Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/758469
WecelebratedThanksgivingandmybirthday at my sister-in-law's in Orange County. We ate well, the three great nieces and two grandsons played well together, even presenting a Harry Potter play for the adults, with wands and costumes to match. It was a great time, but it is always nice to come home. Beforeweleftwehadour passport pictures updated. When asked if we wanted our glasses on we looked at the old passports which showed us with glasses on. We were told not to smile, and what looked like a good book- ing shot seemed fine; we stapled it to our ap- plication and mailed it on our way out of town. When we got home our applications were in our mailbox with a note that glasses are not al- lowed. We had no trouble not smiling when we had our sec- ond pictures taken. We flew to Orange County on a Saturday evening, leav- ing from a seemingly empty Sacramento Airport when the TSA staff had time to be affable, and we did not have to rush from one station to the next. We had stopped at Granzella's Deli in Williams to pick up a sandwich to eat on the plane and were not disappointed by our meal. Even the traffic in Orange County seemed to cooperate as our family drove us from the John Wayne Airport to Fuller- ton. We had a little rain, a more familiar sight in Red Bluff re- cently. Once again I was im- pressed by the large number of cars with no passengers. On Sunday morning, we went to church with our fam- ily; it was Universal Chil- dren's Day, and the youth of the church conducted the en- tire worship service, includ- ing communion. The message was about the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which was approved by the United Nations in 1989. We learned that we have a lot in common with South Sudan and Somalia; we are the only three nations which haven't ratified that convention. This just in, the United States is now the only one not to ap- prove this convention; 195 nations have. Talk about American exceptionalism. We were told those who object to it were concerned about par- ent's rights. Go figure. On Sunday afternoon, we saw a production of Alad- din Junior, put on by two lo- cal schools and sponsored by the Beechwood Foundation. Each family in the schools is asked to pledge $3 per day to support enrichment activities the school could not other- wise afford. So far, the money has funded musical theater in grades K-8, Science Tech- nology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) classes, and lower class sizes for reading and writing. For Thanksgiving, our daughter and her family from Phoenix joined us, and we en- joyed a room full of food, happy sounds, and rich blessings. On Saturday, we saw a won- derful production of a Christ- mas Carol, by the Southcoast Repertory Theatre, with an outstanding cast and excellent stage effects. I was touched by the toast that Scrooge gave at the end of the play; it was from Tennyson: Ring out, wild bells, to the wild sky, The flying cloud, the frosty light; The year is dying in the night; Ring out, wild bells, and let him die. Ring out the old, ring in the new, Ring, happy bells, across the snow: The year is going, let him go; Ring out the false, ring in the true. Ring out the grief that saps the mind, For those that here we see no more, Ring out the feud of rich and poor, Ring in redress to all man- kind. Ring out a slowly dying cause, And ancient forms of party strife; Ring in the nobler modes of life, With sweeter manners, purer laws. Ring out the want, the care the sin, The faithless coldness of the times; Ring out, ring out my mournful rhymes, But ring the fuller minstrel in. Ring out false pride in place and blood, The civic slander and the spite; Ring in the love of truth and right, Ring in the common love of good. Ring out old shapes of foul disease, Ring out the narrowing lust of gold; Ring out the thousand wars of old, Ring in the thousand years of peace. Ring in the valiant man and free, The larger heart, the kind- lier hand; Ring out the darkness of the land, Ring in the Christ that is to be.. That evening we celebrated by 77th birthday; each of the young people present made me a special card, and they sang happy birthday with joy. It was a great way to end the week, and I will keep it in my memory bank for a long time. While away we discussed the pros and cons of the Elec- toral College, the proposed president elect's appoint- ments, the drought, where the best buys were, and vari- ous meal menus. There were no arguments, just discus- sions, and there were great meals from sushi to Mexican. We left for home with some new menus, some new ideas, and some fond memories. JoeHarropisaretired educator with more than 30 years of service to the North State. He can be reached at DrJoeHarrop@sbcglobal.net. JoeHarrop A memorable Thanksgiving Cartoonist's take Icanhardlywait Editor: Well, I'm with old slip stick Joe Neff. The idea that 2 million of them thar Messicans crossed our borders with their fake driver licenses and voted for Hillary just jerks my chain. Where was our Border con- trol? Where were those neo- Nazi watch persons at the polls? It just goes to show you what those crooked Democrats will stoop to. Thank God we're getting a president who's not Harvard Law School educated and a VP who wants to have funerals for fetuses. They'll straighten things out for us. Oh boy, I can hardly wait. — Dan Gallagher, Los Molinos Trump's ego the size of Alaska Editor: I have to agree with Mr. Minch's assessment of Don- ald Trump, the gentleman who criticized Mr. Minch failed to mention Hilary Clinton re- ceived 62 million votes na- tion wide, 1 million more votes than Trump received. He arrogantly stated had he known this he would have cam- paigned more in states that voted against him and would have won anyway. Not only would Mr. Trump not make a good president he does not appear to be a very nice person, with an ego the size of Alaska. Ms. Clinton admitted she was wrong sending top secu- rity information on her private e-mails. However, it appears the perfect Mr. Trump has never made a mistake in his life. Recently former students of Trump University — not even a certified public school — won a $25,000,000 judgement against Trump University for fraud. Despite