FIRST, I SUPPOSE YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE for the sake of whom Your Correspondent addresses this memo.

In any case:

I find it rather ironic to the point of stupid your willingness to create all manner of distracting non-issues such as the "danger of homosexuals and homosexuality" upon Impressionable Children in particular ... what you would perceive as "sexual promiscuity" being the price of sex education in the public schools as is based on facts and is taught in an age-approriate context ... and the supposed "moral harm" of real or perceived "pornography or indecency" in films and television, with the obligatory dose of sugarcoated anti-Semitism for good measure.

Let alone crying that rather pathetically singsong-sounding meme of "Christian Persecution! Christian Persecution!" (in the key of "Ring around the collar!") whenever your stories are challenged as lacking factual substantiation, or are otherwise substantiated by anecdotal or otherwise discredited pseudoscience.

BUT:

It seems your ilk is amazingly silent about the revelations of enforced sexual submission among the female members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (FLDS) in the recent court hearings following the removal of some 420 young women and girls, some of whom are pregnant (yes, you read that right--pregnant!) @ as young as 14 years of age. from their Texas compound.

Read carefully the following extract of an Associated Press dispatch on these same revelations (via Yahoo News):

The state argued it should be allowed to keep the children because the sect's teaching encourages girls younger than 18 to enter spiritual marriages with older men and produce as many children as possible. Its attorneys argued that the culture put all the girls at risk and potentially turned the boys into future predators.

A witness for the parents who was presented by defense lawyers as an expert on the FLDS disputed that the girls have no say in who they marry.

"I believe the girls are given a real choice," said W. John Walsh. "Girls have successfully said, 'No, this is not a good match for me,' and they remained in good standing."

But Dr. Bruce Perry, a psychiatrist who has studied children in cults, testified that the girls will not refuse marriages because they are indoctrinated to believe disobedience will lead to their damnation.

The renegade Mormon sect's belief system "is abusive. The culture is very authoritarian," he said.

Perry acknowledged that many adults at the ranch are loving parents and that the boys seemed emotionally healthy. When asked whether the belief system really endangered the older boys or young children, Perry said, "I have lost sleep over that question."

He also conceded that the children, taught from birth to believe that contact with the outside world will lead to eternal damnation, would suffer if placed in traditional foster care.

"If these children are kept in the custody of the state, there would have to be exceptional and innovative programmatic elements for these children and their families," he said. "The traditional foster care system would be destructive for these children."

CPS spokeswoman Marleigh Meisner said the department was pleased with the judge's ruling and believes that the children will now be safe.

It's not clear how quickly the children might be moved from the coliseum and fairgrounds where they are staying on cots into foster homes or other temporary housing, but they could be placed with family members if CPS determines the children will be safe, Meisner said.

Four women testified Friday, and all said they were free to make their own choices. They also said they would do whatever it took to get their children returned to them.

"We're a peaceful people," Lucille Nielson said. Life on their 1,700-acre gated ranch "is very peaceful. You can feel the peace when you are there. Very loving. We raise our children in a loving environment."

But the women also acknowledged that girls get married at ages younger than the state allows.

KUDOS TO THE BRAD BLOG FOR ALERTING YOUR CORRESPONDENT TO THE FOLLOWING RAW VIDEO OFF RATTUBE showing a Fox Prolefeed reporter/producer getting a dose of his own medicine for once by a priest sympathetic to Rev. Jeremiah Wright vis-a-vis Barak Obama's Presidential campaign:

As Brad Friedman (the "Brad" of BradBlog) observes:

And that's what America really looks like. Which is why you normally don't get to see it on TV. Not sure where the video actually aired, if anywhere. Though the questioner was O'Reilly's reporter/hitman, not surprisingly, I've yet to see any clips of that interview on his show (though, admittedly, I don't get to take out the trash every day.)

