Mountain View News May 9, 2026 
1111OPINIONOPINION Mountain View News May 9, 2026 
1111OPINIONOPINION 
STUART TOLCHIN PUT THE LIGHTS ON 
FIND THE FUN 


I prefer to imagine that individuals who chance upon my articles 
will gain something of benefit from the experience. To me, it often 
feels as if my readers and I are co-creators struggling to maintain our 
determination to live a life that is worth living. I think of the sui-cide 
note supposedly written by Mr. Epstein prior to taking his own life. The 
final five words were "NO FUN -- - NOT WORTH IT!!"

 Alright, co-creators, first we must define our terms. What is meant 

by “FUN”? We really are not concerned by what Mr. Epstein meant by“fun”. What does “fun”mean to you and I? Must it mean doing something particular? 
As we all know “fun” for Mister Epstein included his ownership of a private island to 
which world-wide celebrities were invited which was inhabited by teenage girls who had 
been procured for the pleasure of the guests It was Mr. Epstein’s intention to become the 
biological father of a multitude of infants as yet to be born, I believe. His dream, which he 
acknowledged, was to be the master-father of a newly-created Master Race. 

Yes, I know that sounds ridiculous but compare it with a statement recently made by Mr. 
Epstein’s one-time very-close friend. Today we call that man the “President” -he has made 
the world aware that being called the President, or the Greatest President, is not enough for 
him (and yes, we avoid using that person’s name.) 

Okay. You and I don’t need that much from other people—then where do other peo-ple 
fit in with our own ability to have fun? Unfortunately, for me I know that having fun does 
not depend on other people but being aware of inequality and suffering and bombing and 
daily violent death of innocent civilians caught in this twenty-first century of lunacy makes 
it very difficult to feel content. 

Is ignorance and indifference then a prerequisite to having fun? " If ignorance is bliss t’is 
folly to be wise,” written be English poet Thomas Gray in 1742 is taken to mean that if not 
knowing something makes you happy, then it is foolish to seek the knowledge that brings 
pain. I think many Americans have willingly followed this advice. I know many peo-ple 
who have stopped reading newspapers as a way of maintaining an illusion of bliss. For me, 
the search for knowledge and understanding is what I really enjoy. The fact that I never 
attain such knowledge allows me to remain ignorant and still feel blissful. I have now understood 
the meaning of our joint undertaking. Try to do something hard and not succeed 
but experience the inner satisfaction in knowing that you are still trying and realize you 
are having lots of fun. 

Perhaps you need to know that in the past week I have survived covid inoculation with a 
brutal unexpected after effect which seemed to paralyze one whole side of my body and 
left me unable to move my head. Today during my third straight day at urgent care a culture 
was taken to determine if I was in the process of being invaded by the Shingles virus 
which possibly will have long term negative effects upon me or shorten my life completely. 

As I frequently remind my readers and co-creators an article has been submitted by me 
for nearly thirty years, and I have always enjoyed picking up the paper on Sunday and 
finding my column and picture. Sometimes I even read the article. I am told that my now 
six-year old granddaughter's first sentence to her mother was ”I did it!” The first sentence 
I remember from her I overheard was “I hate single file”. Those two sentences express my 
ex-perience and attitude toward these creations by my imagined co-creators and myself. 
“I did it (actually “we did it”) and we followed no one in doing it. Yes, and it has been lots 
of fun and well worth doing. 

I do hope I feel better tomorrow and will learn more about what the future holds. 
Nevertheless with my loss of hearing and decline in mental ability I am certain not to fully 
understand very much so I, therefore, can continue searching and having fun. It would be 
nice if someone enjoys this article, but “we” can feel good about trying.
Is dementia approaching and if it comes, is it “fun”? That is another question to evaluate 
and think about, and it will be a challenge to make it fun. Blissfully I will probably remain 
ignorant. 


HOWARD Hays As I See It 

"I don't think about Americans' financial situation. 
I don't think about anybody.” – 
President Trump, asked about his motivations in dealing with Iran 

Last week I wrote that when the Great Recession hit in 2008, Americans 

dodged a bullet with President George W. Bush having been unable to 

enact his plan to “privatize” Social Security – turning it over to Wall 

Street. Had he succeeded, retirement funds we counted on would’ve

 been wiped out. 

