Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/260281
6A Daily News – Friday, February 14, 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 Reading and hearing about our extended drought on a daily basis, I harkened back to the words of a weather man we had years ago at the airport. He said, "If we don't get early rain then we will get late rain." It was a simple statement but backed up with his years of experience forecasting weather. And lo, we have rain. Just a drop in the bucket the experts say, yet it is progress. I am pleased however, that the Reverend Jim Wilson, columnist in the DN, declined to predict when rain would fall even though he had done so previously. He writes. "I pre- dicted the end of California's last drought in 2010. The meteorologists disagreed. But this time," Jim avows, "I predict no time table for ending this current drought until the Lord speaks to me." Jim, I'm sorry you didn't get the call, but somebody did because it's pretty wet out here in Antelope where we watched the rain fall. Next time, Jim, go for it. You have a 50% chance of being right with or without divine guidance. *** Our County Supervisors believe that the people have spoken, and the Supes are going to put on the June ballot (to the tune of an estimated $5,000.) Measure A, which asks the question, "Should the Board adopt a dec- laration of Support for the proposed separa- tion from the State of California and forma- tion of a new state?" Ladies and Gentlemen of the Board, you have no such mandate. But you do have a way of resolving the mat- ter without spending our hard earned tax money. We have, to date, 29,965 registered voters in Tehama County, but not everyone votes. This is because of inertia. People just don't like to take the time and effort to vote. Some feel their vote is not going to change things. Others fail to vote as a protest to a slate of candidates which they oppose. In any case, I propose that those in favor of the hair- brained proposal, merely write the word "Yes" on a sheet of paper and drop it in a ballot box in the rotunda of the Court House. If at least 51% of them agree that our Coun- ty should become Jeffersonian, the issue could then be put on the ballot. If only 49% vote yes, the Supes should forget this foolish idea and concentrate on the medical mari- juana dilemma. Wait, you say... what if peo- ple don't play fair and vote more than once? We would just have to trust the yes voters to be honorable. And who would tally the votes? I would have to check with Kathy at the Job Training Center, but I think she could round up some young volunteers who would count the votes and learn how democracy works to boot. Will the Supes consider this cost saving idea? No, in fact they have already voted to do the costly June ballot thing. Tsk, tsk. *** George Will defines President Obama's pro- nouncements as follows: "Many of the words and numbers bandied by Obama and his administra- tion may reflect an honest belief that the world is whatever well-inten- tioned people like them say about it. So, Obama's critics should reconsider their assumption that he is cynical. It is his sin- cerity that is scary." *** When father died in 1964, we commis- sioned an oil painting of his likeness, dis- played it at a company party the next year, and then hung it in the office at the Meat Plant until the plant closed in 1975. Several years later, when I located to 760 Main, we hung the portrait in our board room. We have now decided to put it in our horse barn at the ranch in Antelope which contains a studio apartment with loft, and it is in this personal and attractive area we will hang father's portrait. He would have liked that. Speaking of portraits, did you know that the government pays big bucks to minor officials to have their portraits painted? We taxpayers forked over $300,000 for this wasteful practice last year. Fortunately there is a bill pending to eliminate this expendi- ture. However, TIME says the bill has no chance of coming up for a vote. Such is the ego and vanity of our elected officials. Tsk, tsk. *** Last week's quiz was correctly first answered by Cousin W.B. Kelsey of Burlingfarb. This may appear to be nepotism but he is a clever fellow and won an Emmy award for "Outstanding individual achieve- ment in coverage of special event. Electron- ic cameraman." He knew that the nonsensical poem "AVA HTIW TUH A TA MA I" is read by holding it up to a mirror, and that "pack my box with five dozen liquor jugs" is another version of the familiar "the quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog" typing exercise that contains all letters of the alphabet. This week's quiz: Why does this pangram top all others: "Mr. Jack, TV quiz Ph.D., bags few lynx". Also, the word "Bookkeep- er" is the longest word fea- turing what? And, the word "area" is a rare 4-letter word featuring...? *** Epitaphs: This is the grave of Edmund Gray Who died maintaining his right of way. He was right...dead right...as he drove along, But he's just as dead as if he'd been wrong. Here lies Fred, who was alive but now is dead. Had it been his sister, no one would have missed her. Had it been his whole generation, so much the better for the nation. But since 'tis only Fred, there's nothing more to be said. Famous epitaphs: "Excuse my dust," Dorothy Parker. "That's all folks!," Mel Blanc. And famous advice: "Never try to teach a pig to sing; it wastes your time and it annoys the pig." Robert Minch is a lifelong resident of Red Bluff, former columnist for the Corning Daily Observer and Meat Industry magazine and author of the "The Knocking Pen." He can be reached at rminchandmurray@hotmail.com. The rains came 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 Robert Minch I Say 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 Concert was delightful Editor: Regarding the Sunday, Feb. 9 concert featuring some North State Symphony members. The weather outside was frightful, the music inside was delightful, let it rain, let it rain, let it rain. Give a standing applause to all that have made it possible for the ongoing restoration of our State Theatre. This is only possible through the hard work of so many dedi- cated people and out communi- ty support. What a beautiful way to spend time attending one of the many great functions. Bringing our theater back to life is a plus for Red Bluff. Audrey Griffin, Red Bluff NSA spying Editor: The internet exploded from a project the Department of Defense used to have an intercon- necting global web that spurred promises of a new era of comity. But it was also a means of wide- spread government surveillance in which the government kept secret. On June 6, 2013 reporters called the communications departments of Apple, Facebook, Google, Yahoo, and other internet companies to let them know an article from The Guardian, a British news paper was going public about Verizon. Verizon had voluntarily handed a database of every call made, to the NSA. This information came from Snowden. Snowden also told Barton Gellman, from Washington Post, who wanted to be the first to expose that and a top-secret pro- gram called Prism. The Foreign Intelligence Security Act of 1978 referred to as FISA, created a secret court that blesses information requests. FISA Amendments Act of 2008 created a new section of the law, 702, which gives legal corer to the warrantless surveillance pro- grams operated in total secrecy under President Bush. The NSA cites the FISA Amendments Act as the specific legal basis for Prism. Also NSA's budget requests are totally classified. Some of the biggest compa- nies on the web allowed the NSA and the FBI direct access to their servers giving them access to grab any per- son's audio, video, pho- tos, emails, and docu- ments. Our government told Gell- man not to identify the firms that gave them the ability to do this. Gellman went public anyway. When the British broke their story they included several images leaked from a 41-slide NSA Power-Point including one that listed tech companies who participated in the program. Microsoft was the first, Sept. 2007, 2008 Yahoo, Google, and Facebook 2009, and Apple, Oct. 2012. Verizon and AT&T not only turned over all their call records, but their emails, search histories, their instagram pictures plus they are able to get personal data from the games you play. Verizon and AT&T never denied passing along its' key billing information, including number and duration of every call. However Yahoo waged a secret fight in the FISA court stating they did not want to participate in the turning over of their customer's data, but they lost. An order came down in August 2008 saying the gov- ernment's interest in National Security and safe guards in the program out weighed the privacy concerns consistent with the laws. As our government tries to calm the public with lies and cover ups the NSA is able to col- lect the address-book data of mil- lions of people. The Post came out with information that the NSA had collected 444,743 email address books from Yahoo, 105,068 from Hotmail, 82,857 from Facebook, 33,697 from Gmail, and 22,881 from other providers in a single day. Kathy Nelson, Red Bluff Your Turn