5.1.25 Views on the tariffs from the Gulf Coast, homeless encampments at national parks, and artists overcoming physical limitations

Summary

Podcast Summary: The World and Everything In It
Episode: 5.1.25
Release Date: May 1, 2025
Host: Mary Reichert and Myrna Brown
Produced by: WORLD Radio

---

1. Tariffs and Their Impact on the Gulf Coast

Overview:
The episode opens with a discussion on President Trump's recent pause on certain tariffs and the ongoing uncertainty it brings to various industries. Listener perspectives from the Gulf Coast highlight the mixed reactions and concerns surrounding these trade policies.

Key Points:

• Shrimp Industry Struggles:

  • Mayor Henry Barnes of Bayou La Batre, Alabama, expresses frustration over the declining shrimp market due to cheap imports. He states, “I wrote him a letter in November... inviting him to come down and look at our industry” (10:45).
  • Dennis Morrison, the fuel dock manager, lamented the drastic drop in shrimp prices over the past 15 years, from $5 a pound to just over $1 a pound (09:31).
  • Richard Buddy Broccoli Jr., a shrimp boat owner, emphasizes the loss of market value: “…drastically cuts the market value of my catch” (09:31).

• Electrical Industry Concerns:

  • Jake Jones, owner of AGW Electric, discusses potential future tariffs on copper imports. He warns, “If those prices go up a substantial amount, anybody in this industry is not going to absorb that themselves” (12:33).
  • Jones remains hopeful, believing that tariffs could boost American-made products: “I believe we'll have a lot more of American made products that are sold by Americans to Americans” (13:05).

• Economic Implications:

  • Energy Secretary Chris Wright addresses the GDP contraction, attributing it to global trade restructuring rather than solely tariff policies: “We're sort of restructuring global trade and how funds flow” (03:30).
  • Kent Covington highlights differing opinions on the economy, with Democrats criticizing the administration’s approach: “I think it's misguided” (03:17).

Notable Quotes:

• Myrna Brown: “I just don't know how dark it's possibly going to get before that happens” (00:17).
• Jake Jones: “Even if prices go through the roof, my faith is always He is going to take care of his children” (13:30).

---

2. Homelessness and Removal from National Parks in Washington, D.C.

Overview:
The podcast addresses President Trump's executive order to “Make the District of Columbia Safe and Beautiful,” which mandates the removal of homeless encampments from all federal properties in Washington, D.C. The hosts explore the implications of this policy on the homeless population and the broader community.

Key Points:

• Executive Order Impact:

  • President Trump’s directive aims to clear homeless encampments from National Park Service properties, leading to increased enforcement (14:13).
  • Jim Lindsay, Executive Director of Christ House, acknowledges the complexity of the issue: “I understand where the president is coming from with his order” (15:42).

• Challenges Faced by the Homeless:

  • Jim Lindsay points out the limited capacity of existing shelters and the reluctance of some homeless individuals to seek shelter: “Those voucher programs have a downside” (17:10).
  • Barbara DiPietro from the National Health Care for the Homeless Council highlights that shelters can sometimes be as challenging as living on the streets: “You can have your stuff stolen from you at a shelter or at an encampment” (16:47).

• Root Causes of Homelessness:

  • The discussion emphasizes addressing underlying issues such as substance abuse, mental illness, and the high cost of living in Washington, D.C.: “Fixing homelessness will require cleaning up people's lives, not just public parks” (17:12).
  • Jesse Rabinowitz of the National Homelessness Law Center underscores the need for comprehensive solutions beyond merely relocating the homeless.

Notable Quotes:

• Chris Wright: “None of us love having the environment of having tents and trash strewn across the lawn and stuff… it's not really solving anything” (15:42).
• Jake Jones: “Housing is so expensive that you need to work 80 hours a week to afford a one-bedroom rental” (17:16).

---

3. Inspirational Stories: Artists Overcoming Physical Limitations

Overview:
The episode features inspiring stories of two artists, Jeff Dossider and Pam Ferry, who have overcome significant physical challenges to continue their passion for painting. Their resilience and adaptability serve as powerful examples of perseverance and creativity.

Key Points:

• Jeff Dossider’s Journey:

  • Jeff Dossider, a world champion hang glider, became a paraplegic after a crash landing in 2001. He has spent the last 24 years in a wheelchair but found a new purpose through painting (21:37).
  • Dossider collaborates with the Mouth and Foot Painting Artists (MFPA), which provides him with the tools and support to create art despite his disability. “Painting gives me purpose and a meaningful pursuit” (23:10).

