Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/644361
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 Fordecades,everytimeI drove by the historic State The- atre my mind would wan- der back to a time when I was young. A time when I was largely innocent, and mostly un- touched by the ravages that at- tach as one be- comes a card-car- rying adult in today's over-com- plicated world. My mind would fill with vi- sions of Roy Rogers, Gene Au- try, The Tingler, Old Yeller, and so many other classic movies I watched as a child. I could al- most see State Theatre manager Dale Pickell, with his three-foot long flashlight poised to strike me on my shins as I dangled my legs over the seat in front of me. I could certainly see the mostly naked ladies astride the magnif- icent white horses on the murals that still adorn the walls of the theater today. While the State Theatre of my youth will always be part of who I am, I must admit that such memories are fading a bit, as they are being replaced by even more meaningful memories of what is happening at the the- ater today. In the past 12 months the State Theatre played host to nearly 50 different events, in- cluding the Count Basie Orches- tra, the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Kalynne Schoelen, the Glenn Miller Orchestra, Soheil Nas- seri, Will Durst, James Garner, Jake Shimabukuro, Big Bad Voo- doo Daddy, the North State Sym- phony, the Singer and Songwrit- ers, Pam Tillis, and Chad Bush- nell and Collin Raye. One and all, these were great concerts. •••• Speaking of Chad Bushnell and Collin Raye, their Febru- ary 11 concert marked the debut of our newly upgraded state-of- the-art sound and lighting sys- tems, and the results are simply fantastic. Thanks in large part to State Theatre Technical Director Casey Hickok and Lighting Di- rector Pete Bilton, the State The- atre now features quality sound and lighting at levels found only in America's finest concert ven- ues. Obviously, none of this would be possible without the amaz- ing financial support of the entire community. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. •••• Oneoftheprimarygoalsofthe StateTheatrefortheArtsistoex- poseTehamaCountychildren totheStateTheatre,notonlyfor whatitmeansasahistoricalland- mark,butalsoasaperforming artsvenue.Followingisalistof StateTheatreeventsfeaturingthe youthofTehamaCountyincalen- daryear2015: Mercy High School and the eS- cholar Learning Academy con- tinued their practice of holding graduation ceremonies at the the- ater. Some 1,000 family members and friends were able to attend these events. Our friends at the Tehama County Arts Council again spon- sored the week long Missoula Children's Theatre. This travel- ing theater group comes to town every year. After a week of au- ditions and rehearsals, several dozen area youth take the stage as polished actors in such plays as Peter and the Wolf. Our friends at the County De- partment of Education spon- sored the Tehama County Writ- ing Celebration, where some 1,200 elementary school children are recognized for their writ- ing achievements at the historic State Theatre. The Tehama County SERRF and Maker Space programs hosted six different student-ori- ented programs at the theater, in- cluding a highly technical stu- dent-produced film festival. Some 1,000 students attended at least one of these events. The Selah Dance Academy again held its dance annual re- cital at the historic State The- atre. Over the two-day session almost 900 attendees were able to witness their favorite little dancers as they tiptoed through the tulips. The State Theatre and Down- town Business Association packed the theater with children for the annual Christmas Parade movie, along with a visit from Mr. Santa Claus himself. Our good friends at the Ex- change Club again sponsored the ninth annual Search for Tal- ent, featuring amazingly tal- ented youth ranging from ages 6 to 18. These events introduced the State Theatre to at least a cou- ple of thousand young mem- bers of this community. The fu- ture of this grand old building will soon be in their hands. We can't help but believe their ex- perience within these walls will help ensure its future as a per- forming arts center for genera- tions to come. •••• Speaking of the Exchange Club's Search for Talent, if you have never attended one of these remarkable shows, mark down Saturday, February 27, when the 10th annual talent show will take place at the historic State Theatre. Every year, auditions are held for a month or so be- fore the concert to select 