Great Lakes oil proposals threaten repeat of Kalamazoo spill, environmentalists say

Great Lakes oil proposals threaten repeat of Kalamazoo spill, environmentalists say | Detroit Free Press | freep.com:
"We have six pipelines that cross the (U.S.-Canadian) border now," said Denise Hamsher, director of project planning for Enbridge's major projects group.
"They've been transporting crude oil since the 1950s and have been transporting oils from the Canadian oil sands for decades."
What's often being shipped isn't the oil seen gushing out of Texas oil towers in old movies.
It's tar sands crude or dilbit, a semisolid form of petroleum also known as diluted bitumen.
The sludgy product requires mixture with chemicals or other petroleum products to move through pipelines. Environmentalists argue it's a far harsher product on pipelines, and much more difficult to clean up when spills happen.
It was dilbit that spilled during the worst inland oil spill in U.S. history, a July 26, 2010, pipe breach in Marshall that devastated wetlands, Talmadge Creek and the Kalamazoo River.
The product combined with river sediments and sank to the bottom, making traditional oil cleanup booms and surface skimmers ineffective."

Gosnell: It’s Come to This at CNN

Ed Driscoll » Gosnell: It’s Come to This at CNN


“Philly-area columnist: CNN journo said ‘small staff’ means he can’t send reporter to cover Gosnell trial,” Twitchyreports:
Unreal.
J.D. Mullane is the Bucks County Courier Times columnist who took the photo of the empty rows of media seating at the Kermit Gosnell trial. His column titled “What I saw at the Gosnell trial” is a must-read.
According to Mullane, someone from CNN called to question the accuracy of his courtroom photo. Mullane’s pitch-perfect response was boom-worthy: “Go to Philly & see.” That’s when he says he was told a “small staff” made sending a reporter impossible.
It took an incredible social media push by online activists to shame the national media into covering the murder trial of Kermit Gosnell. CNN’s Jake Tapper, Erin Burnett and Anderson Cooper devoted segments to the Gosnell trial on Friday. But will CNN have a reporter in the courtroom on Monday?
CNN, which made its bones with live feeds from Baghdad during Operation Desert Storm, and can beam propaganda back from Pyongyang when it wants to, is reduced to claiming that it can’t put a reporter and a cameraman on the Amtrak Acela and send them to Philadelphia to cover the Gosnell trial. Note that CNN is but one component in aglobe-girdling corporation with Time magazine — can’t they send a reporter and cameraman with a portable HD camera and provide coverage for CNN? HBO is also part of that conglomerate. I bet they have a cameraman they could loan out on assignment if asked nicely.

Is anyone at CNN still wondering why it’s getting clobbered in the ratings?

Eyewitness: Authorities “Must Have Known” About Bombing

» Eyewitness: Authorities “Must Have Known” About Bombing Alex Jones' Infowars: There's a war on for your mind!:
"When Bidondi again attempted to ask police about why people were being told to remain calm before the bombs exploded, there was no response.
“They kept making announcements saying to the participants ‘do not worry, this is just a training exercise’” said Stevenson, who is the University of Mobile’s Cross Country Coach.
“Evidently, I don’t believe they were just having a training exercise, they must have known,” Stevenson told Local15 News.
“They must have had some sort of threat or suspicion called in,” adding that spotters were stationed on roofs of buildings and that bomb sniffing dogs were going up and down the finish line.
Stevenson said the level of security he witnessed was unlike anything he had experienced as a marathon runner before in major cities such as Chicago, Washington D.C., and London."

Let the river run: Dam removal accelerates across Michigan

Let the river run: Dam removal accelerates across Michigan | MLive.com:
"Michigan may be the Great Lakes State, but its 36,000 miles of rivers are becoming popular commodities for cities looking to revitalize downtowns, attract visitors and lure new businesses."

Sequester effects in Michigan: See which programs, agencies will be hit hardest by federal cuts

Sequester effects in Michigan: See which programs, agencies will be hit hardest by federal cuts | MLive.com
"Federal funding accounts for roughly $20 billion of the state's $48.2 billion budget, and the sequester-related loss of $150.5 million represents less than four-tenths of one percent of total state spending.
The sequester will directly affect needy children, according to the state, due to elimination of a federally-funded program that provides a $137 clothing allowance to $21,000 kids each August.
Schools stand to lose $56 million in federal funding next year, likely forcing reductions in after-school programs, vocational training and more."

