AFTER A SOMEWHAT SUNNY MORNING, SKIES OUT THIS WAY ARE STARTING TO CLOUD OVER, AS IF RAIN COULD BE ABOUT TO START any minute now in this the Minnwissippi.

Which is what the forecast calls for into the evening, and with conditions improving in time for the Memorial Day long weekend.

No doubt the farmers and planters want some seriously dry conditions for once....

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

IF YOU THINK THE "MORALLY SUPERIOR" AMERICANS HAVE THE GLOBAL MONOPOLY ON COMPLAINTS AND GRIPING ABOUT FOREIGNERS "STEALING" JOBS from the native-born, in the process worsening already-serious unemployment levels ... consider the plight of post-apartheid South Africa.

There, over the course of the last few days, violence against foreigners--mostly Zimbabweans fleeing the breakdown of the Robert Mugabe regime--has reached chaotic extremes, especially so in and around Johannesburg, where the lion's share of refugees migrate to to find decent jobs.

And as was the case in Kenya following disputed Presidential elections over the holiday season last year, refugees are finding where churches are not exactly safe places of refuge from the ultraviolence: Several churches where refugees have taken shelter were themselves attacked by goon squads blaming the foreigners for high unemployment, chronic housing shortages and criminality.

(Sounds almost like certain elements here in the "morally superior" United States Who Should Know Better, no?)

But then again, let's not forget where the apartheid regime sanctioned the wholesale import of black "guest workers" for mining positions from across Africa, reinforced by the likes of influx control, the pass laws and the beerhall system to keep black workers all the more in deliberate poverty and ignorance...

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

HOW DO WE KNOW THAT THE FOLLOWING GRAND DELUSIONS OF NEOCONSERVATISM aren't really coming by way of the influence of Al Cohol, let alone Serious Mental Disorders which the messengers thereof are reluctant to face?

1. The Terrible-Tempered Mr. Bang suggesting @ the weekend that America is turning all the more conservative, and will remain conservative (as it were) "now, tomorrow, forever."
   (Even if it means perverting Holy Scriptures to justify a connexion, howbeit faulty, between Low Church Christianity and free-market capitalism as Great White Father.)
2. The Neoconservative bumper-sticker slogan-cum-article of faith "Government is not the solution; government is the problem."

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

AND HOW IS IT POSSIBLE FOR HIS FRAUDULENCY TO ESCAPE CHARGES OF DOUBLETHINK over energy policy (let alone its cousin of blackwhite) considering where:

• on the one hand, he unsuccessfully called upon Saudi Arabia to increase export oil output heading into the summer Busy Season in the "morally superior" United States; but,
• on the other hand, he suggested to the World Economic Forum in Sharm el-Sheikh days later that the increase in Saudi oil output which he had requested (howbeit unsuccessfuly) would have actually been inadequate to meet American energy use requirements?

(Not to mention still insisting that as-yet-untapped oilfields in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge along Alaska's North Slope can help meet the Lower 48's oil and gas requirements, notwithstanding where getting these same fields into production will take about 2-3 years time to permit the installation of requisite infrastructure ... and even then, said oil reserves are unlikely to meet American energy requirements beyond the proverbial drop in the bucket.

(Isn't he, perhaps, forgetting about the capped-by-deliberate-design wells in the Williston Basin of North Dakota? What would it take to have those wells uncapped and brought into production short of further tax "incentives" which would only worsen the National Debt?)

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

AND SPEAKING OF THE BUDGET DEFICIT, the "official" Government estimate, based on "careful and cautious estimates" (read: deliberate accounting tricks serving only the Great Within and their droogs among Neoconservatives generally) is $162 billion.

USA Today, for its part, begs to differ: Using generally-accepted accounting procedures--the same ones followed by the Fortune 500 and the Inc. 250, as a matter of fact--the same deficit turns out to be a massive (now don't laugh) $57.3 trillion (which, itself, may be a bit misleading as such includes Social Security and Medicare obligations for the next generation in the calculations).

Guaranteed to be a propaganda talking point by the Ron Paul crowd in calling for the "complete and final reinstatement of sound money policies;" i.e., returning to pre-1933 monetary policies as required the dollar's linking to gold @ a rate of $20.67/troy ounce @ 20 dwt. (pennyweight) or 480 grains to the ounce.

Making the "gold dollar" worth 1.0335 dwt./24.804 grains (there are 24 grains in the pennyweight, know).

