The Press-Dispatch
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/1114435
The Press-Dispatch Opinion Wednesday, May 8, 2019 C- 9 that didn't work out, unless we're in- vestors. But you can be sure that investors are alert to the failures, and to the at- tempts to confiscate the profits that flow from the successes. Your retire- ment fund's money manager would be negligent if he failed to pay attention to the companies' profits. If that American investment dries up, who will develop medicines and medical technology in the future? Canada? We can buy medicine much cheaper there than in our own coun- try. Why not just outsource the phar- maceutical industry, including all in- vestment, innovation, regulatory com- pliance and risk-taking to Canada? That ought to make the A ARP happy. The truth, of course, is that Cana- da is a parasite on American invest- ment and innovation. Most, if not all the cheap medicine that you can buy in Canada or Mexico is produced in the U.S. and would never exist if not for American investment, which in turn would not exist without Ameri- can profits. It's annoying that foreign countries can piggyback on our pharmaceutical industry, not only on American pro- ducers but on American consumers who pay the prices that sustain the research and development, including regulatory compliance, by the Amer- ican industry. But make no mistake: parasites can't replace the U.S. phar- maceutical industry. And why would they want to? If you think it's far-fetched that U.S. pharmaceutical companies would walk away from the market, consid- er what's happening in antibiotics. There's been very little antibiotic re- search by the major drug companies in recent years, not because they're discouraged by the science, but be- cause it's almost impossible to make money on antibiotics once you devel- op them. There are 42 antibiotics in human trials now, according to Businessweek magazine, but "only four come from the largest 50 drug companies." Yet the smaller firms are financially ill equipped to survive the regulatory approval process, which can stretch nearly 20 years into the future. We are presiding over the death of U.S. anti- biotic research and development pre- cisely when we need it most urgently. Chickens are coming home to roost after decades of casual, promiscuous misuse of common antibiotics. Patho- gens have developed resistance to en- tire classes of antibiotics. The conse- quences are grim, according to the Centers for Disease Control. It un- dermines "our ability to fight infec- tious diseases and manage the infec- tious complications common in vul- nerable patients undergoing chemo- therapy for cancer, dialysis for renal failure, and surgery." Pharmaceutical corporations are not funded by Santa Claus. They eventually make money from consum- ers, if all goes well. But initial invest- ment comes from shareholders who can pick up the phone at any time to move their money into General Mo- tors or Budweiser. Shares for antibi- otic manufacturer Melinta Therapeu- tics have fallen 94 percent since ear- ly 2018. Achaogen filed for bankrupt- cy last month. Achaogen, you may recall, is the company that developed an antibiot- ic that kills deadly carbapenem-resis- tant enterobacteriaceae (CRE) in the test tube. The company got part-way through the regulatory gauntlet. De- spite its feats of scientific research, the corporation couldn't hang on un- til profitability. Its assets will be auc- tioned off next month. Corporations are not indestructible. I have no human right to antibiotics, or to any other pharmaceuticals, or to anybody's involuntary medical ser- vices. But my right to freely contract for antibiotics and medical expertise has been lifesaving, as recently as last year. I am hoping for more greed, not less, in the pharmaceutical industry. Court Report FELONY Pike County Circuit Court Joshua Alan Brames charged with count I intimidation, a level 6 felony, and count II public intoxication. Christopher J. McAtee charged with count I obstruction of justice, a level 6 felony, and count II possession of marijuana. Thai B. Duong charged with count I possession of cocaine, a level 6 felony, and count II operating a vehicle with a schedule I or II controlled substance or its metabolite in person's body. Scott Lee Wright charged with count I official misconduct, a level 6 felony, counts II and III, theft between $750 and $50k, a level 6 felony, and count IV theft. TRAFFIC AND MISDEMEANOR Pike County Circuit Court Kristoffer Weist charged with op- erating a vehicle with an ACE of .15 or more. Dillon K. Bedell charged with driv- ing while suspended, prior. Cristian A. Abrego charged with operating a vehicle with an ACE of at least .08 but less than .15. Justin Seay charged with posses- sion of marijuana. Dee Ann Giesler charged with count I resisting law enforcement, count II disorderly conduct and count III public intoxication. Hunter Wesley Brown charged with count I public intoxication and count II operating a vehicle while intoxicated. SMALL CLAIMS Pike County Circuit Court Ellen S. Barr sues Allstate Insur- ance on complaint. Stephen Wyland sues Ticket Offic- es.com on complaint. INFRACTIONS Pike County Circuit Court Billie J. Bruner charged with seat- belt violation. Hannah M. Taylor charged with driving while suspended. Aaron J. Kendall charged with seat- belt violation. Megan R. Hartley charged with seatbelt violation. Trevor D. Anders charged with count I failure to register, count II op- erating a motor vehicle without finan- cial responsibility, count III operating a vehicle with a false plate and count IV seatbelt violation. Jeffrey K. Clark charged with speeding, exceeding 55 mph. Randall J. Russell charged with speeding. Bryant L. Baxter II charged with speeding, exceeding 55 mph. Lance P. Weigman charged with speeding, exceeding 55 mph. Larry E. Wright charged