more the engrish!

APOLOGIES, READERS, FOR BEING TOO FOCUSED IN THE EARLIER POSTING TODAY WITH THE RELIGIOPOLITICAL BELIEFS OF GOP VICE-PRESIDENTIAL WANNABE SARAH PALIN, who, methinks, John McCain is preening for Presidential material, realising McCain's state of decline--and whose religious beliefs have been held to be heretical for nearly 60 years by the mainstream.

As if that weren't enough, Ms. Palin has been quoted as saying that the Iraqi Theater of the ur-RAHOWA Against Terrorism is one with G-d's Work; that, right there, is nothing short of blasphemy which ought be criticised, and strongly.

Equally galling, per Zennie's Zeitgeist, is this major lapsus linguæ on Ms. Palin's part responding to the Federal bailout of mortgage-loan originators Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac:

Well, McCain campaign advisor Todd Harris said they didn't want Alaska Governor Sarah Palin to make a mistake early on, and that's exactly what happened today.  Palin, commenting on the news that the Federal Goverment was going to take over the poortly performing loan organizations Freddie Mac and Fanny Mae, apparently did not know that the firms were privately owned and held.  Palin said this, as written by the McClatchy Washington Bureau:

McCain's running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, speaking in Colorado Springs, Colo., said Fannie and Freddie had "gotten too big and too expensive to the taxpayers." The companies, however, aren't taxpayer funded but operate as private companies. The takeover may result in a taxpayer bailout during reorganization.

It's this basic lack of knoweldge of Federal Government operation that both Obama/Biden supporters and GOP backers who questioned McCain's logic in selecting Palin are concerned with.  Palin has no experience in talking about, let alone working to solve, Federal Government problems and policy matters on a regular basis that many wondered if McCain would have to engage in "on the campaign trail" training.

It appears that's the case.

This comes a week before Palin's scheduled ABC interview.

Such mistakes need to be called out as they occur, and used as "swift-boating" fodder.

(BTW, can anybody confirm Ms. Palin's reputed boast of her being expelled from six colleges within the space of five years? And if so, for what--flashing her grodies inapproriately?)

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SPEAKING OF THE SAME UR-RAHOWA AGAINST TERRORISM (THIS TIME, IN THE AFGHANI THEATER), Human Rights Watch has come out with an indictment of the American-led Coalition of the Coerced for engaging in airstrikes as have resulted in substantial numbers of civilian casualties that, in their turn, translates into a loss of public trust and confidence in the post-Talibani Afghani government.

Many of the casualties in question being an indirect result of the Talibani practice of using civilians as "human shields" against aerial attacks real or imagined.

Further damming evidence against His Fraudulency's Great Within for such blunders as could, come November, be but one step towards the devastation of our Antient and Pecuilar Soverignty and Soverign Identity by the "New World Order."

Be careful who you vote for, in other words.

If your state allows early balloting without restriction, use this approach if possible to avoid the "dirty tricks" squads the GOP's droogs and lackeys are likely to unleash upon polling stations for unwarranted "caging" attacks. Which can also be prevented by updating your voter registry if:

• You have moved since the last elections to another precinct; or
• You have changed your name by marriage or court order.

And remain all the more vigilant to "patriotic" voter-intimidation campaigns targeting the poor, the vulnerable and especially so National Minorities; if you hear of any, contact your local law-enforcement agencies, and also the FBI. Reports in any case are kept in confidence.

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ON THE ELECTION-RELATED FRONT:

• Angola's Friday elections for Parliamentary seats, the first such in 16 years, saw an unannounced second day of polling in their capital city of Luanda on Saturday after "irregularities" were observed--as well as reports of vote-rigging favouring the ruling MPLA party as don't sit well with the opposition UNITA movement and rumours that MPLA operatives hauled in truckloads of "voters" from Congo (Brazzaville) to rig the vote in border areas. UNITA is asking the Consitutional Court to declare the recent vote as null and void and to call for a revote.
• In Canada, Prime Minister Stephen Harper's Conservatives have dissolved Parliament and called early elections for October to avoid a loss of confidence vote.
• And in Hong Kong, pro-democracy parties in the Chinese Special Administrative Region have won 22 out of 60 seats in their Legislative Council in Sunday elections, holding back a challenge from pro-China parties and ensuring their continued veto power over Beijing-influenced legislation.

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IT SEEMS AS IF HURRICANE IKE HAD A BETTER CHANCE @ WREAKING HAVOC AND DEVASTATION UPON CUBA THAN THE FLORIDA KEYS; Evacuation Orders for the latter have been cancelled in view of revised forecasts as have its track moving well to the south of the Keys after doing a number across Cuba, especially so in Havana.

Moving towards Gulf Coast offshore oilfields, which are already in lockdown after Hurricane Gustav passed through a week or so ago to the point of affecting production.

Back to Cuba: Just as relief supplies were being released to victims after Hurricane Gustav's passage, Ike made its presence felt--and only making a difficult situation for the Communist regime even more so with rivers flooded over and road and rail links washed out. Not to mention creating the climate for a Spontaneous Popular Uprising against the Communist regime over delays in providing relief supplies, food and construction materials.

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JUST SO I REMEMBERED, HERE'S DAY 7 OF "THE SCOOP" COMPLEAT from the Minnesota State Fair Daily News back page:

Happy birthday to Flo from all of your friends in the Education Building. You look like a million bucks!

I wish the ice men would come around once an hour!

I want me one of those scone boys!

All the girls in the Pronto Pup spearing room are really cute and the boys in the delivery crew are too!!

James (att) your "Fair Mom's" have you on speed dial now. What time do your classes start at St. Olaf's? Hopefully not at 7:30 p.m. cause you won't make it!

Happy birthday Ron! Thanks for the 20 years that you and Betty have worked at the Crossroads Chapel!

The short man with the cane says Bob "The Woodcarver" needs all the friends he can get. His problems started when he was born. He was so ugly the hospital tinted his incubator windows.

Bob "The Woodcarver" has old friends from Romania back short friend with cane is out.