I was reminded of this when reading how, despite closure of the Strait of Hormuz, cutting 
off 20% of the world’s oil supply and hiking oil prices, our economy has remained relatively 
strong. Antonio Gabriel at Bank of America Securities explained it’s because our reliance 
on oil has decreased so much over the past fifty years. In the 1970s, we needed three times 
the oil as today to produce the same amount of GDP. Back then, a 10% hike in oil prices 
would bring close to a full point rise in inflation, while today it’s maybe a quarter-point. 

The 1973 OPEC oil embargo saw prices rise 400%, with another oil crisis a few years later 
with the Iranian Revolution. Over the following decades, there was growing appreciation 
for how developing alternative energy sources and reducing dependence on fossil fuels was 
important not just for the environment, but for our economy and national security. This 
recognition culminated with hundreds of billions invested in clean energy projects and tax 
credits under President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act. 

That progress and those projects came to a screeching halt under the current Trumpadmin-istration – intent now on increasing our reliance on, rather than weaning ourselves 
off of, fossil fuels. Had Bush succeeded in privatizing Social Security, the Great Recession 
would’ve wiped out retirements. Had Trump succeeded in his first term with what he’s 
try-ing to do in his second, reestablishing dependence on fossil fuels, closure of the Strait 
of Hormuz would’ve brought not just that progress and those projects, but our entire 
economy to a screeching halt. 

Interior Secretary Doug Burgum testified to the House Natural Resources Committee that 
the problem with solar energy is that when the sun goes down, “it doesn’t work” (and suggested 
House members might learn more in a “secure briefing”). This was followed by Rep. 
Jared Huffman (D-CA) being granted unanimous consent to have entered into the record 
that there’s “this amazing new technology that apparently the secretary is unaware of, it’s 
a battery.” 

Also at that hearing, Secretary Burgum was asked about a $13 million no-bid federal contract 
to re-do the reflecting pool at the Lincoln Memorial – awarded to a company that had 
never before held a federal contract. Rep. Joe Neguse (D-CO) reminded the secretary of 
federal law limiting no-bid contracts to situations of “unusual and compelling urgency”, 
where the government would suffer “serious injury” otherwise. When asked what that 
“ur-gency” and potential “serious injury” was in this case, Burgum responded by noting 
there are 19 fountains in the capital that don’t work, with a 250th national anniversary 
coming up. 

And for another no-bid contract: Edge Ops LLC was formed in 2014 to hold ownership of 
a sailboat, by a couple with backgrounds in federal contracts; one at the Defense Department 
and the other at Raytheon. After Trump’s 2024 election, the LLC switched to defense 
contracting - offering an AI surveillance tool to track immigrants. It turned out, though, 
that info and images on their website were just made-up stuff and stock photos. Supposed 
cus-tomers on the website offering glowing testimonials said they’d never heard of the 
compa-ny. Nevertheless, Edge Ops LLC was awarded a no-bid $12.2 million federal 
contract with ICE. 

Federal spending has gone up some 3% from Biden’s last year to Trump’s first. 11% of that 
spending in 2024 was in contracted services ($755 billion), with 30% of that in no-bid contracts. 
Without having current figures, we can reasonably assume that no-bid contracts 
have now become the accepted method of doing business with this administration (along 
with multi-million donations to Trump’s vanity projects), and that those two examples 
cited above are the tip of an iceberg. 

For the first time since WWII, our nation’s debt has now, under Trump, exceeded our 
annual GDP. He added $7.8 trillion to our debt during his first term, with another $1.8 
trillion the first year of his second. (Trump’s spending a quarter of his time playing golf is 
expected to cost taxpayers $300 million by the end of this second term; double what it was 
over the first.) 

Forbes estimates Donald Trump’s wealth to have grown from $3.9 billion to at least $7.3 
billion since the election, with sons Don Jr.’s and Eric’s wealth from $40-$50 million each to 
$300-$400 million. In the meantime, early non-insider MAGA investors in such ventures 
as Trump Media and meme coins have seen “billions evaporate”. Public Employees for 
Envi-ronmental Responsibility has sued Secretary Doug Burgum’s Interior Department 
for doc-uments pertaining to the nation’s upcoming 250th anniversary celebrations. 
Reportedly, along with the fireworks, bands and hot dogs, personal access to Donald 
Trump will be on sale for $2.5 million. 

