The Kokomo Dispatch — Pledged but to Truth, To Liberty and Law, No Favor Sways Us and No Fear Shall Awe: Poynter/Kautz/Blacklidge
Easter Sunday was yesterday. We had received a beautiful Easter card from some old friends of ours that were once our treasured neighbors. I wanted to share the message with you.
We have a troubled world and country. Change is upon us and the more we rely on the message brought by Jesus the Christ, the better the outcome for all of mankind and for the Earth. Pray for our country. Pray for President Trump and all in his administration. Pray for guidance and protection.
Agriculture growing season is coming rapidly upon us in Indiana. Soon, we will see tractors and planters and sprayers across fields. What is not immediately visible are the genetically modified seed (GMO), the poisons on the seed, and later the poison sprayed on the land and crops…. poison and genetic modification that follow into our food supply. Bayer/Monsanto and Syngenta have already been successfully sued for millions for disease caused by their pesticides. Monsanto for glyphosate (Roundup) and Syngenta for paraquat… both killer toxic chemicals.
We hear complaint from President Trump that other countries will not take our agriculture products. Why? They don’t want our genetically engineered corn and soybeans and other GM crops…. And they don’t want the poisons that contaminate them.
We have a new Secretary of Health and Human Services in Robert F. Kennedy Jr. He knows how sick our country is from our food supply. Hopefully he, with HHS and USDA, will change how we grow crops. The strangle hold of the big agriculture corporate giants must end. The constant escalation of the toxicity of agriculture poisons with the genetically engineered plants must end. It can be done.
Below is an excerpt from a book about a small community in northern Italy that went totally organic and saved their culture, people, and the health of their lands. We need to learn. What she writes about India largely applies to the United States of America.
[Exerpts from the Foreword from the book, “A Precautionary Tale”. Forward written by Dr. Vandana Shiva, a highly recognized and respected scientist in India]
For more than a century, a poison cartel has experimented with and developed chemicals to kill people, first in Hitler’s concentration camps and the war. These chemicals were later sold as inputs for industrial agriculture.
The poison cartel I refer to her is the handful of global corporations that push chemicals and genetically modified organism (GMOs) in farming — Bayer/Monsanto, Dow/Dupont, Syngenta/ChemChina. Killing is their expertise.
In India, a country of small farmers, the assault of the poison cartel has driven millions off the land and pushed 300,000 farmers to suicide due to debt for costly seeds and chemicals. The genetically modified (GM) seeds have failed to control pests and weeds. Instead they are creating super pests and super weeds, trapping farmers deeper in debt.
And it is not just farmers who are dying. Our soil organisms and pollinators are dying. Our soils are dying. Our societies are dying. Our children are dying — because of diseases caused by food loaded with toxics.
Pesticide pollution knows no boundaries, and the pesticide sprays contaminate entire ecosystems, our food, our water. These corporations take away our right to be free from harm.
They do not poison just people, our farms, and our food; they poison regulatory systems and science. Corruption of science, of regulation, of centralized government is their expertise.
The agrochemical industry and its new avatar, the biotechnology industry, do not merely distort and manipulate knowledge, science, and public policy. They also manipulate the law and the justice system.
That is why the movement for freedom from poisons in our food and agriculture is the most important freedom movement in our times. It is a movement for the rights of the Earth, the rights of all species, of all peoples to be free from harm, to be healthy. It is a movement to protect the diversity of species, of cultures, of economics, of knowledge, of decision making from the local to the global.
It is the movement for justice, for the right to life and livelihood. It the right to know about the potential harm from poisons and poison producing plants — GMOs. It is freedom from manipulated alternative facts and post-truths, which hide truth and try to bury it, as we are witnessing in the case of glyphosate and GMOs.
According to the Institute of International Education and Statista, in the 2023-2024 academic year there were 277,398 Chinese national students studying in the United States. And as of Spring 2025, there were 2,043 Chinese national students at Purdue University with 1,340 of them being graduate students. Indiana University had over 1,000 Chinese national students over the same periods.