Report: Scottville man arrested for allegedly driving 'super drunk,' causing accident

Report: Scottville man arrested for allegedly driving 'super drunk,' causing accident | MLive.com:
"The driver and passenger were taken to Memorial Medical Center with reportedly minor injuries."

Muskegon County meetings this week

Muskegon County, Michigan:
"Ways & Means Committee Meeting
When: Tuesday, April 16th - 4:00 PM (new start time)
Location: Hall Of Justice, Board Room, 4th Floor, 990 Terrace St., Muskegon, MI 49442
Click Here for Agenda

Jail and Juvenile Transition Center Committee meeting
When: Thursday, April 18th - 2:00 PM
Location: Hall Of Justice, Board Room, 4th Floor, 990 Terrace St., Muskegon, MI 49442

Port Advisory Committee Meeting
When:  Friday, April 19, 2013, 1:30pm
Location:  GVSU MAREC, 200 Viridian Drive, Muskegon "

Drive-in Theaters Start Kickstarter Campaigns, Ask for Donations to Pay for Digital Projector Conversions

Drive-in Theaters Start Kickstarter Campaigns, Ask for Donations to Pay for Digital Projector Conversions | TIME.com:
"Yes, there are still drive-in theaters in existence, though it’s rare for a state to have more a handful left. For example, there are eight drive-in theaters in Michigan, according to MichiganDriveIns.com.
MLive reported that at least one of the existing theaters, the Capri Drive-In, just paid $144,000 to upgrade two of its projectors to digital.
It’s unlikely that all of the other drive-ins will be able to do the same.
Drive-ins are hardly big money makers; more than 150 others in the state have closed over the years."

The 10 Absolute Worst Media Reactions To The Boston Marathon Bombings | Mediaite

The 10 Absolute Worst Media Reactions To The Boston Marathon Bombings | Mediaite:
"IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER, below are the 10 worst media reactions to the Boston bombings "

'via Blog this'

Breaking media silence

Breaking media silence: Column

Yes. So why wasn't it news? Pro-choice writer Megan McArdle of The Daily Beastnotes that it's about fear of where the story would go, and what it would require writers to confront: "Gosnell is accused of grisly crimes that I didn't want to think about. ... I understand why my readers suspect me, and other pro-choice mainstream journalists, of being selective -- of not wanting to cover the story because it showcased the ugliest possibilities of abortion rights. The truth is that most of us tend to be less interested in sick-making stories -- if the sick-making was done by 'our side.' "

It was fine to dwell at length on the Newtown, Conn., shootings, because those could be blamed on the evil NRA. But writing about these dead innocents might be a political liability instead of a political asset. It might have been awkward for President Obama.

It's also true that in our polarized -- and moralistic -- political culture, shouts of Have you no decency? are so common that it's easy to assume that pretty much any such story is probably exaggerated and politicized. And the reports in the Gosnell case were ghoulish enough that it was probably especially easy to believe that they were exaggerated. Alas, that turned out not to be the case. It was no doubt Powers' status as a liberal, and as a woman, that let her break through the wall of denial in a way that others might not have been able to.

Climate scientists struggle to explain warming slowdown

Climate scientists struggle to explain warming slowdown | Reuters:
"My own confidence in the data has gone down in the past five years," said Richard Tol, an expert in climate change and professor of economics at the University of Sussex in England.
Swedish chemist Svante Arrhenius first showed in the 1890s how man-made carbon dioxide, from coal for instance, traps heat in the atmosphere.
Many of the exact effects are still unknown.
Greenhouse gas emissions have hit repeated record highs with annual growth of about 3 percent in most of the decade to 2010, partly powered by rises in China and India.
World emissions were 75 percent higher in 2010 than in 1970, UN data show."

