This article is meant to be informative and surely not to dissuade you from seeking employment, or to become disheartened, but mainly for you to be aware of the constant changes of ways to earn your income.
BY BILL THOMAS: This article is meant for people who are employed, and for you who seek employment, and everyone who will want to be employed, and for everyone who will be self-employed.
This article is meant to be informative and surely not to dissuade you from seeking employment, or to become disheartened, but mainly for you to be aware of the constant changes of ways to earn your income.
I’m 95 and retired so the future aspects of employment will not have any effect on me But as a financial planner for 14 years, and a small business consultant for over 12 years, I am concerned about the fast-0changing technology affecting employment, income possibilities and the many financial problems so many people are facing today.
Over the past few centuries, each succeeding generation of workers has come to realize a “tougher time” to become fully employed in nearly all types of employment, especially requiring higher levels of education, training and experience.
Many current jobs will become nonexistent, just as careers like olden time village blacksmiths, pony express riders, and cross-country stagecoach drivers were no longer needed.
Historically, many people worked at one company for over 20-40 years, received an almost suitable pension and retired.
Nowadays, most people change to several jobs or careers during their work time.
More important in our modern times is the dissolution of job opportunities today and in the near future. Modern technology is and has been creating many newer forms of jobs and careers. Previously little known and totally unknown kinds of equipment and machinery are replacing currently “modern” tools. Even the teaching industry is feeling the encroachment of automatic, electronic devices.
But modern technology is developing even faster, eliminating many low-level and mid-level income jobs. Ever newer forms of automation, more maneuverable robots, drones, and everything operated by computers and remote instruments are replacing many good jobs.
More employers are using more automatic equipment like robots and other computerized,
mechanical equipment and tools.
Many employers are cutting back on expenses by reducing the number of hours that certain employees are allowed to work. Some employers hire younger employees at lower pay to replace older employees despite their long job experience. Expensive retirement and health care benefits are often the reasons for some of the layoffs.
Recently, I saw a documentary about “gig workers.” A gig is what actors, musicians and others refer to when they speak or write about their part-time employment. Currently, as one example, Uber drivers, who use their own vehicles to transport paying passengers, refer to each car trip as “gig employment.” Many taxi drivers are feeling large losses in their earnings.
Gig employment affects the lowest income levels now, including all part-time jobs, and will continue up to all levels of employment as newer technology worms its way in.
The best answer to this type of situation is to not worry, but be aware and prepare.
Become more aware of drones. A drone is an unmanned aerial vehicle. A UAV is an aircraft without a human pilot aboard but controlled by some person on the ground with a method of communicating directional information and instructions.
Be aware of how drones could affect your current or future employment.
Don’t be alarmed. Become prepared. It’s your future.
Here’s one example for some people who are more inclined to be “people-oriented” such as the medical and nursing professions, and all people who are or will be caregivers, who will find great opportunities due to our aging population worldwide.
Be aware and become prepared. Your future is yours.
Bill Thomas is a resident of Stanton and a veteran of World War II. He can be reached at vbthomasvets@gmail.com.
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Dear Editor,
My family, friends and parishioners at my Catholic church in our city love your paper. It is very diverse and covers a lot of ground. Keep up the good work.
EDITOR’S NOTE: The following letter has not been edited, except for breaking it up into paragraphs. Because it was written with such passion, and because it involves politics, and, lastly, because we were unable to get in contact with the writer, we decided it was best to leave it precisely as it was written.
Dear Editor,
My family, friends and parishioners at my Catholic church in our city love your paper. It is very diverse and covers a lot of ground. Keep up the good work.
I have been a naturalized citizen since I was 22 years old. I have never gotten in trouble. I never collected welfare like most of these protestors. I pay my taxes, I work hard and I own a home and have paid for it through hard work.
Do these people have any lives? Instead of protesting, they should be educating themselves on how our constitution and our government work, not demanding what they feel is their right.
