We have scheduled a meet and greet in Baraga for John Larson who is running against Mike Lahti (D-Hancock) 110th State Representative.

www.johnlarson4rep.com  

The meet and greet is scheduled for the following:

ON  JULY 22 2008 @ 2:30 PM TO 4:30 PM

BARAGA LAKESIDE INN
900 South US HWY 41
BARAGA MI 49946

2:30 PM TO 4:30 PM

PLEASE CALL  906-201-2144 OR 906-524-2248 FOR RSVP  (EVENT IS FREE BUT WE WOULD LIKE TO KNOW WHO IS ATTENDING.)

* IF NO ANSWER PLEASE LEAVE A MESSAGE  YOUR NAME AND YOUR TELEPHONE NUMBER AND WE WILL CALL YOU BACK!

HOPE TO SEE YOU THERE!

115 Days until Election Day

July 12, 2008

MORNING UPDATE:

IRAQI STUDENTS VISIT MRP…headquarters yesterday.  Eight students came by through a U.S. State Department program to see how the party works and were very interested on the impact our election will have on their country.  A great experience for all.

McCAIN’S NEW AD… As President of the United States, John McCain will always put his country first. He has done this his entire life. He has an enormous sense of responsibility and duty. When John McCain was offered a chance to go home early from prison camp in North Vietnam, he refused and put America before his own self-interest. John McCain has consistently put his country before politics and party, and will do the same as president.

Please follow this link today and watch "Love" to learn a little more about John McCain’s life and why he owes so much to our great country.

McCAIN HEADQUARTERS & VICTORY CENTER GRAND OPENING…we will officially open our headquarters this Monday, July 14th at 5pm and would be honored if you all would join us and also invite your own organizations.  Governor Mitt Romney will be among our special guests who will be there to help kick off our grassroots campaign here in Michigan. 
When:  Monday, July 14, 2008 at 5 PM
Where:  McCain Great Lakes Regional HQ and Michigan Victory Center
31440 Northwestern Hwy, Suite 100
Farmington Hills, MI  48344

RSVP to Michigan@JohnMcCain.com <mailto:Michigan@JohnMcCain.com> or 248-579-4578

WHAT WILL OBAMA COST US…here is an interesting study.

EXPOSE OBAMA…here is an interesting web page that you may want to share with your friends…I like their energy commercial about "hot air".

MICHIGAN MATTERS…What’s ahead for Michigan in this presidential election? Watch myself along with Denise Ilitch and Derrick Miller as we join "Michigan Matters" host Carol Cain to discuss those issues and more. Is Michigan-native son Mitt Romney heading for the veep position with GOP John McCain? And will there be a Hillary and Obama ticket?  Watch "Michigan Matters" this Sunday at 8:30 a.m. on WWJTV (CBS Detroit) and repeated on CW50 (WKBD) at 11:30 a.m. Sunday to hear our spin!  The show is also posted online Sunday afternoon .

CONGRATS TO CAROL CAIN…editorial director at  WWJTV/CW 50 and also political/business columnist at Detroit Free Press, for her blockbuster TV special "Building Bridges: From The Great Lakes To the Great Wall" which talked about globalization’s impact on Michigan. In her first "Eye On The Future" special for the CBS owned station, Cain won three Emmy’s, two awards from the Michigan Association of Broadcasters, was nominated for a Peabody Award, and won an award from the Chinese Business Association of Detroit.

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FOR THE LATEST NEWS, COMMENTARY & INFORMATION:

Check…out…our…online Articles of Interest………News…you…can…use………

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TODAY’S TOP STORIES

The following stories and more are available at my Articles of Interest online.

McCain takes lead in transparency race

By KENNETH P. VOGEL | 7/11/08 10:08 PM EST

John McCain today fired the latest round in his battle with Barack Obama over campaign finance transparency.

Responding to a coalition of good government groups that last month requested additional details about their fundraising from both Obama, and McCain, the Republican’s campaign agreed to volunteer more information about bundlers and small donors.

Obama’s campaign took a similar step on Thursday, updating its online
list of bundlers after The New York Times reported that he had not done so in more than six months, but hasn’t gone as far as McCain in offering information about its bundlers.

Here’s a question for the mayor

By ROCHELLE RILEY • FREE PRESS COLUMNIST • July 11, 2008

I’m confused.

First Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick says under oath that he did not have an affair.

Then he watches as hundreds of text messages about his affair circle the globe.

Then he goes on television with his wife and apologizes.

Bill for text-message scandal pinches county

Worthy: It could top $1 million
BY KATHLEEN GRAY • FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER • July 11, 2008

The cost to prosecute the criminal case against Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick and his former chief of staff will be $200,000 this year and could cost an additional $1 million next year, Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy told county commissioners this week.