There is a big issue. This has been going on for years. These students are in a position to steal all sorts of intellectual property and be involved in cutting edge technology, the life blood of the United States of America. Congress has told us over and over that billions of dollars of intellectual property are stolen each year and fed back to Communist China. I have to suspect part of it sources at Purdue.
And what is the big draw for universities? Money! Tuition and fees money are in the tens of millions of dollars yearly. Then there are room and board fees for students as well. More millions. Another word for this may be greed.
Purdue is one of the top national research universities in the country. Indiana University not so much. The largest on-campus student organization at the Purdue campus is the “Chinese Students and Scholar’s Association”. Even this suggests something is amiss.
It is not without note that the current President of Purdue University is Dr. Mung Chiang, a naturalized American citizen of about 20 years but from China. And the acting department head of the Forestry and Natural Resource Department for a time was Dr. Zhao Ma who was born in China and whose undergraduate education was in Beijing, China. She is now the head of the Human Dimensions Lab in the FNR department. I do not know if she is a naturalized US citizen. So, the presence on the Purdue campus of people either Chinese citizens or former Chinese and now US citizens is substantial.
There is more. Foreign entities own a total of 40 million acres of US farmland and China has bought up nearly 347,000 acres, according to the United States Department of Agriculture. We are well aware, too, that Smithfield Foods, an icon of the American food industry, was purchased by the Chinese in 2013 for $7.1 billion. More inroads into our food supply.
It seems the Chinese Communists are finding ways to infiltrate the US economy and society more and more with each passing day. They have been selling more product into our country than any other foreign country. And they have control of the precursor materials for literally all of our prescription medicines.
Fortunately, very recently it was announced that the Select Committee on the Communist Party in the US Congress is pursuing investigation about the presence and research activities of students from Communist China at Purdue University and several other universities. That has been needed for years.
The entanglement with and gradual encroachment of China into the United States cannot go on if we want to have a viable and vibrant Constitutional Republic. President Trump is well aware of this and is trying to take corrective measures. Democrats and RINOs are road blocking whenever possible. That must stop.
Don’t you just love the language used by the Associated Press and other news outlets when the stock market overall goes down some. “Plunge”…. “Crisis”…. “Dropped” …. “Tumbled”….. “Slide”….. . What a bunch of balderdash!!!
The article headline said the S&P was down 6%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 5.5%, and the Nasdaq composite down 5.8%. Take a minute to think about it. If something you wanted to buy went from $1.00 down to 94 cents, would you think the world was coming to an end? That’s down 6%.
Ya’all need a lesson in economics, not panic. Stocks are pieces of ownership in companies. Whether stock values go up or down has no impact on the companies themselves. They don’t get money from stock purchases or from stock sales. They just continue on doing business as usual and doing their best to maximize profits.
The value of a stock is supposed to reflect the net earnings of the underlying company. This is expressed as a price of a share of stock when compared to the earnings of the company and is commonly known as the P:E ratio. It is estimated that the current P:E ratio of the stocks in the Standard and Poor index is about 28:1. The overall estimated P:E Ratio for the entire United States Stock Market is about 22.25:1. The healthy P:E Ratio over a long period of years is more in the 18-21 range, so by this measure, the stock market is over valued and due for what is known as a “correction”.
Everyone needs to calm down. President Trump knows what he is doing. The United States of America has been the ATM Piggy Bank for the world for decades. It cannot continue on this course or the USA will, indeed, go bankrupt and go in default on its debt obligations. Trump is standing firm on making trade fair with “reciprocal” tariffs on countries with which we trade. Sound fair to me given there has been such an imbalance to date. Every country wants to sell in the USA but does not want the USA to sell in their home countries. Won’t work any longer.
