The Press-Dispatch
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/956502
C-10 Opinion Wednesday, March 21, 2018 The Press-Dispatch threats. Behold the face of unions, 2018. Mr. Tayloe insists that Mr. Herr is lying, and that the posted signs aren't meant to encourage vi- olence: "Nobody said to harm anybody. This is not the 1940s." Indeed it isn't — and for unions who have been hem- orrhaging members for de- cades, that's the problem. When you look at the num- bers, you get a whole new perspective on Local 833's refusal to take no for an an- swer. "From 2000 to 2010, Wis- consin averaged an annu- al drop of 10,000 union members," the Wiscon- sin Business News noted in a December 2017 arti- cle. "Since 2011, the aver- age yearly decline has been more than 22,000, includ- ing a drop of 83,000 from 2014 to 2015, when right-to- work became law." So unions have a strong incentive to lean heavily on workers who don't fall into line. They're helped by the fact that few of these work- ers can withstand the pres- sure. Mr. Herr, fortunately, is one of them. "He can handle the union games," writes MacIver's M.D. Kittle for the Daily Sig- nal. "He says he went pub- lic with his experiences be- cause he knows there are other Kohler employees who have simply given in to the union because they didn't want to deal with the aggravation, the harass- ment." Unions are supposed to represent workers and their interests. How sad that the ones truly doing that job today are those who stand up to bullying unions. Ed Feulner is founder of The Heritage Foundation. Court Report CRIMINAL Pike Circuit Court Jason McMickle charged with deal- ing in methamphetamine, a level 4 fel- ony. Jason Atkins charged with dealing in methamphetamine, a level 4 felony. Keith S. Stanton charged with count I child solicitation, a level 4 felony, and count II child solicitation. Thomas Tyler Cannon charged with count I operating a vehicle with a schedule I or II controlled substance or its metabolite in the body, a level 6 felony, and count II operating a vehicle with a schedule I or II controlled sub- stance or its metabolite in the body. Ricky E. Fletcher charged with count I theft, a level 6 felony, and count II home improvement fraud. TRAFFIC AND MISDEMEANOR Pike Circuit Court Dashawn N. Wilson charged with driving while suspended. Melinda K. Catt charged with count I driving while suspended, count II false informing and count III operat- ing a vehicle without ever receiving a license. James M. Johnson charged with il- legal consumption of an alcoholic bev- erage. Wendy Nicole Simmons charged with operating a vehicle while intox- icated. Jeremy R. Henderson charged with count I possession of marijuana and count II possession of paraphernalia. SMALL CLAIMS Pike Circuit Court Wilson Properties and Development sues Loren White on complaint. INFRACTIONS Pike Circuit Court Maribel Angeles charged with speeding, 84 mph in a 70 zone. Sharon Ashby charged with seatbelt violation. Julie Bowles charged with speeding, 75 mph in a 70 zone. David Byrne charged with speeding, 69 mph in a 55 zone. Nathan Chess charged with speed- ing, 84 mph in a 70 zone. Arin Dulworth charged with speed- ing, 39 mph in a 25 zone. Arin Dulworth charged with seat- belt violation. Osiefa Ishmel charged with speed- ing, 86 mph in a 70 zone. Junior Konou charged with speed- ing, 75 mph in a 70 zone. Haley McCoy charged with speed- ing, 39 mph in a 25 zone. Brennan Miller charged with seat- belt violation. Zachary Morrison charged with seatbelt violation. Kira Patton charged with operating with expired plates. Tia Rogers charged with speeding, 39 mph in a 25 zone. David Sandoval charged with oper- ating with expired plates. Ashlynn Scalzo charged with speed- ing, 84 mph in a 70 zone. Kendall Simmons charged with seat- belt violation. Steven Slunder, Jr. charged with speeding, 81 mph in a 55 zone. Jessica Taylor charged with speed- ing, 84 mph in a 70 zone. Leslie Whitehead charged with speeding, 39 mph in a 25 zone. VIEW Continued from page 9 ing to see that somewhere in different parts of the world, the beauty of nature can no doubt be astonishing, especially when viewed from one's bedroom, or living room or balcony or kitchen, or dining room. We can just but dream. • • • There is also a documentary I came across called "The World's Most Ex- traordinary Homes." In different parts of the world, there are people who have the resources (money) and they build houses which are out of this world. There was this lady who built a house near a desert. Her house was built out of a jumbo jet that has been put out of