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THOSE AMONG YOU OF A CERTAIN AGE MAY RECALL A DUET WHICH WENT BY THE NAME OF MILLI VANILLI, AS HAD SOME SUCCESS ON THE POPDISK CHARTS in the late 1980's until around 1990, when it emerged that the two were lip-synching virtually all of their hits with intent to deceive or mislead all the while.
Your Correspondent couldn't help but recall Milli Vanilli in coming across this piece from Larry Persily for The Huffington Post's "Off The Bus" campaign coverage:
The national press is reporting on the remarkable level of control the McCain campaign people are exerting in handling vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin's interactions with the press and with the public as well. AP reports that Palin has given no interviews and in campaign trail appearances is sticking strictly to a "greatest hits version of her convention speech," repeating the same lines that millions watched her deliver a week ago in St Paul. Those lines, AP reports, "are all anyone has heard from her publicly, and her only interaction with the media was a brief conversation with a small group of reporters on her plane Monday -- off the record at her handlers' insistence."
Given that convention speech snippets may be all voters can expect to hear from Palin in the coming days and perhaps beyond, it may be worth reviewing again some of the assertions she made to the Xcel Center crowd.
PALIN: "I fought to bring about the largest private-sector infrastructure project in North American history. And when that deal was struck, we began a nearly $40 billion natural gas pipeline to help lead America to energy independence. That pipeline, when the last section is laid and its valves are open, will lead America one step farther away from dependence on dangerous foreign powers that do not have our interests at heart."
There is no deal to build a natural gas pipeline from Alaska. All that the governor obtained for her $500 million in state cash assistance is a promise from TransCanada that it will try to obtain federal licensing and financing to build the pipeline - nothing more than a pledge to try. At best, the first gas through the pipe is 10 years away.
PALIN: "Starting in January, in a McCain-Palin administration, we're going to lay more pipelines, and build more nuclear plants, and create jobs with clean coal, and move forward on solar, wind, geothermal, and other alternative sources."
But Palin in 2007 vetoed funding for a wind turbine project to provide clean electricity for the Anchorage area (she later approved funding the next year). And the 10-year-old, $300 million clean-coal power plant sits idle at Healy, built with state and federal dollars yet it has never produced a single kilowatt hour. Though she inherited the problem from two previous administrations, Palin has done little to put the idle plant into operation. She is no mover and shaker on the energy front.
PALIN: "And I thought we could muddle through without the governor's personal chef, although I got to admit that sometimes my kids sure miss her."
She got rid of the cook at the Governor's House in Juneau because she doesn't live there - so there is no need for a cook. Unlike all past governors who moved to the state capital in Juneau and took up full-time residence in the Governor's House just a few blocks from the Capitol, Palin and her family tried Juneau for a few months and then decided to return home to Wasilla. Palin works in the Anchorage office and commutes from her Wasilla home. She generally stays in Juneau only when the Legislature is in session, and even then not full time. She essentially moved the governor's office to Anchorage for her and her family's convenience.
PALIN: "We suspended the state fuel tax and championed reform to end the abuses of earmark spending by Congress. I told the Congress, 'Thanks, but no thanks,' on that Bridge to Nowhere."
Alaska had the lowest state motor fuel tax in the nation -- 8 cents a gallon -- until it was suspended just this past week. Speaking of gasoline, West Coast drivers might be interested to know that all of Alaska's oil goes to West Coast refineries, and that when they fill up with gasoline made from Alaska oil, almost $2 of that $4 pump price goes to the Alaska state treasury in taxes and royalties. Thank you, California.
From Rudy Giuliani's intro speech to Palin:
"I didn't know about this vote 'present' when I was mayor of New York City. Sarah Palin didn't have this vote 'present' when she was mayor or governor. You don't get to vote 'present.' It doesn't work in an executive job. For president of the United States, it's not good enough to be present."
Not quite. Palin essentially voted "present" this year when she allowed a bill to become law without her signature. Senate Bill 202 prohibits the state from spending any money to implement provisions of the federally mandated Real ID program. Rather than take a position on the controversial Real ID program in Alaska, the governor voted "present" and let the bill take effect without her signature.
Other thoughts: The governor in last month's special legislation session successfully pushed for a $1,200 energy rebate to Alaskans. Palin's bill would have effectively protected the $1,200 checks from garnishment for child support, student loans and other debts. The legislature overruled the governor and removed the garnishment protection, proclaiming that someone who owes child support should not receive free money from the government.
Perhaps it was time to ask whether McCain/Palin campaign appearences, given their predictable, cookie-cutter format of essentially the same speeches and the same appeals to G-d and Country, are actually lip-synched against the possibility of Palin's having a sudden nervous breakdown and/or McCain's collapsing on stage.
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"In a world where the excesses of xenophobia are seen as 'healthy' and 'patriotic' ..."
PERFECT TIMING FOR THE ANNIVERSARY OF THE UNFORTUNATE EVENTS OF 9/11, YET SHOULD BE WATCHED @ YOUR OWN RISK, come to think of it--especially among those of you hard-wired in your patriotic delusions, and then some:
As James Boswell, biographer of Samuel Johnson, forever reminds us, "patriotism is last criticism of the scoundrel."