20-22 competitors who will compete for recognition in three different age brackets. With apologies to the many talented kids I fail to mention, the talent displayed by past and present participants is amaz- ing. Kids like Lynsey and Emma Forsberg; Ellie Fletcher, Ash- ton Lopeman, Mark Cohen and Mitchell Sauve. These talented young per- formers may very well soon join a host of young adults who have in the past appeared in this very same talent competition, and are now on their way to establish- ing themselves as professionals within the music business. Young professionals like Chad Bushnell, Kellie Rodrigues, Stacy Stone, Matthew Songmaker, Kalynne Schoelen, and Danny Munoz. If you would like to see the fu- ture of Tehama County talent up close and personal, you may pur- chase your Search for Talent tick- ets at the theater's box office on the evening of the performance, $5 adult, $3 children. •••• Coming attractions at the State Theatre include: February 27, Search for Tal- ent, sponsored by the Exchange Club. March 4, 9-10 a.m., Coffee with Assemblyman James Galla- gher and Sen. Jim Nielsen. March 11, Barefoot Movement, A four-piece acoustic band that takes listeners back to a simpler place and time. Sponsored by the Tehama Concert Series. March 19, The High Street Band, sponsored by the Rotary Club of Red Bluff. March 25, The US Army Jazz Ambassadors, sponsored by the State Theatre and the Tehama Concert Series. BillCorneliusisalifelong resident of Red Bluff, a retired Chief Probation Officer, a champion of the State Theatre and an exceptional athlete. He can be reached at bill.cornelius@ sbcglobal.net. William Tells Thehistoric State Theatre, then and now Cartoonist's take Democrat presidential candi- date Bernie Sanders thinks he can wave a magic government wand, impose lots of new taxes and government pro- grams and make the world grand. Reality has an- other notion. Take the min- imum wage. Ber- nie says he'll raise it to $15 an hour, more than doubling it. If I worked at a fast-food restaurant for mini- mum wage, Bernie would get my vote. But the problem is, I'd likely never see $15 an hour as a fast- food employee because my en- try-level job might be taken over by a robot. According to the Brisbane Times, robots are expected to replace half of the world's jobs — burger flippers, truck drivers, bank tellers, telephone opera- tors and many other low-skill professions — within the next 20 years. In the fast-food business, la- bor costs account for 30 per- cent of the overall budget. If the minimum wage is doubled, la- bor costs would double — but there isn't enough profit margin in the typical operating struc- ture of a low-margin fast-food restaurant to absorb the in- creased costs. That will incen- tivize these businesses to invest in automation technologies. "The higher the minimum wage goes, the lower the thresh- old will go for robots to replace humans in many minimum- wage roles," reports The Week. It's also why kiosks and ta- ble-based ordering systems are popping up at restaurants all over the country. Which brings us back to Ber- nie Sanders. His website says this, "De- spite huge advancements in technology and productiv- ity, millions of Americans are working longer hours for lower wages." Why? According to Bernie, it's be- cause the wealthy have rigged the system to redistribute wealth from the middle class to the rich. But doubling the minimum wage will, ironically, drive more advancements in the technol- ogy and productivity that will put the people Bernie is trying to help out of work. In this regard, Bernie doesn't understand economics so well. But neither does President Obama. A few years back, Obama criticized self-serve banking technology for eliminating jobs, but he was only half right about that. Though the technology does eliminate some bank teller positions, it creates much better jobs for software engineers and other people who design, build, install and maintain the high- tech banking machines. Bernie and Obama don't seem to understand that huge advancements in technology and productivity mean there are fewer low-skill jobs that pay well, but there are many high- paying jobs in the science, tech- nology, engineering and math (STEM) professions. To get such jobs, though, one has to study, sacrifice, go to a trade school or college and work hard. In fact, Bernie, if you want to champion an important issue, how about education reform — how about preparing all of our children, including those in many poor performing govern- ment schools, for the great jobs of the