I have a question for Joe Canzoneri, the recent letter writer on the rampage against changing marijuana and drug policy, who lost his son by overdose.
First, my sincere condolences to he and his family.
Joe, you really need to ask yourself that had funds been available for treatment for your son's addiction and programs to focus his youthful energies , would he be alive today. After all, what you are advocating is the keeping the status quo drug policies that clearly attributed to your son's death and I don't get it. Do you want our sons and daughters to die too?
Look Joe, and readers out there, there are better ways to spend our scarce money to alleviate drug use than to continue to waste it on prison guards and police salaries. It is next to impossible for an addict to get into methadone treatment for years and this is not my idea of treatment anyway. We could empty thousands upon thousands of prison beds with a simple change in policy, and fill those beds with folks with addiction and mental problems. We could free our decent law enforcement people to focus on more safety and violence issues. We can extract the profits that fuel gangs and their violence by changing policy. We could control the distribution of marijuana in a safe way instead of how it is now done, as it is and always will be there, don't kid yourself.
Keep an open mind during this debate.

I read with much interest Principal Jim Hanlon's letter concerning his concerns about the legalization of Marijuana and its affect on his high school students. I agree that its use by students causes motivation to plummet, truancy to increase, and other problems.
However, he must know that marijuana is now and always has been fully available to every student who wants it for many years before Prop 215 was passed. Denying this would be untruthful.
What is needed, especially from well intentioned and caring people like Jim, is developing an approach to this problem that truly has the desired outcome.
First, we need to realize that pot is used by as many people that use alcohol and will continue as such for pain relief, stress relief, and social recreation, and these people see it as within their rights to do so.
Secondly, we need to realize that the scarce funds in our government cannot continue to be wasted on failed policies, like the "drug war", and need to be focused on expanding after school sports, arts, and other activities that focus our kids into positive activities. We need to accept that we cannot keep drugs away from our children and can only keep our children away from drugs. How about we unlock the cells of the pot offenders and dump the prison guard budget into our kids.
Lastly, we need more Boy Scouts, Sea Scouts, Girl Scouts, Soccer, field trips, and meaningful activities for our kids, not law enforcement.

Also, the teachers fight with reckless abandon for their benefits and pay, which are out of line with the taxpayers that support them, without regard for how they affect the sacrificing of the sports and other programs that curtail drug use of their students, so it is very hard for me to accept as sincere anything that purports to have the true best interests of our kids in their focus. I am sorry, but it is obvious that the primary concern of our educators at all levels (except for a few diamonds) is for their own selfish benefit. Throw out your unions and educate our kids at a fair price and you will have your salary payors' respect once again. Don't do it and we will find a way to get rid of you and your union. I promise.

The last thing we should do right now is raise taxes in any way, shape, or form. Our country is at a crossroad where we can opt for real economic survival or follow the gluttonous Romans to our demise.
Living within our means in order to balance our budget is absolutely essential and is expected of us by our creditors in the world. It is also impossible to raise taxes above a certain amount, which we have reached, or we will self implode, which we are in the process of now.
We have momentum right now, especially at the local and state level, in making drastic cuts in every department and agency. Daily we hear the cries from the "suffer citizens, but don't touch my pie" bureaucrats in education, public service, welfare, and prisons. We need to cut all those budgets by another 20% next year and do some real soul searching as a nation so we can establish our real priorities that will coincide with our true financial capabilities.
The federal government has yet to wake up to our economic realities. They manipulate the numbers and ignore the wants and wills of the taxpayers and needs push their responsibilities off to local municipalities and states, as we all know what runs downhill.
And, by ignoring taxpayers, I mean just that---those that actually pay taxes--- while they pander to the illegal aliens, welfare rolls, the public employees, and the rest of the people who have everything to gain by bleeding the real supporters of this country's needs and infrastructure. It has to stop and the only way to stop it is by refusing to allow these dirt-bag politicians to put their taxation screws to us any more.
We need less scum bags on disability and welfare. We need to call illegal kids dropped on our soil the illegals they are and deport them back right along with their parents. We need less prisoners, jails, and prison guards. We need to expect our educations system to work and get paid like the rest of us and to be accountable for the goals of their industry, which is educating many or all at a realistic cost.
We need more potholes in our roads and more volunteer fire departments. We need to abolish the usurious practice of "prevailing wage" jobs as graft to the unions for their member's votes. We need make absolutely certain that no person in our public institutions earns one dime more than that in the private sector including their benefit package.
The time is right, the need is certain, and the momentum is here. Lets capitalize on it all! We must fight for now new taxes and even tax cuts. We have to get the massive pork out of the bloated self-perpetuating bureaucracies that have grown like cancer. We need to re-make America and this is the most critical step in so-doing.

Professor Wolfe's anger in his response to my call for the education bureaucracy to get off their high horses and grasp the reality of our country's need to live within our means is to be expected. He and his liberal ilk, just can not fathom that money doesn't grow on trees. The hey-day is over my friend-- get a grip.

