Free Republic

The news from Dearborn is sunny, except for the auto maker's labor relations. A year ago, Ford Motor Co. steered clear of the auto industry's version of the "public option." You know, a government-funded bankruptcy. Maybe the decision wasn't entirely altruistic. Plan B, as in bankruptcy, would have ended more than a century of Ford family control. Whatever the motives, Ford chose a private solution for regaining its corporate health, and today the patient is walking without a government crutch. Last week Consumer Reports gave the company quality ratings comparable to those of Honda and Toyota. On Monday, Ford reported...

He didn’t start 13 successful companies and secure more than 200 patents over 40 years by giving up when things got tough. Perseverance drove Robert Fischell to success. Sticking with an idea they believe can work is his best advice for other inventors aiming to get their innovation to the marketplace. “The harder I work, the luckier I get,” Fischell said Wednesday in a keynote address on medical device innovation at the annual MichBio Expo in Kalamazoo. “Give yourself the opportunity to get lucky. When you think of something, don’t just let it go. Figure out a new way to...

No stops are planned in Seattle, San Francisco, Philadelphia, Los Angeles and other major cities and book-buying communities that are standard for authors on the road, but where the voters tend to be Democrats. Beyond a Nov. 16 television interview with Oprah Winfrey, nothing is scheduled for Chicago. New York will feature media appearances only. Instead, the itinerary for Palin, whose "Going Rogue" comes out Nov. 17, includes Noblesville, Ind.; Washington, Pa.; and Rochester, N.Y. "She wants to be unconventional. She is unconventional," HarperCollins spokeswoman Tina Andreadis said Wednesday....

Unfortunately for America the Islamic dominance in sections of Michigan is growing stronger, and stronger. Will the Islamic influence there get as bad as it is in the UK? Time will tell... NOV. 4, 2009 Muslims given strong role in Hamtramck BY NIRAJ WARIKOO FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER After Tuesday's election, Muslims are to make up half of the city council members in Hamtramck, a percentage believed by advocates to be the highest Muslim representation in a municipality in the United States.

GRAND RAPIDS-- Sarah Palin will be coming to the Woodland Mall Barnes & Noble store in Grand Rapids Nov. 18, her first stop on a tour promoting her book "Going Rogue." The Associated Press reports Palin's tour will begin the day after the book is released and two days after she is interviewed by Oprah Winfrey. A local Barnes & Noble spokesperson confirmed Palin will be at the Woodland store at 3670 28th St SE. Palin, the former Alaska governor and vice presidential candidate, will make appearances around the country. HarperCollins spokeswoman Tina Andreadis said Wednesday that the tour will...

Former state Rep. Mike Nofs began courting Jackson County voters before there was a vacancy in the 19th Senate District. After Mark Schauer was elected to Congress last fall, Nofs started the New Year with more than $100,000 in his campaign war chest. He never lost his fundraising lead over state Rep. Martin Griffin, D-Jackson, which, combined with his message of lower taxes and job growth, translated into a convincing win in Tuesday night's special election. The Battle Creek Republican defeated Griffin 19,508 to 11,105, with three precincts yet to report at press time. "I think we worked hard. I...

MOUNT CLEMENS, Mich. — A Michigan judge says a man who claims he was chased, shot and beaten by workers at a store he'd just robbed can sue the men.....The 23-year-old filed a lawsuit against the store, its owner and three employees in April. Zielinski was shot twice and claims he was excessively beaten.

The city that was once one of the wealthiest in America is a decrepit, often surreal landscape of urban decline. It was once one of the greatest cities in the world. The birthplace of the American car industry, it boasted factories that at one time produced cars shipped over the globe. Its downtown was studded with architectural gems, and by the 1950s it boasted the highest median income and highest rate of home ownership of any major American city. Culturally it gave birth to Motown Records, named in homage to Detroit's status as "Motor City". Decades of white flight, coupled...

DETROIT -- Ford Motor Co.'s rank-and-file union members rejected a concessions agreement, leaving the auto maker at risk to higher costs compared with competitors Chrysler Group LLC and General Motors Co. Although some locals are still voting through Sunday, the United Auto Workers national leadership has accepted the defeat, said three union sources who asked not to be identified since they don't officially speak for the UAW. The leadership is now reviewing other options, these people said. UAW President Ron Gettelfinger told Dow Jones Newswires on Friday he will not continue bargaining or conduct a re-vote. Ford will now have...

