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Wednesday, 22 February 2012 3:53 |
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Dear Editor:
A tactic used by hostage takers is to create a sense of urgency to get their demands met as soon as possible. It would go something like this. “You had better pay the ransom we are demanding or your wife and children are going to have their heads chopped off.”
The same hostage drama is playing out in America right now. “If we do not pass this multi billion, trillion, gazillion dollar legislation, America will completely fall apart because I, Barack H. Obama said so.” And life goes on. Not to mention he has never run so much as a lemonade stand.
Rarely does a community have the opportunity to actually have a say in what happens that will directly impact them. We in Whitley County, Indiana have that opportunity before us. It is the Wind Energy Project. It has to be pointed out that the ordinance being written by our Commissioners has been some process. I give them credit because they deserve it for having to write the ordinance for the greater good of all concerned.
So, why do I liken this project to hostages? Because we are being held hostages by the United States Government who want to promote anything “green” for the very upper crust cronyism Obama and his minions have been railing against since he came into office.
So a wind farm sounds really great, does it not? Free, clean energy. No carbon footprint. No pollution. But wait, how much will my electric bill be reduced? Answer: Not one red cent! All energy produced by these turbines in Whitley County, Indiana get put “into the grid.” Our energy created here in Whitley County gets sent to New York. No Pollution: Not so. Currently there are 14,000 wind turbines that have been abandoned in the United States. And why would that be? Subsidies. As soon as the subsidies expire, the wind farms that you and I built through extracted funds, are just left behind by the builders who sucked the tax subsidies out of the Government, and then left. Imagine the landscape of beautiful Whitley County, Indiana when the cash cow runs out and the turbines are sitting there doing nothing. They then become what the “green” people hate. “Green Junk.” An environmental disaster. Leaking oil. Killing birds. Disrupting ground water, and wildlife. What a great deal we got. Besides, if wind energy was such a great idea, why would it need government subsidies? It is a bubble that will burst as soon as the government subsidies stop. Plain and simple.
Wind is not the most important thing about wind turbines. It is all about the tax subsidies. The blades churn until the money runs out. Plain and simple. The entire “green” thing got started by the non-existent problem of “Global Warming.” But the way, this very expensive energy source does not necessarily work if the wind is too strong, not strong enough, or maybe even if it is too cold.
Here is the long, and short of the whole debate. Climategate 2.0. The scandal surrounding a second batch of embarrassing e-mails from “climate scientists” leaked recently has dealt another serious blow to the foundation of it all - - - United Nations backed global warming alarmism.
An article printed in “Natural News” by Jonathon Benson put it best. He said . . . “the whole wind energy mess just further illustrates how the American people have been played by their elected officials who bought into the global warming hysteria that spawned the push for wind energy in the first place. And now that the renewable energy tax subsidies are gradually coming to an end in some places, the true financial and economic viability, or lack of wind energy, is on display for the world to see.”
As a person being held hostage I am mad as hell and not going to take it anymore. The land owners in Whitley County who will reap a monetary gain at the financial alter have sacrificed the rest of us. If they are farm owners, then this is just another government hand out to them in addition to any “farm subsidies” they have received over the years. They should be made to dismantle the turbines when the subsidies run out, and reclaim the land to its natural state, at their own expense.
Wind Farm in Whitley County, Indiana? Not wanted by this hostage. Set back in ordinance? How about One Mile? Let your County Commissioners know what you think. Be respectful of them, but at least let them know. Don’t pay the ransom.
Dave Cooper,
Churubusco
Dear Editor: A tactic used by hostage takers is to create a sense of urgency to get their demands met as soon as possible. It would go something like this. “You had better pay the ransom we are demanding or your wife and children are going to have their heads chopped off.” The same hostage drama is playing out in America right now. “If we do not pass this multi billion, trillion, gazillion dollar legislation, America will completely fall apart because I, Barack H. Obama said so.” And life goes on. Not to mention he has never run so much as a lemonade stand. Rarely does a community have the opportunity to actually have a say in what happens that will directly impact them. We in Whitley County, Indiana have that opportunity before us. It is the Wind Energy Project. It has to be pointed out that the ordinance being written by our Commissioners has been some process. I give them credit because they deserve it for having to write the ordinance for the greater good of all concerned.
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Wednesday, 22 February 2012 3:53 |
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Dear Editor:
I would like to invite residents of Columbia City and the surrounding communities to participate in National Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month throughout March, 2012. This national observance offers a chance to learn more about the vital contributions that people with disabilities are making in our neighborhoods.
