Thursday, January 01, 2015

Oh yeah. The folks who build stuff, think new stuff ought to be built. With someone else's money.--------Detroit leaders want to lessen impact of freeways

Detroit leaders want to lessen impact of freeways:
"Now, many top business leaders, foundations and others with money to give are backing plans that lessen the reliance of downtown freeways.
"Business leaders and others aren't anti-freeway; but what you're seeing is many key people who have embraced alternatives," said Carmine Palombo, deputy executive director of Southeastern Michigan Council of Government, a regional planning partnership. 
"That's because studies show people want choices beyond freeways."
In 2015, expect to see the result of more policies and development plans promoting some of those choices, Palombo said.
He has studied regional transportation issues for more than 30 years.
"That includes making areas more pedestrian-friendly; bicycle paths, and M-1 Rail," he said, referring to the $137 million streetcar project downtown that's being installed now.
...."The freeway created both a physical and emotional barrier, and it wasn't good for that neighborhood," Christopher Ilitch recently told The Detroit News.
"We need to get rid of that barrier in a creative way.
No doubt about it: It's essential to connect those neighborhoods again."

20 Party Pictures Taken At Just The Right Moment

20 Party Pictures Taken At Just The Right Moment | Slick Americans
Source

They're not just liars. They're morons!-----WaPo Meltdown over Breitbart Story Reveals Reporter Doesn’t Know Who Runs Michigan

WaPo Meltdown over Breitbart Story Reveals Reporter Doesn’t Know Who Runs Michigan - Breitbart:
The Washington Post’s measured response: a piece titled “Michigan Liberals Are Terrible, According to a Made-Up Metric Under Which 22 Other States Are Also Terrible.”
The author of the piece, Philip Bump, tweeted his story thusly:
Breitbart has the scoop on how MI is a terrible state run by Dems (according to a metric under which 23 states fail). http://j.mp/1x0SS8h 

Ignorance - John Stossel

Ignorance - John Stossel - Page 1:
"No wonder Cuba wallows in poverty.
Last week, the New York Times reported that the Castro brothers opened a special business zone where foreign companies "would be given greater control over setting wages at factories. ... (P)roposals would be approved or rejected within 60 days."
What?
If I want to give someone a raise, I have to wait up to two months for government approval! 
That's absurd.
Yet the Times sid that the zone offers "big incentives for investors."
How clueless can their writers be? 
Their own article acknowledges, "A year later, the Cuban government has yet to announce a single foreign investment."
Duh."

Video: Police Clash with Ferguson Protesters After Mob Storms St. Louis Police Headquarters | Video | TheBlaze.com

Video: Police Clash with Ferguson Protesters After Mob Storms St. Louis Police Headquarters | Video | TheBlaze.com:

"Ferguson protesters stormed St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department headquarters on Wednesday as many chanted, “This is what democracy looks like.”

A Year of Liberal Double Standards

A Year of Liberal Double Standards | National Review Online:
"Many conservatives finished the year angry about the same thing they were angry about at the beginning of the year: liberal double standards.
As I write this, GOP House whip Steve Scalise is in hot water over reports that he spoke to a group of racist poltroons in Louisiana twelve years ago.
Whether it was an honest mistake, as Scalise plausibly claims, or a sign of something more nefarious, as his detractors hope, remains to be seen.
But one common response on social media is instructive.
Countless conservatives want to know: 
Why the double standard? 
Barack Obama was friends with a domestic terrorist, Bill Ayers. 
His spiritual mentor was a vitriolic racist, Jeremiah Wright. 
One of his administration’s closest advisers and allies is Al Sharpton, a man who has inspired enough racial violence to make a grand dragon’s white sheets turn green with envy.
Meanwhile, the Democratic party venerated the late senator Robert Byrd, a former Klansmen himself.
He was one of 19 senators (all Democrats) to sign the Southern Manifesto opposing integration.
One of his co-signers was William Fulbright, Bill Clinton’s mentor.
When Republicans are in power, “dissent is the highest form of patriotism.” 
When Democrats are in power, dissent is the racist fuming of “angry white men.”
Peaceful, law-abiding tea-party groups who cleaned up after their protests — and got legal permits for them — were signs of nascent fascism lurking in the American soul.
Violent, anarchic, and illegal protests by Occupy Wall Street a few years ago or, more recently, in Ferguson, Mo., were proof that a new idealistic generation was renewing its commitment to idealism.
When rich conservatives give money to Republicans, it is a sign that the whole system has been corrupted by fat cats.
When it is revealed that liberal billionaires and left-wing super PACs outspent conservative groups in 2014: crickets.

