More wisdom from the borderline!
John Stossel Filed under: General, Education General, Finances, Free Markets, Education Hudson, Education New Richmond, Education Somerset --- conn @ 7:36 pm
I hoped to see the report on "publix edjumication" but I see it is pre-empted by millionaire liberals throwing a ball...
The Ontheborderline Executive Celebration Committee will meet secretly this week to make plans to celebrate the death of the next "liberal" News Anchor.
Dr.B welcomes wayward blogger back into the fold and gives instructions on "how to blog for the uninformed".
1. Who is Peter Jennings? I get my news from the internet and talk radio.
Comment by: ziller on:8/9/2005 @ 10:36 am
Comment by: bildanielson9 on:8/9/2005 @ 11:25 am
Per the discussion on ABC's 20/20 program "Stupid In America" reported by John Stossel, I ran across an interesting overivew of the Finish school system and how it is run. The overview provides good insight into how this system opperates under democratic socialism.
Here are a few interesing points:
1. Majority of education publicly funded
2. Two-tiered public funding: the State and the local authorities
It's becomes interesting quickly when you have the anti-public education people like those at the ontheborderline.net quacking about how Finland out perfroms the US in math and science testing. Stossel gave the same test to a class in Finland and New Jersey and the Fins did better.
I'm sure we won't be hearing the OTBL'ers starting a back-to-Finland movement (although the Fins are big into hot tubs). If they do start moving over there, I'm sure they'll be back here in a heartbeat where the taxes are much lower.
Overview of the Finish education system.
"It was we, the people;
not we, the white male citizens;
nor yet we, the male citizens;
but we, the whole people,
who formed the Union."
-- Susan B. Anthony
Kids Can't Think On An Empty Stomach!
Poverty has been recognized as one of the most powerful factors that can affect children's brain development. As poor children grow into adolescence and adulthood, they are more likely to drop out of school, have children out of wedlock, and be unemployed.
Last Friday, January 13, ABC's 20/20 aired a segment reported by John Stossel titled "Stupid In America: How We Cheat Our Kids."
Stossel missed some important factors that no doubt influence his opionions -- he didn't share at lot of facts and figures with the viewers. He relied on individual antidotes to make his point.
Here's a few points to ponder:
1. UNICEF states that although the U.S. is still the wealthiest country on Earth, with income levels higher than any other country, it also has one of the highest incidences of child poverty among the rich, industrialized nations.
2. Denmark and Finland have child-poverty levels of less than 3 percent, and are closely followed by Norway and Sweden, thanks to higher levels of social spending. In the U.S., 17 percent of children live in poverty.
3. Children are a disproportionate share of the poor in the U.S. Although they are 26 percent of the total population, they constitute 39 percent of the poor.
Read more@ Seattle Times in the an editorial titled:
Rich man, poor man: hungry children in America
By César Chelala
"I did not like school very much and there was no reason why I should. I was the dumbest kid in the class. What did I have to look forward to? The others laughed at me and made jokes about me every day."
-- Dr. Ben Carson
former inner-city kid
currently world famous pediatric neurosurgeon
Dr. Carson has written a book about his life, Gifted Hands: A True Story of Healing and Inspiration, which is to be made into a motion picture. A review of this book described it as a portrait of a man's "extraordinary path to success." When his journey began, he was living in poverty, had a pathological temper, poor self-esteem and awful grades. His book, The Big Picture: Getting Perspective on What's Really Important in Life, explores how we can overcome obstacles to take action on behalf of something greater than ourselves. His second book Think Big also explores his life philosophy. Someone who has made such a dramatic change in the course of his life can certainly inspire others to have faith in their own intellect.
More info on Ben Carson
Am I the only one who finds it curious that an anonymous blogger at ontheborderline.net keeps quacking on and on about an anonymous threat letter sent to the Hudson city administrator?
What difference would it make to some one who doesn't have the guts to use his real on a blog post that the mystery surrounding the threat letter? It's my understanding that it's hard enough for local law enforcement to get the FBI over here for an armed bank robbery let alone a threat letter in the mail.
I believe Luke was the one casting out the list of potential suspect way back last summer...very interesting!
Could this be just another example of hypocrisy ontheborderline?
Posted January 17, 2006
From the Appleton Post-Cresent:
Ross Bielema makes a few errors in judgment in his Jan. 15 community column about the supposed benefits of concealed weapons.
First, he equates common items like spare tires and jumper cables with guns. The former are examples of reasonable precaution; the latter are simply overkill.
Unless you're a bodyguard, courier, private investigator or living in the most crime-ridden area of the country, you have no real need to carry a concealed weapon.
If simple precaution justifies guns, then perhaps we should all be investing in things like defibrillators, anti-venom kits, parachutes and armored vehicles. Fear is a bottomless pit. There is never enough security for some.
Second, he believes that most criminals think rationally. They don't. If a criminal is desperate or daring enough to commit a burglary or assault, they're not going to be deterred by the possibility that the victim might be carrying a gun. Criminals will do their best to get the advantage and the "drop" on the victim.
Third, Ross probably also believes that gun-carrying citizens actually possess the coordination, skill and presence of mind to successfully use a weapon in a crunch. They don't.
Ross speaks of deer hunters, but not the ones who couldn't hit a deer standing still with a scoped rifle. Standard, required gun training doesn't make a person a marksman or a citizen soldier.
Alas, conceal and carry may indeed happen in Wisconsin, but it appeals most to those obsessed with security and fear.
