Category: Health

by Gail Powell / Special to the OB Rag

The last weekend in August, 2013 found a sad missive in local’s mailboxes.

It was a letter from the Ocean Beach Medical Group, located at 1947 Cable Street, announcing the imminent retirement of Dr. Jeoffry Gordon.

Dr. Gordon, a longtime medical practitioner in our community has decided to retire, effective November 1, 2013. In the one-page letter of correspondence, Dr. Gordon said “it has been my privilege to serve your needs as a family doctor and health systems advocate for many years.”

The good doctor has been practicing the art of medicine going on 30 years but Dr. Gordon acknowledged “the time has come to retire.”

Obama administration will not block state marijuana laws, if distribution is regulated

By Brady Dennis / Washington Post / August 29, 2013

The Obama administration on Thursday said it will not stand in the way of Colorado, Washington and other states where voters have supported legalizing marijuana either for medical or recreational use, as long as those states maintain strict rules involving distribution of the drug.

In a memo sent Thursday to U.S. attorneys in all 50 states, Deputy Attorney General James M. Cole detailed the administration’s new stance, even as he reiterated that marijuana remains illegal under federal law.

By Matthew Wood

Acai bowls are the hottest thing in Ocean Beach since bikram yoga. Any coffee shop worth its beans from Niagara to Voltaire has some form of the smoothie-on-steroids. But unlike Padres losing seasons and Mumford & Sons songs, not all bowls are the same.

At the concoction’s core is the storied acai berry, a so-called superfood rich in antioxidants and amino acids which, long story short, is good for you. It’s layered between everything under the health-food spectrum from granola to coconut to bee pollen – which is different from honey how? – and topped with fresh fruit.

To save you the time and trouble of hitting every one of the myriad acai-erias in the hood, we’re here to break down the best of the bowls. Let’s start on Newport and work our way north.

By Andy Hanshaw / San Diego County Bicycle Coalition

As many of you know, CicloSDias happened on a recent Sunday, and call me biased, but it was a resounding success.

Bikes, joggers, skaters and people of all kinds started walking and rolling around 9:30 a.m. A little after 10 o’clock, councilmembers Marti Emerald and David Alvarez along with County Supervisor Dave Roberts and a few other event speakers addressed the growing crowd at Cherokee Point Elementary School to get attendees excited about this event.

Both sides must set aside their profound differences and look at steps to relieve the worst elements of solitary confinement.

By Tom Hayden / LA Times / August 16, 2013

At least 300 inmates are now several weeks into a fast that could soon lead to organ failure and death for many of them. Events are moving rapidly, but as I write, nothing has been resolved. And, as California corrections chief Jeffrey Beard made clear recently in an Op-Ed for this newspaper, the sides are far apart.

Beard, presumably reflecting Gov. Jerry Brown’s views, paints the strike leaders as dangerous gang leaders who are pressuring inmates into a hunger strike to “restore their ability to terrorize fellow prisoners, prison staff and communities throughout California.” That rhetoric is hardly designed to lead to conflict resolution. On their side, the strikers are demanding an immediate end to what they see as inhumane conditions, including indefinite solitary confinement, which they see as a violation of the 8th Amendment ban on cruel and unusual punishment.

by Juan Cole / Informed Consent/ August 6, 2013

In a Reuters Exclusive, John Shiffman and Kristina Cooke reveal that the National Security Agency shares information it gleans from warrantless surveillance of Americans with the Special Operation Division of the Drug Enforcement Agency, which then uses the metadata to develop cases against US citizens. The DEA then routinely lies to the judge and defense attorneys during discovery about how its agents initially came by their suspicions of wrongdoing.

by Paul Buchheit/ Common Dreams

Some of America’s leading news analysts are beginning to recognize the fallacy of the “free market.” Said Ted Koppel, “We are privatizing ourselves into one disaster after another.”Fareed Zakaria admitted, “I am a big fan of the free market…But precisely because it is so powerful, in places where it doesn’t work well, it can cause huge distortions.” They’re right. A little analysis reveals that privatization doesn’t seem to work in any of the areas vital to the American public.

Health Care

Our private health care system is by far the most expensive system in the developed world. Forty-two percent of sick Americans skipped doctor’s visits and/or medication purchases in 2011 because of excessive costs.

By David Rosen / Alternet

Three centuries before Las Vegas was founded, New York was known as sin city. It was home to drinking, gambling, and most especially, illicit sexual pleasures. One of New Amsterdam’s first sex workers was Grietje “Little Pearl” Reynies, a lively bawd or “doxie.” Taunted by seamen on a departing sloop with the cry, “Whore! Whore! Two pound butter’s whore!” she allegedly lifted her petticoat and pointed to her naked backside, replying, “Blaes my daer achterin.”

San Diego, CA – On Thursday, June 27, 2013, legal cannabis patient and defendant Tim O’Shea’s jury came out of deliberations hopelessly deadlocked in a three guilty; nine not guilty split and Judge Charles Rogers declared a mistrial.

Defense Counsel, Mark Bluemel, immediately gave an oral motion to dismiss the case in the interest of justice, which the judge delayed hearing arguments on until today, July 1, 2013. His reasoning was to allow the District Attorney’s office time to decide if they would re-file against Tim, which is their right in cases of deadlocked juries.

By Terrie Best / San Diego Americans for Safe Access

On Thursday, June 27, 2013, legal cannabis patient and defendant Tim O’Shea’s jury came out of deliberations hopelessly deadlocked and Judge Charles Rogers declared a mistrial.

The jurors deliberated for approximately 16 hours over the course of the last few days and the waiting game was one of the most brutal I have ever endured. After polling the jurors to confirm the deadlock, Judge Rogers asked for information on the split. It was nine not guilty and three guilty.

The judge had some very poignant words about their service in this difficult case of emerging law and the jury answered back with their own thanks for the obvious respect he showed to them during the trial.

Several bipartisan bills have been introduced in Congress that would eliminate federal penalties for those actions that comply with state marijuana laws and regulate marijuana like alcohol in those states legalize pot.

By Nicole Flatow / Think Progress / June 28, 2013

While the U.S. Supreme Court was handing down its string of blockbuster rulings this week on the scope of federal laws, the nation’s mayors were developing their own guidance for the feds.

During the annual convening of city mayors, hundreds of city leaders unanimously endorsed a resolution calling on the federal government to back off federal enforcement of marijuana law.

By Jill Richardson /AlterNet / June 25, 2013

Oops. The World Food Prize committee’s got a bit of egg on its face—genetically engineered egg. They just awarded [3] the World Food Prize to three scientists, including one from Syngenta and one from Monsanto, who invented genetic engineering because, they say [4], the technology increases crop yields and decreases pesticide use. (Perhaps not coincidentally, Monsanto and Syngenta are major sponsors [5] of the World Food Prize, along with a third biotech giant, Dupont Pioneer.)

Monsanto makes the same case on its website [6], saying:

“Since the advent of biotechnology, there have been a number of claims from anti-biotechnology activists that genetically modified (GM) crops don’t increase yields. Some have claimed that GM crops actually have lower yields than non-GM crops… GM crops generally have higher yields due to both breeding and biotechnology.”

But that’s not actually the case. A new peer-reviewed study published in the International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability [7] examined those claims and found that conventional plant breeding, not genetic engineering, is responsible for yield increases in major U.S. crops. Additionally, GM crops, also known as genetically engineered (GE) crops, can’t even take credit for reductions in pesticide use.