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4A Daily News –Wednesday, November 30, 2011 Opinion Oversight 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 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. 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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 Mother Nature is trying to kill me. She's been after me for quite a while. She came at me when I was a kid with rainstorms and flooded creeks and trees that jumped in front of my bike. I made it to adulthood, though, and bought my first house, a fixer-upper in the coun- try. Boy, did she come after me then. My first project was to tear off an old porch enclosure -- only to discover 80 hornet nests hidden in the walls. I got away with only several stings. I had to wait weeks for cold weather -- hornets move slowly in the cold -- to finally zap them with spray. As winter came on, nature followed me indoors. One night I was awakened by a loud scratching noise inside the wall next to my bed. I discovered three mice had taken over my house. I set traps, put out poi- son and even rigged up an elec- tronic device that was supposed to drive them away. It took weeks to get rid of the freeloaders. The closest I ever came to dying -- and I am not making this up -- was when I was overdue Editor: I read Mr. Neff's letter. One has to admire his life of sacrifice, self- education and investing. I also sac- rificed and invested. Some of my investments ended up going down the toilet because of the manipula- tions of certain investors. I know the only reason I am a retired per- son now, living somewhat com- fortably is because of my lifelong investment in the Social Security program and a fortunate invest- ment in the pension fund of one company I worked for that did not go out of business and steal my pension in the process. Out of curiosity I looked up the programs that President Roosevelt initiated during the great depres- sion. I'm amazed that Mr. Neff did- n't benefit even peripherally from at least some of those federal pro- grams; i.e.; CCC, FERA. WPA, FDIC, NLRB, SEC, FHA, REA, SSB, and maybe even the TVA. I know that without the FDIC mil- lions of Americans would have lost all the money they had in the bank in the recent banking scan- dals. Thank God and Franklin D. that program was in place to pro- tect the little people. So I looked over the programs that Mr. Neff feels are not neces- sary. He listed ADC, food stamps, SS disability, $10,000.00 per child school subsidy, (I thought we paid for the schools through our proper- ty taxes.) a $13,000 annual family Medicaid policy, (How does one get that?), taxpayer funded preschool, free school lunches, winter heating subsidies (Really?), free school busing, (That was mandated by the Supremes), col- lege tuition financial aid, (You're supposed to pay those loans back), It looks to me like Mr. Neff somehow managed to become a wealthy person through his efforts alone. I hope he does not become ill with some semi-serious disease. I myself had to visit a hospital for a blood vessel scan and had the use for four hours of a bed in a 4 person ward and a half hour use of a fine piece of equipment. Fortunately I had an excellent group insurance policy from my employer and they paid the $38,000 the hospital billed me. Mr. Neff is just not aware of what an illness or any other disaster can cost the average person. Namely, everything they have in a week. Mr. Neff does give some good advice for people to follow, if they can, are intelligent enough, and don't run into some unforeseeable disaster like a guy running into them head on in a tunnel. What Mr. Neff doesn't explain is his total lack of compassion for his fellow man. Does he think all these pro- grams were unnecessary? That they were implemented solely to take money from the rich? When we got into the great depression corporate earnings were rising rapidly and wages were stagnant. When the stock market collapsed many of the rich were still rich, because they had cash. But the guy that lost his job in their mill had nothing to fall back on. And don't tell me they should have saved 15 percent of their income, because inflation was also rampant in those years. Funny thing about capitalism; as the supply goes down the price goes up. So if you can't buy a loaf of bread, don't worry, it'll be more expensive tomorrow. Capitalism does work to a cer- tain extent, but business and gov- ernment both need both restraints and oversight. Fred Boest, Red Bluff Bad neighbors Editor: My inconsiderate neighbor. I am shocked at the lack of consideration my neighbors have. Just because we have fields that separate us does not mean your out in the country. We are in a neighborhood with home to find him dead. The next day, the neighbors shooting made me realize they had scared the colt through the fences. This last holiday week another Your Turn several houses around. Yet