Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/360548
GregStevens,Publisher Chip Thompson, Editor EDITORIALBOARD How to have your say: Letters must be signed and provide the writer's home street address and home phone number. Anonymous letters, open letters to others, pen names and petition-style letters will not be allowed. Letters should be typed and no more than two double-spaced pages or 500words. When several letters address the same issue, a cross section will be published. Email: editor@red bluffdailynews.com Phone: 530-527- 2151ext. 112 Mail to: P.O. Box 220, 545 Diamond Ave., Red Bluff, CA 96080 Facebook: Leave comments at FACEBOOK.COM/ RBDAILYNEWS Twitter: Follow and send tweets to @REDBLUFFNEWS LonganadmirerofourTehamaCounty Court House, I was surprised to discover an original door which, when casually closed, caused a loud bang to reverberate about the rotunda on the main floor. In an attempt to alleviate this problem I was about to contact the Court House custodian, when I realized that the long time fixer and decorator Collis Henderson had gone to his reward…and I would have no clout with his successor. Indesperationtodothe right thing, I contacted a county employee who shall re- main anonymous, and the fol- lowing discussion, via e mail, took place. Me: I would like to register a complaint. I am a long time admirer of the County Court House and pay my taxes as any law abid- ing citizen. Him: Yes sir, but please get to the point as my hours as a public servant have been cur- tailed due to the cur- rent recession. Me: Of course. I had occasion to visit room 17, which is the Civil Department for the Superior Court, to pick up the forms for an Unlawful Detainer action in behalf of a client. Him: I am not allowed to give advice nor assist in the filling out of these forms. Me: Of course. Hear me out. When leaving room 17 with my $5 packet, complete with instructions only a Harvard grad could understand, I al- lowed the door to slam…it was a windy day…and the noise was unsettling to the next door occupant, a fellow attempting to work at the Veterans Ser- vice department. As I saw him wince at the loud bang, I asked him if this was an everyday oc- currence. He gritted his teeth and nodded his head in assent. Him: Let's get on with it. Me: I'm getting to it. Have patience. Now, I am contact- ing you, in the absence of my friend, the late custodian, Col- lis Henderson, to inform the proper person to correct this problem. Him: I am fascinated by your account, but this com- plaint does not fall within the parameters of my job descrip- tion. However, what do you propose as a solution to the problem. Me (warming to the lit- tle charade developing): Well, it so happens I am the presi- dent of the Minch Quiet Door Closing Company with char- ter in the Bahamas. Our motto is "Less bang for your bucks." For a paltry $3.99 for each de- vice, plus shipping, allowing 3 weeks for delivery, my com- pany can furnish all doors in the elegant but drafty Court House with our closures. Him: There are many doors in the Court House. Me: In my father's house there are many mansions. I as- sure you we can handle the situation. And, by the way, our device will put the Court House in compliance with the Handicap Door Closing Act of 2006. End of story. I fear I shall hear no more from the fellow. Isayfor31December 2010 The joys of country liv- ing are occasionally tempered with reality. Water, for exam- ple, seldom flows freely from the ground. It is there for the taking if one has electricity and a pump. Take last weekend for example. The day before Xmas eve, the power went out at the ranch. In the past this would have caused great anxiety and hand wringing until it was restored. However, our generator kicked in and there was light as writ in the bible. Knowing we had a mul- titude coming the next day for food and festivities, we hoped PG & E would address the out- age promptly...and they did. Within a few hours they were on the property, assessed the situation and power was soon restored. With a sigh of relief we as- sumed there would be no fur- ther interruptions of our hol- iday bliss. But then Satur- day, Xmas day, water abruptly stopped flowing from the taps. If this had happened the pre- vious evening, we would have been up Salt Creek without a paddle. A quick check of the pump house greeted us with the ac- rid smell of an electric mishap. It did not take an electrician's nephew to know that the pump control box had fried. Being Xmas day I dialed Tri County Drilling and Pump in hopes that not St. Nick but Travis would be there. He was. He ar- rived at the ranch shortly and quickly determined we needed a new box. I whined that it was Xmas day and no one would be open to supply same. He said, not to worry, he had a friend in Redding who stocked the item. He would contact him, pick up the box, and get us back in business, if not in two shakes of a lamb's tail, at least much sooner than the city council would deal with the City Man- ager residency problem. True to his word, Travis had us soon back in the water busi- ness and all was well in our neck of the woods. Good show. ••• Further news on the political front: "I think I'll serve as Sec- retary of State as my last public position." Hillary Clinton. ••• Here is an idea that has merit: We name buildings, schools and even highways after famous people...Mark Twain, John Dewey and var- ious politicians and Presi- dents. But what about facilities that give weary travelers relief of very practical nature? I'm thinking of rest stops. Why not name our interstate high- way rest stops after those who have served lengthy terms in public service? I say that a plaque on the wall of a public building is not enough. Let us consider the rest stop about 4 miles north. Too late? Drat! RobertMinchisalifelongres- ident of Red Bluff, former col- umnist for the Corning Daily Observer and Meat Industry magazine and author of the "The Knocking Pen." He can be reached at rminchandmur- ray@hotmail.com. I say 'Less bang for your bucks' Cartoonist's take AUGUST 8, 2014 I get it. When foreigners challenge America, we want our President