Nonunion Muskegon County Road Commission workers get raise

Nonunion Muskegon County Road Commission workers get raise
"Board members said they didn't need the extra money. They said the board is largely a voluntary role they enjoy, though they receive salaries between $3,500 and $7,000, depending on years of service.
'I don't need the extra money either,' Conrad said. 'I was just thinking about you guys.'
There was not a motion to include commissioners in the pay-raise package, and it did not come back up for further discussion.
Nevertheless, county commissioners in attendance, including James Derezinski, were not amused.
During a recent county board meeting, Derezinski asked whether the road commission has the authority to give itself a raise.
County Attorney Theodore Williams said that by state law the county board holds the power in granting raises to the road commission's board members."

Since when does "voluntary" mean $7 grand a year from the taxpayers of our pothole infested county?
And kudos to commissioner Derezinski for spotting and stopping Conrad's scam before it succeeded!

WZZM-TV13 (ABC), WWMT-TV3 (CBS), WOOD-TV8 (NBC) will begin to pool news video

WZZM-TV13 (ABC), WWMT-TV3 (CBS), WOOD-TV8 (NBC) will begin to pool news video
"Three of West Michigan's major TV network affiliates are launching a news sharing arrangement, it was announced today. The stations -- WOOD-TV8 (NBC), WWMT-TV3 (CBS) and WZZM-TV13 (ABC) -- cover the Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo and Battle Creek markets. The pooling does not include Grand Rapids-based WXMI-TV17 (Fox)."

Wow!
Single source news!
...sorta like single source health care?

Bloggers Unite!

Changes likely in store for Muskegon Summer Celebration

Changes likely in store for Muskegon Summer Celebration
"The financially-troubled Muskegon Summer Celebration festival might have thrown its last party -- or at least its last 'Big Party,' anyway.
Festival officials on Sunday acknowledged preliminary figures don't look good."

Total bummer!

Good luck MSC!

Clinic cuts a concern

Clinic cuts a concern
"Medicentres in and around Edmonton are closing their doors early, if they open them at all, leaving many sick and hurt people frustrated.
With only one doctor on, the Belmont clinic was forced to curtail its hours from the normal 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. stretch to 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Other centres -- from Jasper Avenue to Sherwood Park -- had phone messages and signs on doors informing would-be patients that 'due to a shortage of physicians' they would not open or they would close early."

Sharia law UK... How Islam is dispensing its own justice side-by-side with British courts

Sharia law UK... How Islam is dispensing its own justice side-by-side with British courts
"Sharia has been operating here, in parallel to the British legal system, since 1982. Work includes issuing fatwas - religious rulings on matters ranging from why Islam considers homosexuality a sin to why two women are equivalent to one male witness in an Islamic court....
In Britain, sharia courts are permitted to rule only in civil cases, such as divorce and financial disputes. Until last year, these rulings depended on voluntary compliance among Muslims. But now, due to a clause in the Arbitration Act 1996, they are enforceable by county and high courts."

The Stupid Shall Be Punished: CDR Kevin Mooney's Retirement Remarks

The Stupid Shall Be Punished: CDR Kevin Mooney's Retirement Remarks
"Now some of you may think NATO stands for North Atlantic Treaty Organization - NOT TRUE. We never did settle on what the acronym NATO really denotes, but here were some of the contenders:
- Not At The Office
- Not After Two O'clock
- No Action Talk Only, and my personal favorite:
- Need Alcohol To Operate
All accurately describe NATO operations."

Irving woman spreads spirit of 4th with flags

Irving woman spreads spirit of 4th with flags

Another Blow to Junk Science... Polar Bear Populations Booming

Another Blow to Junk Science... Polar Bear Populations Booming
"As the democrats passed the junk science 'pile of sh*t' this past week a new report was released, and suppressed, insisting that polar bear numbers, far from decreasing, are much higher than they were 30 years ago."

4-Block World: Every Close Election

4-Block World: Every Close Election

STUART SMALLEY GOES TO WASHINGTON... THE REAL AL FRANKEN IS CERTIFIED - AND CERTIFIABLE

STUART SMALLEY GOES TO WASHINGTON... THE REAL AL FRANKEN IS CERTIFIED - AND CERTIFIABLE
"As the Democrats in Congress – and in the mainstream media – celebrate leftist loon and tax cheat Al Franken’s stolen victory from incumbent Republican Norm Coleman, the rest of us are still recovering from nausea at the very thought of Franken as a 'valid' U.S. senator. After nearly eight tortuous months of refusing to concede defeat to Coleman, Franken’s bully tactics finally paid off – thanks mainly to George Soros and ACORN."

