Time to wheel out the creaking old merit algo, buff it up a bit so mikey here gets at least a smidgen of source merit ( the mining section plus the Arabic section ) and let's get this whole show back on the road.
I would say I wholeheartedly agree with your sentiments here, but I don't even know how well the merit system is even working, much less what Theymos's assessment of it is. It isn't as though he communicates his thoughts about these things all that frequently, so there's no way to know if he's even considering adding any new merit sources.
I don't want the merit system to fall apart, and even though we don't see as many threads in Meta asking about merits (or complaining about not being able to earn them), I wonder whether there's enough merit being distributed--and that there aren't "dead spots" where merit sources never visit. The forum could probably use a few more merit sources, especially ones that frequent local boards. Last I looked, there weren't very many new Legendary members being made, and I'm guessing the same is true of Hero and even Sr. Member ranks.
So good luck with your application, OP. If Theymos ever considers adding new sources, you've got my support.