Issue link: http://www.epageflip.net/i/783780
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: Daily News 728Main St., Red Bluff, CA 96080 Facebook: Leave comments at FACEBOOK.COM/ RBDAILYNEWS Twitter: Follow and send tweets to @REDBLUFFNEWS Another week, another column, and absolutely nothing of value to write about. That is pretty much my dilemma each and every week. To be honest, I really don't worry about it too much as my momma taught me a lifetime ago that you get what you pay for. Good,badorotherwise,my approach to writing this col- umn is similar to that of the im- provisational co- median. Throw out a topic and if the come- dian is any good at all, he or she can take it from there. I often sit down at my com- puter and type a couple hundred words before I know what the subject of my column will actually be. Such is the case with today's column; but enough stalling, it is time to get to my point, what- ever that may be. In last week's column, I wrote of my relation- ship with various chiefs of the Red Bluff Police Department. I have just now decided to write about my relationship with one of those chiefs, Al Shamb- lin, and another member of his family, Duane Shamblin. •••• When I entered Red Bluff High School in 1959, I was very much aware that if you were to do any good at all with mem- bers of the opposite sex, it was imperative that you be a mem- ber of the football team. Un- like today, in those days foot- ball was king at Red Bluff High, but that is a subject for a differ- ent column. Anyway, because I am an ex- ceptional athlete it was a no brainer that I would try out for football and, as you might guess, it was inevitable that I would be selected to be the quarterback of the undefeated freshman team. It matters little that I weighed all of 93 pounds, had big feet, was slow afoot and looked out the ear hole of my helmet as I shuffled down the field. It also matters not that I was actually the second-string quarterback behind a fellow by the name of Bobby Grim who went on to play football at Or- egon State, and subsequently was selected All-Pro as a mem- ber of the Minnesota Vikings. It doesn't even really matter that I got into an actual game for three stinking plays the en- tire year. What really matters is I was a member of the football team, and I practically had to beat admiring members of the opposite sex off with a stick. Though untouched by game time activity, my sadly ema- ciated body was still covered with scars and other assorted bumps and bruises that mostly resulted from being abused on the practice field. I still remember a drill where we ultra-coordinated, nim- ble and quick footed mem- bers of the backfield were to run through a gauntlet of line- men whose job it was to tackle us with such force that it would immediately move them up on the team's depth chart. Un- fortunately, I can also still re- member that the single tough- est lineman on the team was an ultra-quiet square jawed farm boy from the Gerber area by the name of Duane Shamblin. It seemed like every time we ran that drill it was Duane Shamblin who drilled me into the ground, and it was Duane Shamblin who quietly and al- most apologetically helped me off the ground — after which he quietly returned to the end of the line, only to repeat this cruel and vicious act the next time I came through the line. Duane Shamblin was a kind and polite assassin, but an as- sassin just the same. •••• Little did I know in 1959 that a decade or so after my glory days on the gridiron I would be working closely with Duane's little brother Al Shamblin. Al joined the police department a half dozen years after I came to work at the probation depart- ment, and in those days it was common for probation to re- quest the assistance of a police officer when arresting a person for violating probation. I remember vividly the day Officer Shamblin and I knocked on a door at the Crystal Apart- ments, with the intention of tak- ing into custody a particularly large young adult offender who had been in trouble his entire life, and who had a reputation as someone who would not qui- etly surrender. Many years later he was convicted of a homicide, and ultimately was murdered while sleeping in his bed. The young man's mother opened the door, and after en- tering the apartment Officer Shamblin and I found our man sound asleep on the living room couch. At least we thought he was sleeping. All of a sudden, our sus- pect exploded from the couch with fists and feet flying in ev- ery direction. It was at that ex- act time that Al Shamblin, the ultra-quiet square jawed farm boy and little brother of Duane Shamblin, also sprang in to ac- tion. I