Montebello E-News  

August 9, 2007  

Never lose your courage to take a swing.

Jeffrey Immelt, CEO of General Electric,

on "CEO Exchange", #509, May 3, 2007 

(This quote, using a different metaphor, says what

Shakespeare said in E-News two weeks ago.) 

1.     Mad Dogs and Englishmen

2.     To Laugh, to Lament, Perchance to Dream, Part 5

3.     Announcements

4.     Fast Facts, Fearsome Facts

5.     The Flashback Quarterback on “What Nerve!”

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

Mad Dogs and Englishmen 

          Following from the two previous community lessons, is it madness to suggest that we not go to city-council meetings because our city councilors are too busy?  If we remember from the essay “From History to Hysteria”, we see that we have been inculcated with a secular faith. This secular faith tells us that it is our civic duty to attend city-council meetings.  But, to put it candidly, we live a fantasy when we embrace our secular faith, because it is not the best use of our time to attend city-council meetings.  This is not to say that city business would be unimportant;  rather, it is to say that we, the residents, could spend our time more productively, even when our priority overlap with city business.  

          So, how do we use our time more productively? 

          We could put an initiative on the ballot for Montebello to become a charter city with a much larger city council.  If the city council were larger, we would have more city councilors.  The workload would be spread and attending city-council meetings would be a good use of our time. 

          Are there activities which take less time, that is, activities which would not require putting an initiative on the ballot?  If Montebello commissions were enlarged to enable more residents to participate and the commissions were given budgets to take care of community issues, that would be better than burdening an overburdened city council. 

          An interesting possibility is for the city council to create a community chest and invite residents to manage the fund, discussing and deciding according to resident priorities.  The value of this possibility could be heightened if each neighborhood elected a person to represent it in the “community assembly” managing the fund, while at the same time any resident, youth or adult, could attend meetings of the community chest and speak on possible disbursements.  (Note that we could fit at least one hundred fifty people in the council chamber at city hall, and the Montebello Park band shell would have seating for several hundred.  The possibility of an elected resident representing five hundred or fewer neighbors, enabling the resident to have frequent contact with those whom she represents, makes it possible to turn Montebello into a shining example for improving American democracy.) 

If you answer the multiple-choice questions below and e-mail to lessonanswers@mymontebello.com with “Lesson answers” in the subject field, you will be credited toward a “certificate of recognition in community affairs” to be awarded in 2007 by a local nonprofit organization. 

1.    Our belief about the proper functioning of democracy

(a)   is based on a secular faith.

(b)   does not enable us to use our time most productively. 

2.   What options do we have which do not require putting an initiative on the ballot?

(a) Our city council increases the size and authority of Montebello commissions, and gives them a budget.

(b) Our city council creates a community chest managed by residents.

(c)  We the residents create a community chest, fund it with other than city funds, and manage it. 

We are all here for a spell, get all the good laughs you can.

Will Rogers, 1879 - 1935,

American humorist, social commentator, and actor 

In part four, we mentioned two general groups of people in America, those looking for a better life in the afterlife or those wanting to end Earthly strife in order to have a better life.  We asked whether these two different groups could co-exist, noting that the Federal constitution and our large, diverse state impeded such co-existence.  In light of those impediments, what could we do without a protracted and, perhaps, futile attempt at changing the constitution or, gasp, dividing our state into manageable units? 

If we look to the Amish in Pennsylvania, what do we learn?  We have an intact community which has survived for decades.  The Amish have strong beliefs and a strong sense of solidarity, unlike most of our American neighborhoods.  If we permitted the formation of physical communities of like-minded people, we could create the conditions for peaceful co-existence between the two groups in the preceding paragraph.  One might ask whether each group would need its own resources to support itself, an issue which has contributed to shocking strife in Iraq.  To some extent, yes, self-sufficiency would be a priority, but each group would not have to live in a closed system.  There could be interaction between the groups, but far less than is now the case. 

What if our idealism about fair housing put a damper on the formation of physical communities of like-minded people?  What then? 

Those of us who indulge in science fiction might find an escape in habitable planets.  An interesting trilogy, Red Mars, Blue Mars, Green Mars, has Earthlings inhabiting and terraforming Mars.  If Mars were made habitable and self-sufficient, which group would go there?  Probably those looking for a better life in the present.  But science fiction would rear its "Cassandran" head by mentioning the possibility that the population on Earth or Mars would outstrip resources, making an invasion by one to control the other a possibility. 

