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I Didn’t Beware the Ides of March (and I’m Grateful)

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Desde la Logan columnist reflects back on an incident 25 years ago.

By Brent E. Beltrán

Twenty-five years ago today my existence changed forever. My physical self was torn asunder whereas my socially conscience self was just beginning on the journey that I am still on. That fateful day in 1989, the ides of March that the Soothsayer warned Julius Caesar about, was the start of my new life. A life that eventually lead me to Barrio Logan and the San Diego Free Press.

In 1989 I was an eighteen year old recent graduate of Clairemont High School. At the time I was attending my second semester at Mesa College and had been working at Vons (now Keil’s) at the Clairemont Village shopping center since I turned sixteen.

I was a typical aimless youth of the era. I worked and went to school but had no real sense of what I wanted to do with my life (who really does at 18?). I was a good worker and I assumed that I would eventually work my way up the ranks of Vons.   [Read more…]

Dr. Sanjay Gupta: “I Am Doubling Down On Medical Marijuana”

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Cannabis prohibition is a “Draconian system where politics override science”

By Paul Armentano / NORML

CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta is “doubling down” in his advocacy for patients to have legal access to cannabis as a therapeutic agent.

In a commentary featured on the CNN website today, Gupta  writes: “I am more convinced than ever that it is irresponsible to not provide the best care we can, care that often may involve marijuana. I am not backing down on medical marijuana; I am doubling down.”

Last August, Gupta authored a commentary  apologizing for his past opposition to medical cannabis, stating, “We have been terribly and systematically misled for nearly 70 years in the United States (in regards to cannabis), and I apologize for my own role in that.”   [Read more…]

A Sweet Victory

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After two decades of consumer campaigns, the government has agreed to include added sugars on nutrition labels.

By Jill Richardson / OtherWords

The Food and Drug Administration recently came out with a sweet surprise. Its proposed new nutrition label will finally give us a bit of key information we need to understand our food: the amount of added sugars.

If you look at a nutrition label now, you will see how many grams of sugar are in a serving of your food. That includes all sugars. It counts the lactose in milk and naturally occurring sugars from fruit. The nutritionally important bit of info for most of us is not total sugars, but added sugars — which include the sweetener we call “sugar” plus others like high-fructose corn syrup and honey.

In addition to the blueberries and the yogurt in your blueberry yogurt, how much sugar did the manufacturer add? If you’re trying to pick the healthiest yogurt or granola bar, that’s a fact you need to know.   [Read more…]

Recognize: 58% Of Women Use Birth Control For Reasons Other Than Pregnancy Prevention

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By Rajiv Narayan / Upworthy

I’m looking at these graphics, and I’m thinking to myself, “How did we ever put up with health care before the Affordable Care Act?” Were we really cool with paying $600 a year for birth control pills or being denied coverage for pre-existing conditions? Get the word out: The benefits of this law aren’t good, they’re common sense.   [Read more…]

Nobody Who Works Full Time in San Diego Should Live in Poverty

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By Doug Porter

If you believe the San Diego’s Chamber of Commerce latest outlook, as reported on KPBS,  on the region’s economic health you’d better wear sunglasses because the future’s that bright. Business looks great, especially for the minimum and sub-minimum wage tourism, entertainment and hospitality sector.

On the other hand if you delve into the study entitled “Making Ends Meet 2014,” released this morning by the Center on Policy Initiatives and United Way of San Diego County, keep a box of tissues handy.

Their research quantitatively demonstrates that the cost of a basic, no-frills lifestyle without public or private assistance is beyond the reach of 38% of all working age households in San Diego County. That’s 300,000 households. Even with someone working full-time year-round, or with multiple part-time earners, about 1 in 4 households in the region have incomes too low to cover the basic costs of living.   [Read more…]

A New Era Begins for San Diego, Just Like the Old Era (With a Few Deletions)

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By Doug Porter

By the time you read this City Councilman Kevin Faulconer will have taken the oath of office to become San Diego’s 36th Mayor. He will, I think, have about a nine month honeymoon prior to starting his reelection campaign for 2016.

UT-San Diego’s been busy trying to setting the tone with its editorials over the past few days, urging the Democratic Majority on the City Council to appoint a Republican to replace Faulconer, pleading for Council President Todd Gloria to be the new mayor’s ‘bi-partisan partner in reform,” and cheerleading for further policies to privatize public services.