The rest of us don't need weapons any more than we need a second spare tire.
Richard Froemming, Neenah
...Ziller Squeaks!
I have been a follower of you site for sometime and I've enjoyed reading it. However, I've recently read something at ontheborderline.net that made me realize it's time to put my two cents worth in. Here's the post I find very interesting:
St Croix Democrats get marching orders from the teacher’s union
Filed under: General --- BobZiller @ 4:18 pm
If I can believe their announcement the St. Croix/Pierce County Democrats had a meeting January 12th at their usual watering hole, the Coachman Supper Club.
Speakers were to be Scott Ellingson, Wisconsin Education Association Council (WEAC) VP and Paul Hambleton, WEAC President and current National Education Assoc. Director.
They are going to give Jim Doyle credit for lowering property taxes and being favorable to education. I'm sure they won't mention that he cooked the books by sliding some of the highway fund into education and issuing $1.0 billion in new debt. WEAC will pour tons of money into the reelection of Jim Doyle.
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Isn't Ziller the communication director for the St. Croix Republican Party? He read this meeting notice in the local paper, but he didn't attend the meeting. Have you noticed that the Republican's seldom put public notices in the local papers for the Republican meetings. What are they trying to hide?
The two people mentioned above did talk at the meeting. I'm not sure what Ziller finds so wrong with taxpaying, US citizens getting an overview of our state's education system. That's right, the OTBL'ers don't actually talked to anyone involved in the education process. They mainly just anonymously toss elephant droppings at anyone who shows a concern for the public education system.
At the November Democrat meeting, a St. Croix County board member talked about planning and growth in the county and two others talked about land stewardship. I suppose there's not need to be concerned about these issues either. Afterall, there's been a house for sale for two years across the street from an anonymous OTBL blog and this means the growth is St. Croix county has stopped. Likewise, there's probably no need to care about the land because Rush Limbaugh said there is no globle warming and we have more trees today than ever.
It's good to know Ziller and company are keeping the world safe for his grand kids by keeping the pressure on to pass the "guns, gays and God" wedge issues they so highly praised. Maybe the Republicans should spend more time "doing" than "showing." Do the names Jack Abramoff or Michael Scanlon ring a cash register bell?
Did you hear about the Baptist minister who thinks homosexuals can become heterosexuals? He has been charged with offering to engage in oral sex with an undercover male police officer. Police said the Rev. Lonnie Latham was arrested Jan. 3 in Oklahoma City. He was released the next day on bail. Latham said he was set up in an area where he was "pastoring to police." His lawyer said Latham will plead not guilty. I believe Jimmy Swaggert and Jim Baker were also innocent...until proven guilty.
Keep ministering to us with your Republican propaganda BobZ. It's starting to ring hollow...
Fortunately, you have your OTBL lap dogs to sniff out your tales. Here's what spiritofpublicus had to say (it must have been really hard for him not to play the commie card):
Bob, this why the whole government education system is broken. As the name implies, it has long ceased being about the education of children. The system is about the ability to control power and the redistribution of wealth to members of a political organization. It is obvious spending more money for what ever reason, including new buildings, will do nothing to improve the education of our children. In the end, the system needs to be scrapped in favor of one which does not involve political gamesmanship; only by giving parents free economic choice will such a political-free system be attained.
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I thought parents have free economic choice in education. They can use the public schools or pay for private schools out of their own pockets.
Give US a Break John:
"I have come to believe that markets are magical and the best protectors of the consumer," he once declared. "It is my job to explain the beauties of the free market" (Oregonian, 10/26/94).
In reality it's more like voodoo.
The following is from Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting.
"Stossel once reported (11/12/99) that "98 percent [of Catholic school students] graduate, vs. 49 percent for the public schools." Actually, according to data from the Department of Education, no state reports a public high school graduation rate as low as Stossel's figure--in 1995-96, the last data available when Stossel made his claim, the rates ranged from 53.2 in the District of Columbia to 89.9 in Vermont (Postsecondary Education Opportunity, 9/99)."
"While there is a long and honorable tradition of U.S. journalists with definite points of view who hoped that their reporting would have a political impact--from Thomas Paine to Ida Tarbell to I.F. Stone--what distinguishes Stossel is his willingness to warp reality to fit his ideological preconceptions. His reports, notable for their one-sided sourcing and rejection of inconvenient facts, are frequently marred assertions from Stossel and his favored guests that are misleading or factually incorrect.
Stossel's errors are often so obvious that one wonders how they could have ended up on the air. In a 20/20 report on medical research (10/11/99), Stossel complained that too much funding was going to AIDS research, claiming that spending on the disease was "25 times more than on Parkinson's, which kills more people."
In fact, AIDS killed more than 16,000 people in the United States in 1999--down from 43,000 in 1995. Parkinson's, which is not itself generally fatal but contributes to other illnesses, has a mortality rate of 2 per 100,000 to less than 1 per 100,000, depending on the demographic group (BC Medical Journal, 4/01)--which works out to a death toll in the United States of less than 4,000 per year."
His report on education is no different, the only "facts" are the ones that support his propaganda.
On the John Stossel ABC 20/20 blog iledu adds a few facts that John neglected to include.
"Other countries stack the deck by just having their highest academic achievers take the tests, whereas the United States has a mixed bag of low, middle and high academic achievers take the tests. In other words, Mr. Stossel is making an apples-and-oranges comparison by not explaining why the raw test scores for the United States are lower than other countries' scores. If the United States only had its highest achieving academic students taking these tests like other countries do, then the United States' test score numbers would show up at or very near the top consistently.
