Author's Corner: Bakersfield.com

Ex-California Prison Guard releases New Book

Just released last week. Story now tells all what goes behind the walls of a California State prison.

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/imageviewer.asp?ean=9781440140594

Getting Craft With Digital Scrapbooks!

New Age Scrapbopoking-

When most think of scrapbooking, what usually comes to mind is a large table crowded with various tools, scraps of paper and old photos. I have to admit, I was once a victum of such crimes. I almost couldn't scrapbook because my house was turned upside down with unorganized printed photos and all the expensive paper, stickers, and tools that one needs to truly express creativity. I was limited to scrapbooking on long weekends, days off, or when my husband was out of town. I found myself scrapbooking at a friend's house once every three or four months. I was feeling like I was neglecting my hobby, and I didn't like it.

It wasn't until I discovered the digital scrapbooking world that I started scrapbooking at least once a week, if not more! Digital sacrapbooking allows me to organize all my photos. I'm not forced to spend $100's on stickers and paper that never get used up. I have endless use of lettering, themes and more! With traditional albums, I would finish a layout and sometimes find another must have picture in the spread and be disappointed I wouldn't be able to add it in. I resorted to creating another layout of the same theme just to include the exiled picture. Not with digital! Now I have no worries about mistakes or regretted layouts. The fixes are so easy. I also do not have to take up space around my house for storing supplies, and it's always clean!

There are several digital scrapbooks companies to choose from. From places like Wal-Mart.com and Costco.com to specialized companies like kodak.com and creative memories.com, you are sure to find an easy program with many options and price ranges to fit you. I prefer the Creative Memories scrapbpooking software called Storybook Creator Plus 3. You pay a little out of pocket, but compared to what I was spending, I am saving money. The program is versatile and allows both veterans and beginners to create albums to be proud of. Also, their printed albums are gaurenteed quality.

So put away your scissors and glue. It's time for the New Age of Scrapbooking!!

AngelSoldier

With 9/11 approaching and today being Labor Day, I could not help but think of Our Soldiers and the Labor they face every day to deliver our freedoms that we are blessed with. My son Paul has already served his Country as he was committed to serve and protect. One thing I learned while he was in the army is that when you have one child serving you also have another 500,000 or so sons and daughters ,your heart holds all of them inside, close and with honor and pride. When a Mother, Father, Brother, sister, and wife loses a soldier, you feel their pain deeply. When you see a solider has been killed on the news, a sweeping swell of sorrow sweeps over you as tears well up. You never forget sacrifice; you don’t forget 9/11 or the thousands who have already died for our freedoms and safe keeping.

At any given time that could have been my son, and although he has served his time and now is safely building his family and enjoying a life that could have been taken, he has brothers in harm’s way and that put’s life into perspective for him every day. When there are those of us complaining about the Bakersfield heat, remember our soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan walking miles with 100 pounds or more on their backs in temperatures near 120 or greater. Every step they make could be their last, every night sleep could be permanent never again to wake and see the light and everyday their fellow soldiers are killed living them with a view of what may be ahead for them at any time.

Every day we carry on with our life’s within a perimeter of safety, while our men and women are taking a bullet for us on the frontlines. We shop, dine out, take vacations, go to the movies, buy that huge television, and newest fun toy and while we are actively indulging ourselves, our soldiers are dusting off their boots, waking up on the rocky dirt, in hopes they will receive a letter from a loved one. It is like a child waiting in the heat for the ice-cream truck, a letter of love, a kind word, a chocolate bar, perhaps a new pair of socks this is their simple request outside living.

So today I adopted my first solider, with my commitment to write a letter every week, send a package at least every month, with small but needed items. Most importantly to start to do something, I once was told (Cant’ can’t do anything), so no more excuses, our men and women need us, and they need you. I sat in church and was challenged to join AngelSoilders. Com, as 1500 soldiers need adopting, they have no one to send them letters to keep their spirits soaring. I thought our community is bigger than this, the hearts in this town are huge and regardless of how we feel about the war, our loved ones are in it! And we all are Americans. So will our media and news papers spread the work of AngelSoilders.com and send words in a letter that might just serve and protect the spirits of our sacrificing Soldiers? As we approach 9/11 and the Holiday’s please sacrifice yourselves, and give back.

What's to be, What's next?

My good friend Davina learned that her work location will be closed shortly. She wrote this poem, from the gut, as soon as she heard. I think it speaks for a lot of people in a similar situation today.

I have Davina's permission to submit this to the paper.

It's rare to see our corporate managers visiting with such short notice

As presumed, they came to serve a purpose

My team received letters and were informed this location will be closed

By August 1st is the date corporate chose

The a/p lady's tears made me feel guilty

Cuz I know her two kids need to stay healthy

My mind is running hand in hand with questions

As I'm also giving myself suggestions

Prepare! Pay off and close accounts

Owe nobody and no-one any amount

Keep only one, the internet or the cable

Cuz soon I might not be able

I called my friend Lynn and sighed the news

She reminded to have faith because God renews

She said, you have a job, stand up and rejoice!

She's right, but I can't help feeling remorse

I was blessed to be excluded from their meeting and notice

But I'm aware, retiring from the place is bogus

What's to be, what's next

Right now, I really appreciate my check

About 30/70 is the scale of my worry

I wish the economy would better in a hurry

One day I know all this will be wiped away

I'll be safe if I keep God in my everyday

…by Davina Harrison 6/18/09

CSUB graduate publishes his first book, Gino the Minnow

Scott Wolford graduated from California State University Bakersfield in 1989 with a bachelors degree in Physical Education. He swam for the Roadrunners. He enjoyed the local lakes and headed for the coast to enjoy California’s water areas whenever possible. After graduated, he earned his masters in Physical Education in 1990 at Florida International University in Miami. Upon graduating he worked in California and St. Augustine for over six years at the Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind as the recreation manager for the visually impaired. He was raised in the Indiana Dunes National Park along Lake Michigan for the beaches that are close by. He worked as a lifeguard on Lake Michigan and spent numerous hours on the beach. Scott grew up with a love for nature and continues to share this love with a series of children's books that encourage us all to do our part in helping keep the environment clean.

Gino the Minnow, is Scott's first published book and it focuses on clean water areas. The hardcover book is beautifully illustrated and shows how one little fish can make a world of difference. His next two books will discuss ways to cleaner land and air qualities and what we can all do to help. $1 will be donated to non-profit organizations who focus on cleaner environments.
Thousands upon thousands of miles of coastal and water masses enrich this beautiful nation of ours. Water is one of the most important natural resources that we have. Here in California we all should be truly grateful having such beautiful beaches near by to enrich our lives. All of us need to take care of our water. Not only for ourselves, but for wildlife and future generations to enjoy. Millions of tons of trash are thrown into the water areas each and every year. This trash can take years to decompose, if ever.

A few facts on the time it takes for some materials to fully decompose:
Paper: 2-8 months, Plastic Coated Cartons: 5 years, Plastic Bags: 10-20 years,
Cigarette Butts: up to 12 years, Tin Cans: 50-100 years,
Aluminum Cans:80-100 years, Batteries: 100 years,
Plastic Six Pack Holder Rings: 450 years, Glass Bottles: 1 million years
Plastic Soda Bottles: Forever

As you can see, it takes some materials a very, very long time to decompose, some last forever. Some people may think that it is much easier to simply toss the trash wherever they are, instead of disposing of it properly. Improper disposal of trash has many bad side effects: harm to wildlife. Some creatures eat the litter thinking it is food. The litter causes damages to the creatures' digestive systems. Also, litter can get tangled in the fins or legs of various animal life, which can cut off circulation or other damage to the their tissues. Fishing line and plastic six pack holder rings are the main culprit in these types of damage to wildlife. Numerous injuries on human life are experienced each year as well. Broken glass bottles, aluminum cans, and other forms of litter can cause havoc on ones' body. The water can be contaminated from litter tossed into the water areas, which makes the water harmful to consume or to swim in for humans and wildlife.
Do you want to see the same trash at your favorite water spot, year after year? What can you do about this problem of litter in our water areas? When you go to the water areas pack for the outing as light as possible. Carry with you as few amounts of future trash items as possible. Several suggestions include using cloth napkins, clean towels and rags, stainless steel silverware, glass or pottery dishes and cups, rechargeable batteries, and a thermos for beverages. Bring a garbage bag with you for all of your trash items, as there may not be any trash cans in the location that you will be going or it may already be filled. Dispose of all of your trash properly. Used fishing line should be recycled. If you see trash left behind by others, please do your part in cleaning up the water areas, by picking it up. Be careful when picking up trash. You should wear proper gloves.
Go for a nice walk along the water. Bring a garbage bag with you, to allow you to pick up any trash that you may see along the way. You’ll get some great exercise, see some beautiful sights, spend quality time with those special to you, and leave a clean water area, which everyone can enjoy. Join an organized beach cleanup group. Start your own beach cleanup group. Do your own beach cleanup each and every time you visit your favorite water area.
Especially with the high price of gas, why not stay close to home and enjoy your local beaches? For more information on ordering his book, Gino the Minnow or helping keep the water areas clean, please look on www.ginotheminnow.com. Scott would like to hear from his friends and others who share a devotion to our environment.

Local Resident Publishes Poetry Book

First time author and local Bakersfield resident Gael C. McNally has written a collection of 128 poems entitled "My Inner Schizophrenic - Poems for the Working Man". This book was written by a diagnosed third-generation schizophrenic giving hope to others with mental disabilities that you don't have to give up on your dreams of creative endeavors. Gael McNally graduated from Marymount College with an A.A. in liberal arts. She is hoping to pursue her B.A. in English Literature at Cal State Bakersfield. This book contains poems in short story form and also includes an essay of her illness and a short story. Many poems, as well, touch upon historical references to Ireland. This book can be purchased for $12.95 on Amazon.com or BarnesandNoble.com, and it can also be purchased in e-format for $6.00 from iuniverse.com. Gael hopes that sales of her book will help with expenses at CSUB.

The Fed, Income Tax, Economic Crisis

To The Federal Reserve, Faculty and Students of CSUB

I am posting this information so everyone will have it before the forum on Thursday. We should start the discussion now. Post your comments and question now. I will be at the meeting if you have a question or comment that you want me to answer privately. Let it begin.

Letter to Treasurer Tim Geithner

Treasurer Tim Geithner

Dept of Treasury Office of Treasurer

1500 Pennsylvania Ave., NW Room 2134

Washington D.C. 20220

Thank you for all your years of public service. You stepped into a firestorm when others feared the worse or didn’t know what to do about the currant economic crisis. It would have been much better if it hadn’t occurred at all. I wrote a book outlining policies that would help make our economy more efficient and cure economic crisis. We have to many cycles of recession, boom, and again, recession or depression. I believe that we rely on the Federal Reserve too much to manage our economy. Its policy of managing the economy, by adjusting the money supply, to control inflation, recessions, and cure economic crises, is too damaging to our economy when used by its self. I believe that the income tax should be automatically bought into play at the same time. When the government relies on the Fed to use its high interest rate policies, it is like driving a tack in with a sledgehammer. There is a lot of damage done to the economy that is unnecessary and much to much misery is created. The government responsibilities increase, as more people become government dependent. Enclosed you will find an article I wrote, to be published in our local newspaper. I am also enclosing a policy paper on how to stabilize oil prices. When the economies of the world recover energy prices will rise. We consume 25% of the world oil supply. Our actions will have an enormous affect on world oil prices. I hope you will find these policy changes helpful. Please let me know what you think and if I can be of anymore service.

Sincerely Leonard Tekaat

11620 Traviso Ave

E-mail economysflaw@Yahoo.com

Bakersfield, Ca. 93312

leonardc@earthlink.netIntroduction

Let me introduce myself. I am sixty-four years old. I am a retired Economic Analyst, Financier, Businessman, Investor, Author and former candidate for the California Congress. I have over forty years of being in the financial and business world. There is a major flaw in our economic theories! I wrote a book and several articles outlining new policies to cure economic crisis, now and in the future. It is a guide to correct a major flaw in our economic theories. If you agree that these changes need to be enacted, support me in getting them enacted. In this way you will be doing something that will really improve the lives of people and the families of America. The stock market should go up, replacing some of the value they have lost. We do not need a government jobs program or a bailout to cure the economic crisis. This is not to say that the things that President Elect Obama is proposing do not need to be done. It would be better if we did them at a slower pace so they could be done in an efficient manner. Job programs were tried in the Great Depression of the 1930s and were only partially successful. It was World War II that finally restarted the economy. We do not want that to happen again! Recently we had the housing bubble, which got us into this mess, and the oil bubble in the commodities market. The Federal Reserve could not do anything about them, without killing our economy and disrupting the world economies.

