Term Limits Are a Bitch

Friday , 10, June 2016 Up North Progressive Trollbama Watch Leave a comment

Going to miss you, Mr. President.

Hope Everyone Enjoyed Their Holiday Weekend

Tuesday , 31, May 2016 Up North Progressive Presidential Primary 2016, Sad! Leave a comment

Because it’s Tuesday, which means back to the insanity. Like the idea the evil liberals in California are hiding the water from farmers, or something.

Memorial Day, 2016

Monday , 30, May 2016 Up North Progressive Uncategorized Leave a comment

Senate Bill 993: How Tom Casperson Achieved Peak School Bully

Thursday , 26, May 2016 Up North Progressive Community, LGBT Rights Leave a comment

Tom Casperson (R – Hates Nature and Kids) made good on his promise to be the biggest school bully in the state and introduced a bill to discriminate against transgender school children. Senate Bill 993, a bill much like the North Carolina law that’s turned that state into a pariah in the nation would require transgender students to use the school bathroom of their biological sex established at birth. How will the school know which students are transgender? Tom Casperson provided for that in his bill too – force children to come out.

If a pupil enrolled in a school district, intermediate school district, or public school academy asserts that the pupil’s gender is different from the pupil’s biological sex, and if the pupil’s parent or legal guardian consents to that assertion in writing to a public school administrator, or if the pupil is at least age 18 or an emancipated minor and makes the assertion in writing to a public school administrator, the school district intermediate school district, or public school academy shall provide the pupil with a reasonable accommodation.

Not only does this bill force a trans student to come out to their school, in writing, but if they are under 18, they have to come out to their parents too. Many young people keep their gender identity secret for their own safety. If they live in an unsupportive home with homophobic family members, coming out could mean punishment, or even being forced out of their home. Tom Casperson feels children deserve to be made homeless, bullied, and face violence from peers or even their parents. Equality Michigan explains how the bill violates Federal Civil Rights as well as Title IX Regulations.

Trans students will be made targets for abuse and discrimination at school. School districts will be forced to choose between complying with Casperson’s bathroom inspection law and federal civil rights law. Billions in federal education funding will be placed at risk. Billions more in economic activity will be lost as companies choose to do business in more welcoming and inclusive states.

Bullying LGBTQ students at school, despite programs to put an end to all forms of bullying still happen frequently. Prejudices reinforced at home follow children to school. Casperson’s school bullying bill not only allows people to attack transgender students, it would require school districts to attack children based on their gender identity, putting them at risk.

The national transgender suicide rate is largely due to fear of being rejected, harassed or physically assaulted. Transgender people struggle to maintain a home, jobs, stay in school, and provide basic needs. Being accepted at school for all children is a daily struggle, students who identify as LGBTQ deal with the added prejudices promoted by hate groups and religious bigots.

Dan Kildee issued a statement yesterday in response to Casperson’s callous and thoughtless bill. Casperson wants children to fear for their lives at school; forcing them to publicly declare their true gender identity before they feel safe doing so, and then forcing them to conform to binary sex bathrooms.

Equality Michigan urges everyone who cares about this issue to sign their petition. Michigan Republicans like Tom Casperson insist on legislating hate, costing the state money, and making sure businesses will go elsewhere, just like what’s happening in North Carolina now. Sign the petition and contact your state legislator and senator. Let them know you refuse to support state-mandated bullying of school children in Michigan.

Michigan’s Summer Free Fishing Weekend is June 11 and 12, 2016

Wednesday , 25, May 2016 Up North Progressive Community, DNR Leave a comment


The Michigan Department of Natural Resources invites everyone to enjoy a weekend of free fishing on June 11 and 12, 2016 on all of the state’s lakes and rivers. Residents of the state and nonresidents may fish without purchasing a fishing license that weekend. Other fishing regulations are still enforced.

