Same old
I see the new Republican battle cry for 2016 is just a rehash of the same old thing. “The sky is falling.” The Clown car just keeps rolling along.
Jim Hall, Clearlake Oaks
Parable about two animals
When the gazelle wakes up in Africa, he must make sure he outruns the fastest lion or he will be killed. When the lion wakes up in Africa, he must make sure he outruns the slowest gazelle or he will starve.
I don’t care if you are a lion or a gazelle, when you wake up you better start running.
Brent Pomeroy, Lakeport
Be the judge
How can you declare who is innocent and who is guilty if you are doing wrong yourself?
California’s justice system, the largest in the nation, is also among the hardest hit by budget cuts. In four years, General Fund support for California Courts is down by more than 30 percent, at a time when people need the courts more than ever. To soften the blow, critical infrastructure funds have been shifted to court operations. Even so, courts are closing and services are being reduced throughout the state. Access to justice is at stake. Despite state and city budget deficits, employee furloughs, and pay cuts for state employees, the California judicial branch continues to spend money for retired judges to do the job of sitting judges.
Senior judges have collected thousands of dollars in extra pay that pads their annual retirement payments of more than $100,000. In many cases, many of these judges can retire on a Friday and start collecting their pensions. On Monday, they return to the exact same courtroom they served in previously before they retired and they are earning nearly double their pay. Prior to their retirement they filled the slot of an elected judicial officer, subject to retention elections and oversight by the Commission on Judicial Performance. Once appointed, they are no longer subject to retention elections nor CJP oversight.
Over the span of my years, to me a judge was someone to be held in high esteem and to be treated with dignity and respect. This system of appointing judges with no oversight puts them all in a bad light. I don’t think that a judge who retires should get a retirement check and then do the same job and get paid double for it. I think that this double-dipping by government officials is just another example of why our government is in such a mess. IT seems to me that judges should be above greed and should not be granted the power to change the lives of ordinary people without proper oversight.
William C Shields, Clearlake Park
Judge not
Mr. Kettenhofen’s answer to my letter in July 11th Record-Bee once again quotes the Bible to me. However neither of the passages he quotes actually mentions homosexuality.
The simply state that one should follow God’s laws. God’s laws are the Ten Commandments, which also do not mention Homosexuality. If God considered this to be such a sin I imagine He would have put it in there right up with murder, adultery, false witness, etc. Neither does Jesus seem to consider this a terrible sin. But what Jesus does consider a sin is for us to judge our fellow man. That’s God’s job. Only if we break man’s law can a human judge condemn us and sentence us. The parable of the Good Samaritan tells us to help and sympathize with those of a different culture than us when they need help. The parable of the Prodigal Son tells us to forgive and welcome with open hearts and minds those who have hurt or disappointed us. The story of the stoning of the adulteress where Jesus said, “Let him who has no sin, cast the first stone” shows us we are all sinners, and have not right to judge others.
I think that Christians need to stop taking portions of the Bible and converting them to mean whatever their own prejudges are, and just read the four Gospels, the actual documentary of Jesus Christ’s life. His words, His deeds. He makes it very obvious that His God, His Father is a much kinder, gentler God than what has been shown in the Old Testament. He came to Earth and gave His life to try to make us kinder and gentler also. To love each other, not to nitpick every little thing that others do that we don’t approve of.
Betty Chirco, Lakeport
