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Recenteventsmademethink of that 1963 movie, It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World. The movie had an all- star cast, and was wacky to the ut- most. Recently the all-stars in our own real world have been behav- ing in a wacky way as well. Reader beware: this commentary was written on Monday morning before the Republican Convention; many other strange things may have happened between then and Sat- urday when you read this. We did make it through World UFO day, July 2, how- ever, without incident. No one spotted mysterious objects over the North State or little green aliens visiting their backyards. That was a relief. Some local citizens are con- cerned that the low compensa- tion for our County Supervisors may impact the quality of candi- dates who run for the Board of Supervisors in Tehama County; there are examples to illustrate this concern. For instance, the supervisors' hesitancy to explore issues was clear when they voted 4 to 1 to set limits on what pri- vate property owners could do with mobile homes and trail- ers on their property. After not listening to the one supervisor who voted against the measure, they did listen to members of the public who pointed out they made a mistake. Now they actu- ally agree they did, and will take steps to correct their inattention. I don't remember any apologies being offered. Whether or not higher com- pensation can solve this kind of poorly thought out action is sub- ject to discussion. Someone re- cently wrote me that you get what you pay for; another won- dered if they were responsible for the half asphalt paving on west Walnut. As far as I can tell the local search for bigfoot has been put on hold since the DNA results of alleged samples of big- foot hair have all shown the hair had come from more familiar species, such as bears. There are still rumors about creating the poorest state in the nation by combining sev- eral Northern California coun- ties with some from Oregon, thus assuring perpetual igno- rance since that mythical state could not afford an educational system. Perhaps for some igno- rance is really bliss. The fight between fish and farmers continues, particularly intensified since the Donald, speaking out of ignorance, told us we have no drought. I guess we could use a proverbial Sol- omon to tell us how to balance the issues of water, the environ- ment and the need for food. When I was a kid I was told to clean up my mess; I tried to teach my children to clean up their messes as well, and am now working on grandchildren when they visit. It was their re- sponsibility, not something for which they received their allow- ance. Now we are dealing with large "responsible" corporations that do not seem to want to clean up their own messes: e.g. VW, Exxon and various oil com- panies who frack. The selection of the Donald's vice presidential candidate is in- teresting; Trumps partner, Mike Pence, the currently unpopular governor of Indiana, expanded so-called Obama Care in his state, is pro-free trade and was more militarily inclined than his running mate when it came to invading Iraq. He is also ve- hemently anti-choice and labels himself a Christian first and a Republican second. Pence has the pedigree of a Hillary hater from way back when. I am sure his past will soon be excavated and every misstep he has made will soon be blasted toward us on the mean stream media, including spending campaign funds on his house payments, his wife's car and credit card debt. His hair is a stark contrast to Trump, and he is dull sounding while the Donald is volatile, especially when talking off the top of his hair. They say politics makes strange bedfellows. A Washing- ton Post article mentions you can carry a gun in the demon- stration area of the Republican Convention in Cleveland, but not a tennis ball. I guess someone with a gun is not likely to throw it at someone else. In Turkey there has been an attempted coup. As you may re- call, a Turkish national living in France published an unflat- tering cartoon of the Turkish leader, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, not to be confused with the dragon Eragon. The cartoonist was extradited back home to stand trial for treason because of a treaty the French felt they had to uphold. Turk- ish citizens in the country have faced charges of treason for de- picting Erdogan in an unflatter- ing manner. This happens in an allegedly democratic country. Imagine if our Tuesday col- umnist was writing in Turkey and, in his petty piety, labeled Erdogan an "emperor;" his col- umn would be jerked and he would be on trial. Here he just suffers snickers. Ironically, Erdogan, who does not like to hear contrary opin- ions or see the other points of view, took his hat in his hands and condescended to appeal to the very people he suppresses to resist the coup. Now he is round- ing up the usual suspects and asking the United States to ex- tradite a resident whom he claims started the coup. Most maddening to me is those who take pride in killing innocents. Recent events in Nice, Dallas and now Baton Rouge do not make any sense to me. How can anyone who claims to want to make a better world possibly do so by killing innocents? Two more ominous events await us in 2016. The first is the Presidential election on Novem- ber 8 which could portend di- sastrous consequences for us no matter whom we elect, if you listen to the rhetoric bantered about in the press. The second ominous event is the full moon's next closest ap- proach to Earth will be on Nov. 14, 2016. This will be a Super Moon. It was just after the last Super Moon the Supervisors in both Shasta and Tehama coun- ties explored the Twilight Zone of Government Plots and Simple Solutions to all of our problems, aka the State of Jefferson. Who knows what will happen after the next Super Moon, just after our Presidential election re- sults are revealed in November. JoeHarropisaretired educator with more than 30 years of service to the North State. He can be reached at DrJoeHarrop@sbcglobal.net. JoeHarrop It is a mad, mad world Cartoonist's take Judgingringalready honors youth supporter Editor: I read with dismay, the pro- posal to rename the Tehama Dis- trict Fair Junior Judging Ring, in the July 21 Daily News. Many years ago the sheep- swine judging ring was dedi- cated to the memory of C. Roy Carmichael, a Vina cattleman who had no children but sup- ported the youth of Tehama County buying their animals at the junior auction each year. Carmichael would help many youth, selling them a steer for their fair project below cost. Car- michael was recognized by Te- hama County Cattlemen as Man of the Year in 1985. Will we next rename Tyler Jelly Building, Don Smith Bull Sale Arena, Pauline Davis Pavil- ion, Ron Knight 4-H Building, Kerstiens Entertainment Center? — Jean Barton, Red Bluff Builders and developers be aware Editor: Do builders