Commissioner Kevin McNamara, D-Canton, said with severe budget cuts projected in the county Sheriff’s Office and Public Services Department, which handles roads, he’s unwilling to spend more money for the Kilpatrick case.

"Before I spend any more money on this, I’m going to protect my roads first," he said. "I think you’ve got a slam-dunk case. Why are we living through this nightmare?"

For Fox anchor, unlikely stumble

Revelations linking Fanchon Stinger to Detroit sludge deal shock her news colleagues.
Leonard N. Fleming and Mekeisha Madden Toby / The Detroit News

DETROIT — In the world of TV news personalities in Detroit, Fanchon Stinger was the rising anchorwoman who seemingly had it all: good looks, a charming personality and a fat-salaried position.

Stinger, 37, who began her career as an intern at Fox 2 Detroit, climbed fast and impressed many with her drive. She became an investigative reporter and then moved to the station’s morning show anchor chair in 2004. Her annual salary was more than $300,000.

But her meteoric career came crashing down this week. She was let go Thursday from Fox 2 following revelations that her own media company placed advertisements in connection with a Detroit sludge contract that is under federal investigation.

Candidates vie for Livonia’s 19th House District seat

Two Democrats, one Republican compete to replace term-limited incumbent John Pastor.
Steve Pardo / The Detroit News

LIVONIA — Creating jobs, cutting the budget and attracting new businesses are some of the top issues facing the Livonia candidates running for the 19th District House seat.

Republican incumbent John Pastor is term limited, meaning there will be a new face representing Livonia residents next year. Democrats Steve King and Jennifer Rutkey are on the Aug. 5 ballot. The sole Republican candidate is John Walsh, an attorney who was appointed executive director of Schoolcraft College in 2001 and is the chairman of the Livonia Planning Commission. He served a Livonia city councilmember from 1998-2001.

King and Walsh say they have experience in controlling budgets and both say jobs are a top priority, according to their responses in questionnaires distributed by The Detroit News. Rutkey didn’t fill out the questionnaire and didn’t return a telephone call Friday.

Democrats target state’s Chief Justice in new ad

By Dawson Bell • Free Press Staff Writer • July 11, 2008

LANSING - The first attack ad of this year’s contest for a key seat on the Michigan Supreme Court will be launched this weekend by the Michigan Democratic Party.

The ad takes a somewhat convoluted route to its target, Chief Justice Clifford Taylor, by calling on him not to block a ballot proposal backed by Democrats that makes extensive revisions to the state constitution.

Among the changes is a pay cut for judges, and the ad suggests Taylor, who is up for reelection in November, will have to choose between protecting "his salary and perks" or letting "the people vote for change."

Boom Vs. Gloom

By INVESTOR’S BUSINESS DAILY | Posted Tuesday, July 08, 2008 4:20 PM PT

According to the New York Times, John McCain’s economic advisers are agonizing over whether their candidate should balance the budget, as he recently promised to do by 2013, or extend the Bush tax cuts?

Then, at the end of an article on the supposed competition between supply-siders and deficit hawks, came the definitive answer from McCain senior economic adviser Douglas Holtz-Eakin: "You’ll never have successful deficit-reduction without strong economic growth."

With unacceptably high fuel costs and an economy throttling down from the tax-cut-powered Bush expansion, this is no time for big tax hikes and a 21st-century version of LBJ’s Great Society domestic spending spree.

Locals flood GOP convention coffers

By TOM WEBB- ST. PAUL PIONEER PRESS | 7/11/08 6:22 PM EST

The spectacle of the coming Republican National Convention will be brought to you by Minnesota’s major corporations, even more than planned.

Virtually every major Twin Cities company has given money to the convention’s local host committee, donated free services or both. The surprise has been the ratio of local donors to national money.

"They originally thought it would be a 50-50 split, and it’s looking more like 60 percent local and 40 percent national," said Teresa McFarland, spokeswoman for the host committee, which is charged with raising $58 million.

Lieberman Dismisses GOP Veep Speculation

ABC News’ Ron Claiborne Reports: Senator Joseph Lieberman, I-Conn., says he has no interest in being Sen. John McCain’s running mate, preferring to remain in the Senate seat he’s held for the past 20 years.

"As regards the vice presidency, I really have been there and done that," Lieberman told ABC News in an interview airing on Saturday’s World News. "I am not a candidate. I am not interested in doing it. I hope John is elected president. I’m going to work hard to do that happens and I think the best thing I can do the help him be the great president I think he’s capable of being is to be Democratic senator working across party lines to get things done."

Do Obama’s changes hurt his candidacy?

Nancy Kruh

Pundits have been drizzling out questions about Barack Obama’s changing stances, but the candidate’s about-face vote Wednesday in favor of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act seems to have unleashed a hail of opinions.

