MEMO TO ANYONE CONSIDERING SUPPORT OF RON PAUL, EITHER FISCALLY OR MORALLY: GOP Presidential wannabe Ron Paul, previously Libertarian but switching to the GOP to gain some mainstream credibility and recognition, may not quite be the so-called "Real Republican" he claims to be.

Witness this recent item from The New Republic (thanks to Pam's House Blend for the hat tip) which reveals a dark side to Ron Paul that Ron Paul the Presidential candidate doesn't exactly want you to know: Videlicet, his past infatuation with anti-Semitism, racism, white Christian supremacy, the so-called "citizen militia" movement and homophobia by way of a succession of newsletters as were published in the 1980's and 1990's under such illustrious names as Ron Paul's Freedom Report, Ron Paul Political Report and The Ron Paul Survival Report, depending on time; James Kirchik, who wrote the item, explains his rationale for this exposé @ this time:

Finding the pre-1999 newsletters was no easy task, but I was able to track many of them down at the libraries of the University of Kansas and the Wisconsin Historical Society. Of course, with few bylines, it is difficult to know whether any particular article was written by Paul himself. Some of the earlier newsletters are signed by him, though the vast majority of the editions I saw contain no bylines at all. Complicating matters, many of the unbylined newsletters were written in the first-person, implying that Paul was the author.

But, whoever actually wrote them, the newsletters I saw all had one thing in common: They were published under a banner containing Paul's name, and the articles (except for one special edition of a newsletter that contained the byline of another writer) seem designed to create the impression that they were written by him--and reflected his views. What they reveal are decades worth of obsession with conspiracies, sympathy for the right-wing militia movement, and deeply held bigotry against blacks, Jews, and gays. In short, they suggest that Ron Paul is not the plain-speaking antiwar activist his supporters believe they are backing--but rather a member in good standing of some of the oldest and ugliest traditions in American politics. 

Let's not forget, too, that Henry Ford of Model T fame also dabbled in anti-Semitic propaganda during the 1920's by way of his weekly magazine, The Dearborn Independent, featuring excerpts of the notorious anti-Semitic forgery Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion; faced with a boycott threat by Jewish groups, Ford would repudiate his anti-Semitic views and acknowledge that certain of the anti-Semitic pieces which had Ford's byline in the Independent were actually ghost-written.

How will Mr. Paul explain such hatemongering to which his name was given as imprimateur all those years ago?

It might be well to ask him accordingly, and confront him with the evidence. Politely, of course.

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

MIKE HUCKABEE CAN'T QUITE BE TRUSTED, EITHER: Again from Pam's House Blend, comes another worthwhile hat tip--this time, involving Mike Huckabee's moral turpitude and why it should preclude your consideration for the GOP Presidential nominee.

Which especially the Elmer Gantry Religiopolitical Theology Institute's supporters ought read, and carefully. (Or are we forgetting that this element is actually ignorant and can't think critically anyway?)

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MOVING FROM THE RIDICULOUS TO THE SUBLIME, ESPECIALLY AMONG YOU FANS OF THOSE CHINATOWN BUSES operating in the Northeast Corridor and the West Coast ... Your Correspondent wants you to know where you can now make reservations and get tickets for your favourite Chinatown bus services (tours included) thanks to this weblog's affiliation with GoToBus.com, the premier online resource for Chinatown buses.

To start, just click on the following banner:

(Remember, you'll be helping this weblog and Your Correspondent with your shopping online here.)   

THE SO-CALLED "COMMUNITY FINANCIAL SERVICES ASSOCIATION" (CFSA), the industry group for payday-advance lenders as must enjoy concentrating its presence upon lower-income or otherwise working-class districts of communities with little or no real socioeconomic potential, has a "winning of hearts and minds" campaign afoot to push the doctrine of "responsible borrowing" from payday lenders.

As in TV ads explaining:

• where member loan companies have agreed to more prominently display interest rates and terms for the short-term loans as are their forte;
• where rates and terms can vary widely among lenders, thus calling for increased comparison shopping to find the best rates and terms for borrowers' specific circumstances and needs; and
• that payday loans should only be used for short-term financial emergencies, and never for frivolous or irresponsible purposes.

What they may not be telling you is that there are probably some payday lenders out there who see the CFSA's campaign as but a small part of cartel behaviour designed to discourage real competition in payday lending, let alone promote responsible use of payday loans. Which, all too often, are the only avenues of finance that the Lower Classes have short of pawnbrokers and loan sharks with connexions to the weird and unwholesome element.

