Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/28873
4A – Daily News – Friday, April 8, 2011 Opinion The 12 Days of Round-Up D NEWSAILY RED BLUFF TEHAMACOUNTY 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 On the first day of Round-Up my true love gave to me, A visit during Cowboy Coffee — thanks Riverside Bar and Grill On the second day of Round- Up (today) my true love gave to me, The screening of a Western 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 movie — Chisum, starring John Wayne at Prime Cinema, 7:30 p.m. with doors opening at 6:30 p.m. On the third day of Round-Up my true love gave to me, A day of fun for the family — hold on...7:30 a.m. Soroptomist Spring Run/Walk; 9 a.m. Classic Car Show and Shine; 11 a.m. Great Downtown Red Bluff Heist; 11:30 a.m. ICS Chili Cook-Off; noon Round Up of Student Art reception; 1 p.m. Stick Horse Rodeo; 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. screen- ing of The Challenge of Champi- ons; 7 p.m. Street Dance with LTD band. On the fourth day of Round-Up my true love gave to me, A chance to recharge all my batteries. On the fifth day of Round-Up (we’re all the way up to Monday now) my true love gave to me, Baaaaaaaxter Black — cow- boy poet, 7 p.m. at the State The- atre On the sixth day of Round-Up my true love gave to me, A luncheon and rodeo photog- raphy — Growney Ranch at noon and 5 p.m. reception at The Big Picture. On the seventh day of Round- Up my true love gave to me, Guns, bulls, barrels and poetry — 9 a.m. 3-gun shoot at Long Ranch; 3 p.m. Bullfighter Meet and Greet at Cornerstone Com- munity Bank; 5 p.m. 4D Barrel Racing at the fairgrounds; 7 p.m. Local Cowboy Poetry and Kids’ Cowboy Poetry at the county library. On the eighth day of Round- Up my true love gave to me, One hell of a cowboy party — 5:30 p.m. Chamber and Cattle- men’s Round-Up Mixer at Reynolds Ranch and Farm Supply. On the ninth day of Round-Up (Friday, still with me Turbo?) my true love gave to me, A concert and the Round-Up...Yippeeeee — 7 p.m. Rodeo Week- end Concert Series at the Tremont Cafe and Creamery and Family Day at the Round-Up. Up my true love gave to me, Church and a chance to cure dis- ease — 10 a.m. Cow- boy Church; 1:30 p.m. Tough Enough to Wear Pink day at the Round-Up. Chip On the tenth day of Round-Up my true love gave to me, Dawn to dark activity — 6 a.m. Thompson 545 Diamond Ave. Kiwanis Pancake Breakfast; 10 a.m. Round-Up Parade; 10 a.m. Pony Express Pony Rides at Cozy Diner; 1:30 p.m. Day 2 of the Round-Up, 7 p.m. Round-Up Concert and Dance. On the eleventh day of Round- On the twelfth of Round-Up my true love gave to me... What? That’s it? OK, so this is a good place to mention the Sunrise Rotary Rov- ing Jail, Downtown Business Decorating Contest, Rodeo Dou- bles Bowling Tour- nament and the ongoing student art show in the former Fidelity building, which will be happening all week. See? Chip reached at 527-2151, Ext. 112 or by editor@redbluffdailynews.com. Your officials STATE ASSEMBLYMAN — Jim Nielsen (R) State Capitol Bldg., Room 6031 Sacramento, CA 95814 (916) 319-2002; Fax (916) 319-2102 STATE SENATOR — Doug LaMalfa (R) State Capitol Bldg., Room 3070 Sacramento, CA 95814 (916) 651-4004; Fax (916) 445-7750 GOVERNOR — Jerry Brown, State Capitol Bldg., Sacramento, CA 95814; (916) 445-2841; Fax (916) 558-3160; E-mail: gover- nor@governor.ca.gov. U.S. REPRESENTATIVE — Wally Herger (R), 2635 Forest Ave. Ste. 100, Chico, CA 95928; 893-8363. 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; (415) 403-0100. Fax (202) 224- 0454. Following the scent... Commentary I wrote, a week or so ago, of a New Yorker article critical of the Church of Scientology, and within 3 days, a Ms. Karen Pouw, from their L.A. Public Relations Department, had fired back suggesting I should read up on the church and perhaps mend my ways. I replied in my conciliatory fashion. “Dear Karen Pouw, “Thank you for your letter of the 28th in which you commented upon my ‘I Say’ column in the Daily News. I am just a little fish in a small town pond. Nevertheless, readers occa- sionally agree with what I have to say...and when I quote from the New Yorker, it could become gospel to them. I wrote said column with a built-in prejudice towards organized reli- gion, per se...so it was just a hop skip and a jump for me to believe what Lawrence Wright wrote about you folks and your movement. I suggest- ed to my editor that he might publish your letter with my comments and annotations, but he said, in his opinion, readers in our small town were more interested in local issues from local columnists than Scientology. So I am the Lone Ranger on this one. “You wrote ‘Not For Publication’ in your let- ter. I