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By Ric Llewellyn
Saturday, Feb 04 2012 12:00 PM
I don't remember when I officially met Klaus Benamy-Hackel. But I know for sure I became aware of him when I came in third behind him in my age group at the 2009 Bakersfield Triathlon.
It's not that I have a competition compulsion... well, maybe I do.
The first-place finisher was way too fast. But Klaus only finished about 15 minutes ahead of me. He was my motivation to train and to improve my performance.
Since then I've learned a lot more about Klaus. He was born in Germany, spent a lot of time living in Israel and retired in 2006 as an airline executive. Not a typical Kern County story.
As far as I knew Klaus was always a runner and triathlete. I saw him at the Kern Wheelmen bike club meetings or out on the road on his bike. If we talked, I'd learn about a triathlon or marathon he was planning to do.
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The mission of American troops in Iraq is done. Some will be redeployed to Afghanistan. Some will prepare for the next mission.
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Phillip Lee's opinion piece "'Gay lifestyle' poses threat to people's physical well-being" Drew a lot of fire. The most polite comments were that Lee's opinion was outdated and irrelevant. Many others were churlish and disparaging.
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There was an Occupy Bakersfield demonstration at Truxtun and Chester on Nov. 17. It was nothing like Occupy Wall Street or Occupy Oakland. It was an orderly crowd expressing discontent in a civil manner.
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Veterans Day grew out of the national commemoration of the World War I Armistice. It was the war to end all wars and the nations hoped for an era of cooperation and peace. They, unfortunately, were not the last generation of warriors.
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Is "democracy" overrated? An opinion piece appeared recently in The Californian's Our View that proposed that it might be time to do away with the initiative process -- our "experiment in direct democracy." I'm all for it!
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Over the past few weeks there has been quite a lot of news on the status of so-called medical marijuana in Kern County.
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Immigration policy is a significant issue in Kern County. So it's no surprise the June 17 memo issued by John Morton, director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, stirred some reaction here. It was all about "prosecutorial discretion" in immigration law enforcement.
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Can you believe it? Summer vacation is over and school is about to begin. I wonder what the future holds for the new school year. Probably more of the same.
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Recently I was notified that it was time for me to volunteer for jury duty. Although I have an opinion about jury duty, that's not what this column is about.
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This isn't the other side of the e-verify coin. Let's call it a supplement to my last column.
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A couple weeks ago The Californian ran an Associated Press story reporting on a bill in U.S. Congress that would make the voluntary e-verify system mandatory for all employers. Farming interests are predicting an ag labor disaster if the plan is implemented.
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Memorial Day is the traditional start of all things summer. Boating at the lake, barbecues and summer vacations with "the greatest spectacle in racing," the Indianapolis 500, as the kick-off event.
