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Daily Newspaper and Travel Guide
for Pecos Country
of West Texas
Opinion
Tuesday, July 24, 2001
Sage
Views
By Smokey Briggs
Chicken Little presents,
"The sky is warming."
Well the United States stands alone as the rest of the world embraces the
Kyoto Protocol _ a treaty touted as the first binding treaty meant to combat
global warming.
And I am proud to be an American today.
If you actually read some of this treaty, you will be too.
I am pretty sure that the first draft was written when someone secretly
added gin to the punch at a suburban California yuppie/pseudo-hippie's
bridge party and the air conditioning went out.
Besides the fact that the treaty generally abolishes all individual
rights in favor of global regulations there is one other small problem
_ the entire idea of global warming.
Global warming suits many people's agendas but doesn't have much science
to back it up.
So far, the only science involved is an average worldwide temperature
that has climbed a few degrees in the past 100 years or so.
Everything else is conjecture based on this one "fact." Chicken Little
had similar scientific evidence as basis for telling the king the sky was
falling. Foxy Loxy put an end to that foolishness, although Turkey Lurkey,
Goosey Loosey, and Cocky Locky all paid dearly for their combined stupidity
If you have never had children and do not know who Chicken Little is,
it is sufficient to say that she was a very stupid hen who decided the
sky was falling after an acorn hit her on the head. Foxy Loxy managed to
turn Chicken Little and company's collective stupidity into his gain (and
a full stomach).
Anyone with a small knowledge of statistics will tell you that the average
temperature data we have is far too little to be a valid starting point
for scientific research. We have been collecting temperature data for about
100 years. The earth has been warming and cooling for a few years longer
than that.
We do know that the average temperature of the earth changes over long
periods of time in natural cycles. Sometimes it gets warmer and sometimes
it gets colder.
Most of us have heard of the Ice Age and most are glad some global warming
took place thereafter.
We also are pretty sure that it was a global cooling spell around 700
A.D. that made more and more of Scandinavia uninhabitable and urged small
hordes of Norsemen across the North Sea in search of new ways to make a
living and new places to live.
The early Englishmen who fell victim to these raiding Vikings undoubtedly
blamed their plight on global cooling caused by too few fires burning peat
to create the necessary greenhouse gases needed to hold in the heat.
The Magna Fireo Charta was then drafted and ratified dictating that
more wood be burned so that global cooling could be reversed and the pesky
Vikings would go back to warmer homes.
I guess it worked and now we are feeling the final effects _ more heat,
and fewer Vikings.
Today the Chicken Little's of the world have seized upon a few degrees
upswing and decided the sky is falling. The Kyoto Protocol is the result
of their combined pecking.
My question is, "Where is Foxy Loxy?" I suspect he is one of the Kyoto
Protocol's biggest supporters.
EDITOR'S NOTE: Smokey Briggs is the editor and publisher of the
Pecos Enterprise whose column appears on Tuesdays. He can be e-mailed at:
smokey@pecos.net
Our View
Amnesty is wrong answer for illegal immigrants
Another amnesty for illegal immigrants is the wrong answer to any immigration
woes between the United States and Mexico.
A lot of different folks have a horse in the immigration race and it
is making for some interesting bedfellows. President Bush is courting the
Hispanic vote and sees an amnesty program as worth more than a few points
with the Hispanic community.
The Democrats see hordes of newly minted democrat-minded voters.
The Republicans see the same thing and do not like it. Yet they do acknowledge
the role of illegal labor in the economy and understand the significance.
Added together it looks like another amnesty program for existing illegal
aliens is on the horizon.
Such a program is wrong. Another amnesty for existing illegal aliens
rewards an illegal act and such rewards invite more of the same behavior.
It is also terribly unfair to all of the people who have legally immigrated
to America, folks who jumped through the hoops and did what it took to
come here legally.
The justification for such a program, aside from who might vote for
whom, is that America needs the labor force provided by illegal immigrants,
primarily Mexicans.
Maybe so. But justification does not make something right. Lots of people
need money. Robbing banks is still illegal.
A common sense solution would be to start a work program that facilitates
workers coming to America legally for a period of time. That would bypass
the necessary red tape of immigration, allow people to go where the jobs
are, and maintain a viable workforce.
It would also cut out the political posturing for votes that is going
on between the Democrats and Republicans.
The saddest part of this problem is that any justification is possible
_ that without illegal immigrants, many low-paying, manual labor jobs would
be left undone despite plenty of people left on the unemployment and welfare
rolls.
That is a sad commentary on the welfare state we have created in America
_ a welfare state where citizens can and will draw government checks rather
than work.
Your View
Guests should be recognized at events
Dear Editor:
Well, another year of festivities during the 4th of July
has come and gone. As far as I was concerned, most of the activities went
well. But, I was really disappointed in the Golden Girl Revue this year.
I realize my opinion is only one opinion, and it's from the mother of a
former Golden Girl. I do understand that the most important issue, is the
nominees and that it is "their special day." However, I do not think that
everything else should be overlooked.
An invitation is extended each year to the former Golden Girls to come
and be recognized as an "Oldie Goldie." I believe that if a person takes
the time to send back the invitation stating she will attend, take off
of work and drive over 200 miles, then she should at least be recognized.
I understand that their were six former Golden Girls in the audience, but
were told not enough showed up to recognize them. Even if only one shows
up, she should be recognized, as she took the time to come.
Also, at the brunch, only one hostess even acknowledged that a new person
was in their midst, along with one current nominee, not to mention, there
weren't any introductions or comments on behalf of the former Golden Girls.
If it had not been that a friend of ours was in the revue, the day would
have been just a total waste. This was the first time, and believe it will
be the last time, that she was able to attend the brunch and the revue.
I hope that in the future, the chairperson takes into consideration
some of the above mentioned items, so another tradition will not die.
PEGGY COX
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Pecos Enterprise
York M. "Smokey" Briggs, Publisher
Division of Buckner News Alliance, Inc.
324 S. Cedar St., Pecos, TX 79772
Phone 915-445-5475, FAX 915-445-4321
e-mail news@pecos.net
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