I'm starting to think my comments at OTBL are being adjusted by the admin. I type my responses in Word prior to posting them, yet when they finally approve my comments they are littered with spelling and grammar mistakes. Anyone else see any of that?
OTBL'er Jack Bauer would make it 69,
If it would make New Richmond look bad.
Jack, Jack, Jack........ Once again you forgot to tell the whole truth!
Don't worry there masked assassin, I am here to help you get the rest of the story out! See those comments below!
Here's a post by Jack Bauer that is currently running at the ontheborderline.net blog under the title:
Candidates Apply for Middle School Principal’s Position
__________________________________________________
The New Richmond Shopper is reporting, “42 candidates applied for the job” of Middle School Principal. The position is vacant because the previous principal, Mike Ballard quit and left town in June.
On May 15, High School Principal Jeff Moberg also quit, but then withdrew his resignation the next day. He then had his staff hold a rally at the high school 6 days later begging him to stay. Even more amazing, he had 3 gullible Board members ask for a community wide Open Forum in early June, just before the teachers could take their 3-month summer vacation, so the Administrators could voice their concerns of the District to the Board and the community.
No administrators spoke that night.
So much then for all the ranting, finger pointing, screaming, shouting, yelling, crying and sobbing by teachers at the Open Forum about how we’ll lose “good” Administrators and that the District is “eating its young”.
Looks like the large number of Middle School Principal applicants indicates New Richmond is a place to come to – not to quit and run away from.
Link to this Jack Bauer (Crane Lady is it you?) post: http://www.ontheborderline.net/?p=3722
---
Now according to Jack, 42 seems like a large number. However, according to a source with in the district only seventeen of those applicants have the necessary degree to be truly considered. And even at 42 applicants, that seems awfully low, considering the River Falls newspaper reported that there were 57 external applicants as well as 2 internal applicants for the job that Mike Ballard accepted. And when you throw in the fact the New Richmond job pays approximately 40% more annual income, I want to ask why are there only 42 applicants. Similarly, I find it interesting that there were 13 applicants for the job Morrie Viellieux accepted in New Richmond, yet there were 85 applicants to replace him in the School District he left.
Now Jack, wasn't it Judy Brennington taking credit at the June 5th open forum for calling the special meeting that night to show transparency between the School Board and the voters of the district? Come on you were there, don't you remember little buddy? Jack, if Mike Ballard is such a bad administrator, why is it that numerous high ranking River Falls board members and district administrators personally make him their top candidate and actively recruit him? All you and your comrades want to talk about is Mike Ballard's low test scores of 8th graders. Please look all the way back to the testing that this group of 8th graders took as 2nd graders and then report back to us. I think you will find that in the last two years they have went from the worst in the state to something better. Not great but better. And improvement is what we want isn't it? Now Crane Lady, I mean Jack, I know you are going to read this and spin it your way, and attack someone with some vicious reply that only is intended to hurt. I expect something more uplifting from a crane lady.
Luke, Curt, Mark, Chris, dontreadonme, jack bauer, towncrier, N. Onimous, taxmemore, Citizen Joe...
Where is John Smith?
---
A recent Gallup poll indicates that 60 percent of Americans want Arabs to undergo more intensive screening at airports. The Federal Motor Carrier Administration, which inspects trucks carrying hazardous materials, has announced that it "will be looking closely at the drivers, and if the person looks to be of Arab descent that would be enough" for stepped-up scrutiny. Those are just two instances of ethnic profiling now urged on us in the aftermath of September's horrific events.
But can ethnic or racial profiling ever be justified? After all, national security is a legitimate function of the federal government. Even hardcore civil libertarians concede that it would be foolish to treat civil liberties as inviolable when the lives of innocent thousands are at stake. So, what is to be done?
The Constitution guarantees all persons, including non-citizens, due process and equal protection of the laws. Yet those rights are not absolute. The Supreme Court has insisted that the government pass a rigorous two-part test if it intends to discriminate on the basis of race or national origin. First, government must show that it has a "compelling interest" in employing its discriminatory scheme. Surely, protection against the kind of terror that we experienced on September 11 would qualify as compelling. But second, government may not discriminate unless it adopts means that are "least restrictive" when compared against alternative approaches to accomplish the same ends. That second principle will ultimately control disputes over ethnic profiling.
Read more!
by Robert A. Levy
Robert A. Levy is a senior fellow in Constitutional Studies at the Cato Institute.
By Kavan Peterson,
Staff Writer
Stateline.org
After a series of stinging judicial defeats for same-sex marriage this summer, both sides of the issue are looking to November's elections as a test of how far public attitudes have changed toward gay couples.