they think it is okay to shoot out into the fields at anything that moves with no regard for the fact that the neighbors in nearby houses every time your blast goes off. Once people move from the city to the outskirts of town they think it is wilderness. Well it is not, and I have a right to the comfort of my home without having the win- dow shake, the horses scared through the fences, my guests and dog having a panic attacks. You might even consider the fact that now with so many sol- diers coming home those guns going off in our fields cause sheer havoc on their post traumatic stress. Every holiday my inconsider- ate neighbors go out to shoot towards my house making it impossible to enjoy our time in our home. I have to stay home every holiday now due to the fact that they spook our animals. A couple of years ago our foal was spooked through a couple of fences and he ran till all his blood ran out of his body. We came neighbor's dog ran frantically around trying to find safety from the gunfire and every time it ran through my property I would have to wrangle my dogs not to attack it. I tried to catch the terri- fied dog to help it but couldn't. Meanwhile the inconsiderate neighbors kept shooting at anything that flew by with no regard to the panic stricken dog. Why don't you do what respon- sible gun owners do, and go to a target practice recreation area or go out in the wilderness? Not our back yards. This year was another very bad holiday since I did have a guest that had sacrificed for our country and served two terms overseas and now suffers from post traumatic stress. The shooting guns outside my house set her off into a full blown panic attack. When we asked why they are shooting, they called us crazy and continued on. I had someone drive my veteran friend home while I stayed to manage things in case of another incident. So, trying to manage a panic stricken person, a panic stricken running dog, my old dog that cannot handle the gunfire and making sure the horses were safe from falling bullets, made a horrible time of a four days holi- day. Thank you crappy neighbors for not caring. No wonder no one around likes you guys. I under- stand. Irene Nelson, 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), 2595 Cean- othus Ave., Ste. 182, Chico, CA 95973; 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. Me vs. Mother Nature Commentary attacked by ground bees nest- ing in a planter I had just built. These vicious buggers keep stinging you until you are 100 feet away from their nest. Well, following the advice of a rural neighbor, I got a can- ister of gasoline and poured some into the nest. I set the canister on the ground, 4 feet away. I lit a match, but before I could throw it into the nest, I heard "Wooooooooooof!" You see, "Wooooooooooof!" is the sound gasoline makes when it ignites. It ignites because it gives off fumes. And gasoline fumes -- I tend to learn things the hard way -- are flammable! Suddenly, an 8-foot-high flame shot out of the bees' nest -- right up the side of my fresh- ly painted house! I noticed to my right that the air-relief valve on the gas canister, which contained two and a half gal- lons of fuel, had a small flame coming out of it. I calmly tried to douse the flame it with my thumb (I was wearing leather gloves) but it came right back. Fearing the flame would soon ignite the contents in the canister, I picked the thing up and ran down my driveway, cussing. I launched the two- and-a-half-gallon Molotov cocktail into the air. When it land- ed, it exploded into a spectacular ball of flames. I raced for the hose, which was sup- plying water to a sprinkler way on the other side of my yard, and barely managed to douse both fires before I burned down the neighborhood. Given the first oppor- tunity, she will chew us up like we're some kind of cud in a cow's mouth and spit us out -- she'll even do this to the people who've gone to desperate lengths to save from humanity. Tom Purcell These are just some of the many confrontations I've had with Mother Nature. I haven't mentioned the snake incident, my war with the groundhogs or how, every time we get a drizzle, the water that enters my basement makes Niagara Falls look like a lap pool. In any event, this is one thing that puzzles me about the tactics of some environmental- ists. They try to scare us into believing that Mother Nature is feeble and weak. But anybody who has faced the wrath of Mother Nature knows that isn't entirely so. her It seems to me that the people and politi- cians who want strin- gent new laws and higher taxes to cor- rect the harm they say we are causing Mother Nature would 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. be better off focusing on cold, hard science, rather than play- ing our emotions. Maybe if they spent a few days at my rural house, they'd arrive at the same conclusion -- assuming they survive Mother Nature's wrath. ———