Fly The Unfriendly Skies
See more @ oggtoons!
12/01/2006
11/30/2006
CAR NUT answers all questions...ad nauseum.
(Note, just because I'm a know-it-all do nothing doesn't mean I have countless hours to answer your stupid questions. I do have to take my dog out for a poop, although he's embarrassed to be seen with me. But then again, he's a socialist scum dog who has contributed even less to the family unit than me. And I'm jealous of him for getting away with that. With that in mind, I'll spare giving you the turd degree and move on to the question at hand.)
Q: Who is Mark Steyn?
(The above picture is of Mark Steyn trying to rally the base at his reform school reunion.)
A: In the big ugly picture, there are pimples on your butt, e.g., Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Ann Clouter, and then there's the actual asshole and that would by Mark Steyn. Put another way, there's scum, e.g., Limbuagh, Hannity, Clouter, and then there's the pond and that would be Steyn. While Limbaugh, Hannity and Clouter might make a socialist comment about the way Mother Thereas dressed, Steyn would actually push her down on a Bombay street and hold her face in a puddle fo despair.
In the cozy hot tube of conservative punditry, there are lines of demarcation that are rarely, if ever, crossed. Respectable commentators such as Paul Gigot, George Will, and David Brooks work for respectable outlets such as the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, and the New York Times. When they appear on television or radio, they carry that aura of respectability with them. Right-wing carny barkers such as Rush Limbaugh, Ann Coulter, and Sean Hannity, on the other hand, play it strictly for laughs, even when they swear they’re not. And even though the Gigots and Wills and Brookses of the world may often agree with the freak-show politics of talk radio and the Fox News Channel, they would never sully their reputations by actually taking part.
Hold you nose and read more.
11/29/2006
Legislator (Over?) Compensation
"The annual salary paid to members of the
2005 Wisconsin Legislature will be $45,569.
Legislative salaries will not change during the
2005-2006 biennium, because Article IV,
Section 26, of the Wisconsin Constitution
dictates that salaries of public officers cannot
be increased or diminished during a term of
office. A 1992 constitutional amendment
allows holdover senators (those in the middle
of a 4 year term) to receive an adjustment
when the new legislature is inaugurated, so
that their salary matches that of newly elected
legislators. "
Source
This doesn't seem excessive to me. The healthcare retirement
benefits are also based on un - used sick leave, again, in my mind
not unreasonable.
But then you have this:
From- JSonline:
"Take Republican state Sen. Dave Zien of Eau Claire, one of the Legislature's most expensive members. In the last legislative session, he claimed 74 round trips to Madison and 249 days actually spent in the Capitol. Yet he also said he drove 46,000 miles in his district, often listing his constituent work as "meet bikers" on his reimbursement forms. With a $24,000 reimbursement just for mileage - enough to buy one of his beloved Harleys - Zien pulled in more than $47,000 above his actual salary.
Does that mean Eau Claire has an engaged, energetic senator in touch with voters, or someone who is milking taxpayers?"
CAR NUT answers all questions...correctly
(Note: I'll answer the damn questions correctly, if you damn idiots would ask them correctly. What the hell do you think I am? I frigging mind reader with a built in spell-check option.)
Q: Who is Marc Stien?
(After a tip from a reader, I realized the March Stien they were talking about referred to the one the OTBL blog did a satirical interview with on their blog. For those who have staggered over there for a "hit" of intellectual enlightenment -- thank gosh (no swearing) for short-term memory loss -- you will already be familiar with the the funny -- peculiar not ha-ha -- interview. To remind you, I've include a picture from the OTBL voodoo math factory that was in-farce today in the HSO letter to the editor section. I always thought I was something that I was smoking that made my think the Three Stooges have been famous ballet dancers. Today I read a turd pile of letters from the OTBL voodoo mathematicians that made me realize the Three Stooges were actually rithmetic practitioners living right here in the valley.)
A: Marc Stein was a Ph.D. student at Penn in History (1989-1994). Since then he has had a fascinating and busy career as a queer academic, teaching and writing about sex, gender, sexuality, and history, and how they are all intertwined. He currently teaches at York University in Toronto, Canada, and is working, along with a few colleagues, toward creating what he calls a "sex, gender, and sexuality studies programme" there, as well as on a new book. Stein also chairs the Committee on Lesbian and Gay History, an affiliate of the American Historical Society, for which he recently completed a survey of academics who wrote or are writing their Ph.D. dissertations on LGBTQ history. The results were published in Perspectives, the newsletter for the American Historical Society.
