Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/341570
GregStevens,Publisher Chip Thompson, Editor EDITORIALBOARD How to have your say: 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 no more than two double-spaced pages or 500words. When several letters address the same issue, a cross section will be published. Email: editor@red bluffdailynews.com Phone: 530-527- 2151ext. 112 Mail to: P.O. Box 220, 545 Diamond Ave., Red Bluff, CA 96080 Facebook: Leave comments at FACEBOOK.COM/ RBDAILYNEWS Twitter: Follow and send tweets to @REDBLUFFNEWS Everywhere I've gone this week people have asked me what I would be doing for the Fourth of July. The answer, as with every holiday that doesn't land on a weekend, is that I would be working, but Fourth of July is one of the better holidays to work. Sitting underfluorescent lights in an empty, window- less building on Christmas can be a bit depressing. Be- ing able to tune into a foot- ball game or two is the rem- edy. Same goes for Thanks- giving. Then there are Memorial Day and Veterans Day and, yes, the Fourth of July, when we mark each holiday as a community. We gather for mu- sic and speeches and parades. If I were at a larger pa- per, I'd be stuck sitting in the empty office waiting for a skeleton crew of reporters to file stories. But at the Daily News, I need to get out and cover these events myself. With the right attitude, you could say I have the opportu- nity to attend the community event as part of my job. Today's events start with parades in Los Molinos and Rancho Tehama and wrap up with fireworks planned in Red Bluff — here's hoping the winds don't cause another cancellation. Myfavoritequoteabout July 4 "You have to love a nation that celebrates its indepen- dence every July 4, not with a parade of guns, tanks, and soldiers who file by the White House in a show of strength and muscle, but with family picnics where kids throw Fris- bees, the potato salad gets iffy, and the flies die from happiness. You may think you have overeaten, but it is patri- otism." — Erma Bombeck Stranger than fiction I'm nearly done rereading "A Confederacy of Dunces" by John Kennedy Toole for the first time since my early 20s and it's been a very different experience. While I'm often reminded by more senior readers that I'm something of a youngster, at just shy of 50 I feel like I've been around the block a time or two and have a deeper ap- preciation for the cast of char- acters Toole created. What were amusing and cartoon-like characters in my youth are now people I could almost pick out of a crowd in Red Bluff. At the very least, I can say each of the char- acters reminds me of a real life acquaintance and their antics are more amusing by leaps and bounds as a result. The next time I groan and grab my lower back after bending to pull something from a low kitchen cabinet, I'll have to remind myself that a richer appreciation of literature is the trade-off. ChipThompsoncanbe reached at 530 527-2151, Ext. 112 or by email at editor@ redbluffdailynews.com. Fol- low him on Twitter @Edi- torChip. 545 Diamond Ave. Celebrating the Fourth of July on the clock GratefultoCaliforniafor financialsupport Editor: Like spoiled children, we in Tehama County have, without appreciation, taken for granted our use of public schools, and other needed public services, e.g. Cal Fire, Medi-Cal, Highway Pa- trol, etc. Always for use are multiple ser- vices. Being so spoiled about our good quality of life, we usually re- main silent about what we have. Not to forget the property rights, still enforced in Proposition 13. By itself, the state of Califor- nia compares with other wealthy nations, being among the top ten nations by earnings. By bone of contention are taxes, however, even the very poor pay sales tax, also prop- erty taxes through rent payment. Even Democrats pay taxes. If one is lucky enough to get a job in to- day's market, one will pay FICA. The principle here is stop com- plaining and thank California for sharing its wealth with Tehama County. Jefferson State ideology will prove financially unworkable. — Gerrie Barry, Red Bluff AmIaCalifornian? Editor: Karin Knorr's accusations of the Shasta County Board of Su- pervisors' misconduct in turning down her demand for a State of Jefferson Declaration would be amusing were they not alarming. She, a Tehama County resi- dent, believes she has the author- ity to tell the Shasta Supervi- sors how to prepare their agenda, how to vote and how they are re- quired to leave