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

Fred Hall — Publisher
Jon Earnest — Editor
Dick Sheppard — Editor Emeritus
Look no further than the news re-
ports, where we were advised that the
Chinese have developed and tested a
hypersonic missile — it flies at five
times the speed of sound — while our
State Department rolled out the news
that they had developed a passport with the gender iden- tification of “X.” Now, isn't that special! There's noth- ing wrong with people living their lives as they wish — That's one of the wonderful things about America. However, there are truly only two genders; male and female. Science bears it out; no amount of wishing or ideology can mitigate that truth.
The “woke” generation, who seem to be in control of our government and military, is busy conducting pronoun seminars, working on diversity and inclusion and climate change while making sure there is “equity.” Heaven only knows what activists and politicians mean while using that term. We've also been told that “white supremacy” is the greatest problem facing America, ac- cording to our president.
Secretary of Defense, Loyd Austin, and Head of The Joint Chiefs, Mark Milley, both decided it was impera- tive that all of our soldiers be exposed to Critical Race Theory — whose existence seems to be to denigrate all white people — and investigate each and everyone of our troops, looking for “subversive” thoughts. In case you may have forgotten, these two “masterminds” of strat- egy were behind the botched withdrawal from Afghani- stan. That mess, alone, should have resulted in firings or resignations. Not so with this Biden administration. Failure has become the norm!
Don't expect China, Russia, Iran, North Korea and the rest of the world to spend much time on any of those sil- ly issues. They worry less about being politically correct than they do about the future well being of their coun- tries. I fear that all of this silly “feel good” stuff may be our undoing. How can one do all this stupid stuff and still expect respect from the rest of the world? Our political decisions have become so erratic that even prior allies are beginning to question our government's rationale.
It's been the better part of a year, and would prob- ably be a good time to examine the scorecard of accom- plishments (or lack thereof) of this Democrat controlled administration. We're having a hard time building new cars because of a shortage of computer chips. China got those. We shut down pipelines and closed areas to explo- ration. Russia got the pipeline to secure their position as a petroleum player in the real world. We got soaring prices and shortages. Capping all of that, we now have inflation.
When we tucked tail and ran from Afghanistan us- ing this administration's plan, we left behind $85 billion worth of war materiel. This makes the Taliban one of the best equipped armies in the world, and they're basically goat herders turned terrorists.
The drug cartels got open orders and a brand new source of income. We have mandates, lockdowns, high- er taxes, hyperinflation and thousands of people losing their places of employment because they believe in free- dom of choice.
Adding salt to the wound is the fact that the Biden Justice Department is beginning to track down illegals who were deported under Donald Trump so the Ameri- can taxpayer can pay these people $450,000 per indi- vidual. That would make these poorly-educated people millionaires, or in many cases, multimillionaires. We don't believe that waste of money is going to sit well with the hard-working Americans who will be forced to pay foreigners for nothing but breaking the law. God help us all!
You can't complain that there's nothing to do do this weekend around much of The Times' coverage area. Espe- cially if you have a patriotic love and respect for our veter- ans, or are a sports fan of the local high schools and colleges.
First off, the Veterans Day salutes begin on a serious lev- el with parades scheduled in Sanger and Orosi-Cutler on Saturday, Nov. 6. Depending on your preference and loca- tion (and you even can double up), there's the annual Sanger Veterans Parade in downtown Sanger, back after a year's ab- sence because of COVID-19. The opening ceremony will be at 10 a.m. at 7th and O streets, and the parade starts at 11 a.m. at Academy Avenue and 10th Street and works its way downtown. This year's grand marshal is Lee Delap, who had a long Army career as a team/ squad leader and sergeant and earned multiplie medals for his military service including in the Vietnam war.
At 9 a.m. Saturday, the 2021 Cutler-Orosi Veteran's Day
parade begins along Road 128 (Highway 63) in front of Orosi High School. The parade then heads south along 128 and ends at Ledbetter Park in Cutler. This year's grand marshal is Donald Lee Wade, a Vietnam veteran and member of the Dinuba chapter of the Vietnam Veterans of America.
