Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/505233
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 By Michael Reagan Turkey'sPresidentRe- cep Erdogan, one of President Obama's new best friends along with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, was extremely un- happy last week as truth-tellers worldwide observed the 100th anniversary of the beginning of the Armenian genocide. By the time the killing con- cluded an estimated 1.5 mil- lion Armenians lay dead in Turkey, killed by soldiers serv- ing the Ottoman Empire. One could accurately de- scribe President Erdogan as a genocide denier. He claims the death toll is wildly exag- gerated. What's more, accord- ing to him, there was nothing organized about the deaths. It was a time of civil war and unrest that just happened to be fatal to Armenians. Maybe they hadn't had their shots. Erdogan does everything but blame outside agitators for the deaths. My father knew different. In 1981 Ronald Reagan was the first U.S. president to call the Armenian deaths what they were: Genocide. On the other hand our current president not only doesn't refer to geno- cide as genocide, he manages to break yet another promise while dodging the truth. Aysor.am reports "As a pres- idential candidate in 2008, Barack Obama promised, if elected, to refer to the Turk- ish mass killing of Armenians that began in 1915 as geno- cide." Yet the word is nowhere to be found in his statement regarding the atrocity. What many miss in the dis- cussion of the slaughter — and possibly the reason Obama was reluctant to use an accu- rate description — is the Ar- menians were Christian and the Ottoman Turks were and are Muslims. Since Muslims are supposed to be the world's victims now, what with the scourge of "Islamophobia" running rampant, it is incon- venient in the extreme for the PC Police when others point out the indiscriminate slaugh- ter of Christians at the hands of a Muslim government. Turkey's response to other government's acknowledg- ment of the facts does nothing to help its case. In fact, Erdo- gan's response only makes him look guilty. When the Austrian Parlia- ment signed a declaration con- demning the genocide Tur- key declared the act would put "permanent stains on Turk- ish—Austrian friendship." Presumably Austria's parlia- ment vote is a much greater of- fense than repeated invasions of Austria by the Ottomans. Pope Francis also decried the mass murder of the Ar- menian Christians and for his trouble Turkey raged that his statement was "null and void" and recalled its ambassador. If this keeps up Turkey may have to construct special housing for recalled ambassadors since France, Germany, Canada and Russia join 16 other nations in condemning the genocide. A better solution would be for Turkey to admit the geno- cide and then ask for forgive- ness and make amends with the remaining Armenians. MichaelReaganisthesonof President Ronald Reagan, a political consultant, and author. Send comments to Reagan@caglecartoons.com. Making sense Another cover-up for religion of peace Cartoonist's take How ironic: A long time client, Vernon J. McK- ale of San Francisco, re- cently went to his reward. He had been stricken with Alzheimer's disease and I had difficulty learn- ing of his whereabouts in the bay area. You know the conceit we all harbor; we think if we show up at a care fa- cility, the impaired patient will suddenly recognize us, and we will feel that we are still an im- portant cog in his wheel. How- ever, I could not reach his son, so I called his business associ- ate Richard Hegarty in Fremont and asked for Vernon's where- abouts. He finally tracked him down only to learn that Vernon had recently died. Richard said he would check around and see where services might be held. We had phone conversations over the next week or so, and discussed the fine mind that Vernon pos- sessed only to be struck down with loss of memory. And then, Richard Hegarty's son called me to say that his father had just passed away. This was dispiriting news for all. If there is a moral to the story it is that nothing is for- ever, and lines of communication can be severed abruptly. ••• Sightem: A young woman at the wheel of a grey car at the traffic light at Main and Wal- nut. The light turns green but her car does not move. A young woman in a black car behind, honks in fury. Woman in grey car frantically tries to put her car in gear. Woman in car be- hind, still laying on the horn, pulls out around her and turns south onto Main on two wheels and speeds off. Grey car in front has wording on the side read- ing "Mac's Drving School." We were thus privy to the birth of road rage. From the Associated Press: "Tiny Tribe turns to adoption to boost revenue." The article con- tinues, "The Alturas Rancheria in Modoc County has adopted five members—two of which are non- Indian — in recent years. The new members have come with ambitious plans to make money." That is an admirable objective and we wish them well. If one wonders why non-Indians would want to be adopted into a tribe, the answer is simple: they can instantly be- come part of a "sovereign nation" which has cer- tain advantages such as not being required to pay taxes. The old stereotype of a dirt poor Indian liv- ing on a reservation may no longer be valid. Being a tribe member today, adopted or oth- erwise, can be construed as a good maneuver. ••• In our last effort, we com- mented on the famous "To Be or Not to Be" soliloquy of Shake- speare and the interpretation of the phrase "shuffle off this mor- tal coil." Despite German phi- losopher Arthur Schopenhau- er's contention that the author meant "shuttled" rather than "shuffled," a noted local Shake- spearian buff assures me that Schopenhauer was all wet, that "shuffled" stands and can be construed to mean ending a life or unburdening oneself of a "sea of troubles," real or imaginary. Not to put too fine a point on it, we would all prefer to unbur- den from time to time. But not being able to do so might result in carrying such baggage into our grave. This is no way to live, of course, but the unload might be so painful as to make "cow- ards of us all," and we fall back on yet another quote. ••• Sobering thought by Oscar Wilde: "Every great man has dis- ciples, but Judas writes the biog- raphy." Evidently the trick in life is not to be perceived as being great. I am working on that. ••• Sources say that individual ring side seats for the Saturday Mayweather-Pacquiao boxing match are going for $100,000. Fans not able to pay this out- rageous sum may pay a lot less for TV viewing in the comfort of their own home, but perhaps some of the sweat and tears will be missing if one is not ring side