The Press-Dispatch
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/988073
C-10 Wednesday, May 30, 2018 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 Without debate, guns are the weapon of choice in the majority of murders worldwide-period. The answer why is simply that a gun can be used at some distance from the intended victim. This includes all killings, wheth- er they are government inflicted or street clashes. Governments for centuries have had the monopoly on mass killings and sheer numbers, but over the last several years, kids have been killing kids. Why kids on kids? A large percentage is gang vio- lence over turf, money, and respect. But as of yet, gang violence has not been responsible for mass killings in the public schools. As to why young people are tar- geting other young people in school settings is baffling; though there is much speculation. Nevertheless, the citizenry de- mands something be done to keep our kids safe. Keep them home is the first op- tion, but this is not practical. The next option is to employ more resource officers [police] to patrol the schools. This may be a deterrent but has yet to stop a shooting. The third option is to use the techniques that prisons use on staff and residents [convicts]. In other words, turn our schools into deten- tion centers for our children's safe- ty. This is unlikely. Therefore, the rational solution is to ban and/or con- fiscate all guns. This is unrealistic for two reasons. First, there are more guns [of all types] than cit- izens in the United States. Second, the desire to kill someone and carry it out does not require a gun. To kill another hu- man being is a moral/ethical prob- lem that laws cannot prevent. To murder someone is a disease of the soul that arises through an- ger and/or covetousness. Though sin has been dropped from the public discourse, mur- der is a sin, and all cultures con- sider taking a life reprehensible. John the apostle in his first epis- tle defines sin succinctly: "Every- one who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness." Hence, if we are going to ban guns, then we need to enlarge the discussion to include all instru- ments of death and punish the per- petrators. Jesus traced the problem of sin and murder to the soul of man: "You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and has nothing to do with the truth, because there is no truth in him." The apostle John writes about the first [recorded] murder, and it had grave appli- cation to us thousands of years later: "…Cain who was of the wicked one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Be- cause his works were evil and his brother's righteous. Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him." Any discussion on how to stop the violence gets complicated be- cause it deals with the essence and nature of mankind. Christianity has taught since its inception that mankind is im- perfect and has a sin nature that can only be conquered through the workings of the Holy Spirit through faith in Christ. That is the solution to humani- ty's propensity for violence. Teaching children not to harbor bad thoughts, always have good in- tentions, and mind their manners may produce a good citizens, but it will not transform the heart. Think about it. Lucid Moments By Bart Stinson Pursuit of the Cure by Star Parker Empowering border patrol Points to Ponder by Rev. Ford Bond The Weekly by Alden Heuring Minority View by Walter E. Williams Murder needs no weapon Memoriam Capitalism vs. Socialism Memorial Day Continued on page 11 Continued on page 11 My Point of View by Dr. H. K. Fenol, Jr., M.D. Congress is slow-rolling the construction of a wall along our southern border, allocating on- ly $1.6 billion this year. That will permit some renovations of inad- equate fencing, but no new con- struction in unprotected stretch- es of the boundary with Mexico. The 1,954-mile border is physi- cally protected by only 654 miles of structures. Customs & Border Protection spokesman Ronald Vi- tello admitted that the Congressio- nal appropriation this year "does not fully fund our needs in the most critical locations." Securing the boundaries of the United States is a straightforward mission, but execution of that mission is a huge 24/7/365 proj- ect that currently requires 21,000 Border Patrol agents. If we were to line up all 62,450 U.S. Customs & Border Protec- tion employees along the south- ern border, including clerks, jan- itors, mechanics, pilots and ad- ministrators, and assign them to three shifts around the clock with no days off, they'd be spaced 165 yards apart. Mobility, obviously, is critical. The Border Patrol has to be able to move its agents and equipment swiftly and efficiently. Border protection isn't cheap. The fiscal 2016 Customs & Border Protection budget was $13.56 bil- lion. Anti-enforcement politicians, who