OB Rag

By Unknown North County Poet / Escondido Grapevine / October 20, 2025

You can’t say America doesn’t know how to celebrate a birthday. For the Marine Corps’ 250th anniversary down at Camp Pendleton, they decided to party the old-fashioned way — with artillery.

A 155-millimeter shell was fired in salute. It didn’t quite wait for the finale. Somewhere between ignition and impact, it skipped the schedule and dropped shrapnel on the California Highway Patrol detail guarding Vice President JD Vance.

No one was hurt, which already puts this in the “success” column for a government event. The fragments landed politely — a pebble here, a dent there — on vehicles parked along a closed stretch of Interstate 5.

That freeway had been shut down by Governor Gavin Newsom, who, in one of those rare moments when politicians prove useful, said maybe shooting live explosives over a freeway wasn’t the best use of a Saturday.

4:56 pm Latest march numbers – from No Kings 2.0
4:33 pm PDT Aerial footage from NBC7

4:07 pm Photos from downtown San Diego keep rolling in. Here’s a batch by Rag writer David Hutchinson.

There Are 17 ‘No King’ Events Across San Diego County on the 18th — All Listed Here

The No Kings rally and march in San Diego will be on Saturday, October 18, 10am – 12pm at Waterfront Park, 1600 Pacific Hwy in San Diego, CA 92101.

Besides the 3 combined events in downtown San Diego, there’s No King events in Ocean Beach, Pacific Beach, La Jolla, San Diego State University, El Cajon, Mira Mesa, Chula Vista, Carmel Valley, Rancho Bernardo, Ramona, San Marcos, Carlsbad, even Borrego Springs and Vista — (see details for all below).

In America, we don’t put up with would-be kings.

Our peaceful movement is only getting bigger and stronger. “NO KINGS” is more than just a slogan—it’s the foundation our nation was built upon. Born in the streets, carried by millions in chants and on posters, it echoes from city blocks to rural town squares, uniting people across this country to fight dictatorship together.

The president thinks his rule is absolute. But in America, we don’t have kings, and we won’t back down against chaos, corruption, and cruelty. Grow our movement and join us.

A core principle behind all No Kings events is a commitment to nonviolent action. We expect all participants to seek to de-escalate any potential confrontation with those who disagree with our values and to act lawfully at these events. Weapons of any kind, including those legally permitted, should not be brought to events.

Other Events

There are several other events in San Diego on October 18.

While watching a trio of thirty-something progressive podcast pundits discussing protests of the upcoming “No Kings Day”, they mentioned how they really appreciated the boomers, those gray-haired people with chapsticks and NPB tote bags who continue to dominate in numbers all the anti-Trump protests over these last 9 months.

Wow! I said to myself, that’s it. Our democracy will be saved by the boomers, all those gray and bald headed folks who have been attending all those demonstrations since Donald Trump came back into power. Our country will be prevented from being ravaged by the policies and whims of the Trump White House, not by Senate Democrats, not by the thirty-somethings, not by college kids — but by those of us who have survived these past decades since the 60s and 70s.

We survived and ousted Richard Nixon, we protested Jimmie Carter’s draft, we resisted and survived Ronald Reagan’s “Counter-Revolution” and nuclear war mongering, we helped to bring the wars in Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan to a close, we helped to end apartheid in South Africa, we tried to get the US from supporting dictators in Central America.

Stop Sign on Evergreen, Run-Off Ponds at Slough, and 30-Foot Breach on Ingelow Street

By David Hutchinson

A small group gathered at the Point Loma Library for the Peninsula Community Planning Board’s October meeting on Thursday, Oct. 16.

Only seven board members attended—one short of the quorum necessary to vote on agenda items. Rather than postpone, the board opted to hear its agenda anyway, hoping at least one more member would show up before the meeting ended.

Treasurer Andrew Hollingworth began with a summary of the board’s finances. They have $1,160 in the bank— plenty to cover the three overhead line items discussed: a Zoom Pro account, a P.O. box, and website maintenance.

During non-agenda public comments, First Vice Chair Mandy Havlick announced her candidacy for City Council. Those interested in Havlick’s campaign (and free coffee) can attend a meet-and-greet at Kakawa Coffee on Sunday, Oct. 19, from 10 a.m. to noon.

By Ron Donoho / San Diego Sun / October 6, 2025

With increased fees for parking meters and car-related violations making headlines this year, it would seem fair and prudent (if not legally mandated) for elected officials to follow the same laws as their constituents.

On a regular basis, however, San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria’s official vehicle is parked near City Hall on Third Avenue near C Street in seeming violation of three parking laws.

The San Diego Sun photographed the mayor’s black Chevrolet SUV (with exempt license plate) parked in a red zone, too close to an intersection (per the city’s “daylighting” law) and partially blocking a driveway for the San Diego Civic Center Stage Door.

Speaking anonymously, a city employee with specific knowledge of the situation said, “The mayor parks there all day, every day. He’s the mayor. When are people going to realize poor people get ticketed and the rich people can do anything?”

Publicly detested parking meter fees, parking violation fines and many city services were increased this year as Mayor Gloria’s administration attempted to balance a city budget burdened with a quarter-billion-dollar deficit.

