The Press-Dispatch
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Opinion C-2 Wednesday, December 11, 2013 The Press-Dispatch Observations by Thomas Sowell Very dangerous game New York City police authorities are investigating a series of unprovoked physical attacks in public places on people who are Jewish, in the form of what is called "the knockout game." The way the game is played, one of a number of young blacks decides to show that he can knock down some stranger on the streets, preferably with one punch, as they pass by. Often some other member of the group records the event, so that a video of that "achievement" is put on the Internet, to be celebrated. The New York authorities describe a recent series of such attacks and, because Jews have been singled out in these attacks, are considering prosecuting these assaults as "hate crimes." Many aspects of these crimes are ex- A toast to Buckley By Edwin J. Feulner, Ph.D. To millions of readers, he was William F. Buckley Jr.: book author, magazine publisher, televised debater. To me, he was Bill: friend, ally, trailblazer. Indeed, to remember Bill—who would have turned 88 last week—is to remember modern conservatism's stellar leader. Bill was an entrepreneur whenever he needed to be, and more often than most of us realized, starting National Review when it was not only politically incorrect, but intellectually inconceivable. After all, we were told, conservatives didn't have enough ideas to fill one issue of a magazine, let alone one that would presume to follow a regular publishing schedule. In today's age of heated debates that feature more shouting than substance, it's easy to forget that Bill conceptualized and hosted his own long-running TV series with intelligent discourse, not with participants yelling at the other guy across a table. Conservatism in the 1950s was colorful, eccentric—and largely irrelevant. Some taught that theism was weakness and altruism a crime. Others accused Dwight Eisenhower of being a communist agent. In both cases, Bill shored up the intellectual levies that defined the course of the conservative mainstream. The result was a movement prepared for Barry Goldwater's 1964 presidential run and the groundwork it laid for Ronald Reagan's eventual victory. I first met Bill in the fall of 1964 at the organizing committee meeting for the Philadelphia Society, also attended by Don Lipsett, Frank Meyer and Milton Friedman. I remember Bill writing a check for $100 so that I could open a bank account as the group's first treasurer. The society, which will celebrate its 50th anniversary next April, continues to fill a vital role as a meeting place for American conservatives. Bill had a talent for encouraging the small beginnings of great things. He was a gardener who saw redwoods grow to maturity. His association with the Heritage Foundation was a long one. He was a featured speaker in 1980 at the dedication of the Noble and Coors Buildings, our first headquarters, and he graced us with his wit and wisdom on many subsequent occasions. Bill's talent for hospitality and his unfailing good humor steadied and unified the conservative movement. At one small New York dinner party, he introduced my wife, Linda, to her heartthrob, Tom Selleck (who continues to entertain us with his wholesome TV show "Blue Bloods"). At his semi-annual dinners and discussions, all the disparate factions of conservatism were united and reminded that the battle against a common enemy trumps any squabbles among natural allies. He was a source of constant inspiration to all on the right. His books "God and Man at Yale" and "Up Continued on page 3 No spin zone—by Bill O'Reilly Fleeing television Marketing surveys now show that when Americans come home from work, more folks turn on their computers than their television sets. That is a first. The reason is twofold: First, you can create your own world on your PC, and second, TV is awful. Flat-out awful. For years, television has been losing viewers because the product, generally speaking, has collapsed. Reality TV has destroyed the tube. Cheap, mindless shows featuring people who should be deported rule the airwaves. Don't believe me? Well, TV Guide recently listed reality TV's most startling moments. The choices are indeed startling. Among them is Marie Osmond fainting on "Dancing with the Stars." That was unforgettable, was it not? All 10 of her siblings attempted to resuscitate her. Laurie has a breast-baring meltdown on a program called "She's Got the Look." I don't know who Laurie is, but I believe she may be overexposed. Or something. Rebecca gets dentures on "Breaking Amish." I am not fabricating this. I didn't even know that the Amish broke anything. Hopefully, Rebecca can clean the dentures without electricity. At least she's in better shape than Laurie. An Elvis impersonator is overwhelmed by memorabilia on the show "Hoarders." I missed that. I'm sorry. Tom DeLay dances to "Wild Thing" on "Dancing with the Stars." That was why Marie Osmond fainted. "The Osbournes" examining the aftermath of Ozzy's ATV accident. Does it get any better than that? Does it? Kim Kardashian weds Kris Humphries on "Kim's Fairytale Wedding." This was the nadir. An