Page 4 - Mid Valley Times 11-18-21 E-edition

Thursday, November 18, 2021 | A4 | Mid Valley TiMes Editorial & Opinions
Serving the Readers of the Reedley Exponent, Dimuba Sentinel and Sanger Herald.
A Mid Valley Publishing Newspaper
Founded March 26, 1891, in a two-story building on the corner of 11th and F streets, by A.S. Jones
In my OPINION Infrastructure bill shaping
up to be bipartisan disaster
With all the ongoing discussions of “bipartisanship,” it's become obvious
that the suspension of common sense
has indeed become bipartisan. Pas-
sage of the infrastructure bill, which
was stuffed with non-infrastructure
waste, is ultimate proof. With all the
economic problems being faced by
average Americans, wild-eyed spend-
ing — which creates further economy-
wrecking inflation — is the last thing
we need. Given the fact that 19 weak-kneed Republicans voted for passage of this pork-laden mistake indicates that members of both political parties show all indica- tions of being brain-dead.
Those 19 Republicans who went along with Speaker Nancy Pelosi on this hot mess have assisted in teeing up the even worse Reconciliation Bill for passage.That bit of sleight of hand is called the “Build Back Better” plan. Huge amounts of these bills largesse have been targeted at a “New Green Deal” dealing with climate change. That bit of craziness has already begun to impact our economy with soaring energy prices. Never lose sight of the fact that increasing prices of services and consumables ultimately wind up being paid by consumer at a disproportionate rate.
Elimination of carbon-based energy will disproportion- ately impact low and middle income families. With this ad- ministration firmly on the openly announced path to all but end exploration and distribution of carbon based energy by canceling or eliminating pipelines, they've assured that virtually everything (check the list of products requiring petroleum) will dramatically be more expensive. Remem- ber being in school and studying supply and demand and its result? Apparently members of the Biden administra- tion were absent or not paying attention on that day.
Were you aware that part of that infrastructure bill which we discussed earlier had $10 billion as a budget for a civilian climate corps which would be tasked with nothing but promoting the idea of climate change and proposed solutions? Taxpayers will be expected to pay for that nonsense, which effectively provides funding for a lobbying group selling climate change.
We've often wondered about the egoists who believe the presence of mankind and their impact on anything this expansive have ever given any thought to the im- pact the sun and oceans have on our weather and cli- mate. Fully 77 percent of the earth's surface is covered with water — 96.5 percent of which is accounted for by the oceans. Effects of the sun on our climate should be evident to everyone — even Democrats!
Gotta wonder what they plan to do to alter God's cre- ations. Mankind is no larger than an ant when it comes to a nebulous undertaking such as climate change. These tiny, expensive electric cars, currently being promoted so aggressively by liberals, won't do the job entirely because they require an energy source to generate the power to keep them charged. We can't even keep the lights on de- pendably here in California. Last winter proved our point when Texas lost their electric grid because of an ill-advised rush to convert to wind power and alternative sources.
That bit of convoluted thinking was just one more bu- reaucratic decision for which ordinary citizens suffered and paid dearly. Cloudy and freezing weather took solar panels and windmills off line. A modicum of thought and planning would have pointed out the possibility of such a catastrophic failure. Common sense can't be expected in statements by the likes of John Kerry, who promised that all coal production would end by 2030. We do not have alternative energy in place to fill that void. Military leaders give equal credence to climate change as the threat from China! Try to explain that one.
Speaker of the House Pelosi recently declared that the United States military was one of the worst polluters intheworld. Ican'timaginetankswithsolarpanelsand neither can the Chinese, who are busy capitalizing on all the weaknesses and silly ideas being displayed by this current administration.
Young generation's participation in veterans event refreshing to see
Fred Hall — Publisher
Jon Earnest — Editor
Dick Sheppard — Editor Emeritus
Dinuba hosted its 36th an- nual Avenue of Flags veterans event last week on Veterans Day, and there was something special to see outside the nor- mal inspiring salute by the community to those who serve and have served in the military.
In this case, it was the ex- tensive participation of young people in the program. It's likely a normal case with the Dinuba program, as this is the first time I've had the privilege to attend this particular cere- mony. But it was still impres- sive to experience.
The Dinuba High School band marched into the pro- gram, and later played an ar- ray of patriots military-themed music.In addition, the high school's Madrigals, under the direction of Stephen Sawatsky, sang a special number along with the national anthem and a singalong rendition of "God Bless America."