TORONTO (Reuters) – Two men sought by the FBI and linked to a Detroit Muslim leader killed by U.S. authorities were arrested in Windsor, Ontario on Saturday, Canadian police said. Mohammad Al-Sahli, 33, and Yassir Ali Kahn, 30, both from the Windsor, Ontario area, were apprehended without incident on Saturday morning and will appear before an Ontario Superior Court judge on Monday to face extradition to the United States, according to a statement from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. The statement said the two Ontario men were wanted by the FBI for conspiracy to commit federal crimes. An RCMP spokesman...

Luqman Ameen Abdullah, the imam of Detroit’s Masjid Al-Haqq (Mosque of Truth), was killed Wednesday in a shootout with FBI agents. The agents were trying to arrest him on charges of conspiracy, receipt of stolen goods, firearms offenses and more. Agents also arrested eight mosque members; then Thursday, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police caught Abdullah’s son, Mujahid Carswell. Two other accused jihadists also fled, and have not yet been found. According to the indictment, in his mosque in Detroit Luqman Abdullah was preaching “offensive jihad” and the establishment of a Sharia state in North America. This sovereign Isamic state would...

A Michigan man has filed a federal lawsuit claiming his constitutional rights were violated when he was ordered to remove a Nativity scene from the median of a public road — a creche that his family has displayed at the location for 63 years. John Satawa, of Warren, Mich., filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court on Friday in an attempt to be allowed to put back the 8- by 8-foot nativity scene his late father built in 1945. After receiving a complaint by the Wisconsin-based Freedom From Religion Foundation last December, the Road Commission of Macomb County told Satawa...

Rep. Bart Stupak said Speaker Pelosi is not pleased with his effort to change abortion-related provisions in the healthcare bill being crafted by the House. During an interview on C-SPAN's "Washington Journal" show, Stupak (D-Mich.) said he is undeterred in trying to ensure that taxpayer dollars do not pay for abortions. Stupak, who opposes abortion rights, acknowledged that some in his party are upset with his public campaign to change the bill. "The Speaker is not happy with me," Stupak said. The Energy and Commerce subcommittee chairman said he has been working with Democratic leaders on a compromise, but they...

FBI agents hoping to break up an alleged interstate crime ring dealing in arson, fraud and possibly stolen vehicles, ended up in a gunfight at a Detroit-area warehouse, after which a suspect lay dead. The FBI sought to arrest Luqman Ameen Abdullah, a.k.a. Christopher Thomas, 53, who a criminal complaint said was the imam of a radical fundamentalist Sunni group called Masjid Al-Haqq that seeks to establish a sovereign Islamic state inside the United States... Abdullah and 10 others were charged today in a criminal complaint with conspiracy and theft of interstate shipments, mail fraud to obtain the proceeds of...

DETROIT — Authorities captured the son of the slain leader of a radical Detroit-area Islamic group in Canada on Thursday, a day after the FBI arrested several members and a raid at a suburban warehouse ended in gunfire. The FBI asked for the public's help in catching two of the 11 suspects in the case still at large, and they emphasized that the group, a faction of the radical U.S. Sunni Islamic group Ummah, held beliefs that were not at all representative of mainstream Islam.... The Royal Canadian Mounted Police arrested Mujahid Carswell, the 30-year-old son slain group leader Luqman...

Ann Arbor, Mich., Oct 27, 2009 / 06:32 am (CNA).- A 63-year-old tradition of having a privately maintained nativity scene on a public median in Warren, Michigan has been ended after the local road commission received a threatening letter from the Freedom From Religion Foundation. The move has resulted in a lawsuit charging that the ban on the display is discriminatory.In 1945 St. Anne’s Parish received a donation of Christmas nativity statues which were too large to set up inside the church. Some parishioners thought the statues and a manger could be displayed in the center of the village...

Federal authorities say a leader of what they describe as a nationwide radical Sunni Islam group has been fatally shot during an FBI raid in the Detroit area. The U.S. attorney's office in Detroit says Imam Luqman Ameen Abdullah refused to surrender during an FBI raid Wednesday and was killed in an exchange of gunfire. Abdullah and 10 others were charged in a complaint with conspiracy to commit several federal crimes, including illegal possession and sale of firearms and theft from interstate shipments. Authorities say an FBI dog also was killed during the raid.

DETROIT – Federal authorities say a leader of what they describe as a nationwide radical Sunni Islam group has been fatally shot during an FBI raid in the Detroit area. The U.S. attorney's office in Detroit says Imam Luqman Ameen Abdullah refused to surrender during an FBI raid Wednesday and was killed in an exchange of gunfire. ..conspiracy to commit several federal crimes, including illegal possession and sale of firearms and theft from interstate shipments.

