PeteHoekstra.com–written by a good ole Michigan boy-moved to Cally

Image via Wikipedia

I saw the articles and press on this Petehoekstra.com article and couldn’t stop laughing.  What kind of dumb ass running for office fails to buy his own domain name and then acts snotty about it?  Yep, Pete Hoekstra never reserved his own domain name, and now during an election year, Hoekstra is feeling like he is in hot water.  So, on Dec. 30, 2009, a former Michigander, by the name of Ben Padnos, purchased the domain name and started posting his issues with Hoekstra on that site.

According to Hoekstra’s campaign manager, Truscott, Hoekstra is too cheap to try to buy the domain from this entrepreneur:

The domain name had been held for years by a Dutch soccer star who did not use it, Truscott said.

While Hoekstra’s campaign has reserved several domain names, it was unable to get all of them, Truscott said.

“Pete’s Dutch,” he said. “He’s not going to spend thousands of dollars to reserve all the names.

With that charming soliloquy, Truscott has just made Hoekstra’s camp look stupid, cheap, and out of the loop.  Hoekstra, here’s a little Unasked Advice:  fire your campaign manager, because it appears he did you wrong.   Why worry about buying all the names when you can just buy your own?  Apparently that subtle point was missed by the campaign managers.  To all the whiny crybaby campaign people, here is what I would say:  If you want to make your candidate look relevant, you have to acknowledge technology.  Obama had a huge technology presence, and it helped.

Still laughing, well the stupidity apparently never ceases to crack me up.  I have read on-line and hard copy results and still the GRPress seems biased against Mr. Ben Padnos, who really did nothing more than post the other side of Hoekstra’s campaign blitz.  Next thing you know, Truscott will be saying he knows nothing about YouTube.  Yeesh.

Ahh, the naivete of some of these OldWhiteBoyClub types is astounding.  Truscott said no one would be reading the site anyway, at least not voters:

“Frankly, only liberal Democrats will read the site anyway,” Truscott said. “Trust me, people who will be voting for Pete Hoekstra will not be looking at that site.”

So, I guess if you forget that millions of people read on the internet everyday, maybe it’s safe to make these assumptions.  If you don’t think the internet will affect you, maybe it’s safe to make these assumptions.  But, then again, Mr. Padnos’ site crashed from all the flood of viewers.  Hmm, maybe liberal Democrats aren’t the only ones on the web.  Makes me feel good that all these little Michiganders are on the web working, or are they?  Doesn’t look like Hoekstra’s campaign manager was on the web.

Readers on the Mr. Padnos site have commented that they feel that Padnos will upset his family by these postings, with some Mite-Guy urging for “tact” from Padnos because the website was put out there.   Good reading for Michigan today, good reading.

Twin Study: G-Spot is Fiction? Yeah, say the guys

Image via Wikipedia

Oh goody, another scientific study about women’s sexuality that is completely stupid and supposedly verified by a flawed twin study.  Don’t you love how the scientists never have to actually verify anything after stating that they are doing a twin study?   Yep, no G-spot because the guys doing the research say it’s not there:

Professor Tim Spector, the other coauthor, similarly stated, “This is by far the biggest study ever carried out and shows fairly conclusively that the idea of a G-spot is subjective. Women may argue that having a G-spot is due to diet or exercise, but in fact it is virtually impossible to find real traits.” Well, it must be science if the authors are using words like” fairly conclusively,” “subjective” and “virtually” to describe it.

And what’s this about diet and exercise? I too have heard many arguments about the G-spot, but that is a new one. I was heretofore unaware that anyone ever suggested that you could create a body part from force of will — even the most enthusiastic of Kegeling.

But here’s where the real news — like a nebulous bit of spongy matter in the front of the cervix — gets lost. Over half of the women surveyed — 56 percent — said they did possess a G-spot. So when Burri talks about women’s feelings of “inadequacy or underachievement,” to whom is she referring? Because it would appear the majority of her subjects are doing just fine, Grafenberg-wise.

