Friday, February 27, 2009
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Dear Muskegon Chronicle
Dear Muskegon Chronicle Publisher and Editor Keep,
I have read that you offered a pay cut to columnist Tracy Lorenz and he has chosen to pass on your offer.
I've always enjoyed Tracy's columns but I understand that companies must make tough decisions during hard times if they expect to remain in business.
I've also read that you've imposed significant layoffs of staff, early retirements, cuts in pay and mass firings of school age newspaper delivery kids.
I can only assume that you and the top level staff of The Chronicle have endured similar pay and benefit cuts.
All of us in Muskegon understand (well, most of us) what President Obama and Governor Granholm have warned is to come.
More hard times.
Most of us in the real America are experiencing real pain and making some of the same tough choices that you and your company have made.
But not all of us.
Those on the public payroll.
Education union members, city, county and state union members all seem immune from that disease that plagues the rest of us in the real America.
There really are two Americas.
We who toil in the private sector and those who live off our hard work.
We cut back. They get guaranteed annual step-ups in pay.
We cut back. They get annual cost of living increases.
We see our retirement savings shrink. They see their retirements as guaranteed and larger every year.
We find we must work for more years than we had planned before we can retire. They concoct bogus schemes to increase their retirement income, retire earlier and tell us toilers that it will "increase jobs".
We make tough choices in our life insurance, accident insurance and health insurance plans. They demand guilt edged, low co-pay, low deductible plans that funnel money to their politically connected union bosses.
We see our companies get lean and mean (just like your company, Mr Keep). They tell us if we don't give them more of our money WE will suffer cuts in services like school roof repairs, road repairs and police protection.
Mr. Keep.
If you really do care about our community, please address the widening gap between our two Americas right here in Muskegon!
Our ever-decreasing incomes are stretched to the limit as the public sector demands more and more of our hard earned pay.
Isn't it time that your newspaper exposed the true disparity that is the cancer that may destroy our community?
You have made the tough decisions!
We are making the tough decisions!
Why are education unions and the public employee unions immune from joining us all in fixing our shared challenge.
Mr. Keep,
You and your newspaper are the only voice we, in the other America, have left.
Please help us now.
GordoMuskegon
I have read that you offered a pay cut to columnist Tracy Lorenz and he has chosen to pass on your offer.
I've always enjoyed Tracy's columns but I understand that companies must make tough decisions during hard times if they expect to remain in business.
I've also read that you've imposed significant layoffs of staff, early retirements, cuts in pay and mass firings of school age newspaper delivery kids.
I can only assume that you and the top level staff of The Chronicle have endured similar pay and benefit cuts.
All of us in Muskegon understand (well, most of us) what President Obama and Governor Granholm have warned is to come.
More hard times.
Most of us in the real America are experiencing real pain and making some of the same tough choices that you and your company have made.
But not all of us.
Those on the public payroll.
Education union members, city, county and state union members all seem immune from that disease that plagues the rest of us in the real America.
There really are two Americas.
We who toil in the private sector and those who live off our hard work.
We cut back. They get guaranteed annual step-ups in pay.
We cut back. They get annual cost of living increases.
We see our retirement savings shrink. They see their retirements as guaranteed and larger every year.
We find we must work for more years than we had planned before we can retire. They concoct bogus schemes to increase their retirement income, retire earlier and tell us toilers that it will "increase jobs".
We make tough choices in our life insurance, accident insurance and health insurance plans. They demand guilt edged, low co-pay, low deductible plans that funnel money to their politically connected union bosses.
We see our companies get lean and mean (just like your company, Mr Keep). They tell us if we don't give them more of our money WE will suffer cuts in services like school roof repairs, road repairs and police protection.
Mr. Keep.
If you really do care about our community, please address the widening gap between our two Americas right here in Muskegon!
Our ever-decreasing incomes are stretched to the limit as the public sector demands more and more of our hard earned pay.
Isn't it time that your newspaper exposed the true disparity that is the cancer that may destroy our community?
You have made the tough decisions!
We are making the tough decisions!
Why are education unions and the public employee unions immune from joining us all in fixing our shared challenge.
Mr. Keep,
You and your newspaper are the only voice we, in the other America, have left.
Please help us now.
GordoMuskegon
UH OH: MIT Study Says Cellulosic Ethanol Could Have “Unintended” Environmental Consequences….
UH OH: MIT Study Says Cellulosic Ethanol Could Have “Unintended” Environmental Consequences….
"UH OH: MIT Study Says Cellulosic Ethanol Could Have “Unintended” Environmental Consequences."
We might as well face it.
The enviro-left just ain't fond of humans.
"UH OH: MIT Study Says Cellulosic Ethanol Could Have “Unintended” Environmental Consequences."
We might as well face it.
The enviro-left just ain't fond of humans.