What Your Tax Dollars Bought the Government in 2014

What Your Tax Dollars Bought the Government in 2014:

"As you recover from Christmas spending these last couple days of 2014, don’t forget to account for the millions of dollars in gifts you bought the federal government all year long.

Yes, thanks to your tax dollars, wasteful programs (including ones like the $237,205 study that measures how rainfall affects red crabs) were funded with government money.

This infographic breaks down seven of those projects."




History for January 1

History for January 1 - On-This-Day.com
Paul Revere 1735, Betsy Ross (Elizabeth Griscom) 1752, George Washington Carver 1860 


E.M. Forster 1879, J. Edgar Hoover (U.S.) 1895, Barry Goldwater 1909 


1808 - The U.S. prohibited import of slaves from Africa. 


1863 - U.S. President Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation, which declared that all slaves in the rebel states were free. 


1902 - The first Tournament of Roses (later the Rose Bowl) collegiate football game was played in Pasadena, CA


1934 - Alcatraz Island officially became a Federal Prison. 


1959 - Fidel Castro overthrew the government of Fulgencio Batista, and seized power in Cuba. 


1971 - Tobacco ads representing $20 million dollars in advertising were banned from TV and radio broadcast. 


1984 - AT&T was broken up into 22 Bell System companies under terms of an antitrust agreement with the U.S. Federal government. 


1990 - David Dinkins was sworn in as New York City's first black mayor. 


1993 - Czechoslovakia split into two separate states, the Czech Republic and Slovakia. The peaceful division had been engineered in 1992. 


1994 - The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) went into effect. 


1995 - The World Trade Organization came into existence. The group of 125 nations monitors global trade. 

Wednesday, December 31, 2014

LIBERTY REVIEW

LIBERTY REVIEW:

http://libertyreview76.blogspot.com/2014/12/decked-halls-by-tammy-derouin-christmas.html

Decked Halls

By Tammy Derouin

This past Christmas, the Pres-a-king did his best to create an atmosphere of division among men. No matter where you were located or whether you had a green, white, or sandy brown Christmas, the Pres-a-king took care of the decorating.  He wasted no time and even got an early start.  If you listened real closely and removed the Forward colored glasses, you were treated to the sites and sounds of the transforming season and nation.

They decked the halls with scorn and hatred…Tis the season to be racist…

One of the People Behind Common Core Admits There Are Issues With the Program | TheBlaze.com

One of the People Behind Common Core Admits There Are Issues With the Program | TheBlaze.com:

"Many Americans are familiar with the controversy surrounding the Common Core educational standards, which some say are convoluted, political and prevent parents from being involved in their children’s education.

But fewer know that at least one of the three men who wrote the mathematics portion of Common Core, William McCallum, admits there are problems with the standards. Phil Daro and Jason Zimba — McCallum’s co-writers — see ways they could be improved, too."

How they "think"-----Michigan needs a law to ensure paid sick leave for all workers

The money to pay for this will come out of the pockets of evil, rich republicans, so it's a good idea...... right?
Guest column: Michigan needs a law to ensure paid sick leave for all workers | MLive.com:
"Marissa Luna is a new media specialist at Engage Michigan, a nonpartisan, non-profit organization that promotes progressive change in Michigan through independent research, public education, and the use of new media and internet outreach campaigns.
By Marissa Luna
Paid sick days have helped my family in difficult times.
A couple months ago, my brother became very sick and had to go to the hospital.
My dad was able to take days off of work to drive him there and help take care of him during that time.
Had it not been for my dad having paid sick days through his employer, I don’t know who would have been able to be there for my brother.
There have been plenty of times when I’ve gotten sick and wasn’t able to go in to work.
It’s days like those I’m grateful that I have paid sick days.
With rent, student loans, and other bills, I can’t afford to lose pay.
....It’s time to start having serious conversations about getting this type of law on the books in Michigan. 
We can’t let corporate lobbyists stand in the way of this common-sense reform and deny others the same rights they enjoy, while continuing to stuff their own pockets.

Guess What Has Happened to Arrests and Citations in the Aftermath of Police Protests | TheBlaze.com

Guess What Has Happened to Arrests and Citations in the Aftermath of Police Protests | TheBlaze.com:
"In an email sent to members of the Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association, officers were reportedly told to respond to every call with at least two units, “no matter the condition or severity, no matter what type of job is pending, or what the opinion of the patrol supervisor happens to be.”

The association also discouraged officers from making any arrests “unless absolutely necessary.”

