more animals

IT'S ONE THING FOR THE McCAIN/PALIN CAMPAIGN TO URGE ITS SUPPORTERS TO TONE DOWN THE VITRIOL AND START PLAYING NICE with their dominant opponent, Democratic Presidential wannabe Barack Obama.

Still, though, Your Correspondent feels that "actions speak louder than words;" hence, there may be the possibility that the sleaze and vitriol may return in this the final fortnight or so before Indecision 2008. Hence, all the more importance of remembering that YOUR vote, and YOURS ALONE, makes all the more difference to where Our Beloved Nation will be heading into the 21st century.

Whether we will remain Land of the Free ... or whether we risk becoming usurped by the New World Order.

For one thing, Your Correspondent is inclined to concur with Treasury Secretary Paulson's suggestion that isolatinist and protectionist policies, and related articles of faith, will only make the danger of socioeconomic meltdown worse.

Not to mention the potential for Certain Very Dangerous Elements exploiting same for their own perverted purposes and ends.

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

MEANHILE, TO HIS CANADIAN READERS, YOUR CORRESPONDENT EXTENDS TO THEM BEST WISHES on this their Day of Thanksgiving.

Or, if you prefer it in French, la Fête de l'Action de graces.

Never mind that we Americans have to wait until 27 November to celebrate their Thanksgiving this year.

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

MEANWHILE, GAS PRICES CONTINUE TO GO INTO FREEFALL AND OIL PRICES HAVE FALLEN BELOW $100/BBL in response to the prevailing climate of socioeconomic turmoil and uncertainty heading into Indecision.

As for Winona, gas prices, by Unwritten Gentleman's Agreement, are now @ $2.799/gallon (73.9¢/litre) for regular unleaded, $2.819/gallon (74.4¢/litre) for super unleaded and $2.919/gallon (77.1¢/litre) for premium unleaded; E85, thanks to subsidies, sells @ $2.199/gallon (58¢/litre).

(Remember, the per-litre price is based on 3.785 litres=1 United States gallon, and should be used primarily for comparison, especially in such countries where gasoline is sold by the litre. After all, this is the World Wide Web, is it not?)

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

ONE OF THE MORE RHETORICAL QUESTIONS BEING ASKED IN THE ELECTORAL RUNUP FOR NOTHING LESS THAN PURE, UNADULTERATED "SWIFT-BOATING" PURPOSES from the 527 fraternity of the weird and unwholesome is "Who can you trust with the economy?"

I would have to say "Trick question!!!" in view of the ad being presented by a "swift-boating" group whose associations with the Zealots and True Believers in free-market capitalism-as-Great-White-Father (Good Christians All, remember?) are inherent. And would stop @ nothing until their ultimate article of faith is achieved: No less than complete and final regulatory relief, to be based instead solely on Self-Regulatory, Industry-Specific Codes of Good Practice.

Said Codes, on closer reading, actually serving to excuse cartel behaviour @ expense of both consumers and business equally ... howbeit by having to sugar-coat the intentions therefor with code and weasel words about such things as "preventing unhealthy and destructive competition" and "protecting traditional market share" in ways not even the most notorious of all cartels, Nazi Germany's IG Farben, could have dreamed of.

And all the while still insisting that low taxes=jobs=social order.

Not to mention seeing among other Articles of Faith held dear the belief in achieving a theoretical nil rate of unemployment within the paradigms and constraints of a free-market, self-regulated, capitalist socioeconomic model (cf. Communist propaganda forever insisting that mass unemployment would be one of capitalism's failings, that they had finally achieved nil-rate unemployment--unaware all along that such considered what amounted to "make-work" jobs to create the aura of nil-rate unemployment, let alone the use of forced and convict labour).

(Come to think of it: Can you Zealots and True Believers in the Ayn Rand vein name just one "developed" soverign state where such a concept actually works in fact and in deed? And what could America learn therefrom? Or what exactly stands in the way?)

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

FROM THE "WHOSE SIDE ARE YOU ON?" DEPARTMENT, via The Capital Times (cyberspace, via Madison, Wisconsin), comes these comments in editorial form about overdoing it on the paeans for a faltering candidate to reinforce its endorsement of the opposition:

The Wisconsin State Journal says: "John McCain is a great American. He would make a fine president. McCain is impressively steeled to say 'no' to runaway government spending and commitments that could lead America to financial ruin."

That absurd statement, contained in its presidential endorsement on Sunday, was meant to soften the blow to readers of the conservative newspaper who had expected a full-fledged endorsement of the Republican nominee for president.

