Category: Health

by Anna Daniels

“Actress Heather Graham wants women to empower themselves by pole dancing.” I read these words in a filler article in the U-T last Saturday morning (5/31/09). Whatever life lacks in plot, it more than makes up for in irony. Consider the past week’s news.

“LORD KNOWS WHAT WE WOULD GET THEN” The news has delivered up some fascinating responses to President Obama’s proposed appointment of Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court. …

One in nine Americans are using federal food stamps to help buy groceries as the country’s deep recession forced another 591,000 people onto the federal anti-hunger program at latest count.

The unemployment rate raced to 9.4 percent, the highest since a matching rate in July 1983, from 8.9 percent in April. This reading beat the peak in the jobless rate during the 1973-1975 recession that lasted 16 months.

AHIP (America’s Health Insurance Plans) is having their annual meeting in San Diego this week. Nurses from the California Nurses Association and allies from groups like Physicians for a National Health Program and Progressive Democrats of America will be there to greet them – of course!

by Mary E Mann

Last, it was spinach. A few people across the country got very sick, and a baby died – the only thing they all had in common was the consumption of spinach. Suddenly, grocery stores were bereft of spinach, and newscasters with serious faces warned of a spinach-sickness crisis. A small national panic ensued.

Today, it’s swine.

Not all scenes or photographs of OB are scenic or pretty or even worth viewing. Unfortunately, the artistic talents of graffiti artists and people who carve in the cliffs and the sandstone are not very appreciated by the rest of us.

Here are some not-too-pretty scenes of Ocean Beach by our blogger/ photographer Dave Gilbert.

Despite his admission that California is ungovernable, the Governor soldiered on today, announcing the full slate of revised budget cuts to replace his proposed borrowing, since scrapped, and to fill the even larger deficit estimated by the Legislative Analyst. …

by: Jill Richardson / La Vida Locavore

McDonalds is going to McStudy whether a switch to a token amount of cage-free eggsis a good idea. I’m apparently not the only one who thinks this is a McStall tactic.

The other day I noted that the US Humane Society was congratulating Wendy’s for …

by Lane Tobias

In a recent series of posts and articles, the OB Rag online community has been discussing different aspects of the food industry, particularly over the pricing strategies and employee turnover at our local co-op as compared to chain supermarkets, in particular Trader Joe’s. …

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is now classifying Cheerios —— those little round O’s made of oats that have been around since 1941 —— as a drug, and sent a letter to General Mills saying as much.

A major victory was scored Monday, May 18th, by medicinal marijuana advocates at the US Supreme Court. The Supreme Court refused to hear our very own San Diego County government’s attempt not to have to issue medicinal marijuana identification cards.

Whole Foods Market is a highly profitable corporation that far outperforms its competitors, while maintaining an aura of commitment to social justice and environmental responsibility. Its clientele is attracted not only to its brightly lit array of pristine fruits and vegetables, organically farmed meats, and delectable (yet healthy) recipes, but also to the notion that the mere act of shopping at Whole Foods is helping to change the world.

by Lane Tobias

The debate over health care reform has been hotly contested for generations, so it should come as no surprise to anyone that during one of the worst global economic crises in history, President Obama is following through on his campaign promise to reform the system.

Or is he?