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OPINIONOPINION

Mountain View News Saturday, April 5, 2025

RICH JOHNSON 

TRIVIUM...ADD NAUSEUM

MOUNTAIN 
VIEWS

NEWS

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Susan Henderson

PASADENA CITY 
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Dean Lee 

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Patricia Colonello

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Stuart Tolchin 

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Howard Hays

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STUART TOLCHIN

PUT THE LIGHTS ON


UNSURE

No, “Trivium” is not a cough medicine or a vitamin supplement. 
The word “trivium” in its original language of Latin was defined 
as “where three roads converge”. So how did this word become 
associated with “trivia” which is defined as random facts and 
information? Funny you should ask. Climb in your way back 
machine and join me on a trip to the early days of the Roman 
Empire. Yes, long before the internet, television, radio, etch-a-sketches, pencil 
and paper came into existence the flow of information was transmitted in the 
archaic form of communicating orally. Most people call it talking. Much like 
today, you meet up at the local establishment and tell someone what you know 
and have them tell you what they know.

Back then, if you wanted to know what was going on out of town, you literally 
had to go out of town. Hit the rough and dusty (that’s a clever metaphor for 
“road”) and hope to meet up with someone coming from the other direction. 
You could tell the traveler what was going on in your neck of the woods and 
they could reciprocate telling you what was going on in theirs. If you really 
wanted to know what was going on around the world you went to a “trivium”. 
A place where three roads converge. You told what was going on in your “burg” 
and hopefully the visitors from the other directions would share their info. That 
became know as “trivia” useful information from other communities.

In our modern era Websters Dictionary defines “trivia” as “details, considerations, 
or pieces of information of little importance or value.” Which also defines 
most of my columns. Let’s proceed.

Speaking of trivia, I stumbled on a real find, a book on trivia buried in a sea of 
books kept in order at “Fables and Fancies” Sierra Madre’s newest bookstore. A 
treasure trove of trivia in a small book coincidentally called “The Ultimate Book 
of Trivia.” I hope to dazzle you with random bits of trivia you can turn around, 
share and dazzle your friends.

Did you know…Cleopatra was born in 69 B.C. Not too far from the Great Pyramid 
of Giza. By the way, the Pyramid was the tallest structure in the world for 
3,800 years. And it is the only ancient wonder of the world that still exists today.

Which president appears on the $100,000 bill? Of course, they have $100,000 
bills. Actually, they are used by the U.S. Treasury for internal transactions only. 
They still exist and are legal. Whose mug adorns the bill? Woodrow Wilson.

So, who actually is in charge of the moon? The little known 1979 Moon Treaty 
tells us no celestial body in our solar system can be used for military purposes. 
Who’s in charge? The United Nations.

In case you just gotta know the correct expression is “toe the line”, not “tow the 
line”. Came about standing at roll call with your tootsies on the mark. What 
word rhymes with orange? Lol. No word rhymes with orange. Other rhymeless 
words include “silver”, “elbow”, “galaxy” and “rhythm”. What’s worse: Being a 
moron, imbecile or idiot? (I’ve battled with this distinction for years.) Finally 
discovered the facts. If your IQ is 51 to 70 you are a moron; 26-50 imbecile 
describes you. And 0 to 25 you are an idiot.

Here's a good one almost worth knowing: What’s special about the 1939 novel 
“Gadsby”? Well, I’ll tell you. In the entire fifty-thousand word book you will not 
find a single word with the letter “e” in it. The “e” is the most common letter in 
English.

And now a little drum roll. Ladies and Gentlemen: The toughest tongue twister 
in the English language: “The sixth sick sheik’s sixth sheep is sick”. Ta-da! 
(Where else do you get stuff like this?)

Good taste restricts me from ending with George Carlin’s seven “filthy” words. 
Suffice it to say George was arrested for using the seven words during a performance 
in 1972. If you want extra credit, look up the time Lenny Bruce was 
arrested in 1966 for using nine bad words.

I’ll end with a biographical self deprecating palindrome: “God saw I was a dog”.

Have a good week. 

