The Press-Dispatch
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/324078
The Press-Dispatch Wednesday, June 4, 2014 C-3 the political power on earth couldn't move Reagan to do the wrong thing. And all the indignity and intimidation of racism couldn't keep Parks from doing the right thing. It was courage that made Reagan get up and leave. It was courage that kept Parks in her seat. In these seem- ingly simple acts, each be- gan building a bridge that would deliver millions of op- pressed people to their God- given birthright of freedom and dignity—in Reagan's case, the people of Cen- tral and Eastern Europe; in Parks' case, all citizens of the United States. You demonstrate courage any time you set goals, es- pecially when the probabili- ty of success is low. In fact, courage seems to be close- ly related to commitment. Courageous people make to- tal commitments to the fam- ilies, friends and other peo- ple. They commit complete- ly to their work, company, career and business. Without the courage of our troops, building and sus- taining a great nation would be impossible. Without the courage of ordinary citizens, there would be no great na- tion to defend. That's some- thing worth celebrating on Memorial Day—and every day. Ed Feulner is founder of the Heritage Foundation (heri- tage.org). will not be that difficult. To sit helplessly by and pray for deliverance when the tools to achieve victo- ry are in our hands is not useful. God helps those who help themselves. Conservatives and those who share their val- ues are the last bastion be- tween freedom and tyran- ny. If the secular liberals, who are very clever, suc- ceed in dividing us dur- ing the next two national elections, America as we know it will be gone. We can stop this, but we must work together. I disagree with those who think it is going to take decades to undo the damage that already has been done. Americans are exception- al and extremely resilient. We cannot allow ourselves to be defined by those who wish to fundamentally change our society. I am convinced that Americans with common sense will soon regain power. It is essential that we not use the opportu- nity to exact revenge up- on the liberals. Rather, we must govern by the Con- stitution in a way that is fair for all. It is not rea- sonable to have favorites and to enforce laws selec- tively. Most importantly, it is not the place of our gov- ernment to rule the peo- ple; the government must always remember that it is in place to serve the peo- ple. I believe that when peo- ple who were being manip- ulated by the secular liber- als, including the media, have an opportunity to see how much better off they are when the proper rela- tionship between the peo- ple and the government is restored, they will adopt a different attitude. This will empower them and the entire nation. Now is the time to rise above partisan politics and recognize the incred- ible blessings God has be- stowed upon our nation. It is time to elevate common sense, decency, honesty and compassion to their proper positions. Rath- er than simply repeating the words, we must actual- ly achieve "one nation un- der God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all." H Random thoughts H Compromise H Memorial Day continued from page 2 continued from page 2 continued from page 2 get his facts straight, why should his grandiose plans for confiscatory global taxa- tion be taken seriously? Sometimes I think that this is an era when sanity has become controversial. Republicans in Congress seem to be drawn toward the immigration issue like a moth toward a flame. How turning illegal immigrants into Democratic voters, while demoralizing the Re- publican base, will help ei- ther the country or the Re- publicans is a mystery. If ev- er there was a high-risk, low- yield investment, this is it. President Theodore Roo- sevelt said that his foreign policy was to "speak softly and carry a big stick." Pres- ident Barack Obama's for- eign policy is to speak loud- ly and carry a little stick. They say talk is cheap, but loose talk by a President of the United States can be very expensive in both blood and treasure. One of the scariest as- pects of our times is how seldom either people or pol- icies are judged by their track record. Why in the world are the Baltic states in NATO? The Russian army could overrun them before NATO could get a meeting together to decide what to do. If the Democrats retain control of the Senate after this year's election, Barack Obama can load the federal courts from top to bottom with judges who will ignore the Constitution, as he does, and promote his far-left po- litical agenda instead, long after he is gone. I get nervous every time I see Mitt Romney showing up in the media. He seems to be maintain- ing his visibility, in hopes of another run for the White House in 2016. He might well get a second chance to fail. Romney is the Repub- lican establishment's idea of the perfect candidate for president—no matter how many times such candidates lose, even under promising conditions. Anti-Semitism may have the dubious distinction of be- ing the oldest of the group hatreds. You might think that the world would have gotten over anti-Semitism by now, but Jews have been singled out for separate treatment by the Russian insurgents in Ukraine. "We cannot insure to the vicious the fruits of a virtu- ous life; we would not invade the home of the provident in order to supply the wants of the spendthrift; we do not propose to transfer the re- wards of industry to the lap of indolence." Democratic presidential nominee Wil- liam Jennings Bryan said that in 1896. Today's Demo- crats do all those things that Bryan rejected. Any fool can say the word "racism." In fact, quite a few fools do say it. But clev- er people can