MuskegonPundit

Tuesday, January 08, 2008

Scientologists heading downtown

Why does everything about Detroit and Scientology always smell real bad?

$9,773 in taxes on a $3.5 million dollar property?

Something ain't right.....

The church paid $3.5 million for a vacant eight-story building at Griswold and West Jefferson facing Hart Plaza……. .
……...Because the church will own the building, however, the city won't reap property taxes from it. The site was previously owned by the financial services firm Raymond James & Associates. The firm paid $9,773 in taxes in 2006.

Katrina victims swamp corps with trillions in claims - USATODAY.com

Good grief!

And the democrats tell us we don't need tort reform?

Katrina victims swamp corps with trillions in claims - USATODAY.com: "Tens of thousands of people whose property was destroyed when Hurricane Katrina overwhelmed New Orleans' protective levees have filed claims demanding the government pay astronomical sums that would be enough money to make multimillionaires of everyone in Louisiana."

Student who accidentally fired shot reinstated

Did he "accidently" bring a handgun into school?

There's got to be more to this story ........ or maybe less .........

Student who accidentally fired shot reinstated: "An Ottawa Hills High School student expelled for accidentally firing a gun in the school was unanimously reinstated Monday.
But district staff members believe the student plans to attend classes in another district. Joseph Davon Davis was 16 when a handgun accidentally fired in a school lavatory on Oct. 5, 2006. State law requires a mandatory 180-day expulsion, and students are permitted to apply to be reinstated.
District spokesman John Helmholdt said reports indicate Davis completed counseling and community service. 'There is a sense that this is a young man who recognizes he made a mistake and wants to right a wrong,' he said."

Why is this a "tough" call?

Aren't "illegals" here illegally?

I'm stunned that we used to give them drivers licenses.

It's about time!

Cox makes tough, but correct call on licenses - mlive.com: "Attorney General Mike Cox is getting blasted for his ruling against the issuance of driver's licenses to illegal immigrants. Yet he and other state legal chiefs are only reacting to the vacuum that has served as a substitute for policy all these many years in Washington, D.C."

Urgent: Merrill S. Bailey Bridge closed - Muskegon Chronicle - MLive.com

Urgent: Merrill S. Bailey Bridge closed - Muskegon Chronicle - MLive.com: "Norton Shores officials closed the Merrill S. Bailey Bridge over Mona Lake on Henry Street this morning after discovering Monday night's storms may have undermined a portion of the bridge abutment."

Red Wings fans?

Bloomberg.com: Latin America: "Portuguese authorities seized 9.4 metric tons of cocaine hidden in a shipment of frozen octopus from Venezuela, according to a statement on the Web site of Portugal's judicial police."

University employees get $5,000 for buying home in Detroit

Let's see.....

$5,000 from UofD's money tree (us).

An additional $5,000 from HUD (us).

And a nifty earmark to "non-profit" JVS (paid by us) to "help secure the additional $5,000".

All to give to UofD employees (paid by us) to buy homes? Where the heck do they live now?

University employees get $5,000 for buying home in Detroit: "Under the program, the university will offer a $5,000 down payment to qualifying employees who are buying a home in one of the three university neighborhoods. JVS, a Southfield-based nonprofit human service organization, will partner with the UDM to help employees secure an additional $5,000 from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, officials said."

Peter, Paul & Mary?

When hammers are banned, only the criminals will have hammers ....... and free lunches......

Man robs Subway with hammer: "Authorities are looking for a man who used a hammer to rob a Grand Rapids-area restaurant.
Kent County sheriff's department officials say the robber demanded money and fled with about $200 Sunday night from the Subway restaurant in Alpine Township."

New meaning for "Greatest Hits"?

Monday, January 07, 2008

On This Date in History

1610 The astronomer Galileo Galilei sighted four of Jupiter's moons.

Planets ordered to wear underpants

1789 The first U.S. presidential election was held. Americans voted for electors who, a month later, chose George Washington to be the nation's first president.

