theblogthatam

I believe than some coffee alcohol fuels

Thu, 17 May 2012 18:19:37 +0100

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17h47 UTC; THURSDAY, 17 MAY 2012: Reader, I hope you'll appreciate this modest experiment in presenting my commentaries through this very blog by presenting several topically-inclined thoughts in list form; your comments, of course, are always welcome, as is the responsible sharing thereof. Let's proceed then, shall we:

Overheard: Both GOP Presidential wannabe Mitt Romney and Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker are really from the planet Uranus. In fact, their tone of speech suggests as much.
So who exactly isn't buying into that IPO of Facebook set for the morrow?
Is the real GOP agenda for Main Street (and, in effect, "REAL AmeriKKKa") actually expected to be "born out of the Volk to serve the Volk," provided such was compatible with ekonomesie vryheid met Amerikaanse eienskappe (and to take the forms of Reddingsdaad and Helpmekaar)?
With the Census Bureau reporting where birth rates among National Minorities in the United States have now exceeded those of heretofore "morally superior" whites, how much longer before the Archie Bunker element starts pushing crude, pornographic even, appeals for the "racially aware" to increase white birth rates By Any Means Necessary?
(Just a reminder: So-called "Confederate Southern AmeriKKKans" don't qualify officially for National Minority status.)
Are GOP-affiliated "SuperPAC's" (as much as the GOP, come to think of it) in some class of an Unholy Alliance with the so-called "Church of Scientology" vis-a-vis creative ways to apply Scientology's "Fair Game Law" as a prolefeed weapon?
Who's the REAL patriot here: The "Tea Party" Zealot/True Believer in his Luscious Glory of exploiting the wholesale poverty, fecundity and ignorance extant in traditionally white "group areas" (as it were), or those who take "Tea Party" prolefeed claims apart?
So what exactly are the "social welfare" activities among the likes of A meriKKKans for Prosperity, AmeriKKKan Crossroads GPS and the several "Tea Party"-affiliated sects as entitle them to tax-exempt status when the record suggests otherwise?
Watch for certain scions of the "Tea Party" element, taking advantage of the ongoing Congressional ex-lax, to start expressing overt admiration for the likes of Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini and Hendrik Verwoerd as Examples Worthy of Study and Emulation for Rescuing Our Dear Lovely Nation from Herself.
What sort of maths did Wisconsin Governor Walker, in his Luscious Glory of hubris seeking to defend himself from the recall challenge, use to create the illusion that Wisconsin actually "created" jobs last year thanks to his "wise leadership" when the actual record suggests otherwise? (And if any jobs were actually created at all, expect such to be in the scam arena, in particular "work-from-home" and "work online" schemes based interstate.)
As if the GOP thought "ending welfare as we know it" wasn't good enow, expect them to push through mandates requiring students from "welfare-dependent" backgrounds to participate in School-to-Work schemes which place an unhealthy emphasis on the ideological (mostly parroting "Tea Party" and Ayn Randist talking points in a state of gross inebriation, with Certain Bad Words thrown into the mix) rather than the practical, the which carry risk of psychological harm as could prevent participants from finding jobs training "despite reasonable efforts" through targeted schemes like Vocational Rehabilitation, Job Corps, Partners With Industry and Emergency Economic Redeployment.
New research commissioned by the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors' Authority suggests that workers are actually more productive after an extended vacation, as well as suggesting that doctors should be encouraged to prescribe rest vacations for such with serious risk of the old neurasthenia. All the more reason to put paid vacation time to serious and productive use for once.

Well ... how do you like this approach to blogging here at The Blog That Am!?

REMEMBER THIS: Your comments on, and responsible sharing of, these posts are always welcome and apprecitated. And if you like these posts, please join my (howbeit sporadic) e-mail list for insight and observations as may come across Your Correspondent's mind (which you can always leave at any time); to contact me, please do so through the Contact page; responses cannot be guaranteed.

And please be aware that Your Correspondent has no control over the content of outside links in these posts, which are provided solely for your information and enlightenment.

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Mitt Romney and John Galt: New low for BFF's?

Wed, 16 May 2012 21:58:10 +0100

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22h19 UTC; WEDNESDAY, 16 MAY 2012: For starters, readers, I would like to apologise for my absence as long as it was from Teh Innerwebz (and Teh Blogospheerz, to be more specific about it): Yesterday morning, it turned out that my trusty old computer was going into "BSoD" and "infinite loop" mode to the extent that such was making it impossible for moi to go online; hence, it was decided to send the computer over for repairs as involved reinstallation of the WindowsXP operating system and a new hard drive being put in to improve performance. (Not to mention, just today, a new media driver having to be installed after it emerged that one such wasn't installed in the reinstallation.)

Sometimes, things do wear out and need replacing over time, mind you; hence, if any of you readers could do well to consider the prospect of giving moi a decent laptop PC as per my Amazon Wishlist, such would be greatly apperciated.

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Talk about a new low in "phishing" attempts: NakedSecurity.com is reporting where an "account verification" e-spam supposedly in the name and behalf of LinkedIn.com turns out to connect to an "online pharmacy" selling "male enlargement" products. Which, at least, shows some creativity on the part of "phishing" types to show just what kind of a joke it all is.

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

Meanwhile, just where does the GOP/"Tea Party" element get the Grand Delusion that they can lower the price of gasoline to $2/gallon solely through market forces and their beloved ekonomesie vryheid met Amerikaanse eienskappe as the (presumed) Fountainhead of AmeriKKKan National and Sovereign Identity as a Peculiar Among the Nations (cf. Cuba's Constitution insisting that Socialism is "essential to the Cuban national identity")?

And how do we know they're not having pipe-dream delusions about "mouth-of-mine" synfuels plants in the Sasolberg model creating ersatz gasolines cheap and cheerful from AmeriKKKan coal (especially the highly-sulfuric brown such)?

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

Meanwhile, if anybody in the "Tea Party" (pseudo)movement drinks tea (never mind that its supposed inspiration, the Boston Tea Party, was actually a protest against what would now be seen as Unfair Trade Practices by the British East India Company, who, after successfully pleading poverty to Parliament, got to dump cheap, duty-free even, tea upon the British colonies in North America at artifically-low prices), expect them to be drinking cheap store brands as aren't exactly of the best quality. Among them the likes of Nice! (Walgreen's), Market Pantry (Target) and Great Value (Walmart), not to mention "own-label" brands from whatever is the dominant supermarket in the region, be it Safeway, Kroger, Albertson's, Hannaford's, HEB, Hy-Vee, Cub Foods, Jewel, Publix, A&P, Shop-Rite, Giant Eagle, Winn Dixie, what have you.

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So much for GOP Presidential wannabe Mitt Romney's reply to the some $2 billion in losses from risky derivatives trades by JPMorgan Chase being a call for "common-sense regulatory oversight" vis-a-vis the banking industry: How do we know such isn't really code for "best practices" codes excusing, condoning even, cartel behaviour as itself excuses interlocking directorates and management, giving preferentially low loan rates to affiliated companies in the cartel (with "consulting fees" in form of kickbacks), arbitrarily low deposit rates, &c., &c.?

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Meanwhile, Your Correspondent acknowledges where it's probably too early to judge whether his recent moves to improve exposure to as much this blog as the Online Mall are generating expected results in increased traffic (but then again, acknowledging where the Online Mall could still use some serious traffic as translates into serious revenue as helps Your Correspondent), let alone the likelihood of whether Entrecard may still be seriously worth it as a traffic generator among fellow blog sites....

