THERE IS NO ARGUING THE FACT THAT CONSERVATIVE ARTICLES OF FAITH ARE HEAVY WITH CONTEMPT TOWARDS THE LOWER CLASSES, especially so when it comes to the meme that "welfare basket cases" "are lacking any decent respect for industry, self-reliance and personal responsibility" which, in conservative thought, can only be remedied by requiring eligible welfare cases to find work as a "mere formality" for welfare eligibility.

Easier said than done under current socioeconomic conditions, made all the more worse by His Fraudulency's misadventures packaged as ur-RAHOWA Against International Terrorism, and his insistence that same can be supported by keeping taxes low in the name of "creating jobs" and, in its turn, "maintaining social order."

No doubt translating all the more into fertile opportunities for exploitation by "work-from-home" mountebanks taking unscrupulous advantage of an obviously vulnerable element such as is common among those on welfare--which these same Zealots and True Believers in workfare as a way of controlling the Lower Classes hope the "welfare queens" will respond to, and quickly, never mind the likelihood of their being scams.

Or, for that matter, scenarios such as that described in the following recent "WaiWai" item per the Mainichi Daily News (which, as per usual, needs to be taken cum grano salis--with a grain of salt, as it were--because of the original source being less than credible journalistically trans-Pacific):

Tokyo's once-thriving cabaret club hostess industry is teetering on the verge of extinction, thanks to a clean-up campaign targeting the street-side touts referred to colloquially as "crows", according to Nikkan Gendai (4/3).

Crows are the (usually) young men in trendy suits who hang around Tokyo's entertainment districts, accosting attractive female pedestrians with offers of work as a hostess in a cabaret club, the Japanese name for establishments where customers are plied with pricey drinks by pretty young women.

Revisions to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government's ordinance outlawing people from creating a public nuisance already ban people from trying to get women to work in adult movies and sex businesses, but now it's no longer legal to ask them to work as a hostess, either.

Nikkan Gendai notes that an arrest of a cabaret club talent scout has already happened on April 1, the day the new ban came into effect. It says the clean-up of entertainment areas in the capital--like Shinjuku, Shibuya and Ikebukuro--is aimed at making Tokyo look more pristine for its campaign to host the 2016 Olympic Games.

But the lowbrow afternoon tabloid daily says that even though many would welcome the disappearance of the annoying crows from street corners, materialization of such a phenomenon has many within the cabaret club industry fearing their business may be doomed.

"There are about 5,000 crows working the entertainment districts in Shinjuku, Shibuya and Ikebukuro, some of them making upward of ¥30 million a year. A large majority of nightclub hostesses are recruited from the streets. A talented crow knows the kind of woman who's going to succeed in the business, and when a club gets a decent hostess, it livens things up and makes sure everyone has a good time," the manager of several famous cabaret clubs in Tokyo tells Nikkan Gendai on condition of anonymity. "If the talent scouts disappeared off the streets, it would be the death of the cabaret club industry. I'm already worried about whether we'll be able to maintain the quality of hostess we've currently got working at my clubs."

So ask yourselves, ye Zealots and True Believers of producerism as is @ the heart of your contempt for the poor and vulnerable:

• Would you rather that some "welfare queen" entered Mrs. Warren's Profession if she were reduced to such circumstances for want of approriate employment?
• Would you prefer that Vocational Guidance Counsellors (as your ilk would now prefer having welfare case managers now referred to) trick some of their problem cases unable to find honest work into selling Quixtar/Amway and suchlike, knowing full well that a number of "multi-level marketing" schemes like Quixtar are worse than rigged casinos?
• Would you offer "guidance" to certain "helpless welfare cases" that they get a one-way bus ticket out of town and move elsewhere (preferably interstate) just to find work because jobs just aren't available locally?
• How would you react to the likelihood that many people employed only because of workfare are discharged for "reasons" having nothing to do with the real such--i.e., the tax credits and incentives offered employers to encourage the employment of welfare cases having lapsed without incentives being offered to retain them after the credits lapse?
• Since you're the sort who sees mutual self-help as "the next wave" in social-welfare thought, what would prevent you from encouraging the establishment of mutual self-help initiatives as would fit in with your desires of helping the Lower Classes "develop a renewed healthy respect for industry, self-reliance, personal responsibility, thrift and a wholesome and simple home life"?
  Fear, perhaps, that such otherwise laudible initiatives would "only perpetuate dependency"?
  Fear that such might "undermine the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God" by way of Knowledge and Enlightenment being spread?
  Fear that your very "antient and pecuilar rights, privileges and powers***entitled as of right" might be "undermined"?
• How do we know that your belief in mutual self-help as the Great White Hope for the Lower Classes isn't really hypocritical doublethink (as in your notion that certain mutual self-help models "tend to Socialism or otherwise un-American beliefs inconsistent with American heritage and experience")--or, put another way, mutual self-help "in theory"?
• What are your real concerns about mutual self-help actually seeking to empower the Lower Classes towards such lofty and noble goals of "empowerment" and "self-reliance" you expect out of them through workfare, but without real success?
• Would you expect to encourage the spread of "cashflow gifting clubs" as your preferred form of promoting "mutual self-help" in the Lower Classes, all the while (un)consciously (un)aware that these same "gifting clubs" are really closer to Ponzi schemes manipulated to favour only an "elect***entitled as of right" @ the highest echelons, expected all the while to maintain secrecy and discretion? What rationale have you for such pathetic lily-gilding?
• How do we know such initiatives you would have in mind as (theoretical) "mutual self-help" to "empower" (or so you hope) the Lower Classes aren't secretly involving the weird and unwholesome element, especially criminal and terrorist syndicates seeking ways to launder their Proceeds of Crime?
• How do you expect mutual self-help to be compatible with your other belief (perhaps xenophobic, come to think of it) that free-market capitalism with American characteristics is to be seen by the Lower Classes as the Great White Father, so to speak?
• Have you no sense of Decency, Sirs, @ long last?
• Have you left no sense of Decency?