And what's more, you have the makings of a vicious circle mentality in what amounts to furthering the producerist-led war on the vulnerable and easily-influenced with:

• conservative articles of faith, on the one hand, expecting mutual self-help to be seen as the "best and only" way the Lower Classes have to "empower" themselves, while, on the other such, seeing free-market capitalism as the Great White Father as would free the poor from "enslavement" to "failed and failing" State welfare;
• the defence of free-market capitalism expected to be seen as one with that of America's "antient and pecuilar" soverignty and soverign identity, and vice versa (howbeit lacking any credible foundation, thereby risking such being seen as doublethink);
• free-market capitalism expected to be seen as regulating itself through industry-based Codes of Good Practice theoretically expected to encourage competition and freedom of choice, but secretly excusing cartel behaviour and its potential for corruption, abuse and mismanagement which lead to higher prices, limited selection and lower quality in the long run; and
• in a further travesty, the same Lower Classes as are expected to see mutual self-help as their "last and only hope for empowering themselves towards self-reliance and personal responsibility" should not be expected to seek any assistance towards making mutual self-help viable (the fear, perhaps, being one where Moral Hazard could ensue to the point of "unhealthy dependency" ensuing), that they should seek assistance on their own initiative.

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

THE WHICH BEGS ALL THE MORE FOR HOW BEST TO ENCOURAGE MUTUAL SELF-HELP INITIATIVES AMONG THESE SAME LOWER CLASSES as would not create the risk of stigmatisation for seeking approriate help and resources while concurrently satisfying such specimens of conservative Zealotry and True Belief seeing mutual self-help "saving the Lower Classes from themselves" as an article of faith.

One (un)likely approach I would have in mind would be to have some class of a payday lender, solely by the power of Moral Suasion, consider mutualisation as part of a greater revamping of its business model to empower the vulnerable thereby targeted.

Example: The Montréal-based Caisse populaire Canadienne Italienne, affiliated with the Mouvement Desjardins since 1997, when the former Fiducie Canadienne Italienne (Canadian-Italian Trust Company; founded in 1974) reinvented itself along mutual lines to better serve the pecuilar financial needs of the Italian emigré community in and around Montréal through its eight offices.

So what exactly stands in the way of actually helping the Lower Classes develop viable mutual self-help and coopitalist initiatives towards their empowerment, as conservatives so dearly desire?

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

THE VERY IDEA THAT QUESTIONS ABOUT SPORT AND CULTURE MATTER ALL THE MORE in a test required of intending immigrants is a rather absurd one indeed.

Such is the case in Australia, where the several bishops of the Roman Catholic Church "Down Under" have called upon Australian immigration officials to scrap the citizenship test outright, contending that questions about sport and culture have no place in determining whether would-be immigrants are "quality" enough.

Not bad for a country which had, in its time, a nasty reputation for requiring immigrants as were from "inferior" or "undesirable" races and cultures to pass the Natal Dictation Test while not requiring the same of "superior" white immigrants. (Said Natal Dictation Test required "inferior" and "undesirable" immigrants to translate, sight unseen, a 50-word paragraph into a "civilised"--as in European--language of the examining officer's choice, one as was highly unlikely to be understood by said immigrants in the first place.)

"It's a small world, after all...."

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

SHED NO TEARS FOR SUHARTO, readers (especially those of you in Indonesia or the Indonesian diaspora): He was a rather "dethpickable" type himself, walking a tightrope between socioeconomic development and stability while stifling opposition and dissent through some of the most sadistic measures known until the Khmer Rouge "killing fields" made Suharto's repressive extremes look like Tom & Jerry in their sadistomasoschistic glory for M-G-M.

And yet still wanted to be seen as a trusted ally of the "morally superior" United States in particular when it came to the Australasian region while improperly enriching his family through his socioeconomic development initiatives.

Only to lose grasp of Reality when it became too late for him to see the errors of his ways--as in a 1998 coup.  

AS YOU CAN SEE FROM THE TITLE LINE, this is the 75th posting into The Exaggerator since its launch in replacing the daily phosdex as Your Correspondent's blog of primary record.

And as I write this, the Minnwissippi region around Winona (as in southeast Minnesota and west Wisconsin along the Mississippi River around Winona) is in what could best be called "the calm before the storm:" Rain could be likely later today, changing to snow concurrent with a segue into colder temperatures and even colder wind chills.

And what's surprising to many of you is that, as I write this, the temperature here in Winona (with snow on the ground, besides!) is 50 degrees Fahrenheit. And it looks set to only go downhill from here, with minima sliding into the mid-30's overnight ... and, from morning highs in the 20's tomorrow, crashing well below zero (with wind chills in the -25 to -35 range possible) on rather potent cold winds.

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

IF YOU THOUGHT "HEADING HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS" AROUND THANKSGIVING AND/OR CHRISTMAS is awful enough as it is here in the "morally superior" United States, just be lucky that you're not in China: Weather conditions are seriously disrupting the travel plans of many millions returning to their ancestral villages for the Lunar New Year celebrations this year, beginning the Year of the Rat in the traditional Asian astrological cycle of 12 years.