President Trump was no doubt being honest when describing his motivations when dealing 
with Iran – or anything else, for that matter. He couldn’t care less about Americans’ financial 
situation. And he really doesn’t appear to think about anybody – other than himself. 

RICH JOHNSON 


MISTAKES........WHO ME? 

“And bad mistakes, I’ve made a few,
I’ve had my share of sand kicked in my face,
But I’ve come through.” Freddie Mercury 

Undoubtedly there are more songs about love than making mistakes, but mistakes are high up

on the list. Neil Young wrote a classic mistake song, the title which I cannot in good taste, list

here, primarily because the title has a really bad word in it (maybe the worst bad word in the 
English language) and reprinting it would definitely be a big MISTAKE. 

A song you might think has the word “mistake” in it is the classic “My Way” written by Paul Anka and sung byFrank Sinatra. Instead, the word used in the song is the byproduct of making a mistake. It goes like this: “Regrets.
I’ve had a few, but then again, too few to mention.” 

Regrets are typically a byproduct of mistakes made. Mistakes are often tough to deal with because they involveboth thinking and feeling. Yuck! Consider regret a temporary exercise, a look backwards as you consider a course 
correction going forward. I suggest moving on quickly. 

The really, really dangerous byproduct to avoid in a lingering look backward is the trap of sad, regretful lingeringforward. We call it the “if only” syndrome. Talk about a mental trap. You may be experiencing it right now. “If 
only” I had not started to read this column. “If only” has a bad cousin whose name is “What if”. Known better asthe what if syndrome. 

Consider the purpose of “If only” and “what if” in your life: Compare it to kindling in a fireplace. It is meantto have a very short quick burning effect that exists just long enough to ignite the important long slow burningstable, hot fire. The metaphor? Think of the slow burning fire as the warm fuzzies you feel when you have made aseries of smart organized decisions (I hope to experience that someday.) 

There are plenty of example throughout history where we can review the results of “if only” and “what if” beingused to move forward with varying degrees of success. 

For example, I read about a Japanese fellow…an engineer named Soichiro who got turned down for a job atToyota. A handy fellow, Soichiro started making piston rings in his garage. Early on his piston rings were rejectedby everybody and then a bomb destroyed his little shop. He rebuilt it and then an earthquake destroyed it. He 
ended up selling the piston rings to Toyota, the company that turned down his much earlier job application. 

Soichiro had a good attitude about it all. He said, “Success represents 1 percent of your work, which results onlyfrom the 99% that is called failure.” 
Soichiro’s last name was “Honda”. They ended up naming a company he started after him. Started makingmotorcycles and then cars…still do. 

I read about a basketball player who got cut from his high school varsity basketball team. Didn’t give up. Don’tknow what happened to him. They actually ended up naming a tennis shoe after him. Call them “Air Jordans”. (Iwonder what he’s doing these days). 

Of course, we can never forget the painter who painted over 800 paintings in his life. This wannabe artist soldonly 1 painting his whole life! He also gave 1 away as payment to his doctor who used the painting to cover a hole 
in the roof of his chicken coop. Yeah, Vince learned that’s the way it Gogh’s. I think he drove a van. Heard that’sthe way the Van Gogh’s. One of his paintings “Portrait of Dr. Gachet” is worth $149 million dollars. (I wonder ifwhomever bought the painting of Dr. Gachet has a chicken coop?) 

Well, enough mistakes from the keyboard (or is it key bored) of Rich Johnson. If you are crazy enough to want 
to see me…get over it lol. Actually this is a thinly veiled invitation to my upcoming August 8th rock and roll 
concert at Nano Café in Sierra Madre. My band, JJ Jukebox focuses on fun rock from the 60’s, 70’s and early 80’s.
Great instrumentation and surprisingly good vocals. If you like good food, occasional adult drink, good musicand dancing come join us. The music of Creedence, Doobie Brothers, Beatles, Johnny Rivers, Steppenwolf, andcountless other one hit wonders. Come join us. Nano Café can be found at 322 W. Sierra Madre Blvd. SierraMadre. (626) 325-3334. 


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