Perhaps Mr. Stossel will do the right thing by explaining this in a future report. It's something that the mainstream media in the United States don't often like to mention. That's because shaping facts into "bad" news by not telling the whole story results in higher radio/TV ratings, advertising revenue and newspaper/magazine sales."
One of the countries whos math scores are highest is Finland. You'd think that the most successful country in teaching math and science just might have a "Free Market" educational
system if you believe in Stosselism or Danielsonism. But here's a discription of the how Finlands schools are funded from the source EDU.FI
"Instruction is usually free of charge at all levels of education. Basic education is completely free of charge for the pupils, but with higher levels of education, students may have to pay for study materials, meals and transport.
Students receive financial aid for full-time post-basic studies lasting at least two months. Student financial aid is payable for studies at upper secondary schools, folk high schools, vocational institutions, polytechnics or universities through to doctorate level. Financial aid is also available for study abroad. The ordinary student financial aid comprises a study grant, a housing supplement and a government-guaranteed student loan. In addition, there is an adult study grant for mature students, which is determined on different criteria."
Sounds like a place where the "Government schools really work, eh"
Give US a break!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
In 1960, the top 20 percent of the wealthiest enjoyed 30 times the wealth of the bottom 20 percent. Four decades later, this gap increased to 75 times.
More children are growing up poor in America than in any other industrial nation. Millions of workers are making less money in real dollars than they did 20 years ago.
Working Americans are working on average more hours than ever before.
Forty-five million Americans -- eight of 10 of whom have jobs -- have no health insurance.
Overall, 37 million Americans live in poverty, and poverty levels are now on an uptick since a record low in 1973.
Read more from the Boston Globe
"We do not boycott to put anyone out of business. We are boycotting to put justice into business."
Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr.
August 28, 1963:
Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of captivity.
But one hundred years later, we must face the tragic fact that the Negro is still not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languishing in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. So we have come here today to dramatize an appalling condition.
In a sense we have come to our nation's capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men would be guaranteed the inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check which has come back marked "insufficient funds." But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. So we have come to cash this check -- a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice. We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to open the doors of opportunity to all of God's children. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood.
It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment and to underestimate the determination of the Negro. This sweltering summer of the Negro's legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Nineteen sixty-three is not an end, but a beginning. Those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. There will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.
But there is something that I must say to my people who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice. In the process of gaining our rightful place we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred.
We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force. The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny and their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom. We cannot walk alone.
And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall march ahead. We cannot turn back. There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, "When will you be satisfied?" We can never be satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. We cannot be satisfied as long as the Negro's basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. We can never be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.
I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow cells. Some of you have come from areas where your quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive.
Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed. Let us not wallow in the valley of despair.
I say to you today, my friends, that in spite of the difficulties and frustrations of the moment, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.
I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal."
I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slaveowners will be able to sit down together at a table of brotherhood.
I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a desert state, sweltering with the heat of injustice and oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.
I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.
I have a dream today.
I have a dream that one day the state of Alabama, whose governor's lips are presently dripping with the words of interposition and nullification, will be transformed into a situation where little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls and walk together as sisters and brothers.
I have a dream today.
I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.
This is our hope. This is the faith with which I return to the South. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.
This will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with a new meaning, "My country, 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim's pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring."
And if America is to be a great nation this must become true. So let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania!
Let freedom ring from the snowcapped Rockies of Colorado!
Let freedom ring from the curvaceous peaks of California!
But not only that; let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia!
Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee!
Let freedom ring from every hill and every molehill of Mississippi. From every mountainside, let freedom ring.
When we let freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, "Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"
"As you can see, I have an injury myself -- not here at the hospital, but in combat with a cedar. I eventually won. The cedar gave me a little scratch. As a matter of fact, the colonel asked if I needed first aid when she first saw me. I was able to avoid any major surgical operations here, but thanks for your compassion..."
-- President Bush
At Brooke Army Medical Hospital in San Antonio, Texas
(...where he kidded in a way that again showed his jarring lack of empathy with the amputees from Iraq and Afghanistan.)
"Now that Dick Cheney has freed Congress from the bother of advising and/or consenting, lawmakers can work on new ways to game the system and wallow in the GOP's culture of corruption -- while tit-tutting about the decline in American moral values.
Since the Republican-run Capitol doesn't have to worry about holding the Bush White House accountable for excesses in torture and spying, and the other myraid ways it has placed itself above the law, congressmen have more leisure hours for Abramoff successors to treat them to some Redskins games and steak dinners.
Checks and balances are now as quaint as the Geneva Conventions. Congress is complicit in putting its thumb on the scale for the executive branch."
-- Maureen Dowd
...sort of
President George W. Bush was scheduled to visit the Methodist Church outside Washington as part of his campaign.
Bush's campaign manager made a visit to the Bishop, and said to him "We've been getting a lot of bad publicity among Methodists because of Bush's position on stem cell research and the like. We'd gladly make a contribution to the church of $100,000 if during your sermon you'd say the President is a saint."
The Bishop thinks it over for a few moments and finally says, "The Church is in desperate need of funds and I will agree to do it."
Bush pompously shows up looking especially smug today and as the sermon progresses the Bishop begins his homily:
"George Bush is petty, a self-absorbed hypocrite and a nitwit. He is a liar, a cheat, and a low-intelligence weasel. He has lied about his military record and had the gall to put himself in a jet plane landing on a carrier posing before a banner stating 'Mission Accomplished.' He invaded a country for oil and money, and is using it to lie to the American people. He is the worst example of a Methodist I've ever personally known. But compared to Dick Cheney and the rest of his cabinet, George Bush is a saint."
