I’m sorry, but as much as I try, I can’t understand why Eric Holder, attorney general of the United States, saw fit to move the trials of five planners of the 9/11 attacks to a federal courtroom in New York City.
These suspects are not Americans. They do not have the rights of Americans. They have admitted being responsible for attacking and killing 3,000 citizens of the United States of America. Why could they not have been tried at the military commissions facilities in Guantanamo, a multimillion-dollar establishment set up for such trials?
Is it because President Barack Obama is so anxious to close Guantanamo, as he promised his overseas pals, that he prefers to expose New Yorkers to grave security risks by moving the trial to the heart of the city these fascists tried to destroy?
Yes, these men are fascists in every respect, using religion as their cover. They hate democracy just as Hitler hated it. They hate women, whom they force into servitude and submission. They strap bombs to their children and use them as weapons. They want control of the world to be in the hands of people who really aren’t right in the head. They hate Jews, and have sworn their destruction. They have tried to plead guilty. What part of that doesn’t the attorney general understand?
Holder doesn’t seem to think that the trial will pose a risk to New Yorkers, but has he asked New Yorkers? If anybody had asked the ordinary New Yorker on Sept. 10, 2001, if they felt they were at risk of attack by foreign fighters, the vast majority would have said no. Today, they probably wonder why the attorney general would put them at greater risk.
And there is this sense of belittlement by Holder of what happened on Sept. 11. He is comparing it to a federal crime, like tax evasion. He is insulting our intelligence.
I volunteered to make a vegetable dish for a church luncheon that was held Sunday. In the spirit of vegetable experimentation, I thought it might be good to make a rutabaga, parsnip and turnip puree decorated with brussels sprouts. I couldn’t find a recipe, however.
Visiting the grocery store didn’t help. The rutabaga, parsnip, turnip and brussel sprout bins were small and their contents sparse. There were no serving suggestions. No wonder so few people eat them regularly.
The carrot bins were full, and so were the bins of celery. People were coming by and picking up carrots and celery as if they were gold-filled.
I picked up a rutabaga and peered at it. It certainly looked as good as a carrot.
I know rutabagas are good for you. The Scots survived on them when the wheat and potato crops failed. It is said to be one reason why the Scots tend to be so dour.
A rutabaga is something that can’t be eaten raw. One can peel it raw, but that’s about it. You can’t bite it like an apple, any more than you can bite a baseball. You have to hack at it with a cleaver, cut it into small pieces and boil it for about four hours.
A turnip can be sliced and eaten raw. You will find it quite crunchy. You can dip it in mayonnaise or butter a slice and put a little salt and pepper on it. Or, you can cook it.
The parsnip is related to the carrot. Apparently it is a poor relation. It must be cooked.
Brussel sprouts are related to the cabbage, possibly a second cousin. Cooking needed.
It would have taken much work to make the rutabaga, turnip, parsnip and brussels sprout puree dish, which is why Mrs. Doud and I decided to serve good old green bean and onion casserole.
A good decision, it turned out. I was under the weather and couldn’t cook. Mrs. Doud did the cooking and took it to church. The dish was a hit, as were the other bean-and-onion casseroles. All’s well that ends well, somebody said.
We’ve been hearing a lot from Meg Whitman lately, in commercials.
She’s a Republican candidate for governor. She’s also the former CEO of eBay, the Internet auction site. She is rich, which is why she can afford all that radio time.
She is guilty, however, of not yet having uttered a single original political thought. She says all we need to do to balance the state budget is to start firing state employees. And, oh yes, start doing away with waste. Where have you heard that before?
Oh, but she will be different, she says.
For example, she says that having run eBay makes her qualified to govern California. Where does she get that idea?
Large businesses aren’t like large states. For example, in a large business, when the CEO says “Jump!” the subordinates ask, “How high, and in which direction?”
In government, that is seldom the case. If it were, governors would have it easy. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger probably thought all he had to do was order people around. He found out quickly that was not true. He probably thought that all he had to do to get along with the Legislature was to smoke cigars with them and swap off-color stories. That didn’t work either.
