Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/252097
4A Daily News – Friday, January 31, 2014 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 Opinion The Chico Enterprise is jammed into my mailbox at the ranch every Monday...espe- cially when that paper is unusually corpulent with advertising material. Note to carrier: You can lighten your load by discarding all the advertising before stuffing. I know your boss would frown on this, but I am just going to throw it away anyhow. However the news in said newspaper is often quite enlightening. A recent editorial dealt with capital punishment…and came to the conclusion that capital punishment, where allowed, just doesn't work. "The death penalty drives up the length and the cost of a trial, and the interminable appeals process means a huge bill lands in the tax- payer's lap when all is said and done. The problem is, it's never done." I was long against capital punishment until my mother's demise at the hands of ice pick armed intruders in the night. Then my thoughts turned to how I might pay some insider to kill the murderer — one was con- victed, the other got away. Failing the prop- er resolve, my sister and I continued to monitor the one in prison to make certain he stayed behind bars. He is still there some 25 years later…and perhaps that has become his just reward for his crime. However, if Borg, the perpetrator, had received the death penalty, odds are he would still be alive today. According to the editorial, since the death penalty was rein- stated in 1979, about 900 inmates have been condemned to die. Only 14 have been exe- cuted…the last in 2006. Death row inmates are more likely to die of old age or suicide than lethal injection. The editorial con- cludes with, "Let's quit pretending we have a death penalty…and save a little money in the process." Death by suicide. Now there's a thought for Borg to ponder. *** President James Madison wrote, "When setting up a government, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the gov- ernment to control the governed, and in the next place, oblige it to control itself." A very prescient edict in the face of govern- mental snooping today, don't you think? *** Speaking of angels recently...a local church workshop on the subject, and con- jecture by "angelologist" Father Renzo Lavatori of the Catholic Church that angels don't have wings, we were disappointed to read in Tuesday's Police reports that a 43 year old man in a bathrobe, on 99E, was pro- claiming that he was the angel Michael. I do not know this fellow, but if we were to meet, I would advise him that angels don't have wings...and it is highly unlikely they appear clad only in a bathrobe. He should get his act together and dress appropriately or abandon his quest for atten- tion. *** Department of Correc- tions: I should confine my quizzes to those subjects of which I have a smattering of knowledge. My previous quiz asked readers to define the words "rod" and "staff" from The 23rd Psalm. However, when I subsequently reported the winner of the quiz, I experi- enced a "senior moment" and referred to the source as The Lord's Prayer instead. The two words certainly don't appear in said prayer. The 23rd Psalm deals with shepherds and protection by rod and staff. The Lord's Prayer deals with "Thy King- dom come" and so forth. Any damn fool knows that. However this fool apparently did not. The error was brought to my attention by A. Eaton who had answered the question correctly. Anyhow, Mr. Eaton had received phone calls suggesting he did not know the difference between the two... the Psalm and The Prayer. He called to say that I, not he, had fouled up…or words to that effect. I'm certain that readers will agree with his admonishment even though the actual epi- thet he used is not in the bible. Therefore please be advised that it was my error and not Alonzo's...and I shall be more careful when dealing with subjects of which I am alien. Amen to that. *** When we see the bromide "…regardless of race, color or creed "do we truly buy into it? Do some ethnic groups succeed better in America than others? Writers Amy Chua and Jed Rubenfeld, in 'The Triple Package: How Three Unlikely Traits Explain the Rise and Fall of Culture Groups in America' aver that 'Asians, Cubans, Jews, Indians (from India), Nigerians, Mormons, Iranians and Lebanese are superior when it comes to suc- ceeding in America…and the ones lacking the 'triple package' are African Americans, Appalachians, Wasps and pretty much everybody else." The three traits? "A superiority com- plex, insecurity and impulse control." This is not gospel, of course, but something one might attempt to instill in their children. How? I have