By Neil Rubenstein
Observer Columnist
I must admit that prior to the Culver City Democratic Club endorsement meeting held on January 14 in the Veterans Auditorium Complex for Community College Board of Trustees, I was stumped.
However, after listening to the candidates for Seat 7, I feel Joyce Burrell Garcia has the best qualifications, professional experience, formal training, platform and personal attributes of any of the candidates for this position. (As in past and future commentaries, my comments and opinions regarding candidates are strictly personal and not to be construed as a statement on behalf of this publication.)
I am impressed with her Master of Science, Public Health, UCLA; Bachelor of Arts, Sociology, UCLA; Graduate Study, University of Michigan; Advanced Mediation Certificate, UCLA; Executive Management Certificate, USC; and Corporate Management Training Certificate, McDonald’s Corporation.
Garcia has the experience and knowledge to solve the tough problems. Join with me in voting for the best. Vote Garcia.
In the Public Citizens December 2014 issue of “Worst Pills Best Pills” I learned that for those taking Pregabalin for seizures, it’s okay. However, for those taking it for pain, it’s on the “Do not use” list because of all the side effects. Pregabalin – or Lyrica, as it is better known – can cause suicidal thoughts, shortness of breath, sudden swelling of the throat, and the list goes on.
Continuing Albiglutide or Tanzeum for type 2 diabetes presents another “don’t use drug” situation because of side effects such as appendicitis, atrial fibrillation, pneumonia, as well as liver injury. An overview of the causes and treatments of type 2 diabetes can be found on http://www.worstpills.org.
From South America, the Argentine government is whipping up its citizens to pressure England to vacate the Falkland Islands, a territory Britain has held since 1833. Perhaps you recall in 1982 when Britain had to go to war after Argentina briefly invaded. A repeat of 1982 just might make Spanish the official language.
Believe it or not, summer is coming even to those places where they are freezing. So, if you plan to travel to Minnesota, why not stop at the Red Wing Pottery Museum in Red Wing? They have on exhibit over 6,000 pieces of Red Wing stoneware and dinnerware made from the 1870s until 1967, when the pottery closed.
Can we talk about the gold stored at Fort Knox? Well, it seems some of our allies in Europe are concerned and are showing a dwindling lack of confidence in the United States as a safe place for their precious metal!
On November 28, 2014 Holland shipped $5 billion of its gold back home from New York. How many of us remember Venezuela, Iran and Libya pulling their gold reserves years ago? Recently Germany requested an audit of its gold holdings in our country, but their auditors were allowed to see only a fraction held in Fort Knox. Some now think Washington has spent part of Germany’s gold reported to be in excess of 300 metric tons.
Israel has struggled through seven years of drought with record low rainfall. Even with that, it has a water surplus, a portion of which (about 150 million cubic meters per year) it pumps to Jordan and the Palestinian Authority.
There is a company in Israel that since 2000 has been designing software that uses mathematical algorithms to detect and prevent leaks in water pipelines. I didn’t realize 8.6 trillion gallons of water are lost to leakage worldwide each year.
For those who are studying archaeology or who would like to take part in an excavation opportunity this year in Israel, you have a choice of over 20 digs. http://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/digs will give you more information.
For men who take multiple trips to the bathroom at night, a simple remedy for the need to urinate two or more times after nightfall may be within reach. A new study suggest as little as one hour of exercise a week may help curb nightly bathroom trips. See “Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise,” published online July 9, 2014.
I hope those with diabetes read an interesting article in “Diabetes Care” regarding a daily handful of pistachio nuts. Spanish researchers found that after four months there was a significant reduction in blood sugar and insulin levels.
Theodorsia and I saw “Selma” and we were moved by what Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. did for our country. For those of us who lived through those years of struggle and those who had the courage to march with King (like Theo in Waycross, Georgia), we are proud of your sacrifice and dedication.
For a tube of Fed Mart toothpaste, how long does it take to stitch together a man’s dress shirt in a Chinese factory? If you said 1,116 seconds, you are a winner. Attaching a collar, 23 seconds. A cuff, 20 seconds. China just might be pricing itself out of the market, as wages in urban manufacturing jobs went up 73 percent from 2009 to 2013.
My oh my, by the end of 2013 there were 31,367,915 open court cases in India. If that nation’s judges ran nonstop and closed 100 cases every hour, it has been projected it would take more than 35 years to catch up. This is because India has 15.5 judges for every million people. The U.S. has more than 100 judges for every million.
It’s been almost a year since Gregg Steinhafel stepped down as chief executive officer at Target. You remember him because he was the CEO when Target got hacked. Well, Mr. Steinhafel’s pension is valued at more than $47 million. Am I the only one who sees how wrong this is?
An article in my Reader’s Digest, February 2015, made me disgusted and you should be, too. Page 105, “Crisis in our crime labs,” details how technicians in Delaware, Houston, Santa Clara County, CA, Amherst, MA, New York City and Florida falsified evidence which convicted many innocent people.
I see Washington is talking about raising the tax on a gallon of gasoline by 15 to 20 cents. In Berkeley the soda tax is a penny an ounce, soon the restaurants may charge when they pour wine, and cities are considering a fee when you play golf. A sales tax on a round of golf would bring in a lot of pesos. And of course the dirty secret of taxing us for every mile we drive is just around the corner.
For those who missed an article, all my commentaries can be found at http://www.culvercityobserver.com by placing Rubenstein in that website’s search box.
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