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6A Daily News – Wednesday, September 11, 2013 Opinion DAILY NEWS RED BLUFF TEHAMA COUNTY T H E V O I C E O F T E H A M A C O U NTY S I N C E 1 8 8 5 Greg Stevens, Publisher gstevens@redbluffdailynews.com Chip Thompson, Editor editor@redbluffdailynews.com Editorial policy The Daily News opinion is expressed in the editorial. The opinions expressed in columns, letters and cartoons are those of the authors and artists. Letter policy The Daily News welcomes letters from its readers on timely topics of public interest. All 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 cannot exceed two double-spaced pages or 500 words. When several letters address the same issue, a cross section of those submitted will be considered for publication. Letters will be edited. Letters are published at the discretion of the editor. 10 big changes in the world since 9/11 The United States and the world have changed significantly in the dozen years since terrorists hijacked jetliners and launched the biggest attack on American soil since Pearl Harbor. Here are 10 of those changes. 1. America has become less dependent on foreign fuel Decades of Mideast dependence prompted alliances with regional monarchies that 9/11 organizer Osama bin-Laden opposed. But that dependence is beginning to ebb. Domestic production, led by technological changes in extraction, is at its highest in decades. That growth seems poised to continue whether or not Washington approves the controversial Keystone XL pipeline carrying Canadian oil from tar sands. 2. Bin Laden is gone It took more than nine years, but the United States found and killed the al-Qaida leader who bankrolled the 9/11 attacks. While terrorism threats remain, they do not have at their root a person such as bin Laden who personified the anti-U.S. movement. 3. The intelligence state has mushroomed We have more government intrusion in our lives post-911, from TSA airport checkpoints to NSA phone surveillance. Intelligence budgets have skyrocketed, to the $52.6 billion plan proposed for 2013. U.S. drone attacks have outraged On the Web www.redbluffdailynews.com Fax Newsroom: 527-9251 Classified: 527-5774 Retail Adv.: 527-5774 Legal Adv.: 527-5774 Business Office: 527-3719 Address 545 Diamond Ave. Red Bluff, CA 96080, or P.O. Box 220 Red Bluff, CA 96080 ca's appetite for military action, Obama and Democrats, who reflected in polls showing near- have outsized support among ly two-thirds of Americans women and gays and lesbians as oppose even limited military well. 9. "We're broke" efforts in Syria. The last U.S. bud7. The demise of a Guest View get surplus was in fisHolocaust denier in David cal year 2001. The Iran national debt now is For years, a face of more than $16.7 trilanti-Americanism was lion — or about Mahmoud Ahmadine$53,000 per person. jad, Iran's president from 2005 to 2013. Iran has Rising health and defense supported Syria's Assad, spending played a big role, as Lebanon's Hezbollah — and its did a cut in the personal income own nuclear ambitions in the tax near the start of the Bush Persistent face of Washington's objections. administration. Ahmadinejad's rhetoric against unemployment and the first Israel knew few bounds. That's waves of Baby Boomer retirewhy it was so startling earlier ments have also contributed to this month when, on Rosh unease about the economy. 10. Ground Zero no more Hashanah, Iran's new president Eight years in the making, and foreign minister took to Twitter to wish Jews a happy the 104-story Freedom Tower is new year. When challenged poised to open early in 2014 at about its Holocaust-denying the World Trade Center site in past, the foreign minister tweet- Lower Manhattan. Later this ed that the guy who used to year, the 72-story 4 World Trade deny it is gone. Whether his Center will open on the southcomments reveal a deeper shift east corner of the site. An underground museum will open remains to be seen. 8. Emergence of a multicul- in the spring, and two more office buildings and a transtural U.S. mainstream In 2012, whites made up the portation hub will follow. In lowest percentage of the U.S. June 2012, Obama signed a population in American history. construction beam that was Census data showed more hoisted to the top of Freedom whites died than were born, a Tower. On it he wrote: "We slump more than a decade remember / we rebuild / we before the predicted decline of come back stronger!" America's white population. The fastest growing group is By David Beard writes for multiracial Americans. The The Washington Post. demographic shifts have buoyed Beard Your officials STATE ASSEMBLYMAN — Dan Logue, 1550 Humboldt Road, Ste. 4, Chico, CA 95928, 530-895-4217 STATE SENATOR — Jim Nielsen, 2635 Forest Ave., Ste. 110, Chico, CA 95928, (530) 879-7424, senator.nielsen@senate.ca.gov GOVERNOR — Jerry Brown, State Capitol Bldg., Sacramento, CA 95814; (916) 445-2841; Fax (916) 5583160; E-mail: governor@governor.ca.gov. U.S. REPRESENTATIVE — Doug LaMalfa 506 Cannon House Office Building, Washington, DC 20515, 202-2253076. U.S. SENATORS — Dianne Feinstein (D), One Post Street, Suite 2450, San Francisco, CA 94104; (415) 393-0707. Fax (415) 3930710. Barbara Boxer (D), 1700 Montgomery St., Suite 240, San Francisco, CA 94111; (510) 286-8537. Fax (202) 224-0454. Mission Statement We believe that a strong community newspaper is essential to a strong community, creating citizens who are better informed and more involved. The Daily News will