Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/504504
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@ redbluffdailynews.com Fax: 530-527-9251 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 Ihavehadvaccinationsand flu shots for over 76 years. I never enjoyed the needle, but who does? I can tell you that I did not enjoy the measles or whooping cough I once had as a child. This month at your state's capital in Sac- ramento a really good and ef- fective legislator, State Sena- tor Richard Pan, has gotten threats because of his ef- forts supporting vaccinations, which protect all of us, espe- cially our children. Mr. Pan as even been compared to the Nazis. Vaccinations have rather suddenly become controver- sial again. For the last few years there was an increas- ing proportion of people who are refusing vaccinations. This time the controversy all started with that outbreak of measles early this year at Dis- neyland. A big part of the debate is whether to go with science or just let the parents and guardians of children make the decisions on this facet of their children's health. I have decided that science is the di- rection that should be taken. After all, imagine how much good vaccinations have al- ready accomplished in the battles against mumps, ru- bella, polio, hepatitis, etc. As the viruses continue to morph and multiply, we must stay and battle them on the front line with vaccinations. In research for this col- umn I learned that rabies was the very first virus used in a lab to create a vaccine for hu- mans. Somewhat unfortu- nately a good deal of the in- formation on this is found on the Internet or from celebri- ties, a notoriously inaccurate data source. And, most of the vaccine-preventable outbreaks occur in areas where vaccina- tion has declined. To make things even more confusing Robert Kennedy Jr. has been lobbying Congress against the use of "thimer- osal," a mercury-containing preservative once used widely in childhood vaccines. How- ever, it was taken out of those vaccines in 2001. As it is turn- ing out, none of the Demo- crats in Congress are taking him seriously. Let me tell you why sci- ence and progress is the team I will be helping. Just five years ago, I discovered that I needed open heart surgery. It turned out that a six-way by- pass was needed. It was done, obviously successfully, as I am still writing this column and doing lots of chainsaw work in my 20 acres of forest land just east of Redding. Then, I faint and suffered a mild con- cussion that was followed by outpatient surgery to remove a small amount of skin can- cer. Not my luckiest period. I am now way too famil- iar with medical facilities in Sacramento. However, I am grateful to all those who have made such big progress in so many medical fields. Looking at just one disease, there were 121 cases of measles in 17 states recently. Around 80 percent of those occurred among those individuals who had not been vaccinated. With those statistics, I am with the vaccinated people. Strangely, this has turned into a situation of for or against. I feel this has exag- gerated the true size of those people against vaccinations. Tragically, that is a phenom- enon that occurs regularly in the controversial world of pol- itics. Mytakeonthemovies My movie review this week is "Woman in Gold," starring Helen Mirren and Ryan Reyn- olds. First, I think it would be a bit of a sin to not like any performance by Mirren. She's the actor from "The Queen." I see all her movies. An easy five stars for this docudrama which is set mostly in Aus- tria during the atrocities com- mitted during the Holocaust. Treat yourself to this wonder- ful film and let me know what you think about vaccines or this movie. Thanks. StanStathamserved1976- 1994 in the California Assembly and was a television news anchor at KHSL-TV in Chico 1965- 1975. He is president of the California Broadcasters Association and can be reached at StanStatham@ gmail.com. My take Science wins vaccination arguments Somewhat unfortunately a good deal of the information on this is found on the Internet or from celebrities, a notoriously inaccurate data source. Kudos for chili cook-off Editor: Another great chili cook- off and car show to kick start rodeo week for the Red Bluff Round-Up. Thanks to Rotarians Michelle Blunkall for another successful chili cook-off, Travis Dolling for getting the many sponsors, Roy Gould for running the beer con- cession and new Rotarian Rob McGrew for the car show. According to many of the classic car and hot-rod enthu- siasts of the car club, McGrew put on one of the best of the chili cook-off car shows they have attended over the years. With a record number of clas- sic cars, hot rods and vintage WWII Jeeps ready for combat. Also, due to the larger than normal turnout of spectators the car show lasted well into the afternoon. Bill Craft from Grants Pass, Oregon got the best paint for his 1958 Chevy Bel Air. Jim Ha- sell's 1967 Pontiac GTO was the people's choice. Frank Bach- meyer's 1973 Chevy Vega was best stock with only 810 origi- nal miles and even the tires are original. Another one of the vehi- cles that received a lot of at- tention was a 1953 five window Chevy pickup. It was mister in-between, one point behind the 1958 Chevy Bel Air for best paint and one point behind the 1967 Pontiac GTO for people's choice. The people's choice was done by Steve Mattingly of Red Bluff Collision, the best paint and mister in-between by Gary Murray of Gary's Auto Body Re- pair. I would like to give a shout out to all the people that, over the years, have made the chili cook-off and car show a success and I would be remiss if I didn't recognize the father of this brainchild, Mr. Rotary himself, Ron Judson. — Les Wolfe, Red Bluff Your wages vs. your employer's Editor: I can well understand the di- lemma. All of us, especially those that do the actual work. This problem is not new, it has been going on since the begin- ning of time. All in the cur- rent workforce have a legitimate gripe — i.e., they do the work for which they are paid minimum wages, while their bosses take home 6 and 7 figure incomes. This is not the way it should be, but most if not all minimum wage employees cannot afford to give up the jobs they have in the hopes of sending the message to those aforementioned employ- ers, simply because most or all of them don't have any money to take care of your daily needs. While they do have a legit- imate complaint, getting the message to their bosses will take time, time you still