Commentary

Over the course of the week I receive thousands of emails in my work account. Many are for areas of the United States far away from here. Other emails are in Russian, and I get a lot of emails for products that are best not even mentioned by name in the pages of the Index. It can be quite time consuming going through them, so many are automatically skipped.

However, last week I received an email after deadline, that I feel needs publiion. Although the awareness day has passed, numerous others and especially erans live this horror the rest of our lives.

LEGISLATURE

No legislation that was passed is final until the governor signs it. As of this writing, he is in the process of doing just that. Here are a few highlights, though

. . . A bill was passed where you will be able to wager on sporting events, perhaps as early as football season.

. . . . House Bill 652 eliminates the possibility of jail time for possession of small amounts of marijuana.

. . . . A bill that would gradually boost state aid for roads and bridges by about $300 million per year.

As an award-winning fishing destination in real life, Toledo Bend is no stranger to accolades. However, this fall our beloved local reservoir will receive a different type of treatment, as it features in the brand new Bassmaster Fishing 2022, a video game being released by Dovetail games.

Anglers will have eight unique locales to choose from to start a virtual fishing career. Each location offers different challenges and opportunities from swamps and cluttered boatyards to acres of open water. Users will experience stunning scenery and an all-new night and day cycle to enhance the immersive experience. Players can also map hot spots and underwater structures where they find bites to improve performance. Other details are scarce, but there is mention of competition against virtual versions of Bassmaster anglers, such as Hank Cherry, who just won the Bassmaster Classic on Lake Ray Roberts, which also features in the game.

ABOUT PRESIDENT BIDEN

Luckily Nancy Pelosi is of the same party as the president. If she were not, I believe they would impeach this president. He swore to uphold our laws and defend the United States instead of just ignoring our laws on the border. The Southern border is almost like a freeway and migrants are pouring in. This will change the whole culture and environment of the United States. It is predicted that at the end of this year it can raise the illegal immigration by 1% of our population. When they hit our borders they immediately become eligible for food, medicine, housing, and other programs thus depriving others in the U.S. Holding to a hard line of legal immigration is a forgotten thing.

Physical Fitness

Ask Rusty – Will My UK Pension Affect My US Social Security?

Dear Rusty: I am 57 years old, was born in the UK, and since 1988 have worked in the US. I have always paid US taxes and Social Security. For the last 20 years, my annual income has typically been well north of $100K. In recent years I have made voluntary payments to the UK National Insurance system looking to claim a retirement benefit from the UK as well as from the US. My concern is that if I claim the UK benefit, this will affect my US Social Security claim. Any insight you can share will be appreciated. Signed: Worried

In 2020 over 64 million Americans were collecting Social Security.

The National Institute for Retirement Security (NIRS)has reported that Social Security is the only income source for 40 percent of retirees over the age of 60.” (Forbes.com) The study also claimed that only 6.8 percent of retirees receive income from the three-legged stool of Social Security, a defined benefit pension and a defined contribution plan.

Another study conducted by researchers at the Social Security Administration, found that only 19.6 of Americans 65 and over received at least 90% of their total incomes from Social Security. That’s a big difference from the stat provided by the NIRS.

Nevertheless, the point is that for millions of Americans Social Security is either all they have or mostly all they have. Also, there are some government employees who have their own pension system and do not pay into Social Security.

EMPLOYEE SHORTAGE

How many of you have heard business owners complain that they can’t find employees. This might be of some help. This appeared on the internet where the Cato Institute released an updated 2016 study showing that welfare benefits pay more than a minimum wage job in 33 states and the District of Columbia. Even worse, welfare pays more than $15 per hour to stay at home in 13 states. It’s more profitable to sit at home and watch TV than it is to earn an honest day’s pay.

Look at this. This is a list of the states where the pre-tax equivalent “salary” that welfare recipients receive is higher than having a job:

Summers in the 1980s when I was a school-age girl were the best.

It wasn’t that we went on fancy vacations back then or had unique plans. It was the “gift of the ordinary days” when time seemed to stand still.

My sisters and I and local friends spent countless hours in our pool playing games like Sharks and Minnows and Marco Polo. We alternated swimming with riding the four-wheeler in the trails in the woods, our wet hair drying in the wind.

I can recall those trails, the turns and hills and shortcuts still clear in my mind from thirty-plus years ago.

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(Editor’s note: Michan Lacey is a junior communications major at Northwestern State University and a Zwolle native. As someone who has been diagnosed with anxiety and depression, she shared a story with her class that she calls a huge turning point in her life. Although darkness creeps in to all of our lives, she is a shining example of one who has fought and survived through it. She states that she chose to keep fighting so that she could help others and hopefully touch their hearts in such a way that should they ever find themselves in such a place, they can remember that it doesn’t last forever)

By Michan Lacey

I’m home alone, waiting for the rest of my family to return. The tv is on and I’m staring at it, but my mind is elsewhere. It has been ‘elsewhere’ for the past week now, ever since May 25. Ever since George Floyd.

There is so much going on.