A RATHER NICE, IF COOL AND HAZY, DAY UP HERE IN THE MINNWISSIPPI REGION as I prepare this entry for your edification and enlightenment. Plenty of filtered sun and trees starting to bud outside to herald spring's arrival.

Even if there's talk of serious rain likely late tomorrow, along with the onset of slightly cooler temperatures.

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

AS FOR THE NEW ONLINE MALL I AM DEVELOPING TO HELP COMPLEMENT THIS WEBLOG, Your Correspondent is only now starting to work on it, as you can see here at its (eventual) online home.

Think of it, for now, as a "work-in-progress," so just be patient. And as e-tailers get added, feel free to shop around. Which, hopefully, should be more convenient than presently. (But it's not to say online shopping will disappear entirely from The Exaggerator; expect a somewhat limited presence all the more, which should help speed up page download times.)

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

ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF "GOOD CONCEPT, BUT NO SENSE:"

His Fraudulency's Great Within, for the sake of leaving a positive and "glowing" legacy aside from the misadventures known otherwise as ur-RAHOWA against International Terrorism, wants the post-9/11 tax cuts (based, know, on discredited "supply-side" socioeconomic thought holding that "low taxes=jobs=social stability") to be made "complete, final and binding" after they are set to lapse in January of 2010.

Which, considering a National Debt as has already worsened all the more thanks to these anti-terrorist misadventures and an unyielding Zealotry and True Belief in discredited socioeconomic thought as has failed to create real jobs and payrolls (especially so stateside), begs the question of how the State can expect to finance itself without taxation.

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

A NEW (AND, PERHAPS, BITTER) PILL FOR SUCH SEEING PRIVATISATION AS A MAGIC BULLET for promoting innovation, competition--and lower taxes:

The New Zealand government has finally acknolwedged that it made errors of judgement when it sold the state-owned rail, road and Cook Straits ferry services to a private investment house in Australia in 1993 for NZ$400 million (now worth US$314 million/C$318.27 million/£159.2 million/€202.38 million/CHF330.5 million/INR12.75 billion/¥32.92 billion/A$332.06 million) in the hopes of encouraging innovation and flexibility as were then deemed infeasable under State ownership.

Which, unfortunately, was anything but: Services were cut to laughable levels, deferred maintenance was allowed to set in, waste and inefficency held high carnival, and repeated requests for fare increases were turned down. In turn creating a state of affairs as led the Crown to purchase the track and infrastructure for a symbolic NZ$1 while the private operator was allowed to continue providing services under an Open Access Agreement.

Now, Wellington has purchased back the rail and ferry services for NZ$665 million (US$510.87 million/C$517.92 million/£259.14 million/€329.35 million/CHF537 million/INR20.73 billion/¥53.54 billion/A$539.6 million) as part of a greater government agenda towards sustainable transport policy.

In the meantime, the likely state of affairs for Kiwi commuters is best summarised in this cartoon posted on Stuff.co.nz:

(In any case, expect the New Zealand Government to invest substantially into refurbishment of existing track and equipment over the coming months as part of renationalisation.)

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

"CHRISTIAN IN NAME ONLY" DEPARTMENT: Your Correspondent understands that a number of shady "mortgage rescue" and debt-consolidation/-factoring companies targeting the vulnerable of late have taken to using the "Christian business" angle to create an aura of sincerity and credibility among such caught up with substantial debts and yet unable to resolve their dilemma without resorting to the new, stricter bankruptcy laws.

(As in "using Christian principles" and invoking various passages of Scripture on their websites and other business materials.)

Come to think of it, the "Christian" angle turns out to be cheap and cheerful back-door means by which they can get around consumer-protection laws proscribing advance fees for their services as turn out, more than likely, to result in foreclosure or referral of past-due accounts to collection agencies, what with the creditors not having any knowledge of such "Christian" entities or the arrangements in question.

Thus leaving consumers falling for such (mis)adventures in Emotional Mortgage Rescue with loss of home and difficulties in finding jobs or livelihood because of the ensuing damage to their credit histories.

