Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/671953
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 AnotherRedBluffRound- Up has come and gone. When you think of the Round-Up, you probably think of saddle broncs, Brahma bulls, the Les Hart Wild Horse Race, ro- deo clowns, corn dogs and the Budweiser Clydesdales. When I think of the Round- Up, I think of beer—but not necessarily for the reason you might think. While many of you go to sleep by counting sheep, when it is rodeo time in Red Bluff, I nod off by count- ing kegs of beer. For the past quarter-century the good folks of the Red Bluff Round-Up Association have awarded the contract for the sale of beer to the Rotary Club of Red Bluff. For the past 15 years I, along with friend and fellow Rotarian Larry Jant- zen, have served as co-chair- men for the beer sales project. While normal circumstances might require that only one person chair the committee, I am lousy at math and Larry ain't that good at writing and stuff, so we share the work- load according to our individ- ual talents, however limited his might be. While drinking beer is easy, being responsible for the sale of beer is another matter alto- gether. We take this responsi- bility very seriously. Our job starts a couple months prior to the Round- Up, when we sit down with Round-Up representatives to discuss beer sales logistics, bid requirements, beer booth lo- cations, and modifications de- signed to better serve the pub- lic. At the same time, we order supplies such as a few thou- sand wristbands, as one is re- quired for every patron, and thousands upon thousands of tickets used by patrons to pur- chase beer. About a month prior to the Round-Up, we travel to the Redding office of the Alcohol and Beverage Control to apply for beer licenses for eight beer wagons located at four dif- ferent locations on the rodeo grounds. It should be noted that we work closely with the ownership and staff of both the Foothill and Redding Dis- tributing companies; and each is extremely cooperative, pro- fessional and helpful, in an ef- fort to ensure we provide the best possible service. Selling beer in a responsible fashion is a very serious and la- bor-intensive proposition. Each rodeo performance requires approximately 50 Rotarians and other volunteers to fulfill beer-pouring requirements. At every beer wagon location we assign folks to check identi- fication and secure wristbands to anyone who appears to have a pulse. At every beer wagon we assign folks to man our cash boxes, and at every beer wagon we assign volunteers to pour ice-cold beer to make the Round-Up experience the best it can possibly be. Serving al- cohol to the public is a serious business and carries with it considerable liability. Needless to say, all involved are coun- seled and trained regarding le- gal requirements and obliga- tions. It is estimated that col- lectively, approximately 1,000 man-hours were expended in support of the 2016 beer sales program. Why do we do this? Let me tell you why. We do it so we can give back to our commu- nity. In the past quarter-cen- tury the Rotary Beer Sales Pro- gram has allowed us to award $1,000 scholarships to over 300 graduating students from Tehama County high schools. It assisted with the resurrec- tion of the Cone and Kimball Tower at the corner of Main and Walnut Streets. It has sup- ported and continues to sup- port countless other commu- nity-oriented projects; and we are grateful that the Red Bluff Round-Up Association has partnered with Rotary to funnel the proceeds from the sale of an ice cold Bud or Co- ors back in to the commu- nity where it might actually do some good. I would also like to thank my fellow Rotarians and com- munity volunteers who year af- ter year give up their Round- Up weekend to ensure that an- other dozen or so high school graduates have an opportu- nity to attend college. Thanks to you all. •••• Speaking of beer at the Red Bluff Round-Up, cowboy hats off to the Round-Up Board of Directors and Red Bluff Mayor Clay Parker for their "Provide a Ride" program. Way back in 2009 then-Sheriff Parker and the Directors got together, and established a program designed to keep folks from drinking and driving at the Red Bluff Round-Up. Every year since, the Round- Up Association has rented a fleet of vans; and every year since then Mayor Parker, his wife Lilly, and folks like Roger and Sherrie Weigel, Rich Ryan, and others have shuttled folks back and forth and to and fro in an effort to make the streets of this community safer for all of