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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 This is the time of the year when some toast the future and others make dire predictions. In 1089 William the Conqueror commis- sioned the Doomsday Book which was not completed until a er his death. Thebookwasactuallytwo volumes which contained de- tailed surveys of all the lands and holdings un- der his rule. One observer at the time said, "There was neither sin- gle hide nor a yard of land, nor indeed one ox nor one cow nor one pig which was left out." The comprehen- siveness of the information in the survey led some people to compare it to the Last Judg- ment, or Doomsday when the details of each person would be written in the Book of Life to be presented to God for judgment. Since the early 19th century Americans have been busy thinking about the end times. Many different sects and de- nominations sprang from the Great Awakening and the dec- larations of William Miller on the second coming of the Christ. Predictions of the end times have flourished over the years. We haven't heard much from Harold Camping lately. You might remember that he had predicted the end of times for us in May of 2016. He had also done so in 1994 before he predicted the end on May 21 and then revised his star gaz- ing and proclaimed the end would come on October 21, 2011. Apparently the third time was not the charm for Camping, who decided to re- tire after a stroke and made no more predictions. Camping, of course, based his predictions, aka proph- ecy, on a special number he used to calculate the course of time, 722,500; based on his corrected findings, on Octo- ber 21, 2011 approximately 2.8 percent of the world's popula- tion would have been caught up in the rapture. Camp- ing also dated the creation at 11,013 B.C., and the flood men- tioned in Genesis at 4990 B.C. Whether he will be a major figure in history of American born religious movements is still to be determined. In the meantime, I do not suggest you use 722,500 in picking lot- tery numbers. As you know, some have fo- cused on the Mayan calen- dar, which allegedly predicted an apocalypse on December 21, 2012. The scientific basis of this interpretation of the Ma- yan calendar is most likely about as good as that Camp- ing used in his forecasts; nev- ertheless, the true believers among us pounced on it as the latest proof we were all going to the bad place and soon. The so-called long count Mayan calendar ran for 5,216 years, beginning in what we call 3114 B.C. and ending on the Winter Solstice in the Northern Hemisphere, Decem- ber 21, 2012. I used to have a perpetual calendar that I could tweak every month to make it agree with the ac- tual date; however, it only had room for 31 days at a time; ap- parently the Mayan long count calendar only had room for 5,216 years. Even so, an ac- tion-packed movie with spec- tacular computer graphics was made about the calendar's so- called dire predictions. Holly- wood, however, is not known for its scientific accuracy or historical knowledge, just fast paced, commercially suc- cessful, entertainment. As you know, December 22, 2012 proved the Mayan calculation wrong, if not Hollywood's. A more scientific group of concerned people established a Doomsday Clock in 1947. The clock was set at seven minutes to midnight, the time at which the concerned scientists at the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists felt humankind would blow it- self up. Since 1947 the clock has been reset based on the proliferation of nuclear weap- ons and world political ten- sions. For example, in 1991 it was reset to 17 minutes before midnight after the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty was signed. Since 1991 the world has become a far more stress- ful place, and three years ago, the clock was reset to five min- utes before midnight. The number of "nuclear powers" has grown, with Israel, India, North Korea, and Pakistan joining the atomic club, and of course there is concern about Iran. Libya gave up its nuclear aspirations a while back. Those of us who enjoyed the Middle Earth books of J.R.R. Tolkien in the 1960s and '70s recall that Frodo, the Ring Bearer of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, spoke often of his "doom," that is his fated mission. Psychologists have re- cently commented that those enraptured by such books, and others like the Harry Potter series, the Eragon series, the Foundation and Robot Series, the Dune Series, and others, enjoy becoming engrossed in the history of the fictional re- gions they read about. In some ways this enticement to ven- ture into the unfolding history of a fictional setting is a surro- gate for our longing in real life to understand where we are in the context of time and where we might be going. The world we live in is far more complex and interre- lated than that of any work of fiction. It would be nice if we could figure out the code of life, the hidden future, and the "real" past, but we are where we are and we have to work to make things better rather than surrendering to the "fate" or "doom" so many ranting peo- ple proclaim. Things are not the best they can be, but each of us can work to be the best we can be, and that will make a world of difference. I am toasting in the New Year. JoeHarropisaretired educator with more than 30 years of service to the North State. He can be reached at DrJoeHarrop@sbcglobal.net. Editorial Doomand gloom as 2016 draws to a close Cartoonist's take Bewareoflicenseplate reader program Editor: This recent piece, "Red Bluff City Council approves police li- cense plate reader program," covered a topic that needs to be addressed. The DEA first developed a li- cense plate reader program in 2008 in the states bordered by Mexico. However, the DOJ ex- panded this program