Feeling left out of all the new weddings in the works, AH and JR would like to formally announce their engagement! Presents are welcome, attendance to the wedding is not.

Thanks for all your help everyone!

BES you are simply radiant!

KF whatever you had to say I'm sorry you couldn't think of it. But here is a shout out to you!

BD, I hope no eye juice got on you. That might not look so good in a couple of days!

More tomorrow.... 

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AS IF PEOPLE FOR THE AMERICAN WAY'S APPEAL TO SEND A MESSAGE TO SARAH PALIN that her message as John McCain's Vice-Pesidential candidate does not reflect the mainstream of American Thought (as opposed to the Religiopolitical Right's idealised, Arcadian even, small-town/rural mindset) isn't quite good enough ... whispers in certain circles about her association with the so-called "Joel's Army" cult (confirmation of which would be greatly appreciated) should be enough to send especially the McCain/Palin campaign's deepest and dearest of droogs on the Religiopolitical Right a strong message about what they're playing with.

Videlicet, heretical, even deviant, doctrine--@ least according to the Assemblies of God, whose 1949 General Assembly issued a resolution disapproving of the "Latter Rain" revivalist doctrine as had been established just the year before as a tent revival ministry in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan, of which "Joel's Army" is but one of its several concepts and practices.

The which would be reaffirmed by the 2000 General Assembly in the position paper "Endtime Revival--Spirit-Led and Spirit-Driven," as elaborated on its concerns over "Latter Rain" and its teachings, in particular the emphasis on theocratic rule dominated by weird and unwholesome types professing to act in His Name and under His Authority, and the danger such poses to representative and responsible democracy when dominated by weird and unwholesome types especially.

For those of you who are wondering what exactly makes "Latter Rain" and its sacraments heretical, consider the following from this particular paper, under the heading "Deviant Teachings Disapproved:"

God is certainly moving in the hearts and lives of people desiring His presence and praying to see His power changing lives and reclaiming that which Satan has stolen or destroyed. But along with the genuine move of the Spirit often come teachings and practices which, if not discerned and corrected, will turn the genuine move of God into shallow and misguided emotional displays. Within teachings that add to or depart from biblical truth, there is usually a kernel of truth that gets buried under the chaff of human additions and unusual interpretations of Scripture. Though we dare not inadvertently quench the Spirit's work in changing lives and calling the church back to its first love and passion, we must speak out with words of caution when departure from Scripture threatens the ongoing life and stability of local churches. We find cause for concern in the following areas.

1. The overemphasis on identifying, bestowing, or imparting spiritual gifts by the laying on of hands and naming, supposedly by prophecy, specific gifts. The spiritual gifts are gifts of the Spirit, distributed as He "gives them to each one, just as he determines" (1 Corinthians 12:11). When the Spirit empowers the gift He bestows, there is no need for anyone to assume the Spirit's role. As the Holy Spirit inspires the operation of the gifts, the identification and confirmation will be obvious to all without assistance from humans who would share some of the glory. The greatest tragedy of such a practice is a misguided human prediction, appearing to be a prophetic utterance, that leads a believer to expect abilities and an enduement he may never have. Paul says that gifts were bestowed through the laying on of hands (1 Timothy 4:14; 2 Timothy 1:6), but the biblical record neither names a specific gift Timothy received nor implies that Paul or elders had imparted the gift. The Holy Spirit bestows the gifts, not the minister who prays the prayer for empowerment. Caution in naming specific gifts is advised until the Spirit confirms such a prophecy by the supernatural manifestation of the promised gift.

2. The problematic teaching that present-day offices of apostles and prophets should govern church ministry at all levels. It is very tempting for persons with an independent spirit and an exaggerated estimate of their importance in the kingdom of God to declare organization and administrative structure to be of human origin. Reading in the Bible that there were apostles and prophets who exerted great leadership influence, and wrongly interpreting 1 Corinthians 12:28 and Ephesians 2:20 and 4:11, they proceed to declare themselves or persons aligned with their views as prophets and apostles. Structure set up to avoid a previous structure can soon become dictatorial, presumptuous, and carnal while claiming to be more biblical than the old one outside the new order or organization. Proponents of apostles/prophets leadership stop too soon in their reading of the Ephesians 4 passage, overlooking the high calling of every office and minister of the Church: "It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ" (Ephesians 4:11,12, italics added).

   In Ephesians 2:20, Paul is talking about the historical fact of Jews and Gentiles having come together to form the Church. The aorist participle in verse 20 is best translated "having been built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone"–a past occurrence. The reference to apostles and prophets in Ephesians 3:5 speaks of their role in recording the inspired Scriptures as a past occurrence. The leadership of the local church, according to the Pastoral Epistles, is in the hands of elders/presbyters and deacons. These are the last of Paul's epistles. There is no indication in these last writings of continuing offices of apostles and prophets, though the ministry functions still continue.

   Prophets in the New Testament are never described as holding an officially recognized position as in the case of pastors and evangelists. They spoke prophetically to the body for edification and admonition. When they prophesied under the inspiration of the Spirit, their ministry was noted. They could indeed have been called prophets without designating them as filling an office. A self-proclaimed prophet who dropped into a local church setting would certainly have been suspect until he was better known. And to guard against such abuses, Paul taught that all prophetic utterances should be tested by the Body (1 Corinthians 14:29). The humility that Paul taught and modeled should be a primary character trait of every spiritual leader. We affirm that there are, and ought to be, apostolic- and prophetic-type ministries in the Church, without individuals being identified as filling such an office.

