By Chuck Doud
The Madera Tribune

The Food and Drug Administration has announced it will approve the use of irradiation on fresh lettuce and spinach to try to cut down on the risk of contamination from e-coli and salmonella.

It’s a welcome decision, but only because the technique has been proven reliable. The FDA is finally getting around to the same determination already made by such groups as the World Health Organization and the American Medical Association that irradiation is a safe, effective and affordable method of sanitizing fresh produce without affecting its quality.

Of course, some people remain concerned that irradiated produce will make them glow in the dark, but that just isn’t true. Test after test has shown irradiation to be of scant risk.
As events over the past few years have proven, simply washing vegetables before they are fresh packed isn’t always enough to insure they are bacteria free. Yet, consumers expect when they open bags of chopped lettuce or baby spinach that those products will be ready to eat.

Most of the time, the products are safe, but being in a hurry and perhaps lazy, consumers often do not conduct their own washing of the contents of those bags o’ veggies or fruit, and the result can be anything from a tummy ache, to a hospital stay, and even in some instances, to death.

When fresh produce is imported from other countries, it becomes even more important to have a tool such as irradiation available. We have no way of knowing what the sanitation conditions were in the fields from which the products were harvested.

The ultimate test will be whether consumers will accept irradiated food. Regulators and the industry are betting that they will.

I would like to acknowledge the dedicated work of Debi Bray and her staff from the Madera District Chamber of Commerce.

My thanks for making the Lifetime Achievement Award Dinner a very memorable occasion for myself, my guests and my family.

Paula Baraldi,
Madera

It is little known that Dec. 25 was the day Jesus Christ was “begotten of the Holy Spirit (Divine Power).”

Though conception and not birth took place this date, it is still a holiday to be observed and celebrated. The Word was becoming flesh at conception, as all souls placed in the womb at conception are becoming flesh.

Though Dec. 25 was a pagan festival long before the conception of Jesus Christ, this does not negate, nor should it trump the importance of His miraculous conception and our honoring this day.
The conception date of Dec. 25 as well as the birth date of Sept. 29 can equally be considered the foundation of the Christian faith.

In Old Testament times the priests were divided into 24 courses for serving at the altar that continued into New Testament times before events happened that caused it to cease. The priests served during their course twice a year plus all priests served at the three Great Feasts.

The course of Abia was the eighth of the 24 courses. The timeline leading up to the conception of Jesus Christ can be followed from the second course of Abia to the conception of John the Baptist, the cousin of Jesus Christ.

“The Companion Bible” (King James Version) with Notes and Appendixes by E.W. Bullinger published by Kregal Publication is a good resource for study; Appendix 179 specifically for this study.

This study makes a strong case to be pro life.

Katherine Atilano,
Madera

I have two questions that I would like to know the answers to on two totally different subjects.

First, whose bright idea was it to have the Back to School nights for the high school and Thomas Jefferson on the same night at the same time as each other?

I know I’m not the only parent forced to choose which one to attend. I’m interested in all of my children’s educations.

I went to one of them, but now feel I will be out of the loop somehow when it comes to the other one’s school year. Maybe the people in Madera Unified’s administration will consider that next year.

On to the other subject, What is the contraption that was hung on the pole by my house a couple of weeks ago? It seems like it’s a camera. I live on one of the smallest streets in Madera. I can’t imagine why someone would have this thing there. There is no street light, traffic, or anything else I can think of as a reason for this things presence. If it isn’t a camera (or is, for that matter) please, someone let me know the purpose for having it there.

April Clark,
Madera

By Chuck Doud
The Madera Tribune

Mothers Against Drunk Driving and virtually anybody else who knows anything at all about the perils of underage drinking have jumped with all feet (in heavy shoes) on an idea called the Amethyst Initiative, in which some 100 present and former college professors call for dropping the drinking-age limit to 18.

Well, now, let’s see. These people are college presidents, and supposedly have the best interests of their students in mind. So, why do they propose making it easier for the students to kill themselves, and also for other young people throughout the country to kill themselves, too? Apparently, they just want fewer young people to have to deal with.

The college presidents want you to believe hurting kids isn’t their goal. They say they believe that making the drinking age younger will alcohol abuse less of a problem when the kids get to college.
I think what they really mean is that if the drinking age is 18, about the age when most students begin their college careers, they, the presidents, won’t have to deal with it. That will be just one more thing they won’t have to put up with. One of the great benefits of a liberal education.

