Remember the great Walter E. Williams

• March 31, 2023

Walter Edward Williams, one of the world’s greatest champions of personal and economic liberty, was born on this date 86 years ago. His life and ideas will never be forgotten.

Born in Philadelphia on March 21, 1936, and raised in the Richard Allen housing projects, Williams never allowed himself to be a victim of his circumstances.

Williams believed in the value of hard work and the fundamental promise of America, despite the challenges particularly facing Black Americans in his early life.

After being drafted into the military, Williams penned a letter to President John F. Kennedy in 1963 calling out the rampant racism of the times and in the military itself.

“Should Negroes be relieved of their service obligation or continue defending and dying for empty promises of freedom and equality?” he wrote. “Or should we demand human rights as our Founding Fathers did at the risk of being called extremists? … I contend that we relieve ourselves of oppression in a manner that is in keeping with the great heritage of our nation.”

Williams devoted the more than half century that followed that letter pushing America to live up to the standards of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.

After receiving his bachelor’s degree in economics at California State University, Los Angeles and ultimately his doctorate in economics from the UCLA, Williams went on to become a longtime professor of economics at George Mason University. He taught there until his death on Dec. 1, 2020.

His first book, “The State Against Blacks,” published in 1982, is as relevant as ever.

In it, he presents his case that, although racial discrimination and bigotry certainly exist, “it is the ‘rules of the game’ that account for many of the economic handicaps faced by Blacks. The rules of the game are the many federal, state and local laws that regulate economic activity.”

Overregulation by the government, including laws like occupational and business licensing, zoning regulations and the minimum wage, Williams argued, “systematically discriminate against the employment and advancement of people who are outsiders, latecomers and poor in resources.”

The solution to these systematic barriers, Williams concludes, was to repeal such “antipeople” laws and unleash the power of the market to maximize opportunities for all people.

Although it is fashionable among younger people to condemn and demonize capitalism, Williams understood that capitalism is the greatest means for liberating people from poverty known to man.

“Prior to capitalism, the way people amassed great wealth was by looting, plundering and enslaving their fellow man,” he said.

“Capitalism made it possible to become wealthy by serving your fellow man.”

At the core of Williams’ views of the world is the notion of self-ownership, the principle that every individual owns themselves.

“I am my private property, and you are yours,” he wrote. Illegitimate, coercive and involuntary intrusions on individuals, he argued, are fundamentally immoral. Whether it’s a criminal assaulting you physically or the state dictating what you can or can’t do with our own life, Williams always put the dignity and integrity of the individual first and foremost.

If those on the left and right dreaming up their own respective ways to use government to control others could do the same.

There will only be one Walter E. Williams. His ideas must endure for the sake of liberty.

A version of this editorial was published in December 2020.

​ Orange County Register 

With complaints about growing homeless presence, San Clemente council looks at enforcement options

• March 31, 2023

To address public safety and nuisance issues, San Clemente leaders say they are looking for a broader approach to enforcing the city laws among a growing homeless population congregating at its beaches and in canyons, around the downtown and at RV parks.

The City Council looked at hiring a private security firm to establish a more visible presence as a deterrent to bad behavior being reported at North Beach, including at the Metrolink train station platforms and the trailhead leading to the popular beach trail.

Councilmembers said they’ve become increasingly concerned by reports from residents of illegal activity happening on public property. Complaints have included alcohol and drug use, smoking, littering and indecent public exposure, they said, especially in the beach area and along streets in San Clemente’s downtown. A host of complaints have also been lodged about illegal parking in some of the towns’ camping and RV areas and in neighborhoods between Avenida de la Estrella and Avenida Calafia, officials said.

Councilmember Gene James prompted a last-minute meeting to discuss hiring the security firm, but some of his colleagues were more interested in seeing what the Orange County Sheriff’s Department, which the city contracts with for police services, could do, along with adding more city resources such as code enforcement officers and rangers while still looking at private security contractors and possible bids for their services. City staffers will be getting back to the council with options at its April 18 meeting.