   The Shepherding Movement, a term not used as frequently now as earlier, is still a practice with close ties to the apostle/prophet excesses described above. The random and wrongful substitution of mutually appointed apostles and prophets to replace existing divinely appointed and duly chosen leadership is a circumstance open to abuse. In the past the shepherding teaching led to an artificial pyramid system of accountability, with each person responsible to a personal shepherd. The shepherd in turn is accountable to another shepherd for his guidance, accountability, and control. Although the example of Paul mentoring young Timothy is a good pattern for today, there is no biblical basis for a network requiring every believer to have a personal shepherd. The pastor, as shepherd of a local church flock, along with the spouse, can deal with even the most personal matters. The pastor in turn has a district superintendent, chosen for the position through a divinely blessed process, from whom help can be sought when needed. But to seek randomly, and with a sense of obligation, for someone to be a personal shepherd is not biblical. God-ordained leaders, chosen by Spirit-led colleagues seeking to build and edify the body of Christ, have the needed maturity, stability, and gifting by the Spirit.

3. The practice of imparting or imposing personal leadings by means of gifts of utterance. Instances of Spirit-prompted personal advice, contrary to common sense yet definitely of divine origin, are so infrequent that recklessly giving personal prophecies soon becomes an abuse in the body of Christ. Though Paul and Barnabas were rightfully set apart by the Holy Spirit for an unspecified work (Acts 13:2), the two still had to hear the Spirit's direction for their specific assignments. Their call was heard by the gathered believers while worshiping and fasting, and all present, including Paul and Barnabas, were obviously persuaded that it was indeed the Spirit speaking. If the "prophesied" words are from God, the Holy Spirit will also confirm the reality to the heart of the one set apart for the Spirit's work.

4. Wresting and distorting Scripture through interpretations that are in opposition to the primary meaning of biblical passages. The following teachings all have an element of truth in them, but as currently taught they are plagued with misleading and unbiblical elements and should be carefully avoided. In some instances a word or phrase is taken from Scripture, so it has the sound of biblical authenticity, but the application is a human creation rather than biblical truth. Many of them are reappearances of earlier departures from biblical truth, and in the future they could resurface as supposedly new revelations with different names.

Kingdom Now or Dominion theology. The thought that God's kingdom can come on earth with a little help from humankind is intriguing to those who advocate this approach to impacting society. Rather than scoffing at the promise of Christ's imminent return (2 Peter 3:3,4), this errant theology says that Jesus will not return until the Church takes dominion of the earth back from Satan and his followers. By taking control, through whatever means possible, of political, ecclesiastical, educational, economic, and other structures, Christians supposedly can make the world a worthy place for Christ to return and rule over. This unscriptural triumphalism generates other related variant teachings.

Manifest Sons of God and Joel's Army. These are some of the names used to describe those who have caught the vision of the Kingdom Now and are actively at work seeking to overcome the opposition and declaring Christians who hold a biblical understanding of Christ's imminent return at any time to be cowardly for not joining the "anointed," as they sometimes call themselves. Without question, the Old Testament Book of Joel includes many endtime references. But the great and powerful army in Joel 2 is one of terrible locusts, an instrument of judgment on Israel. After Israel's repentance, the army of locusts is destroyed by the Lord. Only after this destruction of the instrument of judgment does the promised revival come. "And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people" (Joel 2:28). It is a complete misinterpretation of Scripture to find in Joel's army of locusts a militant, victorious force attacking society and a non-cooperating Church to prepare the earth for Christ's millennial reign.

Spiritualizing Biblical Events and History. There is certainly nothing wrong with finding parallels between historical biblical events and the application of biblical truth to life today–for edification and encouraging spiritual growth. But when those events are forced into a strained application of endtime events, thinking Christians should be on the alert. The Bereans of Acts 17:10,11 were commended because they "searched the scriptures daily, whether those things [that Paul was teaching] were so." A teaching announced as the revelation of a new truth should be checked out very carefully. Pentecostals have become accustomed to anointed and dynamic preaching. But hearing a teacher speak with authority and self-confidence does not make the teaching true. It must always line up with Holy Scripture. Personal charisma is no substitute for biblical authority.

The Prosperity Gospel. The preaching of a prosperity gospel has increased giving to some programs, both legitimate and less than legitimate. God does bless faithfulness, but the blessing is not always financial gain. There are spiritual principles of sowing and reaping, but to draw money from the poor to support an affluent personal lifestyle is unconscionable. If we one day will have to give an account of every idle word (Matthew 12:36), it seems reasonable that we will have to account for every dollar solicited by dubious methods. A biblical teaching should be applicable in every neighborhood, culture, society, and country of the world.

Birthing. Another example of a kernel of truth being pushed beyond propriety is the teaching that believers must "birth" new Christians into the Kingdom. Paul used the parallel very appropriately when he wrote to the Galatians, "My dear children, . . . I am again in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you" (Galatians 4:19). But when the parallel is vividly described with the imagery of a mother in the process of delivery and believers are encouraged to intercede lying in the physical position of a mother giving birth to a child, truth is abused.

Generational Curses. It is true that Scripture speaks of the sins of the fathers being visited upon the children to the third and fourth generation (Exodus 20:5; Numbers 14:18; Deuteronomy 5:9). In two of the three passages the visitation is targeted at those who hate God. We also know that heredity and environment do pass some things on to descendents. But the Old Testament passage should be read in the light of the work of Christ on the cross. Nowhere in the New Testament do we find any reference to this concept. Believers today do not live under a personal curse, even though the fallen creation around us still groans and suffers (Romans 8:22), awaiting the restoration of all things. Strong emphasis on a generational curse binds rather than delivers believers. Outside the body of Christ, there may be evidence of a generational curse, but for believers it is broken at salvation, even though there may be some natural traits or behavior patterns we must deal with through the help of the Holy Spirit.

5. Excessive fixation on Satan and demonic spirits. "Greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world" (1 John 4:4, KJV). There is a devil. He is working desperately as his opportunity of opposing God's eternal plan is fast coming to a close. But he is no more powerful today than he has ever been. God is always in control and our emphasis should be on His omnipotence rather than on the evil work of oppressing, disturbing, destroying, and even possessing those who willingly play with Satan's trinkets and give themselves to his control. Satan can never take possession of the child of God, though he may tempt and oppress. Believers cannot be demon possessed.

