On Wednesday night, the President’s Own United States Marine Band produced a colorful and patriotic performance underscored by brass notes punctuating rapidly paced reeds and roaring percussion to pieces arranged by some of the nation’s most well known composers. The audience, housed in the Frank “Buck” Shaffer Theatre was pleased, evidenced by their hearty applause and standing ovations throughout.

via Marine Band plays patriotic pieces | plays, band, president – Local News – Recorderonline.com.

OK, the crowd was not really whipped into a frenzy.They were generally mystified that outsiders had stumbled into Porterville to entertain them, but politely pleased that they did.

The performance was enjoyable, akin to a Pops Concert almost. In Porterville, any outside performance is a big deal, and this one was well done.

We were a little nervous arriving – the tickets made plain that everyone needed to be seated by 7:15 even though the show was not until 7:30. Thoughts of the fate of a certain Georgian theater crowd at the hand of the Russians crept through my mind. And, well, we saw “Inglorious Basterds” too ….

In the end there was no violence or no explanation for why the public had to follow marching orders from the Marines. At least there was no speechifying either, all joking aside, that is what I thought those 15 minutes would be used for. At least 3 City Council members were present, but they simply enjoyed the show as everyone else did.

Overall, I’d say the age of the attendees was skewed towards the Korean War and Vietnam War veteran era.

I was really only joking to myself when I thought, during the opening rendition of “The Star Spangled Banner”, that some of the attendees may very well have been fighting in the War of 1812. They were old, but not that old.

And, since our National Anthem was written in my home town of Baltimore, I feel a special pride when I hear it. I also, having attended hundreds and hundreds of baseball games, found it extremely difficult to repress the Pavlovian need to shout “O” during the final verse of “Oh say can you see”. I stifled it OK, but I lost sleep as a result of the internal effort.

That was interesting because it has been decades since those days. And it was almost as interesting that I similarly expected the band to break out of its formal posturing during the intermission and break out into a rousing “Thank God I’m a Country Boy”. Ironically, of the hundreds of times I have heard that song sung along to by a crowd, it has never been a crowd of “Country Boys” as it was last night.

One of the most enthusiastic  standing ovations mentioned in the article above (they weren’t really “throughout” but at scripted predictable places) occurred as Bennear emotive sang the lines “Let Freedom Ring” from “My Country Tis of Thee”.

My thought at the time was how ironic that probably 80% of the standing audience voted less than one year ago to remove *existing rights* from a minority of people under the schoolyard guise of “majority rules!!! nyah nyah nyah!!!”.

Most of the other 20% was the high school students that reporter Chandler mentioned above by the way, too young to have voted lat year, but who will be the votes that restore the rights to their, well, rightful place soon enough.

Also curious: The program, provided by the Band, says that they perform 500 times a year outside of Washington on tour of the US. That struck me at odds with Bennear’s well rehearsed comments that we all learned the patriotic tunes in the ending medley during grade school.

I did learn them, at a time in the late 60s when I have since learned there were riots in the city across the river that was at the bottom of our hilly block.

But I am out in the real world and I know that the demographics of America are such that in our lifetime we have had a huge influx of immigration from around the world, and not all citizens or even visitors who might attend a performance of this historic band somewhere in America learned patriotic songs as a kid.

I found that comment rude and insensitive and  so did my girlfriend who is not originally an American Citizen and so did not receive her earliest schoolgirl indoctrination in American schools.

I was personally disappointed that the last piece was “God Bless America” for two reasons. One, of course is that there was the triple-whammy of both Federal and Local governments stretching the First Amendment’s Establishment clause.: A Federal Band singing about God and America? In a public school funded by the state and local citizens?

No public event in Porterville is complete without the First Amendment Establishment Clause being stretched to its limits of course, but I am sure the crowd would have been just as thrilled and roused by a tune written by Woody Guthrie, musical hero of the Dust Bowl Refugees (hello all you 70+ year olds-in the audience, might that be you or your family?).

“This Land is Your Land”, which I have written about before, is  the tune he wrote in response to “God Bless America”‘s religious pleas and jingoistic overtones. The lyrics,  are  more inclusive and equally grand and well known “This Land is Your Land”. That song  would have been a far better choice to send the crowd out with. It is a truly beautiful song, maybe the most beautiful of all patriotic tunes.

