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Box 220, 545 Diamond Ave., Red Bluff, CA 96080 Facebook: Leave comments at FACEBOOK.COM/ RBDAILYNEWS Twitter: Follow and send tweets to @REDBLUFFNEWS Whenanumberof us appeared before the Tehama County Board of Supervisors on the 15th of July, it was with the expec- tation that the board, finally comprehend- ing the folly of the de- cision to put the sep- aratist movement to divide the State of California on the June ballot, would have the political courage to ignore the 56% in favor vote and table the whole matter. Instead they cast a unanimous vote to support the concept and published a reso- lution to that effect. The question now is, in the event the issue comes to a state wide vote in November, what to do to convince voters that the state is just fine as is, and they should direct their energies toward voting more qualified people into high of- fice. To this end we need to second the writings of those who think logically. Jon Carroll, in his SF Chron column, wrote regarding the push by one Tim Draper to put his "six states" proposal on the California ballot, "This is not a new idea, discontent born of Cal- ifornia's bigness and its diver- sity has been going on forever. In 1941, three California coun- ties (Siskiyou, Del Norte and Mo- doc) voted to secede, and for one brief moment young men with hunting rifles stopped traffic on Highway 99, and handed drivers copies of a proclamation of inde- pendence." Carroll obviously has seen the folly of the movement. In TIME, Matt Vella wrote, "Silicon Valley's newest start up is not an app or a gadget. But it is in the parlance of the hoodie- clad, disruptive. Wealthy ven- ture capitalist Tim Draper wants to split the state into six pieces, putting the state of Jef- ferson on the map…the idea be- ing that the new states would be more efficient and govern- able. The plan has little chance of becoming a reality. The con- stitution requires the approval of the state assembly and con- gress. The idea is an ego trip of Ayn Randian proportions" and so forth. If the six state idea did come to fruition, the re- sulting state of Jefferson would embark on its own with the smallest population (949,409), and the second lowest income ($36,147) per capita. ••• Speaking of Jefferson…the state, not Thomas, I note a flag flying high over an Antelope Boulevard Center. It looks sus- piciously like the miniature ones we saw waving in the hands of Jefferson support- ers at the Supervisor's meeting last week. I hope this is not a precursor of things to come. ••• Regarding flags, per se, I wondered who puts out the American flag on holidays. City Hall did not know, thought it might be the Lion's Club. Some- body else thought it was the Boy Scouts. In either case I could not find a phone num- ber to verify. I then called the Chamber of Commerce but they were stumped as well. I finally looked in the yel- low pages under "service clubs" but drew a blank. Finally I con- tacted the Moose Lodge in Orland. The Red Bluff Lodge number was not listed. Orland gave me a couple of numbers and soon I was talking to the head Moose or at least someone knowledgeable who verified that they have taken over the duties of the Lion's Club, whose members be- came too old to perform the task. I thought the Moose Lodge received no compensation for the chore, but the Missus says they send an invoice once a year for 30 bucks or so. However they've had to replace about half of the flags at their own ex- pense. This seems to be a very charitable gesture on their part. Anyhow, I asked the Red Bluff Lodge if they were called upon to hoist the Jefferson XX flag as well as the American version on holidays would they do so? This generated some in- dignation and they averred they would only display Old Glory. This is informative and those in favor of creating a flag for the State of Jefferson should take note. They might have to create one from whole cloth and cre- ate a new department to display it on certain days. You're famil- iar with the Bear Flag of Cali- fornia? The Jefferson flag might have a variation of that depict- ing the bear with his pants taken down. Certainly is food for thought, is it not? ••• A computer tech responded to a call: Help Desk: "What's your modem serial number?" Caller: "001, E as in igloo, A as in apple…" Help: "Was that 001, E as in Echo?" Caller: "No. E as in igloo!" Help: "Sorry sir, but igloo begins with an "I". Caller: "No! Igloo is spelled E-G-L-U-E. I have a college de- gree. You can't put one over on me, Mr. Fancy Pants!" ••• Zen axioms to live by: If you think nobody cares if you live or die, try missing a couple of payments. If at first you do not suc- ceed, skydiving is not for you. Some days you are the dog, some day you are the tree. A closed mouth gathers no foot. ••• Last week's quiz was an- swered once again by L. Brown who read the lengthy tome "Bless the shepherd, Bless the sheep, Bless the shep- herdess. Ewe, Bellwether, shel- tered keep: Send them blessed- ness" and deduced what was missing from it. Answer: All the other vowels. This week's quiz: Complete the first stanzas of these fa- miliar poems: "You are old, Fa- ther William," the young man said, "And your hair has be- come very white; and yet you incessantly stand on your head______?" Also, "'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves did gyre and gimble in the wabe: All mimsy were the borogoves, __________." Also "Tho I've belted you and flayed you, By the livin' Gawd that made you, "You're ___________________!" ••• A man took his dog to the vet and asked him to cut off the dog's tail. The vet said, "Why do you want the dog's tail cut off?" "Because," said the man, "my mother in-law is coming to visit and I don't want anything to make her think she is welcome." RobertMinchisalifelongres- ident of Red Bluff, former col- umnist for the Corning Daily Observer and Meat Industry magazine and author of the "The Knocking Pen." He can be reached