OB Rag

By Cathy

Today all of Palestine is on strike. No schools, no business as usual…all in solidarity with the people of Gaza. Words truly fail us today, but we are safe and together. The streets are eerily quiet.

When we visited Balata Refugee Camp last week a person on the delegation asked Ibrahim from Balata what he told his children about his life. He had been shot by the Israeli police at a demonstration and had been thought dead.

He told us that he never talked about this with his young children. That he talked with them about the need for a good education and that he wanted them to have hope.

This Thursday, May 17, the Ocean Beach Historical Society will present: “Picture Perfect – Three of O.B.’s Top Photographers”, at Water’s Edge Faith Community at 1984 Sunset Cliffs Blvd., at 7 PM,

The above photograph is of three of O.B.’s top photographers and OB Exposed! judges Cliff Beck, Steve Rowell, and Joe Ewing.

Getting bored yet with all the glossy Anthony Villaraigosa commercials touting the utopia that will be California if only the former mayor of Los Angeles rises from the basement in the polls and becomes our next governor? Just a few weeks ago, Villaraigosa was languishing at 9% in the polls, having fallen behind the no-name Republicans in the race to see who would compete against Gavin Newsom in November. Now the airwaves in the Golden State are awash in all things Antonio all the time.

What gives?

It was a month ago exactly that a young woman was found bleeding from gunshot wounds in the vicinity of the Ladera Street stairs – which are at the end of Sunset Cliffs Boulevard. She survived but is undergoing intensive – and expensive – medical care.

Now, some of the mystery surrounding her shooting has come out. According to her mother – daughter Mya, 19, had been kidnapped by three alleged gang members who attempted to kill her – who have since been arrested.

Mya’s mother, who identified herself as Jill, talked with NBC 7, and gave the family’s story behind the series of incidents

Actual sign sign discovered somewhere in Ocean Beach. “Follow that dream” – very appropriate. It’s anonymous street art.

There’s apparently a bunch of artists, or different networks of artists (or maybe just one) who are teasing OB with their anonymous street art. And this latest street sign – very “professionally” crafted and quietly installed – makes for great art. (Thank you – whomever you are. )

They have struck before.

To this day, Marcus Turner and his spouse, Priscilla, debate who made the first move when they met at the Sunshine Company a couple of years ago. “It’s contested,” Marcus told me, when I asked him which of them broke the ice while he and I sipped coffee during our hour long interview at the beach-side Newbreak the other day.

But apparently, he had told me, the attraction – “It was immediate.” They’ve been together ever since and were married not too long after they met.

Both of them, both Marcus and Priscilla, sit as board members on the Ocean Beach Town Council. And Marcus was just recently elected as the new president, replacing Gretchen Newsom, who retired from the board after many years. “I know,” he said, “I have big shoes to fill,” referring to his predecessor. He’s also very much aware, that in his new position, he’s the first African-American president of OB’s town council,

By David Mangone / Americans for Safe Access

New research has been released that further highlights the potential role of medical cannabis in combating the Nation’s opioid crisis . Two studies, published on April 2nd by the Journal of the American Medical Association reveal a net decrease in opioid prescriptions in states with medical cannabis laws for Medicare and Medicaid populations.

The first study, conducted by researchers at the University of Georgia, found that states with active medical cannabis dispensaries saw 3,742,000 fewer daily doses per year filled for prescription opioids under Medicare Part D (typically enrollees are over 65) compared to states without medical cannabis programs. This decrease equates to about a 14% reduction in opioid prescriptions in states with medical cannabis laws.

By Abby Zimet / Common Dreams

In another day of unfathomable cognitive dissonance, a blindingly heedless Melania unveiled her (stolen-from-Obama) initiative to keep kids safe from cyber-bullying and drugs so they can “do all they can to be best in everything” even as, in a galaxy really not very far from there, the soulless cretins of her philandering husband’s administration were doing everything in their depraved power to make life hell for said children.

In order to save the coral reefs and other marine life that surrounds Hawaii, state legislators there just passed a measure banning sunscreen. In particular they want to ban the sale of sunscreens containing oxybenzone and octinoxate by 2021. The governor has yet to sign the bill, making it law.

Scientists have determined oxybenzone and octinoxate can be toxic to coral – a vital part of the ocean ecosystem. Only with a medical prescription, would people be able to purchase sunscreen with the chemicals. Plus the measure itself doesn’t ban online purchases or does it ban tourists from bringing their own to Hawaii.

But sunscreen makers would be forced to change their formulas or be banned from selling the lotions in Hawaii.

The San Diego City Council will hold an evening hearing on the city budget in order for the public to have input at a time that is reasonable for working people.

The hearing will be at 6:00 pm, Monday, May 14 at Council Chambers in City Hall. City Hall is located at 202 “C” Street in downtown and council meetings are held on the 12th floor.

by Dakota Campagna / Lomabeat.com

With summer less than two months away, the journey to get the perfect beach body is in full force. Here are three gyms that will make your workout out a little less gruesome and are offering some of the top deals in San Diego.

Dan McKinney Family YMCA (La Jolla):

The Dan McKinney YMCA in La Jolla is one of the most beautiful gyms to work out at. They have an upstairs weight room, as well as a separate cardio room next to it. If you were to walk outside on the top floor, there is a balcony with a turf carpet where you can stretch, work out abs, etc.

By Ernie McCray

When I was a child there was a commercial about a dog named Nipper who was supposed to be listening to his “master’s voice” on a windup disc gramophone. I thought about him early one morning recently.

On this morning I woke up a little earlier than usual because my iPhone SE startled me awake, vibrating and buzzing like crazy, kind of like those European police sirens.

And, hey, I’ve got to say I didn’t know I had an app for such as all that. I shut that little device up by grabbing it like a cowboy wrestling a steer he’d just roped only to find out that its histrionics was regarding an article about a book Arizona Senator John McCain had written. I was forced to question the very notion that I was in possession of anything approaching a smartphone.