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She asked, “Who can be a curmudgeon?”

The other day Robin asked me, “What is a curmudgeon?” She knows the dictionary definition of curmudgeon: a crusty, ill-tempered, and usually old man. She was asking me, the mastermind of the website Curmudgeon-Alley.com, because she thought a young lady of our mutual acquaintance could qualify as a curmudgeon.

I tend to think of myself as a bit (some folks would say more) of a curmudgeon. I did have one commenter on my website take me to task for pinning this appellation on myself. They felt that it was a title that should be conferred. Perhaps they were thinking that there should be some sort of ceremony. A character reminisce of Walther Matthau could “knight” the aspirant by tapping both shoulders alternately with a gnarled, well-seasoned cane resembling a shaking index finger. Continue reading “She asked, “Who can be a curmudgeon?””

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Rev. Joe’s Random Thought # 4,074

yeah I know you did not ask!

Have you ever considered that extension cords are at the core of their being…hermaphroditic?

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The God Virus by Darrel W. Ray

God virusWhen folks ask me about my religion I have a tendency to tell them that I was raised Southern Baptist, but I am much better now. If I am in an even more playful mood I might tell them I am a Born Again Agnostic. If I am really feeling like a stinker I tell them I belong to the Church of Later Day Hedonist, and we meet every Friday down at Joe’s Bar and Grill, please join us for evening services.   Depending on the person it is either a conversational stopper or elicits a laugh and may lead to more conversation. If I am being a bit more serious I describe myself as agnostic. I choose this appellation mainly because militant atheists bother me as much as evangelic Christians or jihadists Muslims. I would like to think that what I believe is most likely true, but ultimately the answer to the god question is unknowable. I have a B.S., but no matter how much science you throw at it, the mere existence of the universe blows my mind.

It is not original with me, but I have been saying for years that religion was a form of mass psychosis. Psychosis being defined as a mental illness whereby the sufferer loses touch with reality.

Along came Dawkins, Blackmore and others Continue reading “The God Virus by Darrel W. Ray”

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Senator Elizabeth Warren: I stand with Planned Parenthood… Me too

Sadly this woman has more sense than to run for President in the sick electoral process of this country.

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God Bless Bernie

“Hillary’s hair gets more scrutiny than my hair? Is that what you’re asking?” Sanders responded. “Ana, I don’t mean to be rude here. I am running for president of the Unitedbernie States on serious issues, OK? Do you have serious questions?”

Attempting to categorize her question as a gender-based one, Sanders cuts her off.

“When the media worries about what Hillary’s hair looks like or what my hair looks like, that’s a real problem,” Sanders said. “We have millions of people who are struggling to keep their heads above water, who want to know what candidates can do to improve their lives, and the media will very often spend more time worrying about hair than the fact that we’re the only major country on earth that doesn’t guarantee health care to all people.”

http://www.thewrap.com/bernie-sanders-shreds-reporters-hair-question-i-am-running-for-president-on-serious-issues/

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The Rainbow by D.H. Lawrence

the_rainbow_1504This is a book of poetry masquerading as prose. It is a book short on dialogue and long on imagery, both external and of the characters’ internal emotion-scape. The book came out in 1915 and was banned shortly thereafter in Britain for 11 years.

The novel covers three women from the same family over a period of 65 years starting in 1840 and ending in 1905. This is roughly the Victorian era. This is a period of great change just after the Industrial Revolution in which England was changing from a mostly rural based culture to an urban based society. Along with technological advances and migrating populations, it was a time of changing social mores, including sexuality and of the relationship between men and women. It was Lawrence’s graphic depiction of sexuality (for the times) that resulted in its banning.

It struck me that Lawrence saw the relationship between a man and woman as more of a contest than any sort of synergistic union.  A passage from the middle of the book really brought home this concept to me. Continue reading “The Rainbow by D.H. Lawrence”

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Carly Fiorina – Only people with the “right talent” deserve a family centered life.

carly fiorina

“When I was chief executive of Hewlett-Packard, we also offered paid maternity leave and paid paternity leave,” she said. “It’s pretty clear that the private sector, like Netflix, is doing the right thing because they know it helps them attract the right talent.” ~~ Carly Fiorina, one of the mob vying for the Republican presidential nomination.

As I readied myself for work this Monday morning, I was getting my morning cup of WTF by listening to the political news on NPR. I heard the above quote from Ms. Fiorina and my cup overflowed.

First and foremost came the thought that if you were not the “right talent” then you did not deserve paternity leave? That tells me all I need to know about the Ms. Fiorina’s world view. Compassion apparently is not on her Rolodex or in her contact list. One can only assume that as the former head of a tech company she has dumped the Rolodex, but the rest of her views tend to point in the other direction.

When I was searching the Internet to make sure Continue reading “Carly Fiorina – Only people with the “right talent” deserve a family centered life.”

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The American Flag – Hijacked by Conservatives?

American flagDon’t get me wrong, there is no other country to which I would want to be a citizen. If I were to move to another country, I could not imagine giving up my United States citizenship. It would be an impossibility for me. Having said this it feels to me that this country currently has so many problems that are not being addressed it saddens me. Our general attitude of exceptionalism is one of them. It can be debated if our country was ever exceptional, but I certainly do not feel like it is at this time. Unless, of course, you consider hogging most of the world’s resources and bullying countries around the globe with our military as being exceptional. Another significant problem seems to be that as a nation we are becoming more and more splintered along economic, religious and political lines.1

I live in the Second Congressional District of Missouri. I mention this because this district is ultra conservative. They have elected a couple of the lamest politicians to ever walk the face of the earth let alone take the oath of office. Specifically that would be the incumbent, Ann “there is no climate change problem” Wagoner and Todd “legitimate rape” Adkins.

I bring up  the conservatism of this district as Continue reading “The American Flag – Hijacked by Conservatives?”