REMEMBER THIS: Your comments on, and responsible sharing of, these posts are always welcome and apprecitated. And if you like these posts, please join my (howbeit sporadic) e-mail list for insight and observations as may come across Your Correspondent's mind (which you can always leave at any time); to contact me, please do so through the Contact page; responses cannot be guaranteed.

And please be aware that Your Correspondent has no control over the content of outside links in these posts, which are provided solely for your information and enlightenment.

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Kiss your "economic freedom" goodbye?!

Mon, 14 May 2012 16:15:16 +0100

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15h45 UTC; MONDAY, 14 MAY 2012: For all the atrocity-undertoned prolefeed being pushed by the Greater "Tea Party" (pseudo)movement about a second term for President Obama only being but The Beginning of the End for ekonomesie vryheid met Amerikaanse eienskappe as an Essential and Integral Part of AmeriKKKan National and Sovereign Identity as a Peculiar Among the Nations, how do we know we're not really seeing projection here to make the "Tea Party" look like the Maid of Astolat in the Arthurian mythos, seeing themselves as the Divinely-Appointed Saviours and Guardians of Our Dear Lovely AmeriKKKa while (howbeit secretly) insisting that the only way ekonomesie vryheid, &c., can be Rescued From Itself is through "complete and final regulatory relief" as only turns out condoning State-protected cartel behaviour, with inherent harm and danger for business and consumers alike?

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This past weekend seems to have been replete with irony for the Mitt "Believe in AmeriKKKa" Romney Presidential campaign bid. Consider:

Governor Romney "himself" delivering the 2012 commencement address at Liberty University in Lynchburg, VA, whose syllabus and curriculum is best described as being rooted in an ur-Christian Nationalist theology beloved of its founder, the late Dr. Jerry "Moral Majority" Falwell, as insists that Mormonism (of which Governor Romney is a known adherent) is some class of an Evil Cult (cue the reechy horror-movie organ music here) inconsistent and incompatible with the Pure Saving Gospel of Jeebus Christ and all that cal.
Meanwhile, at the Arizona RepubliKKKan Party's state convention, Romney's son was jeered rather obnoxiously by the Ron Paulite and "Tea Party" element when he urged delegates thereto to support Romney as the official RepubliKKKan Presidential candidate.

In any case, you have to wonder if a closer reading of the Romney Presidential agenda may be all the more necessary so as to decipher a deeper "syntax-word-key meaning" therefor which may reveal a "deep state" mindset on a par with the Afrikaner Nationalist Party's iron-heeled stranglehold of South Africa in the Luscious Glory of apartheid as held the Afrikaner to be God's Chosen People, &c., &c.

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Expect wholesale deflection of penitents from especially the more blatantly "Bible-Believing Christian" churches still insisting that homosexuality is a Sin and a Perversion in their Luscious Glory of selective Scruptural theology excusing religiopolitical contempt for President Obama as could raise questions with the IRS as Indecision 2012 draws all the closer, especially considering where the President has come out tacitly for gay marriage while the Elmer Gantryites and Necedahites still insist on Defending the Purity and Sachristy of Biblically-Ordained Marriage as Being the Sole and Exclusive Franchise of Between Male and Female.

Said deflections being enough to leave a "hard core" of the most hard-wired sort behind--the so-called "REAL AmeriKKKans" of "virtuous" poverty, fecundity and ignorance which can be excused to serve God and Country while all the while exposing their underdeveloped minds to potentially dangerous suggestion, manipulation even for the likes of hastily-arranged mass rallies where obnoxiously blatant fanaticism holds high carnival in a form and fashion rivalling the Nazis' annual debaucheries in Nuremburg. Or, for that matter, apartheid South Africa's manufactured fanaticism made flesh at the Voortrekkermonument outside Pretoria every December 16th when that Holy and Sacred Beam of the Noonday Sun shineth upon and illuminates Die Senotaaf as is the Holy of Holies in Die Heldesaal, with particular attention upon the inscription ONS VIR JOU, SUID-AFRIKA, that Most Holy and Dear Hour of the Afrikaner Calendar and Civil Religion....

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Tell me how the "Tea Party" would react to the news that Seattle officials, in an effort to reduce costs and increase recycling, are going to test fortnightly (as opposed to the traditional weekly) garbage collection in two Seattle neighbourhoods over the summer; should such actually prove viable, expect the Noble Experiment to be rolled out citywide in 2014.

Or isn't the "Tea Party" exactly the recycling sort, insisting on excusing wasteful habits as "Wise Use"?

REMEMBER THIS, READER: Your comments on, and responsible sharing of, these posts are always welcome and appreciated. And should you ever need to contact me with questions, comments, whatever, please do so through this page; to join our free (howbeit sporadic) e-mail list, just click here. (BTW, we will not sell nor share your e-mail address, and you can always leave at any time.)

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The Amazing(?!) Race for the Kerwood Derby hath resumed

Sun, 13 May 2012 15:47:14 +0100

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15h08 UTC; SUNDAY, 13 MAY 2012: For those of you asking about the allusion in today's post: Those of a certain age who grew up when cable TV was limited to hilly-terrain areas (and then only to improve reception of FreeVee stations from a distance) may recall the weekly animated exploits of Rocky and Bullwinkle on NBC-TV Sunday evenings in the early 1960's (and in subsequent reruns), replete with all manner of topical puns, wordplay and social satire throughout.

One of the classic story arcs from that series was one involving the "Kerwood Derby," a bowler hat supposedly endowing its wearer with the powers of superhuman intellect; the name being a play on Durwaid Kerby (1911-2000), the longtime comic foil of Gary Moore on the latter's long-running radio and TV series ... who, in fact, actually threatened Jay Ward and Bill Scott, the co-producers of Rocky and Bullwinkle, with legal action for Invasion of Privacy, for which Jay Ward offered to advance legal fees for Mr. Kerby in the hope of maximising the publicity value.

(In the end, however, it was a matter of non causa pro causa.)

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In any event, it looks as if the Amazing(?!) Race for the Kerwood Derby, somehow mysteriously resurfacing out of the mists of obscurity, has begun anew.

And in any case, expect "Tea Party" and "9/12" types to stumble badly as much as hilariously throughout, as in all manner of miscues, gaffes, false moves, pandering to crude and primitive jingoism and just plain-vanilla stupidity and doublethink, knowing that these (pseudo)movements have particular and especial appeal to the likes of such specimens of poverty, fecundity and ignorance who insist on seeing themselves as "REAL AmeriKKKans" thanks to the unhealthy and potentially corrupting influence of Fox News and conservative talkback radio in their Luscious Glory of exploiting the vulnerable and easily-led with few or no realistic job or career skills, let alone prospects beyond scam offers in the "make-work/fake-work" vein.

