IT WOULD BE INTERESTING TO SEE HOW MANY OF YOU AS READ THIS BLOG REGULARLY WOULD FIND THE ABOVE IN POOR TASTE considering the late Midwestern flooding as drained Lake Delton in the Wisconsin Dells district dry thanks to a storm-created freshet into the Wisconsin River ... and threatens to be the end of another Wisconsin community, Gays Mills, itself just trying to rebuild after last August's flooding.

Which, I suppose, could be considered Divine Judgement upon Wisconsin for the "mere legal formality" of Constitutionally recognising marriage as the sole and exclusive monopoly of between male and female, lest any pseudoreligious Zealots and True Believers with hyperactive imaginations get any ideas.

Ideas, methinks, influenced by Al Cohol more than likely as opposed to Divine Revelation.

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MEANWHILE, IN CHINA'S SICHWUAN PROVINCE, TWO LAKES AS WERE CREATED BY EARTHQUAKE DEBRIS FORMING IMPROMPTU DAMS are being monitored all the more for signs of imminent collapse as could result in serious destruction downstream on top of the earlier earthquake such.

In one instance, People's Liberation Army troops are blasting holes in the dam to relieve pressure on the ur-superstructure so as to minimise the runoff hazard downstream against the likelihood of outright collapse.

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TEXTBOOK EXAMPLE OF WHY DECEPTIVE IRONY REIGNS SUPREME ON THE NEOCONSERVATIVE RIGHT: Just how many of you "morally superior" Americans would consider yourselves as "Americans for Prosperity"?

(Especially so when you consider their articles of faith holding that taxes and "undue and unnecessary reguatory burden" are only standing in the way of sustained jobs creation and, in its turn, "social stability;" ergo, the "complete and final" abolition of such "evils" would translate into a return to The Infinite Prosperity of the Universe benefitting all.

(But then again, what would "Americans for Prosperity," in communion with their droogs in K Street, have in mind for replacing taxes as the means to finance the workings of government? Have they valid case studies from the "developed" world in this respect, or what prevents their disclosure?)

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STICKING WITH IRONY FOR A MOMENT, CANADIAN SMOKERS, FACED WITH PERHAPS THE MOST EXPLICIT HEALTH WARNINGS FOUND ANYWHERE on cigarette packs, a blanket ban on advertising and sponsorships, high tobacco taxes and new regulations forcing retailers to move cigarettes behind locked and opaque shelves "to discourage young people from smoking," are finding in these circumstances some irony in the fact that adult magzines are openly avaiable in convenience stores (just so long as they're in sealed plastic bags and on shelves so high children won't be tempted to look @ same) and provincial governments (especially so Ontario and Québec) have exclusive monopolies on liquor sales and distribution "to discourage excessive consumption."

(Worth noting here is that in Ontario, sales of beer and ale are the exclusive monopoly of Brewers' Retail Stores, which are drab-looking by deliberate design to begin with; wines and spirits are sold only through the Liquor Control Board of Ontario's outlets and, in remote areas, agencies. Meanwhile, in La Belle Province, the Regie des alcools de Québec has the monopoly on spirits and quality wines, whereas beer and table wines can be purchased @ licenced supermarkets and convenience stores.)

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HOW DO WE KNOW THAT THE NEOCONSERVATIVE ZEALOTS AND TRUE BELIEVERS WON'T EXACTLY HAVE BLACKMAIL OR INTIMIDATION IN MIND in expecting businesses to Do Their Part in creating "real" jobs (as in unskilled, labour-intensive positions) paying"real" money (more than likely paid in form of Wally World gift cards labelled FOR EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY in the name of encouraging wasteful and unnecessary spending "in the national interest," and without due regard being shown for consumers getting their money's worth, or so expected?

(Especially when the blackmail involves threats of "tax evasion," "breach of trust and confidence," "mismanagement" or other charges being made to scare them into manufactured Corporate Responsibility and Good Corporate Citizenship.)