The Press-Dispatch
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/1322401
The Press-Dispatch Wednesday, December 23, 2020 D-5 I understand why Snowden feared "proper" channels. Instead, he took docu- ments to journalists. The world learned the truth. American officials said Snowden's leaks put lives at risk. But in the eight years since then, they've never giv- en any clear examples. "They constantly tell us, 'This is for your safety (and) to investigate terrorists,'" says Snowden. "Barack Obama's own investigations found that it didn't stop a sin- gle terrorist attack." At the time, the NSA did claim that mass surveillance stopped terrorism. Richard Ledgett, former deputy director of the NSA, said NSA programs contrib- uted to stopping 54 terrorist attacks. "That makes me feel saf- er when I hear that," I say to Snowden. "We want to believe it's true," Snowden responds, "but it's not. The govern- ment itself no longer makes these claims that it stopped 54 plots." In fact, the government no longer claims it stopped any attacks. All of this made me realize — Snowden got screwed. "Aren't you angry? " I ask. "(Former Director of Nation- al Intelligence) James Clap- per lied to Congress and he wasn't fired! Now he works for CNN. (Former NSA direc- tor) Keith Alexander wasn't fired. Now he's on Amazon's board! They made out; you're in exile." "If you're one of these 'made men,'" answers Snowden, "You face a very different flavor of justice." Snowden went to Hong Kong to give reporters the da- ta that showed the NSA had lied. He asked 27 countries to grant him asylum, with- out success. He tried to fly to Ecuador. When his plane stopped for a layover in Mos- cow, U.S. officials revoked his passport. He's been stuck in Moscow for seven years now. If he returns to America, then Snowden will almost certainly be jailed. "I can be very much at peace with the choices that I've made," he says. It was the right thing to do, and it has made things better. Some of these programs have been halted." In 2013, Donald Trump was asked about Snowden. He said, "This guy is a bad guy and there is still a thing called execution! " But this year, President Trump said he'd "look at" giving Snowden a pardon. "I think it's clearer and clearer that what I did was the right thing to do," Snowden tells me. "History has a way of exonerating the truth." Sometimes, anyway. Snowden did a good thing. He deserves a pardon. Julian Assange deserves one, too. John Stossel is author of "Give Me a Break: How I Ex- posed Hucksters, Cheats, and Scam Artists and Became the Scourge of the Liberal Media." TRAITOR? Continued from page 4 LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Signed letters must be received by noon on Monday. This is called leadership. Despite the noise and dis- tortions from the left, facts say that President Trump made major achievements in moving toward making America great again. Star Parker is president of the Center for Urban Renew- al and Education. Readers can respond to Star's column by emailing star-parker@ur- bancure.org. PROMISES Continued from page 4 leges. Instead He lived a self- less, obedient life and then died a selfless, obedient death, and the worst kind of death at that: a crucifixion. God became human flesh. God emptied Himself and became a helpless Baby. God came down to lift us up. That is what Christmas is all about. And there was only one purpose: God de- sires to make a change in our hearts. This is the heart of Christmas. It was all for the purpose of making us into a new creation. Christmas is our time to say, "Thank you." • • • We are extremely grate- ful the vaccines for COVID are finally available. Do I be- lieve vaccines work? The an- swer is yes, because I have nearly five decades of my involvement in health care. So many communicable dis- eases worldwide have been stopped, controlled, or sig- nificantly lessened through vaccination programs. Yes, I have also seen ad- verse events happen because of side effects from the vac- cines, but they are few. Some had real serious consequenc- es. But I understand we don't live in a perfect world and sci- ence is not exempt from er- rors as it travels it's amazing progress. Perhaps you might ask, will I take it? The answer is yes, if my classmates from med school who are still front liners and are active in prac- tice took it and reported no adverse effects. • • • A big thank you to those who continue to give dona- tions to Somebody's Place and insist on remaining anon- ymous. We try to send thank you notes to all who support us but for those who not want to be known, you are indeed living the biblical principles of humility and generosity