Michigan

Michigan prosecutors executed a search warrant to obtain hundreds of files from Google and X (formerly Twitter) as part of an ongoing investigation into the fake electors plot in the state.

The warrants targeted the Google and X accounts of pro-Trump lawyer Kenneth Chesebro, who played a major role in the scheme nationwide. […] The warrant sought Chesebro’s emails and direct private messages after he denied having an X account in an interview with Michigan prosecutors last year. […] State prosecutors obtained more than 160 sent messages and more than 25 received messages from X between 2014 and 2021, with most of them coming after the 2020 election.

In July 2023, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel’s office charged the 16 fake electors for falsely claiming Donald Trump won Michigan in the 2020 election.

The new documents obtained by Michigan prosecutors show that Chesebro tried in vain to lure several notorious, controversial Trump allies to Washington, D.C. to witness the fake elector scheme unfold on Jan. 6, 2021, the day that rioters burst into the U.S. Capitol. […] The records also show that Chesebro encouraged conservative pundits and right-wing figures to promote his strategies for subverting the Electoral College process.

In related news…

BridgeMichigan: Michigan backtracks ‘co-conspirator’ claim in fake electors probe

Attorney General Dana Nessel is walking back claims former Michigan Republican Party Chair Laura Cox is an “unindicted co-conspirator” in a plot to overturn the state’s 2020 presidential election results.

Kim Bush, a spokesperson for Nessel, told Bridge Michigan in an email late Monday that the department “considers Laura Cox to be a cooperating witness in the case.”

Sen. Jeremy Moss (D-Southfield) [Michigan's only Jewish state senator -- r^2^] took to the floor of the Senate last week to condemn bigotry against Jews that he says is being wielded hypocritically.

“The overwhelming majority of Jews believe in a place of refuge in a Jewish homeland. But if you even mention how woven the Jewish religion is with Jewish sovereignty in Israel, today you get called a ‘colonizer,’ a ‘racist,’” he said. “Zionist is now being weaponized as a slur, and it is infuriating that the same people who will say that also post ‘Happy Passover’ to all who are observing without acknowledging what we’re actually observing.”

“And maybe even more so sickened by those who want to define what antisemitism is and it isn’t,” Moss said. “American Jews, especially on our college campuses are facing harassment, intimidation, incitement, praise for Oct. 7 [when Hamas attacked Israeli civilians and] threats of a repeat, just because they are identifiable as being Jewish.”

“I’ve said it after Charlottesville, Tree of Life, Poway, and specifically, I have said it from this floor a few years ago, antisemitism thrives when it is failed to be called antisemitism,” he said. “And I don’t care if it comes from the right or the left. Instead, some of the very same far left figures, activists, and organizations who were quick to condemn Charlottesville are cheerleading the chaos on our campuses and gaslighting those of us who call it out for what it is. Using the same tired trope that’s existed for centuries. The Jews have brought this upon themselves.”

Seems like the high winds knocked it down. This is just after an intersection where traffic turning right into this lane wouldn’t see the orange sign in the road due to a sign for the business on the corner, so this road safety sign was an ironic driving hazard. Not to worry, a couple of strangers and I managed to flip it out of the way of traffic:

Decades of pollution and rapid urbanization created ecological problems so severe that the lake was designated a “Great Lakes Area of Concern” by the U.S. and Canada in 1987.

Through expansive cleaning efforts, Muskegon Lake has gone through every step required to remove that designation. The Muskegon Lake Watershed Partnership is waiting for the EPA to officially delist the site, meaning it will no longer be a designated Area of Concern.

A recent study in the Journal of Great Lakes Research found that residents of lower socioeconomic communities in Muskegon feared the cleaned-up shoreline would be taken over by private interests.

The study found that many Muskegon residents were excited about the revitalized lakes, but others were concerned that the restored areas would attract high-end development and raise nearby housing prices. They feared that would lead to gentrification and less public access.

[Amanda Buday, rural sociology researcher from Grand Valley State University who worked on the study] said that as new businesses come to Muskegon, there needs to be a plan in place to prevent gentrification. […] “If there’s not some conscientious development occurring, if it’s all just high-end condominiums, then the price and the value of those houses can put a pinch on lower-income residents.”

Over at Michigan Advance, reporter Anna Liz Nichols writes…

Michigan Judge Kristen Simmons, while presiding over the case against several individuals facing felony charges for submitting false electoral votes for former President Donald Trump in 2020, began court Tuesday with a warning: Cut the social media posts.

