LocalBlogger's view of the issues

Councilwoman Monica Conyers, Sam Riddle and Adolph Mongo joined Huel Perkins for another edition of "Let It Rip". This week, the topics included City Council's hearings into the whistle-blower lawsuit settlement, as well as their refusal to hear the mayor's annual budget address. Conyers also discusses the "Shrek" incident.

Monica Conyers, you continue to behave like a spoiled child. Your discussion skills are severely lacking and are certainly not acceptable as a person holding the position you hold.

When asked why you referred to City Council President as 'Shrek' your reply was "They were trying to shut me down from asking questions about how city money was spent" - we have all seen and heard the video. You were severely out of line and interrupted the President and obviously did not follow the rules. Accept the fact that you were out of line and apologize to your city.

Your tirade toward Sam Riddle was more of the same grade school, disrespectful and unprofessional behavior.  You state you will 'Commit to put a spoon in my mouth' yet later in the same discussion you maintained the grade school attitude.

Get over yourself and learn how to handle situations. I am embarrassed for you and our city.

Monica Conyers,

Have you watched the replay of the video from the City Council hearing last week?
Have you thought about your actions during that meeting at all? 
That was the most dis-respecful display by any city leader we have seen in quite some time.  That was something I would expect to see in grade school, on the play ground or anyplace but a city council hearing.

I'm embarassed for the city of Detroit personally. You should issue a public apology to the city of Detroit, the council and Council President Ken Cockrel as soon as possible before you even consider stepping foot back into any council meeting.

My money is on that not happening.

Story for reference:

http://www.myfoxdetroit.com/myfox/pages/News/Politi
cs/Detail?contentId=6252715&version=1&locale=EN-US&layo
utCode=TSTY&pageId=3.14.1

Cliffnotes:

An Illinois delegate for presidential candidate Barack Obama resigned Tuesday after she used the word "monkeys" to describe black children playing in a tree.

Linda Ramirez-Sliwinski, a trustee in the Chicago suburb of Carpentersville, was issued a $75 ticket for disorderly conduct after neighbors complained to police. She says the word wasn't meant racially and she will fight the ticket.

"Given the incident, Linda Ramirez-Sliwinski is stepping down as a delegate and will be replaced," said Obama spokeswoman Amy Brundage.

First off, shame on the AP for choosing to refer to the children in the tree as black. Nice way to feed the fire of racism in this country.

Shame on the officer that actually wrote the ticket.  How many times have any of you referred to your kids playing in a tree etc as monkeys?  Exactly when did we get from the phrase 'sticks and stones may break my bones' to this story?

Very sad state of affairs we are in today. Sounds like she lost her job for no real reason in my opinion.

With 35-mpg average economy mandated for 2020, is it "last-call" for today's overcaffeinated muscle machines?

We are witnessing the end of an era. Even as the new Challenger and Camaro prepare for launch, they'll take flight like the last of the dodos. These large, heavy, big-cube, high-horse musclecars as we know and lust after them are unlikely to be replaced by similar vehicles. That's because the life cycle of their replacements will extend to or beyond 2020, the year by which the Energy Bill of 2007 mandates that the overall fleet average fuel economy for cars and light trucks must tally 35 mpg. Tens of thousands of 15-mpg playthings just won't be part of that plan. Already we've seen GM cancel its replacement for the Northstar V-8 and Ford de-emphasizing V-8s in all its future product discussions. But will the party be over? Let's have a hard look at the legislation and its likely impact on one of our favorite market segments.

http://5thgencamaro.blogspot.com/

It looks like the Free Press posted a copy of an affidavit filed regarding an assault on Tamara Greene at the 'party'

http://freep.com/assets/PDF/0310_rogers_affidavit.p
df

Reference:

http://freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/2008030
3/NEWS01/803030361/1003/news

We already have laws on the books about distracted drivers. People do many things while driving today, talking on the phone, texting, eating, reading, the list goes on.

Since when does it makes sense to single things out? Why would we add another law when we already have one on the books that covers distracted driving?

I've lost count how many times I watch police officers in their cruisers driving around Shelby Township and other local communities, where they already have an ordinance against talking on the phone while driving. 

A law like this is counter productive. I'm interested in how you feel on the subject.

Here is some reference material:
WSJ: Restrictions on cellphone use while driving

Source: Detroit Free Press

http://freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/2008030
4/NEWS01/803040382/1001/news

State officials have decided to release $26 million in revenue sharing they were withholding from the City of Detroit because of the city's lateness in filing mandatory annual audits.

However, the state continues to withhold $35 million in revenue sharing. Stanton said officials are still reviewing the plan to complete the 2006-07 audit and declined to say when he thought they would decide about releasing the remaining money.

The 2005-06 audit showed major bookkeeping issues, including lack of supporting documentation, apparently unauthorized accounts, creating the risk of errors and fraud.

The withheld money has raised worries about the city having enough money to pay its bills. Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick's spokesman James Canning said the city was pleased the state released the $26 million and will work to get the remaining funds dispersed as soon as possible.