And you hear that the price of products is going to go up. Maybe. But the market is already paying about the maximum price it will for a given item. So, other countries will absorb most of the tariff applied to it. If the price of something goes up, the United States consumer has the ultimate weapon: don’t buy the object offered. Period.
Over time, we will see more and more production of things being done in our country by our workers under our worker safety laws and under our environmental protection laws at wages that support families here and not in some foreign country. Don’t you want that?
So, again, calm down about the stock market. It will recover and your investments and 401(K)s will be just fine. It may take a bit of time.
Every time I have heard Elon Musk talk about journeys to and colonization of Mars by human beings, I had to wonder. Here we are on a small, blue planet at the edge of the Milky Way galaxy in space beyond comprehension.
I wondered whether deep space exploration by humans is really realistic. Then I came across a book by Dennis Meredith called, “Earthbound”. From reading it, I have concluded deep space trips by humans requiring months or years to complete are not going to happen. We, human beings, are children of the Earth and are tied to our planet except for near Earth orbiting or trips to our own moon.
I want to quote from the last chapter of the Meredith book. He writes, “As this book has revealed, deep space is an invariable killer. Whether the lethal source be radiation, weightlessness, disease, or the trauma of isolation, humans cannot exist for any length of time beyond the sheltering environment of Earth orbit.”
He writes further, “Nor is exploring deep space economically feasible. It is just not worth the massive expense of building the elaborate infrastructure of human deep-space travel and exploration.”
We have already seen the negative health effects on astronauts even from lengthy stays on the International Space Station in relatively close Earth orbit. These are minuscule when compared to what would be experienced in year long or more trips at extreme distances from our home planet.
So, what is the answer. It is clear. We have already sent probes and landers to distance places. The Voyager I and II space probes still function decades after launch as they have sailed into interstellar space. And we have already sent landers and rovers to the moon and Mars and even to one comet.
Humans, people, require oxygen to breathe, water intake, a rather narrow temperature range in which to live, nourishment for life biological processes, handling of human waste products, spacial orientation for mental health, and much more. Human bodies are biological, living beings based largely upon a very limited number of chemical substances: Carbon, Hydrogen, Nitrogen, Oxygen, and Potassium plus a few more minor others.
Robots and other electronic devices require none of this. The only requirement is a power supply like the sun’s radiant energy or, perhaps, nuclear energy or solar energy generally. Humans are capable of developing very sophisticated silicon based robots that require only an outside energy source.
So, we need to get out of our ego and recognize our limits. As stated, we are deeply rooted in our home. We are children of the Earth from which we cannot venture far. We should put our efforts into the development of AI and robots to send into space exploration with communications back to Earth about what is found. This we can do and have already taken early and pretty complex steps in this direction…. And it won’t break the bank.
Carl Sagan, an astronomer from our past, described Earth as the Pale Blue Planet floating in space. It is our home that we need to preserve and cherish.
With all that has gone on in Washington, D.C., it is time for Congress to take serious action. All of you and I know the governance of the District of Columbia is corrupt and incompetent. It is time to revoke “Home Rule” for the District; something Congress has the full power to accomplish.
Now we even have D.C. judges trying to over rule decisions made by the President of the United States. The worst of them is U.S. District Judge James Boasberg. He even ordered President Trump to turn plane loads of illegal criminal aliens around and bring them back into our country when they were headed for prison in El Salvador. I am thinking, “Just who in the Hell do these judges think they are???”. And this comes on the heels of J6 decisions a couple of years earlier that jailed American citizens for years when they peacefully stepped foot in the U.S. Capital in January 2021. Thankfully, President Trump pardoned most, but D.C. judges are responsible for incredible injustices and even suicides. And now those judges want to be President. They even resisted the release of citizens who had been pardoned. The U.S. Marshalls had to be sent in.
