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IT APPEARS AS IF JOHN McCAIN'S SO-CALLED "STRAIGHT TALK EXPRESS" HAS BLOWN SEVERAL TYRES AND IS ON THE VERGE OF A CRASH which could be, under normal circumstances, its own undoing--but The Terrible-Tempered Mr. Bang, for his part, refuses to come to terms with his fantasy crossing into Reality, instead sticking to the carefully-prepared and -nuanced script of his handlers.

Handlers who, for all Your Correspondent knows, are probably of weird and/or unwholesome nature, and yet fail to come to grips with Truth.

And for which the Mainsteam Media, let alone The Great Unwashed, are starting to see the obvious for once.

Case in point: What The New York Times had to say about McCain's distortions and attacks of late only the beginning of its imminent implosion (hat tip to Down With Tyranny):

Harsh advertisements and negative attacks are a staple of presidential campaigns, but Senator John McCain has drawn an avalanche of criticism this week from Democrats, independent groups and even some Republicans for regularly stretching the truth in attacking Senator Barack Obama's record and positions.

Mr. Obama has also been accused of distortions, but this week Mr. McCain has found himself under particularly heavy fire for a pair of headline-grabbing attacks. First the McCain campaign twisted Mr. Obama's words to suggest that he had compared Gov. Sarah Palin, the Republican vice-presidential nominee, to a pig after Mr. Obama said, in questioning Mr. McCain's claim to be the change agent in the race, "You can put lipstick on a pig; it's still a pig." (Mr. McCain once used the same expression to describe Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton's health plan.)

Then he falsely claimed that Mr. Obama supported "comprehensive sex education" for kindergartners (he supported teaching them to be alert for inappropriate advances from adults).

Those attacks followed weeks in which Mr. McCain repeatedly, and incorrectly, asserted that Mr. Obama would raise taxes on the middle class, even though analysts say he would cut taxes on the middle class more than Mr. McCain would, and misrepresented Mr. Obama's positions on energy and health care.

A McCain advertisement called "Fact Check" was itself found to be "less than honest" by FactCheck.org, a nonpartisan group. The group complained that the McCain campaign had cited its work debunking various Internet rumors about Ms. Palin and implied in the advertisement that the rumors had originated with Mr. Obama.

In an interview Friday on the NY1 cable news channel, a McCain supporter, Senator Orrin G. Hatch of Utah, called "ridiculous" the implication that Mr. Obama's "lipstick on a pig" comment was a reference to Ms. Palin, whom he also defended as coming under unfair attack.

"The last month, for sure," said Don Sipple, a Republican advertising strategist, "I think the predominance of liberty taken with truth and the facts has been more McCain than Obama."

Indeed, in recent days, Mr. McCain has been increasingly called out by news organizations, editorial boards and independent analysts like FactCheck.org. The group, which does not judge whether one candidate is more misleading than another, has cried foul on Mr. McCain more than twice as often since the start of the political conventions as it has on Mr. Obama.

A McCain spokesman, Brian Rogers, said the campaign had evidence for all its claims. "We stand fully by everything that's in our ads," Mr. Rogers said, "and everything that we've been saying we provide detailed backup for — everything. And if you and the Obama campaign want to disagree, that's your call."

Mr. McCain came into the race promoting himself as a truth teller and has long publicly deplored the kinds of negative tactics that helped sink his candidacy in the Republican primaries in 2000. But his strategy now reflects a calculation advisers made this summer — over the strenuous objections of some longtime hands who helped him build his "Straight Talk" image — to shift the campaign more toward disqualifying Mr. Obama in the eyes of voters.

"I think the McCain folks realize if they can get this thing down in the mud, drag Obama into the mud, that's where they have the best advantage to win," said Matthew Dowd, who worked with many top McCain campaign advisers when he was President Bush's chief strategist in the 2004 campaign, but who has since had a falling out with the White House. "If they stay up at 10,000 feet, they don't."

