Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/257338
4A Daily News – Saturday, February 8, 2014 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 let- ters from its readers on timely topics of public interest. All let- ters must be signed and pro- vide the writer's home street address and home phone num- ber. 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 submit- ted will be considered for publi- cation. Letters will be edited. Letters are published at the discretion of the editor. Mission Statement We believe that a strong com- munity 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 vehi- cles. The Daily News will reflect and support the unique identities of Tehama County and its cities; record the history of its com- munities and their people and make a positive difference in the quality of life for the resi- dents 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 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 Opinion When Harvard student Mark Zuckerberg launched theface- book.com in February 2004, even he could not imagine the forces it would unleash. His intent was to connect college students. Facebook, which is what this website rapidly evolved into, ended up connect- ing the world. To the children of this con- nected era, the world is one giant social network. They are not bound — as were previous generations of humans — by what they were taught. They are limited by their curiosity and ambition. During my childhood, all knowledge was local. You learned everything you knew from your parents, teachers, preachers and friends. If you were privileged and had access to a library or an encyclopedia, you could learn a little more. You surely couldn't follow and reach out to the people that you read about; learn what people all over the world had to say; or ask the difficult, uncomfortable, questions. With the high-quality and timely information at their fin- gertips and encouragement from each other, today's children are rising above the fears and biases of their parents. That is why youth in the Middle East are fer- menting revolutions and the Chinese are getting restless. Adults are also participating in this revolution. India's nor- mally docile middle class is speaking up against social ills. Silicon Valley executives are being shamed into adding women to their boards. Political leaders, such as President Barack Obama, are marshalling the energy of millions for elec- tions and political causes. All of this is being done with social media technologies that Face- book and its competitors unleashed. As does every advancing technology, social media has created many new problems. It is commonly addictive and pro- vides a tool for stalking chil- dren. Social media is used by extremists in the Middle East and elsewhere to solicit and brainwash recruits. And it exposes us and our friends to unsavory spying. We may leave our lights on in the house when we are on vacation, but through social media we tell criminals who may want to rob us exactly where we are, when we plan to return home, and how to black- mail us. Governments don't need informers any more. Social media allows government agen- cies to spy on their political masters, their own citizens, in a way that would make Big Broth- er jealous. We record our thoughts, emotions, likes and dislikes on Facebook; we share our political views, social pref- erences and plans. We post inti- mate photographs of ourselves. No spy agency or criminal orga- nization could actively gather the type of data that we volun- tarily post for them. We tell gov- ernments our friends' names, email addresses and contact numbers, and we tag pho- tographs of them. And as com- puters become more powerful, they will be able to analyze our social-media information and correlate it with what our friends and acquaintances say about us. The marketers are also seeing big opportunities. Amazon is trying to predict what we will order. Google is trying to judge our needs and wants based on our social-media profiles; it wants to be our personal assis- tant. We need to be aware of the risks and keep working to miti- gate the dangers. Getting back to the bright side, major changes are happen- ing in fields such as health care because of social media. Already, by analyzing Google searches, researchers can track the spread of disease across the world. Patients are able to converse with others who have had the same ailment as they now have and learn which remedies or methods worked for others and which did- n't. People all over the world are providing each other with advice and moral support. The might of social media already has the Chinese government trembling. Its peo- ple are informing each other of local government officials' atrocities and their abuses of power. In New Delhi, we wit- nessed a political revolution happen as an anti-corruption party came out of nowhere to gain power in the state elections. Political scandals in the United States have become more com- mon because people speak up immediately. There is no greater force for democracy than social media, and this will empower the mass- es. So far, only about 2 billion of the world's 7 billion people have come on line. During this decade, another 3 billion will gain connectivity through cheap tablets. Devices that have capa- bilities similar to iPads will be available for less than $50. Already, basic tablets with 7- inch screens are available for as little as $40 in China and India. Before this Christmas, Datawind made them available in the