Mountain Views News          Saturday, May 7, 2011

13

OPINION

 Mountain Views News Saturday, May 7, 2011 

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

HAIL Hamilton My Turn

Mountain 
Views

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Susan Henderson

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Dean Lee 

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Peter Dills 

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IT REALLY MAKES ME 
MAD


OSAMA bin LADIN DEAD 

Case Not Closed

 IT 
REALLY 
MAKES 
ME MAD 
that my 
long-time 
friend Steve is dying and I can’t 
get in touch with him. About 
a year ago he was staying with 
my wife and me and we went 
off to play golf. Steve is the guy 
who got me into golf and we’ve 
played together a lot. On this 
particular day he was having 
a great deal of trouble just 
putting the ball on the tee. The 
next day he lost his phone and 
dropped his computer. My wife 
and I suggested he see a doctor 
and he did. About a week or 
so later he had the first of three 
brain surgeries. Each surgery 
was surrounded with a great 
deal of hope, but his condition 
has not really improved. In 
February my friend Gene and I 
transported Steve directly from 
the hospital to the Cemetery 
where my mom was buried. 
We took the precaution to get 
permission from the hospital 
and we were assured that it 
would be okay to take him as 
he was due to be released the 
next day.

 I was very pleased to have 
Steve with me on that day but 
I haven’t seen him since. He 
had a seizure two days later 
and I have talked to him on 
the phone several times but 
the conversations have become 
more difficult. Now, alone, I 
think of incidents relating to 
Steve. We bowled together 
and played tennis together 
and sometimes even kind of 
talked together. During my 
second year at UCLA I caught 
mononucleosis (do people still 
get that?) and Steve kindly 
took the trouble to gather 
notes from the people in my 
classes and bring them to me in 
the hospital. We were in Law 
School together and I suppose 
sometimes studied together. 
Probably not; what I most 
remember is him making me sit 
through the long-version of the 
Doors “Light My Fire Album”. 
He turned me on to the music.

 After I took the Bar Exam, 
Steve moved to Albuquerque, 
New Mexico and I went to visit. 
Together we discovered Taos, 
New Mexico in 1968. A special 
secret place; Taos was filled 
with sacred energy and literary 
history and strange drugs. 
After a few days, life seemed a 
little different. When Steve and 
I returned to Albuquerque, he 
got a call from a girl with whom 
he had recently broken up with 
and learned she was interested 
in coming to see him. To 
make a long story short it was 
mutually agreed that it was 
time for me to leave and there 
I was, at the tender age of 
twenty three, all by myself just 
traveling around alone for the 
first time. I got on a bus and 
went over to the University Of 
New Mexico-where else would 
I go?. I met some students who 
told me about some class they 
were taking that I could audit. 
I went with them to the class 
where strangely enough the 
white males sat on the floor 
and the people of color and I 
think the females sat in chairs. 
I got to talking to some of the 
students and was invited to 
some party where mescaline 
or magic-mushroom canapés 
were offered to everyone. It 
was quite an evening and I met 
some other guys there who 
asked where I was staying. I 
said nowhere, and they said, 
come home with us. I did and it 
turned out that these boys were 
the sons of Charlie Driscoll, 
a former lawyer for Eldridge 
Cleaver, who was now studying 
to be a counselor. The next day 
I got to talking to him and he 
invited me to go with him to Las 
Cruces where he was leading 
some mental health group. 
I had some experience as a 
group-leader and he invited me 
to go with him and participate 
in the group. All in all, those 
few days out on my own were 
some of my most memorable. 
Steve meanwhile had made the 
decision to get married

 A few years later he was 
divorced and so was I, and we 
took trips as single fathers, 
together with our children. As 
I think about it, I realize that 
Steve and I had different tastes 
in everything and probably 
really had little in common 
beyond our lives and memories. 
Now, I guess because of Steve’s 
declining health, his brother 
has let Steve’s friends know that 
visits are not possible .Yes; I’ve 
e-mailed and written letters but 
who knows if Steve has had a 
chance to see them.

 IT REALLY MAKES ME 
MAD - not just that I am losing 
one of my very few old friends 
but more - there is no one left to 
share my memories. It feels like 
even though I’m surrounded 
by people, information and 
stimulation, I get lonelier and 
lonelier. Thanks for sharing 
this time with me, I’m glad 
you’re still there.

In the biggest public relations offensive 
since George W. Bush vowed to go to 
the ends of the earth to find Osama bin 
Laden 10 years ago, the U.S. government 
is milking the alleged death of their former 
CIA asset for all its worth. We’re supposed 
to take their word for it that bin Laden is 
dead and that he had to be buried at sea out 
of respect for “Islamic law.”