Find out why! The book INFLATION THE ECONOMY KILLER by Leonard Tekaat is available at Amazon.com free info. http://www.AmericanSolution... articles and comments by happyashell HOW TO STABILIZE THE VALUE OF YOUR HOME AND STIMULATE THE ECONOMY According to recent articles in newspapers and financial magazines, Bakersfield has seen the price of single-family homes drop an average of 31% or more in the past two years. A recent article by Courtenay Edelhart , Californian staff writer, stated, it is predicted we might see another 21% decrease in the median priced home in 2009! The deflation of housing prices was needed after the housing bubble, but we are now at a point where a floor must be put under home prices before we have a complete collapse of our economy. State and local governments, which rely on property tax money to finance their services, are cutting back and borrowing heavily. Our national economy is in terrible shape. Unemployment is rising. Our economy is experiencing an economic crisis. It is very sick because of decades of misguidance. State and local governments are close to being broke. The federal debt is expected to triple. People are losing their jobs and homes by tens of thousands. Business large and small are going bankrupt. People are giving up hope of a better future for themselves and their families. We have been treating the symptoms of the economic crisis, not the disease. We must try something different. What we are doing is not working! Investors must be encouraged to invest in long-term bonds and securities to restart the economy. There are four questions that investors ask before they will get off the sidelines. Will I make a profit? Will my investment retain its value? Will it pay a good return on investment? Will the economic future be better than the past? If we can satisfy these concerns, investors will get off the billions of dollars they are sitting on and reinvest them in our economy. Breathing new life into it. The government will not have to bailout the economy, if investors and consumers are confident of the future. John Maynard Keynes (1893-1946) was the British economist who revolutionized economic theories of the 1930s. Keynesian economics works well. The trouble is he did not leave a handbook on how to correctly slow down the economy when it is so strong, that it is creating an economic crisis. We recently had the housing bubble, which got us into this mess, and the oil bubble in the commodities market. The Federal Reserve was not able to do anything about either one of these bubbles. WHY? We need a new method to cure economic crisis and control inflation and inflation psychology. Our economy has become so big and electronically sophisticated, the old ways no longer work. One of the reasons we are experiencing an economic crisis is we have made investing in capital assets and commodities with rising prices very profitable. Since inflationary investments are taxed at 15%(long term capital gains tax rate) and money investments are taxed at 36%, making the money investments worth 21% less. In fact to offset the capital gains rate on personal residences, which is 0%, and the homes annual appreciation rate is 30%, which we had in 2003-2006, interest rates on bonds, securities and bank savings accounts would have go up to 48.5 a.p.r to have the same return on investment. Add in the effect of the interest deduction. Is it any wonder that we had a housing bubble and the Fed could not do anything about it, without killing our economy, and disrupting the world economies? To halt the falling housing prices, save our auto industry and put people back to work, mortgage rates must decrease 2 to 3%. When the economy refinances, at a lower interest rate, people’s disposable income will increase. The unemployed will be employed, and have more income. People’s confidence level will rise and they will start spending money again! They will be able to afford a new car, there-by saving the auto industry. If the vehicle’s loan interest is made tax deductible again, more vehicles will be sold and at a faster pace. Banks no longer hold mortgages. They sell them to investors. So we must induce an economic climate so investors are willing to purchase, during this economic crisis and the inflation cycle, long-term bonds and securities, I wrote a book “Inflation the Economy Killer” containing “The Zero Inflation Taxation Policy”, which correctly cures the economic crisis. It correctly controls inflation without hurting the economy unlike the Fed’s high interest rate policy. It also solves the problems of under investment in the long-term bond and securities market, during economic crises. As inflation or under investment in the bond and securities market begins to occur, the tax on money investments should automatically be decreased and the interest deduction should be decreased by the same percentage rate, based on the inflation rate. When money investments are taxed at 15%, money investments will be as valuable as inflationary investments. Most of the time, capital gains must be taxed at the same rate to correct this imbalance. I do not want to eliminate the long-term capital gains tax rate. We need it to encourage people to take risks and increase production. I want to neutralize it at the correct time in the economic cycle. It still is available to those people that create the real wealth of our economy, not paper profits. If a real estate, stock market or a commodities market bubble is occurring raise the capital gains tax rate on that item or all long-term investments. If price of one of the a-fore mentioned items are declining too rapidly, lower the capital gains tax rate on that item. Income taxes in general should not be raised. Investments in the commodities market must be made without credit until the day of delivery. It is a simple plan, but so was Keynesian economics. In the 1980s, even through interest rates went up to 21%, they were only 100% above the then currant annual inflation rate of 11%. The currant inflation rate is approximately 0%, some economist say we may even be lower than that (deflation). The currant interest rate to buy a home is approx.5%. That is at least 670% above Nov 2008’s deflation rate 1.7%. If a person has credit card debt, the interest rate is even worse. It can be 2500% or more above the annual inflation rate. If a person has credit card debt equal to their annual gross income, of say $25,000.00, they will pay more interest to the financial institution than income taxes to the state and federal governments combined! The economy cannot function efficiently under these conditions. We must stop the destruction of our economy every 7 to 10 years with high interest rate polices. ENCOURAGE FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS TO LOWER THEIR LENDING INTEREST RATES. Banks have become their own worse enemy. If interest rates for mortgages were lowered there wouldn’t be as many foreclosures. The value of their collateral would stabilize. The money they are lending can be obtained at the Federal Reserve for a very low rate above the inflation rate. Banks kept the interest rates approx. 300 to 500% or more above the inflation rate all through the 1930s, causing the Great Depression to be worse than it would have been with lower interest rates. The Banks may be keeping interest rates high so they will not loose their depositors or for other reasons. If this is true, then the Federal Reserve should lend the U.S. Treasury the money to purchase the new mortgages through the following financial institutions. I would not use the TARP money to buy the bad mortgage securities. As the old mortgages are refinance they will change from a delinquent assets to a viable assets and be taken off the bad debt list. After the economy restarts and gets strong again, interest rates should rise. The Fed should never let interest rates rise more than 100% above the annual inflation rate. This means that mortgage interest rates and other loans must also follow the annual inflation rate down. Interest rates must be maintained fifty to 100% above the inflation rate. We have special circumstances in our economy at the currant time. With the government providing lower interest rate mortgages than the banks and financial institutions, the banks will have to offer lower interest rates. The banks and financial institutions will earn a huge amount of money arranging and servicing these new mortgages there-by making them profitable and capitalizing them. The Home Loan Bank, Federal Housing Authority, Fannie May, Freddie Mac and any other financial intuitions that are government sponsored, have deposits insurance by FDIC, or are partially owned by the government would not be allowed purchase or write any mortgages that have an interest rate greater than 200% to 300% above the annual inflation rate. I do not think this will be problem. Banks and financial institutions will willing arrange the refinancing of the mortgages, because of the fees they will collect. When the mortgages are bundled into securities, only those loans that had the same lending criteria, rating and purpose would be allowed into the security. With this policy in place the securities could be correctly rated as to value. Adjustable Rate Mortgages (ARM) should have a starting interest rate of 100 to 200 % above the annual deflation rate. The mortgage interest rate could not be raised more than one-quarter percent per year or greater than an apr of 5%. The mortgage rate could be lowered faster to maintain demand. Since we will be using the income tax to guide the economy and control inflation, interest rate will stay below 5% in the money markets, if inflation stays below 2.5%. The new buyer must qualify for the mortgage at the highest interest rate the mortgage will obtain. I believe that if home loans were made assumable, home prices would not have decreased as much as they have. The selling expenses connected to transferring the home to the buyer is considerable less and occurs much quicker, increasing demand, thus there is less time for the home to devalue. If there is no equity left in the home, the seller is not going to pay the extra expenses to sell it in a conventional manner. The homeowner will just let it go back to mortgage holder. Approval of the new buyer, by the lender, must be done before they could assume the mortgage. The mortgage should be adjusted to the current selling price of the house or the banks can agree to a sliding principal amount, as explained later. A 3% pay down of the unpaid principal amount would be required. If equity is less than 20% mortgage insurance is required. The assumption expenses to the buyer should only be the actual expenses of the mortgage service company. The title insurance should be assumable by the buyer, for a small fee to cover the actual cost of assumption and a title search. You might be thinking these changes to our financial system would decrease the investor’s willingness to invest in the new securities. Currently investors are not as concerned about the rate of return. They are more concerned about the borrower’s ability to repay the loan and the value of the collateral. People do not abandon their homes because the loan is greater than the current resale price. They have not given up hope that the selling price of the home will increase in the future. They are mainly moving out of their homes because they cannot afford the mortgage payments. They will give the home to the bank, if they have to move, to find less expensive housing or find employment. This is why the loan should be assumable. If the monthly payment is affordable to the buyer, it is better to own the home than to rent. Even if it’s current selling price is less than the mortgage owed. The new buyer will be allowed a tax deduction for the interest and property taxes. This advantage makes their housing cost cheaper than renting. Also it is possible they may make some money on the sale of the home in the future. Even if they do not make money on the sale, they are better off than renting, because they will eventually pay the home mortgage in full. For those people who own a home that the mortgage is greater than the currant selling price a clause should be included in the refinanced mortgage that states the bank or investor will discount the mortgage, an amount equal to 20%, of each monthly payment for a maximum the first ten year, or until the selling price of house plus repairs equals the amount of the mortgage, if the borrower agrees to pay off the entire unpaid balance due. This policy would allow for an orderly decrease in mortgage balances that are above the selling price of the home. The borrower must also buy mortgage insurance. Again the borrower must qualify for the loan at the highest rate of interest the mortgage will obtain. On all mortgage insured homes the insurance company could either take possession of the home or pay the unpaid amount between the currant selling price and the unpaid balance of the mortgage minus any repairs that need to be made to the home to obtain the highest possible selling price. The borrower should be responsible for any repairs to encourage the borrower to maintain the collateral. The repairs to a home should be made tax-deductible in the year they are made so the neighborhood does not deteriorate. The banks should and borrowers should be encouraged to use a Grant Deed In Lieu of Foreclosure so the amount of time the home is empty will decrease. In this way the bank’s cost will decrease and borrower’s responsibilities will not last as long. The shortest turn a round time will decrease the possibility of damage. The borrower should be responsible for the maintenance of the home until the bank obtains legal possession. The bank or securities investors do not care who is making the mortgage payment. They do not want the house back. They just want someone to continue making the monthly payments. To prevent another housing bubble and slow down rising housing prices, if another bubble is occurring in any of the twelve Federal Reserve Districts (more than 2% annual price increases) the secondary mortgage market should require a greater percentage down payment to reduce demand and maintain a strong financial industry. The Fed should not raise interest rates because this causes cost to go up in the economy and causes the economy to slow down in general, which causes a recession. If the interest rate for a mortgage is reduced by 2 to 3 % the price of the collateral will stabilize because of the increased number of qualified buyers that would qualify for a mortgage. The foreclosed housing inventory will quickly be sold increasing the value of all the other homes in the neighborhood. When the mortgage is made assumable, the monthly payments will continue to pay down the loan, there-by maintaining the value of the security. The investors will be making a good return on their investment if the interest rate they are collecting is up to 50% to 100% above the annual inflation rate. With The Zero Inflation Taxation Policy enacted, the security instrument will maintain its resale value because the Fed will not have to raise interest rates as high to control inflation and inflation psychology. There is a second wave of foreclosures on the way, starting in 2009 or 2010, when another set of (ARM) mortgages adjust. If we act quickly, they will adjust down instead of up. With the above policies enacted interest rates will come down, avoiding the possibility of hundred of thousands of more foreclosures and the prolonging of the recession or even developing a depression. The Policy should stabilize the long-term bond and securities market, creating a market for 30 year fixed rate or ARM mortgages, at the lowest possible interest rate. . If you agree that these changes need to be enacted, support me in getting them enacted. In this way you will be doing something that will really improve the lives of the people and families of America. The stock market should go up, replacing some of the value they have lost. We do not need a government jobs program or more bailouts to cure the economic crisis. They may do more harm than good. With the government borrowing such large amounts of money, treasury securities will rise in price. Banks and investors will then put their money into treasuries and not into the economy and mortgages. Housing prices must have a floor put under them before more equity is lost. Banks will then not loan homeowners money because of a lack of equity. Job programs were tried in the Great Depression and were only partially successful. It was World War II that finally restarted the economy. We do not want that to happen again! These policy changes will cause mortgage rates to drop and the stock market should go up. The economy will stand up on its own, without a government bailout. RECAP---WHAT TO DO TO STIMULATE THE ECONOMY.1. Enact the Zero Inflation Taxation policy. This policy will increase confidence in investors to make long-term money investments, creating a market for 30yr mortgages. It will automatically change the income tax as economic conditions change in our economy from recession to the inflation economic cycle.2. Create mortgages that have interest rates that are no more than 50 to 200 percent above the Consumer Price Index. Maintain mortgage interest rates with Adjustable Rate Mortgages at no more than 50 to 100% above the C.P.I. Have the U.S. Treasury fund these mortgages until the banks lower their mortgage rates and investors start investing in them. Lowering mortgage rates would be the fastest way to stimulate the economy. By decreasing mortgage rates by 50%, mortgage payments would decrease by 50% per month. A $1500.00 monthly interest payment would decrease to $750.00. That is a $750.00 stimulus check every month for 30 yrs. Remember, the first payment on a thirty year 0% interest, $200,000.00 loan is a$199.10 principal payment, the rest is interest. To increase people’s disposable income and increase demand in the economy, we must lower interest rates 2 to 3%. November 08 C.P.I. was negative1.9%. A 3% mortgage rate would be 490% above the deflation rate.3. Do not allow credit to be used in the commodities market until the day of delivery. This will reduce speculation and save our savings pool for necessary productive and consumption reasons.4. After home prices are stabilized, increase the capital gains tax rate to the same amount as other long-term capital investments. If home prices are going up more that 2% a year increase the capital gains tax rate and down payment requirement on homes. Do not raise income taxes in general.5. Make home loans assumable. Include all the terms stated in this stimulus plan. Increase the borrowers responsibility for maintaining the home. Encourage making repairs to the home by making the cost of the repairs tax deductible, in the year they are made. This provision doesn’t include home improvements. The capital gains rate will encourage that investment. This will increase economic activity and maintain the collateral for the loan.6. Make interest on auto loans tax deductible again. To encourage the stabilization of manufacturing cost, the auto industry would also be affected by the Zero Inflation Taxation Policy, by the disallowance of this tax encouragement to buy their product. 7. Do not create a government jobs program so large that interest rates rise at the present time. Allow this stimulus plan to create more economic activity, then take up slake in the economy, as needed, at an efficient rate, to achieve the infrastructure we need for the future.8. Do not use high interest rate policies alone to control inflation and inflation psychology. Use the income tax, which will not raise cost or cause a recession.9. Bundle the mortgages into securities that have the same criteria, rating and purpose. This will make it possible to determine their value, so they will be able to be marketed. 10. Enact the Oil Conservation Exchange Contribution (OPEC). This policy will help stabilize oil prices and reduce their importation. Help balance the trade deficient. Oil companies will not go broke at the currant price.11. Gold at one time in our history was the value behind our currency. It was called the Gold Standard. The new Gold Standard is the value of our homes, buildings, land, products, and our economy (people). Correctly guided, our economy will once again make our currency “As good as gold.” We must change how we make money. “ We must make money the old fashion way, we must earn it.”12. Additional info, Inflation the Economy Killer, available at Amazon.Com. Leonard Tekaat is an Economic analyst, Author Businessman, Financier, Investor and former candidate for California Congress. E-mail leonardc@earthlink.net economysflaw@yahoo.com copyright Jan 4, 2009HOW TO STABILIZE OIL FUEL PRICES ANDENOURAGE A CHANGE OF OURTRANSPORTATION VEHICLE’S PROPELLANT To The Federal Reserve Faculty and Students of CSUBI am posting this information so everyone will have it before the forum on Thursday. We should start the discussion now. Post your comments and question now. I will be at the meeting if you have a question or comment that you want me to answer privately. Let it begin. Letter to Treasurer Tim Geithner Treasurer Tim Geithner Dept of Treasury Office of Treasurer1500 Pennsylvania Ave., NW Room 2134Washington D.C. 20220Thank you for all your years of public service. You stepped into a firestorm when others feared the worse or didn’t know what to do about the currant economic crisis. It would have been much better if it hadn’t occurred at all. I wrote a book outlining policies that would help make our economy more efficient and cure economic crisis. We have to many cycles of recession, boom, and again, recession or depression. I believe that we rely on the Federal Reserve too much to manage our economy. Its policy of managing the economy, by adjusting the money supply, to control inflation, recessions, and cure economic crises, is too damaging to our economy when used by its self. I believe that the income tax should be automatically bought into play at the same time. When the government relies on the Fed to use its high interest rate policies, it is like driving a tack in with a sledgehammer. There is a lot of damage done to the economy that is unnecessary and much to much misery is created. The government responsibilities increase, as more people become government dependent. Enclosed you will find an article I wrote, to be published in our local newspaper. I am also enclosing a policy paper on how to stabilize oil prices. When the economies of the world recover energy prices will rise. We consume 25% of the world oil supply. Our actions will have an enormous affect on world oil prices. I hope you will find these policy changes helpful. Please let me know what you think and if I can be of anymore service. Sincerely Leonard Tekaat 11620 Traviso Ave E-mail economysflaw@Yahoo.com Bakersfield, Ca. 93312 leonardc@earthlink.net INTRODUCTION Let me introduce myself. I am sixty-four years old. I am a retired Economic Analyst, Financier, Businessman, Investor, Author and former candidate for the California Congress. I have over forty years of being in the financial and business world. There is a major flaw in our economic theories! I wrote a book and several articles outlining new policies to cure economic crisis, now and in the future. It is a guide to correct a major flaw in our economic theories. If you agree that these changes need to be enacted, support me in getting them enacted. In this way you will be doing something that will really improve the lives of people and the families of America. The stock market should go up, replacing some of the value they have lost. We do not need a government jobs program or a bailout to cure the economic crisis. This is not to say that the things that President Elect Obama is proposing do not need to be done. It would be better if we did them at a slower pace so they could be done in an efficient manner. Job programs were tried in the Great Depression of the 1930s and were only partially successful. It was World War II that finally restarted the economy. We do not want that to happen again! Recently we had the housing bubble, which got us into this mess, and the oil bubble in the commodities market. The Federal Reserve could not do anything about them, without killing our economy and disrupting the world economies. Find out why! The book INFLATION THE ECONOMY KILLER by Leonard Tekaat is available at Amazon.com free info. http://www.AmericanSolution... articles and comments by happyashell HOW TO STABILIZE THE VALUE OF YOUR HOME AND STIMULATE THE ECONOMY According to recent articles in newspapers and financial magazines, Bakersfield has seen the price of single-family homes drop an average of 31% or more in the past two years. A recent article by Courtenay Edelhart, Californian staff writer, stated, it is predicted we might see another 21% decrease in the median priced home in 2009! The deflation of housing prices was needed after the housing bubble, but we are now at a point where a floor must be put under home prices before we have a complete collapse of our economy. State and local governments, which rely on property tax money to finance their services, are cutting back and borrowing heavily. Our national economy is in terrible shape. Unemployment is rising. Our economy is experiencing an economic crisis. It is very sick because of decades of misguidance. State and local governments are close to being broke. The federal debt is expected to triple. People are losing their jobs and homes by tens of thousands. Business large and small are going bankrupt. People are giving up hope of a better future for themselves and their families.We have been treating the symptoms of the economic crisis, not the disease. We must try something different. What we are doing is not working! Investors must be encouraged to invest in long-term bonds and securities to restart the economy. There are four questions that investors ask before they will get off the sidelines. Will I make a profit? Will my investment retain its value? Will it pay a good return on investment? Will the economic future be better than the past? If we can satisfy these concerns, investors will get off the billions of dollars they are sitting on and reinvest them in our economy. Breathing new life into it. The government will not have to bailout the economy, if investors and consumers are confident of the future. John Maynard Keynes (1893-1946) was the British economist who revolutionized economic theories of the 1930s. Keynesian economics works well. The trouble is he did not leave a handbook on how to correctly slow down the economy when it is so strong, that it is creating an economic crisis. We recently had the housing bubble, which got us into this mess, and the oil bubble in the commodities market. The Federal Reserve was not able to do anything about either one of these bubbles. WHY? We need a new method to cure economic crisis and control inflation and inflation psychology. Our economy has become so big and electronically sophisticated, the old ways no longer work. One of the reasons we are experiencing an economic crisis is we have made investing in capital assets and commodities with rising prices very profitable. Since inflationary investments are taxed at 15%(long term capital gains tax rate) and money investments are taxed at 36%, making the money investments worth 21% less. In fact to offset the capital gains rate on personal residences, which is 0%, and the homes annual appreciation rate is 30%, which we had in 2003-2006, interest rates on bonds, securities and bank savings accounts would have go up to 48.5 a.p.r to have the same return on investment. Add in the effect of the interest deduction. Is it any wonder that we had a housing bubble and the Fed could not do anything about it, without killing our economy, and disrupting the world economies? To halt the falling housing prices, save our auto industry and put people back to work, mortgage rates must decrease 2 to 3%. When the economy refinances, at a lower interest rate, people’s disposable income will increase. The unemployed will be employed, and have more income. People’s confidence level will rise and they will start spending money again! They will be able to afford a new car, there-by saving the auto industry. If the vehicle’s loan interest is made tax deductible again, more vehicles will be sold and at a faster pace. Banks no longer hold mortgages. They sell them to investors. So we must induce an economic climate so investors are willing to purchase, during this economic crisis and the inflation cycle, long-term bonds and securities, I wrote a book “Inflation the Economy Killer” containing “The Zero Inflation Taxation Policy”, which correctly cures the economic crisis. It correctly controls inflation without hurting the economy unlike the Fed’s high interest rate policy. It also solves the problems of under investment in the long-term bond and securities market, during economic crises. As inflation or under investment in the bond and securities market begins to occur, the tax on money investments should automatically be decreased and the interest deduction should be decreased by the same percentage rate, based on the inflation rate. When money investments are taxed at 15%, money investments will be as valuable as inflationary investments. Most of the time, capital gains must be taxed at the same rate to correct this imbalance. I do not want to eliminate the long-term capital gains tax rate. We need it to encourage people to take risks and increase production. I want to neutralize it at the correct time in the economic cycle. It still is available to those people that create the real wealth of our economy, not paper profits. If a real estate, stock market or a commodities market bubble is occurring raise the capital gains tax rate on that item or all long-term investments. If price of one of the a-fore mentioned items are declining too rapidly, lower the capital gains tax rate on that item. Income taxes in general should not be raised. Investments in the commodities market must be made without credit until the day of delivery. It is a simple plan, but so was Keynesian economics. In the 1980s, even through interest rates went up to 21%, they were only 100% above the then currant annual inflation rate of 11%. The currant inflation rate is approximately 0%, some economist say we may even be lower than that (deflation). The currant interest rate to buy a home is approx.5%. That is at least 670% above Nov 2008’s deflation rate 1.7%. If a person has credit card debt, the interest rate is even worse. It can be 2500% or more above the annual inflation rate. If a person has credit card debt equal to their annual gross income, of say $25,000.00, they will pay more interest to the financial institution than income taxes to the state and federal governments combined! The economy cannot function efficiently under these conditions. We must stop the destruction of our economy every 7 to 10 years with high interest rate polices. ENCOURAGE FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS TO LOWER THEIR LENDING INTEREST RATES. Banks have become their own worse enemy. If interest rates for mortgages were lowered there wouldn’t be as many foreclosures. The value of their collateral would stabilize. The money they are lending can be obtained at the Federal Reserve for a very low rate above the inflation rate. Banks kept the interest rates approx. 300 to 500% or more above the inflation rate all through the 1930s, causing the Great Depression to be worse than it would have been with lower interest rates. The Banks may be keeping interest rates high so they will not loose their depositors or for other reasons. If this is true, then the Federal Reserve should lend the U.S. Treasury the money to purchase the new mortgages through the following financial institutions. I would not use the TARP money to buy the bad mortgage securities. As the old mortgages are refinance they will change from a delinquent assets to a viable assets and be taken off the bad debt list. After the economy restarts and gets strong again, interest rates should rise. The Fed should never let interest rates rise more than 100% above the annual inflation rate. This means that mortgage interest rates and other loans must also follow the annual inflation rate down. Interest rates must be maintained fifty to 100% above the inflation rate. We have special circumstances in our economy at the currant time. With the government providing lower interest rate mortgages than the banks and financial institutions, the banks will have to offer lower interest rates. The banks and financial institutions will earn a huge amount of money arranging and servicing these new mortgages there-by making them profitable and capitalizing them. The Home Loan Bank, Federal Housing Authority, Fannie May, Freddie Mac and any other financial intuitions that are government sponsored, have deposits insurance by FDIC, or are partially owned by the government would not be allowed purchase or write any mortgages that have an interest rate greater than 200% to 300% above the annual inflation rate. I do not think this will be problem. Banks and financial institutions will willing arrange the refinancing of the mortgages, because of the fees they will collect. When the mortgages are bundled into securities, only those loans that had the same lending criteria, rating and purpose would be allowed into the security. With this policy in place the securities could be correctly rated as to value. Adjustable Rate Mortgages (ARM) should have a starting interest rate of 100 to 200 % above the annual deflation rate. The mortgage interest rate could not be raised more than one-quarter percent per year or greater than an apr of 5%. The mortgage rate could be lowered faster to maintain demand. Since we will be using the income tax to guide the economy and control inflation, interest rate will stay below 5% in the money markets, if inflation stays below 2.5%. The new buyer must qualify for the mortgage at the highest interest rate the mortgage will obtain. I believe that if home loans were made assumable, home prices would not have decreased as much as they have. The selling expenses connected to transferring the home to the buyer is considerable less and occurs much quicker, increasing demand, thus there is less time for the home to devalue. If there is no equity left in the home, the seller is not going to pay the extra expenses to sell it in a conventional manner. The homeowner will just let it go back to mortgage holder. Approval of the new buyer, by the lender, must be done before they could assume the mortgage. The mortgage should be adjusted to the current selling price of the house or the banks can agree to a sliding principal amount, as explained later. A 3% pay down of the unpaid principal amount would be required. If equity is less than 20% mortgage insurance is required. The assumption expenses to the buyer should only be the actual expenses of the mortgage service company. The title insurance should be assumable by the buyer, for a small fee to cover the actual cost of assumption and a title search. You might be thinking these changes to our financial system would decrease the investor’s willingness to invest in the new securities. Currently investors are not as concerned about the rate of return. They are more concerned about the borrower’s ability to repay the loan and the value of the collateral. People do not abandon their homes because the loan is greater than the current resale price. They have not given up hope that the selling price of the home will increase in the future. They are mainly moving out of their homes because they cannot afford the mortgage payments. They will give the home to the bank, if they have to move, to find less expensive housing or find employment. This is why the loan should be assumable. If the monthly payment is affordable to the buyer, it is better to own the home than to rent. Even if it’s current selling price is less than the mortgage owed. The new buyer will be allowed a tax deduction for the interest and property taxes. This advantage makes their housing cost cheaper than renting. Also it is possible they may make some money on the sale of the home in the future. Even if they do not make money on the sale, they are better off than renting, because they will eventually pay the home mortgage in full. For those people who own a home that the mortgage is greater than the currant selling price a clause should be included in the refinanced mortgage that states the bank or investor will discount the mortgage, an amount equal to 20%, of each monthly payment for a maximum the first ten year, or until the selling price of house plus repairs equals the amount of the mortgage, if the borrower agrees to pay off the entire unpaid balance due. This policy would allow for an orderly decrease in mortgage balances that are above the selling price of the home. The borrower must also buy mortgage insurance. Again the borrower must qualify for the loan at the highest rate of interest the mortgage will obtain. On all mortgage insured homes the insurance company could either take possession of the home or pay the unpaid amount between the currant selling price and the unpaid balance of the mortgage minus any repairs that need to be made to the home to obtain the highest possible selling price. The borrower should be responsible for any repairs to encourage the borrower to maintain the collateral. The repairs to a home should be made tax-deductible in the year they are made so the neighborhood does not deteriorate. The banks should and borrowers should be encouraged to use a Grant Deed In Lieu of Foreclosure so the amount of time the home is empty will decrease. In this way the bank’s cost will decrease and borrower’s responsibilities will not last as long. The shortest turn a round time will decrease the possibility of damage. The borrower should be responsible for the maintenance of the home until the bank obtains legal possession. The bank or securities investors do not care who is making the mortgage payment. They do not want the house back. They just want someone to continue making the monthly payments. To prevent another housing bubble and slow down rising housing prices, if another bubble is occurring in any of the twelve Federal Reserve Districts (more than 2% annual price increases) the secondary mortgage market should require a greater percentage down payment to reduce demand and maintain a strong financial industry. The Fed should not raise interest rates because this causes cost to go up in the economy and causes the economy to slow down in general, which causes a recession. If the interest rate for a mortgage is reduced by 2 to 3 % the price of the collateral will stabilize because of the increased number of qualified buyers that would qualify for a mortgage. The foreclosed housing inventory will quickly be sold increasing the value of all the other homes in the neighborhood. When the mortgage is made assumable, the monthly payments will continue to pay down the loan, there-by maintaining the value of the security. The investors will be making a good return on their investment if the interest rate they are collecting is up to 50% to 100% above the annual inflation rate. With The Zero Inflation Taxation Policy enacted, the security instrument will maintain its resale value because the Fed will not have to raise interest rates as high to control inflation and inflation psychology. There is a second wave of foreclosures on the way, starting in 2009 or 2010, when another set of (ARM) mortgages adjust. If we act quickly, they will adjust down instead of up. With the above policies enacted interest rates will come down, avoiding the possibility of hundred of thousands of more foreclosures and the prolonging of the recession or even developing a depression. The Policy should stabilize the long-term bond and securities market, creating a market for 30 year fixed rate or ARM mortgages, at the lowest possible interest rate. . If you agree that these changes need to be enacted, support me in getting them enacted. In this way you will be doing something that will really improve the lives of the people and families of America. The stock market should go up, replacing some of the value they have lost. We do not need a government jobs program or more bailouts to cure the economic crisis. They may do more harm than good. With the government borrowing such large amounts of money, treasury securities will rise in price. Banks and investors will then put their money into treasuries and not into the economy and mortgages. Housing prices must have a floor put under them before more equity is lost. Banks will then not loan homeowners money because of a lack of equity. Job programs were tried in the Great Depression and were only partially successful. It was World War II that finally restarted the economy. We do not want that to happen again! These policy changes will cause mortgage rates to drop and the stock market should go up. The economy will stand up on its own, without a government bailout. RECAP---WHAT TO DO TO STIMULATE THE ECONOMY. 1. Enact the Zero Inflation Taxation policy. This policy will increase confidence in investors to make long-term money investments, creating a market for 30yr mortgages. It will automatically change the income tax as economic conditions change in our economy from recession to the inflation economic cycle. 2. Create mortgages that have interest rates that are no more than 50 to 200 percent above the Consumer Price Index. Maintain mortgage interest rates with Adjustable Rate Mortgages at no more than 50 to 100% above the C.P.I. Have the U.S. Treasury fund these mortgages until the banks lower their mortgage rates and investors start investing in them. Lowering mortgage rates would be the fastest way to stimulate the economy. By decreasing mortgage rates by 50%, mortgage payments would decrease by 50% per month. A $1500.00 monthly interest payment would decrease to $750.00. That is a $750.00 stimulus check every month for 30 yrs. Remember, the first payment on a thirty year 0% interest, $200,000.00 loan is a$199.10 principal payment, the rest is interest. To increase people’s disposable income and increase demand in the economy, we must lower interest rates 2 to 3%. November 08 C.P.I. was negative1.9%. A 3% mortgage rate would be 490% above the deflation rate.3. Do not allow credit to be used in the commodities market until the day of delivery. This will reduce speculation and save our savings pool for necessary productive and consumption reasons.4. After home prices are stabilized, increase the capital gains tax rate to the same amount as other long-term capital investments. If home prices are going up more that 2% a year increase the capital gains tax rate and down payment requirement on homes. Do not raise income taxes in general.5. Make home loans assumable. Include all the terms stated in this stimulus plan. Increase the borrowers responsibility for maintaining the home. Encourage making repairs to the home by making the cost of the repairs tax deductible, in the year they are made. This provision doesn’t include home improvements. The capital gains rate will encourage that investment. This will increase economic activity and maintain the collateral for the loan.6. Make interest on auto loans tax deductible again. To encourage the stabilization of manufacturing cost, the auto industry would also be affected by the Zero Inflation Taxation Policy, by the disallowance of this tax encouragement to buy their product. 7. Do not create a government jobs program so large that interest rates rise at the present time. Allow this stimulus plan to create more economic activity, then take up slake in the economy, as needed, at an efficient rate, to achieve the infrastructure we need for the future.8. Do not use high interest rate policies alone to control inflation and inflation psychology. Use the income tax, which will not raise cost or cause a recession.9. Bundle the mortgages into securities that have the same criteria, rating and purpose. This will make it possible to determine their value, so they will be able to be marketed. 10. Enact the Oil Conservation Exchange Contribution (OPEC). This policy will help stabilize oil prices and reduce their importation. Help balance the trade deficient. Oil companies will not go broke at the currant price.11. Gold at one time in our history was the value behind our currency. It was called the Gold Standard. The new Gold Standard is the value of our homes, buildings, land, products, and our economy (people). Correctly guided, our economy will once again make our currency “As good as gold.” We must change how we make money. “ We must make money the old fashion way, we must earn it.”12. Additional info, Inflation the Economy Killer, available at Amazon.Com. Leonard Tekaat is an Economic analyst, Author Businessman, Financier, Investor and former candidate for California Congress. E-mail leonardc@earthlink.net economysflaw@yahoo.com copyright Jan 4, 2009HOW TO STABILIZE OIL FUEL PRICES ANDENOURAGE A CHANGE OF OURTRANSPORTATION VEHICLE’S PROPELLANT There always has been a problem with the price of oil being able to come down and remain profitable, which discourages the change over to another propellant for our transportation vehicles. Oil has been relatively cheap (not counting the cost of pollution) to produce based on the BTUs and the other products that can be obtained from a barrel of oil. Even at the currant price, a profit can be made from an existing oil well. So how do we stabilize the price of oil, to encourage the change to another propellant for our transportation vehicles? If our nation and President Elect Obama are serious about reducing the amount of oil we important the amount we use, this is the perfect opportunity to do something about it. Transportation fuel prices have fallen considerable in the last few months. Now is the time for our State and Federal governments, to add the $1.50 or more per gallon Oil Preservation Exchange Contribution (OPEC), charge onto transportation fuels. Instead of adding the OPEC at the pump, we could add a $100.00 per refined barrel of oil at the refinery. At the same time decrease the income tax by the same dollar amount, so there is not an increase in revenues. The program must be revenue neutral. The law that will create this program must have a provision that unconditionally guarantees, that the OPEC will remain revenue neutral. The people whose income is below the national poverty level and do not pay income taxes should a monthly check, even if they don’t own a car. The check should equal the cost of the OPEC that the average person would pay each month. This provision would encourage mass transit use. Or we could issue debit cards that can only be used for rides on mass transit systems. The people who pay taxes must change their E-4s and estimated tax statements so their monthly income will increase based on the lower amount of income tax that they will be paying because of the OPEC. Transportation fuel prices can only go up so much before people start changing their driving habits. This change would be good for the economy and the environment. At a certain price, the use of oil diminishes and alternative means of propelling transportation vehicles takes place. If the government increases the price of transportation oil fuels, with the OPEC, then Opec or the oil companies cannot increase them. They cannot come down either because of the OPEC. Please send this information to as many people and groups as you can. The last four letters in American are I__CAN. We can do this together and as a nation of free people. We are responsible for how our economy is managed and what laws are enacted. Copyright 12-1-08 by Leonard Tekaat. All rights reserved in the U.S. or any other country. The use of the information in the above articles copied or written by the author is strictly forbidden without written permission. ANOTHER ARTICLE IS POSTED ON THE PREVIOUS ARTICLE FROM CSUB

