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let your customers to love you, adopt universe and "dez"

First-time visitors to this blog should be alerted to this simple fact about this very first post. It's a "traveling" post, which is placed just above the most recently published post. In this case, it's titled "congressional coup watch". As of right now, specifically 2007/07/09,

I've only begun writing it. I'm starting it off with a graphic of a reader's letter to the newspaper of record for the twin tiers of New York and northeast Pennsylvania. For no particular reason, I've added a revision of that letter's first paragraph. It's a good bet the reader will enjoy a chuckle.

. . . Great News! I did more than just add more text . . . I'm proposing a way out of a constitutional imbroglio in a reader's letter to that same periodical. It shouldn't take the visitor long to find the "mésalliance with corrosion" blog . . .

. . . And more great news! I've appended more text, some of which has cosmically comic aspect.

Eventually, I'll divulge what I'm reading in the tea leaves, concerning the repercussions in store for this country's right wing. Take my word for it. They ain't gonna be pleasant.

And some more good news, I hope, I've appended more text to my very first blog, titled "the corleone manifesto" . . .














Let's start
with a
romantic take
on why
Universe
wears those
rosy sunglasses. Turns out, I was told that she wants to see the
world through the lenses of love ...




Anyway, it all started with the movie FOXES, in which Jodie Foster appeared as a member of a pack of teeny-boppers. Back then, Jodie had yet to start the transition from kitten to cat. In one scene, Jodie and her packmates are washing plastic dolls as, I guess, part of a high school class in infant care. The camera and the dialogue make it very clear that these young ladies feel they have other and much better things to do.

Here's what I was hearing in the back of my mind, something like so: "When they have babies of their own, care (?) to guess what they'll fall back on."

I spend very little time, if any, with social workers. But according to some reports, some of them struggle mightily to hold back tears, as they speak about the sorry state of child care skills that is found in so many households ... "9 1 1 NANNY", anyone?

Well, I decided it would be a good idea to somehow popularize the notion that parenting skills can be learned. Myself, I would recommend that the learning should start a couple years before puberty. The idea was that Universe and "Dez" would appear in two-minute segments of animation that would be broadcast, as part of local television programming for children.

Take my word for it. More than once, I tried battering through brick walls to realize my idea. And all I got for my efforts was a bloody scalp.

And then, it happened!

I got smart.

Those two bi-chromatic kids would make for great advertising. It wouldn't be all that difficult to use them to sell cookies, and other stuff that would be appropriate to children's interests and activities. As for other stuff, I was thinking ice cream, bowling, college savings plans, and even home entertainment systems ... aaaay, you, whyz.ache.err, why (?) not female radio personalities!

Some people, wise to the advertising game, might wonder whether it would be possible for cartoon characters to sell something as abstract as college savings plans. Here's the thing about parents of small children. Mommy and Daddy yield all too easily to the temptation to talk about their little darlings.

Just as an aside, do beginning parents ever (?) realize just how annoying is their putting their giggly toddlers on the phone! Well, lemme clue ya, the callers at the other end think the darndest things.


Back to Mommy and Daddy, what's more, the temptation to mention what they're doing for their little darlings is virtually irresistible

ya'known, who'da'tunk (?) dat yellow Peanuts bird could sell home owner's insurance.

By the bye, I haven't given up on the idea that Universe and "Dez" will eventually be used to introduce children to the idea that parenting skills can be learned. In the meanwhile, they're available for advertising various types of products. Interested vendors are encouraged to contact the "legal guardian", me A Alexander Stella. I can be reached at this e-mail address:

stella4ron@yahoo.com

or by landline at

....... (570)853-3050.

Some readers may recognize the graphic as one that appears on refrigerator magnets. To get the word about my blog, I resorted to passing those magnets out to all sorts of people. For those of you interested in statistics, here's what I'm conjecturing happened to, say, 400 (four hundred) such magnets. By the bye, I passed out more than that ... but let's keep the math simple.

I'm guessing that half of the 400 was tossed aside. In monetary terms, $600 (six hundred dollars) went down the drain. Now let's focus on the remaining 200 (two hundred) -- at this point, somebody wise to the mechanics of advertising may well be yelling,

"Hold on there. Just how do you know that ONLY (?) two hundred (200) of your cockamamie refrigerator magnets got tossed aside."

ya'know, that's a good question. Well, let's put it this way. At first, please permit my regaling the dear Reader with a literary allusion, say, "practicality, my dear Watson, practicality". And I'm backing that up with a wager of my five doughnuts to somebody's three that 200 were not tossed aside for a very good reason.

Just so happens, women use such magnets to stick notes on their refrigerator door to remind her beloved that Thursday is garbage day ... so, it would be only nice to take same out to the curb, before leaving for work. Now, let's continue.

Likely enough, half (100) of those remaining 200 ended up in households that neither have immediate Internet access in the home nor care all that much about the Internet. Remember, my blog "he who is known as sefton" has to be reached through the Internet. In monetary terms, $300 went down the drain.

Now, let's focus on the 100 that ended up on refrigerators in households, whose members do have immediate access to the Internet, or do indeed spend considerable time in exploring the Internet. One would think that my money, some $300, finally paid off.

Think again, my little chick-a-dees, members in half of those households, some 50, pass up visiting my blog. Okay, that's $150 dollars down the drain.

gee, mis'tah, ya'should'ah spent only $150 (one hundred and fifty bucks) on only 50 of dose fridge doo-hickeys, an' given dem out to only dose last 50 households.

gee ... now you tell me.

Well, the upshot of it is simply this. That was what I had to do to get people visiting my blog. The way I'm hoping things work out is fairly simple. People, who visit my blog, will get the word out to others. By the bye, by clicking on that "envelope" icon, one brings up a page that encourages e-mailing the hyperlink to the article along with a personal message. It works! I know. I tried it.

Somewhere in this blog, there's a counter that indicates just how successful I am in attracting numerous visitors to my blog. Here, I should interject that I'm no longer passing out, higgly piggly, those fridge magnets to just about anybody. That phase is over and done with. Nowadays, only prospective product-promotion clients are getting them gratis.

By the bye, this is the "traveling" post for Universe and her little brother. People, who'd like their comments to remain relevant to this post, are advised to search for the "Universe and 'Dez'" post in the stationary slot.

As for why I keep publishing articles on this blog. Well, I figure people would appreciate having more reason to visit this blog than only viewing a pretty graphic.

toodles
. . . ./
he who is known as sefton

gleanings from myspace website .. 01

.. my OPEN LETTER to CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR ..First off, the expected accolades, your broadcast work as a journalist has been top notch. Your Peabody Award, which is bestowed annually by the Grady College of the University of Georgia, was well earned. Chances are, Christiane, you'll be awarded one or two more for your "God's Warriors" series.
For my part, I do hope you'll remember during an interview to impart the following parable . . . eYep, that's the word "parable".
Whatever our beliefs, we benighted humans are incapable of getting to the heart of God . . . in whatever manner, "getting" is meant. Here's a little tidbit for rather ethereal speculation.
A chorus master has recently moved into town, and wants to establish a chorus. And so, singers are recruited. The chorus master is dismayed. Each and every singer has the exact voice and timbre as each and every other singer.
For certain pieces, it makes for a nice effect. But the chorus master wants a LIVELY chorus. Such a chorus requires a variety of voices such as alto, bass, tenor, soprano et cetera.
Now let us recall that we benighted human beings are incapable of getting to the heart of God . . . in whatever sense, "getting" is meant. For all we know, God considers the various religions as voices in a grand celestial chorus.
So, if the Deity wants a LIVELY chorus, who (?) among us cares to tell the Almighty no!toodles

*********

. . . IT'S TRUE . . . I took out a classified ad in PIPE DREAM, which is a newspaper, published during the academic year, and allegedly so by Binghamton University students . . . recently, my doubts about that periodical's "real" publishers have impelled me to employ the word "allegedly" . . . oh, well, I'm guessing the foregoing text in FUSCHIA is about all I may prudently say . . . I have no wish to emulate Don Imus . . .Okay, the graphic just underneath this maroon text is a memento of my attending a presentation delivered by former Army Captain James Yee, who served at "gitmo" as a Muslim chaplain . . . well, I was the last member of the audience to speak during the "open mic" period.
And I do believe now civilian Yee was thrown for a loop . . . that was achieved with a remark of mine, regarding "bedbugs" . . . elucidation is found in the blog entry, titled "the way human nature works" . . .


