Issue link: http://www.epageflip.net/i/13308
6A – Daily News – Tuesday, July 13, 2010 Opinion D NEWSAILY RED BLUFF TEHAMACOUNTY T H E V O I C E O F T E H A M A C O U N T Y S I N C E 1 8 8 5 Trash dump Editor: Who is responsible for Greg Stevens, Publisher gstevens@redbluffdailynews.com Chip Thompson, Editor editor@redbluffdailynews.com Editorial policy The Daily News opinion is expressed in the editorial. The opinions expressed in columns, letters and cartoons are those of the authors and artists. Letter policy The Daily News welcomes let- ters from its readers on timely topics of public interest. All let- ters must be signed and pro- vide the writer’s home street address and home phone num- ber. Anonymous letters, open letters to others, pen names and petition-style letters will not be allowed. Letters should be typed and cannot exceed two double-spaced pages or 500 words. When several letters address the same issue, a cross section of those submit- ted will be considered for publi- cation. Letters will be edited. Letters are published at the discretion of the editor. Mission Statement We believe that a strong com- munity newspaper is essential to a strong community, creating citizens who are better informed and more involved. The Daily News will be the indispensible guide to life and living in Tehama County. We will be the premier provider of local news, information and advertising through our daily newspaper, online edition and other print and Internet vehi- cles. The Daily News will reflect and support the unique identities of Tehama County and its cities; record the history of its com- munities and their people and make a positive difference in the quality of life for the resi- dents and businesses of Tehama County. How to reach us Main office: 527-2151 Classified: 527-2151 Circulation: 527-2151 News tips: 527-2153 Sports: 527-2153 Obituaries: 527-2151 Photo: 527-2153 On the Web www.redbluffdailynews.com Fax Newsroom: 527-9251 Classified: 527-5774 Retail Adv.: 527-5774 Legal Adv.: 527-5774 Business Office: 527-3719 Address 545 Diamond Ave. Red Bluff, CA 96080, or P.O. Box 220 Red Bluff, CA 96080 allowing our town to look like a trash/weed dump? As you drive in on the North end of town there is a monu- ment which says "Red Bluff A Great Place To Live." Well, if you are a tourist, it would sure be hard to tell. Trash all over the west side of north main and weeds as high as your knees from the north Main off ramp to just past Dog Island Park. Even the resting area at the corner of Adobe and Main is full of knee high dead weeds. There is a lot of talk about beautifying our downtown to bring in the tourist dollars. Well, a lot of those dollar spenders have to pass by this weed/trash mess to get to town. Think about that and do something about it. Sandie Jefferson, Red Bluff Free speech Editor: We as Americans take great pride in our freedoms. We have freedom of speech but as well known journalist Helen Thomas found out, that freedom only goes so far. If you watch some cable or satellite channels you can hear the F word the N word and every other word that years ago would hardly have been expressed in private let alone before an audience of millions. Talk-show hosts from Lim- baugh to Savage can harshly criticize the president, Congress or anyone they happen to dis- agree with. You can write derogatory stuff about the FBI, CIA or IRS. You can publicly challenge the religious doc- trines of Catholics, Protestants, Moslems or Hindus. But there is one ethnic mine- field no one dare enter. Maybe it was her reputation or advanced age that caused Ms. Thomas to feel safe in expressing her hon- est opinion. However, like Galileo found out a few cen- turies ago, there are certain things that just can not be said. In case you missed it, Ms. Thomas had the audacity to crit- icize Israel. Which brings me to the question: Just how free are we, really? The great Euripides once said, “This is slavery, not to speak one’s thought.” Herbert Sabastien Agar, the 1934 Pulitzer Prize winner said, “The truth that makes men free is for the most part the truth which men prefer not to hear.” And the German Polymath Johann Wolfgang von Goethe gave this sentiment, “None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free.” Orval Strong, Gerber Immigration law Editor: How can a graduate of Har- vard Law School and a lecturer of constitutional law at the Uni- versity of Chicago Law School, who all in the main stream media claims he is much more intelligent than anyone else in the whole world, be so stupid about the Arizona immigration law? How un-American is it for the President of the United States of America to stand along side of the Mexican pres- ident, in front of Congress, and take turns criticizing the Ari- zona immigration law as being racist while failing to uphold the Constitution by protecting our borders? How un-American is it for our democratic representatives to give the Mexican president a standing ovation when his country’s immigration laws are much more strict than ours? Your Turn The U. S. immigration law, the California immigration law and the Arizona immigration law have virtually the same lan- guage about requesting ID or papers to prove immigrants are here legally if a law enforce- ment officer suspects them to be illegal immigrants after stop- ping them for some other viola- tion. The federal law allows law enforcement to make a stop on suspicion alone. Why is Cinco de Mayo cele- brated more here in the United States than in Mexico? Why are non-citizens in this country allowed to demonstrate against our immigration laws waving the flags of their native land, while US patriots quietly hold- ing signs supporting the United States Constitution are not only cursed and called every filthy, vulgar name you can think of but in