Having been a successful business woman doesn’t necessary disqualify her. You could see it as an advantage. It allows her to lay claim to administrative experience. But life in the executive suite of a big company doesn’t bear much resemblance to life in California’s Capitol.
When you are a business big shot, you tend to hang around with other business big shots. That results in a skewed view of the world. There’s nothing wrong with that, but it wouldn’t make that person any more fit.
Whitman needs to sharpen her message and develop a vision. Otherwise, she is wasting a lot of money.
Educational Humor: “Weird Al Yankovic” helps explain auto-tune
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A woman called “concerning the Madera High varsity football coach. He tells the kids they are not worth watching. He tells the upper classes they are not the future, the sophomores are. Then when they are seniors he puts them down. It is no wonder the athletes don’t want to play for him. Even former players don’t want to coach for him. It is time for a change.”
Another lady said, “I am really a (Madera High) Coyote supporter for many years. It really hurts to read in the paper how bad they are. Are they the first team to be bad? Come on, support your team. Support your town. You want to complain about your town and your team, but you don’t want to come out and support them.”
A man “whose son is on the varsity” spoke on the same item. “The start of the season the coach played sophomores, juniors and seniors to compile four wins. Afterwards, the juniors and seniors didn’t want the sophomores playing in the game. By themselves, they talked the coach into letting them play and you can see the record now.”
“Talking about our illustrious football team,” said a man, “again, 48-0 to a down team this year. If that’s a down team we’d be doing back flips if our team could play that good. Something has to change. It is not even competitive. There are JV teams out there that can beat our varsity. Just watching that team play the system doesn’t work. They don’t want to play.”
A woman gave her first name and then said “about all the opinions that are stated in the Red Line. Some of these are just way off the wall. There is going to be no change about how they possibly feel about themselves. They’re demeaning certain races and ethnicities.”
She “strongly suggested people who have a problem with what they see to take a college course like interpersonal communication to understand all the walks of life there is in this world.”
A lady whose “dad was in the Navy, and just happened to die on Veterans Day” wanted everyone to remember Veterans Day (Wednesday).
“I hope you will print this,” said a lady who is “looking for someone who has walnuts (in the shell) for sale. I’ve been watching the Tribune for when people had different things for sale, but I haven’t seen any walnuts.”
She asked “if someone would call and leave their number in the Red Line I would really appreciate it.”
A “current subscriber” who said he “cancelled the Fresno Bee,” had “a couple of suggestions that I think would make the paper better. You devote a lot of good space to Madera County crime log and another section telling where the police went over several days.”
He said, “all that could be condensed into line-item information thereby providing more space for local spotlights on what goes on in the city.”
A man, who seemed to be disguising his voice, said, “I am a teacher at Desmond Middle School.” His voice made him hard to understand, but he did say something about tests and “the principal is putting a lot of pressure on us.”
A woman “wanted to know what is going on with a local fast food restaurant (name given)” on Country Club Drive. She said, “you go there one day, they are out of something, and another day they are out of something else.” Then “they said the grill was not working so you can only have fish or chicken.”
She asked (like their burger) if she could get two chicken sandwiches for $3. “They said yes, but the bill was $3.70. Then they said we charge (extra) for lettuce and tomato. Come on now. Then the people in the drive-thru are so rude. I would like to know what happened to manners and respect.”
A woman “commented on a local middle school office staff. I went to pick up my daughter for a doctor’s appointment. I waited 10 minutes in the office and not one of the four people working addressed me until I finally spoke up.”
She suggested, “these people take a customer service class to see how to treat people. They are supposed to be there to help us when we need it.”
A man commented “on Saturday’s edition of the Tribune and the front page. A marvelous article and photograph about the Madera County Animal Shelter.” He read it “all the way through” and said, “we need more articles to let the public know about the shelter and the overpopulation of animals. I am just very proud of the Tribune”
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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 maderatribuneredline.com.
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Parody Music Video: “In the 80′s” by Rhett and Link
One of my colleagues has a cell phone that yells at her instead of ringing. Another person I know has a cell phone that plays “The Battle Hymn of the Republic.” The other day, in a public meeting, we heard somebody’s cell phone whistling something.
