Once there was an election

Morning all!
Several times over the last couple of weeks Miss Marcia accused me of carrying my morning ‘Tintin’ look a bit too far – something about my morning hair. To which I can only reply with a short, “Mille Sabords” (Billions of Barnacles) using Tintin’s best friend, Captain Haddock’s, catchphrase. Yes, truth be told, I love Hergé’s delightful comic character, Tintin.

Now, before I straighten out my hair I want to wish all friends and family veterans a very special day. In the meantime, join me by enjoying a great mug of java. Now, a short pause where I relish my coffee and then I’ll work on this week’s Ramblings.

Power Pole – very near the Corner of Chaos & Mayhem, another pole bit the dust. That’s why a bucket truck showed up and the cops blocked the street. Our vantage point makes it all better than TV.

    

Okay, so I’m Bragging – Last Sunday Matthew 25 Ministries held their “Hunger 5k” to which I had signed up. Here are my results:

1st Place in my bracket
Time 45:18 which is 14:35 minutes per mile.
522nd place out of 1,225 overall.

   

******* Just as you allow your head to swell too much, a kick in the pants tends to shape one up. This morning from Outlook comes this story, the ‘kick’ in my pants. The Outlook  headline: “This 92-Year-Old Just Became the Oldest Person to Hike the Grand Canyon Rim-to-Rim.” Just the ‘kick’ I needed to snap me back into being a more humble self,

On Tuesday (a no school day due to elections) I took Vai & Vili back to ‘Matthew 25’ for some volunteer work. They do get the floor workers. The three of us were part of minimally 60 people in the section we were assigned to. Always fun, and also makes you feel somewhat productive.

  

And what would a morning of volunteering be without lunch with Opa. Chick-fil-A won out (notice the live flowers on the table in a fast food restaurant!)

We had an election – As a conservative, non-affiliated, independent, curmudgeon I wanted to share the outcome of the event in song.

For my Republican friends, listen to how it sounded as results began to stream in (performed by John Lee Hooker, 1-min):

For my Democratic friends, this is what I heard throughout the night (performed by Koko Taylor, 1-min):

A great quoteThere’s winning and there’s losing, and in life you have to know they both will happen.” – Earvin “Magic” Johnson

Ensuring Fair Elections – Formally our elections are to statutorily occur on; “the Tuesday next after the first Monday in November”; what we have today, by being all over the map, is to make a joke out of that law. In my state early voting begins 30 days early, all other states it falls between 3 and 46 days prior to what is legally mandated. Add to that some States allowing the mailing of ballots when these are guaranteed not to arrive till days after election-day’. The whole sets the scene for election shenanigans.

To ensure election integrity, that all elections are Fair, Free, Honest, and Transparent [i.e.: One Citizen, One Vote] there are groups currently actively working to ensure that this happens. Nationally there is the “Election Integrity Network”, ‘EIN’, which includes a 20-state coalition. EIN also partners with entities such as the “Virginia Institute”, “America First Legal”, and “The Heritage Foundation”. Here in Ohio, you can explore the “Ohio Election Integrity Network” at http://ohioelectionintegrity.org/ , They’re always looking for volunteers.

Currently I see the trend being that the current early voting scheme is a mess. The way it’s heading, soon we’ll opt for a ‘two-fer’ vote – two election cycles voted on one single day. Why not?

Wednesday morning thought – occurring shortly after realizing that enshrining abortion rights in our constitution passed with a 57% Yes vote. What follows is a paraphrasing of an article. From an article that is much akin to my own thinking:

“For millennia the order for humanity, to have marriage, family, and children, the very necessities for a civilization to function and perpetuate itself is now a consumer lifestyle choice.”

“The current basis of our entire society is the freedom to become whatever you want, created realities be damned. You don’t want to be uniquely bestowed, see the authority of your ‘Telos’ as Aristotle would say, with the power to bring new human life into the world? Then we can kill that life whenever it is created in your body.”

“Abortion is now the sacrament of this total freedom and atomized individualism.”

Yesterday 45-years – ago, November 10th the Great Lakes ore freighter, the SS Edmund Fitzgerald, sank with the loss of 29 crewmembers. June 1975 Canadian folksinger, Gordon Lightfoot released his tribute song: “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald”. That song has probably exposed more people to that horrible night when the Fitzgerald sank than anything else.

My own knowledge occurred one evening in the Northwoods by our cabin, some wine, and a campfire. One of our neighbors, Wayne, had invited his brother over for the evening, and thus, here is my story. For a period, Wayne’s brother was a helmsman on Great Lakes freighters. The day of November 10th he was the helmsman on duty on the SS Arthur M Anderson another freighter sailing on Lake Superior. Ten to fifteen miles in front of them sailed the Fitzgerald.

Near Whitefish Point on the southeast side of the lake the captain of the Anderson ordered his helmsman, Wayne’s brother, to steer for the safety of a cove. The Anderson stayed in radio contact with the Fitzgerald till about 7:00pm and was the last to communicate with them. Listening to that tale while a warm fire crackled in the background made that evening surreal.

This week Aunt Dodie achieved the peace she sought and she went home. My memories of her are her sharing, her warmth and love.

Make it a great week. Live your life to the fullest for it glides along ever so swiftly. Be happy. Remember, smiling is easier than snarling.
May Peace prevail! Love to all. Dirk

BONUS POINTS:
Look at these seven listed Breweries. Prohibition (1920 – 1933) was devastating to the beer industry.

Still quite a number survived by moving into differing industries – from ceramics to ice cream.

Your task, name the one listed Brewery which did NOT survive.

1) Coors
2) Pabst Blue Ribbon
3) Monroe
4) Blumer
5) Christian Moerlein
6) Yuengling
7) Lion

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