New Richmond's Doboy Fined For EPA Violation

(PressZoom) - CHICAGO ( Dec. 27, 2005 ) - U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region 5 has settled with Doboy Inc. of New Richmond, Wis., for an alleged violation of federal hazardous waste regulations. Doboy will pay a $52,246 penalty.

The company failed to determine, from 2000 to 2004, if waste filters from its wet paint spray booth were hazardous. EPA and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources inspected the Doboy package-making facility, 869 S. Knowles Ave., in March 2004. Its manufacturing process produces paint waste that requires disposal in an EPA-approved hazardous waste facility.

Under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, EPA controls hazardous waste from its production to final disposal.

Story source: Press Room Global News Service

A Picture Is Worth A 1,000 Words, Over 2,000 Dead, 20,000 Wounded & Billions of Dollars In Oil Profits

Forging the Case for War: Who was behind the Niger uranium documents?

From the beginning, there has been little doubt in the intelligence community that the outing of CIA officer Valerie Plame was part of a bigger story. That she was exposed in an attempt to discredit her husband, former ambassador Joseph Wilson, is clear, but the drive to demonize Wilson cannot reasonably be attributed only to revenge. Rather, her identification likely grew out of an attempt to cover up the forging of documents alleging that Iraq attempted to buy yellowcake uranium from Niger...

The timing, August 2002, was also propitious as the administration was intensifying its efforts to make the case for war...On Sept. 9, 2002, Ledeen set up a secret meeting between Pollari and Deputy National Security Adviser Hadley...On Jan. 28, 2003, over the objections of the CIA and State, the famous 16 words about Niger’s uranium were used in President Bush’s State of the Union address justifying an attack on Iraq: “The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa.”

...The investigation continues, but the campaign against this lone detractor suggests that the administration was concerned about something far weightier than his critical op-ed.

Read more: The American Conservative

Spirit Preaches "The Gospel of Greed"

The prophets of the Gospel of Greed are out street preaching again over at ontheborderline.com. In a long-winded article typical of the bdanielson "raging philoshopical debate" school of economics, spiritofnarcissis, (aka, spiritofpublicus,bildanielson,donttreadonme, and junkyarddog) cloaks himself in his religion of "Classical Liberalism" and invokes the Creator and Ten Commandments to implicitly justify his extremist views, or as he puts it "The Principles of Liberty".
In his unfathomable parable of the dairy farmer, viewed by the "countless individuals, who are readers of (his) website", spiritofnarcissis takes over 700 words and 3 paragraphs to expound upon the same message he always preaches. It can be summerized in 3 words...."Taxes are immoral".

BTW, The next time you're at the grocery store, see if you can negotiate a lower price for milk from the dairy farmer, or for that matter a cheaper gallon of gas from Exxon-Mobile.
(I would create link #252 here to Spirit's article, but if I did it would be redirected to pop-up about Socialists being insects and most likely plant a virus or worm on your computer, thanks to the internet trickery of the ontheborderline Admin.)

So in a nutshell, Spirit's argument is the typical Calvinist one.
The pecking order is God, me then the government. God gave me my money. Therefore, if the government taxes me, that's immoral.
(As an aside, just think of the implications of this "philosophy". We drink "government
( inspected and monitored)water. If you don't want to get dysentery from what you drink we'd all be buying bottled water )
and be driving on toll roads to get to the Wal-Mart Company Store to purchase it).

I'm not one run around quoting the Bible, chapter and verse .
However, since Spirit invoked the Creator and the Ten Commandments, let's do a little more investigation into the realm of religion to debunk the Gospel of Greed.

In Matthew 22:15 The Pharisees ask Jesus, "Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?".
Does Jesus say "Go forth thou home and guard thoust gallon of milk from Ceasar and the Romans"? Duh, no!!!!
He says, "Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's."
Clearly he's telling the faithful, "All taxation is immoral". Yeah, Right!
This voluminous little thesis of the Spirit is of course only Part I.
Perhaps in Part II, spiritofnarcissis could expound on this verse to justify the Gospel of Greed.

Matthew 16:24-26 24 26 For what doth it profit a man, if he gain the whole world and suffer the loss of his own soul? Or what exchange shall a man give for his soul?

Oh please Spirit, tell us the secret of life from the fountain of Ayn Rand and John Locke.

Are You A Commie?

