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Show Page 2 The Ogden Valley news Volume XX Issue III March 1, 2012 The Ogden Valley news Staff: Shanna Francis Tel: 801-745-2688 Fax: 801-745-0062 Cell: 801-791-4387 E-Mail: slfrancis@digis.net Jeannie Wendell Tel: 801-745-2879 Fax: 801-745-2879 E-Mail: crwendell@digis.net crwendell@msn.com Opinions expressed by advertisers, columnists or letters to the editor are not necessarily the opinions of the owners and staff of The Ogden Valley news. guidelines for Letters to the Editor Letters should be 300 words or less. Letters must be signed and the address of the writer submitted. The Ogden Valley news reserves the right to edit or decline printing of any submissions. Announcements Sought As a community service, The Ogden V alley n ews will print local birth, wedding, obituary, anniversary and missionary farewell & homecoming and Eagle Scout announcements free of charge. We invite residents to send their announcements to: The Ogden Valley news PO BOX 130 EDEN UT 84310 If you would like your submitted items returned, please send a stamped, selfaddressed envelope. The Ogden Valley news , while respecting all property received, will take no responsibility for lost or misplaced items. Please remember to keep a copy for yourself. Invitation for Articles The staff of The Ogden Valley news welcomes the submission of articles by our readership. We invite you to submit local historical accounts or biographies, articles pertaining to contemporary issues, and/or other material that may be of interest to our readers. We also invite you to submit to the paper, or notify the staff of local events. Awards that have been earned by the reader, family members, neighbors or friends are also sought. While the staff of The Ogden Valley news invites the submittal of information and articles, we reserve the right to select which material will be considered for publication. All material, to be considered, must be submitted with the full name, address and telephone number of the person submitting the material. The OgdenValley news’liability on account of errors in, or omissions of, advertising shall in no event exceed the amount of charges for the advertising omitted or the space occupied by the error. The Ogden Valley news does not endorse, promote or encourage the purchase or sale of any product or service advertised in this newspaper. Advertisements are the sole responsibility of the advertiser. The Ogden Valley news hereby disclaims all liability for any damage suffered as the result of any advertisement in this newspaper. The Ogden Valley news is not responsible for any claims or representations made in advertisements in this newspaper. The Ogden Valley news has the sole authority to edit and locate any classified advertisement as deemed appropriate. It also reserves the right to refuse any advertising. Note: The contents of The Ogden Valley News are copyrighted. To protect this publication and its contributors from unlawful copying, written permission is required before any individual or company engages in the reproduction or distribution of its contents, by any means, without first obtaining written permission from the owners of this publication. The deadline for the OVN March 15 issue is March 1. Letters to the Editor Wildlife Contribute to Quality of Life in Ogden Valley: Should be respected I am definitely donating to and keeping in touch with Wildlife Rehab—an organization I didn’t even know existed until I was trying to find out who could assist the wounded Huntsville swan. (One of the six swans who came to Huntsville back in December died and one was injured while they were still in our area.) Dalyn of Wildlife Rehab is a remarkable person with a genuine commitment to helping injured birds and animals from the wild recover and live out their lives in captivity or be returned to their natural habitat if possible. The mission of Wildlife Rehab is an incredible story, and very inspiring. Birds and animals add so much wonder, interest, and excitement to the lives of Valley residents, which “city dwellers” never get to experience, that I feel we owe them something back: our respect and concern. As the human segment of Ogden Valley continues to grow, resulting in increasing interaction with birds and animals, our awareness and appreciation for these wonderful creatures also needs to grow. We should behave as guardians of wild animals, not as their enemies—or just as bad, indifferent observes who don’t care what happens to them—they are a great blessing to our lives and it’s our responsibility to honor that blessing and treat them with that attitude. For instance, how many people in Salt Lake City have a bald eagle fly over their house or a flock of swans land in their backyard; we are so lucky! We don’t need anymore “sad” stories about wildlife coming into “our territory” and possibly being deliberately mistreated and/or illegally hunted. (You can only hunt swans during certain times of the year and only west of I-15. That means no swan hunting in Huntsville, ever!) The enjoyment of sighting