Mountain Views News, Combined Edition Saturday, September 11, 2021

OPINION 13 
Mountain Views News Saturday, September 11, 2021 OPINION 13 
Mountain Views News Saturday, September 11, 2021 
MOUNTAIN 

VIEWS 

NEWS 

PUBLISHER/ EDITOR

Susan Henderson 

PASADENA CITY 
EDITOR 

Dean Lee 

PRODUCTION 

SALES 

Patricia Colonello 
626-355-2737 
626-818-2698 

WEBMASTER 

John Aveny 

DISTRIBUTION 

CONTRIBUTORS 

Stuart Tolchin 
Dinah Chong WatkinsAudrey SwansonMary Lou CaldwellKevin McGuire 
Chris Leclerc 
Bob Eklund 
Howard HaysPaul CarpenterKim Clymer-KelleyChristopher NyergesPeter Dills 
Rich Johnson 
Lori Ann Harris 
Rev. James SnyderKatie HopkinsDeanne Davis 
Despina ArouzmanJeff Brown 
Marc Garlett 
Keely TotenDan Golden 
Rebecca WrightHail Hamilton 
Joan Schmidt 

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DINAH CHONG WATKINS 


CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE WRONG KIND 
IN MEMORY OF LOVED LIVES 

This column is dedicated to the memories of the innocent 2,983men, women and children who died on the September 11, 2001attacks on the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and UnitedAirlines Flight 93. 

To the honored memories of the 344 courageous men and women 
of the New York Fire Department, 72 officers from NYPD andother law enforcement departments, and 8 Emergency Medical 

Technicians who gave the ultimate sacrifice that day to help others. 

To the cherished memories of the 55 military personnel who died in the Pentagonserving our country. 

And remembrances to the more than 6,000 people who suffered injuries at ground 
zero and yet still continue bravely on today. 

MUSIC 


Music, when soft voices die, 
Vibrates in the memory— 
Odors, when sweet violets sicken, 
Live within the sense they quicken. 
Rose leaves, when the rose is dead, 
Are heaped for the belovèd’s bed; 
And so thy thoughts, when thou art gone, 
Love itself shall slumber on. - Percy Bysshe Shelley 
Honor, Remember, Never Forget 


SUSAN HENDERSON 
Editor/Publisher 

FOUL PLAY WITH WORDS 

FOUL: (adverb) - unfairly; contrary to the rules.; 
PLAY: (verb) -engage in activity for enjoyment and recreation 
rather than a serious or practical purpose; 
WORDS: (Noun) -a distinct meaningful element of 

speech or writing

 America is the greatest place on earth 
to live. No question about it. We’re not 
perfect, but we are a diverse collection of 
cultures, attitudes and opinions with the 
freedom to be who we are. Most of the 
time. There is absolutely no place in my 
opinion, like home. No place. And, because 
of the freedoms that we have, maybe 
we should spend more time protecting 
those freedoms instead in indulging in 
dangerous, irresponsible abdications of 
our responsibilities.

 What am I talking about? Obsessive indulgence 
in the manipulation of language 
to create a desired response, or, in other 
words, our Foul Play With Words!. Case 
in point:

 Remember the disdain and distaste that 
was shown by more conservative Americans 
over the term ‘Global Warming’? 
Remember how the phrase was used to 
define over the top ‘liberals’ and the denunciation 
of the existence of such a phenomenon? 
Remember how we wasted 
more than 50 years ignoring the problem 
until we found a more palatable term – 
‘Climate Change’ that was digested more 
readily by the naysayers? Look at how 
much time we wasted instead of addressing 
the problem. FYI, according to NASA 
50 years ago, “Global warming: the increase 
in Earth’s average surface temperature due 
to rising levels of greenhouse gases.; Climate 
change: a long-term change in the 
Earth’s climate, or of a region on Earth. So 
we wasted 50 years until deniers accepted 
a ‘comfortable’ phrase that all sides could 
embrace before we all started to seriously 
look into what we could do about it. And 
it may be too late. I have to ask, is it hot 
enough for you? 

The same foul play with words applies 
to the current hysteria over ‘Mandates’ 
regarding COVID-19 vaccines. Seriously, 
why are we trying to manipulate the 
meaning of the word into something synonymous 
with making one do something 
nefarious and unprecedented? 

The requirement to be vaccinated against 
communicable diseases isn’t new at all. In 
fact, I would venture to say that more than 
98% of those railing against the mandated 
vaccine have been subjected to ‘mandated’ 
vaccines all of their lives. 

