Mountain Views News, Combined Edition Saturday, July 20, 2019

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Mountain View News Saturday, July 20, 2019 


CHU REINTRODUCES REUNITING FAMILIES ACT

Jeff’s Book Pics By Jeff Brown

 Congresswoman Judy Chu introduced the 
Reuniting Families Act Wednesday, which 
will improve the family reunification process 
by reducing visa backlogs to provide humane 
and timely reunifications, providing equality 
for LGBTQ families, increasing the number 
of diversity visas, and improving our overall 
immigration system. Rep. Chu issued the 
following statement:

 “We know that Trump wants to go back to 
a system that prioritizes white immigrants 
over everyone else. But instead of basing our 
immigration system on the color of your skin, 
we believe it should be based on what is best for 
our country and our economy. Thanks to family 
immigration, many new immigrants can rely 
on their parents to help raise their kids while 
they hold down a job, or can find financing for 
their business through their family when a bank 
says no. That’s true merit to me. And it’s why 
immigrants rely on less government assistance, 
start businesses in higher numbers, and own 
more homes than native born individuals.

 “Unfortunately, our immigration system has 
not been reformed for decades and does not 
address the current reality of families trying 
to come to the United States who are caught 
in our visa backlog. For instance, the average 
wait time for a U.S. citizen to sponsor a sibling 
from the Philippines is almost 25 years! In total, 
more than 4 million people are still waiting for a 
family immigration visa. The reality is that our 
family immigration system is not the floodgate 
that Trump paints it as. It can take decades to 
reunite just ONE family member. In fact, our 
system is severely backlogged – which is what 
this bill is meant to address.”

 The text of the Reuniting Families Act can be 
found at: chu.
house.gov. 
Specifically, 
the bill will:

 Recapture 
unused 
employment-
based and 
family-
sponsored 
visas from 
fiscal years 1992-2015. For future years, unused 
visa numbers will automatically “roll over” to 
the next fiscal year. 

- Reclassify spouses, permanent partners, 
and children under the age of 21 of lawful 
permanent residents who are waiting in line 
to reunite with their families as “immediate 
relatives,” a category not subject to annual 
numerical limits.

- Eliminate discrimination facing LGBTQ 
families throughout immigration laws, 
including making sure that all children born 
to U.S. citizen parents have aquired citizenship 
regardless of a biological relationship..

- Honor the contribution of Filipino World War 
II veterans by reducing their children’s waiting 
times for family-based visas

- Increase the number of diversity visas from 
50,000 to 80,000 green cards annually.

- Increases the government’s discretion to 
keep families together and waive grounds 
of inadmissibility or deportability for 
humanitarian purposes, family unity, or the 
public interest. This could be used to prevent 
deportations and sponsor previously deported 
family members to come back.

MURDER ON BAMBOO LANE (AN OFFICER ELLIE 
RUSH MYSTERY)

by Naomi Hirahara 

Trouble awaits rookie LAPD Officer Ellie Rush as she patrols the 
mean streets of Los Angeles on her bicycle…Bike cop Ellie Rush 
dreams of becoming a homicide detective, but it’s still a shock 
when the first dead body she encounters on the job is that of a 
former college classmate. At the behest of her Aunt Cheryl, the 
high-est-ranking Asian-American officer in the LAPD (a source 
of pride for Ellie’s grandmother, but annoyance to her mom), Ellie 
becomes tangled in the investiga-tion of the coed’s murder—with 
equal parts help and hindrance from her nosy best friend, her over-
involved ex-boyfriend, a smoldering detective, and seemingly eve-
ryone else in her extended family…only to uncover secrets that a 
killer may go to any lengths to ensure stay hidden. Naomi Hirahara 
was born in 1962 in Pasadena, California. She began writing when 
she was in elementary school in Altadena, California. She received 
her bachelor's degree from Stanford University in interna-tional 
relations with a focus on Africa and spent a summer during her 
studies vol-unteering with the YWCA in Ghana, West Africa.She 
is currently a writer of both fiction and non-fiction works and the 
Edgar Award-winning Mas Arai mystery se-ries.

GOOD OMENS: THE NICE AND ACCURATE 
PROPHECIES OF AGNES NUTTER, WITCH by Neil 
Gaiman , Terry Pratchett 

The classic collaboration from the internationally bestselling authors 
Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett."Good Omens . . . is something like 
what would have hap-pened if Thomas Pynchon, Tom Robbins and 
Don DeLillo had collaborated. Lots of literary inventiveness in the 
plotting and chunks of very good writing and char-acterization. It’s 
a wow. It would make one hell of a movie. Or a heavenly one. Take 
your pick."—Washington Post.According to The Nice and Accurate 
Prophe-cies of Agnes Nutter, Witch (the world's only completely accurate 
book of prophe-cies, written in 1655, before she exploded), the 
world will end on a Saturday. Next Saturday, in fact. Just before dinner. 
So the armies of Good and Evil are amassing, Atlantis is rising, frogs 
are falling, tempers are flaring. Everything appears to be going according 
to Divine Plan. Except a somewhat fussy angel and a fast-living 
demon—both of whom have lived amongst Earth's mortals since The 
Beginning and have grown rather fond of the lifestyle—are not actually 
looking forward to the coming Rapture. And someone seems to have misplaced the Antichrist 
. . 