have but need to force a change of attitude to those bosses that are taking home extraordinarily high wages while the employees are forced to live on whatever is left and their families go with- out a lot of basic needs. Employees need to write a petition, list their complaints and the wages they believe they should be getting and send it to their employers with the signa- tures of those making the com- plaints. They should give their bosses an ultimatum, either pay better wages of figure out how you're going to run your busi- ness all day by yourself. Trust me, no employer is go- ing to even try to run his own business by himself. Those em- ployers will realize how truly valuable all of their employees are and that it has been their ef- forts that have kept the business alive and making them rich. The CEOs of the companies that employ a huge labor force that runs into the millions can- not afford to let their employees live on the wages most are ex- isting on. The bosses know this, but as long as people are will- ing to work for peanuts so their bosses can afford all the things the labor force has to go with- out, they will continue to make the working poor suffer. Employees should not quit their jobs, if they have one, but should organize their efforts. The bosses need to realize the party's over. They will get rich, but a lot slower, meanwhile once they start paying their work force better wages their companies will continue to suc- ceed and survive. It is a simple, known fact no company can survive without a happy, healthy work force. Whether it is Walmart or fast food outlets or whomever, if you start a business and you need to hire a lot of people to run your business, if you don't treat them right they will leave and you will go out of business. — Eddie Smith, Red Bluff On Israel and Netanyahu Editor: Netanyahu said, "As the Na- zis strived to trample civiliza- tion and replace it with a 'master race' while destroying the Jewish people, so is Iran striving to take over the region and expand fur- ther with a declared goal of de- stroying the Jewish state." If any state can be compared with Hitler's Germany today it is Israel. From its very inception it has terrorized robbed and bru- tally murdered the inhabitants around that area with indem- nity because they're supposedly "God's people." There is no way of knowing if Netanyahu's lineage goes all the way back to the Israelites of the Bible but even if it did please show me any place in that book were God commands us to sup- port thieves and murders. Netanyahu says a lot of things but how much of what he says is true? In my opinion very lit- tle if any. More importantly, how many children are you willing to sacrifice in a war defending those gangsters? — Orval Strong, Gerber Your opinions Cartoonist's take This year my mother (still going strong at age 88) marks 50 years as an antique collec- tor. Since I grew up in a world of hand-stitched quilts, milk churns, Depression glass and yellowing Montgomery Ward catalogues, I have learned to ap- preciate the classics. So, rather than assailing you with something untested and avant garde this Mother's Day, I will fall back on last year's tried and true theme. Borrowing from comedian Red Buttons' "never got a dinner!" routine on the "Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts" of the 70s, I will once more ac- knowledge unsung mothers who never got a column. For instance: Muhammad Ali's mother, who cajoled, "Eat! Eat! Or you'll wind up floating like a butterfly!" Bruce Jenner's mom, who sud- denly realized, "Oops. I ran out of snips and snails and puppy dog tails. I wonder if anyone will notice I made substitutions?" Julius Caesar's no-nonsense mother, who announced, "I came. I surprised. I grounded." The mother of the Brothers Grimm, who hinted, "Now tell me how this vase came to be broken. I know you won't make up anything." Harry Houdini's mother, who insisted, "We're going to visit your great-aunt and that's final. Let's see you wiggle out of this one." Nostradamus' mother, who sang him the lullaby "Whatever will be, will be, the future's not ours to see, que sera sera." Captain Ahab's mother, who demanded, "What you need in your life is focus. Focus." Paul McCartney's mother, who advised, "Always cross the street single-file — and don't wear shoes." Jonah's mother, who repri- manded, "Don't talk when you're food in someone's mouth." The mother of William S. Har- ley, co-founder of Harley David- son, who nagged, "Keep your el- bows off the table and don't ask for seconds. Nobody likes a HOG." Martin Luther's longsuffering mother, who scolded, "You call them 'theses'. I call them crayon scribbling on my door. Get a washcloth and soap, young man!" Marco Polo's mother, who prodded, "There are starv- ing children in China who would give anything for that food. If you don't believe me, go (snicker) check for yourself." Galileo's mother, who beamed, "Of course the sun doesn't orbit around the earth. It orbits around YOU, my precious bambino!" Plastic Man's mother, who sighed, "Okay, you've got me on the stretch marks. But let me tell you about midnight feedings and toxic diapers..." Clint Eastwood's exasperated mother, who intoned, "Oh, you'll never understand, but some- times I feel as if I'm talking to an empty chair!" Artist M.C. Escher's mother, who moaned, "I turn my back for a minute, and you turn the house topsy turvy!" George Washington's mother, who groaned, "Apparently your new mittens went across the Po- tomac, too, when you were out tossing dollars." Pablo Picasso's mother, who apologized, "Honest, if I hadn't blown such a wad in Vegas, I was taking you to the optometrist." Hippocrates' mother, who complained, "Father of Medi- cine? How about being the fa- ther of my grandchildren? And why isn't the first law of medi- cine, 'kiss a boo-boo to make it feel better'?" And that's just the tip of the iceberg. Maybe next year... What's this? Mothers are pre- emptively contributing to a kick- starter campaign to guaran- tee that they still don't get a col- umn. Hmph! How sharper than a serpent's tooth it is to have a thankless mother! Speaking of which, Shakespeare's mother, a priest and a rabbi walked into a bar... Danny Tyree welcomes email responses at tyreetyrades@aol. com and visits to his Facebook fan page Tyree's Tyrades. Danny Tyree Mother's Day — unsung heroines get the spotlight Stan Statham OPINION » redbluffdailynews.com Thursday, April 30, 2015 » MORE AT FACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS A6