. . . and here's a sequel of sorts . . .

Well, there's a reason for why I'm directing visitors to pull up my "corleone manifesto" blog entry rather the seemingly more approriate "Pelosi" blog. So far, I've inserted the manifesto as a comment in over 1,000 (one thousand) profile pages.

After some thought, I decided it's more important set people on the path, if they're not already, to planetary awareness.

And with regard to the text in the graphic immediately, I dearly wish I could advance this rather outrageous claim. It's this letter that swayed the good Senator Larry "not gay" Craig into re-considering his decision to resign his office.

And as for the "juice", well, I admit to being put out by the insensitivity of the good editors at the regional newspaper of record. Still, I have to grant they did allow the INDISPENSABLE message to be available to their readers.







* * * * * * *





WOOD'JAH (?) BUH-LEAVE!<
The above sweat shirt was put on eBay with a starting bid of ninety-nine cents ($0.99). And nobody, I mean absolutely nobody bit .. ah, BID on it. Maybe, the appearance of my proposed design for an emblem to honor "historical patriotism" was the turn-off ... oh, well such is life.


No and no again, I did NOT consume any sort of hallucinogen. Nor did I ever, when I was attending some university, "drop acid". What you, dear visitor, are about to read was ... please let me assure you ... written in a state of icy sobriety.

Nowadays, predicting the presidential succession of current House Speaker Nancy Pelosi hardly seems daring. Now I'm predicting the three major actions, undertaken by President Pelosi.

First being, and it's a "lead pipe cinch", she'll begin the withdrawal of American military from Iraq. Second, she'll effect construction of a truly formidable fence between this country and Mexico. She'll do so for two major reasons.

Reason one, it'll show up the Republican Party as feckless and ineffectual. Reason two, it'll attract the support of "mom and pop" conservatives, thus assuring her election in 2008.

And here's the third major action, she'll nominate former Vice President Al Gore as her vice president.



. wood'jah (?) buh-leave! .



Manifesting their freedom from taint as "lap dog" for the Bush Administration, the proprietors of an emphatically partisan profile page have not only added my profile page, but have even added a comment of mine. Just so happens, this particular profile page rejoices under "The Nancy Pelosi Watch Dog Group!"

So far as I'm concerned, the existence of this profile page serves as corroboration for my prediction, quod vide, my blog entry "Speaker Pelosi, President Nancy". In this regard, I have in mind a certain adage. That being, forthcoming events cast their shadows.

As for how you, dear visitor, may visit this page, there are two ways to do so. Somewhere in Comments, you'll find that profile page. Those, who are somewhat more curious, should consider searching in pages 97 through 99 in my friends collection.

. . . ya'know, it just might be these good people are exceptions to the rule . . . from what I can tell, partisan Republican mentality is enthralled by the following phantasm . . . specifically, whatever is good for the Republican party is good for the country . . . from what what I can tell, this mentality confounds party with country . . . in a way, the country is an extension of the party . . . I strongly suspect entertaining the proposition "what's good for the country is good for the Republican Party" might be considered "crime think" . . . toodles ..



okay, here's what I'm reading in the tea leaves . . . . . .

I want to explain how it's not only possible . . . yeah even likely . . . that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is on destiny's road to becoming first woman president of the United States. And it all has to do with a guy, who makes Cap'n Ahab look faltering wuss. And I mean Special Counsel Patrick J Fitzgerald, who's now roasting the goose of some poor sapsucker, who's stuck with a kid's nickname "Scooter".

Where Special Counsel Ken Starr failed, Fitzgerald intends to succeed. One may ask just how (?) determined is this Fitzgerald. . . . well, lemme put it this way: If Fitzgerald wants to hang somebody's scalp from his belt, that somebody had better pull up www.bestdoctors.com, and then look for those physicians, who can treat abrupt scalp removal.

No doubt in my mind, that mick is gunning for "shrub" and "little dickie sunshine" simultaneously. The way succession works, if the president becomes incapacitated, the vice president succeeds. Now let's suppose both are simultaneously incapacitated. In that case, the Speaker of the House succeeds to the office of President of the United States . . .

. . . oh, by the bye, I did start the topic elsewhere, specifically,


Before I conclude I need to make a few things clear. First, nobody should ever consider me a latter-day Nostradamus. Second, I'm told I should leave myself an out, when it comes to making "startling" predictions. In which case, here's my "out", which is lifted from the teevee scifi series BABYLON 5. Predictions that come true are prophecy; those that don't are metaphor . . . ahnghgh.

Nonetheless, I'm still willing to wager five doughnuts to somebody's three. By the time New Year's Eve rolls along, a woman, whose ensemble always includes a pearl necklace, will occupy the Oval Office. . . . incidentally, I like lemon filled, boston cream and blueberry cake.

toodles

. . . ./

he who is known as sefton



just for the heck of it, I'm including a hyperlink to one very provocative article:

congressional coup watch

For no particular reason, I decided to revise the leading paragraph. So, here goes.

Some stand-up comic cracked a joke at the expense of then President William Jefferson Clingon. All "Slick Willie" needed to slip through a keyhole was a little "possum" grease on his enormous posterior.

The topic is such that it must begin on a scholarly but brief note. According to the man, who orchestrated the communist revolution in Russia, a successful revolution requires three conditions. That man, Vladimir Lenin, ticked them like so. One, the ruling class must no longer be able to govern, or dictate, or rule.

The other, the subservient classes must no longer be able to tolerate rule by the upper class. And here's the crucial condition, according to Lenin, there must exist a new class, who are ready and willing and able to take over. Okay, that finishes the brief note.

In American, there have been FOUR revolutions. Of course, every American is aware of the first one, namely, the Revolutionary War. In winning that war, colonial America became a country of thirteen independent states, held together under the Articles of Confederation.

The second revolution involves the replacement of those articles with the current Constitution, which begins with "We the people . . .". In the first revolution, the victorious third of the colonial ruling class expelled both the British military and American royalists. In the second, the ruling class established the means to implement, in a more thorough going manner, their governance of these United States.

The third revolution took place through the mechanism of the Civil War. The emergent industrial class subordinated the once dominant agricultural interests. If I may, I'd like to take a moment here to explain some of what is meant by my emblem for "historical patriotism", which is shown below.






Please note the turquoise tracing on that Confederate Battle Banner. It's deliberately meant to recall those graphic "no smoking" signs . .. ya'know, the lit cigarette in a bisected circle. As I offer elsewhere, had the Confederacy become a foreign independent nation, it is very likely according to some very authoritative historians, the world would've ended up, split between a victorious Nazi Germany and an Imperial Japan.

Now, onto the fourth revolution. That occurred during the presidency of Franklin Delano Roosevelt. The organized labor movement comprised some 40% of American working people, as a result.

In a way, the Second World War II enabled the then ruling class to beat back that revolution, and then shrink the size of organized labor. Now, here's where we get to the hot house, in which the future FIFTH revolution is now sprouting.

. . WOOD'JAH (?) BUH-LEAVE! . .

Depending on one's point of view, either the blame or credit for sprouting that revolution redounds to the "death taxers". For a while, the media reported on the efforts of activists, whose main goal is the repeal of inheritance taxes, or estate taxes. Thanks in large part to their support, the current American president as of this writing was able to win election and re-election.

