Death Panels

Why would you be surprised at the fact that those who support partial birth abortion (the Democrats) would also include death options for the elderly, infirm and handicapped in their bill for healthcare reform? Of course it is in the bill, no matter how they spin it; and their past actions are the proof necessary for me to affirm that it is.

People who think it is okay to kill a baby at 21 weeks (gestation) would have no problem turning their backs on those they feel are not worth the expense to society. It’s time for you to be honest with yourself! This issue is not about healthcare reform, it is about government control of your life. Believe it!

Let’s talk about “sustainable development” – Like what is it?

Several thousand years ago two cavemen were discussing ‘sustainable development’ which is making sure that each generation only uses the natural resources they are consuming at such a rate that future generations will be left with that resource.

It turned into such a great discussion it had to go to the tribal council. There, at the tribal council meeting, being unable to solve the issue it went to the United Nations where a Commission on Sustainable Development was formed.

Some on the commission felt they had to limit the numbers of animals they killed for food, clothing and shelter to insure future generations had meat to eat and hides to wear. While others believed the greatest natural resource was fire because it provided heat for warming and cooking as well as for shaping and sharpening sticks for hunting.

After weeks of discussion no one could agree on what must be saved for future generations, however, they did agree if they didn’t kill enough animals for food, clothing and shelter; and they didn’t use fire for heat and cooking many thousands would die. So how were they going to handle this issue? They decided they couldn’t mandate the issue because they would be responsible for the deaths of those who died. This was a quandary indeed.

They all agreed that every year the glaciers seemed to be melting back farther and farther. That the age of ice was ending and that days were warming. It was so noticeable many tribesmen had made comment about the event. Then it struck them, they would say the use of fire was causing global warming and melting the glaciers. That would incite some folks to give up using fire without the UN mandating it and fire would be preserved for future generations.

Several thousand deaths later a man noticed that when certain rocks struck each other a spark was emitted. At first he gave it no thought but one day while out hunting he hurled a rock from his sling at a small animal. He missed and hit another rock. He didn’t get his meal but he did start a fire that burned for days. He had discovered flint.

When he went to the tribal council with his discovery, flint was added to the natural resources list to be saved for future generations so they had a portable means of starting a fire rather than having to carry hot coals from place to place.

Even though the use of fire was less than before the Commission’s statement about global warming, the glaciers continued to shrink and life moved on. There were huge piles of flint every where you looked but the glaciers shrank, the mastodon and saber toothed tiger vanished, people died, new people were born and then someone invented the match and yet the glaciers continued to shrink.

Early man knew that fire was one of the most important allies he had. Learning to harness that energy and putting it to beneficial use had changed man’s existence forever. Fire left to its own path is extremely destructive; however, technology has made fire a tool of unfathomable value. So what is important to pass on to our future generations: A couple of flint stones or the technology we use to harness the energy produced by fire?

When you survey the planet you must ask yourself serious questions about what you want to pass on to future generations. It is technology that makes “sustainable development”, not resources. Oil was nothing until technology made it a source of energy. Flint was important until technology produced the match. So should we really change our lives by giving up something that makes life better so we can save it for a generation that may not want it or need it? Technology will always prevail, it always has.

It is my belief, humans have not and will not destroy this planet. Surely when you see the power of nature you understand we are just a bothersome parasite not to be taken seriously.
© Bill Wink April 2007

READ: Definition of Sustainable Development

It’s time for Middletown Days!

Saturday & Sunday June 20th & 21st

SATURDAY:
South Lake County Fire Protection Districts’ Pancake Breakfast starts at 7am and they serve until 11 at Station 60 on Highway 175.
Parade has an earlier start and goes a different direction. It starts at 10am from the south end of town.
After the parade the action is all at Central Park

SUNDAY
The Middletown Lioness Club serves Father’s Day Breakfast at Central Park from 8 to 11
And the fun continues.

Middletown Days is the annual fundraiser for Central Park. They need your support.

Guenoc gets their land back and Middletown gets the shaft

Here we go again. New Supervisor same story, same results.

Let me see, if the article in the Record Bee titled “Guenoc giveback” 6/30/2009, is factually correct, then members of both the BOS and Magoon Estate knew that the land donation was worthless for a college without the 185 acre flat parcel. That means that all hoopla the fund raising etc was done under false premises.

