Page 3 - Sanger Herald 12-6-18 E-edition

Random thoughts Two state senators call Sanger their home town ...
Dick Sheppard
I put a diagram of how it's supposed to be done on page 8A.
Bah humbug!
•••
Thanks to the several readers who responded to the request for help trying to find descendents of Nobuyoshi Akita who mailed a "Happy New Year" one-cent post- card in Sanger on Dec. 31, 1920.
Special thanks to Gerald Adams of the Sanger Historical Society who dug into all
It's not so much the tree
that bothers me as it is Sanger drivers who refuse to treat it like a traffic circle and make left turns that threaten to spoil the Christmas season for those of us who make a left turn as though we were going around a traffic circle the correct way.
SANGER HERALD 3A THURSDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2018 EDITORIAL & OPINION
By Dick Sheppard
I'm sure I will be accused of being a being a Grinch again this year for saying I am not a fan of the decorated tree in the middle of the 7th and N streets intersection.
kinds of archives and found a Nobuyoshi Akita. But he was in Japan, not Sanger.
I'm starting to believe that Ralph Kumano, another Historical Society member - and a big wheel in the Japanese American Citizen League - is probably right about Mr. Akita being someone who was just passing through Sanger when he mailed the postcard.
••• What a great parade!
I'm not sure how it could have been any better. Big waytogos to the chamber's Tammy Wolfe and Karen Pearson and the city's Joaquin Zamora for putting it together.
You can see almost 200 parade photos on the Sanger Herald's Facebook page.
•••
The city council will try to decide this
evening whether to replace Melissa Hurtado by appointing someone from council district No. 1 or by holding a special election in that district to replace her on the council.
Hurtado, defeated incumbent Andy Vidak in the 14th state senate district and was sworn in as a senator on Monday.
The Fresno County Board of Supervisors has already approved a special election for
March 5, 2019, to fill a vacant supervisor seat. The special election could be consoli- dated with a City of Sanger election. The person who replaces Hurtado on the council will serve the remainder of her term which expires in November 2020.
•••
There are now two state senators who call
Sanger their hometown, a Republican and a Democrat. Senator Jim Nielsen, 74, class of '62, is the Republican. He was elected to the senate in 1978 to represent the 4th state sen- ate district in northern California.
Hurtado, 30, a Democrat, represents the 14th state senate district and is the youngest ever female state senator.
•••
I am baffled about why the planning com-
mission at its Nov. 29 meeting approved the minutes of seven previous meetings, dating
all the way back to March 22, without appar- ently even looking at them.
Commissioner Vincent Wall abstained, all the other commissioners voted to okay the minutes on a "Consent Agenda" which allowed them to approve the whole batch with one vote.
I'm so old I remember back to the olden days when the planning commission was composed of a bunch of nit pickers - which was as it should be when planning for the city's future.
Guess the new generation is not so nit picky.
"We have met the enemy and he is us."
- Pogo
Comments, complaints and suggestions may be emailed to sangerherald@gmail.com or may be made by calling 875-2511.
GUEST national commentary
A Point of Light: A tribute to George H. W. Bush
In my OPINION
There is nothing worth
surrendering our freeedom for
By Dr. Gary S. Smith
George H. W. Bush died
last Friday at age 94. Few
Americans have had a
more distinguished politi-
cal resume. He was a U.
S. Congressman, a United
Nations ambassador, chair
of the Republican National
Committee, U.S. envoy to
China, and director of the CIA. He served two terms as vice president and one term as president.
Bush occupied the Oval Office during four momentous years that entailed the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union, the reunification of Germany,
a successful military campaign to drive Iraqi invaders out of Kuwait and major domes-
tic financial problems. Bush used his bully pulpit as president to attack self-indulgence, focus on immediate gratification, and insider trading on Wall Street and to emphasize the importance of faith, morality, service and family values.