Upon his entering the White House, he kept his end of the implicit bargain, signing into law the repeal of the "death tax". Pretty much simultaneously, he lied the country into an unnecessary war, the prosecution of which he and his coterie bungled.

As a result, the national debt skyrocketed, even worse than under Reagan. Well, the Good Lord must have a horrific sense of irony. From somewhere, the money to met even the interest on that debt . . . forget about paying off the principal . . . has to come. The bottom line, it is impossible to continue the repeal of the "death tax".

The way the author of this text sees it, nilly willy, the country will have to undergo serious alteration, really, tantamount to a fifth revolution. As the author has written elsewhere, before New Year's Eve rolls around, current House Speaker Nancy Pelosi shall be the new occupant at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

In no way, should anyone regard Speaker Pelosi as a modern-day Lenin, or even a revolutionary patriot Samuel Adams. Again, willy nilly, she shall find herself in circumstances, where she must take the lead in effecting drastic changes, or she may have to tolerate the occurrence of same.

toodles

counter as minuend as of 2009/01/03

Website Counter


This is for you, my numerous devoted fans. By now, I've gone far beyond the fridge magnet. . .

As if to start out on a new path, I've decided to re-start my count . ..


count re-starts afternoon 2007/12/01 with 10403

just for my own info ... number of visitors ... 022
count re-starts afternoon 2007/12/22 with 10435

just for my own info .... number of visitors .... 012
count re-starts twilight 2008/01/13 with 10453

just for my own info .... number of visitors .... 377
count re-starts afternoon 2009/01/03 with 10833

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mésalliance with corrosion

According to the prediction, for which yours truly is going way out on an extend limb, the book's author will comply with the following tabloid injunction. . . . "If it bleeds, it leads!" . . . Even now, so I am now speculating, some hot-shot aspirant for a doctorate in political science is gathering the viscera for a Nietzschean lion. Time honored and well financed concepts will, in a future all too near, be mauled to shreds.

The above text in technicolor is how I hoped to start this essay. And then, it happened, that dreaded writer's block. Okay, here was the plan.

Right after that opening paragraph, my deathless prose would dive into a meditation on the Oklahoma City bombing. Nowadays, that bombing is blamed on a few lunatics, who had glutted their imagination with perfervid rightwing swill. Here's the dirty little secret that's intrinsic to that swill.

That swill did not come from nowhere. It came as an abstration from bombast that was incessantly broadcast by perfervid Republican partisans. For the two generations prior to that bombing, those partisans assailed their country's government as rapacious and burdensome and inexcusably clumsy. During that time, the government was very much in the hands of the rival Democratic Party.

All that bombast was meant to sway the voters to replace the then dominant Democratic Party with the then subordinate Republican Party. During his second campaign to unseat an incumbent president, candidate Ronald Reagan, in one way or other, availed himself of that particular trinity. To ameliorate financial predation by rapacious government, he promised tax cuts. To relieve burdens imposed by government that was also inexcusably clumsy, he promised to "get the government off your back".

In swaying the majority of American voters over to his side, Reagan owed his success to the power of that trinity of adjectives, a power cultivated by nearly 50 years of incessant Republican bombast. Good for the Republican Party, one might suppose.

Funny thing about people, they tend to simplify concepts. Often, they combine two concepts into one. It took a while, but eventually two components in that trinity were combined into one concept. In truth, it becomes easy to regard a government that is burdensome and rapacious as tyrannical. Somehow, the supposed inexcusable clumsiness of government gets exaggerated little by little. And fine day, government is more than just clumsy, it is ineffectual.

. . . "you have to answer for Santio" . . . .

Bypassing the expected rhetorical question, let's slash to the cheese. In the eyes of a tiny minority, government has become irredeemably tyrannical and ineffectual.


It took that second pair of adjectives to enable the mindset to contemplate the Oklahoma City bombing . . . the thought precedes the deed. If government is tyrannical, then it's perfectly morally permissible to destroy it with whatever means that are expedient. If a government is impervious to destruction by peaceable democratic measures, then surely violence by a moral minority is permissible. If a government is ineffectual, getting away with that violence is eminently possible.

My five doughnuts to somebody's three. I never read "THE TURNER DIARIES", which certainly encouraged the gorpes, who undertook the above mentioned bombing. And yet, I believe that book has its protagonist going about ever so merrily bombing government buildings.

And that person perpetrates bombing after bombing, without getting caught by the authorities, until romance rears its lovely head. The bomber falls in love with a hottie, who happens to be working secretly for the government. Shortly thereafter, betrayal with consequent capture ensues.

Funny, how a jigger of romance enables some dupe to chug a pitcher of blather.

Here's a comment with a cosmically comic aspect. For more than five decades, the powers that be at the top of this capitalist society have financed, and heavily so, a campaign to disparage both government and governance. Funny thing came to pass. Those powers that be came to believe the very blather they were financing. The final consequence being, the Oval Office is now occupied by a jesus-up-the-heart nincompoop with cotton candy for brains.

And the resulting damage is mind-boggling.

And here's something that just might be considered comic. Somehow, the entire right wing is suffering from amnesia. Time and time again, some rightwing stalwart avouches eternal love and devotion for "small government", somehow implying there's something untoward about "big government". Here's the thing.

Well, within living memory, victory over fascism came about through the instrumentality of "big government". It was "big government" that got all the ships and planes built and manned, got all the military recruited and trained to take on and defeat the Axis powers, successfully pursued victory in a struggle taking place in two oceans, and not least, recruited the scientists and built the facilities, necessary to assemble the atomic bombs that compelled imperial Japan to accept unconditional surrender.

ya'know, one should hope that, for this country's sake, the right wing shall replace the mantra of "small government" with "small government, where appropriate . . . large government, when necessary".

If anybody out there wants to bend their brain around some gut-wrenching speculation, I got just the thing . . . let's suppose that, instead of disparaging governance in general, congressional Republicans in Congress had boasted of curbing the excesses of a Congress, dominated by the opposition party . . . those Republicans might've considered avouching they had kept the opposition party from rapaciously increasing taxes, thereby allowing goernment to work in a way that benefits the country

. . . by so doing, those congressional Republicans would have implicitly championed the proposition that government can be made to work . . . And in that way, they might've attentuated the atmospherics that led to the Oklahoma City bombing . . .

oh, well, here's a flash . . . maybe, instead of "mésalliance with corrosion", the title of this predicted book will be something like, say, "THE GOD THAT SUCKED" . . . well, ye'know, whyz.ache.err, that title is bound to get a lot more media mention that the other, more scholarly one . . .


from the bottom right-hand corner, two up and two over




oh, yeah, I just flashed on something most visitors will consider arcane. Supposedly, the philosopher Immanuel Kant opened the way for faith by showing reason its constraints. In so doing, he transmuted the very essentiality of faith. Some of our cognoscenti may contend the consequences will likely prove rather lurid. Well, maybe they'll be proven right.

Given my adiaphoristic temperament, I regard Kant's achievement with the deepest gratitude. So far as I'm concerned, he extricated faith from a requirement. Over the centuries, that requirement has proven disasterous. Over the centuries, the theologians in power have insisted that it is their right to impose the religion they espouse. In as much as that religion, which is necessarily based on faith, is manifestly true, those theologians are performing a service, by saving the ignorant from error.

Thanks to Kant, that requirement of being true has been obviated. The man expunged from the essentiality of faith the concept of true and false.

For forever after in this our pedestrian life, in which we must meet the requirements of our physiology, both the concept of "true religion" and that of "false religion" fall into the category of claptrap. For forever after, talking about "true religion" versus "false religion" makes about as much sense as talking about "illiterate rocks" versus "literate rocks".

