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4A – Daily News – Thursday, August 26, 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 This summer’s Lincoln log Editor: Finding Mr. Lincoln Sum- 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. 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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 mer vacation is over. No more sleeping in, no more late nights watching ESPN on television. It is time to get back to work. One of the simple plea- sures I had this summer, was an hour and a half morning walk around Coming, where I live. My companion Tim and I usually began our walks around 7:30 a.m., on Solano Street. Our purpose was initially to get some exercise, but when we started finding pen- nies in the 7-11 parking lot, it evolved into a daily contest to see how many pennies we could find on our morning walks. There was usually at least one penny in the 7-11 parking lot, which would set the tone for the day on a pos- itive note. After finding the first penny, the finder would declare, “It pays to get up in the morning.” We then walked to the car wash, where pen- nies were sometimes waiting for us by the self-service vac- uum islands. The search for Mr. Lincoln continued, through the park- ing lots of businesses in town, such as the PremierWest Bank, Hometown Cafe, Valero Gas Station, Sav Mor Supermarket, Liquor Cabinet, Shell Gas Station, Marco's Pizza, Clark's Pharmacy, Dol- lar Store, Papa Murphy's Pizza and, last but not least, the Safeway parking lot. During these walks, passersby occasionally asked us what we were looking for. The reaction to our answer of, “pennies,” varied from a sim- ple smile, a laugh, a look of surprise, a question of, “why?,” to one man who offered to give us a few pen- nies, to “help us out.” These walks also yielded nickels, dimes and quarters, but finding Mr. Lincoln became my personal quest. Upon returning home after the five mile walk, the pen- nies were counted and ulti- mately placed in stacks often. When I had five stacks of pennies, I had a wrap. It was by mutual agreement that Tim would keep the nickels, dimes and quarters and I would keep the pennies. I did not keep track of how many nickels, dimes and quarters we found, but can proudly claim a bounty of eight rolls of pennies. A friend, Bill, said jokingly, “Big deal. That's a whopping four dollars.” Logically speaking, that is true. But, that is 400 pennies Tim and I recovered from the streets and parking lots. Now, that is an accomplishment. Okay, we did not find all 400 pennies in Coming. A few were picked up during our summer trips to San Francis- co, while walking through Chinatown, down Market Street and at the Farmers Market at the Ferry Building. Now that school is back in session, my morning walks are confined to the weekends. I have been thinking of some- thing new to say to folks when I am asked what I am looking for, or if I have lost something. How about, “I lost my marbles. Have you seen them?” Vickie Darnell, Corning Taking exception with columnist Editor: I would like to make a comment on Richard Mazzuc- chi’s Aug. 16 column. Mr. Mazzucchi writes that Wally Herger is sponsoring a bill to repeal the Government Health Care Bill. He also says Mr. Herger’s concerns are that the average family’s federal taxes are set to spike next year. Mr. Mazzucchi explains this by saying it’s going to rise because the Bush Tax Cuts are due to expire at the Your Turn end of the year. What he failed to mention is that starting in 2011, all people with health care offered by an employer will be added to your per- sonal income and will be taxed on that amount. I am retired and in my case it will be over $2,000 I will have to pay. He also failed to mention that this administration will raise personal income tax brackets as follows: 10 percent bracket rises to 15 percent, 25 percent rises to 28 percent, 28 percent rises to 31 percent, 33 percent rises to 36 percent and 35 per- cent bracket rises to 39.6 per- cent. Other taxes to take effect in 2011 are the return of the death tax, child tax credit will be cut in half from $1,000 to $500 per child, capital gains tax will rise from 15 percent to 20 percent and numerous other tax changes. We should all wake up to see how this administration plans to pay for the record deficit that it is accumulating. This administration’s pledge was no new taxes for anyone making $250,000 or less. What happened? If people like Mr. Mazzuc- chi want to state facts, state all