Author: Rev. Joe Dirt

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Rev. Joe’s Random Thought #4,230

yeah I know you did not ask!

Am I the only that finds it ironic that Republicans across the nation and in Washington, the PRO-LIFE party, are willing to sacrifice 1,000s of lives in their attempt to maintain the economic health of the US of A.

I suppose that most of those will be senior citizens makes it alright.  And these are the same folks that have been pushing the person-hood of unborn fetuses. A living, breathing person with a network of friends and families is expendable, and the other is not…until they are born.

The other irony in all this is that the religious right has embraced the Republican Party and Donald Trump with both arms and gone “all in” on their bet.  The Christianity I learned about was a religion of compassion and caring. That concepts seems to have gone missing from both Trump and the Religious Right.

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Word of the Day – Conurbation

  • Noun:  Conurbation
    1.   an aggregation or continuous network of urban communities
  • Synonyms:
    1. capital
    2. center
    3. downtown
    4. metropolis
    5. municipality
    6. megalopolis
    7. boom town
    8. metropolitan area
    9. polis
    10. urban place
    11. urbs
  • Usage:
    1. “In the midst of this planetary pandemic, nobody wants to meet any more at the “Crossroads of the World”. A city known for its infectious energy, a city that likes to boast it never even has to sleep, has been forced into hibernation. With more cases than any other American conurbation, this city is once again Ground Zero, a term no New Yorker ever wanted applied here again. With manic suddenness, our world has been turned upside down, just as it was on September 11th..”
  • Encountered:
    1. Article on BBC.COM news site –Coronavirus: What this crisis reveals about US – and its president

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

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Open Letter to My Children and Grandchildren

Dear children, grandchildren and other assorted beings younger than I:

I am requesting that you start addressing me, in person, and in your correspondence (text??) as “Dear Disposable One“.

It will do two things.

First it will ease the transitional phase of my absence from this world of woes to whatever supposed metaphysical state exists thereafter.

Secondly, it will show your support of Donald J. Trump and the GOP as they “restart” the economy.  I am sure the $1000.00 or so you spend on my cremation will be a big help, especially after a long and costly hospitalization paid for with your tax dollars.

Thanking you in advance for doing your part.

With much love,

The soon to be dearly departed.

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Heather Booth: The most influential women you never heard of…

Heather has been married to my wife’s cousin for over 40 years. I met Paul and Heather at a Booth family reunion a few years back. I will have to admit I was a little overwhelmed with all the new people I was meeting for the first time. I do remember how proud my wife was of her two cousins.

The film is only an hour long, but details the incredible life of activism of this driven woman. Perhaps someday we will have a society that respects and supports all of us. Until then we need people like Heather Booth to fight the Dark Side.

The film is available on two sites that I know of:

HEATHER BOOTH: CHANGING THE WORLD from Women Make Movies on Vimeo.

And if you are impatient like us and cannot wait more than 2 days for a package and have Amazon Prime it is available there too.

Watch it on Amazon Prime

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Story about my wife’s brother’s family and their struggles with the coronavirus

Here is a link to the story in the  STL Jewish Light:

St. Louis Jewish family grapples with coronavirus

TV News Story about the family

Obviously positive thoughts appreciated.

Amazingly this story has gone viral globally.  I was talking to a lady in Ecuador via Skype and she was telling me about this.  I explained to her it was my brother-in-laws’ family.  After the Skype call, I put the terms Weinhaus coronavirus into a Google search.  It is CRAZY.  Who knew a story in the STL Jewish Light newspaper would have such legs.

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Rev. Joe’s Random Thought #6,139

yeah I know you did not ask!

I’ve been wondering about my fellow citizens for quite some time now.  This “wonderment” stems from so many them adamantly supporting the incompetent monster currently residing in the White House.

This discomfort with my paisanos has increased a couple magnitudes when I read that their response to this health care crisis is to stock up on toilet paper. I personally get enough junk mail every day that would have kept my grandmother happy in her outhouse for a month.

It increased even further when I started reading about lines at gun stores to purchase guns and ammunition. I saw an interview of man complaining about  shelves empty of his favorite ammo.

Sounds like they are scared to death and shitting their britches.

If there was ever a time when we should be rowing together it is now.  This is not the Zombie Apocalypse…no matter what my cousin says!

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Ten Commandments for Politicians – Revisited

Ten Commandments for Politicians

Nearly a dozen years I started working on a ten commands for politicians.  At that time I came up seven, and I had hoped someone would have helped me round the list out.  But I am truly “The Little Known Blogger”.  So now I am revisiting that list, especially in light of the corrupt administration driving this nation into 3rd world status.

  1. First, do ye no harm
  2. The majority rules, not the dollars
  3. Ye live in a glass house, act accordingly
  4. Thou shall avoid in all ways the trough of the lobbyist
  5. If it looks like pork, if it oinks like pork, if it sizzles like pork, vote ye not on it
  6. Remember ye that Squealor was not right, “All animals ARE equal, but some and no animals are more equal than others.” This includes politicians, government officials, politically connected business people, and wealthy donors.
  7. Usufruct – Remember ye that we are but Stewards for those that come after us, as those who came before were Stewards for us.
  8. Take ye responsibility for thine actions,  good or bad. Acknowledge thy mistakes, and better yet, learn from thy mistakes.
  9. Govern ye by facts, not dogma or “gut instincts”.
  10. Be thou a leader for all the people, not just thy party or thy supporters.  There is but one life boat.  We all need to be rowing together.
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Rev. Joe’s Random Thought #5,119

yeah I know you did not ask!

In the middle of a global health crisis, in the middle of a pandemic, we are also having a crisis of leadership…no matter what Fox News and the MAGAs say.

For the most part the leadership in this country at all levels of government are politicians.  A few cities and counties will employ professional managers, but they always report up to a politician.

So  what are the qualifications to become a politician and by default a leader.  Very little.  You have to have an ability to run your mouth, act like you know what the solution is, and perhaps have a little charisma.  I can think of very few other fields of endeavor in our society that require so little of their practitioners.

Then on the other hand I think of the Winston Churchill quote:

‘Many forms of Government have been tried, and will be tried in this world of sin and woe. No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all-wise. Indeed it has been said that democracy is the worst form of Government except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.…’

But I do think we should be electing folks to lead us that can do more than talk, obfuscate, and line their own pockets.  I am not sure how you would implement some sort of basic screening but there must be a way.  High on my list would a sanity test and a test of empathy.

We deserve better.

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If only…

“And the people stayed home. And read books, and listened, and rested, and exercised, and made art, and played games, and learned new ways of being, and were still. And listened more deeply. Some meditated, some prayed, some danced. Some met their shadows.

And the people began to think differently.

“And the people healed. And, in the absence of people living in ignorant, dangerous, mindless, and heartless ways, the earth began to heal.

“And when the danger passed, and the people joined together again, they grieved their losses, and made new choices, and dreamed new images, and created new ways to live and heal the earth fully, as they had been healed.”

~Kitty O’Meara

Who is Kitty O’Meara?

Normally when I use art on my blog I do a Google image search and make sure I grab images that are “free to use and share”.  I took the poem and image off a Facebook posting of a friend who is an artist.  I erroneous made the assumption the art was hers.  I believe the picture is actually the work  of Jessica Boehman.  Here are a couple links for her and her art.  It is a very nice picture, and hopefully Jessica will not be offended by my use of it.

Jessica on Etsy

Jessica Boehman’s blog