Hardest hit: Some 170,000 stranded in the Guangzhou railway station as power cuts, ice and sleet have forced cancellation of many thousands of train and bus services. Not to mention many parts of China having already run out of road salt to de-ice roads slick with "black ice" and glaze ice, and many airports being closed due to treacherous conditions and power cuts.

Last year alone, an estimated two billion journeys were made across China over the Lunar New Year holiday period, which, even without the current severe weather, can be pretty rough getting a seat on trains or buses.

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LOSS OF VEGETATION FROM LAST YEAR'S BRUSH FIRES ACROSS SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA can only be making a trying situation even worse when you factor in recent heavy rains, becoming freezing rain, sleet and snow @ higher elevations, into the equation.

As in creating the risk for landslips and rockslides in areas worse hit by the fires.

No doubt creating a scenario certain to be exploited by the pseudoreligious especially, claiming that the rough weather and ensuing destruction are a sign of Divine Judgement and Wrath upon California for Straying from the Holy and Divine Will Ordained Upon America.

  *************

KUDOS ARE DUE AMERICANS UNITED FOR CHANGE for its announcing a campaign for "winning of hearts and minds" against anything remotely resembling a glowing-sounding legacy for President Bush fils, a/k/a His Fraudulency, citing all manner of fraud, lies, deception, trick, cronyism and mismanagement of the economy as much as the ur-RAHOWA Against Terrorism.

With that in mind, perhaps it might be best to recall what then-Soviet Premier Nikita Khruschev's "secret speech" of 1956 had to say about how far Stalin's regime went in shameless self-gratification for Stalin and Stalin alone; the better for the sake of insight from history:

Comrades: The cult of the individual acquired such monstrous size chiefly because Stalin himself, using all conceivable methods, supported the glorification of his own person. This is supported by numerous facts. One of the most characteristic examples of Stalin's self-glorification and of his lack of even elementary modesty is the edition of his Short Biography, which was published in 1948 (sic).

This book is an expression of the most dissolute flattery, an example of making a man into a godhead, of transforming him into an infallible sage, "the greatest leader, sublime strategist of all times and nations." Finally, no other words could be found with which to lift Stalin up to the heavens.

We need not give here examples of the loathesome adulation filling this book. All we need to add is that they all were approved and edited by Stalin personally. Some of them were added in his own handwriting to the draft text of the book.

What did Stalin consider essential to write into this book? Did he want to cool the ardor of the flatterers who were composing his Short Biography? No! He marked the very places where he thought that the praise of his services was insufficient. Here are some examples characterizing Stalin's activity, added in Stalin's own hand:

"In this fight against the skeptics and capitulators, the Trotskyites, Zinovievites, Bukharinites and Kamenevites, there was definitely welded together, after Lenin's death, that leading core of the Party... that upheld the great banner of Lenin, rallied the Party behind Lenin's behests, and brought the Soviet people onto the broad paths of industrializing the country and collectivizing the rural economy. The leader of this core and the guiding force of the Party and the state was comrade Stalin."

Thus writes Stalin himself! Then he adds:

"Although he performed his tasks as leader of the Party and the people with consummate skill, and enjoyed the unreserved support of the entire Soviet people, Stalin never allowed his work to be marred by the slightest hint of vanity, conceit or self-adulation."

Where and when could a leader so praise himself? Is this worthy of a leader of the Marxist-Leninist type? No. Precisely against this did Marx and Engels take such a strong position. This always was sharply condemned also by Vladimir Ilyich Lenin.

In the draft text of [Stalin's] book appeared the following sentence: "Stalin is the Lenin of today." This sentence appeared to Stalin to be too weak. Thus, in his own handwriting, he changed it to read: "Stalin is the worthy continuer of Lenin's work, or, as it is said in our Party, Stalin is the Lenin of today." You see how well it is said, not by the nation but by Stalin himself.

It is possible to offer many such self-praising appraisals written into the draft text of that book in Stalin's hand. He showers himself especially generously with praises regarding his military genius and his talent for strategy. I will cite one more insertion made by Stalin on the theme: "The advanced Soviet science of war received further development," he writes, "at Comrade Stalin's hands. Comrade Stalin elaborated the theory of the permanent operating factors that decide the issue of wars, of active defense and the laws of counteroffensive and offensive, of the cooperation of all services and arms in modern warfare, of the role of big tank masses and air forces in modern war, and of the artillery as the most formidable of the armed services. At various stages of the war, Stalin's genius found correct solutions that took into account all the circumstances of the situation."

(Movement in the hall.)

Further, Stalin writes: "Stalin's military mastership was displayed both in defense and on offense. Comrade Stalin's genius enabled him to divine the enemy's plans and defeat them. The battles in which comrade Stalin directed the Soviet armies are brilliant examples of operational military skill."