Certainly, we may, sensibly, talk about "beautiful religion" versus 'drab religion", or "energetic religion" versus "placid religion" . . . c'mon, whyz.ache.err, that concession has got to be made, otherwise all those collegiate departments of comparative religion will have to be shuttered, throwing, god.knows, how many professors out of a job . . .

DESTINY DAY as a national holiday

Justifiably or no, I've always been conflicted about the recent national holiday.

Don't get me wrong. I fully support commemorating the work of Dr Martin Luther King jr. And I believe it's only appropriate to celebrate his cultural legacy.

Incidentally, I also believe that our history books should devote some space to dealing with his blemishes, as well as his virtues. There'll be more on that particular point later.

I believe a national holiday should unify the American people. In unity, so we should wish, people commemorate their common history, and express gratitude for their common cultural legacy. As I contemplate the recent national holiday, one tiny fact becomes all too glaring. Dr Martin Luther King jr Day coincides with Confederate Day. I consider that a delicious tidbit of historical irony.

Still in all, that goes a long way towards validating why I feel conflicted.

Like a bolt out of the blue, it came to me how the conflict can be resolved. We can, INSTEAD, celebrate Destiny Day as a national holiday. The way I see it, nobody may fault a man of good will for answering the call of destiny. Thanks to thoughtful hindsight, we can all concur that the good reverend doctor was, indeed, a man of good will. And he did answer the call of destiny, as best he knew within the constraints of his character.

For my part, I believe the same could said about our first president, former general George Washington. Thanks to newly revised history books, students in high school can learn that the man had blemishes as well as virtues. He belonged to a social class that owned as slaves the forefathers of the good reverend doctor. What's more, Washington himself owned slaves. Nonetheless, his birthday was, for years, celebrated as a national holiday. Considering the spirit of the times, I would say "justifiably so".

As I envisage Destiny Day as a national holiday, the American people would commemorate the achievements of people, who struggled to enrich both our common history and our common cultural legacy. And the people I have in mind did so without the stature, conferred by high political office. The good reverend doctor was never elected to any political office.

As I envisage Destiny Day as a national holiday, the American people would remind themselves of a truly ennobling verity. Monumental tasks can be successfully undertaken by people in the most ordinary walks of life.

On his income tax returns, for instance, Dr Martin Luther King jr signed off simply as a clergyman. I cannot imagine he ever did so as "heroic standard bearer for a national holiday".

As best as each of us knows how, let us begin instituting Destiny Day as a national holiday.

sincerely yours

And here are legislators, who should be informed:

PA State Senator Lisa Baker

lbaker@pasen.gov

http://senatorbaker.com/

ph# (717) 787-7428

Senate Box 203020
Harrisburg PA 203020


Representative Chris Carney

http://carney.house.gov/

ph# (866)846-8124 (toll free)
. . .. (540)585-9988

233 Northern Blvd - ste 4
Clarks Summit PA 18411

Senator Bob Casey

http://casey.senate.gov/contact.cfm

ph# (717)231-7540

555 Walnut st - first flr
Harrisburg PA 17101

PA State Senator Roger Madigan

rmadigan@pasen.gov

http://www.senatormadigan.com/

ph# (717)787-3280

Senate Box 203023
Harrisburg PA 17120-3023

PA State Representative Sandra J Major

smajor@pahousegop.com

ph# (570)278-3374

RR 7 - Box 7186
Montrose PA 18801

PA State Representative Tina Pickett

tpickett@pahousegop.com

ph# (570)265-3124

321 Main st
Towanda PA 18848

Governor Ed Rendell

http://www.governor.state.pa.us/

ph# (570)614-2090
.......(717)787-2500
..... (570)614-2094 (fax)

Oppenheim bldg - 3rd flr
409 Lackawanna ave
Scranton PA 18503

Senator Arlen Specter

http://specter.senate.gov/

ph# (570)346-2006

310 Spruce st - 201
Scranton PA 18503

PA State Representative James Wansacz

jwansacz@pahouse.net

http://www.pahouse.com/wansacz

ph# (570)451-3110

108 South Main st
Old Forge PA 18518

Speaker Pelosi, President Nancy

okay, here's what I'm reading in the tea leaves . . . . . .

I want to explain how it's not only possible . . . yeah even likely . . . that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is on destiny's road to becoming first woman president of the United States. And it all has to do with a guy, who makes Cap'n Ahab look faltering wuss. And I mean Special Counsel Patrick J Fitzgerald, who's now roasting the goose of some poor sapsucker, who's stuck with a kid's nickname "Scooter".

Where Special Counsel Ken Starr failed, Fitzgerald intends to succeed. One may ask just how (?) determined is this Fitzgerald. . . . well, lemme put it this way: If Fitzgerald wants to hang somebody's scalp from his belt, that somebody had better pull up www.bestdoctors.com, and then look for those physicians, who can treat abrupt scalp removal.

No doubt in my mind, that mick is gunning for "shrub" and "little dickie sunshine" simultaneously. The way succession works, if the president becomes incapacitated, the vice president succeeds. Now let's suppose both are simultaneously incapacitated. In that case, the Speaker of the House succeeds to the office of President of the United States . . .

. . . oh, by the bye, I did start the topic elsewhere, specifically,

Before I conclude I need to make a few things clear. First, nobody should ever consider me a latter-day Nostradamus. Second, I'm told I should leave myself an out, when it comes to making "startling" predictions. In which case, here's my "out", which is lifted from the teevee scifi series BABYLON 5. Predictions that come true are prophecy; those that don't are metaphor . . . ahnghgh.

Nonetheless, I'm still willing to wager five doughnuts to somebody's three. By the time New Year's Eve rolls along, a woman, whose ensemble always includes a pearl necklace, will occupy the Oval Office. . . . incidentally, I like lemon filled, boston cream and blueberry cake.

toodles

. . . ./

he who is known as sefton


"Break out the champagne" reverberated in the local and state and national headquarters for the Democratic Party, as the final tallies for the recent mid-term elections came, via the cable news channels, rolling in. The people, about to quaff the bubbly, had good reason to celebrate. Their party had taken control of the House of Representatives and the Senate.

As Republican survivors tried to "rally the troops", trying to dispel the gloom of defeat, knots of Democratic Party activists were presented with even more good news. Some of the tonier watering holes echoed and re-echoed with the cry, "Sommelier, decant the Lafite Rothschild".

Little did those survivors know they were digging their holes quite a bit deeper. Survivor after survivor stepped up to the media mic, and called upon their colleague Republicans to return to Reagan's principles . . . got to admit, yours truly chuckled . . . "what fools these mortals be".

At this point, I think I owe to the reader to declare the state of my soul like so. I am an adiaphoristic lapsed Roman Catholic. And that means I am theologically indifferent. Not only am I adiaphoristic in matters of spirit, I am also indifferent in matters of politics.

In that latter regard, my motto resembles that of Paladin with his "have gun, will travel". Mine's "have laptop, will travel".

For a reasonable fee, I would've cheerfully furnished those survivors with speeches that would've helped terminate their digging. Just off the top of my head, I think I would've started with an opening like so:

"Yes, we lost. And our president and commander-in-chief hit the nail on the head. We took a thumping. We lost these mid-terms for a simple reason. We lost our way in the trappings of public office. We grew deaf and blind to the plight of so many of ordinary Americans.

"Out there, there are millions of Americans, who are hurting. And they have come to believe that our party, our Republican Party doesn't give a damn. No wonder, those Americans became disenchanted. And it started off in the smallest way with the skyrocketing of gas prices.

"And just what (?) was our official response. Obediently, we went about accelerating tax cuts that were supposed to help the average consumer deal with those skyrocketing gas prices. By the way, those tax cuts, which we got enacted, did very little to help ordinary Americans.

"Oh, let's not forget Katrina. Our mass media brought into our living rooms clips of ordinary Americans begging for help. And just where (?) was our president and commander-in-chief at the time . . . at a fund raising event and entertaining the folks with some guitar picking. No wonder, so many Americans became disenchanted.

