Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/402763
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 SinceIamasenior citizen, I remember when the word gay pretty much meant happy. Earlier this month the United States Su- preme Court refused to hear some petitions on whether same sex mar- riage should be protected. That allowed five states — In- diana, Oklahoma, Utah, Vir- ginia and Wisconsin — to start such marriages. That de- cision is already driving the Mormon state of Utah nuts. As Bob Dylan has often sung; "The times, they are a- changin'." Gay marriage is no longer a litmus test for Repub- licans, as abortion once was and often remains. As a mat- ter of fact, on July 15, 2011 Governor Jerry Brown signed legislation making California the first state to require that school textbooks and history lessons include positive con- tributions of gay, lesbian, bi- sexual and transgender Amer- icans. I am not dead certain, but I am guessing that "gays" (men and women) have been around since our human spe- cies began. And, it doesn't surprise me either, that after some 10,000 years on earth that humans no longer recog- nize what I call the most ob- vious clue of one's sexual pref- erence. That would be one's body. My body — and wom- en's bodies — has always con- vinced me that I am hetero- sexual. America has actually made a political issue of whether men and women are homo- sexual or heterosexual. Surely there are more important matters to discuss. Presently, a majority of our states, 38, now permit gay marriage. My, how times have changed. It actually was a lot different when I was born in the very late 1930s. At least in 2014 most people have given up on using the word "queer" derogatorily. Our press now talks regu- larly about our "culture wars." Issues like abortion and gay marriage are what politicians call "wedge issues." They use such issues to divide or bring Americans together. Politicians often try to take advantage of that. The first example I re- member of a wedge is- sue was during the Rea- gan years. Jerry Fal- well and his right wing moral majority help pro- pel the Gipper to the Presi- dency itself. Additional help came from televangelist Pat Robertson, and he was fol- lowed by Pat Buchanan, both presidential candidates. All of their followers promoted mostly right and wrong posi- tions. It didn't take that many years before Bill Clinton moved the issue to his pro- tective political position re- ferred to as "Don't ask. Don't tell." The whole thing has al- ways sounded a bit silly to me. Celebrity Ellen DeGeneres struggled before revealing her sexual orientation. That is no longer an impediment since her latest TV gig has been suc- cessful since 2003. And, don't forget the popularity of ABC's "Modern Family." Additionally, the newest California Assembly Speaker Toni Adkins is out of that closet, as well as her immedi- ate predecessor John Perez. I think the whole thing about sexual preference will eventually be listed under the "who cares" column. Are ho- mosexuals increasing in num- bers, or has there always been a smaller but decent percent- age of gay folks? I have discovered in my seven-and-a-half decades of living in the Great North State, humans will eventu- ally do what they can and de- sire to do. The legislature's continu- ing efforts to control one's sex life is like trying to con- trol the personal activities of a teenager. Just forget about it. I really don't think that can be done to any effec- tive degree. A little guidance might always help some- one, but please don't get your hopes up. If you are part of the op- position to gay marriage, you are not with the majority. That is evidenced by an ABC News/Washington Post poll released Oct. 10 reflecting 56 percent of Americans support the court's decision. If you have not grown tired of discussing this issue yet, please give me your thoughts. StanStathamserved1976- 1994 in the California As- sembly and was a television news anchor at KHSL-TV in Chico 1965-1975. He is presi- dent of the California Broad- casters Association and can be reached at StanStatham@ gmail.com. Stan Statham Mytakeon gay marriage Issues like abortion and gay marriage are what politicians call "wedge issues." They use such issues to divide or bring Americans together. Gratefulpedestrian Editor: I'd like to sincerely thank the men that helped when I was hit in a crosswalk in my electric wheelchair — the police officer, firemen, ambulance crew and the emergency room men. There are no words to ex- press enough. Bless all of you. — Beverly Davidson, Red Bluff Downtown trees Editor: For some time now I have been meaning to write regard- ing the trees downtown. I would like to respectfully suggest that they be allowed to grow out naturally. Their "cake pop" trimming makes them look artificial and dated, not to mention the minimal shade that they provide as a result of the trimming. One need only look at the downtown area in Shirlington, Va., McMinnville, Ore. or Boise, Idaho to see how beautiful ma- ture, leafy trees can be. These areas have adorned their trees with lights, in a more natural and scattered way, and the re- sult is inviting and the ambi- ance pervasive. I think our downtown is ready for a different look, a more updated feature, as in those areas I have mentioned. I do not know if this is a mat- ter my friends and I should dis- cuss with the City Council or the Board of Supervisors. But please, don't trim those trees this holiday season. — Nancy Howard Hickson, Red Bluff Vote for Candy Carlson Editor: Most certainly the most ob- jective and truly unbiased can- didate with all out qualifica- tions is Candy Carlson. How politically obvious it was of her competitor to men- tion that in a county of a major- ity of Republicans that Carlson is a Democrat. It truly makes no difference of one's party affiliation. As a life long Republican myself, I urge the voters to vote for by far the most qualified candidate, Candy Carlson in District 2. We will be so proud to have an Air Force veteran with man- agement skills having worked with program experience. Not to mention a college degree with honors from Sonoma State University. Cream of the crop right here in Red Bluff. So let's put her on the Board of Supervisors. — Kathy Bonner, Red Bluff Another dirty trick from the government Editor: In your paper today there is a special