The Press-Dispatch
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/106438
The Press-Dispatch H Eyeing the golden goose Continued from page 2 block entrepreneurship and innovation." Americans usually oppose attacks on the financially successful because they hope to be financially successful themselves someday. And the statistics show they may well be. "Soak the rich" policies often just end up hurting the poor. After all, only people with money can invest and create jobs and opportunities. "Entrepreneurs must be allowed to retain the wealth they create," writes George Gilder, author of Wealth and Poverty, "because only they, collectively, can pos- sibly know how to invest it productively among the millions of existing businesses and the innumerable visions of new enterprise in the world economy." Money flows to those who can use it best and create the most value. If lawmakers are smart, they'll keep this in mind as they move through the budget process. They have a "great opportunity," all right, for real budget cuts and genuine tax reform. Let's hope they take advantage of it. Ed Feulner is president of The Heritage Foundation (www.heritage.org). H Do gun control laws . . . Continued from page 2 limit to put into a firearm's clip or magazine. Some say ten bullets but New York state's recent gun control law specifies seven. Virtually all gun control advocates say that 30 bullets in a magazine is far too many for self-defense or hunting—even if they have never gone hunting and never had to defend themselves with a gun. This uninformed and self-righteous dogmatism is what makes the gun control debate so futile and so polarizing. Anyone who faces three home invaders, jeopardizing himself or his family, might find 30 bullets barely adequate. After all, not every bullet hits, even at close range, and not every hit incapacitates. You can get killed by a wounded man. These plain life-anddeath realities have been ignored for years by people who go ballistic when they hear about how many shots were fired by the police in some encounter with a criminal. As someone who once taught pistol shooting in the Marine Corps, I am not the least bit surprised by the number of shots fired. I have seen people miss a stationary target at close range, even in the safety and calm of a pistol range. We cannot expect everybody to know that. But we can expect them to know that they don't know—and to stop spouting off about life-and-death issues when they don't have the facts. The central question as to whether gun control laws save lives or cost lives has generated many factual studies over the years. But these studies have been like the proverbial tree that falls in an empty forest, and has been heard by no one— certainly not by zealots who have made up their minds and don't want to be confused by the facts. Most factual studies show no reduction in gun crimes, including murder, under gun control laws. A significant number of studies show higher rates of murder and other gun crimes under gun control laws. How can this be? It seems obvious to some gun control zealots that, if no one had guns, there would be fewer armed robberies and fewer people shot to death. But nothing is easier than to disarm peaceful, law-abiding people. And nothing is harder than to disarm people who are neither—especially in a country with hundreds of millions of guns already out there, that are not going to rust away for centuries. When it was legal to buy a shotgun in London in the middle of the 20th century, there were very few armed robberies there. But, after British gun control zealots managed over the years to disarm virtually the entire law-abiding population, armed robberies became literally a hundred times more common. And murder rates rose. One can cherry-pick the factual studies, or cite some studies that have subsequently been discredited, but the great bulk of the studies show that gun control laws do not in fact control guns. On net balance, they do not save lives but cost lives. Gun control laws allow some people to vent their emotions, politicians to grandstand and self-righteous people to "make a statement"—but all at the cost of other people's lives. H Points to ponder Continued from page 2 ed. The list is long includes sport figures Barry Bonds, Mark McGuire, Sammy Sosa, and now Lance Armstrong. All desired to be the best, but each took the shortcut to gain physical agility by using performance drugs. Sadly, these men are examples that remind us that the desire to be the best and attain the almost unattainable by using unconventional "means" to achieve means there is really no short cut, or easy way to do it. The truth is that when a person is caught cheating, they become a "zane" for time immemorial, and if they are not caught, they know within themselves that they traveled the low road— they cheated; therefore, the triumph, victory, or achievement is actually hollow. To find peace and fulfillment, one must take the high road; that is where one will find Jesus. He cautioned his followers not to take the easy and iniquitous road to ruin. Traveling the right road requires a life of moderation and sacrifice; the other requires hoping one doesn't get caught. The right road's destination is eternal life, and the other destination is ruin and destruction. The question is "do you know which road you are on?" Think about it. Letter to the Editor Surveyor's office closed during daytime hours To the Editor: Pike County's newly elected surveyor's decision to be absent from his post during daytime working hours is a serious obstacle to the Pike County taxpayers. Ensuring business hours during the day is essential to commercial and private property owners alike. One must speculate, could the newly elected Surveyor's daytime activities (e.g. day job) be taking priority over the citizens of Pike County? Are they being give the coldshoulder? My hypothesis: Elected officials are increasingly becoming