There always has been a problem with the price of oil being able to come down and remain profitable, which discourages the change over to another propellant for our transportation vehicles. Oil has been relatively cheap (not counting the cost of pollution) to produce based on the BTUs and the other products that can be obtained from a barrel of oil. Even at the currant price, a profit can be made from an existing oil well. So how do we stabilize the price of oil, to encourage the change to another propellant for our transportation vehicles? Our nation and President Elect Obama are serious about reducing the amount of oils we important the amount we use, this is the perfect opportunity to do something about it. Transportation fuel prices have fallen considerable in the last few months. Now is the time for our State and Federal governments, to add the $1.50 or more per gallon Oil Preservation Exchange Contribution (OPEC), charge onto transportation fuels. Instead of adding the OPEC at the pump, we could add a $100.00 per refined barrel of oil at the refinery. At the same time decrease the income tax by the same dollar amount, so there is not an increase in revenues. The program must be revenue neutral. The law that will create this program must have a provision that unconditionally guarantees, that the OPEC will remain revenue neutral. The people whose income is below the national poverty level and do not pay income taxes should a monthly check, even if they don’t own a car. The check should equal the cost of the OPEC that the average person would pay each month. This provision would encourage mass transit use. Or we could issue debit cards that can only be used for rides on mass transit systems. The people who pay taxes must change their E-4s and estimated tax statements so their monthly income will increase based on the lower amount of income tax that they will be paying because of the OPEC. Transportation fuel prices can only go up so much before people start changing their driving habits. This change would be good for the economy and the environment. At a certain price, the use of oil diminishes and alternative means of propelling transportation vehicles takes place. If the government increases the price of transportation oil fuels, with the OPEC, then Opec or the oil companies cannot increase them. They cannot come down either because of the OPEC. Please send this information to as many people and groups as you can. The last four letters in American are I__CAN. We can do this together and as a nation of free people. We are responsible for how our economy is managed and what laws are enacted. Copyright 12-1-08 by Leonard Tekaat. All rights reserved in the U.S. or any other country. The use of the information in the above articles copied or written by the author is strictly forbidden without written permission. ANOTHER ARTICLE IS POSTED ON THE PREVIOUS ARTICLE FROM CSUB

E-mail Versus L-mail

Call me old fashioned, I don't care. I know the world of personal communication has changed but I'd rather get a good old L-mail (letter) in my 'real' mailbox than a short, usually impersonal E-mail in my computer mailbox.
Sorry, electronic messages are simply not the same as letters.
And then there is the delete key.

Some do not check their messages often and it builds up to what becomes an impossible reading marathon that never gets read beyond the 'from' line.

One friend told me he had over 100 emails in his box from junk mail and other bothersome-looking sources and simply hit the delete key.

My message was on there too. How many times I have been sent to the electronic graveyard, only heaven knows.

Ah, but when a good friend's L-mail is nestled in your mailbox anxiously awaiting discovery there is no executioner who pushes the delete button to send your words and thoughts into oblivion, you have been reprieved!

If one is too young to have experienced the real thing and has grown up in this electronic age of text- messaging and e-mail then they will never know.

Technology is not always good you know, some progress is really regress.

But if you're old enough to remember the real thing, what it was like to get a letter from someone you love, especially from that certain guy or gal, then you know what I'm talking about.

Sure, it's nice to be remembered at all. Nice that someone took a couple of minutes to send a personal message (as personal as possible via the Internet) and this should definitely exclude forwards and mass mailings.

Electronic communication can never take the place of a hand-written, carefully folded letter, gently tucked into an envelope and sealed and stamped with love.

I still have those special ones saved in my box of souvenirs, yellowed with age but read over and over through the years bringing back the sweetest of memories.

On the back of those envelopes are the love and kisses symbols and S.W.L. (sealed with love) and some said, '2sweet2B4got10'. Sure, silly little messages for all the world to see and some even sillier ones such as S.W.S. (sealed with spit) or 'open before reading'. I did my share. But I just miss them all.

You can call it snail-mail but I don't care, some things are just worth waiting for.

If E must be, then let it stand out from the others. Keep it nice, keep it friendly and let the E stand for Encouraging, Enlightening and Endearing.

Local Author Publishes Novel: TARE

Novel: TARE

Author: Peggy Sue Yarber

Small-town America takes on Big Government and an Uncontrollable Virus

Peggy Sue Yarber writes a compelling novel of what happens when government becomes involved in a small town in California.

Something has gone terribly wrong in the small California town. An infectious virus has been discovered in the soil and threatens the country’s grain production.

The United States government takes over—military operations quarantine the town and its residents are in held in captivity until someone can determine the cause and resolve the problem. But who is responsible and who can be trusted?

A soldier abandons his post and takes his family on a pilgrimage, traveling to The Rocketship Café, a way station and sanctuary for those who are able to escape the tragedy that’s befallen the town. There he attempts to find the answers and take back what the government has stolen from him—his life, his home, and his family.

As the soldier digs deeper and uncovers the horrible truth, he learns that those in power may have had a role in a world that has suddenly and inexplicably gone wrong. A cover-up of enormous proportions is behind it all and the soldier questions everything he’s held dear.

Yarber writes a terrifying novel—full of intricate twists and turns. This compelling novel is about right and wrong, good and evil, and the choices individuals and communities make that often times have devastating repercussions.

Publisher’s website: http://www.strategicbookpublishing.com/TARE.html.

About the Author:

Peggy Sue Yarber, PhD, is a writer, tap dancer, and high school teacher and administrator. She has worked in the Kern High School District for almost twenty years and is currently employed at South High school. According to Yarber, TARE based on the parable from the book of Matthew. Yarber began her teaching career in Bakersfield at West High school, she then went to work at Vista East and then finally need dup at south High. The story line is one of Good vs. Evil - something similar to a Sci-Fi Thriller. In one sentence the story may be summed up: A government conspiracy covers up a food contamination crisis causing humans to question humanity and their own individual belief system. Yarber lives with her husband, daughters and two dogs in Bakersfield, California.

Free Cartooning Class and Booksigning!

Tehachapi author Ray Friesen, age 21, is celebrating the release of his new graphic novel 'Cupcakes of DOOM' with a Booksigning Party and Free Cartooning Classes at the Bakersfield Barnes & Noble, Saturday, January 17th. "It's 100 pages of full color humor adventure, chock full of pirates and penguins and lots of silly things!" grinned Friesen, holding up a copy, and chewing on it slightly.

Friesen described his newest work as "A must read for kids and kids at heart. If you like silly, then giggling is guaranteed." The story revolves around a clump of pirates, Captain Scurvybeard, YoHo Joseph, Peglegless Pete, Lester, and more, who must embark on a quest to find the ultimate pastry: The Long Lost CUPCAKES OF DOOM! Only this can defeat their rivals, those lousy vikings and their deliciously evil Viking Pie. As you'd expect, there are sword fights aplenty, parrots, sea serpents, a treasure hunt or two, and all sorts of other piratey shenanigans.

Friesen has been a professional cartoonist for seven years, having founded his publishing company, Don't Eat Any Bugs Productions in order to further his cartooning career. He has 3 other book collections, 'Another Dirt Sandwich', 'A Cheese Related Mishap' and 'YARG!'

In his first year of cartooning professionally, Ray was nominated for the prestigious "Ignatz Award" for promising new talent. Ray's works have been favorably reviewed by the American Library Association, Los Angeles Daily News, Wizard Magazine, and more. Ray sometimes guest lectures at California elementary schools, sharing his experiences and drawing them penguins. He was one of the American Library Association Booklist's Top Ten Graphic Novels of the Year for Kids!

