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4A Daily News – Friday, September 21, 2012 Opinion DAILYNEWS RED BLUFF TEHAMACOUNTY 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 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 Spartans This letter is a direct result of my attendance at the Red Bluff- Corning football game Friday night and I might add a Fall rit- ual I have pursued for over 50 years. This will not be about the student athletes, nor the coach- es, nor the referees, or the per- formances on the field or the fans. I was disappointed, dis- mayed and somewhat embar- rassed when the Spartan Varsity ran on to the field. Basically, my complaint, was the school col- ors, Green and Gold, were absent from the uniforms, the new uniforms. uniforms Editor: The athletic Booster Club, of which I am a charter member supplied/footed the necessary funds to purchase the new uni- forms. I would like to state right now that I am not representing the Booster Club and am expressing my own personal opinion, and further more the Booster Club had absolutely no input as to the design nor color scheme of the new uniforms. And now the uniforms. The upper jerseys are a solid black with the lettering, names in white. The numbers are outlined in bold white with the highlight- ing/piping also in white. The pants are all white, which is a common practice, but the stripe on the outside of each pant peg is once again a solid black. To quote Vance Lombardi "what in the hell is going on here?" Where is the traditional Green and Gold school colors? I will add that the helmets were green with the Spartan logo on each side but of course they are not new. I will donate the cost of the first Green and Gold uniform for next year and if necessary sup- ply the last new uniform. Come- on Alumni let's get the Green and Gold back on our football team. William Bonham, Red Bluff War on women? Editor: war on women? Your Turn I'm confused. How is there a It is definitely too late to make any changes this year but I personally think comments about this so-called war on women is petty and stupid. Any- one thinking the government should pay for birth control and sex changes are nutcases. We're all responsible for our personal choices, and birth con- trol does not cost $3,000 a year. This is what is being said. Where is the truth? In this country women can pursue any vocation they choose, they drive, they carry concealed weapons. Where is the war on women? In the left- wing minds, that's where. Editor: Gun laws laws but don't knock these idiots in the head that commit these crimes just to be doing it. We have laws on the books by the gross already, supposed to put some teeth in the situa- tion, but hell no, analyze and feed and care for these dinghies for 40 or 50 years. A hell of a lot of sense that makes. A few lawyers and judges Sure, pass some more gun would do well to act instead of wringing their damn hands. Thad Blanchard Sr., Gerber Your officials STATE ASSEMBLYMAN — Jim Nielsen (R) State Capitol Bldg., Room 6031 Sacramento, CA 95814 (916) 319-2002; Fax (916) 319-2102 STATE SENATOR — Doug LaMalfa (R) State Capitol Bldg., Room 3070 Sacramento, CA 95814 (916) 651-4004; Fax (916) 445-7750 GOVERNOR — Jerry Brown, 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), 2595 Cean- othus Ave., Ste. 182, Chico, CA 95973; 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; (510) 286-8537. Fax (202) 224- 0454. It's party time Commentary As the elections draw near, I note more folks on the street corners. Their message may change but their dissatisfaction is clear: We don't like the way our government is being run and we need change, now. How- ever, it has always been thus. And that is why we have a two party system. Or is it now a 3 party system? *** According to TIME, the Democrats are celebrating American's promise, while the Republicans seem particularly angry with America in which a splinter faction, person- ified by the Tea Party is "filled with rage, often combined with a powerful nostalgia for an America that has gone away. This is a segment of the electorate that is generally older, white, religious and deeply troubled by America today." The article, by Fareed Zakaria (is TIME a melting pot, or what?) concludes, "The Tea Partyers love America, but it's an America that is an abstraction or a memory. The nation of today...with its many immigrants, liberated women, increasingly liberated gays, myriad government pro- grams, open trade and a Spanish-language option on every phone menu...seems to scare them." exercised a great deal of restraint when he