"Everyone expects some alterations as the chosen candidate moves to the center for the general election," Froma Harrop writes. "But Obama hasn’t just shortened a sleeve here, taken in a waist there. He’s come out with a whole new summer wardrobe of policy positions."

The Providence Journal columnist suspects Obama is hoping "that, happy or not, the left has nowhere else to go. But the speed with which he chucked his promises suggests that he also regarded the intellectuals as an easier sell than they thought themselves."

Paid for by Michigan Republican Party

Not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee

http://www.jackformichigan.org

State Representative Jack Hoogendyk will be visiting Iron County at the Westwood II Supper Club in Crystal Falls on Tuesday July 8th at 6:00pm central time for a “Meet the Candidate” reception.  He is the candidate for the United States Senate.  Everybody is encouraged to come and meet Jack as he shares his message and his ideas.

  Why are we paying for our own copies of the US CONSTITUTION?!

By Nick, Section News Posted on Fri May 16, 2008 at 10:05:02 AM ESTI take it all back.  Or at least I’m willing to consider a full retraction.  See, if they’d just planned these projects out a little bit better and led off with Haylie Duff I might have never criticized them in the first place. We laugh through tears at the Governor’s latest pet-project, cutting checks to Hollywood actors and big-wigs to convince them to visit Michigan for a few weeks at a time and both responses are entirely valid.Anytime you hear that the State government isspending $127 million in a fiscal year to “create jobs” and “generate revenue” only to find out that the expected return on that investment is a meager $10 million tears are justified.  We are, after all, firmly entrenched in the mother of all single-state recessions.  Reading that lawmakers are “surprised” by the cost and the light return on the investment only makes those tears taste that much more bitter.And when the Democrats big coup de grace is the announcement that Dawson from Dawson’s Creek is coming to town, well, it’s either laugh or fuel up the car for a one way trip to Indiana.  With gas prices what they are it’s a good thing I’ve got a good sense of humor.But maybe we can just chalk it all up to unfortunate timing.  MLive has some awfully exciting news:

The Hollywood Reporter just announced that “Tug,” the romantic comedy set to film in West Michigan in June, is in negotiations with Haylie Duff and Sam Huntington to star, according to The Hollywood Reporter. 

 Haylie Duff!That’s Hillary’s older sister, by the way.  You know, Lizzy Maguire?  She was Hannah Montana before Hannah Montana was Hannah Montana?  She was a worldwide pre-teen phenomenon for years.  Like David Cassidy except a girl and thirty years later.See?  This is a big deal!  Plus, hey, seriously, I’m a big fan.  I loved her in 7th Heaven.  Haylie that is.  Not Hillary.  Hillary’s not coming to Michigan.  Besides, Haylie is… well… did you look at that picture?  (Is this how Liberal Lucy felt when she heard James Van Der Beek was on his way?)Bonus, the budget of the project is less than a million dollars.  That means you and I are only going to have to write Lizzy’s sister a check for $420,000, max.  That’s nothing but walking around money for this incarnation of the State Legislature.  Couldn’t buy any new books, raise teacher salaries, fix a few roads or hire six or seven case workers to look after the abused kids in the State’s Foster program or anything like that.This is money muuuuuch better spent. 

Check out the John Larson for State Representative website at http://www.JohnLarson4Rep.com Please let me know your comments.   John Larson is running against Mike Lahti (D)

Your are invited to a special Meet and Greet event for Tom Casperson Saturday, April 26, 2008 from 3:30 to 6:30 in L’Anse.  The event will be held at a home of Jim and Jean Westrom, 329 N. Main Street. L’Anse. Tom Casperson is running for the Congress. All are welcome to come and meet Tom.  Light snacks and drinks will be available.  People attending will have a chance to talk to Tom and ask any questions about his race and issues concerning them. We hope you can come and bring your friends and neighbors Please forward this information to others who may be interested in attending.

For further information or directions please call

Keith Almli
906-524-2248

  Many people are running from Michigan everyday because they may lose their jobs. 

I posted this over at Grizzly Groundswell and thought I should share this with my fellow First Districters. It is not First District related, but it is about Free Speech and I think free speech is interest of everyone.

This is a question I have been asking myself in the past few weeks to a month. Most of my life I have heard about “freedom of speech.” I never really knew what this was. I had always been led to believe this was some sort of liberal rhetoric. But only recently have I figured out that this is the complete opposite. The liberals do believe in freedom of speech, only when it suits their needs. They don’t want to hear anything that doesn’t jive with their agendas.