Julie Crandall, who said she represented the group Disability Rights of California, told councilmembers using a security agency and “targeted enforcement will hurt unhoused people, many of whom are disabled. This proposal hurts San Clemente and subjects them to targeted discrimination.”

James is proposing a 60-day trial period using Gatekeeper Security Services, which he said the city of Oceanside has used with success, to patrol the impacted areas and supplement what the Sheriff’s Department can’t devote time to, he said.

Gatekeepers would charge about $130,000 per month for its services, including four people on patrol at all times. A San Clemente resident operates the company.

“Our primary purpose is public safety,” James said. “There are certain standards by which you expect to live. Defecation on the sidewalk and urinating on the street are not part of these standards.”

James said he has been working with Rick Loeffler, chair of the city’s Public Safety Committee, to develop solutions. He’s also spoken with residents of the North Beach area and listened to their concerns.

“There is a significant gap in services between what the Sheriff does and what needs to be done,” James said. “We’re looking at a low-cost solution, hiring security officers is a low-cost solution. Many have aspired to live in San Clemente. You save money, work hard and arrive here because it’s a special place. We need to keep San Clemente special.”

Loeffler, who said he went as a resident, toured Oceanside in December with James to look at what the security contractor had accomplished there.

“I do think they’d be effective,” said Loeffler, who has 37 years of law enforcement experience. “This wouldn’t be an alternative to OCSD, they do a great job, but they can’t allocate people to go to a specific place and stay there for several hours.”

Loeffler said the difference in Oceanside was apparent and he believes “simply providing a presence” is a deterrent.

“They are trained about engagement and serve as an ambassador,” Loeffler said, adding that many of the company’s employees are military veterans or those still on active duty.

According to the county’s most recent point-in-time count, there are about 100 people considered homeless in San Clemente.

In 2019, as the number of people creating makeshift shelters at North Beach and the train station grew, the council approved an ordinance prohibiting camping on public property, but designated a city-owned parking lot not far from North Beach for people to use. It was later closed to camping.

Since then, problems with city code violations have ebbed and flowed, said Mayor Chris Duncan, who said he thought there was a lack of “real specifics about the security firm” proposal.

“We did not have a lot of time to vet the company,” he said. “It made sense to take a step back and do a thorough review where staff presents options to us to improve the quality of life for our residents.”

Duncan agreed there is urgency in getting the issues under control, and the council is aligned on addressing residents’ concerns, especially as summer approaches and more people make use of the city’s beaches and trail and visit the downtown.

“It’s a big problem,” Duncan said. “People don’t feel safe and their general quality of life has been affected. In the last few years, it’s gotten worse.”

Duncan said a comprehensive approach is needed to address issues on a “global level and not just push it from one place to the other.”

“Let’s increase funding for OCSD and increase funding to the staff so we are in a position to address this in a comprehensive way,” he said. “My default – if we’re spending money – is do it with people who are in a position of authority.”

“This is about enforcing laws and codes, it’s not about homeless people,” he said. “It’s making sure everyone and everybody is safe. This is a serious situation.”

James said he doesn’t expect to be dissuaded from his idea of the 60-day trial with Gatekeepers and he believes city staff will come to the same conclusion that this is a unique service not readily found.

“No security company has taken on this as a specialty,” Loeffler said. “It’s unique.”

Kathy Esfahani, chair of the San Clemente Affordable Housing Coalition, who said she lives just above North Beach, called the effort for increasing enforcement a “manufactured emergency” and criticized the council for not looking at other solutions.

“The really bad part was no council member said the solution we need is shelter or housing or safe parking,” she said. “The only identified solution was more law enforcement.”

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​ Orange County Register 

We shouldn’t shrug at Legislature’s attacks on Big Oil

• March 31, 2023

SACRAMENTO – Novelist Ayn Rand’s tales about the havoc that assorted government planners and “looters” wreak on society are a bit turgid and overwrought for my tastes, but I enjoy re-reading the conclusion of Atlas Shrugged. After bureaucrats tighten their control over the economy, entrepreneurs quietly exit society. The entire socialist edifice comes crashing down – quite spectacularly, with the collapse of the economically crucial Taggart Bridge.

