Page 4 - Mid Valley Times 2-20-20 E-edition

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 Today's Hollywood, liberal
politicians losing minds
A lesson in pride and perseverance from boxing
Rick Curiel — Sanger Editor Jon Earnest — Reedley Editor Dick Sheppard — Editor Emeritus
Thursday, February 20, 2020 | A4 | Mid Valley TiMes Editorial & Opinions
“It's better to keep one's mouth closed and have people think you are a fool than to open it and remove all doubt”
– Mark Twain
Those were simple words penned by a thoughtful man and yet, their wisdom seems so elusive to so many in today's “polite” society.
I saw a sight in boxing I’ve never seen before this past Sat- urday — twice.
In a televised event that fea- tured several fights, one of the bouts, a welterweight matchup between Bryant “Goodfella” Parella and Abel Ramos, really turned some heads for how the fight both started and ended.
I thought I was mistaken when I first set eyes on Parella in his corner, prior to him be- ing announced. Did I just see that correctly?
“Hey, was that guy in a suit?” I asked friends in rela- tives as we were gathered for my niece’s fourth birthday.
The people in the room turned to face the television just as the camera panned to Ramos as he was being an- nounced first. After he was an- nounced, the camera then cen- tered on Parella in his corner.
And sure enough, there he was – hopping around in antici- pation as many boxers do prior tothestartofanyfight—ina shirt, tie, jacket, shorts, shoes and boxing gloves.
“Now there’s a first,” I thought to myself.
in the room, laughter, jokes and even ridicule.
“I hope he gets knocked out now,” said one spectator in the room.
I’ve seen lots of flashy get- ups in boxing over the years. It’s part of the sport. It’s preva- lent in many boxers, especially in those who have made a name for themselves. Bright colored shorts with lots of detail, em- broidered robes that sport the boxer’s name, the music the ex- citement, it’s all part of boxing pageantry.
But this was different. Parella took cockiness to a whole new level. A suit? Re- ally?
Ok, I get it. He’s all busi- ness.
And throughout most of the fight, Parella in fact went to work. He controlled the major- ity of the fight and was seem- ingly on his way to a unanimous decision over Ramos when the unthinkable happened.
In the 10th and final round of the bout, with Parella up on all of the judges’ scorecards (87-84 and two judges scoring it 88-83) Ramos made a flurry of punches that rocked the
‘businessman’ out of commis- sion.
With just 30
seconds left in
the final round,
Ramos con-
nected on an
uppercut that
dropped his opponent to the mat. Though Parella was able to continue after a standing- eight count, Ramos smelt blood and went in for the kill.
Seconds later, Parella was on the mat again. And, after stumbling his way back to his corner, the referee called the fight with just one second re- maining in the match.
Ramos won the fight on a technical knockout at 2:59 in the final round and, more im- portantly, by fighting until the end.
The lesson here is that ar- rogance can only take you so far, even if it seemingly looks successful along the way. But in the end, those who humble themselves and fight to perse- vere are the ones who reap the final benefits.
Rick Curiel is Sanger editor for The Times.
Fred Hall
QUOTE
“After 12 years of therapy my psychiatrist said something that brought tears to my eyes. He said, 'No hablo ingles.'”
— Ronnie Shakes (1947-1987)
Rick Curiel
Have you ever done anything in
life that, when given a rational moment, you would have real difficulty to explain your thought process. I have to admit that, a couple of weekends ago, I found myself watching the Oscars, albeit it in fits and starts. By that I mean that I would watch until it became too painful and would then change channels to lower my blood pressure. I can't imagine anyone being able to sit and watch a solid three hours-plus of the “stars” self aggrandizing pap.
One would think that it would dawn on Hollywood that, with ever decreasing viewership for their product and the awards show in particular, that there just might be a problem. God forbid it could be them!
The twaddle—yes, that really is a word—which flows from their mouths when they lapse into politics while accepting increasingly meaningless subjective awards seems hell-bent on trivializing their inane po- litical positions.
With an ever-growing number of movies being se- quels or remakes of something that dates back to the 1930s or 40s it's increasingly difficult to list creative as one of their talents. Arrogant, condescending, self important, over compensated, presumptuous, egotistic and self aggrandizing represent adjectives which more appropriately describe Hollywood's youngsters as well as many of its seasoned warriors who appear demented in their rantings.
