Up North Progressive
Politics and commentary for Northern MichiganThe Media Are As Liberal As The Republicans Who Own Them: GOP Primary Candidates Gonna Take Their Ball and Go Home
Saturday , 31, October 2015 Elections, Presidential Primary 2016 Leave a comment
The Up North Progressive has been really busy these past couple of weeks getting adjusted to the new full time job and frankly more interested in the giant (or as Trump would say, “yooge”) Coprinopsis atramentaria coming up in the front yard than the current state of chaos within the GOP, but the recent blow up over the LIEberal media and the last GOP primary debate proves anyone who votes Republican in 2016 is a dangerous, deranged lunatic.
The best part about last Wednesday’s debate happened during the kiddie table session. Lindsey Graham won by being the most inebriated and ranting about where he wanted to shove his fist in every dictator in the world as warmonger in chief.
Because CNBC covers financial news, the candidates were expected to answer questions about their financial plans for the country. None of these guys have financial plans, which is why all of the candidates either played “I don’t like your question, so I’m going to answer the question I wish you’d asked instead” or blew up at the moderators using the Sarah Palin complaint to deflect away their incompetence. The fantasy football question was legit – that’s the level of intelligence the moderators knew they were dealing with.
Rubio thinks it will help the economy to keep hard-to-fill jobs vacant for half a year. Ben Carson has no clue what his tax cut plan would do, except make God happy because his tax plan comes from the bible. Jeb Bush talks about how much he likes Charles Murray’s take on poverty. Donald Trump thinks toughing it out financially includes dad giving you a million bucks. Rand Paul wants government so small he can barely see it. Huckabee, Ted Cruz, and the rest, send them all to Gilligan’s Island, they can do less harm there.
And it seems that’s the plan, because yesterday the news was full of how the campaigns were revolting against Reince Priebus and the RNC. Seems the GOP candidates really are taking their ball and going home. Priebus begged to be included, but he’s shut out of the meeting.
NBC received a letter from the GOP stating their February GOP debate was suspended, but it’s not enough. The candidates want debates where they can drone on about their religiousyness, their ideology about what they think America should be, and how they should be in charge of a government they want to shut down.
The GOP candidates hate the debates because they have nothing to debate about but ideology. The GOP is out of real solutions for anything, backed themselves into a corner failing to stop everything the White House accomplished despite their best efforts, and now they’re fighting each other to win a presidency that slips further and further away with every election cycle. Out of touch and running out of time. Just like their animal mascot: Very possibly extinct within 50 years.
@Todd_Courser Knows All About Fabricating Evidence: Attempted Translation of Most Recent Convoluted Word Salad
Sunday , 25, October 2015 Candidates, Elections, Tea Party 2 Comments
Someone should really tell tea party poster child Todd “5head” Courser that his best strategy at this point to win the primary election in his district is stop typing random words into the computer and sharing them with the Internet as part of his “on slot” to convince the voters in his district it’s a good idea reelecting him to a government seat he already resigned. His response probably would be to “pray about it” first, or something. He posted another stream of unconsciousness this morning, so let’s open up our big book of thinking errors and see if we can’t decipher this into something coherent, shall we?
Why do I continue to fight about the processes and share all of the intricacies of what goes on in the state house with you?
Too bad you didn’t do your job when you were in the state house. Lying to your constituents is why you’re not in the state house now.
Well, isn’t that what being a State Representative does…protects the voice and vote of the people of his District? If that isn’t what you want in a rep then choose someone else.
Those voices in your head are not your people, Todd. Hate to break it to you. If you listened to actual voting members in your district, you would notice they use things like grammar every day. Don’t worry, they will choose someone other than you in a couple of weeks.
I am asked why I agreed to the house report. I didn’t! I admitted to having personal conversations on state property and I stated that I didn’t have time to read the entire report, so I couldn’t agree to it. I NEVER agreed to the house report. I NEVER agreed to the misuse of state resources, other than having personal conversations on state property.