This is how Stalin was praised as a strategist. Who did this? Stalin himself, not in his role as a strategist but in the role of an author-editor, one of the main creators of his [own] self-adulatory biography. Such, comrades, are the facts. Or should be said, rather, the shameful facts.

One additional fact from the same Short Biography of Stalin: As is known, the History of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks), Short Course was written by a commission of the Party Central Committee.

This book, parenthetically, was also permeated with the cult of the individual and was written by a designated group of authors. This fact was reflected in the following formulation on the proof copy of the Short Biography of Stalin: "A commission of the Central Committee, All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks), under the direction of comrade Stalin and with his most active personal participation, has prepared a History of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks), Short Course."

But even this phrase did not satisfy Stalin: The following sentence replaced it in the final version of the Short Biography: "In 1938, the book History of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks), Short Course appeared, written by comrade Stalin and approved by a commission of the Central Committee, All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks)." Can one add anything more?

(Animation in the hall.)

As you see, a surprising metamorphosis changed the work created by a group into a book written by Stalin. It is not necessary to state how and why this metamorphosis took place.

A pertinent question comes to our mind: If Stalin is the author of this book, why did he need to praise the person of Stalin so much and to transform the whole post-October historical period of our glorious Communist Party solely into an action of "the Stalin genius"?

Did this book properly reflect the efforts of the Party in the socialist transformation of the country, in the construction of socialist society, in the industrialization and collectivization of the country, and also other steps taken by the Party which undeviatingly traveled the path outlined by Lenin? This book speaks principally about Stalin, about his speeches, about his reports. Everything without the smallest exception is tied to his name.

And when Stalin himself asserts that he himself wrote the Short Course, this calls at least for amazement. Can a Marxist-Leninist thus write about himself, praising his own person to the heavens?

Or let us take the matter of the Stalin Prizes.

(Movement in the hall.)

Not even the Tsars created prizes which they named after themselves.

Stalin recognized as the best a text of the national anthem of the Soviet Union which contains not a word about the Communist Party; it contains, however, the following unprecedented praise of Stalin: "Stalin brought us up in loyalty to the people. He inspired us to great toil and deeds."

In these lines of the anthem, the whole educational, directional and inspirational activity of the great Leninist Party is ascribed to Stalin. This is, of course, a clear deviation from Marxism-Leninism, a clear debasing and belittling of the role of the Party. We should add for your information that the Presidium of the Central Committee has already passed a resolution concerning the composition of a new text of the anthem. which will reflect the role of the people and the role of the Party.

(Loud, prolonged applause.)

And was it without Stalin's knowledge that many of the largest enterprises and towns were named after him? Was it without his knowledge that Stalin monuments were erected in the whole country--these "memorials to the living"? It is a fact that Stalin himself had signed on July 2, 1951 a resolution of the USSR Council of Ministers concerning the erection on the Volga-Don Canal of an impressive monument to Stalin; on September 4 of the same year he issued an order making 33 tons of copper available for the construction of this impressive monument.

Anyone who has visited the Stalingrad area must have seen the huge statue which is being built there, and that on a site which hardly any people frequent. Huge sums were spent to build it at a time when people of this area had lived since the war in huts. Consider, yourself, was Stalin right when he wrote in his biography that "...he did not allow in himself ... even a shadow of conceit, pride, or self-adoration"?

At the same time Stalin gave proofs of his lack of respect for Lenin's memory. It is not a coincidence that, despite the decision taken over 30 years ago to build a Palace of Soviets as a monument to Vladimir Ilyich, this palace was not built, its construction was always postponed and the project allowed to lapse.

We cannot forget to recall the Soviet Government resolution of August 14, 1925 concerning "the founding of Lenin prizes for educational work." This resolution was published in the press, but until this day there are no Lenin prizes. This, too, should be corrected.

(Tumultuous, prolonged applause.)

During Stalin's life -- thanks to known methods which I have mentioned, and quoting facts, for instance, from the Short Biography of Stalin--all events were explained as if Lenin played only a secondary role, even during the October Socialist Revolution. In many films and in many literary works the figure of Lenin was incorrectly presented and inadmissibly depreciated.

Stalin loved to see the film The Unforgettable Year of 1919, in which he was shown on the steps of an armored train and where he was practically vanquishing the foe with his own saber. Let Klimenty Yefremovich [Voroshilov], our dear friend, find the necessary courage and write the truth about Stalin; after all, he knows how Stalin had fought. It will be difficult for comrade Voroshilov to undertake this, but it would be good if he did it. Everyone will approve of it, both the people and the Party. Even his grandsons will thank him.

(Prolonged applause.)

In speaking about the events of the October Revolution and about the Civil War, the impression was created that Stalin always played the main role, as if everywhere and always Stalin had suggested to Lenin what to do and how to do it. However, this is slander of Lenin.

(Prolonged applause.)

