Vote for Joe

Catching up on August… I interviewed a guy from Maine who was on a 9,000-mile retro-drive (on the Old Lincoln Highway, Old Rte. 66, and so on in his 1931 Model A. This design followed the Model T, which was the first car an “average Joe” in America could afford. Given our carbon footprint at this time, “mass production” of these things, and so on, might not have been the best way to “go,” literally. See our position paper on transportation to see where I think we need to “go” with all this, at this time… On the sports front, I interviewed a local woman who swam for “Team Ohio,” competed in the Sectionals nationally, and also swam in a “Zone Meet” in Columbus, which featured Michael Phelps — who won more Olympic medals than anyone (28) in the history of the “Games.” I also interviewed a local man who was the first in the area to ever play professional soccer. He played for the Columbus Crew. You know, former Green Bay Packer quarterback Brett Favre just came out saying youth under 14 shouldn’t platy tackle football because of the danger of CET. In high school, players hit harder, then harder in college, then even harder in the pros. While Brett’s caution is, indeed, merited, soccer might be the logical choice for more and more American athletes… I also interviewed a “naturalist” connected with a local park district here. She gives presentations around the county trying to promote the growing of more “native grasses” in yards, and such. She said these grasses are good for the soil, are good pollinators and contribute to having a relatively low maintenance lawn, depending, of course, on how many native grasses one plants. We are, indeed, strong on the environment. For more see…

Several years ago, when our Sarah was a sophomore at Franciscan University, she went with a group of students on a missions trip to Nicaragua. She was so impacted by the trip that in subsequent spring breaks, instead of partying in Florida, and such, she went to Haiti, twice on mission trips as well. And she helped lead the last trip. Sarah was forever changed by this. And wouldn’t it be great to have a “First Daughter” in D.C. who had a real heart for the poor in the Third World, and who worked ardently to get them as much help as possible? Just sayin.’ God never said: “Make Nineveh Great Again!” The repenting that happened there was probably far from the latter paradigm. It probably aligned itself with, not “Nineveh First,” but rather “Others First.” See, for instance, our foreign policy stance to get a feel for what that might look like in the year 2021.

Catching up on May and June (cont.)… McGuffey, Ohio, home of the Scioto Marsh, is having their 125 year Anniversary Festival this summer. I wrote a newspaper article on it. During the Depression, families moved from all over Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, West Virginia… to eke out a living in the onion fields of the marsh. They lived in shacks on the periphery of the marsh and the whole family would pitch in. Life was hard, but folks shared, families were close, and people appreciated what they had. It would be a good lesson for us today. I just read that the average American household, for instance, wastes $1,500 of food each year… I also wrote a story about a local man who restored a ’70s stock car. It’s in beautiful shape, made for a good story… but, frankly, traveling around an oval at speeds over 200 mph is, in a very real sense for these drivers: playing Russian Roulette. What’s more, you have to wonder if God looks at it that way… I also interviewed an art professor from a local college. He teaches a course called “Visual Literacy.” He said most people are remarkably visual, yet they often don’t see. That is, a barrage of pop-culture imagery comes at people constantly through television, social media, and so on. And advertisers, show producers, and such, use subliminal, and not so subliminal, messaging to influence people to keep watching the show, keep buying the stuff, and so on. As there is a lot of noise pollution in society at this point, there is also a lot of “visual pollution.” We would do well to unplug as much as possible… In covering a local village council meeting, the mayor, in the aftermath of a village fireworks display, said the event went off magnificently. One of the councilmembers didn’t agree. She proposed “silent fireworks” next year, “…like they do in a town in California,” she said. No action was taken on this that night, and it would be safe to say that this council woman was in the minority. LOL.

Catching up on May and June (cont.) The Bluffton Police Chief has spent the last year going through the archives looking for names and stories about the officers who have served on the Police Department, dating back to the late 1800s. His belief is that they should, indeed, be honored. And he has set up a rather elaborate historical display in the Department’s lobby. Defund the police? Hardly. We should be paying them more for what they do, in tandem with coming up with other creative community policing strategies. Our position paper on crime includes a number of these strategies, based on extensive cross country research to see what was working… Light one candle and knit one (or a hundred) quilts. I did a story for the local newspaper on First Mennonite Church’s “Quilt Project” here. More than 100 church volunteers combined to make this happen. Some donate money, others cut fabric, others sew. These beautiful quilts are then sent to families in the slums of Calcutta, refugee camps in the Ukraine, and any other outreach destinations America’s Mennonite Central Committee has around the globe… In nearby Ada, Ohio, I interviewed a man who is revamping that village’s tech system. His projection into ‘work in America post pandemic’ is that there will be a significant paradigm shift, with many more people working from home. This, in turn, will free up a significant amount of office space that could, conceivably, be converted into residences. This would spell less urban sprawl. More people living in population centers, so less driving. And on, and on… All common sense.

CNN: At least 233 people were killed and 618 people were injured by gun violence in more than 500 shootings across the county during the 4th of July weekend — a 26% drop since last year’s holiday weekend.

Welcome to the new normal. This is nothing short of some war zone figures! Our stance on gun violence would go a long way in reversing this. As we went a ‘long way’ to find the answers.