Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/529503
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 I want to start by telling you that I have great respect for all religions, but I usually find myself on the secular side of things. I have felt for most of my life that "I do not really know what I believe." Ihavebeentryingtofig- ure out which religion is best since I was in my teens. Being told that I just had to have "faith" has not worked for me. However, I have tried that from time to time. I believe choosing a reli- gion is immensely hard to do. Should one be a Roman Cath- olic, Seventh Day Adventist, Jehovah Witness, Latter-day Saint (Mormon) or Muslim? I think all religions stand for the good rules that one should follow in life. As you follow today's news, you learn that it's the "following" that's the hard thing to do. More today in America, and around the world, religion and politics have become very hard to separate. Pew Re- search has just released what I think is stunning informa- tion about how we as a coun- try feel about religion. For openers, they reported last month that 22.8% of Amer- icans are not affiliated with any religion. And the trend shows that percentage is in- creasing. I am guessing that trend will be better for Democrats than Republicans. My per- sonal political experience has taught me that Demo- crats, as a rule, think govern- ment should take care of ev- eryone in every way. Most Re- publicans generally think our citizens should take care of themselves and look to their God for direction. I know this is the touchiest of topics. I would love to have your candid thoughts about religion. Don't worry. This is America, where you can say anything about anything or anyone while living in almost total freedom. God bless, America. I found it quite interesting that Americans 50 years or older are now affiliated with one of the major religions. Is that because more mature people think more about the end of their life? 36 years and younger say they have no re- ligious affiliation. 70% of the more youthful citizens voted for President Obama. Inci- dentally, I think Mr. Obama's age had something to do with that. I think one's age has a tremendous influence on all their and our decisions. I am now of the opinion that no American will ever be elected to the office of our President unless they are of the Christian persuasion, a prejudice most of our citizens take for granted. I have no quibble with that, especially because all religions usually and basically have good val- ues. For instance, I have no personal problem with Pope Benedict, The Budda or any symbol of right. As a personal favor to my wife, last year I was even baptized in an As- sembly of God Church. It did not hurt a bit. Mytakeonmovies I think you would enjoy actors Bradley Cooper and Emma Stone doing a really good job in "Aloha." I recom- mend you see this film if only to make a boring afternoon or evening worth living. Cooper and Stone are among Hollywood's beauti- ful people, just like Hawaii is one of the beautiful states. Location shooting helps make "Aloha" an even better love story. Director Cameron Crowe ("Fast Times at Ridgemont High" and "Jerry Maquire") has even included a classified launch of a secret weapons satellite from the 50th state. However, I think you will find the romantic part of this movie more interesting. You might have to suspend your belief system a bit, but I think you will enjoy "Aloha." 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 On deciding what religion is best I am now of the opinion that no American will ever be elected to the office of our President unless they are of the Christian persuasion, a prejudice most of our citizens take for granted. BringinTehamato shapeupRedBluff Editor: There are just a few things that a city management must take care of. Streets are one of the more important ones. Do everybody a favor and take a short drive down 99W. Get past the bumpy part on South Main and turn left at Proberta. Follow straight through Gerber until you end up in Tehama. It used to be the county seat un- til the folks in Red Bluff decided they could do a better job. They were wrong. Anyway. Drive around Te- hama for a while. Go down 2nd Street to D and turn right and just see if you notice something. They have real streets in Te- hama. Drive up and down all of the streets. Smooth streets. No bumps. No potholes. Just streets for people to ride their cars and bikes on, and you won't shake the fillings out of your teeth in the whole grand tour. I have a suggestion. Have a re- call election in Red Bluff. Get rid of the mayor and the city council and go down to Tehama and hire their mayor and city council on a part time, temporary basis, just until they get Red Bluff straight- ened up and running like a city again. Cool? I think this is the best idea I've had in the last three years. — Fred Boest, Red Bluff Reader's interpretationoflaw Editor I ask that everyone read the California Constitution, Article I, Section 25. Art. I Sec, 25: The people shall have the right to fish upon and from the public lands of the State and in the waters thereof, excepting upon lands set aside for fish hatcheries, and no land owned by the State shall ever be sold or transferred without re- serving in the people the ab- solute right to fish thereupon; and no law shall ever be passed making it a crime for the people to enter upon the public lands within this State for the purpose of fishing in any water contain- ing fish that have been planted therein by the State; provided, that the legislature may by stat- ute, provide for the season when and the conditions under which the different species of fish may be taken. Every Fish and Wildlife em- ployee, legislator and judge who refused to accept this right to fish becomes a Liar. I was found guilty almost two years ago, fined $740 and as yet never been billed. The violation of any public ser- vant's oath is the reason I will never pay this fine. I was never duly convicted by a jury. Just an- other right the system denied me. I presented two viable so- lutions when the license fee is gone. My Assemblyman Dan Logue refused to give it any con- sideration. Another liar. — Don Bird, Rancho Tehama Breachoftrust Editor: As WWII drew to a close, in- stead of the universally desired global peace, a new so called Cold War version emerged and reared its ugly head, which fur- ther intensified the already exist- ing unrest and