The Rougblog

at 8:42 AM

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at 8:52 AM

We are all familiar with the term "anchor baby," but the "anchor cat" is a new concept for me. From the Telegraph with a h/t to Overlawyered:

The Asylum and Immigration Tribunal ruled that sending the Bolivian man back to his homeland would breach his human rights because he was entitled to a "private and family life", and joint ownership of a pet was evidence that he was fully settled in this country.

Lawyers for the Home Secretary were aghast at the decision by James Devittie, an immigration judge, to allow the immigrant to stay in Britain. They lodged an appeal, but their case was again rejected.

The Bolivian's identity has not been disclosed and even the name of the pet cat was blanked out in official court papers to protect its privacy.

Delivering her decision on the case, which is thought to have cost the taxpayer several thousand pounds, Judith Gleeson, a senior immigration judge, joked in the official written ruling that the cat "need no longer fear having to adapt to Bolivian mice".

There are many reasons for a sovereign nation to legitimately exclude an immigrant from the party. The UK (and to some degree the US) is in the process of creating a system that simply allows Earth residence to trump that of the national interest when it comes to determining who should be allowed to live in the country.

Criminals who fear severe prosecution in their homelands are now legitimate immigrant prospects, as are those who will refuse to culturize, those whose primary intent is to enjoy the windfall of socialism, and those who simply have little to offer by way of education, professional skills, or motivation.

It is interesting to me that the European model is what many Americans are seeking to emulate as they dispense with the whole notion of American exceptionalism; a model that, to this point at least, has placed the nation's best interests above that of ~~Fluffy and Spike~~ anonymous pets.

at 3:46 PM

In the same month that Barack Obama can win the Nobel Peace Prize I suppose I should not be surprised that the National Association of State Boards of Education has named Jennifer Granholm the Policy Leader of the Year.

I know that every Michigander is proud of the award bestowed upon our Dear Leader, without whom education in Michigan would be in horrible shape. It is, after all, under her leadership that Michigan's largest school district has had its graduation rate skyrocket to almost 30 percent.

Under her leadership the robust Michigan economy has been able to exemplify the importance of progressive education funding. Hundreds of schools have closed, programs have been eliminated, and teachers have been laid off. Meanwhile to find work each year, many thousands of new college graduates must move to climes disadvantaged by far inferior chief executives.

Michigan's governor sure knows a lot of things about education, she's just running out of people in-state to enlighten.

at 11:53 AM

On a hat tip from Jules Crittenden, the Boston Globe reports:

Thousands of state inmates will get coveted swine-flu vaccinations weeks before law-abiding Bay Staters - who foot the bill for prisons - have a shot at protecting themselves, state public health officials have decided.

The prison pampering has one lawmaker questioning the con-voluted flu preparation.

“I can think of a number of populations that are more needy and vulnerable than prisoners,” said state Sen. Mark Montigny (D-New Bedford), who co-chairs the legislative committee on public health.

While I admit that I am somewhat of a jerk to begin with, if there aren't enough vaccinations to go around immediately, what sense does it make to vaccinate the least deserving members of society first?

at 9:45 AM

cross posted at Right Michigan

Every night that we go to bed we can count on the fact that some government agency somewhere with properly assumed jurisdiction will have done something new and wholly designed to create a more perfect world for us to wake up in. Some new regulation or law will have taken effect at the city, township, county, state or national level.

On an even wider plane, we have treaties with other nations that govern our actions, and the UN is chomping at the bit to administer its benevolent hand of fairness onto peoples spread about the Earth. Those of us living under the rules of neighborhood associations can find themselves encumbered with rules and regulations even more narrowly focused.

If we are still a free people, we are barely free.

All of these laws, rules and regulations are for mankind's and Earth's long term benefit, and the vision behind these restraints can only be dictated by people with power. We may not agree with them all (or even know they exist) but each and every one of them was passed as someone's idea of bettering our world.

We are sitting at an important point in history where leaders in this state and country are contemplating a charge into two already existent regulatory arenas, but this charge will be carried out in such a way that the country may never be able to economically recover. Our America of today could indeed become nothing more than a remembered America; one where suffering may once again become the historical human condition. This country's ability to produce generation upon generation of children whose lives have improved on that of their parents may cease to exist, and with it the American Dream.

The steady improvements of our living standards here in America are the fruits of a free market society that encourages production, invention and innovation. We learned to feed and clothe ourselves and much of the rest of the world. We worked hard in the fields and the factories. We put the world on wheels and in the air. It was America that spearheaded the industrial age, the technological age, the information age, and whenever peoples in the rest of the world have needed protection it has been the United States that provided the decisive blow so that freed peoples might enjoy the ability to carve their own destinies.

Despite out best efforts and our best intentions, our sacrifices and our success, America is still considered by many to be a place of evil and greed. Unfortunately these thoughts are held by many within our own country. It is the evil and greed that the new regulations hope to address under the guise of health care and energy reform. The innovators and the inventors will have their hands stayed in favor of the planners that prefer the European model; a model that has routinely performed at only a fraction of America's growth, and a model that has survived even only as well it has because of the relative growth and wealth of the American consumer.

Different health care proposals in the US Congress today mandate varying (but all larger) portions of US GDP in the hands of government. A government that becomes ten percent larger will become monumentally more powerful, and a government that can conceivably control who lives and dies has few natural enemies.

Cap and trade is also on the near horizon and could conceivably be even more destructive to the American economy than is the health care fiasco. Ridiculous CO2 reduction goals are being proposed by those in our administration and demanded by those who wish to freely import the windfall of American dollars and technologies. These proposed reductions will be impossible to meet in a growing economy regardless of how much corn is processed, windmills erected, or solar cells installed. While new nuclear energy generating capacity could certainly provide the power necessary, there is so much unbridled hatred for that industry that building enough nuclear sites to even replace those scheduled to be deactivated is highly unlikely. Fossil fuels are, of course, off limits.

Government agents long ago discovered the silver lining behind economic doldrums--a reduction in green house gases that could muffle man's impact on Earth. While Jennifer Granholm and other useful tools of Gaia might actually believe many of the lines they are spewing, there are others within the movement that have no intention of ever allowing economic growth to reach a robust level again because economic growth and people are harmful. The only way to conceivably reach these highly aggressive reduction goals is to dampen energy consumption, and the most effective way to accomplish this is to punish energy usage through exorbitant pricing, by more closely regulating the entire economy, and by limiting the number of potential energy gluttons.

Consumers are being slowly transformed from being thought of as the engine that drives new economic growth into being the catalyst behind an undesired demand for more energy.

We do sit at a crossroads and the American dream is in peril. And, if you cannot tell on your own, I also have not had my coffee.

at 9:04 PM

People clear a wide path when I walk down the street because I have reputations for both a hair trigger temper and lighting quick fists. Men and women alike scurry away from me in fear while children peek from afar, their faces partially obscured behind branches, rocks, or trembling fingers, hoping that I fail to catch them in my steely gaze. You don't want to cross me.

I am a baaaaad man.

I fear neither the law nor the lawman. I am a rugged opportunist and play by my own self centered rules. Dennis Hopper envies my attitude, Sean Penn my individualism.

You can see it in the way I live my life; the way that I push fate's envelope, laugh at danger, and poke fun at death. Mostly though, you can see it by my wheels--a sleek '95 Buick with a mint scented air freshener dangling by a string from the rear view mirror. I dare you coppers, just try and pull me over!

at 10:22 AM

I have heard taxes referred to as many different things, but before today I had never heard of a tax referred to as a "quality assurance assessment."

To protect health care funding for Michigan kids and seniors, physician services would see a 3% quality assurance assessment. This assessment would be used to take part in a federal program; for every dollar Michigan contributes, the federal government will contribute nearly $3. Michigan will be able to bring in hundreds of millions of federal dollars, allowing Michigan to increase our state's Medicaid reimbursement to physicians, putting it on par with Medicare reimbursement, which will give more Michiganders increased access to quality health care.

Archaic Mlive called it a tax, but newspapermen can be so behind the times.

at 9:01 AM

I was reminded today of years long past as I watched a video of Olympia Snowe's meandering and toothless justification for her committee vote in favor of sending on Max Baucus' health care plan. She certainly expended a lot of words while straddling the middle of a teetering fence. Snowe spent several minutes engaging in what has become a perpetual professional quest for her, ensuring everyone how tough she really is while simultaneously caving in. Don't accuse her of being unable to multitask.

