IT WOULD BE INTERESTING TO SEE HOW MANY OF YOU AS READ THIS BLOG REGULARLY WOULD FIND THE ABOVE IN POOR TASTE considering the late Midwestern flooding as drained Lake Delton in the Wisconsin Dells district dry thanks to a storm-created freshet into the Wisconsin River ... and threatens to be the end of another Wisconsin community, Gays Mills, itself just trying to rebuild after last August's flooding.

Which, I suppose, could be considered Divine Judgement upon Wisconsin for the "mere legal formality" of Constitutionally recognising marriage as the sole and exclusive monopoly of between male and female, lest any pseudoreligious Zealots and True Believers with hyperactive imaginations get any ideas.

Ideas, methinks, influenced by Al Cohol more than likely as opposed to Divine Revelation.

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MEANWHILE, IN CHINA'S SICHWUAN PROVINCE, TWO LAKES AS WERE CREATED BY EARTHQUAKE DEBRIS FORMING IMPROMPTU DAMS are being monitored all the more for signs of imminent collapse as could result in serious destruction downstream on top of the earlier earthquake such.

In one instance, People's Liberation Army troops are blasting holes in the dam to relieve pressure on the ur-superstructure so as to minimise the runoff hazard downstream against the likelihood of outright collapse.

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TEXTBOOK EXAMPLE OF WHY DECEPTIVE IRONY REIGNS SUPREME ON THE NEOCONSERVATIVE RIGHT: Just how many of you "morally superior" Americans would consider yourselves as "Americans for Prosperity"?

(Especially so when you consider their articles of faith holding that taxes and "undue and unnecessary reguatory burden" are only standing in the way of sustained jobs creation and, in its turn, "social stability;" ergo, the "complete and final" abolition of such "evils" would translate into a return to The Infinite Prosperity of the Universe benefitting all.

(But then again, what would "Americans for Prosperity," in communion with their droogs in K Street, have in mind for replacing taxes as the means to finance the workings of government? Have they valid case studies from the "developed" world in this respect, or what prevents their disclosure?)

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STICKING WITH IRONY FOR A MOMENT, CANADIAN SMOKERS, FACED WITH PERHAPS THE MOST EXPLICIT HEALTH WARNINGS FOUND ANYWHERE on cigarette packs, a blanket ban on advertising and sponsorships, high tobacco taxes and new regulations forcing retailers to move cigarettes behind locked and opaque shelves "to discourage young people from smoking," are finding in these circumstances some irony in the fact that adult magzines are openly avaiable in convenience stores (just so long as they're in sealed plastic bags and on shelves so high children won't be tempted to look @ same) and provincial governments (especially so Ontario and Québec) have exclusive monopolies on liquor sales and distribution "to discourage excessive consumption."

(Worth noting here is that in Ontario, sales of beer and ale are the exclusive monopoly of Brewers' Retail Stores, which are drab-looking by deliberate design to begin with; wines and spirits are sold only through the Liquor Control Board of Ontario's outlets and, in remote areas, agencies. Meanwhile, in La Belle Province, the Regie des alcools de Québec has the monopoly on spirits and quality wines, whereas beer and table wines can be purchased @ licenced supermarkets and convenience stores.)

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HOW DO WE KNOW THAT THE NEOCONSERVATIVE ZEALOTS AND TRUE BELIEVERS WON'T EXACTLY HAVE BLACKMAIL OR INTIMIDATION IN MIND in expecting businesses to Do Their Part in creating "real" jobs (as in unskilled, labour-intensive positions) paying"real" money (more than likely paid in form of Wally World gift cards labelled FOR EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY in the name of encouraging wasteful and unnecessary spending "in the national interest," and without due regard being shown for consumers getting their money's worth, or so expected?

(Especially when the blackmail involves threats of "tax evasion," "breach of trust and confidence," "mismanagement" or other charges being made to scare them into manufactured Corporate Responsibility and Good Corporate Citizenship.)    

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DURING THE SUMMER OF 1957, CBS RADIO PRESENTED THE STAN FREBERG SHOW AS A SUMMER REPLACEMENT FOR THE BEST OF BENNY--perhaps the last great example of comedy on Old-Time Radio, tending mostly to satiric sketches and routines crossing into parody.

On occasion, Stan Freberg would use as running gag the idea of referring to foreigners appearing on the show as "Swiss--that way, we don't offend anybody." (Playing, no doubt, on the neutrality of the Swiss Confederation on the international stage, even if they've resisted membership in the United Nations until some 15 years ago ... and still resists joining the European Union.)

Never mind that Switzerland recognises four official languages (French, German, Italian and Romansch, to be exact), or their storied financial secrecy having been humbled by international campaigns against money laundering forcing some semblance of transparency along the Bahnhofstrasse in Zurich, or even the likelihood of tweaking their monetary policies so as to reduce dependency on the gold standard, or--well, you get the idea.

Still, though, you have to wonder if the idea of referring to foreigners, irrespective of nationality, as "Swiss" so as not to offend anybody does sound a bit interesting. As for how the Lou Dobbs/Glenn Beck/Michael Savage element would react--that's anybody's guess. 