Echoed by this subsequent comment from someone signing himself "Doug:"

Wow that was awsome, that fox reporter got smoked like a trout! I dont think they'll be playing that interview. If they do it'll be all chopped up and of course out of context. It takes a special person to be able to hold their ground in an interview like that. These people deliver their questions and statements like a machine gun and its so hard to follow because its 90% [N4BSK]! So your standing their reeling trying to replay their comments in your head to make sense of it and if you pause to long youve lost. Hats off to the reverend.

No wonder Fox Prolefeed got what they deserved in this segment--even if it winds up in shreds on the cutting-room floor. Hence, all the more reason to share this video across the blogosphere.

The better to show Fox Prolefeed what kind of journalistic mountebanks they have become.

AS IF THE CURRENT HOMOPHOBIC PARANOIA FROM THE SO-CALLED "AMERICAN FAMILY ASSOCIATION" WASN'T AWFUL ENOUGH for "winning of hearts and minds" among Those Who Should Know Better (as in the poor, undereducated or homeschooled and easily-influenced), Media Matters for America wishes to call your timely Notice and Attention to an ongoing pattern of unhealthy and potentially dangerous homophobia from one Bill "No-Spin Zone" O'Reilly per Fox Prolefeed.

Read on, and don't come crying to meme:

"I think everybody's got to relax on all this gay stuff."
-- Bill O'Reilly, The O'Reilly Factor, August 15, 2007

From his suggestion that the "secular progressive movement" would like to have "poly-amorphous" marriage ("you can marry 18 people, you can marry a duck") to his statement that it would be "insane" and "inappropriate" to "cluster" gays near children, Bill O' Reilly has never been one to "relax on all this gay stuff."

When O'Reilly isn't dishing the homophobia himself, he's giving others a platform on his show to bash the LGBT community--featuring guests like Marc Rudov, who recently advanced the bogus notion that "promoting a homosexual lifestyle" of gays and lesbians would cause "long-term consequences for children," that like a brain tumor, may take years to diagnose:

RUDOV: If there's going to be a brain tumor, it might not be discovered for 10 years--and I kind of look at this in the same way, because children do form their sexual identities from their same-sex parents. And what's going on here is basically teaching children that there's no difference between a heterosexual marriage and a homosexual marriage.

Fox News and O'Reilly use the topic of same-sex couples and their families to promote his show and incite fear of the LGBT community. Never was this practice more clear than when Fox used footage from Rosie O'Donnell's cruise for gay and lesbian couples and their families to promote an upcoming edition of the Factor. The promo raised the question: "Is the media celebrating gay culture?" You can probably guess what the answer was.

Of course, we all know this is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to O'Reilly and his attacks on the LGBT community.

Last October on his nationally syndicated radio program, The Radio Factor, O'Reilly began a multi-day tirade against Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling and her popular Potter character, Dumbledore. During a promotion for his television program on his radio show, he said: "We're also gonna tell you about Harry Potter and the gay agenda. Apparently that's goin' on." That night on Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor, he asked "Why have a gathering of Potter aficionados and then drop the gay bomb on them? Why do that? ... She did it to provoke. I think this is a provocateur." The next night he escalated the rhetoric even further when he said that:

"There are millions of Americans who feel that the media and the educational system is trying to indoctrinate their children to a certain way of life, and that includes parity for homosexuals with heterosexuals. And that's what this Rowling thing is all about, because she sells so many books. So many kids read it, that she comes out and says, 'Oh, Dumbledore is gay, and that's great.' And this -- it's another in the indoctrination thing. That's what the belief system is among some Americans."

After his guest, comedian Dennis Miller, pushed back by stating that children could not be indoctrinated into being gay, O'Reilly replied, "No, but tolerance. It's--you know, he's not going to be gay, but it's tolerance of it."