"I'd rather be ashes than dust. I would rather have my spark burnout in a brilliant blaze than be stifled by dry rot. I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and persevirant planet. The proper function of man is to live, not to exist."
Jack London
London (1876-1916) was an illegitimate child, and spent his childhood in poverty in the Oakland slums. At the age of 17, he ventured to sea on a sealing ship. The turning point of his life was a thirty-day imprisonment that was so degrading it made him decide to turn to education and pursue a career in writing. He became the most successful writer in America in the early 20th Century. His vigorous stories of men and animals against the environment, and survival against hardships were drawn mainly from his own experience.
His years in the Klondike searching for gold left their mark in his best short stories; among them, The Call of the Wild, and White Fang. His best novel, The Sea-Wolf, was based on his experiences at sea. His work embraced the concepts of unconfined individualism and Darwinism in its exploration of the laws of nature.
London was a socialist and supporter of the workers movement, but like many socialists of his time, especially in the “settler nations,” he was prone to racism and was a populist rather than a communist. He retired to his ranch near Sonoma, where he died at age 40 of various diseases and drug treatments.
"Jesse was and is a coal-mining man. Jesse's gandpa and his daddy's side died in a mine exposion. Coal mining runs deep in the blood of many of our families."
Reverend Donald Butcher
Buckhannon, West Virginia
Jesse Jones, 44, died with 11 other miners after the January 2, 2006 mine explosion in the Sago coal mine.
Dr. Bill the OTBL blogger walks into a cafe with a shotgun in one hand and a bucket of buffalo manure in the other. He says to the waiter, “Give me a double latte you socialist, working class swine."
The waiter says, “Sure, coming right up." He gets Dr. Bill a tall latte, who then drinks it down in one gulp, picks up the bucket of manure, throws it into the air, blasts it with the shotgun, then just walks out.
The next morning Dr. Bill the blogger returns. He has his shotgun in one hand and a bucket of buffalo manure in the other. He walks up to the counter and says to the waiter, “Give me a cup of coffee”. The waiter says “Whoa, fella. We’re still cleaning up your mess from the last time you were here. What the heck was that all about, anyway?”
Dr. Bill smiles and proudly says, “I’m in training to be a free-market, capitalist, worker-exploiting pig. You know! Come in, drink coffee, shoot the shit, and disappear into my corner office and spend the rest of the day cutting and pasting Ludwig von Mises quotes into really long and boring posts that only grown men who never read anything more indepth than the pictures of Penthouse find so extremely intelligent that they find it necessary to call me "doctor Bill'.”
Misinformed ignorance is curable...
Redneck stupidity ain't!
I noticed a post over at ontheborderline.net by Mark Pribonic titled "Self-Reliance." He pulled it from a web site out in Wyoming. It compared a 2005 blizzard with 52 inches of snow and 80 mph winds to Hurricane Katrina. Above is a comparison picture of a Wyoming blizzard and Hurricane Katrina. Below is an what Prubonic posted under the heading of "General Humor:"
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Subject: Why Wyoming is a great state!
Wyoming News Bulletin
This text is from a county emergency manager out in the western part of Wyoming after the storm.
Amusing, if it were not so true…WEATHER BULLETIN
Last winter in Wyoming we recovered from a Historic event —may I even say a “Weather Event” of “Biblical Proportions” –with a historic blizzard of up to 52 inches of snow and wind to 80 MPH that broke trees in half, stranded hundreds of motorists in lethal snow banks, closed all roads, isolated scores of communities and cut power to 10’s of thousands.
FYI:
George Bush did not come...FEMA staged nothing...No one howled for the government...No one even uttered an expletive on TV...Jesse Jackson did not show up...Nobody demanded $2000 debit cards...No one asked for a FEMA Trailer House...No one looted...Phil Cantori of the Weather Channel did not come...And Geraldo Rivera did not move in.
Nope, we just melted snow for water, sent out people on horseback to pluck people out of snow engulfed cars, fired up wood stoves, broke out oil lanterns and put on an extra layer of clothes because up here it is ‘work or die’. We did not wait for some affirmative action government to get us out of a mess created by being immobilized by a welfare program that trades votes for ’sitting at home’ checks."
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I hi-lighted the last sentence, because I believe it helps illustrate what kind of thinking goes on at the OTBL blog site. Look at those pictures above. If you've lived in Wisconsin for a few decades, you've seen some substantial blizzards. Only a heartless, selfish redneck would be stupid enough to compare a blizzard with Hurricane Katrina. I'm sure if you read between the lines of the sentence in red, you can understand that racism is alive and well in the good ol' US of A.
Check out the pictures below. They show the day after the Wyoming blizzard and Hurricane Katrina. I hope Mr. Pribonic notices the family struggling through the flood waters is white folks. I hope Prubonic knows that two of the parishes in New Orleans each have a population equivalent to the population of Wyoming. I hope Pribonic knows Katrina devastated a section of the Gulf Coast the size of Great Britian.
Last week I read a post on ontehborderline.net titled "You Compare." The post links to a home school advocate site. The site compares two letters to the editor published recently in the Charlotte Observer. One letter writer is a 19-year old education major at Appalachian State University in Boone, KY and the other letter writer is a 14-year old home schooled in Charlotte. Below are the two letters as they currently appear in the Charlotte Observer. I used these copies, because -- for some reason -- they are slightly different in the OTBL post.
