Editorials

The opinions expressed are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of East County Magazine.

READER’S EDITORIAL: THE PHOENIX IS BURNING

By Robert Gehr

August 20, 2022 (El Cajon) -- Previously, I’ve written freelance articles about El Cajon for East County Magazine - the attractions, beauty, things to do, and its once dilapidated condition rising from the ashes of fire like the mythical Phoenix to become a nice attractive place to call home.

Sadly. I’m now giving my opinion on how this city is once again falling into disrepair.


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READER'S EDITORIAL: STOP THE BIG LIE THAT IS DIVIDING AMERICANS

By John Meitz

July 4, 2022 (El Cajon) --  I have been a voter in El Cajon for over 30 years. I used to be a lifelong Republican.just like my father before me.

That all changed when I saw Trump turn my Republican Party into a Trump Cult. If you are a Trump supporter it may be hard to hear this. It may be hard to accept that former President Trump betrayed your trust and deceived you. But those are the facts.

 

Stop the big lie! Like former Attorney General Bill Barr said, “There was no widespread voter fraud."


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READER'S EDITORIAL: FOR SAN DIEGO JEWS, THE END OF ROE V. WADE ERODES RELIGIOUS LIBERTY

By Editor, Times of San Diego, a member of the San Diego Online News Association

Times of SD Editor’s Note: This statement was prepared and signed by more than 45 leaders of the San Diego Jewish community.

June 28, 2022 (San Diego) - Jewish tradition is grounded in obligation and responsibility to ourselves, one another, and our community. As Jewish communal professionals and clergy, we understand Jewish approaches to autonomy and community have long protected the rights of reproductive freedom and justice, as exemplified by cases where health, wellness, and life are at stake. 


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READER’S EDITORIAL: WE HAVE TO RESTORE BALANCE IN THE SUPREME COURT

By Donna Forte, Spring Valley

June 24, 2022 (Spring Valley) -- When Donald Trump was in office, he and Mitch McConnell made three lifetime appointments to the Supreme Court. McConnell went so far as to defy Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s dying wish—that the next president appoint her replacement—by packing the Court with Amy Coney Barrett just eight days before the 2020 election.

The result? Today’s Supreme Court has been taken over by a hyperpartisan supermajority that just dismantled abortion care in America.


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READER’S EDITORIAL: THE SUPREME COURT IS PARTISAN ON PURPOSE

By Adam Gantz, San Diego

June 24, 2022 (San Diego) -- Nowhere in the Constitution does it say that we have to have nine Supreme Court Justices. Nor would it require a Constitutional amendment to add more seats. In fact, Congress has expanded the Supreme Court five times throughout American history.


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READER’S EDITORIAL: DON’T LET AMERICAN DEMOCRACY FALL TO TYRANNY

By Sohel Bahjat

June 16, 2022 (San Diego’s East County) -- My name is Sohel Bahjat, a former Republican and an active voter in East County, San Diego, CA. Please support the efforts to bring Trump and his enablers to trial --  because the Big Lie and the attack on our democracy on January 6 was a real menace and a threat that was going to end in bloodshed and possible chaos.


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READER’S EDITORIAL: WE SHOULD LOVE OUR CHILDREN MORE THAN GUNS

By Jay Steiger

Photos: San Diego rally to stop gun violence on June 11, 2022

June 12, 2022 (San Diego) -- Enough! How many more will die before action is taken to reduce the ongoing tragedy of gun violence?  The horror at Robb Elementary was the 27th school shooting in 2022 alone. In the past decade, there have been over 900 incidents involving gunfire at schools.  Are we really to the point where, if it's not a mass shooting, we can compartmentalize the fact that gunfire and schools should never mix?


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READER’S EDITORIAL: PEOPLE OVER PROFITS

By John Teevan

May 24, 2022 (San Diego’s East County) -- Every two years, we elect lawmakers to represent us in Washington. We put our trust in them and expect them to fight for what’s best for our communities.


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READER’S EDITORIAL: OUR ORIGINAL FOUNDERS WERE INDIGENOUS WOMEN WHO CONTROLLED THEIR OWN BODIES

By Professor Harvey Wasserman

Originally published in Reader Supported News

Photo: San Diego Women’s March 2022, by Miriam Raftery

May 24, 2022 (San Diego) -- The real Founders of American society were not the 55 rich white male interlopers who staged a coup d’etat in 1787-9 … and whose misogynist progeny have always wanted to ban abortion.

Our true original founders were the Indigenous matriarchs who ran most of America for thousands of years before the first whites set foot here.

For tens of centuries they controlled their pregnancies by herbal means. The idea that any government (tribal or otherwise) could rule a woman’s uterus would evoke disbelief and contempt from men and women alike.