But think about this. They would merely be passing the problem back to others.

More teens would wind up hooked on alcohol before they ever got to college. There would be more kids driving to college and then driving drunk. There would be more kids getting loaded instead of getting an education.

What the college presidents should do is get some spine and enforce the rules against drinking on campus. If they can’t figure out how to do that, maybe somebody who can enforce the rules should have their jobs.

All comments are edited for length and content. Due to content or space limitations some comments may not be published.

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A visitor to the Red Line online, self-identified as “JP,” writes, “After perusing the entire Red Line, I find absolutely no mention or remembrance of Jerry Venturi … People, you ought to be ashamed of yourselves.

“Jerry Venturi, a valley music fixture for over 30 years, passed away on Sunday, Aug. 10. As the owner and operator of Venturi’s House of Music on Howard Road, Jerry brought joy through music to many. My son bought his first acoustic guitar in Jerry’s store, I can even remember going to Venturi’s to get slide oil for the trombone that I played while I was a grade-school student at James Madison.

“Jerry Venturi will be sorely missed by all those that he brought so much to in this community. Ladies and gentlemen, another part of our city’s heritage has just passed into the pages of time. Requiem æternam dona eis, Domine, et lux perpetua luceat eis. Requiescant en pace, amen.”

In response to a Red Line complaint about a column by Leon Emo, in which Emo objected to the hanging of the Confederate battle flag, an Internet reader writes in Emo’s defense, “Hanging the confederate flag is offensive to African-Americans in general being as it stands for a group of people in the past that were for the enslavement of African-Americans. And even now can be made to stand for prejudice towards other ethnic groups.”

A guest of the Red Line online, self-identified as “Tired,” agreed somewhat with complaints about illegal immigrants, but writes, “Why don’t we look at what all the illegals do that there is no way we —as I was born in Mexico but am now a U.S. citizen— would do. I know for a fact if all those Hispanics would get deported and it was up to us to go and pick grapes, oranges, cherries and all our fruits and vegetables at 110 degrees our lazy butts wouldn’t do it.

“I worked with my mother while in grade school and high school in the fields. My father worked at a dairy pretty much my whole life and my family has never been on welfare or food stamps. My parents raised five children and we have excellent jobs.

“Just remember not all illegals are here to bother you, some of us did come here for a better life and took advantage of the chance we got and are not criminals or live on welfare.”

Another reader, self-identified as “Concerned,” writes, “These comments are getting more and more racist with each passing day. It’s like I said in an earlier comment, the biases are coming out, and it’s shocking to see just how people really think.

“Calling people out to be ‘illegals’ and making seriously offensive comments about certain individuals based on your misconceptions about their origin is just shameful. The people making these comments should be left out of common society.”

An Internet visitor, self-identified as “Floydy,” writes, “I say let an area be reflective of the will of the business owners in it and the people that spend money in it. A run down building or area that has zero tangible municipal interest in it’s rehabilitation is not going to be fixed by an exterior ‘color palette.’

“Madera has proven that it doesn’t believe in its downtown — it believes in Lowe’s and Wal-Mart. If you think stucco and paint will fix that, waste tax money on that then.”

A Web reader, self-identified as “Jennifer,” writes, “The City is wasting money all around town fixing streets. For example Pecan and Stadium Road. The city put in stop lights. Why? For two years they have been blinking red. We had a stop sign there before, so why waste the money to put in the signal?

“The road in front of Sierra Vista School was partly complete, and they still have the right hand side blocked off. Why hasn’t that been finished? What are they waiting for? All of the center dividers they have put in all around town — why? No one is taking care of all the plants that the city put in. They are being overtaken by weeds.”

An anonymous parent writes of the Golden Valley Unified School District, “Children should not be forced to do community service hours in order to graduate. Some of the options are tests … speaking amongst the community, door to door possibly (for fundraisers) … helping at school events … and beautification. All these are not education. All the above are some of the options to get credit, but a lot is expected for these …”

An online surfer, self-identified as “Brad Rhoads,” responded to a column by publisher Chuck Doud. He writes, “The idea of the treadmill desk is great. It really works. You don’t need a 5K Walkstation. Just build your own. Since I got my treadmill free from a friend at church, I have a total of about $25 in my setup…”

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Thank you for your calls. Remember, the Red Line is open for your messages 24 hours a day by calling 674-4478, or by visiting www.maderatribuneredline.com.

