You knew they'd use "Global Warming/Change/whatever as an excuse to tax ya more. Didn't ya?-------How Grand Rapids street tax ties into city's outlook on climate change

How Grand Rapids street tax ties into city's outlook on climate change | MLive.com

The city’s new climate resiliency report suggests that Grand Rapids in future winters will experience more volatile weather patterns that increase freeze-thaw cycles, and it advises that streets “will increasingly be subject to climate-driven stresses and require increased resources even to maintain status quo conditions.”

Grand Rapids City Commissioners this week took a step toward obtaining those resources, giving support for an income tax proposal to go on the May 6 ballot. Final approval of ballot language is expected later this month.

“Because water is our biggest enemy and water freezes, it’s important to maintain our assets now before we get to the point of spending so much money (on road reconstruction),” Second Ward City Commissioner Ruth Kelly said. “The longer we wait, the more it’s going to cost us. We really don’t have a choice.”

"I know nothing" only works for democrats-----Christie and the IRS

Christie and the IRS - WSJ.com

Which brings us to the Obama Administration, which quickly leaked to the media that the U.S. Attorney is investigating the lane closures as a criminal matter. Well, that sure was fast, and nice of Eric Holder's Justice Department to show its typical discretion when investigating political opponents.

This is the same Administration that won't tell Congress what resources it is devoting to the IRS probe, and appears to be slow-rolling it. It has also doubled down by expanding the political vetting of 501(c)(4) groups seeking tax-exempt status. Lois Lerner, who ran the IRS tax-exempt shop and took the Fifth before Congress, was allowed to "retire," presumably with a pension. Acting IRS commissioner Steven Miller resigned under pressure but no other heads have rolled. 

Yet compared to using the IRS against political opponents during an election campaign, closing traffic lanes for four days is jaywalking.

Educrats Replace 'Racist' School Discipline With "Restorative Justice'

Undisciplining Kids Through 'Restorative Justice'in

Re-education: Under new federal guidelines for reforming "discriminatory" school discipline, the disruptive will learn quickly that their teachers must now tolerate even more disruptive behavior.

This is about the only learning that will be going on, especially in inner-city schools, once this insane policy is fully implemented.

This week the Education Department warned the nation's school administrators it's not a good idea to remove unruly kids from the classroom. What about the violent ones? Suspend them only as a "last resort." Think twice about even sending them to the principal, and whatever you do, don't call the cops.

Obama's educrats say minorities bear the brunt of these "draconian" practices. And based on statistics they've cooked up showing racial "disparities" in punishment, they smell school racism on a national scale.

Principals who want to avoid lawsuits and hold on to their funding would be well advised to adopt a "non-punitive" approach to handling discipline problems called "restorative justice," a remedy recommended in the guidance package the department released Wednesday.

This is when irresponsible social policy-making turns dangerous.

Restorative justice, also called reparative justice or distributive justice, is part of a fringe civil rights movement that demands the abolition of prisons. Under this approach to justice, there are no offenders. Just victims. It trivializes crime and has increased recidivism wherever it has been applied.

Intimidated by federal investigations, hundreds of school districts across the country already have hired civil rights activists to train faculty in the finer points of restorative justice.

White staffers are taught to check their "unconscious racial bias" — also known as their "whiteness" — when dealing with minority students who act out. They are told to open their eyes to "white privilege" and have more empathy for black kids who may be lashing out in frustration. They're trained to identify "root causes" of black anger, such as America's legacy of racism. Teachers are advised to avoid "trigger" words, and watch their "tone."

They're also told to respect black "culture," which is described as more "emotional." (Talk about racism.) Restorative justice tells teachers to give disruptive students a pass when they curse and threaten them because "African-American boys are demonstrative" and that's just how they "engage in learning."

In other words, if black students are acting out, it's your fault. You didn't validate their victimhood.

Of course victims don't deserve punishment. So troubled kids under this approach are allowed to negotiate the consequences for their bad behavior, which usually takes the form of rehabilitation through counseling and therapy. Often, teachers and students sit in "talking circles" and develop "empathy and respect" for one another. Talk invariably turns to racism and white privilege.

Detroit Police probe why Councilman George Cushingberry wasn't arrested after run-in near topless bar

Detroit Police probe why Councilman George Cushingberry wasn't arrested after run-in near topless bar | Detroit Free Press | freep.com:
Detroit’s newly elected City Council President Pro Tem George Cushingberry Jr. was pulled over by police Wednesday night and given a citation after he was spotted driving away from a topless bar on Livernois, according to a police spokesman.

