NR NEWS Letter of the week...

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

Too Bad...OTBL Bloggers Won't Be Moving To Rice Lake Soon

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 Candidates For Wisconsin Attorney General Debate -- Junior High Style

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..."
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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.

Oct. 10: Victims Of Agent Organge Commemoration Day

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

The Jackass Party

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.

Conyers Releases Massive New Report on Bush-Cheney Crimes

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.

There's a "U" in "EQUAL!"

Know Your Borderline Pests

Supreme Court of Virtue Rules: Cloning Legal @ OTBL

How many egotisitcal, longwinded, super- bloviating, classical liberals does it take
to keep OTBL running?



Answer: ONE-dontreadonmebildanielsonslimpickins

Garden at Hiroshima, Autumn

See more@ The Navy Art of Standish Backus

August 9: Nagasaki Day

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.

Born On This Date: Emiliano Zapata

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!

Born On This Date: Elizabeth Gurley Flynn

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

May 1st: The Sun of Tomorrow

by Elizabeth Gurley Flynn (1941)
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“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.

Nascar Promotes "Family Values"

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."

Like a Rock- Only Dumber

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.

Public education is a vision thing

Theater of the absurd...

Now Showing@ www.ontheborderline



Show your John Birch Society membership card and receive a 17.76 percent discount on the price of admission.

Even Right Wing Extremists Need A Nap...

From The Tower Of OTBL Babble

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.
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"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?)