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Opinion
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- Written by: Gary Graves
It isn’t “officially” the Christmas Season until “Christmas in Middletown” – so let the season begin!
Saturday’s celebration of Christmas in Middletown was a huge success.
Carols were sung, trees were lighted, ponies were ridden, crowds were shopping, smiling children everywhere, walking tree out and about, Santa was jolly and there was just the right amount of chill in the air. But, I don’t have to tell you ... most of you were there.
On behalf of the association and all its members, I would like to thank everyone who helped make the evening a success.
Special thanks go out to Bobbi Wright, Tina and Tenae Stewart for organizing yet another fun-filled Christmas in Middletown celebration. Good job, ladies!
Happy holidays and we’ll see you all next year on Dec. 14, 2013.
Gary Graves is president of the Middletown Area Merchants Association of Middletown, Calif.
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- Written by: Randy Ridgel
To be clear at the outset, I’m not a Christian – close but not quite. However, I’m comfortable around people who advocate goodness and mercy.
Also I’ve known, liked, and admired Jews and Buddhists. I don’t know much about ordinary Muslims since I’ve never known any closely; the ones I read about seem crazy and dangerous, but I don’t trust all I read in the national media.
I neither agree nor disagree with agnostics since they agree or disagree with nothing. However, I recently listened to a reputed atheist leader discussing Christmas. He reminded me of a small, nasty boy who enjoys pulling the wings off butterflies.
To justify arguments such as those to remove nativity scenes from public property atheists say the Constitution requires “separation of church and state” a trite expression they manufactured.
The Constitution requires nothing of the sort. The First Amendment simply states, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof ...” The Constitution prohibits government from favoring a particular faith, not the other way around.
A Christ child, a Menorah, or a statuette of Buddha in a park doesn’t require the government to establish a religion, but does “prohibit the free exercise thereof” if the government interferes with such exhibits.
I was born at the beginning of the Great Depression to lovable but irresponsible parents in the poorest part of the country. Ragged, cold and hungry, I dreaded winters. But the pure joy of each and every Christmas is clear in my mind three quarters of a century later. Why would people want to ruin that for kids?
The irony in all this is the strong faith of atheists. The belief in something without evidence, or contrary to obvious evidence, is a faith. It takes enormous faith to gaze at the incredible spectacle of the wheeling starry galaxies and the most infinitesimal particles in an atom, all obeying the same laws, and still firmly believe there is no creator higher than you.
That means atheists have faith in nothing. They want other symbols of faith removed from public property and replaced with … nothing.
If the government enforces the removal of Christian symbols and replaces them with nothing, then they are favoring the atheist faith over all others. That would be “establishing a religion,” the same religion established and required by the Soviet Union: Atheism.
That would violate the Constitution.
Randy Ridgel lives in Kelseyville, Calif.
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- Written by: Beverly McVey
It is with a grateful heart that I thank everyone in the community for all their love, support and well wishes. I cannot express how much it has meant to me personally and all of our wonderful “team members.”
Bill felt so strongly about bringing growth, opportunity and employment to our community. By taking on the Ford dealership, he hoped to enhance and contribute in a deeper way to the community in which he resided.
However, since Bill is no longer here physically and the qualifications for a Ford franchise were based on his experience, I regret to announce that the Ford Franchise Management Team has determined that I do not meet the standards required and must resign the Ford franchise.
Bill had a dream for this beloved community. That dream lives on in the hearts of his family and team members. Although we regret that the community has lost the opportunity for a Ford franchise we have not lost the dream.
We have grown from our experience and are fortunate to have employees who are equally dedicated to bringing back Airport Auto Brokers with its 28 years experience with renewed enthusiasm, offering quality used vehicles and broader sources of financing at competitive interest rates.
Our professional certified technicians are qualified to service and repair all makes of vehicles. We will be expanding our services to include wheel alignments and exhaust systems.
Please do us a favor by giving us an opportunity to reintroduce ourselves to you. We are still at 2440 S. Main St. in Lakeport.
Beverly McVey is owner of the Lakeport, Calif.-based Airport Auto Brokers.
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- Written by: David W. Smith
This is the nightmare that “IS” Social Security Disability.
I was forced to resign from my last job almost two years ago, due to a serious physical disability cause by a surgery that went wrong.
I followed all the proper channels to establish my disability with the system. Unfortunately, I have now been denied twice by SSDA, and am having to hope for an expedient fair hearing.
I do have an advocate, but he isn’t any good for me until a hearing happens. The sad thing is, is that my advocate tells me that it will take another 10 months before a hearing will be scheduled for my case (“10 MONTHS?”).
Another sad thing about this is, my advocate tells me that it looks as if the worker at SSDA didn’t even read my file and just stamped me “DENIED.” It’s almost as if they pull names out of a hat, and deem those names to be denied for the entire process, thereby, forcing a hearing.
In the mean time, I have to rely on my wits and doing anything as creative as I can to keep finances from slipping away.
Some have told me to contact my local Congress member (which I have), but his assistant tells me that there isn’t much that they can do for me either.
I do keep my hopes up, that his office can have some kind of clout, to talk the SSDA into having my hearing moved up sooner.
I am lucky (if you can call it luck) to have served in the Navy during the Vietnam War. Due to that, I am eligible for some cash assistance, but it wasn’t much for the first year. I feel for those who have had no assistance at all.
I have worked my entire life and hardly ever lost time and collected unemployment.
I watched as thousands of refugees are brought into our country and given cash and homes. All I am asking for is something that I’ve earned, but yet I am denied.
What is wrong with this country? What a nightmare!
David W. Smith lives in Nice, Calif.