The Press-Dispatch
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/327705
The Press-Dispatch Wednesday, June 11, 2014 C-3 U.S. Agriculture by Tom Vilsack, Secretary of Agriculture Farm Bill helps to boost economy This week, I visited Can- onsburg, Pennsylvania, a small city outside of my hometown of Pittsburgh to kick off the first of five Made in Rural America fo- rums designed to help ru- ral small businesses access the information they need to grow through exports. The global appetite for high-quality, American- made products is well-es- tablished. Over the past five years, rural America has achieved record agri- cultural exports, but the rural economy is diverse. Last fiscal year, agricul- tural exports reached a re- cord $140.9 billion, and we are on track for another re- cord year, with fiscal year 2014 agricultural exports projected to reach $149.5 billion. Last year was also the fourth-straight record- setting year for U.S. ex- ports as a whole, reaching $2.3 trillion. Yet, few American com- panies today have capi- talized on this demand — just one percent of U.S. companies export. At the same time, the vast major- ity — 95 percent — of the world's consumers live out- side the borders of the Unit- ed States, creating signifi- cant opportunities for our exporters, particularly rural businesses. Some rural-made prod- ucts have already estab- lished themselves in the world market, clearly dem- onstrating the opportuni- ty that the remaining rural manufacturers, service pro- viders and value-added pro- ducers may be missing out on. For example, Ziegler Brothers, Inc. of Gard- ners, Pennsylvania (popu- lation 150), manufactures specialty animal feeds, aquaculture feeds for fish and shrimp farms, feeds for pet exotic animals and specialty diets for animals that serve as health models in research since 1935. To- day, Ziegler Brothers, Inc. exports to 40 -50 countries a year, many in Africa and Southeast Asia. Exports now account for approxi- mately 50 percent of their overall sales. The potential for ru- ral exports is obvious, but some rural businesses may need additional support to get started. That is why the Administration, through the White House Rural Council, has convened this series of five regional fo- rums to con- nect rural busi- ness and com- munity lead- ers who want to expand their markets and sell in- ternationally to feder- al, state, and local exper- tise, including established rural exporters. We've also updated the tools at BusinessUSA.gov to make it easier for ru- ral businesses to find in- formation and federal re- sources to help them ex- port. The portal features information from 24 fed- eral agencies, a news feed highlighting recent export opportunities and develop- ments and a forthcoming self-assessment tool for ru- ral businesses preparing to export. Exporting companies grow faster, employ more workers and pay higher wag- es than non-ex- porting compa- nies — driving rural econom- ic growth. Ag- ricultural ex- ports in this country sup- port nearly one million jobs, and expand- ed rural exports have the potential to support addi- tional jobs and growth in rural America. For the 46.2 million peo- ple living, working and running small business- es in rural counties across the country, rural exports represent tremendous op- portunity. Equipping them with additional tools and in- formation they need to ac- cess overseas markets will allow them to seize the op- portunity to make glob- al sales and grow their businesses — supporting good-paying jobs and fos- tering economic growth in rural America. Criminal Docket Pike Circuit Court Jeremy K. Williams charged with two counts of possession of marijuana, a class D felony and speeding. Markes G. Straw charged with count I dealing in a synthetic drug or synthet- ic drug lookalike substance, maintaining a common nui- sance, a class C felony; count II possession of marijuana, a class A misdemeanor; count III failure to provide vehicle registration certificate; count IV operating a motor vehicle with a registration number belonging to a different ve- hicle. Rachel A. Black charged with count I possession of a controlled substance, a class D felony; count II obstruc- tion of justice, a class D fel- ony; and count III operating a vehicle while intoxicated, a class C felony. In re: search warrant. Civil Docket Pike Circuit Court Melissa J. Hardin sues Randall D. Phillips for disso- lution of marriage. Discover Bank sues Nicho- las I. Willis on complaint. Lynnville National Bank sues Eric L. Meyer and Da- vid Barclay on complaint. Midland Funding LLC sues Branden Segert on com- plaint. Cach, LLC sues Jody Bai- ley on complaint. Cach, LLC sues Lawrence Dent on complaint. Small Claims Pike Circuit Court Ohio Valley Gas, Inc. sues Keith E. Perkins on com- plaint. Allied Collection Service, Inc. sues Meaghan Boger on complaint. Allied Collection Service, Inc. sues Colton Head on complaint. Allied Collection Service, Inc. sues Stacey Hill on com- plaint. Allied Collection Service, Inc. sues Amanda Kerns on complaint. Allied Collection Service, Inc. sues Warren McCand- less on complaint. Allied Collection Service, Inc. sues Joseph Mitchell on complaint. Allied Collection Service, Inc. sues Wayne Moore on complaint. Allied Collection Service, Inc. sues Amy J. Van Meter on complaint. Allied Collection Service, Inc. sues Ashley Walls on complaint. Infractions Pike Circuit Court Tina Arndt charged with seat belt violation. Olivia Ayer charged with speeding. Mikala Barber charged with speeding. Darlene Dedrick charged with seat belt violation. Kimberly Dillon charged with speeding. Bryan Dooley charged with speeding. Carlos Durand charged with speeding and no valid driver's