The Press-Dispatch
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/1338229
B-6 Wednesday, Feburar y 10, 2021 The Press-Dispatch Court Report FELONY Pike County Circuit Court Joshua David Wilson charged with count I unlawful possession of a sy- ringe, a level 6 felony, count II posses- sion of marijuana and count III posses- sion of paraphernalia. TRAFFIC AND MISDEMEANORS Pike County Circuit Court Colton Michael Dejarnett charged with count I operating a vehicle with a sched- ule I or II controlled substance or its me- tabolite in person's body and count II pos- session of marijuana. James L. Carey charged with posses- sion of marijuana. Sidney N. Phillips charged with count I possession of marijuana and count II pos- session of paraphernalia. Willie Henderson, Jr. charged with possession of marijuana. CIVIL Pike County Circuit Court Professional and Business Collections sues Michelle Burkhart and Bradley Bur- khart on complaint. Professional and Business Collec- tions sues Sara Cooper and Ted Cooper on complaint. Theresa Loveless sues United Farm Family Mutual Insurance Company on complaint. Andrew J. Cockerham sues Nicole R. Cockerham for dissolution of marriage. SMALL CLAIMS Pike County Circuit Court Trinity Ambulance Service sues Aser- acare Hospice on complaint. INFRACTIONS Pike County Circuit Court George E. Norrington charged with driving left of center. Ian W. Degroot charged with speed- ing, exceeding 70 mph. Maverick J. Pancake charged with speeding. Kyle D. Fleetwood charged with speed- ing, exceeding 70 mph. Chelsea D. Castle charged with speed- ing, exceeding 70 mph. Patrick J. Taylor-Gerber charged with speeding, exceeding 30 mph. Matthew J. Stoll charged with speed- ing, exceeding 70 mph. Luke G. Perdue charged with speed- ing, exceeding 70 mph. Jeremiah I. Blair charged with speed- ing, exceeding 70 mph. William M. Steiner charged with speeding, exceeding 55 mph. Jacob M. Stieneker charged with speeding, exceeding 70 mph. Josie R. Elsby charged with speeding, exceeding 70 mph. cause Blockbuster didn't immediately adjust, it went bankrupt. "In a socialist economy, ev- ery adjustment needs to be commanded," says Powell. "Communicate it down and get everybody to do the right thing. That's impossible." That's why under social- ism, shortages are routine. In Venezuela, there's so lit- tle food for sale that Venezu- elans have lost weight. Yet, "journalists" at Vox produced a video titled, "The Collapse of Venezue- la, Explained," without men- tioning socialism even once. Vox's explanation for Vene- zuela's fall: "Oil prices plum- meted." "The oil price is a complete distraction," says an exasper- ated Powell. "There's plenty of countries that depend on oil revenue. When oil pric- es went down, people there didn't start losing weight. That just happened in Vene- zuela." Some claim Venezuela and Cuba's people struggle main- ly because of America's eco- nomic sanctions and embar- go. "They certainly don't help the people," says Powell, "but it's an afterthought as a rea- son for their suffering." The U.S. only sanctioned a few Venezuelan officials and their operations — not the country as a whole. In Cuba, Powell points out: "They drive around 1950s U.S. cars... but there's no U.S. Navy destroyers to pre- vent Kia, Fiat and whoever else around the world from sending them cars. The rea- son for their suffering is they have an economic system that can't deliver." Socialism delivers misery. Next week, three more myths about socialism. 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." POLITICIANS Continued from page 5 in your life. Were they not those times when you heard kind and soothing conversa- tions? Think back and recall, were the painful times those moments when we had con- versations that were demean- ing, inconsiderate, or plain hateful? There is a lot of wisdom indeed in being careful with words, for words have conse- quences, and they can be felt and carried for long periods of time. ••• Wisdom of the week: Watch your thoughts. They become words. Watch your words. They become actions. Watch your actions. They become habits. Watch your habits. They become your character. Watch your character. It becomes your destiny. Humor of the week: Noth- ing is more upsetting than that moment during an argu- ment when you realize you're wrong. Or, I can't remember the last time I wasn't at least kind of tired. Or, it may be that your sole purpose in life is to serve as a warning to others. Just kidding. Have a blessed week. Keep warm, stay safe, and drive carefully. WORDS Continued from page 5 gesting the church rethink Lent. Continue to wear a mask-maybe two are better, social distance, remain cre- ative and remember the ac- tion word "Ecclesia." has been redefined; remember just like the Constitution, the church is a living organ- ism that must be reinterpret- ed and applied to each era. "Jesus Christ the same yes- terday, today, and forever" is no longer our catechism; so decrees the COVID