The MONAHANS NEWS

AREA HOME PAGE

ARCHIVES
Archives 97


Links to News Photos


|

Weekly Newspaper and Tourism Guide for Ward County Trans Pecos, Big Bend of West Texas

Opinion

February 12, 1998

Cyber Gab

If you are new to the internet, you've probably heard about viruses and
are at least a little concerned about getting one. A relative of mine
(who will remain nameless) was afraid that I'd get physically ill just
by chatting. I explained that computer viruses did not make you sick and
no one, as of yet, had died because of them. I was aware that the
computer might be sent a virus, but I had heard enough about them to
know that they are rare.
If you do suspect a virus is being sent to you, just turn your computer
off! If your computer is off, there is no way for a virus to be
transmitted. Mostly, you should be wary of getting very long e-mails
from people you don't know. The virus usually will come in the form of
an attachment. The best safeguard against getting a virus is just to be
nice. Even though you cannot see the people behind the handle to which
you are talking, remember most follow The Golden Rule and are a lot like
you.

Net Tip of the Week
This week's net tip is a guide to some places I've found on the internet
that are informative and entertaining.
1. www.acmepet.com
AcmePet is a fun place for people that have pets of all sorts to meet
and interact with other people all over the world that have pets.
2. www.parentsplace.com
Whether you have children or are expecting them, this is a great place
to visit.
3.www.pecos.net/news/monahans/home.htm. If you were wondering whether
the Monahans News had their own web site, then search no more! At
Pecos.net you can find newspapers from all over West Texas.
Hometown Homepages

Stephanie Kittley
www.geocities.com.Broadway/Stage/9480
If you have a homepage you would like to have printed or a question
answered, please feel free to e-mail or write.
E-Mail:
silvervendetta@hotmail.com
Snail Mail:
PO Box 187
Wickett TX 79788

Monahans's Well

By Jerry Curry

Just because I'm a Democrat does not mean I am an idiot.
There I've done it. You now know everything about me.
Yes, I am a Democrat.
(Publisher's Note: I'm glad you finally acknowledged it. Admission is
the first step toward recovery.)
(Editor's Note: The publisher is a Republican.)
Yes, I am a Democrat and we Democrats have had many obstacles to
overcome or bypass in the last few years, generally a whole gaggle of
office seekers on the state and national level who claim to be Democrats
but who seem to be refugees from assorted penitentiaries.
It seems the only place the Democratic Party I know still exists is out
here in the sand or out there in the brush; down there in the river
bottom; or over there in the woods or standing in the streets far from
the high rise office towers. It seems state and national Democrats,
who once fought for the people and against the plunderers, have joined
the pillage. If it were not for Cactus Democrats, the real Democratic
Party would no longer exist. For your information, a Cactus Democrat is
defined roughly as a member of the Democratic Party who believes in
freedom of the individual, votes Democrat in local elections and, in
past years, for anybody but the Democrat in a regional, state or
national election unless the regional Democrat is someone like Coleman's
own Bob Turner, who is our man in the Texas House of Representatives and
who represents his constituency so well he might well be a Cactus
Democrat.
I am saying all this because a nice lady called the office and asked our
publisher to tell me to stop ridiculing William Jefferson Clinton, who
is not a Cactus Democrat but who is a lying, cowardly, philandering
flim flam man of rare skills, who also is President of the United
States, and who, if the polls can be believed, is supported by an
overwhelming majority of the citizens of these United States.
This has to be the only president in the history of the United States
who didn't have the courage to fight in his generation's war and then
has the gall to stand up there in Washington and say he's going to go
whup Old Sadaam because Old Sadaam is the Devil Incarnate and needs to
be whupped. William Jefferson Clinton is going to administer this
whupping by sending a few Tejanos, West Texas roughnecks, Arkansas
hillbillies, flatlander cotton farmers and city slum kids over there to
do the job. Do not worry boys. William Jefferson Clinton won't be any
closer to the action now than he was when a lot of good people were
getting shot at by Uncle Ho for the benefit of the CIA's dope traffic
but that's another story.
Let's look at this Iraq thing. First, I am not mad at any Iraqi and
that includes Sadaam. If I were I'd hitchhike over there to Baghdad and
invite Sadaam out in the parking lot. What is even more interesting is
there aren't that many people mad at Sadaam, who admittedly is three
shades the other side of a locked hospital ward but who is just as big a
coward as William Jefferson Clinton. Second, the United States has no
strategic interest in Iraq, none. Every drop of oil in that region heads
for Japan and Western Europe. Third, the United States policy to contain
Iraq and Iran, by war if need be so long as William Jefferson Clinton
doesn't have to fight, is bonkers. The best way to handle Sadaam and
Iran is to let them fight each other.
Now, I am going to tell you how to resolve this so we can get back to
more important things like guessing how many times William Jefferson
Clinton can cheat on his wife between 8 a.m. and noon on a Monday after
a weekend in Camp David.
We will allow William Jefferson Clinton and Sadaam to fight. We will put
the fight on pay-per-view out at the Million Barrel and we might make
some honest dollars for the Democratic National Committee.
True it wouldn't be much of a fight. Both of them would take one look at
each other and run for the bosom bars of Odessa.

