Page 4 - Mid Valley Times 8-13-20 E-edition

Thursday, August 13, 2020 | 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 Virus has been fueling
dependency on government
Probably the best way to begin this
week's column would be a heartfelt
mea culpa for mistakes appearing in
last week's iteration. First of all would
be the incorrect name of the Chinese
city where a communist government
run chemical plant allowed the CO-
VID-19 virus to escape. The correct
name would be Wuhan, China. Secondly,
there were several grammatical errors
involving punctuation. You deserve bet-
ter. Please accept our apologies because our expectations and aspirations run much higher! You deserve no less.
I have a question for you. Did you ever seriously think you would see the day when communism/socialism would come this close to taking over the government of the Unit- ed States? More and more people with socialist tendencies seem to be getting elected to government, and more young people who know little or nothing about history are reach- ing voting age. We truly have reached the point where the slouch to socialism could be only a generation away!
The autocratic authority being displayed by bureau- crats during the Coronavirus lockdown has been fueling dependency by our population on the government — na- tionally and locally. The result of that wrong-headed de- cision is to force people to “shelter in place” and force those who are accustomed to working for a living to turn to their government for support. That is an incremental step toward communism/socialism, but a major shift in the way the American people are forced to cope for their very survival. The country must go back to school and go back to working in businesses which have been closed far too long.
Adding insult to injury is the fact that our educational system produced so many of these wrong-headed young people. I'm amazed that they are unable to grasp the fact that so many of their actions are supposed to be in the name of Black Lives Matter, and yet they are actually damaging race relations with their destructive antics. This morning, I even heard the mayor of Portland cau- tion Antifa and Black Lives Matter “protestors” that their child-like tantrums are aiding the president in his seeking re-election.
On second thought, the things they are doing are not child-like but criminal. There should be prosecutions. There certainly is plenty of video to document who these people are — and they're mostly white college age men and women who ignorantly are exacerbating the racial divide in this country.
In California, conservatives are overwhelmingly out- numbered by the Democrats who offer so much “free stuff” — even if one isn't even a citizen of this country — that it will be difficult to make a sea change in the po- litical arena. We'll have to deal with incremental change and, as I said earlier, Antifa and Black Lives Matter may inadvertently have helped start the change.
We have far too many decent people in America to tolerate the hatred and destruction of a country which most of these rioters advocate.
We can begin with the fact that there are 12 state bal- lot measures on the ballot for the general election this November. These initiatives have become so mistitled and misrepresented by California's secretary of state, Alex Padilla,that people tell me they simply will be voting no on every one of them. Given what happened last time on the gas tax, I really couldn't blame them if they were to do so. The attorney general titled and described Proposi- tion 6 as being imperative for passage. To do otherwise, the description told us, would result in a stoppage of road repairs and construction. Not only was the 12 cent per gallon increase allowed, so was the escalated cost of li- censing on vehicles.
Study the ballot propositions. They include everything from whittling away at Proposition 13 and raising taxes at the worst possible time to allowing felons to vote. Don't trust the titles and description offered by some politician. Dig deep. It's our future.
Lessons from surviving quarantine life
Rick Curiel — Sanger Editor Jon Earnest — Reedley Editor Dick Sheppard — Editor Emeritus
Fred Hall
Receiving the good news on Friday afternoon that my test came back normal was certainly a breath of fresh air. But it also left me won- dering how I could have es- caped being infected despite having been exposed to the virus. Call it luck. Call it tak- ing proper measures. What- ever the case, it seems some are more susceptible to COV- ID-19 than others, such as in the case of my in-laws (four of which contracted the vi- rus) where diabetes runs in the family.
But regardless of whether you are someone you know has contracted the COVID-19 Coronavirus, one thing rings true in surviving this new or- deal. And it can be summed up in the words of one of my fa- vorite TV news anchor’s sign- off: “Please take care of your- self... and each other.”
Rick Curiel is Sanger editor for The Times.
Well, it’s back to the new normal.
Quarantine life is officially over at the Curiel household as my wife is now fully re- covered after testing positive for COVID-19 over two weeks ago and my tests results from a second test came back nega- tive on Aug. 7.
But what an ordeal it has been over the past two weeks. Quarantine and isolation can be difficult to manage with- out the proper support. Thank- fully for us, we have family who took it upon themselves to see that we had everything we needed and would drop off food at our front door from time to time.
It’s amazing how two weeks can seem like an eter- nity while confined to one’s own home. Time management is key to surviving quaran- tine and binge watching only goes so far. I used my time to do projects around the house and do my best to keep the home in order while my wife stayed isolated in our bed- room.
But occupying a great part of the time, something I have to admit I’m grateful for, was the time I spent with my five- year-old daughter. Keeping her occupied and entertained was perhaps my biggest chal-
lenge. But it worked out great. She even helped with some of the house chores, something I hope will pay dividends down the road.
Being that she is now in kindergarten, I also used the opportunity to help prepare her for the next level. She can now write her first and last name, and is currently work- ing on three-letter words. Out- side the classroom, I am also proud to say she has learned to ride her bike — sans training wheels.
But the hardest part of the quarantine was definite- ly the wait. Waiting to leave the house. Waiting to see if any symptoms would arise. Waiting for the next day as each seemed to blend into another.
But the most difficult wait was for the test results. My last test was on Aug. 1 through a drive-up appointment at RiteAid in Dinuba. When I arrived for my 10:15 appoint- ment at 10 a.m. there were five cars ahead of me. The test itself did not take long and was actually far less intrusive than those I’ve seen that seem to draw samples from some- where near the brain’s tempo- ral lobe.
Iwastoldattheendofmy test that I would receive my
results in two to seven days. I waited six. And every day in between was a constant brows- er refresh as I checked my email for results.
Rick Curiel
Letters from readers
But, as always that's only one man's opinion.
America must not cease to be good
The wise words of Alexis De Tocqueville were sent to me by a good Christian friend who also lives in Reedley. We both pretty much share the same Christian values. I felt an obli- gation to share them.
This statement was made by de Tocqueville around 1830. De Tocqueville, a French aris- tocrat, wrote "Democracy in America" in 1848.
"I sought for the greatness
and genius of American in her commodious harbor and her amble rivers — and it was not there; in her fertile fields and boundless forests — and it was not there; in her rich mines and her vast world commerce — and it was not there; in her democratic Congress and her matchless constitution — and it was not there.
"Not until I went into the churches of America and heard her pulpits aflame with righ- teousness did i understand the secret of her genius and power.
America is great because she is good, and if America ceases to be good, she will cease to be great."
If we, the people, continue to believe that America is good, ordained by God; maybe soon — just maybe — God will in- tervene and stop the destruc- tion of our beautiful country by those who hate America. In God we trust.
Manuel Madrid Reedley
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QUOTE
“If a man will begin with certainties, he shall end in doubts; but if he will be content to begin with doubts he shall end in certainties.”
— Sir Francis Bacon (1561-1626)