OPINION II
Roswell Daily Record
LETTERS
Praise for purse’s return
Dear Editor: I want to publicly recognize and thank a wonderful young man in our community named Nicholas. I carelessly left my purse in a shopping cart at Walmart around dusk on Friday. When I was almost home, I reached for my purse and it wasn’t there. I stopped the car on the side of the road and searched the car and trunk twice. Then I headed back to Walmart praying as I drove, “Dear Lord, I know there are still some good people left out there. Please let someone good find my purse and turn it in.” But at this time of year — when everyone could use a little extra money I had my doubts. Back at Walmart I searched the cart rack and around where I had been parked. I talked to the greeter and the service desk, but no one had turned in a purse. Heavy-hearted I started back home. Meanwhile Nicholas had seen my purse in the cart when he put his cart in the rack and saw another person walking around eyeing it so he picked it up. He used my cell phone to call my home number and told my husband he had the purse and would bring it to our house. Imagine my relief when my husband told me someone had found my purse, an answer to my prayer. As we visited with Nicholas after he drove across town and returned my purse completely intact, we learned he has two small sons. If Nicholas were a “finder’s keepers, looser’s weepers” kind of person, he could have used the money in it to do a little more shopping for his boys; or if he were a really dishonest person, he could have gone on a shopping spree with my credit card. Instead he gave his sons a more important gift: The example of real honesty. And he only reluctantly accept a small reward for his sons. Thank you so much Nicholas. You were indeed my Christmas Saint Nicholas, and I pray that God, who gave us love in the form of His son at Christmas, will bless you abundantly. Merry Christmas, Leona Stewart Roswell
Politicians
Dear Editor: About two weeks ago when I picked up my mail, I discovered a letter from Social
TODAY IN HISTORY
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Today is Saturday, Dec. 31, the 365th and final day of 2011. Today’s Highlight On Dec. 31, 1951, the Marshall Plan expired after distributing more than $12 billion in foreign aid. On this date In 1759, Arthur Guinness founded his famous brewery at St. James’s Gate in Dublin. In 1775, during the Revolutionary War, the British repulsed an attack by Continental Army generals Richard Montgomery and Benedict Arnold at Quebec; Montgomery was killed. In 1879, Thomas Edison first publicly demonstrated his electric incandescent light in Menlo Park, N.J. In 1909, the Manhattan Bridge, spanning the East River between Manhattan and Brooklyn, was officially opened to vehicular traffic. In 1946, President Harry S. Truman officially proclaimed the end of hostilities in World War II. In 1961, the Green Bay Packers shut out the New York Giants 37-0 to win the National Football League Championship. In 1969, Joseph A. Yablonski, an unsuccessful candidate for the presiden-
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county officials on its website. I assume they get paid. Harding County has a 12page economic development ordinance complete with a 241-word definition of “economic development project.” The Harding County website shows no commission agendas or minutes for 2011. Nor have any obituaries been posted. New Mexico would not miss Harding County. Decoupling municipal (city and county) revenues from the state has been suggested. This seems an idea well worth considering. But it seems fantasy without rewriting the constitutional relationship between counties, cities and the state. These relationships and institutions are the point of rethinking the Constitution, which, after all, outlines the rules of the game. One general rule that might be in a new Constitution is the use of our taxes. The two sides of the tax-use coin are supporting government for itself or doing the public things necessary to support the private sector. Which counts most? A highly respected policy wonk lobbyist flashed a huge grin a few days ago at
Security informing me that I had a raise. Who in their right mind would voluntarily raise a payment when they didn’t have to ... and especially when they were trillions of dollars in debt. But of course we all know there is a re-election coming up soon and this generous gesture is at the taxpayers’ expense. These people must have obtained their education at the University of Lost Wages. I don’t think they received it in sound business. I would like to have someone explain why a person can have savings in three banks and still receive a Social Security check when 12 years ago they had already withdrawn all the money they had ever put in it, plus interest. Signed disgustedly, Stephen Fitz Dexter
Help for youth appreciated
Dear Editor: I would like to express my deepest appreciation to everyone who remembered the young people of Assurance Home and the James Ranch Youth Shelter this past holiday season. The outpouring of love and concern we received has done so much to help our young people realize that the world is full of good and kind people. (What a wonder ful gift to give to abused/neglected, homeless and at-risk children). Please know that because of you and your caring help, their lives have been changed forever. With kindest regards, Ron Malone, Executive Director Assurance Home, Inc. James Ranch Youth Shelter