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INTERESTING INSIGHT ABOUT THE PICTURE @ THE HEAD OF THIS ITEM, AS IN THE "RELIGION FREE DVD PLAYER" found on some store shelf:
The Federation Against Copyright Theft (FACT) in Great Britain wants us to note that there is no such thing as an "all regions" DVD format for movies or other video presentations, what with the wide differences in television and video transmission standards globally between NTSC (used in North America), PAL (used across Europe, the Middle East and Japan) and SECAM (used largely in Asia), dictating region-specific versions for video releases:
United States, Canada and Northern Pacific Islands region
Western and Central Europe (including European Union states), Near and Middle East, South Africa and Japan
Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Taiwan and the so-called "Union of Myanmar"
Latin America (including MERCOSUR states), Australia, New Zealand and Southern Pacific Islands region
Former Soviet Union, India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bhangladesh and much of Africa (except for Egypt and South Africa, as are in Region 2)
People's Republic of China, including the Hong Kong and Macau Special Administrative Regions
(Come to think of it, the notion of an "all regions" DVD is the pipe dream of film and video pirates, in some cases with connexions to the weird and unwholesome element seeing in video piracy a cheap and cheerful way to finance criminal or terrorist activity. Hence, such an offer should be avoided--and reported to the proper channels posthaste.
(Especially if the price looks suspiciously cheap ... if the title is still showing @ your local multiplex ... if you find you're getting two films on the same disc [not standard Hollywood, Bollywood or Wardour Street practice, come to think of it] to create the illusion of getting value for money ... if you find references to DivX, DVD-R or MPEG-2 formats on the outer sleeve ... and you notice all manner of spelling, typographic or other erratum, references to other films not in the original package, as well as certain essential details such as full title, producer, director, stars, ratings/Consumer Advice Note and copyright information missing, misspelled or otherwise truncated, usually on poor-quality paper or cardboard stock.
(Also be wary of such being sold door-to-door or @ flea markets by juveniles or others of dubious appearence, who will oft be used by video pirates to avoid attracting suspicions by shifting blame onto the sellers in case the police start getting nervous. Another warning sign: Unwittingly getting pornographic material with your purchase, especially the sort involving children, animals, BDSM and corpses, and it's not mentioned in the packaging by deliberate design.)
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EVIDENCE SUGGESTS THAT MOST, IF NOT ALL, OF THE MANY "PHISHING" SCAMS INVOKING THE NAME AND REPUTE OF WELL-KNOWN AND HIGHLY-RESPECTED COMPANIES has connexions to a Russian-based cybercrime ring styling themselves as "RockPhish."
How do we know that "RockPhish" isn't secretly being financed by the Our Russia movement of President Dmitri Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin for the sole purpose of obtaining hard currency for the Russian regime "by whatever means necessary," no matter how depraved or perverted?
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SOUTHWEST AIRLINES HAS BEEN RUNNING TV ADVERTS OF LATE MAKING NOTE OF THEIR FARES BEING WITHOUT HIDDEN "GOTCHAS" OTHERS HAVE BEEN CHARGING OF LATE for checking additional baggage, making reservations over the ameche, buying tickets @ the airport ticket counter, all manner of frivolous excuses to cover for increased costs of jet fuel and overhead. (In all fairness, they do note in on-screen smallprint that fares are subject to local departure taxes, security-related fees and other charges.)
Now, it's emerged that later this year, Southwest will be cutting back on the number of flights operated every day while still maintaining its existing route network and commitment to keeping fares all the lower.
Which has Your Correspondent wondering if one reason Southwest Airlines' fares are as cheap as they are (as low as $69 single, plus requisite fees and taxes) is because of an overzealous pursuit of mail contracts to carry time-sensitive letterposts, Priority Mail and Express Mail on their flights--especially within Texas and between points in Texas and neighbour states--and to milk the mail contracts for maximum benefit, in turn using the proceeds to subsidise fares.
Especially if the value of said mail contracts turns out being more than fair and reasonable thanks to "hardball" tactics on Southwest's part that they're hesitant to acknowledge openly.
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NO WONDER DOUBLETHINK IS HIGHLY AND DEARLY VALUED AS A CONSERVATIVE PROPAGANDA TACTIC ... and if you'd like a good example thereof, read this article from ConWebWatch as illustrates, and @ once exposes, WorldNetDaily's hypocritical doublethink vis-a-vis Indecision 2008 which holds where:
on the one hand, the voting public are being advised to consider third-party Presidential candidates as a show of protest against the prevailing state of affairs in the November elections; but,
on the other hand, routinely publishes articles critical of Barack Obama and yet hagiographically glowing about John McCain.
Notice the inherent doublethink?
So where does WorldNetDaily REALLY stand on Indecision 2008? Or what prevents their explaining their real stand--money?
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"In a world where nothing appears to be what it seems ..."
THE McCAIN/PALIN'S PATSY ABOUT BARACK OBAMA'S "LIPSTICK ON A PIG" REMARK BEING NOTHING MORE THAN SUBTLE DOG-WHISTLE SEXISM targeting Ms. Palin, methinks, is pure and unadulterated "pashimmel," to use a mock-Viennese expression of Schultz (as played by Hans Conreid) on the radio comedy Life With Luigi, delivered in a comedic Vienna accent, to expose something or someone being ridiculous.
(Schultz, for the ininitiated, was one of Luigi Basco's night school classmates, along with a Jewish emigré named Horowitz and a Scandinavian named Olsen. And, for the record, was the class clown, as it were, what with his absurd and oft hilarious answers.)
Not to mention, while staying on Life With Luigi for the moment, reminding us of spaghetti-joint properitor Pasquale (Alan Reed) almost constantly insiting that Luigi (J. Carroll Naish) marry Pasquale's daughter Rosa, settle down and have some children for once, thinking such might be best for Luigi's mind.
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NOW, IT'S EMERGED THAT "LIPSTICK ON A PIG" IS NOT A NEW EXPRESSION COLLOQUIAL: Your Correspondent hath it that Amazon.com has several books available which have "lipstick on a pig" or variants thereof in the title; some as are available for purchase include:
(If you'd like to purchase them online, I'd greatly appreciate it. Find out about how certain titles can be ordered for pickup @ selected local bookstores, if you'd rather not wait for delivery.)