A few case in points could be alleged “hate crimes.” They have no problem with gay day parades, where people dress up in all kinds of funny outfits and degrading Jesus and Christianity. But if pastors, priests or rabbis speak out against homosexuality, it is a “hate crime” even when they are reciting from religious books. Then of course you have the alleged “Fairness Doctrine” where they want to regulate what is broadcast on the radio. When Conservatives and Christians speak out about Islam and/or Islamic terrorism the libs accuse them of Islamophobia.

Since I started blogging this was a thought that was in the back of my mind, but I never really payed much attention to it. I started out blogging about the presidential election and not much about free speech issues. Most of my current information I get is from conservative sources, whether that be online news or other blogs, or talk radio. Usually when I have the TV on it is for background noise.

When I was blogging the ‘08 race bloggers who would be for a specific candidate would get upset if someone from an online news source would say something negative about their candidate and not only would they refuse to read that persons writings, but also boycott the entire news page. They would feel the same way about a well known person from TV or religion. They would rally people to write in to these people and tell them to not say anything bad about their candidate. I have nothing against supporters getting upset about someone saying anything bad about their candidate. I understand where they are coming from. At the same time, I have learned to just let it roll, like water off a ducks back.

When I hear or read something said by someone who I normally read or listen to say something I don’t agree with I just figure that that is that person’s opinion. I get scared of people who agree with everything a certain personality says. Many libs out there say that all Conservatives and Republicans blindly follow Rush Limbaugh. They claim that we allow Rush to do our thinking. There may be some people out there who do that. But they are idiots. Most people who listen to Rush already have their own beliefs before listening to him. They might get some of their info from Rush, but they don’t let him think for them. I for one listen to Rush and others, Glenn Beck is my fave. When I hear something I did not know from these guys, I research more about the issue discussed, if it peaks my interest. After finding out about the issue, I then form my own opinion. Most times I find myself agreeing, but not always. Most Conservatives I know are like this.

The reason for this post is that about very early morning on that transition between Monday night and Tuesday morning I had found a quick snippet from Radio Praha Online, an online Czech news service. The snippet was about the National Party in the Czech Republic is offering to show Geert Wilders fifteen minute film about Islam and the Koran.

In case you have not been following, Geert Wilders is a member of the Dutch parliament who produced a documentary claiming that Islam and the Koran is fascist. No other details about the film has been released. But everyone is afraid to allow him to show the film. Dutch officials are afraid it could spark violence, so he will not be able to show it in theaters. He was going to show it on a website, but the server has banned him from showing it. He has received many death threats. I had posted about recent protests in Amsterdam, Holland on Michigan Redneck II.

On Glenn Beck’s Tuesday program he talked to Brad Thor, author of “The Last Patriot,” about the server Network Solutions that pulled Mr. Wilders’ ad announcing the movie, Fitna. Glenn offered to show the movie on his show. In the Czech article I mentioned above the Czech National Party believes that this is a film that all Europeans need to see. That is why they offering to show Mr. Wilders’ film on their website, plus offer him asylum in an undisclosed area in the Czech Republic. I am proud of the National Party. It shows that not all Europeans are flaming liberals. Plus, while my loyalties are to the U.S., I consider Czechs my European cousins, as I have ancestry there.

When I posted about the protests I received a comment from a blogger that was for the protests. This person didn’t say anything except for leaving a link to his post on this issue. I checked out his post. He and others are calling Mr. Wilders a Nazi and facist. On his post he had images that were negative against Mr. Wilders. Since he was not calling for violence, I did allow his comment to post. Like I said I believe in free speech. I believe that everyone has the right to speak about what is on their mind, regardless if I agree with what they say or if it is even wrong.

My thoughts on the protesting and calling for bans on the film are that if these people have the right to protest and say what they think, then Mr. Wilders has the right to show his film. For those who are upset, they need to wait for the film to come out. If what he says about Islam is wrong, then the Muslims can point out what he said is wrong and show proof. The truth will prevail. If it is all a lie, what is the problem. Possibly the protesters are afraid that he will reveal truths that they won’t like.

For Dutch officials to not allow him to show the movie in theaters is fear. They should not allow this fear to dictate. I understand their fear, but when one lets fear not take you forward that’s when society goes backward. When the good people cower in fear, the bad people take over. That’s when things will get really bad. Europeans, and everyone the world over, need to stand up for what is right. We need to show the bad people that we will not allow them to dictate what we do or say.

I have talked about free speech and will continue to, be it in support of Geert Wilders, support of the Danish cartoons or support of Tibet.

While the issue of Geert Wilders’ film that inspired me to right about free speech and it is “something that is far away” that kind of thinking reminds me of the post World War II poem;

First They Came for the Jews

First they came for the Jews
and I did not speak out
because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for the Communists
and I did not speak out
because I was not a Communist.
Then they came for the trade unionists
and I did not speak out
because I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for me
and there was no one left
to speak out for me.
Pastor Martin Niemölle
[source]