I wonder if there might be a noise ordinance to address these rather startling sounds. For example, if the owner of the offending cell phone can be found by the cell phone mitigation people, the phone could be confiscated and smashed to smithereens by a large man wielding a sledgehammer.
I got a new cell phone not long ago, and the first time it rang it began playing something by Mozart. I kept looking around, wondering who had a radio on. It did not occur to me to answer the phone. After a couple of encounters with this method of beckoning me, I finally figured out what was going on. I decided to change the ring tone to that of a normal telephone bell.
It was not to be, however. This particular cell phone does not offer such a ring tone. It offers something called “Standard,” but it sounds more like someone playing the xylophone than it does like a telephone ringing.
I went back to the lady who sold the phone to me.
“Do you have just a normal telephone ring sound lying around on your shelves somewhere?”
She looked at me as though I had addressed her in Mandarin.
“You could use Standard,” she said, after looking at my telephone for a long time. She set my ring tone selector on Standard and rang it.
“That doesn’t sound very much like a telephone,” I said. “It sounds more like a musician in a bar that sells drinks with little umbrellas in them.”
She finally found a ring tone that alleged itself to sound like a regular telephone. “You will have to pay extra for it,” she said. “It’s an app.”
If the ring tone mitigators come around smashing cell phones, I might donate mine.
What would you do without friends? A friend is someone who will watch your dog when you take a weekend trip. A friend is someone who will pick you up from the airport after your vacation. A friend is someone who will lend you money when payday is a week away.
The Friends of Madera Library organization has been around a long time. And although they haven’t watched my dog, picked me up from the airport or lent me money, the group is a very valuable friend anyway.
The Friends of Madera Library help raise money that is sorely needed for the library. Whether the Friends are writing grants on behalf of the library, organizing fundraisers or simply telling people how awesome the library is, the Friends are out there championing our cause.
Heck, I can find someone else to watch my dog. When the library is in need I know the Friends have got my back.
And who doesn’t need more friends? The Madera County library certainly does. That’s why we would like you to join the Friends of the Madera Library. And don’t worry if you don’t know how to write a grant (although if you wanted to learn, the library has several books about how to write grants. But I digress). There are plenty of ways to help out.
So, get involved. Contact the Madera County Library at 675-7871 if you’re interested in being on our team.
I love crime novels. My dad introduced me to one of the masters at an early age. Joseph Wambaugh’s crime novels, mostly from the perspective of the half-crazy, sometimes alcoholic members of the police force. Through his first book, “The New Centurions,” to his latest, “Hollywood Moon,” Wam-baugh (a former cop himself) has been telling some of the most compelling (and brutal, and funny) stories about the flawed but heroic men and women behind the badge.
Wambaugh loves his research. That is, he loves hanging around police officers, detectives and other members of law enforcement gathering stories. This research gives his novels an anecdotal way of meandering around a plot. You can easily be a hundred pages into a Wambaugh book before you realize that although characters (both cops and bad guys) have been established, they haven’t really been solving (or committing) the Big Crime. That’s not a bad thing. The small details, wild stories and believable dialogue have a way of pulling you in.
Of course, you won’t find “Hollywood Moon” in Madera County libraries. Due to our rotten economy and the major cuts we’ve had to make, we no longer have a budget for books.
One of the problems with the health care legislation being debated now in the U.S. Senate is that it is like a hide-a-bed. If you have ever had a hide-a-bed, you know the metal framework and the mattress make it weigh about twice as much as a normal couch or bed.
I have had two hide-a-beds. They were beyond uncomfortable, and the devil to move. One had to tie ropes around them so they wouldn’t unfold when three or four of one’s friends tried to help pick them up for muscling onto the back of a pickup or van.
I had one unfold on me once when a bunch of us were trying to get it down a steep stairwell. I still remember how painful and disconcerting it was as I became mashed against the wall, trying to avoid falling.
That is what the health care bills are like.
They are an ungainly framework and a bit of padding purporting to make things easier for the user, but not doing so.
A hide-a-bed is supposed to provide you with a comfortable place to sleep. “All the comfort of a bed,” I recall one advertisement reading, “with only half the cost. Plus, you have a place to sit when you’re not sleeping.”
