Author: Rev. Joe Dirt

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Rev. Joe’s Random Thought #4,266

yeah I know you did not ask!

Every time I see a group of what is 99% males toting assault weapons demonstrating for any number of kooky causes, all I can see is a group of 13 year old boys who could not figure out how to grow up.

And while I am on the subject… I can see some good points to the philosophy / political stance of Libertarianism, but, again, as practiced in this country, it generally strikes me as the stance of teenage boys pushing back against whatever father figure is in their life. It does not strike me as a mature way to organize a society.

Keep well.

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The Pandemic Blues – Take II

I had a disturbing round of golf Friday.  Oh not about my golf game, I describe myself as a Dr. Hyde / Mr. Jekyll golfer.  I never know who is coming out, and sometimes I see both these sides in a single round of golf.  I figured out last millennium that I was never going to play golf professionally, or even at a stellar amateur level.  I am good with that.  I still enjoy the game.  My discomfort on this round of golf centered around attitudes about corona virus.

Let me describe where I golf most frequently.  It is across the Rio Mississippi in the small town of Columbia, IL. This is southern Illinois and it is hoosier land.  If your breed is more southern, substitute redneck for hoosier.  It is the same concept, different words. I go to this particular golf course as the rates are more reasonable than in Missouri, it is usually easy to get a tee time and the course is generally in good shape.  The greens always are.  While not the cow pasture golf Continue reading “The Pandemic Blues – Take II”

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The Pandemic Blues

Language alert!

In an email to a friend I made a wisecrack about singing The Pandemic Blues.  He replied he had not heard that one, but someone had sent him a link to the Stay the F*** at Home!  He then asked for a link to the The Pandemic Blues.  I explained that I was being my usually contrarian sort and popping off. That there  was no such song that I knew of, but perhaps we could write one and perform it.  After all anyone can be on YouTube.

He sent me back the following verses and said now it was my  turn.  So I added the part in red.

The Pandemic Blues

The world has caught a virus
I’m to kindly ask
We need your help to cure it
so wear your fuckin’ mask!

I got an awful bad case
of them low down pandemic blues

If you want to visit family
it’s quite a simple task
just try to stay six feet apart
and wear your fuckin’ mask!

Lord, I’d have to get better, before I could die 
Those low down pandemic blues

If you want to lie down on the beach
to be in the sun and bask
it really not a problem
if you just wear your fuckin’ mask!

Lord, they’re killin’ me,
I mean them low down pandemic blues.

I’m going to make my apologies to Hank Williams.  Feel free to add verses in the comments. What is that old saw about too much group sourcing spoils the broth…

Now if we could just get Willie or Bocephus to sing it.

 

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Where have I heard that before…

The transcendent Señora Weinhaus loves to read, but of late due to health and (shhh…) aging issues she has been having difficulty doing so.  I thought perhaps if I got her an eReader whereby she could control the font and other factors it might bring this enjoyable activity back into play for her.

After researching the matter I landed on the Kobo Clara HD, mainly as it was touted as the best choice if you want to use third party options, like say, your public library.  Kindle was the best choice if you want to tap into the Amazon universe of eBooks.  But with a world of free eBooks available from the library and other sources, “why buy?” said Señor Tacaño.

I pre-ordered the unit the first of May for delivery at the end of May.  I then told my bride that I had a present coming for her so she could bathe in the delight of anticipation.   The release date was set back and the eReader finally arrived today, at the end of June.  That might have been a bit too much anticipation.

Fedex had dumped the box on our front porch, and the only way I knew to look for it was an email saying it had been delivered. They had also accidentally left a package for the neighbors across the street, whom I knew were home.  I am not a big fan of the way deliveries are done these days.

Back from my curmudgeonly aside…

I grabbed the box and headed upstairs to find the mistress of our abode.  I opened the package and took the eReader out to give to her, and I found myself saying, “I thought it would be bigger.”  Then nagging memories came rushing back and I thought, “And where have I heard that before?!?”

Keep well.

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Steve Schmidt, Republican Strategist, on Trump

Steve Schmidt, who ran John McCain’s 2008 campaign for president, said this in an interview on MSNBC, succinct and damning.

“Donald Trump has been the worst president this country has ever had. And I don’t say that hyperbolically. He is. But he is a consequential president. And he has brought this country in three short years to a place of weakness that is simply unimaginable if you were pondering where we are today from the day where Barack Obama left office. And there were a lot of us on that day who were deeply skeptical and very worried about what a Trump presidency would be. But this is a moment of unparalleled national humiliation, of weakness.

“When you listen to the President, these are the musings of an imbecile. An idiot. And I don’t use those words to name call. I use them because they are the precise words of the English language to describe his behavior. His comportment. His actions. We’ve never seen a level of incompetence, a level of ineptitude so staggering on a daily basis by anybody in the history of the country whose ever been charged with substantial responsibilities.

“It’s just astonishing that this man is president of the United States. The man, the con man, from New York City. Many bankruptcies, failed businesses, a reality show, that branded him as something that he never was. A successful businessman. Well, he’s the President of the United States now, and the man who said he would make the country great again. And he’s brought death, suffering, and economic collapse on truly an epic scale. And let’s be clear. This isn’t happening in every country around the world. This place. Our place. Our home. Our country. The United States. We are the epicenter. We are the place where you’re the most likely to die from this disease. We’re the ones with the most shattered economy. And we are because of the fool that sits in the Oval Office behind the Resolute Desk.”

No need for me to comment.

Keep well.

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Quote of the Day — Dwight D. Eisenhower

“Finally, there is the matter of maintaining a respectable image of American life before the world! Among the qualities that the American government must exhibit is dignity. In turn the principle government spokesman must strive to display it. In war and in peace, I’ve no respect for the desk pounder, and have despised the loud and slick talker. If my own ideas and practices in this matter have sprung from weakness I do not know. But they were and are deliberate or, rather, natural to me. They are not accidental.” ~~ Dwight D. Eisenhower, letter to Henry Luce, August 1960

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

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Word of the Day –Vociferate

  • Verb: Vociferate
    1. to speak or cry out loudly or noisily; shout; bawl
  • Synonyms:
    1.  bellow
    2. call
    3. clamor
    4. cry
    5. howl
    6. protest
    7. shriek
    8. utter
    9. yell
  • Usage:
    1. “This become clearly apparent in the past week, when Jack Dorsey finally decided to start labeling Trump’s most dangerous posts as “glorifying violence” and even fact-checking other posts where Trump lied about mail-in ballots contributing to voter fraud (they don’t). At the same time Mark Zuckerberg chose to go in the completely opposite direction, ceding that he is not the arbiter of free speech, and even going as far as to have a call with Trump himself to vociferate Facebook’s stance. Conversely, Evan Spiegel, the CEO of Snap, announced that he will no longer promote any of Trump’s posts on the platform. “We simply cannot promote accounts in America that are linked to people who incite racial violence, whether they do so on or off our platform,” Spiegel said in a memo to employees.”
  • Encountered:
    1. While reading Vanity Fair article How Facebook Became the Social Media Home of the Right

To see more Words of the Day, visit this link: Words of the Day