Issue link: http://www.epageflip.net/i/660745
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 By Rick Jensen PresidentObamaandRaul Castro proclaimed Obama's trip to Cuba as a step toward normal relations a "success." After which the Cuban dicta- tor demanded Guantanamo be returned to Cuba and the em- bargo be rescinded. CNN correspondent Jim Acosta, whose father emi- grated from Cuba, asked about political prisoners and Raul Castro replied, "If there are political prisoners, give me a list, right now. What political prisoners? Give me a name or names, and if there are politi- cal prisoners, they will be free by tonight." What made the exchange unusual is that the reporter was not immediately tossed into jail. Following Castro's comments, journalists flooded social media with names of Cuban political prisoners, such as the "51" list with full names published by the Victims of Communism Me- morial Foundation. Marion Smith, the executive director of the foundation, told Time magazine Castro's state- ments are "laughable." He also said there are likely a "couple hundred" political prisoners, though his organization has named 51. Reporters tweeted the fact that the Cuban Commission of Human Rights and National Reconciliation have accused the government of currently holding 60 political prisoners. Castro has nothing to worry about. He can say he hasn't seen the list, avoid any future questions, or say everyone on the list is a bona fide criminal, not a political prisoner. He's done this before. Ac- cording to the Associated Press, "Ben Rhodes, Obama's deputy national security ad- viser, says the U.S. regularly raises cases of specific political prisoners and that many of the cases have been resolved. But he says Cuba insists that they don't consider them political prisoners. He says the Cuban authorities reply that the pris- oners are being held for differ- ent crimes." After all, it's his country and there will be no ramifica- tions. So what is Obama's goal of such politics? The hope that increased trade and tourism will lead to a change in Cuba's politics. Posted on the White House web site: "The U.S. efforts are aimed at promoting the inde- pendence of the Cuban people so they do not need to rely on the Cuban state. The Admin- istration will continue to im- plement U.S. programs aimed at promoting positive change in Cuba, and we will encour- age reforms in our high level engagement with Cuban offi- cials." More Americans will en- joy cigars, white linen suits and Cuban fedoras while Cas- tro takes 90 percent of the pay from the people who make them. Nice. As for the hope that Cuba will change with easing of trade restrictions, what is so magical about U.S. trade and tourism that it would compel the regime to change? For fifty years, tourists from Canada, the United King- dom and countries all over the world (except Israel and Papua) have flown to Cuba to enjoy moderate weather, warm beaches and cold mojitos. Still, millions live in the ab- ject poverty afforded those whose home are constructed of cardboard, random pieces of wood and whatever metal sheets can be squirreled away for roofs and walls. It is estimated that 15 per- cent of Cuba's urban citizens live in such squalor, which amounts to 12.5 million people. Michael Totten visited Cuba and wrote for the City Journal in 2014, "Cuba has a maximum wage—$20 a month for almost every job in the country. (Pro- fessionals such as doctors and lawyers can make a whopping $10 extra a month.) Sure, Cu- bans get 'free' health care and education, but as Cuban exile and Yale historian Carlos Eire says, "All slave owners need to keep their slaves healthy and ensure that they have the skills to perform their tasks." Why is it that President Obama believes U.S. trade and tourism will do what the cur- rent foreign businesses and 3 million tourists a year can- not do? Magic. A voice in the air calls. "This will be the moment when we begin to provide care for the sick and good jobs to the jobless; this will be the moment when the rise of the oceans begins to slow and our planet begins to heal..." Sounds familiar. RickJensenisDelaware's award-winning conservative talk show host on WDEL, streaming live on WDEL.com from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. local time. Contact Rick at rick@ wdel.com, or follow him on Twitter @Jensen1150WDEL. Commentary Obama's naive Cuban adventure Cartoonist's take When notification arrives of the failing health of a close friend but the final outcome is delayed, it pro- vides the recipi- ent time to hope for recovery, or of at least a clo- sure, one way or the other. It is the waiting that oc- cupies many of our waking hours and, in retrospect, is selfish to a degree. The demise of Dr. Bill Martin is a case in point. He had suffered a stroke last week, but apparently be- cause of a strong heart, he sur- vived for a week or so before fi- nally succumbing as indicated by the long and loving obitu- ary in Thursday's Daily News. Informed by same, I will de- vote The Passing Parade next Wednesday to Bill and his fam- ily and their impact on our lives when they lived in Red Bluff. ••• News readers on national television just don't get it. They breathlessly report, regarding the terrorist bombings in Bel- gium, "The city is in a state of panic." Is that not the result the ignorant and religiously be- guiled perpetrators were prom- ised for their quick passage to their hereafter? And then, to compound the mistake, the net- works feel they must, night af- ter night, attempt to identify the suicide bombersand thereby reward them individually for their misguided deeds. Tsk, tsk. ••• Speaking of media reporting and such, the way to scuttle the hopes of D. Trump's march to the White House is via humor, and in the New Yorker's edition of 18 January, writer Douglas McGrath did a marvelous sa- tirical trip on the buffoon in a piece titled "We have a serious problem." It was written from the perspective of a quivering aide to the Donald who is try- ing to assuage the ire and tem- per tantrums of his boss. Unfor- tunately, space does not provide a full recounting of this