Friday, June 10, 2005

17 Chinese Restaurants Raided in Mich.

We had two restaurants raided in Muskegon. It's amazing to me that the stated reason for the raids was tax evasion and saving the illegals from being "indentured servants". They're here illegally for gosh sakes! That illegal Chinese were in Muskegon has hardly been a secret to me and certainly not a secret to the police. I've seen them in Meijers and outside waiting for the bus. Is the new political correctness that law enforcement will never be used to deport illegals but only to protect them?

Newsday.com: 17 Chinese Restaurants Raided in Mich.:
17 Chinese Restaurants Raided in Mich.
By JOHN FLESHER
Associated Press Writer

June 9, 2005, 5:35 PM EDT

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. -- Authorities raided 17 Chinese restaurants around Michigan that they suspect of ducking millions of dollars in taxes and importing undocumented workers as a 'modern version of indentured servants.'
Search warrants were also served at 21 homes of suspected undocumented Chinese workers. Dozens were involved in the scheme, State Police Lt. Curt Schram said. "

WZZM13 GRAND RAPIDS Friday, June 10, 2005

Weening the children into good little socialists. This is the fiscal mentality that got GR into its current financial mess. Will we never learn......

WZZM13 GRAND RAPIDS Friday, June 10, 2005:
Grand Rapids Summer Meals Program -Parks and School Locations

The Grand Rapids Public Schools Food and Nutrition Services Department will be sponsoring the USDA funded Summer Meals Program again this summer in locations through out the city. Meals will be available Monday through Friday, beignning June 13."

Thursday, June 09, 2005

Way too much at stake to continue county's impasse

Like many who love to talk and don't don't have the spine to act, the Chronicle's Gang of 3 dare not suggest the specifics of the "anarchy" nor do they hint of any path out of the "impasse". If Bill Gill was not "Bill Gill", he'd be out in a minute because of his unprofessional and rude behavior. There most certainly is a big reason why Muskegon is "Muskegon" and the surrounding communities are thriving. Leadership. And The Chronicle has supported politically correct, inept and corrupt leaders at every level in this community as far back as anyone can remember.
Way too much at stake to continue county's impasse: "Way too much at stake to continue county's impasse
Sunday, May 29, 2005
Was Tuesday's abortive Muskegon County Board of Commissioners meeting a new low for that body? Perhaps not, but there's still another meeting set for June 14! Actually, we don't recommend any further attempts at diving deeper; there's too much at stake for the county's citizens, who have to live with the consequences of commission anarchy.
Anarchy is not overstating the case. The last chairman resigned in the middle of his term, the commission's vice chairman adjourned the last meeting to avoid being passed over in the line of succession, and no one seems to have a solid grasp of Robert's Rules of Order, which are supposed to bring order to such chaotic meetings. "

Howmet union OKs landmark pact

This is great news. Maybe this is the end of suicidal unionism in Muskegon. But, it sure looks like the union bosses did a poor job of explaining the new contract to the rank and file the first time. Maybe someone ought to look into that story? Come on Chronicle show some class and tell us (and the union members who almost voted themselves out of their jobs) what really happened!

Howmet union OKs landmark pact: "Howmet union OKs landmark pact
Thursday, June 09, 2005
By Dave Alexander
CHRONICLE BUSINESS EDITOR
Members of United Auto Workers Local 1243 made a dramatic turnaround on a tentative five-year agreement with Howmet Castings and approved the labor contract Wednesday after turning it down two weeks ago. "
"The key was a clarification of the health insurance," Burton said. "They now understand the plan and the sharing of costs, which is a new concept. Overall, this was a good package."

The contract provisions did not change from the first vote to the second vote, she said.

Leaders debate ways to sell tax increases to 'frugal' residents

How 'bout this for an alternative headline: "City taxpayers united in desire for frugal city government". How many times do we, the citizen, have to fight the same fight?

Leaders debate ways to sell tax increases to 'frugal' residents: "Leaders debate ways to sell tax increases to 'frugal' residents
Wednesday, June 08, 2005
By Nancy Stier
CHRONICLE CORRESPONDENT
Looking for help in getting voters to provide more property tax revenue and change the city charter, Norton Shores officials summoned more than 20 community leaders to suggest how they should get the job done. "

Monday, June 06, 2005

Does The Chronicle see the light?

Wow! The Gang of 3 at The Chronicle finally admit that it IS the taxpayers who pay ALL of the bills!
But, that "very low tax rate" is still troubling. I guess some things never change.

Much depends on successful end to Howmet talks: "Taxpayers will end up paying regardless
The city of Norton Shores is ready to start slapping on user fees for police and fire services. While residents may find that their insurance companies will pick up the cost, ultimately, though, it seems clear that the taxpayer will get hit regardless.
Responsibility for this chain of events is the growing gap between city tax revenues and the cost of services. Despite Norton Shores' very low tax rate as a city, residents have been consistently unwilling to approve any hike. While city officials have kept trying, it strikes us that voter refusal is in keeping with a long tradition of Norton Shores history in which many still think of their home as 'the old township.' "

Much depends on successful end to Howmet talks

Chronicle editorial. I never cease to be amazed at such lazy commentary. If this really is such an important issue, why not a complete, detailed analysis of the differences between the parties and the specific points of the rejected contract. Apparently, it's not THAT important. And they wonder why we don't read them any more.....

