Just Walk Away, Chicago. You Don't Own the Great Lakes.

There are EIGHT Great Lakes states...states that border the Great Lakes. Attorneys general from SIX of the EIGHT Great Lakes states are calling for a separation between the Mississippi and the Great Lakes watersheds. Why?

Why?

WHY?!?!

Because it's not supposed to BE THERE and it's a massive, accelerative vector for NASTY, vile, putrid, hateful, disgusting, evil, backstabbing, filthy invasive species between the two water bodies. THAT'S WHY.

The only reason the GREAT LAKES water shed and the MISSISSIPPI water shed are connected is because a certain city which shall remain nameless (rhymes with CHICAGO) reversed the Chicago river in what was considered A HUNDRED AND TEN YEARS AGO to be a brilliant way to manage the cities waste. A HUNDRED AND TEN YEARS AGO it was considered an engineering marvel. ONE HUNDRED and TEN YEARS ago.

How cities like Detroit, Buffalo, Toledo, Cleveland, Milwaukee, Erie, and Windsor and EVERY OTHER major city along the Great Lakes has been managing to dispose of its waste without reversing he forces of nature and connecting two water sheds that had been separated for ten thousand years is a bit of a mystery. But somehow they manage.

And now, with Asian Carps knocking at the door of the Great Lakes from the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal, SIX of the EIGHT Great Lakes states are demanding a renewed separation between the Great Lakes and Mississippi water sheds.

Great Lakes States: Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, New York, Indiana, Illinois
Great Lakes States that want to separate the water sheds: Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, New York

Illinois and Indiana are the only states that DO NOT want to separate the water sheds.

For some perspective on Pro vs. Con among Great Lakes states, see below where the RED part is the Great Lakes states that want to maintain the status quo. EVERYTHING ELSE represents states that want to shut down the connection between the Great Lakes and the Mississippi water shed.



Chicago, you KNOW I love you, but you're being an asshole. You don't own the Great Lakes. If this were a democracy, you'd be horribly, miserably outvoted by number of states, coast line mileage, hell even POPULATION.

Just close the freakin' locks. It's time for your hundred and ten year old "engineering marvel" to come to an end and separate the Mississippi and Great Lakes water sheds again, like they've been for 99% of the past hundred centuries. We can't let invasive species continue to have free reign of two of the largest United States fresh water systems. Just let it go.

Toxic, Liver Damaging Algae Blooms Expand in Lake Erie

And back to algae blooms. TOXIC, liver damaging algae blooms. The size of Rhode Island.

Last we left our Lake Erie algae bloom, it looked something like this:



There it is in the west side of Lake Erie. Expanding. Festering.

Now states are issuing warnings about high levels of toxicity in the water because of toxic algae blooms like the one seen above.

New, heightened warnings have been issued for Lake Erie, as tests show increased levels of toxic algae in the water.

Signs have been posted at Maumee Bay State Park, warning visitors not to swim in the water and to avoid touching the surface scum.

"Right now in Lake Erie, we have the worst alga bloom that we've had since I started working on Lake Erie, since I started working on Lake Erie in 2002," said Thomas Bridgeman, ecologist with the University of Toledo, "The bloom of 2011 is at least two and half times greater than the previous largest bloom."

The algae bloom, commonly called blue-green algae, is toxic to mammals, damaging the liver.

Okay. But why is this happening?

Once again, we go back to recent studies about how zebra and quagga mussels are focusing increasing amounts of phosphorous and other toxins near the lakeshore, helping to focus more algae blooms near the lake shore even though total lake phosphorous levels may be down.

Zebra and quagga mussels eat algae, but can pass up the stuff they can't eat, leaving only the toxic algae to infest the lakes.

We're seeing this happening RIGHT NOW in Lake Erie.

This isn't just random academic stuff. This is happening right now in part of the Great Lakes.

Part of the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative is focusing on finding long term ways to battle invasive species, though it's unlikely they can be eliminated. Funding for continuation of the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative is currently uncertain due to the crazed individuals currently demanding cuts, cuts, and more cuts in penny-wise pound-fooling game. Ironically, many of the most recent congressional members of this slash and burn policy are from Great Lakes States like Michigan, Wisconsin, and Ohio. Huizenga is my congressman, who SHOULD be representing our interests here as one of a few lake shore representatives. One might imagine they'd have an understanding of how critical these bodies of water are to our region's economic well being and our way of life.....but we've seen their economic theology is more than willing to sacrifice everything, even our waters and our lakes, to provide more tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires.

Eric Cantor is SO RIGHT about American families

Virginia congressman Eric Cantor, whose district was recently just dealt a double blow by an earthquake and then a hurricane, really has his thumb on the pulse of the average American family:

"Disaster relief has been offset by savings elsewhere. Just like any family would operate when struck with disaster. It finds the money to care for a sicked loved one and then goes without buying that new car or addition onto the house"

Eric Cantor is SO RIGHT. When most of us average American families are struck with disaster, like a sick loved one, we have to finance it by stopping construction on our home addition, or by putting off buying that brand new automobile.

Am I right, guys?

Like...like...like three years ago when our youngest was born and we had crap insurance and instead of sinking $12,000 into medical debt from the delivery of our child we merely put off buying that Cadillac Escelade Airplane Yacht we were going to buy for a couple weeks so we could pay for our family needs.

Or, like...when my dad had that quadruple heart bypass surgery and had a $60,000 bill from the hospital and my parents had to put off that 17th bedroom addition they were going to add to store their diamond encrusted thoroughbred racehorse.

Yeah, Eric Cantor sure knows average American families. When we have emergencies we simply deny ourselves some luxury or another for a trifle of time to pay for our loved one's needs.

Cuz...American families certainly wouldn't go into medical debt and spend absolutely anything to keep their mother, father, child alive and healthy.

Heck, if they did, that would mean Eric Cantor has been away from average Americans for far too long and is horribly, hopelessly out of touch.

High School Kids Discover Not One But Two, Century Old Ship Wrecks in Lake Huron

I'm a huge fan of discovery in our back yards. Looking in a familiar place and finding something new and exciting right under your nose. It's even more compelling to me that these types of discoveries are far more accessible than the discoveries in exotic, distant places. When I hear about a farmer plowing his field and he unearths evidence of an ancient people. That's exciting.

Or in this case...when some high school kids find not one, but TWO century old shipwrecks in Lake Huron near their own homes. That's pure good right there.

This quote from Tirrea Billings wells me up.

"I'm so used to, you know, being in the class room and being in one place and just being here. But when, like, I got to go out there and experience all this different technology and things that I never even heard of, it made me realize that there's so much that the world has to offer..."

The kids were selected from Arthur Hill High School Saginaw, Michigan, to be part of a documentary about ship wreck exploration. Saginaw, like many of the industrial parts of Michigan, has been hit hard over the past decade by the decline and flight of manufacturing...they've been languishing for a very long time.

It's exciting to see some attempts made to show kids in that region that there's still a big, unexplored world of possibility waiting out there for them. And it's right next door.

I'm sick of watching the conversation trickle up to DC and Wall Street

Sometimes I think the problem is that we ourselves are often too distracted with stupid crap that has nothing to do with our standard of living. We put so much time and thought and energy and outrage into the pointless that we do way too little to improve our lives as a nation.

For example...Obama's birth certificate. I'm not clear on how that issue going to improve our trade deficit, or get jobs for Americans, and maybe it's a fine issue if you're gainfully employed and just need something to kvetch about. I know the person making hay about it probably got some sweet media deals over the years. But in the end, it's wasted effort.

The same goes for this new concern about a "secret" 1.2 Trillion dollars from the Federal reserve to banks. Between the trillions we've already dished out to them, and the trillions to the wars and the trillions here and there, I can't keep track and in the end it's got nothing to do with whether or not I'm able to buy a bag of apples for my boys this week.

I don't care.

I don't.

I. DO. NOT. CARE.

It all seems so lofty. All so About The Principle of the Thing.

There are so many lofty conversations about distribution of wealth and whether or not we're sliding into Socialism or Fasciasm...And yet I don't see a national, activist conversations about the things that matter to ACTUAL people on a minute by minute, hour by hour, day by day basis.

