Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/386959
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 Scienceisn'tlikereligion in that you can't just pick and choose the science you don't concur with. You can't, say, be- lieve in evolution, but not for species you think are gross. Or think gravity is a sound the- ory but it only pertains to left- handed Oregonians. Or accept atomic theory but only for peo- ple named Adam. You get the idea; that's not by definition scientific. If you trust in the rigors of science: evidence, testing, peer review etc.—you're used to the fact that science is completely in- different to your feelings. Yes, we all want the sun to revolve around the Earth and for plas- tic to be nutritious for sea crea- tures, but in science, wishing it were true doesn't make it so. Religion, on the other hand, gets to be custom fitted. You can be a Christian and if you don't like the part in the Bi- ble about being happy when smashing babies against rocks (Psalms 137:9), you can just ignore it. Or if you no lon- ger think it's kosher to even say publicly, "I do not permit a woman to teach or to as- sume authority over a man; she must be quiet (1 Timo- thy 2:12)," you can be mum on that one too. Disagree with slavery? No problem. Want to wear something besides linen? That's fine. Go to Red Lobster religiously? Still OK. Islam is the same in that re- spect. President Obama said ISIS, the insanely well-funded terrorist group (who are also don't believe in evolution), isn't Islamic. This is how sectarian wars start—one group degrad- ing the piety of another group claiming to be more pure, bet- ter, cleaner, uncorrupted then they are. Instead of a holy war about whose god is better, it's a splinter fight over whom god likes more. So it's understandable how religious people—especially re- ligious leaders—bristle at sci- ence. They've grown accus- tomed to being able to carve out exactly what they like from religious texts, leaving the ob- jectionable stuff behind. This has led to a bizarre par- adox: The Creationist with an iPhone or respectively the Anti- Vaxxer in a Prius. Using tech- nology to deny science takes some skilled compartmentaliz- ing. It's saying you have faith in science enough to post cat gifs on Facebook but not enough for science to contradict your con- victions. There was a time when we thought the Information Su- perhighway would make ev- eryone more informed, better educated. Instead its enabled the misinformed to find places to permanently nestle in con- firmation bias. Misery loves company—as does ignorance. This week, NASA an- nounced August had been the warmest on record. Climate change is real. There's not a controversy. There's an effort to undermine the data by us- ing the word "controversy." The Earth is warming. Period. No amount of "nu-huh" will make it not so. This is the same week when the first car was 3D printed. And at this same incredible time in car history, the epicen- ter of car culture, Los Angeles, is in the throes of a deadly and completely preventable whoop- ing cough epidemic. Children in the most affluent parts of the city are vaccinated at rates on par with the Sudan. This comes from a fear of vaccines sparked by a long-ago debunked, bogus "study" linking the shots to au- tism. Now children are actually dying—three infants in Califor- nia just this year—from the sci- ence-denial of wealthy helicop- ter parents. And since I already men- tioned ISIS and we're appar- ently now at war with them, they do this too. They don't want Syrian children to learn math but are more than happy to use the technology made pos- sible by math (namely YouTube) to post their videos of their be- headings of innocent captives. Enough. This is embarrass- ing. Think of science as the user agreement you have to say yes to before getting to use tech- nology. In that contract (we know you haven't read) is the accord that you—albeit pas- sively—agree in evolution, cli- mate change, vaccinations and math. Otherwise it's a breach of contract. Go ahead and say "nu-huh," but unless you're reading this via candlelight in your self-made cabin, you've already clicked OK. TinaDupuyisanation- ally syndicated op-ed colum- nist, investigative journalist, award-winning writer, stand- up comic, on-air commentator and wedge issue fan. Tina can be reached at tinadupuy@ya- hoo.com. Tina Dupuy No true science deniers exist on the Internet Formercandidate endorses Carlson Editor: I am announcing my en- dorsement of Candy Carlson for Tehama County Supervisor of District Two. You may recall I was an op- ponent of Candy's in the pri- mary election, but taking away from that experience, as well as what I have learned and observed in discussion with Candy; has brought me to the conclusion of supporting her. In discussing issues with Candy, as well as observing her at candidates' events, I learned that she would bring traits to the position of county supervi- sor, similar to what I intended to bring. Candy has a long and con- tinuing experience in the pri- vate sector, which gives me con- fidence that she will keep the interest of local business in mind when voting on issues. Candy is also an Air Force Vet- eran, bringing representation and an extra voice for local vet- erans to the county board. In discussion with Candy, I have observed that she is not afraid to speak her mind, and question both popular and un- popular decisions. I believe she has the convictional dexterity to not side with majority, unless it is clearly in the best interest of thecounty and its residents. I have faith in Candy's abil- ities to consider all parties in- volved in issues, and to not make a decision until all sides have been given fair representa- tion and all facts have been re- viewed. While I admit that I had high hopes to be in her shoes today, I am proud and excited to of- fer my support to Candy for Te- hama County Supervisor of Dis- trict Two. I hope readers will consider doing the same. Thank you. — Mitchell Drury, Red Bluff Naive to believe higher wages will rev economy Editor: Higher wages for no increase in productivity can only in- crease inflation and reduce em- ployment. Taking $1.25 from the pocket of a middle class taxpayer and transferring it to the pocket of a low skill service worker, only increases inflation. Note that the low skill worker can only receive $1, because the mid- dle class worker must pay 25 cents federal, state, and county income tax to transfer $1 to a lower skill worker. The reality is, the fast food restaurant cannot increase prices 25 percent to cover a raise from $8 to $10, because the customer is not receiving any increased value in food quality, quantity, or faster ser- vice for the higher worker pay. For every 8 workers, two must be terminated to keep the cost of sales unchanged from the worker minimum wage in- crease. As in the past and the pres- ent, higher pay results from in- creased productivity, not from an indirect tax of mandated minimum wage increases. The avenue to higher produc- tivity is increased education, and selling those skills to com- panies that need more skilled workers. — Joseph Neff, Corning Whose water is it anyway? Editor: Our water going to Southern California, where did that ru- mor come from? The truth is all the water in our lakes and streams are filled and replenished with rainwa- ter, gathered from around the world. Not by man but by nature, thus in fact it is the world's wa- ter belonging to all, not one part of one state and its inhab- itants. — Robert Hogan, Red Bluff Your opinions Yes, we all want the sun to revolve around the Earth and for plastic to be nutritious for sea creatures, but in science, wishing it were true doesn't make it so. A look at what readers are saying in comments on our website and on social media. Sounding off Cartoonist's take And the schools still make our kids go outside for almost an hour for PE when it's considered unhealthy. Hopefully my kid(s) don't get sick from it. Patricia Drum: On report of air quality dipping into the unhealthy range Tuesday due to fires Way to go fire personnel. Your swi action kept us safe. Thank you. Sunny Cope: On report of a fire that burned Tuesday a ernoon near homes in Red Bluff It isn't hypocritical to choose to protest only when a Republi- can is president. It's hypocriti- cal to pretend your partisanship plays no role in your displays of policy approval. Americans know Obama is putting boots on the ground. From The Hill: "President Obama autho- rized the deployment of 475 ad- ditional U.S. troops to Iraq on Wednesday, bringing the total of U.S. troops in the country to about 1,600. The new troops will advise and assist the Iraqi Se- curity Forces in order to help them go on offense against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS or ISIL); conduct intelli- gence, surveillance and recon- naissance (ISR) flights; and co- ordinate U.S. military activities across Iraq, according to the Pentagon." Gen. Michael Hayden, former director of the CIA and NSA, has publicly reported that 5,000 U.S. troops will be on the ground in the ISIS theater by the end of the year. They will work covertly pro- viding "intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance, logistics, advice, command and control assistance and tactical air control par- ties." He said that even if Amer- ica is successful, we can expect a three- to five-year battle. Perhaps leftwing activists don't believe we're at war. Unlikely. They're more likely disappointed that their political messiah has failed in multitudinous ways, still fear- ing scary Republicans like John McCain. And what of Hillary the Screeching Hawk? In 2002, President Bush sought and received Demo- crat and Republican support for "military action" in Iraq and he got it. Constitutionally, that's as good as any declaration of war by Congress. Why? Because the U.S. Constitution does not ar- ticulate specific language, only that Congress has the authority to make such a declaration. President Obama has not sought Congressional approval because Democrats in tight re- election districts would be com- pelled to vote against such a declaration to appease their anti-war base. This statement is based on the fact that President Obama makes no policy decision until he his tea has calculated its potential impact on election outcomes. My loyal readers are keenly aware of the investigative journalist reports quoting inside sources directly involved with his decision-making process. So, where are the protesters? Some are gearing up on col- lege campuses. A few small groups are touching up their Peace Now signs. The big machine is idling be- cause "peace" is not their mis- sion. Rallying thousands of Americans to vote for a left wing candidate is their mis- sion, transforming America into a socialist or communist state. Unless International Answer, MoveOn.Org, ISO, Think Prog- ress and dozens more can find a more "progressive" or liberal candidate, any protests that oc- cur will be mild at best, not nearly as fervent as they would be against a president who sup- ports free markets, free think- ing and individual opportunity versus equal outcomes decided by bureaucrats. The leaders of these well- funded organizations will feel compelled to organize protests soon enough as the liberal base, already disappointed in Obama's failure to magically transform the U.S. into a socialist or com- munist paradise demands ex- pressions of solidarity. When they do, don't expect the same fervor as the protests during the Bush years, recruit- ing thousands of students and union workers, trashing the Na- tional Mall. They will do so reluctantly; casting furtive, adoring glances at fellow traveler Bernie Sanders whom they know has no chance to win the White House. Rick Jensen is Delaware's award-winning conservative talk show host, streaming live on WDEL.com from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. PST. Contact Rick at rick@ wdel.com. Rick Jensen Where are Obama's war protesters? OPINION » redbluffdailynews.com Thursday, September 25, 2014 » MORE AT FACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS A6