There's are interesting post over at www.ontheborderline.net that is an excellent example of the NRA indoctrination and propaganda that pops up just before an election. Notice the words "democrat" and "liberal" used to describe a 15-year old involved in the school shooting in Cazenovia, Wisconsin yesterday. Since OTBL's Conn is puking out the whole Republican campaign strategy, he might as well have called the kid a "partial birth abortionist" and a "cut and runner."
For your enlightenment, here's Conn's entire post:
"Two recent stories involving lack of firearms really caught my eye. That unfortunate couple in MN who prepared for almost every scenario involving her wacky ex (restraining orders, alarms, disaster drills, calling the police when restraining order violated) who broke in and killed them, if only they would have purchased and trained with a gun!
Today's school shooting in Sauk CO is another example, a heroic janitor saw and restrained and disarmed the 15 year old democrat of a shotgun, the liberal broke away and produced a concealed pistol…too bad the principal and the janitor did not also.
Restraining orders and the police can’t protect you. Only you can do that. Have a nice day, conn."
For an interesting counter perspective to the gun lobby, check out Good Bye Guns.
Weston School principal killed, student charged with homicide By Bill Novak, Lee Sensenbrenner, David Callender and Anita Weier CAZENOVIA, Wis. - A rural principal has died after being shot at school by a student. Lisa Brunette, spokeswoman for UW Hospital said in a news release that Weston School Principal John Klang died at about 3:30 p.m. after a team of surgeons unsuccessfully tried to save him from gunshots to the head and chest.
The Associated Press reported that 15-year-old Eric Hainstock, has been charged with first-degree intentional homicide, according to Sauk County District Attorney Patricia Barrett.
Klang was shot at about 8 a.m. after Hainstock allegedly came into school with a shotgun and a handgun.
"Had there been someone who was armed, in this particular situation, in my opinion, it may have stabilized.... I believe it supports conceal-and-carry."
"A gun is a tool, Marian. No better, no worse than any other tool. An axe, a shovel, or anything. A gun is as good or as bad as the man using it. Remember that."
Shane Played by Alan Ladd, in the movie Shane (1953).
No Joke, Bug Nearly Sidelined Somerset High School's 'Beetle Juice' Sept. 28, 2006 — The next time someone puts a bug in your ear about a high school football star worth watching, tell them about Jake Asp. The senior from Somerset High School in Wisconsin actually had a bug in his ear, and it almost cost him part of his season.
Asp, a 6-foot-1, 205-pound fullback, set a Middle Border Conference record on Sept. 15 by rushing for 362 yards. He carried 33 times and scored five touchdowns in a 40-14 win against New Richmond. The local paper, the New Richmond News, called him "unstoppable."
"Of the many school referendums across Minnesota this fall, none may have more at stake than the one in the Park Rapids School District. Officials there say if the referendum fails, they'll be forced to eliminate all extra activities, including sports, fine arts, even the National Honor Society. Park Rapids would be the first district in the state to take such a drastic step."
"Park Rapids, Minn. — Football is big in Park Rapids. On a crisp Friday evening, the bleachers are packed for the Panther's home opener."
"Most in the crowd are well aware that next year, there may not be any high school football. No sports at all. No high school plays. No band or choir concerts. No speech or debate competitions. Retired teacher Walt Harrison says people in the community are starting to realize that, you know, this is very serious," said Harrison. "And there's just no other places to cut, really."" Listen to Full Report from MPR:
"An avidity to punish is always dangerous to liberty. It leads men to stretch, to misinterpret, and to misapply even the best of laws. He that would make his own liberty secure must guard even his enemy from oppression; for if he violates his duty he establishes a precedent that will reach to himself."
-- Thomas Paine(1737-1809) Source: Dissertation on First Principles of Government, 7 July 1795
By Brad Foss Associated Press WASHINGTON — There is no mystery or manipulation behind the recent fall in gasoline prices, analysts say. Try telling that to many. motorists. Almost half of Americans believe the plunge at the pump has more to do with politics and the November elections, than economics.