 What would have come out of a bin 
Laden trial? We’ll never know because there 
was never any chance of that happening, 
anymore than Lee Harvey Oswald was 
going to go on trial for the Kennedy 
assassination.

 The New York Times is clearly on board 
with this propaganda effort. Even the most 
mediocre journalistic standards are absent 
from the report posted on its web site 
Sunday.

 “Osama bin Laden, the mastermind of 
the most devastating attack on American 
soil in modern times and the most hunted 
man in the world, was killed in a firefight 
with United States Forces in Pakistan on 
Sunday, President Obama announced.”

 There are actually two falsehoods in this 
short paragraph. One is that bin Laden is 
proven to be the 9/11 mastermind; the 
second is that he has been hunted all these 
years. Even George W. Bush admitted 
a few years back that they “weren’t that 
interested” in his whereabouts.

 Not only has bin Laden not been 
convicted -- even in absentia -- he isn’t 
even wanted for 9/11. The FBI has him 
on their “most wanted” list because of the 
embassy bombings in Tanzania and Kenya 
in 1998. He is not wanted for 9/11 because 
-- by the admission of the FBI a few years 
back -- there is “no hard evidence” that he 
had anything to do with it.

 But we can’t let anything as unimportant 
as the truth get in the way of the official 
narrative of 9/11. The real criminals will 
never be exposed by the major corporate 
media because they, like the actual 
perpetrators, have a vested interest in 
perpetrating the official lie.

 September 11th was not just a terrible 
tragedy that took the lives of thousands 
of innocent people. It was an American 
coup -- a violent and aggressive seizure of 
power and transformation of both foreign 
and domestic policy -- it was the slaughter 
of civilians in broad daylight as a means of 
promoting an agenda.

 America was hijacked on September 11, 
2001. Not by Osama bin Laden and his al 
Qaeda network with box cutters directed 
from a cave in Afghanistan. But by a group 
of tyrants ready and willing to do whatever 
is necessary to keep their stranglehold on 
the United States of America -- a group 
beyond any one man or administration.

 So, where do we go from here? Your 
reaction to what has been said will be either 
an emotional one or a logical one. You will 
deny that these things are possible and 
insist that this information is ridiculous 
and go about your life. 

 Or, you will acknowledge a number of 
serious, glaring issues in the “official” story 
of 9/11 -- like the sudden and inexplicable 
collapse World Trade Center building 7, 
never hit by a plane, many hours after the 
collapse of WTC1 and WTC2 (the Twin 
Towers) -- and do your part to further a 
new criminal investigation into the day’s 
events.

 How long will the American public or 
the world have to wait for the truth about 
September 11th? How much longer will 
the family members and survivors of the 
victims have to scream for answers? 

 Until there is a new, truly independent 
investigation into the events of 9/11, those 
of us seeking the truth will not go away. We 
will not be silent. We will continue to ask 
questions and demand answers. The case is 
not closed!

 The current media blitz by the government 
is clearly designed to divert attention from 
the real questions about how Osama bin 
Laden was used by the U.S. as a focus of the 
9/11 cover story and why it was expedient 
for him to exit the scene now.

 The issue isn’t whether bin Laden is really 
dead or not. For all practical purposes, it 
doesn’t matter. It only matters how his life 
-- and alleged death -- is still being used to 
further the agenda of the global elite and 
perpetrate the 9/11 lie. 

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MY NO. 1 

MOTHER’S DAY

SUSAN Henderson 


I was looking 
through past writings 
and noticed 
that I have not written 
very much about 
one of my favorite 
celebrations. For as 
long as I can remember 
Mother’s Day 
represents the one 
day that Moms don't 
have to share the joy 
with anyone. When 
you're a kid that's 
very special because you get to shower your 
Mother with all the special stuff you've either 
created or made. The gifts, regardless of whether 
or not they were worth giving, are much more 
precious than gold.

 Speaking of which, My Mom was a jewel. 
Smart, creative, thoughtful and with a bit of a 
temper. She taught me a lot, including how to 
be a good mother and most importantly, how to 
be a good grandma. I lost my mom 16 years ago, 
but I can almost remember every single mothers 
day present I ever gave her.