"...The jokey asides and playfully sophisticated take on language are reminiscent of Walt Kelly’s Pogo, but the gag-a-second pace may leave some readers a bit numb. Others, however, will hold their sides for the duration of this manic blend of mayhem and adventure." -- American Library Association BookList

Ray will be signing books, doing free sketches, teaching kids how to draw their own cartoons, and giving away some free t-shirts and some other fabulous prizes to winners of the Pirate Yelling Contest, which will be held during the signing. So, if you enjoy humor, ostriches, cowboys, pirates, penguins, free stuff, or just enjoy yelling, there isn't a better place to be on Saturday the 17th than at the Bakersfield Barnes & Noble.

For more information, and to read Ray's free daily web comic strip, visit www.DontEatAnyBugs.com

Bringing fiddler to the masses

Gayel Pitchford didn’t set out to write a book. A teacher of both classical violin and country fiddling in Tehachapi, Pitchford just wanted to track down the recordings of fiddling legend Howdy Forrester. Most music fans, even country fans, have never heard of Howdy Forrester, but among fiddlers, his music is the gold standard. Largely forgotten, Forrester died in 1988. Unfortunately, only two tracks of his solo playing have ever been released on CD and much of what was written about him was either vague or inaccurate.
Forrester’s music and style of playing spoke to Pitchford. She had taken up the violin as a child to escape a cruel piano teacher who rapped her knuckles whenever she improvised on a song. Forrester’s style of music called for improvisation but unlike many other fiddlers, his improvisations made musical sense and were always in tune. Pitchford knew she had a model to follow.
The recently published “Fiddler of the Opry: The Howdy Forrester Story” is the result of five years of research, traveling and listening. Pitchford traveled to Tennessee, sifted through archives and met Forrester’s family. Even though she hadn’t planned on becoming his biographer, Pitchford knew what she wanted.
“I was determined to be accurate,” she said.
The result is a book that is as scholarly as it is readable. It contains thorough notes, rare photographs, charts, dates and numbers. The highlight of the book, though, is the inclusion of lead sheets for 12 of Forrester’s tunes.
Pitchford had already transcribed one of Forrester’s tunes and she knew that it would be difficult but she decided that the results would be worth the effort.
But when she marketed the book to publishers she was told that the music had to go.
Pitchford wasn’t about to lose what she considered to be one of the book’s strong points. Using the same determination that had brought about her book in the first place, she refused to publish the book without the music. Finally, a Tehachapi area publisher, Viewpoint Press, published Pitchford’s book, music and all.
It turned out that Pitchford was right, Forrester’s tunes were indeed a powerful selling point.
Pitchford plans to market her book nationwide. With the revival of bluegrass and the growing interest in American folk music, the time is right to reintroduce music fans to a forgotten great.
Forrester is described as a humble genius, his music is dense but sweet and fun. Pitchford uses his music to teach her students and hopes that he will eventually be honored with an induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame.
Gayel Pitchford’s book, “Fiddler of the Opry: the Howdy Forrester Story” won the 2008 IRWIN Award for Best Niche Marketing Campaign.

Seeking employment for pre-schooler

Jobs-For-All Employment Agency

Attn: Personnel Director

Dear Sir or Madam,

In these tough economic times, I believe it is important that everyone in our family pull his or her own weight. For this reason I am requesting that your agency find a job for my four year old. I understand that some employers might balk at the idea of putting a pre-schooler on the company payroll. For this reason I am including the following vignettes in order to highlight her qualifications for the following jobs:

Negotiator

Daughter: Can I watch tv?

Me: You know the rules, one tv show after your shower.

Daughter: Please, please, please, please, please can I watch tv?

Me: No

Daughter: (dropping to her knees) Mommy pleeeeeeease? Just one show!

Me: (walking away, preparing for ensuing storm) No

Daughter: (grabbing onto the pockets of my jeans) Mommy pleeeaaaase. I pinky promise I’ll be good for the rest of the night.

Me: (feeling very ToughLove and empowered) No

Daughter: (prostrate on the floor, in a low guttural moan) Pleeeeeeeeeeease, pleeeeeeeeeease, pleeeeeeease

Me: No (going into bedroom to celebrate good parenting, then pausing to wonder at sudden silence)

Daughter: (entering room) Mom, the baby’s awake.

Me: Go turn on the tv.

Actress

Me: (losing patience after trying to wrestle four year old into car seat while baby screams hysterically) That’s it, you’re not getting your treat tonight.

Daughter: Mommy, no! I’ll be good!

Me: (starting car, preparing for twenty minute drive with wailing infant and histrionic four year old) No, you lost your treat.

Daughter: Mommy no! Please! I’ll be good! Don’t do this to me! Don’t do this to meeeeee! Please, mommy, please! I need my treeeeeat!

Me: (going to happy place)

Daughter: (making entire body rigid and thrashing around much like grand mal seizure) My treeeeeeeat! My treeeeeeeat!

Me: (happy place, must stay in happy place)

Daughter: (crying and beating on head and chest in manner reminiscent of biblical mourning) Mommy no, no mommy, noooooo!

Me: Is that an ice cream truck?

Daughter: (instantly calm) What?

Me: I thought I saw an ice cream truck.

Daughter: (clasping hands and smiling a la Shirley Temple) Really?

Me: Listen really carefully and if you hear it we’ll get ice cream.

Daughter: (frozen in rapturous silence)

Me: (I make my own happy place.)

Food Critic

Daughter: Is that pepper?

Me: (looking at plate, noticing a few miniscule pepper bits clinging to baked potato) No

Daughter: (voice rising in panic) Mom, its pepper!

Me: It’s not pepper, its...dirt.

Daughter: Dirt?

Me: (feeling guilty about encouraging child to eat dirt, imagining ensuing conversation with grandparents) Fine, it’s not dirt. It’s just a little bit of pepper.

Daughter: (edging toward panic) I can’t eat pepper!

Me: (annoyed that only four minutes of eating time remain before baby wakes up) Just eat the side with no pepper.

Daughter: (taking lilliputian bite of baked potato, spitting it out, then frantically rubbing tongue with napkin) Ah! Pepper!

Me: (lost in reverie, recalling eating expensive food in swanky restaurants at nine o’clock at night) Whatever, don’t eat the potato.

Daughter: Mom?

Me: Huh?

Daughter: My broccoli needs more ketchup.

As you can see, her natural ability overcomes any barriers her age might present for these jobs. References and resume can be provided upon request. I look forward to hearing from you.

Thank You,

Kelly Damian

Kwanzaa: Honoring a cultural legacy

Africa’s greatest gift to America is the endless generations of her sons and daughters who have embedded an immeasurable legacy within the fabric of America’s essence. The cultural holiday of Kwanzaa, serves as a vehicle for African American families and communities all across the USA, to collectively honor and present their cultural legacy.

The cultural holiday is traditionally celebrated from December 26 – January 1. Kwanzaa was created in 1966 in Los Angeles, California, in the midst of the African American Freedom Movement. Dr. Maulana Karenga created Kwanzaa as an avenue for African Americans to collectively express their ethnicity as a people of African descent. The holiday celebrates family, community, and culture, and emphasizes that these three cherished values are indivisible. The Kwanzaa holiday emphasizes respect for the dignity and well being of our families and community, and seeks to maintain a profound sense of kinship, one with each other.

Kwanzaa is non-heroic, is neither religious nor political, and is not a substitute for, or supplement to Christmas. Kwanzaa is totally unrelated to the Christmas holiday. The year-end observance of Kwanzaa occurs, because this cultural holiday is derived from the African continent’s traditional year-end agricultural harvest celebrations.

The name Kwanzaa comes from the Swahili phrase, matunda ya Kwanza, where matunda means “fruits”, and ya kwanza means “first”. Dr. Karenga added the extra “a” to the Swahili word kwanza, to distinguish the name of the holiday and convey a distinct African cultural identity. The language of Swahili was chosen for the name Kwanzaa and all of its accompanying phrases, because it is “non-tribal”, and is an official trade language used by multiple African countries.

It is important to note that nowhere on the continent of Africa is there a holiday named Kwanzaa. Nor is there any indigenous holiday celebrated on the African continent with the same symbols, practices, or principles. Kwanzaa is a positive and uplifting African American created cultural expression, intended to address a widespread need to rescue, reconstruct, restore, and reinforce rootedness in African heritage and culture.

Kwanzaa brings the community together from all religious traditions, all classes, all ages, and all generations, to celebrate, build, and strengthen, our families, communities, and cultural bonds in a rich and meaningful way.

The heart and soul of Kwanzaa revolves around Seven Principles. The Swahili term for the Seven Principles is the Nguzo Saba. There is one principle for each day of the cultural holiday observance. The principles in English and in Swahili with a brief explanation are:

Umoja (Unity) – stresses the importance of togetherness in the family and in the community
Kujichagulia (Self-Determination) – stresses that family members work together to define and develop common interests, and make mutually beneficial decisions, that are in the best interest of the family and community
Ujima (Collective Work and Responsibility) – stresses the obligation to always team together to solve problems, and to actively share work in creating institutions that serve to improve present conditions and expand future success
Ujamaa (Cooperative Economics) – stresses the obligation to pool resources, and share, for collective economic strength to meet common needs
Nia (Purpose) – stresses introspect for setting personal goals that are beneficial to the family and to the community
Kuumba (Creativity) – stresses consistent use of our creative energies to build and maintain, a strong and vibrant family and community
Imani (Faith) – stresses the obligation to honor the best of our traditions, to always strive for higher levels of achievement, to continuously affirm our dignity and self-worth, and to always maintain confidence in our unique ability to succeed and triumph, irrespective of surrounding adversity.

Kwanzaa is embraced because it establishes a cultural tradition for African American families and communities to circulate their African heritage in a multi-cultural world. Kwanzaa is observed in family centered activities and in community gatherings. On Saturday, December 27, 2008, there will be a Kwanzaa Celebration for our community-at-large at the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (MLK) Community Center, located at 1000 S. Owens Street, from 1 pm until 4 pm. African attire is strongly emphasized to support the essence and ambiance of this cultural event and there is no admission charge.

Bakari Sanyu

Director, The Sankofa Collective

A local community-based cultural education organization

Telephone Number: (661) 319-7611

email: bakari.sanyu@sbcglobal.net

Male duties for the holiday

In American culture, the male has several important duties during the holidays. By far the most important, is carving the turkey.
By genetic pattern, every adult male knows how to carve a turkey; however, sometimes interference blurs the male’s instinctive ability to carry out this duty. I really do not need to tell another male how to carve a turkey—he, of course, already knows. But in the interests of a pleasant, non-stressful holiday, I shall help by reminding him of the details.
Someone sets a large, greasy, cooked bird in front of you—it does not matter that you have never before seen a large, cooked bird. You must do your duty! You firmly grasp a long, dangerous knife and begin—NO! Someone has already used the knife and dulled it—it will not cut hot butter. Now, perhaps, you begin to perceive the multitude of pit-falls associated with this simple duty.
So, let us start at the real beginning and proceed to the end; let us build a plan:
1.    the day before--find the knife, prepare it, hide it.
2.    preparation of the knife is a most solemn ritual; this is to be done alone, with appropriate libations (IN MODERATION), out of hearing of and without the interference of any of the pesky women in your life:
a.    find or buy a real sharpening stone. Such a stone, is about 2 by 6 inches and has a coarse and a fine side; most hardware stores have such a sacred object. Forget the ‘steel’ that comes with such a knife; it is a diabolical device. If the knife is dull, it will not sharpen it. If the knife is sharp, it will make it sharper—sharp enough to take eight inches of flesh off of your arm when you miss the guard.
b.    set the stone at a convenient height and on a flat, non-slip surface—a table or workbench with a towel will serve.
c.    coat the stone with a little light oil—most any oil; cooking oil will serve.
d.    (most of us are right handed—if not, reverse the directions) grasp the handle firmly but gently with your right hand. Place the fingertips of the left hand on the back (the non-sharp side!!) as a guide
e.    place the knife flat on the stone and rotate the blade about 30 degrees—this is the angle you will diligently strive to maintain during the rest of the sharpening ritual.
f.    now, guide the sharp edge the knife across the stone as if you are cutting a thin slice. Start the stroke at the point and end at the back of the edge—do this as a single stroke. Reverse the knife and do the same to the other side of the edge (you may work from the back of the blade to the point if you wish). Do this smoothly and deliberately. Do this twice for each side; add oil as needed.
g.    test the sharpness. This activity is fraught with danger and is not for the non-male, the non-adult male, or the careless male. You may have seen someone test the sharpness of a blade with their thumb—NO, NO, NO—this is how you earn a trip to the emergency ward for several stitches. With full attention to your job, gently place the sharp edge at a 45 degree angle on your thumb nail; if it doesn’t slide along the length of the nail, it is sharp; if it slides, it is dull. Test the full length of the edge.
h.    some very dull blades may require that you use the coarse side of the sharpening stone in step ‘f’; if this is the case, finish with several strokes on the fine side of the stone. You may use extra strokes on any remaining dull places.
3.    when the knife is sharp along its’ entire edge, carefully wipe the grit and oil off of the blade with a pad (of at least 4 layers of cloth) across the back of the knife—a sharp knife will cut through two layers!! Treat a sharp knife with respect.
4.    prepare a paring knife (one of the smallest knifes) the same way. Now, hide the two knifes someplace where you and only you can find them. It is highly desirable that YOU remember where you hid them.
When it is time to carve the turkey fetch both knives with you—if you want to impress your guests, first obviously and thoroughly wash your hands, then bring the knives to the table wrapped in a clean, small towel; lay them out as a surgeon would lay out his implements. Place next to the knives a large cooking fork and a regular fork.
Now, again, someone places a large cooked bird in front of you—the knife? No, not yet. There are two more parts to the ritual. With an appropriate, solemn expression inquire if anyone would like a drumstick or a wing (ignore all teen-age males). Few will admit to this preference because it will immediately identify them as a barbarian who eats with their fingers and gnaws on bones. If someone does so identify them-selves, graciously accommodate them (no matter how much you wanted that part for yourself).
Those with weak stomachs do not have to watch this part, but you, as a strong male, must carry through—if you become upset, sit down and put on a profound, thoughtful expression until you control your unmanly queasiness. If someone questions you at this point, lie. Use the small knife and disjoint the wing at the three joints—grasp (this is why you washed your hands) and over-flex the joint; cut the meat and tendons holding the joint together. Discard the wing tip. Also, cut away and discard the triangle of skin between the three joints. Disjoint the drumstick and the thigh.
Set the wing parts and drumstick on the serving platter for later distribution if someone asked—other wise put them on a separate dish and put them in the kitchen. Trim four pieces of the dark meat from the thigh and place on the serving platter (do not try to make them even are a certain thickness—just hack them off). Handle the meat with the regular fork and the flat of the knife (if necessary, practice secretly and before-hand with a piece of cardboard).
Wipe your hands. Turn the platter with the bird so that the side without the wing and leg are away from you. Take up the cooking fork, and stab the bird in the top of the breast. This not only ensures that it is dead, but allows you to anchor it in place. Realize the bird is setting in grease. If you do not anchor it in place it will slide off the platter and fall to the floor—everyone with laugh (accept your wife, who will have kittens—note that comments on this will not be welcome); such an accident will certainly spoil the seriousness of the ritual.
Now (finally), take up the large knife. Do not wave it over your head—this is considered tacky. Besides, you do not want a sharp knife that close to your ear. Holding the bird in place with the cooking fork, remove the first slice of the breast meat—do this at about 45 degrees to the side of the bird. Attempt to cut a thickness between 1/8 and ¼ inches. Place the slice on the serving patter using the regular fork and the large knife. Take a second slice from the same place and stack it neatly and artfully half-way on the first.
Now, make a near horizontal cut to the bone through the center of the sliced area--this will keep the slices a manageable size. Take successive upper and lower slices and transfer them to the serving platter.
Having done all this with poise and élan, proceed with the meal. If the applause and shouts of ‘bravo’ are prolonged, it is permissible (with suitable humility) to take a bow. However, do place the knife on the table before you do this.
Have a pleasant holiday.

Howard and the Haunted House

There was a house at the corner of Black Street and Bidden.

Going there was strictly forbidden.

It was a haunted house or so folks said.

Just passing by it filled people with dread.

Billy Blowhard the bully one day just for spite

thought he'd tempt the Dunn kids into going inside.

So the boastful Billy Blowhard

told Donny, Daisy, Danny and Howard

that they were all big yellow cowards.

Donny said,

"You're a liar, Billy, and you're not fair!"

'Billy said ,

"If you were brave, you'd take my dare.

You'd go on up and get in there."

Daisy said,

"That house has got goblins and ghoulies

and gremlins galore.

It's got slimers who creep and monsters that roar.

Dead bodies are hiding beneath the floor

and awesome horror's behind the door."

Howard said,

"We can't go in there anyway

'cause Daddy Dunn said stay away."

Billy said,

"You Dunn kids are all the same.

Coward should be you middle name."

Danny said,

"The Dunns are heroes, brave and true.

We will go there. We'll show you."

Howard said,

"I don't believe in goblins and ghoulies and gremlins galore,

or in slimers that creep,

or monsters that roar,

or even in dead bodies under the floor.

But I will not go there

because early today

Daddy Dunn told us

to all stay away.

So we should all go home

and not go in there.

It's dumb to do anything

just on a dare."

Billy said,

"There's one Dunn diferent from the rest.

The others are more and he is less.

The others are brave, but he's a coward.

The one with no courage, his name is Howard."

Howard said,

"When you do what is right

like you know that you should,

that's when you're courageous ,

brave, true and good."

Then Donnie, Daisy and Danny three

went to the house at the end of the street.

They walked up the step and went in through the door.

Then Billy and Howard heard a blood-curdling roar!

Howard looked at Billy, who'd gone suddenly pale

and then from the house came a terrified wail!

Howard said,

"Billy, get the police and bring them right back.!

Something's after my family. It's time to attack!"

Then Howard ran up the stairs and through the door.

"Is it true?" he asked. "Are there gremlins galore?

Are ther slimers that creep and monsters that roar?"

Daisy said,

"Howard, it's time to meet our dreaded host.

It's Gilbert Gravely, the gruesome ghost."

The air was chilled and a green mist appeared.

It had a face to see and a voice to hear.

It said, "You better be scared because I am here.

and when I'm around, there's plenty to fear."

Howard said,

"I thought there were ghoulies and gremlins galore,

or slimers that creep, or monsters that roar.

or a least a dead body under the floor.

But if it's only Gilbert, then what's the fuss for?"

A mist whirled and swirled and then it did roar,

""I'm Gilbert Gravely, your host into horror!

If your my guest today, you'll see no tomorrow.

