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Montebello E-News

 May 30, 2009

 Private property was the original source of freedom.  It still is its main ballpark.
Walter Lippman

  (Does Lippman assume that private property enables a person to be self-sufficient and that self-sufficiency is the basis for freedom?  If so, as it becomes harder these days to acquire and hold a sufficient amount of private property to become self-sufficient, should we look for other ways to ensure self-sufficiency, and, thereby give ourselves freedom?)

1.  Announcements

2.  Galatians 6:7, We Reap What We Sow

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

Bingo and jazz.  The Schurr High School band is having a “jazzy bingo” night.  Saturday, May 30, 2009, from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. in the Schurr High School  small gym, 820 North Wilcox Avenue, Montebello. Come join us for dinner, performances by the jazz band, and bingo!  Your ticket includes 1 dinner, 1 beverage, 1 dessert and 1 free bingo card.  $17 admission.  More information, schurrlegion@5starcomputing.com.

Food fair and fest.  Second annual event at Armenian Holy Cross Cathedral, 900 West Lincoln Avenue , Montebello.  Saturday, June 6, 2009, from noon till 10 p.m.  Admission is free, parking is free.  Delicious Armenian food and pastry.  Live music throughout the day.  Dancing, performers.  Cooking demos, bazaar, games, raffles.  Shopping, cathedral tours, tournaments, kids fun zones.  Excellent whether you be a carnivore or a herbivore.  For more information, www.armenianfoodfair.com, or 323.594.9570.

Beautiful space photos from NASA.  http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap090513.html

Some folks don’t get it.  The amount of junk mail can be shocking, more so in these times when we should be more aware of the waste which we generate.  Two health insurers mailed my parents a quantity of paper which was far too much to read and would not have easily answered, if at all, the question which my parents had in mind, “Would we pay less under this or that plan?”  I contacted each health insurer and asked it to find an alternative way to advertise;  I would be pleasantly surprised if either insurer made a change.

Here is something related, about combating junk mail.  I received it in an e-mail.

When you get ads enclosed with your phone or utility bill, return these ads with your payment.  Let the sending companies throw their own junk mail away.  When you get those 'pre-approved' letters in the mail for everything from credit cards to second mortgages and similar type junk, do not throw away the return envelope.  Most of these come with postage-paid return envelopes, right?  You can even send the envelope back empty if you want…

Two suggestions:

(1) most return envelopes could be reused, even if printed on;  I keep envelopes for reuse;

(2) if you do mail a return envelope, do include your return address and write in big letters on the back, “You are shockingly wasteful.  Remove me from your mailing list.  Thank you.”   Do not enclose anything.

Over a year and a half ago, E-News had an essay, “Gatekeepers They Are, Sleepers Are We”, http://www.mymontebello.com/life_tc_gtasaw1.html.  Teachers, coaches, mentors, parents, community leaders, and others are the gatekeepers for what youth learn.

Gatekeeping is important, because there is so much which is harmful in our environment.  But gatekeeping itself is harmful when the gatekeeper holds youth back from learning that which would benefit the youth in life.  We have our share of harmful gatekeeping in Montebello, but we are not alone.  Here is a summary of an experience this school year which ended with my denying a California high school participation in a national program.

In September, 2008, a novel program for traffic safety—fewer deaths and injuries—was introduced by my charity to a teacher, who then introduced it to her students.  This week, a student told me that they had stopped working on the program because their teacher, the gatekeeper, had told them to stop.  However, if the subject of a program is to save lives and reduce the number of injuries, one does not stop working on a program because the school year is ending.  I denied the high school participation in a national version of the program, from which they would have made money for scholarships.