5 Unacknowledged, Unexpected, and Unavoidable Facts about Govt Spending and the Economy

5 Unacknowledged, Unexpected, and Unavoidable Facts about Govt Spending and the Economy - Reason.com

Gillespie argues that:

1. We’re spending too much. Two wars, entitlement growth, and a massive stimulus are the results of a spending frenzy over the last decade.
2. We’ve got too much debt. Every level of government is in over their heads. The literal and figurative bankruptcies of cities such as Stockton, California and Harrisburg, Pennsylvania are the canaries in the coal mine.
3. Debt overhang kills growth. The latest studies are clear: excessive debt, sustained over long periods of time, hurts economic growth. Beyond the cost of higher interest rate payments, increasingly higher debt loads – which Gillespie calls “a ziggurat of doom” – promises to reduce opportunities for everyone.
4. Spending growth is driven by entitlements. Since the Great Society programs of the 1960s, the government has switched from providing infrastructure and basic services, to being a national insurance broker. The consequences of this are dire because, as statistician Nate Silver notes, "most of us don't much care for our insurance broker."
5. Trust in government is at historic lows. This kind of distrust is an inevitable result of a mismanaged economy. Yet it's also cause for optimism. Public discontent sow the seeds of reform, allowing the possibility of meaningful fiscal reform.

The Fact-Free Gun-Control Crusade

The Fact-Free Gun-Control Crusade | National Review Online:
"Amid all the heated, emotional advocacy of gun control, have you ever heard even one person present convincing hard evidence that tighter gun-control laws have in fact reduced murders?"

EEOC Probes Employer Use of Criminal Background Checks

EEOC Probes Employer Use of Criminal Background Checks - Executive Branch Project

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, according to recent news reports, is making a particular effort to restrict allegedly discriminatory use by employers of criminal background checks. Because African-Americans and Hispanics are more likely to be arrested or convicted of crimes than members of other racial and ethnic groups, the EEOC’s thinking goes, an employer policy that excludes job applicants based on past arrests or convictions will have a disparate impact on African-Americans and Hispanics and, if not job-related and justified by business necessity, may violate Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

In April 2012, the EEOC issued a new Enforcement Guidance regarding such employer criminal background checks.  Some civil rights advocacy groups praised the document, stating that it willhelp “remove unfair barriers for people who have moved beyond their pasts” and discourage employers from discriminating against employees who have paid their debt to society.”

But critics raised both substantive and procedural concerns about the new guidance. Substantively, critics noted that the new policy does not do enough to make clear in what circumstances an employer may use a background check; it notably contains no “safe harbors” and may chill some lawful use of checks. The Guidance was also criticized for claiming to pre-empt state laws requiring some types of employers to conduct criminal background checks, placing firms in  “a damned if you check, damned if you don’t” bind. Because the Guidance may encourage employers to change their hiring procedures to benefit one racial group, it may also violate the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

Some social science research also suggests that use of criminal background checks may actually lead to increased hiring of African-Americans. Employers barred from checking criminal histories may be inclined to wrongfully use race as a proxy for criminal history. (Disclosure: I work at the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights for Gail Heriot, one of the signatories to this letter. But the views expressed in this blog post are my own and not necessarily those of the Commission on Civil Rights or Gail Heriot.)

Procedurally, the EEOC voted for the Guidance without giving the public opportunity to comment on a draft, arguably getting full in terrorem effect while bypassing all procedural safeguards. Constance Barker, the only member of the EEOC who did not vote in favor of the new Guidance,discussed other procedural issues at some length in her dissent.

The EEOC appears committed to rigorous enforcement of the new Guidance. At a Chamber of Commerce luncheon, EEOC member Victoria Lipnic emphasized the EEOC’s commitment to pursuing these cases, noting that “Criminal background checks are ripe for the picking.”

Although the EEOC does not ordinarily make investigations public until a case has been filed,  news stories about recent targets of EEOC investigation suggest that the agency is  setting a fairly high bar for “business necessity.” Such investigations include a probe into the use of checks at  a company that provides security services, and also an unnamed firearms retailer, although the employer believes that federal law requires him as a federal firearms licensee to conduct such checks.

