Category: Rev. Joe Dirt’s Ramblings

The unsolicited, unreasoned, uninformed, unapologetic opinions of Rev. Joe Dirt

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Rev. Joe’s Random Thought #3,171

yeah I know you did not ask!

Here is something I thought I would never have to do.  I was speaking to a young woman via Skype to practice my Spanish.  She lives Coca, Ecuador, a city of 40,000 in Amazonian jungle whose primary business in oil.  We had a long, rambling conversation about politics and the upcoming election in the United States.  She apparently has another student who is younger than her (she is late 20s) and a big supporter of the Orange Monster.  He is absolutely convinced that Putin’s Bitch is a man of the people and will win the election. He had told her that all his young friends are of the same opinion.  I did my best to dissuade Micaela that this is not the common position.

At the end of the conversation I did something I never would have thought I would do… I asked a person living in a small South American country to pray for my country.

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Maid of the Mist

Three summers ago the traveling Señora Weinhaus and I took a 16 day road trip through Ohio and New York into the New England states coming back through West Virginia.  We had several reasons for taking such a trip.  Señora had never been to New England.  I have a dream to visit every one of state capitol buildings before I make my journey to Vahalla.  On this trip we managed to hit 9 capitols. We were also going to visit Robin’s niece who had married a Mainer.

I also wanted to see Niagara Falls. For reasons unclear I have always wanted to do this.  The outside of the state park area is touristy Continue reading “Maid of the Mist”

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Rev. Joe’s Random Thought #1,547

yeah I know you did not ask!

File this under logical consequences.

The current political, social and economic situation is this country is complicated, said the  king of understatement.  However, a prominent cause is that the complexion of the nation is changing.  We are going from a majority white country to one of many colors, mostly likely with none of the groups a majority for while.   This has more than a few whites, especially men, upset.

Thinking about this I am reminded of the centuries we captured and put into slavery various peoples of African, mainly to work on the plantations of the South.  However, slaves were throughout the 17th and 18th century America.

When slavery “went out of fashion” we started using people of color to do those jobs that Americans did not want or would not do for the wages offered.  These folks came from Latin America mostly, but in reality from around the globe.  They came legally and many illegally.  For years the illegality was not an issue as long as they kept their mouths shut, and worked for peanuts.

Now that the color of the American melting pot is changing many of whites are upset.  What did they expect to happen if they kept adding dye to the stew pot?  Logical consequences.

The smart thing to do would be to embrace the change and go with the flow.  One thing I love about living in a metropolitan area is the diversity.  It adds layers of complexity and delight, like a well seasoned stew, that you just do not find in outside metropolitan areas.  Of course, the kicker is that we need to respect each other.  Which is not what we are doing right now.

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Elections by Lottery

See link to a podcast at end of article.

I do not not know if this is a good idea.  I do not know if this is a bad idea.  I do know it is an interesting idea.

I believe I would get very little argument if I were to state that our current process of electing folks to public office is dysfunctional trending towards the cluster f*** arena.

I’m not sure where this idea first originated, but they have been experimenting with this election process in Bolivia, in schools there.  The process is basically instead of having traditional elections with campaigning you have a lottery.  Everyone who might want a particular office puts the equivalent of  their name in a hat.  If their name is drawn out they get the office.  At least at this low level Continue reading “Elections by Lottery”

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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”