Fighting and exorcising demons is exciting activity. It attracts attention. Again, there is a kernel of truth. There is demon possession–not in everything that is amiss, but certainly in special instances that must be dealt with. Yet God in His wisdom has provided the tools for those special needs. While there may indeed be princes of darkness on assignment against cities, there is no biblical evidence that every city or geographic entity is ruled by a demon. The Holy Spirit may give a Spirit-filled believer the word of knowledge that a demon is in control of a person who needs deliverance. And in situations of strange behavior, the Spirit discerns for the Spirit-filled believer the source of the activity. But to conclude that every sickness, injury, birth deformity, and negative personality trait is caused by a demon is a misreading of Scripture. Sin has left its mark on the world, yet not in the form of a demon wherever we turn that must be named and exorcised.

We are engaged in spiritual warfare. "The devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour" (1 Peter 5:8). But that message was not given to frighten believers into going to extremes in making every daily activity a major struggle with the devil. As we put on the full armor every Christian should wear in spiritual conflict, we are promised that we will stand against the devil's schemes (Ephesians 6:11-17). Covered by the blood of Christ and wearing our armor, we can then concentrate on the assigned task of going into all the world with the gospel. There may be some intense combat along the way, but the One who goes before us has already overcome.

Which is something the Religiopolitical Right's hard-wired droogs and lackeys, blindly unswerving in their support of the McCain/Palin ticket, may want to think about. Twice. 

(Come to think of it, would these same objections from the Assemblies of God be shared by other mainline Christian denominations in the United States? Opinions from the representatives of other faiths will be appreciated in the comments.)   

EMERGING REVELATIONS OF THE RELIGIOUS ZEALOTRY AND TRUE BELIEF OF REPUBLICAN VICE-PRESIDENTIAL ASPIRANT SARAH PALIN  perhaps influencing her articles of faith (and campaign message) should be enough to ring alarm bells.

For starters, there's her associations with a heretical apocalypto sect with known connexions to the "Latter Rain" revivalist movement as has itself been declared heretical and anathema by the Assemblies of God since 1949, which was reinforced by Resolution 16 (A Return to Biblical Integrity) of the 48th General Assembly of the Assemblies of God in 2000:

WHEREAS, The first of the 16 Fundamental Truths asserts unequivocally that the Scriptures are the "infallible, authoritative rule of faith and conduct"; and

WHEREAS, The report of the Spiritual Life Committee in Minutes, Revised Constitution and Bylaws of The General Council of the Assemblies of God 1993 states:

We believe that God's Spirit never goes where His Word does not. . . . We have been lambasted by elements of the electronic church and charismatic renewal as being backslidden and non-Spirit led when we have not jumped on popular bandwagons of the day loaded with the meringue of personality and spiritual excess rather than the plain meat of God's Word. So be it! If criticism is the price we must pay for asking the question: "What saith the Lord in His written Word?"-then let us wear that criticism gladly as a sign of fidelity to Christ. and

WHEREAS, The current "river of God" includes many alleged manifestations of the Spirit which are extra-biblical. These extra-biblical manifestations have become a de facto evidence of a new level of spirituality and/or a new anointing. They are eclipsing in importance the biblical anointing called the baptism in the Holy Spirit, which is witnessed by speaking in tongues as the Spirit gives utterance; and

WHEREAS, Latter Rain doctrines such as impartation, birthing, Joel's Army, and the five-fold ministries taught as offices with predictive prophecy are again being heard in the new revival; and

WHEREAS, As a result, ministers and churches are being divided and members are becoming confused about the authority of the Scripture; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, That this General Council reaffirm the decision of the General Council of 1949, as stated: We recognize a hunger on the part of God's people for a spiritual refreshing and manifestation of His Holy Spirit [and] That we set our hearts to seek for a continued outpouring of the Holy Spirit founded upon the clear teaching of the Word of God. Be it further

RESOLVED, That we disapprove of Latter Rain doctrines and practices such as "impartation," "birthing," "Joel's Army," and the "five-fold ministries" taught as "offices" with "predictive prophecy," and other extraneous teachings "which, being unfounded scripturally, serve only to break fellowship . . . and tend to confusion and division."

Which, in turn, was reinforced by the Position Paper "Endtime Revival--Spirit-Led and Spirit-Controlled," the which may be read in its entire here (and could be worth using for "swift-boating" Ms. Palin with on the theological front, what with her known friends among the Religiopolitical Right).

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AS IF MS. PALIN'S ASSOCIATIONS WITH THE FALSE DOCTRINE OF LATTER RAIN WEREN'T AWFUL ENOUGH, a flyer in the church bulletin of her church in Wasilla, AK is promoting the Focus on the Family-affiliated "Love Won Out" pseudoministry which suggests that homosexuals and homosexuality can be "cured" by the thorough application of Christian Witness.

The which turns out being in the same boat as "aversion" and "reparative" psychotherapies which have been discredited by the American Psychiatric Association as having no credible basis in fact and serves only to further stigmatise homosexuals and homosexuality, as per the following position paper issued in 2000 (by way of Media Matters for America):

1. APA affirms its 1973 position that homosexuality per se is not a diagnosable mental disorder. Recent publicized efforts to repathologize homosexuality by claiming that it can be cured are often guided not by rigorous scientific or psychiatric research, but sometimes by religious and political forces opposed to full civil rights for gay men and lesbians. APA recommends that the APA respond quickly and appropriately as a scientific organization when claims that homosexuality is a curable illness are made by political or religious groups.

2. As a general principle, a therapist should not determine the goal of treatment either coercively or through subtle influence. Psychotherapeutic modalities to convert or "repair" homosexuality are based on developmental theories whose scientific validity is questionable. Furthermore, anecdotal reports of "cures" are counterbalanced by anecdotal claims of psychological harm. In the last four decades, "reparative" therapists have not produced any rigorous scientific research to substantiate their claims of cure. Until there is such research available, APA recommends that ethical practitioners refrain from attempts to change individuals' sexual orientation, keeping in mind the medical dictum to first, do no harm.

