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NO DOUBT THIS WILL LIKELY REMIND SOME OF YOU OF THE COLLOQUIAL AFRIKAANS EXPRESSION "DIE VYFDE WIEL OP DE WA" ("the fifth wheel on the wagon"), of obvious Voortrek origins and used today to speak of when one has been made redundant or otherwise no longer needed.

Or does it?

In any event, some wind-whipped rain and thunder here in the Minnwissippi on the overnight giving way to a windy morning and the skies looking rather deceptive to the point of wondering whether we will see nice or cloudy conditions; the which is rather important as the last daughter of Mein Innkeeper Friend graduates high school tonight, and the actual venue thereof being dependent upon weather conditions and forecast later on.

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FINALLY, A BIT OF RELIEF FOR SUCH RESIDING IN WISCONSIN WHO WORK IN WINONA, ALL ALONG AFFLICTED BY THE INTERSTATE BRIDGE CLOSING: From Monday, the City of Winona will establish, for the interim, a system of van shuttles between Wisconsin-side communities and staging areas on Latsch Island, whence commuters will board ferries to Levee Park and then city buses to their workplaces.

Services will initially run half-hourly from 06h to 23h, but may be adjusted depending on demand and patronage as the week wears on.

The fare will be $5 for a day pass, or $15 for a weekly pass, as will cover the ferry crossing and bus services on both sides of the Mississippi.

Meanwhile, MnDOT's inspection team continues to perform the inspection thereof, having found rusted and corroded gusset plates on the span, as well as a buckled such on the deck truss. In due course, further plans should be announced as to where next to proceed.

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NO WONDER HIS FRAUDULENCY'S GREAT WITHIN HAS BECOME NON COMPOS MENTIS IN SAYING THE ECONOMY IS IN "HEALTHY" SHAPE after it's emerged that one house in every 11 across the country is now in some stage of foreclosure proceedings.

And the "official" May unemployment rate is @ 5.5%, an increase on the month previous; this should be approached with caution, as the "real" rate could be somewhat higher when you consider where some sub-populations (among them the disabled and emotionally-challenged) have extreme difficulty finding work in the community for reasons outside their direct control ... and some who have made "reasonable efforts" to find work, but could not in any case, have since exhausted all unemployment benefits.

The latter no doubt sure to be exploited within due course by the likes of "work-from-home" and "turnkey home business" mountebanks laden heavily with glowing generalities and promises about big-big money coming in consistently ("as much in a month as you used to earn in a year!") which conceal the likelihood that such work may not exist @ all--or, if it does, that such is likely to be time-limited, with pay all the more likely to be in cash by virtue of the "independent contractor" nature of such "make-work/fake-work" positions. That, and liability for tax and Social Security contributions being @ self-employed rates absent any deductions the promoters may make in these respects, thereby making the "real" earnings much lower than that so glowingly advertised.

(And which they don't want you knowing about.)

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IMAGINE THE FOLLOWING SET OF CIRCUMSTANCES BEING USED AS PART OF THE RUNUP TO INDECISION 2008 HERE IN THE "MORALLY SUPERIOR" UNITED STATES: The Zimbabwean Government, based on suspicious claims that non-governmental aid organisations are secretly "supporting opposition Presidential candidates" in the end-of-month runoff, has ordered all such NGO's to suspend activities in country indefinitely.

All opposition political rallies have likewise been ordered cancelled because of "security concerns," which, to Your Correspondent, amounts to a patsy as seeks to deflect blame from a corrupt, brutal and sadisto Establishment seeking to maintain power "by whatever means necessary."

This as foreign diplomats (especially American and British such) are being harrassed and taunted and (for the second time this week) opposition Presidential contender Morgan Tsvangirai was subjected to police detention on charges not otherwise specified (although "illegal assembly" and "undermining public order" are being hinted at).

In short, chaos holds high carnival in Zimbabwe. Chaos of the sort weird and unwholesome types here in the "morally superior" United States would just love to unleash to disrupt Indecision 2008, and all the more so thanks to a person of colour (Barack Obama) being the Democratic Party's Presidential candidate.