For the first time, gay marriage advocates see a chance in at least two states -- South Dakota and Wisconsin -- to vote down proposed constitutional amendments to ban same-sex marriage. Colorado may be offering voters a chance to ban gay marriage but at the same time adopt a first-ever ballot measure that would legally sanction gay and lesbian relationships and offer them most of the benefits of marriage.
Since the historic Massachusetts high court ruling in November 2003 legalizing same-sex weddings, gay marriage supporters have suffered a steady drubbing. A backlash since the Massachusetts ruling spurred 16 states so far to adopt constitutional amendments to ban same-sex marriage, bringing to 20 the state constitutions that limit unions to a man and woman.
Read more@ stateline.org.
St. Croix County -- Wisconsin's Fastest Growing County
According to the The Department of Administration, since the 2000 census, St. Croix County is one of the fastest growing counties. Its population is up almost 15,000 since 2000, growing by more than 23 percent.
Obviously, the building around New Richmond is slowing down -- but it's not stopping. There were three foundations dug in the past two weeks down my road. Yet, a favorite posting by OTBL's Jack Bauer is once again at www.ontheborderline.net: New Richmond Home Sales Continue Rapid Decline.
When I read these OTBL posts about declines in house sales, you almost get the feeling that houses are being uprooted and moved away. Here's the entire JB post in blue and a few of my thoughts in black:
"The St. Paul Area Real Estate Association reports July 2006 sales for New Richmond declined 32% from July 2005. Only 22 houses were sold last month compared to 33 houses sold in July 2005."
Of course mortgage rates have gone up -- however they dropped a little of the past few weeks -- and that means demand goes down. That's market economics. Of course, during the past housing boom many people with sub-par credit rating were able to buy homes because they were suckered into low payments via adjustable rate mortgages. When the rates went up, many of they people with bad credit ratings and bad money management habits are stuck with the equivalent of a new car payment or two tacked on to their monthly house payment.
"Don’t be fooled by the reports that St. Croix County is the fastest growing County on a percentage basis in Wisconsin. That may be the case. But it is small to begin with, so any growth compared to other larger counties seems to be large."
As noted above, the county has grown by 15,000 people (23 percent) since 2000. I'm not sure how JB thinks this is supposed to be spun, in 2000 New Richmond's population was 6,310 and Hudson's was 8,775 for a total of 15,085. That means St. Croix County has grown another Hudson and New Richmond since 2000. Along with that growth comes schools, public services, roads, police and fire protection, etc.
"While the corridor along I-94 may be experiencing some relative growth, New Richmond is not. We know of at least 5 houses that closed in New Richmond in July that were purchased from New Richmond residents moving from one New Richmond home into another New Richmond home."
So JB knows five people from New Richmond who moved within New Richmond...and the point is? May be that numbers was 15 in July 2005? This is another silly statistic tossed out to us by the ontheborderline.net bloggers that is supposed to make us think the New Richmond school district will start collapsing and will in the near future be able to fit into a one-room school house.
TAMPA, Fla. -- His critics may say he had it coming. His supporters consider it assault. But Hillsborough County Commissioner candidate Joe Redner is taking it with a grain of salt.
Redner and Republican radio host Tony Katz were taping a debate on the local cable access show "The Bleepin Truth" Saturday night when their political war of words got personal. Katz left his seat and seconds later hurled a chair at Redner.
"I'm fine. I have a little swelling on my arm," Redner said. "A little bit of soreness on the side of my head, but I will be fine."
Chris Krimitsos of “The Bleepin Truth” said: "It did get heated. It did get scary at the end." It was the third match-up of the two political polar opposites and Krimitsos says there were fireworks from day one.
"Honestly, I didn't think it would get physical," Krimitsos said. "But if you were on the set with the two of them, you could cut the tension with a knife."
As the owner of the adult club Mons Venus and an outspoken liberal, Redner is no stranger to controversy. While he is used to taking verbal jabs, he says never saw the chair coming.
"This heavy stool hit me in the side of the head and in my forearm," Redner said.
He says he doesn't intend to press charges or file any lawsuits against Katz. But he doesn't have a desire to debate him again, either.
See the video.
OTBL Bloggers don’t qualify as thugs
To the Editor:
In a recent editorial you referred to the ontheborderline bloggers as “thugs.” I have to question whether this description is accurate.
A thug is an unwelcome bully who shows up in person - to intrude, meddle, harass and intimidate.