I will probably not sin against the truth when I say that 99 per cent of the persons present here heard and knew very little about Stalin before the year 1924, while Lenin was known to all. He was known to the whole Party, to the whole nation, from children all the way up to old men.

(Tumultuous, prolonged applause.)

All this has to be thoroughly revised so that history, literature and the fine arts properly reflect V. I. Lenin's role and the great deeds of our Communist Party and of the Soviet people--a creative people.

(Applause.)

HOW TO BREATHE NEW LIFE INTO A '70'S ICON OF SORTS: For a few years around the time of the Watergate scandals (1972-75), a number of radio stations around the country used a jingle package whose tag line went "Have a Happy Day!", reinforced by a cute and sappy jingle whose full-length version can be heard right here.

Especially so the kind whose format was "middle-of-the-road," encompassing a mix of light popular hits, country and soft rock to appeal to as broad an audience as possible. Which, in this day and age of the Croftweiler Industrial Cartel's domination of radio, seems rather hard to find on the dial.

(I recall, for one, that WKTY, "Katy 580" down in LaCrosse, used the "Have a Happy Day!" package as a promotional campaign. If you recall stations down in your patch of the woods likewise using "Have a Happy Day!" in the early '70's, please leave your memories in the comments section following.)

Anyway:

Some while back, Your Correspondent imagined that very light and relaxing jingle epitomising "Have a Happy Day!" as an interesting "bumper" that could lead into classic specimens of old-time radio comedy such as:

• Fibber McGee and Molly (of course)
• The Great Gildersleeves
• Vic and Sade
• Al Pierce and His Gang
• The Bickersons (including such which appeared as a segment on Dreme Time, which introduced the routine) 
• Our Miss Brooks
• Lum & Abner
• The Aldrich Family
• Father Knows Best
• My Friend Irma
• Duffy's Tavern 
• Archie Andrews
• My Favorite Husband
• You Bet Your Life 
• Life With Luigi
• The Life of Riley
• A Date With Judy
• The Couple Next Door

--as well as the self-titled shows of Jack Benny, Fred Allen, Jimmy Durante, Bob Hope, Red Skelton, Phil Harris and Alice Faye, Eddie Cantor, Abbott and Costello, George Burns and Gracie Allen, Mel Blanc, Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy ... and, for variety, the occasional Hollywood comedy as was adapted for Lux Radio Theatre or Screen Directors' Playhouse.

Even better yet, the likes of detective mysteries from old-time radio where wisecracks figured into the storyline like Mr. and Mrs. North; Pat Novak for Hire; Jeff Regan, Investigator and Richard Diamond, Private Detective.

No doubt sure to make old-time radio listening more interesting, no?

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

Which brings to mind this bit of Burma-Shave signage from around 1948:

'TWOULD BE
MORE FUN
TO GO BY AIR
IF WE COULD PUT
THESE SIGNS UP THERE
BURMA-SHAVE

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THE MOTTO EXPLAINED: You may have noticed where, near the top of the page, just above the name of this weblog (the title header, as it were), I use the motto HONI SOIT QUI MAL Y PENSE as part of the whole.

In case you're wondering, that expression is the motto of the Order of the Garter in Great Britain, established in 1348; translated from the Norman French, it means "Shame on him who thinks evil of it."

Now you know.

ST. MORITZ, THE DIVA OF SWISS ALPINE RESORTS REGARDLESS OF THE TIME OF YEAR (and whose name is actually registered as a trademark to protect the good name and repute thereof), may be well known over the winter months for its winter sports programme.

As in downhill and alpine skiing, snowboarding, sleighing, bobsledding, lugeing and tobogganing.

But it just so happens that they have a few not-so-conventional winter sporting events coming up as are of interest among the Robin Leach crowd more so than the "weird news" such: Coming up next weekend in the champagne climate of the Engadine is the 20th "Cricket on Ice" test series on the very ice of the lake of St. Moritz.

And over the course of three Sundays in February, St. Moritz will play host to the "White Turf" horse race meeting as encompasses traditional thoroughbred races on the lake ice and a cross-country skijouring race in which the jockeys are towed behind riderless horses; over CHF400,000 in purses are on offer.

Add to that the upcoming Cartier World Cup Polo on Snow series, and you've got a rather interesting set of items that should be of interest to "weird news" aficionados.

And to think that St. Moritz' reputation as a winter resort started with a wager between a local innkeeper by name of Badrutt and four of his regular summer guests from London back in 1864, inviting them to stay the winter in the Engadine @ Herr Badrutt's expense, for as long as they wanted--only by the tenth day of their visit, the guests (who arrived with their families and friends) offered to pay for their stay.

And stayed on until Easter, as it turned out.

Thus the world beat a path to the Diva of the Swiss Alps, a path which has now become well-worn, and then some. (BTW, perhaps the best way to reach St. Moritz is by way of the Glacier Express, "the world's slowest fast train" as is itself something of a legend among rail travellers and the Eurailpass set.)