(But then again, one contributing factor to the notorious German hyperflation following World War I was the Allies having seized much of the Reichsbank's gold reserves for war reparations, so forcing the Germans on paper currency as would eventually become worthless.)  

more cat pictures

FOR SHEER CRUDITY OF PARANOIA ABOUT THE LOSS OF "ANTIENT AND PECUILAR RIGHTS, PRIVILEGES AND POWERS" ENTITLED RULING ELITES in certain regimes, natural disasters seem to bring out the worst in regimes.

Which, come to think of it, reflects the situation in China and the so-called "Union of Myanmar" following a recent earthquake and cyclone, respectively, with wholesale death and devastation.

Or so Naomi Klein explains for The Nation, which you can read about right here.

And which could provide some worthwhile lessons for we "morally superior" Americans heading into Indecision 2008.

FOR YEARS, ALL THE MAJOR DONUT SHOP CHAINS--among them Dunkin Donuts, Krispy Kreme, Mister Donut and Tim Horton's--have taken much pride in the coffee they serve along with the donuts.

In some cases, inspiring plenty of weird stories and urban folklore in the Carl-and-Hoodsey vein about said donut shops adding some class of drug or suchlike to keep their regulars addicted all the more to their coffee. (In Tim Horton's case, they wish it to be known that nothing untoward has been added to their coffee blend.)

Still, though, in case coffee prices get to be rather pricey to the point of having to pass through the added costs to consumers, said shops may likely consider adding chicory to the coffee to pad it out and mellow the taste.

But will the donut shop crowd likely buy into the tactic, even if coffee and chicory blends turn out having a rather mellow taste with less caffeine in the bargain? 

GENERAL ADVICE WHEN IT COMES TO DEALING WITH JUNK E-MAIL, COMMONLY KNOWN AS "SPAM," SUCH AS WE ALL RECEIVE is to not fall for any "remove me" links some spammers include in the belief that such will result in removal from "sucker lists" used among "spammers." On the contrary, "remove me" drops have actually been connected to "harvester" or "extractor" programmes as collect e-mail addresses for further resale among the weird and unwholesome element known as the "spammer" community.

An electronic form of the "sucker lists" commonly used by dishonest businesses, as it were, with significant and measurable profits likely ensuing from their resale--not just the lists proper, but also in "reseller rights" to the same.

Which begs the question of whether "junk fax" bombers are properly using removal services for their transmissions as required by law; i.e., actually honouring, and within timely limits, requests to remove fax numbers from robodialler lists for "fax-bombing" campaigns, and instead selling such fax numbers so collected to especially "war-room" operators using robodiallers to blast junk faxes for "association health plans" and cheap Orlando vacations--which seem to be the hot "junk fax" offers of the hour.

And just in case, imagine those involved pleading their usual platitudes and bromides about "unlawful interference in interstate or foreign commerce," "unlawful restraint of commercial free speech," usw., in case push comes to shove. (Especially where Section 6 of the Sherman Antitrust Act is invoked; but then again, the courts would likely dismiss such claims as "frivolous, malicious or vexatious" for the sake of litigation.)

In any case, maybe it was time to start enquiring whether the "remove me" numbers used in connexion with "fax bombing" ad services are being improperly used or otherwise perverted.   

READERS, TELL ME HONESTLY IF THIS SOUNDS LIKE THE KIND OF "HERO" THAT "PATRIOTIC" ISLAMOPHOBES in the vein of Michael Savage, Rev. John Hagee and Rev. Rod Parsley would be glorifying, let alone racists, white supremacists and die Bransoner Muzikschaukultur rather than Disneyland and Walt Disney World (via the BBC):

An American sniper has been sent home from Iraq for using a copy of the Koran for target practice at a shooting range near Baghdad, the US military says.

The Muslim holy book was found riddled with bullet holes last week by Iraqi police, who also discovered offensive graffiti inside its cover.

A US military spokesman said the soldier had been removed from his unit, sent home, and would be disciplined.

He was unnamed, but was reportedly a staff sergeant in a sniper section.

US military spokesman Colonel Bill Buckner said the incident was "both serious and deeply troubling", but stressed it was an "isolated incident and a result of one soldier's actions".

The US army's commander in Baghdad, Major-General Jeffery Hammond, made a personal apology to local Sunni Arab leaders in Radwaniya, CNN reported.

On arrival, he was met by hundreds of protesting tribesmen.

"In the most humble manner, I look into your eyes today and I say, please forgive me and my soldiers," Gen Hammond said, according to CNN.

The military presented the elders with a new copy of the Koran.