For all the criticism, the offensive seems to be having an impact. It has been widely credited by strategists in both parties with rejuvenating Mr. McCain's campaign and putting Mr. Obama on the defensive since it began early this summer.

Some who have criticized Mr. McCain have accused him of blatant untruths and of failing to correct himself when errors were pointed out.

On Friday on "The View," generally friendly territory for politicians, one co-host, Joy Behar, criticized his new advertisements. "We know that those two ads are untrue," Ms. Behar said. "They are lies. And yet you, at the end of it, say, 'I approve these messages.' Do you really approve them?"

"Actually they are not lies," Mr. McCain said crisply, "and have you seen some of the ads that are running against me?"

Mr. Obama's hands have not always been clean in this regard. He was called out earlier for saying, incorrectly, that Mr. McCain supported a "hundred-year war" in Iraq after Mr. McCain said in January that he would be fine with a hypothetical 100-year American presence in Iraq, as long as Americans were not being injured or killed there.

More recently, Mr. Obama has been criticized for advertisements that have distorted Mr. McCain's record on schools financing and incorrectly accused him of not supporting loan guarantees for the auto industry — a hot topic in Michigan. He has also taken Mr. McCain's repeated comments that American economy is "fundamentally sound" out of context, leaving out the fact that Mr. McCain almost always adds at the same time that he understands that times are tough and "people are hurting."

But sensing an opening in the mounting criticism of Mr. McCain, the Obama campaign released a withering statement after Mr. McCain's appearance on "The View."

"In running the sleaziest campaign since South Carolina in 2000 and standing by completely debunked lies on national television, it's clear that John McCain would rather lose his integrity than lose an election," Hari Sevugan, a spokesman for the Obama campaign, said in a statement.

At an event in Dover, N.H., a voter asked Mr. Obama when he would start "fighting back." Mr. Obama, who began his own confrontational advertising campaign Friday, said, "Our ads have been pretty tough, but I just have a different philosophy that I'm going to respond with the truth."

"I'm not going to start making up lies about John McCain," Mr. Obama said.

The McCain advertisements are devised to draw the interest of bloggers and cable news producers — but not necessarily always intended for wide, actual use on television stations — to shift the terms of the debate by questioning Mr. Obama's character and qualifications.

Mr. Sipple, the Republican strategist, voiced concern that Mr. McCain's approach could backfire. "Any campaign that is taking liberty with the truth and does it in a serial manner will end up paying for it in the end," he said. "But it's very unbecoming to a political figure like John McCain whose flag was planted long ago in ground that was about 'straight talk' and integrity."

The campaign has also been selective in its portrayal of Mr. McCain's running mate, Ms. Palin. The campaign's efforts to portray her as the bane of federal earmark spending was complicated by evidence that she had sought a great deal of federal money both as governor of Alaska and as mayor of Wasilla.

Ms. Palin has often told audiences about pulling the plug on the so-called Bridge to Nowhere, an expensive federal project to build a bridge to a sparsely populated Alaskan island that became a symbol of wasteful federal spending. "I told Congress, 'Thanks but no thanks' for that Bridge to Nowhere in Alaska," she said this week in Virginia.

But her position was more like "please" before it became "no thanks." Ms. Palin supported the bridge project while running for governor, and abandoned it after it became a national scandal and Congress said the state could keep the money for other projects. As a mayor and governor, she hired lobbyists to request millions in federal spending for Alaska. In an ABC News interview on Friday with Charles Gibson, Ms. Palin largely stuck to her version of the events.

Disputed characterizations are not uncommon on the trail. At a campaign stop this week in Missouri, Mr. McCain said that Mr. Obama's plan would "force small businesses to cut jobs and reduce wages and force families into a government-run health care system where a bureaucrat stands between you and your doctor."

Jonathan B. Oberlander, who teaches health policy at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, said that Mr. Obama's plan would not force families into a government-run system. "I would say this is an inaccurate and false characterization of the Obama plan," he said. "I don't use those words lightly."