Retired farmer Jim Mohr of Lexington, Ill., rattled off a tankful of reasons why pump prices may be falling, including the end of the summer travel season and the fact that no major hurricanes have disrupted Gulf of Mexico output.
"But I think the big important reason is Republicans want to get elected," Mohr, 66, said while filling up for $2.17 a gallon. "They think getting the prices down is going to help get some more incumbents re-elected."
According to a new Gallup poll, 42% of respondents agreed with the statement that the Bush administration "deliberately manipulated the price of gasoline so that it would decrease before this fall's elections." Fifty-three percent of those surveyed did not believe the conspiracy theory; 5% said they had no opinion.
Not surprising, almost two-thirds of those who suspect President Bush intervened to bring down energy prices before Election Day are registered Democrats, according to Gallup.
You're a discriminating consumer and publisher of internet bloggery. You're smart, well informed, and dog-gone-it, people still don't like you. Are you bashful among women? Do you get tongue tied at government school board meetings? Is your public image taking it on the chin in the wrestling ring of public opinion? Can you ever find the right right wingnut slogan to fit the occasion? Don't despair, there's hope for the hopeless. Dr. Bill's 1776 OTBL "Don't treadon me" snake oil (TM) is good for what ails you. Established in the golden era of bloggery, back in '04, Dr. Bill's 1776 OTBL "Don't treadon me" snake oil (TM) has a secret blend of ingredients PW2 and NCN5 (Patriotic Whimsy and Neo-Con Nostalgia) to cure your anti-social maladies. Faced with a majority of "community minded citizens" who doubt the earnestness of you Concerned Citizen Concern status? Fear not, Dr. Bill's 1776 OTBL "Don't treadon me" snake oil (TM) will give you the confidence you need to make a fool of yourself time and time again and erase any doubts in the minds of the doubters. Dr. Bill's 1776 OTBL "Don't treadon me" snake oil (TM) comes in a handsome apothecary bottle, or easily concealed stainless steel flask. Remember, accept no substitutes always insist on Dr. Bill's 1776 OTBL "Don't treadon me" snake oil (TM) .
Directions: Apply directly to the forehead! Apply directly to the forehead! Apply directly to the forehead! Apply directly to the forehead!
Mark Your Calendars For Oct. 8 Big Ed Progressive Festival @ Coachman in Baldwin 1-5 PM Dinner With Big Ed @ Hudson's Twisted Grille 6:30 PM The number one progressive radio personality in the nation is coming to St. Croix County on October 8. With over 2.5 million daily listeners, Ed Schultz has been called a “meat eating, gun toting, unabashed liberal.” Since only a handful of newspapers and radio stations in Wisconsin offer a progressive political viewpoint, members of the Democratic Party of St. Croix County are proud to bring “Big Ed” to his first ever Wisconsin speaking engagement. Schultz has agreed to speak at an event in Wisconsin and he is eager to come to a state represented by Senator Russ Feingold.
The LA Times recently wrote that he is “easy to laugh, he comes across at times as an educated good ol' boy, but a good ol' boy who's angry at what he believes to be the hijacking of our democracy by the rich and corporate. While fielding calls from listeners, he speaks up for unions, public schools, farmers, teachers, longshoremen, veterans, minorities and others who've never seen the inside of a stretch limousine.”
The Big Ed Progressive Fest will be held at the Coachman Supper Club in Baldwin, Wisconsin from 1-5 p.m. on Sunday October 8. The festival is a celebration of an emerging progressive movement and a move toward common sense politics. There will be a band, progressive businesses and organizations represented, and political speakers.
Cindy Jahnke, chair of the Visibility Committee of the Democratic Party of St. Croix County, encouraged people to come and listen to Ed. She said, “Six years ago I had a hard time finding a progressive talk show host on the radio. In fact, streaming on the Internet was the only way to hear another side of the story - that is until Air America Radio AM950 started broadcasting a whole slate of progressive hosts.” She added, “the St. Croix County Democratic Party recognizes that we often don’t see or read about Wisconsin politics since we’re so close to Minnesota. We want to change that. The Big Ed Progressive Fest is a huge step toward achieving that change.”
