Any hope for Muskegon?

Probably not until they realize their problem is what the City does, not what employers do. When was the last time anyone (Chronicle?) asked a businessperson who chose to relocate elsewhere why they chose a location other than Muskegon? I guess it's best to not ask a question if you don't want to hear the answer. Bummer....

What's is it with democrats?

For what seems like the hundredth time a newly introduced, friendly democrat gave me a "compliment".
"gee, for a republican, you're not such a bad guy". Add "stupid", "greedy", "selfish" I received from others. My new democrat "friend" preened as she glowed in her good nature......

Guilty of murder?

St. Paul Pioneer Press 12/24/2005 Two charged in teen's heroin death: "Posted on Sat, Dec. 24, 2005Two charged in teen's heroin deathAssociated PressTwo people remain in jail Friday after being charged in the death of a 17-year-old Cedarburg girl who died of a heroin overdose shortly after getting her driver's license.Benjamin R. Stibbe, 23, of Grafton and Caitlin E. Schuette, 17, of Cedarburg were each charged Thursday with first-degree reckless homicide in the death of Angela Raettig, who died Nov. 30 of a heroin overdose, according to a criminal complaint.The two are being charged under Wisconsin's rarely used 1989 Len Bias law, which allows for someone who provides drugs that are a 'substantial factor' in a death to be prosecuted for homicide.Bias, a star basketball player at the University of Maryland and draft pick of the Boston Celtics, died of a drug overdose in 1986.Schuette and Stibbe face up to 40 years in prison if convicted of the charges. Stibbe is being held in lieu of $50,000 bond and Schuette's bond is set at $30,000, jail officials said.According to the criminal complaint, Schuette, Raettig and 19-year-old Ryan Hinkle were at Hinkle's apartment Nov. 29.'(Schuette) stated that Angela had just gotten her driver's license and they had decided to go to Milwaukee to get some heroin,' the complaint said.Stibbe says Raettig called him on Scheutte's cell phone to set up the transaction, but Stibbe refused to deal with Raettig since he did not know her or Hinkle, the complaint said.He agreed to arrange the purchase once Schuette, whom he knew, got on the phone, and the complaint says Stibbe and the group met in Milwaukee with a heroin dealer.Stibbe told investigators Schuette gave him $50 and Raettig gave him two $20 bills, which he used to buy four bags of an unspecified amount of heroi"

better every year

Instapundit.com -: "Then again, maybe that attitude is explained by this passage: 'During an election year, D.C.'s standards of attractiveness -- already graded on a generous curve -- tracked to availability and not physical beauty. It's like the Special Olympics of sex, Melanie thought. Everyone's a winner!'
Unlike the lovers, the laptops get better every year . . . .
posted at 08:25 PM by Glenn Reynolds"

Global warming junk science

Mlive.com's Printer-Friendly Page: "
Global warming evidence is truly frightening
Wednesday, December 14, 2005
The recent United Nations Climate Change Conference ended on a disturbing note -- and no, it wasn't the weaseling diplomatic posture of the United States in regards to its responsibilities as a member of the world community to reduce the so-called 'greenhouse gases' that may well be contributing to the phenomena of global warming. It was the actual evidence itself that keeps mounting up even as we Americans do our best to pretend nothing much out of the ordinary is really happening.
Two recent developments have added an additional chill to the other scientific warnings that have been piling up since the 1960s, when scientists recorded global temperatures inching higher. The first was a finding by a team of European researchers studying ice core samples drawn from the innermost recesses of Antarctica. They show that there is more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere today than at any point during the last 650,000 years.
The second is a more recent finding, that of the measurement of the currents that flow in the Atlantic Ocean that carries warmer Gulf Stream water toward Northern Europe. The overall circulation of these currents, say scientists from the National Oceanography Center in Great Britain, has slowed by some 30 percent since a similar set of measurements was examined back in 1957. The Atlantic Current directly impacts weather in Europe, and a slowdown would be expected to have a tremendous impact on conditions ranging from weather to ocean fisheries.
Meanwhile, an almost stunning range of climate-related data continues to pour in -- the melting of ancient glaciers worldwide, the shrinking of the North Pole and speculation that it might disappear entirely within our children's lifetimes, t"

Chronicle continues its race baiting

If there is some "there" there, then this is a worthy story. Anyone gotta a guess what really happened and how the Chronicle will report it if the "there" doesn't exist? Gotta love their commitment to better race relations....... sophistry!

