Vote for Joe

In recent weeks, I wrote a two-part article series, interviewing a local astronomer about the new James Webb Telescope. It sits 100 million miles out in space, and, in all, the project price tag was $10 billion. While I’m all for astronomy, I’m for astronomy within moderation/reason. This telescope (photo), which is in a local observatory, can’t see as far as Hubble, or the James Webb, but it can see pretty far. And on Friday evenings, local astronomers open the observatory up for parents and their children. They put on astronomy educational programs, let the kids look through the telescope, and so on. Sure, we’re curious about what’s beyond, but what’s near, as just one example, is the country of Afghanistan, which is economically collapsing and on the distinct brink of famine. And we don’t need a telescope to see that. Think how far the $10 billion we spent on the James Webb Telescope would go toward helping Afghanistan become sustainable again. America, and the “free world” in general, needs some level-headed, spiritual leadership that could realign things in a much more common-sense fashion.

standing in solidarity with abortion protestors in Ocala, Fla. …photo by Joe

Today, “Roe v Wade” was overturned. It’s been 50 years in coming, and the result of accumulative prayer, fasting, pro-life advocacy… During our travels, I talked in some 1,000 churches about abortion. We stood in solidarity with people protesting abortion on the streets. We toured many crisis pregnancy centers, and I wrote about what we saw to inspire others to set up similar centers. Yeah, we’ve had “pro-life presidents,” so to speak, but how much, really, have they done to impact this issue. Trump did appoint those three conservative Supreme Court justices. And that, indeed, was good. But there is so much more work to do to stop the killing. And I would be the country’s best bet for that. See…

The average price of gas in 1966 in America (the year this Mustang was manufactured) was 32 cents a gallon, the equivalent of $2.20 today. The average price of gas in America this week just topped $5 a gallon. Your average American, in turn, is having to be smarter about traveling. Less trips, more ‘staycations,’ if you will. When they do go to, say, the grocery store, they now go with a thorough list, so they don’t have to make another trip just for, like, the mayonnaise they forgot. (The Amish are great at that in regard to taking the buggy to the market once a week.) If, in fact, global warming is real — which I happen to believe it is — then these conservation measures, including more walking, bicycling, and so on, can only be good. Note: For more on our transportation position paper, see…

Again… This time it was at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. There were 19 children killed in the mass shooting, as well as two adults. Biden talked last night afterward and said it was “…time to stand up to the gun lobby, for God’s sake!” That’s, oh, a bit woefully one-dimensional. Why is this happening? Wholesale slaughter of the unborn opens the door to sweeping violence (through more and more demonic influence) across the board in our country. And Biden is a major player in allowing for that. Our media/entertainment viewing habits drive ratings to keep violent shows on, as they continue to influence the populace in general, and those who are mentally unbalanced in specific (the ones who pick up a gun). Social mores in our country allow for, say, rap and heavy metal music drumming violent lyrics constantly into our brains. There is not enough emphasis on mental health counseling in America, especially as mental disorders continue to ramp up. Poverty/socio-economic disparity drives some to do desperate, violent things. And yes, guns are too prevalent and lethal these days.

President Biden laid out his plan for dealing with rising inflation today. And while some of it seemed measured and well thought out, a significant portion of it was akin to: rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic. Biden, for one, alluded to supply chain problems. And he said that this needed to be streamlined again, so, as an example, we could ramp up the much needed building of new homes. Using, of course, lumber that is depleting rain forests, are yet more energy sinks, and, through urban sprawl, are eating away at valuable farmland through the now ‘cancer’ of urban sprawl. (Deck chair #1.) Our administration would suggest a moratorium on new builds, while concurrently promoting retro-fitting current structures for house sharing, and such. If global warming is real, I mean, why add more fuel to the fire, so to speak? And speaking of fire, Biden is talking about releasing more oil from America’s strategic reserves so the price of gas might come down, at least in the short term. Yeah, right. In the face of catastrophic climate change that’s looming like a Doomsday Scenario above us, let’s get those prices down so we can all drive more. (Deck chair #2.) It’s time we start to: “question internal combustion.”