Five Minutes with Helen Thomas

Interview: One of the most relentless reporters that questioned nine presidents talks about women journalists, world wars, and undying curiosity.

Read More: Campus Progress

The Top 10 Conservative Idiots

The Oscars have come and gone, and to show how much we love those little gold statuettes it's time for our annual homage to Hollywood, the Top 10 Conservative Idiots Oscar Special. Bill O'Reilly (1) takes home the honors thanks to his Academy Award-winning performance on The Factor last week, but George W. Bush (2,3,4,5) rakes in four wins, a big improvement over last year's performance. Other winners include Duke Cunningham (6) for producing last week's courtroom drama, Scooter Libby (8) for directing money into his bank account, and Bill Frist (9) for acting like an ass. Enjoy, and don't forget the key!

Read more: Democratic Underground.com

"Demo-CATS" Struggle To Seize Opportunity

Amid GOP Troubles, No Unified Message
News about GOP political corruption, inept hurricane response and chaos in Iraq has lifted Democrats' hopes of winning control of Congress this fall. But seizing the opportunity has not been easy, as they found when they tried to unveil an agenda of their own.

Read more: Washington Post.com

Quote of Note: Angela Locke

"If your poor, you must not be smart. If you're smart, then why are you poor? According to our dominant culture, poverty confirms a personal flaw."

Angela Locke, working-class daughter, Off Our Backs, (Jan./Feb. 2005)

Where It Comes To The Debate Over The Quality Of Public Education,

Are We Taking TIME To Understand What Our Public Schools Are Dealing With?

Rush Limbaugh, Michael Crichton, Fred Singer Nominated for First Annual "Flat Earth" Award for Views on Climate Change

Middlebury Undergrads Create Award for Vehement Deniers of Global Warming

This year's nominees are talk show host Rush Limbaugh, bestselling novelist Michael Crichton, and S. Fred Singer, president and founder of the Arlington, Va.-based Science and Environmental Policy Project.

Read more: College News.org

Mike Thompson: "No Su-port"

Taxpayer Bill Of Rights (TABOR) Returns To Wisconsin Legislature Again

Below is a good overview story about the TABOR amendment being pushed for by Wisconsin legislators in Madison.
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That ‘evil’ word TABOR crops up in Siren

SIREN—It’s the evil word they’ve heard before, said Siren School Administrator Scott Johnson, but with a different spin.

The Taxpayers Bill of Rights (TABOR), is now being pushed in the Wisconsin State Assembly as the Taxpayer’s Protection Act, a constitutional amendment that Johnson says will ultimately take away control from local government and ruin public education in Wisconsin.

“This is a train wreck in the making for education,” Johnson said.

The constitutional amendment would limit the revenue from taxes and fees that the state or a special purpose district, school district, technical college district, county, city, village or town may receive in any year to the amount it received in the previous year, according to a short analysis on the 2005 assembly joint resolution 77.

Read more: Burnett County Sentinal

How The NR Teachers Union Decided To Endorse Candidates Lieffort and Cook-Shannon For School Board

Note: The information published below was forwarded to me by a member of the New Richmond community. The source of this post believes it is important to get the facts out to the public explaining why the New Richmond teachers union decided to endorse two specific candidates in the April school board election. The source of this information pointed out the need to counter the anonymous misinformation and falsehoods being posted at the ontheborderline.net (OTBL) blog site out of Hudson.

At this blog, we strive for an open discussion and everyone is allowed to post comments and submit articles, thoughts and information of local, regional, etc. interest. Unlike the OTBL blog site, we don't require you to provide your phone number, etc. to be considered to be make comments on our blog. We are not afraid of debate! Likewise, unlike OTBL, we don't kick people off this blog who question our philosophies and motives and debate us on the issues. The is a public arena open for debate. The soapbox is available to all and we firmly believe all people are created equal and have certain inalienable rights that include life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

JPN
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Submitted: 3/1/2006:

At the regular January NR teacher's union meeting, it was suggested that the group consider endorsing candidates in the upcoming primary for the school board. The discussion focused on being apprehensive about offering full-blown public support for candidates because it had "backfired on us" in the past. Interestingly enough- the two most recently supported candidates were Bill Brennan and Judy Remington. While both of those board members do have some residual support from a minority of teachers who voiced that they feel angry with what happened to former administrators, the union voted narrowly NOT to endorse ANY candidate until the membership could be presented with information on each candidate.