Food. Shelter. Jobs. Clothing. Rampant PERSONAL debt.

These are really the only things I give a crap about.

But somehow the conversation always seems to trickle up. Up to the DC celebrities. Up to the Wall Street executives. Just like our money.

I don't CARE about the latest financial scandal. I don't care.

I do care about the people around me. The people I know. The people I see and hear and talk to in REAL LIFE in my day to day interactions, or when I go to the store or the Farmer's Market or the bowling alley or the beach or on the street.

That's what I care about.

Youngest Man to Swim Lake Huron Survives the Swim as of Noonish Today

So there's this whole Extreme Sport about swimming across the Great Lakes going on, mostly in Lake Erie and Lake Ontario for obvious reasons. They've got spans of 20 miles across instead of, you know, 40. I say that in jest, of course. It's really all the same level of impossibility to me...

...and yet today a 24 year old became the youngest swimmer to swim across Lake...

Wait...Lake HURON?!?

Whoa.

24-year-old London, Ont., man has become the youngest person to swim across Lake Huron.

Justin Kloss entered the water in Port Sanilac, Michigan on Friday morning to start the 65-kilometre journey.

He reached the shore in Grand Bend, Ont., just before noon today. Money raised from the charity swim will go to the Canadian Cancer Society.

Mr. Kloss made the swim to raise tons of cash for the Canadian Cancer Society.

Awesome.

Lake Huron Salmon Population Crashes, DNR in Retreat

It's like I've been saying, the Great Lakes are now a managed ecosystem. There's no possibility of ever returning the lake to the natural state they were in for most of ten thousand years.

The best we can hope to do is make it something we want, and protect some of the native inhabitants. The Great Lakes Fisheries Commission and other state natural resource management groups have been walking that very thin tightrope. But it's an unstable balancing act, which is yet another reason we need to reduce outside influences and factors such as invasive species.

Invasive species tipped the balance in Lake Huron to the point that an entire fishing industry has collapsed, bringing livelihoods and entire towns down with it. Chinook salmon populations have declined dramatically due to a bottom level disturbance in the food chain from invasive zebra and quagga mussels, and they have not responded to attempts at resuscitation.

The DNR is now talking about retreat in Lake Huron as far as chinook salmon is concerned and have conceded that stocking Lake Huron with that top predator is no longer a viable option.

Michigan's Department of Natural Resources still plants more than 1 million king salmon — also known as chinook salmon — into the lake each year. Most are eaten by other fish well before they reach fighting size.
This year, the state acknowledged its Lake Huron salmon-stocking program is no longer working.

department is proposing eliminating seven of nine planting locations, reducing annual chinook stocks to 730,000 and undertaking studies to determine if another high-profile predator could restore Lake Huron to its former fishing glory.

The final decision on stocking is due in October.


From The Detroit News: http://detnews.com/article/20110827/METRO/108270353/Salmon-disappear-from-Lake-Huron--towns-suffer#ixzz1WF7zAXQK

The impact of the collapse on small towns in West Michigan has been enormous...

"This place used to have a waiting list to get a slip," said Noble, 75. "Now there's five boats. At one time, there were 19 or 20 charter boats in this town. Now there is one. This town is dead. We don't even have a grocery store. … And it's not the economy. It's the fishery."
Just a decade ago, that fishery was ruled by king salmon. From Lexington in the south to the Straits of Mackinac, charter captains charged eager anglers hundreds of dollars to catch hard-fighting, great-tasting kings until coolers were brimming with fish.
Today, southern Lake Huron is virtually devoid of king salmon, thanks to food web changes wrought by invasive species like zebra and quagga mussels.

It's estimated that a new, potentially viable invasive species enters the Great Lakes EVERY EIGHT MONTHS. At an infection rate like that, there's simply no way Great Lakes fisheries management can keep up with the adaptations needed to manage the lakes and keep them in some semblance of balance.

Obviously we can't keep invasive species out 100% forever. But we CAN slow down the rate at which new invasive species are entering the lakes and give some time for the ecosystem and the fisheries to adapt.

Turning to the West, now...the pace of progress in dealing with the threat of the Asian carps is irresponsibly slow. While we watch the Lake Huron fisheries crumble, we're taking an agonizingly long time to address a similar collapse in Lake Michigan due to an Asian carp invasion.

Cutting off the the un-natural connection between the Great Lakes water basin and the Mississippi water basin is the only long term defense for both systems.

Micro-mini cars at the St. Joseph vintage auto show to make you smile

Everything old is new again. Once upon a time, the world had tons of very tiny, fuel efficient cars.

Okay, mostly in England.

There are a bunch of one to two person micro-mini cars in a St. Joseph vintage auto show that just make me smile. I have to admit, I have a certain love for tiny cars.

See the actual cars here>>

ST. JOSEPH, Mich. -- Exhibitors, organizers and guests at the 2011 Krasl Concours here were delighted when the weather forecasters were wrong about a recent Saturday.

A morning thunderstorm passed north of this up-and-coming town on Lake Michigan and the seventh annual concours to benefit the Krasl Art Center proceeded.
Some 90 vehicles, from motorcycles and micro-mini cars to seven-passenger touring beauties and woodie wagons, were stationed in Lake Bluff Park to help mark the 100th anniversary of Chevrolet and celebrate the Krasl Art Center.

Here are a few pics from Flickr's creative commons I could scare up. But seriously, I'd go look at the actual cars in the show.


Photo by: Rex Gray - 1956 Isetta


Photo by: Rex Gray - 1969 Subaru 360


Photo by: jl.cernadas - 1968 Fiat 500


Photo by: jacoibo5731 - MOPAR Renault 12 SEAT600

Two New Electric Car Charging Stations Down By the Beach

It's a beautiful West Michigan evening. Warm. But not too warm. Crickets are chirping. I'm hanging out outside while my two small boys play in the part of our yard that they have transformed into their very own personal quarry.

I'm pondering my massive pile of oak logs. Now that the weather is cooling off I'll be back to splitting and stacking and splitting and stacking. In the garden, a forming bumper crop of acorn squash.

Yesterday the family drove down to Muskegon Lake because replicas of the Niña, the Pinta and the Santa Maria were supposedly sailing into the Great Lakes Marina. They never did come. But we did get a chance to drive down by Lake Michigan. We drove along the same, comfortable, familiar Pere Marquette Park drive I'd known my whole life...couples parked overlooking the lake from their cars, kids playing on the beach, old F150 pickup trucks from fishermen who fish off the pier...but yesterday there was something new.

Two brand new electric car charging stations stood, lit up in blue looking shiny and futuristic along the parking strip I'd known since my childhood.

Pretty cool.

Time to make ye olde sauerkraut

Looks like I'll be making sauerkraut over the weekend along with some canned green beans. It helps that I actually enjoy sauerkraut and other cabbage based foods. There's something earthy and basic and delicious about it. It reaches back to some buried Nordic place in my DNA, a thousand years ago. It's a day in the middle of a dark, frozen January in a one room thatched roof stone hut where my stout Nordic wife reaches into a barrel and pulls out a wad of sauerkraut. She squeezes out the brine and drops the mound of saurkraut on a wooden plate with some organ meat sausage or some salted herring or something. There's a crackling fire in there somewhere.

Still not sounding good?

Well, fine then.

Your loss.

Where was I? Oh yeah. Cabbage. So far I've harvested about five heads of cabbage from the garden. I may pull out a couple more come the weekend. That should make a few quarts of the stuff.

I can't help myself. I just like it. Plus I have a fascination with it. It's really pretty amazing how easy it is to make. Guide the natural processes in the right order and you can preserve mass quantities of cabbage all winter with very little effort. It's as though it was meant to be. I eat it raw or cooked, with or without organ meat sausage.

On the downside, making my own sauerkraut has done exactly the same thing for me as making my own bread. Now the store bought stuff tastes funny.

I'll need to make a lot.

Michigan's Jobs Plan: Boot 30,000 Children from Their Homes

To justify kicking nearly 30,000 Michigan children off of a pittance of state assistance on October 1st, Michigan Representative Agema quotes this Bible verse from 2 Theselonians 3:10 :

"let them that will not work, not eat"

I'm not sure how the other State representatives are justifying throwing tens of thousands of Michigan's children out on the street while handing that money over to their favorite businesses as tax cuts in exchange for...apparently...letting the state job situation contract some more.