Idaho's first lady wears same dress twice. Is it frugality or fashion faux pas?
Idaho's first lady wears same dress twice. Is it frugality or fashion faux pas?
"Otter People's Money
Here's a story from the Idaho Statesman on how the other half lives:
Idaho's first lady wore the same dress twice--to the gala at Saint Al's Festival of Trees in November, below, and then again Sunday to the White House for a dinner with the nation's governors, the Obamas' first formal soiree, left.
Lori Otter bought the dress--a floor-length black Jovani gown--on sale at the local boutique Karen Louise in Downtown Boise, the governor's office said. The gown retails for about $700, but Otter got it for about $500.
This is news? Out here in the real America, not only do we wear the same clothes--even less expensive items like socks and underwear--dozens of times, but a whole industry has arisen providing equipment, detergents and services for washing clothes between uses. In Idaho, by contrast, apparently most people can afford to spend $500 on a disposable dress."
"Otter People's Money
Here's a story from the Idaho Statesman on how the other half lives:
Idaho's first lady wore the same dress twice--to the gala at Saint Al's Festival of Trees in November, below, and then again Sunday to the White House for a dinner with the nation's governors, the Obamas' first formal soiree, left.
Lori Otter bought the dress--a floor-length black Jovani gown--on sale at the local boutique Karen Louise in Downtown Boise, the governor's office said. The gown retails for about $700, but Otter got it for about $500.
This is news? Out here in the real America, not only do we wear the same clothes--even less expensive items like socks and underwear--dozens of times, but a whole industry has arisen providing equipment, detergents and services for washing clothes between uses. In Idaho, by contrast, apparently most people can afford to spend $500 on a disposable dress."
Rocky Mountain News closing after Friday edition
Rocky Mountain News closing after Friday edition
"The Rocky Mountain News will publish its last edition Friday.
Owner E.W. Scripps Co. announced on the newspaper's Web site Thursday that its search for a buyer for the paper was unsuccessful."
"The Rocky Mountain News will publish its last edition Friday.
Owner E.W. Scripps Co. announced on the newspaper's Web site Thursday that its search for a buyer for the paper was unsuccessful."
Is David Kolb The Chronicle's "new" Tracy Lorenz?
This David Kolb column is truly pathetic.
I'm not sure if he is the new Tracy Lorenz or he's had a medical problem.
Either way, he appears to be the "canary" in the Chronicle's cave......
Bummer dudes!
http://www.mlive.com/opinion/muskegon/index.ssf/2009/02/column_take_everything_you_hav.html
GordoM-knows-humor-and-commentary-and-that-ain't-either
I'm not sure if he is the new Tracy Lorenz or he's had a medical problem.
Either way, he appears to be the "canary" in the Chronicle's cave......
Bummer dudes!
http://www.mlive.com/opinion/muskegon/index.ssf/2009/02/column_take_everything_you_hav.html
GordoM-knows-humor-and-commentary-and-that-ain't-either
Tracy bids adieu to his Chronicle gig
Column: Tracy bids adieu to his Chronicle gig
"This is my final column for The Muskegon Chronicle."
It seems that The Chronicle made a list of all the good parts of the paper and decided to dump them all.
No worries.
The Chronicle has COLOR COMICS!
.... ba bye Chronicle......
UPDATE:
Tracy tells MLive that his last column was "tweaked" by the Great Leaders of The (dying) Chronicle:
"I didn't write those words. Send me an email toLorenzatlarge@aol.com and I'll send you what I actually wrote (which isn't even close to what they printed). I'd paste it here but they'd just delete it anyway."
"This is my final column for The Muskegon Chronicle."
It seems that The Chronicle made a list of all the good parts of the paper and decided to dump them all.
No worries.
The Chronicle has COLOR COMICS!
.... ba bye Chronicle......
UPDATE:
Tracy tells MLive that his last column was "tweaked" by the Great Leaders of The (dying) Chronicle:
"I didn't write those words. Send me an email toLorenzatlarge@aol.com and I'll send you what I actually wrote (which isn't even close to what they printed). I'd paste it here but they'd just delete it anyway."
UPDATE #2 "THE TRUTH!":
What they wrote (red)
This is my final column for The Muskegon Chronicle.
I's been a great six years, but they tell me that financial pressures at the newspaper have caused freelance compensation rates to be reduced and I can't live with what they want to pay me.
What I wrote (blue). I didn't bother to read what they wrote after I read their first paragraph. There may have been more changes.
"A month ago I received an email from The Chronicle saying they were going to cut my pay in half.
“Gee,” I thought, “Obama’s in office, I thought big bushel baskets full of money were supposed to fall from the sky!”
Well, apparently they aren’t falling on Muskegon. So when the paper offered me half I said “No.”