Instead, the State Journal made the only available choice and backed Democrat Barack Obama. At a point when McCain is discrediting himself and his party, he is unworthy of support -- by Democrats, independents or Republicans.

Yet the State Journal suggests McCain would make "a fine president" and pins it on the fantasy that the senator from Arizona is some kind of fiscal conservative.

The truth is that McCain backed the Bush/Cheney administration's high-deficit, high-debt, bridge-to-bankruptcy approach more than 90 percent of the time.

Worse yet, he has championed the radical deregulation agenda that created the current financial meltdown.

And what has McCain's response been to the crisis of the moment?

He backed the flawed $850 billion bailout and pork bill that was designed to flood more taxpayer money into the accounts of the nation's most irresponsible bankers and investors.

In fairness, Obama made the same mistake.

But then McCain added insult to injury by proposing a mortgage-restructuring scheme that would reward bad bankers with as much as $300 billion more. And he continued to promote privatization of Social Security, along lines that gamble (and lose) the retirement security of Americans on flawed and dysfunctional "investments."

The suggestion that McCain would make a "fine president" is ridiculous.

The suggestion that there is a fiscal responsibility argument for McCain is madness.

It is, as well, a dangerous deception that cannot be allowed to stand.

Sooooo: "Whose side are YOU on," readers? 

more animals

FIRST OFF, MAY I MENTION THAT THIS IS YOUR LAST CHANCE THIS YEAR TO SUPPORT THIS WEBLOG by way of the Bloggers' Choice Awards, voting for the 2008 edition closing Wednesday.

As reminder, I am nominate in the Best Blog of All Time, Worst Blog of All Time, Freakiest Blogger and Most Obnoxious Blogger categories in same.

Once the balloting closes, the Bloggers' Choice Awards go on hiatus until the 2009 awards open early next year. Your vote, ergo, would be greatly appreciated.

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

SPEAKING OF THE "PARANOIA" IMAGE @ THE HEAD OF THIS ITEM, such could best serve as an illustration of what the most extreme specimens of Poor White Trash hubris and arrogance fear all the more in case Barack Obama wins the Presidency come November:

Videlicet, the prospect of the White European-American Working Classes being shipped off to "reeducation camps" as are really closer to concentration camps not unlike those set up by the British during the Boer War to deal with the Afrikaner Peoples, memories of which are no doubt ingrained in the inner consciousness of Unreconstructed Afrikanerdom even after the end of apartheid.

Only in this case, the tortures, beatings, humiliation and fear would be carried out by National Minorities living the worst fears and paranoias of "white trash" since time immemorial, with particular emphasis and attention of the abusers being directed @ the yarbles of the imprisoned.

Preferably through such shows of sadisto ultraviolence guaranteed to maximise pain and suffering ... crass "experiments" whose sole purpose is discovering what would happen in cases of the old miscegenation (as in interracial sexual relations) ... not to mention castrations performed without the common courtesy of local anesthsia, the better so gangrene can kill off the victims all the easier and sooner.

Especially when the pain and suffering involves brass knuckles, billyclubs, truncheons, steel-toe bovver boots, knees--in short, such implements of mayhem sure to maximise same.

As for why the yarbles would be especially targeted, consider the argument such specimens of hubris would have about "maintaining racial honour, purity and integrity," notwithstanding where animal-breeding experience teaches us that attempts to create a race of "pure-breds" will, over time, translate into increased risk for undesirable traits of breed being all the more obvious.

In turn translating into genetic harm.

Hence, my advice to such "white trash" fearing such a prospect: Get over it. And start realising the likelihood of a President of colour. And like it for once. Only resorting to Al Cohol for "comfort" will only make things worse, even heighten the paranoia as above.

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

FOR SOMEONE WITH A FAMILY HISTORY OF HEART DISEASE AND ACCELERATED RISK OF CHOLESTEROL, Your Correspondent cannot help but become rather fond of Haagen-Dazs Sticky Toffee Pudding Ice Cream from time to time.

Fond enough for reasons unclear to moi that he can't help but devour a whole pint thereof in one sitting. (In my own defence, I will acknowledge where, on doctor's advice, I have a pot of yoghurt in lieu of one meal every day, usually lunch.)

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

IMAGINE THIS, IF YOU WILL, AS PERHAPS THE CLOSEST TO A "PURE" DOLPHIN ENCOUNTER, one as is closest to natural as possible:

I acknowledge having the occasional fantasies from time to time about some Polynesian archipelago hitherto unknown to the effects of civilisation, surrounded by rather beautiful coral reefs amongst clear and sparkling waters and populated by natives with traditional Polynesian frankness vis-a-vis sexuality and nudity, being its own natural "dolphin encounter."