Especially when much of their misadventures involves alluding to the Luscious Glory that was white Afrikaner honour and privilege endowed upon the Afrikaner under South Africa's depravity of apartheid as part of the Greater Campaign of Solidarity with the Afrikaner Peoples of South Africa in Clear and Present Danger of Genocide for their Noble and Glorious Race and their Pious and Simple Faith (or so the prolefeed from racist and White Christian Nationalist Zealots and True Believers wants us believing), especially when it takes hagiographic form and fashion pandering to the emo. (Of particular interest: Calls for creating a "Christian Nationalist"-driven youth movement in the vein of Die Voortrekkers, an Afrikaner-centrist alternative to Scouting as tended heavily to "racial and spiritual awareness" in their agenda of youth development and character-building based on its ABC of Afrikanerskap [Afrikaner pride and identity], Burgerskap [citizenship] and Christenskap [Christian service and witness].)

In any case, the whole deserving to be watched. And called out as necessary, preferably through satiric counterattack, snark even, exploiting the weaknesses of the "Tea Party" and "9/12" crowds.

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What Walmart isn't telling you (and probably doesn't want you to know) in their adverts for their Choice Premium Steaks (as in their pulling off the Folger's Crystals act at the Golden Ox steakhouse in Kansas City, and perhaps a few others before too long): Videlicet, that said steaks are from assembly-line feedlot operations fed on highly-processed grains mixed with antibiotics wholesale, the manure therefrom essentially going to waste under the banner of "Wise Use" when such could actually be converted to energy, thereby adding value to the whole operation.

In other words, it ain't exactly Wagyu beef they're selling at Walmart these days. Or even Argentine such, for that matter.

And what exactly are the tenderising agents Walmart is using? Shades of the Golden Butter Knife Award (the which is now held only by Charlie's Cafe Exceptionale in Minneapolis)!!

REMEMBER THIS, READER: Your comments on, and responsible sharing of, these posts are always welcome and appreciated. And should you ever need to contact me with questions, comments, whatever, please do so through this page; to join our free (howbeit sporadic) e-mail list, just click here. (BTW, we will not sell nor share your e-mail address, and you can always leave at any time.)

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Cell biological vitality is always a weakness

Sat, 12 May 2012 16:26:07 +0100

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15h42 UTC; SATURDAY, 12 MAY 2012: Admittedly, Your Correspondent acknowledges the influence of George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty Four for the title of today's return to blogging after a day's enforced lapse following the effects of an eye examination which saw the eyes dilated for a time thanks to "drops" that are necessary to aid in inner-eye examination--howbeit Engrishfied, know.

(The original quote, "The weakness of the cell is the vigor of the organism," was directed at Winston by O'Brien in explaining that Party ideology insisted on the individual, being prone to error and weakness, being expected to subordinate the self to the Greater Collective Will of the Party if one is to save themselves in the dystopically dysfunctional police state. Could it be safe to assume such is the same mindset of Christian Right and "Tea Party" types as well in their Luscious Glory of warped patriotism?)

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As for the conservative notion suggesting that homosexuals "indoctrinate others into their filthy, immoral and perverto lifestyle" (hence, justifying the necessity of discriminatory measures rivalling the South under Jim Crow and apartheid South Africa), what about the more hard-wired specimens of "Bible-Believing Christians" in their Luscious Glory of overzealous proselytising, especially when Jack Chick tracts distributed incognito come into the equation?

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As you may have heard by now, JPMorgan Chase let slip in a conference call this past week the fact that the actions of a rogue trader in their London operations vis-a-vis derivatives ("synthetic credit insturments," to use a bankers' euphemism therefor) translated into US$2 billion in losses over the past six weeks, with the clear and present likelihood of at least as much more in losses when second-quarter financials come out. Which, in any case, prompted Fitch Ratings to cut JPMorgan Chase's credit rating and the usual ideologically-driven debate about whether such acts, deeds and exploits are actually in the best interests of the banking industry as much as our supposedly "morally-superior" free-market socioeconomic platform based upon ekonomesie vryheid met Amerikaanse eienskappe and its presumed interconnexion to Our National and Sovereign Identity as a Peculiar Among the Nations.

As well as the likelihood for the weird and unwholesome reprising the stock anti-Semitic canard about "unhealthy and disproportionate to actual population" Jewish "interference" in the banking sector, yet repeating their insistence on recasting the banking system "according to Christian principles"--howbeit without any specifics on what so constitutes or otherwise providing actual case studies of "Christian banking." (About the closest such I could think of is the mutual savings bank model, itself the creation of a Scots Presbyterian minister to help his poorer penitents save against later hardship; when it crossed the Atlantic and began to be embraced here in the Unted States, such would be heavily promoted by Quakers and Roman Catholics in particular to give the working-classes a viable alternative to gin mills and lotteries.

(Or would such an element rather prefer as the model for study and emulation that of Volkskas, a South African banking-house founded in 1934 with Afrikaner Broederbond connexions seeking to help establish Afrikaner socioeconomic dominance, since merged into ABSA?)

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If ever there was need for a 21st-century version of Hitler's "victory jig" after managing to goosestep France into the Luscious Glory of Nazi submission on June 22, 1940 (which, in fact, was actually a manipulation by Allied propagandists of Nazi newsreel footage showing Hitler supposedly rejoicing in the triumph of the moment, itself a simple editing-room trick known as "looping"), it would have to be that "smoking gun" of a conversation between belaguered Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker and a major business contributor to his campaign back in 2010 insinuating that Walker could use "divide-and-conquer" prolefeed and other tactics against labour unions in the name of "fiscal responsibility"; this from the forthcoming documentary As Goes Janesville, which is set for summer release on the arthouse-and-film-society circuit such as Fox News loves sneering at as opposed to "REAL AmeriKKKan Kultur" epitomised by Branson's so-called "music shows" being the Right's preferred cultural acid test.

Especially when the "looping" is done at the precise moment which can maximise obnoxious hilarity while concurrently having prolefeed value, notwithstanding where the Walker camp will fake gross stupidity by claiming that the quote "was out of context," that he was "misquoted," &c., &c., when in fact such feigned ignorance is nothing but a prolefeed misadventure bound to backfire.

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And One Thing More: How do we know such specimens of Zealotry and True Belief in a "pure" form of ekonomesie vryheid, &c., aren't really pushing an ur-Darwinist agenda excusing, in due course, cartel behaviour officially explained in the end as "Natural Selection, Survival of the Fittest," &c., &c., notwithstanding the harm likely posing to business and consumers alike?

REMEMBER THIS, READER: Your comments on, and responsible sharing of, these posts are always welcome and appreciated. And should you ever need to contact me with questions, comments, whatever, please do so through this page; to join our free (howbeit sporadic) e-mail list, just click here. (BTW, we will not sell nor share your e-mail address, and you can always leave at any time.)

Also, be aware that Your Correspondent is not responsible for the content of external website links in blog posts, which open in new browser windows for your convenience (and are included only to provide contextual insight and clarity into the topic at hand).

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Can a people move forward solely by rescuing itself?

Thu, 10 May 2012 18:37:03 +0100

17h12 UTC; THURSDAY, 10 MAY 2012: The preceding (kudos to Pleated-Jeans.com, should they insist on "credit where credit is due") presented as a Public Service Reminder to particularly such overdoing it on the "power of pride" trope vis-a-vis True Patriot Love Thou Dost in Us Command (preferably of xenophobically jingoist sort).

