AS THE WEEKEND APPROACHETH HERE IN THE MINNWISSIPPI REGION, it's getting to be cool and @ once rainy.

And it's been rather rainy since last evening, enough to prompt moi to leave the bike @ my flat this morning and walk to the motel with umbrella as well.

For now, the rain has let up ... but the weatherperson hath it that more could be likely in the afterlunch, continuing into early tomorrow morning.

Nonetheless, we must be feeling a little tired of all this rain, and could use a few decent days of mild, sunny weather for once to allow all this rainfall to properly percolate into the topsoil. And otherwise dry things out enough so the farmers and planters can get spring field work out of the way for once.

It ain't pretty having to get the plowing done in a wet, muddy field, only to realise the tractor is suddenly caught in mud.

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IS IT JUST ME, OR DOES ZIMBABWEAN MAJORDOMO ROBERT MUGABE SOUND LIKE MICHAEL "LIBERALISM IS A MENTAL DISORDER" SAVAGE in terms of tone, nuance and volume levels vis-a-vis their xenophobically paranoid screeds?

In the case of Robert Mugabe, whose own political future could be hanging all the more in the balance, the BBC has graciously made available for your listening pleasure[?!] his Independence Day speech, as recorded earlier today, replete with all manner of dire threats and attacks against what Mugabe called "thieves who want to steal our country" from both within and without.

As the BBC elaborates:

Thousands of people gathered at the Gwanzura Stadium in Highfield, a suburb of Harare, to hear Mr Mugabe speak at a rally celebrating the anniversary of Zimbabwe's independence from Britain and the end of white minority rule.

The 84-year-old played a key role in the 1970s war of independence and took power as Zimbabwe's first prime minister in 1980 on a wave of popular support.

Many of those in the crowd wore T-shirts decorated with Mr Mugabe's portrait or held banners showing their support for his government's policies.

"Defending our land from imperialists," said one poster, while another claimed "Zimbabwe has no place for sell-outs."

Mr Mugabe took to the stage to rapturous applause to celebrate what he described as the day on which the "nation finally shook off the chains of British racist settler colonialism".

"Our political history is well known, yet with time, we feel more challenged to recall it, especially for those who appear ignorant of it or are deliberately engaged in reversing the gains of our liberation struggle," he said.

Mr Mugabe brushed aside criticism by the British government of Zimbabwe's human rights record and political system, saying democracy had only been established there after independence.

"We, not the British, established democracy based on one person, one vote - democracy which rejected racial or gender discrimination and upheld human rights and religious freedom," he said.

The president called on Zimbabweans "to maintain utmost vigilance in the face of vicious British machinations and the machinations of our other detractors, who are allies of Britain".

"Whereas yesterday they relied on brute force to subjugate our people and plunder our resources, today they have perfected their tactics to more subtle forms," he warned.

Mr Mugabe also said the government was attempting to deal with the hardships facing Zimbabweans, such as the shortage of food and high unemployment, which have been compounded by hyper-inflation.

'Saddest day'

On Thursday, Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa accused Mr Tsvangirai of treason and working with the UK to bring about "regime change".

The state-controlled Herald newspaper paper said the details were contained in a "memorandum of understanding" between the MDC leader and "various right-wing groups" in Zimbabwe and South Africa.

The UK embassy in Harare said the correspondence was "a forgery". Mr Tsvangirai also rejected the treason allegations, describing Mr Chinamasa as an "injustice minister" because he had lost his seat in parliament.

At a news conference in Johannesburg, Mr Tsvangirai said Zimbabwe was facing "the saddest independence day since our liberation from colonial rule" and that people were literally starving.

Later, Mr Tsvangirai told the BBC of the near-agreement between the MDC and Zanu-PF that would have removed President Mugabe.

"We were prepared to consider the issue of an inclusive government including some members of Zanu-PF," he said.

"In fact they were suggesting how many and they were talking about a panel from which we were going to choose."

The government talks failed when it became clear there were "others in the establishment who did not want to accept that", he said.

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MAKING THE SITUATION EVEN MORE GALLING--which, perhaps, translates into another reason why you should boycott Wally World, considering where much of the cheapjack sold there is of Chinese manufacture--is the news that South African dock workers in Durban are refusing to offload a cargo of 3 million rounds of ammunition, 1,500 rocket-propelled grenades and 2,500 mortar rounds destined for Zimbabwe from the China-flagged An Yue Jiang, @ anchor off Durban.

Which begs the question of what kind of contacts Zimbabwe has in the world--contacts which can actually be weird, unwholesome and/or dangerous.

Now picture what America would face if reduced to similar circumstances Zimbabwe is going through approaching Indecision 2008.

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WHICH IS ENOUGH TO BRING UP @ THIS TIME A CALL IN CERTAIN SECULAR-PROGRESSIVE CIRCLES for a one-day General Strike across the United States coincident with the anniversary of the Unfortunate Events of 9/11, the better to demand that Indecision 2008 be fair, honest, impartial and transparent--especially in the wake of ongoing GOP treachery and scheming to pervert not just the electoral process, but also democracy and liberty.

News which Fox Prolefeed especially--and their droogs and malachiks in the conservative propaganda masheen--is not going to take lightly, come to think of it, perhaps dropping hints that such a strike call would amount to "industrial sabotage" and "dishonouring the memory" of the nearly 3,000 "martyrs" of what may really be nothing less than a carefully-scripted "false flag" campaign to excuse ur-RAHOWA in Iraq and Afghanistan, never mind the cost and compromised national honour and prestige.

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IF YOU ALREADY USE PAYPAL, YOU MAY WANT TO CONSIDER UPGRADING YOUR WEB BROWSER @ YOUR EARLIEST OPPORTUNITY more than anything:

In its ongoing efforts to fight "phishing" and "spoofing" scams invoking PayPal's good name and repute by elements weird and/or unwholesome, PayPal will start blocking access to the online-payments site from those using "unsafe browsers," in particular older versions of Internet Explorer and Firefox (users of Firefox 2.0 need an add-on to support Extended Validation SSL Certificates such as PayPal uses to protect user trust and confidence) and those using the Apple Safari browser for PC and Macintosh systems.

So if you have Internet Explorer versions 3.0 and 4.0 in particular on your PC, please upgrade to newer versions ASAP for your online safety where sensitive financial information is involved.

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HAS CHRIS "HARDBALL" MATTHEWS STARTED ADDING ANTI-SEMITISM TO HIS HATEMONGERING REPRETOIRE, in addition to his well-established pattern of misogynistic chauvinism in service to "winning of hearts and minds"?

Media Matters for America thinks so--just see for yourself:

So where's the outrage now?