But, it turns out, there's more: Tomorrow's St. Petersburg Times takes McCain to task thus for his distortions and perversions of fact:

This nation is facing real challenges on the economy, health care, jobs and the ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. There are significant differences between how Sen. Barack Obama and Sen. John McCain would address them. But McCain's recent campaign ads suggest the most vital issues are whether Obama wanted to teach sex education to kindergarten children and whether he derided the Republican's running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, by talking about lipstick on a pig.

McCain's straight talk has become a toxic mix of lies and double-speak. It is leaving a permanent stain on his reputation for integrity, and it is a short-term strategy that eventually will backfire with the very types of independent-thinking voters that were so attracted to him.

The sex education ad says that Obama supported "comprehensive sex education" for kindergarten children. Graphics then appear with a voice-over saying: "Learning about sex before learning to read?"

The facts: Obama, while a state lawmaker in Illinois, supported a measure to provide older students with age and developmentally appropriate sex education. Younger children, such as those kindergarten-age, would be taught "age-appropriate" things such as how to protect themselves from sexual predators. The legislation was widely backed by the state PTA and the Illinois Public Health Association. Parents could choose to opt out of any instruction for their children.

But in McCain's campaign playbook, this responsible legislation becomes fodder for a grotesque distortion as a way to instill fear in voters.

As to the lipstick-on-a-pig controversy, McCain's campaign has purposely twisted the way Obama used that expression in a recent speech in Virginia. A McCain campaign ad claims that Obama was directing an insult to Palin who, during the Republican National Convention, characterized hockey moms like herself as pit bulls with lipstick.

The truth: Obama used the phrase, which he had used before, to attack McCain's claim that he'll reform Washington while retaining the policies of President Bush. After using the lipstick-on-a-pig phrase, Obama said, "You can wrap an old fish in a piece of paper called change. It's still going to stink after eight years."

McCain's faux chivalrous outrage over Obama's purported insult is beneath him. He has been a serious public servant willing to say unpopular truths when he thought it best for the country, but he's more than willing in this election to put his name on campaign lies. The leader who says he would rather lose an election than lose a war now risks losing his reputation in an attempt to win the White House. 

To use anew a GOP meme they deployed to the point of hackneyed during their campaign against then-President Clinton vis-a-vis Monica Lewinsky and the Whitewater development: "So where's the outrage?"

Or what stands in the way of outrage?

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AND JUST A REMINDER ABOUT THIS MEME WORTH SPREADING AROUND AS A "WHISPERING CAMPAIGN" "east side, west side, all around the town," to borrow from the songwriter:

A vote for McCain/Palin come November means that the economy needs to be all the more in freefall before any recovery can happen--if @ all.

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NOW HERE'S A MEME WORTH SPREADING THROUGH THE AGENCY OF A PRACTICALLY FREE WHISPERING CAMPAIGN:

A vote for McCain/Palin come November means that the economy needs to be all the more in freefall before any recovery can happen--if @ all.

The which may be good news--for swindlers and confidence artists fond of exploiting high unemployment and general socioeconomic uncertainty to market what are essentially "make-work/fake-work" scams under the illusion of creating good-paying work for such who, for reasons outside their control, cannot find employment. In particular:

• the elderly, blind and such with mental or emotional disorders;
• stay-at-home mothers needing to care for infants or elderly relatives;
• welfare cases who, despite "reasonable efforts" under workfare schemes, cannot find stable employment;
• those residing in communities considered "company towns" tied to only one particular industry as is in a state of decline, or close to it; and
• those residing in economically-disadvantaged communities to the point of having to move elsewhere just to find work.

And those behind such "make-work" schemes will seek to defend their "envelope-stuffing" and "product assembly" operations as "creating badly-needed work to keep people busy and employed in otherwise difficult times," all the while claiming "tax credits" on what is essentially illegal or devious activity.