If you haven’t read the book, I recommend Cliff Notes. It will spare slogging through John Galt’s 60-page radio speech. Or skip the voluminous book altogether and watch the state of California. The latest data shows that wealthy people – the ones who fund our highly progressive, capital-gains-dependent budget – have now joined the exodus. “Perhaps most striking, California is now losing higher-income households,” the Public Policy Institute of California recently reported.

Lower- and middle-income earners have long been fleeing to states where they can afford a house or operate a small business without having to deal with our meddlesome planners. High earners have largely stayed put given they can afford the costs. But the great climate and scenery only go so far. Anyone who watched a Capitol press conferencethis week might head to Galt’s Gulch (where Rand’s entrepreneurs fled) – or look for a Realtor in Idaho or Texas.

On Monday, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a new gas-price “accountability” measure that lawmakers rushed through the Legislature. Flanked by lawmakers and Attorney General Rob Bonta, Newsom vowed to end price gouging by the nation’s oil companies: “California took on Big Oil and won. We’re not only protecting families, we’re also loosening the vice grip Big Oil had on our politics for the last 100 years.”

Specifically, the legislation, authored by Sen. Nancy Skinner, D-Berkeley, grants the California Energy Commission broad new powers to monitor gasoline pricing. It requires oil companies to provide extensive new supply chain data. The law lets bureaucrats determine the proper profit margins for oil companies and “establish a penalty for exceeding the maximum gross gasoline refining margin.”

Newsom originally conceived of a windfall-profits tax – similar to the disastrous policy President Jimmy Carter implemented. That tax slowed domestic oil production and made the United States increasingly dependent on imports from the Middle East. The final California law doesn’t repeat that stupidity, but it imposes new costs on oil companies and will discourage oil production and lead to higher gas prices.

Consider the official support argument offered from a coalition of environmental and social-justice groups. They argued the law will help the state “plan for and monitor progress toward the … transition away from petroleum fuels.” It’s part of a push to drive away the oil industry, which will – by design – reduce oil production. Leave it to California lawmakers to address high gas prices by purposefully reducing supply and increasing them further.

California does indeed have the highest gasoline prices in the nation. Those prices have fallen quite a bit in recent months to $4.82 a gallon. That’s still $1.38 a gallon higher than the national average – and $1.70 a gallon higher than in Texas. Oil companies are national operations, so a normal person might wonder why those companies are so much greedier in California than they are elsewhere.

The answer isn’t hard to find. For starters, California has the highest gas taxes in the nation. (We also get the least bang for our buck given the state of our freeways, but that’s a separate issue.) Those higher taxes instantly make our gasoline 48 cents a gallon higher than in Texas. There’s still a pricing gap, but despite officials’ blathering about a “mystery gas surcharge” here in California it’s not a mystery at all.

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“California’s tough environmental rules mandate that gasoline sold within the state be produced according to strict formulas that reduce pollution,” per a Los Angeles Times analysis. “But the gas is more expensive and difficult to produce than dirtier fuel sold elsewhere. Few refineries outside the state are equipped to produce it.” The report adds the number of California refineries is plummeting and our state has no interstate pipelines, thus forcing us to rely on costlier forms of transportation.

All of those supply-restricting measures are the direct result of public policy choices. Our state has chosen to require that special formulation. California has declared as one of its prime climate-change priorities ending the state’s reliance on fossil fuels. If you were an oil company, would you invest in new capacity in a state that wants you to leave? Regulators would never allow interstate pipelines.

California’s progressive leaders have imposed the policies that led to our high gas prices. Instead of doing anything about them, they are bloviating about price gouging. I don’t know whether many oil executives are fans of Rand, but I wouldn’t blame them for quietly pulling out of California and watching our economic edifice collapse from their homes in Houston.

Steven Greenhut is Western region director for the R Street Institute and a member of the Southern California News Group editorial board. Write to him at sgreenhut@rstreet.org.