When it comes o being ghoulish, grisly and ghastly,

I'm the best there is. I do excel vastly!"

Howard said, "You think you're scary? Well. we'll just see.

You do your best to try to scare me."

Gilbert said,

"I can move furniture! I'll lift a couch in the air!"

Howard said, "While you're moving furniture, put the chair over there."

Gilbert said, " Watch me make myself big. As big as a house!"

Howard said, "That wouldn't scare me, or even a mouse."

Gilbert cried, "I can howl and scream and pound a big drum."

Howard said, "It's boring , Gilbert, and kind of ho-hum."

Gilbert said, "This is my scariest face, so how about that?"

Howard said, "I've seen worse on TV. This stuff's just old hat."

Gilbert cried and whined,

"I thought you'd be fun guests,

but youi're mean and insulting.

You're really just some pests.

Ghosts are supposed to scare folks.

That's how we play.

And if we can't be scary,

then we just fade away."

Howard said,

"Don't fade away , Gilbert,

and don't sit and pout.

Let me think for a minute.

We'll work something out.

You're not as bad as I thought.

That's plain to see.

You're good for something,

but what could it be?"

They thought and they talked,

then they all went outside.

Billy Blowhard stood there,

scared stiff and bug-eyed.

When Billy saw Gilbert

he swooned right away.

Then Gilbert felt better

than he had all day.

They ran and they rushed to the amusement park.

They had to hurry 'cause soon it'd be dark.

They soon found the manager, a big tall man named Mark.

They said, "Gilbert the ghost needs a job in the park."

Mark said, "You're perfect! A natural!

You'll start tomorrow!

You'll be the new host

in our house of horror."

Gilbert was happy and joyful!

He had a new haunt!

It was a place he could scare folks

as much as they want!

The kids knew Howard was a hero, good, brave and true

because he had done what he knew he should do.

The End

Against Medical Advice

The dog lay prone in the road directly in front of my house. She was very still, although a gentle breeze ruffled her fur and mimicked movement. In the light of the nearly full moon, I easily recognized the unfortunate dog as Tasha, the Welsh corgi who belongs to one of our favorite neighbors, a very sweet elderly lady named Marlene who lives in the house across the street from us. She lives there alone, except for Tasha, who always accompanies her mistress outside while Marlene works on her front garden. As I stared at the poor little dog in the road, I willed her to get up, hoping in futility that she was only sleeping. It was nearly three AM, and Tasha is never outside at that time; she passes her nights curled at the foot of Marlene's bed. I was utterly heartsick. Tasha is an adorable little thing, very friendly and affectionate. She's always had a talent for escaping her back yard by digging under the gate, and often runs across the street to visit us on weekend mornings.

The longer I stared at the apparently lifeless dog in front of our house, the worse I felt. How would I tell Marlene that some idiot had callously run over Tasha in the road and left her to die? And what despicable person would do such a thing? Surely anyone in our friendly, caring neighborhood would have stopped, had they hit a dog in the street. But maybe, I thought, the driver had not seen Tasha, had not realized that it was a dog that they had hit.

It was at that thought that I started getting angry.

I am an ophthalmic medical technician by profession. I have worked for eye doctors my entire adult life; for vanity's sake I will not elaborate on just how many years that could be. Suffice it to say that I know my job very well, and have counseled countless patients and their families regarding their eye health and vision. I also have no qualms about telling someone when they are not using their brain regarding their eyes. Never a day goes by when I don't see a patient who has been without glasses for an extended time, but who can barely find the bathroom in broad daylight without them. The infuriating thing about these people is that they still insist upon their ability to drive safely without glasses. Unfortunately, it is quite often some mishap in a motor vehicle that brings them stumbling into my office. Usually, they find it amusing that they are going through life with blinders on, but it really chaps my hide; I am definitely NOT amused.

As I watched the dog in the street for signs of life, only seconds passed, but the mind can race to a conclusion in much less time than that. With the sudden clarity of mind that only comes from stress and a sleepless night, I just knew what had happened to Tasha. She had to have been hit by one of those jerks who should have been wearing their glasses! All I could think of was the patient I had seen only the day before. Without vision correction, she was only able to count fingers at ten feet. She had not worn her glasses for over a year because she "didn't like them", and all that time she continued to drive. It was only when she nearly ran over her own son in the driveway that she conceded the point and came in for an exam and new glasses.

I couldn't let Marlene come out and find poor Tasha, and I couldn't even think of leaving that sweet dog lying in the road. I ran to my room and hastily began throwing clothes on. My husband, who is a very light sleeper, woke up and asked me what was wrong. Tearfully, I told him that Tasha had been killed and was lying in the street out front. Ever the one to look out for me, he jumped out of bed and grabbed his robe. "I'll take care of her; you stay inside," he said gently. His shoulders slumped as he made his way to the door; he likes Tasha and Marlene as much as I do. I watched him as he went out the front door and knelt beside the dog. He reached out a hand and touched her fur, and then shaking his head, he stood and came back up the front walk. When he came into the house, he glared at me in silent annoyance. Without a word, he walked back to the bedroom.

"Well, what are you going to do? Just leave her there?" I asked as he removed his robe and began to climb back into bed. I was incredulous at his sudden apathy. But when I started to go outside, he called me back. What he said next made me feel like the star of one of those 'real men of genius' commercials.

"Next time you see a dog in the road in the middle of the night," he said, "put on your glasses and make sure it isn't just a pile of dead leaves before you wake me up."

So much for taking my own medical advice. As I write, I am wearing my glasses. I wouldn't want to accidentally type a profanity and miss it.

Pencil Drawings - A look into the art of David J. Vanderpool

After several years of artists approaching me and asking, how do I get my pencil drawings to look so realistic, I finally decided to sit down and put a book together on how I draw. Not so much a how-to-book but rather a journal style book showing the step by step process it takes to complete a drawing.

And finally I can report - after nearly 10 months of none stop drawing (over 26 drawings!) the project is now completed and the book can be found through a link on my website.

Pencil drawings are often overlooked in today's art scene to the point it's nearly a lost art. Few artists stick with it because art galleries will usually say they love your work, and then in the same breath ask what else can you do? Personally speaking, it gets very frustrating.

Don't get me wrong and I have nothing against art galleries, but the art scene from city to city, state to state and even country to country often varies. What is often overlooked here in Kern County, can easily find acceptance in L.A. or the central coast, and fine art is more acceptable in Europe and Australia than here in America.

Not to say art galleries who no longer accept fine art or those who turn away pencil drawings are bad, you just need to have been dead for several centuries or know the gallery owner on a personal level to get your foot in the door - and of course have established yourself as an artist with creative skills to meet their market!

For an artist, most every project starts off as a drawing or sketch. Therefore perhaps drawings were never intended to be completed? Oh, but don't tell that to the artist that can take a pencil and masterfully craft a work of art where at the first glance you could swear was a black and white photograph.

If you are an art student or have the passion for art, deep in your heart, check out the various artists through the ages who have mastered the art of pencil drawing. And while you are at it, look for my book and see for yourself that pencil drawing was never lost. Just hidden in the back roads of Kern County. Shafter, to be exact!

The back cover to my book reads the following:

"Pencil drawings - a rare and often over-looked art form in today's art scene. This collection of masterfully crafted graphite pencil drawings shows the step-by-step process it took to complete over 26 dynamic drawings in less than a year. See the portraits develop and read the artist's thoughts and views on how he crafts each incredible work. This "journal style" book gives the reader unique insight into the creative mind of the artist and takes the reader on a journey from blank page to masterpiece."

David - www.paper2pencil.com

Award Winning Novel by North High Grad

The summer book release "Ecumensus: The Next Vision" has won the 2008 Publishers Choice Award from iUniverse Publications. Lauded for its timely message of hope and inspiration in a world full of religious conflict, author Clifford Lane Mark (North High 1969) tells the story of the seven people who are challenged to find the wise ones, sages and saints of all religions who will meet to establish the next spiritual template; a paradigm shift that takes us beyond religion and will propel our civilization through the next 2,000 years to heights not yet imagined.

These seven ordinary people; a skeptical black man, an analytical Asian woman, a blind Muslim boy, a inquisitive archaeologist and an innocent Catholic girl are hired to plan the meeting of the wise ones. Led by a retired Jewish publisher who has been inspired by an Indian guru and a 95-year old priest, they join forces with the Native American Pueblo leader on whose lands the sages and saints will gather. Together, they begin their quest for Ecumensus.

As they struggle to make sense of the cryptic clues designed to help them identify and locate the master teachers of our time, they begin to glimpse some of the insights that will come to light when the wise ones and sages from all over the world finally speak as one voice. From the gathering place at Acoma Pueblo - the place that always was - they uncover the truths that have always been and devise the means by which they can be taught once again to the world.

Through love and inspired understanding, these seven ordinary people and seven special sages come to discover a new spiritual perspective that is as old as all the religions of the world and as new as tomorrow's headlines. The culmination of their time together is as dramatic and hopeful a story as any that has ever been told.

The Novel: "Ecumensus: The Next Vision"
The Sequel: (due out 2012) "Ecumensus: The First 25 Years"

Available online at www.BarnesandNoble.com, www.Amazon.com and other online retailers. Coming soon to local bookstores as well. Web site: www.Ecumensus.com

CSUB welcomes local authors for writer series

California State University, Bakersfield will welcome two local authors to kick off the fourth annual California Writers Series on Wednesday, Oct. 1 at 7 p.m. in the Dezember Reading Room of the Walter Stiern Library.

James Sepsey, who earned his bachelor’s degree in English from CSUB and is now enrolled as a graduate student, teaches at Delano High School. He writes fiction and has published short stories, including one in the literary journal, Glimmer Train, which won second place in the magazine’s Short-Story Award for New Writers competition.

Charles Hood, the second author, dropped out of college nine times and then went on to earn degrees from CSU Northridge and UC Irvine. He has published six books of poetry and prose, including “Bombing Ploesti,” “Río de Dios,” “Under the African Air” and “The Half-life of Salt.” Hood teaches at Antelope Valley College and is a contributing editor to the Los Angeles Review.

Books will be available for sale and signing.

The California Writers Series brings established and upcoming writers living and working in California to the CSUB campus every year to read from their works. “We had an auspicious beginning as the first writer to read in our series, poet Kay Ryan, was recently named Poet Laureate of the United States,” said Marit MacArthur, English professor.

“All of us read many writers who can feel, at first, remote from our time and place,” she continued. “The California Writers Series hopes to offer students, faculty and staff, and members of the community the transformative and inspiring experience of encountering the work of living writers who live in the same, strange and wonderful state of California that we do, and discussing the creative process with them.”

The event is sponsored by Sigma Tau Delta, the English Honors Society and CSUB’s Associated Students, Inc.

For more information, contact Emerson Case at (661) 654-6281.

Shirley Castro Does Book Signing at Russo's Marketplace Oct. 12

Shirley Castro, retired teacher from the Beardsley School District, has often watched the Brown Pelicans flying over the ocean in long lines along the California and Oregon coasts and thought it would be fun to write a children’s counting book about them. Seeing her son, Christopher, who attended Bakersfield schools from kindergarten through college, drawing cartoon characters for a hobby, she asked him to draw the colorful cartoon pelicans that move through the pages of the books in the series they are developing for children ages preschool through second grade.

The Pelican Family Counting Book, the first book in the series, starts with one little pelican, named Pelly, flying over the ocean, flying over the sea. A new silly character is added on each page until the line of ten pelicans gets ready to dive for yummy fish. The story contains rhyming words and repeated sentences aimed for young children who are just beginning to listen to stories and start to read.

Telly’s story, the second book in the series, explains why Telly, the eighth pelican in the counting book, has a cat for a best friend. Along with Christopher’s drawings, the books contain real photographs of brown pelicans that Shirley has taken in her travels along the coasts with her husband, Ron.

Shirley will be signing her two books at Russo’s at the Marketplace on October 12, from 12:00-3:00. Children who come to the book signing may choose to take home a stick puppet or Telly finger puppet.

CSUB’s Kegley Institute of Ethics hosts discussion on Islam and the ‘War on Terror’

California State University, Bakersfield’s Kegley Institute of Ethics presents its fourth annual fall lecture, featuring Reza Aslan in a discussion titled “How to Win a Cosmic War: Why We’re Losing the War on Terror,” on Wednesday, Oct. 15 at 7 p.m. in CSUB’s Doré Theatre.

Aslan, author of “No god but God,” is an internationally recognized expert on Islam and the Middle East. His book was praised by the New York Times as “grippingly narrated and thoughtfully examined; ... [a] literate and accessible introduction to Islam.”

Christopher Meyers, KIE executive director, said Aslan is a highly respected young Muslim intellectual who brings a new, passionate, and much-needed perspective to the national discussion regarding Islam.

In his lectures and writings Aslan explores the intricate interplay between faith and politics in the Muslim world, presenting Islam as an ever-evolving faith and culture that is currently in the midst of a cataclysmic internal battle for reform and modernization.

Aslan argues the current conflicts in the Middle East are not the result of a “clash of civilizations” between Islam and the West, but rather the consequence of an “Islamic Reformation” occurring within the Muslim world, an internal struggle to define the future of this faith and to harmonize its traditions and values with contemporary ideals of democracy and human rights.

A book signing will follow the presentation. The lecture, co-sponsored by San Joaquin Community Hospital, is free and open to the public, with free parking after 6 p.m.

For additional information, please call (661) 654-2555 or log on to www.csub.edu/kie.

Author David Kulczyk at Russo Books on September 27th

Author David Kulczyk will be signing and speaking about his book, California Justice - Shootouts, Lynchings and Assassinations in the Golden State (Word Dancer Press) at Russo Books (9000 Ming Ave) on September 27th .

Two chapters of the book happened in Bakersfield. A Hard Road into Bakersfield is a look into vigilante injustice in Kern County in 1879, when five Californios and two successful businessmen were lynched.

Chapter 11

A Hard Road into Bakersfield

Death Toll: 9

May 28, 1879, Bakersfield - Kern County

Justice was thwarted in the following case of the Yoakum brothers,

as in one trial, they were exonerated, and in another, they were convicted

on the basis of highly partial testimony, testimony provided by the victims’ relatives and friends. However, based upon exasperation at the lengthy

and multiple trial proceedings, and upon the dubious degree of

impartiality provided by the judge, some citizens of Bakersfield took the

law into their own hands. They drew their own verdict and administered

a much quicker form of “justice” than the courts were providing.

The city of Bakersfield is situated at the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley on the Kern River, and it gained a well-deserved reputation as a tough town almost from its founding. Maybe it’s the heat.

Bakersfield was settled in 1858, and it was named after an early settler, Colonel Thomas Baker. Colonel Baker ran a sort of campground for immigrants who were moving from southern California looking for a place to settle. By 1871, the settlement had a telegraph office, two stores, a newspaper, two boarding houses, one doctor, a wagon shop, a harness shop, one attorney, a saloon, and fifty students who attended a one-room school. Bakersfield quickly became the center of agriculture and industry for the region.

Five Californios were charged with the ever-popular crime of rustling on December 22, 1877, in Kern County. Whether they wee guilty or not, Bessena Ruiz, Fermin Eldeo, Miguel Elias, Francisco Ensinas, and Anthony Maron were all strung up together in one of the biggest Lynchings in California history. Nobody was ever charged with the murders.

Bill and Tom Yoakum were successful miners and businessmen in the area. Their land was located about twenty-five miles northeast of Bakersfield and the property included the Long Tom, the New Years Gift, and the Long Hank mines. The brothers also ran a general store, a blacksmith shop, and a mill. They employed thirty miners at their various excavations. The brothers defended their property against claim jumpers and thieves and thought nothing of suing anyone who challenged their right to their lands. Bill Yoakum even ran for sheriff once, although he lost the election.

The Yoakum brothers were not to be messed with, and their success in the mines and the courts angered many citizens of Kern County. Hamilton J. “Tug” Tucker and his partners. Johnson, Bronough, and Wegg, were involved in a long-running lawsuit over the Long Tom mine. The lawsuit became convoluted, and the Yoakums filed a court case against Tucker, Johnson, Bronough, and Webb. Little is known about the relationship that

Tug Tucker and William Johnson with the partners. But we can be reasonably sure that the extended lawsuit against the Yoakums drained the capital of both parties.

On April 13, 1879, Tucker and Johnson were driving their wagons along the road approximately a half mile from the Long Tom mine. They were returning from Granite Station, where the thirty-year Tug had established his family home. Johnson and Tucker’s sister, known only as Mrs. Burdett, were in the front wagon, with Tucker, his wife Harriet, and their two children in the second wagon, when two shots rang out from a rock outcropping on the hillside. Tucker was shot through the heart and died instantly. Johnson was also hit, and he died almost as quickly. People living nearby heard the commotion and came to their aid, but there was nothing they could do. Also, the men had been shot from a distance that was too far for anyone to have seen their assailants.

Harriet Tucker and her sister-in-law attended the coroner’s inquest the next day in Bakersfield. Both women were dressed in black. Mrs. Burdett’s face was badly bruised from her fall from the wagon. The Yoakums’ attorney, a Mr. Gregg, asked Judge Colby to clear the courtroom for the inquest, and the judge agreed. This riled the dead men’s friends, and as they stood outside the courthouse, they conjured up explanations as to why the courtroom had been cleared. A few hours later, Coroner A. A. Mix released the results of the inquest. Sheriff W. R. Bower’s investigation showed that the shots came from a large boulder with a natural hole in it that served as a gun port for the sniper. The boulder was located two hundred and fity yards from where the men were shot. The inquest dubiously concluded that the men were probably shot by the Yoakum brothers. Bill and Tom Yoakum were charged with murder, solely because of their ongoing lawsuit and the location of the shooting.

Completely disregarded by the inquest panel was the fact that Tucker and Johnson had successfully sent a miner to prison for stealing their gold. The miner had sworn revenge, and he had been seen around Kern County at the time of the ambush.

The Yoakums’ attorney asked for a change of venue for the trial, but Judge Philip Colby refused, although, ironically, before Colby had become a judge, he had represented William Yoakum in an unsuccessful lawsuit against a man named Thomas Baker. Although Bill and Tom Yoakum had huge investments in the area and a payroll to meet, they were detained in the Bakersfield jail while awaiting trial.

The Bakersfield newspapers stirred up passions with stirring editorials that suggested that good citizens of Kern County take the law into their own hands and become the judge, jury and executioner.

Bill Yoakum’s trial started on January 13, 1879. Yoakum was represented by three law firms. The attorneys again requested a change of venue, supported by a document signed by three outstanding Bakersfield citizens. The judge once again refused the request. Harriet Tucker testified first and added new details about the shooting. She now remembered that she recognized Tom and Bill Yoakum running from the ambush site. It was hard to believe that in the commotion, with her husband shot dead while sitting next to her, with their children on their laps and frightened horses pulling their wagon, she had possessed the mindset to look up to see who was shooting at them.