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STICKING WITH INDECISION 2008 FOR THE MOMENT, JOHN McCAIN'S SUGGESTING THAT HIS RIVAL BARACK OBAMA WAS PUSHING "SEX EDUCATION FOR KINDERGARTNERS" in Illinois public schools--in fact, it was to teach those in Kindergarten about the differences between "good touch" and "bad touch"--along with smacking of fatuousity, brings up an interesting fact I came across as might relate:

Those who have studied dolphin behaviour, both captive and in the wild, have noted where infant male dolphins will have brief, if unproductive, sexual episodes with its mother within days of birth, while the infant is still nursing on its mother's milk ... perhaps one of the earliest instances in the animal world where offspring are taught "the facts of life" in a beautiful and yet natural way.

(I say "unproductive" inasmuch as male dolphins don't become sexually mature until around 4-6 years of age, depending on their being in the wild or in a dolphinarium. In any case, pre-pubescent, yet instructive, sexual play among dolphins continues off and on after weaning, becoming all the more serious about a year before reaching their flowering with a sexually-mature, yet inexperienced maternally, female being "asked" by the pod to gently introduce male dolphins approaching adolescence to sexual matters through instructive sexual play in the "where do babies really come from" vein.)

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MEANWHILE, THE ABSENCE OF McCAIN AND PALIN FROM THE LINEUP OF THE ANNUAL "VALUES VOTERS SUMMIT"--REALLY NOTHING MORE THAN PATHETIC BROMIDES AND PLATITUDES of Religiopolitical Right "talking points" and memes so far distanced from Reality to make any sense--is not being missed, as Right Wing Watch thus explaineth:

As we noted last week, both John McCain and Sarah Palin seemed to be intentionally avoiding being seen in public with the Relgious Right.  And that indeed seems to be the case:

At this year’s conference, Romney will be a headliner tomorrow night, Huckabee appears by video Saturday, and McCain… won’t be there at all. Despite being in Washington D.C. for the day on Saturday with no public appearances, the Arizona senator isn't expected to take up the offer to speak at the summit, organized by the Family Research Council’s legislative arm and co-sponsored by the likes of Focus on the Family and Gary Bauer’s “American Values” group.

According to The Brody File, Palin was actually scheduled to appear but then pulled out at the last minute, just as she did with Phyllis Schlafly's reception at the Republican convention, but offered to send a video message, which organizer's of the Values Voter Summit dismissed as "not enough." 

But just because Palin and McCain don't want to be seen with the Right doesn't mean that the Right is holding it against them.  In fact, the Right seems to fully understand that McCain has already caved to them and thus they are perfectly happy with his efforts to distance himself from them in order to get back to pretending to be a maverick: 

John McCain won't attend a gathering of religious conservatives this weekend--and the Republican presidential nominee won't have to ask forgiveness.

The Arizona senator's selection of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as his running mate has appeased the evangelical and social conservatives who form his party's core voters. Now, they are letting him know that he doesn't need to further demonstrate his fealty.

Last year, McCain felt compelled to appear at the Values Voter Summit in Washington to woo the religious conservatives who have long mistrusted him. That's not necessary this time: members of the movement now ``know exactly what's going on,'' said Phil Burress, president of Citizens for Community Values in Ohio and a summit attendee.

``I understand if he thinks he's got us,'' said Burress, who led Ohio's 2004 effort to ban gay marriage. ``The Palin appointment guaranteed his base.''

...

``If he can spend his time somewhere else gathering votes, then that's where he should be,'' Burress said. ``The important thing is winning,'' he said, reflecting a new pragmatism from evangelicals who have been slow to embrace McCain.

...

Richard Land, a leader of the 18 million-member Southern Baptist convention, said conservatives appreciate McCain's efforts and don't expect him to make their agenda a cornerstone of his campaign in the closing two months of the election, at least publicly.

``Actions speak louder than words and Sarah Palin speaks not just volumes, but a whole library,'' Land said.