“If it appears that you’re taking a photo, I’m going to have to take your phone and have it searched because we’re not going to have witnesses being intimidated when they’re coming in here under a subpoena to give testimony nor will I have to be taking time away from my judicial duties to address commentary made on Facebook posts. It’s juvenile and it’s ridiculous,” Simmons said.

Apparently, it's endemic amongst Republican minions as their Loudmouth-In-Chief was requested and ordered to do the exact same thing. Strategy? Egomania? Megalomania?

No one in the courtroom was singled out by Simmons, but her comments followed an in-chambers meeting with Nick Somberg, the lawyer for Meshawn Maddock, a defendant in the case and former Michigan Republican Party co-chair.

Somberg told media outside of court he was called into the judge’s chamber ahead of court Tuesday with the Assistant Attorney General’s on the prosecution’s side to discuss a Facebook post he had made. The post was in regards to testimony from James Renner, a member of the group who had his criminal charges dropped as part of a cooperation agreement with the Attorney General’s Office to testify in the case. […] “He testified publicly; it’s no secret that he is an Informant or snitch,” Somberg said. “Nothing I said was disparaging.”

Last I remember from way back in elementary school, the word "snitch", applicable or not, was disparaging. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

cross-posted from: https://midwest.social/post/11301182

The Pride of Muskegon and Ypsilanti…ladies and gentleman or whatever you consider yourselves…

Happy Birthday, Iggy Pop! Mostly shirtless but always dangerous since 1947!

~Mr~ ~"Gimme~ ~Danger"~ ~at~ ~Beale~ ~Street~ ~Music~ ~Festival,~ ~New~ ~Orleans,~ ~LA,~ ~2007.~
~Photo:~ ~Bill~ ~Dierssen~~.~ ~Later~ ~version(s)~ ~uploaded~ ~by~ ~Pomte~ ~at~ ~en.wikipedia.,~ ~CC-BY-SA~ ~2.5~~,~ ~via~ ~Wikimedia~ ~Commons~

How many second chances does Iggy Pop get?

-- journalist/Rolling Stone editor David Fricke on Iggy and The Stooges' Ready To Die

[…]the man doesn't seem to know how to sell out, even when he tries[…]

-- journalist Mark Deming on Iggy's Party

Mr Dichotomy, the Peanut-Butter-Smeared One himself has said…

I just got sick of listening to idiot thugs with guitars banging out crappy music.^1^3

"Idiot thugs with guitars" or not, Iggy's still got the goods…and the voice…

The-Shadow-Of-Your-Smile BONUS:

• Iggy Pop - Strung Out Johnny

---

[email protected] ☆ [email protected] ☆ [email protected]

Michigan Advance's Katie O'Brien Kelley reports…

The Keweenaw Land Association has requested metallic mineral lease rights to about 10,631 acres across Baraga, Dickinson, Iron, Marquette and Menominee counties. At a Wednesday virtual public meeting held by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR), residents of these counties, members of environmental groups and other community members expressed concerns about the lease request and called for the DNR to deny it.

Tom Grotewohl, a U.P. resident, said he thinks that approving a mineral rights lease of this scale would be “entirely contradictory” to the DNR’s mission of protecting and managing natural resources. […] Grotewohl also said he was “very alarmed” that there were no in-person hearings being held by the DNR to discuss this lease. […] “Virtual meetings are a new technology, which still has not been embraced by many among older generations, which may include adjacent land wonders who have the right to know of the potential for mining to lower their property values,” he said.

This concern was reiterated by other speakers throughout the meeting, as several people were not able to unmute their microphones to give their public comments. […] Anna Bunting from Freshwater Future rejoined the webinar via phone because of this issue. […] “This is a woefully inadequate public participation process for such a huge lease request,” Bunting said. “There needs to be, and I certainly request, an in-person public hearing.”

Don't forget, kids: it's just not the same telling someone to go jump in the lake in a Zoom meeting. And by the way…

The DNR said that it will be accepting further questions or comments regarding the lease application. Comments can be submitted to the DNR via email. […] A post-meeting summary, which will respond to questions people had during Wednesday’s meeting, will also be posted on the DNR’s website.

…or What Goes Around, Comes Around: Russia-Ukraine Conflict Edition.

Here's a piece from the venereal, errr, venerated reportage of the BBC on the voluntary/mercenary counter-cyber on the behalf of the Ukraine. You may ask, "Raoul, baby, we all want world peace and all but what's this got to do with c/[email protected]?"

