Free Republic

The TSA’s Freudian Craigslist Slip Either someone just attempted the subtlest of jabs at our nation's force of uncomfortably invasive rent-a-cops or the recruiters at the Transportation Security Administration need to invest in a better thesaurus. A job posting on the Ann Arbor, Michigan Craigslist invites would-be screeners to "[b]e part of a imperious security team protecting airports and skies as you proudly establish your future." Imperious, indeed. The Dictionary.com definition of imperious is "domineering in a haughty manner; dictatorial; overbearing." The definition from Google is even better, describing it as "assuming authority without justification." If it was a joke...

In a letter to President Barack Obama, University of Michigan President Mary Sue Coleman blamed the rising costs at state colleges on “declining state support.” “Higher education is a public good currently lacking public support,” Coleman wrote in her Dec. 16 letter. “There is no stronger trigger for rising costs at public universities and colleges than declining state support. The University of Michigan and our state’s 14 other public institutions have been ground zero for funding cuts.” The state is scheduled to give the University of Michigan and its two satellite campuses about $54 million less in 2011-2012 than the...

Superintendent Patricia Green told the Ann Arbor school board that she's taking new steps to close a so-called "discipline gap" and expects by March to outline a comprehensive district-wide plan to reach that goal. The information was presented Wednesday at a meeting when the Board of Education heard new student suspension data from the 2010-2011 academic year that shows consistent discipline disparity among students of different races and income levels. It’s no secret the district traditionally has had a disproportionate number of black, special needs and economically disadvantaged students be removed or suspended from the classroom, said Board President Deb...

The ACLU has sued the Ann Arbor Transportation Authority and CEO Michael Ford over the agency’s refusal to accept an advertisement calling for a boycott of Israel from pro-Palestinian activist Blaine Coleman of Ann Arbor.The lawsuit filed Monday in federal court in Detroit alleges AATA violated Coleman’s First Amendment right to free speech and 14th Amendment right to due process. It argues AATA’s policy is vague and overly broad. It asks the court to order AATA to display the advertisement under the same terms offered to other advertisers and to award Coleman damages, court costs and reasonable attorney fees...Coleman sent...

Ann Arbor officials are considering an expansion of the Greenbelt district boundaries one mile east into Salem Township and one mile west and south into Lodi Township.The Greenbelt Advisory Commission recommended the expansion plan at its Sept. 14 meeting, and GAC Chairman Dan Ezekiel, a local science teacher, appeared before the Ann Arbor City Council Monday night to lobby for its approval by council."The result would be to add seven sections in Lodi and three sections in Salem, and a section is a square mile," Ezekiel told council members.The council voted 9-1 to give initial approval to the expansion, with...

An increase in the amount of graffiti in downtown Ann Arbor and other parts of the city has city officials responding to what they consider a growing nuisance. In recent months, city officials say, there has been a clear increase in the amount of graffiti, which they argue detracts from the aesthetic appeal of the community, can decrease property values and has a negative impact on sense of safety and security. This graffiti has been on a building on the 300 block of East Liberty Street in downtown Ann Arbor for several weeks and has not been removed yet. It's...

An Ann Arbor Public School board member and president of the teacher’s union both underestimated the cost of hiring a teacher by more than 40 percent in a guest column the pair penned for a local newspaper. Glenn Nelson, a member of the school board, and Brit Satchwell, president of the Ann Arbor Education Association, wrote a guest column for Heritage Newspapers, in which they stated the average cost of a teacher including benefits was $65,000 in an article criticizing Gov. Rick Snyder’s budget cuts. But the average cost of a Michigan school teacher is about $94,195 while the average...

While the City of Ann Arbor has laid off police officers and eliminated positions from the fire department this year, it is sitting on $1.5 million that it has set aside for public art. The city has raised $2.7 million for public art since 2009, but has only spent $1.1 million on two art projects, according to a city official and public documents received in a Freedom of Information Act request. The city set up its “public arts” fund in 2007, with the City Council agreeing to take 1 percent of the money that went into capital improvement projects that...