future? Your website lists 13 actions you will take to reduce income and wealth inequality — lots of new taxes and government pro- grams. But you offer no specific plans to reform government- run schools at the elementary and high school levels, particu- larly in urban areas. You talk about reforming government-mandated test- ing. You say you will reduce disparities in resources be- tween wealthy and low-income schools, but you don't say how. You are adamantly against school vouchers, which is one way for low-income families to send their kids to better schools — so they can get the skills they need to go on to trade schools or college. I suppose it's a lot easier to wave a "$15 an hour minimum wage for all" magic wand than to bring real reform to our gov- ernment-run schools. But that can't stop the real challenge unskilled workers will face. The robots are coming. Tom Purcell, author of "Misadventures of a 1970s Childhood" and "Comical Sense: A Lone Humorist Takes on a World Gone Nutty!" is a Pittsburgh Tribune-Review humor columnist. Send comments to Tom at Tom@ TomPurcell.com. Tom Purcell Hey Bernie, the robots are coming One of the primary goals of the State Theatre for the Arts is to expose Tehama County children to the State Theatre, not only for what it means as a historical landmark, but also as a performing arts venue. Tom Purcell The use of the U.S. mili- tary overseas seems to have be- come so commonplace that the Obama Administration can bomb a country with no Con- gressional input and very lit- tle media interest at all. Such was the case on Friday, when the U.S. military killed some 49 people in a bombing run near Tripoli, Libya. We had to bomb Libya, we are told, because Libya has be- come a hotbed of ISIS activ- ity. The group has been mov- ing training facilities into the country, taking advantage of the chaos. Ironically, it was five years ago this week that the "Arab Spring" uprising began in Libya — an uprising that was supported by U.S. military force and led to the overthrow of the Libyan government and the murder of its leader, Gaddafi. We were told that the U.S. had to intervene to overthrow Gaddafi so that democracy and human rights could flourish, yet five years after the US-led intervention no one would ar- gue that the country is better off. Instead of bringing Libya democracy, US intervention brought Libya ISIS. So now the U.S. has to go back and bomb Libya some more to take care of ISIS. Will this work? No. Logic tells us you cannot do more of what caused a problem and ex- pect it to fix the problem. As Middle East analyst Hill- ary Mann Leverett observed af- ter last week's U.S. attack on Libya, "the problem is, for each one of these targeted killings, what we have seen in the data that at least two more people sign up to join." The United States has made a habit of lecturing other coun- tries about the need to follow the rule of law, yet this seems to be a matter of "do as we say, not as we do." How else can we ex- plain a U.S. attack overseas with no Congressional input? Cer- tainly there was no Congressio- nal authorization for Friday's bombing. The Administration claimed that its authority came from the 2001 authorization to use military force against al-Qa- eda in retaliation for the attacks of 9/11. But ISIS did not even ex- ist on 9/11. How can the 2001 au- thorization be twisted to include bombing Libya in 2016? Libya has been in chaos since its 2011 "liberation," but the country's interim govern- ment strongly objected to Fri- day's U.S. bombing, claiming they were not consulted before the U.S. attack. They called U.S. air strikes a violation of Lib- ya's sovereignty and of interna- tional law. They have a point. But the most important point we must learn from the destruction of Libya — and of Syria, Iraq, Af- ghanistan, and so on — is that U.S. interventionism has been a complete failure. Hundreds of thousands have been killed in the last 15 years, societies have been broken apart, economies have been destroyed, and prop- erty has been flattened. There are no success stories. The neo- con plan to remake the Middle East has only succeeded in de- stroying the Middle East. As a consequence, we are far less safe than before the "war on terror" was launched. ISIS and other terrorist groups have ex- panded their territory and have even been able to attack in Eu- rope and the U.S. Ron Paul Intervention fail — back to Libya Bill Cornelius OPINION » redbluffdailynews.com Wednesday, February 24, 2016 » MORE AT FACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS A6