Main Street

Resolutions
Even if we don’t write them down or say them out loud, but at this time of the year we all ponder the concept of resolutions. January 1 is just a date on a calendar, but it makes us think about new ideas, new aspirations and new hopes. Lose weight, exercise, save money, eat healthy, drink less — we all think about it. Even Woody Guthrie, a political rabble-rouser and icon of American music, made a list. In 1942 he wrote out a set of “New Years Rulin’s” that seems pretty good for today or any day. It goes like this:
1. Work more and better; 2. Work by a schedule; 3. Wash teeth if any; 4. Shave; 5. Take bath; 6. Eat good – fruit – vegetables – milk; 7. Drink very scant if any; 8. Write a song a day; 9. Wear clean clothes – look good; 10. Shine shoes; 11. Change socks; 12. Change bed clothes often; 13. Read lots good books; 14. Listen to radio a lot; 15. Learn people better; 16. Help Rancho clean; 17. Dont get lonesome; 18; Stay glad; 19. Keep hoping machine running; 20. Dream good; 21. Bank all extra money; 22. Save dough; 23. Have company but dont waste time; 24. Send Mary and kids money; 25. Play and sing good; 26. Dance better; 27. Help win war – beat fascism; 28. Love Mama; 29. Love Papa; 30. Love Pete (Seeger); 31. Love everybody; 32. Make up your mind; 33. Wake up and fight.
Woody was an unapologetic friend of the worker and the common folks – his guitar was labeled “This Machine Kills Fascists.” He would likely be denounced as a traitor today for daring to question the corporate rule of so many things in our lives. Woody would have been outraged about the government spying on us, killing innocent people with drones and cutting off food stamps for the poor.
He would have found a lot to sing about today, but we can also appreciate that he had the same common concerns as many of us. I’m going to borrow some of his thoughts. This year I promise to work more and better, read lots of good books, learn people better, keep my hoping machine running, dream good, dance better, and especially — wake up and fight.
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Are you wondering why it’s so cold back east when we’re supposed to be suffering from global warming? You’re not really, are you? Global warming is real and it causes climate change, which in turn is causing extremes of weather, hot and cold, wet and dry. Of the hottest 14 years of recorded global temperature, 12 of those were from 2001-2012. Even the La Niña years of 2006 and 2009, which were supposed to be cool, were not.
It’s time for us to stop wasting time on these arguments and start solving problems. The Los Angeles Times took a step last year in the right direction, and stopped printing letters to the editor that deny climate change. LA Times letters page editor Paul Thornton explained why, writing:
“I’m no expert when it comes to our planet’s complex climate processes or any scientific field. Consequently, when deciding which letters should run among hundreds on such weighty matters as climate change, I must rely on the experts – in other words, those scientists with advanced degrees who undertake tedious research and rigorous peer review. And those scientists have provided ample evidence that human activity is indeed linked to climate change. Just last month, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change – a body made up of the world’s top climate scientists – said it was 95 percent certain that we fossil-fuel-burning humans are driving global warming. The debate right now isn’t whether this evidence exists (clearly, it does) but what this evidence means for us. Simply put, I do my best to keep errors of fact off the letters page; when one does run, a correction is published. Saying ‘there’s no sign humans have caused climate change’ is not stating an opinion, it’s asserting a factual inaccuracy.”
The idea of “fair and balanced” is sacred to many of us, but we must think a little harder. Political junkies like to say that if a political leader declared that the earth is flat, instead of simply calling him or her a liar, assignment editors would make reporters interview someone from another political party for a comment. The headlines the next day would read: “Views differ on shape of earth.”
In what passes for political and policy debate nowadays, simply outlining two points of view is not enough. Wrong is not a point of view, it’s just wrong, and we have to be brave enough to say so. As Woody Guthrie vowed, we have to be willing to wake up and fight.
Ray Holley is unfair and unbalanced. He can be reached at ra*******@gm***.com.