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Opinion
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- Written by: Lake County News Reports
Another friend of mine tells me that, on Friday morning, Joe wasn't feeling well, so his partner (common-law wife by now) took him to the doctor. You know how men are – they never want to go to the doctor unless they feel like they're about to die because there may be needles involved – so when he got in the car with her, she knew that something was terribly wrong.
Joe is ("was" is still too hard to say) a fly in the ointment – not always the life of the party – but almost. He's the instigator, he laughs the loudest from his belly, he's the first to get on his motorcycle – without a map – and say, "Let's go!" (Until that time he jumped back on his bike that had been sitting in the desert sun of Tonopah, Nev., for a few hours wearing the tattered jeans with the hole in crotch – and not wearing even boxer shorts underneath his jeans! – and had to miss the whole rest of the trip due to burns on very sensitive areas). But he was the guy who was always the last to go to sleep on a camping trip - and cleaned up the campsite and got it ready for coffee in the morning while everyone else was already asleep and dreaming of pancakes.
After his partner brought Joe, who didn't have health insurance or the $150 the doctor required for an office visit, back home, he died from a massive heart attack several hours later.
If California already had in place SB 840, Sen. Sheila Kuehl's universal health care bill, Joe would be alive right now. It probably never occurred to him to go to the emergency room at the hospital because he had always gone to his doctor's office in the past. But he no longer had health insurance or the $150 to get checked out.
Please urge our politicians to support SB 840.
www.democracyinaction.org/dia/organizationsORG/HCA_CA/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=7081
E-mail Terre Logsdon at
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- Written by: Lake County News Reports
Later, relaxing in the shade of a fruitless mulberry tree, we surveyed our Hidden Valley Lake backyard. The fruit trees generously feed us cherries, apples, and figs. We eat grapes from grapevines growing along the back fence. Our persimmons will ripen soon.
From two raised-bed gardens, we eat zucchini, cucumbers, tomatoes, kale, artichokes, eggplant, strawberries, basil, parsley, garlic chives, oregano and lemon thyme. And, we’re harvesting giant sunflower and pumpkin seeds to roast.
Around a tiny lawn in our unfenced front yard, sage, rosemary and lavender plants flourish underneath three flowering fruit trees.
This is the first summer we’ve swapped vegetables over the fence with our neighbor, another gardener. Also new this year is the enjoyment my husband gets from lovingly preparing cardboard “gift baskets” for friends filled with vegetables and fruit from our yard.
Especially satisfying is consuming our own delicious food. We augment our fresh food supply by shopping at Kelseyville’s farmers’ market, an occasional trip to Hardester’s grocery store, and with home-grown beef from my dad in Natomas, near Sacramento.
Author Barbara Kingsolver’s book, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, was my birthday gift from my son and daughter-in-law. Living in San Francisco, they live vicariously hearing our “crop reports” during weekly phone conversations.
Kingsolver’s book makes a passionate case for putting the kitchen back at the center of family life and diversified farms at the center of the American diet. My husband and I bless our rural life in which we can raise our own food and consume what is raised by us or people we know.
We realize the growing season is finite. Our water use will soon lessen. Meanwhile, we give thanks for the water and the harvest it provides.
Susanne La Faver lives in Hidden Valley Lake with husband, Lyle.
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- Written by: Andrea Anderson
Since then, the toxic dust which New Yorkers were told was “safe and acceptable” by Former Mayor Giulani, has resulted in several deaths and serious lung problems including cancer. In fact, a federal judge ruled that former EPA director Christine Todd Whitman had misled residents and rescuers when she pronounced that the air quality in lower Manhattan met safety standards and necessitated neither a surgical mask nor a respirator. She claims under oath that she did this under the urgency of our federal government to get Wall Street and the economy up and running again and because Giuliani did not want New York to be seen as unsafe by a bunch of people wearing masks or hazmat suits.
In other words, our government was more concerned about money than about additional lives. Because of this, people like Felix Hernandez, Tim Keller, Deborah Reeve, James Zadroga, James Godbee, Felicia Dunn-Jones and their families have become additional victims of 9/11.