See what he did there? By not reading the report he can deny his own personal responsibility. “If I didn’t read it, I can’t agree to it!” And the ‘personal conversations’ are the afternoons he spent giving Cindy Gamrat foot rubs in his SUV before heading to the hotel for more ‘personal conversations’.
In the report you can read how the official and political work were separated. Many of the emails were from outside of state time. These men worked for me politically, after hours, not just with me at the state house. The committee wanted me to agree and then later made up that I agreed to the house report. The media then said I agreed, but I never agreed to the house report. Not all of what you read and hear in the media is true – in the case of the media surrounding all of this, most of what you have read is not true, just partial truths.
Confusing? It’s supposed to be. By rambling along that “they” wanted him to agree, and how they said he agreed and the media reported he agreed, but he really didn’t agree … you’re supposed to get the impression that no one can possibly know what really happened.
And who are ‘these men who worked for me’?
What we do know is that these men, who were placed as staffers in my office, were secretly working with my political enemies in the Speaker’s Office from the beginning of my term and they made these baseless, never proven, allegations.
Conspiracy! Let’s just maximize this victim stance as far as we can possibly stretch it. EVERYONE WAS OUT TO GET ME!
We also know these men didn’t testify as to the voracity of their claims – never put under oath, never forced to testify and I was never allowed to cross examine them. I gave hours of testimony on the House Business Report’s ridiculous findings which were put together by the House Business Office, who work for, you guessed it, the Speaker along with these former staffers.
This is the same report he didn’t read so he couldn’t agree to it. Amazing, isn’t it, how he just knows the report is a big pile of lies because he didn’t read it?
Their report was based on testimony from former staffers – who were never called to testify under oath. Claims were made and then those claims were used by the machine to claim all sorts of things that I was not allowed to explain or to cross examine those who made the claims.
They were always out to get him from the moment he was assigned his seat!
There was plenty of unsubstantiated junk in the House Business Report, but little evidence of wrong doing. That is probably why they didn’t do a full investigation, didn’t call witnesses and didn’t force the former staffers to testify under oath.
Once again, stuff he knows for sure because he didn’t read the report.
This was a political hit by my enemies
Of course it was.
who are the actual employers of the former staffers who made these allegations and who were assigned to my office. I didn’t agree to the House Business Report of half-truths and things taken out of context. The summary itself had many mistakes, which could have easily been explained had they questioned me. To say I lie, because the former staffers said so, is okay. However, if I say and prove that the former staffers lie, I can’t be believed…even with concrete proof.
And his proof is the pile of assumptions he’s making about a report he didn’t read and the paranoid delusions about what his former staffers were up to in his office. Very concrete proof. That Cooley Law School education is doing you proud.
To have a system where you can be accused of something you never did and never be allowed to explain or ask questions of those accusing you, is abominable. To be accused and condemned with no evidence to substantiate any claims, is wrong.
Blame blame blame blame blame. It’s everyone else’s fault but mine. Don’t these people understand what a special snowflake I am, therefore their rules don’t apply to me?
Why do I continue to fight about the processes and share all of the intricacies of what goes on in the state house with you? Well, isn’t that what being a State Representative does…protects the voice and vote of the people of his District?
You lose points for using your opening paragraph as your ending paragraph.
This is not the pleading of a poor, misunderstood man fighting against a Goliath of a political machine with conspiracy and intrigue around every corner of the capital. This is criminal behavior. Todd Courser didn’t do anything wrong. Everyone else is out to get him. He’s maligned by the real wrongdoers. The sad part is even after he loses the primary election next month, it won’t be the last time he tosses another word salad on the world wide web.
The Liberal Party won the federal election in a landslide victory, ensuring a majority in the Canadian parliament and a new Prime Minister – Justin Trudeau.