There's also plenty of sports-related activities on Nov. 6. Starting at 10 a.m., Reedley High's girls volleyball team will be playing for the Di- vision V section championship at West Hills College Lemoore's Golden Eagle gym. It's a fitting cap to a postseason run for the Pirates, who had their streak of North Yosemite League cham- pionships ended this season but now get to play for the big sec- tion prize in Division V.
At 11 a.m. that day, both Reedley and Sanger High girls water polo teams have quar- terfinal matchups. The Pirates will be at home Paso Robles in Division II, while the Apaches will be in Fresno to take on Di- vision I top seed Clovis West.
Another special attraction
is in Dinuba,
where home-
town hero
Dylan Lee will
be putting on
a free baseball
and softball
clinic for young
plays in the ar-
ea. Lee finally realized his Ma- jor League Baseball dreams in a huge way, making his big league debut just a month ago for the Atlanta Braves — the world champion Atlanta Braves, who finished off the Houston Astros on Nov. 2. Lee saw action in two games, and made MLB history by making his first ever career start in the "bigs" in the World Series (Game 5, where he had a no decision).
Throw in a handful of re- gional football playoff games on Nov. 4-5 — not to mention a big college football game for Fresno State against Boise State — and there's a lot to fol- low in the coming days.
Jon Earnest is news-sports editor for The Times.
But, as always, that's only one man's opinion.
Thursday, November 4, 2021 | A4 | Mid Valley TiMes Editorial & Opinions
QUOTE
“They say such nice things about people at their funerals that it makes me sad to realize that I'm going to miss mine by just a few days.”
— Garrison Keillor (1942-)
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 'Feel good' mentality could
be America's undoing
Excerpting one of the lines from the classic "Twilight Zone" television series, “Do you want to hear or see something really scary?”
Veterans Day parades, fall sports playoffs highlight busy weekend
Jon Earnest
Fred Hall
Benefits of physical activity to curb diabetes
Editor's Note: November is Diabetes Awareness Month. Here is the first of four guest columns this month with tips to prevent and curb diabetes.
By Chinayera Black Hardaman
Guest columnist
According to the National Institute of Health, diet and exercise can prevent and/or de- lay the onset of Type 2 Diabe- tes. Clinical trials proved that a half hour of walking or other low-intensity exercise daily, combined with a low-fat diet, reduces the risk of developing Type 2 Diabetes by 58 percent. Almost half of the people with Type 2 Diabetes will develop arthritis, which makes the maintenance of physical activ- ity even more important.
Many may believe that they need a gym membership or ex- pensive exercise equipment to get moving. In fact, quite the opposite is true. If you have a supportive pair of shoes and
a safe place to walk, you can start today!
Here is a list of some other physical activities to get start- ed:
• Cycling — If you have low- er joint pain, consider choosing low-impact exercise. Cycling, for example, can help you meet your fitness goals while mini- mizing strain on your joints.
• Swimming — Swimming, water aerobics, aqua jogging, and other aquatic activities can give your heart, lungs, and muscles a workout, while put- ting little stress on your joints.
• Team Sports — Many rec- reational sports offer a good aerobic workout. Consider try- ing basketball, soccer, softball, pairs tennis, or ultimate fris- bee.
• Aerobic Dance — Zumba is a fitness program that com- bines dance and aerobic move- ments for a fast-paced work- out.
Type 2 Diabetes is a chronic disease that tends to become
harder to man-
age as we age
and begin living
a more sedative
lifestyle. Rec-
ognizing this
need, the Sierra
Kings Health
Care District
has given Si-
erra View Homes in Reedley a $25,000 grant for the “Get Moving Program.” Through this program, seniors in their independent living program can participate in age- and abil- ity-relevant physical activities four days per week.
While many may dread it, exercise and physical activ- ity is simple. Just get moving! Find lifestyle activities like gardening or going out dancing to get started.
Chinayera Black Harda- man is CEO of the Sierra Kings Health Care District in south- east Fresno County.
Chinayera Black Hardaman
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