I’m not the one who recommended electing a president with ZERO experience and no plan, why should I pay the price?
So unless today's lunch meeting with the publisher turns out differently than I expect, this will be my last column.
I had a good run.
I got to do things I would never have done without the opportunity given to me by the paper. I got to be the hockey mascot Furious Fred, I hung out with rap artists, and played basketball with Nancy Wilson. I partied in Stepenwolf’s tour bus and I got to write columns about the jungles of Belize and the Alps of Switzerland. I judged talent shows, bikini contests, Christmas lights, chili cook offs, and, in one of the odder moments in an already odd life, shaved a woman’s head for charity. I got to speak at schools, speak at service clubs, and emcee events I had no business emceeing. If it wasn’t for this column I never would have luged.
And then there were the letters. Thousands and thousands of letters. Most of them nice, some of them not nice, but I did my best to answer every one. But it wasn’t all a giant candy farm. There were the threats, the calls to my house at two in the morning, there were mad hockey dad’s, mad soccer mom’s, and some really really mad Miss Michigan contestants.
I only had three times I actually thought violence was at hand…union members can get pretty grouchy.
I’d like to thank my friends and family for letting me put parts of their lives in print. I’d like to thank “The Helper Group” for, as a group, helping. And I’d like to thank the proof readers who told me when something was lame so I could punch it up prior to submission.
And let’s not forget the editors. I think I had seven of them over the years; each one had a different way of plucking humor from the written page and dropping it on the cutting room floor like a no-bake cookie.
Then again, I’m still here (for now) and alive (for now) so maybe they knew what they were doing after all.
But there’s one thing I want to make perfectly clear: I love Muskegon and I always will. I get very defensive whenever someone not from here says anything negative about this place. I think it’s a town with self esteem issues but that only adds to the allure.
Anyway, that’s where I sit, not knowing if there’ll be a column next week or not. If you open up the paper a week from today and you see my wretched picture you’ll know things worked out. If not, well, all I can say is the last six years were a very cool time to have happen in my life, and for that I’ll always be grateful."
States of panic
States of panic Salon News
"How much pain remains?
In the chart below, Salon groups the 50 states loosely by relative levels of distress, and then uses figures from the CBPP and the National Conference of State Legislatures to show the amount of red ink for each state and the amount of stimulus cash expected."
Michigan
FY2009 shortfall: $672 million
FY2010 shortfall: $1.6 billion
With its rusting industrial economy, Michigan has had budget shortfalls every year since 2001. Gov. Jennifer Granholm, who will present her plan for discretionary spending in March, intends to use some stimulus funds to avoid planned cuts of $59 per pupil for public education and 3 percent to the higher education budget. But she may still need to make $670 million in cuts, lay off 1,500 government workers, and raise $230 million in new revenues.
Total projected stimulus funding to state: $7 billionFiscal Stabilization Fund: $1 billionMedicaid funds: $2.2 billion
Michigan is the 8th worst state.
We're #8!
Interesting that this article fails to mention out of control spending and the explosion of public employee pay and benefits.
"How much pain remains?
In the chart below, Salon groups the 50 states loosely by relative levels of distress, and then uses figures from the CBPP and the National Conference of State Legislatures to show the amount of red ink for each state and the amount of stimulus cash expected."
Michigan
FY2009 shortfall: $672 million
FY2010 shortfall: $1.6 billion
With its rusting industrial economy, Michigan has had budget shortfalls every year since 2001. Gov. Jennifer Granholm, who will present her plan for discretionary spending in March, intends to use some stimulus funds to avoid planned cuts of $59 per pupil for public education and 3 percent to the higher education budget. But she may still need to make $670 million in cuts, lay off 1,500 government workers, and raise $230 million in new revenues.
Total projected stimulus funding to state: $7 billionFiscal Stabilization Fund: $1 billionMedicaid funds: $2.2 billion
Michigan is the 8th worst state.
We're #8!
Interesting that this article fails to mention out of control spending and the explosion of public employee pay and benefits.
"The Healthy Penis" is back
"The Healthy Penis" is back
'The Healthy Penis' is back
Move over Lou Seal, there's a new San Francisco mascot that will be appearing at parades, street fairs and other public events around the city over the coming year. It's the six-foot-fall Healthy Penis."
'The Healthy Penis' is back
Move over Lou Seal, there's a new San Francisco mascot that will be appearing at parades, street fairs and other public events around the city over the coming year. It's the six-foot-fall Healthy Penis."
Video VIDEO: Biden Forgets Name of RECOVERY.GOV: 'Do You Know The Website Number?'
Imagine the drooling, frenzied outrage from Biden's comrades in the MSM if this had been Sarah Palin.
European MPs earning £1 million profits in a term
"The internal report into the system of allowances - conducted by Robert Galvin, a European Union internal audit official - was kept secret when it was carried out last year.