So what is that called, I think there is a legal name for what has been perpetrated against the Lake County taxpayers. Do you care? Maybe you should if you don’t.

Read “NO TRESPASSING” The saga of Guenoc Valley College

Cowpoke Café 21118 Calistoga St.

Cowpoke Café has added a new dimension to their dining experience, now you can be served outside on their new patio.

The new patio area behind the Café, located at 21118 Calistoga Street in Middletown, is a wonderful addition to our community.

The owners have gone the extra mile to offer a beautiful setting for their patrons. The natural rock patio is surrounded with rock walls and redwood lattice with lawn and flowers to help keep things cool in the summer. Colorful umbrellas tables and chairs finish the setting for a pleasant experience.

The Cowpoke Café serves breakfast and lunch daily from 6am until 2pm always offering daily specials and homemade desserts.

After dining at the Cowpoke be sure to check out Sylvies women's apparel, Bunk House country gifts and Socrates Mining Company old west antiques.

Annual Rainfall

During my twenty years living at Sugar Loaf Creek Ranch, a minimum of 30 inches of annual rainfall has provided adequate ground water to keep the spring running and the well with water.

Things were looking bleak in the rainfall department this year until February. Now I’m happy to say the rainfall at the Ranch will pass the 30 inch mark. (It reached that point sometime last night March 2, 2009).

The run-off from Cobb Mountain should re-charge all the aquifers and everyone should breathe a little easier. However, there are more straws in the pond sucking out water than ever before.

Did you know, St Helena Creek used to flow all year long, however, with all the development along the Creek sucking water from the underflow the surface water quits flowing early in the summer and that means some folks run low or out of water before the rainy season starts again. (This last fact makes me wonder just how good a neighbor Calistoga Water is to those downstream from their pumping station at the base of Mt. St. Helena.)

Is the issue of folks running out of water downstream from Calistoga Water another case of corporate America’s current disease; greed without compassion?

Scientist Engage In Hate Speech

First science and those with an agenda created so much hatred against smokers Americans forgot freedom is for everyone, not just non-smokers. And even though our legislators never outlawed smoking they manipulated the public into doing something the government wouldn’t do.

Now scientists are blaming fat people for ruining the world by being a source of global warming. How pathetic. This is an example of just how low those with an agenda will go to bully folks into seeing the world the way they want it viewed.

First of all, global warming is an invented crisis made to manipulate you into accepting an agenda that you would not normally accept because it is anti freedom and liberty. It is called Agenda 21, the blue print for the 21st century. (If you think I’m off base, just go to Google and search for “Agenda 21”.)

In 1992, Maurice Strong, the architect of Agenda 21, addressed the Rio Conference (Earth Summit II) where he stated that industrialized countries have:

“…developed and benefited from the unsustainable patterns of production and consumption which have produced our present dilemma. It is clear that current lifestyles and consumption patterns of the affluent middle class -- involving high meat intake, consumption of large amounts of frozen and convenience foods, use of fossil fuels, appliances, home and work-place air-conditioning, and suburban housing -- are not sustainable. A shift is necessary toward lifestyles less geared to environmentally damaging consumption patterns."

And you are their target and folks like Clare Brady are their tool.

California wants to control your thermostat, Clare Brady doesn’t want you to burn wood, and skinny people want you to look like them. It is a type of class warfare.

It won’t get better it will only get worse until all of you stand up for freedom and liberty for everyone.

Who’s next, you?

AT&T BUNDLING

Is not for the weak at heart.

In the past couple weeks, AT&T has shown that there was a reason for dismantling the corporation last time and in my mind they are dangerously close to that point again.

Imagine a corporation that is so arrogant they think they don’t make mistakes and therefore don’t need a customer relations department. That’s AT&T.

Oh they have a customer service department that will gladly direct you to one of the five or so choices they offer in the voice recognition system if you say the correct word, but if you have a complaint, forget it, no department exists at AT&T for unsatisfied customers.

My horror story with AT&T started when I called and asked for some basic services. I was moving and wanted to move my phone service. Now mind you I wasn’t moving out of the area, just to a new address. So no new phone numbers, just change a couple wires and bam, simple huh.