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SO MUCH FOR EXPECTING CHILDREN TO DEVELOP A "HEALTHY" RESPECT FOR "RACIAL HONOUR AND PRIDE," all the while excusing same as True Patriot Love in All Thy Sons Command:

Your Correspondent hath it that schools across Australia will begin incorporating into their primary-school curriculum lessons in multiculturalism, diversity and tolerance when the new school term starts Down Under next week, starting @ preschool level.

Day nurseries will also include multiculturalism lessons.

In contrast, a closer look @ Christian Homeschooling curricular materials reveals where its greater syllabus amounts to nothing short of sugar-coated bigotry, racism, xenophobia and intolerance, excused all along as a healthy manifestation of Christian Love. Add an enforced social isolation common to the element, and what you have is nothing less than the makings of a hybrid of Archie Bunker/Alf Garnett and Ed Gein, hard-wired besides.

Yet the same Christian Homeschooling crowd expects their children to look upon America as The One Centre of the World, the Universe and the 28 Known Galaxies!

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MEMO TO "WORK-FROM-HOME" AND "HOME BUSINESS" ADVERTISERS seeking to exploit the socioeconomic instability some see as imminent, with its adverse effects upon the Lower Classes in particular (and especially so such using testimonials/endorsements to create an aura of glowing generalities):

Your timely attention is called to Section 15 of the Better Business Bureau's Advertising Code (Testimonials and Endorsements), to wit:

In general, advertising which uses testimonials or endorsements is likely to mislead or confuse if:

• it is not genuine and does not actually represent the current opinion of the endorser;
• it is not quoted in its entirety, thereby altering its overall meaning and impact;
• it contains representations or statements which would be misleading if otherwise used in advertising;
• while literally true, it creates deceptive implications;
• the endorser is not competent or sufficently qualified to express an opinion concerning the quality of the product or service being advertised or the results likely to be achieved by its use;
• it is not clearly stated that the endorser, associated with some well-known and highly-regarded institution, is speaking only in a personal capacity, and not on behalf of such an institution, if such be the fact;
• broad claims are made as to endorsement or approval by indefinitely large or vague groups, e.g., "the homeowners of America" or "the doctors of America;"
• an endorser has a pecuniary interest in the company whose product or service is endorsed and this is not made known in the advertisement.

Advertisers should consult current Federal Trade Commission Guides on Endorsements and Testimonials for more detailed guidance.

IIBC, FTC regulations also require disclosure of whether endorsers received any type of payment or other consideration for use of their testimonials or endorsements in advertising.

So what prevents such disclosures in the first place?

And are such carpetbagger types likely to invoke "commercial free speech" patsies as a defence in any complaints called to the attention of the Better Business Bureaux challenging veracity or sincerity of testimonials used in "work-from-home" offers, especially if new? 

WHEN "REAL MEN" STOPS AND "MALE CHAUVINIST" BEGINS: To hear some of the more pathetic specimens of religiopolitical homophobia put it, one of the more obvious causes of one developing "homosexual tendencies" is a lack of "healthy respect for [one's] masculinity" in relation to Cultural Heritage and National Honour and Identity.

Preferably to be expressed in the form of "healthy conditioning" by the parental units in childhood, in particular the likes of wrestiling and other exercises designed to promote "healthy" masculine feelings; anything less risked the boy's "serious descent" into homosexuality, still to be regarded by Those Who Should Know Better as a Serious Aberration and Mental Disorder.

Your Correspondent, come to think of it, has to wonder if the real intention of promoting "healthy masculinity" by such means is to perpetuate male chauvinism and domination--and to excuse the same as "cultural heritage" in case one needs a proper defence. (As if "cultural heritage" really mattered as a serious issue when it came to the defence of masculinity.)

And it's enough to wonder if the so-called "real men" are really closer to male chauvinists expected to flaunt their chauvinism as a show of National and Cultural Honour and Identity--never mind that some of the more likely displays of male-chauvinist bonding under such warped circumstances (especially among the easily-influenced) include the likes of:

• Spending most of their time drinking beer and swapping obscene stories;
• Eating high-fat junk food;
• Spending too much time among the Dregs of Society, and in such haunts as they are known to frequent (including beer parlours, taverns, hunting parties, liquor stores and suchlike haunts of poor male role models generally);
• Wasting too much of their pay on liquor, lottery tickets (and unlikely to win anything of substance except refund prizes) and crude pornographic matter;
• Watching films and TV programmes featuring extreme ultraviolence (especially the gratuitous sort), unnecessary sexualisation of women and/or children, and dubious sport like NASCAR and so-called "professional wrestling;"
• Beating their wives without provocation or warning, usually as a precursor to the old actu coitus (reinforced with approriate threats as necessary);
• Frequently absenting himself from the house, without regard for wife or children, and with the wife getting rather worried to the point of paranoia about his spending too much time "with the boys" as if they were rather dangerous themselves; and
• Suggesting that the children get out of the house after breakfast on weekends and during school vacation periods, not to return home until just before the supper hour (and cooking up plenty of cheap excuses to explain in case the police start asking questions, with a likely referral to the Child Welfare).

