Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/722073
WhywasPresidentObamaplayinggolf at Martha's Vineyard when Fox News thought he should personally be looking at the immense flooding disaster that recently happened in Louisiana? Whyhasn'tObamasolved every problem on Earth? Why has he not stopped that Zika virus yet? And, why has his hair turned so gray? It is my take that those are just a few of the not very intelli- gent questions that Fox News feels Mr. Obama should an- swer. His scheduling chal- lenge is one I also had when I was elected to the California Assembly. I suppose it is only human to want everything from someone else and not primarily look to oneself as the one who should be responsible for it all. When I enjoyed being elected to the Assembly for almost 20 years, I quickly got tired of so many of our well intended good north state cit- izens starting so many sen- tences with; "Why don't you do something about...etc." I actually have lots of em- pathy for President Barack Obama. Some of America's citizens not only demand that he be everywhere mak- ing everything better all the time, but also a good num- ber of Americans still believe he was not even born in our country. I, on the other hand, believe he was born in Hono- lulu. I personally know some of his friends who live there. So, forget about it. And, at the very least, that issue is making a big deal out of noth- ing. He has almost completed his two terms in office. If any of those nutty "birthers" would ever be correct, what can be done about it now? I think it is time for Amer- ica's lucky citizens to cut all of our Presidents, Democrat or Republican, some seri- ous slack. If you really think about it, no one is really ca- pable of becoming President and handling the most im- portant and powerful posi- tion on Earth. The California Department of Forestry contacted me a few decades ago when I was the elected Assemblyman for Tehama and eight other coun- ties in our great north state. They asked if I wanted to tour a forest fire underway at that time using their helicopter. I took them up on that offer and enjoyed the experience. However, what did I ac- tually accomplish by doing that? Frankly, just a newspa- per headline that read "Sta- tham Looks at Fire...etc." In reality, I could not dump wa- ter on the fire or blow it out. I believe President Obama was in a similar situation with the recent Louisiana flooding. Please let me know what you think. What do you think our President should have done in this situation? Mytakeonthemovies I have grown tired of all the pugilistic movies over the years that Sylvester Stal- lone helped make popular with his countless versions of Rocky Balboa's triumphs. That is probably because I have never thought boxing was a civilized sport. However, the excellent bi- opic "Hands of Stone" star- ring Edgar Ramirez and 72-year-old Robert De Niro got me extremely interested in the career of boxing great Roberto Duran in the 1980s. I highly recommend anyone see this 5-star film. I also saw "Pete's Dragon." My daughter Jennifer He- jsek saw the originally titled movie in 1977. I remember she saw it dozens of times. She obviously thought it was great. I do hope Jenni takes her daughter, my granddaugh- ter Lauren, to see this one. I recommend it for the entire family. This is another won- derful Disney movie. 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 President Obama's schedule The California Department of Forestry contacted me a few decades ago when I was the elected Assemblyman for Tehama and eight other counties in our great north state. They asked if I wanted to tour a forest fire underway at that time using their helicopter. New courthouse impact Editor: As our esteemed politicians, jurists and civic leaders await the grand opening of the new county courthouse, I felt it time to make a few comments. I went back and read up on the courthouse progress from ground breaking to estimated day of opening. Comments from various dig- nitaries interviewed called it "the magnificent new court- house," a "grand building" and one spoke of the "grandeur of the edifice." There is no doubt that Te- hama County needed a new courthouse and the fact that it will now be able to have a metal detector is decades late and much needed. As for their comments I was a bit astounded. Give us a break. It is a courthouse not a castle. They have only paved three- quarters of Walnut Street in front of this "grand edifice." I will have to assume that this TINY bit of street could not be included in the state budget or that the city and county cannot or will not pick up the tab. Who does this? It is an em- barrassment and citizens I have spoke with are in disbelief and we have never seen anything this like this before. Have these same dignitaries, politicians and planners taken time to address impact on the residents and the traffic flow in the area? The issue of the traffic light at Walnut and Paskenta is the serious issue. It can be resolved but changes will have to be made to correct past errors. You cannot have all these streets and driveways feeding into this small stretch of Wal- nut Street from Baker Road to David Avenue. Making the speed limit 25 mph from Baker to Rio won't make it safer. Some of us had also heard that a roundabout was being considered. People cannot even figure out how to use turn sig- nals and you expect them to fig- ure out a roundabout? When planning for this building the other public im- pact that seems to have been ig- nored or gone unnoticed is that there is a school nearby and children cross that intersection and at Paskenta and Aloha as well. What about their safety?? This issue should have been first and foremost with the planners. I can only hope that these is- sues are reviewed and solved. — Kathy Holleran, Red Bluff Jefferson movement nothing but a scam Editor: I don't think anyone in to- day's State of Jefferson green shirt "XX" group is going to want to find out that the new invisible state doesn't really ex- ist. And won't be existing, as implied in those "coming soon" advertisements. Contrary to what some folks may believe, I don't enjoy being the bearer of news that some- one may have been intention- ally led astray. But the moment of truth is already