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AFTER QUITE AWHILE AWAY FROM BLOGGING--WHICH CAN BE CREDITED, IN PART, TO THE DELLS TRIP AND A FEW OTHER THINGS ON MY MIND--Your Correspondent begs of you readers for patience and forbearance as he tries to get back into blogging form in the stylee he's accustomed to.

And then some--especially so that emphasising more immediate and timely posting of material.

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IN VIEW OF CHANGES IN THE BUS SCHEDULE HEADING TO AND FROM THE TWIN CITIES OUT OF WINONA of late--as in leaving for the Cities on Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays, with the return on Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays--Your Correspondent may be seeing something of a first when it comes to visiting the Minnesota State Fair this year.

Which would be his 27th consecutive such in 32 years (34 visits in all), for the record.

As in: Visiting TGMnGT on two consecutive days, which, to many, must seem like a dream when one day would be more than satisfactory. But then again, my receiving Renter's Credit rebate in August affords it in its own way.

Yet, the challenge will be not to blow all the money on one day's visiting.

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ONGOING PRONOUNCEMENTS BY THE TERRIBLE-TEMPERED MR. BANG OF INDECISION 2008 that the American Colonial Occupation of Iraq in the guise of ur-RAHOWA Against Terrorism will essentially remain indefinite, depending on local conditions and circumstances, begs the question of whether the final decision to leave Iraq under a John McCain Presidency will depend on "the proper signs"--as in consultation with astrologers and fortune-smellers of the worst possible repute, and @ public expense (howbeit subject to rather clumsy attempts @ euphemism to avoid attracting the attention of "those meddling Secular-Progressive Bloggers" in case suspicions start to arise).

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STAYING WITH McCAIN'S PRESIDENTIAL DELUSIONS FOR A MOMENT, it's enough to make you wonder if his "real" agenda for socioeconomic recovery is conditioned by a warped and twisted agenda suggesting that a "pure" form of free-market capitalism with American characteristics is Great White Father (cf. United States Government policies towards Native Americans in the late 19th and early 20th centuries as concealed the real intention of same being, for one, the forced relocation of Native Americans to the worst possible sort of lands as have been designated "reservations" ... and, for another, the desire of Native Americans to assimilate by denying any and all right to exercising their heritage and culture).

The same expected to be pushed all the more upon the Lower Classes seen in conservative thought as being "helplessly enslaved into Socialistic or otherwise un-American thought" by way of State Welfare (howbeit discreetly), same to essentially be "reeducated" into seeing the free market (per Ayn Rand in particular) as their Last and Only Hope and Salvation for their Empowerment and Developing Healthy Tendencies towards Self-Reliance, Personal Responsibility, Thrift and a Wholesome and Simple Home Life--unaware all along that a "pure" free-market capitalist system only concentrates wealth into the fewest possible hands, and by deliberate design @ that.

That, and a belief in "complete, final and binding regulatory relief" which expects "undue and unnecessary [governmental] regulatory burden" to be replaced by "healthy" Self-Regulatory Codes of Good Practice which, on closer inspection, indirectly endorses cartel behaviour in the name of offering greater selection thanks to "freedom of choice" @ lower prices.

Unfortunately, though, cartel behaviour serves only to limit competition through price-fixing (usually reinforced by Reseller Price Maintenance Agreements) and/or "tied-house" agreements (limiting retailers to carrying only one particular brand under preferential terms) ... not to mention controlling or limiting supplies from time to time to create the aura of scarcity which, in its turn, can be used to manipulate prices and profits ... controlling or otherwise proscribing brand advertising ... even creating a "back door" by which fraud, waste, inefficency, mismanagement and corruption can be excused (howbeit requiring all manner of trick and deception to avoid "attracting unwelcome attention").

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NO WONDER THE RELIGIOPOLITICAL RIGHT IS AS PATHETIC AS THEY ARE in their whining about their message somehow being "misquoted" or "misunderstood" or otherwise "taken out of proper context" by groups like Media Matters for America and People For the American Way, who are usually the first to expose Religiopolitical Right pronouncements to air and sunshine--and in their entirety, the better to ensure their being in full context.

Which hasn't stopped the ilk of Pat "700 Club" Robertson from whining about "misquotation" on their propaganda outlets (as per PfAW's Right Wing Watch blog):

Dittoes for South Carolina State Senator James DeMint (again, per Right Wing Watch):

Which begs the question of what exactly the Religiopolitical Right sees as "misquotation" or "misinterpretation" in their remarks short of their manipulating or otherwise heavily editing same to mislead or confuse once the damage has been done with the initial revelations--as in "what did they really want us to believe before it was somehow misread?"