10 years after blackout, U.S. grid faces new threats | The Detroit News:
"One-sixth of the existing coal capacity is projected to close by 2020, .....The permanent closure of four nuclear reactors in California, Florida and Wisconsin was announced this year, and reactors in New York, Vermont and elsewhere may also close.
Plant shutdowns mean there’s less of a cushion in electrical capacity when power demand is high or problems arise.
Shutdowns also create pockets of transmission congestion or regions where power is scarce.
Both situations drive up power prices for customers, make the grid less stable and present planning challenges."
Sunday, August 11, 2013
Michigan has high rate of parents refusing vaccines
Michigan has high rate of parents refusing vaccines | MLive.com:
"Less than 72 percent of young children and 63 percent of Michigan adolescents are fully immunized, according to the Michigan State Medical Society.
To attend a public or private school, kids must be vaccinated against a number of diseases and medical conditions depending on their age: diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis (whooping cough), polio, measles, mumps, rubella, hepatitis B, chickenpox and meningitis."
...."We have maybe a little more liberal view of what qualifies as a waiver than other states. And so I think more and more people have taken advantage of that," said Bob Swanson, director of the state's Division of Immunizations....."
"Less than 72 percent of young children and 63 percent of Michigan adolescents are fully immunized, according to the Michigan State Medical Society.
To attend a public or private school, kids must be vaccinated against a number of diseases and medical conditions depending on their age: diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis (whooping cough), polio, measles, mumps, rubella, hepatitis B, chickenpox and meningitis."
...."We have maybe a little more liberal view of what qualifies as a waiver than other states. And so I think more and more people have taken advantage of that," said Bob Swanson, director of the state's Division of Immunizations....."
Some parents may have no philosophical opposition but find it easier to file a waiver after forgetting to schedule a vaccination before the school year starts, said Jevon McFadden, an epidemiologist with the CDC who is based at the Michigan Department of Community Health.
BINGO!
North Muskegon schools finances in relatively good shape compared to others
North Muskegon schools finances in relatively good shape compared to others | MLive.com:
"North Muskegon Public Schools Superintendent Curt Babcock.
“It’s scary when around the county we look around and see fund balances declining.
We’re really not different in that respect.
The last two years we did use fund balance to balance our budget, knowing that’s a trend that cannot continue.”
"North Muskegon Public Schools Superintendent Curt Babcock.
“It’s scary when around the county we look around and see fund balances declining.
We’re really not different in that respect.
The last two years we did use fund balance to balance our budget, knowing that’s a trend that cannot continue.”
Who or what is to blame for Detroit's bankruptcy? 15 theories on the city's decline
Who or what is to blame for Detroit's bankruptcy? 15 theories on the city's decline | MLive.com:
"Conservatives
MSNBC talker Ed Schulz lumps free trade under a series of Republican policies that doomed Detroit and were part of an overall plan to privatize public services.
"Make no mistake, Detroit is exactly what the Republicans want," he (Schultz) added.
"They outsourced manufacturing jobs, attack unions, cut public services, and this is the result.
Now they can wipe the slate clean because now they can start privatizing city assets.""
"Conservatives
MSNBC talker Ed Schulz lumps free trade under a series of Republican policies that doomed Detroit and were part of an overall plan to privatize public services.
"Make no mistake, Detroit is exactly what the Republicans want," he (Schultz) added.
"They outsourced manufacturing jobs, attack unions, cut public services, and this is the result.
Now they can wipe the slate clean because now they can start privatizing city assets.""
RealClearPolicy - Detroit and the Special-Interest State
RealClearPolicy - Detroit and the Special-Interest State:
"Then, under the pressure of the war, the Cold War, the Great Society, environmentalism, the civil-rights revolution, feminism, and unionism, the principles crumbled.
Indeed, to a large degree the doctrines reversed.
The job of government became not to pass laws for the general welfare, but to identify particular worthy groups and empower them.
