Mountain Views News          Saturday, December 18, 2010

WELBORN (continued from page 11)

high levels of natural carcinogens in strawberries, 
or was it blueberries. Doesn’t really matter. There 
are so many “bad” or “unhealthy” products available 
that it is not hyperbole to predict that validation 
of Obamacare’s mandate would eventually 
and inevitably lead to the erosion of our most basic 
liberties all in the interest of preserving or promoting 
good health. Remember that the path to 
hell, or at least to a dictatorship, is paved by good 
intentions. With the intention of preserving my 
health, the government could make a pretty good 
case against many of the foods I enjoy and the activities 
in which I partake. Wine and cigars may 
be bad for me, but they sure add some zest to life.

Our founding fathers realized early on in the 
drafting of our constitution that preserving the 
right of individuals to make stupid decisions in 
the conduct of their own lives was essential to 
maintaining freedom. There will always be a legitimate 
sounding argument to curtail our freedom. 
After all, humans make mistakes. We all 
eat things we shouldn’t, buy things we shouldn’t, 
fail to save enough or provide well enough for 
ourselves and our families. If stopping us from 
making those mistakes is to be the basis for passing 
laws, then we had all better get used to living 
without any freedom. The old adage has never 
been more true: he who gives up his freedom for 
security, will soon find that he has neither freedom 
or security.

About the author: Gregory J. Welborn is a freelance 
writer and has spoken to several civic and religious 
organizations on cultural and moral issues. 
He lives in the Los Angeles area with his wife and 
3 children and is active in the community. He can 
be reached at gregwelborn@earthlink.net.

12

THE WORLD AROUND YOU

 Mountain Views News Saturday, December 18, 2010 


ACTIVE SUN, ECLISPED MOON

 
A massive solar storm erupted from the Sun Dec. 6, creating 
a huge tendril of plasma that stretched across the face of our 
star.

 The giant solar eruption created a long filament of plasma 
(high-temperature gas), which extended an astounding 
435,000 miles—nearly twice the distance between the 
Earth and the Moon—across the Sun’s southeastern region, 
according to the website Spaceweather.com, which monitors 
solar storms and sky events.

 NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory caught this stunning 
photo of the monster sun storm on the first day of the 
eruption.

 “The massive structure is an easy target for backyard 
telescopes and it has the potential for an impressive eruption 
if it happens to collapse in the hours or days ahead,” 
Spaceweather.com reported in an update. The website 
described the solar prominence as a “mega-filament.”

 Skywatchers should never look directly at the Sun with their 
unaided eyes or through a telescope. Permanent eye damage 
can result. Instead, proper telescope filters or protective 
glasses from reputable astronomy dealers should be used for 
solar observations.

 From Mount Wilson Observatory’s 150-foot Solar Tower, 
where solar astronomers have been watching the Sun every 
clear day since the tower was built in 1912, the event appeared 
(in ordinary white light) as an extra-large sunspot, according 
to Solar Observer Steve Padilla. The spot has moved a little 
each day across the face of the Sun, carried along with the 
Sun’s rotation (a full rotation takes about a month), and on 
Dec. 14 it disappeared from sight at the Sun’s “west” edge.

 Sunspots appear dark against the brighter background 
of the Sun’s surface, meaning that they are somewhat cooler 
than the rest of the sun. That coolness is believed to result 
from the intense magnetic fields associated with these 
spots. Every eleven years, sunspot activity goes from 
a minimum to a maximum and back again. Padilla 
notes that this is the third year of the current cycle, 
and the spot associated with the massive filament of 
plasma is the largest he has seen so far in this cycle.

Total Lunar Eclipse, December 20-21

 A total eclipse of the Moon will occur during the 
night of Dec. 20-21 and will be visible from Hawaii, 
Alaska, the continental United States, and Canada. 
Lunar eclipses only occur when the Moon is full and 
the Sun, Earth and Moon are nearly in a straight line. 
In these relatively rare events, the full Moon passes 
directly behind the Earth, which causes the Earth 
to block the Sun’s rays from striking the Moon. The 
total eclipse is deep red in color, because the Earth’s 
atmosphere filters out the blue, green and yellow light 
while transmitting most of the red sunlight to the 
Moon.