and developers know that the Red Bluff Joint Union High School District has filed paperwork to increase de- veloping fees? And do they also know they are ordering yet an- other school bond measure to be placed on our November ballot to address the needs for safety, repair and career education? For us developers, there is the potential for a double whammy should the bond mea- sure pass. For sure, we can add another 12 cents per square foot to our existing $3.36 per square foot in building fees. The district already gets money from property owners and builders and developers. Why should we pay more? In the same meeting they were voting to increase our fees and put forward a bond mea- sure, the board voted to in- crease Superintendent Todd Brose's salary by 5 percent. I would encourage all build- ers, developers and interested community members to attend the Aug. 17 board meeting and express their concerns for plans to use our money. — Jenny Alexander, Red Bluff Guilty as sin Editor: Suspicions confirmed, Hillary is not going to be indicted even though her crimes are far more egregious than those of General Petraeus. What Bill Ayers said as he was stomping the American Flag in the ground "Guilty as sin, free as a bird, what a great coun- try," now serves Hillary as well. God save this country from cor- ruption at the highest level of our government. Corruption at this level can only exist, in my opinion, with the help of the powerful leader- ship of the establishment Repub- licans ensconced in Washington DC and in control of the Republi- can Party. These are the very Re- publicans that feel threatened by Trump and are out to destroy him in favor of "Lying Hillary." Corruption can only exist with the compliance of the leadership of the majority Republican Party in both houses. They have the au- thority to shut it down and put a stop to it. Trump threatens to do so, Hillary not only will carry-on but most likely double-down on what Obama has done. It is also my opinion that our Congress- man LaMalfa is part and party of said Republican establishment in Washington, DC as he has voted with them in support of Obama. Throughout the history of this country when leadership was needed whether it was to write the Constitution, the Dec- laration Independence, The Bill of Rights, to win a war or settle civil disorder there has always been someone to step up to the plate. The writing of the Consti- tution would have been long for- gotten if George Washington had not taken command of the Continental Army and won the Revolution, against overwhelm- ing odds with a bunch of rag-tag, untrained farmers without the proper number of guns and am- munition to begin with. The civil rights movement led by Mar- tin Luther King Jr. opened de- segregation and the end of "Jim Crow Law". He was joined in his peace-marches by conservative Republicans like Charlton Hes- ton. King was also a Republican and was met with opposition, civil disobedience and violence by Democrats much like the ones that grace this Opinion Page with their mindless and mean- ingless rhetoric. If Trump should become Pres- ident of the United States we will not know if his will be the leadership that will make Amer- ica great again until after the fact but anyone with one iota of a brain cell knows there is no chance of it if Hillary becomes president. All the leaders that help make this America great whether be they presidents, congressmen, senators, teachers, inventors, Ad- mirals of the U.S. Navy, Generals of the U.S. Army, Marines, Air- force or the junior officers and enlisted men and women who won medals of heroism could not be recognized until after their greatness was accomplished. We the people now have a choice to make and that is the possibility of having a "Great America Again" or the guaran- tee of more corruption by a rul- ing class of politicians, Republi- cans and Democrats in Washing- ton DC. — Les Wolfe, Red Bluff A grand spectacle Editor: Well, it is time once again for the nation's great Kabuki the- ater, Circus Maximus and pup- pet show, replete with grand- standing, name calling, breast beating, finger pointing, a ver- itable dog whistle, wedge is- sue, code word laced spectacle, which is routinely presented, along with hyperbole and empty promises, by Democrats and Re- publicans alike, ostensibly in an effort to convey that freedom and democracy are alive, well and flourishing. After loquacious kickoffs at both conventions, the ensuing national campaigns are expected to gain intensity by replicat- ing a WWE event, in which bile, venom and adversarial juices are encouraged to flow; all designed to widen the ever growing gap that separates both political par- ties and, most importantly, its members and adherents. The airwaves are humming with professional cheer lead- ing and hate mongering con- ducted by gas bags and talking heads, or so called hosts, who draw multi-million dollar sala- ries at Fox, MSNBC and other influential propaganda outlets, supplemented by the input of ex- tremely expensive so called ex- perts, gurus and poll takers at PR and consulting firms. TV sta- tions and advertisers are reap- ing windfall profits. Most im- portantly, puppeteers and ring- masters i.e. the usual suspects of banksters, Wall Street and the corporate sector, having dumped billions of dollars into the fray, are poised to collect their pre- arranged pound of flesh, sweet- heart deals and expected lavish return on their investment. What's in it for us? Regard- less of what side we are aligned with, these excesses and finan- cial liabilities will eventually have to be funded by us, our children and grandchildren. Obviously, divide and con- quer is the motivation and mo- dus operandi here, and as long as we are willing participants and obediently acquiesce to our assigned role of each other's avowed enemy, even to our own detriment, expectations for con- ditions and the status quo to change, will once again turn out to be just another deception and empty pipe dream. Time to wake up? — Joe Bahlke, Red Bluff Letters to the editor There are still rumors about creating the poorest state in the nation by combining several Northern California counties with some from Oregon, thus assuring perpetual ignorance since that mythical state could not afford an educational system. 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 State and National • Assemblyman James Gal- lagher, 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, Sacra- mento 95814, 916 445-2841, fax 916 558-3160, governor@gover- nor.ca.gov • U.S. Representative Doug LaMalfa, 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 Supervi- sors, 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, Richard Crabtree, 527-2605, Ext. 3061 • Corning City Manager, Kris- tina Miller, 824-7033 Your officials Joe Harrop OPINION » redbluffdailynews.com Saturday, July 23, 2016 » MORE AT FACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS A4