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NO WONDER THE McCAIN/PALIN CAMP SEES IT PERFECTLY MORAL TO "USE WHATEVER MEANS NECESSARY" TO INFLUENCE VOTERS, no matter how corrupt or perverto it may be--even if it means violating others' copyrights, as led to a McCain campaign video being pulled off YouTube late yesterday after CBS complained, for one.
As if that weren't good enough, there's also the possibility of McCain's preening Sarah Palin all the more to assume the Presidency all the sooner, to let her "change America" based on a model of Dominionist theocracy dominated, unfortunately, by the weird and unwholesome hiding behind His Name and Authority. Such, no doubt, a concern of the Assemblies of God in their overall objections to "Latter Rain" teaching, as their position paper on the subject elaborates:
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.
One of which, it turns out, is "Joel's Army," a/k/a "Manifest Sons of God;" objections by the Assemblies of God thereto are these:
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.
Come to think of it: How sure are we that Sarah Palin isn't secretly on some class of amphetamines, so explaining her overzealous perkiness as may conceal psychopathic tendencies?
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FROM THE "IT'S A SMALL WORLD, AFTER ALL" DOSSIER, ULTIMATELY VIA THE BBC, comes this approriatly-timed item (as in the anniversary of the Unfortunate Events) making note of how our Indonesian brethren prefer to deal with Islamist terror threats:
Indonesia's head of counter-terrorism says Western governments have made it harder for moderate Muslims to tackle terror in their own countries.
Ansyaad Mbai told the BBC that Indonesia's own fight against terrorism relied on a much softer approach.
He suggested other countries should also apply similar tactics alongside military force.
Indonesia has had striking success in tackling terrorism on its soil in the past few years.
Mr Mbai said each country faced a unique situation in its fight against terrorism, and that there was no one-size-fits-all.
But he said that there needed to be a balance between force and negotiation, and that war - as pursued by America in Iraq and Afghanistan - was not an effective strategy against terrorism.
"Muslims see this strategy as destructively attacking Muslims, as attacking Islam... This is not the solution," he said.
"The use of war against the militants in the Middle East doesn't stop the terrorists and radicals."
[***]
[I]n the past few years, Indonesia has managed to halt those attacks and break down the country's main terror network.
It has done it using a softer and sometimes controversial approach.
For example, it has used former militants to negotiate with radical cells, and spread a more moderate message.
And that is something that Mr Mbai said Western governments had made harder.
"The situation in Iraq and Afghanistan makes it more difficult for us, for moderate Muslims, to convince the radicals that the war in Iraq is not an attack against a Muslim country," he said.
Indonesia has focused a great deal on trying to de-radicalise its hardline groups.
But it is hard to assess how successful that has been.
Much easier to count are the hundreds of arrests, including the capture earlier this year of several key members of the radical Islamist network Jemaah Islamiah.
But new cells have also been discovered, and police say the existing networks have become smaller, more mobile and harder to track.
(Cf. American extremists' increasing use of "lone wolf" cells after the Oklahoma City Incident in 1995, the better to avoid attracting suspicions on the part of law enforcement while creating all along the aura of being a battle-ready force once the Kampfruf is sounded.)
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AND BEFORE I FORGET, HERE'S THE COMPLEAT SCOOP FROM DAY 10 OF THE MINNESOTA STATE FAIR, as recorded in that feature of the Minnesota State Fair Daily News:
Mrs. Brooke Crunch ... has a good ring to it. Now if only we could see the man under the mascot ...
Keri--Happy "Golden" Birthday! Love, Mom
Please, no more squirrels, sleepers or rhinos.
To moron and putz, be nice to each other, wives have had enough.
Saclett and all the folks at the Old Iron Show sure love the cookies from "The Cookie Lady," (Evelyn). Rachel needs an electric broom she has ruby red sandals.
Yea! Sara B. is back at Gate 5.
Sconeboys: time and place?!?! FYI we're really good dancers!
As the fair goes by, the old timer's in Gate Ticket Sales want to welcome any new folks on staff this year. Of special note is NASCAR Miss T who went from a big bus to a toy van! GTS Ext 2213
Love you MARV!!! Gate 5 at night says: may the Schwartz be with you!
So much to count so lttle time!
Day 10 Day 10! Two more days to get all the fantastic fun out of the way!
BES your cool points are out the window!
Congrats to MSF All-Star Shauntell H. for the birth of her new baby!
Teflon I don't even know what I am going to do without you!
Robot parade! We love Rock-It!
KF we totally support you taking the one name road. You can pull it off!
Thanks for being so awesome transportation! The fair couldn't run without you!
To Lyle: One radio on the desk plus one radio on the hip equals two radios. Should we go over that again? One plus one equals two. Once more?
Fairchild ... it is on!
Two more days of this particular featurette, folks....
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AS OTHER THINGS WERE PREOCCUPYING YOUR CORRESPONDENT'S MIND EARLIER IN THE BLOGGING DEPARTMENT, he forgot to include The Compleat Scoop from the Minnesota State Fair Daily News of Day 9 earlier.
So, lest complaints and angry e-mails ensue, he will now comply:
The Education Superintendent says that Patty makes the best chocolate chip cookies in the world!
Well, you can tell Kermit is a little slower since his 80th birthday. Now it takes him an hour and a half to watch "60 Minutes."
The three wise men on Machinery Hill want you to know about "Grumpy's Grill," look for the sign.
Vicky was seen wearing a 100-year-old MSF pendant given to her by Al.