3. The "reparative" therapy literature uses theories that make it difficult to formulate scientific selection criteria for their treatment modality. This literature not only ignores the impact of social stigma in motivating efforts to cure homosexuality; it is a literature that actively stigmatizes homosexuality as well. "Reparative" therapy literature also tends to overstate the treatment's accomplishments while neglecting any potential risks to patients. APA encourages and supports research in the NIMH and the academic research community to further determines "reparative" therapy's risks versus its benefits.

(As a matter of fact, several psychologists and psychiatrists who have identified themselves with "aversion/reparative therapy" programmes have been disciplined for the likes of Unprofessional Conduct, Causing Serious Emotional Harm in Clients, Abusing the Doctor-Client Relationship for Personal Gain and Abusing Client Trust and Confidence to Further Expose Clients to Harm or Dependency, among other charges as can lead to disciplinary action. Not to mention the unwitting likelihood of certain such being, perhaps, Addicted to Liquor.)

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AND TO SUGGEST THAT SARAH PALIN'S PRESENCE AS JOHN McCAIN'S VICE-PRESIDENT MAY ACTUALLY HELP SWAY WORKING-CLASS WOMEN INTO VOTING REPUBLICAN COME NOVEMBER may only be wishful thinking; read what the Los Angeles Times has to say on this Inconvenient Truth.

Not to mention suggesting that a blanket ban on abortion and contraception as is part of the McCain/Palin Presidential agenda would actually have "economic benefits" (cf. Romania under Nicolae Ceauçescu, in case you've forgotten Recent History).  

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AS IF WHAT REMAINED OF TROPICAL STORM HANNA'S SOAKING THE NORTHEAST CORRIDOR INTO NEW ENGLAND WASN'T AWFUL ENOUGH before heading off to sea on the overnight, there's a new meteorological time bomb ticking away in the Caribbean by name of Hurricane Ike.

Keep the "I Like Ike" buttons your grandparents wore in the 1950's in the attic for now, folks; Ike is showing its real face as a destructive storm of the highest order, already bringing even further devastation upon Haiti, itself the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere and itself already devastated by Gustav and Hanna previously, with nearly 200 dead between them across Haiti and Ike only likely to add to the Haitian death count just as relief supplies were beginning to arrive in Cap-Haitien, one of the worst-hit communities.

And with the Southern Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands taking a pounding from Ike, Cuba will no doubt be next.

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WITH PARTS OF NORTHERN CUBA ALREADY HAVING SEEN DEVASTATION FROM GUSTAV PREVIOUSLY, IKE COULD ONLY MAKE THINGS WORSE FOR THE CUBAN NATION as much for the people and regime, what with road and transport problems making delivery of relief supplies all the more difficult.

As well as the prospect of Havana having to ask the United States to supply relief to Cuba, trade embargo notwithstanding, in case further damage ensues thanks to Ike as are beyond available resources from the Cuban regime and her other "fraternal sister republics" like Venezuela. (Washington's official line is that they would only supply "humanitarian aid" to Cuba if and when specifically requested. But then again, consider the prospect of the Cuban regime storing in locked and sealed warehouses any relief the "aggressor" United States may supply soon after their receipt.)

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AND WITH THE LIKELIHOOD OF IKE'S STRONG WINDS BRUSHING THE FLORIDA KEYS AS IT MAKES MINCEMEAT OF CUBA, Monroe County, Florida is taking no chances, essentially "locking down" the Keys and Key West starting with a Mandatory Visitor Evacuation yesterday and a Phased Mandatory Resident Evacuation from this morning, starting with the Lower Keys and Key West (i.e., up to the Seven-Mile Bridge on the Overseas Highway), followed by the Middle Keys (including Marathon, Key Colony Beach and Duck Cay) and the Upper Keys (including Tavernier, Islamorada, Key Largo and Mainland Monroe County), with tolls suspended on the Card Sound Drawbridge and the Homestead Extension of Florida's Turnpike.

Seeing as how the Keys are rather small coral islands themselves, the authorities there want to take no chances, especially considering that certain Elmer Gantry types will see in Ike's devastating effects a Wrath of G-d scenario (what with Key West being popular among the GLBTQ element and the Keys themselves being somewhat Bohemian in culture and lifestylee).

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DEPENDING ON PROJECTIONS, IKE COULD WIND UP MAKING A DIRECT HIT ON THE SAME AREAS AFFLICTED PREVIOUSLY BY KATRINA BACK IN 2005 AND GUSTAV just in the last week along the Central Gulf Coast.

Which, it just so happens, has substantial numbers of offshore oil and natural gas rigs temporarily offline in view of the power cuts following Hurricane Gustav ... and considering where Ike is, as I write this, a Category 4 hurricane (sustained winds 125-150 mph) per the Saffir-Simpson Scale, there's the clear and present risk of several rigs being destroyed and, in effect, out of production outright, translating into further overzealous appeals for energy self-sufficency based on wasteful and inefficent wildcat drilling in areas with no likely crude oil resources extant.

And which could wind up tipping Indecision 2008 all the more to Obama/Biden; any suggestions that McCain/Palin saw a spike in Wholehearted Popular Support following the convention should be seen as transient and illusory, what with the "post-convention bounce" likely to last only 1-2 days on the overnight tracking polls.

(Best resource I can recommend to make sense of the daily polling trends among all the leading polls: FiveThirtyEight.com, which offers rational-sounding numbers based on both the popular vote and its knock-on effects in the Electoral College, where it really matters under the Constitution. The site's name, in fact, refers to the current constitution of the Electoral College, based on two Senators per state and Representatives awarded each state proportional to population, plus three electors for the District of Columbia, as authorised in the 23rd Amendment to the Constitution.)

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KUDOS TO OPRAH WINFREY FOR WISELY CHOOSING NOT TO HAVE SARAH PALIN ON HER SYNDICATED CHAT SHOW ANY TIME DURING THE ELECTORAL RUNUP, citing Oprah's belief that her chat show's emphasis on self-improvement and empowerment along these same lines is incompatible with such becoming a partisan campaign forum.

