Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/44078
6A Daily News – Thursday, October 6, 2011 Opinion Woodcarving 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 thanks Editor: I want to thank Al Aliano, from the bottom of my heart, for his community service, of teaching woodcarving, to seniors of this area. His ability to instill passion, 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 creativity, confidence, caring and believing in one's self, to reach for what I thought was impossible - he was amazing. He has taught me to fulfill goals and further my creativity. I entered several wood carvings and wood burnings in the Tehama County Fair, with much nervous- ness and fear. To my great surprise, with Al's teachings, I placed with several pieces. To my even greater sur- prise, I was awarded Best of Show on my dolphin wood carving, which may now go to the State Fair. I shall cherish these memories forever. I can't wait to use all the skills Al has taught me and to fur- ther my artistic talent that had lain dormant for so long. Thanks ever so much Al...for believing in me and making me believe in myself. I couldn't have done it without you. Donna Warner, Red Bluff This is not your town Editor: I was driving out to M&M Restaurant to have a nice breakfast this morning. It was appalling to see the graffiti that had been sprayed on about anything and everything along Antelope Boule- vard. Worse, on the underpass going to Raley's the culprits have brazenly written: This is our town. Guess what? It is not. If you really felt this was your town, if you go to school here, play here, your parents work and make a living here to provide you a place to live — spending money that you are now using on spray paint — you would not be defam- ing it. Our community has prided itself on an identity that traces back more than 175 years. The clock tower is a tribute to that her- itage. You will not be allowed to destroy the goodwill and nature of this town. Tourism is essential to our community. Tagging, graffiti, tells visitors we are not a nice place to come to. It tells our own citizens we are degenerating into a rabble, where any gang of misfits can run roughshod over the community with impunity. We as a community need to take a stand. Businesses with alarm systems need to contact their providers and have cameras installed. We will catch you in the act. In addition, our local mer- chants, need to voluntarily stop selling spray paint. Adults who need the product can go out of the county to get it. Next, we need to educate our kids on the consequences of their actions. Get caught tagging: juve- nile hall, community service, expulsion from our high school. Your parents will be charged for the damage. That means their wages could be garnished. That means less money coming home. That means you the ones who have decided this is your town have now hurt the very people that provide you with the opportunity to live here. Parents, they are your responsi- bility till they are 18. There is no excuse for their behavior. As an employer, if I knew your kids were repeatedly being arrested and con- victed of this type of vandalism I would invite you to find a job else- where. If I were renting to you I would invite you to find some other place to rent. Finally, as a community, we would invite you to go live somewhere else. Red Bluff High School: The very resources you rely on for scholarships, sober grad, extracur- ricular activities are being siphoned off by these perpetrators. Your stu- dents know who is doing this. I propose we offer cash rewards for info leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible. We the business own- ers and members of the communi- ty will put up the reward money; you provide the information and education to your student body about the cause and effects of this vandalism and the negative impact this behavior has on them and their school. every dollar transferred to the government as taxes requires $1.30 in internal controls to fol- low government accounting and tax rules, including the cost of state and federal tax agen- cies. Your Turn Have you noticed that news articles on the advantages of solar and wind projects only mentions the value of the elec- tricity generated and ignores the Federal taxpayer costs to fund 30 per- cent of the building costs plus sometimes equal state taxpayer subsidies. Govern- ment can only create Harsh words. Harsh conse- quences. But it is our community. Be a part of it, a healthy, contribut- ing, protecting part of it; or go live somewhere else. William Moore, Red Bluff Jobs bill Editor: The jobs bill, with the approval of Congress, is all ready in progress, the problem it is in Afghanistan and Iraq. Mr. President bring our troops home. Then the money saved will allow you to proceed here in America. Robert Hogan, Red Bluff Solar and wind Editor: Accountants estimate that subsidies through taxes, or the deficit inflationary program of printing money or deficit bor- rowing from other countries. The $530 million loan made to solar manufacturer Solyndra, now in bankruptcy with total loss of Obama stimulus funds, is only the tip of the iceberg in the expected bankruptcy of many companies who have received wind, solar, battery, and biofuel stimulus low inter- est loans. Energy stimulus programs to manufacturers and system installers do not create jobs, but cause increased private sector unemployment. It is time to end the deficit causing stimulus programs for wind, solar, bat- teries, and biofuels facilities. If there is sufficient economic value, private investors will fund the projects. Government funding should be limited to basic research and not manu- facturing programs. A techni- cally illiterate President, Con- gress, and the Senate lacks the ability to fund economic valu- able manufacturing projects. Joseph Neff, Corning 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. Mourning in America Commentary In 1911, Leonardo Da Vinci's Mona Lisa was stolen from the Louvre Museum. Despite its seemingly eternal iconic status, prior to being stolen, historians assert the Mona Lisa was rela- tively unknown to the public. After knowledge about the heist was made known, the story is told that thousands of Parisians flocked to stare — at the empty spot on the wall where she once hung. A few years back, I found myself also staring — down the gaping hole that would soon become "home" to my deceased husband. The events of that day are blurry, with the exception of the drive from the cemetery. The sun was quickly fading in the western sky as the funeral home limousine whisked me due east into the darkness of night and concurrently into the darkest season of my life. Peering through the window, grief- stricken, I explicitly remember thinking my life would never be the same. It wasn't. And, over time, I realized how much I had taken for granted. Though not as dramatic as grieving the loss of loved one, or as superficial as grieving the loss of an inanimate object like the Mona Lisa, it seems a grow- ing number of Americans are now in mourning for the Ameri- ca they didn't fully appreciate until it was gone. They are longing for the time when civility and unity had a place in Washington politics and America led the world economi- cally, ethically and militarily. A time when planning for the future was a positive thing. Gas and food prices didn't force you to choose between basic neces- sities and your mortgage pay- ment, and jobs were in surplus and unemployment low. If anything positive could be said about the upheaval that has marked the past few years, it's that it sparked a reawakening to our national identity as a "shin- ing city on a hill," as Reagan so eloquently put it. At the same time, the Progressive left has seized the opportunity to peddle their own propaganda and pro- mote the "fundamental change" Obama so eloquently promised. Karl Marx once argued in 1859 the process for social revo- lution must include the econom- ic unraveling of capitalism before "A socialist society based on demo- cratic cooperation thus arises." The winds of change are again blow- ing as the 2012 election nears; Progressives understand the window for advancing their ideas under the Obama administration is rapid- ly closing. As a result, leaders are doing their best to convince the rest of us that America is in need of another revolution by manufac- turing anti-Capitalism protests around the country. Back in 2010, AFL-CIO president Richard Trumka said labor unions must control the "national conversation" and help to "fundamentally restruc- ture our economy," and former Obama administration environ- mental advisor (and avowed communist), Van Jones, echoed Trumka's charge and recently promised an "American Fall" similar to the recent Arab Spring protests. True to their words and their cause, "anti- everything" protests have broken out across America mak- ing the rest of us even more homesick for the land we once knew. Susan Brown Problem is, these twenty-something protesters simply don't know what they have in America. If rewarded for their efforts after protesting for the sake of protesting, they will find themselves star- ing at the empty hole that was this great country and will not even know why. Susan Stamper Brown is an op-ed columnist, motivational speaker, military family advocate and grief counselor who writes about politics, the military, the economy and culture. she can be reached at susan@susanstamperbrown.co m.