• Pam Ferry’s Adaptations:

  • Pam Ferry lives with Chronic Relapsing Peripheral Motor Neuropathy, which affects her mobility. She adapted her painting technique by using her mouth to hold the brush: “I just stuck the brush in my mouth” (25:01).
  • Despite her physical limitations, Ferry maintains a productive art studio and gallery, showcasing her creativity and determination (24:34).

• Overcoming Obstacles:

  • Both artists emphasize the importance of adaptability and faith in overcoming their challenges. Ferry shares, “You have to be flexible in life and make the most of what you got” (27:21).
  • Dossider discusses the emotional aspects of his journey, highlighting the support from organizations like MFPA and the significance of maintaining artistic integrity: “We want them to like them because they like the paintings” (27:05).

Notable Quotes:

• Jeff Dossider: “I think that removing the homeless encampments is not really solving anything” (category misplaced; likely misattributed in transcript).
• Pam Ferry: “I could speed up my painting process by taking photos… but I felt like I was cheating” (26:28).

---

4. Additional Highlights

• Ukraine and Rare Earth Minerals:

  • Kent Covington reports on Ukraine signing a deal granting the U.S. access to rare earth minerals, aiming to reduce dependency on China. “Those minerals are critical for high tech manufacturing, both commercial and military” (01:32).
  • Discussions around President Trump’s push for peace in Ukraine and the complexities of international negotiations are briefly touched upon (02:20).

• Supreme Court Case on School Choice:

  • The U.S. Supreme Court heard a case from Oklahoma regarding the use of public funds for religious charter schools, highlighting the tension between church and state (04:57).
  • Justice Amy Coney Barrett recused herself, affecting the potential ruling (05:10).

Notable Quotes:

• Cal Thomas: “Musk's pronatalism is no better… It's an outgrowth of a worldview that is materialistic and sets humans in the place of God” (28:23).

---

Conclusion

Episode 5.1.25 of "The World and Everything In It" provides a comprehensive exploration of pressing issues ranging from economic policies affecting local industries to the societal challenge of homelessness in Washington, D.C. Additionally, the episode inspires with stories of individuals overcoming personal hardships to pursue their passions. Through in-depth interviews and expert analysis, WORLD Radio continues to deliver insightful journalism grounded in biblical principles.

Notable Closing Quote:

• Myrna Brown: “The Apostle Paul wrote final instructions to the Christians in Rome… avoid them, for such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites” (32:16).

---

For more detailed discussions and expert insights, tune into the full episode of "The World and Everything In It" on Apple Podcasts.

Transcript

[Mary Reichert]

Good morning. It's been three weeks now since President Trump hit pause on certain tariffs. For some, it's a high stakes waiting game.

[Myrna Brown]

We just hanging on and hoping the.

[Chris Wright]

Tariff is gonna help us.

[Jake Jones]

I just don't know how dark it's possibly going to get before that happens.

[Myrna Brown]

Also, President Trump wants a cleaned up DC So what happens to the homeless? And when life knocked these people down, they picked up PA brushes.

[Pam Ferry]

I was actually trying to paint with my knee because I could hardly lift up this arm. I just adapted myself and just stuck the brush in my mouth.

[Myrna Brown]

And world commentator Kyle Thomas weighs in on falling birth rates and why throwing money at it won't fix it.

[Mary Reichert]

It's Thursday, May 1st. This is the world and everything in it from listeners supported World Radio. I'm Mary Reichert.

[Myrna Brown]

And I'm Mer Brown. Good morning.

[Mary Reichert]

It's time for the news now with Kent Covington.

[Kent Covington]

The ink is on the page. Ukraine has signed a long awaited deal giving the United States access to rare earth minerals in Ukraine. President Trump has long seen this as a way to recoup some of what the US has spent on aid to Kyiv amid Ukraine's war against Russian invaders.

[Chris Wright]

As you know, we're looking for rare earth all the time. Rare earth is called rare for a reason.

[Kent Covington]

Those minerals are critical for high tech manufacturing, both commercial and military. And China right now controls much of the world's supply. The president said the deal also benefits Ukraine and not just financially because you'll.

