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6A – Daily News – Wednesday, August 18, 2010 Opinion 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 Will of people Editor: In his latest column Don Pol- 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. Letters are published at the discretion of the editor. Mission Statement We believe that a strong com- munity newspaper is essential to a strong community, creating citizens who are better informed and more involved. The Daily News will be the indispensible guide to life and living in Tehama County. We will be the premier provider of local news, information and advertising through our daily newspaper, online edition and other print and Internet vehi- cles. The Daily News will reflect and support the unique identities of Tehama County and its cities; record the history of its com- munities and their people and make a positive difference in the quality of life for the resi- dents and businesses of Tehama County. 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 son takes another swipe at CARES, a local citizens' group that opposes the out-of-control growth authorized by the recent Tehama County General Plan Update. In my five years of attending Advisory Committee meetings, public hearings, Plan- ning Commission and Board of Supervisor meetings I never saw Don Polson. I suppose that is why his attack has nothing to do with the facts of the situation. If he has an argument, it appears to be that our elected officials have made their deci- sion, and we should all just live with it. He feels that if any issues are to be brought to the courts, they should only be issues he personally supports. I suppose it is true that our county supervisors were elect- ed, though in fact they are more like volunteers. They primarily ran unopposed in their elections since no one else was interested in doing the job. One reason is that this is essentially a full-time job for almost no pay. Not too many people can afford to serve even if they are interested. But these five men were elected as supervisors, not as kings. They are not free to do whatever they please. Whether Polson likes it or not, Tehama County is part of California and is bound by its laws. We believe that the laws of California pro- tect our water, air, agricultural lands and open spaces from being exploited for the benefit of a small group of businessmen and land owners. The new General Plan was adopted by a 3-2 vote. The three supervisors representing Red Bluff and the south county decided it would be great if a huge influx of new residents could be enticed to move into the north county. Not surpris- ingly, the two supervisors repre- senting the north county weren't so thrilled with the idea and voted no. The supervisors were not car- rying out the will of the people when they approved this plan. They were going against the will of the people, and they were fully aware of it. They paid for a public opinion survey of county residents, which revealed that the vast majority oppose higher levels of growth. They ignored this clear message from the people. When the General Plan update process began, the super- visors formed a large Advisory Committee to study the issues. That committee recommended against this new plan because it fosters too much growth. The supervisors ignored the commit- tee's message and approved the plan anyway. So our new General Plan in reality is opposed by most resi- dents of the county. When Don Polson attacks the views of CARES, he also attacks most of his fellow citizens. Gary Catlin, Cottonwood Fire on the uproll Editor: A wise man once said some- thing to the effect that what we learn from history is that we don't learn from history. While this is a somewhat negative look at things it is also appar- ently true. Maybe we need to stop and take a look at where we are in respect to the history of our great nation. One of our founding heroes was John Paul Jones who said "Give me a fast ship for I intend to go in harms way.” Following in his footsteps most of us veterans went in harms way. Most if not all of today’s veterans have looked down the barrel of socialist, communist, or religious fanatics — Muslim, Shinto — guns. Remember the German Nazis of WW2? Well Nazi was an acronym for National Socialist. Remember the USSR? Union Of Soviet Socialist Republics. North Korea is a communist, socialist nation that we fought in Korea. The People’s Republic of China that we fought in Korea and stood between them and Taiwan is a communist, socialist nation. One thing all of these commu- nist countries have in common is that they claim to be for the com- mon man but in fact turn into dic- tatorships with all power to the government and serfdom to the common man. Look at Cuba. Religious fanatics are just as bad if not worse. The Shinto Japanese thought the emperor was the son of God and willingly sacri- ficed their lives for him. Hard to stop. The Muslims are on a similar campaign to die for the glory of God to wipe out all unbelieving infidels which unfortunately includes you and me. Your Turn This is why in