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Boyohboy.NotthatI'manexpertinthisarea, but I still somehow found the courage to give you my take on monogamy this Thursday. IthinkIshouldbenutsto tackle this topic. It is far more challenging than even the pro- cess of puberty. The first ques- tion that comes to my mind is where should I start? I decided to start by giving you my strong feelings right away. I think monogamy is wonderful and terrific. What is monogamy? I will tell you that it is not at all mo- notonous. It is far from it. It is pretty much the important word defining and protecting all relationships. Monogamy in a relation- ship is far more rewarding and lasting. It can literally make a life more comfortable and worth living. Dictionary.com says mo- nogamy means marriage with only one person at a time. Those humans who seek more than one man or one woman should already know they are headed for trouble. My experience tells me that monogamy has to be the best practice of all. I believe if you search for a relationship where com- mitment is key you will have a much better chance of be- ing permanent. I believe mates should completely share every- thing only with the one they have chosen. That way one has a better chance of achieving complete and lasting happiness. In a truly committed rela- tionship you have a much better chance of finding a person who will be specially devoted to you. It feels great when you can hon- estly tell the person you have chosen to be with for the rest of your life "I belong to you only. And, you belong to me only." However, relationships or marriage can also be a land mine for possible trou- ble. Who wants to know that someone besides yourself is enjoying the total benefits from your husband or wife. People have killed for much less than that. No wonder psy- chiatry and counseling is re- ported on the rise today. Tragically, I read that mar- riage is not doing well in Cal- ifornia where the divorce rate is now at a staggering 75 per- cent. Three out of four mar- riages in California don't last. I have reflected many times on that disappointment. I have always admired the beauty and talent of actress- dancer Jennifer Lopez, but she can't seem to just land on one guy and make it work. And, I would say fame must be a problem too. Think of Dr. Cliff Huxtable — Bill Cosby — himself. In real life he obviously has no idea what a real commitment means. We will soon get to know even more about his personal life since a judge re- cently declared Cosby will have to appear in court and face at least some of his countless accusers. If it is not too personal, please give me your thoughts on monogamy. When you truly commit to the one you have chosen to love and they do the same in return, I think you will soon be enjoying life more and hopefully be using two of America's favorite phrases, "you got it" and "enjoy." Mytakeonthemovies Here's my movie review for this week. Please see the film "Me Before You." It's about dealing with love itself and the handicapped. The stars are British and the lead lady, Emilia Clarke, is so cute I think she will captivate you. If you don't feel lucky to be alive after you leave the the- ater you may need to reassess how you are looking at your very own life. 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. StanStatham My take on monogamy I believe if you search for a relationship where commitment is key you will have a much better chance of being permanent. I believe mates should completely share everything only with the one they have chosen. Future U.S. diplomacy Editor: Imagine yourself stand- ing at the fence in front of the White House, while enjoying the peaceful ambiance of this spectacular 200-plus-year-old neoclassical edifice, and the awe inspiring columned por- tico behind the expanse of a beautifully maintained lawn, when suddenly, without warn- ing, the massive doors are thrust open and the body of a man comes tumbling out, along with his briefcase which is bouncing beside him. As the impeccably dressed gentleman pulls himself up and brushes himself off, it becomes evident that he is actually the Prime Minister of a sovereign country within the western realm, who has had the audac- ity to steer his ship of state in a direction which happens to diverge from the strict course laid out for him by the Wash- ington establishment. Promptly, President Trump is seen stepping out of the shadows and his voice can be heard issuing a stern and un- ambiguous parting message: "If you know what is good for you, don't ever show your face around here again, until you are prepared to follow or- ders, you hear," whereupon the doors slam shut. This is of course a signifi- cant departure from many de- cades of our diplomatic practice of forcing compliance via arm twisting and military and eco- nomic threats, a practice which was successfully kept from the public's prying eyes by being routinely administered in pri- vate and behind closed doors. How might things be differ- ent if Hillary Clinton were the occupant of the executive man- sion once again? Obviously, a plethora of information and dossier regarding her general views and disposition has been compiled during her many years of service in the public sector. So, let one particular video taped commentary she made as Secretary of State speak for itself: In the aftermath of the unprovoked criminal attack on Libya in 2011, which posed no threat thousands of miles from our shores yet was nev- ertheless actively promoted by her, a highly disturbing pic- ture of Muammar Gaddafi sur- faced, which showed his dead body disgustingly abused. Her callous response, based on the Roman concept of veni vidi vici was "We came, we saw, he died," followed by uproarious laughter. Such conduct was categori- cally condemned by Uncle Sam during the 20th century, when it was perpetrated by the likes of Soviet Russia and Nazi Ger- many. Moreover, what could possibly be a reason for the fre- quent disparaging remarks she has recently been making about Russia and Vladimir Putin? Is she obediently following or- ders from her handlers on Wall Street and the military indus- trial complex who demand their pound