Kelloggsville school chief makes district first to rebel against tougher Michigan graduation requirements

If you can't cheat on graduation rates, just lower the skills necessary?

This might work in academia, it sure doesn't work in the real world.

Kelloggsville school chief makes district first to rebel against tougher Michigan graduation requirements
"The state's new graduation requirements are too tough for many students, and schools should be allowed to plan separate paths -- and offer different tests"

States’ Data Obscure How Few Finish High School - New York Times

States’ Data Obscure How Few Finish High School - New York Times: "One team of statisticians working at the state education headquarters here recently calculated the official graduation rate at a respectable 87 percent, which Mississippi reported to Washington. But in another office piled with computer printouts, a second team of number crunchers came up with a different rate: a more sobering 63 percent."

Clinton Calls Obama "un-American"

B Hussein is "un-American"?

Clinton Calls on Obama to Back Primaries: "Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton bluntly challenged Barack Obama to agree to new primaries in Michigan and Florida on Wednesday and said it was 'wrong, and frankly un-American' not to have the two delegations seated at the Democratic National Convention."

Oil, security costs boost ferry ticket prices

Another Muskegon business headed for the rocks?

Oil, security costs boost ferry ticket prices -
"The cost of round-trip tickets (Muskegon to Milwaukee) for two adults in regular seating and one vehicle is currently $443 with all fares and surcharges, according to the Lake Express reservation system."

Liberal Fascism

I've bought, read it, love it!

The American Spectator: "In a certain sense, Jonah Goldberg's Liberal Fascism is long-overdue. The idea that Goldberg endeavors to debunk, namely that fascism was a right-wing phenomenon, has gone unchallenged for far too long. The Soviet propaganda that labeled any socialist not beholden to Moscow 'on the right' has endured longer than the Soviet Union itself."

BLACKFIVE: Beccy Cole - "Poster Girl" on the Wrong Side of the World

An oldie but goodie.

BLACKFIVE: Beccy Cole - "Poster Girl" on the Wrong Side of the World

Stay the course!

The Volokh Conspiracy - -: "Cheney on Public Opinion About the War in Iraq: Here's an interesting excerpt of an interview with Vice President Cheney about U.S. military involvement in Iraq:
MS. RADDITZ: Two-thirds of Americans say [the Iraq war is] not worth fighting.
VICE PRES. CHENEY: So?
MS. RADDITZ: So? You're not — you don't care what the American people think?
VICE PRES. CHENEY: No, I think you cannot be blown off course by the fluctuations in the public opinion polls."

Why Michigan State's Drew Neitzel has struggled as a senior | Freep.com | Detroit Free Press

Why Michigan State's Drew Neitzel has struggled as a senior Freep.com Detroit Free Press

First Lady Records Show Clinton Promoted NAFTA - New York Times

She was for it before she was against it?

First Lady Records Show Clinton Promoted NAFTA - New York Times: "The former first lady's records showed first lady Clinton worked on behalf of the accord."

The Mystery of Global Warming's Missing Heat : NPR

The Mystery of Global Warming's Missing Heat : NPR: "Some 3,000 scientific robots that are plying the ocean have sent home a puzzling message. These diving instruments suggest that the oceans have not warmed up at all over the past four or five years. That could mean global warming has taken a breather. Or it could mean scientists aren't quite understanding what their robots are telling them."

Climate change experts target cow flatulence

Ground zero?

Climate change experts target cow flatulence - Telegraph: "Britain's finest scientific minds have turned their attention to a problem that they claim is threatening the future of the entire planet - farm animal flatulence."

Core Principles: Hey, let's hire more civil servants!

Core Principles: Hey, let's hire more civil servants!: "One of the more inefficient departments of state government, the Department of Management and Budget has been proposed to receive a whopping 44% increase in personnel."

Fox News doomed! "their end is near" Sean Penn

It's a wrap - 'Milk' filming ends in S.F.: "'I almost wish Jerry Falwell were alive to see this. Almost,' Penn shouted to the crowd. After dropping some names of conservatives who are still with us - 'Bill O'Reilly, who is too stupid to talk about,' and 'Sean Hannity, the butt boy of Rupert Murdoch,' Penn said, 'We know something more. We know their end is near.'"

