An essay advocating reform of Ann Arbor's one-party-monopoly electoral system [Ann Arbor Chronicle]

Many of the important details in Obama's autobiographies are bullshit says biographer [BuzzFeed]

Cops sure do hate dogs these days [The Agitator, KTBS.com]

Facebook wants users' cell numbers in bid to bolster security [CNet]

Escalation: Police Weapon Evolution as a function of Demographics [SBPDL]

Surfin' the net...

Inventive criminal converted a toy Super Soaker™ water gun into a functional single-shot 20 gauge firearm. [The Gun Nuts]

Movement under way among some police agencies to begin arming aerial drones with non-lethal weapon systems. (Non-lethal that is, for now). [io9]

Working-class white Americans are deserting Democratic Party?  Go figure? I came to the conclusion that I wish a pox on both their houses as far as the two major parties are concerned. Both of them deserted us a long, long time ago. [Washington Post]

Remembering the price of empire this Memorial Day: Read the terse death notices the Pentagon's website posts each time a U.S. service member is KIA.  Right around 1900 and counting and that's just from Afghanistan. [TomDispatch]

California Tech executive busted for stealing thousands of dollars worth of Lego™ toys kits in order to build his own Lego-Land display in his rumpus room. Sheesh. [Wired]

Ann Arbor's unemployment rate is 5 percent it is reported. Rest of Michigan's is 9 percent. I figure it's way higher but the BLS definitions about who is and who isn't employed are pure fantasy. [Ann Arbor.com]

Ann Arbor's homeless tent city is the subject of a short video project by a UM instructor. I found it interesting. [Vimeo]

Upper Peninsula forest fire burns 17,000 acres so far.  [Lansing State Journal]

Ann Arbor: From small college town into the People's Republic of Ann Arbor

The sad but interesting story of the transformation of Ann Arbor into a one-party town written by Ann Arbor's ex-city attorney R. Bruce Laidlaw who helped set the whole process in motion.

Being an Ann Arbor city employee is nice work if you can get it

Jebus how times have changed. I can remember when I was a kid growing up in Ann Arbor that being a cop, fireman firefighter, or most other city employment was definitely considered "blue collar work" albeit decently paid blue collar work. Now Ann Arbor cops, firefighters, bureaucrats, and etc. are like unionized royalty. More than a few are making a $100k plus a year now. No wonder Mayor King Hieftje had to trim so many of them from the payroll. We just can not afford them at this level of pay and benefits. But if you disagree with that assessment why then you're just a Tea Bagger, RethugliKKKan, conservatarian asshole who hates working people and wants them all to starve while working for minimum wage until they drop, while their houses all burn down.

Ann Arbor bureaucrats up in arms about development. Again.

They can't make up their minds I guess. Ann Arbor can't have much outward expansion because of the Green Belt. The urban planning types want higher density, multiple family dwellings, but not too big. Or too many. Or too tall either. So they're gonna look into zoning law matters yet again.

Nuggets gathered from the Internet today

* A Cnet blogger explains his reason for dumping Microsoft's Word™ for Google Docs™permanently.

* Daily Mail poll says (some) English doctors support denying NHS treatment for smokers and the obese. (H/t: to STR for the link.)

* Trading dog poo for Wi-Fi access. What a concept!

* The site of the  lumpen shit hole watering hole and perennial trouble spot  The Fifth Quarter bar in downtown Ann Arbor has been sold. Good news for downtown Ann Arbor IMHO. I just hope that this isn't a scam by the previous owners to open another joint using a different DBA.

* The FBI has been breaking up its own terror plot sting operations, says the NY Times. Go figure?

Things wot I learned on the Internet today

* Even terrorist's websites get hacked sometimes. Tough luck Tali-gangsters.

* Ann Arbor should stop trying to be  hipster heaven and just stay a nice place to live in the Midwest.

* It's not a good idea to have first cousins marrying each other.

* Detroit is not going to be "ready" for a white mayor  any time soon.

In re the crime wave washing over Ann Arbor; cops say 'don't worry'

There have been a spate of armed robberies of late in Ann Arbor and which is a bad thing for our community, (and especially bad if you're the one with the gun barrel in you face), whatever the cops say about gun violence being "rare" in Ann Arbor.

Ypsilanti's Bill Riney: A wage slave version of Don Quixote

That's Riney on the left.

Ypsilanti Township's Bill Riney is a political agitator, unsuccessful political candidate, and free hot-dog philanthropist, who earns his living as a self-employed lawn mower, handy-man, runner-of-errands, snow shoveler, and jack-of-all-trades.

Riney's biggest stunt so far was when on Labor Day 2010 he climbed to the top of the Washtenaw County Building in downtown Ann Arbor, and which required both the AAFD high-ladder unit and the AAPD SWAT team to get Bill down. That stunt cost Riney some jail time and an $830 fine & court costs (the DA had asked for $19,000, so there's that).