license. Jason Hubbard charged with speeding. Amanda Hunt charged with speeding. Stephanie Johnson charged with speeding. Jeremiah Jones charged with speeding. Justin Love charged with seat belt violation. James McFarland charged with seat belt violation. Stephanie McNeeley charged with speeding. Christopher Miles charged with seat belt violation. Matthew Miller charged with speeding. Kimberly Ross charged with speeding. Rachel Smith charged with speeding. Clayton Alford charged with seat belt violation. Michael Buchta charged with speeding. Helen Cadenhead charged with failure to produce regis- tration on request. Adam Case charged with driving while suspended. Lynne Cummings charged with speeding. Dorian Goebel charged with speeding. Fritz Krahl charged with speeding. Danery Mendez-Deleon charged with driving while suspended. Timothy Robinson charged with seat belt violation. Troy Schilling charged with failure to produce reg- istration on request. Glenda Schipp charged with speeding. Thomas York charged with seat belt violation. Court report Katiedid vs... by Katiedid Langrock F is for truck Driving my son to day care, I was cut off by an over- size pickup truck. I slammed on the brakes and screamed, "Whoa! " My 21-month-old screamed, "Truck! " Only he didn't say truck. He said a four-letter word that rhymes with truck. "What did you just say? " I asked my son. "Truck! " Only he didn't say truck. "Do you mean 'honk'? " I asked, hoping, begging, pleading to the universe that my son had simply twisted a few consonants and vowels. "The cars go honk. Right, baby? " "No! " my sweet angel yelled back defiantly. "Truck! Truck, truck, truck, truck. TRUCK! " Only he wasn't saying truck. Clearly, my son had been in the car enough times when I slammed on the brakes to know that "whoa" wasn't the proper reaction. I didn't know what to do. Unwilling to reinforce the behavior by reacting to the word, I did the only logical thing I could think of: I belt- ed "The Wheels on the Bus" at the top of my lungs. My child just stared at me, completely confused. It's a special moment in a parent's life when your dar- ling babe utters his first curse word. I think of it as one of those stereotypical milestones you hope your kid will never cross, such as trying his first cigarette or getting pregnant on her prom night. Not to say I didn't know this day would come even- tually. I had just hoped he would have at least turned 2. And I'd hoped, perhaps fool- ishly, that his first curse word would be "ship" or "crab" or "dam." Only not really ship or crab or dam. I had hoped his first offense would be a lit- tle less offensive. But not my child. He went straight for the gold. My friends kindly invoked their finest acting chops and asked snark-free, "Where did he learn that word? " But they knew the answer. My son had learned it from lis- tening to me. I work in an industry of words, and for some ironic reason, we people who have the entire dictionary at our disposal are most loyal to the sinful seven. It is embraced in my world. Accepted. Rewarded, even. For months now, my hus- band and I have been saying we need to start being mind- ful of our potty mouths. We knew, at some point, our beautiful boy would want to copy the fun words Mom- my and Daddy say when they are speaking most animatedly. We told our- selves to watch what we say, but we didn't watch what we said. And now here I was, screaming "The Wheels on the Bus" at my foul- mouthed baby. There have been very few times in my life when I have felt truly ashamed of my chosen vocabulary. There was a time or two when I threw my hand over my mouth, morti- fied, after cursing in front of a child old enough to under- stand what I was saying. And the time at the Vatican when I was so moved by seeing Pope John Paul II that I exclaimed, "That was trucking awe- some! " Which wouldn't have been so horrible if I had ac- tually said the word truck— which I hadn't—or if the ex- clamation hadn't been caught by a local news crew, which it had. However, I have nev- er been more ashamed than I was when I walked up to my son's Lutheran day care, took the teachers aside, including the pastor's wife, and told them my son drops F-bombs. In the split second be- tween my confession and my waiting for their reaction, I thought of an article I had read about a preschooler ex- pelled for curs- ing because of the school's ze- ro-tolerance pol- icy. Would my son's day care react similar- ly? Could this go on his per- manent record? What if no other day care facilities would admit my potty-mouthed mini-me? I'd have to quit my job and stay home with him. My lack of teaching skills would be ex- posed. He would be the on- ly kid starting kindergarten who couldn't count to 10 or recognize colors. His entire education would be a stress- ful game of catch-up, ending in his dropping out of high school to start a rap career. His debut album would be ti- tled "F Is for Truck." Literal- ly, truck. But it wouldn't be an ironic title; my son would ac- tually mean the word "truck" because he never learned to spell. Luckily, the teachers sim- ply laughed. "Don't worry. Just try to be more careful at home." I promised. Abso-truck- ing-lutely. Like Katiedid Langrock on Facebook, at http://www.face- book.com/katiedidhumor. memory of it alive. That's why, for exam- ple, the Victims of Com- munism Memorial Founda- tion will mark the 25th an- niversary of the Tiananmen Square Massacre on June 11 with a wreath-laying ceremony attended by for- eign ambassadors, Chinese dissident leaders, mem- bers of Congress and other Washington dignitaries. The memorial statue for the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation, in fact, is the "Goddess