its 40 years of service. Her architect used different parts of the plane, like wings for roofs, fuselage for the bulk of the house, and many oth- er parts for different functions. When asked how these parts were brought to a remote location, she said helicop- ters transported these airplane parts sections at a time. Naturally, the project was difficult and took a long time to put together. When viewed from the air by aircrafts passing by en route to destinations, the site looks like a place where an airplane crashed. So it took her a long time to get a building permit, but some- how she was undeterred and made her dream a reality. Then there is this businessman from Switzerland who built his vaca- tion home on a mountain near the Alps. The only way to access the house was via a cable car. There were a few hous- es built nearby who also use cable cars for access to their homes. I think most of the houses were designed primari- ly for vacations and special occasions- like holidays and special gatherings. Again it took years to build these hous- es since construction materials had to be transported via cable cars and he- licopters. I cannot imagine the amount of time and resources(dollars) spent to put these projects to completion. There were also houses built mostly by ar- chitects who wanted to challenge their imagination. So they designed their houses to be built in remote forests, remote deserts, remote islands, exotic places as a legacy they wanted to leave to express their genius. Hmmm, some people just are ex- traordinary in their quest for challeng- es. My question is, how did they fund these projects? I guess most of them won a lottery. Ha ha. Also, how did they provide for utilities and waste systems being there were no infrastructures in those remote areas? The documenta- ry did not provide an insight into these matters. • • • A thought for Lent from the great saint Mother Teresa of Culcutta: The size of a house really does not matter. It is the love people find in it that does matter. It might be small and humble but if there is love, there is peace and happiness. Coach Pagano is gone but one cannot help but think of those words as the Colts struggled in 2017. Maybe he was borrowing from Paul's letter to the Ro- man-For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." Coach Knight will proba- bly be remembered for his firing as coach and his be- havior since then, but his words to his team(s) re- mains true-"Victory favors the team making the few- est mistakes," As Lent is nearing Holy Week the faithful should recognize what keeps us in the grips of grace is often the sin-nature that is with- in each of us. The Apostle Paul testifies to this ten- dency with these words to the church at Rome, "So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me…for I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out… For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on do- ing…but I see in my mem- bers another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me cap- tive to the law of sin that dwells in my members." I believe most humans want to do good—the right thing—but as Paul asserts bad (evil) is always pres- ent. Sin is an ever pres- ent part of our DNA so to speak so there is no use in denying its existence and ability to cause anyone and everyone to make bad choices and sin! However there is hope as Paul encouraged the church "But [the]law came in, with the result that the trespass multiplied; but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more." Grace overcomes sin ev- ery time! The only reme- dy for sin is grace-and that grace only comes through Jesus Christ. These words are echoed in the words of an old hymn; "Grace, grace, God's grace, Grace that will pardon and cleanse within; Grace, grace, God's grace, Grace that is great- er than all our sin." Think about it as you ponder the words "marvel- ous grace! " Continued from page 9 NEGATIVE tant Democratic constitu- ency. Obama's Attorney Gen- eral Eric Holder and Clin- ton intimate Terry McCau- liffe favored mass pardon of felons, which restores not only the felons' right to vote, but their right to keep and bear arms. They un- derstood the usefulness of a well-armed, dependable, personally loyal following in any Constitutional show- down. In other words, they want their own militia. When you have totali- tarian ambitions, you take your loyal followers wher- ever you find them. If they're in the streets, you take them on the street. If they're in judicial robes or prosecutors' suites or in the FBI, you take them there. Conversely, when you believe in