Big Ed can also be heard on Amery's WXCE 1260 AM from 6-8 PM Monday-Friday.
Tickets for the afternoon Big Ed Progressive Fest are $25 for adults and $10 for students. Also on the evening of October 8, there will be a private dinner with Schultz at the Twisted Grill in Hudson beginning at 6: 30 PM. Dinner tickets are $75. To purchase tickets or get more information, go to the Party web site at Western Wisconsin Democrats or call St. Croix County Democrats campaign office at 715-381-9600. Tickets are limited. Order today!
I notice that Citizen Joe over at www.ontheborderline.net is doing his one-issue, puppet dance for the string pullers at the NRA. A couple weeks ago someone at a local bar was saying how the UN wants to take everybody's gun away. I said I hadn't ever heard this and I do quite a bid of reading. He said it was all over the Internet. Sure enough it is and the links lead to the NRA away. He also pointed out that those "liberals in Madison" where trying to take our hunting rights away.
So to get educated on these burning issues, I been talking to some of friends who live and breath to hunt and fish. I asked them if they were members of the NRA. Most say they were at once but he not renewed their memberships since that NRA started backing the legalisation of "cop-killer" bullets and became so focused on the conceal and carry issue. They also told amount the membership drives they are still subjected to from the NRA. Three different sources said they've basically been screamed by NRA fund raisers and membership drivers to give, re-join or lose your guns. Asking to have their names removed from the NRA lists still hasn't stopped the NRA harassing.
Citizen Joe provides us a list of 26 reasons to own guns. Those reasons include: 1. An armed man is a citizen. An unarmed man is a subject. 2. A gun in the hand is better than a cop on the phone. 3. Colt: The original point and click interface. 4. Gun control is not about guns; it’s about control. 5. If guns are outlawed, can we use swords?
Apparently the only issue Citizen Joe cares about is gun control, because that is all he posts. As a gun owner, I don't feel that my right to bare arms is being threatened. I'm opposed to conceal and carry, but I'm in favor of exposed and carry.
One of the commenters to Citizen Joe's post, Conn, has this to say:
" took my boy to the gun show in Baldwin...talk about a eye opener!I went to the NFA table and saw representative samples of various squirt guns (machine guns for the uninformed)a model 1921 THOMPSON, a 45 calibre machine gun made in 1921 for 10 bucks was listed for 18,000 dollars,because our Gov. does not believe we should have them.A sten gun that cost 3 bucks to make was listed at 17k!!!!!Various AK and AR15 variations in full auto were also way out there.As I have said before, we get what we deserve….have a nice day,conn."
Yo Conn, one reason a 1921 Thompson machine gun goes for $18,000 is that it is a collector's item. I've seen Martin guitars that cost $10 to make in the 1920s selling for over $50,000. I suppose our governor doesn't want us to play guitars.
Of course there are the fully automatic AK variations with big price tags. For friends I know that own these AK's, they are pretty much a big hard-on gun. They aren't good for anything but firing lots of bullets quickly into the side of a hill. Just think of what the neighborhood would look like if these one-issue gunslingers put all their energy into flower gardening.
Florida pizza delivery drivers win union recognition By: John Peter Daly
Eleven pizza delivery drivers in Pensacola, Fla. took on a Domino’s franchise and won the first ever union for such workers. Domino’s is the second largest pizza company in the world.
Delivery driver Jim Pohl told PSLweb.org, “We formed the union on my birthday, March 7, and then voted for the right to collective bargaining on April 6.” Pole is the president of Local 1 of the American Union of Pizza Delivery Drivers.
Limited negotiations with management have recently begun. “We don’t really have anything to go on. There have never been contract negotiations between drivers and a pizza company before in the U.S. It’s going to be a process,” explained Pohl.