Every member of the union was invited to attend a planning meeting to decide how to gather information from each of the 6 candidates. After the first meeting, it was decided to organize one on one conversations between the candidates and a union representative. The entire membership was notified that these conversations were to take place AND they were asked to send any questions they would like presented in the conversations. Additionally- the entire membership was invited a second time to attend the second planning meeting before the interviews.

The questions sent in by the membership were sorted and synthesized into five questions: What is the role of the school board? What is your definition of a quality education? How do you measure a quality education? What are your short and long term facilities goals for the district? The community and union are aware of conflict/division on the board. What can you do to help this situation? Each of the 6 candidates was called personally in addition to receiving a written invitation that included this list of questions to prepare before the interview.

Finally, the entire membership was invited to attend the interviews. The nine volunteer teachers spent over 7 hours interviewing each of the candidates. At the conclusion of the interviews, before any discussion took place, the teachers took an informal straw poll voting for "the two candidates you feel would best represent the needs of our children, students, staff, and community". It was unanimous: Andy Lieffort and Deanna Cook-Shannon. At this point, the group discussed the strengths of every candidate and prepared to present the information gained in the interviews to the entire membership.

The group also decided that they would not release the names of the recommended candidates until they had listened to the candidates at the scheduled candidate forum held at East Elementary. They believed it was important to wait until each candidate had every opportunity to share their ideas and withhold final evaluation until after that meeting. The group met one final time after the candidate forum to determine if anyone's impressions had changed. They had not.

Every teacher received a brief written recommendation from the committee the Friday before the primary. The committee also invited every teacher to an informal Q/A session held at the East Elementary media center in case they wished for clarification or to challenge the recommendation. Nobody sought clarification and nobody challenged the recommendation.

The NR teacher's union met this afternoon. The circulated agenda included reference to the school board candidates. A representative from this volunteer committee presented the information learned from the interviews to the membership. A motion was quickly made to endorse Andy Lieffort and Deanna Cook-Shannon. Discussion that followed included several references to the strengths each of these candidates in addition to a few concerns about the alternatives.

One teacher reminded the membership of how endorsing candidates has not traditionally worked in our favor in the past. Another questioned what the membership and the candidates served to gain from endorsement. Another couple expressed concern about the current behavior of the board and how they hoped to add members that could make a positive change. (One voice represented the majority on the board, one represented the minority).

When the discussion ceased, the vote was taken. The full room overwhelmingly voted to endorse Andy and Deanna. It was not unanimous- there were a handful of 'nays', but when the teachers left the room, there was no doubt about who they hoped would lead the district into the future.

The NR teachers are formally endorsing Andy Lieffort and Deanna Cook-Shannon for the April 2006 NR School Board election because they have demonstrated a clear understanding of the educational needs of our students, they understand current academic curriculum and program strengths and weaknesses, they have a firm grip on both immediate AND long term facilitates needs, and they understand the importance of keeping quality staff at every level to ensure the success of our students.
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Comments and discussion welcome...

1776

Patriots Pull Down Lead Statue of George III in Bowling Green

In July 1776, shortly after the Declaration of Independence was signed, George Washington had the document read to a group of patriots who gathered in present-day City Hall Park in Manhattan. The mob, shown here in a contemporary painting, then moved to Bowling Green and pulled down a gilded lead statue of King George III. Joseph Wilton, a well-known sculptor in London, made the 4,000 pound statue, which was erected in 1770 and depicted the king on horseback, wearing Roman garb. The statue had become a target for graffiti, prompting the passage of an anti-vandalism law. When the statue was toppled, Loyalists rescued the head and are believed to have smuggled it to England. But the rest was transported to the Litchfield, Connecticut home of Oliver Wolcott, Sr., where it was chopped up with an ax, melted down, and fashioned into 42,088 bullets for the patriots.

