Every bad idea metastisizes into a worse idea-----Fab Cab trolley would circulate in Ferndale, Royal Oak, NW Detroit

Fab Cab trolley would circulate in Ferndale, Royal Oak, NW Detroit:

Metro-Detroit's overall bus system is spotty and costs a few bucks. But in these upscale areas, watch for a free trolley ride.

 Mass transit it sure isn't — but the allure of a free trolley ride seems contagious.

After the success of trolleys in the Grosse Pointes and Troy for high-spending diners, shoppers and tourists, a fresh trolley plan is in the works for southeast Oakland County and the edge of Detroit. It would stop for Ferndale, Pleasant Ridge, Royal Oak, the Detroit Zoo and the Livernois corridor of Detroit from 8 Mile south to the University of Detroit Mercy.

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“We have this concept we call Fab Cab,” said Jordan Twardy, Ferndale’s economic development boss and mastermind of the plan. Like trolleys in the Grosse Pointes and Troy, it would link key destinations with free ridership on a rubber-tired trolley car, augmented if demand is strong by SMART’s small connector buses that seat 12 to 15 people. The new service would roll from 10 a.m. until midnight on Fridays and Saturdays.

...Pleasant Ridge officials voted recently to allocate $10,000 for the first year of the service. Ferndale is set to approve $130,000 later this month “to really get this started,” Twardy said. The Detroit Zoo is being asked to allocate $30,000, and shares for Royal Oak and Detroit are pegged at $50,000 apiece.

In Troy...The free service "has been very, very successful," city public affairs director Cindy Stewart said Monday. It is being subsidized by Troy businesses, she said.

...The success of local trolleys is evidence that "many communities are chomping at the bit for more transit service," said Megan Owens, executive director of the nonprofit group of mostly bus riders called Transportation Riders United.

...For the first few years, dollars from local governments — including Detroit — would support the free rides, but after that the hope is for commercial sponsors and advertising on the buses to pick up the tab for Fab Cab, the documents said..."

No big marches here in USA?-----How The US Subsidizes Cheap Drugs For Europe

How The US Subsidizes Cheap Drugs For Europe:
"The price of a medical miracle varies by country. 
Imatinib -- also known as Gleevec -- was hailed as a miracle cure to treat chronic myeloid leukemia, a rare type of cancer, upon the drug's approval in 2001. 

• In the U.S., a year of treatment cost $92,000 in 2013. 
• Everywhere else in the world, including in developed countries, it cost far less. Germany’s price tag was $54,000. 
• In the U.K., it was $33,500 for annual care.

Medicines in the U.S. frequently cost significantly more than the same versions in other advanced countries. 
...“U.S. consumers are in fact subsidizing other countries’ public health systems, at least with respect to drug pricing,” Jacob Sherkow, an associate professor at New York Law School, said.
These price discrepancies and their implications are well known throughout the industry but rarely discussed outside of it. 
Pharmaceutical companies have long defended the high price of drugs as necessary to pay for the research and development of new drugs, but the differences in pricing essentially means that consumers in the U.S. are contributing more than those in other countries..."

How Obama's White House weaponized media against Trump | TheHill

How Obama's White House weaponized media against Trump | TheHill:

"The leaking of Flynn’s name was part of what can only be described as a White House campaign to hype the Russian threat and, at the same time, to depict Trump as Vladimir Putin’s Manchurian candidate.  On Dec. 29, Obama announced sanctions against Russia as retribution for its hacking activities.  From that date until Trump’s inauguration, the White House aggressively pumped into the media two streams of information: one about Russian hacking; the other about Trump’s Russia connection. In the hands of sympathetic reporters, the two streams blended into one. "

This would be funnier if it didn't so accurately mirror how they "think" but this gal does nail it!

It's gonna take a NEW LAW to fix this?!!!-----VA retaliation against whistleblower: doctor kept in empty room | Fox News

VA retaliation against whistleblower: doctor kept in empty room | Fox News:
Whistleblower retaliation continues as VA scandals persist
"Dr. Dale Klein may be the highest-paid U.S. government employee who literally does nothing while he’s on the clock.
A highly rated pain management specialist at the Southeast Missouri John J. Pershing V.A., Klein is paid $250,000 a year to work with veterans, but instead of helping those who served their country, he sits in a small office and does nothing.
All day.
Every day.
“I sit in a chair and I look at the walls,” the doctor said of his typical workday.
“It feels like solitary confinement.”
A double board certified physician and Yale University fellow, Klein said the Department of Veterans Affairs (V.A.) took away his patients and privileges almost a year ago after, he alleges, he blew the whistle on secret wait-lists and wait-time manipulation at the V.A. in Poplar Bluff, Mo., as well as his suspicion that some veterans were reselling their prescriptions on the black market.
When his superiors did nothing, Klein went to the inspector general.
“Immediately after the V.A. found out I made these disclosures, I started to get retaliated against,” Klein said.
Klein was initially placed on administrative leave.
The Missouri-V.A. closed his pain management clinic and tried to terminate him.
According to court documents, the V.A. tried to fire Klein “not based on substandard care or lack of clinical competence” but instead for “consistent acceleration of trivial matters through his chain of command.”
...“It could set a bad precedent for other whistleblowers because they're going to say, ‘I don't want to risk my livelihood, my career, my security because I see what happened to Dr. Klein and I don't want that to happen to me or my family’,” said Natalie Khawam, president and founder of the Whistleblower Law Firm, which represents Klein.
...Johnson is now trying to pass a whistleblower protection bill to help V.A. employees like Smothers and Klein.
A spokesperson from the V.A. said due to on-going investigations, the V.A. cannot comment on specific cases but added the department recognizes the importance of all employees, to include whistleblowers, who identify problems that impede the optimal delivery of care and services to Veterans..."
Read on.
Lots here, well documented!