Haley Price, 19, Appalachian State University, Boone: As an education major, I feel the most pressing issue is the public school system. The idea engraved in No Child Left Behind is noble, but the way in which the government has gone about it is doing nothing but pushing good teachers out and making young people less than eager to join the education field. How are we expected to solve world problems and make them better for future generations when the future generation is not even literate? Where is the logic in sending boys and girls to fight overseas when they don't even know the location of the country they are being sent to?
Post comment: "That 'graf' is absolutely horrible. Not even Fisk-worthy. And then... "
Dane Keil, 14, home-schooled, Charlotte: "While it may not be the nation's top priority, finding alternate sources of energy is very important. If we had homes, cars and businesses that ran on electricity generated from wind, solar and hydroelectric power, we would have less dependency on foreign oil. One area to consider is electric power generated by the tides. A tidal generator works on the natural movement of the ocean, thereby providing a virtually inexhaustible energy source."
Post comment: "It's a sad but unsurprising commentary on our schools that a 14-year-old HEK can write a more literate and cogent paragraph than a 19-year-old education major."
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Maybe I'm missing something in these letters, but they both seem adequately written. Some of the sentences are long and wordy and could be revised. Although they are not English-teacher perfect, I don't see any evidence that would condemnemn either writer to literary hell. However, check out these comments to this post:
Comment by ChoosingLife ([EMAIL]), 1/4/2006 @9:59 pm
"This should be a red flag to people that socialization, aka socialism, has taken over as top priority in government schools, to the detriment of education. No matter what your parental preference is for your children, e.g., government education, charter schools, home education, or vouchers for private school, education should be about education only leave the socialization and socialism indoctrination out of taxpayer-funded government schools. Supervised socialization should be for parents' discretion after the education has been completed to merit a passing grade to standards of old. Taxpayers should not have to pay for socialists/isms to be indoctrinated into their children without parents permission. Dr. Dobson has some fantastic resources available on his web site: www.Family.org. Just type in "homeschool", and you'll receive pages of information and examples of what was discussed in this original post."
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I find it interesting that OTBL'ers Choosing Life plays the socialist card so quickly. How quickly judgmentsements are made ontheborderline.net! From a couple wordy paragraphs by a 19-year student, we jump to a condemnationnation of the public education system and the glorification of home schooling. I work on this site as a supporter of education -- regardless if it's public, private, homeschooled, etc. No provider of education is perfect. Part of effective education is to have patience, understanding and empathy with the student. With this in mind, I e-mailed letter writer Haley Price to get her side of the story. She quickly responded to me and provided the following answers to the questions I submitted to her:
Mr. Nelson,
Thank you for your concern. I would be more than happy to answer your
questions.
1. Yes, I have attended public schools in North Carolina from 1st to
12th grade.
2. The following is the saved letter that I sent the Charlotte Observer
(not known, might I add, for it's highly accurate editing staff):
As an education major, I obviously feel that the most pressing issue in
America is the lack of substantial growth in the public school system.
I think that the idea engraved in No Child Left Behind is noble, but
the way in which the government has gone about it is doing nothing but
pushing good teachers out and making young people less that eager to
join the education field. As a principle, I think that most people
would agree that a more educated society is a better one. How are we
expected to solve the current world problems and make them better for
future generations when the future generations that we are growing are
not even literate? Where is the logic in sending young boys and girls
to fight overseas when they don't even know the geographical location
of the country they are being sent to? Education and the problems
therein should defiantly be a top priority for the American people and
it's government.
3. I never rewrote the letter. All of my responses, as they always are,
come straight from my reaction after reading the question.
4. I tend to rely, I suppose sometimes too much, on the spellcheck in
the email server that I use. Other than that, I simply do a quick scan for accuracy of the message I was trying to convey and let that be that.
5. My Word application is set to check both spelling and grammar.
Again, thank you for your concern and have a wonderful New Year!
Haley Price
---
Haley's response to my question strike me as very honest and intelligent. Part of the criticism leveled at her in the OTBL post dealt with spelling. Evidently the Charlotte Observer is responsible to a large share of the criticism focused on Haley. I don't know how the other letter writer wrote his letter, but we do know that Haley typed it in e-mail, spelled checked it and sent it to the paper. It appears to be a spontaneous response to a question posed by the newspaper and not a homeschool writing project with mom and/or dad guiding the hand of the writer...
This OTBL post is another excellent example of their agenda. They will twist something as innocent as a young college student's letter to the editor in a monsterous, socialist conspiracy from which only Dr. James Dobson can save us.
How do you spell "fruitcakes?"
"My observation is that women are merely waiting for their husbands to assume leadership."
---
"One of the problems with sex education... is that it also strips kids - especially girls - of their modesty to have every detail of anatomy, physiology and condom usage made explicit."
--
"State Universities are breeding grounds, quite literally, for sexually transmitted diseases (including HIV), homosexual behavior, unwanted pregnancies, abortions, alcoholism and drug abuse."
---
Admin's note: I believe that final quote would also apply to most local bars frequented by high school dropouts and graduates not currently enrolled in a college degree program.
Two Bobs and a Doug
It's always great news when I open up the new editions of the Hudson Star Observer andthe New Richomnd News and see a letter by Bob Muchlisnki or Bob Baumann. It's not just because their letters are alwlays so well written, articulate, informative and humorous, it because I know I will be able to click on to the ontheberline.net blog site and read the some more whiney OTBL "why's-everybody-always-picking-on-me" posts. Remember, the "doctors" at OTBL have all taken the hypocritical oath.