DETROIT -- The Detroit leader of a nationwide fundamentalist Islamic group was fatally shot during a series of FBI raids Wednesday afternoon. The FBI arrested 10 people who have ties to the group called the Ummah, which translates to “the brotherhood.” The group’s primary mission is to establish a separate sovereign Islamic state governed by Sunni law, according to FBI charging documents.

Once again we see the beauty that Islam has brought to Michigan. Feds: Leader of radical Islam group killed in raid DETROIT – Federal authorities say a leader of what they describe as a nationwide radical Sunni Islam group has been fatally shot during an FBI raid in the Detroit area.

October 28, 2009 Note: The following text is a quote: Eleven Members/Associates of Ummah Charged with Federal Violations One Subject Fatally Shot During Arrest United States Attorney Terrence Berg, Eastern District of Michigan, Andrew G. Arena, Special Agent in Charge (SAC), Federal Bureau of Investigation, (FBI), Detroit, Michigan, and Police Chief Warren Evans, Detroit Police Department (DPD), Detroit, Michigan announced a federal complaint was unsealed today charging Luqman Ameen Abdullah, a.k.a.Christopher Thomas, and 10 others with conspiracy to commit several federal crimes, including theft from interstate shipments, mail fraud to obtain the proceeds of arson, illegal possession and sale of...

You tube video of Christians trying to ask Muslims questions at Arab Festival in Dearborn, MI. Police side with the Muslims.

A retired construction worker from Flint, MI named Wally Wallington thinks he might know one way [Stonehenge may have been built]. He even goes so far as to demonstrate it by building a min-Stonehenge on his property… all by himself.

...Among liberals and progressives, there is a puzzling admiration for Crist, long considered by Democratic and Republican veterans of Florida's political scene to be something of an opportunist if not a lightweight....

Voters in Michigan have a slightly less gloomy view of the economy but strongly disapprove of the job Democratic Governor Jennifer Granholm is doing. Right now at least Republicans have an even chance of regaining the governor’s mansion next year in a state that has been trending blue of late. A new Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of Michigan voters finds 37% who would vote for an unspecified Republican candidate for governor versus 36% who favor an unnamed Democrat. Twenty-seven percent (27%) are undecided.

<p>LANSING, MI. - The Michigan Governor, Jennifer Granholm, and the Michigan Legislature could have avoided deep cuts to education by passage of an increase to the wager tax on the Detroit Casinos. The wager tax (18% State and 6% City of Detroit) had not been increased since 1997 could have been raised to comparable levels of other surrounding States, and filled the revenue shortfall and spared Michigan children deep cuts in education K-12.</p>

A prelude to what will happen under Obamacare. What a horrible day this started out to be. We woke our kids up at their usual time on a school day to get in line for H1N1 vaccinations. The Oakland County Health Department got the word out this week that vaccinations will be occurring in 2 places. The nearest to us was Clarkston Jr High School. Initially we went to the high school because that's what the email told us. We rolled in at 8:15am for a clinic that started at 9. Nobody there except people leaving the building saying that...

The September unemployment stats for Michigan came out this week and they are high — as expected. Mlive.com highlighted the statistics on a municipal level, showing the five cities with the highest jobless rates are all over 25 percent. The cities of Highland Park and Pontiac, which leaned heavily on auto-related employment, had the highest unemployment with 35.2 percent of residents reportedly jobless. Both cities have declared bankruptcy in the recent past. Highland Park recently emerged from state receivership and Pontiac just slipped under state control last year. While the overall state’s unemployment rate is the highest in the nation...

Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., center, flanked Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., left, and Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., discuss "the urgent need for health insurance reform". GRAND RAPIDS — Senior citizens will find it harder to find a doctor who accepts Medicare if Congress does not stop a 21.5 percent cut in payment rates, say physicians and hospitals. “We might as well start building bigger emergency rooms, because that’s where people will be if they don’t have access to a regular physician,” said Micki Benz, vice president of development for Saint Mary’s Health Care. “In the end, people’s care will suffer, and...

Rep. Bart Stupak (D.-Mich.) told CNSNews.com yesterday that he has organized a group of “about 40 likeminded Democrats” who will vote to kill the health-care bill if House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D.-Calif.) does not allow a floor vote on his amendment to prohibit federal funds from going to insurance plans that cover abortion. Under Stupak’s plan, the approximately 40 Democrats in his camp would join with all House Republicans in voting to defeat the special House “rule” that would set the terms for debating and amending the health-care bill on the House floor when it is brought up for a...

