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OPINIONOPINION
Mountain Views NewsSaturday, October 26, 2024
RICH JOHNSON
NOW THAT’S RICH
STUART TOLCHIN
PUT THE LIGHTS ON
MOUNTAIN
VIEWS
NEWS
PUBLISHER/ EDITOR
Susan Henderson
PASADENA CITY
EDITOR
Dean Lee
SALES
Patricia Colonello
626-355-2737
626-818-2698
WEBMASTER
John Aveny
DISTRIBUTION
Peter Lamendola
CONTRIBUTORS
Michele Kidd
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
MALE ELIMINATION
FERNANDOMANIA
Yesterday after attending an awards ceremony
discussing the world-wide loss of any independent free
press, I thought about the actual declining birth rate of
all human beings. The birth rate for all human beings
has declined for the first time since the Black Death of
the fourteenth century. In fact, according to the internet,
before the end of this century the number of people on
the planet could shrink for the first time. The decline in the fourteenth
century was the result of disease, the bubonic plague epidemic. Although
you might want to blame the Covid Virus Pandemic for the decline the
actual reasons cited are that the decline is the result of cross-cultural shifts
towards having smaller families or choosing not to have families at all. Of
course, the acceptance of same-sex partnerships resulting in long term
relationships without the necessity of children might be a factor as well as
the fact that people are simply living longer including extended periods
during which they are biologically incapable of reproduction
First. let us first talk about Vladamir Putin, perhaps the richest man in
the world. Putin has managed to end the Russian theoretical prohibitions
against continuing rule and apparently intends to rule in perpetuity. Of
course there has been opposition to Putin, but like other tyrants, Putin
has imprisoned and caused to be murdered those who have opposed him.
(Donald Trump speaks of doing the same thing.) Yes, there had been a
growing opposition to Putin which demonstrated weakness which Putin
intended to combat by his incursion into Ukraine.
At first the World Press informed us that this would be an easy task, and
the conflict would be over in less than a week. Well of course that has not
happened. Already close to one million deaths are the ongoing result of
that conflict. It has recently been reported that the North Korean autocracy
has transferred 3,000 troops to Russia. Putin and other autocrats, such
as Turkish President Erdogan have tried to counter opposition by jailing
opposition and centralizing power. This is not atypical of the behavior of
autocrats now in control and by his own statements Donald Trump has
asserted that, once elected, he will eliminate all Constitutional limitations
on the Presidents and dispense completely with further elections.
It has now become clear that Trump is now supported by another one of
the world’s richest men, Elon Musk. I believe that Musk, quite correctly,
views Donald Trump as a doddering ageing idiot whom Musk can easily
manipulate and control. I believe that Putin, Trump, Musk and other
controlling autocrats or wannabe autocrats, totally disrespect women and
view brute force as the only capable instrument of asserting real power.
If women can be discounted and the number of men can be limited and
placed within controlled military forces the powerful ones believe they will
be even more secure in their power.
Do you recall Jeffrey Epstein and his island of teenaged girls who
were somehow lured to the island? As I understand it, Epstein talked of
impregnating all of the girls himself and thereby become the genetic father
of all of the island inhabitants. I believe the thought was that other men
were unnecessary in that one man was capable of being the father to all
while every individual female was capable of being a birthing mother.
Young men would only serve the purpose of defending the leader against
opposition and would be removed if they became a threat to the leader
himself. Perhaps this is a shared dream of the powerful.
I know this speculation seems crazy, but I believe that once in power
autocrats do not want to share power but lust for more. Secret World-wide
conspiracies might well take place intended to fend off threats to power and
there may be no free independent press to report it. HELP.
Really is this any crazier than the talk of a potential nuclear conflagration
that could potentially cause extinction of our entire specie, or an ignored
climate crisis that endangers the whole planet? Let us hope that democracies
and sanity will prevail and that something like civilization we like to
believe we have can be maintained. I fear that my fears about the upcoming
election have led to increased fears about everything else. What about you?
I learned a little bit more about love this morning. That special awareness
that comes only from losing something or someone valuable and
precious. Sadly, as we Angelenos are excitedly anticipating the World
Series, squaring off our wonderful Dodgers against those serpents, the
New York Yankees, we are experiencing the loss of our pudgy and cuddly icon of Dodger
mania, Fernando Valenzuela. The creator of that wonderful malady, “Fernandomania”
passed away just last Tuesday. He was 63.
Fernando had a 17-year career in major league baseball. He was an All-Star six times.
And as a pitcher he had 173 regular season wins and over 2,000 strikeouts.
Fernando was one of 12 children born in the Mexican town of Etchohuaquila, Sonora.
With his signature chubbiness and thick black hair dangling below his Dodger cap we
somehow knew this man was destined to be great. He came in with a bang before the 1981
baseball season. What was the big bang? Well, as luck would have it (for Fernando), the
two Dodger pitching aces were injured. So, this rookie, who had pitched a total of only 17
relief innings in the major leagues, was surprisingly named by manager Tommy Lasorda,
as the Dodger’s 1981 opening day starting pitcher.
How did he do? He retired 11 of the last 12 batters he faced and finished a complete
game shutout, giving up only 5 hits. He won the game 2-0 before a sold-out home crowd
of over 50,000 fans.
Oh, and over his next 7 starts, he won, let me see, 7 times. He has the distinction of being
the only player in major league baseball to win the Cy Young Award and the Rookie of the
Year award in the same season. Hence the birth of “Fernandomania”!