"Oh, yes, let us not forget Iraq. Docilely, we went along. Those who dared question the wisdom were attacked as being unpatriotic. No wonder, so many Americans became disenchanted.

"Here's what hurts. So many of those disenchanted Americans believed in that "Contract with America". So many of them didn't just vote, they worked to help our party, our Republican Party, take control of Congress for the sake of that contract.

"And in the years following, we made a mockery of "Contract with America". No wonder, so many Americans became disenchanted."

* * * oh, just to let visitors know, I can compose other speeches to help . . . io fatiga per qui me pagga * * *

=====> As the immediately following graphic is presented right now, visitors may find it difficult to read the text. If so, they need only click directly on the graphic to enlarge it for better legibility . . . oh, and the same goes for the other textual graphics <=======

Here's what made me giggle. From what I can discern, the publisher in question is wasting his time and his money.

Oh, just for the heck of it, I'm going to speculate a little bit about Taxachusetts Senator John Kerry's "botched joke".

For about two days after that incident, the Republican ATTACK (!) MACHINE went all out castigating the offending senator. Allegedly, he suggested that military personnel, serving in Iraq, are endowed with less than stellar eye cues.

Well, here's the thing, for two days closely preceding those crucial mid-term elections, the Republican ATTACK (!) MACHINE made sure that the 24-hour cable news channels were continually reminding the voting public about Iraq.


Even as that reminding was going on, Republican strategists wanted desperately to avoid bringing Iraq to the attention of the voting public.


The way things worked, the unconditionally loyal Republican constituents bought into the allegations about the good senator's rather farfetched suggestion.

On the other hand, the conditionally loyal Republican constituents were inclined to give Taxachusetts Senator John Kerry some benefit of the doubt.

And as for the other types of voters, they were inclined to give him the total benefit of the doubt, and get incited by the continual reminding about Iraq to vote their disapproval of President Bush and his team. That incitement also motivated quite a few of the CONDITIONALLY loyal Republican voters.

* * * Did (?) the good senator deliberately feed, so to speak, the Republican ATTACK (!) MACHINE a "poisoned apple"!



. . . ah, yes, my little chick-a-dees, this post shall end up as a pastiche of comments and speculation and brief essays . . . eventually, I will express my regrets for my earlier enthusiasm for Patrick Fitzgerald . . . darn (!) that human nature . . . no doubt about it, I allowed hope to checkmate circumspection . . . and I will own up to more checkmated hope, via Representative Jack Murtha and Senator Russ Feingold . . . ya'know, I wouldn't mind seeing a member of the chosen people take up residence in the White House . . .

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



hatever presidential ambitions New York Senator Clinton may be harboring, fate has begun thwarting same . . . oh, yeah, the same can be said for the junior Illinois senator.



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ah, yes, my little chick-a-dees, eventually I'll justify the title for this post. For now, however, I'm in a mood to, well, pan the Republican Party for either vociferously exploiting or silently tolerating the "Confederate Battle Banner" wedge issue.

One may easily conjecture the Republican leadership in the states of the former Confederacy thought themselves pretty sharp in championing the display of that banner.

Temporarily, no doubt, Republican candidates benefitted. Habitually loyal Republican constituents still voted for them, whereas quite a number of nominally Democratic voters also voted for them.

In the end, it was a horrendous mistake. By adopting as their cause célèbre the display of the Confederate Battle Banner, symbolically, they were renouncing their own heritage. After all, President Lincoln, in whose honor Republicans celebrate with a dinner every year, labored mightily to keep that flag from becoming the emblem of an established nation. In a sense, the Republicans adopted as their own the cause of Jefferson Davis, who had labored mightily in opposition.

As for Republicans, who reside in states outside the defeated Confederacy, well, they were, to say the least, complicit. From what I gathered from the major news media, at the height of the controversy, absolutely none of those later Republicans objected.

Symbolically, a large half of the Republican was repudiating their own heritage, whereas the other went along in silent complicity.

At this point, the reader is asked to review the text that includes "lafite Rothshild", and then contemplate this remark. After a political party repudiates their own noble heritage, how (?) can anyone with decent sensibility credit that party with devotion to principle!

As a certain assassinated president once said, "A house divided against itself cannot stand."




Just for the heck of of it, I'm inserting this final jab at Islam here. And it goes like so:






TALK ABOUT IRONY!






























TALK ABOUT IRONY!



























. . . watch this space . . . lots more to come

torture works

. . . okay, the squeamish are advised to skip the following text by clicking on this hyperlink ====> the corleone manifesto



Human nature being such, just how worthwhile the application of torture should prove depends, in directly proportional measure, on the number of reasonably mature subjects to be tortured.

In the instance that involves only one, or even two such subjects, the likelihood that torture will yield significant information is extremely small. When the number of subjects approaches more than, say, fifteen (15), the likelihood of success approaches metaphysical certainty. One constraint does apply. The large majority of such subjects must be engaged in clandestine activity they wish to remain so.

According to several authoritative scholars, the Nazis perfected the procedures to extract required information. After so much application of coercion during interrogation, with virtually no exceptions, subjects would break, and spout gibberish . . . id est, purposeful gibberish.

The subjects hoped the gibberish would sound plausible enough to induce, at least, some surcease in the application of torture. In as much as what the subjects believed was pure gibberish, they were confident that they were not betraying any clandestine material. With very few exceptions, each specimen of gibberish would include a jot of truth.

Items found to be in several specimens were duly noted. More often than not, those common items were material the subjects wished to keep clandestine. In further interrogation, reliance upon those common items would invariably prove justified in extracting more common items.

Eventually, after a month, two tops, of coercive interrogation, the whole story would be disclosed.


aaay, you, whyz.ache.err, you may not say that the squeamish were not forewarnted . . .

As for why I began this post the way I did, I have my reasons. And so, visitors, whose temperament can bear up to clear perception of the world as it truly exists, are invited to precede.





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The way human nature works, the Arab masses will fault the Jews for failure to heed God's command. As far fetched as that future canard will go, it'll worsen to the point of lunacy. The Jews were sent by God and commanded by God to help the Arabs claim the moon for Islam, thus salvaging Arab acclaim. The stuff about the moon is elucidated farther down in the text.

For now, let's enjoy a bit of delicious irony. In response, the Jews will express abject regrets for such shameful failure . . . imagine, slighting (!) the Deity. Their only excuse being, the Jews were too busy thwarting annihilation by the very people they were supposed to be helping claim the moon for Islam.

No doubt about it, the foregoing has got to, at first reading, struck the average mature adult as crackpot inanity. Now that I think about it, a reasonable person would stop right there, shuddering at the thought of continuing. But then, who in the world ever (?) accused yours truly of being "reasonable"!

Anyway, here's what could've happned, had the Jews been allowed to help the Arabs claim the moon for Islam. Okay, here's a scenarion that's absolutely fictitious and has absolutely NOTHING to do with historical fact:

A space vehicle, embalzoned with the Islamic cresent plus that Judaic star, lands on the surface of the moon. Out of that vehicle, steps aome earthlin space explorer, named, just for the heck of it, Mohammed.






After walking a few steps, this particular Mohammed becomes the very first human being to perambulate on the moon. Then, he recites a couple fitting verses from the Qu'ran. That done, he lays a rug on the moon's surface, and with that "blue marble" in the background, kneels in prayer toward Mecca.

. . . ah, yes, my little chick-a-dees, what an irresistibly POWERFUL (!) message that Islamic lunar landing, had it only come about, would've sent the entire world . . . . ya'know, something like, maybe,

. . . ISLAM, A WORLD-WIDE FAITH, GATEWAY TO THE STARS . . .