Tucker’s sister, Mrs. Burdett, testified that she saw a Yoakum running up the canyon just after the shooting, carrying a rifle. Bill Yoakum’s only alibi came from his wife Callie, who told the jury that Bill was home that day, taking care of their sick child while she did the washing.

The jury deliberated for only a few minutes before they came back with a not guilty verdict. Sheriff Bowers had to protect Bill Yoakum from the crowd, which was hell bent for blood, albeit not justice. Bill still had to face another trial on February 13 for the murder of Johnson. The brothers were pallid and baggy-eyed from their long imprisonment while awaiting trial and they had almost had enough. However, they hired additional attorneys from San Francisco for the next trial. The Bakersfield newspapers spread hate via editorials insinuating that the Yoakums had bought off Judge

Colby, completely omitting that Yoakum was found not guilty by a jury of his peers and not the judge.

The Johnson murder trial lasted ten days. Even thought Bill had been found not guilty in the first trial, he was found guilty of shooting Johnson. The jury heard the same witnesses and evidence as in the first trial. Yoakum’s attorneys immediately filed for a stay of sentencing so that they could appeal the verdict.

Any subsequent appeal trial was scheduled to be moved away from Bakersfield. Unfortunately, the Yoakums were still being held in the Bakersfield jail.

At half past midnight on the morning of May 28, 1879, a mob broke down the door of the jail and grabbed guards George Reed and William H. Coons. They took the keys from the jailers and went looking for the Yoakums. Sheriff Bower and a friend were nearby, but they were stopped by the mob and brazenly held at gunpoint.

The Yoakum brothers were in their cells when the lynch mob entered. Bill, who was in leg irons because he wasn’t a model prisoner, fought his attackers like a wildcat, until someone shot him in the chest. They then hung him by the neck in his cell. Tom was murdered the same way.

The jailers were released and they ran for their lives into the night. A few hours after the mob left, the frightened guards entered the jail and found the Yaokums beaten, lynched, and shot.

Even though only a handful of the mob word masks, and the sheriff and jailers all saw who was involved, the coroner concluded that “unknown persons” had lynched the Yoakums.

Evidently, the supporters of the victims had their own opinions

as to the events that had led to the ambush murder of Tucker and

Johnson. When “justice” flows from the barrel of a rifle, the “law”

sometimes becomes irrelevant.

Jim Magwood, local author of SANCTION, at Russo's Marketplace Books September 20.

Jim Magwood, local author of the exciting new international mystery, SANCTION, will be signing his books at Russo's Marketplace Books on Saturday, Spetember 20, from 1 - 3 pm. SANCTION is receiving rave reviews from readers everywhere, so come by and pick one up for yourself or to give as a Christmas present.

SANCTION is an exciting mystery of a world in chaos, facing terrorism on every front. Computer hacking, cold-blooded murder, and a battle for control of the world take place as the people can only watch. SANCTION is a novel about today's world you won't want to miss.

Visit the website at www.JimMagwood.com to read some chapters, read the reviews already received and even get an autographed copy direct from the author at a reduced price.

CHEWING LIFE TO GET THE SWEET OUT

There are few memories as precious to me as the Christmas morning that I woke up to find a pink and white Schwinn bicycle with big fat white walled black tires, and I don’t think I’ll ever forget the house I lived in when I got that bicycle..1602 East 65^th Street in Long Beach, California. Warm summer evenings in that neighborhood when the Good Humor man drove through the streets with the funny, whiney music playing on his speaker while we all played “Red Rover” on the grass. I still have my photograph of me sitting on a Shetland pony in the front yard of that house in a pair of chaps, and a cowboy hat on my head, courtesy of the man who drove around the streets of Long Beach, knocking on doors, offering this prize picture up to parents willing to pay the price (with begging children in the background”)

Some of my other memories revolve around the things my Mother would say..the typical “be careful you’ll poke your eyes out” “eat everything on your plate” (which these many later years come with much regret that I listened to that piece of wisdom) But one of my most prized memories, oddly enough, is my Mother chiding me for chewing bubblegum…she’d say “Debbie, no more gum! You just chew that gum to get the sweet out then you throw it away!” I’d immediately tell her..”No, I won’t, I won’t throw it away” only to spit it out and with guilt pop another piece in my mouth while she wasn’t looking and hope that she wouldn’t ask so I wouldn’t have to lie when she asked..”Did you spit that gum out?” Thinking now about those meant to be chiding words, I think of my life and how I often want the best or the “sweet” if you will, the warmest blanket on a cool night, the brightest star to wish on, the softest baby to cuddle with, the biggest sunflower in my garden…. in essence the sweetest of everything! I’ve decided, and pronounce, that my Mother was right; I did only chew the gum to get the sweet out... that was my way then and it’s my way now. I get the sweet out of life and toss the away the bad memories. So let it be known to all who ask (and those that don’t) I’m guilty as charged..I chew life to get the sweet out, knowing that the sweetness of these years are the very best!

D. Schmitz

8-27-08

Meet Nonie Darwish, author of "Now They Call Me Infidel"

"Now They Call Me Infidel: Why I Renounced Jihad for America, Israel and the War on Terror"

By Mrs. Nonie Darwish

You are cordially invited to this special evening as we hear from this nationally renowned author and fellow republican who will educate us on these important current topics which effect our country and culture.

Thursday, Aug. 21, 6 to 8 p.m.
Petroleum Club of Bakersfield, 5060 California Ave. Suite 1200
$30 per person
Call 661-327-4971 for reservations

Make checks to "BRWF"
The Bakersfield Republican Women, Federated
P.O. Box 1564
Bakersfield, CA 93302

Considered a traitor and too liberal in her country of origin, Nonie Darwish is the daughter of an Egyptian Lt. General Mustafa Hafez, former commander of Army intelligence and founder of the Palestinian Fedayeen. Nonie's book "Now They Call Me Infidel" is a biography of 30 years of her life in Egypt and Gaza where she lived under oppressive dictatorships. The book describes the culture behind the jihad and worldwide terrorism and accounts of her transformation after she moved to America in 1978 into a supporter of peace in the state of Israel. Her book uniquely describes the impact of polygamy and oppression of women on Muslim society.

With a background in journalism and a degree in socio-anthropology from the University of Cairo in Egypt, Nonie is a spokesperson for progress, minority rights, human and women's rights in the Middle East. Like most Arab children, she was taught hatred, jihad, vengeance and retaliation. Nonie states, "When I was growing up, we had to recite poetry vowing jihad against Israel. We would have tears in our eyes, pledging that we wanted to die." She grew up listening to the cursing of Jews and Christians from the pulpits of mosques and says that "if you grow up with such cursing, it can feel and sound normal."

In July 1956 when Nonie was 8 years old, her father was killed in the first assassination by the Israeli Defense Forces. President Nasser of Egypt vowed that Egypt would take revenge for his death. Nonie remembers Nasser coming to her home and asking, "Which one of you will avenge your father's death by kiling Jews?"

After moving to America she struggled for years to look the other way when she would hear about the suffering of her people. 9/11 was a turning point as she realized "jihad has come to America." She began to speak out against the countless threats against Arab feminists and reformers whose voices were being silenced. She was featured in the documentary "Obsession" and is the founder of "Arabs for Israel," an organization of Arabs and Muslims who reject suicide terrorism as a form of jihad and promote constructive self-criticism and reform in the Arab Muslim world. Her mission is to promote "forgiveness" which she stressed in her interview with Al-Arabaya TV.

Both Wafa Sultan, Nonie Darwish together with other Arab and Muslim women have founded an Internet TV show "Dawry," meaning "my turn," which will assert the right for freedom and self-expression of women and men in the Musim world. She is married and a mother of three. Her second book, "Cruel and Usual Punishment: The Terrifying Global Effects of Sharia Law," is due for release in November.

How Should Christians Engage the World?

Many Christians wonder how to successfully live out their faith in an increasingly non-Christian world. With so much opposition to biblical values found wherever they look, some are tempted to think that culture is beyond hope.

A new book called Culture Makers: A Worldview Approach to Re-engaging the World offers a rarely heard perspective on this issue. Local author and teacher Josiah Vencel argues that believers have a God-given cultural mandate, which they have unknowingly neglected for nearly a century. Although many believers prefer living in the comfort and safety of their Christian subcultures, God has called His people to engage hearts and minds outside of these realms. The problem, Vencel says, is the lack of Christian thinking among God’s people today.

The author makes a powerful and inspiring case for Christians to become “culture makers”: God’s agents of restoration on earth. This God-appointed role requires the embrace of a biblical worldview, the defense of truth, and the application of biblical principles in all areas of life.

For any believer seeking to apply his/her faith beyond church walls or to learn about Christianity’s historical role in society, Culture Makers is a must-read!

Spirit Hunters is Here to Claim Your Souls

Dawn Lewelling, long-time Bakersfield resident, is pleased to announce that her debut book, Spirit Hunters, is here and available to buy.

Spirit Hunters is already a hot seller on the internet. The book is about a group of paranormal investigators who are invited into the depths of the most haunted house in America, Death Manor. The team must figure out the house's secert before the house and its inhabitants can claim their souls.

Please check out this book written by a hometown author!

www.publishedauthors.net/horror_wench1

www.myspace.com/dawnlewelling

Spirit Hunters is available to buy from the following sellers:

www.publishamerica.com

www.barnesandnoble.com

www.amazon.com

These Precious People: Honoring My Parents

About a year ago, I read an article in The Bakersfield Californian which related to the fact that there is a great scarcity of books written about Hispanics, their ancestors and families. I found this to be very sad, but so true. This article motivated me to have it published my book, “These Precious People,” published.

My book opens with a brief history of the lives of my parents and the odds they had to contend with in a strange country after they immigrated to the United States in 1922. Both my parents were born in the state of Chihuahua, Mexico, and my book begins with my father’s childhood. As I write about many of his young experiences, I mention the time when he was a young teenager and ran away from home to join Pancho Villa’s Dorados to fight in the Mexican Revolution. I also write about my mother who was raised on a hacienda, became orphaned at the age of three and endured much sadness and problems during her youth.

However, my parents’ trials and tribulations increased when they came to this country. For instance, they did not speak English and knew nothing about this country’s traditions and culture. They had to confront many difficulties as they struggled to raise their nine children during the Great Depression and in the ensuing years. They experienced the sadness and anxiety of having their two oldest sons go off to fight in World War II, and the blessing and fortune to see them return home again.

As I touch upon eventful details of their lives, I convey what my parents felt as they confronted and dealt with the difficulties they encountered in a strange land. I portray how they faced a rapidly changing world as they continued to uphold their traditions and teachings. Through my recollections, I share how they lived, felt, struggled and survived. My parents were, beyond doubt, very amazing, resilient and determined individuals; not perfect, but the best parents for me. Their perseverance through the years is remarkable and praiseworthy.

I convey to readers my feelings and reveal how the deep impact my parents made on my life influenced and shaped me. It is with gratitude, love, respect and honor which they so deserve that I share their story.

---------------------------------------------------------------

The book is available by contacting the author at 366-2575, francesespinosa@att.net or www.francesespinosa.com. It is also available through the publisher at www.Xlibris.com or at major bookseller Web sites such as Amazon.com.

Rising Star

Hello. In this great world of ours, I am a small star hoping to make a change. I currently work for an online magazine, and I would be honored to use my skills for other organizations. I am 22 years old, and in August of this year, I'm going to return to Bakersfield College. I took a year-long absence, but during that absence, a lot of emotional transitions were made. Now I feel ready to take on the world.

I hope that you'll support my dreams. My dreams are to spread my gifts throughout the world, starting with my own home. If you're in need of an editor, or just an assistant writer, please don't be afraid to drop me a line. I do not require a monetary fee, though. I wish to give my services in exchange for an item. I am an aspiring author, working to change my world through writing. Writing supplies of any sort, especially journals, would be sufficient. I do not require extravagant fees.

Thank you for reading this. That alone means a lot to me. Wish me the best of luck! I hope to make a better life for my family.

"RECOVERY AND EMPOWERMENT-Living Schizophrenia to Become a Professional Peer

I will be featured on a nationally syndicated radio show, the Popp Off show in Sacramento at 11:30 A.M. on Monday July 14th, 2008 on station www.kahi.com to discuss my autobiography "RECOVERY AND EMPOWERMENT-Living Schizophrenia to Become a Professional Peer", a book that shares how I experienced Schizoid Affective disorder from the age of four, experiencing the stigma of mental illness but determined not to let it bring me down after living the painful world of Schizophrenia - only to find my true Purpose - teaching RECOVERY.

After experiencing the confusion and torture of a brain disease, I eventually found real purpose in my life by sharing as a Professional Peer. I became someone that others felt they could share the cruelty of their fate and not be judged. They thought they found a person who understood and could be an example towards a road of recovery.

After suffering from the age of four the disease of Schizoid Affective Disorder suffering rejection, abuse in mental institutions, being told I'd never leave the hospital, never function and definitely never leave work again, I worked for 15 years in the mental health field at Kern Linkage with the homeless and at Kern county Mental Health as a Recovery Specialist teaching others how to enter recovery from their mental illness.

After retiring for physical reasons I started promoting from home on radio my book, written two years ago and hopefully intend to further explore other avenues of promotion through out the world, to show people that recovery is reaching for the impossible and making it possible. I want those with a mental illness to realize my steps of recovery so they can live a normal life like I have and that others can realize that mental illness is a disease no different than diabetes or Parkinson's disease that requires medication in order for a person with what is just a brain disease, can function normally.

Mental illness has a stigma I'd like to dispel, especially with the law and even the mental health field and with family members. We are no different than others. All we want is to live normally by having our own home, a car, and maybe even a date. We just want a chance to be accept for who we are, not what we are.

I have my own website, www.paulajonesenterprises.com that explains further how I intend to accomplish this. Please listen to www.kahi.com on Monday, at 11:30a.m. or if that time is not possible it is podcast for a full 24 hours after the show.

I invite you to be a part of this innovative way to help those you know with mental illness to recover and live a normal life like I have.

"Ashes of Destiny" rises from California gold history

I grew up in Bakersfield. I attended Standard Elementary School, and graduated from North High School in 1957.

I moved to Los Angeles to attend Pepperdine College. When I graduated, jobs and circumstances took me to Northern California.

I now live less than 15 minutes from Coloma, where James Marshall discovered gold in 1848. I have walked the streets there numerous times, and explored the remains of that bygone era to gather historical information for “Ashes of Destiny.” It is also only a short drive to Placerville (Old Hangtown), a town born of the gold rush. Old Hangtown earned its name as a great oak tree there was used to mete out miner's justice to claim jumpers, robbers, and other shady characters of that era.

“Ashes of Destiny” follows the story of Angus Murray, an Englishman who is blessed with great intelligence, but is devoid of the neurological tools necessary to develop a conscience.

In 1848, Angus reads a newspaper account that chronicles the discovery of gold in a faraway place called California, focusing on the small lumber-producing town of Coloma.

It is then that Angus knows that his destiny awaits him in this place; that riches beyond imagination will eventually be his.

In 1849, Angus steps onto the shores of America. He is no longer Angus Murray; he has changed his identity to Dr. Steven Morgan, noted physician and man of medicine.
In San Francisco, Angus meets Muley Skaggs, a gentle brute of a man, and Quincy Freeman, an intelligent, rough-cut man wise to the ways of the gold country. With these two men, Angus/Dr. Morgan begins his quest to find his destiny.

The journey into the Sierra Nevada Mountains is packed with adventure, intrigue, and murder, and when the small troupe finally arrives at Coloma, they find a place transformed from a small logging town and stage stop to a virtual beehive, with a population of more than 15,000 treasure seekers.

It is there that Angus comes face to face with his destiny.

"Sanction," by local author Jim Magwood

An exciting novel of a world in chaos with terrorism everywhere. Computer hacking, missile attacks, cold-blooded murder and pure evil haunt the world as The Plan progresses. The fate of the world rests in their hands…or does it?

A deadly plot for total domination of the world takes place as the people idly watch. Can the world leaders resist this powerful force as the power struggle comes to an ultimate climax? As the war of good versus evil rages, SANCTION intensely narrates the lives of the powerful men on both sides of the battle. Computer hacking, missile attacks, cold-blooded murder and pure evil haunt the world as The Plan progresses. Civilians and government officials lock arms in defense of the world as it is seemingly being unhinged.

SANCTION is a suspenseful story about today’s world that you won't want to miss.

See the book and read a few chapters by going to www.JimMagwood.com.

SANCTION will be available through your local bookstore after the June 24 nationwide release date.

Shirley Castro at Russo's at the Marketplace, June 8

Shirley Castro will be at Russo's at the Marketplace on Sunday, June 8, from 1:00-4:00 to sign her two books in the Pelican Family Series. Shirley and her son, Christopher, are developing the Pelican Family Series for children ages preschool through second grade. The books contain whimsical characters drawn by Christopher along with photos of real Brown Pelicans along the California and Oregon coasts.

Shirley taught in the Beardsley School District for 33 years and also ran a pre-school in her home for 4 1/2 years. She and her husband, Ron, now live in Willits, California. Christopher attended Norris School, Garces Memorial High School, and Cal-State University, Bakersfield. He is a therapist in the Santa Barbara area working in crisis intervention. He and his wife, Allisa, live in Goleta, California.

Their first book, The Pelican Family Counting Book, encourages children to count the silly pelicans as they fly over the ocean in search of yummy fish. It contains rhyming and repeated phrases pulling children in to listen and read along. Telly's Story, about one of the ten pelicans in the counting book, is the second book in the series. Telly has a rather unusual friend for a pelican--a cat. His story tells how they got to be friends. Children who come to the book signing will get a pelican stick puppet to take home.

Local Author with Autism Gives Hope

I was fourteen when I was diagnosed with Asperger Syndrome, a mild form of Autism. Finally I understood what was different about me, and why everything and everyone seemed to work and think so differently than I did...

I had long accepted these difficulties and this uniqueness I had as part of who I was. What I was especially grateful for was how my Autism had given me a unique perspective on the beauty of the world. I loved especially how my Autism boosted my creativity...

Three years before I was diagnosed, I began writing one of my first stories and creative obsessions, which I called, The Anastasia Project. I knew my story was going to be about a dolphin who would suddenly find herself stranded in a world where all was bleak. I knew she would have to decipher the meaning of an implant on her head, try to solve what looked wrong with the stars in the night sky, and ultimately need to overcome a menacing machine that was soon to doom all life in the sea.

It was not until I was 14 that my Autism began to unleash its darker side. As a child with Autism, I had seen the world in beauty and love. As I came into adolescence however, my old perceptions I had shaped for myself were challenged. I soon found myself hitting a grave depression. I was lonesome and afraid. I felt face to face with an everlasting despair!