This year, our nation continues to address serious budget issues, seeking to provide security - in every sense of the word - for all Americans and ensure that each one of us has the opportunity to pursue our dreams and contribute our own unique talents to the fabric of our communities. The diversity that enriches our nation and the freedoms that all Americans cherish are embodied in the lives of people with disabilities - those whose interests are often overlooked and whose needs are often unmet when budgets are tight.
Help us celebrate National Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month 2012. Mayor Ryan Daniel will sign a public proclamation dedicating the month of March, 2012 as Disabilities Awareness Month. The Mayor’s proclamation will occur on Monday, March 5 at 6 p.m. at Towerview Industries, 335 South Towerview Drive, Columbia City. After signing the proclamation, he will speak about his role as Mayor of Columbia City and the contributions and importance of all our citizens to the fabric of this community. The public is welcome to attend.
Sincerely,
Alice Anderson
Vice President of Programs Passages, Inc.
Dear Editor: I would like to invite residents of Columbia City and the surrounding communities to participate in National Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month throughout March, 2012. This national observance offers a chance to learn more about the vital contributions that people with disabilities are making in our neighborhoods.
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Wednesday, 22 February 2012 3:51 |
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Dear Editor:
A question arises from the recent controversy between President Obama and the Catholic Church that aches for an answer: If Catholic institutions have a right to abstain from paying for what morally offends them, why don’t the rest of us?
The initial Obamacare rule held that all employers, in fulfilling their new legal requirement to provide health insurance to their employees, must include contraception (and other “preventive” health services) in the coverage at no cost. The Catholic Church teaches that contraception is sinful. The Department of Health and Human services was willing to exempt churches but not church-operated institutions that pursue a broader mission than religious teaching, such as colleges, hospitals, and charities. This brought protests from Catholic officials, who claim that their religious freedom would be infringed by a mandate that they buy services that they teach are morally abhorrent.
As the political controversy mounted, the Obama administration devised an “accommodation”: those institutions would not have to pay for birth-control coverage; however, their insurers would still have to offer free contraception.
Many objections can be raised against this policy. In a society that thinks itself free, how dare the government force employers to provide health insurance? How dare it mandate that coverage include contraception — or any particular service? How dare it mandate that any coverage be free? (It can’t really be free; the coverage necessarily reduces employees’ cash wages.) How can contraception use be insurable when it is a chosen act, not the kind of low-probability, high-cost event that insurance was designed to protect against? Is there really a moral difference between forcing a Catholic institution to pay for employee contraception and forcing it to arrange a match between its employees and an insurer that will provide the contraception?
These questions are daggers at the heart of Obamacare. But let’s leave them aside. What has gone largely unnoticed is that the principle invoked by the Catholic Church and largely endorsed by the public — that freedom of religion, as enshrined in the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment, rules out forcing a church to pay for what it regards as morally abhorrent — applies beyond this instance. If a Catholic institution should not be forced to pay for contraception because it regards birth control as morally repugnant, why should anyone be forced to pay for what he or she finds morally repugnant?
It does no good to say that the First Amendment is about religion. The Constitution and Bill of Rights did not create rights; they acknowledged preexisting rights. Moreover, we are entitled to make reasonable inferences from the framers’ language, because they could hardly have created an exhaustive list of implications. For example, by specifying the free exercise of religion, the framers can’t be construed as intending to exclude atheists from the protection of freedom of conscience.
Logic drives us to conclude that government should never compel anyone to act against his or her moral convictions. The good sense of this becomes clear when we get down to particulars. If a Catholic may not be forced to pay for birth control in violation of conscience, why should that Catholic — or anyone else — be compelled to finance mass murder in violation of conscience? No one can reasonably insist that personal convictions should be disregarded in the case of mass murder.
This is no hypothetical speculation. Americans have been forced, without their consultation — much less permission — to finance mass murder. It’s called war, invasion, occupation, and special operations. U.S. military missions in Iraq, Afghanistan, Yemen, Somalia, and elsewhere have directly or indirectly killed over a million people who never threatened Americans at home. Those missions have ruined the lives of hundreds of thousands more through injury and the destruction of their homes and societies.
