Vote for Joe

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.

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…

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.

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?

I was in Danville, Ohio, where I talked with a woman who had traveled to Pakistan several years ago.   She said among a good number of people there, she experienced a distinct “coldness toward Americans.”   One of the reasons is we have been sending unmanned, drone planes into the mountain regions of Pakistan/Afghanistan and bombing suspected Al Quieda and Taliban targets.   The problem is the bombing runs are also killing innocent civilians (men, women and children) in these remote mountain villages.   This would be akin to another country bombing in our Rocky Mountains to eradicate, say, terrorists; but at the same time killing some of our innocent men, women and children in places like Aspen.   I mean, how would we react?   Note:   A recent Green Party news release explained that Pakistan Green Party leader Liaquat Ali Shaik, in a tour of American cities, met with American Greens to discuss major points of agreement, including the need to “end drone attacks.”   The release said some 900 civilians have already been killed in these attacks and villages have been left in ruins.   What’s more, almost a million people have apparently fled the area for other parts of Pakistan, many ending up in refugee camps.   The Green Party calls for immediate relief and resettlement programs, including compensation for those who have been affected.   Our administration would agree with that.