Could much the same thing be possible if the targets of such complaints were holding themselves out as "Jewish" or, for that matter, "Muslim" businesses? "Think about it."

AMONG THE CRUDER STEREOTYPES AGAINST HOMOSEXUALS USED TO WHIP UP HOMOPHOBIC FEELINGS AND TENDENCIES is that of homosexual men being all the more into bodybuilding and physique.

With that in mind, Your Correspondent would like to call your attention to the following recent article from the Intelligence Report, a quarterly magazine from the Southern Poverty Law Centre devoted to reporting on the latest trends in bigotry, hate and extremism, noting where the white-supremacist element (as would prefer to be called "white nationalists" in a rather pathetic attempt @ lily-gilding) has started becoming fond of using Mixed Martial Arts to attract attention and (alas for it!) a certain notoriety:

Melvin "Man-o-war" Costa has a classic Nazi eagle and swastika insignia tattooed across his chest and a prison gang spider web inked on his right elbow.

Costa, 26, also is a convicted felon, self-avowed white nationalist and currently the 10th-ranked light heavyweight fighter in King of the Cage, one of the most popular semi-professional "mixed martial arts" (MMA) combat leagues in America. MMA is the fastest growing sport in the country. Television ratings for its preeminent league, the Ultimate Fighting Championship, or UFC, routinely outdraw every other sport except NFL football among men aged 18-34.

Not surprisingly, this rapidly rising blood sport is likewise wildly popular among racist skinheads and other young extremists with a thirst for violence. Many white supremacist online forums have recently established discussion groups devoted specifically to MMA; skinhead gangs across the country are raising money by hosting illegal backyard tournaments; and retired white supremacist cage fighter Mike Buell runs a major MMA training school in Arizona whose logo is a Celtic cross (often used as a white supremacist symbol) and the phrase "Hail Victory" (the German equivalent is "sieg heil").

Costa, however, is the first openly white nationalist MMA fighter to become a Top Ten-ranked competitor in a sanctioned organization like King of the Cage, which is a proving ground for up-and-coming fighters, a select few of whom go on to fame and fortune in the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

"A swastika, as far as I hold it true to my own, it stands for the purity of my people's blood," Costa told leading MMA sportswriter Sam Caplan last October. "I do believe in the purity, security, and the survival of the white race. … When I come down that [fighter entrance] ramp and people see me, they know I'm white power." Costa did clarify, however, that he considers himself a white nationalist rather than a neo-Nazi because "[a] neo-Nazi holds Hitler's beliefs to be true down to a T. I don't. I believe in Hitler's point of view as far as racial consonance but I don't believe a lot of [his] things as far as controlling the economy."

By Costa's own account, he was frequently incarcerated for burglary and assault from the time he was 15 until his most recent release from prison in March 2006. His first King of the Cage fight occurred the following April. Costa knocked out his opponent at 1:06 into the first round.

"I don't feel pain. No [N4BSK]in' brain, no pain!" he said then. Over the next six months he reeled off three successive knockout victories. Southern California skinheads in full dress—boots, suspenders, bomber jackets—began showing up at King of the Cage events in droves to cheer on the Aryan warrior, whose swastika tattoo, outspoken white nationalist ideology and growing skinhead fan base presented MMA promoters with a public relations dilemma.

Last Oct. 18, shortly after Costa's comments and pictures of his tattoos were republished widely on MMA fan websites, Gary Shaw, the live events president of the parent company that owns King of the Cage, issued this statement: "I try not to allow anyone to fight in the cage or the ring that has anything inappropriate either on their gear or tattooed permanently on their body. And that means either ethnic, or racial, or anything offensive to the general public. I was unaware of the situation but I'm in the process of handling it now. Hopefully, it will never happen again."

But it did, less than two months later. Costa fought in a King of the Cage event held last Dec. 18. For the first time, though, he lost. Davis, for his part, did not return two E-mails seeking clarification on his league's regulation of fighters with "inappropriate" tattoos.

