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(part 1):
New shopping, new life: (Which is intended to help Your Correspondent supplement his disability benefits, for the most part, as well as Some Good Causes, foremost among them being Reduction of the U.S. National Debt):
Be sure to visit The Exaggerator eStore; offering such a selection of products as I find worthy of your consideration for their esoterica or their practicality.
(part 2):
If you're a blogger or webmaster looking to add value for money to your blog/website, please take a look @ these worthwhile options:
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OFFICIAL IRANIAN PROPAGANDA CROSSING INTO PROLEFEED CLAIMETH THAT SOME 60% OF ELIGIBLE VOTERS TURNED OUT in the recent parliamentary elections, reinforced by all manner of campaigns smelling of the coercive to get people to the polling stations.
But that's as maybe: A BBC reporter assigned to Tehran noticed where one central Tehran polling station was rather empty and quiet enough to the point where you could hear a pin drop, or so it seems.
In all, such was another in those elections as were neither free nor fair; returns to the moment suggest that conservative candidates opposed to moderate-leaning President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad were winning a clear majority thanks to certain reformist candidates having been "disqualified" on technical issues (or so the Council of Guardians, an appointed body of Muslim clerics seeking to ensure the purity of the Islamic Revolution and its articles of faith, thinks).
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WHICH BRINGS TO MIND THIS REMINDER AND WARNING FROM HISTORY by way of religiopolitical conservative activist Paul Weyrich (as quoted by Right Wing Watch, People For the American Way's blog) @ the 1980 National Affairs Briefing of the Religious Roundtable (emphasis added):
Now many of our Christians have what I call the goo-goo syndrome--good government. They want everybody to vote. I don't want everybody to vote. Elections are not won by a majority of people, they never have been from the beginning of our country and they are not now. As a matter of fact, our leverage in the elections quite candidly goes up as the voting populace goes down.
Which, to the Elmer Gantry Theological Seminary's way of thinking, is justification for voter-suppression tactics by which His Name can be invoked against especially National Minorities "by whatever means necessary," no matter how crass or disgusting they may be.
And which serves as reminder to all of you to remain all the more vigilant to voter-intimidation and voter-registration-interference campaigns and tactics by the weird and unwholesome element, particularly so where such causes use patriotic-sounding "feel-good" names to conceal sinister intent, operating more than likely out of mail drops "for privacy reasons," or so they want us thinking.
That, and interference with the electoral process being a penal offence, with enhanced penalties likely where National Minorities are targeted in such efforts. Hence, if you encounter any such campaigns in your part of the country, be sure to contact:
your local law-enforcement agencies; and
People For's freecall hotline of 1-866-OUR-VOTE.
No doubt there are elements who would stop @ nothing to ensure that, true to maxim, "bad leaders are elected by good people who don't vote."
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THE DALAI LAMA, TIBET'S EXILED RELIGIONATIONAL LEADER, HAS GONE ON RECORD in describing Chinese actions against Tibetan nationalists seeking the restoration of Tibet's antient and pecuilar soverignty and soverign identity as nothing less than, in his words, "cultural genocide."
But then again, how much longer before the Archie Bunker/Alf Garnett crowd starts picking up the term and perverts it for their own sick and dangerous delusions of White Christian Supremacy and Honour being "in clear and present danger of being compromised"?
Such is something as bears watching, especially because of its dangerous possibilities among Those Who Should Know Better.
READERS, APOLOGY AND EXPLANATION ARE IN ORDER @ THIS TIME for my having been unable to come up with the usual dose of blog material until now.
It just so happens that earlier today, Your Correspondent had an eye checkup @ the Shopko (a discount store here in Winona which has in-store optical department), it having been the time for one on his part.
And it turns out that my next pair of glasses will be bifocals.
Yes, you read right--bifocals.
This largely because of Medical Assistance (MA) policies and limitations, understand, in view of where my eyes have been heading since I've been on a computer for some while now.
As well, the checkup included the use of "drops" as dilates the pupil so the eye medico can do checks for the likes of glaucoma and cataracts; hence, the eyes were out of service for awhile because of the dilated pupils perhaps affecting the vision and making things a little difficult.