of De- mocracy," a bronze repli- ca of the statue erected by Chinese students in Tianan- men Square in the spring of 1989. Many world leaders have visited the memorial site in Washington, D.C., to pay their respects and lay commemorative wreaths. "We never thought a stu- dent movement could ever become so big," Mr. Wang said. But should we be sur- prised? History shows that the human desire for free- dom can move mountains. It can embarrass a gov- ernment. It can even stop a tank. Ed Feulner is founder of the Heritage Foundation (heritage.org). notice which leaders refuse to seriously engage in such endeavors and remove them from office. It doesn't matter to me that those who despise my warnings will say I'm only promoting my book and trying to make mon- ey. From their perspec- tive, they are probably inca- pable of understanding mo- tives that would differ from theirs. Regardless of what they say, November 2014 will bring perhaps the most consequential midterm elections in history. Com- bined with the elections of 2016, "we the people" will determine whether tradi- tional American values and traditional interpretations of our Constitution are im- portant to us, or whether we prefer to continue down the path of ever-increasing government control of ev- erything, including our lives. Books such as "One Nation: What We Can All Do To Save America's Fu- ture" will, by the grace of God, ensure that we go into that election process with our eyes open. Not only are there no enemies among us, but we can and must come togeth- er to recapture the values that made us an exception- al nation. We must use our intellect and energy to un- leash the most powerful economic engine the world has ever known. Then we must concentrate on open- ing the pathways of per- sonal empowerment to the millions of Americans who feel forgotten. Instead of restraining them in positions of de- pendency, we must pro- vide clear pathways to self- improvement. We can help those who have made mis- takes that make it difficult for them to pursue an edu- cation by providing a rea- sonable amount of money for day care. By demonstrating true compassion as dictated by Judeo-Christian val- ues, we can make Amer- ica a place of dreams and success for everyone. We must remember that free- dom is not free, and all of us must be involved in its maintenance. Ben S. Carson is professor emeritus of neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins University. H The Post Office H One nation H 25 years later Continued from page 2 Continued from page 2 Continued from page 2 India's businesses. Though India is still a long way from a free market, just the relax- ing of some of its econom- ic restrictions was enough to promote a higher rate of growth and a substantial re- duction in poverty. They even allowed a Jap- anese car maker to build cars in India. This result- ed in a car called the Maru- ti, which quickly shot to the top as the most popular car in India. Even more remark- able, it led to some improve- ments in the Ambassador. A British newspaper said that the Ambassador now had "perceptible acceleration." Now that there was com- petition, the distinguished British magazine "The Economist" announced, "Marutis too are improv- ing, in anticipation of the next invaders." Perhaps the last chapter in the story of the Ambas- sador has now been written. Hindustan Motors recent- ly announced that it was closing — indefinitely — the factory where the Ambassa- dor was built. According to the Wall Street Journal, "The com- pany cited low productiv- ity, 'a critical shortage of funds' and a lack of de- mand for its core product, the Ambassador." Doesn't that sound a little like our post office? Our post office, like the Hindustan Ambassador, has had a long run as a gov- ernment protected monopo- ly. But just a partial erosion of that monopoly, with the appearance of United Par- cel Service and Federal Ex- press, has threatened the vi- ability of the post office. As for "a critical short- age of funds," that has tru- ly gotten critical as the post office has seen its $15 bil- lion line of credit at the U.S. Treasury shrink to the van- ishing point. For years that line of credit allowed the post office's defenders to tell the big lie that it got no subsidy and was costing the taxpayers nothing. I don't know who they thought put that money in the Treasury that the post office has been "borrowing" all these years, with no one foolish enough to think that they would ever be either willing or able to pay it back. We could all use a line of credit from which we could get a few billion dollars, here and there, to cover our loss- es from time to time. But we are not all the post office. Ironically, India has par- tially privatized its post of- fice by letting private com- panies deliver mail. The gov- ernment post office's deliv- eries of mail dropped from 16 billion to less than 8 bil- lion in just six years, even though the population of In- dia was growing. You can always keep any- thing old, clunky and in- efficient still in business, if you are willing to pour unlimited amounts of the taxpayers' money down a bottomless pit. Hindustan Motors had to shut their doors when they ran out of money. How long will we contin- ue to keep our own ver- sion of the Hindustan Am- bassador on life support at the expense of the taxpay- ers, and of captive custom- ers who are not even allowed by law to decide who can put mail in the boxes that the customers bought? Thomas Sowell is a senior fellow at the Hoover Insti- tution, Stanford University, Stanford, CA. His website is www.tsowell.com. Myers heating & cooling We service all makes and models. 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