without wanting to be rec- ognized. The Good Lord knows who you are and we give you our utmost thanks and prayers. Have a blessed week and Merry Christmas to All. Keep Christ in Christmas. LOVE Continued from page 4 UNDERCUT Continued from page 4 Court Report FELONY Pike County Circuit Court Amy M. Hyneman charged with count I maintaining a common nuisance - controlled substances, a level 6 felony, count II neglect of a depen- dent, a level 6 felony, count III possession of marijuana and count IV possession of para- phernalia. Joshua L. Hyneman charged count I maintaining a com- mon nuisance - controlled sub- stances, a level 6 felony, count II neglect of dependent, a level 6 felony, count III possession of marijuana and count IV pos- session of paraphernalia. Ashley Heck charged with unlawful possession of use of a legend drug, a level 6 felony. Kenneth Laughlin charged with count I battery against a public safety official, a level 6 felony, count II resisting law enforcement and count III op- erating a vehicle while intox- icated. TRAFFIC AND MISDEMEANORS Pike County Circuit Court Zachary James Ray Skinner charged with count I posses- sion of a controlled substance and count II possession of marijuana. Jeffrey Forrest Boger charged with reckless driving. Angela Vogler charged with count I criminal trespass and count II harassment by means of a telephone call. CIVIL Pike County Circuit Court Hoosier Accounts Service sues Brandon Huckelby on complaint. Midland Credit Manage- ment, Inc. sues Lisa Brewster on complaint. Crane Credit Union sues Jay Inman on complaint. LVNV Funding, LLC sues Michael Stanley on complaint. Professional and Business Collections sues Tara Heldt on complaint. Sarah J. Hammock sues Ja- son E. Hammock for dissolu- tion of marriage. Jessica L. Kaeck sues Ja- cob M. Kaeck for dissolution of marriage. SMALL CLAIMS Pike County Circuit Court Petersburg Ustor sues Sar- ah Masters on complaint. Petersburg Ustor sues Der- ic Steward on complaint. Hoosier Accounts Service sues William Amburgy on complaint. Trinity Ambulance Ser- vice sues Evergreen Village at Bloomington on complaint. INFRACTIONS Pike County Circuit Court Joseph M. Hardin charged with speeding, exceeding 70 mph. Elizabeth A. Schmidt charged with speeding, ex- ceeding 30 mph. Larry D. Ferguson charged with speeding, exceeding 55 mph. Jack M. Leithliter charged with speeding, exceeding 55 mph. Alexander D. Hughes charged with speeding, ex- ceeding 70 mph. Michael E. Daugherty charged with speeding, ex- ceeding 70 mph. Lindsey D. Schmitt charged with speeding, exceeding 55 mph. Joaquin Gomez Rodriguez Josue charged with speeding, exceeding 70 mph. Anthony C. Miller charged with speeding, exceeding 70 mph. Thomas M. Blair charged with speeding, exceeding 55 mph. Jacob M. Culross charged with speeding, exceeding 70 mph. Jtavia N. Harris charged with count I speeding, exceed- ing 70 mph, and count II driv- ing while suspended. Michael A. Davis charged with speeding, exceeding 70 mph. Johnny A. Mathies charged with speeding, exceeding 55 mph. Joseph A. Katterhenry charged with speeding, ex- ceeding 70 mph. Reynold Marcelin charged with speeding, exceeding 70 mph. Christopher A. Shuck charged with speeding. Taylor M. Orf charged with speeding, exceeding 70 mph. Joshua J. Sanders charged with speeding, exceeding 70 mph. Brandi L. Stephenson charged with speeding, ex- ceeding 70 mph. Aaron M. Hill charged with speeding, exceeding 70 mph. Madison Claire Hernandez charged with speeding, ex- ceeding 70 mph. Eric L. Carter charged with no valid driver's license. Claudette L. Cook charged with speeding, exceeding 55 mph. Adelynn Johnson charged with speeding. Christine C. Utzinger charged with speeding, ex- ceeding 70 mph. Gwendolyn R. Dunn charged with operating with expired plates. Dalton L. Cummins charged with speeding, ex- ceeding 55 mph. Adam Hamilton Craig Rus- sell charged with speeding. Ronnie A. Stoll charged with speeding, exceeding 70 mph. Tammy L. Hertel charged with speeding, exceeding 70 mph. agreement is only as good as the participants' ability to en- force it. U.S. policymakers must re- main concerned about pro- moting North America's eco- nomic prosperity and oppor- tunities for U.S. energy com- panies. It is key that they recognize the importance of ensuring that all energy com- panies operating in Mexico are allowed to operate on an even playing field. Mexico has already moved to consolidate control over its energy sector, which could po- tentially erase billions of dol- lars in nonhydrocarbon ener- gy investments, as well as tens of thousands of jobs. Because the infrastructure necessary for oil production takes