A driver pulls up to the U.S. Post Office in downtown Ann Arbor and leaves the car running in a parking spot to go in and drop off a package in the outgoing mail.Another driver walks outside before leaving for work on a winter morning and starts their car to try and warm the car up before leaving for the officeUpon returning, both drivers - in these typical Ann Arbor scenarios - could find a $100 ticket pinned under a windshield wiper under a new ordinance that would ban idling vehicles in the city.The new law is being recommended to...

Paul Christensen cast his line deftly into the water. Seconds later, the line went taut and he went to work to reel in his catch. The outcome was never in doubt, but the fish was not giving up without a fight. After a couple of minutes, Christensen showed off his catch, a carp of about 5 pounds (more like 3 pounds), hooked on the soccer field at Fuller Park in Ann Arbor Friday. That’s right, a soccer field. “It’s sort of a making lemonade out of lemons situation,” said Dirk Fischbach of Saline, who came out with Christensen Friday to...

One of three men accused in a September armed robbery at a medical marijuana clinic in downtown Ann Arbor has pleaded guilty to various charges in the case. Terrence Robinson, 34, of Detroit, pleaded guilty Thursday in Washtenaw County Court to armed robbery, conspiracy to commit armed robbery, unlawful imprisonment and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony. He also pleaded no contest to resisting and obstructing police officers, Washtenaw County Chief Deputy Assistant Prosecutor Steve Hiller said. Police said Robinson and two other men robbed the Liberty Clinic on South Main Street at gunpoint at 8...

Al-Qaeda terrorist's son an Obama fundraiser Here's another 'associate' that Democratic Presidential candidate Barack Hussein Obama may want to throw under the bus. This is a Debbie Schlussel exclusive. Al Churbaji is a Syrian national currently living in Ann Arbor, Michigan, from where he is fighting the Department of Homeland Security's endeavors to deport him. If successful, this will be the second deportation for Al-Churbaji, after a return to the U.S. that violated federal immigration and deportation policies. More on that later. But even if Al-Churbaji is deported, at least two of his six children, a son and a daughter,...

The high-profile case the Action News Investigators broke has taken a new twist. Chris Armstrong, the student assembly president at the University of Michigan, dropped his request today for a personal protection order against Andrew Shirvell, who works as an assistant prosecutor in the Michigan Attorney General's office. Court documents say the request is being withdrawn because Armstrong has not been contacted by Shirvell since the request for the PPO was originally made. Armstrong created a blog blasting Armstrong for allegedly promoting a radical homosexual agenda on campus. Armstrong called police when Shirvell showed up outside his Ann Arbor home...

12, 2008 EXCLUSIVE: Who is Mohammed Al-Churbaji?:; Islamic Terrorist "Mr. Mom" Mohammed Al-Churbaji, Dad of Obama Fundraiser Worked for Azzam, Bin Laden * How hard it is to get rid of known terrorists in our midst and how easy it is for a deported Al-Qaeda terrorist to return to America; * How corrupt U.S. embassy officials get away with re-admitting terrorists into the U.S.; * How easily terrorists and their families gain acceptance by our society, including the Barack Obama Presidential campaign; * How America's universities are not tools of moderation for Muslim foreigners, but breeding grounds for terrorist fraternization...

The debate in Ann Arbor, where firefighters are being laid off due to a multimillion dollar budget deficit, is over an $850,000 piece of art. That's how much the city has agreed to pay German artist Herbert Dreiseitl for a three-piece water sculpture that would go in front of the new police and courts building right by the City Hall. The city has the money to do it because in 2007, it agreed to set aside for public art 1 percent of money that went into capital improvement projects that were $100,000 or larger. Most capital projects involve streets, sewers...

The Ann Arbor school district has ended a controversial black-student only program at Dicken Elementary School. “Lunch Bunch is no longer,” district spokeswoman Liz Margolis said in an e-mail to AnnArbor.com. “It will be discussed among staff and some parents and be reworked. It has a valuable goal of assisting children who are not performing well on the MEAP, and this effort will continue.” Dicken Principal Mike Madison drew criticism from parents following his decision last week to take members of the African-American Lunch Bunch on a field trip to hear a black rocket scientist at the University of Michigan...

An Ann Arbor elementary school principal used a letter home to parents tonight to defend a field trip for black students as part of his school’s efforts to close the achievement gap between white and black students. Dicken Elementary School Principal Mike Madison wrote the letter to parents following several days of controversy at the school after a field trip last week in which black students got to hear a rocket scientist. “In hindsight, this field trip could have been approached and arranged in a better way," Madison wrote. "But as I reflect upon the look of excitement, enthusiasm and...