[Chris Wright]

Have an American presence at the site, Chris, and the American presence will, I think, keep a lot of bad actors out of the country or certainly out of the area where we're doing the digging.

[Kent Covington]

Ukraine's parliament must ratify the deal before it takes effect. Meantime, the Trump administration is still pushing for peace in Ukraine. And U.S. officials say a planned three day ceasefire later this month announced by Vladimir Putin won't cut it. Special envoy for Ukraine And Russia, retired General Keith Kellogg says the US wants to see a comprehensive ceasefire of at least 30 days.

[Chris Wright]

Comprehensive sea, air, land infrastructure for at least 30 days. Why is 30 days important? Because it can build to a permanent peace initiative. And the reason why 30 days is important, it stops the killing. That's what President Trump wants to do.

[Kent Covington]

President Trump has been increasingly critical of Russia's Vladimir Putin in recent days with continued Russian attacks on civilian areas. In Ukraine amid peace talks, the US economy unexpectedly shrank. For the first three months of this year, GDP was down 3/10 of 1%. Most economists had expected slight growth. President Trump says it is a hangover from the previous administration, noting that he didn't even take office until late January. Still, Democrats say the president is steering the economy in the wrong direction. Kentucky governor Andy Beshear people believed he'd make paying bills at the end of the month just a little bit easier. I think this tariff policy is misguided.

[Chris Wright]

And I think it's making it harder.

[Kent Covington]

On those same folks. Energy Secretary Chris Wright said Wednesday that there are many components that drive gdp, saying people should not read too much into the numbers from one quarter. And he added, we're in the middle.

[Josh Schumacher]

Of sausage making right now, right?

[Chris Wright]

We're sort of restructuring global trade and how funds flow.

[Kent Covington]

He did concede, however, that this process of restructuring, as he called it, creates uncertainty.

[Chris Wright]

Of course, that's uncertainty, and that creates people fearful about delays in investment and what that means, what that might mean for future economic growth.

[Kent Covington]

So I'm sure there's a little bit of fear in there as well, but.

[Chris Wright]

I think that fear is going to.

[Kent Covington]

Get sorted out, trump said. The tariffs are already driving major investments in the US despite the GDP numbers, consumer spending grew in the first quarter. U.S. and Iranian negotiators are headed back to Rome this weekend for the next round of nuclear talks. Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Arachi confirmed that on Wednesday. He said he also expects a meeting tomorrow with diplomats from France, Germany and the UK to discuss the talks. The negotiations with the US Will once again be mediated by officials from Oman. The U.S. supreme Court just heard arguments in a school choice case with religious liberty implications. The case from Oklahoma centers on whether public money can be used to fund a religious charter school. Jim Campbell, with Alliance Defending Freedom, told the justices Saint Isidore was privately created.

[Josh Schumacher]

By two Catholic organizations and it is controlled by a privately selected board of directors. Under this court's test, St. Isidore is neither the government nor engaged in state action.

[Kent Covington]

But Oklahoma's Republican attorney General Guenter Drummond argues that allowing the funding would violate the separation of church and state. That puts Drummond at odds with other fellow Oklahoma Republicans, including governor Kevin Stitt.

[Chris Wright]

If a group of families want to set up a Hebrew school or a Muslim school or a Catholic school or like I send my kids to a Christian school, why is the government standing in the way?

[Kent Covington]

Drummond, though, argues that a ruling in the school's favor could open the door for taxpayer dollars to fund schools that teach extremist ideologies such as Muslim Sharia law. Justice Amy Coney Barrett recused herself from the case that raised the possibility of a tie, which would uphold the Oklahoma State Supreme Court's ruling against the school. A team of elders says a well known Christian author and teacher can return to public ministry following a sexual abuse investigation. World's Christina Grub has more.

[Myrna Brown]

A board of elders at Michael L. Brown's Line of Fire Ministries is disputing the findings of a third party investigation. The probe conducted by the Firefly Group, concluded Brown engaged in inappropriate relationships with two women in the early 2000s, labeling it sexual misconduct, but the elders called it moral and leadership misconduct. Brown admitted to forming an inappropriate emotional bond with a married woman, but denied physical wrongdoing. He he did not admit misconduct in a second case involving a former employee, though he acknowledged poor judgment. The elder team did not directly address that allegation, but said Brown met his biblical obligation to confess and repent, which he did in a December video. They also noted that the Firefly report did not include Brown's personal rebuttal or the testimony of his wife, Nancy. For World, I'm Christina Grube.

