Mountain Views News          Saturday, June 4, 2011

14

OPINION

 Mountain Views News Saturday, June 4, 2011

HAIL Hamilton My Turn

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

Mountain 
Views

News

Publisher/ Editor

Susan Henderson

City Editor

Dean Lee 

Sales

Patricia Colonello

626-355-2737 

626-818-2698

Production 

Richard Garcia

Photography

Lina Johnson

Chris Bertrand

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

Dorothy White

Webmaster

John Aveny 

DREAM BIG

BETRAYED AGAIN--OBAMA 

EXTENDS PATRIOT ACT!


Early this morning as I was inattentively watching 
the fourth or so hour of the French Open Tennis 
Matches I heard the announcer, Martina Navratilova, 
describing an incident relating to one of the participants. 
Martina described watching the young 
woman (I believe she was Eastern European) warming 
up before a match at the Wimbledon Championships. 
This was the most important match of the 
young woman’s life, probably the culmination of a 
life-long dream and yet something was very wrong. Martina, one of the 
greatest players of all-time, noticed that the young woman was warming-up 
with her father. She described the father as being unable to hit hard enough 
to break an egg and knew that it was impossible for the father to adequately 
prepare his daughter for the real match. Soon after the young woman took 
her place on the Court and in less than 45 minutes she was defeated and 
completely destroyed by the power of her opponent. 

I imagine that the father had introduced his daughter to tennis at an early 
age.. I see them hitting the ball back and forth for countless hours together 
dreaming of the day when the daughter grew so expert that she qualified 
to play at Wimbledon, the most famous and important tournament in the 
world. Together they dreamed of that moment before her first match when 
the father would proudly warm-up with the daughter as she prepared to 
play. This was the culmination of the dream. As soon as she stepped onto 
the Court after hitting with her father the dream was fulfilled. Winning or 
losing the actual match made no difference. Together they had achieved 
their dream. Hallelujah!

Alas, their loyalty to the dream led not to victory but instead guaranteed 
defeat. Their long held fantasy did not grow with the possibilities of reality. 
Perhaps to win the match a part of the dream had to be released and 
coaches and trainers other than the father had to be retained. This is the 
point of my article. In addition to motivating our own dreams can restrict. 

Throughout history people have always dreamt of a better way of living. 
Sometimes they called it freedom.. Countless wars and revolutions have 
been fought in the name of giving power to the people and countless lives 
have been lost; but in the end the power remains elsewhere. How can the 
goal of freedom ever be reached? Removing the reigning tyrant is only the 
beginning rather than the end of the dream. Often all that happens is more 
fighting and subsequent battles for control together with resultant brutality, 
and death. 

Right now the Arab Spring has succeeded in removing, or almost removing, 
unpopular tyrannical leaders. This is a fulfillment of a dream and the 
world remembers the recent moving celebration of the Egyptian People as 
they rejoiced at the departure of Mubarak. Alas, tis cannot be the end of the 
dream but only a beginning. Reforming the system is what is important not 
just changing the name of the leader. The hard work is just starting but the 
energy of the people seems to be disappearing.

Looking at the United States, we really thought we had accomplished 
something when we elected Barack Obama. Hip, hip, hooray. We’ve done 
it! What have we accomplished? I do not want to live in a country filled 
with poverty, unemployment, and ignorance. I want educational reform, 
and medical service availability, and a sane environmental policy. I do not 
want war and I especially do not want to live in a country that thinks it is 
okay to torture. I do not want to be surrounded by commercialization and 
misinformation and silliness. I want the mistreatment of the poor and the 
vulnerable to stop right now. The ruling powerful elites inevitably attempt 
to create dream-worlds that manipulate and mislead the population. We 
are often told that our rulers are our Gods. They are not! Our own individual 
responsibility is to stay in touch with our own personal dreams while 
still looking realistically at our own lives..

My imaginings concerning the tennis player and her father may have 
little to do with any actual reality but I think they stand as a powerful metaphor. 
Often we are accepting participants in the limitations placed upon 
us, easily satisfied and sleep-walking through our own lives. Simply put I 
cannot answer the question of why we are here but I am certain that the reason 
for existence is not about being good consumers and being entertained. 
Neither is it about winning and defeating others. I believe that my mostly 
imagined father and daughter tennis players were on the right track. They 
cared about one another and worked hard and achieved and I think experienced 
a kind of love. To expand that love as much as possible to the world 
is my dream for humanity. Let us keep dreaming and remember there are 
no limits to dreaming. Let us dream BIG.