There have been aprons, and flowers, special 
dinners, jewelry, and more, but the most memorable 
Mother’s Day for me was when I was about 
6. My mother wanted a a special kitchen appliance 
for Mothers Day. I am pretty certain it 
was her Sunbeam Mixmaster. She wanted it to 
go with her newly remodeled kitchen which it 
seemed took my father years to complete.

 Mom had a plan on how to get her mix master 
that was foolproof. Shortly after the beginning 
of that year, she asked me to be the messenger 
and tell my dad, my sister and my two brothers 
of her desire. For insurance (to make certain 
the job was completed), she gave me 50 cents. 
So from that day on until Mothers Day, I told 
everyone repeatedly what mommy wanted. At 
breakfast, lunch and dinner I would remind 
them. Whenever they were even thinking about 
spending money, I would remind them that 
“Mother’s Day is coming up.”

 Now, my brothers and sisters are quite a bit 
older than me and they all had part time jobs. 
My dad was 'big bank Hank (although his name 
was Roy), so I didn't have to remind him to save 
his money. So, when the time came, dad and my 
brothers sent my sister and I to John Wanamakers 
Department Store to make the purchase. I 
think it was white and silver, it was very nice. 

 Did I tell you that Mom had given me 50 cents 
to keep their memories sharp? Well that was 
small potatoes compared to what was to come. 
You see, the first big word that I ever remember 
was when the teacher wrote 'talkative' on my 
first grade report card and no one knew that better 
than my family. So in order to swear me to 
secrecy, for they were certain that mom would 
ask me if she was going to get what she wanted, 
my Dad, Brothers and Sister, paid me bona fide, 
genuine hush money - One dollar each! 

 Rolling in dough, with my mission accomplished, 
when it was time to go to Rose Pharmacy 
and buy Mom a card I was able to also buy 
her a ‘Whitmans Sampler’, her favorite assortment 
of chocolates. 

 I will never forget the look on her face when 
she opened that box. I was so proud, it was the 
first gift that I ever bought anyone with my ownmoney. 
And, Oh yeah, she liked the mixer too!

So I hope this Mother’s Day you will be busy 
creating or participating in a memory that will 
last a lifetime. Cherish the day and thank your 
Mom for everything you can think of and more. 
Do it now because you never know what tomorrow 
will hold.

P.S. - There are a few more reasons that Mother’s 
Day is so special to me. They are pictured below:

(Left - My children (l-r) Paul, Patricia and Fred 
in 1973 and Below - My youngest grandchildren, 
(l-r) Maheilia, Maila and Milania, - 2011 - Fred 
is their Dad)

SENSE OR NONSENSE?! - 

Some Actions/Statements on County, 
State and Federal Issues Made 

Recently By Our Elected Officials:

PORTANTINO CONTINUES REFORMS 
TO CONTROL STATE SPENDING 
- Pay As You Go????

“Getting our budget under control is my top priority,” 
explained Assemblymember Portantino. “We need to 
embrace budget reform. That’s why I reintroduced Pay-
As-You-Go. As elected leaders we have a responsibility to 
reign-in spending and ensure tax dollars are being spent in 
a responsible manner. The PAYGO policy will force California 
to live within its means and encourage us to look for 
savings.”

Curbing Bad Behavior:

VIGILANCE

 by Ron Carter


Amid the political chatter and exuberance 
surrounding the death of terrorist 
Osama Bin Laden, we (Americans) 
must be mindful that terrorism 
has not ended because its leader was 
killed. As I watched thousands of American celebrate the 
death of Osama Bin Laden, I pondered that somewhere in 
the world there are individuals, namely terrorists, who hate 
America and its citizens’ way of life. And, they are planning 
the next terrorist attack on our country. We must continue 
to be vigilant. 

I am content that some of the families of the September 
11, 2001 victims will find some level of closure now that 
Osama Bin Laden is dead. As we continue to live our day to 
day lives in America, let’s not forget that we are a forgiving, 
prayerful, hardworking and ambitious nation. Over the past 
10 years, we have had to change our behavior. No longer 
can we arrived at airports 20 minutes before our flights are 
scheduled to leave; no longer can we enter federal buildings 
without walking through metal detectors and more importantly, 
whenever we are in public places, we have become 
more vigilant. As our enemies acts of terrorism have become 
bolder, we have had to lookout for one another. 

Even though I am blessed to be living in a country where 
free speech for every citizen is embraced with our system 
of government, I trust Osama Bin Laden’s death will not be 
politicized by some of the nonsensical chatter currently being 
promoted by some of television’s talking heads. This is 
a time for unity. This is a time for contemplation. This is a 
time for VIGILANCE.


Mountain Views 
News

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