Rootin', Tootin' Sharpshootin'!

I am a life Donor to Ducks Unlimited, a director of the Sutton Avian Research Center, a director of Nature Works, Inc. and a trustee of the Oklahoma Chapter of the Nature Conservancy. When I first noticed your article in the Dec. 15-21 issue Urban Tulsa Weekly ("Are You Game"), I am embarrassed and frank to admit that I thought it was going to be about the NRA, killing of harmless, innocent animals and the normal "tree hugging" complaints about hunting. I have been a hunter since I was 10 years old and I have never read an article that has as much to say about the history of hunting, and as you put it, "its modernization", as well as the point you made about the beneficial results of wildlife conservation.

Congratulations. You have done a great service to help people understand hunting, its value to society and our environment and the natural resources it preserves. Keep up the good work.

--Sam P. Daniel, Esq.

Aye, Here's the Rub

Thank you for your excellent article concerning the growing menace of "storefront" massage parlors operating as legal massage parlors ("It's Easy Out There for a Pimp, UTW Dec. 15-21). As a neighborhood leader in District 5 I have witnessed this problem firsthand.

Chris Trail helped to rid our area of two brothels. It is a costly process for the city to undertake. The current law is weak. I was disappointed that the ordinance was sent back to committee. I did not know that it had been sent back 10 times. My hope and prayer is that G.T. Bynum and the new council will pass something that will be fair for the legitimate massage industry and the citizens of Tulsa. Blake Ewing promised to carry the torch for Chris Trail. He has also said the council will meet with the massage industry. My great fear is that this problem will be swept under the rug. I hope they pass it soon for the sake of the vulnerable women caught in this degrading livelihood and for the well-being of our fair city.

--Nancy Carlson

Go Public!

There is nothing wrong with our public schools that we, grandmas, can't fix. Let's hire one grandma to join every teacher on the firing line. Here's the reasoning:

With classes of more than 20 and sometimes 30-plus students with little or no impulse control, the teacher doesn't have the time to answer all the cries for help.

Grandmas are great at one-on-one. We've spent one-third of our lives being "first responders" for little ones in distress.

Grandmas are huggers. A hug can pick up any kid with droopy drawers.

Grandmas insist you get your eyes off the floor and look them in the eye. We don't cotton to texting or playing electronic games.

We can dope out what boys are up to, often before they do it. We can figure out who are the instigators of trouble and give them a stern warning.

There is no better way to stop misbehaving kids dead in their tracks than to threaten to "call your grandma" if you don't straighten up and fly right.

Grandmas are drill sergeants in big girl panties. Grandmas know how to deal with melt-downs because they have dealt with so many oppositional defiant little "Spidermen" and "Fancy Nancys."

Grandmas are great at giving the evil eye or growly face when children don't "zip it" or "criss-cross apple sauce," etc.

Grey hair demands a little respect for fear of what we might do.

--Virginia "Blue Jeans" Jenner

Warming, Schmarming

Mr. Hamilton needs a few lessons on science, himself, before he trashes the "deniers" like Inhoffe.

At the outset, there should be a clarification: many deniers simply think liberal scientists have purposely created a hoax in order to spread socialism.

However, many skeptics of man-made global warming simply see the science as well-intended, but naive.

Then there is the science itself. Many studies are disregarded such as one done by South American Climatologists that showed the Sun has more to do with global warming than carbon emissions. Or another study that shows while some glaciers are in retreat, one in Scandinavia is thickening. They ignore the study that has found increasing underwater volcanic activity in the Arctic Ocean, or the one that showed the ice caps of Mars have also melted.

Mr. Hamilton also tosses out the historical periods -- showing global warming to be a natural cycle in history.

But what really is distressing is that there are many well-reputed scientists who are skeptical of man-made global warming: John Christie, David Deming, Ben Pearson, Fred Singer, Tim Ball and even former IPCC member Paul Rider are skeptics in man's involvement.

And while the number of scientists who believe in global warming tip the scales on the skeptics, this includes scientists who are not involved in meteorology and climatology. Within those specific fields, it is more evenly divided.

Finally, since when is science a democracy? The scientific method is based upon finding truth after repeated scientific research and experiments - not in the majority rules.

--Steven W. Scott