Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/482332
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 "Whataboutthechildren?" Politicians of both par- ties often stoop to using our children as props whenever they're fighting for a new law or pet government program. They argue we need to cut the $18 trillion debt, regulate the Internet or pay teachers more "for our children." "Think of the children" is al- most always an emotional and irrational appeal made in des- peration by those who don't have a reasonable or legiti- mate argument. Invoking "the children" is pure BS. It's obvious political BS. But it's BS that's been used for a long time by Democrats and Republicans. It became so common that it was satirized way back in the early 1990s in the "The Simpsons," when the charac- ter Helen Lovejoy constantly shrieked "Think of the chil- dren" during town debates over everything from lowering taxes to what to do about too many bears roaming the streets. Despite becoming a cultural joke, using "the children" as emotional weapons in politi- cal warfare still goes on all the time. Every other lousy politician in Washington who wants to tax, subsidize or regulate some- thing still claims he's doing it "for the children" — whether it's saving the planet from cli- mate change, giving amnesty to illegal immigrants or inter- vening in Syria. But when it comes to passing a piece of legislation that will actually do something to help hundreds of thousands of real children, it's another story. As part of the latest parlia- mentary maneuvering and cat- fighting between Democrats and Republicans, the pas- sage of the Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act of 2015 has been delayed in the Senate. Passed by the House, and having broad bipartisan sup- port, the act would strike an important blow in the fight against human sex trafficking. The act would create a fund to help authorities in the USA deter and combat sex traffick- ing, prosecute traffickers when they are caught and provide assistance to private groups that work to rescue and re- store the lives of trafficking victims — most of whom are children. We hear little about it, but human trafficking is a serious problem in the United States and around the globe. The U.S. State Department estimates there are 27 million victims of trafficking worldwide. Human trafficking is a $32 billion industry involving more than 125 countries. The major- ity of victims are women and girls who are forcibly trafficked from one place to another to do work or provide sex, usually under horribly unsafe and un- hygienic conditions. The United States is not un- touched by this crime against children. Experts say 17,500 people are trafficked into the U.S. each year and about 300,000 American children, particularly children in foster care, are continually at risk of being pulled into the hell of hu- man trafficking. According to the National Center for Missing and Ex- ploited Children, the typi- cal sex-trafficked child in the United States is 13 or 14 years old. The average pimp makes upwards of $200,000 a year from one of his four to eight children, who are forced to have sex 20 to 48 times a day. Private organizations like the Polaris Project and Arrow Child and Family Ministries in Texas, which I'm affiliated with, are working hard to ed- ucate the public about the hor- rors of sex-trafficking and res- cue as many young victims as they can. But it's a huge job and the public and private resources to do it are spread thin and hard to acquire. With the Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act, Republicans and Democrats are in a great position to actually do some- thing "for the children" in- stead of just talking about it. For now the act has be- come another bargaining chip in Washington's never-ending private poker game. It will pass eventually. Even Congress gets it right once in a while. But it's time for poli- ticians to quit playing politics with the lives of our children. MichaelReaganisthesonof President Ronald Reagan, a political consultant, and the author of "The New Reagan Revolution" (St. Martin's Press). He is the founder of the email service reagan.com and president of The Reagan Legacy Foundation. Visit his websites at www.reagan.com and www.michaelereagan. com. Send comments to Reagan@caglecartoons.com. Follow @reaganworld on Twitter. Michael Reagan 'Think of the children' is desperate ploy Cartoonist's take Although it may be prema- ture, it appears that the library move to the DN building on Di- amond is going to be its desti- nation of choice. If so, that leaves the grand Her- bert Kraft Free Library still avail- able for private use, or even pub- lic use. What could that be? We have a fine Commu- nity Center, a lovingly restored State Theatre, a magnificent columned Court House eventu- ally to be vacant plus the An- nex of same. All of this should be taken into consideration jointly by the city fathers — the City Council — and the county fathers — the Board of Super- visors — as long term plan- ning despite their current lack of cooperation regarding other funding matters. ••• In the musical "My Fair Lady," Professor Henry Higgins sang "I was serene and inde- pendent before we met…" This is a frame of mind probably not accessible to all. If one can live long and maintain this at- titude, it is the way to go. I was reminded of this after discovering yet another long time friend in an assisted liv- ing facility. That such places exist is wonderful, of course. There was a time, not too long ago, when the County Hospi- tal on west Walnut was the de- nouement for many, especially the indigent. Knowing friends are in com- fortable facilities these days presents a minor dilemma. Does one visit them regularly and risk being a pest and a re- minder of their happier days on the outside, or is any con- tact a reminder that they are gone from their original scene but not forgotten? ••• The born-again Count Basie band was greatly entertain- ing Tuesday at the also born- again State Theatre. However, I observed