Up North Progressive
Politics and commentary for Northern MichiganMichigan Department Of Natural Resources Asks For Help Finding Mallard Killer At Tip-Up Town
Thursday , 22, January 2015 DNR, Environment Leave a comment
Michigan DNR conservation officers need help finding the person responsible for killing seven mallard ducks at last weekend’s Houghton Lake Tip-Up Town. The ducks were discovered on Sunday, January 18 and the DNR believes the incident may have happened on Saturday, January 17. The ducks were found near open water where the canal feeds into Houghton Lake at the Iroquois Street bridge. Along with the dead ducks, an injured duck was also found and taken to a wildlife rehabilitation center.
Clues to what may have happened to the ducks include a single set of snowmobile tracks where the canal enters the lake. The dead ducks all had the appearance of being run over. In wintertime, ducks that live in Michigan year round will congregate in areas with open water, and rest on the ice or nearby land.
Anyone who has information about the incident or may have witnessed the ducks being struck by a snowmobiler can call (800) 292-7800 or make a report online.
Let’s ‘Cut’ To The Chase: Cindy Gamrat Is Giving Michigan A Sales Pitch
Thursday , 22, January 2015 Nerd Problems, Tea Party, Tealiban 3 Comments
It’s thrilling being on the email list for State Rep Cindy Gamrat. Already my inbox has received two lengthy pieces of literature. One is the “Contract For Liberty,” and the second, a response to the Nerd’s State of the State Address given on January 20. Both gave the distinct feeling of reading a white paper more than a statement. The way certain turns of phrases are used and ideas are repeated over and over again so they stick in the reader’s head, it feels like someone is trying to sell something.
The ‘Contract’ contains sub headings and bullet points to make it easier for the reader to skim over the document and get main ideas. The paper isn’t discussing facts so much as they want the reader to be persuaded to a certain point of view. That’s the purpose of a white paper. What’s particularly grating about this bit of grey literature are the glaring misrepresentations of American history and the intent of the founding fathers. The United States is not a Christian nation, no matter how much Cindy Gamrat and Todd Courser want you to believe it.
When anyone makes a hard sales pitch like this, it’s always a good idea to take a look into the background of the seller. How does one know if they are dealing with a reputable business offering a quality product? Cindy Gamrat’s history paints a glowing picture of a wife, mom, nurse, devout religious church-going woman and zealous tea party politician. A quick mention of working for Vector Marketing while attending college at the University of Michigan however brings back memories of fliers stapled to kiosks all over campus with the URL workforstudents.com and promises of lots of easy cash made part-time.
Before Cindy Gamrat was a state representative, before she led River City Patriots, before she led the Huntington Tea Party in Indiana or worked as a nurse, she sold Cutco knives as a college student. If you’ve ever walked out of class and found a piece of paper under the wiper of your car promising a part time job that pays $15.00 an hour with no telemarketing or door-to-door sales, you’ve had your first encounter with Vector Marketing. This company likes to hire college students en-masse, invite them to an “interview” and give a slick promotional presentation to entice them into walking into strangers’ homes carrying a bag of knives, and talk those strangers into buying them. Since Vector Marketing was sued for $13 million they’ve had to change a lot of their policies toward the people who sell Cutco knives for them, but back in the day when Cindy Gamrat sold knives, she bought the demo knife kit with her own money and had to pay her own expenses to sell those knives, including attending the mandatory unpaid training sessions.
According to her own testimonial, she really enjoyed selling knives to people. She also claims that selling knives taught her the skills she needed to take on the task of home schooling her children. This quote in particular stands out:
“Today, when I decide to do something, I go back to my Vector experience and think about how to break it down to reach my goal,”
That’s when it became obvious why her contract on for liberty and her recent response to the Nerd’s State of the State address has the feeling of a sales pitch. That’s how Cindy Gamrat works. Her experience from Vector Marketing permeates everything she does, including her own kids. Cindy Gamrat is not a principled conservative Christian woman, she’s a hustler selling Dominion Christian theology couched with tea party rhetoric. This is going to be a very interesting two years.
In case you missed it.