Neither the spokesman nor Police Chief James Craig would confirm reports by WDIV Channel 4 and the Detroit News that Cushingberry was driving with an open intoxicant and marijuana in his car.
But the former state legislator and ordained Baptist minister told the Free Press the report is “a scurrilous story.”

Fascinating life------Walter Oi, 1929 – 2013

Walter Oi, 1929 – 2013 at Steven Landsburg | The Big Questions: Tackling the Problems of Philosophy with Ideas from Mathematics, Economics, and Physics:
"That’s what it was like working with Walter Oi, who died peacefully in his sleep on Christmas Eve after a long illness.
Walter loved odd facts, and he loved to share them.
It was Walter who told me that when all frozen pies had 12 inch diameters, apple was the most popular flavor — but when 7 inch pies came on the market, apple immediately fell to something like fifth place. 

His explanation:
When you’re buying a 12 inch pie, the whole family has to agree on a flavor, and apple wins because it’s everyone’s second choice.
With 7 inch pies, family members each get their pick, and almost nobody chooses apple."

History for January 10 - Burgers, Buns, Oil. Joke, Double Joke, Viny, Final, Snip, Nuke

History for January 10 - On-This-Day.com:

Happy Birthday! George Foreman, Rod Stewart

1870 - John D. Rockefeller incorporated Standard Oil.


1920 - The League of Nations held its first meeting in Geneva.


1946 - The first meeting of the United Nations General Assembly took place with 51 nations represented.


1949 - Vinyl records were introduced by RCA (45 rpm) and Columbia (33.3 rpm).


1990 - Chinese Premier Li Peng ended martial law in Beijing after seven months. He said that crushing pro-democracy protests had saved China from "the abyss of misery."


1994 - In Manassas, VA, Lorena Bobbitt went on trial. She had been charged with maliciously wounding her husband John. She was acquitted by reason of temporary insanity.


2003 - North Korea announced that it was withdrawing from the global nuclear arms control treaty and that it had no plans to develop nuclear weapons. 

Banana republic update: Obama donor selected to lead IRS probe

Banana republic update: Obama donor selected to lead IRS probe | Human Events

At this point, all you can do is sit back and watch the fun.
Soon President Obama will be giving press conferences wearing sunglasses and an ersatz military uniform covered with phony medals.
From the Washington Times:

The Justice Department selected an avowed political supporter of President Obama to lead the criminal probe into the IRS targeting of tea party groups, according to top Republicans who said Wednesday that the move has ruined the entire investigation.

House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell E. Issa, California Republican, and regulatory affairs subcommittee Chairman Jim Jordan, Ohio Republican, said they have discovered that the head of the investigation is Barbara Kay Bosserman, a trial lawyer in the Justice Department who donated more than $6,000 to Mr. Obama’s 2008 and 2012 campaigns, as well as several hundred dollars to the national Democratic Party.

“The department has created a startling conflict of interest,” Mr. Issa and Mr. Jordan said in a letter sent Wednesday and reviewed by The Washington Times. “It is unbelievable that the department would choose such an individual to examine the federal government’s systematic targeting and harassment of organizations opposed to the president’s policies.”

I’ve just received an email from a Mr. I. Montoya, who says he doesn’t think the word “unbelievable” means what Reps. Issa and Jordan think it means.

Say, would everyone in the media be OK with Chris Christie appointing one of his ardent supporters and donors to investigate the Bridge-gate scandal?

Not so rabid when reporting Obama's "Fast and furious" murders----CNN's Banfield: Christie Scandal Could Mean 'Felony Murder' Charges

CNN's Banfield: Christie Scandal Could Mean 'Felony Murder' Charges:
"So if that's the case an extraordinarily serious end of this could be [a chrge of] felony murder because it's a felony to do this kind of thing -- if it can be proven to shut down those lanes for no good reason -- and then if a death results, that's a murder."

Banfield was addressing the report that a 91-year-old woman's ambulance ride was delayed due to the lane closures.
The report also says the woman did not die as a result of the delay.
Banfield is only the most extreme example of how giddy CNN and the rest of the media are over this scandal. This kind of hysterical overreach is now the norm when the media is hunting someone down to benefit their left-wing agenda.
CNN's behavior during the George Zimmerman trial and the gun control debate was widely criticized and ridiculed.
This is not to say the Christie scandal is not real and valid.
But the difference in how CNN and the rest of the media react to scandals involving a Republican star and the likes of a Barack Obama can be summed up in the words "felony murder.""