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THE U.S. SUPREME COURT’S IMPENDING REVERSAL OF ROE V. WADE

By Joel A. Harrison, PhD, MPH

May 12, 2022 (San Diego) -- Recently, a draft was leaked of a potential Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v Wade written by Justice Samuel Alito (Political Staff, 2022). East County Magazine published a previous op-ed by me entitled: “Abortion is a 1st Amendment Issue” (2020 Feb. 24).  The following are some additional thoughts based on the draft written by Justice Alito that will allow states to outlaw abortion.

Alito bases his opinion on, to some extent, original intent of our Founding Fathers, those who actually wrote our Constitution. At the time, the majority were slave owners. Others had indentured servants:  poor whites “contracted” for up to seven years’ labor. In many cases they were treated brutally (Garrett-Hatfield). Women had basically NO rights (Kuhn, 2022; Lange, 2015).


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READER'S EDITORIAL: PLEASE DO NOT EXPORT YOUR HOMELESS PROBLEM TO CAMPO

This letter was written in response to La Mesa City Councilmember Laura Lothian's proposal to purchase land in Campo to house La Mesa's homeless population. The item is slated to be heard tonight, May 10. Tisdale sent copies of her letter to the city of La Mesa, Supervisor Joel Anderson, and Campo-Lake Morena's planning group chair Billie Jo Jannen.

By Donna Tisdale, Chair, Boulevard Planning Group (photo, left)

First and foremost, It would be the courteous and ethical thing to do to provide timely notice and ask the Campo - Lake Morena Community Planning Group to weigh in on your proposal to export your problem to their predominantly low-income rural community where most residents are already struggling to survive the pandemic, government-induced inflated cost of living, and a basically open US/Mexico border with daily smuggling activities. They don't need an additional problem foisted on them.

Rural residents have the added burden of an expensive commute due to the increasing cost of gas. We make many sacrifices in order to enjoy the benefits of quiet country living.  A serious lack of local services is one of those sacrifices ,including very limited medical and law enforcement .  In some cases, it may take days for law enforcement to answer a call to a rural home.

Exporting your homeless problem to Campo's underserved rural area is neither justified nor warranted for local residents or the homeless population. Shelters / alternative housing should be placed close to services, not an hour away.


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READER'S EDITORIAL: LEGISLATORS MUST FUND SUICIDE CRISIS SERVICES

By Danielle McGonigle

Image by rebcenter-moscow on Pixabay

April 30, 2022 (San Diego) - May is Mental Health Awareness Month. As a volunteer and advocate with the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, this month I am asking everyone to join us and demand #MoreForMentalHealth.

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EDITORIAL: LIVING WITH BORDERLINE PERSONALITY DISORDER AND THE IMPORTANCE OF ANTI-BULLYING TRAINING IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS

May is Mental Health Awareness Month and research suggests those who need anti-depressants aren't necessarily happier than those who don't

Photo: I'm within two weeks of travel greater than 120 miles so MASK ON! (April 27, 2022)

By: Jonathan Goetz
 
April 28, 2022 (Buffalo, W.N.Y.) - Unlike many mental health issues, Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) is not treated with medication. The diagnosis was coined concurrently with Dialectic Behavioral Therapy (DBT) by Dr. Marsha Linehan. It is often found in people who have other underlying medical conditions but unlike traditional mental health issues thought to warrant medication, is considered environmentally caused as opposed to irregular brain chemistry. Today it is regarded as being induced by an invalidating childhood.
 
At first this sounded strange to me; my parents were extremely supportive and I received accolades all the time! But later, I remembered homophobic taunting, just from my mannerisms, before my sexual orientation had even formed. Perhaps that forced me to continually feel the need to prove myself? I'll never forget those, "are you a boy or a girl?" Luckily by now I have a beard and receding hairline so I'm pretty sure I'm a dude.

Not for re-print - exclusive to East County Magazine dot org please link to May 2022 https://www.eastcountymagazine.org/may-2022-articles


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READER'S EDITORIAL: CARBON TAX NEEDED NOW

By Matthew Maichen, San Marcos

Photo: CC by NC via Bing

April 10, 2022 (San Diego) -- As an English teacher, I find it so immensely frustrating that the kids that I teach are going to bearing the brunt of this climate emergency and its long-term effects even more than I am. It's so frustrating that we have the technology, but not the will, to make the change. And I worry that by the time we decide to do anything, it'll be too late.


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READER’S EDITORIAL: LONG LIVE ROCK AND ROLL

By Greg Dunne

Photo: CC by ND via Bing

April 9th, 2022 (Alpine) -- The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame has announced the following Nominees for the 2022 induction. You can vote for your favorite singer or band online at vote.rockhall.com by April 29th. The Nominees this year are Beck, Pat Benatar, Kate Bush, DEVO, Duran Duran, Eminem, Eurythmics, Judas Priest, Fela Kuti, MC5, New York Dolls, Dolly Parton, Rage Against the Machine, Lionel Richie, Carly Simon, A Tribe Called Quest, Dionne Warwick.