economic insta- bility plaguing post-war Europe at the time. Moreover, fear and speculation abounded regarding the threat of further westward expansion by the Soviet Union and the specter of its occupa- tion of the remainder of the con- tinent, which predictably would have resulted in the confiscation of all existing wealth and trea- sure. Fortunately, the United States represented a unique island of tranquility and stability amid the raging turmoil and offered to provide a depository for storage and safe keeping of Western Eu- rope's gold reserves, which our friends and allies were elated to avail themselves of immediately and even continuing far beyond, as overall wealth and prosperity grew and expanded over the in- tervening years, especially dur- ing the famous post-war boom. Eventually, in the aftermath of the final and long hoped for collapse of the Soviet Union in 1990, some of these countries and their governments decided to ask for an inspection and ac- tual physical inventory of their gold deposits at Ft. Knox and its Denver/West Point subsidiaries, with surprising results that ex- posed an incredible lack of trans- parency. For instance, let's focus on the case of Germany, one of our staunchest friends and al- lies, whose representatives of the Bundesbank visited in 2007 for that purpose, but were merely al- lowed to spend time in an ante- room amid verbal assurances by U.S. custodians that their gold deposits are in good hands. A follow up visit in 2011 produced similar results, with the excep- tion of being allowed to han- dle a few individual gold bars, plus a cursory view through an open door to one of the 9 com- partments ostensibly containing their deposit of over 1,500 tons, with strict instructions to look, but not enter or touch. Uncle Sam, who happens to be over $18 trillion in arrears to himself and the rest of the world at large, obviously lives far be- yond his means, and is depen- dent upon manipulation and the forced global acceptance of his fiat currency, which is sub- stantially increased by the Fed, which routinely pumps an ad- ditional unfunded $90 billion a month into circulation. Perish the thought, but what conclusion would you draw, hav- ing long ago entrusted your fam- ily's jewelry and other valuables to a safe deposit box in the vault of a reputable local bank which is now, many years later, reputed to be insolvent and poised to file for bankruptcy protection. To make matters even worse, imag- ine yourself not only categori- cally denied access, but most im- portantly also the right and enti- tlement to retake possession and control of your assets which un- der these conditions more than likely have been confiscated, spent and essentially disap- peared into thin air. To wit: If it looks like a skunk, walks like a skunk and smells like a skunk, it is probably a skunk. — Joe Bahlke, Red Bluff Your opinions Cartoonist's take Although I grew up watch- ing Walt Disney's "Wonder- ful World of Color" on Sun- day nights and have amassed a huge collection of Disney comic books, it looked as if I would never darken the gates of Walt Disney World Resort. But this year, wife Melissa employed "when you wish upon a star" pluck and masterfully put together a Florida vacation for us, including a one-day visit to the Magic Kingdom portion of the sprawling resort. It was a "now or Neverland" situation, as son Gideon (age 11) will soon reach the age at which being seen in public with one's parents would be so mor- tifying as to necessitate perma- nent residence in the Haunted Mansion. The Magic Kingdom brings families together — but those long lines also bring a lot of hy- gienically challenged strangers together. Hey, it's a small world after all — use some deodorant! Walt died while the park was still in its planning stages, but brother Roy O. Disney dedi- cated "a magic kingdom where the young at heart of all ages can laugh and play and learn — together." Alas, learning isn't what it used to be. People used to figure out things like "There's a New World between Europe and India" or "Micro- scopic organisms can cause dis- ease." All I learned was "There are a gazillion little girls who get less sick on Space Mountain than you do." To my surprise, Gideon (the social studies whiz and listener to Mark Levin's radio show) didn't want to visit the iconic Hall of Presidents. Perhaps it's because of rumors that Disney's Imagineers are no longer di- recting the actions of the ani- matronic chief executives. My first clue was the Hall of Poll- sters going up next door. Various signs around the park remind visitors and em- ployees alike that "It All Started With A Mouse." Yes, a slogan just a little cheerier than "It all started with an irregularly shaped mole." All the park employees were so doggone friendly. I wondered about the ones who have to wear those elaborate character costumes all day. I could imag- ine the accountants singing, "The wonderful thing about Tiggers, is Tiggers are replace- able things!" I know I'll retain tunes from the park for the next several months, but they may evolve. Snow White's "Whistle While You Work" will more likely be- come "Whistle while you take all those expensive souvenirs and mark them 25 cents for your garage sale." We did not get to go on the 7 Dwarfs Mine Car ride. I think they were having technical dif- ficulties after discovering that one of the dwarfs was actually a moonlighting NBA star. ("But my parents are both dw—don't bump your head, Dad...") The park is supposed to be about escapism, but it seems to me that going on the Pirates of the Salesbbean ride just re- minds you that you're spending like drunken sailors on the va- cation. I'm glad we saw Cinderel- la's Castle, the late-night pa- rade and the incredible fire- works display. But after totaling up our food bill, I wonder how come the Disney World com- mercials always approach some- one after they've won a Super Bowl but before they go to the park? Maybe a more accurate ad would go something like, "You've done Disney. What are you going to do next?" "I'm going to see if there's a loophole in that contract sell- ing my vital organs. Like this spleen." "Let it go!" Danny Tyree welcomes email responses at tyreetyrades@aol. com and visits to his Facebook fan page Tyree's Tyrades. Danny Tyree The Tyree family does Florida's Walt Disney World OPINION » redbluffdailynews.com Thursday, June 18, 2015 » MORE AT FACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS A6