Benefits were bestowed on special interests and routinely fed back into the political system to maintain the power of the bestowers.
And government was regarded as the prime mover of every social and economic system from the economy to health care to agriculture to telecommunications.
"Then, under the pressure of the war, the Cold War, the Great Society, environmentalism, the civil-rights revolution, feminism, and unionism, the principles crumbled.
Indeed, to a large degree the doctrines reversed.
The job of government became not to pass laws for the general welfare, but to identify particular worthy groups and empower them.
Benefits were bestowed on special interests and routinely fed back into the political system to maintain the power of the bestowers.
And government was regarded as the prime mover of every social and economic system from the economy to health care to agriculture to telecommunications.
Decline in Violence Linked to Climate Change?
Issue #100: Decline in Violence Linked to Climate Change | Heartlander Magazine:
"In one of an avalanche of media reports on the Cal-Berkeley paper, BBC News published the headline, “Rise in violence ‘linked to climate change.’
"In one of an avalanche of media reports on the Cal-Berkeley paper, BBC News published the headline, “Rise in violence ‘linked to climate change.’
Detroit losing $1 million school check more proof of inefficiencies in city | Crain's Detroit Business
Detroit losing $1 million school check more proof of inefficiencies in city | Crain's Detroit Business
In late February, cash-strapped Detroit received a $1 million check from the local school system that wasn't deposited. The routine payment wound up in a city hall desk drawer, where it was found a month later.
This is the way Detroit did business as it slid toward bankruptcy, which it entered July 18. The move exposed $18 billion of long-term obligations in a city plagued by unreliable buses, broken street lights and long waits for police and ambulances. Underlying poor service is a government that lacks modern technology and can't perform such basic functions as bill collecting, according to Kevyn Orr, Detroit's emergency manager.
"Nobody sends million-dollar checks anymore -- they wire the money," said Orr spokesman Bill Nowling.
Except in Detroit.
"We have financial systems that are three, four, five decades in the past," Nowling said. "If we can fix those issues, then we'll be able to provide services better, faster, more efficiently and cheaper."
Detroit doesn't have a central municipal computer system, and each department bought its own machinery -- much of which never worked properly, according to Orr, 55, who took over in March. The last such acquisition, 15 years ago, was of a system based on Oracle Corp. technology that wasn't fully put to work.
Antiquated rules
The city is buying new software to improve income-tax collection, especially from suburban commuters who work in Detroit, said James Bonsall, the chief financial officer hired by Orr. The dysfunction extends beyond machinery, Nowling said.
Union rules have "bumped" workers into positions they aren't qualified for as departments make cuts, he said. The city has no training programs and doesn't evaluate employees in 2,500 job classifications.
"It has nothing to do with bad employees," Nowling said. "These employees in some instances are still following work rules that were created 40 years ago."
Detroit's operational flaws are pronounced, according to a June 14 report from Orr.
It costs the city $62 to process each paycheck, every pay period, for its 9,560 employees, compared with an average of $18 for U.S. public employers, Orr said in the report. The main reason for the high cost is that almost 150 full-time workers produce Detroit's payroll, including 51 uniformed officers.
Hand processing
The city's income-tax receipts are processed by hand, among the 70 percent of accounting entries done manually, according to Orr. He said in his report that the U.S. Internal Revenue Service described Detroit's tax-collection system as "catastrophic" in a July 2012 audit.
Detroit's antiquated accounting processes have meant some bills go uncollected for as long as six years, according to Orr, cutting funds that could buy new squad cars, emergency vehicles or computers. Victims of heart attacks in Detroit are likely to die because of slow responses to emergency calls since so few ambulances are running, Orr said in an interview.
City vehicles are old and their maintenance is poor, said Gary Brown, who left the City Council to help Orr improve municipal operations. A group of companies, including General Motors Co., have agreed to pay about $8 million to provide new vehicles for emergency medical services and police.
Brown said it's difficult to find 45 operable garbage trucks in a fleet of 180 to pick up trash five days a week.