be the indispensible guide to life and living in Tehama County. We will be the premier provider of local news, information and advertising through our daily newspaper, online edition and other print and Internet vehicles. The Daily News will reflect and support the unique identities of Tehama County and its cities; record the history of its communities and their people and make a positive difference in the quality of life for the residents and businesses of Tehama County. How to reach us Main office: 527-2151 Classified: 527-2151 Circulation: 527-2151 News tips: 527-2153 Sports: 527-2153 Obituaries: 527-2151 Photo: 527-2153 many worldwide, as have detention practices from Afghanistan and Iraq to Guantanamo. The defenders of these practices say extraordinary measures have been necessary to keep a targeted United States safe. 4. Anti-authoritarian ferment in the Middle East Tunisia, Libya, Egypt all toppled longtime military-backed leaders, and Egypt saw a military coup against the successor government. Rebels and protesters have risen up in Syria, Yemen and Bahrain as well, with mixed results. 5. What Google has wrought Hand in hand with that tumult has been the exploding use of Twitter, G-chat, Facebook and similar services in tightly controlled societies worldwide, all giving voice to people who are denied printing presses and broadcast licenses. Thousands have followed protests in Iran and Egypt — and videos from Syria — through social networks. The pattern has repeated itself across the globe, from China to Brazil. 6. Rise (and fall) in U.S. fervor for military action After the 2001 attacks, the Bush administration moved quickly into Afghanistan in the hunt for Osama bin Laden and the fight against the Taliban. Claiming a link to weapons of mass destruction, it committed the Pentagon to Iraq. The two long wars have sapped Ameri- Commentary It's (no longer) a Jeep thing I became upset when I got word. Jeep, reports Automotive News, is shifting its focus away from hearty off-road 4X4's to, mostly, dinky little two-wheeldrive cars that ride smoothly on paved roads — the kind of cars Europeans like to drive. This is what happens when an iconic American brand is sold to a European automaker, such as Fiat — and I, a Jeep owner, am not happy about it. I bought a brand-new Jeep Wrangler ragtop about one year ago. I needed it, in part, because I live atop a steep road in the country and my prior car, a 2010 Nissan Maxima sports sedan, was horrible in the snow. I love my Jeep. The very first Jeep was created in 1940 by the American Bantam Car Co. in Butler, Pa. It was an innovative and highly effective design that would contribute greatly to our success in World War II. After the war, Jeep became a beloved American brand — for more than six decades, it has retained its unique look and style. We Jeep owners are a proud lot. We drive, arguably, the most capable 4x4 vehicles on Earth. We are confident that no matter the weather or conditions, we will prevail — and joyfully use our winches to get stuck drivers out of ruts. We don't want a smooth ride on paved roads. We take pride in our Jeeps' kidney-bouncing suspension that favors functionality and performance over the comfort preferred by more fragile, uninteresting human beings. We don't want quiet, either. We love to unsnap our roofs and enjoy endless "hours of pleasure" driving around "in God's great open spaces" — as it was put by Henry Ford, founder of the only current American car company that didn't accept government bailouts. To own a Jeep Wrangler is to be a member of an exclusive club. Every time I pass another Wrangler owner, I give and receive the "Jeep Wave." It consists of either a raised hand waving or four fingers extended upward from the steering wheel. It is at once a greeting and a salute. So I find it upsetting that the new owner of one of America's most treasured icons intends to Richter and colleagues Adam make Jeeps that will no longer Fremeth and Guy L.F. Holborn concludes that the be real Jeeps — and bailout reduced even more upsetting Chrysler's postthat it is our governbailout sales by 20 ment's fault. percent — because its See, due to gross reputation was diminmismanagement comished and no small mon to two of the "Big number of potential Three" U.S. automakcustomers were ers, Chrysler, of which unhappy about the Jeep is a part, accepted bailout. a government bailout in And so it is that a 2009. European car compaAs part of its govny now owns Chrysler ernment-managed Tom and its Jeep division bankruptcy, Chrysler and is gearing up to was sold to Italian add non-Jeep Jeeps to automaker Fiat SpA. Fiat, if you are not aware, is the its proud line — including a maker of the dinky little Fiat two-wheel-drive "baby" version 500, a car so small that drivers of my beloved Wrangler. I hope the drivers of that "wear it" more than drive it. And when the U.S. Treasury dinky little knockoff don't have exited Chrysler by selling to the gall to wave to each other. Fiat, it failed to recoup $1.3 bilTom Purcell, a humor lion of the initial $12.5 billion that American taxpayers "invest- columnist for the Pittsburgh ed" in the company — which is Tribune-Review, is nationally syndicated exclusively by also upsetting. According to Forbes, Cagle Cartoons newspaper Chrysler would have performed syndicate. Visit Tom on the Web much better had it said "no" to at www.TomPurcell.com or ehim at the government bailout. A study mail by economist Brian Kelleher Purcell@caglecartoons.com. Purcell