Oh sure, she does reserve the right to become the bad guy at some point in the future because, as she says, she is capable of being tough, very tough. Tough as nails, if you get her drift. She voted for passage today, but she may not vote for it in the future. Do not make the mistake of misinterpreting her stance today, because she may be tough later. Yada, yada, yada. I've seen that strategy before.

I was reminded of my adolescent years bagging groceries. One of my most vivid recollections of those years spent smashing bread and breaking eggs was watching mothers negotiate with their children at the checkout counter where, just beyond the reach of the kids' fingers, hung the delicious candies and gums. Kids like 'em some candy, and they are not afraid to make their desires known.

Negotiations do not work in the long term if there is no fear of potential consequences. Both sides in a substantive negotiation must have something expendable to give up and something valuable to withhold. Those same children that tasted the fruit of tantrum at the age of three were still enjoying an angry harvest at the age of six and seven. The children that learned early that their histrionics would earn them no favors learned their lesson completely. Parents too willing to soothe the rotten teeth of their screaming cherubs were always taken advantage of and seemingly never learned a thing.

This reminds me of Olympia Snowe--willing to negotiate to the point that no one takes her seriously any more. The Democrats know she will cave and the Republicans know she will cave too.

Certainly a political legacy one can be proud of.

at 9:00 PM

A martial artist and recent convert to a right-wing survivalist organization has been suspended from his school for carrying a dangerous weapon into the classroom. Though it was his first offense, the Christina School District in Newark, Del. has a zero-tolerance policy when it comes to weapons.

Six-year-old Zachary Christie was so excited to become a Cub Scout that he brought his camping utensil to school. The tool serves as a spoon, a fork and a knife, and Zachary wanted to use it at lunch.

What Zachary didn't know was that the gizmo violated his school's zero-tolerance policy on weapons. And now the Christina School District in Newark, Del., has suspended the first grader and ordered him to attend the district's reform school for 45 days.

Are these people friggen insane?

We have moron educators and psychologists trying to eliminate the game of tag at some schools in order to preserve the fragile self-esteem of children, and we have other moron educators willing to toss children into reform school for taking a spork to class? What am I missing?

The school district, in a statement, said rules are rules and defended its decision to suspend the boy.

"At this time, the Student Code of Conduct does not take into consideration a child's age in a Level three offense," the statement read.

"This is the first incident this year involving a student under the age of seven in possession of a dangerous instrument. Christina School District staff and the Christina Board of Education are constantly examining ways to improve policies regarding student discipline."

Funny how constant examination would still manage to leave such gaping holes in the everyday policies of college educated adults put in charge of 6 year-olds, and to think, this is their chosen profession!

The reform school had better add on to its current facility for the eventual day when educators discover that a sharpened pencil can kill.

The parents of the district might be better served if the school created a reform school for stupid educators. Who knows, maybe no one would be left to teach.

Edited to add this h/t: Darlene at Protein Wisdom

at 7:21 PM

We should all brace ourselves for the ridiculous solutions that government, advocates, and energy companies will conjure up in their angst to save the planet from the death grip of CO2.

Through it all you can expect that the consumer will ultimately carry the burden.

A fine example comes to us from Ohio.

FirstEnergy Corp. is sending two energy-efficient light bulbs to all of its residential customers in Ohio, but not everyone is happy with the charge that comes with the bulbs.

The utility will charge customers about 60 cents a month for three years in exchange for delivering the compact fluorescent bulbs to the door or mailbox.

The average residential customer will pay $21.60 over three years for the two 23-watt CFLs, which are equivalent to 100-watt incandescent bulbs.

Retailers sell the CFLs for about $9 a pair.

The scheme has already been approved by the state's public utility commission and is part of a state mandate that requires that utility companies reduce the demand for electricity.

Consumers will receive the two bulbs, whether or not they want them, and will be charged $21.60 for them whether or not the bulbs are ever used or not. In fact, should customers refuse acceptance of the bulbs, the customers will still be charged for them.

The high cost of the bulbs was arrived at to pay for the bulbs themselves (at an inflated price,) to pay for private delivery of the bulbs (to all of the utility's 3.75 million customers,) and to refund the utility company for the money it will lose in energy sales if each customer uses the bulbs.

It's a sweet gig if you can get it.

h/t Right Nation

at 7:48 PM

A very simple truth in economics is that you get more of any behavior that you reward and you get less of any behavior that you punish. This does not mean that each and every subject of punishment or reward changes his behavior all at once or at all, but it does mean that as these rewards and punishments are slathered upon the masses, measurable changes in behavior take place.

This is lost on many politicians who prefer to abide by their own rules that dismiss the impacts of human behavior on economic models. Believe it or not, we have a good number of politicians who operate in a vacuum completely oblivious to such notions.

In light of the fact that both Oakland University and Central Michigan University are in the process of adding medical schools to their campuses ostensibly to address the expanding shortage of doctors in our state, do you think it is wise for our cash-hungry Michigan government to tax doctors an additional 3% of gross revenues on top of all the other taxes that they pay?

Will raising taxes on doctors help Michigan in its shortage of doctors or will it hurt? Is this a wise way in which to address a doctor shortage? Is it a wise way to raise revenues?

Will it be worth it to the newly trained doctors of Michigan to stay here? Should doctors set up shop in a state that treats their practices as if they are simply blessings of privilege and not because the doctors took the time, money, and effort to succeed in such a difficult field? On the flip side, will it be worth it to the taxpayers of Michigan to support new medical schools where the trained physicians who graduate may be compelled to set up their practices elsewhere?

Is it any wonder that our state is crumbling under the direction of these bumbling idiots? (Okay, that last question was rhetorical.)

at 9:35 AM

The Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to Barack Obama for his promotion of peace and because he is not George Bush.

This award says a lot more about the Nobel cast of characters than it says about Barack Obama, who was actually nominated for this award only two weeks after he took office.

"Only very rarely has a person to the same extent as Obama captured the world's attention and given its people hope for a better future," the Norwegian committee said in a statement.

"His diplomacy is founded in the concept that those who are to lead the world must do so on the basis of values and attitudes that are shared by the majority of the world's population."

Asked why the prize had been awarded to Mr Obama less than a year after he took office, Nobel Committee head Thorbjoern Jagland said: "It was because we would like to support what he is trying to achieve".

"It is a clear signal that we want to advocate the same as he has done," he said.

If the other Nobel prizes were awarded on the same merits as this year's peace prize a chemist could get his cool $1.4 million for wishing he could discover something. The medical prize could be awarded for wanting to heal. The physics prize might be awarded to some schmuck who hoped to make a meaningful observation sometime in his career.

Obama's achievements in promoting peace thus far total up to somewhere between disastrous and nil, and by my account he is just as deserving of this once meaningful prize as he is the National League MVP.

*****

Jules Crittenden has a great roundup but it is Patrick of Popehat that has the most insightful comment and question:

The only significant war that Obama has resolved is the Henry Louis Gates conflict, and there he had an assist from the makers of Bud Light. Was Anheuser-Busch at least nominated?

at 11:00 PM

An article by Sven Gustafson at Mlive helps to illustrate why things are so screwed up in Michigan and why they are very unlikely to get unscrewed any time soon.

Support for a pair of coal-fired power plants that could create thousands of construction jobs in Michigan is running headlong into opposition from supporters of moving the state toward green energy as a prime economic revitalization strategy.

Hundreds of blue-collar union workers rallied earlier this week at the state Capitol in Lansing urging the state to approve coal plants proposed by Consumers Energy in Bay City and Wolverine Power Supply Cooperative Inc. in Rogers City. The latter plant won a $2.7 million federal grant to test carbon capture and storage technologies intended to prevent greenhouse gas emissions.

I think it is telling that the public conflict that is being reported is between two normally aligned elements of the progressive movement--the environmentalists and big labor. As much fun as it is to watch leftists eat their young, this is a sorry state of affairs, and helps to indicate why Michigan has lost its economic footing.