All that was a lie.
Trying to sleep on a hide-a-bed was awful. The springs were spongy, the mattresses too thin. The bedding slipped off. It was a terrible device.
That is what we’re going to think of the health care bill if it ever takes effect in its present form. The whole point of the health care bill was a public option for medical insurance for those who now have none. That’s in there, but it’s nearly invisible, disguised by layers of regulations that punish doctors and their patients.
The Senate should start from scratch. Otherwise, we’ll have the world’s biggest hide-a-bed on our hands.
The Navy is considering putting women on U.S. Navy submarines. Ridiculous!
This would require extensive remodeling of the submarines on which women would serve. Men and the women would have to have separate rain lockers (showers) and separate heads (toilets) to eliminate the “who left the seat up?” complaint. Personal privacy has little or no meaning on a sub because of the lack of space and cramped quarters. Space on a sub is a luxury and every bit of it is well used.
Enlisted men on today’s subs share bunks. When one man goes to his duty station, another man crawls in the vacated bunk. This is called hot bunking. Putting women on a sub would add a whole new meaning to the term.
The cost of remodeling a submarine in today’s economy would be prohibitive, I would think. There would have to be three classifications of berthing areas: men’s, women’s, and the confused. There would also have to be some extra storage space for feminine hygiene products. Women would have to pass a pregnancy test before every deployment or add another classification to a berthing area, the nursery.
When a sub puts out to sea they pull the plug at the 100- fathom curve — 600-foot water depth — and stay submerged for months. There is no such thing as going topside for a breath of fresh air. The air on a nuke boat is cleaner than air you will find on the surface anyway. Once submerged, there is no difference between day and night. You have plenty of time to write a letter but no place to mail it. If a woman is assigned to a sub as a cook would that be stereotyping or discrimination?
A boomer (missile sub) will normally have a two- to three-month “on station” deployment, whereas a fast-attack sub can be at sea for any length of time, depending on its mission.
I am retired Navy, and have ridden on both diesel and nuke subs, but as a skimmer (surface sailor) it’s a little weird to go to sea in something that sinks on purpose. To cruise at 1,000-foot depth blindly would also be strange.
I believe in equality where practical, but the line, in some areas, needs to be drawn and this is an area that needs that line. Ask the Navy brass thinking about this, how would you like your wife or husband to be in this mixed sex crew?
I think the Navy brass should rethink this ridiculous idea and drop it.
In a recent news story about a gunman walking into an office in Florida and shooting people, killing one, people described how they perceived what had happened.
One fellow said he heard sounds like books dropping on the floor, sounds that turned out to be gunshots.
In the shooting at Fort Hood, Texas, where 13 people were killed, the sounds of gunfire were described as everything from that of popping balloons to loud explosions.
Few of us know what an actual gunshot sounds like. That’s because most don’t shoot guns or have guns shot at them. What we know about the sounds of gunfire comes to us by way of television. And take my word for it, on film sets, people don’t shoot real bullets at each other. The sounds you hear are sound effects made up by people who think gunshots ought to sound a certain way.
I am one of those who know how actual gunshots sound. I’ve been a target shooter for years. I can tell you that at an indoor range, or outdoors, each gun sounds different. They even sound different depending on what ammunition you are shooting.
The veterans we honor today can tell you that. Not all vets have seen combat, but almost all have been trained to shoot firearms. Many have been trained to shoot artillery.
When I shoot, I fire a .22 target pistol. It isn’t silent, but it doesn’t sound anything like a pistol that you typically see being shot on television.
The bigger the caliber of the gun, the louder the bang. I was at a firing range one day plunking a target with a .22 when a guy in the shooting alley next to me started firing a .50 caliber pistol. The first shot sounded like a howitzer going off. The concussion made things in the room rattle.
When you hear salutes fired today at Courthouse Park in honor of veterans, don’t panic. It’s just another reminder of why we are free people. It’s no sound effect, either. It will be the real thing — just like those vets.
I am a veteran of the U.S. Army. I was military police, stationed at Fort Bliss, Texas, assigned to the 978th Military Police Company.
