The Press-Dispatch
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The Press-Dispatch Opinion Wednesday, March 27, 2019 C- 9 spiring. And I'll try to make readers laugh. Or get inspired. It fights old- timers disorder from creeping in. • • • I already had shared this. I con- tinue to write to my grandchildren who have moved to other cities, and my children report to me that the let- ters the grandkids receive is like a prized treat. Once they see that enve- lope with my peculiar handwriting on the front, they cheer up for they know they're in for a nice story again. As I have indicated in my past ar- ticles, I share stories about my past, and my spouse Rose's past, some sto- ries about our parents. I even include copies of old photos of family pictures from decades ago. I hear comments from them that they are impressed by the great number of cousins and un- cles we have. The latest we have included in our story telling is what a typical day was like as we grew up, especially our dai- ly activities in school, the gatherings we had, the sports we played and the social and spiritual life we had. It is my hope that this wealth of family histo- ries will imprint into their memories for posterity. Added to this package of treasure is the expansion of their vocabulary and imagination as they encounter new words, and with the help of their parents, my kids who read along with them get to spend time with them. Well as you can surmise, I did not have all the opportunities to share some of our stories with our own kids for lack of time, or things were just not visited about our lives then. We have more time now. My kids also have started to compile them into folders, like a picture album in writing. I also know that these activities pull my grandkids away from spending too much time watching electronic devic- es. It gives them a break from the fast pace of electronic streaming. • • • Wisdom of the week: "What you think all day is who you are." Humor of the week: There was this personal trainer who challenged a group of his clients. He wanted to brag about his strength. He said he will cut an orange in half. He will then squeeze the cut orange as hard as he can and get every drop of juice out of it. He assured them they won't be able to get a single drop from the fruit any- more. And so he did. He squeezed the fruit and was able to get a half cupful of juice, and no more. Then four of his clients took turns trying to get a drop of juice but nothing would come out. Then when the fifth client stepped up, he looked rather scrawny and was not that well-built. He grabbed the or- ange fruit, very gently squeezed it and out came five more drops. The per- sonal trainer was astonished. He then asked the guy," How did you do that? What kind of work do you do? Are you a lumber jack? Are you a martial arts expert? Are you a karate expert? " To which the client softly an- swered," No sir, I work for the IRS." So since April 15 is fast approach- ing, remember this story when you get your tax returns prepared. Have a great week. Court Report FELONY Pike Circuit Court Paul F. Brown, Jr. charged with count I operating a motor vehicle after forfeiture of license for life, a level 5 felony, and count II possession of syn- thetic drug or look-a-like substance. Sean Q. Snodgrass charged with in- timidation with a deadly weapon, a lev- el 5 felony. Bradley J. Neuhoff charged with count I battery against a public safe- ty official, a level 6 felony, count II in- timidation and count III resisting law enforcement. Lea Johnson charged with count I perjury, a level 6 felony, and count II obstruction of justice, a level 6 felony. William L. Thorne charged with in- timidation, a level six felony. TRAFFIC AND MISDEMEANOR Pike Circuit Court Joseph A. Burkhart charged with operating a vehicle while intoxicated, endangering a person. Kendra F. McAtee charged with op- erating a vehicle while intoxicated. Jesse W. York charged with driving while suspended. Rickey D. Kortea charged with op- erating a vehicle while intoxicated. George E. Askren charged with count I possession of marijuana and count II possession of paraphernalia. CIVIL Pike Circuit Court Bank of America, N.A. sues Vanet- ta Harper on complaint. Delbert W. Shimer sues Russell M. Nelson on complaint. Fifth Third Bank as successor by merger to Fifth Third Mortgage Company sues Claude F. Williams and Corinna L. Williams on complaint. Timothy M. Beasley sues Jennifer N. Vanderveer for dissolution of mar- riage. SMALL CLAIMS Pike Circuit Court Pike County School Corporation sues Eric Cannon on complaint. Pike County School Corporation sues Clint Matteson on complaint. Pike County School Corporation sues Josh Vickers on complaint. Yvonne Brown sues Wesley J. Brown on complaint. INFRACTIONS Pike Circuit Court Dakota J. Gutierrez charged with count I driving while suspended, count II failure to signal turn and count III no valid driver's license. Cleneath R. Hartley charge with seatbelt violation. Matthew S. Dick charged with