learned of the murder of our Ambas- sador in Libya. Under no such restraint, I think the average citizen, if in his shoes, would have ordered the embassy closed and, more importantly, funds cut off to that country until they can guarantee the safety of American citizens. It will be interesting if we have a new President in Novem- ber, and he takes this need- ed action. *** Our President must have sions. The C-17 carries the name of two previous, but unrelated piston-engine planes; the Douglas C-74 Globemaster and the Douglas C-124 Globemaster II. This means little to me, but the distinc- tion must be of importance or Fred would not have mentioned it. *** Robert Minch I Say In that classic Peanuts strip years ago, Linus, gazing at a cloud formation said it looked like a rendition of the Battle of Ther- mopile, whereas Charlie Brown admitted he was thinking of a horsey and a doggie... sug- gesting many things are in the eye of the beholder. So, the DN Tuesday columnist writes, it is nostalgia that fuels his rhetoric. I never thought of it that way. And when that peren- nial flower of Antelope, P. Johnston, writes via letters to the editor that the DN should get rid of D. Polson because he is a lay per- son with no degree or professional trap- pings, and that by allowing his stuff to see the light of day the DN is doing a disservice to the community, we are shocked...we say shocked. Surely there is room for a little third party banter in these trying times. Tsk, tsk. Skipping up to Manton, that stalwart little community that endured the great mountain fire, we are pleased to learn that the recon- struction of the Poole Ditch Water System is underway necessitating the outlay of $300,000 for new pipe...and, to ensure the durability of said pipe, it was duly blessed with holy water by Father Photios of the Monastery of St. John. Maybe that's why our irrigation pipe at the ranch has not held up well over the years. We failed to have it blessed. Well, if we ever decide to replace it, we know whom to call for the holy water treatment. *** enjoy it for its sensory effect, or do you try to break it down into prose? New Yorker writer Jeremy Eichler, attempting to explain a passage by violinist Christian Tetzlaff wrote, "In Vienna, he unspooled the melan- choly confessions of Berg's opening pages in long, melting tender lines. When the solo part touched on a Corinthian folk melody that may be a coded reference to the domes- tic servant who was Berg's first love, and with whom he secretly fathered a child, Tet- zlaff's tone darkened and deepened. When Berg's score slid toward atonal cataclysm, capped by the death movement, Tetzlaff repeatedly folded his torso, then snapped straight, tearing at his instrument with unchecked fury." When you listen to music, do you just Eichler's part. I think a conversation with the artist after the performance would have revealed he merely had an attack of gas. *** I found this a bit much of conjecture on ing Vietnam Wall a couple of weeks ago, according to F. Reynolds I did not identify the plane correctly. It was a Boeing C17 Globemaster III. It can perform tactical air- lift, medical evacuation and airdrop mis- When describing a fly over of the Travel- Bernice Cressy, Cottonwood from their elementary days: A man finds himself in a brick cube with no doors and no windows. All that is in there with him is a mirror and a table. How does he get out? The answer involves homonyms. Apparently the man looks in the mirror and sees what he saw. He takes the saw and saws the table in two...then places the parts together again to make a whole...and he climbs out the hole. Uh huh. That is the answer. For this week's quiz, I was going to use Last week's quiz, sub- mitted by V. Shaw, caused me unrest because I could not arrive at a satisfactory answer. However, that did not deter L. Brown, L. Lazar or B. Sale who all remembered the riddle another fanciful one: What can go around the world but stays in a corner? The answer is a stamp but too obscure. So, let's use this one: What was J.C. Penney's middle name, the name of the sailor boy on the Cracker Jacks box and what was baseball's Joe Jack- son apparently not wearing? *** A woman, pregnant with her first child, paid a visit to her obstetrician's office. After the exam, she shyly said, "My husband wants me to ask you a question..." The doctor interrupted her and said, "I know. I get asked this all the time. Sex is OK until the third trimester." "No, that's not it," the woman said. "He wants to know if I can still mow the lawn." 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.