An Ann Arbor elementary school principal used a letter home to parents tonight to defend a field trip for black students as part of his school’s efforts to close the achievement gap between white and black students. Dicken Elementary School Principal Mike Madison wrote the letter to parents following several days of controversy at the school after a field trip last week in which black students got to hear a rocket scientist. “In hindsight, this field trip could have been approached and arranged in a better way," Madison wrote. "But as I reflect upon the look of excitement, enthusiasm and...

The University of Michigan Diag was alive with the spirit of protest Thursday night as the Ann Arbor Tea Party Patriots took the stage to complain they'd been taxed enough already. The Tea Party phenomenon caught on last year, driven largely by opponents of President Barack Obama's legislative agenda. This year's Tax Day Tea Party focused on Obama's greatest success, the passage of health care reform designed to increase Americans' access to health insurance. ..... But while this year's Tea Party saw much greater attendance than last year's - 500 people versus 150 last year - a lot of its...

Air Force Research Laboratory-funded researchers at the University of Michigan invented a new type of magnetron that may be used in defeating enemy electronics. A vital component of military radar systems since World War II, a magnetron is a kind of vacuum tube that serves as the frequency source in microwave ovens, radar systems, and other high-power microwave circuits. The newly devised technology--which is more compact, exhibits faster start-up, and demonstrates higher peak and average power than current devices--should enable higher-power, higher-frequency operation and, thus, improved potential for jamming and defeat of adversarial systems. While basic magnetron design has changed...

Tenured Radical Goes Global Malcolm A. Kline, October 16, 2009 A professor whom Accuracy in Academia has covered extensively is getting ready to take his act on the road. “Juan Cole, the Richard P. Mitchell Collegiate Professor of History at the University of Michigan, produces a steady stream of writings that downplays the threat radical Islam poses to America and the West,” Jonathan Schanzer writes in The American Thinker. “His opinions are at odds with the beliefs of most Americans.” “Now, through a project designed to foster an understanding of America in the Arab world, he appears to be at...

The Motherhouse - view from heaven Ann Arbor, Mich., Aug 27, 2009 / 07:07 am (CNA).- Though the Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist in Ann Arbor are celebrating the completion of the construction of their Motherhouse, they are already near capacity, with 17 new sisters entering at the end of this week.  The community has grown from four sisters to 99 in less than 13 years and shows no signs of slowing down. The community of sisters, which has an average age of 26, was founded in 1997 by four Dominican sisters responding to John Paul...

I have been wondering for a year now which American city will be first to lose its only daily newspaper. The results are in, and the dubious distinction goes to Ann Arbor, Michigan, where the Newhouse family's Advance will shutter The Ann Arbor News in late July. Ann Arbor? Home to the huge University of Michigan, birthplace and headquarters of the Borders book chain and a pocket of relative prosperity with only light collateral damage from the auto industry, a literate place, population around 100,000, one might expect to be appreciative of what print newspapers offer. But some of those...

On the Edge with Thayrone X from WAAM AM 1600 AM, Peoples' Republic of Ann Arbor. Broadcasting from 4 to 6 pm est. If you're into Political Incorrectness, then listen and call in. http://www.waamannarbor.com/

Washtenaw County received a $4.1 million dose of stimulus money for its residential weatherization program. The program, which normally exists on a $350,000 annual budget, has 18 months to spend the money. Program coordinator Aaron Kraft said the funds should help assist some 600 low- to moderate-income households to make their homes more weather-proof. The program performs energy audits for homeowners. Based on the audit's findings, the program funds energy-saving retrofits like new insulation and efficient appliances. The program doesn't pay for aesthetic improvements such as new carpet or paint. An average of about $4,500 is spent per house.

DETROIT -- Big financial institutions have been battered by mortgages gone bad. But a tiny Michigan bank is getting attention in the industry by turning a profit on loans without even charging interest. Its specialty: financial products that comply with Islamic law. That means no collecting interest, no short selling and no contracts that are considered exceedingly risky. It also rules out some of the activity that got Western finance in trouble — subprime mortgages, credit default swaps and the like. "When you look at the economic crisis we're in, if you were to follow Islamic or Sharia financing, you...

