Issue link: http://www.epageflip.net/i/37738
4A Daily News – Friday, July 29, 2011 Opinion Signing of SB48 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 Editor: Jerry Brown doesn't deserve to be addressed as governor; that would show respect. He is completely destroying any hope of correcting the mis- carriages of justice by the previ- ous governor. I, along with many others, 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 worked hard, some of whom went door to door to sway and to promote his candidacy. I donated and supported all the various avenues possible to help get him elected, because I believed in his aggressive sup- port of saving our schools. Now I'm embarrassed to face the people that I helped in changing their minds to vote in favor of him instead of his opponent. By signing SB48 he will destroy young minds by forcing teachers to promote gays, les- bians, bisexuals and transgen- ders, that’s exactly what this bill will do. He used one excuse as being “it will help stop the bul- lying of gays and lesbians at school.” We already have AB 394 that deals with that. He even allowed the clause that states, parents can't opt-out. I truly don't care what other people's sexual preference is or how they live their lives as long as they don't push their preferences on me and my family. “No man's influence ought to prevail upon us.” My family will opt-out. It is against our religion. We believe in Lord our God and will not allow anyone to make us go against God’s laws. He should read the Bible sometime instead of allowing others to influence his goals to gain popularity. If confronted in any manner, we will consider a lawsuit on the grounds of government invasion of our religious rights. “Covering the contributions and roles of sexual minorities” is also an excuse. We already documented accomplishments by individuals, why study their sexual preference too? If he and other politicians want the truth of history to be studied why aren't all of the U.S. history books teaching the same histo- ry? They don’t even cover the truth about the start of Thanks- giving. Yet he wants our history books to cover gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgenders while the courts deny any men- tion of God or any form of any religion to be taught, displayed or allow our children to pray at school. So we practice atheism. His claim is to “keep history honest.” Our history books have never told the truth. They are written by the white man and this means we have to always be the hero, the first and innocent victims. Custer’s last stand is a concoction of untruths, omis- sions, fabrications and political lies of what really happened and why it even happened. That is a miscarriage of justice to teach this kind of misleading crap to our kids in the first place. Now he wants to glorify and put on a pedestal how great gays, lesbians, bisexu- als and transgenders are in our history. Adding sexual preference to our history books won't make them honest it will only contin- ue to make them more laugh- able. Kathy Nelson, Red Bluff The budget Editor: To House Speaker Boehner, Mr. Cantor, The Tea Party right: we see you. As special interests and the ultra wealthy influence and attempt to spin and shroud these budget proceedings, we see you. While your elders and the dis- abled and the Vets worry about tomorrow because of you, we see you. And in your defiance of com- Your Turn promise as your mother's voice echoes — you could choose to remember those lessons now unlearned, maybe play nice with others, don't lie, think of some- one other than yourself and understand that peer pressure lacks fortitude and short term means short term and just because you repeat the same untruth innumerate times doesn't make it true, in obstinance to your own honest beliefs. We see you con- fused by the notion of compromise — that implies give and take and not mostly take. Are your own aspirations and hubris superceding the Founding Fathers' faith in our ability to work together for the greater good? We see you and will know you by both your actions and inactions. Understand this, Mr. Speaker, this is not about you. It just isn't about you. Someone is always watching and your excuses won't wash. Now go think of yourself some more and keep the drama queen antics going for as long as you can — the media needs the work. This is your conscience speaking to you — if lobbyists were banned, imagine that. John Swaim, Red Bluff Your officials STATE ASSEMBLYMAN — Jim Nielsen (R) State Capitol Bldg., Room 6031 Sacramento, CA 95814 (916) 319-2002; Fax (916) 319-2102 STATE SENATOR — Doug LaMalfa (R) State Capitol Bldg., Room 3070 Sacramento, CA 95814 (916) 651-4004; Fax (916) 445-7750 GOVERNOR — Jerry Brown, 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. It’s all in the telling Commentary Fellow columnist D. Polson says, “Maybe it is time to tell it like it is.” He does not elaborate on what “it” is, which sounds a little like B. Clinton when Bill was up for impeachment, but I gather