A communist is someone who has nothing and wishes to share it with the world.

Prediction: “Diseases of affluence” will kill more poor people

"The number of people in developing countries experiencing obesity and related diseases – such as diabetes, cancer and heart disease – has grown to 115 million now from essentially none two generations ago. These “diseases of affluence” occur as diets change away from high-quality foods, such as whole grains, fiber, and fruits and vegetables. By 2030, the diseases could become the primary killers of poor people around the world."

World Trends and Forecast
Futurist
May-June 2005

Quotes of Note: Fanatics

"History teaches us that no one feels so disgustingly certain of victory, or is so unteachably sure, and immune to reason, as the fanatic, and that no one is so absolutely certain of ultimate defeat.”

Theodore Haecker
Journal in the Night

You Got To Be Workin' Hard To Get Here!

Quote To Ponder: The Money Party

"We have only one political party in the country – The Money Party. And it has two branches – the Republican branch and the Democratic branch."

--Arnold Miller
President, United Mine Workers

The Wait Staff Is Whining Again

At The OnTheBorderLine.net Blog Site

I see OTBL admin Chris Kilber has provided us with his review of the New Richmond News coverage of the St. Croix County blog scene. I to think it was a good story. Editor Jeff Holmquist covered the local blog scene quite well. Unlike CK, I don't feel the need to bore you readers with any CYA spin or put any lipstick on the pig. My experiences as a reporter taught me that you can write a good story covering as many angles as time and space allow and there are still going to be complaints from those involved in the story.
---

I do have a couple of comments concerning Kilber's posting about the story titled: NR News.

Kilber wrote:

"Another paragraph concerns screening. Not all comments are screened. Screening occurs only with new commenters. Only the first few are moderated. After that period people are more than welcome to comment. I will not allow my blog to get hijacked."

My experience commenting on OTBL agrees with what CK wrote. I was allowed to add comments to posts and debate and discuss the issues involved in the post -- up to a point. There gets to be a point where your comments bring up fact-based statistics and opinions that rationally provide a strong counter argument to the discussion. When this would happen, the comments to the post would be shut off -- especially if it started to look like there actually was another, legitimate side to the argument.

In addition, I was never allowed to do my own postings on OTBL. I tried to post some facts and figures that reflected positively on public education. CK said he would not publish this information because his was a right leaning blog and he wasn't going to allow it to be hijacked. Obviously, they have an agenda at OTBL and that is their right. However, they should at least be honest about it and cut the crap about open and honest debate. It doesn't happen there. Period!
---

Ck wrote:

"This blog has no links to Nelson's blog. I simply don't choose to belittle myself with childish and amateurish pictures, characterizations, and cartoons that are outright offensive to members of this blog and the publics sensibility."

He is free to link to information on this blog, if he chooses. It's a free, virtual-country. I brings me great joy to read that he simply doesn't "choose to belittle myself with childish and amateurish pictures, characterizations, and cartoons that are outright offensive to members of this blog and the publics sensibility."

Did you get a whiff of the hypocrisy in that last statement? Gee CK, we are sooooo sorry you might find some postings here "outright offensive" to members of your blog -- maybe I'm not wasting my time blogging the night away...

Let's see...OnTheBorderLine.net...isn't that the blog site in Hudson, Wisconsin that spends most of its time slandering any public official -- elected or employed -- who doesn't agree with their anti-tax, anti-community, anti-union, anti-public education fanaticism? Isn't OTBL the blog site that has published posts that attack the sons and daughters of those who don't happen to agree with them? Didn't I read posts over there calling Hudson "Nazi, Wisconsin?" The OTBL posts are littered with gutless anonymous slandering, tasteless characterizations of dedicated, self-sacrificing public officials and private citizens "that are outright offensive to members of this blog and the publics sensibility."

As you OTBL'ers polish the daggers of your self-righteous indignation, remember that you boys will always make better waitresses than customers. The reason is simple: you can dish it out, but you can't take it.
---
Ck wrote:

"There have been very few if any references to Nelson's blog or posts other that a gratuitous thank you now and then when he has attacked me in the paper. I have never attacked him in the paper and maybe have mentioned him but one or two times. On the other hand there are over 251 links on his site back to this site. It looks as if this blog did not exist, he would have nothing to write about."