Where, for some reason, the trust between human and dolphin is of such a pure and beautiful nature that, even in their traditional nakedness while diving underwater (which the natives learn practically from birth), the local dolphin pods treat the locals with respect and trust ... and the dolphins return the favour by encouraging the natives to swim along with said dolphins and allowing the natives to witness their matings out of friendship and trust.

Not to mention the prospect of such friendships between human and dolphin tending @ times to the sensual, as if reinforcing such trust and friendship (as a matter of fact, many who have studied dolphin beahviour have discovered that, after awhile of getting acquainted with their handlers, dolphins will try to use sexual means to further establish the bond, much to the annoyance of such who would consider such a resort "perverted and unnatural").

Breathes there a more natural sort of dolphin encounter?    

more animals

YOUR CORRESPONDENT HATH IT THAT FORMER CUBAN COMMUMIST LEADER FIDEL CASTRO HAS BEEN QUOTED AS OBSERVING WHERE THE VAST MAJORITY OF WHITE AMERICANS are unlikely to vote for Democratic Presidential candidate Barack Obama solely because he's of colour--in other words, "not one of us" (as in the presumably "morally superior" White European-American Low Church Christian, poor, undereducated, easily-influenced and vulnerable to dangerous suggestion).

Nor, for that matter, are the majority of Americans going to vote for John McCain because of his "bellicose and belligerent" temper, made all the more notorious thanks to hyperfanaticism stoked @ campaign rallies by potentially weird and unwholesome elements.

Leaving Your Correspondent wondering if this means, per Castro's reasoning tending to illogic (if you could call it so), that "Right-Thinking Americans" will more than likely consider, largely out of symbolic feelings of Racial Honour and Pride above all else, the likes of third-party Presidential candidates such as:

• independent Ralph Nader;
• Libertarian candidate Rob Barr; or
• Constitution Party candidate Chuck Baldwin.

And expect especially the lowest of the low, still thinking of themselves as True Americans ("home folks," as it were) as will Reclaim America From Herself, considering (seriously) casting ballots for Baldwin in particular as a protest vote more than anything. This all the while unaware that the Constitution Party's articles of faith call for essentially a theocratic regime whereby the President is reduced to a superdivine "Prophet, Seer and Revelator" receiving Divine Revelation which Congress is expected to "rubberstamp" for the mere formality of approval--and the Supreme Court replaced by a Council of Elders dominated, for the most part, by weird and unwholesome religious in the Low Church stylee of theology as are, for the most part, alcoholics, drug addicts, sex maniacs, chronic and habitual gamblers and spendthrifts or sufferers from loathsome mental diseases (including such as are byproducts of loathsome social diseases themselves--especially so gonorrhea).

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

BUT THEN AGAIN, THERE HAVE BEEN SOME IN THE RACIST AND WHITE CHRISTIAN SUPREMACIST COMMUNITY who would love to see Obama ensured victory come November; the better to "encourage a renewed sense of racial consciousness and pride among European-American peoples" as would be up there with apartheid South Africa claiming aparteheid was essential to the defence of Afrikaner Pride and Heritage ... and that the defence of Afrikaner Culture, Heritage and Values required the perpetuation of apartheid "by whatever means necessary."

IIRC, nowhere in the Organic Constitution, or its subsequent amendments, is there to found any sort of racially-qualifying language, express or implied, when it comes to qualifications for the several Constitutional offices--or even the "rights and bnefits" so ennumerate.

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

MAKING THINGS EVE MORE COMPELLING WHEN IT COMES TO THE NEED OF VOTING COME NOVEMBER, as if such mattered for the defence of Our Antient and Pecuilar Soverignty and Soverign Identity (which looks to be the case), is the news that the Reform Party, itself having a rather notorious legacy of association with racists, anti-Semites and others weird and unwholesome, has endorsed the McCain/Palin Presidential ticket in view of where their articles of faith are in line with those of the Reform Party.

(As a matter of fact, it was the sheer extent of racist feelings as led the Minnesota branch, thanks to then-Governor Jesse Ventura, to break away and restyle themselves as the Independence Party several years back.)

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

AND CONTINUING THE GRAND TRADITION ESTABLISHED BY GRACIE ALLEN'S MOCK PRESIDENTIAL BID ON THE SURPRISE PARTY'S "TICKET" IN 1940 (helped in large measure by the Burns and Allen show, sponsored @ the time by Hinds Honey and Almond Cream over CBS), we understand that heiress Paris Hilton is continuing her "Presidential campaign" these days.