Palm Beach voters thought he was Chad Washington

1800 Millard Fillmore, the 13th president of the United States, was born in Summerhill, N.Y.

The Fillmore East and West celebrated his birth.

1927 Commercial transatlantic telephone service was inaugurated between New York and London.

Cell phone service put off for 70 years.

1953 President Harry S. Truman announced in his State of the Union address that the United States had developed a hydrogen bomb.

He lamented that Japan had already surrendered.

1959 The United States recognized Fidel Castro's new government in Cuba.

Oops!

1997 Newt Gingrich became the first Republican re-elected House speaker in 68 years.

Woohoo!

1999 President Bill Clinton's impeachment trial began in the Senate. (He was later acquited on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice.)

Doh!

2005 Actor Brad Pitt and actress Jennifer Aniston announced they were separating after four years of marriage.

Who?

2006 Rep. Tom DeLay, R-Texas, facing corruption charges, stepped down as House majority leader. (He resigned from Congress in June 2006.)

Doh!

GordoM-remembers-it-all

tennis is good!

What's not to like?

My goodness are subsidized grocery stores next?

Lack of grocers prompts action: "A recently formed task force has city and business leaders joining together to answer an oft-asked question among Detroiters: Why aren't there more grocery stores in the city?
Dubbed the Detroit Fresh Food Access Initiative, the 40-plus member group of government and business leaders is exploring how local regulations and permit processes can be simplified to attract more full-scale grocers to the city.
Olga Savic, director of strategy and external affairs for the Detroit Economic Growth Corporation and one of the group's co-chairs, said the group's formation couldn't have come at a better time for the city."

Liberal Fascism. A redundancy?

Amazon.com: Liberal Fascism: The Secret History of the American Left, From Mussolini to the Politics of Meaning: Books: Jonah Goldberg

"Buy this book...or the dog dies"

Tornado Warning issued for Muskegon, rest of area under a Tornado Watch

The anti-casino gods don't seem to like this get together?

Maybe it'll suck up the round-a-bout!

yes.....

WZZM13 - Tornado Warning issued for Muskegon, rest of area under a Tornado Watch: "WZZM 13's Phil Dawson is in Muskegon working on a story at city hall. The meeting was interrupted and people inside were told to seek shelter in the basement."

Homeless Michigan Dems?

Momma always told me voting democrat would be bad for my future.

National convention hotel rooms taken away from Michigan Dems: "LANSING, Mich. -- Michigan Democrats no longer can count on getting hotel rooms at their national convention in Denver.
The Democratic National Committee's Rules Committee last month stripped Michigan of its 156 national convention delegates as punishment for scheduling an early presidential primary in violation of party rules. State party officials had until Saturday to come up with an alternative to the Jan. 15 contest, but declined to do so.
That decision caused the DNC to informally tell state Democratic Chairman Mark Brewer that the party no longer has reservations at the Red Lion Hotel Denver Central during the Aug. 25-28 convention, state party spokesman Jason Moon said Monday.
'We think that those hotel rooms will be given back to us,' Moon added."

Nifty thunderstorm in January

I've always loved thunderstorms and a rare Winter T-storm is just another treat from those 10,000 sq. ft. mansion owners and private jet flyers.

Thank you global warmers!

Hollywood keeps giving, even if their movies suck......

GordoM-finds-the-good-in-everything

Cheap Tatas?

Tatas are always to be prized, but inexpensive Tatas are a rare treat.

And at $2500?

Ummmmmm.....nice Tatas....

Maybe I need two?

All eyes on Tata's Rs 1 lakh car-India Business-Business-The Times of India: "the Tata people's car which has been dominating mindspace both inside and outside the industry for its sheer concept and execution since the better part of a decade."

New Fred Thompson Video: Kill. Protect. Punch.

You cannot see this video and not vote for Fred!

Or you may die!

New Fred Thompson Video: Kill. Protect. Punch.

Isn't "dipping" the same thing as "stealing"?

The Detroit News Online: "Lawmakers and Gov. Jennifer Granholm dealt with the deficit by delaying payments to state universities and community colleges, dipping into funds set aside for job training and substance abuse treatment and selling off part of the state's future tobacco settlement. Taxes were not raised to fill the hole."

