Issue link: http://www.epageflip.net/i/755142
Manythingshavechangedinmyalmosteight decades of life. My father was an intelligent, yet stuffy racist born in England in 1889. I was born 1939, when he was already 47 years old. Waybackinthelate1950s he would admonish me and my two other brothers for not standing when America's na- tional anthem was played at the beginning of each television day — then in black and white. You may be shocked that I just revealed to you that I believe my biological fa- ther was a racist. Here are just two examples. When I was only about 10 years old, I asked a little black friend of mine to take the school bus to my home and play with me. A few hours later when my British father came home from work he told me, "'Son, do you know what you have done? You let that lit- tle black boy into our kitchen and even let him drink out of out glasses. Those are the ones we use." At that time he even criticized my mother for watching Nat King Cole's television program by saying, "Darling, look at that man. He is so very black." Thank God my dad never had a chance to meet my beautiful, black wife Roleeda. Reflect on the culture change that the Internet has caused so far. For example, I know former New York Con- gressman Anthony Wiener lost his job because of all the social media he misused. So much for all Big Tony's stu- pid activities. Speaking of 21st Century advances; in 1995 I found an excellent position as Presi- dent and CEO of a non-profit lobbying group called the California Broadcasters As- sociation. As I arrived on my first day of work, I was actu- ally carrying a personal man- ual typewriter with me. Af- ter settling into my new desk I asked my lovely Executive Secretary Lillie Player to help find another location for the unfamiliar keypad and mon- itor that was located on my new credenza. I remember Lillie's cau- tionary reply; "I believe you will need that for your e-mail, Stan." I am now embarrassed to tell you that my response was; "Lillie, I don't use e- mail. I don't ever plan on us- ing e-mail." Well my friends, e-mail is now how I get this weekly opinion column to you in the Daily News. I have thought for a long time that the Internet and so- cial media have had a probable negative effect on our culture. Please tell me if you agree. It seems to me that our so- ciety is becoming less toler- ant and coarser. I think it may be time to wash out our collective mouths with soap. I even felt repulsed be- cause of the lack of culture in the 2016 Presidential race be- tween Hillary and The Don- ald. Their campaigns for President somehow allowed them to be their own at- tack dogs. When Ronald Rea- gan and Jimmy Carter ran against one another for that same job years ago it was a considerably more civilized election. I always thought they were both good people. My take now is that the polit- ical campaigns of The Hillary and The Donald are the op- posite and probably contrib- uted to debasing our society and culture to some degree. Mytakeonthemovies After seeing the remake of "The Magnificent Seven" I mostly had just a strong de- sire to see the original again. In this sequel I think I saw more people die than actu- ally perished in WWII. My advice is to see some other film that reflects a better culture. StanStathamserved1976-1994 in the California Assembly and was a television news anchor at KHSL-TV in Chico 1965- 1975. He is past president of the California Broadcasters Association and can be reached at StanStatham@gmail.com. StanStatham My take on the culture of today I even felt repulsed because of the lack of culture in the 2016 Presidential race between Hillary and The Donald. Their campaigns for President somehow allowed them to be their own attack dogs. Let's go fishing for tourists Editor: Tehama County and Red Bluff have a river of speeding tourists flowing through it, but the hundreds of daily travelers are as allusive to catch as trying to catch fish in the Sacramento River using our bare hands. Here's an idea for our Te- hama County Chamber of Com- merce. Why don't we produce a Tehama County Fruit and Nut Tree Identification and Loca- tion Map for travelers? This recently happened to me while walking along Sale Lane in Red Bluff in late Sep- tember. A sedan stopped op- posite me on the far side of the street. The driver low- ered his window and pointed to a nearby orchard as he said to me in a heavy accent, "We are from Germany and we want to see what almond trees look like — are those almond trees?" "No, those are Prune trees. All prunes are plums, but not all plums are prunes." My reply was a holdover from my Ag classes at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo. After they had driven off it occurred to me that they surely must have had a California road map with them. I could have marked on their map the location of our large Tehama County almond orchard plant- ings located along the I-5 free- way between Red Bluff and Corning, the direction they said they were traveling. A color-coded, orchard tree- type map could encourage trav- elers to slow and divert their hasty pace towards destina- tions elsewhere. The map could stimulate their curiosity about seeing what the trees that pro- duce the food they purchase in their harsh northern climates look like, and spend some money while visiting. An orchard tree identifica- tion and location map would be relatively easy to develop. Current county land use is fre- quently mapped by, and is available from, our local Red Bluff State Department of Wa- ter Resources office. The DWR use orchard acreage data to es- timate present and projected local water requirements. Color-coded orchard tree- type location could be accu- rately superimposed onto the lower portion of an abbre- viated version of a Tehama County road map. The map would begin at Red Bluff and extend to our southern county border. To accommodate tour- ists the color-coded orchard areas could be largely lim- ited to the I-5 freeway and the State Route 99E corridors. Once travelers slow down and enter our local road sys- tem to sightsee, they may be mor inclined to visit a res- taurant, purchase fuel or stay overnight. For example, be- cause of the map those trav- eling I-5 could become inter- ested in crossing over to travel 99E to see what pistachio trees look like. Those travel- ing 99E could cross over to I-5 after noting that