Through the years my depression persisted. But I continued to fight! I couldn't believe I was going to feel this way forever.

That's when something clicked! By believing that I could not surrender Love, I was gradually able to conquer my fears and lonesomeness. And in doing so, I was able to tell how my character would overcome her own plight...by fighting hard for hope...

The Anastasia Project is available at Russo's Bookstore by the Marketplace. It is also availiable through Barnes and Noble, Amazon.com, and Lulu.com. Loren John Presley will be doing a booksigning at Russo's on the 28th of June from 1:00PM to 3:00PM.

Book preview: Horny Toads and Waspers

My book, "Horny Toads and Waspers," is about the adventures of my brother, Sonny and me back in the day's before modern conveniences. I have written about the fun we had and memories we share from another time. Some of you may not believe all the things we did, however, you can ask my 86 year old mom and she will confirm it.

Four bare feet walking down a dusty lane, kicking dirt clods and occasionally hitting a rock by mistake. Owww! Stubbed toes, skint knees peeking out through ragged overalls. Scavenging for snakes, bugs and lizards on a lazy summer day.

Sonny, my older brother, and I caught a snake once. Sonny said I could have him for a pet. We showed Slither, that's what I named him, to daddy one Sunday morning before church. Daddy asked if he could borrow him. Of course I said "Yes". Daddy put Slither in the glove box of the car. We started driving to church then momma opened the glove box. Out popped Slither - momma lept from the moving car --- To find out what happened next, you will have to read the chapter titled Daddy's Little Joke.

If a child misbehaved, he or she got a spanking. We were not beaten or coddled, just a good old fashioned swat on the butt. Believe me when I say my Sonny and I got our fair share. It is with these innocent memories I travel the back roads of my mind. Come, take my hand and I promise you will have a blast.

We are having a book signing/sock hop at Russo's Book Store at The Marktplace on June 7th 2008 from 1:00 p.m . - 3:00 p.m. We will be playing Oldie's but Goodie's and serving root beer floats. You will receive a handmade book bag with your purchase while supplies last.

PERSONAL GUARANTEE: I guarantee that if you do not smile, giggle, chortle or laugh at least once while reading this book, I will eat a yellow worm.

Naomi Marberry

An Awakening in Bakersfield

As I wandered down the streets of Bakersfield today on the way to my bridge game, I could not help but notice how monotonous my life had become. Since marrying Richard, I had unknowingly sunk into this cycle of make Richard lunch, make the kid’s lunch, kiss Richard goodbye, cart the children off to school, and walk three blocks to Mary Ellen’s house to play bridge with the wives of Richard’s colleagues. You see, once Richard and I got married; I no longer had anything in common with my old college girlfriends. While they were off getting their nails done and having lunch at the Marketplace, I was busy decorating my nursery for the baby boy that Richard and I had been anxiously awaiting. It was during this time that Richard suggested that I join the bridge club that his colleagues’ wives were in. After all, they were all young mothers themselves, and it was convenient that Richard and I as well as our friends and children were all in the same circle. But somewhere deep inside, I yearned for the days of my carefree youth when I had been free to spend time doing the things I enjoyed doing rather than the things I was obligated to do for everyone around me.
When I arrived at Mary Ellen’s house, the other four women in our bridge group had already gotten there, and were sitting on the front porch sipping pink lemonade and catching up on all of the latest gossip. I had always had a sort of uncomfortable feeling around Mary Ellen and the rest of the women, but it wasn’t something I had ever been able to quite put my finger on. I dared not say anything about my discomfort with my current relationships for fear of upsetting Richard.
Mary Ellen was the type of wife and mother that everyone in our social circle wished they could be. She was beautiful, fit, a great mother, organized, and catered to every whim of her husband. Richard had often made comments to me such as “Bob was just telling me today that Mary Ellen’s flower garden was going to be featured in the newspaper next week. Isn’t that great? She always takes such care in the things she does.” Comments such as these often made me wonder as to whether or not he truly valued anything that I did. I yearned for my husband to take pride in my accomplishments. That may be what sparked my idea to just up and leave.
I left on a Thursday night with not a penny to my name or a clue as to where I was heading. All I knew was that the road ahead was completely opposite of the life I had with my family … and it was just what I craved.

About the author: Samantha Soliz is a student at Bakersfield Christian High School. Her short story is based on Kate Chopin's "The Awakening."

Bakersfield Novel supports summer travel expenses

The Polar Group would like to announce a monthly promotion for Robin Noffsinger’s book, The Baroness of Bakersfield, which published in 2006.The promotion will consist of a monthly drawing for a gas card worth $50 for people responding to an online question about the book.

This book considers both deeply and humorously the history of Bakersfield and its environs through the lives of a history professor, Dr. Edmund Wyse, a graduate of Stanford, and his artist wife, Audra, a graduate of USC. Edmund is a history professor at the University of California, Lebec; his wife is the educational director of the high-tech, upscale Bakersfield Academy for the Visual and Performing Arts on California Avenue near Real Road. The story begins in August 2001, and progresses through the present time. Additionally, there is a dramatic, difficult-to-ignore faith component based upon the Psalms included in the plot. The book is the first of a 16-book series on Kern County cities being planned by Ms. Noffsinger. The Bakersfield book was published by AuthorHouse in Bloomington, IN.

A special feature of the book is the fact it contains a number of words and phrases not yet in the dictionary, like “Californianiac” and “second-hand lions.” Additionally, it includes several unique connections between California and Indiana.

Additionally, the book may be of special interest to teachers and students of history, art, literature and law. It contains a plethora of data and facts, but its contemporary setting makes it more palatable and memorable to the reader.

An excerpt from the book follows:

Free Preview:

Edmund drove excitedly past the school mascot—a 30- foot tall polar bear, which towered over the campus like a giant Colossus. Of course, the monument was not nearly as picturesque or well-known as Notre Dame’s “Touchdown Jesus,” but it was distinctive in its own way. The Polars, who had developed very good records in football, basketball and track over the years, were located about halfway between the UC Berkeley Bears and the UCLA Bruins. The UCL choice of a mascot was very fitting because it often snowed in Lebec, Frazier Mountain, Fort Tejon and the other little towns along the Grapevine. This morning Edmund noticed students had apparently added a special touch to the statue (as they often did): there was a humongous bouquet of red and white balloons taped to the bear’s right paw. Red and white, (the UCL colors) were often punctuated with accents of sparkly silver on the various school uniforms.

And on cool evenings, students often congregated for a bonfire at the fire pit adjacent to the enormous bear, where they could be heard chanting things like, “A polar bear’s gonna come from the Arctic and grab you… and he ain’t gonna let you go”…etc.

Other Comments:

This is a one of a kind book that may be enjoyed by the whole family. The material covered is often enlightening as well as entertaining, and the inclusion of literary conventions makes it a useful tool for

learning enhancement and enrichment. It also contains strong racial/multicultural elements—the good, the bad and the ugly! Through the day-to-day experiences of Professor and Mrs. Wyse, readers will become a part of their adventurous and creative experiences. Although the book contains lots of data and facts, the contemporary setting makes it palatable and memorable.

The next book planned for the series is Barrister: the Bakersfield to Boron Briefs, and it will resume where Baroness exits the stage.

Robin Noffsinger

BOOK FACTS

Title : The Baroness of Bakersfield

Subtitle: A Novel for the 21^st Century

Publisher: AuthorHouse, Bloomington, IN

Publication Date: August 18, 2006

Format: Paperback

Size: 5” X 8”

Genre: Fiction

ISBN: 1-4259-5546-0

Retail Price: $10.99

This work is a work of fiction, however it contains certain elements that may be useful to various groups including school classes, literary clubs and discussion groups. It can serve many functions, including the following: it can be used as a supplementary reader for language arts instruction; it can be used as a source of ideas for research and collaborative projects; it can be used to encourage young people who may be thinking of entering the fields of language arts, art, history or law, and finally, it is an interesting book for couples to take turns reading to each other each night before going to bed.

The book is available online from Barnes and Noble. Persons wishing to respond to the promotion should email The Polar group at : baroness1@fastmail.fm. The drawings will be held from June through November, 2008.

A More Joyful Bakersfield??

The Joy of Blessings

To be blessed by God, to find His favor is something we all desire, but what is the rhyme or reason for God pouring out His blessings? Is there a secret to finding blessings, or do we simply need to have our vision improved so we can see blessings? Is it that we have a part in “qualifying” for these beautiful blessings? Is it purely God’s decision as to who is blessed more than someone else?

God has been so good to me! He and I talk often and I am always watching to see what He does in my life. His plan is rarely what I expect, but it is always good and fills me with great joy to see Him at work around me. As a child I still remember my first prayer, I asked the obvious question; “Why am I here?” I received an immediate response in my mind, He said “To serve one another.” Well that made perfect sense, to give of myself to others. My father was a fireman and he risked his life “serving” others.

As I grew older, I began to forget about that first prayer, but God did not! I also was not watching to see what God was doing, but God never gave up on me. A few of my first jobs included mowing lawns, working with my dad, on his off days at a big farm, pumping gas and repairing VW engines. I never noticed my service like jobs and had forgot Gods answer to my question from long ago. God was leading me down a path, a plan He knew very well, which I was not the slightest bit aware of.

God can be pretty tricky when He wants to. To get me on my pathway of service he brought a confident, intelligent and pretty young lady into my life. And like a tough, strong, independent man I followed her everywhere, through high school, college and to work for NASA! I became a civil, now catch this word, servant.

So what does this have to do with blessings? I believe God always wants to bless us, as He has all my life. After all He loves us with an unending love! Still, why do others seem to be more blessed than others? Let’s dive into this water of God’s word to find the keys to blessings and joy! Here are a few key verses to get us rolling:

Blessed is the man who makes the LORD his trust, who does not look to the proud, to those who turn aside to false gods. Psalm 40:4.

He who despises his neighbor sins,
but blessed is he who is kind to the needy. Proverbs 14:21

Blessed is the man whom God corrects; so do not despise the discipline of the Almighty. Job 5:17

Looking at his disciples, he said: "Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. Luke 6:20

God gives everything to us, just a couple examples…

And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you. Romans 8:11

But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Matthew 6:33

Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets. Matthew 7:9-12

Since we have been given God’s love we must also give…

In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.' Acts 20:35

"A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." John 13:34-35

Freely you have received, freely give. Matthew 10:8

How we give makes all the difference, it must be genuine…

If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing. 1 Corinthians 13:3

So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. Matthew 6:2

Can we out give God?

Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured in to your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. Luke 6:38

Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me.
      "But you ask, 'How do we rob you?'
      "In tithes and offerings…   Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this," says the LORD Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it. Malachi 3:8-10

God will rewarded us with eternal treasures…

Jesus answered, "If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me." Matthew 19:21

Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will not be exhausted, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. Luke 12:33

Examples of action taken, how will you respond…

But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, "Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount." Luke 19:8

At Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion in what was known as the Italian Regiment. He and all his family were devout and God-fearing; he gave generously to those in need and prayed to God regularly. One day at about three in the afternoon he had a vision. He distinctly saw an angel of God, who came to him and said, "Cornelius!"

Cornelius stared at him in fear. "What is it, Lord?" he asked.

   The angel answered, "Your prayers and gifts to the poor have come up as a memorial offering before God. Acts 10:1-4

Some Keys to True Joy….

Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown her great mercy, and they shared her joy. Luke 1:58

As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. John 15:9-11

Summary

Stewardship, and giving are not our favorite Biblical topics. However, I have found the verses above to be absolutely true, and God has blessed me. My wife and I have suffered through my fractured spine and five operations only then to find out she had an in-operatable brain tumor. That was over 15 years ago, and even though the brain tumor has reoccurred, treatment has put it into remission again! God disciplines the ones He loves, but He is with you the whole way! He pours out joy and blessings in the mist of trials, you just have to be watching for them!

I have also been blessed with a book, written with God’s help, to encourage, educate and inspire others on this tricky subject of living and giving. The book is titled “A Joyous Plan to Live and Give” and will be available May 14, 2008. You can find out more at www.toliveandgive.org, or email me at darcher@toliveandgive.org.

Blessing to you,

Dale Archer

Radio host to discuss ‘Murder at the Altar’ at CSUB History Forum

California State University, Bakersfield’s history department presents Terry Phillips, journalist and host of KVPR’s “Quality of Life” show, for their spring History Forum titled “Murder at the Altar: A Historical Novel” on Friday, May 2 at 3:30 p.m. in the Albertson Room.

Phillips, a long-time war correspondent for CBS, NBC and NPR, will discuss his recently published historical novel, “Murder at the Altar.” The story centers around the murder of the leader of the Armenian church in America, Archbishop Ghevont Tourian, on December 24, 1933. This act of violence became a touchstone for intra-ethnic conflict amongst Armenians in America, but the story is also a poignant example of the tensions and contradictions created by the Cold War, some of which lingered long after the USSR’s collapse, said Mark Baker, CSUB history professor.

“Phillips sees the case as a metaphor for all religious and ethnic conflicts in our world and the great difficulties we repeatedly encounter in trying to resolve them,” Baker continued.

After an informal talk, the author will welcome questions and comments from the audience. Autographed copies of his book will be available for sale after the forum.

Since its inception in 1999, the History Forum has presented one speaker per academic quarter. Past topics have included the history of the California wine industry by historian Victor Geraci; an oral history and the Chicano experience in World War II given by Mario Garcia, from the University of California, Santa Barbara; and the history of the Basque settlement in Bakersfield presented by Jeri Echeverria, Fresno State University provost and historian.

The forum is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be served and parking will be free in lots B and C. For more information please call Baker in the history department at (661) 654-6833 or log onto [ http://www.csub.edu/history/ ]www.csub.edu/history/.

"Glorified Chicken Coops"

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

One family’s true account of migrant life

during the Great Depression focus of new book

March 2008 – Denver, CO and Oak Grove, KY – In Glorified Chicken Coops, author

Tanya I. Cole provides a riveting portrait of an American family that takes us through the great American diaspora, which began with the Great Depression, when nearly 400,000 people from Oklahoma and the Great Plains were displaced. In this uniquely personal story, we see a family’s life defined by a constant daily struggle to survive and the unexpected humor that can be found even in the direst of situations.

Glorified Chicken Coops is a true-life account of the Cole family, whose American story begins in the backwoods of Oklahoma. Though the book provides a background of the Coles from pre-civil war times, the focus of this journey takes place during the 1930s and 40s around the personality of Iva Cole, a woman whose husband is gone much of the time in a desperate search for work, leaving Iva to care for a houseful of children. It is a story of a life dictated by circumstance, with dreams that have been left by the wayside. For the Cole family children, there was the harsh reality of life with a mother whose bone-weary existence leaves her unable to do much more than take out her anger, frustrations, and resentment on them, which, we learn, takes a deep emotional toll.

By 1943, the Cole family moves to California to seek a better life. Tanya Cole writes:

“She knew a lot of good people came out of Oklahoma, so what if they didn’t have good educations or a lot of money. Most Oklahomans were not lazy; they were hard-working people and were just going through some bad times. The depression was still going on and everyone was just trying to make a living. They were Okies, but they were proud Okies and they had nothing to be ashamed of.”

The Coles arrived in the small farming community of Wasco. Because there was no housing for the migrants, the farmers and the government built a communal labor camp, which consisted of a series of long, thin plywood, flat-top shacks, resembling chicken coops, next to the tracks of the Santa Fe Railroad. Life in the camp was challenging, especially for the Cole family children who found themselves picking potatoes for survival and always having to be ready for a fight with other migrant children. For the Okies and their fellow camp people, prejudice emanated from the surrounding community who only saw them as people “from the wrong side of the tracks.”

Ms. Cole’s account of these indomitable hunter-gatherers, who barely survived from paycheck to paycheck, is written in a straightforward, honest manner that captures the attention and the heart because it has the common touch.

ISBN(s): 1432719197 Format(s): 5.5 x 8.5 Paperback SRP: US $14.95/CAN $14.95

Genre: Historical – United States – 20th Century

Tanya Irene Cole began documenting her family’s history after she began caring for her mother in 2003, when story after story about “the good old days” came pouring out. Cole, who was raised in California’s fertile San Joaquin Valley, immediately recognized their importance and began recording them for posterity. The youngest of eight children, Cole conducted extensive interviews with remaining family members to create this book, making it a must-read for anyone interested in understanding the Great Depression and the recovery years from a family’s perspective.

For more information or to contact the author or illustrator, visit www.outskirtspress.com/glorifiedchickencoops

# # #

Outskirts Press, Inc. 10940 S. Parker Rd. – 515, Parker, Colorado 80134

http://outskirtspress.com 1-888-OP-BOOKS

BOOK IS AVAILABLE AT:

amazon.com; barnesandnoble.com; russosbooks.booksense.com; borders.com; target.com; etc.

Famed author Richard Rodriguez to lecture at CSUB

Immigration reform, cultural assimilation, and bilingual education are among our nation's most contentious issues. Those topics will come to life at California State University, Bakersfield as Richard Rodriguez, a son of Mexican immigrants, shares his personal experiences in a lecture about Hispanics in America.

Rodriguez will give the 22nd annual Charles W. Kegley Memorial lecture on Thursday, April 17 at 7 p.m. in the Doré Theatre.

“If the polls are right, immigration is one of the top three issues on voter’s minds. Mr. Rodriguez’s visit represents a unique opportunity to learn and to participate in the dialogue,” said Christopher Meyers, executive director for the Kegley Institute. “He is a thoughtful observer who doesn’t just fall back on the expected or the knee-jerk comment. For example, Rodriguez is skeptical of bilingual education and affirmative action.”

Raised in Sacramento, Rodriguez attended Stanford University and spent two years in a religious studies program at Columbia University. He then studied English Renaissance literature at the Warburg Institute in London and was a doctoral candidate at the University of California, Berkeley.

“Mr. Rodriguez is one of the most highly regarded essayists and novelists in the country. He’s won all the top writing awards,” Meyers added. “The Kegley Lecture has featured some amazing speakers over the years and Rodriguez is among our most highly anticipated. From all accounts, he will change people’s lives.”

Most Americans probably recognize Rodriguez from his television appearances on PBS. For more than 10 years he has appeared as an essayist on “The News Hour with Jim Lehrer.” His televised essays on American life were honored in 1997 with a George Peabody Award.

As a journalist, Rodriguez worked for over two decades for the Pacific News Service in San Francisco, and has been a contributing editor for Harper’s Magazine and the Sunday “Opinion” section of the Los Angeles Times.

His autobiography, “Hunger of Memory: The Education of Richard Rodriguez,” was both widely celebrated and criticized for its skepticism regarding bilingual education and affirmative action.

In 2002, Rodriguez published “Brown: The Last Discovery of America.” In a series of essays with topics as varied as the cleaning of the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel and Broadway musicals, he undermines America’s black and white notion of race and proposes the color brown for understanding the past and future of the Americas.