Church. How are you going to ob- serve Lent as part of the "Ec- clesia? " Think about it! ond, we will make up for the lost domestic energy produc- tion by importing more ener- gy from Saudi Arabia, Russia and OPEC nations. We will reverse the ener- gy independence achieved under former President Don- ald Trump to dependency on OPEC nations under Biden. This certainly isn't good for the U.S. economy and jobs here at home. But it's great news for the Saudi oil sheiks, Russia's Vladimir Putin and the communists in Beijing — all of whom are going to make out like bandits. They can't believe their good for- tune. Maybe so, my younger and more idealistic friends say. But at least we will be doing our part to save the planet. Alas, no. China and India are building more than 100 coal plants as we shut ours down. China and Russia just signed a multibillion-dollar deal to build a pipeline from oil-rich Siberia to the big cities of China. Would Beijing invest in that infrastructure if they had any intention to stop us- ing fossil fuels? Trump was right when he said that we have the toughest environ- mental standards in the world. So, shifting energy production out of America only increases greenhouse gases. Perhaps over the next sev- eral decades, wind and solar power will be cheap enough to meet most of our energy needs. But are we to starve ourselves of energy in the meantime? Are Americans willing to pay $4 or $5 a gal- lon to fill up the tank with Saudi oil or Russian gas? Wouldn't it be smarter, saf- er and, yes, more virtuous to get the energy we need from Texas, Oklahoma, North Da- kota or even Alberta, Cana- da, than from countries that hate us? 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." ENERGY Continued from page 5 Heritage Viewpoint By J. William Middendorf, II China and Russia: Two threats the U.S. can't ignore On Dec. 22, 2020, six strategic bomb- ers—four Chinese and two Russian— flew a joint patrol mission over the East China and Japan Seas. According to the Russian Defense Ministry, the mission was intended to develop and deepen the comprehensive Russia-China partner- ship, further increase the level of cooper- ation between the two militaries, expand their ability for joint action and strength- en strategic stability. It was the second joint patrol since July 2019, confirming Russian President Vlad- imir Putin's statement that "the idea of a future Russia-China military alliance" cannot be ruled out. And this is happen- ing even as the Biden administration con- siders making deep cuts in the U.S. de- fense budget. The threat from China alone is rapid- ly rising. Its destabilizing actions include encroachment in the South China Sea, imposing an air defense zone in the East China Sea, aggression against the Philip- pines, coercion of Vietnam, harassment of Japan, border confrontations with In- dia, and increasing pressure on Taiwan. Beijing currently is using non-military means—psychological, diplomatic, pro- paganda, and informational warfare— against Taiwan, but the regime has long suggested that it could take Taiwan by force if its non-violent ways are unsuc- cessful. Questions persist as to whether the U.S. Navy is up to the challenge of doing what's necessary to protect allies in the Western Pacific. The Chinese Navy, already the larg- est in the world, boasts an estimated 350 ships and submarines. These forces are augmented by a shadow fleet of more than 2,000 "sea phantoms," disguised as fishing boats but equipped with 16 -tube rocket launchers and anti-aircraft guns. Nor is the Chinese Navy lacking in so- phistication. Six new classes of destroy- ers feature more advanced hull designs, propulsion systems sensors, weapons and electronics. China's ballistic sub- marine fleet is being improved and ex- panded as the older Type 092 Xia-class nuclear powered ballistic missiles are re- placed with Type 094-Jin-class SSBNs. Four of these newer submarines are al- ready operational and will be equipped with the new, longer-range JL -2 missile with a range of 5,281 miles. China's DF- 21D mobile missile is capable of destroy- ing the decks of a U.S. supercarrier at a distance of up to 1,000 miles. By 2030, China's Navy will be twice the size of the U.S. Navy, retired U.S. Na- vy Captain James Fanell told a House In- telligence Committee hearing recently. "The future size of the People's Libera- tion Navy will be about 550 warships and submarines by 2030," Fanell predicted. The growth of the Chinese Navy is seen as part of a plan to push the U.S. out of Asia, becoming the world's predominant power along the way. A more immediate concern arises in the vicinity of the Spratly islands, the site of China's most provocative mili- tary preparation. Nearly half of the en- tire world's maritime traffic steams by the Spratlys on the way to or from the Ma- lacca Strait, making the site a principal choke point of global commerce. Despite protests by other Asian na- tions, the United Nations, and the