A big 'dill-lightful' thank you to all my picklettes in the Gedney booth! Until we meet again--relish the days!!--Debra
Dude! I can only read abbreviations!--Matt from the Fish & Chips in the Food Building.
Teflon looking good!
Blue tag people make the mistakes so black tag people can take awards away. Payback.
Where or when is my bride to be?? Saw you in the parade though ... you drove the golf cart very well!
BD when are we ever going to get that apple stuff?
Jess--we know we are crazy, but did you have to go to Japan to hide from us?
DB--today is your day and only today is your day.
BES you are like an iceberg that can't melt you're so cool!
De'Anna has hypnotized me with her beauty.
BM thank you for ll of the food! I actually feel like I ate something healthy for the first time in about two weeks!
Happy 64th birthday to "peg leg" Cheryl Ann in the Magnet Booth. We love you.
The 2008 MSF Marketing staff rules!
Carie: have a great time at school, we know you will do so well! We'll miss having you for the next few days down here but we know you're going to have a blast!
KF someone thinks that you are the cat's pj's....
Loving the stuff in Heritage Square ... all should go and check that out!
Day 9 Day 9! Where has the time gone, we had all better start living it up here at the fair!
Barb: welcome to marketing! we are oh so happy to have you here! Just hope you can put up with us....
Hopefully, things out to be back to normal tomorrow.
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IN CASE ANYBODY ASKS ABOUT THE SIGNIFICANCE, HOWBEIT REMOTE, OF THE IMAGE @ THE HEAD OF THIS BLOG ITEM, allow me, in a way:
People For the American Way wants you to know The Inconvenient Truths About Sarah Palin, over and above the fact than an overzealously charismatic display of perkiness can easily conceal psychopathic intentions (as numerous studies down the years will attest).
As if that weren't enough, Right Wing Watch makes note of the latest attempt @ bizarre Religiopolitical Right meme explaining why the Great Unwashed fail to see the proverbial forest for the trees vis-a-vis Sarah Palin:
Kevin Burke, co-founder of something called Rachel’s Vineyard - a “post-abortion healing ministry” run by the right-wing group Priests for Life - offers his explanation of why people might not like Sarah Palin. It turns out that they are all traumatized by the “collective grief, pain and guilt” they feel over their pro-choice views:
The very personal and often uncharitable criticism of Vice Presidential nominee Sarah Palin and her family evident in recent media coverage, and the lack of support from many feminist and child advocacy groups, may have a relationship to the collective grief, pain and guilt from personal involvement in the abortion of an unborn child.
When an issue strikes at a deeply repressed sensitive wound in a person, often the initial reaction is anger.
…
Seeing the Palin family, in a very visible public forum, with an uncompromising and public pro life philosophy arouses deeply repressed feelings in post abortive parents, as well as media members, counselors, health care professionals, politicians and others who promote abortion rights, especially the abortion of children with challenges such as Down syndrome.
These powerful repressed feelings of grief, guilt and shame can be deflected from the source of the wound (i.e., abortion) and projected onto an often uncharitable focus upon the trigger of these painful emotions…the Palin family.
And all this time I thought it was because she was a one-term unknown whose sole qualification for John McCain’s ticket was her appeal to the GOP’s right-wing base.
Come to think of it: Haven't we had enough of the anti-abortionist meme about abortions causing psychoemotional grief, trauma and guilt when studies are extant disproving any perceived connexions?
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Mr. Jerome Corsi c/o WorldNetDaily.com PO Box 1087 Grants Pass, OR 97528-1017
Dear Mr. Corsi:
It's well-known and well-established that you've produced a highly-specious and laughable farce of "investigative journalism" whose purpose and intent is to undermine the Presidential campaign of Democratic candidate Senator Barack Obama by questioning his racial, religious and moral fitness against various "tests" lacking any serious credibility.
However, it's emerged that you've also published attacks in the "swift boat" vein against Republican Presidential candidate John McCain, howbeit during the primary season (in case you've forgotten about them by deliberate ignorance or otherwise, may I refresh your memory) by making equally specious claims against Senator McCain such as those suggesting that:
McCain's fortune has direct connexions to criminal syndicates;
the McCain Presidential campaign is receiving substantial support from al-Qaeda-affiliated organisations;
Mcain is secretly receiving money from George Soros;
McCain has serious credibility problems vis-a-vis lobbyists; and
McCain's advancing a "Mexico First" agenda on international trade.
Which, in either case, is lacking any semblance of substantiation, let alone credibility.
And, IIRC, said atacks are designed (by your own admission) to serve the campaign of the Constitution Party's Presidential candidate, Mr. Charles (Chuck) Baldwin by name.
The fact of which, and the interconnexions thus raised, raises some serious questions which we Right-Thinking Americans want to ask of you:
What assurances have we that your claims are sincere, genuine and in good faith, knowing (un)consciously all the while that these same claims you present as authentic are false or misleading?
How do we know that your sources don't include certain weird and/or unwholesome types whose credibility is traditionally regarded as dubious or suspicious, among them:
alcoholics?
drug addicts?
chronic spendthrifts and gamblers?
those with known police records?
sex fiends and maniacs?
those with histories of mental and/or emotional disorders?
racists, white-supremacists and bigots?
veterans with Bad Conduct, Dishonourable, Less than Honourable or Section 8 discharges from the military?
Have you done any careful and cautious background checks on your sources for the sake of credibility? If not, what prevents you from so doing--were you "only following orders" not to question their credibility, and accept their stories @ face value without question or reservation?
What prevents your conducting careful and thorough research and cross-checking of claims made in these works prior to publication, online or otherwise, including careful and thorough substantiation from @ least two independent and impartial sources?