I was deployed to Iraq on Sept. 11, 2003, and returned in April 2004. I left for Iraq when my first daughter Makaylah was less than six weeks old. My service was cut short due to an injury that required reconstructive surgery of my right ankle. I was unprepared for the transition, I did not have a college education, and I had difficulty finding work, which made me incredibly frustrated. Nobody gave me a chance due to the fact that I was disabled. Everyone likes the idea of hiring a veteran, but not many employers are willing to actually hire one with a life-altering disability.
However, I am writing here today, not to share with you my problems, but I am writing in order to tell a new story that desperately needs to be heard. I am an asset, and not a problem. My fellow veterans are an untapped resource waiting to be utilized in the regeneration of our country. Neither my life, nor my service to this country stopped when I could no longer serve as a soldier.
It is absolutely critical that we change the conversation around veterans. It is crucial that the American public know about our setbacks, challenges, and areas in which we need support. But veterans should not be seen for their weaknesses but for their strengths. We have acquired many skills during our time fighting abroad: management and supervision, the ability to lead diverse groups of people, and team building skills, to name a few. And we are ready to be put to work.
Although we have already given much, we have a great deal left to give. We want to continue to honor our country through service. Continuing to serve is not only our way of reminding Americans that service is the thread that connects each and every one of us; it is also our personal lifeline. It helps us find meaning when few things make sense and gives us hope when all else seems bleak.
In a report released last week by Civic Enterprises, only 13 percent of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom (OIF/OEF) veterans strongly agreed that their transition home was going well; and only 9 percent agreed that the needs of their family were being met. These statistics indicate a tragic reality, and the question now remains what should we do about it?
Interestingly, those veterans who have already participated in some form of community service since returning home were 8 percent more likely to report that their transitions were going well compared to those who have not participated in voluntary service. In addition, veterans who volunteered were 10 percent more likely to say that their family’s needs are being met. To me, these figures show that voluntary service must be an integral part of our veterans’ reintegration back home.
Since Vietnam our society has learned to honor our veterans, and this is a good thing. We are deeply humbled and most grateful for the welcome backs and parades that our hometowns have thrown for us. But the best way to honor our veterans is not by giving them charity; it is in seeing their strengths and challenging them to utilize those strengths in rebuilding our country here at home. Sadly, while 69 percent of the surveyed veterans had been offered a service, only 21 percent had been asked to serve. It is time that Americans realize that our transition home is about more than medical and mental services; it is about giving us the challenge to demonstrate our continued potential in society.
While serving as civilians helps us personally, we believe that it can also help the nation. We live in a country where everyone has rights as well as responsibilities and part of that responsibility is contributing to building a better country through service. It is not enough to pay your taxes on time and obey the law. While those two conditions are extremely important to being a good citizen, in order to have a full and meaningful life, service has to be part of that.
Nearly all (92 percent) OIF/OEF veterans strongly agreed or agreed that serving their community is important to them. For me, and my generation of veterans, our desire to serve did not start or end on the battlefields of Iraq or Afghanistan. My generation of veterans strongly believes that Americans can learn something from our example of service. We are proud to be Americans, we understand that service is an integral part of what makes this country great, and are willing and eager to pass this ethic of service on to our fellow citizens.
The Mission Continues, a national nonprofit that challenges wounded and disabled veterans to continue to serve in their local communities, did not approach me with charity. They challenged me to keep giving back as a citizen leader and gave me a small stipend and a network in which to do that. As a Mission Continues Fellow, I am working as the VA Central California Healthcare System Federal Work Study Program Coordinator. I am also helping to ensure that all returning military personnel know of their entitlements as veterans.
It is my personal mission now to ensure that no veteran will have to go through the difficult transition from military to civilian life with no support or help in claiming their benefits, as I had to endure. I also want to show that a disability isn’t always a handicap. I did not know what my capabilities were until I became disabled. Not being able to do the only things I knew, forced me to think outside of the box and ask for help. I am a better person and my community is a better place because I was seen as an asset and I was challenged to serve.
So please, this Veterans Day go beyond thanking veterans for their service. Honor us by seeing our strengths and challenging us with the opportunity to continue our mission of service back home.
