Mountain Views News          Saturday, February 28, 2015

B6

OPINION 

RICH Johnson

Mountain 
Views

News

PUBLISHER/ EDITOR

Susan Henderson

CITY EDITOR

Dean Lee 

EAST VALLEY EDITOR

Joan Schmidt

BUSINESS EDITOR

LaQuetta Shamblee

PRODUCTION

Richard Garcia

SALES

Patricia Colonello

626-355-2737 

626-818-2698

WEBMASTER

John Aveny 

CONTRIBUTORS

CoCo Lasalle

Chris Leclerc

Bob Eklund

Howard Hays

Paul Carpenter

Kim Clymer-Kelley

Christopher Nyerges

Peter Dills 

Dr. Tina Paul

Rich Johnson

Merri Jill Finstrom

Lori Koop

Rev. James Snyder

Tina Paul

Mary Carney

Katie Hopkins

Deanne Davis

Despina Arouzman

Greg Welborn

Renee Quenell

Ben Show

Sean Kayden

Marc Garlett

LETTER TO THE EDITOR 


A DIGNIFIED CANDIDATE FOR A 
UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT

Do you like your last name? I was never really keen on 
mine. Johnson? It’s so bland and plain. Recently a friend has 
helped me develop a new appreciation for my last name. For 
one reason my name is easy. Rarely does someone ask me 
to spell or pronounce my name. “May I say who’s calling?” 
“Johnson.” “Reservation for whom?” “Johnson.”

This new found appreciation for the simplicity of my name came because of 
my new friend. Lets just say his 
name is a little more complicated 
than mine. His first name is 
easy. It’s Roy. Now for his 
last name. Boulghourjian. Roy 
Boulghourjian. It’s pronounced 
Bull-Ghoor-jyan. If the truth be 
told I think I still like his last name 
better than mine.

Roy is a great guy. And he is 
running for the Pasadena School 
Board District 2. After spending 
time with Roy I’m hoping he gets 
elected. Why? I’ll tell you.

Before Roy became a professional 
educator and administrator he 
was a successful businessman. So 
successful he drove around in a 
Porsche 911 Turbo. Being a good 
guy he decided to give back to 
his community and, among other 
efforts, volunteered to teach ESL 
(English as a second language). 
He soon realized his Porsche 
driving days were numbered. 

Roy discovered he had a passion 
for teaching. He gave up the 
lucrative diamond business, 
traded in his Porsche for a Nissan 
Sentra and set his sights on his passion: Education. He taught high school math, 
and subsequently became a vice-principal at 2 high schools. He later moved 
to the college level teaching math, economics, leadership, negotiation and 
conflict management. And currently he is the chair over the general education 
and business education Departments at Mt. Sierra College in Monrovia. By the 
way, Roy speaks 5 different languages. And he has now added a sixth language: 
Spanish. In fact, one of Roy’s passions is teaching our students at least one 
additional language. 

In his quest to give back to the community Roy wants to become a member 
of the Pasadena School Board. Combining his educational background with his 
previous business career gives Roy a unique advantage and perspective into 
analyzing, evaluating and improving our whole educational system.

One of Roy’s mentors, Robert Osterholm, advised him years ago that its not what 
you sell that’s important, it’s you who you sell. And Roy sold me. I appreciate his 
honesty and dedication. I walked away trusting Roy and have faith he’s going to 
put his best into his role on the School Board.

I take a special look at candidates who can transcend partisan politics. Roy’s 
supporters include both democrats and republicans, including Democratic 
Congresswoman Judy Chu and Republican LA County Supervisor Mike 
Antonovich. That means a great deal to me.

Roy does not regret leaving the diamond business. Roy demonstrated to me that 
he interested in working with something far more valuable than diamonds…our 
children.

Have a good week. And vote for Roy. 

LARRY TORRES FOR PUSD DISTRICT 6 REPRESENTATIVE

Dear Sierra Madre Community,

 We are happy to endorse Larry Torres to serve on the Pasadena Unified School 
Board, District 6, which represents the Sierra Madre Community. As Principals 
Emeriti of Sierra Madre School, we have had the pleasure of knowing Larry for the 
past fifteen years. During those years he was actively involved in supporting the 
Sierra Madre School Community by:

- Serving in a leadership capacity on the School Site Council.