Just take a look at the ‘mandated’ vaccines 
required to enter public and private 
schools in America: 

DTaP: Diphtheria, Tetanus, & PertussisAll 50 states and DC require the DTap 
vaccine (or another vaccine combination 
for diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis) for 
kindergarten entry. 

IPV: Polio 

cine for kindergarten entry. Alabama, 
Maine, Montana, Rhode Island, South 
Dakota, and Vermont do not require the 
HepB vaccine for kindergarten entry. 

And those diseases until very recently 
ceased to afflict the population. The 
vaccines worked. Some have boosters 
required every so often, others do not. 
However none received the kind of ‘push 
back’ from the American public. In fact, 
Americans embraced the vaccines because 
they presented hope for stopping 
the terrible diseases. 

Take polio for example. The US has been 
polio free for more than 40 years. Ideally, 
your child should receive a dose at ages: 2 
months,4 months, 6 through 18 months, 
and then a booster dose at age 4 through 6 
years. Yes, the polio vaccine is a mandated 
vaccine for entering school. The same is 
the case for all the vaccines listed above. 

So why all the noise regarding the vaccine? 
My analogy: 

1. Because COVID-19 was announced 
in a politically charged environment 
instead of a medical environment. 
2. The “it won’t happen to me, that’s 
someone else’s problem” attitude born out 
of pure selfishness and magical thinking 
has permeated too many people.
3. Social media has given rise to 
everyone having a microphone that they 
can spew forth whatever they want knowing 
that others will follow without facts or 
proof, whether true or not.
4. Because, to date, no one has been 
sued for failing to get the vaccine and 
spreading it to some unsuspecting person. 
(I’m convinced that as soon as that happens 
people will suddenly be willing to be 
vaccinated.) 
5. Because they don’t know anyone 
for which they cared, who has suffered 
with this terrible virus (which I find hard 
to believe at this point). 
My suggestion people is to stop the foolishness. 
Grow up. We are talking about 
lives and the quality of life. Back in the 
50s when I was growing up, the fear of polio 
kept public swimming pools off limits. 
The vaccine happened and poof, swimming 
pools were safe again. Got it? 

So this column is a plea to stop playing 
with the language by trying to assign malicious 
and/or sinister meanings to things. 
We live with multiple mandates every 
single day. And they have been good for 
our society. 

By the way, this week I received very upsetting 
news about two dear friends with 
compromised immune systems who 
contracted the disease no doubt from an 
unvaccinated person they encountered 
during their travels. And before I could 
publish this article, early Friday morning, 
I received a call about the passing of an 
under 40 family member who refused to 
take the vaccine had died. Neither she nor 
her husband would take the vaccine, and 
now the husband is beside himself with 
grief and remorse. 

So, to the unvaccinated, stop engaging 
in activity for enjoyment and recreation 
rather than a serious or practical purpose. 
Lives are at stake. Get the damned 
vaccine! 

(P.S. I was sent a very insightful video from 
an American doctor that addresses a lot of 
the issues I've had people who are afraid of 
the vaccine talk about. Share it with others. 
You might save a life. 
Go to: https://vimeo.com/596880746/
b7538c34ed) 
STUART TOLCHIN 


PUT THE LIGHTS ON 
GOLF LESSONS 


Since I wrote my article last week I seem (I say seem 

because I’m never sure) to have learned many new 

things. Many of these new things I would just as 

soon not have learned. First, I am forever pleading 

with the mostly friends and occasional readers that 

reply to my article that what I desire from them 

is not their statement of simply an opinion. Of 

course, I like hearing that readers enjoyed the article 

but what I am craving is not simply opinion, or 

even information. What I think I want to know is 

something more personal. What are their feelings 
about the article? Does the article, hopefully, assist them in coping with their 
lives in these unimagined times?

I wonder about how individuals expect to cope with these pressure filled 
situations surrounding them. A few days ago on the golf course I was joined 
by an older couple of men who were trading war stories. They laughed about 
receiving demerits for not removing rocks from the heels of their shoes. I asked 
one of the men, who had been a helicopter pilot flying many missions, why 
this silly discipline existed. He patiently explained to me that such meticulous 
attention to detail was necessary to keep you alive. Paying attention only to the 
detailed requirements of what you are in fact doing allows you to remain numb 
to the horrors going on around you. Oh! 

