Page 4 - Mid Valley Times 9-10-20 E-edition

Thursday, September 10, 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 Beware of snollygosters
invading our lives
What would you think if I were to tell you that there are snollygosters who have invaded your life? Well, take my word, there are, and they're rep- resented disproportionately among our political class — considering the definition is of a shrewd, unprincipled individual.
Flexibility is the key to coping with change
Rick Curiel — Sanger Editor Jon Earnest — Reedley Editor Dick Sheppard — Editor Emeritus
Fred Hall
I’ll be 45 next month, and though my mind tells me I’m still a young man my body has a way of reminding me that I’m not as young as I may think.
Pain is the great equalizer. Recently, I heard someone say, “You can’t really appreciate it unless it hurts.”
Now, the comment was made in the context of work- ing for what we get versus the detrimental mentality of entitlement, but can really be applied to many aspects of life.
And, it is especially true when it comes to our health. An aching back, pain in your extremities due to a pinched nerve, even a sprained ankle can help you appreciate the gift of mobility.
When you’re young, most pain can be attributed to a singular event, whether it’s a sports injury or an accident while playing. But when you reach a certain age, so I’m told, you begin to lose reference points for the aches that beset you at the end of a long day.
But, out of the mouth of ba- bies, there is hope.
After complaining of pain in my left leg, from who knows
what, I received the best ad- vise from my five-year-old daughter.
She said, “I know just the thing to fix you up, daddy!”
With that, she preceded to guide me through a short rou- tine of stretching and exercise. In the amusement of it all, it oc- curred to me that my daughter was reminding me of one great lesson in life.
We are all capable of taking care of ourselves. Health is not granted to us by any other means than our own actions. What we do, what we eat, what we drink are all factors in how we feel. Health is not an en- titlement, but can be achieved through our efforts.
The body is meant to be mo- bile. We have legs to walk and hands to work, and yet we of- ten find ourselves more tired from having done less.
Much is the same in today’s new world, where our habits are suddenly taken aback by a pandemic we try to keep in check, and (at least here in the Valley) by toxic air fueled by yet another summer of fires in the heart of California.
It seems the world is literal-
ly trying to hold
us down, as cur-
rent guidelines
and conditions
force us into
even more of a
sedentary life.
That can have
detrimental ef-
fects on the mind, body and soul of a people. And though some of the changes are nec- essary for the sake of saving lives, it is important to adjust our own in order maintain our health.
Be flexible — physically, mentally, even spiritually. Af- ter all, what good are we if not flexible to change? Change is inevitable. As they say, the only constant in life is change.
So, as we navigate through change, whether it be on a per- sonal, local or global level, it is important to remind ourselves to be flexible. Exercise regu- larly. Exercise your mind. Ex- ercise your body and exercise your soul. We need it.
Pain is often unavoidable. But pain helps us appreciate what we have. Take care of it.
Rick Curiel is Sanger editor for The Times.
Rick Curiel
Primary definition indicates; espe-
cially an individual who is guided by
personal advantage rather than con-
sistent, respectable principle. A secondary definition, supplied by Pennsylvania Dutch, is a creature that is one-half reptile and one-half bird which preys on poul- try and children. After watching Nancy Pelosi, Maxine Waters and Adam Schiff — all of whom are from Cali- fornia — I'm convinced that the definitions are inter- changeable. I wouldn't put anything past those people!
There can be little doubt about personal advantage and personal enrichment when it comes to these in- dividuals. How else can one explain the fact that the jobs for which they campaign have salaries that are not extraordinarily high in today's world. They certainly are not minimum wage or entry level money but these folks spend a lot of money to acquire one of those cushy jobs. Simple common sense would tell one that there are underlying benefits.
Flash forward a very few years and one will find that we're talking about a great deal of accumulated money from a minimal salary. They are either lucky or great money managers — or, could it be something even more simple? It strikes us that the only way one can acquire millionaire status in such an abbreviated time is to have taken advantage of “opportunities” pro- vided for providing favors within the parameters of their employment doing “the people's business.”
