The observances commemorating the 40th anniversary of Americans landing on the moon usually have been accompanied by thoughts of how little it seems has been done since then to explore outer space.
But that isn’t true. Just because we aren’t routinely shuttling back and forth to the moon doesn’t mean space hasn’t been the place for continued demonstrations of scientific ingenuity.
While going to the moon was an achievement, the moon didn’t prove to be much in the way of valuable real estate. The act of getting there, however, created a reservoir of scientific accomplishment that goes on today.
Look at the satellite technology that we take for granted. That was an outgrowth of the moon project. While we learned to put satellites up before we made the lunar landing, lunar technology helped scientists make the satellites much more useful.
The Hubble telescope project has revealed the universe to us, but could not have done so without our having the ability to fly up and repair it.
The international space station provides a laboratory for scientific research that would otherwise be impossible. What was learned on the moon trips made the shuttle trips and space station possible.
Some say that after the shuttle program ends, we should stop sending people into space because robots could do what people do in space, only more safely.
Should we go back to the moon? Should we go to Mars? Might it be better to develop newer generations of robot explorers such as such as those on Mars now that have told us so much about the red planet. If we did that, we could concentrate our peopled missions on further development of the space station, creating a much bigger scientific platform that could give us more bang for the outer-space buck.
We have these options because of the legacy left by those who made that first step on the moon possible.
In celebration of our nation’s birthday, thank goodness we have the freedom of speech to voice our opinions freely without prejudice.
Three cheers for Fred Thomas. I love to read his upbeat articles about President Obama. Fred understands how hard President Obama is working to undo the mess he inherited. Keep it up, Fred.
I also enjoy reading Eddie Chapa’s articles about his memories of Madera. I, along with many of my friends and family, can relate to his stories of people we have known and the differences these people have made on our city. Eddie, don’t let anyone tell you different. We want to hear from you.
I also want to applaud most of the people on the City Council for keeping politics out of our family-planned 4th of July. The tea party participants can enjoy a nice glass of iced tea and do their politics somewhere else and some other time.
Last but not least, to all the citizens and businesses of Madera who donated to the fireworks at the Municipal Golf Course, thanks for your support and generous donations. You know who you are and that’s all that matters.
All comments are edited for length and content. Due to content or space limitations some comments may not be published. More than one comment from the same person during the same week will normally not be published. Please limit calls to two minutes or less.
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A man said he “had a story that might interest the newspaper. I live on Parksdale Avenue and 13 and a quarter and my road is terrible. The county hasn’t done anything to it in 10 years. Maybe you guys can write a story or something on it.”
A woman wanted to “congrat- ulate, after reading the article about Michael Prosperi being (named) Kiwanis nurse of the year. I wanted to congratulate him in the name of Marge and Roy Cipriani for his help last year with my father before his death. He is a marvelous young man and defi- nitely needs to be rewarded.”
A caller said he “was fed up with the graffiti, and the police and council. All they can decide is to spend $40,000 of our taxpayers’ money on some consultant. We could have used that money to put up a bounty on taggers. Get some bounty hunters involved, I bet that would solve this problem.”
A woman said we should be worried about “our new govern- ment. They have become a pow- erful and overwhelming veto-proof group, especially the Senate. (President) Obama has hired 33 new czars to run every aspect of our lives. They answer only to him. Our government is spending trillions we don’t even what it is being spent for. They’re buying car companies, banks, with our money. The Senate is passing bills that will cost us our future and double our PG&E bill.”
“Way to go, Sam Pistoresi,” (letter to the editor, July 10) said a lady caller. “Someone needs to tell Freddy Thomas (letters to the editor) that he doesn’t get it, and Sam did it quite well. It’s good to hear the other side of the coin. Although I’m more liberal than conservative you highlighted all the right points. Good job, Mr. Pistoresi.”
A gentleman said, “I’m very disappointed with the California School Employees Association union of Madera Unified and with our president, Alice Rios. Why doesn’t she keep us posted on what is going with the district? No memos, no correspondence, verbal or written on any situation. She gets everyone involved in this new merit system, and then disappears. She needs to wake up. Working for MUSD, I do not sit at a desk and have a computer. If I call, and heaven forbid I ask a question, only to have her say, ‘you should have gone to the meeting to find out the answer.’ Excuse me, I have a family to take care of and cannot always attend. Our previous president would always keep us informed. It is time for you to step down.”
A woman who “attended the Bobby Sox tournament at Town and Country Park last weekend, said, “I went to use the restrooms late in the afternoon on Saturday and they were a pig sty with no toilet paper. I couldn’t find a park person to tell him about the awful mess. I walked all the way to Starbucks to use the restroom. You would think during a large two-day tournament the Parks Department would have people check on the restrooms on a regular basis and not just wait for someone to have to try and call a phone number that is never answered on weekends.”