Did you offer your sources any consideration, in cash or in kind, to supply such information, knowing full well their credibilty cannot be challenged because you were "following orders"? If so, what was offered, how was such paid, and were they instructed to keep the details quiet?
Is the Constitution Party and/or the Chuck Baldwin Presidential campaign paying you to advance these rather incredulous (absent credible substantiation) attacks? If so, how much? How often were you paid? In what forms?
Are your paymasters in the Constitution Party and/or the Baldwin Presidential campaign (if such be the case) asking you to keep quiet about any and all payments for the sake of advancing these unsubstantiated smears and attacks? What reasons are they giving you for such silence?
Who exactly are these paymasters with the Constitution Party and/or the Baldwin Presidential campaign as are asking you to smear Barack Obama and John McCain for the sake of the Constitution Party's efforts and endeavours?
Are you now, or have you ever been:
an alcoholic?
a drug addict?
a gambler?
a chronic and habitual spendthrift?
a spousal and/or child abuser?
a sex fiend, degenerate or maniac?
a coprophile (in the sense of being addicted to pornographic or otherwise obscene materials)?
a sufferer of a loathsome mental or emotional disease or disorder?
a sufferer from veneral disease?
known to the police (in other words, had a police record)?
on probation or served time in prisons or mental institutions?
discharged from the military on a Bad Conduct, Dishonourable, Less Than Honourable or Section 8 such?
unemployable for extended periods for reasons other than because of illness, incapacity or disability?
a card-carrying member of a known and notorious subversive or otherwise conspiratorial organisation(s)?
Have you no sense of Decency, Sir, @ long last?
Have you left no sense of Decency (let alone Morality)?
What stands in the way of your providing clear, honest and logical answers to the preceding? Money?
We are entitled to an explanation of these issues thus raised, and based solely on facts rather than on carefully-scripted and -manufactured bromides and platitudes such as you're probably being advised to use. Until then, we cannot expect to reagrd your claims as authentic, credible or sincere.
sincerely, ILUDIUM PHOSDEX (die egte artikel--aanvaar geen plaasvervangers)
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"In a world where memes can be fabricated quickly, and discredited just as fast ..."
FIRST OFF, MAY I CALL YOUR ATTENTION TO THE NEW LOGO FOR THIS WEBLOG @ THE HEAD OF THIS PAGE: Your Correspondent has taken the liberty of so redesigning in the interest of ensuring some continuity of imagery vis-a-vis this weblog and the merchandise on offer in its own freshly-launched online boutique, The Exaggerator Collection.
Thus, minimising confusion while still having the desired effect of calling attention to this blog among especially such of you seeing T-shirts and sweaters as "walking billboards" for this blog (cf.Stew Leonard's shopping bags and Wall Drug Store's signage), particularly so in "tourist trap" districts of the highest order. And remember, you're helping to support Your Correspondent and this weblog with your purchases from The Exaggerator Collection or any of the e-tailer affiliates this blog hath.
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ON TO BUSINESS, NOW, SHALL WE?
For starters, the big meme-generator currently in Indecision 2008is that inspireth by GOP VP wannabe Sarah Palin's bound-to-be-hackneyed line about the difference between a "hockey mom" (such as she hagiogaphically presents herself to be) and a pit bull (or, for that matter, some other class of vicious dog) is lipstick.
Prompting Democratic Presidential wannabe Barack Obama to respond by saying "if you put lipstick on a pig, it's still lipstick"--which the McCain/Palin camp quickly saw as Having Subversive Tendencies (as in implying that such was a veiled smear of Palin), and Obama responding by denouncing such as one with "lies and phony outrage and Swift Boat politics."
As if that weren't enough, it's emerging that McCain "himself" was himself using the "lipstick on a pig" metaphor-crossing-into-meme himself in Congressional debate several times just last year.
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AS FOR JOHN McCAIN'S NOTION THAT BARACK OBAMA IS SOMEHOW "NOT QUALIFIED TO BE PRESIDENT," SUCH A REMARK LEAVES YOUR CORRESPONDENT WONDERING if what McCain means as "qualified" is one meeting various (howbeit unconstitutional) acid tests to determine their willingness to receive superdivine revelation from G-d A-mighty and expect Congress to act as "rubberstamp" therefor.
As in expecting the President to be more in the vein of "Prophet, Seer and Revelator" who can be expected all the while to avoid dropping hints of hallucinogenic substances really being used to achieve the effect of being in such a mental state to receive Divine Pronouncement.
Which brings to mind the Assemblies of God's particular disapproval of such a notion as part of their general objections to "Latter Rain" teachings as expressed thus in their 2000 position paper "Endtime Revival--Spirit-Led and Spirit-Controlled" based on the risk of such crossing over into the undemocratic and dictatorial while all along claiming Biblical authority and power:
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.
Too, you also have the clear and present danger for abuses of power and corruption ensuing thanks to Theocratic governance, made all the worse by alcohol, drugs and lustings for power which can easily go too far in aiding and abetting Scriptural misinterpretation. As for the concept of "shepherding," there's also the danger of sexual abuse or coercion being used to indirectly assert power and control, heterosexual as much as homosexual.
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LIBERTARIAN-TURNED-REPULICAN PRESIDENTIAL WANNABE RON PAUL IS CALLING ON HIS FOLLOWERS AND GROUPIES TO SUPPORT THIRD-PARTY PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGNS from their choice of:
Ralph Nader (independent, but really a GOP puppet);
Cynthia McKinney (Green Party);
Chuck Baldwin (Constitution Party); and
Bob Barr (Libertarian Party).
The which could, in the right circumstances, easily make such a dent in the final result come November that could see Obama's indirectly winning the Presidential vote thanks to the same sort of highly-fragmented popular vote which ensured Bill Clinton's victory in 1992.