This week is no exception. Bob M. has a letter in both the Hudson and New Richmond papers. You can tell these letters are very effective at exposing the hypocrisy that oozes throughout the OTBL blog site. The OTBL'ers can't counter with facts so they rely on personal attacks. There's at least two posts that point out that Bob M's wife is an art teacher in Hudson who makes an estimated $57,000. Ok and the point is?
And then she will get retirement beneftis...and the point is?
Followers of the OTBL, if they haven't figured it out by now, should know that their message is basically a three-chord redneck song: public school teachers get paid too much, their union is evil and everybody is against our obviously perfect platform. Below are a couple of interesting excerpts from the current OTBL posts:
Under the heading posted by N. Onimous: HSO/Hudson Teachers’ Union Continue to Show Agenda:
"Hudson Star Observer editor Doug Stohlberg, along with Bob Baumann and Bob Muchlinski continue to show their agenda of belittling and taunting the concerned citizens of the Hudson School District.
First let us set the record straight. Mr. Stohlberg has had a history of taking sides in the education debate in Hudson. At one time he even contacted school officials PRIOR to the printing of certain letters to the editor in order to print a rebuttal from the officials WITH the opposing letters! Does this sound like an unbiased editor?
So Doug Stohlberg and his paper are a JOKE. He can't even follow his own rules in the very first week he talks about them! I would recommend that people who have concerns about government run education voice their concerns ontheborderline, because the HSO will allow for vicious personal attacks from the spouses of NEA Union Members to go unchallenged."
I find it interesting how the OTBL posters of right-wing propaganda pumped out by the likes of the Heritage Foundation or the CATO Institute or Rush Limbaugh or Ann Clouter or a variety of reactionary, regressive, redneck blog sites, can expend so much energy on calling anybody biased. Of course, at OTBL, it's their way or the highway. It's also interesting that they are experts at a running a community newspaper and how much work goes into a teacher's job -- when none of them have apparently never done these jobs. The have found their niche of confusing their cheap, trash talk with free speech.
---
Also under the heading posted by N. Onimous: On and on and on goes the Art Teacher’s Husband...
"Another week of the HSO and another letter by Bob Muchlinski, who happens to be the husband of Mary Muchlisnki. Mary is an Art Teacher at the high school making a combined salary/benefit package of $57,600+(est.). As it stands right now, the taxpayers of the state will have to amass $1.5 Million in order to cover Bob and Mary's pension and healthcare costs when she retires early at 55. But this is only a current estimate. I'm sure it will go up in the future.
Anyway, Bob wrote a serious letter this week, void of his usual sarcasm (see full letter). You see Bob has a couple of different personalities and you don't know if he is going to go Beep! Beep! or play on the emotions of the readers. Either way his letters are always good for a laugh. Per usual Bob received the premium placement from his friend Doug Stohlberg."
Does anybody get the feeling the N. Onimous is a little off-balance and jealous of Bob M. and his wife. Did you readers know that the OTBL'ers have even done posts that pick on Bob M's daughter. They are real, credible professionals over there. If we refer to them as the "dark side," there are definate reasons.
Do any of you readers have any guesses as to who is N. Onimous? If so, put your guesses in the comments to this post. (I personally think it's the OTBL admin. You'll see N. O. spliced inbetween admin posts and in the same time frame.) In this post, NO is complaining about where the HSO places its letters to the editor. Must be the vast left-wing conspiracy creeping into Hudson. 45 years ago, when Doug Stohlberg was my Pee Wee couch, I didn't noticed any of those conspiratorial leanings. After watching about 20 episodes of Twilight Zone during the SciFi networks marathon last weekend, I guess I should have see it then.
Maybe these OTBL'ers should checkout what the Hudson city workers get paid and their retirement packages. That would be an interesting comparison. Does anybody have any figures on this?
The Hudson Star-Observer must be doing something right, if it can piss off people on multiple sides of the issues. As the local school board races heat up, remember that the OTBL'ers are not interested in improving public education -- they want it dismantled. They want the union busted and they want your tax dollars to pay for their kids to go to private schools. It's a clear-cut agenda.
Although I've never met Bob B. or Bob M., my hat is off to them for their excellence in letter writing and their dedication to keeping the torch of truth burning bright as they hold back the evil darkness that lerks ontheborderline.net.
"The essence of technological and economic progress is the use of more ideas, skills, and knowledge in the production process and less manual labor and physical resources, thus improving productivity, the ultimate source of real incomes…. Technology can increase productivity, [which is] simultaneously displacing labor and providing the means to improve the incomes of those who remain employed. By improving productivity, technology lowers costs in the affected industry and throughout the economy…. Technology can expand markets and produce a higher rate of growth in output and employment, which could have the net effect of increasing both income and employment…."
"Some analysts believe that prosperity caused by a more knowledge-intensive economy could be even better and more equitably shared than it was between 1945 and 1973, when it was fueled by the civilian applications of technology developed for military purposes, supportive macroeconomic policies, massive improvements in higher education because of the GI Bill, and strong domestic and global demand…. "
[An important factor of technology] is the increased knowledge base of the whole economy brought about by the new technology…. Similarly, the organization of work within and between companies and countries requires new kinds of skills, especially quantitative, abstract learning, interpersonal, communicating, and problem-solving abilities that put a premium on the knowledge and skills needed to most effectively adapt and use advanced technology."
