Opinion

The Louisiana Association of Business and Industry (LABI) recently released policy recommendations to help stabilize public education and address the dire workforce needs facing our state as Louisiana phases out of the initial response to COVID-19.

“I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all.”

As we look to the future of our great and noble nation, America is facing a great dilemma. At this time, we are at a crossroads of what America will look like 20 years from today. The legacy we leave for our children and grandchildren is in the hands of the citizens of the United States today.

New Orleans residents were shocked last week when Mayor LaToya Cantrell revealed that the city would request businesses to keep a record of every customer entering their establishments. Civil rights groups, such as ACLU of Louisiana, raised concerns, saying the program must be “voluntary, transparent and respectful to people’s privacy rights.” It’s no surprise that the outrage this policy generated led Mayor Cantrell to back off this policy, and instead, follow the state’s lead.

As I continue waiting on my two industrial-size toilet paper rolls to arrive from Amazon, and as “out of stock” still sporadically pops up on Walmart.com, my thoughts have turned to the history of the human race.

The United States has been in a Federal national emergency that transitioned to a state-by-state lock down. This has been in place for several months and the American spirit is anxious to get the country back on a normal footing; an open economy.

I just opened a graduation announcement. Not an invitation with a day, time, and place…an announcement. It is my best friend’s daughter and she is a stunning, blonde beauty with legs that should be insured and a smile that will no doubt open any door she wishes when she realizes the power it possesses.

This is part 11 in a multi-part series about questionable behavior in Calcasieu Parish, reprinted from The Washington Post. The L.A.C.E. program is statewide and has been criticized and found to have many issues all across the state.

We have been unemployed, locked down, locked up and watched television until every fiber in our body screams to let me out. America, and the entire world for that matter, has watched as tired and exhausted men and women are suited up, covered, disinfected, and go forth and do battle with an enemy that has devastated the lives of the population of our beautiful planet. Unlike the men and women that put on the uniform of the United States military, the enemy is not human nor is it fought with guns and bullets and bayonets. Instead the enemy is so small that even the biological microscopes cannot see it and the ammunition used to kill this enemy is lacking the knockdown power of the assault rifle of the modern infantryman. Yet, the men and women of the medical corps continue to go forward day in and day out to provide help to the sick and hope for pleading families. Hats off to these wonder workers and fortunately a grateful nation has raised them up in prayer, extended the praise of appreciation and witnessed in awe what our health care workers have sacrificed for our nation.

When there is a need, leaders step up. That’s what we saw happen last week with the Karl Malone Foundation for Kids Union Parish Food Project.