The son of the late Prime Minister, Pierre Elliott Trudeau, the 42 year old politician lead his party to victory. They will have the majority in parliament, while Stephen Harper’s Conservative party will be the opposition. Justin Trudeau is the youngest Prime Minister in Canada’s history.
Mulcaire’s NDP did very poorly tonight, and some speculate this could (or should) make Mulcaire resign.
So far, the Greens have one seat.
Stephen Harper is out after nine long years. He will be remembered for gutting environmental standards in Canada, proroguing parliament, which is a fancy way of saying canceling the entire session until the next term starts, and most recently and expertly illustrated by John Oliver, signed into law the Zero Tolerance for Barbaric Cultural Practices Act, which essentially banned Muslim women from wearing Niqab. No one will miss Stephen Harper, and Canadians everywhere can ask the really important questions, such as, “is it safe to smoke weed again?” and, “can we tell the Americans where they can shove the F-35 now?”
Congratulations, Canada, on a new Liberal government and Prime Minister.
Todd Courser The Perpetual Poster Child of Conservative Values
Monday , 19, October 2015 Candidates, Tea Party, Tealiban Leave a comment
Todd Courser really wants his old job back. He also enjoys writing long streams of questionable consciousness and posting them on the internet intentionally, as if that in any way will persuade people he’s the right guy for the job he quit and wants back. Last night he posted once again another diatribe full of large chunks of text that was bolded, underlined, and italicized all at the same time. Someone needs to tell him that it doesn’t add emphasis if you use the bold, italics and underline options for the whole text. Or better yet, don’t.
He’s since changed it, but the original title text stated he was the right choice to fight against the “Liberal on slot.” First, when Todd talks about liberals, he doesn’t mean Democratic Party members, he’s talking about the less rabidly conservative members of his own party. They’re not “conservative” enough, meaning not all Republicans have the same high level of moral values that Todd does. If establishment Republicans are the new progressives and liberals, what does that make actual liberals and progressives? It’s fascinating to watch the tea party so narrowly define true conservatism to a level that the majority of Republicans can’t come close.
What Todd doesn’t get, and it seems most “true” conservatives don’t get, is that it doesn’t matter the level of your moral high ground if you’re shtupping your tea party cohort on the side. Dennis Hastert just plead guilty to paying one of his former students millions of dollars to keep quiet about the former high school wrestling coach sexually assaulting him. He sat on the committee that investigated President Bill Clinton for lying about his affair with Monica Lewinsky. Conservative icon Margaret Thatcher preached Ayn Rand levels of conservative values while at the same time used her office to shield members of the Paedophile Information Exchange from prosecution. The Duggar name will always be associated with child sexual assault and having sex with prostitutes, not the crazy shepherding quiverfull religious cult the family belongs to. The list is long of “conservative” values politicians and religious leaders behaving like degenerate scum when they think no one is looking.
To Todd Courser, Kevin McCarthy, Josh Duggar, Cindy Gamrat, Dennis Hastert, and all of the other holier than thou conservatives trying to force their morality down America’s throat. Your moral high ground doesn’t mean squat without ethics. Try being a decent human being before telling everyone else what’s right or wrong.
Heading Up North on US 127? Refuel in Houghton Lake
Saturday , 17, October 2015 Community Leave a comment
For the past month, three gas stations next to the US 127 exit in Houghton Lake have waged a price war with each other for the cheapest gas. Unleaded on October 16, 2015 at one gas station was $1.81 a gallon. In September the low price was $1.36. Most other gas stations in area are between $2.33 to $2.38.
The three gas stations involved – Marathon, Citgo, and B & B along M 55 are involved with the gas war. None of them have said why the price war is going on or how long it will last.
With firearm deer season coming up and archery deer season underway, many people who travel in the autumn will find the cheapest gas around in Houghton Lake. No one knows how long it will last, so fill up while you still can.
Parents Teachers School Districts and Now the Michigan Department of Education Speaks Out against House Bill 4822
Thursday , 15, October 2015 Section 16 2 Comments
Any time you have DeVos money GLEP in favor of something, you know it has to be a bad idea. H.B. 4822 is a really bad idea.