However, anonymously written words that appear on your computer screen do not seem to have the necessary “in person” touch to make the writer a true thug. On a blog, the unwelcome bully can be ignored with the click of your mouse – and should be.
Perhaps better descriptors of the ontheborderline bloggers would be “windbags,” “bloviators,” “haters,” “anonymous cowards,” “sore losers,” and “revenge seekers.”
So, when they are blogging, can we agree to describe them as cowardly anonymous bloviating hater windbag sore loser revenge seekers, and be done with it?
When they show up somewhere in person and try to bully good folks around, we can switch the description back to thugs.
That’s my suggestion.
Bob Muchlinski
City costs remain high, says tax group study
Rice Lake city residents have lower than average incomes but pay higher than average costs for city services, according to a report recently issued by the Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance.
The report also indicated that Rice Lake continued to have especially high costs for street maintenance and police and fire protection and that municipal spending per capita was well above the median for communities of comparable size.
The study, released last week, summarizes municipal spending for 2000 through 2004 for 228 Wisconsin cities and villages with populations between 2,000 and 150,000. In the report, costs for general government, police, fire-ambulance and street maintenance were examined and compared to similar-size municipalities. Rice Lake, with a population listed at 8,490, was grouped into a category with 22 other municipalities with populations of 7,500-10,000.
Read more@ Rice Lake Chronotype Online.
Republican J.B Van Hollen to Republican Paul Bucher: "You suck"
Canidate Paul Bucher to Canidate J. B. Van Hollen: "I don't suck, I resent that..."
---
West Allis - A Republican candidate for state attorney general apologized today after pointedly telling his opponent "you suck" during a heated exchange about the threat of terrorism in Wisconsin.J.B. Van Hollen, a former federal prosecutor, issued a statement of apology after directing the colorful remark earlier in the day at fellow Republican Paul Bucher.
Read more@ Journal Sentinal Online.
Vietnam to attend Agent Orange conference in Norway
The latest studies on the effects of dioxins on Vietnamese, like the higher rate of malformation in victims’ descendants, will be presented at the conference to be held on.
Also on Monday the association’s deputy chairman, Nguyen Trong Nhan, met the president of the Germany-Vietnam Friendship Association, Guenter Jiesensfeld, who promised assistance for building a child care center for agent orange/dioxins-affected kids in Da Nang city.
Two million Vietnamese are thought to be suffering from the after-effects of exposure to Agent Orange, according to the association. During the Vietnam War, the US army sprayed an estimated 79 million liters of defoliants, destroying over three million hectares of forests in southern Vietnam.
Exposure to the dioxins has been associated with severe birth defects and certain rare, fatal diseases in humans, including leukemia, Hodgkins and non-Hodgkins lymphoma, cancer, dermatological complications, and mental retardation, according to veterans advocacy groups.
Source: Tuoi Tre – Translated by Thanh Tuan
by Philip A Farruggio
I mean, really, how much can any intelligent, well read person take? Sometimes, watching the Congress on C-span, I want to just take my shoe off and throw it at the set! The Republicans, well, they have lost all credibility as a so called party. Like lemmings, they march out and drop off the cliff of reason. On nearly every major issue, these jokers, dressed seemingly more elegantly than their colleagues on the other side of the aisle, amaze me with their lack of perspective. Meanwhile, as in the old Michael Jordan Nike commercial, the Jackass party wants to " Be like....".
Read the whole story@ OpEdNews.com.
The minority staff of the U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Committee, under the leadership of Congressman John Conyers (D., Mich.) just released a staggering report with the hard evidence of crimes and abuses committed by President Bush and his administration (breaking 26 specific laws). This report, "The Constitution in Crisis," should provide the raw material for numerous news reports and point reporters toward fertile ground for additional investigations.
Read the whole report and more.
Today is Nagasaki Day, the 61st anniversary of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, which will be holding a solemn ceremony in memory of the victims of that tragedy and to encourage people to work for world peace. Similar ceremonies were held on August 6 in Hiroshima and other cities.
On this anniversary of a dark day in history, humanity is still far from realizing the goal of world peace. The United States, Russia, and Britain are modernizing their nuclear arsenals. The U.S. is even designing a new generation of mini-nukes.
U.S. officials have not ruled out the use of nuclear weapons in future conflicts. Nuclear weapons states, particularly the U.S. and the Zionist regime, have adopted a threatening nuclear stance toward their rivals.
On top of all this, the radiological weapon depleted uranium has been used by the U.S. military in Iraq, Bosnia, Serbia, Kosovo, and Afghanistan. The U.S. Army has admitted they used over 500 tons of uranium munitions in the first two months of the 2003 war in Iraq.