attempted to help by grab- bing a leg of our bad guy, only to be informed by Officer Shamblin that it was his leg I was holding on to and I should release it immediately. If the truth were known, Al Shamblin would likely have had an eas- ier time had I decided to stay in the car. In any event, Al quickly proved to be the toughest per- son in the room, and we got our man. While I undoubtedly went back to the office and bragged about taking out the perpetrator almost single-handedly, I sus- pect that Al Shamblin went back to work without even mention- ing the event to his coworkers. Al Shamblin was a kind and po- lite assassin, but an assassin just the same. That's just how those Shamblin boys are. •••• The State Theatre needs your support. We are attempt- ing to raise funds to replace all 740 seventy-year-old seats at the State Theatre. For $500 per seat, you can sponsor a seat and honor someone or something with an inscription on the seat nameplate. We greatly appreci- ate your support. Check www. statetheatreredbluff.com for ad- ditional information. BillCorneliusisalifelong resident of Red Bluff, a retired Chief Probation Officer, a champion of the State Theatre and an exceptional athlete. He can be reached at bill. cornelius@sbcglobal.net. William Tells Bruisingmemories of the brothers Shamblin Cartoonist's take I know Democrats and pro- gressives are going nuts over President Trump's first few weeks in office — I know the Mid- dle East is a mess and that we have no small number of incredible chal- lenges at home — but I have my own worries. Like millions of other Americans, I'm on my an- nual February diet. You see, it's not easy to be trim and fit in America. Our cul- ture is saturated with an abun- dance of high-calorie, processed foods that turn into instant fat. We work long and hard in sed- entary office jobs, then eat our stress away, two or three fast- food treats at a time. We've become so fat, to quote Rodney Dangerfield, that our bathtubs have stretch marks. We know our increasing tub- biness isn't healthy. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, obesity-associ- ated diseases such as diabetes have soared in recent years. Gall- bladder diseases, sleep apnea, high blood pressure and heart disease are all caused by carry- ing too much weight. And so we are on a continu- ous mission to lose weight. Our challenge is that the fad diets that promise to get us there go in and out of fashion faster than the white patent leather shoes and belts my father used to wear to church. According to the website The Daily Meal ( thedailymeal.com ), the Mediterranean Diet — it fea- tures natural, plant-based foods, such as fruits and vegetables, whole grains, legumes and nuts — is in. So, too, is the Paleo Diet, which apparently is similar to the Mediterranean Diet, except legumes are forbidden. Which is a shame, too, be- cause I just learned that legumes include alfalfa, clover, peas, beans, lentils, lupin beans, mes- quite, carob, soybeans, peanuts and tamarind — which go well with the bourbon I am driven to drink as I try to figure out which diet to go on. Volumetrics is another "in" diet. It encourages the consump- tion of low-energy-density foods, which make you feel full with fewer calories than high-energy- density foods. It also sounds like too much math is involved. The Gluten Diet is on the outs, though, according to The Daily Meal. Apparently, it puts peo- ple at risk for "different deficien- cies such as B vitamin deficien- cies, calcium, fiber, vitamin D, and iron." The Daily Meal no longer fa- vors the Atkins Diet, either, which makes me sore. Dr. Atkins said we could eat delicious steaks, pork, chicken and fish. He said we could eat as much eggs and cheese and other tasty no-sugar treats as we could stuff into our bellies. His diet was all the rage for years. But now The Daily Meal says his diet is a "no go"? That it is not heart-healthy and that most users are not compliant over the long term? Not so fast! Several prominent studies have concluded that old Doc Atkins was onto something. Low-carbohydrate diets may ac- tually take off more weight than low-fat diets and may be surpris- ingly better for cholesterol, too. One of my greatest dieting disappointments of the last 20 years, though, was the failure of the "exercise pill," which had shown promise at Duke Univer- sity around 2002. Researchers had located the chemical pathways that muscle cells use to build strength and endurance. With that knowledge in hand, there was hope that a pill could be created that would pump up muscle cells without the need for actual exercise. Dieting Americans could have sat on the