A lady called about “using the community swimming pool at 4th and Flume (streets). I use the pool on a regular basis. It is awful that the new pool building is not completed yet. What is wrong with the contractor? He should have started earlier if he knew it was going to take this long. All the lifeguards at the pool do wonderful work under the harshest conditions. They are friendly and very aware of all the kids. They should be commended for their efforts while they wait to get into the building. Let’s hope it doesn’t take until the end of summer for the contractor to finish.”
“I’m a little more surprised than usual,” began a call from a man concerning the editorial page (Friday, July 10) on two counts. First, I’m surprised (editor) Chuck Doud can’t understand Sarah Palin doesn’t have any common sense at all, and is just a figurehead.” Then he said, “Secondly, after reading the letter by Sam Pistoresi. He spent all those words to be negative and tear down what’s going on, and once again, like all the conservatives, does not have one word on how to do it better.”
A caller asked “what the county road department is doing about a pile of old tires, motor oil and trash on Road 26 between Avenues 12 1/2 and 13, and it’s been there for several months. I would hope someone could come out and clean this up.”
A caller who “read (Chuck Doud’s) article on Monday about Dale Drozen and his concern about the Board of Supervisors and the Brown Act” said, “it is absolutely right on. I hope that he (Drozen) continues on. I’d like to make a point that the Board of Supervisors tends to be a fairly arrogant body about its opinions and does not particularly like the public to comment on subjects they have pretty well decided.” He also mentioned, “The board should realize that the people who come in there to listen during open session are their constituents. It’s the people that vote for them.”
“In Madera, everyone seems to be worried about graffiti and gangs,” began a woman. “It is mostly caused by open borders with Mexico. But we have much greater things to be worried about in this country, and it’s our new government. They have become powerful and overwhelmingly veto proof.”
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Why is the 4th of July an important holiday? Because it was the day 56 patriots in the Congress of the 13 states issued a proclamation to become independent from England. This was the first step to becoming this great United States of America.
These 56 men and their families sacrificed everything to live in a country without tyranny. They lost everything to bring this about through the American Revolution. Some were captured, tortured, killed, lost all property and their lives ended in poverty.
The 4th is about more than picnics and fireworks, although these are important events. But we must never, ever, forget our country’s patriots who gave all so we could live in this great country that is the envy of the world. My ancestor, Capt. Thomas Arnold, fought in the Revolutionary War. I am very fortunate to have a copy of his service record.
This great country could be lost to a different form of government if we cease to remain a vigilant nation. Socialism and communism have failed throughout the world and many recent policies begin put in place by the new federal administration are not what this country was based on.
Be proud of America, educate yourselves about our founding fathers, support the fine men and women of our military and pray that God will continue to bless America.
Just a few words on the condition and State of California lately, a state that is admired throughout the world for its beauty and its people.
We know that hard times have befallen everyone. It seems every few months Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is leading the way to correct the budget, or as he is saying as of late, to reform California to fix the budget crisis. As governor, that seems to be his sole motivation, yet there have been other governors who have faced similar situations, and have looked elsewhere and used other means to get California out of the red. Yet, Mr. Schwarzenegger is bent on going after services and programs that effect people in the most direct of ways.
He started of by cutting money and services to schools, shortening the school year, and wanting fewer teachers and more children in classrooms. He also cut grants for young people who want the opportunity to further their education.
He made his way to the most important of state employees. Such as firefighters, policemen, and women correction officers, DMV workers etc. Laying off some, cutting the pay off some, and going after their benefits where he could.
Now he is stooping too low, going after the elderly, the disabled and those trying to get on their feet, needing child care, etc. Yet he doesn’t go after politicians who use the people’s money for meals, cars, gas, and receive outrageous salaries. He doesn’t try to trim their services but some do it willingly.
Instead, he says he wants to reform programs of those who need assistance to live and those who need employment to help them. That’s what Hitler did, he did away with the elderly and the disabled. Is California becoming that kind of state?
I don’t know where Mr. Schwarzenegger is originally from, but I don’t believe California and its people are of that caliber.
I only hope Gov. Schwarz-enegger can work and compromise better with the Legislature. So the public servants and the people of California can be better served. He needs to understand he, too, is a public servant, not a dictator.
Gov. Sarah Palin is being skewered by certain commentators for her decision to resign her job at the end of this month, and it is not surprising, as they are the same commentators who skewered her when she was Sen. John McCain’s running mate during the 2008 presidential campaign.