Some of the older ones, including Robert De Niro, Barbra Streisand, and Bette Midler are often embar- rassing with their rantings. De Niro saying that he would like to punch the president in the face is beneath contempt. The younger actors are more problematic because we have become such a star-struck nation that many or our young people see those in sports and en- tertainment as idols to be emulated.
Politicians aren't a helluva lot better because I still can remember Congress sitting and listening to testi- mony by Meryl Streep during the great “Alar scare. Alar-Daminozide was used in the production and pro- cessing of apples. Hollywood, junk science and our own Congress did its best — with little or no evidence — to damage an entire industry.
Nothing against that weird community of souls who flaunt their ostentatious lifestyles, but we just wish they would stick with trying to provide quality enter- tainment for those who fund their extravagant lives and let us think for ourselves.
It really seems like a natural segue from discussion of the Hollywood crowd losing their minds to Demo- crats and the media running right to the brink of once again losing theirs. Not only has Eric Swalwell — you remember him, he was a presidential candidate for about 15 minutes — already broaching the subject of once again of impeaching the president. The ink isn't even dry on their first failed attempt. Even the Attor- ney General is under the full-throated threat of the es- tablished Democratic Party with impeachment being threatened.
Conservatives must be acutely aware of the inroads being made into the mind of our youngsters immersed in the public educational system and being further fed by social media, national media, sports heroes, and entertainmentfigures. Young minds are extremely impressionable and the scars being created on their psyche will be long term.
But, as always, that's only one man's opinion.
There were confused faces
Letters from readers
Cemetery district responds
Editor:
One of the duties of the Board of Trustees of the Alta Cemetery District, also known as Smith Mountain Cemetery, is to establish policies for the operation of the district.
“The Board of Trustees shall provide for the faithful implementation of those poli- cies which is the responsibil- ity of the employees of the district.” The Board of Trust- ees is required to follow and enforce the rules of the Health and Safety Code of the State of California Relating to Public Cemeteries and Public Cem- etery Districts.
Chapter 4 of the Health and Safety Code states, “A district shall maintain the cemeter- ies owned by the district. The district that owns a cemetery shall have exclusive jurisdic- tion and control over its main- tenance and management.” Chapter 4, Section 9041(k) says the board is “to adopt and enforce rules and regulations for the administration, main- tenance, operation, and use of cemeteries.”
When establishing/revis- ing policies, the board takes information from the public,
staff and other cemeteries into consideration. Much thought goes into establishing/revising policy and decisions are made with the best interest of all in mind.
Regarding a couple of items mentioned in a Feb. 13 letter to the editor, shells and rocks placed on a marker become projectiles that may injure someone if they accidently come into contact with the trim line while staff is trim- ming around the marker. Met- al containers eventually rust, leaving a permanent mark on the cement or granite, and items poked into the ground loosen the soil and over time cause the marker to sink.
There are reasons policies are established or revised that many people might not know about, but the safety and best interests of all are always first and foremost in the decision.
Respectfully,
The Board of Trustees, Alta Cemetery District
Public invited to remember Bejar
Editor,
It is hard to believe that al- most 10 years ago on Feb. 25
we said our final goodbyes to Javier Bejar. Officer Bejar and Deputy Joel Wahlenmaier both died in the line of duty on that day in Minkler, Calif. The sacri- fice made by these two men can never be measured, but we can celebrate the legacy they leave behind.
The public is invited to join the Bejar family and Reedley Police Department on Tuesday, Feb. 25, at 8:30 a.m. to remem- ber the sacrifice made by Javi- er and Deputy Joel Wahlenmai- er. The ceremony will be held in front of the Reedley Police De- partment (843 G St., Reedley). There will be limited parking in front of the police department, so please plan accordingly.
As order in the proclama- tion passed by the Reedley City Council, the Reedley Police De- partment will be lowering the American flag in front of the police department to half-staff and remain that way until Sun- day, March 1, to honor Javier.
Following the Reedley Flag Lowering Ceremony, all are in- vited to an informal gathering at the Minkler Memorial or at Reedley Cemetery for reflec- tion and prayer.
Jose L. Garza Chief of police, Reedley