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- Written by: Herb Gura
I tried this during a past election and it worked well.
Candidates for all offices, win or lose, can donate their leftover campaign signs for recycling. Students can use them to make art projects or they can be painted over and used for signs again.
During a recent election, Clearlake City Council member Chuck Leonard brought me a big stack of his used signs which went to students at Lower Lake High School and were turned into various works of art.
Our signs need to come down very soon after Election Day. If you need a place to get rid of all those signs, give me a call at 707-350-1150 and I will make sure they don’t go to waste.
Herb Gura lives in Clearlake, Calif.
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- Written by: Connel Murray
And it's happening again this election year, with both parties making grandiose promises that no rational person can believe they'll keep.
Both parties will continue to fund corporate welfare programs while cutting the necessities for our most vulnerable citizens.
Meanwhile syndicated columnist Thomas Friedman calls for a new third party (“From the divide a third party rises”) causing one to wonder where he's been for the past 40 years.
The Libertarian Party is represented in all 50 states, running hundreds of candidates for political office, including those of the president and U.S. Congress. In California there are Libertarian candidates for every major office.
The Libertarian Party platform is simplicity itself: 1. Reduce the size and scope of government; 2. End foreign adventurism; 3. Eliminate government efforts to halt or modify human behavior; 4. Return our economy to a free market system; and 5. Base our laws on Constitutional principles.
For those who argue a third-party vote is a wasted vote, how has that vote for a major party worked out for you lately? Maybe it's truly time for a change.
Connel Murray lives in Kelseyville, Calif.
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- Written by: Dave Gebhard
What is the foundation of a technological society? An educated workforce. The more technologically advanced, the more education is required.
Regretfully, there is a strong aversion to learning among many young people today. The feelings of hopelessness and lack of ambition is very common among our youth.
Our society seems to become more immature instead of mature, many seem to want something for nothing. Feelings of entitlement do not just describe politicians and the rich, but pervade our whole society.
Perhaps the reading we did in our youth made a difference. We need to instill, in the youth of today, the spirit of adventure that reading brings to all of us.
Reading leads to an open mind, which is necessary for students to accept knowledge, and nurtures the ability to apply knowledge to problems and work possibilities.
Knowledge, after all, assists one in applying the old saying, find a need and fill it, which usually leads to success.
Cutting education leads to our eventual stagnation. We are wasting minds that could be leading us into a bright future. We need innovation and creativity, just to stay on top.
We are no longer the largest market, in fact, Europe, India and especially China are larger and growing at a rapid pace, as we are dropping lower and lower comparatively.
America needs to invest in itself, we used to be one of the most educated countries. Children are not cookie cutter automatons, we need to educate all of them, as those who think out of the box are the ones who make the most radical discoveries.
Our infrastructure and education have taken a back seat to wars, and foreign policy through economic and military aid. Our priorities are skewed, our children should be first, not an afterthought.
America is turning into Europe, with the multi-generational super rich, and the rest of us. We now have the rich openly attempting to buy public office, unashamedly.
We all need to wake up, ignorant people are easy to rule, for they do not know the right questions to ask.
Dave Gebhard lives in Lakeport, Calif.
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- Written by: Michele Gillies
But an ad supporting Mitchell indicates that Rivero's old record is relevant because he is currently taking assistance with his campaign from someone who is under indictment by the feds.
This appears to be a reference to Tom Carter, who Rivero befriended after announcing his candidacy for sheriff last year.
Rivero has not denied the friendship. Rather, he has stated that people in America are innocent until proven guilty. I certainly agree with Rivero on that point.
Since this friendship was established after the indictment, though, Rivero cannot claim that this is just an “old friend” he'll support “until proven guilty.”
Carter has been a prominent figure in the party of people that accompany Rivero to the debates. He also works in Rivero's campaign booths at local events and provides Rivero with a train to use in local parades.
Carter was rearrested last month by the Drug Enforcement Administration. Rivero has released a video of him embracing Tom Carter after his release from the DEA's custody.
While that case was dropped, charges are still pending in another DEA case and the prison sentence associated with Carter's alleged crimes will be huge if he is found guilty.
So Rivero called Mitchell “corrupt” for hugging his longtime friend Russ Perdock within an hour of the now infamous boat crash of 2006. If we all apply the same logic, wouldn't Rivero be “corrupt” for befriending a man under federal indictment for alleged marijuana possession and distribution?
Michele Gillies lives in Hidden Valley Lake, Calif.