If I read things correctly, the establishment of “Home Rule” for the District of Columbia took place on December 24, 1973 under the President Richard Nixon administration. I’m not sure it has ever worked. The U.S. Constitution provides Congress has plenary (total) legislative authority of the federal district (District of Columbia). Home Rule delegated some of the day-to-day work of municipal government to local entities.
We know as of today, the governance is abysmal. We know the physical maintenance is terrible. We know crime is out of control. We know actions of judges and the courts are not only bad, but may be illegal themselves. And I was surprised to learn the D.C. judges are specifically appointed by the President of the United States.
It is time for Congress to take back control of and governance of the District of Columbia. I have no idea why this has not been done before now. If Congress does not take back control of the seat of the federal government, it is derelict in its duty. As for the federal judges; maybe they cannot be summarily removed, but Congress has total control of purse strings that support their courts. Time to bring those budgets to zero. And, frankly, Judge Boasberg should be impeached immediately.
We cannot have a country where the balance of power between the three branches of the United States federal government has been bastardized to such imbalance as presently exists. Federal District courts cannot rule over the Presidency and every decision coming out of the Executive Branch. My biggest issue is with the U.S. Supreme Court that has allowed all of the overstepping to happen. Too long Supreme Court justices have remained silent or cowards. The Supreme Court could stop all of the nonsense, but has not.
The Executive Branch through the President cannot act by itself to stop all of the roadblocks being put its way. The Congress and the Supreme Court have the power to correct all. It is time if we want to have a strong, healthy Constitutional Republic. Article II of the Constitution states, “The executive Power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America”…… not in Congress or the Courts.
It is long past time for taxpayer dollars from the federal government to be sent off to the Public Broadcasting System and the National Public Radio. We are not talking a few dollars but hundreds of millions of dollars annually. The Corporation for Public Broadcasting takes federal tax dollars north of $500 million a year. Time for it to come to a screeching halt.
As one who drives a lot for business, I do a good deal of radio listening. An Indianapolis PBS station is one I frequent from time to time. I finally had to give it up. The reason was I became irritated with the politically left Democrat messages that came through either explicitly or subtlety in even the words or the slant of reports much too often.
Then I did a bit of research. I ran into an OpenSecrets report that 100% of political donations from PBS employees went to Democrats during the 2024 political cycle. And since 1996, going back nearly 30 years and more than $85,000 in donations, according to OpenSecrets data, there has only been one cycle (2004) in which Republicans received more in campaign contributions than Democrats from PBS employees.
Among NPR employees, the imbalance is even worse. OpenSecets NPR data of nearly $60,000 in donations goes back 33 years to 1992. There has never been an election in that period in which NPR employees donated more to Republicans than Democrats. OpenSecrets states in fact, in those 16 political cycles, Republicans only received any funding at all in just two cycles, and that includes a paltry $1 — yes, one buck — last year to then GOP presidential candidate Doug Burgum.
Do you think something is amiss? NPR/PBS are Democrat political propaganda arms and have been forever.
I come from a journalism background in newspapers. I don’t think any newspapers ever were supported with tax dollars from the government — state or federal. Newspapers in their day were supported by subscription dollars and dollars from advertisers. The lived by being relevant to their subscriber readers. Their time passed for several reasons, which I intend to write about in the future, and new media, primarily electronic, means are and have been emerging.
It is long past time, again, for tax dollars to stop going to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, NPR, and PBS. If they are to live, they must earn the support of listeners and advertisers. If enough want the kind of biased news and messages they broadcast and will pay for it, they will prosper. If not, they will fold up and fade away.
Our nation is in a financial crisis and this funding is certainly one that is no longer justified, if it ever was. And this is not over. The next look needs to be at the “Voice of America” which received over $250 million in 2023. It needs to be axed as well.
