Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/562511
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 Thisyearisthe800thanniversaryofthe Magna Carta, one of the most awesome documents ever created. This magnificent document was signed way back in 1215 AD. Ipurposelydonotusethe word "awesome" lightly. The younger generation seems to love it and has taken it from se- nior citizens like me. When I was young I would simply utter "Wow, that's cool Daddy-O." Well, did you know that the "awesome" and "cool" Magna Carta was heavily used by our founding fathers when they put together America's very own Constitution. They delib- erated the Magna Carta ex- tensively when America was just 13 colonies in 1787. Today, you can see it is clearly reflected in our consti- tution's 4th amendment. Way back then the Magna Carta was created to achieve peace between the rulers and those being ruled. Its purpose was that no one should be above the law. So far both documents have done a rather superb job keeping the ruling class and those ruled on the same level. I think our country exempli- fies that well. As an example, former Sec- retary of State Hillary Clin- ton and billionaire Donald Trump are presently on the same level, along with the 17 other human beings wanting to be our president. Here is the specific lan- guage from the Magna Carta: "No free man shall be seized or imprisoned, or stripped of his rights or possessions... except by the lawful judg- ment of his equals or by the law of the land." And, the 4th amendment of our U.S. con- stitution clearly copies it with; "The right of the peo- ple to be secure in their per- sons, houses, papers, and ef- fects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated...but upon probable cause." Wow, I don't think that is a coincidence. America's consti- tution is absolutely awesome. God bless the United States of America, the Magna Carta and our Constitution. Additionally, in 1966 the U.S. Supreme Court gave each one of us our present Mi- randa Rights. That means you now have the "right to re- main silent," the "right to an attorney, etc." All persons in custody must also be clearly informed of this. If not, no in- formation gathered at that time can be used against them later. One area that may need our special attention is "in- come inequality," but I am not sure I really agree. I know we are not even close to the enormous disparity of in- come that exists in the coun- try of China, where you ei- ther live like Donald Trump or you have to spend your day planting more rice. We can all see much of the Magna Carta permeating our lives. An extension of this is also when our society warns you as you watch television. You are often told "viewer discretion is advised." Al- though on occasion it seems a bit much because those four words surely must en- tice many to stayed tuned in so they can absorb the stuff that's "over the line." When some people hear those words I bet they even postpone a potty break to see that stuff. We certainly don't want to miss anything, do we? Mytakeonthemovies By the way, thumbs down on the movie I saw this past week. I saw "The Man From U.N.C.L.E." I was disap- pointed. However, I did enjoy going back to the 1960s. I could see Berlin and Rome again. Un- fortunately, they attempted to turn C.I.A. spy Napoleon Solo into James Bond himself. Actor Robert Vaughn still owns the role of Napoleon Solo in my world. StanStathamserved1976- 1994 in the California Assembly and was a television news anchor at KHSL-TV in Chico 1965- 1975. He is past president of the California Broadcasters Association and can be reached at StanStatham@ gmail.com. My take 800th birthday of the Magna Carta Way back then the Magna Carta was created to achieve peace between the rulers and those being ruled. Its purpose was that no one should be above the law. Sand slough Editor: Wednesday's front page arti- cle in the Red Bluff Daily News attempted to describe "resto- ration" and "terrestrial mitiga- tion" efforts at the south end of Sale Lane near the Sacramento River Discovery Center. It seems to me to be nothing more than bureaucratic gobble- de-gook trying to justify spend- ing a lot of time and money to build a swamp in what was once known as Sand Slough. It is too bad some of that money and effort hasn't been used to improve the appearance of upper Sand Slough by remov- ing the burned trees and brush. After all it would not have burned if Lake Red Bluff been in place. — Mel Oldham, Red Bluff Two years for bathrooms? Editor: Last Saturday's DN headline read "I-5 rest areas near Corn- ing to be closed 2 years for re- construction." The Empire State Building was constructed in 410 days. And Caltrans needs nearly twice that long to remodel a couple bathrooms? We are doomed. — Linton Brown, Red Bluff Casino rolling in dough? Editor: Having been involved in the construction of several casinos in California, I have had the op- portunity to patronize them during the completion stages of construction. I find it odd that the Corning franchise has prices for food and beverages that make you take a second look at the bill. Typically, casinos target gaming as the main source of revenue, which allows prices for food and drink to be lower than res- taurants or bars that rely solely on their products sales. Obviously something wasn't being done right, which war- ranted now pending criminal cases involving management. Suggestion, why not bring in a pro manager from Nevada in order to get competitive and get prices in line with all the other casinos in northern or southern California? — Terry van Dyke, Red Bluff County should assimilate Rancho Tehama Editor: Almost every time I asked to speak with Tehama County Building Inspector and Code Enforcement Officer John Sto- ver about abatement of my Mex- ican neighbor's chronic code vi- olations, I was told he was on vacation. When I finally got mean and demanded service, he served them a 10-day warning letter. Four years later, the vio- lations remained. My neighbor was also in vi- olation of a Rancho Tehama CC&R, which only allows res- idents to set up new mobile homes on their lots. Complain- ing to the association accom- plished nothing. Just this morning I discov- ered they moved their old sub- standard mobile home