In a decidedly Democratic town awash in a sea of Barack Obama political signs, William Wedemeyer knows he is going against the political grain with the McCain-Palin sign he proudly displays on the front lawn of his Ann Arbor home. Still, Wedemeyer was taken aback when he recently received a package in the mail addressed to "Joe Six Pack'' and containing a couple of bags of dog feces. He said he'd like a few minutes alone with whoever sent it. "I'd like to have a five-minute talk about First Amendment rights,'' said Wedemeyer, who lives on the 1000 block of...

Racist slurs were spray-painted across a large Barack Obama presidential campaign billboard alongside a heavily trafficked stretch of US-23 in Pittsfield Township sometime overnight Tuesday. And the U.S. Secret Service is investigating what now appears to be two threatening letters against Obama that were received in Livingston County, according to news reports. Michigan State Police were on the scene of the billboard Wednesday morning, and have called in for tracking dogs, police said. Black spray paint was used to draw three swastikas, symbols of Klan hoods and to write "KKK," "Rebel" and two racial slurs. The billboard, roughly 10 feet...

<p>What Happened At Three Ex-Terrorists Speaking Event At University of Michigan Last Night.</p> <p>"We should raise our flag, our American flag, and say, Allah bless America," Saleem said. "Because - after all - if we don't like her, we should leave her." Kamal Saleem, One of Three Ex-Terrorists Speakers.</p>

BAGHDAD, Iraq - U.S. National Intelligence Director John Negroponte met Friday with Iraq's prime minister in the second visit this week by a top U.S. official. The unannounced meeting comes amid spiraling violence that included seven American deaths and the discovery of 56 bodies in the Iraqi capital bearing signs of torture. The bodies found scattered around Baghdad were of Iraqi men between 20 and 45 years old, and all were apparent victims of sectarian death squads, police said Friday.All wore civilian clothes and had been bound at the wrists and ankles, police Lt. Mohammed Khayon said. He said the...

ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) — A bank that has been offering special services for Muslims for two years has now formed a subsidiary to focus solely on the religious group.The Ann Arbor-based University Bank has created University Islamic Financial Corp. to offer Muslims home financing, deposit accounts and Islamic mutual fund shares."The formation of the subsidiary allows us to have a financial institution which is 100 percent in compliance with the Muslim Shariah, the legal code of the Islamic religion," bank President and Chairman Stephen Lange Ranzini told The Ann Arbor News for a Saturday story.Among the laws of Shariah...

An oversupply in housing that has been troubling other southeast Michigan communities has hit Washtenaw County in full force. The result has been stagnant home values for the past two years. There's also evidence that values may be depreciating slightly as competition forces down prices. Experts say the poor Michigan economy, coupled with a flood of new houses, has created the strong buyer's market. "The inventory is greater than Ann Arbor really has ever seen,'' said Elizabeth Brien, a leading agent with the Charles Reinhart Co., a real estate firm dealing with properties throughout Washtenaw County. "And I think it's...

Lone Republican won't run for re-election Reid to give up seat on Ann Arbor City Council Saturday, April 30, 2005 BY TOM GANTERT News Staff Reporter Saying he wants to spend more time with his family, the Ann Arbor City Council's lone Republican said he will not seek re-election to a third term. Mike Reid, R-2nd Ward, said he is stepping down after four years. Reid's departure gives Democrats an opportunity to claim all 11 seats on the council. "That would be - I hate to say the word 'travesty' - but it would be," said Marlene Chockley, treasurer of...

Appeals court tosses same-sex benefits case on technicality 4/15/2005, 4:53 p.m. ET By DAVID EGGERT The Associated Press LANSING, Mich. (AP) — The state appeals court on Friday dismissed a challenge to the Ann Arbor school district's same-sex benefits policy but avoided the bigger legal issue by tossing out the case on a technicality. The court said 17 taxpayers, represented by a Christian law group, failed to follow the proper procedures for halting the alleged misappropriation of public dollars. Barring an appeal to the Michigan Supreme Court, the ruling means the broader issue will be decided by a lower court,...