Lunch video-----Troubled Turboprops

Noon-toon

HOW PRESIDENT EISENHOWER Solved The Illegal Immigration Problem In America » 100percentfedUp.com

HOW PRESIDENT EISENHOWER Solved The Illegal Immigration Problem In America » 100percentfedUp.com:

"This article is for all of the naysayers who believe the illegal immigration crisis can’t be solved. The problem can be solved. We just needed a President with a backbone, who loves his country, is willing to take bold moves to secure our nation and most of all, a President who truly believes Americans come first.

Over fifty years ago, when newly elected Dwight Eisenhower moved into the White House, America’s southern frontier was as porous as a spaghetti sieve. As many as 3 million illegal migrants had walked and waded northward over a period of several years for jobs in California, Arizona, Texas, and points beyond."

The best and worst April Fools' Day tech gags of 2017 | Android Central

The best and worst April Fools' Day tech gags of 2017 | Android Central:
Amazon Petlexa

"We all know Alexa from Amazon, but why shouldn't pets get their own version? 
Introducing Petlexa, the best way for your pets to talk to your Echo at home and get things done even when you're not around. 
Ground-breaking technology here."
Lots more!

American "education". Almost half are serial skippers?!!-----High school principal suspends 500 students for excessive absences | EAGnews.org

High school principal suspends 500 students for excessive absences | EAGnews.org
"HARRISBURG, Pa. – Harrisburg High School’s new principal, Lisa Love, isn’t messing around.

“The problem I’ve noticed here as principal is that students are coming to school but they are not going to classes when they get here,” said Love, who started at Harrisburg High in January. 

“Many parents send their kids to school and they’re thinking they’re going to class. 

I needed to reach out because of the enormous number not going to class.”

Her solution to students skipping class: suspension for anyone with a total of 35 absences – roughly a week of classes for students expected to attend seven classes per day. 

On Monday, Love sent out suspension notices to 500 of the school’s 1,100 students, PennLive reports.

According to PennLive:

Last year’s Keystone test scores showed 7.3 percent of Harrisburg High School students performed as proficient in biology; 11.7 percent in algebra and 28.8 in literature. The state averages for those subjects, meanwhile, were 64.5 percent, 59 percent and 72.89 percent.

The school’s graduation rate increased to 52.78 percent in 2015, but still fell short of the statewide average of 84.75.

...Love contends the “radical” approach was necessary to regain control of the school and set a new level of expectations for students.

... some parents said they don’t see the logic in forcing students to stay home as punishment for missing classes. 

“What does that teach them?” parent Shanelle Franklin questioned. 

“They’ve got senior projects to do.”

...They could also be forced to sit out graduation ceremonies, as well, he said."

Exercise is good … but it won't help you lose weight, say doctors | Society | The Guardian

Exercise is good … but it won't help you lose weight, say doctors | Society | The Guardian
"British cardiologist-led team accuse food and drink firms of over-emphasising how sport can fight obesity
While physical activity is useful in reducing the risk of developing heart disease, dementia and other conditions, it ‘does not promote weight loss’, the authors say.
...In an article for a leading health journal the authors – who include British cardiologist Dr Aseem Malhotra, an outspoken critic of the food industry – accuse food and drink firms such as Coca-Cola of having wrongly emphasised how physical activity and sport can help prevent people becoming very overweight.
The truth, they say, is that while physical activity is useful in reducing the risk of developing heart disease, dementia and other conditions, it “does not promote weight loss”..."
Read on!

You ought to know!-----Global Warming Hoax, Best Document Ever

This is the entire video-Must see!

State Department Employee Charged With Working For Foreign Government

State Department Employee Charged With Working For Foreign Government:

"The Department of Justice announced the arrest of a State Department employee Wednesday who has been charged with obstructing an FBI investigation into her contacts with foreign intelligence agents.

Candace Claiborne, 60, who has been with the State Department since 1999, was arrested Tuesday and charged with obstructing an official proceeding and making false statements to the FBI, both of which are felonies."