H.B. 4822 requires third grade students to receive a satisfactory score on their ELA standardized mandatory state tests or repeat the third grade. The teacher has no say, the school has no say, but most importantly the parents have no say in whether this happens or not. It would be a blanket, across the board judgement on any third grade student who doesn’t do well on a standardized test. The state will decide if your child can continue on to 4th grade or not, without considering other options that would help the child improve.
Near the end of the school year this spring the state papers published an article meant to scare parents and politicians into believing Michigan’s 4th graders were doing so badly in school, Michigan was going to rank dead last in achievement in reading. The slick 48 page report, chock full of graphics and bright colors didn’t provide any real evidence that Michigan’s 4th graders were failing. In fact, the Michigan Department of Education posted three months previously that 4th graders improved for the fourth straight year in a row. The article was a hit piece from Education Trust, an organization responsible for No Child Left Behind, the education law forced on American public schools during the Bush administration and predictably failed in every way.
School districts in the state are so concerned about the real damage H.B. 4822 will do to Michigan’s schools, that so far, Plymouth-Canton, Lincoln, and East Lansing Public Schools have all issued resolutions against the bill. The superintendent of Dexter Community Schools openly stated his concerns about the cost of H.B. 4822 on their school district. The bill’s supporters do not seem to understand that there is no money in any school budget in the state that will allow for hiring extra reading coaches for these students, not to mention the extra cost of holding back potentially thousands of students every year to repeat the third grade.
On Tuesday, October 13, 2015, the Michigan Department of Education issued a memo stating their concerns with H.B. 4822 and the impact it will have on public education in the state.
While the State Board of Education is a strong supporter of … positive strategies,
the board remains opposed to the concept of “Smart Promotion/Retention,” which
currently remains in the bill. While there are situations where retaining students in
their current grade is warranted, that decision needs to be decided on case-by-case
basis, between educators and parents. It should not be automatic.
Instead of requiring retention at the state level, the State Board of Education
recommends requiring local districts to develop an enforceable local plan related to
retention/promotion, which shall be approved by the Michigan Department of
Education.
The State Board of Education urges members of the state Legislature to provide the
supports and positive strategies to help all students read at grade level, without the
mandate of grade retention that currently is written in House Bill 4822.
And the MDE exposes the purpose of H.B. 4822. This bill is not designed in any way to improve 4th grade reading achievement scores, but to put more of a burden on cash-strapped school districts forcing them to pay for expensive programs and services they don’t have the funding to provide.
Remember this rule: If GLEP likes it, it’s bad for Michigan. Dick and Betsy DeVos are dedicated to using their money and influence to eradicate public education from the United States. They have pushed their agenda on the state of Michigan for decades, and will not stop until they get everything they want. The state house could be voting on this bill today, please contact your state representative and urge them to vote no on H.B. 4822.
The Things You Find on the Side of the Road and Castlebond No More
Monday , 12, October 2015 Gateway To Success Academy, Section 16 2 CommentsAutumn is a season of changes. The days grow cooler, the leaves change color, and everyone prepares for the coming winter. On rare days when the air is clear and the weather is still pleasant, a drive along country roads to enjoy the color, stop at a farmer’s market to buy pumpkins, apples and fresh brown eggs, or just enjoy the scenery can make the day perfect.
Imagine the Up North Progressive’s joy to find this:
That’s right, a screen-printed canvas stretched over the old grocery store sign on Main Street in Scottville! This is the location of the new for-profit charter school going up in the area, Gateway To Success Academy. Gateway To Success is the brain child of Jamie Bandstra, the former principal of Journey Junior Senior High School.
Recently, a ground breaking ceremony took place at the sight of the old market, officially beginning the transformation of the former Foster’s Market into a for-profit school based on San Diego’s High Tech High. How much progress has been made so far?