Trash contracting
"That's unconscionable," he said, citing too few mechanics, lax work rules and a lack of spare parts. He said there are plans to hire a hauling company to pick up trash.
Bankruptcy may pay for better services by reducing Detroit's daily costs as much as 40 percent, said John Mogk, a law professor specializing in urban policy at the city's Wayne State University. Orr has proposed giving holders of $11.5 billion in municipal debt pennies on the dollar to free up money for programs, including new equipment.
"You're talking about $300 million or $400 million that would not go toward past obligations, but could be put into new investments or services for the city," Mogk said. "It opens up new opportunities for the city to try to improve living conditions in the city and try to stimulate economic growth."
Orr has proposed spending $1.25 billion over 10 years to improve services -- especially public safety -- for a city that has lost a fourth of its population since 2000 and is riddled with blight. A neglected government infrastructure is partly to blame, Nowling said.
Slow response
Police take an average of 58 minutes to respond to priority calls, compared with a national average of 11 minutes, Orr said in his June report. Besides too few officers -- the department's roster has shrunk by 40 percent since 2003 -- there's no computer system connecting precincts to let them quickly share information. Officers write tickets and reports by hand.
Police Commander Todd Bettison disputes the response times cited by Orr, saying it took an average 15 minutes for officers to get to 80 percent of the 277,800 calls received last year. The other 20 percent were mostly nonlife-threatening calls in which the response may have taken days, such as complaints about animals, Bettison said by telephone.
It isn't unusual for municipalities to use outdated technology, though Detroit is worse off than others, said Bill Brandt, chief executive officer of Development Specialists, Inc., a Chicago-based turnaround consultant. He said the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks exposed communications-systems flaws that made it hard for New York police and firefighters to coordinate.
Chevy budget
Brandt said Michigan's government could've helped Detroit acquire more up-to-date technology.
"Not enough has gone into reinventing government," Brandt said. "It'll get there, but taxpayers have never enthusiastically supported a Cadillac and only want to pay for a Chevy."
The biggest challenge for the Motor City is serving a shrinking, poorer population that needs jobs, and is spread across an area larger than Boston, San Francisco and Manhattan combined, Mogk said.
Brandt said Orr's plan didn't lay out a long-term strategy for boosting jobs based in Detroit, which he said is the key to attracting new residents.
"Improvement of services will help," Brandt said. Yet it is the promise of jobs that will lead more people to move into the city, he said.
Saturday, August 10, 2013
Editorial: County to provide taxpayers with pension details
Editorial: County to provide taxpayers with pension details - Marin Independent Journal:
"PUBLIC PENSION CRITICS in Marin say they have won a big battle.
County officials say they are willing to meet the critics part way by adding a page to the county tax bill informing taxpayers about the county's long-term pension obligation and its retiree health care costs.
Leaders of the Citizens for Sustainable Pension Plans, a Marin public pension reform group, had asked the county to print that information on the tax bill for every taxing agency.
County officials, not surprisingly, were not enthused.
They said the information wouldn't fit on the one-page tax bill."
Meybee we gonna see this in Muskegon?
NOT!
"PUBLIC PENSION CRITICS in Marin say they have won a big battle.
County officials say they are willing to meet the critics part way by adding a page to the county tax bill informing taxpayers about the county's long-term pension obligation and its retiree health care costs.
Leaders of the Citizens for Sustainable Pension Plans, a Marin public pension reform group, had asked the county to print that information on the tax bill for every taxing agency.
County officials, not surprisingly, were not enthused.
They said the information wouldn't fit on the one-page tax bill."
Meybee we gonna see this in Muskegon?
NOT!
Feds give millions in contracts to firms owned by fictitious people
Feds give millions in contracts to firms owned by fictitious people | WashingtonExaminer.com:
"The Department of Homeland Security, with seemingly little investigation of the company's background, gave it a government credit card "to use for payment for goods provided pursuant to a government contract," on which Whitehead racked up $40,000 in charges."