THE 4-HOUR WORKWEEK: ESCAPE 9-5, LIVE ANYWHERE, AND JOIN 
THE NEW RICH by Timothy Ferriss 

 The New York Times bestselling author of The 4-Hour Body 
shows readers how to live more and work less, now with more 
than 100 pages of new, cutting-edge content. Forget the old 
concept of retirement and the rest of the deferred-life plan–
there is no need to wait and every reason not to, especially 
in unpredictable eco-nomic times. Whether your dream is 
escaping the rat race, experiencing high-end world travel, 
or earning a monthly five-figure income with zero management, 
The 4-Hour Workweek is the blueprint. This step-by-
step guide to luxury lifestyle de-sign teaches: How Tim went 
from $40,000 per year and 80 hours per week to $40,000 per 
month and 4 hours per week. How to outsource your life to 
overseas virtual assistants for $5 per hour and do whatever 
you want. How blue-chip escape artists travel the world without 
quitting their jobs. How to eliminate 50% of your work 
in 48 hours using the principles of a forgotten Italian economist.
The new ex-panded edition of Tim Ferriss’ The 4-Hour 
Workweek includes: More than 50 prac-tical tips and case 
studies from readers (including families) who have doubled 
in-come, overcome common sticking points, and reinvented 
themselves using the original book as a starting point. The 
latest tools and tricks, as well as high-tech shortcuts, for living 
like a diplomat or millionaire without being either.The 3 re-views are from Amazon.com.


HOUSE PASSES SCHIFF AMENDMENT TO ADD NAMES OF 
“THE LOST 74” TO VIETNAM VETERANS MEMORIAL

Sailors Aboard the U.S.S. Frank E. Evans Died Serving Our Country During Vietnam War

 Washington, DC – Today, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Burbank) announced that the House of Representatives has passed an amendment to the National Defense 
Authorization Act (NDAA) instructing the Department of Defense to add the names of 74 sailors who lost their lives on the U.S.S. Frank E. Evans during the 
Vietnam War to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington D.C.

 “The Lost 74 died aboard the U.S.S. Frank E. Evans during the Vietnam War, and today the House took an important step to ensure their sacrifice is not forgot-
ten,” said Rep. Schiff. “These brave Americans deserve to be honored alongside oth-er fallen servicemembers at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.”

 On June 3, 1969, the U.S.S. Frank E. Evans was struck by HMAS Melbourne, an Australian aircraft carrier in the South China Sea – 74 American sailors lost 
their lives. The two ves-sels were participating in a joint Southeast Asia Treaty Organization exercise called "Sea Spirit” at the time of the collision. Despite 
operating in Vietnamese waters immediately be-fore deployment to joint exercise Sea Spirit, and a scheduled return to activities support-ing the war effort after 
the exercise, it was determined that since the incident took place outside the geographical limit for the combat zone the sailors who lost their lives were ineligible 
for inclusion on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. That conclusion did not acknowledge that at the time of the incident, the U.S.S. Evans was instrumental in 
advanc-ing American military objectives in Vietnam and the crew had participated in conflict just days before the collision.

 Rep. Schiff has pursued including the 74 names on the Memorial for several years since meeting the family of a sailor who died on the ship. In addition to offering 
multiple amendments to past authorization bills, Rep. Schiff has discussed the issue with successive Defense Secretaries and Secretaries of the Navy, urging 
them to rectify this injustice.

 The House passed the NDAA, including the amendment, on a vote of 220-197.


MICHAEL FEINSTEIN TO SING THE BEST 
OF COLE PORTER

 Principal Pops Conductor Michael 
Feinstein puts down the conducting 
baton and picks up the microphone for 
one night only to sing the best of Cole 
Porter on Saturday, August 3 at the Los 
Angeles County Arboretum. Spend an 
evening under the stars with the Pasadena 
POPS led by Resident Pops Conductor 
Larry Blank as Feinstein gives you a 
backstage pass into Porter’s world. Smart 
and sophisticated with a naughty boy’s 
streak for mischief, Porter was in that 
rare echelon of songwriters who wrote 
both words and music. He roared through 
the 20’s dazzling the Paris social scene, 
dominated the Broadway stage through 
the 50’s, and remains wildly popular today 
with audiences of all ages humming along 
to his timeless songs. Feinstein delves 
into Porter’s witty sense of wordplay with 
“Night and Day,” “Begin the Beguine,” “I 
Get a Kick Out Of You,” “Can Can,” “I’ve 
Got You Under My Skin” and so much 
more.