Unit- ed States, China has proceeded with ex- tensive development of some of these is- lands. Dredging has provided building material at the cost of natural reefs and the resulting islands now accommodate airfields and military support facilities. The U.S. Navy's capabilities for handling this and other potential crises are ham- pered by its reduced sized. We are at- tempting to perform a 306 -ship mission with 260 ships. Seeking future dominance through high-tech weaponry, China is developing an array of advanced weapons such ma- neuverable missile warheads, hyperson- ic weapons, laser beam weapons, various counter-space weapons and artificial-in- telligence-directed robots. These weap- ons could knock out U.S. satellites, shut- ting down the Global Positioning System network (GPS) and our most critical in- telligence and communications sys- tems. As a result of this threat, the Unit- ed States Naval Academy has revived a course in celestial navigation. Another threat comes from the WU-14, a hypersonic glide vehicle which, from 60 miles above the earth, could release a precision guided missile achieving hy- personic speeds (Mach 20, 15,000 mph.) and against which we have no present de- fense. An Electromagnetic Pulse Attack (EMP) would fry the nation's electron- ics, devastating power, transportation, communications, medical, and financial networks, as well as leaving the U.S. military unable to retaliate. Other Chinese smart-weapon programs include robotic, self-think- ing cruise missiles, auton- omous vehicles, unmanned submarines and swarms of drones. China is commit- ted to developing artificial intelligence (AI), the key to future warfare. It is already the second-largest R&D spender and has set a goal of achieving AI dominance by 2030. If China makes a breakthrough in crucial AI technology, it will result in a major shift in the stra- tegic balance. China is also engaged in a campaign of information theft, using cyber attacks against the United States to steal mili- tary research and industrial secrets. Chi- nese government hackers stole massive amounts of highly sensitive data related to undersea warfare from our strategical- ly important Naval Underwater Facility in Newport, Rhode Island. China continues to engage in both nu- clear offensive and defensive programs. It is building a new ICBM, the DF-41, which may potentially mount multiple, independently targetable reentry vehi- cles (MIRVs). China also continues to construct underground nuclear bomb shelters for its civilian and military per- sonnel capable of protecting millions of its citizens in the event of a nuclear war. China is also using a "debt trap" strat- egy to potentially gain access for its mil- itary around the world. For example, it will loan a small country a large sum of money to help build a port, then exact tough terms of repayment. When the country cannot make the payments, Chi- na takes control of the port. This recent- ly played out in Sri Lanka. Meanwhile, on the other side of the world, Russia has taught China some unsettling lessons—unsettling for us. When the U.S./E.U. coalition caved in on Moscow's annexation of Crimea and put up with Putin's military support for the separatists in Ukraine's eastern provinc- es, it exposed the coalition as less than robust and reliable. It used to be fashionable to say that Russia is nothing more than a gas sta- tion with nukes. The dismissal of Russia as a "nuclear-armed filling station" is far out of date and dangerously misleading. Along with its vast oil and gas exports and control of pipelines, in particular a natural gas line to Germany, Russia has transformed the decrepit ex-Soviet mili- tary into what experts describe as an "ag- ile, professionalized fighting force." Russian speaking "volunteers" seized the Crimean Peninsula and a quick mo- bilization by both air and sea saved Bashar al Assad's collapsing Syrian re- gime. Russian-backed separatists have often been able to inflict devastating loss- es on Ukrainian forces. Russia remains an acute and formidable threat to the U.S. and our interests in Europe. From the Arctic to the Baltics, Ukraine, the South Caucasus, and increasingly the Mediter- ranean Sea, Russia continues to foment instability in Europe. Overall, Russia has developed ad- vanced weapons systems and nuclear capabilities and remains the foremost threat to European security. Its aggres- sive stance in several theaters, includ- ing the Balkans, Georgia, Syria, and Ukraine, continues both to encourage de- stabilization and threaten U.S. interests. Among the key weapons in Russia's in- ventory are 313 intercontinental ballistic missiles, 2,780 main battle tanks, more than 5,140 armored infantry fighting ve- hicles, more than 6,100 armored person- nel carriers, and more than 4,328 pieces of artillery. The Russian Navy has one aircraft carrier, 62 submarines, includ- ing 13 ballistic missile submarines, five cruisers, 15 destroyers, 13 frigates: and 100 military patrol