Magazine is awesome

Hats off to all those hard-working folks at the Pahrump Valley Chamber of Commerce who just recently released the 2009 Pahrump Valley Chamber magazine.

I can truly say this is the best overview of our town I've seen come out of the PV Chamber in many years.

The layouts are great and the articles truly show the pride our fine community.

Keep up the good work, Lucy Ivins and your hard-working staff. You are to be commended.

JEANIE GEISER

Food drive update

The employees and volunteers of Nye County Emergency Services want to let the citizens of Pahrump and Tonopah know how their year-long food drive is progressing.

Beginning last November, Nye County has been collecting food once a month for the food pantry at the Pahrump Community Church. We also have hosted two food drives in Tonopah, and these have been donated to the local Salvation Army.

On Saturday, Feb. 28, the people of Pahrump opened up their hearts and their wallets to help those less fortunate than themselves. Over 1,000 pounds of food was donated to feed the more than 500 families who rely on the generosity of this community.

In addition, your cash donations are spent at the grocery store where you give to help resupply the shelves at this local church.

We are amazed and overwhelmed with the kindness that others have, especially in these times of financial hardships. With your ongoing support, we hope to continue to provide for the families of these communities.

As people are in need of help year round, not just at Thanksgiving and Christmas, Nye County Emergency Services will do all they can to help the citizens of these communities.

Let's keep up the good work. We will host another food drive in March and will keep you informed of the locations and dates. If you have any questions or would like additional information, you can call 751-4279.

BRENT JONES

Director, Nye County Emergency Services

Storm's a-brewin'

There's a storm a-brewin'. What happens when good, responsible people keep quiet?

Washington has forgotten they work for us. We don't work for them. Throwing good money after bad is not the answer.

I am sick of the midnight, closed-door sessions to come up with a plan. I am sick of Congress raking CEOs over the coals while they, themselves, have defaulted on their taxes and now have given themselves another raise. I am sick of the bailed-out companies having lavish vacations and retreats on my dollar. I am sick of being told it is my responsibility to rescue people that, knowingly, bought more house than they could afford. I am sick of being made to feel it is my patriotic duty to pay more taxes.

I am a responsible citizen. I pay my taxes. I live on a budget, and I don't ask someone else to carry the burden for poor decisions I may make. I have e-mailed my congressmen and senators asking them to not vote for the stimulus package as it was written without reading it first. They don't listen. No one listened. They voted for it, pork and all.

O.K., folks, here it is. You may think you are just one voice and what you think won't make a difference. Well, yes, it will and yes, we can.

If you are disgusted and angry with the way Washington is handling our taxes; if you are fearful of the fallout from the reckless spending of billions to bail-out and "stimulate" without accountability and responsibility, then we need to become one loud voice that can be heard from every city, town, suburb and home in America. There is a growing protest to demand that Congress, the president and his cabinet listen to us, the American citizens. What is being done in Washington is not the way to handle the economic free fall.

So, here's the plan. On April 1, 2009, all Ameicans are asked to send a tea bag to Washinton, D.C. You do not have to enclose a note or any other information unless you so desire. Just a tea bag. Many cities are organizing protests. If you simply search "New American Tea Party," several sites will come up.

If you aren't the "protester" type, simply make your one voice heard with a tea bag. Your one voice will become a roar when joined with millions of others that feel the same way. Yes, something needs to be done but the lack of confidence as shown by the steady decline in the stock market speaks volumes.

This was not my idea. I visited the sites of the New American Tea Party and an online survey showed over 90 percent of thousands said they would send the tea bag April 1. Why, April 1? We want them to reach Washington by April 15. Will you do it? I will. Send it to: 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., Washington, D.C. 20500.

Forward this to everyone in your address book. I would encourage everyone to go ahead and get the envelope ready to mail, then just drop it in the mail April 1. Can't guarantee what the postage will be by then, it is going up as we speak, but have your envelope ready.

What will this cost you? A little time and a 42 plus cent stamp. What could you receive in benefits? Maybe, just maybe, our elected officials will start to listen to the people. Take out the pork. Tell us how the money is being spent. We want tranparency and accountability. Remember, the money will be spent over the next four to five years. It is not too late to save ourselves and especially our children who will bear the brunt of this endless mess.

BARB JOHNSTON

Response to 'Questioning challenge'

(PVT Letters to the Editor, March 6 edition)

His (Alex Melonas) whole letter is based on wrong assumptions.

We went to Carson City to meet Nevada legislators face to face and introduce ourselves before the animal rights-driven HSUS (Humane Society of the United States) did. It was a preemptive strike on our part; we didn't go there to oppose any specific (poaching) bills at this time.