notice of interest from the postal workers union. Another dirty trick from our government controlled agen- cies. The United States Postal Ser- vice is moving our mail pro- cessing operation from Redding to West Sacramento. It's just another way to mon- itor every communication of any kind between people in this country. You can be sure that the gov- ernment snooping into the per- sonal business of the millions of people's telephone calls, cell phone calls and computer mes- sages will now be expanded to who they write to and how of- ten. They will have to hire more people who are willing to do this job, like they are doing at the Internal Revenue Service. Another freedom stolen by the powers that be in Washing- ton. Postal workers here will be losing jobs and important mail will be delayed. They will claim it is saving money. However, the trucking 160 miles to West Sacramento and then trucking back so that it can be delivered will be far more expensive than it is now. The degrading of our mail service will make the poli- ticians in Washington very happy. More than 300,000 citi- zens will be effected by this stu- pid move. The local postal personnel and their families will have local jobs cut here and if they are trans- ferred, they will have the expense of moving. If the postal depart- ment has to give them special ex- pense money to move, it will cost the taxpayers even more. According to the postal workers union, this will effect Marysville, Modesto and Stock- ton as well as our mail in Te- hama County. The usual mismanagement of our present government. Apparently they keep records of all this snooping on tele- phones, cell phones and com- puter messages. Where will they store all this information? I am sure the postal informa- tion will be stored too. — Jean Clayton, Red Bluff Fearful of Ebola virus Editor: Don't get too close to me. I don't want you to catch my cold, is what someone says while coughing and sneezing to others. New daily accounts of the Ebola virus are making head- lines everywhere in the world. Now, the Ebola virus is here, in our country. Dallas,Texas is only about 1,800 miles from northern Cali- fornia. For those of you who are concerned, you might want to read the book "The Hot Zone" by Richard Preston. The 1995 movie "Outbreak," starring Dustin Hoffman, is based on this very real and scary book. After I read the book, I liter- ally did not want to be next to another human being without a breathing mask on. For the skeptics, who think the Ebola virus will not or can- not appear here in Tehama County, think again. — Vickie Linnet, Corning Your opinions Cartoonist's take "Ewww!" said my wife, when I told her that Brand- sOnSale.com is marketing left- over "Breaking Bad" meth lab hazmat suits as Ebola Contain- ment Suits this Halloween, at $79.99 a pop. These suits are just part of a trend (call it tacky, insen- sitive, creepy, gross) that in- cludes Zombie Robin Williams masks, partygoers dressed as disgraced former Baltimore Ra- vens running back Ray Rice (dragging around an inflatable wife), groups of friends dress- ing up as doomed Malaysia Air- lines Flight 370 passengers and the guy in Boise, Idaho with the decapitated Pres. Obama in his front yard. Yes, folks are obsessed with costumes "ripped from to- day's headlines," no matter how fresh the wound they exploit. At least in the good old days when someone ripped a costume from the headlines, they dressed as a City Councilman Schedul- ing Hearings For The Proposed Sewer Bonds Issue. Correct me if I'm wrong, but kids in 1945 weren't chanting, "Trick or treat, smell my feet, this simu- lated Bataan Death March is re- ally neat." The reality of today is get- ting closer and closer to the sat- ire of yesterday. Remember 1977 when Dan Aykroyd on "Satur- day Night Live" portrayed huck- ster Irwin Mainway? Mainway's Halloween wares (Invisible Pe- destrian, Johnny Human Torch, Johnny Combat Action Costume with real M-1 rifle and Johnny Space Commander mask, i.e. a plastic bag with a rubber band) don't seem so outlandish in to- day's climate. A spokesperson for Brand- sOnSale.com insisted that spoil- sports who get squeamish about the Ebola suits just don't "get" the holiday; Halloween ex- cesses are our way of mocking our fear of death. (Yeah, we re- ally stick it to Death, because our ever-growing Halloween ex- penses leave us unable to pay for our funeral!) The spokesperson defended the suits as a continuation of the grand old tradition of Hal- loween being a time to "laugh all the way to the b— um, er I mean whistle past the grave- yard." No, back in the day, we WHISTLED past the grave- yard. Now there's always some jerk who metaphorically drives past the graveyard with the ste- reo blasting, the engine roaring and piles of litter being tossed from the floorboard. One guy got defensive about his Ebola suit. ("Let's put this in perspective. Those 4,500 pa- tients in West Africa got a per- manent escape from their hum- drum daily lives. After my one big night of escape and being the life of the party, I have to go back to my boring job running the drive-thru window. Life isn't fair.") Of course this year's timely costumes compete with the on- going popularity of seductress outfits, worn by supposedly grown women who think the ul- timate goal of a librarian, doc- tor, judge or police officer is to be "totally hot." Some of the women also insist on living vicariously through their little girls, dress- ing them in more and more ris- que outfits. Now the age-old question "What are you sup- posed to be dressed as, little girl?" is being replaced with "Can you break a twenty? Be- cause I'm fresh out of singles for that G-string.") Wait, there's more. Accord- ing to USA Today, Ameri- cans will spend $350 million on costumes for their pets. Fair enough — until you con- sider the trend toward "sexy" pet costumes. One example is a dog dress with a busty fake chest. It's the evolution of American slang; we've gone from "that's one sick puppy" to "that's one sick master" in just a few years. Sigh. Danny Tyree welcomes reader e-mail responses at tyreetyrades@aol.com and vis- its to his Facebook fan page "Tyree's Tyrades." Danny Tyree Halloween in the time of Ebola: A new modern classic Stan Statham OPINION » redbluffdailynews.com Thursday, October 23, 2014 » MORE AT FACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS A4