If it's true that 'demographics is destiny,' then the Deep South (and California and the west as well) will look entirely different over the next decade or two

* ... DEMOGRAPHICS: Howell Raines, the Alabama-born former editor of The New York Times, penned an opinion piece for the Times this Sunday in which he succinctly summed up the challenge facing entrenched Southern Republicans (and there are lessons for California and the rest

of the nation as well). "Demography is destiny," said Raines, referring to a book by William H. Fry titled 'Diversity Explosion: How New Racial Demographics Are Remaking America.' Quoting Fry: "The big change coming up in the South, to me, is that in the next couple of decades there will be a new generation coming of age and taking charge, and the region will be more moderate for that reason alone."

 * ... FEEDBACK: I received this feedback from Gerhard Schmidt: "All the ranting we can do about trash, it is discouraging that it nothing gets into the mind of the offenders, their conscience is just lacking. Now with respect to lawns, especially with the drought, gardeners don't seem to get what the experts recommend. Letting grass grow taller shades the ground, cutting down evaporation. However, the grass cutters know only one setting, too low. Here knowledge is lacking. As to comments about Cubans being upset about throwing out the sanctions, in my opinion the Castros would have been long gone if the sanctions had bee lifted long ago. The Cuban people would not have tolerated the situation, with free interchange of seeing what the rest of the world was really like."

 * ... SPOTTED: On Twitter: "The only government agency that listens to you is the NSA."

* ... GOOD FORM: Tim Strem gave this shoutout to the city and country: "I recently reported to the county road department a couple of hazardous potholes in the bike lane at the western end of Panorama Drive. Their quick reply was that the area falls under the jurisdiction of the city and my report would be forwarded to the city road department. Sure enough, I went by the pothole site a week later and it had already been nicely repaired. This is a great example of interagency synergy and execution."

 * ... MORE GOOD FORM: As long as we are honoring good form, let's not stop there. Consider what Alicia De Laurie witnessed last Friday when she spotted a small truck stalled at the corner of 24th and F streets. "Stopped at a red light, I saw a man and a woman trying to push the truck into the McDonald’s parking lot. They were not succeeding. I thought I would make a U-turn and give them some help. My family would not like it, but they would never know. Watching through my mirror, I saw a very young male join the effort, then a female jumped out of a car and joined. Before the light changed there were 7 or 8 people pushing the truck and this great-grandmother didn’t have to push. This so Bakersfield!"

 * ... PADRE: What is it they say about good things coming out of adversity? That happened to me the other night when I found myself checking into The Padre Hotel after I lost water at my house because of a major replumbing upgrade. Want to pamper yourself? Save your pennies and spend a relaxing evening at this iconic Bakersfield landmark, take in a meal and then have a nightcap on the second floor Prairie Fire outside bar. It's worth the trip.

 * ... FLAG: More feedback on the fracas over flying the Confederate flag. Said Tony Malon: "Taking the stars and bars down from the capital of South Carolina, and most of the stores not selling them anymore is not enough. I have been watching the series Matlock for years including reruns. If you watch closely in the court room, Old Glory is on the left of the judge's bench slightly higher than the stars and bars on the right, not in all episodes... I guess we'll have to cancel all the Matlock episodes with that flag showing."    

                                         

While the furor over the Confederate flag burns hot, a local black news talk show host questions the rush to tear down monuments in the South to Civil War heroes

 * ... FLAG: The controversy over the Confederate flag is resonating across the country, and it is nowhere as hot as on social media. When Amazon decided to stop selling the flag, I spotted this note on Facebook speaking to the hypocrisy of it all: "Amazon sells a huge variety of shirts, posters, you-name-it featuring the hammer and

sickle, Joseph Stalin’s mustache, all things Che Guevara, Vladimir Lenin and other colorful revolutionaries ... Guevara’s book Guerilla Warfare is on sale in four different formats. In one of the worst genocides in modern times, Stalin forcibly starved Ukrainian peasants in what’s known as the Holodomor, a 'terror-famine' that left anywhere from 2.4 million to 7.5 million Ukrainian peasants dead in 1933."

 * ... MORE FLAG: The feeding frenzy that started with the Confederate battle flag has now moved on to the hundreds of statues of Confederate war heroes that appear throughout the south, as well as schools and streets named after rebel leaders. Is it reasonable to expect that every vestige of the Civil War, from the Southern perspective, be removed from society? I was struck when local talk radio host Ralph Bailey, a conservative African American and host on KERN NewsTalk 96.1 FM, yesterday defended Nathan Bedford Forrest, a Confederate calvary general from Memphis known as the "wizard of the saddle." After the war Forrest became a member of the Ku Klux Klan, but later fully embraced the Union and apologized for his actions, much to the dismay of his fellow Southerners. Said Bailey: "The facts are irrefutable. Forrest experienced a Malcolm X-like racial epiphany. Not only did he walk away from an incredibly lucrative slave trade profession but he addressed a crowd of black pole bearers in 1875 calling for racial equality well documented by The New York Times. He had no political motivation and had to have been vilified by friends and family who viewed blacks as innately inferior. Not only should his bust remain in the Tennessee statehouse but he should be a symbol of change and forgiveness ."

 * .... SOUTH HIGH: If you are a Bakersfield native, you know that the rebel flag was used by South High School to support the "Rebel" athletic teams. Said Ronal Reynier: "Here in Bakersfield we had a similar situation in 1976 when South High School was asked to change the 'Stars & Bars' flag they had been using for 19 years. The proposed flag would be a field of red with SH in gold. It was proposed at the meeting to change it to a field of red with SHS in blue trimmed in white. This was not agreeable to one faction. A student asked to speak. He said that the solution would be to have a new red flag with a gold hammer and sickle. He was suspended from school for five days.

 * ... PERRY: Former Texas governor and Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry was in town the other night for a fund raiser at the Westchester home of Kyle Carter and his wife, Kim McAbee. You can bet Perry will be followed by a parade of other GOP contenders who will be courting some of our area's influential business people.

* ... SPOTTED: A panhandler on a freeway ramp holds a sign proclaiming: "Mostly harmless."

  * ... INDEPENDENCE HIGH: Phyllis Adams dropped me a personal letter to thank a group of Independence High School seniors who have entertained residents at Carriage House Estates. "Glenn Miller era music was played by Richard Gonzales and dancing was enjoyed with students and residents for several hours," she wrote. What a satisfying feeling for teens to plan and enjoy time with their elders. Sharing of those evenings will be long remembered."

 * ... MEMORIES: Joe Chavez wrote with this memory from East Bakersfield: "Does anyone remember Louie the mailman from the 1960s? He delivered in east Bakersfield and he always had a smile. I myself would chase after him when I was waiting for a toy or model kit I ordered. Then it was off to swim at Jefferson park. What wonderful days!"