​ Orange County Register 

Funerals set for Nashville school mass shooting’s 6 victims

• March 31, 2023

By TRAVIS LOLLER and ADRIAN SAINZ (Associated Press)

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Funeral arrangements were disclosed Thursday for the six people killed in this week’s school shooting in Nashville, as the grieving city mourns the victims of the horrific attack that transformed what should have been a normal day of school on a bright, sunny morning into wrenching tragedy.

Heartbreaking new details continued to emerge about the lives of the three adults and three 9-year-old students who police say were killed during the shooting Monday at The Covenant School. The children have been identified as Evelyn Dieckhaus, Hallie Scruggs and William Kinney. Also killed were Katherine Koonce, 60, the head of the school; Mike Hill, 61, a custodian; and Cynthia Peak, 61, a substitute teacher.

A funeral service for Evelyn was scheduled for Friday at Woodmont Christian Church in Nashville, with a private reception to follow, according to an obituary provided to The Associated Press by a family friend. Funeral guests are invited to wear pink or other joyful colors “in tribute to Evelyn’s light and love of color,” according the obituary. She will be laid to rest on Saturday in a private family burial.

Hallie’s family planned a private funeral for her Saturday at Covenant Presbyterian Church, where her father is the lead pastor. On Thursday, members of Our Lady of the Lake Catholic Church, including the girl’s grandparents, were planning to pray the rosary for Hallie and for all those affected by the shooting, according to a Facebook post from the church.

The funeral for Hill has been set for Tuesday morning at 11 a.m. at Stephens Valley Church in Nashville, with visitation beginning at 10 a.m., pastor Jim Bachmann said.

A visitation for Koonce was scheduled for Tuesday from 5-8 p.m. at Christ Presbyterian Church, with a service the following day at 1 p.m.

The service for Kinney was set for 2:30 p.m. Sunday at Christ Presbyterian.

Peak’s visitation was scheduled for Saturday at 10:30 a.m., also at Christ Presbyterian, with a service at noon.

The funeral plans were announced as new information about Evelyn and some of the others was released.

In the obituary given to the AP by a family friend, Evelyn was described as “a constant beacon of joy” who loved art, music, animals and snuggling with her older sister on the couch.

“With an unwavering faith in the goodness of others, Evelyn made people feel known, seen, but never judged,” the obituary said. “Her adoring family members agree that ‘she was everyone’s safe space.’”

In preschool, Evelyn “would often position herself between two younger babies, intuitively offering comfort by patting their backs.” She would greet people with open arms and an infectious laugh, the obituary said.

Evelyn enjoyed crafting and drawing, and her teachers “would observe Evelyn studying the world around her with curiosity, eagerness, and clarity,” according to the obituary.

She also liked to sing along to tunes by Taylor Swift and from the Broadway show “Hamilton.” She also loved her dogs, Mable and Birdie, and wanted a rat for her 10th birthday.

“Strong but never pushy, she had self-composure and poise beyond her years,” the obituary said. “This girl ‘could read a room.’”

As Evelyn’s loved ones prepared for her funeral, William Kinney’s youth baseball league was taking steps to remember a teammate and friend.

The night after the shooting, a coach at the Crieve Hall Baseball park led a prayer and a moment of silence for the boy. The tribute was posted on the park’s Facebook page.

William had played baseball at the park in the past and his team this season was the Reds, said Steve Cherrico, director of Crieve Hall youth athletics. Players and their families have been encouraged to wear red in the field and in the stands, and red ribbons have been placed at the field where William played.

“We’ve covered everything in red,” Cherrico said. “We have put plenty of memory pieces on the ballpark itself.”

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Cherrico said league members were heartbroken at the loss of William and the others who were killed. Cherrico said it was not the first time that Crieve Hall has lost a player.

“The league has always stepped up and come together as a family,” he said.

In response to the park’s tribute, Major League Baseball’s Cincinnati Reds posted the following on Instagram: ”“Sending all of our love from Cincinnati,” with a heart emoji at the end.

___

Loller reported from Nashville; Sainz reported from Memphis, Tennessee; Ben Finley contributed to this report from Norfolk, Virginia.