His son George W. Bush is better known for his religious convictions, but the senior Bush had a very strong faith as well, which significantly shaped his character and poli- cies as president. Bush served as a Navy pilot in World War II, flying 58 combat missions and winning the Distinguished Flying Cross. During a September 1944 bombing mission, Bush was forced to parachute into the Pacific Ocean south of Japan. The Japanese searched for him, but a U.S. submarine found him first. Bush thanked God for saving his life and asked, “Why had I been spared and what did God have for me?”
Bush’s parents were devout Episcopalians, and he remained affiliated with this denomination almost his entire life. His father Prescott, a Republican senator from Connecticut, and his mother Dorothy led family worship every morning, using read- ings from the Episcopal Book of Common Prayer. Although Bush worshipped for many years at Episcopal churches in Houston, Washington, and Kennebunkport, Maine, his theology and social policies had more in com- mon with evangelicals than with many fellow Episcopalians.
His three-year-old daughter Robin’s battle with and eventual death from leukemia in the early 1950s both tested and deepened Bush’s faith. He declared that “prayer had always been part” of his and his wife Barbara’s lives, but it became more fervent during this ordeal. “Our faith,” Bush testified, “truly sus- tained us.”
Bush saw God as all-powerful and active in history and the Bible as divinely inspired and
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By Fred Hall
How often have all of us, at one time or another, found ourselves lamenting the failure of our schools andcollegestoteachhis- tory in the modern class- room?
“Those who do not learn
from history are doomed to
repeatit.” Thatquoteappearstohaveorigi- nally come from George Santayana, a phi- losopher, essayist, poet and novelist who lived and worked in the latter part of the nineteen century and continued his legacy until the mid twentieth century.
Education seems to have moved on to social issues and the politically correct posi- tion of the time rather than providing per- spective of the historical events which make us who we are.
Young people are essentially carefully programmed drones who have been sub- mersed in the philosophies of their teachers. Severelyneglectedarecoreeducationalcon- cepts such as history, reading, writing and communicationskills. Childrenleaveschool (that includes our colleges and high schools) woefully unprepared for the real world while being ingrained with opinions which are entirely unsupported.
What would you say if I were to tell you thatthecurrentepidemicofclasswarfare was nothing new but existed as far back as 350BC? Onewouldthinkthat,ifhistory weretruly andeffectivelybeingtaught,
we would know that it existed that long ago and was an element in the destruction of a society. Frankly,thenasnow, thiswarwas joined and even driven by the writings and pronouncements of the educated elite. Plato actually described Athens as being bifurcat- edordecidedlytwocities. Hedeclaredone as a city occupied by the poor and one by the rich. Onewasopenlyatwarwiththeother.
Men of means were forced to defend themselves against claims of wealth and property ownership as if they were crimes. As with all confrontations, it was inevitable thatonewouldgaincontrolovertheother. Just as we are experiencing today, class envy led to higher taxes and the essential destruc- tion of upper and middle classes.
Governmentwillinevitablycrumble,usu- ally resulting in the takeover by a despot with an iron hand who returns order but exacts an awful price in terms of freedoms lost.
This week, for example, we will experi- ence a day of remembrance - December 7 will mark that day of vicious attack at Pearl Harbor in 1941 - which changed the world forever. Probably,asidefromtheawful death toll of a sneak bombing raid early on a Sunday morning, the saddest thing to be said is that we have people who don't truly under- stand what happened.
We've since apologized for bombing the perpetrator, after a bloody 4-year conflict, in an effort to end the killing and destruction.
Although it was evident to everyone back in 1945, the introduction of such a frightening display of power was the best solution to end thebloodlettingforever. Theresultswere nightmarish but the result was undeniable. No one I knew felt good about what had hap- pened.
Wartime, itself, is basically inhumane but itseemstherewillalwaysbethoseamong
us create war for a variety of reasons, but especially over territory and financial consid- erations.
It's always best to end any conflict by any means necessary and as soon as possible.