“My main goal is to organize his other six stores,” he added. Pohl said that the main bargaining issues involve delivery safety concerns and minimum wage pay. Over the last decade, delivery jobs have ranked as the fifth most dangerous job nationally.
Former US Army intelligence officer Speaks Out against Bush Administration.
"I never thought I would live to see the day when my government, implicitly or explicitly, would turn its back on agreements we have honored for decades; agreements which reflect the values on which our county was founded and which are contained in the U.S. Constitution, Bill of Rights and US law which recognizes the Geneva Conventions. Unfortunately, this is happening now as the so-called “compromise” between the Bush Administration and John McCain, Lindsay Graham and John Warner, continues to permit violations of international human rights law as President Bush retains the discretion to authorize torture of prisoners.
I simply cannot understand why President Bush insists on US interrogators being permitted to employ techniques which are recognized worldwide as torture and which we would absolutely condemn if they were used by an enemy on US prisoners. It is sufficient that they are immoral and beneath us as Americans. In addition, intelligence personnel universally reject them as effective means of obtaining valid information from prisoners."
"The author was a US Army intelligence officer from 1961 to 1983. The genesis of the letter is General Kimmon’s recent presentation of the Army's new field manual on interrogation, which pointedly referred to the Geneva Conventions. At that time, General Kimmons emphasized that "No good intelligence is going to come from abusive interrogation practices.""
In an embarrassment to the White House, Colin Powell Colin Powell — Bush's first secretary of state — announced his opposition to his old boss' plan, saying it would hurt the country. Powell's Letter to Sen. McCain.
Thirty One other Retired Military Leaders Oppose Bushes reinterpretation of the Geneva Convention.
GENERAL JOSEPH HOAR, USMC (RET.) GENERAL JOHN SHALIKASHVILI, USA (RET.) ADMIRAL STANSFIELD TURNER, USN (RET.) LIEUTENANT GENERAL ROBERT G. GARD, JR., USA (RET.) VICE ADMIRAL LEE F. GUNN, USN (RET.) LIEUTENANT GENERAL CLAUDIA J. KENNEDY, USA (RET.) VICE ADMIRAL ALBERT H. KONETZNI JR., USN (RET.) LIEUTENANT GENERAL CHARLES OTSTOTT, USA (RET.) VICE ADMIRAL JACK SHANAHAN, USN (RET.) MAJOR GENERAL JOHN BATISTE, USA (RET.) MAJOR GENERAL EUGENE FOX, USA (RET.) MAJOR GENERAL JOHN L. FUGH, USA (RET.) REAR ADMIRAL DON GUTER, USN (RET.) MAJOR GENERAL FRED E. HAYNES, USMC (RET.) REAR ADMIRAL JOHN D. HUTSON, USN (RET.) MAJOR GENERAL MELVYN MONTANO, ANG (RET.) MAJOR GENERAL GERALD T. SAJER, USA (RET.) BRIGADIER GENERAL DAVID M. BRAHMS, USMC (RET.) BRIGADIER GENERAL JAMES P. CULLEN, USA (RET.) BRIGADIER GENERAL EVELYN P. FOOTE, USA (RET.) BRIGADIER GENERAL DAVID R. IRVINE, USA (RET.) BRIGADIER GENERAL JOHN H. JOHNS, USA (RET.) BRIGADIER GENERAL RICHARD O’MEARA, USA (RET.) BRIGADIER GENERAL MURRAY G. SAGSVEEN, USA (RET.) BRIGADIER GENERAL ANTHONY VERRENGIA, USAF (RET.) BRIGADIER GENERAL STEPHEN N. XENAKIS, USA (RET.) AMBASSADOR PETE PETERSON, USAF (RET.) COLONEL LAWRENCE B. WILKERSON, USA (RET.) HONORABLE WILLIAM H. TAFT IV
A golden energy vision that's not hooked on oil Froma Harrop Syndicated columnist
President Bush recently invited a few columnists (not me) to the White House and showcased his "visionary" thinking. He asked the columnists, reported one who was there, "to think about what the world could look like 50 years from now, with Islamic radicals either controlling the world's oil supply or not."