the rule of law, you've got to be will- ing accept accountability for yourself and for your loyalists. If we're going to clean up our shared insti- tutions, we've got to hold friend and foe accountable. We're in the middle of a very untidy process of rooting dirty cops out of the FBI. Andrew McCabe brought shame on his orga- nization, and I'm not sym- pathetic to Sen. Marco Ru- bio's suggestion that Mc- Cabe should have been al- lowed to quietly retire and draw his FBI pension in perpetuity. I escorted an Army crim- inal to Leavenworth once. He used to be a staff ser- geant in the infantry. He had served with fidelity, at great personal sacrifice. He had a wife and a baby. In fact, my job was to keep the wife away from him at the airport. She just wanted to let him kiss his child before he went away for six years. He wasn't allowed to retire quietly and draw benefits for the rest of his life. Why should Washington swamp elites like Mr. McCabe be accommodated and conve- nienced? Regardless of how you feel about Trump's policy prescriptions, every free- dom-loving American owes him a debt of gratitude for confronting the arrogant, entrenched elites who un- dermine our capacity for self-government. Nobody else has attempted it in my lifetime. But we are not immune to corruption, either. Fed- eral prosecutors, includ- ing Robert Mueller, can and must play an important role in cleaning our institu- tions up. Good riddance to Paul Manafort and Michael Flynn. If there are other corrupt dirtbags among us, let the chips fall where they may. Are prosecutors, too, subject to corruption? We know that they are. We should be vigilant. But let's not discount the role of the prosecutor. We need them to do it right, but we do need them. cost from sugar consum- ers. But they would pay a political cost from the sug- ar industry if they didn't vote for tariffs. So they put it to consumers — but what else is new? Walter E. Williams is a professor of economics at George Mason University. Continued from page 9 TARIFFS Continued from page 9 UNIONS Pursuit of the Cure by Star Parker What's happening to our young men? Writing last week about the opioid crisis, I suggested that, as we consid- er policy options for dealing with the problem, we consider that at least some part of it may reflect a spiritual, moral crisis in the country. I noted that casualties from opioids show that they are disproportionate- ly men, disproportionately divorced or never married, and disproportionately individuals with no more than a high school education. We can look beyond the opioid cri- sis and see a broad, disturbing picture pointing to a social and spiritual crisis among our young men. In 2016, Nicholas Eberstadt, a schol- ar at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington, D.C., published a book called "America's Invisible Crisis: Men Without Work." He discusses what he calls a "flight from work" in which droves of our male population have disappeared from the work force. The Bureau of Labor Statistics just issued its new jobs report, and the re- sults were heartening. Data shows a re- turn to growth in jobs in the American economy and return to the work force of many who dropped out during the years following the recent recession. The labor force participation rate of prime-age working men ages 25 -54, that is, the percentage working or ac- tively seeking work, was 89.3 percent in February 2018. Given that this rate was down to 88.4 late in 2011, we see progress here — good news. However, Eberstadt points out that average labor force participation rate of these prime-age working men in 1965 was 96.6 percent. "Expressed another way," says Eberstadt, "the proportion of eco- nomically inactive Amer- ican men of prime work- ing age leapt from 3.4 percent in 1965 to 11.8 percent in 2015, and re- mains at 11.5 percent to- day." By my own calcula- tions, almost 5 million prime-age working men have disappeared from the work force. The U.S. population of men 25 -54 to- day is 64.5 million. If their work force participation today was 96.6 percent, as it was in 1965, 62.3 million would be working or actively seeking work. But today's reported rate of 89.3 per- cent indicates that there are now 57.6 million prime-age men working or ac- tively looking for work — 4.7 million less than there would have been at the 1965 rate. How are these millions of men who have dropped out of the work force sus- taining themselves? According to Eberstadt, they get help from friends, family, and, of course, government. Using Census Bureau data, Eber- stadt reports "as of 2013, over three- fifths