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The Michigan Messenger going forward

By Staff Report | 11.16.11

I am writing today to announce the closure of the Michigan Messenger. After four years of operation in Michigan, the board of the American Independent News Network, has decided to shift publication of its news into a single site, The American Independent at Americanindependent.com. This is part of a shift in strategy, towards new forms [...]

Colorado-based abstinence program provided false and misleading information to Michigan students

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By Todd A. Heywood | 11.16.11

An abstinence-only presentation provided to numerous school districts in Calhoun and Eaton Counties in October of this year provided false and misleading information to students about HIV, experts allege.

Class action lawsuit filed against MERS over unpaid taxes

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By Todd A. Heywood | 11.15.11

Two county registers of deeds filed a class action lawsuit Monday on behalf of Michigan’s 83 counties alleging that the Mortgage Electronic Registration Services owes millions of dollars in property title transfer taxes.

Schuette fights important mercury regulations

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By Eartha Jane Melzer | 11.14.11

Despite evidence of the impact of mercury on children and public health, Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette last month joined with 24 other state attorneys general in filing a lawsuit to scuttle new EPA regulations that would reduce mercury emissions from power plants.

Burning the books, drinking the Kool-Aid and destroying the world

By Ed Brayton | 06.11.08 | 10:12 pm

It’s the end of the world as we know it

And yes, I feel just fine. Members of a cult called the House of Yahweh, on the other hand, is likely to feel quite embarrassed after today. A local TV station in Abilene, Texas reports:

Yahweh leader Yisrayl Hawkins says a nuclear holocaust will come June 12th and only members of his group will be saved.

You can’t burn witches anymore, but you can still burn books about witches

A group of fundamentalists in Shreveport, Louisiana last week decided to party like it’s 1599, holding an old fashioned book burning during a church revival:

Yep, that’s today. I’d love to cut a deal with these kooks: if the world doesn’t end today, I get all their property. We’ll turn their compound into a museum of human credulity.

Continued -

“It is allowed for Harry Potter to be taught in our schools, but not the Bible,” International House of Prayer pastor James Crawford said during the Shreveport Regional Unity of Faith Revival.

That is one reason pastors from several denominations and races ripped pages from “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.” Those and pages from a pornographic magazine were put into a burn pit and set afire as praises bellowed from the congregation.

International House of Prayer? Seriously? One can only presume that in that church you can find little containers of Holy Syrup on every table. You’ll pardon me for not taking seriously complaints about witchcraft from people who believe in talking snakes and she-bears sent to maul groups of small children.

Please pass the kaballah water, Madonna

The latest religious fad among celebrities is an ancient form of Jewish mysticism called kaballah, or some barely recognizable facsimile thereof. Madonna is driving the bandwagon with Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher riding shotgun (for a couple weeks, they even got Britney Spears to wear one of their little red string bracelets, but she quickly moved on to the “flash the papparazi all your shaved parts” fad). And now these halfwit celebs are promoting Spirituality for Kids, a program being adopted in schools in the UK and in this country. Part of their teaching is that everyone has a choice of listening to one of two voices, the “good guy” or “the opponent.” I’ll let Ashton Kutcher explain the concept:

Kutcher likes to illustrates this with a story about his romance with Moore.

Comments

  • arrowP

    How do you feel about that, mr. cheney? I suppose I believe all this: it sounds like Cheney to me.

    BUT. if it is true, why isn’t SOMEBODY suing the Justice Deartmen for not taking him, (them) to court for misfeasance of office?

    I would think there are many instances where somebody should be suing the government for NOT enforcing laws, as described very specifically and concisely in the article. 

    Suing the Justice Department may be impossible, Hell, how would I as a citizen know?

    But it does seem to be more crystal clear a case than the horrendous process of trying to impeach. (Ask Carl Levin.)

    Robert O. Pritchard, Cheboygan Thurs  6.12.08

  • beaware

    snarks You ever wonder if Darwin is sitting, oh…wherever, and shaking his head and saying:”I was sooo wrong.” cheney and kutcher, et al, are all proof of it. Thanks for the grins, even if it did hurt some.

  • arrowP

    How do you feel about that, mr. cheney? I suppose I believe all this: it sounds like Cheney to me.

    BUT. if it is true, why isn't SOMEBODY suing the Justice Deartmen for not taking him, (them) to court for misfeasance of office?

    I would think there are many instances where somebody should be suing the government for NOT enforcing laws, as described very specifically and concisely in the article. 

    Suing the Justice Department may be impossible, Hell, how would I as a citizen know?

    But it does seem to be more crystal clear a case than the horrendous process of trying to impeach. (Ask Carl Levin.)

    Robert O. Pritchard, Cheboygan Thurs  6.12.08

  • beaware

    snarks You ever wonder if Darwin is sitting, oh…wherever, and shaking his head and saying:”I was sooo wrong.” cheney and kutcher, et al, are all proof of it. Thanks for the grins, even if it did hurt some.

  • Ed Brayton

    Unfortunately… It is very difficult for a citizen to sue the government for not enforcing the law. Under the courts' standing doctrine, one has to prove an actual harm in order to bring a suit and it would be next to impossible for an American citizen to show that they've been harmed by Haliburton doing business with Iran. Even Congress lacks the standing to sue the executive branch in court, though they could remedy that by passing a law that gives themselves that authority. I have railed against the artificial standing doctrine for many years, but it is the equivalent of cursing at the wind; the doctrine is so entrenched that it is virtually inconceivable that it could change without Congressional action (Congress is empowered in the constitution to define the jurisdiction of the courts, so they could pass a law saying that any citizen has cause to sue if they can show that a government agency is failing to enforce the law). I'm not holding my breath for that either. If anything, Congress wants to restrict the jurisdiction of the courts, not expand it. And the courts themselves have gotten more draconian in recent years over standing doctrine so they're headed in the wrong direction.

  • Ed Brayton

    Unfortunately… It is very difficult for a citizen to sue the government for not enforcing the law. Under the courts’ standing doctrine, one has to prove an actual harm in order to bring a suit and it would be next to impossible for an American citizen to show that they’ve been harmed by Haliburton doing business with Iran. Even Congress lacks the standing to sue the executive branch in court, though they could remedy that by passing a law that gives themselves that authority. I have railed against the artificial standing doctrine for many years, but it is the equivalent of cursing at the wind; the doctrine is so entrenched that it is virtually inconceivable that it could change without Congressional action (Congress is empowered in the constitution to define the jurisdiction of the courts, so they could pass a law saying that any citizen has cause to sue if they can show that a government agency is failing to enforce the law). I’m not holding my breath for that either. If anything, Congress wants to restrict the jurisdiction of the courts, not expand it. And the courts themselves have gotten more draconian in recent years over standing doctrine so they’re headed in the wrong direction.

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