It was my hope to include a brand-new picture of myself 
to accompany this article. The picture is intended 
to display my present attitude towards just about everything. 
The picture that usually appears next to the 
article is in no way indicative of my present experience 
of life. For one thing the picture is about fifteen years 
old, and I am shown without a beard with my hand on 
my chin looking up at the sky. I look hopeful. The picture I had hoped 
to include today shows me as just wondering how things got to be the 
way they are.

In this new picture I do not look hopeful. I look tired and confused and 
sad which is an accurate representation of the way I feel right now. I 
wonder if that is the way you, whoever you are, are feeling right now. 
For me it is like being in a dream state that really doesn’t seem that real 
but still won’t go away. Last night, around midnight there was a gentle 
knock on my front door, and I heard my dog barking wildly. I rushed 
downstairs and my wife had already opened the door. I could see three 
large men dressed as policemen with all their paraphernalia including 
guns, clubs, and flashlights. Really, I was shocked but not surprised. I 
have felt that something unthinkable and terrible was about to happen.

Since Donald Trump's re-election, the news has highlighted one concerning 
policy after another. I just want to feel safe and secure and ensure 
my children and granddaughter have promising futures. Despite 
being critical, I am proud to be American. I believe America embodies 
the best intentions: equality, freedom, opportunity, fairness, honesty, 
and a commitment to truth. Despite our historical mistakes, America 
remains the "Good Guys. The policies of Donald Trump have undermined 
these beliefs and the fact that millions of Americans have favored 
Mr. Trump has left bewildered, confused and frightened. The 
confusion with the police fell right into this pattern. I never did understand 
what was going on; but once I realized we were not being arrested 
I just went back upstairs. A disturbance in the neighborhood. Maybe 
hungry bears looking for food were the culprits.

Today, Wednesday, Mr. Trump announced that by Executive Order he 
was imposing tariffs on all foreign countries, friend and foe alike and 
proclaimed April 2, 2025, to be the Day of Liberation as tariffs were 
announced against friend and foe alike. What is the President doing 
and why is he doing it and what will be the consequences to each of us?

After Trump’s declaration I watched several newscasts with interviews 
of smart, experienced, competent people describing a terrifying time of 
chaos and disruption. Social Security and health and safety measures 
will be affected. I was terrified and changed the channel and viewed the 
normal television fare of commercials and sports all being presented as 
if nothing out of the ordinary was happening. It is now early Thursday 
morning, and no police have appeared at the door to arrest me. Was it 
all just a bad dream?

The granddaughter of a friend of mine has just consented to being hospitalized 
connected to a psychiatric diagnosis of what is called agnosia 
which is a condition wherein one suffers from delusions and illusions 
which they believe to be true. They believe nothing is wrong with their 
perception but fear evils from the sky or the air or water heaters. Still a 
person cannot be hospitalized or confined without their consent. Perhaps 
we all should consent to be hospitalized because right now it is 
impossible to separate truth from delusion. I cannot understand how 
sane people could vote for Donald Trump, the felon, the liar, the man 
who wants only to “win” and cares about nothing else. Is it Democracy 
or humanity that has failed?

Well, anyway, I have tried to explain why I wished to have a different 
picture placed next to my article. If not this week, maybe next week. 
Why does this seem to be important to me and why do I write these 
articles every week. I do it because I believe it will help the world, perhaps 
a symptom of my own agnosia. All I am certain of is that I am 
UNSURE... 

HOWARD Hays As I See It


“Deeply unserious people doing deeply stupid things with 
massively serious consequences” 

– John Oliver on “Last Week Tonight”

 

“I don’t know anything about it.”– President Donald Trump

Mike Waltz served as an advisor 
in the Bush Administration and as congressman - 
but what brought his nomination as National Security 
Advisor was loyalty to Trump. He says Atlantic 
editor Jeff Goldberg’s number was somehow 
“sucked in” to his phone, leading to that invitation 
to join the Signal chat with top administration officials 
on an imminent attack in Yemen. Waltz has 
since called Goldberg a “liar” and “scum”. As to 
how that invitation ended up going to Goldberg, 
Waltz said he’d ask Elon Musk to help figure it out.