of prime-age men not in the la- bor force lived in homes that relied on at least one means-tested program for income. Some 41 percent of these men lived on food stamps, while just over half reported using Medicaid, a non- cash benefit program." Additional Census Bureau data, ac- cording to Eberstadt, shows that "in 2013, some 57 percent of prime-age unworking men were getting benefits from at least one government-dis- ability program." What is the profile of these prime-age unwork- ing men? They most likely have no more than a high school di- ploma, are not married, have no children or are not living with children they may have, are born in the USA and are black. Although overall the workforce par- ticipation rate for black men is lower than that of white men, the cultural dynamics at play are more fundamen- tal driving factors of what's going on than race. For instance, Eberstatdt points out that "labor-force participation rates for white men today are lower than they were for black men in 1965." Also, the labor-force participation rates for never-married white men are consistently lower, by about 3 per- centage points, than for married black men. We are paying a large social price for the widespread collapse of Chris- tian values — in particular, the values of marriage and family. And our young men may be disproportionately bear- ing the brunt of this. Star Parker is an author and presi- dent of CURE, Center for Urban Renew- al and Education. Contact her atwww. urbancure.org. Continued from page 9 SWAMP Church Notes Continued from page 3 Wesleyan Wesleyan Wesleyan HUNTINGBURG HOLINESS CHURCH 813 N. Washington St. Huntingburg Pastor 812-354-4273 Sunday morning service and Sunday school 10 a.m.; Sunday evening worship 6 p.m.; Wednesday prayer and praise 7 p.m. Everyone is always wel- come. For information or trans- portation, call the Pastor. Brent S. Myers, Pastor NEW BEGINNING FELLOWSHIP WESLEYAN CHURCH 9th and McCoy, Petersburg Pastor 812-632-0773 Sunday morning worship 10 :30 a.m. You are invited to worship with us. Richard Comer, Pastor OTWELL WESLEYAN CHURCH 2277 N. Mechanics Street Otwell Pastor 812-354-3028 Sunday school 9:30 a.m.; morning worship 10 :30 a.m.; evening worship ser- vice 6:30 p.m. Nursery avail- able. Tuesday morning wom- en's Bible study at the fel- lowship hall 10 a.m. Daddy's empty chair A man's daughter had asked the local minister to come and pray with her fa- ther. When the minister ar- rived, he found the man ly- ing in bed with his head propped up on two pillows. An empty chair sat beside his bed. The minister as- sumed that the old fellow had been informed of his vis- it. "I guess you were expect- ing me," he said. "No, who are you," said the father? The minister told him his name and then remarked, "I saw the empty chair and I figured you knew I was go- ing to show up," "Oh yeah, the chair," said the bedrid- den man. "Would you mind closing the door? " Puzzled, the minister shut the door. "I have never told anyone this, not even my daughter," said the man. "But all of my life I have never known how to pray." "At church I used to hear the pastor talk about prayer, but it went right over my head. I abandoned any at- tempt at prayer," the old man continued, "until one day, four years ago, my best friend said to me, 'John- ny, prayer is just a simple matter of having a conver- sation with Jesus. Here is what I suggest... Sit down in a chair; place an empty chair in front of you, and in faith see Jesus on the chair. It's not spooky, because He promised, 'I will be with you always.' Then just speak to Him in the same way you're doing with me right now.'" "So, I tried it and I've liked it so much that I do it a cou- ple of hours every day." The minister was deep- ly moved by the story and encouraged the old man to continue on the journey. Then he prayed with him, anointed him with oil and returned to the church. Two nights later, the daugh- ter called to tell the minis- ter that her daddy had died that afternoon. "Did he die in peace," the minister asked? "Yes. When I left the house about two o'clock, he called me over to his bedside, told me he loved me and kissed me on the cheek. When I got back from the store an hour later, I found him dead. But, there was something strange about his death. Ap- parently, just before Dad- dy died, he leaned over and rested his head on the chair beside the bed. What do you make of that? " The minister wiped a tear from his eye and said, "I wish we could all go like that"—Author Unknown. We invite all of you to come and worship with us. Roy Stilwell, Pastor Pam Lemond, Reporter