Page 4 - MidValleyTimes 7-4-19 E-edition

Thursday, July 4, 2019 | 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
Fred Hall — Publisher
In my OPINION
As we undertake a bold new venture, with that which we hope is your favorite hometown newspaper becoming an integral part of The Mid Valley Times, our promise to you is that we will continue to offer our conservative political opinions. Whether you like them or hate them, it's difficult to argue that there is not a glut of liberal positions being espoused in today's media.
Rick Curiel — Dinuba Editor Jon Earnest — Reedley Editor Dick Sheppard — Sanger Editor
Reconnecting by printed word with friends from Reedley and Dinuba
When one considers the alternatives,
there are very few of us in the newspaper
business who continue to hold those beliefs
which helped build America into the strongest, most freedom providing nation in the world. We pledge that, until freedom of the press is no longer viable, we will continue to iterate common sense doctrines and solutions.
Your continued support of our uncommon — at least state- wide in California — positions is appreciated far more than you may realize. This industry lives and dies by its readership and advertising base! It's heartbreaking to an old newspaper man to see how many of our youth are no longer questioning of what they are fed by the internet, Hollywood, music entertainers and big city media.
Intellectual questioning of the popular dogma has always been the inspiration for a vibrant society. That's not the case, it appears, today as far too many of our young people have become automatons who have become indoctrinated by our schools and media sources.
Turning now to politics, I must tell you that I watched most of the two nights of Democratic presidential debate and my first reaction was to immediately turn to low hanging fruit comments about a clown car, but this is much too serious to be cavalierly shoved to one side. This is scary stuff!
Based on what I heard, if appears that their 2020 platform is reparations for almost everyone, open borders, free health care for illegals, free college tuition for illegals and essentially, citizenship for everyone. There appears to be nothing in that collection of “ideas” that would benefit a single American...only a pandering for votes from people who should not be able to vote. That alone should lead one to wonder why there is so much concern about the Russians tampering with an election when we, apparently, should fear the Democrats.
We noticed, this past weekend, that Robert Francis (Beto) O'Rourke even went so far as to openly campaign in Mexico. Makes one wonder if he knows something that we don't but last time I checked they are not registered voters — except maybe in California!
Adding “the green new deal” to this mix of insanity, it read- ily becomes apparent that cost of each of their fresh new ideas for “lifting Americans” will run well into the trillions of dollars. While they say that money will be extracted from the wealthy, we doubt there are enough of those wealthy people who are willingly going to give up their fortunes for a grand social experiment.
The items they suggest which Democrats believe would help Americans include, free college tuition, forgiveness of college loans, a guaranteed federal job for everyone, a guaranteed an- nual income for everyone, a distribution of wealth, criminals will be paid for not killing anyone and our Second Amendment rights will be obliterated. It sure as hell sounds like socialism to me, no matter how the press and politicians spin it!
Just how inane did it get last Wednesday and Thursday nights on NBC? Julian Castro called for “justice for transexual abor- tions.” How does one get dumb enough to utter or attempt to top such a statement. Last time I studied biology, I was told that only the female had reproductive organs. That same course also said there were two genders of each species: a male and a female. Forgive me, but I am unable to recall anything about there be- ing “39” genders. I'll grant you that I'm old, but not that old. Even stranger about his idiotic statement was the fact it was challenged neither by one of the NBC moderators nor any of the other candidates.
Our fear is that the entire party has moved so far to the left — along with much of our media — that everyone is afraid to challenge it.
But, as always, that's only one man's opinion.
Letters from readers
By Dick Sheppard
I love that the new MidValley Times newspaper gives me an op- portunity to say hello to friends in Reedley and Dinuba.
I grew up in Dinuba after my Okie family stopped following the crops and settled down — many happy memories — and I spent lots of time in Reedley back in the days when I was doing Reedley College play by play on KRDU and later when I was sports director at KMJ and Channel 24 and the Tigers had such great sports teams – more happy memories.
Remind me to contribute a few extra “Happy Bucks” next time I visit the Dinuba Kiwanis club and to have an extra piece of pie in honor of the new MidValley Times next time I have lunch at the Mainstreet Café in Reedley. I had lunch with family at the Bear Club last weekend – still as good as when Jon Koobation was there – and I’ll probably join a few former Dinuba High School class- mates for lunch at the Safari later this month.
The point – besides admitting that I like to eat – is that our communities – Sanger, Reedley and Dinuba — and the small towns in between — form one metro area for most of us. Our towns share business and job opportunities, church and family ties and for many of us they are the source of happy memories and good friends. A news- paper that helps bring us even closer together makes a lot of sense — I wish we had done it a long time ago.
•••
After watching the Democrat-
ic presidential primary debates I couldn’t help wondering if maybe we ought to keep the illegal immigrants — “undocumented” immigrants for both of my politically left leaning friends — and deport the politicians. •••
Mr. Rogers did not adequately prepare me for some of the people in my neighborhood.
If you think separating fact from opinion is difficult and frustrating on Facebook and Twitter you should try to do it on one of the new social media platforms designed to serve neighborhoods.