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As for the inspiration of the title of today's post, such was inspired by the "Forward" slogan of President Obama's reelection effort, no doubt challenged just as quickly by his Republican opponent-presumptive Mitt Romney shortly after its unveiling ... itself leaving moi (at mininum) wondering if what conservatives are really calling for when it comes to socioeconomic rescue is a "people-centred" model "born out of the Volk to serve the Volk" essentially, in Afrikaner nationalist stylee--as in a "sponatenous and mighty" whip-round of sorts towards a Reddingsdaad ("rescue pact") based on the creation of "productive capital" to be leveraged as necessary to start or otherwise expand "viable" small business or industrial ventures expected to create jobs and on-the-job training for "REAL AmeriKKKans" translating into incomes and purchasing power as can itself be leveraged over and over into fresh "productive capital" as can be managed according to the doctrine of 'n Volk red homself ("a people rescuing itself") through a central investment fund as would have equity stake in businesses so supported.

(Such was the actual case back in South Africa among Afrikaner nationalists for a decade prior to the 1948 rise of the apartheid regime in its Luscious Glory of racist and socioeconomic segregation and disparity excused as serving God, Country and Race. Its origins were in the 1938 Tweede Trek created to promote Afrikaner Unity and Identity, aided and abetted by an appeal to "rescue" the "sunken materially and spiritually" Afrikaner through ethno-national cohesion and unity rather than State charity or alms to their proper pride of place; within a year or so, the Bloemfontein Ekonomesie Volkskongres, under Afrikaner Broederbond auspices and behind closed doors for the most part, fleshed out the Reddingsdaad's final form being one of "seizing upon the foreign model of capitalism and adapting it to suit our ethnic character"--as in the creation of a new "people's capitalism" [Volkskapitalisme] placing the traditional capitalist emphasis on wealth creation subordinate to one of socioeconomic and moral uplift through jobs creation and training. Itself to be further reinforced through the promotion of various cooperative societies in line with the Afrikaner discipline of Helpmekaar ["helping each other"], such as building societies, savings banks, retail and agricultural cooperatives. The whole being conducted under auspices of the highly-connected Afrikaner life insurer Sanlam managing the Federale Volksbeleggings ["Federal People's Investments"] investment fund created from the original Tweede Trek whipround's proceeds, with popular support for the agenda expected through the Reddingsdaadbond ["Rescue Pact League"], itself created to promote Afrikaner national, cultural and socioeconomic empowerment. Which, by 1948, would be further perfected with Sanlam's creating Bonuskor with an eye to encouraging its policyholders entitled to bonuses on their policies to convert same into Bonuskor shares as would be traded on the Johannesburg bourse.)

So why isn't the GOP openly acknowledging such is their "real" design for saving Our Morally-Superior Economy From Itself, as if a Constitutional Amendment seeking to establish as "irrevocable" an interconnexion of ekonomesie vryheid, &c., with AmeriKKKan National and Sovereign Identity, and further insisting that the defence of one is that of the other, wasn't quite good enough?

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Finally, Real America (unlike the Fox News dissimulation under that appellation, itself masquerading its secret contempt and loathing therefor) has a victory for once: Reversing a previous decision, the nearly-bankrupt United States Postal Service has announced that it will keep country post offices heretofore scheduled for closure or consolidation open--howbeit with reduced staffing and operating hours for the most part, and more than likely involving partnerships with local businesses (the Village Post Office concept, as it were).

Which, come to think of it, is of especial importance what with many rural areas lacking affordable access to high-speed Innerwebz connexions (and "Tea Party" articles of faith essentially excusing such under the banner of Recaliming The AmeriKKKa We Love Deeply and Dearly).

Meanwhile, for such looking to help in the cause of the Socioeconomic Rescue of Real America through the creation of a modest little variety store in some country area otherwise lacking decent retail options, consider the following for starters:

As for the notion that American industry faces serious issues getting access to decent loans or credit facilities from mainstream bankers to help with jobs creation and investment in plant and equipment, Mein Innkeeper Friend hath it that such "depends on who you know" as your bankers. Hence, from his own experience as a small businessman, he can tell you that smaller, independent bankers may be easier to deal with than such with offices all over the place, notwithstanding saccharine campaigns from the likes of Bank of AmeriKKKa seeking to gloss over its indiscretions.

Or, alternately, savings and credit unions.

In any case, those "loan brokers" who claim they have "super-secret access" to financing channels otherwise unavailable to small businesses are best avoided: Such are more than likely illegal, what with their charging up-front fees to handle the application, as well as a "deposit" equal to the face value of the desired loan (which, if anything, actually fails to materialise ... and if so, at higher interest rates than mainstream bankers are willing to otherwise charge, such being a sign of possible designs to launder the Immoral Proceeds of Crime and/or Terrorism through "loan agency" fronts for the weird and unwholesome element).

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Meanwhile, if President Obama's associations with the Hollywood element for fundraising and support can be a bone of contention among the Mitt Romney support base (especially the shadowy underworld of the SuperPAC's in their Luscious Glory of secrecy), how do we know the Romney campaign isn't secretly hoping for major support from the more jingoistic Bransoner Muzikschaukultur types, especially considering where the cultural conservatives hope to use Branson as a "more realistically AmeriKKKan defining test" for their concept of Amerikanischer Realkultur?

(Recall at this time, reader, that Germany's Nazi regime used the Kraft durch Frude ["Strength Through Joy"] scheme of their Labour Ministry, in its Luscious Glory of promoting labour peace and improving worker productivity through pacification, to promote an idealised German "folk culture" pushing subtle racist and hypernationalist messages through various "folk culture festivals" under its auspices. Not to mention subsidised short-break vacations in German spas and beauty spots.)

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Whence exactly did GOP Presidential wannabe Mitt Romney come up with the notion about creating 500,000 jobs/month being a "normal" pattern of socioeconomic recovery following recessions? Did he actually do careful research, or did he simply pick a number out of thin air for maximum prolefeed value? (By contrast, consider where H.J. Heinz came up with "Heinz 57 Varieties" after he was inspired by an ad card on the Sixth Avenue El in New York City for a shoemakers' advertising their product being available in 21 different styles; thus inspired, Mr. Heinz, ever a shrewd believer in the power of advertising, created the now-famous slogan. As a matter of fact, within a few years of the slogan's first appearence in 1884, Heinz was advertising over 60 different food products under its label, among them ketchup, mustard, pickles, pickle relish, baked beans, soups and canned pasta.)

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Before I go today, just a "heads-up" to the effect where I may be unable to offer a post tomorrow; I have my biennial eye examination under a new opthmatologist, which may or may not involve that legendary bane of eye examinations known as "drops" (as in dilating the pupils of the eyes such so that the inner eye can be more thoroughly examined, with attendant short-term effects upon vision as the effect of the "drops" wears off). Just so you know. In the meantime, remember that I always welcome your comments on these posts, and encourage your (responsible) sharing thereof by e-mail and social media.

REMEMBER THIS, READER: Your comments on, and responsible sharing of, these posts are always welcome and appreciated. And should you ever need to contact me with questions, comments, whatever, please do so through this page; to join our free (howbeit sporadic) e-mail list, just click here. (BTW, we will not sell nor share your e-mail address, and you can always leave at any time.)

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"Making the pig's foot kosher," socioeconomic rescue department

Wed, 09 May 2012 20:16:51 +0100

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18h42 UTC; WEDNESDAY, 9 MAY 2012: For those asking about the inspiration of the title for today's post, reader, there's a Yiddish expression which translates as "making the pig's foot kosher," oft used as a Jewish colloquialism for "attempting the impossible"--which itself alludes to the fact that Jews avoid pork for religious reasons.

