Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/647901
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'vebeenwritingthiscolumnforayear or so and I have come to realize that folks are more than willing to provide self-de- scribed constructive feedback, even if it's not constructive at all. IfI hadtograde myself as a colum- nist, I would proba- bly swallow hard and mark down a great big C+. Frankly, the pri- mary reason I rate my self in this moderately lofty range is that my columns seem to res- onate with people of the fe- male persuasion. Actually, I should clarify by saying that I seem to do best with the blue haired segment of the fe- male population. Women un- der the age of about 40 have no interest in reading daily newspapers. If they did have, they sure as heck wouldn't waste their time reading what some old man is writ- ing about what the world was like before the turn of the 21st century. I am sure many of you are aghast that I would refer to women of a certain age as blue haired, but what am I to do? I could refer to them as exceptionally mature, or even elderly, but neither feels good as it rolls off my golden tongue. As a rapidly- aging person myself, I am to- tally offended every time I read in the paper or watch on television a report con- cerning "elderly" John Smith, age 56. Heck, my blue haired wife still owns shoes that are older than that. Anyway, it is mostly mem- bers of this demographic who call me on the phone, send me a text or stop me in the supermarket to tell me they enjoy my column. And you know what? I like you as well. I like you a lot. •••• While I am unquestionably a hit with women of a partic- ular age, I have to admit that for most men, not so much. It has been my experience that men often appear to feel threatened by my success as a journalist. My male friends often tell me that my columns are much too long. My sugges- tion to them is that they save my column for their daily trip to the bathroom. That way they might kill two birds with one stone, so to speak. The other complaint I of- ten receive is that I too of- ten overstate my achieve- ments as an athlete. I espe- cially hear this from friends and associates who I played with or against on a court or playing field. Almost without exception, each will tell me that as a team- mate or competitor they do not recall me standing out as someone to be feared in terms of athletic talent. And you know what? They are absolutely right. If you read the tag line at the bottom this column you will note that it states that I am an "exceptional athlete." One should not confuse the word "exceptional" with the word "excellent." There is in fact a world of difference. For the past 60 years or so sports have played a prom- inent role in my life. I have probably been on at least 50 different teams of one kind or another. While I was al- ways picked for the team, I often found myself at the end of the bench, waiting for my three minutes of glory, dressed in a too-large uni- form or, worse yet, a uniform unlike those of my team- mates. For most of my youth I was too small, too skinny and too slow to truly excel in sports. Be that as it may, the reality of my limitations has never kept me from participating. Even at my advanced age, I still find it frustrat- ing that I am not the athlete I would like to be. I am absolutely terrible at golf, but it is not my style to tell you that in the newspa- per so do not expect me to do so in the future. Every year I am privi- leged to volunteer at the Te- hama County Special Olym- pics Track Meet. I marvel at how these young athletes give everything they have to reach the finish line. I marvel at how pleased they are just to be in the race, and I mar- vel at their joy in finishing, whether it is at the front or back of the pack. Like these young men and women I have never been nor will I ever be an excellent athlete. I never had the po- tential to excel at sports, as did Dennis Poulton, Steve Et- tles, Skip Mendonsa, Bobby Clements, Gale Gilbert and my classmate Bob Grim. But that's okay, because like all those kids in Special Olym- pics, my love for sports has allowed me to become an ex- ceptional athlete; and for me at least, that will just have to do. •••• In last week's column I er- roneously reported that the March 25 U.S. Army Jazz Ambassador Concert is spon- sored by the State Theatre and the Tehama Concert Se- ries. In actuality, this free concert will appear at the State Theatre courtesy of the Tehama Concert Series, the Rotary Club of Red Bluff and the Red Bluff Daily News. For free ticket applications to this very special concert, call 727-8727. •••• Na Na Na Na Na! As you read this, Billie and I are lounging on a beach in Maui. I am likely smoking an eight- inch Cuban cigar while sip- ping my third tango mango umbrella-adorned blue Ha- waiian exotic cocktail of the morning; or more likely Bil- lie and I are stationed for the fifth straight day at the hotel kiddie complex — watching grandchildren Wyatt, Saman- tha, Tait and Alix, the ador- able red head who just threw up in the pool, while par- ents Cabe, Kirsten, Cori and Chris are lounging on a far off beach, smoking eight-inch cigars while sipping tango mango umbrella-adorned blue Hawaiian cocktails. And you know what? We wouldn't have it any other way. Aloha. •••• Coming State Theatre At- tractions: March 4, Commu- nity Coffee with Assembly- man James Gallagher and Senator Jim Neilsen; March 11, "Barefoot Movement" brought to you by the Te- hama Concert Series; March 19, The High Street Band fundraiser for Red Bluff Ro- tary. BillCorneliusisalife long resident of Red Bluff, a retired Chief Probation Officer, a champion of the State Theatre and an exceptional athlete. He can be reached at bill.cornelius@ sbcglobal.net. William Tells A hit with women of a particular age Cartoonist's take Three studies provide insight into something we all know to be true: Politicians lie. The Daily News reports that pol- iticians are good at yarn spinning "because they convince them- selves they are telling the truth." That was the find- ing of a lying study at the University of East- ern Piedmont, Italy. A second study, conducted by Millikin University and the University of Wisconsin-Mad- ison, finds that the more long- winded the point a politician is making — both off-the-cuff and in prepared statements — the more likely he or she is spewing a mistruth. I know what you're