"The Department of Homeland Security, with seemingly little investigation of the company's background, gave it a government credit card "to use for payment for goods provided pursuant to a government contract," on which Whitehead racked up $40,000 in charges."
Cop out
Cop out - NYPOST.com:
New York pays more police in retirement than to patrol our streets — yet pols do nothing to address our skyrocketing pension costs
"During Bloomberg’s final year, city will spend $8.7 billion on the police department, nearly double the 2002 figure and more than three times the rate of inflation."Biological Gender Differences, Absenteeism and the Earning Gap
Biological Gender Differences, Absenteeism and the Earning Gap:
"We interpret this as evidence that the menstrual cycle raises female absenteeism.
Absences with a 28-day cycle explain a significant fraction of the male-female absenteeism gap.
To investigate the effect of absenteeism on earnings, we use a simple signaling model in which employers cannot directly observe workers' productivity, and therefore use observable characteristics – including absenteeism – to set wages.
Since men are absent from work because of health and shirking reasons, while women face an additional exogenous source of health shocks due to menstruation, the signal extraction based on absenteeism is more informative about shirking for males than for females.
Consistent with the predictions of the model, we find that the relationship between earnings and absenteeism is more negative for males than for females.
Furthermore, this difference declines with seniority, as employers learn more about their workers' true productivity.
Finally, we calculate the earnings cost for women associated with menstruation.
We find that higher absenteeism induced by the 28-day cycle explains 11.8 percent of the earnings gender differential."
"We interpret this as evidence that the menstrual cycle raises female absenteeism.
Absences with a 28-day cycle explain a significant fraction of the male-female absenteeism gap.
To investigate the effect of absenteeism on earnings, we use a simple signaling model in which employers cannot directly observe workers' productivity, and therefore use observable characteristics – including absenteeism – to set wages.
Since men are absent from work because of health and shirking reasons, while women face an additional exogenous source of health shocks due to menstruation, the signal extraction based on absenteeism is more informative about shirking for males than for females.
Consistent with the predictions of the model, we find that the relationship between earnings and absenteeism is more negative for males than for females.
Furthermore, this difference declines with seniority, as employers learn more about their workers' true productivity.
Finally, we calculate the earnings cost for women associated with menstruation.
We find that higher absenteeism induced by the 28-day cycle explains 11.8 percent of the earnings gender differential."
Third Woman’s Burned Body Found On Detroit’s West Side
Third Woman’s Burned Body Found On Detroit’s West Side « CBS Detroit:
"Police say it’s the third case in recent weeks where a woman has been set on fire and left for dead"
"Police say it’s the third case in recent weeks where a woman has been set on fire and left for dead"
Saginaw County says interest rates too high to sell bonds to cover pension liability
Saginaw County says interest rates too high to sell bonds to cover pension liability | MLive.com:
" Saginaw County was the first county in the state to gain Michigan Treasury approval for a plan to sell bonds to cover its pension fund liability.
But the county's plan has been put on hold, Controller Robert Belleman told county leaders on Thursday, Aug. 8.
"We did go out to price today," Belleman said. "And the interest rates being demanded by the investors was much higher than we had anticipated or our budget could support. So we withdrew our bond from the market today and we'll look at whether or not we'll go out again later this year."
Belleman explained that when the county went to sell bonds necessary to make the plan work, the interest rates had risen to a level that made the plan no longer feasible."
" Saginaw County was the first county in the state to gain Michigan Treasury approval for a plan to sell bonds to cover its pension fund liability.
But the county's plan has been put on hold, Controller Robert Belleman told county leaders on Thursday, Aug. 8.
"We did go out to price today," Belleman said. "And the interest rates being demanded by the investors was much higher than we had anticipated or our budget could support. So we withdrew our bond from the market today and we'll look at whether or not we'll go out again later this year."
