The “average JoeOhio Tour” continues to unfold. Leaving Cleveland, our Jonathan, 4, and myself stumped, unannounced, at a sidewalk cafe called Heck’s. ‘Heck,’ why not (sorry). One man said Jonathan was, indeed, a “chip off the old block.” In Westlake, Ohio, I met with the owner of Lehman’s Deli. She put a flyer and bumper sticker on the wall. During our conversation, she said she had relatives on the Bayou of Louisiana. I told her that after a tour there last year (post Hurricane Rita), we learned people on the Bayou scrambled pleasure and fishing boats to rescue people from their homes right after the hurricane. “We take care of our own down here,” one man told me. Note: For all you supporters out there interested in promoting true social justice, peace, a consistent life ethic and environmental stewardship through a presidential candidate’s voice — we need donations to keep on. The supportive e-mails are great, but maybe it’s time to put your money where your mouth is. Schriner Election Committee, 2100 W. 38th St., Cleveland, Ohio.
5/15/07
The situation in Darfur grows worse. Some 20 people are being killed there every hour now. We, as a nation (and as a world), have to respond. And respond now. We have just posted a policy paper on Darfur that spells out actions Americans can take to impact the atrocity.
5/14/07
We have launched on yet another campaign tour of Ohio. Our first stop was South Cleveland where we talked with peace activist Tim Musser. He told us he was tremendously impacted by the writings of Dorothy Day. I, in turn, was impacted by a May 2007 National Geographic article in the Musser home about the “Jamestown Settlement,” which marked it’s 400th anniversary this last weekend. Amidst the patriotic hoopla of the weekend celebration in Virginia, perhaps a few things got lost. For instance, the National Geographic article noted that the Jamestown settlement was, basically, a ‘venture capital’ endeavor. The settlers were subsidized to look for gold and precious metals. Not finding these, they turned to growing tobacco — which became a huge cash crop driven by English demand. A couple problems: Tobacco fueled an addiction for more and more land. And tobacco also has an almost “unique ability to suck the life out of the soil,” according to Leanne Dubois, the agriculture extension agent in James City County… So we kept clear cutting more and more forest and sucked more and more land lifeless at a breakneck pace. Later we started using toxic farm chemicals that sucked more and more life out of the soil. Added to this, with urbanization we paved over a lot of soil and lawn chemicals sucked more and more life out of the soil as well. And now urban sprawl is doing this to more and more rural land… Can anyone see a pattern here? This is not about sustainability and the “common good.” Common sense would say: This just continues to be about money.
5/10/07
I interviewed Bernie Meyer this week. He bears a striking resemblence to India’s late Mhatma Gandhi. And for the past five years, Meyer has talked to college groups, civic groups, churches… about Gandhi and his teachings (white shawl, sandals, the whole thing). Meyer said Gandhi wore the white shawl to stand in solidarity with the poor. And Meyer points out that there are some 1.8 billion people worldwide living in abject poverty on $2, or less, a day. Meyer also tells groups that if Americans lived simply, the way Gandhi did, this would free up a tremendous amount of resources for people who don’t even have the basics in food, shelter and medicine. Note: I was just told this morning by a woman who has been researching “weddings in America,” that the average U.S. wedding cost is now at: $24,900. Meanwhile, scores of Third World children starve to death — daily. The spiritual disconnect in this country is staggering.
5/7/07
Americans across the board seem to want to hear politicians talk tough on terrorism. So to oblige, our campaign will too. And we have recently posted a position on terrorism where we primarily take to task: American forms of terrorism. And there are many. Note: A peace activist friend of ours, Tim Musser, stopped by the other day on his bicycle. The bicycle had a sticker that said: “A quiet protest against the oil wars.”
5/4/07
I just read a review of a new book titled Boomsday. The review said it was a “wickedly funny” fictitious book about the 77 million “Baby Boomers” moving into retirement — by stepping aside and committing mass suicide… Fiction, sometimes, is a predictor of the future. Space travel. In a society that is paying less and less attention (or respect) to the elderly, it’s not much of a stretch to think we’re going to see more and more euthanasia (assisted suicide) in that population. Oregon. And who knows where it will go from there. It is our campaign’s belief that we should be going in the other direction. That is, the elderly must once again be esteemed and learned from, as it was in the days of old in this society and as it continues to be in other cultures. To this end, we have just significantly updated our position on Social Security to provide a blue print for this.
4/30/07
Our family went Sunday to a gathering for Liberian refugees who were relocated to this Near Westside Cleveland area several years ago. This small enclave of Liberians are just a few of some 340,000 Liberians who have fled the Civil War in that country over the past 13 years. The refugees here have, in large part, been ‘adopted’ by St. Patrick’s Church. Church members have donated money for homes, food, clothing, furniture… In addition, the church has set up an after school tutoring program to help Liberian students integrate. And they have, indeed, become part of the community. St. Patrick Deacon Bill Merriman said at the gathering that these Liberian’s have been surrounded by violence. They have lived in extremely difficult conditions in refugee camps. And now it has been like “the Exodus,” said Merriman, with Cleveland becoming the “promised land.” [There’s a different take on Cleveland, huh.] Merriman added that the people at St. Patrick’s who have rallied around these refugees are deeply living the Gospel message about: “Welcoming strangers…” What’s more, Fr. Mark Denardo said that what is happening at St. Patrick’s should be a model for how we can build “one world,” in peace. Note: For more, see my column on this…
4/27/07
We just put up my wife Liz’s page on our site. It’s worth a look.
4/25/07
James Filiaggi was executed by lethal injection in Ohio yesterday. He was the 25th man to be executed in Ohio since 1999. In our research on the death penalty, I interviewed Connecticut author Annette Boscoe. She wrote the book Choosing Mercy. Her son and his wife were violently killed in Montana. Ms. Boscoe forgave the killer and lobbied for him in court. Instead of the death penalty, he received a life sentence. Some 12 years into that sentence, the man had a spiritual conversion and repented. Had he been killed prior, Ms. Boscoe said she wondered what would have happened to his soul. Good question, for all of us. Note: For more on our stance about the death penalty and “Life issues” in general, see…
4/23/07
We road our bicycles to “Earthfest” (2007 Climate Change Solutions) at the Cleveland Zoo yesterday. It is billed as “Ohio’s largest environmental education event.” Before the Welcoming Cermenonies, I talked with Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson. During the ceremony, Mr. Jackson said that global warming is forcing us to “change the way we do business” on a govermental level. And one of the things Cleveland has recently done is hire a full-time “Sustainability Coordinator.” This coordinator, Andrew Watterson, exhorted people to do things like bicycle, car pool or take the bus to work at least one day a week. This will cut someone’s carbon dioxide emissions by about 20% a week, he said. Mr. Watterson also said Cleveland is aiming at a 80% reduction in carbon dioxide emissions by the year 2050… During the ceremony, our Sarah received a award for an essay she wrote about helping reverse climate change. Megan, a ninth grader from Midpark HS, also won an award for a poem she wrote on climate change. An excerpt reads: “A single tear falls… from the withered sky… And no one stops to realize… Our Mother Earth cries… As she’s ripped apart… And the sun beats down… On her half melted heart… Would you poison your child?…” Note: The irony is we are, indeed, poisoning our children. Our lifestyle choices are poisoning the environment (air born carcinogens, acid rain, greenhouse gases…). And in turn, these all will having significant ‘poisoning’ effects on our children. What kind of parents have we become? Note 2: I will be interviewed on: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/politicsone tomorrow (Tuesday) night at 7 pm EST.