You can't get a job at a private university at 200% higher wages, as you claim, or you would be there. Matter of fact, other than in the bloated education industry that you are in, your only hope for a job would be to become a prostitute for some mega drug, agricultural, or petrol concern in promoting their agendas, which you may not want to rule out at this point.

Our economy has failed, and is worsening with Obama as economically ignorant as he is, and we will be adjusting the labor costs of every industry in America to survive. This especially includes the bloated government bureaucracy that has grown like a cancer, and which you are part of.

I don't believe in government bailouts at all, as you suggest. Raising taxes anywhere is ignorant of the fact that we are simply living at a make believe, non-sustainable level that will cease soon, with or without our will or want.

You teachers, government workers, union member, retirees, and welfare recipients better go to my blog at http://www.norcalblogs.com/outloud/ and read it carefully so you can see your futures!

What the hell are they thinking about? Do they think we Americans, no matter what religion, race, or political affiliation want something other than peace--- except for the millions of radical islamists and the few thousand white supremists who mostly reside in prison?

How about going over to Osama Bin Ladin's stretch of the woods in the lawless hills of Afghanistan and Pakistan and hold up your sign? We want peace --- their religion preaches violence, without exemption, unless you accept their god as your own. Are you idiots suggesting that to obtain peace we should all convert to Islam and start genitally mutilating our daughters and stoning to death gays and adulterers? Is that what you want us to do to have peace? After all, that is all these zealots will accept for us to have peace.

Go hold your signs up in Saudi Arabia and see how long your neck stays attached to your shoulders. Take your Bible or athiest views afforded you here in America to Malasia, even after our massive aid in the tsunami, and see when you get out of prison or how long you live.

You sign bearing folks are absolute spoiled, ignorant, insulting, disrespectful to us Americans, idiots making asses out of yourselves.

Why preach to the choir? No balls to preach to the violent radical muslims? Hiding behind the protection of the United States Marines, Army, Air Force, and Navy and using your freedoms that they protect to be the idiots that you are?

Get some balls or get a life!

Coop

California is threatening to close many of its state parks due to budget cuts and are also doubling fees at the most used ones. This shows what these arrogant idiots in our government think of us taxpayers that pay their wages.

For instance, they "state parked" both ends of the Sacramento tubing run all the kids use, when all that was needed was a parking lot on the upper end and garbage service. Now they are doubling the fees to use "their" facilities. Surely, we can't fire the rangers who waste their time running up our state's bills managing these facilities.

These bureaucrats run through campgrounds with red lights atop their trucks, harass campers for minor issues, and pass out tickets like candy. Our Siskiyou campsite was virtually raided by several obviously busy rangers seeking a disowned relative on a 3 year old warrant for "hunting arrowheads on public property". Of course they were perturbed somewhat when my brother saved the adjacent campsite for my 80 year old parents who were on their way, threatening to cite him until my parents actually appeared during their harassment session.

Some other young shaved headed, dungaree clad, gastapo want-a-be harasses folks in Oroville for his hobby.

Campgrounds used to be free until the state park idiots started using them to expand their fiefdoms.

How about you bureaucrats go take a hike and let us use our land without paying your piper! Well over half of your function is nothing but waste.

Kathy, you left the private sector for some reason that affords you a benefit that you were after. Was it better pay? Job security? Nice cush benefits? A lot of paid time off? I'm dying to know the truth - not some made up feel good story about the satisfaction of working like a dog to benefit others for charity as if this was the case, you could really do some good laddling soup tho the homeless for free at the Jesus center.

And remember Kathy, you are not trapped in this profession - you can jump right back out into the private sector with the rest of the world. Did I happen to mention to you, in case your mom never did, that money doesn't grow on trees??

By the way, exactly how many actual scheduled class room hours does your work load require and how many actual required days of work per year are required. Please educate us all with this bit of truth in black and white terms if you aren't ashamed to tell us.

The opponents of the disc golf course are a bunch of egotistical, self righteous, more time on their hands than should be allowed, controlling, busy-bodies that I have ever encountered in my 55 year old life.

I have never played disc golf nor do I know anyone personally who has. But, Bidwell park is a park, for Christ's sake, not some designated wilderness area.

If Annie Bidwell knew of the gangs, drugs, meek and non-existent after school programs that exist today, I am sure she would accept any activities that promoted any type of wholesome and family activities that might occur under her watch.

She, and I would say to open our park to disc golf, hang gliding, remote control car tracks, shooting ranges, kite flying, and any activity one can imagine. It will, in the end, preserve our more natural areas, promote healthy activities, and make our community more complete and desirable.

If you anti disc golfers want something meaningful to do, consider the destruction of the Amazon at a Bidwell Park size every day or the slaughter of people in Darfur and make your lives amount to something other than being a cog in the wheels of other people's fun.