Month: October 2021

It’s Almost Time

/ justdrivewillyou / 2 Comments

All right, my fellow US citizens! As you may or may not know, Election Day is next week. Tuesday, November 2, to be exact.

A lot of us tend to miss out on these off-year elections, because there’s nothing important to vote for.

Or, so we tell ourselves.

But, these days, in the current political climate in which we find ourselves, I believe every election is important.

For example, school board elections. We usually think of those as yawners, but I’ve been reading lately about school board members being intimidated, even threatened, by people with a specific agenda. Many of those school board members end up resigning as a result, leaving open positions on the board, which the intimidators then seek to fill themselves.

We must be aware of any such activity in our individual school districts, and do what we can to prevent the bullies from forcing their misguided, dangerous agenda on our communities.

Or perhaps, there are other public offices up for election where you live. Or, like here in Texas, some amendments to our state Constitution to approve. (Or reject.)

Whatever the case, do not ignore your opportunity, and civic duty, to vote next week. Or earlier, if you have the chance. Find out what’s on your ballot, go do a little homework, and vote intelligently.

I know, this wasn’t a very exciting post, but I truly believe it’s an important topic. Our democracy is being threatened, right down to the local level. The preservation of it is in our hands, now.

The Truth Matters

/ justdrivewillyou / 5 Comments

A positive news item I think worth sharing:

The Nobel Peace Prize was awarded Friday to two journalists, Maria Ressa of the Philippines, and Dmitri Muratov of Russia, for their indefatigable pursuit of the truth, in the face of the most severe efforts to suppress it.

According to the New York Times:

“The journalists…were recognized for “their courageous fight for freedom of expression, which is a precondition for democracy and lasting peace.”

“They are representatives of all journalists who stand up for this ideal in a world in which democracy and freedom of the press face increasingly adverse conditions,” the committee said in a statement released after the announcement in Oslo…

“The Nobel committee chose from 329 candidates, one of the largest pools in the 126-year history of the prize. Those who had been considered favorites for this year included climate change activists, political dissidents and scientists whose work helped fight the Covid-19 pandemic.

In its citation, the committee said that “free, independent and fact-based journalism serves to protect against abuse of power, lies and war propaganda.”

“Without freedom of expression and freedom of the press,” the committee said, “it will be difficult to successfully promote fraternity between nations, disarmament and a better world order to succeed in our time.””

You know where this is going. Our own journalists are under attack from those who would try to undermine them, say they’re liars, declare them an enemy of the people. They refuse to believe, because the truth doesn’t fit their narrative. It’s not what they want to hear.

We must believe, we must support, we must champion these courageous people around the world who seek and report the facts, the truth, at whatever cost to their reputations, their careers, and in some instances, their very llves.

The Nobel Prize Committee thinks enough of journalism to see it as important to the peace process. So should we.

What to do? Whom to Believe?

/ justdrivewillyou / Leave a comment

A parable for our time.
Larry

petersironwood

What to do? What to do? 

Everyone seems about to go for the throat. Many people are not sure whom to trust. Should they trust doctors who spend years and years learning about calculus, chemistry, biology and then more years in Medical school learning about anatomy, physiology, and medicine and then more years as an intern and resident? Or, instead, maybe how about believing a yelling, screaming talk show host? Hard to tell? Maybe no-one ever taught us how to tell liars from truth tellers. There is no simple formula that will guarantee us to be 100% accurate, but maybe we can think together about it. 

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(Processed photo from one I took on Maui.)

Sam sit alone at the local sandwich shop, and began contemplating whether to have dessert after his nice lunch. It was a club sandwich, already a lot of calories, but what the hell, he thinks.

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