Not to mention the prospect of the McCain/Palin campaign trying to display messages in projectio subliminalis for "winning of hearts and minds" purposes throughout, or otherwise using electronic effects as may tend to the hypnotic on Palin's eyes.

And speaking of The Dark Side of Sarah Palin Such as She Doesn't Want You to Know About, The Political Curmudgeon hath these revealing comments about how Alaskans are, howbeit sub rosa for fear of reprisals as may include perverted use of the mental hygiene laws, really viewing their Governor--as a racist, xenophobic, mentally-unstable type tending to the weird and unwholesome. Comments which need to be shared, for Knowledge is Power; don't be fooled by such who think Knowledge is Power needs to be qualified by Power Tends to Corrupt.

As writer Jack London once wrote, "...the proper function of Man is to live, not just exist."

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AND WE ROUND OUT TODAY'S SELECTION WITH THE SCOOP FROM DAY 6 OF THE MINNESOTA STATE FAIR, as per the Minnesota State Fair Daily News:

So much fun to have, so little time.

Em, looking good at the Coliseum!

Who is having fun at the GMGT???

Mike you better watch your driving on the golf cart, you almost took those little kids out!

SG we appreciate all of your hard work and love your upbeat attitude!

BD that was nice of you to teach BES how to make the "fluff."

Brandi tonight woohooo!

Gransportation you rock!

Black white and denim day ... who knows whats in store for tomorrow!

Teflon May 29!!

KF drink lots of folic acid ... good for baby.

Tidy Bowl Tammy would like to thank Cathy the new vendor from (Out Of The Blue) stand in Heritage Square. Thanks so much for the cute sign.

Bob "the woodcarver" says his best friend at the State Fair is a very short man walking with cane.

Jack Deschene hard worker on M.H. setting a good example for all the Old Iron exhibitors.

Kudos to the Sanitation dept. and thanks from the Livestock Depts. for the fabulous cleaning job in the barns on Sunday evening!

Thanks to quick thinking, State Fair employee Joe Stepka from the Stella overflow parking lot, a camper that ran the gate was quickly chased down all the way to Como. Those golf carts can really go when they have to.

What would you do for a Klondike Bar? ... I need to know!--Some boys are cute!

AH you had a bad influence missy!

BD congrats on getting to sing, you will do oh so great

Halfway through The Compleat Scoop already, and we'll continue tomorrow in this space. 

JUST AN ANNOUNCEMENT TO LET YOU KNOW WHERE THE EXAGGERATOR HAS, JUST TODAY, CROSSED THE 10,000-VISITOR MARK since its launch towards the end of last year to supplant the daily phosdex as Your Correspondent's blog of record.

All this over the space of eight months, one week and one day!

And thanks to all of you for actually making this possible--although I do acknowledge that there hasn't been any revenue from the online shopping angle; would that it were otherwise. In fact, I'd greatly appreciate some serious online purchasing among you weblog visitors; after all, disability benefits on my part can only go so far month after month, and what's more, it's unlikely I will be coming into money within measurable distance.

And if you needed another reason to shop online with The Exaggerator, it's that I intend to donate part of the proceeds I generate in commissions as come only from your purchases to Good and Worthwhile Causes. Need I say more?

With that in mind, I'd especially welcome it, for the sake of not so much Your Correspondent as the environment (even if gas prices have been falling in recent weeks), if this blog's visitors, both new and old, took the time to get any online shopping they need completing completed here as a gesture of convenience.

THERE SEEMS TO BE THIS OVERWHELMINGLY HARD-WIRED BELIEF INHERENT AMONG THE RELIGIOPOLITICAL RIGHT AND THEIR DROOGS as implies that the Lower Classes, especially so the "chronic and habitual welfare basket cases," are somehow "lacking in healthy respect for morals and decency" to the point of having this overzealous fondness for the crudest and most explicit forms of pornography known.

Especially so such as goes beyond "schoolboy" soft porn in the likes of Playboy, Penthouse and Hustler to the point of full-on hardcore--the which these same specimens of Zealotry and True Belief would just love to deploy as a means of cheap and cheerful pacification most extreme, espeially where such can be displayed in its most explicit form possible (and especially so where children and animals are involved).

Talk about your doublethink right there....

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MEANWHILE, PERHAPS IT WAS TIME TO SHOW THE REAL, JANUS-FACED, SARAH PALIN FOR WHAT SHE REALLY IS, AND WHAT SHE REALLY REPRESENTS--first, by way of the American News Project, ultimately via Brave New Films, showing just how hard-wired (as it were) the Elmer Gantry element is in parroting out nothing but a carefully-scripted series of hagiographic paeans:

And, for the sake of "fairness and balance," Fox Prolefeed notwithstanding, Comedy Central's Daily Show has the following, starting @ about 3:08 into the following:

And Another Thing:

In reply to Ms. Palin's unflattering attack on those unselfishly giving of their time and talents to the community in the name of a perverted ideal of a Greater Collective Good as is up there with what totalitarian regimes see thereof, may I call your attention to these immortal remarks of Theodore Roosevelt in his speech entitled "Citizenship in a Republic" @ the Sorbonne in Paris on 23 April 1910 (by way of the Theodore Roosevelt Memorial Society), remarks as relevant today as they were shorly after Teddy picked up his Nobel Peace Prize for brokering the Treaty of Portsmouth as ended the Russo-Japanese War in 1907:

It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat.

In a similar vein as above are these much earlier remarks of Theodore Roosevelt before he acceeded to higher things (credit as above):

...the man who really counts in the world is the doer, not the mere critic-the man who actually does the work, even if roughly and imperfectly, not the man who only talks or writes about how it ought to be done. (1891)

Criticism is necessary and useful; it is often indispensable; but it can never take the place of action, or be even a poor substitute for it. The function of the mere critic is of very subordinate usefulness. It is the doer of deeds who actually counts in the battle for life, and not the man who looks on and says how the fight ought to be fought, without himself sharing the stress and the danger. (1894)

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

MEANWHILE, THE GREATER CONSERVATIVE MOVEMENT'S FEAR, LOATHING AND CONTEMPT FOR ELITISM, WHAT WITH ITS SUBTLE TURNS TOWARDS ANTI-SEMITISM and other displays of paranoia, suggests to Your Correspondent what may best be described as Producerism, pure and unadulterated.