Until the study itself is released in full, it’s hard to fully tell how the researchers arrived at their conclusions, and why they seem so quick to debunk something so many women claim to enjoy. Did they ask their subjects if they’d ever experienced ejaculation — a scientifically verified phenomenon and, sometimes, a byproduct of stimulation of that nonexistent G-spot? Did they ask the women if they’d ever attempted to find and stimulate it — either with a partner or alone? And most important, did the authors put on their miner’s hats and go looking for it themselves? There also seems to be a blur between defining a part of the anatomy and insisting it perform in a certain way.

Good points.  For myself, being a twin, I always want to point out to scientists that TWINS ARE NOT CLONES.  In other words, while twins may share genetic material, so do other siblings, and once those genes split (read here scientists:  not connected anymore), the genes change in different ways.  So, too, might a twin’s description of a G-spot, or any other woman’s description of what she likes in bed.  What I am more surprised by is the concept that guys still seem to believe that there is such a thing as a “one-size-fits-all” description of erogenous zones in women’s sexuality.  Just because guys seem to all have the penis as a common erogenous zone, doesn’t mean that all women feel sexually pleased by a single area of stimulation.  And, as any woman who really has loved on men knows, every man likes something a little different in the bedroom, even going so far as to say it’s not a simple plug and play procedure.

Crazy guys, it’s like the Trix Rabbit:  Trix are for kids, and G-spots may just be something for women.  Gosh, it’s a little sad how juvenile this sex game has become.  Here is some Unasked Sex Advice:  there is no magic button–you’ve got to work at pleasing your partner by asking what feels good.  There, I’ve said it.  Do you think I need to put my scientific credentials out there to get people to believe me, or is this message’s popularity out there because guys don’t want to have to find the G-spot.  Check out the post below telling guys to “relax” about not havin to look somewhere when they just want to get laid.  Poor sops, we women, here we were thinking this getting laid was a mutual pleasure thing.

Related articles by Zemanta

• G-Spot is Real, Argue Loveologists (abcnews.go.com)
• G-spot ‘may not exist’, say scientists (telegraph.co.uk)
• Women’s Sexuality and G Spot Research (psychcentral.com)
• In-depth probe fails to hit the G-spot (theregister.co.uk)
• Relax Guys – There May Be No G-Spot After All (dvorak.org)

Karl Rove Receives Asshole of the Week Award

Rush Limbaugh via last.fm

Karl Rove is divorcing his wife of 24 years this week, but that isn’t why he deserves the Asshole Award this week.  His second divorce while preaching against gay marriage because gay marriage violates “traditional marriage” arrangements earns him the  Asshole Award of the Week.  Karl Rove is actually divorcing for the 2nd time.  He was married the first time to a woman named Valerie Wainwright for three years, got divorced, got remarried to a woman named Darby for 24 years (conveniently dumping her after his political run was over, time to shed those pesky appendages like long-standing spouses and live a “liberated” life), and now seeks another divorce.

It’s a running theme for men who preach against letting homosexual couples marry, maintaining traditional marriages, all while they get divorced amid rumors, inuendo and all kinds of political debauchery.  A columnist for Salon.com spoke about the hypocrisy of these men and their donning of the traditional marriage garb as it suits them, and discarding it as it also suits them:

I’ve long thought that the solution to the cheap, cost-free moralizing that leads very upstanding people like Karl Rove to want to ban same-sex marriages (which they don’t want to enter into themselves, and thus cost them nothing) is to have those same “principles” apply consistently to all marriage laws.  If Karl Rove, Newt Gingrich, Rush Limbaugh and their friends and followers actually were required by law to stay married to their wives — the way that “traditional marriage” was generally supposed to work — the movement to have our secular laws conform to “traditional marriage” principles would almost certainly die a quick, quiet and well-deserved death.

