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Christopher J. Arndt fights
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Friday, December 31, 2010
New Year's Eve Today is the Seventh Day of Christmas. It is the last day of the year 2010 on the Western/Christian calender. Many people choose to get inebriated but all I have to say is: stay safe and travel sober. Stay out of jail. Labels: holidays David Harns says that MSU will stem the Tide! I believe him! Labels: Michigan State University, sports the Capital One Bowl - Michigan State Spartans versus the Alabama Crimson Tide Here we go! Because of forces of destiny the Spartans will stem the Tide! It remains unfortunate that we will be saddled with this exhibition game instead of the Rose Bowl we truly deserve! It is also deeply unfortunate that we are saddled with a cable game and not the ABC Sports program that will let the show be universally-accessible! More importantly my sister's cable package does not include ESPN so I will be.... cut off.... as my New Year's, post-political, will be based on family. Labels: Michigan State University, sports Thursday, December 23, 2010
Labels: Michigan State University, sports Saturday, December 18, 2010
Mike Lopresti's Bowl-mas I think it is from the Associated Press or USAToday and is relevant to me for the Spartan's role in the Capital One Bowl, and the stolen glory inherent in that ignoble stupid assignment. So it begins Saturday, the 24 Days of Bowl-mas. On the first day of Bowl-mas, my TV gives to me: Remember Frank Solich? Once, he coached Nebraska into the national championship game. Now he's at Ohio. Remember when Ohio last won a bowl? Trick question. The Bobcats never have, but maybe this time against Troy. On the fourth day of Bowl-mas, my TV gives to me: Louisville's 15th-rated scoring defense against Southern Mississippi's 15th-rated scoring offense in the Beef 'O' Brady's. That's a bowl, not an entre. On the fifth day of Bowl-mas, my TV gives to me: Boise State, still wishing that kick had been good at Nevada. Nothing against Utah, but it'd be nice if the Broncos win on a last-second, 50-yard field goal, so the kicker can finally find peace. On the sixth day of Bowl-mas, my TV gives to me: San Diego State and Navy _ with its large San Diego presence _ playing in San Diego. Attendance shouldn't be a problem. On the seventh day of Bowl-mas, my TV gives to me: Hawaii vs. Tulsa, averaging 79.6 points between them. On the ninth day of Bowl-mas, my TV gives to me: Florida International in its first bowl. That should be a big deal for the Panthers, even if it is in Detroit, against Toledo. On the 10th day of Bowl-mas, my TV gives to me: Georgia Tech, Air Force, and a lot of handoffs. The nation's top two rushing teams combined to complete 136 passes all season. On the 11th day of Bowl-mas, my TV gives to me: Iowa, hoping to stop a free-fall, against Missouri. The Hawkeyes lost their last three games, suspended their top running back, and had a star receiver charged with operating a drug house. Happy holidays! On the 12th day of Bowl-mas, my TV gives to me: Oklahoma State's 27-year-old quarterback, Brandon Weeden, trying to give Arizona a fifth straight loss. On the 13th day of Bowl-mas, my TV gives to me: A bowl game in Yankee Stadium, as Kansas State and Syracuse savor winter in the Bronx. Also, Nebraska _ which beat Washington 56-21 in September _ playing, uh, Washington. The long-awaited sequel. Just like Harry Potter. On the 14th day of Bowl-mas, my TV gives to me: Miami against Notre Dame. All those who still have their Catholics vs. Convicts shirts from the 1980s and wear them should get in free. On the 15th day of Bowl-mas, my TV gives to me: Jan. 1, otherwise known as New Year's/Big Ten Day. Five of the lodge members play, three against SEC opponents. Plus, Wisconsin will try to spoil TCU's dream trip to Pasadena. On the 17th day of Bowl-mas, my TV gives to me: Virginia Tech's 11-game winning streak against Stanford's high SAT scores in the Orange. On the 18th day of Bowl-mas, my TV gives to me: Ohio State vs. Arkansas and history in the Sugar. The Buckeyes are 0-9 against the SEC in bowl games. That's not as awful as, say, losing two straight to Michigan, but it's rather embarrassing. On the 20th day of Bowl-mas, my TV gives to me: Miami (the one from Ohio) and its 9-4 record (the one that was 1-11 last year) and its coach (Mike Haywood, the one leaving for Pittsburgh) against Middle Tennessee. On the 21st day of Bowl-mas, my TV gives to me: LSU and Texas A&M in the Cotton Bowl. It'll be a chance for Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban to inspect the merchandise, since he is talking about buying a college football playoff system as a gift to himself. On the 22nd day of Bowl-mas, my TV gives to me: Kentucky vs. Pittsburgh in the BBVA Compass. Pitt was so eager to get there, it fired the coach. On the 23rd day of Bowl-mas my TV gives to me: Boston College vs. Nevada, and I have no idea why they're waiting so long to play the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl. On the 24th day of Bowl-mas, my TV gives to me: Oh yeah, the national championship. Auburn will be led by a quarterback coming off of the most awkward Heisman trophy presentation in history. All Oregon wants is a game its new uniforms can be proud of. ___ (c) 2010, USA Today. Visit USA Today on the Internet at http://www.usatoday.com/ Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. Labels: holidays, Michigan State University, reprints, sports Tuesday, December 14, 2010
