Liberals oppose Constitution, Declaration of Independence

There are several major differences between conservatives and liberals (all Democrats may not fit the liberal mold, nor all Republicans the conservative mold).

Here are some of the most notable differences: Liberals want a large federal government and to do away with our Constitution. Conservatives want a small federal government as directed by our Constitution.

Liberals want to make/keep people dependent on the federal government while conservatives want to help all people to become self-sufficient.

Liberals believe America should not develop our own energy, yet complain when conservatives suggest drilling for petroleum. Liberals want “clean energy” but never tell how much the infrastructure will cost or where all the windmills/sun collectors will be placed.

Liberals will not explain where our asphalt, tires, fertilizers, and thousands of other products we get from petroleum will be made.

Liberals support “a woman’s right to choose.” Notice they always use an incomplete sentence because they cannot bring themselves to say “to kill her unborn child.”

In the Declaration of Independence our Founding Fathers specified three unalienable rights: life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Every time our elected officials vote to abort a child they are going against the very oath of office they have taken; yet that oath means nothing to them.

I can go on, but the point is made that liberals are more prone to hurt America and Americans than conservatives.

Marlowe Thompson

Crescent City

Travelers on the coast highway have good reason to stop in Crescent City, but they don’t necessarily know that.

Every day, we lose opportunities to welcome these visitors. Many of them may be inclined to spend a little time and money rather than just passing through — if they’re enlightened about the area’s attractions and amenities.

That’s what makes the proposal for an Interagency Visitor Center right on the highway at the harbor’s edge such an attractive concept. More than attractive, actually. Downright crucial for the economic future of an area dependent on tourism.

The name Gale Boyd is one I really remember. Gale came to Del Norte High School from Santa Ana High School after his sophomore year. He was a true multi-talented athlete competing in football, basketball and track.

In his first year at Del Norte as a junior the school did not field an 11-man interscholastic football team. The sport had been suspended during the WWII years so Gale did not get a chance to play football as a junior. He did, however, become a very big part of the Warrior basketball and track programs. In the fall of 1945 Del Norte fielded its first 11-man football team in seven years.

Regular 11-man football had either been dropped altogether or replaced by the six-man game. Gale joined Pete Wilson at the halfback positions to form an explosive pair. When I started playing football for the Warriors in the fall of 1948, I learned just how fast these two were. The year 1948 was also the last year that tackle football alumni games were allowed.

From the pages of the Del Norte Triplicate, January 1942.

Repeated rumors of enemy submarines drifting ashore after being bombed by defending planes had been entirely unsubstantiated up to today. Reports of a submarine breaking up near Trinidad Head proved groundless, someone mistaking a rock for the undersea craft.

Joe Hammer, returning from North Bend on Tuesday, said he heard at Marshfield that two Japanese subs were on the beach at Gold Beach. When he got there, he said, the rumor was that Coast Guardsmen were searching the beach at Brookings for a grounded submarine. And when he reached Brookings, the search was reported to be in Crescent City. And so far there just ain’t no sub!

Editor’s note: Longtime Del Norte County resident Chuck Blackburn’s column appears every four weeks.

Chuck Blackburn as a teenager with one of the trophies won while he golfed for Jefferson High School in Daly City. Submitted

I was sure that she would find something of interest, but to my surprise she came up empty. I had seen a cover of a DVD that had a golfer and a fly fisherman on it. I showed it to her and she agreed to renting it for a week. It was called, “Seven Days in Utopia.”

Its stars were Robert Duvall and Lucas Black. Lucas was a young man out on the professional golf tour and was actually leading the tournament going into the final hole. His father was his caddy and mentor and had a disagreement with him on the selection of his club off the tee. His father talked him into a driver when he wanted to use a three-wood to play a safer shot. This uncertainty led to a shot into deep rough. One bad shot after another led to a disastrous 14 on the par 4 hole.

After a decade of being mediocre or worse, the San Francisco 49ers are one win away from the Super Bowl.

In a Carmel bar Saturday afternoon, I found out just how much of a 49ers fan I am. San Francisco and New Orleans traded late-game touchdowns in a classic playoff game. It wasn’t a wild sports bar setting; more a red wine Monterey County crowd, but there was excitement for the exploits of the red and gold.

At crunch time, I found myself rooting for the Saints. The lady on the next stool was taken aback at first. Then I explained that my fantasy football playoff team had three New Orleans players and no 49ers. She was obviously well-heeled – her escort was the sort to tie a sweater around his neck like a scarf — and the capitalist in her accepted my explanation as I spoke for fantasy team owners and sports bettors everywhere:

Look at hidden costs before deciding against CC Airport

Regarding the cost of flying out of Crescent City, while it might seem to be more expensive to fly out of our little airport that is not necessarily true. I did a bit of research and determined it is actually more cost-effective to fly out of here.

The two other closest airports are in Arcata and Medford. Arcata is about a 90-minute drive and Medford is more than two hours. So there you have up to a five-hour round-trip. I don’t know about you but my time is worth something.

Then there is parking. Medford charges about $7 a day and I believe Arcata does too. So if you go on a one-week vacation you will spend an additional $49 for parking along with the cost of gas for driving to these places.

I may hate being cold, but there’s much to be said for the weather we had last week. Words like glorious and gorgeous! Having a sunburn in January is a bit surreal, but I have no intention of blocking all that Vitamin D. I’ve spent so much of my life on a foggy coast or working in the woods in deep shade that I hunger for all the sunshine I can get.  

I’ve been walking nearly every day, which would be a lot warmer if I didn’t have to start out first thing in the morning. If I don’t start before the sun comes up, it simply ain’t gonna happen. I’ll get busy, something else will grab my attention, then the day is over and I’m too pooped to pop.

City Council needs people who, unlike Gitlin, are forward-looking

I was a bit surprised when I read the Jan. 14 Triplicate article, “”Seven apply for empty council seat,” and saw that Roger Gitlin was one of the candidates applying for the vacant City Council seat.  It was just recently when I read Gitlin’s Jan. 7 Coastal Voices piece, “Too late to save Golden State,” letting us know that he was not going to stop trying to save California.

At that time I wondered where a 65-year-old guy gets the energy and stamina to save this state all by himself. And I also wondered if one needed an ego as big as our coast redwoods to think he (or she) had all the answers or needed no help in accomplishing such an enormous task. Now I am wondering if Gitlin has rethought his previous announcement to save the state and has downsized to saving the city, or if he plans to do both.