Eric Holder's family papers over his ties to abortion doctor

Eric Holder's family papers over his ties to abortion doctor - Conservative News:
"Eric Holder Jr.’s family is moving fast and furiously to bury the U.S. Attorney General’s ties to one of Georgia’s most notorious abortion doctors.
Just cleared by an internal report in the “Fast and Furious” gunrunning debacle, the nation’s top lawman now faces allegations that his connection to Dr. Tyrone Cecil Malloy is a conflict of interest that helps explain Holder’s failure to prosecute abortion providers who run afoul of federal law.
Critics say it may also explain why Holder has been eager to prosecute pro-life advocates who counsel women outside abortion clinics.
Documents obtained by Watchdog show that Holder’s wife and sister-in-law co-own, through a family trust, the building where Malloy operated.
A Georgia grand jury indicted Malloy on Medicaid fraud charges in 2011.
A state medical board twice reprimanded the doctor."

DNR stocks Red Cedar River on Michigan State campus with 3,000 steelhead trout

DNR stocks Red Cedar River on Michigan State campus with 3,000 steelhead trout | MLive.com:
"Scott Hanshue, fisheries management biologist for the DNR, said his agency took 3,000 steelhead with which it usually stocks the Grand River in Lansing and put them in the Red Cedar River.
The steelhead will reproduce and multiply, improving fisheries in the Red Cedar River at MSU, he said."

Opponents dominate public hearing on White River Township dune driveway proposal

Opponents dominate public hearing on White River Township dune driveway proposal | MLive.com:
"A generally respectful, polite tone deteriorated a bit in the last half-hour, when the DEQ officials present opened it up to questions from the public.
Some in the audience didn’t like being told the DEQ was considering the proposed project to be a driveway.
One of the opponents’ claims is that it’s really a road falsely characterized as a driveway, which is more difficult for the DEQ to reject under new rules.
Others considered the fact that the DEQ will discuss the public comments with the applicants, possibly leading to revisions in the application based on the complaints, to be what one called an “inside process” without further public input."

Congress Quietly Repeals Congressional Insider Trading Ban

Congress Quietly Repeals Congressional Insider Trading Ban · NYU Local:
"While Congress might be stuck in a deadlock on just about every issue imaginable, there’s one piece of legislation that both Democrats and Republicans hate unanimously: the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge (STOCK) Act, a law passed last year designed to prevent insider trading among lawmakers and government officials by requiring them to post disclosures of their financial transactions online.
Both parties and both houses of Congress hated the disclosure portion of the law so much that it was repealed on Friday without debate—the measure was sent to the president by unanimous consent.
The ordeal took about 10 seconds in the Senate and 14 seconds in the House, according to official records."

Margaret Thatcher funeral: President Obama won't send envoy - and leaves it to her old allies from Reagan era

Margaret Thatcher funeral: President Obama won't send envoy - and leaves it to her old allies from Reagan era | Mail Online:
"Sir Gerald Howarth, chairman of the Thatcherite Conservative Way Forward group of MPs and peers, said: 'The bonds forged between the UK and the US through Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher was instrumental in ending the Cold War and liberating millions of people.
'That the present administration feels unable to be represented as the world marks the extraordinary contribution Margaret Thatcher made will be a source of disappointment to those who served with her in that great endeavour.'"
"That's fine. One only wants friends at such occasions.
"If you set out to be liked, you would be
prepared to compromise on anything at any time."

Report: No top-down oversight for state travel

MLive.com: The Wire

Report: No top-down oversight for state travel

April 14, 2013, 1:50 p.m. EDT

Lansing State Journal

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — The state of Michigan spends at least $40 million a year for employees' travel, but there are inconsistencies in reporting and no high-level oversight, a newspaper investigation found.

The Lansing State Journal reported (http://on.lsj.com/ZiQCHX) Sunday that nobody in state government is responsible for analyzing actual costs incurred by departments for employees' work-related travel expenses. Each agency or department handles its own expenses.

Republican Gov. Rick Snyder's spokeswoman Sara Wurfel says they "do a solid job of monitoring travel" and are "well-equipped to make decisions" about their needs.

"We have communicated clear standards, along with the guiding principle of fiscal responsibility," Wurfel said.