How about the rights of the law-abiding citizens of this country? Yes, the problem here is ignorance. Too many people are spouting bad remarks on television about President Trump and his family. So they could feel better about themselves since they have nothing to show for their lives. Did these people ever learn from their parents about respect and sense of values? I am appalled at how America has become with all these violence in the streets and the hate and lack of respect people have.
We should all be kind and love each other according to our savior. If these nincompoops go to Asia or Eastern Europe, they will find out that their lack of disrespect for their political leaders are never allowed. They will be imprisoned.
It’s time to stop them with more rigid rules, I would tell them bye bye, go live in another country.
Gale Stoddard
Buena Park
]]>Hello City Council members,
Well this is sure interesting. While the mayor and some city staff get wined and dined at establishments like The Selanne Steak Tavern where a steak costs $138 a pop, the same mayor and city staff have already made cuts to services and are planning on making further cuts.
Editor’s note: Following is an open letter to the Garden Grove City Council.
Hello City Council members,
Well this is sure interesting. While the mayor and some city staff get wined and dined at establishments like The Selanne Steak Tavern where a steak costs $138 a pop, the same mayor and city staff have already made cuts to services and are planning on making further cuts.
The city also appears to be asking We The People to rank certain services on a 1-7 scale, essentially asking us which services we can do without. And if you’ve already filled out and sent in this survey, the city can now come back to us citizens when things get worse and tell us that we’ve made our choices.
Also, your campaign of trying to frighten people into voting for your sales tax increase is as hollow and shallow as that promise you made to put more police on our streets when this city created the Hotel Visitor’s Tax and then twice increased it, with no more police added than we had before.
In my humble opinion, every service named is essential and they all deserve to be “1” across the board. You were all elected to take action on behalf of the citizens of this city and not to use your elected office to stuff your faces with overpriced food in restaurants that the majority of the citizens in this city cannot afford.
November 2018 is coming and I don’t usually telegraph my moves, but get ready for a fight.
Tony Flores
Garden Grove
]]>Editor’s note: The photo is of Garden Grove City Councilwoman Kim Nguyen. Following is a letter to the editor regarding Councilwoman Nguyen.
Dear Editor,
At a recent City Council meeting during Oral Communications while Mr. Scott Harrison was addressing the council, you (Councilwoman Kim Nguyen) walked off of the dais.
You’re action and behavior was very rude and I’m not sure if it’s due to your extreme lack of experience in dealing with the public or your unchecked arrogance or both.
It’s very clear that you seem to think that you’re above the public in that you ignore speakers and/or citizens who are attempting to communicate with you and your colleagues.
If you needed to get a drink or visit the little girl’s room you should do so either before or after Oral Communications. The next time you pull something like that on a taxpaying, hardworking, productive and longtime resident of Garden Grove, the next letter I write will not be as reserved as this one.
You owe Mr. Scott Harrison and the Garden Grove public an apology.
One more thing, your misguided statement at the end of the council meeting wherein you said and I quote, “Equality feels like oppression when you are accustomed to privilege,” is not only not original, it’s also pure garbage.
Oppression? Let’s talk about the email that you and the other council ladies never responded to that would make one tend to believe that you don’t really oppose human trafficking, as your silence and non-response would suggest.
If you don’t agree or like what people are saying while addressing the council and if you are too fragile to hear what we the public has to say, then resign.
Tony Flores
Garden Grove
]]>He taught me how to ride a bike. Play ball. Drive a car. Tie a tie. Do right. Persist.
He imparted little wisdoms: When I was frustrated, or impatient: “The secret to happiness is gratitude.” During tough times, a reminder: “All is well with the universe.” When I yammered on, losing my point and my audience: “Brevity is the soul of clarity.”
The greatest gift he gave me was at the end of his life.
BY BRADY RHOADES: My father gave me more than I could repay – even if I had seven lifetimes.
He taught me how to ride a bike. Play ball. Drive a car. Tie a tie. Do right. Persist.
