Page 4 - Dinuba Sentinel 12-20-18 E-edition

Opinion
A4 | Thursday, December 20,, 2018
In My Opinion
ACChristmaswishofrationalthinking
hristmas is just days away, of out-of-control having slipped up on many of welfare programs
us as it always seems to do, began to take a take a
Fred Hall - Publisher Rick Curiel - Editor
and the New Year is right around the corner. Perhapsthisistheidealtime
to wax philosophical about what it all means, especially since all of those with both political parties appear to have done everything within their power to divide our country along the lines of the party line voter constituency.
While “divide and conquer” seems to be a relatively new tactic, history tends toproveotherwise. Ithasalwaysbeen used, and since the people are relatively slow learners, there has always been the ancillary negative impact, making it a “winatanycost”undertaking. Wethink it only appears worse because so many aremorebrazenintheirefforts. While It leaves the practitioner with a sense
of instant gratification, it also leaves longtermproblemsinitswake! The real losers in this failed strategy are the people, themselves.
Time after time, during especially trying times, the American people have shown themselves to be above all the ridiculous machinations of their political class. Wehaveabsoluteconfidencethat is exactly what will happen as a result
of the infighting and silliness that is emanating from our nation’s capitol as wellasall50statecapitols. Alittlebitof understanding, compassion and common sense will go a long way toward helping cure the injuries being internally inflicted on the world’s greatest country.
The simplest, most direct step which could be taken to ameliorate the current hatred and outrage would be to simply accept the results of the 2016 election. The people have indeed voted and they elected Donald Trump over the Democrat candidate,HillaryClinton. The continued tantrums on one side of the political spectrum only results in dividing the American people and nothing else. Hillary did not win and there is nothing they can do about that except to begin tomakepreparationsfor2020. The greater good of this great country is more important than the pique of a few.
If we, as a country, are so awful and racist as claimed, then when the wall is built, we should have people going over the wall headed south I seriously doubt that such an event will occur.
Aside from a couple of Republican Governors, a simple review will quickly demonstrate that the State of California has essentially been under Democrat controlsinceabout1960. TheGolden State. As it was once known, enjoyed such an abundance of natural resources and a climate that was a magnet
for young talented entrepreneurs it essentially fell into the category of “too big to fail.”
Times change and the proliferation of left-leaning policies with high taxes and a constant intrusion by bureaucracy in the form of regulations and implementation
Guest Column
A Science is not 'Fake News'
Fred Hall
toll on this economic giant. Ignoring Einstein’s assertion that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over while expecting a different result,
we continue to return the same party to power which dug such an overwhelming hole.
We now have the highest rate of poverty in the country; major cities are awash with homeless living in the streets; thehousingshortageiscriticalwithno resolution in sight and we are building a completely illogical high-speed railroad which is devouring billions of taxpayer dollars with no realistic end in sight.
Thrown into this mix is an increasing indication of election fraud with claims of “ballot harvesting” and youngsters under the age of 18 being provided absentee ballots. Why would anyone have any doubt when voter registration is placed in the hands of The Department of Motor Vehicles.
Anyone—that would mean almost everyone—who has been forced to deal with these people is well aware of their incompetence!
Perhaps this Christmas we should all pray for a little more rational thinking statewide when it comes to managing theaffairsforthestate. Revisitthe idea of eliminating absentee ballots and the mischief that seems to surround them and think twice about opening our borders to people who become a burden to society—especially when we already have double the population our infrastructurewasmeanttohandle.
There can be little doubt that, as
we approach year’s end in 2018, the struggle for continuation of publication of newspapers is beginning, financially, to prove to be an overwhelming undertaking.That’swhywewanttotake a moment to personally thank each and everyone of you who are readers and advertisers with one of the Mid Valley family of publications.
Your continued support helps assure that our communities continue to get
the most current reporting on the going- ons with local government, school news, sports coverage as well as reports on local police and fire activity. If we don’t tell you the real story, who is going to? Think about what I’ve said, and let me know how you feel. Merry Christmas to you and yours, may “climate change” give us plenty of water for the farmer again this year.
But, as always, that’s only one man’s opinion.
Fred Hall is publisher of the Dinuba Sentinel.
Guest Column
TMary and Joseph sought asylum
his holiday season — a time so often associated Herod’s government threatened their with bringing family together — my thoughts keep newborn child, Maria and so many other turning to the families in the migrant caravans parents have picked up everything and
making their way to the U.S. southern border.
I had the privilege of spending four days in Mexico last
month with my organization, the American Friends Service Committee, to assess the needs of participants in the caravan and expand human rights monitoring.
As I crept into my children’s bedrooms to give them a kiss when I got back, resisting the urge to wake them up for cuddling and conversation, I thought about what would make me pick up with them and flee, with little notice and even less information about what would lie ahead.
Over and over again, our delegation heard of the need for more strollers for the migrant caravan. Could I even imagine dropping everything to walk 3,000 difficult miles with my children in my arms — without even a stroller?
