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6A Daily News– Wednesday, June 13, 2012 Opinion DAILYNEWS RED BLUFF TEHAMACOUNTY T H E V O I C E O F T E H A M A C O U N T Y S I N C E 1 8 8 5 Greg Stevens, Publisher gstevens@redbluffdailynews.com Chip Thompson, Editor editor@redbluffdailynews.com Editorial policy The Daily News opinion is expressed in the editorial. The opinions expressed in columns, letters and cartoons are those of the authors and artists. Letter policy The Daily News welcomes let- ters from its readers on timely topics of public interest. All let- ters must be signed and pro- vide the writer's home street address and home phone num- ber. Anonymous letters, open letters to others, pen names and petition-style letters will not be allowed. Letters should be typed and cannot exceed two double-spaced pages or 500 words. When several letters address the same issue, a cross section of those submit- ted will be considered for publi- cation. Letters will be edited. Letters are published at the discretion of the editor. Mission Statement We believe that a strong com- munity newspaper is essential to a strong community, creating citizens who are better informed and more involved. The Daily News will be the indispensible guide to life and living in Tehama County. We will be the premier provider of local news, information and advertising through our daily newspaper, online edition and other print and Internet vehi- cles. The Daily News will reflect and support the unique identities of Tehama County and its cities; record the history of its com- munities and their people and make a positive difference in the quality of life for the resi- dents and businesses of Tehama County. How to reach us Main office: 527-2151 Classified: 527-2151 Circulation: 527-2151 News tips: 527-2153 Sports: 527-2153 Obituaries: 527-2151 Photo: 527-2153 On the Web www.redbluffdailynews.com Fax Newsroom: 527-9251 Classified: 527-5774 Retail Adv.: 527-5774 Legal Adv.: 527-5774 Business Office: 527-3719 Address 545 Diamond Ave. Red Bluff, CA 96080, or P.O. Box 220 Red Bluff, CA 96080 Picture was It represented the student/faculty basketball game that benefitted a cause for cancer. I thought the photo was run in poor judgment as well as poor taste. In no way does the photo represent what we feel is responsible journalism, nor is it the type of publicity that reflects upon our values as a unit. In the future, we hope the sports editor would use a little more discretion. Steven Piffero, Red Bluff Phone scam Editor: phony grandson telling me he was in Panama for a friend's wedding. Call this morning from a I could see where this was going so I asked him some questions that he had trouble answering and he finally hung up. I could see he was leading up to needing plane fare back home. Not born yesterday, buddy. Phyllis Johnson, Red Bluff On behalf of the Red Bluff Union High School California Teacher's Association (CTA), I would like to express my disappointment in the photo run on the sports page on Tuesday, June 5. disappointing Editor: The VFW post #3909 of Los Molinos has been active within the community for many years. Many believe that the meet- ings held each month are just a bunch of old men setting around talking about old war stories. That's not the purpose of the VFW and I would like to thank them for all they do and to let people know of just a few things they have done in the past week for the Los Molinos High School. Thanks to VFW Editor: veterans who have laid their lives on the line, past and those now in harms way. Good bless all those who protect and defend this great nation. Terry Owen, Los Molinos Lake Red Because of cuts in our schools budget, the Los Moli- nos VFW stepped up and pur- chased 10 jackets for the LMHS FFA club. Every year the VFW hands out scholar- ships to the graduating class. This year (2012) they awarded six $750 scholarships and they support the sober graduation party. And because of budget cuts, they also know that our school's athletics department is in need of new equipment, so during the VFW's June meet- ing, they voted to donate $1,000 to the LMHS Athletics Department. VFW Post #3909 has sup- ported and will continue to sup- port the community. Yes they meet each month and yes a few war stories are told but that's okay, people need to know and never forget what these veter- ans have done and sacrificed for all of us. The freedom we all enjoy is given to us by those over the loss of Lake Red Bluff as a drawing card for tourism, this is a fallacy other than the Memorial Day boat drags. In fact, the Red Bluff- Bluff Editor: With all the hue and cry river guides and gas, food and lodging for their clients, the loss of revenue from the boat drags and the ridiculous cost of the pumps, all lies on the doorstep of the Bureau of Reclamation. Your Turn never know what the impact on salmon and steelhead would have been if the Bureau of Reclamation had operated the Red Bluff Diver- sion Dam as originally planned by opening the gates during the non-irrigation sea- son. Tehama County Chamber of Commerce paid for a study some 30 or 40 years back, as I recall, that came to the con- clusion that those who used the lake for recreational pur- poses were locals. Tourists were more interested in lakes such as Oroville, Shasta, Whiskeytown, Lewiston, Trinity and even Black Butte. Having said that, we will the lake, with the loss of fish