Media Matters has documented numerous instances in which O'Reilly has attacked the LGBT community. Here are just three, but you can see the litany of his misinformation and attacks on the LGBT community at the end of this email:

• O'Reilly criticized the inclusion of a lesbian couple as 'cutest couple' in a high school yearbook, saying: "I think private behavior belongs in private settings.... I don't think it belongs in the high school yearbook." However, he said he would be OK with a heterosexual couple being cutest couple "because that is the norm of society."
• O'Reilly suggested that allowing green cards for same-sex partners would lead to rampant immigration abuses.
• O'Reilly called the San Diego Padres' decision to host a gay pride night and a children's hat giveaway promotion during the same baseball game "dumb," "almost unbelievable," and a "mistake." He said it was "insane" to "cluster" gay men and lesbians during a "hat giveaway for any kid under 12," later adding: "You're putting it in a kid's face at a baseball game." O'Reilly also said: "This is social engineering by the Padres."

It's time to tell O'Reilly and Fox News that enough is enough; if anyone should "relax on all this gay stuff," it's Bill O'Reilly. I hope you'll take a moment to contact Fox News and The O'Reilly Factor today and make sure your voice is heard.

(Purely Personal Piffle: Perhaps a more apropos theme for The O'Reilly Factor might want to be the Horst Wessel from back in Nazi Germany ... or, better yet, "Die Stem von Suid-Afrika," in Afrikaans and in a clipped, martial-stylee staccato not unlike machine gun fire used by the Suid-Afrikaansde Polisie against anti-apartheid demonstrations ... or, better yet, alternate between "The Song of Eternal Leader Kim Il Sung" and "The Song of Great Leader Kim Jong Il."

(Long-shots, no doubt--but, methinks, more apropos.) 

FORGET, FOR A MOMENT, THE RATHER PARANOID BROMIDES AND PLATITUDES OF FOX NEWS ABOUT HOW SO-CALLED "SECULAR-PROGRESSIVES" pose Clear and Present Moral Danger to the "antient and pecuilar soverignty and soverign identity" of the "morally superior" United States--even if this happens to be the 13th anniversary of the Oklahoma City Incident as laid bare the clear and present danger of homegrown extremism packaged in the guise of "patriotism."

And that terrorism (and the danger thereof) can exist as much from within as from without. And that the enemy could well live next door.

Not to mention being a Joe Sixpack type.

Denmark, which gained international notoriety when the gazetta Jyllands-Posten published a series of editorial cartoons which aroused the ire of Muslims a couple of years back, could offer some invaluable lessons on which we "morally superior" Americans could learn from, Bill O'Reilly and his ilk notwithstanding.

Lessons noted recently by Rabbi Leby Burnham, writing for the Jewish spirituality portal Aish.com (after all, as they'd say in wonderful, wonderful Copenhagen, "verden er lille, herregud...."):

Why is Denmark the happiest place in the world?

Happiness. The most prized commodity of all. Some people think they will find it in marriage, some look in exotic locales halfway across the globe, while others think it is found in the driver's seat of a Maserati. Where can happiness be found?

Research seems to indicate that it can be found in Denmark.

As in previous years, Denmark emerged as the happiest country in the world. Adrian White, a psychologist at the University of Leicester's School of Psychology, publishes a "world map of happiness," using data from 80,000 questionnaires filled out world-wide, as well as information culled from a bevy of governmental reports and private foundation's databases. Somehow, Denmark, a country whose most notable invention is the herring sandwich, repeatedly makes it to the top of the list. (The US came in 23rd, Germany 35th, the UK 42nd, Israel 58th, France 62nd, and Russia 167th!)

What is the secret of that small country with dreary weather, heavy smoking and drinking, and taxes between 50-70%, that keeps the Danes so happy?

A recent episode of 60 Minutes tried to find the answer. Morley Safer spoke to Professor Kaare Christensen at the University of Southern Denmark, who published a study titled, "Why Danes Are Smug." He discovered that the key to the Danes' happiness is that they don't have high expectations. To illustrate, he claims that if the Danes ranking would drop to 20th instead of first, their response would be, "That's not bad; at least we're in the Top 25!" By having low expectations, explains Prof. Christensen, one is rarely disappointed.