–Cynthia Blair

Bill O'Reilly Crowned "Worst Person in the World,"

...And Russ Limbaugh Sucks Hind Tit
Summary: Keith Olbermann crowned Bill O'Reilly the "Worst Person in the World" on both the February 22 and 23 editions of MSNBC's Countdown with Keith Olbermann, based on comments first noted by Media Matters for America. Olbermann also recognized Rush Limbaugh on February 23 for his assertion that Supreme Court Justice David H. Souter is "a girl."

Read the juicy details: Media Matters

Pen & Ink Jabs

JACK BAUER HIJACKS BORDERLINE TO BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN

This breaking news just in....







The OTBL Doctors of Liberty have convened a cloistered enclave to sort out the new direction being paved for OTBL by newcomer Jack Bauer. For years, OTBL has been known as a bastion of intellectualism - granting doctorates to only the upper layer of the intellectual elite. Mr. Bauer threatens to upset the ivory tower with a new focus on NASCAR, cowboys and country music. "Are we great thinkers or are we rednecks?" fretted Dr. Admin, "I'm afraid we might lose our cut-n-paste ivy league identity."

Dr. Bubonic's main concern was that he would need to start dropping his g's. "Verily, I say, it will be most difficult to remember to write eatin' and drinkin' and huntin' and fishin' and collectivizin'."

Dr. Wheeze was steeled in his resolve to continue being smarter than the average bear. "Trailer trash is incapable of making decisions on their own without my guidance. I didn't earn this degree to have it's value diluted by a bunch of mullet-headed hillbillies who think they know which way to the outhouse."

Dr. Bil voiced similar concerns. "I've always prided myself in avoiding talk of a class envy. I'm a common man of the people - despite my stratospheric IQ. I come from Eau Claire where huntin' and fishin' and trappin' and snowmobilin' is a rite of passage for any red-blooded American boy. So I can relate to Mr. Bauer's love of the cowboy life. I even took a class in college about electrical current. The professor taught me everything I know today about AC/DC."

Dr. Conn seemed fine with the latest developments. "Guns, guns, guns! Yeehah!!" he spat.

The Doctors concluded the enclave with a resolution to require Jack Bauer to spend 60 hours with psychiatrist Dr. Lucy van Pelt - to work through his issues with doctors, intellectualism, and well-hung cowboys.

Developing ...

OTBL Admin Asks The Question: "Why Can't They Just Bring Powdered Sugar Like Normal Kids?"

A couple weeks ago, the ontheborderline.net admin's ranted about his kid being assigned to read a book in junior high were a character said the "shit" word. He wondered why they could read books about normal families. I just got the book he condemned, he started reading it and will follow with a review later. (Ask Mr. Anton if I can still get some extra for this book report.)

I've been thinking about what would be a great book to for kids to read in junior high. I know the ACLU probably wouldn't approve, but I recommend the Bible. I challenge old CK over at OTBL to find one normal family in the Bible. Even Jesus didn't live in a normal family. David? Moses? Adam and Eve? Definitely not -- their kid killed his brother. Job? Abraham? After a couple evening of explaining all the "knowing" going on, the OTBL admin would be addressing the school board about getting award winning books like "A Door Near Here" by Heather Quarles read.

I'm rambling here, but here's another "normal family" story ending up on the door step of public education:

Second-grader brings cocaine to class

PHILADELPHIA - A 7-year-old girl brought cocaine to her second-grade classroom and passed it around, police said Tuesday.

