Mountain Views News          Saturday, December 21, 2013

5

AROUND SAN GABRIEL VALLEY

Mountain Views-News Saturday, December 21, 2013 


“What’s Going On?” 

News and Views from Joan Schmidt

ADAM MILLER, FOLKSINGER/STORYTELLER AND 
AUTOHARP VIRTUOSO EXTRAORDINAIRE 

COMES TO DUARTE

 This past Monday, local residents were treated to two outstanding 
performances by Adam Miller, Folksinger/Storyteller/Autoharp Virtuoso 
as a gift to the Community from the Duarte Friends of the Library. I am embarrassed to admit I 
had never heard of him before, but after Monday’s performances, I will be purchasing his materials 
and waiting for his return to 
southern California.

 Not only one of the 
premier autoharpists in the 
world, Adam Miller also 
has fame as an American 
folksinger and natural-
born storyteller. During his 
performance, we learned 
about different folklore tales 
and actual history as he 
enthralled us with his rich 
baritone voice accompanied 
by lively finger-picking 
acoustic guitar and stunningly 
beautiful autoharp melodies.

 Mr. Miller told us 
that Sam Hinton, a Marine 
biologist and American 
folksinger of six decades best 
known for his harmonica 
playing was his mentor.

Mr. Miller himself is a troubadour, traveling 70,000 miles a year performing in concert halls 
worldwide as well as teaching students-over 1,000,000 have attended his “singing Through History” 
school assembly programs.

 Mr. Miller opened the program with a little history about the two beautiful harpsichords he 
brought with him. He then spoke of early Christmas traditions in England and people traveling from 
town to town. He introduced us to John Jacob Miles, an American composer, singer, and collector of 
traditional ballads. Soon we were joining in, singing the chorus to “Kentucky Wassail”.

 History time brought the explanation of “Boxing Day”, December 26th in Canada and 
England. It had nothing to do with boxing, but a money gift was put into boxes and given to the 
servants/tradesmaen the day after Christmas. December 26 is also the feast day of St. Stephen, the 
first martyr who was stoned to death. Long ago, in Ireland, they blamed a wren for alerting the 
soldiers where Stephen was. They would beat a wren with a stick, put wren in a box and go door to 
door to collect money. (Fortunately that ended in the early 1900’s.)

 

 Mr. Miller explained how Christmas has been celebrated on December 25th as a religious 
holy day In America, ibut n Japan and Korea, it’s a secular holiday with Christmas trees and presents. 

It was fascinating to learn that many songs are the merger of melodies and poems such as “Oh Holy 
Night.” 

 Mr. Miller told the background of Pete Seeger, son of Professor Charles Seeger who taught 
folklore at Berkeley and Constance de Clyver Edison, who was raised in Tunisia, trained in Paris, 
a concert violinist who taught at Juillard. They divorced when Pete was seven. His stepmother was 
Ruth Crawford, who wrote American folksongs for children. Pete was a member of the Weavers, 
wrote many songs, a Pacifist, and traveled across the county. (Back in the late 60’s, I was in our 
student lounge and Pete, carrying his guitar, came in a fellow student, sat down and sang! There were 
less than 15 of us there!)

 Please visit Adam Miller’s website: www.Folksinging.org He has several special school 
programs for grades K-12. Some include: An Introduction to Folksongs and Ballads, Colonial Days, 
Going to the West, Folksongs Lincoln loved, The Gold Rush, Steamboatin Days, Cowboys Songs 
and Ballads, The Great American Railroad, Woody Guthrie: American Balladeer, Songs of the Labor 
Movement, and Wailing and Sailing Songs. Attention all music AND social studies teachers: this 
man is so lively and interesting- he will capture their attention. 

THE GIFT OF 
CHRISTMAS 

by Craig Hakola

Some holidays are commemorative, 
some mark achievements, but the most necessary in the world are those 
dedicated to devotion. 

The holidays, like the tenor of the seasons, reinvent our thinking. Labor Day is nothing more than a 
chance to flee the cage of the city. One could reasonably argue that a society, who is falling blind to 
the inspiration of its own past, should be conscripted to a day off on President’s Day but that day is 
mostly given to banks and government employees.

Christmas is different though. There is an element of magic in Christmas, or more accurately; the 
Biblical account chronicles the greatest expression of love known to the world with the story of 
Jesus. To understand the miracle of Christmas, it must be agreed that all gifts are not equal in value: 
some are common, some are noble, but the most precious gift ever offered to a hostile world, entered 
in the form of a child. 

Each Christmas, the reminder of God’s gift revisits the world in the star-filled eyes of children; 
children bequeathed with a power beyond the measure of earthly kings. Absorbed in these tiny 
emperors of invention and rulers of expression, christen the finer proofs of heaven. As though a 
company of actors, children stage a play upon the world, and their dream-filled eyes form the whole 
of a heavenly theater, performing the delightful announcement of a baby on Christmas Day. If 
angels wander the world, then youth must hide their wings, for a child exalts the world in an empire 
beyond the reach of giants. The holy heartbeat of these tiny shepherds steer our mind across a field 
of thought, where the heavy burdens of this life float on the white wings of angels. 

Some may challenge Christmas; some may celebrate the holiday absent the Christ child – Jesus. In 
every era known to the world, there have assembled lavish parties and expensive festivals to celebrate, 
celebrating. The remnants of such diaries are consistently frail in transcending the perishable good 
of a gathering, for nothing survives in a place of decency or presumes to endure the impulses of 
this world. Nothing elevates among the importance of the next, if neither a virtue is anointed, nor 
a thought made holy. 