The government helps this low-expectation lifestyle by taxing people highly while providing an enormous amount of social services. Health-care is free, people are paid to do well in college, and even graduate school is free. After having a child, both parents get paid leave for at least half a year, and Denmark spends more per capita on child and elder care than any country in the world. The government even helps subsidize friendships by providing funding for any group of people who want to cultivate a hobby like model airplane building or quilt croqueting. About 92% of Danes belong to at least one of these social clubs.

With high taxes limiting the earning power of the wealthy and phenomenal social services keeping people out of debt, there is very little wealth disparity in Denmark. Since the after-tax income of a banker and a carpenter are not far apart, people choose professions based on preference, not expectations of higher salary. There is very little drive to live up to the Joneses, as the Joneses are Jante-luv, just like you.

Tal Ben-Shahar, a veteran of the IDF, was the most popular lecturer at Harvard University. Last year over 1,400 students took his class in Positive Psychology--the Science of Happiness. He explains that the US has a very different dynamic than the one displayed in the Danish culture. "In America, part of the ethos, part of the American dream, is that more is better, and the more is better usually applies to the material realm. And that doesn't pan out.... It doesn't make us happier."

About 94% of college students in the US report that they already feel "stressed and overwhelmed," the result of high expectations. Wanting it all is a disease that stays with us from youth to old age--wanting a bigger house, fancier car, more stuff. But, as the Sages of the Talmud taught regarding the physical realm, "He who has 100 wants 200, he who has 200 want 400." The more you have, the more you want. This begins a vicious cycle of expectation, desires, and mounting needs.

One of the most striking results of the "American Dream" was discovered by Israeli economist and Nobel Prize winner, Daniel Kahneman. He found that, generally speaking, American women did not enjoy spending time with their children. The problem wasn't that they didn't love their children. It was simply that while spending time with their children, they were so busy doing other things such as checking email, paying bills, or shopping, that the time together became irritating and tedious to them. Playing your two favorite songs at the same time would be grating, even though when played individually they give you great pleasure. In the rush to accomplish many tasks at once, mothers are losing their ability to properly do any!

Two sources of happiness that are often overlooked are family and religion. In a poll of 1,280 American teens conducted by the Associated Press and MTV, 73% said that what makes them most happy is a good relationship with their parents. Over half said that religion and spirituality is very important to them, and that the knowledge that there is a Higher Power that watches over them and controls their world makes them feel happy and secure. Interestingly, almost no one said that money makes them happy.

All this research into the science of happiness has resulted in some suggestions for boosting happiness, and not surprisingly, you can find roots for these ideas in Torah teachings, the instruction manual for living the most happy and fulfilling life.

Let's run through some of the suggestions:

• Keep your expectations low. Simplify; don't try to achieve too much at one time. The Talmud frequently tells us "tafasta meruba lo tafasta, tafasta mu'at tafasta." If we try to grab too much we end up with nothing, but if we try to accomplish a little, we will surely achieve it. To help us with this we have a special day called Shabbat--25 hours to stop trying to grab, and instead focus on the most meaningful things in our lives: our family and friends, our spirituality, and ourselves.

• Exercise. The Torah told us 3,300 years ago that we must watch our health carefully, and recent studies confirm that it can actually increase your happiness. Exercising three times a week for 30 minutes has the same effect as some of the most powerful psychiatric drugs being prescribed today.

•  Keep a gratitude diary. Every day Prof. Tal Ben-Shahar writes down five things in his diary. Some of them are big things like his happy marriage or his successful career, while others are small, such as a really good ice cream sundae or the ability to cheer up a co-worker. As Jews, we stop three times a day to thank God for the goodness in our lives, and gratitude is the focus of one of the most important blessings in every Amidah. However, a diary is a great way to add to our gratitude bank. The Jews are called Yehudim, (the word from which Jew evolved), because that word connoted thankfulness, which is one of the most fundamental traits of the Jewish people.