Watching coverage of the U.S. firing tear gas at migrants at the border, and hearing the harrowing reports from my colleague who witnessed that violent repression, I thought again about the mothers I’d met in Mexico. What could push me to take the risk of facing this violence to protect my children?
I met so many people in Mexico who joined the caravan because it was their only way out.
I think about “Maria” (not her real name), a young mother of four I met. Maria is from El Salvador, where violence and a complete lack of opportunities put her family at risk. One of her children had already been killed by gang violence.
When word spread of the caravan, Maria made a spontaneous choice to join. She told me she was in search of opportunity for her family, and the hope of seeing her children grow up in a place without constant danger.
Like Mary and Joseph, who fled to Egypt when King
Kerri Kennedy
undertaken a harrowing journey to save their children’s lives.
Caravan participants I met expressed
so much faith — both in God and the idea that United States is a place that embraces those fleeing violence and poverty. What else can they do in the face of such an existential threat but hope and pray for a
Letters to the editor
High School choral groups lift up the spirit of Christmas
chance for their families to live?
In the season when many celebrate the birth of a child
whose family had to flee to another country to keep him alive, what does our shared humanity demand from parents making the same difficult choice today?
In the face of our government’s cruelty, I feel called to stand up for the people of the migrant caravan. That’s why the American Friends Service Committee has called for a week of action in the U.S. under the name Love Knows No Borders: A moral call for migrant justice.
We mobilized faith leaders to the border on December 10, and for the following week groups lined up to host actions around the country expressing love and solidarity with migrants.
We are demanding that our country open its doors to people like Maria, and thousands of others, instead of meeting them with violence. In this season of giving, I hope people of conscience across the country will join us in standing up for families in need of aid.
Kerri Kennedy oversees humanitarian and peace- building work in 17 countries for the American Friends Service Committee. Distributed by OtherWords.org.
new report by the Union of us make sound Concerned Scientists accuses decisions that Trump’s Interior Department compromise
The other day when walking through the hallway at the high school I heard some angelic voices coming from the music room and I thought, “I’m going to the Christmas program if I haven’t missed it already.” We get so jaded when it comes to Christmas as we get older; nonstop shopping ads, repetitive, catchy Christmas tunes and clichés 24-7.
But watching and listening to high school kids on stage singing in choral groups, that reflects the beauty and
the innocence of Christmas good will underneath all the
commercialism. Our students showed such class in the way they conducted themselves and performed with such talent, the teachers and staffers planned and guided the performance so professionally, and the audience was so attentive, gracious, and courteous, It gave me such a warm feeling. Walking out of the auditorium into the cool night air I was glad I live in this town and that we have such a really great high school.
of “relentless attacks on science ranging from suppressing and sidelining the work of the department’s scientists to systematically refusing to act on climate change.”
To put it mildly, this is concerning.
The Union of Concerned Scientists
is an advocacy group whose words are chosen to advance their viewpoint. They refer often to “science,” which we assume to be non ideological, universal, and true. In this sense, science is the highest guiding principle that all should follow, as it is in the best interest of our nation and planet.
In practice, the power dynamics and other social divisions within our society don’t go away when one does “science.”
Yale sociologist Justin Farrell points out that disputes over the management of nature can be more moral than scientific in nature. Science can tell us how many wolves or grizzly bears live
in Wyoming, or how much habitat and genetic diversity they need to survive
as a species. But the belief that humans should manage nature to preserve intact ecosystems is a moral one.
Economics and politics matter too, as we determine whose interests and opinions matter most.
What’s it worth to us to protect
Bears Ears National Monument, which encompasses land sacred to Native Americans? To Native Americans and those who support them, the land is priceless. The mining industries can put a specific price tag on the minerals in the ground.
Whether it’s worth banning mining
on land that is beautiful, ecologically valuable, and sacred to Native Americans is a moral question, not a scientific one.
That said, science is needed to help
between groups with competing values and interests. The government needs to produce, believe, and
disseminate science that will allow it
to act in the best
Ron Jefferson Dinuba
Jill Richardson
interests of the American people, and
to help the people hold the government accountable. TheTrumpadministration clearly isn’t doing that.
According to the LA Times, “Interior isn’t the only science agency that
has been turned into a billboard for political and ideological propaganda.
The Environmental Protection Agency has been similarly hollowed out, and
the Department of Health and Human Services has all but abandoned its duty to advance Americans’ access to affordable healthcare.”
There’s another reason why we need solid science within the government: to enable the government to follow its own laws. Trump’s administration is taking
a see no evil, hear no evil approach. Without information about how a mining project might impact an endangered species, or human health, or water quality, they’re going to end up enabling projects that violate existing laws. Which is probably the point.
It’s understandable that some people disagree with our laws or don’t wish
to follow them. However, we have a democratic process for changing those laws. When it comes to public safety regulations, industries and politicians have no business going around voters by suppressing the science needed to uphold the laws that protect them.
Distributed by OtherWords.org.
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