Why did they do all they could to defame her? Probably because she scared the dickens out of them.
Barack Obama’s carefully orchestrated post-convention bubble broke with a pop the minute Sarah Palin strode onto the political stage and all eyes turned on her. She was a fresh face, she was conservative, she was attractive, she was capable of self-expression and she had standing. She had as much political experience as Obama, she had youth, she had energy and she had a big, attractive family. The Obama campaign just wasn’t ready for that kind of opponent.
As it turned out, the McCain campaign just wasn’t ready for that kind of running mate, either. McCain’s campaign wasted her strengths and didn’t compensate for her weaknesses.
Her return to Alaska after the presidential race didn’t mean her political star had faded, however. She has remained a focus of national attention — and the focus of hatred from those whom she still scares.
Her decision to resign was in the best interests of Alaska, she said. Why not just believe her?
If South Carolina Gov. Mark Stanford had resigned in the wake of his visit to his Brazilian mistress, wouldn’t people readily have accepted that? But he couldn’t have resigned because he wouldn’t have known what to do without the perks of being a governor. He remains a leech on the belly of his state.
Palin may be going on to other, better things for herself, but so what? She has done the honorable thing.
All comments are edited for length and content. Due to content or space limitations some comments may not be published. More than one comment from the same person during the same week will normally not be published. Please limit calls to two minutes or less.
A man who “was driving north on Highway 99” called about graffiti in the city and county of Madera. “It is getting out of hand,” he said. He mentioned a building being covered with graffiti. The caller suggested if they know the gang symbols they should “arrest the whole dang bunch of them.”
“Please spay and neuter your pets,” said a lady. “It is ridiculous that we see all these free kittens, free puppies, free dogs. There is no excuse for leaving an animal when you move. Take it along with you. It is supposed to be your pet.”
A woman called “concerning the tabloid magazine that was put in the paper on Saturday (June 27). I think the Tribune did a fantastic job on the 2008-2009 Athletes of the Year. Kudos to the paper for doing a truly wonderful job.”
A lady called in response to last week’s female caller “about the fireworks show that is going to be going on at the (Madera Municipal) Golf Course and is way too far out.” This week’s caller said, “It is probably the only place in Madera that actually has enough grass and open area that they can view fireworks. It is free admission and free parking. People need to stop complaining.”
A man said, “I drive down Yosemite everyday on my way to work and everyday I see speeders. The police need to place their motorcycle officers on west Yosemite one day, and east Yosemite the next. It is getting ridiculous. Some day a pedestrian or kid stepping off a median in the middle of the road will get hit.”
“A big thank you to The Madera Tribune,” said a lady, “for printing the entire Declaration of Independence on Saturday, July Fourth.”
“When it comes to politics, I’m a conservative,” said a woman who said she “attended the Independence Day Celebration at the Municipal Golf Course. I was handed a copy of the Declaration of Independence almost as soon as I arrived. At first I thought it was nice of the city, but then at the bottom I read it was being handed out by the Tea Party. They even had their Web site at the bottom. I didn’t mind the Declaration, but it was not intended to be used as an excuse to publicize a particular group’s propaganda. Next we’ll see the Green Party or others doing the same.”
“I have nothing against the Tea Party,” a caller said, “but yesterday (July 4) at the golf course my family was out for a good time, and the first thing I was handed was a brochure by a Tea Party representative who immediately started to tell me what’s wrong about our country, on this day no less. I told him I had been to a couple of his meetings already, and my last for now. He and the rest of them sure make it known they don’t like what’s happening now, but they don’t offer any solutions. Where were they when the administration, and Republican Congress for the past eight years, doubled the budget and increased the deficit? Oh, by the way … I’m a Republican.”
(Editor’s note: One of the first contemporary Tea Party protests was held in the U.S. late in 2007, when President George W. Bush was still in office. Also, the Democratic party has controlled the House of Representatives for about three years now and the Senate for about five years.)
A lady was “sorry to hear about the woman that was robbed in the Save Mart Shopping Center parking lot on Road 26. How sad that we can’t even go to a store and take care of our business without being robbed. Thank God the thug is off the streets, but who’s to say that it won’t be one of us next time.”
An online reader, self-identified as “Nancy Hollier (mom),” writes to the late Krista-Rae Pike, “I miss you so much still, I think about you every day. I have your picture on my favorite frog that stays on my bed and I give your pic a kiss everyday … I pray for your family every day that God is with them to help them through their everyday life.”