a long time to develop, a successful oil industry re- quires a steady stream of long- term investment and a stable business climate. Although Lopez Obrador views increasing foreign in- vestments during the first quarter of 2020 and in the previous year as an indica- tor that business confidence is steady, the vast majority of those investments have been merely rolled over from previ- ous years. It is misguided to pursue en- ergy self-sufficiency by elim- inating competition. Invest- ment capital is needed to ex- tract oil and build the refiner- ies necessary to meet demand to produce diesel and gaso- line. Fostering free competition exempt of government-pro- moted nationalism is the best way to ensure that those products are produced at the lowest possible cost for con- sumers and that energy sup- ply meets the needs of con- sumers, both in Mexico and abroad. If U.S. trade deals are sub- ject to arbitrary political whims, hard-won progress will be lost before anyone sees the benefits of the agreement. Despite their ideological differences, Trump and Lopez Obrador have built a strong working relationship. Howev- er, fostering a strong bilateral relationship for the future will require the U.S. to continue to reaffirm these ties by enforc- ing the terms of the USMCA. The issue of oil nationalism looms over the bilateral re- lationship as a potential hin- drance and could affect coop- eration in other areas, such as security. Strong investment and trade will be central to economic re- covery for both countries, and the volatility created by oil na- tionalism in Mexico will only serve to compound the uncer- tainty of the situation. As U.S. policymakers look toward the future, the suc- cessful enforcement of the USMCA as it applies to the energy sector will be crucial to the region's COVID-19 eco- nomic recovery. Ana Rosa Quintana leads The Heritage Foundation's U.S. policy efforts toward Lat- in America. MATTRESS Continued from page 4 countries are "dumping" mattresses into the United States market below cost. These claims seem flimsy. The domestic producers con- tend that it costs a Cambodi- an factory $528 to make a 12-inch queen mattress that now sells in the U.S. for as little as $100. Such logic as- sumes that Cambodians are losing more than $400 for ev- ery mattress they sell in the U.S. If every Cambodian mat- tress costs $400 to make, al- most all Cambodians, who earn on average less than $20 a day, would be sleeping on the floor. The domestic mattress in- dustry isn't flat on its back, so to speak. It is flourishing in the age of COVID-19 because of high demand from hospi- tals, nursing homes and shel- ters. In some areas, there are bedding shortages. Sales are up for everyone, from domes- tic producers to importers. Tempur Sealy, one of the "aggrieved" petitioners for import duties, had a banner year in 2019 as sales expand- ed to $ 3.1 billion, and 2020's final numbers are looking better still. Even President Donald Trump's Justice Department antitrust division, in a rare re- buke to other voices in the White House, has warned in a filing that tariffs of 48 per- cent to 1,000 percent "could significantly increase mat- tress prices for consumers in the United States" while risking shortages in "hos- pitals and other healthcare facilities" during the era of COVID-19. Some in the White House and Congress believe that high tariffs will protect thou- sands of domestic jobs. Per- haps so. But the U.S. compa- nies that import mattress- es at low prices also employ thousands of Americans. The losers here would be millions of consumers who could come to grips with see- ing mattress prices double or even triple. Special-interest politics, such as protective tariffs, almost always favor the few at the expense of the many. Stephen Moore is a senior fellow at the Heritage Foun- dation and an economic con- sultant with FreedomWorks. He is the co-author of "Trum- ponomics: Inside the America First Plan to Revive the Amer- ican Economy." Get more from giving this year with a gift subscription to e Press-Dispatch. By delivering the latest local news updates, shopping deals, announcements, events and entertainment each and every week, it's the gift that keeps on giving. Get more from giving this year with a gift subscription to S ER V I N G P I K E C O U N T Y 1 8 1 0 - 2 0 2 0 NetEdition subscribers: If you are adding or renewing your NetEdition subscription, please include the following: Email: _________________________ Password: ______________________ (Minimum 7 letters, can include letters and numbers) www.PressDispatch.net/Edition Payment Amount: P.O. 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