Mlive.com's Printer-Friendly Page: "

Parent accuses school district of racist treatment
Monday, January 02, 2006
By Nate Reens
CHRONICLE NEWS SERVICE
A former third-grader at a Benzie County school alleges in a federal lawsuit that administrators forced her to use a separate bathroom and students taunted her with racial slurs and threats because she is black.

Imagine if Gill was white....

... and said the same crap!

Mlive.com's Printer-Friendly Page: "


County board chairman fight goes to court
Tuesday, January 03, 2006
By Steve Gunn
CHRONICLE STAFF WRITER
If it comes, the election of the Muskegon County Board chairman likely will qualify as an anti-climax compared to the pre-election uproar.
Lawyers were scheduled to be in court today fighting over whether a chairman's election should be part of the board's annual organizational meeting Wednesday.
Bill Gill, the current board chairman, recently filed suit in 14th Circuit Court, seeking to determine whether the majority of county commissioners have the legal right to replace him as chairman.
The suit named commissioners John Snider, Chuck Buzzell, James Derezinski, Robert Scolnik, Marvin Engle and Steve Wisniewski as defendants.

Micheal Andretti back at Indy 500 this year!

Al right! He may be a geezer, but he's a legend and the son of a greater legend! Yeah!

Newspaper ignorance!

Why even read the junk science these ignoramuses print?

Mlive.com's Printer-Friendly Page: "
Error shifts local rankings on bad air 'list of infamy'
Thursday, December 15, 2005
By Jeff Alexander and Dave LeMieux
CHRONICLE STAFF WRITERS
Muskegon Heights can breathe easy, but Muskegon County residents who live along the Lake Michigan coast may be wheezy due to industrial air pollution that blows across the lake from Chicago and Gary, Ind.
That was the gist of a correction The Associated Press issued late Wednesday, after the news service reported that people living in Muskegon Heights breathe some of the nation's most polluted air.
An AP story read on TV newscasts and published in newspapers across the state Wednesday, including The Chronicle, reported that four of the state's five most at-risk neighborhoods for health hazards due to industrial air pollution were in Muskegon Heights. As it turns out, residents in four mostly white areas in Muskegon, Norton Shores and Roosevelt Park face some of the nation's most serious health risks from breathing polluted air, according to EPA data analyzed by the AP.
Local health officials said they are skeptical of the rankings and the methods used to create them.
'It doesn't seem plausible to me,' said Ken Kraus, director of the Muskegon County Health Department. 'It would seem to me that places producing the pollution, places like Houston, Detroit and Gary, would have the highest pollution levels.
'There has to be some dissipation of that stuff (smog-forming air pollution) when it comes across the lake,' Kraus said.
Muskegon Heights City Manager Melvin C. Burns II said he didn't think Wednesday's erroneous article will have a long-range negative effect on the city.
'It's safe to breathe the air in Muskegon Heights,' Burns said. 'We kno"

Huh?

Didn't Gary Thrasher just stiff a bunch of folks who he owed money to at Dockers?