are otherwise big spend- ers, gasped at the Department of Homeland Security's $21.6 billion cost estimate for a border wall, and have issued their own estimate that more than triples that amount. Clearly, any solution to the border security crisis will have to be eco- nomically sustainable. America First co-founder Steve Vulich said "they're going to have to make [the border wall] welcom- ing and environmentally friendly." The president has said that with solar panels, the wall could pay for itself. None of the initial eight prototypes included solar energy capability, but as Vulich told the Washington Post last year, "they darn sure should be looking at the ability to be able to add that on, once this wall is up." He said email to his organization ran 70 percent in favor of a solar component. Some manufacturers are betting that solar power in the remote re- gions will be a game-changer for border enforcement, especially in terms of mobility. For example, they are developing battery-pow- ered vehicles tailored to the Bor- der Patrol mission, with a range of 250 -300 miles between recharg- ing. One developed a secure bat- tery locker to be embedded in a so- lar border wall, which Border Pa- trol agents can access to quickly swap out a depleted battery for a fresh one, good for another 250 - 300 miles. These vehicles are powerful enough to carry agents with all their equipment at pursuit speeds, up steep grades. If the Border Pa- trol were to shift to silent electric bikes, illegal intruders wouldn't hear agents approaching un- til within voice range. The quiet bikes would not only mitigate the threat of damage to agents' hear- ing, but enable agents to use en- hanced hearing technology for de- tecting footfalls in the dark. If the Border Patrol moves to smaller helmets for agents on those elec- tric bikes, they can mount night- vision goggles that will multiply the effectiveness of each agent in the field. Combined with the en- hanced hearing technology and si- lent transport, it's no exaggeration to call this the re-invention of bor- der protection. The most rapid technological in- novation is expected in batteries. Accordingly, manufacturers are designing their vehicles as modu- lar technology platforms. They ful- ly expect their batteries to be obso- lete in a few years, but robust field patrol vehicles will outlive several generations of new-and-improved batteries. Customs & Border Pro- tection budgets will be spared the burden of replacing fleets every few years because, in most cases, they'll only need to replace the bat- tery. The electric vehicles are just a lot simpler to maintain than inter- nal-combustion vehicles. Mainte- nance costs will drop dramatical- Recently, I attended the White House Prison Reform Summit. The fact that both the president and the vice president were at the event indicates the importance that the Trump administration as- cribes to this issue. And statistics quoted by Vice President Pence explain why our existing prison system should trouble us all. According to the vice president, "Every year, while 650,000 peo- ple leave America's prisons, with- in three years two-thirds of them are arrested again. More than half will be convicted; 40 percent will find themselves back where they started, behind bars. It's a cycle of criminality. It's a cycle of failure." The encouraging news is that we're seeing a level of bipartisan cooperation on this issue that is ra- re in Washington these days. The House Judiciary Commit- tee has just passed a prison reform bill called the First Step Act that is co-sponsored by Republican Doug Collins, R-Ga., and Congressional Black Caucus Democrat Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y. The bill was voted out of com- mittee by a vote of 25 -5, with 15 Re- publicans and 10 Democrats vot- ing for it. Moderating one of the panels at the White House summit was a for- mer Obama White House advisor, Van Jones, who has come out in support of the First Step Act. On his Facebook page, Jones called the legislation, "A big win for men and women in federal pris- on." The point person in the White House on this issue is presiden- tial advisor Jared Kushner, who de- serves much of the credit for rais- We recently celebrated this fed- eral holiday. I did some light read- ing about this important holiday. I'm sure many of you already know the history of this event but it is good to revisit the story behind it. It is a day remembering the peo- ple who died while serving in our Country's armed forces. It is cur- rently observed on the last Mon- day of May and marks the unoffi- cial start of the summer vacation season, while Labor Day marks the end of the summer. Many peo- ple visit cemeteries and memori- als, particularly to honor those who have died in military service. Memorial Day is not to be con- fused with Veterans