like it was just yesterday that I was standing on stage at Golden Hall, being sworn in to be the next city councilmember for District 2.

It’s been a busy year and a whirlwind experience of listening, learning, and working to be the best representative for our beach and bay communities. I appreciate all your feedback as we work together to make places like Ocean Beach better than ever before. With that said, I’d like to point to a few accomplishments I hope OBecians will be proud of:

Funding for the OB Library Expansion – For years, the need to expand the Ocean Beach Library has been clear. That’s why, at my very first opportunity as a councilmember, I fought to include $500,000 in the city budget

The US Supreme Court on Monday, Dec. 16, upheld protections for people who sleep or camp outdoors, after refusing to hear a case over whether cities could criminalize homelessness.

The Supreme Court’s refusal to hear the case leaves in place an appeals court ruling that says the Constitution does not allow cities to prosecute people for sleeping or camping outside unless the city provides shelter for every single unhoused person in their jurisdiction.

The legal decision comes as soaring rents and deepening economic inequality have led homelessness rates to soar in some U.S. cities.[Including San Diego which has the fourth largest population of people who are homeless in the country.]

In only the third time in US history, the House of Representatives – the People’s House – impeached a president, this time the 45th president, Mr. Donald Trump. In a historic vote, the House impeached Trump on two counts, abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. The Articles now go to the Senate for a trial.

Article one, abuse of power, was passed by 230 to 197