The state has offered free fishing weekends for 30 years. Michigan’s 11,000 inland lakes, Great Lakes and numerous rivers allow millions of people to enjoy a tradition that many believe makes Michigan special.

According to Michigan DNR Director Bill Moritz, “Every year since 1986 we’ve offered these free fishing weekends as a fun affordable way for people to learn about one of our state’s best outdoor traditions – and the many places there are to enjoy it.”

Schools, local and state parks, and organizations will offer activities in many locations throughout the state during the Free Fishing Weekend. Fees to access state or local parks will still apply.

To learn more about Michigan’s Free Fishing Weekend, plan an activity or find out if an event is happening near you, contact Elyse Walter at 517-284-5839 or visit Michigan.gov/freefishing on the web.

Trump Contradicts Himself Again: Sad! Guns In the Classroom Edition

Sunday , 22, May 2016 Up North Progressive Presidential Primary 2016, Sad! Leave a comment

The Up North Progressive is far too busy this weekend frolicking in the Northern Michigan forests to care much about politics, but we must be ever vigilant when The Donald once again contradicts himself.

It’s Not Hard to Read the Rules: Throwing a Fit Because You Didn’t Defines the Bernie Bro Learning Curve

Tuesday , 17, May 2016 Up North Progressive Elections, Presidential Primary 2016 4 Comments

How do you know you need to do a better job checking credentials at caucuses this election year? Because the first time you do, you discover the rampant fraud exercised by Bernie Sanders supporters last Saturday in Nevada. People wanting to caucus for Bernie Sanders turned into a violent mob when their tactics went against Nevada Democratic Party caucusing rules.

What are those rules? You have to be a registered member of the Democratic Party and be able to prove you live in your precinct to vote. 57 out of 64 people wanting to caucus for Bernie Sanders were tossed out because they failed verifying who they were. Any time these pathetic crybabies don’t get their way, they scream fraud and it’s the Democratic Party’s corruption keeping them out.

Wrong, they didn’t get to vote because they didn’t read the rules. Sanders supporters erupted into a fit of violence that would make any Trump supporter proud. They leaked the personal phone number of state party Chairwoman Roberta Lange, and left thousands of death threats. and text messages. She had to be escorted everywhere on Saturday in the Paris Las Vegas Hotel – even to the bathroom – by security because of the violence and threats coming from Sanders supporters was so severe.

Then Bernie Sanders supporters defaced the party headquarters:

And there was plenty of complaining online, like this ignoramus here:

That’s right, he was a Democrat, switched to independent convinced the Democratic Party is corrupt, and now crying big crocodile tears because he can no longer vote in a Democratic Party caucus. If there’s one thing this election is doing, it’s weeding out the stupid.

What this confirms is that other state Democratic parties weren’t checking credentials carefully before allowing people to vote in closed caucus in their states. It had worked enough times the Sandernistas thought they could get away with it in Nevada too, and when it didn’t work this time, they became a belligerent mob.

The Nevada Democratic Party refuses to lie down and take this abuse from the Sanders campaign. They filed a complaint with the Democratic National Committee against Bernie Sanders.

We believe, unfortunately, that the tactics and behavior on display here in Nevada are harbingers of things to come as Democrats gather in Philadelphia in July for our National Convention. We write to alert you to what we perceive as the Sander Campaign’s penchant for extra-parliamentary behavior—indeed, actual violence—in place of democratic conduct in a convention setting, and furthermore what we can only describe as their encouragement of, and complicity in, a very dangerous atmosphere that ended in chaos and physical threats to fellow Democrats.

The Nevada State Democratic Party is right. This is what we can expect Sanders supporters to do in July when the national convention takes place in Philadelphia. What we saw on Saturday was a rehearsal for what will happen if they don’t get their way. Today is the next primary election in Kentucky and Oregon. Keep in mind Hillary Clinton only needs 143 more delegates to have the nomination, and her chances of winning are at this point assured no matter how violent and criminal Sanders supporters become.