Could she actually prove a viable, if facetious, alternative to the Established Order come November?

(BTW, if you listen to XM Satellite Radio's Radio Classics channel, which is 164 thereon, they're featuring right up to election week what remains of the several episodes of Burns and Allen as featured the "Gracie for President" story line--and several other shows where Gracie made guest appearences to promote her campaign.

(Trivia: The Surprise Party's symbol was a kangaroo.)  

more the engrish!

YOUR CORRESPONDENT WOULD LIKE TO SHARE WITH YOU THE FOLLOWING SPECIMEN OF "SPAM" E-MAIL JUST RECEIVED, in the form of a supposed congratulatory letter involving a supposed "promotional lottery" in connexion with--perhaps I should let the e-mail (with e-mail addresses referenced redacted) speak for itself:

From Lopez Sat Oct 11 11:41:54 2008
Return-Path: [redacted] 
Authentication-Results: mta474.mail.mud.yahoo.com  from=sify.com; domainkeys=neutral (no sig)
Received: from 209.226.175.10  (EHLO tomts4-srv.bellnexxia.net) (209.226.175.10)
  by mta474.mail.mud.yahoo.com with SMTP; Sat, 11 Oct 2008 11:42:02 -0700
Received: from User ([213.37.57.128]) by tomts4-srv.bellnexxia.net
          (InterMail vM.5.01.06.10 201-253-122-130-110-20040306) with ESMTPid [redacted];
          Sat, 11 Oct 2008 14:41:56 -0400
Reply-To: [redacted]
From: "Lopez" [redacted]
Subject: Congratulation!!!
Date: Sat, 11 Oct 2008 20:41:54 +0200
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain;
 charset="Windows-1251"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
Message-Id: [redacted]
Content-Length: 2116 

Dear Winner,

Your email address attach to TICKET NO: 6784501 has won Ђ 615,810.00 (Six Hundred and Fifteen Thousand Eight Hundred and Ten Euro Only) in the on going EMAIL PROMOTION PROGRAMM, organise by Wall Street (U.S.Bank) from a $ 700 Billion dollars financial bailout sign on 3/10/2008 by George W.Bush. President, United State Of America approved by United States Congress as a means of resolving the present global economical crisis.
Your fund is now deposited with a security company insured to your names under FIXED INSURANCE BOND POLICY. Due to mix up of email address,we advice  you keep this award CONFIDENTIAL. Until your claim has been processed and your prize remitted to your nominated bank account as this is part of our security protocol to avoid complication and to avoid unwarranted  person taking advantage of this programme.

All participants were selected through a computer ballot system drawn from 1 million email address from Asia, Australia, New Zealand, Africa, Europe and America as part of resolving the present global economical crisis which is going to be conducted twice a year with higher agenda.
To claim your winning prize, please contact your appointed agent immediately with the following:
INFORMATION:
 
(a) Full Name: (b) E-mail:(c) Telephone: (d) Fax Number:
(e ) Age:(f) Occpation(g) Contact address
(h) Bank information (if transfer is needed) (i) Cheque (j) Country of origin

Don Juan Gomez.
Euro Global Seguros s.a.
Tel: + 34-655 683 022,
Fax: + 34-655 683 023.
Email [redacted]

Note all winning prize must be claim not later than 30th Oct 2008. After this date winning will be return to the MINISTERIO DE ECONOMIA Y HACIENDA as unclaimed. In order to avoid unnecessary delay and complication, please endeavor to quote your  reference number  in every
Correspondence your claims agent. Congratulation once again from all members of our staffs for choosen your email address as one of  our winner.
 
Sincerely yours,
Mr Eduado Lopez,
Winning Co-ordinator, (NATIONAL AWARD)
 
CONTACT YOUR AGENT I MMEDIATELY

It just so happens there are a number of flaws in the preceding, among them:

READER, THE ALLUSIONS TO THE NAZI-ERA PROPAGANDA MINISTER AND THE EDITOR AND PUBLISHER OF THE LURID ANTI-SEMITIC TABLOID DER STURMER in the title of this item are deliberate and @ once conscious.

There can be no mistaking where the crass, lurid and reprehensibly tasteless brand of journalism especially Herr Streicher encouraged in the name of reclaiming German National and Racial Honour, thereby helping stoke the flames of the Holocaust all the more, has been influencing Indecision 2008 in this the final runup.

