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Oneofmyfavoritebooksis One, Two, Three, Infinity, Facts and Speculations in Science, by George Gamow. Gamow explains the universe in numbers, and the work is fasci- nating. I believe it is out of print, but it would still be a good read. There have been a lot of numbers in the news this week. That is a co- incidence, because Tuesday, March 14, was pi day. Pi is the ratio of a circle's diameter to its circumference. It is an ir- rational number, that is, it is not the ratio of any two whole numbers. It is often approx- imated by 22/7. By irratio- nal, I do not mean "crazy" like many of the numbers we saw this week. Doug La Malfa, our scarcely seen Congressman, either ig- nored or refused to acknowl- edge my question regarding waiting for numbers from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) analysis of Ryan Care before pushing Ryan's "solu- tion" to the Affordable Care Act. La Malfa, of course says "he is one of us;" most of "us" would like to have all the facts before making important de- cisions. I tried to ask him that question on his telephone "town hall" and also through e-mail. No response. One of the posts on Face- book said La Malfa votes against food stamps and for farm subsidies. Another said "Saw him leave a Veteran's Day gathering at the Vet's ceme- tery. He drove away in a Lam- borghini with Federal license plates. He is not one of me!" I can't tell for sure because he doesn't seem to want to be with us. In the meantime, the CBO has come up with some as- tounding numbers in its anal- ysis of the Ryan Care plan. The numbers are overwhelming, and the sputtering and stutter- ing reactions by Ryan and oth- ers have been amusing. Ryan now focuses on reducing the national debt rather than dis- cussing the complications and consequences of having up to 24 million fewer insured citi- zens in ten years, and 14 mil- lion less immediately if Ryan Care passes now. There is no mention of the impact on state budgets as well. The Tweeter in Chief has called the num- bers crazy. We almost can for- get Trump's promise on Jan- uary 15, that he would make sure there would be insurance for all of us. Numbers are a guideline, and often unreliable if the assump- tions used to generate them are incorrect; instead of knee jerk reactions to the nonpartisan CBO it would be better to have an open discussion and analy- sis of its report, and do that in a way that most of us, including Doug La Malfa, can understand and then explain to "us." Speaking of craziness, the Trump administration has still not filled all its cabi- net posts. They did lay off 46 U.S. attorneys, however, alleg- edly in a move to promote a smooth transition. Meanwhile some of the Pres- ident's old tax returns have surfaced. For most of "us" the numbers will seem unreal, and I am sure they will be analyzed and Tweeted about for a news cycle or two. There will be lots of talk about his proposed tax plan and whether it favors cer- tain folks over others. Some be- lieve this surprise partial re- lease of his 2005 taxes was an- other intentional diversion from more current and serious issues. Stay tuned. Now there are amazing num- bers being bantered about re- garding the President's pro- posed budget, his proposed cuts and increases, and the promise of huge spending on infrastruc- ture. At a time of a world in cri- sis and environmental angst he would like to cut the State De- partment and reduce the EPA. There are also other propos- als inconsistent with some of the needs he has expressed. I will read the actual 62-page proposal in the next few days. In the meantime, I am sure we will see lots of charts and graphs to help us understand this and make up our minds. Speaking of numbers, I was happy that we had planned our taxes well and would re- ceive a sizeable refund this year; we thought we could use it for travel. It turns out that travel was to the offices of an oral surgeon and dentist. I chipped an old filling, and had to have a root canal and a crown. At least I will be able to claim that amount in my med- ical deductions for this year, and I hadn't spent the money it turned out I really didn't have. JoeHarropisaretired educator with more than 30 years of service to the North State. He can be reached at DrJoeHarrop@sbcglobal.net. JoeHarrop By the numbers The Tweeter in Chief has called the numbers crazy. We almost can forget Trump's promise on January 15, that he would make sure there would be insurance for all of us. Purseturnedin by honest shopper Editor: Yesterday, March 14, I had to go to Walmart and I left my purse in my basket. When I got home I realized I didn't have it so I cancelled all my credit cards. Four hours later I got a call from Walmart Supercenter Red Bluff telling me my purse had been found with ID. We drove down to Walmart and got the purse back with everything in it. Most of the credit cards were only on temporary hold. Thanks to the good samar- itan that found and turned in my purse. I pray many bless- ings on you. — Janet Correa, Red Bluff Community invited to 'Walk to Jerusalem' Editor: The Presbyterian Church of Red Bluff wants to thank the community for getting involved in our "Walk to Jerusalem." During Lent we are trying to collectively walk the 7,277 miles from Red Bluff to Jerusalem. With the community's help, we have had 100 people sign up to take part, and as of March 12 we have already logged 1,794 miles. If you are hearing about this for the first time and you'd like to join us, just give us a call at 527-0372 and we will sign you up. If you are free on Sun- day mornings come for the 11 a.m. sermon series titled "Boot Camp for the Soul," so we can meet you in person. By the way, Red Bluff is looking beautiful right now. Our walkers love the trees in bloom, the spring flow- ers and those wonderful views of Shasta and Lassen. We also appreciate the friendly greet- ings from neighbors on the street. What a great place to live. — Beth Hoyt, Red Bluff Former resident concerned about pollution Editor, My mother, Jean Trimble, lived in Red Bluff for more than 20 years. During that time, she must have explored every back road from Ashland to Roseville, from Burney to Lassen and Weaverville to the coast. She loved beautiful Jef- ferson State: Views of Mt. Las- sen and Shasta, driving along Balls Ferry Road and she never tired of the drive up I-5 to her job at Shasta County Health and Human Services in Red- ding. My mom was born a country girl in West Virginia and knew all too well the dangers of coal runoff and other pollutants in "nearby Big Creek." At family reunions, her "kinfolk" prayed for the poor kids who swam in those dark waters. While she was in Red Bluff, my mom, a public health nurse, travelled to China to study its health problems. She saw peo- ple wearing surgical masks be- cause air pollution is so bad there, the sky is dark. Leuke- mia and lung cancers are at ep- idemic proportions. "I'm glad we have protections in the United States," she said. That's why my mother is fiercely opposed to current ef- forts to eliminate the EPA and the protections it provides for pure, clean drinking water, fresh air and wholesome soil. My mother, now 89, can no lon- ger live alone, so we moved her in with family in Southern Cal- ifornia, but she misses Red Bluff. Scott Pruitt is a fox guard- ing the hen house, she recently told me, "I hope those big oil, gas and timber millionaires don't spoil the North State and our beautiful national for- ests. Would you write and ask my community to phone Rep. Doug Lamalfa at 878-5035 and urge him to support environ- mental protections?" I certainly will. — Bonnie Hale on behalf of Jean Trimble A border wall can be funded with cost savings Editor: It is not necessary for Mex- ico to pay for a border wall. The wall purpose is to reduce the cost to taxpayers of undoc- umented border crossing, but also to reduce the traffic of il- legal drugs into our country and drug sale money back into Mexico. An undocumented border crosser, with minimal educa- tion and with low pay job skills, will not pay sufficient taxes to cover the $1 million cost im- posed on taxpayers for Medic- aid through age 18 and K to 12 education of the typical 3 child Hispanic family. To this is added the practice of some liberal states of add- ing Medicaid for the undocu- mented, plus aid to dependent children, preschool programs, housing subsidies, and food stamps for the children. Those costs will be reduced with a border fence, electronic de- vices, and more border agents. Limiting drug transit and money returning through lim- ited check points, will reduce the huge explosion of US drug addiction which leads to more home and property burglaries. A border wall will benefit the US by reducing undocumented human and drug border cross- ing. Agriculture interests can reduce the number of undocu- mented needed as laborers, by automation and low manpower crops. This is already occurring in Northern California by pulling out high labor content, and low profit olive groves, and planting lower undocumented labor con- tent almond, walnut, and prune orchards. — Joseph Neff, Corning Your opinions Cartoonist's take The English language has a healthy share of euphemisms for lying. Fabrication. Falsifica- tion. Making stuff up. Inoperative statements. Alter- native facts. Big fat fibs. Untruths. Puffery. Flum- mery. Fast food advertising. NFL owner profit-loss statements. But they all mean the same thing: saying out loud things you know are not true. No mat- ter which polite term you pre- fer, America in the middle of a lying renaissance. And we have President Donald J. Trump to thank for perfecting the prac- tice of public prevarication to an art form. He is the Picasso of hogwash. Throughout his career, Trump has deflected trouble by waving a bright shiny object, throwing it into a corner and yelling, "Hey what's that over there?" In the business world The Donald erected huge TRUMP signs before reneging on prom- ises and stiffing contractors. On the campaign trail he shot out baseless allegations like a t-shirt cannon at minor league ball- game. Now, as president, cas- cades of groundless gibberish flow from him like rainwater off the Oroville Dam spillway. Every politician lies, and both Bill Clinton and Richard Nixon got caught in whoppers, but not until the end of their second terms. Trump has rocketed out of the gate as the least credible federal office-holder in history. It's like being called the scariest clown at a circus convention. First, Mr. Trump claimed his inauguration was the most at- tended ever, when photos clearly reveal half of those that assem- bled in 2009. Who you going to believe — me, or your lying eyes? He then accused 3,000,000 non-existent people of voting il- legally, the same exact amount he lost the popular vote by. Al- ternative facts are kissing cous- ins to alternative math. 2 plus 2 is whatever he says it is. And 0 + 0 is 3,000,000. Recently, the new presi- dent accused the old president, Barack Hussein Obama, of wire- tapping Trump Tower. With no proof. At all. Even Trump's own staff were quoted as saying, "Hunh, what?" Then were force marched onto television to lob sparkly Christmas ornaments at weekend anchors and produc- tion assistants. James Clapper, the former di- rector of National Intelligence, which is starting to sound like an oxymoron, denied that any surveillance was authorized. But Chief Aide Kellyanne Con- way suggested that perhaps it was done through partisan kitchen appliances dabbling in espionage. One reason President Trump gets away with his fables and fakery is because the media has the attention span of a hover of hummingbirds in a green house on blossom day. Although peo- ple are questioning the prove- nance of his charges, nobody's talking about his Russian con- nections anymore. Mission Ac- complished. It's a genius strategy that can work in real life as well. Think grade school and get creative. - Tell the boss the report is overdue because it was eaten by a pack of wild Tanzanian boars that have overrun your back yard. Even if you live in a high rise. - Caught holding someone else's wallet? You weren't steal- ing, but rather protecting their possessions from other unscru- pulous persons by hiding the money in your pocket for safe- keeping. - Does your spouse have na- ked photos of you in the arms of another? Total misunderstand- ing: this unfortunate person was suffering from hypother- mia and you were simply apply- ing life- restoring, body heat. Internally. Accountability is soooooo 2015. As Nike used to say, "Just Do It." Will Durst is an award- winning, nationally acclaimed columnist and comedian. Go to willdurst.com for info about his new one-man show "BoomeRaging: From LSD to OMG," and the documentary "3 Still Standing." Will Durst Trump is the Picasso of hogwash ChipThompson, Editor 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: Daily News 728Main St., Red Bluff, CA 96080 Facebook: Leave comments at FACEBOOK.COM/ RBDAILYNEWS Twitter: Follow and send tweets to @REDBLUFFNEWS Will Durst Joe Harrop OPINION » redbluffdailynews.com Saturday, March 18, 2017 » MORE AT FACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS A4