Page 4 - Reedley Exponent 9-6-18 E-edition

The Reedley Exponent A4 Thursday, September 6, 2018 Editorial & Opinions
Serving “The World’s Fruit Basket” since 1891
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
In the event that you may read this col- umn on something of a regular basis, you are well aware of my position that the missing leg of the three-legged stool that is immigration would be the one that represents assimilation. Absent that very important element, it will al- ways be a balancing act that is doomed to fail- ure. Without it, we become a nation of tribes.
Jon Earnest — Editor
Chris Aguirre — Sports Editor Juanita Adame — Panorama Editor Budd Brockett — Editor Emeritus
QUOTE
“Acquaintance, n.: A person whom we know well enough to borrow from, but not well enough to lend to.”
Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914),
“The Devil’s Dictionary”
Boycott? More power to you, but I don’t care to hear about it
Try to imagine my surprise when, this
past weekend in the local daily newspaper, I
read a column which advised its readers that
all white people should “just get over it.” The
flying of foreign national flags and the domination of a foreign language in the workplace was here to stay and if it presented a problem for any english speaking residents of the United States they should just go “pound sand.”
A diversity of people can, indeed, represent strength to a na- tion. However, that same diversity — when it comes to language and other items which bind us together as Americans — it repre- sents a devastating weakness! The motto of this great country is not lost on many of us. E pluribus unum is Latin for “out of many, one.” What the hell is so hard to understand about that simple statement by so many? If one is looking for the real reason for the strength and greatness of this country, that would be it. Many people, from all over the world, have come together and assimi- lated to become Americans.
True Americans are not hyphenated Americans. The heredity of all of us varies to some degree but language, opportunity, pur- pose and love of the country by all true Americans is what binds us together with such resolve!
Please stop telling me to get over it and idly stand by as this country is allowed to slide into the same morass which bedevils most of the third world countries from which many of these new immigrants come. How in the world can their bringing their old way of life with them going to make us stronger when, by their own admission, they’re trying to escape that?
Those arriving here should be especially cognizant of plac- ing an economic burden on their fellow Americans—and yet, our socialistic politicians are on record advocating free “universal” health care. In its simplest form, that means the tax payers will be called upon to provide a haven for medical refugees and pay for anyone who can get here. That’s just completely wrong on every level.
Moving on to a different subject, we’re just entering that time of our political year which is best known for its obfuscation. The ballots will soon be printed featuring candidates representing the party of your choice and several statewide ballot measures. Expe- rience has taught us that due to titling at the Secretary of State’s office the wording of ballot measures does not always honestly signify the true nature of the proposition on which one is voting.
This is still early in the season but vote-by-mail ballots will go out soon and we felt it imperative to at least identify the twelve statewide measures which have qualified with enough time as to allow voters an opportunity to evaluate each. If you fail to do so, you will find yourself in the voting booth attempting to parse the true meaning of each by an often mis-labeled title by the politi- cians and little else.
Proposition l authorizes bonds to fund specified housing assis- tance programs; Proposition 2 authorizes bonds to fund existing housing program for individuals with mental illness; Proposition 3 authorizes bonds to build projects for water supply and qual- ity, watershed, fish, wildlife, water conveyance and groundwater sustainability and storage; Proposition 4 authorizes bonds funding construction at hospitals providing children’s health care; Proposi- tion 5 changes requirements for certain property owners to trans- fer their property tax base to replacement property; Proposition 6 eliminates certain road repair and transportation funding, requires retail fuel taxes and vehicle fees be approved by the electorate; Proposition 7 conforms California daylight saving time to Fed- eral law. Allows legislature to change daylight saving time period; Proposition 8 regulates amounts out patient kidney dialysis clinics charge for dialysis treatment; Proposition 9 was removed from the ballot by order of the California Supreme Court; Proposition 10 expands local governments’ authority to enact rent control on residential property; Proposition 11 requires private sector ambu- lance employees to remain on-call during work breaks; Proposition 12 establishes new standards for confinement of specified farm animals.
Now, that’s a load of stuff to work your way through. Some cer- tainly appear to be benign but accept nothing for granted because it’s a good bet that one way or another they will impact your life. My traditional caveat would be to examine especially closely those which will add to your costs of living which, here in California, are growing — seemingly exponentially — every year. It’s difficult to ask any of us to tax ourselves even more.
Remember to pay very little attention to the way our secretary of state has titled these proposition. On a personal note, I would suggest we be particularly careful when approving additional water bonds, given the way the Central Valley has been treated previously. As in everything that happens in this state in terms of politics, the devil is in the details. Read them all carefully and make yourself an informed voter.
What a week it’s been for the boycott.
First comes an Aug. 29 social media post from Eric Bauman, chairman of California’s Demo- cratic Party, suggesting that peo- ple boycott In-N-Out, the popular Southern California-based ham- burger chain, for the chain’s re- ported action of donating $25,000 to the California Republican Party.
Then came word over the Labor Day weekend that Nike was begin- ning an advertising campaign with still-unemployed pro football quar- terback Colin Kaepernick using the provocative comment “Believe in something, even if it means sac- rificing everything.” On a much larger scale, people nationwide are screaming to boycott Nike, even to the point of cutting off or blotting out the familiar swoosh logo.
Two protests at opposite ends of the political spectrum. I’m not buying either of them.