​ Orange County Register 

California wildflowers: It’s not too late to plant and see them bloom this year

• March 31, 2023

1. Plant artichoke from seeds or root divisions – basal shoots with roots attached – at this time. If you can grow a single artichoke plant, you can grow a whole yard full of them. Shoots that grow out of the base of the plant – when they have grown to eight inches in length and have roots of their own – can be separated from the mother plant in the fall or the spring and transplanted and then grow into producing plants in three to four months time. While you wait for the edible flower buds to appear, you can enjoy the artichoke’s deeply cut, silvery foliage which is on display throughout the year. An artichoke can produce a crop for six years but, meanwhile, you will have propagated many new plants from it before its demise.

2. It’s not too late to plant California wildflowers and see them bloom this year. Plant them where nothing else will grow and you could be in for a pleasant surprise. They do not need to be fussed with as most of them will germinate on the soil surface or just beneath it as long as they do not dry out once germination occurs. After scattering the seed, walk on it so that it makes contact with the soil. If you wish, you can cover the seeds with a very thin layer of fast-draining soil or planter mix to protect from desiccation and from birds. The Theodore Payne Foundation nursery in Sun Valley (theodorepayne.org) has over a hundred species of wildflower seeds from which to choose.

3. There are four plants that spread wantonly in my sunny frontyard and you may wish to consider planting them in yours this spring for long-lasting color displays. The first is Pervuian lily (Alstrroemeria sp). It proliferates not only by seeds but by underground rhizomes as well. It completely disappears in the winter but comes to life more vigorously than ever each successive spring. Flowers are pink (and this is the cultivar that spreads most readily), red, purple, orange, or yellow and have a vase life of two weeks.

Montbretia (Crocosmia x crocosmiiflora) spreads both by ever-expanding clumps, thanks to its bulb-like corms, and by seed. It is extremely durable and you can be sure whether you plant a corm or scatter its seeds, it will grow without any additional effort on your part. Its sword-like leaves grow three feet tall and its flowers – borne alternately on two-foot stalks at 30 blooms per stalk, are narrow trumpets that blare in fiery oranges and reds. I have two memorable perennials whose seeds sprout at will throughout the garden. One is pride of Madeira (Echium candicans), with huge wands of purplish blue flowers. The best venue locally to view these plants is on the bluff that overlooks the old casino building on Catalina Island, where they grow in great profusion.

The other seed-scattering perennial is upright myrtle spurge (Euphorbia rigida). This succulent is presently showing off domed chartreuse flower clusters, but its eye-catching, chalk-blue stems and pointed leaves add a pleasing touch to every garden bed all year long.

4. If you do not have a yard or a patio but still want to grow vegetables, you can do so with grow lights as long as you are aware of the distance needed between lights and plants for your project to be a success. A reader sent me photos of tomato seedlings that were growing indoors that had turned completely yellow. The seedlings were under grow lights and, in such circumstances, either too little or too much artificial light had caused the leaves to yellow. As a general rule, grow lights should be positioned between two and four inches from foliage, with the lights being raised as the plants under them grow taller. If lights are further away, foliage is likely to turn yellow. By the same token, grow lights should be turned off at night (for at least eight hours) or leaf yellowing could also occur. If you do grow seedlings indoors, I would advise procuring a seedling heat mat for as little as $15 through online vendors. A seedling mat speeds up seed germination as it does rooting of cuttings taken from herbs, ground covers, and fresh terminal shoot growth of many ornamentals.

5. When planting shrubs and trees, keep in mind that the hole you dig should resemble a satellite dish; it should be three times the diameter of the root ball and the same depth. A plant’s feeder roots are confined to the top few inches of soil and this fact underscores the importance of applying and maintaining a layer of mulch that keeps these crucial roots cool and stress-free. When extracting the root ball from its container, make sure the roots growing in a circle have been untangled or pruned back. The root ball may need to be drastically reduced in size to remove all the tangles, but only in this way can you be sure that the roots remaining will grow straight and not just circle the planting hole and possibly cease to grow altogether. You may think you are doing harm to the plant by radically pruning its roots when in fact you will be giving it the best possible opportunity for root expansion.