Much depends on successful end to Howmet talks: "But make no mistake. Much depends upon a successful outcome. Given the importance of the company to our community, it can be said with assurance that how goes Howmet, goes Muskegon County. "

Granholm tight-lipped on DeVos candidacy

Leave it to the MSM, The Chronicle and democrats in general to suggest that being a wealthy, successful executive of a company that has provided so much positive support to West Michigan could be a negative. Ah, but they still love the Kennedys....

Granholm tight-lipped on DeVos candidacy: "There was a big elephant in the room Saturday, but Gov. Jennifer Granholm refused to pay it any attention.
There was a big elephant in the room Saturday, but Gov. Jennifer Granholm refused to pay it any attention. ....

"I'm not going to talk about a campaign that's 17 months away," she said, anticipating news media questions about her potential Republican rival, Dick DeVos, the Ada resident and former Alticor chief executive officer who broke the news last week he was running for governor. .....

Democrats are sure to pound on DeVos' image as a wealthy heir, leaving some Republicans to ponder how he will deal with that tactic.

Sunday, June 05, 2005

The kids get it right!

The kids realize that the lefty, anti-military liars and their willing enablers in the MSM can't be believed. Cool dude!
The Huffington Post The Blog: "06.04.2005 Eugene Volokh
Could College Students Know Something Bloggers Don't?
Bill Diamond writes:
But given all the talk about the possible reinstatement of the draft, why aren't we hearing more from the nation's campuses? ........I wonder: Could it be that college students don't really think 'all the talk about the possible reinstatement of the draft' means anything? From what I've heard, the talk is mostly from people who don't like the Administration, who oppose the war in Iraq, and who are using the talk to argue against the war.
The Administration is saying it doesn't want a draft. The political party in power in Congress seems to have no interest in reinstating the draft.

Commissioner: City 'close to receivership'

This is really pathetic! This "city" was rolling in cash after it initiated its jobs and business killing taxes. And promptly began pissing it all away. And media hailed the new tax $$$ as the best thing since sliced bread.And then began their drumbeat for Muskegon to do the same thing. Maybe their suggestion will be an EVEN BIGGER TAX? Sickening!
Commissioner: City 'close to receivership': "Commissioner: City 'close to receivership'
Friday, June 03, 2005
By Theresa D. McClellan
CHRONICLE NEWS SERVICE
When Third Ward City Commissioner James White wanted to bring home the city's dire financial straits to a group of residents Thursday, he held two of his fingers close together and said the city was 'this close to receivership.'
'The city is broke, and we're scared to death downtown,' White said during a public gathering at his Southeast Side church.
When a city goes into state receivership, it is unable to pay its bills, employees don't get paid and its bond ratings plummet. A struggling Detroit is wrestling with that question now, as it faces a $300 million deficit in next year's budget. "

Where would the left be without their Myths?

I can't tell you how many times I've heard this one, at least 100 times in the last year. I'm thinking that one reason Frank and his cronies may hear it (assuming he's really telling the truth. A stretch.) is because they write about it so often.

For Al Qaeda, Must-Read NYT?: "The Myth of a 'Myth Fostered By the Administration' on 9/11, Hussein Link
The Myth of a "Myth Fostered By the Administration" on 9/11, Hussein Link


Frank Rich's Sunday column begins with an excoriation of ineptitude over the rebuilding of Ground Zero, but soon reverts to Bush-bashing: "The myth fostered by the administration that Saddam Hussein conspired in the 9/11 attacks is finally dead and so, apparently, is the parallel myth that Iraqis were among that day's hijackers."

Never mind that Bush has never suggested Hussein was involved in 9/11, saying in September 2003: "We've had no evidence that Saddam Hussein was involved with September the 11th."

The lefty journalist plague spreads!

What is it about leftist writers that compels them to insert a political slam into everything they write? And how can any reporter covering the Indy 500 not know that, not only Indy cars, but ALL cars sold in the USA haven't had carburetors in years? Oh, it's the NYT. Nevermind.....

For Al Qaeda, Must-Read NYT?: "Female's Indy 500 Finish Highlights Bush's Ignorance of Women

Sports columnist Selena Roberts nabs a front-page Sports section pole position Monday with her piece on Indianapolis 500 racecar driver Danica Patrick, who finished fourth in Sunday's race, the best-ever finish for a female driver. But Roberts spins the feel-good piece into a diatribe against Bush and in support of Title IX, a liberal law Roberts has championed in previous columns.

In "A Heady Apex, But Is a Dead End Just Up Ahead?" Roberts writes: "No Indy driver was under more scrutiny, no rookie racer was the object of more camera lenses. And yet Patrick refused to play the runaway bride as she withstood the pressure to take a remarkable fourth-place finish despite a pit-stop stall, a spin and a few dinks. Does this performance make her the aberration next door, or an average gal who digs a steady diet of carbs, as in carburetors?"
(Actually, the Indy 500 has been carburetor-free since 1964, in favor of more efficient fuel-injection systems.)