As well, we should also address Sarah Palin's associations with a "deviant and heretical" brand of End-Times Revivalist teaching known as "Latter Rain" and certain of its sacraments, which could influence her Presidential role if and when the time comes. And influence such to the point of the "New World Order" exploiting same more so than would be the (perceived) case under "liberals" or "closet socialists."

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A COUPLE OF ARTICLES WORTH YOUR READING ONLINE as deal with the current state of electoral affairs:

• From the Lone Star Iconoclast, Don M. Fisher observes how the McCain/Palin campaign is targeting the "trailer trash" vote--the same kind, it turns out, more than likely to watch, and accept as truth, the distorted Weltanschauung according to Fox Prolefeed.
• And for those still hard-wired in John McCain's belief that "we are all Georgians" in the wake of Russia's lockstep into South Ossetia and Abkhazia, this op-ed from the Jewish weekly Forward suggests "not so fast." (As in noting where the Georgian regime has a very poor record of respecting human rights and overzealous use of torture and fear against real or suspected dissidents.)

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CLOSING OUT TODAY, SOME FINAL PARTING SHOTS FROM "THE SCOOP" per the Minnesota State Fair Daily News of its traditional closing day since 1939, none other than Labour Day:

Steve Grans would like to give a shout out to Joe Stewart, a Park N Ride employee at the I-94 Snelling lot. Joe called to inform them of a potential car break-in and then assisted in the apprehension of one of the three people who were arrested. A big thank you and round of State Fair applause!

KF Anytime you need assistance with your Post-its just give me a call. I won't be too far away. BD

Happy 45th anniversary to Sandra--a loooooona, Loooooona time of a little bit of miss and a lot, a lot of bliss with love from Peter, AKA the Strawberry Man

Hey Gate 15 Admissions--you guys rock!

It has been a good fair because Burt is still in love with Patty!

Thank you to my team at the Bandshell. Al, Donna and Don, you're the best!--Jayne

Kermit, cancel our eye doctor appt. The reason you couldn't read Bill's name tag was because it was upside down. Somebody please help Bill.

KF since we're relatively close to Canada and Mexico what do you say you just take over the entirety of North America? BD and JR

Thanks to Eugene Olson from all of the ramp ticket takers at the Coliseum for the cookies, they were great!

John at Como ticket gate here is your own special jingle from your morning wake-up crew, "As you close the gate in 2008 keep us in mind until 2009!"

Happy 10th Full-Time Fair Steve Grans! Thanks for keeping us rollin to and from the fair! Your Gransportation crew.

T.T. have a great day 12! A.H.

Como parking crew, thanks for waking up with our morning jingle!

CD, AW and LG, keep playing those showtunes!! BD

From the short cane man on the hill to all: you are the greatest. Stay well, see you next year.

I'm a big farm hand, happy and cute. Here is my clipboard here is my badge. When you get me steamed up I will shout. The tractor hats are just for the kids.

BES, BM and KF thank you for being amazing bosses! From your crew!

Congratulations to Mike and Sharon on their midnight wedding reception with a chivari!

Hope everyone had a great fair, see you next year!

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AND ONE THING MORE, AFTER PAUL HARVEY: Spread what I said in the second paragraph of this item around to all you know. Such could be a perfect meme as could undermine McCain/Palin, if done correctly.

Preferably through word of mouth "whispering campaigns" done impromptu among your acquaintenances. 

more the engrish!

THE ACME OF HYPOCRITICAL DOUBLETHINK GALORE IN SCANDAL FORM, by way of this video (hat tip to Brilliant @ Breakfast) as should be seen to be understood and appreciated in context:

Any questions?

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

EEN DING RASISTE EN WIT-SUPREMACISTE NET KAN NIE WAG: Rosetta Stone ("The Fastest Way To Learn a Language ... Guaranteed!") coming out in Afrikaans, and expecting same to snap it up rather quickly "out of solidarity for our oppressed White Afrikaner Brethren in South Africa."