Things have improved enough so that I could get this explanation off to you, the readers of this blog.
In any case, the transition to bifocals will not be a picnic; understand this in advance. (Come to think of it, readers who have experience with bifocals would be welcome to offer suggestions on how I can transition best from traditional eyeglasses to bifocals.) What's more, eyeglass prescriptions covered under Medical Assistance in Minnesota are processed by a different laboratory, so it may take a week or so (depending on workload) before the new ones arrive.)
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ALL IN ALL, I HOPE THIS RATHER UNCONVENTIONAL ITEM IN THE WEBLOG proves of interest to you, not to mention being a change-of-pace of sorts.
And your comments are appreciated.
(UPDATE as of Monday, 24 March, 16h36 CDST/21h36 UTC: The bifocals have arrived, I am now wearing them ... and I admit that I'm getting used to them. Followed by a little luncheon of sorts @ the just-opened Ground Round here in Winona, as was in proximity; such was a gesture of convenience, so I decided to try it. Not half bad.)
IF IT'S ANYTHING TO YOU, READER, THE REASONS WHY I HAVE TO HAVE ONLINE SHOPPING IN THIS BLOG are many:
To make some productive use of your time while reading these items in the first place--especially when you have online shopping that needs to be done.
To encourage you to make this blog a regular habit in more ways than one.
To supplement Your Correspondent's limited and limiting disability benefit-derived income; as he's no doubt mentioned time and time again, he suffers emotional disorders aggravated by past abuse as precludes his being able to get a steady and stable job in the more traditional sense. What's more, Your Correspondent is unlikely to come into money within measurable distance; hence, the commissions he can get from your online shopping adventures, as well as Virtual Tip Jar donations (which are fully secure and encrypted, in case you have any concerns), will greatly help in the interim.
To encourage energy conservation vis-a-vis your shopping habits by shopping online, especially with gas well over $3/gallon in many areas of the country and many pressed for time.
With several e-tailers such as I have, such allows you to better comparison shop for what you're looking for, and find it @ the price that you find best.
So what stands in the way of serious online shopping for once here @ The Exaggerator on your part, reader?
FORMER WISCONSIN GOVERNOR TOMMY THOMPSON HAD THIS PENCHANT FOR DISPLAYING ON HIS OFFICE DESK a sign which asked "What part of No don't you understand?"
Such is a question as ought be asked Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty, perhaps the closest thing the so-called "Club for Growth" has as a Good and Loyal Drookie among the 50 state governors expected to parrot its "low taxes=jobs=social order" line.
The Winona Daily News, a gazetta here, asked as much in the following editorial the other day:
Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty and two-year-olds have a lot in common. They both seem to pout and they're both fond of using the word "no."
While the governor dropped his "no new taxes" pledge in 2006, he has not dropped it as a slogan, neither has he changed the way his administration does business.
Now, look at what six years of saying no has bought us: A state that has become mediocre in education; a state that struggles to keep up with health and human services; a state that has crumbling bridges and roads; a state that has used up what goodwill and good governance had put up for store in the cupboard of government, and now, those shelves are bare.
When Pawlenty unveiled his budget [last] Friday, contained within it were a lot of "nos." The Pawlenty administration appears to be saying "no" to higher education, even though just a couple of years ago Pawlenty had been touting free higher education in the state of Minnesota as a means to combating the "brain drain" that seems to pull Minnesota's best and brightest high school students out of state for good.
He's said no to health and human services, even though the number of uninsured continues to rise, making healthcare less and less affordable for everyone. And, he's said no to the already backlogged, overworked court system.
When the budget rolled out, everyone knew there'd be some belt-tightening and cuts. What we didn't expect is the governor to make a bad situation even worse. As Rep. Ken Tschumper, DFL-La Crescent, rightly suggested, it seems like Pawlenty is playing revenge politics after the transportation bill override. Hanging in the balance are the state agencies.
Pawlenty asked the Legislature to ease up on the state sales tax — reduce it by one-eighth of 1 percent. If passed, this would mean the state would be another $77 million in the hole.
In this case, the governor would also do well to remember the word "no."
No one has asked nor is anyone calling on reducing the state sales tax.