feel good and hilarious article about the rise and hopeful fall of Don- ald Trump's aspirations for President. Where is Twitter and Facebook when we need them? I might however provide a copy at the office for those needing a Trump-Dump fix. ••• Sources say the bad news from Chicago is that the "tod- dling town" has been responsi- ble for over a hundred violent deaths since the first of the year. However, they have done one thing of a positive nature, but I've forgotten what that was. ••• Long time first class builder Dave Kinner was in a serious auto accident last week. He is now painfully recovering in Chico. He had so many broken bones it is a wonder he is still with us. ••• I am not familiar with a ser- vice called Instagram, but here is how various online flocks compare to other media savvy religious leaders: Pope Fran- cis has 1.9 million followers, Ay- etullah Khamenel 660,677, Da- lai Lama 340,927 and the Arch- bishop of Canterbury 2,422. Perhaps the English are slow to accept change. ••• Something else I didn't know: The original title of "Of Mice and Men" by Steinbeck was "Something Happened," the original of "To Kill a Mock- ingbird" was "Atticus," "the Great Gatsby" was "Trimalchio in West Egg" and Catch 22 was first titled "Catch 11." Would any of them have captured such fame if their first titles had not been changed? Only the shadow nose… Speaking of book titles, my first book, and only book for that matter, was titled "The Knocking Pen" and remains so to this very day. The title is a play on words. You see, the Knocking Pen in a slaughter plant is at the end of the cattle chute, and in the old days cattle were "knocked" with a sledge- hammer. When I wrote for Western Meat Industry Maga- zine in the 1980s and '90s, the publisher decided it would be an appropriate title because I would often apply, in my monthly column, critiques of in- dustry practices. That occurred in another world and another time, but I'm still in the "knock- ing" business, so to speak. ••• Have you gone solar in an at- tempt to reduce your PG&E bill? I note many panels driv- ing down I-5 and it seems it is the smart thing to do. However, your friendly PG&E is suffering a shortage of revenue and tak- ing steps to recover a portion of same. In California a half mil- lion homes have panels and reg- ulators, so far, have rejected util- ity efforts to cut back on finan- cial aid. But in Nevada, solar companies are pulling out of the desert state after regulators al- lowed utilities to reduce by 75% the rate they pay solar-pow- ered owners for excess power produced by their panels. Next time you get a pitch from a solar panel installer, listen carefully regarding what they guarantee. ••• Pigeons are cute, up to a point, but they can dirty up downtown roof tops. However they may in the future serve a more useful purpose. A French firm is experimenting with put- ting little back packs on the backs of the birds which, when they fly about a city, will help record pollution levels. If they are successful in harnessing the birds without harmful effects to them, it might be possible for enterprising firms to attach lit- tle signboards to the critters ad- vertising something, say, "This cute little passenger pigeon is brought to you by Rolling Hills Casino. Just follow him home to roost and spin a slot at our ca- sino." Maybe not. ••• At a Catholic church they have weekly husbands' mar- riage seminars. At the session last week, the priest asked Giuseppe, who said he was approaching his 50th wedding anniversary, to take a few minutes and share some in- sight into how he had managed to stay married to the same woman all these years. Giuseppe replied to the as- sembled husbands, "Well, I've tried to treat her nice, spend money on her, but best of all is, I took her to Italy for the 25th anniversary." The priest responded, "Gi- useppe, you are an amazing in- spiration to all the husbands here. Please tell us what you are planning for your wife for your 50th anniversary?" Giuseppe proudly replied, "I gonna go pick her up." Robert Minch is a lifelong resident of Red Bluff, former columnist for the Corning Daily Observer and Meat Industry magazine and author of the "The Knocking Pen." He can be reached at rminchandmurray@hotmail. com. I say Hope for recovery makes waiting difficult More Americans will enjoy cigars, white linen suits and Cuban fedoras while Castro takes 90 percent of the pay from the people who make them. Sounding off A look at what readers are saying in comments on our website and on social media. Lovely to read about all the upstanding citizens. Good lord. How about an article on positive deeds? Kelli Graves: On the posting of the daily local police logs for March 29. Stop lights on Luther are terrible. One going into and out of Walmart didn't even work. Avoid Luther Road when possible. It's a joke. Linda Greg Rose: On the opening of the Walmart Supercenter Wednesday in Red Bluff. StateandNational Assemblyman James Galla- gher, 2060 Talbert Drive, Ste. 110, Chico 95928, 530 895-4217, http://ad03.asmrc.org/ Senator Jim Nielsen, 2634 Forest Ave., Ste. 110, Chico 95928, 530 879-7424, senator. nielsen@senate.ca.gov Governor Jerry Brown, State Capital Building, Sacramento 95814, 916 445-2841, fax 916 558-3160, governor@governor. ca.gov U.S. Representative Doug La- Malfa, 507 Cannon House Of- fice Building, Washington D.C. 20515, 202 225-3076 U.S. Senator Dianne Fein- stein, One Post St., Ste. 2450, San Francisco 94104, 415 393- 0707, fax 415 393-0710 U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer, 1700 Montgomery St., San Fran- cisco 94111, 510 286-8537, fax 202 224-0454 Local Tehama County Supervisors, 527-4655 District 1, Steve Chamblin, Ext. 3015 District 2, Candy Carlson, Ext. 3014 District 3, Dennis Garton, Ext. 3017 District 4, Bob Williams, Ext. 3018 District 5, Burt Bundy, Ext. 3016 Red Bluff City Manager, Rich- ard Crabtree, 527-2605, Ext. 3061 Corning City Manager, Kris- tina Miller, 824-7033 YOUR OFFICIALS Robert Minch OPINION » redbluffdailynews.com Friday, April 1, 2016 » MORE AT FACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS A6