Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/697137
Ihadtowearaneyepatchforthreedaysthis week, and I have come to appreciate the depth perception that two functioning eyes provide. Depth perception is important in navigating your way through life. That made me wonder about the current mood in our country. Sometimeswegetcaughtup in the moment, reacting with- out reflecting, and making rash statements or de- cisions, being knee jerk, so to speak. In the era of instant news, predatory press, angry rhetoric, and shouting pol- iticians, it is all too easy to be caught up in the moment. Most recently we have seen knee jerking at the national level, in Congress, and even lo- cally as the rhetoric regard- ing guns, violence, and mass shootings triggered a variety of shouting about the Second Amendment, assault weapons, who can get guns, and who is at fault for the tragedy in Orlando. It might be good to take a step back and decide what are the problems we are trying to address, and what are we will- ing to do to solve those prob- lems. There are a lot of things associated with violence and death, not just guns. Passing laws and pointing fingers do not solve problems. Look at what happened after Prohibition; there were many unintended consequences, some of which we live with to- day. Part of the problem was we were not willing or able to ex- ert the effort needed to squelch alcohol. We passed a law, but did not solve the "problem" we thought we were address- ing. We failed to stem illegal sources of alcohol, to provide adequate resources to enforce the law, and we spawned new criminal organizations that have offspring today in the drug and gun trade. Speaking of alcohol, alcohol- related crimes are a very high proportion of robberies, as- sault, rape, murder, vehicular deaths, and other crimes of vio- lence — a fact not well reported or headlined. According to the Centers for Disease Control ex- cessive alcohol use contrib- utes to over 88,000 deaths per year in the United States. About 20,000 die per year in alcohol caused vehicular deaths. Also, according to the Cen- ters for Disease Control tobacco smoking is responsible for 480,000 deaths per year in the United States. That is far more deaths than from firearms and alcohol combined. We do not even begin to speak of banning tobacco in our country, and we have only just begun to con- sider restrictions on the new fad, "vaping." Nevertheless, gun deaths in this country are very high compared to the rest of the world, but most are not mass shootings, and the vast ma- jority are suicides. Accord- ing to the CDC, in 2013, fire- arms were used in 84,258 non- fatal injuries and 11,208 deaths by homicide 21,175 by suicide with a firearm, 505 deaths due to accidental discharge of a firearm, and 281 deaths due to firearms-use with "unde- termined intent" for a total of 33,169 deaths related to fire- arms (excluding firearm deaths due to legal intervention). 1.3% of all deaths in the country were related to firearms. Mass shootings are de- fined as shootings with four or more victims. According to the FBI, from 1966 to 2012, nearly a third of the world's mass shootings took place in the U.S. The FBI surveyed 292 incidents and found 90 of them occurred in Amer- ica. Put another way: While the U.S. has 5% of the world's it had population 31% of all public mass shootings. Who should have access to guns and which type of guns should be available is another issue being discussed. Many guns bought legally have been involved in terrible incidents, and many guns obtained from the dark market have played a role in gun violence. How should we screen, or can we screen, those who want a gun? Which kinds of guns require screening? What about the gun I inherited? How can we squelch the dark market of il- legal guns? These issues are complex and cannot be solved in the headlines. Denying guns to those on ei- ther the "no fly" list or the "ter- rorist suspect" list may seem simple, but when you look at who may end up on those lists, the process of putting them on the list, and the lack of an ap- peal process, you wonder about the so called "big brother" state and due process. Should you or I be allowed to have an "assault weapon"? I personally don't see a reason for possessing one, but regulating them is politically difficult. I have reread the Second Amendment; it speaks of things that do not exist any- more; it refers to "well-regu- lated militias", for example. Today we have the National Guard; we have repeating weapons and assault rifles in- stead of single shot weapons; the Internet comes with in- structions on how to build all sorts of destructive de- vices. We have more firearms amongst our population than we have people. As I write this there are Democrats holding a sit in in the House of Representatives to force a vote on control. Is this grandstanding or is it a step in the right direction? I do not know for sure. So, what problems are we willing to tackle? How much are we really willing to in- vest in their solutions? Are we willing to think these things through? What are we doing to improve mental health care? Are we just kicking the prover- bial can down the road with piecemeal and token efforts? Or are we just content being knee jerks? Can we sit down and calmly discuss these mat- ters and develop a comprehen- sive plan we are willing to sup- port with adequate resources? Or do we want to continue to rant and rave? JoeHarropisaretired educator with more than 30 years of service to the North State. He can be reached at DrJoeHarrop@sbcglobal.net. JoeHarrop Caughtupin the moment Cartoonist's take On a recent weekend, Bob Cos- tas was broadcasting the Cardi- nals game in St. Louis, Dick En- berg was behind the mic at the Pa- dres game in San Diego, and Vin Scully was calling the Dodgers game in L.A. It was an epic triple play-by- play. That these three greats are still at it, and in fine form, says a lot about them, but