Planning commission OKs permit for tavern: "Planning commission OKs permit for tavern
Saturday, December 17, 2005
By Robert C. Burns
CHRONICLE STAFF WRITER
A bar and restaurant planned for West Western Avenue in downtown Muskegon got a boost from the city's planning commission Thursday.
Planning commissioners unanimously approved a special-use permit for the single-story building at 609 W. Western -- future home of The Tipsy Toad Tavern........
Gary Thrasher, Hoby's older brother, describes himself as a 'managing partner' in The Tipsy Toad. He also has been involved in a number of local drinking and dining establishments, most recently Dockers at Harbour Towne. "

The Best Web 2.0 Software of 2005

Nifty
The Best Web 2.0 Software of 2005 (web2.wsj2.com)

Clinton's "Boogie to Baghdad"

Chronicle kinda forgot to HEADLINE this fact....bummer.

Remember please remember "Boogie to Baghdad": "In case you don't remember, "Boogie to Baghdad" is the phrase that Richard Clarke, when he was the top White House counterterrorism official during the Clinton administration, used to express his fear that if American forces pushed Osama bin Laden too hard at his hideout in Afghanistan, bin Laden might move to Iraq, where he could stay in the protection of Saddam Hussein."

Anita Bryant's Cure

Didn't this gal used to sell Florida orange juice?
Anita Bryant's Cure (National Lampoon Spoof: 1977)

In Remembrance

Remembering those who gave the last full measure.

In Remembrance: "The Moving Tributes below were created by friends and family of the men and women featured on the In Remembrance site.

To view a tribute, please click on the service member's name. The tribute will load in a new window"

Shop-Till-You-Drop Specials, Revealed Here First - New York Times

Amazing site for SuperShoppers
The NYT finally has a column without a lie!
The "specials" site is bf2005.net

Shop-Till-You-Drop Specials, Revealed Here First - New York Times:
"November 17, 2005
Shop-Till-You-Drop Specials, Revealed Here First
By MICHAEL BARBARO
For retailers, the day after Thanksgiving is a painstakingly orchestrated affair.
Prices are scientifically slashed, down to the penny. Sales begin at dawn. And glossy circulars containing the well-laid plans are distributed just a day or two ahead to keep consumers and competitors in the dark.
Or at least that is how it worked before people like Michael Brim came along. From a cramped dorm room in California, Mr. Brim, an 18-year-old college freshman who dines on Lucky Charms and says he rarely shops, is abruptly pulling back the curtain on the biggest shopping day of the year.
His Web site, BF2005.net, publishes the circulars for what retailers call Black Friday - the day that officially starts the holiday shopping season - weeks ahead of time.
So far this year, sources have leaked advertisements to him from Toys 'R' Us (showing the Barbie Fashion Show Mall, regularly $99.99, for $29.97); Sears (a Canon ZR100 MiniDV camcorder, regularly $329.99, for $249.99); and Ace Hardware (a Skil 12-volt drill, regularly $44.99, for $24.99)."

NS Mayor has his own plans!

Chronicle shocked!

Mlive.com's Printer-Friendly Page: "City faces some 'hard decisions,' new mayor says
Tuesday, November 15, 2005
By Nancy Stier
CHRONICLE CORRESPONDENT
New Norton Shores Mayor Jerry Wiersma said the city faces some 'hard decisions' because voters last week rejected a new charter that would have allowed for gradual increases in property taxes.
But Wiersma, sworn in Monday as the new mayor after giving up the city council seat he has held for 18 years, plans to go slow at first.
He said that during his first few months in office he intends to 'feel my way along,' essentially preserving the status quo until the council collectively works with staff in February on the next city budget. "

Irony?

The Chronicle posits that a wife cheater can't promote the institution of marriage. Suggesting "just go away". Never heard that during their Clinton crush. Hypocracy!

Mlive.com's Printer-Friendly Page: "There is a certain irony here, especially in Cox's case, that bears a parting comment. This Attorney General was a poster boy for last year's anti-gay marriage amendment, and for taking away unmarried partner benefits in alliance with those who scream these are destroying 'the sacred institution of marriage.' Such hypocrisy.
Please, Mr. Cox and Mr. Fieger: Just go away. "

Chronicle idiocy about the NS millage

The Chronicle editorial board has no clue about how a city might "maintain services" other than to give polititians a blank check. Well, how 'bout demanding that our leaders articulate the specifics of the spending need? And show us how they've been thrifty in the past?