and their financial asset to the All of the controversy over No one seems to realize, quite possi- bly, the biggest losers just might be Ken and Dorothy Lindauer who the Bureau of "Wreck"clamation blessed with the infamous Fish Ditch. A huge concrete canal going right past their home, another tremendous waste of taxpay- ers' money that the Lindauers and their descendants will have to live with forever. . The plight of the salmon and steelhead in the Sacra- mento River are many, the Red Bluff Diversion Dam is just one. Les Wolfe, Red Bluff Simply put: what they do is put democracy in the work place and give the worker a voice in her/his wages, hours, working conditions. Workers of this land, do not let what happened in Wisconsin happen to you. Do not allow any one to put public worker against private worker. We must fight every effort to divide us for all will lose. Unions Editor: Bob Hogan, Red Bluff Your officials STATE ASSEMBLYMAN — Jim Nielsen (R) State Capitol Bldg., Room 6031 Sacramento, CA 95814 (916) 319-2002; Fax (916) 319-2102 STATE SENATOR — Doug LaMalfa (R) State Capitol Bldg., Room 3070 Sacramento, CA 95814 (916) 651-4004; Fax (916) 445-7750 GOVERNOR — Jerry Brown, State Capitol Bldg., Sacramento, CA 95814; (916) 445-2841; Fax (916) 558-3160; E-mail: gover- nor@governor.ca.gov. U.S. REPRESENTATIVE — Wally Herger (R), 2595 Cean- othus Ave., Ste. 182, Chico, CA 95973; 893-8363. U.S.SENATORS — Dianne Feinstein (D), One Post Street, Suite 2450, San Francisco, CA 94104; (415) 393-0707. Fax (415) 393-0710. Barbara Boxer (D), 1700 Montgomery St., Suite 240, San Francisco, CA 94111; (510) 286-8537. Fax (202) 224- 0454. Time to police the government Commentary I speak of a spate of new technologies -- high-tech cam- eras, satellites and now, drones being flown over U.S. soil -- that are giving police and gov- ernment way too much power over the average Joe. Our country was founded by people who were wary of gov- ernment power, you see. They were wary of government do- gooders attaining too much con- trol, as they knew that absolute power always corrupts absolute- ly. The balance between the police and the policed is getting way out of whack -- and we bet- ter restore it now. guards against unreasonable searches and seizures. It requires probable cause and a judicially sanctioned warrant before the police are permitted to enter one's home. The idea was to protect the liberties of the average Joe by putting the burden on police and government agencies. Better that 10 guilty men go free than to convict a single innocent man. So they implemented checks and balances to limit that power. They knew, too, however, that human nature is imperfect - - that there will always be crooks, murderers and con men and that government must pro- vide average, law-abiding citi- zens with basic protections against those who seek to do them harm. Thus, our Constitution was designed to strike a proper bal- ance between police and gov- ernment agencies and the citi- zens they police. The Fourth Amendment in the Bill of Rights, for instance, This proper balance between the police and the policed worked well for many years. But technology is upending that balance. reduced to a lesser charge. Now the police have precise VASCAR and radar technolo- gies. Hidden speed cameras are popping up all over the place. New technologies are even making it possible to monitor speeds using satellites. Consider: Back in the '50s and '60s, when my father was a young man, there were speed traps, just as there are now. When one driver saw a police car hiding behind shrubs, he flashed his high beams at oncoming drivers to warn them to slow down. The policed col- laborated against the police and all was well. then. To gauge a driver's speed, an officer had to work a manual stopwatch, then do math. The process was so imprecise, the odds weren't bad that the ticket would be tossed out in court or The police had it tough back While such tech- nologies may benefit drivers by slowing traf- fic at dangerous inter- sections, there is a downside: The average Joe will soon be help- less in the face of small-town police who use such technologies to establish lucrative, high-tech speed traps. lance on farmers in Nebraska and Iowa, looking for violations of the Clean Water Act? Did you know that the Feder- al Aviation Adminis- tration has loosened restrictions on the use of drones by the nation's 18,000 local police departments? How long will it be before quiet little planes monitor our speed and everything else we do? How long before Tom Purcell But as technology upends the balance between the police and the policed, that is the least of the average Joe's worries. government is using unmanned aerial vehicles (drones) -- much like the drones it uses to moni- tor and kill enemies overseas -- to monitor U.S. citizens? Did you know, Did you know our federal Investor's Business Daily, that the EPA is conducting surveil- says won't matter a whit once the balance between the police and the policed gets that far out of whack. Flashing our high beams Tom Purcell, a humor columnist for the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, is nationally syndicated exclusively by Cagle Cartoons newspaper syndicate. Visit Tom on the Web at www.TomPurcell.com or e-mail him at Purcell@caglecartoons.com. illegal searches, for- bidden by the Fourth Amendment, are commonplace? We must stop the drones now.