Read more@ Tehran Times.
The "Peasant hero of the Mexican Revolution"
Emiliano Zapata is the Mexican rebel leader who said "It is better to die on your feet than to live on your knees." A former sharecropper, he organized and led peasants during the battles of the Mexican Revolution, joining forces with Pancho Villa and others to fight the government of Porfirio Diaz. Zapata supported agrarian reform and land redistribution; his rallying cry was "Land and freedom!" (His positions attracted the support of some urban intellectuals, who linked him to the theories of Karl Marx.) Though Diaz was defeated, Zapata continued to resist subsequent government leaders; he was ambushed and shot by Mexican troops in 1919. Zapata remains a folk hero in Mexico, where his name has often been invoked by rebels like Subcommander Marcos.
Read more!
The Rebel Girl
Elizabeth Gurley Flynn (1890-1964 may have died in 1964, but her life is ever vivid and current. A biography, "Iron in Her Soul" by Helen C. Camp was recently published and requests for permission to quote her in books and essays still come in weekly to the Communist Party.
As early as age 5, Flynn already had the "indelible impression" of working class life and poverty where they lived in Manchester, N.H., "where the great mills stretched like prisons along the bank of the Merrimac River."
Her family moved to the Bronx, N.Y. at the turn of the century. She loved the city and the school, especially the upper grades where she studied the Constitution and the Bill of Rights which, she said, "I have been defending ever since."
Her family was an active socialist family. She vividly remembered the Sunday night gatherings at the Harlem Socialist Club at 250 W. 125th Street. It was here that Flynn, aged 15, made her first public speech. The topic was "Women Under Socialism."
Read more@ KUED
by Elizabeth Gurley Flynn (1941)
---
“Primo Maggio, il sole dell’ Avvenire” – May First, the sun of tomorrow! as our Italian comrades so beautifully it, is here again. It links ancient traditions, these modem times, and the future. Always a people’s natural holiday, since time immemorial it was the occasion for the gathering of the of the poor and lowly for one gala day of festivity. For the last fifty-five years it has been universally recognized and cherished by workers around the world as an International Labor Holiday. It is actually the only holiday celebrated internationally. It obliterates all differences of race, creed, color, and nationality. It celebrates the brotherhood of all workers everywhere. It crosses all national boundaries, it transcends all language barriers, it ignores all religious differences. It makes sharp and clear, around the world, the impassable chasm between all workers and all exploiters. It is the day when the class struggle in its most militant significance is reaffirmed by every conscious worker.
This day is to the enlightened worker an augury of a new world, a classless world, a peaceful world, a world without poverty or misery. It is the glowing promise of socialism, the real brotherhood of mankind. On this day in 1941 the wise words of Lenin; “Life will assert itself. The Communists must know that the future at any rate is theirs,” will light up the lonely jail cells of Browder and Thaelman and countless others. Lowhummed snatches of revolutionary song will be heard in concentration camps. On the sea, in military barracks, in the forced labor of factory or mill, the hearts of the driven workers will beat to unison with those far away who parade joyously behind gleaming red banners, to stirring music on Moscow’s Red Square. “Do your damnedest to us!” they mutter between clenched teeth, the conscripts in European trenches, the prisoners in Franco’s dungeons, in Hitler’s hell holes, in Mussolini’s prisons; “Your days are numbered. You can’t stop the final victory of the people!"
International? That must be “foreign,” many folks mistakenly infer. But what could be more international in its origin and population than these United States? Proudly we declare May Day is American. It is not a foreign idea. Many good ideas come from abroad, but this is an American idea exported to all other countries from America. May Day as an official labor holiday was born in the fierce struggles of the eighties to establish an eight-hour day. Workers of all nationalities, immigrants, political refugees, exiles, from every foreign land; native born grandsons of the American Revolution and Civil War veterans made a common, determined demand: “Eight hours shall constitute a legal day’s work from and after May First, 1886.” The Federation of Organized Trades and Labor of the United States and Canada (later to become the American Federation of Labor) called upon the workers to down tools. Enthusiastic, they poured out in the first American general strike. It spread from city to city, over 3,000 miles. The whole continent, from the Atlantic to the Pacific, was astir: 192,000 won the demand. The employing class, appalled at the solidarity of the workers, struck back viciously. Six workers were killed and many wounded at the McCormick Harvester Works in Chicago.
