Category: Health

The Ocean Beach branch of the Episcopal Church is holding a special event this morning – Thursday, April 5th.

The Episcopalian Bishop of San Diego is coming to OB to wash the feet of homeless people in our village. And it’s all being done to raise awareness about the homeless, homelessness, and the homeless population that seem to be “invisible” to the rest of society.

Bishop Jim Mathes will also put on new shoes and socks on them. Legal, medical and social services will also be available.

Where: The Episcopal Church Center, 2083 Sunset Cliffs Blvd, San Diego, in the courtyard

When: Thursday, April 5, 10:00am – 1:00pm

Why: To raise awareness about homelessness and to let our homeless population know they are not invisible; they are loved.

Assembly Member Toni Atkins
State Capitol
P.O. Box 942849
Sacramento, CA 94249-0076

Re: A.B. 2465

April 3, 2012

Good morning Ms. Atkins:

I am writing to you with concern over A.B. 2465, introduced by Assembly Member Campos of San Jose. As I am sure you are aware, the bill contains provisions which directly affects the privacy rights of those who use medicinal marijuana as they are provided under the provisions of the Proposition 215, the Compassionate Use Act of 1996 (codified as California Health and Safety Code §§ 11362.7, et seq.).

As I understand the gravamen of A.B. 2465, inter alia, it would require those who seek to use medicinal marijuana, after obtaining a physician’s recommendation, to register with the State of California to obtain an identification card as a part of a state-wide registry.

Study Released Revealing Startling Data on Lower Life Expectancy Even in Upper Income Communities

On Thursday, April 5, 2012, over 200 union janitors, religious leaders and community members will be gathering at Good Samaritan Episcopal Church, where members of San Diego’s religious community will be washing the feet of our hardworking janitors to draw attention to the impact of inequality of health for both working class and middle class families.

The janitors’ union, SEIU United Service Workers West (USWW), as part of their statewide campaign for a new contract expiring in 2012, released a study that demonstrates that with a better health care system people in middle-class families could live four years longer, and people would live five years longer.

An ever-present demand of Ocean Beach residents since the mid-1970s has been to be granted “independence” by the City of San Diego. OB tenants, property owners, and businesspeople have been clamoring for the village to be its own city for all these years.

Well, it finally happened behind closed doors on Friday. City officials met and decided once and for all that the sea-side community of about one mile square with roughly 15,000 residents should be its own municipality. The announcement was met with cheers from the Planning Board to the Mainstreet Association, from southern OB where the breakers beat at the cliffs to the northern climes where musicians, ex-hippies, bikers mix it up with students, elderly, sailors and working class families.

Tuesday night- March 27th – supporters of decommissioning San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station packed into the 250+ seat City of Irvine Council Chambers in Orange County.  At least 50 people wore green clothing to mark their support for San Clemente Green, an environmental action group working since the Fukushima meltdown last March towards a San Onofre shut down.

After general city announcements and a few agenda items, item 6.1 came up for the Irvine council. Councilman Larry Agran introduced the topic, stating that is was his motion to add San Onofre to the evening’s agenda; he’d invited San Clemente Green to present public comments as they had previously at city council meetings in San Clemente, Laguna Beach and San Diego’s own Solana Beach.

by Shaun Burnie / Friends of the Earth / March 27, 2012 

Friends of the Earth released today a new analysis by one of the nation’s leading independent nuclear engineers, Arnie Gunderson. The report has revealed serious unresolved safety problems at Southern California Edison’s San Onofre nuclear reactors which could lead to significant radiation releases if the plant is allowed to restart.

By Mike Lewis / East County Magazine / March 22, 2012

The proposed 100 megawatt (MW) Quail Brush Generation Power Plant Project encountered more resistance at the San Diego Planning Commission meeting downtown Thursday morning.

In a victory of sorts for the project’s opponents, a 30-day continuance was granted, delaying a decision on rezoning the 22-acre plot from open-space to industrial.

by Abby Normal

I feel myself up quite regularly. It’s quite natural, really as most medical resources say I’m supposed to do a monthly breast self-examination starting after the age of 20. Granted, there was few-year period where I neglected my cancer detecting duties, but I can officially tell you I’m back on track.

I also regularly visit my gynecologist, which is not nearly as much fun as feeling myself up. In fact, the sight of that little three-by-five reminder card can downright put a damper on the day.

Are beef eaters doomed to an early death?

By Alliance for Natural Health / March 20, 2012

A recent Harvard study, accompanied by some unduly alarmist articles in the press, found that the consumption of red meat is associated with higher mortality rates from cardiovascular disease and cancer. The study recommends substituting “healthy” protein sources such as fish, poultry, nuts, and legumes to reduce mortality.

We see a number of big problems with this study.

By Serena Scaglione / East County Magazine / March 21, 2012

The California Energy Commission (CEC) will hold a workshop at 5 p.m. this Thursday, March 22 at Mission Trails to discuss the proposed Quail Brush Generation Project being developed by Quail Brush Genco, LLC, a subsidiary of Cogentrix Energy.

Regional Water Quality Control Board Unanimously Adopts San Diego Bay Cleanup

The Regional Water Quality Control Board (Regional Board) on Wednesday, March 14, unanimously ordered a cleanup of the 143,400 cubic yards of toxic sediments from the bottom of San Diego Bay. After a 20-year battle, the polluters will be held accountable, and the bay will have a chance to return to a cleaner state.

In addition to celebrating the long-awaited cleanup order, San Diego Coastkeeper and Environmental Health Coalition (EHC) asked the Regional Board to require that the cleanup actually achieve the alternative cleanup levels that the Regional Board staff has determined is safe for public health and environment.

“The Regional Board should be applauded for finally acknowledging this pollution and the harm it causes to human, environmental and economic health,” said Jill Witkowski, legal director at San Diego Coastkeeper. “It’s about time that we make those responsible for the pollution clean up their mess.”

By Sheila Johnson

Last December, on a visit to Japan, I had a chance to spend a day being driven around Sendai and its environs to see at first hand some of the earthquake and tsunami damage of March, 2011. We did not go anywhere near the ‘dead-zone’ around Fukushima’s nuclear reactors, but what I saw was shocking enough — lamp-posts bent like pretzels by the force of the water, entire towns wiped from the map, and rice-fields that would normally have been covered with rice-stubble instead scrubbed clean of all topsoil.

Even worse, these rice-fields had been covered, I was told, by six feet of sea water. How long, I wondered, will it take for the salt to be leached from the soil so that rice can grow there again? And what about the nuclear fall-out and its damage to soil, plants, and animals?