The which could be said to apply to "Tea Party" (pseudo)movement and GOP articles of faith intertwined vis-a-vis Indecision 2012 as insist that the State should not have any sort of role to rescue our "morally superior" free-enterprise-driven model of ekonomesie vryheid met Amerikaanse eienskappe, that such needs to be of a "people-centred" model, "born out of the Volk to serve the Volk" essentially--howbeit consistent and compatible with the aforementioned ekonomesie vryheid, &c., such itself being "consistent with AmeriKKKan experience, heritage and conditions."

(As in condoning gross disparities of wealth and mass poverty to be "AmeriKKKan" and yet "Christian," reinforced by a perverto, out of context reading of Divine Writ as is itself perverted in the stylee of Nazi Germany's seeking to rewrite the Bible to conform to its "Holy Blood and Soil" sophistry excusing race mastery as itself excused anti-Semitism.)

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Before proceeding with the next point, perhaps the following passage from Orwell's Nineteen Eighty Four (as in the interrogation between O'Brien and Winston) may want to serve the role of insight:

O'Brien was looking down at him [Winston] speculatively. More than ever he had the air of a teacher taking pains with a wayward but promising child.

"There is a Party slogan dealing with the control of the past," he said. "Repeat it, if you please."

"'Who controls the past controls the future: who controls the present controls the past,'" repeated Winston obediently.

"'Who controls the present controls the past,'" said O'Brien, nodding his head with slow approval. "Is it your opinion, Winston, that the past has real existence?"

Again the feeling of helplessness descended upon Winston. His eyes flitted towards the dial. He not only did not know whether "yes" or "no" was the answer that would save him from pain; he did not even know which answer he believed to be the true one.

O'Brien smiled faintly. "You are no metaphysician, Winston," he said. "Until this moment you had never considered what is meant by existence. I will put it more precisely. Does the past exist concretely, in space? Is there somewhere or other a place, a world of solid objects, where the past is still happening?"

"No."

"Then where does the past exist, if at all?"

"In records. It is written down."

"In records. And --?"

"In the mind. In human memories."

"In memory. Very well, then. We, the Party, control all records, and we control all memories. Then we control the past, do we not?"

"But how can you stop people remembering things?" cried Winston again momentarily forgetting the dial. "It is involuntary. It is outside oneself. How can you control memory? You have not controlled mine!"

O'Brien's manner grew stern again. He laid his hand on the dial."On the contrary," he said, "you have not controlled it. That is what has brought you here. You are here because you have failed in humility, in self-discipline. You would not make the act of submission which is the price of sanity. You preferred to be a lunatic, a minority of one. Only the disciplined mind can see reality, Winston. You believe that reality is something objective, external, existing in its own right. You also believe that the nature of reality is self-evident. When you delude yourself into thinking that you see something, you assume that everyone else sees the same thing as you. But I tell you, Winston, that reality is not external. Reality exists in the human mind, and nowhere else. Not in the individual mind, which can make mistakes, and in any case soon perishes: only in the mind of the Party, which is collective and immortal. Whatever the Party holds to be the truth, is truth. It is impossible to see reality except by looking through the eyes of the Party. That is the fact that you have got to relearn, Winston. It needs an act of self-destruction, an effort of the will. You must humble yourself before you can become sane."

I'm not exactly sure of the specific numbers, but as the numbers of Nazi-era Holocaust survivors--Jews, Catholics, Roma, Russo-Slavs, homosexuals, "mental defectives," the disabled, the war-wounded, Jehovah's Witnesses and others the Nazis regarded as "subhuman" or "life unworthy of life"--goes into inevitable decline the world over, the Holocaust denial crowd, in its Luscious Glory of Nazi appy polly loggia, just can't wait for the last Holocaust survivor (especially if Jewish) to shuffle off its mortal coil and use same as "evidence" that the Holocaust never really happened.

That, and challenging the authenticity of survivors' accounts of Holocaust atrocities in official archives and elsewhere, replete with the usual patsies such extreem elements have about "defective or deficient memories," "inconsistency of accounts," that sort of thing.

Aren't we forgetting George Santayana's maxim about "those who do not recall the past are condemned to repeat it"?

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

So much for GOP Presidential wannabe Mitt Romney's once tying down the family dog to the roof of his SUV: A United States Marshal in Ft. Wayne arrested the parental units of four children (ages 4 through 7, inclusive) as were tied down unto the roof of their SUV as it left a liquor store and thus driven for about four blocks before the police noticed something untoward. Both parents face Child Maltreatment charges and the paterfamilias "himself" is charged with Drink Driving.

Imagine how conservative prolefeeders will spin this one out of control....

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Getting back to the greater GOP/"Tea Party" ideal of "people-centred" economic rescue "born out of the Volk to serve the Volk" (cf. the Afrikaner Nationalist socioeconomic agenda in the decade preparatory to the apartheid regime's coming to power down South Africa way in 1948): You can just imagine the most (un)likely template therefor being one based on "gifting" chain letters similar to one Your Correspondent noticed making the rounds a couple years back at the holiday season here in the Minnwissippi, itself rooted in the "Send-A-Dime" chain letters making the rounds in early 1935 before the then-Post Office Department ruled such were a form of Illegal Lottery and shut down several promoters thereof.

(Only this time asking would-be participants to send $20 to the first of three names on a list, duly identified as a "gift" to [theoretically] make such mailable, remove the first such name, move the remaining two up one position each and add yours in the third, open position.)

And you have to wonder just what sort of pains will be taken this time around to avoid letting slip direct "Tea Party" involvement in their ideal for "people-centred economic recovery" as is itself obviously illegal (refer to 18 USC 1302, 1341 and 1343; the last one being included inasmuch as the agency of PayPal could be used in e-mails in furtherance thereof, thus raising questions of Wire Fraud).

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And speaking of PayPal, do make note of the buttons labelled "Donate" throughout the site: Such are not for show of any sort whatsoever; on the contrary, serious purpose is being served thereby--as in opportunity to make a modest little gift of what you may be able to spare in aid of Your Correspondent inasmuch as it's highly unlikely that he may come into money within measurable distance.

Which also explains the Online Mall presence, as if you needed aide-memoire of some sort....

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How many of you have heard some version or another of "the bedbug story," in which some sleeping-car passenger complained of serious bedbug infestations on a journey recent, eventually to receive a polite letter of apology--and, unwittingly, an attached slip to the effect of "Send the standard bedbug letter" as was intended for the secretary?

(Including, perhaps, a Canadian variant involving pre-VIA Rail Canada services on Canadian National in which the apologia is received in both English and French in the same mailing ... and one involving pre-denationalisation services on British Rail, since supplanted by ScotRail's Caledonian Sleeper and the Night Riviera from First Great Western.)