Read more!
(Note: I just want to double remind you dear -- an I don't mean that in a solicitous way -- that this is a family blog that doesn't tolerate swear words. Too much swearing makes me so mad that my hair implants start popping out like the rib-its in the submarine in Das Boot. That ain't pretty and I ain't pretty, so don't get know ideas from my sailor analogies.)
Two Faces Spotted On The Broderline
Some say that two heads are better than one, but over at ontheborderline.net Bob Ziller wants to cut costs and thinks you can get by with two faces...
Bob Ziller in OTBL on July 27, 2006, regarding New Richmond schools: "And right now I’m pushing for an elementary school (cost: $12 megabucks) to relieve the overcrowding in the ones we have."
Bob Ziller in OTBL on November 28, 2006, regarding Hudson schools: "From what I can see Hudson doesn’t need a referendum. There reserve fund could easily handle the building program via the reserve fund. New has a policy of carrying a 16% reserve fund on the operating budget. This shows prudent management for any future borrowing. Vote NO"
CAR NUT answers all questions...fast!
Q: "OK, then who the hell is Mark Stien?"
(Please note that Car Nut does not like swear words like "hell." Please read the blog guidelines.)
A: Professional off-road truck driver seen here driving an Anadateo Pro-Stock Full F-150 at the 1996 Baja 1000.
(Note: I don't know what kind of truck that is. With a name like that, it could be a PlayStation 3 for all I know. You would find either of those parked near my golf bag. However, the mention of the word "Baja" reminds of a place that imports green leafy vegetable matter.)
Ruby Don't Bring Your Ethics To Madtown
Perk awaits convicted legislators
Unused sick days can buy health care in retirement
MADISON - Six legislators convicted of corruption are still eligible for nearly $300,000 in free health care when they retire.
Former assembly speaker Scott Jensen can cash in an insurance credit worth more than $71,000, while former senate majority leader Chuck Chvala, former senator Gary George and former assembly majority leader Steven Foti are all eligible for about $60,000 in health insurance when they retire.
Health care on tap for Legislature
With this week’s revelation that state lawmakers are able to convert unused sick days into tens of thousands of dollars in health benefits, health-care reform will be a prominent part of state lawmakers’ agendas as the next session begins in January.
Judge orders Jensen, Foti to reimburse taxpayers
MADISON, Wis. - Former Republican Assembly leaders Scott Jensen and Steven Foti have been ordered by a judge to reimburse taxpayers for salaries and fringe benefits of Capitol aides who they had campaign on state time.
CAR NUT answers the questions...
Q: Who the hell is Mark Stein?
A: Founder of Vanilla Fudge
(Note: If you are old enough to have joined the Record Club of America and got 12 LPs for free to join, you may have actually owned a Vinilla Fudge LP. If you're a really old fart like Andy Rand, you probably paid full price for VF. I believe they where one of America's first attempts at commercial heavy metal. If you were a Cactus fan, you will know that Tim Bogert and Carmine Appice were founding members of that damn good heavy metal band of the very early 1970s. After Cactus beat each other up and tried to bring too many drugs into Cleveland, Bogart and Appice joined with Jeck Beck to form Beck, Bogert and Appice which had a couple of good LPs. As far as the worth of Vanilla Fuge, I think they were too boring for the street drugs available at the time. A close acquaintance of mine, saw Led Zepplin open for Vanilla Fudge in Denver in Zeps first US tour and saw Vanilla Fudge get blown off the stage. Zep left the tour shortly and went on the fame, fortune and a much higher quality of street drugs. Thanks for asking.)
US Supreme Court To Hear Global Warming Case
A HUGELY important U.S. Supreme Court case, up for oral arguments today, hangs on a legal switcheroo.
State governments, who often want Washington to butt out of their affairs, are after the federal Environmental Protection Agency to show its muscle by designating greenhouse-gas emissions are pollutants and crack down on the sources.
Read all about!
11/28/2006
Kitty Rhoades to Co-chair Senate Budget Committee
Madison – Assembly Speaker-elect, Mike Huebsch (R-West Salem) is naming Representative Kitty Rhoades (R-Hudson) to co-chair the Joint Committee on Finance. Rhoades is the first Assembly Republican woman to chair the powerful budget writing committee. Huebsch says Rhoades will be a voice for the taxpayers on the committee.