Or so Ron Paul is hoping, banking all along on public-opinion surveys suggesting that some 60% of American voters are "dissastified" with the status quo between Obama/Biden and McCain/Palin thanks to the ur-RAHOWA Against Terrorism and the general socioeconomic situation.
(Some substantiation of this claim, and the impartiality thereof, would be welcome and appreciated.)
*************
JUST BE THANKFUL THAT THE RAPTURE WAS HELD OFF: Performance testing of the CERN superaccelerator along the FR-CH border, designed to study subatomic partculates with an eye towards seeking further answers into how The Universe came into being, found nothing in the way of "big bang" scenarios resulting in the imminent destruction of the universe as we know it through implosion of the earth or a "black hole" unwittingly created in subatomic conditions.
*************
DOESN'T IT SEEM IRONIC THAT, JUST AS CRUDE OIL PRICES ON THE NYMEX WERE RECOVERING ABOVE $100/BBL. earlier today after falling below that threshold yesterday, certain gas stations in the Ohio/Kentucky region suddenly (and without warning) increased prices by between 20 and 40˘/gallon on the overnight?
No doubt driving the ire of motorists seeing cheap gasoline as one with G-d, Country and Soverign Identity ... and enough to call all the more for studying what T. Boone Pickens is suggesting towards energy self-sufficency and environmental improvement.
In particular, the adoption of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) as a "stop-gap" towards the final perfection of hydrogen-based fuels and celluastic biofuels in viable quantities.
As for the shock price increases, consumer protection officials are said to be investigating for possible price-gouging on the part of suppliers and/or wholesalers.
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"In a world where bloggers need to be careful in making honest money off same ..."
YOUR CORRESPONDENT ANNOUNCETH THE LAUNCH OF HIS VERY OWN CAFÉ PRESS STORE FOR THE EXAGGERATOR, henceforth to be known as "The Exaggerator Collection" by name and stylee.
Which, in case you ask, offers what could best be described as "wearable billboards" for this rather bombastic excuse for a weblog ... as well as coffee mugs, caps, wall clocks, journals, bumper stickers and even computer mouse pads for the discerning fan of this weblog. All helping to support Your Correspondent and this weblog, understand.
Come to think of it, these "wearable billboards" could be something of a fashion statement in all the popular "white trash" resort areas, certain to attract attention of the Johnny Bravo/Kanker Sisters crowd. Reports of sightings would be greatly appreciated--as would, most importantly, your purchases.
Soooo ... if you love The Exaggerator, you're sure to love The Exaggerator Collection! (And it might not hurt to get your end-of-year holiday shopping done right now, saving yourself bedlam and confusion in the process.)
Thank you for your support and patronage in advance. Now shop for once!
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9.9.08
"In a world where deception is rumoured to be necessary to maintain the aura of stability ..."
NO PUN INTENDED: NORTH KOREA'S SO-CALLED "GREAT LEADER" KIM JONG IL MAY BE ILL HIMSELF, what with his absence from ceremonies in beautiful(?!) downtown Pyongyang marking the 60-year anniversary of the so-called "Democratic People's Republic of Korea," replete with the inevitable displays of exaggerated military bravado in equally-exaggerated military lockstep and various missiles on 1950's-vintage heavy trucks.
No official details have been forthcoming from the highly-secretive Stalinist state; however, intelligence reports have it that "Great Leader" suffers from diabetes and heart disease, and may have suffered a stroke recently.
(His last documented public appearence was on August 14th.)
Some Japanese tabloids of a highly-incredible sort are reporting that the "real" "Great Leader" died in 2003 and that the regime was using lookie-likeys in public appearences to create the aura of stability and unity through deception and trick. Especially absent any clear signs of who may be considered "Dear Leader" (to use Kim Jong Il's pre-1997 title, when his late father Kim Il Sung, now considered "Eternal Leader," held the "Great Leader" title) to the extent of being capable enough to succeed Kim Jong Il in case the inevitable ensues.
That, and "Great Leader" being the subject of an officially-sponsored mythology as would make all the hagiographically-glowing excesses being force-fed on the Great Unwashed about Sarah Palin look like your typical Hanna-Barbera flicktoon for Saturday-morning FreeVee broadcast.
*************
THAI PRIME MINISTER SAMAK SUNDARAVEJ'S HOSTING A WEEKLY TV COOKING SHOW styledTasting and Grumblinghas been found to be in violation of a Constitutional proscription on working a second job while holding high office.
Ergo, according to a Thai court, Sundaravej and his cabinet will please resign their offices posthaste.
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MEIN INNKEEPER FRIEND IS OF THE OPINE THAT, IN THE EVENT OF A McCAIN/PALIN VICTORY COME NOVEMBER, we should essentially let things deteriorate all the further socioeconomically so things can eventually get better.
In effect, letting the debaucheries of His Fraudulency's Great Within run their course, mindful all the more that we maintain the que vive on the Government.
Breathes there a more logical argument of the need for realistic change come November?
============
BUT THEN AGAIN, ON THE OTHER HAND, WE AS A "MORALLY SUPERIOR" SOCIETY NEED TO BE ALL THE MORE WATCHFUL OF ELECTORAL INTEGRITY AND PURITY, especially so in light of the following videos released by the Security Group of the University of California/Santa Barbara as reveal where "touch-screen" voting machines are prone to hacking and manipulation as can only undermine electoral intgrity:
In support of these videos is this report which explains the modus operandi of the tests, and the damaging revelations.
Which no doubt confirms the apocryphal remark of Soviet-era dictator Josef Stalin suggesting that "it's not the one who votes that counts; it's who counts the votes."