So, Karl Rove, you get the Asshole Award of the Week for giving yourself the luxury of divorce when you won’t agree to let others have the same privilege.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Karl Rove Divorce: GOP Strategist Breaks With Wife Darby (huffingtonpost.com)

Heal the World : From the mouths of infants

Here is my Music Monday post for you. It made me smile, and that’s pretty hard to do today. Heal the world!

more about "Heal the World : From the mouths of …", posted with vodpod

Airlines lose business after Christmas Day Terrorist Attacks on Detroit

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

A terrorist flying from Nigeria to Detroit who ignited a substance supposedly used to detonate explosives has cost the airlines money already, with shares of stock dropping amid concerns of decreased business travel.  The airlines want new safety restrictions to be easier on passengers, and most passengers who aren’t traveling for work seem ready to comply; it’s the passengers who travel for their weekly commutes that may not put up with the restrictions.

While some officials seem unfazed by the travel restrictions’ effects on passenger travel,

Darryl Jenkins, an airline industry consultant, predicted that any increase in airport lines would be temporary, until security screeners become proficient at operating under new rules.

“This is disruptive, and we all hate it, but I don’t think it’s going to affect (travel) demand,” Jenkins said. “Now if it had been a successful attempt, that would be something else.”

others recognize that the drop in airline shares indicates customers are already second-guessing airline travel.

As a passenger who has had to travel for business, as has my partner, we are well-acquainted with airline delays, and we are choosing other modes of travel when at all possible.  I used to love to fly, mainly because I get carsick and hate the idea of spending 8 hours in the car, but as airline costs have increased (more money for bags, for pets, for tickets in general) and perks have decreased (inability to use the bathroom when needed, getting stuck on a terminal for 8 hours, not getting clean air or water, no access to food, etc.) the idea of spending $300-$400 on air travel is not as palatable. I am all for security regulations keeping us safe, but keeping people out of the bathroom doesn’t seem to address the fact that THE TERRORIST BOARDED THE PLANE WITH EXPLOSIVES IN HIS BACKPACK.  I don’t see how additional restrictions of bathroom usage and passenger movement will help when passengers board the plan with explosives.  Using the bathroom was a tip-off, not something normal and a clear sign of problems.  How is limiting bathroom use going to help keep us safer if bathroom use alerted the crew to the problems?

The problem was a security issue to begin with, and I have had my own issues with airport security personnel, who are rude, often abusive and have on multiple occasions offered to “pat me down” as I went through the security gates.  I have no metal plates, no car keys, nothing to set off the alarm, but I did take issue with the security guards examining my underwear in detail that had been in my purse.  And yes, they were men, and yes, I had my period, keeping clean undies for the “accidents” that can occur on long flights when passengers aren’t allowed to use the restroom.

As a mother who has traveled with an infant, I was hassled for trying to bring a car seat, hassled when I didn’t have a car seat, hassled for refusing to wake up my 12-month old to try to make her sit in a seat belt.  My argument was that it wasn’t very safe to try to wake the baby, hope she sat up straight without her carseat, hope she didn’t reach for me and fall out of her seat, and hope that the turbulence wouldn’t knock her over completely in her sleep state.

As a business traveler, it is now easier for me to travel by car, even if I get car sick, and it’s faster too.  There are no airport delays, no overcrowded flights, no problems stopping for food, no issues with being harassed by airline staff or security staff.  When it comes down to it, for a 10-hour drive, I spend an equal amount of travel time trying to work the airport systems.  It’s just not faster to fly anymore.  My partner found this out the hard way a couple of years ago when he would have been stranded for 2 days in NY due to weather delays and a flight cancellation.  He rented a car and drove home in 10 hours, with a stop at a hotel to sleep in an actual bed in between.

