Issue link: http://www.epageflip.net/i/816549
ChipThompson, Editor 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 Io enwonderhowlongitwilltakePresident Donald Trump to solve the challenges he now has in dealing with emoluments. First, let me be honest and tell Red Bluff Daily News read- ers that "emoluments" was not a word with which I was really familiar. Mr.Trumpwhoisournew, rich and colorful 45th Presi- dent has 17 hotels, resorts and golf courses here, there and every- where around the globe. As a result he must be learning a great deal about emol- uments. Emoluments are against the law. They are not allowed by the United States Constitution. Emoluments are a conflict of interest. The constitutional prohi- bition of an emolument ba- sically means that no sitting United States President can re- ceive personal financial benefit from any foreign country. Pres- ident Trump is facing big prob- lems with this. Just one exam- ple is when representatives of the country of Kuwait recently spent nearly $60,000 for a party they held at Mr. Trump's newest Washington hotel. The event celebrated the National Day in Kuwait. It is hard to believe that even though the President tells us that he has turned over his holdings to his adult children and is no longer really in charge of it all, he does not actually benefit financially from this family connection in some way. However, Mr. Trump's law- yers recently stated that the profits from that event and oth- ers would go into the United States Treasury. That's good to hear but, as many of us like to say, "I'm from Missouri." A watchdog group already filed a suit in January and ac- cused President Trump of vio- lating America's constitution. In February, Mr. Trump him- self resigned from the Old Post Office, LLC which operates that newest hotel in Washing- ton, D.C., which opened in Sep- tember of 2016. My take is that the President will be increasingly haunted by these kinds of conflicts of inter- est for a long time to come. As another example, the Washington Post reported in January that the Department of Defense was looking at rent- ing space in the Trump Tower in New York. They indicated the space was necessary to fa- cilitate personnel and equip- ment to properly protect the President of the United States. The Defense Department did have similar arrangements with former President Barack Obama when it made those same arrangements to use his Chicago home. However, it seems to me that such an arrangement must funnel some money into Mr. Trump's pocket. This rented space will be separate from the Secret Service itself. And, Mr. Trump and his family seem to have gotten into the habit of go- ing from the White House to Mar-a-Lago in Florida and then to his Trump Tower in New York, and then back again. As taxpayers, we should have the guarantee that all ex- penditures in all places are jus- tified. President Trump's many real estate holdings do make that more difficult. Please give me your thoughts. I heard last week that just to stay at his Mar-a-Lago in Flor- ida you have to be a member. The cost of that membership alone feels like a conflict of in- terest to me. Mytakeonthemovies "The Promise" is a superb docudrama of the Turkish genocidal attacks on Arme- nians in the very early 1900s. I first became aware of that history when Armenian and former Governor George Deuk- megian brought that to the at- tention of all members of the California Assembly where I served at the time. I highly recommend this movie. 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 Mytakeon emoluments The constitutional prohibition of an emolument basically means that no sitting United States President can receive personal financial benefit from any foreign country. Community supports blood drive Editor: I would like to thank the community of Red Bluff for making the April Bloodsource blood drive a success. There were 110 people to sign up to donate. I think this event was a suc- cess because of the sponsorship of the Red Bluff Emblem Club #408 and the Red Bluff Round- Up Association in association with Bloodsource. When com- munity organizations come to- gether on a project good things can happen. I would also like to thank some members of the West- side 4H, Logan Lindeman, Hol- ley Lindeman and Nate Penner. They served drinks and cookies and gave T-shirts to those peo- ple who donated. Bloodsource has a blood drive the third Wednesday of each month at the Veterans Me- morial Hall on Oak and Jack- son streets in Red Bluff. — Cheryl Bonham Suggestion regarding street sweeping Editor: I haven't been to a City Coun- cil meeting in a while so I don't know if this idea has come up about the street sweeping prob- lem in the downtown area, I don't even know if it's feasible. My suggestion would be on the days the street sweeper is scheduled to do the downtown area it could start its route ear- lier in the morning finishing by 7 a.m. That way only a few cars would have to be moved, if any, and yes I do know the street sweeper starts at 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. So they would have to start at 3 a.m. and finish by 7 a.m. I think it's hard enough to find a parking space in the down town area of Red Bluff and having to move cars or closing areas is going to cause more problems. Let's give the business owners and their cus- tomers a break. — Kathy Nelson, Red Bluff Earth Day myths Editor: Tens of thousands marched April 22 to acclaim Earth Day. It would have been better if these marchers had actu- ally done something valuable to clean up the fast food and other debris left on our sidewalks and roads. Man can do nothing to change the temperature of our 