“Representative Rhoades will make sure taxpayers are the number one priority for Wisconsin,” Huebsch said, “She knows first hand what Wisconsin’s working families are going through and will help lead the charge to cut taxes and lower spending to bring our state’s finances back in order.”
Read more!
Car Nut the window peeker asks...
Q: What's the definition of a libertarian?
A: A classical liberal who smokes dope.
Offshoring trend threatens Western employment
Continual price pressures within the pharmaceutical industry are driving more Western firms to turn to offshore employment.
The practice is expected to increase 16 per cent annually to include 21,000 employees by 2008 – a doubling of the current figures, according to a report by research firm McKinsey & Company.
“Eighty per cent of the world's pharmaceutical industry employees are currently working in Western countries – 60 per cent of them for the top 20 firms,” said Dr Ajay Bakshi at the recent Association of Clinical Research Professionals (ACRP) conference in Brussels.
“The future will see a lot of opportunities for the industry to save money by basing some of their employees in low-cost offshore locations, although clearly this will have an impact on employees in the Western labour market.”
The sectors that are at most of risk at being deployed offshore are IT services, research and development (R&D), commercial analytics, and general and administrative back-office functions, said the report, titled: “The Emerging Global Labor Market: Demand for Offshore Talent in Pharmaceutical Services.”
The specific occupations under threat are associated with functions that are more amenable to global resourcing, including generalists, life science researchers, IT engineers, and support staff.
Read more!
11/27/2006
Spinning Wal-Mart
Retailer, union activists wage high-stakes PR battle
When it comes to peddling pickles and pants, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. knows just what to do: Cut costs and pass along the savings. But the world's largest retailer is facing a trickier marketing challenge as it tries to sell its political agenda to lawmakers, regulators and voters.
Wal-Mart, whose sales have flattened this year, needs their support to start growing again. It must defeat legislation designed to drive up its employees' wages and benefits, and it must win governmental permission to open big-box stores in crowded cities and enter the banking industry. With its future hinging on its political savvy, Wal-Mart decided last December to launch a "grass-roots" campaign, Working Families for Wal-Mart, to drum up support. But again and again, WFWM's public relations efforts backfired in 2006.
Exhibit A: Civil rights icon Andrew Young agreed to serve as the campaign's public face. But just a few months into the job, he abruptly resigned after making ethnically insensitive comments.
Exhibit B: Top-notch political strategist Terry Nelson was hired to guide the campaign. But he resigned shortly after his consulting firm was linked to a Tennessee Senate campaign ad that many deemed racist.
Read more!
11/26/2006
OTBL Fact Finders Return from Kazackstan
The results of the OTBL Anti- Education fact finding committee's Kazackstani tour
to discover new school cost cutting measures was released today.
Here are some highlights of the report.
1. The committee found the proposal to return to the one room school house as
overly overly wastful of taxpayer money. The major design flaw was the woodburing pot belly
stove being too costly to fuel. The committee entertained the possibility of this design
if the heating stoves were fueled with lower cost cow dung.
2. The committee proposed selling the naming rights of any new school to the highest bidder. So far only the future St. Croix Meadows Casino has made offer which the committee thought worthy of consideration.
3. Adaquate ventilation. The committee discovered that using sub standard building materials
not only saved on construction costs, but also eliminated the need for a costly
air exchange system. The committe agreed, duck tape would be the building material of choice.
4. The committee proposed that the topic would require more study ( like about 15 years more )
to further develop more and better cost cutting measures. In the mean time the committee
urged voters to vot NO, of the upcoming referrendum to enable the Otbl Cooncerned citizens
to adaquately develop a fiscally sound plan for a new school without any taxpayer money
used for it's construction.
Quotes to Ponder: JFK
"Tolerance implies no lack of commitment to one’s own beliefs.
Rather it condemns the oppression or persecution of others."
John F. Kennedy (1917-1963)
35th US President
11/25/2006
Local Republican Suggests A Return To The One-room School Concept
(Lori Bernard, chairman of the St. Croix County Republican Party, had a letter printed in the New Richmond News and Hudson Star-Observer this past week. Bernard's letter discussed the one-room school setting in which her Grandmother taught. She suggests we consider returning to this concept.
My Grandmother also taught in a one-room school. She started the wood stove in the morning, walked through snow drifts to get to school and had to give up teaching when she got married. As my Grandmother, who was born in a log cabin and knew how to keep the wolves away from the door with a shotgun at the age of 10, like to say, "You can have the good old days. They weren't so good. I'll take an electric oven and refrigerator over a wood stove and an icebox any day."