Which, simply put, holds as follows:

• The Working Classes, as of unwritten right, custom and tradition, are entitled to special rights, privileges and powers by virtue of their role and place; however,
• Said rights, privileges and powers are under constant threat of being compromised and undermined,
• on the one hand, by banking, financial, media, Hollywood and Wall Street elites, dominated for the most part by Jews working as part of an Evil and Sinister Conspiracy to undermine Christians and Christendom (per that infamous forgery known as the Protocols of Zion), and
• on the other hand, by National Minorities of "inferior races," "chronic and habitual" welfare cases, "freaks and travesties of Nature" (as in homosexuals and transsexuals) and other "troublemakers"generally; hence,
• Using "whatever means necessary," no matter how loathsome, offensive or repugnant--and excusing such as True Patriot Love in All Thy Sons Command if and when pressed to explain--to protect as much as defend the "antient and pecuilar rights, privileges and powers that the Working Classes are entitled to as of right and custom."

Which, given this same element's fear and loathing of the Establishment Media Elites as being part of a Greater Liberal Media Conspiracy ("Liberal," methinks, being anti-Semitic code), is also enough to wonder if the messengers thereof have this warped nostalgia for the likes of gazettas such as Grit, Comfort, Capper's Weekly and the National Weekly Edition of The Kansas City Star ... or, for that matter, the populist-leaning programming overnights on high-powered Mexican "border-blaster" stations whose calls invariably began with XE. And looking upon them with a maudlin sense of emotional nostalgia rivalled by certain specimens of German Heimatroman such as the Nazi regime was fond of pushing in cheap editions.

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CLOSING OUT THIS EDITION, WE HAVE ANOTHER ROUND OF "THE SCOOP" from the back page of the Minnesota State Fair Daily News for Day 5 (Monday, 25 August):

Rachel head of sellers at gate 5 won silver for marching ask her

Thank you Liz F for the VERY special treat just when I needed it! Mary M.

Thanks to Leia from Sales for helping us out in a last minute bind. Much appreciated. Admin. Dept.

WBIII, like I said they will be lining up!!!

Mary at Gate is old but awesome

KF, you just made a families [sic] day!

BD: are we going to have some kick butt tan lines tomorrow! Wear them with pride!

TD, your announcement skills blow my mind!

BES you are just a ball of fun!

Fairchild and Fairborne you did great work!

WEN sometimes we don't know what to do with you down here ... but I guess you've been here for four years we'll take you for another fair!

Teflon: your left arm is going to be so muscular from lugging that gorgeous piece of jewelry around

RG the handshake is beyond awesome it is beloved by all

AH you are one heck of a gal ... fair secrets and all!

Oh those dogs at the Pet Center were a hoot!

Anyone tired yet??

Man oh man that pie was out of this world

Frisky as a puppy ... yeah I dig it

WE LOVE THE FAIR!!!

Andrea: nothing wrong with multiple fair friends....

FoN stage ... what a hoot

I would love to learn how to carve a beautiful flower out of some fruit or anything really

Who's up for a ride in Adventure Park!?!

Sleep in eight days!

Who thinks it's time to go eat? Andy we know you're in

I'm ready to rumble Peter!

Backstreet is back and ready for action!

AH I heard you tried to rush the stage last night ... how'd that turn out for you?? I always felt that you could be a really good groupie for some lucky band

Teflon: My ovs are burnin!!

Continued tomorrow....

more the engrish!

OPENING THIS TIME AROUND (HOWBEIT A LITTLE LATER THAN USUAL FOR REASONS WHICH WILL BE EXPLAINED SHORTLY) is new video from Brave New Films as could best be entitled "Same Tactic, New Target."

As in Fox Prolefeed's use of "swift-boating" the Democratic Presidential candidate to the point of getting voters to vote not so much for their own best interests as for an idealised Greater Collective Good which may only be selling out Our Antient and Pecuilar Soverignty and Soverign Identity to the "Evil Empire" of the "New World Order"--all the while excusing such as "perfectly moral:"

Which raises the question of whether the GOP as much as Fox Prolefeed is receiving "consultations" from the so-called "Church of Scientology" on how best to deploy the "Fair Game" weapon of Scientologists and Scientology for corrupt and depraved political purposes, and excuse all as "winning of hearts and minds."

As if that weren't enough, the Media Matters Action Network has this interesting display on how the conservative propaganda masheen is using all manner of interrelated memes against Barack Obama to advance the One Greater Meme of "Obama is Not One of Us" to whip up support for the McCain/Palin ticket "by whatever means necessary," scruples and decency seen as "unnecessary."

(For the sake of the "One of Us" argument as above, Your Correspondent has to ask if the propagators thereof mean White Male Low Church Christians, especially so those of the Primitive Churches such as Independent Baptists, Jehovah's Witnesses, Cumberland Presbyterians, Plymouth Brethren and other Fundamentalist or Primitive Christian churches without synodical affiliation "to maintain the purity and integrity of Our Faith." The kind that would rewrite the chorus to the hymn "Faith of Our Fathers," a staple of Low Church types, to read "Faith of our Fathers, sacred [holy] faith;/We shall [will] be true to Thee 'till death.")

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

AND SPEAKING OF JOHN McCAIN'S APPROACH LAST NIGHT (WHICH I HEARD ABOUT SECONDHAND; I DIDN'T LISTEN TO OR WATCH SAME, KNOW) tending to the soft-spoken, it may be worth reminding us all that there are psychological studies as show where a soft, measured tone and approach may belie unwitting psychopathic tendencies on the messenger's part.

Especially coming from someone who used "change" no less than ten times in the acceptance speech, by one count, as if suggesting where his approach amounts to nothing less than a Government-Protected Monopoly on Conservative Thought reinforced by a sadisto "iron heel" mindset.

