Vote for Joe

If we are serious about reducing our carbon footprints, we have to change our individual lifestyle patterns and, basically, get tougher in some areas. I, for instance, ride my mountain bicycle around town about 50% of the time — during winter. What’s more, I interviewed our local bicycle store owner for an article on “winter bicycling,” and he said with the proper thermal attire, studded tires, fat tires, and the like, winter biking is, indeed, quite doable. We keep pointing at the next Climate Summit emission reduction promises, which we should. But pointing at these, we have to also realize there are three fingers (Covered with thermal bicycle gloves, hopefully.) pointing back at us. Incidentally, as president, I’ll be bicycling around DC in the winter as well. And won’t that be fun for the Secret Service. LOL. Can’t you just hear that: “He’s going to do what?”

In doing a series of stories about small, local businesses, one of the ones I focused on was Ten Thousand Villages. Ten Thousand Villages (there are 100 stores nationwide) contracts with Third World artisans and offers them, not sub-standard, but rather “fair” prices for their products. In “caring for the earth,” Ten Thousand Villages often contracts with artisans who use locally sourced, recycled and renewable resources. Ten Thousand Villages is non-profit, and also often contracts with the disabled, women, “…and others often excluded from the global economy.” The store manager noted that the organization provides 50% of the purchase price up-front to artisans for materials, and such — because often these people can’t get small business loans from their local banks. What’s more, the other 50% is paid when the product is complete — whether it sells, or not. Note: Our administration’s global trade policies, in part, would embody this kind of ethos, simply because it makes ethical/spiritual sense.

I just did a newspaper article about a local community center that puts on an annual Thanksgiving Dinner event. Attendance this year, according to the director, broke all kinds of records. The director surmised ‘inflation creep,’ number one, is attributable, to the rise in attendance. And two, after all the Covid lockdowns/restrictions the past two years in this country, she said people simply like “…getting out again.” In fact, she continued, the laughter, the smiles, the conversations in general at the tables, were quite poignant to her. And on a contemporary affairs front, it’s not hard to seen why the protests over stringent (Zero Covid Policy) lockdowns in China are erupting. As president, I would stand with the general populace in China — unlike what the current U.S. administration is doing. Human rights should always trump trade concerns, and so on. Especially if you’re coming at it from a spiritual angle.

*Veterans Day. Towns across America are adopting the “Military Banner Project.” And I am totally on board with this project. These men and women were/are willing to make the “ultimate sacrifice.” They should be ‘front and center’ in our communities. As we should be ‘front and center’ in helping them, not only in the service, but when they get out. There are, indeed, some good Veterans programs. But there, most assuredly, needs to be more. One newscaster today said that 17 Veterans take their lives every day now. And some 33,000 Veterans are currently homeless. Our position paper on the Military addresses this in Section 11. Note: We have traveled the country extensively interviewing Veterans in crafting part of the latter position paper.

Oregon City Schools Quiz Bowl graphic

I just wrote a two-part newspaper series on high school Quiz Bowl. One of the local faculty advisors here said, yes, part of it is about academic preparedness. But he also said the ‘genius’ of it is that football players, cheerleaders, and students who aren’t either, sit side by side on the team, and can’t help but develop some bonds. They are students, he said, “…who wouldn’t normally mix socially.” This is, systemically, a big part of changing the culture in high schools that will lead to, number one, more camaraderie between diverse students. And two, this will, inevitably, cut down on violence/shootings in the schools. And during our travels, I researched a program at Ohio’s Wilmington College where moderators facilitate weekend encounter groups at local high schools, mixing various clique groups. (Think the movie Breakfast Club, without the detention.) I have plugged in more information about this in our position paper proposing a “U.S. Department of Peace.” (See Section 15, Trust and Resolution)