Issue link: http://www.epageflip.net/i/443462
GregStevens,Publisher Chip Thompson, Editor EDITORIALBOARD How to have your say: Letters must be signed and provide the writer's home street address and home phone number. Anonymous letters, open letters to others, pen names and petition-style letters will not be allowed. Letters should be typed and no more than two double-spaced pages or 500words. When several letters address the same issue, a cross section will be published. Email: editor@red bluffdailynews.com Phone: 530-527- 2151ext. 112 Mail to: P.O. Box 220, 545 Diamond Ave., Red Bluff, CA 96080 Facebook: Leave comments at FACEBOOK.COM/ RBDAILYNEWS Twitter: Follow and send tweets to @REDBLUFFNEWS IwokeupWednesday morning to the news of the terrorist attack on the Char- lie Hebdo Magazine office in Paris. Twelve people were killed and eleven wounded, including two of my French cartoonist friends, Tignous and Wolinski. Cartoonists around the world are grieving. Americans treat editorial cartoons as a trivial daily joke in the newspaper — in France, editorial cartoons are loved and respected. The Lou- vre has a branch museum devoted to cartoons; imag- ine if the Smithsonian had a cartoon museum, that's the way cartoons are revered in France. "Charlie Hebdo" is a silly name; it is a weekly maga- zine filled with editorial car- toons, easily found on news stands everywhere in France. "Hebdo" means "weekly" in French, and "Charlie" comes from France's love for the comic strip "Peanuts" and Charlie Brown — therefore "Charlie Hebdo." The top cartoonists in France vie to be on the pages of Charlie Hebdo. There are cartoon festivals all over France — the best one for political cartoonists is in the small town of Saint Just le Martel; I've been attend- ing for years, along with other cartoonists I syndicate. The townspeople pitch in to throw a festival for the editorial car- toonists every year; villag- ers put cartoonists up in their homes, and they award a live cow to the "Humor Vache" car- toonist of the year. One greatly respected winner of the cow was Georges Wolinski, a bril- liant cartoonist with a mas- terful loose, swishy, wordy style, highly respected by the French. We were fellow cow winners, having a beer to- gether last October; it is hard to imagine that he is gone. The Charlie Hebdo car- toonists are a diverse group of charming characters; they are the heart of the French car- tooning community. There are not a lot of editorial car- toonists. We get to know each other; the murders are a blow that strikes close to all of us. The Charlie Hebdo artists were energized and incensed by the Danish Muhammad cartoon fracas a few years ago. French cartoonists have a ma- cho attitude, seeing them- selves on the front lines of a free speech debate. One Char- lie Hebdo issue, touted as "ed- ited by the Profit Muhammad" had all blank pages. One Char- lie Hebdo cover featured a drawing, by French cartoonist "Luz" of the magazine's pub- lisher/cartoonist "Charb" hav- ing a sloppy kiss with a Mus- lim Man, under the head- line "L'Amour plus for que la haine" or "love is stronger than hate." Charb was among those killed in the terror at- tack. Terrorists have no sense of humor. Cartoons loom large in the Arab world, typically on the front pages of Arab language newspapers. It is no wonder that our cartoons seem to bother the terror- ists more than our words. Sit- ting behind a beer with Char- lie Hebdo cartoonists, the talk often turns to Islamic extre- meists and their assaults on press freedoms. No one can doubt that editorial cartoon- ists are leading the fight for press freedoms now. Today we are grieving, but as we move forward, I hope that our cartoons won't be chilled by these murders and that the cartooning commu- nity will step up to this chal- lenge with even more brilliant and insightful work — I'm sure the French cartoonists will do that; they are my he- roes. DarylCagleisaneditorial cartoonist who runs the Ca- gleCartoons.com newspaper syndicate distributing edi- torial cartoons to more than 850 newspapers around the world including the paper you are reading now. He is a past president of the National Car- toonists Society. Comments to Daryl may be sent to editor@ cagle.com. Read Daryl's blog at www.darylcagle.com. Daryl Cagle France, cartoonists and murder Today we are grieving, but as we move forward, I hope that our cartoons won't be chilled by these murders and that the cartooning community will step up to this challenge with even more brilliant and insightful work. Carillonwasmissedover holidays Editor: During the recent holiday season one of Red Bluff's most delightful features was missing. The carillon in the First Baptist Church tower was out of com- mission and silent. What a joy to hear the bells ring out again, now that they have been repaired. I am not a member of the congregation, but I am send- ing the church a check to help cover the cost of the expensive repairs. If other members of the com- munity enjoy hearing this mu- sic as much as I do, they should consider sending a donation, too. — Jonna Turek, Red Bluff Thanks to a generous community Editor: On behalf of the many fami- lies we serve, I would like to ex- press my deep gratitude to the people of Tehama County for their generous food and money donations to Christmas for A Cause. Northern Valley Catholic So- cial Services greatly benefited from your generous donations, which helped many of our fam- ilies celebrate Christmas with nutritious food on their tables. We received almost 500 pounds of nutritious food items. In ad- dition, an anonymous donor provided our programs with much needed diapers. To all of you, a heartfelt thank you for your kindness. A very special thank you goes out to Jessie Woods, whose dedica- tion and love for this commu- nity has resulted in programs like Christmas for A Cause. Thank you for your love and kindness towards agencies like ours and for helping us serve our vulnerable families. NVCSS Tehama is proud to part of such a worthy cause and we are grateful to each and everyone who has supported Christmas for A Cause. — Dr. Camilla Delsid, Red Bluff Founding fathers' influences were varied Editor: Mr. Polson's opinion of Dec. 23 — "God alone makes a good world" — should best be on the page devoted to religion where fact is less demanding, and rea- son more easily suspended. Mr. Polson again needs a history lesson about the au- thors of our Declaration of In- dependence and our blessedly gods-or-whatever-free Consti- tution. About the authors, among those who took upon them- selves the heroic challenge of months-long discussion and debate and finally, the writ- ing of the two documents, they ranged from religious to a-religious. Indeed, the fram- ers and shapers of how we govern ourselves, those whom we call the founding fathers, were an eclectic mix of belief systems. For example, biographers of the father of our country, George Washington, point to his sense of "providential des- tiny," this of a man who bravely led his troops through the win- ter of Valley Forge, and who sat for the most part quietly in the hall with the others as they de- bated the sense and truth of the documents they were to create. Only his leadership qualities, displayed on the battlefield, not his church-going, put him into office as our first President. Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson also figured prominently as founders. They both were men of the world, quick to fancy the ladies, espe- cially when abroad. Jefferson kept slaves on his large plan- tation; one particular woman whom he truly loved, though he kept her in slavery, even ac- companied him on his trips to France to enlist the aid of the French in our fight against the conquering British. Ben and Tom were pretty much Deists, that is to say, they had a rational belief in what they could see and hear, touch and taste, of the creator's work. They believed in a god who does not interfere in things once having gotten the universe to run on schedule. John Adams was brought up to be a Congregationalist, but in adulthood he became a Uni- tarian. What do Baptists think of Unitarians? Alexander Hamilton, quite a polished man, said he was an Anglican. However, he was usu- ally seen at Sunday service leav- ing up the side aisle just be- fore the Liturgy of the Eucha- rist. What do Catholics think of that? The idea of the good old US of A being a Christian nation is just wrong-headed. The found- ers have done a really good job of keeping dogmatic religion out of the documents that over- see how we act in the country, in the city, in the world. Why would anyone want to have a dominant religion in a nation that is more heteroge- neous than any other nation on earth, one which practices many religions all protected by our Constitution? Surely, doing so is a big step toward the very intolerance we are battling in Iraq and Syria this very day. By the way, I am a practicing and devout Roman Catholic but, with Madison, it is my belief that "faith is a private affair." — Dorothy Breitegger, Red Bluff Your opinions Cartoonist's take If you get your jollies from graphs, statistics and reasoned arguments, I suggest you Google the USA Today article "Dilemma over deductibles: Costs crippling middle class." On the other hand, if you pre- fer snarky comments that numb your mind about important is- sues, well (to quote Lucy van Pelt), The Doctor Is In. As USA Today reports, just as the poor are finally getting med- ical insurance, people in the next income bracket suddenly find themselves rationing med- ical care because their peace of mind is threatened by ever- growing deductibles. Millions of people who thought their work ethic and college or trade school back- ground would give them secu- rity now find themselves lead- ing lives of quiet desperation. (Well, not so quiet if they have untreated gastrointestinal ail- ments, but you know what I mean.) Finger-appointing and scape- goating run rampant, as blame is variously assigned to Obam- acare, medical providers, pa- tients, insurers and employers. The sentiment used to be "Aetna, I'm glad I met ya." Now it's more like "Aetna, I'd better not meet ya in a dark alley." I understand the insurance industry is hiring Barbra Stre- isand to counter with "People, people who need to sell their plasma to afford deductibles, are the luckiest people in the world..." And patients are supposed to feel ashamed of themselves, be- cause insurance at least helps with ailments that in earlier times would have left them in- valids or dead. To paraphrase country singer Don Williams: "I should be thankful, Lord, I know I should/But, Lord, I hope this check is good." The insured are chastised for various reckless behaviors, such as smoking, overeating, breath- ing at work, living in a town with vicious dogs, carrying the genetic code of ancestors, etc. Yes, once upon a time, some of us were spoiled ("Those first six quacks refused to believe I have seven fingers on each hand; I demand further test- ing!"), but I chafe at the sancti- mony of those who blithely point out that patients can't make ef- ficient healthcare decisions un- less they have "some skin in the game." Says one fellow, "I had some skin in the game, but then this costly flesh-eating virus ate all my skin..." Perhaps the insurance/medical industries could throw us a bone, with promotions such as BOGO (Biopsy One, Get One Half Off) or "Kids Throw Up Free." Instead of passing the buck, society's movers and shakers need to keep consumers aware of their options and address an issue that threatens the entire economy. "Casual Friday" and "Employee of the Month" mug shots can boost morale only so much, when workers realize that one child's sniffles will gob- ble up three or four days' worth of mopping floors, dealing with irate customers or wrestling with greasy machinery. And who is going to buy all those appliances, cars and "ca- sual dining" meals if the whole middle class is bankrupt and/ or spending every dime on med- ical care? ("Can we get an exec- utive order to open the border with Mars?") Of course some aspects of business are doing quite well. For instance, tiny "I'm spend- ing my children's inheritance" bumper stickers that fit on rolls of gauze are selling briskly, and ambulance-chasing lawyers and fatcat executives have caused the guillotine futures market to skyrocket. Government, industry and consumers need to stop dilly- dallying and hit the ground run- ning. But before you hit the ground TOO hard, make sure your deductible is met or... Danny Tyree welcomes reader e-mail responses at tyreetyrades@aol.com and vis- its to his Facebook fan page "Tyree's Tyrades." Danny Tyree Medical insurance deductibles — threat or menace? OPINION » redbluffdailynews.com Thursday, January 8, 2015 » MORE AT FACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS A6