But don't come crying to me if you see these questions as nothing less than "critical attacks," "innuendo" or "harrassment." It's a problem which you created--and which you need to resolve.

IMAGINE, READER, IF YOU WILL, THE RELIGIOPOLITICAL RIGHT'S PROPAGANDA MASHEEN using a number of patriotically significant venues for their own notions of "patriotic" propaganda.

Including, no doubt, the obvious such of Independence Hall in Philadelphia.

Plymouth Rock in Massachusetts.

The various sites as make up the Freedom Trail in Boston, especially Fanueil Hall, the Tea Party Ships, Paul Revere's Residence and the Old North Church.

The "rude bridge that arch'd the flood" in Concord, Massachusetts where the opening salvos of the American Revolution were fired.

Mount Rushmore in the Black Hills of South Dakota.

The Alamo.

The more prominent Civil War battlefields, particularly so Fort Sumter (where the opening salvos were fired), Bull Run, Shiloh, Antietam, Gettysburg, Chattanooga, Vicksburg--and the site of the final surrender, Appromatox Court House.

--well, you get the general idea.

I mention this because a controversy is developing in Japan over a Sino-Japanese joint production documentary simply entitled Yasukuni, about the Tokyo shrine dedicated to Japan's war dead and a major thorn in the side of Japanese prestige since the end of World War II and the loss of the Emperor's traditional superdivinity.

Which the BBC documents thus:

An old man wearing a white tunic and a dark apron, steps into the frame from the right of the cinema screen.

From a scabbard he pulls a long ceremonial sword. Calmly and with precision, he carves an arc in the air above his head with the blade, before bringing it down firmly, deliberately in the space in front of him.

Naoji Kariya, who is 90, is the last living swordsmith at the Yasukuni shrine in Tokyo, the place where Japan remembers its war dead.

He is one of the characters interviewed at length for a new documentary, simply entitled Yasukuni, made by Chinese film-maker Li Ying.

The film has attracted criticism from some lawmakers in Japan, who have described it as "anti-Japanese."

Those comments have been blamed for inciting right-wing activists to make threats of violence and stage protests against cinemas that planned to show the movie this weekend.

Five have cancelled screenings.

Publicly funded

For the moment, the film - which has won awards at festivals elsewhere in the world - will not be released in Japan.

But the criticism of his documentary has disappointed Li Ying - particularly the comments from some lawmakers, who demanded a special screening before it went to the cinemas.

"'Anti-Japanese' was a phrase that was used here often before the Sino-Japanese War," the director says.

"It was used to encourage nationalism. It's a very dangerous phrase. Those who use it are irresponsible."

The joint Sino-Japanese production was partly financed by the Japanese taxpayer. The film-makers were given a grant of ¥7.5 million.

Some politicians have questioned whether this was an appropriate use of public funds, claiming that the film should have been more balanced.

In all, Li Ying has spent 10 years, on and off, making the film.

During visits to Yasukuni he says he was at times threatened, abused, and on occasion had his equipment confiscated. Newspapers here have reported that he has received death threats.

He says he set out to try to understand better what the shrine means to Japanese people.

Those who gave their lives in the service of the Japanese emperor are honoured at the shrine. Among them are 14 class A war criminals, convicted after the end of World War II.

It was the place where the kamikaze pilots promised each other they would meet again once their deadly missions were complete.