Unit- ed States for as little as $38. It is likely that the majority of the rising billion will use social media. But the winner won't necessarily be Facebook. People will use social networks that are special purpose, geared toward local communi- ties, and in local lan- guages. In parts of New Delhi, for example, localcircles.com is gaining popularity. It connects neighbor- hoods by allowing them to exchange information about water availability and domestic help; find blood donors; and report corruption. In China, Renren, Weibo and Weixin — which have their own special- ties — each have hundreds of millions of users. Regardless of what social media people use and whether we celebrate Facebook's next 10-year anniversary, one thing is certain: we are in a period of exponential change. The next decade will be even more amazing and unpredictable than the last. Just as no one could predict what would hap- pen with social media in the last decade, no one can accu- rately predict where this tech- nology will take us. I am opti- mistic, however, that a con- nected humanity will find a way to uplift itself. Vivek Wadhwa is a fellow at Rock Center for Corporate Governance at Stanford University, director of Research at Duke University, and distinguished scholar at Singularity and Emory universities. His past appointments include Harvard Law School and University of California Berkeley. This piece reflects his opinion. Social media has changed the world, and more is to come Commentary N EWS D AILY RED BLUFF TEHAMA COUNTY T H E V O I C E O F T E H A M A C O U N T Y S I N C E 1 8 8 5 Vivek Wadhwa STATE ASSEMBLYMAN — Dan Logue, 150 Amber Grove Drive, Ste. 154, Chico, CA 95928, 530-895-4217 STATE SENATOR — Jim Nielsen, 2635 Forest Ave., Ste. 110, Chico, CA 95928, (530) 879-7424, senator.nielsen@sen- ate.ca.gov GOVERNOR — Jerry Brown, State Capitol Bldg., Sacramento, CA 95814; (916) 445-2841; Fax (916) 558- 3160; E-mail: governor@gov- ernor.ca.gov. U.S. REPRESENTATIVE — Doug LaMalfa 506 Cannon House Office Building, Wash- ington, DC 20515, 202-225- 3076. U.S. SENATORS — Dianne Feinstein (D), One Post Street, Suite 2450, San Francisco, CA 94104; (415) 393-0707. Fax (415) 393- 0710. Barbara Boxer (D), 1700 Montgomery St., Suite 240, San Francisco, CA 94111; (510) 286-8537. Fax (202) 224-0454. Your officials More liberal thinking Editor: An opinion letter in the Record Searchlight addressed "trade-offs" with forming a new state. You can tell this is coming from a liberal. Believe it or not, there are conserva- tives, Tea Party people, Repub- licans, independents, etc. who are totally mindful of our envi- ronment and want to keep our state or new state pristine. You'll also have to agree there are some really stupid EPA rules and regs that go way beyond any sensible boundary, such as fencing off streams so cattle and horses can't pollute them. The reason for this separa- tion and other states doing the same is our government, state and federal have gone too far in every aspect. They need to fix the real problems, not fixate on the stupid and silly. Recently, the prisoner demanding a sex change paid for by we tax pay- ers because it's his/her consti- tutional right. This is a prisoner in jail for God's sake. Then the teacher caught watching porn in school, fired, the teacher's union got his job back by spending $700,000 tax-payer money in legal fees and also back pay of $200,000. Is this stupid or what? Maybe as a new state we would have some control over things as dumb as this that go on all the time. There was a man on death row years ago, got a heart transplant, died a month later. Our schools are in tatters prob- ably because of all the ridicu- lous rules teachers have to adhere to. Our kids graduate not knowing how to spell or read, can't add and many are totally useless in the real world. If they can't find a job or employer who is willing to train them, they're out of luck. At the first meeting we went to for the separation from Cali- fornia, a liberal pleaded with us to give our state more time to fix things. How much time is enough? Most of us are desper- ate for some changes we can live and work with. Time has run out. Liberals run this state, they don't learn from anything. Look at Detroit. Fifty years of democratic politics. Doesn't faze liberals one bit. If they don't like our new state, they can move. We're mov- ing in 17 months if something isn't done. This state has gone to hell, but hopefully it's not too late. Bernice Cressy, Cottonwood Socialism vs. capitalism Editor: Unbridled socialism as the USSR tried, was shown to be a complete failure. When everything is shared but nothing is owned no one has an incentive to take care of any- thing. But is unrestrictive capi- talism, which awards the very few lavishly but takes what little the less fortunates have away — causing them to have to scrounge the earth like dogs — any better? A balanced approach is need- ed not only to secure the well being of those less capable, but also to ensure more tranquility for the general populace. Fixing the nation's deficit by eliminating or even curtailing programs for the poor is an outrage. Making the filthy rich pay a little more is a much better idea. Why is it considered stealing when some poor man or woman qualifies for some government welfare program but good busi- ness for corporations to pay less than fair living wages or dra- matically lower existing wages and benefits? The later is just as much, no much more of a crime than the former. Orval Strong, Gerber Your Turn