Well, nothing could be farther from the truth, ask for one simple change and AT&T went into complete chaos. Nobody in one department knows what the other department is doing (good reason to tear it down).

On or about March 28, 2009 I was “bundled”. I agreed to combine all my telephone needs with AT&T and at the same time requested my service be relocated to my new address. This included a new cell phone too. And included in the “bundle” was High Speed Internet, or DSL service at my new address.

So which department knew what to do?

Well, I received my new cell phone immediately and activating it was simple. My landline phone service and DSL were scheduled to be active on April 2, 2009. Soon I received an automated phone call from AT&T telling me my phone service had been relocated to my new address. On Saturday, April 4th I received an automated voice message saying AT&T had successfully added DSL to my phone service bundle.

Monday the 6th I tried hooking up my computer to my DSL.

Now this is not new to me as I had AT&T DSL at my old residence but on a different phone line so I have a modem and my computer has been on-line with this modem through AT&T previously. But I soon find I don’t have DSL coming into my house no matter what the automated message told me. Except now the plot thickens. I too have received a letter from AT&T saying I now have AT&T DSL and I am being charged for it since April 2nd.

I make my first phone call and step into the abyss. AT&T tells me they will send a technician and he may have to come in the house. I say no to him coming in the house because I just want to insure DSL has been brought to my house and that can be determined from the outside. Plus, I know from experience that if you don’t have a maintenance contract with AT&T and a technician sets one foot in your house it costs you big time.

By mid-morning the next day the technician has discovered I don’t have DSL Internet service. That it had been provided as stated by WO#T24475-- and then had been disconnected by an AT&T technician Saturday April 4th by WO#C12670--- .

At this point I am becoming concerned because if someone else can just randomly have my services changed without my permission how do you know you are getting what you are paying for unless you are checking every minute to insure you are receiving the services you requested.
So where in the Bermuda Triangle of AT&T am I right now?

I have spent two days talking to folks at AT&T who have their responses down pat. Their training on how to deal with a frustrated customer is obvious. They all blow smoke in your ear. I had one tell me I had asked to have my DSL turned off and then I was told I never ordered DSL. I’ve been told that managers will call me that have not called. I was told my account would be credited that has not been.

I have repeatedly asked to speak to someone who could fix my problem to only be put on the merry-go-round of different departments that hand me to someone else while never accomplishing a thing. I was told to re-order DSL service that some departments say I already have and others say I never requested.

It is painfully obvious that at AT&T the left hand does not know what the right hand is doing. It appears no one is capable of finding their own rear end using both hands and a flashlight. Plus management could not pour sand out of a boot if the instructions were on the bottom of the heel.

When I had AT&T DSL Internet service before, it was great. But getting it back is worse than having a root canal without novacaine.

I would never buy AT&T stock because customer service is so far removed from their mission they don’t even have a customer relations department and in a downturn, customer care will make a difference.

So before you “bundle” with AT&T I recommend you research other avenues first. This is a nightmare.

Garbage Cans in Downtown Middletown!

I feel so dumb. So unobservant. So misinformed.

We’ve had a store front on Calistoga Street for over 20 years and I never saw garbage as a problem. I saw inadequate parking as a problem. I saw excessive rent which caused vacant store fronts as a problem. I saw lack of support for local business as a problem. I saw unfair business practices as a problem. And I see unattended street banners as a problem.

But MABA and Lake County Government saw garbage on Calistoga Street as a problem.

Well no more because they placed some very attractive garbage cans on Calistoga Street and now garbage will never be a problem again. Thank you GOD and congratulations to the intelligencia, the observant and the informed.

South Lake County Alert

It has been reported that Stoney Prior, a high-risk sex offender, disappeared Friday in Lake County, a day after his release from prison.

State law officials are searching for Prior who was released from prison Thursday but who disappeared Friday after removing his electronic ankle bracelet in the area of Main Street in Lower Lake,.

Megan’s Law Web site states he was convicted of assault with intent to commit rape, sodomy or oral copulation.

He is described as being 31, 5 feet 6 inches tall, weighing 150 pounds and has long black hair and brown eyes and is an American Indian.

Anyone with information about his whereabouts is asked to call law enforcement immediately.