Mlive.com's Printer-Friendly Page: "Voters left communities without answers
Sunday, November 13, 2005
The hard work of actually running local government became much more difficult last week after voters in Norton Shores, Roosevelt Park, North Muskegon and Grand Haven, and a number of local townships, turned down ballot issues that, yes, would have raised taxes, but more importantly were aimed at keeping communities livable and safe.
So now that the voters have had their say at the ballot box on these various tax-related issues, what can local officials do to maintain the services people expect and deserve. Anyone? "

The Chronicle doesn't tell you this!

Amazing how the MSM kinda forgets this stuff....

This war is for real: "1. When did the threat to us start?
Many will say September 11, 2001. The answer, as far as the United States is concerned, is 1979 � 22 years prior to September 2001 � with the following attacks on us:
Iran Embassy Hostages, 1979;
Beirut, Lebanon, Embassy, 1983;
Beirut, Lebanon, Marine Barracks, 1983;
Lockerbie, Scotland, Pan-Am flight to New York, 1988;
First New York World Trade Center attack, 1993;
Oklahoma City � Murrah Federal Building, 1995;
Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, Khobar Towers Military complex, 1996;
Nairobi, Kenya, U.S. Embassy, 1998;
Dares Salaam, Tanzania, U.S. Embassy, 1998;
Aden, Yemen, USS Cole, 2000;
New York, World Trade Center, 2001;
Pentagon, 2001;
Shanksville, Pennsylvania, Plane Crash, 2001
(Note that during the period from 1981 to 2001 there were 7,581 terrorist attacks worldwide). "

Lots of complaints about Muskegon Cops, or the lack of...

If this isn't addressed soon the City may well go the way of Benton Harbor.
MLive.com: Muskegon Town Talk Forum
6462. ? about police dept.
by missygal, 6/17/05 9:10 ET
We had a problem in our area with teens/people destroying property during the night and when I asked why the patrol cars don't notice things going on I was told that we only have 4 patrol cars for the whole city at night and those officers have to answer all types of calls that come in. I was also told that there are more officers who work inside the dept. mostly during the day hours than really necessary. Instead of putting them on the road our chief has decided to have them "inside" even the new officers that we thought were going to be out on patrol. During the day we have a few more "community officers" on duty but they have other jobs to do under their job description too

Senior Democrat gives aid to our enemies!

If there is any question about differences between the GOPers and the Democrats, Durban's sick rant should end the debate. He's the second highest ranking Demo senator. The Democrats are clearly the political party that supports the forces who would kill our soldiers. Disgusting. And the MSM won't let the masses know the truth.

Nets Target U.S. Military "Abuses," But Skip Dick Durbins "Nazi" Rant " -- 06/16/2005 - Media Research Center - Media Reality Check: "A Democratic Senate Senate Leader Compares American Soldiers To POL POT, Stalin's Gulag, and Nazis- Why Is That Not News?
Nets Target U.S. Military 'Abuses,'
But Skip Dick Durbins 'Nazi' Rant '
Complaints about the U.S. military's treatment of terrorists at Guantanamo Bay were once again featured on all three broadcast network evening newscasts Wednesday. Full stories on ABC, CBS and NBC cast the military on the defensive at congressional hearings. CBS Evening News anchor Bob Schieffer � who has likened Guantanamo to the 'Hanoi Hilton,' the infamous North Vietnamese prison camp � grumped that 'Congress asked a lot of questions today' about Guantanamo, but 'the problem is, they didn't get many answers.'
ABC followed up its story on yesterday's hearings with a second full report by ABC's Terry Moran, who zeroed in on a memo written more than two years ago by a Navy lawyer questioning the interrogation techniques at Guantanamo. Only in the last sentence of a nearly three-minute story did Moran allow how the issue is really moot, as Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld had 'dialed back' the rules of interrogation in early 2003.
But while the networks kept their spotlight on the U.S. military's conduct, none of last night's broadcasts bothered to note a Tuesday speech by Minority Whip Dick Durbin � the second highest ranking Democrat in the Senate. Describing the treatment of al-Qaeda terrorists at the Guantanamo prison � including allegations that inmates are kept too hot or too cold, or forced to stay awake � Durbin wildly charged that 'you would most certainly believe this must have been done by Nazis, Soviets in their gulags, or some "

