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Opinion
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- Written by: Lake County Winery Association
The Lake County Winery Association (LCWA) would like to express its sincere thanks to the following businesses and individuals who are supporting this year’s Wine Adventure weekend.
For sponsorships, our thanks is sent out to First American Title Company / David Lucido, The Geysers Calpine, The Ice Water Co., Business Design Services / Robert Boccabella and Twin Pine Casino & Hotel.
For donations to the raffle packages and prizes, our gratitude is expressed to Angelina’s Bakery, Bell Hill Vineyards, Bigg’s 155 Diner, Blue Wing Saloon / Tallman Hotel, Brassfield Estate, Cache Creek Catering, Chalerm Thai Bistro, Chic Le Chef, Clearlake B&B, Clear Lake Cottages & Marina, County of Lake / Tom Nixon, Diego’s Gallery, Disney Water Sports, Doni’s Occasion Station, Euphoria Salon, Featherbed Railroad B&B, Finch Gardens B&B, Glamazon-Robinson Lake Vineyard, Gregory Graham Vineyards, Herb Gura, Hawk and Horse Vineyards, Highland Springs Trails Volunteers / Karen Sullivan and Kim Riley, Judy’s Junction Restaurant, Langtry Estate, Lake County Land Trust / Brad Barnwell, Lake County Taxi-Scarborough Fare Tours, Lake County Wine Studio, Lakeport Drive-In Theatre, Lakeport English Inn, Lakeside Art & Gifts [Linda Kelly, Susan Laymon, Michelle Price, Gytha March and Toni Stewart], Lakeview Market, Laujor Estate Winery, Lightning Rod Gallery, Linda’s Hallmark, Lyndall’s Sports Stop Grill, The Lodge at Blue Lakes, Main St. Pizza, Moore Family Winery, Noggle Gardens a division of Noggle Vineyards & Winery, People Pleasin’ Products / Carli Tippett, Pine Cone Cabin/ Lake County Vacation Rentals [Bill and Kim McCulloch], Roy’s Backyard BBQ, Saw Shop Gallery Bistro, Shannon Ridge, Shed Horn Cellars, Six Sigma Ranch and Vineyard, Sol Rouge Vineyard, Soper Reese Community Theatre, Steele Wines, Studebaker’s Coffee House/Deli, Suite on Main Loft / Brian Fisher, Team Effort Fishing / Charlie Bye, Tony Oliveira’s First and Main Museum, Twin Pine Off The Vine, Vigilance Winery & Vineyards, Wildhurst Vineyards, Woody’s Gas.
We also want to thank all of the 2012 participating Lake County Wineries. Without their commitment to LCWA and to the Lake County Wine Adventure, this event would not exist. Special thanks to the following wineries for contributing to the 2012 Cellar Collection Wine package: Beaver Creek Vineyards & Winery, Bell Hill Vineyards, Brassfield Estate, Bullion Creek, Cache Creek Vineyards, Ce?go Vinegarden, Chacewater Winery, Cougar’s Leap Winery, Glamazon/Robinson Lake Vineyard, Gregory Graham Vineyards, Hawk and Horse Vineyards, Langtry Estate & Vineyards, Laujor Estate Winery, Moore Family Winery, Mt. Konocti Winery, Noggle Vineyards & Winery, Robledo Family Winery, Rosa d’Oro, Shannon Ridge, Shed Horn Cellars, Six Sigma Ranch and Vineyards, Snows Lake Vineyard, Sol Rouge Vineyard, Steele Wines, Thorn Hill, Twin Pine Off The Vine, Vigilance Winery & Vineyards and Wildhurst Vineyards.
In closing, we would like to give a standing ovation to the 2012 Wine Adventure Chair, Cheryl Lucido and Co-Chair, Pam Prisco and to the numerous volunteers who organize and orchestrate the Lake County Wine Adventure.
Final applause and encore goes to the wine adventure seekers--thank you for supporting this annual event with your attendance and the attendance of your family and friends from near and far.
Please join us on July 28 and 29 for the eighth annual Lake County Wine Adventure, www.lakecountywineries.org .
LCWA is an all-volunteer organization promoting agritourism and awareness of Lake County as a premier and award-winning wine and winegrape producing region. For more information please visit us at www.lakecountywineries.org .
The executive director, officers and board members of the Lake County Winery Association
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- Written by: Nelson Strasser
Cognitive dissonance is defined as having two contradictory ideas, the resultant discomfort, and how we attempt to resolve the problem.
Take the following example: I was walking in Lakeport and I passed two houses. In front of the two houses were four SUVs. Later, on that same walk, as I approached home, I could hear the sounds of auto racing from the speedway.
And the next day, as I was riding my bicycle, I saw scores of motorcycles on club rides. I saw a lone woman in a huge diesel pickup truck that was shined and polished and was obviously a showpiece (the truck, not the woman) rather than a work horse.
And then I heard on the news that the United States had increased its C02 output by 4 percent last year. We know that we love motors and machines.