But a leaked copy of the 92-page document details the full extent of 'corruption, dodgy dealing and poor financial controls' in the European Parliament, according to the Taxpayers' Alliance.
It revealed that some MEPs claimed money for assistants that were neither accredited nor registered with the parliament."
Dang, these sophisticated Euros sound just like Barry's demo-crook friends!
Canada’s youngest multiple killer in therapy
Canada’s youngest multiple killer in therapy
"MEDICINE HAT, Alta. -- Canada's youngest multiple killer is said to be responding well to costly therapy -- but she must remain in custody in an Edmonton psychiatric hospital for the time being.
More than a year after she was sentenced for murdering her Medicine Hat parents and brother, the girl, who was 12 at the time, is making progress in her psychiatric treatment, a court heard Wednesday."
"MEDICINE HAT, Alta. -- Canada's youngest multiple killer is said to be responding well to costly therapy -- but she must remain in custody in an Edmonton psychiatric hospital for the time being.
More than a year after she was sentenced for murdering her Medicine Hat parents and brother, the girl, who was 12 at the time, is making progress in her psychiatric treatment, a court heard Wednesday."
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Salazar Scraps Oil-Shale Leasing, Reverses Bush Policy
Salazar Scraps Oil-Shale Leasing, Reverses Bush Policy
"U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar says he's scrapping leases on federal land for oil-shale development in Colorado, Utah and Wyoming."
Democrats are against ANY expansion of energy in our country!
"U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar says he's scrapping leases on federal land for oil-shale development in Colorado, Utah and Wyoming."
Democrats are against ANY expansion of energy in our country!
THE MESSIAH SPEAKS. THE MARKETS TANK.
THE MESSIAH SPEAKS. THE MARKETS TANK.
Charlie Sykes:
"Is it because the markets agree with Rick Esenberg's assessment?
Barack Obama just may be a freakin' moron."
Charlie Sykes:
"Is it because the markets agree with Rick Esenberg's assessment?
Barack Obama just may be a freakin' moron."
MSU may hike tuition 8.9% if funding is cut
MSU may hike tuition 8.9% if funding is cut
"If Gov. Jennifer Granholm's proposed cuts to next year's higher education budget pass the state Legislature as is, Michigan State University would have to raise tuition by 8.9 percent or fire 703 employees or find some solution in between, university officials said Friday."
Another threat from the totalitarians in academe.
Let's see... "...raise tuition... fire 703 employees or find some solution in between...".
"In between"?
Why not "outside the box"?
Why not look at the massive bloat of wages, perks, benefits of the faculty?
I guess that's "off the table".
"If Gov. Jennifer Granholm's proposed cuts to next year's higher education budget pass the state Legislature as is, Michigan State University would have to raise tuition by 8.9 percent or fire 703 employees or find some solution in between, university officials said Friday."
Another threat from the totalitarians in academe.
Let's see... "...raise tuition... fire 703 employees or find some solution in between...".
"In between"?
Why not "outside the box"?
Why not look at the massive bloat of wages, perks, benefits of the faculty?
I guess that's "off the table".
Power plant permit process restarted by DEQ
Power plant permit process restarted by DEQ
"Granholm issued an executive directive earlier this month, saying utilities needed to prove there aren't any alternatives to coal-fired generation before permits are issued.
State Attorney General Mike Cox issued an opinion last week that Granholm exceeded her authority."
The real truth is that democrats will destroy our power producing abilities.
And companies, EMPLOYERS, will never move to or expand in a state that does not offed adequate electric power.
Republicans will fight to build the power plants necessary to attract jobs.
"Granholm issued an executive directive earlier this month, saying utilities needed to prove there aren't any alternatives to coal-fired generation before permits are issued.
State Attorney General Mike Cox issued an opinion last week that Granholm exceeded her authority."
The real truth is that democrats will destroy our power producing abilities.
And companies, EMPLOYERS, will never move to or expand in a state that does not offed adequate electric power.
Republicans will fight to build the power plants necessary to attract jobs.
Michigan government declares financial emergency in Pontiac
Michigan government declares financial emergency in Pontiac
"Granholm wrote in a letter to Mayor Clarence Phillips dated Feb. 20 that the city has been unable to resolve financial and budget issues on its own. She says Pontiac's cumulative deficit was projected to approach $12 million by the end of the 2008 fiscal year."
And our Great Leader tells us our nation should adopt the same financial controls as Pontiac and Detroit!
"Granholm wrote in a letter to Mayor Clarence Phillips dated Feb. 20 that the city has been unable to resolve financial and budget issues on its own. She says Pontiac's cumulative deficit was projected to approach $12 million by the end of the 2008 fiscal year."
And our Great Leader tells us our nation should adopt the same financial controls as Pontiac and Detroit!
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