The Press-Dispatch
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/1349176
A-6 Wednesday, March 10, 2021 The Press-Dispatch OPINION Submit Letters to the Editor: Letters must be signed and received by noon on Mondays. Email: editor@pressdispatch.net or bring in a hard copy: 820 E. Poplar Street, Petersburg Race for the Cure By Star Parker Points to Ponder By Rev. Ford Bond Trump gets it right at CPAC Donald Trump showed up at CPAC, the Conservative Political Action Con- ference, and reminded everyone why, with all his provocations, so many are still on board with him. Our country IS in trouble — big trou- ble. No parent reading this would not be up in arms if his or her children were threatened. Well, all Americans, including our children, are being threatened — threatened by the militant left now hold- ing the reins of power. It's why passions are running high. Trump wasted no time getting to the heart of the matter. "( W )e're in the middle of a historic struggle for America's future, Ameri- ca's culture and America's institutions, borders and most cherished principles," he said. "Our security, our prosperity and our very identity as Americans is at stake, like perhaps at no other time." The reason Trump stirs up so many is because he is right. And it's the reason why those on the left hate him so much. He's got their number; he fearlessly calls them out; and he speaks directly into their in- sidious distortions and lies targeted to crush the core institutions that hold our country together. Last year, I wrote about Black Lives Matter intimidating billboard company Clear Channel Outdoor to take down a billboard my organization posted in a poor Milwaukee neighborhood to en- courage work, marriage and education as the path out of poverty. BLM, whose business is about blam- ing everyone else, would have none of this personal-responsibility message about dealing with poverty. And Clear Channel Outdoor immediately caved. It's what's happening across the country, and we're losing our nation. Our largest corporations are selling out to "woke" politics and undermining the very values of capitalism that built every one of those firms. The Wall Street Journal points out that in the $1.9 trillion spending bill that Democrats now want enacted, COVID-19 -related provisions tally up to some $ 825 billion. The rest, anoth- er trillion-plus, is simply expenditures for Democratic pet programs along for the ride. Last year, government spending at the federal, state and local levels came to 43.3% of the U.S. economy. Almost $1 out of every $2 produced by the nation's economy went to government. Now Democrats want to add another $1.9 trillion on top of it. It is clear that Democrats are not let- ting this crisis go to waste and want to use it as an opportunity to advance their agenda of socialism, secularism and left-wing totalitarianism. Here's Trump again: "The future of the Republican Party is as a party that defends the social, economic and cul- tural interests and values of working American families of every race, color and creed." "Trumpism," he said, "means low tax- es and eliminating job-killing regula- tions." "We are committed to defending in- nocent life, and to upholding the Ju- deo-Christian values of our founders and of our founding," he said. Democrats and the left have succeed- ed in redirecting attention from the ac- complishments of Trump's four years as president — 55% of Americans polled told Gallup last September that they were "better off now" than they were four years earlier — to one unfortunate incident on Jan. 6. But what some rowdies who got out of hand did to bricks and mortar for a few hours Democrats and the left have been doing to our whole country for years. The Equality Act that Democrats now push denies the insurmountable reality of every man's and every woman's sexu- al identity coded by God and nature in- to their DNA and their soul. One needn't agree with Donald Trump 100 % of the time or be happy all the time with the way in which he de- livers his message. But at a time when America as a free nation under God is under siege, when a nation like Iran ap- pears to be developing nuclear weap- ons, when China is shutting down the bastion of democracy in Hong Kong, we need strong, tough leaders. Donald Trump is strong, tough and right. Star Parker is president of the Center for Urban Renewal and Education and host of the weekly television show "Cure America with Star Parker." Continued on page 7 I was watching Youtube to pass the time. One of my favorite activities during days when it was gloomy was to watch and listen to music videos of the 60s and 70s. I think they were the times when the greatest music style and groups evolved. Besides, the kinds of music I hear of that era re- mind me of my younger