The [vigilante hacker] team, One Fist, has stolen data from Russian military firms and hacked cameras to spy on troops.

One of the hackers called "Voltage" has been co-ordinating hacks from his home in the US. […] His real name is [redacted -- read the article -- r^2^ ] and he is an IT worker from Michigan [emphasis mine -- r^2^ ].

The 53-year-old told the BBC he is delighted his efforts for Ukraine have been officially recognised with a certificate of gratitude.

Since the start of the conflict, Ukraine has controversially been encouraging volunteer hackers to attack Russian targets. But sending out official awards to foreign civilians is being seen as a controversial move and a sign of the times.

Okay, this is the second post today that has "fraud" in its title…

The America Project, a national nonprofit that's been focused on railing against the country's voting system, spent $1.2 million funding lawyers and groups in Michigan during the 2022 election year, according to a recently filed tax document.

The Florida-based nonprofit co-founded by former Overstock.com CEO Patrick Byrne reported it gave $429,875 to the law office of Oakland County attorney Stefanie Lambert for "legal support." Lambert was charged with four felonies in August 2023 for allegedly participating in a scheme to improperly access voting machines used in the 2020 presidential election.

The America Project also said it provided $700,000 for a Waterford Township organization that's connected to Lambert and called "United States Election Investigation and Lawsuits." The money was for "election integrity," [emphasis mine -- r^2^ ] according to the nonprofit's tax filing, which didn't include additional details about the expenditure.

"Election integrity." You have to laugh.

The tax document also showed how funds have been used to ensure conspiracy theories about voter fraud persist, said Chris Thomas, Michigan's former longtime elections director. […] “Obviously, this is a glimpse into the post-2020 spending to keep their (election) deniers’ conspiracy alive," Thomas said.

Alt link, for your convenience, via archive.today

"To churn out the robocalls, Wohl and Jacobs sought a Black voice actress to make the recording, which they called their “Black robo.” The call falsely claimed that personal information used on mail-in ballots could lead to arrests for outstanding arrest warrants or be used to collect unpaid credit card debts. The calls also falsely warned that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention could use the information to track people for mandatory vaccines. "

metrotimes.com/news/right-wing…

@hockey collegehockeynews.com/news/202… @michigan

This is not a drill, Peppa!

Motor City Furry Con attendees were forced from their hotel rooms at the Ann Arbor Marriott Ypsilanti at Eagle Creek just before 9 a.m. on Sunday after a threat forced an evacuation for the second year in a row, according to convention officials.

The Motor City Furry Con, a Michigan convention for those who appreciate the anthropomorphic lifestyle, took to social media on Sunday to announce a full hotel evacuation at 8:49 a.m. The post encouraged attendees to gather in the exterior golf course or leave the premises, but not loiter in vehicles.

Alt link via archive.is

Genetic tests have revealed that an animal killed in a legal coyote hunt in Michigan's Calhoun County was actually a gray wolf, state officials say. But experts don't know how the animal got there in the first place.

Calhoun County is located in the southern half of Michigan's Lower Peninsula, where no gray wolves (Canis lupus) have been sighted for over a century. A population of around 630 gray wolves inhabits the state's Upper Peninsula, 250 miles (400 kilometers) away, and some wolves have occasionally been spotted in the northern half of the Lower Peninsula — roughly 130 miles (200 km) from Calhoun County.

"While rare, instances of wolves traversing large distances have been documented, including signs of wolves in recent decades in Michigan's Lower Peninsula," Brian Roell, a biologist and large carnivore specialist with the state's Department of Natural Resources (DNR), said in a statement.

Activist, poet, columnist (or fifth columnist, depending on who you're asking), founder of the White Panther Party, marijuana enthusiast and evangelist, manager of the equally infamous rock group the MC5 (RIP) and all around trouble-maker 😄, John Sinclair passed away last Tuesday, March 2, 2024 of heart failure. Condolences to the surviving family. 😞

Obligatory music, brothers and sisters!…

• John Lennon - John Sinclair
• MC5 - Ramblin' Rose
• John Sinclair & Cary Loren - PeyoteMind (2012)
• Bonus: John Sinclair (1941-2024) & The MC5 - From the Film "MC5 - A True Testimonial" (2002)

The Freep reports on the upcoming memorial services for Sinclair…

A memorial will take place at 1 p.m. Tuesday at the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit (MOCAD), featuring performances by musicians and speakers who were friends of Sinclair — a storied poet, counterculture activist and Detroit music fixture who was embedded in the city’s rock and jazz scenes. […] MOCAD is at 4454 Woodward, Detroit. […] A reception will follow at the Trinosophes café at 1464 Gratiot, Detroit.

