Because of this overpopulation, the bears start showing up on city streets and in local
backyards. Last year, to fix the problem of overpopulation, the New Jersey legislature
passed a bill to allow bear hunting. How convenient?
In California (another state mentioned) last year, two joggers were killed by a
mountain lion. Is this the result we have to have in New Mexico before people start
respecting the job that the Personnel in the Game and Fish Department is doing on a
daily basis for our safety? Do we need those results for people to start supporting the
Game and Fish physically and financially like hunters, fisherman and trappers do? If
you don't want to buy a hunting, fishing or fur-bearer license, you can always make a
financial donation on a Game and Fish Department license form, which is available
statewide.
Now let me tell you about the routine of a trapper. First, a trapper check his traps
three to five times a day, depending on how many there are and their distance between
one another, which is normally half a mile to 15 miles. Fur-trappers always make their
last round at sunset to ensure that no animal is left overnight. When they arrive at a trap
that contains a captured predator, they take a wooden stick or wood handle of a shovel
Complex Arguments for Analysis 237
and, at a safe distance, hit the predator on the end of the nose, which knocks the predator
unconscious. They next proceed to kick the predator's heart, which is the same as
reverse CPR, the animal does not feel a thing. During the procedure, there is very little
blood loss, because if blood gets on the pelt, it would ruin its value, a value that has gone
up in recent years.
On a level of cruelty, let's compare trapping to fishing. At first thought, there is no
comparison, right? I have described trapping to you, now I would like to describe
fishing to you.
First, you get a pole with a string and at the bottom of the string you put a sharp
hook and then bait the hook. Second, you throw the string (with the hook on it) 20 to 30
yards into the water and snare the fish in the mouth with the hook; and then drag the fish
back 20 to 30 yards; pull the fish out of the water, where it cannot breathe; pull the hook
out of its mouth and throw it back in the water so the next person can do the same thing.
I did not write this letter to bash on fishing. I am an avid fisherman. I just wish
people would look at all the facts before they start drawing conclusions about something
they know nothing about and have never experienced.
Would the public rather see these predators in our backyards because they are
overpopulated and starving? If states keep banning trapping and other traditional
predation control methods, we're going to see the same problems that New Jersey and
California have dealt with.
So would you, as an American, rather see trappers carrying on the traditions of their
family roots or see a child get killed by a predator on a school playground?
Wesley Hill, El Defensor Chieftain, August 28, 2004
9. U.S. House wants taxes, IRS to die— yeah, right
Even by the lax standards governing political grandstanding, what the U.S. House did
was particularly dumb.
As the lawmakers rushed to leave town on spring break, the Republicans pushed
through a bill, 229-187, to abolish the federal tax code and the Internal Revenue Service
on December 31, 2004.
The bill now goes to the Senate, where the measure's House backers assume it will
die a quiet and certain death. If the Senate were malicious enough to enact it, the House
would be forced into a hasty and embarrassing retraction, since the nation can't function
without taxes and the means to collect them.
Voting to abolish the IRS was, of course, designed to give lawmakers something to
boast about on Tax Day, Monday, on the assumption that the taxpayers back home are so
dim they will somehow appreciate this gesture.
"We are again demonstrating to the American people, 'We are on your side,'" says
House GOP leader Dick Armey of Texas. Sure you are.
Every April, Congress likes to pretend that the income tax and the IRS materialized
out of nowhere. They denounce the tax laws for their avaricious complexity and the
coldhearted bureaucrats who administer them.
However, the tax laws are the way they are, and the IRS is the way it is, because
Congress wants them that way. A mischievous document called the Constitution gives
238 COMPLEX ARGUMENTS
Congress, and specifically the House, the sole power to "lay and collect taxes."
And this inane bit of political grandstanding is nothing compared with the political
contortions lawmakers will go through to get assigned to the House Ways and Means
Committee, the very panel that oversees the IRS and writes the tax laws.
Editorial, Albuquerque Tribune, April 18, 2000
10. Smokers die early, but it's not all bad
The big tobacco organization [Philip Morris] recently hired the consulting organization
of Arthur D. Little to prepare a piece of actuarial economic analysis that turned out to be
remarkable, in its own way. The report was such good news, as seen by Philip Morris,
that the corporate thinkers began distributing it through the Czech Republic as a grand
PR tool.
Here's the good news that has Philip Morris bragging: The report concludes that
smoking has produced "positive effects" for the Czech Republic's budget—due to
revenue from taxes on cigarettes plus "health-care cost savings due to early mortality."
Do not adjust your bifocals. The Philip Morris-Arthur D. Little report not only says
it but also has the numbers to prove it.