"We can't bring other business to the state without a stronger power base," Jim Dawson, an unemployed Iron Workers union member from Flint, told the Lansing State Journal. "Until alternative energy can supply what this state needs, these plants are crucial to the survival of Michigan."

But regulators have questioned the need for the new plants at a time when utilities including Consumers are forecasting diminished demand for power. And Gov. Jennifer Granholm has stated her preference for developing wind and other forms of renewable energy.

How shocking is it that forecasts for future power needs are being reduced at a time when the economy is in its worst recession in decades? This is not a lot different than projections that suggest sun dress sales are slumping while failing to notice that the weather stinks around here in October.

The reduced need for power that has been forecast will not last forever, and we should not wait until the power is actually needed before we try and build something. Determining the best time and place for increased energy generation capacity is the specialty of energy company forecasters and not that of government or of special interest groups. When an automobile company decides it wants to build a new factory somewhere, it is the motor company itself that stands the best chance of predicting correctly when the move needs to be made. The same thing is true of beef jerky producers, widget manufacturers, and even (gasp!) power companies. When the government figures out how to do so much as deliver mail efficiently I'll start taking stock in their opinions on delivering mail. I'm going to hold off on energy generation capacity if you don't mind.

Delaying the development of energy production infrastructure, which is exactly what leftists want to do, will place a bottleneck on future growth when economic conditions finally do begin to turn. Concerned leftists habitually toss out the old chestnut that oil fields opened for drilling today are irrelevant because the oil they produce cannot be harvested for several years down the road. This is a well established leftist strategy that aims to defeat unblessed industry through the masterful weaving of a catch-22.

New coal plants and oil fields are discouraged or stopped outright because they are currently not needed. When economic conditions improve that would place extra demand on energy capacity, there is not enough inexpensive energy available because development was not allowed before it was needed. When the power is needed, the building of coal plants and the development of oil fields is scoffed at because it will take too long to develop them. Then, when the economy bottleneck forms again due in part to energy shortages, there will be no need for the new plants because there is not a sufficient demand. Its not an awful lot different that arguing with a five year old except that a five year old produces fewer and smaller tears.

Hey, I've got a great idea. Why don't we let specialty businesses do what they do best and then we can can all sit back and share in the rewards of an economy that clicks along on all cylinders. Well, either that or we can let central planners shoehorn whole industries into the business models that run contrary to economics and human nature.

That won't work, of course, but the good news here is that if energy companies are forced to satisfy all of our needs through green sources only, we simply won't need that much power anyway.

This prediction game isn't all that difficult.

at 11:00 AM

I'm not sure if anyone even knew this little fact or not, but Michigan law requires that legislators pass a balanced budget by September 30th of each year. I think it was on the news.

What this means, of course, is that months before the legally mandated deadline arrives, the well oiled machine of benevolent government will draw closely together and make all the tough decisions necessary to smooth out a budget. All the "t"s should be crossed and all the "i"s dotted in plenty of time for the governor to sign her Jennifer Hancock on the bottom line long before lawmakers run afoul of the Michigan Constitution. Sure. Not since Kwame Kilpatrick was forced to vacate the Manoogian Mansion have so many lawbreakers been housed under one roof.

In any case, after suffering through another almost annual national embarrassment on its failed budget (not to be confused with the monthly Michigan embarrassment that is Carl Levin, the weekly Michigan embarrassment that is Debbie Stabenow, or the daily Michigan embarrassment that is the entire city of Detroit) Michigan legislators have introduced a bill that will require its members to pass a budget by July 1st or have their pay docked.

A bipartisan group of legislators today introduced a constitutional amendment that will require the state's budget to be balanced by July 1 on any given year. Under the plan, Michigan's Senators and Representatives will lose pay for every day the budget remains unbalanced after the deadline.

"Taxpayers shouldn't have to pay legislators who don't get the job done," said State Representative Mike Huckleberry (D-Greenville). "We all took an oath of office to serve the people of Michigan and to always put their interests first. If legislators can't balance the budget in time to avoid a government shutdown, then they shouldn't get paid."

Hey, I have no problem with that sentiment. I don't like to have my tax dollars go to pay for Detroit schools that don't educate, and I don't like to pay benevolent minded bureaucrats for failing on their most basic of assignments.

In fact, if this general sentiment gained a little momentum maybe we could get MDOT bigwigs to pony up a little salary for potholes that don't get filled and who knows, maybe the crowned heads at the DNR/MDOT can toss a few bucks into the kitty for letting deer carcasses stack up alongside the road like firewood before being hauled off. Unfortunately, this is not the way that things work in our world.

You see, MDOT might say that they would love to fix those potholes, but they will also tell you that to fill them all will require more people and more money, not less. The same answer will come to you from the DNR/MDOT as it relates to roadkill. Deer stack up on the road both because the stupid animals refuse to look both directions, and because it is hard to shovel roadkill when budget dollars are instead aimed at trespassing on private property so as to assure that brazen property owners aren't disposing of carrots in a huge pile.

I applaud legislators for their sentiment--maybe we are making a little headway on the common sense shortage down in Lansing. I am frightened, however, by the added incentive that this bill might give to legislators to compromise when similar previous compromises have contributed so greatly to our current disaster. There are worse things than not having a budget in place when the compromise alternative is making a bad choice for the sake of "getting something done" and allowing a representative to collect his full $220 a day with a chin held high.

A few concepts should be understood before legislators even consider compromise.

First, government generates no money of its own. Each and every dollar that it receives it has skimmed off of the private sector. Each and every one of these dollars is therefore removed from a taxpayer that would have found another use for that dollar. This weakens the economy and results in the displacement of workers.

Every. Single. Time.

This is not only true of "new revenues" that the government tries so hard to find every year, but also for the almost forgotten billions of established revenues that it takes from taxpayers out of habit with nary a flutter of the eye.

Secondly, each dollar that is reallocated away from an individual's intent is thrust into a delivery system that is, by definition, inefficient. There is no end motive for government entities to operate efficiently, and there are few ways to measure the effectiveness of a government's delivery of products or services. Where the two can be compared side by side, the government edition suffers.

In education, it is a competitive private sector that offers the lower cost alternative. When it comes to housing prisoners, it is the private sector that offers the least cost. When it comes to delivering health care, would it be the VA hospital or Munson Medical Center that you would rather go to? If allowed to compete in the automobile industry on their own merits, will it be Ford that triumphs in an embattled industry, or will it be government/union owned GM or Chrysler that lives on? Heck, when Katrina had blown ashore and left parts of several states in shambles, it was WalMart that had trucks of bottled water on location the next day for displaced citizens to drink, while local government authorities allowed whole parking lots of empty school buses to succumb to the rising waters while they screamed for the delivery of luxury charter buses to carry people out.

I'm not saying that government is only filled with workers who try hard to do a lousy job every day. That is not my experience. (There are, thankfully, only so many Conyerses.) I am saying that most government workers do what they do within a system that even they recognize is hopelessly choked with regulation and inefficiency, and that government does not have the free market means to recognize when departments should be groomed, combined or separated for efficiency, or eliminated altogether. Throw in a little cronyism, some red tape, the never ending supply of funds that government was reared on, public servants disillusioned by years of banging their slightly flattened heads on the wall, the occasional Kwame Kilpatrick, and soon you have the recipe for a Lansing on your hands.

Which brings me to my final point. Too often government entities are seen as a means of providing good employment for dedicated workers. Private industry looks at employment in exactly the opposite way. To a thriving private business, employment is a necessary byproduct of success. Each worker that draws a paycheck from the company must add more value to the company than he costs or his continued employment is not a legitimate expense. In government this is largely immaterial and the vast growth of government employment in Lansing over the past few years is evidence of this in the face of falling revenues in a hobbled economy.

In light of these facts I believe that budget compromises are not always good.

It appears now, however, that we might at least be at the threshold of a new era where lawmakers are willing to face the fire if they fail to produce in a timely manner. That in itself may be a step in the right direction.

"In the real world if you don't do your work, you don't get paid," said State Representative Dan Scripps (D-Leland). "Legislators should be no different. This plan will help bring fresh air to Lansing and make sure elected officials are truly working on behalf of Michigan's residents."