Especially ahead of the Day of the Vow anniversary on 16 December.

Too, maybe it was time to ask for evidence of the current South African Government "oppressing" or otherwise "undermining" the Afrikaner Peoples, let alone pandering to racist feelings for raising funds towards their "evacuation" as will be mysteriously diverted to "more pressing needs" @ the last minute.

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AND SO MUCH FOR THE NOTION THAT BARACK OBAMA'S "LIPSTICK ON A PIG" CRACK WAS SEXIST AND GENERALLY CRASS: The following video confirms that John McCain, who made the distractionary charge in question, actually used the remark himself earlier this year:

What say you now, Senator McCain?

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WITH GOP VICE-PRESIDENTIAL PICK SARAH PALIN TELLING ABC NEWS REPORTER CHARLIE GIBSON LAST EVENING that she is prepared to assume the Presidential role if and when required, ready to "achieve reform in Washington and victory in [the ur-RAHOWA Against Terrorism]," Your Correspondent has to wonder if Ms. Palin was using what amounts to "dog-whistle" messages for her droogs in the heretically deviant "Latter Rain" movement--especially so the "Dominionist" and "Joel's Army" components thereof.

(Just to save time, Your Correspondent, with some help from the Assemblies of God's position paper on the subject, explained yesterday why such teachings as are part of the overall "Latter Rain" doctrine are heretically deviant and should be approached with caution.

(But will the hard-wired Zealots and True Believers in this "end-times" theology listen to reason for once?)

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NOT MANY KNOW THIS, BUT THE SO-CALED "PROSPERITY GOSPEL" IS A PART AND PARCEL OF THE LARGER "LATTER RAIN" MOVEMENT, as ought to be subject to the same level of skepticism as the likes of "Dominionism," "Joel's Army" and "Fivefold Ministry;" the same position paper thus finds fault with "Prosperity Gospel" teachings:

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.

(Too, you also have the prospect of some overzealous adherents to "Prosperity Gospel" thought using PayPal-based "gifting clubs" in the "Christians Helping Christians" vein towards such suspicious ends.)

In the end, some advice is issued to local churches of more mainstream denominations and faiths of "warning signs" to look out for in response to reports of major spiritualist revivals:

As you hear unprecedented revival reports from other churches, it is natural to wonder why God is moving in such a spectacular way elsewhere but not to the same degree in your church. It is natural to wonder, "What is wrong with our church?" "Haven’t we prayed and asked God for revival?" "Are we for some reason being bypassed in what God is doing today?" More dangerous is the response, "We have been experiencing God’s presence and don’t want or need anything more." You are called to be faithful where you are, keeping your eyes on Jesus, not on the public attention others are experiencing. Keep the following advice in mind and heart as you seek in unity with your congregation to be the church God wants you to be.

1. God may be accomplishing the spiritual growth He desires for your church at this time. He loves every individual for whom He sent His Son to die and the Father desires that every member of your congregation draw closer to His Son.

2. Out of envy or feelings of less worth, don’t criticize churches experiencing visible revival activity. Be patient and faithful to your call. God is able to move in His way, at His time, and where He chooses. Be open and preparing for His supernatural move.

3. Be faithful in preaching the Word and encouraging membership to expect God’s presence and power in a greater way. Every believer should desire and seek a closer walk with our Lord.

4. Don’t allow those who have visited other scenes of God’s seemingly spectacular move to persuade you or your people to merely copy the activity observed elsewhere. Seek God for His special move according to the needs of your church. A carbon-copy "revival" is likely to be man-made.

5. Use caution in publicizing supernatural healings or other miracles that cannot be authenticated. Pentecostals know for certain that God can and does heal. We know that faith is encouraged and strengthened by testimonies of supernatural healing. But when a claim of healing is made and critics prove later that no significant and lasting change followed, the cause of Christ suffers. Charges of fraud, lying, and deliberately misleading in order to enhance one’s ministry only hurt the Christian witness. If a person sincerely testifies of personal healing and then suffers a setback, the premature testimony cannot be charged to the pastor or evangelist, which would reflect negatively on the testimony of the church in the community.