(Let us pause here.  Why are we trying to divide up our society?  Answer:  to keep dysfunctional diversity from paralyzing society, to create more healthful and productive communities for people, compared with our present-day, costly struggle to homogenize America.) 

We are not going to inhabit planets or even the Terran moon soon, so what option remains if our idealism prevents the creation of communities?  Can technology play a role to save us? 

FOR EVERYONE.  Schurr High School Music-Program Recycling Drive.  Every second Saturday of the month, rain or shine, from 8 a.m. till noon.  Proceeds are used to benefit the music program's numerous events and competitions.  We accept aluminum cans, newspaper, cardboard, clear plastic soda and water bottles, glass bottles and containers, cell phones, large gallon-size containers for water only.  “Kash for Kids”.  Bring your empty ink cartridges.  However, we cannot accept Epson and Canon printer cartridges.  Drop-off for the recycling items is at the front of the school during the day of the recycling fundraiser. Students and volunteer parents will be preparing items for the local recycling centers. This is a great way for the community to recycle and a great way to help the students raise funds for their programs.  For additional information about Schurr High's Music program, please visit www.schurrmusic.org/recycling.htm or email president@schurrmusic.org.  

FOR EVERYONE.  Montebello Water Follies.  Wednesday, August 15, 2007, from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., George Hensel Aquatic Center, 1300 West Olympic Boulevard.  For ages 5 – 7, 8 – 10, 11 – 13, 14 – 15.  Balloon race, kick-board race, life-jacket race, penny toss, relay race, T-shirt race, tug of war.  Each team must consist of two boys and two girls.  For more information and to sign up, 323.887.4580.   

FOR EVERYONE.  “Be a Smart Rider!”  Holifield Park, 1060 South Greenwood Avenue, Montebello, on August 16, 2007, from 12p.m. to 1p.m.  Montebello Bus Lines is launching our “Be a Smart Rider!” presentation with the City of Montebello’s Park and Recreation summer camp program.  This presentation offers safety and riding tips for public transportation. MBL staff and a bus operator will be on site with our MBL bus for the public to ask questions and learn how to safely ride public transportation.  For more information, call customer service at 323.887.4600.

FOR EVERYONE.  Annual meteor showers.  The Perseid meteor showers are back!  You can see the meteors after midnight, between Saturday and Sunday, then after midnight between Sunday and Monday.  For best viewing, go with somebody at 3 a.m. to a safe, dark area away from city lights, lie on your back and look straight up.  More information is at http://www.earthsky.org/radioshows/51468/the-2007-peak-of-the-perseid-meteor-showe 

The “world clock” at http://www.poodwaddle.com/worldclock.swf  is a “must see”.  (But is the clock a reasonable estimate of what is happening?)

Do the Ecuadorians have nerve?  Should we expect more of the following around the world as the desire for oil clashes with the desire for environmental protection? 

“Ecuador Tries Novel Balance of Oil and Environment”

July 23, 2007, by Alonso Soto, Reuters 

EL COCA, Ecuador -- Under pressure to preserve the environment while at the same time ease the poverty of his people, Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa has come up with an unusual solution.  

Correa wants wealthy nations to pay Ecuador $350 million a year in exchange for leaving an estimated 1 billion barrels of oil under the ground in the pristine Yasuni rainforest.  

"I think oil has brought us more bad than good," said Correa during a recent visit to the bustling Amazonian oil town of El Coca. "We need to do something about it."  

Environmentalists around the world have celebrated the idea, apparently the first of its kind, as a way to preserve a delicate environment without creating an economic burden for the cash-strapped nation where six in ten people are poor.  

The move come amid growing popularity of "carbon offsetting," in which first-world residents concerned about climate change make donations to compensate for the environmental damage their consumer habits cause. …

Even if Ecuador can promise to halt the contamination of multinational oil behemoths, it may struggle to control an equally serious contamination threat to Yasuni -- migrants already setting up farms and shantytown dwellings there.  

But supporters of Correa's idea say the best way to limit the migration to the park is to ensure there are no oilfield jobs to draw them there.

"Oh God, what I wouldn't do to halt oil development," said Alonso Jaramillo, chief of eight rangers that watch over the park, roughly the size of Vermont. "I shake every time I hear about new oil development in my park."

To learn about this newsletter, Montebello E-News, and the accompanying, growing Web site, “My Montebello”, visit www.mymontebello.com.  Also, you will find instructions and contact information for submitting announcements for publication in this newsletter.