Seems flying the friendly skies may be a thing of the past.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Poll: How Will New Restrictions Impact Your Travel Plans (gigaom.com)
• Charles Feldman: LAX Among Airports Hit by New Security Overreaction (huffingtonpost.com)
• Airworld Looks Different from Up in the Air (harrys-travel.com)
• Airlines Can Be Fined for Tarmac Delays (lockergnome.com)
• TSA: The Stupid Agency (professorbainbridge.com)
• New security restrictions could hurt airlines (calgaryherald.com)
• WestJet, Air Canada: New security measures for U.S. flights (ctv.ca)

Christmas Terrorist Aboard Flight 253 Apprehended in Detroit

Image via Wikipedia

When will Michigan have good news to report? Well, actually this story has a happy ending for those in Detroit:  the terrorist aboard Flight 253 was stopped by crew and passengers.  The terrorist lit something on fire and was attempting to detonate explosives when he was grabbed by a passenger, put into a headlock and had the explosives removed from his person:

Passenger Jasper Schuringa, in an interview today on ABC’s “Good Morning America,” said he knew something was wrong when terror suspect Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, 23, didn’t move away from the flames as the flight from Amsterdam landed in Detroit.

“He was sitting down,” Schuringa said today. “Then I knew he was trying to ignite something. … When I came to the seat, he was holding the object that was on fire.”

Schuringa said he jumped at Abdulmutallab, stripping from him the object in Abdulmutallab’s hand and the explosives strapped to his leg.

“Somebody came with water but it wasn’t enough,” Schuringa said. “I was really afraid he had more explosives on his body. So I grabbed him and pulled him out of the seat. I had him in a headlock standing up. It took some foam actually to put out the fire.”

Schuringa said that, after stripping Abdulmutallab, he kept the suspect in the headlock and pulled him to first class with a flight attendant carrying Abdulmutallab’s feet.

While this raises fears to a whole new level, what’s incredibly frightening is that the terrorist’s family suspected that Abdulmutallab would attack but got on help when they reported their fears:

Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab’s father talked to Nigerian security agencies two months ago and a month later to foreign security agencies about his concerns that his son had disappeared and ceased contact with the family, the family said in a statement. U.S. authorities said that in November, Abdulmutallab’s father visited the U.S. embassy in Abuja, Nigeria, to discuss his concerns about his son’s religious beliefs.

Abdulmutallab told U.S. officials who arrested him on the Detroit-bound airliner that he had sought extremist training at an Islamist hotbed in Yemen.

The family said the father had gone to authorities to ask them to bring his 23-year-old son home. “We provided them with all the information required of us to enable them do this,” the family statement said, without elaborating.

And yet, even in light of this information, the father’s wishes went unheeded, and his son attempted to blow up a plane on its way to Detroit on Christmas Day:

A U.S. official in Washington said the father’s concerns were shared among those in the embassy, including liaison personnel from other agencies based there, such as the FBI. The alert was then relayed to Washington and again shared among agencies such as the State, Justice and Homeland Security departments, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the investigation.

So what happened between the time of the father’s reports and the son’s attempted atrocities?  Apparently nothing.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Hoekstra Quickly Politicizes Attempted Terrorist Attack, Suggests Obama’s Clueless On National Security (thinkprogress.org)
• Where’s The Outrage (and Fear)? (dailykos.com)
• The Detroit Airliner Terror Incident: The Story Behind the Story (grantlawrence.blogspot.com)
• Feds confirm:- DELTA Airlines – Terrorist Attempts to Blow up PLane (lezgetreal.com)

Americans and their views on sexual misconduct: Tiger, Tiger Woods Ya’all…

According to some commentators, Americans seem rather, well, prudish when it comes to sex outside of marriage, and they aren’t afraid to categorize the indiscretions  either.  Yahoo ran an article talking about the newest Tiger Woods issues, and the sides seem split between outright pity and a bit of laughter at how the mighty have fallen:

CBS sport columnist Gregg Doyel, meanwhile, took an ironic look at Americans’ obsession with the downfall of a legend.

“This is Tiger Woods, people. Probably the most famous athlete in the world,” he wrote in his column.