Ezra Klein - In Case You Were Insufficiently Depressed About the Job Numbers

Ezra Klein - In Case You Were Insufficiently Depressed About the Job Numbers: "And, as Billy Mays would have said, that's not all! We've also got about 9 million workers who are part-time because they can't find full-time work. That's up from 5 million workers in June.And, as Billy Mays would have said, that's not all! We've also got about 9 million workers who are part-time because they can't find full-time work. That's up from 5 million workers in June."

Cap and Trade Extras - Jamie Dupree on wsbradio.com

Cap and Trade Extras - Jamie Dupree on wsbradio.com: "So let's just review these three items:
* Payments to those making up to 150% of the poverty line to offset the costs of the Cap & Trade bill
* A doubling of the EITC for low income workers with no dependents who qualify for aid
* An open-ended funding of Medicare and Social Security money to deal with job losses and lower tax revenues caused by Cap & Trade
Have you looked through any of this bill yet? What are you waiting for?"

Springs surgery tech suspected of exposing thousands to hepatitis C

Springs surgery tech suspected of exposing thousands to hepatitis C
"According to the criminal complaint, Parker - a former heroin addict - admitted swapping her own dirty syringes filled with saline solution for syringes filled with Fentanyl, a narcotic 80 to 100 times stronger than morphine.
The drug is supposed to be used to help major post-surgery patients manage pain. Instead, they got no relief while Parker injected herself with the painkiller at home and in the hospital bathrooms before and after a surgery, according to the seven-page complaint.
'I know I (expletive deleted) up,' Parker told Denver Police Detective Dale Wallis after he confronted her"

DESPERATELY SEEKING SILVER LININGS: Have you noticed a change in the economic news over the past …

DESPERATELY SEEKING SILVER LININGS: Have you noticed a change in the economic news over the past …:
"DESPERATELY SEEKING SILVER LININGS:
Have you noticed a change in the economic news over the past year or so? It’s a deliberately ambiguous question: The actual news has gotten worse, but the coverage of it has changed in tone. Today, reporters are eagerly looking for the light at the end of the tunnel. A year ago, and for a long time before that, they couldn’t wait to get into the tunnel.
What changed? Yeah, like you need to ask.
People have been joking about the “state-controlled media,” but in fact it’s worse — a real state-controlled media might be forced to maintain at least a pretense of objectivity and balance . . . ."

Strassel: The EPA Silences a Climate Skeptic

Strassel: The EPA Silences a Climate Skeptic

Stop The Madness That's Killing Jobs

Stop The Madness That's Killing Jobs
"Worse, the June jobs data mark a milestone of sorts: Our unemployment rate equals that of the no-growth Eurozone nations.
Why is this job decline happening? The private sector — the real engine of economic and job growth — won't hire because it's scared of what it sees coming out of Washington.
On the horizon, as far as the eye can see, are higher taxes, uncontrolled spending and layers upon layers of new regulations.
Who would hire new workers faced with that?"

City Council spends frivolously despite shortfall

City Council spends frivolously despite shortfall
"It's no secret. The City of Evanston is in financial crisis. Aside from the $145 million deficit in the police and fire pension funds, the nationwide recession is crippling market-based revenue sources, such as the real estate transfer tax.

With this in mind, it's hard to imagine how the Evanston City Council could justify investing $1.2 million to renovate the Clark Street beach, as it did in a measure passed by a 7-2 vote at Monday's meeting."

Wal-Mart and Health Care - ProfessorBainbridge.com

Wal-Mart and Health Care - ProfessorBainbridge.com: "I find it hard to believe that none of the liberal commentators breathlessly celebrating Wal-Mart's 'capitulation' on national health care have even entertained the most parsimonious explanation: that Wal-Mart is in favor of this because it raises the barriers to entry in the retail market, and hammers Wal-Mart's competition. Yet somehow, this appears nowhere in any of the analysis."

