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Show THE ZEFHYROCTOBER 1993 PAGE 28 Uncommon Sense By Hank Rutter fa Moki Canyon fa than 24 hours. It was unrealistic to expect solitude or even peace and quiet to work harder. Go north of Good Hope Bay or August. To find those commodities, you have d find all you In down to the San Juan arm and you might find some in August. November, you want in Mold Canyon, and good fishing, too. I sure did. Just like Stiles I had no right to feel that my home was overrun by subhumans, but summer night and finds 150 people feels when he hikes up to see Delicate Arch on a full moon local rancher feels when the government raises grazing up there to enjoy it with him. Just like a for generations. fees 130 and usurps control of the water on land he and his family have grazed we have think priority. But somebody, We are all squatters fa Southern Utah, and we each takes whether its the TFH, the government, the environmentalists, or the mountain bikers, always it from us. We get upset, but in the end, we're still just squatters. - somebody should make a I left Moki Canyon the next day with only one firm conviction jet ski with a good muffler. FOLLOW THE MONEY LAKE POWELL BLUES was recently with friends on Lake Powell and had the good fortune to find a secluded houseboat site at the far end of Moki Canyon. Our only neighbor was a single houseboat much farther down the shore. As a precaution, we placed a small inflatable dinghy on the immediately adjacent site to ward off additional neighbors. The evening was windy but still delightful, and the next morning was even more delightful without the wind. We swam across to the opposing canyon wall and rested on the dead cottonwoods before the long swim back. While there, we saw lizards sunning themselves a few feet above the water on the sheer 50 foot sandstone wall. We floated on various devices well suited for that purpose. We ate, we drank, and we hung out, aU in virtual silence. But we paid the price for using the dinghy we had stored next door - we soon had new neighbors. A sleek cabin cruiser pulled in with its crew, a fortysomething couple and their young daughter. As it turned out, they were as good neighbors as anyone could ask for on the lake quiet, private, but friendly on the rare occasion when contact with them was necessary. By early afternoon, we had become totally accustomed to the lazy pace of our life - go for a swim, then float, dry off, get a drink, read, get hot, and start over. Suddenly, four houseboats, three speedboats, and at least three jet skis roared into our little piece of paradise and set up an urban tenement less than a hundred yards away. The tourists from hell (the TFH") had arrived. I had never been up dose and personal with jet skis before. They are loud and fast, and the people who drive them tend to stay too dose to home. Jet skiing and swimming are not compatible uses in the farther reaches of Moki Canyon. Jet skiing and doing anything other than listening to rap music at deafening decibel levels are incompatible uses. The TFH raced back and forth on their jet skis right under our noses, endlessly doing inane tricks that were obviously more enjoyable to perform than to observe. What kind of people were the TFH-folwho come to Lake Powell with thirty of their dosest friends to impose their cacophonous, mechanized euphoria on innocent third parties. My mood darkened. Were the TFH intentionally trying to drive us off? Where was Clint Eastwood when you needed him? We resolved to continue our vacation as though they didn't exist. I swam across the lagoon but was forced to tum back when a jet ski passed within 8 feet of me going thirty miles an hour. We launched a small flotilla of inner tubes and air mattresses but quickly surrendered to the technological superiority of the TFH navy when it appeared the children were in danger. By now, I was hopping mad, perhaps as angry as I have been in 10 years. I unmoored our speedboat and accelerated into their encampment at full power, turning at the last moment to cause the greatest possible wake. The TFH didn't even notice. We launched a scouting party, which unfortunately determined there were no other houseboat sites in Moki Canyon and that it was too windy in the main channel and too late in the day to find a new home. Stark reality sunk in. Our formerly idyllic haven had been overrun by unwelcome newcomers and there was nothing we could do about it As 1 reflected on the situation over an appropriate beverage, it occurred to me that I was experiencing what Stiles feels I President Clinton's recently enacted tax plan contains a fascinating provision not widely executives in to reported in the press. Corporations may no longer deduct salary payments top held to law new The corporations, not publicly excess of one million dollars a year. only applies to private corporations or partnerships, and then only to certain corporate officers, not to all most of them, are top employees. Millionaires are a diverse group. Not all of them, not even the did held of executives government change the rules for some corporations. Why publicly make sense, you'll find the telltale law doesn't a when millionaires and not for others? Usually fingerprints of politics around the crime scene. Politidans have to reward friends, and large campaign contributors are the best friends of politicians. Organized labor has long been a major source of campaign funds for the Democratic Party, and it therefore has warm and cozy relations with Democratic politicians. But unions have been having problems in the real world delivering wage increases to their members. Union members who don't get wage increases begin to wonder what they are paying their dues for. If unions can't deliver short term benefits to their members, their long term shortcoming becomes apparent - high labor rates and inflexible work rules cripple unionized companies fa competition Well, Hank. ..Nancy and I Just want to send our -- congratulations and best wishes on your new column. This Is a great opportunity, not just for you, but for God-feari- ng Americans everywhere. ks every day. My dislike for jet skis reminded me of Stiles' aversion to mountain bikes, and I was even more misinformed. I have never been on a jet ski, so I have no way of knowing whether it really is fun or just a good way to annoy other people. At least Stiles once rode a mountain bike, even if it was only to research a column confirming his preconceived notions and denigrating the sport. L too, used to dislike mountain biking until I learned how to do it. Now, it's a great way to stay in shape, and I've been to some beautiful places I otherwise might not have seen. I had no right to feel that Moki canyon was my home and that the TFH were violating it. I was as much a squatter as any of the TFH, and my claim of priority in time was slender - less 'PcvuuUm, tteol S Ludean Walker (H) Janie Tuft (H) 259-836- Office: 801-259-26- 259-50- 26 0 50 adversaries. Unions like to think the reason that unionized companies don't with do well fa the marketplace (and hence can't give wage increases) is because chief executives get paid too much. Even if they are dead wrong, they can always use a fallback position for thdr members, "We couldn't get you a decent raise, but management is taking a pay cut." So reducing executive compensation through the tax laws was the perfect appetizer for Big Labor in Clinton's tax plan (more about the main course later). The Democrats had no choice but to sponsor the legislation in payment for the unions' massive campaign contributions. But there was a problem. The other big funding source for the Democratic Party, the media and entertainment industry, had concerns with the proposal Lots of media and entertainment companies pay athletes and entertainers over a million dollars a year. Hie stars were happy to support Clinton's call for increased taxes on the wealthy because they were getting other filings they wanted and they could arrange their affairs to avoid the new taxes anyway. They could, for example, take stock option profits fa 1992 (like the bigwigs at Disney did), and invest fa municipal bonds and collectables, like art and fancy homes. But the limit on corporate salary deductions was a real problem. A mere million bucks a year must have seemed like the minimum wage to these Hollywood types. 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