Day, a day that celebrates the service of all U.S. Military veterans. Apparent- ly, in June 1861 Warrenton, Virgin- ia was the location of the first civil War soldiers' graves ever to be dec- orated, and the practice spread to the nation. It was about 1868 when Gener- al John S. Logan issued a procla- mation calling for a "Decoration Day" to be observed annually and nationwide. The preferred name for the holiday gradually changed from "Decoration Day" to "Memo- rial Day" sometime in 1882. Memorial Day did not become the more common name until World War II, and was not declared the official name by Federal Law until 1967. In 1968, congress passed the Uniform Memorial Holiday Act, which moved four holidays, includ- ing Memorial Day, from their tra- ditional dates to a specified Mon- day in order to create a convenient Continued on page 11 Continued on page 11 Continued on page 11 A first step for prison reform Several recent polls, plus the popularity of Sen. Bernie Sand- ers, demonstrate that young peo- ple prefer socialism to free mar- ket capitalism. That, I believe, is a result of their ignorance and in- doctrination during their school years, from kindergarten through college. For the most part, nei- ther they nor many of their teach- ers and professors know what free market capitalism is. Free market capitalism, where- in there is peaceful voluntary ex- change, is morally superior to any other economic system. Why? Let's start with my initial prem- ise. All of us own ourselves. I am my private property, and you are yours. Murder, rape, theft and the initiation of violence are immoral because they violate self-owner- ship. Similarly, the forcible use of one person to serve the purposes of another person, for any reason, is immoral because it violates self-owner- ship. Tragically, two- thirds to three-quar- ters of the federal bud- get can be described as Congress taking the rightful earnings of one American to give to another American — using one American to serve another. Such acts include farm subsidies, business bailouts, Social Security, Medicare, Medic- aid, food stamps, welfare and ma- ny other programs. Free market capitalism is disfa- vored by many Americans — and threatened — not because of its failure but, ironically, because of its success. Free market capital- ism in America has been so suc- cessful in eliminating the traditional prob- lems of mankind — such as disease, pes- tilence, hunger and gross poverty — that all other human prob- lems appear both un- bearable and inexcus- able. The desire by many Americans to eliminate these so- called unbearable and inexcusable problems has led to the call for so- cialism. That call includes equality of income, sex and race balance, af- fordable housing and medical care, orderly markets, and many other socialistic ideas. Let's compare capitalism with Happy Memorial Day! To hon- or the occasion, I wanted to share with you all some fitting poems. Hope you enjoyed the day, and do something kind for someone who's lost a friend to war. "In Flanders Fields," by John McCrae In Flanders fields the poppies blow Between the crosses, row on row, That mark our place, and in the sky, The larks, still bravely singing, fly, Scarce heard amid the guns below. We are the dead; short days ago We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow, Loved and were loved, and now we lie In Flanders fields. Take up our quarrel with the foe! To you from failing hands we throw The torch; be yours to hold it high! If ye break faith with us who die We shall not sleep, though pop- pies grow In Flanders fields. "the sonnet-ballad," by Gwendolyn Brooks Oh mother, mother, where is happiness? They took my lover's tallness off to war, Left me lamenting. Now I cannot guess What I can use an emp- ty heart-cup for. He won't be coming back here any more. Some day the war will end, but, oh, I knew When he went walking grandly out that door That my sweet love would have to be untrue. Would have to be untrue. Would have to court Coquettish death, whose impudent and strange Possessive arms and beauty (of a sort) Can make a hard man hesitate— and change. And he will be the one to stammer, "Yes." Oh mother, mother, where is hap- piness? A haiku by Basho Summer grass... All that remains Of warrior's dreams "Vigil Strange I Kept on the Field One Night," by Walt Whitman Vigil strange I kept on the field one night; When you my son and my comrade dropt at my side that day, One look I but gave which your dear eyes return'd with a look I shall never forget, One touch of your hand to mine O boy, reach'd up as you lay on the ground, Then onward I sped in the battle, the even-contested battle, Till late in the night reliev'd to the place at last again I made my way, Found you in death so cold dear comrade, found your body son of responding kisses, (never again on earth responding,)