Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/32269
6A Daily News – Tuesday, May 24, 2011 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 Tough words Editor: I'm writing this letter to the lazy low life that steals rocks from someone's yard. Are you really that pathetic that you can't drive up to the Hogsback and get the same rock? 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 I bet you feel real proud of yourself. Makes you feel manly. I bet your parents are so proud of the worthless piece of kid they raised. I bet you'll be the talk of jail, I mean town, when you get caught. I can hear it now, "Look, it’s that moron that got caught stealing rocks..." I bet that would really make your parents and family proud. Knowing that in these hard times you saved wear and tear on your vehicle, by not going up to the Hogsback to get your rocks and only drove a short ways out of town to get them. Maybe your picture will be in the paper, so everyone will know what an ignorant fool looks like. You will get caught, and you will have to make restitution on the rocks you've stolen so far, as well as doing time. By now, most of your kind would figure out that the Hogs- back would be the best place, but I got a dollar that says you are too dumb to figure that out. Enjoy what you got away with so far, but just know, you will be the fool when you get caught. Roger Gauthier, Red Bluff Up in smoke Editor: The Tehama County planners have decided to postpone a deci- sion on the ordinance on whether to allow dispensaries in the county or an all out ban. Personally I believe they are blowing smoke up our skirts and just buying time. Really. How coincidental that one person didn’t show up so they could have a tie. Eventually they are going to have to vote one way or another, and let the pot smokers get on with what they have to do. Another thing, why would the county want to know where the marijuana comes from? What kind of retaliation does that open the grower up to in this county. Everyone knows that will get you a lawyer and day and court. Rachael Cleveland, Red Bluff Economic remedies Editor: The remedy for most of our economic woes is to cut teach- ers’ salaries and social pro- grams some would have you believe. But what do you sup- pose would result from this rem- edy? Many in the teaching pro- fession no doubt receive more than they are worth while others aren’t paid near what they should be. Would cutting salaries draw higher quality instructors into the profession? What about the quality of the student’s education? I can not see much merit in that solution, can you? What about cutting social programs like Medicare, food stamps, and unemployment insurance? Wouldn’t that create a more desperate population to roam our streets looking to beg, borrow or steal from us? What about increasing taxes on those multi-millionaires? Oh, we can’t do that cause that is wealth redistribution which everyone knows is a Socialist ploy. Wealth redistribution has been going on ever since the first government was established. Today in this country the money flows from Reader against columnist Editor: the have not’s to the have lots. 2007 fig- ures show the wealth- iest one percent of the US pop- ulation shares more of our national wealth than the bot- tom 80 percent. That is the top 1 per centers have 34.6 percent of the total wealth in this coun- try while the 246 million peo- ple in the lower 80 percent range have only 15 percent of this nation’s wealth to fight over. By the way, just how much of that “Trickle down” stuff have you gotten lately? Only 7 percent of our national budget goes to Health and human Services, 6 percent goes for education, 3 percent goes to Housing and Urban development and 20 percent goes to the war effort. We also spend around $30,000 for each inmate incar- cerated in our federal prisons every year. Several are serving time for possessing marijuana, not for harming anyone or causing any damages at all. And many inmates are housed in minimum security camps, which may not even have so much as a fence around the perimeter. Your hard earned tax dollars will go towards killing some, incarcerating others and helping some: which would you prefer the lion share go? Orval Strong, Gerber Your Turn I can not let Don Polson’s commentary on teachers in the MAy 16 Red Bluff Daily News stand without a response. I am a retired teacher of 32 years in California and Nevada. I taught in grades one to 14, in public school and private school, Evening Adult Education, as a teacher, Dean of Boys, and ath- letic coach. Polon’s blend of chronic complaints required just short of 30 percent of the Opinion Page. His article really required a short single column however he apparently had to fill his space with his dissatisfied