But I'm sure our Republican legislators clutch their ultraconservative one liners closely to their chests to warm themselves as they snuggle warm into bed safe in their tax payer supplied pensions, salaries, and health care.

The state Legislature on Wednesday passed a 48-month lifetime limit on welfare benefits expected to cast more than 11,000 families off the welfare rolls on Oct. 1 — including more than 29,700 children, according to state officials.
The cumulative time limit will save $77.4 million in the budget year that starts Oct. 1, but Democrats and child advocates said they fear it will cause a humanitarian crisis as social agencies are flooded with families who can't pay for rent, utilities or other essentials.


From The Detroit News

As of October 1st, thousands of Michigan families will be without a means of paying for shelter, clothing, utilities. Here's an image from the Detroit News showing which Michigan regions are hardest hit by this new law.



Yes...maybe they should just go out and get jobs!

Wizardkitten's blog points out that as Michigan's unemployment numbers are once again on the rise, Up to a thousand people applying to 12 positions at a new Aldi store in Holland, Michigan.

12 to 1000! I like those odds. Why, that's a good sporting 1% chance at finding a job each time you apply! And who knows, you MIGHT be that lucky one who wins the grand prize of working part time at minimum wage!

The problem isn't that people don't want to work. The problems is that there is no work, and no money changing hands.

Casting tens of thousands of Michgian's children from state assistance isn't going to change that.

Got Yer Public Works Right Here: EPA Hiring Unemployed Americans for Great Lakes Cleanup!

AWESOME!

AWESOME AWESOME AWESOME AWESOME AWESOME AWESOME AWESOME AWESOME AWESOME AWESOME AWESOME AWESOME AWESOME AWESOME AWESOME!!!

This is so awesome...the EPA is specifically hiring UNEMPLOYED workers for Great Lakes cleanup efforts. THIS is a jobs plan, right here.

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said Tuesday it will spend $6 million to hire unemployed people who can work on Great Lakes cleanup projects.

Congress has appropriated $775 million over the past two years for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, a wide-ranging plan to improve the region's environmental health.

The Obama administration moved forward on the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative and passed over 450 million dollars in Great Lakes restoration funding for 2011 with a plan to spend at least that much every year for five years. That money has been reduced to 300 million for 2012, as one of the items on the budget cut chopping block. I'm not going to complain TOO much.

But for those looking for a public works program...here ya go.

Supporters of the Great Lakes initiative have said repeatedly it would stimulate the region's economy and create jobs. The newly announced program is unique because it specifically targets jobless workers, said Phillippa Cannon, spokeswoman for the agency's Chicago office.

Hedman said the initiative is similar to the Civilian Conservation Corps, the Depression-era program that put the unemployed to work.

EPA will choose projects by the end of September. To qualify, they must provide immediate, direct ecological benefits and be located in areas identified as federal priorities, such as national lakeshores or areas of concern. They also must include a detailed budget and produce measurable results.

Michigan Republicans Poised to Slash Up to 57% of City Revenues

First off...I have no love for the personal property tax on businesses. In some cases, it can be a hardship on very small mom and pop businesses, while it's merely a niussance to larger businesses.

That said, the state of Michigan's new diabolical scheme to eliminate the tax is the worst kind of dogmatic irresponsibility...as in, it's the kind that's going to bring ruin on many of our more industrial centers in Michigan. As in, finished. Done. Deadsville. Bankrupt. As if our cities need another boot to the head. Many of the more industrial cities get at least half of their revenue from personal property tax. Here's an image from the Michgian Municipal League website of what some cities stand to lose in city revenue if this tax cut goes through:



River Rouge could lose 57% of its revenue. Evart, Michigan could lose 35%. And so on. This would KILL a lot of cities.

Okay, but what's the personal property tax?

It's a tax on equipment a businesses owns.

For some things, it makes sense to tax these things since there's a society cost. For example, some equipment makes loud, horrible noises. Other equipment makes tons of dust. Some creates pollutants that need to be cleaned.

For other things, it's kind of irritating...for example when it applies to furniture. For example, my wife has display cases in her store, and she pays a tax on each one that's IN her store. There's no societal cost, it's just a tax on a business owning furniture.

Okay. Whatever. That's what personal property tax is.

Now...if you think about this tax, you can start to see how a town with factories would probably have a lot more revenue from personal property tax than, say, a suburb or a town that is mostly homes and few businesses.

In some well-off residential communities such as the Grosse Pointes, personal property tax accounts for 2 percent or less of property tax revenues. In River Rouge, a Downriver industrial city of 8,000 residents in Wayne County, personal property makes up more than half of property tax revenues, according to data compiled by the Michigan Municipal League.

"I basically would have no other choice but to declare bankruptcy," if the tax was repealed and not replaced, said River Rouge Mayor Michael Bowdler.
"You're punishing communities that have been corporation friendly, versus the bedroom communities that don't have to put up with the noise and the dust and everything else."


From The Detroit News

This is the sort of tax cut that's going to hit industrial centers MUCH harder than rich suburbs. That, of course, fits the pattern of our Republican leadership. Spare those with the money, kneecap those without.

And while I have no particular love for the personal property tax, my love for my state is greater than my irritation that a small time mom and pop store has to pay a tax on owning a chair or a computer.

The Michigan Municipal League is fighting back against this new proposed tax cut with its Replace Don't Erase campaign. If our legislators are hell bent on removing this tax...they NEED TO have the political gonads to stand up to their slash, burn, and salt the earth tax cut zealots funding their campaigns and come up with REPLACEMENT REVENUE for Michigan cities. We can't cut anymore.

I want to take pictures of the tattered sky

I miss my camera. Camera's broken.

I want to get out into the woods and take some pics of the quiet moss and the wild, tattered clouds above the clinging roots and tree lines of the dunes.

There was a clear, dark sky last night, so dark and clear I could easily identify the Milky Way, and the four of us looked up and smelled the night air and listened to the crickets and looked for many little dippers in the stars, and bigger dippers, and dippers of all sorts.

My acorn squash in my garden are peeking out from under the wide squash leaves, like green Easter eggs. I like to count them. 12 so far. But maybe 15.

The sky has been a welcoming gray, lately, with a lower, darker set of clouds along the horizon moving quickly against a brighter, textured sky. And I like that. Blue skies are overrated.

My wood pile has languished in the hot summer, and the cooling weather has me thinking axeward again. I've got a pile of work and splitting ahead of me, and I only lament that some chipmonks may at this point call my woodpile Home, though they appear to be making holes and peeling out seeds from the fallen pine cones...likely prepping to burrow into the ground for the winter. So maybe the wood pile is chipmonk free.

Right now I'm in a post thunderstorm peace, listening to the many levels of insect song, and an ongoing hush and roar from the lake, and smelling newly energized soil and water.

Beuller......... Beuller.............. Beuller.....can anybody tell my why I agree with Ben Stein?

I keep thinking that Fox News Conservatives jumped the shark every week or so with each new outrageous thing they say or do. But THIS TIME I think Fox News Conservatives may have actually jumped the shark. When BEN STEIN is arguing against Bill O'Reilly, telling O'Reilly that taxing the rich won't increase unemployment.....you know that conservatives are utterly, completely alone in their own made up world.

Watch it and cheer....two economists, one of whom is the shameless conservative Ben Stein, are arguing against Bill O'Reilly about how we should, in fact, be taxing the rich more.

It's No Wonder Manufacturing Cities Yearn for Sustainable Industry

It's probably not a huge surprise to most folks that major manufacturing centers in the US had been left to languish and slowly crumble over the past 30 years, give or take, as the US took a turn toward shipping jobs overseas, and businesses streamlined to compete globally...which means greater manufacturing capacity, but a LOT fewer jobs. Cities like Detroit, Flint, and Muskegon have seen extended economic contraction going on for decades. So it's nice to see some good news now and then on the manufacturing horizon...

For one, Federal, State, and private investment in a green manufacturing revolution has started to actually put NEW FACTORIES into these communities. New factories have been nearly unheard of for decades, but we're starting to see companies moving in that build advanced car batteries, wind turbine parts, turbine blades, etc.