with speeding, exceeding 55 mph. Austin L. Loveless charged with seatbelt violation. Jason W. Smith charged with au- thorization for IAC Conservation Vi- olations. Zachary T. Gillim charged with au- thorization for IAC Conservation Vi- olations. Shane D. Farmer charged with au- thorization for IAC Conservation Vi- olations. Clint M. Seitz charged with autho- rization for IAC Conservation Viola- tions. Keith J. Nordhoff charged with au- thorization for IAC Conservation Vi- olations. Randall B. Hall charged with au- thorization for IAC Conservation Vi- olations. Jeremy M. Butler charged with au- thorization for IAC Conservation Vi- olations. Kyle R. Klingel charged with au- thorization for IAC Conservation Vi- olations. Carson C. Kaiser charged with au- thorization for IAC Conservation Vi- olations. Noah P. Werner charged with au- thorization for IAC Conservation Vi- olations. Brandon L. Zehr charged with au- thorization for IAC Conservation Vi- olations. Mark T. Worrick charged with au- thorization for IAC Conservation Vi- olations. David M. Schank charged with au- thorization for IAC Conservation Vi- olations. Zachary M. Zehr charged with au- thorization for IAC Conservation Vi- olations. Christopher A. Satterfield charged with authorization for IAC Conserva- tion Violations. James E. Lawrence charged with authorization for IAC Conservation Violations. Ethan R. J. King charged with au- thorization for IAC Conservation Vi- olations. Braunson T. Mizeur charged with authorization for IAC Conservation Violations. Stephanie R. Scott charged with au- thorization for IAC Conservation Vi- olations. William R. Jines II charged with lit- tering. Jamey L. Vanmeter charged with speeding, exceeding 70 mph. Sabrina M. Boroughs charged with speeding, exceeding 70 mph. Dylan D. Purcell charged with speeding, exceeding 70 mph. Whitney S. Robinson charged with speeding, exceeding 70 mph. Brian K. Oexmann charged with seatbelt violation. Lindsay W. Owens charged with speeding, exceeding 70 mph. John I. Morton charged with seat- belt violation. John A. Lane charged with seatbelt violation. Rhonda Y. Lane charged with seat- belt violation. Robert E. Deffendoll charged with seatbelt violation. Ansel G. Sullivan charged with seat- belt violation. CIVIL Pike County Circuit Court Professional Financial Services sues Tyler Schieve on complaint. Cavalry SPV I, LLC sues Ricky Rad- er on complaint. Nicholas Miley, Amber Miley and Victoria Miley sue Otwell Water Cor- poration and Jefferson Township Re- gional Sewer District on complaint. Fifth Third Bank sues Jerry M. Mulkey, Janet Benjamin and Hoosier Accounts Service et al on complaint. Kristoffer J. Weist sues Jamie M. Weist for dissolution of marriage. Continued from page 8 IRAN Continued from page 8 MEDICATION the statue of Robert E. Lee in Charlottesville. I, myself, favor local gov- ernment voting to remove flags, statues and memora- bilia celebrating the Con- federacy. Such celebrations cause great anguish to A fri- can Americans who have a history of deep pain associ- ated with that time of great injustice. Nevertheless, I believe in free speech, and I believe in the right to assembly and peaceful demonstration — even if I find what is being expressed repugnant. America's left wants us to believe — and it gets great help from a sympathetic left-wing media — that all of America's intolerance comes from the right. So, in fact, President Trump made a world-class effort in his remarks about the incident in Charlottes- ville to be fair, balanced and faithful to the facts. And he was. His condemnation of neo- Nazis and white suprema- cists was unequivocal. But the left could not han- dle that there might have been peaceful Americans who showed up to protest re- moval of the Robert E. Lee statue. Nor could it tolerate that the president would note that there was unacceptable violent behavior on the oth- er side — those favoring re- moving the statue — which there was. I can speak from person- al experience of the intoler- ance of the left. I speak on university cam- puses across the country and know firsthand what it means for the left to try to shut you down, sometimes violently. I also have experience saying something on nation- al television opposing abor- tion or same-sex marriage and then needing to send my staff home because of vi- olent threats that shut down my office. Far less convenient for Biden would have been quoting accurately Trump's initial remarks on Charlot- tesville: "Above all else, we must remember this truth: No matter our color, creed, religion or political party, we are all Americans first. We love our country. We love our God. And we love our flag. ... we must love each other, respect each other and cherish our history and our future together. ... We have to respect each other. Ideally, we have to love each other." The partisan left will be pleased with Biden's lies. But decent Americans of all ethnicities understand that President Trump is restor- ing America's freedom, tol- erance, prosperity — and soul. Star Parker is an author and president of CURE, Cen- ter for Urban Renewal and Education. Contact her at www.urbancure.org. Continued from page 8 BIDEN Continued from page 8 PRAYER Continued from page 8 DISPARITIES The Lord's Prayer was led by Pas- tor Dave Warren , the theme of the event by Pastor Tammy Powers and a Prayer of Repentance led by Christina Priest. Fr. Frank Renner lead a Prayer of Unison for the Nation and the Clos- ing Prayer was done by Rev. Pomeroy. The prayers were focused on the virtues of loving one another, the val- ue of families, the welcoming of dif- ferent ethnicities, and the need for a great spiritual awakening in Ameri- ca. Mention was made about the sev- en centers of influence in our Nation: government, military, media arts, business, education, church, and fam- ily. Brochures were handed out which had many