Since then, we have gone to war in Iraq, very simply based on the “threat” of another 9/11 terror attack. In fact, we have now lost more of our citizens to the war in Iraq than in the original 9/11 attack. Kind of defeats the purpose given, if you think about it.
So, let’s think about it. Let’s think about how 9/11 has changed the lives of U.S. citizens, the law and our government. Let’s think about how living in terror actually defeats the purpose of freedom and gives our enemies the upper hand. Let’s consider how we now have the Patriot Act in place has changed and will continue to change how we live. The Patriot Act now forces us (lawful U.S. citizens) to allow:
Physical searches and spying on U.S. citizens without a warrant and the right to do so without notifying the suspected party.
Monitoring of both the telephone and internet communications without giving notice or seeking a warrant.
Arrests solely on the basis of “suspicion” alone, without warrant and without a formal charge.
Detaining suspicious persons indefinitely and without notice neither publicly nor privately.
Deportation of legal immigrants for minor violations.
Carrying out selective prosecutions and racial profiling unchecked.
Detaining, deporting, and denying fundamental due process rights to lawful immigrants, including the right to legal counsel and public hearings.
Wire-tapping client confidential communications.
I think the answer is obvious. 9/11/01 is not history, as it is still shaping our lives. I believe it is worth not just remembering but worth thinking about.
This article is dedicated to ALL of the people who lost their lives, livelihoods and loves on 9/11/01.
Please visit :
www.fealgoodfoundation.com/WhoWeAre.html
Lakeport resident Andrea Anderson's mother worked at the World Trade Center, and left the building 20 minutes before the first plane hit, losing many coworkers and friends.
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- Written by: Pia Jensen
On Sept. 10 I could think of no other woman whose global influence has impacted so many lives as Anita Roddick.
Dame Anita Roddick lived in Britain, but dedicated her soul to the world. I never had the pleasure of meeting Dame Anita. But, I know that her bravery, business acumen and concern for all people touched my life.
She leaves us, her husband, and two daughters with a legacy to be admired, respected, and looked to for inspiration and guidance.
Dame Anita’s illustrious and socially conscious life included an education in teaching (Bath College of Higher Education), work for the United Nations, ownership of The Body Shop until 2006, and an exemplary record of achievement in humanitarianism.
Her life achievements include numerous awards in the areas of business ethics, business leadership, environment, Officer of the British Empire and an award for “Chief Wiper-Away of Ogoni Tears,” from the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People, Nigeria in 1999.
The connection that I share with Anita is multifold. In the 1990s my father, Dr. Carl Jensen, announced that Anita wanted to fund Sonoma State University’s Project Censored. At the time, Project Censored had published yearly books announcing the 10 most censored stories on a shoestring budget.
Anita’s gracious offer of funding helped Project Censored continue to bring significant stories to the public forum in a substantial way. Upon learning about the Body Shop through Dr. Jensen, I sought out her wares at The Body Shop. I was, as an environmentally conscious person, pleasantly surprised by the company’s product line.
True to her personal philosophy of healthy living, Anita’s company provided products that passed all environmental and animal protection activist concerns. Not only that, but Dame Anita sought the release of Nigeria’s social and environmental activist, Ken Saro Wiwa.
As an Environmental Studies and Planning Major at Sonoma State University I was touched by Anita’s call to save Nigeria’s forests, protect the Ogoni people, and release Ken Saro Wiwa from Nigeria’s prison.
The message I learned from her brave activism, care for people and the environment represents, absolutely, the ethos of love. Anita’s documented care for all transcended every act of humanitarianism I have witnessed in my life to date. This is a woman we all should have known, for she was humorous, loving, and gave to so many with all of her heart.
May we all be blessed with having known of Anita’s great work in our world.
Pia Jensen grew up in Santa Rosa and is former vice-mayor of Cotati. She visits Lake County on occasion to see family. She lives in Florida.
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