YOUR CORRESPONDENT WOULD LIKE TO APOLOGISE @ THIS TIME FOR ANY DELAY IN YOUR SEEING THIS ITEM BEING POSTED, owing, for the most part, to the following:

• Installation and download of new anti-viral software (and then some--as in dealing against not just viruses, but worms, hackers, Trojan horses, malware, spam, "phishing/spoofing/social engineering" scams, keyloggers and dodgy websites connected with the preceding); and
• Changing the side links for Amazon.com, Amazon.ca and Amazon.co.uk to search boxes in the online-shopping area; the better, hopefully, to improve download time cf. Javascript-type applications.

And speaking of anti-viral software, such may want to be worth checking for possible updates and installation. And which you can buy online, right here, right now, helping Your Correspondent in the process:

(Just make sure you know where you are to make sure you're getting the approriate country-specific version of the software you want.)

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NO WONDER THE GOP'S SUPER-SECRET "DIRTY TRICKS" SQUADRON IS ESPECIALLY INTERESTED IN ZIMBABWE'S RUNNING PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION MORASS, what with the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) claiming that the date announced for the Presidential runoff is illegal by deliberate design; the better to allow goon squads with known connexions to the established ZANU-PF party of Robert Mugabe to conduct intimidation and harrassment campaigns against MDC supporters, real or imagined.

And drooling in envious glee @ reports of Extreme Ultraviolence emerging from The Zimbabwean Underground--even as the Zimbabwean Central Bank announces the issue of a new Z$500,000 bank note which, in real terms, is worth but US$2 @ "official" exchange rates.

Not to mention an official inflation rate of some 160,000% besides.

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ANOTHER "BIN-LADEN TAPE" SURFACED ON THE OVERNIGHT, IF ONLY "TO KEEP PEOPLE SCARED" AND WHIP UP SIMPLE PATRIOTIC FEELINGS all the more in service to the ur-RAHOWA Against International Terrorism.

Note where "bin-Laden Tape" is in quotes, inasmuch as suspicions have emerged in versions thereof issued some months after those connected with the Unfortunate Events of 9/11 as to the authenticity thereof, raising some to wonder if the CIA is really fabricating such for the sake of "national unity" vis-a-vis the ongoing quagmire.

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THIS AIN'T NO WAY TO TREAT WAR VETERANS SERVING IN THE AFOREMENTIONED UR-RAHOWA in the first place, as per the St. Paul Pioneer Press:

Army Sgt. Aeren Nauman served on active duty for nearly two years, part of that time in Iraq, and even stood to recite the Infantryman's Creed at a memorial service for a fallen comrade.

But when he decided to buy a home on his return to the Twin Cities last fall, he found his credit ruined by identity theft.

The alleged thief: his dad.

"What kind of dad is this?" asked Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman after his office charged the father, Leonard Gus Nauman, 61, of Long Lake.

"He waits until his kid is overseas; he creates these forged powers of attorney, creates these new bank accounts and takes the money out of the accounts and leaves his son in deep doo-doo. I'm a veteran, and I'm appalled that any veteran would have to go through this."

The elder Nauman was charged with five counts of forgery, four counts of identity theft and four counts of swindling.

All are felonies, and the most serious — identity theft — carry a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $100,000 fine.

The bank accounts Nauman allegedly set up in his son's name were overdrawn by more than $21,000.

A police investigator said that when the son asked about the accounts, the elder Nauman admitted opening them. But, the investigator said, the father said he did it to "boost" his son's credit score.

"When asked where the money went, defendant stated that he had used the money to pay unspecified bills," Wayzata police Lt. Michael Murphy wrote in the affidavit accompanying the criminal complaint.

Neither Nauman could be reached for comment. The elder Nauman was not in custody, and no date had been set for his first court appearance.

Police said Nauman opened the accounts, used them to obtain lines of credit, got money on that credit and deposited it in a business account.