My home town, Muskegon, MI, with a U3 unemployment rate of over 10% going on several years now, is being eyed up as a potential industry hub for wind turbine part manufacturing and distribution.

We've got a centralized location, we've got the manufacturing capacity and are near other major manufacturing centers, and we've got a deep water port with access regions from the Gulf of Mexico all the way to the Atlantic Ocean and beyond. We've also got a lot of offshore wind.

Good gravy, we're looking at a potential multi-billion dollar industry right here in Muskegon, Michigan. All we need now is the right State and National policy to lend a sense of stability to potential investors...

That’s thanks to the region’s history of industrial and manufacturing innovation, which provides a platform for development, as well as the local and extensive maritime access through deepwater ports along Lake Michigan, key to enabling low-cost transportation of materials and finished components. Still needed, however, is additional infrastructure and policies to encourage investment.

“It’s important to keep in mind that we’re talking as much about economic development and job development here as we’re talking about alternative energy opportunities,” Boezaart said. “Not only is commercial wind development a renewable energy generating opportunity, but it really represents a chance for West Michigan to grab on to a piece of a new generation of manufacturing. This is a multimillion or even multibillion dollar business opportunity in terms of sales, manufacturing value and economic development for the area.”

West Michigan has a long history of extractive, boom and bust industries. We had a short and very lucrative boom harvesting clam shells for button sales back in the 1920s and 1930s and that left the native clam population devastated, likely never to recover.

We had a lumber boom that made Muskegon one of the wealthiest cities in America for a couple decades and that lasted until many of the old growth forests were wiped out.

We even had a short lived oil boom.

And in the 1940s we had a huge industrial surge to build weapons for WWII. The population in Muskegon increased to the point where people had to share rooms on three 8 hour shifts, just long enough to sleep. Old, historic homes were split up into multiple rooms to make for fast housing to meet the demand....and when the war was over...people went back to the regions they had come from and the city of Muskegon was left to clean up the shuttered industrial aftermath and the overused historic buildings.

For those who understand how industrial cities have traditionally worked, it should be no wonder why so many are now hungry for sustainable industries...industries that aren't extractive, industries that aren't boom and bust, industries that will leave our environment a CLEANER place rather than the other way around.

This move toward renewable energy shows great promise.

Scientists Find a Cheap, Effective Way to Kill Invasives in Ballast Water

Soap.

Soap was the answer all along. Well, lye...the active ingredient that makes soap. It looks like scientists may have found a powerful and, just as importantly, RELATIVELY CHEAP way to kill things in ballast water.

Most invasive species in the Great Lakes were introduced by dumped ballast water from ocean-faring ships. That's how the zebra mussels got here.

Those little bastards. The annual estimated costs of invasive species to Great Lakes communities totals about 200 million dollars per year...I've found some sources that claim much higher numbers (nearly 6 BILLION per year)but those sources don't give much detail).

The ships chug across the ocean, with ballast water from their home port halfway across the world and all the critters that live there...like a huge floating aquarium. Then they enter the Great Lakes through the St. Lawrence Seaway and go to their destination and load up on grain and find they need to lighten up and get rid of some ballast water. So they dump the water and and alllll the critters that came with them spill out into a new ecosystem: the Great Lakes.

Of course...the monitoring and control of ballast water dumping has been fairly lax and tough to enforce. Plus, the pumps can't always get everything out before the ship enters the Great Lakes so there's always something squirming around in there. Short of shutting down the St. Lawrence Seaway, the only viable way to fix the problem and slow the spread of invasive species is to kill everything in the tank, so that it doesn't matter if the ballast water is dumped.

But shipping companies resisted ballast water purification on the grounds that it's prohibitively expensive.

Enter the Scientists. After three years of research, scientists believe they may have a cheap, fairly easy solution.

Sodium hydroxide.

Lye.

Dump in a bunch of lye, let it kill the beasties (up to 99% of them). Then neutralize the lye with carbon dioxide. Both are wonderfully cheap. Wonderfully, wonderfully cheap.

Some Discoveries of the International Great Lakes Study

Communities across the Great Lakes shorelines are meeting to discuss falling water levels as part of a new International Upper Great Lakes Study. Apparently there's some public commentary thing going on.

I've been watching this group from afar for a while: The International Upper Great Lakes Study.

I admit, though, that I haven't done a great job of following exactly, precisely what they've been doing, and I admit I have only skimmed their reports.

For example, I know that their original goal was to see if and to what degree the St. Claire River was responsible for lower water levels in the Upper Great Lakes. For those not in the know, the St. Claire River is between Lake Huron and Lake Erie. Lake Huron flows into Lake Erie via the St. Claire River.

Years ago there was some concern that a widening St. Claire River was draining the upper Great Lakes faster, so a group got together to find out.

The answer..."sort of"

From the 1980s the St. Claire River water outflow from Huron to Erie increased by 5.8%.

The group didn't recommend any type of remedies.

Now the group wants to study two things: possible remedies AND the OTHER causes of dropping water levels in the upper Great Lakes. One such cause is climate change and a resulting reduction to tributary contributions to the upper Great Lakes. Another cause of falling water levels: something called "isostatic rebound". Apparently, that's when earth that was compacted by glaciers slowly, slowly springs back up, like wet moss after you step on it. isostatic rebound would creation the ILLUSION of falling water levels, since it's actually the land that's RISING. Crazy stuff.

Of course, all this begs the question, are the water levels in the upper Great Lakes falling? I guess the answer is: Yes. What's the big deal? Well...lots of things, from vanishing wetlands to barges having to carry less cargo due to a lower draft.

Anyway...stand by.

Bringing the Job Creation Conversation to All Corners of America

Michigan Senator Debbie Stabenow and President Barack Obama get it.

They GET it. To get jobs moving again, we need to invest in jobs at the bottom level and diversify, diversify, diversify. And something else interesting is happening here...we seem to have some evidence of our representatives bringing actual tangible discussions on the nuts and bolts of HOW to create jobs and stimulate the economy to every corner of our nation and states...

The conversation: Sure, let's make jobs. But HOW?

My bet: they aren't screaming for more tax cuts and a balanced DC budget. The more folks we can bring into this conversation the better...because the more people who see that tax cuts alone won't get this economy moving again, the more we'll start to have a serious national debate on jobs programs.

Michigan Senator Debbie Stabenow is in Sparta Michigan today with Obama's Agriculture Secretary (And my former Iowa Governor) Tom Vilsack to hold a round table discussion on how State, Federal, and local efforts can work together to create jobs and create more economic opportunities for rural regions.

Lots of folks tend to think of Michigan as an industrial state...but our second largest industry is agriculture which contributes about 71 billion dollars annually to Michigan's economy. And with over 200 crops, Michigan ranks among the most diverse agricultural economies in America.

Last year, Michigan farm exports grew 10 percent over 2009 figures, delivering $1.75 billion in sales and supporting almost 15,000 jobs in the state.

[snip]

To encourage Michigan's local and regional food movement, USDA is supporting smaller and mid-sized farmers in Michigan, who may not have the ability to compete in international markets. USDA is providing specialty crop growers – who account for nearly $2 billion in annual agricultural sales for Michigan – with research and assistance aimed at combating pests and diseases that may threaten the productivity of farmers. Last year, USDA provided the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development with funding for 25 projects that support specialty crops efforts like conducting radio advertising to increase sales of fresh Michigan asparagus and promoting locally grown Michigan apples in the greater Chicago market to raise awareness and grow market share. In July, USDA announced that it will conduct a pilot program for acquiring fresh fruits and vegetables to increase farm-to-school programs in Michigan. The pilot will use commercial distribution models already in place and allow schools to obtain locally grown produce.

Yes, I Miss My Crazed Commie Pinko City Trash Removal

Do you know what happens when you live in a city that doesn't have city garbage pick-up and everybody has to hire their own garbage pick-up, individually?

You get garbage trucks rolling past your house at 6AM making hydraulic, metallic crushing noises EVERY MORNING, Monday Through Friday instead of just one day per week.

