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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 Iwrotethiscolumnatabout 6 a.m. election morning. Next Thursday's column I will do my best to ad- dress the results of this year's vote. I want to give you my thoughts on what appears to be the grow- ing number of political parties. As a start, that would be Republicans, Dem- ocrats, Peace and Freedom, those who decline to state, In- dependents or even the Tea Party members which are at a minimum a group of really dissatisfied citizens. Seven dif- ferent political parties are presently recognized in Cali- fornia already. My friend, California's Sec- retary of State Debra Bowen — we served in the Assembly to- gether — announced this year that 23% of registered voters do not join either of the two major parties. When I read that I remembered billion- aire Ross Perot when he ran for president in 1992 and 1996. Remember, he got a whopping 19% of the vote as the most successful third party candi- date in American history. Lit- tle did we know then that pol- itics would eventually become today's polarized situation. Sure, we know candidates probably spend way too much on their races, but do we have better representatives now as a result or did we simply re- elect the ones we had? In California and across the nation, incumbents pretty much always have the advan- tage. That is primarily be- cause of something called "re- apportionment." Every decade our United States constitution — Amendment 14 — requires that Legislative, Congressio- nal and Board of Equaliza- tion Districts be re-drawn by the legislature to make them as fair as possible. That was changed in 2010 when a Cit- izens Redistricting Commis- sion — Proposition 20 — was created that is now responsi- ble for that re-mapping. Since California has eighty Assem- bly members, each of them should represent one-eighti- eth of our state's 38 million citizens, and so forth. Way back in 1980, the Dem- ocrats in Sacramento, I was then a Republican, changed the district that I was elected to represent. I got the bad news when I discovered they had reapportioned my dis- trict so the street in front of my home, Cohasset Road, was in my district. However, the home in which I lived and slept was not. That was my first direct and personal expe- rience learning about political power. I have said from time to time that politics is the only profession where people ac- tually stab each other in the front. "Those bastards," I re- member thinking. In anticipations of such skullduggery, I had already purchased twenty acres of for- est land near Redding and also had secured a used single wide trailer in which I could and did live. So, I immediately re-registered to vote in Shasta County and even became friends with many of those Democrat power brokers. Un- fortunately, even with the re- cently appointed citizen com- missioners, I don't believe the situation has gotten any bet- ter. It still needs to be more lo- cal and representative of the citizens there. Incumbents already have a natural advantage with larger name identification as a public figure. And, as officials already, lobbyists automatically send them campaign contributions from their political action com- mittees. I had even a greater advantage having spent an en- tire decade from 1965 through 1975, anchoring the evening news on KHSL-TV, channel 12 in Chico immediately before Walter Cronkite did his eve- ning news on CBS. As I met people in Red Bluff and other north state counties, it some- times felt like 80-90% com- mented; "Stan, I didn't know you were so tall!" I wondered about whether that is an ad- vantage too. You see, everyone on television initially appears to be the same height. After 20 years out of the public eye, that still happens to me in most parts of the Great North State. I always want to know what people in the northern end of California think about poli- tics here. I contend that An- telope Boulevard in Red Bluff is already in a different Cal- ifornia than Hollywood and Vine in Los Angeles or Mission Street in San Francisco. My wife claims I am politically ad- dicted, and I can't seem to find a flaw in her thinking. What is your opinion? Do you think our golden state needs to be substantially reformed? Please tell me why, where and how. 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 DoesCalifornia need reforming? I have said from time to time that politics is the only profession where people actually stab each other in the front. "Those bastards," I remember thinking. Cartoonist's take As the old Tyree luck would have it, I was near the end of my month-long exile from work (fol- lowing laser prostate surgery) be- fore I stumbled across the book "5 Days To A Clutter-Free House: Quick, Easy Ways To Clear Up Your Space." Of course I've been limited to lifting no more than 15 pounds, so I couldn't immediately throw myself into actually carrying out the ideas espoused by "organiz- ing and time management ex- perts Sandra Felton and Mar- sha Sims," but it would have been nice to have gotten an earlier start on the book. It's interesting that the au- thors chose to set a five-day limit on the project. One can easily find "neat freak" books offering success within 10 days or 30 days or 100 days. I think one partic- ularly laid-back volume even of- fers "Dude, Last Minute Details The Crematory Operator Can Do For You." Although they make grudg- ing allowance for lone wolves, Felton and Sims really want you to invite five good friends with a schedule in perfect harmony with yours to come over and help you with the clean-up project — as sort of a self-imposed inter- vention. That's a sticking point for me. As a naturally shy person, I don't want that many people going through my life-long accu- mulation of half-read periodicals, long-expired warranties, old love letters, scribbled notes, unmem- orable memorabilia, "What was I thinking?" purchases and Things That Will Come Back In Style Any Day Now, Assuming That Moustache Wax Manufacturers Can Get The Walking Dead To Model Their Product. It's sort of like inviting five in- laws over to critique your "e.d." issues. "Yes, Suzy, if we observe for five days in the bedroom, we can figure out your husband's physical shortcomings. Or you could divorce him and marry Joe McGilliguddy and raise us a bunch of grandyoung'uns like we always told you!" The authors preach the adage "Many hands make light work." Well, in my particular case, the adage would be "Many