Continuing with an earlier suggestion about a low-cost high-speed passenger rail idea itself inspired by Canadian National's Tempo concept in Southwest Ontario (the above shown ready to leave Windsor for Toronto in 1974) as would essentially use existing track upgraded as necessary, rebuilt road-switcher diesel electrics as motive power (say, an Electro-Motive GP40-2 in its Luscious Glory of ubitquity) and coaches based on established designs, howbeit of aluminum construction to reduce weight and energy consumption: Your Correspondent had this idea the other night about embracing as the ideal coach template for such an analog high-speed rail that known as the "American Flyer" design; as RailwayClassics.com explains the concept:

In 1934, the New Haven engaged the services of noted industrial designer Walter Dorwin Teague, who collaborated with Pullman designers to develop a light weight car design for a new fleet of cars that would allow the railroad to improve schedules, reduce maintenance costs and to reduce the growing costs of fuel. The first 50-car order were 92-seat coaches delivered in December of 1937. Utilizing Cor-Ten steel, and weighing in at 100,000 pounds (17 tons less than comparable contemporary cars), these cars featured a tubular cross-section design that was aerodynamically clean with full skirts and windows that were flush to the sides. Vestibules were located at both ends of the cars to facilitate fast loading and unloading. So successful was this design, the New Haven would eventually purchase 205 of these cars.

Pullman Standard's Osgood Bradley plant in Worcester, Massachusetts built over 270 lightweight passenger cars of this design, known as "American Flyer" style cars, named after the O scale American Flyer train sets that were models of this prototype.

Which, it turns out, would eventually be embraced by several other railroads (as in the Bangor and Aroostook, Boston and Maine, Kansas City Southern, Seaboard Air Line and St. Louis Southwestern) in a number of interesting permutations, as witness the following specimens (all from the builder's photos):

I'm not exactly sure if the original plans are still around for which to review and perhaps adapt such to the desideratum of this value-for-money high-speed rail approach, in particular aluminum body construction and wide-scale energy efficiency in terms of lighting, power supply and passenger comfort generally. As well as even extending the energy efficiency to the windows, with a slight tint to reduce glare.

So what would you think?

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But is the "REAL AmeriKKKan" actually ready for "economic freedom"?!

Tue, 08 May 2012 17:37:49 +0100

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17h UTC; TUESDAY, 8 MAY 2012: The lead-off image may be of scenes from the recent (and so-called) "Pyongyang International Friendship Fair," readers, but can you imagine the likelihood of "Tea Party" Zealots and True Believers holding a so-called "AmeriKKKan Cultural Festival" reeking of such "folk culture festivals" as were endemic in Nazi Germany under Kraft durch Frude auspices (and kept alive in apartheid South Africa for awhile under the Reddingsdaadbond's direction)?

"Think about it."

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While there may be a lot of discussion about the need to improve the public education system in Our Dear Lovely AmeriKKKa (not to mention how best to accomplish it), Your Correspondent needs to ask how would embracing a homeschooling syllabus rooted in apartheid South Africa's "values-driven" syllabus of Christelik Nasionale Onderwys (Christian National Education) actually help matters, especially when the lessons emphasise idealised concepts of "Traditional Christian Values" condoning racism, sexism, nativism, bigotry, xenophobia rivalled only by North Korea, anti-Semitism and gross intolerance at the expense of core skills necessary to job or career success?

And pray, how exactly would emphasising "values" encapsulated into cheap, bumper-sticker slogans as can be parroted on cue at mass rallies and revivalist camp meetings/political rallies in the Nuremburg stylee actually be of value in developing job skills?

Especially when you have "critical thinking" exercises similar to one from an actual apartheid-era South African social studies text noted in Brian Bunting's The Rise of the South African Reich (1967) as had students imagining they were the head of the South African Police in conversation with the Prime Minister explaining the threats posed to South African sovereignty and the apartheid regime from within as much as from without.

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So much for the conservative prolefeed meme that threats to Our National and Sovereign Identity, as much as Our Dear and Cherished Liberties, can exist only from without (in particular Islamist "terrorists"): AddictingInfo.org, in the immortal words of Confidential magazine's slogan "Tells the Facts and Names the Names," reveals 20 threats from within(!!) to Our National and Sovereign Identity, complete with contact information for those wishing to take them to task--preferably in a polite, professional and responsible manner.

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Meanwhile, how do we know such specimens among the more insistent Zealots and True Believers in expecting a spontaneous and sudden creation of private-sector employment "if only companies made reasonable effort to do so on their own initiative and resources" so expect this when bankers are actually unwilling to make finance or credit available to small businesses as could actually hasten jobs creation and investment in new plant and equipment, blaming "new Federal banking laws" or some such patsy to get out of the Common Courtesy of doing their part for ekonomesie vryheid met Amerikaanse eienskappe such as "Tea Party" types insist is essential and integral to Our National and Sovereign Identity as a Peculiar Among the Nations?

Or are "Tea Party" types insisting that the only realistic "economic recovery" they want to see for the Nation is one "born out of the Volk to serve the Volk," as it were (i.e., a "people-centred" approach modelled on the Reddingsdaad such which Afrikaner nationalists were pushing to "save the Afrikaner from himself" in the decade prior to the introduction of the apartheid regime, one based on National Cohesion and Identity as opposed to State charity or assistance and involving what amounts to The Patriot Fund as the avenue for financing "viable" business and industry startups and finance through self-liquidating loans)?

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And how exactly do we know that the Hidden Agenda of the so-called "Veterans for a Strong AmeriKKKa" behind a planned "swift-boating" prolefeed campaign against President Barack Obama's reelection isn't actually one that is closer to North Korea's Songun ("Army First") Doctrine, holding as it does that the needs of the Korean People's Army take precedence over civilian and industrial needs for the time being (howbeit indeterminate) towards the Luscious Glory of the "People-Centred" Socialism Known as Juche, founded on the doctrine that Man is the Master of Everything, and decides Everything?

REMEMBER THIS, READER: Your comments on, and responsible sharing of, these posts are always welcome and appreciated. And should you ever need to contact me with questions, comments, whatever, please do so through this page; to join our free (howbeit sporadic) e-mail list, just click here. (BTW, we will not sell nor share your e-mail address, and you can always leave at any time.)

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Why we can do without that John Galt nonsense

Mon, 07 May 2012 19:04:20 +0100

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17h26 UTC; MONDAY, 7 MAY 2012: As if the paranoia Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker continues proffering in prolefeed form to save his name and repute in the face of his June 5th recall challenge (tomorrow being the Democratic primaries) wasn't awful and pathetic enow, one needs to consider the prospect of his facing Serious Criminal Charges thanks to the John Doe Investigation, so explaining that Legal Defence Fund of his as is at the heart of a Wisconsin Democratic Party complaint contending that recall campaign contributions were being thus diverted.

Not to mention the clear and present likelihood of Governor Walker's having weird, unhwolesome and perhaps morally-questionable friends and associates, including some with known police records for Crimes of Moral Turpitude seeking in their service for Meneer "Wisconsin IS Open for Business" the prospect of Redemption for Value.

Which, to the credit-rating agencies, could be enough to raise serious red flags to the point of placing the Badger State's sovereign debt on Double-Secret Credit Watch and Ward, to be followed with a shock downgrade in ratings just before the recall elections to a point somewhere in between Junk and Toxic Waste, though not necessarily In Default.

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With the GOP and their conservative prolefeed enablers insisting that those who have incompatible or inadequate job or career skills "aren't making reasonable enough effort to find decent jobs," all the while blaming President Obama's "policies" therefor, may I suggest that about the only such job avenues available to such you're whining about are probably of a questionable, borderline illegal even, sort.