And for this the Pseudoreligiopolitical Right wants men to remain all the more conscious of their masculinity to the point of overt chauvinism in the name of G-d and Country, if need be?

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WHY "SPAM" IS NEVER A GOOD WAY TO PROMOTE WEBSITES: For some reason or another, there are those who see search engines, site swaps, banner exchanges and other forms of website promotion as ineffective and, hence, poor value for money in attracting "quality" site traffic.

No doubt explaining why they would prefer that intending webmasters use "bulk e-mail marketing" (read: spamming) as the marketing tool of choice. The contention, no doubt, being that:

• everybody seems to have an e-mail address these days;
• everybody reads their e-mail @ least once a day; and
• ergo, it makes sense for webmasters to use "targeted bulk e-mail marketing" as a more cost-efficent way to attract the kind of website visitors they would like to see visiting, and to be sure of a fresher, timelier response besides.

The Reality, however, is that, apart from the weird and unwholesome sort of online business (e.g., "online pharmacies," "multi-level marketing" schemes, "work-from-home" offers and adult websites), "spam" is not all that those involved want you and me to believe, let alone their making it sound attractive in pathetically glowing terms, for more mainstream businesses. As a matter of fact, virtually every company in the Fortune 500 and the Inc. 250 choose not to use unsolicited bulk e-mail as part of their marketing mix, for fear of ailenating especially long-established customers and attracting complaints in certain quarters.

As if that weren't enough, the same unscrupulous elements--and others of that ilk--are starting to push the concept of "blog spam" as a way to market websites; here, the thinking is that, with so many blogging or otherwise reading weblogs every day, such could actually be an equally-effective way to attract website traffic as translates into value for money. (Such thinking is fatally flawed, IIBC: Virtually all the major blog hosts have adopted procedures which allow bloggers to restrict blogging access only to themselves, or to such as have a special invitation, the better to control "blog spam.")

There are better ways--more orthodox ways, even--of attracting attention to your website.

One such I have started using is Web CEO - ultimate software suite for Web site promotion; all it takes is a short download onto your PC to start analysing your website and submit such to the leading search engines and directories.

As well as analyse any keywords and meta tags you're using to more efficently prep your site for optimum results in attracting search engine traffic. 

And it's free, to boot. Just click the link above to see what Web CEO can do for you, or to download the free version onto your PC.

Another way I prefer: The old reliable letterposts--you just have to do it right to get the right results. Not to mention providing work to letter carriers, clerks and sorters, the whole lot within the Postal Service as is involved with handling mails as needs the work more than ever.

I also include a link in the signature line of my e-mails as a marketing tool.

So there are more efficent (and more orthodox) ways of attracting traffic to your weblog or site than "spam"--methinks "bulk e-mail marketing" amounts to nothing short of cheap lily-gilding concealing sinister intent.

AFTER A TWO DAY PERIOD WHICH SAW YOUR CORRESPONDENT CONFINED TO APARTMENT here in Winona thanks to sharply cold weather and wind chills, he returned back to a sort of normal routine this morning.

As in keeping the que vive around the office of a certain motel here in Winona (name on request), not to mention maintaining the coffee service therefor in same.

Back to the weather for a moment: Things should improve(?!) slightly as the day wears on, with maxima expected in the mid-teens Fahrenheit (and remaining stable through the night) along with some snow in the bargain. Which, by Sunday, could segue into near 40 degrees Fahrenheit along with rain showers, returning to a more seasonable pattern as January segues into February.

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THOSE OF YOU WHO ARE OF THE ALMANACAL PERSUASION OUT THERE IN THE GREATER BLOGOSPHERE may not know it, but when it comes to noting Sundays therein, a device known as a Dominical Letter is used.

Same being the letters A-G, inclusive, depending on when the first Sunday in the year fell; e.g., if January 1st was the first Sunday of the year, A would be used in almanacks to designate Sundays. However, in the case of leap years such as this, two sets of Dominical Letters are used, one covering the months of January and February, the other for the rest of the year.

In the case of 2008, the two Dominical Letters are F (inasmuch as the first Sunday of the year was January 6th) and, from March, B (inasmuch as the first Sunday after the February 29th leap day is March 2nd).

For 2009, your Dominical Letter will be D (inasmuch as the first Sunday of that year is Sunday, January 4th).

Interesting what you can learn, no?