The newspaper reported the $40.5 million the state spent last year for such travel is an "inconclusive, minimum figure." Although that's about one-tenth of 1 percent of the state's $48.2 billion budget, it represents enough money to cover the operations of some smaller departments and the auditor general's office has not conducted an independent review of statewide travel costs.

The newspaper also found that the State Budget Office, a division of the Department of Technology, Management and Budget, doesn't keep some of the out-of-state travel reports it's required to receive for more than a few months. They aren't reviewed by the budget office or by the state's legislative appropriations committees, which also get them as required by law.

In one instance, total travel costs listed online for fiscal year 2012 did not match a report submitted to legislators. The state attorney general's office reported it spent about $356,000 on travel but the office's website reported about $655,000.

Attorney general spokeswoman Joy Yearout said the difference comes from which costs are reported as travel expenses. The office didn't include state-owned vehicle usage in its legislative report because workers don't receive money back for that.

The newspaper found discrepancies among other departments related to how various expenses are reported.

Tip Line: Did Your Editor Spike Kermit Gosnell Coverage? Report It Here Anonymously

Lucianne.com News Forum - Thread:
"Reply 26 - Posted by: angelesgift, 4/14/2013 11:07:05 AM     (No. 9274812)
This is not being covered both because of the obsession with "choice" and because this occurred in a Black neighborhood.
Can you imagine this continuing for so long in a White neighborhood, no matter how poor?
Poor Blacks have been treated as a Useful Idiot voting bloc for so long, the Dems have nothing but contempt for them.
They get the welfare pittance to buy their vote and if they need to kill a baby or three to feed the rest, who cares?
So, heaven knows, liberals don´t want this murder/abortion mill exposed.
But we´re the racist ones for exposing this and telling Black people that they are NOT children or idiots and can learn to take care of themselves."

7th Circuit OKs $25K student-loan discharge for 'destitute' paralegal

7th Circuit OKs $25K student-loan discharge for 'destitute' paralegal - ABA Journal:
"A "destitute" paralegal who has made reasonable efforts to repay her student loan debt is entitled to a bankruptcy discharge of the remaining $25,000 or so despite the fact that she never enrolled in a federal income-contingent repayment plan, a federal appeals court has ruled."

Journalists should wake to Obama’s free speech record.

Journalists should wake to Obama’s free speech record. 
Goodale points to the administration’s use of the 1917 Espionage Act to sedate American journalism.
“The biggest challenge to the press today is the threatened prosecution of WikiLeaks, and it’s absolutely frightening,” he said.
During Obama’s two terms, the Espionage Act has been used to prosecute more alleged leakers than all former presidential offices combined.
Goodale said journalists don’t seem to consider this much of a problem.
“They don’t believe it,” he told CJR.
“I actually have talked to two investigative reporters who are household names, and I said,
‘Do you realize what’s happening to you if this goes forward?’
And I talk, I get no response, and the subject shifts to other parts of the book.
No one seems to care.”
Meanwhile, nobody believes that a YouTube video was behind Benghazi, but filmmaker Nakoula is still in jail."

Why Aren’t More People Repelled by the Left?

Why Aren’t More People Repelled by the Left? | Power Line:
WHY AREN’T MORE PEOPLE REPELLED BY THE LEFT?

Here is something I don’t understand: liberals are often revealed as vile, vulgar hatemongers–not all of them, of course, but far too many–yet they never seem to pay a penalty at the polls. Why is that?

Margaret Thatcher’s death has been the latest occasion for the Left to show its true stripes. All across the U.K., there have been demonstrations–vulgar at best, and violent at worst. In Bristol, lefties celebrating a Thatcher “death street party” started fires, destroyed property and battled police:

This evening in Trafalgar Square, liberals have turned out for a long-planned celebration of Thatcher’s death:

“We’ve been waiting a long time for this,” Richard Watson, a 45-year-old from eastern England wearing a party hat, said. “It’s an opportunity of a lifetime.”

As a huge effigy of Thatcher, with a hook-nosed and toting a handbag, made its way down the stairs in front of the National Gallery, the crowd erupted into cries of “Maggie! Maggie! Maggie! Dead! Dead! Dead!” and sang lyrics from the “Wizard of Oz” ditty “Ding Dong! The Witch is Dead.”