here: It has been known for some time now that the Board of Supervisors in 15 counties of the 21 in north- ern California did not vote for or sign the Jefferson Declara- tion. Anything that says other- wise is an outright fabrication. It's a scam. Those misleading, grossly hyped-up citizen decla- rations and petitions consist- ing entirely of unverified signa- tures are no exception. Nor was the Declaration approved by the voters in any of those 15 coun- ties. There simply hasn't been any vast success as is falsely claimed in the glowing SOJ in- fomercials designed to deceive. I will say this about the scammers: It's an impressive playbook and formula they've used, one fashioned with co- pious amounts of fear, lies, twisted truths; exploitation of discontent, false hopes; distor- tions and misrepresentations all woven into a masterpiece of monumental fraud. With a lot of legal mumbo-jumbo thrown in. And delivered by means of, who else, the fast talking guy. It's effective in making the idea of a split from the State of Cal- ifornia come across as resem- bling some kind of lifeboat to rescue the doomed. What it is really all about is a giant land grab wherein a new state — a sovereign state, one that is nothing like the other 50 — could be created. This new state would make up all its own rules. Rules that would, at best, ignore large parts of the Con- stitution and, at worst, tear the entire document to shreds. It is a blueprint for undoing de- mocracy by creating a Bizarro World based on the Jefferson Manifesto and characteristic of disturbing rhetoric found in the even more bizarre Sovereign Citizen Movement. It is rather evident that this 21st century flimflam plays out on a much grander scale than what is portrayed in Hans Christian Andersen's "The Em- peror's New Clothes." In his story, only one individual winds up empty-handed with a dent in his wallet. In the Jeffer- son scam, it is the general pub- lic who is being duped out of their hard-earned money to col- lectively pay for the invisible new clothes that don't really ex- ist. And a mighty pricey suit of clothes it is, too: $1 million. That in itself should have been enough to send up some red flags for a lot of folks. Along with an array of sirens, horns and whistles. None of us likes to contemplate that we've been taken for a ride. However, in light of what we've seen occur- ring here, there's certainly no down side to cutting your losses and bailing out now. — Janice Stout, Los Molinos Your opinions Cartoonist's take A popular saying is "every- one talks about the weather." But here in the North State, other than the TV weatherman, I don't think that's the case, at least in summer. Everybody knows that it's going to be hot. Sometimes really hot, other times not so bad. But hot is the norm. So what is there to talk about? Every time I hear the weath- erman say it's going to be cooler next week, I cringe at his use of grammar. For it to be cooler, doesn't it have to actu- ally be "cool" in the first place? After all, if the forecast is 99 down from 103, then wouldn't it be more accurate, and gram- matically correct, to say it will be "less hot?" Most folks agree that 99 is hot and there is noth- ing "cool" about it. However, it is still welcome news. Since moving here I have learned there is an order of magnitude between the mid to high nineties, 100 to 105, and then 110 and up. The high nine- ties can feel pretty good af- ter 110 — but I think "cooler" is still something of a misnomer. Folks up here have certainly acclimated to the heat. But I don't think that would be pos- sible if we had humidity to go with it. I remember coming out of the gym in Quantico Vir- ginia in the summer and be- ing immediately drenched. I routinely see folks here driv- ing with their windows open in the high nineties. I don't think all of those air conditioners are broken. They're just used to it. When I go outside to the ga- rage in triple digits, it is still nice to be outside. Not the case in a place like Florida. Of course, the most signifi- cant factor in enjoying the hot weather here is to not do any- thing remotely physical. Once it reaches the mid-nineties, I relegate myself almost exclu- sively to the role of observer. My wife will be outside dig- ging in her garden, transplant- ing this and that when its 100 or more. Not me. I'll keep her com- pany from the porch in my rock- ing chair until the thermostat hits 92. Then I'm inside. I do make an occasional foray out- side to see what she's up to, or bring her some ice tea, but that's it — unless I get tapped to haul a quick load of dirt or something. Remember — keeping exertion to the minimum is key to enjoy- ing our summer weather. I know lots of folks don't have that lux- ury, but no one chooses to be un- comfortable. Sometimes folks will say "you're a Marine, you can take it." I remind folks that Marines aren't stupid. They don't actually enjoy crawling through the mud — well, actually some do — they just do what they have to do. If given the choice they would much rather be inside with me having a cold one. I do my daily walk until the mercury exceeds 90, which is not too hard to do before 10 o'clock. It seems that no matter how high the thermostat will be, it is still quite pleasant during the morning hours. Of course get- ting up early is key. I'm on the porch with my coffee by 7 in the summer. And once sufficiently caffeinated, I'm not averse to chores at that time of day. And when I'm doing my walk there is the occasional breeze that seems to spring from no- where. A rustle in the leaves and an inexplicably cool gust brushes my face. I call them gifts from God. And during the summer here in the North State they are certainly welcome. Corky Pickering and his wife relocated from the Bay Area to Cottonwood in 2014. He recently retired from the federal government as an attorney advising law enforcement. He has been a rock and roll bass player and a Marine JAG. He can be reached at thecork6@ gmail.com. Corky Pickering Everyone does not talk about the weather 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 Stan Statham Corky Pickering OPINION » redbluffdailynews.com Thursday, September 1, 2016 » MORE AT FACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS A4