also say "rac- ism," in order to get fools to vote their way. Those people who want Hillary Clinton elected pres- ident, so that we could have our first woman president, seem to have learned abso- lutely nothing from the cur- rent disaster of choosing a president on the basis of de- mographics and symbolism. The old saying that taxes are the price we pay for civ- ilization has long since be- come obsolete. The amount that the government spends to defend us from foreign at- tack, or to maintain law and order at home, has been overtaken by the money it spends just to transfer some people's money to other peo- ple who are more likely to vote for the reelection of in- cumbents. Government policies to "bring down the cost of med- ical care" almost never bring down those costs, and often increase the costs. These policies simply refuse to pay the full costs of medical care. Any one of us can do that, but we know there will be consequences. There will also be consequences when the government refuses to pay the costs, but these con- sequences will be concealed and/or denied. The old saying that "pol- itics is the art of the possi- ble" is dead wrong. Politics is the art of making the im- possible seem possible, and even plausible and desirable. That is how ObamaCare got passed. To let the world's leading terrorism-exporting nation get nuclear weapons can prove to be the most irre- sponsible and catastrophic decision in the history of the human race. It was also an ir- responsible and catastroph- ic decision of the American voters to elect as president someone who would let that happen, basing their votes on rhetoric and racial sym- bolism. Thomas Sowell is a senior fellow at the Hoover Institu- tion, Stanford University. To the Editor: On July 22, 2013, a meet- ing was called by City Code Administrator, R.C. Klipsch, in reference to the Peters- burg Stormwater Improve- ment Project. In attendance were R.C., a Midwestern Engineering representative and three persons from the impacted area on the North side of Petersburg, Seventh Street, Matilda and Branch streets. Drawings and plans were reviewed, corrections and objections were noted by those in attendance. We were advised another meet- ing would be held upon com- pletion of corrections and objections to drawings. Storm drains were to be in- stalled in Fall of 2013. Land- scape was to be returned as it was prior to construction. September 2013, seven ug- ly concrete collectors/drain connectors (approx. 4ft. by 4ft. by 3-5ft. high) were placed on or near easement in front of my house, where they would remain for six months, until March 2014, at which time construction finally started. Construction started at a location where the creek crosses Matilda Street, moving eastward to Seventh Street. Shortly after mid-April, four concrete elliptical cul- verts, 4ft. high by 6ft. wide, 8ft. long, 3-4 lengths of 18 inch drain pipe, drain outlet and numerous other pieces of junk were delivered to the easement location accom- panied by a gigantic piece of earth moving/digging equipment, which remain in place as of this writing, June 2, 2014. Also, we have been blessed with a porta- ble outhouse to enhance the neighborhood and land- scape, turned over by Sun- days storm. As for landscape, approx- imately 120 feet has been covered with roll out ground cover. Soil beneath is such poor quality and so rough you couldn't walk on it and grass doesn't grow. Weeds grew beneath the seed- ing bed and lifted it up 6 -8 inches above the soil. Bal- ance of area, approximate- ly 144 feet, has become a storage area for construc- tion equipment. Though I have mowed my lawn four times this year, no grass or weeds have grown in ar- ea where fill dirt was used, as it is currently standing in surface water. Will this ever come to fru- ition? Respectfully, Earl Richardson Matilda Street Resident Letter to the Editor Word of caution to anyone being solicited for easement approval criminal Docket Pike circuit court Cheyenne C. Frazier charged with count I pos- session of a controlled sub- stance, a class D felony; count II possession of para- phernalia and count III pos- session of marijuana. Eric L. Petry charged with possession of a con- trolled substance, a class D felony; count II possession of paraphernalia and count III possession of marijuana. Jeremy K. Williams charged with count I pos- session of marijuana; count II possession of marijuana; count III possession of mari- juana; count IV speeding, 86 mph in a 70 zone. traffic and misdemeanor Pike circuit court Robert L. Sims charged with count I operating a ve- hicle while intoxicated, en- dangering a person, a class A misdemeanor; count II operating a vehicle with a schedule I or II controlled substance or its metabolite in the body, a class C mis- demeanor. Brandon E. Sipperle charged with possession of marijuana, a class C misde- meanor. civil Docket Pike circuit court Central Mortgage Co. sues Keith J. and Staci Nor- dhoff on complaint. Floyd Emergency Medi- cine Association sues Rob- ert L. Butrum on complaint. Capital One Bank sues Ta- mara J. McCandless on com- plaint. Portfolio Recovery As- sociates, LLC sues Natalie Brewster on complaint. Charles M. Milligan sues Kristina M. Ingle on com- plaint. Darrell Gene Cox, Jr., sues April Lynn Cox for dis- solution of marriage. Midland Funding LLC sues Justin Atkins on com- plaint. Capital One Bank (USA) sues Glenn E. Landstrom on complaint. Federal home Loan Mort- gage Corp sues Daren Ever- ett et al on complaint. Ferran Mason sues Aar- on Mason for dissolution of marriage. infractions Pike circuit court Daniel Boyd charged with seat belt violation and driv- ing while suspended. Christopher Bruner charged with expired plates. Harold Gammon charged with failure to inspect/re- pair and maintain