The one in my neighborhood is the source of an amazing amount of misinformation about an issue creat- ed when the state ordered Sanger to rezone 54 acres within the city limits to accommodate affordable housing. Yes, I know Reedley and Dinuba don’t have to deal with that right now be- cause they complied with state man- dates as they were issued. Sanger did not. Sanger fell way behind and finally the state threatened sanctions if the Nation’s Christmas Tree City didn’t get on the ball and get ‘er’ done.
It’s been a remarkably transpar- ent process by a state trying to solve a well known affordable housing problem and by a city that’s usually not all that good at transparency, ac- cording to four grand jury reports. However, if you were to judge from the “experts” in our little neigh- borhood social media forums it’s a scheme by city officials and disrepu- table developers to build Section 8 housing in the middle of every nice neighborhood in town.
That’s just plain barnyard ex- crement spread by people who are not easily confused by facts once they make up their NIMBY inflamed minds.
The facts are
that Sanger has
to comply with the state’s orders or wind up with a state imposed housing moratorium and a loss of state money, there are no developers with hammers poised to nail together Section 8 hous- ing – and that’s not what affordable housing is all about anyway - and Reed- ley and Dinuba managed to take care of their state mandated zoning issues a long time ago without all this whining.
It seems like the less people know, the more stubbornly they know it.
•••
Those social media “experts”
could spend their time more profit- ably by sharing their wisdom with Sanger’s newest downtown revital- ization committee. Maybe they could help figure out how we can get our downtown core to look as good as Reedley’s and Dinuba’s.
•••
“We have met the enemy and he
Fred Hall
Dick Sheppard
is us.”
— Pogo
Before Dick became editor of the Sanger Herald he was involved in ra- dio/TV as an on air personality and then as a station and group manager. He can be contacted at sangerherald@ gmail.com
Let's celebrate our independence as well as our ongoing fight to keep it
As we celebrate our country’s 243rd birthday, let us not forget how we as a nation came into our liberty. Like birth, such joy can only come af- ter a period of pain and agony.
Such is the same for our nation’s birth. Less than three hundred years after being discovered by Christopher Columbus of Spain, the United States of America found itself in a position where a new beginning was necessary. That new beginning, however, did not come without a price.
Over 20,000 American soldiers are estimated to have died in the Ameri- can Revolution War, a war against our British overlords that ultimately led to our freedom as a sovereign nation.
Since then, over one million people have died protecting this nation’s free- dom.
It may go without saying, but the luxuries we are so blessed to experi- ence as Americans today came only at the cost of American blood. It is the red in the flag we hold dear.
The colors in the Great Seal have specific meanings. Charles Thompson, Secretary of the Continental Congress, reporting to Congress on the Seal, stat- ed: "The colors of the pales (the vertical stripes) are those used in the flag of the United States of America; White signi- fies purity and innocence; Red, hardi- ness & valour; and Blue, the color of the
Chief (the broad band above the stripes) signifies vigilance, perseverance & jus- tice."
The same meanings for the United States flag have been passed down by custom and tradition.
Also, a book about the flag pub- lished in 1977 by the House of Repre- sentatives stated, "The star is a symbol of the heavens and the divine goal to which man has aspired from time im- memorial; the stripe is symbolic of the rays of light emanating from the sun."
I like to think that the blue is for the seas of which the many immigrants trav- eled in order to pursue their American dream. The red is for the blood, sweat and tears of those who, not only in war, gave their life to build the nation we are proud to call the ‘Land of the Brave’ and a country of grand opportunity.
The white, in my opinion, repre- sents the light to which this country represents, and should aspire to be, as the beacon to a dark world.
Regardless of what the red, white and blue mean to you, this country has fought to be where it is now. And, re- gardless of your political positions, the same flag flies above this great nation as a sign of hope for all who call this land home – just as it has for the past 240-plus year.
In kind, the flag also serves, just as it did in the beginning of this great
nation, as a call to greatness for the rest of the world.
This nation has
undergone great
changes over its
more than two cen-
turies of existence.
Not all of it has
been easy. Some
have been difficult, as evident by the American Civil War (which remains the deadliest war in US history) or the civil rights movements of the 1960’s.
But, in our nation’s struggles to change, we have always emerged a better nation. For as long as the flag still stands for freedom, those who will give their life to preserve that notion will continue to fight for what is best for this nation.
Today, we not only celebrate our nation’s independence, we also cel- ebrate our ongoing fight to keep it. So when you hear the explosions in the distance, take a moment to think of those that echoed throughout the ma- ny wars that afford you such freedom, wars many of us are fortunate enough to have never witnessed.
Rick Curiel is editor for The Mid Valley Times Dinuba office.
should fail.
Chris Gilbert Berkeley
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.
QUOTE
“Blessed is the man who, having nothing to say, abstains from giving wordy evidence of the fact.”
- George Eliot (1819-1880)
Have an opinion? Want to share it?
news@midvalleytimes.com
Rick Curiel
Taxpayers shouldn't footcanalrepairbill
Sen. Melissa Hurtado and those that support SB 559 are misguided in asking California taxpayers to bail out farmers in your area from paying for re- pairs to the Friant-Kern Canal. This water transfer system is le- gally the responsibility of those
who use it, mainly farmers.
The taxpayer should not be stuck with the bill when the problem has been caused by overdrawing the groundwater to increase acreage beyond what is supportable there. That is why Prop. 3 failed. This is why SB 559