Ray Marshall
Former US Secretary of Labor
The Bjorn Selander Cyclocross World Championships fundraiser will be held January 7th from 5-9 pm at Alwins Northside Service, 413 6th Street North, Hudson, WI.
For more information on the event, visit www.alan-usa.com
By Steve Medcroft
Euromedia Group, the U.S. importer of Alan Frames, Barbieri cycling accessories, Ked Helmets and GSG Clothing, will be hosting a fundraiser to help Alan Factory Team junior Cyclocross star Bjorn Selander make the trip to the Netherlands for 2006 Cyclo-cross World's. Scheduled January 7th at Alwins Northside Service in Hudson, Wisconsin, Euromedia president Paul Schoening says the fundraiser is one way that supporters and friends of the young phenom can help with his continued development.
Selander was a discretionary pick for the World's Teams; he missed the automatic (and fully funded) selection when TIAA-Cref rider Danny Summerhill edged him out for both the USGP lead and the December 10th Elite Junior National Championship in Providence, Rhode Island. “Bjorn had bad luck at nationals,” Schoening said. “With 1 1/2 laps to go Summerhill crashed into Bjorn and pushed his derailleur into the spokes and tore it off. Danny waited, showing true class as a first year Junior.” Selander, the 2004 Elite Junior National Champion, had traded the USGP lead with Summerhill throughout the 2005 season and, in the Liberty Cup, an invitational held the day after nationals that featured every newly-crowned national champion and a select field of invitees, came eleventh; ahead of (among others) Tour de France star Chris Horner.
Without the funding of an automatic selection, Selander needs to come with about $4,000 to cover the World's trip. “Bjorn is paying his own way to Euro Camp with our assistance, but has no funding for the World's trip,” Schoening said. “So, considering we have a bunch of great people and sponsors supporting our team, we decided to organize a local fundraiser and donate the proceeds to Bjorn's quest for World's.”
Schoening is inviting anyone close enough to Hudson attend to the dinner. Those who wish to support the cause but are not close enough to attend the dinner, Schoening says you can provide cash or product donations to be silent-auctioned at the event. Failing that, Schoening can accept Paypal donations addressed to euromedia@comcast.net (Attention: The Bjorn Selander World Fund).
Ludwig von Miser the bartender asked Mr. Bill PhD, "Do ya know da difference between a On The Border Line blogger and a box of rocks?
"Is the difference the fact the a box of rocks doesn't put 'PhD.' after everything it writes?," answered Mr. Bill PhD.
"No. A box of rocks will sometimes tip," explained Ludwig.
Mr. Bill PhD. asked, "Do you know why a box of rocks will leave a tip?"
"Because they have a good heart and understand that is an accepted practice in the service industry," replied the bartender.
"Wrong!," screamed Mr. Bill PhD, "It's because they are a bunch of collectivist, socialist, Marxist beggars who are trying to steal the money of hardworking capitalists like myself so they have enough money to put gas in their Cadillacs to drive down to the welfare office on their way back from illegally filing for unemployment -- because I know you are laid off and getting paid cash under the table."
"When people talk of the freedom of writing, speaking, or thinking,
I cannot choose but laugh. No such thing ever existed. No such thing
now exists; but I hope it will exist. But it must be hundreds of years
after you and I shall write and speak no more."
John Adams
(1735-1826)
Founding Father,
2nd US President
Source: in a letter to Thomas Jefferson, 1818
(One of our readers forwarded this column on blogs to us.)
From the January 4, 2006 editorial page of the St. Paul Pioneer Press
Of all the stories leading America's annual greatest-hits list, the one that subsumes the rest is the continuing evolution of information in the Age of Blogging. Not since the birth of the printing press have our lives been so dramatically affected by the way we create and consume information — both to our enormous benefit and, perhaps, to our growing peril.
What is wonderful and miraculous about the Internet needs little elaboration. We all marvel at the ease with which we can access information — whether reading government documents previously available only to a few, or tracking down old friends and new enemies. It is this latter — our new enemies — that interests me most. I don't mean al-Qaida or Osama bin Laden, but the less visible, insidious enemies of decency, humanity and civility — the angry offspring of narcissism's quickie marriage to instant gratification.
Read Kathleen Parker's column of blogs .
Fans of the soap-opera sellers over at the ontheborderline.net blog will notice that former OTBL poster NR Resident has changed to Jack Bauer. Now we haven't heard from NR Resident for some time...actually since it was mentioned here that NR Resident was Connie somebody. It's hard to trace these things down, but one of dedicated readers poointed out that the writing styles are really similar for NR Resident and Jack Bauer...not to mention that all the previous posts for NR Resident turned into Jack Bauer. I wonder who it could B?
"The American ideal was stated by Emerson in his essay on politics. 'A man has a right to be employed, to be trusted, to be loved, to be revered.' It does many men little good to stay alive and free and propertied, if they cannot work."
--William O. Douglas,
U. S. Supreme Court justice, Dissent,
Barsky v. Regents; 1954
The guy on your left is the "brains" behind the conceal and carry bill. The following is an alert he's sent to pressure Democrats to override Gov. Doyle's veto.
----------------------------
Alert from Senator Zien’s Office
Madison - 01.23.04
From Senator Zien’s Office:
Now that the Senate has successfully overridden Governor Doyle's veto of the Personal Protection Act, and the Assembly stands poised to attempt an override in the very near future, it is important to remember to whom we owe a debt of gratitude.
