Vote for Joe

Bulletin of Atomic Scientists photo

We could well be experiencing the opening salvos of World War III. The Gaza Strip looks post-Apocalyptic at this point. Fighting is escalating incrementally between Israel and Hezbollah to the north in Lebanon now. The U.S. is fighting Iran-backed Houthi rebels. And Pakistan and Iran have begun trading cross border punches. U.S. State Department spokesperson, Matt Miller, said Washington is trying to prevent a full-scale war in the Middle-East. A full-scale war that, as is ramping up regionally in the Middle-East, could then, quite conceivably, ignite into a full-scale World War — with nuclear weapons. The missing piece? While virtually everyone is looking at this through the lens of geo-politics, we should rather, primarily, be looking at it through the lens of: spirituality. That is, Mother Theresa, now considered a Catholic saint, emphatically repeated, often, that “…abortion could lead to World War III.” You see, there has been a world-wide “War on the Unborn” for some 70 years now. The abortion numbers are absolutely staggering. So, at what point does God finally say: “That’s enough!” Then He takes His hand off the world, and let’s it self-destruct — a natural extension of evil reaching a crescendo. Note: No other 2024 presidential candidate is drawing this corollary. Instead, they, quite metaphorically, keep trying to rearrange (geo-political) deckchairs on the Titanic. You remember, the ocean-liner whose owner claimed “…not even God can sink this ship!” Yeah, right. Note 2: For our position paper on abortion, see…

…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…