parts and accessories. Wayne King charged with operating a commercial mo- tor vehicle without a CDL. Charell Meriel charged with speeding. Garland Moore, Jr., charged with unsafe start. Theresa Souerdike charged with seat belt vio- lation. Bo Warner charged with speeding. Brian Wedding charged with seat belt violation. Luke Wilson charged with seat belt violation. Kevin Bhayani charged with speeding. Aaron Drake charged with speeding. Brody DeWeese charged with speeding. Faisal Alhumaidan charged with expired plates. Allen Alte charged with speeding. John Bruce charged with seat belt violation. Tanesha Howard charged with speeding. Gary Lagle charged with seat belt violation. Caleb Like charged with seat belt violation. Joshua McCaslin charged with speeding. Madison Poynter charged with speeding. Heather Putman charged with speeding. Lynn Riggle charged with speeding. Nicholas Schenk charged with speeding. Tyeisha Sumbry charged with speeding. Robert Townley charged with seat belt violation. Jennifer Vanderveer charged with speeding. Dexter Waltz charged with speeding. Andrea Witherspoon charged with speeding. Court report Katiedid vs... by Katiedid Langrock Feline foes I am a dog person. Nothing makes me feel as if Earth is about to go spinning off its axis, flip- ping wildly into the abyss, more than folks who claim to be both a dog person and a cat person. Let me be clear: There is no such thing. It's like being an Eagles fan and a Cowboys fan. A Pollyanna and an Ebenezer Scrooge. A lov- er of guardian angels and of the devil. Not that I'm saying cats are akin to Lu- cifer, but to be fair, I think we can all agree they have a little gleam of evil behind their eyes. Though I can accept that perhaps a per- son can be OK with both species, cat and dog, co- habiting the planet, I fun- damentally believe that every person has a prefer- ence. Anyone who doesn't is just unnatural—clearly suffering from some mom- my issues that should be worked out through inten- sive therapy. Let me start by saying that I hate cats. I'm sorry; that was a little harsh. Let me try again. I hate cats. Oops! There it was again. I'll try to rephrase: I am a dog person. Pure- ly, completely, 100 percent. Well, it used to be 100 per- cent. This past weekend opened my eyes to how the other half lives. No lon- ger do I believe that all cat lovers are little more than foolish prey, unknowingly making themselves vul- nerable to the catastroph- ic kitty uprising, in which all felines named Whis- kers will unite in the dis- memberment of their love- struck owners. Just some. Catpocalypse may seem extreme to you, but my fe- line fears are rooted in per- sonal experience. For a stint after graduating col- lege, I lived with my friend Emily. She was a year out of college and had set- tled nicely into adulthood with a teaching job, a fian- ce, an apartment and three cats. I, on the other hand, was working two full-time jobs waiting tables, home- less and crashing on Emi- ly's floor. A floor that I had to share with the enemy. Three of them. I never liked Emily's cats. After all, they were cats. But my assuredness that felines are nothing but fur balls of malcontent was secured when I began waking up every night gasping for air, suffocating from the weight of the cats sitting on my face as they kneaded their claws into my shoulders. They'd hiss. They'd scratch. They'd un- leash their homicidal ten- dencies by smothering the slumbering. It was a sum- mer of scares. My fear of cats validated, my hatred of cats vindi- cated. Ten years has passed since those days, but when my son and I went to visit Emily last weekend, I was greeted by the same three furry foes. My son is an animal per- son. Watching him chase down anything that walks on four legs, I have had to come to accept that 1) he is too young to under- stand that though there is no wrong answer, he must decide whether to be a cat person or a dog person and that 2) being a cat per- son is the wrong answer. For months, I have at- tempted to nonchalantly scoop my son off the side- walk every time he has screeched in delight at the sight of a cat crossing our path, hoping he wouldn't sense my fear. But here we were, in the enemies' lair, and all my kid wanted to do was hang with the wolf in sheep's clothing. My son is kind, but he isn't quiet. He is gentle, but he isn't well-balanced. He screamed in the cats' ears. Toppled over on their heads. Stepped on their tails. Chased them around the apartment. Drove the cats crazy. But my son couldn't tell. Though my memory is filled with hiss- es and scratch- es and attempt- ed murder through fur ball ingestion, the cats never once threatened or scared my baby. For the first moment in my life, I considered that cats may have one redeeming quali- ty: selective homicidal ten- dencies. Just as my defenses were down, I saw the viral video of the house cat com- ing to the rescue of a lit- tle boy who was being at- tacked by a neighborhood dog. It was as if a cat took one of its terrifyingly long nails and sliced off a por- tion of my heart for felines. Now I'm 90 percent a dog person. That's probably as low as I'll go. The ancient Egyptians regarded cats as gods, to be revered and feared. Shouldn't we trust the people who built the pyr- amids? Northwood Park Shopping Center U.S. Hwy. 231 North Jasper, IN 812-482-3060 Mon.-Sat. 9am-8pm, Sun. 11am-5pm Ben Franklin Crafts See us for a large variety of cras and accessories for your 4-H projects! • Model Rockets • Candle Making • Picture Frames • Latch Hook Supplies • Plus Much, Much MORE! 2501 Newton St (HWY 231 N) Jasper, IN 47546 www.obcycle.com 866-yamaha-6 Obermeyer H O N D A - YA M A H A - S U Z U K I 2501 Newton St (HWY 231 N) Jasper, IN 47546 www.obcycle.com 866-yamaha-6 Great SelectiOn! Great SelectiOn!