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6A Daily News – Wednesday, August 24, 2011 Opinion Taking our 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 liberties seriously 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 Editor: I've been reading a lot about a couple of citizens of Tehama County who use their guaran- teed right of freedom of speech in the Daily News. I'm guessing and hoping that they are thank- ful that we are able to express our right of free speech. Those citizens who stand on the corner in front of the donut house have every right to express their opinions although I am not certain what their mes- sage is. Is it that they are against the war, as we all are, or against our troops, as most of are not? No matter where we stand on this issue these citizens have the right to express their feelings. Many of us served so that they could have this right even if we don't agree with how they do it. We signed up knowing that. Some have said that a few of these people are even more patriotic than those who have served in the military. It's okay that they believe this because, this too, is their right in our country. No, they probably do not understand or agree with how we feel about it but leave them alone. Hopefully they will be able to keep on standing there at their pleasure and no one from another land or ideal, such as a terrorist, will blow them up with an attack directly on them. I don't want that to happen either. Now let's discuss another cit- izen who offers legal advice about anything concerning our elected officials and how to pur- sue your case in court. Is this the same person who told me a few years ago that he got someone from the Veterans Administra- tion to authorize some surgery because he couldn't afford it and that he wasn't eligible for it under the law? Is this the same person who told me that although he didn't serve three years in the military that a high ranking officer authorized him to wear the Good Conduct Medal although it is required that three years must be served before being authorized to wear this award? I'm only using my right to free speech to say these things. I only offer a couple discussions between this person and me a few years ago in a veterans organization. By watching these citizens stand on a corner unharmed or taking everything under the sun to a court of law this proves that our system does work and it works well. They are all free to pursue their rights and I for one support their rights under our current laws of this great land. Please respect everyone's rights to say what they think. Thank God we have the Daily News to share a citizen's rights to their opinions. John Minton, Red Bluff Trail Editor: Which of the following, the Department of the Interior- Bureau of Land Management, the Department of Agriculture- U.S. Forest Service, the Sierra Club or the illegal immigrants growing pot on our public lands are the biggest deterrent to the public's access to public land? You can also include Califor- nia's unwillingness to enforce immigration laws and Califor- nia's willingness to put illegals on the public dole. Is it just any one, a combination of any or all together? It is the working class tax- payers that depend on public land for an outdoor recreation experience. It is these same people who purchase recreation gear and equipment, RVs, SUVs, ATVs, hunting licenses, fishing licenses and all the per- mits to camp, hunt, fish, hike or whatever. All taxes, income taxes, sales taxes, the excise tax on firearms and ammuni- tion and God only knows what other fees or taxes I've over- looked. All these taxes and fees are a major contribution to the payroll of the state and federal government employees that manage and oversee our public resources. Yet there is a contin- ual increase in the cost of hunt- ing and fishing licenses and in fees, restrictions and the ever changes in regulations for the public access to land that used to be free to roam. hooks, which are not enforced for the lack of man power. These are just some of the efforts to discourage the aver- age working class from pursu- ing an outdoor recreation expe- rience, most likely influenced by the lobbying of environmen- talists. Your Turn After paying all the expense of trying to be legal and follow the rules you damn sure don't want to run into some illegal pot garden tended by an illegal immigrant armed to the teeth that doesn't speak English. For those like me It is my opinion that the gov- ernment agencies have been infiltrated and influenced by environmental organizations, such as Sierra Club and Friends of the River, over the last 30 to 40 years or more. The proof is in the transition that has taken place in that time period. Roads have been closed, more restrictions on how they can be used and you had better be care- ful you don't stray off the road to turn around or park. Higher hunting and fishing license fees, restrictions on ammuni- tion, no lead in some areas, no lead shot for shot guns. Special no kill, catch and release fish- ing regulations include artificial lures with single barbless who enjoyed the hike down Mill Creek, starting at the trail head below Hole in the Ground toward Black Rock, for a fishing experience we noticed a few years ago the U.S. Forest Ser- vice moved the trail head back up the road a mile and a half. Their excuse was they would save money by not having to maintain the road. However, they spared no expense in the cost of the heavy equipment to rip up the mile and a half of road or to riprap one or two of the gullies in the process. As a result we the public, without notification, wound up with a trail that the first mile and a half is not friendly to the hiker as it once was. This trail, like many, was/is adopted by the Yahi Group of the Sierra Club and is a desig- nated Roadless Area. The Sierra Club has from the RARE ll hearings wanted this section of the Mill Creek drainage to be part of the Ishi Wilderness Area. Well, now they have another mile and a half of Roadless Area. Les Wolfe, 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; (510) 286-8537. Fax (202) 224- 0454. An experience to avoid Commentary I wonder what the Great Depression was really like. All we really know about it comes from old news reports and what our older family members told us. My father's parents must have had a great time dating during the "Roaring '20s." They married in 1929 -- one month before the stock market collapsed. My grandfather was lucky, though. He had a good job, work- ing directly for the Mellon family as an accountant. He helped feed and clothe his sisters' children during the hardest times, though he would die in 1937 from strep throat (penicillin was not yet available). He had seven sisters -- five sur- vived into adulthood -- and they had some 15 children among them. Those children, my father's cousins, played in their grand- mother's basement most Saturday evenings, as their parents played cards and drank homemade hooch above them. More than one family was liv- ing at Grandma Purcell's then. The adults surely worried about paying their bills, but the children had no idea the Great Depression was on. Some 20 years ago, long after Grandma Purcell had passed on and her house had been sold, I joined some of her grandchildren to tour the old place (it still sits on Orchlee Street in Brighton Heights). They were in their 60s and 70s then -- only a few are still with us - - and they showed me around the basement where they whiled away so many wonderful Saturdays. I've been lucky to talk to many older folks over the years who've related their memories of the Depression years. Many told me that as kids, they had no idea they were poor. Many lived in tight city neigh- borhoods -- the suburbs wouldn't blossom until after World War II -- where everybody knew everybody. One fellow told me how it took him forever to walk a city block on summer evenings, because folks sat out on their stoops and wanted to know how he and his family were doing. There was no home air condi- tioning then, and the hot, swelter- ing air forced people outside. I wonder what the heat wave of 1937 was like, when it got so hot at night, whole families slept on blan- kets by riverbanks, where the air was cooler. The children surely saw it as a grand adven- ture, giggling and unable to sleep. The adults probably were unable to sleep, too. There were no "safety nets" then -- no 99 weeks of unemploy- ment checks, no food stamps or other govern- ment programs. If adults didn't find work, how would they feed their kids? Some argue that we have not recovered from the collapse of 2008 -- that, at best, we still are in the middle of it, and if we don't get our debt and borrowing in order, worse times are ahead. Polls say that's what many Americans fear most -- that things will get worse. And so we sit on our Tom What's most striking to me is that the Great Depression wasn't that long ago. I'm 49. The stock market col- lapse of '29 occurred 33 years before I was born. The Depression didn't end until 20 years before I was born. That great economic collapse was the result of unsustainable debt and borrowing -- just as the collapse of 2008 was brought on by unsustainable debt and borrow- ing. Purcell wallets, or bury what money we have in our backyards, as the econo- my stumbles. Yeah, I wonder what the Great Depression was really like, but have zero desire to experience one firsthand. Tom Purcell, a humor columnist for the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, is nationally syndicated exclusively by Cagle Cartoons newspaper syndicate. Visit Tom on the Web at www.TomPurcell.com or e-mail him at Purcell@caglecartoons.com. The Great Recession has been unsettling enough. ———