Enough, then, to call upon such states still adamant in their use of touch-screen electoral technology to decertify said machines with celerity and dispatch, in light of the clear and present dangers so exposed as undermines electoral integrity and purity--and, to a larger extent, democracy per se. Especially when weird and unwholesome elements are involved in their programming and vote-counting, all the while expected to keep quiet and, if and when asked to explain, deny any and all knowledge thereof.
And, in the process, call upon them to reinstitute hand-counted ballot papers to ensure electoral integrity and purity all the more.
Unless they happen to have some cheap and cheerful patsy they can use to avoid liability ... or are otherwise asked to leave the country incognito and keep a low profile, reinforced by substantial "hush money" retainers.
For now, though, tell your friends.
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"In a world where the Weltanschauung is presented through the distorted lens and context of Biblical interpretation ..."
WITH THE REPUBLICAN VICE-PRESIDENTIAL WANNABE SARAH PALIN INSISTING THAT THE IRAQI FRONT IN THE UR-RAHOWA AGAINST TERRORISM is Divinely Authorised, may we be reminded, readers, that seeing world events through the narrow and badly-focused lens of Biblical interpretation borders on heresy and blasphemy.
As witness what the Assemblies of God had to say in their 2000 position paper "Endtime Revival--Spirit-Led and Spirit-Controlled," as reaffirmed its 1949 General Assembly declaration that "Latter Rain" doctrines were deviant and heretical:
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.
That last sentence in the preceding may want to apply as a warning about the appeal of the aforementioned Sarah Palin; AlterNet elaborates in an interesting report as is definitely worth sharing to your friends, by e-mail and otherwise.
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AS FOR JOHN McCAIN, WHO SELECTED PALIN AS HIS RUNNING-MATE (AND PROBABLY PREENING HER FOR THE TRAVESTY OF THE PRESIDENCY in the form of a superdivine "Prophet, Seer and Revelator"), his temper could be a liability we may be all the more unaware of. Take this example in video form:
And it turns out that McCain's habit for tantrums may be of the sort as are known medically as "pe-existing." Witness what McClatchy Newspapers (via The Kansas City Star) had to say @ the weekend about McCain's propensities therefor being practically lifelong:
Historians point out that it's not unusual for a president to have a fierce temper, but most knew how to keep it under control.
"Harry Truman wrote scathing letters, but he almost never sent them," said author Robert Dallek.
"George Washington spent a lifetime trying to control his temper," added historian Richard Norton Smith.
But Washington didn't have YouTube replaying videos of his tantrums, nor did he have to make decisions about nuclear weapons.
At age 2, McCain's tantrums were so intense that he'd hold his breath for a few minutes and pass out. His parents would dunk him in cold water to "cure" him, he wrote in his memoir, "Faith of My Fathers."
"I have spent much of my life choosing my own attitude, often carelessly, often for no better reason than to indulge a conceit," he wrote. He conceded that some of his actions have been embarrassing, and "others I deeply regret."
He was a tough little guy. At Episcopal High, he was a 114-pound wrestler classmates called "Punk" and "McNasty."
Richey, though, noted that such monikers weren't unusual in those days. "There was a tremendous amount of sarcasm in the way we talked to each other at Episcopal," he recalled. "That's the way we all talked to each other."
McCain, Richey said, "was not looking for a fight. He was feisty."
McCain entered the Naval Academy in 1954, and he was popular, the leader of a group that Timberg described as the Bad Bunch, known largely for its ability to have a good time.
Malcolm Matheson, who knew McCain at Episcopal High and stayed friendly with him in college, said his buddy had no trouble controlling his temper in those days.
"He was a little guy, but he was tough, and no bully ever got in his face," Matheson said.
But as McCain ascended in politics, he began to acquire a reputation for hotheadedness. On election night 1986, then-Arizona Republican Party executive director Jon Hinz recalled, McCain was unhappy, even angry, even though he'd just won a U.S. Senate seat and his party had just made a virtually unprecedented sweep of state offices.
McCain had hoped that night would help launch him as a national figure. Instead, when the 5-foot-9 senator-elect spoke at the Phoenix victory party, the podium was too tall.
"You couldn't see his mouth," Hinz said.
A furious McCain sought out Robert Wexler, the Young Republican head in charge of arrangements.
"McCain kept pointing his finger in Wexler's chest, berating him," Hinz recalled. The 6-foot-6 Hinz stepped between them and told McCain to cut it out. "I told him I'll make sure there's an egg crate around next time," he said. McCain walked away angrily.
About a year later, McCain reportedly erupted again, this time at a meeting with Arizona's then-Gov. Evan Mecham, who was about to be impeached after being indicted on felony charges.
Karen Johnson, then Mecham's secretary and now an Arizona state senator, recalled how McCain told Mecham that he was "causing the party a lot of problems" and was an embarrassment to the party.
"Sen. McCain got very angry," Johnson recalled, "and I said, 'Why are you talking to the governor like this? You're causing problems yourself. You're an embarrassment.' "
Johnson would go on to work at three different jobs over the next five years, and she said that each time, McCain would contact her boss and try to get her removed.
The McCain campaign didn't respond to repeated requests for comment.
When John McCain came to the Senate in 1987, he quickly got two reputations: a Republican who'd do business with Democrats on tough issues and an impatient senator who was often gruff and temperamental.
In January, Sen. Thad Cochran, R-Miss., told The Boston Globe that "the thought of (McCain) being president sends a cold chill down my spine. He is erratic. He is hotheaded. He loses his temper and he worries me." (Cochran has since endorsed McCain.)
Added Sen. Christopher Bond, R-Mo., who has a long list of vociferous, sometimes personal disagreements with McCain, "His charm takes a little getting used to." (Bond, too, supports him.)
