Vote for Joe

…photo by Joe

Catching up on the last month… Fentanyl overdoses specifically, and illegal drug use in general, in America, are skyrocketing. We point fingers at the drug cartels south of the border, but, frankly, there are three fingers pointing back at us (read: U.S.) in this case. A number of years ago, we did an extensive, multi-state “Border Tour” looking at immigration issues, and such. In Las Cruces, New Mexico, I interviewed a sheriff’s deputy who had been in on a number of big shipment drug busts there. However, he said that’s just the half of it. That is, he continued, we are the ones “…creating the demand for the drugs on this side of the border.” So, besides his detective-oriented work, he also volunteered with a local DARE Program to help cut down on the “demand” in at least some youth… Rosalyn Carter recently died. She was quite a champion for increased mental health care help in our society. Our administration would, indeed, be in line with this — including much more help for those with substance abuse issues. (I was an addictionologist earlier in my career, and to cut down on relapse recidivism rates, we need to ramp up treatment options and length of stay in treatment.) Not only does drug addiction destroy individuals, but it creates a constellation of societal problems: domestic violence, crime, broken families, violence on our streets, increased drain on the healthcare system…

ICAPP members …photo by Joe

Continuing to catch up on October… I went to the campus of Ohio Northern University to cover a local Mayoral Debate. Prior to the debate, I met with some ONU students who were part of the campus group Institute for Civics and Public Policy (ICAPP). They bill themselves as “non-partisan,” and are all about trying to raise awareness of issues, and such, on campus. They also work to increase voter turnout on campus as well. In fact, they’ve been so successful with the latter, that ONU is now designated as a “Voter Friendly Campus.” It is one of only 20 colleges to achieve this designation… The Mayoral Debate was a lot more civil than the 2nd Republican Debate! ICAPP had co-sponsored the debate along with the local Lions Club… During this time, I also did a story about what could best be described as a Norman Rockwell type character barber. He’s 78 and doesn’t have a land line in his shop, nor does he have an I-phone, period (“Too distracting,” he said.) “How do people make appointments?” I asked. “They just walk in,” he smiled.

The Wheelhouse …photo by Joe

Catching up on the month of October… I did a series of stories on “The Wheelhouse (…a Christian Bicycle Cooperative.” Started some five years ago, the group of volunteers here have just crossed the 1,000-mark for bicycle rehabs. The Wheelhouse, in turn, gives the bicycles (including a helmet and lights) to people in the area homeless shelter, at the addiction recovery halfway house, and so on. These people, often, don’t have cars, much less driver’s licenses, but they need transportation to get to work, to get around the neighborhood, and so on… I also wrote an article about a local high school graduate who has now been in the Navy the past 10 years. She is a “Landing Signal Officer” on a U.S. aircraft carrier. These LSO’s used to use bright flags to guide fighter jets onto the deck, now it’s the Fresnel Lens Optical System, which utilizes a series of light beams to let the pilot know if they are coming in too low, too high, or off center… I also wrote a column titled: “Sodom and Gomorrah Part II?” I note that recently it’s been reported archeologists found the ancient cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. And what’s more, all archeological evidence point to those civilizations experiencing a major “heat event.” Hmm. I note that our global society is, most likely, way more evil than those two cities at this point (wholesale abortion, gender fluidity, euthanasia…). And I wondered in the column how close we are to experiencing a global “heat event”…

circa the early ’60s

I just interviewed a 78-year-old man, for a local newspaper article, who worked at this gas station when he was a junior and senior in high school. He said, among other things, that a good number of people grumbled when gas went from 17 cents to 19 cents. This was also, apparently, before Ralph Nader released the consumer report on the dangers of Corvairs. For a look at our position paper on transportation in the modern era, see… I also did a story on a local farmstead where they do everything naturally, no artificial pesticides, herbicides, fertilizers… One of the farmers said that the “food chain web,” and natural bio-systems in general, exist for a reason. And using some of this artificial stuff can throw the balance of nature off. We’d agree. For a look at our position on modern agriculture, see… I also did a story on a local man who had a high school friend killed in Vietnam. One day, he got on his motorcycle and traveled 500 miles to the Vietnam War Memorial Wall in D.C. Once there, he went to his friend’s name, took a piece a paper and a pencil and etched the name. Then got on his motorcycle and traveled 500 miles back. First stop: His friend’s mother’s house, where he gave her the paper with the name on it. For our position on the military, see…

Lima, Ohio Observatory

Hundreds of thousands of people will descend on northwest Ohio April 8, 2024. This area is in the “path of totality” for viewing a relatively rare total solar eclipse. (There is one every 18 months, or so.) People will come from all over the world, with the entire event lasting about two and a half hours, and complete totality lasting no more than three and a half minutes. I just interviewed a local astronomer who said some astronomers from the eastern part of Ohio recently came to Lima to visit the observatory here. He said they told him they had traveled to Australia to view the last total solar eclipse. More than 10,000 miles and $2,500 to get there. The Lima astronomer said that for some, a total solar eclipse is like a “spiritual experience.” You know, I just wrote something to help raise funds for a solar, clean drinking water pump to go in in a rural village in Tanzania. Some one billion people, worldwide, are without clean drinking water. The plane tickets to Australia, for the Ohio astronomers combined, could have paid for one of those pumps. And in my book (the Bible), that would have been a much more meaningful “spiritual experience.” And sort of a: ‘…total eclipse, or change, of the heart’?