 Sky-watchers in Southern California should have 
a good view of this event (provided the sky is clear) 
on the night of Monday, Dec. 20, as the Moon will 
be high overhead during the eclipse. The Moon will 
begin to move into Earth’s shadow at 10:32 p.m. The 
total phase of the eclipse, which lasts 72 minutes, 
begins at 11:40 p.m. The Moon will begin to emerge 
from the shadow at 12:53 a.m. Dec. 21—which is also 
the day of the Winter Solstice (the shortest day of the 
year and the first day of winter).

 You can contact Bob Eklund at: 

 b.eklund@ MtnViewsNews.com.

This huge tendril of magnetic plasma erupted from the Sun on Dec. 6, 2010. In this 
photo from NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory, the filament stretches across nearly 
700,000 km of the sun’s surface. Credit: SDO/NASA.

Ask jai……

 
In “Unforgiven” Clint 
Eastwood plays a grizzled 
gun-for-hire sought out to 
exact revenge for wrongs 
committed but the henchmen 
of the movies’ bad guys. Fast-
forward to the scene where 
Clint finally gets his man 
and we hear the villain trying 
to make his case by telling 
Clint, “I don’t deserve to die 
like this” to which Clint replies,” Deserves got nothing to do with it”. 

 I love that line and this movie is full of great ones just like that one. I always look for a chance 
to drop it just so wherever I can get it to fit into a conversation. Just the other day I found a 
situation where it just might fit but I’m not too thrilled with the placement. Time Magazine 
announced that it had selected FaceBook’s Mark Zuckerberg for its prestigious “Person of the 
Year” award for 2010 and after seeing the puff piece for myself I found myself muttering my 
pet line to myself; deserves got nothing to do with it. I fully realize that my personal opinion 
on this matter probably doesn’t amount to a hill of beans, a view further strengthened the fact 
that the good people at Time Magazine didn’t contact me for my input on their selection and 
probably for good reason. It seems they poll actual readers of the magazine and I haven’t been 
one of those regular readers in a little while. Anyway, the results of the latest poll listed the 
top vote-getter, Julian Assange, leading the pack with 382,206 votes. Mark Zuckerberg placed 
tenth with 18,353 votes. In its long and prestigious history the Person of the Year honor has 
most often gone to the person, entity or event that’s had the most profound impact on world 
events during the last calendar year. Other than a year-long publicity tour, including a 100 
million dollar publicity stunt called a donation to public schools in New Jersey and efforts 
to blunt negative publicity from an unflattering movie portrayal, FaceBook and its founder 
spent the better part of this year trying to explain why their plans for your data was more 
important than end-user privacy. Several different times. 

 As big a role as FaceBook may play in the lives of its users, its real impact on world matters 
can be considered negligible at best and a distraction at worst. The top vote-getter in the 
Time poll, however, is making an impact on a global scale that will not soon be forgotten. 

No matter. The results are in and the choice has been made. Better Luck Next Time! 

Ask jai is a weekly column that will strive to honestly answer your job search questions 
relating to job searching techniques, networking skills, resume writing and interviewing. The 
employment situation is getting better, however, it is still a challenge finding were the jobs are 
located and how to get pass the “gate-keepers”. As an Executive Recruiter I was privy to working 
directly with Corporate Recruiters and understanding their process in selecting which 
candidates to interview and hire. I will candidly answer your questions, possibly bluntly answering 
you questions, but I will be totally honest. My objective is to help you achieve your 
employment goal.

“Deserves Got Nothing To Do 
With It Kid”

Q: My daughter will graduate from college in two years with a Bachelor 
Degree in Marketing. My concern is that she is going to have a hard time finding a marketing job. I 
keep encouraging her to find an internship or part-time job while she is in college. She says that her 
Marketing Degree is all she will need to get a job after graduation. I am afraid that is just what will 
happen she will get “a job”. I support my daughter financially and emotionally to get a degree that 
will eventually lead to a rewarding career. I emphasize career not “a job”. How can I impress on her 
how important it is to get work experience before she graduates from college? What type of advice 
would you give her? Concerned Mother

Dear Concerned Mother

You and your daughter are putting in a lot of time, energy and money over a four year period for her 
to only eventually just get “a job”. It appears to me that your daughter is not focusing on her future 
or career aspirations. This is normal for students in their junior year of college. However, this is the 
right time for her to focus on her future employment and develop a career plan. What is her long-
term career path, objective and goal? Marketing Degrees are very diverse in their areas of career 
focus and paths. I would suggest that you encourage your daughter to find out (or decide) what area 
(or areas) of marketing she is interested in pursuing. 