No need to stereotype Michigan's new lobbyists As far as I reckon the Founders of the United States of America, and the scribes of our highest law, the United States Constitution, anticipated lobbyists, "Special Interests" and advocates of certain ideas, businesses, services, and producers, as middle-people and messengers between the government (legislators, the executive branch) and the citizens, including those with fiscal and moral investments in the country. I believe the Constitutional proponents, collectively known as Publius, who wrote the Federalist papers, including that prediction in their articles. On the other hand, if I read it properly oh so long ago, they never anticipated the existence of political parties and these were created by Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson as a course of their conflict. John Adams' Presidency was a victim of that concept execution as he had no second term. Which is to say that James Madison, John Jay, and Alexander Hamilton probably would not be opposed to the large number of lobbyists which purportedly will be running abound and operating in Michigan as they attempt to persuade the new Governor Rick Snyder and educate the rookie legislators for various best interests. Kathy Barks Hoffman, on November 15, essentially speculated as to their growth. We don't know that their role will necessarily grow yet although her conclusions are logical. The sweet rolls and coffee Michigan lawmakers partook in as they met with Gov.-elect Rick Snyder didn't come with a price tag - yet.Bill Nowling is correct. We should especially consider that in many cases a good lobbying firm will have resources, especially for research, that a legislator cannot and will not possess on his own. Typically the media and a particular lobbyists' philosophical or political opponent will slander the whole idea and practice of lobbyists when, and only when, it is politically useful to vilify the use of the First Amendment. Besides, every citizen has an interest in these legislators, regardless of campaign contributions and it is in every citizen's best interest to have a voice to speak in State Representatives' ears. Michigan had 2,783 registered lobbyists last year, 500 more than in 1999, according to secretary of state figures. That means there are nearly 20 lobbyists for every lawmaker. Lobbyists last year spent nearly $12 million more annually than they did in 2001, a 59 percent increase, according to the campaign finance network.It's a service and everyone has a right to it. multi-client firm Governmental Consultant Services Inc.... boasts in its company brochure that its "strong working relationships with all the political powerbrokers in Michigan ... lend you valuable access to the Governor, Speaker of the House, Senate Majority Leader and other such political leaders of our state, which is vital to realizing your legislative goals."Despite that lobbyists are only accountable to those paying them and not to the general public (although some special interests groups are issue advocacy groups and are not working on behalf of private enterprise, so they are answerable only to donors and I suppose a board of directors, depending on circumstance) we should give them some benefit of the doubt as their honor lies in the strength of contracts and frankly presuming that all lobbyists are evil, although many are, is just the height of cynicism. On the other hand, there are honest advocates who work to further bad ideas and terrible, destructive policy, that they honestly believe is good and beneficial to the country and/or state. These should be thwarted. There are also people lobbying for good things that are doing so using dishonest practices and they should be held accountable. Labels: history, Michigan, politics, Rick Michigan "Fight As One" lyrics by Guy Erez & David Ari Leon Song performed by Bad City Our World's about to break.The intro to Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes: Labels: comic books, embedded media, lyrics, music, television Friday, December 10, 2010
When Rick Michigan becomes Michigan Governor Snyder his first task is to fulfill the prophecy inherent of economics. He must weigh cost and benefit. Interestingly the situation and circumstances that define this first task was directly mandated by the Granholm administration, That very week, 3,500 state employees will have left their jobs after accepting an early retirement incentive package. Their departure will bring the number of state workers accepting the incentive package to 4,755 - including those who already have retired or will do so Dec. 1.In any case it is all simply projection. You also tend to get what you purchase. On the other hand we really could discover that we can get by with less people and that all of the jobs do not need quite as much experience to accomplish successfully. Labels: Jennifer Granholm, Michigan, politics, Rick Michigan Thursday, December 09, 2010
Lansing State Journal wants the old Michigan State Police building issue resolved now I cannot say that they are incorrect. I would disagree with the charge that the old facilities were "outdated" as the old location was equipped for various bits of crimefighting and logistical equipment that the new office building never could be. The reason for that is that the new building is an office building, and not a full headquarters complex. The old one had a helipad for instance. Aside from that we are saddling the University with the cost of renovation, repair, and/or demolition when we could have merely fixed the old building, which would arguable have been less expensive. I find it ironic that we parsing costs and responsibility among the state government and public university lines, as the public university is something that is paid for in part by state taxes. costs of removing an incinerator used for evidence destruction and removing underground storage tanks and fuel stations used by MSP should fall to the state.Either way we are paying for it, although I imagine some sort