Scalia Sounds Off on Religious Rulings ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) - U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia said Tuesday that judges should look to historical practices when ruling on religious issues. Speaking at the University of Michigan, Scalia criticized judges for using what he called "abstractions" to interpret religious issues when they should be looking to the text of the Constitution itself. "The Constitution says what it says and does not say what it does not say," he said. Scalia's appearance was sponsored by Ave Maria School of Law, a private school in Ann Arbor backed by Domino's Pizza founder...

Public School Must Pay for Censoring Christian Student 10/21/2004 By Anne F. Downey, Esq. Panel discussion bans traditional Biblical viewpoint on homosexuality. A federal district judge has ordered Michigan’s Ann Arbor Public Schools to pay $102,738 in attorney fees and costs in a case involving a high school’s refusal to let a Christian student express her views on homosexuality. In March 2002, at Pioneer High School’s “Diversity Week” program, Elizabeth “Betsy” Hansen, then a senior, was told she could not express her Roman Catholic viewpoint at the school’s “Homosexuality and Religion” panel discussion. The school also discriminated in limiting members...

Democratic lawmakers say law keeps college students from voting 9/26/2004, 8:22 a.m. ET By DAVID EGGERT The Associated Press EAST LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Kurtis Hussler, an 18-year-old Michigan State University sophomore welcoming any excuse for a study break, heard a knock on his dorm room door the other night. The visitor was a member of the MSU College Democrats who, after a brief introduction, asked: "Are you registered to vote?" Hussler signed up within minutes. Though he had wanted to vote in November, the Cass City electrical engineering major admitted he would not have gotten around to registering. "I...

I have been receiving these SPAMS about twice a week. They appear to be generated from an IP that is part of the University of Michigan campus network. I called the U of M hotline to report abuse of their system, but I have a suspicion that the perp may be someone with admin privileges. Here is the SPAM (recipient email addresses have been removed for privacy) I am including only the first few paragraphs of this SPAM since it is so sickening. ----------------------------------------- Return-Path: Received: from inbound-mx8.atl.registeredsite.com ([64.224.219.118]) by imta03a2.registeredsite.com with ESMTP id <20040922010630.HBTN6886.imta03a2.registeredsite.com@inbound-mx8.atl.registeredsite.com> for <>; Tue, 21 Sep...

Police say a 21-year-old man dressed as Superman attacked some motorists in Ann Arbor early Sunday. A group of men stopped their car to talk to some friends outside an Ann Arbor home when the alleged attacker jumped out from behind some bushes and into the vehicle, "I guess this young man jumped in the back seat of the victim's vehicle and just started hitting him and when the victim attempted to call using his cell phone, (Superman) grabbed the cell phone and he stomped on it," said Sgt. Angella Abrams, of the Ann Arbor Police Department. The victims said...

Election problems serious, council told Former Ann Arbor city clerk says another disaster could happen Wednesday, April 7, 2004 BY TOM GANTERT News Staff Reporter Ann Arbor is unprepared for the November general election and would face "another serious disaster" if it were to hold an election anytime soon, the City Council was told Tuesday night. Winifred Northcross, the retired city clerk brought in by the city to examine the city's election readiness, said the clerk's office is in turmoil and there aren't enough qualified, experienced poll workers at the city's 48 polling precincts. The city recently fired the previous...

Politics and religion collide Pickets offend members of Beth Israel congregation Monday, March 29, 2004 BY LISA KLIONSKY News Staff Reporter They fan out on the sidewalk along Washtenaw Avenue, carrying large, blue-and-white signs reading "Free Palestine," "Stop U.S. Aid to Israel," and "Universalism not Zionism." They number a dozen or so. And they've been protesting each Saturday - the Jewish Sabbath - in front of the Beth Israel Congregation for more than six months. The weekly protest has been staged by a fledgling group known as Jewish Witnesses for Peace and friends that includes Jewish and Palestinian members. The...