Muslim women should NOT cover face, say most Muslim countries in survey

Muslim women should NOT cover face, say most Muslim countries in survey | Mail Online:

Crooks and thieves at EVERY level of government----DWP chief Ron Nichols resigns amid controversies

DWP chief Ron Nichols resigns amid controversies - latimes.com:
"Ron Nichols announced his resignation Thursday as general manager of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, which is struggling through a pair of public-relations debacles.

Despite repeated demands from elected officials, Nichols has been unable to produce records showing how two nonprofit trusts created to help improve relations with the utility's largest union have spent more than $40 million in ratepayer money over the last decade.

Nichols also has been unable to adequately explain to elected officials, including his boss, Mayor Eric Garcetti, what those trusts have accomplished, even though he has co-managed them with the union leader for the last three years."

Bend over again, America. This is gonna hurt----Obamacare Ad Blitz Planned for Olympics

Obamacare Ad Blitz Planned for Olympics - ABC News:
"The White House is planning to make a major play to sign up young and healthy Americans for Obamacare when the Winter Olympics open next month.

The Department of Health and Human Services will launch a TV ad blitz to take advantage of anticipated increased viewership on NBC stations which will carry the Olympic coverage between Feb. 7 and 23, an administration official confirmed to ABC News.
The official said the ads would run in markets with the highest rates of uninsured, but declined to specify the locations or the amount that would be spent.
The ads will encourage uninsured people, particularly young adults, to enroll in Obamacare coverage before the March 31 deadline. They will also educate consumers about new insurance benefits available under the Affordable Care Act, an official said."

Math is hard-----Holder's New School Discipline Guidelines: Stop Targeting Minorities

Holder's New School Discipline Guidelines: Stop Targeting Minorities:

"In American schools, black students without disabilities were more than three times as likely as whites to be expelled or suspended, according to government civil rights data collection from 2011-2012.
Although black students made up 15 percent of students in the data collection, they made up more than a third of students suspended once, 44 percent of those suspended more than once and more than a third of students expelled.

More than half of students involved in school-related arrests or referred to law enforcement were Hispanic or black, according to the data.

The recommendations encourage schools to ensure that all school personnel are trained in classroom management, conflict resolution and approaches to de-escalate classroom disruptions.

Underfunded US homeowner associations get heavy

Underfunded US homeowner associations get heavy:
"For six years, Ingrid Boak, who travels a lot for work as a racehorse trainer, ignored mail from her homeowner association.

Boak, of Lexington, Kentucky, says the letters were requests for $48 in annual fees for upkeep of the tidy neighborhood of one-story brick homes. Because she didn't use the clubhouse or pool, or participate in social activities sponsored by the association, she didn't think she needed to pay. Last September, while she was away, a neighbor called to tell her about a handwritten sign tacked to her front door. It said her house had been sold.
Masterson Station Neighborhood Association had foreclosed on her $120,000 home because she had $288 in unpaid dues, according to the association's lawyer, Nathan Billings. Boak was sent nearly 30 notices before her property was foreclosed on, he said; the dues were mandatory association fees."

Blame slow jet stream for US deep freeze

Blame slow jet stream for US deep freeze - environment - 07 January 2014 - New Scientist

Don't blame the polar vortex. 

The real reason for the cold snap paralysing North America this week is a slow jet stream.

The cold is extreme, and deadly. In Minnesota, the wind chill was down to minus 51 °C. Chicago (pictured) hit a record low of minus 27 °C on Monday, and ice built up along Lake Michigan. TV weather channels warned that frostbite could set in after just 5 minutes of exposure, planes have been grounded after fuel froze, schools have closed and Indianapolis banned driving. Key crops like wheat are also at risk.

It has been 20 years since the entire mainland US was affected like this, says forecaster Brian Korty of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Weather Prediction Center in College Park, Maryland.

As temperatures fell, some blamed a mysterious polar vortex, but this is a system of winds in the stratosphere that spins around the Arctic and Antarctic during their respective winters, many kilometres above the weather. There is nothing unusual about the polar vortex, according to the UK Met Office. Instead, cold Arctic air has reached North America thanks to a weakened jet stream – the continent's atmospheric conveyor belt.

HAMMOND: Should you lose your gun rights if you visit a shrink?

HAMMOND: Should you lose your gun rights if you visit a shrink? - Washington Times:
"In a preternatural example of tone-deafness, an administration under fire for snooping into Americans’ privacy is now proposing to waive federal privacy laws so psychiatrists can report their gun-owning patients to the government.