Belleman explained that when the county went to sell bonds necessary to make the plan work, the interest rates had risen to a level that made the plan no longer feasible."
Moral Victory Is Total Victory
Moral Victory Is Total Victory | National Review Online:
"We’re way too politically correct to do something like that today, of course, and so we fight pointless wars for speechwriter mush about “human freedom” that are all tactics and no strategy, with no apparent political objectives other than to see “elections” staged, some schools built, and some cups of tea drunk.
But we did not fight to “liberate” the Germans from Hitler or the Japanese from imperial militarism:
We fought them to crush them and eradicate the root of the evil that animated them.
They started it, we finished it.
Which is why we haven’t had to refight them."
"We’re way too politically correct to do something like that today, of course, and so we fight pointless wars for speechwriter mush about “human freedom” that are all tactics and no strategy, with no apparent political objectives other than to see “elections” staged, some schools built, and some cups of tea drunk.
But we did not fight to “liberate” the Germans from Hitler or the Japanese from imperial militarism:
We fought them to crush them and eradicate the root of the evil that animated them.
They started it, we finished it.
Which is why we haven’t had to refight them."
How Not to Debate What We Should Be Doing at Movie Theaters
How Not to Debate What We Should Be Doing at Movie Theaters - Richard Lawson - The Atlantic Wire
Then this morning, another tech guy, writer and self-described entrepreneur Anil Dash, wrote a smug, scolding piece about priggish "shushers" and their obstinate refusal to let other people enjoy movies the way they want to enjoy them — meaning talking, texting, tweeting, tromboning, whatever. It's a gruesome read.
Most glaringly, Dash, in an effort to paint these "shushers" as people standing athwart history yelling stop, invokes slavery of all things as evidence that societal norms are forever changing.
No, he really did: "This list of responses pops up all the time, whether it’s for arguing why women should not wear pants, or defending slavery, or trying to preserve a single meaning for the word 'ironic,' or fighting marriage equality, or claiming rap isn’t 'real' music, or in any other time when social conservatives want to be oppressive assholes to other people."
In likening the social stigma against bringing iPads into movie theaters to the defenders of slavery, Dash was, he explained on Twitter, "providing a wide range of examples of cultural conservatism, I showed a continuum from trivial to profane."
Then this morning, another tech guy, writer and self-described entrepreneur Anil Dash, wrote a smug, scolding piece about priggish "shushers" and their obstinate refusal to let other people enjoy movies the way they want to enjoy them — meaning talking, texting, tweeting, tromboning, whatever. It's a gruesome read.
Most glaringly, Dash, in an effort to paint these "shushers" as people standing athwart history yelling stop, invokes slavery of all things as evidence that societal norms are forever changing.
No, he really did: "This list of responses pops up all the time, whether it’s for arguing why women should not wear pants, or defending slavery, or trying to preserve a single meaning for the word 'ironic,' or fighting marriage equality, or claiming rap isn’t 'real' music, or in any other time when social conservatives want to be oppressive assholes to other people."
In likening the social stigma against bringing iPads into movie theaters to the defenders of slavery, Dash was, he explained on Twitter, "providing a wide range of examples of cultural conservatism, I showed a continuum from trivial to profane."
Major Danish Daily Newspaper Warns: ‘Globe May Be On Path To Little Ice Age…Much Colder Winters…Dramatic Consequences’!
Major Danish Daily Newspaper Warns: ‘Globe May Be On Path To Little Ice Age…Much Colder Winters…Dramatic Consequences’! | Climate Depot:
"The August 7 print edition of the Danish Jyllands-Posten, the famous daily that published the “Muhammad caricatures“, features a full 2-page article bearing the headline:
”The behavior of the sun may trigger a new little ice age” followed by the sub-headline: “Defying all predictions, the globe may be on the road towards a new little ice age with much colder winters.”
