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Montebello E-News

  October 30, 2009

The great social adventure of America is no longer the conquest of the wilderness but the absorption of fifty different peoples.  Walter Lippman

This “adventure” has not come to an end and might be prolonged because of diminishing resources and ever scarcer habitable land.  This has been, and will continue to be, a challenging century.

1.  Announcements

2.  Would Saroyan Write The American Comedy If He Were Alive?

3.  About Montebello E-News and “My Montebello”

You have heard of Borders the bookstore, where you can sit at a table, have a coffee and read?  Here is something extraordinary in our backyard:  Montebello Friends of the Library is having a boutique and book sale.  Join the Montebello Friends of the Library as we proudly present our first Boutique and Book Sale.  Come visit our vendors, who have much to offer.  Explore our wide range of books which will catch the attention of all alike.  Saturday, November 14, 2009, 10 a.m. – 3 p.m.  For more information, 323.722.6551.

Centennial celebration.  Did you know that Montebello High School was celebrating its hundredth anniversary?  The institution, not the building.  There is a barbeque on Thursday, November 5, about which you can contact the school’s director of activities, Barry Schwartz, 323.887.7900, ext. 14438.  For information on events, including the homecoming game on Friday, November 6, 2009, and upcoming reunions, see http://www.mhsoileralumni.org/.  To contact the alumni association, contact@mhsoileralumni.org.

Not good.  One candidate for city council has sent out a mailer about the MHSP, “Montebello Hills Specific Plan”, regarding the development of our hills.  The candidate says, based on a study by Stanley R. Hoffman Associates, Inc., that our city would lose money from the planned development.  We certainly should pause to consider the accuracy of the study before a decision is made on the MHSP.

First aid for your dog.  There are approximately 74.8 million owned dogs in the United States . If you are one of them, this $30 class is just for you.  We know pet owners enjoy a very special bond with their pets-they are a part of the family.  Just like with people, accidents and emergencies can happen and being prepared by knowing what to do could make a lifesaving difference.  Pre-registration is required.  To register call (562) 945-3944.  From the e-newsletter of the Rio Hondo chapter of the American Red Cross.

Our best friend:  count the ways.  The Montebello Fire Department has been awarded a $7,000 Fireman’s Fund Heritage Grant for canine (search and rescue) training and equipment.  With only 180 nationally-certified canine teams across the country, Montebello is fortunate to have two.  [Avoid the pun that Montebello has gone to the dogs.]  ...  ”A dog’s nose is 20,000 times more sensitive than a human’s.  Trained to pick out distinctive smells, a trained canine can cover an acre of rubble in minutes verses the time it would take a human rescuer to cover the same area,” said Captain Marc Valentine. ... From Spotlight on Montebello, October, 2009.

Your help invited.  The Montebello District Board of Realtors has generously been giving back to the community by sponsoring families for the Christmas holiday. ... The families receive food, clothes, toys, gifts and a big smile to warm their holiday.  Volunteers for this project include realtors and affiliates of MDBOR.  For more information, to donate or help with this great cause, contact the Montebello District board of Realtors at (323) 721-6623, located at 1304 West Beverly Boulevard, Suite 100.  From Spotlight on Montebello, October, 2009.

Let us take this a step farther and see what happens.  Montebello City Council members along with Police Chief Dan Weast and members of the Montebello Police Department spent some time with local residents during the 26^th annual National Night Out. ... “The people we spoke with this evening exhibited the kind of spirit and determination that can help make our neighborhoods safer,” said Chief Weast.  “We applaud them for their efforts and encourage other areas of our city to do the same by establishing Neighborhood Watch programs.”  From Spotlight on Montebello, October, 2009.  How can more residents be encouraged to watch after their neighborhoods?  What incentives, from recognition to remuneration can be given, without taking from the city budget?  At what point does “spirit and determination” become unwanted vigilante action?

Our democracy works well?  “Bill Moyers Journal”, July 10, 2009, Bill Moyers & Michael Winship: Some Choice Words For "The Select Few".  Enter "the select few who actually get it done." Three out of four of the big health care firms lobbying on Capitol Hill have former members of Congress or government staff members on the payroll – more than 350 of them – and they’re all fighting hard to prevent a public plan, at a rate in excess of $1.4 million a day.  Health care policy has become insider heaven. Even Nancy-Ann DeParle, the White House health reform director, served on the boards of several major health care corporations.  President Obama has pushed hard for a public option but many fear he's wavering, and just this week his chief of staff Rahm Emanuel – the insider del tutti insiders – indicated that a public plan just might be negotiable, ready for reengineering, no doubt, by "the select few who actually get it done."  That’s how it works. And it works that way because we let it. The game goes on and the insiders keep dealing themselves winning hands. Nothing will change – nothing – until the money lenders are tossed out of the temple, the ATM’s are wrested from the marble halls, and we tear down the sign they’ve placed on government – the one that reads, "For Sale ."  [Emphasis mine.] http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/blog/2009/07/bill_moyers_michael_winship_so.html

William Saroyan is a noted American writer.  (Armenians who half pay attention in class know that Saroyan is of Armenian background.)  He wrote The Human Comedy in 1943.  I wonder whether he would write The American Comedy if he were alive today.  Why?  There are things which we do in America which are so absurd that we can only laugh.

This month, my father received “Notice of Proposed Prohibited Transaction Exemption Relating to the UAW GM Retirees Medical Benefits Plan”.  You are hereby notified that the United States Department of Labor is considering granting an exemption from the prohibited transaction restrictions of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974.  The exemption under consideration is explained in the enclosed Notice of Proposed Exemption.  As a person who may be affected by this exemption, you have the right to comment on the proposed exemption by November 2, 2009.  If you may be adversely affected by the grant of the exemption, you also have the right to request a hearing on the exemption by November 2, 2009.  The notice, in small type, is over ten pages.  There is no summary of a hundred or fewer words as to what the exemption covers.  There is no way in which my father could understand and exercise his rights, let alone read the notice.  I started to read it and gave up.

A similar incident happened months ago, with a different notice.  I wrote to the UAW and received a reply that the notice had been required by law.  Writing to Congress would not help, because busy legislators could, would do no more than keep the “matter in mind”.  (Their heads must be cluttered with things to do.)  It is as if the ship of state were on autopilot, heading for an iceberg.

The complexity and absurdity of this can be likened to the 1040 instruction book.  Apart from the incomprehensibility of the notice, what about the expense of mailing?  The paper wasted?  I am keeping the October, 2009, notice, in case you be in the mood to gasp and shake your head in disbelief.