Send questions, comments, and photos to joshua@perfectplants.com

​ Orange County Register 

Curious about that 100-pound fish line that runs above some Irvine streets?

• March 31, 2023

Q. Hi Honk: There is a thin wire strung between several metal poles about 30 to 40 yards apart in the median of University Drive in Irvine that goes from Harvard Avenue to Culver Drive. What is that wire’s purpose?

– Brent Sandberg, Irvine

A. You likely saw part of what is called an eruv, which in Irvine runs along the side of the 405 Freeway, to University Drive, to Harvard Avenue and back up to near the freeway to create a border in the shape of perhaps a shoe.

Approved by the City Council in 2004, it is maintained by the Beth Jacob Congregation of Irvine, which is inside the border along with apartment complexes and single-family homes.

“We work closely with the city,” said Ilan Wolf, on the congregation’s board of directors, referring to a permit and the ability to hire a company to repair the line if needed.

In Irvine, 100-pound fishing line, a berm and walls create the eruv.

Inside the eruv, some people of the Jewish faith can do things that are otherwise usually forbidden on the Sabbath in public areas. For example, they can carry items or push a stroller or a wheelchair.

Eruv districts have been in place for 2,500 years. Among the communities where an eruv has been created is in Long Beach’s Bixby Knolls neighborhood.

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Q. Do you know why when going northbound on the 241 Toll Road there is a long barrier between the lanes leading to the transition to go either west or east on the 91 Freeway? You can’t switch lanes if you find that you are taking the wrong exit.

– Mike Wick, Lake Forest 

A. At certain times of the day, a lot more motorists want to go east there rather than west. So the Riverside-bound lanes – there are two for each direction – would clog up more than those depositing drivers to the west.

“Adding to the bumper-to-bumper frustration were queue jumpers – drivers who attempted to bypass the congestion by driving in the left two lanes only to cut in at the last minute,” explained Eugene Fields, a spokesman for the Transportation Corridor Agencies, which runs that toll road and is one of the entities that signed off on the improvements. “These queue-jumpers created more congestion and safety concerns. ”

In 2016, double-white lines were put on the roadway and some signs posted to encourage civil driving.

Problems still persisted.

Now, Mike, you have heard Honk say his readers are the smartest in the land, right?

Well, in 2018 and again the next year, they wrote in and suggested a barrier go up dividing the lanes – one suggested using the type of flexible poles that have been deployed for years to separate the 91 Express Lanes from the 91 Freeway. Transportation officials told Honk the first time that the poles wouldn’t fit in there, and the second time that that strategy was among various options getting explored.

Finally, in February 2022, about 800 of the poles – called “channelizers” in transportation circles – were put in to improve traffic flow and safety. They stretch for one mile. New signs and messages emblazoned in the roadway were added as well to help direct motorists into the proper lanes.

HONKIN’ FACT: Palm Springs is holding its Cruising Through the Years Classic Car Parade on Saturday, April 8, celebrating the town’s 85th birthday. There is to be a car from each of those years. The celebrity grand marshal will be Nancy Sinatra. Some might tie her fame only to being Ol’ Blue Eyes‘ daughter. Not Honk. He is a big fan of “These Boots are Made for Walkin’,” her classic tune. (Source: palmsprings85.com.)

To ask Honk questions, reach him at honk@ocregister.com. He only answers those that are published. To see Honk online: ocregister.com/tag/honk. Twitter: @OCRegisterHonk

​ Orange County Register 

Vatican: Pope Francis to leave hospital on Saturday, eats pizza

• March 31, 2023

By FRANCES D’EMILIO (Associated Press)

ROME (AP) — Pope Francis is expected to be discharged on Saturday from the Rome hospital where he is being treated for bronchitis as his recovery proceeds in a “normal” way, even had pizza for dinner and will be in St. Peter’s Square for Palm Sunday Mass, the Vatican said.

Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni gave the update in a written statement on Friday. In a subsequent statement, Bruni said that Francis was due to be in the square for the Mass, which marks the start of Holy Week and ushers in a series of solemn public ceremonies that culminate on Easter on April 9.

RELATED: LA archbishop asks for prayers for hospitalized Pope Francis

Francis, 86, was hospitalized on Wednesday at Gemelli Polyclinic, where doctors said the pontiff was receiving antibiotics intravenously to treat his bronchitis.

“Yesterday went well, with a normal clinical recovery,” Bruni said. “In the evening (of Thursday), Pope Francis had dinner, eating a pizza, together with all those who are assisting him in these days of the hospital stay,” the spokesman said, including doctors, nurses, assistants and Vatican security personnel.

On Friday morning, the pope read newspapers and resumed his work after breakfast.

The pontiff’s return to the Vatican hotel where he lives “is expected for tomorrow, as a result of the last tests of this morning,” Bruni said.

The spokesman later added that, given the pope would return to the Vatican on Saturday, Francis was expected to be present in the square for Palm Sunday Mass. He didn’t indicate whether Francis would deliver a homily during the ceremony, a particularly long service, or if someone else might read it for him.

Medical staff decided to hospitalize him on Wednesday after he returned to his Vatican residence following his customary weekly public audience in St. Peter’s Square. The Vatican reported he had experienced difficult breathing in the previous days.

Bruni on Thursday evening said that antibiotic treatment for bronchitis had resulted in a “marked” improvement in his health.

Francis sent a tweet on Friday possibly inspired by his current health challenge.

“When experienced with faith, the trials and difficulties of life serve to purify our hearts, making them humbler and thus more and more open to God,” Francis wrote. The tweet carried a hashtag for Lent, the period of the liturgical year stressing penitence and sacrifice in the run-up to the joyous Church celebration of Easter, which marks the Christian belief that Jesus rose from the dead after his crucifixion.

The Vatican seemed keen to quickly dispel any worries about the pope’s physical fitness to carry on fully with his duties. Nearly immediately after the announcement of a discharge date for Francis, the Vatican announced that the pope would meet the prime minister of Bosnia-Herzegovina on Monday in a private audience at the Apostolic Palace.

The hospitalization came four days before outdoor Palm Sunday Mass, which usually draws tens of thousands of faithful, flocking to Rome before Easter.

Francis had already largely stopped celebrating Mass at major Catholic Church holy days because of a chronic knee problem, but had continued to preside at the ceremonies and deliver homilies.

Italian Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re said Friday that Francis would be able to preside over — but not celebrate — Holy Week ceremonies.

The Holy Week appointments include a stamina-taxing late night Way of the Cross procession marked by prayers on Good Friday at the Colosseum in Rome and Easter Mass on April 9, which is traditionally followed by a long papal speech delivered from the central balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica.

During Wednesday’s hour-long public audience, Francis at times appeared visibly in pain when he moved about and was helped by aides.

In July 2021, Francis underwent surgery at Gemelli Polyclinic after suffering from a narrowing of his colon. As a young man in Argentina, Francis had part of a lung removed.

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​ Orange County Register 

GOP’s rigid positions on guns and abortion could cost them in 2024

• March 31, 2023

The tragedy at the Covenant School in Nashville marked America’s 131st mass shooting of the year, just 86 days into 2023. The murders of six people – including three children – by a gunman wielding three legally-purchased guns triggered a political response that we are all-too-familiar with. Democrats called for gun safety reforms, which Republicans made clear are off-the-table, even though such measures are proven to be effective and are broadly supported by the American public. 

The U.S. electorate, including many Republican voters, favor sensibly strict gun laws. Two thirds (67%) of registered voters nationally support banning assault-style weapons, and 88% support mandatory background checks on all gun sales. Among Republican voters, there is broad support for background checks (86%), and by a 8-point margin (49% to 41%), they favor an assault weapons ban.

