Book review by Joe Gandelman, Editor in Chief, The Moderate Voice

Reprinted with permission from The Moderate Voice, a member of the San Diego Online News Network

January 22, 2017 (San Diego's East County) - A Clear and Present Danger: Narcissim in the Era of Donald Trump was written before the election — but boy is it needed to be read now.

It’s a thoughtful volume comprised of contributions by psychiatrists, doctors, psychologists– and a notable storyteller-author-clinical-psychologist that’ll be read for many years and deserves to be read and studied. Because there is a history of narcissism in world history and politics. And in world history, leaders who fit the definition of having narcissistic personality disorder often don’t often fare well — and their countries may fare worse. One thing they do: they backhand societal and political norms, often get away with it and can change their societies, often little by little, sometimes abruptly — and often legally.

By Miriam Raftery

January 22, 2017 (Washington D.C.) – In one of his first actions as President, Donald Trump signed an Executive Order directing federal agencies to reduce financial costs of the Affordable Care Act on insurance companies, healthcare providers and patients, allowing agencies to “waive, defer, grant exemptions or delay implementation of any provision or requirement” of the ACA, also known as Obamacare.

By Miriam Raftery, East County Magazine

“In stark terms, hundreds of millions of people will die - and countless species become extinct - because of eight more years of US inaction.” – Jeffrey Severinghaus, PhD

January 22, 2017 (San Diego) – One of the world’s top climate scientists is speaking out to denounce President Donald Trump’s energy plan and warn of its dire consequences for humanity.   Jeffrey Severinghaus, PhD  from Scripps Institute of Oceanography in San Diego actually measures the ice cores in Antaractica and Greenland.

“This is sad, and tragic,” Jeffrey Severinghaus, PhD, told East County Magazine after we sent him a copy of the energy plan posted at Whitehouse.gov by the Trump administration and informed him that climate change has been removed from the issues page at the White House website, along with all data on climate science previously posted there. 

Severinghaus warns bluntly, “We as a species cannot afford four more years—or eight, of delay on climate action. The stakes are simply too high.”

By Miriam Raftery

January 21, 2017 (Washington D.C.) – The Trump administration has removed all references to civil rights, climate change, equal pay, rights of the disabled, immigration reforms, seniors and social security, reducing gun violence, the Affordable Care Act, equal pay, and veteran’s issues from the White House web page. All were removed from the issues tab at www.WhiteHouse.gov, just hours after the inauguration of Donald Trump as President.

Source: CAL FIRE

January 21, 2017 (San Diego's East County) - Though CAL FIRE is most often highlighted in its role as a wildland fire fighting agency, the Department’s forces answer the call more than 300,000 times for other emergencies each year.  During the 1990s CAL FIRE was called upon several times to respond to serious flooding in the state. 

East County News Service

January 21, 2017 (La Mesa) -- People's hearts tend to grow 3x the size when Valentine's Day rolls around. This year, the community can show their love by attending Cupid's Carouse, an annual tasting party, on Saturday, Feb. 11 from 7 - 10 p.m. at the La Mesa Community Center.

East County News Service

January 17, 2017 (San Diego) - A women’s march, in solidarity with a national women’s march on Washington to protest Donald Trump’s inauguration and denigrating statements toward women, will be held in downtown San Diego on Saturday, January 21.

East County News Service

January 21, 2017 (Sacramento) - Assemblymember Randy Voepel (R-Santee) has announced he has been appointed to the following Assembly Committees:

By Mike Allen

January 20, 2017 (San Diego’s East County) -- El Cajon’s Gillespie Field is in the middle of an expansion aimed at creating more hangers, more space for aviation- related businesses, and thousands of new jobs.

Update as of 9:46 PM: LARGE 3-4 FOOT BOULDER BLOCKING LANES SEVERAL SMALLER BOULDERS IN THE RDWY AS WELL El Monte Rd/Lake Jennings Park Rd

Update as of 9:28 PM:  Conrad Dr. in Spring Valley is now OPEN.

By Miriam Raftery

Photo credit: Photos for Class, Creative Commons image

January 19, 2017 (Washington D.C.) -- On Friday, January 20^th, Donald Trump will be sworn in as the 45^th president of the United States.  Trump enters office with the lowest approval rating of any President –Elect in history, according to polls done Tuesday by CNN and the Washington Post, which found only 40% approve of the job Trump has done during his transition time.

Programs funding the arts, public broadcasting, civil rights, legal services for the poor, violence against women, civil rights enforcement and police salaries are all set for elimination or deep cuts

By Miriam Raftery

January 19, 2017 (Washington D.C.) – Donald Trump is preparing a budget that would “take an axe to government spending,” reports The Hill, an online news site specializing in capitol politics. The budget is based on plans from the conservative Heritage Foundation.  It includes deep cuts or outright elimination of many cherished American institutions, as well as safety nets for the poor and elderly.

By Gig Connaughton, County of San Diego Communications Office

January 19, 2017 (Jamul) - Three wild deer mice caught in routine trapping in a rural area in Jamul have tested positive this week for hantavirus — the first to test positive for the potentially deadly virus in San Diego County in 2017.

By Jonathan Goetz

Photo credit:  Tom and Nadine Abbott

Photo, left:  Dr. James V. Dunford, UCSD ER Director

January 19, 2017 (San Diego) — Leaders at Sharp Healthcare joined with patients and two Democratic Congressional members outside Sharp Memorial Hospital on Sunday, January 15^th, to voice concerns over Senate Republicans vote last week to begin repeal of the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, without first passing a replacement plan or providing details of any proposed plan for public review.

East County News Service

January 18, 2017 (San Diego) -- Media Arts Center San Diego announces the 24^TH annual San Diego Latino Film Festival, which will take place March 16-26 at the AMC 18 Fashion Valley theaters in Mission Valley.  The festival will occupy five screens for eleven days and will present over 160 films from Latin America, the United States, and Spain.