scripture quotes about love for one another just as Christ had loved us- John 13:34. Overall, the event was very solemn and very uplifting. • • • We are truly blessed as a Nation, and in our own County, we have many faith groups which are able to tend to the flock. I counted about 41 Churches in the bulletin section of our local pa- per, so that is truly astonishing. We are able to express our beliefs without fear of the government shut- ting us down, although I'm beginning to think that slowly, freedom to ex- press our Christian beliefs are meet- ing opposition. We have to therefore be vigilant and stand up for our right to practice the virtues that make this Nation great. To those who give reasons they can- not set aside one day to attend Church, come on, there are 41 welcoming plac- es to worship. So, as the saying goes: A nation (family) that prays together stays together- in peace, prosperity and harmony. Let's do this yearly celebration again next year and see you there! • • • Humor of the week: All about Love. A husband was wanting to research how to improve his standing with his wife. He is somewhat disappointed that he can't seem to please his wife. They were arguing a lot. So he went to a book store and started looking for good books over at the Psycholo- gy section. When he could not find what he was looking for, he finally approached a sales lady and asked where the books on love and successful marriages were. The lady then said, "Sir, what you are looking for is on the second floor of this store. Look for the sec- tion that says 'Fiction, Comedy and Humor.'" Have a great week! Refusing to renew sanc- tions waivers on top of this is the "two" of the one-two punch. It's a tough step, one that critics insist will cause oil prices to rise. Such fears are overblown, especially with the U.S. supplying so much of its own oil now, but even if prices did rise, we're talking about saving lives. Our security, along with that of our allies and so ma- ny others, is threatened on a daily basis by Iran's actions. We need to push the cost of sowing terrorism worldwide much higher, to the point where Iranian leaders are no longer willing to pay it. Three of the eight coun- tries that have received sanctions waivers in the past won't even feel the ef- fects of this shift. They've already cut their oil imports from Iran to zero. Pushing the others to also get to ze- ro is a strong but necessary step. "We just want a continued chilling effect," according to a senior administration offi- cial quoted in Radio Free Eu- rope. "We want businesses to continue to think that do- ing business with Iran is a terrible idea at this point." Maybe then Iran will get the message that promot- ing terrorism is also a ter- rible idea. Until then, let's keep applying that "maxi- mum pressure." Ed Feulner is founder of The Heritage Foundation (www.heritage.org). ed times in history and the boundaries of their lands, and that he did this "so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us." From that point on he told them about Jesus, and know- ing Him makes all the dif- ference in the world. He im- plored them to seek the eter- nal God who remains the same yesterday, today, and forever. How can a crucified Christ bring newness of life? Your academic credentials have prepared you to pro- vide for yourself the ameni- ties of life. But your ances- tors knew that life is more than possessions. The Bi- ble reminds the spiritual that "the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost." I wish I could give you a new technology, a new drug, or a new philosophy to cure the evils among us-but I can give you nothing new except Christ and Him Crucified. Christ who was cruci- fied was "raised up from the dead by the glory of the Fa- ther," so we have the oppor- tunity to walk in newness of life. I bring to you nothing new-but a Christ and Him crucified, and to share with you that those who have be- come His disciples have found that they became a new creature: old things passed away and all things became new. This is what I bring you— Christ and Him Crucified, still today "a stumbling block to the Jews, and fool- ishness to the world" - but to them which believe the pow- er and wisdom of God blos- soms in their life! Christ and Him crucified still changes lives! Seize the day—Embrace Christ—that will make all the difference in the world. Now turn your tassels and enter life everlasting as alumnus of God! Think about it! bar parents complained to the D.C. Board of Educa- tion about the large amount of homework required." Dunbar High School was not the only black school with a record of success that would be the envy of today's public schools. Schools such as Frederick Douglass (Bal- timore), Booker T. Washing- ton (Atlanta), PS 91 (Brook- lyn), McDonogh 35 (New Orleans) and others oper- ated at a similar level of ex- cellence. By the way, these excelling students weren't solely members of the black elite; most had parents who were manual laborers, do- mestic servants, porters and maintenance men. Observing the historical success of these and oth- er black schools, one won- ders about the catchwords of Chief Justice Earl War- ren's statement that sepa- rate schools "are inherent- ly unequal." That vision led to racial integration going from being a means to an end to racial integration be- coming an end all by itself. Sowell doesn't say this, but in my view, integration be- coming the goal is what has made diversity and inclusion the end all and be all of to- day's educators at many lev- els. Dr. Thomas Sowell's "Dis- crimination and Disparities" is loaded with pearls of wis- dom from which we can all benefit, and as such, this will not be my final discussion of his masterpiece. Walter E. Williams is a professor of economics at George Mason University. Continued from page 8 ADDRESS Something newsworthy? 812-354-8500