And I am not saying the Band itself was lily-white – I recall noticing an Asian guy on a woodwind instrument, but other than that, it sure didn’t look like the face of any part of America I have ever seen. This band has been playing since 1798 – yes that is not a typo – and this is the best they can do equality wise?

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This job opening from Monster just now came across my desk

Editor – Porterville RecorderAbout the JobThe Porterville Recorder, a 9,500 daily newspaper serving the central California valley, is seeking an experienced Editor to lead our 10-person team in covering community news and issues.

As usual, anything that comes out of the Recorder is of questionable accuracy. No way this paper is 9500 circulation, I was told by a “well placed insider” this past January that the circulation had dropped far below that by then. No comment on if there is a “10 person team” or not, although I am sure that more than 10 people are still employed by the paper.

Our candidate must have experience in covering a variety of beats and be comfortable in the role of mentor to young reporters.

That much is true – I was interviewed recently by a reporter who left the Recorder for the local weekly Sierra Messenger while still in (or having recently completed) High School. The other two news reporters are interns just out of college. They are eager and working hard from what I can tell, but they are very rough around the edges, never thinking to get opposing quotes even when covering a local story that is controversial and getting national attention.

A high degree of community involvement and direct reader engagement is required.​ We have renewed our focus on community news and the people in the communities we serve.​ The successful candidate must be able to balance an active role in the community with aggressive approaches to news, sports and feature coverage.​ As the editorial page editor, our Editor will write editorials and seek out the local voices necessary to build a lively discussion across multiple platforms.

This feels about right to me.

The Editor’s job includes the continued transformation of our newsroom to “web first” publishing with deadlines that never stop coming.

This also feels accurate to me – recently, articles have been published online hours ahead of any print deadline.  If you interview for this job, expect to be told that in 12 months or less, the print edition is not likely to be around anymore.

If this doesn’t energize you, then this isn’t the right job.​ The Porterville Recorder serves print and online readers in an three-county area of central California.

No, the Recorder serves Porterville and that is all. No one in Kern or Kings or Fresno County (the 3 surrounding local counties) gives a damn about this paper, as evidence I resent both the lack of coverage in those areas and the lack of advertisers from there.

Porterville is located just 45 minutes south of Bakersfield, CA,

Uh no. This is typical of information coming from this paper – never checked by a copy editor or fact-checked before release.  If you go south from Bakersfield to get to Porterville, you will have to circumnavigate the globe to get here.

If you go North to get here, and you can do it in 45 minutes, you are hauling ass, as it is 70 miles distant.

Porterville is a stable market with good schools, located near recreational opportunities such as the Sequoia National Forrest.

No comment on the schools, but the local’s educational achievement in the aggregate is dreadful, see the City’s own Economic Development website at chooseporterville.com.

And while the Sequoia National Forest (and adjoining National Parks) are wonderful resources, “close” is a relative term. Yes, you can see the mountains from here, the foothills start in Porterville, but the mountain roads are very windy, and to get to an elevation of about 4000 feet takes about an hour, to go higher and deeper into he mountains can take easily 3 hours each way or more. Yes, people do it, but for some of the best sites, you can get to San Francisco or LA in the same time frame.

We are a destination location for visitors who like to hike, bike, and fish.

Written by someone obviously never here. Decent hikes are at least an hour away. A very bike-unfriendly city, you rarely see cyclists despite miles and miles of uncongested farm roads. That is partly because of nasty guard dogs at every farm, and partly because our air quality is among the worst in the nation.

Become a part of something greater.​ Freedom Communications is an Equal opportunity Employer.

Freedom Communications is also in Chapter 11, no guarantees they will hold onto this, among their smallest papers, for long.

We offer a very competitive compensation

Not from what I have heard from every employee, who has seen his or her compensation cut to the bone, e.g. the art department barely makes minimum wage while being severely understaffed. Interns as lead reporters, minimal sales people, dwindling circulation, this equates to “competitive compensation”?

and an outstanding benefits package with the opportunity for professional growth and development.​ Benefits include: Vacation, Sick Leave, Holiday Pay, an attractive 401k retirement savings program, medical, dental, and much more.

