Opinion

March 26, 2013  — I received many responses from both sides of the issue to the two pieces I wrote last week about the TEA Party meeting where the dangers of the United Nations’ Agenda 21 were discussed. One was straight reporting; the other was opinion. Some folks loved them, and some folks didn’t. No one seemed to be on the fence.

For example, I found an email waiting for me first thing Tuesday morning that contained the subject line “Plllleeeeaaaassssseeee.”

On Wednesday, an elderly woman called and subscribed to the paper because of the TEA Party story. Later that day an elderly man called and praised me for the freedom of speech stance I expressed in the My Turn I wrote.

Another reader called and said he couldn’t believe the era of “censorship” at the newspaper had ended and it was finally printing “the truth” about this important issue. He referred me to a website that just today (March 21) outed Obama as “the head of Al Qaeda worldwide.” (I couldn’t locate the story he wanted me to read — something about armed Russian guards in American military uniforms protecting an United Nations Agenda 21 preserve in the southern United States).

March 19, 2013 — I joined 60 or 70 other Lassen County residents last Tuesday evening to attend the Lassen County TEA Party Patriots meeting held at the Pizza Factory in Susanville.

Last month, Lassen County Sheriff Dean Growdon appeared before the group, and the topic was gun control. This month Modoc County TEA Party organizer and radio pundit Doug Knox appeared to discuss Agenda 21 — a United Nation’s plan signed by the first President Bush in 1992 and further implemented through an executive order from President Clinton in 1995. Some of the TEA Party folks allege this will be the mechanism used to install the New World Order and One World Government — stripping every citizen of the world of their rights and forcing us all to live in some high-rise urban center collective far removed from our former homes here in Lassen County. Why, according to a map shown during the meeting, the Agenda 21 folks would like to ban all human habitation right here in good old Lassen County. Yeah, let’s get rid of the dams, the ranches and farms, the residences, the businesses, the people, plow up the roads and return Lassen County to its natural state — just the way it was before civilization arrived.

March 19, 2013 — From reporting about civic events, murder trials and everything in between, the role of newspapers — including the one you are reading now — is as important as it has ever been and maybe even more so these days.

We live in an age of advanced technology and information sharing. This information age has seen the birth of the Internet and the growth of blogging, Twitter and Facebook. Instant news and information is available just moments after it happens if you know where to look.

But there is a major difference between the news you read in the newspaper, and the “news” you get from Twitter, Facebook or a blogger. All too often, the person who witnessed the event doesn’t deliver the Tweets and blogs. More often than not, it’s third-, fourth- or even fifth-hand information. At that point, it is frequently little more than a rumor. If the information is indeed credible, it’s more than likely it originated from — you’re right — a newspaper.

March 19, 2013 — The first day of spring is March 20 this year. This is good news for many who live in the mountains. Each day, as I look into my backyard from the window in my home office, I note the height of the snow against the fence. It is shrinking.

The days are getting warmer so I no longer need to keep the fire in the woodstove lit the entire day or grab my coat on a sunny afternoon. When I drive into the valley the grass is green and the flowers are beginning to bloom.

Traditional signs of spring, depending on the area in which you live, include birds building nests, budding trees, butterfly sightings and daffodils pushing up through the soil.