Bare studs holding up the roof, with some building material piled on top. It has the look of the skeletal remains of an animal. And then of course there’s the famous portajohn that Gateway To Success Academy’s Facebook page cheered about.
Things are really happening now. Castlebond Enterprises is probably pleased to see the progress being made on the for-profit charter school they will be managing …
Wait a minute? What’s this? Just like the leaves on the trees, there seems to be a change with Gateway To Success’s management.
Here is a screen grab of the Michigan Department of Education listing for Gateway To Success Academy a month ago …
And this is what it looks like now.
In fact, this listing was updated today. What prompted Gateway To Success to make the change from Castlebond Enterprises to “self-managed”? The answer is recorded in the charter school board’s meeting minutes somewhere. Maybe. You do know those are supposed to be posted to the public, right?
Changes in the wind, like falling leaves blown from the trees. Bundle up, it’s getting cold outside.
Lessig Supporter Insists Up North Progressive is Being Dishonest: Another Opportunity To Make A Point That Lessig’s Campaign Is All About The Money
Sunday , 11, October 2015 Uncategorized Leave a comment
Larry Lessig wants to be included in the Democratic Party debates. There’s a better chance Brian Boyko, his former May Day PAC marketer/CTO, will actually do something that makes him appear sane. No, Brian Boyko is not working on Lessig’s campaign, although he is a moderator on the campaign’s subreddit. He’s been busy doing other things this election season:
That’s right, our boy Boyko is too busy with another PAC to really help out with a campaign. Have you noticed a trend with Larry Lessig and Brian Boyko? Their political campaigns always focus on raising money through small private donations, but there is never any plan with how they will effectively use that money. Does anyone honestly think Lessig’s Equal Citizens proposal has a chance? This is why the Up North Progressive jokingly suggested Lessig wanted to be elected so he could retire and collect the lifelong compensation for being even less effective as president than William Henry Harrison.
That didn’t sit too well with this person from Carbondale, Illinois, because he even made up an email address and screen name to rant about it. Meet 1234f***you@gmail.com aka DownSouthProgressive:
You honestly believe that he wants to be president for the retirement benefits? You have got to be fucking shitting me
Yes, I was kidding about running for president for the White House pay. The problem is Lessig is not kidding about running for president and then resigning as soon as he waves his magic copyright law wand over Congress and they give him everything he wants, because that’s what Congress does, right? So now instead of give us money so we can get money out of politics, it’s give me money so I can get elected and get money out of politics, somehow. Have you ever noticed how vague these plans of Lessig’s are with no real methodology of how he is going to accomplish his grand ideas?
He raised a million dollars on September 6, then offered golden tickets “fora chance” to join him in Nevada to watch the first debate. “Give me even more money and I will invite you to something I haven’t even been invited to yet.”
Let’s cleanse the palate with a little more performance art from Brian Boyko.
If that’s not enough, here are some powerpoint presentations made by Boyko on various ideas to make lots of money. The best one is “An Insane Plan” that he came up with before May Day PAC.
So what are Lessig’s real motives for running for president and demanding to be allowed to debate the other Democratic candidates? He gives a hint to what he’s really thinking the point of him running for president in the last quoted sentence in this New York Times article:
If he is shut out of the first two debates, however, Mr. Lessig acknowledged that it would most likely be time to pack it in and write about the experience.
“I didn’t intend this as a research project, but I’m sure after it’s over I’ll be reflecting on the craziness of it,” he said.
And there you have it from the presidential candidate’s own mouth. He knows this was over before it ever started. Convince people to give him money so he can gather research and write another book about it. Up North Progressive eagerly awaits more expletives in the comment section.
Here, have another Brian Boyko video, this time he berates John McCain for hatin’ on Dungeons and Dragons.
Michigan State University Asking Hunters to Take Feral Swine Survey
Friday , 9, October 2015 DNR, Environment, Upper Peninsula Leave a comment
Do you hunt in Michigan? Have you encountered or seen feral swine while in the field? Michigan State University is conducting a study on the impact of invasive wild boars in Michigan. They need hunters to complete a survey as part of their research.