- Assisting in writing the school plan.

- Working with Title I School Improvement.

- Becoming involved with school fund raisers.

- Supporting the arts.

- Working for the passage of Measure Y and Measure TT construction projects.

- Promoting the establishment of the middle school.

 Because he is an educator himself, with up to date knowledge of curriculum and 
state education standards, Larry’s input in writing the school plan helped our staff 
recognize and meet viable goals. During Larry’s tenure on the School Site Council, 
the school’s API scores grew tremendously, making Sierra Madre School the first in 
the District to break the 900 mark on the state’s assessment.

 Larry is an avid supporter of the arts in the schools, and every Sierra Madre School 
student from grades k-8 performs on stage at least once per year. Larry has participated 
in several aspects of Sierra Madre School’s yearly auction, which raises money to 
maintain and grow an outstanding visual and performing arts program. He has been 
adamant about the need for all students to enjoy meaningful art opportunities.

 While Larry is firmly attached to the Sierra Madre Community, he sees the big 
picture and will be able to work positively with all of the PUSD stakeholders. He sees 
the importance of good educational opportunities for tomorrow’s young people. He 
worked diligently for the passage of Measures Y and TT and for the building of the 
new Sierra Madre Middle School. Larry has many friends and family members living 
in Sierra Madre and his two daughters attended Sierra Madre School. The eldest, 
Camille, graduated from LaSalle High School and is now a junior at Cal Poly Pomona. 
Emilie, the younger daughter is an actively involved junior at PHS.

 Because of Larry’s integrity, knowledge, sense of community, collaboration and 
leadership skills, he will make a hard working and productive member of the PUSD 
Board of Education. We strongly support him for Seat Number 6, representing the 
city of Sierra Madre.

Sincerely,

Ty Gaffney

Sierra Madre School Principal 1998-2006

Gayle Bluemel

Sierra Madre School Principal 2006-2011


Roy and Congresswoman Judy Chu

WATCH THE KIWANIS SPONSORED PUSD 
DISTRICT 6 ELECTION FORUM

www.villagevine.org

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LEFT TURN / RIGHT TURN

HOWARD Hays As I See It

GREG Welborn


APOCALYPSE NOW

I just finished a great history of WWII and happened to watch a 
cable rerun of The Monuments Men. Key points in both led me to 
the sobering conclusion that the apocalypse is not something that 
is only supposed to happen in some other generation’s future, but 
instead is more real and ever more probable now than any time in 
history.

 The Monuments Men is a movie about a real unit of ally soldiers 
who were tasked with saving the great works of art and civilization 
from Nazi destruction. One of the key historical elements in the movie was the very real 
orders Hitler gave for the destruction of a thousand years of European artwork and for the 
destruction of Paris as the Nazis retreated. Such an undertaking was not possible at the 
hands of one lone madman; Hitler had many willing followers in the form of the SS who 
were more than enthusiastic in destroying staples of European civilization. Were it not for 
one German general who refused to destroy Paris, we may well have lost that beautiful city.

 The other WWII history I read highlighted many of the strategic turning points in the 
war. What is little realized today is that Nazi Germany was also pursuing the development 
of a nuclear bomb and was in fact very close developing it. The entire course of WWII can 
be seen as a race toward the development of the bomb. Had the Germans won that race, 
can there be any doubt they would have used it unmercifully and overtaken much of the 
world?

 Returning to the theme of this week’s article – Apocalypse Now – next month’s Atlantic 
magazine contains an article by Graeme Wood which informs us with undeniable facts 
and logic that we are in a race with ISIS and Iran, which if the west loses will very likely 
result in a very real apocalypse.

 Those words are not chosen lightly. They’re not inflammatory or hyperbolic; they’re 
realistically descriptive of what ISIS and Iran want, and will launch, if we let them. Both 
are on record as stating that it is their duty to bring about “apocalypse” because God calls 
for it. Their recent actions show they are all too willing to act on these messianic visions. 
There is no false posturing with them.