Judging by online forum discussions, Costa's growing legions of white supremacist fans seemed far less concerned with his swastika or spider web tattoos than a third tattoo, circling his navel, that boasts, "I have a small penis." The common theory is that, as one fan said, "He might be going for a bit of sarcasm, depending on the actual size of his penis, given the false stereotype about us."

Be that as it may, Costa says, "At least God blessed me with a strong jaw and a big head."

Something which ought to be watched by such who regulate combat sports, Mixed Martial Arts among them--especially because of the potential for MMA tournaments and exhibitions degenerating into neo-Nazi rallies attracting elements weird and unwholesome, let along Bringing the Sport into Disrepute.

Especially when literature tables for neo-Nazi and white-supremacist groups sit cheek-by-jowl alongside the official souvenir stands.

And certain sections of the audience look strangely like a company of SS officers from back in Nazi Germany, right down to the swastika armbands, the "death's head" logotype on the cap, and the belt buckles inscribed Gott Mit Ons ("G-d is With Us")--and did I mention the steel-toed bovver boots as could be deployed "just in case," not to mention cleverly-concealed blackjacks, rubber-coated truncheons, brass knuckles and sjamboks? 

26 hours old

Sphere: Related Content • Seed This • Discuss on Newsvine • Share on Facebook • Digg This! • Stumble It! • outside.in: geotag this story • Technorati Links • Blog This On Yahoo! 360 • Save to del.icio.us • Fark It • Add This! • Bookmark with OnlyWire • Add to Technorati Favorites! • Email this • Subscribe to this feed • Powered By FeedBurner

CERTAIN ELEMENTS WEIRD AND UNWHOLESOME IN THE CONSERVATIVE PROPAGANDA MASHEEN have this belief that those who serve or otherwise served our country in its defence are automatically above criticism, under pain of penal servitude or commitment to an insane asylum.

Or otherwise to be looked upon with suspicion for "disloyalty," real or imagined.

Case in point, per ConWebBlog:

Dan Rabkin's April 24 FrontPageMag article is a laughably overbroad attack against the New York Times, which he claims "has now run two front-page articles smearing American war heroes."

The first, according to Rabkin, was a February story that "attempted to brand Sen. John McCain a philandering, lobbyist-bedding, crook." Rabki ncalled it a "a low-grade attack on a decorated veteran" that "was a revealing demonstration of its deep-seated contempt for the military." But the article did not address McCain's military service beyond a single description of him as a "Vietnam war hero." What Rabkin appears to be saying is that decorated military veterans in politics should not be criticized at all. Yet he writes for a website that repeatedly attacked a "decorated veteran" who ran for president in 2004. Where's his criticism of that?

The second Times article Rabkin objects to is the recent story that, in Rabkin's words, "suggests that dozens of 'decorated war heroes' are simply a 'media Trojan horse –puppets of the Defense Department who only support the war because they are profiting from it." Rabkin takes on logical leaps from there, claiming that "Indeed, these military veterans' biggest sin, in the paper's eyes, seems to be their voicing displeasure with the liberal media establishment personified by the New York Times." and adding, "Equally contemptible to the Times is that these military men have sided with their government in a time of war."

Rabkin finally concludes: "If you support your nation in a time of war, you are doing the Pentagon's dirty work. American military veterans deserve more respect for their years of committed service." But we see no evidence that he thinks John Kerry deserves respect for his years of committed service, since he writes for a website that tried to discredit said service. After all, if mere criticism of military service is his threshold--as Rabkin seems to be claiming here--then he must defend Kerry as he has McCain.

Who the heck is Dan Rabkin, anyway? According to his end-of-column bio, he claims to be "a Middle Eastern Affairs and National Security analyst based in Toronto, Canada. He was Canada's 2005 Governor General's Medalist." No further details are offered about where, if anywhere beyond op-ed pieces, he does his analyzing. And what's that "Canada's 2005 Governor General's Medalist" thingie? That's apparently an award given to, as this University of Windsor writeup of Rabkin's award details, "the undergraduate student with the highest academic ranking in his graduating class," where he "receive[d] an A+ in every one of his 40 courses." And it was a "Silver Medal," which the Governor General's office describes as being for undergraduate students.