“I’m supposed to be interested in his club selection from 176 yards (161 meters) out… but not in his voracious sexual appetite? Please.”

Americans have been peppered with sex scandals involving conservative and liberal politicians alike, including blue-eyed 2004/2008 Democratic White House hopeful John Edwards, who admitted having an affair while his wife was fighting cancer.

South Carolina’s conservative Governor Mark Sanford, once a potential Republican contender for the 2012 presidential race, was caught cheating on his wife in Argentina, after he told his staff he was hiking in the United States on the Appalachian Trail. His wife has since filed for divorce.

In 2008, then New York governor Eliot Spitzer, a Democrat, lost his job after revelations he had been a client of a prostitution ring unleashed a wave of public outrage.

A year earlier, Republican senator Larry Craig rocked his party when he pleaded guilty after a police sex sting operation caught him inviting a homosexual encounter in an airport bathroom.

And then there is the infamous Monica Lewinsky affair: the young White House intern who almost costpresident Bill Clinton his job in 1998 and tainted his legacy.

If Americans’ sensibilities, imbued with puritanical values, demand that politicians act beyond reproach in both private and public life, they are not shocked by the extracurricular activities of Hollywood stars and starlets.

Well, perhaps Americans are puritanical, but really, if the sex scandals weren’t so titillating…

I can add to this Michigan’s latest list of sex scandals.  Here is a starter list, by no means comprehensive, because I am sure I haven’t found all the pervs that may be in Michigan yet, and maybe they aren’t all pervs, maybe they just look that way:

1. Kwame Kilpatrick:  used government money as the mayor, as in $8 million, to help him keep up his extramarital affiars
2. Mike Cox:  current Michigan Attorney General, running for Michigan governor, admitted to adultery in 2007 while prosecuting another man for adultery, currently under investigation for involvement in stalled investigation into crimes committed at one of Kwame’s parties
3. Michigan Attorney : prosecuted and license suspended for trading fees for “services” on his “couch of restitution”
4. Grand Rapids Prosecutor:  offered to trade sex in order to lower DUI charges, has since been fired
5. Grand Rapids Fire Department:  employed a known pedophile who has been charged more than once on charges of sexual misconduct against children

25% of American children fed by food stamps

According to a report published in the New York Times, 1 in 8 Americans are fed by food stamps, and 1 in 4 children are fed by food stamps.  More than 36 million people in America use food stamps.

What used to be associated with the most destitute has become a way of dealing with the current economic crisis even for the middle class.  Have you had to use food stamps? I have.  It’s no picnic to get qualified, but even with that, there is still a stigma attached, no matter what the NY Times says.

Supposedly Costco now accepts food stamps. I think it would be interesting to see how that works out, because the real issue is that food is very expensive.  Food stamps have changed in rates even as the cost of living has gone up with inflation, so being able to shop in bulk at places like Costco might help.

I have friends who are on food stamps, and it doesn’t amount to much: $300 for a family of 3, which may sound like a lot, but with butter and milk at $4 per pound and gallon, one week’s groceries can be eclipsed in a matter of one trip.  Head lettuce now sells around here for $1.29 each, and staples like cheese cost $3.29 for a small block.  Even bread is $3.00 a loaf here at Michigan chains like Meijer.

Still, when food stamps help, who is to say that they would take them away from feeding our nation’s children?  Well, years ago the Republicans want to.  Apparently now this system  feeds 25% of this nation’s children.

Words of Wisdom to Democrats: You’re Screwed

From one Democrat to the others: “you’re screwed.”  So goes it in Washington these days if you happened to ask fellow Democrat, Representative Capuano (who replaced Ted Kennedy in Massachusetts) returning from the campaign trail and offering words of “wisdom”:

Larson asked Capuano, who finished in second place, to share the wisdom he learned on the campaign trail.

Capuano took to the microphone, looked out at his colleagues and condensed what he’d learned into two words. “You’re screwed,” he told his friends in the House, according to one attendee. The room’s silence was broken only by soft, nervous laughter.