don’t know what that means. Perhaps if I were to reprint it verbatim, you could sue me. In any case, I will only extract a few of your com- ments and corrections. You state the offending Wright article ran to 25,000 words. I had mere- ly done a rough count when I wrote of it running to 10,000 words, so I defer to your math. You state that ‘Dianetics’ was published in 1950 instead of 1936. You are correct again. The arti- cle was so long my eyes glazed over from time to time and I misstated the date. And you avowed that your founder, L. Ron Hubbard was in the Navy not the Army. Whatever service in which he served, you did not disavow the fact that, despite published Scientology tracts, he was not wounded in battle...nor did he graduate from college. These facts, by themselves, should not denigrate whatever good he may have accomplished when founding his move- ment, but they do tend to put the camel's nose under the tent, so to speak. It will be approved as read...such is the power of the press. “Sincerely, Robert Minch” I have yet to hear back from Ms. Pouw, so that may be the end of it, but it would be instruc- tive to learn if the movement has folded or is flourishing. Either way, I think she will put a good spin on it. But the question remains, how did she access my column and reply so quickly? The only thing I can surmise is that they have a computer program into which they have logged in all the newspaper chains…and when anything negative about the church pops up, they can be on it in a second and mini- mize the damage via quick response * * * Another writer critical of my work, asserted that I did not know my military phonet- ic codes as described in a recent quiz. What the writer did not know was that the code was changed in 1957. In Robert Minch I Say my time in the service, in the early 50s, it was “able, baker, charlie.” “Bravo” did not come in until later. He also suggested it was unfair of me to trivialize the wearing of military decorations, such as those worn by General Petraeus, for the general has earned them bravely and I should not characterize them as so many flowers on a Rose Bowl float. As the writer turned out to be a retired Marine Master Sergeant, I shall defer to his judgment. However, we continue to wage our little wars against people in faraway places and to glorify said actions with ribbons and medals as though to verify that our excursions are just… and conducted in God’s name. Tsk, tsk. * * * Last week’s quiz asked readers what they know about Admirals Benbow, Nimitz and Peary. Apparently very little. If they read “Trea- sure Island,” they would recognize the Admiral Benbow Inn which was owned by Jim Hawkins’ widowed mother. Chester Nimitz was a fleet admiral in WWII and had a freeway named after him. Robert E. Peary was an admi- ral and an arctic explorer. This week’s quiz:The word “piam” in poetry signifies what? And what do roundel, haiku, jin- tishi and ruba’i, have in common? * * * The top concern of Wells Fargo’s CEO John Stumpf, he says, is his bank’s home equity loss- es because unemployment is still high. WF has the largest portion of its loan book allocated to mortgages and home equity loans among large banks. And some banks appear not able to deal with homes in their foreclosure portfolio. A broker friend said he had a short sale of a local home in escrow with Chase Bank, when arbitrarily they cancelled the escrow and bundled the home with other properties. In disposing of it in that manner, they lost $100,000 in that one sale alone. If the unemployment ranks continue unchecked, this financial sword of Damo- cles hangs over us all thus delaying an end to the recession. * * * My joke of a week ago garnered a response from M. Boer, which prompted her to counter with one of her own, as follows: A preacher said, “Anyone with ‘special needs’ who wants to be prayed over, please come forward to the front by the altar.” With that, LeRoy got in line, and when it was his turn, the preacher asked, “LeRoy, what do you want me to pray about for you?” LeRoy replied, “I need you to pray for help with my hearing.” The preacher put one finger in LeRoy’s ear, placed his other hand on top of LeRoy’s head, and then prayed, and prayed and prayed. He prayed a blue streak for LeRoy and the whole congregation joined in with great enthusiasm. After a few minutes, the preacher removed his hands, stood back and asked, “LeRoy, how is your hearing now?” LeRoy answered, “I don’t know, preacher. It ain’t ‘til Thursday.” Robert Minch is a lifelong resident of Red Bluff and former columnist for the Corning Daily Observer and Meat Industry magazine. He can be reached at rminchandmurray@hotmail.com. Thompson can be e-mail at