The Redneck Rebellion Is an Embarrassment
The modern conservation movement has protected many of our greatest natural treasures from the basic human tenets of stupidity and greed.

The so-called Sagebrush Rebellion that began in the '70s is actually a Redneck Rebellion (the sagebrush is innocent) being perpetrated by welfare ranchers and entitlement cowboys like Cliven Bundy and his anarchist sons, who have the audacity to raise cattle and imperil endangered species on public lands, then short-change the American people by refusing to pay millions of dollars in federal taxes. In the Bundy's case, this is a mere fraction of the total profits made.

The ideals of conservation and stewardship mean nothing to the Bundys or their Tea-publican brethren throughout the Western states. Their demands include that all lands under federal jurisdiction be relinquished to them and their seditionist regime to be used as they see fit. These uses include virtual killing fields for unregulated hunting and fishing, rampant destruction from ATV use, and militia-style training tactics for the inevitable war against a perceived threat to their personal liberties by an out-of-control federal government.

Ironically, many of these parasitic "patriots" receive welfare checks from the same government they so vigorously despise.

By storming the Malheur bird sanctuary in Oregon (because bird sanctuaries are undoubtedly the greatest threats to American life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness), these seditionist morons have proven that they can't even do anarchy right.

Their ulterior motive, of course, was to ignite a nationwide movement to overthrow local and federal institutions, but it appears that even their fellow rednecks in other states are embarrassed by these fools, resulting in an epic fail.
David E. Jensen
Holladay

Take Comfort, Stephen Dark
Stephen Dark's agonies about gun responsibility ["Biting the Bullet," Jan. 14, City Weekly] may be slightly assuaged by understanding the international statistics of rampage-shooting fatalities.

According to Kyle Becker, Independent Journal Review senior managing editor, of the 34 nations in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the United States actually lags behind Norway (15.3 shooting fatalities per million population), Finland (1.85 per million), Slovakia (1.47 per million), Israel (1.38 per million), Switzerland (.75 per million) and United States (.72 per million population) for the period Jan. 1, 2009, to Dec. 31, 2013. And the United States has by far the most private gun ownership.

John Lott—economist, political commentator and gun rights advocate—compares crime and gun laws within the United States and notes that jurisdictions with more restrictive gun laws also have more gun crime.

Perhaps Mr. Dark in contemplating immigrating to the OECD country with the fewest rampage shootings between 2009-2013—should actually consider France—a country that had .06 victims per million population.
Vicki Martin
Clearfield

Berned
Presidential candidate Bernie Sanders voted to give your tax dollars to the illegal state of Israel. He voted to continue funding the illegal occupation in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Guess those innocent people in Palestine and the other two countries are really feeling the Bern, huh?
Glynis Thurmon
Salt Lake City