viewing the mayhem up close. That this is an absurd amount of money to pay for live "entertain- ment" is a given, and suggests vicarious fans are not that far removed from their ancestors in the safety of the trees. Tsk, tsk. ••• Last week's quiz was first an- swered correctly by L. Gaines of The Book Barn, who knew that Steinbeck's "Of Mice and Men" was first considered being named by the author as "Some- thing That Happened," that Harper Lee considered call- ing her novel "Atticus" before settling on "To Kill a Mocking Bird," and that Joseph Heller considered calling his novel "Catch 18," then "Catch 21" and finally the classic "Catch 22." This week's quiz: Sources say there were nine sovereigns at Windsor Castle for the funeral of King Edward VII in 1910. Rather than trying to name these chaps, which European countries in attendance had monarchs in those days? If that is not your cup of tea, then explain the rules of snooker, size of the pockets, the number and size of the balls as opposed to the game of pool, and then en- joy the Saturday night fight. ••• After becoming very frus- trated with a shopkeeper for not finding her a pair of alliga- tor shoes, the young blonde de- clared, "Well, then, maybe I'll just go out and catch my own alligator and get a pair of alli- gator shoes for free." The shopkeeper replied with a sly smile, "Well, little lady, why don't you go give it a try?" and the blonde headed off to the swamp, determined to catch an alligator. Later in the day, the shop- keeper spotted the young woman standing waist deep in the murky water of a swamp with shotgun in hand. He then saw a huge nine-foot gator swimming rapidly toward her. With light- ning reflexes, the blond took aim, shot the creature and hauled it up onto the slippery bank. Nearby were seven more dead gators all lying belly up. The shop- keeper watched in amazement as the blonde struggled with the ga- tor. Then, rolling her eyes, she screamed in frustration: "Oh, hell! This one is barefoot too!" Robert Minch is a lifelong resident of Red Bluff, former columnist for the Corning Daily Observer and Meat Industry magazine and author of the "The Knocking Pen." He can be reached at rminchandmurray@ hotmail.com. I say Tracking down an old acquaintance a little too late Sounding off A look at what readers are saying in comments on our website and on social media. I quit eating at establishments down on Main Street because it stinks to high heaven. I avoid even driving in that stretch when ever possible. I don't go to the park. It reeks. Sorry for your woes. Hope things get better soon. Kelly Walen: On resident suing city over sewage smell in west Red Bluff neighborhood. Such a great event supporting the youth in Tehama County. The promoters are also supporting the Berrendos School 2016 Washington, D.C. field trip. These kids will be parking cars both nights and doing a 50/50 raffle during both nights' events to raise money for their trip. Barbra Stark Casteel : On exhibition that will donate a portion of ticket sales to youth soccer. While the nation sleeps, a virulent epi- demic snakes across our width and breadth like a twisting toxic tornado. Every day, the tragic suf- ferers of this dreaded disease stagger dazedly down streets walking into poles and Armenians and through glass doors, oblivious to all around them. Often wan- dering into the path of oncom- ing traffic. Many times, they are the traffic that is oncoming. Of course we're talking about the virulent pestilence that is oversharing. It's a communicable condition commonly mischar- acterized as communication. These pitiable self-absorbed so- cial media casualties are easy to spot with their bowed heads and marked tendency to stare fixedly into their laps, faces bathed in an eerie glow and furiously twitching their thumbs. At least we hope that's what's going on. The harrowing evidence of the heartbreak of overshar- ing has become all too familiar. Scattered blooms of brilliance in darkened theaters. Blurry photos of a runny portabella mushroom parmesan risotto. Noble pets forced to pose in demeaning hol- iday themed costumes. Indiscriminate poking. Inane formulas designed to derive stripper names. Overly detailed records of various body fluid eliminations. The online community is a vora- cious beast that requires con- stant feeding and that gorg- ing has created a chorus of cries for validation the rest of us neither need to know about nor care to witness. Socrates opined that "an un- examined life is not worth liv- ing" but the Greek philoso- pher may be forgiven for living 24 centuries before our mass migration to Twitterville and Facebooklandia; blissfully un- aware of the grisly possibilities of the far end of the examina- tion stick. Hashtag egomania. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Lines to new movie openings are long and slow. That revela- tion does not rate any kind of a thumb — up or down. You spotted a Ca- nadian squirrel — ter- rific. We will alert Ot- tawa. Riding on buses during morning rush hour can get crowded. What next? Blue sky? Sand on a beach? Oh, goodie. A picture of sand on a beach below a blue sky. Yes, that looks like an awe- some Southern Comfort Old Fashioned Sweet. But unless you're bringing back a sip, no one is going to like it or share it or retweet it. Deal with it. And why is it the same folks who complain about NSA surveil- lance insist on chronicling their every nose pick for the whole world to see? Quit talking about going to get some milk at the cor- ner store and actually do it and then shut up about it, dumbass. And you should be aware that if you hit me with that selfie stick one more time, your upwards-of-70 followers are going to be treated to a ded- icated stream of an extreme close up of your large intes- tine. Friends don't let friends post confirmation of them act- ing like idiots. We haven't even addressed the issue of drunk posting, a cutting- edge form of so- cial and career sabotage. Fu- ture employers don't want to be able to access highlights of the bachelor party that went awry. Good rule of thumb — no nighttime photos. So, please, people. Only you can stamp out oversharing, a self-inflicted social disease that no antibiotic can cure. Perhaps someday, a solar flare or elec- tromagnetic pulse will come and wash away all our juve- nile posts and we will be forced to actually talk to one another. Again. Perish the thought. Will Durst is an award- winning, nationally acclaimed political comic. Email Will at durst@ caglecartoons.com. Raging moderate The heartbreak of oversharing Will Durst Robert Minch OPINION » redbluffdailynews.com Friday, May 1, 2015 » MORE AT FACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS A4