There are many among us who, through the years, have become either taught of con- vinced that everything that happens in the world is America's Fault.
We have a large swath of college students who have matriculated believing that, some- how, this country is inherently evil because we have committed missteps while becoming theworld'smostbenevolentsuperpower. I suspect there will be a day of rude awakening ifthosepeopleareeversuccessfulintheir efforts to diminish America's power.
The best solution to counter so much of the misinformation we are fed in schools and through a biased media is to either buy books and read them or go to the library while they stillexist. Socialmediaandtheinternethave taken a huge toll on American intellect in areasofsocialinteraction. Anyoneexpect- ingtogetanunvarnishedviewofhistoryor current events should not expect to find them on Facebook or any of the on-line news sites. Fartoomuchoftoday'swriting,evenwith newspapers, is cloaked in advocacy journal- ism.
One of the wonderful lessons available to allofisthatitisnevertoolatetolearnand knowledge is the greatest weapon available tocombattyrannyintheeducationalprocess being foisted upon the last two or three gen- erations.
I realize it might sound trite but awareness of the truth can be a great tool to combat the dumbingdownofAmerica. We'veseenall
of this before and no matter how fashionable some of the socialistic thinking currently being foisted on all us may appear to be, pleaseremember: we'vetrieditallbefore somewhere in history and it never works. Nothing is worth surrendering one's free- doms for!
But, as always, that's only one man's opin- ion.
In addition to the Sanger Herald, Publisher Fred Hall oversees two other Mid Valley Publishing newspapers - Reedley Exponent, and Dinuba Sentinel. He can be contacted by phone at (559) 638-2244 or by email at fred@ midvalleypublishing.com.
Gary S. Smith
authoritative. “One cannot be America’s pres- ident,” the Republican frequently asserted, without “the strength that your faith gives to you.” The Bible, Bush attested, had strongly influenced America’s values and institutions and had long “been a great source of comfort to me.” He affirmed that Jesus was God’s divine Son and frequently referred to Christ as “our Savior.” Moreover, Bush peppered his speeches with biblical quotations, precepts, and stories to support his positions.
In his 1989 inaugural address, Bush prayed “Heavenly Father, we ... thank You for Your love.” Make us “willing to heed and hear Your will and write on our hearts these words: ‘Use power to help people.’” All of Bush’s cabinet meetings began with prayer. George and Barbara, who died less than eight months before him, regularly prayed togeth- er before going to sleep during their 73-year marriage. As president, Bush referred to prayer in 220 different speeches, proclama- tions, and remarks.
Bush continually exhorted Americans to seek God’s aid in dealing with the nation’s problems. He asserted more than any other chief executive that the United States was “one nation under God” and accountable
to Him. “Without God’s help,” the Texan avowed, “we can do nothing,” but “with it, we can do great things.”
Bush repeatedly argued that nations should adhere to transcendent moral
norms and that America was founded upon Judeo-Christian principles. “In carrying
out the responsibilities of government,”
Bush averred, governments must “follow
the teachings of our Heavenly Father.” Government, he maintained, had a limited but vital role to play in promoting the com- mon good and alleviating social problems. Remedying social ills required the active efforts of federal, state, and local govern- ments as well as parents, teachers, business- es, and churches. Government, Bush insisted, should “create a safe, healthy environment” and help citizens “lead more meaningful lives” by improving education, reducing drug usage, and retaking “neighborhoods from criminals.”
Freedom of worship, Bush contended, had enabled religion to play an essential role in American society. The liberty Americans enjoyed, he proclaimed, “is clearly rooted in our Nation’s Judeo-Christian moral heritage and in the timeless values that have united Americans of all religions,” especially “love of God and family, personal responsibility and virtue, respect for the law, and concern for others.”
Bush rejoiced that religious liberty was increasing around the world. Despite perse-
See Tribute to George H.W. Bush on page 7A An award winning
2018 member of the California Newspaper Publishers Association
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