From The News…

In a Detroit News interview in 2021, on the 50th anniversary of the freedom rally for Sinclair, the activist said he was surprised it took Michigan so long to legalize marijuana.

"The truth prevailed," he said. "People didn't quit using it, you see? And more and more people got on the side of the felons and pretty soon they had to remove the felony. It just didn't make any sense."

Sinclair had been living in the Cass Corridor in recent years. He was able to see marijuana not only be legalized in his home state, but become so available that dispensaries dot the entire landscape from county to county.

From CBS News…

Sinclair also promoted concerts and festivals and helped to establish the Detroit Artists Workshop and Detroit Jazz Center. He taught blues history at Wayne State University; hosted radio programs in Detroit, New Orleans and Amsterdam; and wrote liner notes for albums by artists including The Isley Brothers and Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes.

He helped create Hash Bash, a yearly pot celebration at the University of Michigan, and served as state coordinator of the Michigan chapter of NORML, the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws.

And finally, from The Metro Times' article…

At the time, cannabis activist Rick Thompson reportedly asked Sinclair, “Things have come full circle, haven’t they, John?” Sinclair retorted, “It would be more full if they came and gave me back the weed that they took.”

More information is available at the Lynch & Sons Funeral Directors website.

Alt links for your convenience:

• The Freep: John Sinclair memorial service and reception set for Tuesday in Detroit
• The News: Marijuana activist and 'Detroit's resident radical' John Sinclair has died at 82

Well, it ain't Cannes or Venezia but…

Central Michigan International Film Festival
April 3 - 7, 2024
Central Michigan University, Mount Pleasant, Michigan

Check out this year’s film schedule and make plans to join us for our 21st annual festival!
Tickets are on sale NOW. Click here to visit our ticketing site.

Tickets cost $8, $5 discounted rate for students and seniors. Tickets available on-line or at the door.

*Special event pricing varies (Opening Night Film & VHS Night at the Broadway)

Join us at Celebration Cinema Wed. April 3 at 6:30pm for our special Opening Night film WICKED LITTLE LETTERS starring Oscar winner Olivia Colman (The Favourite, The Crown, Fleabag), & Jessie Buckley (Women Talking, Wild Rose, The Lost Daughter).

From the podcast…

Community colleges were once seen as a stepping stone on your way to a four-year degree. In recent years they are more and more becoming their own educational destination for a degree or a certificate when you're on your way to a better paying job and now there's a plan in the works for every Michigan high school graduate to get two years of tuition-free Community College.

MichMash hosts Shaya Roth and Althia Kasman speak with Brandy Johnson, president of the Michigan Community College Association, about Governor Whitmer's proposal to make higher education more accessible to all Michigan high school graduates.

Like healthcare, this nation of cowboys still insists that, even now in the 21^st^ century, a higher education is difficult-to-inaccessible for many and will put all who enroll in lifelong debt. This is how America treats its future.

I'm dead serious when I say…"Don't Be A Drop-Out."

cross-posted from: https://midwest.social/post/10522838

Walter Reuther was an American visionary so far ahead of his times that although he died a quarter of a century ago, our Nation has yet to catch up to his dreams.

-- President Bill Clinton, in 1995

Walter Reuther is the only man I have ever met who could reminisce about the future.

-- Murray Kempton, journalist and Pulitzer Prize recipient

Walter Reuther is the most dangerous man in Detroit because no one is more skillful in bringing about the revolution without seeming to disrupt the existing forms of society.

-- Governor George Romney

Over at the News, they've posted a selection of their archive photos of activist and former UAW president Walter P. Reuther. Yeah, that's the guy whose name is on the 696. For those who don't know who Reuther was, I highly suggest you read the linked Wikipedia article for starts.

The following legendary exchange is attributed to Reuther and a member of the Ford Motor Company management during a factory tour exalting the new (at the time) technologies and robotics on the assembly line…

Ford Manager: How are you going to collect union dues from these guys [the robots]?

WPR: How are you going to get them to buy Fords?

I can't help drawing parallels between Reuther's assessment and the present—and fast-approaching future—state of AI. Happy Sunday, everybody!

---

Alt link via archive.is

Seagulls are protected under the "Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918". This means that it is illegal to capture, kill, or keep a seagull in your home (unless you have a special permit).