I did some genealogical research and found out the my ancestors in northern Europe were farmers 12,000 years ago. Even farther back, 15,000 years ago my ancestors where hunters and gatherers. According to family lore, my farmer ancestors apparently longed for the return of the days of hunting and gathering. Apparently, that good-old-days conservative attitude has been around for awhile.)
Below is Bernard's letter to the editor.
Here's some interesting links to one-room schools: Snow Hill, Worcester County, Maryland and Mission Ridge, West Virginia.
---
Excerpt from Bernard's letter:
Dear Editor:
Recently I learned that my grandmother taught grades one through six in a one-room schoolhouse. The one-room schoolhouse had no dedicated library, no gymnasium, no athletic field, no auditorium with state-of-the-art acoustics, no air conditioning and certainly no indoor swimming pool. Yet some evidence suggests that children educated in one-room schoolhouses received a more rigorous education than that received in our public schools today. For some proof, check out the following link to an eighth-grade test from 1895 at www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/quizzes/8thgrade_test.cfm.
Interestingly, when education is discussed today it seems that no hallway is wide enough, no gymnasium is large enough, no school has enough surrounding acreage, no athletic facility is ever all that we would like it to be. We see coverage of the sports teams and school plays and musicals, but rarely do we hear discussions about the real state of education or gratitude for the educational opportunity with which our kids are presented.
Instead we see bumper stickers to “Support Hudson Schools.” We have seen teachers and parents literally parade through our town pleading for “more support” for our schools and our high school students with picket signs outside a school board meeting demanding a new high school because, according to them, “1700 is a crowd.” It is as though without more “support” (i.e., money and facilities), our children cannot possibly learn. The argument is hollow at best, but I believe it is also a harmful message for our kids.
Read complete letter.
---
The link to the test mentioned in the letter is found at the Digital History site.
---
Of course, one-room schools were generally located in the countryside. Towns like Hudson and New Richmond had a larger grade school with multiple grades located in town. The high school was even larger and was attended by the students in the one-room schools and town elementary school. Often times, most country kids who did go on to high school roomed in town during the week. They weren't busing them halfway across the county back them. Besides, for most country kids, 8th grade was the end of the formal education line.
Concerning the 8th grade test, there seems to be some question as to whether or not it was given to 8th graders or seniors in high school. I scored about a B on the test. I found things that I probably haven't seen since Mrs. Widvey's English class at HHS. But of course, we can't go back to 1920 and give them a test from 2006. I'm sure the results would be similar. In 1973, I could do all kinds of math on a slide rule. We weren't allowed to use calculators because they were expense and some of the teachers thought they were a fad. I have a slide rule in my desk at work and haven't got a clue as how to use it. I'm keeping in there in case there's a total meltdown in the computer system, the power goes out and we run out of things to talk about at the water cooler.
With this kind of thinking publicly being advocated from the top of the local Republican Party, can you imagine what they are saying behind closed doors?
Any thoughts or comments...
Why Fund Expensive Weapons for Troops?
Dear Editor,
Recently I learned that my Great Grandfather was a soldier in the American Civil War.
The Civil War had no stealth bombers, no patriot missiles, no kevlar body armor, no computerized armored vehicles or attack helicopters. Yet evidence suggests that soldiers whose medal had been tested in the foxholes fought more valiantly than today's videogame smartbomb jockeys. Interestingly, when defense is discussed today there's no weapons system costly enough, no stealth bombers stealthy enough, and no missile defense that works despite it mega billion dollar price tag.
Instead we see cars with yellow ribbons to "Support Our Troops". We have seen defense contractors literally get contracts (Halliburton )to rebuild infrastucture with no bid contracts before our military had destroyed it in Iraq. We see chicken hawks demanding new and larger defense contracts. $420 Billion dollars is not enough. Yet we cannot defend ourselves from grandmothers with explosive vests.
Issues of defense can be addressed in a number of ways. David didn't need a stealth bomber to defeat Galiath. General Grant did need attack helecopters to defeat General Lee. Greed is usually associated with private sector defense contractors, but I contend that where greed actually resides.
Meanwhile there are thousands of kids around the world who would be happy to just get their hands on an AK-47. In many places in Africa they already have. Yet we are asked to spend more on defense? I fear that as we focus on weapons, we will loose our focus on combat. I also fear that as we continue to sow the seeds of discontentment in our defense contractors, that we will reap what we have sown for many defense budget cycles to come.