And it didn't stop there. Miss Dinuba, Alyssa Romero, and Citlalli Garcia, the 2021 Cinco de Mayo Queen, shared their thought and reflections about veterans. Also, four young ladies from Jefferson Elementary School — sixth- graders Sophia Sanchez, Alexa Godinez and Audelina Herrera along with third-grader Lauryn Martinez — performed a spe- cial reading for the veterans on hand.
I've covered Reedley's an- nual Memorial Day events for a handful of years (I missed this year as I covered the event in Sanger), and they tradition- ally have the Reedley High band and NJROTC color guard participate and lend their tal- ents. So I'm used to seeing the younger generation take part, but not to the extent I saw in Dinuba.
Credit goes out to the event organizers like the Vietnam
Veterans of
America, who
continue to
bring in com-
munity involve-
ment including
younger people.
Perhaps some
of the biggest
contributions come from the Dinuba High wrestling pro- gram, whose wrestlers were at the cemetery before 7 a.m. on the holiday putting up the flags and then taking them back down at 2:30 p.m.
All the younger involve- ment helped make for an in- spiring holiday program for more than 100 people in atten- dance on an overcast morning. The event — along with Veter- ans parades in Cutler-Orosi and in Sanger — showed just how special the smaller communi- ties are in our region.
Jon Earnest is news-sports editor for The Times.
But, as always, that's only one man's opinion.
QUOTE
“Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and it may be neces- sary from time to time to give a stupid or misin- formed beholder a black eye.”
— Miss Piggy
Jon Earnest
Fred Hall
Impacts of stress a factor in diabetes
Editor's Note: November is Diabetes Awareness Month. Here is the third of four guest columns this month with tips to prevent and curb diabetes.
By Chinayera Black Hardaman
Guest columnist
The pressures of work, fam- ily, and finances often result in high stress levels. Studies show that stress may make your blood sugar go up and become more difficult to control. This may cause a Type 2 diabetic to need higher doses of diabetic medications and/or insulin. This phenomenon is not unique to those already diagnosed with diabetes.
Researchers think that high levels of stress hormones in non-diabetics might stop insulin-producing cells in the pancreas from working prop- erly and reduce the amount of insulin they make. In turn, this might contribute to the devel- opment of Type 2 Diabetes.
The great thing about stress is that there are plenty of strat- egies to manage and/or reduce it. Here are five tips to aid in stress management:
• Use Guided Meditation — Guided meditation is a great way to distract yourself from
the stress of day-to-day life. There are many guided medi- tations available on the internet that can help you find 5 min- utes of centered relaxation.
• Practice Deep Breathing — Deep breathing is a great way to reduce the activation of your sympathetic nervous system, which controls the body’s response to a perceived threat. Deep breaths taken into a count of five seconds, held for two seconds and released to a count of five seconds, can help activate your parasympa- thetic nervous system, which helps reduce the overall stress and anxiety you may be expe- riencing.
• Maintain Physical Ex- ercise and Good Nutrition — Physical exercise and nutri- tion are two important com- ponents in how you respond to stress. When your body is healthy, your mind can be healthy and vice versa. Physi- cal exercise is proven to be a great stress reliever and also helps to improve your overall quality of life. Nutrition is im- portant as stress can deplete certain vitamins, such as A, B complex, C and E. Maintaining proper nutrition not only helps your body feel better, but your mind as well, which allows you to better combat stress.
• Manage So-
cial Media Time
— Spending
time on social
media sites can
become stress-
ful, not only by
what we might
see on them,
but also because
the time you are
spending on so-
cial media might be best spent enjoying visiting with friends, being outside enjoying the weather, or reading a great book.
• Connect With Others — Humans are social beings. You need to have connections with people to feel supported. Finding a sense of community — whether at work, with a re- ligious organization, or through shared activities, such as orga- nized sports — is important to your well-being. Enjoying a shared activity allows you to find support and foster rela- tionships that can be support- ive in difficult times.
If stress persists and/or be- comes manageable, seek assis- tance from a medical profes- sional.
Chinayera Black Harda- man is CEO of the Sierra Kings Health Care District in south- east Fresno County.
Chinayera Black Hardaman
Letters Policy
MID VALLEY TIMES invites letters from the public on any topic of local relevance. We reserve the right to edit letters for clarity or brevity, and we reserve the right to NOT publish them if they could be deemed libelous or profane. Letters should be 350 words or less, and bear the author's name, address, and phone number. Letters can be mailed, emailed, submitted via our website, or personally delivered to: Editor, Reedley Exponent, 1130 G St, Reedley CA 93654.
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