In particular, the likes of "work-from-home" schemes such as those packaged as "merchandise processing manager" (read: fence for possibly stolen merchandise), "mystery shopper" (usually involving MoneyGram and invoking its presence at Walmart locations, supposedly to "test performance") and "payment processor" (usually invoking the names and stylees of well-known companies with a presence in the United States supposedly needing cheap and cheerful ways to send funds back to their overseas HQ because of supposed "high taxes on corporate funds transfers" or "not listed on the Official Companies Register in the United States," as if assuming Our Dear Lovely Nation adopted the British practice of a central corporate registry such as Companies House), the last two known to pay with counterfeit or stolen money orders or cashier's cheques, encashment of which could translate into legal trouble (especially as there are no funds in support thereof) and damage to credit records which could prevent reintegration into the job market.

(BTW, you can check to see if a Postal Money Order in the United States is the real McCoy by way of the Postal Money Order Verification System on freecall 1-866-459-7822; in the case of Canadian Postal Money Orders, their freecall verification line is 1-800-563-0444, or they can be sent to Canada Post Corporation, Ottawa, ON K1A 0B1, with a polite message requesting verification. BTW, postage from the United States to Canada is now 85 cents.)

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Over recent years, various tourist trap businesses, claiming a shortage of dependable teenage and young adults seeking summer work experiences stateside, have turned to the State Department's J-1 Student Visa scheme to hire disadvantaged foreign students for a few months' work experience and travel in the United States, largely to help develop job skills and English-language proficiency. Which, as with any government-sponsored scheme, can be full of potential for abuse and exploitation, which recent policy revisions seek to correct and in some instances prevent.

The which is probably a major bone of umbarge among nativist, xenophobically racist and hyper-nationalist Zealots and True Believers who are forever bellyaching about "good American labour" from especially teenagers "needing to develop healthy work habits and skills" being available, yet somehow being "prevented" from applying for or working in such positions, never mind that employers can't lay off stateside help just to accomodate J-1 visa hires. Hence, their drooling(!!) in their Luscious Glory for some easily-manipulate patsies as can serve as "testers" for the prospect of Unfair Labour Practice and Reverse Bias lawsuits against seasonal employers declining job applications or CV's from qualified stateside applicants in favour of "cheaper" J-1 visa help (never mind that the courts might throw out the case because of the "insincere" tone of the charges, lack of credible substance to the supposed interconnexion, the sheer prolefeed value of the exercise, even the possibility for "jury nullification" being sought vis-a-vis the whole J-1 scheme as "needlessly preventing many millions of good Americans from finding summer work and developing healthy work experience" thereby).

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There goes Walmart's delusional slogan of "Save money. Live better," as is making the prolefeed rounds of late: The May number of Consumer Reports hath results of a consumer survey of 52 leading regional and national supermarket chains ... and among its More Important Findings As Should Be of Concern to the Socially-Aware Consumer is that Walmart scores at or near the bottom in terms of consumer satisfaction when it comes to various metrics of the shopping experience across the board. (Read it for yourself if you don't believe me.)

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Sticking with Consumer Reports for a moment: "Selling It" is a regular feature as appears on the inside back cover of each issue in lieu of outside advertising, which Consumers Union, as publishes Consumer Reports, is against as a matter of editorial policy in the interest of due impartiality, neutrality even. Said feature is aimed at exposing all manner of absurd excesses of advertising and marketing, especially repeated or all-too-frequent use of stock images, absurd-sounding brand names, ambiguous or vague language (including use of Engrish in packaging and/or instructions), unwittingly-deceptive offers and even glowing-sounding claims being deflated by qualifying language such as government-mandated warnings or other disclosures.

On that last area of target, case in point: This month's edition calls out a point-of-sale video ad for Camel Snus proclaiming "Be Free", only to be qualified by the prominent Federally-mandated warning-in-rotation "Smokeless tobacco is addictive." Consumer Reports' rejoinder: "Apparently, freedom is just another word for addiction."

Imagine how "Tea Party" and "9-12" types, or what remains of them (as in the "hard-core" support base), would react thereto.

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

Even with gas prices stating to go into retreat approaching the summer driving season thanks to crude oil on the commodities markets falling below $100/bbl. over recent days (mostly thanks to the ongoing European socioeconomic crisis, even considering elections in France [Socialists taking the Presidency] and Greece [no clear winner among the three major parties, and a viable coalition government highly unlikely] yesterday), such should not be a time for complacent "Wise Use" (read: wasteful and profligate) fuel consumption and driving habits reeking of the wasteful; after all, some crisis could shape up suddenly and without warning as could jack up fuel prices just as suddenly, and, like the Scouts, it's best to Be Prepared and conserve fuel all the more. Including such common-sense measures as:

Maintaining proper tyre pressure;
Following recommended service schedules for your car (as per the Owner's Manual);
Changing motor oil and other fluids at recommended intervals;
Refilling the gas tank only when it gets near empty (and best still, doing so at or near sunrise to minimise vapour loss common with warmer temperatures in the afternoon and evening hours);
Avoiding wasteful and unnecessary acceleration, especially such intended as exercises in obnoxious machismo;
Driving at or just under posted speed limits (preferably at 60 mph tops on Interstate highways);
Switching off the cell phone while driving, except in direst emergencies (in which case you should pull off to the side of the road, switch on the hazard flashers, light road flares and call 911); and
Taking regular rest breaks every 300 miles (i.e., about every five hours at 60 mph) to stretch the muscles, get some exercise, sip something light and refreshing (avoiding alcohol, caffeine and so-called "energy drinks" if you can help it) ... and if feeling drowsy, pull off at the nearest rest area and get some sleep before returning to the road. (Many states prohibit outright camping in rest areas as opposed to merely parking overnight; check the signs if in doubt.)

Meanwhile, for the British friends of this New Explosion of Pedigreed Bull, I hope your Early May Bank Holiday today was sane and yet enjoyable, especially considering where this year's Spring Bank Holiday, normally May 28th, will be supplanted this year by the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Bank Holiday on June 4th.

REMEMBER THIS, READER: Your comments on, and responsible sharing of, these posts are always welcome and appreciated. And should you ever need to contact me with questions, comments, whatever, please do so through this page; to join our free (howbeit sporadic) e-mail list, just click here. (BTW, we will not sell nor share your e-mail address, and you can always leave at any time.)

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Does anybody REALLY care who John Galt is?!

Sun, 06 May 2012 16:03:55 +0100

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14h50 UTC; SUNDAY, 6 MAY 2012: Is it just me, or is Bog sending a message upon Wisconsin's electorate, in the form of thunderstorms and all its attendant byproducts (as in heavy rain, flash flooding and damaging wind) this morning, to "stay the course" with belaguered Governor Scott Walker in the recall against him, the first round of which is Tuesday?

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In a related vein: Methinks I have what the GOP/"Tea Party" element is really calling for vis-a-vis socioeconomic recovery upon the Nation, howbeit requiring one to "read between the lines" to understand such in context--viz., nothing less than a "people-centred" approach based on the "help through self-help" model, one "born out of the Volk to serve the Volk" (as it were), essentially requiring the targeted therefor expected to be thus "empowered" to "rely solely on their own tools and resources" lest "enslaving dependency" ensue in the end.