Our soldiers should be able to fight just as well with muskets and dry powder. When taxpayers send our troops out to fight and die, it shouldn't cost us an arm and a leg.
Gee Does This Sound Familiar: Crackpots Against Public Education
(Evidently Hudson and New Richmond aren't the only communities infested with the OTBL mentality...)
Did you know that public school teachers are all part of a conspiracy to turn the United States into a communist nation? Did you know that public education is actually at war with Christianity? So says Dr. Bruce Shortt, a Baptist minister, in his article, "Public Education Against America." Shortt’s solution is to have "Christians" develop an exit strategy to remove all their children out of public schools and into "Christian" and home schools.
Shortt lays out a conspiracy theory that is so complicated that it would put Dan Brown (THE DA VINCI CODE) to shame. John Dewey, the Italian Communist party, the Frankfurt School, and American colleges and universities are all part of the plot. Schools of education are actually "political re-education camps," and concepts such as "respecting differences" and "diversity" are actually part of cultural Marxism. Your everyday, run-of-the-mill public school teachers and administrators are also part of this sinister plot, but we’re just too dumb to know it. I guess I owe Dr. Shortt a real debt of gratitude. I’ve been trying to figure out whether I’m a Democrat or a Republican, and here all the time, I’ve just been a Communist dupe. Silly me!
Read more you socialist scum, puppets of the Kremlin, suck-ups to the Sandinista, etc.
11/24/2006
Week-End Update - Hothead Fires Back With Creative Name Calling
Click on Image for Larger view:
Undoubtably utilizing propaganda techniques garnered from the recent OTBL Anti-Education Committee's fact finding tour of Kazakhstan, frequent blogger N. Onimous stretched the creative limits of his bird sized thought organ to invent
insulting nicknames for recent HSO letter contributors.
"OUCH!! Those names really hurt " quipped Kevin "Communist" Whiteley, "I haven't been called a Communist since my elementary government schools days back in the '50s when Sen. Joe McCarthy was investigating our PTA leader, Miss Smirnov after she organized a bake sale for Carpenter's local 666. "I suppose supporting new schools for Hudson children does make me a Communist." said Whiteley. "but I was spared being called a terrorist, for that I'm thankful."
"Playboy" Roy Sjoberg, acknowledged that " Things are looking more positive in Hudson" noting that local antagonists have adopted "recycling" for their illegal campaign signs. "Dispite their antognistic message, I was glad to see the antagonists becoming more environmentally conscious."
November 24 Is BUYING NOTHING DAY -- Help Support Global Cooling
On The borderliners beware:
They start at 5 AM, duct-taping Reverend Billy's Christmas Commandments to the front door of Macy's and pastoring to the sinners waiting for their Lake of Hellfire to engulf them.
Here it is, Buy Nothing Day once again and the frenzied shopping begins. Every year the Goliath of Consumerism walks toward us, and each year he is a couple feet taller, with global warming and market-driven wars at his back. We are humbled by the prospects of changing a national way of life, but we are laughing, and we continue to Stop Shopping.
At 11 AM, come to Victoria's Secret at 57th St. and 5th Ave. Fine purveyors of clear-cut forests and a million catalogues a day, plus the usual sweat-shopping and so forth - we will start our stopped shopping with Vicki. Forest Ethics is our partner on this one.
Buy less; read more!
11/23/2006
It's Time to Play - Know Your CEOs
Chainsaw Al Dunlap
He anointed himself America's best CEO. But Al Dunlap drove Sunbeam into the ground .
Chainsaw Al's Waterloo
July 19, 1996
Dunlap is named chairman and CEO of Sunbeam. The stock jumps nearly 50%, from 12 1/2 to 18 5/8.
Nov. 13, 1996
Dunlap announces plans to ax half of Sunbeam's 12,000 employees and close or sell two-thirds of its 18 manufacturing plants.
Oct. 23, 1997
Dunlap hires Morgan Stanley to explore ''strategic alternatives,'' including acquisitions or Sunbeam's sale.
Jan. 28, 1998
Dunlap declares a turnaround, reporting record sales and earnings for 1997.
Mar. 2, 1998
Dunlap announces a trio of acquisitions: camping-gear maker Cole- man, smoke-alarm producer First Alert, and Mr. Coffee maker Signature Brands.