"The August 7 print edition of the Danish Jyllands-Posten, the famous daily that published the “Muhammad caricatures“, features a full 2-page article bearing the headline:
”The behavior of the sun may trigger a new little ice age” followed by the sub-headline: “Defying all predictions, the globe may be on the road towards a new little ice age with much colder winters.”
Know Thine Enemy
Know Thine Enemy | National Review Online:
"On December 7, 1941, the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor was attacked.
Three years, eight months, and eight days later, the Japanese surrendered.
These days, America’s military moves at a more leisurely pace.
On November 5, 2009, another U.S. base, Fort Hood, was attacked — by one man standing on a table, screaming “Allahu akbar!” and opening fire.
Three years, nine months, and one day later, his court-martial finally got under way."
"On December 7, 1941, the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor was attacked.
Three years, eight months, and eight days later, the Japanese surrendered.
These days, America’s military moves at a more leisurely pace.
On November 5, 2009, another U.S. base, Fort Hood, was attacked — by one man standing on a table, screaming “Allahu akbar!” and opening fire.
Three years, nine months, and one day later, his court-martial finally got under way."
An Older Version Of The Hockey Stick | Real Science
An Older Version Of The Hockey Stick | Real Science:
"This version is from the National Academy of Sciences, before self-awarded Nobel Prize Mikey straightened them out that the world was heating out of control, rather than cooling out of control.
In 1975, people were too stupid to know the difference between cold and heat."
Read the comments!
"This version is from the National Academy of Sciences, before self-awarded Nobel Prize Mikey straightened them out that the world was heating out of control, rather than cooling out of control.
Read the comments!
Terry Foster: Is The ‘N-Word’ Ever OK In The Locker Room?
Terry Foster: Is The ‘N-Word’ Ever OK In The Locker Room? « CBS Detroit:
"Foster tells it this way: “Hey, cracker,” Delmas often says to Scheffler inside the Lions practice facility.
“How’s my n—–?” Scheffler replies."
Imagine the pain the millions of recently released slaves here in offended-land must feel.
"Foster tells it this way: “Hey, cracker,” Delmas often says to Scheffler inside the Lions practice facility.
“How’s my n—–?” Scheffler replies."
Imagine the pain the millions of recently released slaves here in offended-land must feel.
Friday, August 09, 2013
The Hope And Change Guy Starts A New Panic
The Hope And Change Guy Starts A New Panic | Real Science:
"Obama’s latest fear mongering is that Putin is going to arrest gay Olympic athletes.
Johnny Weir: If I’m arrested in Russia, so be it – CBS News
The hope and change guy seems to move effortlessly from one mindless panic to another.
A few days ago it was terrorists.
Before that it was George Zimmerman. Before that it was Edward Snowden.
Before that it was CO2.
Before that it was the fiscal cliff, healthcare, stimulus, Republicans, Rush Limbaugh, tea party, and on and on and on.
What a world class wanker."
"Obama’s latest fear mongering is that Putin is going to arrest gay Olympic athletes.
Johnny Weir: If I’m arrested in Russia, so be it – CBS News
The hope and change guy seems to move effortlessly from one mindless panic to another.
A few days ago it was terrorists.
Before that it was George Zimmerman. Before that it was Edward Snowden.
Before that it was CO2.
Before that it was the fiscal cliff, healthcare, stimulus, Republicans, Rush Limbaugh, tea party, and on and on and on.
What a world class wanker."
Detroit Lost a $1 Million Check in a Desk Drawer
Detroit Lost a $1 Million Check in a Desk Drawer - Philip Bump - The Atlantic Wire:
"Strategy one for addressing the budget shortfall might include checking other drawers around City Hall.
Who knows how much might turn up."
"Strategy one for addressing the budget shortfall might include checking other drawers around City Hall.
Who knows how much might turn up."
7 Wonders of Michigan: The Top 20
7 Wonders of Michigan: The Top 20 | Lansing State Journal | lansingstatejournal.com:
"Here are the Top 20 — in alphabetical order.
Did your suggestions make the cut?
