Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/533931
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 IbelieveinmanywaysIam like most husbands; I have "husband hearing," I collect miscellaneous bits and pieces I am sure I will use some day, and I just don't take the time to cull my valuable collection. Husband hearing is re- lated to "selective hearing." I my case it manifests itself in being unable to hear direc- tions, particularly those about picking up after myself, or or- ganizing the various collec- tions of things I deposit here and there. I am working on overcoming this male disabil- ity. The other day I tried to play a CD in our single CD player, one seldom used. It made a whirring sound while it at- tempted to open the tray for the CD; finally I got a letter opener and helped it with its task. It opened, and I put the CD in to play. You can proba- bly guess the rest of the story. The CD player would not open to let me get the CD out; being stubborn, I pried and pried until the little door to the tray was warped and the whirring sound was driving me crazy ( a short trip I know.) So that led to unplug- ging the device and removing the wires that go to the am- plifier; it was the middle of three stacked electronic de- vices, a tuner amplifier was underneath it and a VHS/ DVD player on top. I care- fully pulled it out without dis- turbing the other items, and placed it on my desk. All this is taking place up- stairs in our house. I wanted to take the case off so I could extract the CD and see if there was anything I might do to "fix" the player. Of course, there was no proper screw- driver upstairs, so I went down stairs to my "inside" tool kit and brought that kit up- stairs....all I had were small screwdrivers, none big enough for the task. So I made a trip downstairs to the garage and brought up a #2 Phillips screw- driver; alas, that was too big. So I took a third trip to bring up a #1 which worked just fine. After opening the player up, I lifted the optical device that scans the CD and pulled the CD out. I then had the bril- liant idea that I could plug the player into the wall and see if there was something I could do about the whirring sound and fix the device. I was pretty clever, or so I thought, as I re- membered about shocks, so I decided to move the CD player into the bathroom where there was a ground fault interrupter to prevent a shock. Of course I had forgotten about the various wires I had removed from the back of the player, and almost tripped on my way to my new work sta- tion. As you could guess, there was nothing I could do, so I brought the player down the stairs and to the garage. On the way back to retrieve my tools, I stopped at another of my collection stations — a file drawer filled with vari- ous manuals for most of the "stuff" we have accumulated from lawn mowers to refriger- ators. In the electronics file I noticed materials for the am- plifier tuner and the DVD/VHS player as well. The CD player was from 1994, and I guessed 21 years of service was prob- ably okay. The amplifier was from 1978, and it was huge by today's standards. The video player was the newest of the group, from 2005. I went back out to the ga- rage and decided to see just what other ancient things I had saved for future use. That led to a series of discov- eries, old corded telephones, DSL filters, phone cables, two pronged extension cords, cords I had removed from ap- pliances I had thrown out, AC/ DC adaptors for devices we no longer had, car adapters for various long tossed devices, and long strands of coaxial ca- ble for which there was no rea- sonable use I could imagine. By the time I was almost done I had emptied four yellow cat litter buckets, two drawers, and cleared some new space on my work bench. I felt a sense of relief, relief that I had finally gotten around to doing some- thing I should have done long ago and relief that I had spared someone else having to do the same thing. We are at a point in our lives when we are trying to do some significant de-clut- tering. Many of our "things" the kids and grandkids don't want. Some we have been able to pass on to other relatives, many to the Hope Chest, some to other non profits. It took a long time to find a relative who would take my grandfa- ther's rifle, and finally some- one spoke up for my mother's china. Things accumulate; I have a maxim, "there are no empty closets." We are finding that out, as well as that life styles are different from those of 50 years ago when we married. Many of yesterday's necessities are now dust gathering relics of a bygone time. Memories, of course remain important. JoeHarropisaretired educator with more than 30 years of service to the North State. He can be reached at DrJoeHarrop@sbcglobal.net. Joe Harrop Taking time to de-clutter my life Governmentis bleeding us dry Editor: How many people out there are tired of the government bleeding you dry? Property taxes at Christmas time and IRS time, brilliant, huh? An unconstitu- tional fire tax that showed up last week, before that it also came due the same time as property taxes and our date with the IRS. I wonder just how much blood our elected officials want from us? They will tax the miles we drive, and then they always need more money, so they'll impose more taxes as we go. Call your representatives; Rep Doug LaMalfa 202 225-3076, Senator Jim Nielsen 916 651- 4004, and Assemblyman James Gallagher 916 319-2003 or write them and let them know what you think of the job they're do- ing. A hand written letter is equal to 1,000 votes, sounds crazy but I've been told that by more than one representative. If they aren't representing you and your needs, then it's time to find someone to replace them. We need a regular Joe or Joann to pick up the mantle and fight for the everyday person that has very little left of their paycheck within hours of actually receiv- ing it. Tired of mandates from on high? This is no longer the land of the free. Flood our represen- tatives with your wishes for the legislation coming to the floor. Demand that they read it before they vote on it. We don't need hundreds, if not thousands, of new laws every year. At what point will they realize that they weren't sent to Sacra- mento and DC to make law after law after law? They took an oath to uphold the constitution and defend us from enemies, for- eign and domestic. It's time they were reminded to do their jobs or they will be replaced. — Patty Smith, Paskenta On the drought Editor: The board of supervisors de- clared a serious water situa- tion. Probably one of the driest in years. A serious problem requires quick and positive action to cor- rect. Drop the gates at the Diver- sion Dam. Put Lake Red Bluff back on the map. Clean up the brush and re- move the burned up trees. This would start to replenish the area aquifer. It appears to me this would be a win situation for the city. — Sam Collins, Red Bluff Columnist misunderstood letter Editor: Mr. Minch in his column of June 12 completely misunder- stood the letter I wrote to the editor of the Daily