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IwouldlikethankallDailyNewsreaders who have joined me in discussions on the more than 60 opinion pieces I have so far been privileged to write. Today,onthisChristmas eve, I desire to hear your opinions once again. This time on "Affir- mative Con- sent." It is a new California law that was en- acted last year — Sept. 19, 2014. It goes directly to getting "ap- propriate per- mission" from the time one begins to approach someone else for sex. And that law also says you must make certain that the permission will con- tinue through the entire pro- cess. In my world I think the two most important things man and woman can give to each other are their minds and physical bodies, hope- fully along with lots of trust and love. It can be a wonder- ful and challenging adven- ture, yet sometimes with un- successful results. I think that is born out by last year's divorce statistics. In 2014, more marriages failed than succeeded in Cal- ifornia. At 76 years of age, I even feel the new acceptance of "hooking up" could not have helped the situation. I would still like to think that hooking up is something one only needs to do when he or she goes fishing or is getting ready to jump out of a plane. I think most of us start that wonderful sexual jour- ney sometime during or af- ter we struggled through pu- berty. I don't know who to blame for the misjudgments made by our two genders, probably both. It would probably not be cool to blame Adam and Eve, even though they apparently started this in roughly 5000 B.C. That would be too easy a diversion. It has taken a long time for me to lose my faith in gov- ernment. However, to actu- ally codify "yes means yes" or "no means no" is more than a stretch to me. Tell me if you think gov- ernment should try to con- trol your hormones. I myself would have found it too for- mal to ask any woman; "By the way, do I still have your affirmative consent?" I think such a deliberate phrase might actually take away from the romance part of such a sought after event. While we're on the topic of sex maybe I should tell you that California has roughly 9,000 sex offenders, either among us or behind bars. Did the authors of this new law feel they would make a posi- tive change with this group of felons? Half of these cases actu- ally involve sex with minors. I don't believe we can expect them to use polite words. This topic reminds me of the recent movie "Fifty Shades of Grey." In the film the male star had sexual fantasies that were much too dominant. In the area of sexual ac- tivities, my take is that sex should always be a two way street to be completely re- spectful and enjoyable. I think it is quite tragic that our government feels we must be regulated to know that yes is yes, and no means no. As we all know, in some cases it should really mean "hell no." Mytakeonthemovies Just when I thought I had seen enough of the fictional boxer Rocky Balboa, Sylves- ter Stallone has done it again. This time he is an aging Rocky who is training the son of a previous opponent (Creed) to go the distance. It is a very inspiring movie that I think you will enjoy. I actually also think it will add to everyone's yuletide spirit. Merry Christ- mas and joy to your 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. Mytake California'slawon affirmative consent In my world I think the two most important things man and woman can give to each other are their minds and physical bodies, hopefully along with lots of trust and love. Cartoonist's take What is it about Christmas that stirs hope in the hearts of even the most cynical? We catch glimpses of forgive- ness, acceptance and redemp- tion, things we humans need most, while watching old Christ- mas classics like "Scrooge," "Mir- acle on 34th Street," and "It's a Wonderful Life" — probably be- cause we can easily relate to what is the best and worst of who we are while watching. Surely, even the doubters among us find reason for pause upon hearing the great line from "Miracle on 34th Street:" "If you can't believe, if you can't accept anything by faith...then you're doomed for a life dominated by doubt." How true. Sometimes it just makes good sense to accept the unseen. Plugged in my basement is tiny device that I depend on with my life. It detects a toxic, in- visible, and odorless gas I can- not see. Although I cannot see it, I believe carbon monoxide is real because of evidence proving its existence. So it is with Christmas and its true meaning. In his book, "Sci- ence Speaks, An Evaluation of Certain Christian Evidences," Professor Peter Stoner lays out the statistical odds that one man, Jesus, could fulfill every Old Tes- tament Messianic prophecy. Using only eight prophecies, Stoner found: - Micah 5:2 foretold the Mes- siah would be born in Bethlehem and calculated the odds at one in 2.8 x ten to the fifth power. - Malachi 3:1 predicted the Bethlehem-born Messiah would have a "forerunner" sent to pre- pare the way, with odds at one in ten to the third power. - Zechariah 9:9 predicted this ruler who had a forerunner was born in Bethlehem, but entered Jerusalem as a king riding on a donkey — at one in ten to the second power. - Zechariah 11:12 said this ruler would be betrayed for thirty pieces of silver — at one in ten to the third power. - Zechariah 11:13 predicted that remorse would inspire the betrayer to return the silver and the priests would use it to pur- chase a field from a potter, rather than return the blood money to the temple treasury — at ten to the fifth power. - Isaiah 53:7 predicted an in- nocent man who was betrayed, oppressed, and afflicted yet would remain silent during his trial — at one in ten to the third power. - Psalm 22:16 predicted the death of this innocent man by crucifixion, an execution method not