Sierra Club Sues U.S. Forest Service Over Aged Oil Pipeline Permit
Monday , 19, January 2015 Environment Leave a comment
The Michigan Chapter of the Sierra Club filed suit in U.S. District Court in Bay City on January 15 against the U.S. Forest Service. The Lawsuit was filed to compel the federal agency to complete a much-needed inspection of Enbridge oil pipeline number 5 before issuing a permit allowing it to continue transporting oil through some of Michigan’s national forests, rivers and through the Straits of Mackinac.
Enbridge pipeline number 5 runs from Wisconsin through the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, under the Mackinac Bridge through the Straits and through the Huron and Manistee National Forests. The Muskegon River, Manistee River, Pine River, Au Sable River and so on are all at risk from the number 5 pipeline.
Enbridge built the pipeline in 1953 and it has never been thoroughly inspected to ensure the pipeline does not leak or has any damage that could pose a problem in the future. Since 2013, Enbridge has operated the pipeline with no permit from the U.S. Forest Service. Only a few weeks ago, a small leak allowed a small amount of oil to spill into Lake Michigan from the Upper Peninsula.
The U.S. Forest Service was about to waive the permit requirement when the Sierra Club of Michigan filed the lawsuit in Bay City U.S. District Court. Under the The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) a complete inspection of the pipeline is required for Enbridge to use it to transport oil. In 60 years, the pipeline has never been thoroughly inspected.
Number 5 is not the only pipeline operated by Enbridge in Michigan. Line number 6B runs through Southern Michigan. This is the line that spilled a million gallons into the Kalamazoo River in 2010. The river bottom is still coated with sludge from that spill, and will contaminate the river for many years without proper clean up.
Our forests, rivers and Great Lakes need protection from oil spills and other industrial contaminants. Enbridge has proven they do not have a system that ensures against environmental accidents, and the U.S. Forest Service has no business giving them another permit without going through the effort to inspect the pipeline and make sure future spills will not happen. The Sierra Club is looking out for our environment, and for the well-being of our state.
Tell Lansing What You Think: State of the State Address Edition
Sunday , 18, January 2015 Nerd Problems Leave a comment
On January 20, Rick Snyder will give his fifth State of the State address from the Capital in Lansing, Michigan. He will begin his address at 7:00 pm, which is a scheduling conflict with Adventure Time, so you know what the Up North Progressive will be watching.
But now, thanks to state senator Jim Ananich, you can let Lansing know what you’re really thinking about Snyder and the job he’s been doing over the past four years in Michigan. That way, on SOTS night when the Nerd gives his speech, you can be assured that Lansing is listening.
Rick Snyder of course during his first term when he raised taxes on poor people and old people, cut a billion dollars from the education budget and gave corporations in the state a huge tax cut, we told him we didn’t like any of that stuff. When he announced his plan to strip townships, cities and school districts of their authority and the civil rights of citizens with emergency managers, we told him very loudly with a ballot referendum that we didn’t want that. Even when that ballot measure passed, Snyder turned deaf ears on the people of Michigan and signed a new law so the emergency managers could stay.
Rick Snyder doesn’t even listen to himself. He told the people of Michigan Right to Work was wrong and signed it into law anyway. He said Detroit wouldn’t go bankrupt and need an emergency manager, then while he was telling the people of Michigan that, Richard Baird Hired Kevyn Orr to be the emergency manager of Detroit and begin bankruptcy proceedings on the city. If he can’t stop lying to himself, how can the people of Michigan know Rick Snyder’s not going to spend the next four years lying to us just like he did the last four? The people of Michigan don’t want to listen to any more lies.
But in the meantime, you can fill out the form at Michigan Cares and maybe someone will be there to read what you’re thinking.
Are Finn and Jake on yet?
Republican Governor Rick Snyder Praises Obamacare
Sunday , 18, January 2015 Nerd Problems, Tea Party, Tealiban, Uncategorized Leave a commentHealthy Michigan allowed more than 500,000 hard-working, low-income Michiganders to have access to affordable & quality healthcare #MISOTS15
— Governor Rick Snyder (@onetoughnerd) January 18, 2015
Just don’t call it Obamacare, the grassroots are restless. Thank you, President Obama. Because of you I can see a doctor again.