response to the Muslim attacks of 9/11 we have our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan in harms way defending our beloved USA. We were founded as a Christian nation, which history clearly shows, which makes us the arch rivals of Muslims and the ACLU atheists types. They both hate us and are working to undo us. Next month we will take time to reaffirm on 9/11 that we will never forget the attacks on New York and the Pentagon by Mus- lims which cost us 3,104 of our cit- izens. That is more than the sneak attack on Pearl Harbor by the Japanese. In a couple of months those of us that have gone in harms way and all the rest that believe in American freedom will have a chance to fire another shot for the American way of life and liberty. It might not be an infantryman’s rifle or an airplane rocket or a navy broadside, but we can have anoth- er shot at socialist liberals and their atheists cohorts on election day. If we stick together and vote for freedom it will be like dropping an A bomb on Congress. Maybe we can get their attention. Fire on the uproll. Phillip Southern, Red Bluff 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. Eat-Easies – Coming in 2050? Commentary After a big meal, I fell into a restless sleep and dreamt it was 2050 ... "Follow me," said a jittery old man as we hurried through a dark alley to a warehouse door. The man knocked on the door five times. It opened and we entered. "Where are we?" I said. "The last refuge of freedom," said the man as he lit a cigarette and took a deep drag. "I don't understand." "Don't you remember 2010?" said the man. "The government passed sweeping health care reform that eventually led to the collapse of the private-insurance system. It was replaced with a government-funded single-payer system." "It was?" "Sure. Now the government taxes the people to create its health care budget and pays for everyone's care," said the man. "It was only a matter of time before it started controlling peo- ple's behavior." "With sin taxes?" "It started that way," said the man. "High taxes on alcohol, tobacco and sugary treats gener- ated needed revenue at first, but soon the government wanted total control." "Total control?" The man led me to another door in the back of the room. He knocked five times and said, "Cholesterol lives!" The door opened and we were led inside. I saw a woman sitting at a table, devouring ice cream from a five-gallon bucket. "Ice cream production ceased with the Rocky Road Elimina- tion Act of 2022," said the man. "They banned ice cream!" Another man was tearing open packs of strawberry Zingers and stuffing them into his mouth, four at a time. "Zingers, too!" I said. "Yes," said the man, nodding, "as part of the Dolly Madison Cessation Act of 2024." Across the room, a woman was eating fried chicken, a man was chomping on a corned beef sandwich, an executive in a busi- ness suit was chugging bourbon from the bottle, and a woman next to him was gulping coffee right out of the pot. "They banned coffee!" "Caffeine made people irrita- ble and more likely to vote for Republicans," said the man. "How did this happen?" "It goes back to 2010," said the man. "The Centers for Dis- ease Control and Prevention reported that nearly a third of Americans — some 73 million people — were obese." "That was surely a problem, but how did it lead to bans?" "Obesity is a leading cause of health prob- lems and high health costs," said the man. "Once private insurance was gone, the govern- ment gradually figured it had every right to ban behavior that caused it to spend more." "This happened in America?" "Over time,” said the man. “In 2010, bans were being suggested in countries with govern- ment health systems, such as the United Kingdom. In America, local governments began banning salt and the construction of fast-food restaurants. In time, the federal government concluded that peo- ple were too dumb to regulate their own food intake. You have to admit, they had a point.” "Look,” I said, “it's true that Americans were fat and getting fatter in 2010. America's free, capitalistic system unleashed so much wealth in such a short peri- od of time, there was an abun- dance of many things, including food and the money to buy it. "And it's true that capitalistic efficiencies were applied to the mass production of food — processed foods were engineered to cook fast and taste good, but they were packed with calories. Government should require food makers to inform consumers about what they are eating. Tom Purcell "But what hap- pened to simple free- dom?” I continued. “How did my country slowly give up its right to make the most basic decisions?" sounded. Just then a siren "Raid!" shouted the old man as he grabbed a bowl of cigarettes and dived out a win- dow. "Raid!" I heard again as I woke, breathing heavily, happy to return to 2010. ——— Tom Purcell, a humor columnist for the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, is nationally syndicated exclusively by Cagle Cartoons newspaper syndicate. Visit Tom on the Web at www.TomPurcell.com or e-mail him at Purcell@caglecartoons.com.