Chris and I are not gentlemen, we are very much females and none of us are making money off the animals, so Alex's assumption that our visit was financially driven is false.

My animals are my pets, my money pit. When I fight for people's freedom and right to choose what breed or species of the animals we can own and love, it is based on my true passion and belief in the U.S. Constitution that guarantees us the pursuit of happiness and property rights, which animals are.

Therefore, Alex's feeble attempt to discredit me as a credible source because I supposedly make money off the animals doesn't hold any water.

Even if I was making money with my animals, what is wrong with honest profit-making American business? This country wasn't built on donation-dependent taxpayers' money-sucking, salad-eating extreme animal rights people who make too many assumptions and don't research their subjects before making childish attacks using Latin words, attempting to appear sophisticated. Can't fool any Pahrump horse with it.

According to Alex: "It is correct to argue that if the property status of nonhuman animals was eliminated, various forms of exploitation would end: buying and selling 'pets' and 'food animals,' for example." And that is where our disagreement is, as I don't think animal welfare and profit are mutually exclusive.

In fact, growing vegetables and fruit kills many small "pests." Number-wise in body count, vegans likely cause the death of many more animals than meat-eaters do.

So, East Coast vegan Alex Melonas just gave me another reason to say: Outsiders, stay out of Nevada and specifically Pahrump.

ZUZANA KUKOL

President Responsible Exotic Animal Ownership

The correct information

On behalf of Pahrump Community Library, I would like to give the correct information regarding the Library's "snowbirds" cards.

The letter to the editor, "Library funding in Pahrump," dated March 6, by James Armistead was mistaken on several points.

Property tax owners, not federal funding, provide all library funding. The library does offer "Snowbird Cards" to the RV community. For the cost of $25 per year, any person who is not a full-time resident of Pahrump can use the full services of the library. At the end of the year, the library refunds $15. The library keeps $10, which is accounted for in our yearly budget.

The library has a board of trustees, five local individuals who volunteer their time and expertise to set policies for the library. I am proud to reiterate that the bond to fund the construction of the library building was paid off four and a half years early due to excellent management by the trustees.

The library attendance for the past year was 125,176 patrons passing through the doors, checking out 155,988 material items. Total patron usage of the Internet was 25,599 and over 2,000 happy little faces attended story hour. The 16 staff members have over 121 combined years of library experience.

SUSAN WONDERLY

Director

Pahrump Community Library

Pahrump Lockup

Once again it's time for the "Pahrump Lockup," part of the annual Muscular Dystrophy Association's fund drive.

The event is scheduled to take place March 25, at the Pahrump Valley Winery.

It's all in fun and for an extremely good cause. There will be a mock jail at the Winery. The Muscular Dystrophy Association of Southern Nevada has asked several people in Pahrump to be "jailbirds" and to raise bail money in order to stay out of the mock jail.

Toward this end, "wanted posters" have been issued for these jailbirds for the purpose of publicizing the event.

The jailbirds have begun raising their bail money by contacting friends, acquaintances and businesses all over town.

As a member of the Pahrump Valley Chamber of Commerce, I have inserted my poster into the current edition of the chamber's monthly newsletter, which went out to all members.

There are approximately 455 families in Southern Nevada who have children afflicted with MD, and there are about 43 different varieties of the disease. MD is an extremely debilitating disease, forcing children into very elaborate and unique wheel chairs, and requiring them to have assistance for everything they need to do.

The money donated to the MDA is used primarily to acquire and maintain these wheelchairs.

Additionally, a summer camp is held each year for the kids with MD. It's designed and specially equipped to meet their needs, and the staff is especially trained to assist kids, and to make them happy and comfortable in all of their activities.

Unfortunately, this is a difficult time for many people to give money for worthy causes. But there is no cause more worthy than the Muscular Dystrophy Association. This letter is a plea to all of the great people of Pahrump and surrounding communities for help.

If you are able to give any amount at all, large or small, please call me at 751-0929. I will make arrangements to pick up your donation, or receive it in the mail. You can even donate by credit card. All checks should be made out to Muscular Dystrophy Association.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

STAN DAVIS

Clowns with guns

I read with some interest the column, "The clowns who shouldn't have guns," by Mark Smith (PVT Feb. 27).

The only clowns who shouldn't have guns are politicians. The philosophy of the column was like trying to solve a mathematical or chemical equation by only looking at one side of the equation, an obvious impossibility.

I grew up in Europe and my life has overlapped such tyrants as Hitler, Stalin, Mussolini, Franco, Mao Tse Tung, Sadam Hussein, Idi Amin, Pol Pot, numerous South American despots and countless others. Many tens of millions of innocent citizens have been slaughtered by their own governments during my lifetime. This was, and is, where only governments have guns.