Mar. 4, 1998
Sunbeam stock closes at a record high of $52 a share.
Apr. 3, 1998
Stock falls 25%, to 34 3/8, after PaineWebber analyst Andrew Shore issues downgrade and company shocks Wall Street by posting a first-quarter loss.
May 11, 1998
Dunlap tells investors he took his eye ''off the ball,'' says that it will ''never happen again.''
June 9, 1998
Dunlap demands board support or, he says, he and Vice-Chairman and CFO Russell Kersh will resign.
June 13, 1998
Outside directors fire Dunlap.
June 14, 1998
Board agrees to hire Jerry Levin, a longtime aide to financier Ronald Perelman, as new chief executive.
Rarely does anyone express joy at another's misfortune, but Dunlap's ouster elicited unrestrained glee from many quarters. Former employees who had been victims of his legendary chainsaw nearly danced in the streets of Coshatta, La., where Dunlap shuttered a plant. Says David M. Friedson, CEO of Windmere-Durable Holdings Inc.(WND), a competitor of Sunbeam: ''He is the logical extreme of an executive who has no values, no honor, no loyalty, and no ethics. And yet he was held up as a corporate god in our culture. It greatly bothered me.''
Even members of his own family--long estranged from the man--seemed ebullient. Upon hearing the news of his father's sacking on CNBC at 6:20 a.m. in Seattle, Troy Dunlap chortled. ''I laughed like hell,'' says Dunlap's 35-year-old son and only child. ''I'm glad he fell on his ass. I told him Sunbeam would be his Dunkirk.'' Dunlap's sister, Denise, his only sibling, heard the news from a friend in New Jersey. Her only thought: ''He got exactly what he deserved.''
Six Sigma Champion - Neutron Jack Welch
From 1981 to 1985, he cut 100,000 jobs, an act so painful to employees that they began referring to him as ''Neutron Jack,'' after the nuclear bomb that vaporizes people but leaves buildings standing.
Now for the leaner side of Sigma Six.
From GE:
Six Sigma is a highly disciplined process that helps us focus on developing and delivering near-perfect products and services.
Why "Sigma"? The word is a statistical term that measures how far a given process deviates from perfection. The central idea behind Six Sigma is that if you can measure how many "defects" you have in a process, you can systematically figure out how to eliminate them and get as close to "zero defects" as possible. To achieve Six Sigma Quality, a process must produce no more than 3.4 defects per million opportunities. An "opportunity" is defined as a chance for nonconformance, or not meeting the required specifications. This means we need to be nearly flawless in executing our key processes.
Bill Smith (1929 - 1993) is the "Father of Six Sigma". Born in Brooklyn, New York, Smith graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1952 and studied at the University of Minnesota School of Management (now known as the Carlson School of Management). In 1987, after working for nearly 35 years in engineering and quality assurance, he joined Motorola, serving as vice president and senior quality assurance manager for the Land Mobile Products Sector.
Bill Smith spent years convincing the higher management at Motorola about his new quality control process, Six Sigma. Six Sigma is the TQM spin-off that has generated billions of dollars for Motorola. As a Motorola employee, Smith did not share directly in the profits generated by the company's Six Sigma applications. However, over the years, he and Motorola garnered numerous awards and recognition for his vital work to improve profitability in America's manufacturing sector. He was especially proud of his role in Motorola's winning the prestigious Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award. The Baldrige Award came in 1988, two years after Motorola implemented Smith's Six Sigma principles.
Smith died of a heart attack at work in 1993.
Thanksgiving Myths
MYTH # 1: The Pilgrims Held the First Thanksgiving
MYTH # 2: Thanksgiving Was About Family
MYTH # 3: Thanksgiving Was About Religion
MYTH # 4: The Pilgrims Ate Turkey
MYTH # 5: The Pilgrims Landed on Plymouth Rock
MYTH # 6: Pilgrims Lived in Log Cabins
MYTH # 7: Pilgrims Dressed in Black
MYTH # 8: Pilgrims, Puritans -- Same Thing
MYTH # 9: Puritans Hated Sex
MYTH # 10: Puritans Hated Fun
Click here to read the details.
11/22/2006
Pro-Voucher Fat Cats Spent Big Bucks To Win School Board Seats
Recipe for disaster
The making of a morass in School District 11
by Cara DeGette
They said they wanted a revolution.
In 2003, with the help of a handful of wealthy school voucher advocates, Sandy Shakes, Eric Christen, Craig Cox and Willie Breazell seized the majority of the seven-member District 11 Board of Education.