Revolving door paybacks------Michigan Rep. John Walsh, Judge James Robert Redford to join Snyder administration

Michigan Rep. John Walsh, Judge James Robert Redford to join Snyder administration | MLive.com: "LANSING, MI — Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder on Tuesday announced two key administration appointments, filling open positions as he prepares to begin his second term.
Outgoing state Rep. John Walsh, a Livonia Republican who was prevented from running for re-election this year due to term limits, will serve as Snyder’s “director of strategy,” replacing longtime advisor Bill Rustem, who retired last summer.
Kent County Circuit Court Judge James Robert Redford will serve as the governor’s new chief legal counsel, replacing Mike Gadola, who Snyder appointed to the Michigan Court of Appeals earlier this month.
...Walsh, an attorney first elected to the state House in 2008, played a prominent role in shaping the “Grand Bargain” legislation that saw the state contribute to a settlement that has been credited with helping speed up Detroit's bankruptcy."

New Obamacare Statistic Proves Obamacare is a Socialist Scheme

New Obamacare Statistic Proves Obamacare is a Socialist Scheme:

"According to new data released by the Obama Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), we’re reminded that Obamacare, at its roots, is not a program to provide more affordable health care to more Americans, but is a socialized redistribution of wealth scheme."

Waste and empty promises-------Hey, Ryan Gosling fans: Filmed-in-Detroit movie won't get theatrical release

Hey, Ryan Gosling fans: Filmed-in-Detroit movie won't get theatrical release | Crain's Detroit Business:
"Ryan Gosling's made-in-Detroit film "Lost River" won't see a theatrical release.
The drama, shot in the city last summer, will instead be released by Warner Bros. straight to video in April, according to a report today.
The film received a $1.75 million Michigan film tax incentive in 2013.
While filming in Detroit, the movie's working title was "How to Catch a Monster." At the time it received the film tax incentive, its projected in-state expenditures were $6.2 million; it was expected to hire 104 Michigan workers."

Elderly NYC Man Suffers Brutal ‘Racial Attack’ in Broad Daylight and Has a Message About His Attackers: ‘They’re Animals’ | Video | TheBlaze.com

Elderly NYC Man Suffers Brutal ‘Racial Attack’ in Broad Daylight and Has a Message About His Attackers: ‘They’re Animals’ | Video | TheBlaze.com:

"A 67-year-old New York City man who has lived in the same neighborhood for 40 years says he was a “racial attack” by two others in broad daylight Saturday.

The violent attack, captured on home surveillance camera, happened in The Bronx at around 2 p.m. As one of the men attacked longtime resident William King another stood watch. Neither of the two perpetrators took anything."

Right.........Things to do in Detroit on New Year's Eve

Things to do in Detroit on New Year's Eve | Crain's Detroit Business:
"Quiet dinner? 
Dancing? 
Gambling? 
New Year's Eve in Detroit has something for everyone. 
What else is going on? 
Tell us about your event in the comments section below and we'll add it to our list."

The answer to EVERY social ill is more laws...right?------Drunk boating, snowmobile bills signed by Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder lower BAC limits

Drunk boating, snowmobile bills signed by Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder lower BAC limits | MLive.com:
"LANSING, MI — Michigan is strengthening laws designed to discourage drunk individuals from driving boats and other watercraft, snowmobiles or off-road vehicles.
Gov. Rick Snyder on Tuesday signed bipartisan legislation reducing the maximum blood alcohol content level for those operators from .10 to .08, matching the current limit for automobiles.
“It is vital to keep our waterways and other recreational areas safe for all Michiganders,” Snyder said in a statement.
“This is common-sense legislation. 
We want people to operate all vehicles responsibly without harming themselves or others.”
.....The tougher laws “will save lives,” said Rep. Matt Lori, R-Constandine, earlier this month after the House unanimously approved his drunken boating bills."

Despite population gains, moving company says Michigan still a top 'outbound' state

Despite population gains, moving company says Michigan still a top 'outbound' state | MLive.com: "LANSING, MI — Michigan's population is growing again, but that's not necessarily because people are leaving other states for the Great Lakes.
In fact, more people packed up and left Michigan than moved here in 2014, according to an annual migration survey released by Allied Van Lines.
...Only New York, Pennsylvania and Illinois saw more outbound traffic.
U.S. Census estimates released last week showed that Michigan's population grew by about 11,500 people between July 2013 and July 2014.
That was the third straight year of growth, a positive sign for the only state in the country to lose population between 2000 and 2010.
But the census data was not all good news for Michigan: North Carolina saw larger growth and moved past Michigan to become the ninth-most populous state.
..."Michigan still is in a situation where we are not attracting as many people as are migrating out," said state demographer Eric Guthrie.
While full data is not available, Guthrie said that Michigan's recent population growth is likely a result of births outnumbering deaths — but not by a wide enough margin to offset outbound moves."