the facts. John Crebassa, 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. Let our fear be more accurate Commentary Right after the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003, a dry cleaner’s storefront was vandalized and set ablaze in Modesto, California. The reason? The business was named "French Cleaners." The French government took a strong anti-war stance regard- ing our preemptive invasion of the sovereign nation of Iraq. They said they would not join the "Coalition of the Willing." Republican congressmen Robert W. Ney and Walter B. Jones, Jr. then rallied to make French Toast and French Fries less "wimpy" and championed new names for the fried fares. "Free- dom toast" and "freedom fries" were soon available in the House cafeteria. Ironic, since the French helped us win our free- dom from England in the Revo- lutionary War. The French Cleaners became a victim of a hate crime because the French were personae non gratae. Enemies of America! You’re either with us or against us – and the French were against us. Of course, the Modesto French Cleaners owner is Pierre Frik, a Middle Eastern man from Lebanon. Frik admitted he thought he might end up a target because he was Middle Eastern – never guessing it would be because the name of his store contained the word "French." Which leads me to urge the following: Let our paranoia be accompanied by just a little research. No, I’m not promoting some "kumbaya - stop the hat- ing" message. No "can’t we just all get along?" query. No, the economy stinks. No one should be expected to love everybody. We’re hurting. Instead, this is a plea to get the hating straight so at least we have the accurate thing in our crosshairs. For example: In May, Arizona passed a law banning ethnic studies as part of its pandering to the election year anti-immigrant fervor. Following the "fear of outsiders" theme, the next national news story out of Ari- zona was about a pair of escaped convicts at large, John McCluskey and Casslyn Welch. The two were described as "fiancée-cousins." So, which is more of a threat: learning about other cultures, or refusing to marry outside your family? If any state should be teaching multiculturalism, it’s the one that launched the phrase "fiancée- cousin" onto America’s head- lines. A Pew Poll recently found that 18 percent of Americans think President Barack Obama (who bucked a 20-year trend to have a name that wasn’t Bush or Clinton) is a Muslim. The U.S. just spent a trillion dollars "liber- ating" Muslims in two countries and helping them democratically elect leaders. You’d think we’d all be super pro-Muslim judging by our national budget. But no, "Muslim" has a negative connotation because of terrorists on 9/11. Christian terror- ists have "nothing to do with Christ" – but Muslim terrorists must be BFF’s with every- one of the Islamic faith. have to stone adulterers. He’s a closet foreigner tyrant who will make us all bow toward Mecca. So, what’s the hold up? Is the bill being stalled in the Senate or what?! You know what tyrants don’t do? Let you call them tyrants. Of course, Obama’s Tina Believing Obama is a Muslim shows how little we understand about actual Muslims. Some have rightfully pointed out that Obama drinks alcohol (remember the Beer Summit?) and eats pork, both of which defy the teachings of Islam. In reality, Sharia Law, the sacred Law of Islam, is com- pletely opposite of how Obama’s kneejerk critics describe him. "Radical leftist" doesn’t fit with being a "secret Muslim." Nor does having an "extremist" Christian preacher like Reverend Jeremiah Wright. Nor does call- ing yourself a Christian and attending a Christian church. Oh sure, Obama is a sleeper cell: soon, 19 months into his presi- dency, he’s going to decree that girls not go to school and we Dupuy legitimate critics say he has yet to close Guan- tanamo as promised, and there are still killings of alleged ter- rorists without trials. Criticizing our elected leaders is part of being American. But using innuendo to try and make our president un-Ameri- can delegitimizes the whisperer. It lacks logic and, therefore, credibility. All I’m proposing is this: Ask some follow-up questions before burning in effigy. Are there French people who actually own it? Do we happen to have the same grandparents? What do you mean by "secret Muslim?" Otherwise, let’s all shake our fists until more of us are employed. Tina Dupuy is an award- winning writer and the editor of FishbowlLA.com. Tina can be reached at tina@cagle.com.