couch, chomping po- tato chips and dip, while their bi- ceps got as round as cantaloupes and their abs got as hard as stone — but this uniquely American di- eting innovation wasn't to be. I think I'll try a new, restric- tive diet this February: the "Democrats in Congress Diet." I'll deny myself everything. Tom Purcell Still searching for a diet panacea I attempted to help by grabbing a leg of our bad guy, only to be informed by Officer Shamblin that it was his leg I was holding on to and I should release it immediately. If the truth were known, Al Shamblin would likely have had an easier time had I decided to stay in the car. Bill Cornelius Tom Purcell Many Americans who have wrestled with a 1040 form, or who have paid someone to prepare their taxes, no doubt cheered the news that Congress will soon resume working on tax reform. However, taxpayers should temper their enthusiasm because, even in the unlikely event tax collection is simplified, tax reform will not reduce the American people's tax burden. Congressional leadership's one nonnegotiable require- ment of any tax reform is "rev- enue neutrality." So any tax re- form plan that has any chance of even being considered, much less passed, by Congress must ensure that the federal government does not lose a nickel in tax revenue. Congress's obsession with pro- tecting the government's coffers causes reformers to mix tax cuts with tax increases. Congress's in- sistence on "offsetting" tax cuts with tax increases creates a po- litical food fight where politi- cians face off over who should have their taxes raised, who should have their taxes cut, and who should have their taxes stay the same. One offset currently being dis- cussed is an increased tax on im- ports. This "border adjustment" tax would benefit export-driven industries at the expense of busi- nesses that rely on imported products. A border adjustment tax would harm consumers who use, and retailers who sell, im- ported goods. The border ad- justment tax is another exam- ple of politicians using tax re- form to pick winners and losers instead of simply reducing every- one's taxes. When I was in Congress, I was often told that offsets do not raise taxes, they simply close loopholes. This is merely a game of semantics: by remov- ing a way for some Americans to lower their taxes, closing a loop- hole is clearly a tax increase. While some claim loopholes are another way government dis- torts the market, I agree with the great economist Ludwig von Mises that "capitalism breathes through loopholes." By allowing individuals to keep more of their own money, loopholes promote economic ef- ficiency since, as economist Thomas DiLorenzo put it, "pri- vate individuals always spend their own money more efficiently than government bureaucrats do." Instead of making the tax system more "efficient" by clos- ing loopholes, Congress should increase both economic effi- ciency and economic liberty by repealing the income tax and re- placing it with nothing. The revenue loss from ending the income tax should be "off- set" with spending cuts. All fed- eral spending, whether financed by taxes or by debt, forcibly re- moves resources from the pri- vate sector. Thus, all government spending is in essence a form of taxation. Therefore, cutting in- come and other taxes without cutting spending merely replaces one type of taxation with an- other. Instead of directly paying for big government via income taxes, deficit spending means cit- izens will be hit with an increase in the inflation tax. This tax, im- posed on the people with the Federal Reserve's monetization of debt, is the worst form of tax because it is both hidden and re- gressive. Unfortunately, while Con- gress may make some small cuts in domestic spending, those cuts will be dwarfed by spending increases on infra- structure Keynesianism at home and military Keynesian- ism abroad. As long as Congress refuses to make serious reduc- tions in spending, the American people will be subject to the tyr- anny of the IRS and the Federal Reserve. The suffering will only get worse when concerns over gov- ernment debt cause the dollar to lose its status as the world re- serve currency. This will lead to a dollar crisis and a major eco- nomic meltdown. The only way to avoid this fate is for the peo- ple to demand a return to lim- ited government in all areas, sound money, and an end to the income tax. Ron Paul is a former Congressman and Presidential candidate. He can be reached at the RonPaulInstitute.org. Ron Paul Don't reform taxes, cut them OPINION » redbluffdailynews.com Wednesday, February 8, 2017 » MORE AT FACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS A4