Which could be all the more a pretext for "patriotic" racial violence which, in the right circumstances, could be used to provoke RAHOWA as could itself get all the more uncontrolled and exploited even more by the Dregs of Society.

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PERHAPS THE ONE SIGHT PERUVIANS WOULD CONSIDER ICONIC TO THE WORLD WOULD HAVE TO BE THE RUINS OF THE INCA VILLAGE OF MACHU PICCHU IN THE HIGH ANDES, which history tells us was discovered by American archaeologist Hiram Bingham (of Yale University) in 1911.

Now it looks like that account will become a mere footnote in history thanks to newly-found revelations of earlier European activity in the vicinity as excused plunder of Inca treasures well before Mr. Bingham's "dscovery" thereof. The BBC explaineth:

Machu Pichu carries symbolic value for Peru's indigenous people.

It was built by one of the last Inca emperors, Pachacutec, in around 1450 and kept secret from the Spanish conquerors who invaded about 100 years later.

Now the story about its discovery by the western world has been shaken up by a team of historians who say a German businessman looted its treasures more than 40 years before.

They say the adventurer, Augusto Berns, who traded in Peru's wood and gold, raided the citadel's tombs in 1867 apparently with the blessing of the Peruvian government.

He had set up a sawmill at the foot of the forested mountain on which Machu Picchu stands and systematically robbed precious artefacts which he sold to European galleries and museums.

Only when one of the historians found a map in Peru's national museum were his activities traced.

Until now it has been believed that Hiram Bingham, an American academic from Yale University, brought the Inca city to the attention of the world in 1911, although local people clearly already knew of its presence.

Mr Berns had a far less noble objective and researchers are now trying to find out how many artefacts he spirited out of the country at a time when there were no known archaeological expeditions in Peru.

Sadly more than a century later, Peruvian archaeological treasures are still being looted by grave robbers and sold on the international black market.

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THE JAPANESE DIET HAS APPROVED LEGISLATION AS WOULD FINALLY MEAN SOME FORMAL RECOGNITION OF THE INDIGENOUS AINU PEOPLES long resident on Japan's northernmost main island of Hokkaido, and with their own antient and pecuilar language, culture and lifestyle as long predated the establishment of the Japanese state.

Which has translated into generations of discrimmination and prejudice against indigenous Ainus by the mainstream Japanese establishment.

Let's not forget that we "morally superior" Americans have subjected indigenous First Nations peoples to prejudice and discrimmination for generations, and called it "patriotic" all the while.

FOX PROLEFEED, IN ITS DESIRE TO PRESENT THEMSELVES AS A TRUSTED AND RELIABLE SOURCE OF PROLEFEED TO THE PRODUCERIST CROWD, has this fetish--if you could call it so--for taking issue with certain beverage preferences among "Secular-Progressive"-leaning Presidential candidates.

Which, come to think of it, could apply across the board among the Dark Satanic Mills of Conservative Propaganda.

The which all started back in 2004 when a CNN correspondent took then-Democratic Presidential wannabe John Kerry to task for asking for green tea during a campaign stop in Dubuque, Iowa (of all places), suggesting such preferences were a sign of "elitism" somehow inconsistent with Mainstream American Values.

And which has continued in recent months with Democratic Presidential wannabe Barack Obama being taken to task for asking for an orange juice @ a diner ... and Hillary Rodham-Clinton also chided for her fondness for latte, both during campaign stops.

Which, in any case, begs the question of whether Fox Prolefeed, among others in the Neoconservative Propaganda Mill, is suggesting that "Real Americans" only drink straight coffee, preferably Brand X stylee with an oily sort of aftertaste thanks to the roasting having gone awry for some reason or another.

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WHICH IS ENOUGH TO WONDER HOW MUCH LONGER IT CAN GET BEFORE FOX PROLEFEED SUGGESTS THAT HAVING MUESLI OR GRANOLA FOR BREAKFAST is clear and present "proof" of "elitist tendencies***incompatible with the Great Silent Majority" among "Secular-Progressive-leaning" (read: Democratic) Presidential candidates.