While I am encouraged that some bureaucrats recognize that there even is a real world out there beyond Lansing with its own set of operative rules, I am not so certain that a salary withheld by the day to the sound of a ticking clock will ensure that all bureaucrats will work in the best interest of Michigan residents.

That will still depend on what it has always depended on; who will compromise, and on what.

cross posted at Right Michigan

at 5:39 PM

When did the media begin caring about the accuracy of Saturday Night Live skits?

For as long as I can remember the political satire has been brutal on the NBC bellwether, and, while I can remember numerous occasions when the people mischaracterized on the show bristled at what was said, most often the targets of the satire just smiled and went along.

Well, that was before the media had a crush on the man occupying the Oval Office, and before the media had shelved its purported purpose of providing objective news and had instead become the mouthpiece and protector of the progressive left.

Look, we know SNL isn't the Times, and that some people might consider it ridiculous to fact-check one of their skits. But political satire isn't legitimate if it's not based in truth. It's not that SNL's disenchantment with Obama is unsupportable; they just picked some faulty evidence to support it. If you're going to skewer Obama for all the things he hasn't done, it might be better to make sure that, you know, he hasn't done them. Especially since, after witnessing the lasting impact of its Sarah Palin caricature last year, we can probably stop pretending that SNL is "just a comedy show" with no real influence.

Funny how New York Magazine sounds appalled at the treatment of Sarah Palin in the skits, but it isn't until The Obama is skewered that the magazines has the nerve to stand up on principle.

at 8:54 AM

There is a silver lining behind every starvation and poverty inducing worldwide economic meltdown cloud.

The global recession provides a window of opportunity to curb climate change and build a low-carbon future, says the International Energy Agency (IEA).

It calculates that global greenhouse gas emissions will fall by 3% this year - an increase on previous estimates.

If governments take this opportunity to invest in clean technology, the global temperature rise can be kept below the G8 goal of 2C (3.6F), the agency says.

The findings were released at UN climate talks in Bangkok.

"The message is simple and stark: if the world continues on the basis of today's energy and climate policies, the consequences of climate change will be severe," said IEA executive director Nobuo Tanaka.

"Energy is at the heart of the problem - and so must form the core of the solution."

The recession is likely to mean emissions being 3% lower this year than last - and it will have a longer term impact, the IEA says, with emissions in 2020 projected to be 5% less than they would have been without an economic dip.

Of course this is great news for the UN, particularly if that august body is able to completely disregard the millions of people that the global recession has made unemployed, dumped into poverty, or starved outright.

Oops.

UNITED NATIONS - The global economic crisis is pushing millions of the world’s most vulnerable people into poverty, hunger and early death, a new UN report warns, stressing that “green shoots” of recovery are not being felt by the poor in the developing world.

Estimates suggest that the worldwide recession has pushed 100 million more people below the poverty line and 61 million people have been added to the number of jobless over the last two years, according to the report.

[...]

In addition, the report - part of a new UN initiative to monitor and draw attention to emerging crises - notes that an increase of 100 million people suffer from hunger and infant mortality rates are set to rise by an additional 200,000 to 400,000 deaths each year from now to 2015, if the crisis persists.

Maybe UN Deputy Secretary-General Asha-Rose Migiro can remember to keep his mouth buttoned the next time he and Yvo de Boer, executive secretary of the UN climate convention, happen to be slurping down caviar side by side at the next UN party.

People have been starving for centuries. But dammit, this is an opportunity!

at 5:24 PM

Come on Dave Bing!

This is the opportunity that the citizens of Detroit have needed for decades. Now is the time to fire municipal employees that put themselves ahead of the citizens that they are charged with serving.

From the Detroit News:

Mayor Dave Bing met for three hours with leaders of the city's largest union, but reported no progress and warned that more layoffs could be coming.

Bing said the city has presented its final offer to the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 25, which represents about 3,500 of the 13,000 workers. But he said the union has rejected any concessions, including his call for a 10 percent pay cut.

"They won't agree to it," he said, adding six other unions have ratified similar concession agreements.

Catherine Phillips, the lead negotiator for AFSCME, acknowledged the city had presented its "last best offer," but she believes her members still have some leverage.

"We think there is still some negotiating we can do," said Phillips, who refused to say on exactly what issues the city and the union are in agreement.

The citizens of Detroit suffer some of the worst urban blight in the country. Their most basic city services are too often delivered poorly and those that are delivered come at a hugely inefficient cost. Detroit's schools fail. It's landmarks crumble. It has become the most vacant of American cities not ravaged by hurricane mega-disaster.

Detroit is a shell of a city just waiting to collapse upon itself as the remainder of its social and physical infrastructures weaken. The problem that is Detroit today will never be solved until someone finally has the guts to draw a line in the sand and say enough is enough.

Dave Bing has nothing to lose except a city that has long been lost.

at 9:07 AM

In today's Detroit Free Press there is an expert's discussion as to how the David Letterman scandal will affect the late night host's popularity.

I'm guessing not at all.

How long has the entertainment industry been devoid of any real moral compass to begin with? The scandals, particularly those of a sexual nature, have been swirling around the television/movie/music cesspool for decades. America and the world have proven themselves to be little concerned with the peccadilloes of its beautiful people (ok, Dave, even I'm giving you the benefit of the doubt with that inclusion.)

Consorting with brutal dictators has done little to sour the careers of many entertainment leftists. Drug abuse and alcohol excess, it seems, have been used as window dressing to enhance the popularity of several kingpins, and when it comes to sex, well, much of Hollywood itself has even come to the defense of the child stalker and pedophile Roman Polanski.

No, a simple sex scandal by the gap toothed pundit isn't going to hurt him overmuch. Dave is more likely to get lambasted by feminists for sexual harassment than he is for being a man with no moral compass.

at 9:22 AM

Hey, am I the only one encouraged by the reaction of Delmon Young to being plunked by a well aimed Jeremy Bonderman fastball behind the knee in last night's baseball game between the Detroit Tigers and the Minnesota Twins?

Let me set the stage...

The game was out of reach. Detroit had already been buried by the 8th inning when Minnesota's Jose Mijares intentionally threw a fastball at Detroit's shortstop Adam Everett. Everett evaded the pitch and it went sailing just behind his back.

Mijares had been sufficiently provoked, he felt, because the Tigers had stolen two bases off of him in a game that had essentially been decided. It had already happened twice in the inning and Mijares was powerless to do anything about it as Minnesota was ceded the bases to the Tigers' runners with defensive indifference.

Mijares had had enough when Everett walked to the plate and he unleashed his infamous fastball. After the pitch sailed behind Everett both benches were warned and the inning commenced.

When Minnesota came to bat in the 9th inning it was Delmon Young with the unfortunate duty of leading off--knowing full well that he was likely going to be the target of a Detroit pitcher.

First pitch....Thwack! A direct hit and it looked like it hurt. Bad.

Young went down in a heap but hobbled to his feet quickly yelling and pointing at another player. He was very angry and I suppose having to suffer unnecessary and intentional pain is as good a reason as any to be pissed. This is where I will celebrate the response of Mr. Young.

Young’s anger was directed at Twins pitcher Jose Mijares, who threw a pitch behind Adam Everett in the eighth inning, sparking an ejection for Tigers manager Jim Leyland and an official warning to both benches. Bonderman whacked Young behind the left knee with his first pitch of the ninth inning, prompting Young to point directly into his own dugout, at Mijares.

“He wasn’t upset with them. He was upset with one of our teammates,” Twins outfielder Denard Span said. “I think he was thinking about it the whole inning before that and he realized he was on deck. I’m just glad it wasn’t me up.”

Imagine what our political landscape would look like if all politicians today would refuse to tolerate the foolish antics of their own party members and were willing to call out them out when they did something or said something that was indefensible.

Delmon Young didn't like the idea of taking a pitch for his stupid teammate and called him out. I sort of like this guy.

UPDATE...

coachlon passes this along from the Star Tribune

at 6:47 PM

I've done some clean up around here on my blogroll.

I've added Watts Up With That, Ric's Rulez and Popehat. I've deleted Little Green Footballs.

Watts Up With That is a blog that primarily discusses the nuts and bolts science behind our planet's climate debate. If you hear of any new report or statement made by a climate expert you can bet the discussion will quickly hit the pages of WUWT if it hasn't already.