By Chuck Doud
The Madera Tribune

The political pundits, anchor people and talk-show hosts of the television networks covering the Democratic convention seem to spend more time interviewing themselves than they do explaining what is going on during the convention sessions.

That is a reflection of something that often happens to journalists covering politics and entertainment (what’s the difference, you may ask?). They begin to think of themselves as equal to or even greater than the story they are covering.

Some of the reason for that comes from hero worship. The reporters and commentators become focused on whom they cover, begin to see themselves as political equals and assume that what they, the journalists, think is as significant as what the candidates or entertainers say or do.

Another cause is self-spotlighting. The commentators and pundits talk among themselves, and come to believe what whatever they agree on is better public policy or more entertaining than the story they are covering.

This phenomenon is amusing, but a little of it goes a long way. If you were to collect all the so-called pundits’ predictions made during the primary, you would find that most of their assertions were wrong. However, talking among themselves, they had come to believe that they had to be right.

For example, they had to be right that Hillary Clinton couldn’t be beaten. They also had to be right that John McCain didn’t have a chance. Those were the fast-held views of the majority of the people considered to be the media’s foremost political experts. But at the convention, these same pundits still were talking as if they actually knew something.

How much do they really know? Let one of them run for office and see how long she or he lasts.

All comments are edited for length and content. Due to content or space limitations some comments may not be published. Please limit your calls to two minutes or less. Repeat messages on the same subject adding to the length will not be published.

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“I am a single, senior citizen living in an apartment,” began a woman. “My rent just went up $50 more a month. I don’t know what to do about it? Maybe it’s time to give up food or medicine. I don’t know which is better. What are people like me supposed to do? If anyone has an answer let me know on the Red Line. Thank you.”

A man called concerning “the police being exempt from using their cell phones. They are exempt from a lot of things, and I don’t think that’s right. They have radios in their cars. The police should lead by example. I think the police get away with way too much.”

He concluded with, “stop harassing me. I’m in the Lincoln.”

A gentleman “just noticed today the new homeless housing going in underneath the Lake Street bridge on the Fresno River. With the laxity in the law enforcement in the city of Madera, I don’t think I have the courage to walk the River Trail now.”

A man called about the Aug. 19 Red Line message concerning “Mexicans driving all these nice cars and blacks and whites walking and homeless concerning the Welfare Department.”

The caller said, “if you’re at the Welfare Department in a nice car and you don’t work there, maybe cheating is your game. As far as the working hard in the fields message, who do you think worked the fields before the Mexicans?”

On the same subject another man said, “maybe if they would hire blacks and white people maybe we would have a chance. Everywhere you go in Madera you have to be bilingual. It is not fair to the American people that speak English.”

A lady said in a hard to understand message, “this should be of concern to the Golden Valley School District. At Liberty High the principal is trying to implement policies.” One concerned the dress code and specified “tank tops. I think they should be allowed to (wear them).”

The caller said, “she is going to end up with a sexual discrimination lawsuit if she does not back off.” The caller continued until her time was up and the Red Line stopped recording.

“Where are our water patrols?” asked a woman.” She claimed a man who lives near her waters not only on his watering days, but always. “This is on Lillian Street.”

A lady visited a local ice-cream vendor and said, “it was the weirdest experience she had ever had.” She picked out an ice-cream specialty, “and first of all, they took it in the back closet or something. When it came back out it didn’t look like the ice cream in front. It kind of makes you wonder what they do back there.”

“Tuesday night (Aug. 19) on national television, I saw the Blue Man, Paul Karason,” began a woman. “Why haven’t I seen anything in the Tribune for the last month or more? The articles on him before were very informative and we always enjoyed the updates on what was happening to him. Now, it seems, we have to rely on Fresno channels and television to hear what’s happening to Madera’s Blue Man.”

In a tongue-in-cheek message, a man advised “the Chamber of Commerce better look out for an imminent lawsuit. Four of their six (Life Achievement Award) honorees were Italian. The CRLA will be suing them for discrimination.”

Concerning the lawsuit (against MUSD) filed by “Mr. Uranga,” a man said, “He can always to get on the school board. I’m sure there are boards there that can benefit from his expertise.”