also about baseball —— a sport which, due to pace, setting and style lends itself to poetry. At 64, Costas is the baby of the group. Enberg is 81; Scully 88. They all began broad- casting sports in their early 20s, meaning each has legacy knowledge about baseball that Wikipedia and YouTube simply can't replicate. Come September, you'll be hearing and reading a lot about Enberg and Scully, both of whom plan to retire at season's end. But consider this a heads up: Don't wait for the tributes and retrospectives; invest in the Major League Baseball app and savor a few live Dodgers and Padres games now, before the chapter ends. Of course Scully is —— and I imagine even Enberg and Cos- tas would agree —— the GOAT: Greatest of all time. Vin Scully stepped into the broadcast booth at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn in 1950 and took the chair next to legendary broadcaster Red Barber. He fol- lowed the Dodgers to L.A. in '58 and today, just think about it, he's still as good as ever. He does the Dodgers games alone! All nine innings. No "color man" alongside, no safety net. He peppers the play-by- play with personal insights and turns of phrase. The other day, as the Dodg- ers were mauling the visiting Braves, Scully said: "We're in the fifth and the Dodgers lead 8-2 ... Baseball can be a very cruel business ... The Braves are on a treadmill to oblivion." A few innings later, when Dodger rookie Austin Barnes took his first at-bat, Scully ob- served, "His birthday is a cou- ple of days after Christmas, but for him, Christmas arrived to- day: in the Big Leagues." I grew up listening to Vin Scully and you couldn't pos- sibly count how many peo- ple say the same thing. Like many kids I copied the bat- ting stances and mannerisms of baseball stars, but I also sat with a small recorder and tried to emulate Vin Scully's play-by-play style. He's a five- tool broadcaster: knowledg- able, insightful, reasonable, graceful and entertaining. Scully believes baseball is the perfect game for televi- sion. "It's theater, really," he once told the L.A. Times. "The star is in the spotlight on the mound, the supporting cast fanned out around him, the mathematical precision of the game moving with the kind of inevitability of Greek tragedy. With the Greek chorus in the bleachers." Of course broadcasting, like baseball, is prone to hyperbole. Everyone is the greatest and no record will ever be broken. So who knows if there will ever be another Vin Scully. My bet: Joe DiMaggio's 56-game hitting streak will fall before Scully's 66-year broadcasting record. This season Scully is show- ing bits of his photo collec- tion —— and he's seen it all, from Jackie Robinson's steal of home to Sandy Koufax's perfect game. It was Koufax who said he enjoyed listening to Scul- ly's broadcasts even more than playing the game. The Dodgers are making a Bobblehead in his image and September 23 will be Vin Scully Day at Dodger Stadium. When the team dedicated Vin Scully Avenue in April, Scully thanked the 1,500 or so fans who turned out on a street corner just to see him and to hear a few pearls. "Maybe on the final day of my final broadcast I'll some- how come up with some magic words that you deserve," he said with polished humility. "As for now, I have only two magic words: thank you." His entire career is filled with magic. During a broadcast in 1991, he noted, "Andre Daw- son has a bruised knee and is listed as day-to-day." Then, after a pause, Vin Scully added, "Aren't we all?" Peter Funt can be reached at www.CandidCamera.com. Peter Funt Vin Scully heads for home It might be good to take a step back and decide what are the problems we are trying to address, and what are we willing to do to solve those problems. There are a lot of things associated with violence and death, not just guns. Sounding off Alookatwhatreadersaresayingincommentsonourwebsiteandonsocialmedia. Howmanyhoursamonthdotheywork? Maybe the others are overpaid? Adam Knight: On raises for county supervisors to make salary comparable to other counties That's awesome. Where can I view them? I was born and raised here in Red Bluff, Dr. Gains delivered me in the old hospital. Although I have lived in a lot of different towns I always end up coming back home. Joy Carey: On a series of promotional videos being made for the Tehama County website Greg Stevens, 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 Greg Stevens, 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 Joe Harrop StateandNational Assemblyman James Galla- gher, 2060 Talbert Drive, Ste. 110, Chico 95928, 530 895-4217, http://ad03.asmrc.org/ Senator Jim Nielsen, 2634 Forest Ave., Ste. 110, Chico 95928, 530 879-7424, senator. nielsen@senate.ca.gov Governor Jerry Brown, State Capital Building, Sacramento 95814, 916 445-2841, fax 916 558- 3160, governor@governor.ca.gov U.S. Representative Doug La- Malfa, 507 Cannon House Of- fice Building, Washington D.C. 20515, 202 225-3076 U.S. Senator Dianne Fein- stein, One Post St., Ste. 2450, San Francisco 94104, 415 393- 0707, fax 415 393-0710 U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer, 1700 Montgomery St., San Fran- cisco 94111, 510 286-8537, fax 202 224-0454 Local Tehama County Supervisors, 527-4655 District 1, Steve Chamblin, Ext. 3015 District 2, Candy Carlson, Ext. 3014 District 3, Dennis Garton, Ext. 3017 District 4, Bob Williams, Ext. 3018 District 5, Burt Bundy, Ext. 3016 Red Bluff City Manager, Rich- ard Crabtree, 527-2605, Ext. 3061 Corning City Manager, Kris- tina Miller, 824-7033 Your officials Peter Funt Vin Scully stepped into the broadcast booth at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn in 1950 and took the chair next to legendary broadcaster Red Barber. He followed the Dodgers to L.A. in '58 and today, just think about it, he's still as good as ever. OPINION » redbluffdailynews.com Saturday, June 25, 2016 » MORE AT FACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS A5