So, no: you cannot go into the Meijer parking lot, yoink a seagull from the flock, and take it home.

This PSA has been brought to you by an argument with my son during a grocery pick-up.

Thank you.

I've been avoiding posting the recent spate of eclipse-eclipse-eclipse articles because, yeah, astronomically-speaking it's not an everyday occurrence but, jeeeez, it's still more than two weeks away! From Michigan's standpoint, it's not even a total eclipse (but pretty close).

But this Wednesday evening, for all you non-scientifically-inclined photographers (mobile phone paparazzi included), The Freep through the USA Network is offering an online webinar on how to properly photograph an eclipse.

These are the facts, Jack…

• Microsoft Teams Webinar is Wednesday, March 27, at 7 p.m.
• Registration is free but mandatory. Sign up here.

The guests:

• Courtney Hergesheimer, photojournalist, The Columbus Dispatch, OH
• Angela Piazza, photojournalist, Caller-Time, TX
• Albert Cesare, photojournalist, Cincinnati Enquirer, OH
• Chris Pietsch, director of photography, Gannett Newspapers, The Register-Guard, Statesman Journal, OR

• Alt link via archive.is

As they say, it's not such much as having laws as enforcing laws.

Some background info before we begin:

• Families of distracted driving victims celebrate new law
• Michigan's "hands-free" law starting June 30

Since the law was enacted [June 30, 2023], the Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety says a majority of drivers are not abiding.

Ryan Roddie, a Traffic Public Safety Officer, told News Channel 3 he catches drivers on a daily basis with phones in their hands. […] Police bust over half a dozen drivers not abiding by hands free every ten minutes, according to Roddie.

And now, an encapsulation of the lameness you are all guilty of…

The hardest part of the law for Denise Clegg, a Kalamazoo resident, is not changing her navigation while on the road. […] “I was coming down the street on Michigan Avenue, and I needed to call the beauty shop and tell them I was going to be a little late [emphasis mine -- r^2^] looking for a parking spot. Well, when I went to Siri to call them, she gave me everyone but," Clegg said.

I still can't swallow what's going down in the 66^th^ district of the Great State of Michigan (and most likely in other districts as well, but as they say, vermin prefer the darkness and silence). Remember: you of the 66^th^ district voted for this misguided soul and you of the 66^th^ have done nothing in regards to his removal from office. Silentium dat consensum.

After ca. a month of Rep Schriver having his budget and staff stripped for his continued online espousal and propagation of "white-nationalist, far-right conspiracy theory", it took House Minority Leader Matt Hall all that time to finally issue a carefully-worded, no-sharp-edges statement in regards to Rep Schriver's…ermmmm…questionable behaviour…

Hall did not use the word "racist" in describing the "great replacement" post that Schriver shared on the social media platform X, and his comments fell short of the condemnation Democrats have requested. But Hall said lawmakers and other public servants "have to understand how other people feel about the words you use."

On Wednesday, Hall said he's discussed the issue with both Schriver and Tate and has encouraged Schriver to communicate in a more effective, inclusive and sensitive way, though Hall stopped short of saying he had encouraged Schriver to apologize.

Hall said he'd never heard of "replacement theory" before Schriver brought it to his attention.

The entire statement misses the mark by just so much…of course, that's in my less-than-humble opinion.

Alt links and further reading:

• Via archive.is
• Read how tone-deaf DetNews columnist Kaitlyn Buss tries to equate Tlaib's diatribes with Schriver's mere "reposting" as freedom of speech(via archive.is)

This stuff just writes itself…

Incorrect inventory records, improper liquor licenses, and tens of thousands of bottles of alcohol reported as missing are among the deluge of problems found at the Michigan Liquor Control Commission, an audit found.

The 59-page review from the Office of the Auditor General found the MLCC lacking in its oversight over the purchase and sale of spirits in Michigan. At one point, the MLCC's inventory showed a negative inventory of nearly 900,000 bottles. […] In another instance, the state was left with more than 20,000 bottles of booze it could not sell or distribute to retailers.

Meanwhile, Kendall Jenner fans camp out in front of an Allen Park liquor store…? Nobody can ever explain to me why this is a thing, try as some may have.

The first round of water testing returned clean results after this weekend’s water main break in northeast Grand Rapids.

The city says Tuesday’s results are “a positive sign” but the boil-water advisory is still in effect. Visit the CDC’s website for more information.

We’re told the city’s water system has been flushed ahead of a second round of testing.