Here's a counter-vision: How about a world 50 years from now in which no one gives a damn who controls the oil supply? How about a world in which Islamic terrorists, al Qaida-funding sheiks and Venezuelan fruitcakes have to work for a living, because the West has slashed its demand for the oil that gushes from their ground?
“To put it simply, no Darwin, no Hitler. Hitler tried to speed up evolution, to help it along, and millions suffered and died in unspeakable ways because of it.”
Dr. D. James Kennedy Host of Darwin’s Deadly Legacy
(Admin note: If I'm reading the quote correctly, Dr. Kennedy is actually stating he believes in the theory of evolution.)
If you had any doubt about the size of the Republican Party's "Big Tent," listen to this commercial from the National Black Republican Association: Radio Commercial. To paraphrase Paul Harvey, on now for only have the story. I don't think those White college kids coming down from the North to fight for civil rights for the Blacks were Young Republicans.
by Bob Allen Conservative author and television pundit Ann Coulter helped the Christian Coalition of Georgia raise $150,000 at a weekend fund-raiser, according to a report in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
The Saturday evening affair, described as one of the hottest tickets of the year for the state's conservatives, was billed beforehand as "business/cocktail attire." Its purpose was to raise funds to pay for this year's voter guides, designed for distribution in churches.
Coulter reportedly spoke mostly about the long court battle over abortion. Afterward a long line formed for a book signing of her new book. Though apparently not a regular churchgoer herself, Coulter has become a popular speaker for the Religious Right since release of her newest book, Godless: The Church of Liberalism. She promoted the book in an interview on the Christian Broadcasting Network's "700 Club" in July.
In August D. James Kennedy's Coral Ridge Ministries featured her in a controversial documentary that compared Charles Darwin to Hitler.
Coulter is also a featured speaker at a Sept. 22-24 "Washington Briefing" sponsored by the Family Research Council. Other confirmed speakers include Sen. George Allen, Bill Bennett, James Dobson, Newt Gingrich, Jerry Falwell and Mitt Romney. Southern Baptist leaders Richard Land, Kenyn Cureton and Dwight McKissic are also listed on the program.
HUDSON, WI. - If you're in Hudson this Saturday, you will be able to watch the www.ontheborderline.net bloggers of the St. Croix Valley defend their unchallenged supremacy as the biggest fruitcakes in the St. Croix River valley.
Blogger N. Ononimous and his OTBL friends will be launching projectiles using their catapults built based on a designs popular around 1776. They will once again try to defend their unchallenged title in the OTBL Fruitcake Follies.
Nonimous, who won the Follies the last two years, and other member of his team of anti-community whiners plan to set up as many as seven launchers starting at noon Saturday at the government soccer fields. This time, instead of fruitcakes, they'll be chucking balls made out of discarded duct tape. This Saturday's event is just for demonstration purposes. The official event is next February when the OTBL'ers will use their real medium of choice -- a mix of bullshit, slander, personal attacks held together with a blend superiority complex, egomania and skunk scent.
"Last spring at the Follies it was so cold a lot of people were unwilling to come out and they missed a lot of fun," Ononimous said. "So we want people to see how powerful and beautiful these machines are. This will gives us a chance to prove how well our message goes over in public."
When reminded that they OTBL'ers were the only ones who showed up to compete and the total crowd of specators was made up of two guys named Bob drinking coffee, Nonimous turned red and accussed the reporter of being part of a socialist conspiracy.
Nonimous will bring four of his trebuchets, including "Gladius von Mises," which can sling projectiles the size of a peanut more than 666 feet.
The 5th annual OTBL Fruitcake Follies are slated for the third Saturday in February.
