Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/542609
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@ redbluffdailynews.com Fax: 530-527-9251 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 I turned 50 this week and while this means I'm still a spring chicken com- pared to many of my fellow columnists and readers, I did pause to reflect on what I've done with my life so far and what is yet to come. Fortunately for you, we're going to take a vastly more in- teresting look at other things that turned 50 this year — it's no short list. Locally, both the Fam- ily Counsel- ing Center — formerly Fam- ily Services Agency — and the Hope Chest Thrift Store are celebrating 50 years in 2015. Ditto the Kelly-Griggs House Museum Association. All worthwhile institutions to be sure. It wasn't hard to find a list of celebrities marking 50 years in 2015: Chris Rock, Elizabeth Hurley, Dr. Dre, Robert Downey Jr., Piers Morgan, Carrot Top, Mar- tin Lawrence, Brook Shields, JK Rowling, Ben Stiller, Sha- nia Twain, Charlie Sheen, Slash and Bjork — the latter two, I believe, is some type of mixed martial arts ma- neuver. Being born during the John- son Administration means that I share a milestone year with a number of federal so- cial and civil rights programs, including the Voting Rights Act, Medicare and Medicaid, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, or HUD, and the Head Start Pro- gram. The world of pop culture has no shortage of icons turn- ing 50, including The Grateful Dead, I Dream of Jeannie, The Sound of Music, Beatles hits "Help," "Yesterday," "Ticket to Ride" and "Eight Days A Week" and "A Charlie Brown Christmas." On a grander scale, Sin- gapore and Generation X are turning 50 this year. My brother, just two years my se- nior, is from a completely dif- ferent generation — the Baby Boomers. Had I known when I sidled up to the Long Bar at the Raffles Hotel to order a Singapore Sling that I shared a birth year with the tiny na- tion, I might have been more philosophical about the occa- sion. But I was just a kid then, not even 30. The Miami Dolphins and Atlanta Falcons turn 50 this year. To date, neither the Fal- cons nor I have won a Super Bowl. The Ford Mustang cele- brates a half century this year — placing it between the Toy- ota Corolla and Porsche 911 on a list of longest-running car models. Interestingly, that list is topped not by the Volk- swagen Beetle but the Chevro- let Suburban, which traces its roots back to 1935 when a sta- tion wagon body was fitted to a truck frame. The Mississauga News tells us that the Canadian flag is 50 years old this year, replacing the Canadian Red Ensign that had unofficially served as the nation's flag, on Feb. 15, 1965. There are probably dozens of other institutions turning 50 in 2015, but maybe none as obscure as the Giant Uniroyal Tire gracing a busy stretch of Interstate 94 in Detroit. According to the Detroit Free Press, the "80-foot-high, 11- to 12-ton tire — a car would have to be 200 feet tall to han- dle it — has stood alongside Interstate 94 since 1965, a year after it debuted at the New York World's Fair. It originally was a Ferris wheel with 24 barrel-shaped gondolas — the brainchild of the architectural firm that de- signed the Empire State Build- ing. It's been a mainstay in the Motor City ever since." While I hardly rank as a mainstay in Red Bluff, I did enjoy seeing and hearing from a good number of friends and acquaintances offering birth- day wishes this week. Can't think of a better way to mark a milestone. ChipThompsoncan be reached at 737-5042 or by email at editor@ redbluffdailynews.com. Follow him on Twitter @editorchip. 545 Diamond Ave. It'sallhalf- priced buffets and naps now Cartoonist's take B. Ramsey, in a letter to the editor last week, posed 13 questions for me to answer. He did so af- ter reading an I Say in which I stated same sex marriage is now the law of the land and that those in opposi- tion to the con- cept should get over it and recognize that love is indeed a many splen- dored thing. This verdict ob- viously irritated Brian, hence his many questions. However, they all morphed into one pri- mary question: Do I believe that the traditional institu- tion of marriage, in vogue over the past 5,000 years of civilization (Brian's time line), can be overturned by the Su- preme Court? My answer is, apparently. Last week I wrote that the Supreme Court is composed of men and women with prejudi- cial baggage when they come in…and when they leave their station, others become en- robed who may overturn pre- vious decisions…but for the present, same sex marriage has been legalized and codi- fied, so dissenters should move along. However, this did not sit well with Mr. Ramsey who demands a black and white re- sponse from me. Of course, life is not black and white…it is shades of grey. What one person considers moral and proper may be re- garded as abhorrent by some, and yet old fashioned and out of date by others. So perhaps the time has come to recog- nize that "All God's Chillun Got Wings," or words to that effect, and all require equal protection under the law. This does not mean everything goes. Some moral edicts re- main. Incest, for example, is considered bad conduct and may result in defective and impaired offspring — i.e., the clashing of genes and so forth. Another is the sexual abuse of a child — or the elderly for that matter — because neither Many people still hold the view that regardless of how people enter into matrimony, marriage is a bond between two