Obama suddenly slips, Romney gains in updated Rove Electoral Map

Obama suddenly slips, Romney gains in updated Rove Electoral Map by Andrew Malcolm - Investors.com

"Mr. Obama is down to 196 'safe Electoral College votes with four states (51 EC votes) 'leaning' in his favor.
"Mr. Romney's 'safe' EC votes increased to 159, with three 'lean' states (32 EC votes) that are more than likely to be in his column on Election Day.
"It should be noted this is the first time since August 1st that Mr. Obama's 'safe' EC vote total decreased while Mr. Romney's grew.
"There are also eight 'toss up' states and a coveted 100 EC votes are up for grabs.
These states remain too close to call and show little movement, even after a week of rigorous polling (52 surveys conducted in 18 states)."

EYE ON MUSKEGON -9-23-12.

EYE ON MUSKEGON -9-23-12

UnSkewed Polls -- erasing the bias to show an accurate picture of politics

UnSkewed Polls -- erasing the bias to show an accurate picture of politics

USDA offering women, Hispanic farmers over $1.3B in discrimination payouts

USDA offering women, Hispanic farmers over $1.3B in discrimination payouts | The Daily Caller
As part of “a new era of civil rights” at the Department of Agriculture, Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack announced Monday that Hispanic and women farmers and ranchers who believe USDA discriminated against them can file claims to get a piece of at least $1.33 billion in cash awards and tax relief payments and up to $160 million in farm debt relief, beginning this week.

We Are Hungry

Not only is the mandated food not popular and often wasted, there also is not enough of it, and students are protesting. Students in one district have released a YouTube video parodying their quest for enough to eat during the day. A Facebook page asks kids to send in pictures of their meager lunches.
According to Livestrong.com, teenagers need between 2,000 and 3,000 calories per day to be healthy, and athletes can need as many as 5,000 calories. But the new regulations limit the intake to just 750-850 calories on the tray. Which, if the food is unpalatable, means the students may not be getting even that much.

USDA spends millions for globe-trotting conferences

Watchdog: USDA spends millions for globe-trotting conferences | WashingtonExaminer.com
In one instance, the USDA spent nearly $57,000 for a conference attended by only one of its employees, according to agency disclosures that do not provide any explanation of the cost.

Wasted Food, Hungry Kids: Michelle Obama’s Bill in Action

PJ Media » Wasted Food, Hungry Kids: Michelle Obama’s Bill in Action
The cinnamon rolls and chili everyone loved from their childhood are now gone.
Bands and other school groups can no longer sell candy bars as a fundraiser.
The government is mandating everything from portion size to how many tomatoes have to be on a salad.

P.J. Moran, a food service director for a small district in rural Kansas, said wastage has gone up “at least 20 percent” over last year, as students, particularly at the grade school level, cannot refuse anything on their trays — but, of course, cannot be forced to eat it.

Is this the funniest 'For Sale' sign ever? Owner puts house on market 'because neighbor's an a**hole'

Is this the funniest 'For Sale' sign ever? Owner puts house on market 'because neighbor's an a**hole' | Mail Online

Lots more!

Opened hatch blamed for sinking of Port Authority boat

EXCLUSIVE: Opened hatch blamed for sinking of Port Authority boat - NYPOST.com
The sidelining of the boat is big blow to the PA’s efforts to keep the waters off JFK safe.
The PAPD is already reeling because its high-tech $100 million airport security system, the Perimeter Intrusion Detection, has been a bust.
In August, a man whose Sea-Doo ran out of gas in Jamaica Bay climbed a JFK fence, crossed two active runways and flagged down a baggage handler for help — all without being detected.

Muskegon vs Ottawa county

EyeOnMuskegon 9-23-2012

Graphic: The Great bridge debate

Graphic: The Great bridge debate | Michigan Business | Detroit Free Press | freep.com

More Americans take their own lives than die in car crashes

$56 million suicide prevention programme launched as study reveals more Americans take their own lives than die in car crashes | Mail Online

Houston cop kills double amputee in wheelchair

Houston cop kills double amputee in wheelchair - US news - Crime & courts | NBC News
A Houston police officer shot and killed a one-armed, one-legged man in a wheelchair Saturday inside a group home after police say the double amputee threatened the officer and aggressively waved a metal object that turned out to be a pen.

US State Dept. blasts CNN report on Stevens' diary

My Way News - US State Dept. blasts CNN report on Stevens' diary
CNN reported on the personal journal of slain American ambassador Christopher Stevens over objections from his family, a State Department spokesman said Saturday.

Bill lets multistate lottery winners keep mum

Bill lets multistate lottery winners keep mum | MLive.com
If legislation working its way through the Michigan Senate had been law last month, the world might never know the name and face of Donald Lawson — the 44-year-old father of two and self-described "hillbilly" from Lapeer who held court with the media on the day he claimed his prize for winning the $337 million in the Powerball lottery game.

Americans for Prosperity: Michigan

Americans for Prosperity: Michigan

President Dukakis

Roger’s Rules » President Dukakis

Some conservatives are surprised and worried about the fact that Romney is not far ahead in the polls. On the domestic front, Obama has been such a conspicuous failure — the $16 trillion federal debt, the 8.3 percent unemployment when he promised to have it down to 5.6 percent, the annual deficit, which he promised to halve, hovering around 1.5 trillion, etc. etc. — how could it be that Romney is not killing him in the polls?
And add to this the disaster that is Obama’s Islamophilic mideast policy — our consulate overrun in Benghazi, our ambassador murdered, Obama is told 90 minutes into the assault, he goes to bed — where does it end?