To many it is one of the most sacred places in Japan. To others it is a place they feel glorifies war.

Legacy of war

Li Ying includes both supporters and opponents of Yasukuni in his film.

Some incidents are hard to watch. In one scene, left-wing activists trying to disrupt the singing of the national anthem during a public meeting at the shrine are pulled away and beaten up by right-wingers.

Others incidents are compelling. The camera lingers as it watches the swordsmith carefully sharpening the blade of a ceremonial sword he has fired in a brazier.

Shinto priests stride through the darkness towards the innermost sanctum of the shrine to carry out their devotions.

A lone soldier, dressed in the uniform of the Imperial Army marches through the rain to salute his fallen comrades.

"The subject of the film is the aftermath - the legacy of the war, as defined in the space of Yasukuni," Li Ying says.

"The debate over Yasukuni is a debate over symbols. That's why I focused on the swordsmith. The sword is the symbol of Yasukuni."

Some cinemas have been reluctant to show the film due to the public debate surrounding its content.

One is the Humax Cinema in Tokyo, where Akio Nakamura works.

"We had right-wingers with a loudspeaker van outside the cinema for three days," he says.

"Since we can't stop them and it annoys our customers, we have had to give in."

Right-wing objections

Japan's right-wing activists are noisy - and sometimes violent. Although they are a tiny minority here, they know how to intimidate.

"Yasukuni has become the touchstone of the Japanese right wing," explains Professor Phil Deans, from Temple University in Tokyo.

"They are very concerned that a documentary made by a Chinese film-maker, a foreigner, will be critical, and that's why it is such an important issue for them."

But Masahisa Sato, a law-maker from the governing Liberal Democratic Party who is a defender of the shrine, believes the fault lies with the cinemas, not with the politicians who criticised the film.

"I don't think the pressure of the protesters was that great," he argues.

"Lots of cinemas decided themselves to cancel the film to avoid trouble. Those who say politicians added to the pressure on them are wrong."

However, the row may yet backfire on the film's detractors.

Plans to show the film this weekend might have been dropped, but the distributors are confident that once the dust has settled, the film's new-found notoriety will mean it gets shown in more than 20 cinemas nationwide.

(Your Correspondent would like to suggest, in closing, that Yasukuni be screened in the United States with dubbed Engrish narration, never mind the "elitist" and "New World Order" memes likely emanating from the Fox Prolefeed crowd.) 

see more crazy cat pics

THAT MAY NOT EXACTLY BE THE CASE UP HERE IN THE MINNWISSIPPI REGION HOME OF YOUR CORRESPONDENT, even considering the fact that we may be seeing a net drop in the maxima temperature of 15 degrees or thereabouts cf. just yesterday.

As in today's maxima likely being only around 55-56 degrees with rain likely in the afterlunch, whereas yesterday it was 72 degrees under sunny, if windy, skies.

Still, though, with milder weather affecting areas "up north" as have seen record snowfall this late into the season, in their turn translating into substantial snow melt feeding into streams and rivers as have yet to see ice out in some instances, there's always the possibility of flooding downstream, Winona included, within measurable distance.

Or is there?

(Actually, given current weather and stream flow conditions here in Winona, as per the National Weather Service, it's highly unlikely that the river will reach flood stage of 13'/3.96 metres anytime soon. Expect a more realistic estimate of 9.4'/2.865 metres for the peak river level in the next fortnight or so.)

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CONSIDERING THE PECUILARITIES OF THE JEWISH LUNAR CALENDAR (AND THEN SOME), it seems rather ironic that the first day of the Jewish festival of Passover (actually beginning the evening previous @ sundown) coincides this year with the birthday of Nazi German leader Adolf Hitler (1889-1945).

The irony of which is not lost upon the Anti-Defamation League, which has issued the following press release expressing concern about the coincidence being exploited by the weird and unwholesome element:

Neo-Nazi Groups Plan Events Commemorating Hitler's Birthday

New York, NY, April 16, 2008 … In an annual rite of spring, white supremacist and neo-Nazi groups across the United States are planning to hold events to commemorate the April 20 birthday of Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler, where he will be celebrated for his legacy of racism, anti-Semitism and hate.

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) says several well-known domestic extremist groups are planning to hold racist rallies, marches, cookouts and other events in Washington, D.C., Chicago, IL, Portland, OR, Houston, TX, and Morganton, NC, in conjunction with Hitler's birthday.

Many of the planned Hitler birthday gatherings coincide with the start of the Jewish holiday of Passover, which begins on April 19.