 

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth copied-and-pasted 
detailed plans of that attack into the chat – for 
no other apparent reason than to show-off that he 
could. He denied any of it was classified, though as 
Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE) commented, “This can get 
our troops killed.” Hegseth called the whole story 
a “hoax”, even after the National Security Council 
had confirmed it. He whined about it on X. President 
Trump says Hegseth “had nothing to do with 
this”.

 

According to Sen. Michael Bennet (D-CO), both 
CIA Director John Ratcliffe and Director of National 
Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard “lied repeatedly” 
in testimony before congressional committees that 
the information shared was “not classified”. When 
asked repeatedly by Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ) 
whether there was “any mention of a weapon or 
weapons system” in the chat (which is what Hegseth’s 
posting was all about), Ratcliffe and Gabbard 
repeatedly answered, “I don’t recall”. 

 

“Classified” can apply not just to military planning 
but to policy discussion. In Europe, the takeaway 
from this chat was further confirmation (if any 
needed) of Vice President J.D. Vance’s arrogant 
disdain for our allies. He pointed out that since the 
waterway to be protected primarily served European 
shipping, this would be “bailing out Europe 
again”. Hegseth agreed, “I fully share your loathing 
of Europe free-loading” – calling them “pathetic”.

 

But a big takeaway here at home, even for many 
MAGAs, was the question raised: Who does Vance 
think is in charge? The vice president offered in 
the chat, “I am not sure the president is aware how 
inconsistent this is with his message on Europe 
right now.” The Atlantic’s Goldberg noted that he’s 
telling our national security team that he believes 
President Trump “doesn’t even understand what 
he’s doing here”.

 

As for the president exercising his 
role as Commander in Chief, Trump 
adviser Stephen Miller told the group, 
“As I heard it, the president was clear: 
green light”. Vance tells Hegseth, “If 
you think we should do it, let’s go”. 
The Secretary of Defense receives the 
go-ahead to launch the attack from 
the vice president. Whatever presidential 
directive is based on an “as I 
heard it”.

 

President Trump appears to have first 
learned about all this when asked 
about it by a reporter – hours after 
the story broke. He then questioned 
the reporter for details – rather than 
his own staff. Later, Trump blamed 
the problem on shortcomings in the 
Signal app, rather than his national 
security team using Signal in the first 
place. As to where the president was 
when this was taking place, his motorcade 
was spotted at the Trump International 
Golf Club in West Palm 
Beach.

 

Nathalie Loiseau of the European Parliament from 
France posted, “There are no more adults in the 
room in Washington. Even my teenagers are more 
responsible. Putin is now unemployed: No more 
spying, the leaks come by U.S. themselves.”

 

Apart from the matter of unsecured classified information, 
under the Espionage Act anyone found 
to have destroyed records of such meetings “shall 
be fined, imprisoned not more than three years, or 
both and shall forfeit his office and be disqualified 
from holding any office under the United States.” 
A feature of the Signal app is its automatic deletion 
of records. It appears Signal has been the routine 
means of communication between Trump’s top 
national security personnel – who with the app’s 
automatic deletion feature have been routinely 
violating federal law.

 

Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) says, “These people 
are clearly not up for the job. We warned confirming 
them was dangerous, that they'd behave 
recklessly. Unfortunately, we were right." Sen. 
Jackie Rosen (D-NV) calls it “a dangerous level of 
incompetence”.

 

The top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services 
Committee, Jack Reed (RI), says it’s "one of the 
most egregious failures of operational security and 
common sense" he’d ever seen. "Military operations 
need to be handled with utmost discretion, 
using approved, secure lines of communication, 
because American lives are on the line. The carelessness 
shown by President Trump's cabinet is 
stunning and dangerous.” 

 

As to whatever outcome from all this, White House 
press secretary Karoline Leavitt assures “steps have 
been made” and that “this case has been closed here 
at the White House as far as we are concerned”.

 

The White House, after all, has other matters to deal 
with. According to CNN, for the first time ever, a 
call has gone out offering corporate sponsorships 
for the annual Easter Egg Roll on the White House 
lawn – an event held since 1878. Sponsorship opportunities 
range from $75,000 to $200,000.

 

See you at the Wisteria Festival.

PETE HEGSETH'S DEFENSE DEPARTMENT LEADERSHIP

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