News. His disparaging of psycho- analysis was not the real reason why I wrote that letter. He referred to the people as sheep for seeking help from psy- choanalysts and from their churches. His reference to the first line of the 23rd Psalm was belittling and sneering. He was setting himself up as a judge of the bible. He may feel he is superior to these people who attend church and believe in the bible, however his reference to my objections to the rampant hatred of the ACLU for any Christian or Jewish sym- bol or mention of religion is not a "rant." It is a fact in this day and age that the administration in Washington and the rest of the atheists, that feel they can dic- tate to the Christians and Jews of this nation, are determined to remove every symbol of faith of Americans from this country. This puts him in the same category as the government's de- termination to remove any reli- gious right, guaranteed by our constitution, from the military personnel of our country. Chaplains in our military ser- vice are being dishonorably dis- charged if they mention Je- sus Christ in their services and are forbidden to mention Jesus' name at military funerals. He seems to have the same mentality as the godless devils that want American military per- sonnel charged with sedition and treason for being Christians. At the end of his column, Mr. Minch quotes two people re- garding religion — Mignon McLaughlin and Theodore Drei- ser. This is a classic example of the stupid people who do not like out constitution, our Dec- laration of Independence, our Bill of Rights, our laws, our free- doms and rights as citizens. — Jean Clayton, Red Bluff Ransoms could spike hostage taking Editor: President Obama's allowing private organizations and fam- ilies to pay ransoms to recover American hostages could spawn a boom in American hostage tak- ing. Ransom demands could then become so high, even private or- ganizations would no longer be able to pay them. Then, instead of 15 hostages per year being slain, hundreds could be. It's generally easier to stay out of trouble than get out of trou- ble. Accordingly, the best way to avoid the taking of Ameri- can hostages is to advise Amer- icans before they even leave the country: If you're taken hostage, no ransom will be paid, or al- lowed to be paid, on your behalf. Accordingly, by leaving Ameri- can soil, you're doing so at your own risk. If you're not willing to accept this risk, you should stay home. Moreover, I hate to think what evil terrorists would com- mit once empowered with a steady stream of ransom money. Possibilities include using it to fund genocide in their own country, to recruit and train fol- lowers, and to finance terrorist attacks in the U.S. — Nathan Esplanade, Rancho Tehama Your opinions Cartoonist's take Pundits sizing up the drought have said that water is the new oil. They're wrong, of course. Oil supplies merely send nations to war, while the wa- ter shortage pits neighbors against each other. This condi- tion is evidenced by three types of front yards that dot the landscape here on the parched Central Coast. Some are dark green and meticulously manicured — just like in the pre- drought days. Others have brown remnants of lawns that turned quickly without daily water- ing. And an increasing number of yards have been revamped by conscientious homeowners to in- clude indigenous, drought-resis- tant plants and ground-covering mulch. The underlying question goes beyond cosmetics: Is it acceptable to waste water during a drought even if you're willing to pay exor- bitantly for it? Water prices vary widely across the state but normal household use costs roughly $20 to $100 per month. Yet, add an average size lawn with several waterings each week and the bills here soar be- cause water companies charge higher rates plus penalties as con- sumption climbs. A clerk at the local water com- pany says she's seen monthly bills over $5,000 for wealthy residents determined to retain lush land- scapes. Put another way: they would rather pay than conserve. Drought conditions across much of the West have worsened over several years. California Gov. Jerry Brown has set a water con- servation goal of 25 percent and the state issued a raft of regula- tions to force compliance. Yet, for individual homeowners the in- conveniences remain minimal. Landscape watering is limited to two days per week, runoff is to be monitored, washing cars requires hoses with special shutoff noz- zles, etc. The carrot for those not other- wise conservation-driven is still money, with tiered rates requiring consumers to pay more per unit as their overall usage increases. California points to a 2009 study by researchers from Harvard and Yale concluding that price is the most effective tool for reducing consumption, as opposed to man- datory restrictions. Even the pricing approach was thrown a bit of a curve in April when a state appeals court ruled that local municipalities may not charge tiered rates for water un- less they can demonstrate that the actual cost of delivery is simi- larly tiered. As if things aren't complicated enough, local water companies stand to lose money as residents conserve more. Variable costs of delivery go down, but fixed costs of operation along with mainte- nance and research expenses re- main the same. To compensate, some water companies are levy- ing drought surcharges. And this is just on the residen- tial side. Agriculture is Califor- nia's largest water user, and the state has recently moved to limit farmers' water supplies for the first time since 1977. But back to the moral question confronting homeowners. In time of drought is it reasonable to buy as much water as you want if you don't care what it costs? The poster community for this questionable behavior is Rancho Santa Fe in Southern California, known for its lavish estates, nu- merous golf courses — and per capita water use that is five times the state average. To the horror of all but the most dedicated lawn preservationists, Rancho Santa Fe's water use actually climbed by 9 percent immediately after the governor urged a statewide re- duction. Wealthy Rancho Santa Fe res- idents insist that water is a nat- ural resource to which govern- ment should not restrict access. The counter claim is that such re- sources, although vast, are finite and must be conserved — by law if necessary. So, should it be illegal to have a lawn? Government wouldn't dare issue such an edict, preferring onerous water pricing and penal- ties. But that will only guarantee that in drought areas large lawns are eventually for the super rich instead of just the rich. A more equitable solution, if it comes to it, would be true rationing: each homeowner gets his share but may not buy up to a higher level. Peter Funt is a writer and speaker. His book, "Cautiously Optimistic," is available at Amazon.com and CandidCamera.com. Peter Funt When the water woes of California hit home Joe Harrop Peter Funt OPINION » redbluffdailynews.com Saturday, June 27, 2015 » MORE AT FACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS A5