It appears the money was used to pay for a mortgage installment, utilities, teeth cleaning, groceries, liquor and some retail purchases, Murphy said.

Murphy said the father refused to be questioned by police.

[***]

Wayzata police began investigating the case in August when Aeren Nauman, 28, of St. Paul, freshly returned from duty with the 1st Brigade Combat Team of the 34th Infantry Division of the Army National Guard, was looking to buy a home.

"He's at a mortgage place, thinking about getting a house," said Murphy. "That's when he discovered there'd been a significant dip in his credit rating between March of '07 and August of '07. In exploring it, he sees that he now has debt to Wells Fargo Bank and Bremer Bank."

In particular, a Wells Fargo account in his name had an outstanding balance of $12,125. A Bremer account had an outstanding balance of $9,100. Aeren Nauman said he knew nothing of the accounts.

He went to the banks and found his father had opened the accounts using letters that granted him power of attorney, Murphy said. A power-of-attorney certificate gives a person authority to act on behalf of another person.

Aeren Nauman said he never signed the power-of-attorney documents and that his father forged them.

"So then he begins to look into that and eventually goes back to his dad and decides he's probably been swindled," Murphy said.

In an affidavit accompanying a request to search bank records last month, Murphy said the son confronted his father over the accounts Aug. 23 at the Long Lake home of his father's girlfriend.

The father "reported opening the accounts without his son's knowledge or permission to boost Aeren Nauman's credit score," Murphy wrote. When the son asked the father what happened to the money, "his father responded that the funds were used to pay unspecified bills."

After opening the accounts, Leonard Nauman allegedly applied for and got lines of credit. He withdrew money on credit and then deposited it into the account of a business called Ten Mile Investments. State records list Nauman as an officer of the limited-liability company, which is owned by his girlfriend, Mary Ann Saindon, 55.

She could not be reached for comment, and officials said they weren't considering charges against her.

glitter-graphics.com

REV. JOHN HAGEE, CO-"SPIRITUAL ADVISOR" TO THE TERRIBLE-TEMPERED MR. BANG OF INDECISION 2008, otherwise known as John McCain, takes that fine art of conservative propaganda of the post hoc, ergo propter hoc school to a new and exciting low with these remarks in video form (hat tip to Brave New Films and Right Wing Watch):

Which, interestingly enough, raises the question of whether the "economic reasons" angle (as in defending and maintaining a labour-intensive, Luddite-model socioeconomic paradigm based on free-market capitalism as Great White Father) may likely be the next cheap bromide and patsy anti-abortion Zealots and True Believers will want to invoke in defence of their articles of faith.

Just like Nicolĉ Ceauçescu's Communist regime in Romania--only they don't want to acknowledge the interconnexion with Ceauçescu tacitly.

To whom it may concern:

I suppose you know who you are ... and it is to you who contend that the United States is now in a state of what you would call Culture War (and should best be called by its German translation, Kulturkrieg, for reasons you will understand), that I address you @ this time.

And I should like to use this opportunity to ask of you what would be your ideal of an American Defining Culture (Amerikanischer Leikultur) for all purposes and intents you may attach to the concept.

The which raises interesting questions galore, and then some:

