Mountain Views News, Combined Edition Saturday, October 21, 2023

13

OPINIONOPINION

Mountain View News Saturday, October 21, 2023 

RICH JOHNSON 

NOW THAT’S RICH

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

Peter Lamendola

CONTRIBUTORS

Stuart Tolchin 

Harvey Hyde

Audrey Swanson

Meghan Malooley

Mary Lou Caldwell

Kevin McGuire

Chris Leclerc

Dinah Chong Watkins

Howard Hays

Paul Carpenter

Kim Clymer-Kelley

Christopher Nyerges

Peter Dills 

Rich Johnson

Lori Ann Harris

Rev. James Snyder

Katie Hopkins

Deanne Davis

Despina Arouzman

Jeff Brown

Marc Garlett

Keely Toten

Dan Golden

Rebecca Wright

Hail Hamilton

Joan Schmidt

LaQuetta Shamblee

STUART TOLCHIN

PUT THE LIGHTS ON


WHAT? ME FUNNY? NOW?

THINGS WILL CHANGE - THEY 
ALWAYS DO

I find myself in the middle of a conundrum…no not a bass drum… a 
conundrum! A confusing and difficult problem or question.

My conundrum? How can I even think about being funny when so many 
worldwide are struggling and suffering? 

In the 1930’s we struggled through a Great Depression. There was certainly nothing to 
be particularly happy about. 25% of the work force was suddenly unemployed. Wages 
for those lucky to still be employed fell 42.5%. One third of all the banks went out of 
business.

The American diet adjusted downward during the Depression. Typical meals included 
mayonnaise sandwiches, ketchup sandwiches, sugar sandwiches; Dandelion greens salad, 
creamed corn on toast, cornbread in milk, popcorn with milk and sugar (like cereal), 
fried bologna.

Thinking that much of my humor comes from the Marx Brothers and Will Rogers, and 
other Depression era celebrities it dawned on me the importance of funny in helping to 
endure difficult periods in our history.

Hollywood stepped up to the plate, helping us survive by lightening the load with song, 
dance, humor, and frivolity. We were introduced to Shirley Temple, the Little Rascals, 
the Marx Brothers, the Three Stooges, W.C. Fields, Will Rogers. Frank Capra comedies 
where the little man stands up to corruption, William Powell and Myrna Loy in “The 
Thin Man” movies. Plus a cadre of extremely likeable guys and gals: Cary Grant, Kathe-
rine Hepburn, Jimmy Stewart, Mae West, Henry Fonda, Bette Davis, Clark Gable, Gary 
Cooper (yep), Humphrey Bogart, Jean Harlow, Spencer Tracy, Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers…
the list goes on.

So hey, you might find this interesting: Let’s take a gander at the slang terms and expressions 
we adopted during the Great Depression:

“Nogoodnik” someone who’s nothing but trouble (that’s me)

“Bazillion” exaggerated large numbers.

“Blow One’s Wig” feeling furious.

“Ackamarackus” pretentious nonsense like “malarkey”

“Dog’s Soup”, asking a waitress for a fresh glass of water.

“Boondoggle”, frivolous waste of time. (could be the title of my column)

“Gobsmacked” speechless or incoherent with amazement. (Again, could be the title of 
my column)

“Nitwittery”, simply put…stupidity…duh!

“Off the cob”, unfashionable or simply put “corny”

“Simpy” weak, ineffectual, foolish and simple minded (should be on my resume)

“Ripsnort” exceedingly jovial or boisterous,

“Floss” In the 1930’s it meant flirting or showing off.

“Eighty-six” in the 30’s referred to a sold out food item at a restaurant. Now it means “to 
throw out”. (Like me, right now).

I suggest looking outward during these difficult times. Help cheer up someone else! 
That act just might be the antidote to cheering up yourself. And someone might come 
up to you and cheer you up by giving you a million dollars. Hey! It could hap-pen lol.