[Kent Covington]

And I'm Kent Covington. Straight ahead, we're headed to Alabama to learn how tariffs are affecting protecting the American shrimp industry. Plus addressing homelessness in Washington, D.C. this is the World and everything in it.

[Myrna Brown]

It's Thursday the 1st of May. Glad to have you along for today's edition of the World and Everything In It. Good morning. I'm Myrna Brown.

[Mary Reichert]

And I'm Mary Reichert. First up, tariffs. Last week we reported on how people living in towns along the Canadian border are reacting to President Trump's trade policies. Today, perspectives on Trump's tariffs from another part of the country.

[Chris Wright]

People's lost their boats, they've lost their homes, they've had to get into other industries. It's been bad.

[Myrna Brown]

Henry Barnes insists he's not exaggerating. Barnes is the mayor of Bayou Labatre, a small fishing village in the southwest corner of Alabama near the Gulf coast and the Mississippi border. We're headed to Fisherman's Marine, a field dock two streets over from City Hall. Two decades ago, this dock would have been overflowing with fishermen and shrimpers waiting to get their boats refueled. So tell me about the good days.

[Chris Wright]

Good days wide open every day, never.

[Myrna Brown]

Stop, meaning they were fueling boats all day long. Dennis Morrison is the fuel dock manager now.

[Chris Wright]

Sometimes we're lucky to get one boat every two days.

[Myrna Brown]

Morrison smiles as he watches Richard Buddy Broccoli and his son Buddy Jr. Parallel park their 90 foot shrimp boat, the Lady Catherine.

[Chris Wright]

You want me to go down and catch last?

[Myrna Brown]

Yeah, that's fine.

It'll cost the multi generational shrimpers pretty penny to fill her up.

It's going to be right at $21,000 worth.

$21,000?

Yes, ma'am. For 9,000 gallons of fuel.

That will give them about 30 days on the Gulf. They're counting on President Trump to follow through on his executive order to slap double digit tariffs on countries importing shrimp to the United States. Last year, more than 90% of shrimp consumed in this country came from India, Ecuador, Indonesia and Vietnam. Since 2021, the price of imported shrimp has dropped significantly. Buddy Jr says that drastically cuts the market value of his catch.

The last three years have been a windfall as far as the amount of shrimp being caught, but as far as their value, it's been a toe stumping. You went from getting $5 a pound for a 36, 40 count tail to $2 a pound for it to a dollar something a pound for it over just the last 15 years or so.

[Chris Wright]

I've been running boats since I was 15 years old and I'm 69.

[Myrna Brown]

Buddy Sr. Gets angry when he thinks about the variety of shrimp he believes many Americans are missing out on because of cheap imports.

[Chris Wright]

We got pink shrimp, we got royal reds, we got east coast white shrimp, we got hoppers, we got. They all got a little different distinguishing taste and there's nothing wrong with none of them. But the American people have never been introduced to it because they've had this stuff, junk throwed on their tables and they don't know no difference.

[Myrna Brown]

Heading back to City Hall, Mayor Barnes says he reached out to President Trump months before he signed that executive order to restore the American seafood industry.

[Chris Wright]

I wrote him a letter in November, you know, and explained the situation, inviting him to come down and look at our industry.

[Myrna Brown]

No response yet on that offer. Barnes says in the meantime, I totally believe in prayer.

[Chris Wright]

I mean, I pray every night for our city.

[Jake Jones]

All right, let's grab some materials and walk up.

[Myrna Brown]

About an hour east of Bayou La Batre, a four man electrical crew carries cable up a flight of stairs.

[Jake Jones]

They just put in drop ceilings this week. So we're coming in here to put some lights in.

[Myrna Brown]

That's Jake Jones, owner of AGW Electric. He comes from a long line of electricians.

[Jake Jones]

So my dad is an electrician. Both of my grandpas were electricians. My uncle's electricians. My mom was actually an electrical helper.

[Myrna Brown]

Jones says copper is to him what shrimp is to the fishermen in Bayou Labatre. What's this?

[Jake Jones]

This is what's called MC Cable. So this is our wire.

[Myrna Brown]

Does copper play a role in this at all?

[Jake Jones]

Yeah, the wire inside here is copper.

