OPINION
Page A-4 - Mason County Journal - Thursday, Jan. 22, 2015
KOMEN COMMENT
Newsworthy notes are plenty distressing
H
ere are some quotes and allowed to legally have two or notes from the news: three wives. Women, however, are n “It’s a bad business,” not allowed to marry more than says Woody Allen of one man. the aging process. He’s n Emily Post is out 79 and not enjoying it. with updated etiquette “There’s no advantage guidelines, which include to aging. You don’t get advice to use email, text wiser. You have less opmessaging and voicemail tions. You don’t see life in — carefully. a more glowing way.” n Last year, a federal n And on that note, let official was discharged us ponder points made in after somebody found he By JOHN the book “Religious Lithad been collecting his KOMEN eracy.” Author Stephen pay for more than Prothero, quoted in The 10 years — some New York Times, says America is $900,000 — without reporting for “a nation of religious illiterates.” work. He explained his absences He notes 10 percent of Americans by telling his bosses he was workthink Joan of Arc was Noah’s wife. ing on a secret project for the CIA. n A different government n On the theme of income inworker downloaded 7,000 porequality, a survey notes the top 25 nographic images onto his office hedge-fund managers improved computer. It wasn’t the number their fortunes by upping their yearly take by 50 percent to a com- or the subject of his obsession that got him fired though. No, it bined 2013 take-home total of was the fact he was spending two $21 billion. to six hours a day on the job viewn Meantime, across the pond in West England a hedge-fund opera- ing his illicit collection. n Closer to home, a onetime tor is getting unwanted attention physician at the University of for the stylish chicken coop on his Washington School of Medicine estate. It cost $250,000. They’re has surrendered his license becalling it “Cluckingham Palace.” cause of unprofessional conduct. n That’s peanuts compared He had been secretly employed by to the $450,000 Pierce County manufacturers of flame retardants Transit decided to spend last year as an expert witness. He would to improve its image. That imtestify against legislation to ban age worsened when an enraged or control the chemicals. The expublic sputtered its disapproval. doctor has retired to Maui. The $450,000 image enhancer was n Let us pay attention to a stuquickly scrubbed from the budget. dent movement on some college n And that was really peanuts campuses to affix warning labels when you realize Sound Transit last year was lining up $43 million on books. These “trigger warnings” would alert readers that the books to pay the University of Washingthey were about to read might upton as mitigation for on-campus set them. vibrations that construction of a n Finally, let us wind up this light-rail tunnel caused. collection of American culture cran Speaking of money, we once ziness with this interesting fact: again are warned it is dirty. A 50 years ago, 6 percent of children New York University researcher in the United States were born out says the typical $1 bill is a nest of of wedlock. Today, says an op-ed microbes — more than 3,000 types piece in The New York Times, “the of bacteria residing thereon. “We number stands at 41 percent.” actually found that microbes grew on money,” says the researcher n John Komen, who lives on Maquoted in The Week magazine. son Lake, was for 40 years, a ren Also on the subject of money, porter and editor, TV anchorman, Ben Bernanke was paid $200,000 national television network cora year when he served as chairrespondent, producer, columnist, man of the Federal Reserve. He editorial writer, and commentator. left that punk change behind in exchange for the millions of dollars His column, Komen Comment, appears each week in the Mason he’s now earning on the speaking County Journal. circuit. n In Kenya, men are now
Journal
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Help kids improve English skills instead Editor, the Journal What is the Shelton School District thinking by voting unanimously to approve a new classroom course Spanish for Spanish Speakers? Seriously? Was I, sometime during my sleep last night, transported to Mexico, Spain or Cuba, leaving my native America somewhere in the Twilight Zone? This is the United States of America, and immigrants who migrate to our country are expected to learn the national language, English, to receive citizenship. We have so many American kids in this county who can’t even put an English sentence together grammatically without expletives or correct spellings. So we are using resources and school money to form a class so that those whose native language is Spanish can speak and write Spanish better while English-speaking kids continue to grow more ignorant in their own language? Words fail me. High school students already have the option to take Spanish 1, 2, and 3. How about a unique idea — English for Spanish speakers? I welcome all who come legally from other countries and encourage their language and cultures to be maintained and taught in their homes, but encouraging multiculturalism instead of assimilation is a very bad and stupid idea and does nothing to help the new American. I was angry when the county used grant money meant for teaching employees English who spoke Spanish, but they instead used it to teach employees Spanish. I recently wrote a letter about a church forming a class to teach Spanish
so we could better interact with our community. But now I am blowing steam from my ears at this latest decision by the Shelton School Board, which provides resources and money to help Spanish speakers speak Spanish better. Next school levy, don’t expect us to vote for it, and I think others might feel the same. Katie Groves Shelton
Support Pioneer’s upcoming bond Editor, the Journal So how do you keep your property taxes from going higher? It doesn’t really matter what your property assessment is; if your assessment goes down, they (the state and county) just adjust the tax rate a bit higher so they can maintain the same level of income. The way to lower your property tax is to encourage more growth in the county. The bigger the number of homes and businesses they have to draw tax from, the lower your tax bill will be. How do you attract homebuyers and businesses? Well, one of the best draws for these two growth factors is better schools. How do you get better schools? You start by bringing the classrooms and buildings into the 21st century. You need to vote yes for the Pioneer School District bond. Mike Callaghan Harstine Island see LETTERS, page A-5
Mason County
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