In other words, he's just a fairly recent college grad spouting enough right-wing talking points to get some cheap praise from the likes of the Horowitz empire.

And let's not forget where members of the Hitler Jugend back in Nazi Germany were expected to show respect for such specimens of German motherhood awarded the Honour Cross of the German Mother (Ehrenkreuz von der deutschen Mutter) for "serving her national and racial duty" through being nothing less than a government-sanctioned prostitute.

WHEN YOU GET RIGHT DOWN TO IT, MASCOT CHARACTERS FOR THE LIKES OF THEME PARKS, BASEBALL CLUBS AND OTHER ORGANISATIONS must have a certain sort of appeal to those of a certain class.

As for why (including Your Correspondent, who was long fond of the troll mascots that a pre-Six Flags Magic Mountain had in the mascot department, and has fondness for the "water animals" of Noah's Ark waterpark in Wisconsin Dells and the Minnesota State Fair's gophers, Fairchild and Fairborne) that is, such is one of those mysteries best described by that etheral French phrase je ne sais quoi ("I know not what" being the traditional translation thereof).

And to suggest that such is an exclusive monopoly belonging to the "morally superior" United States is best deflated by this recent "WaiWai" item per the Mainichi Daily News of Tokyo, even considering the usual doubts of credibility for the original source material:

The hottest male in 20-something Japanese women's eyes at the moment is not an actor or idol, but Doala the Koala, the mascot for the Nagoya-based Chunichi Dragons Central League baseball team, according to Josei Seven (3/27).

Doala has a comical blue koala's head with massive eyebrows topped by a blue Chunichi cap above a svelte, athletic figure. He's been around for 14 years now, and many wonder how a koala ended up becoming the mascot of a Nagoya baseball team called the Dragons. It stems from the central Japanese city's long relationship with the Australian marsupials, which began when Japan received its first ever koalas at Nagoya's Higashiyama Zoo back in 1984.

Doala has always been popular among Dragons fans, but his popularity has recently spread nationwide, especially among young women. The koala mascot has achieved such status it released a book last month called "Doara no Himitsu" (Doala's Secrets) which sold so quickly its initial print run was boosted 10-fold and has already moved over 120,000 copies in just a couple of weeks. The book is filled with Doala's witty replies to various questions about topics like love, money and society.

Doala's current flavor of the month status is a far cry from where the marsupial mascot stood a decade ago, when the ball club was on the verge of firing its furry friend.

"When the Dragons moved their home from Nagoya Stadium to Nagoya Dome in 1997, they also came up with a new mascot in the form of a dragon called Shaoron. People thought it was a more appropriate mascot for the team and Doala was in danger of being fired," Tomokazu Ota, the editor of "Doara no Himitsu" tells Josei Seven, noting that the koala of the time was fat and pudgy instead of the slimline current version. "Doala said to himself that he wasn't going to get fired, so went on a diet. That gave him the wonderful body he has now and he turned into an acrobatic mascot who jumps around and does backflips and stuff."

Nonetheless, not everybody is smitten with Doala.

"For some reason, there are lots of little kids who start crying when they see Doala," Ota tells Josei Seven. "Doala apparently scares some children. You don't see many kids around at the promotional events Doala does."

Meanwhile, Your Correspondent can't help but be amused @ the shows of whimsy Fairchild and Fairborne can go through @ TGMnGT--last year, in fact, during my annual visit, the afternoon meet-and-greet session included a turn on the Giant Slide which saw Fairchild slide down with the grace of a surfer ... and Fairborne prove himself the lovable klutz that he is.

Next thing you know, let's see Fairchild and Fairborne getting up a blog.

(BTW, from what I understand, TGMnGT's gopher mascots are big fans of 4-H work, and have been known to make the rounds of the 4-H Building @ least once during the Fair.)

