Vote for Joe

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)

I just interviewed a man who has had a solar energy company in the area for the past 13 years. During this time, he’s done some 60 solar installations. These have included: at residences, at businesses, at farms… He said this year, he’s seen a marked increase in demand for these. Why? Well, in part apparently, Putin and OPEC have their respective feet on the brake pedals in regard to oil and natural gas. So, in the face of rising prices, and possible shortages/rolling black outs/and such, people are turning to alternative energy sources — like solar. In doing research for the article, I learned the world has just passed the 10% threshold for solar for the first time. For a look at how our administration would approach energy in general, and alternative sources in specific, see…

In this last week, Russia illegally annexed more of Ukraine and Putin threatened to use limited nuclear weapons in these regions. This could, of course, escalate into full-blown, world-wide nuclear war. What’s more, North Korea just launched a missile over Japan, as, not only Japan, but South Korea, are now on “high-alert,” and the U.S. has moved an aircraft carrier into the region. And all sides are responding to this high-stakes, geo-political chess match in conventional ways. Akin to, in essence, “…re-arranging deck chairs on the Titanic.” In 1917, the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to some children at Fatima and told them that if mankind did not stop “offending God,” there would be a 2nd World War as a “punishment” for man’s sins. Why would that formula be any different today? What’s more, mankind’s sins are tremendously more egregious today (abortion, gender fluidity, media entertainment that’s off the charts sinful, trashing God’s environment… to name just a few). No, if we want the specter of war to stop, we have to stop doing the stuff that “offends God.” And it wouldn’t take a moral theology rocket scientist to figure out the things I’ve listed, and much more, is what is offending God. And as president, I’d say the exact same thing from the White House.

With all eyes on the nuclear power plant in the Ukraine, which is currently caught in the crossfire of war, I interviewed a professor at Ohio Northern University who teaches a “Nuclear Physics” class. He said what is going on in Ukraine is a highly dangerous geo-political chess match. That is, if a weapon(s) breaches the water-cooling system at the plant, there could be a meltdown similar to Chernobyl or Fukushima. What’s more, he said that since Fukushima in March of 2011 (an earthquake, followed by a tsunami, struck the plant causing huge radiation releases), countries have been, incrementally, starting to phase out their nuclear power plant programs. Our administration would concur in regard to phasing out America’s nuclear power plants. On a research stop in Luck, Wisconsin, I met with a representative of “Nuke Watch,” and environmental watchdog agency. She said nuclear technology is, indeed, way too dangerous. Example: The Chernobyl nuclear plant meltdown, also in Ukraine, released more radiation than all the atomic and nuclear bomb tests, ever, worldwide. For more on our policy around nuclear energy, see (item 9.)…

All eyes this week are on “Artemis One” and the beginning of manned flights back to the moon, and eventually Mars. The NASA Program had been in relative limbo, in regard to these manned flights, until President Obama, channeling his best JFK in 2010, said it was time to get the rockets firing on these new goals. But it would be going back into space in a “smarter way,” he added. Trump and Biden have been ‘on board’ with this as well. As president, I wouldn’t be. We have pumped $90 billion, and counting, into the Artemis Program so far, to take ‘man’ to the moon and Mars — where there is no gravity, no breathable air, no water (to speak of), no soil to grow crops in… I mean, if God would have wanted us in these places, He would have made them, well: readily habitable. Meanwhile, on this planet, two billion people are food insecure; one billion people don’t have access to clean drinking water; one billion people live in deplorable slum conditions… What’s more, climate change catastrophe is everywhere now. As president, I’d take this money, and technological genius, and funnel it into projects to help our world become much more sustainable. Note: If one looks up at that rocket on the launch pad, and squints, he/she might even be able to see a version of the “Tower of Babel,” fueled, of course, by modern man’s tremendous hubris. Note 2: “But Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or without adequate shelter…?”