fur- ther up the hill and were now moving another old and much larger one in its place. Seeing that it clearly wasn't new, I ad- vised them it violated associa- tion CC&Rs. When they told me they had a permit for it, I asked to see it. When they declined to show it to me, I asked if it was ap- proved by the association. They said since they had a permit from the county, they didn't need association approval. I told them that wasn't true. When I later called the As- sociation, they said the owner started seeking approval but never finished. The build- ing department confirmed the owner did secure a county per- mit. I asked how that could be when the Association (which has tighter restrictions), hadn't signed off on it. When I asked to see the building permit, the building department emailed me a copy of it with two companion pages on setting up a mobile home in Rancho Tehama. The permit re- vealed the mobile home was 43 years old. Oddly, the county in- formation indicated mobile homes in Rancho Tehama must be less than 10 years old. The Rancho Tehama CC&Rs state only new mobiles may be set up here. The emailed information also outlined a sensible proce- dure by which the Rancho Te- hama Association must pre-ap- prove the permit application be- fore the county signed off on it. Then the association had to give final approval before build- ing could begin. The procedure clearly wasn't followed. Since its establishment in 1968, the mismanagement of Rancho Tehama by both its own board and the county building department has gone from bad to worse. As with most homeowners' associations, the problem is it's negligently managed by unskilled and of- ten opportunistic residents. Ac- cordingly, disbanding the HOA and turning the administration of Rancho Tehama over to the county would likely reverse its decline. The problem is, the county won't assimilate Rancho Tehama unless it upgrades its roads to county standards. That would be wasteful and expensive. Ac- cordingly, to stop Rancho Te- hama's deterioration into a sub- urban slum, the county should grant a variance that allows it to upgrade slowly. Then Rancho Te- hama could start emerging as the pride of Tehama County in- stead of its bane. Of course, the county desper- ately needs housecleaning it- self. Starting with Rancho Te- hama, though, could well ignite reform that spreads throughout the entire county. — Nathan Esplanade, Rancho Tehama Your opinions Cartoonist's take Local schools started in early August, I haven't checked in on the MDA Telethon since Jerry Lewis was ousted as host and my family has no particular La- bor Day traditions; but I do find myself pondering the holi- day that salutes the accomplish- ments of America's workers. And, of course, both labor and management get skewered when my mind starts wandering. 1. Labor Day is touted as "the unofficial end of summer," which callously steals a lot of the thun- der of the autumnal equinox. Why does summer get to double dip? We don't have both official and unofficial ends of Christ- mas or mosquito season or prom season. ("Addison, your corsage lost a petal. I don't care if the big night is Saturday — I'm im- pounding your white clothing right now.") 2. Americans celebrate Amer- ican labor by rushing to Labor Day sales for cheap imported goods. The geniuses who came up with this scenario are prob- ably also working on celebrat- ing Arbor Day with a "Giant red- woods, meet mutant termites" campaign. 3. I cannot vouch for them, but unorthodox Biblical scholars claim to have unearthed ancient manuscripts revealing that when Adam and Eve were unceremo- niously dumped from their jobs tending to the Garden of Eden, an angry spousal taunt of "Next time we're not settling for this 'independent contractor' stuff" could be heard. 4. According to the latest sta- tistics, 65 percent of students lose interest in studying labor re- lations when they discover that "binding arbitration" isn't as sexy as they think. 5. It sounded like a grand ges- ture when an unnamed CEO thanked his employees for being there through "the lean years" — but he really meant the years leaning on a shovel, leaning on a broom... 6. Citing luminaries such as Samuel Gompers, Peter McGuire, Eugene Debs, William Haywood and John L. Lewis, one union leader commented, "We stand on the shoulders of giants. We stand very precariously, because Tuck- er's Tavern is throwing a two- for-one special for Labor Day; but we stand on the shoulders of giants nonetheless." 7. One reform-minded cor- porate president announced, "We're no longer going to treat employees like numbers. No, we're going to treat them like emoticons. Now, which emoti- con stands for 'Yassuh, boss, I'm happy just to have a job"? 8. Nudged by OSHA, one com- pany put a lot of money into re- petitive motion studies. Unfor- tunately, the repetitive motion was depositing corporate wel- fare checks into secret Cayman Islands bank accounts. 9. One of the recent inductees into the Horrible Bosses Hall of Fame was the foreman at Pom- peii who ordered, "Walk it off. Just walk it...aaiiiieee!" 10. Careful observation shows that different unions vary greatly in their literary aspira- tions. Some stress the whole sol- idarity thing — you know, the Alexander Dumas "one for all and all for one" mantra. Others have more of a Margaret Mitch- ell "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a..." vibe. 11. In addition to shorter hours, higher pay and safer working conditions, unions have also sought less meddling. Which, of course, is why they collect dues to elect the congres- sional candidate most likely to promote transgendered, wind- mill-powered marijuana farms in Lithuania. 12. Enjoy your barbecue and your NFL countdown. Maybe your boss won't greet you Sept. 8 with "Pension obligations? Pen- sion obligations? Oh, my evil twin brother mentioned some- thing about that — right before he bought a new Porsche for his wife — Morgan Fairchild. Yeah, that's the ticket." Danny Tyree welcomes email responses at tyreetyrades@aol. com and visits to his Facebook fan page Tyree's Tyrades. Danny Tyree My 12 random thoughts about Labor Day Stan Statham OPINION » redbluffdailynews.com Thursday, August 27, 2015 » MORE AT FACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS A6