people that involves responsibility and legalities as well commitment and challenge. is equipped to defend them- selves from abuse. Other edicts over Brian's "5,000 years of civilization" concept are subject to change without notice. It is OK these days, for example, to eat pork, not to eat fish on Friday, to worship false idols — celebri- ties — and for young men to wear pants that belt below the butt. Not to put too fine a point on it, the notion that marriage is a sacrament and not just a contract, can be traced to St. Paul who compared the re- lationship of a husband and wife to that of Christ and his church. Joseph Campbell, in his book " Power of Myth," states that twelfth century troubadours were the first ones who thought of courtly love in the same way we do now. The whole notion of ro- mance apparently didn't exist until medieval times. In conclusion, many peo- ple still hold the view that re- gardless of how people enter into matrimony, marriage is a bond between two people that involves responsibility and le- galities as well commitment and challenge. That concept of marriage hasn't changed throughout the ages. ••• The TRAX parking lot has had undergone a thorough clean up, and passengers arriv- ing via various transport will be impressed with the tidy con- dition of our fair city. Kudos to those who made it happen. And while bestowing ku- dos, Tehama Tire at 525 Ante- lope Blvd. has had a makeover and is grand in appearance to match their prompt service. Nice work. ••• Last Friday in Police Notes, a woman in Corning com- plained of bats in her attic. In my day we referred to ad- dled folks as having "bats in their belfry"…but you don't see many belfries these days. On the other hand, a fellow in that same city was admon- ished for being in the middle of a street directing traffic for no apparent reason. However, I say if he doesn't frighten the horses, let him be. This activ- ity could be construed as do- ing a "good deed." ••• Twenty-seven recently dis- covered letters of Albert Ein- stein's are going on the auc- tion block and expected to bring between $500,000 and $1 million. One letter deals with his take on religion in which he dismisses the widely held belief that he was an atheist. He wrote, "I have re- peatedly said that in my opin- ion, the idea of a personal God is a childlike one. You may call me an agnostic but I do not share the crusading spirit of the professional athe- ist. I prefer an attitude of hu- mility corresponding to the weakness of our intellectual understanding of nature and of our own being." Has a nice ring to it, doesn't it? ••• A nightly ritual at our abode is watching the telly while we scarf down our 6 p.m. meal. But the viewing is less enjoyable when news is rehashed from the previ- ous day. It seems they are al- ways trying to find a new twist to justify the rehash. Well, if they are short on cur- rent news and merely in- serting filler for their half hour schedule, I have a solu- tion carried forward from the early days of radio. In those days, radio trans- mission was often interrupted and when that happened the station would announce it was just a temporary hiatus … and would fill the airways with organ music. It worked and listeners understood the station would resume their scheduled broadcast momen- tarily. Therefore, I urged TV sta- tions to do likewise. When they run out of fresh news, just give us an organ interlude and let us relax. It would be cheap, free us from stress and per- haps put an organist or two back to work. Maybe that ca- shiered Brian Williams could be taught to play the organ and let him get back to work…not as a news anchorman, but as a performer of a different sort. ••• An elephant was drinking from a pond when he spotted a turtle on a log. He walked over and kicked the tur- tle off the log. A passing ze- bra inquired, "Why did you do that?" The elephant replied, I have a long memory, and years ago that turtle bit me." "Wow," said the zebra, "what a memory!" "Yes," said the elephant. "Turtle recall." The pun is the lowest form of humor, but sometimes needs airing… 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 Question of marriage equality requires a nuanced response Had I known when I sidled up to the Long Bar at the Raffles Hotel to order a Singapore Sling that I shared a birth year with the tiny nation, I might have been more philosophical about the occasion. But I was just a kid then, not even 30. Chip Thompson Robert Minch StateandNational Assemblyman James Gallagher, 2060Talbert Drive, Ste. 110, Chico 95928, 530895-4217, http://ad03.asmrc.org/ Senator Jim Nielsen, 2634Forest Ave., Ste. 110, Chico 95928, 530 879-7424, senator.nielsen@sen- ate.ca.gov Governor Jerry Brown, State Capital Building, Sacramento 95814, 916445-2841, fax 916 558-3160, governor@governor. ca.gov U.S. Representative Doug La- Malfa, 507Cannon House Office Building, Washington D.C. 20515, 202225-3076 U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein, One Post St., Ste. 2450, San Francisco 94104, 415393-0707, fax 415393-0710 U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer, 1700 Montgomery St., San Francisco 94111, 510286-8537, fax 202 224-0454 Local Tehama County Supervisors, 527-4655 District 1, 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 Red Bluff City Manager, Richard Crabtree, 527-2605, Ext. 3061 Corning City Manager, John Brewer, 824-7033 Your officials OPINION » redbluffdailynews.com Friday, July 17, 2015 » MORE AT FACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS B3