Ric's Rulez is the blog of Ric Locke, a long time commenter over at Protein Wisdom whose understanding of politics and personality surpasses that of 99.99 percent of all blogs out there. He wishes he had better teeth.

Popehat is group blog that primarily discusses legal issues though it far from draws a line at that. The commentary ranges from biting to the simply informative, but it is always manages to be interesting. Keep your eye on Ken. He gets sarcastic.

Little Green Footballs is one of the most popular blogs out there. It helped to expose the liar Dan Rather for who he is and also introduced me to the guitar talents of both Andy McKee and Monte Montgomery. Philosophically we have simply parted ways.

at 6:04 PM

In part six of her hard hitting series on liberal lies about health care, Ann Coulter says this:

But members of Congress, such as Reps. Dennis Kucinich, Jim Moran and John Olver, have all cited the U.S.'s relatively poor ranking in infant mortality among developed nations as proof that our medical care sucks. This is despite the fact that in many countries a baby born the size of Dennis Kucinich would not be considered a live birth.

My side hurts.

at 11:56 AM

I am a bit discouraged this morning with the way that things have progressed down in Lansing of late. Faced with unprecedented pressure on Michigan taxpayers and a growing number of citizens just waiting to flee the state for better opportunities, there are still a great number of politicians in Lansing chomping at the bit to raise taxes further in order to create jobs.

It seems as if every dollar taken from taxpayers these days is done for the purpose of creating jobs.

I love this quote.

"Police officers and firefighters protect our neighborhoods, our property and our lives," said House Speaker Andy Dillon (D-Redford Twp.). "We have to ensure that public safety remains a top priority. No business wants to locate in a state that allows criminals to take over its cities or doesn't have the manpower to respond to fires. To keep our residents safe and to grow our economy, we must protect the jobs of those who protect us."

It used to be that putting out a house fire was, you know, to save the house. It used to be that tossing criminals behind bars was to protect citizens and punish the offenders. Now, apparently, these activities are primarily engaged in to promote job creation. (Oh, if we don't want criminals to take over the cities perhaps Detroit will refrain in the future from electing people like Monica Conyers and Kwame Kilpatrick to office.)

I'm sort of partial to this quote too...

"In order to create good-paying jobs, we must have a highly educated workforce," said House Majority Leader Kathy Angerer (D-Dundee). "Promise Scholarships open the doors to higher education for a whole generation of kids who have worked hard for the chance to compete for 21st century jobs. If we want a strong middle class that will attract emerging industries, then we must provide our young people with access to an affordable college education."

It doesn't end there either. How many times have we heard that it is a "green economy" that will draw people to Michigan and help us compete for the jobs of tomorrow?

The moment is now to use our lean, retooled American manufacturing sector to build the green cars, batteries, a smart electric grid, wind turbines and solar panels that will lead us to energy independence.

It's a time of dramatic, historic, national transformation. And despite today's devastating news, Michigan is ready to lead.

The same argument is made about Michigan's inclusion in a high speed rail system.

"Public transportation has gone underutilized in Michigan for far too long. A strong, interconnected mass transportation system is absolutely vital to competing in the global marketplace and will trigger the economic development we need to turn things around here in Michigan."

It goes on and on and on.

There is virtually no line item in our state budget that cannot be used to argue that it helps to attract business and create jobs.

The problem is, of course, that this argument is exactly bass ackwards. It is a strong business community and the jobs and the wealth that it helps create that provides communities with the resources to adequately protect their citizens from fire and crime, educate its children, provide for public transportation systems, and creates the framework for tomorrow's businesses. It is never the other way around.

If Michigan bureaucrats want increasing wealth to return to this state it can only do so by creating conditions in which businesses can grow profitably, expand, and in turn hire people who will then pay reasonable taxes for police and fire protection, etc. It cannot be accomplished any other way, and it certainly cannot be accomplished by specifically promoting taxation and regulation that choke businesses of their ability to profit.

Too many of our elected officials, even after the second government shut down in only three years, still have not figured this out.

Now you know why I'm discouraged.

cross posted at Right Michigan

at 9:20 AM

I am extremely irritated by the defense that Roman Polanski has received by many who are connected to the entertainment business.

When did child rape become defensible? When did drugging 13 year old girls become a sympathetic activity? When did 44 year old men receive moral license to intimidate pubescent girls into sexual activity? If this were a 44 year old boss working in corporate America who had commented on a subordinate woman's breasts, he could expect to be vilified by every left-wing leaning actor, actress and director out there. It would be harassment and actionable. Who knows, maybe a movie would ensue.

Not these days. No, today we have Hollywood types lining up in support of a child rapist who has finally been arrested for a crime he himself has admitted to. His excuse has always been, essentially, that everyone wants to make it with little girls--he is only guilty of acting on a common desire.

Well, no wonder they are so sympathetic.

Now it is being suggested by some of the beautiful people that Switzerland should be boycotted for arresting the amorous opportunist. They are appalled that the Swiss would use a film festival as a guise to arrest Polanski. It is not fair. Polanski, they argue, felt he was safe in such a situation and the government's piercing of that perceived safety is a breach of trust.

A trust, it seems, that a 13 year old girl who made the mistake of going to a photo shoot with an unregistered pedophile with urges, should not expect to feel entitled to.

I think the wrong people are being boycotted.

at 11:53 AM

The Upper Peninsula rarely receives this kind of attention though it is richly deserved.

Please notice too the right panel in which there are several additional links to other articles about the U.P.

at 11:25 AM

to boycott the insanity of Hollywood it is its mindless defense of child rapist Roman Polanski.

That this pedophile has been allowed to travel the globe for thirty years free of punishment for his admitted guilt is tragic. That he is being defended by the beautiful people of entertainment because of his supposed contributions to film making is even more ludicrous.

We should not defend teacher rapists because of their contributions to education, nor should we defend priest molesters because of their dedication to the faith. No, we should toss their butts in jail just like we should Polanski. Why should Polanski get a pass because he has made some thought provoking artsy films and has Jack Nicholson for a friend?

As always, Whoopi has an opinion. She hates waterboarding. Anal child rape? Not necessarily.

h/ts to Ric's Rulez and Darlene at Protein Wisdom

at 9:44 AM

The Empire State Building will be bathed in red and yellow tomorrow to commemorate the 60th anniversary of communist China's bloody founding.

It is estimated that between 40,000,000 and 50,000,000 people were killed either outright by the communist regime or starved through China's misguided controls of agriculture, thought, and economy.

What's not to celebrate?

h/t Protein Wisdom

at 9:37 AM

I remember the old SNL skit where Dan Ackroyd and Bill Murray stormed into an apartment dressed as police officers and senselessly beat two suspected lesbians to death. In the end the X-police sadly lamented that homosexuality had claimed two more victims.

We have entered into that same state of ridiculousness in America where law enforcement officials can with a straight face defend themselves for handcuffing Grandma and tossing her in the back of a police cruiser for the hardened crime of buying two packages of cold medicine in less than one week's time.

When Sally Harpold bought cold medicine for her family back in March, she never dreamed that four months later she would end up in handcuffs.

Now, Harpold is trying to clear her name of criminal charges, and she is speaking out in hopes that a law will change so others won’t endure the same embarrassment she still is facing.

“This is a very traumatic experience,” Harpold said.

Harpold is a grandmother of triplets who bought one box of Zyrtec-D cold medicine for her husband at a Rockville pharmacy. Less than seven days later, she bought a box of Mucinex-D cold medicine for her adult daughter at a Clinton pharmacy, thereby purchasing 3.6 grams total of pseudoephedrine in a week’s time.

Those two purchases put her in violation of Indiana law 35-48-4-14.7, which restricts the sale of ephedrine and pseudoephedrine, or PSE, products to no more than 3.0 grams within any seven-day period.

Pseudoephedrine is used in the manufacture of methamphetamine. Her ignorance of this fact is no excuse. Her ignorance of the law is no excuse either. Come to think of it, the fact that she had no intent to abuse the product or make meth is no excuse either. Granny has broken the law. Pick her up!

Ken over at Popehat sums it up nicely.

