Category: Health

Two local OB residents are sitting on the newly-appointed and created Medical Marijuana Task Force. OB Business owner David Martin and Larry Sweet, a medical marijuana patient from Ocean Beach were both appointed to the 11-member Task Force by the San Diego City Council.

The Task Force has been charged, as its first order of business, to provide land use and zoning recommendations for the medicinal marijuana collectives by January 2010.

Did you attend the August town hall meeting on health care reform in Hillcrest — with Congresswoman Susan Davis? If you did, did you see an arrest of a demonstrator by San Diego Police?

Only one person was arrested that early evening, a hearing impaired man named Ray. Ray was arrested near the end, after the meeting itself was over, and the 300 plus pro-health reform folks and the some 35 counter-protesters were starting to go home. Ray was there that day supporting health care reform.

by Ernie McCray

Oh, I can’t keep my mind off my baby,
off my girl,
off the best thing that’s happened to me
in this world.
And to keep her
from having died in vain,
I’ll try to answer a question
that’s been asked of me
again and again: “Why? Why did Nancy choose to die?”

The question is always posed by someone who: knows that Nancy loved them as they loved her; has seen with their own eyes that her family was the joy of her life; feels she had many more miles of waterways to swim and trails to hike, pictures to take and more wounded or abandoned animals to save or sick and shut in friends to tend to.

OCEAN BEACH, CA. As the debate over health care reform rages, OB Rag readers chimed in – and they chimed in heavily on the side of single payer or public option health care options.

From the poll, which ran for about one week starting on September 24, 2009, clearly 80% are dissatisfied with the current status quo. 72 voters out of a total 0f 90 responded that they either don’t have health insurance at all – 11%, or they want single payer – 32%, or want a public option-34%, and 2% said they have employer-provided insurance but don’t use it because of the high co-pay. That 66% want single-payer or the public option mirrors the figures in national polls.

Not able to overturn Roe V Wade, the “more holies” are stepping up their intimidation tactics another notch…. with a new law in Oklahoma taking effect on November 1 (see the entire law in PDF format) taking aim at women and the health care professionals. Part of the document contains a ten page, very detailed and personal questionnaire that would be published online. I read the entire questionnaire and was furious by the time I reached the end, there are 38 questions alone regarding the reasons a woman is seeking an abortion, check all that apply….

And yeah, it is to be published online, all in the name of the “Statistical Reporting of Abortion Act”.

by John Falchi
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I’m a long-time resident of OB, and I have been covering the increased amount of hate crime and hate speech in San Diego County in recent years. In that connection I wanted to present some highlights of the recent Hate Crimes Summit sponsored by United for a Hate Free San Diego at El Cajon’s Ronald Reagen Community Center on Thursday, October 1, 2009.

Hate crimes, hate groups and hate behavior are proliferating across the U.S. according to James McElroy, CEO of the Southern Poverty Law Center(SPLC). He delivered the keynote address to an overflow crowd at the Summit, recently.

by Arthur Salm / San Diego News Network / October 5, 2009
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Somewhere, a dog has bitten a man. And from the desk where I write, I can — by leaning back a little and looking around the orange tree – report that the sun has risen in the east.

Not only that:

Some of the local establishments that have been authorized to dispense marijuana for medical reasons may have been dispensing marijuana to individuals who may have partaken of the substance for non-medical reasons. Worse, the establishments may have dispensed the aforementioned substance with full knowledge, or at least, a pretty damn good idea that their customers intended to go straight home and crank up “Dark Side of the Moon,” and don’t even pretend that you don’t know what I mean.

It’s hard to escape the image of Americans as slothful and overweight. But what if being fat weren’t totally our fault?

The narrative we pound into our heads everyday is that we live in a country where fast food rules, where morning coffee drinks can provide nearly one-quarter of your daily calories before you even get to breakfast, and where you can have pizza topped with Oreos.

And there’s the issue that less than a quarter of us exercise regularly, and on average we spend 142 hours a month lounging on our couches, our eyes glued to a TV.

So it’s no wonder that the Centers for Disease Control report that more than a staggering 60 percent of adults and 16 percent of children are obese.

Even before Barack Obama was sworn in as the 44th president of the United States, the internet was seething with lurid conspiracy theories exposing his alleged subversion and treachery.

Among the many false claims: Obama was a secret Muslim; he was not a native U.S. citizen and his election as president should be overturned; he was a tool of the New World Order in a plot to merge the government of the United States into a North American union with Mexico and Canada.

Within hours of Obama’s inauguration, claims circulated that Obama was not really president because Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts scrambled the words as he administered the oath of office. A few days after the inauguration came a warning that Obama planned to impose martial law and collect all guns.

by Ernie McCray
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Trying to proceed with life after losing my Nancy has been like climbing out of a steep wet muddy hole wearing slippery shoes. What did I ever do to the universe to have to sing these blues?

But, as I’ve always done to keep from going insane, I’ve been writing to ease my pain. Not long ago I took part in an exercise at a writers workshop wherein we put down our thoughts about: “Things That Make Life Worth Living.”

I know that I am not the only one who is at odds with family over political issues. My latest family feud began innocently enough—a phone call yesterday with my beloved big brother, and only remaining immediate family member, in Western Pennsylvania.

When Jack told me that the prescription drug he takes for recurrent heartburn falls into the Medicare donut hole, and that he is going without it until the next cycle of coverage begins, I told him that his little sister is supporting health care reform to close that very donut hole.

His response- “I DON’T WANT ANYONE CRAMMING SOMETHING I DON’T WANT DOWN MY THROAT.” Yes, his response was in caps. Ouch.

On the first day of August, a mob of 200 right-wing Texans stormed the parking lot of a Randalls grocery store in southwest Austin. They were united in a single goal: Disrupt the “office hours” that Rep. Lloyd Doggett, the district’s congressman, had scheduled for his constituents. The protesters targeted Doggett for his role in crafting the House’s bill to reform health care, brandishing signs that read “No Government Health Care” and “No Government Counselor in My Home!!!” But their anger seemed to encompass a universe of conservative fears: higher taxes, illegal immigration, socialism.