Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/738291
GregStevens,Publisher Chip Thompson, Editor EDITORIALBOARD 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 FormerIndianaGov.Mike Pence and Virginia US Sen. Tim Kaine got their biggest expo- sure nine days ago as they de- bated just one time nationally. As you know, Pence is Donald Trump's choice for Vice Presi- dent and Kaine is Hillary's. I am occasionally asked "What does an American Vice Presi- dent or even a California Lieu- tenant Governor really do ev- ery day?" My answer is usually some- thing like "They go to impor- tant funerals when the big guy can't make it and usually sit on a couple of commissions." California's Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom was once asked by a grammar school child "What does a Lieutenant Gover- nor do?" His honest reply was "That's a good question." I think the challenge Mike Pence had to accomplish in that debate was to make Don- ald Trump seem like a normal, regular guy. And, I believe Tim Kaine's task was simply to re- peat Hillary's assessment of The Donald as an unfit and un- stable presidential candidate. It took only 11-12 minutes be- fore both nominees turned the debate into what I call "candi- date interruptus." I had to wait until the debate was already underway 25 minutes until fi- nally the moderator properly admonished both candidates for speaking rudely and inter- rupting each other. I asked a close friend who goes by CB to give me her can- did thoughts. Here are just a few of her perceptive impres- sions. She thought Kaine must have had too much caffeine, Pence did not have a clue on how Trump would handle Syria and Pence's demeanor was irritat- ingly smug and patronizing. CB is quite sensitive and I now know she must have 20/20 vi- sion. Please give both CB and me your thoughts. Tim Kaine had the easier task. He simply used Donald Trump's actual words against Mike Pence. Trump had al- ready given America more flawed speech than almost any- one could believe. It must have been like Christmas for Mr. Kaine. He had plenty of what I call "easy ammo" to use against Pence. I don't want to vote for Hill- ary or Donald. At this point, I think I might even vote for the Libertarian Gary Johnson though he has challenges and very little chance of winning. It struck me that I really don't have to make a choice be- tween evils if I really don't want to make that choice. I even think my protest vote for John- son will feel good to me when I cast it. Just because one thinks their candidate can't win, there is no good reason that one should not vote for them. Yes, we live in one really great coun- try. I do believe that this time our candidates for President did an excellent job in choosing their running mates, especially the Mike Pence choice. My take is that Mr. Pence won this month's vice presidential de- bate because, among other rea- sons, he appeared more presi- dential. Mr. Kaine spent all his time attacking while Mr. Pence seemed to have the superior temperament. I also have come to believe that American politics oper- ates way too much on emotion, rather than paying more atten- tion to the facts. It is my take that Mr. Pence spent more time controlling his emotions and better controlled his interrup- tions. Mytakeonthemovies My movie review this week is "Deepwater Horizon" star- ring actor Mark Wahlberg who is excellent. I do like good action, espe- cially when it is about the real event that occurred in 2010. This film is an accurate view of the largest oil explora- tion disaster in US history. 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. Stan Statham My take on Pence and Kaine She thought Kaine must have had too much caffeine, Pence did not have a clue on how Trump would handle Syria and Pence's demeanor was irritatingly smug and patronizing. Letter writer misleading on bond Editor: I would like to address Mrs. Alexander's letter from the Oct. 8 issue. I am providing this information as an individ- ual of the board. The comments from Mrs. Alexander were a result of the September board meet- ing. During that meeting both Mr. Brose and I clarified the facility conditions assessment done by the district in the fall of 2015 addressed every inad- equate and marginal project that needs to be done by the district. The study pointed out over $50 million worth of repairs need to be addressed. The study is not indicative of what the district would spend the money on, it just identified ev- erything that could be ad- dressed. That was the point of the study, and Mrs. Alexander was advised of such. The community engage- ment committee report clearly showed how the money and projects should be prioritized, and that information is what the bond measure was writ- ten upon. The committee was comprised of over 20 members who work or live in the Red Bluff High School District. The areas of focus in the board ap- proved project list are career technology, safety and secu- rity, infrastructure repairs and upgrades and ADA access com- pliance. Mrs. Alexander is correct in stating the five elected board members will have final say in the project list prioritization, if the bond were to pass. This is true with all financial aspects of the district. There would be an citizen's oversight commit- tee as required, and the board has the option to have a panel make recommendations as to how to prioritize the projects on the bond list. All of the information re- lated to the study, the commu- nity engagement committee findings and the bond list are available on the district's web- site. The approved bond list is found in the attachment to the board approved resolution. The bond list is not the facilities conditions assessment report. Please take a few moments to review the information be- fore making your vote. If you do not fully understand the in- formation, please feel free to contract the district office and they can clarify any questions you may have. — James Keffer, Red Bluff Chemical spraying costly to environment, health Editor: My mother called barely able to speak, and not very coher- ently, and