opinions. I was disturbed and it was with great displeasure that he apparently pitted one group against another: Tehama County people against teachers; private school teachers against public school teachers; tenured teach- ers against new/probationary teachers; California parents against California educators. A representative government, in, for, and by the people requires literacy and parents and teachers are responsible for that task. In the teaching profession a wide range of dedication and proficiency exists. Teachers are on the assembly/grade-level line of the big business of education. No recalls are possible. Improvement is ongoing. I found the language and tone of Polson’s commentary com- pletely unacceptable. I am puz- zled as to the message of his writing. Norman H. Weitzel, Gerber Your officials STATE ASSEMBLYMAN — Jim Nielsen (R) State Capitol Bldg., Room 6031 Sacramento, CA 95814 (916) 319-2002; Fax (916) 319-2102 STATE SENATOR — Doug LaMalfa (R) State Capitol Bldg., Room 3070 Sacramento, CA 95814 (916) 651-4004; Fax (916) 445-7750 GOVERNOR — Jerry Brown, 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. Yes, Virginia, some men are pigs Commentary The hell is the deal with male politicians these days? Have they lost their minds? Guys, they’re giv- ing all us men a bad name. And with Charlie Sheen still on the loose, we need the negative public- ity the way a platypus needs anoth- er spiny knob at the end of its tail. Maybe the reptilian core at the base of our brains senses mortality, caus- ing caution to be thrown to the wind spiraling into Bacchanalian chaos while there’s still time. Or maybe we’re just stupider and get- ting caught more. Specifically speaking about Dominique Strauss-Kahn: the French former managing director of the International Monetary Fund, accused of assaulting a maid in his Manhattan hotel room. Then petitioned for bail claiming not to be a flight risk, even though he was apprehended trying to fly back to Paris on a plane. Which, if you ask me, is the definition of a flight risk. Dude, you were on a flight. And are a hell of a risk. This isn’t DSK’s first trip down Abuse of Power Alley. So many women (not afraid anymore) are coming forward, French officials might start requiring parade per- mits. Easy to see why his friends are upset about him being pho- tographed in handcuffs on a perp walk; the guy looks guiltier than a priest roaming the halls of a boys' school with a pocket full of con- doms at 3 a.m. Of course, most suc- cessful 60-plus-year-old men share that guilty gleam. Nobody with that kind of power is ever truly inno- cent. Strauss-Kahn comes out of the Berlusconi mold with force and intimidation supplanting money and influence, but the transgres- sions remain the same. Something creepy about these sneaky, silky- smooth, suave European pols who can’t stop loving the ladies. You know them. The guys who force you to avoid your eyes at the pool while they strut around in those tight bikini-bottom bathing suits like plum-smuggling peacocks. I get it that power is an aphro- disiac, but how and where do all these men acquire this “your silly laws don’t apply to me” attitude? Is there a secret society that escorts the newly elected to a cave, bends them over, and administers a series of ceremonial enti- tlement shots? Then again, most politicians don’t need the shots. More like a pre- requisite. All those rallies and sycophants and phony smiles and eventually, just like mom warned, your face does freeze that way. There are too many mis- creants for it to be a coinci- dence. In the last couple years, and I’m only listing big profile guys: Clinton. Edwards. Livingston. Gin- grich. Vitter. Villaraigosa. Gibbons. Foley. Hutchin- son. Sherwood. Allen. McGreevy. Ensign. Craig. Sanford. Spitzer. And now former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has admitted infidelity. Shocker, hunh. Who knew? What’s next: clam chowder at Denny’s in Boston on a Friday? Arnold fathered a son with his Will Durst Raging Moderate 14 years. Talk about work ethic. And think of the nerve it took not telling your wife while your ille- gitimate kid is wan- dering around the house for more than a decade. That’s chutz- pah. The Governator may have taken that whole “acting like a member of the Kennedy clan” thing just a little too far. Of course he may end up hailed as a family hero anyhow. By making JFK look good in comparison. The New York Times says Emmy- nominated comedian and writer Will Durst housekeeper, who continued to work for the family for the next 10- “is quite possibly the best political satirist working in the country today.” Check out willdurst.com to find out about upcoming stand-up performances or to buy his book, “The All- American Sport of Bipartisan Bashing.”