Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/676896
SundaynightIhadadreamaboutsome- thing I hadn't eaten in over 60 years, cin- namon and sugar on toast. So on Monday I put honey and cinnamon on toast, and most likely I will not wait another 60 plus years before I do that again. Thattoast generateda feel- ing of nostalgia, so for lunch I had a peanut butter and jelly sandwich with a glass of milk and an apple. To com- plete the trifecta, I had a toasted cheese sandwich for dinner. It was a good start to the week, a week in the pres- ent but not the past. Nostalgia is defined as a sentimental or wistful long- ing for some pleasant time or place from the past. It can be commercially evoked by clever advertising, or it could simply be a rose col- ored glasses look at how we thought something was. This year nostalgia has run amuck in the political scene. Exaggerated images of how things were and could be again are flashed before our eyes and ears, exacerbat- ing a discontent that has fu- eled an almost obscene pres- idential primary. It has be- come divisive at a time when we should be building a sense of community. In some ways this year's evocation of nostalgia has caused a neuralgia, a flaring pain that won't go away. I am reminded of the oft quoted sentence "You can't go home again." Thomas Wolfe's quote is profound. We cannot return to the "days of yester- year" nor can we roll back the clock of history. All we can do is shape the future. This year our congrega- tion is undertaking a mis- sion study to find out how we can go about the Lord's work in our community. We did a survey of the community, and when we were done we were a little overwhelmed. After we made a list that in- cluded such things as high unemployment rates, rela- tively sparse mental health resources, and the like, some of the study committee felt bummed. Then one person spoke up, "These things all present us with opportuni- ties," he proclaimed. That turned the discussion around from "woe is me" to "let's tackle these challenges." Our committee began to consider shaping our future. If we talk about shap- ing our future, then we can look ahead. Looking ahead doesn't preclude fondness for the past; it does mean facing the realities of today and go- ing forward. City Council has been lack- ing some vision, but lately it is beginning to come around and try to shape Red Bluff's future. At Tuesday night's meeting it finally figured out it would be like cutting off its nose to spite its face when the bud- get committee proposed cut- ting its support to the Cham- ber of Commerce by 50 per- cent. After some debate, and an almost comedic Trump- like polemic by Councilman Robert Schmid, one of the two members of the budget committee, the Council voted 4 to 1 to revise the budget and restore funding to the $70,000 level. It didn't hurt that there were many hotel owners in the audience supporting the Chamber's efforts to attract tourists and visitors. Public attendance at the Council meetings can help the council members understand the needs of the community. Mayor Clay Parker proposed a $10,000 budget item to aid in working with community groups in finding solutions to the homeless problem. It also passed 4 to 1 with the same curmudgeon dissenting. These City Council's ac- tions are encouraging; their actions will play well when we describe our community to those who want to settle here or place a business here. The City Council is taking a leadership role in shaping the future of our community. We should encourage them. JoeHarropisaretired educator with more than 30 years of service to the North State. He can be reached at DrJoeHarrop@sbcglobal.net. JoeHarrop The City Council is shaping our future Carlsonis the responsible choice Editor: If you haven't seen the new Michael Moore picture yet, you are in for a real treat. The first 15 minutes talks about the dif- ference it makes when women move into politics or banking. Of all the banks that failed in Iceland in 2007/08, the only bank that didn't fail was man- aged by women. On the local front we have the Tehama County Board of Supervisors consisting of 4 men and 1 woman. When it was time to adopt the 2016 County budget, the 4 men voted yes to authorizing the use of $2.5 million of the county's reserve funds to complete the budget. The lone no vote was by a for- mer business manager, Kath- leen "Candy" Carlson. Frankly, we are fortunate to have a forward thinking per- son like Candy and could use a few more common sense mem- bers on the board. Candy doesn't just talk fiscal responsibility, she votes her conscience and knows how to put pencil to paper to come up with a balanced budget. — Sharon Young, Red Bluff Heaving li ing revisited Editor: Sometimes there are mo- ments of equanimity and peace. And now is one of them. In attending the candidates night at the Community Cen- ter the other night, I heard any speaker talking about the RV ordinance regard it as a mis- take that needs to be revisited. This is almost too good to be true. The situation is irrevoca- bly revealed: 4 supervisors did not recognize the unfathered, fetid apparition for what it was, as opposed to Candy Carlson who did and voted against it, alone, unsupported, and criti- cized by the 4 for her stance. Obviously, and to para- phrase some earlier criticisms of Carlson, this burden, of de- cision presented, was just a bit to "heavy" for the 4, to "lift." Such a little thing. So much enjoyment. — James Bryant, Red Bluff Tech industry undermines productivity, peace of mind Editor: On the subject of software being needlessly, ridiculously, and selfishly complex for no purpose except to enable those in power to become increas- ingly rich, I've been having a hell of a time trying to create my foundation's website. Yes, the software has a great reputation for making it easy to launch a simple blog, but try to add a simple feature and you've got a nightmare on your hands. For months now I've devoted substantial time to reading, researching, and programming — failing to get anything to work — and be- coming increasingly convinced of this assessment. Yes, I have a memory im- pairment. Yes, it makes learn- ing slow and frustrating — especially complex, mem- ory-intensive tasks like