Big tobacco's good Euro-news: The premature demise of Czech smokers saved the
Czech Republic between 943 million and 1.19 billion Czech koruna, which is $23.8
million to 30.1 million U.S. dollars, in 1999, the report says. That's because the Czech
government didn't have to pay for long-term health care, pensions and housing for the
elderly—because, of course, they were dead.
The organizational duo of Philip Morris and Arthur D. Little have more numbers to
make their good news case. They have factored in the downside costs incurred by the
government due to smokers, in terms of the government paying for the care of people
who become ill due to smoking or second-hand smoke, plus the income tax revenue that
is lost because of the death of working smokers. The combined corporate thinkers
weighed the costs and benefits and still came up with a good news bottom line: In 1999,
the Czech government had a net gain of 5.82 billion koruna ($147.1 million) due to
smoking.
Philip Morris execs explained to the Wall Street Journal that they have been handing
out the report to counter complaints from Czech officials that smoking had caused the
government to incur large health care costs. Philip Morris cares—because it makes
approximately 80 percent of the cigarettes smoked in the Czech Republic and owns 77.5
percent of the once state-owned Czech tobacco company.
Now the sticklers have begun to surface. Some anti-tobacco experts are saying that
the Phillip Morris study is flawed, because it doesn't consider such things as the
economic impact that would occur if those
who were smoking simply stopped smoking
and continued to pay taxes and buy goods—rather than opting out by prematurely dying.
I, however, take the Big Tobacco's best and brightest at their word. I recall the bad
old days when all of the tobacco bigwigs sat in a line at a table in a congressional
hearing room and swore before the U.S. Congress and the Almighty that tobacco was not
addictive, let alone a killer weed.
Now Big Tobacco is stipulating that of course their weed is a killer. A mass
Complex Arguments for Analysis 239
murderer. Now they are simply saying that the good news is that there is a bottom line
virtue in the mass killing caused by the cancer sticks that are their livelihood.
Just look at the good numbers.
The deadly duo of Philip Morris and Arthur D. Little have produced a line of
reasoning that could cause lawyers for accused war criminals such as Yugoslavia's
Slobodan Milosevic to rewrite their defense arguments.
Martin Schram, Scripps Howard News Service, July 25, 2001
11. Nuclear waste to travel through Utah to N.M.
The first of 4,900 shipments of radioactive waste is expected to roll through northern
Utah on Tuesday headed from Idaho to New Mexico for disposal.
"We expect it to pass through the state without incident," Utah Division of Radiation
National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory.
Still, more than 900 Utah law-enforcement officers, firefighters and paramedics have
been trained in how to deal with a possible traffic accident involving radioactive
materials, said Sinclair. And, the Utah Highway Patrol has obtained specialized
equipment to monitor for radiation leaks in case of an accident.
"(Motorists) shouldn't be any more concerned than when coming into contact with
a gasoline truck, which is a greater hazard in my opinion," said Sinclair.
Cindy King, a member of the Utah Chapter of the Sierra Club's environmental
health committee, said she has greater safety concerns. "One you glow and one you
don't," she said of Sinclair's comparison. . . .
The first truck will contain clothing, tools, rags, debris and other disposable items
contaminated with man-made radioactive elements used in the development of nuclear
weapons. The material is less radioactive than spent fuel from nuclear power plants, but
it remains toxic for thousands of years and requires special handling.
Associated Press, April 25, 1999
12. Women distract from training. Inclusion at military colleges lowers standards.
The essence of ground combat is to kill or capture the enemy by fire and maneuver.
Sometimes this includes hand-to-hand fighting with bayonets and even bare knuckles.
Those who have never been in actual kill-or-be-killed combat cling to a wishful,
even wistful, notion that our future combat leaders can be trained effectively in the same
educational environment that produces poets and politicians. Strolling the halls of ivy,
hand-in-hand with coeds, while talking of Yeats and Shelley isn't likely to produce
many George Pattons.
The reality of actual combat requires an absolute and total focus on killing or
capturing others whose mission is to kill or capture you. It is a business that does not
permit distraction.
Historically, institutions such as The Citadel and Virginia Military Institute have
produced some of the United States' best combat officers. Unless and until our nation
totally loses its collective mind and puts women into the combat arms, we, like the
Israelis, do not permit women to serve in front-line combat units. Front-line combat
remains an all-male endeavor, and it should follow that the training environment
240 COMPLEX ARGUMENTS
designed to place males in the line of fire should not be diluted by the distractions
inevitably presented by the presence of women.