When asked if he would be attending this year's event, on local resident who only gave his name as Bob said, "It can get pretty cold in February. If it gets cold enough to freeze over hell, I'll be there."
Why is it that as an American I have to watch the BBC to get real American News? Shortly after 6:00 A.M. this morning the AMERICAN Space shuttle Atlantis landed. The British Broadcasting Company, a state owned and operated news gathering operation devoted 5-7 min of live television coverage to the AMERICAN space shuttle landing.
Flipping back to CBS and other AMERICAN networks I discovered the following headlines. Flat Daddy, Survivor, CSI, and American Idol: 10 secs. devoted to the AMERICAN space shuttle landing. Is it any wonder we have the inept political leaders we do with an entertainment brainwashed American electorate controlled by an overly consolatdated News-O-Tainment media industry in this country? The only ideas in the "marketplace" of ideas are the ideas that can earn that industry a buck.
I ran across this interesting article about football legend Johnny "Blood" McNally. He played with the Packers and Pittsburgh Steelers. Coach at St. John's and used to drink beer at the Shamrock in New Richmond. My old neighbor who passed away 15 years grew up with him in New Richmond and used to tell me some interesting stories about Johnny Blood. Evidently he had to exit through more than one second story window when a certain city fathers would return home unexpectedly. Anyway, that borders on idle gossip and we'll leave that for Jack Bauer at www.ontheborderline.net. --- Finally, the glory of Johnny Blood By DougMoe IN THESE dark days for Packer Nation, there emerges a glimmer of light. No, strike that. Not a glimmer. A full meteor shower.
In a column five years ago about a colorful former Packer great named John McNally, I wrote the following: "John McNally would have made Brett Favre seem like an introverted librarian. He was also a truly great football player, among the first class of 17 inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1963."
In the column I noted that it was high time for someone to "liberate NcNally from the dusty locker room of history. As far as I can tell there has been no biography written, while Favre plays in an era when an athlete publishes his autobiography before hitting 30. Too bad. McNally's worth remembering."
L. William McNutt Jr., who built a global mail-order fruitcake business. His family-owned Collin Street Bakery in Corsicana, Texas, makes 1.5 million fruitcakes each year, shipping berry-red tins to more than 190 nations. Mr. McNutt was a pioneer in direct-mail marketing, sending out 11.5 million promotional mailings a year. Some 70% of orders come from repeat customers. He also assured his own supply of some fruitcake ingredients by starting a pecan-shelling plant in Corsicana and a pineapple farm in Costa Rica. Died Sept. 1 at age 81.
An unconfirmed rumour in the St. Croix Valley holds that the bloggers at www.ontheborderline.net, who are often compared to McNutt's fruitcakes, have actually lined the wall of the secret bunker with tins of McNutt's fruitcakes sealed protectively in duct tape. World on the street is that duct tape will protect those fruitcakes until July 4 2076. On that date, according to the Gospel of Luke, Adam Smith will ascend from atop of the of the Bank of Ayn Rand and land on the top of the Hudson school administration building and free the skunks.
Famous for his tantrums over public employee benefits, Towncrybaby succumbed today to an ocean of tears produced during a recent OTBL tirade. The flood of whine was said to have been provoked by city officials rejecting a bid by Health Care Insurer Sihide of Bombay, India to provide bargain basement health care to City of Hudson employees. Sources close to Towncrybaby hinted that he had recently become despondent over never having a job for most of his adult life. He is survived by his blogmates N. Onimous and SpiritofBSofus. The family asks that in leiu of flowers mourners show their respect for Towncrybaby by patronizing ontheborderline web blog advertisers. Read Towncrybaby's parting tirade: http://www.ontheborderline.net/?p=3892
Swedes at the crossroads Election pits free-market theorists against defenders of the nanny state. BY KARL RITTER Associated Press STOCKHOLM, Sweden — Times are good in Sweden, but voters might boot the ruling party from power anyway in elections this weekend. One reason: The longstanding opposition doesn't really plan to overhaul Sweden's fabled economic model.