The Department of Health and Human Service’s “notice of proposed rule-making,” floated by the White House in a Friday media dump, would waive portions of the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) to allow psychiatrists to report their patients to the FBI’s gun-ban blacklist (the NICS system) on the basis of confidential communications."

Why we pay so much for our auto insurance

Cuz so many aren't paying ANYTHING!
I've heard experts say that Michigan may be 40% uninsured today.
www.insurance-research.org:

Remember the "fix" they promised was for us to give them $Trillions. Then all would be just ducky-------Winter Storm 2014: On The Coldest Day In America In 20 Years, Here Are Al Gore’s Stupidest Global Warming Quotes

Read 'em all and wonder about the morons who actually believe his idiocy.
Winter Storm 2014: On The Coldest Day In America In 20 Years, Here Are Al Gore’s Stupidest Global Warming Quotes - Freedom Outpost | Freedom Outpost:

So are we really experiencing “global warming”?

Of course not.

If anything, things are actually getting colder.

What the United States and Canada are experiencing right now is making global warming alarmists such as Al Gore look quite foolish. 

The following are 10 of Al Gore’s stupidest global warming quotes…

#1 In 2008, Al Gore boldly declared to a German audience that “the entire North ‘polarized’ cap will disappear in 5 years.” (Needless to say, that did not happen. In fact, the ice cap in the Arctic actually got larger this year.)

#2 “CO2 is the exhaling breath of our civilization, literally. … Changing that pattern requires a scope, a scale, a speed of change that is beyond what we have done in the past.” (Actually, without carbon dioxide life on earth would not exist.)

#3 “The planet has a fever. If your baby has a fever, you go to the doctor. If the doctor says you need to intervene here, you don’t say, ‘Well, I read a science fiction novel that told me it’s not a problem.’ If the crib’s on fire, you don’t speculate that the baby is flame retardant. You take action.” (It sounds like what Al Gore really needs is more cowbell.)

#4 During a speech at NYU Law School in 2006, Al Gore made the following statement: “Many scientists are now warning that we are moving closer to several “tipping points” that could — within as little as 10 years — make it impossible for us to avoid irretrievable damage to the planet’s habitability for human civilization.”

WeMOG--Pigeon Creek Park and ski or snow shoe. Today Jan 9 at 1:00p.m.

Come out to Pigeon Creek Park and ski or snow shoe. Today Jan 9 at 1:00p.m.

 

Directions: US31 south of Grand Haven  to Stanton Rd and go east to park. 

Grand Rapids Folks, Lake Michigan Dr to 120th (by the Yellow Jacket) and go south to Stanton Rd and then West to Park

 See you there

It's the culture, stupid-----------What Will Half of Young Black Men Have in Common by Age 23?

What Will Half of Young Black Men Have in Common by Age 23? - The Daily Beast:
"according to a new study published in the Journal of Crime & Delinquency, nearly 50 percent of all black males have been arrested by the age of 23."

"Is that a vagina in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me?"------------------Cormac McCarthy's ex-wife arrested for pulling gun on boyfriend

Cormac McCarthy's ex-wife arrested for pulling gun on boyfriend | The Daily Caller:
"The ex-wife of Pulitzer Prize-winning “The Road” and “No Country for Old Men” novelist Cormac McCarthy was arrested over the weekend for pulling a handgun from her vagina and aiming it at her current boyfriend’s head.

The Smoking Gun obtained the statement of probable cause from Santa Fe County Police that says Jennifer McCarthy, 48, was arguing with her unnamed boyfriend about “space aliens” when she became angry and left her home.

When she came back, McCarthy went into the bedroom and came out wearing nothing but lingerie and a Smith & Wesson handgun in her vagina. 
In a scene that sounds like it came out of her ex-husband’s latest movie “The Counselor,” she began to have “inner course” with the handgun in front of her boyfriend."

Pay to play, dudes......Tales Of Two “Healthcare” Profit Strategies

Tales Of Two “Healthcare” Profit Strategies « Rat Nation:
"Something in the stars was aligned to get these two stories on the same day.

First, Breitbart’s Wynton Hall did a tremendous amount of legwork to deliver the details on this topic sentence:

For Obama’s big money backers, however, the Obamacare fiasco has generated massive profits and contracts. 
In 2008, the healthcare industry contributed an astounding $22,471,562 to Obama–a sum nearly three times greater than it donated to his Republican challenger. 
Their “investment” paid off in 2013, as the healthcare sector index gained 37.5%, making it the S&P 500′s best-performing sector.

That means big gains for Obama’s big donors, notes Government Accountability Institute President Peter Schweizer.