(Provided, however, that such conformed to the disciplines and principles of ekonomesie vryheid met Amerikaanse eienskappe throughout, such expected to be regarded as essential to, and interlocking with, Our National and Sovereign Identity as a Peculiar Among the Nations. When all is said and done here, however, expect such to take the form of no better than "cashflow gifting" scams and games disguised in the interest of a false aura of credibility under such banners as "Aeroplane," "Dinner Party," "Pit Stop," "Friends Helping Friends" and various affinity-related permutations on the meme like "Women Helping Women," "Christians Helping Christians," "Farmers Helping Farmers," &c.)

So how exactly does resort to the illicit (see 18 USC 1302, 1341 and 1343, also 39 USC 3005) become necessary towards a "people-centred self-help" model of economic empowerment?

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With the Elmer Gantryite element likely to epitomise Shylock's famous observation in Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice that "the Devil can cite Scripture for his own purpose" all the more vis-a-vis Indecision 2012, ponder what syndicated columnist Leonard Pitts, Jnr., has to say about such invoking Holy Writ for religiopolitical ends in connexion:

Sometimes, people hide inside the Bible.

They are doing it now, as gay men and lesbians seek the right to be married.

The latest battleground in that fight is North Carolina, where voters go to the polls Tuesday to render a verdict on Amendment One, which would add to the state constitution the following stipulation: “Marriage between one man and one woman is the only domestic legal union that shall be valid or recognized in this state.”

Mind you, the Tarheel State already has a law on the books banning same-sex marriage. The would-be constitutional amendment is meant to double down on exclusion. And if you read the language carefully, you saw what many observers have seen — that it can also be interpreted as denying legal recognition to unmarried heterosexuals.

Not that this holds any sway with those who hide inside the Bible. “God has defined marriage,” said Family Research Council President Tony Perkins in a Sunday sermon quoted in the Charlotte Observer. “It is not up to us to redefine it.” In a letter to the editor, an Observer reader put it thusly: “You either believe (the Bible) or not.”

One wishes those people could spend a little quality time with Matthew Vines.

Vines is a Christian, a 22-year-old Harvard undergrad raised in a conservative evangelical church in Kansas. He is also gay and says he grew up being taught that the Bible condemns his sexual orientation. He took two years off from school to research and study whether or not that assertion is true.

The result is “The Gay Debate: The Bible and Homosexuality.” It’s a video — you can find it online with a simple Google search — of a speech he gave in March at a church in Wichita that has become a minor sensation. Small wonder.

Vines’ speech is a masterwork of scriptural exegesis and a marvel of patient logic, slicing and dicing with surgical precision the claim that homophobia is God ordained. So effective is the video that after viewing it, Sandra Delemares, a Christian blogger from the United Kingdom who had, for years, spoken in staunch opposition to same-sex marriage, wrote that it “revolutionized” her thinking.

Vines points out, for instance, that the frequently quoted condemnation from the Old Testament lawbook of Leviticus (homosexuality is an “abomination”) has no application to Christians, who are bound by the teachings of the New Testament. He explains that St. Paul’s admonitions about the “effeminate” and “abusers of themselves with mankind” stem from modern mistranslations of ancient Greek terminology.

It is fascinating stuff, and there is not nearly enough space here to do it justice, but the salient point is this: Vines is not some godless heathen lobbing bombs at Christianity from outside its walls. No, he lives inside Christianity’s walls, still holds the faith in which he was raised. So this is not an outsider’s attack. It is an insider’s plea.

One hopes that plea is heeded. Vines’ speech is long — a little over an hour — but well worth the time, particularly for those seeking to reconcile first-century faith with 21st-century social concerns.

Many in North Carolina — many around the country — are swimming against the tide of human freedom and blaming God for it. Again, this is not a new thing. We saw it back when God was for segregation and against women’s suffrage.

How convenient it must be to lay your own narrowness and smallness off on God, to accept no responsibility for the niggardly nature of your own soul. Vines’ video is a welcome, overdue and eloquent rebuke of the moral and intellectual laziness of throwing rocks, then hiding inside Scripture. It is a reminder, too.

You don’t go to the Bible to hide. You go there to seek.

Meanwhile, the AmeriKKKan Family Association affiliate One Million Moms (you have to wonder if such a stylee is an accurate reflection of its membership and/or support base; IMHO, such is a deliberate prolefeed exercise seeking to exaggerate and mislead the unwary) has renewed its call for a consumer boycott "For My God and My Country" against JCPenney over its supposed "endorsement of homosexuality" in online advertising of late, replete with the demand that JCPenney "remain neutral" when it comes to the Kulturkrieg now supposedly abroad. (Recall where an earlier boycott call against Penney's therefrom over their appointing actress Ellen DeGeneres, herself a known lesbian, backfired.)

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Proof that online radio may actually be better than the travesty over the old-school ether waves: Thursday night into Friday mornings (depending on where in the world you may be), Radio Northsea International (RNI) offers a rather interesting Adventure in Listening worth your time called "Night Shift", a hybrid of milder pop disks interspersed with soothing sounds like crashing waves upon the beach, owls hooting in the night, that sort of thing.

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Why "reading between the lines" (as in on-screen source disclosures) is all the more important when watching issue/advocacy advertising seeking to "win hearts and minds" over to a particular persepctive in Indecision 2012 especially: An advert from the AmeriKKKan Natural Gas Alliance (ANGA), an industry prolefeed front, duly noted by Your Correspondent making note of how many jobs have been created within the natural gas industry in our "morally superior" society and nation, cites surveys as go back only to 2008 and 2009.

Which raiseth the question: Why quote employment figures from 2008 and 2009 to "win hearts and minds" over to the natural gas industry's perspective when such may not be an accurate reflection of 2012 industry payrolls?

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Such advocates of high-speed passenger rail in Our Dearest AmeriKKKa outside the Northeast Corridor wanting to approach such in a cost-efficient manner as makes use of existing and available technologies and trackage (subject to requisite track and signal upgrades), thereby translating into a finished result within measurable distance and with value for money, may want to consider past experience from our Canadian brethren: As in the Tempo Service trains which Canadian National (after 1978, VIA Rail Canada) operated from 1968 until 1983 in the Southwest Ontario Corridor (Toronto-Burlington-Hamilton-London-Windsor/Sarnia), basically an analog high-speed train which used conventional-design coaches of aluminum construction (as also featured disc brakes, microwave ovens in the cafe section and reclining-seat coaches), with rebuilt road-switcher diesel locomotives geared for a top speed of just under 100 mph (to accomodate the train's power requirements--Tempo was designed for Head-End Power [HEP], as in the prime mover also supplying the train's lighting, climate control and general power supply--as well as reduce the need for turnaround at termini).

For those of you needing an idea of what such looked like (via a site called YourRailwayPictures.com, know), 'tis:

Now tell me if this could be a high-speed rail concept worth a fresh new look, especially among such suggesting reinvention of AmeriKKKan passenger rail according to the British free-market-driven model (especially so that based upon "open access"); after all, the coaches would be of established lightweight design, unpainted for the most part on the outside (thereby reducing fuel consumption) ... existing road-switcher motive power could be utilised, with requisite gearing and HEP modifications (not to mention provision for "push-pull" coaches to negate the need for turnaround at termini ... and said coaches could be configured for coach and business class, with provision for a cafe/snack bar as would offer sandwiches, light meals, snacks and beverages.

Such a "back-to-basics" approach might also apply to bilevel-design coaches, as is already the case with Amtrak California; could I be on to something here, or do you have other thoughts in this respect?

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