future agendas open so she can continue her de- mands for satisfaction. And she uses threats to try to get her way. One of the quotes of SOJs: "If you aren't on the menu you will be on the table" comes to mind. This is similar to behavior here in Te- hama County. I find it strange that the SOJ group went with so called fi- nancials in hand to share with Shasta County, just prior to their meeting. They then were upset that the board did not stop and review this info. Maybe because the SOJs got a ballot measure out of the Tehama County Supervi- sors without sharing any infor- mation? No financials, not even a sample of the Declaration they demanded which gives all the property within the boundaries of our counties to this group we know almost nothing about. She calls the Butte County Su- pervisors "more respectable" be- cause they sent the SOJs away to come back in six months with facts and figures. My score: Tehama, no infor- mation; Shasta, info just before the meeting; Butte, a six-month homework assignment. Her claim that more than half of Tehama County constituents support the SOJs based on how Tehama County voted is totally incorrect. We have about 60,000 residents. We have 30,000 reg- istered voters. In a low turnout election June 3, keep in mind that only 7,242, or 24% of eligi- ble voters, said yes on Measure A and 5,484, or 18% of the eligi- ble voters, said no. That actual margin is 1,758 votes. Not half or more than half by a long shot. And it was a vote about which most voters had no informa- tion to make an informed vote — about the effect on us, our fami- lies, our property, our services or our taxes. The day after our vote count, and before our Supervisors get to consider the SOJ demands, you would think we already lived in the State of Jefferson. Right under the American flag fly the green cloth decorated pieces. No Bear flag. Just go right from living in California to living in the SOJ. I find this behavior underhanded, pushy and disrespectful to those of us who love living in California and believe that we still do. This is a taste of what you will get. — Sue Gallagher, Los Molinos Obama'spoormilitary strategy Editor: President Obama reminds me of some of the world's worst mil- itary strategists. George Arm- strong Custer comes to mind. The president is sending sol- diers and marines to fight in Bag- dad — 275 soldiers sent to con- front a desperate, overwhelm- ingly great number of terrorists. It is Little Big Horn again. Does no one call it treason. The only difference between the two is Custer lead his troops, Obama is behind separated by the Atlantic and Mediterranean Sea, about 7,500 miles. — Robert Harper, Red Bluff Your opinions Cartoonist's take CONTRIBUTED PHOTO To understand why there are advocates for strange ideas such as the State of Jeffer- son, let's substitute the word "strange" for the phrase "unrealis- tic and impractical." By doing so we won't insult the in- telligence of proponents of split- ting off Northern California from the rest of the state. And then if we accept the fact there is a grow- ing inequality of distribution of wealth in our state — and every state — it is easier to understand why have nots would like to level the playing field and go for a state founded on the concept of every- one — to mix metaphors — get- ting a bigger slice of the pie. "If you won't recognize financial inequality in this country, you're living in a dream world," says au- thor and entrepreneur Joseph Sti- glitz. He writes "What everyone wants to believe is that when things reach a tipping point and go from being merely crappy for the masses to dangerous and socially destabi- lizing, that we're somehow going to know about that shift ahead of time. Any student of history knows that's not the way it happens. Rev- olutions, like bankruptcies, come gradually, and then suddenly. "The most ironic thing about rising inequality is how completely unnecessary and self-defeating it is. If we do something about it, if we adjust our policies in the way that, say, Franklin D. Roosevelt did during the Great Depression — so that we help the 99 per- cent and preempt the revolu- tionaries and crazies, the ones with the pitchforks — that will be the best thing possi- ble for rich folks, too. It's not just that we'll escape with our lives; it's that we'll most certainly get even richer." Of course FDR's New Deal was helped along by the nation's gearing up for WWII, but our wars today only seem to debil- itate our resources and accelerate