Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/767943
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, 728Main St., Red Bluff, CA 96080 Facebook: Leave comments at FACEBOOK.COM/ RBDAILYNEWS Twitter: Follow and send tweets to @REDBLUFFNEWS What is Generation X? Why is it not called Y or Z? Here's the deal. Someone created a legacy when they named it that. He or she dubbed human beings that are between 35 and 55 years old as Generation X. Thatgenerationistheone that is a huge part of the dig- ital revolution. If you were born between 1961 and 1981 you are now somewhere be- tween all the Boomers and Millennials. By the way, for whatever reason Millen- nials birth rate in California has fallen to an all time low. And, why must our culture put a name on everything? Not only that, Generation X does not even use those old fashion rotary dial phones anymore. FYI, those were the phones where you simply had to put one of your pinkies in a hole and rotate a circular dial clockwise. There was lit- tle chance then of misdialing, like often happens with to- day's so called smart phones. My take is what Gener- ation X really prefers is to text, e-mail, Instagram and Tweet. Maybe because of my age I think Generation X may have lost something during their maturation. Please let me know if you agree or dis- agree with me. I am almost 78 years old and still believe many of the things that Generation X doesn't. How- ever, I must confess I am actu- ally writing this opinion column on an I-Pad. I still sometimes long for the days when I owned my own portable manual type- writer. I now have a love-hate re- lationship with all these recently invented digital devices. I talked with an unsuc- cessful 35-year-old man one time who said he wanted a cellphone or he would not be able to find a job. "People have to be able to get hold of me," he said. I thought; "Is he kidding me?" My take is that as long as someone can get out of bed, stand up and walk from place to place, the number of jobs they can ob- tain will depend on the num- ber of doors they knock on and the number of times they ask for work. Basic math is pretty simple for me when it comes to finding a job. I bet millions and millions of people thought President Barack Obama could get them a job. That is probably why many of them voted for him. After all, he gave most voters a "Hope you can believe in," didn't he? One of the promises he also made was health insurance for everyone. My first thought was where in the Bill of Rights does it say that our government should make sure we all have adequate health insurance. Af- ter all, America is rich. So, why not spread those riches around? Well, that has never been part of my way of thinking. On a few occasions some a couple of Generation Xers I know asked my wife and I would "loan" them some money. And, we have several times. However, they never paid us back. Why don't they just go to dictionary.com and learn the real definition of the word loan? Please tell me if you have had a similar ex- perience with members of any generation who mistak- enly thought you had lots of extra money. Mytakeonthemovies Will Smith, Helen Miren, Edward Norton and Kate Winslet are starring in this psychological film called "Collateral Beauty." You will have to concentrate because it attempts to define and examine the topics of love, time and death. Go see it. StanStathamserved1976-1994 in the California Assembly and was a television news anchor at KHSL-TV in Chico 1965- 1975. He is past president of the California Broadcasters Association and can be reached at StanStatham@gmail.com. Stan Statham My take on Generation X My take is that as long as someone can get out of bed, stand up and walk from place to place, the number of jobs they can obtain will depend on the number of doors they knock on and the number of times they ask for work. The real reason for the season Editor: How many reading glasses do we use to read the Bible? Historical, prophecy, devo- tional, science 101, living water, solid, liquid, vapor, the Trinity. How much do we torture our- selves between the past and fu- ture rather than appreciate the gift of the present? How do we show our gratitude that we are satisfied with what we have? How thankful are we for the gift of the present? Health is wealth. Be thank- ful for what you have, not en- vious of what you don't have. How much time do we focus on materialistic things? Do we ask ourselves how well do we carry the responsibility to enhance the lives of others? Words and deeds, not mate- rial things, are the true mean- ing of Christmas. — Steve Kelsey, Corning Difficult to understand Democrat freak-out Editor: Since 1984 moving to Califor- nia from Indiana and Illinois, as lifelong Republicans, we lost our state and national political rep- resentation, as California is con- sistently two-thirds Democrat. The representatives in Con- gress and the State House were often inferior to the posi- tives we expect from President Trump and his appointees. We have just gone through eight years of dictatorship through executive decisions and Dem- ocrat control of the Senate through the two-thirds vote rule, and there was no Repub- lican anarchy. It is truly shocking to read and hear of the freak-out of Democrats because they lost the election through their un- willingness to represent the middle class men and women who voted in opposition to the lies and deception of candidate Hillary Clinton. Our nation went too far to the left with the executive decisions, and it is now time to untangle and repeal those mistakes. Hopefully our nation can now unite after these past eight years of separation and political failures. As a family, we learned long ago to not discuss religion or pol- itics with those in our family who are of the opposite persuasion. Our nation needs to heal through Democrat's ending their freak-outs and pulling to- gether as a nation. — Joseph Neff, Corning Legal, governmental and insurance reforms needed Editor: For the past decade I've en- dured chronic injustice from le- gal, governmental and insur- ance company corruption. Most recently I received no- tice that the Rancho Tehama HOA foreclosed my home for my alleged failure