Romney Runtime Executable 3.0: Now With Compassionate Populist Patch
Saturday , 17, January 2015 Candidates, Presidential Primary 2016, Romney Runtime Executable 3.0 Leave a comment
Now that 2016 presidential candidates are for sure definitely making noise that they’re seriously considering the potential for a possible run for the White House maybe, the juicy quotes are already appearing. Of course, one of the best of the quote droppers from 2012 was Willard “Mitt” Romney.
His new angle to get people talking about him in 2016 is to expose the plight of the poor in the United States. Yes, he’s serious. No, this is not something from The Onion. It came from his own mouth:
Under President Obama, the rich have gotten richer, income inequality is getting worse.
This is quite a turn around from what he said only a few short years ago:
“You know, I think it’s about envy. I think it’s about class warfare,” the leading Republican presidential candidate said Wednesday on The Today Show.
When asked if there are any fair questions about wealth distribution, Romney replied, “It’s fine to talk about those things in quiet rooms and discussions about tax policy and the like.”
Romney has accused President Obama of promoting the “bitter politics of envy.” The president is ramping up his talks about the nation’s growing income divide and the shrinking of the middle class. He is focusing on the tax benefits afforded to millionaires and executives.
Romney, who is one of those millionaires, is taking a different path. He says he’s distancing himself from what he calls “a very envy-oriented, attack-oriented approach.”
Instead, he is talking about making America a merit-based society, rather than an entitlement society.
“I believe in a merit nation, an opportunity nation where people by virtue of their education, their hard work and risk taking and their dreams — may be a little luck — could achieve great things,” he said Thursday at a campaign rally in Florida.
And that’s what he said about the poor on the record. Never forget what he said when he was in one of those “quiet rooms.”
It’s odd to see Mitt Romney of all people use a populist angle to stir interest in his campaign. Four years ago it was Newt Gingrich who pulled out the stops on Romney with a 30 minute video about his time as vulture capitalist CEO of Bain Capital. Romney produced lots of poverty all by himself buying, bankrupting, and liquidating many successful American companies at taxpayer expense. Or perhaps he has so much experience creating poverty, he believes he knows how to fix it. He has no idea what being poor actually is. He was born into wealth, power and privilege and always lived a life of comfort. Four years ago he told poor people all they had to do was work hard, stop taking handouts and they too would enjoy the American Dream, just like him. Now … he wants to help poor people.
In the words of another politician from the 2012 election, “Please proceed, Governor.”
New Civics Test Requirement in Arizona Compliments of the Tea Party
Friday , 16, January 2015 Section 16, Tea Party, Tealiban 1 Comment
Arizona is the first of 18 states to pass a new civics test requirement for graduation. 18 other states including North Dakota and Utah are also considering passing the new senior requirement. The vote was hailed as a show of bipartisan support to “lead the way to the passage of the Civics Education Initiative in every state.” According to Frank Riggs of the Joe Foss Institute. The test seniors in Arizona are now required to pass to graduate are the 100 questions from the United States Citizenship Test.
What is the Joe Foss Institute? It is a think tank on a mission to address the “crisis in civic education” that Saint Ronald Reagan himself claimed exists in the United States. Founded by World War II veteran Joe Foss, The Institute is “stepping into that educational gap” by providing scholarship and education programs, because “fewer and fewer are teaching civics in any sort of substantial way.” This will more than likely come as a shock to the many Social Studies teachers in the country who teach civics classes every day.
The Joe Foss Institute’s website features a smiling image of Jay Leno in the banner. He’s performing at the Marriott Camelback Resort in Scottsdale on April 19, as part of a show entitled “Stars in Service.” Another celebrity involved in the institute is Sarah Palin. In a Facebook post dated October 4, 2010, she talks about Todd attending a pheasant hunt fundraiser in Pierre, South Dakota:
Last week, Todd flew to Pierre, SD, as a guest at the Joe Foss Institute and attended their annual pheasant hunt fundraiser. While meeting some great patriots from all across the country, Todd received a quick shooting pointer from Didi Foss, the wife of World War II fighter pilot, Medal of Honor recipient, and South Dakota hero, Joe Foss. Then he picked up critical “tactical field instruction” from General Walter Boomer, USMC (ret) and LTG Jerry Boykin, USA (ret), which I’m told dramatically improved his ability to stalk the feathered beasts. The Joe Foss Institute’s mission is “to teach youth patriotism, integrity, public service and the significance of America’s freedoms.” The Institute makes an impact by using veterans to take its message into classrooms, assemblies, and now into year-round camps through its new partnerships with the Boy Scouts of America and the Salvation Army.