ONE MORE WEEK NOW, AND OUR BELOVED MINNESOTA WILL BE CELEBRATING ITS 150-YEAR ANNIVERSARY of statehood--even if Governor Pawlenty's zeal in playing along with the Club for Growth's "low taxes=jobs=social stability" meme means a somewhat subdued celebration.

Said meme failing to address how, and by what means, such reductions in taxes would be compensated for vis-a-vis government revenue short of the obviously pathetic answer conservatives always have: Privitisation as tends, alas for it! to favour certain weird and unwholesome droogs expecting reward for Good and Loyal Service to the campaign.

Privitisation which only leaves the Lower Classes all the more in misery without adequate "safety net" provisions (for which these same specimens of Zealotry and True Belief--Good Christians All, remember?--would likely recommend "mutual self-help," as in "cashflow gifting" under such "feel-good" names like "Friends Helping Friends" and other affinity-based permutations such as "Christians Helping Christians" and "Women Helping Women," let alone "Æroplane," "Pit Stop" and "Dinner Party" as, in effect, amounts to a Ponzi scheme which this same ilk is forever claiming State Social Security is).

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

IF YOU THOUGHT IN-PACK GIFT OFFERS WITH CERTAIN BREAKFAST CEREALS WERE A BIT ON THE TACKY SIDE, consider what gave the Azerbaijanis a bit of indigestion. As the BBC reports:

The Swiss-based multinational food company, Nestlé, has apologised to Azerbaijan after a gift attached to a breakfast cereal backfired.

The CD-ROM featured information about countries around the world but the data on Azerbaijan caused outrage there.

It said that Azerbaijan had started a war against neighbouring Armenia and that the hotly disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh belonged to Armenia.

Nestlé has withdrawn the cereal and promised to seize the offending CDs.

Tense and volatile

Conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia in the early 1990s over Nagorno-Karabakh killed an estimated 30,000 people.

Hundreds of thousands of refugees were created on both sides.

And despite a peace deal in 1994, the situation remains tense and volatile.

Nestlé inadvertently stumbled into a minefield.

The Azeri government vowed to take action, and there has been widespread talk of a public boycott.

Nestlé has now issued a formal apology but some Azeris are still not happy.

They accuse Nestlé of playing Armenia's hand, and are demanding more than just an apology to chew on.

Now imagine what the situation would be like if either General Mills, Kellogg's or Post Cereals attempted a similar promotion in the United States as above, only to include inaccurate information about the ur-RAHOWA in Iraq and the "stateless nationals" status of so-called "Confederate Southern Americans" as doesn't legally exist as a Protected National Minority.

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

NOT MANY KNOW IT, BUT A CYCLONE IN 1970 AS DEVASTATED EAST PAKISTAN LED TO RIOTING which would eventually result in its independence as Bhangladesh. Said rioting having been aggravated by the Indian Government's denying flyover permission to Pakistani relief agencies.

Now comes word of a devastating cyclone in the so-called "Union of Myanmar" as has killed (according to official estimates) some 350 people, mostly in and around the Irrawaddy River Delta and the Yawgon (f/k/a Rangoon) metropolitan region ... which, Your Correspondent thinks, could, under the right circustances, be enough to undermine the hypersecretive military regime, especially considering its want of preparedness in distributing relief supplies.

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

IT USED TO BE THAT "DEVELOPING A HEALTHY AND PROPER CHRISTIAN MORAL COMPASS" was about the dominant reason many parents decided to homeschool their children, never mind the lack of healthy social interaction ensuing.

Now, it's emerged that a new reason is compelling some parents to remove their children from established schools and homeschool their children: Schoolyard bullying, and schools failing to take proper corrective measures.

@ least in Scotland, according to The Sunday Post over there; they report where @ least 632 former state school students across Scotia are now being homeschooled, cf. only 352 five years ago. What's more, Scotland has no formal mandate requiring parents homeschooling their children to explain the reasons therefor to local educational authorities.