to scream bloody murder and then send in the Marines to make sure it hap- pens. Forget about talking softly. Go straight for the big stick. By contrast, diplomacy looks weak, like some tin-pot dictator from a nothing-burger country is pushing us around. But in case anyone cares to notice, the world may be falling apart, but Barack Obama has put together a string of surpris- ing diplomatic victories. The extension of the negoti- ating window with Iran came and went with little notice. The nuclear freeze in Iran should be a big deal. Thanks to our ne- gotiations and economic sanc- tions, Iran has diluted its highly enriched uranium, agreed to in- person inspections and video surveillance, and ceased work on its heavy water plutonium reactor. But this progress is less well known than some state secrets, a mystery not just to Americans at large but most po- litical insiders as well. Another recent—and oddly secret—diplomatic victory took place in Syria. Of course, with Syria in the middle of a civil war, it looks like the country's main export is bad news. And when Obama leveraged Rus- sia's relationship with Syria to broker a deal to get rid of the latter's chemical weapons, Re- publicans said Vladimir Putin made Obama look weak. A funny thing happened on the way to the GOP's deifica- tion of Putin: While Syrians were busy shooting each other, the country's last supplies of chemical weapons—600 metric tons of it—left Syria on a Dan- ish ship under the supervision of the Organisation for the Pro- hibition of Chemical Weapons. This is probably the best news you've never heard. "Never before has an entire arsenal of a category of weap- ons of mass destruction been removed from a country experi- encing a state of internal armed conflict," said OPCW chief Ah- met Uzumcu. The one diplomatic success that Americans share a vague awareness of is how Obama has corralled the European Union into imposing tough economic sanctions on Russia, isolating Putin. By getting Europeans to put the screws to Russia's bank- ing, oil and gas, and military sectors, Obama can play his brand of strong-arm diplomatic ball, forcing Putin to choose be- tween his country's economic wellbeing and his fantasies of restoring the Russian Empire. All of this is exactly the oppo- site of what Republican critics predicted when Putin invaded Crimea. They said Obama's weakness in Syrian embold- ened Putin to wreak havoc in Ukraine. Now—not that Obama's been good at telling the story—America got rid of Syria's chemical weapons and surrounded himself with Rus- sia's closest trading partners. Putin looks politically injured, snarling not like a mighty czar but like a wounded bear caught in a trap. We should not be surprised that when it comes to for- eign affairs, Obama has been more Graham Greene than Mi- chael Bay. In the 2008 Dem- ocratic primary, he shocked many, me included, when he said he would negotiate with Iran "without precondition." He had a 62 percent approval rating for his handling of in- ternational affairs two months into his first term, and he won the Nobel Peace Price largely because he promised to end the wars that George W. Bush started. But he never articulated a grand vision for American leadership in the world, which leaves observers puzzled and frustrated when he approaches each world crisis pragmati- cally, trying to coax workable solutions from civil wars and downed airliners. He doesn't crow about his diplomatic vic- tories, so all we hear is the ca- ble news cacophony, and con- sequently half the country now thinks he's doing a lousy job with international relations. But Obama is the president he said he'd be. He speaks softly and carries Seal Team Six, but the most effective weapons in his foreign policy arsenal have proven to be economic sanc- tions and negotiation. Obama has learned the lessons from Iraq. This time we're using di- plomacy—and it's working. Jason Stanford is a regular contributor to the Austin American-Statesman, a Democratic consultant and a Truman National Security Project partner. You can email him at stanford@oppresearch. com and follow him on Twitter @JasStanford. Your officials Assemblyman Dan Logue, 150 Amber Grove Drive, Ste. 154, Chico 95928, 530 895-4217 Senator Jim Nielsen, 2634 Forest Ave., Ste. 110, Chico 95928, 530 879-7424, senator. nielsen@senate.ca.gov Governor Jerry Brown, State Capital Building, Sacramento 95814, 916 445-2841, fax 916 558-3160, governor@governor. ca.gov U.S. Representative Doug La- Malfa, 507 Cannon House Of- fice Building, Washington D.C. 20515, 202 225-3076 U.S. Senator Dianne Fein- stein, One Post St., Ste. 2450, San Francisco 94104, 415 393- 0707, fax 415 393-0710 U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer, 1700 Montgomery St., San Fran- cisco 94111, 510 286-8537, fax 202 224-0454 Jason Stanford Obama has put together a string of secret diplomatic victories Why not name our interstate highway rest stops after those who have served lengthy terms in public service? I say that a plaque on the wall of a public building is not enough. Sounding off A look at what readers are saying in comments on our website and on social media. I attended their yearly plant sale fundraiser and introduce myself as the founder of the Tehama County Plow Share Project...which grows, gleans and delivers food to the food bank (and schools). The wonderful ladies of the Garden Club had me come back at the end of the sale and gave me all the plants that didn't get sold... Thomas Shoults: On Red Bluff Garden Club column regarding the annual plant sale Why are they taking him all the way to Redding when St. Elizabeth is close by? Greta Corbin: On story about semi that rolled off an embankment on Interstate 5on-ramp Robert Minch While Syrians were busy shooting each other, the country's last supplies of chemical weapons — 600 metric tons of it — left Syria on a Danish ship under the supervision of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons. This is probably the best news you've never heard. OPINION » redbluffdailynews.com Friday, August 8, 2014 » MORE AT FACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS A6