Archive for the ‘Michigan’ Category
A communications unit of the Michigan National Guard is deploying to Afghanistan in two months and they headed out for training yesterday afternoon. A cousin of Murdoc’s wife is one of the soldiers and my family attended the deployment ceremony yesterday at the Wyoming Armory a few blocks from Murdoc’s house.
Here’s a shot from the Grand Rapids Press:
Wyoming bids farewell to soldiers
The girl in the foreground is the daughter of a deploying soldier, the woman next to her is the soldier’s wife. They were interviewed quickly and the daughter said she’s sad, but proud of her father. If that’s not a sign of the times, I don’t know what is.
I was glancing through the small photo gallery and called to my wife, “Were you wearing your red snowflake sweater?” She said she was.
So here’s a moment of fame for my family on the pages of this media juggernaut called Murdoc Online:
If you squint you can sort of make out Murdoc's wife, daughter, and the edge of Murdoc's son. Kind of.
The troops will be training at Camp Atterbury, Indiana.
The Kalamazoo Air Zoo will continue to offer free admission for all of 2010.
A limited-time summer deal was extended a couple of times in 2009, and attendance skyrocketed. I read earlier that the museum had made up for all lost admission fee projections with increased rides and concessions.
The Air Zoo is a great experience, though I have long been frustrated at the cost of admission. At $20 for adults, it was a bit excessive for repeat visits.
We visited a few months back and I took tons of photos to post. I haven’t got to it, but I’ll have to one of these days.
If you get the opportunity, go check it out.
Kalamazoo Gazette:
Mabel Rawlinson was killed on Aug. 23, 1943, when her plane crashed during a training exercise at a military base in North Carolina.
Rawlinson, 26, was a member of a newly formed unit of female pilots serving in World War II. But the pilots were not recognized as enlisted soldiers.
So the U.S. Army did not pay to bring Rawlinson’s body back to her hometown of Kalamazoo.
It did not pay for the small graveside ceremony at Mount Ever-Rest Memorial Park.
She received no medals.
“She was forgotten,” said Pamela Pohly, Rawlinson’s niece.
But not anymore.
Sixty-six years after a group of 1,102 women, including Rawlinson, broke the gender barrier in the sky, enabling generations of women to become military pilots, President Barack Obama has awarded the Women Airforce Service Pilots the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest civilian honor accorded by Congress.
About time.
Michael Moore plans comedy festival in Michigan town
TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (AP) — Oscar winner Michael Moore has more big plans for his adopted northern Michigan hometown of Traverse City, where he’s already established a film festival.
Moore said Saturday that he and comedian Jeff Garlin, a star and executive producer of the HBO series “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” will organize the Traverse City Comedy Arts Festival. It will run over a weekend and feature movies, stand-up and sketch comedy and other entertainment. A date has not been chosen yet for next year’s kickoff.
I thought Michael Moore was a 24/7 comedy fest already.
Anyway, here’s one Moore’s funnier remarks:
“The Iraqis who have risen up against the occupation are not “insurgents” or “terrorists” or “The Enemy.” They are the REVOLUTION, the Minutemen, and their numbers will grow — and they will win.” –Michael Moore, April 14, 2004
Wait. Did Murdoc say “funnier”? He meant “unpatriotic”.
Oh, and “apparently quite wrong”.
Standish, Michigan: Jobs trump fears of terrorists in small Michigan town where Guantanamo detainees may be sent
To many people struggling in this job-starved part of rural Michigan, unemployment is a bigger threat than terrorists.
With unemployment at more than 17 percent, many residents say they would welcome detainees from Guantanamo Bay in order to save the 280 jobs at a prison scheduled to close because of state budget cuts.
“We’ll take the most dangerous prisoners the world has to offer if we have to,” corrections officer Paul Piche said Monday.
Another location getting attention is Fort Leavenworth.
Murdoc certainly doesn’t think saving 280 jobs is justification for bringing these guys to the Wolverine state.
Seems to Murdoc that the ideal place to house these dirtbags would be at some remote military-only facility where the chance of escaping is pretty much zero, the possibility of affecting US citizens is nil even if prisoners’ buddies try to stage a break-out or punitive strike, and the ability of protesters and other troublemakers to interfere is zilch.
Say, on an island somewhere.
Via Donovan.
Open Carry Picnic in Kalamazoo, Michigan:
It resembled most any Sunday afternoon picnic in Bronson Park. Except most of the people assembled around tables filled with watermelon and grilled goodies had firearms in holsters strapped to their waists.
The Glocks and the Smith & Wessons remained holstered but visible during a three-hour Open Carry Picnic designed to raise public awareness of what organizers called Second Amendment rights in Michigan to openly carry a firearm in most places.
Murdoc was not too far from Kalamazoo this past weekend, but he didn’t know of this event.
Predictably, the comments section is full of lunatics. For a good laugh, go read some the choice ones.
Great idea. The plan calls for what will amount to a 34 cent per gallon tax instead of the current 19 cent per gallon tax.
Rep. Pam Byrnes, D-Chelsea, said it will be hard for lawmakers facing re-election next year to vote for a higher tax. She said the gas tax plan is backed by the Michigan Chamber of Commerce, which argues that improved roads will encourage businesses to come to Michigan.
Yes. And we all know how higher taxes are always encouraging to businesses, too.
Here’s Michigan with it’s puny 19 cent tax:
Michigan's gasoline prices are currently the highest in the nation.
Raising taxes sure will help Michigan.
Veterans, feeling the pain of Michigan budget reductions, plan to protest in Lansing
A 25% cut in budgets for state veterans organizations is a tough blow.