CABLE NEWS RACETUESDAY, MARCH 18, 2008

FOXNEWS O'REILLY 2,987,000

FNC HANNITY/COLMES 2,407,000

FNC GRETA 1,851,000

FNC SHEP 1,734,000

FNC HUME 1,610,000

CNN DOBBS 1,259,000

CNN KING 1,165,000

CNN ELECTION 1,147,000

MSNBC OLBERMANN 993,000

CNN COOPER 973,000

CNN BLITZER 955,000

MSNBC GREGORY 721,000

CARPE DIEM: Quote of the Day

CARPE DIEM: Quote of the Day: "'Civil rights used to be about treating everyone the same. But today some people are so used to special treatment that equal treatment is considered to be discrimination.'"

English-only sign at Philadelphia cheesesteak shop not discriminatory

Incredible that we American taxpayer/citizens need a "ruling" to post a sign in our own business.

Ruling: English-only sign at Philadelphia cheesesteak shop not discriminatory: "A Philadelphia agency has ruled that English-only signs at a famous cheesesteak shop are not discriminatory.
The Commission on Human Relations says in its Wednesday ruling that the sign at Geno's Steaks does not violate the city's Fair Practices Ordinance"

Kendall student pleads guilty to graffiti at veterans park

More "love" from the "peace" crowd.

Kendall student pleads guilty to graffiti at veterans park
"A Kendall College student pleaded guilty Tuesday to painting graffiti on markers at the city's Veterans Memorial Park, court records show.

Racist demos in Pennsylvania?

Is this reversal the result of democrats showing their true colors?

PPP PA Poll: Clinton By 26 -

"Clinton leads Obama by 40 points among whites.

What is surprising is PPP's finding that Clinton gets 27 percent of the African American vote."

50 of the Most Easily Overlooked Tax Deductions—AllFinancialMatters

50 of the Most Easily Overlooked Tax Deductions—AllFinancialMatters

McCain’s 67% Favorable Rating His Highest in Eight Years

McCain’s 67% Favorable Rating His Highest in Eight Years: "John McCain's 67% favorable rating is the highest of any of the three major candidates running for president, and ties for his highest in Gallup polling history."

CARPE DIEM: Thomas Sowell: Economic Facts and Fallacies

I just bought this book.

FABULOUS!

from the excellent Carpe Diem (http://mjperry.blogspot.com/)

CARPE DIEM: Thomas Sowell: Economic Facts and Fallacies: "An excellent 5-part National Review Online interview with Thomas Sowell, based on his new book 'Economic Facts and Fallacies':"

BLACKFIVE: "Outside the Wire" - Get Your Copy Now

Watch the trailer.

BLACKFIVE: "Outside the Wire" - Get Your Copy Now: "There are three components to 'Outside the Wire':
'Danger Close' (discussed above, also) is an up-close, in-depth look at a complex attack by Al Qaida on small, distant U.S. Army outpost on the edge of the Euphrates river valley. JD Johannes was the only reporter to witness the attack and followed the US Army paratroopers into combat--nearly getting himself killed.
'Anbar Awkens' shows the greatest turn-around of the Iraq War--the tribes of Al Anbar province joining with the coalition to fight Al Qaida--from the perspective of the Jumayli tribe. The Jumayli tribe--with no prompting from the Coalition--turned on Al Qaida and engaged in a serious gun-battle with Al Qaida before formally joining with the coalition.
'Baghdad Surge' is a look at the surge from asphalt level. This episode follows a U.S. Army infantry Captain through a 'day-of-the-surge' and the modern three-block-war.
Get the DVD today."

Democratic Re-do Likely Won't Happen

Jenny's string of disasters continues.

Democratic Re-do Likely Won't Happen:

"It's appearing more and more likely there will not be a re-do of the Democratic presidential primary election. WWJ Lansing Bureau Chief Tim Skubick reports state Senate Democrats came out of a closed door meeting Tuesday morning and said there are not enough votes to approve a re-do."

WHO REALLY PAYS TAXES?

WHO REALLY PAYS TAXES? Newsradio 620 - Charlie Sykes

Delta to Offer Severance to 30,000

Fire half your workforce and domestic capicity is only cut by 5%?

Delta to Offer Severance to 30,000: "Delta Air Lines said Tuesday it will offer voluntary severance payouts to roughly 30,000 employees - more than half its work force - and cut domestic capacity by an extra 5 percent this year as part of an overhaul of its business plan to deal with soaring fuel prices"

Muskegon Heights downtown authority misses meeting with city council

Every day there is less and less of this once fine city left to salvage.

Muskegon Heights downtown authority misses meeting with city council
"Muskegon Heights City Council members on Monday were 'infuriated' that the city's Downtown Development Authority board stood them up at a meeting that had taken months to schedule."

Maritime academy plan still floating

Your tax dollars at work?