the judgement against Trump, he has admit- ted no wrong-doing. Will the Wizard of Oz Trump make a good president? — Jack Martinson, Red Bluff Pot legalization brings up many questions Editor: So now the recreational use of marijuana has been approved by the electorate and the blue- noses are going crazy to find a way to stop that. Prohibition must be attained at all costs. So. How to run the costs up? I mean besides trying to tax the stuff out of existence. How about a whole new bu- reaucracy to license and con- trol it? I mean it wouldn't do to just let the ABC take on the lat- est vile thing people want to put into their bodies. There is such a big difference between li- censing alcohol and marijuana. You couldn't let an organization that already has a system to oversee the alcohol distribution in place just take on another like business. Could you? The other thing I hear is that the police don't have a ready test for marijuana impairment of drivers like the Breatha- lyzer they use for alcohol. Now that one is a real puzzler. Last I heard, the police don't actually need a Breathalyzer. That was just another tool they could buy. Actually, the real test for driver impairment is a series of physical tests that merely determine if a person is capa- ble of driving a car. Police have been using those tests since the car was invented. You all know them; walk a straight line; tilt your head back and touch your nose with your eyes closed. Pretty simple stuff. The only thing the Breathalyzer provides is a numerical evalua- tion. But the better determiner is a blood test. I don't know if they can de- termine a numerical level for cannabis impairment but all they have to do is what they've already done with alcohol; just keep lowering the number un- til if you can smell it they must be drunk. And they already have that covered don't they? Refusal to take the tests are an automatic admission of guilt. And, the only real test is the physical one. Can you safely op- erate a vehicle or not. So all of these new questions are just another dodge to in es- sence, outlaw marijuana. My suggestion is to use what you already have. Let the Alco- holic Beverage Control bureau- cracy take on a like task with marijuana stores. And rely on physical ability tests to control impaired driving. — Fred Boest, Red Bluff Letters We flew to Orange County on a Saturday evening, leaving from a seemingly empty Sacramento Airport when the TSA staff had time to be affable, and we did not have to rush from one station to the next. 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 Joe Harrop It's the first week of Decem- ber, and all over the nation chil- dren dance while grandparents twitch with antici- pation. Which, ad- mittedly, isn't that out of the ordi- nary. During this festive season rife with traditions, none is more hal- lowed than that magical mo- ment when the Top Ten Come- dic News Stories of the year are unveiled. Truly this is the most wonderful time of the year. Please be advised that the Top Ten Comedic News Stories of 2016 are not in any way, shape or form to be confused with the Top Ten Legitimate News Stories of 2016. No. No. No. They are as dif- ferent as cute kitten videos and stainless steel collar stays. Petro- leum jelly and the cobblestones outside 10 Downing Street. Corn chowder and Michelangelo's Da- vid. Trope and tripe. Sure, the year was littered with serious misadventures in- volving terrorism, deadly vi- ruses, the Kardashians and all sorts of other natural disas- ters, including, but not limited to: Zika infested Oregon Militia Occupiers in driverless cars be- ing forced to platform dive into Flint, Michigan tap water while Ryan Lochte threw Brazilian gas station bathroom keys at them. But here at Durstco we try to concentrate more on the lighter side of the vast dark spooky chasms of reality. So here they are, the stories from the first eleven- twelfths of 2016 that most lent them- selves to the humorous, amus- ing and comedic. 10. Fidel Castro finally dies but at least was able to hang around long enough to see the beginning of the end of Ameri- can Democracy. 9. The GOP Primaries, an eight- month long circus that featured 16 different novelty acts pummeled into submission by a lion tamer who used whips and chains and insults vari- ously questioning their energy, heritage, wife's attractiveness and size of their genitals. 8. Brexit. Turns out most Brits consider "xenophobe" to be a musical instrument. 7. The Chicago Cubs win the World Series, which by many has been taken as a sign that the end of the world is near. Some his- torians claim Nostradamus pre- dicted this would immediately precede the Apocalypse. 6. Bob Dylan wins Nobel Prize for Literature. And next year, Stockholm is going to give the Peace Prize to Paris Hilton for her delightful tweets. 5. Melania Trump's GOP Convention speech. Every time Michele Obama talks now, the world waits for Melania's spin on it. 4. Hillary Clinton's email problems. Claimed she was only following precedents set by other Secretary of States. And she's right. In 1790, Thomas Jef- ferson had server problems as well. The difference was- Jeffer- son's server was pregnant. 3. Bernie Sanders. Who almost beat Hillary Clinton and came close to debating Donald Trump. Would have been fun to see the Vermont Senator chew up the New York Real Estate Developer but then be forced to spit him out to due to religious dietary laws. 2. The Galaxy Note 7, which was promoted as being wa- ter resistant. What they didn't bother to mention was that un- derwater was the safest place to use the thing. 1. Donald Trump. Bombastic, brutish, boorish, blustering, bar- barous, bungling bully wins US Presidential election with a little help from his friends: the FBI, Vladimir Putin, the mob, fake news sites, Anthony Wiener, Bill Clinton, Rosie O'Donnell, white supremacists and Alec Baldwin. Will Durst is an award-winning, nationally acclaimed columnist, comedian and former assistant manager at a Pizza Hut in West Allis, Wisconsin. For a calendar of personal appearances, go to willdurst.com. Will Durst Top 10 comedic news stories of 2016 Will Durst OPINION » redbluffdailynews.com Saturday, December 3, 2016 » MORE AT FACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS A6