Why are so many of our national leaders so addicted to power that they wish to forfeit their retirement years – time that is meant to be relaxing and peaceful – and continue running for office?
The average life expectancy of an American is 79 years of age, yet we have a large number of members of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives who hang on year after year while nothing ever gets solved.
New blood is needed.
Recently Senator Mitch McConnell blanked out in a bizarre on-camera freeze, as if his brain went into paralysis mode. The Kentucky Republican is 81 and earlier this year couldn’t even hear reporters at a news conference. McConnell is known to have fallen at least three times in the past year.
California U.S. Senator Diane Feinstein, it is reported, is suffering from dementia at age 90 and yet she refuses to resign. Last week she fell at her palatial San Francisco mansion and this possibly could take her out.
Senator Chuck Schumer is well past retirement age at 72.
In 2024, Joe Biden will be 81 and Trump 78. Babbling Biden doesn’t hold press conferences for obvious reasons. At least Trump seems to have boundless energy despite the Deep State attacking him at every turn.
Rep. Nancy Pelosi is 83, Congresswoman Maxine Waters is 84, U.S. Senator Charles Grassley is 89 and U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders in 81.
Some congressional folks in our past knew when to leave and enjoy the rest of their lives in quiet retirement. Rep. J.J. Pickle of Texas decided to retire in 1995 at age 82, telling a TV reporter: “I’ve been in Congress now for 31 years and I thought after that length of time I just ought to quit and come home.”
Get that, Dianne? It’s time to come home to rest peacefully for the little time left.
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I was encouraged to see Ceres Planning Commission Chairman Bob Kachel stand up against Woke ideology at last week’s meeting.
As the panel heard a preliminary report on the Housing Element update, Kachel asked that the word “Latinx” be stricken from the document. He spelled out the word, saying “even pronouncing it is considered controversial these days.”
Kachel found the word tucked into three sentences in the report, which touched on ethnic demographics. He stated that he preferred the commonly used terms of Hispanic and Latino, noting the word Latinx has become offensive to many.
“This is an issue which is so divisive that across the nation you can find red states and blue states both taking action to get this terminology out,” Kachel said. “So if you can unite basically the entire country politically on this particular term I would just as soon see it dropped.”
The term was invented on some elite college campus and promoted by progressives and liberals for its gender neutrality since in Spanish words ending in “o” are masculine and words ending in “a” are feminine. Because so many decided to reinvent gender in a blender, the Latinx term appealed to a very slim group. But recent national surveys of Hispanics/Latinos show that the term Latinx is wildly unpopular, some feel, because while it’s supposed to be inclusive it erases a crucial part of Latin American identity and language, and replaces it with an English word. The term can feel exclusionary to everyday people.
It took courage to say but we’re happy Kachel spoke his mind. More local officials need to do so. (I happily saw that Chino School Board President Sonja Shaw spoke out against Democrat State Superintendent of Schools Tony Thurmond who showed up to argue against a policy that requires administrators to inform parents if their child identifies as transgender at school. Shaw later told a TV reporter: ““is a danger to our students. He continues to push things that pervert children, and he continues to push out parents and bring in policies that create division between families.”
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Readers of the Courier might recognize that Alvaro Franco of Ceres has been a frequent letter writer to the Courier.
I have to address something he stated in a letter titled, “Supports Grub Hub for Ceres” published last week. He was vocal in his support for allowing more food trucks in Ceres. I couldn’t disagree more with his opening paragraph: “Limiting the amount of food trucks that may operate within Ceres is a form of subsidy or regulatory benefit favoring wealthy fast-food franchises or long-established business owners that offer trash or unhealthy food options, as it allows them to remain the only food options in Ceres.”
Limiting mobile food vendors is a “form of subsidy” which benefits the wealthy? Is he kidding? Brick and mortar store owners pay more. If anybody is being subsidized it would be the itinerant peddlers and mobile food vendors. If anything, mobile food vendors have the unfair advantage with zero building rent or mortgage payments and utilities and other building costs.
