Author: Rev. Joe Dirt

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Rev. Joe’s Random Thought #2,901

yeah I know you did not ask!

It occurred to me that the Republican Party and Trump’s Cabinet are very similar to a group of friends partying at a bar.  One of their number is so drunk he can barely walk.  He decides to leave, stumbling to the door with his car keys in hand, and no one bothers to stop him.  No one offers to give him a ride home. No one offers to call him a taxi.  No one takes his keys away.

That head on collision was bound to happen since the people who could have taken action, did not.

Keep well.

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How cool is that?

Metropolitan St. Louis is more or less a Democratic area amidst the sea of red that is Republican Missouri.  However the sashaying Señora Weinhaus and I live in the suburb of Chesterfield which is smack dab in the middle of the 2nd Congressional District.  This is the district which has given us such Republican notables as Todd “Legitimate Rape” Akin and Ann “What Climate Change” Wagner.  This time around Jill Schupp is running against Ann Wagner.

I have absolutely nothing positive to say about Wagner except one thing.  She inadvertently gave me the tagline for my blog.  In 2013 I posted an article on my blog, Ann Wagner, Global Warming Denier…Be scared, very scared. The article was picked up by Continue reading “How cool is that?”

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Barr and Pompeo Goosestepping to The Rapture

A fellow Luddite sent me this article by Yvonne Owens, Why, And To What, Have Mike Pompeo and William Barr Sold Their Souls?, with the following comment:

“If some or most of this is factual, it explains what has stumped me, maybe all of us, as to why the right-wing absolution of Putin. I’ve read various theories and hints at this explanation. This is the best dive into the story I’ve found.”

I will admit that when an author has laden an article with so many loaded terms I wonder about  the article in general.  BUT, I will have to admit I agree with her on many points.

My thoughts after reading the article. Continue reading “Barr and Pompeo Goosestepping to The Rapture”

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Sidewalk Battle for America’s Soul

The title may be a bit overly dramatic, but perhaps not.  I really do believe there is an ongoing battle for the soul of the United States.  If the GOP prevail, we will most likely have an authoritarian, racist future dominated by the super rich and corporations where the poor and old struggle to survive.  With the Democrats, hopefully, we will have a kinder, gentler future with a country willing to accept all and support all where moneyed people and corporations are not the ultimate arbitrators of policy.

I ride my bicycle for exercise in several places, but frequently in Creve Coeur Park.  The park has several miles of paved trails that folks use for bicycling, running, walking and in-line skating.  The last few weeks I have seen anti-Trump slogans written in chalk appearing on the trail.  They include such things as Continue reading “Sidewalk Battle for America’s Soul”

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Quote of the Day — Octavia Butler

Choose your leaders with wisdom and forethought.
To be led by a coward is to be controlled by all that the coward fears.
To be led by a fool is to be led by the opportunists who control the fool.
To be led by a thief is to offer up your most precious treasures to be stolen.
To be led by a liar is to ask to be told lies.
To be led by a tyrant is to sell yourself and those you love into slavery.
~~ Octavia Butler

To see more Quotes for Day, visit this link: Quotes for the Day

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Meatloaf         

I went to the golf course, Bridges, that I most frequently play. It is across the Mississippi River in the little town of Columbia, IL.  This is definitely Redneck territory. Bridges, like a lot of other  courses does not allow outside refreshments.  I was loading up my golf cart, putting on my shoes, etc. when I noticed a group of 3 guys just across the parking lot from me.   What caught my attention was that they were dividing up the beers that were remaining after their round.  Given that this was 1 pm they must have started their round and beer drinking somewhere around 8:30 or 9:00 am. I’m not opposed to having a beer or two after a round of golf, but only on very rare occasions do I drink during a round.  And I am certainly not drinking at 9:00 in the morning.

One golfer left.  The remaining two  were putting their equipment in their respective pickups.  I did notice that one of the remaining had on his red MAGA cap. One of the interesting things of this political season Continue reading “Meatloaf         “

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Rev. Joe’s Random Thought #9,667

yeah I know you did not ask!

Outside our kitchen window is one of the back yard gardens.  In this garden there are several bird feeders.  On our patio there is also a hummingbird feeder as well as 2 or 3 birdhouses that are sometimes occupied.  Frequently there will be several different species of birds  taking advantage of the feeders.  On the ground below the feeders, dining on the unopened sunflower seeds that the feeder savvy birds have dropped, can be seen mourning doves, grey squirrels and on rare occasions, a chipmunk.  Not uncommonly, hummingbirds are in the area and other birds are in the vines that weave their way through the trellis overhanging the patio.

While standing at the kitchen sink looking out at this tableau I know I have seen Snow White with a blue bird on her finger… or perhaps the coffee was just too strong that particular morning.

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Rev. Joe’s Random Thought #2,846

yeah I know you did not ask!

Something triggered this memory today, I am not sure what.

Several years ago I started my Spanish learning journey by taking a night class at the local community college.  I did this for 3 reasons.  First, I did have a desire to learn the language.  Secondly, I was in St. Louis working a programming contract with Edward Jones. I knew absolutely no one in town.  I thought this might be a good way to meet people, and it certainly was a better way to spend my evenings than sitting home watching TV.

At the first class meeting of my first Spanish class, the teacher did what a lot of teachers do in this situation.   She went around the classroom asking people to introduce themselves and tell why they were taking Spanish.

The reader might need to know that at my heart I am  a bit of a smart aleck, and I have been told on more than one occasion that my “sense of humor” is exceeding dry.  That is foreshadowing in case you do not recognize it.

The Spanish teacher came around to me.  I introduced myself.  I then proceeded to add that the reason I was taking Spanish was because the voices in my head  were speaking in Spanish and I wanted to know what they were saying.  To me this was knee slapping funny, but it was greeted with dead silence in a room of 25 souls.  The teacher looked at me with a panicked expression on her face and quickly moved on to the next student.  It still makes me grin when I think about it.

Just as an aside, I did not find taking courses at the community college a good way to learn a language.  At least at St. Louis Community College in the adult education section they have a 10 week program whereby you meet once a week for 2 hours.  The teacher to student ratio is somewhere around 20 to 30 to 1.  It decreases as you take more advanced courses.  The problems are several, but primarily it is the 10 weeks between courses.  If you took all three sessions, fall, spring and summer, you would have 30 weeks of classes with much time in between.  2 hours a week to learn a language is better than nothing, but not much.  There is little to no coordination between the Spanish teachers on the course content.  There is very little opportunity to actually speak the language in the classroom. Frequently the teacher is not a teaching professional, but a native speaker of the language.  The native part is good, but  there needs to be some degree of education on the teaching method.  I could go on.  I took most of the Spanish courses they offered, but in retrospect it was not a good use of my learning time.