Ken Braun: Too bad Grand Rapids can't replace rapid transit route with Uber

Ken Braun: Too bad Grand Rapids can't replace rapid transit route with Uber | MLive.com:
"The new Silver Line rapid transit bus running through Grand Rapids has been operating for most of a year and now averages 56,000 rides per month.
The CEO of The Rapid - Grand Rapids' public bus service - is cautiously optimistic, saying "it's a good sign of a new route developing its ridership base so quickly."
Too bad they can't just hire Uber drivers.
The Silver Line is a dedicated lane for buses along a 9.6 mile route.
By excluding cars from the lane, and providing preferential status at traffic lights, the Silver Line claims it can give riders faster trips than individual motorists can achieve along the same route.
This is in part because cars are not permitted on the new bus lane, thus making car lanes more crowded than they otherwise need to be.
The many get more crowded concrete so a tiny few can have the Silver.
The 56,000 rides per month breaks down to less than 1,900 rides per day. 
So the number of individual souls using the Silver Line each day is probably closer to half that many, because most riders must consume two trips on a round trip, and some even more if they make multiple stops along the line.
Let's say there are 1,000 unique riders per day.
The $40 million initial construction cost for the Silver Line works out to two brand new $20,000 automobiles for each of those 1,000 riders. 
Easily in that price range is a new Ford Fiesta with city mileage of 31 mpg..."
Read on!

Venezuela On The Brink…

Venezuela On The Brink… | The Last Refuge:
Venezuela On The Brink…

Posted on September 4, 2016 by sundance

If, like me, you haven’t been keeping up with the escalating crisis in Venezuela, you might be surprised at the scope of the protests in the past few days.

With massive food shortages still ongoing as a result of the economic crisis created by Nicholas Maduro policy, millions of people are now taking to the streets of the capital city of Caracus; and even chasing Maduro out of small towns and villages.

(Via ABC) Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro reportedly was greeted by angry pot-banging protesters during a visit to Margarita Island.

Grainy cellphone videos said to be from the Friday night encounter were picked up by Venezuelan news sites and were trending on social media. The socialist leader is seen jogging through a crowd as residents loudly bang on pots and hurl obscenities.

His visit to Margarita Island earlier Friday evening was broadcast nationwide. Images of the protest were later posted by residents of the town where it reportedly occurred. (link)

Here’s video of a stunning protest march in Caracus a few days ago:

Venezuelan Women Are Getting Sterilized To Avoid Pregnancy In A Socialist Dystopia - Matt Vespa

Venezuelan Women Are Getting Sterilized To Avoid Pregnancy In A Socialist Dystopia - Matt Vespa:

"Looting has been rampant as people struggle to survive. To avoid the appearance of a crisis, the government has banned lines outside of bakeries. In all, virtually every aspect of Venezuelan socioeconomic life has collapsed. So, would you raise a family in this socialist nightmare? The answer is no—and women are opting to sterilize themselves to avoid pregnancies and the cost of raising children in a country that simply can’t provide basic services for its people. Oh, I forgot to mention, even basic birth control could be viewed as a luxury item, like toilet paper, since no one can find that either (via Fox News Latino):"

Citizens empowered!-----Almost Entire County Commission Overthrown After Spending Splurge

Almost Entire County Commission Overthrown After Spending Splurge [Michigan Capitol Confidential]:
"By ANNE SCHIEBER-DYKSTRA | Aug. 30, 2016 |
 Follow Anne Schieber-Dykstra on Twitter
Editor's note: This story was changed to include comments from Commissioner Bert Notestine after publication.
"While primary elections for local offices rarely garner much attention, the results of the August election were dramatic for one county in northern lower Michigan.
Of seven members of the current county commission, only one will be on the fall ballot.
“I did not anticipate such a dramatic and historic turnover on the Emmet County board,” said Commissioner Charlie MacInnis, who ran unopposed in the primary.
"The community clearly didn’t support the massive spending projects that were undertaken without adequate planning or voter approval.”
Four of the seven incumbents lost primary contests while another two did not seek re-election.
Last year, county commissioners built a $1.7 million substation for emergency medical technicians (EMTs) and planned to break ground on a $9 million “dark sky” observatory.
...“Many people, at first, thought he was exaggerating: no contracts, except an hourly rate, no scope of project, no budget, no performance bonds and the like.
When the sitting commissioners failed to rebut Charlie, the public began to pay attention,” she said.
...The Emmet County Republican Party began a campaign to recruit candidates to challenge sitting commissioners. Sarowski said that MacInnis impressed a number of people and motivated them to seek office. She and MacInnis brought the candidates up to speed on the issues and helped them campaign.
...Sarowski says many people have told her the election gave them hope.
“Hope that wrongs can be righted. 
Hope that good people can be elected. 
Hope that liberally (bent) newspapers can do good reporting. 
Hope that our tax money can be allocated responsibly,” said Sarowski."