I'm confused about the "attacked me in the paper" phrase. I've written letters to the editor pointing out the hypocrisy that echoes so loudly on his blog site. Since I not allowed to come over to his blog house and discuss the issues, I am simply using another forum to get my opinion out. CK is like many of the extremists on the right and left. If you disagree with their point of view and point out inconsistencies with their approach and/or arguments, they say you are attacking them. Freedom of speech is ok for them and not ok for those who disagree with them. Ditto for the extremists on the left. Being really liberal doesn't mean you are open-minded.

The reason CK has "never attacked" me in the paper is because he couldn't counter my arguments. OTBL'ers are the bullies who start crying when the targets of their attacks fight back. A good example is the bully in the movie "A Christmas Story."
---
Ck wrote:

"Nelson has many references to socialism, Marxism, anti-capitalism, centralized government and those are things that I simply don't agree with."




Always the one to play the "commie" card, CK pulls it out again. You will find discussion on all these political philosophies here. Much of it is to provide historical context to help make sure people understand the history of how we got to where we are today. I am a pragmatist. I look for the best aspects of what there is to offer and try to build from there. We are basically talking about local politics here and the OTBL'ers are trying to push a brand of political philosophy on the local governing bodies that I don't agree with. Granted, there are many aspects of their ideas that I agree with and many I don't. Their method of personal attack and bullying is what really detracts from the successful communication of their message. They came blame it on the teachers' union, the elected officials who don't agree with them, the Commies, etc., but their failure to communicate is their own fault.

The reason we have used so many links from this blog to the OTBL blog is to prove our point about the hypocritical statements and misinformation that is posted over there. A major part of our mission on this blog is to be a community "watch dog" on what goes on over there. We want to make sure that members of our local communities know what is cooking OnTheBorderLine.net. From the perspective here, their attacks on local newspapers is no different than our attacks on them.

If they can't take the heat, get out of the hot tub!

Ayn Rand's Christmas Message...

"Santa Claus is, in literal terms, the anti-Christ..."

Andrew Bernstein
senior writer
Ayn Rand Institute

(If you have time to waste and want to learn more about Ayn Rand, author of the "Virtue of Selfishness," go to the ontheborderline.net web site. She's their version of Mother Tereasa -- with a cat of nine tails.)

Points to Ponder: The Community

"The individual, if left alone from birth, would remain primitive and beastlike in his thoughts and feelings to a degree that we can hardly conceive. The individual is what he is and has the significance that he has not so much in virtue of his individuality, but rather as a member of a great human community, which directs his material and spiritual existence from the cradle to the grave."

Albert Einstein
Ideas and Opinions

Peace On Earth- Good Will Toward Men

Merry Christmas
to all on both sides of
the borderline.

...

Today In Labor History: December 25

1910: A dynamite bomb destroyed a portion of the Llewellyn Ironworks in Los Angeles, where a bitter strike was in progress.

Today In Labor History: December 24

“Take a trip with me in nineteen thirteen
To Calumet, Michigan, in the copper country.
I'll take you to a place called Italian Hall
Where the miners are having their big Christmas ball.”

So begins the song “1913 Massacre,” written by Woody Guthrie in 1941 after reading about the Italian Hall tragedy that occurred in Calumet on Christmas Eve, 1913, where 74 people died in a stairway after an unidentified person shouted a false cry of fire. The panic was caused by company stooge at Calumet, Mich. The stooge shouted “fire” up the stairs into a crowded hall where strikers’ children had gathered. The children were crushed against closed doors when they tried to flee.

Read more: The Italial Hall Disaster and Copper Strike 1913-14

Merry Christmas to Our Friends at the OTBL Blog Site

President Bush Releases Transcripts of Daughter's Phone Conversations

Fruit Don't Stumble Too Far From The Tree...

President Bush has come under fire of late for the disclosure that, in the days after September 11 (and even still), the government has been secretly wiretapping certain Americans' conversations. The legality of this has been called into question, but the President claims that the stealth program "enables us to move faster, and quicker, and that's important."

The Black Table has acquired transcripts of several secret conversations that President Bush had himself -- personally -- tapped into, and, having reviewed them, it's impossible to deny that he's right. A few snippets:

September 23, 2002.
9:07 p.m.
Austin, Tex.

(phone rings; transmission begins)
Unidentified Male, a.k.a. "Jimmy": Hello?

Jenna Bush, First Daughter: (hiccupping) Hi, Jimmy. What's taking you so long?