Meanwhile, in case you want to gen up on the latest from across Switzerland, there's always SwissInfo.org, the online portal of Swiss TV/Swiss Radio International for Swiss news, sport, business and culture.

(Did I mention their also having streaming audio?)

Oh, and another interesting thing Swiss: From the mid-1930's until the mid-1990's, they had a rather interesting hybrid of radio and Muzak known as the Telefon Rundspruch, which offered six channels of news, music and light popular programming transmitted over telephonic lines; a necessity considering the mountainous terrain of Switzerland not usually conducive to traditional radio reception. 

SOME OF YOU COMPANIES OUT THERE IN THE GREATER INFORMATION STUPORBAHN LOOKING FOR SOMETHING COST-EFFICENT IN THEIR ONLINE ADVERTISING BUY might want to consider Chitika as the best route to reach the Greater Blogosphere, and then some.

Need further details before you want to proceed?

Or want to go ahead and start reaching weblogs and websites with some 60 million unique visitors between them every month?

So what stands in the way otherwise?

INTERESTING SHORT VIDEO FROM BRAVE NEW FILMS as deserves your attention--not to mention sharing--vis-a-vis The Terrible-Tempered Mr. Bang of Indecision 2008, short and to the point:

Does the video speak for itself, or no?

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I WOULDN'T QUITE KNOW IF THIS IS IN POOR TASTE IN THE WAKE OF THE OUTRIGHT COLLAPSE OF LAKE DELTON IN THE WISCONSIN DELLS REGION this morning by way of a freshet caused by the recent heavy rains in the region on some nearby lowlands, draining same into the Wisconsin River ... and same further @ risk in case of the Mirror Lake Dam downstream collapsing (already, it's said to be weakened by the late rains, with water overunning the top).

You can see actual TV footage of a lakeside home collapsing into the floodwaters and a slideshow of the devastation, thanks to Channel3000.com (the website of Madison's WISC-TV), in case you don't believe me.

The Visitor and Convention Bureau hath it that the Lower Dells Boat Tours, Original Wisconsin Ducks, Dells Army Ducks and the Tommy Bartlett Show are closed until further notice; all other distractions (including the major waterparks) are still open. (In fact, they've been receiving phone and Internet enquiries nonstop since the news of Lake Delton's collapse broke on the wires.)

Donations for the relief effort can be made through the American Red Cross or The Salvation Army; cash donations are preferred rather than "in-kind" such (e.g., used clothes and non-perishable groceries), which will only take up valuable warehouse space.

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I WOULDN'T QUITE KNOW IF THIS IS A RATHER APROPOS PICTURE IN LIGHT OF CRUDE OIL HAVING PEAKED ON FRIDAY @ $139/BBL. on the NYMEX, especially considering where:

• major oil-consuming nations (including we "morally superior" Americans) are calling upon oil exporters (OPEC and otherwise) to increase production and bring down prices within measurable distance;
• some market watchers are wondering if Hunt Brothers behaviour may be partly to blame for the current high cost of oil and gas, with "supply and demand" being nothing more than an official platitude to avoid attracting suspicions;
• OTR truck drivers in Spain have begun an indefinite period of industrial action to protest rising fuel prices, parking their rigs by the side of major expressways and blocking toll plazas near the Franco-Spanish border; and
• the South Korean government, notwithstanding public protests over the reintroduction of American beef imports over fears about "mad cow" disease and citing the danger of socioeconomic instability caused in large part by high fuel prices, announcing direct tax relief to the working classes (as in a rebate worth between US$200-300) and reductions in business tax rates to stimulate spending in the face of such uncertainty.

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STICKING WITH THE WORKING CLASSES FOR THE NONCE, THE ZEALOTS AND TRUE BELIEVERS IN DENATIONALISATION OF STATE SOCAL SECURITY want them to see such as "healthy," "beneficial" and "encouraging healthy respect for self-reliance and personal responsibility" which was "held to contempt" in the "failed and failing" State system.

Unfortunately, such a target audience is unlikely to understand the mechanics of the equities markets as are all the more essential to a denationalised system short of anti-Semitic conspiracy theories and stereotypes commonplace in Producerist propaganda--let alone recognise the fact that they will be all the more unlikely to see realistic benefit @ retirement from a free-market-based system and model.

Which will likely be put down to fees, commissions and advertising and marketing expenditure essentially affecting actual returns--not to mention tacitly endorsing mismanagement, fraud, waste, inapproriate investment policies (especially such inconsistent with the Prudent Man Rule), general mismanagement and other travesties likely to be excused by Self-Regulatory Codes of Good Practice expected to apply in a denationalised system of Social Security.

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WITH MAJOR STORMS TRANSLATING INTO FLOODING ACROSS THE MIDWESTERN STATES (AND @ LEAST EIGHT CASUALTIES ENSUING), not to mention unseasonably early Heat Advisories and Excessive Heat Warnings across the Northeast Corridor, expect certain weird and unwholesome religious as are obviously in their cups to claim that such are "signs of Divine Judgement upon Our Beloved America" that He is Withdrawing His Special Blessings Upon America for Straying From His Holy and Sacred Will and Prophecy.

