I recently talked with a man who had attended the graduation ceremonies at Notre Dame with his daughter last month. He said that while President Obama was talking inside the stadium, Catholic priests with Rosaries in hand, were being arrested outside the stadium for protesting. What a juxtaposition for a Catholic University, huh. This man noted that some 80 U.S. Catholic Bishops protested giving Obama an honorary degree because of his stance on abortion. That Obama talked (and received an honorary degree) helped galvanize this protest. And in my opinion, that’s good. That is, so many in the pro-Life movement need to adamantly engage the other side in public debate way more. And they need to be courageous enough to undertake consistent (and dramatic) on-the-street protest — like what it took to end Segregation in the South. If this doesn’t happen, well, abortion will continue to go on, and on, and… And for those of you waiting for the next Supreme Court Justice nominee to tip the court in favor of pro-Life issues — that won’t be any time soon.
no TV
We entertained an Amish woman from Sugar Creek, Ohio, last night. She commented on us not having a television in our home. (We’ve done that intentionally). She said she believed this paves the way for children to tap in to way more of their imagination. What’s more, we’ve noticed with our children that they are tremendously interested in, say, talking to adults for extended periods of time — because they haven’t been over-stimulated by television. My wife Liz told the Bryan Times in Northwest Ohio during one of our campaign swings, that kids listening to storytelling, as opposed to watching television, have to exercise the brain much more in regard to following plot lines, picturing characters and scenes, and so on.
Memorial Day
For Memorial Day I talked with a Vietnam veteran at length. He did two tours of duty. On the second tour, he was out in the field with his platoon. A 10-year-old North Vietnamese girl approached. He said he sensed danger, but “gave her the benefit of the doubt.” She pulled out a pistol and shot him in the head. She died seconds later in a hail of gun fire. He was in a coma for five weeks, came out of it and eventually recuperated. He said of the girl that he could understand. That is, they were an “occupying” force and there was a good possibility she had watched her parents, brothers, sisters, relatives… killed. “She was probably numb to life at that point,” he said. This man came back to the states and for 10 years lived under a bridge in Cleveland, year round. He had developed an extreme case of Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome. Like the girl, he had become numb to life. When they say: “War is Hell,” it is. And that we’re not doing more to stop it through way more sacrifice and tremendously increased worldwide humanitarian aid is, well, a monumental social justice tragedy each of us will have to account for some day. (Read: at Judgement). Meanwhile many of us head off to the next Memorial Day picnic with the hot dogs, the frisbees and hardly a second thought about what the day is really about. Note: We are trying to raise donations for our next tour: Schriner Presidential Election Committee, 2100 W. 38th St., Cleveland, Ohio 44113.
Jamaica on $2 a day
At St. Patrick’s Church in Cleveland yesterday a missionary priest described the abject poverty in Jamaica. He said in the real Jamaica, not the resort Jamaica, some 74% of the people live on less than $2 a day. There are scores of slums with tiny shacks, no running water, no electricity… and worse. Yet the priest said Americans will think nothing of spending 10 bucks on a couple “Happy Meals” at McDonalds, or $50 on dinner out and a movie, or, well, whatever it takes to satisfy our “wants” — while little children go hungry all over the world. Question: If I continue on in all the comfort of my American lifestyle knowing people are starving to death elsewhere (24,000 every day), how “pro-Life” am I really? Note: We spent three weeks on a farm in mid-Ohio where I never once heard a police siren. And when we got back to the city, I didn’t here a siren either — for the first 10 minutes. There was, however, a police helicopter hovering above the neighborhood as we pulled up. “Green Acres is the place to be…” Note 2: Have I mentioned we’re trying to raise donations? We need $3,000 for our next tour so a voice so badly needed in this society can continue to reach as many people as possible. Thanks. Schriner Presidential Election Committee, 2100 W. 38th St., Cleveland, Ohio 44113.
less cars?