If you apply, ask about the “furlough” plan also!

via Editor – Porterville Recorder Job in Porterville 93258, California US.

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Earlier today I was looking for the Porterville City General Plan. It is difficult to find on the City’s own web site. Thanks to the City Officials who helped me find this important document, which cover’s the City’s vision of itself looking out to 2030.

Here is the Porterville General Plan update (64.3 mb pdf, be patient), and hopefully this will now be searchable in google so everyone so inclined can review and comment on this.

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Continues to drain city resources and reputation

Former Mayor and current Councilmember Cameron Hamilton is scheduled to introduce a resolution asking the Council to condemn same sex marriage, this time using Mark Leno’s Senate Bill 54 as a hook, at the next Porterville City Council Meeting on August 4, 2009. The meeting will take place at 7PM at City Hall on Main Street in Porterville, deep in California’s Central Valley. Local Civil Rights advocates and leaders will be available for press comments both before and after the meeting.

Unlike last September’s resolution in support of Prop 8 introduced by Councilmember Brian Ward which passed unanimously with minimal public notice, Hamilton’s new attempt is happening in full view of Civil Rights advocates from Porterville and across the state. The local advocates have been present at every public meeting for months educating City Council and Portervillians on how Council’s September Resolution hurts individuals and places the ability of the City to do its ordinary business at risk.

At the July 21, 2009 City Council meeting Hamilton asked for permission to introduce a resolution regarding Senate Bill 54. SB 54, introduced by Mark Leno (D-SF) would allow same-sex couples who were married legally in another state but who are now in California all the rights rights that California grants married couples except the right to call themselves married. This is squarely in line with Prop 8 supporting campaign materials and rank and file comments that the issue is not the rights granted to the couples but rather the name “marriage”.

During the very heated discussion at the most recent Council meeting on July 21, new Mayor Pete McCracken, and Councilmen Pedro Martinez and Felipe Martinez echoed the advocate’s arguments that they have heard many times: that Council is not the place to discuss State and Federal level matters and that damages the City’s economic development efforts. Hamilton persisted, McCracken demanded a call to order to avoid what multiple accounts have described as Councilmen nearly coming to blows.

A vote on whether Hamilton would be allowed to introduce a resolution was evenly split, with McCracken and Felipe Martinez opposed, Hamilton and Ward in favor, and Pedro Martinez abstaining. This change from September’s previous unanimous vote sets the stage for a dramatic discussion and vote at the next meeting on August 4th.

“Councilmember Hamilton and Vice Mayor Ward continue to damage the ability of Porterville’s City Government to do its job in these difficult times by bringing personal and religious concerns before Council,” said Barry Caplan, Porterville Civil Rights advocate.

“Council’s prior actions and resolutions have led to the split of Californians into 3 arbitrary classes where there should only be one:
1 – People who are free to marry those who they love
2 – People who are not free to marry those who they love
3 – People who are currently married but should they become single again through death and divorce will not be allowed to marry the person they love again

“It is well past time for Cameron Hamilton to stop wasting Porterville City time, resources, and its valuable reputation for his own and Ward’s personal crusade.”

“SB 54 does not create any new law or change the law,” said Shannon Minter, legal director for the National Center for Lesbian Rights, who helped draft the legislation. “It simply clarifies the rights of married same-sex couples in the aftermath of Prop 8, which is essential to prevent needless cost, confusion and anxiety on the part of same-sex couples and third parties dealing with those couples.”

“Because Prop. 8 created such a confusing, unequal situation for legally married same-sex couples, it is critical that California enact this legislation so that these couples are treated fairly and businesses and others have guidance as to what the law requires,” said Equality California (EQCA) Executive Director Geoff Kors. “All legally married couples deserve to be treated respectfully. Therefore, we urge the Porterville City Council to oppose this counter-productive resolution.”

ABOUT PORTERVILLE, CA: Porterville is a town of approximately 50,000 deep in the heart of the Central Valley of California, located midway between Fresno and Bakersfield in rural Tulare County. The primary industries are citrus growing and providing mental health services for developmentally delayed individuals on behalf of the State of California.

