Mountain Views News          Saturday, December 11, 2010

11

OPINION

 Mountain Views-News Saturday, December 11, 2010 


STUART Tolchin..........On LIFE

HAIL Hamilton My Turn

Mountain 
Views

News

Publisher/ Editor

Susan Henderson

City Editor

Dean Lee 

Sales

Patricia Colonello

626-355-2737 

626-818-2698

Art Director

Allison Kirkham

Production Assistant

Richard Garcia

Photography

Jacqueline Truong

Lina Johnson

Contributors

Teresa Baxter

Pat Birdsall

Bob Eklund

Howard Hays

Paul Carpenter

Stuart Tolchin

Kim Clymer-Kelley

Christopher Nyerges

Peter Dills 

Hail Hamilton 

Rich Johnson

Chris Bertrand

Mary Carney

La Quetta Shamblee

Glenn Lambdin

Greg Wellborn

Ralph McKnight

Trish Collins

Pat Ostrye

Editorial Cartoonist

Ann Cleaves

Webmaster

John Aveny 

A DYSFUNCTIONAL SOCIETY


More Revelations from WikiLeaks

Julian Paul 
Assange founded 
the controversial 
WikiLeaks website 
in 2006, and has 
been involved in 
the publication 
of documents 
about extrajudicial 
killings in Kenya, a report of toxic 
waste dumping on Africa's Ivory 
Coast, Church of Scientology 
manuals, Guantanamo Bay 
procedures, and material involving 
the shenanigans of large European 
banks such as Kaupthing and Julius 
Baer.

He recently received widespread 
public attention for his November 28 
publication of classified United States 
diplomatic cables documenting 
details about the U.S. involvement in 
the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. 

Recent WikiLeaks revelations:

o We've been secretly bombing 
Yemen. The U.S. has been bombing 
suspected terrorists in Yemen, 
but Yemen's government is taking 
responsibility. Last December, three 
separate strikes were played out, but 
weren't very successful-out of 55 
people killed in one instance, 21 were 
children.

o U.S. uses diplomats as spies. 
Speaking of Secretary Clinton... 
she ordered diplomats to spy on 
government officials at the UN, 
gathering such info as credit card and 
frequent flyer numbers, computer 
passwords...and DNA. A reporter 
at the press conference asked if 
she was embarrassed by any of the 
information leaked in the cables and 
her answer was a stern no, but I'm 
betting she'll have an awkward time 
at the next diplomatic dinner with 
Ban Ki-Moon. 

o U.S. uses Guantanamo Bay 
prisoners as bargaining chips. And 
human dignity takes another nice 
punch to the gut. In efforts to resettle 
Guantanamo detainees, the U.S. has 
been using them as trump cards 
when dealing with other countries, 
even going so far to offer cash to 
unload prisoners. In perhaps the 
most disgraceful instance, Slovenia 
had to take a detainee if it wanted a 
meeting with President Obama.

o China's been hacking our 
systems since 2002. One Wikileak 
cable states that the Chinese Politburo 
hacked into Google last year -- no 
huge surprise there, other than the 
fact that they cracked the company's 
sophisticated system of firewalls. But 
apparently China's an old pro at this 
-- it has allegedly been hacking into 
the systems of Western governments 
-- and, of course, its own national 
human rights activists, including the 
Dalai Lama -- for nearly a decade.

 o Afghanistan is 
corruption paradise. OK, no big 
surprise there, but it is interesting 
that in 2007 Afghani Vice President 
Ahmad Zia Massoud was caught 
traveling through Dubai with 
$52 million in cash. After being 
questioned by authorities, he was 
"allowed to keep [the money] without 
revealing the money's origin or 
destination." Meanwhile, President 
Karzai's brother, Ahmed Wali 
Karzai, was accused of orchestrating 
widespread voter fraud in the 2009 
election and of being a drug kingpin, 
claims he fiercely denies.

