Letters for December 13, 2018

Councilman likes idea

Re “Suggestion for the council: switch seats” (Editorial, Dec. 6):

The most obvious and impartial way to remedy the divisiveness perpetuated by segregated seating on the Chico City Council would be to make the seating alphabetical. I’m told it wouldn’t even take a vote, just a consensus of the council members. I support it.

Scott Huber

Chico

Editor’s note: Mr. Huber was sworn in as a member of the City Council this month.

Remembering Mr. Jeys

Re “Castaway” (Second & Flume, by Melissa Daugherty, Dec. 6):

Years ago, I enjoyed articles by Mr. Jeys in the News & Review. I had forgotten about him until reading The New York Times article last month about him surviving the Camp Fire while staying in his Paradise home. If you could persuade him to write about this tragedy, and published it, I am sure we would all benefit from it. Or, for that matter, anything he cares to write about, since his prior stuff was so good, in my opinion.

Mark Lance

Chico

‘D’ in climate change

“Denying climate change doesn’t negate it” (Editorial, Nov. 29):

In terms of public opinion, here’s climate change: A) Not happening. B) Won’t be too bad. C) Gonna be bad; humans survive. D) Gonna be bad; humans extinct. I’m going with “D,” having seen retrograde motion since the threat was identified in the 1980s. We are oil addicts and still haven’t taken Step One: “We admitted we were powerless over [hydrocarbons]—that our lives had become unmanageable.”

The New York Times, Dec. 5: “‘We’ve seen oil use go up five years in a row,’ said Rob Jackson, a professor of earth system science at Stanford … ‘That’s really surprising.’” Rob, why is that surprising? Take 30 minutes and calculate the aggregate annual greenhouse gas emissions of 10 of your environmentalist colleagues—the ones making upward of $200,000 per year. The next time the data comes in, it won’t be nearly so shocking.

Solace may be found in the possibility that powerlessness is inherent to our species; that we are simply not evolutionarily endowed with the moral genius needed to meet this eco-historical moment. The terminal impact of our actions being similar to an asteroid—one source of destruction being psychological and the other extraterrestrial, but in both cases, having a non-negotiable trajectory.

Patrick Newman

Chico

Bumper-sticker rebellion

Re “California divided” (Cover story, by Stephen Magagnini, Nov. 29):

The State of Jefferson seems more of an attitude than a pitch to create a new state. I understand the frustration by Jeffersonian proposers. Similar propositions have occurred in the USA, such as in northeastern Colorado and western Nebraska, prairie regions where imagination grows behind trees. I like westerns, but I’m not sold. The area of Jefferson (depending on information sources) is either the size of South Dakota or West Virginia. The population would be a couple million. Just what is the proposed economic driver for Jefferson? Selling T-shirts and bumper stickers?

The Jeffersonians need to create value. West Virginia is already Appalachia, and there ain’t much happening in South Dakota. Jefferson could become the Appalachia of the Pacific Coast, albeit a nice place to pass through.

I agree it’s frustrating having large metropolitan areas influence policy-making in Sacramento. Some legislation is poorly thought out, but our state still manages to rank fifth in the world economy. If we join the state of Jefferson, I’m moving back to California. Thanks for the read.

Eric Miller

Chico

Tongue-lashing response

Re “Trump supporter’s retort” (Letters, by Brad Pankratz, Dec. 6):

Sorry that Mr. Pankratz was offended by my “tacky personal attacks” on the electoral president. He perceived them accurately. What Mr. P does not see is that my comments were meant in the spirit of fair play. After all, what day did the Donald not issue a volley of tacky personal attacks?

Mr. P went on to attack Gavin Newsom and Jerry Brown, who just happened to be standing aside Trump at the Camp Fire. Good thing they were in attendance to help the New York transplant learn the name of the town he toured.

Mr. P says Trump “cares enough to come to our area.” A week earlier, Trump cared enough to declare that the area would receive no federal funding. Mr. P raged on to hurl some tacky personal attacks of his own, calling me a “flaming liberal” and among “liberal fascists.” He used “liberal” once more, in true Trump-like repetition.

So Mr. P thinks he does not like me. No matta. As Winston Churchill said, “You have enemies? Good. That means you’ve stood up for something, sometime in your life.” I’ll take Mr. P’s insults for the team. It’s a pleasure.

Danny Wilson

Oroville

Cannot bite my tongue one more second concerning Brad Pankratz’s letter, which says, “We have a president who cares enough to come to our area.” But not enough care to get the name of the town right during his photo op—proving those in the know are correct concerning his attention span.

Cadet bone spur has done more to this country as opposed to for it in the last two years. Are you going to paint me with the same name of fascist—a “flaming liberal”—because I see a vile, petty man full of lies and deceit as he manipulates more money for himself and cronies?

I belong to neither party, but since you want to delve into name-calling, you seem to be the kind of bootlicker who has neither the decorum nor common sense when it is time to put aside base tribalism and call a snake a snake when it acts like a snake. But sadly, no. You are willing to trade morals and standards for said tribalism.

Good God, man, grow some pride. Do some real research on contributing factors of the fire’s spread. Or, go get a rake and start raking.

Mike McCarty

Palermo

Morning Prayer

for those who ran into the storm

took tired hands

and carried panicked hearts

from dark to light,

flame and ember to clear morning sky.

we rise.

those that stayed and gathered

the life that remained

that reached out

and pulled us together in

those crystal moments of fear

to save each other.

we rise.

and you took us in,

soothed the burns and eased the shock

still stinging fresh in our eyes.

and you cried with me

and mended my pain with mercy.

and you fed and clothed my children,

your children,

our children now.

we rise.

we lift each other up

from ash and grief

and the cold emptiness of loss to soft loving arms.

together,

when we heal each other,

we love,

we rise.

Mike Waltz

Chico