The Patriot Act was then, 
and is now, nothing short 
of a complete abom-ination 
to our Constitution and it is 
completely un-necessary to 
the fight against terrorism. 
All it does is allow our 
government to spy on its own citizens without 
justification or probable cause, much the same as the 
laws in most communist countries. By keeping this law 
on the books, our government is telling it’s citizens... 
buckle under, your constitutional rights mean nothing 
any longer.

Is there any Bush policy Obama hasn’t renewed? 
Maybe Bush should have gotten the Nobel Peace Prize?

The Patriot Act is evil, and subjects us to internal, 
bureaucratic terrorism backed by law. What’s ironic is 
the liberals who hated Bush for the Patriot Act now 
support it under Obama.

Rahm Emanuel, then Obama’s new chief of staff, 
summed it up best when he told a Wall Street Journal 
conference of top corporate CEOs right after the 
inauguration, “You never want a serious crisis to go 
waste.”

He elaborated: “Things that we had postponed for 
too long, that were long-term, are now immediate and 
must be dealt with. This crisis provides the opportunity 
for us to do things that you could not do before.”

If that’s not a slippery slope nothing is! There will 
always be another crisis down the road. What other 
freedoms and liberties will we be asked to forfeit in 
order to be “safe” then?

Extending the Patriot Act reveals just what a two-
faced scoundrel President Obama is -- someone who 
will say and do anything to get reelected. I feel sorry 
for his diehard supporters -- what few he still has -- 
who continue to defend his flagrant reversals and 
blatant betrayal of real progressive reform. Obama is a 
hypocrite; his supporters are fools.

In 2003, Senator Obama branded the Patriot Act 
“shoddy and dangerous” and pledged to end it. In 
2005, he pledged to filibuster a Bush-sponsored bill 
that included expanding several of the Patriot Acts 
more draconian provisions, calling them “just plain 
wrong” in a Senate speech.

He argued: “Government has decided to go on a 
fishing expedition through every personal record or 
private document -- through library books they’ve 
read and phone calls they’ve made... We don’t have to 
settle for a Patriot Act that sacrifices our liberties or 
our safety -- we can have one that secures both.”

Let’s add up the score card:

- Obama was against being in Iraq and that George 
Bush went there for oil. Obama said we will get out 
of Iraq. Three years later we’re still in Iraq: Score one 
point for George

Bush.

- Obama said we would get out of Afghanistan. 
Three years later we’re still in Afghanistan:

Score one point for George Bush.

- Obama said Guantanamo needs to close and 
George Bush keeping it open was damaging U.S. 
credibility. Three years later Gitmo is still open: Scone 
one point for George Bush.

- Obama said the Patriot Act was an intrusion of the 
constitution and he will halt its use. Three years later 
Obama extends the Patriot Act: Score one point for 
George Bush.

- Obama said the “rich” are not paying their fair share 
and will not extend the “Bush tax cuts.” December 2010 
Obama extends the Bush tax cuts: Score one point for 
George Bush.

That’s George Bush 5; Barak Obama 0! Hmmm... 
Obama looks like he agrees MORE with Bush than he 
disagrees with him!!!

President Obama’s extension of the Patriot Act, like 
so many other questionable things he has done, is only 
possible because the American public is so poorly 
served by the mainstream press. Once you take out 
the sports scores, ads, crime stories, obits, and human 
interest fluff there really isn’t any “news” left in the daily 
newspapers. The same is true for the nightly newscasts. 
What few legitimate stories they do have are too often 
reported by some bonehead who you wouldn’t trust to 
watch your dog.

Wake up folks! What Obama does in Washington 
effects us all -- even those of us lucky enough to live in 
Sierra Madre.


Paraprosdokian

RICH Johnson

Someone asked me 
recently if I knew what a paraprosdokian 
was. I said I think 
so. It’s a side dish available at 
my favorite Mediterranean 
Restaurant, Corfu.