Our View

Every now and then something really right happens.
This was true at the Monahans Chamber of Commerce banquet on Saturday
night when Billee Lou Harris received the Chamber's annual award for
citizen of the year.
We can think of no more deserving person.
Billee Lou Harris has done a lot of work for this community and this
county. She has done it with a smile. But, perhaps even more than her
business and civic success, Billee Lou Harris has done this and remained
a lady at all times and all places.
Thank you, Billee Lou.

Letter from the editor

By Steve Patterson

City Manager David Mills loves to talk trash. Perhaps I should clarify
my statement before I'm accused of picking on the big guy again.
If you have a couple hours to spare, just ask David what's going on at
the city's landfill. He will provide you with enough information about
government regulations and restrictions to fill a dumpster. In fact,
when Mills gets wound up, the only way to get him off the subject is to
mention cigars.
As anyone who has ever stumbled across an illegal - thus unregulated -
dump can tell you, it important to the health and welfare of a town to
have a well-run disposal operation. However, there is one persistent
problem for this country's landfills which is a challenge for city
managers everywhere.
Tires!
Recently, Monahans taxpayers had to pay to have a huge pile of old
tires hauled from the dump to a company over near the Caprock. If the
city had not hit the company's deadline, there would have been an
additional charge. There have been several attempts around the nation to
setup tire recycling operations, but none have successfully shown how to
do it profitably. There was talk for a while of using old rubber to coat
highways, but I think that idea went the way of those Mexican sandals
made from old tires called huaraches which were so popular among the
hipsters of 60s.
If you have bought a set of tires recently, you may noticed a new
surcharge to cover the cost of disposing of used tires. You can take old
tires to our dump, but only if they have been quartered, split or
ground-up.
It is estimated that Americans toss out 250 million used tires every
year and although most of them might be worthless, they are still going
to be around taking up space for years to come. (Of course, I guess I
can be accused of the same thing.)
But from all this unwanted and unneeded clutter, we have an unsung
hero in one Mr. Stuart A. Hoenig, a retired University of Arizona
professor. Mr. Hoenig and his work was recently the subject of an
interesting article written by Angelica Pence for the Arizona Daily Sun.
I am currently trying to obtain permission from that newspaper to
reprint the story in full for our readers. But let me give you a brief
outline about Hoenig.
This gentleman, who though retired is far from inactive, has come up
with a use for tires which has proven itself to slow erosion around
arroyos and washes in the desert. Using old tires, gravel and chain-link
fence, he has constructed several dams.
The cost of a 30-foot-long, six-foot-tall tire dam is $6,500, or about
$63,500 less than the cost of an conventional concrete dam
Above Hoenig's dam, researchers have reportedly noticed an increase in
insects, birds, snakes and plants. Trees have taken root and green is
coming to places that were not green before. As plants and grass sprout,
cattle and wildlife will probably follow.
I don't have to tell you that there is probably a few places here in
Ward County where it may be advantageous to put a few tire dams.
It sure would beat having to use tax money to haul the things off to a
plant at the Caprock.

Anti-Nuke Petitions

Citizens are signing a petition to be sent to the two Texas United
States senators asking them to stop the proposed dumping of nuclear
waste five miles East of Sierra Blanca. Kay Bailey Hutchinson supports
the plan. She knows there aren't many votes in West Texas. Phil Gramm
has not taken a public stand. The U.S. Senate will decide soon on the
Maine-Vermont-Texas Compact to allow it. This is a $50 million deal with
$5 million up front to the Austin politicians and bureaucrats. So far
the $2.5 million promised Hudspeth County has not bought county
endorsement but Hudspeth County obviously will take the cash if the
Senate ratifies. Sign the anti-nuclear petition. If you need a reason to
sign, please note that on Monday, Feb. 9, 56 miles of Interstate 10 near
Sonora was closed and rural residents evacuated. A truck loaded with
hydrofluoric acid overturned. What if that were I-20 in Ward County and
a nuclear waste truck had overturned?



Search Entire Site:


Pecos Enterprise
Mac McKinnon, Publisher
Peggy McCracken, Webmaster
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

Associated Press text, photo, graphic, audio and/or video material shall not be published, broadcast, rewritten for broadcast or publication or redistributed directly or indirectly in any medium.

Copyright 1997 by Pecos Enterprise