All the Senators and Assemblymen who voted for Senate Bill 214 did so because they believe that law-abiding citizens have the right to defend themselves against violent attack by criminals. These folks know concealed carry laws work well in 46 other states.
We should take this opportunity to recognize a number of Assemblymen who had the courage to buck their party's opposition to the right of self-defense, and vote for SB 214. The following Assembly Democrats should be commended for voting in favor of SB 214 on November 5, 2003:
Rep. Barbara Gronemus of Whitehall (888) 534-0091
Rep. Marlin Schneider of WI Rapids (is a cosponsor of SB 214) (888) 529-0072
Rep. Gary Sherman of Port Wing (is a cosponsor of SB 214)
Rep. John Steinbrink of Kenosha (608) 266-0455
Rep. Terry Van Akkeren of Sheboygan (608) 266-0656
Rep. Amy Sue Vruwink of Milladore (888) 534-0070
Rep. Wayne Wood of Janesville
............
These courageous Democrats will be under incredible pressure from Governor Doyle and their party leadership. We need to offer them thanks and encouragement in sticking to their beliefs with fierce integrity!
If you choose to express your undying gratitude to these courageous individuals, remember to be kind, courteous and thoughtful! See www.legis.state.wi.us for email addresses and phone numbers.
Senator Dave Zien
Chairman
Senate Committee on Judiciary, Corrections & Privacy
(608) 266-7511
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Other Democrats to contact to prevent the ridiculous bill from becoming law are:
Representative Terry Van Akkeren (608) 266-0656
rep.vanakkeren@legis.state.wi.us
“Anyone that screws us on this legislation - Democrat or Republican, Assembly or Senate - the NRA is going to work unbelievably earnestly, taking no prisoners, on this next election cycle,” Zien said of the National Rifle Association.
Sen. Dave Zien Resorts to Bullying to Keep the WI CCW Bill Alive
The picture just keeps getting worse on the concealed weapons bill in Wisconsin. Earlier this morning, we reported that Rep. Scott Gunderson, who co-sponsored the “dangerous and unnecessary” legislation with Sen. Dave Zien, actually owns a gun and liquor store, and could very well be pushing this legislation just to increase his own bank account. It’s not like there’s any other good reasons for it, considering that the people of Wisconsin don’t want this bill, and the Governor and law enforcement feel the same way.
But now Gunderson’s “partner in crime” Dave Zien is showing off how classless he is as well. In this Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel overview of the bill, he spits out a quote that, at its best, is completely out of line. We’ve bolded it for you.
The Senate sponsor of the bill, Sen. Dave Zien (R-Eau Claire), said Wednesday that senators will take up the Assembly version of the bill in mid-January. Senators will not change the bill again, Zien said.
Zien said anyone who flipped their votes would risk being voted out of office next year.
“Anyone that screws us on this legislation - Democrat or Republican, Assembly or Senate - the NRA is going to work unbelievably earnestly, taking no prisoners, on this next election cycle,” Zien said of the National Rifle Association.
We’ve said “wow” a lot about these guys, but we’ll say it again: wow. That is out and out bullying. Threatening to take out “anyone that screws us”? What happened to cultured discussion? What happened to the grace and poise that we’d hope to expect from our elected leaders? Guess that all goes out the window when you start talking about the National Rifle Association.
And just what exactly is David Zien threatening? Last we checked, he worked for the citizens of the State of Wisconsin. Was he elected by the NRA or by American citizens? He’s supposed to be a state senator, but now he’s just plain attacking his fellow lawmakers like so many of the NRA’s “jackbooted thugs.”
This is too much. When they proposed a bill that no one wanted, we wondered what their reasoning was. When Scott Gunderson said that “people who hate this bill will be helped by it, and they won’t even know it,” we just laughed, because that’s ludicrous. When we learned he owned a store that sold both guns and alcohol, we just sighed. But now, when Dave Zien barks at his colleagues like an NRA lapdog, we’ve had enough. This concealed weapons bill is wrong, unsafe, and sponsored by what we can only guess are lunatics. If Wisconsin legislators have anyone in their ranks who isn’t subverted by the NRA and their bully tactics, they’ll uphold the Governor’s expected veto.
More: Legislation, NRA, Concealed Carry, Wisconsin
November 21, 2005
Support Governor Doyle's Planned Veto
Urge Your Represenatives to Uphold the Veto!
The conceal and carry bill is cowboy politics and doesn't pass the common sense smell test. Give your local sheriff and/or police chief a call and asked them if they will be urging the passage of this bill. The answer you get will be no!
Wisconsin may soon join the 46 other states that allow licensed citizens to possess concealed weapons after the state Assembly voted 64-32 early Wednesday morning to approve Senate Bill 403. Lawmakers passed the legislation December 15, after contentious debate and lengthy deliberation regarding proposed amendments.
Republicans wrote an amendment they hoped would aid in obtaining a two-thirds majority to override Gov. Jim Doyle’s promised veto. The amendment attached to the bill increases the size of gun-free zones around schools, lowers the blood alcohol limit for carrying weapons, sets harsher penalties for lying on registration forms and mandates recertification every five years for licensees.
Read more
Send an e-mail and let your representatives know where you stand on this isse:
E-mail Wis. Gov. Jim Doyle
E-mail State Senator Shelia Harsdorf 10th Dist.
E-mail State Rep. Kitty Rhoades 30th Dist.
E-mail State Rep. Andy Lamb 29th Dist.