. . . ya'know, whyz.ache.err, in comparison, the moon's true status as a monument to American infidel technology is rather, well, workaday . . .

fictitious scenario divulged, I venture so far as to posit that, in the world of Islam, Israel hardly matters at all. So far as Muslim sensibilities go, it is permissible to arrange some sort of modus viviendi with the Jewish state. From little I know about the Qu'ran, I venture to say there is no religious duty per se to destroy Israel.

Elsewhere, I propound that Arab sensibilities were gravely wounded by this country's NATIONAL AERONAUTICS and SPACE ADMINISTRATION. Through that agency, these United States of America defiled the moon. The instant the words . . . "the eagle has landed" . . . were heard on earth, that celestial body became a monument to American infidel technology.

"So (?) what!" . . . that pretty much captures in a nutshell the typical reaction of the typical American . . . "wasn't (?) that stepping onto the moon's surface supposed to be some sort'ah "giant leap for mankind".

. . . at this point, let's take a step back .
. .
Well, there's this really humongous attribute about Islam as a system of precepts, ideas, notions, concepts, ways of thought, cognitive configuration. A luminary in the Age of Reason, Rousseau profusely praised Islam for that attribute, in an oblique manner. And that attribute is CONSISTENCY. This is what is meant.

Suppose one considers any supposition that is accepted, in Islam, as a matter of faith. And then, one considers some other supposition that is likewise accepted, in Islam, as a matter of faith. Whatever pair of whatever suppositions one considers, contradiction is absent. The way the Muslim Faith works, supposition A is compatible with supposition B, which in turn is compatible with supposition C, which in turn is compatible with supposition D, et cetera.

Islam is a a mighty fortress of consistency, so Muslim scholarship avouches . . gotta admit . . . until recently, it was indeed a mighty fortress of consistency.

Here's what happened. The walls of that mighty fortress were brought down by an insidious weakness in that consistency. The validity of every supposition in the Muslim creed and spiritual orientation depends on the validity of every other supposition thereof. If just one single supposition is ruined . . . all I gotta say is keep a safe distance from the ensuing demolition . . .

* * * * in a twinkling, Islam underwent a metamorphosis . . . in a twinkling, Islam went from dynamic to antiquated . . . as for that vaunted consistency, well, in that same twinkling, it acquired all the charm and significance of clockwork novelty such as that of a Swiss cuckooclock * * * *

. . gotta admit . . . it took me years to understand why Avram insisted on rewinding the tape to view his favourite scene in his favourite movie THE THIRD MAN. In that scene, Harry Lime as portrayed by Orson Welles compares the grounds of emergence between the rinasscitio and the cuckoo clock

. . Thanks to the consistency, wrought by protracted Muslim scholarship, Islam reeks with the gadgetry, reminiscent of a Swiss cuckoo clock . . .

Islam, religious observances are scheduled by the phases of the moon. As far as the power of symbols, in their respective persuasions, are concerned, the cross of Christianity and the star of David in Judaism are weak, when compared with the moon in Islam.

One must remember the first two symbols are merely symbols, whereas the moon is both symbol and actual astral phenomenon.

. . . Muslim scholar I ain't . . . nonetheless, I think I know enough to conjecture that the moon is, in a sense, a sign post to a heaven or Paradise, which exists, in Islam, somehow as a physical actuality.

By contrast, over the centuries, Christianity's heaven has become, well, metaphysical, ethereal, non-corporeal, intangible. Given what little I know Judaism, I fall back on an anecdote about Jewish opinion. Put ten Jews in a room, and they'll emerge with eleven different opinions.

In short, by defiling the sign post to Paradise with that lunar landing, this country's NATIONAL AERONAUTICS and SPACE ADMINISTRATION defiled Paradise.

. . . oh, if I wanted to, I could fill this space with all manner of simile and metaphor to elucidate the ignominy, under which Islam must now labor. But I won't. That's a task for other foolhards.

It may well be that in ACADEMIC Muslim theology itself, the moon remains pure and perfectly clear of defilement. Nonetheless, the fact remains. Instead of a Mohammad, it was a Neil, who was the first human being to walk on the moon. And Neil made his way to the moon via American infidel technology.

However one slices it, the moon is now a monument to American infidel technology. And today, Islamic religious practice and observance is scheduled by the phases of that monument to American infidel technology.

. . . by way of metaphor, that throws a monkey wrench into the virtually mechanical consistency of Islam. . . . here's a metaphor for one to ponder, consider Willie Nelson.

Nobody denies his talent as a singer, nor his genius as a song writer. Nonetheless, his singing the lead in the opera RIGOLETTO would be such a stretch as to constitute a four-alarm disaster.

As bad a fit Mr Nelson would make singing lead in that opera, the moon's being a monument to American INFIDEL technology makes for a cataclysm in Islam.

The way it works out, if just one single component in the matrix of Faith that is Islam is ruined, then the whole schmeer collapses in shambles.

The following may be an even more appropriate metaphor. In a clip from the movie CADDY SHACK, a matronly lady "gets the vapors" as she watches Bill Murray bite into a CHOCOLATE candy bar . . . keep the word "chocolate" in mind. In the immediately preceding clip, people are gathered around a swimming pool, and they're having a vivacious party.

To enhance the comic moment that's about to come to pass, when the camera focuses on the chocolate candy bar floating in the water, the background music is a snippet from the movie JAWS.

And that's about what happened to Islam.

In the post just underneath this, I speculate about what've been the targets, which were more to the point of the "for-real" grievance that motivated the gollums, who rammed those hi-jaked planes on nine/eleven . . .

toodles

EPIMETHEAN COMMENT -

. . oh, yeah, as for the graphic, what it's meant to symbolize is found in the post just below . . . happy perusal . . .

I do hope the average visitor to this blog realizes what I'm trying to say about Islam. I'm not saying "down with Islam" so much as "look at what that American INFIDEL lunar landing means for Islam". I think I crystalize what I'm trying to convey by relating a certain incident.

In some god-forsaken region of Afghanistan, some regular guy wanted to do something worthwhile that would benefit the local women. So, he set up and ran a school to teach young girls to read and write, and eventually become productive members of their society.

. . . he was found dead. Circumstances made it perfectly, he had been executed for helping women read and write. Now, let's focus on the people, who did the killing.

. . . in their mind, they're devout Muslims, preserving an ages-old tradition of life. In reality, they're bloodthirsty antiquated poltroons.

EPIMETHEAN COMMENT

Were Avram still with us, so I'm cnjecturing, he would describe the situation as "divine irony". As for me, I think of the situation as "humongous April fool".




In view of recent events, this article raises several interesting questions about just (?) what are those little dears being taught!

Are (?) they being taught that Allah approves of suicide bombers, who with the purest of Muslim hearts kill non-combatant infidels, and even other Muslims, who adhere to a slightly different variant of their own Islamic faith. And there's more.

Are (?) they being taught that Allah goes so far as to bribe those suicide bombers with an eternal coupon for free nookie in a cathouse in the sky!

toodles

food for thought, courtesy STINKER

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This graphic pretty much summarizes my proposed CONCEPT for a nine/eleven memorial. Towards the end of this post, the graphic is repeated, with some of the symbolism explained. For now, first-time visitor, who I hope will become a devoted fan, you're invited to enjoy a leisurely stroll.

Maybe, the print in the graphic is proving a tad hard to read. If so, one needs only to click on it, and the graphic will appear enlarged.

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oh, well, maybe, I truly am a stinker . . . at any rate, in the nostrils of the three academicians, mentioned in the graphic. I'm ready to bet my five doughnuts to somebody's three that a speed bump, if not worse, was placed in their career path by my posing a certain question, which is quoted in the post just underneath.

* * * * * * * * * *
And that question was, and I quote, "Is (?) there any Muslim in the world, even capable of introspection!
* * * * * * * * *

One might say it was very gratuitous of me to do so. After all, none of them did me an injury of any sort. And what did I do? I made sure neither perfesser will live down the fiasco I brought down on their head.