It's annoying. When I lived in Roosevelt Park, they had city trash removal. That was nice. Now...I get loud, crushing sounds and diesel engines every morning.

I really enjoyed my high school and college economics courses. One thing I learned a lot about: "Economies of Scale"

Sometimes it's a TON more efficient and affordable to chip in as a community and have a service taken care of at a larger scale. I'm going to go ahead and lump garbage pickup in that category.

Lake Huron's Bizarre Anaerobic Ecosystems

It's been a while since I read anything more about the bizarre anaerobic ecosystems in newly discovered Lake Huron sink holes, so I thought I'd revisit the topic. The awesome thing is, I came to discover that researchers in the Grand Valley State University Annis Water Resources Facility right here in Muskegon were heading the research for these sink holes.

Awesome.

Not too long ago, Michigan researchers discovered previously unknown sink holes in Lake Huron, some of which are hundreds of feet deed, reaching down to Paleozoic era bedrock. When scientists went in to investigate them, they discovered entirely new ecosystems down there, thriving in dark anaerobic (no-oxygen), mineral rich environments.

“You have this pristine fresh water lake that has what amounts to materials from 400 million years ago … being pushed out into the lake,” said Steven A. Ruberg,

Similar to the undersea vents, these sink holes harbor odd bacteria adapted to extreme environments. They grow in large "pony-tails" or in purple towers along the bottom.

The Lake Huron sinkholes are dominated by brilliant purple mats of cyanobacteria -- cousins of microbes found on the bottom of permanently ice-covered lakes in Antarctica -- and pallid, floating pony-tails of other microbial life, according to the journal article.

The saltwater venting out of the sinkholes is hostile to most life forms because it lacks oxygen, the scientists said in the article..

Newer studies show that the water venting from the bottoms of the sink holes is warmer than the surrounding waters by an average of 5 to 10 degrees fahrenheit, with several orders of magnitude more minerals than the surrounding waters.

biogeochemical conditions (See above table). The venting water was 3.5°C warmer than the surrounding water and had 10-fold higher concentrations of chloride, 100-fold higher concentrations of sulfate, and 1000-fold higher concentrations of total phosphorus.

[snip]

The vent water also contained 5-fold higher concentrations of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and 400-fold higher concentrations of particulate organic carbon (POC)relative to the surrounding lake water

-- Article

These sink holes are a pretty new field of study...so the information will be ongoing.

Republicans sure do love to raise taxes on regular Americans

And as usual we see a Republican party not just willing to raise taxes on regular Americans, but EXCITED and PASSIONATE about doing it. Republicans can't wait to raise taxes on regular Americans.

The same folks who dug their heels in on rescinding the Bush Tax Cut on millionaires and billionaires are NOW DEMANDING that the payroll tax holiday for regular American workers be rescinded...they're blocking Obama's attempts to renew the payroll tax holiday for Americans receiving paychecks, which reduces the amount Americans pay in payroll taxes...

...the cynical game going on here is, Obama cut Americans' taxes and the Republicans in DC sure would LOVE to see those tax cuts go away on Obama's watch. But hey, if throwing hard working Americans under the bus in a hard economy is what it takes to win....you can be certain the current Republican leadership is willing to do it.

That goes for the State as well as the Federal level. While Michigan's Republican leadership slashed taxes for large corporations they paid for those tax cuts by removing child tax credits for young families, the earned income tax credit for low wage WORKERS, the homestead tax credit for people who actually live in their homes and then started taxing pensions on older, retired Michiganders...

...Even as the Republican Party was screaming foul on removing tax credits for private jet owners they were taking a hammer to tax credits for families with children.

There's simply no middle class tax hike Republicans can say no to lately.

Kwame Kilpatrick feels confident he could be Detroit mayor again

Less than three weeks after his release from prison, former Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick said he could win Detroiters' votes to become mayor again.
"I think if I go there and I run now, I win," Kilpatrick told the New York Times in a question-and-answer piece published on its website Friday. "I'm serious. I don't say that in arrogance or anything."

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HA! Robert Riech explains the US credit downgrade, from Red Lobster to gross chowder

HA!

Robert Reich explains what the Credit Downgrade means, from Red Lobster to Ben Bernanke's gross clam chowder.

You're doing something right when your 7 year old requests broiled trout

I've been on a fish kick lately.

For breakfast I had bluegill caught from an inland lake a couple miles away and a half head of fried, shredded cabbage from my garden.

For dinner we're having broiled lake trout.

Why broiled lake trout? WHY broiled lake trout? Because my SEVEN YEAR OLD REQUESTED it, that's why.

Today is my second time in my life using the Broil setting on our gas range. So far seems pretty simple and very fast. Put the fish in for 10 minutes, at most, take it out, paint it with whatever sauce you've prepared and you're done. Not bad.

I used to fry just about every fish I ate. I have to say, the new methods of preparation I've been exploring have made all the difference. I prepared my bluegill this morning in a light helping of olive oil on a pan with white pepper and parsley flakes. It was awesome. Tonight I'm making broiled trout with a sauce that's made out of lemon juice, butter, parsley flakes, white pepper, and salt. Also awesome.

I've been trying to eat more fish and less beef. And so far I seem to be successfully cultivating a taste for it in myself and my boys. Yum.

You Talk Castrating the EPA, You're No Friend to the Great Lakes

Last time Congressman Bill Huizenga gave a town hall meeting in Grand Haven, Michigan, he bragged about plans to castrate the EPA or abolish it altogether. Seems to me Russ Harding of the Mackinac Center's ultraconservative environmental Lobbying arm has slipped into his ears.

That's a pity.

After all Huizenga is of one of a very small handful of people in US Congress who represent regions around the Great Lakes shorelines. He SHOULD be safeguarding the Great Lakes from greater pollution, from water diversions, from phosphorous runoff...he SHOULD be aware how vital the Great Lakes are to our way of life...

And yet he's willing to throw it all away for his financiers.

He's talking about abolishing or castrating the very organization that has cleaned up the Great Lakes, and ensured that instances like the Cuyahoga river fire never happen again. He should perhaps learn a thing or two about the Great Lakes and the condition Lake Erie was in before the EPA was established and intervened: shockingly polluted, crushed fisheries, with tributaries so covered in petroleum waste that it caught on fire...SEVERAL TIMES.

You talk about hacking at the the EPA, you are no friend of the Great Lakes.

Perhaps we need to remind Mr. Huizenga that the State he represents is ENTIRELY within the Great Lakes watershed. Dumping toxic substances on the ground in Mt. Pleasant in the middle of the state is STILL dumping toxic substances directly into the Great Lakes.

We along the Great Lakes lakeshore need an advocate for the Great Lakes in DC...not a puppet dancing in lock step with hardline conservative lobbyists who want to abolish protections to the waters we love and our way of life. Mr. Huizenga, so far, hasn't shown himself to be that. He supported the Conservative introduced budget that slashed Great Lakes restoration.

And of these cuts, Bill Huizenga bragged about how he has voted for Every Single one put before him. Every single one. Even if it slices the throat of protections to our waterways that have made places like Sleeping Bear Dunes win awards as the most Beautiful Place in America. The waterways that are a source of employment for so many, a source of respite and peace for so many, a source of food and recreation for so many.

Today is the day you create a job.

If you happen to be part of the American Dream and you have a house, it's bound to happen.

Somebody is going to knock on your front door, and you'll answer it and see it's somebody you either do not know or it's somebody you sort of tangentially know. Maybe it's some kid. Maybe it's a couple kids. Maybe it's a scruffy middle aged man or woman and maybe they have kids with them.

And they say to you "Hey, I'm going around seeing if I can mow peoples' lawns or sweep your driveway."

And your first impulse may be to say, "Oh, no thanks!" Maybe the thought of parting with $10 or $20 for somebody to mow your lawn sends you into mild panic...or maybe you simply don't have $10 or $20. Or maybe you are just so overwhelmed with other stuff right now, that this isn't a decision you want to make at this very moment and you resent the interruption, resent being pressed to make a decision about something you hadn't wanted to make a decision about.

This happened to me today, and my impulse was to withdraw and go into my hording mode. Things have been tight for a long time, and my impulse was to just say "Sorry, we're broke."

But before you do or say anything, I encourage folks to wait a moment and ponder the dynamic presented to you.