our discontent. So be it with Jeffer- sonians. ••• Having alienated overweight readers with unsolicited dietary advice, I might as well go for broke and try to discourage otherwise normal looking folks from getting tattoos. Even though one our fa- vorite tenants, property manage- ment wise, engages in the decora- tive body art business, it is prob- ably best for young people to apply a decal to their forehead or forearm to make their state- ment rather than to take the nee- dle plunge only to rue and have a costly removal process when they mature and realize their folly. That said, I have heard that a mother and daughter of my acquaintance are contemplating getting tat- tooed. I think this a mistake, but they probably won't heed the ad- vice. Thankfully we have no un- sightly haircuts in the family as yet. A couple of grandsons could be in the peer group line of fire, but one is in Marine ROTC in col- lege and suffers only a buzz cut… and the other chap is known for his levelheadedness and not likely to get inked up. So that leaves the mother/daughter issue to con- sider. There was once a song that went, "…but she's a young thing and cannot leave her mother." If her mother inks up and flashes a leg encircling snake or swastika, I urge the daughter to cut the cord and move out. Tsk,tsk. ••• Regarding the article last week about new dietary guidelines, I omitted the current recommenda- tions: Lots of grains and vegeta- bles, plus low-fat dairy. Also note the revelation that "It is very dif- ficult to lose weight on a very low fat diet, possibly because fat and meat can produce a sense of sati- ety that's harder to achieve with carbs, making it easier to simply stop eating." Is that clear? ••• A belligerent drunk staggers out of a bar, sees a nun in black garb standing at a bus stop, walks up to her and decks her. When she falls to the ground, he laughs and yells, "You're not so tough now, are you, Batman?" ••• A reader offers a one liner of her own creation: "Confucius say woman who has affair with a comic has Red Skelton in closet." Ah so. May I counter with "Confu- cius say war does not determine who is right; war determines who is left." ••• I hope a sports writer doesn't dredge up "June Swoon" when de- scribing the S.F. Giants' fall from grace. And now we are even with the Dodgers in the standings… and by the end of the week we may be in second place. It's our pitching. It was in the rotation, now it's in the bull pen. What has happened to our closers? I know, one went to the Dodgers, but we don't talk about him. However, that weirdo can pitch. ••• Last week's quiz was first an- swered by D. McGill who discov- ered that "My Wild Irish Rose" was written by Chauncey Olcott, "Mighty Lak a Rose" by Stanton and Nevin, "Roses of Picardy" by Haydn Wood, "To a Wild Rose" by Edward MacDowll and "Rose Room" by Art Hickman and Harry Williams inspired by the room of the same name in the St. Francis Hotel in San Francisco. The thought of which gives me a twinge of nostalgia when I think of that venerable hotel and the dance bands of yore. Sigh… This week's quiz: Everyone knows the origi- nal verse of "Mary Had a Little Lamb." What is missing from the following variation: "Mary had a tiny lamb, its wool was pallid as snow, and any spot that Mary did walk, this lamb would always go. This lamb did follow Mary to school, although against a law; how girls and boys did laugh and play, that lamb in class all saw." ••• An elderly man and a Baptist minister were sitting together on a plane. A pretty young steward- ess brought a whiskey and soda to the old man. When she asked the minister if he would like a drink, the minister indignantly replied, "I would rather commit adultery than drink alcohol." The old man looked confused, then handed back his drink to the steward- ess and said, "Sorry, I didn't know there was a choice…" Robert Minch is a lifelong resi- dent of Red Bluff, former column- ist for the Corning Daily Observer and Meat Industry magazine and author of the "The Knocking Pen." He can be reached at rminchand- murray@hotmail.com. I say The age of our discontent Any student of history knows that's not the way it happens. Revolutions, like bankruptcies, come gradually, and then suddenly. "What were amusing and cartoon-like characters in my youth are now people I could almost pick out of a crowd in Red Bluff." Robert Minch OPINION » redbluffdailynews.com Friday, July 4, 2014 » MORE AT FACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS A4