[Myrna Brown]

Currently, there are no specific tariffs or quotas on copper imports, but that could change. Earlier this year, President Trump signed an executive order directing the Secretary of Commerce to investigate what he called a national security threat to the copper supply. The United States produces only half of the refined copper it consumes. That makes us reliant on foreign suppliers. If the investigation concludes imports threaten national security, the president could impose new tariffs and quotas on copper imports, making the goods more expensive for people like Jones.

[Jake Jones]

If those prices go up a substantial amount, anybody in this industry is not going to absorb that themselves. It's going to rol down to the customer. So you still have to be competitive to be able to get work, because there's a lot of competition in my field. So if it costs me more to purchase the materials, then ultimately it's going to cost the consumer more to get it installed.

[Myrna Brown]

Jones admits that's troubling. Even so, he's trying to keep an open mind about tariffs.

[Jake Jones]

I think that if that if it does what it's supposed to do, I believe we'll have a lot more of American made products that are sold by Americans to Americans in America, which keeps the money here, keeps the economy going. I just don't know how dark it's possibly going to get before that happens.

[Myrna Brown]

But he says he knows someone who does.

[Jake Jones]

Even if prices go through the roof, whether they do or they don't, my faith is always he is going to take care of his children.

[Myrna Brown]

Reporting for world Imrona Brown in Bayou Labatre and Daphne, Alabama.

[Mary Reichert]

Coming up next on the World and everything in it. Cleaning up the nation's capital. Last month, President Trump signed an executive order titled Making the District of Columbia Safe and Beautiful. It calls on law enforcement to crack down on crime and bans homeless encampments on federal property.

[Myrna Brown]

So will clearing out tents improve the city or just move the homeless elsewhere? World reporter Josh Schumacher has the story.

[Josh Schumacher]

Stanton park sits just a few blocks east of the US Supreme Court in Washington. Late on a Tuesday morning, the park features mothers watching over children on a playground, squirrels roaming to and fro, and the occasional cyclist passing through. It also features National Park Service signs prohibiting alcohol consumption, letting pets off their leashes, and camping on park property. That no camping rule is about to be enforced a bit more rigorously throughout the city. In March, President Donald Trump directed the National Park Service to clear homeless encampments from all its property in the city. The National Park Service told World last week it was still deciding exactly how it would enforce that directive. Organizations helping the homeless are also considering what the order means for those it affects.

[Chris Wright]

You know, some people are just a paycheck away from becoming homeless themselves. Others have been on the street for decades.

[Josh Schumacher]

Jim Lindsay is the executive director of Christ House, a hospital for homeless men north of downtown DC. Volunteers with the Point in Time Count in DC tallied nearly 10,000 people as homeless last May, more than triple the national average. Lindsey says he understands where the president is coming from with his order to clean up the Beltway.

[Chris Wright]

I mean, none of us love having the environment of having tents and trash strewn across the lawn and stuff, but I think that it's not a magical solution. It might move the homeless away, but they're still here. They're still somewhere.

[Josh Schumacher]

But where is that somewhere? Sidewalks in other parts of the city, parks that aren't run by the National Park Service. How about homeless shelters? Many shelters hit capacity over the winter, according to DC's Interagency Council on Homelessness. And even with enough shelter beds, advocates say some homeless people do not want to go there.

[Myrna Brown]

The reason that some people do do not want to go to shelters is.

[Jeff Dossider]

Because they've had terrible experiences at them. That said, they can go to encampments and have bad experiences.

[Josh Schumacher]

Barbara DiPietro, senior policy director at the National Health Care for the Homeless Council, says shelters aren't always better than living out on the streets. She says you can have your stuff stolen from you at a shelter or at an encampment. And depending on how shelters are run, residents are not immune from abuse either.

[Myrna Brown]

And again, I'm not arguing four encampments.

[Jeff Dossider]

Here, but I am clarifying the fallacy that shelters are awesome.

[Josh Schumacher]

Advocates say officials need to focus on addressing the root causes of homelessness, not just where the homeless camp out. Causes include substance abuse and mental illness, but in a city as expensive as the capital, poverty is also a driving factor. Jesse Rabinowitz works with the National Homelessness Law center.

[Jake Jones]

Yeah, in DC, housing is so expensive that you need to work 80 hours.