While driving back up to Cleveland today on I-71, we stopped for gas near Lodi, Ohio. After fueling, our campaign vehicle (emblazoned with Vote Joe for President signage) wouldn’t start. It was the battery. I took out the jumper cables and headed out to ask for a jump. The first man I approached said he’d help. When he got to our vehicle, he read the side. “I’ll help, but I want a Cabinet post,” he smiled. Speaking of vehicles… The car companies are starting to cut back significantly. If global warming is real — which I believe it is — wouldn’t common sense indicate that less cars is actually a good thing? Note: We are trying to raise campaign donations for a tour: Schriner Presidential Election Committee, 2100 W. 38th St., Cleveland, Ohio 44113. Thanks.
tune ups…
I just got done changing the spark plugs and the oil on our campaign vehicle. A dubious sort of “average Joe” distinction in relation to, oh, probably many other presidential candidates… We are readying for a multi-state campaign tour, our first of Campaign 2012, and we are trying to raise donations as soon as possible: Schriner Presidential Election Committee, 2100 W. 38th St., Cleveland, Ohio 44113. Thanks. Note: Earlier in the day, I had a discussion with an Amish farmer up the street. He said most Amish farmers grow organically and rotate their crops to not damage the soil because they believe God calls them to be good stewards of the land. So how one farms is a moral issue for them, as it should be for all farmers. For more on our agriculture position paper…
Obama at Notre Dame
The Holocaust took some six million lives. Abortion in America has taken some 50 million lives. You do the math on this one. Barack Obama stands for abortion. The Catholic Church says abortion is always an “intrinsic evil.” Notre Dame is a Catholic university. You do the moral theology on this one. From my vantage, Notre Dame gave an “honorary degree” to someone who is a major player in an ongoing genocide.
styro-foam cup crops…
A teacher from Cleveland came to the farm we’re at in mid-Ohio on Saturday. He dug in the garden and spread many wheelbarrows of mulch around. At one point, this teacher looked at me and said that each horticulture class he has his city students grow something in a styro-foam cup. “And they think it’s a big thing,” he lamented. I couldn’t help but think that if you’re pretty much surrounded by warrens of brick buildings, webs of concrete pavement and are growing a bean plant in a styro-foam cup, not only aren’t you grounded in much — but you may be on the edge of insanity and not even know it.
Remember scythes?
We’re currently working on a farm in mid-Ohio and doing research on sustainable agriculture. Last night I was using an old-fashion scythe to cut some high grass. It worked fine, I got some good exercise and the planet is a little better off because I didn’t use a gasoline powered “weed whacker.” Weed whackers, like lawn mowers, have virtually no pollution control devices. So using them emits a significant amount of greenhouse gases. Knowing what we know about global warming at this point, how can we use these things — gas-powered weed whackers, gas-powered lawn mowers, gas powered leaf blowers (How absolutely crazy are those?) — and look our kids, who are inheriting this world, in the eyes? How?
cars and traffic lights…
A couple weeks back I was at Cleveland’s City Hall Building and saw a “Cleveland Hall of Fame Wall” that displays portraits of Clevelanders who somehow made their mark on the world. For instance, Clevelander Garrett Morgan invented the first traffic light. And Clevelander Alexander Winton “sold the first ready-made dependable car in the U.S., circa 1898.” Ok, let’s take, for instance, the car. There is a traffic fatality every 13 minutes in America. This is the equivalent of a half-full airliner going down in America — every day! And what about all the people who aren’t killed, but maimed for life each day. Then there’s car exhaust which is contibuting significantly to a global warming phenomenon that could destroy the planet… Cars have also contributed significantly to the cancer of urban sprawl, which is constantly eating away at more and more farmland, wetlands, forests… And increased mobility because of the car has contributed significantly to the break up of family and community, as people keep moving further and further from their home towns… etc. Note: And we want to bail out the car companies? Are we nuts?