Somebody is at your door, looking for work.

They're not looking for a hand out. They're looking for WORK, and they're going from house to house to find it. It's discouraging, hard work.

Maybe today is the day you say "You know what? I DO need my lawn mowed." And maybe if you don't have enough dough, you can find out how much money you DO have and you can ask them what that much money will buy ya. I bet it will buy a lot.

Because I hear so much talk on Conservative TV shows and radio shows of down and out people being lazy, expecting America to carry their water for them, and not willing to work. And the thing is, I have NO IDEA who where all these lazy bastard mainstream Americans are. Cuz the down and out folks i know are some of the most enthusiastic workers that I know.

Conservative commentators look out into America and see a sea of lazy. I look out into America and see a vast expanse of hard working and innovative people doing everything they can to stay afloat.

Renaissance of the Local Farmer's Market, Doing an End Run Around Corporate America

Here's another example of a tectonic shift in America toward progressive ideals from the grassroots COMMUNITY level as we do an end run around the large corporate interests and the factory farms.

I don't know about you but I find it wildly encouraging to know that farmers' markets are rapidly growing in popularity nationwide. There's something basic about it. Basic and organized. These aren't just disparate farmers selling their zucchini and cherries in rickety plywood stands along dusty dirt roads for a little extra pocket money, anymore (put a dollar in the can, take a couple of cucumbers).

These are mostly local farmers banding together to sell their produce at fair rates direct to the consumer. And to add and extra layer of competition, a growing number are offering organic foods and free-range meats.

One of my favorite stories and a HUGE local success story is of a fourth generation fishing family in Muskegon opening up a new, local market to compete and survive. It was started by one of the younger fishermans' wives who called her stand at the farmer's market "The Fishmonger's Wife" and they sell fresh, locally caught Lake Michigan whitefish right there at the Farmer's Market. It is WILDLY successful and the only market access Muskegonites have to the locally fished whitefish.

Here's a wonderful chart from the USDA showing a rapid 17% jump in the number of farmers' markets nationwide from 2010 to 2011, the largest 1 year jump since the USDA started recording these types of things:



Michigan's number of farmers' markets alone grew from 90 in 2001 to 336 in 2011.

You know I love to brag: Muskegon has had a farmers' market for a long stinkin' time and is among the largest farmers' markets in the country. Home is always best of course...but the variety of foods is fantastic. These folks in this pic grow, dry, and sell their own brand of beans (Fun Fact: Michigan is America's #1 producer of black beans):




With the national growth in farmers' markets, the drumbeat of calls for redirecting Federal investment from factory farms to smaller, more local farms is growing louder and with quite a bit more economic force behind it as Americans show their willingness and ability to buy locally produced foods from local farmers.

The Union of Concerned Scientists cited U.S. Department of Agriculture figures showing the number of farmers markets in Michigan grew from 90 in 2001 to 336 in 2011. The group wants the federal government to invest more of its agricultural funding in local markets, rather than industrial farming.

Nationally, farmers' markets more than doubled between 2000 and 2010, growing from 2,863 to 6,132, according to the group.

"On the whole, farmers markets have seen exceptional growth, providing local communities with fresh food direct from the farm," Jeffrey O'Hara, author of the report and an economist with the Center's Food and Environment Program, said in a press release.

"If the federal government diverted just a small amount of the massive subsidies it lavishes on industrial agriculture to local markets, it would generate thousands of new jobs in Michigan, and tens of thousands of new jobs across the country."
Citing Congressional Budget Office figures, the group said the USDA last year spent more than $13 billion to assist large industrial farms while investing less than $100 million in local and regional food system farmers.
A Michigan Department of Agriculture analysis concluded that if every Michigan family spent just $10 weekly on locally produced food, it would circulate nearly $37 million in the state economy, the group said.

From The Detroit News

When times get tough, people don't just SIT AROUND waiting for things to change or waiting for our bickering representatives to fix things...our communities go out and do it ourselves. It would go a lot faster if our elected representatives listened to us and what we wanted and helped us move in that direction. But no matter...when we choose to change, we can make it happen.

Media Starts Reporting on Media Ignoring Ron Paul

In a particularly sadistic kick in the ribs, Journalism.org created a fully interactive tool for indicating just how thoroughly Ron Paul is ignored. For example you can make a line graph, or various types of bar graph to show how Ron Paul has been eschewed...I'm partial to pie charts, so I went with that:



As you can see by that orange sliver at the top, Ron Paul got that much media time following his second place showing in the Iowa Straw polls, with about 3.01% of the media time.

Here's a line graph I made:



I have named the photos, ignoringRonPaul.jpg and ignoringRonPaul2.jpg, respectively. As you can see....Ron Paul is, again, down there at the very bottom.

There are just so many ways we we can watch Ron Paul get belittled by Fox News, CNN, MSNBC, and so on.

I think that Jon Stewart of the Daily Show did, however, talk about Ron Paul....but only to talk about how little people talk about him. Much like I'm doing now.

The Daily Show - Indecision 2012 - Corn Polled Edition - Ron Paul & the Top Tier
Get More: Daily Show Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,The Daily Show on Facebook

The Journalism.org site goes on to quote some Pew research tidbits to really rub it in:

29% - Percentage of Ron Paul’s campaign coverage in 2011 compared to Donald Trump's

In the days after his runner-up finish to Michele Bachmann in Iowa’s August 13 GOP straw poll, Texas Congressman Ron Paul complained about a lack of media coverage, accusing the press of being “frightened by me challenging the status quo and the establishment."

As pundits debate whether Paul is getting the attention he deserves, a PEJ analysis of campaign coverage this year indicates he is the 10th leading election newsmaker— trailing far behind non-candidates Donald Trump and Sarah Palin and as well as floundering Republican hopeful Newt Gingrich.

Ron Paul...coming in a close second behind Michelle Bachman....is coming in second in media coverage behind DONALD TRUMP who isn't even running anymore.

I mean...what? Is Ron Paul crazier than, say......Donald Trump? Or, say....Michelle Bachman? There's got to be a story behind this Ron Paul thing. Some weird shunning of the Freemasons or something.

An Electric Cadillac? Yup.

As a citizen in a city of a company about to invest a lot in several hundred jobs making advanced car batteries, I couldn't be more excited about GM's latest announcement.

GM just confirmed that they will be making an electric Cadillac based on the Volt technology. To all those haters doubting on the Volt and electric cars...say hello to the future:

"Low Class" Muskegon Swarms Rep. Huizenga's Office

Vid courtesy of Sean Mullally

My wee boy and I went downtown to join the protest of Bill Huizenga who is known for referring to Muskegon, Michigan as a "Low Class" city. Perhaps we're Low Class because we're the major Democratic stronghold in West Michigan. Or perhaps we're Low Class because Muskegonites WORK with HANDS. The horror.

The boy and I got there early, so to kill some time the wee little boy and I parked at the new splash fountain by the old post office down town. The Alcoa splash fountain between the newly streetscaped Western Avenue downtown and the vast sandlot.

Little history: Back in the 1970's amidst a troubled economy and declining manufacturing base -- Sound familiar? -- Muskegon, Michigan, attempted to reinvent itself -- Sound familiar? -- by turning what was once an open air, standard streetscape with old buildings and shops into a modern, enclosed year-round heated shopping center. A mall! The city literally built a glass roof over the old downtown Muskegon and enclosed it with walls. That worked out fine for a decade or two...but it never made Muskegon the major shopping mecca the planners had expected and by the late 1990s the mall....better known as "downtown Muskegon" was dead. Completely dead.

As it turns out, if you put doors and a lock on your downtown and give it a closing time of 9:00 PM, it has no nightlife. Who could have predicted?

This is running a bit longer than I had hoped...the point is that the mall/downtown completely died and in 2002 and 2003 the city actually bulldozed blocks and blocks of the downtown area...most of it, but for a few of the still functional buildings like the post office, or historic buildings like the old Century Club building.

For years, most of the downtown area has been a sand pit, with developers here and there building new buildings, like the new cullinary arts college.

Where was I?