Shut up, Sally Harpold and her supporters. Shut up, or it means you hate poor little meth babies. Shut up, or it means you are in favor of people destroying their lives with methamphetamine. Shut up, and don’t question government officials when they come up with increasingly arbitrary, hare-brained schemes calculated to make them look like they are doing something. Shut up, and love the little children.

Read Ken's whole take on things.

Then we can all lament the fact that illegal drugs may have helped ruin another life.

at 4:52 PM

Some dead birds are more equal than others.

On Aug. 13, ExxonMobil pleaded guilty in federal court to killing 85 birds that had come into contact with crude oil or other pollutants in uncovered tanks or waste-water facilities on its properties. The birds were protected by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, which dates back to 1918. The company agreed to pay $600,000 in fines and fees.

ExxonMobil is hardly alone in running afoul of this law. Over the past two decades, federal officials have brought hundreds of similar cases against energy companies. In July, for example, the Oregon-based electric utility PacifiCorp paid $1.4 million in fines and restitution for killing 232 eagles in Wyoming over the past two years. The birds were electrocuted by poorly-designed power lines.

Yet there is one group of energy producers that are not being prosecuted for killing birds: wind-power companies. And wind-powered turbines are killing a vast number of birds every year.

h/t small dead animals

at 6:52 AM

It is hard to imagine that there isn't a bit more money that can be cut from Michigan's DHS budget when it feels it still has enough resources to chase down and prosecute parents who might happen to watch over a neighbor's child or two before the bus arrives.

What we have here is not a government of the people. This is a government that operates on a plane above the people that seeks to herd and manipulate the population through intimidation. Why? Because it is their duty!

MIDDLEVILLE, Mich. (WZZM) - A West Michigan woman says the state is threatening her with fines and possibly jail time for babysitting her neighbors' children.

Lisa Snyder of Middleville says her neighborhood school bus stop is right in front of her home. It arrives after her neighbors need to be at work, so she watches three of their children for 15-40 minutes until the bus comes.

The Department of Human Services received a complaint that Snyder was operating an illegal child care home. DHS contacted Snyder and told her to get licensed, stop watching her neighbors' kids, or face the consequences.

If the DHS has enough resources to pay attention to this sort of thing they have too many resources.

In all honesty, I do not know of one single contemporary of mine who was either raised or raised children of his/her own in a fashion that would not run afoul of today's do-all-end-all-solve-all-fix-all government.

Birthday parties? Against the law! Baby sitting? Against the law! Kids in the yard playing baseball? Against the law! I'm sorry, but it is time for these jerks to get a grip and come to terms with their own diminishing importance.

Governer Granholm, I just found another $50 million in cuts!

h/t Protein Wisdom

Cold Fury has more.

at 6:36 PM

"We're here from the environmental police, ma'am. Do you have any 2-ply on the premises?"

at 11:20 AM

I wrote a week or so ago that those of us that live up here in the sticks are given short shift when it comes to our regional concerns. In essence, it was my point that regardless of the issue, regardless of the regional import, regardless of the impact on northerners versus the impact on southeastern Michiganders, it would largely be those in the Detroit area making the decisions.

I admitted then, and I admit now, that this is the way that it is, and population centers deserve more power than do us rural hicks anyway. After all, most of us country folk lose a majority of our teeth shortly after puberty and have only recently discovered the benefits of a good flush toilet. We need the guidance.

Now I hear that legislators have been meeting feverishly in Lansing to determine what bloody cuts it might be forced to make in order to balance our state's disastrous budget. I hear too that education is involved in these considerations. It makes complete logical sense to me that education would be one of those areas heaviest hit by the proposed cost cutting. After all, you cannot cut where you haven't spent. (Unless, that is, you are talking about cutting taxes to people who don't pay any. That can be done in a snap.)

A lot of big numbers are being thrown around. Perhaps one of the most significant is the $218 per student that state officials say will need to be cut to local school districts in order to help close the budget shortfall. The Detroit Free Press has posted a PDF document that does the math on how this cut will affect individual districts based upon their enrollment.

Two hundred and eighteen dollars is a lot of money when it is multiplied by the number of students in just about any district. But, $218 is a lot more money for schools that are funded at the tragically named "foundation grant" minimum of $7,316 per student, than it is for rich districts that receive much more money per student.

As an example, schools receiving the minimum per pupil funding would lose an equivalent of 2.98 percent per student, while the richest district of Bloomfield Hills, which receives $12,444 per student from the state, would lose only 1.75 percent of their funding.

If the goal is to come up with a certain number of dollars to be cut state wide from education, clearly the most equitable way to do this is to reduce funding to districts on a percentage basis rather than a basis that allows politically empowered (and rich) districts to keep more unto themselves while toothless northern children are forced to learn their gozintas on crudely fashioned desks made from deer antlers and dirt.

Of course, in the grand scheme of things, there are relatively few students that are compensated for at a much higher rate than the $7,316 minimum. If Birmingham, Bloomfield Hills, etc., were to have their budgets cut by a fairer $400 or so per student rather than the $218 evenly suggested for every district, the money saved from such an adjustment wouldn't amount to much of any reduction in cuts for the other districts. While this is certainly true, I do not believe it should relieve state legislators from such considerations just because rich districts have greater resources to fight these battles. (Incidentally, if a real battle does erupt you should be warned that our kids know how to use slingshots.)

The budget process is not an easy one especially in hard times when revenues are plummeting. In light of that, if education dollars need to be cut, so be it. However, the Michigan legislature owes it to the entire state of Michigan and its children that any cuts that are made are made equitably.

cross posted at Right Michigan

at 9:56 AM

Does orthodontia ever end?

at 1:21 PM

John Conyers was very concerned about allegations made in 1998 in Arkansas against ACORN, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, when a contractor for one of its affiliated groups was arrested for falsifying almost 400 voter registration cards. Conyers, like the skilled politician he has proven himself to be during his century or so in office, was able to set aside these concerns after determining that a one-time fraud could not be indicative of the total operation.

I'm certain Conyers was extremely concerned too in 2003 when it was alleged that the registration cards ACORN submitted in St. Louis were only 37% valid. But, since it had been five years since the previous incident, Conyers wisely decided to hold his tongue and keep a closer eye on the organization to assure its motives and means continued to be as clean as the wind driven snow.

In 2004, when voter registration fraud was alleged against ACORN and its contractors in Colorado, Florida, Michigan, Minnesota, North Carolina, New Mexico, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, Conyers had tolerated almost more than he could stand. It took a Herculean effort to keep from marching down to ACORN himself and busting some heads. He decided, thankfully, on a more modest and silent approach in which he would take detailed notes.

Again in 2005, when allegations surfaced in Colorado, Virginia and New Mexico over ACORN perpetrated voter fraud, our Johnny on the spot Conyers squirmed with indignation over the abuses. Taxpayer money might be being wasted in a mass-scale fraud! There was perjury! There was forgery! There may have been other crimes that end in 'ry' committed! If not for the Godlike self-control of one John Conyers, heads would have been lopped off that very day!

In 2006, ACORN once again had employees under federal indictment, this time in Missouri. Since it was the only major problem involving ACORN for the year, Mr. Conyers took a pill, got his blood pressure down to a normal level, and then spent a bunch of quality time his temperate and genteel wife, Monica.

2007, however, was a year of great disappointment for John Conyers. ACORN representatives were charged with voter registration related crimes in Washington (worst in state history,) Ohio, and again in Missouri. Why, if it hadn't been for the barely noticeable transgressions during the previous year, Mr. Conyers would have been all over those fraud merchants.

In the year 2008 a great anger settled within the spirit of John Conyers. ACORN had once again been accused of frauds, this time in Connecticut, Florida, Indiana, Michigan, Missouri, North Carolina, New Mexico, Nevada, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Wisconsin. It was decided right then and there. All it will take, thought John Conyers, is one more year of inexcusable and embarrassing behavior by ACORN before I will jump all over it! And I mean it!

Now it is 2009.

Even more voter fraud allegations have surfaced this year against ACORN, this time in Pennsylvania and Nevada. Also, an amateur film team disguised itself as a laughable pimp and unconvincing hooker and went undercover to investigate the organization at various offices. This journalistic investigation was one

“in which individuals have reportedly visited ACORN offices, misrepresented their identities and proposed activities, surreptitiously videotaped resulting conversations with ACORN workers, and widely distributed them.”

