Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/45773
6A Daily News – Thursday, October 27, 2011 Opinion Spartans football Editor: 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 First and foremost, keep your heads up kids, coaches, and fans, the wins will come. Your community is behind you. A huge concern of mine and 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 many other's is the lack of School support. How come we are the only team, without visitor bleachers, that I know of? When you sit mixed up with the other towns fans, it makes it awk- ward to yell your support, or hear others negative words against our boys. It is also very annoying having both teams cheerleaders right next to each other. This makes the game very awk- ward to follow and overly loud! I see little 200 lbs bleachers by softball field, this is what we usual- ly sit on when we are at away games. If its good enough for us on away games, then it is good enough for our visitors during home games. When my team won its champi- onship in 91, you had your whole school staff on sidelines, wearing their RBHS FB garb and being there for their students. Why haven't I seen our Athletic Director at away games? The one time I did, he was in street clothes not even wearing RBHS clothing, to say where he from. Does he have to on both accounts? No he does not, but all the suc- cessful teams I see, you see tons of support by there staff. Our boys and coaches need our support during the good times and the bad times. Nothing against our Athletic Director, he was one of my coach- es during that 91 championship, but he was basically ran out as Head FB coach! Then put back in charge of it, in some capacity by becoming Administrator? His best interest is not gonna be supporting our FB program in any- way, because if they succeed, it tar- nishes his coaching time. It is just a huge conflict of inter- est, not saying in anyway that it is the primary problem. I love our coaches, i love Hasse, but there are a few more who are just as qualified or maybe more qualified. Devin Leitem, being one of them. Head Coach or even Co-Head coach.You give that coaching staff a Coach like Leitem, our program would go nowhere else but up. What truly makes a good pro- gram, is support from the top down. Make our school the best we can in every category. Fix the P.A system, put up away bleachers, get a new scoreboard, get a renovated snack bar area! Let's get back to Spartan Tradi- tion, that's a winning tradition! Go Spartans John Clinger, Red Bluff Underage drinking Editor: We are students from Red Bluff High and we are working on a campaign called "Parents Who Host Lose the Most." We strongly believe adults should hear our opinion on underage drinking. This is the opinion of a small group of students, so don't just take our word for it, ask your kid what they think. • It is easier than adults think for high school students to get alco- hol •We DO look up to you—if you drink in front of us, it sends a mixed message •We get upset about underage drinking too—it makes all of us teenagers look bad • We don't ALL drink—don't make assumptions • Just because we talk to you about alcohol does- n't mean we are drinking—some- times we just have questions We have gath- ered more than 300 Your Turn signatures of adults who pledge not to give teens alcohol. We will have a booth at the Red Bluff High Homecoming Game on October 28th. Come and see us and sign a pledge if you agree not to give alcohol to teens. Students who want to pledge to encourage their friends to stay alcohol free can sign our student pledge. Becca, 9th grade; Ivie, 10th grade; Kelly, 11th grade From Don Bird Editor: Why Bird won —Nielsen - 2. Bird - 3. Allow me to set the Restraining Court Order straight. Nielsen: 1. I promised not to enter the Nielsen's property on Pomona Avenue in Gerber for 3 years. This order was not necessary because I would never enter any property, especially this property when post- ed "No Trespassing." 2. I promised not to attempt any Citizen's Arrest of "Nielsen" for 3 years. This stipulation was not nec- essary because I do not have the support of the Sheriff's Depart- ment. Past efforts to arrest Nielsen were futile because both Tehama County Sheriffs Hencratt and Park- er denied support for my attempted Citizen's Arrest. Had they obeyed their "Oath," this Nielsen Restrain- ing Order would never have occurred. If District Attorney Cohen had indicted and prosecuted :Nielsen, Cohen would have obeyed his duty to the people. FYI: Attorney Aaron Williams stated that I did have probable cause supported by 2 Califor- nia Penal Code Sections. Bird: 1. Iwas returned my Con- stitutional Right to Freedom of travel with no requirement to keep my distance. 