Castle Rock (St. Ignace)
Grand Traverse Bay
The Grand Hotel
The Great Lakes – Michigan, Superior, Huron, Erie
Greenfield Village/Henry Ford Museum
Isle Royale National Park
Kitchi-Iti-Kipi Spring
Lake of the Clouds
Mackinac Bridge
Mackinac Island
Manitou Islands
Michigan Stadium (The Big House)
National Shrine of the Cross
Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore
Porcupine Mountains State Wilderness Park
Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore
Soo Locks
Tahquamenon Falls
Tunnel of Trees (M-19)
Turnip Rock"
"Here are the Top 20 — in alphabetical order.
Did your suggestions make the cut?
Castle Rock (St. Ignace)
Grand Traverse Bay
The Grand Hotel
The Great Lakes – Michigan, Superior, Huron, Erie
Greenfield Village/Henry Ford Museum
Isle Royale National Park
Kitchi-Iti-Kipi Spring
Lake of the Clouds
Mackinac Bridge
Mackinac Island
Manitou Islands
Michigan Stadium (The Big House)
National Shrine of the Cross
Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore
Porcupine Mountains State Wilderness Park
Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore
Soo Locks
Tahquamenon Falls
Tunnel of Trees (M-19)
Turnip Rock"
The Best Small Places For Business and Careers List
The Best Small Places For Business and Careers List - Forbes
Not one Michigan metro area on the list of 100!
Duh!
Not one Michigan metro area on the list of 100!
Duh!
Saginaw County 3rd muni in Michigan to postpone million-dollar bond sale in wake of Detroit bankruptcy
Saginaw County 3rd muni in Michigan to postpone million-dollar bond sale in wake of Detroit bankruptcy | Crain's Detroit Business:
"The securities are rated Aa3 by Moody's Investors Service, fourth-highest.
Saginaw joins Michigan's Genesee County and Battle Creek in postponing general obligation offerings. Proceeds would help Saginaw, with about 198,000 residents, finance unfunded pension liabilities of about $60 million."
Muskegon county will soon be lookin' for $40 million (GO, not revenue) for the new jail.
Hopin' for a bunch of rich dummies.
The financial dominoes of doom are tippin'.
The MSM and our politicians will tell us about it when the last one falls.
"The securities are rated Aa3 by Moody's Investors Service, fourth-highest.
Saginaw joins Michigan's Genesee County and Battle Creek in postponing general obligation offerings. Proceeds would help Saginaw, with about 198,000 residents, finance unfunded pension liabilities of about $60 million."
Muskegon county will soon be lookin' for $40 million (GO, not revenue) for the new jail.
Hopin' for a bunch of rich dummies.
The financial dominoes of doom are tippin'.
The MSM and our politicians will tell us about it when the last one falls.
FIRST LAVABIT, now Silent Mail shuts down. Remember the innocent days of the Bush Administration.....
Instapundit » Blog Archive » FIRST LAVABIT, now Silent Mail shuts down.
"Remember the innocent days of the Bush Administration, when people got exercised about the government knowing what books you checked out of the library?"
"Remember the innocent days of the Bush Administration, when people got exercised about the government knowing what books you checked out of the library?"
Who's setting Wisconsin's academic standards?
Who's setting Wisconsin's academic standards? « Watchdog.org:
“They don’t come to the math department. They go to the school of education,” Lempp said.
“They very rarely consult with the math department.
They’re afraid we’ll tell them things they don’t want to here — like their tests suck.”"
“They don’t come to the math department. They go to the school of education,” Lempp said.
“They very rarely consult with the math department.
They’re afraid we’ll tell them things they don’t want to here — like their tests suck.”"
Detroit losing $1 million school check more proof of inefficiencies in city
Detroit losing $1 million school check more proof of inefficiencies in city | Crain's Detroit Business:
"In late February, cash-strapped Detroit received a $1 million check from the local school system that wasn't deposited.
The routine payment wound up in a city hall desk drawer, where it was found a month later."
Read it all and weep.
And almost EVERY Detroit city council incumbent won their primary races.
There is no fixin' what the folks don't want fixed.
"In late February, cash-strapped Detroit received a $1 million check from the local school system that wasn't deposited.
The routine payment wound up in a city hall desk drawer, where it was found a month later."
Read it all and weep.
And almost EVERY Detroit city council incumbent won their primary races.
There is no fixin' what the folks don't want fixed.
Michigan State's Spartan Stadium construction begins, will last throughout football season
Michigan State's Spartan Stadium construction begins, will last throughout football season | MLive.com
New practice field for marching band
The 300-plus-member Spartan Marching Band will have a new home beginning with the 2014 football season.
Earlier this summer, the MSU Board of Trustees approved repurposing a portion of Munn Field, located just a few hundred yards southwest of Spartan Stadium at the corner of Shaw Lane and Chestnut Road, as an artificial turf field for the SMB.
The new field will include a regulation-size football field, lights, a permanent band tower, spectator seating, fencing, gates and an underground drain system. The band's current practice field, located immediately north of Demonstration Hall, is a natural-grass surface lacking lighting, a permanent tower and fencing and gates.
"The band currently practices at Demonstration Hall Field, but the location continues to be problematic because of the maintenance requirements and irrigation issues associated with a grass field," a university memo on the new practice field reads. "An artificial turf field would provide a safer and superior surface for the band. The field would be scheduled by intramural sports and summer sports camps for other activities when not in use by the Spartan Marching Band."
New research says: cellphone use+driving=death...not so much
New research says: cellphone use+driving=death...not so much | TG Daily:
"You are more likely to kill yourself reading this article than you are talking on your cellphone and driving.
That's our guess, but for almost 20 years, it has been a wide-held belief that talking on a cellphone while driving is dangerous and leads to more accidents.
However, new research from Carnegie Mellon University and the London School of Economics and Political Science suggests that talking on a cellphone while driving does not increase crash risk."
"You are more likely to kill yourself reading this article than you are talking on your cellphone and driving.
That's our guess, but for almost 20 years, it has been a wide-held belief that talking on a cellphone while driving is dangerous and leads to more accidents.
However, new research from Carnegie Mellon University and the London School of Economics and Political Science suggests that talking on a cellphone while driving does not increase crash risk."
The IRS Scandal, Day 92
TaxProf Blog:
The IRS Scandal, Day 92
- Letter from Ellen Weintraub (Chair, FEC) to Candice Miller (Chair, House Administration Committee) on IRS/FEC Coordination in Targeting of Conservative Groups (Aug. 6, 2013)
- American Thinker: Issa Expands IRS Probe to Include Possible FEC Collusion Targeting Conservatives
- The Daily Mail: America's Tax Collectors Are STILL Targeting Tea Party Groups, an IRS Agent Has Told Congressional Investigators
- Forbes: DEA Passed Secret Data, Tips for Covering Up to IRS
- Fox News: IRS Scandal Hits 3 Month Mark -- Where's the Accountability, Mr. Obama?
- The Hill: Ways and Means Chairman Alleges Continued IRS Targeting
- Human Events: IRS Scandal Probe Expands to Include the FEC
- MSNBC: Is the IRS Still ‘Targeting’ the Tea Party?
- Scripps Howard: IRS Caressed Liberals, Harassed Conservatives
- Slate: Assume a Scandal
- Town Hall: Scandal Watch: Issa Expands IRS Targeting Investigation to FEC
- USA Today: Common Ground: Obama 'Phony' Scandals
- Wall Street Journal: House Republicans Widen IRS Probe
- Washington Examiner: IRS Agent: Tax Agency Is Still Targeting Tea Party Groups
- Washington Post: FEC Chair Requests Probe of Agency’s Ties With IRS
- Washington Times: House Investigating FEC and IRS Communications Over Tax Exempt Groups
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)