Maybe, I should express a little regret for what I did. But I won't. To my way of thinking, they should've known they were playing with cognitive nitroglycerin . . . aaay, you, whyz.ache.err, don'cha dare "dead eye" me . . . c'mon, those perfessers are free and white and well over twenty-one.

If their degrees were worth the sheep skin, on which they're printed, those academicians should've been aware that explosion was not only possible, but likely . . . ah, yes, my little chick-a-dees, INEVITABLE, even.

. . . wood'ja (?) buh-leave! Could it be? That comment should sway them into wondering whether they have some pyschological quirk in common with the late Lenny Bruce. Speaking strictly for myself, I'm sure I can be persuaded into believing that Lenny knew he was going to die well before his time, were he to continue his cultural pioneering.

As if to secure my bet, I took out an ad in the student-published newspaper for Binghamton University. It's to the left of the assertion: "Ain't (?) I a stinker!"

Did I stop there? HECK NO! I dropped off copies of the graphic at the front desk for The PRESS & SUN-BULLETIN . . . goin' be interesting to see how the event gets treated in the pages of this regional paper of record.

Yes and yes, I am quite pleased with my handiwork. What's more, I'm pleased, even when I should feel sad by the loss of a friend . . . refer comments appended to this post. . . . oh, well, we all gotta do what we gotta do.

toodles


oh, well, I suppose visitors are entitled to some explanation for the presence of that rather funky graphic, just above this paragraph.

Here's what happened. I was expecting to read a "follow-up" account of the event, mentioned in the second from the top graphic. Well, it didn't appear. When I visited the office of PIPE DREAM, which by the way is the student-published twice-weekly for Binghamton University in upstate New York, I was told that article was scheduled for later on in the week.

again with the doughnuts bet . . . while I was going through the paperwork for another ad in that paper, I commented on why my question had proven so disruptive. In the event that article does appear, I'm willing to wager my five doughnuts to somebody's three that comment will be quoted, in one way or other.

In the meanwhile, visitors may as well enjoy a piece of mine that deals with the spate of homicidal bombings by suicidal gollums. For the freedom to publish that piece and Jake's piece, a debt of gratitude to Lenny Bruce.

As for that latter piece, one needs only click on this hyperlink ======> jay and fitz and kay spell poison



oh, well, again, maybe, I should be a tad put-out. While I was in the office for PIPE DREAM, filling out the paperwork for a "follow-up" on the "3 perfessers", I was told that a follow-up piece to the "anxiety" piece would appear by the date, mentioned in the graphic just above this paragraph.

. . . oh, yeah, I'm making that particular graphic do duty for the one I was hoping would've appeared in that issue. Just so happens, the "religious holiday" squib comes closest to even approaching the text anticipated.

Quite frankly, I'd consider wagering my five doughnuts to somebody's three that follow-up piece will appear neither this following Tuesday nor the Friday following. The subject the three perfessers were foolhard enough to raise is, indeed, proving to be "cognitive nitroglycerin". Darn them, for being so purblind with self-importance that they became reckless line-crossers.

Wood'jah (?) buh-leave! I feel some sympathy for those academics. Depending on one's point of view, I labor under either the appalling or animating mirage that lines are meant to be crossed, even if only rhetorically.

In the next few paragraphs, I hope to discharge my duty as the "stable boy, who unhorsed three knights with one sweep of a muck rake". For that, I'm beginning with a rhetorical riff on how gollums excuse their murdering peaceable civilians in their consecrated endeavour to exact "legitimate vengeance".

. . . oh, how regretful, those people were in the way. One should hope they met the Almighty Judge and Ruler with pure souls . . .

Okay, now let's consider the topic, mentioned in that second from the topmost graphic, specifically ISRAEL. As I remember the occasion, the three perfessers devoted some time to denouncing the incursion into Lebanon by the Israeli military. Now that I think about it, I can't recall any use of the word "disproportionate". However, I think one of them did allude to my "plan B" reader's letter . . . "mis-calculated" . . . ah, yeah.

Here's something they should consider for meditation.

How (?) did it happen that Lebanon ended up IN THE WAY!

How (?) should the blame for that unfortunate happenstance be apportioned.

Okay, I think I did the minimum duty required of me.

And now, I want to muse a little about what I learned, while channel surfing. For a moment, I paused on the NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC channel. According to one savant with some good physical evidence to affirm his hypothesis, our earth is one humongous nuclear reactor.

Deep within mother earth's core, uranium is undergoing a process that's providing our earth with life-sustaining heat. From what I gathered, once that reactor goes dead, so does life on earth. And our lovely blue marble will become literally the "third rock" from the sun..

Here's what grabbed my attention. The guy has absolutely no idea about how long that reactor will be furnishing that life-sustaining heat . . . maybe, a hundred years, maybe, a billion.

Over the past several centuries, humanity has bloodied the pages of history with disputes over religion.

And if our earth does indeed become literally the third rock from the sun, humanity dies out, and so do all the disputes over religion, land, water, gold, national prestige, etc . . . oh, such a nice future to anticipate!

. . . by the bye, for something that I think is worthy of contemplation, click on this hyperlink
=====> corleone manifesto




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Most likely, Jenna is an earnest-enough bright young thing, eager to begin her career in journalism. She may even dream of outshining, some fine day, Barbara Walters. Truth be told, the rest of her piece can recapped with the riff: "happy, happy, joy, joy". As I read the piece, I had a hunch the people at that dinner were minding their peaze and cues, as they scomped their peas and carrots.

Well, I suppose one should congratuate those people for diplomacy, especially when steak knives might all too readily to hand. For a moment, let's speculate on what might've happened, had my good buddy whyz.ache.err been in attendance . . . oh, br'dah, I can hear him now.

"ya'wanna know what smell I associate with dat bin Ladin gorpe . . . lemme tell'ya, camel . . . whenever I see his ugly puss with that towel wrapped around his head, he makes me think A-rabs go around on camels . . . whenever they wanna go shopping for cucumbers and prayer rugs, dey jump on their camel, and ride to dah nearest flea market."

Ahemm, ahemm, of course, nowadays, Arabs are much likely to climb into their S.U.Vees, and cruise to the nearest mall to shop for cucumers and prayer rugs.

This might be an appropriate point for me to re-print the reader's letter I submitted to the good students, who labor mightily on The PIPE DREAM, which is in this colour text:


"Depending on point of view, I either torpedoed the recent panel on Israel, or ruined same with a stink bomb. I asked the question, and I'm quoting, "Is there any Muslim in the world capable of introspection?".

"As perturbed certain Muslims were with me, they should've been even more perturbed with the "perfessers" on that panel. Whatever their intention, whatever their capacity, none of the perfessers named even one such Muslim.

"After questions from the audience, I spoke with a couple Muslim students . . . gotta' admit, the conversations proved enlightening. For my part, I tried to acquaint them with a singular fact of history.

"Between the end of the Second World War in Europe and the United Nations' partition of Palestine, Arab Islam was presented with a "once-in-a-millennium" opportunity. Anyway, in a reader's letter to The PRESS & SUN-BULLETIN, I mused what might've happened, had that opportunity been seized.

"Maybe, instead of a Neil being the first human being to walk on the moon, it might've been a Mohammad. Funny how things work out. Ramadan begins with a sighting of the moon, which just happens to be a monument to American infidel technology.

"toodles"


Here's an observation about bin Ladin, which should embarrass the average Muslim, who happens to be capable of introspection. Whenever that camel jocket opens his big bazoo, he's talking out his ass, which happens to be a relic from the 15th (fifteenth) century . . . ah, yes, my little chick-a-dees, let's face facts. This particular holy warrior came on the scene about 600 (six hundred) years too late.

He should've been around, when the Spanish monarchs Ferdinand and Isabella were expelling the Moors.