yet invented — at one in ten to the fourth power. To illustrate the odds that all eight prophesies would be ful- filled in one man, Stoner trans- lates the number, ten to the 17th power, in silver dollars, fully covering the state of Texas two feet deep. One silver dollar is then marked, dropped from an airplane, and stirred into the mass while a blindfolded man is instructed to travel the state for as long and far as he pleases, but at some point must pick up the marked silver dollar on his first try. Although there are more than 300 Old Testament Messianic prophecies fulfilled by Jesus' birth, some still doubt. As Albert Einstein said, "No problem can be solved from the same level of consciousness that created it," so maybe we ask the wrong questions. Or, maybe our perception is so tainted with skepticism it's impossible to be- lieve historical and scientific facts. But for those of us who refuse to be "doomed for a life dom- inated by doubt," let us draw close in the silence of this sa- cred moment in humble rev- erence that after 400 years of deafening quiet, post Old Testa- ment final writings, God broke through the silence with his love in action, as can be found in Luke 2. Merry Christmas. Susan Stamper Brown is a recovering political pundit from Alaska, who does her best to make sense of current day events using her faith. Contact her by Facebook or at writestamper@ gmail.com. Susan Stamper Brown Stirring hope in the hearts of even the most cynical Another view By Danny Tyree "A place for everything and everything in its place." That principle sounds so simple, but the reality of veri- fying inventory is that receipts get recorded wrong, conver- sion from cases to eaches gets scrambled, paperwork gets lost, merchandise is "tempo- rarily" stashed in the wrong place, etc. In fact, there are a thousand and one ways for inventory to go awry. Although, on the spur of the moment, I can account for only 998 of them. I come by my disdain for taking inventory honestly. When my late father was man- ager of the local (Lewisburg, Tennessee) farmers coopera- tive, he would stagger home late, cross-eyed and muttering about hoping he never had to count another Ortho product. (That's what he got for being a math whiz. If he had been the class clown, he could've sat on the sidelines and regaled eve- ryone with "a priest, a rabbi and an insecticide walked into a bar" jokes.) Doing inventory is a nec- essary evil. No one wants to promise a customer items that aren't actually in stock, pay taxes on nonexistent assets or court bankruptcy by remain- ing blissfully ignorant of ram- pant shoplifting and employee theft. But, man, it's tedious! Just how many DVDs of "Debbie Does Inventory" do you see being bought or shop- lifted? There's no good time to do inventory. If you wait until af- ter closing, everyone is irrita- ble, muddle-headed and prone to taking shortcuts. ("Six Rolls Royces...give or take.") On the other hand, if you do it during business hours while merchandise is com- ing and going, you'd bet- ter use Black Friday surveil- lance tapes for training vid- eos. ("Woman, let me write down that shopping cart full of merchandise, or I'm going to snatch you bald-headed and tabulate the hairs.") Doing inventory can be a messy, confusing activity for the rank-and-file factory and retail workers, but occasion- ally upper management gets a pleasant surprise. ("Hey, I have two more congressmen in my back pocket than I remem- bered. Sweet!") One of the most aggravat- ing things is that you're usu- ally trying to correct mistakes made by someone else, espe- cially temps or fired employ- ees who are long gone by in- ventory time. I sometimes im- agine them all gathering at a bar to high-five each other and chortle over the chaos they left for everyone else. (Well, high- five or high-four or high-six or whatever their feeble minds can come up with. They're not good with numbers.) America's embarrassment of riches is one of the problems. Inventory involves a maximum of time and confusion when you have to differentiate be- tween left-handed ball peen hammers, Phillips-head ball peen hammers, antimicrobial ball peen hammers, HD ball peen hammers, gluten-free ball peen hammers and all the rest. It's almost enough to make you jealous of the con- sumer goods simplicity of Cas- tro's Cuba, where you're prom- ised nothing more specific than Garment, Medical Pro- cedure, Foodstuff, Means of Transportation, Hybrid Food- stuff/Means of Transporta- tion, etc. Inventory items may disap- pear, but taking inventory is here to stay. So management needs to do its best to boost mo- rale and streamline procedures. They have to remind everyone that "There is no 'I' in 'team'." Of course that will be fol- lowed by the conflicting mes- sage "Actually, our infallible computer database indicates that there are three I's in team. We're going to keep looking un- til we find them. I'll put on a pot of coffee. Hey, I thought we were supposed to have 500 Sty- rofoam coffee cups..." Danny Tyree welcomes email responses at tyreetyrades@ aol.com and visits to his Facebook fan page Tyree's Tyrades. Does anyone else hate doing inventory? GregStevens,Publisher Chip Thompson, Editor EDITORIAL BOARD 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 Susan Stamper Brown Plugged in my basement is tiny device that I depend on with my life. It detects a toxic, invisible, and odorless gas I cannot see. Although I cannot see it, I believe carbon monoxide is real because of evidence proving its existence. Stan Statham In fact, there are a thousand and one ways for inventory to go awry. Although, on the spur of the moment, I can account for only 998 of them. OPINION » redbluffdailynews.com Thursday, December 24, 2015 » MORE AT FACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS A6