Detectives were trying to determine where the girl got the drugs, which she brought into the John M. Patterson School in her backpack Monday, said police Capt. Benjamin Naish. The teacher called authorities after she discovered the drugs among her students. One child told her mother that she had eaten some of the powder, but was found to be OK when examined at a hospital, authorities said. advertisement

Read more: The Buzz

...maybe we should call them "saccharin papas" instead of "sugar daddies."

Corporate Compa$$ion: Company Offer$ Man A Job

...After He Was Fired For Taking Off To Be With Dying Wife!

WINDBER, Pa. -- A company that fired a 13-year employee as his wife lay dying of brain cancer has offered the Pennsylvania man his job back.

Rug Doctor said the company has offered back pay and no break in seniority to former sales representative Bernard Chippie. But it's unclear if he will take the carpet-cleaning company up on its offer.

Read more: KSBW Channel.com

Bush Sr. Quote From The Urban Legends...

A reader sent the following quote attributed to President George Bush Sr.:

"Trying to eliminate Saddam ... would have incurred incalculable human and political costs. Apprehending him was probably impossible ... We would have been forced to occupy Baghdad and, in effect, rule Iraq ...there was no viable "exit strategy" we could see, violating another of our principles. Furthermore, we had been self-consciously trying to set a pattern for handling aggression in the post-Cold War world. Going in and occupying Iraq, thus unilaterally exceeding the United Nations' mandate, would have destroyed the precedent of international response to aggression that we hoped to establish. Had we gone the invasion route, the United States could conceivably still be an occupying power in a bitterly hostile land."

In his memoirs, A World Transformed, written more than five years ago, George Bush, Sr. wrote this to explain why he didn't go after Saddam Hussein at the end of the Gulf War.

Urban Legends had this to say about this quote:

The quote reproduced above is reasonably accurate, although — as indicated by the ellipses — some of the context has been elided.

In 1998, former President George Bush and Brent Scowcroft, National Security Advisor during the Bush administration, collaborated on the book A World Transformed, a political history covering significant world events which occurred during the first three years of Bush's presidency (1989-1991): the collapse of the Soviet empire, the unification of Germany, Tienanmen Square, and the Gulf War.

In Chapter 19, which discusses the aftermath of the 1991 Gulf War (also known as "Desert Storm," the military operation to liberate Kuwait from occupation by invading Iraqi forces), they wrote:

"Trying to eliminate Saddam, extending the ground war into an occupation of Iraq, would have violated our guideline about not changing objectives in midstream, engaging in "mission creep," and would have incurred incalculable human and political costs. Apprehending him was probably impossible. We had been unable to find Noriega in Panama, which we knew intimately. We would have been forced to occupy Baghdad and, in effect, rule Iraq. The coalition would instantly have collapsed, the Arabs deserting it in anger and other allies pulling out as well. Under the circumstances, there was no viable "exit strategy" we could see, violating another of our principles. Furthermore, we had been self-consciously trying to set a pattern for handling aggression in the post-Cold War world. Going in and occupying Iraq, thus unilaterally exceeding the United Nations' mandate, would have destroyed the precedent of international response to aggression that we hoped to establish. Had we gone the invasion route, the United States could conceivably still be an occupying power in a bitterly hostile land. It would have been a dramatically different — and perhaps barren — outcome."
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Now, if only his son could read...

Footnote to Bush Senior

The year 1998, struck me as significant. While Bush Sr. was reflecting on why he didn't go on to Bhagdad, the Neo-Cons were trying to persuade President Clinton that he should! Note how many of those who signed this letter hold significant power in the current Bush White House.



Kristol's 1998 Letter to the President

January 26, 1998

The Honorable William J. Clinton
President of the United States
Washington, DC

Dear Mr. President:

We are writing you because we are convinced that current American policy toward Iraq is not succeeding, and that we may soon face a threat in the Middle East more serious than any we have known since the end of the Cold War. In your upcoming State of the Union Address, you have an opportunity to chart a clear and determined course for meeting this threat. We urge you to seize that opportunity, and to enunciate a new strategy that would secure the interests of the U.S. and our friends and allies around the world. That strategy should aim, above all, at the removal of Saddam Hussein’s regime from power. We stand ready to offer our full support in this difficult but necessary endeavor.