How Many U.S. Cities Can You Fit Inside Tokyo?

How Many U.S. Cities Can You Fit Inside Tokyo? - Metrocosm:

Lunch video-----The Enigma, Part 1: Strange Bedfellows | Bill Whittle

The Enigma, Part 1: Strange Bedfellows | Bill Whittle:
We're told Barack Obama's history and character are somehow off-limits. 
But personal history makes character, and the character of the President of the United States is something we have a right to be interested in.
In Part 1 of this meticulously researched and and sourced series, Bill Whittle examines both the Dunhams and the Obamas -- each steeped in Marxism and anti-Americansm and each a long, long way away from mainstream American culture.

Noon-toon

Pelosi: Clinton emails a technicality | Washington Examiner

Pelosi: Clinton emails a technicality | Washington Examiner:

"Nancy Pelosi dismissed Hillary Clinton's growing email scandal as a series of "technicalities" Monday, brushing aside FBI and congressional investigations.

The House minority leader said voters shouldn't get "bogged down in some technicalities" and added, "it's really much ado about nothing, but too much ado.""

Why do our politicians hate democracy so very much?

Why do our politicians hate democracy so very much? :
"Our own political class, in its contempt for democracy, does little to restore its reputation.
On Friday Nicola Sturgeon launched a “new conversation” about Scottish independence, an idea handsomely rejected two years ago.
Could we finish the old conversation first?
What would Scotland’s currency be if it were independent?
How would it join the EU?
And another point has become more prevalent since we last discussed this matter: the £15bn annual deficit Scotland runs..."

Obese patients and smokers banned from routine surgery in 'most severe ever' rationing in the NHS

Obese patients and smokers banned from routine surgery  in 'most severe ever' rationing in the NHS: "Obese people will be routinely refused operations across the NHS, health service bosses have warned, after one authority said it would limit procedures on an unprecedented scale.
Hospital leaders in North Yorkshire said that patients with a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or above – as well as smokers – will be barred from most surgery for up to a year amid increasingly desperate measures to plug a funding black hole.
The restrictions will apply to standard hip and knee operations..."

GAFFE FOR THE AGES: GREEN PARTY CANDIDATE JILL STEIN LATE FOR RALLY BECAUSE SHE WENT TO THE WRONG CITY

Instapundit » Blog Archive » GAFFE FOR THE AGES:
"GAFFE FOR THE AGES: GREEN PARTY CANDIDATE JILL STEIN LATE FOR RALLY BECAUSE SHE WENT TO THE WRONG CITY: 
“The campaign of the Green Party candidate for president, Jill Stein, made one of those gaffes for the ages. 
The candidate was scheduled to speak in Columbus, Ohio, on Friday but she arrived two hours late because her staff had booked her on a flight to Cincinnati…
This is entirely understandable. 
After all, most Stein staffers are of the coastal elite variety. 
They probably don’t know that Columbus and Cincinnati are different cities. They both begin with a ‘C,’ right?”

Well I guess Hillary can breathe a sigh of relief — she’s not the only far left presidential candidate who has a great deal of difficulty understanding what (C) stands for.
As for Stein, you’d think the face of an ideology that professes to believe that plane travel is destroying the planet would be much more careful about this sort of thing.  Posted by Ed Driscoll at 5:50 pm

Soros Group Spent $600K To Mainstream Pro-Refugee Attitudes | The Daily Caller

Soros Group Spent $600K To Mainstream Pro-Refugee Attitudes | The Daily Caller:

"Leaked documents from left-wing financier George Soros’s Open Society Foundations continue to reveal the extent to which the group has influenced the political response to Europe’s refugee crisis. Internal documents show OSF used $600,000 in reserve funding in March 2016 to bring pro-refugee positions into the “political mainstream.”"

