Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/7766
6A – Daily News – Thursday, March 11, 2010 A MediaNews Group newspaper Greg Stevens, Publisher gstevens@redbluffdailynews.com Chip Thompson, Editor editor@redbluffdailynews.com Editorial policy The Daily News opinion is expressed in the editorial. The opinions expressed in columns, letters and cartoons are those of the authors and artists. Letter policy The Daily News welcomes let- ters from its readers on timely topics of public interest. All let- ters must be signed and pro- vide the writer's home street address and home phone num- ber. Anonymous letters, open letters to others, pen names and petition-style letters will not be allowed. Letters should be typed and cannot exceed two double-spaced pages or 500 words. When several letters address the same issue, a cross section of those submit- ted will be considered for publi- cation. Letters will be edited. Letters are published at the discretion of the editor. 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How to reach us Main office: 527-2151 Classified: 527-2151 Circulation: 527-2151 News tips: 527-2153 Sports: 527-2153 Obituaries: 527-2151 Photo: 527-2153 On the Web www.redbluffdailynews.com Fax Newsroom: 527-9251 Classified: 527-5774 Retail Adv.: 527-5774 Legal Adv.: 527-5774 Business Office: 527-3719 Address 545 Diamond Ave. Red Bluff, CA 96080, or P.O. Box 220 Red Bluff, CA 96080 Opinion Contrary to the sign at the grocery store, it's pretty safe to say you will not be able to save the Earth by purchasing a reusable bag. Do an experiment: buy a canvas bag and see if the issue is then resolved. If it's not, it means the slogan for the envi- ronmental movement and the way it's framed can stand to be re-visited. Saving a planet is lofty; a bit over-reaching. After all, the planet is indifferent to us and sometimes cruel. See: earth- quakes, tsunamis, floods and snowmageddon. According to televangelist Pat Robertson, the Earth is God's own hit man waiting to take out entire nations or cities rumored to have snubbed Him. Who needs or wants to save such a bully? This planet is a mass murderer. A giant ball of malice to our race. "You want to save me? Here's a tectonic jolt. Save yourselves." The Earth doesn't need sav- ing. If we divorce ourselves from the hyperbole and look at it rationally, even with nuclear annihilation the Earth will sur- vive humans. The Earth is bil- lions of years old. Our species is a relatively new infestation of the past couple million years. The biggest impact we've had so far is to make ourselves and the species around us sick. Between the two, humans are the more vulnerable, even though there are arguably more of us; it's humans that need some saving to survive the Earth. An environmental movement, based on science and provable evidence, would have more credibility by using that sense when discussing their issues. It's become one side screaming business will assassinate us all and we'll choke and die on the debris of our own hubris and the other side justifying pollution for personal gain and touting the Apocalypse as an out-clause for the tediousness of separating plastics. In their extremes the two sides are both doomsayers, clinging to their own version of the end, cursing at each other for willful ignorance. The extremes agree that it's ending soon and the other side is to blame. So there's no need for discussion. What we, the rest of us, need is — wait for it — a hybrid, a way to bridge the divide. "Save the Planet" is so unobtainable it's a non-goal. Save us. Save humans. Save human kind. We clear- ly like saving people. The newsreel footage of the well-to-do nations of the world mobilizing in rapid response to the Hait- ian earthquake plus the millions of dollars in small donations to the victims shows we occasionally step up. There's some step- ping up to be done. Just a random sampling of envi- ronmental stories this week, comes up with The Great Pacif- ic Garbage Patch and its Atlantic cousin. They've been described as floating landfills in the mid- dle of the oceans. They're giant wades, by some estimates mil- lions of tons of toxic plastic swirling around in these bodies of water, some of it at a micro- scopic level. Will the Earth die from it? No, the Earth will wait it out and survive. Can the fish that eat it be harmed? Yes. Can we who eat those fish be harmed? Yes. Should that be seen as a reason to look into a solution for the prob- lem? Yes. The Earth is fine. Resilient. Strong. Mas- sive. Self-sufficient really, save the sun and the moon. But us? Our species? Our race? The little people hanging out here, we need some help. And we should help ourselves. So the sign on the cloth grocery bags, there to encourage cutting down on waste, how about, "Help Save Us." I'll buy that. I'll even remember to take them out of my car when I go shopping. ---- Tina Dupuy is an award- winning writer and the editor of FishbowlLA.com. Tina can be reached at tina@tinadupuy.com. Stop trying to save the planet Commentary N EWS D AILY RED BLUFF TEHAMA COUNTY T H E V O I C E O F T E H A M A C O U N T Y S I N C E 1 8 8 5 Tina Dupuy STATE ASSEMBLYMAN — Jim Nielsen (R), State Capitol Bldg., Room 4164 P.O. Box 942849, Sacramento 94249; (916) 319-2002; Fax (916) 319- 2102 STATE SENATOR — Sam Aanestad (R), State Capitol Bldg., Room 2054, Sacramen- to, CA 95814. (916) 651-4004; Fax (916) 445-7750 GOVERNOR — Arnold Schwarzenegger (R), State Capitol Bldg., Sacramento, CA 95814; (916) 445-2841; Fax (916) 558-3160; E-mail: gover- nor@governor.ca.gov. U.S. REPRESENTATIVE — Wally Herger (R), 2635 Forest Ave. Ste. 