Issue link: http://www.epageflip.net/i/518556
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@ redbluffdailynews.com Fax: 530-527-9251 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 In November of last year, I think most Cali- fornia voters unwittingly approved a bad proposition. It was Proposition 47 which made lower-level crimes, like drug posses- sion, misdemeanors instead of felonies. Manylawenforcement groups opposed it at the time. In the subsequent months, nine legislative proposals were introduced to fix the result of this bad public pol- icy. The problem with most of those proposed fixes is that they would again re- quire another vote by Cali- fornia's electorate to reach a better solution. A majority of Proposition 47's backers are not fighting these proposed legislative fixes. Prior to this action Cali- fornia's "Realignment" pro- gram in 2011 had already moved many lower-level fel- ons from our state prisons to county jails. That move has placed an unpredictable fi- nancial burden on Tehama County and every other part of our state. I think most of us think that if we lock up all the bad men and women in an ef- fort to fight crime, then that should do the trick. Well, ac- cording to experts, that does not work. There are many theories on what is happen- ing. One theory even suggests that aging population is part of the reason for crime reduc- tion. I guess people my age — 76 — don't do as many bad things? I don't think so. I be- lieve people of all ages are just as good and bad as any other age. I also think many voters were probably unaware that proposition 47 was actually retroactive, allowing inmates to ask to have their sentences reduced. So far, a whopping 115,000+ criminals have filed petitions to do that. This has already resulted in countless "better" criminals being re- leased from prison. I strongly disagree with this policy. Crime has been reduced over the last 13 years. What has not yet been determined even by the experts is the principal reason causing the continuing decline of crime. It feels to me that all the chess pieces — criminals — are still on the board and not much has been improved. Sometimes I believe the on- slaught of law and order pro- grams most of us watch con- stantly on television made us falsely believe that crime is around every corner. Maybe we need to bring back the good TV shows; "The Golden Girls" and "Mary Tyler Moore," etc. What about what our com- mon sense tells us. When a blue collar criminal writes a bad check, do you think that's the first time? I don't either. How about shoplifting? Same deal. Nobody's really fooling anyone. Why are we as a society go- ing soft on so many crimes and criminals? I will quickly add that I do not think I would be a "hanging judge," but I do believe we should make the punishments fit the crimes. As Dirty Harry once eloquently put it; "Go ahead. Make my day." I may be wrong, but I actually don't believe it is too difficult to tell the good guys from the bad ones. Mytakeonmovies Now, on to my Thursday movie review: I highly recom- mend everyone of any age see "Little Boy," starring actor Ja- kob Salvati. Salvati plays a 7-year-old boy who is caught up in and near the end of the Second World War. Both his family and community are suffering the consequences and prejudices of the early 1940s. Only Salvati seems to understand the ridiculous- ness of prejudice. I think this movie will bring tears to your eyes. This film teaches us what should be the proper values of relationships be- tween ethnicities. It is a very inspirational film. Let me know if you agree. As always, I promise to respond. StanStathamserved1976- 1994 in the California Assembly and was a television news anchor at KHSL-TV in Chico 1965- 1975. He is president of the California Broadcasters Association and can be reached at StanStatham@ gmail.com. My take Prop.47and criminal justice I think most of us think that if we lock up all the bad men and women in an effort to fight crime, then that should do the trick. Well, according to experts, that does not work. Children's Faire ripple effect Editor: Organizers of the 2015 Chil- dren's Faire held April 25 at the fairgrounds deserve both a commendation and a vote of thanks for providing our local children with a wonderful and wholesome event experience. My observation post was the area around the Tehama County Museum booth, which featured a local dairy his- tory project, and from where I watched Jackie Douglas and Shelley MacDonald and their staff and teams of volunteers who assisted in booth location and set up were energetic, good natured, polite and very help- ful. They even helped move sev- eral booths to more advanta- geous locations, and they regu- larly dropped in on us to see if they could be of assistance. With the advent of the gen- eral reduction of school field trips to museums, this event af- forded the museum the oppor- tunity to take our show on the road — bring the museum to the kids — to lead the prover- bial horse to water. Many children stopped by our booth, and I noticed that there was a positive ripple ef- fect. Yes, the children were hav- ing fun as they experienced some of the aspects of rural Te- hama County. Yes, they were enthusiastic and cute, but what struck me was that the par- ents were also having a good time, partly because they were enthusiastically involved with their children's activities — al- ways a good thing — and partly because many of the booths and events included something for the more mature children throughout the faire. Some of these parents were unaware of the Tehama County Museum and our lectures and activities. Many were amazed to learn that Tehama County has seven museums available to the public — a story we tell at every opportunity. The circle of those who benefitted from this event is very wide. So, kudos to the organizers of this event — and on behalf of the Tehama County Museum, thank you for a job well done. — Chris Bauer, Tehama Response to letter Editor: Pat Johnston is a classic ex- ample of a liberal with a college degree thinking only a person with such an education is qual- ified to be a journalist. There is at least one famous journalist that didn't go to col- lege and maybe not even high school. Samuel Langhorne Cle- mens was forced to drop out of school at age 12. By age 15, he was contributing articles to his brother's newspaper. Before be- coming a journalist at almost 30, Clemens