the beautiful swans that miraculously picked the Huntsville/ Pineview area as a “layover” stop on their migration route should not have been marred by a potentially human-caused tragedy. In the future, people need to do whatever they can to help create a happy ending for what started out to be a very happy story. I would also like to express my gratitude to the people and agencies who worked to help the injured swan, and who continuously work to protect and conserve all wildlife. They’re great! Sincerely, It is in this list that Conservatives can find motivation to be courageous. The signatories of this document had the courage to stand up to the most powerful government in the world. They each pledged their lives, fortunes, and sacred honor. Some of the charges against King George and his government have current-day parallels, such as, “he has forbidden Governors to pass laws.” “He has created a multitude of new offices and sent hither a swarm of officers to harass our people.” “He has refused his assent to laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.” And, “He has excited domestic insurrection amongst us.” Today, we need only to recall the legions of “Czars,” encouragement of “occupiers” and class warfare, as well as the administration’s heavy handedness regarding border states and illegal immigration. A charge not mentioned in this document is distortions—something that is currently rampant in the political process. Distortions thrive when incomplete and unclear information is presented as fact. Case in point is the “99% versus 1%,” the “poor” versus the “rich”; although the 99% in America are wealthier than 90% of the rest of the world. The most notorious misrepresentation comes in what percent of income is paid in federal taxes. We’ve all heard that the “secretary” pays a higher tax rate than the millionaire boss. The fallacy is in looking at gross income versus taxable income. A couple with four children and an annual gross income of $125K who use only the standard deduction and exemptions would have a taxable income of $91K and federal taxes of $15k, a rate of 12%. Using typical itemized deductions, the tax rate would drop significantly to about 10%. Yet we hear repeatedly in the 24/7 news that the “secretary” pays 28% and the boss only 15%. This is a gross distortion that only benefits those who promote class warfare. The root cause of this is something called “Economic Ignorance,” a malady prevalent in a country that prides itself on having a free economic system. A system which becomes less so with each social program the government enacts, such as the “abortive” Health Care Reform Act. We Americans, as a people, are much too uneducated in the economic principles required for a free economy, and this manifests itself in divisive ideological conflicts such as are going on today. It is no wonder that our congress cannot effectively deal with our nation’s challenges. To rebel against the authority of a powerful government took great courage by the Founding Fathers; something today’s Conservatives will need in a large dose. They must do as Shakespeare’s’ Lady Macbeth tells Lord Macbeth to do, “screw your courage to the sticking place.” No matter how courage may be held on to, it must be in place in the coming campaign to unseat the Obama Administration. This can only be accomplished by clearly defining the differences in ideology and expectations with a plan for the future that makes sense to most Americans. Becky Wood, Huntsville Abuses and Usurpations Just as growing old is not for “wimps and sissies,” neither is crafting a victory that would put a Conservative in the White House. Newt Gingrich warned that it will take someone with bold proposals, someone like him. To find courage for the coming battle, many Conservatives can find inspiration in the Declaration of Independence. This amazing document reflects the wisdom and courage of those who created and signed it. These qualities shine through in the first paragraph with the words, “a decent respect to the opinions of mankind . . . ” –they knew this was a momentous decision and did not wish to appear to be reacting rashly without provocation. And, they were determined to list the causes of their actions “to a candid world.” In the second paragraph, reference is made to equality in that The Creator has endowed man with unalienable rights. There will be three more references to a Supreme Being, i.e. “Nature’s God,” “Supreme Judge of the World,” and “divine Providence,” specifically. It may be recalled that in quoting this very section, President Obama famously omitted three words, “by their creator” in his restatement of how we are endowed with these rights. He didn’t say how or by whom we are endowed with these rights. Not to put too fine a point on it, but this did give cause to question his perception. Next came a list of offenses of the British government, its King and law makers. The colonists allege some 28 infractions, which were in the range of abusive, usurpations, and tyranny that amounted to despotism. John W. Reynolds, Pleasant View |