I wish all of our local politicians were as interesting as Riney.

This what democracy (really) looks like: Voting in a one-party town.

 Ann Arbor is solidly in thrall to the Democrat Party and so voting, except in the primary election, is nearly always an anti-climax to put it mildly. The intern over at the Ann Arbor Chronicle picked through the write-in ballots from 2011's First Ward Democratic Party primary election. Pathetic doesn't come close describing the feeling you get looking at these ballots. People show up to vote and find there is only one name on the ballot. So they vent their feelings with write-in votes. Some write in their wife, or themselves, H.P. Lovecraft characters, or scrawl fragments of political graffiti like "no fuller road" a reference to the proposed train station-parking structure boondoggle currently under discussion. One man, one vote, and one frickin' candidate. This is what democracy looks like in a one party town. Embrace the suck.

You don't have to go home. You just can't stay here

The Occupy Ann Arbor movement has moved on but it appears they've left a small garrison behind.

The Dear Leader is speaking now...

The Dear Leader

...so there isn't much happening. (10:22 AM) The suits with wires in their ears and unidentified black uniformed men with automatic weapons as well as the local cops have all us peons on lock down. So I am just twiddling my thumbs waiting for the Dear Leader to finish his speech and go home. Hope & change mofo!

Notes and pictures of the ruling nomenklatura class of the People's Republic of Ann Arbor

Old lame Democratic Party hacks from Ann Arbor and its environs like Congressman-for-Life John Dingell, his wife, various local pols, hacks, fanatics, kooks, dopes, and wannabes are pictured and profiled. Know your enemy folks.

Ann Arbor rated "6th gayest city" in America

What?

"The Advocate magazine has ranked the gayest cities in America according to its own admittedly unscientific and somewhat quirky criteria, such as the number of nude yoga classes and International Mr. Leather Competition semifinalists in the city. (To be fair, we’ll note that the criteria also include things like the number of LBGT elected officials and number of transgender legal protections.)"[Ann Arbor.com]

The People's Republic of Ann Arbor is quite tolerant of sexual and life-style choices but it isn't "gay" in the sexually freaky sense as The Advocate crowd seem to think. The number of "nude yoga studios" a city has is more an issue of its own sleaziness than sexual/life-style tolerance. AA doesn't even allow XXX bookstores or "Asian massage parlors". Too sleazy, tacky, and low class.

No tears in my eyes: No Raises for Ann Arbor Mayor, Council

Ann Arbor's so-called "independent" commission (who are all appointed by the mayor) on salaries for AA elected officeholders says no raises. Reports the Ann Arbor Chronicle:

"Salaries for Ann Arbor’s mayor and 10 city councilmembers will remain constant for the next two years at $42,436 and $15,913, respectively. That was the conclusion of the four members on the local officers compensation commission (LOCC), who met Friday morning for around a half hour." 

And so that's that until 2013.

Elections have consequences; except in Ann Arbor

The Ann Arbor Board of Education narrowly passed salary increases for top administrators it has been reported. Seven to ten percent increases too. When push comes to shove Ann Arbor's BOE comes down firmly on the side of the guys and gals who polish chairs with their asses all day and against the students, workforce, and taxpayers. How do they get elected, never mind re-elected? Go figure?

This what democracy looks like?

Applicants are lining up to be appointed to the 15th District Court (city of Ann Arbor) judgeship recently vacated by Julie Creal. Why can't have a primary and then an election to fill this seat? That is what democracy looks like at least to me. Having the governor pick some partisan hack to fill the position isn't democracy. Any governor not just  Governor Snyder.

Ann Arbor politicians dither while people freeze

Ann Arbor politicians and their bureaucrats say they want to find a downtown building for a warming center but while they are looking for the perfect site the homeless lumpen freeze. Jeez. So what if this proposed building is not a perfect gem of architectural quality? As a place to avoid freezing to death it will do fine. Clear out some space, get running water, and haul in some porta-potties and it'll do. The city could come with some cash to hire some of their laid off cops to provide overnight security. Not a perfect solution but it'll do.

Ann Arbor city council still acting like goofy tweens with their first cellphone

Some of council members are mortified at the prospect of the public reading their "personal" messages sent and received during council meetings using city issued computers and so they have directed the applicable bureaucrats to redact all that shit from publicly available transcripts. WTF are they even doing sending texts, IMs and emails during meetings for? They are supposed to be present, alert, and paying attention to the proceedings at hand, no?

Never mind the ads; Just make the buses run on time, please.

That is my first impression of the ACLU lawsuit against the Ann Arbor Transportation Authority due to their refusal to run some anti-Israel political ads on the sides of their buses. Well that is the downside of taking on ads for pay isn't it? Sadly the extra revenue derived from such endeavors is likely to be completely eclipsed by the cost of defending this suit if it progresses. Myself,  I would settle for just having the buses keep to their schedules.