6. Do not invite speakers to fill your pulpit out of a desire just to see "manifestations." There has been enough manipulation that casts doubt on the genuine work of the Spirit. Choose your pulpit guests wisely. Going outside the list of recognized Assemblies of God credentials holders can bring undesired teachings and example.

7. Do not point accusing fingers at those who may not heed these admonitions.

8. When you do observe and confirm the presence of wrong doctrine and/or practice, you have a responsibility to speak out in the right way. Concern should first be expressed to those involved in the error. If the concern is rejected or not answered, district leadership should be made aware of the situation. "In a multitude of counselors there is safety" (Proverbs 24:6, NKJV).

Some of the teachings and human responses described in this paper as concerns of the Church will in a few years, if the Lord delays His return, be forgotten or remembered only as passing fads. Some will reappear under new names. And there will likely be new teachings like these that begin with a kernel of truth but then move to extra-biblical excess. Discernment is needed, not so much on the labels and names, as on the actual teachings and human responses. The Lord is faithful to guide and protect His people as they seek only to build His kingdom and to give all the glory to Him, refusing to take any for themselves.

Reports of souls saved and lives changed should never justify wrong theology and practices. Yet Paul said about the false prophets who were causing him and his ministry frustration, "Christ is proclaimed in every way whether out of false motives or true; and in that I rejoice" (Philippians 1:15-18). But Paul obviously wanted Christ to be proclaimed from right motives and with biblical integrity. So do we.

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FIRST, IT WAS PET FOOD INGREDIENTS ... THEN TOOTHPASTE ... FOLLOWED BY TOYS ... and now comes word of the latest potentially lethal Chinese export product:

Infant formula contaminated with a component used in plastics manufacture which, if ingested, can cause kidney stones to form.

To date, reports from China have it that @ least eight infants have fallen ill from said baby formula, and as a precaution (although no Chinese-manufacture infant formula has been discerned in especially dollar stores), nursing mothers are being advised to avoid any and all Chinese-made infant formula brands when nursing their young.

And instead, consider breast feeding if medically feasable, resorting to reputable brands of infant formula only as a last resort (e.g., if your doctor feels that breast-feeding is impractical in your particular circumstances).

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

FOX PROLEFEED IS CERTAINLY GOING TO BE DROOLING OVER THIS STORY'S COMING OUT ON THE 9/11 ANNIVERSARY; by way of WLS-TV Chicago, as broke the story:

A Chicago public school student says his teacher used him as an example of a terrorist [in] class.

The child is an Arab-Muslim and says he was intimidated and isolated from classmates after the incident. On Thursday the boy, his family and Muslim leaders met with school officials about the complaint.

The incident happened last spring at the Brentano Math and Science Academy in the Logan Square community.

The teacher is no longer at the school. But the boy's family says school officials must do more to keep situations like this from happening again.

It was more than a year ago that his sixth grade teacher made the comment in class. But 13-year-old Saleh Choudhary's family is still pursuing a resolution.

It was in a history class at the Brentano Math and Science Academy in Logan Square that the teacher allegedly described a hypothetical situation in which Saleh would carry a bomb aboard a plane and blow it up.

"Saleh is the only Muslim, the only Arab in the classroom. And in using that example, she basically gave the go-ahead to all the students to begin harassing," said Christina Abraham, Council on American Islamic Relations.

His family says the boy came home from school with tears in his eyes as he described the painful harassment he faced from other students immediately afterward.

They went to the school's principal at the time, Georgette Watson, asking that the teacher be disciplined. Watson passed away later that year before she was able to resolve their concerns. Now, the family and American-Islamic leaders were meeting with the school board and a mediator to come up with a resolution. They said they want the teacher fired.

