When Ken's Away, Knight Will Play
by Knight Allen, NSC Director
Published on  July 08, 2010 - reprinted with permission

  Ken was off with his son Kevin on his slightly delayed (by 60 years or so) trip to Yellowstone National Park. It was either marry Aggie or go to Yellowstone. He made the right choice. He should be back now to tell us what a great time he had. Meantime, I'll take a shot at filling in this month.

  The Primaries have come and gone and it would seem the Tea Party movement has some staying power. They certainly had more wins than losses nationwide including a big one here in Nevada. Of course the real test will come in November, won't it?

  Thomas Jefferson had a great line about how We the People may not be the wisest but are most certainly the safest depository for public power. That thought has been kicking around in my head ever since I saw Bobby G get defeated in the Democratic primary for Las Vegas Constable. Here’s a guy who took over an office that was mired in incompetence, if not outright corruption, turned it around, generated all kinds of revenue and did it all at zero cost to the taxpayers and he gets rewarded by losing in- a Democratic primary?? – "not the wisest ..." indeed.

  A quick note on Social Security: It's going all electronic starting March 1, 2013. I'm guessing just about all of you are already doing direct deposit and even if you're still getting a check every month you have over two and a half years to get ready so just consider this a. "heads up."

  Did you know that mining falls into the same category as schools, roads, utilities et al when it comes to Eminent Domain rights? It sure came as news to me. A mining corporation has the, right under current statute to take someone's land to get to the minerals underneath it. Can you say 'Kelo vs. New London'? Or “Pappas vs. City of Las Vegas”? Fortunately it's a statute and the legislature could take "mining, smelting and related activities" out of NRS 37 regardless of any rationales the industry may throw out there.

  We put PISTOL (PEOPLE'S INITIATIVE TO STOP THE TAKING OF OUR LAND) into the State Constitution specifically to stop this kind of nonsense and it certainly should take precedent and override the statute in any court of law in Nevada.

  There is a problem though. PISTOL will be up for grabs on the November ballot. In what can only be described as an "Establishment Revision", five of the prohibitions in the original PISTOL are up for elimination. I urge you to read the pro and con arguments that will come with the ballot very carefully. Or, better yet, understand the protections we have embedded in PISTOL serve us, not government and its business partners and should be left alone. All that requires is a NO vote.

Hope everyone is having a great summer and that you'll all come to our meetings. It would be great to see you.