Maritime academy plan still floating: "Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick's plan to build a boarding school on Belle Isle to teach maritime skills to Detroit high school students is a vision of hope for some parents"

Gov. Paterson admits to sex with other woman for years

Isn't the "loyal wife" photo getting a bit old.... and pathetic?

Gov. Paterson admits to sex with other woman for years

Queenfish: A Cold War Tale - New York Times

Queenfish: A Cold War Tale - New York Times: "A new book, “Unknown Waters,” recounts the 1970 voyage of a submarine, the Queenfish, on a pioneering dive beneath the ice pack to map the Siberian continental shelf. The United States did so as part of a clandestine effort to prepare for Arctic submarine operations and to win any military showdown with the Soviet Union."

HMAS Sydney found off Australia's west coast

"sunk with all hands".

How does that happen?

Rest in peace, brave sailors.

HMAS Sydney found off Australia's west coast - Telegraph: "The Sydney, a cruiser, was the biggest ship from any country to be sunk with all hands lost during World War II."

Liberalism is gone – don't let tolerance pass with it | csmonitor.com

Liberalism is gone – don't let tolerance pass with it csmonitor.com: "Few dare to say it, but it's time we acknowledged a sad truth about American politics: liberalism is dead – and it has been for 40 years"

DRUDGE REPORT 2008®

DRUDGE REPORT 2008®: "MAJOR POLITICAL BOMBSHELL: DEVELOPING"

The Barack Obama Double Standard -- Doug Patton -- GOPUSA

The Barack Obama Double Standard -- Doug Patton -- GOPUSA: "Imagine in 1999, that a videotape had come to light showing the pastor of Texas Gov. George W. Bush's church making vicious, hateful comments about America and cruel, racist statements about Americans of color."

Excellent US economic stats site

http://www.bls.gov./eag/eag.us.htm

The Cactus Cuties Sing the National Anthem

Listen to these little gals blast out our national anthem.

CARPE DIEM: The Cactus Cuties Sing the National Anthem

Core Principles: This is how state government does business

Core Principles: This is how state government does business: "After a funding dry spell, the state is gearing up for the largest higher education building boom ever in an effort to kick-start the economy and replace some deteriorating campus buildings."

Oops - CNBC's Cramer Said 'Don't Move' From Bear a Week Before Collapse

Oops - CNBC's Cramer Said 'Don't Move' From Bear a Week Before Collapse: "But, on March 11, Cramer told an e-mailer not to sell the beleaguered investment bank’s stock on his show’s Web site:

“Dear Jim: Should I be worried about Bear Stearns in terms of liquidity and get my money out of there? --Peter
Cramer says: “No! No! No! Bear Stearns is not in trouble. If anything, they’re more likely to be taken over. Don’t move your money from Bear.”"

Love Client Number Nine

Love Client Number Nine: "Love Client Number Nine
[To the tune of 'Love Potion No. 9,' with apologies to Lieber & Stoller. . . and Elliott Spitzer"

Muskegon casino info

An e-mail going around town about opposition to the indian casino plans for Muskegon.
The entire set of e-mails is in the "comments" section below.

Some of you live and/or work in the City of Muskegon. Apparently the mayor and majority of City Commissioners are unwilling to even entertain discussions with anyone ‘outside’ Muskegon---despite the fact that a casino would devastate the entire region, not just this wonderful, reviving small community. Even more unthinkable would be multiple casinos established by multiple tribes—which Commissioners’ Municipal Service Agreement made with the LDV tribe recently notes is possible.

How Minimum Wage Hurts Teens

-- How Minimum Wage Hurts Teens
"the Bay State's minimum wage, now at $8 an hour and the highest in the nation."

Obama's church

No wonder the inner city culture is so disfunctional
"Senator Barack Obama is not a Muslim, contrary to invidious rumors. But he belongs to a Christian church whose doctrine casts Jesus Christ as a 'black messiah' and blacks as 'the chosen people'. At best, this is a radically different kind of Christianity than most Americans acknowledge; at worst it is an ethnocentric heresy."

THE MCGREEVEYS' SECRET 3 Way

Just how sick are our politicians?

Just watch!

THE MCGREEVEYS' SECRET Three-Way Orgy

"A former driver and aide for former N.J. Gov. Jim McGreevey says Dina Matos McGreevey must have always known her husband was gay - because he was the other man in bed with them."

JPMorgan to Buy Bear for $2 a Share

HOLY SHIT!

The "SMART" guys are telling us that no one has a clue how to price the "innovative" investments the "smarter than us guys" have created.

Monday is gonna be a bitch!