speeding, exceeding 55 mph. Malaki G. Gladish charged with un- lawful possession of tobacco. Adam W. Courtwright charged with no valid driver's license. Colton M. White charged with count I unlawful possession of tobac- co and count II speeding, exceeding 55 mph. Tina R. Jarboe charged with speed- ing, exceeding 70 mph. Nicholas E. Charkosky charged with littering. River D. Helsley charged with un- lawful possession of tobacco. Alexandra N. Tribble charged with speeding, exceeding 70 mph. Austin L. Loveless charged with seatbelt violation. Hannah L. Pence charged with speeding, exceeding 70 mph. Brittany L. Taylor charged with speeding, exceeding 70 mph. Patricia A. Sanderson charged with speeding, exceeding 70 mph. Larry W. Rose charged with speed- ing, exceeding 70 mph. Royden O. Butterfield V charged with speeding, exceeding 70 mph. Kenzie B. Berry charged with speeding, exceeding 70 mph. Adam S. Zareb charged with speed- ing, exceeding 70 mph. Steven R. Corn charged with speed- ing, exceeding 55 mph. Marcia S. Russell charged with op- erating with expired plates. The fact is that when col- lege presidents and their coterie talk about diversity and inclusion, they're talk- ing mostly about pleasing mixtures of race and sex. Years ago, their agenda was called affirmative action, racial preferences or racial quotas. These terms fell out of favor and usage as voters approved initiatives ban- ning choosing by race and courts found solely race- based admissions unconsti- tutional. People had to re- package their race-based agenda and call it diversity and inclusion. Some were bold enough to argue that "diversity" produces edu- cational benefits to all stu- dents, including white stu- dents. Nobody has both- ered to scientifically estab- lish just what those benefits are. For example, does a ra- cially diverse undergraduate student body lead to high- er scores on graduate ad- missions tests such as the GRE, L SAT and MCAT? By the way, Israel, Japan and South Korea are among the world's least racially diverse nations. In terms of academ- ic achievement, their stu- dents run circles around di- versity-crazed Americans. I'm not sure about what can be done about educa- tion. But the first step to- ward any solution is for the American people to be aware of academic fraud that occurs at every level of ed- ucation. Walter E. Williams is a professor of economics at George Mason University. Continued from page 8 SCANDAL Continued from page 8 REPORT Founders were willing to pay. It's a firewall against tyrannical prosecution and wanton harassment. In this case, it has helped force investigators to stick to the subject. Despite win- ning several confessions to unrelated crimes such as lying on loan applications, the investigation has been forced back onto the central question: did the President, or did he not, collude with the Russians to interfere in our elections? There would be no clev- erly designed perjury traps for Trump, no rabbits pulled from a hat. The investigation was forced back on track. And it was a successful in- vestigation. We have our an- swer. Continued from page 8 AMBUSH Continued from page 8 EMOTIONS tism of Rep. Ilhan Omar somehow fu- eled anti-Muslim bigotry and contrib- uted to what resulted in the massacre of innocent Muslims in New Zealand. According to these ignorant young accusers, Clinton's criticism of Rep. Omar was about being anti-Muslim, anti-black and misogynist. Back in 1963, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. gave his most famous speech, in which he shared, "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character." In a very strange turn of history, af- ter that great struggle to fix what was broken in America and make this a greater, more just country, we have gone backward. The color of one's skin, one's sex, one's ethnicity, one's religious heri- tage and the kind of sexual partners one chooses have become the only things that matter in today's popular left-wing culture. Content of character and quality of thought — core requirements of a re- sponsible citizen in a free country — no longer matter in our bizarre world gone crazy. Clinton said nothing about Omar's race, sex or religion. She only criti- cized, very legitimately, Omar's slant- ed and distorted take on Israel and the source of its support in America. Somehow today, appreciating that America is a uniquely great nation in- vites the label, from this same left- wing crowd, of "white supremacist" — which, as a black woman, I find amusing. The retreat into labels, identity pol- itics, is the lazy man's formula for jus- tice. To study, work, learn, understand and be humble is hard work. Resort- ing to politics and slogans — point- ing responsibility everywhere except upon oneself — is so easy. It has be- come so popular because it appeals to the worst in man. The blessing of America is the Ju- deo-Christian principles on which it was founded. There is no freedom without per- sonal responsibility, without humili- ty, without reverence for the