By Zachary Gorchow

This is one of the best articles about the events involving Kwame, past and present.
It is in the Metro Times paper and their web site.  It is a good read!

Here is the URL: http://metrotimes.com/editorial/story.asp?id=12522

Some excerpts:

In 2002, Kwame Kilpatrick, then 31, strode into office carrying a world of promise on his massive shoulders, a young, charismatic politician whose future seemed to have no bounds. The voice of a new generation, he vowed that a resurgence, which took wing under Mayor Dennis Archer's administration during the 1990s, would gain even more impetus under his youthful, energetic leadership.

--------

But there is an even greater tragedy under way — the tragedy of a city that has long struggled to lift itself from urban decay and disinvestment only to find yet another massive impediment on its uphill road to recovery. The tragedy of a city that suddenly finds its attention focused not on revival efforts but rather speculation about whether its mayor is going to be charged with perjury, speculation about court maneuvers, about investigations, about the morning's headlines and sound bites in the city's ongoing soap opera.

--------

When running against Gil Hill for mayor in 2001, Kilpatrick lambasted his rival for accepting campaign contributions from controversial attorney Geoffrey Fieger, a white suburbanite. That proved to be a mistake, because Fieger quickly responded by releasing a voice-mail message from Kilpatrick asking the lawyer to support his campaign.

During that same election, the mayor-to-be was asked about a $50,000 donation to one of his nonprofit entities from the operator of a homeless shelter himself under a legal cloud. Kilpatrick blithely responded that he would have asked Mother Teresa for a donation if she were still writing checks. Realizing afterward that it was probably a bad idea to be making that kind of crack about the sainted and deceased Nobel laureate, Kilpatrick, as The Detroit News reported at the time, then denied in a radio interview that he'd ever made so crass a comment.

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"Kwame Kilpatrick has consistently played three cards — the media card, the race card and the God card," says political consultant Sam Riddle. "And we can't let him get away with it anymore, because it is an insult to everybody."

-------

Riddle isn't alone when he speculates that one reason Kilpatrick's refusing to resign now is to hold a bargaining chip; if Kilpatrick is indicted for perjury, he could use his exit as a way to negotiate a lesser charge or lesser penalties, much the same way former Vice President Spiro Agnew did when accused of corruption during his days in Richard Nixon's administration. Others speculate he'd rather fight the potential charges as mayor than as a private citizen.

To add to the discussion.

Like many others, I watched the apology last night.

Understanding the pending investigation(s) did not allow Kwame to mention the specific details, I think too much attention was spent on how much he and his family is hurting.

Do most people out there understand this is not about Kwame cheating on his wife and family?

This is about the continued mis-use of city finances. This is about the allegations that it appears he lied under oath while spending city money on a trial that should have never even taken place?

Also, I have a hard time feeling bad for Carlita Kilpatrick. She has been on the receiving end of mis-spent city dollars. Police escorts on shopping ventures. Police officers driving her around town to do whatever it is she does during her day.  There was the Lincoln Navigator lease issue that was uncovered not that long ago, the list goes on.  She is as big a part of the problem as Kwame in my opinion.

I do feel bad for the children here. I do agree the media should stop the home surveillance immediately, I never thought that was a good idea from the start, regarding Kwame or anyone else in the public eye for that matter.

Until the people of the city of Detroit can see past this as a 'media against Kwame' issue, they will continue to re-elect him into office.

Maybe it is time to implement term limits for the role of Mayor.

.

I saw this page on Myspace about the GM Centennial in 2008. I know Ford had a few events planned for their Centennial celebration, I wonder what GM has up their sleeve for the city of Detroit!

http://www.myspace.com/gmcentennial

For the first time ever, I am considering not voting in the upcoming presidential elections.

For one, does anyone feel like the campaigning started WAY too early?

Is anyone else sick and tired of the negative campaign practices which are about to begin (according to the news reports the last few days) and we all know they are coming. They will bombard our airwaves repeatedly, they will consume the gaps between the television and radio shows we will attempt to enjoy.

Can't one candidate concentrate on telling us what they REALLY believe? Can't one candidate present where the stand clearly and stick to it? Can't one candidate just sell themselves without trying to take down the other person? 

Set and example, show our youth how things should be done, represent yourself by talking about - gasp - YOURSELF.

Will anyone stand out from the crowd and be noticed?  I doubt it.

Judge Bans Electronic Media in Grant Case

http://www.myfoxdetroit.com/myfox/pages/Home/Detail
?contentId=5140594&version=4&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=VS
TY&pageId=1.1.1

Is anyone suprised it took this long for something like this to happen?

When such cases gain so much media attention and the press is allowed to broadcast interviews with everyone even remotely involved within days of a crime being discovered, is it any suprise they cannot find any jurors that are not biased?

This is just another example of why it is important to only publish/broadcast the FACTS after they are processed through the police department.  I am all for freedom of the press and everything surrounding that, but the media needs to take some responsibility here and use that information wisely.