He imparted little wisdoms: When I was frustrated, or impatient: “The secret to happiness is gratitude.” During tough times, a reminder: “All is well with the universe.” When I yammered on, losing my point and my audience: “Brevity is the soul of clarity.”
The greatest gift he gave me was at the end of his life.
He spent those four months at a hospital, then in hospice care.
He’d been sick for about three years, unable to keep down food, losing weight, weakening, suffering violent falls.
God, he was tired, and not the way you're tired at day's end. His fatigue came after about 28,000 days, the last thousand or so of which were nearly unlivable owing to pain and degradation.
He didn’t fear death, but he had zero interest in anguish, indignity and leaving his loved ones with massive medical bills.
It was clear he’d made his decision. He was 79, 135 pounds, bruised, sick with Stage 4 colon cancer, fashioned in a baby blue dress and getting pushed, pulled and babytalked all over the place, as happens in medical centers.
He stopped eating. He kept yanking the oxygen tube out of his nose. About the third time a nurse tried to re-insert it, he ordered her to leave him the *&$@! alone and went back to sleep.
He told me he liked to go to quiet places within himself. I knew he’d been practicing. He slept a lot, and occasionally chatted with me – gentle talks, sometimes reciting his prides and accomplishments – but he was drifting to those quiet places, hour by hour, week by week.
Our instinct is to fight. My dad had fought all his life. A Depression baby raised in a blue collar family in South Bend, Indiana, he fought for his education and got into Yale University, fought for a decent salary and got out of poverty, fought for civil rights and got to see laws change and friends advance, fought mental illness and got it under control, and he fought for me every step of the way, and got a grateful son at his side.
But his fight was over. He was not going to “rage, rage against the dying of the light.” He seemed committed to a soothing cool darkness.
Through the practice of inner travel, he’d earned whatever serene state he was going to, beyond my comprehension.
In his last waking moment, he gave a great effort and – he was doing it for me, not for himself – sang “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” in tandem, then smiled that crooked smile, somehow got his hand above his shoulder and patted me on the cheek.
He slept for four days then died in tranquility, leaving me at peace, lesson learned, gifted, per usual.
]]>I was covering the festival for another media outlet in the 1990s. Barty, an actor famed for his work with Spike Jones musical comedy shows on TV and stage, and for a children’s show called Billy Barty’s Bigtop, was the celebrity grand marshal.
BY BRADY RHOADES: This story begins with my first Garden Grove Strawberry Festival and involves a brief encounter with the late, great Billy Barty.
I was covering the festival for another media outlet in the 1990s. Barty, an actor famed for his work with Spike Jones musical comedy shows on TV and stage, and for a children’s show called Billy Barty’s Bigtop, was the celebrity grand marshal.
It was a different time. Folks were less enlightened and less sensitive. Mr. Barty, 3-feet-9, must have been pretty sick of the constant chuckles behind his back, and the inane questions to his face.
He was a proud man. I got the feeling he just wanted to be treated like a man, nothing more, nothing less.
He once said, “The general public thinks all little people are in circuses or sideshows. We have doctors, nurses, just about every field covered.”
On that day, he was quick-tempered. Also, at times, witty and mischevious. He carried out his duties, endured some bullying and managed to make children smile.
God bless Mr. Barty. May he rest in peace.
That was my first brush with celebrity at the annual festival. My second came a short while later.
Ed Arnold, most known as a sportscaster and newsman for KABC, KTLA and KOCE, was the celebrity grand marshal. I had the pleasure of speaking with him. I’ll describe him in five ways:
1)Polite;
2)Easygoing;
3)Humble;
4)Professional;
5)Great voice, great cadence. It was like watching TV. I wanted to sit back with a cold glass of lemonade and listen to the broadcast.
My third has not exactly happened, unless you count Facebook messages. But I expect to make it happen by phone this week.
Burt Ward is this year’s celebrity grand marshal.
Freaking Robin.
The original! The one I watched as a kid!