self-serving and not focused on the pub- lic interest. This is why many people are frustrated and disappointed with our political system. The less responsive a government is to its citizens, the less liable it is to act in the public interest. The power and selfishness of the few too often win out over the needs of the many. With the Pike County taxpayers footing the bill for their newly elected Surveyor's salary (plus the high cost of health insurance), the citizens of Pike County deserve better than the office of the Surveyor being closed during the peak business hours. Prent Stafford Wednesday, January 30, 2013 C-3 Court report Criminal Docket Pike Circuit Court In re search warrant. Interstate Transfer of Laura N. Bennett from Orange Co., Florida. Request for convention of Grand Jury. Traffic and misdemeanor Pike Circuit Court Daniel J. Burris, Jr. charged with invasion of privacy, a class A misdemeanor and seat belt violation. Patrick R. Johnson charged with count I, operation of a vehicle with 0.15 percent or more alcohol in blood, a class A misdemeanor; count II, operating a vehicle while intoxicated, a class C misdemeanor. Amber R. Kuntz aka Amber R. Aust charged with check deception, a class A misdemeanor. Valarie J. Jones aka Valarie J. Mitchell charged with check deception, a class A misdemeanor. Pamela Huckelby aka Pamela Christine Huckelby aka Pamela C. Huckelby aka Pamela C. Byer charged with check deception, a class A misdemeanor. Civil Docket Pike Circuit Court Dustin Ash petitions for vehicle title. Kathleen Blagrave sues Aaron Craig and United Farm Mutual Ins. Co. on complaint. Nathaniel D. Netherland sues Roshellan Netherland for dissolution of marriage. Wells Fargo Bank sues Beth Furman, Joseph D. Furman aka Joe D. Furman; Springleaf Financial Services, Inc. formerly known as American General Financial Services Inc. for complaint to foreclose mortgage. Midland Funding sues Mary Wallace on complaint. Bank of America NA successor by merger to BAC Home Loans Servicing, LP aka Countrywide Home Loans Servicing LP sues Jade L. Sorrells aka Jade Loren Sorrells, Kimberly A. Sorrells aka Kimberly Ann Sorrells, Capital One Bank, HSBC Bank Nevada, National Association and Department Stores National Bank for complaint on note and to foreclosure. Small Claims Pike Circuit Court Steven G. Benefiel sues All 4U construction on complaint. Allied Collection Service Inc. sues Robert A. Rohrabaugh for complaint on accounts. Allied Collection Service Inc. sues Veronica D. McAtee for complaint on accounts. Allied Collection Service Inc. sues Scott and Mary Crume for complaint on accounts. Allied Collection Service Inc. sues Michael and Shawna Belcher for complaint on accounts. Infractions Pike Circuit Court Wesley J. Allen charged with seat belt violation. Elizabeth L. Barbero charged with speeding, 65 mph in a 55 zone. Brian S. Besing charged with speeding, 73 mph in a 55 zone. Danny Blount charged with speeding, 40 mph in a 25 zone, false and fictitious registration and possession of paraphernalia. Norman E. Braun charged with speeding, 55 mph in a 25 zone. James E. Bruce charged with speeding, 39 mph in a 25 zone. Jeffrey B. Davis charged with seat belt violation. Jorge A. Ferrusguia charged with driving while suspended. Axel T. Freudenberg charged with seat belt violation. Jacequeline Furman charged with speeding, 59 mph in a 45 zone. Joseph W. Greer charged with seat belt violation. Melissa Hendrixson charged with expired license plate. Adam McPherson charged with speeding, 44 mph in a 25 zone. Nancy A. Sullivan charged with speeding, 59 mph in a 45 zone. Nathan A. Tooley charged with speeding, 42 mph in a 20 zone. Michael D. Warner charged with seat belt violation. Jesse T. Burnette charged with speeding, 87 mph in a 70 zone. Sara E. Bender charged with speeding, 47 mph in a 25 zone. Thomas R. Culbertson charged with speeding, 50 mph in 25 zone. Keaton J. Haywood charged with speeding, 44 mph in a 30 zone. Andrea L. Hedinger charged with speeding, 55 mph in a 30 zone. Jacky R. Hinkle, Jr. charged with speeding, 76 mph in a 55 zone. Jessica Johnson charged with speeding, 73 mph in a 55 zone. Adam H. Mackay charged with speeding, 85 mph in a 70 zone. Hannah M. Parker charged with driving while suspended. Heather M. Schroeder charged with driving while suspended. Christian T. Stepanek charged with probation license violation (two passengers). John P. Thompson charged with no operating license when required. I Introduc Introducing D. Nick Dahl, DO D Dahl Family Medicine Fa D aviess Community Hospital is pleased to announce Com that D. Nick Da DO, Family Medicine Physician, Dahl, t who joined the hospital's medical staff in 2011 as an w E Emergency Phy Physician, is opening a private practice c cooper clinic in cooperation with Daviess Community Hospital on February 4t 4th. o T he clinic, called Dahl Family Medicine, is located at 4 cal N Stree N.E. 21st Street, Suite 3 in Washington. D r. Dahl com completed his undergraduate work at W Collag Wabash Collage in Crawfordsville. He earned his DO f from the Arizon College of Osteopathic Medicine in Arizona Glendale, Arizona and completed a residency program G Arizo in family medic at Union Hospital in Terre Haute. medicine in H cer He is board certified in family medicine as well as basic life life support, ad advanced cardiac life support, neonatal r resuscitation p program, advanced life support in o obstetrics, and advanced trauma life support. For an appoin appointment, please call 257-1052. CONNECT your student Your college student is already plugged in. Why not connect them with news from their hometown? There is no need to wait for the mail, get NETedition and your student will have their news Wednesday. netedition pressdispatch.net/edition Web, Smartphone, Tablet College subsCription Just $18 per year for a NETedition or paper subscription. Call Today 354-8500 Call 354-8500 today to plug in your student!