Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/75304
4A Daily News – Saturday, July 21, 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 I could not agree more with what Danny Murray stated in his recent letter to the editor regarding Home Depot's change on how they treat veterans. I, too, was told that my veter- Veterans respect Editor: an ID was no longer accepted by Home Depot, and they told me that only Active Duty IDs and Disabled Veteran IDs would be accepted now. I have been using the same ID for several years at the Red Bluff, Redding and Chico stores, but now it is not valid? The worst thing about it was the manner in which I was told at the cashier station. The cashier spoke in a condescend- ing manner, and told me that my ID was not a valid ID per Home Depot. Maybe someone should have told the government and VA that they are using the wrong cards. Like Danny Murray said, if The Home Depot made a business decision to stop giv- ing the discount, then so-be- it, but make the statement publicly so as not to insult veterans that have done noth- ing wrong. John White, Red Bluff Veteran This is a letter regarding our local Disabled American veter- ans (DAV) and the DAVA (Aux- iliary). attendance Editor: This year we've had prob- lems at our meetings having a quorum present to be able to officially conduct business. We've had our commander and finance officer resign due to personal family and health issues. We have enough members to have a quorum. However we can't get them to come to meet- ings. Our community can't afford to lose any of our vet- erans groups. There are other veterans groups in Tehama County who are facing similar situations. So I am calling on all vet- erans to support our veterans groups and serve our communi- ty. Al Bordeau IV, Corning veterans and fraternal organiza- tions. Our Corning Chapter of the DAV and DAVA is in danger of losing their charters from the state headquarters of the DAV. This is a problem with many Capitalism isn't synony- mous with humanitarianism no matter how many times your favorite conservative talk show host tells you it is. And just because an individ- ual or corporation makes a buck from you doesn't neces- sarily mean he gives a damn about you. Capitalism Editor: The giant pharmaceutical Your Turn GlaxoSmithKline was recent- ly fined $3 billion for bribing doctors, lying to the FDA, hiding clinical trial data and fraudulent marketing. So was that last prescription prescribed out of concern for your medical condition or in order for the good doctor to make a lit- tle extra cash? Just a thought. If the government was real- ly interested in improving our health why do they heavily subsidize crops used to make junk foods and not whole- some organic fruits and veg- etables which everyone admits to be better for you? A government study recently found that for each 1 percent increase in calories from saturated fat, food costs in the U.S. decline by 28 cents. And for each 1 percent in calories from added sugar, the savings come to 7 cents. Orval Strong, Gerber 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. Traveling tales Commentary We were snuggled down in our motel room, sound asleep in preparation for our 6:30 a.m. flight to Milwaukee when were awakened by a courtesy call from United Airlines. The call gave us plenty of warning about that startling fact that the plane would be on time, in case we were planning for it to be early or late; it came at 3:12 a.m., a time after which it was difficult to resume a deep sleep or to feel we were courteously treated. Traveling can be full of sur- prises, some of them even pleas- ant. We took our family to Kauai in the late 1980's for vacation; after our week of waves and blue skies, the five of us arrived refreshed and sunburned at the open air terminal, almost ready to return home. There were lots of people milling around, and some were not being very cour- teous to the man stationed at what approximated a gate in those pre-9/11 times. The flight was overbooked. I was unaware what was going on when we arrived, and I walked up to the man at the gate and asked very politely if the five of us could sit together. He took our boarding passes and said he would do what he could but the plane was overbooked. I thanked him and sat with the rest of the family and waited to see what was going to happen. After what seemed a long time the man at the gate started calling passenger names and allowing them to board. After there were just a few people left waiting I politely asked the man if we were able to sit together; he smiled and said we would most likely be happy with our seats. We boarded and gave the tickets to the flight attendant who told us to turn to our left, a different direction from the one we normally turned upon board- ing; we had five seats in a row in the first class section. We enjoyed the attention and ser- vice we received, and my younger son asked, "Dad, why can't we fly first class all the time?" I answered, without bat- ting an eye, "We could, but we would have to stay on the plane for a return trip because we wouldn't have any money to spend if we got off." It was twenty five years earli- er, when I was flying home after being discharged from the Army in March of 1964, that I encoun- tered two big surprises. I had arrived at Washington National Airport (now Ronald Reagan) in full uniform, hoping to be able to fly space available at half price which was the courtesy accorded to military in uniform in those days; I was greeted with a long line of similarly garbed service members waiting for the same privilege. The line seemed longer than the capacity of the plane, so I walked to the front of the line with a sly grin and pur- chased a full price ticket to Chicago where I would take another flight, using a lot of the cash I was issued on discharge. A lot of unhappy hand signals were directed towards me as I smugly walked toward the wait- ing area. When I arrived in Chicago to transfer to that other flight, the plane I intended to take to SFO was listed as full; by mere chance while I was wandering around the gate area I ran into a former Army tennis partner, now dressed in his United Air- lines uniform, working at the gate, and he led me through a employee only area and onto the plane. Of course TSA would not allow that to happen these days. Security can often be a sur- prise. I have a pace maker and Peachey an artificial knee; so we both had the inconve- nience of pat downs before the use of the full body scanners. We had literally flown all over the globe while my wife carried a small pair of cuticle scissors in her purse; the scissors met TSA standards. When we landed in Egypt for the second time in 2010 on our way home from Jordan, a security inspector who seemed very impressed with the great author- ity given to him, told my wife she had to give up the scissors. The hotels we stayed in while in Egypt had magnetic gateways like in the airports and security dogs; when I would enter the hotel and mention I had a pace maker, I sometimes was told, just walk around the machine, other times "the machine is turned off", and on other occa- sions the guard would unplug the machine. I almost never got a pat down. The Italians are almost as lax. After a month in Italy with some Red Bluff friends, we flew from Venice to Frankfurt to San Fran- cisco. Upon leaving Venice the security check consisted of essentially "ciao" and a visual check. Upon landing in Ger- many we had the "real deal", a thorough and time consuming check. It was a study in con- trasts. Once in London, before 9/11 we were in a long line caused by a computer crash. Fortunately Joe we were selected for random screening; we were escorted to a special section of the airport where were patted down and our luggage opened and carefully searched, and odor detecting devices sniffed both our clothes and suitcases. The good news was now we got to bypass the line and go directly to our gate, making our flight with five min- utes to spare. Harrop In 2002 in Thailand we had to bring our luggage to a table, open and empty it, dirty laundry and all, in front of an inspector which made it necessary for us to attempt to repack everything as efficiently as we had the night before in the non time pressure hotel room. The rudest security surprise came when we arrived at JFK, my least favorite airport, head- ing home from Budapest, unaware that the new guidelines for pat downs had been made more intrusive while we were cruising down the Danube. We weren't sure why the passengers ahead of us looked so uncom- fortable until it was our turn to be checked. We are fortunate to be able to travel in retirement, enjoying the diversity of our world, the sur- prises of discovering new people and places, and returning to Red Bluff, which we are very glad to call home. Joe Harrop is a retired educator with more than 30 years of service to the North State. He can be reached at DrJoeHarrop@sbcglobal.net.