Although liberals sometimes blurt out the truth in public, mostly they pretend their nostrums make sense. Three specific examples of how liberals refuse to face facts: Michigan is an economic basket case. As noted in the Wall Street Journal, the Democratic governor pushed through a tax increase on business in 2007. This is standard liberal practice -- pretending that a tax on business has no effect on the taxpayer. But all taxpayers are consumers and business can only pay taxes with revenue from its sales to consumers. Still, Michigan liberal politicians adhered to the standard formulation and referred to the...

The GOP contenders are polling well in the race to become the state's next governor, while the current governor, Jennifer Granholm, continues to struggle in the approval ratings. Those are the findings of a new wide-ranging poll from EPIC-MRA , done for WOOD TV8 and our broadcast partners, released Tuesday. President Obama's statewide numbers are also down, with an equal number of respondents (48-48) having a favorable or unfavorable opinion of the president. Granholm is viewed negatively by 66% of the respondents, with 33% having a positive view. However, that's a slight improvement from the previous month (68-32.)

A National Geographic archaeologist will present a program in Traverse City Oct. 28. Fredrik Hiebert is curator of a national touring exhibition, "Afghanistan: Hidden Treasures from the National Museum: Kabul." The 7 p.m. lecture is free with museum admission of $6 adults, $4 children and $20 for families. Hiebert has traced ancient trade routes overland and across the seas for more than 20 years. He has led excavations at ancient Silk Road sites from Egypt to Mongolia. His discoveries in Turkmenistan at a 4,000-year-old city along the Silk Road made headlines in 2001. His talk is in conjunction with the...

Lansing, MI - Michigan has joined with dozens of other States that are seeking affirmation of personhood rights for all humans. Rep. Jim Slezack (Democrat) is the the lead sponsor of the amendment, and is cosponsored by Paul Scott, Tim Moore, Richard LeBlanc, James Bolger, Kevin Green, Rick Jones, Pete Lund, Matt Lori, John Walsh, Kenneth Kurtz, Tom McMillin, Robert Dean, Bob Genetski, Wayne Schmidt, Joe Haveman, Kevin Daley, Marty Knollenberg, Eileen Kowall, Goeff Hansen, Dudley Spade, Joel Sheltrown, and Jeff Mayes. The Michigan Personhood Amendment states: SEC. 28. (1) EVERY HUMAN PERSON HAS A RIGHT TO LIFE, WHICH IS...

There is a coal plant being proposed in a very small mining town in northeast Michigan. It was proposed 3 years ago. The main issue right now is gaining an air quality permit from the Michigan DEQ. If you would like to know all the hurdles and hoops a coal plant has to go through for approval,as well as the tactics of the environmentalists and the politicians, please read my play-by-play. I have 16 parts done right now, and about 3 more will bring me up to date. The story is ongoing. The Proposed Coal-Fired Power Plant in Rogers City,...

The Colt (2005) During the heat of battle in the midst of the Civil War, a beguilingly innocent colt is born to Union Jim Rabb's beloved mare. Refusing the orders to shoot it, lest it prove a hindrance, Rabb keeps the colt as a consolation in these desperate times-a symbol of hope that leads the men of the First Cavalry on a journey of self-discovery and newfound brotherhood. A gift of hope arrives on a very special dawn for a desperate Civil War cavalry struggling to survive in the midst of battle... It's May of 1864 and the First Michigan...

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...

FLINT, Mich. - Authorities say ads on Craigslist from women looking for "fun" have led to prostitution charges against seven mid-Michigan residents. Genesee County Prosecutor David Leyton announced charges Thursday against the six women and one man arrested over the summer. He says they face a variety of felonies and misdemeanors, but all are charged with prostitution -- punishable by up to five years in prison and a $500 fine. Leyton and Sheriff Robert Pickell say that in most cases, the women quoted fees for sex as soon as police posing as customers called phone numbers on Craigslist. A 33-year-old...

Beyond the grief and sadness, Dmitri's family is shocked and angry that Tremaine's mom, Tarranisha, was allegedly involved. Police and prosecutors say she drove Tremaine to the scene, allowed him to get the gun from under the hood of the car, and then when the shooting was over, drove him away.

Global Generation Republicans: The Next Birth of Freedom Posted By Rep. Thaddeus G. McCotter (R-MI) On October 15, 2009 @ 10:30 am In Culture, Featured Story, Politics | 36 Comments They were “Wide Awakes” – scores of torchbearers marching through sleepy hamlets to herald the emancipation of a people from the bonds of slavery into God-given liberty.  These despised and decried champions of human freedom and defenders of American Union proudly called themselves “Republicans.”        Through the ensuing decades of political triumphs, falters and defeats, we Republicans never forgot our honorable heritage – until today.  Amidst the stormy present, some of...