days, when life was less complicated. What I had to worry about at that time mostly was to study well for the very long journey in med school, and let my parents take care of shelter, food, tuition fees, books, etc and dif- ferent kinds of recreation. While searching for materials to entertain myself, I came across a fas- cinating set of interviews of an ac- tress named Dolores Maria Hart. She was the beau- tiful actress who had several award winning movies with Elvis Presley in Loving You; King Creole; and Where the Boys Are with George Hamilton. Another set of actors she worked with were War- ren Beatty, Marlon Brando, Antho- ny Quinn, Montgomery Cliff and George Peppard. Elvis Presley's first screen kiss was with Dolores. I listened to ma- ny different interviews about her life and I was so fascinated I could not get enough of her mysteri- ous call from God . To hear her story from birth to her latest station in life was ab- solutely mind boggling. I'll explain why. ••• Mother Dolores Hart is currently a cloistered nun in a monastery in Connecti- cut, in an Abbey called Regi- na Laudis Convent. She is in residence with about 35 other nuns since her age of 25. They live a life of silence, work and prayer. Their convent is self-sustain- My Point of View By H. K. Fenol, Jr., M.D. Nostalgia Continued on page 7 Continued on page 7 Continued on page 7 Continued on page 7 Give Me a Break By John Stossel Everyone is essential Eye on the Economy By Stephen Moore Climate change alarmism takes another big hit Lent – A closer walk last week my focus of Lent began with a question: "What is the most precious thing that you own, but are always wanting more? You cannot bank it, and it is used, whether you like it or not – and once it is taken or used, you can never get it back? It was time! The scripture has a lot to say about time, and many would turn to chapter three of Ecclesiastes where we read: "To everything there is a season. A time for every purpose under heaven…." As the faithful know, the Church is in the midst of the time or season of Lent; what words jump out at you during lent? Consider these few ad- ditional words: • Pilgrim • Faith • Abstinence • Struggle • Restore • Penance • Forgiveness • Almsgiving • Intentional • Discipleship • Reflect • A fflict • Purpose • Fasting Now consider the list as you re- flect upon what the apostle James wrote about times and seasons: "Come now, you who say, 'Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit'; whereas you do not know what will happen to- morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. Instead you ought to say, 'If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.' But now you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin." Notice something? James said in- stead of looking for reason to do such and such, consider the "big picture" of life. What does it mean, "If the Lord wills? " Countless messages have been given and books published to explain the will of God. The will of God is encapsulated in the question Moses asked of God in the desert of Sinai: Moses asked, "WHAT IS YOUR NAME"; the reply was "I AM." To know God who proclaimed HE IS means you embrace His presence. The psalmist wrote, "If I ascend into heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there! " Consider what the psalmist im- plies. God's presence is in hell with the condemned. Think of those who despise Him—no escape. To say that I am making time for God seems a weak position because God is time. Outside of our earthbound ex- istence, there is no time, life and death ceases, and there are no sea- sons. Our experiences are connected to creation, which God brought into existence from nothing, for our use and enjoyment. To embrace God is to recognize God is already where you are, dai- ly where we live, not where we think we should be living. DISCIPLE I concluded last week with the apos- tle Paul's summarization in his letter to the Church at Philippi; he wrote, "Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are no- ble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, what- ever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things." Did you notice the rollcall of divine attributes? • Meditate and embrace - Truth • Meditate and embrace - Things that are noble • Meditate and embrace - Things that are just • Meditate and embrace - Things that are pure • Meditate and embrace - Things that are lovely • Meditate and embrace - Things of good report • Meditate and embrace - Virtue • Meditate and embrace - Any- thing praiseworthy Do you notice these attributes are transcendent and are similar to The Politicians have too much power over our lives. Many used the pandemic as anoth- er excuse to take more. Early on, politicians declared that they would decide who was "essen- tial." Everyone else was told to stay home. Much of the economy stopped. Millions were laid off. Then politicians relaxed the rules for industries that they deemed "es- sential." "You can't just call somebody es- sential without implicitly suggest- ing that half the workforce is not es- sential," points out Mike Rowe, host of the surprise hit T V series, "Dirty Jobs." That's a big problem, says Rowe, because people find purpose in work. Now the Biden administration is eager to give money to people not working. Its push- ing a new stimulus package that would pay the unemployed an additional $400 per week. Since states like mine tack on as much as $500 per week in unemploy- ment benefits, ma- ny people learn that the $ 900 per week. leaves them with more money if they don't go back to work. So, many don't. But staying home imposes costs, too. Calls to suicide hotlines are up. Domestic violence is up. "It's happening because people simply don't feel valued," says Rowe. Politicians claim they save lives when they order busi- nesses to close. When Gov- ernor Andrew Cuomo an- nounced a lockdown, he said, "If everything we do saves just one life, I'll be happy." Rowe mocks that in my new video this week. "Let's knock the speed lim- it down to 10 miles an hour... make cars out of rubber... make everybody wear a helmet," he says. "Cars are a lot safer in the driveway... ships a lot safer when they don't leave harbor, and peo- ple are safer when they sit quietly in their basements, but that's not why Throughout the midsection of the United States in February, re- cord frigid temperatures were in- convenient for those politicians who call global warming an "existential threat." Global warming is already here, we are told. However, it didn't feel like it if you lived in Bismarck, North Dakota, where temperatures fell to decades-low numbers, or in Chica- go, Oklahoma City, Dallas or Hous- ton. San Antonio had snow for the first time in recent memory. The environmental apocalyptics say this doesn't prove anything about what is happening with the planet's climate. And you know what? They are 100 % correct. But last summer, when hundreds of thousands of acres burned in Cal- ifornia, that event was prima-facie evidence of glob- al warming, and if you challenged that premise, you faced ridicule as a "denier." About 10 years ago, when Barack Obama was presi- dent, his scientists put out a silly report on climate change, showing that the Great Lakes' ice coverage had fall- en to its lowest level in several de- cades. It was evidence of a warm- ing planet. But the year after the re- port came out, we had a frigid win- ter in the Midwest, and the ice cover was abnormally high. This year, we are again experiencing high ice levels on the Great Lakes with the polar vortex. Whoops. Again, this proves nothing, but the environmen- talists made the point in the first place. OK, what's the fol- lowing argument? One of the climate change movement's ironies is that it talks obsessively about sci- ence and the "scientific con- sensus." Still, collectively, the adherents suffer from one of the most common scientific reasoning flaws: confirmation bias. This hap- pens when you point to anything sup- Heritage Viewpoint By Maiya Clark Rare earth elements aren't that rare For one-third of the price of one F- 35 Lightning II, the Pentagon made a key investment to ensure its supply of rare earth elements. The Department of Defense earli- er this month announced that Lynas USA LLC was awarded a $ 30.4 mil- lion technology investment agree- ment under Title III of the Defense Production Act. With that award, Lynas will con- struct and begin operating a light ra- re earth elements processing facility in Hondo, Texas. The recent announcement from the Pentagon serves as an import- ant milestone and reminder of the ground gained—and left to be won— in the effort to secure a reliable rare earths supply chain for the U.S. de- fense industry. Few Americans could name even one of the 17 ar- cane rare earth el- ements. According to the American Geosciences In- stitute, those sub- stances are compo- nents to more than 200 products, such as cellphones, flat- screen monitors, lasers, and sonar systems. With wide-ranging applications, materials like cerium, lanthanum, and samarium may be found in ev- eryday commercial products. More importantly to the Pentagon, they are also vital compo- nents of defense systems key to American military suprem- acy. Rare earth elements are used in a wide range of items: communications equipment, precision-guided weapons, night-vision goggles, and stealth technology, to name a few. The many uses of rare earth elements raise an im- portant question: Can the U.S. military and its partners de- pend on the supply chains for these materials? Court Down Winter