The policy of “containment” of Saddam Hussein has been steadily eroding over the past several months. As recent events have demonstrated, we can no longer depend on our partners in the Gulf War coalition to continue to uphold the sanctions or to punish Saddam when he blocks or evades UN inspections. Our ability to ensure that Saddam Hussein is not producing weapons of mass destruction, therefore, has substantially diminished. Even if full inspections were eventually to resume, which now seems highly unlikely, experience has shown that it is difficult if not impossible to monitor Iraq’s chemical and biological weapons production. The lengthy period during which the inspectors will have been unable to enter many Iraqi facilities has made it even less likely that they will be able to uncover all of Saddam’s secrets. As a result, in the not-too-distant future we will be unable to determine with any reasonable level of confidence whether Iraq does or does not possess such weapons.

Such uncertainty will, by itself, have a seriously destabilizing effect on the entire Middle East. It hardly needs to be added that if Saddam does acquire the capability to deliver weapons of mass destruction, as he is almost certain to do if we continue along the present course, the safety of American troops in the region, of our friends and allies like Israel and the moderate Arab states, and a significant portion of the world’s supply of oil will all be put at hazard. As you have rightly declared, Mr. President, the security of the world in the first part of the 21st century will be determined largely by how we handle this threat.

Given the magnitude of the threat, the current policy, which depends for its success upon the steadfastness of our coalition partners and upon the cooperation of Saddam Hussein, is dangerously inadequate. The only acceptable strategy is one that eliminates the possibility that Iraq will be able to use or threaten to use weapons of mass destruction. In the near term, this means a willingness to undertake military action as diplomacy is clearly failing. In the long term, it means removing Saddam Hussein and his regime from power. That now needs to become the aim of American foreign policy.

We urge you to articulate this aim, and to turn your Administration's attention to implementing a strategy for removing Saddam's regime from power. This will require a full complement of diplomatic, political and military efforts. Although we are fully aware of the dangers and difficulties in implementing this policy, we believe the dangers of failing to do so are far greater. We believe the U.S. has the authority under existing UN resolutions to take the necessary steps, including military steps, to protect our vital interests in the Gulf. In any case, American policy cannot continue to be crippled by a misguided insistence on unanimity in the UN Security Council.

We urge you to act decisively. If you act now to end the threat of weapons of mass destruction against the U.S. or its allies, you will be acting in the most fundamental national security interests of the country. If we accept a course of weakness and drift, we put our interests and our future at risk.

Sincerely,

Elliott Abrams Richard L. Armitage William J. Bennett

Jeffrey Bergner John Bolton Paula Dobriansky

Francis Fukuyama Robert Kagan Zalmay Khalilzad

William Kristol Richard Perle Peter W. Rodman

Donald Rumsfeld William Schneider, Jr. Vin Weber

Paul Wolfowitz R. James Woolsey Robert B. Zoellick

Bush V. Katrina:

Right-Wing Spin v. Objective Reporting and Quality Journalism


Bush 'Knew What Was Coming' Before Katrina

Psst, spread the word: President Bush was "personally briefed" the day before Hurricane Katrina hit land and "he knew exactly what was coming," a liberal advocacy group is trumpeting.

MoveOn.org is urging its many supporters to "help get the word out" to at least five friends, by forwarding an Associated Press article detailing what Bush knew and when he knew it.

The Associated Press on Wednesday released a report based on "secret transcripts and video footage" showing Bush being briefed the day before the hurricane hit.

Read more: CNSNews

CLICK HERE: In case you missed the Bush-Katrina Early warning Video

READING IS FUNDA-MENTAL

Killbear: Now a word from our sponsor.