of flesh by setting the stage for a possible showdown with nuclear armed Russia? To summarize, it seems the only option left for us is to choose between bad and worse, or a rock and a hard place. So much for the subject of foreign policy, domestic issues do represent a different, yet in the final analysis, surprisingly similar kettle of fish. — Joe Bahlke, Red Bluff Concerns about a Trump presidency Editor: Benito Mussolini, dictator of Italy in the 1940s, was voted into office with his campaign promise to "Make the trains run on time." This put him in control and he later joined up with Adolph Hitler. Mussolini did make the trains run on time. However, his accomplishment enabled Hitler to hurry more Jews to the gas chambers. Donald Trump and his fa- cial expression of protruding his lower Jaw is an exact du- plicate of Benito Mussolini. It shows his smug, arrogant de- fiance and of his true person- ality. His campaign pledge is: "Make American great again." It's the how that bothers me and his definition of great. America is and always will be the greatest; its the people in charge who we need to vote out. Citizens of Italy expressed their views very clearly at the end of World War II. Check out how they dealt with Benito and his wife. — Don Bird, Rancho Tehama Gun safety and the media Editor: Guns, bombs and other weap- ons need a responsible operator in control. Mentally competent individuals are usually respon- sible. Chemically balanced most people tend to be responsible. How shall we have guns and other weapons controlled by honest, trustful and responsible individuals? What safety mea- sures shall be required to as- sure desired compliance? Shall we have gun and weapon control with mental health pro- grams attempting to keep people chemically balanced? What makes news media ap- pear to have an effect on hu- man behavior? What effect does the news media have on people? How does the news media af- fect individuals' behavior in so- ciety? How can news media be more positive and less nega- tive? What makes it seem that certain candidates are worse than others? How does ISIS recruit new members? What about attempts to have psychological warfare to promote global war? — Steve Kelsey, Corning Your opinions Cartoonist's take Remember classic Holly- wood films in which someone like Mickey Rooney or Judy Garland gushed, "C'mon, gang, let's get a Long-Short Term Memory (LSTM) Neural Net- work to put on a show"? Um, well, neither do I; but someday that could be the cliche our children remember. According to CBS News, filmmaker Oscar Sharp and his technologist collaborator Ross Goodwin have built a ma- chine that can write screen- plays. They fed the neural net- work (named Benjamin) hun- dreds of movie scripts and some prompts and it regurgi- tated a sparse script, which was turned into the short You- Tube video "Sunspring." I'm sure a lot of you assumed that Tinseltown was already us- ing artificial intelligence (AI) to crank out its endless sequels and knuckleheaded knockoffs; but, no, this is a new "thought exper- iment," as CBS calls it. Scripts are a fairly minor expense in the movie busi- ness (compared to star sala- ries, special effects, and paying MIT mathematicians to imag- ine new ticket prices); but I'm sure studios will be tempted to eliminate temperamental hu- mans. Don't expect the end of scripts by committee, however. ("Benjamin, see what the pho- tocopier and the fax machine care to contribute.") Look for some schlockmeis- ter producers to try saving even more money. ("Who needs fancy schmancy neural net- works? We'll get some six-year- old Chinese kids to program their abacus to write a script.") As a writer myself, I feel sympathy for the scriptwrit- ers, although Hollywood "key grips" and "gaffers" are proba- bly kicking them while they're down. ("Maybe you'll wish you had settled for being a 'best boy' instead of a Dalton Trumbo wannabe!") I'm sure there is a place for AI in scripting, but without that human "ear," can they ever catch all the nuances of timeless films? I expect AI to ruin iconic lines if classic movies are re- made. Would "Cool Hand Luke" be as memorable with "What we have here is failure to communi- cate — maybe the HTML coding needs some troubleshooting"? Would "Silence Of The Lambs" be as memorable with "Who eats human liver with fava beans and a nice chianti, anyway? Get me a proofread- ing app"? Would "Deliverance" still chill us with "I bet you can squeal like a collection of ham, bacon, sausage, jowls..."? Not even film titles will be safe. I can just imagine an AI machine muttering, "Fast and Furious, my shiny back side! Get a load of how fast and furious this algorithm is!" Will AI be able to develop a true sense of humor, or will we get too-literal jokes such as, "Yo' momma is so fat...she really ought to eat smaller portions, avoid trans fats and develop a better exercise regimen"? If scripts catch on, look for AI writing to expand to eulo- gies, sales spiels, T-shirt slo- gans, greeting card and the like. Bumper stickers may be- come brutally honest. ("My grandchildren are on the Honor Roll at Midland Elemen- tary and — oh, what difference does it make? Machines will take all their jobs, anyway!") Someday even the human au- diences will be written out of the equation, as AI starts pro- ducing scripts for other ma- chines. Stay away from the porno theaters with all the trenchcoated blenders and weed whackers in the back row. I'm trying to keep a positive attitude, but I fear that someday movies will end with disclaim- ers such as, "No humans were injured in the production of this motion picture. Yeah, right. Bwahaha..." Danny Tyree welcomes email responses at tyreetyrades@aol. com and visits to his Facebook fan page Tyree's Tyrades. Danny Tyree Will Hollywood officially switch to artificial intelligence? 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, 728Main St., Red Bluff, CA 96080 Facebook: Leave comments at FACEBOOK.COM/ RBDAILYNEWS Twitter: Follow and send tweets to @REDBLUFFNEWS By Danny Tyree Stan Statham OPINION » redbluffdailynews.com Thursday, June 16, 2016 » MORE AT FACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS A6