The daylighting law went into effect January 1, 2025, and the city began enforcing it on March 1. The law mandates that cars not be parked within 20 feet of a sidewalk

By Kate Callen

When the house next door went up for sale, the Hedgecocks were close to realizing their dream of buying a neighborhood home for their daughter and her family.

Instead, they will soon be living next to a nightmare.

The property at 1441 Woodrow Avenue in Jamacha is now slated for a 12-unit Bonus ADU building with only one on-site parking space on a street where curbs already fill up. The closest transit stop, the Massachusetts Avenue Station, is a half-mile walk that includes crossing busy Lemon Grove Avenue.

So far, this is like scores of other Bonus ADU neighborhood encroachments: A speculator parachutes into a quiet residential street, outbids individuals looking to purchase a family home, and crams in a gigantic complex that will reap huge profits.

But the 1441 Woodrow project involves a mystery: How and when did Godavari LLC swoop in to grab the probate property from another buyer with more modest building plans? And why can’t that buyer talk about the transaction?

Holly Hedgecock, who has lived next door for 28 years, recalled how her elderly neighbor let the property languish.

By Scott Nover / Washington Post / October 15, 2025

The nation’s military and defense journalists exited the Pentagon in unison Wednesday afternoon, having had their accreditation revoked after refusing to agree to the Defense Department’s new restrictions on their newsgathering activities.

The new rules, which among other things bar reporters from soliciting information that the government hasn’t authorized for them, prompted journalists from The Washington Post and dozens of other outlets to turn in their press credentials and decamp for possibly the last time during Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s tenure.

More than 30 members of the Pentagon press corps walked out of the building together before the 5 p.m. deadline, crossing a foot bridge and descending a long staircase that empties out on the northeast end of the five-sided building.

“This is a sad day for those who support a free press,” said Nancy A. Youssef, a staff writer for the Atlantic and a longtime Pentagon correspondent. “But I’m incredibly honored to be part of a press corps that stuck together and was committed to protecting our First Amendment rights.”

The Trumpian Republican campaign to smear the “No Kings Day” protest is utterly failing, as more and more October 18 events are popping up across the country. There’s now over 2500 events planned — with 17 in San Diego County alone.

On Wednesday, Oct. 15, House Speaker Mike Johnson framed the upcoming “No Kings Day” as a “Hate America rally.” He doubled down.

“Let’s see who shows up for that. I bet you see pro-Hamas supporters. I bet you see antifa types. I bet you see the Marxists in full display.”

Other Republicans stumbled over themselves in joining Johnson smears. Representatives Steve Scalise and Lisa McClain also referred to the protest as the “Hate America rally.” Last week, Johnson began the tilt of villainizing constitutionally protected protest when he inexplicably claimed that the “No Kings Day” demonstration was somehow to blame for the government shutdown. “It’s being told to us that they won’t be able to reopen the government until after that rally, ’cuz they can’t face their rabid base,” Johnson said of Democrats at the time.

Yet, this campaign is backfiring. There is more and more talk about the protests, more and more events are being planned, more and more pissed off Americans are planning to attend. Millions are expected. Just 4 months ago, in June, more than 5 million Americans demonstrated in small towns and major cities across the country. And the coordinated “No Kings” protests became one of the largest single-day demonstrations in U.S. history—  definitely the largest since Trump returned to the White House for a second term.

By Steffi Roche / CBS8 / October 14, 2025

Some San Diego dog owners are reporting that their dogs became ill and, in one case, died after being exposed to methamphetamine at Dog Beach in Ocean Beach.

One owner, Mark Smith, brought his one-and-a-half-year-old dog “Trouble” to Dog Beach last Wednesday. After “Trouble” ran around and played, Smith said he noticed she was behaving abnormally.

Smith told CBS 8 he took her to a veterinarian at ABC Veterinary Hospital in Pacific Beach, who, he says, informed him the dog had meth in her system.

“The doctor there had some experience. She was a vet in Colorado. [A] Dog there had ingested some meth. We were kind of thinking that drugs were involved because she was acting so weird. They did a bunch of tests… blood tests. About $500 later, they felt she was ok to go home.”

Rising Fascism: Faith, Force, and the Second ‘No Kings Day’ – How MAGA Christians Cast a dark Shadow on Democracy

By Michael J. Christensen

This weekend, across hundreds of U.S. cities, Americans will gather for the second “No Kings Day” protests.  People of faith will be among those protesting authoritarianism and the increasing use of military force in cities by the Trump administration. The question for Christians is how deeply the shadow of fascism has already crept into our churches and public expressions of faith.

On June 14, 2025, the first No Kings Day drew more than 5 million people across more than 2,000 cities, rallying in protest of militarized pageantry, religious optics, and authoritarian drift during the U.S. Army 250th Anniversary Parade and President Trump’s 79th birthday. No Kings Day II comes amid a government shutdown, rising detentions and deportations of undocumented people, and the domestic militarization of federal facilities, where peaceful demonstrations against ICE and federal overreach are ongoing.

What was once symbolic—staged displays of power and ritual—is now being structured into government agencies and the executive branch.  Republican political leaders have already framed this demonstration as a “Hate America Day” of far-left agitators and traitors.  This lowers the threshold for labeling civil protest as insurrection justifying martial law. The stakes have shifted: religious imagery and militarized authority are merging into a new normal of soft theocracy supported by religious leaders and congregations.