The Sages tell us that the current Jewish month of Adar is the happiest month in the calendar, a time for increasing our joy. And a perfect time to try out some of these tips.

YOU'RE NO DOUBT AWARE OF THE REMARKS MADE BY DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL WANNABE BARAK OBAMA RECENTLY about rural, small-town and otherwise working-class "home folks" types having lost touch with both political parties for want of concrete issues they could rally around, instead driving such salt-of-the-earth types towards distractionary non-issues like gun control, homosexuality, abortion and school prayer vis-a-vis elections.

Methinks the following (thanks to Think Progress for the hat tip) seems to be one of those "distractionary issues" proving more attractive to the Podunk Center and Doo Wah Diddy kind of voter, thus raising Obama's rightly-deserved concerns (emphasis supplied):

Recently, Oklahoma State Rep. Sally Kern (R) came under intense criticism for making a host of incendiary remarks toward gays. For example, she said gays are a "bigger threat" to our nation than terrorism. She also warned, "Gays are infiltrating city councils." As an example, she cited the town of Eureka Springs, AR, whose city council she claimed is now "controlled by gays."

The American Family Association (AFA) has joined in promoting this myth of the evil gay agenda in a new video called "They're Coming To Your Town." The poster advertising the DVD appears to have menacing rainbow-like lights in background. PageOneQ summarizes the trailer for the video:

The presentation in the AFA trailer…"They're Coming to Your Town," tells the tale of an uncharacteristically diverse resort town's government infiltrated by "a handful of homosexual activists" and bent to their will through the enactment of the town's domestic partner registry on June 22, 2007.

"Watch, and learn," says the trailer, "how to fight a well-organized gay agenda to take over the cities of America, one city at a time."

Watch the trailer here.

Eureka Springs is not pleased with people such as Kern, who claim that they have the city's best interests at heart. Responding to Kern, Eureka Springs's mayor said the city is "welcoming to all visitors and residents without regard to their race, color, sex, age, sexual orientation, disability or national origin. It is our hope that all people would aspire to this ideal."

This is not the first time AFA has launched a homophobic campaign. In 2005, AFA president Tim Wildmon backed a warning about "evidence of homosexuality and lesbian people on programs like HGTV and Animal Planet." AFA founder and chairman Don Wildmon also proposed a hypothetical trip to "the homosexual bathhouses," saying, "[W]e're going to confront these people…for what they're doing."

(Hoping, no doubt, to give the signal for the hand-picked droogs and malachicks in the tour group to, after Shakespeare, "cry 'Havoc!' and let slip the dogs of war" in an orgy of Extreme Homophobic Ultraviolence which Rev. Wildmon could quickly excuse as being for G-d, Country and Family, if and when pressed to explain his involvement.

(The which could later be released on video scored musically, no doubt, to Link Wray's infamous 1958 insturmental hit "Rumble.")

In any case, such must make you wonder if homosexuals really pose a Clear and Present Danger to what Bill "No-Spin Zone" O'Reilly calls "the White Male Christian Power Structure," and the prepetuation thereof, same likely to be excused by overzealous interpretation of these remarks from Dred Scott v. Sanford (1857) which upheld slavery by contending where blacks in general and slaves in particular

are not included, and were not intended to be included, under the word 'citizens' in the Constitution, and can therefore claim none of the rights and privileges which that instrument provides for and secures to citizens of the United States.

Which, in turn, such specimens of Zealotry and True Belief would like to see extended to Jews, Muslims, Asiatics, Catholics, "mental defectives," "chronic and habitual welfare queens"--and, of course, homosexuals.