The election was, by far, the most costly in the history of the district. Glossy mailers praising the four as reformers went out by the reams — even Gov. Bill Owens lent his endorsement. Other candidates were attacked as being "anti-parental rights" and "union-boss endorsed."
Altogether, an estimated $150,000 was spent getting the four elected, with $82,000 of that coming directly from the wallets of local developer and voucher advocate Steve Schuck and three wealthy Denver-area businessmen of like mind.
In the community, few at the time understood the extent of the intended "reforms." Yet shortly after the election, Christen made it clear that change would soon be underway.
Read more @ Colorado Springs Indy.
11/21/2006
Today's Video
The Who - The Kids Are Alright (Live)
The song title is apropos in regards to the upcoming referendum.
11/20/2006
It's deeper than SpongeBob -- Baptist Group Ponders Wal-Mart Boycott
The Southern Baptists of Texas Convention joined Missouri Baptists in setting the stage for a possible boycott of Wal-Mart over policies friendly toward gays.
Unlike an earlier Missouri Baptist Convention resolution, the Texas statement actually uses the word "boycott," albeit in a "whereas" paragraph that observes, "Boycotts are a legitimate method for communicating moral convictions."
The resolution urges Texas Southern Baptists to "give serious prayerful reconsideration to their purchases and support of Wal-Mart," and calls for Baptist families "to reflect biblical values with their purchasing power, letters and influence."
The resolution requests the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention to "monitor Wal-Mart's progress in returning to its previous philosophy of family values image."
Read more@ Ethics Daily.com.
Feedback is the breakfast of champions. -Kenneth H. Blanchard
Expect problems and eat them for breakfast.
Alfred A. Montapert
11/19/2006
The anti-public education/union/teacher thugs aren't just in the St. Croix Valley
Vista, California:
O'Reilly, president of the association, said the union always makes a point to run a clean campaign. She called the union bashing a political ploy from anti-public education candidates. Read more!
Lincoln, Nebraska:
"All this anti-public education talk and the endorsing of home-schooling, makes me wonder if the people worrying about a "brain drain" are paying attention to the dialog. Keep talking like this and you'll see the 'best and brightest' tripping over each other to get the heck out of here. And then lets see what you have, I'd venture a guess it would be something like Alabama or Missisippi." Read more!
Jackson, Mississippi:
Gov. Haley Barbour, tarred by many over the last three years as being anti-public education, countered Tuesday that K-12 spending under his watch has increased to historic proportions. Read more!
Little Rock, Arkansas:
The president of Arkansas' largest teachers union branded Republican candidate for lieutenant governor Jim Holt as anti-public education Thursday at a news conference in support of the Democratic nominee, Bill Halter. Read more!
Laconia, New Hampshire:
He dismissed the charge of being anti-public education as one that is very easy to make.
"I don't know of anyone who is against education. I'm for a quality education and I think the state's role is to target and to provide for the communities that have a need over and above the typical or average town, and that's where Laconia has benefited from targeted aid, but the Supreme Court ruling is against targeted aid." Read more!
11/18/2006
Is NRA grip on Congress loosening?
by Martha Rosenberg
Op Ed News
Who can forget the NRA's depiction of Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agents as gun grabbing "jack booted thugs" ten years ago? It cost them the membership of George H. W. Bush and other prominent members.
"To attack Secret Service agents or ATF people or any government law enforcement people as...wanting to attack law-abiding citizens is a vicious slander on good people," wrote Bush in his resignation letter.
If the only tool you have is a hammer, they say, everything will look like a nail. And if the only tool you have is a gun, everyone will look like a gun grabber.
Read more!
11/17/2006
Religious Conservatives More Generous Than Secular Liberals
This article was brought to our attention by frequent commenter CATO:
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Syracuse University professor Arthur C. Brooks is about to become the darling of the religious right in America -- and it's making him nervous.
The child of academics, raised in a liberal household and educated in the liberal arts, Brooks has written a book that concludes religious conservatives donate far more money than secular liberals to all sorts of charitable activities, irrespective of income.
In the book, he cites extensive data analysis to demonstrate that values advocated by conservatives -- from church attendance and two-parent families to the Protestant work ethic and a distaste for government-funded social services -- make conservatives more generous than liberals.
The book, titled "Who Really Cares: The Surprising Truth About Compassionate Conservatism" (Basic Books, $26), is due for release Nov. 24.