untalented but ambitious woman marrying a young basketball player and then divorcing him about 20 minutes later. And the guy got hurt. So why are people watching that? Disturbing question. Monica Lewinsky hosts "Mr. Per- sonality." This was an actual TV show. Insert your joke here. On a show called "The Surreal Life," the guy who played Mini Me in an Austin Powers movie rides a scooter naked. Why didn't Kim Kardashian think of that? The "Queer Eye" guys go nude. Did they have scooters, as well? I honestly don't know. Michelle Obama appears on "The Biggest Loser." This is a weight loss program, not the Republican Convention. And finally, chef Gordon Ramsay "fat-shames" a "Hell's Kitchen" contestant. All I can say is that Jackie Gleason would have taken Ramsay out. So it is beyond dispute that television is in deep trouble. These reality shows make "Gilligan's Island" look like "Macbeth." They are like unspeakable zombies destroying the entire structure of the television industry. Thank God PBS is still on the air. But even here there is some worry. Elmo has been seen hanging with the Kardashians. It's just a matter of time until someone gets engaged. Points to ponder—by Rev. Ford Bond Sexualization of Society – Part 341 The mass media is a major culprit in the sexualizing of our children. This is not just an American phenomena; it is global. The guardians of our children have hijacked the Proverb writer's admonition about raising children: "Train up a child in the way he should go, And when he is old he will not depart from it." In 2006, a report called "Corporate Pedophilia: Sexualization of Children in Australia" concluded: "Images of sexualized children are be- coming increasingly common in advertising and marketing material. Children who appear aged 12 years and under are dressed, posed and made up in the same way as sexy adult models. 'Corporate pedophilia' is a metaphor used to describe advertising and marketing that sexualizes children in these ways." Any of this a surprise? Does anyone think this sexualization aimed at preadolescents has no impact? The professional journal Sex Roles last year published a study conducted by Chris- A woman's perspective—by Mona Charen Obamacare and Government Failure We conservatives are always on about the "unintended consequences" of government programs, but we didn't expect the Obama administration and congressional Democrats to provide such a vivid object lesson. If the tipsy, teetering debut of Obamacare invites a new skepticism about the capacity of government to run things, it will be the most welcome unintended consequence since Alexander Fleming left his staphylococci samples on a workbench over summer vacation. Government programs, after all, fail frequently but are almost never held to account, far less held up to ridicule. Consider education. In an era everyone keeps telling us is hi-tech-centered, only about 75 percent of American students graduate from high school. In major cities, the figure is closer to 50 percent. Detroit, Education Week reports, graduates only 46 percent of students; Denver, 50 percent; Los Angeles, 52 percent; and New York City, 54 percent. As for what those diplomas signify, it varies a lot. A 2009 survey by Common Core found that fewer than half of American high schoolers could place the Civil War in the correct half-century, 25 percent thought Christopher Columbus sailed the ocean blue after 1,750 and 33 percent couldn't identify the Bill of Rights. American students lag behind their peers from other developed nations in math, technology and literacy. You'd think that parents, especially those in poor neighborhoods, would be in the streets protesting. You'd think the failure of government to provide such a basic good to its citizens—particularly after demanding and getting increasing subventions year after year— tremely painful to think about, including the fact that responsible authorities in New York seem to have been caught by surprise, even though this "knockout game" has been played for years by young black gangs in other cities and other states, against people besides Jews—the victims being either whites in general or people of Asian ancestry. Attacks of this sort have been rampant in St. Louis. But they have also occurred in Massachusetts, Wisconsin and elsewhere. In Illinois the game has often been called "Polar Bear Hunting" by the young thugs, presumably because the targets are white. The main reason for many people's Continued on page 3 would be met with at least consternation, if not outright rebellion. But no, these failing schools chug along, failing to educate and in some cases, failing even to provide for the physical safety of their students. It is reformers who are branded as dangerous rather than the government that permits this dereliction. Is education too complicated and multifactorial? If you think so, have a glance at "No Excuses: Closing the Racial Gap in Learning," by Stephan and Abigail Thernstrom. But meanwhile, let's look at Medicaid because Obamacare is expanding this failed program. Deamonte Driver was a seventhgrader in Prince George's County, Md., who died because he couldn't get a dentist appointment. Avik Roy tells his story in "How Medicaid Fails the Poor." When Deamonte complained of a toothache in September 2006, his mother began calling around, seeking a dentist who would take a patient with Medicaid coverage. Several months and dozens of phone calls later, she finally found one who explained to her that Deamonte had six abscessed teeth and required the services of an oral surgeon, which once again, prompted another frustrating round of phone calls and several months of delay. A week before his surgery was finally scheduled, Deamonte complained of a severe headache. He was rushed to the hospital where doctors found his dental infection had spread to his brain. Brain surgery revived him for a while but after a few weeks, he died. Long waits and poor care are not exceptions in the Medicaid program but regular features. A recent Pediatrics study found that Medicaid/State Children's Health Insurance Program patients were unable to get urgent dental appointments 64 percent of the time, compared with 5 percent for those with private insurance. It was similar for patients with severe asthma and juvenile diabetes. Roy highlights studies that show patients with Medicaid coverage not only have worse health outcomes than those with private health insurance, but also that they fare worse even than those with no health insurance at all. Medicaid reimburses physicians at roughly half the rate of private insurance. Some liberals want for doctors to be coerced into providing care, which is the logical extension of the Obamacare cram-down model. In fact, the program will add about 17 million new enrollees to Medicaid. This will increase wait times even further and put more strain on an already-failing system. Medicaid patients clog emergency rooms because they cannot get primary care doctors to see them, Roy argues. A system of catastrophic coverage combined with "concierge" service (paying physicians $80 per month to see each Medicaid patient) would cost $3,460 per person, or 42 percent less than what Obamacare proposes to spend. "It's not wrong to spend a large sum of money on health care for the poor," writes Roy. "It is wrong to waste large sums of money on health care for the poor." Or on anything else. It's even worse to waste large sums of money on programs that make everyone, on balance, worse off than competing arrangements would. Let's hope that the troubles of Obamacare open people's eyes to alternatives. We've tamely accepted government failure to our sorrow. tine Starr and Gail Ferguson that focused on the aspects of sexual imaging of children. They concluded in their study "Sexy Dolls, Sexy GradeSchoolers? Media & Maternal Influences on Young Girls" that "Self-sexualization was common among 6–9-year old girls. Girls overwhelmingly chose the sexualized doll over the non-sexualized doll for their ideal self and as popular." This sexualization is deliberate. A recent article ("External Research on Sexualized Goods Aimed at Children") in the Scottish Review concluded as much: "While the public visibility of the issue, and the terms in which it is defined, may have changed, sexualized representations of children cannot be seen merely as a consequence of contemporary consumerism." I must point out that though the report points to the obvious, the authors seem to take issue at their own conclusions; they suggest that previous reports/ studies "rest on moral assumptions . . . that are not adequately explained or justified." Moral assumptions? Humans, because of their abil- ity to think and act, evaluate their experiences constantly. Some yardstick or guide must be employed to appraise these experiences so that they can react in a manner that enhances survivability. Morality is the rudder, the governor of the individual. Without a moral code or value judgments, civilization could not exist. Humans do not imprint like ducks. No ancient or modern philosopher embraces the notion that humans have instincts (drives yes). Our behavior is a result of the interaction of drives, genetics, biology, and culture. Humans are a social/ biological creation that occupies the pinnacle of what lives. Therefore, humans are hard-wired for self-preservation and react to their environment with the help of emotions and morality. Left alone, humans will devolve to a crude tribalism (compare interior Africa with Europe or Asia in the mid1800s). A civilization that practices self-regulation will reach for the stars beyond its grasp. Children are our most cherished resource; they are the future. Children are Continued on page 3 The P Dispatch ress- MR. AND MRS. FRANK HEURING, PUBLISHERS ANDREW G. HEURING, EDITOR JOHN B. HEURING, ADVERTISING MANAGER Wednesday, December 11, 2013 Entered at the Post Office in Petersburg, Indiana for transmission through the mails as Periodical Mail, Postage paid at Petersburg, Indiana. Published weekly. Change of Address—Subscribers changing addresses will please give old address as well as new one along with phone number. We cannot guarantee prompt change unless this is done. Postmaster: send changes to Post Office Box 68, Petersburg, Indiana 47567-0068. Phone 354-8500 • FAX—354-2014 P.O. BOX 68, PETERSBURG, INDIANA 47567 E-mail—subscribe@pressdispatch.net (604-340)