US nuclear recycling faces the axe

US nuclear recycling faces the axe
"Earlier this week, the administration of President Barack Obama quietly cancelled plans for a large-scale facility to recycle nuclear fuel. The move may prove a fatal blow to the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership (GNEP) set up by previous president George W. Bush. Nature News looks at the decision, what it means for US nuclear policy, and where a long-hoped-for nuclear renaissance may be headed."

Forget Green Shoots: They’re Just Weeds

Forget Green Shoots: They’re Just Weeds
"But when it comes to engendering an immediate economic recovery, the answer is a fairly simple three step process:
Commit to a zero interest rate policy for at least 2-3 years.
Enact a 100% tax holiday on business income and capital gains.
That’s not a deferral, it’s a full abatement.
Commit credibly to eliminate new regulations on business."

Congress's Travel Tab Swells

Congress's Travel Tab Swells
"The spending on overseas travel is up almost tenfold since 1995, and has nearly tripled since 2001, according to the Journal analysis of 60,000 travel records. Hundreds of lawmakers traveled overseas in 2008 at a cost of about $13 million. That's a 50% jump since Democrats took control of Congress two years ago."

Obama's War on the American Dream

Tea Party Talking Points: Obama's War on the American Dream
"Creating or Saving Jobs?
The President set a benchmark of a 138.6 million jobs in the U.S. economy by the end of 2010. He is currently 6.4 million jobs short.
Yet with rising unemployment, the White House continues to take credit for jobs 'saved' without any empirical evidence to suggest this is true.
The stimulus bill did create jobs in one sector--the government--by nearly doubling the size of several federal agencies and creating a huge bureaucracy."

Mississippi tops U.S. obesity rankings

Mississippi tops U.S. obesity rankings
"Rounding out the top five states among adults were West Virginia, with 31.2 percent of its population considered obese; Alabama, 31.1 percent; Tennessee, 30.2 percent; and South Carolina 29.7 percent."

Brace yourself for higher taxes

Brace yourself for higher taxes
"President Obama had said in September, 2008: 'I can make a firm pledge. Under my plan, no family making less than $250,000 a year will see any form of tax increase. Not your income tax, not your payroll tax, not your capital gains taxes, not any of your taxes.'
This pledge has already been broken, at least with respect to federal tobacco taxes.

“The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Tuesday shows..............

“The Rasmussen Reports
"June 30, 2009
“The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Tuesday shows that 31% of the nation’s voters now Strongly Approve of the way that Barack Obama is performing his role as President.
Thirty-three percent (33%) Strongly Disapprove giving Obama a Presidential Approval Index rating of -2. That matches the lowest level yet recorded.”

Canada's Single-Prayer Health Care

Canada's Single-Prayer Health Care
"Ava Isabella Stinson was born last Thursday at St. Joseph's hospital in Hamilton, Ontario. Weighing only two pounds, she was born 13 weeks premature and needed some very special care. Unfortunately, there were no open neonatal intensive care beds for her at St. Joseph's — or anywhere else in the entire province of Ontario, it seems.
Canada's perfectly planned and cost-effective system had no room at the inn for Ava, who of necessity had to be sent across the border to a Buffalo, N.Y., hospital to suffer under our chaotic and costly system. She had no time to be put on a Canadian waiting list. She got the care she needed at an American hospital under a system President Obama has labeled 'unsustainable.'"

The 'Absentee' Senator

The 'Absentee' Senator
"The unfortunate lesson is that you don't need to win the vote on Election Day as long as your lawyers are creative enough to have enough new or disqualified ballots counted after the fact. "

When Envy is on the Menu

When Envy is on the Menu

CARPE DIEM: Banking Fact of the Day

Banking Fact of the Day
"Number of bank failures this year so far:
45 (FDIC data here, click on 'Produce Report').

Total Assets of the 45 failed banks: $36.965 billion

Total Bank Assets of All 8,246 FDIC-insured banks: $13.542 trillion (data here)

Failed Bank Assets as a Percent of Total Bank Assets: .27% (or about 1/4 of 1%)


Bottom Line: The worst of the banking crisis is behind us, the percent last year was 2.69%."

Gunfire wounds 7 Detroit teens; 3 critical

Gunfire wounds 7 Detroit teens; 3 critical
"Seven teenagers were shot near Cody Ninth Grade Academy this afternoon, leaving three in critical condition."