 Graeme Woods interviewed an Islamic leader in London who stated that “the [Islamic] 
state has an obligation to terrorize its enemies”. ISIS actually considers itself the leader 
in bringing about the end of the world, committed to “purifying the world by killing vast 
numbers of people”. Further evidence is provided to show that ISIS consciously seeks to 
“return civilization to a seventh-century legal environment and ultimately to bring about 
the apocalypse”. 

 ISIS’s actions leave no room for doubt. The atrocities which make the front page in the 
west are only the tip of the iceberg. As Woods points out, social media posts chronicle 
daily individual executions and weekly mass executions. Most of the victims are fellow 
Muslims. 

 Here in the west, and especially in Obama’s administration, there is a temptation to 
dismiss the danger because those who lead ISIS and who rule Iran are only a minority 
within Islam, thus delegitimizing their religious credentials and their commitment to 
actually carrying out any apocalyptic plan. That argument is very dangerous, and may yet 
be fatal to us. It doesn’t matter if ISIS and the Iranian Mullahs are in the minority. If they 
truly believe themselves to be acting on their deeply held religious beliefs (even warped 
ones at odds with other Islamic teaching), they can still do untold damage to the world if 
allowed to succeed.

 In the atomic age – and more certainly in the age of biological weapons – even a small 
minority can kill millions. If allowed to win the race to obtain their own nuclear weapon, 
they will use it against the west and/or Israel. No matter which target is selected, such an 
act would unavoidably bring about an equal retaliation – the apocalypse.

 The Obama administration’s plan won’t work for two primary reasons. First, they do 
not acknowledge there is a real and serious enemy to fight, and secondarily they do not 
realize we are in a race with Iran. The President stubbornly refuses to acknowledge the 
religious intensity which drives our enemy, turning instead to rationalizations of moral 
equivalence with the crusaders of 1,000 years ago and to justifications stemming from 
insufficient economic opportunity. 

 Iran and ISIS are drawn from the same cloth – both religiously and philosophically 
driven by a desire to destroy Israel and to bring about the apocalypse. They know that 
obtaining the bomb will give them the weapon which will allow the one of them to launch 
against Israel and the other to sneak such a weapon into the U.S. or Europe.

 It is clear at this point that the solution does not, and will never, lie with this president. 
Fortunately, our system provides a way for more informed and rational people to counter 
Obama’s self-delusion. The House and the Senate have the right, and the moral obligation, 
to hear the words and advice of Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu. It is not an exaggeration 
to say that the security of western civilization lies now in the hands of this one man’s ability 
to awaken us from a dangerous stupor. The race can still be won, but we’re in the last lap.

 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 
gregwelborn2@gma/5l.com

“We don’t really care if you are a Christian, Buddhist, what your religious 
affiliation is or what your sexual affiliation is. It doesn’t matter.” 

- Butch Berry, mayor of Eureka Springs, Arkansas

“People are very friendly here. I would love to live here.”

- Dixie Hankins, visitor to Eureka Springs from Reno, Nevada 

 From the comments I received in response to my last column (maybe one or two), I 
thought I’d continue on with more stories of Republicans in state government throughout 
the country. So many stories appeared just as I was sending my last column in, and I’m 
concerned some states may have felt slighted for having been left out.

 Eureka Springs (less than half the population of Sierra Madre) made the news with its 
attempt to enact its own gay anti-discrimination law. In response, and as a warning to other 
locales, the Arkansas legislature passed a bill prohibiting localities from passing anything 
more restrictive than what’s provided for under state law. Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R) says he’ll 
let it pass without his signature, so for now gays can continue to be discriminated against in 
employment, housing and public accommodations throughout Arkansas – no matter how 
the folks in Eureka Springs feel about it.

 Oklahoma Rep. Sally Kern (R) got a bill out of committee that not only bans public funds 
from being used to issue same-sex marriage licenses, but threatens removal from office, loss 
of pay, pension and benefits for any official who goes ahead and issues them anyway.