There are a lot of struggling local restaurant owners in Ceres who don’t need more competition in this Bidenomics economy where everything is vastly expensive than under Trump. Just one example is how Pastas Pronto came and went on Fourth Street!~
Franco must realize that Ceres doesn’t have to allow ANY mobile food vendors here and only and when they agreed to open the door a bit they only allowed 10 on a trial basis.
And I think you’d be hard pressed to argue, say, that La Cascada Mexican Restaurant offers food that is any less unhealthy than the tacos being sold from trucks.
It’s also a stretch for city planner Christopher Hoem to suggest that Ceres needs 30-50 mobile food vendors to match the ratios in Modesto and Turlock. Given that the Crows Landing corridor minutes away is literally awash within taco trucks and Mexican restaurants, why does Ceres need more? Why is there so little City Council concern with potentially destroying the brick and mortar restaurants in Ceres by flooding Ceres with more people selling food on four wheels?
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The U.S. postal system is engaged in outright identity theft.
You heard right – identity theft. The identity of Ceres is being stolen.
It’s just wrong – not to mention confusing – for a city to expand its city boundaries while the mailing address of the newly annexed area remains with another jurisdiction.
The entire county complex on Hackett Road is all in Ceres city limits now. But what’s the mailing address there? Modesto.
Also, most of the area north of Hatch Road and south of the Tuolumne River is the city of Ceres but what is the mailing address? Modesto.
The rules now say that a zip code cannot be changed unless residents of an area (typically a city’s sphere of influence) agree via mail balloting. The folks north of Hatch Road turned down the change to Ceres twice – even though they are never going to be in the city of Modesto! This is just plain wrong, not to mention confusing.
Congress should consider passing a federal law requiring any land annexed to a city must use that city for a mailing address. Thus, if you live in Ceres city limits, your address should be Ceres not Modesto.
Just an idea, Rep. John Duarte.
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The news that Ceres would be getting a Jamba Juice inside the new gas station under construction at the East Hatch Road freeway off-ramp was exciting for me a year ago.
But I have since stopped going to Jamba Juice. Their prices have gotten far out of hand. I liked only one drink there – the protein berry workout with soy. It was bad enough that I was paying $9 for a large but when they jumped the price to $11 overnight, that’s when I decided I was done.
Oh sure, I could buy a smaller size but what’s the point of paying more for less?
It’s sad to see exorbitant prices force people out of the market but this is partly the fault of the ever-increasing raising of the minimum-wage. Great, so the people who work at these low skill jobs make wages that nearly equal skilled labor now but it’s jacking up prices to unaffordable levels for the working class. That, in turn, will lead to layoffs and more self-serve kiosks. Minimum-wage is a jobs killer.
Shrinkflation also stopped me from buying bags of potato chips at Subway. I’d watch prices go up and the bag content thin out to the point that it made no sense to buy.
Sorry, Jamba and Frito Lay. A sad former customer.
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Our story on the building of a new AM/PM at Service and Morgan predictably drew groans from the social media peanut gallery.
Not another gas station!
We’ve heard it before.
Not another car wash!
Not another Mexican restaurant!
Not another Starbucks!
Not another (insert the whatever)!
The city doesn’t handpick business to come to Ceres. A business first wants to come here because they think they can make money here and then they apply for the necessary regulatory action based on zoning.
Would the city like an upscale restaurant? Absolutely.
Have we seen any interest in a Hungry Hunters, BJ’s, Lazy Dogs, Appleebee’s or Cracker Barrel or a Red Lobster? No.
Have we seen any business interested in turning the old Walmart into an indoor recreational use? No.
Have we seen any movie theaters propose to build in Ceres? No.
Have we seen Target propose a new store? No.
This is not to say these businesses won’t arrive in the near future. But one problem you cannot overlook is Ceres’ close proximity to Modesto and Turlock. Why would anyone build a bowling alley in Ceres when the Ten Pin Fun Center is literally 12-15 minutes from Ceres? Why would anyone build a Kohl’s in Ceres when there are two in either direction a short drive away in Modesto or Turlock right off the freeway?
This column is the opinion of Jeff Benziger, and does not necessarily represent the opinion of The Ceres Courier or 209 Multimedia Corporation. How do you feel about this? Let Jeff know at jeffb@cerescourier.com