Legal opinion may break county impasse on board chair

Ain't legal opinions great?

Legal opinion may break county impasse on board chair: "Legal opinion may break county impasse on board chair
Tuesday, June 14, 2005
By Steve Gunn
CHRONICLE STAFF WRITER
Most Muskegon County commissioners have resisted making Bill Gill chairman of the county board, but it appears they may accept him in that role for at least six months due to the legal persuasion of Muskegon County Prosecutor Tony Tague.
In an opinion released to commissioners last week, Tague wrote that Gill, vice chairman of the county board, automatically became chairman when former Commissioner Paul Baade resigned from the position in May.
According to Tague, Gill has the legal right to complete the balance of Baade's term"

Enviro-hypocrites!

Where are the hoards of environmentalists on this never-ending disgrace. If this was a tax-paying business dumping endlessly the enviro-leftists would (correctly) be screaming bloody murder! But because it is "government" pissing in our water it's OK? What hypocrites!

Warning issued after sewage overflow: "Warning issued after sewage overflow
Tuesday, June 14, 2005
FROM LOCAL REPORTS
A no-contact advisory has been issued for the entire length of the Grand River in Ottawa County until Thursday.
The advisory was issued Monday because the city of Grand Rapids released an estimated 1.73 million gallons of untreated sewage Saturday. The advisory will expire at 8 a.m. Thursday according to the Ottawa County Health Department. "

Forgot the "F" word!

This editorial from the Milwaukee Sentinel is "exhibit one" in media bias. They intentionally mislabel Democrats as Dixiecrats (a term made up by the media. The Senators were members of the Democrat Party, not the dixiecrat party.) and, what a surprise! They forget to mention that the Democrats used the FILIBUSTER to defeat this bill when it was introduced. But our media somehow forgets to tell us that it was the Democrat filibuster that kept the lynching bill from passing. But when GOPers want to restrict the Filibuster it's a horror. Gimme a break....

JS Online: Editorial: Senate apology is first step: "Editorial: Senate apology is first step
From the Journal Sentinel
Posted: June 13, 2005
For much of American history, the U.S. Senate did not acquit itself well on the issue of race. A particularly shameful chapter in that regard was the refusal of that august body in the first half of the last century to make lynching a federal crime. In defeating bills to do that time and again, Dixiecrats (as Southern Democrats were called) added insult to injury with oratory that described black men as beasts from whom white women needed protection, through lynchings.

"Free" Healthcare Horror cont.

More horror stories from the "free healthcare" front. This time it's our old friend "Canadian Style Health Care".

OpinionJournal - Featured Article: "Unsocialized Medicine
A landmark ruling exposes Canada's health-care inequity.

Monday, June 13, 2005 12:01 a.m. EDT
Let's hope Hillary Clinton and Ted Kennedy were sitting down when they heard the news of the latest bombshell Supreme Court ruling. From the Supreme Court of Canada, that is. That high court issued an opinion last Thursday saying, in effect, that Canada's vaunted public health-care system produces intolerable inequality."

Sorta familiar...