"There is always a concern when the extremist groups use a calendar event as a rallying point to recruit members and to promote anti-Semitism, racism and bigotry," said Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National Director.  "Hitler's birthday has a special resonance for extremists, not only because of what Adolf Hitler represents, but because there have been violent and deadly attacks directly associated with this date in the past.  It is especially troubling since Hitler's birthday falls on the first day of Passover this year."

One of the events on April 19 is being billed as an anti-immigrant rally.  Anti-immigrant and particularly anti-Hispanic rhetoric have become one of the calling cards of white supremacist groups in recent years, according to ADL, which has issued reports on how extremist groups have used the national debate over immigration to recruit new members and spread hate.

The League has provided a list of upcoming Hitler birthday events on its Web site along with links to more information on the neo-Nazi and white supremacists groups behind them. 

Among the events being planned:

•  Washington, DC:  Members of the neo-Nazi National Socialist Movement, who are known for dressing in Nazi uniforms and making Nazi salutes, are planning an April 19 rally and march "against illegal immigration."

•  Morganton, NC:  Members of Stormfront, an Internet forum popular among white supremacists and anti-Semites, will hold a "racialist cookout" that is being advertised as "family friendly."

•  Chicago, IL:  The neo-Nazi American National Socialist Workers Party has scheduled a gathering in honor of Hitler's birthday featuring various "pro-white" speakers, including a former German SS officer.

•  Portland, OR: Volksfront, the most active neo-Nazi group on the West Coast, is hosting a gathering.  One of the group's goals is to establish a whites-only living space in the Pacific Northwest.

•  Houston, TX: Crew 38, a group associated with the neo-Nazi Hammerskin Nation, will host an "Adolf Hitler Memorial and BBQ" in Houston with live entertainment and a swastika lighting.

The Anti-Defamation League, founded in 1913, is the world's leading organization fighting anti-Semitism through programs and services that counteract hatred, prejudice and bigotry.

And let's not forget, folks, that the April 19th anniversary of the Oklahoma City Incident, which was hoped to be a call to arms among the pitchfork-wielding peasantry Who Should Know Better against a corrupt and out-of-control Big Brother-Stylee Police State, has also been used in recent years by those taking advantage of the crude and easily-exploitable patriotism in the Great Silent Majority.

As in poor, undereducated or homeschooled and easily-influenced "white trash" resident, for the most part, in lower-income or otherwise "culturally deprived" ZIP+4 areas with few or no realistic opportunities for jobs or empowerment. Let alone plenty of time to guzzle beer, eat junk food wholesale and watch Fox Prolefeed on the satellite TV ... or engage in orgies of wasteful and unnecessary shopping @ the local Wally World without due regard for whether they're getting value for money.

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WITH THE ANNOUNCEMENT THAT DELTA AND NORTHWEST AIRLINES ARE CONSIDERING MARRIAGE, CONTINUING UNDER THE DELTA NAME AND STYLEE, some are expecting nothing short of a quick, Gretna Green-stylee ceremony and getting things over and done with all the sooner.

But then again, expect already-high air fares made all the more so by high jet fuel prices to be even more so thanks to reduced competition, as experience anecdotally illustrates and reminds us.

Not to mention increased and increasing frustration on the part of air travellers complacent in our air-mindedness being one with the supposed "moral superiority" of the American People and Nation. 

IN THEIR DESIRE TO PRESENT NOTHING LESS THAN AN IDEALISED--HAGIOGRAPHIC, EVEN--VISION OF HONEST POVERTY AND IGNORANCE serving the Producerist ideal for 21st-century America being saved from herself, the conservative Zealots and True Believers hope you won't watch the "Four Yorkshiremen" sketch following, lest you wind up getting Bad Ideas about growing up in direst poverty:

(Or are you?)

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COME TO THINK OF IT, how can the Lower Classes be expected to "empower" themselves towards "self-reliance and personal responsibility" by becoming Quixtar/Amway distributors certain to fail all too soon anyway--especially when it just so happens that the referral is from their Vocational Guidance Counsellor per workfare?

CONTINUING ON MY DISCUSSION FROM YESTERDAY, READERS (ESPECIALLY HARD-WIRED CONSERVATIVE SUCH), perhaps it was time to take to task another specimen of conservative illogic:

If we're expected to believe that anyone who supports "multiculturalism," "diversity," "tolerance" and "acceptance" is an unwitting "Communist" or "Communist sympathiser," does it necessarily follow, therefore, that the only True Americans are such who hold dear racism, White Christian Supremacy, bigotry and intolerance?

Such, alas for it! is what is likely to have to be assumed absent clear and specific collaboration of the claim. "Silence=acceptance," boys and girls, but it does not automatically extend to include "depiction=approval."

In any case--rationally, I hope--debate the issue in the comments section.