Owners Vic and Amy assured 
me it wasn’t on their menu. So I 
looked it up. Ready for this one 
folks?

Paraprosdokian: A figure of speech in which the latter 
part of a sentence or phrase is surprising or unexpected 
usually in a humorous or dramatic way. Sounds like 
your dubious columnist here has spent a lifetime spouting 
paraprosdokians without knowing just exactly what 
they were. You might have favorites of your own. Here 
are some that caught my attention.

“Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people 
appear bright until you hear them speak.” Unknown

“You can always count on the Americans to do the right 
thing – after they have tried everything else.” 

Winston Churchill

“I’ve had a perfectly wonderful evening, but this wasn’t 
it.” Groucho Marx

“A modest man, who has much to be modest about.” 
Winston Churchill

 

“The last thing I want to do is hurt you. But it’s still on 
the list.” Unknown

We never really grow up; we only learn how to act in 
public.” Unknown

 “I didn’t say it was your fault; I said I was blaming you.” 
Unknown

“You do not need a parachute to skydive. You only need 
a parachute to skydive twice.” Unknown

“Always borrow money from a pessimist. He won’t expect 
it back.” Unknown

“You’re never too old to learn something stupid.” 
Unknown

“War does not determine who is right – only who is left.” 
Unknown

“I used to be indecisive. Now I’m not sure.” Unknown

“A Freudian slip is when you say one thing, but mean 
your mother.” Unknown

Let me end this column with a clever little story chock 
full of paraprosdokians written about a mythical Greek 
hero. (I edited for space considerations.) You can find 
the unedited full version on Uncyclopedia.com

Paraprosdokian was a legendary hero. He was not a 
citizen of any organized nation - he was a Greek. He 
was a great warrior. His legacy is stained only by facts. 

Despite his legend, the true story of his days was not 
recorded by any reliable Greek historian. It was written 
by Herodotus. If modern day historians have correctly 
translated the accounts of his life, I would be very 
surprised. 

As a school youth he was very skilled with the girls, 
though his teachers did encourage him to participate 
in boys’ athletics instead. The face of this young child 
could say it all, especially the mouth part. As a young 
lad, he fought and killed an elephant using nothing but 
an oak branch. But this deed remains dubious - an elephant 
using an oak branch is no match for a warrior 
using sword and shield. 

He never went into a battle without his father’s trusty 
sword. Or with it, for that matter. It was well known 
that on the battlefield he wouldn’t sleep for three days, 
because that would be far too long. But despite the hell 
of war, he pictured in his mind a land without war, a 
land without hate. And he pictured his army attacking 
that land, because they would never expect it. 

He was a skilled archer, though he did occasionally 
miss his wife. In his early days, he would bring a 
new woman to his bed each night. But it got to be too 
crowded, so he sent them all away. Everywhere he went 
he sought the woman of his dreams but since he never 
slept, he could never meet her. 

He died like a true hero - peacefully in his sleep, not 
screaming and shouting like the people hit by the chariot 
he was driving.

Mountain Views News 
has been adjudicated as 
a newspaper of General 
Circulation for the County 
of Los Angeles in Court 
Case number GS004724: 
for the City of Sierra 
Madre; in Court Case 
GS005940 and for the 
City of Monrovia in Court 
Case No. GS006989 and 
is published every Saturday 
at 55 W. Sierra Madre 
Blvd., No. 302, Sierra 
Madre, California, 91024. 
All contents are copyrighted 
and may not be 
reproduced without the 
express written consent of 
the publisher. All rights 
reserved. All submissions 
to this newspaper become 
the property of the Mountain 
Views News and may 
be published in part or 
whole. 

Opinions and views 
expressed by the writers 
printed in this paper do 
not necessarily express 
the views and opinions 
of the publisher or staff 
of the Mountain Views 
News. 

Mountain Views News is 
wholly owned by Grace 
Lorraine Publications, 
Inc. and reserves the right 
to refuse publication of 
advertisements and other 
materials submitted for 
publication. 