hands throw a vase into the air with a shriek if they don't realize the snake that found an entrance into the old farmhouse is proba- bly non-poisonous." Also, if I imposed upon five friends to help me get organized, I would forever be waiting for the other shoe to drop so I could re- turn the favor. Given the mag- nitude of what I would be ask- ing them to do, I could see myself someday attaching space shuttle tiles in-flight or babysitting kan- garoos in heat or something. The authors emphasize setting "reachable goals" for each of the five days. That's nice, but after a hard day at work, most of us are more interested in "reachable antacid" or "reachable Tylenol." I'm glad that the authors re- alize that families can present obstacles to getting the mess cleaned up. My son Gideon (age 10) thinks every single "kids' meal" picture he ever half-way colored should be hanging in the Louvre someday. Of course right now he doesn't mind if we mud- dily tromp on them on the liv- ing room floor, it's the legacy that matters. The authors want you to be able to enjoy beauty, simplicity and easy access to your belong- ings. They also want you to feel comfortable if people pop in un- expectedly. Of course I already feel comfortable releasing the hounds when people pop in un- expectedly. Uh, I know those hounds were around here some- where... Ewwww. Danny Tyree welcomes reader e- mail responses at tyreetyrades@ aol.com and visits to his Face- book fan page Tyree's Tyrades. Danny Tyree De-cluttering your house, and other subversive acts Another view By Maria Fotopoulos As West Africa's Ebola out- break has continued gaining momentum over the last seven months, the global implications of this disease become clearer by the day. Most of us are only 24 hours away by air from this extremely infectious virus. That's not to engender fear or panic, rather to spur discussion in several areas. What do bor- ders mean in today's hyper-con- nected world? How can govern- ments, nonprofits, NGOs, the medical community and indi- viduals work better together to achieve the best outcomes? Doctors Without Borders and Samaritan's Purse were organi- zations on the frontlines of this outbreak early and are due ex- treme gratitude and support. Unfortunately, we know that the response to this crisis from governments internationally has been too slow. The medi- cal community reported being overwhelmed in June, and Doc- tors Without Borders told the United Nations in September that world leadership was not stepping up to deal with the ep- idemic. Albeit tardy, finally we're see- ing more action, which is en- couraging. The Gates Founda- tion committed $50 million to ramp up emergency efforts to contain and interrupt transmis- sion of the virus in September, and more recently Mark Zuck- erberg and his wife, Dr. Pris- cilla Cha, contributed $25 mil- lion, while Microsoft cofounder Paul Allen upped his commit- ment to fight Ebola to $100 mil- lion. Funding in s also flowing in from other foundations and organizations. Yet government response continues to seem a step be- hind, with too many missteps. The most encouraging news has been the U.S. Army deci- sion to maintain a 21-day sepa- ration period from the general public and family for the sol- diers returning from deploy- ment in West Africa to assist with the Ebola outbreak. Three weeks is believed to be the in- cubation period for the virus, which has so far killed about half of the more than 10,000 people who have contracted it in this outbreak. Stopping the advance of this disease requires using mul- tiple tools in the toolbox, but common sense dictates that the emphasis be put on stop- ping the disease at the source. To this point, one of the tools that there's been reluctance to use is border enforcement. An inspections process for immi- grants traditionally has been part of immigration law in or- der to, among other things, prevent admitting those who have communicable diseases. It should be noted we're facing not just Ebola in the U.S., but the arrival from other coun- tries of diseases such as drug- resistant tuberculosis and En- terovirus. Too many elected officials and business leaders continue to act as though borders no longer matter, as evidenced by a gross breakdown of our im- migration laws related to bor- der enforcement. So it's prob- ably not surprising that, given border enforcement would be one tool to help combat this outbreak, the powers that be are more than a little reluctant to employ it. Perhaps ironically, those who have stepped up with significant funding also are proponents of what equates to open borders. Maybe they real- ize if this isn't handled properly and Ebola spreads, the close- the-borders cry will turn deaf- ening. But until this Ebola outbreak has burned itself out, it's right to question the reasonableness of the U.S. continuing to issue travel visas to citizens of the ef- fected countries. Certainly the first case of Ebola in the U.S., in a traveler from Liberia, should have taken the conversation to another level. Instead, we are caught up in the many ancillary issues that understandably arise when a problem isn't adequately man- aged at the source, and allowed to compound. With media not letting up on this story and with continuing public concern, the pressure re- mains high for more to be done. The kneejerk, distracting talk of cutting off all travel needs to be replaced with a more nu- anced position of limiting non- essential travel and considering greater use of military to coor- dinate transportation for med- ical personnel, other aid work- ers and supplies, as well as to house returning workers at a designated military base for 21 days. Temporarily shutting down visas for nonessential travel, while assisting those commit- ted to ending the outbreak, narrows the potential for ex- posure and creates a contained loop. By the way, this three- week protocol of limiting con- tact with the public and fam- ily should be viewed simply as precautionary for the greater benefit of the overall commu- nity, not as penalizing. Panic is the default position in a situa- tion such as this. So developing a strategy that minimizes panic and costs is essential. Maria Fotopoulos is a Senior Writing Fellow for Californians for Population Stabilization (capsweb.org). Contact her at caps@capsweb.org. Disease requires using all tools Stan Statham OPINION » redbluffdailynews.com Thursday, November 6, 2014 » MORE AT FACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS A6