He couldn’t have been nicer via text. He spends a lot of time helping dogs through his organization, called Gentle Giants. He’s done a lot since “Batman,” but he’ll always be Robin to me.
Am I starstruck?
OOMPH!
POW!
SOCK!
When I get him on the horn, let’s hope I don’t devolve into that 8-year-old boy in a batsuit.
]]>An early happy Mother's Day to all the incredible mothers out there.
My mother fairly swooned when our family gathered, but did not adore getting cards and gifts, nor being the center of attention.
She was a giver, not a taker.
My earliest memory of her is that fresh, clean smell, and those sure, nurse-like hands tending to my boyhood wounds.
BY BRADY RHOADES: “Motherhood is the biggest gamble in the world. It is the glorious life force. It’s huge and scary. It’s an act of infinite optimism” – Gilda Radner
An early happy Mother's Day to all the incredible mothers out there.
My mother fairly swooned when our family gathered, but did not adore getting cards and gifts, nor being the center of attention.
She was a giver, not a taker.
My earliest memory of her is that fresh, clean smell, and those sure, nurse-like hands tending to my boyhood wounds.
My last memory came via a close friend, who visited a couple months after she'd passed.
He asked how I was doing.
"Fine, I'm good."
He looked me over. He was skeptical.
"Everything all right?"
"Dude," I said. "What's going on?"
"Your Mom told me to watch over you, and that's what I plan on doing."
He had seen my Mom — her name was Peggy Jean, from South Bend, Indiana, and you didn't cross her — shortly before her demise. She was suffering something terrible. She could barely breathe.
And she was thinking of me.
She was constantly thinking of me, and my two siblings. For most of her life, she went without new clothes, new jewelry, current cars, five-star "date" dinners with my Dad, exotic vacations.
She and my Dad used their modest incomes — she was a librarian, he a professor — to take care of all of our needs, and some of our wants. They saved what was left over. She considered her "wants" irrelevant.
That's the basic, material stuff.
My Mom spent much time and energy mothering. She was a big-picture person: She wanted to raise healthy, happy, decent human beings in a clean, loving home. She hadn't had much of a childhood herself and was on a mission to make mine idyllic.
She kept it simple. Her manner was blunt.
I was expected to treat others with respect, no matter their age, class, color, shape, sexual orientation, whatever (she chatted with me about race relations before my first day of kindergarten, and warned me about a nasty slur — the "N" slur — that certain people used. "Stupid people say that word," she said. "You're a Rhoades, do you understand?").
To strive to be as good as I could be ("You're better than that").
To be thoughtful ("If you're going to voice your opinion, be prepared to back it up").
And to enjoy life. (Go outside! It's beautiful!").
She was no micro-manager. She wanted us to enjoy our freedom, and she enjoyed hers — gardening, reading, volunteering, fighting for social and political causes, charting our family history, planning day trips…
On summer days, the rule was to check in every couple hours. We neighborhood boys spent our days playing baseball, basketball, football, riding bikes, flying kites, picking fruit and exploring. I'd be home to cram down supper at 5:30 p.m., then back out to play until my Dad called me home.
My Mom came from an unstable home during an unstable time: The Great Depression.
She could not control others, or the outside world, so I can't say I grew up in a stable time.
But I can say my home on Fort Lewis Drive in Claremont, California was a haven, thanks to her.
Mothers are miraculous that way.
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Many readers have asked me “to elaborate about military women’s history.”
My first thoughts were to write about WACS, WAVES, SPARS, WASPS, etc.
BY BILL THOMAS — At the end of a recent column about Women's History Month, I stated, “It will help us to learn more about their great achievements.”
Many readers have asked me “to elaborate about military women’s history.”
My first thoughts were to write about WACS, WAVES, SPARS, WASPS, etc.
I decided to describe the women’s participation in our country’s female military organizations ever since the Continental Army in the Revolutionary War (My source for much of the following information comes from the U. S. Department of Defense, the U. S. Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard).