Tens of Thousands Of Scientists Declare Climate Change A Hoax

Tens of Thousands Of Scientists Declare Climate Change A Hoax | Your News Wire:
"A staggering 30,000 scientists have come forward confirming that man-made climate change is a hoax perpetuated by the elite in order to make money. 
One of the experts is weather channel founder, John Coleman, who warns that huge fortunes are being made by man-made climate change proponents such as Al Gore.
In a recent interview with Climate Depot, Coleman said:
“Al Gore may emerge from the shadows to declare victory in the ‘global warming’ debate if Hillary Clinton moves into the White House.
Yes, if that happens and the new climate regulations become the law of the land, they will be next to impossible to overturn for four to eight years.”
Climate change proponents remain undeterred in their mission, ignoring numerous recent scientific findings indicating that there has been no warming trend at all for nearly two decades.
Al Gore’s dire predictions of the melting of polar ice on a massive scale have proved to be completely false.
In fact, in 2014 – a year that was touted as being “the hottest ever” in the Earth’s history – there were record amounts of ice reported in Antarctica, an increase in Arctic ice, and record snowfalls across the globe.
Debunking the “97 percent” lie
On top of those “inconvenient truths,” the White House’s assertion that 97 percent of scientists agree that global warming is real has been completely debunked.
Several independently-researched examinations of the literature used to support the “97 percent” statement found that the conclusions were cherry-picked and misleading..."

AM Fruitcake

History for September 6

History for September 6 - On-This-Day.com:
Marquis de Lafayette 1757, Jane Addams 1860, Joseph P. Kennedy 1888



Billy Rose 1899, Jane Curtin 1947, Jeff Foxworthy 1958


1620 - The Pilgrims left on the Mayflower from Plymouth, England to settle in the New World.


1819 - Thomas Blanchard patented a machine called the lathe.


1899 - Carnation processed its first can of evaporated milk.


1901 - U.S. President William McKinley was shot and mortally wounded (he died eight days later) by Leon Czolgosz. Czolgosz, an American anarchist, was executed the following October.


1909 - Robert Peary, American explorer, sent word that he had reached the North Pole. He had reached his goal five months earlier.


1941 - Jews in German-occupied areas were ordered to wear the Star of David with the word "Jew" inscribed. The order only applied to Jews over the age of 6.


1990 - Iraq warned that anyone trying to flee the country without permission would be put in prison for life.


1995 - U.S. Senator Bob Packwood was expelled by the Senate Ethics Committee.

Meet the mastermind behind Clinton’s massive email coverup | New York Post

Meet the mastermind behind Clinton’s massive email coverup | New York Post:

"The smoking gun is on page 16 of the FBI’s 47-page report. It details how Mills ultimately made the determinations about which emails should be preserved before she and Clinton decided to delete the rest as “personal.” Clinton conducted both government and personal business using a personal email account — clintonemail.com — tied to an unsecured server set up in the basement of her New York home.

The FBI makes clear the procedure Mills used to sort out the emails was suspicious.

For starters, Mills was the one who ordered the server host to move the emails from "

CNN Confirms Clinton Aide Destroyed Mobile Devices With Hammers

CNN Confirms Clinton Aide Destroyed Mobile Devices With Hammers:
"...A former Clinton pollster, Bernard Whitman, called the hammering a good method of disposal on CNN.
“They destroyed Blackberrys with hammers in the State Department,” Donald Trump adviser Boris Epshteyn charged.
Whitman tried to interrupt and defend Clinton until Brooke Baldwin had to pause the conversation and go to CNN correspondent Evan Perez to confirm what Epshteyn said.
“Evan, Evan, Evan, hold on, can you fact check? Hang on, hang on, hang on, Evan Perez, hammers?” Baldwin said. “Fact check that for me please, on the fly,”
“Yes, they did, Brooke,” Perez said. “As you mentioned there were 13 devices, mobile device and five iPads that the FBI said that in some way were used with her private email server and they did, in some cases, just destroy them with hammers when they were done using them.”
“That’s a pretty good way of destroying a device,” Whitman said.
“No, it’s not,” Epshteyn said. “That is absolutely not following the rules and regulations of the State Department, you know it.”
The FBI documents reveal that Clinton aide Justin Cooper destroyed the then-secretary of state’s Blackberry cell phones on multiple occasions."