=============

A BIT OF IRONY HERE OBSERVED BY YOUR CORRESPONDENT:

Then-Chief Justice John Taney, who wrote the opinion in Dred Scott, is namesake of Taney County, Missouri, where Branson--the cultural conservatives' preferred centre of Amerikanischer Realkultur in its "pure" and, hence, idealised form--is situated.

Taney County also happens to be the ultimate derivation of Lake Taneycomo, byproduct of Ozark Beach Dam near Branson, constructed in 1911-13 by the Empire District Electric Company to provide cheap hydro power to southwest Missouri (and still does, with generating capacity of 16 megawatts)--the first of the Branson Tri-Lakes to be created (Table Rock and Bull Shoals being the other two).

(Incidentally, Branson is not the Taney County seat; that honour belongs to Forsyth, about eight mile northeast.)

As for Eureka Springs, their Great Passion Play--byproduct of the mind of Gerald L.K. Smith, himself a notorious bigot in his own right with as wide a following among Those Who Should Know Better as Father Charles Coughlin--is a popular part of the cheap bus tours to Branson as are especially popular among the Fox Prolefeed crowd and others with hard-wired delusions of Kulturkrieg seeing in Branson's music shows the Acme and Perfection of an idealised Amerikanischer Realkultur.

One, methinks, having overtones of the folk-culture festivals which the Kraft durch Frude movement back in Nazi Germany sponsored wholesale for "patriotic" purposes.

Can you feel the irony inherent?    

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.

*************

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.

=============

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.

=============

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.

*************

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.

*************

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?

FROM BRAVE NEW FILMS, THE PEOPLE WHO BROUGHT YOU OUTFOXED AND OTHER SPECIMENS OF SECULAR-PROGRESSIVE DOCUMENTARY FILMMAKING, comes the following montage of recent Fox Prolefeed coverage from Iraq presenting the Iraqi situation in a supposedly positive and glowing light:

Which, no doubt, is enough to raise some serious questions:

• Is Fox Prolefeed deliberately faking or otherwise staging certain stories dealing with Iraq to present a misleading or otherwise suspiciously-glowing "spin" on the Iraqi situation when facts suggest otherwise?
• How much is Fox Prolefeed spending on such faked or staged Iraqi coverage?
• Is Fox Prolefeed issuing "guidance" to Coalition of the Coerced forces on how such "stories" should be set up and presented, the approach to be used when it comes to ur-"casting calls" for same, the locations for filming these "positive and glowing stories***the liberal media doesn't want reported," usw.?
• Is word-of-mouth (as in carefully-scripted "whispering campaigns") the preferred medium of choice to announce these ur-"casting calls" for these "stories" being filmed?
• Are film crews, both working for Fox Prolefeed directly and those working freelance (or otherwise commissioned by Fox Prolefeed), receiving special military protection during these "news story" shooting schedules?
• Are said troops under orders not to disclose the true nature of these operations for and on behalf of Fox Prolefeed under pain of "serious consequences"?
• Are the troops in question receiving combat pay, or are they also receiving bonuses from Fox Prolefeed (the involvement thereof being kept quiet all along)?
• Are the "actors" appearing in these "stories" being paid in cash, and if this be the case, are payments made in Iraqi dinars, Euros or US dollars? How much is the average pay for such "actors" appearing in these staged "stories"?
• What exactly is the role of Keith Rupert Murdoch vis-a-vis the staging of "positive" Iraqi news stories? Is he directly responsible for ordering such "spin," knowing all along that such is nothing less than false, misleading or otherwise deceptive? And what is the patsy he's expected to use if and when pushed to explain?

Please don't hesitate to share this with your friends who value Truth.

=============

AND COME TO THINK OF IT, Your Correspondent would love to see a compilation video of some of the "best" of Fox Prolefeed's "good news from Iraq" items choreographed to "It's Good News Week!" by Hedgehoppers Anonymous, vintage 1965.

Even if Your Correspondent still doesn't quite get the idea of "wrapping brains in metal trays/To keep us from the heat," whatever that means....