I sat on a jury where the facts were pretty clear that the guy did rape the gal. The problem was that the guy seemed to be a pretty nice fellow and the victim and her mother were really bad folks. Liars and thieves as the defense proved. I'm pretty sure that the guy did it but most everyone on the jury hated the victim and her mother so much that the perp walked. I would have been the only holdout and it would have resulted in a hung jury. So I folded. Mike Jackson won because his jury hated the mother of the main witness. I can't believe the prosecutor will be reelected

The promise of college

This is so wrong on so many levels but what the heck did they spend $875,000 on? Alarm clocks? There is no tuition in that number. And that insightful comment by the Baker College President has me shaking my head. If students don't get a guarantee of free college they won't graduate from high school? Asinine!

The promise of college: Read it all but this is the raw meat:

In contrast, LEAD 2005 was made possible by an $875,000 federal grant that paid for the advocates and student activities and field trips over the six years. In addition, more than $600,000 in tuition and college living costs are expected to be paid by GVSU, MCC, Baker and the Community Foundation for the next school year alone.

Rick Amidon, president of Baker College, believes that if students have doubts about their ability to afford college, they have a "disincentive" to graduate from high school. He said Baker -- where average annual tuition is $7,000 -- provided the tuition incentive because "it's the right thing to do."

"The fact (the advocates) were consistently there every year from seventh grade made all the difference in the world, and that teaches us a lot of things about how students should be educated."

"It's taking the time to do something different," Foster said. "You have to change your thoughts about education."
"You can get a kid to college, but you need to get them to believe it."

'One Muskegon' aims to promote 'all for one' idea

Another abominable idea in a series of abominable ideas but this one is even more insidious because the co-chairman is the publisher of The Chronicle. That means that only one side of the story will be told to the citizens of Muskegon. Watch out Muskegon!

'One Muskegon' aims to promote 'all for one' idea: "'One Muskegon' aims to promote 'all for one' idea
Sunday, June 12, 2005
By Dave Alexander
CHRONICLE BUSINESS EDITOR
A group of community leaders have concluded that Muskegon needs a 'unified' government and they have now formed a committee to make that happen.
Government consolidation has gone from the back burner to the forefront because of fiscal problems that grip nearly every local government in Muskegon County these days. Now the 'One Muskegon Task Force' has a four-point program of not only talking about functional and political consolidation, but establishing an action plan.
Co-chaired by Norton Shores Mayor Nancy Crandall and Muskegon Chronicle Publisher Gary Ostrom, the newly forming government consolidation group represents community leaders in business, government and nonprofit institutions. It's an offshoot of the Muskegon Area Children's Agenda, a Community Foundation for Muskegon County initiative examining ways to make the area better for children. "

WorldNetDaily: How to stop suicide bombers

Does anyone doubt that this would work? This was written in 2002! Read the whole piece.

WorldNetDaily: How to stop suicide bombers: "One sure way to stop the suicide bombers in Israel is to hold the parents responsible for their child's crime. "

In exchange for sacrificing their child, they receive from Saddam Hussein or Saudi Arabia a cash payment of $35,000.

....will that stop the suicide bombers? No. But executing the parents will.

Counter the lies!

The Neo-Libs and the MSM don't want you to read this. Decision 08 links to one of the most respected "on site" commentators in Iraq. Arm yourself with the truth and forward it to other openminded folks.

Decision '08: "Today's Must-Read: Good News From Iraq
One could be forgiven for thinking that Iraq was the biggest disaster since - well, since Vietnam, the MSM's favorite point of comparison. Granted, everyone had hoped things would be better than they are by now; still, things aren't ALL bad, and Arthur Chrenkoff's latest installment of Good News from Iraq provides a welcome counterpoint to all the doom and gloom, and a good reminder of why we're there and what we're fight for... "

from Chrenkoff: "Recent polling data shows that fully two-thirds of Iraqis believe their country is headed in the right direction, Saboon said. While a poll in January showed only 11 percent of Sunni Muslims in Iraq shared that view, that percentage has since grown to 40, he said.