Why Hillary Will Kill Us All

Why Hillary Will Kill Us All - Kevin McCullough:
"This week two significant revelations took place that should permanently swing the election away from the nominee for the Democrats.
Both revelations demonstrated that Hillary Clinton is either the world’s biggest buffoon when handling national security, or she is the world’s most dishonest person living.
America is beginning to see why it is so much the latter.
On Thursday of this week, revelations came to the fore that the administration—specifically the secretary of state’s office and the president—in the run up to the implementation of the Iran deal—specifically knew that Iran was not in compliance with the terms of the deal as announced.
Regardless, the administration gave permission for Iran to cheat on the terms, and pushed forward with the implementation.
They did so while telling the American people that Iran had met all of the required conditions—knowing they had not.
The source of this revelation was not a conservative organization, a Republican politician, or a hostile opponent to the administration.
The source of these observations stem from actual negotiators from the Iran agreement and will be detailed in an upcoming report by a group that studies science and global security.
It is also not just merely the fact that the administration allowed Iran to cheat, as they were assuring the American people that Iran wasn’t, that’s the issue.
The substance of what they were cheating on is also pertinent.
According to the sources—those familiar with the terms—Iran was allowed to retain control of nearly 50 tons of partially enriched uranium.
The administration got around it because it presented to the American people the idea that the material had been relocated to Jordan. 
In reality, the material was transported under and remains in the grasp of Iranians who guard and watch it..."
Read on!!

Obama dissed at G20: Denied red carpet arrival; delegation shouted at, harassed - Liberty Unyielding

Obama dissed at G20: Denied red carpet arrival; delegation shouted at, harassed - Liberty Unyielding:

"You might have seen something already about a Chinese official mixing it up with National Security Adviser Susan Rice.  Another Chinese official reportedly yelled at a White House aide when the two got into a confrontation over the placement of media waiting for Obama’s arrival.

But those encounters have overshadowed what is so far the most marked sign of disfavor from China: not providing the ceremonial jet stairway for Obama to descend to a red carpet for his arrival.

That literally happened.  Obama ended up having to come down a utility stairway from the back of Air Force One."

Political Correctness Prevents Syracuse University from Screening Israeli Film

Political Correctness Prevents Syracuse University from Screening Israeli Film - Hit & Run : Reason.com:
A professor issued an informal invitation to an Israeli film director to screen his new documentary, The Settlers, at Syracuse University—the site of an upcoming conference on "The Place of Religion in Film."
Syracuse's religious studies department cancelled the invitation due to concerns that "the BDS faction on campus will make matters very unpleasant for you and for me if you come." 
(That's the pro-Palestinian movement, the "Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions" group, for those unfamiliar with the acronym.)
Is there a clearer case of a campus beholden to political correctness than this? 
Read Syracuse Religion Professor M. Gail Hammer's letter to the filmmaker, Shimon Dotan:

I now am embarrassed to share that my SU colleagues, on hearing about my attempt to secure your presentation, have warned me that the BDS faction on campus will make matters very unpleasant for you and for me if you come. In particular my film colleague in English who granted me affiliated faculty in the film and screen studies program and who supported my proposal to the Humanities Council for this conference told me point blank that if I have not myself seen your film and cannot myself vouch for it to the Council, I will lose credibility with a number of film and Women/Gender studies colleagues. Sadly, I have not had the chance to see your film and can only vouch for it through my friend and through published reviews.

Clearly I am politically naive. I also feel tremendous shame in reneging on a half-offered invitation.

Read the full letter at The Atlantic.

So what’s new? Sea levels have been rising for 10,000 years

So what’s new? Sea levels have been rising for 10,000 years - Ice Age Now:
"Today’s sea-level rise is BELOW normal!"
By Robert Felix
During the last ice age almost all of Canada, along with parts of Europe and Asia, were buried beneath one to two miles of ice.
At the same time, sea levels stood 350 to 400 feet lower than today.
Sea levels were so low that the entire continental shelf, at least in eastern North America, was above water.
Many states on the eastern seaboard were twice as big as today.
New Jersey’s shoreline, for example, stood 60 to 100 miles east of its present location.Same in the west.
The land between Alaska and Asia rose out of the sea like a bridge (or rather, the sea dropped away from the land), and the Bering Strait, which today is only 18 stories deep at its deepest point, was above water.
Our ancestors could have walked to Siberia.
(The word bridge is misleading, because the land connection between Alaska and Siberia was almost as wide as Alaska itself.)
Why were sea levels so low? 
Because that’s where the water came from to create those huge ice sheets. 
Literally millions of cubic miles of water had turned to ice.
Then, about 10,000 years ago, the ice began to melt and sea levels began to rise..."

Lunch video-----Trump Speaks at Black Church in Detroit

Noon-toon

Time to take the car keys away from Granny Clinton | Washington Examiner

Time to take the car keys away from Granny Clinton | Washington Examiner:

"This is the woman who served as America's top diplomat for three years, and before that served on the Senate Armed Services Committee. It is inconceivable that she could be so ignorant about classifications. As the Washington Examiner's Byron York lightheartedly put it on Twitter, "If you told me Hillary Clinton told FBI she does not recall being Secretary of State, I would not be surprised.""