During the 2008 campaign for Prop 8, Porterville’s City Council voted unanimously in a Resolution to urge its citizens to vote to remove existing Civil Rights from some Californians. It was the only Council in California to vote in favor of supporting Prop 8. Porterville citizens responded to the Council’s call, voting over 75% in favor of the measure. Advocates for Civil Rights have been active and present at every public meeting since the California Supreme Court ruled Prop 8 as a valid Amendment, and at most meetings prior to that dating back to September 2008. The advocates work to shine a light on the actions and effects of the Resolution on Porterville’s entire population.

Porterville’s next City Council meeting takes place Tuesday August 4th, 7PM at City Hall, 291 North Main Street in Porterville. Final Agendas are generally available the Friday afternoon before the meeting, and are available from Luisa Herrera, Deputy City Clerk. Ms. Herrera is available at Tel: (559) 782-7464, Fax: (559) 715-4010, and
email: lherrera@ci.porterville.ca.us

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13 of the top 18   areas are in California, including a nearly unbroken chain of population centers between north of the  Grapevine  to Sacramento,  and then north of Sacramento well into Oregon.

More-Cities-Seeing-at-Least-15-Percent-Unemployment: Personal Finance News from Yahoo Finance.

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The Citrus Research Board, a Visalia group funded by California citrus growers, has hired MaryLou Polek, a plant pathologist who earned her Ph.D at UCR in 1993. She will lead the fight against Asian citrus psyllid, an insect the size of a pea that can carry a disease called citrus greening.

The disease, which is incurable, has decimated the citrus industry in Florida and other parts of the world. The insect, but not the disease, has been found in San Diego and Imperial counties, leading to a quarantine limiting plant movement in portions of those counties.

“We want to find it early so we can take action and do something about it,” said Ted Batkin, president of the Citrus Research Board. “Unfortunately, in Florida, the disease spread throughout the state before they knew about it. As a result, they’re losing acreage rapidly.”

The board is spending $1.1 million this year to open laboratories in Riverside, San Diego and the San Joaquin Valley to test citrus tree leaves and branches from backyards and nurseries for the disease, Batkin said. Research, in conjunction with UCR professors, will also be done at the Riverside lab, he said.

A lab is planned for the San Joaquin Valley because 85 percent of the state’s citrus is grown in the region, Polek said.

85% of the state’s oranges are grown in the San Joaquin Valley, and a major portion of that is in and around Porterville. What will happen to the citrus industry if Porterville is paved over per long term master plans?

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The international remittance plan allows the transfer of money between the U.S. and Mexican credit unions and banks. It is a program supported by the U.S. Federal Reserve Bank, Banco de México and Banco del Ahorro Nacional y Servicios Financieros.

The Hispanic population can feel safe about the transfers, and instead of wiring the money, or sending it by mail via a money order, to Mexico, they can be assured that the money is promptly transferred, officials familiar with the program said.

I was at the inaugural event, by chance I was strolling down Main Street. I was not sure what was going on – my minimal Spanish skills were not helping much (thanks High School teachers!). But David Horowitz, of Horowitz Jewelers located across the street from El Futuro, filled me in on the details with pride.

I enjoyed listening to Porterville’s own El Mariachi Academy Band perform. The performance is  not noted in the article.

Unlike the commenters on the Recorder web page, who scream invective about illegal immigrants anytime a Hispanic name is published in the paper, I find this to be a truly inspiring effort on the part of the bank, and on behalf of the community. Workers here who choose to share their hard earned money with their relative now have a price effective and safe and secure means to transfer it there.

This is nothing short of capitalism and globalization at work. A market opportunity, with excess friction in a transaction is identified, and a solution with less friction is created. Who could object to that?

One other thing that struck me during the time I was there during some speechifying and music: none of our City Council members were present, at least not while I was there. Which is a shame really – aside from missing a fun show, they mayb have turned their backs on the first really innovative product and service created and marketed since I came to Porterville.

To El Futuro, I say Job Well Done, and keep it up!

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