Letters & Opinions

Schools are back in sessions here in Hemet, San Jacinto Valley, and I couldn’t be happier. My kids are finally out of the house, and they are going to their normal babysitters, the teachers. Schools are “in-person,” as God had always intended them to be. We don’t have to worry about feeding them, because breakfast and lunch are free in schools. We don’t have to worry about them “being bored.” There is a new FPS video game called “The Delta Variant,” and they now get to play it all day long, without their mother constantly yelling, “put that stupid video game away.” Instead of talking to their “friends” through the game console, they now get to curse and scream at them where we can’t hear the foul language and the encrypted slang that I don’t think even they properly understand.

LGBTQ adults embrace vaccines A new survey by the Human Rights Campaign Foundation illuminates the state of COVID-19 vaccinations among LGBTQ individuals, filling in gaps where states’ and the nation’s lack of data collection had left them somewhat invisible. The LGBTQ+ data is “first-of-its-kind,” writes Adam Barnes in The Hill, and shows broad vaccine uptake by the community. As of the May-June study period, 92% of the U.S. respondents had received at least one COVID-19 shot, compared to 73% of American adults as of August 20. (Because the survey was distributed via LGBTQ events and media, and the organizers accepted replies from anyone who cared to participate without controlling other demographics, they note their findings are probably not fully representative of the entire LGBTQ+ community.) The high uptake in the LGBTQ community might be due to a greater prevalence of liberal attitudes and disproportionate residency in urban regions and Democrat-dominated states, suggested David Paisley, senior director of research for study partner Community Marketing & Insights. Black, Native American, Alaskan Native, Middle Eastern and North African respondents had the lowest vaccination rates at 85%. The survey also found that half of participants said the pandemic impacted their mental health, and more than half felt socially isolated, compounding existing mental health challenges in the LGBTQ+ community. The pandemic has also impacted LGBTQ youth, cutting off access to counseling and communities and sometimes forcing teens to cloister with family members that don’t support their identities or sexuality.

Despite the exorbitant cost of homes in California, Sacramento continues to chase policies that increase housing prices. Apparently, some pursuits, particularly the quest for a green future, are more important than others.

On the night before Afghanistan collapsed, Joe Biden, Nancy Pelosi, and all the bigfoot Democrats were in the catbird seat. Their $4.5-trillion stimulus package was in the bag with both houses of Congress, and all that was left was the vote.

I often lament my lack of participation in the democratic process in our city, state, and country. I have voted in every election since attaining the age of eligibility to vote but one. There has been participation in unions and some effort to campaign for favored politicians. But has that been enough? How about the issues that can affect the lives of so many and require more research and more action? I now make the time which allows me to become more attentive to the importance of working to strengthen democracy in our country and consider more immediate social issues.