 In an Idaho hearing on a bill prohibiting remotely-prescribed abortifacients without 
an in-person examination, Dr. Julie Madsen, testifying against the bill, was asked by Rep. 
Vito Barbieri (R) whether a woman swallowing a tiny camera might allow for a remote 
gynecological exam. The doctor had to explain to Rep. Barbieri how a woman’s anatomy is 
not really set up that way.

Also in Idaho, a county Republican committee is pushing a resolution that Idaho be 
“formally and specifically declared a Christian state”.

 Nevada Assemblywoman Michele Fiore (R) on her radio show called cancer a “fungus” 
which can somehow be flushed out with some saline / baking soda solution. She was recently 
ousted as head of the assembly’s taxation committee. Fiore blames it on Republicans’ “war on 
women”. Others cite the million dollars in tax liens placed on her “personal care” business.

 I mentioned last week Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal’s (R) cutting education spending by 
$300 million, a third of its total budget. He shouldn’t be singled out. In Wisconsin, Gov. 
Scott Walker (R) also cut $300 million from education to help cover a $650 budget hole, 
largely a result of having doled out $2 billion in tax cuts. For Arizona’s $1.5 billion shortfall, 
new Gov. Doug Ducey (R) wants to take $75 million from education in order to “preserve 
major business tax cuts.” Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner (R) is cutting $387 million from public 
universities hoping to make a dent in his $6.2 billion budget shortfall.

 With Gov. Rauner, he could make up a healthy chunk of that cut out of his own pocket, 
having reported personal income of $61 million for 2013. For the state, he’s pushing to have 
highway workers’ average pay cut from $49,000 to $39,000. He’s cutting healthcare, services 
for the elderly, childcare, drug and mental health programs and the Department of Children 
and Family Services. Another thing he’s cutting is taxes for the state’s wealthiest – a cut 
which will save him personally some $750,000 a year.

 In South Dakota, Rep. Isaac Latterell (R) ranted on his website about the one thing he 
calls “worse than ISIS”: Planned Parenthood.

 A Judge in New Jersey ruled against Gov. Chris Christie’s (R) attempt to cut $1.6 billion 
from its public pension contributions, explaining the state can’t “simply walk away from its 
financial obligations, especially when those obligations were the State’s own creation.”

 Montana could have a column all its own. SB 130 mandates armed paramilitary 
groups in every locality, in order to protect against “the grave danger posed by the federal 
government”. HB 321, entitled “Encourage Critical Thinking in the Classroom”, would 
offer “legal immunity” for teachers using the Bible for science instruction. Under HB 203 it 
wouldn’t be a crime to violate federal gun laws, but it would be for any police officer, state 
trooper, sheriff, etc. to try and enforce them. Whether it’s machine guns, rockets, cannons, 
they’d all be fine in Montana – and there’s a separate bill to allow silencers for hunting. 

 Sarah Goodfriend and Suzanne Bryant have been together for 31 years, and are raising 
two kids. A judge hurried through a marriage license for them, citing the urgency of 
Goodfriend’s diagnosis of ovarian cancer. Now, the top three officials in the State of Texas, 
Gov. Greg Abbott (R), Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick (R) and Atty. Gen. Ken Paxton (R), are all 
working with their own sense of urgency to see that that license is revoked.

 A bill proposed by House Republicans in West Virginia would make it a felony for 
any federal official, a misdemeanor for any state official, punishable by fines and/or 
imprisonment, to help anyone in the state get coverage under the Affordable Care Act.

 The question is, “Who elects these people?” According to a Public Policy Polling survey of 
Republican voters released last week, 66% of them don’t believe in global warming. 49% don’t 
believe in evolution, with 13% “not sure”. 57% would support “establishing Christianity as 
the national religion.”

 Though the figure from a YouGov survey showing that only 47% of Americans feel 
President Obama “loves America” seems low (17% not sure), the figure is skewed by the fact 
only 11% of Republicans believe our president loves his country. 

 Maybe there’s a reason Republican legislators are so anxious to cut education funding. 
But I think it would be wrong to seek answers by generalizing according to education level, 
region, big city vs small town, whatever. Just ask the folks in Eureka Springs, Arkansas.

Mountain Views News

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