from Don’s concluding paragraph, he is not in favor of a homeless shelter anywhere near the city limits. He writes, “Before the soft-hearted, some would say soft-headed, among us castigate and attack those against a particular homeless facil- ity, consider that people choose to live in a resi- dential neighborhood to be around other owners and renters, and don't deserve to be criticized for not wanting homeless people wandering around their property. It may not always have been fair, but there were often good reasons for police to escort vagrants to the outskirts of town, and tell them to keep moving.” If Don is advocating police escort out town for the homeless as a solution to the problem, then much of his posturing about God and Country in his columns falls upon these deaf ears. You can’t be a Christian while booting the homeless out of town. It may solve your prob- lem, but it does not solve theirs. *** Joanna Kavenna, wrote in the New Yorker of authors who, although famous for their style and substance, sometimes elect to write under pseudonyms and in different venues. Estab- lished writers such as Joyce Carol Oates and Gore Vidal, for example, have apparently done just that. Good for them. However, a phrase of Ms. Kavenna caught my eye. “Nothing could be more fraudulent than the idea of a homoge- neous oeuvre with a single name attached to it.” I translate that to mean that one should not assume that the written word and the author are of the same mind. Or to put it another way, says Carmela Ciuraru, “The authorial persona is a construct, never wholly authentic.” Does this apply to columnists as well? Should the reader divorce himself from the notion that what we write about defines us as a person? I think that is a fair assumption. Some of us get weepy, some become infatuated with God and Country, and others just talk about dogs and cats. I guess there is something for everybody in the Daily News. You just have to know where to look for it. *** At the invitation of County Building Official John Stover, I attended a meeting in which representatives from FEMA (Federal Emergency Man- agement Agency) stated emphatically that the new flood hazard maps are cor- rect, have been formulated by experts... and were essentially beyond challenge. That said, they warned home owners, who now find themselves in these flood hazard areas, to quickly purchase flood insur- ance at what FEMA describes as low introductory rates. To do so later, they aver, will cer- tainly cost a great deal more. In other words, as they say on TV, act now and get a free dicer. This is tantamount to economic blackmail in which FEMA is playing the economic fear card. However, as Congressman Wally Herger’s rep- resentative was at the table to get the facts and gauge audience reaction, perhaps all is not lost. What is missing here is the promised detailed and revised study that has not been forthcom- ing. Tsk,tsk. *** Robert Minch I Say way 36W for example, they would be told to go look. And if one were bolder still and ask what it might cost to extend power to a site, they would be instructed to fill out a form, and include $1,000, non refundable, for someone to check it out. Many employees at our meat plant, in the old days, bought PG&E stock as their nest egg. With today’s bad press, I assume this stock is no longer a popular invest- ment. *** Last week’s quiz was answered by many baseball filberts, but first in was L. Bullock who knew that the first 5 inductees into the Base- ball Hall of Fame were Honus Wagner, Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth, Christy Mathewson and Walter Johnson... and that the Boston Red Sox played at Fenway Park, The Mets at Shea Stadium and the Cubs at Wrigley Field. This week’s quiz, courtesy of a newspaper editor, name major league sports team names in baseball, football, basketball and hockey that do not end in the letter “S.” *** Two women are sitting next to each other on Once upon a time, there was the beloved PG&E Company. Their employees would go out (and still go out) into dark and stormy nights to restore power, their office workers would gra- ciously provide, free of charge, estimates of what utilities would cost prospective tenants, and gladly give advice as to where distant parcels might locate electricity and even provid- ed free installation costs up to a quarter of a mile. Alas, this is no longer the case. There is no free lunch where PG&E is concerned. If one were so bold as ask where the nearest power source might be for a vacant parcel out High- a bus; one from the north, the other from the south. The one from the south says, “Where y’all from?” The woman from the north says, “I’m from a place where we do not end our sentences with prepositions.” The woman from the south is silent for a few minutes and then says, “Where y’all from, bitch?” Robert Minch is a lifelong resident of Red Bluff and former columnist for the Corning Daily Observer and Meat Industry magazine. He can be reached at rminchandmurray@hotmail.com.