May Day was baptized in the blood of American workers. A protest meeting Haymarket Square May 4, 1886, resulted in another bloody battle and a bomb frameup. It caused the railroading to the gallows of Albert Parsons (whose ancestor had been at Valley Forge) and three of his comrades, Engel, Fischer, and Spies. "Let the voice of the people be heard!" cried Parsons, as the noose tightened around his neck. It has been, it ever Will be on May Day, brave martyred hero of yesterday! This year the newly organized, victorious strikers of the International Harvester Works in Chicago will hallow your names on May first.
Read the entire essay.
A dad takes his kid to the doctor for a check-up. After the exam, the doctor
tells dad that little Johnny is in fine health and then asks "Do you have any other questions?" Johnny tugs on dad's shirt sleeve and says, "Dad,
don't forget we're suppose to ask our doctor about Viagra."
You might ask yourself, where did Johnny learn about Viagra. Do you think
it was over at the "Socialist" Field of Dreams where they play soccer?, or
Maybe watching Nascar with dad on a saturday afternoon?
I remember when kids used to build model cars with their dads. It was great
fun. It probably still is, only now dad has to explain erectile disfunction to little Johnny before the paint dries.
I'm sure glad the Free Market is promoting family values!
So let's blame all of society's ills on the soccer promoting "Socialists".
Great Idea.
OTBLers, you are absolutely right! Let's nip this soccer thing in the bud.
Or maybe we could take a different perspictive. See Full Article:
''In the old days, when it was just three [networks], there were some people wrapped up in the industry who really understood what communications are all about, why they had licenses,'' said Charren, who's now a visiting professor at Harvard University. ''Those people were very proud to be broadcasters.''
Today, broadcasting is a bottom-line business. The sense of pride Charren found at ABC, NBC and CBS in the early days has been replaced by a plethora of programmers who see our kids as just another target market, she said.
This is one of those areas of parenting where it would be nice to get a little help from the village. When my kids were little, the only television they saw arrived safely in our home via the Public Broadcasting System's Kideo lineup. Little commercialism (it was brought to us by Juicy Juice, you know) and comfortable content left me feeling OK about turning on the TV if I needed a half-hour to prepare dinner or return a phone call.
Soon, I realized that I had to do more than control their television viewing. I had to control mine as well. That meant giving up the evening news (it was the night my daughter asked why the overweight man, stripped to his underwear and strapped to a gurney, was being loaded into an ambulance that I turned off the 5 p.m. news for good) and it meant giving up the Chicago Bears games (because so many of the commercials on Fox advertise some other horrible show on that network, I found my kids were having nightmares just based on the scary commercials).
Now it appears that I will have to give up the Super Bowl as well. That game, which long has been a series of commercials broken up by a little football, will feature a titanic battle between the makers of Viagra, Levitra and the newest product, Cialis, fighting for the minds and, uh, other parts, of men. Call me a coward, but I would rather forgo the game than try to explain erectile dysfunction to an 8-year-old."
And don't forget to promote "Christian businesses" , Here's a great place to start.
Get your supply of Levitra. Remember, Jesus was a "free marketeer" (except when
he drove the money changers out of the temple."
Ambassador claims shortly before invasion, Bush didn't know there were two sects of Islam
Former Ambassador to Croatia Peter Galbraith is claiming President George W. Bush was unaware that there were two major sects of Islam just two months before the President ordered troops to invade Iraq, RAW STORY has learned.
In his new book, The End of Iraq: How American Incompetence Created A War Without End, Galbraith, the son of the late economist John Kenneth Galbraith, claims that American leadership knew very little about the nature of Iraqi society and the problems it would face after the overthrow of Saddam Hussein.
Now Showing@ www.ontheborderline
Show your John Birch Society membership card and receive a 17.76 percent discount on the price of admission.
Below are a couple of "interesting" quotes currently post on the extremist side of the St. Croix borderline blog scene at www.ontheborderline.net. To refresh your memory, this would be your basic back to '76 movement. Of course, that would be 1776.
---
"There are some who would feebly attempt to cast the contributors out here On The Borderline as right wing extremists. They rhetorically ask where we get our information and ideas, suggesting that calls for a return to the vision of the founding of this great country are somehow radical notions of a bygone era."
(Editor's note: Weren't most of those Founding Fathers slave owners?) 
"There is an ever present danger in having government control education. The indoctrination of society in the despotic states of the Soviet Union, China [especially under Mao], Cuba, and Nazi Germany was a result of “public education”, not free choice."
(Editor's note: Do you mean "indoctrination" like saying the Pledge of Allegiance?)