to pay $3,000 in dues. That is, despite its own insurer's written admis- sion that the HOA owes me over $14,000 for destroying 20 trees on my lot back in 2015. No doubt a factor fostering such corruption is the impos- sibility of citizens not living in metro areas to retain legal rep- resentation to defend against such abuses. For the numer- ous injustices I've endured over the years, I've found retain- ing legal representation in Te- hama County is only possible for plaintiffs with the easiest, most-conventional and highest- value cases. With insurers thus facing few consequences for evading their contractual obligations to in- sureds not living in metro areas, they've made evading settlement standard operating procedure. Insurers thus richer and more- powerful, they were able to be- come even more rich and pow- erful passing Obamacare. This forcing of all Americans to pur- chase health insurance further expanded not just their own in- come stream, but also that of their cohorts — the government, legal and healthcare industries. California's recent legalization of recreational marijuana is yet another tactic these industries have implemented to swell their earnings at public expense. One measure that would help dismantle this vicious circle would be to compel insurers to timely and fairly negotiate claims settlements. That is, before an in- jured party's forced to endure the expense of an attorney and suffer years' delay forcing the insurer to remit restitution. Had such a system been in place when I was assaulted by an intoxicated career felon in 2005, I'd have been able to resume my life 10 years ago. I've instead been forced to endure ever-wors- ening poverty, life delay and le- gal fees while the insurer be- comes ever-wealthier embezzling interest from my money. This outrageous injustice has inspired me to start a non- profit organization devoted to enlightening America to how government, insurers and those selling and using controlled substances are undermining America's health, wealth, hap- piness and prosperity. For more information, please eemail me at nesplanade@igsr.us. — Nathan Esplanade, Rancho Tehama Your opinions Cartoonist's take Vacation planning and travel in general isn't much fun any- more. You hear about hun- dreds of flights being cancelled and think of all of those folks sit- ting around in air- ports — trapped — prisoners of the airlines. Peo- ple sometimes con- sider renting a car and hitting the highway, rather than wait for the planes to fly again. This only makes sense if you can make the drive in several hours. One must also consider the rental car fee and one-way drop- off charge — and gas. And I don't think the airlines give even a par- tial refund for the return portion of a round trip ticket. If you're outbound, you probably have a cheaper nonrefundable ticket that you might be able to use later after a substantial change fee. And who can figure it all out while the other passengers are on the verge of rioting in the termi- nal? So you're stranded, unless you say the heck with how much it costs and drive anyway. But if you're trapped because there's two feet of snow on the ground, then renting a car is probably not a smart option — unless you have a great sense of adventure or have gone com- pletely crazy. I hate not having options, so I might still drive. Airline travel pricing is also nuts. I read the other day that if you check a fare online and go back later, the price is always slightly higher. Another gimmick. The author suggested using your spouse's computer if you decide to book later, as it will usually show the earlier price. The article also found no rational basis for higher fares booked on different days or to less popular airports. It is also important to read the fine print to see if you have to pay a separate fee for your checked or carry-on bags. Usually if you don't pay in advance, the fee is higher at the airport. Booking a hotel can also drive you crazy. The enormity of avail- able information can overload your brain. First you check Orb- itz or Hotels.com, or a site that checks all the rates at once. Then check the hotel's website and ap- ply any discounts — i.e., AARP, Senior, AAA, etc. It is often the same price or cheaper. And if you don't book through the ho- tel, you're committed to pay- ing the entire amount up front. This means you usually lose your money if you check out early. And you have no leverage if you don't like the room or the ser- vice. You usually check some re- views as well. And if you hap- pen to hit the wrong button, you have to start all over again. It can drive you mad. Rental cars are somewhat more straightforward. Remem- ber, if you don't pick up at an air- port, you can save $25 or more without paying the concession fees. The difference in prices be- tween companies varies widely, so you need to check several — and there is a site that will do this for you as well. When you rent a car, there are other considerations. Not many folks spring for insurance since it's so expensive — i.e. "rip-off." Credit cards afford some cover- age, but are usually secondary to your own insurance. Some cards let you set up automatic cover- age that takes effect every time you rent, and charges a single fee that automatically covers the car for up to 30 days. There was a Seinfeld epi- sode where he asked the agent if he would be covered by the insurance if he walked outside and deliberately drove the car into a wall. She didn't see the humor. But I thought it was a great question. Corky Pickering and his wife relocated from the Bay Area to Cottonwood in 2014. He retired in 2016 from the federal government as an attorney advising law enforcement. He has been a rock and roll bass player and a Marine JAG. He can be reached at thecork6@ gmail.com. Corky Pickering Traveling today is far different from what it used to be Corky Pickering There was a Seinfeld episode where he asked the agent if he would be covered by the insurance if he walked outside and deliberately drove the car into a wall. She didn't see the humor. Stan Statham OPINION » redbluffdailynews.com Thursday, December 29, 2016 » MORE AT FACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS A4