Rest In Peace -United States of America

Rest In Peace
United States of America
July 4, 1776 – January 20, 2025
“Even God could not save her from the religious.”

There needs to be some serious soul searching amongst the denizens of this country. There was no sane, moral or ethical reason for having voted for the chimera that is Donald J. Trump, especially this time around, as his psychopathy had been on full display for years.

If you voted for him because your religion is preaching an Armageddon / Second Coming of Christ fantasy, and he is the the agent that God will use to fulfill those end days delusions, you need to apply critical thinking skills to what they are spewing from the pulpits and to religion in general. But then again, it seems to me, the only way for people to be religious is to forego thinking critically about it. With the Evangelicals embracingTrump as they have, faith has become a four letter word in my book.

God save us from the religious.

For the first time in my life I am truly afraid, afraid of future, afraid of what this country is becoming, afraid of many of my fellow citizens, afraid of what DJT and his ilk are going to do to this world. The only bright spot I can see in this cluster f*** is that I will not be around much longer to witness it.

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2026/07/16

Rev. Joe’s Random Thought #9,374

yeah I know you did not ask!

You should so be blessed – well cursed at times actually – with a mind such as mine, making all these weird connections between my rumored neurons. Just be thankful that I do not share all of my random thoughts.

I was shopping for staples at Aldi, browsing through the produce section I encountered cucumbers in their original shipping cartons, labeled both in English and Spanish. What caught my attention was the carton labeled “conventional cucumber”. Made wonder what an unconventional cucumber was, and could I get one to try.

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2026/07/152026/07/15

Bragging on myself a little

Of course, if you knew how long this took me you might be saying why is he bragging. I started the first of this year and just finished up the 1^st of July. “What are you bragging about, for gawd’s sake?” you grumble. Legitimate question, I suppose.

I just finished reading The Hobbit and all three volumes of the Lord of Rings… in Spanish.

Just to list a few

I have read a fair number of novels in Spanish. For instance, I have read three of Gabriel Garcia Máquez’s shorter novels in his native language. Isabel Allende’s novel, La casa de los espíritus. One very strange novel by Juan Rulfo, Pedro Páramo. The novel is supposedly very Mexican, whatever that means. Two novels that I have been told every Filipino school child reads by José Rizal, Noli me tangere and El filibusterismo . Not that they are books for children, Continue reading “Bragging on myself a little”

2026/07/13

Word of the Day – Slubberdegullion

Word of the Day… not actually daily, but whenever I encounter one I think worth sharing and there are not too many on my landing page. Words have always fascinated me, and I am a fan of all types of word play, especially puns. I have a hard time not looking up a word that I am unfamiliar with or not sure of the definition. I like those authors that stretch me by throwing in unexpected terms.

Noun: Slubberdegullion
1. a dirty rascal
Synonyms:
1. scoundrel
2. wretch
Encountered: One of the myriad of subscribers to my blog – well, okay, one of the handful of subscribers to my blog – sent it to me.
Usage: Looking for an example, I came across the following quote: “I didn’t know from your voice you were such a fat slubberdegullion, there’s more blubber on you than on a whole school of whales.” from Fidelis Morgan’s book: The Rival Queens: A Countess Ashby de la Zouche Mystery.

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

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2026/07/07

Quote of the Day – Martin Luther King Jr.

Quote of the Day… not actually daily, but whenever I encounter one I think worth sharing and there are not too many in sequence. I like quotes as they frequently distill a piece of wisdom into a brief passage, or make other points very succinctly – such as the witticisms of Oscar Wilde.

“Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.” ~~ Martin Luther King Jr.

The quote reminds of something my black buddy who lives in Mississippi says from time to time about racists and racist’s attitudes. He refers to the first as ignorant and the second as willful ignorance. They have never allowed themselves to meet a person of color as a fellow human being. I will have to admit he is kinder than me, and he has been dealing with discrimination for nearly 80 years at this point.

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

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2026/06/29

Quote of the Day –Tom Hardy

“Being alone for a while is dangerous. It’s addicting. Once you see how peaceful it is, you don’t want to deal with people anymore.” ~~ — Tom Hardy

I encountered the quote while reading the article: If You Have Few or No Friends, You Probably Have These 6 Rare Traits

Two or three of the bullet points I could really relate to, especially number 3.

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

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2026/06/27

Quote of the Day – Elon Musk

“I just fed USAID to the wood chipper and I could have gone to some great parties instead.” “ ~~ Elon Musk

To give the quote some context it is from Krugman’s Substack posting today: On Holding Elon Musk Accountable

The paragraph read:

“It’s not just that Musk more or less personally set out to destroy this aid agency set out to cut off healthcare, nutritional assistance, just basic necessities of life for millions and millions of extremely desperate people. But he did so callously, carelessly, he even actually tweeted out, oh, ‘I just fed USAID to the wood chipper and I could have gone to some great parties instead.’”

To give it even more context some very reputable agencies and people have estimated that it has cost MILLIONS of LIVES in these venerable populations. And to set some more context US foreign aid was around 1.2% of the US budget, a minuscule amount in the scheme of things. The Republican tax breaks to the super rich and corporations are several magnitudes more harmful to the US bottom line than the charity we were giving to the poorest people on the planet. Apparently it is alright with the MAGA crowd for the rich to get richer and the poor to die.

Are we really a nation of living Christian values? I think not.

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

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2026/06/25

Word of the Day – Enshittification

Noun: Enshittification
1. an informal word used to criticize the degradation in the quality and experience of online platforms over time, due to an increase in advertisements, costs, or features. It can also refer more generally to any state of deterioration, especially in politics or society.
2. For an expanded dive into this word follow this link to Wikipedia: Enshittification
Synonyms:
1. encrappification
2. platform decay
Encountered: While reading an article on Paul Krugman’s blog: Why Does Everyone Hate AI?
Usage: “Why have Americans turned on tech companies? While it surely reflects growing awareness of the psychological and societal harm done by social media, much of it also reflects the enshittification of tech products.”

Unfortunately, the process of enshittification applies to much more than online platforms. Politics are deeply into this process, and it strikes me that our culture is also.

I will have to admit I am not a fan of AI for any number of reasons, but mainly because the way it is blurring the line between reality/truth and computer generated versions that frequently have little to do with either reality or truth.

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

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2026/06/162026/06/16

Songs of the Silver Screen, Allegro’s 2026 Spring Concert

This is one of the choirs that Señora sings in. It is for persons who are at least 50 years of age. Señora almost never comes home from a practice without extolling how many talented folks there are that are members of this group.

This particular concert featured songs everyone knows from the movies, including some songs I knew but did not know were movie tunes.

Señora is sitting, just to the left of the pianist.

Enjoy! I know I did when I attended the concert.

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2026/06/15

Vanity Plate for the Day – PEAZ2U

Vanity Plate of the Day… not actually daily, but whenever I encounter one in the wild that I think worth sharing and there are not too many in sequence. When I was commuting from my home to downtown St. Louis and back, I was spending anywhere from an hour and half to two hours daily in rush hour traffic. I used the exercise of deciphering vanity plates to help pass the time… plus sometimes they are very clever and worth sharing.

This was on the back of a Kia Niro. Obviously license plate shorthand for Peace to you. A salutation/valediction we all could use from time to time.

To see more Vanity Plates of the Day use this link: Vanity Plates of the Day

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