oIran might have long-range missiles. 
Practically the entire Middle East has 
urged the U.S. to act against Iran, 
according to the Wikileaks cables, 
including the kings of Bahrain 
and Saudi Arabia. Perhaps they'll 
reconsider if they know North Korea 
is said to have sold them 12 missiles 
with enough range to hit Russia 
and cities in Western Europe. As 
for other weapons, Iran appears to 
be acquiring them piecemeal from 
different countries -- including 
Turkey, China and Germany -- under 
the guise of front companies, and 
is using the Red Crescent as a front 
to smuggle weaponry to various 
terrorist organizations worldwide. 

o Putin and Berlusconi's 
close relationship causes alarm. 
"Alpha dog" Vladimir Putin and 
Italian partier/prime-minister Silvio 
Berlusconi have forged a close 
relationship, potentially involving 
shady business deals. Cables detail 
allegations of "lavish gifts," lucrative 
energy contracts and the use by 
Berlusconi of a "shadowy" Russian-
speaking Italian go-between. 

In an obvious attempt to silence 
WikiLeaks, the United States recently 
launched a criminal investigation 
of Assange for the publication of 
classified information under the 
Espionage Act. 

Swiss authorities have also weighed 
in against WikiLeaks. Last week they 
closed a Swiss bank account tied to 
Assange, freezing tens of thousands 
of dollars used to fund the Wikileaks 
operation. 

Assange, meanwhile, is fighting 
extradition to Sweden to face 
rape charges. Apparently having 
consensual sex in Sweden without 
a condom is considered rape and is 
punishable by a minimum sentence 
of two years imprisonment. 

Did you see the Sunrise on Monday morning? It was glorious! 
As I walked around the canyon I felt myself so privileged to be 
free enough to experience this beauty. My only question was, 
and is, why are so few people out here viewing this incredible 
wonder? It is true that a surprising number of people awaken 
early to run or go to the gym or to do something else that is 
considered productive. This need to be productive, it seems to 
me, frequently overshadows the ability to appreciate the world around us .Almost 
the hardest part of my work is fighting the rush hour traffic. Why do I do it? 
Because it feels like I have to. That’s just the way the world is.

Really though that’s not the way the world is; it’s just what most of us have 
been deluded into believing. From the time we were very young we have been 
conditioned to do what society and our parents tell us we have to do. We have 
learned to suppress our own inclinations to become responsible citizens and have 
become soldiers in the service our country. We work hard to pay our bills, raise 
our families, and often have little time to notice very much about our own lives. 
Probably certain kinds of people escape this kind of cultural enslavement. I heard 
this morning on NPR (as I fought the traffic on the way to work) that the artist 
David Hockney uses his I-pad every morning to draw the sunrise. Unfortunately, 
the rest of us are simply not that free. In the modern world most of us do the 
bidding of the rulers of our respective nation-states. We struggle to get into schools 
that are designed to make us good citizens. By good citizens I mean becoming 
individuals who almost unknowingly sacrifice our individual selves to do what we 
are told to do. Most of us learn to be malleable, to be conformists, to sit idly by 
and allow ourselves to be manipulated by the very small groups that determine the 
policy of a country. We pay our taxes, we fight their wars and send our children 
to fight and die. Here in the United States is all sorts of lip service is given to our 
precious democracy and our sacred first amendment freedoms of speech and 
religion and of the press. Well folks, it has become increasingly clear that the only 
real freedom that exists today is the freedom of the extremely wealthy to utilize that 
wealth for whatever purpose they choose.

To my mind the decision of President Obama to yield to the wishes of the Rich 
and to preserve the tax cuts for the millionaires and billionaires is a complete 
betrayal of the electorate that voted for him. The President portrays himself as 
powerless. If he did not yield we are told it would have been impossible to extend 
unemployment benefits and millions of poor and middle class people would be 
harmed. Look, there are millions more of us than there are of them. If the rich 
are indifferent to the needs of the rest of us we have the numbers and the power to 
strike back. We can take to the streets and withdraw our moneys from their banks 
and utilize community banks. We can boycott the huge corporate retail outlets and 
utilize independent stores. We can demonstrate in front of their businesses and 
homes and yachts. We can even start campaigns to let their children know about 
the evil-doings of their parents.