“Conflicting allegations have been made about the propriety of these activities. Please research and report on the federal and state laws that could apply to such videotaping and distribution of conversations without the consent of all parties.”

Indeed, John Conyers has finally sprung into action.

h/t Rotton Acorn

at 8:30 AM

Well, not the clunker numbers really, but the new vehicles that were purchased from auto dealerships through the cash for clunkers program.

There are some interesting things to note among the total numbers.

For instance, thirteen of the twenty hottest selling vehicles under the program were manufactured by foreign owned automobile companies.

Chevrolet, a product of GM, one of only two American automobile companies that accepted aid from the federal government, had three vehicles on the list. One of those three vehicles was the Chevrolet Silverado, a truck not widely recognized as being a gas saver. Chrysler, the other American producer to accept aid, had no cars on the top twenty list. Ford had three vehicles on the list, one of them being the F-150 truck.

Some environmentalists had complained that the program would lead some consumers to trade in their clunkers to buy a Hummer. The data showed that 15 2009 Hummer H3T with four-wheel drive models were purchased through Clunkers.

There is no doubt that the cash for clunkers program will pad the sales statistics for the time that it was in place. The next challenge for manufacturers will be to keep the sales momentum going despite high unemployment and low consumer confidence.

at 10:05 AM

When local Traverse City officials contemplate the banning of smoking in city parks I have to think of them as being good faith operators. I believe that they want to eliminate smoking for all the right reasons.

"People need to understand that parks should encourage active lifestyles and healthy living. That's what parks should represent," said Nathan Elkins, chairman of Traverse City's Parks and Recreation Commission.

When did it become the de facto purpose of public lands to set a social agenda, and when this purpose was determined, why was it universally decided that the lands in question needed to celebrate a healthy lifestyle rather than say, a lifestyle of freedom? Aren't both necessary to harbor the wonders of a functioning democracy? (Well, actually no. A functioning free society could theoretically be created and maintained by a bunch of pot bellied pork eaters, while a society of physically fit humans can live in a virtual boot camp with practically no freedom? Sorry, I like to quibble.)

The parks commission recommends city commissioners adopt a total smoke-free policy for city parks because it would be easier to enforce than an ordinance that called for no smoking within so many feet of playground equipment, pavilions and such, said Lauren Vaughn, the city's parks and recreation superintendent.

"I think this is a great idea," said Commissioner Jim Carruthers.

Carruthers is often frustrated by smokers who litter by throwing their cigarette butts on the ground, litter that eventually washes into storm drains and into the bay, he said.

I admit that smokers leave those little butts laying everywhere, and they have no one to blame but themselves for the scrutiny that this creates, heck, dog owners have to pick up more disgusting things when Fido does his business, but aren't there already anti-littering ordinances on the books to keep slobbish smokers from tossing trash on the ground?

Why does a difficulty in law enforcement have to result in the restricting of freedoms instead of the expansion of freedom?

Others agreed.

"I think this is a step we should take for public safety, if nothing else," said Commissioner Ralph Soffredine.

Lisa Danto, coordinator for the Traverse Bay Area Tobacco Coalition, said second-hand smoke is dangerous -- even outdoors -- considering how many children use city parks. Additionally, adults who smoke in city parks set a bad example for young people, she said.

"If kids see that it's normal, they are more likely to try it," Danto said.

A proposed ordinance will be written for city commissioners to consider, said R. Ben Bifoss, city manager.

Of course, the most talked about reason behind this sort of ordinance is the protection of park users from the dangers of second hand smoke.

We will see how seriously city commissioners take this safety crusade if their attempts at protecting the health of park users end at outlawing smoking in parks while allowing the insidious use of particulate producing campfires and the consumption of carcinogen laden grilled animal meats on property.

How else are we to judge the sincere benevolence of our rulers if we are not equally protected from all potential danger?

at 5:31 PM

Teaching is not an easy job. I get that. My kids still don't pick up their stuff like they should and say "like" too often.

I therefore appreciate teachers that thinks long and hard about their job day after day. Our society has changed and the children have changed too. I admire teachers who try to replace ineffective teaching methods with new ones that are more challenging and thought provoking to today's students who are entering a post-adolescent world with more challenges than the one I lived in when I entered college.

I'm not so sure that I appreciate teachers who push the envelope trying to produce the sorts of degenerate thought provocation that students might run into while living in a crazy world.

An English teacher is being closely monitored at Kingswood Regional High School after administrators said she assigned an inappropriate essay topic to her students.

Jack Robertson, superintendent of the Governor Wentworth Regional School District, said the teacher asked students to respond to the question: "If you knocked your brother down, would you urinate in his mouth?"

The question was posed as part of creative writing assignment to a class of about 12 or 13 seniors. Robertson said the question was designed to help motivate students to improve their writing, but he said the teacher lacked good judgment in assigning the question.

The teacher is now having her assignments monitored by a supervisor.

h/t Right Nation

at 10:00 AM

If you Michiganders have ever experienced the feeling that the political clout in your state is heavily weighted toward southeast Michigan, well, just look at Michigan's district maps. If I were to drop a political marble here in Oscoda County it would start with a creeping southward roll and pick up speed its entire journey until it plunked neatly into the waters of the Detroit River, pulling ever farther to the left the more southward it traveled.

Of Michigan's 110 state House districts, 23 are located in Wayne County, 14 more are either all or in part in Oakland County, and nine more are all or in part of Macomb County. For those keeping record, that is a little less than 42% of Michigan's house districts.

Things are even worse in the Michigan Senate where its three most populous counties provide anchor for all or part of 16 of the state's 38 total Senate districts. That is a little over 42%.

For a bunch of old white guys the Founding Fathers, despite having very slow internet connections, were reasonably astute. When the different colonies were discussing the formation of a new country, each colony greedily protected its own best interests. Heavily populated states demanded power based on total suffrage. Smaller states threatened to spurn the new country if they would only be joining a country in which they would be politically dominated by larger states. Thus was born the "Great Compromise."

However, unlike our nation's Congress, the Michigan legislature was designed with no encumbrance of balancing out the raw powers of large populations with areas politically weakened by small populations, even though some of the sparsely populated areas are much larger.

Let us look at it another way.

Trace a line from the southern border of Iosco Country on Lake Huron all the way across the Lower Peninsula to the southern county line of Manistee County on Lake Michigan. Now, cross out all areas north of that line including the entire Upper Peninsula. Then cross out the counties of Lake, Osceola, Mecosta, Clare, Gladwin and Midland Counties. That entire crossed out area is divided up into four separate Michigan senate districts--exactly half the number of senate districts that are neatly tucked inside Wayne County. In effect, the land area of 614 square miles in Wayne County has twice as much representation as areas that cover over 30,000 square miles of landscape from Mid-Michigan, throughout Northern Michigan, and including the entire Upper Peninsula.

For the record, I have no philosophical problem with there being more power in Detroit and the immediately surrounding area. It would be patently unfair for an area with such a disproportionately large population to be underrepresented in affairs that affect populations. And, frankly, I feel there has been no short changing here. The pain I feel is in the duplicate layering of power in both chambers of the legislature that fails to recognize the importance of land mass and resources. It is this duplication of power in both chambers that creates an undue disproportion. When legislation is considered that affects land and leisure and resources, why should Wayne County and its surrounding counties be able to trump all the wants and desires of those who literally live on and manage the majority of the lands?

Of course, like Mom used to tell me, we have what we have, and we have to play with the cards we are dealt. (No, that couldn't have been Mom--she never approved of cards. It must have been Grandma.)

Anyway, as a whining northerner, I was just kind of wondering if anyone else had noticed.

cross posted at Right Michigan

at 1:18 PM

The Bay City Times has a brief article on line today that laments Michigan still being behind in the installation portion of the solar energy craze.

Imagine that.

I was going to do a lengthy blog post on this but discovered that The Blogprof has already got it covered.

He asks:

I've asked this many times before in this blog, but shouldn't media writers that are assigned to technology issues have a simple modicum of competence in the field?