Final shameless plug for me and my bandmates JJ Jukebox, this upcoming Saturday 
night, October 28th pre Halloween concert (or as I call it my birthday concert) at Nano 
Café, 322 W. Sierra Madre Blvd, Sierra Madre. (626) 325-3334. 6:30-9:30. We’ll try to 
cheer each other up…or sideways anyway!

For me a personal 
tragedy happened 
last week. The Los 
Angeles Dodgers 
were eliminated 
from the Major League Baseball 
Playoffs. This meant not only that 
no further Dodger games would be 
presented this year but tragically 
also resulted in all the other baseball 
games having little meaning 
for me. The remaining games had 
no meaning as they no longer contained 
potential future opponents 
for the Dodgers. Well, actually a few 
games still are of passing interest for 
me such as the games involving the 
Baltimore Orioles. My granddaughter’s 
father is from Baltimore and is 
a dedicated fan who never misses 
viewing or listening to an Orioles 
game. This interest has rubbed off 
on my son and together we watched 
the final Orioles playoff game while 
the Gaza hospital bombing and the 
continuing Hamas bombing of Israel 
was in the center of the News. 
Understandably this game was of 
little interest to me until my ultra-
observant son noticed that the Baltimore 
pitcher wore a Star of David 
around his neck which was tucked 
into the collar of his uniform shirt.

 Many athletes wear necklaces 
around their neck displaying 
Crosses but I had never observed 
any baseball pitcher displaying a six-
pointed Star of David. This symbol 
is widely associated with Juda-ism. 
The yellow Star of David was also 
used by the Nazis to quickly identify 
Jewish people, marking them 
for persecution. Later, the Star of 
David, the Magen David was associated 
with the Zionism movement 
that SUCCESSFULLY worked for 
the establishment of the nation of 
Israel. I believe that even for secular 
non-practicing Jews like myself 
this symbol identifies and crystalizes 
the conflicting parts of present 
Jewish identity—the pride of Jewish 
accomplishment and the memory of 
the persecution and the genocide.

 The baseball game barely 
held my interest but I looked up 
information about the Baltimore 
pitcher Dean Kremer. Kremer, I 
learned is a dual Israeli-American 
citizen and his family currently lives 
in Israel. Reading about him pitching 
the game with the awareness in 
his head of the continuing bombings 
and death in Israel and in adjacent 
(one cannot say neighborly) Gaza 
brought the Gaza hos-pital bombing 
closer to me.

 Unlike several of my Jewish 
friends, and unlike President Biden, 
I have never been to Israel and certainly 
do not intend to travel there 
now. For many Jews the phrase 
“Never Forget and Never Again” 
refers specifically to the six million 
Jews slaughtered by the Nazis. My 
old high-school friend Jim patiently 
tries to explain why there is a specific 
need for a Jewish Homeland 
wherein all Jews will be safely welcomed. 
(ironic isn’t it). 

 So what’s wrong with me? 
My position has always been that 
the Jewish State is an anachro-nism 
that by its very existence invokes 
an apartheid-like second class unprivileged 
status on its non-Jewish 
residents which will eventually lead 
to war. Yes it would be nice if the 
world’s countries would allow its 
population to exist without discrimination 
based upon race, class, 
gender, or age. It would be nice but 
it does not seem to be happening 
now. The Gaza Hospital bombing 
still presents questions of who is to 
blame. I always maintain that we 
are all to blame. There should be 
no wars, total global dis-armament, 
and universal equality of opportunity. 
Actually I favor the end of all 
borders – a pretty un-realistic position, 
given the strong present anti-
immigrant position asserted in formerly 
welcoming na-tions including 
Denmark, Sweden, and even New 
Zealand. 

 Can’t we be like the old 
Brooklyn fans every year just proclaiming, 
after years of frustrating 
defeats, optimistically shouting 
“wait till next year”. In 1955, after 
years of defeat, the Dodgers won the 
World Series and three years lost 
the Dodgers to L.A. Maybe that’s 
the real point. Things always keep 
changing—for better or worse. Now, 
it seems like we are in the “worse” 
let’s wait ‘till next year” and hope for 
better.