Methinks the flooding in Indiana especially could be a sign of Divine Judgement for imposing undue and unreasonable let and/or hinderance upon the electorate by requiring photo-bearing identity documents of voters as "merely a formality***to prevent voter fraud" as never existed except in the intemperate ignorance of the Dark Satanic Mills of Conservative Propaganda and Propagandists.

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THE RELIGIOPOLITICAL RIGHT MUST BE RATHER FOND OF THAT SINGSONG-SOUNDING MEME OF "CHRISTIAN PERSECUTION!" as a campaign tool in Indecision 2008 for "winning of hearts and minds" among the Religiopolitical Right's target audience of the vulnerable, weak-minded and easily-influenced, usually "white trash" from the lowest depths of the working classes not otherwise expected to advance much beyond mininum-wage work.

Even with denationalised Social Security.

Come to think of it, Rev. Rod Parsley seems to be rather fond of playing this rather reechy-sounding meme as a propaganda weapon, as per Right Wing Watch:

Shortly after Sen. John McCain publicly rejected the endorsements of John Hagee and Rod Parsley, Parsley released his own statement rescinding his endorsement and then sort of disappeared from sight.  Sometime since then, Parsley apparently decided that he had a bit more to get off his chest and so he released a video on his Center for Moral Clarity website in which he reiterated many of the points he made in his initial statement but added some attacks on what he claimed were the "politically vicious and misguided" hit-squads who exposed his radical views, claiming that his views on Islam are “very much in the mainstream” and insisting that he made a “clear distinction between Muslim terrorists and the vast majority of peaceful Muslims.” 

Of course, Parsley is on record having told his congregation and massive TV audience that "America was founded in part with the intention of seeing this false religion [Islam] destroyed" and "Islam is an anti-Christ religion that intends through violence to conquer the world," as well as writing that so-called "Muslim extremists" are really "mainstream believers who are drawing from the well at the very heart of Islam."

[Transcript follows:]

I’d like to take a few moments and respond to the recent media reports regarding my statements in the book “Silent No More” about Islam.  It doesn’t surprise me that, as I continue to engage the culture with a thoroughly Biblical worldview that political hit-squads have begun to describe some of my views in the most ominous and extreme terms. I expected that opponents of that worldview would try to make a connection between myself and the extreme views of other ministers such as the Rev. Jeremiah Wright. This is what we’ve seen play out over the past few days. Certainly, I’m disappointed with those in the media who have misrepresented my views for political gain and who have lied in pursuit of political power.  It’s a sad moment in American politics; one of the many in the recent election cycle.   

My views on Islam, which have come under such scrutiny and misrepresentation, are very much in the mainstream.  Anyone who has read the entire chapter on Islam in my book “Silent No More” understands that what I have said is echoed from the White House to the State Department, from leading universities to the pulpits of our nation. I believe that radical Islam is one of the greatest threats to Western civilization and that conflict has roots in our American history.  I have always, and I will continue, to make a clear distinction between Muslim terrorists and the vast majority of peaceful Muslims who are appalled at the bloody results of suicide bombers and mass murders. Once again, I unapologetically denounce those who spread death in the name of Allah while I continue to believe peace-loving Muslims need the full of all Christians, and Christians must provide understanding, cooperation, and friendship to peace-loving Muslims throughout the world who share our desire for democracy and peace.

I understand that the raw truth of the pulpit cannot survive untempered in the political sphere. Still, I believe that clergy of all faiths should be able to speak into the lives of our political leaders without every doctrine and statement of those religious leaders being transformed into political weapons by the politically vicious and misguided.

Could we have some proof about Rev. Parsley's notion of America having been founded "with the intention of seeing this false religion [Islam] destroyed" based on valid historical science, especially considering where Islam wasn't too widely known in the Western world @ the time of the first European settlements in Jamestown and the Popham Settlement?

(That last one, founded under the same Parliamentary charter which esablished Jamestown, Virginia, was located near where the Kennebec River in present-day Maine empties into the Atlantic. Unlike Jamestown, the Popham Settlement barely lasted a year thanks to hostile First Nations, the severely cold winter and the deaths in the interim of the two most significant promoters thereof.)

IT'S PROBABLY JUST ME, BUT JUDGING BY WHAT COULD BE SIMILARITIES OF APPEARENCE BETWEEN THE SCION xB AND THE LONDON TAXI TXII (subject to certain inherent differences of styling), would it be possible to imagine a fleet of Scion xB's serving as taxicabs in major cities or "shoobie trap" resorts, doing much the same job as a London Taxi?

Or, for that matter, imagining the possibility of the London Taxi TXII's diesel engine modified to burn cheap, stinking chip oil from shoobie-trap restaurants fond of serving especially fried food refined into an excellent biodiesel.

And speaking of taxicabs and biodiesel, for those of you looking for worthwhile reading on either or both of these subjects (and help this weblog @ the same time):

(Come to think of it: How many taxicabs are there in the "morally superior" United States as run on cheap, stinking chip oil?)