An Iraqi community leader said Sunni Arab tribal units who fought alongside US forces had threatened to quit, but that the US apology had assuaged their anger.

"I was feeling bitterness, but as long as they apologised we are okay with them. Our anger has cooled," Saeed al-Zubaie told Reuters.

more cat pictures

READER, I HOPE YOU CAN BEAR WITH ME THE FACT OF MY LAUNCHING WHAT WILL BE AN OCCASIONAL (@ BEST) FEATURE HERE IN THIS WEBLOG when it comes to Saturday live postings by Your Correspondent.

This feature will be what I call "The Blogger's Saturday Scratchpad," basically in the "Reporters' Notebook" vein of things; i.e., such will offer up some insights into Your Correspondent and how he goes about making The Exaggerator the blog that am, as it were.

As in explaining how he comes up with material to fill this space for your enlightenment and edification, never mind where some among the Religiopolitical Right see the two as Loathsome Social Diseases in the vein of "schizophrenic germs" or outright insanity.

As in what goes through his thought-processes as inspires material for these items.

And the general philosophy behind this weblog.

Whose name and stylee, I will have you know, was indirectly inspired by the early 1990's Scooy-Doo prequel series A Pup Named Scooby-Doo, reruns of which may be seen occasionally on Cartoon Network or its sister "classics" channel, Boomerang--more specifically, the National Exaggerator supermarket tabloid which an uncle of Freddie Jones worked on, or so the show's story line had it (and which was frequently referenced in episodes).

In planning The Exaggerator as essentially picking up where my former blog, the daily phosdex, left off, I had designs on styling this blog as the "Intergalactic Exaggerator," considering the global and, in a way, universal nature of the Information Stuporbahn. Unfortunately, though, BlogDrive has a cap of 14 characters on blog names so hosted, so I settled on simply The Exaggerator. Which, come to think of it, is a rather fitting name for a satirically-oriented weblog of my own creation.

(Whether you would concur or no is up to you; to that end, I would welcome your comments in the relevant quarter.)

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

MEANWHILE, DOWN IN CALEDONIA, MINNESOTA, SOME 40 MILE SOUTH OF WINONA AS THE PROVERBIAL CROW FLIETH, Motherdear (86 going on 87, G-d willing) resides in her state of widowhood since my father passed away 15 years ago Tuesday. And with her limited income and general condition, she tries doing her best to keep going though there are transient recurrences of things like surgical-scar pain coming back to haunt her.

Not to mention having a whole catalogue of aches and pain common to the elderly, including rheumatoid arthritis ... diverticulosis ... Type II diabetes ... lower-back pain (especially so scarring from surgery a few years back) ... having to use cane or walker to help in getting around (credit that to hip-replacement surgery a few years back, and follow-on physical therapy as didn't quite go as well as expected) ... and a general sense of tiredness and malaise as the day wears on into night.

As if that weren't enough, she complains of ill-fitting hearing aids to the extent that she has to turn the TV up to maximum volume just to catch every word, every phrase, every nuance thereof, especially so Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune, which "keeps her alert," as she likes phrasing it. (She still relies on antennæ to receive FreeVee, and would rather wait until the last minute before making the transition to digital transmission next February.)

She can get to be rather irritable and nervous @ times, and it seems that I must have picked that up from her when things get frustratingly slower than the proverbial molasses in January going uphill--especially with a cordless phone she has that has this tendency for getting wonky on her when she least expects it, requiring callers to speak a little louder so she can understand it. Or, in extreme cases (e.g., the battery going dead), moving the conversation to a corded phone in her bedroom.

One thing she doesn't want is a power wheelchair, even if it would help her in getting around town.

But she does have Home Health Aides and Public Health Nurses calling on her every weekday save Wednesdays to help her out with checking up on her condition, getting simple chores done and fixing rather plain meals considering her limited income.

All in all, she's doing the best she can against the day that she's called to her final rest. (By her own admission, some of her relatives from back in Cavalier County, North Dakota have seen their 100th birthdays, and then some.)

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

IN ANY CASE, I HOPE THIS HAS GIVEN YOU A "TASTER," SO TO SPEAK, OF WHAT YOU CAN EXPECT TO FIND here in The Blogger's Saturday Scratchpad during its sporadic appearences in this space.

Such depending on my own state of mind and the general state of the world; please understand this in advance.

Your comments are always welcome and appreciated. 