us. Having provided 540 rides this year, and more than 3,000 since the program's in- ception, one can only imagine how many DUI arrests and ac- cidents have been prevented as a result of this responsible pro- gram. Bravo to you all. •••• Finally, how about taking a pink cowboy hat off for the sensational Tough Enough to Wear Pink campaign at the Red Bluff Round-Up. A decade or so ago the Round-Up Asso- ciation and our own St. Eliza- beth Community Hospital got together to establish a pro- gram designed to reduce the incidence and impact of cancer in this community. With the leadership of Di- rector Jolene Kemen and the amazing support of campaign sponsor — Haleakala Walnut Shelling, Rose Crain, Dan Da- vidson and their entire family — this program has succeeded beyond any reasonable expec- tation. Since its inception, the Sun- day auction at the Round- Up has generated a total of more than $300,000, and the Rotary-sponsored Growney Ranch Barbecue and Beer sales tips program has added almost another $100,000. One can only imagine how many lives have been saved as a result of the Tough Enough to Wear Pink Campaign. God bless you Jolene Kemen, Rose Crain, St. Elizabeth staff and every single person associ- ated with the Tough Enough to Wear Pink campaign. •••• Coming State Theatre At- tractions: May 8, Momma Mia (the movie); May 14, Tommy Castro and the Painkillers. Call 529-2787 for ticket informa- tion. 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 Visionsofbeerkegs dance in my head Cartoonist's take With incivility running high in our politics and society, we sure could use a dose of san- ity from Will Rog- ers, one of Amer- ica's greatest hu- morists. The words he spoke about elec- tions during the Great Depression are as helpful to us now as they were then. "If you ever injected truth into politics you have no poli- tics" "One of the evils of democ- racy is you have to put up with the man you elect whether you want him or not. That's why we call it democracy." "Both gangs have been bad sports, so see if at least one can't redeem themselves by of- fering no alibis, but cooperate with the winner, for no matter which one it is, the poor fellow is going to need it." As king of the velvet-tipped barb, Rogers never intended to be mean but rather to bring us to our senses. One of his favor- ite subjects was to remind the political class that it worked for us — not the other way around. "When Congress makes a joke, it's a law, and when they make a law, it's a joke." "You can't hardly find a law school in the country that don't, through some inherent weak- ness, turn out a senator or con- gressman from time to time ... if their rating is real low, even a president." "The more you observe poli- tics, the more you've got to ad- mit that each party is worse than the other." Our current presidential elec- tion cycle is the nuttiest of my lifetime, but Rogers reminds us that politics and nuttiness have been close cousins for a long time. "Congress meets tomorrow morning. Let us all pray: Oh Lord, give us strength to bear that which is about to be in- flicted upon us. Be merciful with them, oh Lord, for they know not what they're doing. Amen." "This country has gotten where it is in spite of politics, not by the aid of it. That we have carried as much political bunk as we have and still sur- vived shows we are a super na- tion." "We all joke about Congress but we can't improve on them. Have you noticed that no mat- ter who we elect, he is just as bad as the one he replaces?" Here! Here! Rogers was born and raised on a farm in Oklahoma. His wit reflected the heart of Amer- ica — the horse sense, square dealing and honesty that are the bedrock of our success. His country wisdom gave him great insight into the silliness in Washington, D.C. "A politician is not as nar- row-minded as he forces him- self to be." "It's getting so if a man wants to stand well socially, he can't afford to be seen with ei- ther the Democrats or the Re- publicans." "America has the best politi- cians money can buy." If there's one thing we are short on these days, it is lev- ity — the art of not taking our- selves or our politics too emo- tionally and too seriously. We're sitting on a pile of debt, entitlement costs are about to soar, economic growth has been tepid for years now and a lot of people are hurting. Can we please put these issues at the top of the discussion list, please. Getting back our sense of hu- mor is one way to do that if we have any hope of surviving this nutty election cycle. To that end, I think we can all agree on this Will Rog- ers quote: "There is only one redeeming thing about this whole election. It will be over at sundown, and let everybody pray that it's not a tie, for we couldn't go through with this thing again." 