Moreover, it strains credulity for prominent Republican officials to suggest that guns aren’t the problem, or that increasing the number of armed civilians will solve the gun violence epidemic. Among all other high-income countries, the U.S. stands out as the nation with the most firearms in the hands of civilians, the least restrictive gun laws, and by far the highest firearm homicide rate.

Three decades ago, in 1994, the U.S. Congress passed an assault weapons ban. The result? The number of both mass shootings and deaths from mass shootings fell. In the years following the ban’s expiration in 2004, there was an immediate and steep rise in mass shootings and gun-related deaths.

It goes without saying that the GOP’s guns-everywhere positioning is not grounded in reason, nor is it in line with public opinion. Rather, it is intended to appeal to the increasingly vocal far-right wing of the party, and to remain in the favor of special-interest gun groups like the National Rifle Association, which has given millions of dollars to Republicans in Congress over the last several decades.

This is clearly Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’s goal. One of the most prominent Republicans in the country, DeSantis has moved drastically to the right on a number of issues, including guns, as he gears up to seek his party’s presidential nomination. He is likely to sign a recently passed bill that would allow civilians to carry loaded guns in public without a permit, which over three-quarters of Florida voters oppose.

Guns are not the only issue where the GOP is towing an extremist line and defying the data. Nationally, there is broad-based public support for abortion legality, and further, medical research underscores the necessity of ensuring access to safe and legal abortions from a public health standpoint. 

Yet, after Roe v. Wade was overturned by the Supreme Court last summer, GOP governors across the country moved to restrict – or in some cases, eliminate – abortion rights at the state-level, and some Republicans in Congress floated a national ban. For his part, DeSantis is preparing to sign into law a six-week abortion ban bill, before most women even identify a pregnancy, which 75% of his constituents oppose. Taken together with his extreme gun positions, DeSantis’ actions to undermine abortion access demonstrate that he caters only to the far-right in the Republican Party, putting him completely out-of-step with American public opinion.

Let alone the tangible harm that DeSantis and other GOP officials are inflicting on the country with their extreme positions on guns and abortion, they are also essentially handing Democrats a successful messaging framework to deploy in 2024.

The 2022 midterms – or, more specifically, the historic underperformance Republican candidates – highlighted the political power of both issues, particularly abortion rights. Democrats were most successful in swing-states where abortion rights were ‘on the ballot,’ so to speak, either literally vis-à-vis a constitutional amendment, or being embodied by an extreme anti-abortion Republican candidate.

Likewise, post-election research conducted by Schoen Cooperman Research on behalf of Everytown for Gun Safety found that Democratic messaging on gun safety likely aided some Democrats in battleground races this cycle. The majority of voters in Colorado, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin indicated that gun policy was important to their vote, and were more likely to support “a Democrat who supports strengthening gun safety laws” over “a Republican who opposes more gun restrictions.”

These two issues are clearly salient individually, and even more powerful collectively. If Democrats in 2024 can drive home the argument that Republicans are putting public health and safety at risk by refusing to support both gun violence prevention measures and abortion access – which is part of quality healthcare – the GOP could once again face a number of losses in those important, contested, races. 

While the Republican Party’s guns-everywhere, anti-abortion agenda may resonate with the small but vocal far-right faction, this platform is isolating the GOP from the broader electorate. But, despite the clear warning signs, there is no indication that the party will change course anytime soon. 

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The top-two contenders for the 2024 Republican, DeSantis and Donald Trump, are locked in a fight for the far-right’s vote. Meanwhile, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, the most powerful Republican in Washington, D.C., is essentially beholden to the extreme House Freedom Caucus as a result of the concessions he made to secure the speakership.

McCarthy’s silence in the days since the Covenant School shooting speaks volumes, as do the reactions of many Republicans who used the occasion to reaffirm their support for the Second Amendment. 

But the blunt response from Rep. Tim Burchett, who hails from the state where this tragedy took place, best-encapsulates how out-of-step with the national sentiment today’s Republican Party has become.

When asked what the Republican-controlled Congress would do to address school shootings, Burchett responded: “we’re not gonna fix it.”

Douglas Schoen is a longtime Democratic political consultant.

​ Orange County Register