OB Rag

An open letter to:

Jessica Hayes, (Chair, San Diego Democratic Party) and

Dale Kelly Bankhead (Secretary-Treasurer for the San Diego-Imperial Counties Labor Council),

from Sara Kent.

Over the past two months, I have hoped for brave action from each of you. As women who hold positions of power in San Diego who should be stalwarts of fundamental Democratic ideals, instead of being proud of your leadership, I am gravely disappointed.

Not only for you, but for all of us.

By Jim Miller

Over the last few weeks I’ve had the pleasure of speaking at a variety of forums along with folks from other activist groups about what needs to be done in the age of Trump. During one of these events at Grossmont College, I was struck by something a colleague of mine who leads nature expeditions for the Sierra Club said about his students and their relationship or lack thereof to the natural world.

Ten years ago, he observed, about half of the students he dealt with had had some experience hiking in the backcountry, roaming the desert, or visiting a state or national park, but that number has been consistently shrinking over the last decade or so.

By Joseph Wagner / San Diego UrbDeZine

One crucial aspect of contemporary debates on spatial politics, socioeconomic stratification, and immigration is the issue of public transit.

Prior to the question of a person’s right to be in a city (or supposed lack thereof in the case of undocumented immigrants), there is the question of a city’s duty to provide feasible means for moving around in its space. Albeit mundane, it is a key factor determining a person’s economic and educational opportunities, to name only two.

And it hardly bears mentioning, but moving around in San Diego all but requires a car.

A way to change this:

to this:

San Diego County / City of San Diego are in the middle of a serious emergency shelter crisis. The Point in Time Count numbers for 2016 for the county counted 8,692 homeless persons, with an 18.9% increase in the number of unsheltered individuals.

Numbers from the recent count will not be available until April, but are expected to be worse. San Diego has the unenviable distinction of having the 4th highest number of homeless people in the nation – more than Las Vegas, Washington DC, Chicago and San Francisco. By comparison, Santa Clara County / San Jose reported 6,556 homeless persons in 2015, and came in 9th for number of homeless people.

By Denise Oliver Velez / Daily Kos

If you are not aware that in recent decades black women have been the most reliable and solid voting bloc for Democrats, you should be. We proved it, once again, in the recent presidential election. That stance and practice has a history, rooted in the time when many black Americans had been Republicans and the Democratic Party was the home of racist, anti-black Dixiecrats who took extraordinary measures to restrict black voting rights.

Name Change and ‘Soft’ Opening in Restaurant’s Future

The last time I ran into Hugo Carrillo, the perennial manager of Rancho’s restaurant in Ocean Beach, he told me that he hoped the famed Mexican and vegetarian eatery would re-open in early February.

So, yesterday, I dropped by the place on Sunset Cliffs Boulevard to check its progress, and even though Hugo and his associate Matt were deep in a discussion right inside the door, they had time to give me an update.

Right off, Hugo explained that they had re-furnished the floors and installed tiles in the ceiling. The kitchen, which had been striped bare, has all new equipment – but wasn’t expanded – and they’ll have the same eating capacity as the 3,000 square foot restaurant has had for years, but change the lay-out, Matt added. And they’ll keep the wonderful patio, of course.

To get a sense of the depth and breadth of the new anti-Trump “Indivisible” movement that has exploded across the country, – consider this just here in San Diego: last Saturday, February 4th, three different networks of Indivisible San Diego held rallies and meetings on that same day.

There was a large gathering of at least 60 folks who met in Point Loma, that we carried a report on, there was a meeting of 200 at a coffee house in downtown San Diego, and up in Hillcrest, there was a third rally and meeting of another 200 people. This was all on the same day.

By Ernie McCray

I was watching Stephen Colbert the other night, laughing away at his brilliant witticisms and daffiness, and a segment came on wherein a visual, referring to Trump’s “ban,” read, in part, “…a five year old was handcuffed…”

I stopped chuckling for a moment in reaction to such a terrible statement, trying to picture a five year old being shackled. But Colbert was on a flow so I had to let that go and next up on the show was White House Press Secretary, Sean Spicer, commenting on the little boy’s inhuman predicament with these words:

Native Americans and Allies to March on Washington, DC March 10th

Following orders from the Trump administration, the U.S. Department of the Army is preparing to green light the Dakota Access Pipeline.

The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe issued the following statement in response (emphasis ours):

“The drinking water of millions of Americans is now at risk.

We are a sovereign nation and we will fight to protect our water and sacred places from the brazen private interests trying to push this pipeline through to benefit a few wealthy Americans with financial ties to the Trump administration,” said Dave Archambault II, chairman of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe.

Is the 72-hour rule still the foremost guideline for avoiding sickness?

By Dashel Pierson/ Surfline

To surf, or not to surf. That’s the question many of us frequently face, when a deluge falls from above, surface streets are lined with tributaries, and bacterial runoff rushes towards the ocean. But, there’s waves – and the little surf demon inside our brain prods us to paddle out, drowning out the angel of better judgement.

Craig Larson has a t-shirt that many people might want!!! Spotted at People’s Coop.

New Bus Benches

Slightly Stoopid Sounds – 20 Years After Debut Album – Are a Lifestyle for OB and World Fans

Chargers Ex-Employee and Democrat to Challenge Zapf for District 2

Electric Waste Band celebrate 25 years at Winston’s

Car Thief Hits Cop Car, Careens Through OB and Escapes

***Come inside for these and more stories …***

The following calendar of events in OB and San Diego is from our good friends at the OB Green Center. All that we did is add a few meetings in Ocean Beach*. The Ocean Beach Green Center is located at 4843 B Voltaire Street, Ocean Beach 92107 (contact them : oceanbeachgreencenter@gmail. com 619.225.1083)

February Events in OB

February 9th Thursday 7:00 p.m. Film Night “Merchants of Doubt”
“Merchants of Doubt” takes audiences on a satirically comedic, yet illuminating ride into the heart of conjuring American spin. Filmmaker Robert Kenner lifts the curtain on a secretive group of highly charismatic, silver- tongued pundits-for-hire who present themselves in the media as scientific authorities – yet have the contrary aim of spreading maximum confusion about well-studied public threats ranging from toxic chemicals to pharmaceuticals to climate change. Free of Charge :-)

COME INSIDE FOR MUCH MORE