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6A – Daily News – Saturday, May 8, 2010 Opinion Pot free zones D NEWSAILY RED BLUFF TEHAMACOUNTY T H E V O I C E O F T E H A M A C O U N T Y S I N C E 1 8 8 5 Editor: How can we, who don't want Greg Stevens, Publisher gstevens@redbluffdailynews.com Chip Thompson, Editor editor@redbluffdailynews.com Editorial policy The Daily News opinion is expressed in the editorial. The opinions expressed in columns, letters and cartoons are those of the authors and artists. Letter policy The Daily News welcomes let- ters from its readers on timely topics of public interest. All let- ters must be signed and pro- vide the writer’s home street address and home phone num- ber. Anonymous letters, open letters to others, pen names and petition-style letters will not be allowed. Letters should be typed and cannot exceed two double-spaced pages or 500 words. When several letters address the same issue, a cross section of those submit- ted will be considered for publi- cation. Letters will be edited. 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How to reach us Main office: 527-2151 Classified: 527-2151 Circulation: 527-2151 News tips: 527-2153 Sports: 527-2153 Obituaries: 527-2151 Photo: 527-2153 On the Web www.redbluffdailynews.com Fax Newsroom: 527-9251 Classified: 527-5774 Retail Adv.: 527-5774 Legal Adv.: 527-5774 Business Office: 527-3719 Address 545 Diamond Ave. Red Bluff, CA 96080, or P.O. Box 220 Red Bluff, CA 96080 Your officials STATE ASSEMBLYMAN — Jim Nielsen (R), State Capitol Bldg., Room 4164 P.O. Box 942849, Sacramento 94249; (916) 319-2002; Fax (916) 319- 2102 STATE SENATOR — Sam Aanestad (R), State Capitol Bldg., Room 2054, Sacramen- to, CA 95814. (916) 651-4004; Fax (916) 445-7750 GOVERNOR — Arnold Schwarzenegger (R), State Capitol Bldg., Sacramento, CA 95814; (916) 445-2841; Fax (916) 558-3160; E-mail: gover- nor@governor.ca.gov. U.S. REPRESENTATIVE — Wally Herger (R), 2635 Forest Ave. Ste. 100, Chico, CA 95928; 893-8363. U.S.SENATORS — Dianne Feinstein (D), One Post Street, Suite 2450, San Francisco, CA 94104; (415) 393-0707. Fax (415) 393-0710. Barbara Boxer (D), 1700 Montgomery St., Suite 240, San Francisco, CA 94111; (415) 403-0100. Fax (202) 224- 0454. Mis-inadvertant news and business as unusual Commentary There has been lots of fascinat- ing news lately. California health insurer, Anthem Blue Cross, received some good news. Its parent com- pany, Well Point, Inc. announced publicly that it had made “inad- vertent miscalculations” when it increased health insurance premi- ums. As you recall some of the increases on individual policies were 39 percent. I am not sure, but I have the feeling Well Point’s statement means that under nor- mal circumstances, that is, with- out public outrage and the govern- ment looking over its shoulder, miscalculations are routine and not inadvertent. Santa Clara County has decid- ed to give adults a break by out- lawing toys in fast food meals for children. The object is to keep fast food establishments (and others) from enticing children into the world of junk food. This may catch on. An economist friend of mine says we should artificially hike prices on junk food to encourage better eating habits in our country. I am not sure if that would work, but it might be fun to see what habits change when prices go up. I am not sure what the impact on tobacco sales has been with all of the “sin tax” on it, but it would be interesting to see what the result has been. There are some indications the tax has boosted the cost enough to dis- courage new smokers. There was an interesting non- alarmist commentary by Dr. Joel M. Moskowitz of the University of California Center for Family and Community Health in Berke- ley. Moskowitz cited 13 high quality scientific studies investi- gating the long term use of cell phones and brain tumors. The studies found “a significant harm- ful association with tumor risk…” for those who had used cell phones for ten years or longer. He suggested improving the FCC standards for Specific Absorption Rate (SAR), “a measure of heat generated by six minutes of cell phone exposure.” Whether his recommendation will set off a series of denials and conspiracy theories is yet to be seen, but I am sure it will be a long time before the SAR standards are upgraded. Pacific Gas & Electric Compa- ny is under fire for trying to down- size its workforce by eliminating meter readers and replacing them with so-called “smart meters.” At this point there are over 1,000 for- mal complaints on file because the meters seem to be overcharging customers. Of course the matter is being “looked into” by the proper authorities. This complaint came at a poor time because simultane- ously the giant utility company is trying to buy voters with a propo- sition (Proposition 16) that would require a two-thirds vote to allow a city to pursue alternative sources of energy. Of course, the proposi- tion would only require a majority vote, not a two-thirds majority; PG&E is putting out a lot of money for the vote that will give them one more vote than the opposition. I hope they are out- smarting themselves on this bla- tant attempt to keep their monop- olies. Speaking of buying votes, Mercury Insurance, which is also attempting to secure more income through the ballot box (Proposi- tion 17), was recently accused of overcharging and may be facing millions in fines. They have not yet claimed they made an inadver- tent miscalculation. As I said ear- lier this year, if there is a penalty charge for the uninsured driver buying insurance, that penalty should be paid to the state who assumed their risk rather than insurance companies. Mercury is a poisonous element; perhaps that is why the insurance company chose that name. Goldman Sachs executives were recently strenuously unapologetic in testimony before the Senate about the financial instruments they sold while they were betting those instruments would fail. They made money; those to whom they sold the instruments did not. Unfortunately for Gold- man Sachs, their first quarter earnings this year were at record high lev- els, casting a shadow on the proudly successful Wall Street company that was not too proud to accept