Yes we can take to the streets and demonstrate—it’s been done before and 
victories have been won. But it’s true we probably won’t do much of anything—
we’ll just go wherever we are directed. We are too benumbed to even look at sunsets 
or notice that both of the parties in the United States are simply instruments of the 
rich which contribute to both sides. Is it too late for us to notice what is happening? 
The United States is being held hostage by the rich who will do nothing unless they 
can make a profit from it and we are just pawns in their game.

It’s odd, isn’t it, that the unenlightened Tea Party folk seem more able to express 
this resentment than the rest of us? Sure their goals seem wrong and generally they 
don’t know what they are talking about, but their resentment is real. I think the Tea 
Party’s energy is more threatening to the entrenched powers than are the impotent 
Democrats on the other side of the aisle. We need not be ruled by Ivy League elitists 
to look at sunrises. We all need to work together to recognize that the survival of 
the planet and the survival of a real democracy is more important than whatever 
else it is that we all think we are doing. 

Mountain Views News 
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Madre; in Court Case 
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RICH Johnson

Important Stuff

Recently I was accused of not writing about important stuff. 
Actually I took that as a compliment. Everyone else writes 
about important stuff so I think there is a niche for less than 
important stuff. There, have I said important stuff enough? 
Actually I will regale you with great truths learned at various 
stages in life. Important? You decide.

Great truths little children have learned:

When your mom is mad, don’t let her brush your hair.

You can’t trust your dog to watch your food.

 Never hold a dust-buster and a cat at the same time.

 You can’t hide a piece of broccoli in a glass of milk.

 

Great truths adults have learned:

Raising teens is like nailing jelly to a tree.

Wrinkles don’t hurt

Families are like fudge…mostly sweet, but a few nuts.

Laughing is good exercise. It’s like jogging on the inside.

You learn to choose your cereal for the fiber and not the toy.

 

Great truths senior citizens have learned:

 Growing old is mandatory; growing up is optional.

 You now know all the answers but nobody asks you the questions.

 Time is a great healer, but a lousy beautician.

 

Sierra Madre Intelligence Test

 What major world war followed World War I?

 What month has 28 days in it?

 What animal was Chief Sitting Bull named after?

 In the 1830s, the Reverend Sylvester Graham invented what kind of cracker?

 Who was the host of the “Ed Sullivan Show?”

 What major border lies between the United States and Canada?

 The last names of the two inventors of M&M’s began with what letters?

 What color is the White House?

 What president was the city Washington D.C. named after?

 

Grandpa's Christmas Fruitcake Recipe 

(This recipe is to be recited out loud at dinner parties. Read it exactly as it is 
written) 

You'll need the following: a cup of water, a cup of sugar, four large brown eggs, two 
cups of dried fruit, a teaspoon of salt, a cup of brown sugar, lemon juice, nuts, and a 
bottle of whiskey.

Sample the whiskey to check for quality. Take a large bowl. Check the whiskey 
again. To be sure it's the highest quality, pour one level cup and drink. Repeat. Turn 
on the electric mixer, beat one cup of butter in a large fluffy bowl. Add one teaspoon 
of sugar and beat again.

Make sure the whiskey is still okay. Cry another tup. Turn off the mixer. Beat two 
leggs and add to the bowl and chuck in the cup of dried fruit. Mix on the tuner. If the 
fired druit gets stuck in the beaterers, pry it loose with a drewscriver.

Sample the whiskey to check for tonsisticity. Next, sift two cups of salt. Or 
something. Who cares? Check the whiskey. Now sift the lemon juice and strain your 
nuts. Add one table. Spoon. Of sugar or something. Whatever you can find.

Grease the oven. Turn the cake tin to 350 degrees. Don't forget to beat off the 
turner. Throw the bowl out the window. Check the whiskey again and go to bed. 


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