The president of the United States refuses to take war with Iran off “the table” ostensibly because the Islamic republic won’t end its nuclear-enrichment program — although the International Atomic Energy Agency says no weapons are being produced, and U.S. and Israeli officials say no decision to build a weapon has been made. War against Iran would constitute mass murder.
The U.S. government should be stopped from engaging in such brutality. But short of that, those with a conscientious objection should be free to opt out of financing these crimes.
Sheldon Richman
(Sheldon Richman is senior fellow at The Future of Freedom Foundation, Fairfax, VA, www.fff.org). Dear Editor: A question arises from the recent controversy between President Obama and the Catholic Church that aches for an answer: If Catholic institutions have a right to abstain from paying for what morally offends them, why don’t the rest of us? The initial Obamacare rule held that all employers, in fulfilling their new legal requirement to provide health insurance to their employees, must include contraception (and other “preventive” health services) in the coverage at no cost. The Catholic Church teaches that contraception is sinful. The Department of Health and Human services was willing to exempt churches but not church-operated institutions that pursue a broader mission than religious teaching, such as colleges, hospitals, and charities. This brought protests from Catholic officials, who claim that their religious freedom would be infringed by a mandate that they buy services that they teach are morally abhorrent.
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Wednesday, 15 February 2012 2:58 |
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Dear Editor:
The Churubusco Turtle Days Association would like to invite you to become a part of the 2012 Turtle Days Festival “Oscar’s Safari” through your participation as an event sponsor.
We will be celebrating the 63rd consecutive Turtle Days Festival during the four day event, June 20-23. Whether you fancy marching bands in Saturday’s parade, the multiple entertainment stages, an all new midway, or the Grand Finale Fireworks on Saturday night, Turtle Days offers entertainment to young and old across Churubusco and the surrounding communities.
The Churubusco Turtle Days Association functions as an all volunteer board and all proceeds stay in the community and are donated to the town park and other community programs. Your sponsorship will benefit the festival and the community alike.
We have numerous sponsorship options which offer a diverse range of giving levels and associated recognition. Additionally, we would be happy to work with you and your organization to develop fundraising opportunities that also offer sponsorship recognition.
Please feel free to contact us to discuss your sponsorship options. We look forward to hearing from you.
Sincerely,
Turtle Days Association, Inc. Dear Editor: The Churubusco Turtle Days Association would like to invite you to become a part of the 2012 Turtle Days Festival “Oscar’s Safari” through your participation as an event sponsor. We will be celebrating the 63rd consecutive Turtle Days Festival during the four day event, June 20-23. Whether you fancy marching bands in Saturday’s parade, the multiple entertainment stages, an all new midway, or the Grand Finale Fireworks on Saturday night, Turtle Days offers entertainment to young and old across Churubusco and the surrounding communities.
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Wednesday, 15 February 2012 2:57 |
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Dear Editor:
I read Paula’s comments in her recent editorial with considerable interest. Her approach is what I would expect from a thoughtful and rational person. She explains herself and doesn’t take cheap shots like many of the anti-wind people do.
I agree with Paula that she has to take in the entire county, not just three townships when considering an ordinance. I think her research falls short with the density of 98 people per square mile. No one has proposed a wind farm anywhere else in the county. None are planned for the Courthouse lawn! The densities of each township are: Cleveland-69.2, Washington-31.6, and Jefferson-52.6 people per square mile. All are below the county average. Benton County is 22, and White is 50. If you average the three Whitley County townships, the average density is 51.1. So if density is an important measure, and it is, then the area proposed for the wind farm is comparable to White County. The density of 98 overstates the case.
Paula’s reference to economic development is right on target. This is our primary goal, too. Add jobs and dollars to the tax base to relieve the burden on the property tax payer. Paula gives credit to the “past” County Commissioners and Councilmen. That is 100% correct, but she overlooked the key story.
When the TIF district was first proposed in the 1980s, a small but vocal group of Union Township residents rose up in arms in protest. They opposed more traffic, noise, pollution, spoiling the rural setting, and the negative impact on their property value. Sound familiar? The elected officials took a lot of verbal and potentially physical abuse. It was not a pretty scene, and many of us were embarrassed by their radicalism. If you think I am overstating this, please dig out the old newspaper articles and talk to the locals who lived through that era. County economic development should look at the whole county, not just the corridor. Don’t put all your eggs in one basket, Paula.
So what do we have now? We have a different group and a different time, but the same old weary, time worn arguments. It looks like the County Commissioners will have to step up to the plate again in order to do what is right. Ironically, someone in Paula’s position will look back in another 30 years and say: “We sure made a wise move when we supported a workable wind ordinance.”