And, no one will notice the reduction, which means about three cents on every $20 spent. It means about two-tenths of a mile of gas in a car that gets 30 miles per gallon. It means you'd have to spend $800 before you'd see your savings move from the cents to the dollar category.
No one—except for Pawlenty—seems to believe that you can get out of an economic hole by digging deeper. And, reducing the sales tax would only be driving the state farther into debt.
But we also like the word "no."
We say "no" to the governor's idea of how to cure the state shortfall. No to the idea of using one-time state reserves to balance a budget. That money won't be there next year and it only delays what could be the inevitable one more year. By that time, with Pawlenty's rumored vice-presidential run, Tim could be long-gone, but we'll be in the same old mess.
We say "no" to cutting a tax that no one feels. To believe the insignificant one-eighth of 1 cent will somehow ease pressure on families is a dream of an overactive imagination. It means that a household spending $80,000 a year would get $100 in return. Not exactly big relief.
It's no way to deal with the present and even less of a way to fund the future.
What we're seeing around the state is not just the product of cooling economic times. What we're seeing is the legacy of no. No new taxes really means no new roads, no new education funding, no new help to those who really need it and no new innovative ideas from the state that seemed to coin the word progressive and define quality of life.
I ask you, Governor Pawlenty: Have you no shame?
Have you no scruples?
Have you no sense of Decency, for that matter (let alone Morality and Common Sense)?
ANOTHER WORTHWHILE POETICAL SUGGESTION FROM THE GREAT ROBERT BURNS (1759-1796) as could have benefit in deflating the ego trips of the so-called "Westboro Baptist Church" (as in their demonstrations @ the funerals of suspected homosexuals and Other Deviant Elements being subjected to pranking and disruption) would have to be Rabbie's "Address to the Unco Guid, Or the Rigidly Righteous:"
My Son, these maxims make a rule, An' lump them aye thegither; The Rigid Righteous is a fool, The Rigid Wise anither: The cleanest corn that ere was dight May hae some pyles o' caff in; So ne'er a fellow-creature slight For random fits o' daffin.
Solomon.-Eccles. ch. vii. verse 16.
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O ye wha are sae guid yoursel', Sae pious and sae holy, Ye've nought to do but mark and tell Your neibours' fauts and folly! Whase life is like a weel-gaun mill, Supplied wi' store o' water; The heaped happer's ebbing still, An' still the clap plays clatter.
Hear me, ye venerable core, As counsel for poor mortals That frequent pass douce Wisdom's door For glaikit Folly's portals: I, for their thoughtless, careless sakes, Would here propone defences- Their donsie tricks, their black mistakes, Their failings and mischances.
Ye see your state wi' theirs compared, And shudder at the niffer; But cast a moment's fair regard, What maks the mighty differ; Discount what scant occasion gave, That purity ye pride in; And (what's aft mair than a' the lave), Your better art o' hidin.
Think, when your castigated pulse Gies now and then a wallop! What ragings must his veins convulse, That still eternal gallop! Wi' wind and tide fair i' your tail, Right on ye scud your sea-way; But in the teeth o' baith to sail, It maks a unco lee-way.
See Social Life and Glee sit down, All joyous and unthinking, Till, quite transmugrified, they're grown Debauchery and Drinking: O would they stay to calculate Th' eternal consequences; Or your more dreaded hell to state, Damnation of expenses!
Ye high, exalted, virtuous dames, Tied up in godly laces, Before ye gie poor Frailty names, Suppose a change o' cases; A dear-lov'd lad, convenience snug, A treach'rous inclination- But let me whisper i' your lug, Ye're aiblins nae temptation.
Then gently scan your brother man, Still gentler sister woman; Tho' they may gang a kennin wrang, To step aside is human: One point must still be greatly dark, - The moving Why they do it; And just as lamely can ye mark, How far perhaps they rue it.
Who made the heart, 'tis He alone Decidedly can try us; He knows each chord, its various tone, Each spring, its various bias: Then at the balance let's be mute, We never can adjust it; What's done we partly may compute, But know not what's resisted.
(The preceding being advice worthy of the Pseudoreligiopolitical Right's notice and attention.)