When it comes to helping the needy, Brooks writes: "For too long, liberals have been claiming they are the most virtuous members of American society. Although they usually give less to charity, they have nevertheless lambasted conservatives for their callousness in the face of social injustice."
For the record, Brooks, 42, has been registered in the past as a Democrat, then a Republican, but now lists himself as independent, explaining, "I have no comfortable political home."
The book's basic findings are that conservatives who practice religion, live in traditional nuclear families and reject the notion that the government should engage in income redistribution are the most generous Americans, by any measure.
Conversely, secular liberals who believe fervently in government entitlement programs give far less to charity. They want everyone's tax dollars to support charitable causes and are reluctant to write checks to those causes, even when governments don't provide them with enough money.
Such an attitude, he writes, not only shortchanges the nonprofits but also diminishes the positive fallout of giving, including personal health, wealth and happiness for the donor and overall economic growth.
All of this, he said, he backs up with statistical analysis.
"These are not the sort of conclusions I ever thought I would reach when I started looking at charitable giving in graduate school, 10 years ago," he writes in the introduction. "I have to admit I probably would have hated what I have to say in this book."
McCain Calls for Common Sense in GOP
"Though we suffered a tough defeat last week, we will recover if we learn our lesson well and once again offer Americans enlightened, effective and principled leadership."
John McCain
Arizona Senator
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11/16/2006
Milton Friedman - Death of a Giant
The death of Milton Friedman at age 94 ends, after more than 60 years, the greatest rivalry in modern economics—the one between the conservative great Friedman and the liberal great Paul Samuelson. Samuelson lives on, at age 91, and remembers his intellectual foe with respect.
"Milton Friedman was a giant," Samuelson said in a Nov. 16 interview from his office at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. "No 20th-century economist had his importance in moving the American economic profession rightward from 1940 to the present."
More than anyone else, Milton Friedman was responsible for challenging the worldview of British economist John Maynard Keynes, who believed in the power of government to guide and stimulate economic growth. As an alternative to Keynesianism, he put forth a more laissez-faire philosophy known as monetarism—the doctrine that the best thing the government can do is supply the economy with the money it needs and stand aside.
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‘Monument’-al achievement: Iraqi War Memorial in St. Croix County
Little town is site of state’s first — and only — memorial wall honoring Wisconsin’s Iraq War dead
By Barbara Lyon
Editor
Dunn County News
Just beyond Dunn County’s western border sits the tiny, unincorporated hamlet of Hersey. To see it today, visitors might find it hard to believe that it was once St. Croix County’s largest town.
According to Hersey Cave bar owner Steve Schreiber, the once-bustling municipality —founded in the late 1800s by lumber baron Hersey Adam — once boasted 10 taverns, a bank, livery stable, cheese factory, churches, grocery store and mercantile exchange.
When the original wood-framed town hall burned down, it was replaced by a brick structure, built in 1872 by Civil War veterans. Almost two years ago, time and the elements took their toll on the venerable building and it was torn down.
But all was not lost. Schreiber, a local history buff who is working on a book about Hersey, salvaged the Menomonie-manufactured bricks and other artifacts.
Faced with a pile of old bricks, he pondered how he could put them to meaningful use.
It occurred to him that Wisconsin has sacrificed more than its share of soldiers in the Iraq War. A memorial wall constructed of old Hersey town hall brick, he thought, would be a fitting way of honoring the state’s fallen soldiers.
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Free trade hasn't turned out to be a great deal
Over the past five years, most Americans have seen stagnant wages and increased job insecurity. While the Dow has recovered, job creation remains historically weak. While compensation for chief executive officers has hit records, college graduates have seen their incomes drop. Growth hasn't lifted all boats.
Read more @ Cinncinati Enquirer.
Families feel the squeeze
Higher fuel, health costs hit home
“The main thing that bothers me the most is that I can’t provide for my kids like my parents provided for us,” Paul Kirk said. “There’s always a sense of doubt that you’re always going to have enough at the end of the month, but sometimes you don’t. We just can’t do things the way we’d like to.”
Read more @ Lawerence Journal-World.
Fed minutes spur another Dow record
Wall Street rallied again Wednesday, with the Dow Jones industrials scoring another record close as investors grew more confident that the Federal Reserve has inflation in hand. A bid from US Airways Group Inc. for Delta Air Lines Inc. added to the market's momentum.
Read more @ Reading Eagle.
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