worked as a steam- boat pilot for many years. He was self-educated. Although not journalists, there are many successful writ- ers such as Ray Bradbury, H. G. Wells, Jack London and Wil- liam Faulkner. This Nobel Prize winner never earned a high school diploma. There are two famous broad- cast journalists that I'm sure have the educational qualifi- cations that will impress Ms. Johnston and they are Dan Rather and Brian Williams. Rather tried to defame G. W. Bush with a false document and Williams lied about his ex- perience in Iraq. Maybe this will ring a bell on some more professional and educationally trained journalists. Dateline NBC aired a report titled "Waiting to Explode?" questioning the safety of some General Motors trucks. To try to ensure dramatic footage, the show's producers allowed in- cendiary devices to be strapped to the side gas tanks on pickup trucks to ensure the tanks would explode on impact. Whether intended or not Ms. Johnston gives the impression that only the educated deserve the right to free speech, a first amendment right. If my im- pression is correct — I'm sure she would deny it — these two men, and many more would not qualify: Alvin Cullum York and Audie Leon Murphy. Alvin Cullum York — Ser- geant York — one of the most decorated heroes of World War I and Audie Murphy the most decorated hero of World War II, neither of which finished grade school. Yet they and a multitude of others have fought and sacri- ficed so Ms. Johnston can spew whatever nonsense she wants. Pat stated "God put us in charge of maintaining this earth we live on. It used to have everything we need to sustain life, but uneducated, conser- vative radicals scoff at God's creation and do not heed the warnings from scientists world- wide." However, she forgets to men- tion it was the educated liber- als that threw God out of our educational system and are still trying to remove all rec- ognition of God from all public places even the symbols such as crosses representing our fallen heroes that made the ultimate sacrifice. How many times have we heard that allowances are made for Muslims that are de- nied to Christians in our edu- cational systems? Maybe that is why God continues not to bless us? Doctors and lawyers only practice. At least some edu- cated journalists lie and cheat and teachers taught Hillary and Obama, two of the biggest liars, cheaters and thieves in politics. Maybe a Hard Knock degree doesn't look so bad af- ter all. Her statement about the fish has merit but maybe that is because she doesn't have a de- gree in Marine Biology. Ms. Johnston is a classic ex- ample that a college educa- tion can be wasted on someone without an ounce of natural in- telligence. — Les Wolfe, Red Bluff Your opinions Cartoonist's take May 20, 2015 was one of the most bittersweet days of my life. That's when my son Gideon reached the milestone of gradu- ating from sixth grade. I was a bit weepy as I took photos of the whole class, knowing this exact group would probably never be to- gether again. (My best friend from sixth grade actually lived across the county line; after sixth grade he was forced to at- tend a different school. Another friend was killed by a drunk driver the summer between sixth and seventh grades.) I had mixed emotions as I thought of those youngsters starting out with Bob The Builder and Barbie and now studying "how to isolate a vari- able" (one of Gideon's most treasured math skills) and Nazi death camps. I felt melancholy over the unexpected challenges fac- ing this group. When I finished sixth grade, we knew noth- ing of AIDS, spyware or ISIS. If in 1972 you had told me some- day parents would record grad- uation ceremonies with their phones, I would have wondered how you would keep from trip- ping over the cord and how you could prevent accidentally re- cording someone else's bar mitzvah on a party line. As I watched those fresh- faced youngsters receive their certificates, I couldn't help but wonder which of them would eventually encounter ugly di- vorces, crippling wrecks or bankruptcy. To be fair, some of them may someday find a cure for cancer, write the Great American Novel (if you can write a novel solely with emoticons and ROFL abbrevi- ations) or make the first jour- ney to Mars. But experience has taught me that as the intrepid explorers are strapped into the rocket seat, their jowls pulled back by incredible G-force, the school picture photographer will pop up and shout, "Smile! Gotcha!" I grew wistful over some of Gideon's missed opportuni- ties — not making the cut for the school chorus, missing the school dance and the county- wide 4-H public speaking con- test because of illness, etc. But he had those DJ parties, the talent contests (where The Amazing Gideon performed feats of legerdemain), the field trips to see the Nashville Sounds play minor league base- ball, the book fairs and many other events to balance it out. You take the good, you take the bad, you take them both and there you have...the facts of life. Facts of life? Another pend- ing speech to get teary-eyed about! I'm relieved that Gideon has a summer reprieve from those batteries of "teaching to the test" standardized tests, but I dread students someday fac- ing the real world of job inter- viewers, traffic cops and pro- tective fathers of dates. ("Why, sure, I'm going to ask you only questions that you've had time to prepare for — and I'll give you rewards if you do better the second or third time.") If Gideon really does mature greatly before middle school, we'll miss the miraculous mem- ory-restoring powers of back- seat rides to school. ("Oh, yeah, I'm supposed to bring 100 home-made cookies today — and a 17th century...") A way of summing up Gide- on's whirlwind educational ex- perience fell into my lap the weekend after graduation. We were browsing at Books- A-Million. A teensy preschooler was trying to defend his choice of a challenging book to his fa- ther. "But, daaaaddy, I've got to read a man's book to be a man!" "They grow up so quickly," Gideon sighed, within earshot of the father. Out of the mouths of former babes... Danny Tyree welcomes email responses at tyreetyrades@aol. com and visits to his Facebook fan page Tyree's Tyrades. Danny Tyree Singing the graduation blues as son completes sixth grade Stan Statham OPINION » redbluffdailynews.com Thursday, May 28, 2015 » MORE AT FACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS A4