This new civics test requirement being pushed in all 50 states is beginning to make sense. It’s got tea party all over it. No Social Studies teacher will argue against providing more civics education for students, but making seniors take another test is not going to make them better citizens. There are great Social Studies teachers out there, it’s nice that the Joe Foss Institute admits that, but they need to look at the whole picture. We have states rewriting education textbooks claiming Moses wrote the US Constitution, that the Founding Fathers were all evangelical Christians, and eliminating whole segments of history because they don’t fit with the conservative revisionist narrative. Teachers come under fire for teaching historical fact as well as not teaching historical myth. Once again, the tea party thinks they have the answer without even trying to understand the problem. Another test will not make people better citizens.
Dave Agema’s About To Be Voted Off The RNC Island: The Tea Party Circles The Wagons
Thursday , 15, January 2015 Tea Party, Tealiban Leave a comment
So tomorrow the Republican National Committee will begin the process of removing homophobic racist “goat killer” Dave Agema from his seat because he didn’t get the memo after the 2012 presidential election that the GOP really needs to rebrand their image if they ever want to win a presidential election ever again. ALEC-sponsored vote-rigging laws can only go so far when your party is comprised of aging Caucasian males. Eventually you have to convince the majority of Americans your party has worked hard over the past 40 years to impoverish and disenfranchise to vote for your candidates so they can continue to impoverish and disenfranchise you even more for your own good.
Except there’s a group of very loud crybabies within the GOP who insist Dave Agema isn’t the problem, it’s the progressive socialists and race baiters who don’t really love freedom as much as they do wanting Dave Agema gone. The true conservatives know that Agema is only telling the truth.
The controversy over Dave Agema and his tendency to shove his racist, homophobic foot into his mouth has been a problem with the Michigan GOP for years. In 2013 Agema came under fire when he shared statements on his facebook page that gay people were “filthy”. More recently, he shared, then deleted a link on his facebook page from a white supremacist magazine that made racist statements about black people. On Tuesday he clarified his position by pointing out that he was reposting something he found on Allen West’s facebook page.
But take note of what Agema has to say:
I respect the former congressman and fellow military officer highly and regard his opinions since he grew up in the inner city as a black man who has personal experience. I think his observations are noteworthy and he is certainly not a racist nor am I for reposting his opinions.
In other words, a black man did it first so it’s okay if he does it too. The only problem is, Agema didn’t repost from Allen West, he posted the article directly to his facebook page himself and is now using Allen West in a red herring defense to save his own skin.
The Michigan tea party currently deals with dissension in the ranks. Some believe Agema was caught with his hand in the cookie jar, and needs to own up to it. The true loyal patriots insist anyone who thinks Agema did something wrong are not true patriots and need to reconsider their position on the issue. The real reason why Agema deleted the post was because it told the truth, and the truth is uncomfortable for everyone else because they’re suffering from political correctness. Of course, this is the fault of the public schools for not performing their duty of shaping students into proper functioning citizens.
The usual complaining from the tea party contains words like slander, libel, coercion, race-baiting and progressive socialist agenda. It’s tyranny if Dave Agema is voted out of the RNC, because if that happens then returning the GOP to their God-fearing patriotic conservative platform gets that much harder. That’s right, the tea party is doubling down and defending Dave Agema. It’s not racism, he’s just telling the truth. So what if the lily-livered liberals can’t handle the truth? The show is just getting started, pop some popcorn and get comfy.
All education reform has two goals. Bust the union and make a profit off our tax dollars. Improving education has never been the goal or business model for corporate education reformers.
Also always remember that school choice is a dog whistle for segregation.