Soft nervous laughter?  Hmm, no hysterics?  I think I would be hysterical.

But with 1 in 5 Americans losing health insurance in the last year and 1 in4 American children getting food funding from food stamps (1 in 8 adults), the current political situation is no laughing manner.

Detroit’s Unemployment Rate is 50%

The cat is out of the bag:  the underemployment and unemployment numbers combined in Michigan show an underemployment rate of 50% in the Detroit area.

Michigan’s unemployment rate hit  21% this month, the highest in the nation. (Michigan’s news lately hasn’t been all that fun to report.  Beginning to regret writing on that…):

The states with the highest underemployment rates through the third quarter of this year were Michigan (20.9 percent), Oregon (20.1 percent), California (19.6 percent) and South Carolina (18.4 percent).

This is for the third quarter, but many in Michigan also qualified for the emergency unemployment measures, with a good number out of work for over a year or more.  Our family has been underemployed for quite some time, hence my moniker, which was really a joke at first but has become a sad reality.  But we are not the only ones.  In my  neighborhood, the unemployment rate for two-parent households is 30%, at least.

In a strange farce of a sick economic comedy, I had to call and warn Consumer’s Energy today that my neighbors had been “tracking some guy 4 blocks through the snow” who had gotten into my gated backyard and fed my dog something to make her stop barking.  When I told Consumer’s I was worried about their techs getting shot, they accused me of threatening them until I told them I didn’t even own a gun and certainly wasn’t going to go confront the neighbor either.  Everyone around here is armed; they get their main meat for the winter from deer season.  And, they are all home.  None of the neighbors are working full-time either.  Consumer’s finally thanked me, but the hassle was enough to make me put up solar panels and forget about the meter readers who may be hassled in other yards.  (I’d like to forget about Consumer’s too, but I can’t at the moment.)

In Detroit, things are bad according to The Detroit News,  and as I have reported before, getting worse:

For a variety or reasons — access to transportation, job availability and work skills — an estimated 48.5 percent of male Detroiters ages 20 to 64 didn’t have a job in 2008, according to census figures. For Michigan, it’s 26.6 percent; for the United States, 21.7 percent.

According to some stupid researcher apparently women have it easier, but it may just mean that the grunt work is left for the women:  cleaning, service, child care, etc.

Underneath the article published about this on the Huffington Post, there is an article about how home building has gone up 8.9% in November, “due to good weather” (a sure sign they are not in Michigan) while the Mayor of Detroit, Dave Bing says there are projects in Detroit that are “shovel ready.” (Mayor Bing was in Washington this week to try to jumpstart clean-up and infrastructure projects in Detroit.)

I’m Yours(ukulele): Little Boy Plays Ukulele–Internet sensation

I particularly love the nose itch in here, but his earnestness is contagious. You just keep rooting for him to finish the song. I love it. Keep watching and laughing…

more about “I’m Yours(ukulele): Little Boy Plays…“, posted with vodpod

Michigan Attorney Murdoch Hertzog Suspended for Offering to Settle Invoices With Sex

Image via Wikipedia

When I offered to report on all things Michigan, I had no idea how bad some things can get.  I put out the post on Attorney General Mike Cox: Newest Michigan Politician Taking Some Heat, and I have found a site called How to Buy the Michigan Courts, which profiles money in the court systems.  (Perhaps I should let them know about the influence of sex, seeing that Mike Cox, Michigan’s Attorney General may have been influenced by both in his refusal to investigate reports sent to his offices.)

But now, I have a report on an attorney suspended for 180 days for allowing clients to “work off” their bills on his “couch of restitution.”  Ick!  Ick, Ick, Ick, Ick 83-year old pervy guy:

“It all occurred when I wanted to get paid for my services,” he said.

But the board found “the high degree of similarity of these separate accounts established (Hertzog’s) system (of) making sexual overtures to female clients who were seeking legal assistance.”

