Category: Health

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.

SFGate / January 31, 2012

A reactor at the San Onofre nuclear power plant was shut down Tuesday because of a possible leak, but there is no imminent danger, utility operators said.

Sensors at the plant detected a possible leak in one of Unit 3’s steam generator tubes, Southern California Edison spokesman Gil Alexander said. Even if a leak is confirmed, it would pose no danger to the public or plant workers, he said.

No release has been made into the atmosphere, he added.

“It is not a major leak. It has not risen to the level where it would cause the unit to automatically shut down,” Alexander told U-T San Diego. “But as a precaution we’re shutting the unit down to go in and inspect.”

By Gail Powell / Special to the OB Rag

The Occupy movement has some people thinking that the anti-Wall Street political group has co-opted the medical marijuana issue. Where once the closing of dispensaries would have incited the wrath of medical marijuana activists; now many of those same people are off doing their Occupy thing. That is not to say that the issues of the people supporting the utilization of medical marijuana is dead: it is not.

And I do not wish to make it seem that political protesters are dilettantes who jump from one exciting activity to another. But the federal pressure on the clinics that has come down from the Obama administration is a part of the bigger picture of injustice from the national level filtering malice upon the local level.

On Sunday, January 22, 2012, the Radical Feminists of Occupy San Diego are hosting the Roe v. Wade Anniversary Abortion and Reproductive Rights Rally, March, and Speak-Out.

A rally with speakers will be held from 1-1:30 in the Civic Center Plaza (or Freedom Plaza – nicknamed by Occupy San Diego), followed by a march downtown and an open-mic speakout.

The event is to commemorate the 38th anniversary of the landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision, Roe v. Wade, which legalized abortion on a federal level in 1973, and to protest the many restrictions on abortion rights and access.

By Erin Allday /SFGate / January 10, 2012

Smoking a joint or a bowl from time to time appears to cause no long-term damage to the lungs, according to a UCSF study that disproves one of the major concerns about marijuana use – that inhaling anything other than air on a regular basis must be harmful.

The study, results of which were published today in the Journal of the American Medical Association, found that the lung capacity of people who smoked marijuana was not diminished by lighting up, even among those who smoked once or twice a week.

Smoking 20 or more joints a month did have a negative impact on the pulmonary system, but that level of marijuana use is unusual.

By Gail Powell / Special to the OB Rag

The ASA Medical Cannabis Rally and March came to life on the beautifully sunny Ocean Beach afternoon of Monday, December 26th. Like just about everything else in our berg, the event was spontaneous, mellow, yet very productive. Despite the hovering presence of “The Man” hanging out across Abbott Street in front of the Ocean Beach Hotel, people were at ease and yet vocal about what they perceive as the wrongs being committed against medicinal marijuana patients and the dispensaries by the feds and various city officials.

As the ASA Facebook event page states:

“the federal government has begun a crackdown on legitimate medical marijuana patients, caregivers, and providers. In San Diego alone as a result of Federal threats, hundreds of safe access locations have been shut down causing legitimate patients to go without their doctor recommended medicine.”

The bold actions of the Ocean Beach social activists got the word out to the community and first up with a Bob Filner for Mayor collared shirt and a confident way with a bullhorn was Democratic congressman and 2012 Mayoral candidate Bob Filner.

By Miriam Raftery / East County Magazine / December 27, 2011

Starting January 1, new California laws take effect. Some give new protections to the public. Buying a used car? You now have a right to know its history. The government can’t snoop into your online reading habits. Your employer can’t peek at your credit report, in most cases. New laws also benefit pregnant employees, organ donors, renters, domestic partners, and bullied gay students.

Other laws impose restrictions. Want to buy popular cough syrups? You’ll need a prescription. If you order items online, you’ll be charged state sales tax. Shark fin soup and beer spiked with caffeine are banned. Employers have new requirements for notifying employees about pay and more. Kids must ride in a booster seat until age 8. Openly carrying a handgun is illegal, even if it isn’t loaded.

San Diego “Portland Loo” Project to be Delayed Longer than Expected -project suggested to City Council by Girls Think Tank over a year ago still has not seen the light of day

by Lara McCaffrey / Empower San Diego / Originally posted Dec 21, 2011

San Diego, CA. With the end of the fiscal year approaching fast in June, there is only so much time to change the budget conversation in San Diego. Like Empower San Diego, fellow non-profit Girls Think Tank (GTT) has taken steps to convince the City Council to use valuable tax-payer funds for projects that benefit the less fortunate. GTT has been working for nearly 2 years to get the City to install 24 hour access public restrooms as a part of their Basic Dignity Campaign for San Diego’s homeless.

WHAT: San Diego ASA Medical Cannabis Educational Rally and March

WHEN: 12/26/2011 – 2pm-5:30pm

WHERE: Corner of Newport Ave and Abbot Street in Ocean Beach, CA

The federal government has begun a crackdown on legitimate medical marijuana patients, caregivers, and providers. In San Diego alone as a result of Federal threats, hundreds of safe access locations have been shut down causing legitimate patients to go without their doctor recommended medicine as well as helping crime rise in our City.

The San Diego Chapter of Americans for Safe Access strongly opposes the Federal commandeering and intervention into state law and is organizing a medical cannabis educational rally!

By Ed Bruske aka The Slow Cook / La Vida Locavore / Originally published Nov. 17, 2011

First it was potatoes. Now it’s pizza. The processed food industry is reaching out to its friends in Congress to scuttle new USDA guidelines that were supposed to make school meals healthier.

House and Senate negotiators have approved agriculture appropriations language that would allow the tomato paste on pizza to be counted as a vegetable serving under the USDA’s new school meal guidelines. Count this as the result of lobbying efforts by processed food giants ConAgra and Schwan Food.

by Adrian Florido / Voice of San Diego / November 21, 2011

As the weak economy battered families across California, food stamp use nearly doubled since 2006. But in San Diego County, the spike has been even more dramatic. Food stamp use has nearly tripled here.

Despite that jump, recent statistics show that San Diego may still only be getting food stamps to about one-third of the people who qualify for them, offering a glimpse of just how many San Diegans may be struggling to put food on the table.

As always after a heavy rain, the waters of the Pacific near the coast are dangerously filled with elevated bacterial levels. So, as always, the County Department of Environmental Health has issued a General Advisory for coastal waters of San Diego County due to recent rainfall.

They advise people to avoid activities such as swimming, surfing and diving in all coastal waters for 72 hours following rain. And of course, this includes Ocean Beach, Sunset Cliffs, Mission Beach, Mission Bay, the other beaches and San Diego Bay.