100, Chico, CA 95928; 893-8363. U.S. SENATORS — Dianne Feinstein (D), One Post Street, Suite 2450, San Francisco, CA 94104; (415) 393-0707. Fax (415) 393-0710. Barbara Boxer (D), 1700 Montgomery St., Suite 240, San Francisco, CA 94111; (415) 403-0100. Fax (202) 224- 0454. Your officials Supes mum on health grade Editor: As you may be aware, recently a countrywide survey of statistical health grades was made available online. "About The Project" at the Web site informs us as follows: "The County Health Rankings show us that where we live mat- ters to our health. The health of a community depends on many different factors — ranging from individual health behav- iors, education and jobs, to quality of health care, to the environment. This first-of-its- kind collection of 50 reports — one per state — helps communi- ty leaders see that where we live, learn, work, and play influ- ences how healthy we are and how long we live. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation is collaborating with the Universi- ty of Wisconsin Population Health Institute to develop these Rankings for each state's coun- ties. This model has been used to rank the health of counties in Wisconsin for the past six years." Review of the Tehama Coun- ty data shows that we are ranked near the bottom for the state of California. A poor showing indeed. Since the aforementioned quote mentions that the data helps community leaders, I thought it appropriate to ques- tion the Tehama County Super- visors regarding this issue. Accordingly, several days ago I sent an enquiry to the five Tehama County Supervisors hoping to receive some indica- tion of reaction on their part. Sadly, I was disappointed. Not a single one of the Tehama County Supervisors — Gregg Avilla, George Russell, Charles Willard, Bob Williams and Ron Warner — gave me the courtesy of any response what- soever. Not even the most mini- mal acknowledgment of receipt. This lack of response indi- cates to me a lack of concern to issues directly, or indirectly, affecting the citizens of Tehama County, their constituents. John Lorentz, Red Bluff Antelope well water is hard Editor: We had our well water tested for hardness by a reputable water conditioning company based out of Los Angeles. The test for hardness came up with 9 grains per gallon (gpg), which equals 154 parts per mil- lion (ppm) or mg/L hardness as CaC03 — celcium carbonate. This is considered to be very hard water — anything over 100 mg/L is very hard water. So we are going to install a water soft- ener with 1 cu. ft of strong acid cation exchange resin. The water softener works on the principal of ion exchange. Hardness in water is caused by an excess of calcium and mag- nesium ions, which are exchanged for sodium ions at the surface of the resin by the point of entry softener vessel. At a preselected time of day, usually 2 a.m., the resin is auto- matically regenerated with a brine salt solution. The brine spent regenerant is discharged to the drain. A solution of com- mon rock salt can be used for the regeneration step. Indicators of hard water are increased use of laundry soap and a lack of sudsing at both the washing machine and at the shower head and kitchen sink. Also, soap scum on the shower tiles indicates hard water. Soft water will increase soap sudsing at these point of use water supply valves thereby decreasing the amount of soap used to shower and wash clothes. I would like to hear from other home owners in the Ante- lope section of Red Bluff that have similar hard water prob- lems or have already purchased a water softener to get a better idea of installation instructions, required equipment, bypass valves and piping, brine tank and fiberglass reinforced plastic resin tanks. Please e-mail me at activecarbon@jps.net. Laurence D'Alberti, Red Bluff History lessons Editor: Before we get too excited about the teachers getting laid off, maybe we should get rid of the Department of Educa- tion completely and start all over again. That way maybe we can get rid of the teachers union and get curriculum that will teach history about the founding of this great coun- try, the Constitution, our first president and what a great man he was, the importance of the family unit — two par- ents, a mother and a father, man and woman — not about cross dressing or same sex parents. Also teaching the importance of Christopher Columbus dis- covering America and what his crew went through to get here. As well, the Pilgrims that fol- lowed and the hardships they endured to settle this great country and why we celebrate Thanks- giving. How about teach- ing students about Independence Day instead of celebrating Heritage Days as is currently done. Teaching them the impor- tance of the frontiersmen who opened up the vast frontier that was the west, Davey Crockett, Daniel Boone, Lewis and Clark and so many more than can be recalled. Teaching them about the real heroes of our military and the sacrifices they made to keep this a free country so the very pro- gressive movement that wants to destroy our individual liber- ties while they stomp the Con- stitution in the ground, is given that right. This country is great but not because of the progressives like our current president and his cabinet along with his sup- porters like Louis Farrakhan, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, the Rev. Michael Pfleger, Andy Stern the S.E.I.U. Union leader, and let's not forget William Ayers. That is why I joined ranks with the Tea Party Patriots, they stand for, smaller government, fiscal responsibility and adher- ence to the Constitution. Les Wolfe, Red Bluff Your Turn