Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/35779
4A Daily News – Wednesday, July 6, 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 Yearbooks Editor: May the scoundrel-ess who 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 We got my father a tall flag- pole for his birthday a decade or more ago, shortly after he and my mother moved into a new house. He mounted the pole in con- crete in the center of his front yard. It proudly displays the American flag every year as I pull into his driveway on July 4. My father has always taken the flag seriously. He is going to be 78 this month. He was born during the Great Depression. As a boy, he was immersed in patriotism as our country rallied to defeat mighty foes during World War II. He was drafted at the tail end of the Korean War and served for two years. When he returned home, America was an opti- mistic place. He and my mother would marry and have six children. He would work very hard and watch his country, and his family, blos- som -- blossom in a manner beyond his wildest dreams. His country flourished so well that he, a "phone-company" employee, was able to retire at 59. He's enjoyed retirement for nearly 20 years now. borrowed Tracy Smith’s daugh- ter’s yearbook at RBUHS acquire enough pondering as to desire to return the yearbook to Smith’s daughter. Might I sug- gest perhaps through the Tehama County Library who may be able to contact Tracy and to save embarrassment in having it returned personally. For those who may not be aware of the California section of the Library has copies of RBUHS yearbook - Dictum Est, going back many years, on the shelves of the California section. Some copies are on a microfilm reel as well, negative image. Some members of the Tehama County Genealogical and Historical Society have told me that they would like to acquire for these shelves copies of Mercy Academy High and Mercy High School’s books, by donation, and is a great way to preserve these treasures. Mary Lander, Red Bluff Rehabilitation Editor: I’m writing in regards to the Tehama County court system. A.K.A the good ole boy mental- ity. Our prisons are over flowing and yet Tehama County contin- ues to send addicts to prison. Why? Being an addict myself, I have asked for help and was told by my own attorney Tehama Coun- ty does not send drug offenders to programs in lieu of prison. Addiction is defined as a disease so why are we addicts being sent to prison for a disease. I was stopped by the CHP and asked if I would consent to my vehicle being searched and I replied “No.” I was asked why and I replied I’m not on parole or probation and was told to step out of my vehicle, at which time it was searched anyway all for a burned out tail light. I’m about to be sent to prison for six years (June 27) for a dis- ease. So why not start locking up everyone that consumes alcohol. While waiting to go before the judge I was asked if I or my fam- ily owned any cattle or land in Tehama County, to which I replied “No.” I was told sorry about your luck. Well, if I can’t get anywhere by writing your newspaper I have many others that are pre- pared to start a letter writing campaign to the federal govern- ment in regards to what myself and others see as injustice. Don’t send addicts to prison, send us to rehab. David Hodges, Red Bluff Donkey neglect Editor: I am wondering how to get a response from the sheriff’s office on a report I made regarding three donkeys on Tyler Road in Red Bluff. Their feet are in a neglected condition and it appears they may be suffering from what is termed “founder” or laminitis, which is very painful for horses and donkeys. I filed a formal complaint via telephone call ear- lier this year and spoke to the deputy who took the complaint. He stated others have com- plained as well but in his estima- tion no action needed to be taken. I called my vet who stated that per my descrip- tion, they most likely are in excruciating pain — the feet are so long and so mis- shapen. They are often tied to short ropes to a Your Turn fence and are often tangled in their rope when I drive by. I see them every day. They have no shelter. Basically, it’s deplorable. I have written the sheriff’s department twice to go over the report but there has been no response. Today I am hand deliv- ering a letter to the department and requesting a receipt to state they have received it. Is there anything else I can do? If I treated my horses like this, I am sure I would have to take action or lose my horses and/or be fined for animal abuse. I hope you publish this or put it on your website. I am desperate to help yet don’t want to break any laws. Thank you for anything that can bring attention to this matter. KathIeen Hamill, Red Bluff Marijuana Editor: Marijuana, medical or other- wise, what in the world is the problem? There is no problem for someone going to a bar and drinking him or herself into a blind stupor then going home and beating the family and putting them into the hospital with bruised and broken bodies. The punishment, a slap on the wrist with no interruption in the bar’s business, except the time it takes to seat the next customer. The horrors of the so called "demon rum" are endless. Whereas marijuana makes those that use it to excess zombies incapable of violence. Make no mistake about it I am not advocating either but it is in hopes that people will under- stand that of the two alcohol,while being addictive is also the drug that is most damag- ing to humanity. As too marijuana has two ene- mies, the liquor lobby and the petroleum industry. Sound far fetched? Both hate competition and the hemp business cuts into both. As history tells us that hemp — a cannabis byproduct — was used to make cloth, canvass, rope, etc. Then came the 1940s and it was discovered that two new products, rayon and nylon, could be made from petroleum by products. Hemp then was labeled as a drug, that put in government control. That, ladies and gentlemen, gives focus on the real problem. As long as the oil and liquor lobbies spread their poison we will remain in their grasp. Robert Hogan, Red Bluff 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. My father’s flag Commentary Inherent in the affection and seriousness my father holds for the American flag is the sense that our country has been like no other. It truly has been a place in which any man can make of himself almost anything. It took only a few hundred years for our principles of indi- vidual liberty and free enterprise to produce the most prosperous and successful country in histo- ry. Our freedoms have unleashed massive creativity and innova- tion that have made our daily lives so much better and easier. So successful has our excep- tional country been that many have had the luxury of taking for granted the origin of our wealth and success -- liberty. That is what the Fourth of July is all about. Some truly enlightened people risked every- thing they had to fight for life, liberty and the pursuit of happi- ness. Liberty sure has worked out well for us -- maybe too well? Have we become so wealthy, our current economic mess notwithstanding, that millions have no sense at all how of exceptional our country has been or how hard it is to maintain the free- doms that are essential to our continued pros- perity? At baseball games when my father was young, most everybody stood at attention when the national anthem was played. Hats came off and right hands cov- ered hearts as every person in the stadium turned with gratitude and respect toward the American flag. sloppy and unserious, won't they produce a government that is lazy and sloppy and unserious? Tom Purcell What do you see now? Way too many people gig- gling and yapping on their cell phones. The serious affection that my father, and so many of his generation, hold for the flag and for the national anthem has been waning for a long time. Is this not a reflection of too many lacking serious affection for their country? The Declaration of Indepen- dence says: "Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just Powers from the Con- sent of the Governed ..." If the governed are lazy and Isn't that the gov- ernment we have right now? How on Earth we are going to get our spending under con- trol and stave off a real catastrophe is keeping me up nights. It is worrying my father, too -- he wonders what kind of country his kids and grandkids will be left with. It consoles me to know that his flag will be hanging majesti- cally above his front yard as I pull into his driveway on the Fourth every year. It fills me with hope that, despite our challenges, we will find our way forward yet again. writer is also a humor columnist for the Pittsburgh Tom Purcell, a freelance Tribune- Review, and is nationally syndicated exclusively by Cagle Cartoons newspaper syndicate. Email Tom at Purcell@caglecartoons.com.