Let’s start with Bauman, who’s already backing off his comments by saying that wasn’t his intention. Even though he was the twit who tweeted “Et tu In-N-Out. Tens of thousands of dollars donated to the California Republican Party... It’s time to #BoycottInNOut — let Trump and his cronies support these creeps... perhaps animal style!” Bauman said that Demo- crats have raised so much in small donations from his tweet that he was going to buy his staff burgers to celebrate their victory. Mean-
while, vehicles driven by conser- vatives and hungry non-partisan patrons packed drive-thru lines at In-N-Out restaurants — as usual at many locations.
Then there’s the fallout over the Nike-Kaepernick partner- ship. Gleeful fans who don’t like or event despise Kaepernick for his political stands and history of kneeling while the national anthem is played relished the fact that Nike stock dropped 3 percent in value on Sept. 4, overlooking the shoe giant’s market cap of more than $127 billion.
•••
Freedom of choice — includ-
ing the choice to boycott an item or service you find distasteful, disgraceful or appalling — is as American as it gets. However, that freedom also includes the contrar- ian act of buying that item or ser- vice that others would boycott.
That would be me. Like many Americans, I happen to love In- N-Out — and even the occasional Chic-fil-A — and it has nothing to do with the owner’s Christian be- liefs or “narrow-minded” views as perceived by some who are nar- row minded. No, I like the food’s consistent quality. If that slips up, then you lose my business.
I own pairs of casual Nike running/athletic shoes, and it has nothing to do with liberal owner- ship or social causes. No, they’re comfortable and hold up pretty well to my wear-and-tear walking,
and I got them
for a reasonable
$40-$50. What
would I boycott?
Paying $300 and
up for an athlete-
endorsed sneak-
er. As a Chicago
sports fan, the
Bulls were my
favorite pro basketball team. Did I buy Air Jordans? Never did and never will, even when they were an “outrageous” $50 or so back in the mid-1980s.
•••
I shop when I can at small
businesses — which makes me a conservative or liberal supporter, depending on the owner. I shop at Walmart (conservative), Costco (liberal), Hobby Lobby (conser- vative), drink K-Cups from Star- bucks (liberal). My spending dol- lars know no political persuasion. I can’t stand Papa John’s (because I felt like I was eating cardboard when I tried one, not because of John Schnatter’s commercials or ego). Same with McDonald’s or Coke. If I can use it as a paper- weight or clean my toilet with it, I want no part of it.
Boycotts can have their up side. They cut down on the demand or wait time. But as far as I’m con- cerned, I’m all for boycotting the boycott. Power to the people!
Fred Hall
Jon Earnest
But, as always, that’s only one man’s opinion.
Conservancy backs county plans for river Fresno County’s pro-
posed general plan for 2020- 2040 includes a component pertaining to the Kings Riv- er Regional Plan. The Kings River Conservancy’s (KRC) Board is very supportive of the county’s plans for the lower Kings River. The KRC agrees agricultural produc- tion, open space, wildlife and fauna, and recreation in and on the Kings River area need to be preserved. Proscribed mineral extrac- tion — that is quarrying — benefits private enterprises and the local economy.
While the KRC was on- ly started in 2004, we have contributed both “sweat” labor and financial support of a new county park, new all-access trails at North Riverside, the promotion and protection of the local fishery, and significant con- trol of invasive species. Our work includes maintenance of restrooms, graffiti clean- up, and trash pick-up. Ma- jor new projects underway include a nature preserve and educational center near Pine Flat Dam, an educa- tional program coordinated
with local schools, and a new River access point in Sanger. There will be even great- er challenges in the next 20 years. The extension of the expanded Highway 180 free- way and the future closure of older quarries will re- quire the county’s vigilance and planning. There is ongo- ing evidence of greater pub- lic demand for recreation on the Kings from all parts of
our community.
The Kings River Con-
servancy looks forward to working with the county on these challenges and opportunities and hopes the improved strength of the county will enable it to participate even more as a partner in our mutual aspi- rations for the Kings.
Vernon Crowder Reedley Editor’s note: Vernon Crowder is executive direc- tor of the Kings River Con-
servancy.
Kudos to police for handling situations Police brutality and
shootings is on the news much too often today. How many times we complain
about law enforcement offi- cers with undue force many times ending in a shooting of an innocent victim.
I read the Reedley Ex- ponent faithfully and I am impressed over and over again on their handling of a suspect with a knife or and armed suspect without the shooting of a suspect. I recently read of a suspect that was known to have a gun at one point but he was apprehended with — lucky for the suspect — dog bites! Another incident was a sus- pect found to have a Ruger .45 caliber pistol, an AR-15 rifle, and a .22 caliber rifle. The suspect was arrested, not unduly harmed.
Come on Reedley, give a shout out to the fine conduct of our officers of our Reed- ley Police Department!
Celia Fellows Reedley
Thanks church
for parking options
I wanted to publicly
thank the Redeemer’s Church on Reed and Parlier Avenues. It is very gener- ous of the church to allow overflow parking from
Reedley College. My fresh- man son has utilized the lot a few times and it has greatly reduced his stress as he navigates his first few weeks of college.
Thank you for looking out for the students of the junior college and allowing them to use your lot.
Angie Tarr Sanger
In praise of RCTC’s ‘Legends’ production Buddy Holly, Janis
Joplin, Aretha Franklin, Dean Martin, Little Rich- ard, Nancy Sinatra, Barbra Streisand, Cher, and many more personalities recently performed at the current Reedley River City The- atre Company’s production of “Legends Icons.”
It was amazingly well- done entertainment: high on-stage energy level, ex- cellent vocalists, exciting talent, outstanding direc- tion, choreography and costuming.
A huge thank you and congratulations to all cast, crew, and directors.
Gary and Elizabeth Barsoom Reedley
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