of fiscal assault on tuition and the alumni association(s) will occur because of this. As it is this cost, in the final assessment, should be added to the big tally of rental, construction, and purchase of the giant near-useless office building downtown. why the state and MSU didn't discuss and agree upon these costs a long time ago?All of this should have been calculated and placed on the table in public a long tiem ago and the only reason it was not is likely because such increased revelations would have been damaging politically... or a lot of these politicians are incompetent. The university and state officials should quickly resolve this issue and move on.To heck with that, some Democrats and University trustees ought to be punished. Too bad those options are not politically viable. Labels: Democrats, Michigan, Michigan State University, politics, Rick Jones Monday, December 06, 2010
The Light Bulb Will Shatter Late on the night of Saturday the 4th of December I destroyed a CFL bulb (that is the technical term, I call it an "Al Gore bulb"; I also refer to incandescent light bulbs as "Edison bulbs"), worked on cleaning it up that evening and briefly recorded my disaster, my behavior, and my derision of the artifact early on Sunday morning. Now first I'll deride again the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, which suggests that if break a bulb over your rug your must cut a large slice of your carpet out to have it taken away by angels in hazmat suits to some indescribable glowing section of heaven, sealed off from the rest of the afterlife. They also describe the mercury in the spindle bulbs to be such that everything that touched the bulb effectively turns to ash, in other words each item is contaminated beyond human ability to recover. Second we get to my point tonight, which is that although many light bulbs somehow get through their entire existence from creation and formation to disassembly and dissemination, dissolution, and disintegration (is that even possible?), these things usually end up shattering. When the light bulb is only the incandescent light bulb all that means is that glass, paint, and metal filaments are the materials that we need be concerned about. Just the same even as they burn out and become instant waste they shatter afterwords in the trash, in the landfills, and alternatively as functional light bulbs an accident occurs and they shatter becoming waste. In many cases it is ineivatable although as I postulated the bulb shattering occurs outside a household. Presuming that bulbs shatter while still in the potential for functionality and not merely after they burn out, (that is, the bulb falls while being changed and before it is inserted firmly in the socket, or the lamp falls and the bulb shatters then, before its life cycle terminates) it is logical that among incandescent bulbs that end like this are the compact fluorescent bulbs. In other words, lamps fall and bulbs shatter. People drop light bulbs and they shatter. Bulbs burn out and then people drop them and they shatter. So what is my point? That some people do not understand that in general these things will shatter. In the case of CFL bulbs the materials are metal, plastic, glass, mercury, and phosphor. That, my second point, is derived from the environmental "Green" blog I located when I attmpted to determine possible damage occurring from the relase of mercury into the environment but the breaking of a bulb, and in part just how much material is necessary to poison an individual human; the amount in a shatter CFL bulb will poison a small child or an unborn baby in the womb of a pregnant mother but is insufficient to harm me or most adults. Yet Angie said,Some people will believe that these things will just be safe. Also, the point of the green blog's article is thus While there is trace amounts of mercury in CFL bulbs, and I do believe that there needs to be more public education from places that sell the bulbs to avoid them ending up in the garbage – I would like to note that the possible reduction in mercury emmisions from coal fired power plants outweighs the amount used to produce the bulb, over the bulbs lifetime.Of course ultimately what they do not know is that perhaps there might be accumulative build-up of carcinogens. What people have not considered is the accumulated time they are exposed to the tiny amount of mercury vapor in the every day use of these CFLs. One might not be able the trace cancer or other chronic diseases to the use of these CFLs yet, 20 years from now it will become a national health issue. And the country will then ban the use of these CFLs like we did for the DDT.Of course DDT is not carcinogenic and Al Gore is hardly an expert on anything. In any case we are too trusting that the immediate expenses will mitigate long-term expense or damage when we should just guess, declare that we are guessing and record the results within a pre-set period of time. Sunday, December 05, 2010
so I shattered a mercury enviro-style Al Gore CFL bulb in the living room I was afraid I destroyed the room and contaminated the carpet and my physiognomy. I need not have worried. Here is what the Environmental Protection Agency says: The government of Massachusetts told me to cut the carpet to pieces and label it as a Universal Contaminant. They also warned that I would contaminate my vacuum cleaner. Idiots... Friday, December 03, 2010
local roads are the responsibility of local government From a letter published in the Lansing State Journal on Monday November 15, 2010 It has been a long time since Holt has had its roads repaved. As of right now, a lot of the roads are in need of repair. All the roads need to be repaved so that they are smooth and easy to drive on. Instead, Holt is re-paving sections of roads.