My Way News - JPMorgan to Buy Bear for $2 a Share: "JPMorgan Chase said Sunday it will acquire rival Bear Stearns in a deal valued at $236.2 million - or $2 a share - a stunning collapse for one of the world's largest and most venerable investment banks."

Ionia Free Fair-June 21-22

B93.COM Country Music & Video for West Michigan

Poll says citizens approve gun ownership

The Volokh Conspiracy - -#1205637836#1205637836: "In the WaPo poll, 72% of respondents said that they considered the Second Amendment to be an individual right, not just for militia only"

Muslims nations: Defame Islam, get sued?

Think about this.

Extreme muslims have realized that lawyers (mostly in America and the free world) are more powerful than suicide bombers.

Will the west ever long for the days of those silly suicide dudes?

Muslims nations: Defame Islam, get sued? - Yahoo! News: "leaders of the world's Muslim nations are considering taking legal action against those that slight their religion or its sacred symbols."

D.C.'s Gun Ban Gets Day in Court

D.C.'s Gun Ban Gets Day in Court: "The nine justices, none of whom has ever ruled directly on the amendment's meaning, will consider a part of the Bill of Rights that has existed without a definitive interpretation for more than 200 years."

University of Michigan athletes steered to professor University of Michigan Academics and Athletics

University of Michigan has a stink that may cover all of Ann Arbor

"John Hagen was, as he has been for decades, close to some of the most recognized athletes at Michigan. University records obtained by The News show that the veteran psychology professor has taught at least 294 independent studies from the fall of 2004 to the fall of 2007, and 85 percent of those courses, 251, were with athletes."

Watch An Upright Piano Get Shredded

If you have "issues" about those long ago piano lessons, try this video.

CARPE DIEM: Watch An Upright Piano Get Shredded

Who could vote if Michigan re-does primary?

I voted for Romney. He's gone. Now I want to vote again!
Heh....

Will GOPer voters be the difference in the Michigan primary?
"Obviously they would have to make those decisions how they're going to run this, how they're going to pay for it in the next two weeks. The legislature is only in for the next two weeks, and then they go on break, and then it's too late. So, really, within the next two weeks they have to make a decision on this.'"

Turtle fence still sucking up money

No problem. Michigan has oodles of moolah, right?

WZZM13 GRAND RAPIDS
Muskegon - Michigan's Department of Transportation says it plans to repair winter damage to the controversial Muskegon County "turtle fence" during the spring.
"The money for the fence came from a federal enhancement program only to be used for aesthetic or environmental purposes."

CARPE DIEM: Another Economist Says NO Recession

CARPE DIEM: Another Economist Says NO Recession: "We still don’t have conclusive evidence that we’re in a recession, and we might avoid one altogether. A credible case could be made that we’re facing just one quarter of negative growth, and that GDP growth will be back in positive territory during the remaining three quarters of 2008."

Dark Roasted Blend: Airplane Oops! Situations, Part 2

Dark Roasted Blend: Airplane Oops! Situations, Part 2

Media Bias Basics

Media Bias Basics

More facts to support he media's liberal bias.

NBC Nightly News Finally Calls Spitzer 'Democratic Governor

Gordo's Rule: If the media does not report the perp's political affiliation, the perp is a demo-crook.

NBC Nightly News Finally Calls Spitzer 'Democratic Governor': "The big three broadcast networks have gone out of their way to avoid labeling scandal-scarred New York Governor Eliot Spitzer as a 'Democrat.'"

Horny nerds cause crime?

This can't be good for the abstinence crowd.

Instapundit.com -

SEX EARLIER IN LIFE REDUCES DELINQUENCY?

Makes sense to me.

Most of that juvenile-delinquent behavior is just an effort to get laid anyway, so . . . .

posted at 09:55 PM by Glenn Reynolds"

Heights struggles to fix pervasive road problem

OK. I get it.

We let the Heights run their city into the ground, literally.

We quietly watch as they scare away all business. Wouldn't want to be called "racist" by the Chronicle, now would we.

We applaud as the Heights uses up their entire 30 year tax millage on a new school that doesn't do no educatin'.

And now the Chronicle front-pages the sad story of a bankrupt city filled with pot holes.

Grab your wallets, folks!

Heights struggles to fix pervasive road problem

"If you're going to spend $90,000 to put a new roof on the Strand, but not to fix roads, that's a waste of money,' Heights resident Otis Turner complained to the city council last week"

Billionaire mauled

I sure hope my tax dollars don't go to help this dope out.

Billionaire mauled

"Joseph Lewis, the second-largest shareholder of Bear Stearns Cos., may have lost $US850 million ($906 million) on Friday after the securities firm took emergency funding from the New York Federal Reserve and JPMorgan Chase & Co."