And that "Real Americans" only eat oatmeal, corn flakes, shredded wheat or Cream of Wheat for breakfast cereals.

What Fox Prolefeed is hesitant to acknowledge is that corn flakes were originally created with an eye towards suppressing carnal desire (as manifested by, in particular, masturbation) among Impressionable Youth, which Dr. John Harvey Kellogg thought was the consequence of having pancakes, sausages, bacon, waffles and other cooked foods served hot @ breakfast on a daily basis.

Never mind that Dr. Kellogg's thinking was influenced by the teachings of The Rev. Sylvester W. Graham and Seventh-Day Adventism, who to this day still advocates a vegetarian diet among its teachings--and who, towards the end of the 19th century, ran a faltering "water cure" sanitarium in Battle Creek, Michigan which Dr. Kellogg turned around--only to have the Seventh-Day Adventists excommunicate him and withdraw its support of what became known as the Battle Creek Sanitarium (a/k/a "The San") in due course.

But not before using "The San" to advance his health-reform model which he called "Biological Living," deemphasising meat, caffeine and tobacco in favour of whole grains and nut-based meat substitutes, plenty of hydrotherapeusis (hot and cold baths), gymnastics, long walks and other forms of "vehement sports" as the path back to perfect health.

Not to mention a fondness for pure cow's milk (even to the extent of keeping a private dairy to serve the needs of "The San") and--equally interesting--Bulgarian yoghurt, even importing a quantity of the Lactobacillicus bulgaricus strain of yoghurt culture. (And incorporating yoghurt enemas as part of the routine @ "The San.")

And did I mention sexual abstinence and chastity?

Yep, Dr. Kellogg advocated outright chastity, contending that sexual activity was "unnecessary" to physical health; he spent his honeymoon writing his 644-page masterwork Plain Facts for Old and Young, a warning about sexual excess and its consequences upon health (of which he devotes a full 97 pages to the Evils of Self-Abuse, where he suggested that among the "warning signs" that one may be pleasuring themselves were such telltale behaviours as sleeplessness, inattention, "use of tobacco" to excess, "love of solitude," "false religious piety," overzealous appetite and acne).

But then, on the other hand, it's been suggested that Dr. Kellogg was a klismaphile (one who achieves sexual gratification through enemas, which were a regular staple of his after-breakfast routine) ... not to mention a childhood case of mumps afflicting his mental processes to the point of affecting his pseudomedical thinking as would premeate its way throughout "The San" and, in time, the nation.

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ORIGINALLY, THOUGH, DR. KELLOGG THOUGHT ABOUT LIMITING SALES OF HIS SANITAS CORN FLAKES TO THE CONFINES OF "THE SAN," even with a younger brother by name of Will Keith Kellogg who saw mass-market business potential in his older brother's revolutionary breakfast food.

Which would lead to considerable enmity between the two until, by 1906, W. K. ("None Genuine Without This Signature") pulled the rug out from Dr. John Harvey, so to speak, and removed any connexion between corn flakes and "The San."

Which was about the same time that Battle Creek itself became something of a Mecca for the "health food" industry, what with no less than 44 cereal manufacturers incorporating themselves in the dawn of the 20th century, producing their products under, in extreme cases, less-than-sanitary conditions in the likes of shacks and even tents.

Some would fold up shop quickly, but in the end, Kellogg's and Post would come out surviving.

C.W. Post, an overworked inventor, was given up for dead @ "The San" until he decided to go his own way with the rival La Vita Inn across town from "The San," promoting mental therapeutics as a way to deal with one's maladies. Not to mention Postum (a grain-based ersatz coffee whose sales were helped by lurid "scare stories" about coffee being the cause of blindness, auto accidents, murders, suicides, juvenile delinquency, arsons and even mortgage foreclosures), Post Toasties (which he originally wanted to call Elijah's Manna until the trademark registrars in England refused to allow it a trademark, citing laws there banning use of Biblical names or allusions in trademarks) and Grape-Nuts (which takes some getting used to to eat properly; one trick I've learned is to let the Grape-Nuts soak in milk for a couple of minootas so they're tempered to a soft enough, yet crunchy, texture).