Lost amid the ceremonies and promises of better times are the moves being made to insulate the politics of ‘business as usual’ from public disclosure. City Attorney Jan Goldsmith’s successful efforts to derail an Open Government initiative and the iMayor’s last-minute issuance of a policy destroying city emails after one year are examples of the true nature of bi-partisan cooperation at the highest levels in local government.   [Read more…]

Documents Say Navy Knew Fukushima Dangerously Contaminated the USS Reagan

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By Harvey Wasserman / Common Dreams

A stunning new report indicates the U.S. Navy knew that sailors from the nuclear-powered USS Ronald Reagan took major radiation hits from the Fukushima atomic power plant after its meltdowns and explosions nearly three years ago.

If true, the revelations cast new light on the $1 billion lawsuit filed by the sailors against Tokyo Electric Power. Many of the sailors are already suffering devastating health impacts, but are being stonewalled by Tepco and the Navy.   [Read more…]

Obama Administration Announces Banking Guidelines for Marijuana Business

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By Phillip Smith / Stop The Drug War

The Obama administration Thursday afternoon announced new guidelines that will allow financial institutions to provide services to marijuana businesses in states where it is legal. The guidelines will apply to both medical marijuana and legal marijuana states.

Some 20 states and the District of Columbia allow for medical marijuana, while two states, Colorado and Washington, have legalized marijuana commerce for adults.

Banks and other financial institutions have been increasingly unwilling to deal with marijuana-related businesses for fear of breaking federal laws. That has led to an untenable situation where marijuana businesses are forced to deal in large amounts of cash.   [Read more…]

It’s Health Care, Not Software

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The initial and temporary difficulty millions of Americans suffered when they first tried to sign up doesn’t matter.

By Mitchell Zimmerman / Other Words

So the Affordable Care Act didn’t exactly deliver the greatest website. What did we get after all those years of haggling?

Only health insurance for 9 million people (and counting) who didn’t have it before. Only an end to pre-existing medical conditions keeping you from getting health coverage. Only insurance for young adults under their parents’ policies, a requirement that your health policy cover preventive care, and health insurance plans that don’t cost any more for the vast majority of Americans — and are somewhat more expensive for a tiny minority who are, in exchange, getting better health coverage.   [Read more…]

NFL On Cusp of Having First Openly Gay Player

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Draft prospect from Missouri will test the sports world’s readiness to join the rest of us in the 21st Century.

By Andy Cohen

By now you’ve probably heard that former Missouri defensive end Michael Sam came out to the national press yesterday as gay.  Sam is an NFL prospect—projected by some to be picked as high as the third round—hoping to earn a paycheck as a professional football player next Fall, and should he make an NFL roster, he will become the first openly gay player in any of the major pro sports in the United States (sorry, the MLS doesn’t count quite yet).

Sam’s draft stock will be the topic of conversation from now until the NFL season begins next September.  Attitudes are changing about the LGBT community; acceptance of LGBT people is now almost a given, something unthinkable 10 years ago.  Poll after poll show that by a large majority Americans now accept the rights of gays to marry, with 17 states having legalized gay marriage, the federal government having disavowed the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), and Attorney General Eric Holder having recently announced that the DOJ will fully recognize same sex couples, ensuring them the same rights as heterosexual couples.   [Read more…]

Cue the Crazy: What Are They Smoking at Fox News?

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By Doug Porter

One of the big stories in the media this week concerns the decision by CVS/Caremark to discontinue selling tobacco products at its 7600 stores. In the short term this move will cost the company $2 billion a year in sales,or about 1.5% of their total volume.

I expected to see debate over whether this was a prudent business decision. After all, no good capitalist likes to walk away from a profit. And questions about the viability of the company’s long term strategy are to be expected. Will a large enough number of consumers actually react positively to the concept of hard-core retailing of health care?

I also expected the ‘yahoo’ element to chime in, filling comment sections with trollish chatter about how, liquor, candy and sodas would probably be next. But I was astonished at how quickly Fox News spun this story into yet another Obama-centric controversy.   [Read more…]

The Water Crisis: Dealing With the Shower Police

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By Will Falk

I have a problem with some of the people I call the “shower police.” These are the people yelling about how we all need to take shorter showers because of the water crisis. They deem anyone a hypocrite who accuses corporations and the government of being the worst water offenders while not enthusiastically letting a night of the strongest urine fester in their bathrooms.

My problem with the shower police is not that they’re wrong that we all need to live as simply as possible. We do. My problem with that shower police is not that they’re wrong that we all must endure much more than funky bathrooms. We will.

My problem is that the shower police often confuse personal change with social change.   [Read more…]

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