The next day I met my wife’s twenty one year old nephew to play a round 
of golf. This was at my request largely because I like the guy but also because 
I wanted to get a sense of what it feels like to be a part of the much younger 
generation. What I learned was something very different. He explained that 
from his point of view sharing feelings is always a mistake. It subjects you to 
criticism and is a pointless distraction. I noticed he marked each one of his golf 
balls so that he could concentrate on the point of contact. He was very aware 
of the angle of his club and where his feet were pointing and the terrain and the 
wind and a bunch of other things that I never think about. He always easily 
found his ball and my ball, something I always have trouble doing. When we 
bought cokes, diet cokes for me, I asked him if he knew how the original maker 
of Coca-Cola wanted the drink to taste like. I asked him if he knew the words 
to describe the taste of a coke or a Dr. Pepper and if he had ever thought about 
the inadequacy of language. At some point he stopped my questioning and 
laughed and said he had never thought about such things and never would want 
to. I asked what he was thinking about and he said that he felt so good being 
able to pay for the drinks himself, and being able to move out of his parents’ 
house and into an apartment where he lived with his own best friend. He liked 
paying for his own car insurance and making his own car payments and that 
related to his enjoying his job and the opportunities it gave him. If it had not 
been for the Covid restrictions he would have been going to college, still living 
at home, and not getting a chance to learn much of who he was. In High School 
he had been a star football player and a lead actor in plays. Nevertheless, he is 
very pleased with the way things are going now and I have the feeling that he 
will always be pleased because he pays very close attention to what he is doing.

This ain’t me! I am rarely paying very close attention to what I am doing. 
Always thinking I should be doing something else and frequently comparing 
myself to other people and wondering why they can do things that I can’t do like 
playing good golf or knowing how to use the applications on my Apple watch or 
i-phone. Don’t misunderstand me. I like myself and my family and my friends 
and my values and ideals. I am now realizing that it would have been a good 
idea to have learned to focus more, to pay attention, and learn to do things that I 
haven’t done. Well playing golf has been a good teacher and I’m only 77 so there 
is still time to learn. I just hope that there is still time for all of us and would 
like for everyone, including me, to pay close attention to the details of what we 
must do. I may even take a golf lesson and then doing that hard thing—actually 
focusing and practicing which I have almost never done. How do you feel about 
that? 

RICH JOHNSON NOW THAT’S RICH! 
PARAPROSDOKIANS, PART ONE 


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 sur-prising or unexpected, 
usually in a humorous or dramatic way. Sounds like 
your dubious columnist here has spent a lifetime spouting 
paraprosdokians without knowing exactly what they were. You might have 
favorites of your own. Here are some that caught my attention. 

I’ll start with the paraprosdokian that best defines the essence of Me…Rich Johnson: 
“We never really grow up; we only learn how to act in public.” Unknown 

“You can always count on the Americans to do the right thing – after they have 
tried eve-rything 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 
“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 
“Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until 

you hear them speak.” Unknown 

Next week I will regale you with part two of my two part series on 
“paraprosdokians”. 
My intrepid 60’s and 70’s fun rock band, JJ Jukebox is performing a acoustic 

concert Wednesday, September 22, 6:30-9:30pm, at Nano Café. 322 West Sierra 
Madre Blvd, Sierra Madre. 

Mountain Views News 

Mission Statement 

The traditions of 
community newspapers 
and the 
concerns of our readers 
are this newspaper’s 
top priorities. We 
support a prosperouscommunity of well-
informed citizens. We 
hold in high regard the 
values of the exceptionalquality of life in our 
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the magnificence of 


our natural resources. 
Integrity will be our guide. 

All 50 states and DC require the IPV vaccine 
for kindergarten entry. 

Varicella: ChickenpoxAll 50 states and DC require the varicella 
vaccine for kindergarten entry, though 
some will accept proof of immunity instead 
of vaccination. Some states list the 
MMRV (measles, mumps, rubella, and 
varicella) vaccine as appropriate. 

MMR: Measles, Mumps, & Rubella49 states and DC require the MMR vaccine 
for kindergarten entry. Some states 
list the MMRV (measles, mumps, rubella, 
and varicella) vaccine as appropriate. 
Iowa, the only state to not require the 
MMR vaccine, requires a measles and a 
rubella vaccine, but not a mumps vaccine. 

HepB: Hepatitis B44 states and DC require the Hep B vac