The board, which was considering an appeal of an earlier ruling, increased Hertzog’s suspension to 180 days from the 120 days originally imposed. The heightened penalty is significant, because an attorney suspended for 180 days or more must apply to be reinstated, rather than be reinstated automatically.

One woman testified that after complying with Hertzog’s request for oral sex to pay for his services, he still sent her an invoice, after which she complained to the Attorney Grievance Commission.

Another woman testified Hertzog, who said he has a general practice, was representing her in a parental rights case in 2002 and made sexual overtures after she told him her husband was attending a class for sexual addiction.

“She testified she became nervous, stood up, and asked how much she and her husband owed,” the board said in a 15-page opinion. Hertzog “replied by telling her not to worry about his legal fees because she could pay the balance on his ‘couch of restitution.’ ”

A third woman testified Hertzog used the same name for his couch when he tried to get sex for representing her in a divorce in 1998 and 1999, the board said.

Other witnesses, including a retired judge, testified in defense of Hertzog and his character, the board said.

The board earlier “admonished” Hertzog in 1994 after finding he had suggested the exchange of sex for legal services.

The 180-day penalty also covered other misconduct by Hertzog, related to making false reports on his annual dues statements. Hertzog pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor assault charge in Macomb County Circuit Court in 2001 in exchange for dismissal of a fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct count. He later had the conviction set aside, but did not report it, as required.

The Detroit News reported this one, but I am sure it can be found in other newspapers as well.  I found way more sexual scandals in Michigan’s courts, because sex seems so much  harder to cover up than cash.  I will keep you posted, as always, but I am started to get seriously grossed out, not to mention a little disturbed at the perversion…

Related articles by Zemanta

• Detroit stripper’s killing unsolved 6 years later (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
• MI gov signs bills restricting utility shutoffs (sfgate.com)
• Attorney General Mike Cox: Newest Michigan Politician Taking Some Heat (unaskedadvice.wordpress.com)

Michigan loses 1 million jobs

Image via Wikipedia

Heard that right, 1 million jobs by 2011, according to the newest report.  University of Michigan

Michigan’s economy hit bottom this year and will stay there next year, with only modest job growth starting in 2011, according to a forecast on the state economy released this morning.

Economists at the University of Michigan’s Research Seminar in Quantitative Economics say that by the time the state’s downturn ends, Michigan will have lost nearly 1 million jobs since 2000.

“If our forecast proves correct, the job decline that started in mid-2000 would bottom out in the summer quarter of 2011, with an aggregate job loss of 937,000 over that 11-year period, or about one in every five jobs that existed at the beginning of the period,” said a statement from George Fulton, director of the seminar.

The economists see no end in sight for Michigan’s financial woes.

By the time it’s all over, Michigan will have recorded 11 straight years of job losses after averaging 58,000 new jobs annually in the preceding 30 years. But the U-M economists say the end of the worst may be near.

“In Michigan, prolonged difficulties have become a way of life,” Fulton said. “But we are nearly done with one of the worst economic years in our modern history, maybe the worst.”

Actually, neither does the rest of the population in Michigan–most young adults are planning to move.   In fact, a number of my family members already have.  Guess there’s no way to save Michigan now.  As I have said before about the futility of the automakers in Michigan, the only new growth will come from new industries.  Here’s looking at you Michigan…

Best Christmas Lights Display

For those of you in the Christmas spirit, I thought it might be good to send out my Christmas wishes. Watch this for a smile!

more about "Best Christmas Lights Display", posted with vodpod

That’s just not accurate Senator: You Tube video

OMG, just have to post this too, because it’s too rich. I love political commentary when it’s horrible, like a good break-up song, harshly honest and way too uncomfortable. I am still laughing at the way someone laced these quotes together in a method of pure genius. The premise is awful, the manner is exquisite.

more about “YouTube - That’s just not accurat…“, posted with vodpod