Kudos: Chris Cocores

My name is Michelle and I’m a single mom of three. I’m a local, born and raised here in South Lake Tahoe.

I just want to make a shout out to Chris Cocores a local MMA fighter. Chris has been giving a free open class to the community youth of all ages all about MMA.

I’m super grateful and impressed of this and from the bottom of my heart want to thank Chris and anyone else involved in this program. My 6 year old son Alex has been participating in this class since day 1 and he loves it. It has age ranges of all ages and it has been nothing but good for my son.

I myself work with troubled youth from out of our area that are relocated here in South Lake Tahoe to the program I work in with the goal to give these youth a new start. Growing up here and now with the youth I work with I know that we lack programs such as this. My kids that range from 22 down to 6 have also been here their entire lives and trying to find productive programs to keep them busy has been rough.

Now I am left speechless by Chris and anyone else that is helping with this amazing opportunity. Not only are they learning MMA but discipline and gaining self confidence and during these tough times of bullying and mental health in our youth this is a blessing. I wish there were more people so giving and caring in the community but it is also another reason that makes me proud to be a local here in our beautiful South Lake Tahoe.

Thanks to Chris and anyone else involved in making this happen including his team of help and parents, LTCC, Tahoe Youth and Family Services, Elevate youth California and anyone I may have left out. I’m forever in your debt. Tahoe proud. Every Tuesday and Thursday at LTCC Gym 430 to 6 p.m.

Michelle Vargas
South Lake Tahoe

A new kind of politics

Do you want a new kind of politics? I do. Right now. Politics has become a hardcore slugfest of Republican v. Democrat. It’s nasty, defensive, patronizing, coercive, angry, often despairing, and usually mean. Some call other people “idiots,” “vermin,” or “sick,” while others whine, stonewall, gaslight, and patronize. Both sides spend a lot of time justifying themselves – and then they ask for my money.
To me, a new kind of politics starts with reframing the sides: (1) people who live by the Golden Rule and (2) those who don’t. I want to support people who treat others as they want to be treated – in politics, and everywhere.

The Golden Rule: Treat others the way you want them to treat you. It’s not hard to recognize the old kind of politics where people treat each other without restraint to gain control and benefit themselves while hurting others. Religious leaders who ignore the Good Samaritan story are playing the old kind of politics. Politicians who treat their colleagues with contempt are part of the old kind. All who add mean comments on posts are into the old kind. If we can see it, we can choose another way to be.

A “new kind of politics” focuses on what we have in common. How do we create a new kind of politics? First, we focus on what we have in common. Right now, both parties are equally obsessed with differences. Media amplifies. But a new kind of politics starts with looking for what we have in common.

A new kind of politics depends on each of us taking responsibility. Next, we need to accept that a new kind of politics depends on each of us. A new kind of politics requires personal choice. If we want solutions that serve us all, each one of us must exercise our power to influence our collective life. We can each catch ourselves when we blame someone or avoid taking responsibility. We can listen to each other and learn from someone else’s experience. We can say “sorry” when we hurt another person, whether online, in the store, at home. We can hold off from adding hate to posts. Isn’t that how you want to be treated?

Let’s do a new kind of politics. A new kind of politics depends on each of us. It starts with choosing comments and posts online that reflect how we want to be treated ourselves. It extends to what we expect from our politicians – in South Lake Tahoe, in our region, in our nation: truth, kindness, grace, discipline, care, respect. It also means voting for the people who demonstrate the Golden Rule and backing those candidates during elections with your time, energy, money, and vote.

Join me in choosing the Golden Rule and demanding that politicians we elect do, too.

Annie Davidson
South Lake Tahoe