10,000-year warming cycle since the last ice age, but much can be done to improve the cleanliness of our air, water and landscape. If the two-thirds who now buy fuel guzzling SUVs and trucks would walk, bike or use a hybrid midsize or compact car for their daily activities, the use of gasoline would be reduced by two-thirds. If the government would stop heavily subsidizing the wealthy who buy electric cars and home solar systems, the saved funds could be used to build zero emissions nuclear power plants. Western agriculture and ur- ban water users could fund the building of desalinization plants with a tax placed on ev- ery gallon of water pumped from aquifers. Since wind and solar provide power for only one-fifth of the day, with the resulting need for a natural gas-, nuclear- or coal- fired power plant as backup, it makes sense to limit solar and wind power generation to those plants built and operated with- out government or consumer subsidies. Home solar system owners should pay full costs for using the grid instead of relying on customer subsidies. It is time for our now Repub- lican controlled EPA to confirm that carbon dioxide is not an adverse emission, and concen- trate on cleaning up man made damage to our rivers, streams and oceans. It is time to end the mandate to add fuel system damaging corn based ethanol to our gas- oline. End the Democrat politics based myth of man made global warming. — Joseph Neff, Corning Your opinions Cartoonist's take I think women would agree that most men are big babies when they get sick. They want to be pampered and taken care of. Their world has fallen apart be- cause they feel ter- rible with a bad case of the flu or something. Their entire world col- lapses in relation to how bad they feel. I remem- ber an old Frazier episode when Dr. Crane was laying sick in bed. "Can I have a straw for my drink? Oh, and make sure it's one of the bendy ones. And more ice?" I think Daphne came very close to smothering him with a pillow. When men are sick, they pre- pare like it's the Super Bowl. They make a comfy nest on the couch and surround them- selves with all manner of chips and junk food. What was the old saying? Starve a fever, feed a cold? Who cares? Because quite frankly, I think that the only thing that makes you feel good when you're sick (other than with the stomach flu), is stuff- ing your face. It takes your mind off just how bad you feel. And if your nose is all stuffed up — then bring on the spicy food — and the hotter the better. Even canned spicy chili needs some hot sauce and jalapenos. And you can also use it as a dip for your chips. Ice cream is a big favorite for those feeling poorly. I remember way back as a kid. After they re- moved your tonsils in the hos- pital, the nurses said you could have all of the ice cream you wanted. So, I guess there is even some medical support for hav- ing ice cream. And who needs a bowl? Especially if it's only a "half-gallon" container. Just bring a spoon. Oh, I'm sorry. Did I say "half- gallon" container? Ice cream doesn't come in half gallon sizes anymore. They've all been "right- sized" to 1.75 quarts. It took me a few years before I noticed the subtle packaging change. I guess I thought maybe my hands were bigger. The companies don't think we'll notice we're get- ting less, and the price stays the same. How sneaky is that? When men are sick, most em- bark upon a hobbit meal regi- men: Breakfast, second break- fast, elevenses, lunch, afternoon tea, dinner and finally supper. Your couch has suddenly turned into a cruise ship. Hey, what do you mean the hobbits don't have midnight buffets? And don't forget the need for entertainment to take your mind off how badly you feel. This is when that big screen is really worth the money. The only difference from Super Bowl Sunday is that you're watch- ing 150 channels instead of the game. Knowing the location of the remote is vital. And you may need extra batteries. Be pre- pared. But what happens when the woman of house is sick? Assum- ing she has primary responsibil- ity for the domestic chores, she must keep going. Everyone still needs clean clothes, and who is going to prepare the food for ev- eryone? And especially if the husband is sick, who's going to prepare all those hobbit meals — and food for the kids? For the little woman, it must be busi- ness as usual, no matter how poorly she might feel. Remember those commer- cials when the parent is telling their toddler that they're going to take a sick day? Like the com- mercial says, parents can't take sick days — and never Mom. Even more so if Dad is sick. I venture to say that the human race would have died out long ago without the ladies to care for the children when the men were ill. Thanks ladies. 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 It's a different story when men get sick Stan Statham Corky Pickering State and National Assemblyman James Galla- gher, 2060 Talbert Drive, Ste. 110, Chico 95928, 530 895-4217, http:// ad03.asmrc.org/ Senator Jim Nielsen, 2634 For- est 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 Office Building, Washington D.C. 20515, 202 225-3076 U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein, One Post St., Ste. 2450, San Fran- cisco 94104, 415 393-0707, fax 415 393-0710 U.S. Senator Kamala Harris, 501 I St., Ste. 7-600, Sacramento 95814, 916 448-2787, fax 202 228- 3865 Local Tehama County Supervisors, 527-4655 District 1, Steve Chamblin, Ext. 3015 District 2, Candy Carlson, Ext. 3014 District 3, Dennis Garton, Ext. 3017 Your officials OPINION » redbluffdailynews.com Thursday, April 27, 2017 » MORE AT FACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS A4