Category: Health

by Anais Child

By the time I get around to Christmas presents for My Beloved, our bank account is always in the negative and I have run out of creative ideas. Over the many years we have been together, Christmas isn’t a big deal when it comes to exchanging gifts. But this particular year, I wanted to do something … special. I wanted to do something … different.

The most different thing I could do was to enter the downtown Hustler. I had walked past it daily since it opened, but had never been inside…

Editor: Here’s an article that should concern all OBceans, surfers, all swimmers, scuba divers and anyone else who plays or works in the ocean. Federal monies for water testing are being cut. So much for a “smaller government” – eh, you conservatives who see government as the problem. Enjoy yours and your kids’ next visit to the beach.

The EPA plans to cut $10 million in grants it gives annually. Water quality advocates worry that swimmers and surfers will be at even greater risk of illness.

By Tony Barboza / Los Angeles Times / February 16, 2012

Health testing at beaches in California and across the nation is at risk of being cut under a plan to eliminate federal funds for monitoring whether the water is too contaminated to swim in.

Medical marijuana patient in unambiguous compliance with state law, faces second prosecution attempt by San Diego District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis. Jury selection begins Feb. 14.

By Eugene Davidovich / San Diego ASA / Feb. 9, 2012

In the summer of 2009, Benjamin Gasper, along with two other seriously ill medical marijuana patients rented a warehouse space in the Sports Arena area of San Diego, a heavily commercial district far from residences and other “sensitive uses,” and began to collectively cultivate medical marijuana for personal medical needs.

All three members of the collective, as court documents have shown, signed an agreement in which they entered into a contract to “associate collectively or cooperatively to cultivate marijuana for medical purposes.”

The agreement went as far as stating that “all members of our medical marijuana collective will contribute labor, funds, or materials, and all will receive medicine.”

by Dirk Ebers

In the 1982 rhythm-and-blues classic Atomic Dog, George Clinton croons a question for the ages: “Why must I feel like that — why must I chase the cat?”

Clinton is talking about the longing for sex, of course. And you can probably relate to his lyrics, whether you’re a man or a woman, straight or gay, Ocean Beach or Point Loma. After all, sex seems to be on the human mind a lot. But why?

In Atomic Dog, George Clinton has a simple answer: “Nothin’ but the dog in me.” And researchers in an intriguing branch of psychology believe Clinton is exactly right.

Evolutionary psychology is the study of how the human mind’s processes might be products of evolution. In other words, the field asks if there might be survival benefits to weird little kinks of human nature, such as the tendency for men in cultures around the world to — all else being equal — prefer big boobs.

Today I received the following letter from the San Diego Branch of the Susan G. Komen For The Cure:

We have a very small office here in San Diego – so that the majority of the money we raised can go right back to the community. Last week’s political firestorm shook each of us to the core. It may also have rocked you. For the first time in my six years here, the integrity of this organization was questioned. Even after we took responsibility for the mistake and moved quickly to fix the problem, some said they would never have anything to do with Komen again.

Okay. I understand that. Everyone needs to make decisions that they can live with and feel good about.

But here’s the truth. While some may leave us, we will never leave you or the uninsured women that we fight for every day here in San Diego.

As the first anniversary of the Fukushima disaster approaches, recent developments in the nuclear power world at locales thousands of miles apart once again teach us the high prices societies pay for depending on atomic power to generate their electricity.

Fukushima

Nearly a year after a devastating earthquake and catastrophic tsunami crippled the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant in northeastern Japan, tens of thousands are still unable to return to their homes.

Children in the city of Fukushima were largely prohibited from going outside last summer.

Radioactive contamination has been found in local beef, rice, milk, vegetables and tea.

Most recently, the January 28 Mainichi Daily News reported, “Radioactive testing facilities have been inundated with requests to check gravel after it was revealed on January 15 that high radioactive levels were detected in gravel quarried near Fukushima Unit 1 and used in construction projects across [Fukushima] prefecture.”

It’s time, folks.

We can no longer get by with our awkward avoidance of the ongoing nuclear disaster in Fukushima, Japan. Not only should we be discussing the Pacific waters and gyres bringing (or not bringing) contaminated debris & particles from the March 11th earthquake/tsunami last year, we should consider our proximity to San Onofre, just 48 miles from OB.

Why This Is Important

Susan G. Komen for the Cure has announced that it will withdraw from partnerships with Planned Parenthood affiliates in response to pressure from anti-abortion activists.

This means Planned Parenthood will no longer receive grants that are vital to its operation, thereby jeopardizing its ability to provide services like birth control, testing for sexually transmitted diseases and cancer screenings.

According to a report by NPR, Planned Parenthood centers performed more than 4 million breast exams over the past five years – including nearly 170,000 as a result of Komen grants.

Susan G. Komen for the Cure is an organization that improves and saves the lives of women. So is Planned Parenthood. It is absolutely vital that they continue to work together.

Please tell Susan G. Komen for the Cure to stop caving under conservative pressures and to continue to protect the health of women everywhere.

How the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation put their corporation-friendly image before women’s actual health concerns.

By Amanda Marcotte / AlterNet / Feb. 1, 2012

It’s probably the fastest-spreading story in Internet history about the relationship between two non-profits. Late Tuesday afternoon, Planned Parenthood and Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure announced that Komen would be withdrawing grants given to Planned Parenthood for breast cancer screenings. Despite Komen’s lame attempts to claim otherwise, it was widely understood that this was about Komen aligning itself with the anti-choice movement, despite the anti-choice movement’s long history of opposing not just safe and legal abortion, but also access to contraception and even the prevention of cervical cancer through the use of the HPV vaccine.

Thousands Strike State-Wide (see more below)

By Lauren Steussy / NBC San Diego / January 31, 2012

Workers at Kaiser Permanente are lining up in front of facilities across California to bring awareness to contract disputes with Kaiser’s mental health and optical employees.

Statewide, 4,000 National Union of Healthcare Workers (NUHW) employees will strike for 24-hours Tuesday. It is expected to be one of the biggest strikes in Kaiser’s history, since two other unions will also walk out. The disputes center around proposed cuts to retirement and health care benefits.

By Miriam Raftery / East County Magazine / Jan. 30, 2012

January 30, 2011 (San Diego) – State Senator Juan Vargas, a former insurance industry executive who has taken massive donations from the insurance industry, may cast the deciding vote Tuesday on whether or not millions of Californians will receive guaranteed universal healthcare and dental care coverage.

Senate Bill 810 passed committee, but fell two votes short in the Senate. A new vote is sought before tomorrow’s deadline for passing all Senate bills and sending them on to the Assembly.

by Jennifer Epps / Calitics / Jan. 31, 2012

In Canada, the only way to see a doctor is to call one up and make an appointment. Or walk in to their office. In Britain, the only way you’ll get surgery is if you actually need it. And yet State Senator Mark Leno and 44 co-sponsors want to bring this kind of healthcare system to everyone in California! Imagine.

In fact, the California legislature twice approved such a system, in which private providers carry on as independently as always but the public pays their bills directly (rather than indirectly as it does now, through a patchwork quilt of emergency care, programs to bring healthcare to the poorest and the elderly, and subsidies for insurance premiums.) Both times Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed the bill. But Senator Leno, a longtime campaigner for single-payer — a.k.a. “Medicare-for-All” — has brought the bill back again as SB 810. Last week, the bill fell just two votes shy of passage with a tally of 19-15 in favor. (It needs 21 to pass because it requires more than a simple majority.) Sen. Leno plans to push for another vote under Reconsideration, because several Democratic state senators abstained, but the deadline to win their support is today.