Infographic: Why Long-Term Debt Matters

Infographic: Why Long-Term Debt Matters | pgpf.org:
"A strong fiscal outlook is an essential foundation for a growing, thriving economy.
Putting our nation on a sustainable fiscal path creates a positive environment for growth, opportunity, and prosperity.
Unfortunately, America is on a dangerous long-term fiscal path.
The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) projects that national debt could rise to 141 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) by 2046. 
If our long-term fiscal imbalance is not addressed, our future economy will be diminished, with fewer economic opportunities for individuals and families, and less fiscal flexibility to respond to future crises.
The good news is that there is still time to act.
While partisan gridlock may have prevented meaningful progress to date, there is no shortage of worthy proposals to strengthen our fiscal and economic future."

Long TSA Delays Force Airports To Hire Private Security Contractors

Long TSA Delays Force Airports To Hire Private Security Contractors - Slashdot:
"An anonymous Slashdot reader writes:
TSA checkpoints caused 6,800 American Airlines passengers to miss their flights in just one week this spring, and the problem isn't improving.
"Two years ago the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) offered $15,000 to anybody -- literally anybody -- who could come up with an idea to speed up airport security..." writes Popular Science.
"They wouldn't say who won or for which idea, but since we're here two years later with longer wait times than ever, it's fair to say it hasn't lived up to the groundbreaking ideals of that call to action...
Now in summer 2016, the TSA recommends arriving three hours early instead of a mere two."
So this spring the Seattle-Tacoma airport replaced many of the TSA staff with private screeners, although "Private security operates under strict direction from the TSA, and even those airports that heavily utilize private contractors still have a lot of TSA personnel in the back rooms..." according to the article.
"The ability to do exactly what the TSA does, only faster and cheaper, seems to be the major draw." Now 22 U.S. airports are using private screeners, although the Seattle and San Francisco airports are the only ones with significant traffic.
The article also cites a Homeland Security report which discovered that investigators were able to smuggle a test bomb past security checkpoints in 67 out of 70 tests."

The Murky Secrecy Surrounding the Iran Nuke Deal

The Murky Secrecy Surrounding the Iran Nuke Deal - The American Interest:
More murky details keep surfacing in connection to the Obama Administration’s landmark nuclear deal with Iran. 
Reuters:

The United States and its negotiating partners agreed “in secret” to allow Iran to evade some restrictions in last year’s landmark nuclear agreement in order to meet the deadline for it to start getting relief from economic sanctions, according to a think tank report published on Thursday...

“The exemptions or loopholes are happening in secret, and it appears that they favor Iran,” Albright said.

The text of the report can be found here.

There is absolutely no policy justification for these concessions being secret. 
The Iranians know what they are; so do all the governments involved in the negotiations. 
The only people these agreements are being hidden from is the public. 
And it seems unlikely that there is a need to hide the details from the Iranian public—the news that their negotiators got a better deal would presumably be good for the Iranian government’s political popularity.

So on the face of it, the secrecy clause looks like evidence of bad conscience and political squeamishness on the part of the U.S. government—the administration didn’t want the American people to know how many concessions it made to get the deal.

Top 5 ‘Climate Change’ Myths Debunked | Glenn Beck

Top 5 ‘Climate Change’ Myths Debunked | Glenn Beck:

"This one is for you Prius-driving, canvas tote bag-carrying hippies who refuse to shop at Amazon because of the cardboard boxes, who are always talking about “emissions” and “the polar bears.” You know who you are."

Are Voter ID Laws Racist?

Are Voter ID Laws Racist? | Insider Online:
"It is easy to draw up a story about how the extra burdens of the voter ID laws fall disproportionately on minority persons, given that persistent differences by race in education, employment, and health are the norm today (in part because of the misguided progressive policies that hamper charter school education, place minimum wage and union barriers against minority employment, and block the entry of low-class corporate healthcare providers in minority neighborhoods).
And it is easier still to select individual instances where the burdens of compliance are higher than the norm.
But the central point is that nothing in the majority opinion stated, let alone demonstrated, that minorities who suffer from educational, employment, or health disadvantages find it any more difficult than white individuals to get the appropriate IDs.
The sole objection was that there were more minority individuals in this vulnerable group, so that the disparate impact claim is always made out once the standard demographic information is trotted out. By this dubious logic, it is possible to order the removal of existing safeguards against fraud because they too have a disparate impact.
Click here to read the full publication →http://www.hoover.org/research/are-voter-id-laws-racist

AM Fruitcake