Especially so from the ilk of the McCain/Palin Presidential campaign, who are dropping hints by their very own acts, deeds and exploits @ campaign rallies of late that they want to lead America down a path as may be her own destruction, a path which could see the "New World Order" running things--all the while claiming that they represent "change" as will Save America From Herself. But, unfortunately, as I have mentioned previously, such frenzied excesses of fanaticism risk crossing the line into some mentally- or emotionally-unstable type spontaneously provoking disorder and violence as could see casualies or injuries.

Never mind the GOP having issued advice that the McCain/Palin campaign please tone down the vitriol for the sake of Party Unity (as if Party Unity mattered more than the Greater Collective Good of the Nation), there's always the danger that one isolated incident in the Willie Lumplump vein could get dangerously out of hand.

The fact of which is not lost on The Courier-Journal of Louisville, in the following editorial entitled "Politics of Venom:"

There is a reason the McCain-Palin campaign has taken such a dangerous and despicable turn.

They are losing.

Reason aside, there is no excuse for the ugliness they have embraced and fomented at their public rallies.

Winning is not everything.

However, desperate pursuit of a fading White House dream has stained the public face of decency that had marked John McCain's political career until this race. The candidate who once decried "agents of intolerance" is one now.

The displays of anger and hatred at several McCain-Palin events are scary and unacceptable in a society that has distinguished itself as a government of, by and for the people -- not the baited mob.

But mob mentality has been on parade at McCain-Palin events, as audience members have shouted "treason," "terrorist," "off with his head" and "kill him."

The candidates are not innocent bystanders. Indeed, they are playing to the mob. How else to explain Sarah Palin's smiling "palling around with terrorists" remark, her talking about "his America" versus "our America" about Obama? Or McCain standing idly by as an attendee called Obama and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi "hooligans," after which McCain agreed?

The Republican ticket has made a decision to exploit people's fears, angers and biases to win political points in a race that is going badly for them.

This is not only a very dangerous and cynical calculation, especially at this time of great economic unrest.

It is an immoral choice.

In criticizing the turn the campaign has taken, John Weaver, a former strategist for McCain, said, "People need to understand, for moral reasons and the protection of our civil society, the differences with Sen. Obama are ideological, based on clear differences on policy and a lack of experience compared to Sen. McCain."

People will not get that sort of civics lesson from the McCain-Palin gang.

At least not yet.

They're banking on winning ugly. But for the good of the nation, for the safety of our candidates, for the sake of their own reputations, they must run what's left of their campaign in a way that respects the voter and the process.

If they don't, we all lose ugly. Just how ugly, we don't even want to think.

As if to reinforce this point, consider what Jon Stewart of Comedy Central's Daily Show observed the other night about the warped and misplaced "journalistic priorities" of Fox Prolefeed over recent days being so out of touch with Reality (hat tip to NewsHounds):

Not to mention "Morning Joe" Scarborough of MSNBC acknowledging openly to Stephen Colbert of Comedy Central's The Colbert Report that they discuss Barack Obama's droog (and the McCain/Palin campaign's bête noire) William Ayres with such frequency "because it's not relevant" (about 1:22-1:30 into this clip):

We should recall, too, that Herr Streicher's approach in publishing Der Sturmer was one of using short, simple sentences and easily-understood vocabulary to make sure working-class Germans across Nazi Germany willingly understood why (as the slogan @ the bottom of the front page of every issue put it) "The Jew is Our Misfortune." And not so much in words as in cartoons, almost always produced by "Fips" (Philipp Rupprecht) and infamous for their crude anti-Semitic depravity reinforced by vulgar stereotypes or their zoophilic suggestions that Jews were somehow "snakes in the grass" threatening Aryan Womanhood and, in its turn, Aryan Racial Integrity.

Do we willingly ignore the lessons and warnings of History by choice, or by our own sheer arrogance and incompetence?

Or will History come back and haunt us without warning or danger, in line with George Santayana's maxim about those not remembering the past condemned to repeat it?

And what will the reaction of the McCain/Palin campaign be if one of their rallies suddenly and spontaneously deteriorates into rioting, chaos and Extreme Ultraviolence?

They had better think about the possible consequences before they resort to blaming "troublemakers" from the Obama Campaign when, in really, it's more than likely the fault of Willie Lumplump.

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

FOR THOSE OF YOU READERS WHO ASK, WILLIE LUMPLUMP was a recurring character of the late comedian Red Skelton on both his radio and TV shows.

"King of the Mynah Birds" was Lumplump's "title," which belied the fact of his being a loud, uncouth and obnoxious drunk certain to start trouble wherever and whenever he went. And perhaps his closest rival among Mr. Skelton's repretoire of characters would have to be Junior, The Mean Widdle Kid.

Now you know.