think- ing: Of course politicians lie. When negotiating with thugs around the world we want our politicians to outwit them, and that usually requires deception. When waging war, we want to hear the good news, not the gory details. And during elec- tions, we never vote for the can- didate who tells the truth. We want the candidate who tells the most colorful yarns. The truth is lying is one of the great cottage industries in America. We all do it. When a lady asks you if you like her new haircut — one that gives her the look of the Chi- huahua in the Taco Bell com- mercials — do you tell her the truth (as I made the mistake of doing only once) or do you smile and say she is more gor- geous than ever? The fact is she wants to be lied to and your level of skill is a measure of how much you care for her. My old come- dian friend Chris Ciardi has a great line about that. He got home late one night half in the bag. His wife demanded a rea- son. He told her it was best he get a good night's sleep and in the morning he'd come up with an excuse they both could live with. We expect the same from our politicians. Did anyone be- lieve President Obama really would bring hope and change to Washington — that he didn't want to pit red America against blue America but be the pres- ident of the United States of America? Did you really believe that if you liked your doctor you could keep your doctor — or that the average American family would save $2,500 a year on health in- surance premiums? President Obama may not have believed he was being truthful when he said these things. But he seemed to believe the falsehood that ISIS was the JV team that we had contained. There's a reason politicians lie to us — we want them to. That was the finding of an- other study on lying at Brit- ain's University of Strathclyde. It found that voters not only ex- pect to be lied to, they some- times demand it — which is why our politicians conceal, de- ceive and mislead. Our politicians know many Americans are ignorant about many issues. They know voters disdain complexity and want promises that resonate. They want to believe the reason they are struggling is because some rich fat cat is hoarding all the cash — and that taxing the bejesus out of the rich will solve all of their problems. Politicians know that we pre- fer Santa Claus, not the high school coach who makes us do wind sprints. They know we want more free government goodies and less government spending — and that we want fatter Social Security checks and reduced withholding taxes. The politician who can prom- ise the most somethings for nothing is the one a growing majority of voters will go for. That means our next presi- dent may give incredibly long- winded answers to simple ques- tions and actually believe the nonsense he or she is spewing is actually true. Tom Purcell, author of "Misadventures of a 1970s Childhood" and "Comical Sense: A Lone Humorist Takes on a World Gone Nutty!" is a Pittsburgh Tribune-Review humor columnist. Send comments to Tom at Tom@ TomPurcell.com. To m P ur ce ll Wh y w e w ant o ur p ol it ic ia ns t o l ie Bill Cornelius Tom Purcell The FBI tells us that its de- mand for a back door into the iPhone is all about fighting ter- rorism, and that it is essential to break in just this one time to find out more about the San Bernardino attack last Decem- ber. But the truth is they had long sought a way to break Apple's iPhone encryption and, like 9/11 and the PATRIOT Act, a mass murder provided just the pre- text needed. After all, they say, if we are going to be protected from terrorism we have to give up a little of our privacy and liberty. Never mind that govern- ment spying on us has not pre- vented one terrorist attack. Apple has so far stood up to a federal government's demand that it force its employees to write a computer program to break into its own product. No doubt Apple CEO Tim Cook un- derstands the damage it would do to his company for the world to know that the US govern- ment has a key to supposedly secure iPhones. But the principles at stake are even higher. We have a fun- damental right to privacy. We have a fundamental right to go about our daily life without the threat of government surveil- lance of our activities. We are not East Germany. Let's not forget that this new, more secure iPhone was devel- oped partly in response to Ed Snowden's revelations that the federal government was ille- gally spying on us. The federal government was caught break- ing the law, but instead of end- ing its illegal spying it's de- manding that private com- panies make it easier for it to continue. Last week, we also learned that Congress is planning to join the fight against Apple — and us. Members are rushing to set up yet another governmen- tal commission to study how our privacy can be violated for false promises of security. Of course they won't put it that way, but we can be sure that will be the result. Some in Congress are seeking to pass legislation regulating how com- panies can or cannot encrypt their products. This will sup- press the development of new technology and will have a chilling effect on our right to be protected from an intrusive government. Any legislation Congress writes limiting en- cryption will likely be unconsti- tutional, but unfortunately Con- gress seldom heeds the Consti- tution anyway. When FBI Director James Comey demanded a back door into the San Bernardino shoot- er's iPhone, he promised that it was only for this one, extraor- dinary situation. "The San Ber- nardino litigation isn't about trying to set a precedent or send any kind of message," he said in a statement last week. Testifying before Congress just days later, however, he quickly changed course, tell- ing the Members of the House Intelligence Committee that the court order and Apple's ap- peals, "will be instructive for other courts." Does anyone re- ally believe this will not be considered a precedent-setting case? Does anyone really be- lieve the government will not use this technology again and again, with lower and lower thresholds? According to press reports, Manhattan district attorney Cyrus Vance, Jr. has 175 iPhones with passcodes that the City of New York wants to access. We can be sure that is only the be- ginning. RON PAUL First they came for the iPhones ... OPINION » redbluffdailynews.com Wednesday, March 2, 2016 » MORE AT FACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS A6