That makes sense to me. If it is up to Holt to keep its citizens safe and ensure safe travel on these particular surfaces then the city's money should be distributed and spent as such. A person's water is his own, not the government's water Public Trust Should Not Be TrustedWhen politicians talk about placing natural resources in public trust, landowners should be worried. The right to own and use private property is a bedrock principle of a free people. These rights are threatened by House Bill 5319, which would place groundwater in public trust and require landowners to secure a permit from the state of Michigan in order to use that water. The bill would essentially overturn more than a century of Michigan water law. A ballot initiative amending the Ohio Constitution and protecting the rights of landowners to use groundwater was approved by an impressive 72 percent of the voters in the November 2008 election. Property rights are often compared to a bundle of sticks. Philosopher John Locke was an early proponent of this idea, which holds that the sticks that make up the bundle are a compilation of the various rights that come with owning private property, including the rights to live on or bequeath it. Water rights are a significant "stick" in that bundle. With the introduction of House Bill 5319, Michigan property owners are threatened by government action that would steal a stick from that bundle and give it to the state.Like most states east of the Mississippi River, Michigan is a riparian water-use state. In Michigan, if you own the land, you own the water and have a legal right to use that water as long as you do not interfere with the reasonable use of water by your neighbors. This has been true since the state was first settled. Riparian water law has worked well in Michigan for the simple reason that Michigan has abundant water. In fact, Michigan groundwater tables are so high that many homeowners have to install sump pumps just to keep water out of their basements. The proposed public trust legislation treats groundwater as if we lived in an arid Western state, where water tables can be 1,000 feet or more beneath the surface. In many of these states, water is appropriated by the government, leading to endless conflicts and lawsuits. Mark Twain, who spent time in Nevada, famously quipped about the situation: "Whiskey is for drinking and water is for fighting." The Michigan Legislature dealt with recent groundwater concerns with the passage of Public Act 33 of 2006. That law requires a landowner to obtain a groundwater permit in certain circumstances, such as proximity to a trout stream. Public Act 33 was a compromise between landowners and business groups that wanted to preserve private property water rights, and environmental groups that believed that all water should belong to the government. That law has already made it more difficult to use water in the state, removing a competitive advantage Michigan once enjoyed and turning it into a minor liability. Increasing government control of water in the state would not only be a taking of private property, but would be a serious threat to future economic growth. Access to abundant water in the state is a key advantage Michigan has in attracting much-needed jobs in energy, agriculture and manufacturing, including the so-called green jobs Gov. Jennifer Granholm seeks. The state cannot afford to throw that advantage away, especially since Michigan is not threatened by a shortage of water. Rather than threatening water rights, Michigan needs to follow the example of Ohio. A ballot initiative amending the Ohio Constitution and protecting the rights of landowners to use groundwater was approved by an impressive 72 percent of the voters in the November 2008 election. The constitutional amendment in Ohio merely codified existing riparian water law, which was similar to the kind used successfully in Michigan for the past century. Many Michigan officials seem more interested in taking away existing rights of property owners rather than protecting them. It may be time to take the critical issue of property rights directly to the voters, bypassing the political class. As the Ohio example shows, residents understand the importance of property rights better than do many politicians. ##### Russ Harding is senior environmental analyst and director of the Property Rights Network at the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, a research and educational institute headquartered in Midland, Mich. Permission to reprint in whole or in part is hereby granted, provided that the author and the Center are properly cited.Wednesday, December 01, 2010
Barry Goldwater and income tax criminalizing quotable The income tax Labels: Fair Tax, politics, quotes, Republicans |
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