hundreds will stream up to our nearby sanctuary of wildness, many happy to purchase paintings for the joy of their naturalness as well as for the satisfaction that the
proceeds will go to help the underfunded Bear Creek and Fountain nature centers. Also very possibly, as these people visit the center and peruse the artworks they
will talk about healthy outdoor things they do, such as skiing or hiking or kayaking, or perhaps they will express sincere hopes for a world that will retain its natural
wonders against the ravages of indiscriminate development and industrialization.
But there is one thing I can almost guarantee that nobody will talk about on this fine occasion, and that is whether or not a serious problem exists with the environmental leaders so many of these folks have trusted for so long... as well as with a phenomenom that has become almost iconic for those who claim to love nature: man-made global warming. Why wouldn't they talk about it? Well, that's a good question. One obvious reason would be that the scandal of fudged data by the presumed scientific creme de la creme, along with efforts to quash scientific dissent, has been covered up by the Big Media. The Gazette, for example, in an amusing example of reverse journalism, had already run a political cartoon and several letters to the editor on the subject over several days before it finally produced a "news" story - a pathetic little propoganda piece Dec. 3 in which government aides (what a surprise) pooh-poohed the incriminating discoveries. And they wonder why their subscriptions keep dropping! But there's another reason for not talking about the scandal. The new facts present a huge letdown for some. Now they face the possibility that global warming was just a scam to allow Big Government to take over more of our lives (and money). But it needn't be that bad. Scammers come and go, but preserving nature is and always will be real.
- K.J.