Another visitor, self-identified as “Jessica (Krista’s Cousin),” writes, “Krista, i just wanted to say that i haven’t been the same person that i was before the ‘event,’ but i can say that I’m happy that you’re in a better place now, and that I and my family will always, always miss you, yet love you all the same, forever and ever.”
Thank you for your comments. Remember, the Red Line is open for your messages 24 hours a day by calling 674-4478, or by visiting maderatribuneredline.com.
President Obama, as you may have heard, is thinking of launching another $750 billion economic stimulus, because the first one doesn’t seem to have worked as well as he thought it would.
I think the problem he has is that nobody really believes all that much money exists in the first place.
Here in California, the governor and the Legislature are wringing their hands over a mere $26 billion deficit, but most of us couldn’t care less. We just don’t believe there is that much money.
Hardly anybody has ever seen $750 billion or $26 billion. Oh, you might see it written in a newspaper article (like here, for instance). But for all anybody knows how much that is, you might as well be reading Martian.
Most of us are used to much smaller amounts. I know, I am.
I have so little money that the bank doesn’t even bother putting it in the safe. Sometimes I go to the bank to look at my money, and the banker, happy to show what good care he’s taking of it, takes me to a closet near the lunchroom.
There, on a shelf, is a Mason jar full of change and a couple of small stacks of bills bound by rubber bands. That’s the kind of money I’m used to.
If I took $750 billion in cash into the bank, the banker would have to run out and rent a bunch of warehouses to keep it in, which you never see happening. Instead, the high rollers trade money around by putting numbers on pieces of paper, or even more ethereally, through electronic signals.
To those of us, like me, who are used to counting on our fingers, all that money — especially $750 billion — is imaginary.
However, it would not be imaginary if Obama sent every American, adults and kids, $2,343.75. And we would not want it in the form of checks. We would want it in quarters. That would be change we could believe in.
Suddenly everybody is worried about what is happening in Honduras. Well, perhaps not everybody. I have to admit I’m not all that worried.
As I understand it, the president of Honduras, Manuel Zelaya, decided he wanted to remain in office longer than the constitution said he could, and he set about to try to change the law. The guys in the Honduran Army did not think that was a good idea, and they threw him out in his nightshirt.
You can’t blame Zelaya for wanting to keep his job. Unemployment in Honduras is 28 percent, and jobs must be hard to get. He probably would wind up picking bananas or coffee, which is what a lot of the people do there, when they aren’t demonstrating in the streets or cleaning up after hurricanes. Also, he probably had just gotten to the point where he could pronounce the name of the capital city — Tegucigalpa.
Honduras is between Gua-temala on the north, Nicaragua on the south and El Salvador on the west. Much of its Caribbean shore, called the Mosquito Coast, is known to be barely inhabited — understandable, with such a name.
Other Central American presidents are urging that President Zelaya be returned to office, which shouldn’t be surprising. They do not like the idea of any elected president being tossed out of office in his pajamas by an Army, which is something that used to be quite common in Central American countries.
President Zelaya is not known for his successes in office. Honduras is worse off than it was when he took over. The government deficit is growing, just like California’s. The state energy and phone companies are operating at losses. High numbers of the people are dying of AIDS.
What is surprising is that anybody would want to be president there. If it were up to me, I would do away with Honduras and affiliate it with Guatemala.
You probably have heard that good, old incandescent bulbs soon will be outlawed. When incandescent bulbs are outlawed, I guess, only outlaws will have incandescent bulbs.
They are to be replaced, we are told, by those twirly fluorescent bulbs or some of those other upstarts.
These new bulbs are supposed to be more energy-efficient than the incandescent bulbs, and I will take their word for it. But I’m not so sure they are all that efficient overall. They tend to be a little dimmer than incandescent bulbs, and so you need more of them in a room if having bright light is your objective.
We are using quite a few of those new bulbs — mainly because somebody gave a bunch of them to us free — but when we have to start paying full price for them, I think we’ll start to miss the old incandescent bulbs.
Also, the manufacturers tell us on the packages of these new bulbs that they last a lot longer than the incandescent ones do, but I’m not sure that is true. It seems to me I have been changing them out more often than I did the old variety.
I don’t charge myself for changing my own light bulbs, but if I did, you would have to figure the extra changing time into the cost of the new ones.
Mrs. Doud doesn’t trust these new bulbs much. She is convinced they are going to blow up or set off sparks, or maybe both.
Of course, the incandescent bulbs had their problems, too. They aren’t any easier to change than the new ones are, and some of them wear out faster than others. And they always get hot when you turn them on, so you can burn your fingers if you try to unscrew one without turning it off. (You may say, “Why would you ever do that?” and I would say, “I don’t know. All I remember is burning my fingers.”)