The holiday celebration may reign in a delightful style of tribute. It may mark a salute to family and 
an eloquent honor of friends, but if the Christmas celebration neglects the mission of making our 
hearts holy, and ignores the child called Christ, then the devotion to a miracle passively withers into 
an institutional of a day off.

A provocative breed of faith, and a cultural mode of persuasion, have prevailed upon this age. This 
self-regarded age has become convinced in the power of Santa Claus, and the general belief that the 
wonderful enchantment of children, alone, can make the season of Christmas great. Sure enough, 
there’d be a measure of magic in an experience absent Jesus, but the instant we discard the evidence 
of a miracle in the birth of Jesus is the moment a crowned lesson and royal illustration loses its power 
to renew us. If we forget the story of Christmas, and a tranquil night along the hills of Bethlehem, 
we live in as much a fairytale as ole Saint Nick. The day we close our eyes to the story of God, a 
Christmas Star, and the journey of Three Wise men who chased the prophets’ promise of a heavenly 
king, is the moment we’ve grown blind to the “true meaning of Christmas.” 

The real story of Christmas will never be found in the material things that we give to family and 
friends. If Christmas is to reign within us and to have any meaningful expression to our own lives, 
then it must be discovered in what we give to God.

In all seasons and in all the places of your life may your path follow under the light of Christmas Star.

 Merry Christmas! 

CraigHakola@aol.com


TARGET OFFERS 10% DISCOUNT AFTER CREDIT 
CARD HACK By Emily Jane Fox and James O’Toole CNN Money

A day after Target announced 
that forty million of its customers 
had their credit and debit 
card data breached, the retailer 
announced a 10% discount for 
all shoppers at its stores this Saturday 
and Sunday.

"We recognize this has been 
confusing and disruptive during 
an already busy holiday season," 
Target CEO Gregg Steinhafel 
said in a statement Friday. "Our 
guests' trust is our top priority 
at Target and we are committed 
to making this right." 

The company also provided 
details Friday about the extent 
of the hack and the information 
that could have been 
compromised. 

The nation's No. 2 general merchandise 
retailer said cards used 
at its brick-and-mortar stores 
between Nov. 27 and Dec. 15 
of this year may have been 
impacted. 

Target (TGT, Fortune 500) said 
there is no indication that any 
debit card PIN numbers were 
compromised. The retailer also 
claimed it doesn't appear that 
the three- or four-digit security 
code visible on the face of credits 
cards were breached. That 
means that the debit and credit 
cards that were compromised 
cannot be used to withdraw 
cash from an ATM or to shop 
online. 

Related: Related: 4 things to do 
after your card has been hacked 

But lawyer Robert Ahdoot, part 

of a legal team in California that 
has filed a lawsuit seeking class 
action status on behalf of Target 
customers, said he had spoken 
to shoppers who claimed 
thieves had used their debit 
card information to withdraw 
money from ATMs. 

The lawsuit alleges negligence 
on the part of the retailer, 
and also says Target failed to 
promptly notify victims of the 
hack. 

"Target has an obligation to 
provide adequate security for 
the financial information they 
collect," Ahdoot said. He recommended 
that consumers 
who suspect that their cards 
may have been compromised 
change their PIN numbers as a 
precaution. 

Target spokeswoman Molly 
Snyder said the retailer "typically 
doesn't comment on pending 
litigation." 

Target said it believes customers' 
birth dates and social security 
numbers weren't compromised. 
The retailer said it 
gave Visa, MasterCard (MA, 
Fortune 500), Discover (DFS, 
Fortune 500) and American 
Express (AXP, Fortune 500) the 
card numbers of those who may 
have been impacted, and that 
these companies will monitor 
the cards for fraud. 

Target is also monitoring its 
own card, the REDcard, for potential 
unauthorized activity. 

Steinhafel said the affected cus

tomers "will not be held financially 
responsible for any credit 
and debit card fraud." 

"[T]o provide guests with extra 
assurance, we will be offering 
free credit monitoring services," 
Steinhafel said. "We will be 
in touch with those impacted 
by this issue soon on how and 
where to access the service." 

 

To help answer questions about 
the incident, Target has set up a 
hotline for customers. Shoppers 
have been reporting long hold 
times, so Target said it will beef 
up its staffing. 

Target didn't specify how its 
systems were hacked. But judging 
by the scope of the breach 
and the kind of information 
that criminals obtained, security 
experts say hackers apparently 
targeted the retailer's point-
of-sale system. That means they 
either slipped malware into 
the terminals where customers 
swipe their credit cards, or they 
collected customer data while it 
was en route from Target to its 
credit card processors. 

The retailer said it had notified 
authorities and financial 
institutions immediately after 
it was made aware of the unauthorized 
access, and had hired 
a forensics team to investigate 
how the breach may have occurred. 
The issue that allowed 
the breach has been identified 
and resolved, Snyder said. 

ANTONOVICH CALLS FOR ADDITIONAL PROBE INTO 

SHERIFF’S HIRING PRACTICES 

LOS ANGELES COUNTY — In response to Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich’s motion from two 
weeks ago, the Sheriff’s December 16th report states that 290 of the 395 former employees of the 
Office of Public Safety were hired by the Sheriff’s Department. Today’s motion by Supervisor Antonovich 
requested the Sheriff to report back to the Board in 2 weeks with additional information as 
follows: 

Of the 290 former OPS employees who are currently employed by the Sheriff’s Department, how 
many hold sworn, custody assistant or civilian positions. 

How many have had performance/conduct issues since joining the Sheriff’s Department.

How many of those identified in #2 above should not have been hired based on concerns raised during 
the background process, including prior disciplinary findings against them.

What justification was included in the personnel file of each employee who was hired but did not 
meet the Sheriff’s prevailing hiring standards.

What legal options are available to take against the person responsible even though he is no longer 
employed by the county.