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 Needed — Some Will Rogers' sanity While normal circumstances might require that only one person chair the committee, I am lousy at math and Larry ain't that good at writing and stuff, so we share the workload according to our individual talents, however limited his might be. Bill Cornelius Tom Purcell For decades the U.S. and Saudi Arabia have shared a peculiar re- lationship: the Saudis sell rel- atively cheap oil to the United States for which they accept our fiat currency. They then recy- cle those paper dollars into the U.S. military-industrial complex through the purchase of billions of dollars worth of military equip- ment, and the U.S. guarantees the security of the Saudi monarchy. By accepting only dollars for the sale of its oil, the Saudis help the dollar remain the world's re- serve currency. This has meant that we can export inflation, fi- nance the warfare/welfare state, and delay our day of financial reckoning. But it seems this longstand- ing entangling alliance is com- ing apart. First, the U.S. nuclear deal with Iran has infuriated the Sau- dis. They view Iran as bitter ri- vals and spared no expense in Washington to derail the deal. They were not successful — at least not yet. They have also been frustrated that the U.S. has not devoted more of its resources to the Saudi "regime change" project in Syria, seen as a way to reduce Iranian influence in the Middle East. But it is the potential release of the secret 28 pages of the 9/11 Report that purportedly show Saudi government involvement in the attacks on New York and Washington that threatens to really blow up U.S./Saudi rela- tions. The relatives of the victims are demanding the right to hold the Saudi government legally ac- countable if it is shown to have had a role in the attacks, and the Senate's "Justice Against Spon- sors of Terrorism Act" would lift Saudi sovereign immunity and allow lawsuits to go forward. The Saudis threaten to dump three-quarters of a trillion dol- lars in U.S. assets if the bill be- comes law — a move that could rock world markets and even the shaky Saudi economy. President Obama's disastrous visit to the Saudi capital last week may have been seen as the last straw. Billed in Washington as a trip to shore up relations, Presi- dent Obama got the cold shoulder as the Saudi monarch sent a low- level functionary to meet the U.S. president's plane while he met an incoming delegation from the Gulf Cooperation Council. The message was pretty clear. The Obama PR team tried to put a positive spin on the visit, saying it "really cleared the air" between the two countries. But influential former Saudi Intelli- gence Chief Prince Turki Al-Faisal disagreed, telling CNN that there is going to have to be "a recali- bration of our relationship with America." I happen to agree with Prince Faisal. We are long overdue for a recalibration of our relation- ship. While I do not believe we have any business telling the Saudis how to run their coun- try, the decades-long special ar- rangement must come to an end. No more U.S.-taxpayer subsi- dized arms deals to a Saudi Ara- bia that slaughters civilians in Ye- men, transfers weapons to ISIS and other Islamist extremists in Syria and elsewhere, beheads its own citizens for minor offenses, finances terrorism overseas, and threatens other countries in the region. It should be known that no longer will the U.S. guaran- tee the security of the Saudi king- dom. If the Saudis refuse to sell us their oil in protest, there are other producers who would be happy to step in. The Iranians have long been prevented from selling their oil on the world market. If the Saudi government was involved in the 9/11 attacks, it should enjoy no immunity from justice. If that means reciprocal moves from other countries against the harm U.S. foreign policy causes over- seas, so be it. Yes, Prince Faisal. By all means let's "recalibrate" our relationship. No more entangling alliances with Saudi Arabia. Ron Paul is a former Congressman and Presidential candidate. He can be reached at the RonPaulInstitute.org. Ron Paul Yes Prince Faisal, we need to 'recalibrate' our relationship OPINION » redbluffdailynews.com Wednesday, April 27, 2016 » MORE AT FACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS A6