federal bailout money. “We did nothing wrong” was their script, and they stuck to it. This situation is another example of how some- thing that may be legal is not necessarily ethical. General Motors recently began a series of advertisements that proclaimed it has paid back its federal loan, with interest, ahead of schedule. The implication is that it is now profitable, and the company is proud of its turn- around. At least one newspaper has called the ad a fraud since the company is still losing money, and it used government money from another program to pay off the loan. Reminds me of robbing Peter to pay Paul. This is another example of telling just enough of the truth to mislead people. There is an old story about a first mate who wanted to get even with the ship’s captain; on a day when the captain was ill the first mate wrote in the ship’s log, “The captain was sober today.” When I was first putting this column together I was going to feature the discovery of a Philip- pine lizard last month; the lizard is the size of a human adult and appears to be related to the Kimono Dragon. My focus in that proposed column was going to be on how much we still have to dis- cover about this complex world we live in. I also wanted to point out we may have ample reason to be proud of our scientific progress, but in spite of what Ecclesiastes says, there is always something new under the sun. Joe Harrop After writing about PG&E, General Motors, Goldman, Sachs, and Mercury Insurance, I see pride from a different angle; it is the pride of greed, self serving actions, and the false justifica- tion of just following the rules. The rules allow me to entice your children into the world of junk food. The rules allow a giant company to attempt to buy an election. The rules allow me to sell you something I bet will fail. The rules allow me to tell only portions of the truth, and those of us who are too inattentive to look for the rest of the truth will suffer. “Hubris”, or pride, is our downfall. We have seen it infect politicians, preachers, and others who come to feel the rules do not apply to them. We need more rules, some say. Maybe they are correct, but I do not believe we can use rules to change human behavior. We will always have someone clever or devious enough to work within the exist- ing rules, even if their work is out- side the spirit of the rules. That is why it is important that we, the ordinary citizens, pay attention to what is happening and are active in our community, our state, and our nation; our minimum charge is to be informed voters. Joe Harrop is a retired educator with more than 30 years of service to the North State. He can be reached at DrJoeHarrop@sbcglobal.net. any marijuana, medical or other- wise, near us let our officials know that marijuana free zones are also required in order to breathe? What's a fair and equitable? What's the greater good? Sup- porting a much more dysfunction- al, disabled, non responsible soci- ety or supporting a society that enjoys the freedom of breathing quality air, teaching our children that it's okay to have a little bit of pain in our lives without getting stoned and not growing up being addicted to doing nothing worth- while towards actually benefiting society — in other words, being too lazy or stoned to work? What will our statistics look like in five or 10 years? Will we have more folks missing work because they either stubbed their toe or had a wee bit of pain from an injury or illness that caused them to require a medical marijua- na prescription? Businesses may fold, which leaves more opportu- nity for marijuana businesses to keep our injured and ill citizens constantly stoned, weak and lazy. Should we, who believe in a drug free society, ask or require our city councils and board of supervisors for marijuana free zones or neighborhoods? Will crimes related to these issues rise or fall? Will anyone really care about how our chil- dren's future forms? Will too many people, including parents, be too stoned to give a hoot? Where do you want to be in five or 10 years? You can't hide forever. Maybe those who desire to use their prescriptions could form their own neighborhoods in areas not surrounding those who don't have the desire to see a lot of folks stoned around town. Too sick or injured to work but not too much so to drive or to shop in the store to pick up tobacco, other prescription drugs and alcohol. What's the mes- sage? America. A nation of laws. Doesn't this definition also include citizenship? Being an American isn't all that easy. Being an Ameri- can means being responsible enough not to forget what the framers wanted for the future of this country. Citizenship means you want these things and you want them very badly. If there's going to be an established law that gives medical marijuana a place in our society, then we need to establish a law that gives our citi- zens the right to establish marijuana free zones that will be enforced just as much as those establishments who fill prescrip- tions have their rights enforced as required by law. Isn't this reason- able, fair and equitable? Your Turn for low-income women, Every Woman Counts, has changed its eligibility. It will now serve only women 50 and older and it has closed enrollment until July 1. This week I traveled to Sacra- mento with the Ameri- can Cancer Society to explain to Assembly- man Jim Nielsen and Sen. Sam Aanestad that this is unacceptable. Breast cancer is the Where does that marijuana really come from anyway? It's probably a controlled substance. John Minton, Red Bluff Women’s health Editor: Almost 100,00 women have lost access to life saving mam- mography because the state's breast cancer screening program No. 1 killer of women. Catching this horrible disease early makes the difference between life and death. I know this from personal experience, I am a breast cancer survivor. These changes must be repealed, Women must not be left exposed. In my meeting with Aanestad he refused to support the bill AB 1640 that would fix this problem and restore much-needed screenings to women ages 40-49 — 17 percent of cancer deaths occur in this age group. I urged him to reconsider. Lives depend on it. Windi Cobb, Cottonwood