Grandma Green says: Nobel prizes and streamed executions

It seems as though I’m always struggling to find a topic to write about, then voila! Someone was talking about the Nobel Peace Prize but had no clue as to basically what it was. Actually, there are different Nobel Prizes: physics, chemistry, medicine, literature and peace. But I think the Peace Prize is one of the most coveted. How did the Nobel Prize come into being?

The Nobel Prize was established by the Swedish chemist and dynamite inventor Alfred Nobel, who finished his will in 1895, leaving the majority of his fortune to fund annual awards for those who confer the “greatest benefit on humankind.”

This year’s recipient was South African-born jurist and former United Nations human rights chief Navanethem “Navi” Pillay.

“Courage, vision and determination (are) qualities that Navi Pillay demonstrates in her work on the bench.” — Chairman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee.

I’ve started to wonder, where have all the years gone? I’m so thankful to have made it to 85 years. I love helping out in the fifth-grade classroom at Garden Heights, going to watch the Mavericks and mostly being so proud of all my kids and grandkids, plus the little greats. My twin 18-year-old grandsons are currently at boot camp, graduating as privates in the Washington National Guard.

But there is a real major downfall: losing family and friends who have been a part of your world. It seems as though a week doesn’t go by that we don’t lose someone. So be kind and retain those wonderful memories.

On to something of real concern. Do you remember watching those great old westerns? Some bad guys are to be hanged in town square. That was cause for a holiday, with all the families coming to town to watch until the rope snapped, then a picnic afterward.

Do you want your children watching a man in a wheelchair up against a wall and shot to death? And think how many times it would be shown over social media. Yes, this man has been sentenced to death for the Fort Hood shootings by our courts, but do we need to view it? Also, think that this would make him a martyr.

I urge you to contact the president and urge him to stop this public display. I’m still trying to determine what power or authority Hegseth has.

Joan "Grandma" Green is a regular contributing columnist for the Columbia Basin Herald. She has been a Moses Lake resident for more than 50 years.