I think everyone needs to read this article below. If more reporters said things like this maybe we could even start to see some light at the end of the tunnel

http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/7499442?MSNHPHCP
&GT1=10637

There's a reason I call them the Black KKK. The pain, the fear and the destruction are all the same.
Someone who loved Sean Taylor is crying right now. The life they knew has been destroyed, an 18-month-old baby lost her father, and, if you're a black man living in America, you've been reminded once again that your life is in constant jeopardy of violent death.

The Black KKK claimed another victim, a high-profile professional football player with a checkered past this time.

No, we don't know for certain the circumstances surrounding Taylor's death. I could very well be proven wrong for engaging in this sort of aggressive speculation. But it's no different than if you saw a fat man fall to the ground clutching his chest. You'd assume a heart attack, and you'd know, no matter the cause, the man needed to lose weight.

Well, when shots are fired and a black man hits the pavement, there's every statistical reason to believe another black man pulled the trigger. That's not some negative, unfair stereotype. It's a reality we've been living with, tolerating and rationalizing for far too long.

When the traditional, white KKK lynched, terrorized and intimidated black folks at a slower rate than its modern-day dark-skinned replacement, at least we had the good sense to be outraged and in no mood to contemplate rationalizations or be fooled by distractions.


Our new millennium strategy is to pray the Black KKK goes away or ignores us. How's that working?

About as well as the attempt to shift attention away from this uniquely African-American crisis by focusing on an alleged injustice the white media allegedly perpetrated against Sean Taylor.

Within hours of his death, there was a story circulating that members of the black press were complaining that news outlets were disrespecting Taylor's victimhood by reporting on his troubled past

No disrespect to Taylor, but he controlled the way he would be remembered by the way he lived. His immature, undisciplined behavior with his employer, his run-ins with law enforcement, which included allegedly threatening a man with a loaded gun, and the fact a vehicle he owned was once sprayed with bullets are all pertinent details when you've been murdered.

Marcellus Wiley, a former NFL player, made the radio circuit Wednesday, singing the tune that athletes are targets. That was his explanation for the murders of Taylor and Broncos cornerback Darrent Williams and the armed robberies of NBA players Antoine Walker and Eddy Curry.

Really?

Let's cut through the bull(manure) and deal with reality. Black men are targets of black men. Period. Go check the coroner's office and talk with a police detective. These bullets aren't checking W-2s.

Rather than whine about white folks' insensitivity or reserve a special place of sorrow for rich athletes, we'd be better served mustering the kind of outrage and courage it took in the 1950s and 1960s to stop the white KKK from hanging black men from trees.

But we don't want to deal with ourselves. We take great joy in prescribing medicine to cure the hate in other people's hearts. Meanwhile, our self-hatred, on full display for the world to see, remains untreated, undiagnosed and unrepentant.

Our self-hatred has been set to music and reinforced by a pervasive culture that promotes a crab-in-barrel mentality.

You're damn straight I blame hip hop for playing a role in the genocide of American black men. When your leading causes of death and dysfunction are murder, ignorance and incarceration, there's no reason to give a free pass to a culture that celebrates murder, ignorance and incarceration.

Of course there are other catalysts, but until we recapture the minds of black youth, convince them that it's not OK to "super man dat BLEEP" and end any and every dispute by "cocking on your BLEEP," nothing will change.

Does a Soulja Boy want an education?

HBO did a fascinating documentary on Little Rock Central High School, the Arkansas school that required the National Guard so that nine black kids could attend in the 1950s. Fifty years later, the school is one of the nation's best in terms of funding and educational opportunities. It's 60 percent black and located in a poor black community.

Watch the documentary and ask yourself why nine poor kids in the '50s risked their lives to get a good education and a thousand poor black kids today ignore the opportunity that is served to them on a platter.

Blame drugs, blame Ronald Reagan, blame George Bush, blame it on the rain or whatever. There's only one group of people who can change the rotten, anti-education, pro-violence culture our kids have adopted. We have to do it.

According to reports, Sean Taylor had difficulty breaking free from the unsavory characters he associated with during his youth.

The "keepin' it real" mantra of hip hop is in direct defiance to evolution. There's always someone ready to tell you you're selling out if you move away from the immature and dangerous activities you used to do, you're selling out if you speak proper English, embrace education, dress like a grown man, do anything mainstream.

The Black KKK is enforcing the same crippling standards as its parent organization. It wants to keep black men in their place — uneducated, outside the mainstream and six feet deep.

In all likelihood, the Black Klan and its mentality buried Sean Taylor, and any black man or boy reading this could be next

Does anyone know anything about this? See the PDF link below that describes the family trees available.

http://mediaserver2.afa.net/twb2007/lowescatalog.pd
f

So now we are not allowed to call them Christmas trees?

We have taken so much out of this holiday, why are we even celebrating it anymore?  Why can't people mind their own business instead of trying to get the majority to think like the minority?  Remember when kids looked forward to participating in the school Christmas shows?  Remember when we were allowed to have Christmas parties in school and decorate the classroom?

Might be a coincidence, but those were simpler times, more people did things together and kids cared more about being kids and not shooting each other in school.

How very sad. When does it end?