 The multi-platinum-selling, Emmy 
and Grammy-nominated Feinstein is no 
stranger to Cole Porter’s songbook, having 
performed his music on many occasions 
including for his premiere performance 
with the POPS and conductor Marvin 
Hamlisch, who sadly passed away shortly 
after. Reflecting back, Michael says:

 “Marvin was a great interpreter of 
American Popular music of every stripe 
and he particularly loved Cole Porter, so 
collaborating with him in 2012 was a heady 
experience … Marvin was at the piano and 
there was a lot of wit, joy and celebration 
that night. I hope to recreate some of that 
experience one more time as a tribute to 
his memory. We had done many duo shows 
through the years and became so close, so 
for me there will be a great deal of emotion 
attached to the performance, as I’m sure 
there will be as well for the orchestra and 
the audiences who knew and loved him.” 

 Feinstein has planned a few special 
moments to make for an unforgettable 
evening, including the premiere of a Nelson 
Riddle arrangement of Porter’s “In the Still 
of the Night,” and a reprise of a few of the 
songs he performed with Marvin back in 
2012. To top it all off, the legendary Mitzi 
Gaynor will make a guest appearance. Star 
of South Pacific and the film adaptation 
of Porter’s Anything Goes, Gaynor knew 
the composer during his lifetime and has 
volumes of personal experience to inform 
this exclusive performance.

 All concerts are held at the Los Angeles 
County Arboretum and Botanic Garden. 
Grounds open for picnicking and dining 
at 5:30pm and performances begin at 
7:30pm. Don’t miss the best outdoor dinner 
party in town with spacious circular table 
seating with fine linens, or lawn seating 
for those who want to bring a blanket – 
each option carries on the tradition of 
picnic-dining with your family and friends 
with Michael Feinstein and Pasadena’s 
premier orchestra. Among many venue 
amenities, concert goers can enjoy pre-
ordered gourmet dining packages for on-
site pickup just steps from their table from 
Julienne, Marston’s and Claud & Co. The 
venue also hosts mouth-watering food 
trucks and the convenience of two full 
beverage centers serving fine wines, beer, 
coffee and soft drinks. 

 Audiences get the ultimate outdoor 
concert experience with large LED video 
screens to see the artists and orchestra up 
close, superior sound and the high-quality 
production value that is a signature of the 
Pasadena POPS. For those who want to 
make a night of it, exclusive hotel packages 
are available for POPS patrons at Pasadena’s 
landmark Hotel Constance.

 The Arboretum is located at 301 North 
Baldwin Ave., Arcadia, CA. Subscribers 
may purchase pre-paid onsite parking 
at the Arboretum, and all concertgoers 
can purchase guaranteed and convenient 
parking at Santa Anita Park, located just 
across Baldwin Ave., with complimentary 
non-stop shuttle service to the Arboretum’s 
main entrance. For more call (626)-793-
7172 or at PasadenaSymphony-Pops.org.

MEDICARE DOES NOT GIVE OUT 
DNA KITS by Lisa Lake, Consumer Education Specialist, FTC

Here’s one that goes to show just how creative scammers can be. The FTC is getting re-ports that 
callers claiming to be from Medicare are asking people for their Medicare num-bers, Social Security 
numbers, and other personal information…in exchange for DNA test-ing kits. The callers 
might say the test is a free way to get early diagnoses for diseases like cancer, or just that it’s a free 
test, so why not take it? But the truth is, Medicare does not market DNA testing kits to the general 
public.

This is yet another government imposter scam. In this example, as in others, scammers may give 
what seems like a believable explanation for needing your information. But be-fore you give anyone 
your personal information or a swab from your cheek, consider these tips to help you spot 
and avoid these kinds of scams:

• Government agencies will rarely, if ever, call you. If they do, it will be after they send you 
a letter – or to return a call you made to them. But anytime the “govern-ment” caller demands 
information (or payment by wire transfer or gift card), that’s a scam.

• Don’t trust caller ID. Scammers use technology to hide their real number, but show one 
that seems legit. So if the caller ID shows a 202 area code, or says “govern-ment” or “Washington, 
DC,” don’t take that at face value. It could be anyone call-ing from anywhere.

• Never give anyone who calls or approaches you out of the blue information like your 
Medicare, bank account, credit card or Social Security number. Scammers can use your information, 
steal your identity, get credit in your name and take your money.


Mountain Views News 80 W Sierra Madre Blvd. No. 327 Sierra Madre, Ca. 91024 Office: 626.355.2737 Fax: 626.609.3285 Email: editor@mtnviewsnews.com Website: www.mtnviewsnews.com