WEIRD AND UNWHOLESOME RELIGIOPOLITICAL ELEMENTS HOMOPHOBIC JUST LOVE TO USE BOYCOTTS, USUALLY STARTING AS "NAME-AND-SHAME" PROPAGANDA, to take issue with such specimens of "morally superior" free-market capitalism with American characteristics suspected of "supporting the homosexual agenda."

And we all know the inevitable bromide- and platitude-filled routine about such "corrupting Traditional Moral Values" and "conspiring to undermine our traditional soverignty and soverign identity," as if same was supposedly conditioned upon "Christian" hatred and bigotry.

Currently, Your Correspondent understands, the so-called "American Family Association" is urging its hard-wired faithful of Podunk Center, Doo Wah Diddy and the Park & Flush Trailer Park to boycott McDonald's for--you guessed it--"supporting the homosexual agenda."

And you have to wonder how they'd react to the following highly-anecdotal news item (per the "WaiWai" department of Japan's Mainichi Daily News, know) were such an instance to occur in the "clean, wholesome and morally-superior" confines of, say, Die Bransoner Muzikschaukultur:

McDonald's customers suspected something amiss when one guy pulled out his whopper. They knew for sure when he began partaking of fur burger. The upshot was four people trying to make an adult movie in a fast food outlet ended up getting arrested, says Friday (5/2).

Arrested in the case earlier this month for indecent exposure and obstruction of business were Kunikazu Ishii, 52, the director, Nahoko Shimada, 21, an actress and dental nurse, and actors Yuya Ochiai, 29, and Makoto Nishizumi.

Saitama Prefectural Police say the four spent about 30 minutes one afternoon in January this year filming an adult movie in the McDonald's Higashi Matsuyama Itoyokado outlet in Higashi Matsuyama, Saitama Prefecture. They were allegedly caught after another customer called the police and told cops what was supposedly going on.

"(Shimada) came into the restaurant holding hands with Ochiai. But Ochiai didn't look the type good enough to pick up a woman like her, so I thought something fishy was going on," a customer in the store at the time of the incident tells Friday. "It was even more suspicious because there was one young woman surrounded by all those much older guys."

The group apparently took up a corner counter not easily visible to serving staff and went about their purportedly pornographic proclivities.

Ochiai apparently spent the time with his hands up Shimada's skirt as he displayed his deft handiwork, Ishii did the filming and Nishizumi acted as a barrier and barked out orders to participants--so the cops say, anyway.

When police did arrive on the scene, the group had allegedly been filming inside the restaurant for about half an hour. Each of the four suspects was led away individually and taken to a nearby cop station in a different patrol car.

Adult movie experts say the arrests are a sign of the times.

"Filming that way is basically like screaming out to the cops: 'Hey, come and arrest me,'" an industry insider tells Friday.

An adult movie production company associate adds his two bits.

"They probably did something that stupid because they wanted to cut production costs," the associate says.

"Putting the actress's wages aside, 10 years ago most cheap adult movies had a budget of about ¥1 million, but now that figure is more likely to be ¥500,000 or, in really bad cases, only around ¥300,000. If you've only got ¥300,000 to work with, there'll be no room to book a studio or hotel room once you've rented the filming equipment and paid the guys' wages. So that's probably why they filmed in the fast food restaurant."

Most adult movie actresses are usually the highest paid workers on each flick. Though that was likely to have been the case with this movie, too, starlet Shimada was hardly likely to have been raking in big bucks (at least in cash terms).

"Women acting in these cheap adult flicks usually get paid around ¥70,000 per movie, but some may only get as little as ¥20,000. Nearly all the women who act in these kinds of movies have a real job and do it as a sideline. There are nurses, stage actresses and members of the Self-Defense Forces," the associate tells Friday.

"Shimada's main job was a dental nurse. She only started appearing in a few adult movies from December last year, so she's basically a complete amateur. Now she's been arrested, her chosen part-time profession has ended up costing her quite a lot."

(From what I understand, Friday, the magazine cited as source material, is a "true crime" weekly in a rather crude and sensationalised vein--the sort that hyperconservative Zealots and True Believers would love to see dumped upon culturally-deprived environments for the sake of pacifying the vulnerable and marginalised with cheap and cheerful prolefeed.

(As for a close North American counterpart to Friday in terms of concept, about the closest I could think of is the Québecois weekly tabloid Photo-Police, incorporating the long-established Allo-Police in its sensationalised depictions of crime, scandal, and the obligatory appeals to latent racism and xenophobia common in the Québecoise journalistic genre known as the presse jaune--"yellow press," literally--as has long been heavy on sensationalism laced with cheesecake.)