<p>The anonymous posters began to speckle the campus of St. Lawrence University in upstate New York last month. They carried an eye-grabbing message--"Republicans: The Other White Meat."</p> <p>Elizabeth Wardell, a senior, thought she knew who was responsible for their appearance: a certain assistant professor with the reputation of a provocateur. Surfing around her school's Web site, she landed on the sociology department's homepage and read a paragraph about Robert J. Torres. Then she clicked on his name and was transported to his personal blog. There, Ms. Wardell--who is president of the local College Republicans--discovered an entry headlined "Fascist, Racist College Republicans."</p>

A lawsuit filed Monday by a conservative group seeks to block the Ann Arbor Public School District from providing insurance benefits for same-sex couples, an option offered in its employee contracts. The Thomas More Law Center, which wants to stop tax money from supporting those benefits, claims that the district's policy is an attempt to institutionalize same-sex marriage. But backers of such policies say they ensure equal compensation among employees. The civil suit filed in Washtenaw County Circuit Court says the district's contracts violate a 1996 Michigan law that defines marriage as "inherently a unique relationship between a man and...

NEWS UPDATE  January 27, 2003 Student?s Pro-Life T-shirt Is Equivalent to the Swastika Says School Principal; Thomas More Law Center Enters Fray ANN ARBOR, MI ? The mother of an honor student at Abington Junior High School in Pennsylvania was told by the principal that her son?s pro-life t-shirt was unacceptable school clothing because its message was the equivalent of the swastika.  The t-shirt displayed the messages, ?Abortion is Homicide.  You will not silence my message.  You will not mock my God.  You will stop killing my generation.  Rock for Life.? This past November, the principal told the student to either cover...

TOTAL Dick Jennifer DIFFERENTIAL Posthumus % Granholm % COUNTY BY Posthumus Granholm CODE/NAME COUNTY REP DEM 01 ALCONA 4,587 2,387 2,165 -222 52% 47% 02 ALGER 3,524 1,623 1,855 232 46% 53% 03 ALLEGAN 34,835 21,694 12,772 -8,922 62% 37% 04 ALPENA 11,223 4,722 6,391 1,669 42% 57% 05 ANTRIM 9,457 5,576 3,752 -1,824 59% 40% 06 ARENAC 5,516 2,611 2,821 210 47% 51% 07 BARAGA 2,480 1,170 1,263 93 47% 51% 08 BARRY 20,266 11,943 8,136 -3,807 59% 40% 09 BAY 39,759 18,001 21,190 3,189 45% 53% 10 BENZIE 6,625 3,480 3,036 -444 53% 46% 11 BERRIEN 40,845...

ANN ARBOR, Michigan (AP) - Movie bad guy Steven Berkoff has played a nemesis to stars ranging from Eddie Murphy to Sylvester Stallone. ...Berkoff met his match in U.S. immigration officials and was deported before he could take the stage, apparently for a visa violation. Berkoff was sent home Tuesday after being detained by U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service agents at Detroit Metropolitan Airport on allegations that he had violated the stipulations of a previous work visa issued in 1997, Summer Festival Director Evy Warshawski and Berkoff's American agent, Joe Ajlouny, told The Ann Arbor News...

<p>WASHINGTON — A potential primary in the suburbs of Michigan, which would pit the dean of the U.S. House against the darling of academia, could turn bitter if two Democratic incumbents are forced to go head to head for their political survival.</p>

Pro-gun group ready for fight Director urges easing of concealed weapon restrictions; prosecutor not warmly received. Thursday, April 4, 2002 By PATTY MAHER NEWS STAFF REPORTER The executive director of the Michigan Coalition for Responsible Gun Owners told a group of about 75 gun enthusiasts gathered Wednesday night at Webster Township Hall that he'll lead them in a fight to make Michigan the envy of gun lovers in Florida, Nevada and Texas. Ross Dykman told the crowd they are powerful "ambassadors of the gun movement" and urged them to vigorously support pro-gun candidates with endorsements, money and letters to local...

Washtenaw meeting with Prosecutor Mackie! April 3rd. Submitted on: April 1, 2002 Chapter Event - Washtenaw County Town Hall Meeting - Webster Township Hall Date: Wednesday, April 03 Time: 7:30 PM Location: Webster Township Hall 5665 Webster Church Road Dexter, MI 48130 Description: Special guest speakers: Gene DeRossett, District 55 House Representative Brian Mackie, Washtenaw County Prosecutor. Come meet one of our most pro-gun legislators and listen to and question Prosecutor Brian Mackie, chair of the gun board that has rejected more applicants per capita than any other board in Michigan. Many of you remember Mr. mackie from his debate...