Oh yeah. To kill time, I brought my youngest boy down to splash around in the new Alcoa childrens' splash fountain, where he ran around with a half dozen other kids. As 4:30 approached we made our way down to US Congressman Bill Huizenga's Muskegon office. He's a Republican. One of the ultraconservative Heritage Foundation's "Magnificent 11" or something like that for his Cut Cut Cut Cut Cut, Slash Slash Slash Slash economic policies.

This is the heir to the MI-2 Pete Hoekstra congressional district. He sort of inherited it because he's part of one of the Dynastic West Michigan families. A set of families whose parents and grandparents made money and build businesses in West Michigan...and whose children feel a sense of entitlement having inherited their position and wealth. Huizenga has proceeded to slash funding for womens' health, for Great Lakes restoration, he voted for the Medicare Killing Ryan plan.

My boy dragged his hopping frog toy down the sidewalk by a green string until we eventually joined a crowd of people outside of Bill Huizenga's Muskegon office. People continued to pour in. By the time my son and I had to leave I had counted over 150 people outside the office yelling "LET US IN! LET US IN! LET US IN!" and "WE NEED JOBS! WE NEED JOBS! WE NEED JOBS!"

Just an average Wednesday in a city with nearly 11% U3 unemployment, ruled by hyperconservative elites.

Child Poverty On the Rise in Michigan

The new Kids Count report by the Michigan League of Human Services and the Annie E. Casey Foundation shows that Michigan's child poverty increased by 64%, compared to the rest of the country where it's gone up by 18%. Michigan now has over 500,000 children in poverty whose average age is 7.

Michigan dropped to 30th place in the nation for Child Well Being after being among the best states in America for quality of life. And on the measure of secure parental employment, Michigan ranked 47th -- near the bottom. What's more, 36% of Michigan's children in 2009 lived in households where none of the caretakers had employment.

Michigan ranked No. 30th this year (No. 1 is best) for child well-being. On the measure of secure parental employment, Michigan ranked near the bottom — 47th. Unfortunately, state policymakers are making cuts to programs that will move our state in the wrong direction.

These numbers are from two years ago and are likely only to have increased since then...and of course Michigan's political figures have since then slashed the Michigan earned income tax credit for lower income workers, they've removed the child tax credit, and they've limited welfare help to 4 years RETROACTIVE to 2006. As of September this year, over 30,000 more people will be shoved out on the street, most of whom are children.

For those who callously shrug these figures off as some unfortunate grim reality needed to make Michigan a more economically competitive state...child poverty does not bode well for a strong economic climate.

I've reported before about how child poverty in America is a tremendous drag on America's economic potential, costing us as much as 4% of unearned GDP since many children born into poverty tend to have long term health problems, they rarely achieve the education required to compete in a modern economy, and a larger percent turn to crime and end up costing the system money in lost potential talent as well as the cost of locking up these people.

Michigan's child poverty numbers are a horrible harbinger of long term economic decline, and a moral stain on a state that doesn't give a crap about innocent people who cannot fend for themselves or care for themselves.

Sleeping Bear Dunes Voted Most Beautiful Place in America!

WOOHOO! Sleeping Bear Dunes in Northern Michigan along the coast of Lake Michigan has been voted the Most Beautiful Place In America on a Good Morning America contest.

"Tens of thousands of viewers voted online for this Michigan park, which is one of the nation's best-kept secrets," GMA said.

"The hidden gem boasts 64 miles of beaches along Lake Michigan, two islands, 26 inland lakes, more than 50,000 acres of land, and the monumental sand dunes from which it gets its name."

People have GREAT taste.

My family went to Sleeping Bear Dunes last year and camped for a week, and the kids have been talking about it ever since. We swam in the clear, bright waters of Northern Lake michigan and dove for soft rounded stones. We watched the sun set over the Manitou islands and spread a blanket out on soft sand and watched a meteor shower come out of the clear Milky Way above in the dark night sky. And of course we walked right up to the edge of a massive sand dune that seemed a sheer drop off...walk to the edge and there's no ground, just sand that obscures all sense of scale and distance and water. If you take a leap of faith though, and jump over the edge, you'll realize that it's an incline and you're perfectly safe. Though the climb back up is arduous.








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Canning My Scant Harvest of Heirloom Tomatoes

I'm afraid my camera is broken, folks. I'm starting to feel a little self conscious that I've been using primarily stock imagery...and I'd love nothing more than to show images of my Lake, my Dunes, my City...

...one thing, this year, I'm a little glad not to have to take pictures of is my organic garden. I expanded it to about 600 square feet this year and planted over 40 heirloom tomatoes and so far, mid August, I've got almost a quarter of a bushel of tomatoes to show for it. Not a lot. I've been whacked by a fungus, and my green beans were attacked by some sort of bugs...I think grasshoppers. My tomatillo plants are producing small fruit. And everythign else seems a bit stunted. So far the watermelon plants look okay and the acorn squash plant is producing some acorn squash. My cabbages are doing okay. I've got about 25 to 30 of those.

Anyway...tonight, I'm canning tomatoes. I've got some amish paste tomatoes and some Sheboygan tomatoes and I'm going to can 'em on up so they don't go bad on me. It will make me feel good to know that at least I canned SOME of my tomatoes, even if it's not the torrent of food I had been hoping for.

And Here's Obama Roughing up a "White Woman" Plus Joe the Plumber

Sure, it's no George Bush massaging German Chancellor Angela Merkel's shoulders



But the Right is all about making a stink over Obama lightly touching the shoulder of a woman who was questioning him, with the race bating title "Obama grabs white woman to make her shut up." The title of the vid has been changed since the original posting. Watch the "grab" for yourself...



IN other news, Obama also roughed up Joe the Plumber when they spoke. Watch this similarly aggressive shoulder touch.



The man's a MANIAC! He's just so full of rage!

Looks like we're looking at a 2008 redux with Republicans trying to brand Obama a Muslim, a terrorist who hates America, a thug...anything to stir up suspicion in some racist nonsense, half cloaked in ultrasheer hate.

It didn't so much work then. Won't work now. I may turn out to rally around him liberals who had previously been luke warm or disillusioned.

Good luck, Republicans.

Obama Fighting to Take Rightful Credit for Job Creation

The problem with being an actual job creator like Obama is that if you don't speak up and explicitly say "Yeah, those 600 new jobs in your city...that was from the policies I put forward. Remember that huge stimulus you love to hate? Right...yeah, that's where these jobs came from.." then people will just assume their favorite candidates did it, right or wrong. In the case of socially-conservative Holland, Michigan...that would be wrong.

Explicitly because of Obama's policies, BECAUSE of them, there are over 600 new jobs in Holland, Michigan making advanced batteries for electric cars at two new advanced battery manufacturing plants in Michigan.

BECAUSE of Democratic policies and the Obama administration's policies and Granholm's policies and support for renewable energy, Holland, Michigan, is ALSO home to a successful wind turbine blade manufacturing company called Energetx which employs hundreds more people in Holland.

Holland, by the way, isn't famous for its love for Democrats. But holy smokes are they major benefactors of Democratic policies. They sure do love the jobs Obama and Granholm dished out. Well over a thousand of them. And the DeVos family, also very anti-Democratic sure is willing to cash in on a new industry whose demand was fostered and established by Democratic policies....

Holland —
The Windquest Group, a private investment group headed by Dick and Betsy DeVos, has made an investment in Energetx Composites in Holland, Windquest announced Thursday.

The investment will be used to continue the scale-up of Energetx Composites’ manufacturing equipment for the production of utility-scale wind turbine blades, according to a news release from Energetx. Details of the transaction, including the amount of the investment, were not disclosed.

And now Gentex, an automotive parts manufacturer, is expanding in the area with plans to hire over 1100 new workers AGAIN in the Holland area. Zeeland to be specific. Gentex, courted by the Grahnolm administration with tax credits and abatements...then given a stable industry by Obama's rescue of the domestic auto industry. Again, another 1100 jobs created in an EXTREMELY conservative area based on Democratic policies and industrial and manufacturing support while Republicans screamed about picking winners and losers and the free market.

Thousands and thousands of jobs lured to a single region based almost exclusively on Democratic policies and incentives and support. And the kicker is, unless they are made ACUTELY aware that their city's well being and growth is coming on the backs of Democratic policies...this hyperconservative city will still probably vote Republican. They'll vote for the very people who once stood to obstruct every single step that lead to thousands of jobs in the Holland area.