"Jimmy": Jenna, honestly. Your father is the president. There's absolutely no reason you can't get your own alcohol. You'll be 21 in two months. And you sound bombed already.

Jenna Bush: Oh, come on, you know the tightass Secret Service guy won't let me out of his sight. Do you know how hard it was to sneak out to go to the Pi Kapps party last night? By the way, do you remember what ended up happening? Everything after 9 is pretty much a blur.

"Jimmy": (long pause) No. I, uh, have no idea. I think I, um, left early. Yeah. Um … you don't either, do you?

Jenna Bush: No! Isn't that crazy? It's all a blur; I think I blacked out again.
"Jimmy": Good. I mean, oh, yeah, crazy.

Jenna Bush: So, are you coming over?

"Jimmy": Listen, just sit tight. I'll be over there in 20 minutes; I'm trying to get my roommate off the ceiling. I think someone taped him up there last night.

Jenna Bush: Fine! Hurry, though. I think my secret service guy is drunk again. I can't believe they have a young guy do this job. He's cute, though. (giggling)

"Jimmy": You got it. I'll bring the mayonnaise.

Jenna Bush: Oh, and Jimmy?
"Jimmy": Yes?

Jenna Bush: Hook 'em, Horns!

"Jimmy": Hook 'em!
(transmission ends)

President Bush: Hook 'em!

Read more@ Blacktable.com

(Note from JPN: Personally, I respect President Bush's daughters for being human beings. My Dad used to say something like "as you get older, don't forget what it was like to be young.")

The President's Council On Physical Fitness Recommends A Good Stretch

RINO Alert: Republican Sensenbrenner uses the "Compromise" Word

How long before ontheborderline.net comes out in favor of Russ Feingold?

Back in 2001, Wisconsin's Russ Feingold was the only senator voting against the USA Patriot Act. Since the Senate pushed that act through so fast, Feingold was probably the only senator who took time to actually read it. Following right on the heels of 9/11, voting against any legislation containing the word "patriot" would brand you as a traitor.

Yesterday, the Senate voted to have a temporary, 5-week extension of the act. While reading a couple of stories on the Senate debate, I ran across some interesting quotes by Wisconsin Congress Jim Sensenbrenner's current disgust with Feingold's fight against the Act. Below are the quotes:

“I think that Senator Feingold’s role has been completely irresponsible.…Senator Feingold is unwilling to compromise. The (House-Senate deal) represents a compromise between the House and Senate and the Justice Department. That compromise is a responsible way of dealing with the issues that were presented….Americans are at much greater risks as a result of the Senate refusing to shut down an obstructionistic filibuster by people who will never be satisfied by any additional powers given to law enforcement….If the Patriot Act is allowed to expire, the wall will go up that prevents the FBI and CIA to exchange intelligence information on January 1.”

Congress Jim Sensenbrenner
Republican - Wisconsin
---

Since our blog neighbors at ontheborderline.net are so diligent about outing Republicans as RINO's (Republicans In Name Only) when they do something the OTBL'ers disagree with, -- remember: it's their way our the highway -- I am waiting for them to attack Sensenbrenner and start supporting Feingold. Why?

Sensenbrenner used the word "compromise" and this means there is room for gray area in a political debate. In OTBL'ers worldview, there is no such thing as compromise. They have called local Republicans Shelia Harsdorf and Kitty Rhoades RINO's for working with Democrats in Madison. Other Republicans who voted with Feingold include Larry Criag of Idaho and Alaska's Lise Murkowski.

If you are unfamilar with the stand the OTBL'ers take on compromising, here's a quote by their administrator titled: There Is No Middle Ground:

"Go along to get along. Find the common ground. The world is not black and white, it is gray. Compromise. Be moderate. We have heard all these phrases before. Well I think a moderate is nothing more than someone who does not understand or is too afraid to stand up for what they believe in. So how do we find middle ground? We can't."

Commenting on the same post, OTBL'ers ChoosingLife wrote:

"Straddling the fence of fiscal responsibility, moral and social responsibility surely brings out the gray area in many RINOs and other political parties. Beware those who compromise—for any reason! There is no middle ground in either social or fiscal responsibility."

Senator Feingold certainly can't be accused of compromising. However, he is in one of the "other political parties" and the OTBL'ers will have to decline the offer to give Feingold their blessing.

It was just a thought...