some cases are attacked and severely beaten? How does this happen? In my opinion it happens because our education system has failed to teach students, past and present, anything about our Constitution and citizenship. Or should I say the right thing about our Constitution and citi- zenship. People should be proud and respectful of the privilege and responsibility of being a cit- izen of this great country. They should also be proud and respectful of the freedom the Constitution gives them. For many of us, cit- izenship in this coun- try was given without sacrifice or payment of any kind. However, it was not free, for many the price was much greater than many of the young people of today can imagine. Imagine, if you can, the hardships of the rag-tag Continental Army, the dough boys of WWI, the death march of servicemen in the Philippines by the Japanese dur- ing WWII. The survivors of the death march were put in con- centration camps and the ones that survived the camps at the end of the war were barely alive, walking skeletons. Then there was Korea, Vietnam, the Gulf War and our servicemen and women in the Middle East still today. If our schools had taught stu- dents to be proud of all men and women who serve in the mili- tary and of their sacrifices of life and limb, the Code Pinks and others that demonstrate against our servicemen and women would not be tolerated. Every naturalized citizen should take pride and responsi- bility as a citizen. Les Wolfe, Red Bluff Your officials STATE ASSEMBLYMAN — Jim Nielsen (R), State Capitol Bldg., Room 4164 P.O. Box 942849, Sacramento 94249; (916) 319-2002; Fax (916) 319- 2102 STATE SENATOR — Sam Aanestad (R), State Capitol Bldg., Room 2054, Sacramen- to, CA 95814. (916) 651-4004; Fax (916) 445-7750 GOVERNOR — Arnold Schwarzenegger (R), State Capitol Bldg., Sacramento, CA 95814; (916) 445-2841; Fax (916) 558-3160; E-mail: gover- nor@governor.ca.gov. U.S. REPRESENTATIVE — Wally Herger (R), 2635 Forest Ave. Ste. 100, Chico, CA 95928; 893-8363. U.S.SENATORS — Dianne Feinstein (D), One Post Street, Suite 2450, San Francisco, CA 94104; (415) 393-0707. Fax (415) 393-0710. Barbara Boxer (D), 1700 Montgomery St., Suite 240, San Francisco, CA 94111; (415) 403-0100. Fax (202) 224- 0454. World Cup frenzyless Commentary Now let me get this straight. The World Cup is the most exciting sporting event on the face of the planet, right? Okay, then. What’s second place -- the New England Spin- sters Knitting Circle Seniors Tour? Which would make Supermodels Filling In Cross- word Puzzles With Leaky Ink Pens a close third. Let’s not forget those scintil- lating Midnight Coastal Colom- bian Tarantula Crawl-Offs. My God. It’s so European. Like a Bergman Film. "Firdley passes it to Rodrigue who kicks it back to Firdley who returns it to Rodrigue, who stands still for a robust 20 seconds. Genius tac- tical move. They’ve really put the attack back on the full boil now. Rodrigue crosses it to Fird- ley near the net and he takes a shot and oh no… it bounces off the crossbar, and so, late in the second extra time, the score remains, nil, nil." You can’t tell who anybody is, because the only camera angle has the lens conveniently mounted on the inside rim of the Hubble Telescope. As an added attraction, every single game in South Africa has been accompa- nied by a hundred thousand vuvuzelas, an instrument that gives cacophony a bad name. It’s a mouthpiece leading to a long, flaring plastic tube with a repertoire of a single, blaring droning note. From beginning to end of every single match through extra time, half-time and every time. To participants it must sound like playing inside a hornet’s nest that’s been microwaved on defrost for 20 minutes. Rumor has it the CIA is looking into possible uses for interrogations. FIFA, the world governing body of soccer, refused to ban the vuvuzela saying it would deprive the world of the authen- tic South African footballing experience. Yeah. What a loss that would have been, especially consider- ing the tradition of the vuvuzela being the unofficial football horn-like instrument of South Africa harkens all the way back to the early 21st Century in 2002. To say the officiating has been a bit erratic is like inferring BP’s cleanup of the Gulf has been less than exhaustive. Referees have missed goals and calls like jury summonses, handing out their pre- cious colorful cards to players whose only infraction was proximi- ty to an opposing play- er who fell down for no apparent reason. Not just fell down, but dove to the ground holding their face writhing in agony like they were struck in the forehead by a heated metal coil festooned with jutting spikes. Holding their face? The hell is that? Will These guys would last 15 seconds in the NFL. Tops. Grown men egre- giously flopping is just one reason the sport will never catch on in the USA, no matter how many soccer moms drive minivans. Durst Raging Moderate Americans can’t get it up for any sport that doesn’t involve eighth of a ton, no-neck, brain- dead pieces of premium beef tearing each other apart like the last sack of powdered milk at a United Nations relief tent in Kandahar. And in soccer, that’s the fans’ job. Part of it has to do with the lack of com- mercials. We don’t have the attention span. The same reason why a Royal Family wouldn’t work here. Of course, next year is the Womens’ World Cup which men will tune in to just on the off chance that some competitor will pull a Brandi Chastain and rip off her shirt. Next time around the guys might want to try that. Or more head butting. Will Durst is a San Francisco-based political comedian who often writes.This being a sporty example. His new CD, "Raging Moderate," is now available from Stand Up! Records on both iTunes and Amazon. E-mail Will at durst@caglecartoons.com.