many a gray hair in the half-filled Lindauer Audi- torium and realized I was wit- nessing a gender specific per- formance. The distinctive and ulti- mately minimalist pianist leader was born William James Basie in Red Bank, New Jer- sey in 1904, and to match the popularity of the reigning big band leader Duke Elling- ton, a publicist gave Basie the "Count" sobriquet. To big band jazz aficionados, his orchestra maintained its distinctive style for decades until the leader's demise in 1984, and contin- ues today with refreshed new sidemen playing such stan- dard Basie classic creations as "April in Paris." When listen- ers react to a big band number ending with a familiar "plink plink" on the keyboard, they are paying homage to the great Count Basie. I would like to see the State Theatre schedule other big bands, but realize that such ag- gregates are no longer in vogue with the younger set today, and that's a pity. ••• Speaking of the State, newly minted columnist B. Cornelius dedicated his Wednesday ef- fort to the indefatigable V. Phil- brook currently residing in Idaho. Saluting her for her tire- less activity in behalf of the State and the Cone & Kimball Plaza was certainly appropri- ate. However, in one instance, she was a thorn in my side. We were together on a com- mittee dedicated to improv- ing the vacant corner of Main and Walnut which, at one time, had housed the majestic Cone & Kimball building that was de- stroyed by fire more than 30 years ago. The thorn was her re- jecting, out of hand, my request to portray the C & K building in a mural on the south side of the plaza so that future generations might know what a beauty they were missing. I asked if she spoke for the group, she replied that she did, and I resigned from the com- mittee. The loss of my presence proved to be of no lasting con- sequence and the completion of the plaza came eventually to fruition. Oh well, win some, lose some. ••• Here is a word of caution to wanna-be headline writers: An Associated Press writer awhile back wrote of an animal attack in Northern California with this heading: "Most of man's body eaten by black bear." With a nod to the kin of the re- cently deceased — and unfor- tunately partly consumed — fellow, the percentage of body parts remaining was proba- bly of little concern, and may be considered offensive, par- ticularly when it comes to fu- neral display and so forth. Not a good show. ••• Statements looking for a T shirt: "Born okay the first time," "GOD protect me from your followers," "If evolution is just a theory, religion is just an opinion." And, "I may be get- ting old, but I did get to see all the cool bands." ••• And speaking of religion, here is a scorecard showing the respective positions of churches on same-sex marriage, a sub- ject dear to the heart of many local letters to the editor writ- ers: Groups that do not sup- port this concept are the South- ern Baptist Convention, Ro- man Catholic Church, Church Of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, National Association of Evangelicals, United Methodist Church and the National Bap- tist Convention. Those offer- ing support are The Evangeli- cal Lutheran church, Episcopal Church, Presbyterian Church (USA) and United Church of Christ. An interesting sidebar is the statistic that Seattle has a higher percentage of gay cou- ple households than San Fran- cisco. However these programs are subject to change without notice, so read this column to keep up with the latest trends, threats and banishments. ••• When asked by a friend about the use of commas in a sentence, I referred him to a New Yorker article by fact checker and grammarian Mary Norris. It is a lengthy article which suggests there are many facets to composing an accept- able and literate tome. The ori- gin of the comma is apparently the work of Aldo Manuzio, a printer working in Venice circa 1500, and was intended to pre- vent confusion by separat- ing things. In Greek, "komma" means "something cut off…a segment," a chilling descrip- tion when not related to com- mas. ••• A woman walked into the kitchen to find her husband stalking around with a fly swatter and asked, "What are you doing?" "Hunting flies," he re- sponded. "Oh. Killing any," she asked. "Yep, 3 males and 2 females," he replied. Intrigued, she asked, "How can you tell them apart?" He responded, "3 were on a beer can, 2 were on the phone." Robert Minch is a lifelong resident of Red Bluff, former columnist for the Corning Daily Observer and Meat Industry magazine and author of the "The Knocking Pen." He can be reached at rminchandmurray@hotmail. com. I say Other public uses possible for Kra building Every other lousy politician in Washington who wants to tax, subsidize or regulate something still claims he's doing it "for the children" — whether it's saving the planet from climate change, giving amnesty to illegal immigrants or intervening in Syria. Robert Minch StateandNational Assemblyman James Gal- lagher: 150Amber Grove Drive, Ste. 154, Chico 95973, 530 895-4217, http://ad03.asmrc. org/ Senator Jim Nielsen: 2634 Forest Ave., Ste. 110, Chico 95928, 530879-7424, senator. nielsen@senate.ca.gov Governor Jerry Brown: State Capital Building, Sacramento 95814, 916445-2841, fax 916 558-3160, governor@governor. ca.gov U.S. Representative Doug LaMalfa: 507Cannon House Office Building, Washington D.C. 20515, 202225-3076 U.S. Senator Dianne Fein- stein: One Post St., Ste. 2450, San Francisco 94104, 415393- 0707, fax 415393-0710 U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer: 1700Montgomery St., San Francisco 94111, 510286- 8537, fax 202224-0454 Local Tehama County Supervisors: 527-4655 District: Steve Chamblin, Ext. 3015 District 2: Candy Carlson, Ext. 3014 District 3: Dennis Garton, Ext. 3017 District 4: Bob Williams, Ext. 3018 District 5: Burt Bundy, Ext. 3016 Your officials We have a fine Community Center, a lovingly restored State Theatre, a magnificent columned Court House eventually to be vacant plus the Annex of same. 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