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The ADVANCE, May 24, 2023/Page 11A
ARTISTS AND BEYOND — Recently two high school students placed in the local Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW)
Auxiliary's Young American Creative Patriotic Art Contest. Luke Mitchell was awarded the first-place honor, and his
artwork has been forwarded to the state competition. Levi Worth was awarded the second-place honor. Pictured:
Left photo, Luke Mitchell and Mrs. Shirley Curl, District 6 President of the VFW Auxiliary; and Right photo, Levi Worth.
Both are students of the Art by Gwen Studio, Congratulations to these students for their participation and honors.
Star
continued from page 7A
worse each day, because we
look to government to
solve problems for which
individual citizens should
be taking personal respon
sibility
As I write, news is re
ported of yet another
pointless, meaningless, gra
tuitous act of violence and
murder. Three civilians
killed and two police offi
cers in New Mexico shot
by a berserk individual
with a gun. The report in
cludes the now all-too-fa-
miliar words: “a motive is
also unknown at this time.”
The Hill, which re
ported the story, conveys
that “According to the non
profit Gun Violence Ar
chive, the country has
logged more than 200 mass
shootings since the start of
the year.”
A just and peaceful so
ciety must have an outside
and an inside.
On the outside, we
have government, laws and
peace officers, patrolling
out streets, whom we
choose to recognize and
honor during National Po
lice Week.
Those incidents, which
are really the exception to
the rule, when policemen
act wrongly, get dispropor
tionate attention.
Because we have be
come a society with no in
side, just an outside, we’re
always looking for whom
to blame. The last place we
want to look is inside our
selves.
But a society must have
an inside as well as an out
side.
As The Wall Street Jour
nal recently reported in its
new poll with NORC at
the University of Chicago,
only 39% today say religion
is “very important” to
them, compared to 62% in
1998 who said religion is
“very important.”
Only 31% of those un
der 30 say religion is “very
important.”
Unfortunately, these
polls do not ask individuals
who say religion is not im
portant how they discern
right and wrong, or even if
there is such a thing.
The “inside” rules,
which shine the light for
self-governance, are flick
ering or gone altogether.
The result is the chaos
we are now experiencing.
Fortunately, we still
have brave and principled
men and women who are
willing to put on a uniform,
patrol our cities at personal
risk, and help maintain the
law, order and peace with
out which no society can
function.
But as part of honoring
them, let’s step up and let
them know that we’re in
the game with them.
Restoring an “inside,”
recognition of right and
wrong and personal re
sponsibility, in a society in
which these are becoming
lost, is not easy.
One way to start is,
when we hear politicians
saying our answers are in
more government, more
spending, more politics,
know it’s time to change
the channel.
Star Parker is president of
the Center for Urban Renewal
and Education and host of
the weekly television show
"Cure America with Star
Parker." To find out more
about Star Parker and read
features by other Creators
Syndicate writers and
cartoonists, visit the Creators
Syndicate website at www.
creators.com.
COPYRIGHT 2023 CREATORS.
COM
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www.theadvancenews.com
Amber
continued from page 7A
we were okay with that ar
rangement.
It was the time of hip-
hugging bell bottom jeans,
pigtails and braids, and go-
go boots. If we wanted curly
hair, we slept in curlers the
night before or visited a
beauty shop to get “a perm.”
Most of the men I knew had
sideburns like Elvis.
We drank out of wa
ter hoses. We played in
the yard and were show
ered with God knows what
when the mosquito trucks
drove through neighbor
hoods spraying their fog
each evening.
Most adults I knew
smoked cigarettes. Back
then, we didn’t give it a sec
ond thought. There were no
computers, smart phones
or Internet. Instead, we had
libraries, encyclopedias and
phones that were mounted
on walls with receivers con
nected via cords. When the
phone rang, we picked up
the receiver and spoke the
word, “Hello,” to see who
was calling, because caller
ID didn’t exist.
To summarize, my
childhood was a happy one.
I knew nothing about the
Bay of Pigs, the Cuban Mis
sile Crisis, or the starvation
and torture that existed in
the world. The term, “civil
rights” wasn’t in my child
hood vocabulary. I couldn’t
find Vietnam on a map. I
thought the Summer of
Love was a paperback novel
chronicling a love story of
some sort, and well, Wood-
stock was a little yellow bird
in the Charlie Brown comic
strips.
Not everyone remem
bers the sixties and seven
ties the way I do. For me,
it was a time of innocence
and splendor. My parents
and other adults in my
life shielded me from the
bad stuff and uncertainty
and allowed me to just be
a child. My point is this:
There’s always good mixed
in with the bad. There’s a
lot of bad things happening
in the world right now, but
there are also a lot of won
derful things — glorious
things. Find those things
and be thankful.
Dear
continued from page 6A
pression; how you look,
and how you sound. Peo
ple make judgments about
you based upon your ap
pearance and speech.
Make cross-genera
tional friendships. Learn
from those who have al
ready made the mistakes.
Get a library card and
read a book a month.
Take time to volun
teer. Community service
is dues we owe our fellow-
man.
Start saving money. It
doesn’t matter how much
you save, but it is saving
regularly that matters. Set
aside a portion that be
longs to tomorrow. Saving
inspires confidence.
Learn something
about your personal his
tory. One day you will
wonder where you came
from.
Get away from your
parents. You need to de
velop into yourself, and
you can't do that around
people who'll pick up your
socks.
Write down your
mother’s favorite recipes.
You are about to enter
a world where there are no
excuses. Your educational
system tried to pump up
your self-esteem, elimi
nate “winners” and “los
ers,” tried to help you deal
with disappointments and
tragedies. You are now
your own support system
and responsible for your
self-esteem.
Your stuff no longer
belongs to everybody else,
and you've worried about
being “popular” for the
last time.
The educational sys
tem is all about “fairness”
and protecting you from
being offended. The
world is not fair and whin
ing won’t change it. Being
offended won’t hurt you.
Racism and prejudice
do exist, but they wither
in the face of competence
and excellence.
You were a kid for a
while. You’ll be an adult
forever.
I wish you well.
joenphillips@yahoo.com
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