 Student internships, summer and part-time jobs, and volunteer experience are very important in the 
hiring decision making process today. Employers seek out college students and graduates who have 
career-related experience as an intern, volunteer, summer or part-time employee that matches with 
their requirements and qualifications. 

Express to your daughter that participating in career related activities or employment during college 
is an excellent way to explore her chosen career path and passion. I suggest that your daughter 
visits her college career center and make an appointment with a career advisor. The center will have 
information and job descriptions from employers about internships, jobs and volunteer positions. 
The advisor will assist her in designing a career development plan based on her course of study, area 
of interest, career goal and objective. The career center advisor will also assist her in acquiring work-
related experience that will eventually be vital to her in securing employment in her chosen field of 
study. 

 Employers make their final decision about which student or graduate to hire based on the student’s 
commitment to their career goals, and that could be reflected in the student’s experiences and skills 
acquired in their internships, part-time jobs and volunteer activities. Pre-graduation work experience 
can separate those who get hired and those who do not. Continue to encourage your daughter to 
include work experience either on-campus or off-campus to her educational experience. Career 
driven knowledge, experience and focus will make it easier for her to find gratifying employment 
before or after graduation. 


CHRISTMAS

 Merry Christmas! My family isn’t big on traditions (déjà vu from my 
Thanksgiving article). We used to have a few, but they’ve faded away over 
the years. I think this is because Christmas is for kids. (I’m speaking 
of the crass, commercialized holiday, not the celebration of the birth of 
Christ. Although since He came for everyone, kids are certainly included!) 
When I was a kid I loved Christmas! No driving in holiday traffic, fretting 
over what to buy for family and friends, or awkward get-togethers for me! (Okay, I was 
probably at some awkward get-togethers, but at that age I didn’t know or care about their 
awkwardness). I’m the last kid in my 
family, so now that I’ve reached adulthood, 
the “traditional” aspects of the day 
have all but gone. The first stab was when 
my parents didn’t have a live tree. 

 In the old days, we used to spend 
a good two or three chilly hours in the 
tree lot while my dad meticulously 
compared height and symmetry until he 
found the perfect tree. Once home, we 
stabilized our mighty pine in a pan of water. 
That sounds easy, but it was actually a three-
person job. My dad straddled a rickety 
ladder and tilted the tree back and 
forth until my mom confirmed that it 
looked straight. I held the trunk in the pan. 
Our trees even had a “skirt” handmade by 
my mom! (Weren’t we cute!)

 Now I congratulate my parents on their 
efforts if they get around to excavating 
their artificial tree, whose branches 
expand and collapse like a prickly 
umbrella. They might put a nativity on 
the coffee table, but dragging out lights 
for the yard and other decorations is a bit 
much.

 One unique Christmas tradition 
I love and always keep is Christmas Eve 
lunch with my mom. This started over ten years ago when I was in junior high. We headed 
out in the morning to shop at the mall (An activity we both hate! Which is probably why 
we procrastinated until the last minute). By the time we escaped it was the afternoon and 
we were exhausted and hungry. A restaurant in Sierra Madre was one of the few places still 
open, and as we collapsed into the expansive booth, their piano’s soft music gently unraveled 
our taut nerves. I think we were probably the only customers there that day. 

 Lunch with my mom is always a pleasure, but having just come from the holiday mayhem 
made it all the more soothing. Since that day, no matter what last minute Christmas chores 
demand our attention, we have set them aside on Christmas Eve to enjoy each other’s 
company over a leisurely meal. But these days we don’t torture ourselves at the mall before 
hand. We learned our lesson the first time! 


Happy 
Holidays