olive trees and almond trees are grow- ing along its corridor. All of this crossing over will involve backtracking that will in- crease the chances of their vis- iting our county vendors and service providers. Here is an and-or alterna- tive to encourage tourists to leave the I-5 freeway. Make it known via billboards, tourist publications, etc. that we have a One-Stop Fruit and Nut Tree Identification Exhibit. This planting would contain only one specimen of each of our Tehama County commercial orchard tree types. Each spec- imen tree would have its own identification plaque. An excellent location for the One-Stop Orchard Tree Ex- hibit would be along the bor- ders of the very large concrete paved parking lot at the easy to find and access Tehama Country Visitor Center on An- telope Boulevard in Red Bluff. As an added benefit to tour- ists, replace the decorative purple-leaf plum trees grow- ing along the south side of the visitor center headquar- ters with several orange trees. First-time tourists from north- ern latitudes would be spell- bound seeing ripe oranges growing on trees. — Clyde Muir, Red Bluff Bank fees are over the top Editor: About two months ago, I overdrew my checking ac- count in my time of need and was penalized for it. I currently live on disability, and my funds are suppose to be basic needs: clothing food and shelter. Many bank cus- tomers have the same experi- ences. They have either signif- icant amount of basic needs funds taken back or closure of accounts or have future money held illegally until payment is made on a separate overdrawn demand deposit account. I suggest to the big 5 banks — Bank of America, J. P. Morgan Chase, Citigroup, Wells Fargo and Goldman Sachs — put their checkbook overdraft fee on a sliding scale and lower it for those on public assistance. Why lower fees? My bank took in revenue of about $85 billion; how much of that is fees is on the back of the very poor and indigent? I suggest we claw back these fees to an extent; less $10 per incident instead the outrageous fees of $35 per item. If you really think about it, a $35 charge fee could buy a lot of groceries or a lot of soda and pizza at the local 7-Eleven. I think the banks should be required to have the revenues clawed back and see how it makes them feel. — Paul Blank, Red Bluff Your opinions Cartoonist's take It sure was a surprise when we got that rain in October. We're getting plenty now, and until a few hours ago, it was raining cats and dogs for a couple of days. But that's nor- mal in November. What's unusual is how green every- thing is from the October rain. Ev- erything except the trees that is, which are losing the last of their leaves. It looks more like spring than fall. I tell everyone that the bene- fit of our dry, 100-plus summers, is that when May comes, we don't have to mow again until the fol- lowing spring. I'm keeping an eye on the grass and suspect some early intervention might be re- quired. In fact, it already has, since I had to get out the weed eater to make a path through the paddock for my walk. That spot is especially fertile due to the ani- mals from years past. It sure is pretty, but it makes me nervous because I just know that I won't be able to use my lawn mower. I'm one of those guys who is incapable of get- ting small gas engines to start, which is why most of my equip- ment runs on batteries or has a cord — even my chain saw is electric. Luckily I have a handy neighbor who helps me get my equipment going in the spring. But I don't want to bother him early — since I'll need him again when spring comes for real. I've been thinking of buying an elec- tric mower. But I think only an internal combustion engine will hold up to the abuse I dish out to my old mulcher. There is also the issue of being limited by the cord, and they can be pricey too. When we get rain like this, I'm glad we live on a ridge. All the water runs downhill. If our house ever floods, the neighbors will be building arks. We also have our creek back. That baby must be 20 feet across and five feet deep in some places. It's pretty much all or nothing with a seasonal creek. It's either raging rapids or a trickle. I so envy those folks who have year-round creeks, es- pecially if they have fish. The poor chickens aren't hav- ing much fun either. I need to keep their feeder full. I always put one under the coop in the rainy season, filling it between downpours. You've never heard a more soulful sound then those lit- tle ladies, all lined up along the fence and wailing for their food. But getting the eggs and replen- ishing the feed can be danger- ous. As most of you know, there is no greenery inside a chicken pen since they eat everything. It's all bare dirt. And what does that become with all this rain? Mud! Our chicken pen is also on a slope, which has been the cause of the occasional mishap when the old feet fly out from under me. Although pretty funny to see, it's painful for aging folks like me. And a nuisance as well, since I have to peel my clothes off be- fore coming in the house. What a mess! But I've developed some useful techniques. I've found that I get more traction if I wear my rubber boots. Plus, I take my walking stick with me, employ- ing it much like an ice axe. But it works. So far anyway. So, while all this greenery is pretty, it remains rather stress- ful for me. But it's starting to get colder and I'm hoping that will put the grass into hiberna- tion so I can relax. At least for a few more months. Corky Pickering and his wife relocated from the Bay Area to Cottonwood in 2014. He recently retired from the federal government as an attorney advising law enforcement. He has been a rock and roll bass player and a Marine JAG. He can be reached at thecork6@gmail.com. Corky Pickering The October rain came and all was green GregStevens,Publisher Chip Thompson, Editor EDITORIAL BOARD 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, 728Main St., Red Bluff, CA 96080 Facebook: Leave comments at FACEBOOK.COM/ RBDAILYNEWS Twitter: Follow and send tweets to @REDBLUFFNEWS Corky Pickering Stan Statham When we get rain like this, I'm glad we live on a ridge. All the water runs downhill. If our house ever floods, the neighbors will be building arks. OPINION » redbluffdailynews.com Thursday, November 24, 2016 » MORE AT FACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS A6