Why? Competence is not a requirement in the furtherance of a narrative.

at 12:35 PM

Jimmy Carter accuses conservatives of racism for resisting much of what Barack Obama supports.

"That racism inclination still exists, and I think it's bubbled up to the surface because of belief among many white people -- not just in the South but around the country -- that African-Americans are not qualified to lead this great country. It's an abominable circumstance, and it grieves me and concerns me very deeply."

There are few charges that can be made against anyone these days that are more personally condemnable than that of being a racist. It is the new leprosy.

It is a huge mistake for Democrats to accuse conservatives of being racists for several reasons. First of all, while it may be true in some instances, by and large the resistance to Obama's policies is due to disagreements on principle. The same people that dislike Obama's governance are just as resistant to the ideas of Noseholes Waxman and Snakeskin Pelosi. When an accusation of racism is charged it is only interpretable by the person against whom the charge is made. If it is true the racist cares little about the accusation. If it is false it exposes the accuser of being full of crap.

Secondly, racism is a charge that needs to be reserved for racists. Ugly words with ugly meanings must remain ugly or they soon lose their meaning. The term sexual predator or sexual deviant used to mean something and with it came the proper revulsion. Now, in selected locations around the country, these labels can be applied to pre-teens for showing the poor judgment of spanking members of the opposite sex on the bottom, or indiscriminately showered on lacrosse players before trial who stand accused of rape without a shred of proof.

When terminology is allowed to rot or erode the meaning and purpose of language disassembles with it. People who hate racism need the word racist to mean something other than 'political opponent.'

Finally, identity politics is a powerful tool that is being used here to bludgeon opponents of Barack Obama into shutting up. Racism is a charge that is so ugly that most people will take a step back when the insult is thrown. They step back not because the charge is true but rather they want so diligently to be unattached to such an ugly accusation. This is a tactic that can only be successful against non-racists. Racists care little about such accusations and will keep on protesting. Non-racists who continue to resist must do so under a shroud of undeserved condemnation. No wonder it works so often.

Thankfully most people have stopped long ago worrying about the accusations of a man quite universally recognized as our worst ex-President.

at 12:23 PM

The BBC reports today that three Islamic plotters who intended to down several passenger jets between the UK and North America in a spectacular massacre that would rival that of 9/11, have been given life terms.

Airline plot trio get life terms

Three men who plotted to blow up liquid bombs on flights from the UK to North America have been jailed for life, with minimum terms of up to 40 years.

Ringleader Abdulla Ahmed Ali, 28, was jailed for at least 40 years.

Plot "quartermaster" Assad Sarwar, 29, must serve at least 36 years, while Tanvir Hussain, 28, was jailed for at least 32 years at Woolwich Crown Court.

[...]

A fourth man, Umar Islam, 31, convicted of the more general conspiracy to murder charge, was also given a life sentence and will serve a minimum of 22 years in prison.

A life sentence is not a minimum of 32 years or 36 years or even 40 years regardless of what the government tells us it is. A life sentence should mean, by definition, that the sentenced perpetrator would be ultimately hauled out of prison as cold as a mackerel however long it takes to reach room temperature.

It was not long ago that the convicted Lockerbie bomber, also sentenced to multiple life terms, was released early by Scottish authorities on compassionate grounds. The bomber reportedly has advancing stages of colon cancer.

It seems disingenuous to me that the public should be falsely pacified with statements assuring that evildoers will spend the rest of their lives behind bars when, the truth be told, a terrorist could be fully capable of bombing something else at the comfortable old age of 60 (or 53 in Islam's case) after being released having served the minimum sentence.

Fine, sentence these murders to 40,36 and 32 years. Just don't tell me it is a life sentence.

at 8:17 AM

h/t Michelle Malkin

at 9:05 AM

Up until a week a go Joe Wilson was a substantially anonymous member of the South Carolina delegation to the US House of Representatives. That anonymity lasted about five seconds after he called out "You lie!" from the floor during a speech by President Obama trying to sell his massive socialist takeover of the health care industry.

"You lie!"

I have said that I think there are better places for outbursts like this to occur, but there is no questioning that his questionable antics have gathered much fruit. His outburst, while breaching decorum, is hardly unprecedented unless you look at what was said through the magnifying lens of minutia.

The Detroit Free Press has a headline today titled Outburst in speech may be a 1st in U.S. Wow. Really?

Fred Beuttler, deputy historian at the House of Representatives, called the Wilson incident "highly unusual, if not unique."

"Occasionally, members of the opposing party have been known to boo and jeer as expressions of dissent on a specific point," Beuttler said. But before Wednesday, he says, "expressions of individual opposition of members to a president's speech had not been recorded."

My emphasis. So, the fact that it was a one member outburst make it unique?

Some have compared Wilson's outburst to those that occur routinely in Britain's House of Commons, when the prime minister is answering questions. But one political analyst says this is vastly different because the prime minister isn't the head of state.

"We expect a certain amount of deference to the president in the same way as we would for the queen," said Steven Cohen, professor of public administration at Columbia University.

Unless, of course, it is a whole pack of outbursting Democrats booing the bejeebus out of a President's assertion during a speech that Social Security will face insolvency if something is not done soon.

To another political analyst, it's the nature of the accusation -- an elected official calling the president a liar -- that is not only a serious breach (accusations of lying are forbidden under House rules) but also extremely rare in politics.

"Accusing someone of lying is impugning their integrity," said Kathleen Hall Jamieson, an expert on political communication at the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania.

So, an organized boo and hiss session perpetrated by Democrats when a Republican president is standing behind the podium is not specifically calling the President a liar, and is therefor a lot different and more forgivable than a solitary member momentarily losing his composure and yelling out "You lie!"

Thanks. I'm glad we got that cleared up.

at 3:39 PM

Central Michigan University!

at 5:02 PM

Now that abortion protester James Pouillon has been shot dead outside of a Michigan school this morning, I wonder how long it will be before Gloria Steinem, Nancy Pelosi, and Rosie O'Donnell are blamed.

Colbry said the grievances were not known in detail, but that the killing of Mr. Puillon was related to the latter’s anti-abortion protest.

Why would I wonder such a thing?

When late term abortionist Doctor George Tiller was stalked and killed in the lobby of his church earlier this year, it did not take long for the news to spread around the world.

It was as if Bill O'Reilly and Rush Limbaugh had taken out a contract on Tiller's head. They were as much to blame for the killing as was the shooter himself according to the blatherings on the Huffington Post, Democratic Underground, and the Daily Kos.

For the record, though I am pro-life, I did not defend Tiller for his actions and support him being punished to the fullest extent allowable. Murder is Murder.

This nut and the nut that killed Tiller are two peas in the same pod. I've been consistent. Will the same be true of the left and the media? Will this even make the newscasts?

---

Update: The Blog Prof is all over this!

at 10:04 AM

It is difficult for me to get very exercised over the Joe Wilson outburst during President Obama's speech on health care the other night.

"You lie!" is not actually a very novel accusation to make in Washington politics these days. That same accusation, or forms of it, has been a great seller when emblazoned on political paraphernalia. T-shirts, coffee mugs, banners, buttons...you name it and the words "Bush lied!" have been printed on it.

So, we know that it isn't the words chosen that pushed this incident onto the front pages of newspapers across the country or dominated the political airwaves.

Heckling, while I feel it is not appropriate in the chambers of Congress, is far from unprecedented. The 2005 State of the Union address by President Bush was roundly booed by many democratic members of Congress when he discussed the future insolvency of Social Security during the speech. That heckling too was a major point of political discussion over the days following the address, but I do not recall any one member of Congress being singled out for doing the booing. I guess there is safety in numbers when it comes to booing presidential speeches. I also do not recall any member of Congress apologizing for losing it at that time while in those hallowed halls.

Wilson, however, quickly apologized for losing control during the speech. This is good, though not good enough for those who cannot remember 2005 and have forgotten about all those political t-shirts they have neatly folded in the dresser at home. For the record, Wilson is not backing down necessarily from what he said, but for his chosen venue.

How about this solution...from now on politicians can call each other names, assassinate each other's character, can market the accusations, and can even try to make political points when the other side does the same thing while gasping at the outrage.

Just dot't expect people that can remember more than a couple years back to get all that bent out of shape over it.

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