But, we also know that we will run out of oil. As the supply has shrunk, we have had to kill for oil on many occasions, as we are doing now in Iraq. It is not an accident that we have had more suicides in the armed forces this year than have been killed by enemy combatants. Our soldiers experience the inanity and immorality of these wars first hand.
We know that that we love our families, and that global warming is real, and that it has accelerated because of human activity. And yet, at the same time we sincerely profess our love for our families we are acting as if we want to insure their doom. It is a form of insanity to hug your kid and then drive to work in a gas guzzler.
But, as philosopher Slavoj Zizek has pointed out, we look in the sky and we cannot see the hole in the ozone layer. We look again and still don’t see it, and we can believe that everything is okay. And yet, we know that it is not okay. The consequences of accepting reality will mean change, and when we begin change, we never know how things will end up. But, if we don’t change, we know things will end badly.
It seems we can’t resolve this problem without the help and planning of government. And, the Obama Administration has announced that there will be dramatic increases in mileage requirements. However, this is exactly what Carter recommended in the late 70s.
The president following Carter, Ronald Reagan, decided government was not the solution, but rather the problem. Reagan exempted light pickup trucks and SUVs from CAFÉ standards, and generally halted increased mileage requirements.
The point is that we can’t rely on government to save us (although its help would be appreciated). Government is under tremendous pressure from lobbyists yielding vast sums of money. Men in positions of power, as a rule, spend their energy perpetuating their power rather than securing a habitable world.
So, don’t buy cars that get less than 40 miles per gallon. You don’t buy them, they won’t make them. Plan to phase out cars completely. Use bicycles for outings instead of motorcycles. Go on the lake with kayaks instead of motor boats. Support sustainable energy and wean yourself away from fossil fuel. Plant a victory garden. Without a planet, no other issue is relevant.
Nelson Strasser lives in Lakeport, Calif.
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- Written by: Randy Ridgel
Some great nations, Imperial Japan for example, die with a bang. Others, like the Soviet Union, die with a whimper. The U.S. may be the first to disappear simply from going insane.
Conservatives went berserk when Chief Justice John Roberts upheld the constitutionality of Obamacare.
In fact Roberts was right; the Constitution puts the people in charge. Nothing in the Constitution requires the Supreme Court to correct matters when the people go mad.
Clearly, electing someone with no greater qualifications than Obama to president of the U.S., armed with thousands of nuclear weapons, was an act of madness.
He became an Illinois senator when his opponents miraculously faded away while gathering qualifying signatures.
As a state senator he mainly continued his work as neighborhood organizer. He mostly voted “present,” meaning he voted neither “Yea” nor “Nay” on issues.
One salient exception was the hassle over whether he voted to save an unsuccessful abortion attempt or leave the baby to die.
When he ran for the U.S. Senate his Republican opponent’s court-sealed unpleasant divorce record was somehow unsealed and exposed in Chicago. Surprise, surprise. As a U.S. senator he spent his entire time running for president.
No one has seen his college records; no one can find an old girlfriend or even a friend. His background is jealously guarded.
Closer to home we have Congressman Thompson who flies home frequently at enormous cost, grinning and grinning at social functions while our supervisors try to tax us to raise a few bucks to fix potholes. He can’t bum a ride from Pelosi; she lost her job and her big airplane.
Thompson runs as a “Blue Dog Democrat.” What a crock. Last year he bragged that he wrote the House part of Obamacare. Go to www.taxhike-mike.com for his real record.
Finally, check out our sterling Assemblywoman Mariko Yamada.
After pushing it in committee, she just supplied the deciding vote in the Assembly to send AB2346 to the Senate, which will require farmers to provide shade and cold water within a few feet of every farm worker as they work. The definition of shade is insane; trees don’t count. This will bankrupt farmers to pay off Yamada’s labor union support.
Roberts is right; we have till November to regain our sanity and kill Obamacare by ousting those who produced it.
Randy Ridgel lives in Kelseyville, Calif.
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- Written by: Lake One-Stop Board of Directors
After many years serving Lake County, effective July 1, 2012, the Lake County One-Stop Center for Business & Workforce Development is transitioning to new management.
The recently formed Napa Lake Workforce Investment Area is now overseeing Workforce Investment Act services in Lake County and has awarded a new service operator effective July 1, 2012.
Lake One-Stop, Inc. Board of Directors would like to thank our staff, the many jobseekers, WIA participants, businesses and partners who we’ve worked with over the years. We are grateful for your support, participation and positive relationships.
The new One-Stop Center will also have a new name: WorkforceLake, but will remain at the current location at 55 First Street, Lakeport.
The new One-Stop Web site will be www.workforcelake.org.
For more information about WorkforceLake, WIA programs and services call 707-467-5903 or 1-800-616-1196, Extension 5903.
Again, thank you for the many years of partnership and collaboration in providing workforce services to Lake County residents.
Mary Becker, Mickey Burke, Brock Falkenberg, Brooks Lockhart and Nick Summerfield form the Lake One-Stop Inc. Board of Directors, which has served Lake County, Calif.