But then again, children's advertising can no longer make any suggestions or implications that those not having certain products so advertised will not be considered "in" or otherwise consider themselves targets for rejection, neglect or harrassment. Witness clause 47.3 of the CAP Non-Broadcast Advertising Code in Great Britain, for example (Clause 47, in general, deals with advertising targeting children):

Marketing communications addressed to, targeted at or featuring children should not exploit their credulity, loyalty, vulnerability or lack of experience:

a) they should not be made to feel inferior or unpopular for not buying the advertised product

b) they should not be made to feel that they are lacking in courage, duty or loyalty if they do not buy or do not encourage others to buy a particular product

c) it should be made easy for them to judge the size, characteristics and performance of any product advertised and to distinguish between real-life situations and fantasy

d) adult permission should be obtained before they are committed to purchasing complex and costly products.

And, in much the same vein, these provisions of clause 47.7 from the same code:

b) Marketing communications should neither try to sell to children by directly appealing to emotions such as pity, fear, or self-confidence nor suggest that having the advertised product somehow confers superiority, for example making a child more confident, clever, popular, or successful.

c) Marketing communications addressed to children should avoid high pressure and hard sell techniques; they should neither directly urge children to buy or persuade others to buy nor suggest that children could be bullied, cajoled or otherwise put under pressure to acquire the advertised item.

Meanwhile, in Canada, children's advertising is subject to clause 12 of the Canadian Code of Advertising Standards, per Advertising Standards Canada:

Advertising that is directed to children must not exploit their credulity, lack of experience or their sense of loyalty, and must not present information or illustrations that might result in their physical, emotional or moral harm.

Child-directed advertising in the broadcast media is separately regulated by the Broadcast Code for Advertising to Children, also administered by ASC. Advertising to children in Quebec is prohibited by the Quebec Consumer Protection Act.

The specific clauses of the aforementioned Quebec Consumer Protection Act banning children's advertising are clauses 248 and 249 of Section P-40.1_A, to wit:

Subject to what is provided in the regulations, no person may make use of commercial advertising directed at persons under thirteen years of age.

[***]

To determine whether or not an advertisement is directed at persons under thirteen years of age, account must be taken of the context of its presentation, and in particular of:

(a) the nature and intended purpose of the goods advertised;

(b) the manner of presenting such advertisement;

(c) the time and place it is shown.

The fact that such advertisement may be contained in printed matter intended for persons thirteen years of age and over or intended both for persons under thirteen years of age and for persons thirteen years of age and over, or that it may be broadcast during air time intended for persons thirteen years of age and over or intended both for persons under thirteen years of age and for persons thirteen years of age and over does not create a presumption that it is not directed at persons under thirteen years of age.

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

IF THE RATHER CLOSE RESULT OF THE GUAM DEMOCRATIC CAUCUSES YESTERDAY IS ANY INDICATION, the likely result of who would win the Democratic Presidential nomination, Barack Obama or Hillary Rodham-Clinton, is still no clearer as the Indiana and North Carolina primaries approach on Tuesday.

In any case, the Pacific territory's Democratic caucuses saw Obama win by but seven votes over Rodham-Clinton, meaning both win two delegates each come the Democratic convention in Denver.

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

RECOMMENDED READING FROM THE BLOGOSPHERE among such still hard-wired in their Zealotry and True Belief in energy self-sufficency: This particular item from Shakespeare's Sister, as seeks to deflate conservative talking points and memes about American petroleum self-sufficency with facts.

And Another Thing:

For those who see Abundant American Coal as the magic key to energy self-sufficency (especially as the basis of an ersatz gasoline, South African stylee), maybe it was time to ask how much longer before America sees "peak coal"--that point @ which American coal reserves have reached their plateau, only to go into decline thereafter. (Particularly so in the Appalachian coal-belt region and the lignite-coal fields of Montana, Wyoming and North Dakota; after a Major Mining Disaster in early 1959, the anthracite belt in northeastern Pennsylvania was written off as a major coal-production centre as mine after mine closed.)

Especially considering such a Grand Delusion as coal-derived ersatz gasolines requiring plenty of coal to produce profitable quantities without odour.