One of the more striking things — which seems to typify almost everything our ruling class does — is the recent episode involving “queen” Nancy Pelosi and her getting a hair-style which was forbidden for the com- moner. “Rules for thee but not for me” seems to be standard operating procedure when it comes to any mandate or procedure enacted in faraway places like Sacramento or Washington, D.C.
While blatantly violating one of the government's inviolable COVID-19 instructions by getting her hair blown out (whatever the hell that is) it seems that Mad- am Speaker — with a straight face — concluded that she had been tricked and set-up by the salon owner. Royalty, it seems, operates under a very different set of rules than do we. Do you ever think about the fact that, in a lengthy contested election, this is the same woman who could wind up as de facto U.S. president? Tell me, with a straight face, that isn't more than a little bit frightening.
When one speaks of a perversion of our election sys- tem, one can't help realize that what the Democratic Party is doing to Joe Biden borders on out-and-out elder abuse. Biden has dined at the trough of the government and has exercised many of those privileges available only to our political class.
Even with the Biden family's abuse of the system in achieving great wealth for a gene pool that is challenged on many levels, it still seems wrong to take advantage of an older man with obviously limited mental capabilities. A win at all costs seems to be the imperative.
Don't get me wrong, there is absolutely nothing wrong with making money; if one works hard and is fortunate that may even big money. The only problem that I have is when one enriches themselves at the ex- pense of one's fellow man while identifying your goal as service to one's fellow man.
Where is Diogenes of Sinope, who was a Greek cyn- ic philosopher, who spent a lifetime with a lantern in search of an honest man? If one is not truly naive, it is easy to spot these dishonest bottom-feeders — even without a lantern.
Creek Fire the latest blow delivered to region in surreal year we call 2020
Just when you thought it couldn't get any worse...
It's a pretty safe assumption that very few of us — most like- ly none of us — will be putting 2020 on our top 10 lists of favor- ite years. But it's also unlikely that any of us will soon forget just how hard this year has hit us.
Political divisiveness already was starting to bubble over head- ing into a presidential election year. But then came the unprec- edented Coronavirus. No one – unless you're that rare centenar- ian — can remember the United States and the world having to deal with a medical outbreak of this magnitude. Even greater than in the influenza pandemic in 1918-19, this country went through an economic upheaval of soaring short-term unemploy- ment brought on by the mass closing of businesses, schools and churches. It's a continuing
situation in Central California, where Fresno and Tulare coun- ties are trying to stem the tide of positive COVID-19 cases in an effort to change their new "color coding" — in other words, getting off the county monitoring list.
But right when it seemed like a little optimism was on the horizon, the latest hit arrived: a fire of unmatched magni- tude and potential destruction as far as Fresno and Madera county mountain communities are concerned. Flames from the Creek Fire that ignited late last week between Shaver and Huntington Lakes had con- sumed nearly 150,000 acres as of Sept. 8 — nearly double the square mileage size of Fresno. And it's not letting up anytime soon. It remained at zero per- cent contained as it approached a threatening overnight period on Sept. 8-9, one which may have meant the destruction of mul-
tiple homes and structures.
With these
fires, comes
some of the
worst air qual-
ity you'll find.
On Tuesday
night, Reedley's
air quality was listed as "hazard- ous" – my phone said an AQI of 359 but I hope that's a bit over- blown. But if the smoke from the fires is blowing overhead, it could be very accurate.
Prayers and best wishes go out to those many mountain resi- dents directly slammed with the very real and frightening pros- pect of losing their homes. All of us need to be there to support our fellow Valley and mountain neighbors – and share in the wish that 2021 can't get here soon enough.
Jon Earnest is Reedley editor for The Times.
But, please remember, that's only one man's opinion.
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
“I'll be more en- thusiastic about encouraging thinking outside the box when there's evidence of any thinking going on inside it.”
— Terry Pratchett (1948-2015)
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Jon Earnest