[Myrna Brown]

A week, a minimum 79 hours at.

[Chris Wright]

Minimum wage to afford a one bedroom rental.

[Josh Schumacher]

The city of Washington offers numerous housing voucher programs to help people pay some of their rent. But according to Christ House director Jim Lindsay, those voucher programs have a downside.

[Chris Wright]

Those places with the vouchers don't require people to be clean and sober. You know, so you can live there and you have a roof over your head, but there's nothing really helping them with the underlying problems of alcoholism, drug abuse, dealing with their mental illness if they have some.

[Josh Schumacher]

Staying housed requires more than material resources. That's why three decades ago, Christ House established a 37 apartment facility called Kairos House.

[Chris Wright]

It is a very structured program. It's a spiritual recovery program.

[Josh Schumacher]

Men in the program go to Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous meetings as well as church services.

[Chris Wright]

And they can stay there for as long as they want. And we actually have people that have been there since we opened almost 30 years ago.

[Josh Schumacher]

Lindsey says fixing homelessness will require cleaning up people's lives, not just public parks.

[Chris Wright]

We're happy that we have such a place, but I think there's a greater need for even more more space than we have. And I think that removing the homeless encampments is not really solving anything.

[Josh Schumacher]

For world I'm Josh Schumacher in Washington, D.

[Kent Covington]

Additional support comes from the Crossway Podcast. Thoughtful interviews with authors on topics related to the Bible, theology and the Christian Life. Crossway.org podcast from Dort University. Dort's Ag Service technology program offers hands on experience for seamless workforce entry dort.edu and from Eyewitness, an immersive audio drama exploring stories of faith and transformation on podcast apps or at the letter I witnesspod.com.

[Mary Reichert]

It all started out as a hunt for pretty rocks. And then Mitchell O'Brien took a wrong step on a Lake Michigan beach. Sound from NBC.

[Myrna Brown]

The sand was just getting put back.

[Jeff Dossider]

Almost faster than I could get it.

[Myrna Brown]

Out of the way.

[Chris Wright]

Whoa.

[Mary Reichert]

He was stuck up to his waist in what felt like quicksand. His best friend, Bree Siga was nearby. They separately called 911.

[Chris Wright]

I refer to her as my girlfriend.

[Jeff Dossider]

That'S trying to call as well.

[Myrna Brown]

At the exact same time, she got.

[Chris Wright]

Through to another operator and said, my boyfriend is stuck in the sand. Whoa.

[Mary Reichert]

Girlfriend and boyfriend. Not terms they'd used before. Firefighters saved Mitchell and Bree.

[Myrna Brown]

Two years of this guy being my.

[Chris Wright]

Best friend and just trying to hide.

[Myrna Brown]

Everything how I felt.

[Mary Reichert]

Turns out nothing brings feelings to the surface like sinking sand. It's the world and everything in it.

[Myrna Brown]

Today is Thursday, May 1st. Thank you for turning to World Radio to help start your day. Good morning. I'm Myrna Brown.

[Mary Reichert]

And I'm Mary Reichard. Coming next on the World and everything in it. Finding purpose through perseverance. Painting is not easy even in ideal situations. But for two artists in Australia, the challenge is much more than picking out color and canvas.

[Myrna Brown]

World correspondent Amy Lewis brings us their remarkable stories of creativity against the odds.

It was really just complacency that got me I was coming into land on a good day, easy conditions.

[Jeff Dossider]

Jeff Dossider is a world champion hang glider. He spent thousands of hours in the air and won two World cup events, plus several national championships. His longest flight lasted nearly six hours.

[Myrna Brown]

And eventually I had my own business and that was all going really well.

[Jeff Dossider]

He took customers on short tandem flights from the top of New Zealand's Coronet Peak to his Property below. In 2001, he was newly married. Seven weeks after his daughter's birth, he took a last minute customer up for a flight.

[Myrna Brown]

At the end of the flight, I thought, I'll give my passenger a bit of a thrill and did some aerobatics, as we often do, and often did, I should say.

[Jeff Dossider]

That last maneuver left him flying lower than usual and over his neighbor's property. In an attempt to get back over the fence. Dossetter and his passenger crash landed into a stream bank.

[Myrna Brown]

Either his hand or his elbow swung through and hit me in the back of the neck. And yeah, I just suddenly couldn't feel anything and had my face in the grass. And I said, oh, are you okay? And he said, yeah. I said, well, don't move me because I think I've got a spinal injury.