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I guess this is as good a time as any to explain some of the symbolism, inherent in my proposal for a nine/eleven memorial. First off, that "circled A" detail is a royalty-free photo of the moon. The "circled D" and "circled E" details represent, respectively, a male and female forearm.

Okay, here's where it gets a tad convoluted. Note the green colour of these last two details. That's meant to recall the copper green of the State of Liberty, located on Liberty Island in Upper New York Bay. If any statue in the world is evocative of these United States of America, then surely it's got to be that statue.

As those two details in the above graphic hold aloft that huge model of the moon, here's the message that's meant to be conveyed. The moon is now a monument to American infidel technology.

toodles

EPIMETHEAN COMMENT ====>

Elsewhere, I hint at the motivation behind the undertaking of the 9/11 assault on this country. According to certain apologists for the gollums, albeit misguided, their assault accentuated the resentment, arising from so many "legitimate grievances".

Well, maybe, had those gollums exercised a little introspection, they might've considered targets, more to the point of the bona fide grievances. In that case, they might've tried ramming those airliners into facilities of this country's NATIOINAL AERONAUTICS and SPACE ADMINISTRATION.

. . . just for the heck of it . . .

The way human nature works, the Arabs will fault the Jews for failing to heed God's command. As far fetched as that future canard goes, it will intensity to the point of lunacy. The Jews were sent by God and commanded by God to help the Arabs claim the moon for Islam, thus salvaging Arab prestige.

In response, the Jews will express abject regrets for such shameful failure . . . imagine, slighting (!) the Deity. Their excuse being, the Jews were too busy thwarting annihilation by the very people they were supposed to be helping claim the moon for Islam.

cowboy bob as "Robert Duvall"

The above graphic shows a reader's letter of mine that was published in the regional newspaper of record. After some thought, I began conjecturing I should refresh my credentials as an adamantly adiaphoristic observer, through whose veins course sang froid.

As for the following graphic, it's adduced to clue you, dear Reader and, I hope, devoted fan, in on the unfortunate consequences, stemming from the lack of a well formulated and prudent plan B.

. . . oh, yeah, in the event better legibility is required, one needs only click on the graphic with text.



PRINCIPLE INSPIRES ======>
<== PRACTICALITY REQUIRES

The following, I think, does resonate well with the above reader's letter. Anyway, here's text I left in the comment section of another blog, and I quote myself this way:

"Unlike Americans with their Bible-thumping jackasses, we bar our Qu'ran-thumping jackasses from dragging us into ill-advised war. Had we known before about the abductions, we would've forwarded the appropriate authorities. Even though they may be a minority in their own country, everything should be done to spare those Palestinians and Lebanese, who seek only to purse a decent life,the horrors of ill-advised war."

For no particular reason, I appended the above graphics and text to this post. However, there is a darn good reason for appending "sefton's easter egg" at the end of this post. I reckon it's only fair-minded of me to adduce an APOLOGIA for why I asked such a question of Professors Bix and Petras and Quataeret.

. . . oh, yeah, I would still appreciate the visitor's perusing the text that precedes the easter egg.

. . . oh, alright (!) already, maybe, I shouldn't pick on such an engaging and impressive actor. Nonetheless, I believe my purposes for the following essay are best served by presenting the visitor a dollop of alluring metaphor. Rather recently, Robert Duvall has become noted for being the mainstay in several western movies

. . . oh, yes, at one time, the three major television networks, when they truly were major, ladled out generous portions of "ride, rape and revenge". I was enthralled by PALADIN . . . "swear by the vultures" . . . oh, br'dah, "oat burners", "horse operas".

. . . ya'know, about the only Western I can recall as being set in the then present day was SKY KING . . . at the time, I considered his niece Kelly as nice eye-candy, but the why for my doing so eluded my comprehension . . .

So far as I can recall, all the other teevee westerns were set in times, people got about on horseback, or in horse-drawn vehicles. Mr Duvall's latest remarkable western BROKEN TRAIL is set around the 1890s. In this instance, the "mcguffin" for the piece is a herd of 500 horses, which is to be driven from Oregon to Wyoming.

I'm not sure, but I think the "chuck wagon" was drawn by a pair of horses. For no particular reason, I recall them as being well working draft animals. Now, let's suppose one of those animals were sickly. In that case, the cook, who drove the chuck wagon, would become increasingly frustrated, as the distance between himself and the herd grew.

And that means that both of those draft animals are required to be good shape, if the pair are to prove well working.

The topic of horses reminds of a clip, which gets shown every often on TURNER CLASSIC MOVIES. In the clip, director Sydney Pollack elucidates the difference between "letter box" and "pan and scan". With letter-box, the teevee screen shows all the elements in the scene that the movie director wants the viewer to see, even though some of the top and bottoms portions of the screen are blacked out.

With pan-and-scan, the whole teevee screen is filled, but the side portions of the original screen are reduced.

In the movie BEN HUR, the title character played by Charlton Heston is driving a chariot that is drawn by four horses. And he's racing several other chariot drivers. Anyway, in illustrating the difference between the ways of presenting the movie on the teevee screen, Mr Pollack has the viewer see four horses with letter box, and only three horses with pan-and-scan.

Okay, here's where this post jumps off into some deep water.

Now, let's take the chariot as representing our national economy. And each of the three horses is meant to meant to represent an influence on that economy.

One horse can be meant to represent the Federal Reserve, the board of directors of which sets the interest rates, at which banks lend money.

The other horse can be meant to represent the federal government, which can significantly influence the economy by such means as prompt disaster relief.

And then, the last horse that can consigned to representing the tax code. In this instance, one must remember that "the power to tax is the power to destroy".

And that means that all three horses, providing they're pulling in tandem, can pull the economy forward.

. . . yeah and yeah again, it would be pretty easy to insert all kinds of other considerations into the metaphor. For now, however, let's stick with getting the economy forward. . . .

At this point, let's recapitulate. The chariot stands for the economy, and the three horses stand for influences on the economy. aaaay! What about the charioteer? I mean the person driving the rig.

As an answer to my own rhetorical question, I propose that the charioteer can represent economic theory.

. . . okay, my little chick-a-dees, get ready for another leap into even deeper water. Click on this hyperlink ========> bubba da prez.

toodles

. . . sefton's easter egg . . .

Blame it all on my admiration for Lenny Bruce as an audacious cultural pioneer, along with my distaste for his wrong-headed notion that his pioneering required self-destruction.

Yes, I asked that question, and I'm quoting,

. . . "Is (?) there any Muslim in the world capable of introspection!" . . .

oh, yeah, I suppose I should describe the cause for, depending on one's point of view, my either torpedoing that presentation or ruining same with a stink bomb, ah, speaking metaphorically.

Somehow, I feel that a higher priority is, rather, my noting just how upset were three Muslims I know of. From what I can tell the implicit point of the presentation was a stinging critique of the Jewish state. And those particular Muslims were there to savor that critique. Likely enough, those three professors had been taken to be knights in shining armour, ready and able and eager to slay the dragon.

Imagine their shock, as they watched those knights get unhorsed by a stable boy with one sweep of a muck rake.

Here's what gets me. The re-action that I as the figurative stable boy could be summarized in the catcall "despicable". Putting that stable boy in his place required just one of those professors to reel off the name of just one Muslim, whom he knew was capable of introspection.

And not one of them did so.

. . . gotta' admit . . . I do feel a little sympathy for the aforementioned Muslims . . . one of them was concerned enough to request a talk with that stable boy at the conclusiion of the presentation . . . and I did so . . . heck, I even gave him my business card

. . . gotta' admit . . . the conversation was enlightening . . . well, for me it was . . . I can't say so for the other guy . . .

. . . ya'know, here's the irony . . . had that question been tossed in my face, I would've been able to produce the name of one Muslim, who proved worthy of being known for introspection.

. . . I guess I don't known when I'm well off, the visitor is hereby directed to click on the following hyperlink ====> sweetest nookie.