I just wrote a newspaper column that connects some scary dots. A study out of Denmark showed heavy marijuana use can tip people over into mental disorders, including schizophrenia. Schizophrenics hear “voices,” that is: auditory hallucinations. And they are, indeed, often distressing voices, frequently compelling the sufferer into suicidal or violent actions. And because these voices are that ‘dark,’ in some Christian circles, sometimes (not always) this would also be equated to demonic oppression and/or possession. (*See bestselling author M. Scott Peck, M.D.’s book: “People of the Lie.”) The question I pose is, how many of these mass shootings, that our society seems saturated with these days, are driven by these “voices” these schizophrenics, and others, are hearing? Looking at this one-dimensionally as, primarily, a gun control issue is tremendously myopic. What’s more, given the Denmark study, how quick should we be to keep legalizing marijuana from state to state? Answer: Not very.
The character of boys in this society, overall, continues to get softer and softer with more and more screen time in temperature-controlled homes. Conversely, I just interviewed a man who, as a boy, could have been considered a ‘Navy Seals’ Boy Scout. He got every merit badge imaginable, was a team leader for years, and said the program’s focus on toughness and survival skills (the camp in the photo was a weekend one in February in Ohio) was tremendously invaluable to him… I went to Mass here to start off the 4th of July yesterday. The priest said that we had freedom, yes. But, ultimately, it comes down to the ‘freedom’ to do God’s will, or not. I then spent part of the rest of the day, updating our position paper on gender fluidity, and such. This would, from my faith’s spiritual perspective (Catechetical teaching), be a case where more and more in society are choosing not to do God’s will. The Catholic Church labels, as an example, homosexuality as “intrinsically disordered,” and a “grave sin” (to act out sexually on this, that is). In fact, the Catholic Church has developed “Courage” support groups focused on helping people with same sex attraction stay chaste.
Well, after a pitched, three-month Primary battle (four debates, separate interviews, serious on-the-road-stumping, media generation…) with five candidates vying to be the American Solidarity Party presidential candidate, I lost. I came in third, to be more exact. I have not been integrally involved with the ASP formation the past 11 years, and that majorly, and expressly (by a good number of ASP members), tied into the final vote totals. The ASP electorate leaned, heavily, toward a couple more “home grown” candidates who have been in the trenches helping build the party. I, conversely, have been out continuing to grow my campaign narrative, with more research, stumping, and so on. (There hasn’t been time for both.) The ASP Primary vote was, indeed, understandable from a psychological perspective, but somewhat short sighted from another perspective, and, of course, that’s in my bias opinion. Time will tell, but… after all these years of campaigning, and so on, I’m, simply, much more seasoned, media savvy, researched… than the other candidates, by a good measure. However, on the other hand, I will continue to support the party with consultation, donations, and so on. It’s platform is, by far, the best third-party platform out there. Note: Also, I will continue on at this point as an independent presidential candidate. Because my platform is, by far, the best candidate platform out there. And represents where the country needs to go at this point, before it’s too late.
Westerville, Ohio on an earlier trip …photo by Joe
Continuing to catch up… While Biden was at Arlington Cemetery, or wherever he was at for Memorial Day, I was at Bluffton, Ohio’s Cemetery for a Memorial Day Service. A Green Beret Commander, who was originally from Bluffton, quoted an unknown author: Flags don’t fly in the wind as much as they fly on the last breaths of those who died for their country. Isn’t that the case metaphorically. During the service, there was also an F-16 fly by with a couple jets out of a base in Toledo. I couldn’t help but think of Ukraine and the F-16’s that would soon be delivered there by NATO countries. We stand so close to “midnight,” again metaphorically, on the Doomsday Clock… Staying with the military: I wrote an article about a local man who has restored a 1942 Army jeep. The Willys-Overland Co. also in Toledo, manufactured 280,000 of these during WWII. He takes the jeep to Car Shows where, he said, combat veterans will not only admire the jeep, but it often brings back vivid memories of things — no matter what war theatre. The Breen Beret Commander, alluded to above, said some 24 veterans commit suicide every day in America. Our administration would work exhaustively to dramatically reduce that figure. See our position paper on the military.
Catching up more on the last month… While running in the American Solidarity Party Primary the past couple months, I went out to do some “Whistle-Stops” in Northwest, Ohio. Twice, while being interviewed by newspaper reporters, the subject of our family moving to a hardscrabble area of Cleveland for five years to volunteer with the Catholic Workerscame up. These Catholic Workers, I said, were living in ‘solidarity’ with the poor. They had set up a “House of Hospitality” to take in homeless. They set up a nightly drop-in center with coffee, snacks, and somewhat of a living room atmosphere. A safe haven from the streets at night. They set up an urban farm, coached latch key kids at a local Rec. Center, gave out micro-gifts… The poor in many of our urban cores are, daily, try to dodge hunger, needles, and bullets. We can’t leave them abandoned… I also wrote an article about a local university Stat Class that was analyzing preliminary Campaign 2024 data from a survey of some 350 students. Data numbers showed, for instance, that 69% of students polled believed current VP Kamala Harris is not prepared to deal with Putin, China, the economy, etc… Polling data also indicated “the economy” was the number one issue, which surprised the professor who wrote: “This is a surprise because geopolitical tensions are more front and center in the news than in recent years.” …I also wrote a newspaper column about the rapidly emerging AI field. I said “AI” stood for: “Absolutely Insane.” I pointed to, say, ChatGPT now being called on to write resume cover letters, college papers, and so on. Concurrently, our mental faculties are going to get duller and duller, as just one example. But hey, it will give us more time to watch shows and play video games. A dumbed down society, with an exponent.