Unfortunately, the courts have ruled that women must be allowed to study at
publicly funded military colleges such as The Citadel and VMI. Such decisions are
based, no doubt, on conceptions of civil law. Sadly, those decisions have not been based
on the cruel and harsh realities of actual combat.
Moreover, the inclusion of women in military training, including our national
service academies, has led to the lowering of physical standards for males and females
alike. Someday, we may pay a high price for sacrificing effective combat training on the
altar of women's rights.
Combat is a serious business. America should reconsider this matter and permit
certain institutions to conduct all-male military education and training. But for now, we
seem more interested in social experimentation than winning on the field of battle.
William Hamilton, retired Army officer and syndicated columnist, served two years
in combat with the 1st Air Cavalry Division in Vietnam. USA Today, May 7, 1999
13. Prairie Dogs
Just about every time the word "prairie dog" is mentioned anymore in Iron County, there
is heated debate.
Biology professor Jim Bowns discussed prairie dogs during a meeting sponsored by
the Color Country Chapter of People for the West in Cedar City Thursday night. Bowns
is a professor for both Southern Utah University and Utah State University.
Prairie dogs are a threatened species in Southern Utah. There has been quite a bit of
argument in Iron County over how to preserve the little critters without creating chaos.
Iron County is working on a Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP) otherwise known as
the Prairie Dog Plan. The HCP will serve as a blanket application for people to safely
Bowns dissected the HCP page by page, voicing his concerns and explaining jargon
to the audience. Several discussions ensued during the process.
Bowns said he is especially concerned with prairie dog habitat.
"Finding ideal habitat for prairie dogs is not simple," he said.
The prairie dogs usually have about a 6 percent survival rate, a 94 percent loss, he
continued, reading from the HCP.
Lin Drake appeared unhappy at this statement. He is a developer and an officer for
the Color Country Chapter of People for the West. If he lost 94 percent of his business,
Drake explained that the bank sure wouldn't be accommodating. "Yet they're expecting
Iron County to put millions of dollars into a project that is a losing cause," he said. . . .
Throughout the discussion, the topic of government distrust surfaced and resurfaced.
"Eighteen people came to me this week to talk about the plan," Jack Hill said. Hill
is president of the Color Country Chapter of People for the West.
"They have a lack of faith in the federal government and they don't have any trust,"
Hill said. "The whole issue is with the government."
Drake agreed, saying the HCP appears to weaken his rights to his land. He would
prefer the government back off and worry about more important things, he said.
Complex A rguments for Analysis 241
"We've got fathers beating babies and drugs on the streets and we're spending
money on this," Drake said. "Tell them to get the hell out of Iron County." . . .
Drake was disappointed at the turnout of the meeting. Only a do
zen people
attended, though the meeting was advertised adequately.
"They'll wake up when we don't have a community left," he said.
The Spectrum, April 18, 1997
(On June 26,1997, Lin Drake was fined $15,000 by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service for putting a subdivision on a prairie dog habitat.)
14. Sailors imprisoned for rape
(Concerning the rape of a school girl by three U.S. sailors in Okinawa)
Letter to the editor:
Judging by your opinionated editorial about the Navy, it appears your paper is
entirely governed by women for you do not have the slightest conception of what men
are all about. But several points need emphasizing:
1. All human beings are animals, and sex is an integral part of their well-being.
2. When a man meets a woman, his thoughts go quickly past the beauty of her eyes
and the color of her hair, certainly the capabilities of her brain. That comes later! In
1995, many women have the same thoughts about men.
3. Soldiers, especially sailors who have been at sea for a long time, have a libido
that's healthy and must be sustained in order to function normally. Ask any veteran to
confirm what precedes.
4. A prostitute has never been called a decent woman in any language. She is still a
whore who gets paid for a job well-done. Thank you! It's her choosing, not that of the
men at large.
Now, rape is another thing. It is strictly about sex but it is perpetrated by devious
minds who could not care about whom they violate, man or woman. Subjugation of the
female . . . my foot! What counts is sexual satisfaction, nothing else.
Admiral Macke was honest when he declared it was stupid of his sailors to have
raped the Japanese girl when they could have afforded a girl for the price of the rented
car. His remark was not unbelievable; it was just. It had nothing to do with the act
itself. It was a statement of fact.
This society encourages hypocrisy. The admiral was right and brave enough to
declare his assumption in public. He should have been commended for his fortitude in
viewing the world the way it really is, not what it portrays.
Rene Vergught, The Spectrum, December 21, 1995
From Volume 1 of the Bulletin of Advanced Reasoning and Knowledge
The following four passages concern whether an acceptable solution to the problem of stray