Another caller thought the lawsuit was “frivolous and a waste of taxpayer’s money. For almost 20 years, one of the best trustees on the (School) Board was from the other side of town. His name is B.J. Robinson. He kept getting re-elected, not because he was from a certain well-off district, but because he continued to prove he was the best man for the job.”

A woman was “real happy they have a new manager for the city bus system. Lets hope the new manager can do a better job than the last one, and get those dispatchers with their snotty attitude, adjusted.”

“Downtown has been on my mind quite a lot,” said a woman. “Something needs to be done because downtown represents Madera, and a lot of people traveling through our town see that and they think that one downtown represents us. I think we should do something, because it will represent pride in our community.”

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Thank you for your calls. Remember, the Red Line is open for your messages 24-hours a day by calling 674-4478, or by visiting www.maderatribuneredline.com.

I am appalled by the lawsuit being brought against MUSD that I read about in Friday’s Tribune, and would like to express several thoughts for your consideration.

Personally, I do not care about anyone’s skin color (they could be purple for all I care) just as long as they are doing a good job of being fair and spending our tax dollars wisely at MUSD. Based on the lawsuit, however, it would appear that some of our Hispanic community is not too happy with how our board is elected and/or running things.

I say this because as we all know our present board is comprised of white males and an African-American woman. I am not sure what more our present board could have done to help the folks that are filing the lawsuit. After all, during the last five years all they have done is build one new high school, one new middle school and four new grammar schools. All of these have been south of Howard Road and east of Highway 99, and no new schools have been built in the northwest part of town

I am also disturbed by the quote from Mr. Uranga about his being qualified to run for the board, yet he felt it was to “daunting” to do so. Perhaps he should take a lesson from our most recent election when an African-American woman was able to get elected after only spending about $1,000. This just goes to show you that in Madera we are willing to elect a women or man who only represents less than 5 percent of our population (not the 60 percent plus of the Hispanic community) if they are qualified.

I hope that the people that are involved in the filing of this lawsuit will reconsider their actions. I say this because I do not think they represent the bulk of any segment of Madera. Asking to be put in a position that one is not qualified for and trying to “shake down” the school board for money is not consistent with the Hispanic community in Madera that I know, and will only serve to create more friction in a town that needs to better learn to all get along.

Let’s recognize this action for what it really is: a small group of citizens and a group of money-hungry attorney’s trying to extort money from us all.

Kevin Herman,
Madera

Riders are more then those who are not driving the bus. No! They are the poor bills that won’t pass on their own merit, but will if they are attached to one that will pass.

One legislator says to another, “I’ll vote for your bill if I can attach my bill to yours.”

This type of bill often turns into a dollar bill. These are often “pet project” bills, written to fulfill a legislator’s campaign promise he or she made to become elected, and have no real meaning or value to the taxpayer, except to its own special interest group.

It is my opinion that every bill should be considered by itself, with no riders, on its own merit. And that half of them should not even be brought to the legislative floor. These are a waste of time, breath, and the paper they are written on.

I believe that these bills are what are holding up the budget negotiations — trying to figure out where to get the money for these
useless bills. Let’s make it a “temporary tax increase” so it will pass.

In the annals of government when was the last time you can remember a “temporary tax” being removed from the books? I wonder how many “temporary taxes” are still on the books and how long they have been there. These are often open-ended with no termination date. That means a permanent tax to me.

Do our legislators even go over these taxes to see whether they should be terminated? My guess is no. Once they get their hands on the money they won’t let go. That item should be on their annual session agenda.

I think we should put the pressure on them and reverse an old saying to “Don’t let sleeping dogs lie. They need a good, swift kick in the pants.” Any volunteers?

Why don’t they consider increasing the import taxes? Of course that would upset both China and Wal-Mart, to mention a few. Make it more tempting and profitable to manufacture some of these items to be made in USA. A vanishing label. For instance, go to a toy store and try to buy a present for your child that was made in USA. You’ll find your choices very limited. The people in these other countries work for about as much money as we would put in a parking meter per day. I doubt that the word benefits even exists in their language unless you are talking about their rich and powerful.

I’m not trying to be a “rabble rouser” here, but as common man I’m just trying to make sense of all this.

Larry Turner,
Madera