[Jeff Dossider]

Dossiter has spent the last 24 years in a wheelchair.

[Myrna Brown]

I can't feel anything from my chest down and my hands and my wrists don't work and I used to be right handed.

[Jeff Dossider]

Not long after the accident, Dostner planned to move to Melbourne so his parents could help him raise his young daughter. Before he did, he went on an adventure week for people in wheelchairs. There he met a student member of the organization Mouth and Foot Painting Artists.

[Myrna Brown]

He showed me some of his work and I thought, oh yeah, that's pretty good. I reckon I could do something like that. And he sort of told me what I needed to do.

[Jeff Dossider]

Mfpa, as it's known, works with artists all over the world. It turns their art into cards that it sells unsolicited through the mail. The money provides income and scholarships to help disabled artists get more artistic training. So Dosseter painted six paintings and mailed them off. He's had monthly income from a student scholarship ever since before the accident. He sometimes illustrated hang gliding articles with cartoons, but that was the extent of his art. He didn't need it because hang gliding was all consuming to him. Now painting gives him purpose and a meaningful pursuit.

[Myrna Brown]

There's not a lot I can do with my disability physically, so this is something that I can do and I can do it reasonably well.

[Jeff Dossider]

Another Artist who paints for the MFPA is Pam Ferry. She lives in Linton in rural Victoria.

[Pam Ferry]

And it was called Chronic Relapsing Peripheral Motor Neuropathy.

[Jeff Dossider]

She was diagnosed nearly 40 years ago. She stretches her permanently curled fingers over the gear shift and steering wheel to drive to her temporary studio a few minutes from her house.

[Pam Ferry]

With all the rain we've had, I wasn't sure, oh, we can go the other way. We might go down the other way. Here's the hut and there's some of my darlings over there. And there'll be a whole lot of kangaroos just over here. I don't have to lock it. This is the hut. There's some crazy stuff in here, but anyway, that's all. That's me. I'm a bit crazy.

[Jeff Dossider]

Her studio doubles as a gallery for her various art projects.

[Pam Ferry]

I've got a splint on this leg that you can't see because it's got the boot over it, but because I've got foot drop, I can't move the this foot up. And you see it's affected, it's asymmetrical.

[Jeff Dossider]

Ferri grew up surrounded by a mother and aunties who all sewed and did needlework and crafts to cut the book. Heavy monotony. For her psychology and sociology degrees, Ferry also completed a fine arts degree even while her health deteriorated.

[Pam Ferry]

I was actually trying to paint with my knee because I could hardly lift up this arm. I just adapted myself and just stuck the brush in my mouth.

[Jeff Dossider]

Fairy and Dosseter have learned to live and even thrive with their disabilities. But that doesn't mean everything or anything is easy. Both artists spend hours just inches away from their canvases. Fairy holds the paintbrush in her cheek.

[Pam Ferry]

See, I talk with it in my mouth and yeah, the other ends are all chewed.

[Jeff Dossider]

You can see there.

[Pam Ferry]

Some people use longer brushes, but you have more control over the shorter brushes.

[Jeff Dossider]

Dossider puts rubber tubing on his paintbrush handles and grips them between his teeth. His helpers squeeze paint onto a palette for him.

[Myrna Brown]

And I have to move around a bit and my chair can go up and down.

[Jeff Dossider]

After a conference in Singapore, he discovered water soluble oil paints.

[Myrna Brown]

Like, I really like artwork with palette knives, but palette knife is very difficult with your mouth because you need to get the right angle to scrape. Yeah.

[Jeff Dossider]

To retain their scholarships, Ferry and Dosseter have to submit at least five quality paintings a year. Dosseter admits it's not only about the end product.

[Myrna Brown]

I could speed up my painting process by taking photos, printing them out onto a canvas and then painting over top of them, which I did for one painting, but I sort of felt like I was cheating.

[Jeff Dossider]

A few years ago, Dossider took an online class to improve his painting skills.

[Myrna Brown]

I didn't tell anyone that I was disabled because I wanted to get realistic feedback.

[Jeff Dossider]

The teacher wanted multiple drafts of each work and singled out Dossider when he didn't do them. Another student who didn't know about his disability stuck up for him. The teacher then turned on his defender.