2. Iwas returned my Constitu- tional 2nd Amendment Right to Keep and Bear Arms. 3. In agreeing to the above, Nielsen agreed to forgive the $7,500 Judgement that Judge Gar- aventa ordered against me from my Write of Mandamus in 2008 when I was "Tossed Out of Court" because this Judge stated he didn't have the Jurisdiction. The accusation of stalking is incorrect. To stalk someone, that person needs to be observed. I never saw Marilyn Nielsen until October 21st in Court. Her Court Deceleration, in my opinion, was a concocted Fabrication - Under Oath. If she saw someone on her property, it was not me. All those who believe this settlement was unfair to me are misguided. In my opinion, Nielsen is the loser. As long as I keep my promise to the stipulations, I win. There was and remains a well orchestrated cover-up on Nielsen. Obstruction of Justice for over 3 years. Don Bird, Rancho Tehama 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. Americans see themselves as homesteaders...not the eventual rich Commentary I spoke with a thirty-something mother of two residing in suburban New Jersey about the Occupy Wall Street movement. She was disgusted by their antics. "Our business failed, our house was foreclosed on, we lost everything and you don't see us blaming someone else for it!" she exclaimed. "It's about personal responsibility!" She lost everything as a result of the economic meltdown and yet still puts it on herself for not hav- ing anticipated or planned proper- ly beforehand. I tried to explain that protesting a rigged system isn't the opposite of personal responsibility. Doing what you can about the cards being stacked against you and 99 percent of your fellow Americans is, personally, responsive. And that is what Occu- py Wall Street and their interna- tional — viral solidarity demon- strations say they are there to do. There's a bastardized quote attributed to John Steinbeck that says socialism never took root in America because we all think we're just temporarily embarrassed millionaires. The actual quote, which Steinbeck wrote in America and Americans, is more pointed, "I guess the trouble was that we did- n't have any self-admitted proletar- ians. Everyone was a temporarily embarrassed capitalist." We're not really a culture of delusional dreamers who all believe someday we will be wealthy. There are some, sure. Their escapist fantasy involves a windfall and a secluded island. There are also those who (still) actually become rich. But for the vast majority of Americans — the myth is less we are going to be rich — the myth which led us to the extreme wealth distribution deba- cle we're now in — is that we're all homesteaders. You don't have to grow your own food, build your own house or "paint your own wagon" to believe you could if you really wanted to. And really, did in some indirect way. We're a society full of pioneers, pilgrims and immigrants. We were a religious freedom sanctuary from England and then penal colony for England — insulted, neglected and over-taxed by the empire. This led us to tell the King of England off, then engage the most powerful army in the world at the time for our independence. And we succeeded at it. Then people from all over the world flocked here to find refuge and opportunity. It has led Ameri- cans to have a bit of bravado about who we are as a people. We think of ourselves as rugged individual- ists. Because it takes courage and determina- tion to leave your country and forge a new life in this one — and most of us are descended from those people. It's not so much that we think our destiny is to be rich — it's that we believe our destiny is ours. We make our fortunes or we don't make our fortunes. We block out of our minds that roads aren't a natural- ly occurring phenomena; that buildings take legions of workers to erect or that energy comes from somewhere. We think we do it all and when we fail — it's our fault. So when things don't go our way, we don't blame outside fac- tors. When we fail, we don't see that the game is fixed. We tug at our bootstraps and feel anguish at our own deficiencies. The reason why Occupy Wall Street is resonating still with Americans is because there are those who've been living with shame for what they see as not being self-sufficient...enough. They're not "embarrassed capital- ists," they're mortified homestead- ers. They've been laid off, they've lost their homes, their retirement is gone — they feel personally humiliated that (according to their personal creed) they didn't do the right thing and maybe could have avoided Tina Dupuy this defeat. Occupy Wall Street is letting people who've been in the shadows know that they're not alone and they didn't cause this. It's something Ameri- cans at their core don't usually believe. It's actually a tough sell. But the movement is growing so apparently there are some converts. Americans in general, and the downtrodden specifically, are fig- uring out they're not alone. They are, in fact, The 99 Per- cent. Tina Dupuy is an award- winning writer and the managing editor of Crooks and Liars. Tina can be reached at tinadupuy@yahoo.com.