OB Rag

…there is no great philosophical debate over principle at stake here in San Diego. In fact, principle or coherent strategic thinking has nothing to do with the current state of affairs at all.

By Jim Miller

In one of my first columns of the year, I made a plea that San Diego labor should not allow itself to be distracted by the trials and tribulations of Labor Council President Mickey Kasparian.

With everything from a looming anti-labor shift on the Supreme Court and at the National Labor Relations Board, to “right to work” legislation in Congress along with a host of other perils, I argued that the Trump era simply holds too many dangers for labor to get bogged down in the petty drama surrounding one leader

Developer Busted at OB Planning Board for Misrepresenting Vacation Rental …Architect Scot Frontis, owner of Frontis Studio, appeared at the May 3rd meeting of the Ocean Beach Planning Board …

Pharmacist Sentenced to 16 Years for Fatal Shooting in OB…
A pharmacist found guilty of fatally shooting his roommate’s boyfriend in Ocean Beach was sentenced to 16 years …

Owner of OB Cannabis Testing Chimes in on Proposed Rules for Marijuana Industry …
Greg Magdoff, owner of marijuana testing facility PharmLabs in Ocean Beach, said an area where the restrictions are relatively loose …

OB Farmers Market Celebrates 25th Anniversary …
This May, the OB Farmers Market celebrates its 25th anniversary. There will be special activities at the market including giveaways …

AND MUCH MORE … COME INSIDE FOR THE STORIES

By Niall Twohig / The Triton (UCSD) / May 11, 2017

Let’s begin with the bare facts: On May 10, 1970 George Winne Jr. stepped into Revelle Plaza. He held a sign that read “In God’s Name End the War.” Winne doused himself with gasoline, lit a match, and burst into flames. Students saw the burning man from a nearby building. They ran to him, beat out the flames. Winne was badly burnt. He died the next day.

Such facts can be deceiving. They only show the surface of reality. When we focus on the surface, we risk losing sight of the historical context surrounding Winne’s self-immolation. We also miss more profound secrets. I write now to whisper some of these secrets to you, so that you may whisper them to others.

Homelessness San Diego; Photo credit Michael McConnell

By Stan Levin / San Diego Veterans for Peace

They are here, by the hundreds, by the thousands, the dispossessed among us.
People having little in the way of the niceties of a comfortable existence
That equates with the concept of “Home”.
Many wear all the clothing they own, on their backs, day and night.
Some push their collection of meager possessions around in a shopping cart they have found
Or stolen, ahead of them in their endless wanderings
To nowhere in particular.

Editor’s Note: Local OB writer, Dave Rice, decided to take the challenge of eating on less than $5 a day. On May 10th we posted his first installment on this journey. Today is his latest.

By Dave Rice

Sunday night, the eve of the impending CalFresh Challenge, where my family will join more than 100 people across San Diego County in learning what it’s like to live on the average budget for area food benefit recipients – $4.18 a day.

Earlier, I’d planned to ride my bike up to the local market, advertising boneless skinless chicken breasts for $1.97 a pound. It rained all day, so I ended up driving, a luxury not available to many CalFresh recipients, and snagged three breasts for $4.69.

In my last post I’d mentioned a lunch dilemma – I had nothing planned.

By Curtis Yee / The Triton (UCSD) /May 10, 2017

Kingdom Come

May 10, 1970: M*A*S*H was still on TV, The Guess Who was at the top of the Billboard charts, and a little after 4 p.m., George Winne Jr., a UCSD graduate student, set himself on fire in the middle of Revelle Plaza.

Winne was standing in the the northeast corner of the plaza by Ridge Walk, covered in towels and holding a sign that read, “In the name of God, end the war.” A physics graduate student named Ralph J. Archuleta passed by Winne while he was dousing himself in gasoline. “I thought it was water and that he was just trying to cool himself off,” Archuleta said. He kept walking.

Then Winne set himself on fire.

1966 surfing exhibit in Oceanside going on until the 27th of May
The 1966 World Championships – A Defining Moment in Competitive Surfing
By California Surf Museum

The 1966 World Surfing Championships in San Diego was a watershed moment in surfing. Organized by an international cadre of visionary contest directors, the event was attended by more than ten thousand spectators, showcasing the budding sport to the nation in real time.

Held in the city’s beachfront neighborhood of Ocean Beach,…

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OBTC to Hold Forum on Short-Term Rentals – May 24th

From the OB Town Council

The “OB vibe” is in danger, as an unregulated and alarming increase of Short Term Vacation Rentals (STVRs) poses a threat to our quality of life and OB’s character.

The objects and purposes of the Ocean Beach Town Council are to express the will, to represent the welfare, and to sustain the spirit of the community of Ocean Beach, and therefore the OBTC must address this issue that weighs heavily on the future of our town.

From Indivisible San Diego

The only way we get to the truth on Russia, save health care, save the environment, save Planned Parenthood, civil rights, women’s rights, stop the wall, protect immigrants is to #FlipCongress2018!

The Republican National Committee 2017 Spring Meeting will be held at the Hotel del Coronado May 10 – 13. Join Indivisible for a peaceful protest to let the GOP know that we simply can’t wait to vote them out of office in the 2018 mid-term elections. Participants will spell out “2018” on the beach near the hotel for an aerial photo.

By Dave Rice

How well can one eat for less than $5 a day? My family is about to find out.

According to the latest available statistics, 285,000 people in San Diego County receive Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits. Once referred to as “food stamps,” here the government food assistance program goes under the moniker CalFresh.

By Frank Gormlie

A firestorm of unprecedented proportions has been unleashed. With the FBI Director James Comey firing, Trump has threatened the rule of law in this country and has moved to undermine any Constitutional accountability that his administration has to face.

This is the very first time in our history that an American president has fired an FBI director while the director was investigating the president.