In my original article, I mentioned how some women fought in our country’s wars, but I did not mention that so many women disguised their gender by cutting their hair short, wore men’s uniforms and used alias names. Some used their deceased family male members' names.
Many women fought in war battles. One woman, during the Civil War, when wounded, dug a “musket ball” out of her own thigh so the doctor wouldn’t find out “he” was a woman. Most women were discharged out of the Army when their gender was discovered.
I also wrote about women who sailed rough seas to get to our country even before we became the USA. I wrote about the pioneer women; about the women who labored long and hard on farms and ranches; and about the millions of women who filled the factory jobs and a huge variety of other work activities when men left to serve in the Armed Forces in World War II.
During World War I, the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps allowed women to enlist. Of the more than 12,000 who enlisted, more than 400 died. Women also worked in an assortment of jobs with the American Red Cross. Most memorable for men in service were the ladies who gave us free doughnuts and coffee (I accidently dropped two doughnuts into the ocean while I struggled with all my gear, climbing up the gangplank to the ship that took us overseas).
Thousands of women and men served in the USO (United Service Organization) by entertaining the troops with their Big Band music, singing and dancing and their humor (My brother, Jim, danced with movie actress Donna Reed at the Hollywood Bowl when he served in the Navy.)
All sorts of factories, retail stores, business and professional offices hired women of all ages to fill the numerous jobs left open when men left to serve in the Armed Forces. Women drove buses, taxis and all sorts of transportation… and nearly all had to attend to their family and household chores. By the end of WWI, 24 percent of aviation plant workers were women.
In World War II, 350,000 women served in the military. Sixty thousand were Army nurses; 14,000 served as Navy nurses.
In 1942, 67 Army and 12 Navy nurses were captured by the Japanese Army in the Philippines. They were held as Prisoners of War for nearly three years.
Also, in 1942, the Army created WAAC (Women’s Auxiliary Army Corps) and in 1943 eliminated the word “Auxiliary” and changed the name to WAC for the 150,000 women who served in the USA, England, France, Australia, New Guinea and the Philippines.
During WWII, the Navy, Marines and Coast Guard also established reserves for women.
The Navy created the WAVES (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service). More than 84,000 worked in administrative, medical and communicative jobs.
The Coast Guard, in 1942, started the SPARS motto (“Semper Paratus/Always Ready").
A year later, the Marine Corps Women’s Reserve began. Eighty five percent of the personnel at the U.S. Marine Corps headquarters were women. Most Marine women served stateside.
In 1943, the Air Force created WASP (Women Air Force Service Pilots.) These civilian women pilots flew new airplanes overseas so the men pilots could fly the fighter and bomber planes into war zones.
In addition to all these military women reserves, 3 million women worked at various jobs to support the war effort. “Rosie the Riveter" became a cultural icon representing these women.
The types of warfare changed through the centuries as newer kinds of weapons were developed from the early cavemen who used rocks, stones and spears. Bows and arrows were next introduced, followed by pistols, rifles, shotguns and dynamite. Then came all types of artillery and tanks. Single-wing and biplanes were replaced by faster, long-range fighter planes and bombers, and atomic bombs.
With the advent of the computer, along came all the remote devices and drones and other secret weapons. From the time each enemy could actually see each other and fight hand-to-hand, new battles and wars are waged from distant, unseen enemies.
As the use of “relic” weapons were replaced periodically, so too, methods, techniques and strategies had to change.
One of the big changes for our U.S. military after WWII is the implementation and training of more women in each branch of service. Many changes have come about. It’s all a matter of necessity.
The ways wars were fought drastically changed during the 20th century, namely the scud missiles and roadside bombs which left anyone at risk. In previous wars, each enemy had some idea where the “front lines” were, even though they often changed quickly. Uniforms and battle flags helped to identify the opponents.