Vietnam era helicopter, Harrod, Ohio …photo by Joe
Catching up on the last month…
I was interviewed by a newspaper reporter in Defiance, Ohio, who is a member of the international group: “Colloquium on Violence and Religion.” The essence of this, the reporter said, is that the founder, Rene Girard, holds to, among other things, a: “scapegoat theory.” Scapegoating is used by, say, a country to demonize another country — so the country going to war against the other doesn’t have to look at it’s own, often glaring, faults. I told the reporter that our position paper on Terrorism cites famous author/monk Thomas Merton, who held the same theory. During a graduate Law Class I sat in on at Notre Dame University, during a campaign swing through the Midwest several years ago, I noted that America got nuts when Hussein gassed the Kurds. And, indeed, that was unconscionable. Yet, conversely, America is “gassing the world” with its exorbitant carbon emissions, which is leading to super-charged hurricanes, more drought, more famine. (There was an uncomfortable silence in the room for a few moments.) Our administration would look at this through clear eyes, or at least a lot clearer than its been looked at previously… I approached a table in McDonald’s here on a Wednesday night. Six people were sitting with their heads all bowed in prayer. When they finished, I asked. They are part of Good Shepherd Community Church, this was the Evangelism Team, and they were meeting in public because, well, this is the “Evangelism Team,” and they were maximizing their chances of interfacing with others. Had they inter-faced with anyone this night? I asked. No, except of course, they smiled, for me. Well, I said: “Why don’t we just multiply this a bit.” I then interviewed them about their team and a front-page story ran the next week. Amazing how God works! Note: Just above their story, there was an article I wrote about the rather famous “Great 1934 Onion Strike.” After a rather large marsh was drained here, leaving rich soil. People came from a tri-state area to labor in the marsh onion fields during the Great Depression. At one point, the laborers went on strike for higher pay. There was violence around people breaking the picket line. And more violence (beatings, knifings, shootings…) throughout the town in general. Then the mayor’s house was bombed — and that was enough. A vigilante group of 500 local men formed, swept into the town, and, basically, said enough was enough. The strike ended.
Catching up on the last month, or so… During this time, I decided to vie for the presidential candidate nomination with the American Solidarity Party. The party is in “solidarity” with the unborn, with the poor, with the struggling immigrant, with traditional families, with a healthy economy, with a green environment. In other words, whether it’s life issues, family issues, environmental stewardship issues, help for the poor… the party is in line, across the board, with the Gospel message. And it embodies what is referred to as a: “Consistent Life Ethic.”
The Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) of 2008, essentially, nationalized the banks, because the $700 billion infusion from the federal government came with strings attached. The initial intent of this was to purchase toxic assets and equity from financial institutions to strengthen, as a whole, the financial sector. It was done hastily in the wake of Lehman Brothers going bankrupt, so there wasn’t a cascading effect with other banks at the time. In turn, Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform & Consumer Protection followed shortly after. However, what we continue to see on the front end, is the larger banks buying up more and more of the smaller banks, creating, in essence, another Walmart syndrome with the banking institutions. Note: If there was any stimulus at this point, it should be debt free/no strings attached stimulus money to local banks and credit unions to stimulate lending, within the context of a “Main Street Market Economy.”
In the wake of the catastrophic train derailment at East Palestine last week, I wrote a newspaper column that asked a question that, well, no one seems to be asking: WHY ARE WE USING THESE TOXIC CHEMICALS IN THE FIRST PLACE?! I mean, we have the technological smarts to send spacecraft to Mars, but we can’t come up with, say, paint that doesn’t “…cause cancer in rats in California”? This is absolutely nuts! In a sense, with our cleaning fluids, paints, plastics… virtually all having some of these chemicals, it’s like we’re all living in East Palestine. One in three people get cancer in a lifetime in America now… In one of the towns that I cover as a reporter, a billboard recently went up with a photo of a homeless man, with the words: “Veterans, you’re not alone.” One would wonder, at least in part. That is, I did some research. In 2019, as an example, 17 U.S. Veterans, on average, committed suicide each day. Uh… I also wrote an article about a local, Christian book study group. They were reading the book: Live Your Truth (and Other Lies). The premise of the book is, basically, that some modern, pop-culture, self-improvement philosophies, and such, may actually be antithetical to the Gospel message. For instance, one of the slogans alluded to in the book is: “You only have one life to live…” With the attendant message being to grab for all the pleasure and material wealth you can. Note: I gave up a profession and my hometown to go out onto the roads of America to do all the stuff you see in this website, since I “…only had one life to live.” Part of the journey/sacrifice is contained on the following page…
Ronald Reagan Nuclear Missile Test Site (Marshall Islands)
I was just watching a pretty damning “Dartmouth Films” documentary in regard to the U.S. Military involvement in the Marshall Islands during the last six decades, starting with the detonation of 23 nuclear weapons on the Bikini Atoll between 1946 and 1958. Not only was everything (knowingly) radiated within a huge radius of the blasts, but the surrounding islanders (just as knowingly) were used as test subjects to monitor the effects of radiation on humans. Cancer rates were off the charts, birth defects were off the charts… It was totally unconscionable. Actually, closer to the truth, it was pure: evil. And that was us, read: U.S. But it didn’t stop in 1958. No. Staying in the Marshall Islands, the Ronald Reagan Ballistic Missile Defense Test Site was set up on the Kwajalein Atoll. It’s used for missile testing, for missile launches, and science experiments for the U.S. Department of Defense. The documentary said the overall mission there is described as: “Vision 2020: Full Spectrum Dominance.” And, as just one example, as the U.S. is racing to develop “offensive hypersonic missiles,” so is Russia and China. It’s, in essence, now a Hypersonic-Cold-War. The answer? For us to stop, unilaterally, put the billions of dollars intended for this into global humanitarian aid projects, and trust God. For our overall position paper on the military, see…