Letters to the editor and 
correspondence should 
be sent to: 

Mountain Views News

80 W. Sierra Madre Bl. 
#327

Sierra Madre, Ca. 
91024

Phone: 626-355-2737

Fax: 626-609-3285

email: 

mtnviewsnews@aol.com

Curbing Bad Behavior:

THANK YOU

 by Ron Carter

 When I first started writing the “Curbing 
Bad Behavior” (CBB) Blog, I had no 
idea how it would be received. After more 
than three months of publishing CBB, I 
am grateful for the support it has received. 
While navigating through our daily lives, 
it seems like the words “please,” “excuse 
me,” “how can I help you?” and “thank 
you” are disappearing from our vocabulary, 
I would like to say THANK YOU to 
everyone who has supported my blog.

 “Curbing Bad Behavior” supporters have been gracious, informative 
and helpful. Your responses to my weekly posts, your phone 
calls, your suggestions on topics I should pen and your kind remarks 
I received while I’m out in public conducting my daily activities 
have been a motivating force which has encouraged me to 
continue writing “Curbing Bad Behavior.” There is one person 
whose name I’ll list; she has given my blog, CBB, a larger audience. 
Thank you Susan Henderson, Publisher/Editor of the Mountain 
Views News, for including my blog in your newspapers.

 You ladies and gentlemen are the best! You have demonstrated 
that in our world which can sometimes overwhelm us with strife, 
you took the time to support and encourage me. I am truly blessed 
by your gratitude. 

As I continue to write about topics that are interesting to me and 
hopefully to you, I will remember that without your kindness and 
support, “Curbing Bad Behavior” would not exist. Again, I say 
thank you for the encouragement, love and support.


REV James L. Snyder 

A healthy dose of medicine for the soul


A large segment of the 
human population takes 
things way too seriously for 
their own good. The strange 
anomaly is that most people 
laugh at the wrong thing and 
fail to laugh at the right thing. 
This serious incongruity has 
robbed people of a healthy 
attitude towards life in general.

Those who take life too 
seriously are in danger of missing the great joys of 
living in a crazy world like ours. I am not sure about 
the scientific research but I would guess that for every 
sad moment it takes one hundred laughs to balance the 
books. Some people are about ninety-nine laughs short 
of a real sane moment.

I like the old English proverb that says, “Laugh and 
the whole world laughs with you, cry and you cry alone.”

From my perspective, if you cannot laugh with 
someone you will not be able to cry with him or her and 
have it mean anything. 

According to some medical advice, it takes more facial 
muscles and energy to frown than it does to smile. Of 
course, the only exercise some people have is frowning 
and who am I to take that away from them.

I am determined, no matter what, to exercise my right 
to smile and laugh and enjoy the world around me. I 
must confess that I get this attitude quite honestly. 

My paternal grandfather was a Past Master in the area 
of practical jokes. No amount of time was too much to 
spend preparing for one of his famous practical jokes. 
His favorite holiday was April 1 and began preparing for 
this holiday right after Christmas.

 The fact that his practical jokes at times got him into 
trouble did not seem to affect him at all.

 Once while in the hospital for an extended period 
he had somebody smuggle in to him a can of snuff. 
For some reason he liked chewing snuff. It is the most 
disgusting habit I know of on earth.

 He no sooner received his smuggled goods then he 
began chewing it. If you know anything about chewing 
snuff, you know it is accompanied by a lot of spitting. As 
usual, his timing was impeccable. Just as the head nurse 
passed his door and looked in, he leaned over and spit 
in to the garbage can he had next to his bed. The nurse, 
not knowing about the chewing snuff, thought he was 
spitting blood and immediately went into emergency 
mode. Immediately my grandfather was rushed into the 
operating room and the surgeon and medical team were 
assembled.

 My grandfather was very sick at the time. Some did 
not think he would get out of the hospital.

 Just as they got him situated in the operating room 
he pulled from under his sheet his can of chewing 
snuff and smiled at them. The only person in the room 
that thought this was in any way amusing was my 
grandfather. The doctors were so angry with him but 
they refuse to see him for three days and confiscated his 
can of chewing snuff.

 My aunt and uncle lived right next to my grandfather. 
My aunt was hyper clean when it came to her house. 
Dirt in any form was not welcome under her roof. She 
had a broom that was always within reach because she 
never knew when a piece of dirt would try to invade her 
domicile.