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ANOTHER WAY BY WHICH YOU CAN SUPPORT THIS BLOG, AND THEN SOME: After Your Correspondent's previous weblog, the daily phosdex, was nominated for Worst Weblog of All Time in the Blogger's Choice Awards, such attracted some attention and notice--as well as a few votes, but not enough for serious contention.

In that spirit, and in the interest of attracting some attention to (not to mention respect, or reasonable facsimilies thereof, for) this new blog, he has entered The Exaggerator into the Blogger's Choice Awards for 2008, the actual awards therefor based all the on your votes (which requires registration into same, just so you know).

Not just as Worst Weblog of All Time, but also as:

• Best Weblog of All Time
• Freakiest Blogger
• Most Obnoxious Blogger

(The voting links can be found on the left-hand side of the page, in case you'd like to show your support in any of these categories. I'd appreciate all the votes you can get in any or all of these categories.)

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YOU'LL NOTE WHERE THIS BLOG HAS BEEN ENTERED EQUALLY into both the Best Weblog of All Time and Worst Weblog of All Time categories of said Blogger's Choice Awards.

In case you ask, I decided to take this step for the sake of (to paraphrase the rather hackneyed ad slogan of Fox Noise) "fairness and balance;" i.e., if it's unlikely to attract votes (or support) for Best Weblog, then it's probable you can expect support for Worst Weblog. And vice versa, so to speak.

It's up to you, dear readers, to make the difference. But make sure you register first.

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WHAT RACIST AND WHITE-SUPREMACIST ZEALOTS AND TRUE BELIEVERS ARE LIKELY TO SEE as Divine Judgement upon South Africa for forsaking and repudiating the Divinely Ordained institution of apartheid: Videlicet, nearly three weeks of erratic power supplies across the South African national grid as have led to blackouts and suspension of interconnexions with several neighbouring countries in the region.

The which have become critical enough to prompt the major gold and platinum mining companies in South Africa to suspend production until reliable power supplies can be maintained by Eskom, South Africa's national power utility, to operate mine elevator shafts, lighting and water-pumping systems and even ventilation systems.

Not to mention providing further ammunition for the weird and unwholesome seeking the evacuation of the remaining Afrikaner population "facing fear of persecution from a Communistic-leaning regime" for being white and Christian (in the latter instance, more than likely following the Dutch Reformed model, or that which could be considered Fundamentalist or Primitive)--said "fear of persecution," however, needing to be seen as suspect or otherwise raising questions of their sincerity.

Especially if the "sponsoring" organisations in the United States (themselves with connexions to racists, white supremacists and neo-Nazis) are scripting the whole for such contacts they may have among the Afrikaner community in South Africa, in particular such elements unlikely to come to terms with the abolition of apartheid and their loss of (howbeit misguided) "privilege" under the ancien regime of enforced racism and, hence, must resort to fear and loathing to try and maintain their hubris-fuelled arrogance.

So what are Immigration and Customs Enforcement expected to do in the circumstances?

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FIRST, THERE WAS DON IMUS.

Then, Michael Savage.

Now, you can add Fox Noise's John Gibson to the list of pseudocommentators pandering to Those Who Should Know Better when it comes to exploiting latent racist, homophobic, xenophobic and jingoistic feelings and paranoia.

In Gibson's case, his rather tasteless remarks directed @ Heath Ledger in the wake of his shock death (as played upon his gay-cowboy role in Brokeback Mountain) were the last straw in a pattern which Media Matters for America has documented for your review (q.v.) and condemnation.

Methinks perhaps the dumbest of all was when Mr. Gibson echoed apartheid South Africa's "Maak Bokkies vir Botha" campaign of the mid-1980's to increase white birth rates in the name of National and Racial Honour.

In any event, John Gibson, insincere apology for the Heath Ledger crack notwithstanding, should be told in no uncertain terms (howbeit politely) that he no longer has the confidence or trust of the Right-Thinking American Peoples heretofore expected to accept such as gospel. That on top of what could be called Fox Noise's "verwerp almal bewyse van oë en ore" mentality expecting its audience of, for the most part, the Great Unwashed to play "goodthinker" (as in one who practices orthodoxy like second nature, accepting the prevailing Fox Noise agenda unswervingly and without question or reservation).

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BLAME IT ALL ON MIKE HUCKABEE: If you want evidence of "insects that spoil the vegetable live inside the vegetable" in action vis-a-vis the Pseudoreligiopolitical Right's power and influence on die Amerikanischer Realpolitik heading into Indecision 2008, consider these articles from People For the American Way's Right Wing Watch blog as evidence therefor.

Not to mention what The Wall Street Journal has to say about His Fraudulency perhaps helping to destroy any shred of credibility (as well as confidence and trust) the GOP may still have.

In other words, the GOP may have destroyed itself from within, if not already starting to. And may be forced to resort to "dirty tricks" to save any chance of credibility, requiring the involvement of weird and unwholesome elements all the more.