nationally. There is now a federal data- base that collects real-time info on the driving habits of mil- lions of Americans. And, suffice it to say, there hasn't been much transparency. The only available information about these pro- grams has come via Freedom of Information Act requests. On the other hand, the Red Bluff City Council approved this measure through the legislative process. Also, this program can be terminated after three years. However, we know that govern- ment rarely relinquishes power willingly. In fact, you can rest assured that the police will want to ex- pand this program in the fu- ture. The police chief acknowl- edged that this program would be used to investigate crimes other than auto theft. What are those crimes? After all, history has proven that a certain level of "mission creep" sets in when- ever law enforcement is pro- vided with more surveillance capability. Undoubtedly, this will be a useful tool for law enforce- ment, but there are intangi- ble risks associated with these types of programs. Obviously, there are privacy concerns. Are the records from this program purged or do they remain in a database? If so, who has access to this database? Finally, there needs to be checks and balances in place to make sure that this technology isn't being abused in an uncon- stitutional manner. — Brian Saady, Orlando, Florida The dynamic duo Editor: Obama and John Kerry are The Dynamic Duo of Disdain. This becomes more evident in the dwindling days of the Obama Administration. Their disdain for the exceptionalism of this country, Israel and Ne- tanyahu is so obvious with their perfidy while pretending to be a friend. John Kerry's painfully long speech explaining the adminis- tration's reason for not support- ing Israel at the United Nations meeting is best described by Herman Cain, "If you don't have anything to say, dazzle them with bulls&%@." Obama makes it blatantly clear his feelings of disdain as he walks out the door by do- ing his best to prevent the in- coming president from undoing his un-American executive or- ders, his continuing release or moving terrorists out of Gitmo, making it easier for illegals that are likely infiltrated with ter- rorists. When the door slams behind him we, as a nation, will be more divided than ever before. The national debt will have reached a record high that we may not be able to recover from and the world is in chaos and he is putting up the road blocks to prevent the nation's restora- tion. We know less about Obama than any one that has been a candidate or president of the USA. His supporters turn a blind eye on what is known. He was raised and associated with some of the most radical un- American imaginable. He sought out the most radical in- structors in college and ap- pointed Muslims in his admin- istration that has ties to radical Muslim organizations such as the Muslim Brotherhood. Only time will tell if Trump can pull off a miracle and make America great again? — Les Wolfe, Red Bluff Russian hacking had no effect on Obama's and Clinton's loss Editor: If Russia hacked the Demo- crat National Committee files, and the 33,000 destroyed Clin- ton e-mails, our president should say thank you, since the FBI and Justice Depart- ment were unable to access the fraud and deceit of the Dem- ocrat leadership in their at- tempt to win the election. There is little doubt that the unprotected Clinton e- mail account, was hacked by Iran, China, Russia and oth- ers. Instead of wasting our tax dollars investigating Rus- sia's involvement, use these re- sources to determine those cit- izens, of primarily Mexico, who fraudulently voted and deport those who committed the serious crime of fraudu- lently voting. Congress needs to quickly mandate a National Identity Card, to insure that those ille- gally here do not vote in future local, state, or National elec- tions. A majority of women and unionized and non union pri- vate sector voters fairly elected President Trump, the Repub- lican Senate and House, and control of most state Gover- norship and legislative bodies. When votes of those illegally here are discounted, it is prob- able that Clinton also lost the popular vote. It is time to end the exec- utive actions by President Obama and correct the many negative changes by the Dem- ocrat's effective control of the Senate these past eight years, through the two-thirds vote mandate. It is time to end the Democrat mad dash to- wards Socialism and to defund ObamaCare and substitute a health care program paid for by users instead of other tax- payers. — Joseph Neff, Corning Letters to the editor Camping, of course, based his predictions, aka prophecy, on a special number he used to calculate the course of time, 722,500; based on his corrected findings, on October 21, 2011 approximately 2.8 percent of the world's population would have been caught up in the rapture. Sounding off A look at what readers are saying in comments on our website and on social media. No brakes or helmet? Oh boy, hope he's going to be okay. Gayle Bagshaw Carpenter: On a collision between a car and a motorcycle Wednesday Congratulations Penny, I remember when we were both brand new on the job. Louise Miller: On the retirement of dispatcher Penny Bunn a er 35years Joe Harrop State and National Assemblyman James Galla- gher, 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, Sacramento 95814, 916 445-2841, fax 916 558- 3160, governor@governor.ca.gov U.S. Representative Doug La- Malfa, 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 Supervisors, 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, Rich- ard Crabtree, 527-2605, Ext. 3061 Corning City Manager, Kris- tina Miller, 824-7033 Your officials OPINION » redbluffdailynews.com Saturday, December 31, 2016 » MORE AT FACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS A3