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6A – Daily News – Tuesday, August 24, 2010 Opinion Camp Fire Girls 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 turns 100 Editor: Congratulations to Camp Fire, Inc., on your 100 year anniversary. 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 Basic fairness Commentary More Americans are suffer- ing than at any time since the Great Depression due to ram- pant unemployment and the ensuing spiral that leads to hunger and homelessness, and then affects health, education, crime and other essential pieces of our social fabric. The official unemployment tally is about 14.5 million, but when you add to that number those who have simply given up looking for jobs and those work- ing part time because they can't find full time jobs the real figure approaches 30 million. How did we let this happen? Why have we done so little to correct it? One explanation came in a recent commentary by Rush Limbaugh that laid out a rationale for people who still have a job, food and a roof over- head, and who seek to justify their callous disregard for those less fortunate. Limbaugh, who speaks to millions on radio and influences many more when his remarks rebound on cable-TV and the Internet, titled his piece "Life Is Not Fair." He tees up a premise that on the surface seems so axiomatic that it rings true on both sides of the aisle: life isn't always fair; in fact, it's often brutally unfair. "Sometimes people earn more than others," says Lim- baugh, easing into a lengthy recitation of life's inequities. "Some people have children when other people can't. There's nothing unfair about that. That's just the way it is." Limbaugh goes on to talk about those "who work in trash and sludge all day long and don’t make much money," and those unlucky enough to be killed by drunk drivers, all because life isn’t fair. He postu- lates, "there's no way that you can change certain aspects that make life unfair to make them fair." But two things eventually come clear in Limbaugh's dis- sertation that shed light on a troubling perspective shared by an increasing number of Ameri- cans and their elected represen- tatives. The first is to extend the argument about basic bad luck to conditions such as unemploy- ment, suggesting that being job- less or homeless is simply a part of life's fundamental unfairness. The second is to use the first as justification for society's failure to act responsibly and help those who need it. Being poor or sick, according to Limbaugh, "doesn't mean that somebody owes you something. It doesn't mean that you're a vic- tim of anything. It's just called life." Well, it doesn’t get more fun- damental than that – the ques- tion that for so long has separat- ed conservatives and progres- sives and now, in difficult times, seems more divisive than ever. To what extent are we responsible for each other’s basic well- being? Limbaugh’s answer follows the classic bootstrap theme: "Some people think they have no control over their lives. They are constant victims that are always look- ing to blame every- body else for what doesn't go right in their lives. Other peo- ple don't have time for that. They realize they only have one life and every day is something to seize, to make the most of." Limbaugh concedes, "this is not going to go down well among people who have this notion that fairness is the over- riding objective of any society." That’s devastatingly blunt. It’s one thing to deny our oblig- ation to those less fortunate, it’s something else to claim that "fairness" is not our "overriding objective." When you peel away Lim- baugh's arguments, even the seemingly irrefutable elements become weak. Wouldn’t "good luck" in finding a job come to more people if we spent more on education? Wouldn’t "bad luck" at the hands of drunk drivers happen less if we spent more on building safer cars and enforcing laws to keep drunks off the roads? Peter Funt Sometimes it seems that zealots like Rush Limbaugh and those like him at both ends of the political spectrum have become so entan- gled in a web of their own words that they say things they could- n’t possibly believe. I wish that were the case here. But as the suffer- ing of so many Americans goes unchecked, as the nation splits more severely into "us" and "them," I fear that Limbaugh’s view is becoming more wide- spread. Life can be unfair; we all know that. More than ever it’s our responsibility to figure out what to do about it. Peter Funt is a writer and public speaker. He's also the long-time host of "Candid Camera." A collection of his DVDs is available at www.candidcamera.com. My daughters, Becky Riel Calkins of Los Molinos and Lynn Riel Weiner of Ventura, and I traveled to Long Beach to attend the ceremonial and cen- tennial celebration of the orga- nization at our home council. What a wonderful time we had seeing old friends and meet- ing the people who are carrying the torch. Hello to all the old Camp Fire Girls here in Tehama Coun- ty and again congratulations to Camp Fire, Inc. Gail Riel, Los Molinos MS walk Editor: I am writing to let you know about local efforts being made to raise funds to combat Multi- ple E Sclerosis. Challenge Walk MS is a three-day, 50-mile char- ity walk benefitting the Nation- al Multiple Sclerosis Society scheduled for Sept. 24-26. I will be joining more than 300 participants starting in Carlsbad and walking to San Diego. We will be walking towards a cure for multiple scle- rosis, a chronic disease of the central nervous system with no known cure. I am asking my neighbors and community members to help make a difference for those living with MS and further the research that will one day find a cure. This is my first experience with this kind of event. I work for a local physician and have gotten to know an awesome lady named Patricia Kennedy through our shared diagnosis. This will be her fourth MS Challenge Walk and she has raised more than $40,000 for this cause. She has been the only participant from Northern California so far. I am joining her because I feel that awareness and educa- tion about MS is really low in this area. Access to qualified and dedicated neurologists is non-existent in Tehama County and very limited in the north state. There are many ways to con- tribute — you can walk in the event, become a crew member, volunteer or make a donation. Go to http://main. national mssocietv. ora/cioto/caiodo to visit my personal page, or call 800-486-6762. Online contribu- tions need to be made by Sept. 8. Carol Dean, Gerber No NYC mosque Editor: You may be too young to remember the old Charles Atlas ads for an exercise program called Dynamic Tension, which appeared in many comic books. They pictured, as I remember, a skinny young man and his girl friend relaxing on the beach when along came a big, strong muscle- bound guy and kicked sand in the skinny guy's face, and made off with the pretty girl. Later, of course, the skinny guy signed up for the Dynamic Tension pro- gram; grew strong and muscular and beat up the bully. Well, militant Islam is trying to kick sand in the face of the USA and, very directly, into the faces of those thousands whose loved ones died in the 9/ll/01 attack on the Twin Towers in NYC. Islam has a tradition of building emblems of victory wherever they have won one. The plan to build a mosque near the ruins of the World Trade Center is typical. A mosque in that location would be strong symbol of a Muslim victory over the hated infidel Americans. This must not be allowed to happen. If the mosque was ever destroyed it would be a cause for Islamic rage equivalent to what would happen if the Mosque of Omar, on the site of the former Jewish Temple in Jerusalem, was blown up. The proposed mosque in New York City would very likely be far from a place of worship, but rather a place of plotting terrorist acts and further efforts at destruction in the USA. In a revealing book, "The Sword of the Prophet," author Serge Trifkovic says, " Radical Muslims dominate Islam- ic life in the United States to the point where moderates hardly have a voice." He states on page 269, "The unpleasant truth is that mosques throughout America and around the Western World are used to teach hate." Your Turn Where, we might ask, are the Christian churches in the Muslim world? There was a fine Christian church in Kabul, Afghanistan. But, when the Taliban assumed control, the church was torn down. Muslims demand acceptance and tolera- tion from Western democracies, but extend no such toleration to Christians; churches are often destroyed, and Christians are often persecuted and murdered. Must we always be dead in the water in the face of such dire dis- crimination? Mosques have been built all across the USA, but none, that I know of, have been destroyed. Will we allow this symbol of supposed Muslim vic- tory to be built near the former World Trade Center? Who would finance this project? Where would the money come from? This would be a place to foment hatred of this country. Perhaps most important, it would be the equivalent of spitting in the face of those whose loved ones died in the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center. Ask the Muslims for permission to build a Christian church in Mecca, and see what kind of an answer you get. Let's strengthen our lily-livered backbones and just say no, this will not happen. George Keck, Corning 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.