Dear (Kokomo Tribune) Editor:
We the people of Kokomo, Indiana (www.wethepeoplekokomo.com) are concerned that some groups are using propaganda to try to make us think that we have “ample” water in our county. There have been two newspaper articles (Kokomo Tribune) in the past few months citing the same Indiana Finance Authority studies. The March 15th article states, “A state water plan would be used in similar fashion to a municipal comprehensive plan, with collected data being used to make decisions about how Indiana’s water resources are tapped.”
The reason we are concerned about any of our officials saying we have plenty of water is because we do NOT. Period. Howard County is not drinking water rich — even from the IFA studies which, according to several analysts, is a flawed study. Currently, 60% of Kokomo City water comes from the Wildcat Creek. Indiana American Water would not be using that source IF there was abundant ground water available. This is very important because the water needed for the Electric battery projects here in Kokomo are huge (3 million gallons per day) and has to be extremely pure — even exceeding drinking water needs.
The flaws in the IFA requested studies are major because they don’t separate out drinking water from what is called “brown” water. Sure you can clean up any water, but it becomes EXPENSIVE. The better the source water, the less expensive the clean up. Our suggestions to the city are to require major water hogs to recycle and pay more per unit will help with how much the rest of us have to pay for our water usage.
Never take water for granted. It is invaluable. Never take clean water for granted. It is a HUGE blessing. Indiana is blessed to have this natural resource in abundance, but that does not mean there is “ample’ water for pet projects that could destroy this natural resource forever.
Mr. Mike Day has done an extraordinary job of evaluating the IFA studies and here are his three key statements:
[I ran across this prayer a friend of my mother had sent to her many years ago. Thought I would share it with you.]
I said a prayer for you today
And I know God must have heard~
I felt the answer in my heart
Although He spoke no word.
I didn’t ask for wealth or fame,~
I knew you wouldn’t mind,
I asked Him to send treasures
Of a far more lasting kind.
I asked that He’d be near you
At the start of each new day
To grant you health and blessings
And friends to share your way.
I asked for happiness for you
In all things great and small~
But it was for His loving care~
I prayed the most of all.
Blessings, Kent
In every field of human endeavor, he that is first must perpetually live in the white light of publicity.
Whether the leadership be vested in a man or in a manufactured product, emulation and envy are ever at work.
In art, in literature, in music, in industry; the reward and the punishment are always the same.
The reward is widespread recognition; the punishment, fierce denial and detraction.
When a man’s work becomes a standard for the whole world, it also becomes a target for the shafts of the envious few. If his work be merely mediocre, he will be left severely alone — if he achieves a masterpiece, it will set a million tongues a-wagging.
Jealousy does not protrude its forked tongue at the artist who produces a commonplace painting.
Whatsoever you write, or paint, or play, or sing, or build; no one will strive to surpass or to slander you, unless your work be stamped with the seal of genius.
Long, long after a great work or a good work has been done, those who are disappointed or envious continue to cry out that it cannot be done.
Spiteful little voices in the domain of art were raised against our own Whistler as a mountebank, long after the big world had acclaimed him its greatest artistic genius.
Multitudes flocked to Bayreuth to worship at the musical shrine of Wagner, while the little group of those whom he had dethroned and displaced argued angrily that he was no musician at all.
The little world continued to protest that Fulton could never build a steamboat, while the big world flocked to the river banks to see his boat steam by.
The leader is assailed because he is a leader, and the effort to equal him is merely added proof of that leadership.
Failing to equal or to excel, the follower seeks to depreciate and to destroy — but only confirms once more the superiority of that which he strives to supplant.
There is nothing new in this. It is as old as the world and as old as the human passions — envy, fear, greed, ambition, and the desire to surpass.
And it all avails nothing. If the leader truly leads, he remains — the leader.
Master-poet, master-painter, master-workman; each in his turn is assailed, and each holds his laurels through the ages.
That which is good or great makes itself known, no matter how loud the clamor of denial.
That which deserves to live — lives.
[From an advertisement in the Saturday Evening Post, January 2nd, 1915, by the Cadillac Motor Car Company]