programming in a language I've never seen before. But it shouldn't cause software to be defective, which it really is. I've confirmed this through reading online discussions with the manufacturer's own employees. Only, they and the consumers that come to them for solutions act like such anomalies are normal — like it's perfectly acceptable that so many have to waste weeks reinventing the wheel. That is, struggling to solve prob- lems no one would have had to endure if the developer had just taken a few hours to de- bug the software — if not be- fore its release, after people started having problems with it. Back in my college years 30 years ago, the world wasn't run by companies that be- lieved devising new ways to exploit people was an hon- orable and acceptable way to make money. Or maybe it was, and I just haven't be- come aware of it until now. One thing's sure, though: software developers, web de- signers, and even hardware manufacturers are increas- ingly becoming this way. My new flat-screen moni- tor frequently spontaneously loses its settings, requiring me to spend substantial time reprogramming it. I'd throw it in the garbage and buy a new one if such wouldn't reward both its manufacturer and its industry for making crap. My college years were Mi- crosoft's early days when pro- gramming was elegant, sim- ple, straightforward, and the industry was open, honest, and apologetic for problems. Today it devotes itself to de- vising ways to force people to view ads, to render the prod- ucts they sell you unusable in a few years, and if you're not willing or able to replace them, to force you to pay them more money to restore mini- mal function. That is, to en- sure their continued job secu- rity. It's a cold war, only they use needlessly-complex com- puter code instead of threat of nuclear annihilation to fabri- cate demand. The sad thing is, members of the older generation that still valued honesty and qual- ity and respected customers' time have either retired or died off. This has left a gener- ation of ungrounded, unethi- cal, financially-insatiable, and increasingly foreign-born op- portunists to unconscionably undermine America's money, time, and peace of mind. — Nathan Esplanade, Rancho Tehama Your opinions Cartoonist's take One of the oddest moments in a presidential campaign filled brim-spillingly with them is the sight of the Re- publican Party struggling to rally around the man looking more and more like its pre- sumptive nominee, Donald J. Trump. Perhaps "rally" is too strong of a word. More of a depressed daw- dle. A lackluster loiter. Melan- choly mosey. Crematory crawl. The party is exhibiting all the enthusiasm of a condemned man walking barefoot to the gallows up 13 steps of bro- ken glass. Like an eight-year old forced to rip a switch off a birch tree prior to a paternal spanking. A film critic trudging through the lobby of a multiplex for a preview of the next Trans- formers movie. It's a shame that Elizabeth Kubler-Ross died a decade ago, and can't witness all five of her "Stages of Grief" being spun out at the same time. Depend- ing on where you look, the GOP can be seen going through de- nial, anger, bargaining, de- pression and a reluctant accep- tance. She could even update her classic with new stages: de- jection, mortification, suicidal gloom, self-immolation and eye gouging panic. Politicos traditionally resist change, but the way party reg- ulars are dragging their feet on the path to partner with Trump you'd swear they were wearing cement galoshes. En- cased in lead. Dragging super- gravity anvils. There's no jump- ing onto this bleak bandwagon. More like slithering on sur- reptitiously from the shadows praying that friends and family aren't paying attention. A large faction of Republicans still cling to the desperate hope the New York businessman can be denied the nomination, but in order to do so, different factions need to combine forces. The problem is they don't get along. It's a classic example of the hy- ena and lion planning to take down the elephant, but becom- ing way too occupied trying to eat each other. From Aesop. Ted Cruz and John Kasich's campaigns reached a tenta- tive agreement to clear their prospective lanes in Indiana and Oregon, but that non-ag- gression pact had a shorter life than a box of cupcakes in a pre- school, day-care center af- ter a five-mile hike. Snowflakes in hell last longer. To double down on the fires of perdition analogy, former Speaker of the House, John Boehner, called Cruz "Luci- fer in the flesh." Which led an- other Republican Congress- man, Peter King of New York, to argue the comparison was unfair to Lucifer. "Wave your hands in the air like you just don't care. Lucifer in the house." Or rather, the Senate. Ignoring the insults, Ted Cruz attempted to shake things up by presumptively choosing a running mate, which is simi- lar to a sophomore journalism student picking Adele to sing the theme song of their future prime time network television interview show. The move seemed designed to match Trump's failed busi- nessman card and raise him a failed woman card. But alas, to say that Carly Fiorina's slot on the ticket didn't create a lot of buzz is like saying there weren't a lot of sequined pajamas at the White House Correspondents Dinner. To their credit though, you have to admit that both Ted Cruz and Donald Trump do in- cite passion. Then again, so does flesh eating bacteria. With Trump, people either love him or hate him. Whereas with Cruz, the differences narrow to either hate or an intense dislike. Will Durst is an award- winning, nationally acclaimed columnist and comedian. Go to willdurst.com for info about his new one-man show "BoomeRaging: From LSD to OMG," and the documentary "3 Still Standing." Will Durst To their credit, both Cruz and Trump do incite passion 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 Will Durst This year nostalgia has run amuck in the political scene. Exaggerated images of how things were and could be again are flashed before our eyes and ears, exacerbating a discontent that has fueled an almost obscene presidential primary. OPINION » redbluffdailynews.com Saturday, May 7, 2016 » MORE AT FACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS A4