The right to keep and bear arms was included in the original documents of this country by the Founding Fathers to preclude those atrocities from happening here. For those who say such atrocities cannot happen here, read the history of the North American Indians, the slaves, the U.S. citizens of Japanese heritage, and on a lesser scale, Ruby Ridge.

There has been much written lately about the right to keep and bear arms, but the trouble is there is never enough time or space to provide the full story, and there certainly won't be here.

The education and knowledge concerning the U.S. historical documents and the right to keep and bear arms is close to nonexistent, e.g., there is no such historical document titled, "The Declaration of Independence," and the "Bill of Rights," confers no rights, including the Second Amendment, only admonishments requiring governments to keep hands off the rights people already have.

There is never enough time to build the foundations on which to explain the full facts, although there is always abundant time and space for emotion and uninformed opinion.

If you want the Constitutional side of the equation, you need to read and understand the Federalist Papers (by Hamilton, Madison and Jay), numbers 28, 29 and 46. The U.S. Supreme Court has, without exception, ruled according to the writing of the Federalist Papers. That is part of the "Supreme Law of the Land." The noted historian Clinton Rossiter states, "The work has always commanded widespread respect as the first and still the most authoritative commentary on the Constitution of the United States." These papers are not easy reading.

To give an idea of the Constitutional side of the equation, here are just two brief excerpts that have significant implications. Remember, at that time there was no standing army or police, only armed citizenry. This provided a safeguard for the people against an errant U.S. government. Paper 29 states:

"If circumstances should at any time oblige the government to form an army of any magnitude, that army can never be formidable to the liberties of the people while there is a large body of citizens, little if at all inferior to them in discipline and the use of arms, who stand ready to defend their own rights and those of their fellow citizens."

This philosophy of the right to keep and bear arms stated above, was the principle behind the Supreme Court ruling in the Miller case of 1938-1939, which basically states that citizens are constitutionally entitled to have any arms that the military has. Paper 46 states:

"To these (an army under a dictator) would be opposed a militia amounting to near half a million of citizens with arms in their hands, officered by men chosen from among themselves, fighting for their common liberties etc. It may well be doubted whether a militia thus circumstanced could ever be conquered by such a proportion of regular troops."

Here the militia is defined as ordinary citizens, supplying their own arms and choosing their own officers.

As an immigrant citizen, I volunteered for a National Guard unit, but was rejected, as I had no prior, U.S., regular military experience.

These conditions discount National Guard units being considered as the militia envisaged by the Founding Fathers. They are reserve units of the regular military.

There is a vast amount of data -- in the Federalist Papers, other fundamental documents of this country and Supreme Court rulings stating unequivocally that we are endowed by our Creator with this unalienable right since time immemorial.

There is far too much to include in this letter to the editor.

If there is sufficient interest in a course on deciphering the Federalist Papers or U.S. Constitution, I would be happy to oblige.

PHILLIP F. HIDER

Ban guns, amend the Constitution

OK, for the sake of argument, let's say all guns are banned and all law-abiding citizens will abide the law and won't own guns.

Oh, and they also already abide all the other laws, like those against robbery and murder.

Conversely, any person possessing a gun will be a law-breaker at the outset, leaving the rest of the field wide open. Do you think this law-breaker will surrender his firearms?

Explain why this law-breaker wouldn't shoot your dog, then proceed with the rest of his malintentions? (And even if he didn't have a gun, what about a knife? Do we ban knives, too?)

If you think firearms should be banned, I'd suggest you join a movement to amend the Constitution, the supreme law of our land. As a heads up, it literally requires an act of Congress and ratification by the states, which might take awhile, but I say go for it if that's what you believe.

Meanwhile, it is my constitutional right to own and operate firearms.

LINDA DELAMARE

Great care at Desert View

I am writing to tell you how pleased we are with the care of my husband, Milton Lindt, received Feb. 10, in the hospital emergency room.

I brought my husband in on that day to the emergency room where Dr. James Ramseier was on duty and I want you to know Dr. Ramseier gave my husband excellent care.

Before he ordered a CAT scan and following the scan, he spent a great deal of time talking to both of us to be sure we understood what was going on with my husband's health.

At our age it is very reassuring to know there still are doctors like Dr. Ramseier, who take time with elderly people in order they may understand their health situations.

Dr. Campton also was a part of the consultation and he, too, takes whatever time is necessary to fully explain one's health care options.

Our community is very fortunate to have two caring, competent doctors on our hospital staff.

EDYTHE LINDT