Brain surgeon operates with DIY drill - Times Online

"Free healthcare" coming to your town soon!

Brain surgeon operates with DIY drill - Times Online: "An eminent British neuro-surgeon has been performing complex brain operations using a £30 do-it-yourself cordless power drill at a clinic in Ukraine.
Henry Marsh, a senior consultant at St George’s hospital in Tooting, south London, has used the Bosch 9.6 volt battery-operated hand tool to open up the skulls of his patients to remove life-threatening tumours. Occasionally the battery has gone flat halfway through.

The operation is performed with the patients fully awake – a technique that fell out of use in Britain 50 years ago. Marsh said that Ukrainians could withstand such a practice because they were “very tough”.
The 58-year-old consultant travels to Ukraine twice a year to perform free operations at a clinic run by a fellow surgeon, Igor Petrovich. The handyman drill was used because the local doctors could not afford state-of-the-art equipment."

Salmon Fishing Ban Possible This Year

Salmon Fishing Ban Possible This Year: "Federal fisheries managers took the first step Friday toward imposing what could be the strictest limits ever on West Coast salmon fishing amid a collapse of the central California chinook salmon fishery.
The Pacific Fishery Management Council unanimously adopted three options for sport and commercial fishing off the Pacific Coast, including an unprecedented complete shutdown of fishing off California and Oregon."

Something's rotten in Big Ten basketball

Something's rotten in Big Ten basketball:

"This game was an ordeal to watch.

From an entertainment standpoint -- and that's what these games are after all -- it would have been more merciful to decide the game with a coin flip at the very beginning.
There's an old saying that the best officiated game is one in which you don't notice the officials.

Unfortunately for MSU, and even Wisconsin, which really can't claim a clean victory on the merit of its own talent and hard work, the officiating was just about the only thing that was noticed"

more:http://www.spartantailgate.com/forums/msu-red-cedar-message-board/303086-big-10-hoops-long-rant.html#post4556652

We do have our own free will.

If you needed a spiritual advisor, would you consult with this lady:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=02tcb7b34do

Or would you consult with this "man"?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9hPR5jnjtLo

Granholm signs law to improve organ donation process

This is good.

Less government will save millions of lives.

Granholm signs law to improve organ donation process: "Governor Jennifer Granholm has signed a law supporters say will improve the organ donation process and strengthen the rights of organ donors."

Barack Obama & Jeremiah Wright

Barack Obama & Jeremiah Wright: "But Jeremiah Wright is not exactly peripheral to Barack Obama’s life. He married the Obamas and baptized their children.

Those of us who made the mistake of buying the senator’s last book, The Audacity of Hope, and assumed the title .................. in fact the phrase comes from one of the Reverend Wright’s sermons.

Jeremiah Wright has been Barack Obama’s pastor for 20 years — in other words, pretty much the senator’s entire adult life.

Did Obama consider God Damn America as a title for his book but it didn’t focus-group so well?"

20 Biggest Record Company Screw-Ups of All Time :: Blender.com

20 Biggest Record Company Screw-Ups of All Time :: Blender.com

Tomorrow Never Knows

#2 Decca Records A&R exec tells Fab Four, “No, thanks”Dick Rowe was not the only record-label executive who passed on the Beatles in the early ’60s, but he was the only one who brushed off their manager, Brian Epstein, with the astute prediction that: “Groups with guitars are on their way out.”

Epstein begged Rowe to reconsider, so Rowe hopped a train to Liverpool to check out the band live. When he arrived at the Cavern, he found a mob of kids trying to force their way into the club in the pouring rain. Annoyed, he smoked a cigarette, went home and signed Brian Poole and the Tremeloes instead.

Unintended consequence The Monkees

Nugent suit against Muskegon fest finally over

And the poor residents of Muskegon and Summer Celebration fans paid the cost of its refusal to stand up to our local racists.

Bummer dude...

Nugent proves his point: "The Muskegon County jury found in Nugent's favor, awarding him $80,000 for breach of contract and $20,000 in lost merchandise sales."

Remember me.....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ervaMPt4Ha0

Coolest Winter Since 2001 for U.S., Globe

- NOAA: Coolest Winter Since 2001 for U.S., Globe

Al Gore kept warm by piles of money he made from selling carbon credits.

Weather Channel Founder: Sue Al Gore for Fraud

Weather Channel Founder: Sue Al Gore for Fraud "'You want to tune to the Weather Channel and have them tell you how to live your life?' Coleman said. 'Come on.'"