There is quite a litany of healthcare executives and their rewards, I mean bonus packages at this link, but suffice it to say that donations to the Obama presidential campaign in 2008 could look a lot like pay to play or some sort of bribe in the right light.
They’re all cashing in."

No one fired, bonuses keep going to politicians-----Madoff-related fraud to cost JPMorgan $2.5 billion

What a tawdry tale!
Why are these people not strung upside down in Central Park?
Madoff-related fraud to cost JPMorgan $2.5 billion | Detroit Free Press | freep.com:
"The name on the account was Bernard Madoff and on Tuesday, JPMorgan paid a steep price for keeping quiet about its suspicions.
....In 2008, the bank’s London desk circulated a memo describing JPMorgan’s inability to validate his trading activity or custody of assets and his “odd choice” of a one-man accounting firm, the government said.
In late October 2008, it filed a suspicious activity report with British officials. In the weeks that followed, JPMorgan withdrew about $300 million of its own money from Madoff feeder funds.
The fraud was revealed when Madoff was arrested in December 2008.
“Despite all these alarm bells, JPMorgan never closed or even seriously questioned Madoff’s Ponzi-enabling 703 account,” U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said.
 “On the other hand, when it came to its own money, JPMorgan knew how to connect the dots and take action to protect itself against risk.”
In a statement, JPMorgan said it recognized it “could have done a better job pulling together various pieces of information and concerns about Madoff from different parts of the bank over time.”

It's the culture, stupid! ----------------------CDC: U.S. Fertility Rate Hits Record Low for 2nd Straight Year; 40.7% of Babies Born to Unmarried Women

CDC: U.S. Fertility Rate Hits Record Low for 2nd Straight Year; 40.7% of Babies Born to Unmarried Women | CNS News:
"The fertility rate of women in the United States fell to a record low for the second year in a row in 2012, according to data released last week by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Also for the second year in a row, 40.7 percent of the babies born in the United States were born to unmarried mothers."

I'm thinkin' not too many will have to cross this one off their vac lists-----20 World's Most Dangerous Vacation Destinations

20 World's Most Dangerous Vacation Destinations:
"1. Detroit, USA


Perhaps it will be a great surprise for you but Detroit is one of the places that are not desirable for visiting. It has been heading the list of the most dangerous US cities for 5 years. Crimes are widespread here. But if you are eager so much to visit this Motor City in spite of all the threats, you should control the information in the media."

Photo Essay: Beauty in ice along the Grand Haven pier

Photo Essay: Beauty in ice along the Grand Haven pier | MLive.com:
"Ice covers the pier in Grand Haven Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2014.  (17 total photos)"

History for January 9 - Flirting ban?!

History for January 9 - On-This-Day.com

Birth anniversary of 37^th US president Richard Milhous Nixon (1913-1994).

More birth anniversaries:  Bob Denver (1935-2005), Lee Van Cleef (1925-89)

1799 - British Prime Minister William Pitt the Younger introduced income tax, at two shillings (10p) in the pound, to raise funds for the Napoleonic Wars.


1902 - New York State introduced a bill to outlaw flirting in public.


1929 - The Seeing Eye was incorporated in Nashville, TN. The company's purpose was to train dogs to guide the blind.


1951 - The United Nations headquarters officially opened in New York City.


1969 - The supersonic aeroplane Concorde made its first trial flight, at Bristol.

1984 - Clara Peller was first seen by TV viewers in the "Where's the Beef?" commercial campaign for Wendy's.

Poverty level under Obama breaks 50-year record

Poverty level under Obama breaks 50-year record - Washington Times:
"Fifty years after President Johnson started a $20 trillion taxpayer-funded war on poverty, the overall percentage of impoverished people in the U.S. has declined only slightly and the poor have lost ground under President Obama.
Aides said Mr. Obama doesn’t plan to commemorate the anniversary Wednesday of Johnson’s speech in 1964, which gave rise to Medicaid, Head Start and a broad range of other federal anti-poverty programs."

Obama's america----Gonorrhea, Syphilis Regain Traction in U.S., CDC Reports

Government "experts" say it's your fault?
Gonorrhea, Syphilis Regain Traction in U.S., CDC Reports - Bloomberg:
"Gonorrhea and syphilis are on the rise in the U.S., mostly in men who have sex with men, a trend the government said is linked to inadequate testing among people stymied by homophobia and limited access to health care.

The rate of new gonorrhea cases rose 4 percent in 2012 from the year before, while syphilis jumped 11 percent, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said today in a report.
Rates for chlamydia, the most common of the bacterial sexually transmitted diseases, gained less than 1 percent."