"I believe that's the most serious and harshest punishment given out and should be given out," said brother Mohammed Fahad Choudhary.

"Either she did it willingly or just completely irresponsibly. Either way, it reflects negligence to the extent that she should not be teaching in the Chicago Public Schools," said Abraham.

The family is also hoping the school will provide counseling to Saleh and sensitivity training to teachers. Late Thursday afternoon, Chicago Public Schools CEO Arne Duncan responded.

"It's very disturbing that this kind of thing would happen, and I just appreciate the family so much for stepping forward and talking to us about that, that takes courage to do that. And the only way we can make sure these things never happen again is by addressing them openly and honestly," he said.

The teacher is still working for the Chicago Public Schools but is no longer at the Brentano academy. Duncan says the board is working with the mediator to resolve the concerns. The next meeting is scheduled for late next month.

In any case, expect Fox Prolefeed to be all over this case, suggesting that school districts conduct North Korean-stylee "Loyalty Drills" all the more in the name of True Patriot Love in All Thy Sons Command targeting especially Arabs, Muslims, Jews and other "deviants."

(And speaking of North Korean "Loyalty Drills," you have to wonder if Pyongyang is in the process of carrying out an especially vehement such in the face of "Great Leader" Kim Jong Il not being seen in public for nearly a month's time--as in finding out whether the North Korean people will show the proper degree of mourning once the current "Great Leader" snuffs it, probably within measurable distance.)

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CONCLUDING @ THS TIME WITH THE PENTULTIMATE EDITION OF THE COMPLEAT SCOOP FROM THE MINNESOTA STATE FAIR DAILY NEWS on the pentultimate day of this year's such:

To the Bonaders: All your State Fair friends are pulling for Len. Please tell him we are all thinking of him. Keep the faith! KF

A big wow to long-time vendors in the Grandstand, the Tow Arnettes of Collis Curve Toothbrushes. They have not one, not two but THREE sons playing for the U of M football team this year! That's a first for the Gophers!

Percy the Fine Arts Flamingo invites everyone to come up to the Fine Arts Building and wish Superintendent Robert Meyer a Happy Birthday! Word has it that he's as old as the building!

Happy "B" Day Nikki. Koppy Admissions. 17 straight years.

Happy Birthday to the Stovetop Grill lady in the Merchandise Mart. You could sell ice to Alaskans!

Thank you Peggy at campsite window for helping the strawberry man from Winnipeg and strawberry smiles to her helpers including the RV park it fella.

How about the tram drivers moving through the crowds. Patience with pleasantness--tremendous.--Peter the Strawberry Man.

To Florian at Modern Living: We hope you're at the fair in 2009--we'd miss you! Dawn is such a gm. Thanks for the surprises--you make our 12 days!--Brienna.

The only friend Kermit and Buzz boys Bob and Perr have was running around telling people how nice these guys are. He was caught and returned to the locked hospital ward where he escaped.

The food vendors are having a record year. That's because Mary is spending more on food than she will earn this year.

T.T. Have a great day 12.

Word on Bird is that he's a "nice boy."

Deanna and Cassie: Happy five year anniversary as Big Farm Hands. Thank you for all you do!

Who wants to sleep because I knew we all do down here!

Karl: thank you so much for all of your help yesterday. You really helped us out of a bind and we are eternally grateful for it!

We really need to pick up the speed on these golf carts ...

Who else is feeling as if they have gained some lbs. at the fair...?

AH thank you for being the best fiance a gal could ask for. Two presents in one day, how you spoil me!

Teflon how much would it take for you to talk in the creepy voice for the rest of your life?

Those mascots are tricky little fellows.

Dawn, it was so great to meet you! Florian and you are a wonderful couple!

BD when are we getting the floats?

BES if you know of anymore Brits coming be sure to send them my way!

One more day!! Make the absolute best of it!

The whole concludes tomorrow.    

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.