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 [...]
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.
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.
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.
Contractor made millions claiming Army stripes In December 2003, the founders of Triple Canopy, a private security firm in Baghdad, caught their first big break, signing a contract with the Coalition Provisional Authority governing Iraq. Within four months, Triple Canopy had signed six contracts worth more than $28 million to guard U.S. facilities throughout Iraq. [...]
Without any provocation, Blackwater security guards dropped CS gas — similar to tear gas — on a Baghdad checkpoint to enter the Green Zone, temporarily blinding pedestrians, drivers and U.S. soldiers in May 2005, The New York Times reports. Blackwater, a private military firm founded by Michigan native Erik Prince, has been the subject of [...]
Texas billionaire Richard Rainwater made his fortune by figuring out ways to profit from the misfortune of others. When the oil bust hit Houston in the mid ’90s and property values bottomed out, he swooped in to buy up millions of square feet of office space at pennies on the dollar, investments that made him [...]
There have been several major developments in the Blackwater scandal in the last couple weeks. Immunity to be removed? The first big news is that the Iraqi Parliament is working to rescind the immunity given by the Coalition Provisional Authority in 2004 and place all Private Military Contractors (PMCs) under Iraqi criminal and civil law. [...]
Homeland security is big business and the Michigan Homeland Security Consortium (MIHSC) wants to bring more of it to Michigan. The group plans to stimulate economic growth by getting funding opportunities for young companies. “There is lots of opportunity and pioneering in the homeland security sector. It is ripe for innovation,” said Keith Brophy, chairman [...]
The Emmet County Commission voted unanimously Thursday night to approve Sovereign Deed’s plan to build a controversial disaster response base at the Pellston Regional Airport. Sovereign Deed is a private security company that advertises disaster response services to subscribers who would pay fees of $50,000 or more. In the event of a disaster, subscribers might [...]
Barrett Moore, the CEO of Sovereign Deed — a company that wants to develop private disaster relief services with financial assistance from the state and county governments– declared personal bankruptcy in 1998 and has been sued for illegal or deceptive business practices three times in the last three years. Sovereign Deed’s plan is to develop [...]
Sovereign Deed, the private security company that is seeking to build a private disaster response center in northern Michigan, offers comprehensive disaster planning and response services to individuals and companies. But industry experts say their concept is unproven. Offering risk assessment, provisions, evacuation, rescue and shelter for membership fees as high as $50,000, Sovereign Deed [...]
Plans for a 700-acre private emergency reponse center at the Pellston Regional Airport were approved by the Emmett County Planning Commissioners last night, Thur. Nov. 1, even though the commissioners admitted that they didn’t know much of what is planned by the private security firm Sovereign Deed which sought the approval. “I’m uneasy with certain [...]
Steeped in legal conflicts since its founding, Sovereign Deed, a private security firm spun off from a controversial Iraq war contractor, is seeking to build a base of operations near Pellston. The firm, founded in 2006 by Barrett Moore, a Chicago-area entrepreneur who founded Triple Canopy — one of the largest private security firms operating [...]
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