Announcer: What child does not crave the need to read? But do you produce enough wealth to provide your children with quality reading material? If not, Scholastic Financial Books is the answer for you. Even if your children don't know you exist because you are too busy playing with your Junior Citizen Public Auditor Decoder Ring, you can still provide first-rate stories for them to read. Father of sixth grader Muriel Shawenuff recently purchased his daughter a copy of "The Superintendent's Splendiferous Contractual Adventure" for $1.75 - a full 60% off the cover price of $4.25! Said Muriel: "My daddy doesn't work for a living, but he returned 35 pop bottles for their 5 cent deposit just so he could get me this exciting story of a nice lady who does lots of nice things for lots of nice kids. I told my daddy that I want to be just like her when I grow up. He told me to shut up."

The family of seventh grader Nancy Omninuts also suffers from lack of wealth producibility. Nancy's father often provides Nancy with nice toys like boxes and sticks, but Nancy still desires to have books like the children of contributors to society. Said Nancy: "My daddy buys me a School Board Packet every month. For bedtime reading, instead of searching for Waldo, daddy has me search for pennies in all the big numbers. Once my friend told me that President Kennedy praised public service by saying: 'Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.' I told this to my daddy and he washed my mouth out with soap. Now my favorite book is The Wonderful Adventures of Lizzie Borden."

Yes, ladies and failures, make sure you give you kids the guidance they need to be as screwed-up as you are. They need to know how to read if they want to grow up to be President. Make sure to buy them Scholastic Financial Books!

TIME to Think About The Challenges Facing Home and School

"Teaching is not a lost art, but the regard for it is a lost tradition."

Jacques Barzum
Cultural historian
quoted in the Charlottle Observer



"The school is the last expenditure upon which America should be willing to economize."

Franklin D. Roosevelt

Study Harder!

Governor Doyle presents grant to combat meth use in western Wisconsin

IT' S AN EPIDEMIC!
The battle against methamphetamine use in northwestern Wisconsin continues and, with a recent grant, a signed bill in Wisconsin and an introduced bill at the federal level, agencies like the Western Wisconsin Methamphetamine Action Consortium (WWMAC) can enhance its arsenal.

During “Capital for the Day” events last week in Menomonie, Governor Jim Doyle announced a $250,000 grant for the consortium that consists of Barron, Burnett, Chippewa, Douglas, Dunn, Eau Claire, Jackson, Pierce, Polk, St. Croix, Trempeleau, and Washburn counties as well as the St. Croix Tribe. He was joined in the presentation by Corrections Secretary Matt Frank and Superintendent of the Wisconsin State Patrol Dave Collins.

Read more: Dunn County News

Rebecca Lee: First African American Woman Medical Doctor

Rebecca Lee Crumpler (née Lee) holds a place in American history by becoming the first African-American female to receive an MD degree in the United States. Crumpler received a Doctress of Medicine degree in 1864 when she graduated from the New England Female Medical College (later to merge with Boston University in 1873).

Before entering medical school, Crumpler worked in Charlestown, Massachusetts for eight years as a nurse. After securing her degree, she moved to Richmond, Virginia subsequent to the Civil War. Amidst the severe racism of the postwar South, Crumpler worked with other black physicians treating freed slaves, a group who otherwise would not have had access to medical care. As noted in her book, A Book of Medical Discourses in Two Parts (1883), this missionary work was in concert with her career goals: "I early conceived a liking for, and sought every Opportunity to relieve the sufferings of others."
[Image of building above: The School of Medicine (The New England Female Medical College) as it appeared in 1860, the year Rebecca Lee Crumpler began her studies.*]

Returning to Boston from Richmond, Crumpler continued to practice medicine until 1881 within the black community "receiving children in the house for treatment; regardless, in a measure, of remuneration." She and her husband (Arthur Crumpler) lived in Boston at 67 Joy Street on Beacon Hill, and after moving to Hyde Park, Massachusetts, Crumpler used the notes she kept while in medical practice to produce A Book of Medical Discourses - one of the very first medical publications by an African American.