Over 40,000 women served in the 1991 Gulf War. In 1990, of the 1,260 passengers on board, 360 were women. It was the first time American men and women shipped out together in wartime conditions. This was also the first war where women served with men in integrated units in a war zone. In 1994, the defense secretary implemented a rule that prohibited women from serving in units “whose primary mission is to engage in direct ground combat.” Despite that rule, women continued very actively in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.
In 2005, for the first time, a female soldier, Leigh Ann Hester, was awarded a Silver Star for her exceptional valor in combat, in Iraq. She led her team in a 25-minute firefight, using hand grenades and a grenade launcher to cut off the enemy.
In 2008, Monica Lin Brown also received a Silver Star. After a roadside bomb went off, she protected wounded soldiers with her own body, and ran through enemy gunfire to save their lives.
In 2012, the Pentagon announced, “Women will be permanently assigned to battalions. These ground troops will be assigned to critical jobs as radio operators, medics and tank mechanics.”
The Pentagon still upheld its ban on women serving in combat tank units, commando units and the infantry.
The Service Women’s Action Network director urged “It’s time military leadership establish the same level playing field to qualified women to enter the infantry, special forces and other all-male units.”
In 2013, Defense Secretary Panetta announced that the ban on women serving in combat roles would be lifted. The ban was rescinded and lifted in 2014.
The first female soldiers completed the grueling Army Ranger School but were not allowed to serve with the 75th Ranger Regiment because they hadn’t lifted the ban on female soldiers.
In 2015, the Pentagon announced that all combat jobs would be open to women warriors.
As of 2015, women make up 15 percent of the U.S. military. More than 165,000 women are enlisted and active in the Armed Forces. Thirty five thousand more women are officers.
Well, women have fought in military battles, and against the military “brass.”
I’m glad I’m not their enemy.
Bill Thomas is an Orange County resident and veteran of World War II. Contact Bill at vvbthomasvets@gmail.com.
]]>There are droughts.
There is rain.
There are hard seasons and harvest seasons.
BY TONY CHEONG: It's weird.
There are droughts.
There is rain.
There are hard seasons and harvest seasons.
My poor metaphor is about — if you haven't guessed — letters that I receive about my columns.
Over the past couple of weeks, reams of residents have sent missives, opining about two of my most recent columns.
The first column that elicited responses dealt with Historic Main Street in downtown Garden Grove and Little Saigon in Westminster.
I noted that the recent Elvis Festival on Main Street was a hit, and encouraged more events on Main Street like it. I also recommended, for Westminster, a Pho festival in Little Saigon. I figured an annual taste-fest would lure hundreds if not thousands from around the county and beyond and prove great for local businesses.
Regarding Main Street, readers seem split about my idea. Some felt events such as the Elvis Festival are a great idea; others said numerous events would prove a noisy nuisance for local residents. The annual Strawberry Festival, one of the biggest events in Orange County, is enough, the naysayers wrote.
"We have to be realistic. Garden Grove is not Anaheim, does not have a Disneyland, does not have an Angel Stadium, and is not Huntington Beach either," wrote Georgia C. "We should be OK with who we are. And, by the way, I love the Strawberry Festival and enjoy your weekly column. Most of the time."
That “Most of the time” was a punch to the gut…
As for the Pho festival, most readers thought it was a fine idea. By most, I mean about 80 percent.
"We are the Pho capital of America," wrote Mai T. "The Tet Festival is a great event. A Pho festival, maybe in the fall, would be another way to bring attention to the great people and culture we have here in Westminster."
The second column dealt with measure QQ in Stanton. Residents will vote on Nov. 8. The measure would repeal measure GG, which Stanton residents voted for two years ago. GG is a 1 percent sales tax hike, with money going toward public safety.
I received 11 correspondences on this matter. All 11 opposed QQ. That's no poll. It's certainly not scientific. But does it reflect the way Stanton residents feel about this measure?
Tune in on Election Day.
Do you have a question, comment or news tip for Tony? Send to tonyontown@yahoo.com.
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