is very ill from the mosquito abatement spraying that occurred. Use of chemicals instead of biological controls is outdated, expensive both to human health and the environment and is cre- ating resistant mosquitoes. We, as humans, will never adapt as quickly as mosquitos will. Biological controls include bats, birds and encouraging a range of other predators that eat mosquitos and their larvae. The cost to our health has not even been taken into con- sideration. Cancer, autism and other autoimmune diseases are on the rise. The industry will promote the use of its products and the same companies that make them also make pharmaceu- ticals, profiting while making people sick and while providing the so-called cure. If you want a healthy and happy community, the appli- cation of chemicals for conve- nience has got to stop. — Vivian Keller, Red Bluff Trumps comments on women Editor: Seriously, how many men do you know that have made comments similar to the com- ments Trump made that are now pretending to be offended by them? How many married women whose husbands have also said something similar are now attacking Trump for saying it? Also, all you ladies out there with sons, they will be talking about it in the very same way, that is, unless they're sissy boys. All you people and the me- dia that are pretending to be offended are using it as an op- portunity to bash Trump and nothing more. Bill and Hillary Clinton and the Obama Administration's actions have done and will continue to do far more to de- stroy this once great nation than Trump's comments about women ever will. It is the thought in Trump's comments that drive men to populate the world. You heard it said "go and multiply" and men just can't seem to get enough of that wonderful stuff. — Les Wolfe, Red Bluff Bank's actions causing dire straits Editor: (My bank) forced me to transfer part of my direct de- posit into an overdrawn ac- count before getting a portion of my entitlement check. My di- rect deposit went to my savings account but the bank manager forced me to give up $669 to get $600. I realize that my checking account was overdrawn to the amount of $1,020 from the previous month — but then again how does (the bank) let me overdraw my account by that much since I only get $1,276? I had family legal issues forc- ing me out of the house and it has got to the point that I am living in the streets. Now I am hungry. — Paul Blank, Red Bluff Your opinions Cartoonist's take It seems like almost everyone has cable or satellite TV. I had it for years. My wife hated that bill every month for a TV she almost never watched. And ca- ble is not cheap. To get the shows you really care about you need to spring for a more expensive bundle. My wife fi- nally got her wish when we moved into the cabin. I made do with an occasional DVD and NPR until I made a discovery. One day I was out shopping and saw some TV antennas. One had "30- to 40-mile range" written on the box. "Hey, that's enough to reach Redding and maybe Chico." So I bought it. I had forgotten that broadcast TV had gone digital. Was I ever surprised when I plugged it into the TV and had 12 clear chan- nels. This is a tremendous im- provement over no TV at all, be- lieve me. Commercials aren't quite the same on broadcast TV as on ca- ble. I couldn't believe the con- stant bombardment of commer- cials, with most directed at older folks, often running over and over again. I began to subcon- sciously memorize them, and discovered occasional errors. "My whole life was changed as soon as my sleep disorder was diagnosed." I had never heard of a diagnosis curing anything. How about treatment? In another commercial the lady said the first company she called never showed up, but the one in the commercial came on time "and they were half the cost." What cost was that if the first company never showed? I drove my wife nuts over that commercial and felt quite smug when it was later edited to make sense. I am especially affronted by commercials that state "we can get this to you usually at no cost." No cost to anyone but the taxpayers that is. They're obvi- ously trolling for Medicare re- cipients who might qualify for a myriad of back braces, scooters or electric stair lifts. I seriously doubt that the lives of the folks who get these things are as drastically changed as re- flected in the commercials. "Why have I been sitting around all of these years? Why didn't my stupid doctor prescribe a back brace for me before? It's a mira- cle." Not. I picture a pile of unused med- ical devices in a closet some- where after being purchased by trusting TV watchers looking for a cure for their problems. While I know there are some seriously compromised folks out there, I can't help but wonder if a bet- ter treatment for many is to sim- ply get up and forgo the scooters. That's when the real miracles could happen. Then there is the plethora of legal ads searching for plaintiffs to sue the pharmaceutical and medical device companies. I'm often tempted to call the num- ber and fabricate something that would have them salivating and getting on a plane to sign me up that day. Then there are the commer- cials by the drug companies themselves. I remember when it was illegal to market to consum- ers directly. Marketing was only to the physicians, who then de- cided what drug should be pre- scribed and was most appro- priate for a particular medical condition. While I think it is im- portant to have informed pa- tients who are aware of new therapies to try, the doctors now must deal with patients who are adamant about trying a new drug they saw on TV, even when what they are using is working perfectly fine. I mentioned my irritation with commercials to my son. "I don't have any commercials Dad. I watch Netflix." I guess that would work, but then that wouldn't be free, would it? 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 Bombarded with commercials on broadcast television Stan Statham Corky Pickering OPINION » redbluffdailynews.com Thursday, October 13, 2016 » MORE AT FACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS A4