sanctity of life and without knowledge that ev- ery human being is unique and creat- ed in the image of God. The Ten Commandments prohibit theft and envy, the pillars of social- ism — using political power to seize and redistribute private property — which the highly politicized left-wing crowd so loves. Despite the wide success in bury- ing the truth in today's popular cul- ture, it still shines in many corners of America. Keeping that light shining defines America's great struggle going for- ward. Star Parker is an author and presi- dent of CURE, Center for Urban Renew- al and Education. Contact her at www. urbancure.org. Continued from page 8 TRUMP Continued from page 8 RESIST change to a bolder approach. On a related note, the president is also leaving his mark on other areas of for- eign policy — like U.S.-Chi- na relations. I was a staunch advocate for China's accession to the World Trade Organization 20 years ago. Since then, U.S. trade with China, in both directions, has been growing. China's market reforms have lifted hundreds of mil- lions out of poverty. But Chi- na should be a more rules- abiding stakeholder in the global trading system. It would be politically con- venient to attribute the cur- rent friction over trade is- sues to the Trump adminis- tration. But the problems the president highlights have been on the table in our re- lationship for years: subsi- dies, market access, SOEs, IPR theft, forced technology transfers and others. We must continue to seek every opportunity to pur- sue dialogue and interac- tion with Beijing, so that we can try to eliminate sourc- es of misunderstanding, re- duce the risks of miscalcu- lation, and offer China the opportunity to uphold and strengthen the true inter- national order. As one of Washington's congenital optimists, I do believe that progress can be made. But I think it's going to take some of the creative disruption that the president specializes in. All of those who deal with these issues on a bilateral or multilateral basis should not underestimate the commit- ment of the Trump adminis- tration. As Moon has said, "Now is the time for far-reaching vision, wise leadership, and bold action." Fortunately, Trump has already gotten the memo. Ed Feulner is founder of The Heritage Foundation (heritage.org). advancement. But the ques- tion imbedded in the "Rede- fining Physicians' Role in Assisted Dying" is 'should they be allowed to live? ' The article states a ma- jority of physicians object to physician-assisted sui- cide on moral grounds;"… allowing assisted dying un- dermines the sanctity of life. This is a subjective moral question, commonly framed in terms of absolute preser- vation of life versus respect for personal autonomy — a divide that often falls along religious lines." "There is no clear, objec- tive answer, but as with is- sues such as abortion or withdrawal of life support, legalization would bene- fit those who want the op- tion, without affecting care for those who object to the practice." The NEJM argument is "There is no clear, objective answer," which push aside all religious absolutes. This statement give us reason to ponder the relationship with our personal physicians. A recent study in the Netherlands found that more than 25 percent of phy- sicians had been involved in "Terminal sedation" of a pa- tient without his/her con- sent. Fortunately for now, the medical community in the US does not embrace physi- cian-assisted suicide, with more than 60 percent be- lieving it's inappropriate or wrong for a physician to play an active role in ending a pa- tient's life. In an article, "Death Pan- els on Steroids," authors Ri- ta L. Marker and Wesley J. Smith notes, "That does not stop those at the NEJM from advocating a way around their colleagues; they [NEJM] believe there is a compelling case for le- galizing assisted dying, but assisted dying need not be physician-assisted." If not your physician, then whom? The NEJM ad- vocates for a Government Death Panel: "We envision the development of a cen- tral state or federal mech- anism to confirm the au- thenticity and eligibility of patients' requests dispense medication, and monitor de- mand and use. Such a mech- anism would obviate physi- cian involvement beyond usual care." There you have it. The government will let the phy- sicians off the hook moral- ly once the patient is diag- nosed as terminal. The Hip- pocratic Oath — "do the pa- tient no harm" — becomes the hypocrite oath. The Christian worldview embraces all people as part of the family of God; there- fore, we are brothers and sisters for whom we should love and seek the best pos- sible outcome. The church has to advo- cate for life! John tells us in his first epistle, "We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love his brother abides in death." Embrace your brother and advocate for life! Think about it! net edition pressdispatch.net/edition Web, Smartphone, Tablet Streamline the Headline! 812-354-8500 • 820 Poplar St., Petersburg, IN • ads@pressdispatch.net