Guest Commentary: Abbott & DeSantis have the right idea


by Glenn Mollette, Guest Commentator

Nearly five million foreign nationals have entered the United States since Biden became President. Some people call them undocumented immigrants, some call them unauthorized immigrants, many call them illegal immigrants. If they were entering the country legally with proper documentation then we would call them documented immigrants or legal immigrants.

Wyoming has 581,075 people. Have you ever been to Yellowstone National Park? Vermont has a population of 623,251 people. The District of Columbia has a population of 714,143 people. Alaska’s population is 724,357. North Dakota has 770, 026. South Dakota’s population is 896,581. The population of Delaware is 990,334. (Stats from populationreview.com). These seven states combined have a population of under 5.5 million people. To get a more accurate count I suppose we could drop off Wyoming and that would put us closer to the total number of foreign nationals who have illegally without documentation entered crossed our borders. In other words, our country has grown the population of at least six of our smallest populated states in six years.

However, there are no worries because densely populated states won’t remain that forever. We cannot add 4-5 million illegal immigrants every two years without having serious population issues in our nation.

What would a half million of these new unauthorized immigrants do to the state of Wyoming? What about Vermont? Would Vermont like to have a generous helping of a few hundred thousand people begging for housing and food?

The population of Kentucky is about 4.5 million people which is somewhere very close to the number of illegal immigrants. Where can Kentucky add a half million people? There are no jobs in East, Kentucky but a lot of devastation from the recent flooding. West Kentucky is still trying to rebuild from the worst tornadoes in history. What about Lexington or Woodford County? They still have a nice ten mile stretch of horse farms that could easily accommodate one-half million foreigners. Put these people to work giving bourbon tours.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott and Florida Governor Ron Desantis have the right idea, share the love. Open borders should never mean that Texas and other border states get all the love and joy of these millions of people coming illegally into America. Texas already has 30 million people. Florida has 22 million people. Plus, Texas and Florida get hot. Hot weather and crowds are not a good combination. Martha’s Vineyard has less than 20,000 people. The climate is cooler. The water is pretty and there is some good fishing in the area as well. I can see where immigrants would be content in this part of America. Rehoboth in Delaware would also be a nice spot for the undocumented foreigners. Rehoboth is where Joe Biden likes to stroll along the Boardwalk in this quaint costal Atlantic community of fine restaurants, shops and summer vacationers. The illegals could certainly transform this little community.

California has a population of 40 million people. New York has almost 20 million and Illinois has almost 13 million with Chicago exploding with its own problems. Do any of them really have the financial ability to care for another million people?

If we do not get control of our border and regulate the flood of people who are coming into this country illegally, soon we will not have a country.


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Dr. Glenn Mollette is a syndicated American columnist and author of Grandpa's Store, American Issues, and ten other books. He is read in all 50 states. The views expressed are those of the author and are not necessarily representative of any other group or organization.

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This article is the sole opinions of the author and does not necessarily reflect the views of The Sentinel. We welcome comments and views from our readers. Submit your letters to the editor or commentary on a current event 24/7 to editor@oursentinel.com.


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Photo of the Day | Spartans declaw the Sabers


SJO volleyball team celebrates a point during a match
PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks
Members of the St. Joseph-Ogden volleyball team celebrate a point after a kill against visiting St. Thomas More last week. The Spartans won the conference match, 2-0. Tonight, SJO hosts the Marshall volleyball team with JV action starting at 6pm.

Photo Gallery: Unity soccer suffers loss to GRFC on home pitch


Unity's Mason Davis

Unity's Mason Davis makes a pass down the field around Buffaloes' Ryley Heck in the first half. The Rockets gave up three first-half goals and one in the second to fall 4-0 at home to visiting Georgetown-Ridge Farm-Westville. Photo: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks

Rockets' Brendan Bachert races with the ball down the field

Rockets' Brendan Bachert races with the ball down the field in the first half. Photo: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks

Nolan Wishall settles the ball at midfield

Nolan Wishall settles the ball at midfield for the Rockets. Unity had several opportunities to score but could not get the ball around the keeper to light up the scoreboard. Photo: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks

Unity defender Mary Bryant lines up a pass after intecepting a GRFW pass in the first 90 minutes of the game. Photo: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks

Unity's Caden McCaskill

Unity's Caden McCaskill dribbles around GRFW's Coy Potter. Photo: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks

Gabe Pound heads the ball

Rockets' Gabe Pound heads the ball away from Georgetown-Ridge Farm-Westville's Nathan Blue. Blue, a junior, notched a first-half assist on his team's third goal. Photo: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks

Cole Saunders makes a second half save

Unity keeper Cole Saunders makes a second half save. The junior goalkeeper let all but four balls past him. Photo: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks

Cole Saunders makes another second half save

Goalkeeper Cole Saunders makes another second half save. Photo: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks

Teaguen Williams pushes the ball across the field on a run late in the second half. Photo: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks

Sophomore Nolan Remole battles for control of the ball in the last 30 minutes of the Rockets' match. Photo: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks

Mathew Hollett settles the ball in the second half. Hollett and the Rockets, despite several opportunities, were unable to produce a score in either half. Photo: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks

Unity's Nolan Remole (right) challenges a Georgetown-Ridge Farm player for possession in final minutes of his team's home game. Photo: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks


Photo Gallery: Unity volleyball team survives three-setter to beat Westville


Lydia Rossi (left) and Lindy Bates leap above the net to block a kill during Unity's junior varsity game against Westville. Rockets won their match in straight sets, 2-0. (Photo: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks)


Kara Young attempts to put the ball away during first set action
Kara Young pummels the ball during set one of Unity's home match against Westville. The Rockets dropped the first set, 27-25. (Photo: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks)


Piper Steele slams a kill shot
Junior Piper Steele attempts to put the ball away for a kill through Westville's Maddison Appl during set one. (Photo: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks)


Unity junior McKayla Schendel
Unity's McKayla Schendel puts the ball in play during set 2. (Photo: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks)


Ruby Tarr serves during second set action against the Tigers. (Photo: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks)


Ruby Tarr makes a pass during the Rockets home volleyball match
Junior Ruby Tarr passes the ball during second set. (Photo: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks)


Reagan Little leads Rockets' volleyball team
Reagan Little passes the ball in the second set. Little led the Rockets' offense with 22 kills and chalked up 10 digs (Photo: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks)


Unity libero (center) receives a Westville serve in the second half. The Rockets won the set, 26-24. (Photo: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks)


Jayci McGraw plays volleyball with the Rockets
Jayci McGraw passses the ball to the front row during the third set action. (Photo: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks)


The Unity volleyball team celebrate a point during their match against Westville
Ruby Tarr, Kara Young, Kaitlyn Schweighart, Reagan Little and members of the Unity volleyball team celebrate a point during the third set. The Rockets pulled out a 26-24 win to take the match, 2-1. (Photo: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks)



Had Covid and lost your taste or smell? You are not alone


Photo: Steve Harvey/Unsplash

Paul Arco
OSF Healthcare


Ottawa -- One of the most common symptoms found in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic was the loss of smell and taste.

While many people rebound quickly from the loss of smell (most recover within 30 days), others have not. In fact, according to a recent study in the BMJ, (the medical journal of the British Medical Association), about 27 million people in the world are experiencing long-term effects of loss of smell or taste.

"There is a subset about 5%, where we're seeing the loss of smell and taste remaining longer than six months," says Angela Vezzetti, PA, a physician's assistant at OSF HealthCare, specializing in otolarynogology (the study of the ear, nose and throat). "Some studies have looked at different gene mutations in patients where they're seeing certain mutations impact the sense of smell and the recovery rates. There are a lot of studies going on right now to determine why these patients are not recovering their sense of smell and taste. One other study did note that there was a loss of tissue in the olfactory bulb of the brain that could potentially be causing this prolonged sense of loss of smell."

The study also revealed that women were less likely to regain their sense of smell and taste than men, which Vezzetti attributes to women having a higher perception of smell than men. People who suffer from nasal congestion were also slower to recover from the loss of smell and taste.

The loss of smell has also been shown to have a significant impact when it comes to emotional and psychological well-being, especially among older people. Loss of smell can cause many emotions. It can make people feel disoriented, detached, anxious or worse.

"I don't think a lot of people really realized the impact of loss of smell and taste, the sense of smell in general, people kind of took for granted to an extent and a lot more people have seen the really importance of smell when it comes to just taste in general," says Vezzetti. "Without the sense of smell and taste you can have aversions to certain foods, which for elderly people can lead to either a lack of desire to eat, or nutritional deficiencies, even malnutrition, because they're not getting those vitamins that they need because the food either tastes bad, or they just can't taste it at all."

As time goes on, the medical community has developed a better understanding of how COVID-19 impacts the sense of smell and taste. That includes treatment options which have provided relief for some patients.

"The number one protocol that we recommend is something called olfactory or smell retraining, which we recommend patients take some essential oils which are a nice concentrated scent," says Vezzetti. "There are four of them that we recommend. They are a lemon, clove, eucalyptus and Rose and they smell those scents for maybe 15 seconds a day, once or twice a day and we've have seen some patients regain some of that loss of smell or diminished smell, retraining their sense of smell with these essential oils."

This is just another reminder about the importance of getting the COVID vaccine. Medical experts believe that the vaccine may protect people from losing their sense of smell even if they get infected.

"I think people can be reassured to know that the good majority of patients with loss of smell or taste from COVID do recover either completely or partially," says Vezzetti. "And there are some things that can be done in the meantime while they're experiencing their symptoms to try to help such as smell retraining, maybe trying intranasal steroid spray to try to relieve some of that inflammation and hopefully bring back those senses. But I think that the fact that the good majority of patients have improved and are improving is a really good thing."

Did you have COVID and lost your sense of taste and/or smell? Tell us about your experience and we'll share it with our readers. Email us your story to editor@oursentinel.com.



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