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READER'S EDITORIAL: THE U.S. CAMPAIGN FOR DEMOCRATIC WORLD FEDERATION

By Bob Flax

March 14, 2022 (San Diego) - The current crisis in Eastern Europe underscores the need to strengthen the international security system. This approach to building a more peaceful world goes back decades and continues to demand our attention today.


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READER’S EDITORIAL: PIT BULL EUTHANIZED, BUT PROBLEM OF DANGEROUS DOGS PERSISTS

By Bettie Wells

February 27, 2022 (El Cajon) -- On Saturday, February 26, 2022, exactly 6 months to the day after Zeus, the homicidal pit bull, nearly killed a woman and her dog that were peacefully walking by Granite Hills High School, Zeus was euthanized. 


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READER’S EDITORIAL: WHEN CITY COUNCIL DRAWS THE LINES, EL CAJON IGNORES COMMUNITY INPUT AND REFUSES TO CHANGE DISTRICT BOUNDARIES

By Rami Ibrahim

February 4, 2022 (El Cajon) -- The City of El Cajon is wrapping up its redistricting process to determine the boundaries of its Council districts for the next 10 years. But there is a catch. The City Council did not redistrict, and is instead on the precipice of adopting the exact map under which the current Council was elected. By ignoring state law and the voices of underrepresented communities who have been advocating for fair and representative districts, the City Council members revealed they had no intention to change the lines at all.


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READER'S EDITORIAL: DURING BLACK HISTORY MONTH, WE ARE LOSING THE RIGHT TO VOTE

By Kathleen Harmon

 

February 1, 2022 (San Diego) – Born during the Great Depression, I was in my 30s when President Lyndon Baines Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act, guaranteeing that after taking office, he would pass a major tax cut bill, the Clean Air Act, and the Civil Rights Act. In addition to banning job discrimination, these laws also forbade segregation of public accommodation (for example, not allowing blacks to use the bathroom). 


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READER’S EDITORIAL: WHY SANDAG SOLD EAST COUNTY DOWN THE RIVER

By Daniel Smiechowski

 

December 13, 2021 (San Diego’s East County) -- Last week, the County’s governing board called SANDAG made up of prominent elected officials voted for a long-range transportation plan and in so doing gave East County residents the shaft. Along party lines, they voted to possibly place an absurd gas tax, increase bike lanes and of course their favorite pie in the sky being the belief that residents in this County are suddenly going to flood public transit like locusts in the Western Sahara and walk everywhere while ditching their cars


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READER’S EDITORIAL: BIDEN MUST URGE THE SENATE TO END THE FILIBUSTER

By Staley Pitts

October 20, 2021 (La Mesa) -- Biden has a choice to make: Does he want to establish his legacy as a president who fought for voting rights, or not?

In order to be remembered as a president who fought for voting rights, Biden must do more than ask the Senate to pass voting rights legislation. He knows as well as we do that bills like the Freedom to Vote Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act won’t make it through the Senate unless we abolish the filibuster.


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READER’S EDITORIAL: THE LAST CHANCE FOR CLIMATE POLICY THIS DECADE

By Brian Schrader

Photo: CCC by SA via Bing

October 1, 2021 (San Diego) -- The Senate’s still-in-progress budget bill is probably the last meaningful chance we have to seriously mitigate climate change. This is it! Call your representatives and tell them to support the reconciliation bill.


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READER’s EDITORIAL: SANTEE CITY COUNCIL IS CONSIDERING LEGALIZING MARIJUANA: VOICE YOUR CONCERNS AT NEXT WORKSHOP OCTOBER 13

By Erik Wiese, President, Wiese & Associates

September 26, 2021 (Santee) -- The city Councilmembers and staff of Santee should be congratulated on their historical opposition to allowing cannabis dispensaries to open up in our city. For years, they have maintained the health and safety of our citizens as their primary concerns.


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READER'S EDITORIAL: BEAUCRACY IN THE WORLD'S MOST EXPENSIVE HEALTHCARE SYSTEM: KAISER PERMANENTE MEDICARE ADVANTAGE AS AN EXAMPLE

By Joel A. Harrison, PhD, MPH

September 2, 2021 (San Diego) - As in many other technologically advanced democracies, the U.S. is blessed with highly trained medical personnel and superb facilities. However, we are also by far the most expensive healthcare system in the world. Our taxes fund 65% of the total costs of our healthcare system (Harrison, 2008). More than 30 cents on every dollar goes to large partly unaccountable administrative bureaucracies that, on the whole, do not make a positive contribution to actual health care (Harrison, 2018).


