Rev. Joe Dirt, Author at Curmudgeon Alley

2020/06/082020/06/08

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

2020/06/07

Rev. Joe’s Random Thought #5,309

yeah I know you did not ask!

I do not watch a lot of TV, but lately when I do I invariably see a commercial from a hotel chain, airline, restaurant and many different other types of businesses touting how well they are cleaning. The ads from airlines and hotels definitely grab my attention.

After seeing one of these advertisements I habitually have the same thought, “Why the hell were they not doing this before the pandemic?” And by the way, what is this “deep cleaning” they all are bragging about?

2020/06/052021/09/17

Eyeballers…

Folks have been working livestock with the help of dogs for several millenniums now. My former father-in-law (a good man, God rest his soul) was a master of this method, a true artist. My in-laws had a small ranch, usually with a core herd of 60 or 70 “mama” cows. This meant they usually had an equal number of cows to sell at a future point.

My father-in-law usually had two dogs, one of which was heeler and the other a header. A heeler moves a cow by coming in from their back side, Continue reading “Eyeballers…”

2020/06/012020/06/05

Tin Foil Hat Conspiracy

I have a correspondent, a fellow reprobate like myself, from the northern hinterlands of Chicago. He sent me the following musings that struck a note with me.

While watching the riot news last night I had a moment of conspiratorial déjà vu. I’ve seen this stuff before. I immediately put my Tin Foil Hat on and began to think back in history. I remember the Civil Rights riots in the 60’s in Watts, Detroit, Newark, Chicago, Philadelphia, and a whole lot of other cities. Those riots and demonstrations, including the Anti-War protests, the Women’s Rights and Gay Rights protests, usually had an element of police crackdown and brutality. They also resulted in a strong push back by whites. In 1968 Richard Nixon used that push back to help him win the White House. Continue reading “Tin Foil Hat Conspiracy”

2020/06/012020/06/03

Rev. Joe’s Random Thought #5,855

yeah I know you did not ask!

Last Christmas I was given a gift card to Half Price Books. Works for me as normally folks do not read the print off the page, and why pay full price. This is especially true as much of my reading is not necessarily of the latest books hot off the press.

So, with gift card in hand, I made the sojourn to the nearest Half Price Book store about 3 miles from the house. After wandering around for a while, I had a few books in hand, but I still had a bit of money left on the card. I passed the rack of calendars, and realized I did not have a 2020 calendar for my man cave. After discarding calendars of cute cats or puppies, impressive landscapes, inspiring quotes, I was torn between one of a science fiction theme and one of Kama Sutra illustrations. One of the folks I work with on my Spanish is from Guatemala. He sometimes refers to me as Viejo Verde. Living up to my reputation I bought the calendar with drawings based on the ancient Indian Sanskrit text on sexuality, eroticism and emotional fulfillment in life.

So far I have not attempted any of the postures depicted. Just looking at them daily has forced me to visit the chiropractor and get a script for muscle relaxers. I am assuming the ancients had bones of rubber.

2020/05/27

Word of the Day – Canard

Noun: Canard
1. false or unfounded report or story especially a fabricated report: The report about a conspiracy proved to be a canard.
2. a groundless rumor or belief: The widespread canard that every lawyer is dishonest
3. an airplane with horizontal stabilizing and control surfaces in front of supporting surfaces also : a small airfoil in front of the wing of an aircraft that can increase the aircraft’s performance
Synonyms:
1. hoax
2. exaggeration
3. fabrication
4. fib
5. rumor
6. spoof
7. swindle
Usage:
1. “In London that night poor Henderson’s telegram describing the gradual unscrewing of the shot was judged to be a canard, and his evening paper, after wiring for authentication from him and receiving no reply—the man was killed—decided not to print a special edition. .”
Encountered:
1. While rereading H. G. Wells, The War of the Worlds

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

Just as an aside: I read most of the more popular H. G. Wells stories as a teenager. At that time they were essentially science fiction for me. I’ve spent the last few days rereading 6 of his novels. This time around, yes – they are science fiction, but they can be read as social commentary also. For instances, in this novel, a large portion of it was allotted to how quickly society broke under extraordinary pressure, and how badly many people behaved. Add in there a willingness of many people to play ostrich and ignore what is in front of their eyes.

2020/05/232020/05/27

Republican Platform

I just read (maybe reread) H. G. Wells, The First Men in the Moon. I sometimes think that in a previous life I must have lived either either Great Britain or Russia during the 1800s. For some reason that literature talks to me. Anyhoo…

The narrator, the companion of the scientist protagonist of Well’s novel, finding themselves in a pickle on the moon, delivers the following commentary:

“It’s this accursed science,” I cried. “It’s the very Devil. The mediæval priests and persecutors were right and the Moderns are all wrong. You tamper with it—and it offers you gifts. And directly you take them it knocks you to pieces in some unexpected way. Old passions and new weapons—now it upsets your religion, now it upsets your social ideas, now it whirls you off to desolation and misery!”

As I read that it dawned on me that the Republican Party must have lifted that line verbatim to put into their party’s platform.

Just in case inquiring minds wanted to know.

Keep well.