All of a sudden, Mexican music was being played at the stadium, the Dodgers had
to hire more Spanish speaking ushers, and the number of Mexican radio stations
broadcasting Dodger games went from 3 to 17. As Dodger fans starting gleefully shouting
“Fernandomania”, owner Peter O’Malley was heard repeatedly saying, “ca-ching,
ca-ching”!
Yeah, but was Fernando a flash in the pan? Oh, contraire mon amie’… He was picked
to pitch in the next six straight all-star games. And get this…he earned two Silver Slugger
Awards, plus a Golden Glove. And more, he was used occasionally as a pinch hitter batting
.368. In addition to appearing on the pitcher’s mound, the Dodgers put him in the outfield
and at first base...though not at the same time.
After his major league career on the mound and swinging a 32 ounce stick was over, he
was soon calling Dodger games on Spanish-language radio for the next 20 years.
Fernando stopped broadcasting Dodger games just this last October 1st, and passed
away last 21 days later, on Tuesday October 22. Fernando, you will be missed but never
forgotten.
And thank you Homero De la Fuente, CNN sports guru for your inspiring coverage.
One last point about Fernando: He was one of a handful of pitcher/sluggers. Pitchers who
were as dangerous at the plate as they were on the mound. Of course, that mantle, in
the Dodger world was recently passed from Fernando to Shohei Ohtani. Other famous
baseball pitchers who could also wield a mighty bat include (you may have heard of this
guy) Babe Ruth. Then there were the twin Dons; Don Larsen and Don Drysdale. And my
favorite, Sloppy Thurston.
Fernando, I won’t find out until I enter the Pearly gates, just how many young people you
inspired and motivated to reach for the stars. Particularly those of us slightly chubby,
pudgy and podgy!
A quick nod to one of my two favorite Sierra Madre Restaurants. Corfu. Great
breakfasts, lunch and dinner. Their Mediterranean cuisine has the distinction of being
yummy and healthy…a rare combination. Corfu Restaurant is 5 or so storefronts west of
Baldwin Avenue on the south side of Sierra Madre Blvd. And there is plenty of parking
and entrance behind the restaurant in a nice sized parking lot. They could certainly use
the business. They open at 9:00am. And, if you come on a Saturday morning, we can share
stories as I typically play cribbage, the card game. I would love to ditch the game to meet
and hang with folks who like my column.
Before I sign off, I would like to mention my editor, Susan Henderson. She has been
and continues to be an inspiration to me. I’m certain she considers me a rock in her life.
Actually, more like a pebble in her shoe. If you can envision a person on the stage twirling
8 plates on tall sticks, you can envision what a week in the life of this wonderful lady must
look and feel like. Congratulations dear friend and mentor, for being named an honoree
for the SPJ/LA Distinguished Journalist Award.
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AN ARGUMENT AGAINST ABOLISHING HALLOWEEN
ALEXANDRA Paskhaver
Some people argue that we should ban Halloween. And I would raise
my pitchfork and follow them, were it not for a few considerations.
Let us be clear. I am not a massive fan of Halloween. There are better
holidays, like Christmas or Talk Like a Pirate Day. Even so, Halloween
should stick around.
Stickiness happens to be one of the stronger arguments against it.
Parents complain that all that candy gives their kids cavities. And
then it gives them cavities.
Not because the adults steal the candy. My mom and dad always denied it, anyhow. Parents
just get cavities by association.
The fact that high candy consumption might cause teeth to lose their points is certainly a
strong point against Halloween.
But without all those cavities, how would dentists make a living? Abolishing Halloween
would mean throwing nine out of 10 dental professionals out of work.
As someone who carefully follows employment statistics only when I have nothing to read in
the dentist’s office, I cannot justify this risk.
And let’s not forget the excess of Halloween costumes stuffed in the closets of children across
the nation.
Even I still have my old clown getup, though I haven’t gone trick-or-treating for over a decade.
If we did away with Halloween, to whom would we give those scary costumes? To the armed
forces?
According to Professor Google, the U.S. boasts about 2 million military personnel and 72
million children.
Unless each service member got 36 costumes, canceling Halloween would lead to a ton of
waste. We try to be an environmentally friendly country, at least when it suits us. So we can’t
have that.
But Halloween doesn’t just prevent waste and unemployment in the dental sector. The holiday
teaches kids valuable lessons.
Sure, now they’re going door to door asking strangers for treats. But how else would they
learn to work in government?
The child who scoops the entire bowl you left out into a pillowcase instead of just taking one
chocolate is the next billionaire businessman.
As for the teenagers who splatter eggs on your house and festoon your trees with toilet paper?
They’re the Jackson Pollocks of their generation.
It follows that banning Halloween would deprive our society of the salutary presence of
politicians, tycoons, and modern artists.
I don’t know about you, but that’s definitely—I mean, definitely NOT—an America I’d want
to live in.
Lastly, some folks propose scratching Halloween from our calendars would enable us to
celebrate something more worthwhile.
They say we could replace it with a day for commemorating medical workers. Or dogs with
floppy ears. Or mothers.
Mother’s Day is already a thing, but one day isn’t really enough to make them feel appreciated.
At least my mother gives me that impression.
But if we abolish one holiday, who knows where it will end? We could lose Christmas. Or Talk
Like a Pirate Day. Worst of all, we could lose Saturdays and Sundays.
Even if it only commemorates the countless attempts by countless human beings to raise
their blood sugar levels beyond anything measurable by scientific instruments, we should
keep Halloween.
If for no other reason, then for this: I need something to guilt me into seeing my dentist.
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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
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