OB Rag

By Ernie McCray

Oh, I had such a beautiful day the other day. It got underway with me sitting on the edge of my bed, yawning and stretching and making grunty old folk noises in rhythm with the popping of my 77-year-old bones.

With my querida gone to a mountain retreat I found myself reminiscing, remembering how, as an only child, I was often home alone.

And I would just pass the time letting my imagination fly and roam far and wide, past all the “Yee-Ha!” I had to deal with in a day – and I’d dream of a world that didn’t put up with any of that and then, depending on the mood I was in, I would often make up a little ditty about this society that was given life in my imagination.

… At Least For a Year

By John Lawrence

The Romans used to provide Bread and Circuses for their populace to keep them pacified. Nothing much has changed in 2000 years. The San Diego Chargers want taxpayers to spend $350 million to buy them a new Colosseum.

And they’re not really even the San Diego Chargers. They are the Dean Spanos Chargers. He owns them. The players should all be wearing “Dean Spanos Chargers” on their shirts.

The Chargers merchandise should all bear his name. As we’ve seen recently, the Chargers would think nothing of “Bolt”ing to Los Angeles if the grass were greener there. But their quest for a shiny new stadium in another locale has been stymied at least temporarily.

OBceans Are Being Asked to Call Zapf’s Office – 236-6622 to Complain

The City of San Diego has determined that at least two of the 80 year old Torrey Pines on Saratoga Avenue in Ocean Beach must be cut down. And the city wheeled out Atlas Tree Service and they have been cutting the trees down bit by bit, limb by limb.

The Torrey Pines, a protected species, are at least 75 feet in height.

Showdown Looms for Feb. 10th-12th at Commission Monthly Hearing

A virtual tsunami of opposition has met the move on the California Coastal Commission to oust the head of its staff, Charles Lester. The move – called “a coup” by environmentalists – is an attempt by the pro-development clique of commissioners to remove Lester who is the Executive Director.

And the move is in the middle of a key decision by the Commission on the fate of a huge development project near Newport Beach of million dollar mansions.

The OB Rag ran a survey of our readers over their choice of major candidates for San Diego mayor, and Lori Saldana bested Kevin Faulconer 3 to 1,

In our online poll which ran for about a week, 51% of respondents chose Saldana and 17% chose Faulconer.

This is no huge surprise as OB Rag readers have more of a liberal bent than a cross-section of San Diegans. But it does show that Saldana definitely has a base among liberals, progressives and independents in this town.

By Jim Miller

In a recent interview, Naomi Klein discussed the reality facing anyone interested in promoting meaningful climate action.

The “structural problem” we face, according to Klein, is that people can “simultaneously understand the medium to long term risks of climate change” and still believe it is in their “short term economic [or political] interest” to continue business as usual.

This is precisely the situation concerned San Diegans face when dealing with the San Diego Association of Governments’ (SANDAG) limited vision when it comes to taking the actions needed to address the pressing threat of climate change at the local level.

A man’s body was found in the water off Osprey Street in the Sunset Cliffs area of Point Loma late Sunday morning, Feb. 6th.

A photographer in a private helicopter first spotted the body about a half mile to 3/4’s of a mile off Osprey around 11:30 a.m. Police were notified and they sent their own helicopter, which at first, it appears, could not see the body.

By South OB Girl

Tucked in Liberty Station, across the street from Slater’s 50/50 Burgers, Ace Hardware, and Con Pane Bakery on Historic Decatur Road is a hidden gem of the peninsula and beach community — the Women’s Museum of California. Little did you know that in the second story above the first floor exhibit hall lies an extensive archive and collection devoted to women’s history.

Opening on Thursday evening Feb. 4th was the museum’s new exhibit, which showcases the history of the United Nations commitment to global equality and women’s issues, and celebrates the 70th year of the U.N.’s Commission on the Status of Women.

February 10th Wednesday, 6pm –Coastal Commission Public Participation Hearing;
Scottish Rite Center, 1895 Camino Del Rio South (Off I-8); attend and speak out against the current effort to sack Coastal Commission executive director Charles Lester.

February 11 Thursday 7 p.m. Film night “Years of Living Dangerously“; We will be continuing with the Emmy award winning 2014 documentary focusing on global warming. Free of Charge :-)

Every Saturday at 10:00 a.m. -Climate Mobilization Coalition Meeting – February 6th, February 13th, February 20th, February 27th

February 12th Friday 6:30 p.m. Film Showing: “This Changes Everything” Sierra Club, 8304 Clairmont Mesa Boulevard #101, 92111.

AND MUCH MORE ….

Coalition Accuses District Attorney of 22 Counts of Abuse of Power

Today, Friday, February 5th, downtown San Diego will witness a “Dump Dumanis” and Justice for Fridoon Nehad rally in front of the Hall of Justice on Broadway.

Dumanis, of course, is the District Attorney of San Diego County and Fridoon Nehad was the unarmed Afghan immigrant gunned down by a San Diego police officer in the Midway District last April.

Will SANDAG’s proposed sales tax increase serve your community’s needs?

By Monique López / Environmental Health Coalition

We all need to move. How we get from place to place is deeply connected to our quality of life.

Unfortunately, not all communities have the same access to healthy, safe, reliable and affordable transportation options, such as public transit and biking and walking paths.

By Jeeni Criscenzo

No question about it—being involved in a coalition to build a tiny village of tiny shelters for people who are without a place to live, is damn exciting!

I can’t put my finger on exactly why this is taking over my brain activity—from waking up in the morning ready to get online and share ideas, to dreaming about it at night.

Maybe it’s what someone at our community meeting last week said about it—tiny homes are sexy!