More objectionable than Roberts' apparent ignorance of auto racing is the next line: "It is very conceivable that the gap-toothed David Letterman understands what revs a woman's engine more than the gender-gapped George W. Bush." (Letterman cosponsored Patrick's racing team.)

Road money could benefit Muskegon

If the City of Muskegon would keep their stop lights coordinated, much time and gasoline would be saved. And the cost is minimal. But that would be too much to ask. We need to spend millions $$ before we're interested. Bummer.
Road money could benefit Muskegon: "But it would pay for studies in each area to determine the need for interchanges; property that might be needed for eventual interchange construction; or short-term street design improvements to help alleviate congestion, Dey said. "

Friday, June 03, 2005

Survey: Michigan schools expect cuts to continue

Notice that nowhere does anyone mention the "phrase we dare not speak". Teacher compensation. That's salary, benefits AND retirement cost. No, we can't go there. Everyone knows, for sure, that teachers are underpaid. If that's true, why can't we, the people who pay the bills, see exactly what the true costs of teachers and administrators really is.

Survey: Michigan schools expect cuts to continue: "The survey found that 51 percent of school districts expect they will have to lay off employees next school year. About 81 percent said they plan to reduce staff by attrition.
About 65 percent of districts said they would reduce spending on supplies and services. About 79 percent said they would have to dip into their fund balances, a type of savings account, to help pay bills next school year. "

Muskegon Air Fair 2005

The early reservations are up 40% over last year! Saturday's Flight Line Club is already sold out. Get movin' Muskegon if you want to see the best Air Show in the Midwest.
Muskegon Air Fair 2005

The Five Dumbest Things on Wall Street This Week

This company is in real trouble! Miserable management and suicidal union members. Great combination!
The Five Dumbest Things on Wall Street This Week: "Stocked with a hefty supply of last year's vehicles, General Motors (GM:NYSE - news - research) unveiled a new sales strategy this week. Like many of GM's previous strategies, the one unveiled Wednesday calls for steep discounts.

Unlike the other plans, however, this one has bigger implications. It kicked off with a press release reading, 'GM is Proud to Invite America to be Part of its Family.'

Sound like a little too much commitment? Not to worry. The idea is to give buyers preferential employee-discount rates and simplified pricing.
'We firmly believe that once consumers have the opportunity to drive a GM vehicle, they'll know what we, and millions of loyal GM customers, already know about the value represented by the cars and trucks that we build,' said GM marketing exec Brent Dewar.
You can't blame GM for trying something new. The company posted a 12% sales drop for May. Earlier, it reported a huge first-quarter loss that led to several recent trips to the bond-rating junkyard, as analysts fretted over the company's pension obligations and financial position.
Yes, sounds like just the sort of big happy family everyone is itching to join. "

Thursday, June 02, 2005

The one single, constant.........

... in dying American cities is the belief that county, state, or federal funding ("free money") and/or corporate charity is their only hope for growth. Of course, that fiscal intoxicant is as false an answer as alcohol or drugs to a human addict. The major difference between the individual junkie and our what our misguided political bosses (and their enablers in the media) do to our community is the scale of the destruction. Oh yeah. Dying cities also think that increasing taxes on businesses is a great idea.

Our nation feels a special sense of loss on this day

The Gang of 3 gets it right this time. Good show!
Chronicle Editorial
Our nation feels a special sense of loss on this day: "Our nation feels a special sense of loss on this day
Monday, May 30, 2005
Memorial Day. The name itself explains the special purpose of the day: to honor the dead who gave their lives in defense of our nation. We honor, too, those who have served and are no longer among us, either through the ravages of wounds or age.
Republicans and Democrats, liberals and conservatives, red states and blue -- all of us fortunate enough to be alive and free today -- should be united by a common respect for, and a bond shared with, these fallen defenders. All Americans, wherever they stand along the divide that separates us on the great issues of the day, know full well that we are able to argue about such things only because we have the freedom to do so.
That freedom has been dearly won by those who have given everything in defense of it. "

Turkey Power!

OpinionJournal - Best of the Web Today: "William the Conqueror Is Turning in His Grave
'Norman Man Attacked by Turkeys'--headline, Associated Press, April 3"

Wednesday, June 01, 2005

At least 11 killed in Pakistan attack, riot - South and Central Asia - MSNBC.com

Ok. Let me get this straight. al-Qaida murderers bomb a mosque and the mob burns down a KFC and kill 6 of their own citizens? And the American left tells us to focus on "abuses of Abu Ghraib". Yeah, right.

At least 11 killed in Pakistan attack, riot - South and Central Asia - MSNBC.com: "KARACHI, Pakistan - A mob angered by an al-Qaida-linked suicide bombing in a Shiite mosque set a KFC restaurant on fire in overnight rioting, killing six employees and bringing the day's overall death toll to 11, police said Tuesday."