Keystone pipeline
Dear Editor: I continually blast Republicans for letting ideology trump common sense. Now the Democrats are doing it. And Obama is going along. In fact, Obama started it. I’m talking about the Keystone pipeline. Senate Democrats are going to vote down the house bill that will extend payroll tax cuts and unemployment benefits because the Keystone provision is in it. So what? The Keystone pipeline makes a lot of sense. It would initially deliver almost 600,000 barrels of crude a day from the Canadian tar sands to Houston refineries. That will later increase to 1.1 million barrels a day. But Obama has shelved the
cy of the United Mine Workers of America, was shot to death with his wife and daughter in their Clarksville, Pa., home by hitmen acting at the orders of UMWA president Tony Boyle. In 1985, singer Rick Nelson, 45, and six other people were killed when fire broke out aboard a DC-3 that was taking the group to a New Year’s Eve performance in Dallas. In 1986, 97 people were killed when fire broke out in the Dupont Plaza Hotel in San Juan, Puerto Rico. (Three hotel workers later pleaded guilty in connection with the blaze.) In 1991, representatives of the government of El Salvador and rebels reached agreement at the United Nations on a peace accord to end 12 years of civil war. Ten years ago: New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani spent his final day in office praising police, firefighters, and other city employees in the wake of 9/11, and said he had no regrets about returning to private life. Notre Dame tapped Tyrone Willingham to be its football coach, replacing George O’Leary, who’d resigned because of misstatements about his academic and athletic achievements on his resume; Willingham became the first black head coach in any sport for the Irish. Actress Eileen Heckart died in Norwalk, Conn., at age 82. the idea of rethinking the Constitution. His appealing suggestion is to dump the existing constitution — ignore it — and start from scratch with an idealized Constitution. Using the existing Constitution would trap the new effort in the old framework. Article 19 says amendments may be proposed by the Legislature or “by an independent commission established by law for that purpose,” which submits proposals to the Legislature. Or, says Section Two, “Whenever the legislature, by a two-thirds vote of the members elected to each house, deems it necessary to call a convention to revise or amend this constitution, they shall submit the question of calling such convention to the electors at the next general election, and if a majority of all the electors” approved, the Legislature shall call the convention. Rep. Joseph Cervantes twice has proposed a constitutional revision commission. For the future, Cervantes has a leadership problem, one named Ben Lujan. But favorable feelings about major constitutional revision have reached senior legislators, I’m told. I hope so. Time to take a risk and trust the people. All we need are 47 representatives and 28 senators. © New Mexico News Services 2011
Saturday, December 31, 2011
project until 2013. That’s oil that doesn’t have to be shipped to us from the Middle East. Meanwhile China is drooling for that oil. They are willing to build an oil terminal near Vancouver for their tankers to transport that oil across the Pacific. Of course we want to find a clean substitute for fossil fuels, but that’s decades away. In the interim we still need oil not only for fuel but for manufacturing plastics and a host of other things. It will take generations to develop alternative energy sources like solar and wind and bio in enough quantities to meet today’s, and even more for tomorrow’s demands. Pipelines are by far the most efficient and environmentally safe method to transport crude oil. Safer than trucks and railroad cars and an order of magnitude safer than tankers. The Alaska pipeline has been in operation for 40 years and the only major spill in that time was after the oil had been transferred from the pipeline to the Exxon Valdez. And it’s not like the country isn’t already crisscrossed by oil and gas pipelines. There are dozens of them strung from border to border and coast to coast. Thousands of miles of them. And how many ecological disasters have they caused compared to tanker spills and offshore oil rig disasters like the BP blowup in the Gulf of Mexico? What difference does one more make? And during these hard times building Keystone will create thousands of jobs in both construction and manufacturing. High paying jobs for many disciplines from trench diggers to precision welders to ultra sound technicians and pipe and heavy equipment manufacturers. And the support these workers will need from local communities would be of great economic benefit for them in supplying things like fuel for their machines, housing, groceries, entertainment. It would bring much needed tax revenue to the towns and states where the construction will be taking place. So what’s the down side? The votes of a handful of obstructionists wearing environmentalist clothing the Democrats are worried about. Blind political ideological obstructionism is bad for the country when either party does it. And this is a major piece of political and environmental obstructionism being served to us by Obama and the Democrats.