The combination of massive taxes and generous welfare benefits has confounded free-market thinkers for years. How can a system that seems such a sure recipe for economic sclerosis create such prosperity?
For economists on the right, the affluence is illusory: Beneath touched-up economic statistics, they say, you'll find a failing state that encourages people to milk the system and will soon be in deep trouble as competition from China and India gathers pace.
To the left, Sweden is the closest you get to paradise on earth. There's little poverty, education is free and health care is universal. Six-week vacations and 16 months of paid parental leave allow workers to combine jobs and family life.
Both sides can cite plenty of studies to prove their point.
Here's is an interesting article that provides the facts and links of many giant corporate polluters and the "scientists" they hire to add legitimacy to attacks on the environment.
The denial industry
The oil giant ExxonMobil gives money to scores of organisations that claim the science on global warming is inconclusive - which it isn't. It's a strategy that has set back action on climate change by a decade, and it involves the same people who insist that passive smoking is harmless, reveals George Monbiot in the first of three extracts from his new book
ExxonMobil is the world's most profitable corporation. Its sales now amount to more than $1 billion a day. It makes most of this money from oil, and has more to lose than any other company from efforts to tackle climate change. To safeguard its profits, ExxonMobil needs to sow doubt about whether serious action needs to be taken on climate change. But there are difficulties: it must confront a scientific consensus as strong as that which maintains that smoking causes lung cancer or that HIV causes Aids. So what's its strategy?
"We still live in a world in which a significant fraction of people, including women, believe that a woman belongs and wants to belong exclusively in the home."
It's interesting to note how often the phrase "nation of immigrants" gets uttered concerning the foreigners coming into our country. However, we often forget that there are internal migrations going on in the form of relocation to were the jobs are. It's not just retirees moving down South. I've heard Rush Limbaugh say this numerous times "You have to move to were the jobs are. It's that simple." The OTBL bloggers would tell us this is how free market economics works. He buddy, you get no guarantees...
Here's an interesting story about displaced auto workers moving from Michigan to Wyoming where jobs are plentiful in the current oil, gas and coal boom. Hopefully this citizen migrants know the boom and bust economy of Wyoming. This story centers around Gillette, Wyo., a town that was booming when I went through there in 1979 and a town that was busted when I went through again in 1984. --- Wyoming jobs lure workers
Labor-starved state recruits Michigan residents, who are happy to be free of auto-industry woes.
by Kirk Johnson / New York Times
GILLETTE, Wyo . -- Houston Mellentine, 10, held up the rattlesnake tail he kept in a box. "Killed it right over there," he said, pointing to the edge of his family's dirt front yard.
His mother, Melissa, sat in a folding chair as the sun set one recent evening, eying the snake's tail in her son's hand. "They don't have rattlesnakes in Michigan," she said somewhat longingly, at least not in her old front yard.
But then, Michigan has few of the types of jobs that brought the Mellentines here.
Labor-starved Wyoming, with its energy boom in coal, oil and natural gas, is vigorously courting the workers of the Rust Belt -- in particular, those in Michigan's struggling auto industry. And the workers are responding, and adjusting to a very different life in the West.
Wyoming economic development officials and company representatives are planning their third recruiting trip this year, visiting job fairs next month in Flint, Lansing and Grand Rapids. A billboard depicting a lush Wyoming will go up on the highway outside Flint on Sept. 20 and be seen by an estimated 65,000 people a day.
"Michigan has been very good for us," said Ruth Benson, the director of the Campbell County Economic Development Corp., who has twice led recruiting expeditions to depressed cities in Michigan.
So far, about 1,500 Michigan residents have signed up to receive job postings through the Wyoming work force Web site, and at least several hundred, employers and recruiters say, have moved to the state.
There'll be war, there'll be peace.But everything one day will cease.All the iron turned to rust;All the proud men turned to dust.And so all things, time will mend.So this song will end.
--Pink Floyd