Why won’t a 1500’ setback work? Several reasons: Whitley County is not Benton or White County. The agricultural landscape is different. Their farmers control very large tracts of ground. Whitley County has many more small landowners of 80-160 acres, not thousands of acres. I would note too that many of our Whitley County landowners are retired and depend on the farm income to supplement Social Security. That is a pretty good reason to sign up wouldn’t you think? Another factor is that our area has considerable woodlands that affect the placement of turbines. Benton and White are flat, open prairie land and include some of the best productive ground in the state.
Give the Wind Project a chance! The Plan Commission still has the review and approval of the development plan for any potential project. This assumes that a workable ordinance is approved, not one with the overly restrictive 1500’.
Galen Eberhart Dear Editor: I read Paula’s comments in her recent editorial with considerable interest. Her approach is what I would expect from a thoughtful and rational person. She explains herself and doesn’t take cheap shots like many of the anti-wind people do. I agree with Paula that she has to take in the entire county, not just three townships when considering an ordinance. I think her research falls short with the density of 98 people per square mile. No one has proposed a wind farm anywhere else in the county. None are planned for the Courthouse lawn! The densities of each township are: Cleveland-69.2, Washington-31.6, and Jefferson-52.6 people per square mile. All are below the county average. Benton County is 22, and White is 50. If you average the three Whitley County townships, the average density is 51.1. So if density is an important measure, and it is, then the area proposed for the wind farm is comparable to White County. The density of 98 overstates the case.
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Tuesday, 07 February 2012 8:38 |
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Dear Editor:
February is the Month of Giving.
“Assistant manager, Laurel, line one please.” I pick up the phone and hear the most high-pitched and annoying voice I have ever heard in my life. “Hi Laurel, this is the MDA and you have been accused of having a big heart. The police will be sent to pick you up for sentencing on February 28.” OMG, I know what this is . . . it’s the yearly MDA lockup and someone I work with has given them my name. The MDA lockup gets area business people to raise money for MDA. I think to myself, I really do not want to do this. I tell the lady that I will do it just to get her off the phone. I go on about my day and really never think of the phone call again.
The next day while at work, my “friendly MDA parole officer” calls. She begins to ask what are my ideas for fundraising, have I raised any money yet and what are my goals? I still am not enthused with the thought of being roped into this. Do people not know that I work long hours and really don’t want to volunteer. So I listen to my friendly MDA parole officer carry on with ideas for fundraising for about five more minutes. Then she says something that perks my interest. She says “blah, blah, blah, . . . Churubusco.” I asked her “did you say Churubusco?” She then tells me information that changed my whole idea on this charity fundraising thing. The MDA branch, for which I will be raising money, sponsors two families in Churubusco. Later on through my mother (who knows everything about everyone) I learn I went to school with the mothers of the two families that I will help sponsor.
Needless to say I am now very excited. I now have goals and ideas for fundraisers. I am aiming to raise $5,000 for the MDA. Some of the things that I will be working on this month include: a fish fry held by American Legion Post 157. The fish fry will be February 24 from 11 a.m. until sold out. I am also going to ask local businesses to display a donation canister by their cash registers. I have several events planned at work, Warsaw Wal-mart, to get my associates involved.
Last but not least, I plan to ask area businesses for their tax deductible donations.
Muscular dystrophy is a debilitating condition that strikes children. It can severely limit their ability to enjoy their childhood. I feel that with donations from this community, we will be able to send three children with MD to camp this summer. Please become involved and help make a difference in a child’s life.
Donations may be sent to Laurel Fulk-Richardson, 1743 N. 450 E., Columbia City, IN 46725. If paying by check, make them out to MDA.
Thank you in advance,
Laurel Fulk-Richardson
Dear Editor: February is the Month of Giving. “Assistant manager, Laurel, line one please.” I pick up the phone and hear the most high-pitched and annoying voice I have ever heard in my life. “Hi Laurel, this is the MDA and you have been accused of having a big heart. The police will be sent to pick you up for sentencing on February 28.” OMG, I know what this is . . . it’s the yearly MDA lockup and someone I work with has given them my name. The MDA lockup gets area business people to raise money for MDA. I think to myself, I really do not want to do this. I tell the lady that I will do it just to get her off the phone. I go on about my day and really never think of the phone call again.
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