 That year my grandfather found something new. I am 
not sure where he found it but he probably spent a lot 
of time looking for something like this. It was a rubber 
facsimile of a very nasty looking piece of vomit. To him 
it was a prized possession.

 Most of his practical jokes were executed on April 1. 
Whenever we saw grandfather coming on this particular 
day we usually ran for cover.

 He went over to visit my aunt and was sitting on the 
couch in the living room. They chatted for a little while 
and then my grandfather began to cough a little bit. He 
said to my aunt, “I haven’t been feeling good lately. I 
really don’t know what it is.” Then he started to cough a 
little more seriously, to which, my aunt got up and went 
to the kitchen to get him a glass of water thinking that 
might help him.

 When she got back, she was shocked to see on her 
new coffee table a very horrible sight. My grandfather 
was bent over the coffee table hacking and coughing as 
though he was in the process of dying. On the coffee 
table was very nasty looking piece of vomit.

 My aunt went into hysterics. She whirled around and 
within a moment had grabbed her broom and started 
towards my grandfather. My grandfather was laughing 
but not for long.

 Suddenly he realized that the flailing broom in my 
aunt’s hand was aimed at him. She chased him out of the 
house, down the driveway and for at least three blocks 
yelling obscenities at him that I dare not repeat in public 
society.

 Laughter is the fresh air of the soul. Even the Bible 
thinks so.

 “A merry heart maketh a cheerful countenance: but 
by sorrow of the heart the spirit is broken” (Proverbs 
15:13 KJV). And, my favorite, “A merry heart doeth 
good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the 
bones” (Proverbs 17:22 KJV).

 I recommend a healthy dose of medicine for your 
soul.

 The Rev. James L. Snyder is pastor of the Family of God 
Fellowship, 1471 Pine Road, Ocala, FL 34472. He lives 
with his wife, Martha, in Silver Springs Shores. Call him 
at 352-687-4240 or e-mail jamessnyder2@att.net. The 
church web site is www.whatafellowship.com.

 

PORTANTINO’S BILLS 
APPROVED THIS 
WEEK IN ASSEMBLY

The California State Assembly, 
working its way through hundreds 
of pieces of legislation 
this week, has passed several 
of Assemblymember Anthony 
Portantino’s bills. These measures 
now move to the Senate 
for approval.

 AB 2 Higher Ed Accountability 
establishes a framework to 
measure the performance of 
California’s higher education 
systems by providing parents, 
students and teachers with a 
report card on the successes or 
deficiencies of the California 
Community Colleges, the Cal 
State Universities, and the University 
of California.

 AB 91 Community College 
Financial Aid requires the 
Chancellor’s office to establish 
a 3-year pilot program to increase 
student participation in 
state and federal financial aid 
programs with the goal of making 
it easier for students to apply 
for aid.

 AB 160 Concurrent Enrollment 
makes it easier for high 
school students to attend community 
colleges while encouraging 
school districts to enter 
into partnerships with community 
college districts.

 AB 245 Childcare Payments 
requires the State Controller to 
pay child care contractors via 
direct deposit. AB 245 was inspired 
by a roundtable discussion 
of childcare providers in 
the 44th AD.

 AB 322 Rape Kit Reporting 
requires law enforcement 
agencies to report annually the 
number of rape kits collected 
and tested during the past year.

 AB 491 HIV Testing makes 
changes to ensure that California 
law keeps pace with public 
health strategies relative to 
HIV screening. The state Office 
of AIDS estimates that there 
are approximately 32,000 Californians 
unaware that they are 
living with HIV. 

 Earlier in the session, AB 
144, Portantino’s bill to ban the 
Open Carry of unloaded firearms 
on Main Street California 
was approved and will be heard 
next week in Senate Public 
Safety Committee.

Mountain Views 
News

Mission Statement

The traditions of 
the community 
newspaper and 
the concerns of 
our readers are 
this newspaper’s 
top priorities. We 
support a prosperous 
community of well-
informed citizens. 
We hold in high 
regard the values 
of the exceptional 
quality of life in our 
community, including 
the magnificence 
of our natural 
resources. Integrity 
will be our guide.