Feral Swine are a serious problem in the United States. In southern states like Florida, Mississippi, and Texas, feral swine cause millions of dollars in damage to forests and agriculture. The population of feral swine is so large there is no way the pigs will ever be eradicated, and management programs instead try to keep the population from growing too fast.
The Michigan DNR insists feral swine are a real problem, and they have been taking strong measures to eradicate the population before it becomes an epidemic in Michigan, as it has in the Southern United States. In 2010 a law was passed that allows hunters in the field to shoot any and all feral pigs on sight, regardless of the hunting season. If you’re hunting squirrel and see a feral pig, you can shoot it. Good luck bringing down an adult wild pig with a squirrel gun, but you get the idea.
In 2011 the Michigan DNR decided they had to eliminate any possibility of pigs going wild in the state by aggressively going after farmers who raised Sus scrofa as livestock. These pigs were introduced by farmers raising them for meat, or for hunting vacation packages such as in the Upper Peninsula. A new invasive species order made it illegal to raise “exotic” or “heritage” pigs for meat or sport hunting, including pigs cross-bred with domestic pigs. Pig farmers all over the state were ordered by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources to kill off their stock or pay hefty fines. These pig farmers pointed out that one of the groups behind the invasive species order was the Michigan Pork Producers Association.
So now a survey to find out if feral pigs are as widespread as the Michigan DNR claims is available. You need to be a Michigan resident and 18 years old to participate in the survey.
Why Larry Lessig Needs To Be In The Democratic Party Debates
Thursday , 8, October 2015 Candidates, Presidential Primary 2016 2 Comments
For starters, people might actually watch them. Secondly, so Lessig can be exposed for the scam artist he really is.
The Democratic Party set their debate schedule for the 2016 presidential primary in August. In September, Larry Lessig announced he was running as the uncandidate with the intention of resigning as soon as he accomplishes the one thing that he wants to do after being elected: A citizen’s equality act that will require constitutional conventions and a fully cooperative congress to pass. There is no time frame on when this act would be accomplished, but Lessig seems to think it would happen in a matter of weeks. Once it’s done, he can retire and kick back with the lifetime pay and benefit package courtesy of the taxpayers of the United States.
Nothing makes the Up North Progressive grin with glee than a presidential candidate promising to resign once elected. Ask who the best president in U.S. history is and the response will be, “William Henry Harrison.” Remember two years ago with Lessig’s May Day PAC scheme? This was the plan to get money out of politics by putting more money into politics. Unfortunately, many people were duped into donating to the scam. The money went to candidates who had no chance of winning and paid for radio ads no one listened to. This year the Kochs are spending a billion on elections. Larry Lessig sure learned them!
Back to the first Democratic Party debate. Lessig needs to be there so the moderator can ask him one question: Where did you dig up Brian Boyko?
If you want to see how serious someone is about getting into politics, just take a look at who’s working for him. The Up North Progressive first encountered Brian Boyko at the Something Awful forums, where he posted a thread in a politics discussion forum right after registering an account, then proceeded to beg for money for MayOne.us. He didn’t realize his big mistake quite fast enough and the forum goons had a big laugh at his expense.
It was obvious from the MayDay PAC website there was no plan to use the money they raised to fight Citizens United. Add to that tea party candidates (who lost) received funds along with other political parties (who also lost), and it’s clear there was no strategy other than to raise money because if you market something right, people will throw their money at you. Brian Boyko is a marketer. Take a look at Lessig’s campaign website and find the plan where he will actually accomplish what he says he will if elected president.
People were duped two years ago, and anyone who puts an iota of effort into helping Larry Lessig run for president is being duped again. There is no way he is serious, and considering that Brian Boyko is still working for him, this is likely another scam to get more money. Caveat Emptor.