It ends with President Dukakis.
In other words, I am sticking with my prediction that Romney will win and win big. I even have a few modest bets on the race.
Of course, it’s possible that Obama will win.
It was possible that Michael Dukakis could have won, too.
He had the illusion of momentum, just as Obama does.
All the beautiful people who teach at Yale or Harvard or read the news for CNN or MSNBC, or write for The New York Times or The Washington Post, all the swell folks who entertain all the right opinions about abortion, taxes, Islam, and anything described as “green”: they are always right about everything and they just know Obama will win because (per impossibile) were he to lose it would not simply be an electoral defeat, it would be a repudiation of their entire world view: their brief for “a sustainable future” will have turned out to be unsustainable, George W. Bush would not be the Antichrist, and their Priuses would no longer be the golden chariots they had been assured they were.

Again, I might be wrong. Possibility is cheap.
It is possible Romney will lose.
It is possible that Joe Biden will be coherent at his next rally.

We’re not talking about possibility but probability.

There is a famous though possibly apocryphal anecdote about the movie reviewer Pauline Kael (the movie critic the beautiful people most love).
When Ronald Reagan [or maybe Nixon, see the comments] was first elected, the story goes, Kael found herself in a state of dumbfounded consternation: how could this be?
How could this ignorant right-wing war mongering B-actor have been elected?
The electoral result was not just mistaken, it was impossible.
“I don’t know anyone who voted for him,” quoth la Kael.
I wonder if anyone introduced her to President Dukakis?

Snyder to Nationalize Railroad Lines for Another Pet Project

Snyder to Nationalize Railroad Lines for Another Pet Project | Americans for Prosperity: Michigan
As our nation nears $16 trillion in debt, Governor Snyder is using $140 million of taxpayer money that was sent back by Florida’s Republican Governor to nationalize railroad tracks for a high-speed rail project between Chicago and Detroit.

“…Electricity Rates Would Necessarily Skyrocket”

“…Electricity Rates Would Necessarily Skyrocket” | Blue Crab Boulevard
Look, folks, I am in this field.
I have been for more than 30 years. Losing 36,000 MWs of the most cost-efficient generation capacity in the US is a disaster.
You have no idea how bad the increases are going to be.
They will be disastrous to the individual energy consumers and apocalyptic to large users – those who create jobs.

I shudder to think of what this is going to do to grid reliability as well.
A lot of those coal plants help support the grid during disruptions.
They regularly provide both energy and MVARs (Mega Volt-Ampere Reactive) that keep the grid from collapsing when large loads are added or lost. (That’s about as simple as I can make it and still be understood.)
Losing these stabilizers will make it very hard to hold the grid.
I pity the load dispatchers.

Trust me, people, this is a very big, very bad thing that is happening as a direct result of Barack Obama’s war on coal.

New International Trade Crossing

New International Trade Crossing | Michigan's Bridge to the Future
The Morouns are pursuing their interests –monopoly rents, in perpetuity– loudly and proudly.
On the other hand, Business Leaders for Michigan, the Detroit Regional Chamber of Commerce, the Grand Rapids Regional Chamber, the Michigan Chamber, Ford, Chrysler, General Motors, agricultural producers and a host of unions that would benefit from the jobs created in building a new bridge, all say they support a new publicly owned bridge.
The evidence of that support, so far, is a paltry $300,000 TV ad flight that ran in some media markets in June.

The U.S. Suffered Its Worst Airpower Loss Since Vietnam Last Week and No One Really Noticed

The U.S. Suffered Its Worst Airpower Loss Since Vietnam Last Week and No One Really Noticed - Global - The Atlantic Wire
Eight irreplaceable aircraft (the AV-8B has been out of production since 1999) have been destroyed or put out of action – approximately 7 percent of the total flying USMC Harrier fleet.
Worse yet, the aircraft involved were the AV-B+ variant equipped with the APG-65 radar and AAQ-28 Litening II targeting pods – the most capable in the force.
Given the current funding situation, it’s likely that the two damaged AV-8Bs will become spare parts “hangar queens” and never fly again.
A Harrier squadron commander is dead, along with another Marine.
Another nine personnel have been wounded, and the nearby Marines at Camp Freedom are now without effective fixed-wing air support.
The USMC’s response to this disaster will be a telling report card on its leadership and organizational agility.

2nd Marine Air Wing during the Vietnam Nam war. VMA 211 suffered its worse since WWII at Wake Island?

Romney May Be the End of the Line for the Republican Establishment

Romney May Be the End of the Line for the Republican Establishment - Rasmussen Reports™
..... a fundamental reality in American politics today:
The gap between the American people and the political class is bigger than the gap between Republicans and Democrats in Washington, D.C.
Romney's remarks are the GOP equivalent of Obama's notorious comments about small-town Pennsylvania voters bitterly clinging to their guns and religion.
Both Romney and Obama highlighted the condescending attitude that political elites hold of the people they want to rule over.
A National Journal survey found that 59 percent of political insiders don't think voters know enough to have meaningful opinions on the important issues of the day.
That's a handy rationalization for those who want to ignore the voters and impose their own agenda.