With 1.4 million people living below the poverty level in the state of Michigan and this after BILLIONS of $$$ of so-called stimulus money has gone to that state and businesses in that state there still is unbelievable levels of unemployment and it appears to be decaying into a 3rd world type of status. Meanwhile, in Washington DC, is there anything currently being done that can be measured and quantified as having a positive impact in the American economy YET?

The city of Detroit has turned away thousands of people who lined up Wednesday for a chance to receive stimulus money set aside for homeless and low-income residents. Wednesday at the Cobo Hall was the last day for Detroit residents to get an application for Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing Program stimulus money. The city said an overwhelming 50,000 people came to the center seeking money that was promised to keep low-income residents from losing their homes and finding temporary housing for the homeless. The massive crowds created a fire and safety hazard and forced the Detroit Police Department to...

Two hours into a government shutdown last night, the Michigan legislature caved on passing a set of budget bills and instead approved a temporary measure that keeps the government running for another 30 days. The midnight hold-up: approval of a K-12 budget that cuts school aid fund spending by less than 3% ($218 per pupil). The demand: higher taxes on Michigan residents...

Regulators have shut Warren Bank in Warren, Mich., and two small banks in Colorado and Minnesota, boosting the number of failed U.S. banks this year to 98 as loan defaults rise in the worst financial climate in decades. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. took over Warren Bank, with about $538 million in assets and $501 million in deposits as of July 31. The Huntington National Bank, based in Columbus, Ohio, agreed to assume the deposits and about $83 million of the assets of the failed bank. The FDIC will retain the remaining assets for later disposition. Warren Bank's six branches...

(Click the link for the schedule of Thursday's games and TV coverage. LET THE GAMES BEGIN!)

Note: Photo included. STERLING HEIGHTS, Mich. (WJBK) - A man faced a judge in Sterling Heights on Tuesday, charged with murdering his wife. FOX 2 spoke to those close to the victim, who say domestic violence should not be taken lightly. As friends and family remember the life of a 25-year-old woman in Sterling Heights that was stabbed to death in her own home, her own husband was charged with her murder. 22-year-old Mohammed Chowdhury was charged Tuesday afternoon with his wife's murder. He called 9-1-1 on Monday, saying a group broke into the apartment and killed his wife. Police...

The ACORN "Financial Justice Coordinator" (what an interesting job title) of the Lansing ACORN office is shutting down the office this week. She said that after that a threatening voice mail to the office, employee safety couldn't be guaranteed. There was no complaint filed with the police department. Threats of violence are abhorrent, but other factors could be in play in closing down other ACORN offices. Donations have been drying up since the expose of the corruption shown and the ACORN advice given that would aid tax evasion, prostitution and child exploitation advice given at four ACORN offices. Lansing's ACORN...

Michigan slides toward partial government shutdownBy Kathy Barks Hoffman, Associated Press Writer – 12 mins ago LANSING, Mich. – One of the nation's most economically battered states stumbled toward a partial government shutdown Thursday as Michigan lawmakers failed to agree on a spending plan in one of the only states without a budget in place. A deal to fill a nearly $3 billion shortfall with federal recovery dollars and more than $1 billion in cuts fell through, as many lawmakers discovered they couldn't stomach deep cuts to schools and local services such as police and fire protection in the stricken...

U-M researchers' findings show students could benefit from curriculum that teaches more medical economics, better explains insurance strategiesAnn Arbor, Mich. —Less than half of graduating medical students in the U.S. say they received adequate training in understanding health care systems and the economics of practicing medicine, according to a study conducted by the University of Michigan Medical School. The national survey of more than 58,000 medical students from 2003-2007 showed an overwhelming majority were confident about their clinical training. But when it came to understanding health economics, the health care system, managed care, managing a practice or medical record-keeping, 40...

The TODAY Show on Tuesday featured a story you read here last week. A Michigan woman is threatened with a fine by the Michigan Department of Human Services for letting her neighbors' kids stay at her house before the school bus arrives. Then there is this story from Terre Haute Indiana: Sally Harpold is a grandmother of triplets who bought one box of Zyrtec-D cold medicine for her husband at a Rockville pharmacy. Less than seven days later, she bought a box of Mucinex-D cold medicine for her adult daughter at a Clinton pharmacy, thereby purchasing 3.6 grams total of...