In addition to many awards for his writing, in 1993 Rodriguez was presented the Frankel Medal (now renamed The National Humanities Medal), the highest honor the federal government gives to recognize work done in the humanities.

Meyers anticipates the lecture to be thought provoking. “The associated questions of justice, fairness and social benefit are deeply connected to the Kegley Institute’s primary mission,” he said.

For more than 20 years, the Kegley Institute of Ethics has enhanced the quality of our community by stimulating thought and involvement in ethical issues. The Institute is widely viewed as the premier area resource on ethical issues.

The event, sponsored by Kern Schools Credit Union and Mercy Healthcare Bakersfield, is free and open to the public, with free parking after 6:00 p.m. Rodriguez will be autographing books after the lecture and books will be available for sale in the theatre.

Learn more about the Rodriguez lecture and the Kegley Institute of Ethics at www.csub.edu/kie or by contacting Meyers at (661) 654-3149.

CSUB Antelope Valley to present legendary author Ray Bradbury

California State University, Bakersfield’s Antelope Valley campus is pleased to be sponsoring author Ray Bradbury on Tuesday, April 15 at 7 p.m. in The John Eliopoulos Hellenic Center, 43404 30th Street West, in Lancaster. Bradbury will speak about his life and his books.

Bradbury is one of those rare individuals whose writing has changed the way people think. His more than 500 published works – short stories, novels, plays, screenplays, television scripts, and verse – exemplify the American imagination at its most creative.

His best-known and most beloved books, “The Martian Chronicles,” “The Illustrated Man,” “Fahrenheit 451” and “Something Wicked This Way Comes” are considered masterworks. His timeless, constant appeal to audiences young and old has proven him to be one of the truly classic authors of the 20th century – and the 21st.

In recognition of his stature in the world of literature, Bradbury was awarded the National Book Foundation’s 2000 Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters, and the National Medal of Arts in 2004.

The event is open and free to the public. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. For more information contact Charles MacQuarrie at (661) 654-5098.

The Little Witch Who Liked to Jog

Once upon a time there was a little witch who liked to jog. One morning Little Witch jumped out of bed, stretched , and touched her toes three times.

“I’m warming up before I jog,” she said to Black Cat who had crawled out from under the bed.

Little Witch put on her black jogging tights, purple sweater, red socks, and white sneakers. Over her shoulders she threw a black cape.

“May I jog with you?” Black Cat asked.

“Yes, come along, hang on to my cape,” Little Witch said.
Little Witch and Black Cat left the cottage and jogged down the lane to the woods. Along the way, Little Witch filled her sweater pockets with fallen chestnuts to roast later in the fireplace. They met Red Squirrel. Red Squirrel chattered, “Little Witch, may I jog with you and Black Cat?”

“Yes, come along, hang on to Black Cat’s tail,” Little Witch said. They met White Rabbit. White Rabbit grunted, “Little Witch may I jog with you, Black Cat, and Red Squirrel?”

“Yes come along, hang on to Red Squirrel’s tail,” Little Witch said.

They met Brown Beaver. Brown Beaver whistled through his teeth, “Little Witch, may I jog with you, Black Cat, Red Squirrel, and White Rabbit?”

“Yes come along, hang on to White Rabbit’s tail,” Little Witch said.

“Do as I do,” she chanted. “One two, cha-cha-cha,” and kicked her right foot out and then her left foot.

The animals chanted, “One two, cha-cha-cha,” and kicked their right foot out and then their left foot.

“We’re having a swell time,” Black Cat purred, Red Squirrel chattered, White Rabbit grunted, and Brown Beaver whistled through his teeth.

They came to a river. Suddenly, without warning, Little Witch stopped to look at her reflection in the water.

Black Cat let go of Little Witch’s cape, Red Squirrel let go of Black Cat’s tail, White Rabbit let go of Red Squirrel's tail, and Brown Beaver let go of White Rabbit’s tail. The animals slipped upside down and backwards into the river.

Black Cat cried, “The water’s cold.”

Red Squirrel shrieked, “I’m going under.”

White Rabbit screeched, “We’ll all drown.”

Brown Beaver cried “Hang onto me and you will not drown.” He sank his teeth into a floating log and the animals grabbed onto him. Black Cat hugged him around the neck, Red Squirrel held on to his tail, and White Rabbit perched on his shoulders.

Little Witch cried, “Never fear, Little Witch is here.” She called over her shoulder, “I’ll be back with Broomstick. He will save you.” And she set off jogging.

Overhead, Bald Eagle circled. Little Witch cried, “Bald Eagle, please take me to Broomstick. I need him to save my animal friends who have fallen into the river.”

Bald Eagle swooped low. He held Little Witch tightly in his claws and they zoomed over the woods to her cottage. He dropped her carefully in front of her doorstep where Broomstick was leaning. “Thank you, Bald Eagle,” Little Witch said and hopped on Broomstick.

“I need your help,” she said to battery-powered Broomstick.

Before you could say, “Boo, I’m not afraid of you,” they soared down the lane, over the woods, and to the river.

“Down, down, Broomstick,” Little Witch said and they glided gently onto the water.

“Climb on Broomstick,” Little witch said to Black Cat, Red Squirrel, and White Rabbit, who were shivering with cold and fright.

Brown Beaver whistled through his teeth, “I’ll stay in the river and build my home here of leaves and logs.”

The animals climbed onto Broomstick and shouted, “Goodbye Brown Beaver, thank you.”

Before you could say, “Boo, I’m not afraid of you,” they were soaring over the woods, up the lane, and to the cottage.

White Rabbit said, “Little Witch you didn't panic.”

Red Squirrel said, “Little Witch, you kept your head.”

Black Cat said, “Little Witch, I’m so proud of you.”

Then they all sat around the fire having a merry time roasting chestnuts, popping corn, and sipping nice cups of hot chocolate.

"The Diamond Mine" — or "Confessions of a Bakersfield DJ"

Many know me as Jim Diamond, the Sunday morning DJ at KUZZ radio. I’ve written an autobiography called “The Diamond Mine” (or, “Confessions of a Bakersfield DJ”).

The truth is, I’ve wanted to do this for a long time. I got interested in radio broadcasting at a very young age. When I was 7 years old, growing up in Ontario, Calif., program director Chuck Blore launched radio station KFWB 980 on the AM dial as Color Radio Channel 98 in Los angeles Jan. 2, 1958. It was the first full-time Top 40 station in Los Angeles, which became an astounding success, bringing in a “40 share” — nearly half of the available audience in the area. The station had exciting and colorful DJs like Bruce Hayes, Al Jarvis, Joe Yocam, Elliot Field, Bill Balance, B. Mitchell Reed, Gene Weed and Gary Owens.

Later, my influences became KRLA in Pasadena, with DJs like Dave Hull (The Hullabalooer), Casey Kasem, and “Emporer” Bob Hudson. And on May 5, 1965, 93/KHJ in Los Angeles became “Boss Radio” with greats like morning man Robert W. Morgan, and afternoon drive man “The Real Don Steele.”

During this same time period (1965) a friend of mine started a bootleg (read: unlicensed) radio station in Ontario called KTXX, which was later caught by the Federall Communications Commission, or FCC. This was then followed by another two Ontario bootleg stations, one on AM and one on FM. The latter was also turned off by the FCC. The call letters of the FM station was KHWA. After this station was caught by the FCC, the Ontario paper did a feature story on us that made the front page. I was a DJ on all three of these “bootleg” stations in Ontario as a very young 16 year old.

After this came “legitimate” radio, KASK in Ontario, KSPC Claremont, KACE Riverside, KREL Corona, KYMS Santa Ana, and KUCR Riverside. After attending junior college in Rancho Cucumonga, I moved to Bakersfield in 1973 and have worked at almost every Bakersfield radio station ever since — a total of almost 36 years.

In my book, I try to show both sides of what it’s really like working in the radio business as a disc jockey. Unlike what a lot of people think, there’s not a whole lot of money to be made in radio, unless you’re one of the lucky ones to land a gig in a large market. There’s some glamour, but a whole lot more heartaches and headaches and job instability, too, to deal with. But I suppose if I had to do all over again, I’d wind up doing the same thing.

There are many stories associated with my radio career that have prompted folks to say to me, “That’s a great story, you should write a book.” So now I have.

My big inspiration to write a book about my career dates from 1976, when Dick Clark issued his autobiographical book “Rock, Roll and Remember.” Other DJ books I thought were great included Wolfman Jacks’ 1995 autobiography “Have Mercy” and Chicago DJ Larry Lujacks’ book “superjock.” Though I’m not as well known as those guys, I did feel I had a very interesting story to tell. I hope everyone will enjoy reading the book as much as I did writing it, which took me five years — a true labor of love.

“The Diamond Mine” (or “Confessions of a Bakersfield DJ”) is available through Authorhouse.com. The 255-page softback retails for $22.75.
See you at Russo’s Bookstore in The Marketplace, 9000 Ming Ave., from 1 to 3 p.m. March 29 for the booksigning.

“AUTISM HEROES” DISCUSSION AND BOOK SIGNING

On Sunday, March 30, 2008, the Kern Autism Network welcomes Dr. Barbara Firestone, author of “Autism Heroes,” to Barnes & Noble Booksellers at 4001 California Avenue, Bakersfield, for a discussion and book signing from 2 to 4 p.m.

“Autism Heroes” provides a compelling and sensitive account of the experiences of 38 families from different walks of life confronting the challenges of autism spectrum disorders with courage, tenacity and love. With empathy and expertise gained from her three decades of leadership of The Help Group and commitment to children with special needs, Dr. Firestone engages the families in powerful and deeply affecting conversations about their lives.

Fully illustrated with evocative photographs by Joe Buissink, “Autism Heroes” is an invaluable resource for families as well as educators, clinicians, researchers and policy makers.

Dr. Barbara Firestone is the President, CEO and founder of The Help Group. She has dedicated her life's work to helping children with special needs realize their fullest potential. The Help Group has become the nation's largest and most comprehensive nonprofit of its kind serving children with special needs related to autism, Asperger's Disorder, learning disabilities, ADHD, mental retardation, emotional and behavioral disabilities, and abuse and neglect. Its innovative autism programs include specialized day schools that educate more than 750 students on a daily basis, ranging in age from 3 to 22 with all forms of autism.

Dr. Firestone believes that the message of hope and help is an extremely important one for children and families living with autism. All of Dr. Firestone's efforts are grounded in her belief that dignity, hope, opportunity and love are the birthrights of all children.

For more information about this event, contact Ramona Puget at 661-342-6566. For more information about Dr. Firestone and The Help Group, please visit www.thehelpgroup.org. For more information about “Autism Heroes,” visit http://www.autismheroes.org.

The Kern Autism Network provides support, awareness, information and education to families, professionals and the public throughout Kern County. They work towards cooperation, coordination and the creation of services between all individuals and agencies working with people with autism. Their website is www.kernautism.org.

Humor Comic Book Signing Barnes & Noble

Event: Booksigning and Hat Swapping Contest

Where: Barnes & Noble, 4001 California Avenue, Bakersfield, California

When: Saturday, Feb 23, 12:00- 4:00

Author: Ray Friesen

Book: Another Dirt Sandwich

Description: Feeling a bit peckish? Try Another Dirt Sandwich! It's a graphic novel of the humorous persuasion with all the fixin's: Swindling! Mustard! Birds wearing hats! It's just chock full of cartoony goodness.

This book chronicles the rambling adventures of inept ostrich con-man Tbyrd Fearlessness, and his gullible rube-turned-sidekick Hopalong Cassowary in their search for fame and fortune, or at least lunch. A must read for kids and kids at heart. If you like silly, then giggling is guaranteed.

If you eat only one book this year, make it this one. Chomp. Mmm! You can barely taste the gravel.
100 pages, full color.

Local author Ray Friesen, age 20, is celebrating the release of his newest book with a booksigning party at the Bakersfield Barnes & Noble, Saturday, February 23. "It's a graphic-novel-of-the-humorous-persuasion" grinned Friesen, holding up a copy of the book, Another Dirt Sandwich

The 100 page, full color book is the first in a series chronicling the rambunctious ramblings of ostrich con-man Tbyrd Fearlessness. It is preceded by Ray's 2 other books, 'Lookit! A Cheese Related Mishap, and Lookit! vol. 2 YARG! All the books are written, drawn, colored and published by Friesen.

Friesen described his newest work as "A must read for kids and kids at heart. If you like silly, then giggling is guaranteed."

On hand during the booksigning, will be various pirates and cowboys from Ray's books, to oversee the Hat Swapping Contest.

Ray will be signing books, doing free sketches, and giving away a few free tshirts to winners of the Hat Swapping Contest, which will be held during the signing. So, if you enjoy humor, ostriches, cowboys, pirates, free stuff, or just enjoy yelling, there isn't a better place to be on Saturday the 23rd than at the Bakersfield Barnes & Noble.

Super Adventure for Finding Everyday Heroes

Remember when heroes of the comics used their brains to solve crimes? When the criminals were sent to jail instead of being blown up, shot, or beaten to death? That return to the classics was a seed in my mind for a long time.

For more years than I can clearly remember I was writing stories in notebooks. Stories that had a few thing in common, the biggest common factor was they all were unfinished. That is when I knew I had to prove something to myself; I could write a story start to finish.

One borrowed laptop, an over active imagination, and a love for super heroes later there was book. That is when the real fun began. I had to call my Aunt Sally to tell her about my accomplishment. Sally had been threatening to record the stuff that came out of my mouth since I could talk, so I had to inform her that it was too late. Then she of course just has to read it. A little tip for all you would-be writers, when you send a text to a retired teacher expect that when you get it back there will be a least two pen's worth of red ink in corrections.

So now I have my proof. It is marked all ready for editing, I could call it a day. Only my brain got the bug in it that it would cool to have the book edited for those rare occasions that I might be reading to my cousin's kids.

Now comes yet another important person to the road that led to my book getting published. In one of my many big mouth, share everything and anything moments with a girlfriend I tell her about the story. Next thing I know she is telling me that I should submit my work to this publishing website she found.

When I did I kept remembering all the stories of the greats that had their works rejected for years before they got their words published. So when Publish America accepted my book I was surprised and sure that there was a catch. There was none, other than if I wanted the book to get from the store shelves into people's hands I needed to be willing to work at getting them sold.

Here is the thing about the book, it taught me about real heroes. They are not the ones that wear capes and masks. They don't come from different planets or get trapped in radio active accidents. They are the people in your life that support and encourage you. The teachers that take that extra time to explain something to you. The friend that doesn't let you give up and are there for every laugh and tear. Heroes sit at the kitchen table asking a million questions about your day. The bravest heroes do wear uniforms though. They risk their lives in burning buildings, spend hours in hospitals, protect us on our streets and in foreign countries. The reason that they do this is not for fame and glory. They do it because they know that each and every one of us is worth something.

One thing that I try and focus on when I sign a book for someone is for them to look for the everyday heroes in their lives. So here is a clue to where to look, start with those annoying people that tell you to eat your vegetables or that you need to be home by ten. Then look at the person that you call when everything is great and just have to talk to when the world is against you. Finally try searching the front of your classroom or at the desk by you at work. When you find them be sure you thank them. Tell them how they are a hero to you. Chances are that you may just be returning the favor and being a hero to them. Teachers need to be reminded every once and again that they are doing it for a reason. Parents may seem like the enemy, that does not mean they are. Even friends seem to just forget that they can be taking for granted the other person will always be there.

Thank you to all those who have been with me for the trials of my life. Thank you for the teachers I frustrated. Thank you to those friends that became family. Most importantly thank you Mom and Dad for all you have done. You are all my heroes.

Children's book launch

Russos Marketplace will be hosting the Book Launch of Peg Connelly's new children's book, If The Forest is Silent, Beware!, on Saturday February 16th from 1pm to 4pm. Peg is a local author and this is her fourth published children's book. In short this is a book about the bonding of a Bigfoot and a young girl who lives in a small mountain town.

Jenn trips and falls while walking home through the McCloud Game Preserve. When she regains consciousness, a Bigfoot is kneeling beside her, brushing her red hair out of her eyes and seemingly purring. Jenn screams and it runs off. Was she imagining it or was it real? Her family tells her she was hallucenating from getting such a hard bump on her head, then she sees it again. Bigfoot is real, and he becomes her protector and friend.

Two of Peg's other books are collections of short stories for children from two to twelve, named Grannies' Shorts and Grannies' Critters. Her third book is a middle grade novel about a quirky grandma that totally embarrasses her granddaughter with some of her wild antics. Now Peg has gone from humor to adventure with her new book.

Peg is the mother of four grown children, nine grandchildren and nine great grandchildren so she has ample inspiration for her writing. "I've always written stories, newsletters, and long letters, but I didn't begin writing full time until I retired from the Post Office in 1994. Joining the Writer's of Kern was what got me started and they have helped me with my chosen profession since 1996. I decided to write for children since I had so very many ideas for stories and books that would appeal to that age group.

My Hero

My hero is my mom because she is a paramedic. I chose my mom because she is a paramedic. She works on an ambulance.
She is very nice.
She is very helpful.
She is very sweet.
She is very pretty.
She is the best mom.
She is very cool.
She is very fun.

Cheyane is a winner in the Real Heroes youth art and essay contest hosted by the American Red Cross Kern Chapter. Participants were asked to describe “What is a Hero?” through art and writing.

My Real Hero

Everyone has an idea of what a hero is. By definition a hero is a man, often of divine descent, who is endowed with great courage and strength, celebrated for his bold exploits, and favored by the gods. Although that’s mostly in stories people see a hero as someone who is very strong and wears a cape or can fly. I see a hero as someone who is strong but not necessarily physically strong; someone who has made a lasting impact on your life. For me, my hero is my niece; she has been through more than most people do in their lifetime in her first 4 years of her life.

For my hero I choose my niece; she is 6 years old and has been through 13 major surgeries before she was four. I choose my niece because I look up to her. She is stronger than I can ever be. She has gone through so much and still manages to be happy and have a smile on her face; she sees herself no different than anyone else and is proud of how she is. She has helped me through a plethora of tasks without even knowing it. She helps me because knowing that she has been through all that stuff then I can get through anything. Also when I’m scared about something I think back at what she went through and how scared she must have been and the thing I was so scared of doesn’t even measure up.

People don’t see how someone that’s only 6 years old can be someone’s hero; how can she be someone you look up to when in reality they don’t know what life really is, but I can. Zoe is my rock and my inspiration and I want to thank her; my hero, Miss Zoe Marie Whipple, for encouraging me and helping me through difficult things in my life. She is my hero and I want to be just like her when I grow up.

Molly is a winner in the Real Heroes youth art and essay contest hosted by the American Red Cross Kern Chapter. Participants were asked to describe “What is a Hero?” through art and writing.