It's infuriating.

And perhaps our President knows that. Perhaps that's why he's been to Holland, Michigan TWICE in the past year to speak at the opening of two different battery manufacturing plants in Holland.

Because if Obama doesn't do it...Bill Huizenga and Rick Snyder will take credit for the very things they tried to kill.

And we can't let them do that.

Unique Lake Erie Island Dwelling Water Snake Pulled from the Brink of Extinction

Western Lake Erie has an island chain off the coast of Sandusky, Ohio.


View Larger Map

Quite beautiful. Some of the islands, such as Kellly's Island (US) - population 327 - and Pelee Island (Canada) - population 256 - are inhabited. Pelee island is, of course, Canadian and is about 10 miles from the mainland on either side of the lake.

Interesting factoid about Pelee Island. It's the largest island in the chain and you might notice it's laced with farmland. Why? Because it's one of the most ideal climates in Canada for growing grapes. Quite a few of those farms of those are vinyards.

The island chain is also home to a unique subspecies of the non-poisonous Lake Erie Watersnake, Nerodia sipedon insularum, which has recently been brought back from the bring of extinction and is now being taken off the US Endangered Species list due to local and Federal intervention.

The Lake Erie watersnake population had declined to about 1,500 adults by the mid-1990s because of human persecution and habitat loss from shoreline development. Federal and state agencies designated 300 acres of inland habitat and 11 miles of shoreline as breeding and hibernation grounds, while scientists led a public relations blitz to convince people the snake was nothing to fear.

The effort quickly paid off. By 2002, the snake had reached the government's minimum goal of 5,555 snakes. A census in 2009 estimated the population at nearly 12,000.

Ironically, the accidental introduction of the invasive round goby has helped increase the populations of these snakes as a new food source. The goby has also helped bring back the bird the double crested cormorant because of the new food source...in fact, the double crested cormorant has come back so strong because of the goby that the once struggling species is now a nuisance in parts of Lake Erie.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, these Great Lakes are more than just massive puddles. They're unique ecosystems. And they need to be protected for their own sake, for the sake of the critters that live there, for the people who live around them and vacation near them, and for the economic lift they give to the region.

Doing Your Heart Some Harm Never Did Your Heart So Much Good

Don't lie. You love your local greasy spoons, and take maybe just a wee bit of pride in the teeny weeny chains that have maybe 3 or 4 restaurants in your local area. Sure, maybe the food isn't ALWAYS "good" in the traditional sense. But it's local. It's familiar. It's home.

The local fast food burger place still uses generic, unbranded hamburger wrappers, has the crinkle cut fries, and the generic cups with the art deco circles and zigzag design, crafted by a graphic designer back in 1953 and just reproduced forever.

But they've also got local favorites you just can't get at the big places like McDonalds, or Burker King, or Wendy's. They've got a fried perch sandwich. They've got their own version of an olive burger. And they still make their own hot dogs with their own recipe from a local source, and their apple pies still come from the restaurant owner's apple orchard handed down from his grandfather.

They're there in the background, and have been your whole life. And you eat there from time to time because maybe...MAYBE there's just ONE thing on that menu that you can't live without. Or maybe, you just go because your grandmother took you there when you were small, and it's comforting to sit amidst the smells and the decor that hasn't changed in decades.

And very likely you've heard the story of how the business started. And perhaps you know the people who work there by name. And maybe they call you honey. And possibly they feel comfortable enough around you to step in for you and tell your young kids that no, they don't get pie/ice cream until they eat their food.

Maybe you don't go there often...but if it disappeared, a part of you would miss it.

This week...Mr. Scribbs Pizza is Fifty Years Old. Good god that's some wonderful, greasy pizza.

Happy Birthday Mr. Scribbs.

Why not go out and patronize your favorite local fast food place today? Maybe it'll do your heard a little harm, but you know it'll do your heart some good, too.

Crazy West Michigan Conservative May Face Primary from Crazier West Michigan Conservative

Uh oh...looks like there's a potential primary candidate planning a move against Bill Huizenga (MI-2)

Meet State Representative Dave Agema who represents some townships in Ottawa County, Michigan. He's a Republican.

He hates Gay people.

Agema has a new plan for sticking it to the gays and universities. A House panel on Tuesday moved out his bills prohibiting any public entity...from offering domestic partner benefits*

He has proposed bills that would cut state funding by 5% for any university offering benefits for same sex partnerships.

He hates, hates, hates muslims

Rep. Dave Agema (R-Grandville) has taken a break from his obsession with sticking it to gays and is now going after Muslims, but says the folks who disagree with him are the real bigots. He's introduced a bill effectively banning Sharia law in Michigan, which solves a completely made-up problem, as it's not in place anywhere in the state (not even Dearborn).

He put forward plans to divert 80% the Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund.

He successfully agitated to get 30,000 students kicked off of Michigan's food assistance.

And he's mad as all heck that Bill Huizenga voted to pass the budget extension.

Now he's got a wart on his fanny giving him the fidgets. Bill Huizenga's seat doesn't look like a bad place to be sitting, apparently. 2012 is going to be a LOT more fun than I imagined.

Rick Snyder's September 1st Job Culling, Consumer Screwing Bonanza

B is worried.

Her boyfriend works at Meijer and may see his hours cut dramatically because of the repeal of a Michigan law that will take effect September 1st of this year. Meijer is a major supermarket in Michigan...and B's boyfriend is a stock clerk there. He spends much of his time at his job pricing items before putting them on the shelves.

But soon the whole Pricing Items thing is about to be eliminated, courtesy of the Rick Snyder Administration...it's going to save stores over 2 billion dollars per year.....largely in personnel costs. Good bye jobs! With State level deregulation like this, it's no wonder Michigan's economic recovery stalled out at the 10.5% rate and Michigan lost 30,000 jobs in the past three months.

We're about to lose more. And of course it hits the lowest wage earners the hardest at the worst possible time.

The Michigan Pricing and Advertising of Consumer Items Act of 1976, AKA the Scanner Law, required that items in stores be individually priced.

The idea was to protect consumers as price scanning became more common...so that consumers would be able to compare the price they were charged on the receipt to the price of the tag.

Rick Snyder's administration sees the law as merely a drag on the state economy. Apparently businesses have become much more honest since 1979, and consumers no longer need a means to compare the price they paid with the price that the item is marked.

So the consumer will suffer. Low wage earners will suffer, because there will be less of a need to hire people to price items. But hey! At least the megamarts will benefit! And that's what it's all about, right?

This Just In, Lake Michigan Can KILL YOU

Okay guys, this is important. As Michigan energizes its tourism industry Lake Michigan lakeshore communites are getting a lot more newcomers to the shoreline who have never been here before.

If you're a new visitor to the Great Lakes shoreline over the summer, know this: the lakes can KILL YOU.

In the past two weeks, swimmers from Missouri, Texas, Ohio and Illinois have been rescued at area beaches...

[snip]

In a series of water rescues Aug. 3, 28 people were pulled from the water at Holland State Park. Of them, a few were locals, Rose said. “Most were from inland or out of state.”

The same story also talks of two men from inland Michigan who got caught in Lake Michigan rip currents and drowned.

Seriously, guys...you need to be careful out there. Don't underestimate the waters because it's called a "lake". Lake Michigan can have powerful waves that come in rapid succession, as well as strong rip currents that can pull swimmers out into the deep water. Even strong swimmers can have a difficult time in these conditions...and if the currents pull you out to very cold water, your body can freeze up and you'll be unable to swim.

If you're unfamiliar with what dangerous lake conditions look like, then try to swim at state or city lakeshore parks and HEED THE FLAG COLORS.

If the flag is RED...DO NOT SWIM.

If the flag is yellow...take caution, and probably keep the kids extra close by or don't let them go in at all.

If the flag is green...all is good. Have fun.

For god's sake guys, BE CAREFUL out there. Michigan welcomes you and there are few places as beautiful and inviting in the world. Lake Michigan is one of the loves of my life and I swim there as often as possible, but you have GOT to have respect for it.