I just saw a PT Cruiser with a "car bra".

Gave me the willies......

Wow! Miss America might be packin'!

BLACKFIVE: Army Medic (and Miss Utah) Competing in Miss America Pageant: "GI Jill, Sergeant Jill Stevens, a Utah National Guard Medic and OEF veteran, is someone you can be proud of and support on January 26, 2008, when she competes in the Miss America Pageant.
As a National Guard soldier in College, her university pageant director convinced her to compete. She scoffed at the idea."

She's Smokin'!

Heh....

Deja Vu - WSJ.com: "a New York alderman, Peter McGuinness, proposed a city ordinance that would prohibit women from smoking in hotels, restaurants or other public places.
'Young fellows go into our restaurants to find women folks sucking cigarettes,' the alderman argued. 'What happens? The young fellows lose all respect for the women, and the next thing you know the young fellows, vampired by these smoking women, desert their homes, their wives and children, rob their employers and even commit murder so that they can get money to lavish on these smoking women.'"

(the entire column is in the 2 comments section)

A great question

TCS Daily - My Global Warming Question: "My question is this:
what are the most persuasive reasons for believing that the rise in temperature is due to increased atmospheric carbon dioxide?"

Sad, sad people.

5 of 7 developed complications?

Sounds too much like the Laetrile scam in Mexico.

Americans seek stem cell treatments in China - Cloning and stem cells- msnbc.com: "Noting the lack of evidence, three Western doctors undertook their own limited study. It involved seven patients with spinal cord injuries who chose to get fetal brain tissue injections at one hospital in China. The study reported “no clinically useful improvements” — even though most patients believed they were better. Five developed complications such as meningitis."

MSM shocked, demands new study!

Who'd of guessed......

Michigan sees fewer gun deaths — with more permits: "Six years after new rules made it much easier to get a license to carry concealed weapons, the number of Michiganders legally packing heat has increased more than six-fold.
But dire predictions about increased violence and bloodshed have largely gone unfulfilled, according to law enforcement officials and, to the extent they can be measured, crime statistics."

Earth friendly?

Maybe he was just trying to reduce her "carbon footprint"?

My Way News - Cops: Man Cooked Parts of Slain Woman: "A man killed his girlfriend, then filleted and cooked parts of her body before calling police to tell them what he was doing, authorities said Sunday."

Is Ford back?

Wow!
35 MPG, Six airbags and...
$16,000!!!!!

Ford Vehicles: 2008 Ford Focus - See pricing details, photos, options, packages, and more

Sunday, January 06, 2008

What ever happened to "rainy day funds"?

Maybe they ought to take a hard look at the "budget dudes"?

This is happening everywhere.

"It's not our fault" ..... please reelect us..... and vote us more of your money.....or stop complaining"

Lansing State Journal: Clinton Co. roads budget snowed under: "After the first of two major snowfalls, Clinton County officials said their snow removal money for 2007 was gone, forcing them to use money set aside for other projects.
'We've already exceeded what we budgeted for '07, so whatever money we use (for the rest of the year) we won't have for '08 projects,' said Mike Nobach, the director of the Clinton County Road Commission"

This is scary

Voting by mail starts for California's 2008 presidential primary: "Vote-by-mail ballots go out this week in the nation's most populous state, forcing presidential campaigns to consider using scarce dollars to lure early California voters while contests unfold in New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada.
More than half the total votes in California's Feb. 5 primary could be mailed in, and many of those ballots will be cast long before Election Day in a state that has seen scant evidence of the 2008 presidential campaign."

Don't eat that donut or we're gonna cut ya!

Junkfood Science: A heart stopper

Bringing in the new year, Radio Iowa reported from a bariatric surgeon at Creighton University Medical Center in Omaha. Increasing numbers of teens are coming in wanting bariatric surgeries, according to Dr. Ranjan Sudan, and “some doctors are looking at performing weight loss surgeries [sic] on children as young as five.”