no idea as I apparently pos- sess none of the three traits. *** Readers of last week's quiz did not offer any com- plete answers. The city that lays claim to the first computer is Philadelphia, first Sky- scraper is Chicago, first Department Store is Salt Lake City and the first parking meter is Oklahoma City. This week's quiz: Name the nine capital letters that are mirror images of themselves. Also complete this poem: Ladies and gentlemen! Toward me____. Please watch the show; don't draw the_____. Please don't try to start a ______ Sit peacefully, all in a ______ Don't squeal like a big fat_______ Do not the seeds of discord _____ *** A woman was walking along the street in fr ont of a pet store when a parrot in the window squawked, "Hey lady, you're really ugly!" The woman ignored the bird. How- ever, when she passed the same store the next day, she again heard the parrot say, "Hey lady, you're really ugly!" She marched into the pet shop and demanded the owner punish the parrot to make him stop his remark. The following day she passed the store, saw the parrot in the win- dow, stopped, glared at him and said, "Yes?" The parrot smiled and said, "You know..." Robert Minch is a lifelong resident of Red Bluff, former columnist for the Corning Daily Observer and Meat Industry magazine and author of the "The Knocking Pen." He can be reached at rminchandmurray@hotmail.com. Capital punishment? Commentary N EWS D AILY RED BLUFF TEHAMA COUNTY 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 Robert Minch I Say STATE ASSEMBLYMAN — Dan Logue, 150 Amber Grove Drive, Ste. 154, Chico, CA 95928, 530-895-4217 STATE SENATOR — Jim Nielsen, 2635 Forest Ave., Ste. 110, Chico, CA 95928, (530) 879-7424, senator.nielsen@sen- ate.ca.gov GOVERNOR — Jerry Brown, State Capitol Bldg., Sacramento, CA 95814; (916) 445-2841; Fax (916) 558- 3160; E-mail: governor@gov- ernor.ca.gov. U.S. REPRESENTATIVE — Doug LaMalfa 506 Cannon House Office Building, Wash- ington, DC 20515, 202-225- 3076. 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; (510) 286-8537. Fax (202) 224-0454. Your officials With all I've written about changes to the Daily News, those that have taken place and those coming, it is nice once in awhile to see a reminder that some things never seem to change. Such was the case recently when I was at the Tehama Coun- ty Library gathering the 90 Years Ago... items, which I do monthly. The following item appeared on the front page of the Jan. 1, 1924 Daily News. "Congress Will Do Little But Play Politics "WASHINGTON, Jan. 1. — Congress begins the new year with the promise of little but strife and political struggle. The democrats will endeavor to sub- stitute a tax reduction bill elimi- nating the objectionable features of the Mellon plan. "The Interstate Commerce Commission chairmanship is still in a deadlock, holding up busi- ness in the senate." Sound familiar? It did to me, especially after meeting with Rep. Doug LaMalfa late last week, then following him as he live tweeted from the House floor during the State of the Union. Partisan rancor is alive and well. *** Blame it on the game Another gem from the last century caught my eye and I set aside a copy. The focus of the 90 Years Ago... feature needs to be local happenings from way back when. But that doesn't mean there weren't some amusing, fas- cinating and sometimes unbeliev- able events happening elsewhere and reported in the Daily News. One such follows. "Missionary Sees Peril To U.S. In Mah Jong Craze "TECHNY, Ill., Jan. 21. — America is in danger of Mah Jonging itself into moral and civil corruption, like that which prevails in portions of China, according to the Rev. George Stens, at St. Mary's Mission House, here after thirty years as a Chinese missionary. "If people lose all interest in duties, sit up all night playing Mah Jong, and spend the days asleep and devising devious schemes to get their money back, blame it on the game, the mis- sionary says. "'I know of men and women in China who have lost their entire posses- sions playing this game,' declared the priest. In China there is a saying that the victim of the Mah Jong habit no longer can be trusted." I'm told the same could be said of Candy Crush, Angry Birds, Words With Friends and some of the other games folks play on smartphones and tablets these days. Thankfully these only waste time and not money. *** There's one more that is local but far too long for the 90 Years Ago... space. Alas, I run short on room here too, so I'll save it for another time. Chip Thompson can be reached at 527-2151, Ext. 112 or by email at editor@redbluffdailynews.com. Follow him on Twitter @EditorChip. The more things stay the same Chip Thompson 545 Diamond Ave.