Anyone who still considers themselves a Bernie Sanders supporter after what happened Saturday in Nevada needs to think long and deep about what they’re really supporting this election. The more Democrats – and independents that support Sanders – fight, the better chances we have of dealing with a Trump presidency come November. Sara Palin could win the veepstakes, and John Miller will be press secretary. Is this what we want? With the way Sanders is running his campaign, and as of this writing has yet to answer to what his supporters did on Saturday, The Democratic Party needs to unify, tell the Bernie or Bust faction to bust on out, and get to work to make sure Hillary Clinton wins the White House in November.

Michigan Democratic Party: We Have a Problem

Sunday , 15, May 2016 Up North Progressive Candidates, Elections 3 Comments

The Up North Progressive, currently gearing up for another election season of meet the candidate posts noticed something when cruising through the Secretary of State’s unofficial candidate list.

Understandably, this is the unofficial list, but the list won’t be made official until after the results of the August 3rd primary and Michigan moves on to the state general election. The deadline for candidates to file passed, and it appears John Moolenaar already won this cycle.

Did the MDP really concede the 4th district to the Republicans before the election even gets started?

In 2014, Dr. Jeffrey Holmes of Alma ran against John Moolenaar after Paul Mitchell lost in the primary. Moolenar outspent Dr. Holmes 15 to 1 in a congressional district containing the most conservative community in the state. How conservative? In 2015 McBain Rural Agricultural School district had to revise their requirements for a new superintendent when the ACLU challenged one item on the list: The successful candidate must have a strong Christian background to work for a public school district.

Whether a Democratic candidate has a chance to win against a Republican in district four is not the issue. To allow any Republican candidate to run unopposed in any Michigan race is unacceptable. Will the MDP run a write-in candidate here? Do they have a plan to deal with this? Allowing Moolenaar to coast into another two years in the US Congress unchallenged can’t happen.

Come on Dems, are we even trying?

There Was A Time When Bigots Supported Gender Nonspecific Public Toilets

Wednesday , 4, May 2016 Up North Progressive Community, LGBT Rights Leave a comment

The Criminally Negligent Nerd Who Told Volunteers No: Michigan Youth ChalleNGe Academy

Saturday , 30, April 2016 Up North Progressive Community, Flint Water, Nerd Problems Leave a comment

Nestled in Battle Creek, Michigan, on the grounds of Fort Custer live the cadets of Michigan Youth ChalleNGe Academy. At-risk teens ages 16 to 18 volunteer to attend this program to improve their lives and learn skills to stay out of trouble as they transition to adult life. Operated by the Michigan National Guard, the cadets are provided with training, education through Marshall Public Schools, and help with finding a job after they leave the academy. Some graduates of the program go on to join the military. The program is free due to funding from the federal government and the state of Michigan. 75% and 25% respectively.

The cadets have the opportunity to participate in many activities, including volunteer work and community service. They travel all over the state and volunteer for different organizations, emergency relief, and food pantries. In fact, recently there was a city in need in Michigan they offered to come and work, but the Snyder administration told them no. That city is Flint.

MYCA offered to come to Flint and help pass out and deliver water to Flint residents, but the Snyder administration told them no.

Now this is odd, because it seems like a perfect fit for MYCA. Rick Snyder activated the National Guard to help in Flint, and MYCA is run by the Michigan National Guard. It’s not like Flint had too many helping hands, and having MYCA cadets passing out water could only be a benefit. The interesting thing is, the National Guard who run the program have no idea why MYCA were told not to come to Flint, just that Snyder told them stay home.

It is possible because a quarter of MYCA’s funding comes from the state that the state government can tell MYCA where they’re allowed to volunteer. But, three quarters of the program’s funding comes from the federal government. Perhaps President Obama can override the Snyder administration’s decision and allow MYCA volunteer in Flint after all when he comes to Flint for his visit next week.