and coastal combat- ants. The Russian Air Force has 1,176 combat-capable aircraft. Reinvigorating submarine construc- tion has been one of the visible accom- plishments of the Russian Navy's mod- ernization program for 2011–2020. On April 24, 2019, Russia unveiled one of its nuclear super weapons, the first subma- rine capable of firing high-speed under- water drones armed with massive nucle- ar weapons. The first Project 09852 sub- marine, described as a nuclear-powered Belgorod, was launched from Sevmash shipyard in northern Russia. U.S. de- fense officials claim the drones, called Kanyons, can blow up entire ports and cities, such as Groton, Conn., Kings Bay, Ga., and Puget Sound, Wash., where U.S. nuclear missile submarines are based. The U.S. Navy has no unmanned underwater vehicles like the Kanyon. Russia is expected to pro- duce a fifth-generation nucle- ar-powered submarine by 2030 and arm it with Zircon hyper- sonic missiles, which have a reported speed of from Mach 5 (3,806 mph) to Mach 6 (4,567 mph) and a range of 620 miles. The first ship in the Yasen class, Severodvinsk, is approximately 393 feet long and dis- places 11,800 tons submerged. An OK- 650KPM pressurized water nuclear re- actor provides 200 megawatts of power, driving her to speeds of up to 31 knots submerged. An Irtysh-Amfora sonar sys- tem provides all-around sonar coverage. The Severodvinsk's combat systems are formidable with 10 533-millimeter tor- pedo tubes armed with UGST-M heavy- weight guided torpedoes. The launch- ing of the Russian Yasen-class nuclear at- tack submarine Kazan on March 31, 2017, initiated a new but disturbingly familiar phase in the U.S.-Russian contest for na- val superiority in the North Atlantic. Russia's 27 nuclear-powered multi-pur- pose fast-attack submarines now in ser- vice compares with 60 similar subma- rines in the U.S. Navy. The Russians plan to add six more Yasen-class boats. Should a conflict erupt with NATO, the Russian Navy will try to: secure a favor- able operational regime in such critical waters as the Barents, Norwegian, Baltic and Black Seas; ensure access through chokepoints such as the Greenland-Ice- land-gap; conduct strikes against oppos- ing cruise missile-armed ships and sub- marines and carrier strike groups; target U.S. reinforcements transiting the Atlan- tic; and ensure the security of the vital ballistic missile-armed submarines. Meanwhile, Russia and China official- ly support space arms control even as they both view space as a war-fighting domain. They both pursue counter-space systems to neutralize or deny U.S. space- based services—military as well as com- mercial. China and Russia have devel- oped space warfare capability including three types of ground-launched anti-sat- ellite missiles, anti-satellite lasers and maneuvering satellites. On Oct. 6, 2020, former Secretary of De- fense Mark Esper rolled out a new 25 -year road map with a goal of 355 manned ships and half as many unmanned surface and subsurface ships. His plan calls for few- er large carriers and more submarines in a Navy of 500 ships or more. He also increased the Virginia attack submarine force from 70 to 80 boats. With unlimited range, attack submarines can prowl the globe, shadowing Russian and Chinese ICBM submarines or delivering devastat- ing missile barrages. They covertly col- lect intelligence that cannot be obtained in any other way. Six years ago, Gener- al Dynamics was awarded a $17.8 billion contract to build 10 Virginia-class subma- rines to replace the Los Angeles class, which has been in service since 1976. Es- per proposed to increase the production of Virginia class submarines to three a year, up from the current two. The U.S. Navy is also committed to building 12 Columbia-class nuclear bal- listic submarines to replace the Ohio- class submarines. The sole mission of the Columbia class is strategic nucle- ar deterrence, for which it carries long- range submarine-launched ballistic mis- siles. They provide the most survivable leg of America's strategic nuclear deter- rence, with 70 percent of the nation's ac- countable nuclear warheads, and consti- tute its only assured second-strike capa- bility. Our greatest danger lies between now and 2031 when the first of the Colum- bia-class submarines will be deployed. That's a long period of terrifying vulnera- bility. Nothing should be done to slow the development and deployment of the Co- lumbia or Virginia class, and we should support any opportunities to speed it up. The best way to prepare for war is to be prepared to win it. We need to stop under- funding the military, especially in such key areas of research as non-convention- al war, space, cyberwar and artificial in- telligence. War is changing, and we need to change with it. We cannot expect suc- cess fighting tomorrow's conflicts with yesterday's weapons. J. William Middendorf II is Chairman of Middendorf and Company and a Heri- tage Trustee since 1989. LENT Continued from page 5