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THUS DID MISGUIDED NOTIONS ABOUT DIETARY REFORM AS A WAY TO PREVENT SEXUAL EXCESS IN THE YOUNG change breakfast habits across the nation--and, in time, the world.

Uh--before I go, perhaps some final words in the form of a suggestion from the aforementioned Dr. John Harvey Kellogg about how doctors and parents could discourage masturbation in children:

A remedy [for masturbation] which is almost always successful in small boys is circumcision...The operation should be performed by a surgeon without administering an anesthetic, as the brief pain attending the operation will have a salutary effect upon the mind...In females, the author has found the application of pure carbolic acid to the clitoris an excellent means of allaying the abnormal excitement.   

SOME OF YOU WHO COME ACROSS THIS WEBLOG OF LATE MAY OR MAY NOT HAVE NOTICED WHAT APPEARS TO BE DUTCH OR GERMAN PHRASES in the titles of blog items where I discuss the day's news from my own perspective.

Let alone phrases in much the same vein.

And are wondering why that is.

Actually, the language I use in these circumstances is Afrikaans, a close relative of Dutch (hence, in the Germanic family linguistic) as is spoken widely in South Africa and Namibia and is recognised among post-apartheid South Africa's official languages.

Though I have never been to South Africa, nor was originally from there, Your Correspondent, thanks to the Information Stuporbahn, has found an interest in die Afrikaans Taal thanks to online translation resources such as Interpret.co.za, which makes feasable said translations from English into Afrikaans for the sake of this weblog.

As for specific reasons behind this occasional resort to Afrikaans, allow me to elaborate, or try to:

1. Right after World War II, there were discussions among the Four Allied Powers as occupied Germany (viz., the United States, Great Britain, France and the then-Soviet Union) to consider suppressing the German language, what with such helping stoke the fanaticism as aided and abetted the Nazi regime, only to quickly lose favour thanks to prominent German expatriates like Marlene Dietrich. In a way, Your Correspondent wants to show that Afrikaans, which was itself rather hated and reviled under the apartheid regime (and especially so following the Soweto Riots of 1976, provoked by a government decree which established that blacks be henceforth taught only in Afrikaans), can still be considered acceptable in the post-apartheid Rainbow Nation.
2. 'n manier van "flipping die voël," om so te sê, by die Amerikaansde Godsdienstig-Polities Regter tot die punt van hul benardheid.
3. My om te wys pretensieus trotsering teenoor die magte van onderhou die Konserwatief Godsdienstig-Polities status quo.
4. Vir almal sy skoonheid, Afrikaans blyoorskot tussen die wêreld se meeste misverstaan tale.
5. Om te gee Sekere Ekstremis Elemente "'n smaak van hul eie medisyne," as dit was.
6. Om te wys dat Afrikaans kan het 'n "tweede lewe" bokant sy verlede assosiasies met uiterste rasisme en toestand-sanksie xenophobia.
7. Om te kry mense dink omtrent die feit dat "dis 'n klein wêreld, na alles."

So there.

Now--enige vrae? 

AS IF A WARPED AND PERVERTED BRAND OF PRIMITIVE CHRISTIANITY ISN'T GOOD ENOUGH TO EXCUSE nothing short of contempt, fear and loathing of the poor, vulnerable and destitute to the point of their being reduced to objects of derision, perhaps it was time to ask this ilk some questions worthwhile:

• How many among the world's "developed" countries do you know of in the "here-and-now" where those seeking assistance from the State have to show where they have exhausted all available channels from especially "faith-based" or charitable organisations?
• In showing such exhausion of private- and faith-based-sector avenues of assistance, are you expecting those seeking assistance to carry the burden of proof?
• Can you show any factual evidence from the Real World that the poor can be better served from private-sector and faith-based charities than from State welfare?
• What about such who cannot expect to find work due to external circumstances outside their direct control, such as mental or emotional disorders? Would you rather have them warehoused in state institutions, subjected to the most inhumane and depraved of maltreatment which can sometimes be the byproduct of the personal spite of guards, trusties and administrators?
• Are we to expect a theoretical nil rate of unemployment as an article of faith among your ilk? How sure are you that private-sector employers will actually create jobs out of the collective goodness of their hearts towards nil-rate unemployment without discouraging investment in new plant and equipment?
• Are we to assume that the "best and only" welfare assistance the poor "deserve," if @ all, is that of an "in-kind" sort, as if assuming that paying cash benefits "only promotes dependency"? Have you any evidence that welfare programmes paying cash benefits "promotes dependency" @ the expense of Industry, Self-Reliance, Personal Responsibility, Thrift based on Cash Economy and a Wholesome and Simple Home Life?
• Are we to assume that your preferred form of cash-benefit-based "welfare" is nothing short of Ponzi schemes in the guise of "cashflow gifting" clubs using such permutations as "Æroplane," "Dinner Party," "Pit Stop" and affinity-based variants on "Friends Helping Friends"? How would "gifting clubs" be considered better than traditional State welfare?
• For such who cannot expect to find work, yet considering your contempt for State welfare, would you rather expect such to fall for "work-from-home" scams or--worse yet--prostitute themselves towards self-reliance?
• How are we to know that you don't secretly have designs on pacifying (and deliberately) the Lower Classes into ignoring such contempt against them through the likes of the crudest and the most pornographically depraved forms of prolefeed?
• Are you now, or have you ever been:
  • an alcoholic?
  • a drug addict?
  • a chronic and habitual gambler or spendthrift?
  • an Undischarged Bankrupt?
  • diagnosed with a Loathsome Mental Illness, Defect or Disease?
  • a wife- and/or child-abuser?
  • a sex maniac, pervert or fiend?
  • a pædophile?
  • a regular patron of prostitutes or other adult businesses?
  • arrested by the police, subsequently to spend time in Corrective Schools or prisons?
  • discharged from the military as "unfit" or otherwise under less-than-honourable circumstances (including being declared a Security or Morals Risk)?
  • blacklisted to the point of being unable to find gainful employment, despite "reasonable efforts" to find work?
  • a bigot?
  • a Latent Homosexual?
  • abused in childhood?
• Have you no sense of Decency, Sir, @ long last?
• Have you left no sense of Decency?

You know where to leave the answers. 

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WHICH, COME TO THINK OF IT, APPEARS TO BE THE LIKELY CIRCUMSTANCES FACING THE MINNWISSIPPI HEADING WELL INTO THE WEEKEND as I write this. Overnight, in fact, some showers and rumbles of thunder could be discerned, not to mention some sprinkles around sunrise and when I left for my morning's duty @ the motel.

Especially good chances of rain may be possible heading into tomorrow and Saturday ... yet still, we're probably on tenterhooks wondering if we may see the same set of circumstances as last August.

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MEANWHILE, THE WINONA INTERSTATE BRIDGE CLOSING HAS BEEN MODIFIED so that only emergency vehicles (especially so ambulances from nearby Wisconsin communities heading to hospital in Winona) can use same in the interim.

As well, van shuttles to accomodate employees of Winona-area companies resident in Wisconsin are being discussed between the city, MnDOT and local employers.

Through it all, you have to wonder if Governor Pawlenty--perhaps the best sock puppet that the Club For Growth must have among the governors of the 50 states--has the last laugh, especially considering his earlier veto of transportation-funding legislation "to protect the good taxpayers' interests" was subsequently overriden by the Legislature.

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WITH HILLARY RODHAM-CLINTON HAVING ESSENTIALLY CONCEDED HER DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN TO BARACK OBAMA (the formal announcement to be tomorrow), it appears all but likely that Indecision 2008 can be said to have begun in dead seriousness.

Even if the party nominating conventions have been reduced to little more than mere formalities for the most part, scripted and nuanced for the benefit of FreeVee coverage.

In any case, the Dark Satanic Mills of Conservative Propaganda are probably rejoicing @ Hillary having conceded any chances for the nomination, notwithstanding "Operation Chaos" attempting to pervert the primary and caucus process towards making The Terrible-Tempered Mr. Bang an easy winner come November.

Still, though, the Religiopolitical Right wants its share of influence in the face of waning and compromised support therefor among Die Groot Ongewas, as Right Wing Watch notes in the following recent item:

Impugning the religious faith of others based on their political views is one of the basic themes of the Religious Right, but it’s still refreshing to hear it as openly stated as this simple test: a “True Christian” is one who opposes abortion and same-sex marriage.

That’s the message of “True Christian VP,” a petition drive from Gary Cass’s “Christian Anti-Defamation Commission,” which is “calling for each candidate to select a true Christian as a running mate for the all important 2008 elections.” And in case there might be any confusion, the group has narrowed down the definition of “true Christian” to two criteria:

What qualifications are embodied in a truly Christian candidate for the Vice Presidency? Quite simply, the candidate will demonstrate actions and hold the beliefs personified by all of us who proclaim the name of Jesus Christ as Savior: the need to be re-born in Christ and the affirmation of historic Christianity, having a demonstrable and proven record of support for traditional Christian morality.

A life of dedicated Christian service to the public is demonstrated by the following:

Support for traditional marriage. As a Christian, the candidate for Vice President must affirm that marriage is an institution created by God and defined as a union between one man and one woman. …

Support for the Right to Life, proclaimed in the Declaration of Independence, without exception.

The group also clarifies that, for example, the two Democratic candidates for president would not qualify as “real Christians”:

Who is the real Christian seeking the Presidency of the United States?

The three major presidential candidates, Democrats Barrack [sic] Obama, Hillary Rodham Clinton, and Republican John McCain have presented Christian voters with a vexing problem for Christians.  Both Mr. Obama and Ms. Clinton have declared they are Christians, yet based on their votes, both have consistently demonstrated a failure to support the values and policy positions important to Christians. While Mr. McCain proclaims support for traditional Christian values and morality, he has chosen to not discuss his own religious beliefs.

Since founding his group last year, Cass has concentrated on promoting two ideas: one, that Christianity is being persecuted (or “bashed”), and two, that other people’s faith is fair game. In particular, Cass attacked Mormon candidate Mitt Romney for his religion’s supposed “secret rituals” and “hostility to Christianity.” Presumably Cass isn’t happy that Romney is being floated as a potential running mate for McCain.

This counterintuitive notion—that Christianity is to be defended from persecution in public culture by attacking others’ faith—is apparently shared by the so-called Christian Defense Coalition, which attacked Obama over the weekend for resigning from his church after public disagreements. “[I]f his church membership was truly spiritual -- then this action shows a fundamental lack of integrity,” declared Patrick Mahoney, who has attacked Obama’s religious credentials for some time. “Obama's resignation of membership in Trinity United Church demonstrates that he will trade even on his faith for political advantage.”

(Memo to the so-called "Christian Anti-Defamation Commission:" May I refer you to Article VI(c) of the United States Constitution, which proscribes use of "religious test" as a qualification to any "office or trust under these United States."

(And Another Thing: How do we know your campaign is sincere and in good faith, let alone the byproduct of another drunken jag?)

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A NEW PILL FOR THE ZEALOTS AND TRUE BELIEVERS IN WORKFARE AND FREE-MARKET CAPITALISM WITH AMERICAN CHARACTERISTICS TO THINK ABOUT: Reuters is reporting where the new generation of post-Tiananmen Square Chinese are facing extreme difficulty in finding jobs under the current state of socioeconomic affairs as excuses further polarity between rich and poor.

Now, imagine what it would be like if these same circumstances so documented occured here in the "morally superior" United States, and especially so given your overwhelming desire to see a theoretically nil rate of unemployment consistent with free-market capitalist models and paradigms you claim to defend.

Not to mention scrapping "failed and failing" public education with homeschooling based on apartheid South Africa's Nasionale Christen Opverdoing syllabus--long on ideology and glittering generalities about a New Christian America, yet short on core skills. (Did I mention such being nothing short of licence to excuse incest as an agency of maintaining coercive power and control, with those so afflicted essentially no better than "sluts," "floozies" and "whores" as are otherwise not to be trusted?)