1. Would your ideal of an Amerikanischer Realkultur be rooted in hatred, bigotry and intolerance, in particular--
   1. anti-Semitism?
   2. Islamophobia?
   3. racism?
   4. homophobia?
   5. xenophobia?
   6. Producerism?
   7. general contempt for the poor, minorities and other vulnerable elements of Society?
2. Would your ideal of an Amerikanischer Realkultur emphasise an idealised model of white middle-class Low Church Levittown values? Would these values regard as virtuous:
   1. free-market capitalism as Great White Father?
   2. said capitalism being subjected only to laissez-fare self-regulation based on industry Codes of Good Practice?
   3. isolationist self-sufficency within free-market capitalist models and paradigms?
   4. America having been "predestined" as The One True Centre of the World, the Universe and the 28 Known Galaxies, not to mention Portal and Gateway to Heaven?
   5. invoking His Name to justify fear, loathing, contempt and hatred against "inferior peoples and societies," to be reinforced by "whatever means necessary," including force or violence if need be?
   6. the White Man's Burden as one with Christian Honour and Identity?
   7. a "Lord and Master mindset for America" (cf. a BDSM dominatrix in stereotypical black leather and bullwhip), holding The Rest of the World as nothing less than slaves subject to the bidding of her American Masters?
3. Would your ideal of Amerikanischer Realkultur be class-subjective; i.e., such cultural options available being conditioned by one's socioeconomic position and where they reside?
   (As example: Those in lower-income or otherwise economically-distressed areas of the country would more than likely receive such specimens of Realkultur tending to the low, pornographic and generally tasteless, usually lacking in plot, story or production values by deliberate design.)
4. Would you consider the Muzikschaukultur in and around Branson, Missouri to be an ideal "litmus test," so to speak, for what you would consider Amerikanischer Realkultur defined? How and why?
5. Are you expecting your ideal of Amerikanischer Realkultur to have an educational benefit tending to propaganda?
6. Are we to expect what amounts to a "stab-in-the-back" mindset (cf. Nazi Germany's preferred excuse to justify reclaiming Her Rightful Glory and Honour through fear, violence and anti-Semitism) being a recurring theme in your Amerikanischer Realkultur ideal, the intention throughout being one of promoting True Patriot Love in All Thy Sons Command--said Patriot Love being one rooted in xenophobia?
7. Would your designs on an idealised Amerikanischer Realkultur be such as regard Old Glory to be some class of a Holy and Sacred Icon Having Mystical Powers, not unlike Nazi Germany's treatment of the swastika "blood flag" having been made holy by the blood of the Beer Hall Putsch martyrs?
8. Would your designs on an idealised Amerikanischer Realkultur emphasise a "Holy Blood and Soil" mindset serving nothing short of racist, xenophobic and jingoist ends? Can such expect to be reinforced by endorsing a genre of literature based on the German such of Heimatroman ("regional novels") whose plots are, for the most part, formula-based and overzealously glowing?
9. Would your designs on an idealised Amerikanischer Realkultur emphasise a "back to the land" idealism which can be interconnected with the "Holy Blood and Soil" such?
10. Would your designs on an idealised Amerikanischer Realkultur be further reinforced by your preferred interpretation of American History--one as is, for the most part, overzealously glowing to the point of sugar-coated and racially selective?
11. Would your designs on an idealised Amerikanischer Realkultur be expected to reinforce the "America is a White Christian Nation" meme your kind enjoys propagating (cf. apartheid South Africa's constantly pushing the same message to reinforce White Racial Honour and Privilege which apartheid sought to sanction)?
12. Would your designs on an idealised Amerikanischer Realkultur excuse a special "cultural heritage" defence to justify such specimens of "traditional" (yet politically-incorrect) specimens of said Realkultur such as blackface minstrel shows and men-only gatherings such as "smokers"? 
13. Are you now, or have you ever been:
    1. an alcoholic?
    2. addicted to narcotic, hallucinogenic or otherwise habit-forming drugs?
    3. a sex fiend or maniac?
    4. a regular patron of adult businesses?
    5. a wife- and/or child-abuser?
    6. a chronic and habitual gambler or spendthrift?
    7. an undischarged bankrupt?
    8. declared mentally ill, insane or otherwise incompetent?
    9. subject to police watch or observation?
    10. diagnosed with a Loathsome Social Disease?
    11. a member, or otherwise associated with, a known subversive or otherwise conspiratorial organisation?
14. Have you no sense of Decency, Sir, @ long last?
15. Have you left no sense of Decency?

These questions are submitted because the "right-thinking American people" you claim to be acting for want answers.

And answers based on facts, not scripted, meme-laden platitudes and patsies.