at rminchandmur- ray@hotmail.com. I Say Righting the supervisors' wrong Cartoonist's take DEAR COLUMNIST: I have written you before. I am now 10 years old. Some of my little friends say America's political center is on the verge of collapsing, is now meaning- less, and that moderates and in- dependents no longer really ex- ist. P.S. I told my Dad I was writ- ing to you. He too said there are no moderates or independents, just liberal Democrats and con- servative Republicans who de- ceitfully play pretend. VIRGINIA SCHMIDLAP 285 East 33rd St. Dear Virginia: Thanks for writing me again. Your little friends are wrong, although it's easy to see why they'd think the way they do given recent political headlines. America's 21st century poli- tics now resembles professional wrestling, where nuance is ta- boo. Big media corporations protect their vested interest in promoting shrill partisanship and ideological rage to keep their cash-cow political shows popular. Just as professional wres- tling's outcomes are fixed, there is now a growing feeling in that in our politics the goose is also cooked, with some star chefs lo- cated in the highest court in the land. A few developments: Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin calls for President Barack Obama's impeachment over im- migration and for making im- peachment support a new lit- mus test for candidates, even Republicans. Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, vice chairman of the Na- tional Republican Senatorial Committee — which toils to re- elect incumbent GOP senators — is siding with Chris McDan- iel, the sour-grapes Tea Partier who lost to incumbent Sen. Tad Cochran. And the GOP estab- lishment looks impotent. House Speaker John Boehner threatens to sue President Barack Obama over his exec- utive actions, and Democratic strategist Paul Begala warns that Boehner could get the Su- preme Court's backing. And Obama? His administration looks more hapless and defen- sive by the day on foreign pol- icy issues and on illegal im- migration, where he's squirm- ing, caught in a pincer between right and left. There is a feeling the American center is out to lunch or has greatly changed. But changes continually oc- cur in our society. Some compa- nies that enjoyed booming busi- nesses producing Karaoke CDs are now vanishing due to the popularity of Internet down- loads. 20th century announcers pronounced "protein" as "pro- teIN," but announcers today call it "proTEEN." Pay phones and VHS tapes went the way of Greatest Generation's favorite word, "swell," and the original meaning of "gay." Newspapers and blogs bat- tle to adjust to the popularity of social media, cell phone appli- cations, and Facebook. The tele- vision variety show is dead, and broadcasting battles to survive cable and Internet narrowcast- ing. America is more divided than ever; nearly every niche, opinion, and taste seemingly has its own little spot where the like-minded or like-tasted can isolate themselves, reaffirm and celebrate their preferences and prejudices, and diss those who dare not share them. This means a center is more difficult to pin down, and mod- eration is hard to sell to many people as anything but a sign of wussiness, ignorance, or lack of principles — even though it is often the opposite. Polls show it's important for parties to win the center, which is difficult to woo and win. Still, politics, as life, means cycles. In 1984, Coke and Pepsi switched from sugar to High Fructose Corn Syrup. But now Mexican-bottled Coke and Pepsi are becoming popular since they're made with sugar. And Pepsi has come out with a new sub-brand of Pepsi: with sugar. Similarly, the conventional wis- dom is that young people will be more liberal than their par- ents, but a new poll predicts to- day's teens may become adult conservatives due to growing up when government's prom- ises didn't match government's delivery. Yes, the center exists in American politics, but it's highly fluid. Moderates ex- ist, but in increasingly smaller numbers, and they're under fire to relent and repent, or be hunted down or declared irrel- evant. But, Virginia, I believe his- tory shows that those who be- come irrelevant are those who take inflexible positions, are ob- sessively focused on destroy- ing political foes, and who of- fend big chunks of the popula- tion. They help create a nation's center. The center may now be reconfiguring, but as the old guard dies off a new guard comes in. And, sooner or later, whichever political party goes too far will feel the underesti- mated center's wrath. Joe Gandelman is a veteran journalist who wrote for news- papers overseas and in the United States. He has appeared on cable news show political panels and is Editor-in-Chief of The Moderate Voice, an Internet hub for independents, centrists and moderates. He also writes for The Week's online edition. He can be reached at jgandel- man@themoderatevoice.com and can be booked to speak at www.mavenproductions.com. Follow him on Twitter: www. twitter.com/joegandelman Joe Gandelman Is America's political center out to lunch? If the six state idea did come to fruition, the resulting state of Jefferson would embark on its own with the smallest population (949,409), and the second lowest income ($36,147) per capita. Sounding off A look at what readers are saying in comments on our website and on social media. These programs are meant to subsidies not to live on. Shirley Schirmer Skinner: On Supervisors decision to table grant award Thank you for asking questions and not do- ing a blanket approval. The "so " matching funds will come out of the County budget one way or another. Linda Hayes: On Supervisors decision to table grant award Moderates exist, but in increasingly smaller numbers, and they're under fire to relent and repent, or be hunted down or declared irrelevant. Robert Minch OPINION » redbluffdailynews.com Friday, July 25, 2014 » MORE AT FACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS A4