[Myrna Brown]

It was all getting a bit tense amongst the group and so I sort of said, well, this is the reason why. And the teacher backed off, right off.

[Jeff Dossider]

Suddenly his art grew in the eyes of his fellow students. But that's exactly what D'Oster was trying to avoid.

[Myrna Brown]

We don't want people to buy the cards because they feel sorry for the artist. We want them to like them because they like the paintings.

[Jeff Dossider]

Ferry says she loves the challenge painting provides, and she tries not to let her disability get in the way.

[Pam Ferry]

I guess you have to be flexible in life and move with what presents to you and try and just make the most of what you got. I guess that's my big lesson in life.

[Jeff Dossider]

Reporting for World, I'm Amy Lewis in Melbourne and Lynton, Australia.

[Mary Reichert]

Today is Thursday, May 1st. Good morning. This is the World and everything in it from Listener supported World Radio. I'm Mary Reichert.

[Myrna Brown]

And I'm Myrna Brown. Up next, World commentator Cal Thomas says there's only right way and a wrong way to fix the decline in human population.

[Chris Wright]

In Genesis 1:28, God tells Adam and Eve to be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. President Trump is going God one better. He's considering adding an incentive by paying couples $5,000 to begat. The fertility rate in the US has been declining for the last decade. In 2023, it dropped to 1.6 births per woman, the lowest in a century. There are many reasons for this, the most obvious being abortion. The Pew Research center cites figures from the CDC. The last yearly national totals are from 2021. Even with four states not reporting their figures, there were nearly 626,000 abortions that year. When adding the available statistics from 2019 and 2020, the three years together totaled more than 1.8 million babies. Stopping or severely restricting abortions would go a long way towards solving the birth dearth. Absent that possibility, we're down to the reasons people can't or won't have children. Can't is usually biological. Won't is more likely psychological or spiritual. Perhaps the most frequent reason given by won't couples includes the expense of having children, the supposed restrictions on parents, travel, general freedom, the disappointments and pain that can come when kids rebel, or the consequences should parents divorce. I've suffered from rebellious children, even the death of an adult child. None of it cancels the joy of holding a baby in my arms that I helped produce, hearing that child later tell me he or she loves me, and seeing even the spiritually truant come back to faith and set their lives aright. Deciding not to have children for some creates the pain of regret, and never will they have descendants with their DNA, their values, and a set of accomplishments that adds further meaning to their own lives. Never will they know what their children might have become or contributed to the world. Their family tree will lack branches. Having a pet is not the same. Parenting is more than biological. The Wall Street Journal recently reported that tech titan Elon Musk has warned that civilization is going to crumble if people don't start having more children. Musk has at least 14 children by four different women. He wants to populate this planet, and possibly Mars, with children of high intelligence. He even thinks babies should be born by cesarean section so they'll have larger brains. If this sounds vaguely familiar, it should. Musk is not the first to think this way. It's an outgrowth of a worldview that is materialistic and sets humans in the place of God. In his novel Brave New World, Aldous Huxley explains the scientific and compartmentalized nature of his fictional society. He begins at the Central London Hatchery and Conditioning center, where children are created outside the womb and cloned in order to increase the population. The reader is then introduced to the class system of this world, where citizens are sorted as embryos to be of a certain class. The Matrix film franchise is a modern metaphor that pits inherent human worth against soulless technology. Musk's pronatalism is no better. President Trump's suggestion that $5,000 payments would help produce more children reduces the value of a child to materialistic levels, an appeal made on the level of more important things. Eternal things will work better in the long run, not only producing more babies, but possibly even good parents and a healthier society. I'm Cal Thomas.

[Mary Reichert]

Tomorrow, Katie McCoy is back for Culture Friday, and Colin Garbarino reviews what he says may be one of the best Marvel films in recent memory. That and more tomorrow. I'm Mary Reichert.

[Myrna Brown]

And I'm Myrna Brown. The world and everything in it comes to you from World Radio world's mission is biblically objective journalism that informs, educates, and inspires. The Apostle Paul wrote final instructions to the Christians in Rome. I appeal to you brothers to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles. Contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught, avoid them, for such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and food flattery, they deceive the hearts of the naive. Verses 17 and 18 of Romans 16 today is the national day of prayer. However you mark the day, take a moment to lift up our nation, our leaders, and our neighbors in prayer. Go now in grace and peace.