You know where to leave the answers--so long as they are tasteful and respectiful.

see more crazy cat pics

MEMO TO READERS: Because "Knowledge is Power," you are strongly encouraged, as is the case with past Open Letters posted to this blog by Your Correspondent, to share this with your circle of friends and contacts.

But share it responsibly. "Spamming" is not good.

CERTAIN ULTRACONSERVATIVE GROUPS MUST HAVE THIS JONES, AS IT WERE, FOR THE POWER AND POTENTIAL OF USING INITIATIVE AND REFERENDUM on the ballot papers of the several states which allows such as a way to propose legislation without having to go through legislative ex-lax and delay.

In particular, by using the device as a way to promote conservative articles of faith where trick or deceit can be used to fool voters all the more vis-a-vis the real intent of the plebiscite question.

Three particular ballot plebiscites which Your Correspondent would just love to see--and see defeated (howbeit more than likely @ local level, as such which I am about to address tend to be local issues)--would have to be:

1. A ballot plebiscite calling for a "temporary" relaxation of local recycling-collection schemes "to stabilise market prices" for recyclable materials (i.e., paper, cardboard/paperboard, glass, tin, aluminum, plastic bottles).
2. A ballot plebiscite seeking the "complete, final and binding" abolition of laws in such states as California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawai'i, Iowa, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island and Vermont mandating a deposit of between 5 and 10˘ on non-returnable beverage containers.
   (Those two no doubt of especial and particular interest to the so-called "Wise Use Movement" as is looking for fresh and innovative ways by which to use up the waste without producing significant and measurable consumer benefit--let alone invoking Darwinian principles which their Zealots and True Believers otherwise oppose.)
3. A ballot plebiscite seeking to replace municipal monopolies on liquor sales with free-market competition; the belief here being that such will "lead to greater freedom of choice" as well as lower prices, notwithstanding where municipal liquor stores (where allowed) have usually helped keep property taxes low and discouraged consumption among the Dregs of Society.

Any questions?

Or any word on questions such as the above appearing on ballot papers come November?

THANKS TO CRAPWORLD, WHO I RAN INTO VIA BLOGMAD, COMES A NEW TAGLIST OF TEN REASONS WHY I BLOG (instructions follow):

1. As one with a history of psychoemotional abuse, cruelty and maltreatment, I wound up developing very strong opinions in spite of attempts to silence me through "mental hygiene" based all too much on medications and fear.
2. It's not every day that you can get a "letter to the editor" published in the local gazetta.
3. I need to express myself. In my own way. On my own terms.
4. I want to make my own unique and distinctive mark on the Information Stuporbahn, and in such interesting times as these.
5. Since when did those in receipt of welfare and/or State Social Security have to keep quiet ("goodthoughtful," in Orwellian Newspeak) as a condition of receiving benefits?
6. Silence=acceptance, as the old rule hath it. Especially considering my experiences.
7. An avenue to earn (or try to) extra income over and above what I get from disability benefit, considering my disability being a "black mark" against employment in the minds of many employers.
8. Trying to explain where "emotional well-being" requires you to work in a sheltered workshop isn't exactly the sort of thing as will win friends or influence people, let alone put food on the table. Especially considering the unstable work assignments and pay as seem to be the rule more than the exception.
9. Trying to prove, by example, that the dyslexic don't necessarily have to express themselves in dry, simple sentences reminescent of Dick and Jane.
10. As a T-shirt slogan of the late 1970's/early 1980's had it, "If you can't dazzle them with brilliance ... baffle them with bull." And what better venue to do so than in the Greater Blogosphere?

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NOW, HERE'S WHERE YOU COME IN: After offering your Ten Reasons Why You Blog in your such, copy the following and add your own blog to this list. And keep this ring going, the better to maximise traffic to this and other blogs who join in:

Start to copy:
Ten Reasons Why I Blog. 1. Mel Avila Alarilla 2.Crapworld 3. The Exaggerator