Democrats are less guarded.
"There have been times when he's just exploded, " said Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa.
"Look, around here, people lose their tempers once in a while. But it doesn't happen very often, and it usually happens in some contextual framework. A lot of times there's just not much of a contextual framework for his blowing up."
John Raidt worked for McCain more than 15 years. "Yeah, he could get prickly," he said. "Sometimes that's exactly what's needed to move an issue or get attention. I think he uses it as a tool."
Stories abound on Capitol Hill: how McCain told Senate Budget Committee Chairman Pete Domenici, R-N.M., how "only an a-hole" would craft a budget like he did. Or the time in 1989 when he confronted Sen. Richard Shelby of Alabama, then a Democrat and now a Republican, because Shelby had promised to vote for McCain friend John Tower as secretary of defense, and then Shelby voted against Tower.
McCain later wrote how, after the vote, he approached Shelby "to bring my nose within an inch of his as I screamed out my intense displeasure over his deceit ... the incident is one of the occasions when my temper lived up to its exaggerated legend."
Cochran recalled earlier this summer that he saw McCain manhandle a Sandinista official during a 1987 diplomatic mission in Nicaragua.
Cochran told the Biloxi Sun Herald that McCain was talking, and, "I saw some kind of quick movement at the bottom of the table and I looked down there and John had reached over and grabbed this guy by the shirt collar and had snatched him up like he was throwing him up out of the chair to tell him what he thought about him or whatever."
McCain said the incident never took place. "I must say, I did not admire the Sandinistas much," he told a news conference. "But there was never anything of that nature. It just didn't happen."
Former Sen. Robert Dole, who led the mission, couldn't be reached to comment.
Families of POW-MIAs said they have seen McCain's wrath repeatedly. Some families charged that McCain hadn't been aggressive enough about pursuing their lost relatives and has been reluctant to release relevant documents. McCain himself was a prisoner of war for five and a half years during the Vietnam War.
In 1992, McCain sparred with Dolores Alfond, the chairwoman of the National Alliance of Families for the Return of America's Missing Servicemen and Women, at a Senate hearing. McCain's prosecutorlike questioning of Alfond - available on YouTube - left her in tears.
Four years later, at her group's Washington conference, about 25 members went to a Senate office building, hoping to meet with McCain. As they stood in the hall, McCain and an aide walked by.
Six people present have written statements describing what they saw. According to the accounts, McCain waved his hand to shoo away Jeannette Jenkins, whose cousin was last seen in South Vietnam in 1970, causing her to hit a wall.
As McCain continued walking, Jane Duke Gaylor, the mother of another missing serviceman, approached the senator. Gaylor, in a wheelchair equipped with portable oxygen, stretched her arms toward McCain.
"McCain stopped, glared at her, raised his left arm ready to strike her, composed himself and pushed the wheelchair away from him," according to Eleanor Apodaca, the sister of an Air Force captain missing since 1967.
McCain's staff wouldn't respond to requests for comment about specific incidents.
*Frequent temper tantrums *Argumentativeness with adults *Refusal to comply with adult requests or rules *Deliberate annoyance of other people *Blaming others for mistakes or misbehavior *Acting touchy and easily annoyed *Anger and resentment *Spiteful or vindictive behavior *Aggressiveness toward peers *Difficulty maintaining friendships *Academic problems
AND LEST WE FORGET, TODAY'S CLOSER IS "THE SCOOP" FROM DAY 8 OF THE RECENT MINNESOTA STATE FAIR, as per the Minnesota State Fair Daily News feature:
Debbie, thanks for making sure the family is fed.--Mary M.
AH and JR are registered at Tiffany's, Nordstroms and Williams Sonoma if anyone should be so inclined to buy an engagement gift.
Marketing: giant slide soon, be there or be square people.
BD do you think you can tell the ages of peole just by looking at them? Oh wait, you better not answer that question.
I'm just a hopeless romantic ... or a grade A creeper, one of the two.
Fairchild ... it is on buddy!
Yesterday was Nathan's birthday but who knew? He helps clean the Food Building overnight so he was there at the beginning and end, Hope he did something fun in between.
A warm fair welcome to Rocky the Castle's new pet.
The Harley-Davidson booth attendant gave a guest some licorice yesterday afternoon and it helped with her low blood sugar. She wanted to express her appreciation publicly.
To Maggie Jo and J Lo from Klemrlle Sue: Tick ... Tick ... Tick ...
Attn.: Due to high demand, the sconeboys will be holding auditions.
All it takes to entertain Grandstand Treasury is a cracker and a squirrel.
T--thanks for the ride.
The Skyglider does not stop to load and unload passengers.
Quirk/Birk/Sackett got some O.J.T. putting "Rumey Pull" together. Now the engineer can have show time.
Brandon--your technical help is unforgettable.
Hey Betty! Got keys? Got gas? Shut your car off next tiume and don't let it run for over 12 hours!
World-renowned wood scultpting artist Perry has ageed to teach woodcarver Bob (the hackman) how to do the job right. Thanks Perry, from all of us.
Teflon: good call on running away from those creepers in the parade ... BD just didn't use her smarts on that one!
Rainboots are in quite the abundance today! Loving it!
KF you are such the rock star, keep it up!
RG thanks for the pillow, you saved my sleep!
Only six days left ... dun dun dun!
Sarah: go for it girl, you two would make an amazing couple! Even if he doesn't know who you are!
Who was that girl the Timberwolves mascot was eyeing at the parade ...?
Megan: I don't think eating every two stands is a great idea ... might want to reconsider that one....
More where they came from tomorrow....
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8.9.08
"In a world where pressing matters sometimes have to take priority in blogging ..."
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 linguć 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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