As if that weren't enough, might I suggest that McCain and Palin be scheduled for appearences on the Faux "reality" series The Moment of Truth, where the targeted are subjected to a standard polygraph test to "winkle out" any fraud, deceit, lies or tricks.

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

TIME NOW FOR THE SCOOP FROM THE MINNESOTA STATE FAIR DAILY NEWS from Day 4 (Sunday, 24 August):

Congratulations to Tessa in marketing who got engaged after the Paisley concert on Friday!

Who was that gorgeous State Fair employee on 5 News this morning??

Why would anybody drag a cane and pretend its a baton? You should feel sorry for him!!

Quirk/Birk are back on Machinery Hill. Just don't ask any question on John Deer's [sic].

Thanks to the guys and gals who do such a great job of taking care of our every need at the camgrounds [sic]. Mark and Mike are the best!--#247 and #248

Bizzle Dizzle, I heard KTTC needs a reporter. Thoughts?

Monkeys--the flowers regret to inform you we are out of bananas. You may want to try the farmers market.

Nick K. you have the longest ID # of anyone!

Congrats to Betty and Frank Moon in the Ed Building on their 51st anniversary.

CV thanks for saving me from the Mouth Trap!

Rapture you are my one B only HBC+TPB

Mike G., Algene L., Peg J., and Terri B. you guys rock!

Bill--are those complaints gettingto you??

Have you seen the Bazaar? WOW! Welcome back to all of our old neighbors and welcome to the new ones. George, it's going to be tough to enlarge by Hawaiian vocabulary with you so far away. Happy Birthday Nancy!

Yum ... pronto

Thanks to everyone who helped with the motorcycle parade. It went off without a hitch!--KF

BD those arms of yours are crazy

More where these came from tomorrow, folks....

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TELL ME THIS ISN'T AN INDIRECT BYPRODUCT OF THE IRAQI THEATER OF THE UR-RAHOWA AGAINST INTERNATIONAL TERRORISM: UNESCO has announced that the southern Iraqi marshlands along the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, which have been suggested as being the site of the Biblical-era Garden of Eden, have been designated as a World Heritage Site.

Which is no doubt appealing to the Iraqi Ministry of the Environment, which has done considerably to reverse attempts by the former Ba'athist regime to drain substantial amounts of wetland acreage in question to create new agricultural lands (cf. the Fascist regime under Mussolini draining the Pontine Marshes in the 1920's for these same ends).

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THE RELIGIOPOLITICAL ZEALOTS AND TRUE BELIEVERS MUST BE PRAYING ALL THE MORE FERVENTLY FOR HURRICANE IKE WREAKING WRATH-OF-G-D-STYLEE DEVASTATION wholesale upon Cuba in the hope of generating enough devastation as would be beyond the efforts of the Communist regime to attempt any manner of reconstruction.

The which would, hopefully, be enough to spark Spontaneous Popular Uprisings against the regime's delays in providing anything remotely resembling relief as the Great Within can exploit for "October Surprise" purposes to sway the vote for the McCain/Palin ticket--as in whipping up a Popular Rebellion (coverage provided exclusively by Fox Prolefeed) that would bring about not so much democracy as a Corporatist-Scientologist regime with "reality show"-stylee coverage serving nothing but "winning of hearts and minds" purposes in expecting the Lower Classes to see free-market capitalism in a "pure" (self-regulated) form as their Great White Father, their Hope and Salvation towards Complete and Final Empowerment after years and even generations of "habitual enslavement bordering on dependency" via State welfare.

(Or so those involved in the farce think.)

Meanwhile, Tropical Storm Hanna's rains could be what the Carolinas have been hoping and praying for after nearly two years or so of considerable drought and water-use restrictions. (I should know; I have a brother--retired military, know--living in Fayetteville, NC who has had to cope with the whole while keeping a modest backyard garden.)

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MEMO TO DUCK HUNTERS WHO ARE TRYING TO PURCHASE THEIR DUCK STAMPS FOR THIS YEAR TELEPHONICALLY: The brochure for same quoted the wrong freecall number to that effect by way of typographical erratum.

It's actually 1-800-STAMP-24, not the 1-800-TRAMP-24 you've been quoted: The latter turns out to be a phone-sex service. (This information being presented as a public service, inasmuch as the Fish and Wildlife Service, as is behind the Duck Stamp scheme, has announced that, because of costs, such will not be reprinted with corrected information.)

Please pass this message along to your duck-hunting friends, who will need to buy a Duck Stamp along with their licence.

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

NOW, AS PROMISED, I WILL EXPLAIN THE DELAY IN POSTING MY ENTRY FOR TODAY into this blog: Following my morning's work @ the motel here in Winona, Your Correspondent decided to take his bicycle to a bike shop downtown to get some broken or snapped spokes replaced, via a Kwik Trip store to treat myself to a mid-morning snack.

Once the velocipede was left with the repair department, and advice received that the repair would be somewhat delayed, he walked down to the Walgreen's here in Winona (on the east side, know, by the hospital) to stock up on some blue pain-relief gel, some body wash, some cookies and cough drops.

And walked back. And, after leaving his shopping with the bike shop's repair section, took lunch @ a Chinese restaurant in the downtown: Cashew chicken with fried rice, preceded by won ton soup and egg roll with sweet-and-sour sauce, with oolong tea to accompany the whole.

Following lunch, picked up some ink cartridges for the computer printer "just in case."

And spent some time @ the biblio to check on my e-mail.

In the end, three spokes were found to be broken and required replacement, not to mention a fourth as broke when the repair man tried to tighten said spoke. As well, while the opportunity presented itself, a new bicycle seat was purchased and installed.

Now you know. And I apologise for the delay.

(Come to think of it, in case any of you readers are wondering about gift ideas for my birthday on Wednesday, 2 October, I could welcome a heavy-frame bicycle; Mein Innkeeper Friend is of the opine that my girth would require something along those lines for a replacement bike.)