LETTER POLICY
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Harvard
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Canada isn’t going to wait forever. Canada is going to sell their oil. The only question now is who are they going to sell it to? China is their bird in the hand. America is the bird in the bush right now. If Reed and Senate Democrats block this they are just as guilty of putting party and ideology ahead of what’s good for the country and the people as the Republicans are. Noel Sivertson Roswell
Dangers of war
Dear Editor: It seems to me America is becoming addicted to war — that is, no sooner than we have disengaged in Iraq, and will soon be disengaging in Afghanistan, we are now warming up to do battle with Iran in the Persian Gulf. Does anybody see anything wrong with this cycle of perpetual warfare? Better yet, would it make any difference to Congress what we Americans think about warfare? Please mark my words carefully — the world is quickly approaching a point of no return. Given the American fleet is already gathering in the Indian Ocean, I have to assume a new war is the making. This means Iran has only to attack one oil tanker or one allied vessel, and all hell will break loose. Of course, we can all hope Iran backs down, and does not try to shut down the Straits of Hormuz, but this is unlikely given Iran’s stated position. Going back to square one — who is right in this escalating conflict? Certainly allowing Iran to build nuclear weapons would be a big mistake, but just as grievous is the act of cutting off a nation’s money supply. Above I said, “The world is approaching a point of no return.” For whatever reasons, America has now issued an ultimatum to Iran, which can easily lead to global conflict. If and when this conflict occurs, I can guarantee the production and proliferation of nuclear weapons will escalate rapidly throughout the world. I can only hope our president and military know what they are doing, because there are more than a thousand ways a war in the Persian Gulf can go wrong. Dear God, I ask thee to allow your children to see their folly before we kill all of mankind. Jim Osborne Roswell
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extended period of sensitization to an allergen, or they may reflect a crossreaction to some other allergen, such as pollen. Not all bad reactions to food are food allergies. Lactose intolerance, for example, is not an allergic reaction, but rather an inability to digest the sugar in milk and other dairy products because of a deficiency of lactase, the enzyme that breaks down milk sugar (lactose) so it can be digested. Food allergies represent a failure of the collaboration between the digestive and the immune systems. When you eat, your digestive system breaks down the food into its molecular components. The first time you digest a food, your immune system examines the food’s array of molecules. If your immune system decides that these molecules do not pose a threat, it gives them the equivalent of a passport to your body through a process known as oral tolerance. A food you’re allergic to gets rougher treatment. For some unknown reason, the immune system misidentifies a food molecule as harmful and initiates an offensive against it. Molecules that provoke such reactions are called allergens. The immune system’s two principal players in an allergic reaction are IgE antibodies and mast cells, which cluster in tissues that line the portals to the body — the skin, airways and digestive system. IgE antibodies are produced to snare a particular allergen. They dock onto receptors on mast cells where they lie in wait for the allergen to appear — a process known as sensitization. Once sensitized, the immune system is ready to pounce next time the allergen shows up. When an IgE antibody that is docked on a mast cell snags an allergen, the cell releases histamine and other compounds. The surge of chemicals can cause a variety of reactions, including
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sneezing, a runny nose, itchy eyes, rashes, hives and wheezing. If histamines are released throughout the body, more serious problems may develop. The airways may constrict. Nausea, vomiting and diarrhea can follow. And blood pressure may plummet, leading to loss of consciousness and the uncommon but life-threatening situation known as anaphylaxis. You usually know you’re allergic to a food within minutes of eating it. The reaction may range from a mild response — such as itching or swelling around the mouth — to anaphylaxis. But it’s also unpredictable: A person who is allergic to a food may have a mild reaction one time and full-blown anaphylaxis the next. Fish and shellfish allergies are the most common serious adult-onset food allergies. Some researchers speculate that fish allergies have a late onset because many people don’t eat much fish until they grow up, so they become sensitized to it later. Others scientists who study crossreactivity between fish and other allergens have found that people who are allergic to lobster, shrimp and other shellfish are also allergic to house mites and cockroaches. The principal suspected allergen is a protein called tropomyosin, which is shared by crustaceans, mollusks, roaches and mites. If you have a food allergy, you’ll have to plan your meals with care so you can avoid exposure to the culprit allergen. In your case, that means crossing shellfish off your menu. And people who are at risk for severe reactions should have an EpiPen with them so they can give themselves a shot of epinephrine to fight back against the reaction. It may seem complicated at first, but with a little care your meals will be both tasty and safe. (Submit questions to harvard_adviser@hms.harvard.edu.)