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READER’S EDITORIAL: WE ARE ALL AT RISK

By Joel A. Harrison, PhD, MPH

Photo: Creative Commons by SA-NC via Bing

August 29, 2021 (San Diego) -- I could write an entire paper just documenting numerous cases where people who thought they were well-insured, discovered all too late they weren’t. The following are just a few examples:


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READER’S EDITORIAL: JACUMBA HOT SPRINGS PUTTING OUT SOS: LEARN ABOUT SOLAR PROJECT TRYING TO “SWALLOW THE TOWN” AT ICE CREAM SOCIAL AUG. 7

By Jeffery Osborne

August 5, 2021 (Jacumba Hot Springs) -- The Jacumba Hot Springs community is getting together Saturday, August 7th at 11 a.m. for an Ice Cream Social and swim at Jacumba Lake to raise awareness about the mega solar project that is trying to swallow up the community. Nothing like this project has ever been proposed in San Diego County.


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READER'S EDITORIAL: THANK YOU TO GOV. NEWSOM AND CALIFORNIA FROM ALS ASSOCIATION FOR `WRAPAROUND FUNDING’

East County News Service

By Steve Becvar

July 20, 2021 (San Diego) – Thank you, California.

Thank you for your empathy and your commitment to patients and families in the Golden State suffering with ALS, or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a progressive neurological disease often called Lou Gehrig’s Disease.


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WITH CHALLENGE COMES CHANGE: FIRST PRIZE IN EAST COUNTY LEADERSHIP COUNCIL'S COVID-19 ESSAY CONTEST

This essay won first prize ($1,000) in the East County Leadership Council (ECLC) 2021 COVID-19 essay contest. Prize money has been provided through the generosity of ECLC donors and a grant from the Foundation for Economic Justice.

By Anonymous Grossmont Union High School District (GUHSD) student in East County Leadership Council’s (ECLC) COVID-19 Essay Contest (First Prize)

“The struggle you’re in today is developing the strength you need for tomorrow.” —Robert Tew.

July 15, 2021 (San Diego's East County) -- Throughout our lifetime, we pass through so many different situations, some that make us smile and others that make us cry. We get rewarded by some, and we get challenged by others. What is interesting though is that we get to pick the way we react. We get to choose our life and shape it the way we want, despite our struggles, and if we do that right, we develop our strengths. When the COVID-19 pandemic broke out in the United States, it was a struggle for everyone, and only the people who overcame their struggles came out of it stronger than ever. Personally, I had to overcome challenges academically since online school was extremely difficult, physically since my health was deteriorating as my weight increased, and mentally, since my mental health was worsening as well. However, although there were many challenges and struggles that came with COVID-19, there were also gains.  


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FAMILY LIFE DURING COVID'S YEAR-AND-A-HALF: SECOND PRIZE IN EAST COUNTY LEADERSHIP COUNCIL'S ESSAY CONTEST

This essay won second prize in the East County Leadership Council (ECLC) 2021 COVID-19 essay contest. Prize money has been provided through the generosity of ECLC donors and a grant from the Foundation for Economic Justice.

By Anonymous Grossmont Union High School District (GUHSD) student in East County Leadership Council’s (ECLC) COVID-19 Essay Contest (Second Prize)

July 14, 2021 (San Diego's East County) -- Every single one of us has been affected by the current COVID-19 virus whether it was in a positive or negative way. However, the pandemic has affected people differently depending on our social status and our income. While some are adapting to school online and staying home for quarantine others are adapting to losing their jobs. COVID-19 has caused many businesses to go out of business, resulting in an overall of 25% of U.S. adults being laid off or losing their job. This doesn’t only have an effect on the adults but even on the children. From personal experience, I constantly think and stress about bills being paid because the idea of being homeless again is terrifying. The COVID-19 outbreak has caused low-income families to struggle to put food on the table and struggle with paying household bills as well as medical bills. It has been proven that the pandemic has hit low-income families the hardest, specifically African American and Hispanic households. 


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TELL ME HOW YOU REALLY FEEL - A CANDID ACCOUNT OF COVID-19

This essay shared third prize in the East County Leadership Council (ECLC) 2021 COVID-19 essay contest. Prize money has been provided through the generosity of ECLC donors and a grant from the Foundation for Economic Justice.

By Maryam Hashimi

El Cajon Valley High School student

July 13, 2021 (San Diego's East County) -- I was glad that schools were closing when Covid hit, but I was unaware of the difficult portion that lay ahead.

One of the most difficult aspects of COVID-19 was being at home the entire time. Throughout the academic year, I was heavily involved in school events. I would leave for school at 7 a.m. and return at 7 p.m.

Moving from a full schedule to an empty one was a significant adjustment. I simply didn’t know what to do with myself at home. My track and field, volleyball, and fashion show were all canceled, which made me very sad. Those were the only things that could keep me motivated and joyful on a daily basis. I grew depressed and had sporadic moments that I simply cried because I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to achieve my goals.


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