 Contact me at Stuarttolchin@
gmail.com especially if you 
have a suggestion for solving the war 
crisis or any other suggestion. 

When people are taught to hate 
there is no solution beyond the passage 
of time; but remember if you 
believe in an after-life after when 
you die you won’t be disappointed. 
(Either you will be dead or perhaps 
alive in heaven or someplace else). If 
this kind of thinking makes sense to 
you then you might as well just wait 
and be satisfied to watch the Dodgers 
next year—if there is a next year. 
Perhaps a joint Israeli/Palestinian 
team will be cofounded and TEAMWORK 
will save the planet. I wonder 
what the appropriate necklace 
will then look like.

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TOM PURCELL

HOPING FOR A HAPPIER AUTUMN


Autumn is upon 
us, but it is making 
me a little bit 
sad this year.

I have always 
loved autumn.

I love the brilliant 
colors, the chilly air and the 
smell of oak burning in a fire pit.

Whereas spring is about new life and 
fresh starts — and summer about 
toil and sweat and a one-week break 
at the beach — autumn is about harvesting 
your hard-earned fruits.

It’s about peacefully accepting that 
the warm weather will be gone soon 
— that the bitter cold winds and 
snow will soon be here.

Autumn used to be about sitting 
around a fire with good friends, 
sipping hot apple-cider toddies and 
laughing into the wee hours – and 
taking a much-needed respite from 
politics.

But this autumn it’s impossible to 
escape politics. It’s also impossible 
to avoid worrying about the state 
our country is in.

Just a few years short ago the economy 
was booming. The cost of food 
and utilities was low relative to our 
incomes, which were strong and 
growing. The world was relatively 
stable and peaceful and prosperity 
was improving for billions across 
the globe.

Now we have major wars in Ukraine 
and Israel and the cost of goods and 
services have soared and continue to 
inflate.

According to the U.S. debt clock, 
our national debt stands at nearly 
$34 trillion — about $100,000 for 
every person in the country — and 
it continues to soar at a rapid pace. 
How long can such spending go on?

Crime rates are up across the board.

According to Newsweek, crime is 
increasing everywhere, not only in 
big cities. With organized looting 
by gangs out of control and going 
largely unpunished, many big retailers 
are closing stores.

And with so many people entering 
our country through our open borders 
— including those coming here 
with the sole purpose of attacking 
us — how long will it be before the 
next major terrorist event happens?

This past weekend I had some 
friends over to my house to enjoy 
the autumn splendor, but our firepit 
party got rained out, so we stayed 
inside.

Normally, such autumn gatherings 
are filled with joy and laughter, but 
this year we all shared a sense of 
worry for our country — and the 
world our children and grandchildren 
are going to inherit.

We all expressed a sense that our 
world has gone mad — that nobody 
is in control — and we are all feeling 
anxious as we wait for the other 
shoe to drop.

Of the many autumn events I have 
hosted, I cannot remember any of 
them being filled with such fear and 
concern.

But that is what is on our minds at 
the moment — and what is on the 
minds of many people. The recent 
Associated Press-NORC Research 
Center poll finds that 78% of Americans 
think the country is headed in 
the wrong direction.

I’ve always believed you should never 
bet against America, but our political 
leaders had better start making 
better decisions than they have 
been making.

That means things like limiting 
government overreach and spending, 
responding decisively to fight 
crime and choosing effective and 
wise leaders who will bring stability 
to the country and the world.

Unfortunately, at the moment it appears 
that our only choice for future 
leader of the free world next year 
will be between one fellow who will 
be 81 and one fellow who is almost 
that age.

But I still have hope that we will get 
our act together so I can get back 
to hosting fun and happy autumn 
gatherings into the wee hours.


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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