Here in the U.S., the last similar display from the Left was the Occupy Wall Street movement, but liberal violence and general hatefulness have a long and consistent history. Recall, to take cite just one of many examples, the liberals who attacked buses containing delegates and dropped cement blocks on cars from a highway overpass during the 2008 Republican convention in St. Paul. It is notable that violent leftists are never denounced by Democratic Party politicians. On the contrary, as we have seen most recently with Kathy Boudin, they find them well-paid jobs as professors when they can. And it is not hard to understand why liberals tend to be so angry; nearly every communication that emanates from the Democratic Party is a hateful, over-the-top smear against Republicans.

So to repeat: I don’t get it. Why aren’t more voters repelled by the constant parade of vulgarity, hate and violence that characterizes modern liberalism?

Comprehensive Immigration Reform to include American Right to Work in Mexico?

Comprehensive Immigration Reform to include American Right to Work in Mexico?:

The fact that illegal immigrants in general do not wish to assimilate or learn English, will change the tapestry of our country. 

Eleven million newly amnestied residents and potential Democrat voters will alter our country irreversibly, creating a new power structure, with a single party and no separation of powers. The financial liability will be enormous.

We can accept illegals but they are not accepting us, our culture, our language, they are not coming here to help our culture grow, they behave as entitled occupiers. Illegals swell the numbers of the prison population around the country. 

Gang violence, drug cartel violence and murder are rampant around the southern border.

Illegal aliens are not “undocumented workers,” they have broken the law by crossing our borders without a passport and a visa. We must enforce the rule of law. 

Without the rule of law, whether the law is broken by ordinary citizens or by those in power, we are a lawless country and our civilization will turn into chaos.

The Washington Times reported on May 3, 2010 that illegal immigration is a felony in Mexico, with a punishment of up to two years in prison. 

If an immigrant is deported and is caught re-entering Mexico, the punishment is 10 years in jail. 

Those who violate visas by over-staying, are sentenced to six years in prison. 

Any Mexican aiding or abetting an illegal immigrant is a criminal.

TIP LINE: Did Your Editor Spike Kermit Gosnell Coverage? Report It Here Anonymously

PJ Media » TIP LINE: Did Your Editor Spike Kermit Gosnell Coverage? Report It Here Anonymously:
"In an immoral, unprofessional, bizarre — surely, several other negative descriptors are apt — display of unity, virtually the entire U.S. media industry save for those generally referred to as “conservative outlets” have instituted a blackout of the trial.
Infanticide — the crime that gave even Timothy McVeigh pause — is a left/right issue for your employer?
The media behavior regarding the trial of monster Kermit Gosnell is a turning point: with all of conservative media’s complaints regarding the liberal bias of U.S. media, we never imagined this could happen.
We know there are journalists out there infuriated by their employer’s current behavior: The change must start with you.
We are looking for whistleblowers: if you have any information regarding why your employer is not covering the Gosnell trial, please submit it here. Your anonymity will be protected."

Florida sergeant fired for having Trayvon Martin shooting targets

Florida sergeant fired for having Trayvon Martin shooting targets - CNN.com:
"A Florida police sergeant was fired for possessing several so-called Trayvon Martin shooting targets, authorities said Saturday."

The Aerodynamics Of Nihilism

The Aerodynamics Of Nihilism | Zero Hedge:
"The money pours in each month from America, Europe and Japan and overrides anything and everything else. With pre-payments and calls the estimated amount of money provided by the Fed for the world's monetary supply is approximately $100 billion every month.
It is not just the American banks that are the recipients of the hand-out but the foreign ones who ship it back to Europe or buy European sovereign debt courtesy of Mr. Bernanke.
I suspect that if the American taxpayers were aware of the scheme that the citizens would not be pleased but then what the Fed is doing is not generally part of polite conversation in America and so it is not discussed."

Minimum Wage Increase — A Serious Effort Or Just Rhetoric?

Minimum Wage Increase — A Serious Effort Or Just Rhetoric? [Michigan Capitol Confidential]:
“Labor economists estimate that for every 10 percent increase in the minimum wage rate, employment among those affected drops by 5 percent,” Block said."

Coast West Music Festival

Coast West Music Festival: